The Farmlander June 2017 South

SPECIAL OFFERS AND INFORMATION FOR FARMLANDS SHAREHOLDERS

JUNE 2017 Valid from 1–30 June 2017

The FARMLANDER CONNECTING FARMS PAGE 16

FIND A DEAL AT FIELDAYS

A CENTURY ON-FARM GENERATIONS OF DEDICATION PAGE 10

7802 1047 0991 6005 RD HOLDER P 07/17 M CA ER AM&B RD HOLD ANDY CA

0

4778

9110

EX

GREAT CARD PARTNER DEALS INSIDE!

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PAGE 20

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

JUNE

INTEREST

PLAN 365

3

Farmlands staff profile

Plan365 Horticulture

3

From the CEO

23

Feeding your kiwifruit

4

HeART of the Community

25

New innovation in kiwifruit budbreaking

10

Special Feature – A century on-farm

27

Why use a wind break?

14

Farmlands 5 Minutes

29

Kiwifruit twine stringing

15

Help make our poor farm health and safety record history

29

Bee-ing prepared

16

Connecting Farms – the future is here

18

Out and about with Farmlands

19

Flight and fun for hardcase Hugo

20

National Fieldays

32

Farmlands Buying Power Promise

44

Choices Rewards

55

Farmlands Fuel

56

National Horticultural Field Day

57

Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award winner breaks down walls

58

Farmlands Real Estate

ECIAL OFFERS AND INFORMATION FOR FARMLANDS SPECIAL

2

Plan365 Rural Infrastructure

JUNE

31

Save feed and time when feeding your stock

32

Mobile feeders taking the load off farmers’ backs

33

Sizing farm culvert pipes

JUNE 2017

35

Feeding hens through winter and into the new laying period

37

Building immunity to avoid winter illness

38

Vitamins in the ruminant diet

41

Calf rearing tips on screen

Visit the Farmlands site for great deals!

45

Best practice in teat care works out to be more cost effective

47

Transition cow feeding and management

PAGE 16

FIND A DEAL AT FIELDAYS PAGE 20

Plan365 Forage and Arable

A CENTURY ON-FARM GENERATIONS OF DEDICATION

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49

PAGE 10

S DEALS ARD PARTNER DEA GREAT CARD

Special prices and offers apply from the 1st to the 30 th of June 2017. Only while stocks last.

Check your Farmlands store for product availability. All prices include GST unless otherwise stated. Savings based on Farmlands normal retail price.

Note: The “Your Price” advertised in The Farmlander magazine is the price that a Farmlands shareholder will be charged if the advertised products are purchased during the promotional period. Farmlands stores also use a “net” price (discounted price without a rebate) to attract cash sale customers and potential shareholders. *Savings based on Farmlands normal retail price.

Food Integrity Conference, Auckland

Plan365 Animal Management 50

Match the treatment to the need

51

Scales weigh up with new technology

53

Getting pre-lamb vaccination right for your farm

2 | THE FARMLANDER

Accounts are payable at Farmlands Head Office or any store by the 20th of each month. Failure to pay an Account by Due Date is a Default Event under the Terms and Conditions and Farmlands is then at its discretion entitled to: suspend or terminate the Account; charge interest at 2% per month; reverse discounts or credit rebates; debit other Shareholder Accounts; make demand on a Card Signatory; debit any default administration costs incurred; register a mortgage over land; terminate shareholding.

Farmlands shareholders have the option to pay their Accounts either in part or in full by MasterCard or Visa Credit Card. Payment by any credit card will not entitle the shareholder to receive Bonus

28-29 JUNE

Maize silage for beef

INSI INSIDE!

ON THE COVER Farmlands shareholder Kevin Christie shares the story of his family's 100 year history on Springfield farm in Mossburn.

13-17 National Fieldays, Mystery Creek

Best practice, best yield

Valid from

CONNECTING FARMS

Enjoy the complete Faulty Towers experience!

JUNE

43 1–30 June 2017

ER NDER R LAND FFARM The FA

Culverden Extravaganza

Plan365 Nutrition

Plan365 Dairy Management

SHAREHOLDERS

WHAT’S ON

A chance for producers, exporters, importers and regulators to discover different perspectives on supply chain integrity. Visit www.foodintegrityconference.com for more information.

Rebates for the month paid or part paid. Neither Farmlands nor any other person involved in the preparation of this document accepts any liability for any opinion or information (including the accuracy or completeness thereof) or for any consequences flowing from its use. The information contained in this document is given in good faith, has been derived from sources perceived to be reliable and accurate and is subject to Farmlands Terms and Conditions. Not all products are available at all Farmlands stores.

Offers valid at Farmlands South Island stores only.

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FARMLANDS STAFF PROFILE Sue Hendra Q: What is your current role at Farmlands?

A: Business Manager at Farmlands Feilding.

Q: What do you enjoy about your job?

A: No two days are the same, I love the rural towns and genuine people that are our shareholders.

FROM THE CEO

Q: Tell us a bit about your family.

A: I have four adult children who are spread around Australia and New Zealand, as well as 10 grandchildren.

June is always an exciting time of year for Farmlands and this year is no different – and not just because the British and Irish Lions tour kicks off this month!

Q: What do you like to do most in your spare time?

A: Spare time? We live on a lifestyle block! Ok, I am a keen quilter, I do leisure marching, play the pipes, am learning to spin, raise coloured sheep, alpacas, chickens, I love to travel and I also crew for my husband with his hot air balloon – as I said, what spare time?

Q: Where is your favourite New Zealand getaway?

A: Waiheke Island.

Fieldays is upon us and I hope those that travel to Mystery Creek will visit the Farmlands team on-site. We’ve got something for everyone, including exciting developments that are designed to benefit our shareholders. You can read more about these in this issue of The Farmlander – we introduce our newest Card Partner, Z Energy, as well as the Connecting Farms trial in Waikato and North Otago.

The feature for this month is on Farming History, which fits our co-operative well. We’re here because of the deep relationships we have sustained with our shareholders over time – in some cases stretching across more than half a century.

It was in defence of these relationships – the reason we exist – that I discussed the Anti Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism legislation with the government’s Law and Order Select Committee on 10th May. I presented to the Select Committee not just on behalf of Farmlands but all of our shareholders.

It’s clear to us that the legislation, as it stands, is doing damage to the close relationships we work to maintain with our shareholders.

We will always abide by the laws of this country – and it’s a no-brainer that we would support moves to crack down on money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be a dissenting voice when it comes to rules that cause unnecessary damage to our shareholder relationships. The legislation requires us to gather information from you that can amount, for some, to an invasion of privacy. While we respect the laws of this country, we try to balance that with the care we have for the rights of our shareholders.

Sue’s Pumpkin Spice Cake Ingredients 125g butter 1 ½ cups sugar 2 eggs 1 cup cooked mashed pumpkin 2/3 cup sour milk 1 ¾ cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons cinnamon ½ teaspoon nutmeg ½ teaspoon ginger

Method 1. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well.

2. Combine pumpkin and milk.

3. Sift dry ingredients together and add alternatively with pumpkin mixture into the butter and sugar mix.

4. Bake in a lined and greased 22cm cake tin at 160°C for 35-45 minutes.

5. Ice with vanilla icing – 125g butter, 1 ½ cups icing sugar, 1-2 teaspoons vanilla essence, water – and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds if you like them. Cream cheese icing works well too.

Note: This is a rich icing and enough for two cakes, so I usually make two cakes – and there is never any left as the Farmlands Feilding staff and my husband’s workplace all like this one.

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I told the Select Committee I backed their proposed amendments to the Act as a way to make things easier for us and our shareholders. I also stated we feel the changes need to go further. We have expressed strong support for a centralised register to help us remain compliant with the Act without having to harass or discomfort our shareholders. For example, if your bank already has the information we need regarding identification, a centralised register would allow us to access it, without putting any burden on you.

It is not just on your farm and behind our counters that we work hard to get you a better deal. We want to make sure the shared farming history we enjoy together remains as strong as it always has.

Regards – and see you at the Fieldays!

Peter Reidie Chief Executive Officer Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

THE FARMLANDER | 3

CO-OPERATIVE NEWS

WE’RE PUTTING COMMUNITY PRIDE IN PAINT. At Farmlands, we share the pride you feel for the communities we serve. And this year we’re celebrating that fantastic community spirit throughout New Zealand’s heartland with our HeART of the Community project.

4 | THE FARMLANDER

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CO-OPERATIVE NEWS

Bringing rural communities together through art.

This exciting project will see world famous, Bay of Plenty based artist Graham Hoete – known as Mr G – paint 15 locally-inspired murals on Farmlands stores, each embodying what makes that town and the land surrounding it unique. His journey started in Paeroa in early May, with Invercargill and Putaruru next in line for the Mr G treatment.

An international photorealist superstar.

Last year, he made headlines with his massive murals of Kiwi basketball superstar Steven Adams in Oklahoma and music legend Prince in the singer’s hometown of Chanhassen, Minnesota (which has now become one of the most visited tourist attractions in the city).

While appreciated internationally, Mr G’s heart is in rural New Zealand, so he leapt at the chance to be involved in our HeART of the Community project, his largest to date. “It’s given me the opportunity to put these hardworking people on the map,” he says. “It’s an honour to be able to do this.”

You can follow Mr G and the HeART of the Community journey on the Farmlands Facebook page, Instagram or at www.heartofthecommunity.co.nz

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Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

THE FARMLANDER | 5

Paeroa Saturday 6th May 2017

CO-OPERATIVE NEWS

The pride of Paeroa Can art help create a sense of local identity and pride? If the comments on social media from Paeroa residents following the unveiling of Mr G’s first HeART of the Community mural on Saturday 6th May are anything to go by, the answer is a resounding yes.

“Thank you so much for the beautiful gift you have given our little town!” says one. “Thank you for making such a personal, stunning gift to our lovely local town of Paeroa”, says another.

Even Hauraki district mayor, John Tregidga, recognised the enormous impact the Farmlands HeART of the Community project has had on the community. “They say a picture paints a thousand words and this painting says many things about the Paeroa community, including how

8 | THE FARMLANDER

proud we are of where we’ve come from and where we’re headed in the future.”

The announcement that Paeroa would be the first of 15 Farmlands stores nationwide to be painted by world-renowned Kiwi artist Graham Hoete (known as Mr G) was greeted with great enthusiasm and anticipation by Farmlands Paeroa store staff as well as the wider Hauraki district community. That enthusiasm grew and grew as the start date of 2nd May drew closer and continued throughout the week as Mr G created his large masterpiece.

Despite having just 5 days to complete the mural, he still found time to greet, chat and take selfies with all the people who dropped by to see him in action including

local kindergartens and schools and loads of residents. He even delivered an inspirational talk to six local offenders selected by the Department of Corrections. His message to them was simple, “I think everything good takes hard work. I sketch or paint every day to become a better artist. If you want something you have to work for it.”

This inaugural HeART of the Community project also piqued the interest of local and national media, securing a sought after slot on TVNZ’s Seven Sharp.

“

It is awesome that I get to provide a bit of happiness and pride by doing what I love most – making art.

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

”

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CO-OPERATIVE NEWS

So where did the inspiration come from for this first stunning HeART of the Community mural?

It was the staff at Farmlands Paeroa who, when asked what was at the heart of their town, mentioned the large horse teams and their fully loaded wagons that were a common sight in Paeroa historically. According to a local historian, “… they were the only transport to connect the junction wharf to the gold fields, 80 teams of horses worked from Paeroa to Karangahake, Waikino and Waihi”.

The history of the area struck a real chord with Mr G. “If I am to travel up and down the country and do murals like this”, he says, “I’ve got to know what I’m painting about, which

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is great. I love the history of all these locations.” Combining the horses with the locally recognised ridgeline (the Maori word Paeroa means “long ridge” in English) has created a unique story.

It seems seeing their town’s history immortalised in paint struck a real chord with the Paeroa community.

It felt like the whole town turned out for the grand unveiling of the mural on Saturday 6th May, as well as visitors from as far afield as Christchurch and Motiti Island in Tauranga (Mr G’s birthplace). After speeches, a moving performance by the Paeroa College kapa haka group and a drone selfie of everyone in front of the mural, Mr G set about signing everything from gumboots (a very popular choice) to walkers!

