NZFarmer North Island - 1 October 2024 by NZFarmer

Keeping the wheels moving

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Shareholders approve plan to stave off Synlait liquidation

The dairy-processing company is given a lifeline, after a challenging period. By

Rob Stock.

Synlait shareholders have approved a recapitalisation deal to stave off the threat of liquidation.

At a special meeting to save the company from falling into the hands of liquidators, George Adams, Synlait’s independent chairperson, said the company had to reduce its debt or face liquidation.

The deeply-indebted dairy-processing company needed shareholders to vote to approve two recapitalisation deals to allow major shareholders Bright Dairy and A2 Milk to inject a combined $217.8 million of capital into Synlait.

The successful vote will allow Synlait to pay down bank debt, but leave minority shareholders’ stake in the company diluted to just under 15% from 41% under the deal.

“It has been a challenging period for Synlait. However, today represents a signiﬁcant milestone for the company,” Adams said.

At the meeting at Synlait’s Dunsandel head office, Adams said the debts were unsustainable at about $560m, and it had to be reduced.

The recapitalisation was to take place on October 1.

This month, bank debt was due for repayment, and in December, $180m of bonds in the hands of retail investors had to be repaid.

Negotiating the recapitalisation plan had been a complex process, Adams said, as he opened voting on the plan Adams, who joined the Synlait board in March, acknowledged that there was disappointment from minority

shareholders, who were not invited to participate in the recapitalisation

Before the meeting Oliver Mander, chief executive of the Shareholders’ Association, likened the deal to a “dead rat” for minority shareholders, but recommended they vote in favour to stave off the threat of liquidation

Adams said Synlait was the largest infant milk formula manufacturer in the southern hemisphere.

He looked forward to a brighter future for Synlait, should the recapitalisation be approved by shareholders.

Adams said Synlait’s legal stoush with A2 Milk had been concluded, outlining how the two companies would work together, including on a new product for the US market.

He said the relationship between

Synlait and A2 had reset.

Synlait will welcome a new panel of bankers, including Kiwibank, China Construction Bank, HSBC, Rabobank and Bank of China.

Bright Dairy director Julia Zhu said Synlait was a great company that had been hit by factors beyond its control, referencing the impact of the Covid pandemic on its fortunes.

“It is now adapting at pace to get back on its feet,” she said. “It has good assets supplied by some great farmers in this amazing country.”

She said Bright believed the company’s growth potential across Asia remained strong.

“We do see a stronger healthier future

for the business coming.”

Mander asked Adams whether the company planned to go back shareholders later for more capital to reduce debt further.

Adams said that could happen, but, given the company’s recent history, it needed to “earn its stripes” before asking for more money.

Synlait still has to win back the support of its more than 200 farmer suppliers who sell it their milk.

More than half have indicated their intention to stop providing milk to Synlait, though Adams believes the company can win back their trust.

Left: Synlait got into trouble after it borrowed heavily to expand and diversify its business

Inset: George Adams, chairperson of Synlait, led the development of the plan to recapitalise the dairy company.

LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF

Sonita

027 446 6221

sonita.chandar@stuff.co.nz

Removing barriers

Sonita Chandar EDITOR

New Zealand agriculture has a great reputation for its high standard and quality products on the global stage. Consumers around the world know when they buy Kiwi-produced red meat or dairy products, it has been produced safely, environmentally sustainably and ethically. This has put New Zealand agri-food at the top end of the market.

Agriculture is the largest contributor to New Zealand’s tradeable economy, accounting for 80% of the country’s goods exports in the year to March 2024 Agricultural and horticultural products allow our produce to meet the standards on quality set by overseas exporters so agriculture can maintain its contribution to the economy.

New Zealand food systems are world-leading and our products authentic. Telling our agri-food story to the world is pivotal in growing and strengthening our global export market. That is why the regulatory review into the approval path for agricultural and horticulture product is so important.

Studies have shown that consumers base their buying decisions on several factors but more and more, they want to know about the welfare of the animal and that the product has been produced in an environmentally sustainable way especially with meeting climate

change and emissions targets. The more consumers know about how their food is produced, the happier they will be and more inclined to purchase it.

This is vital in securing new export markets as well as keeping our existing ones.

As competition increases from other players in the international markets, New Zealand needs to stay ahead of their counterparts and the review will help them to do just that We are already in a unique position on the global stage as the most carbon efficient producers of animal proteins.

The review will probe how the approach enables access to products and ensures the risks of the products are known and managed appropriately so consumer conﬁdence in New Zealand agri-food is not compromised.

And our farmers are at the forefront of meeting those challenges and risks head-on. Things change. What may have worked before in say for example, pest control, may no longer work due to a resistance build-up. New products developed to now do the job come with risks and these need to be mitigated.

The Ministry for Regulation will set out to ensure that the new products are safe for our food and for the work environment and that international regulators and supply chains are conﬁdent that our produce meets market requirements. The review will enable these products to be fully tested, proven

and meet our stringent standards to keep our agri food in the top end of the market.

Farmers, growers and industry leaders have fully welcomed the review and rightly so. If the review makes agri-products more accessible, farmers will be even better equipped to ensure the health of their animals, which in turn will help them meet production standards.

If anything, it should make life easier for farmers if they have better access to effective safe products as a result New Zealand must do everything it can to remove any potential barriers to trade in smaller markets or those yet to be tapped into if we are to grow our exports in coming years.

Get in touch with us at nzfarmer@stuff.co.nz

Missing letters found ...

Last month two letters appeared on the desk of one of our colleagues in our Auckand office. Both letters were dated April 2024 We are not sure what delayed their arrival to the office but our apologies to the letter writers for the delay in publishing these.

Have your say

Letters to the editor are welcome and should not be more than 250 words. If you have an opinion you would like to share or ideas for what you would like to read in future issues of NZ Farmer, get in touch with us at: nzfarmer@stuff.co.nz or write to us at:

The Editor, NZ Farmer Level 7, Cider Building 4 Williamson Ave Grey Lynn Auckland 1021

Regenerative farming

Could regenerative farming be just another name for rotational grazing or spelling (resting) pasture for a period of two or three months so that grass roots go down deeper and the process of photosynthesis from moisture and sunlight capture a bigger number of leaves above the ground, resulting in more grass being grown or harvested by animal?

Full marks go to Raymond Ward-Smith from Timaru who said: “A recent trial has reminded us about pasture plant management

‘‘Grazing management must be added in to the mix.

‘‘Dairy farmers mostly get it right.

‘‘Graze off the pasture quickly in not more than three or four days then spell (rest) The more intensive farms can do this easier than extensive grazing spreads but the principle stays the same Constant defoliation depletes root reserves. Top growth and sunlight enables roots to be restored.”

Perhaps more sheep and beef farmers will have to cut down stock numbers so that paddocks have a longer time to recover to a grass length of 4-6 inches before being grazed.

This may release more of the phosphate and potash that is already in the soil!

In today’s sheep and beef farming environment, it is just too costly to continue

Dumping emergency

An open letter to Northland Council Dear Northland Regional Council

Removing $535,000 of crucial funding from the Northland Helicopter service? A total of $11m, adding to the other services under threat? You do realise that being a public service, you are open to audit whenever someone wants to?

I imagine many people are interested to see what you feel is more important than our health and safety, ie, quick, efficient

response when we need it Oh, and by the way, a public service may NOT be allowed to be proﬁt-making and your exorbitant renumerations are in question

Jennifer McNab, Wellington

Editor’s note: Ms McNab’s letter was in response to a letter to the editor submitted by Northland Federated Farmers president Colin Hannah that ran in the April edition of NZ Farmer.

putting on aerial phosphate and sulphur year after year!

John Chesswad, Stratford

Editor’s note: Mr Chesswad’s letter was in response to an article that ran in an earlier edition of NZ Farmer.

Northland’sRescueHelicoptershaveflownwell over25,000missionssincelift-offin1988,saving thousandsoflivesalongtheway.

FAgri-products approval review applauded

The sector hopes the Government will recommend a streamlining of the regulation system to reduce costs and maintain market access. Eve Hyslop reports.

and

armers, growers and industry leaders across the country have praised the regulatory review into the approval path for agricultural and horticulture products, as emission reduction targets loom and international competition grows.

The review will probe how the approach enables access to products and ensures the risks of the products are known and managed appropriately, as listed in the review’s terms of reference Agriculture is the largest contributor to New Zealand’s tradeable economy, accounting for 80% of the goods exports in the year to last March

Agricultural and horticultural products allow our produce to meet the standards on quality set by overseas exporters so agriculture can maintain its contribution to the economy.

“In addition to the direct contribution to the economy, the agriculture sector is also a signiﬁcant employer, not only across rural and regional New Zealand, but also in major urban areas,” the terms of reference for the review read.

There are numerous products that farmers use to keep the wheels moving on their operation. From pesticides to deter pests and insects from damaging crops, inhibitors to reduce their environmental footprint and feed and medicines to keep livestock in shape, such products are vital to ensuring the milk in your coffee or lamb in your roast dinner is up to scratch.

The terms of reference stress the importance of timely access to products, which helps to maintain competitiveness and keep up with export requirements and consumer preferences.

While some products we have now may be effective, consumer expectations change, pests become more resistant, and technology enhances to provide us with better resources

“Newer products may also have less

impact on animal or plant health, human health, and the environment than those currently in use,” the terms of reference say.

While new products have their beneﬁts, risks have also been identiﬁed with their introduction.

To manage these risks, the Ministry for Regulation will set out to ensure that the new products are safe for our food and for the work environment and that international regulators and supply chains are conﬁdent that our produce meets market requirements.

A regulatory approach has been adopted by the Government to ensure these managements are in place. A similar approach is taken by our major trading partners, such as Australia, the European Union, the United States and Canada.

“We’ve got very similar farming styles and systems to Australia, but we force manufacturers to jump through extra hoops just so they can sell their products here,’’ says Toby Williams, meat and wool chairperson at Federated Farmers. “So a

and insecticides.

One of the more signiﬁcant beneﬁts to sheep and beef farmers will be the reduced cost of products. Williams said the current process to get a product registered in New Zealand could take two years and cost up to $2 million. “Then they want to recoup that investment, so they put the price of the product up.”

As a sheep and beef farmer himself, Williams knows the importance of looking after your animals. Should view make agri-products more accessible, farmers will be even better equipped to ensure the health of their animals.

lot of these big manufacturers choose not to do it because the cost doesn’t reﬂect the returns they make.”

The review provided a clearer pathway to enhance the productivity and climate goals of sheep and beef farmers, Williams said.

The border closures of Covid-19 provided Williams with a clear reminder of the need for a regulatory approval path. The border shutdown led to a shortage in animal health products and the NZ closure of drench company Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health in December 2022.

“If we experience something like Covid again, it’s important that we’re not going to run into the shortage of products or have another manufacturer pull out so we won’t experience the stress in our animals.

“As farmers, we’re tasked with tens of thousands of animals in our care. You don’t want to get to February to dip your sheep and ﬁnd there’s no dip available to you.”

“We couldn’t import other products because the rules were so hard. It was going to take a year to 18 months to go through all the testing, which is ridiculous.”

The agricultural sector is not hiding from the fact it is one of the largest contributors to New Zealand’s emissions, with 48% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions accounted for by the sector.

But, rather than putting up tape to limit productivity, farmers need the tools to enable them to mitigate those emissions and move toward, not away from, the issue.

“We are the most efficient in the world in how we produce red meat, protein and milk, but it doesn’t change the fact that offshore countries

Products used by farmers include pesticides, herbicides, vaccines, drenches, inhibitors

SCIENCE MEDIA CENTRE

Toby Williams: ‘‘Extra hoops’’ for Kiwi manufacturers.

Wayne McNee: ‘‘Access to new tools must also be a priority.’’

want to protect their markets,” says the chief executive of AgriZeroNZ Wayne McNee “If there are tools being developed that are proven to be safe and effective, then our farmers should have equal access to those overseas.”

Public-private joint venture AgriZeroNZ spoke of the need for inhibitor solutions to be streamlined in the regulatoryapproval process in its submission on the Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill on August 8.

This was critical for the sector to maintain market access and remain competitive globally, McNee said in the submission. “However, we see tools already being trialled and commercialised in other markets that are not available in New Zealand.

“In some instances, this is because there is no regulation covering inhibitors and in others, it’s because they have speciﬁc regulatory-approval pathways.”

Bovear, a methane reduction feed supplement, was used as an example by McNee. It’s sold in 55 countries, some of which are New Zealand’s key trade competitors. “Because it’s already available and approved in Europe, we see no reason why it shouldn’t be easily approved here,” McNee said.

Previous risks around residues associated with inhibitors were accounted

Left: Industry leaders are concerned that New Zealand’s agriculture and export market will be outdone by overseas competitors if access to new products and inhibitors is not made simpler

Below: A main concern for new products being approved is the risk of residue from the chemicals in farm produce, which could end up on our plates.

inhibitors to manage food safety and associated trade risk, but the current order and council has resulted in signiﬁcant challenges for companies who are trying to register their products through the ACVM legislation.”

AgriZeroNZ recommended that a greater use of equivalence be considered, whereby if a product is approved by other regulators and equivalent markets, it should be done so in New Zealand.

“If New Zealand farmers don’t have access to these products in the near term, there is a signiﬁcant risk that Zealand exporters be outcompeted on emissions, intensity and climate credentials by other exporting nations.”

for when the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act (ACVM) took effect in 1997. These risks were what made registration process onerous, McNee said.

But since the act, the risk of residues from products like probiotics had been found to be extremely low, says Ruth Leary, head of strategies and engagement at AgriZeroNZ.

McNee said: “We support the regulation of inhibitors that mitigate risk to the export of our primary sector products. Food safety must be a priority, but access to new emission tools must also be a priority.’’

Looming greenhouse gas targets were a stark reminder that these decisions needed to be made with pace, he said. It was equally important that the implementation of regulation was ﬁt for purpose so these tools could get into the hands of New Zealand farmers.

“Providing tools to farmers so they can reduce emissions is now an urgent priority. We support the intent of regulating

Bond said that new products for specialised growers were especially impacted by the process as it was arduous, complex and had signiﬁcant risk that the product would not be accepted for use.

“This risk outweighs the reward and disincentivises companies from bringing the products into New Zealand’s small market.”

While the EPA stressed its need to protect the environment, Bond said the current approval process was better.

“Their current process is so risk averse it is actually having the opposite effect by hindering safer and more environmentally friendly products from entering New Zealand.”

Alongside its submission on the bill to amend the ACVM act, AgriZeroNZ is working closely with the Ministry Primary Industries to streamline the regulatory process.

In recent years, kiwifruit growers have dealt with scrutiny over the use of hydrogen cyanamide, a chemical commonly used in horticulture to help plants bud.

Reassessment of the chemical began in 2019 because of concerns it was carcinogenic, but ended in 2024 after the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) found it was safe to use.

Colin Bond, chief executive of the Kiwifruit Growers Association (NZKGI), says the review provides an opportunity for the process to be more streamlined and cost-effective.

“In our view, while the hydrogen cyanamide reassessment process eventually arrived at the right decision, it came at considerable cost to the industry, and there are numerous opportunities for the process to be signiﬁcantly improved.”

Simon Tucker, director of global sustainability at Fonterra, says it is important that the approval process allows greater outcomes for dairy farmers and the wider sector.

“It is crucial to have an efficient, timely and robust approval framework to ensure that appropriate products are available to drive better outcomes for the environment and the global climate, while also considering market perceptions and their impact on reputation and exports.”

Tucker said Fonterra supported the discovery of new tools which enabled its farmers to meet sustainability targets, but the approval process needed to be well managed.

“However, as a major exporter, reputational and other risks in downstream markets need to be managed to prevent potential barriers to trade.

“Fonterra would like to see wellbalanced approval processes that take both opportunities and risks into account.”

The review will be led by the Ministry for Regulation with support from MPI, New Zealand Food Safety, the Ministry for the Environment and the EPA.

Colin Bond: There is an opportunity for a more cost-effective process.

Simon Tucker: The approvals process needs to be well balanced.

Countering pseudo-science

Soil scientist Doug Edmeades says the flow of information from science to the farmer is being misrepresented.

The traditional technology transfer pathway that served New Zealand farmers so well was straightforward: information would ﬂow from the scientist, through the farm consultant and then onto the farmer

Along this path, commercial entities would add their products and services, providing that they reinforced the science In this scheme, the consultant was seen as the broker of information and often regarded as the arbiter of the truth. But things are changing on the information highway. The chief executive of AgFirst, James Allen, recently suggested (Rural News September 10) that the future farm consultant will need to be more tech-savvy and more specialised to cope with emerging technologies, such as artiﬁcial intelligence, gene technology and large databases of information.

Despite these changes he thinks that the core role of the farm consultant will remain unchanged.

As he puts it, to “unscramble and make sense of data and present the information in such a way that the farmer can use it to

make better decisions”. But I see another challenge emerging along tomorrow’s information highway: ‘Science’ has changed in the last few decades. It has become more commodiﬁed, commercialised and politicised. These days the role of the agricultural scientist –and indeed the institutions they serve – is not so much about the farmers and public good, but about artful self-promotion directed to those who hold the purse strings.

As a consequence, the ﬂow of information from science to the farmer is now full of weasels – words and phrases which are aimed at creating an impression that something important, speciﬁc and meaningful is being done.

Some examples:

From the Dairy Exporter (Spring 2024) we get: “These preliminary ﬁndings on the use of seaweed biostimulants shows it has potential to enhance pasture persistence, stimulate clover growth and improve certain nutrient concentrations, contributing to improved overall soil health and pasture productivity” says the project manager.” Note the weasels: “preliminary” and “has the potential”. The impression offered is that biostimulants work. Current science knowledge says otherwise.

Farmers Weekly (September 6, 2024) reports that Massey University is being funded by Ministry for Primary Industries and they are into the third year of a seven-year project investigating aspects of

“

Science has changed in the last few decades. It has become more commodiﬁed, commercialised and politicised.

Doug Edmeades

Regenerative Agriculture. The project brings together universities and CRIs with links to research in Australia, Ireland and South America. Sounds new, sounds

big, sounds important? When read in the context of known science, these offerings are empty.

Regenerative practitioners believe in sowing multiple pasture species – 18 were sown in the Massey dairy trial and 19 in the sheep pasture. It is reported that after two years “the species which dominated were ryegrass and white clover, cocksfoot, red clover and plantain”. And we are told this result is “not surprising, when looking at the amount of breeding and selection [that] has gone into these varieties over the years”. In other words, these supposed earth-shattering ‘novel’ conclusions were known before the experiment started.

Similarly we are told that “The regenerative treatments we’re using are giving the pasture a longer rest period, so longer rotations and also aiming to leave more pasture behind after grazing …”. Once again this sounds like ‘mutton dressed up as lamb.’ Surely after 70 odd years of grazing trial research, we know the optimal conditions for managing mixed-pastures.

And ﬁnally, we are informed that “they are backing off nitrogen fertiliser and adding other things like ﬁsh products to the soil, as it is believed to stimulate soil microbial activity, especially fungi”. Really? The science shows otherwise.

