Summer 2016-17

BULLETIN ISSUE 14: Summer 2016/17

Happy Holidays from the Greenlea Team!

It began in late 2015 as a relatively small project to supply domestic retail-ready product to Farro Fresh stores in Auckland and Moore Wilson stores in Wellington. While small compared to our annual tonnage exported, this project allowed us to rethink and re-design our packaging and portioning for a direct-to-consumer range of products. In addition to domestic sales, the new product range has been enthusiastically received by a number of our overseas customers. Their desire for this range has encouraged us to expand our Hamilton plant to include a dedicated “value add” room.

This 115 square metre room represents a one million dollar investment and will be open for business the second week of December. As this article was being written a new thermoformer was on its way from Europe. This piece of machinery will add another level of sophistication to our packaging options. In addition to sophisticated packaging, our retail-ready export product will carry the distinctive FernMark™. The FernMark

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We would like to take th is opportunity to thank you for being part of our extended family. We value your co ntinued support of Greenlea, and we wish you a very safe, happy and prosperous new year.

licence programme, developed by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, is formal recognition of a business’ role as an ambassador of the New Zealand Story and is designed to promote, protect and showcase New Zealand products on a global scale. The trademark is registered in 12 of New Zealand’s key export markets. As part of the FernMark programme a sophisticated augmented reality technology allows consumers to validate that a product showing the mark has officially received a licence.

Tony Egan, Greenlea’s managing director, and Julie McDade, business development manager, were recently invited to participate in a panel discussion for the International Beef Alliance. The Alliance is formed by the national organisations representing the beef cattle producers in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and Paraguay.

Trade liberalization to remove tariff and non-tariff trade barriers is a core pillar for the Alliance. Other areas of focus include sustainability, animal welfare, animal health and the Young Leaders programme.

The panel also consisted of Beef & Lamb NZ director, George Tatham, Beef & Lamb chairman, James Parsons, and was moderated by Beef & Lamb CEO, Sam McIvor. The panel discussed the benefits of the Red Meat Profit Partnership projects, of which both Beef & Lamb NZ and Greenlea are contributing partners. Julie and Tony spoke about the benefits to processors of projects such as the extension pilots, electronic ASD and the newly launched New Zealand Farm Assurance programme. The day was hosted by Catherine & John Ford at their sheep and beef property near Rotorua.

FEEDSMART

NEW RMPP APP FOR FEED BUDGETING A recently launched app for smartphones, tablets and computers helps farmers make instant and accurate decisions around feed management while they are in the paddock. The Feedsmart app brings together a raft of variables to give farmers instant information on nutritional requirements of different classes of livestock, feed values and feed allocation.

The app was developed by Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) in conjunction with the Red Meat Profit Partnership (RMPP).

The app is available free of charge at www.feedsmart.co.nz and once downloaded, it works offline anywhere, anytime a device is turned on. The app is compatible with any computer, tablet or smart phone.

MUDGEY’S COLUMN As you sit down with a cup of tea and read the Greenlea Bulletin … hopefully, just prior to your mailbox filling up with all those promotional brochures with cheap perfume for Mum or a terrible bottle of whiskey for Dad or a bike for the kids … yes, it’s December! Spring is almost behind us. There has been plenty of rain but nowhere near enough sun.

This situation is certainly taking its toll on all species of livestock

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and humans. Weight-wise most cattle are well behind this time last season which has the North Island kill also well behind with just a little more than a steady flow of cattle coming forward. No doubt the mad rush pre-Christmas will hit us any day soon. At Greenlea we are ready … all shifts are on at both plants, new workers are all trained up, and we are ready to handle what you throw at us.

We process them quickly and trim them to approved SureTrim™ standards. We aim to achieve the best result we can for you, our valued supplier.

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Image: Farifax media

Good Things Happen

Collaboration is at the heart of the Red Meat Profit Partnership and that’s never been more clear than when Alliance Group joined forces with Greenlea Premier Meat to help North Otago dairy farmer Richard Plunket grow more bull beef.

Alliance Group supplier Plunket was running a bull beef operation under K-line irrigation and electric fences.

He was keen to intensify the operation in a similar way to top-performing North Island bull beef operations. “I want to see how the really good guys in the North Island do it,” says Richard.

Through the RMPP relationship, Shona Frengley, Technical Officer for Alliance Group, started chatting to Greg Clark, Livestock Buyer for Greenlea Premier Meats, about their pilot farm projects.

“We realised we had some overlap between our projects and farmers that were working in the same space,” says Shona.

“I discussed Richard Plunket’s goals with Greg and he suggested we speak with some bull beef farmers who would be happy to share their knowledge and experiences.

This culminated in a trip through Northland to visit Greenlea suppliers and Hawke’s Bay to visit Alliance suppliers. Plunket met

with a range of top bull beef farmers and learnt about their operations, including feeding regimes, stocking rates, water supplies and the pros and cons of cell systems or techno-grazing.

He is now in the process of adapting his own farming system, using the combined knowledge and experience of all the farms he visited.

Richard is investigating alternative options for irrigation.

He has had his geographically difficult property mapped using drone technology to get a better idea of options available for both fencing and irrigation. He has also been working with a consultant who specialises in intensive grazing systems.

“This is an excellent example of two companies working together constructively for the benefit of the sector, using our industry connections to bring farmers and experts together,” says Shona.

Greg says that while farmers were initially sceptical about the ability of meat companies to collaborate, the results are starting to speak for themselves.

“We’re connecting farmers with the experts who can provide the knowledge and expertise and that can only be a good thing.”

RMPP General Manager Michael Smith says the Plunket farm visits were also filmed for extension design work to get information to other farmers online.

“It’s a good illustration of the project’s aim to design an extension system for New Zealand farmers. We’re looking to understand how we can change or influence the behaviour in a positive manner that means farmers are prepared to take up and try something new or to take on new tools or information and utilise that in a way to help them be more productive.”

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MUDGEY’S COLUMN CONT...

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As the curtain comes down on 2016, one can only pause a little and look back … the dollar is roughly 10 cents up on last year, and the USA grinding price has struggled to gain momentum all year. USA feedlots are full and killing plenty of conditioned cattle which has put pressure on our prime trim. The milk price is coming right which will see retention of empty young dairy cows. The bulk of culls will probably come in April or May. Having never been shy of

having an opinion, I believe that a few good killable cattle late February or early March could be a good option.

Meantime, get those last minute jobs done, put the hay in the shed, wrap the pressies and put them under the tree.

Make sure that you get a few days relaxing and have a safe and Merry Christmas.

your support saves lives

OVER $1m annual cost of operation

$6,425

Average cost PER mission

Your Rescue helicopter

flight SIM UPGRADE WE NEED YOUR HELP Your Greenlea Rescue Helicopter pilots undertake unique and specialised training, including simulated (SIM) flight training.

The SIM allows your pilots to practice flying in every type of weather condition from the safety of the hangar. This ensures they are ready for all scenarios when on a real mission.

THE SIM NEEDS UPGRADING The upgrade project requires a new physical SIM training environment – a replica helicopter cockpit complete with instruments and controls and a series of large projector screens to display the simulated flight – and the custom development software for New Zealand’s unique terrain and weather conditions.

This equipment will provide more realistic training scenarios – ensuring our pilots, crew and patients will return home safely.

53%

The main advantage of training in the SIM is the huge cost saving to you – the donor. It reduces the amount of training that needs to be done in the helicopter.

of funding comes from community

With the project cost in excess of $45,000 we need your help.

47% of funding comes from contracts rescue.org.nz |

rescuehelicoptertrust |

donate now at rescue.org.nz @Rescue_PSRT |

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