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

It seems art really can bring a community together. “It is awesome that I get to provide a bit of happiness and pride by doing what I love most – making art,” Mr G says.

“I’m looking forward to moving on to the next HeART of the Community location at Farmlands Invercargill.”

You can follow Mr G and his HeART of the Community journey on the Farmlands Facebook page, Instagram or at www.heartofthecommunity.co.nz

THE FARMLANDER | 9

SPECIAL FEATURE

A century on-farm It’s all about the detail for Kevin Christie. He is big on history and there is plenty of it on his family farm.

10 | THE FARMLANDER

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| Veronica, Margaret and Kevin have worked hard to record the history of the Christie family at Springfield.

This year marks the Christie family’s 100th year on “Springfield”, a 1,625 acre farm in Mossburn. The farm is currently run by husband and wife team Kevin and Margaret, along with Kevin’s sister Veronica.

Kevin has been meticulous in recording the family history on Springfield. Ties to the land are strong – not just for the Christie family but their contractors as well.

Springfield was originally established by Kevin and Veronica’s grandfather, Frank Christie, who was the second son of Alexander and Jane Christie. Frank was born at the family farm, Whitcombe Station, in Waikaia on 10th April 1871.

Frank grew up to be a very keen fly fisherman, with one of his notable achievements the patent of a dry fly called the “Frank Christie Fly”. He also enjoyed athletics with a measure of success. Frank was an obliging man, willing to help anyone and had a great sense of humour.

Frank married Euphemia Moffat and they had six children – Jim, Margaret, Ernest, Violet, Andrew and Effie. Euphemia died in 1909 and a year later Frank married Margaret McLean. Frank and Margaret had four children together – Frank, Adeline, Jessie and Ian.

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Frank and Margaret took over Springfield on 23rd March 1917. The property was 4,905 acres and the annual rent was 115 pounds.

In the early years, fescue and browntop harvesting was the main farming interest and they also had the rights to cut posts at Burwood Bush. Frank and Margaret’s eldest son, Jim, had the job of carting the posts and also transported all the materials to build the first THC Hotel at Te Anau.

Violet worked on the farm after leaving school. When Frank left Mossburn, Ernest and Andrew took over the farm and also worked for wages elsewhere to keep the farm going. Andrew drove lorries and carted materials for the construction of the Homer Tunnel. During WWII, while Ernest was in the Pacific Islands, Andrew stayed on the farm.

Andrew was only 2 years old when his mother died and he and his sister Effie were brought up by their aunt, Maud Boyer. In his early days, Andrew, like his father, was a keen runner and competed in many sports meetings in Southland.

He was one of the first members of the Mossburn Rifle Club and was also noted for his piano playing and performed at many dances in the area during WWII. A keen fisherman, Andrew spent many weekends fishing at the Mavora Lakes.

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THE FARMLANDER | 11

| Joe Kahukura began shearing for the Christie family in 1968.

| The old 3-stand woolshed was replaced in 1985.

The farming partnership between Ernest and Andrew was dissolved in 1947, with Andrew staying on the home block. Ernest died in 1963.

and he replied, ‘yeah but we’re ok’,” Kevin says. “Ten minutes later I was there with a chainsaw and a hole was cut in the wall of the wooden woolshed. Next year the same thing happened. There were six portholes in that old woolshed when the new shed was built in 1985.” Joe has since retired and his son Paul now runs the shearing business.

Andrew, who was known to many as “Brick” because of his ginger hair, married Mary Healy in 1944. Andrew and Mary had four children – Veronica, Kevin, John and Joan. Music, badminton, squash, tennis, hockey, rifle shooting, tramping and Lions Club activities kept the family busy when they weren’t on-farm.

In the early 1950s, 2,445 acres of Springfield was sold to the government and another 900 acres was sold in 1963, leaving the farm with a total of 1,625 acres.

When Andrew died in 1962, Mary and the children carried on the farm, with Mary’s brother Tim Healy as the manager. In 1967, Kevin and John were able to work the farm themselves and took over the farm from Tim. Mary sadly passed away in 1971.

John married Eva Clark in 1980 and they had a daughter, Julie. Kevin married Margaret Wright in 1983 and they had three children – Rachel, Andrew and Richard. John passed away in 1984.

At this time the services of farm advisor Jon Newson were acquired and a development plan carried out. With many large paddocks on the farm, 13km of fencing was erected, lanes incorporated and a water scheme upgraded, with the result a huge lift in control and stock management.

Not only are the Christie family celebrating 100 years at Springfield, next year will mark 50 continuous years with the same shearers – Kahukura Shearing. These shearers have seen almost as many changes on the farm as the Christies have, as the farm progressed into modern practices.

In 1968, Joe Kahukura began shearing in the Christie’s old 3-stand shed. When Joe had an extra shearer he would put a portable plant up and two shearers would use one catching pen and porthole.

“I remember saying to Joe, you could use another porthole

12 | THE FARMLANDER

Today most of the stock work, cultivation, hay making and fencing is carried out by Kevin, Margaret and Veronica, with help from Kevin and Margaret’s youngest son Richard when time allows. Richard is currently employed 1 day a week on the farm and 4 days as an architectural draftsman.

Kevin recalls that when Richard was 12, he proved he could toil by driving a 100hp tractor discing and levelling for 90 hours at $5.00 an hour to buy an Xbox game.

Kevin and Margaret’s eldest son Andrew was previously in the Airforce and has now settled in Blenheim with his family. Daughter Rachel is a radiographer and is married to Mark Buchanan, who worked on the farm for 2 years before returning to Invercargill – Mark’s help was invaluable at the time as 18 hectares of trees were harvested, with roading needed, gravel carted and a wet winter meant extra work.

“We farm 4,750 Coopdale breeding ewes, which includes 1,300 two-tooths, as well as 1,350 replacement hoggets,” Kevin says. “We also winter graze 400 dairy cows on crop. This year the two-tooths went to the rams at 66kg average and also 1,300 hoggets went on swedes last month averaging 44.5kg.”

Kevin explains that over the years scanning the ewes has been one of the most valuable additions to farming. “Single ewes can be put on swedes to control intake and multiple bearing ewes treated accordingly as the need arises. The weigher and drafter is another huge aid, which is also excellent for crutching lambs and other sheep for the works.”

Kevin says he and Margaret make a good team, as her being right handed and him left handed makes vaccinating and drenching go smoothly.

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“We have routine things we like to do during winter when the cows arrive,” Kevin says. “Marg enjoys the exercise and moves the cow breaks, Veronica moves the hoggets and two-tooth breaks and I look after the mixed age ewes and get to keep tabs on everything by supplying supplementary feed to all stock as needed – and the general maintenance is always ongoing.

“We all retain a passion for farming and that is a big part of success but also focus, good feeding planning and timing are key points,” Kevin explains. “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

When time allows, Veronica enjoys gardening, hockey, badminton, tennis and most of all tramping in the Hollyford area. As well as painting and gardening, Margaret does part time work at the local café gift shop, Bracken Hall. She says it’s nice to get off the farm and catch up with the girls at work.

When they aren’t on-farm, Kevin and Margaret love travelling and catching up with their grandchildren. They are also both keen squash players and love getting out on their mountain bikes. They look forward to at least one trip a year with friends on a 4-5 day bike ride.

“It’s good fun and good exercise,” Margaret says. “We are fortunate to have the ‘Round the Mountain Cycle Trail’ pass on our property.”

Kevin says it’s good to get up in the morning and put in a productive day. “I like to carry with me a

| Springfield was originally established by Kevin and Veronica’s grandfather, Frank Christie.

phrase I heard when I was young – ‘never leave ‘til tomorrow what you can do today’.”

Farm succession at Springfield is a work in progress but Kevin says that it will happen eventually. “What I will miss the most is the dogs and moving stock,” he says. However, it means they will be able to spend more time at their holiday home in Te Anau.

“Sheep farming has been good for us. I always think the more you put in to something the more you get out of it,” Kevin says. “It’s a privilege to be a sheep farmer in this country.”

| Today Veronica, Margaret and Kevin carry out most of the farm work at Springfield.

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Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

THE FARMLANDER | 13

FARMLANDS 5 MINUTES

5 minutes with Symon Howard What are the criteria for becoming a Century Farm or Station?

year, a huge loss to the organisation

Families who have owned and farmed their own land for 100 or more years are eligible to apply for an award.

The purpose of the New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards is to honour and acknowledge the family’s passion, hard work and perseverance over many years and to preserve the family history that might otherwise be lost through the generations.

Family history, photographs and supporting documents are archived at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, ensuring all records are kept in perpetuity. An awards dinner is held in Lawrence each May where families have a chance to meet other recipients and formally receive a distinctive bronze plaque and certificate to display on their property.

Do you see particular areas

What is the history of the Century Farm and Station Awards?

Our patron, the late Russell Brown heard of the initiative through some North American visitors and launched the New Zealand programme in Lawrence in 2005. Russell saw Lawrence as the natural home for Century Farms – historians consider that gold made modern New Zealand and Lawrence is the town that sprang from the nation’s first major gold discovery in 1861. Lawrence remains steeped in history and boasts an impressive collection of historical buildings, one of which is soon to be the national home of the New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards.

Sadly Russell passed away earlier this

14 | THE FARMLANDER

and the Lawrence community. of New Zealand where there seems to be more farms that have stayed in the same family for more than a century?

Initially award recipients centred mainly around Otago/Southland as news of the awards travelled by word-of-mouth in the region. Over the years interest has continued to spread throughout the country, with around 50 percent of this year’s recipients coming from the North Island. There is good representation from most areas, although not

Symon Howard, Century Farms New Zealand Ch airman.

too many from Auckland and Wellington regions and the West Coast of the South Island. This isn’t indicative on whether there are old farms in these regions, more so that we haven’t received many award applications from these areas.

Of course urbanisation in the Auckland and Wellington areas could also explain the lower numbers.

How many farms or stations received awards in 2017?

36 families from throughout New Zealand were honoured at this year’s awards, which has brought the total to over 400 families acknowledged over the last 12 years. We believe there are plenty more to come. Applications are now open for the 2017 year and any families that have owned and farmed their land since 1917 or earlier are encouraged to apply. The closing date for applications is 30th November 2017.

What is the oldest farm the Century Farm and Station Awards has recognised to date?

The oldest family to date are the Matthews family from Kaitaia who have been on their farm a staggering 177 years. Their ancestor made a genuine purchase of 7,317 acres from Chief Panakareao in Doubtless Bay, north east of Kaitaia in 1839. Sheep and beef, dairy farming, flax milling, butchering and earth moving were undertaken, with the land being cleared alongside local Maori from Parapara. These family relationships still exist today.

The Matthews family were honoured at this year’s awards in Lawrence.

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

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CO-OPERATIVE NEWS

Help make our poor farm health and safety record history “However, change is beginning to happen. Since the new Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) came into force last year, there has been a huge increase in awareness around the need for farmers to manage risk.

New Zealand has a proud farming

not excelled is in health and safety.

history – from the early settlers who

The overall workplace accident rate

adapted European farming techniques

in New Zealand is three times that of

to our unique land, to the innovators

the UK and twice that of Australia and

who put our country at the forefront

the highest number of our workplace

of agriculture internationally.

accidents are in agriculture.

By the 1880s, patent applications

Dairy farming is the largest source of

in New Zealand were dominated by

ACC workplace accident claims.

farm machinery. Names like Ernest

Al McCone, Agriculture Programme

Hayes, originally an Otago farmer and

Manager for WorkSafe New Zealand,

the inventor of many farm devices.

says agriculture carries high risks

His parallel wire strainer for fences,

due to working outside, challenging

patented in 1923, has been used by

weather, large machinery and livestock.

successive generations of farmers.

“However, that does not explain

Number eight wire ingenuity indeed.

why the accident rate is higher than

Sir William “Bill” Gallagher’s ingenious

comparable countries,” he says.

electric circuit to stop a horse from

“Farmers in these other counties

using a car as a scratching post was

are better at managing risk.”

the genesis of a global business.

It may be that the pioneering,

The sector pioneered excellence

innovative Kiwi farming character and

in the export of frozen meat. When

strong farming heritage, with farms

the first New Zealand shipment

handed down through families for

arrived in London in 1882, only one

generations, is part of the problem.

carcass out of 5,000 was condemned

“An entrenched culture, where

and its superiority over Australian

things have been done in similar

shipments was celebrated.

ways for generations, isn’t

“By managing risk well, you make your business stronger. Today’s farmers can and should go down in history as the generation that changed New Zealand’s farming culture for the better.”