So there you have it farm consultant: to keep your future clients informed you will need both an excellent BS detector and a sound science base. Carl Sagan said it best: “The only antidote to pseudo-science is science itself.”

These questions must be asked in the banking inquiry – business adviser

Along, long time ago (in fact just before Covid) in a pub not far away, a new business now called Chaperon was born. Our why was to help make SME (small and medium-sized enterprises), corporate and rural banking easier for the customer.

Secondly, we believed New Zealand’s economic ledger had become increasingly unbalanced, as the banks’ regulatory regime favours formula lending to houses over more skilled and difficult cashﬂow lending to businesses and farms.

It stands to reason that if businesses and farmers can’t get working capital lending they are forced to grow more slowly, which in return retards the country’s productivity

The banking inquiry is New Zealand’s chance to ask the banking sector and its regulators the sort of questions they would ask any person about their home loan application; for example, where and how do you make money, which products or division are the most proﬁtable, what are the risks, and how do you manage and price them?

Banking, like many industries, is full of jargon that few understand. Even within banks there are few people who understand how they make their money, fund the bank, and determine transfer pricing for the lending business.

The OECD’s 2024 report conﬁrmed how, in a rising interest rate environment, post-Covid and with the OCR at 5.50%, banks were able to make large lending margins due to the circa $330 billion of deposits held in 0%-interest transaction accounts, or savings accounts with low interest rates, compared to term deposits or wholesale market funding.

To further confuse customers, all banks

publish business and rural rates with significant margins already built into their base rate Rates quoted include: business base rate, rural base rate, floating base rate, corporate indicator rate and special purpose base rate – all are different rates. Customers are then charged a margin on top. However, banks don’t raise floating rate money at these levels, rather they fund at a mixture of the OCR rate or daily at BKBM – the 60 or 90 day interbank bill mid-rate, which as of September 13 was 5.10%.

New Zealand’s productivity is impacted by regulatory capital settings that drive banks’ behaviour and culture and also by the credit risk modelling that banks use to predict provisions and losses on loans. Hence the inquiry needs to concentrate on this bigger picture rather than comparing a home loan on a farm loan compared to a house loan, as rural lending is more risky, and less liquid so it costs more

An inquiry objective needs to be: To

Gordon Stuart from financial services company Chaperon.

explain more clearly where banks make money.

To do this we need to look at net interest margins, operating income after fees, cost to income ratios, and the return on equity, as well as customer satisfaction and net promoter statistics by sector – agriculture, business, corporate and personal – over time to show the real picture.

Home lending has risen from 50% to 63% of bank lending in the past 24 years, and to 72% for our largest bank ANZ, in its latest six months results.

In fact, ANZ lending to business, agriculture and institutional totalled only $42 billion of $151b of loans in 2024 versus $45 billion in 2015 of $107b loans in 2015 The business sector is getting fewer nominal dollars 10 years on. An explanation of why this is the case is required from ANZ.

Thirdly, banks’ proﬁts have risen at an average annual rate of 17% since the early 1990s. These returns are well in excess of

their cost of capital. Are they pricing for risk they are not taking?

Higher risk is normally associated with volatility. However, bank non-performing loans are roughly half what they were during the global ﬁnancial crisis

Examination of Reserve Bank statistics back to 2000 shows provisions are much larger than actual loan losses. Actual loan losses for the last three years to March 31 2024 are well less than 1% of bank capital required by the Reserve Bank.

Questions: Are capital requirements too high and are credit models too conservative, resulting in banks overestimating loss given default, and therefore over pricing risk/return?

Fourthly, the big four banks cost-toincome ratios are very low compared to parent banks and international peers

Questioning needs to discuss their investment in customer service, and training, ask why credit approval times are longer, ask whether experienced cashﬂow lending capability has been lost, and has technology been forsaken over the years to make short-term proﬁts?

Finally, a rigorous open debate needs to be held around how much bank capital is needed. Banks internationally generally fail due to a run on liquidity (customers withdrawing cash and deposits).

The core banking ratio and other frameworks imposed by the Reserve Bank help mitigate this risk. We need to discuss the various trade-offs, and question why New Zealand subsidiaries need more capital than their parent companies?

For NZ Inc to succeed we need to be an attractive place for capital.

Gordon Stuart is a business adviser from Chaperon Financial Services.

We need to talk about food sustainability

A food systems expert says health, sustainability and food in Aotearoa

New Zealand is all linked by the ‘food system’. By

Madeleine Powers.

Linking sustainability, food and health to nourish New Zealand was the topic of a panel discussion at the Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) conference in Tauranga late last month.

One of the panellists, food systems change expert Emily King, says sustainability, food and health are linked, and are all part of New Zealand’s food system.

From climate change, to food deserts to the undervaluing of farmers and growers, the food system touches everything. But what exactly is it?

New Zealand has no problem producing food, but a real test of how well the food system is functioning is whether everyone has access to nutritious food

According to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, New Zealand produces enough food to feed 40 million people annually, but 14% of New Zealanders are considered “food insecure”, with inadequate access to nutritious food.

Food insecurity is deﬁned as having a lack of access to adequate quality and quantity of nutritious food.

Food is the foundation of Aotearoa New Zealand’s export economy, with exports totalling $45.2 billion at the June year-end in 2022, and the amount is t to increase.

Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones say food and ﬁbre export revenue is tipped to reach $54.6b this year.

Of the food we produce, only a small portion of it is consumed in New Zealand.

According to Beef and Lamb New Zealand and Statistics New Zealand data, New Zealanders eat about 13% of the beef grown here. We eat about 10% of the kiwifruit grown here, and 5% of the dairy products.

From the farm or orchard where food is grown, food goes on a journey, often around the world back, before it ends our plates – or, as King says, doesn’t end up on our plates.

Professor

Rucklidge

And yet New Zealand is experiencing a cost of living crisis, with Statistics NZ data released in April showing household costs went up 6.2% in the last year, with many households cutting back on essentials.

King says that while our farmers are producers and do a great job of growing food, they have no inﬂuence over where that product ends up once it leaves their farmgate.

“We export nutrient-dense food, and import the crap.”

“If we’re lucky, people actually get to eat the food,” And not just any food, but nutritious food, as opposed to ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which are increasing in prevalence, and are all that is available in “food deserts”.

Food insecurity is a “nested issue”, meaning it intersects with social inequality, and is linked with poverty. It’s why fast-food joints offering cheaper foods are associated with lower socio-economic areas.

Along with staple foods like rice and wheat, New Zealand also imports UPFs UPFs are packaged foods that typically

have more than one ingredient you’ll never find in a kitchen, and often include additives and ingredients such as preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners, and artificial colours and flavours.

Professor Julia Rucklidge, a clinical psychologist and the director of Te Puna Toiora, the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab at the University of Canterbury, says more people are consuming higher quantities of ultra-processed foods, with major health impacts.

Rucklidge also sat on the HortNZ panel discussion. She says the “food environment” in New Zealand is a “mismatch” for the brain’s needs.

She says that while whole foods, like fruit, vegetables, grains and unprocessed meat, can improve mental health and lower the rates of mental illness, ultra-processed foods affect the gut’s microbiome, causing “chronic health issues”.

The food system includes growers, manufacturers, grocery companies, retailers and consumers. Some players have more power and control over the system than

Rucklidge says that while whole foods, like fruit, vegetables, grains and unprocessed meat, can improve mental health and lower the rates of mental illness, ultra-processed foods affect the gut’s microbiome, causing “chronic health issues”.

CHRIS SKELTON/THE PRESS

others, says King. She says people don’t realise that multinational conglomerates, so-called “food giants”, control much of our food system

While consumers globally saw higher prices and shortages of some items at supermarkets during the pandemic, food and agribusiness billionaires reportedly raised their collective wealth by 42% from 2020 to 2022.

But, King says, the more we can start to see the system as a whole, and reconnect the different parts, the more resilient it will become.

She says addressing the food system issues is going to require people to think outside of silos

Food “touches everything”, King says.

She provides workshops and support to organisations and councils wanting to create local food plans aiming to improve the resilience of the regions.

She says it can start with farmers, growers and consumers getting to know their local food system – where most people get their food from, and where it is being grown locally.

From there, measures can be taken to try to reconnect people to the origin of their food, and start to tackle some of the issues.

King says it’s important to support smallscale growers who are reconnecting people to local sources of food, and also farmers who are leading the way, ﬁnding ways to innovate and produce food more sustainably.

“We’ve failed to value those who grow at home. They’re a really important piece.”

She says the next 25 years will be “unlike anything we’ve seen before”, with increased extreme weather events and changes in technology and consumer preferences creating a challenging environment for growers “Change is hard,” she says, but New Zealand growers are experts at innovation.

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Start drilling, says agri-nutrients co-op

One of New Zealand’s biggest fertiliser co-ops is stopping plans to decarbonise its fertiliser plant and will use gas as a ‘transition fuel’.

By Madeleine Powers.

One of New Zealand’s biggest fertiliser co-ops is stopping plans to “decarbonise” its fertiliser plant and says they want to use gas as a “transition fuel”.

Ballance Agri-Nutrients announced in its 2024 ﬁnancial year report released recently, that plans to “decarbonise” the Kapuni urea plant were now on hold.

Ballance’s Kapuni ammonia-urea plant in south Taranaki is the only urea plant in the country.

It supplies one-third of the country’s urea, and is one of New Zealand’s biggest users of gas.

Chief executive Kelvin Wickham says the company needed a gas supply to continue to manufacture urea for New Zealand growers.

“Gas is a transition fuel we’d like to use,” he says. “It’s better than coal.’’

The Government has announced that it would be taking several measures to bolster energy security, including passing legislation removing the ban on oil and gas exploration by the end of the year. It comes as the country battles an energy

crisis caused by low hydro storage and falling gas reserves.

The energy crisis is seeing businesses and consumers face soaring wholesale electricity prices, with some forced to close.

Wickham says Ballance supported the Government’s decision to open up gas exploration in New Zealand and bolster energy security.

“Unless the energy situation is addressed, it will disadvantage New Zealand as a whole.

“We have to compete in the world.”

Wickham says New Zealand producers have to compete on an international market, and regulations can put the country at a disadvantage.

“We have competitors who don’t have the same regulations.”

Ballance had plans to transition to “green urea”, powering its urea factory with a hydrogen energy plant in Taranaki, but announced in its annual report plans to build the hydrogen plant are now on hold.

They say the decision to pause the large-

scale decarbonisation project due to the “uncertain regulatory environment” and the project not being ﬁnancially feasible in the current economic situation.

He says it would be “difficult today” to make a business case for the energy plant and turbines.

“These are long-term investments.”

He says green urea plans would need to wait until there was greater regulatory certainty, and gas would help fuel the transition to cleaner energy.

“It takes time to build turbines.”

Wickham says more clarity was needed about how the emissions trading scheme would operate.

He says factors like whether there will be a carbon tax at the border, and the rules around carbon capture use and storage, would change where the company ﬁrst.

A second project, a joint venture with Hiringa Energy to construct four wind turbines was supposed to have begun by the end of 2023, but was hampered by Court of Appeal hearings

The Court of Appeal dismissed action brought by Greenpeace and several Taranaki hapū against the proposal in December last year.

The company’s annual report said carbon capture and storage may be more “viable” options for powering the plant in the future.

The farmer- and grower-owned co-operative has been impacted by the rural sector “squeeze” that led heep farmers to cut back fertiliser use to reduce

Wickham says farmer rebates were sacriﬁced this year to bring prices down and reduce debt. Ballance’s proﬁt fell this year from $35 million to $310,000. Fertiliser sales volumes were 21% lower than historic averages.

Wickham says that while he expects volumes to pick up this year, he doesn’t expect them to return to historic levels due to farming practices now favouring more precise fertiliser use.

Ballance Agri-Nutrients’ Kapuni plant

Ballance Agri-Nutrients chief executive Kelvin Wickham says he supports the Government’s move to allow gas exploration.

RegionalRound-up

Farmers welcome pause on freshwater plan rollout

The Government hit pause on the freshwater farm plan rollout on September 4, taking a weight off the shoulders of farmers across the country. By Louisa Steyl and Eve Hyslop.

Farmers are breathing a sigh of relief after the Government hit pause on the controversial freshwater farm plan rollout.

Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced the pause on September 4 as part of a raft of changes to the Resource Management Act.

Both Dairy NZ and Federated Farmers called the move a case of common sense ﬁnally prevailing.

“The primary sector has been weighed down by unworkable and costly regulation for too long,” McClay says.

“That is why we are slashing red tape and removing one-size-ﬁts-all regulations, to enable and empower local decisionmaking and free up farming.”

The Freshwater Farm Plan system, which was being introduced region by region, required farmers to produce on-farm freshwater risk assessment and mitigation plans to be certiﬁed and audited by the regional council.

Southland Federated Farmers president Jason Herrick says a lot of farmers are struggling to wrap their heads around the regulations – particularly sheep and beef farmers who haven’t dealt with these sorts of plans before.

“Anxiety levels were pretty up there. This means Southland farmers can breathe a sigh of relief.”

Southland Feds supported the idea behind the plans, Herrick says, pointing out that they could be a valuable tool to create better environmental outcomes.

“But they also need to be practical, cost-effective and easy to use. We’ve got to get this right.”

The current framework was “set up like a box-ticking exercise”, he says.

Federated Farmers freshwater spokesperson Colin Hurst described it as “nothing short of a bureaucratic bird’s nest”.

“Needlessly complex rules and duplication of effort added nothing but cost and frustration for farmers, who just want to do the right thing,“ he says.

Farmers were also facing ﬁve-ﬁgure bills for the new plans, despite already having some form of farm plan through their milk processor, meat processor or regional council requirements that weren’t recognised by the freshwater regulations.

Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) has backed the rollout, agreeing that a

ﬁt-for-purpose system is needed that works for horticulture and delivers on environmental outcomes.

“We believe that the optimal approach to making progress on regulatory issues is to establish a pathway to enable growers to use industry assurance programmes like New Zealand Good Agricultural Practice (NZGAP) and GLOBALG.A.P. to meet market and regulatory requirements via one integrated farm plan,” says Michelle Sands, the acting chief executive.

Through a Freshwater Farm Plan, HortNZ is also calling for commerical vegetable production to become a permitted activity for growers.

“HortNZ wan a nationally consistent approach to planning rules to provide certainty for commercial vegetable production in New Zealand,”

Sands says.

Rules developed by regional councils have been unworkable, Sands says.

This has constrained crop nutrient supply and expansion, and led to a reduction in vegetable production.

“Regional councils are not well-placed to balance national beneﬁt with local effects.

“It’s good news, but there’s a big caveat because it’s already happening [Greater Wellington Regional Council] initiated this some years ago, before these recent changes at vel.”

KAVINDA HERATH/SOUTHLAND TIMES

“The risk is regions make unworkable rules for commercial vegetable production, without taking into account the national importance of vegetable production in securing a resilient supply of healthy fresh food for New Zealanders.’’

The plan was introduced in Wairarapa’s Parkvale and Waitawa catchments last December, but had yet to come into effect in the region’s remaining catchments.

The duplication of regional, local and central government farm plans were at the heart of the issue for farmers, Federated Farmers Wairarapa president David Hayes says.

“We do agree, in the Wairarapa and at a national level too, that farm plans can be a valuable tool. But we’re really looking for some consistency, that they’re practical and we don’t see a whole bunch of duplication.”

Hayes says it was a relief to see the pause at a national level, but it didn’t provide a quick ﬁx considering the regional plans already in place.

It was onerous for dairy farmers, who also were working under a Fonterra farm plan as well as a regional council one, for example.

“The issue really was the risk of having two separate farm plans. One is reasonably simple or practical and the other may be complex or people aren’t sure how it’s going to be implemented at that time.

“It was kind of a question of what’s wrong with the Fonterra farm plan and why add more to it or another layer of regulatory requirement.”

A more workable farm plan would be one that differed from the paused national level one, Hayes says.

climate change, but it was important that the plans from all levels of government did not cross over.

“We’ve had scenarios where central government, regional councils and local governments are all setting rules or legislation on the very same things It’s a crazy regulatory system where you have three tiers of government trying to cover off bases of the same thing.”

The regulations came into effect in Southland and Waikato in August last year, with farmers expected to submit their certiﬁed plans within 18 months

DairyNZ chairperson Jim van der Poel ﬁrmly believed central government could achieve environmental outcomes with regulations that were more affordable and less complex, and he acknowledged the progress that farmers were already making.

The industry organisation was working to provide a dairy perspective on the regulation review process, he says DairyNZ wanted a freshwater farm plan system that built upon isting plans, had options for organisational-level certiﬁcation and minimal audit costs, he says.

“Ideally, it wouldn’t be an audited farm plan, it would be a practical farm plan that links to the industry If it’s hard to comply with, your level of uptake is going to be worse. So not multiple different systems –a single approach that is easy to comply with.”

Hayes agreed that all farmers had a part to play in addressing the impacts of

The system also needed to be farm-speciﬁc and supported by auditors that understood the complexity of farm systems,van der Poel ays.

“We are looking to develop a system that is robust enough to act as a viable alternative to consents, rules and standards.” McClay says the Government would be considering input from sector groups to make sure changes to the freshwater farm plan regulations were ﬁt for purpose.

McClay also signalled changes would be made to indigenous biodiversity and commercial forestry policies

The pause has been backed by a number of industry leaders who say the plans were unworkable.

FederatedFarmersSouthlandpresident JasonHerricksaystheplanscausedalot ofstressforSouthlandfarmers,sothe pausehasastrongbacking.

Wairarapa Federated Farmers David Hayes says farm plans need consistency, practicality and

‘We’ll get through it together’

Farmers urged to ask for help during Southland’s ‘exceptionally difficult weather’

Rainfall

Rachael Kelly

Some parts of Southland had double the usual rainfall for September, and farmers should ask for help to cope with the conditions if they need it, a farming leader says.

Data from Environment Southland for the ﬁrst half of September showed rainfall in Mossburn, Riversdale, Five Rivers and Oreti had reached more than 200% above the long-term average for the month Southland Federated Farmers president Jason Herrick said it was important that farmers who were struggling with the conditions asked for help

“You can’t control the weather but you can control how you plan for it and react to it, and if you need help with that it’s important that you ask for it – there are plenty of places to get advice,” he said.

“It’s a terrible season for the sheep and beef guys with this weather during calving and lambing, but we’re all in the same boat and we’ll all get through it together.”

Farmers could talk to Federated Farmers, the Rural Support Trust or call 1737 to speak to someone if they were not coping, he said.

“It can feel like you’re operating in a bit of a silo, so just going and have a cup of tea or a beer with your neighbour, getting off the farm for a while, is a great idea – you realise you’re not in this on your own ’’

The Rural Support Trust has been running a series of “Brunch on Us” breakfasts throughout Southland ,which were a good reason to get off the farm and catch up with friends, Herrick said

Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds has given her support to the province’s farmers currently experiencing exceptionally difficult weather conditions at their busiest time of year.