However, an area where the sector has

easy to change,” Al says.

Article supplied by WorkSafe.

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Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

“We’ve seen Kiwi innovation around safety too – for instance, a Nelson farmer with back issues had an old wheelchair lift fitted to his ute so he doesn’t need to lift ewes himself.

“There are many resources and tools available to help farmers learn how to manage risk better, such as WorkSafe’s Safer Farms programme and through industry leaders like Beef + Lamb NZ and Dairy NZ. “Many farm businesses have done things in a certain way for generations. But what makes New Zealand farming great is the ability to do things differently and better.

THE FARMLANDER | 15

CO-OPERATIVE NEWS

Connecting Farms – the future is here Farmlands is teaming up with some of the country’s leading organisations for an ambitious trial that could change New Zealand farming forever.

Four organisations, three ways

connect to our internal systems and use

to improve your business

our own data allocations, not yours.

Connecting Farms was created

Alongside the Wi-Fi roll-out, a new

by Spark, who are implementing a

technology called LoRaWAN is being

cheaper, faster way of getting internet

used to bring wider coverage for

Connecting Farms is a collaborative

data on and off a farm. The first part of

smaller devices, such as sensors, to

effort between Spark, Farmlands,

Connecting Farms is to deliver Wi-Fi

farms. In the future, it will be possible

Ballance Agri-Nutrients and NIWA.

to the sheds of New Zealand farmers.

to have complete national coverage, no

The aim of the pilot programme,

This uses the investment made by the

matter the distance. To help progress

taking place at Farmlands shareholder

Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) and

the pilot programme, Farmlands

farms throughout Waikato and

pushes it further into the more difficult

shareholders have also volunteered to

North Otago, is to bring better

to reach areas of New Zealand. A

have sensors installed on their farms.

connectivity to rural areas and give

benefit of the new setup is the ability

The sensors record a wide range

shareholders data that helps them

for trial partners such as Farmlands

of measurements regarding critical

make better farming decisions.

and Ballance to use the same Wi-Fi to

factors for decision-making on-farm.

16 | THE FARMLANDER

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CO-OPERATIVE NEWS

This data is invaluable for fine-tuning times to apply fertiliser, harvest crops and problem solve issues, creating a knowledge base that will increase production and profitability.

Farmlands, NIWA and Ballance will work with the farmers during the trial to show how the data can be used to make more-informed decisions.

A key extension of this trial is the SafeOnSite (SOS) sensor, which Farmlands has volunteered to trial.

It improves management of safety on work sites, by monitoring ‘out of condition’ movement that is unusual and indicative of an accident. It detects falling, lying prone and other sudden uncharacteristic movements and uses the new LoRaWAN wireless network.

The trial for SafeOnSite is crucial to our attitude towards health and safety.

Both our staff and our shareholders often work alone and in isolated areas. Any device that could save lives or serious injury is technology we are interested in learning about.

Farmlands was eager to be a part of the trial to maintain our role as a leader in agricultural knowledge and expertise. An investment in the

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future of New Zealand agriculture is an obvious choice for a co-operative with 65,000 shareholders nationwide.

The ‘internet of things’ The ‘internet of things’ and the data that comes from it has been a hot topic for rural New Zealand.

Put simply, the internet of things is a term for computing equipment that is put into everyday objects, which become connected through sending and receiving data. In the case of the pilot programme, this data will not only be used by the farmer to learn more about their farm, it can also be used by the other organisations to better understand the requirements of the wider area.

around the country. Eventually it is hoped we could create a securely separated Wi-Fi connection for every farm a Technical Field Officer visits, which has great business and safety bonuses and a nationwide sensor network for New Zealand farmers.

This is just one area where Farmlands looks to bring shareholders more value on-farm. With the Connecting Farms pilot, working closely with shareholders means that you get to hear the value of the technology from other farmers, not just Farmlands.

Farmlands takes any concerns and the privacy of our shareholder information seriously. Because of this, a comprehensive policy is being created to inform shareholders of the exact movement of their data and what it will be used for.

If the trial of secure, on-farm Wi-Fi and the use of the network for high-value sensors is a success, Spark will work with Farmlands, Ballance and NIWA to offer it as a service to shareholders

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

THE FARMLANDER | 17

CO-OPERATIVE CO-OPERATIVENEWS NEWS

OUT AND ABOUT with Farmlands MACKENZIE HIGHLAND A&P SHOW The Farmlands team caught up with shareholders at the Mackenzie Highland A&P Show, held at the Mackenzie A&P Showgrounds in Fairlie on 17th April.

Show attendees enjoyed fencing demonstrations and a “Man vs Machine” fencing competition, as well as wood chopping, shearing and many other annual competitions. Organised by the Mackenzie A&P Society with the help of many volunteers, the show promotes the development of agricultural, pastoral, horticultural, stock-raising and forestry resources in the South Canterbury region.

NATIONAL PLOUGHING CHAMPIONSHIPS The 63rd New Zealand National Ploughing Championships were held at Kirwee on 22nd and 23rd April. Sean Leslie and Kay Walker from Middlemarch were the winners of the Rural News Horse Plough and Alistair Rutherford from Riversdale took out the New Zealand Vintage Plough.

The Farmlands Fuel Reversible Class was won by Bob Mehrtens from Timaru and Ian Woolley from Blenheim was the winner of the Gulf Oil Conventional Class. Bob and Ian will now go on to represent New Zealand at the World Ploughing Contest, to be held in Germany in 2018.

CENTURY FARM AND STATION AWARDS Lawrence once again rolled out the red carpet to honour families who have farmed their land for 100 years or more at the New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards evening, held on 27th May. Farming families from all over New Zealand gathered to commemorate those who had gone before them, share stories and celebrate each other’s success. Held each year, the awards recognise the passion, hard work and perseverance of generations of farmers. Visit www.centuryfarms.co.nz for further information about the awards.

18 | THE FARMLANDER

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

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CO-OPERATIVE NEWS

Flight and fun for hardcase Hugo “We’d have people come up to us in the supermarket and say ‘hello, Hugo’. I’d be sitting there wondering who on Earth that person was.”

Hugo Black is 10 years old, loves his sport and above all else, loves a good yarn. So much so, his parents Simone and Richard have had to keep up with all the new friends he made. “He would just start talking to anyone and everyone,” Simone continues.

Richard adds in, “The kids at Belfast School knew who he was and he never even went to the school!”

Today’s a big day for Hugo. A cluster of Canterbury communities – Swannanoa, Mandeville and Ohoka – have banded together to help Hugo and the family, including Hugo’s brothers Harrison and Caleb, as Hugo battles a rare bone marrow disorder called severe aplastic anaemia. A fundraising day organised by the community had a raffle and silent auction, with the grand prize of seats on a scenic helicopter flight piloted

by All Black legend Richie McCaw. The flight was supported by Farmlands and Chief Executive Peter Reidie, who stopped in to watch Hugo take off.

The Farmlands connection continues through Hugo’s uncle Stephen Black, a Technical Field Officer in Kurow, where Richie McCaw is from.

sociable chap. He talks quietly about the fundraising day and how good it was to see friends he hadn’t seen for a while. He didn’t try the custom made “Hugo Burgers” at the event – he’s not a big fan of burgers, he reckons – but it was a really fun day.

Richie walks back in as Hugo talks about how he hasn’t been in a helicopter before. He thinks he might be able to see his house, or at least the dog running around the backyard barking.

The children and parents gathered file out to the helicopter and the viewing area, as Richie starts his briefing.

“Who’s in the front with me?” Hugo’s hand darts up. Richie helps him into the seat before explaining to everyone how their seatbelts need to be fastened. Everyone piles in as Hugo and the others excitedly wave to the parents at the viewing area.

The helicopter stays on the spot for a while before heading off into the distance. It gives Richard and Simone a chance to talk about what this means to Hugo. They sit and watch All Blacks games together and now Hugo gets to fly with one of his heroes.

Hugo had the co-pilot seat already sown up – the only question was who was going to join him.

Discussion turns to blood donations.

Hugo has had 27 blood transfusions and the following day will bring number 28. Another parent mentions she has donated more than 100 times and today has shown why it is so important.

Hugo is already kitted out in an autographed All Blacks jersey as he waits patiently for his flight. He is a bit nervous, based on the description his parents have given of a talkative,

The helicopter eventually returns and excited parents head back outside. Richie lands the helicopter, jogs around and helps Hugo out of his seat. A big grin breaks out

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Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

when he sees his parents.

“It was good – but I’m not keen to try and fly one myself,” Hugo says. Richie explains to those around him that he was glad that the weather held, before turning his attention back to Hugo.

“You’re certainly very chatty,” he says, as the others laugh. Richie mentions Hugo corrected him during the flight, as he tried to sort out the Bluetooth on-board.

“Hugo was giving a running commentary!”

“You said to ask lots of questions,” Hugo replies.

The adventure ends with photos with Richie. Hugo’s parents jump in and Simone takes the opportunity to give Richie a hug. Hugo stands at the front, smiling for the various cameras.

It’s been a big day, made possible by a community with a big heart.

THE FARMLANDER | 19

CO-OPERATIVE NEWS

MYSTERY CREEK 14TH –17TH JUNE

site F103–F109

You can’t

miss us!

GATE 1

Buy your tickets early online at FAR_06511

www.farmlands.co.nz/fieldays

or at the gate with your Farmlands Card!

20 | THE FARMLANDER

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CO-OPERATIVE NEWS

Make Farmlands your first

stop at Mystery Creek!

Spend some time exploring what Farmlands and our fantastic suppliers have to offer!

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THE FARMLANDER | 21

Works for you HORTICULTURE CO-OPERATIVE CO-OPERATIVE NEWS NEWS

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Proud to provide window treatments for Farmlands shareholders throughout New Zealand.

FREE in-home style consultation, measure and quote 0800 808 300 russellscurtains.co.nz *Refer to our website for full Terms & Conditions.

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HORTICULTURE

Feeding your kiwifruit On average, a kiwifruit crop will remove around 6t/ha of dry matter from your orchard at harvest, taking with it a large quantity of vital nutrients. If they are not replaced annually, the vigour of the vines and volume/quality of the crop will decline over time.

Post-harvest (late May through July) is a good time to assess your

The key soil test information required and related target ranges are outlined below.

Target range

Comment

pH

5.8-6.5

Note that despite this target, pH levels of 6.2-6.5 are common in kiwifruit orchards and consistently high producing blocks need a pH of 6.5-6.9.

Olsen P

30-60mg/L

Vital for photosynthesis and plant metabolic processes.

Potassium

0.60-1.2me/100

Kiwifruit require relatively high levels of potassium to regulate many of the plant’s functions.

Calcium

6.0-12me/100

Calcium is needed throughout the growing season for root and shoot growth as well as cell wall development, which affects how well the fruit will store.

Magnesium

1.0-3.0me/100

A core component of chlorophyll and therefore vital for photosynthesis, which provides energy for plant and fruit development.

Sodium

0.0-0.40me/100

CEC

12-25me/100

Volume weight

0.60-1.0g/ml

orchard’s lime and fertiliser needs.

This means you can get lime on before pruning and before the ground gets too soft for machinery. It also allows you to fit a late-winter fertiliser application around pruning/mulching, so that nutrients are available to support spring growth. Avoid applying fertiliser 3 days either side of hydrogen cyanide spraying. It is also best practice not to apply fertiliser before a significant rain event, due to the environmental impact it may have.

Soil sampling should be done annually post-harvest but before bud burst. Try to sample at a similar time and place each year to help identify trends over time.

A sample involves taking 1520 cores from the root zone of the female vines (in a way that accurately represents the block you are testing) at a depth of 15cm.