“Here in Southland, the excessive rainfall has led to over-saturated ground, resulting in ﬂooded paddocks and a rapid deterioration in soil conditions turning to mud, and causing feed supply shortages for some.”

Snow settled on the ground in some areas one Tuesday morning, which did not help the situation, she said.

“Farmers have been facing the dual challenge of managing calving and lambing while contending with these relentless wet conditions and weather events.

“Many are working long hours and are exhausted from the ongoing struggle, with some farmers saying the current conditions are some of the worst seen in two decades.”

She was concerned about the younger farmers, sharemilkers and contract milkers who may be facing these severe weather conditions for the ﬁrst time.

“I urge anyone in need of support or advice to reach out to their neighbours or to local farming networks.”

In addition to the adverse weather, farmers were also grappling with low lamb prices, high interest rates, and staffing issues, all of which were contributing to heightened stress and mental health challenges, she said.

“It is crucial to remember that support is available. I encourage anyone feeling overwhelmed to contact the Southland Rural Support Trust at 0800 787 254

“A problem shared is a problem halved, and seeking help is an important step in navigating these difficult times.”

Southland Federated Farmers president Jason Herrick urges farmers to ask for help during the wet spring conditions

RACHAEL KELLY/SOUTHLAND TIMES

Business blooming for bulb producer

Life is smelling sweet for a Northland business which has grown fast.

By Steve Macmillan.

Apassion for bulbs has turned into a lifelong love affair for a Northland family.

Kayne Gravatt launched Bulbs Direct with his parents, Wayne and Jean, a decade ago and the business has grown so much that it is now one of the largest bulb producers and online distributors in New Zealand

“Mum and Dad have been growing bulbs for the cut-ﬂower market at Waipu for 33 years – and both sets of grandparents did the same in Maungaturoto and Waipu before that,” says Kayne.

While he says Bulbs Direct was his idea, he could not have done it without his parents, who are still hands-on in the business.

Between January and May alone, more than three million bulbs are counted, graded, bagged up and dispatched by hand. Add to that another million bulbs over spring and summer and the familyowned business is one busy enterprise.

Kayne says the main focus is on growing and supplying home gardeners with the best quality ﬂowering bulbs for all seasons.

“Quality is paramount. It’s one of the reasons we got into the domestic

market, because we felt top quality bulbs weren’t available. All the good stuff went overseas and that didn’t make sense to us Our continuous aim is to provide export quality and high-yielding bulbs for our New Zealand customers.

“We are always pushing for stronger disease resistance, stronger stems and more intense colour tones through our breeding programme.

“Breeding new varieties can be a time-consuming affair, often taking up to seven years to get a new variety through to a commercial level, so it’s very much a test of my patience!”

However, edible bulbs are also part of the mix, with potatoes (Māori potatoes included), onions, yacons, yams, shallots, asparagus, garlic and more.

BulbsDirect,in Northland,isoneofthe largestbulbproducers andonlinedistributors inNewZealand.Owner KayneGravattinoneof thegreenhouses. STEVE MACMILLAN

“My whole life has been digging and sorting bulbs. Thirteen years ago, I was working for Andrew Wearmouth, who at the time was one of the world leading calla growers, to pay for my pilot’s licence. I realised sitting in a cockpit all day wasn’t my thing and that I needed to be more hands on,” says Kayne.

solely for the domestic bulb market, and that has been our focus ever since.”

Bulbs Direct now carries more than 2000 varieties and every year more bulbs and varieties are being grown on its Waipu bulb farm, which consists of peat soil ideal for bulb production.

Once mature, they are dug up and transported to the Bulbs Direct warehouse at Paparoa, where sorting, bagging, labelling and distribution takes place thanks to the team of 10 staff While Paparoa is the current processing hub, with the growth the business a larger facility will be needed in years to come, Kayne says.

BetweenJanuaryandMay morethanthreemillion bulbsarecounted,graded, baggedupanddispatched byhand.Afurtherone millionbulbsaredispatched overspringandsummer

“I loved working for Andrew and when he got out, I bought his stock. I decided online was the way forward for the business and we went out of growing calla for the export market, to growing

“We grow around two million bulbs each year on site at our Waipu farm and the rest we buy in from growers around New Zealand, including the likes of tulips from the South Island, with some of the hard-to-come-by varieties imported from some of the world’s best.

“We’re fortunate in New Zealand to have some incredible plant breeders right on our doorstep, such as Dr Keith Hammett with his dahlia, clivia and sweet peas, and world-renowned calla breeders Trevor Brljevich and Andrew Wearmouth – and loads, loads more.”

Call to embrace gene tech scientists

e Minis r

Associate Minister for climate change Nicola Willis tours LIC to check out the latest research techniques.

By Madeleine Powers

Nicola Willis is calling on New Zealanders to embrace our world-leading gene tech scientists.

The deputy leader of the National Party and Associate Minister for Climate Change was at Ruakura agritech co-operative LIC (Livestock Improvement Corporation) recently for a tour of the facility, and to celebrate LIC’s “ground-breaking project”.

LIC announced recently their scientists would be working with precision breeding company Acceligen to produce a new breed of cow to address food security challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The $8.3m project will be funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and aims to produce dairy cows that can produce more milk, while withstanding the heat of Sub-Saharan Africa

Scientists at LIC will be using New Zealand grass-fed dairy cow genetics to create an embryo, but the gene editing work on the embryo’s stem cells will take place at Acceligen in the US.

Though the project aims to address food security in Africa, the minister says New Zealand scientists could be solving what is a “global challenge” with the research.

Willis says Kiwi farmers are “the most sustainable farmers in the world”, but when it came to reducing emissions, there wasn’t a “broad range of solutions”.

She says gene tech could help to lower emissions, whether by developing GE grasses, or cows that produce fewer emissions.

New Zealand is behind the rest of the world when it comes to using gene tech, and is “doing a catch-up”, Willis says.

Chief executive of LIC, David Chin, says there wasn’t a lot happening internationally when it came to using gene tech on livestock, but LIC was supportive of exploring the use of gene tech to improve dairy productivity.

He said it would be important to “understand consumer acceptance”. The Government has committed to legislative change to enable the greater use of gene technologies by the end of 2025.

Canterbury potato crop saved by bioagent bugs

A bug which wiped out 5% of Canterbury’s potato crop three years ago has been targeted by research which has proven successful.

By Eve Hyslop.

Have you ever opened a bag of chips, munched your way through the best ones, to then be left with the burnt-looking, bitter chip at the bottom of the packet?

That chip is known as a “zebra chip”, and rather than a few too many minutes in the oven, it’s the victim of the tomato potato psyllid (TPP), a small bug that feasts on potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants.

The bug wiped out 5.7% of Canterbury’s potato crop three years ago and considering Canterbury’s potato crop accounts for about 4200 hectares of New Zealand’s 10,000ha, that’s a hefty chip off the block.

Through a bacteria from the psyllid, affected potatoes will be streaked with a brown stripe, which shows even stronger when cooked. The colour and bitter taste might put a punter off their salted snack, but it isn’t harmful when consumed

The psyllid originated from North America, before hitchhiking its way over to New Zealand soils in 2008, says Lincoln University Associate Professor Clive Kaiser

“It may have come in on the trade winds, or it may have come with an incursion through the airport, because it was ﬁrst found around Auckland.”

At its earlier stages of life, the psyllid nymphs catch the wind through a parachute-like mechanism on its back, with the ability to travel large distances as it does from state to state in America, Kaiser says

“They move huge distances. In the United States they move every year because it’s so cold in the Paciﬁc Northwest, up in Washington and Oregon and Idaho, that they ﬂoat in from Texas on the trade winds.”

After studying the lifecycle of the bug,

where it bred, the height at which it ﬂew and regularly trapping and inspecting them for disease, Kaiser and his research team became experts on the pest.

Their expertise led to a breakthrough where industrial growers changed their pesticide spraying cycles to target the pest early in its life.

“The lifecycle is driven by temperature. So when there’s enough heat, the overwintering females will lay their eggs and then that will be the ﬁrst generation,” Kaiser says.

The second generation would then catch onto the wind, travelling to nearby potato crops.

Industry leaders and growers came together in 2021 to form the Canterbury Potato Liberibacter Initiative (CPLI), to spearhead the zebra chip issue.

Chairperson of CPLI John Jackson says the pysllid gave Canterbury growers and producers grief for years.

Above:

Apotatointhe fieldshows thezebrastripeeffect ofthepsyllid bacterium.The stripesshow morestrongly whencooked.

Left:Tomato potatopsyllid pest,asan adult

“It’s a major impact to the industry, so it probably costs the potato industry in Canterbury alone about $15 million a year.”

That cost was further raised by the loss of potato crop and seed production, increased waste and mitigations to ﬁght the bacteria.

The CPLI’s ﬁrst attempt to solve the problem was to ﬁnd whether the psyllid had built up resistance to any of the growers’ insecticides. No resistance was found, but Jackson recognised the more that chemicals were used, the more other insects would be killed that had the potential to control the psyllid.

Softer chemistry and biocontrol agents would favour all sides of the issue, prompting CPLI to work with Lincoln University to solve the issue.

A discovery of millions of psyllid eggs on African boxthorn plants along the Rakaia River saw Kaiser and his Lincoln

research team introduce biocontrol agents, which were predators of the psyllid.

“I was shocked at the incidence of eggs, nymphs and adults on those plants. There literally were millions. The entire bush was covered in them.”

A collection of pirate bugs were released to attack and feed on the psyllids on 10 disease hotspots, including the Rakaia River.

Since the introduction of the pirate bugs, the number of infected plants has since dropped to less than 0.01% from the initial 5% of the Canterbury crop.

“Processing facilities are delighted. They thought they were going to lose their industry,” Kaiser says.

The pirate bugs weren’t like any other farm worker, Jackson says, they were better.

“You don’t have to pay insects. They don’t have an hourly rate, you don’t have to feed them, they reproduce themselves, they are voracious little eaters That population will then grow and once you establish it there is no cost to maintenance.”

Even if the psyllid population were to continue to grow, Kaiser says the pirate bugs should evolve and grow in response. Take lions as a predator of antelopes in the Serengeti, for example.

“If you think about lions on the Serengeti, their population grows when the antelope population explodes. Then the antelope population drops off, and the lion population drops because they starve. The same thing is going on with these biological control agents,” Kaiser says.

Bioagent breeder Bioforce has kept the pirate bugs in full supply for Kaiser’s team and CPLI to keep the psyllid under control and the chips ‘zebra-free’.

Further research has also seen the use of a calcium salt to act as a deterrent to the psyllids. This is not yet being used or tested on potato farms, but Kaiser says that when it is, it’ll be another useful mitigation.

“It looks like it may be an additional tool in the toolbox. It’s important to have an integrated approach, so you don’t just rely on one aspect of control.”

Kaiser was grateful for the collaborative effort of PNZ, CPLI and other scientists and researchers and Lincoln University for their support in getting the research to where it is today.

Potato psyllid nymphs, at the early stage of life. WARD STEPMAN/BCP LTD

Breeding climate-friendly cattle

A genetics trial led by AgResearch and Beef + Lamb is on the lookout to ﬁnd New Zealand’s most feed efficient and environmentally friendly beef cattle to breed the next generation.

By Eve Hyslop.

Efforts to crack down on the amount of methane belched out by our beef cattle have been showcased at a recent genetics trial on a North Canterbury farm. It will be made possible with the help of Portable Accumulation Chambers (PAC).

They’re fridge-shaped portable chambers that are used to measure the amount of methane emitted from cattle that have just been fed.

The chambers were developed by AgResearch and released in 2023 in order to address a long-standing gap in the ability to measure methane emitted from grazing beef cattle, AgResearch principal scientist Dr Suzanne Rowe says

“The cow walks into the chamber and we capture all of the gas that’s emitted from that animal for just one hour. We then use this data to rank animals according to their methane emissions.

“We’ve been doing this for many years with sheep, with thousands of measures on farms around New Zealand, and we’ve been able to prove that it is an accurate and effective method,” Rowe says.

The trial on September 4 at Te Mania Angus stud was one of eight trials led by AgResearch and geneticists from Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s (B+LNZ) Informing New Zealand Beef programme.

When the data is collected by AgResearch, the cattle with the most favourable traits for methane reduction and feed efficiency will be chosen to produce the next generation of lowemission but highly productive cattle.

“We’ll collect a whole lot of data and make predictions which help people select which animals are going to breed the next generation of animals that’ll be better than the previous generation,” Jason Archer, head of genetics at B+LNZ says In other words, the cattle which emit less methane but grow larger to produce more meat will be most favoured.

productive, low-emission

can work together and make much more progress than any of us can by ourselves,” Archer says.

About 71% of the agriculture sector’s emissions come from ruminant animals, so if the research creates more genetic tools which tackle methane, it will address a decent chunk of the sector’s overall emissions.

“If we can achieve that, we can still run the sheep and cattle that we currently run, but they’ll have a lesser impact on the climate and they’ll also be more productive and proﬁtable,” Archer says.

The end goal is to create two breeding values, one for feed efficiency and the other to reduce methane emissions per kilo of feed, Archer says

Methane emissions are an issue for all countries, so New Zealand farmers and scientists aren’t alone in this trial.

“It’s critical for us to be able to address this, both to do our bit environmentally, but also to maintain that market access and sell them to markets that really care about these things,” Archer says.

As for the feed efficiencyvalue, that will be measured when the cattle are fed silage from a container that sits on load bar scales.

“Only one animal can feed at any one time,” Will Wilding, director at Te Mania Angus says.

“The goal in this trial is to try and identify those cattle that can do both, produce less methane per kilogram of feed and grow faster per kilogram of feed. That way we can get a double shot of lower methane and better animal performance.”

Scientists and farmers from Australia, Uruguay, America, Britain and Ireland are some of the few who have collaborated with AgResearch and B+LNZ to tackle one of agriculture’s largest issues, methane emissions.

“While the animal eats, the system reads its National Animal Identiﬁcation Tag (NAIT), records which speciﬁc animal is eating, and weighs feed before, during and after feeding.”

It’s called the Vytelle Sense system and when the feeding data is taken, it is then sent to Vytelle in Canada, a genetic advancement company which assists producers in delivering more protein to their cattle with fewer inputs.

“None of us are big enough to solve the problem by ourselves, but by doing this as an international collaboration, then we

JasonArcher, headofgenetics atB+LNZ,saysthe collaborationwill allowbeeffarmers tostaketheirclaim inthemethanereductionsspace.

“They collate the data to tell you exactly how much each animal has eaten. When the animals have a drink they are weighed on scales, providing data for their daily weight gain,” Wilding says.

Geneticists and scientists will then be able to ﬁnd which cattle gain more weight than others after feeding, and are therefore more feed efficient and will produce more meat.

“With the genetic reduction in emissions and a lift in production, I think this is a much better alternative for New Zealand than reducing the national herd to meet commitments. There is also the potential we could grow the national herd and emit less than the targets set,” Wilding says.

MG PHOTOGRAPHY/ BEEF + LAMB NEW ZEALAND

Beef + Lamb New Zealand and AgResearch are on a mission to breed the next generation of

cattle.

Left:ThePortable AccumulationChambers (PAC)measurethemethane emittedfromoneanimalafter theyhavebeenfedtofind, genetically,whichanimalisthe mostenvironmentallyfriendly

Below:WillWilding, directoratTeManiaAngus Stud,seesthebreedingoption asamuchbetteroptionfor lowermethaneemissions thanreducingthenational herdsize

BEEF + LAMB NEW ZEALAND

SuzanneRowe,principalscientist atAgResearch,saystheirresearch withthePACshasbeendonewith sheepwhichhasprovedthatthe resultsareaccurateandeffective.

Above:Thecattle’sfeedefficiencyismeasuredwhile theyeatfeedoutoftheVytellesystem.Itisessentially asilagebinonaweighscalethatmeasureshow mucheachanimaleats BEEF + LAMB NEW ZEALAND

anne scienti

Research on a methane vaccine to reduce emissions from livestock has been

given a $13.5m funding boost.

By Sonita Chandar

The ﬁght to reduce emissions is stepping up with a multimillion-dollar funding boost for methane vaccine research to a new player in the industry which is spearheading the next phase in the country’s pioneering methane vaccine research.

Injection of funding for research

AgriZeroNZ is providing $8.5m and the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC) is providing $5m – an investment of $13.5 million – to Lucidome Bio.

AgriZeroNZ chief executive Wayne McNee says a vaccine would be a great tool for farmers. It would not require any farm system changes and would be applicable to all ruminant farm animals.

“A vaccine that reduces methane from ruminant animals would be a transformational tool for New Zealand’s agricultural sector and for farmers worldwide.

“It’s widely recognised as the holy grail to reduce emissions, as it’s a lowcost, high-impact solution which has the potential to be adopted into all farming systems.”

NZAGRC executive director Naomi Parker says the reliance on antibody production in saliva and the complex nature of the rumen makes this work incredibly challenging However, the progress to date gives conﬁdence it can achieve success.

Research has been ongoing for several years and shows a successful vaccine would trigger an animal’s immune system to generate antibodies in saliva that suppress the growth and function of methane-producing microbes (methanogens) in the rumen, signiﬁcantly reducing the quantity of the potent greenhouse gas it burps out.

and emphasised the new venture’s commitment to technological vation in tackling this global opportunity.

chief executive

Wayne McNee

“We know farmers are looking for effective and affordable ways to reduce methane. Our vision is to help farmers feed the world while protecting our planet. We’re focused on making the technology breakthroughs needed to commercialise a safe, effective vaccine that reduces methane emissions at scale and addresses one of the world’s biggest climate change challenges.’’

Lucidome Bio was established by AgriZeroNZ to bring together New Zealand’s vaccine technology, intellectual property, team and funding to help deliver a world-ﬁrst solution to market. Their work builds on pioneering research led by AgResearch’s team of globally renowned immunologists and microbiologists.

AgResearch will continue to be a critical partner, providing expertise with scientists being seconded to Lucidome Bio as well as access to research facilities

The Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium also remains a shareholder alongside AgriZeroNZ.

“This is no easy task, but the research team has made signiﬁcant progress over the years and achieved many groundbreaking advancements which provide critical foundations to support future success,” Parker says. Lucidome Bio interim chief executive David Aitken welcomed the funding

The funding follows the announcement in August from the Bezos Earth Fund to provide US$9.4 million for an international consortium to build scientiﬁc evidence for a methane vaccine.

Led by researchers at the Pirbright Institute and the Royal Veterinary College, the AgResearch scientists (now seconded to Lucidome Bio) will provide expertise in rumen microbiology and immunology.

AgriZeroNZ

‘The outreach programme starts immediately,” said Synlait’s independent chairperson George Adams.

Fresh from securing shareholder backing for a massive $217.8 million recapitalisation to pay down its unsustainable debt on Wednesday, September 18, Synlait’s priority was winning back the trust of its farmer suppliers.

“The ﬁrst order of business is to start to talk to farmers to encourage them to withdraw their cease notices,” Adams said

As the company’s financial woes intensified in the first half of the year, a “substantial majori suppliers sent it announcing their supplying the comp

intensiﬁed in the ﬁrst half of the a majority” of Synlait’s farmer sent cease notices pl the company we don’t ha business, frankly, if said. milk, just be the owner o

“Ultimately, we business, frankly, milk,” Adams sa Without that mi just be the owner shiny stainless steel”, But he was op that farmer-supp would stick with Synlait, and withdra their cease notices.

But he was optimis that farmer-suppliers

Synlait, and withdraw cease notices. of ﬁrst he to after vote on was

Adams said one the ﬁrst people he spoke to after the vote meeting on September 18 was one of Synlait’s largest farmer suppliers.

“I said, ‘Look do you think?’,” said.

“I said, ‘Look, what do you think?’,” Adams

“He said, ‘Look, this stage, it would rude not to withdraw my cease notice said at the time, the balance sheet, advance rates up’ have done both Synlait’s milk is currently $8.60, paying an advan 75% of the milk pr to 85% next year. acknowledged: “There

“He said, ‘Look, at this stage, be rude not to withdra my cease beca at ‘Dele get rates up’, a have done both of th Synlait’s milk price is and it’s paying an advance rate o price, 85% next year. But, acknowledged: “Th

Synlait’s ﬁrst priority

Getting farmers to take back withdrawal

milk tanker leaving Synlait’s Dunsandel plant in Canterbury.

threat

The greenlit deal allowed major shareholders Bright Dairy and A2 Milk to inject a combined $217.8 million of capital into Synlait, which would happen on October 1.

LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF

big to do there with our farmers.” has about 200 its farmer-supplier team chief executive Grant would be all of them, online meetings.

job to do there with our farmers.”

“I’m anticipating an announcement about that in next of Adams, says vote to

Synlait would also welcome a new panel of bankers including Kiwibank, China Construction Bank, HSBC, Rabobank, and Bank of China.

processing facilities, but Adams did not think Synlait had anything to fear from that.

“The New Zealand provenance remains very strong, and sought-after,” Adams said. Global demand for dairy also remained strong, and it was growing.

“You might ﬁnd me jumping in on a few next of months,” said. So crucial was the cease notices for share price that the company would soon be updating the on

progress. Adams said.

Synlait has about 200 farmer-suppliers, and its farmer-supplier team and ef executive Grant Wilson would be contacting all of hem, including through ne meetings. might ﬁnd me jumping in of those in the next couple hs,” Adams said al was the withdrawal of notices for Synlait’s share the company would soon be NZX sharemarket on its

ticipating an announcement the next couple of weeks,”

New store

New $150m cool store project welcome news for South Taranaki

Investment

Amassive $150 million cool store construction project due to start in South Taranaki next month has been welcomed by mayor Phil Nixon as a timely shot in the arm for the district.

Fonterra announced in mid-September that it would build the new cool store – big enough to keep the equivalent of 26,000,0000 1kg blocks of cheddar cold – at it’s Whareroa Plant, just outside of Hāwera.

Construction of the cool store –essentially a very large fridge – would be spread over three years and employ up to 150 extra people at the peak of the project.

Nixon said it had been a hard couple of years in the dairy farming sector, which in districts like South Taranaki made it a hard couple of years for everyone.

“That $150m, that’s a huge spend It’s really good news and it’s got to be good for

the region,” Nixon said.

With the dairy payout on the up and interest rates coming down, he said the region was looking forward to better days and the new project would help instil conﬁdence for the future.

The new cool store, which will be the size of three rugby ﬁelds, will be built on the footprint of the plant’s current cool store.

“Honestly, it’s a massive relief,” Adams said after the vote meeting at Synlait’s Dunsandel plant in Canterbury.

He would personally take a few days off to recover from the past six months of work, but he insisted he had not taken the role as chairperson in March solely to be a short-term appointment to lead the rescue of Synlait.

“I’m staying. Absolutely. 100%,” he said.

The deal will see Chinese company Bright Dairy become the majority shareholder Bright Dairy director Julia Zhu expressed conﬁdence in Synlait’s long-term growth prospects, while also outlining the growth of dairying in China.

China has been rapidly developing its dairy industry, growing its dairy herds and

However, it will have greater capacity, and will be big enough to store about 26,000 tonnes of cheese – 5000 more tonnes than the current capacity.

Scott Nelson, the general manager of Fonterra operations in the lower North Island, said the decision was a sign of conﬁdence in the region and the future of dairy.

“It’s going to be spread over three years, and done in two stages so we can continue manufacture,” he said.

“So that means that we will have an ongoing impact into local business,

A recent report from the Coriolis agri-industry management consulting and market research ﬁrm indicated the scale of that growth.

“It’s running at approximately an entire New Zealand every 1.2 years,” Adams said.

“There’s still deﬁnitely an opportunity for us. Yes, China is growing its own dairy industry, but the world is consuming more dairy every day,” he said.

“We’ve got to ﬁnd a way to make sure that we carve out our place in that world, that future.”

Synlait was also looking at other opportunities in milk production.

Its Pōkeno processing facility in North Waikato was a state-of-the-art facility that could produce plant-based milks

Synlait shares gained just over 3% after the vote to trade at 46c on September 18; they are down almost 62% in value in the year.

whether it’s direct through contractors coming in or services or accommodation and those kinds of things as well.”

The Whareroa plant processes up to 12.5 million litres of milk per day, the equivalent of ﬁve Olympic swimming pools, and is one of the largest milk processing plants in the world.

It employs more than 1000 people across 11 plants. Nelson said many of those who worked there were from the same families across multiple generations.

It makes such products as mozzarella, cheddar cheese, butter, whole milk powder and lactic casein. Just under a third of all the cheese produced by Fonterra in New Zealand comes from the Whareroa plant.

The $150m decision follows recent

announcements by Fonterra of a $75m protein plant at their Studholme site in South Canterbury and a $150m UHT cream plant in Southland.

Nelson said the staged approach to the Whareroa cool store project would enable the plant to continue operating at full capacity for the duration of the construction period.

Fonterra chief operating officer Anna Palairet said the new cool store was strategically important and would play a crucial role in the resilience of the co-op’s supply chain.

“The Taranaki region is dairy heartland and I’m delighted we’re able to make this signiﬁcant investment into shoring up our operations at this site, which is one of the largest in our network,” she said.

George Adams, chairperson of Synlait, says the first order of business after the recapitalisation is to win back farmer support.

Matthew Rilkoff

Fonterra is making a major investment in its Whareroa plant in South Taranaki over three years.

VANESSA LAURIE/TARANAKI DAILY NEWS

South Taranaki mayor Phil Nixon

Synlait

Employment

Madeleine Powers

Iwi trust-owned kiwifruit orchards are welcoming back seasonal workers for another year and saythe scheme, which has recentlyundergone changes, is working well.

Agroup of 10 Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers from Samoa, along with a group of Horticulture New Zealand conference attendees, were welcomed on to Hungahungatoroa marae in Tauranga with a pōwhiri.

The ceremonymarked the beginning of another season for the RSE workers, and was an opportunityfor the HortNZ conference group to see a Māori-owned and run RSE programme in action.

Ngāi Tukairangi Trust chairperson Peter Ratahi Cross says the iwi wanted to make its ‘‘Paciﬁc brothers” feel at home during their stay. “We need to incorporate theirviews,” Ratahi Cross says.

The workers are treated like sons, he says, and it was important that the village where theylived onsite during their stayfelt like home.

Ngāi Tukairangi Trust has orchards throughout the country, and has been part of the RSE scheme for three years.

Trust general manager Andrew Wood says the trust generallyemploys 40 RSE workers across its orchards, and “it’s worked reallywell”.

In peak times, the trust has 70 permanent staff and 200 casual workers

The RSE workers were “hand-picked” from a village the trust visited in Samoa.

The trust picked particularvillages to offer the scheme to, and he encourages others to do the same. “Adopt a village, make it yours and work with the people.”

Some of the RSE scheme workers are back at the trust’s orchard to live and work for their third year in a row, and they say they are the “lucky” ones.

The scheme enables workers from partner countries in the Paciﬁc to work on orchards in New Zealand, forming a crucial part of the sector’s labour force.

More than 700 growers, supply chain partners and horticulture sector stakeholders gathered in Mt Maunganui at the end of August for the HortNZ Annual Conference. It was an excellent opportunity to focus on sharing stories, ideas and inspiration that align with the Aotearoa Horticulture Action Plan.

Two conference programmes – the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) conference and the Horticulture NZ conference combined to bring three days of presentations and discussions.

The RSE part of the conference was a celebration of the special relationship between the horticulture sector and the Pacific. We’re committed to working together to make sure the RSE scheme is working well for growers, the Pacific and the Pacific workers. The conference is about celebrating the success of the programme and building the relationships that will enable the scheme to thrive into the future.

Highlights from the RSE conference for me included: Felicity Bollen from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, who explained the fabric of the Macro Paciﬁc region – each country contributes its unique thread to weave into the RSE scheme –and insights and experiences of an RSE employee and employer presented by Bruno Lee, an RSE worker for T&G, from the Solomon Islands, and Maurice Windle from T&G.

In a positive development before the conference, the Government announced changes to the RSE scheme These adjustments will signiﬁcantly support the horticulture industry in its goal to double the farmgate value of production by 2035

The Government’s updates include lifting the pause on accommodation cost

RSE scheme working ‘well’ amid changes

In return, workers are given accommodation and wages, which help support their families back home.

Wood says workers send about $10,000 each back to theirvillages.

One worker, who has three children and a wife in Samoa, says he and the other nine from a small village in Samoa are lucky to have been chosen to work on the orchard.

This is his third year, and he hopes to earn enough moneyworking over ﬁve years

forthreeyears.

MADELEINE POWERS DAVID WHITE/STUFF

to let someone else from the village have their turn

The workers spend six months awayfrom their families, which he says is “veryhard”.

The Samoan workers will be joined by a group of workers from Fiji who will live in units on the other side of the RSE “village”.

The Government recentlyannounced changes to the RSE scheme, including opening it to workers from Timor-Leste.

This will increase the total number of

Conference a success

Opinion

Horticulture New Zealand acting chief executive Michelle Sands looks back at the highlights of the recent Horticulture NZ conference.

increases, allowing for a capped increase, enabling employers to average RSE workers’ minimum 30-hour work week over four weeks, and adjusting the 10% above minimum wage requirement.

The RSE scheme has benefited New Zealand growers and Pacific nations for more than 17 years, boosting Pacific economies through wage repatriation. We believe these changes are sensible and strike the right balance.

New Zealand growers tell us they welcome the improved ﬂexibility for RSE workers, including provisions for returning home during family emergencies and more ease in moving between regions and employers.

While the horticulture industry strongly supports hiring New Zealanders ﬁrst, to

says food security, water access and climate change are key concerns for growers.

reach our potential we must attract and retain more motivated and skilled people from both New Zealand and overseas, especially during peak seasonal harvests.

The RSE scheme will continue to play a vital role in achieving this.

The horticulture part of the conference underscored our key concerns for growers: food security, water access and climate change. These align with HortNZ’s top policy priorities.

Food security, promoting healthy food consumption and the future of food were traversed.

We had a panel discussion about Nourishing New Zealand – linking sustainability, food and health, with Professor Julia Rucklidge, Jay Clarke from Woodhaven Gardens, Emily King, founder of

workers. Changes also reduce wages for workers with fewer than two seasons’ experience, and lift the freeze on workers’ accommodation charges.

Workers must be paid a minimum 30 hours a week, but this can be averaged out over a four-week period to allow for periods of bad weather.

The changes also give workers increased ﬂexibility to move between employers and regions, with multi-entryvisa options allowing them to change employers and leave and re-enter the country.

RSE worker numbers have quadrupled from 5000 to almost 20,000 since the scheme started in 2007, but funding for labour inspectorates has not increased in 17 years. There are 81 labour inspectorates who check on RSE worker conditions, but only two work fulltime on RSE.

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford says an extra 1250 people will be employed in horticulture and viticulture for the 2024-25 season, bringing the total to 20,750.

Spira, and Bryan Smith, chief adviser at the Ministry for the Environment.

The panel discussed the importance of eating unprocessed fruit and vegetables for health, the complexities within the global food system, and highlighted the barriers faced by New Zealand growers, who are hindered by poor regulation from producing the fresh fruit and vegetables that support human health.

HortNZ has been advocating for a national policy to enable the supply of fresh fruit and vegetables, and national rules that will make vegetable growing a permitted activity, provided growers can demonstrate they are operating at good practice with a Freshwater Farm Plan.

We had a panel discussion on water with Simon Court, Whetu Rolleston, Hugh Ritchie, Stephen McNally and Vanessa Winning, discussing sustainable water-storage solutions that explore the multifaceted challenges and opportunities in water storage, addressing environmental, cultural, horticultural and policy perspectives

We had a thought-provoking presentation on The Future of Transport, sponsored by Zespri, which was about the state of New Zealand’s domestic and export transport options and what the future may hold, and adventurer Tim Jarvis spoke about mental resilience.

The horticulture sector provides jobs, supports the economy and ensures access to fresh, healthy food. To maintain and enhance this role, we must prioritise policies that support growers, protect productive land and ensure a stable supply of fresh produce.

Doing so will build a resilient food system that can meet the needs of a growing population while safeguarding our environment for future generations.

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford

Michelle Sands

Above:HortNZconference attendeesweregivenatourof NgāiTukairangiTrust’sRSEworker villageattheirkiwifruitorchards inTauranga.Left:Thetrusthas orchardsthroughoutthecountry, andhasbeenpartoftheRSE scheme

22 NZFarmer SheepandBeef

Future of sector in good hands

Awards

Sonita Chandar

The high calibre of entrants and ﬁnalists in the 2024 Beef + Lamb New Zealand Awards, shows the future of the industry is in good hands.

Entrants have now been put through a vigorous judging process, and the eight ﬁnalists have been selected

The annual awards celebrate the people, the innovation, the technologies, and farming systems that make New Zealand’s red meat industry world-leading.

They serve as a platform from which the sector can tell their story to a wider audience and help shine a light on the farmers, scientists, innovators, advocates and community leaders who contribute so much to industry.

B+LNZ’s general manager of insights and communication, Rowena Hume, says she was very pleased with both the number and quality of entries across all eight categories and while this made judging particularly challenging it highlighted the depth of talent and innovation in the red meat sector.

“The judging team of farmers and industry professionals did have a difficult job,

but all the ﬁnalists are making a positive contribution to our sheep, beef and dairy beef sector and it is a privilege to be able to recognise their work

“It has been a particularly challenging year for farmers and it’s even more important than ever that we celebrate success within our industry.”

Winners will be announced at the awards dinner at Claudelands Event Centre in Hamilton on October 10.

“I encourage anyone with an interest in the red meat sector, entrants, nominees and nominators to come and join the ﬁnalists and sponsors to celebrate excellence in our industry. It promises to be a great night.”

The ﬁnalists are:

AgResearch Emerging Achiever Award

■ Lana Chrystal (Taihape)

■ Mitchel Hoare (Te Kūiti)

■ Martin Reisima (Masterton)

Rabobank People Development Award

■ Growing Future Farmers (National)

■ Hereheretau Station (Wairoa)

■ Lone Star Farms (Nelson)

FMG Rural Champion Award

■ Harriet Bremner-Pinckney (Otautau)

■ New Zealand Farm Environment

Trust (National)

■ Royalburn Station Ltd (Arrowtown)

Alliance Signiﬁcant Contribution Award

■ Bryan Hocken MNZM (Tarata)

■ Ian McIvor (Palmerston North)

■ Rod Slater (Auckland)

Ballance Agri-Nutrients Science and Research Award

■ Andy Dumbleton (Lincoln)

■ Dr David Hume (Palmerston North)

■ Anne Ridler (Palmerston North)

Datamars Livestock Technology Award

■ Farm IQ Freshwater Farm Plan Tool (National)

■ Halter (National)

■ Zoetis SHEPHERD (National)

Gallagher Innovative Farming Award

■ FE Gold (National)

■ Fernglen Farm (Masterton)

■ Motumatai Pastoral Ltd (Masterton)

Silver Fern Farms Market Leader Award

■ Conscious Valley (Wellington)

■ Headwaters (Nelson)

■ Ongaha (Featherston)

Tickets for the B+LNZ Awards are available at: beeflambnz.com/events/beef-lamb-newzealand-awards-2024

Sharing farm life can be a worthwhile diversiﬁcation strategy - but do it carefully

Opinion

Andrew Stewart

Many farming businesses are looking to diversify to boost falling farm incomes.

But what are the risks and opportunities for those looking to invest time, capital and resource into areas they have little or no knowledge in? Possibly the most valuable advice for those looking to diversify is to seek advice from those who have already done it.

Our diversiﬁcation journey began back in 2008. My wife was teaching at the time and was looking to start a home-based business as we planned to start a family

Travel overseas inspired us to turn what we viewed as ordinary which was life on a farm, into what others viewed as extraordinary.Visitors to the farm were captivated with the ability to get up close to a range of farm animals, enjoy the quiet and open spaces and get away from the hustle of their normal lives. So, for us, tourism was a logical step.

Initially, we had a very small budget, so we had to answer the question: how do we start a business with little capital?

Luckily, our farm had a number of existing small buildings around our house that were in reasonable condition so all we needed was time and energy to transform them into visitor accommodation

We recognised that using historical farming relics to decorate the building gave an authenticity to the story we were trying to sell. As with many projects we have taken on, we underestimated how much time, money and sweat it would take. But the best thing about doing a lot of the work ourselves was it didn’t really cost much more money, it just took longer to complete.

We also built a website where we could change and update content. We could have

spent a fortune on something visually stunning but for us functionality was more important so we chose a reasonably priced website that still serves us well today.

Having that online presence from the beginning enabled us to tell our story and refer anyone who showed interest to the website to answer their questions. This was particularly important for international tourists.

So, for 12 years, Rangitīkei Farmstay operated successfully in these converted buildings around our house and garden. But by the time of the pandemic, we had a young family and the presence of tourists on our doorstep was wearing a little thin.

We moved our farmstay business to a small farm cottage 1km away from our house to give both ourselves and our guests more privacy.

The border lockdown gave us the chance to renovate what was a basic old cottage into a charming, rustic farmstay that kept the spirit of what we had created alive.

It was a nervous time when Kiwis were allowed to start travelling again. We wondered if our remote little farm cottage would attract any interest from domestic tourists. Fortunately, we were blown away by the interest and humbled by the feedback from our guests.

So, what transferable lessons have

we learnt to share with others? For us, spending large amounts of capital to create lovely buildings was a risk we were not willing to take. When you consider how many nights of accommodation it requires to repay of large amounts of borrowings, you need to be certain you can service that debt.

And tourism can be a ﬁckle beast.

Being realistic about what you take on is also very important. Sure, doing work yourself is cheap, but do you actually have the right skills or should it be left to a professional? You also have to factor in your time, as if you are farming as well, it will put pressure on your other responsibilities.