Ballance Agri-Nutrients has many science-backed products that are well suited for kiwifruit as a latewinter dressing, depending on what

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If CEC is low, nutrients may be more inclined to leach from the soil. Compost or manure can help improve CEC.

your horticulture specialist prescribes

late November/early December,

within your annual nutritional plan.

depending on crop loading. A

Always use clean sampling equipment and bags and send to the laboratory as quickly as possible. Don’t allow samples to get warm or damp.

further small application of nitrogen

Apply a bud burst application of N, P, K and S at or close to bud break (around early September) to support new leaf/ shoot development. A high quality compound fertiliser such as YaraMila Complex is a great choice, as it has all nutrients contained in one granule/prill.

growing season to assess nutrient

A pre-flowering application of N and K in mid-October will support the vines through the demanding period over flowering and before fruit set.

here may differ depending on the

A further post-flowering application of sulphate of potash (K) and/or kieserite (Mg) may be required in

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

(N) may also be required.

Don’t forget that leaf samples can be taken and tested throughout the levels. This data may be used to adjust any further applications.

Do not overlook trace elements (micro-nutrients), as they are as important as macro-nutrients.

Note that application timings mentioned variety of kiwifruit in question.

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Advisor or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Article supplied by Ballance Agri-Nutrients.

THE FARMLANDER | 23

HORTICULTURE

Break N sure Test for KIWIfruit Supporte

d by

Zespri

Want to know the optimal time for a budbreak treatment?

The BreakNSure test will tell you.

BreakNSure Hayward and NEW G3 test Budbreak enhancers are used to stimulate early and uniform budbreak. Timing is crucial to achieving optimal results.

In close collaboration with Zespri, the BreakNSure test for kiwifruit has been developed to monitor the physiological status of your vines accurately.

This easy-to-use test enables you to determine the optimal moment for your budbreak treatment, thus optimising king flowers, fruit set, fruit quality and maturity. BreakNSure Hayward and G3 contributes to an optimal yield with test results provided within 48 hours.

Pre-register with NSure now to ensure there are no delays in receiving your BreakNSure test results.

Easy-to-use molecular test • Available for both Hayward kiwifruit and G3 • Practical sampling kit provided • Requires a few drops of juice from 25 buds • Analysis performed at Hill Laboratories

Here’s how growers who used BreakNSure test kits last season responded in a survey.

• 94.7% of Hayward growers would consider using the BreakNSure Gold test this season

www.farmlands.co.nz/nsure or scan here now.

To order your sampling kit or for more information, talk to your Technical Advisor or the team at your local Farmlands store.

0800 200 600 24 | THE FARMLANDER

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HORTICULTURE

New innovation in kiwifruit budbreaking Adequate winter chilling is an important factor for fruit production in New Zealand to condense the spread of bud break and maximise the amount of flowers per winter bud. Given the different geography of New Zealand, certain regions don’t often receive the optimum chilling conditions, so the need for a dormancy breaker is extremely important to initiate bud break.

And traditionally this has been the realm of hydrogen cyanamide.

As there is a shift with the world becoming more sustainably focused and consumers are aware of how their food is produced and are demanding softer chemistry, the need for alternative dormancy breaker options are becoming more and more important not only for the environment but for operators on the orchard floor, local communities, schools etc. Valagro provides an alternative dormancy breaker to hydrogen cyanamide, a bio-stimulant called Erger.

unfavourable weather conditions.

Supporting enzymatic activity – the presence of calcium in Erger can increase the enzyme activities, producing more energy (ATP) in the very last stage.

Stimulation of inorganic nitrogen metabolism – this can positively affect early and uniform bud break and also help with early vegetative development.

Promoting synthesis of gibberellins – gibberellins play an important role in cell division and stretching of meristems during the growth phase, leading to more development and growth rate of the shoot tip.

The increased level of gibberellin also counteracts the action of inhibitors of dormancy, such as abscisic acid and naringenin.

60

Table 1 shows the effect Erger can have as a dormancy breaker.

Stimulating respiration – monosaccharides and polysaccharides contained in Erger. During vegetative regrowth, the plant will increase its respiration rates and energy levels, even in the event of

Dormancy breakers are a specialist product, which require detailed understanding of plant physiology in relation to bud break. Timing is critical to optimise the result.

There is a good, better and best

Assessment 1

Assessment 2

Bud break (%)

Bud break (%)

Number of fruits per cane

Control

39.87 a

39.26 a

22.0 a

Early Erger application

49.47 b

41.34 a

27.8 a

Late Erger application

62.52 c

76.76 a

25.7 a

Erger 3

30

20

Means within the same column followed by the same letter do not differ significantly based on Tukey HSD at a=0.05.w Table 1. The higher yield on variety Hayward observed under early Erger application (approximately 40 days before natural bud break) was the result of the higher number of fruits per cane compared to both control and late Erger application.

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Erger 1

40

Table 1.

Treatments

Erger 2

50

These actions activate the natural processes to give the plant more of what it needs to “wake up”.

Erger works through four main actions:

Control

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Orchard A

Orchard B

Orchard C

Percentage of bud break observed per orchard.

Results of the G3 trial – Erger treatment three shows the best results at 38 days before natural bud break.

approach to application to maximise a dormancy breaker’s efficacy and this has been the Achille’s heel of the softer approach such as Erger, where there is a smaller application window and timing is critical.

Over the last 12 months there have been three study orchards in the Bay of Plenty region (Te Puke) on the variety G3. They consisted of three timing treatments each, one considered too early, one optimal, one too late. Buds were collected at different time points then sent to NSure to be analysed.

By using genetic testing there was a strong gene response in the plant during the periods of week 33 to 35, which correlated with the third treatment of Erger. From the results, the plant’s response from the third treatment was significantly better than both treatments one and two, as well as the control.

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Advisor or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Article supplied by Valagro.

THE FARMLANDER | 25

Works for you HORTICULTURE CO-OPERATIVE CO-OPERATIVE NEWS NEWS

Transportable homes for any location Bunnings Transportable Home range is designed and built off-site to be moved to the location of your choice. A fast and cost-effective alternative for difficult site conditions, there is a plan and style to suit any situation with spacious open-plan living and easy indoor/outdoor flow.

The Bunnings Transportable Home range offers the complete package from design through to the finishing touches. You can choose 2-bedrooms or go as large as a 4-bedroom home.

All designs have been rigorously reviewed to ensure they meet or exceed local building codes.

The frames are constructed from Laminated Veneer Lumber, making them stronger than conventional framing, with the cost advantages and sustainability of timber. The plans are fully quantity surveyed so you know, up front, what the costs will be. Our list of inclusions is one of the most comprehensive in the industry and, as a result, we can confidently give you a fixed price to build and finish a fully decorated home that you can simply move straight into.

26 | THE FARMLANDER

The Transportable Home range includes: • Frame & truss built using J-Frame • Coloursteel roofing • Knauf insulation • Stein showers • Kaboodle kitchens • Blanco appliances • HRV ventilation system For more information or to see what your exclusive shareholder price is call 09 279 7826 or talk to your local account manager. You can also talk to us at our Fieldays site where we’ll have the latest power tools, power garden equipment and so much more.

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

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HORTICULTURE

Why use a wind break?

Wind is one of the harshest weather conditions – it causes damage and creates havoc in the horticultural and agricultural field. Wind damages crops, leading to costly repairs and also puts plants under stress, which reduces the intake of quality fruit.

Installing a wind break can help protect crops and create a protection zone around your plants, reducing the high risk wind causes. Wind breaks are needed to filter the wind and not create a solid wall, which would create a turbulent effect on the other side.

There are two types of wind breaks – natural and artificial. With natural wind breaks, it takes time for these to grow to give you the protection you need and they can also contain diseases and pests.

With artificial wind breaks, there are many things to consider to ensure you get the full benefit.

wind break fences. This will ensure the wind is kept above your crop across the entire area being protected.

7 metres but again, it is important

Pole size is determined by the height and type of the windbreak being used.

For standard 2 metre to 4 metre high windbreak fences, pole sizes are usually between 125 and 175 S.E.D. For wind breaks higher than 4 metres, it is recommended that a pole size between 175 and 220 S.E.D be used. Ramming poles into the ground is recommended.

The depth required is not only dependent on the height and wind break material but also on the soil type.

Your poles need to be able to withstand the wind loading they will bear.

most common cause of wind break

Pole spacing is also dependant on pole size, the wind break type and especially the ground conditions. Average pole spacing is between 3.5 metres to

to get advice for your situation.

Battens and billow wires are the structure defects. Incorrectly installed, these can cause chaffing by rubbing against the material and over a short period of time the material will tear away from the structure. Battens must be clean shaven and the edges planed back to eliminate the sharp edges. If billow wires are required, it pays to consider the plastic coated option. Even though more expensive, they can pay off in the long run.

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Advisor or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Article supplied by Cosio Industries.

This includes ensuring you have a wind break that is right for the job, making sure it is at the correct height to give you the cover needed for full protection, making sure you have the correct pole size and spacing and ensuring it is installed correctly to reduce the risk of mechanical damage due to poor workmanship.

There are many different types of wind breaks with different wind porosities. It is important to have the correct wind break to filter the wind and not create turbulent air on the other side, which will cause damage – so get the right advice to evaluate what is the best for your situation.

Equally important is ensuring that you have the correct spacing between your

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THE FARMLANDER | 27

Works for you HORTICULTURE

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HORTICULTURE

Kiwifruit twine stringing Post-harvest will again be time to focus on cane management.

With kiwifruit only producing on new canes each year, new growth must be encouraged and nurtured. Gold kiwifruit, being a prolific fruiter, requires new canes to support a bigger crop.

Growing new canes vertically on strings reduces labour costs by eliminating specialist pruning and reduces guesswork because the old canes (only) not on the string require pruning. Essentially, when growing new canes vertically, separated from the old canes, there is less

risk of cutters accidentally cutting new cane. Additional advantages of enhanced light penetration assist increasing bud nodes, which are closer and provide an increased yield.

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Advisor or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Article supplied by Empak.

With kiwifruit’s vigorous vine growth and large biomass, it is key to choose a high break load twine such as Kiwi Twine to avoid strings breaking, at the same time being cost effective.

Kiwi Twine is made from extruded polypropylene and provides a strong, 33kg breaking strain, as well as being UV stabilised for New Zealand climatic conditions.

Bee-ing prepared Apiculture New Zealand is proud to be hosting their 2017 National Conference from 9th – 11th July at the Energy Events Centre in Rotorua.

With the theme of “Bee-ing Prepared: Business: Knowledge: Risk”, the conference is the perfect opportunity for attendees to learn, build knowledge and understand what makes the apiculture industry tick.

The conference offers informative and inspiring international guest speakers, including Randy Oliver

an outstanding tradeshow exhibition

The programme covers a full three days and is suitable for all beekeepers, non-commercial and commercial, packers, exporters and the wider supplier network.

– the largest ever assembled.

Farmlands is a silver sponsor of the

from the USA and Yves le Conte from France. There will also be seminars, interactive workshops and

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event and will be displaying some exciting new innovations and products.

For more information about the conference or to register, visit www.apicultureconference2017.co.nz

THE FARMLANDER | 29

Works for you RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE CO-OPERATIVE NEWS

WHEN YOUR ADVICE IS REALLY GOOD, EVERYONE LISTENS.

At FMG, we look after more rural New Zealanders than any other insurer. In fact, it’s something we’ve been doing for over 110 years now. So when it comes to offering specialist advice, like managing fire hazards on the farm, we like to think we know what we’re talking about. Ask around about us. Or better still call us directly on 0800 366 466.

We’re here for the good of the country.

30 | THE FARMLANDER

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RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Save feed and time when feeding your stock You’ve probably seen these revolutionary plastic bale feeders around the place and wondered – what’s the advantage? Being plastic, are they strong enough?

is not only the most innovative on

With no sharp edges and being sturdy

the market, it’s also the strongest.

and well made, the Round Bale Feeder

The UV protected plastic is sturdy

is stock friendly.

and tough but at the same time is

Ideal for cattle and horses, the

light enough to be moved by one

Round Bale Feeder is your ideal

Well, the answer is there are plenty of

person. You can roll it around, throw

solution for stock feeding.

advantages and yes, it is absolutely

it on the back of the ute or pick it

strong enough – they are not only

up with the forks on the tractor.

tough but lightweight and easy to use.