Probably the most important lessons are intangible ones. Like anything in life, it is important to do something you are passionate about. Tourism may “sound” lovely, but the reality is it is not all beer and skittles.

Meeting the demands and expectations of tourists can be exhausting as you have to always strive to deliver the same level of product to each customer. And you can guarantee things will go wrong when you least need them to. There is also the reality that there is no way you can actually make people visit your accommodation, you must just do your best and hope that they choose you over hundreds of other options.

But the reward of another person showing gratitude and appreciation from sharing your everyday surroundings is something we will never grow tired of. It makes all the years of graft, tears and mistakes worthwhile, and yes, it has provided a valuable extra source of income. After all, our ordinary is someone else’s extraordinary.

Andrew Stewart, a fourth generation sheep and beef farmer, also runs a farmstay and shares just how his family have managed it.

Sheep and beef farmer Andrew Stewart and his wife run Rangitikei Homestays and The Mudder as an extra income source He renovated existing buildings, so as to minimise borrowing.

More than 300 people attended the 2023 Beef + Lamb New Zealand Awards gala dinner held at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre in October BEEF + LAMB NZ

Get amongst it

Opinion

Kate Acland

We’ve just ﬁnished the annual Beef + Lamb New Zealand Farmer Director roadshow meetings and had great engagement with around 400 farmers plus a number of rural professionals at meetings around the country and online

We brought these meetings back last year after a hiatus of several years as a result of feedback from farmers that we needed to be more visible in the regions and spend more time listening to their concerns.

This year, the meetings had a dual purpose – ﬁrstly, to give an overview of the refreshed B+LNZ strategy, where we’ve set the focus more ﬁrmly behind the farm gate, and secondly, to gain feedback on a number of key policy positions on freshwater, farm planning and climate.

There are some signiﬁcant and critical decision points coming up for our sector in the next few years, particularly in the climate space, and it’s critical that all farmers both understand the implications and engage in the conversation.

We heard a lot of general concerns about environmental regulation and frustration that many policies are being pushed through regionally even though central government has indicated change.

We heard positive feedback about B+LNZ’s stronger focus behind the farm gate and support for the strong collaboration efforts we have with other ag-sector organisations, but also feedback on the importance of a strong sheep and beef voice and a reinforcement of the value of our international advocacy efforts for all red meat producers.

One message we did share is that the climate conversation is still live and ongoing and the strong expectation agriculture will ‘play its part’ remains.

As we enter this next stage of the climate conversation with the establishment of a Pastoral Sector Methane Working Group, we’re determined to avoid a repeat of He Waka Eke Noa.

We will involve our farmers in all stages of the discussions without the restrictions we previously faced. We’ll make sure the farmervoice is clearly represented and we’ll be a part of ﬁnding the right

solutions, but we won’t be setting the policies.

We know that farmers will need to be one part of the solution to tackling New Zealand’s emissions.

Our analysis indicates that the sheep and beef sector has reduced its methane emissions by a signiﬁcant amount since 2017, largely as a result of a reduction in stock numbers in the last couple of years driven by the conversion of sheep and beef farms into forestry due to the carbon price.

We also know that our farmers are offsetting a signiﬁcant proportion of their remaining emissions through woodyvegetation on their farms.

We heard concerns from farmers about the impact afforestation and other regulations are having on rural communities and the concern that the uncertainty created by climate policy may be what tips our communities too far.

That’s why there must be limits placed on forestry offsetting by fossil fuel emitters. They should not have an unbridled ability to offset their emissions by planting pines on productive land.

Farmers also need certainty from government that if we are meeting sensible and science-based methane targets, we won’t face a price on our emissions.

No-one wants to see livestock reductions continue as they have done recently, and any future emissions reductions should come from the application of technologies that are on the horizon.

It’s critical as farmers that we get our heads up and outside our farm gates to take part in the conversation. One of the beneﬁts of the roadshow format was smaller groups, which always allows for much deeper conversations that are a good use of mine and other directors’ time.

We know time is precious, so we asked farmers at these meetings about how they want to engage with us, how they want to receive information and to feed it back in.

There was no clear answer because the message was “everything” – face-to-face meetings, workshops, emails, social media, newspapers, surveys – so we’re committed to providing all of these options. My challenge to farmers is to choose one of these and get involved.

Kate Acland is the chairperson of Beef + Lamb New Zealand and a mid-Canterbury sheep, beef and dairy farmer.

KEEP OURSHEEP SWEET in your region

Dose alldogswho reside near sheep with Praziquantel monthlyoratleast 48 hoursbefore visiting sheep, to preventsheep measles.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand chairperson Kate Acland, says there are some significant and critical decision points coming up for our sector in the next few years and encourages farmers to get involved.

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Intheearly2000’s,Lelyintroduced theYellowRevolutionconcept.AYellow Revolutionrepresentsaboldstep forwardindairyfarming,promisinga futurewhereinnovation,technology andsustainabilitygohandinhandto improvedairyfarmingforourfarmers ThepreviousYellowRevolutions launchedbyLelywereSphere,Exosand Horizon.

…withtheLelyAstronautmilkingrobot! We'veheardmanyofourcustomerssharetheirpositiveexperienceswiththeindividualcow dataprovidedbyourHorizonmanagementsystem,whichhasintroducedanewway ofmanagingtheirfarms.Reducedphysicalstrainandfewerstaffissuesareotherbenefitsour roboticmilkingfarmersfrequentlymention.Lookingformoreefficiencyonyourfarm, betterqualityfamilytime,andlessstrainonyourbody?ScantheQRcodetolearnmore, andfeelfreetoinquireaboutanobligation-freevisittoaroboticmilkingfarmnearyou. Brightfarmingisyoursbychoice

Tough times for timber markets

Scott Downs, director of sales and marketing for PF Olsen

Many domestic wood processing mills have slowed down production as demand for sawn timber in New Zealand is very weak There is now more than 40% sawmilling capacity not used being utilised, and structural sawn timber in particular is over supplied.

A higher proportion of lower grade products are now having to be exported at lower returns than domestic sales. Mills don’t expect a signiﬁcant increase in demand come summer.

Export sales of clear boards are okay, but this supply line is also under pressure due to reducing demand in the US and Europe Mills in New Zealand are facing rising costs with electricity costs in particular increasing rapidly.

Winstone Pulp International (WPI) closed its Karioi Pulp Mill and Tangiwai Sawmill, stating soaring electricity costs were a signiﬁcant factor in these decisions Poor long term market forecasts would lead to low conﬁdence to invest in these businesses.

This has ﬂow-on effects to other mills as sawmills sell their sawdust to Karioi Pulp Mill This volume will now have to be sold at alternative markets that will likely incur more transportation costs.

The China property market remains very subdued. The Chinese government’s various attempts to stabilise the property market have not worked as hoped.

Indeed, in June the total 70-city average property price indicator declined 7.9% on a year-on year basis. This is the biggest annual drop on record. The government tried to introduce price controls to avoid

falling house prices, but a growing number of mortgage holders have failed to fulﬁll their mortgage obligations. Therefore, banks have been forced to auction these properties at basement prices This has undermined the government price control. Ironically the banks are state owned.

Beijing’s latest attempt to stabilise the property market is allowing local governments to issue special bonds to purchase unsold properties (and often convert to affordable housing) as well as mandating the sale of completed homes rather than the longstanding practice of pre-selling unﬁnished homes. This will be welcomed by buyers but may place further cash ﬂow strain on developers.

China’s high level of public debt is constraining any further ability to balance the property market. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), stated China’s augmented public debt stock last year was 116% of GDP.

Some analysts suggest Beijing is also keen to reduce its reliance on the property market to free up capital and resources for other kinds of economic activity that is more strategically important. This is in the ﬁelds of semi-conductors and technology, AI, biopharma, green energy and agricultural efficiency.

Diversiﬁcation is a sound economic policy, but this may also be driven by Beijing wanting to cushion the shocks from any coordinated set of sanctions from the West in an increasingly divided world.

The PF Olsen Log Price Index tracks the composite average price of log grades produced from a typical pruned forest with an approximate mix of 40% domestic and 60% export supply. This average price has been declining since 2019

The monthly PF Olsen Log Price Index with rolling two-year average.

Winstone Pulp International (WPI) has closed its Karioi Pulp Mill. DAVID WHITE/STUFF

Newgenerationsoilmoisturemanagement

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TomsaystheUPLNZLtdproductcan decreasetheamountofwaterneededfor irrigation–providinggreateryieldsfor lesscost.“And,whenitcomestodryland farming,itmakesgrowingcropspossible wherebefore,itwould’vebeendiceyat best

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Usuallyapplieddownthespoutat sowing,thepatentedandbiodegradable, cornstarch-basedproductretainswater andwater-solublenutrients(including nitrogen)inplants’rootzones.Theseare

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EachZebagranuleholdsupto400times itsownweightinwater Zebaiswell-proveninaridareas includingpartsofAustralia,South Africa,andIndia,butalsoinsomeof thetoughestcountryyou’llfindinNew Zealand.

JoShannon,togetherwithhersister Vicki,runafamilyfarmintheiconicbut climaticallychallengingIdaValleyin CentralOtago.Theflat,verydryareahas long,hotsummersandfreezingwinters

On500hectaresthefamilyrun Perendales,withaterminalmobof PerendaleewescrossedwithHampshire andTexelrams,andSouthDevoncattle. Havingfeedfortheanimalscriticalto thefarm’ssmoothrunningandeconomic viability.JoandVickiarecommittedto thebestpossibleandmostcost-effective solutionsfortheirproperty.Josaysthey usemixedpastureinsomepaddocks withcropswhichcanwithstand thetemperaturevariationsandsoil conditionswhichincludehard,shallow pans

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TomsaysZebarechargeswithextra rainorirrigation,butperformancewill diminishin3-4months.

Zebaisbiodegradableandleavesno residuesbehind FormoreinformationonZeba,talkto yourlocaltechnicalmerchantorUPLNZ. • Exempt from registration underthe ACVM Act1997. Non-hazardous. ®Registeredtrademark

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Jo Shannon and her sister Vicki run this family farm in the Ida ValleyinCentral Otago.Theytook partinatrial of Zeba®and were wonoverbythe wayitgaveplants a chancetoget established in an area known forits long hot summersand freezing winters.

What’s on

● October 7-21; B+LNZ

B+LNZ Climate Change Policy workshops,various locations

We want to discuss a range of climate change-related topics with farmers to help us develop a package of climate change policy positions that enable sheep meat, beef and dairy beef farming businesses to be productive, proﬁtable and sustainable.

Info at beeﬂambnz.com/events

● October 8; DairyNZ West Coast Focus Farm, Future Forages Field Day,Moana Info at dairynz.co.nz/events

● October 8; B+LNZ Wormwise workshops, Hawke’s Bay

In this workshop, the latest information and research on internal parasite control is presented. The integrated pest management system outlining the playoff between parasite control and drench resistance will enable participants to make informed choices for their farming business system.

Info at beeﬂambnz.com/events

● October 8 and 9; B+LNZ Succession workshop, Kaikohe and Whangārei

Succession is not the easiest conversation to begin or road to travel, but it is a vital journey for many farming families to take. Regardless of where you are in the process, this workshop is for you

Info at beeﬂambnz.com/events

● October 9; B+LNZ Ellett Pasture Persistence Trial, AgResearch Ruakura

Comparing alternative grass species for improved persistence of dry matter production.

Info at beeﬂambnz.com/events

● October 9; SIDDC

South Island DairyDemonstration Unit Farm Focus Day,Lincoln UniversityDairyFarm

Come along to get the lowdown on what has been happening at LUDF, what the ﬁnancial markets are doing and how to grow more grass with your irrigation system. Info ludf.org.nz

● Oct 10 B+LNZ

Beef + Lamb NewZealand Awards 2024,Hamilton

Join us at the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Awards on Thursday, October 10, at Claudelands Events Centre, Hamilton, for the announcement of the 2024 award winners. Tickets on sale now

● October 15 and 16; DairyNZ

Building reproductive performance fora future ﬁt farm business, Southland and Otago

Understand the factors that cause a lift in reproductive performance and investigate how to build on gains made to increase future reproductive performance using the experience of a local high-performing farmer, and DairyNZ experts.

Info at dairynz.co.nz/events

● October 16; B+LNZ

Marlborough Rural Ladies ComedyBash,Blenheim

Beef + Lamb New Zealand is thrilled to invite the rural women of Marlborough to our Rural Ladies Night. A collaboration with B+LNZ, FMG and the Rural Ladies Network. Come and have a laugh with comedians Andre King, Sera Devcich and Sarah O’Connell, from the Laugh Club.

Info at beeﬂambnz.com/events

● October 16, 22 and 30; Primary ITO

Level 3 Milk Harvestercourse with PrimaryITO, Ashburton,Darﬁeld and Invercargill

This exciting, hands-on programme will teach the value of optimising milk quality. Learners will also understand the risks of milk harvesting, including the importance of maintenance, hygiene and udder health. Info at primaryito.ac.nz/

● October 16; Dairy Women’s Network

Revive to Thrive: Hot Mess Express –LIVE webinar

Hop aboard the Hot Mess Express. Join this online session for the ﬁrst webinar in the Revive To Thrive webinar series. Cost $20.00. Info at dwn.co.nz/events

● October 22 and 23; Dairy Hoofcare Institute

Lameness Management workshop, Southland and Otago and Canterbury This workshop is designed to give students an overview of issues relating to lameness management and introduce them to the ﬁve-step trimming process, known as the Dutch Method. There is a cost involved. Info at dairyhoofcareinstitute.ac.nz

● October 23 and 24; Allegrow

Get the Goss ...on Greenhouse Gas – Planning formarket-driven GHG reductions and ETS strategies, Bayof Plenty Hear insights from industry experts on the key market drivers for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Ministry for Primary Industries will also provide a broad overview of developments in international markets. Info at allegrow.co.nz

● October 30; Pamu

Pāmu Organics,Manawatū

Proﬁtably farming – more sustainably. Pāmu operates with the belief that environmentally sound farming practices create the highest-quality natural products. Info at eventbrite.co.nz

● October 30; Dairy Women’s Network

Revive to Thrive: The Powerof Selfcare – LIVE webinar

Sometimes it’s hard keeping your own cup full Info at dwn.co.nz/events/

● October 31; Primary ITO

Level 3 Assisting with Operating DairyEffluent Management Systems Micro-credential in Richmond

This interactive, hands-on programme will teach the value of effluent and how to get the most out of this amazing resource and more. Info at primaryito.ac.nz

● October 31; B+LNZ

SilverFern Farms Hawke’s Bay Farmerof the Year,Hastings Register for more information – contact awards@hbap.co.nz. Info at beeﬂambnz.com/events

● Rural Support Brunch On Us, various dates and locations

Attend one of the“Brunch On Us” events, designed to bring theawesome rural community together. Whether you’re knee-deep in dairy, beef, sheep, horticulture or honey, this event is for you and your family. Info at dairynz.co.nz/events

● DairyNZ

Various dairytraining courses, dates and locations Info at dairynz.co.nz/events

Registration is essential for many events. Check out the various websites for more events.

action!

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AnimalHealthandWelfare

Farmers wanted for ‘sheep poo study’

Beef + Lamb NZ research hopes to ﬁnd new tools to manage facial eczema.

By Madeleine Powers

Athree-year Beef + Lamb New Zealand “sheep poo study” is hoping to ﬁnd new tools to manage facial eczema (FE) disease.

The study is now in its second year and is part of a larger FE programme.

Dr Cara Brosnahan, principal scientist animal health research at Beef + Lamb NZ, is heading the study, and says they are aiming for 350 farmers to participate in the study, which is more than last year.

“The more numbers we have the better accuracy we have with the data.

“We want to include farms where the disease is, and where they don’t think it is.”

She says farmers who participate will be contributing to the industry’s understanding of the disease, and how to prevent it.

FE was ﬁrst described in New Zealand in 1878, and in 1958 researchers made the breakthrough discovery that it was a fungus Pithomyces chartarum that was causing the disease.

“

The more numbers we have the better accuracy we have with the data.

Dr Cara Brosnahan

look at the distribution of the two species as well.

Brosnahan says the tools available help to manage the disease but aren’t a cure. Currently, selecting animals with tolerant genetics, zinc treatment given orally, fungicide application to pastures and pasture management are the only tools available.

She says one of the ways to reduce the spore load is to not graze your pasture too low (the lower the animals are grazing, the higher the dose of spores they are likely to get).

The fungus lives in dead matter which accumulates at the base of grasses, and Brosnahan says the fungus particularly loves rye grass.

Brosnahan says available spore load is your pasture lower grazing, chicory can help to reduce the spore load.

She said pastures with lower amounts of dead litter which include plants like chicory can help to reduce the spore load Breeding programmes have been particularly successful in sheep, and she says it’s important to consider choosing animals that have been bred with resistance to the disease. But, she says, “they’re all preventative, there’s no cure.”

The study will analyse sheep poo samples collected from farms across the country.

Farmers participating in the study will send a sample from the same mob of sheep off to be tested every two weeks from October to May

Along with the sample, farmers will need to ﬁll out a submission form to record information about the location, weather conditions and pasture type. Brosnahan says the submission form has been reﬁned since last year based on farmer feedback to make it as efficient as possible.

One of the aims of the study is to build on last year’s data, ﬁnding out where the fungus that causes FE has spread around the country.

“We have a good idea of the hot spots but where else is it occurring?”

carried

out Manaaki Whenua

She says farmers may not know they have FE on their farm if their animals aren’t exhibiting signs. The fungal spore testing of sheep poo will show whether or not their animals are in fact consuming spores, even if they appear unaffected Often there is a delay before the onset of visible signs in animals.

Last year’s study found spores everywhere across the country except on the west coast of the South Island. But it doesn’t mean the fungus isn’t there.

Brosnahan says people would be surprised to know that spores were found as far south as Southland, Canterbury and Otago.

There haven’t been any reports of the disease in Southland, but there have been anecdotal reports of it being on farms as far south as South Canterbury.

“People consider it a North Island disease, so the awareness is not there.”

A study carried out by Manaaki Whenua and AgResearch analysed the genome of the fungal spores thought to cause the disease, discovering that there are in fact two different species of fungus; one which produces the toxin and one which doesn’t. Brosnahan says the study will is just not there.”

Farmers who participate in the study will ﬁnd out what areas of their farm might be more susceptible to the disease.

Brosnahan says the information gathered will help to create a predictive risk model for FE risk that farmers can use in the future.

Brosnahan says a WhatsApp group for farmers participating in the study has been a success, with farmers encouraging each other by sharing photos of them out collecting samples with their families.

Facial eczema costs farmers an estimated $332 annually in lost production.

The real impact of the disease could be greater than realised, as it doesn’t

The real impact of show reduc problems to bile occurs, which alpaca, wanting can of beeﬂ sheeppoostudy.

always visible signs, but can be causing reduced milk production, liver or reduced fertility and fecundity

Once the toxic spores impact animals’ liver and bile ducts, further damage to the animal occurs, causing painful blistering to the skin become sensitive to sunlight.