The Z shaped truss is one of the

The Promax Round Bale Feeder is

biggest advantages of the Promax

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

made up of four quarters, held together

Round Bale Feeder – it reduces

Article supplied by Promax Plastics.

with heavy duty, quick release lynch

wastage by up to 30 percent compared

pins. It’s called a round bale feeder but

to other feeders. This is because the

it can work for bales of any shape or

stock can’t pull the feed out. They

size because it’s modular – you just add

have to twist their heads through the

the curved panels and you can enlarge

Z shaped truss before backing out,

or reduce it as you want with the quick

leaving the feed to fall inside the feeder

release pins. You can even assemble

– not on the ground to be trampled.

it around a bale – it’s that easy!

This means the feeder soon pays

The Promax Round Bale Feeder

for itself by reducing wasted feed.

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Testimonial by Paul Ambler, fourth generation beef farmer.

THE FARMLANDER | 31

RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Mobile feeders taking the load off farmers’ backs Feeding calves each year can bring about a number of health and safety issues on-farm. Issues such as sore backs, aching arms or buckets of milk getting kicked over may be problems that need to be looked at on your farm.

self-clean within 3 minutes.

The MTF can be used for mixing

Stallion Plastics CEO and dairy

and feeding out colostrum and milk

farmer Grant Allen says the mobile

powder in pens and then feeding out

was designed after he noticed

in paddocks later in the season.

how much time it was taking to

For further information, contact your

feed the calves on his farm.

Farmlands Technical Field Officer

“It was taking my farm staff 2 Mobile feeders are designed to save time, save money on labour and reduce the back breaking work of feeding calves morning and night.

hours in the morning and 2 hours

A self-cleaning feeder such as Stallion Plastics’ Mixer, Tanker, Feeder (MTF) may save even more time – the tank, manifold and teats

hard going. Now it’s great, less than

in the afternoon just to transport

or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

milk and feed calves,” he says.

“No one wanted to do the job, it was an hour each time and easy to clean up at the end of the day. Everyone gets away on time, every time.”

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32 | THE FARMLANDER Farmlands

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RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Sizing farm culvert pipes

This article covers the sizing of culverts 110mm to 500mm in diameter.

Larger culverts will require a degree of engineering expertise along with possible resource consents. In these instances, a visit to your local regional council would be advisable.

Modern culvert pipes tend to be lightweight plastic, either PVC or twin-wall PE (polyethylene) pipe. Both are easy to transport and install and importantly have a smooth internal bore. PVC culverts have a larger bore for the given nominal diameter and a more precise socket, to stop joint seepage undermining when pipes are used in combination. PVC culvert pipes also exhibit excellent longitudinal rigidity, so are more resistant to slump if the trench base is less than ideal. A low spot in a culvert pipe will accumulate debris, as will internally corrugated culvert pipes.

Any reduction in the bore size caused by debris accumulation will make the culvert pipe more prone to being blown out during high water flows.

A strong weed spaying programme, cleaning out the culvert regularly for silt and vegetation build-up and using smooth bore culvert pipes will dramatically reduce blockage issues.

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Using an undersized culvert is a common mistake. It may appear to save money in the short-term but if the culvert fails, replacing it could cost up to four times more than the initial savings. As a rough guide, the larger the catchment area, the steeper the catchment, or higher the likelihood of high intensity storms – the larger the culvert pipe needs to be.

Pipe diameter (mm) 160 315 400 500

Catchment area (ha) 0.05 0.2 0.6 1.0

Most farmers will have a good idea of the culvert pipe diameter they require, as they’ve seen how much water can go through the culvert after heavy rainfall. In general, it’s more flow and cost effective to use one larger diameter culvert pipe than two of the next size down, i.e. 1 x 315mm culvert pipe will flow more than 2 x 250mm culvert pipes.

Example: 1 length of 315mm Farmtuff Culvert Pipe x 6 metre.

Step 1. Calculate hydraulic gradient: 303mm ID/6,000mm length = 0.05.

Step 2. Determine maximum flow for nominated pipe diameter. Locate 0.05 on flow chart Y-axis – go vertically up from that point to intersect Farmtuff 315mm then horizontally across to the X-axis to determine the flow in litres per second.

10,000

1,000

Flow (Litres per second)

It’s fair to say that farm culverts are “top of mind” for a lot of farmers for all the wrong reasons, given the recent major flooding around much of New Zealand. No one would suggest sizing a culvert pipe to cope with a one in 100 year rainfall event – here we seek to provide some guidance as to the correct sizing of farm culverts to deal with what is generally expected.

mm 500 mm 0 0 4 mm 315 mm

100

Alternatively, when dealing with a known flow requirement, using the pipeline length and fall to determine the hydraulic gradient will allow the correct pipe diameter to be selected using a flow chart.

1.

2.

250

mm

200

mm

160

10

mm

110

1.0 0.001

0.01

0.05

0.1

1.0

10

Hydraulic gradient

For good long-term performance, getting the culvert pipe diameter correct is very important but equally so is correct installation and having an ongoing culvert maintenance plan.

For further information on culvert pipe selection or other rural pipeline matters, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

| 1. Farmtuff culvert pipe. 2. Nexus culvert pipe.

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

Article supplied by Iplex Pipelines.

THE FARMLANDER | 33

Works for you NUTRITION

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Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

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NUTRITION

Feeding hens through winter and into the new laying period With the onset of winter and decreasing day length, laying hens will often undergo a moult. This is a normal process for chickens, which generally moult once a year.

During this period, egg production will decrease and may even stop, as hens partition nutrients to feather regeneration rather than egg production. While hens generally grow new feathers over about 8 weeks, egg production doesn’t typically start again until after day length has increased to over 12 hours. This means that without artificial lighting in the hen house, egg production in backyard hens will be limited through until late September or October in many parts of New Zealand.

Looking after your hens during a moult and subsequent off-lay period is just as important as looking after them well when they are in lay. Providing a good quality, well balanced feed is essential to help restore muscle mass and support future egg production. Ensuring an

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adequate but not excessive supply of calcium and phosphorus is essential if the hen is to restore bone mass lost over the laying period. Feeding the correct feed when your hens are off the lay will help ensure production of quality eggs with strong shells in the subsequent laying period. Designed to support frame and bone development in non-laying birds without supplying excess energy, NRM Pullet Grower is ideal for hens that are going through a moult and while they are not in lay.

If egg shell integrity is to be maintained once hens start laying again, it is important to feed a high quality laying hen feed with good levels of calcium to support shell quality as soon as lay recommences. NRM Peck ‘n Lay is specifically formulated with quality ingredients to provide balanced levels of the essential nutrients that hens require to support egg production.

Free ranging hens can be exposed to a range of gut health challenges. Any damage of the gut lining will result in reduced ability of the hen to efficiently

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

utilise nutrients in her feed. Although we often tend to think of this effect in terms of energy and protein utilisation, poor gut health will also affect the uptake of essential minerals such as calcium and importantly for laying hens the uptake of those pigments in the feed that give egg yolks their rich golden colour. To help support gut health and aid in protecting against gut pathogens, NRM Peck’n’Lay contains specifically selected organic acids and essential oils. For older hens that have been through a moult or high producing hens, supporting gut health is particularly important.

Choosing an appropriate feed for the age and stage of production of your hens is important if you want to ensure ongoing production of great tasting fresh eggs with rich, golden yolks.

For further information or advice on the best option for your birds, contact your NRM Feed Specialist or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Article supplied by Natalie Chrystal, Nutritionist, NRM.

THE FARMLANDER | 35

FEED TO SUCCEED

Nutrition advice? Listen to the experts.

Nobody is closer to your animals than you – and nobody understands their unique nutrition needs more than our qualified NRM nutritionists. It’s their expertise that make our range of feeds some of the most scientifically advanced in the market. Plus having nationwide access to their in-depth knowledge will support your understanding of animal nutrition to improve the productivity and profitability of your farming operation.

To arrange an on-farm visit, contact your local Technical Field Officer or call 0800 380 800.

36 | THE FARMLANDER

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

FEED TO SUCCEED

0800 800 380 www.nrm.co.nz

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NUTRITION

Building immunity to avoid winter illness The occurrence of equine colds and viruses generally increases along with the dropping temperatures and increased rain (and snow in some places) associated with a typical New Zealand winter. Along with various other management factors such as providing shelter and isolating any sick horses to avoid contamination, there are numerous dietary adjustments that can be made to support the equine immune system and prevent illness occurring.

The foundation of all horses’ diets should be forage and in most cases this provides the majority of the required nutrients for a horse at maintenance or in light work. Performance or breeding horses being provided a balanced formulated feed at the right levels, in conjunction with the required amount of forage, should also be meeting nutrient requirements easily. However, some nutrients play vital roles in preventing sickness occurring and should be considered to be provided at higher levels at this time of the year.

Protein is well known for providing the building blocks needed for muscle

WWW.FARMLANDS.CO.NZ

and connective tissue maintenance

In many cases it is the lack of

and repair, however it also plays an

fresh pasture and turnout time that

important role in producing enzymes

can contribute to a compromised

and antibodies required to fight

immunity, as grass can become

infection. High quality protein sources

scarce throughout winter and many

will provide the correct ratio of amino

people increase the amount of time

acids the equine body requires, with

the horse spends indoors. As well

especially higher amounts of essential

as the benefits of grass, time in the

amino acids such as methionine,

paddock interacting with other equine

lysine and threonine, which horses

friends can considerably improve

are unable to synthesise themselves.

stress levels in some horses that can

Selenium and vitamin E both play an

also help to avoid a drop in immunity.

important role in immune support,

While the lack of fresh pasture can

working together as powerful

often not be avoided, nutrients can be

antioxidants to neutralise free

easily and conveniently added to the

radicals and support the production

diet through feeding increased amounts

of antibodies. When selecting feeds

of well fortified and balanced feeds. For

and supplements containing vitamin

horses that do not require additional

E, it is important to consider that

energy, balancer pellets such as NRM

natural source vitamin E is absorbed

Equine Balancer are extremely useful

more easily than synthetic forms.

for increasing nutrients, including

Vitamin A plays an important role

protein, selenium, vitamin A and natural

in enhancing the function of white

vitamin E, without the calories.

blood cells that are on the front line of

For further assistance with providing a balanced diet to assist with immunity, consult an experienced Equine Nutrition Advisor.

immune response. Green plants supply beta carotene, which is used in the horse’s body to produce vitamin A, so a paddock of fresh pasture is a great way to increase vitamin A consumption.

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | Š June 2017. All rights reserved.

Article supplied by Luisa Wood, Equine Nutrition Technical Advisor, Farmlands.

THE FARMLANDER | 37

NUTRITION

Vitamins in the ruminant diet Vitamins – important for animals all year round but even more important for animals coming out of a long, dark winter with low vitamin status and the approaching stress of parturition and lactation.

normal requirements can sometimes

Vitamins are organic compounds used

For this reason conserved forages and

in physiological functions in the body

mature standing forages tend to be

and are vital nutrients that animals

lower in vitamins than younger forage.

require in limited amounts. Vitamin

Some vitamins are produced by

nutrition is a small part of the complete

rumen microorganisms (particularly

nutrition of an animal – however the

the B vitamins). This means that

correct vitamin balance is essential

when a ruminant animal has a well-

for maintaining normal body function

functioning rumen, supplementation

to support growth, performance,

of some vitamins can become less

immunity and fertility requirements.

important – however for ruminants

An increased supply of vitamins above

that are high producers, under stress

38 | THE FARMLANDER

have positive effects on animal health such as improved immune status or hoof quality. Vitamins are prone to degradation over time in feedstuffs, particularly when exposed to sunlight.

conditions, or experiencing health issues that may impact on rumen functionality, vitamin supplementation becomes more important. Immature ruminants with rumens that are not fully developed will require additional vitamin supplementation due to lower production of vitamins by the rumen microorganisms, which is why vitamins can often be found in high quality calf milk replacers and hard feed options.

Vitamins can also be particularly important around certain times of the season for mature ruminants such as during mating or late pregnancy. Late pregnancy in particular is a time when a dam’s immunity is naturally suppressed in preparation for parturition, so vitamin

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NUTRITION

supplementation during this period can be particularly beneficial for both dam and offspring. Some feeds are known to be low in certain vitamins, which can increase supplementation

requirements if included in the diet. To date 15 vitamins have been identified in the natural world – however only the most important vitamins in relation to ruminant nutrition are covered below.

For further information, contact your local Nutrition Specialist.

Article supplied by Stacey Cosnett, Assistant Nutritionist, Farmlands.

Vitamins particularly important in ruminant nutrition and their functionalities and deficiencies.

Vitamin

Function

Symptom if deficient

Supplementation (check with a vet or supplier)

Additional information

Vitamin A

Important for good eye sight (especially at low light levels) and maintaining integrity of mucosal cells, which are the first defence against invading organisms.

Night blindness and susceptibility to infections.

Reproductive issues including abortions, retained membranes, birth of blind/weakened calves.

Extra supplementation may be beneficial around mating for improved fertility or if low quality forage makes up a large part of the diet.

The main precursor to vitamin A is beta-carotene, which is found in plant matter. Low quality forage has lower betacarotene levels and when fed may require additional vitamin A supplementation.

Vitamin D

Involved in calcium and phosphorous homeostasis. Important for growth of teeth and bones.

Reduced appetite, poor bone health, rickets/bowed legs in young animals.

Most feeds contain the “provitamins” to vitamin D, which require UV light to convert to the active form. Supplementation is more important in young ruminants who are growing frame.

Known as the “sunshine vitamin” as it can be converted into its active form by UV light.

May become deficient when sunlight levels are low for extended periods of time, e.g. winter housed stock.

Vitamin E

Major function as an antioxidant and free radical scavenger (free radicals inhibit the action of certain enzymes and damage cellular membranes).

White muscle disease in growing animals.

Cystic ovaries, retained membranes and possibly increased risk of mastitis.

Poor immune function.

Supplementation is more important for stressed animals and during mating and late pregnancy.

Young ruminants may require supplementation.

Some functions of vitamin E can be fulfilled in part by selenium but they are not totally interchangeable.

Vitamin K

Involved in normal blood coagulation.

Impaired blood coagulation, haemorrhaging.

Generally produced in adequate amounts by rumen microbes in mature ruminants.

Supplementation more important in immature ruminants/mature ruminants with poor rumen health.

Vitamin B12

Involved in energy metabolism, blood formation and the nervous system.

Important in metabolism of propionic acid in the rumen.

Loss of appetite, body condition loss, poor clearance of propionate from the blood.

Generally produced in adequate amounts by rumen microbes in mature ruminants but is worthwhile supplementing for young ruminants.

Supplementation is more important in immature ruminants and mature ruminants with poor rumen health. Can be useful to supplement animals recovering from sickness as it helps stimulate appetite.

Biotin (Vitamin H)

Plays a critical role in hoof, skin, hair and horn health.

Poor hoof health, increased lameness. Brittle horns, alopecia (loss of hair).

Can be included in the diet if lameness is an issue as it helps to harden new growth of the hoof.

It takes time to improve hoof quality as it only improves the quality of the newly grown hoof, so is no quick fix to lameness issues.

Choline

Important in fat metabolism.

Ketosis, fatty liver disease.

Supplement as choline chloride.

Can help to reduce ketosis in early lactation.

May be important for animals in very good condition around calving to decrease ketosis risk.

Thiamin (B1)

Involved in carbohydrate metabolism and nerve transmission.

Poor leg co-ordination, retraction of head, polioencephalomalacia (PEM).

Generally produced in adequate amounts by rumen microbes in mature ruminants.

Supplementation more important in immature ruminants/mature ruminants with poor rumen health.

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THE FARMLANDER | 39

Works for you NUTRITION

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NUTRITION

Calf rearing tips on screen Farmlands’ commitment to supporting shareholders and promoting animal welfare has inspired the production of a series of video clips focusing on calf feeding and management, which will be available on our website this month.

Thanks to Doug and Dave Turner and

Karen Fraser’s calf rearing series in The Farmlander, in which she shared her experience as the Young Stock Manager at Rakaia Island, was well received last year. Feedback from readers highlighted that with so many new entrants to the industry annually, there is a need to bring staff up to speed as quickly as possible in a hectic season.

regular readers the chance to put a

their team at Rakaia Island, some of their best practices were recorded during what turned out to be a cold spring in mid-Canterbury. The videos will offer something to both new and experienced calf rearers and will give face to Karen Fraser and Farmlands’ Assistant Nutritionist Stacey Cosnett.

The videos follow the calf rearing process from picking up newborn calves in the paddock through to weighing weaned calves. Special attention is made to the care of bobby calves and colostrum feeding. Viewers will gain valuable insight into tasks such as hard feeding, housing and grazing management. Karen also provides some great advice on comfort food when the going gets tough.

To give another perspective from the beef calf rearer’s viewpoint, Stacey was also filmed with part-time commercial calf rearer and Farmlands Nutrition Specialist David “Rabby” Fairhall from South Canterbury. Rabby’s advice on mixing milk powder is worthwhile for anyone who wants to reduce the risk of

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Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

poorly mixed milk replacer. As someone who has bought and reared calves to 100kg and beyond successfully, his thoughts on calf selection and transport provide great insight for anyone contemplating the season ahead.

For further information, check out the videos online or contact your local Nutrition Specialist.

Article supplied by Dr Rob Derrick, Nutritionist, Farmlands Nutrition.

THE FARMLANDER | 41

DAIRY MANAGEMENT

FREE MILK FILTER! Receive a FREE PACK OF MILK FILTERS when you spend over $600 on Skellerup Milk Liners at Farmlands between 1st May and 31st August 2017*

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Promotion period 1st May – 31st August 2017.

42 | THE FARMLANDER

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DAIRY MANAGEMENT

Best practice, best yield Now is the time to start planning annual maintenance for your dairy plant and fittings. As a rule of thumb, any rubberware that touches milk should be changed once a year.

Most dairy rubberware is designed to take a lot of punishment and it needs to be. As soon as it is installed in your plant, its surface strength and integrity comes under daily attack from a wide range of environmental challenges, including milk, detergents, sanitisers, milkstone removers, ozone, UV light and variable temperatures. Best practice for dairy rubberware includes replacement before any splits or severe perishing is seen on the outside.

The very first item on the list should be your milking liners. Old liners can waste energy, cause grades and damage cows. They are one of the single biggest factors influencing milk production and they are also one of the most economical things to replace.

Unlike tubing, liners come in direct contact with the cow, so rough, ill-fitting surfaces on the inside affect not only milk quality and milking efficiency but also teat health and cow comfort.

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Worn out liners cost time and energy, damage cows and increase the chance of bacterial grades, mastitis and elevated bulk milk somatic cell counts (BMSCC) if they are not replaced at recommended intervals (i.e. every 2,500 milkings), Skellerup National Manager Perry Davis says.

milk fat and cleaning compounds.”

Changing liners now means you’ll get a flying start to the next season, with no worries about sacrificing milking performance through worn out rubberware.

problems with cup slippage. This also

Tubing looks perfectly fine outwardly, for example but can be eroded and pitted where the interior surface comes into contact with milk and farmers may have no reason to suspect there’s a risk associated with it until a milk quality problem crops up.

“That’s why we support the best practice of replacing all rubberware that touches milk every year, rather than waiting until you see signs of splits, wear or perishing on the outside,” Perry says. “Tubing is particularly vulnerable.

By the time you see or feel cause for concern externally, the inside has almost always been well damaged by

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

While farmers are paying attention to their milk tubing, air tubing needs to be checked too, as do claw and pulse tubes. Perry advises farmers to look for splits and holes – these can cause loss of vacuum in the system, changing pulsation characteristics and increasing reduces milking performance, leading to a longer and/or incomplete milk out.

As a general rule, air tubing can last longer than milk tubing but should be routinely replaced every 2 years.

“It might seem like a bit of a chore but following a simple maintenance and replacement schedule for all dairy rubberware helps farmers remain efficient and productive for a relatively low outlay. Plus it gives peace of mind – you don’t need to worry about problems you can’t see coming if you know your plant is well-maintained.”

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Article supplied by Skellerup.

THE FARMLANDER | 43

DAIRY MANAGEMENT

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Goods available from 1st - 30th June 2017. While stocks last.

44 | THE FARMLANDER

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DAIRY MANAGEMENT

Best practice in teat care works out to be more cost effective Milking 480 cows with the help of lower order sharemilkers, South Taranaki dairy farmer Mike Eggink recently installed a new shed with an automatic teat sprayer. At the same time, he also implemented a tailored teat care programme.

Craig became involved, we don’t do

Mike enlisted the help of GEA’s FIL Area Manager, Craig Allen to implement the teat care programme and his team have learned the importance of using the right product for their situation and sticking to the rules when it comes to mixing rates.

has made their teat care programme

“Craig has been excellent value to our business,” Mike says. “He works closely with our team to ensure we’re using the right stuff and mixing to the right rates. And, because he takes the time to educate us, we make informed decisions. For example, we used to think we were better off to boost the amount of teat spray we were using during periods of high risk. Since

that. In fact, we’re using less teat spray solution than we did before.”

Mike says that just being more aware of best practice, plus the added benefit of a new shed and automatic teat sprayer (calibrated by Craig) a whole lot more cost effective.

“Plus we’re maintaining good teat condition year round.”

Mike also notes that his somatic cell count is on target for 100,000 or below this season.

“I believe these good results are due to a combination of the new milking system and the support we get from the GEA’s FIL team.”

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Article supplied by GEA FIL. | South Taranaki dairy farmer, Mike Eggink.

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THE FARMLANDER | 45

Works for you DAIRY MANAGEMENT

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DAIRY MANAGEMENT

Transition cow feeding and management A significant proportion of any herd’s health and welfare costs can come from the 3 weeks pre-calving to the 3 weeks postcalving. This is the period where the cow lays down the building blocks for the coming lactation, so minimising metabolic disease and implementing a system to reduce negative energy balance and maximise post-calving dry matter intakes can be very profitable.

Poor feeding and management during the transition period can result in a host of problems around calving such

for sub-clinical milk fever, which by

Quality feed management is key

as dystocia (difficult calving), retained

its nature is very difficult to see and

but we must also remember that

placenta, milk fever (hypocalcaemia),

treat but can have a similar effect.

cows are ruminants and stimulating

grass staggers (hypomagnesaemia),

Dietary cation anion difference (DCAD)

rumen health can help to increase

rapid weight loss and ketosis.

is a nutritional method of stimulating

both dry matter intakes but also

Many of these issues are related

the cow’s own metabolism of calcium

fibre utilisation. Levucell SC is a

as one may lead to manifestation

reserves used all over the world. Low

rumen specific live yeast proven to

of the other conditions, often as a

DCAD diets can increase calcium

both increase rumen pH through

result of reduced feed intakes.

utilisation and reduce milk fever, both

challenging conditions and increase

Feed intake tends to decline as calving

clinical and sub-clinical. However in

approaches and does not peak until

New Zealand we often feed high DCAD

about 10 to 12 weeks after calving. This

diets made up of pasture and grass

is the opposite of cow requirements,

silage, as opposed to low DCAD diets

as nutrient demands increase rapidly

such as maize silage, wholecrop silage,

in the last 2 months of pregnancy

hay and straw. Nutritech International

and cows achieve peak milk yields

has developed a low DCAD product

about 6 to 8 weeks after calving. Any

called Springer Cow Balancer, which

calving or metabolic issues can be

is made up of a blend of anionic salts

the final insult, resulting in downer

that reduces dietary DCAD more so

cows and the consequent effects.

than a more traditional approach

For example when a cow experiences

of feeding magnesium chloride or

a case of milk fever, it is then far

sulphate. The lower DCAD diets can

more likely to experience ketosis

increase calcium mobilisation and

(negative energy balance), displaced

help to reduce milk fever issues.

abomasum (twisted stomach), retained

Another common metabolic disease

cleansings and even higher cell

is ketosis, caused by severe negative

counts. The same can also be said

energy balance in early lactation.

WWW.FARMLANDS.CO.NZ

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

fibre digestibility, which can help cows adjust to an early lactation diet.

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Article supplied by Nutritech.

THE FARMLANDER | 47

FORAGE AND ARABLE

r e e n o i P e s a h c r u P ur passport close ! aAnNdD keep you !

Order your Pioneer Maize Seed this winter and go in the draw to WIN

$10,000 worth of travel!

Double your chances Add Ballance fertiliser to your order and one entry becomes two.

PLUS be in to WIN 1 of 75 UE Booms!

FAR_06632 _

Talk to your Farmlands Technical Field Officer orr vvisit o isit your your llocal ocal store store today. today.