FE affects sheep and cattle (dairy and beef), as well as alpaca, deer and llama.

Farmers wanting to join the study can register an expression of interest by visiting beeﬂambnz.com/

Dr Cara Brosnahan says farmers who take part in the study will find out what areas of their farm might be more susceptible to the disease. BEEF + LAMB NZ

Currently,selectinganimalswithtolerantgenetics,zinctreatmentgivenorally,fungicideapplicationto pasturesandpasturemanagementaretheonlytoolsavailable.

Lameness an ongoing problem

Sonita Chandar

Lameness in dairy cows is in the top three animal health issues every farmer must deal with Fred Hoekstra of the Dairy Hoofcare Institute in Ashburton is a hoof care instructor and trimmer. He says that lameness is a signiﬁcant challenge and that no matter how good the farmer is, they will get lame cows.

“It is a very painful condition and that is why milk production and body condition are negatively affected by lameness.”

Apart from the animal welfare issue, the financial cost is significant as well. No lame cow has the same financial cost attached to her so it is difficult to put an average cost to lameness.

“However, if a cow fails to pregnant due to lameness, you will have to replace th cow with an in-calf cow.

“Depending on the season, you are talking at least $1000 cost for that cow already. Realistically, a lame cow will cost about $500. So if you calculate that with the number of lame cows that you are dealing with, it will add up pretty quickly f some farmers.”

He says lameness is a domestic farming problem. Cows in the wild are not subjected to the same environment or management practices of farmed animals.

“We expect a lot from our cows –more milk, to get in calf every year, walk further, more cows in a mob and so on.

milking less cows or buying more feed.

The appropriate use of claw blocks and anti-inflamatories to treat lameness are an important part of aiding recovery

“At the same time we take away shelter, food (controlled starvation), water and rest Somehow it seems that we are forgetting the basic needs that a cow has.”

He says these practices impact on how well a cow functions and prevention is always better than the cure

Farmers can minimise the incidences of lameness by improving their management policy. The objective is to provide for the cow’s basic needs.

“For a lot of farmers this will mean

“The aim is to stop under-feeding. Controlled starvation is last resort to manage an pected feed shortage, not something to be planned as part of normal farming practice.”

His advice to farmers is:

■ Make sure cows always have access to clean water. This may mean that more water troughs need to be installed in the paddock or along the tracks and by the cow shed.

■ Add minerals to supplements and not to the water This will stimulate cows to drink more because it doesn’t taste horrible and there is better uptake of minerals.

■ Have the cows in distant paddocks at night and close by during the day. The reason for this is that cows walk slower in the heat of the day. If cows have to walk long distances in the heat, they end up spending more time out of the paddock over a 24-hour period.

■ Make sure cows are handled patiently at all times to minimise stress on the animal Cows, being ﬂight animals, struggle with the stress that impatient animal handling puts on them and when stress hormones rage through the body for prolonged periods of time, they cause lameness which needs to be managed.

He says seasonal changes can inﬂuence the incidences of lameness and there are certain times of the year when cows are at higher risk.

“Calving for instance is one of those times There are big hormonal changes going on in the body at that time. Often there is a change of diet on top of that as cows are coming home from the winter crops.

“We always see an increase in the number of lame cows towards the end of the season.

‘‘This has a lot to do with the chronic lack of resting time during the season which is why 16 hours between milkings has positive effects on cows.”

Other seasonal factors are the wet times when cows spend a lot of time just standing in the corner of the paddock with their bum into the rain

He says when cows are lame due to a

lesion in the hoof, the only way to help is through proper hoof trimming. However, improper hoof trimming will make things worse, not better.

“Unfortunately, this is very often the case. With hoof trimming we don’t try to ﬁx the lameness – we can’t. We try to help the cow to ﬁx the lameness herself as quickly as possible. This means that we need to know how to manipulate the claw in such a way that the lesion is relieved from pressure.

‘‘This needs a holistic approach and not just opening up a lesion. ”

Quality hoof trimming requires proper training, and many farmers are beginning to recognise the beneﬁts of engaging the services of professional hoof trimmers.

The appropriate use of claw blocks and anti-inﬂamatories is also an important part of aiding recovery. Antibiotics are not a cure and should only be used when there is a clear sign of infection.

Lameness is a real and distressing issue for farmers and like mental health issues, it takes courage to acknowledge the challenges and be open to considering solutions that you may not have thought of before.

Fred Hoekstra of the Dairy Hoofcare Institute in Ashburton says lameness is a significant challenge and that no matter how good the farmer is, they will get lame cows

JOANNE MCCLOY

34 NZFarmer AnimalHealthandWelfare

A man’s best friend

Working dogs are an essential member of the team. Without them, sheep wouldn’t be shepherded and cattle would bound through the wrong gate. This makes their health and welfare a priority. By

Eve Hyslop.

Adog is a man’s best friend, rather a sheepdog trialist’s your average farmer. As well as a best friend, a working dog is another member of the farm team, so ensuring their health and giving them a good quality of life are essential to them performing at their best.

Seasoned sheepdog trialist and Darﬁeld farmer Andy Clark has been trialling sheep dogs for 42 years and has trialled more dogs than he can count on his ﬁngers and toes.

Clark currently has 13 companions, but only three of those take part in trials. Sam, Kip and Max are his three top dogs and alongside decent nutrition and general health maintenance, it’s the ﬁtness of his dogs that is fundamental to trial performanc

“To keep them really ﬁt is the bigge thing At work on a farm, they’d do 20 to 30km a day. It’s unbelievable how far they could actually run in a day.”

Even when there’s no work to be done, Clark is sure to take them for a run, whether it’s up the road or around the farm, following alongside in his ute.

To keep them at their best, VetEnt suggests following a working dog health plan, which includes health checks, disease prevention, nutrition, parasite control and housing.

Much like the farmer by their side, working dogs tend to have that ‘she’ll be right’ attitude and will naturally try to hide any weaknesses. Nor can they tell you when they’re not up to scratch. This makes it easy to miss little niggles until they become severe, so a yearly health check with your vet is worthwhile.

The dog will get its teeth, eyes, ears, nose, skin and body condition assessed here, and also get checked for lumps, wounds and signs of stiff joints or limping. If anything, working dogs are most commonly found with broken teeth, dry, itchy skin from parasites or unbalanced nutrition, mammary masses and arthritis.

Vaccinations help prevent disease in your dogs at any stage of their life and also in the owner, who can be affected by Leptospirosis, a bacteria that spreads through urine. Canine or kennel cough is a common virus that can spread at dog trials, and VetEnt suggests you vaccinate your dog for.

As a regular trialist, Clark is sure to treat Sam, Kip, Max and his 10 other dogs for kennel cough. He also gives them a vaccination for parvovirus, a worm tablet every month that also helps for sheep measles, and a Drontal Plus for a broader worm treatment.

Key symptoms of the main diseases controlled by vaccinations are:

■ Canine distemper and parainﬂuenza have similar symptoms, being eye and nasal discharge, coughing, lethargy, reduced appetite and vomiting.

■ Canine hepatitis symptoms include lethargy, diarrhoea and vomiting.

■ Canine parvovirus symptoms include severe diarrhoea, vomiting and lethargy.

■ Leptospirosis symptoms include shivering, muscle tenderness, reluctance to move, increased thirst.

To keep your dogs fuelled for the many kilometres they run and the hills they track throughout a working day, a working dog must be fed the right amount of protein and nutrients

Working dog food should contain:

■ High fat at a minimum of 20%, for energy and endurance.

■ High protein at a minimum of 30%, for repair, recovery and injury prevention.

■ Carbohydrates for energy.

■ Fibre for digestive health.

The day before a trial and regularly, Clark feeds his dogs ProPlan, which provides them with the highest energy feed

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) code of welfare for dogs says that working dogs require higher food intakes than regular dogs, but this also depends on their work rate.

Dogs under light exercise require 1.5 times the maintenance ration. Under medium exercise, they require double the maintenance ration, and heavy exercise requires triple the maintenance ration.

According to the code of welfare, a maintenance ration is “the amount of food required to meet a dog’s energy requirements and maintain its optimal body weight or condition’’.

“When a dog is growing, given signiﬁcant exercise or work, or is lactating, its nutrient requirements increase above maintenance to meet the additional demands.”

Fat is a particularly essential nutrient in their feed, as it is converted into energy. Without it, energy will be taken from their

muscles and they will lose weight and become weak. Their feed also needs to be highly digestible, or it will go to waste and the dog will lack energy.

VetEnt recommends feeding each dog the following amount depending on their weight and workday requirements:

■ A heading dog (weighing about 21kg) needs 1400-2100 calories a day.

■ A huntaway (weighing about 32kg) needs 1700-2500 calories a day.

To protect your dog against worms and even stop the spread of sheep measles, VetEnt recommends a monthly worming regime to maximise their performance.

Much the same goes for ﬂeas and ticks, which are known to cause itching and scratching and disturb their sleep in the process.

The New Zealand cattle tick is a particular blood sucker, which irritates the eyes, ears and armpits of dogs. Heavy burdens can lead to anaemia. Products to deworm and treat your dogs for ﬂeas and ticks can be found on VetEnt’s website.

A good night’s sleep is essential to the rest and recovery of a working dog so it is ready to go for the next day ahead on the farm.

A kennel should be sheltered from the wind and rain and have some form of insulation, especially during the colder months. Insulation or bedding can be as simple as an old duvet, blankets, a ﬁt-for-purpose dog bed or even a wool fadge stuffed with wool.

Without the right environment for sleep, a dog can develop calluses and pressure sores and lack energy from minimal rest.

MPI’s code of welfare for dogs states that “dogs need access to shelter that provides warmth, and is free from draughts and excessive heat or cold, to meet their physical needs”.

“They also need a dry bed and enough space to lie down, stand and turn around.”

Information sourced from VetEnt website unless cited otherwise.

Sam has been sheepdog trialling for only one year, but Clark says she’s shaping up nicely. ALDEN WILLIAMS/THE PRESS

Above: Clark is a decorated sheepdog trialist, winning a New Zealand title, separate North and South Island titles, five Canterbury Championships and has been in the New Zealand trial team for multiple years.

Below: Working dogs require more feed than regular dogs due to their high workrates.

Sheepdog trialist Andy Clark’s dog Sam hard at work

ALDEN WILLIAMS/ THE PRESS

Welcome to Generation Swipe, a series by and about today’s young adults. Our team of under-30 journalists debunks the myths, sheds light on the challenges, and celebrates the successes of today’s youth. Eve Hyslop looks at the fate of our young farmers.

School wasn’t quite Sam Ollerenshaw’s cup of tea.

Trekking the countryside, working her sheepdogs and catching the ﬁrst light ﬂush over the rolling downs of Mandeville, that was more like it. That’s the everyday reality for 18-year-old Ollerenshaw and many other young Kiwis who have fallen in love with farming and never turned back.

Darkening their path, however, are headwinds from an agricultural sector grappling with high interest rates, declining sheep and cattle numbers and low returns.

The youngsters who are fuelled by farming

Yet the appeal remains, thanks to kind people looking over their shoulders, a love for the outdoors, opportunity for growth and a simple passion for the industry. “If you’re a junior farm worker, it is true that you don’t have to worry about the big-picture things so much like the meat, milk or fertiliser prices. You just enjoy your job and get hands-on,” Lincoln University lecturer Dan Smith said.

Instead of the “big picture things”, Smith said it was the quality of life that drew young people to farming.

“It might be physically hard but it’s still good working conditions because it’s a good lifestyle. You’re out there in the country, you’re seeing the scenery and you’ve got fresh air.”

After she saw the life her brother built as a shepherd, Ollerenshaw was excited by a career in farming. She started at the age of 16, after leaving school.

Now 18, she’s in a cadetship with Growing Future Farmers (GFF), a programme which provides on-farm training for young people

“It’s quite rewarding, training dogs and stuff Or you go out and do some tractor work and come away from it and think, ‘oh yeah, true, I did that’.”

George Dodson also started at 16, but was already well accustomed to the 4am starts required to milk cows on his family’s farm.

Sitting behind a computer all day didn’t hold any appeal, so instead of enrolling in university, he headed straight into dairy farming from high school.

Dodson had managed a 550-cow farm down in Southland by the time he turned 20 and was immediately drawn to the variety no other career could provide.

“Growing up on a dairy farm down in Southland, I always knew that I loved farming, loved getting out there with my old man on the tractor, on the motorbikes and with the animals.”

Now 23, his responsibilities have grown to second-in-charge of a 430-cow dairy farm in Canterbury, and to polish it off, Dodson was crowned Young Farmer of the Year for 2024.

Young farmer and full-time student Angus Grant had been in business since he was an 8-year-old. Although he grew up in the city, it’s fair to say farming runs in his blood

He began with a few laying hens in his parents’ backyard in Papanui, Christchurch, which soon grew to 80. By 11, he owned three sheep and by 16, he was grazing about 50 more across red-zoned properties left over from the Christchurch earthquakes.

Fast-forward to today and you’ll ﬁnd multiple leased blocks of land across

Ollerenshaw(second fromleft)hasatight-knit communityofyoungfarmers aroundherintheGrowing FutureFarmersprogramme.

Lincoln, Prebbleton and North Canterbury grazed with Grant’s sheep.

“I just like farming. It’s that simple. It’s like when people say ‘it’s in your blood’.”

However, his years of experience have left Grant with no illusions about sheep farming.

“It’s sort of a shrinking sector that’s facing some pretty nasty challenges at the moment.”

Farm proﬁtability for sheep and beef farmers hit a 15-year-low in 2023-24 when adjusted for inﬂation, and sheep numbers have declined by 4.3%, according to Beef and Lamb New Zealand.

As the sector struggles to recover from years of drought, debt and decaying incomes, young people interested in farm ownership face a turbulent future.

“It makes it harder to strive for farm ownership when farming is offering such a poor return, and has such high capital requirements,” Grant said.

That wasn’t the case for older generations, especially those who farmed dairy cows after the 1980s “dairy boom”.

An economic downturn in the 1980s saw many sheep and beef farmers convert their land to dairy farming. According to StatsNZ, between 1990 and 2019, dairy cattle numbers increased by 82%, from 3.4 million to 6.3m.

In Canterbury alone, the dairy cattle population increased tenfold, from 113,000 to 1.2m. The sector is now New Zealand’s biggest export earner, worth about $19 billion a year.

Dairy farmer and Future Farmers board member Daniel Judd’s family had been farming for “longer than I can track on our family tree”, and his father was fortunate enough to be dairy farming during the boom

That prosperous period left a reliable cashﬂow and straightforward career progression for the dairy farmers of today.

“That transition from farm assistant through to 2IC, if you’ve got half a head on your shoulders you’re going to run through

that transition within a couple of years.”

The variety in farming meant young people could be a jack-of-all-trades, Judd said. “You have to wear so many hats at any given time. You’re an agronomist, you’re a vet, you’re a mechanic, you’re a labourer you’re an electrician, you’ve kind of got to do a bit of everything.

Although a capital-hungry land market meant future farm ownership was uncertain.

“The way that my old man came through and the opportunities that will be available to me are going to be quite different from each other,” Judd said. “My goal is absolutely to own land but probably a more realistic goal is to own cows.”

While it is well beyond her ﬁve-year plan, Ollerenshaw is also aware of the outlook.

“It’s just me and my boss on the farm, so I hear a lot about prices and stuff like that. It is kind of daunting as a young person because I don’t know one day if I want to go out and own a farm.”

Grant has been in business long enough to know that the industry ebbs and ﬂows

“It’s always been that way, it’s a commodity cycle that the industry follows, so this isn’t a new thing. I know the price is going to come right because as sure as it has gone up, it’ll go down again too.”

Young people would inevitably be confronted with agriculture’s struggles in the future, Smith said.

“When you’re 16, you might think that the biggest decision a farmer will make is John Deere versus Fendt But when you get out there and are running the farm, that’s not the stuff that’ll keep you awake at night.

“They’re going to have to bear all of those

pressures that come with running that business in a tough climate, which is what we try to instil in them in university.”

Not only were those pressures ﬁnancial, but also mental and emotional. For many young farmers, a job on a farm or high country station meant their usual social lives sat distant, 200 or even 2000km away.

Starting fresh out of high school, Ollerenshaw struggled with the unfamiliarity of a blokey farming environment. “It’s pretty tough being 16 and a girl, like moving 2½ hours away from home in the middle of nowhere, you don’t know anyone.”

Wellbeing improvement programme

WellMates, and research carried out by Lincoln and Massey (Palmerston North) universities have bolstered efforts to better prepare young farmers for the isolation and understand what support tools are available to them.

Dr Nicky Stanley-Clarke is one of the researchers involved. Her preliminary results found that personal connections were most important in young people’s rural lifestyles. If their friends were out of reach, StanleyClarke said it was important to have a boss who had a genuine interest in their life

“Our young people have talked about working in a great team with bosses care about them who might say on a Friday evening, ‘Do you want to go and get a beer?’ Or if they know you’re sick, they might drop round a pie or something.” Ollerenshaw was one of those lucky enough to work under a “bloody good” boss when she began the GFF programme last year.

“It helps ﬁnding [a boss] that’ll give you the opportunity and wants to see you succeed.”

Her tight-knit rugby and Southland Young Farmers community were “pretty decent” too. “Pretty much everyone in Southland are good buggers, so it’s all good.”

A genuine community, good mates and a rewarding lifestyle were a few of the many things that drove young farmers’ love for farming. And while pressures remained, their farming itch demanded to be scratched.

“People get into farming because it’s what they love doing and just because we’re going through a downside doesn’t mean everybody’s going to get out of farming,” Grant said. So it’s on with the red bands and up the next track for New Zealand’s young farmers.

You can read the whole series at The Post, The Press or Waikato Times websites.

George Dodson has stayed true to his dairy farming roots after growing up on his family’s farm, and has been working in the industry since he was 16

Sam Ollerenshaw, left, caught the farming itch as a young girl and left school at 16 to pursue a career in the industry.

IHoney runs

Don’t be fooled by the name Hantz Honey. The company may have bees, but these Leeston beekeepers do a lot more than just produce honey – they are a critical part of Canterbury’s farming community. By Eve Hyslop.

t might be in the name, but honey isn’t what Hantz Honey specialises in. Instead, the main job of Barry Hantz’s bees is to help farmers pollinate their crops.

“My father always said to do what’s in your backyard It was all about giving a pollination service to the farmers that were in the area who helped us with hive sites and stuff I’m a bit of a believer in doing what’s local,” says Hantz, director of Hantz Honey.

After he saw the difference their pollination made to farmers’ crops in the Leeston area, Hantz decided to lean more toward that side of the operation.

“Nowadays with the pollination that we do, honey is just about becoming a by-product.”

Blueberry, onion, carrot and blackcurrant crops across Canterbury are all pollinated, thanks to Hantz Honey who contract their beehives to farmers and growers across the region.

“It’s quite satisfying that you’re giving something to the farmers and they are able to then produce a crop and have a sustainable business.”