Terms and Conditions apply. Promotion is valid for Pioneer Maize Seed and Ballance fertiliser ordered before 31st July 2017. Number of entries into the prize draw is based on quantity of products purchased, for further information see www.farmlands.co.nz. Prizes: To qualify for a prize, seed and fertiliser must be uplifted by 31st October. Prize draw will take place on or after 10th November 2017. Limit 1 prize per shareholder Account.

48 | THE FARMLANDER

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | Š June 2017. All rights reserved.

WWW.FARMLANDS.CO.NZ

FORAGE AND ARABLE

Maize silage for beef Maize silage is a major component in beef cattle diets in many countries throughout the world. It is a great complement to pasture and has an excellent place in Kiwi beef farm systems. Beef farmers can use maize silage to:

2. Intensify beef operations. Typically

1. Maintain high weight gains throughout the year. Keeping animals growing at a steady rate improves feed use efficiency, as it takes a shorter period of time to reach slaughter weight and less feed is used for maintenance (Table 1).

3. Ensure cows and heifers meet

Table 1: Amount of feed required for a 200kg liveweight gain at different animal growth rates.

beef pasture yields less than

premiums. With a stack of maize

12tDM/ha each year. A maize silage

silage on hand, farmers can be

crop followed by a winter crop or

confident they can put weight on

pasture can produce twice as much

animals regardless of the weather.

feed, allowing more animals to be

Farmers can plan to sell animals

taken through to higher weights.

when the schedule is at a peak

0.5

200

400

400

2,400

1.0

200

400

200

1,600

(e.g. in the late winter). Alternatively,

condition score targets. Meeting

they can secure contracts for a

beef cow condition score targets

reliable supply of animals of a set

is important to ensure good

carcass weight throughout the year.

reproductive performance and

Hastings based Farmlands Technical

high calf weaning weights. The

Field Officer, Craig McKinnon

energy in carbohydrate-rich maize

says that he has a few clients

silage is used 50 percent more

feeding maize silage to beef cattle.

efficiently for condition score gain

“The cattle always come out of

than the energy in autumn pasture.

the winter looking fantastic.”

4. Help weatherproof beef farm systems. Keeping a stack of

Time to Growth Initial Final Total feed reach rate weight weight requirement final (kg/day) (kg) (kg) weight (kgDM) (days)

5. Capitalise on beef schedule

maize silage on hand allows beef farmers to reduce the impact of adverse weather effects. This

For further information on how maize silage can fit into your beef system, talk to your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

includes keeping weight on capital stock such as bulls and breeding

Article supplied by Pioneer brand products.

cows as well as maintaining

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young stock growth rates.

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

THE FARMLANDER | 49

ANIMAL MANAGEMENT

Match the treatment to the need Last summer saw a massive difference in the weather conditions across different parts of New Zealand. The west coasts of both islands and the central North Island were particularly wet and the east coast and Northland were very dry. This means that stock condition, feed levels and parasite challenge around lambing in each of these areas will be very different. The decision whether you need to treat ewes with a pre-lamb drench and what drench product to use will also vary.

One factor that should be consistent across all regions is the need to protect ewes and lambs from sudden death due to clostridial infection.

Vaccinating with a multi-component vaccine such as Lifeguard® 5 in 1 should be routine on all farms. Every ewe should be vaccinated every year to prevent unexpected deaths. This will also ensure new-born lambs receive colostrum with high levels of antibodies against diseases such as pulpy kidney and tetanus. Preventing the loss of just one pregnant ewe makes vaccinating 500 ewes worthwhile based on a cost-benefit analysis.

Choosing whether or not to drench and with what product is harder to decide. The first question you need to ask is, “will the ewes be exposed to high parasite larval challenge or not”?

Consistently wet areas are more likely to have higher larval challenge than areas that have experienced an extended dry period. The need to protect the ewes from parasite challenge and the benefit of doing so is

50 | THE FARMLANDER

likely to be greater in the wetter areas.

The use of faecal egg counts (FEC) taken from the ewes at scanning and pre-lamb can be useful when making this decision. If ewes have high egg counts at scanning then the use of a long-acting product such as Cydectin® Long Acting Injection for Sheep would be a good choice. This means the ewes can be treated 2 months prior to lambing with the benefit of not having to fight off parasites during late pregnancy and early lactation. Trials have shown that twin ewes treated pre-lamb with Cydectin Long Acting Injection for Sheep can be more than 3.2kg heavier than untreated twin ewes at weaning1,2.

Ewes that are not exposed to significant parasite challenge but are in poor condition or will be grazing low pasture covers over lambing can be susceptible to parasite reinfection as their immunity decreases around lambing. This can result in an increase in the egg count over lambing and subsequent pasture contamination.

Ewes from drought affected areas may fall into this group. Use of a shorteracting product that works over the immediate lambing period may be more appropriate and cost effective for these ewes. Eweguard® is a convenient option in these circumstances as it prevents reinfection from Teladorsagia (Ostertagia) circumcincta for at least 35 days and also contains a 6 in 1 vaccine, which means only one injection is required rather than two. Field trials have shown that ewes treated with Eweguard prior to lambing were on average 2.2kg heavier and produced up to 5kg more liveweight of lamb than

untreated ewes at weaning, resulting in a net return of $10.61 per ewe3.

Trials have shown that the production responses achieved with pre-lamb drench products can be highly variable between farms. They have also shown that use of these products can increase the rate at which drench resistance can develop. Therefore not all ewes should be treated for parasites and advice should be sought from your animal health professional as to the best drench plan for your farm.

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

1 Miller, C. M., Ganesh, S., Garland, C. B. and Leathwick, D. M. Production benefits from pre- and post-lambing anthelmintic treatment of ewes on commercial farms in the southern North Island of New Zealand. New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 63, 211-219, 2015.

2

Bingham, C. Comparison of the production effects of two different long acting pre-lamb treatments in poor conditioned twin bearing ewes. Proc. of Soc. of Sheep and Beef Cattle Vets, NZVA, 2016.

3

Zoetis data on file.

Cydectin, Eweguard and Lifeguard are registered trade marks of Zoetis Inc. or its subsidiaries. ACVM No. A7302, A9122, A9659, A9926, A11146 and A11147.

Article supplied by Zoetis.

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

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ANIMAL MANAGEMENT

Scales weigh up with new technology A “start from scratch” mentality has resulted in a new range of weigh scales designed to be extremely robust, tough in a harsh operating environment, water repellent and capable of taking the knocks typical in the field.

A device like weigh scales may not be used frequently by all farmers. This could mean they forget how to use them, making the experience each time frustrating and time consuming.

Trying to extract information from scales and linking it to other systems also proved clumsy and put into the “too hard” basket.

The research and development team at Gallagher went back to the beginning, heading up rural driveways to discover what farmers needed in

the modern age. Taking inspiration from smart phones, the result is the TW-1 and TW-3 weigh scales.

The scales represent a complete rework of the company’s stock weighing systems, until now served by both the robust W610 and W810 models and the TSi integrated scale range.

“We were looking for a complete redesign from the ground up,” Gallagher Product Manager Dan Loughnane says. “We wanted a design that recognised how farmers interact with equipment. Touch screens are part of their daily lives now, with smart phones and tablets with simple user interfaces, and we wanted to deliver a new generation of scales that shared that simple interface.”

A key focus for the designers was user experience. Often packing multiple features into a specialist piece of equipment like weigh scales requires a complex menu, with options that can be confusing to navigate.

“Farmers told us they often only use 20% of the functionality in equipment and devices, because of complexity, so we spent considerable time developing a very friendly user interface,” Dan says.

Repeated trips out to farmers to test and re-retest improvements resulted in a more intuitive screen interface, from initial scale setup to final weigh data download. The touch screens have full colour display, delivering maximum screen visibility regardless of sunlight conditions.

Tensuring every step of the scales’ operation is easily understood with help options embedded

WWW.FARMLANDS.CO.NZ

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

throughout, doing away with the need for an instruction manual.

“The steps are very logical and give the operator every chance to work out where to go next.”

The TW scales software is designed to connect simply and quickly to load bars and readers regardless of what brand they may be. Connectivity is now crucial on all farm devices and the scales connect direct to Gallagher’s own Animal Performance Software (APS) system.

APS provides easy access to reports on individual animal information, offering timely analysis and understanding of individual and mob performance. All data recorded in the field can be directly uploaded into the APS software, doing away with the one thing farmers hate the most – having to enter data twice.

The TW-1 is ideally suited for farmers already using livestock EID and is capable of weighing and drafting by average daily gain, and drafting on weight ranges.

“It is ideal for finishers and graziers wanting to maximise weight gain, manage poor performers and maximise profit per hectare,” Dan says.

The TW-3 has all the capability of the TW-1, plus the ability to record animal traits, including ownership, breed, sex or age, and the ability to draft the animal based on the recorded traits.

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Article supplied by Gallagher.

THE FARMLANDER | 51

Works for you ANIMAL MANAGEMENT

2015-2016

PLUS EXCLUSIVE FARMLANDS PRICING ON AGRICULTURAL TYRES.†

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52 | THE FARMLANDER

bridgestonetyres.co.nz

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ANIMAL MANAGEMENT

Getting pre-lamb vaccination right for your farm It is common knowledge that it’s critical to set ewes up well ahead of lambing – pre-lamb vaccination, pre-drenching and winter/prelamb shearing being some of the common tasks to manage. It’s also common knowledge that the first milking colostrum (“liquid gold”) provides vital protective antibodies and nutrients.

the flock 2 weeks ahead of lambing,

Lambs are born with no antibodies, so they depend on these protective antibodies from their dams’ colostrum.

The more antibodies they receive, the higher their chances of survival if they face disease challenge (for example from diseases like tetanus or pulpy kidney). It is therefore vital to get pre-lamb vaccination right – both with timing and the level of antibodies produced.

the lambs for up to 12 weeks.

With timing it’s about stimulating the ewe at the right time, so her antibody levels peak when forming her colostrum. Ideally this is about 2 weeks ahead of lambing but different farms have different management systems and lambing spread varies, so the flexibility to vaccinate earlier can be important.

For antibody levels, it’s about ensuring sufficient antibodies are available for transfer into the lamb(s). How much is sufficient can vary depending on whether a ewe has one, two or three lambs suckling and how much disease challenge a lamb may face.

So, if it is convenient to vaccinate

WWW.FARMLANDS.CO.NZ

you have a large amount of single bearing ewes and historically

Nilvax can also be suitable as a short-acting, priming drench ahead of pre-lamb capsules.

your farm has shown low disease challenge (e.g. low lamb losses) Wheather Nilvax or Multine is the right choice for your farm is up to you. To make your ideal choice easy, ask yourself these four simple questions:

then you may choose a pre-lamb 5 ®

in 1 vaccine like Multine . Multine gives a good antibody response, is only used closer to lambing (2-4 weeks) and provides protection for

1. Do I have multiplebearing ewes?

However, if your flock has a higher

2. Do I like/need the convenience of greater flexibility?

number of multiple bearing ewes, or you vaccinate earlier (for example,

3. Do I want longer protection of lambs, through to weaning?

to reduce the likelihood of sleepy sickness), or you want longer protection of lambs to reduce losses through until

4. Do I use capsules at pre-lamb?

weaning (e.g. pulpy kidney deaths)

If your answer is “yes” to any one of these then Nilvax is the better choice for you at pre-lamb.

then Nilvax® would be a much better choice for your farm. Nilvax is a unique vaccine, formulated from a 5 in 1 plus

If you answered “no” to all, then Nilvax probably offers more than you want – so Multine would be a great choice.

an immune booster – levamisole.

Used at pre-lamb, Nilvax boosts the protective antibody levels of ewes, preparing them to produce antibody-rich colostrum available to their lambs. With Nilvax: • more ewes respond with higher antibody levels than with other 5 in 1 vaccines1 • higher antibody levels provide protection for up to 16 weeks, 4 weeks longer than other 5 in 1 vaccines2

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

1.

Pre-lamb vaccination – comparing apples with apples. J. R. Moffat. Society of Sheep and Beef Cattle Veterinarians, NZVA 2004.

2.

ACVM Approved Label, Nilvax A3977, Multine A934.

Article supplied by Coopers Animal Health.