Bees play a vital role in pollinating many crops so farmers can supply the food they grow

to both their animals and our plates. About 75% of crops around the world rely on pollination to some extent to get the right nutrients and produce an adequate yield.

“If we don’t give them good strong hives to get good pollination, then they don’t see a return,” Hantz says

For blackcurrant crops alone, they are set to shift 1500 hives to three growers this spring, and another 20 to 30 to blueberry crops. With 5000 hives in total on the property, there was a busy season ahead.

Barry Hantz is the third generation of his family to run the family business, Hantz Honey.

KAI SCHWOERER/THE PRESS

About30%of HantzHoney productsare soldunderthe company’s ownbrand, andtherestis soldtoother wholesale firms

KAI SCHWOERER/ THE PRESS

in the genes

“On an average, to shift a truckload of 40 odd hives, you would be looking at two to three hours to do that job. If you times that by however many we shift, it soon stacks up.”

Come late November, they’ll move their hives onto seed crops, like onions and radishes, and onto carrots in December.

But the company’s origins in honey production are still very much part of the business.

Beekeeping runs in Hantz’s family genes. Or rather, his overalls, which is his outﬁt of choice over a beekeeper’s suit on routine checks of his hives.

Wearing a little less protection meant he’d often get stung, but for him, it was “all part of the job”.

Hantz Honey is a third-generation family business which started with a few hobby hives after a fragmented economy from World War II. This left Hantz’s grandfather, Les, with the decision to turn his hobby into a fully-ﬂedged honey business.

After he completed a seven-year apprenticeship, Les and wife Maisie launched Lakeside Apiaries in 1951, all in good time for the “fabulous ﬁfties”. The decade surely lived up to its name when 36 tonnes of honey was produced from 600 of their hives.

The Hantz’s sons Geoff and Warren soon joined the business in the 1960s, to make it a full family affair and adopt a new business name, LA Hantz & Sons.

Their collection quickly grew to 3000 hives when the export market to Europe

opened its doors to the business.

Les passed away in 1995, and Geoff and Warren amicably parted ways, going on to manage 1500 hives each. Geoff went on to name his business Hantz Honey and in 2001, his son Barry joined the operation.

After spending seven years as a mechanic, Hantz traded his tools for the hives in 2001. After he learnt the ropes, he took on the role of director around 2010.

“Once I learnt the ins and outs of what the bees do and how the hives work, it was quite fascinating and I got hooked,” Hantz says.

In 2015, his older sister Caroline McMahon joined to manage the food safety, sales and health and safety.

The good stuff for Hantz is the yellow stuff, the clover, mānuka, honeydew, blackcurrant and blue borage honeys, which the business extracts from their hives after pollination.

Last year, the company produced around 160 tonnes of honey, equal to two thousand 500g jars of honey. “It was one of the better productions we’ve had in the last six or seven years,” he says

Main: The hum or buzz of the bees indicates whether they are calm or unhappy.

Left: Hantz Honey produces more than 100 tonnes of honey a year, with a goal of producing about 150 tonnes.

VANESSA LAURIE/STUFF KAI SCHWOERER/THE PRESS

Safer Farms’ latest safety alert sets out steps farmers should take to manage the risk of working with moving machinery. The alert has been issued following a fatal incident where a farmer’s clothing became entangled in the rotating bar of a slide pulsator

Farmers are urged to act immediately and to look around their farms to identify where they or their team could be exposed to moving machinery – and to remind their workers of the dangers posed by any rotating shaft.

Safety alerts are real-life documented incidents and key lessons which are used to help raise awareness around

risks. They are condensed into one-page handouts that managers can use in safety discussions with their teams.

Slide pulsators in milking sheds have a rotating drive shaft which may be slow, but is incredibly powerful due to the reduction gearbox and the risk of entanglement in machinery is real

The safety alert highlights that any rotating machinery should have protective guards on it, even if it’s routinely out of reach.

Moving parts should have appropriate covers and sleeves. Advice can be sought from the manufacturer about the most suitable guarding.

Farmers should also consider the best

kind of clothing to use when working, that won’t get caught in machinery, and ensure their team are all aware of that. It’s also important to check that kill

Keeping safe around moving machinery

switches or e-stops are located in an easily accessed location and are well signposted, with a pull cord if needed.

In the case of the recent tragic fatality, there is no indication the farmer intentionally reached into any part of the machinery. WorkSafe is investigating.

Safer Farms is a membership organisation that aims to improve health and safety in agriculture. To view its safety alerts, please visit www.farmwithoutharm.org.nz/safetyalerts. Alerts can be printed out for use in training and discussions and there is an option to be emailed when new safety alerts are added.

The dangers of a slide pulsator accident are real.

Changes to RSE scheme ease labour pressures for seasonal employers

The team at Peninsula discuss the changes to the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme which came into effect in September.

The Government recently made changes to the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, a move that has come as a sigh of relief for many horticultural and viticultural businesses

The updates, which came into effect on September 2, are designed to cut costs and ease compliance requirements so that growers can access a greater pool of workers before labour demands peak in harvest season.

We spoke to Peninsula New Zealand’s advice team to learn more.

What changes have been announced?

The cap on participants in the RSE scheme has risen from 19,500 in the 2023-24 season to 20,750 for the 2024-25 season, an increase decided based on feedback from a survey of all RSE employers that asked how many workers they would need.

The higher cap meets industry projections for growth, according to the Government, especially for exports of wine and kiwifruit, while maintaining a viable additional number of workers compared to the amount

of accommodation available to house them.

The price freeze on accommodation charges, implemented in 2022, has been lifted. Employers can now raise weekly accommodation costs for RSE workers, covering both rent and utilities, by either 15% or $15 – whichever amount is the lowest –for 12 months.

In addressing concerns raised by employers that unpredictable factors can lead to weekly ﬂuctuations in the availability of work, the requirement to provide RSE workers with a 30-hour minimum working week remains but has been modiﬁed.

These hours can now be averaged out over a four-week period – however, if an employer still cannot provide 120 hours of work in this time, it will need to top up its RSE workers’ pay to meet this amount

The requirement to pay RSE workers 10% above the adult minimum wage will now apply to workers only in their third and subsequent seasons.

The adult minimum wage, which is $23.15

existed since 2007, was undertaken in 2022. The aim was to identify where its effectiveness could be improved for all parties involved, as well as to ensure its guidelines were consistent and ethical across the board.

Below:The highercap onparticipantsmeets industryprojectionsfor growth,especiallyforwine exports.

an hour, will apply to RSE workers in their ﬁrst and second seasons.

The ﬁnal change for employers from September 2 is that the grace period of the movement of RSE workers between employers or regions has been extended.

It is now 21 days either of the employee’s move date as approved on the Agreement To Recruit (ATR), as opposed to 14 before.

It identiﬁed several areas of improvement where processes could be streamlined, workers’ wellbeing better prioritised, and the scheme’s long-term sustainability secured.

This greater ﬂexibility applies to both joint ATRs and individual employers with multiple worksites – again, where movement between the worksites has been approved on the ATR.

Why did these changes come about? A review of the RSE scheme, which has

New regulations around minimum pay and sick leave for RSE workers were introduced in 2023, but many recommendations of the review were not adopted at that time.

Lobbying by industry groups helped to action the latest improvements to the scheme last month.

What do Recognised Seasonal Employers that hire RSE workers need to know?

this stage, RSE workers must come from Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, although the Government has indicated that Timor-Leste will be added in future.

The Government has conﬁrmed that more changes will be considered in improving the RSE scheme’s ﬂexibility.

For now, though, it’s important for horticultural and viticultural businesses in New Zealand to ensure they are achieving compliance with the updates

Left:Changestothe RSEschemehave beenwelcomedby thehorticulturaland viticulturalsectors.

Farm to Fork

Hanna McCallum joins a sustainable farm experience in the middle of a renowned Fijian golf course.

Arriving at the entrance of the food farm located in the middle of a golf course, it is noticeable how alive the space feels.

We drive across the rolling hills of the Denarau Golf & Racquet Club championship course, arriving at the entrance to the two-hectare farm located in the middle of it.

Native birds call for your attention as they swoop in waves across the sky, their silhouettes becoming more prominent as the sun sets.

We are standing at the entrance of farm manager Shahil Ram’s “baby” – the farm he has raised over the last three years at Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort.

Ram speaks with great enthusiasm dishing out his wealth of knowledge, as if he can’t get his words out fast enough

“I say to everyone, I treat them as my baby, I see everything grow here everyday,” he says.

“I can talk about sustainability whole day standing. No problem for me, because sustainability is very close to my heart.”

The farm sits on Denarau Island, connected by a 100-metre causeway to the main island of Fiji,Viti Levu. On this day, we are getting a private tour by Ram who introduces us to the various produce; cabbage, pumpkin, eggplant, broccoli, guava, passionfruit, starfruit and dragon fruit, as well as a selection of herbs and spices. He also gives us insight into local life on the islands, the produce reﬂecting what residents typically grow in their own backyards.

Fact ﬁle:

The Farm to Fork experience at Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort runs every Wednesday and Saturday from 4.45pm until 7pm and includes a farm tour, unearthing of the Fijian lovo, traditional kava ceremony, buffet, cultural dance performance and ﬁre show. From FJ$99 (NZ$72) per person and half price for children aged between 4 and 12 years old.

Getting there: Fiji Airways offers direct ﬂights from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to Nadi.

See: ﬁjiairways com

Staying there: Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort offers accommodation from FJ$815 (NZ$595) per night.

See: marriott.com

reduce transport impacts and support local agriculture.

Guests then enjoy a cultural Fijian dance performance before witnessing the unearthing of a Fijian lovo – akin to Aotearoa’s own hāngī, a traditional cooking method involving an earth oven lined with fire-baked stones. They then indulge in a buffet sourced from the farm surrounding the outdoor dining area, finishing with a traditional kava ceremony. There are plans to introduce a small playground for children, an outdoor yoga space to start the day, and to expand their floral sanctuary and host Valentine’s Day activity.

We arrive at a small cabana and are welcomed with two refreshment cocktails, made by the resort mixologist Gita Rohmatutardiah.

kokoda – similar to ceviche – has a smoky depth to its taste.

The rainy season is yet to come –starting about October until December –but the gardens

The ﬁrst called the Last Call, uses marmalade made from orange and lime skins left over from juicing at the resort and sugar cane grown at the far end of the farm, turned into fresh syrup and mixed with Chivas Regal and fresh kumquat juice

It uses a clarified coconut and tamarind milk, made from second wash coconut milk from the resort kitchen, combined with Martell XO and a syrup made from coriander and chilli pepper from the farm, garnished with a basil flower. Its rich flavour feels perfect for a nightcap.

soil. “When you drink a coffee, it’s 28g and the coffee grounds comes back to the farm and it’s spread on the gardens,” he says. When Ram returned to the farm after Covid-19, the grass was as tall as him, leading him back to the drawing board. He and his ﬁve staff are really just creating the story for what they want the farm to be.

starting about –but the are full of life.

It’s a snaps Fork experienc can take part a guided tour Ram, learni farming tec ethos around locally sourc

It’s a snapshot of the Farm to experience guests at the resort can take part in which includes a guided tour of the farm by learning about the organic techniques and the serving seasonal, sourced foods to

It’s fresh, zingy and hits the spot, air ng and

zingy and hits the spot, especially with the air still warm from the lingering sun It’s easy to drink extremely refreshing.

contrast, Rohmatutardi the cocktail nati

In contrast, Rohmatutardiah’s own creation, the Tamarini Kokoda inspired by Fiji’s national dish,

We sip away as Ram introduces us to the

We sip away as introduces us the cos lettuce growing in the hydroponics. The plan is to grow more using the hydroponics and the one solar panel nestled close to it is enough to keep the entire farm running.

The farm uses very little chemicals, recycling wood ash and coffee grounds to fertilise the

support their Guests will also be able to their own vegetables which they can the next year, harvest consume.

This is “just the foundation”, Ram says with excitement.

Next year, an irrigation system will support growing their edible ﬂower beds. able to plant their they can return to and consume. foundation”, Ram says Marriott Airways.

rm tour at Sheraton Fiji Beach Resort run by Shahil Ram.

The writer was hosted by Marriott International and Fiji

The farm Golf and run

Above: For the Farm to Fork experience, guests enjoy a buffet feast outside in the farm, listening to the singing of native birds in the area. Below: Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort farm tour by farm manager Shahil Ram. SHERATON FIJI GOLF AND BEACH HANNA MCCALLUM/THE POST

Rural retreat has touch of star quality

Asprawling rural property in the South Island’s Waitaki District that was a ﬁlming location for an Oscar-winning movie is being presented to the market for sale.

Anatini Farm, located at 242 Island Cliff-Duntroon Road near Duntroon, spans 39.0654ha and offers a manicured landscape setting that inspires.

There is a large Oamaru Stone homestead, built from stone quarried on the property in 1903. The four-bedroom home spans 220 square metres and includes a country-style kitchen, a spacious open plan dining area, and a lounge that is perfect for entertaining guests.

The farm is part of the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark, a Unesco Global Geopark, renowned for its stunning limestone formations and ancient fossils, including the remains of a baleen whale. Hollywood film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe used the property as a filming location for Aslan’s Camp, adding a touch of celebrity to this already enchanting offering. The film won Best Makeup at the 78th Academy Awards and was nominated for two other Oscars.

The property also traverses the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail and visitors can explore the Vanished World Trail site, which attracts many each year due to its fascinating geological features. There are also over 90 walnut trees, various fruit trees, and berry and currant bushes.

Duntroon, which has a popular local pub,

cafe and primary school that serves as a central hub of the community is only 7km away. It is 29km to Kurow and 48km to Oamaru.

Ross Robertson, rural and lifestyle sales adviser at Colliers, is marketing the property for sale via deadline private treaty closing at 4pm on Tuesday, October 15, unless sold prior. Buyer enquiry is over $999,000 plus GST (if any).

The landscaped garden is home to further improvements, including a historic single workingman’s hut with a charming veranda, an old limestone shed, play hut utility shed, garden shed, and stonewall fencing.

There is another shed at the property that measures 10m by 50m and has a

Anatini Farm, located at 242 Island Cliff-Duntroon Road near Duntroon, spans 39.0654ha and offers a manicured landscape setting that inspires.

workshop area, implement shed, and ample storage space. The farm also features a two-stand woolshed, cattle and sheep yards, and a haybarn.

Within the 39ha of this property are nine paddocks, with infrastructure for 18ha irrigated via K-Line and supported by 10 irrigation shares from North Otago Irrigation Company. There is a QEII National Trust covenant that helps protect 14.1ha of limestone outcrops and wetlands.

Robertson says there are multiple potential income streams for the new owner, including a farm stay business, farming cattle and sheep, or growing fruit and walnuts, among other options.

“Steeped in approximately 120 years of history, this property offers considerable long-term upside, particularly through the undeveloped tourism potential that could be explored,” Robertson says.

“This location is one of the most popular in the Waitaki Valley and has had its beauty showcased to the world through the ﬁlming of a Hollywood blockbuster.”

Oamaru, known for its Victorian heritage, can be reached in less than 40 minutes and offers access to secondary schools, an extensive array of amenities, and popular recreational destinations.

Other attractions in the Waitaki Valley include the area’s ﬁne local wine, cellar doors, cycling, and boating and water sport activities on the three lakes within the valley.

“This is a rare chance to secure a slice of the Waitaki Valley for yourself and we encourage all interested parties to reach out to us to explore their options and build a future in this magical part of New Zealand.”

Farm sales up in multiple regions across the country

The latest sales data from The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) shows there were were 228 farm sales in the three months leading up to July 2024, which is more than the 217 in the previous quarter and 214 in the same period last year. This means there was a 6.5% increase compared to the same time frame the year before, and a 5.1% rise from the previous quarter.

The median price per hectare for farms sold in the three months to July 2024 was $26,755, down 6.8% from $28,700 in the same period last year, which represents a 3.6% decrease compared to the previous quarter.

Shane O’Brien, rural spokesperson at REINZ, commented on the regional dynamics, stating: “While the total sales volumes were similar year on year, there was a noticeable lift in recorded sales in Northland, Auckland, Canterbury and Southland.”

The REINZ All Farm Price Index, which takes into account differences in farm size, location and type, went up by 0.8% from the last quarter, but dropped by 10.7% compared to last year.

In terms of regions, seven areas had more farm sales compared to July 2023, with Auckland (+12 sales) and Southland (+11 sales) leading the increase. On the ﬂip side, West Coast and Otago saw the biggest decreases (-11 sales). Compared to the previous quarter, six regions experienced increased sales, with Manawatu-Whanganui (+10 sales) and Northland (+5 sales) showing the most signiﬁcant gains.

Grazing farms made up 29% of all sales, ﬁnishing farms 20%, dairy farms 11%, and arable farms contributed 11%. Combined, these four types accounted for 70% of all sales during the three months to July 2024

Dairy farms

For the three months ended July 2024, the median sales price per hectare for

dairy farms was $35,705 (24 properties), compared to $36,650 (33 properties) for the three months ended June 2024, and $38,160 (26 properties) for the three months ended July 2023. The median price per hectare for dairy farms has decreased 6.4% over the past 12 months. The median dairy farm size for the three months ended July 2024 was 87 hectares.

The REINZ Dairy Farm Price Index increased by 13.1% from the previous quarter and 12% from July 2023. The REINZ Dairy Farm Price Index adjusts for differences in farm size and location compared to the median price per hectare, which does not adjust for these factors.

Finishing farms

For ﬁnishing farms, the median price per hectare was $33,520 (45 properties), a slight decrease from $33,775 (42 properties) in the previous quarter and $34,690 (65 properties) in July 2023. This shows a 3.4% decline over the past year.

The median size for ﬁnishing farms for the three months ending July 2024 was 34 hectares.

Grazing farms

In July 2024, grazing farms had a median price per hectare of $15,600 (67 properties), an increase from $14,705 (62 properties) in June 2024 and $13,570 (56 properties) for the three months ending July 2024 This represents a 15.0% increase over the past 12 months, with a median size of 80 hectares.

Horticulture farms

In July 2024, the median sales price for horticulture farms was $245,630, with 22 properties sold. This is compared to $363,300 (12 properties) in June 2024 and $459,770 (22 properties) in July 2023. The median price per hectare for horticulture farms has decreased by 46.6% over the past 12 months. Additionally, the median horticulture farm size for July 2024 was seven hectares.

The farm is part of the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark, a Unesco Global Geopark

Green shootsare starting to appear

The Spring of 2024 brings some real anticipation as farasthe rural real estate market goes and here at Property Brokers,weare very proud to presenta wonderful collection of quality farms to the market.

There is no denying that the last fewyears have presented some real challenges to the farming sector, and historically low numbers of farms transactinghave reﬂected this. Severalfactors have been driving this–high interest rates, increasing farm operating/compliance costs, and uncertainty around payout and schedule prices, to name afew.

However, the signs are thatfarmer conﬁdence is increasing while interest ratesdecrease. The early signs are that this may lead to increased levels of activity across the rural real estatemarket here in Waikato.

Already, our team have been ﬁelding enquiries from existing clientslooking to identifyopportunities that may be coming forward in the spring; enquiry levels on farms have been steady, and the latewinterhas seen multiple transactions concluded.

Buyers are certainly still very focused on “market value”, and quality properties in sought after locations with good production history and infrastructure arestill “preferred” by buyers, but it is certainly promising to see the enquiry and activity as we head into the spring.

Last spring, we saw PropertyBrokers lead theway across Waikato fordairyfarm sales, and once again,this year, our team is bringing afantastic range of quality dairy farms to the market. These properties present an excellent opportunity forpurchasers lookingtoadd to an existing farmingportfolio, farmers lookingtoupsize, or those lookingfor theirfirstfarm opportunity. Our team hasasolid backgroundinselling dairy farms and are experts in this field, so if your intentions this spring are to either buy or sell in the dairy sector, then it is imperative youtalk to oneofour team members. We pride ourselves on being specialists in this field.

We have also seen good levels of activity in the smaller rural holding (20-80ha) side of the market. These smaller grazing/ﬁnishing properties have awide range of potential buyers due to the fact theyare being considered either as an addition to an existing farming operation or as astand-alone block by the“weekend farmers” whose primary source of income is off-farm but who lovefarming and want to remain involved. This larger buyer pool has seen transaction numbers remain steady, and we expect enquiry on these blocks to continue to rise, especially as interestrates continue to fall.

If youare thinking of rural real estatethis spring, please reach out to one of our team. We have ateam of specialised and experienced rural real estateprofessionals who canassist youregardless of your real estateneeds. We are proud to be market leaders here in Waikato and look forward to helping youachieve your real estate goals.

Chris Moore, Waikato Regional Manager forProperty Brokers Ltd

Te Awamutu 242 Storey Road Auction

This is agood story

Don't miss your chance tosecure aconsistently performing 88 hectare dairy farm, just minutes from Te Awamutu. This exciting property, offered in three titles, comes with two comfortable residences and arobust infrastructure ready for your dairy farming needs. The farm boastsa24aside herringbone dairy with acircular yard, complemented bya concrete feed pad. Contour of theproperty is flat to very gentlerolling. Water is sourced from abore and the PukerimuWater Scheme. Thefarm is subdivided into approximately 48 paddocks and is serviced by awellmaintained hard surfacecentral lane. Currently milking around250 cows and hasachieved an impressive record production of 108,000 kgMS, with approximately 350 tons of maize and PKE fedannually.

This is agood honest dairy unit, under the same family ownership for over50years,isset to be sold by way of Public Auction. This is arare chance to own aprime dairy propertywith atrack record of success.

Spectacular opportunity exists

Amultitude of opportunities exist on this stunning ruralproperty with five titles available collectively or individually.

The combination of primeforestry land,multiple titles, and subdivision plans offers severalpossibilities. The views of Kawhia Harbour are certainly appealing, and the fact that 30 ha are already planted in pines adds value and could be asignificant asset.Building an off-grid home on such apicturesque piece of land couldoffer atruly unique and peaceful lifestyle opportunityora holidayhome. The property is situated only 5minutes from the Te Waitere boat ramp and the popular boat club. This isthe access to the Kawhia Bar and some of New Zealand'sbest fishing. It'sa short 36 minute trip back to the Oparaustore or a44minute trip to the Kawhia village.

Be in quick to secure one or all of the options available here.

Auction 12.00pm, Thu 24th Oct, 2024, (unless sold prior), Property Brokers, 34 Victoria Street, Cambridge View Tue 1Oct 12.00 -1.00pm Tue 8Oct 12.00 -1.00pm Web pb.co.nz/MAR181929

Ian Morgan M 027 492 5878 E ian.morgan@pb.co.nz

Chelly Aitchison M 022 697 8779 E chelly@pb.co.nz

Tender closes 4.00pm, Thu 24th Oct, 2024, Property Brokers, 138 Arawata Street, Te Awamutu View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/TWR192309

Paul Wheeler M 027 336 6158 E paul.wheeler@pb.co.nz

Doug Wakelin M 027 321 1343 E dougw@pb.co.nz

Scan for more

Kawhia Whakapirau Road Tender

Kinleith 902 Galaxy Road

Amazing farm fromanother galaxy

902 Galaxy Road is located in the well-regarded dairyingarea of Tokoroa/Kinleith with atotal of 277.16 hectares.

The property was converted to dairy 15 years ago and has been very well-maintained since, resulting in aconsistent and resilient performance. Currently milking 650 cows all wintered on swedes and pasture. The cowshed is acentrally located 50-bail rotary fitted ACRsand an in-shed feeding system. The herd has athree-year average of 280,000 kgMS, approximately 430 kg percow or just over 1,000 kg per total ha.

Theproperty is in excellent condition and includes three modern brick andtile homes. We recommend immediate inspection.

Karapiro 107A Mathieson Road

Theperfect combination

Discover the exceptional opportunitytoacquireapremier 255hafinishing &dairyheifer grazing unit, perfectly situated midway between the charming towns of Cambridge and Matamata,just astone’sthrow from the worldrenowned Hobbiton movie set. This propertysupports astocking rate of 400 beef cattle and 400R2dairy heifers. Supplement feed is produced on-farm approx. 500 wrapped bales of silage. Infrastructure includes arobust 4-stand wool shed, 3-bay lock-upshed, workshop with two loose boxes,largegable shed, half roundhay barn andwellmaintained covered cattle yards with load-out facilities. The property features two residences,a beautifully presented four bedroom main home with in-ground pool set amidst mature trees andgardens, aquaintthree bedroom secondary home and adedicated Airbnb accommodation unit. This is avery aesthetically appealingand well-set-up farm, with its long-standinggood farmingpractices, is arare find andwill not disappoint.

Tender closes 4.00pm, Wed 6th Nov, 2024, 19 Swanston Street, Tokoroa 3420

View Tue 8Oct 10.30 -12.00pm Tue 15 Oct 10.30 -12.00pm

Web pb.co.nz/RTR186692

Phil Badger M 027 357 5704 E phil.badger@pb.co.nz

Paul O'Sullivan M 027 496 4417 E paulo@pb.co.nz

Tender closes 2.00pm, Thu 14th Nov, 2024 (unless sold prior), Property Brokers, 78 Studholme Street, Morrinsville

View Wed 16 Oct 11.00 -12.00pm Wed 23 Oct 11.00 -12.00pm

Web pb.co.nz/MAR188002

Ian Morgan M 027 492 5878 E ian.morgan@pb.co.nz

Chelly Aitchison M 022 697 8779 E chelly@pb.co.nz

Tender

Whakamaru 182 Sandel Road

Irrigated dairy farm

With atotal of 212 ha (180 eff ha) and 110hairrigated,this is adairyfarm you need to see. The property consists of mixed contour with some flats, some rolling and some alittle steeper, all with free draining soils.

Milking approx. 500 cowswith a3-year production average of 164,010 kgMS. Farm water is supplied by the bore, while the irrigation water is pumped from two streams on the farm.

Infrastructure includes a40ASHB shed, ahalf round barn, ahay barn,a woolshed that'sbeen rearing calves and a lined effluentpond. The main dwelling is afive bedrooms home heated by awood burner and heat pump. There are two other houses, athree bedroom home and atwo bedroom home.

Cambridge Gray Road

Farming with views

Located19kmfrom Cambridge with 118 ha more or less (STT) of easy medium to steeper hill country used primarily for dairy young stock grazing

The currentowners have focused on fencing, tracks, and fertiliser with annualapplications. Improvements include a well-positioned set of cattle yards and agravity fed water system with troughs in every paddock. The farm is accessed off Gray Road with internal access provided by awell-maintained central farm race.Subdivision is mostly seven wire fencing with some three wire electric

with

Auction 11.00am, Wed 13th Nov, 2024, (unless sold prior), Hautapu Sports Club, 211 Victoria Street, Cambridge View Wed 9Oct 11.00 -1.00pm Wed 16 Oct 11.00 -1.00pm Web pb.co.nz/CBR183708

M 027 472 2572 E david.mcguire@pb.co.nz

Auction 11.00am, Wed 13th Nov, 2024, (unless sold prior), Hautapu Sports Club, 211 Victoria Street, Cambridge View Tue 8Oct 11.00 -1.00pm Tue 15 Oct 11.00 -1.00pm

Web pb.co.nz/CBR189087

David McGuire M 027 472 2572 E david.mcguire@pb.co.nz

Otorohanga 671 Kawhia Road

Possibly the perfect first farm

Auction

671 Kawhia Road, locatedjust 7kmfrom Otorohanga, offers an exceptional opportunity for the first dairy farm buyer and the savvy investor alike. This appealing 145 ha farm has been operated as adairyunit up until two years ago when it was changedtorunning dry stock. The dairy infrastructure is all in place and includes a40ASHB shed (no vat), alined effluent pond, feed pad, maize silagebunker, calf rearing and implement sheds and good quality farm tracks and water system with troughs in all paddocks. The flat contour at the frontofthe farm rises to rolling country withsome steeper sidlingareas and includes about 5hectares of pine trees that are approaching harvest. There are plenty of options to createa self-contained dairy farm with youngstock grazed on. The home is atidy 3-bedrooms heated by the heat pump with asleepout at the rearofthe garage. This is an excellent opportunity to purchase awellestablished, highly productive firstdairy farm.

Rotoorangi 348 ParklandsRoad

Auction 11.00am, Wed 13th Nov, 2024, (unless sold prior), Hautapu Sports Club, 211 Victoria Street, Cambridge View Thu 10 Oct 11.00 -1.00pm Thu 17 Oct 11.00 -1.00pm Web pb.co.nz/CBR191966

David McGuire M 027 472 2572 E david.mcguire@pb.co.nz

John Sisley M 027 475 9808 E john.sisley@pb.co.nz

Deadline Sale closes Friday 15th November, 2024 at 4.00pm, (unless

prior) View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/TWR192777

Stephen Weck M 027 455 1106 E stephen.weck@pb.co.nz

Deadline Sale

Morrinsville 536&610 Hangawera Road

Great

farm, great location

•76haintwo titles

•26ASHB cowshed -250 cow feedpad

•2xfour bedroom homes

•Maize grown on farm

•Close to town

•23hasupport block with cattleyards, loading race and bore watersupply available to purchase.

Owners committed elsewhere.

Cambridge 2/18Lovells Road

Location counts

Welcome to aremarkable opportunityjust 5minutes from Cambridge! This expansive 65 ha property offers adiverse landscape, perfect for farming and potential tourism ventures

Spread across the property,you'll find approx. 17 ha of flat land, another 13 ha of flat basinland, anda mix of steeper sideling, bush, and wetland areas. This versatile terrain is ideal for various agricultural activities and offers stunning natural beauty.The propertyfeatures acharming 1950s cottage,providinga cozy 100m2 of living space with three bedrooms andone bathroom. The double garageadds convenience, and thedisused cowshed and yards offer additional utility. The farm isprimarily fenced with deer fencingonthe external boundaries, 3-wire fencing, complemented by some post andbatten 5-wirefencing. Currently, thelandsupports 40 R1 heifers, 20 R2 steers, and 40mixed-age cows, with anannualyield of 250-400 bales of silage.

Sale By Negotiation +GST (if any)

pb.co.nz/MOR109390

M 027 430 8770 E peterl@pb.co.nz

For Sale By Negotiation View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/CBR188790

Hayward M 027 562 4598 E cath.hayward@pb.co.nz

Tuakau 139CAndrews Road

Affordable rural retreat at Onewhero

•Four bedroom home -well-maintained

•63haofmedium hill with some steeper

•Streams, rocky outcrops and bush

•Good shedding and yards

•4x4bike access

•Good fencing -tidy presentation

Motivated Vendor on the move.

Kopaki 1930State Highway 30

Calf rearing /beef finishing

Here's youropportunity to capitalizeonthe strong beef market. 127hacontained within five titles,providing choices for the discerning buyer.

Awell-located grazing/finishing propertywith an even balanceofcontour from flat to undulating through to medium hill, with ash overclay soil with traditionalgrass species being rye/clover with anormally even spread of rain, which offersgood summer growthinapredominantly eczema free area.The tracking is excellent, making for ease of stock movement. The 8ASHB dairy shed, calf rearing shed along with thepiggery shed could provide an increased income stream for those that want it. This propertyis located 20.7kmfromTeKuiti, providing arange of professional,rural, and commercial services. Avarietyofprimary schooling options are available and asecondary school.

For Sale By Negotiation +GST (if any)

View By appointment

Web pb.co.nz/TWR187181

John Sisley M 027 475 9808 E john.sisley@pb.co.nz

CourtneyHowells

M 021 271 8877 E courtney.howells@pb.co.nz

For Sale $1,900,000 +GST (if any)

View By appointment

Web pb.co.nz/TER178120

Doug Wakelin M 027 321 1343 E dougw@pb.co.nz

This auctionwillbeofgreat interest to Farmers/ Contractors/ Builders or anyone with abuildingproject

To be held on site at: MaxBirtSawmills, 364C LumsdenRoad, Ohinewai

(Take theOhinewaioff ramp on SH1, 5kms north of Huntly.Lumsden Rd runs parallelwithSH1 on the easternsideofthe railwayline)

Saturday 12th October2024, 10.00am

From30thSeptember viewing& full catalogue availableeitheronsiteatMax Birt Sawmills, LumsdenRd, Ohinewai,orvisit ourwebsite www.maxbirtsawmills.co.nz

To requesta cataloguesenttoyou call us on 09 2362016.

On Offer: TANALISEDTIMBER

Full rangeofH3& H4 roughsawn& machine gaugedTanalised timber products e.g.,100x25, 150x25,100x50, 150x50,200x50 etc. Also availableSG8 Verified Framing andPremium Decking.

ROUNDWOOD

Largerange of Strainers& Posts

Bidding will commence 10.00amsharp Registration from 8.00am (Pleaseensurethatyou have registered priorto commencementofauction)

Lightrefreshmentswillbeavailable on theday & freighter optionswillbeavailable foryourfreight requirements

credit cardsonday of sale!

BIO LOO

ToiletBuildingatyour cost.Thesetoilets arethe good looking,sensible answer to human organicwastemanagement.Environmentally friendly, they areeconomical easy to installand require littlemaintenance.

Toilets arevented so thereare no unpleasant odours,noneedfor toilet cleanersorroom deodoriser.They meet allrequired NZ Standards and buildingcodes and areinuse by DOCand regional councils.Cheaperto purchase and installcompared to other systems,right from thestart Youcan leavethe systemtoworkfor youand in theend will have safe, composted material that can be used in your gardens.

52 NZFarmer Markets

Ups and downs in markets

There is good news and not so good news in each of the sectors, but some could be in for gains in the coming months.

By Rabobank

Dairy August brought mostly positive trading conditions to Oceania dairy commodity markets SMP and cheese spot prices each ended the month marginally higher than the prior month, while WMP spot prices were up 3% year on year.

Butter, however, recalibrated back 10% over August in response to higher prices in the preceding months.

Global fundamentals remain well balanced, which is keeping price direction largely neutral.

Demand may soften over the northern hemisphere’s summer months, but challenges will remain.

JOHN BISSET/STUFF

The New Zealand milk production season is likely to bring a positive result for the full year ending May 31, 2025.

The second month of the season, July, saw milk supply hit record levels – albeit early days in the season and a typically a low-output month – with a lift of 8.4% on a tonnage basis.

Conditions in the leadup to the seasonal peak suggest New Zealand could produce an increase this month – the ﬁrst since 2020. Markets will be paying close attention to weather conditions.

Milk price forecasts for the 2024-25 season are lifting. Fonterra has raised its forecast by 50 cents to $8.25-$9.75kg MS Elsewhere around the globe, farmgate milk price improvement has also been welcomed. While Aussie milk prices are an exception, United States, Dutch and Irish prices are up 10% or more since the start of the year.

Beef

As farmgate prices soar ever higher, the winter cattle market in New Zealand is seeing shortages emerge, especially in prime beef. Processor procurement pressure is driving some of the farmgate price as winter continues. Farmgate prices for all cohorts of cattle are sitting up to 21% higher than the ﬁve-year average.

Demand for store cattle is strong and

continues, given the expectations of aboveaverage beef pricing in the medium term. R1 cattle are seemingly the most sought-after cohort in terms of pricing.

Volumes to both China and the US were down for July, year on year, but the value of US exports was up by just over NZ$10 million to NZ$165.1m, indicating the continuing strong demand here. This has been a theme in 2024

Overall, beef continues to perform well, and prices look set to remain above average in the medium term.

Sheepmeat

The South Island lamb price continues its upward trend, now back within the ﬁve-year average range at NZ$7.70/kg cwt to start September. Lamb slaughter numbers in the six weeks to early August were down 35% on the same weeks of 2023.

Processor procurement pressure is driving some of this pricing to draw the

last lambs out

But the average export value is now heading in an upward direction, which is good news as producers eye the 2024-25 season.

Higher-value export markets for lamb continue to take additional export volumes compared with last year, helping to drive up average export values, and thus future farmgate pricing.

volumes were 4078 tonnes, up 92% year on year, representing a 95% upswing in value, reaching NZ$40.2m.

China continues to have sluggish demand, with total volumes of New Zealand sheepmeat imported in July down 16% year on year to 9980 tonnes with value down 28% to NZ$51.8m.

Farm inputs

DAP prices found support in August as signs of increased demand pushed prices higher. In mid-August, it was announced that India had agreed a deal to import 500,000 tonnes of Moroccan DAP. This led to a US$13/tonne increase month on month in Middle East spot netbacks.

One of the key risks for urea pricing going forward is volatile natural gas prices. TTF natural gas prices have risen sharply over the past couple of months. However, we don’t expect to see major upside from current levels over the next 12 months, given high inventory levels and the trend of warmer winters.

Ultimately, this means urea prices are unlikely to be pushed notably higher by natural gas rallies

Oil and freight

Benchmark Brent crude oil prices fell for a second straight month in August, closing the month at US$78.80/bbl. A soft demand outlook continues to weigh on prices Chinese growth stutters, the States continues to hibit signs of economic slowdown, and risks of supply interruptions in the Middle East appear modest.

Beef is performing well and indicators show that will continue for the medium term.

The UK, the EU-27 and the US – the three biggest markets for lamb after China – are leading the charge as exporters look to diversifyvolumes away from China.

The EU-27 again was the most valuable market for sheepmeat, bringing in NZ$63.3m, up 25% on July 2023. Meanwhile, exports to Britain took a huge leap. July

US supply growth has slowed and Opec+ producers plan to increase supply in Q4 of this year, when the voluntary production cuts agreed to in July will be tapered.

Questions are now being about the market’s to absorb that increased supply.

As shippers and carriers prepare for the peak holiday season, moderate demand increases lead to continued inﬂation in pricing. Though there may be a temporary softening of demand during the northern hemisphere summer, increased seasonal demand leading into the holiday period will soon be felt, especially for outbound lanes from Asia.

This will, in turn, have a ripple effect on other routes globally, impacting container availability and pricing.