• vaccination can also happen earlier – from 6 weeks pre-lamb, 2 weeks earlier than other 5 in 1 vaccines2

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

THE FARMLANDER | 53

Works for you CO-OPERATIVE CO-OPERATIVENEWS NEWS

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54 | THE FARMLANDER

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FARMLANDS FUEL

Fuel tank signage If your fuel tank contains more than 250 litres of petrol or more than 1,000 litres of diesel, safety signage is required.

Bulk fuel stored on farms is required

Safety signage refers to the signs that are in place to draw attention to objects, situations or substances that might affect our safety or wellbeing.

As a rule, safety signage falls into one of the following categories:

action code that informs the emergency

• Prohibition signs (e.g. No Smoking) • Mandatory signs (e.g. Hearing protection must be worn) • Hazard signs (e.g. Forklift in use)

to have the correct signage in place, ideally detailing the Hazchem code.

The Hazchem code is the emergency response team what precautions or actions are required to deal with emergencies like spills, leaks or fire.

• Describe the precautions needed to safely manage the substance.

• Note the actions to be taken in an emergency.

• Identify appropriate emergency response agency(s) or personnel and the means of contacting them.

• Advise that the location (or

• Be able to be read from a distance of 10m and be easily understood.

storage facility) contains

• Be at least 29cm by 42cm in size.

In general, signs must:

hazardous substances.

• Describe the hazardous property and nature of the hazard(s) of the substance.

Self-adhesive signs for your tank can be purchased through Farmlands Fuel. For further information, contact our friendly team on 0800 666 626.

• Emergency information signs (e.g. First aid kit)

Petrol

Diesel

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THE FARMLANDER | 55

56 | THE FARMLANDER

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

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CO-OPERATIVE NEWS

Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award winner breaks down walls Auckland’s Jill Godwin was the overall winner of the 2017 Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award with her topical entry The No.8 Wire Lettering System: Fences vs Walls.

The annual competition, partnered by Farmlands and managed by Waikato Museum, challenges artists to forge No.8 wire and other agricultural products into sculptural artworks.

Fences vs Walls was one of 28 finalists in the running for the major prize of $7,000, with the judge, art academic and sculpture expert Dr. Robin Woodward, praising Jill’s “down-to-Earth Kiwi-ness”.

“It tells the world where New Zealanders stand and what we are all about as a society,” Robin says.

“We need No.8 wire for all sorts of things not least of all is a fence. But in New Zealand we don’t need a wall.”

Gaye Jurisich from Hamilton was the runner-up for her sculpture For Suzette, while Warkworth-based John Mulholland placed third for his work It’s a bloody lifesaver.

Robin says the exhibition is a reflection of what matters to New Zealand artists and communities. “Some of the entrants in this year’s Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award might feel they are a world apart from such icons of New Zealand art as Colin McCahon and Ralph Hotere – but the themes that inform the work of major New Zealand artists run deep. They resurface again here in many of the works in the exhibition.

WWW.FARMLANDS.CO.NZ

| Jill Godwin with her work Fence vs Walls.

“Competitions such as this are important barometers of the health of our communities. They are indicators of what New Zealanders are thinking about as well as being an expression of creativity. What we see here in the finalists of the Fieldays 2017 No.8 Wire National Art Award is art that taps a deep well of creativity in New Zealanders.”

Once again, New Zealand National Fieldays Society President Peter Carr was very impressed with the high calibre of artworks and pleased to see artists from previous years returning.

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

This year’s President’s Choice Award has gone to Cambridge artist Terry Pluck with his artwork Size No.8 Gumboots.

“Synonymous with farming and the Society’s founding objective, the piece brings town and country together,” Peter says.

The No.8 Wire National Art Award is the first of this year’s Fieldays festivities and selected artworks will be on display at Fieldays from 14th to 17th June at Mystery Creek.

THE FARMLANDER | 57

REAL ESTATE

Real Estate Update Our residential and lifestyle teams are still experiencing a strong market. The Auckland market has slowed and we may see this trend gradually follow throughout the regions.

In the South Island, sheep and beef property sales have been brisk, with buyer enquiry now easing. We have sold a number of high quality dairy farms with prices achieved being at the top of the range. Farms outside this category have received limited interest. With the stabilising of the dairy pay-out, we anticipate this will change for the better.

Farmlands’ best practice for properties we are selling – make the best offer you can, you may not have a chance to make a better offer. The vendor may accept or reject any offer at their sole discretion. The vendor may counter-offer and negotiate with one and only one purchaser, at the vendors’ sole discretion, to the exclusion of any other potential purchasers, or at any time ask for multiple offers to be re-submitted for consideration.

Your offer will be sealed in an envelope and will only be opened in the presence of the vendor and preferably with the vendors’ solicitor present. If you are making an offer for a property being sold by Farmlands and another agency, we strongly recommend that the same process is followed.

Our North Island rural teams have experienced a positive dairy market, with sales being made in every region we are represented. Sheep and beef properties have sold well and like the South Island, buyer enquiry is slowing. We are seeing more Come along to the Farmlands site at the National Fieldays at enquiry from purchasers considering entering the organic sector, F103 – F109 and see our great selection of properties on offer! whether that be sheep, beef, dairy or horticulture.

Multi-offers – many are unaware of what is considered best practice when it comes to a multi-offer situation. This being more than one buyer making an offer for a property at the same time.

Calvin Leen General Manager Real Estate 027 453 0950 calvin.leen@farmlands.co.nz

Boundary indicative only

Boundary indicative only

Property ID: DG1024

Deceased estate

www.farmlandsrealestate.co.nz

This 173.9 hectare farm is located 13km east of Dargaville.

Farmed for 60 years by its previous owner, it provides evidence of a lifetime’s work and is now in need of your skills. It offers a useful balance of river flats and gentle hill country, while stands of mature native bush provide good shelter. It comprises of four titles, each with road access and three of which have power. There are two sets of cattle yards, a disused herringbone cow shed, an improved old-style villa and two cottages requiring work. Deadline sale closing 10am, Thursday 22 June 2017 (unless sold prior).

58 | THE FARMLANDER

Nicky Reid Rural – Northland 0800 100 027 nicky.reid@farmlands.co.nz

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

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REAL ESTATE

Tender – foresight, farm and forest 279 hectare property with 156 hectares of pinus radiata forest, planted circa 2000 (presently being harvested). Approximately 53 hectares of flat to rolling pastoral land and 70 hectares of Kanuka. Buildings include a woolshed, implement shed, cattle and sheep yards. The property is E.T.S neutral and can easily transition back to pasture with no penalty. Within close proximity to Lake Karapiro, Maungatutari ecological reserve and Cambridge. Tender closing 2pm, Tuesday 11 July 2017 (unless sold by private treaty).

WWW.FARMLANDS.CO.NZ

Property ID: MT1037 www.farmlandsrealestate.co.nz

Ian Morgan Rural – Waikato 027 492 5878 ian.morgan@farmlands.co.nz Glen Murray Lifestyle/Rural – Waikato 027 488 6138 glen.murray@farmlands.co.nz

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

THE FARMLANDER | 59

REAL ESTATE

Boundary indicative only

Boundary indicative only

Property ID: MT1036

Dairy support, crop or convert This 149 hectare property situated in Putaruru has lots of options, given its mainly gentle rolling contour. The property is subdivided into approximately 60 paddocks serviced by a network of hard surface laneways. Water is supplied from a spring and is reticulated to all paddocks. Buildings include a 3-bay implement shed. Farming policy has been around 80 hectares planted in maize with the balance of the land performing part of a larger dairy platform. Vendors’ instructions are clear and they are flexible on the possession date. Price by negotiation.

www.farmlandsrealestate.co.nz

Ian Morgan Rural – Waikato 027 492 5878 ian.morgan@farmlands.co.nz Glen Murray Lifestyle/Rural – Waikato 027 488 6138 glen.murray@farmlands.co.nz

Property ID: HS1049

A growing opportunity in sunny Hawke’s Bay Close to the edge of Hastings city, this conveniently located 2 hectare property has top soils and a current water permit to irrigate 1 hectare of horticulture. Grow almost anything your heart desires, develop into a grazing block or an equine property.

The well presented home has a great outdoor entertaining area consisting of deck, patio and in-ground swimming pool. A collection of greenhouses have produced strawberries, tomatoes, peppers and other seasonal vegetables and there are support sheds, a pack house and chiller. $749,000 plus GST (if any).

60 | THE FARMLANDER

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Sally Neilson Lifestyle/Rural – Hawke’s Bay 027 445 3533 sally.neilson@farmlands.co.nz

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REAL ESTATE

Property ID: MA1249

Quality Martinborough lifestyle Strowan Farm is located just 7 minutes from the charming Martinborough wine village. The 118 hectare property has a very attractive, 220m², cedar clad, three bedroom homestead on an elevated site with great valley and mountain views. The property has almost 20 hectares of productive flats at the front of the property with the balance of rolling to steeper hills, all well fenced and in good pasture. It is well supported by sheep and cattle yards and a multi-purpose farm shed. Tender closing 4pm, Thursday 6 July 2017 (unless sold by private treaty).

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Tim Falloon Lifestyle/Rural – Wairarapa 027 449 2105 tim.falloon@farmlands.co.nz

Property ID: TU10935

Quality with upside

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This 171 hectare dairy property situated in Otaio is well presented with a good standard of infrastructure. A consistent re-grassing and fertiliser programme has the pastures in excellent heart, producing approximately 180,000kgMS from 450 cows and low cost, mainly all grass based system. Flat to easy rolling downs, riparian plantings and located near the foot of the Hunter Hills, renowned for its more reliable rainfall. The property still has an upside if the purchaser wanted to develop it further and utilise shares in the proposed irrigation scheme. $5,800,000.

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Simon Richards Lifestyle/Rural – South Canterbury 027 457 0990 simon.richards@farmlands.co.nz

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REAL ESTATE

Property ID: DU2479

Five star rating, five star opportunity This great hospitality business is perfect for those wanting a profitable business and a great lifestyle. Fletcher Lodge is a magnificent historic mansion operating as a thriving bed and breakfast, situated in central Dunedin. Several well-known booking agencies make it easy for guests to book online. The entire operation is spread over three titles and encompasses Fletcher Lodge, a separate residence with a conference centre, plus a vacant high density zoned section capable of further development. $2,000,000 plus business plus GST (if any).

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Albert Voschezang Residential/Lifestyle – Otago 021 215 7573 albert.v@farmlands.co.nz

Property ID: DU2506

High return investment in Kaikorai Valley This property is leased by a national tenant who has been in the property from 2010, with the owners implementing alterations to accommodate the tenant’s specialist requirements. The property comprises of the 2,339m2 main building located on a land area of 3,380m2 and adjacent car parking area of 807m2, with both on two separate titles giving a total land area of 4,187m2. Current annual lease returns stand at $191,921. The vendor’s asking price reflects a purchaser return of 9.75%, which represents great value in this popular industrial area. Price by negotiation.

62 | THE FARMLANDER

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Albert Voschezang Residential/Lifestyle – Otago 021 215 7573 albert.v@farmlands.co.nz

Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited | © June 2017. All rights reserved.

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REAL ESTATE

Property ID: DU2371

Blooming good lifestyle business A profitable and rewarding lifestyle business and a beautifully presented five bedroom, three bathroom home plus a separate self-contained one bedroom accommodation unit. The property consists of an established flower production nursery and a retail florist and giftware store. The nursery is located on 2 hectares of land with approximately 3,650m2 of glasshouses currently producing a variety of cut stem flowers. The owners will provide full training and transition assistance to any purchasers.

Price by negotiation.

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Albert Voschezang Residential/Lifestyle – Otago 021 215 7573 albert.v@farmlands.co.nz

Property ID: DU2445

Thriving tourism business

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Our retiring vendors say “disregard all previous price expectations and bring me an offer”. The Portobello Village Tourist Park is located on the busy tourist route to Otago Peninsula, the famous Albatross colony and Larnach Castle.

Excellent facilities ranging from fully self-catering one or two bedroom chalets, tourist flats, studios, backpacker accommodation, campervan/caravan sites and tent sites.

The perfect lifestyle business for couples wanting a business with room to increase revenue. Price by negotiation.

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Albert Voschezang Residential/Lifestyle – Otago 021 215 7573 albert.v@farmlands.co.nz

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THE FARMLANDER | 63

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