Country-Wide February 2022 by NZ Farmlife Media

BACKING FARMERS

THE FUTURE’S LOOKING

James and Kate McKay’s scanning enterprise has helped build their sheep and beef business, p42

$12.00 incl gst

FEBRUARY 2022

AG EMISSIONS

Decision time with He Waka Eke Noa

CARBON FORESTRY More farmland going into trees

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February 2022

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February 2022

EDITOR’S NOTE Opinion

A tough choice to make

FTER TWO AND-A-HALF YEARS and 140 options, He Waka Eke Noa offers two pricing mechanism options. Fear of the emissions trading scheme (ETS), and what seems a lack of feedback and transparency over He Waka will not make it easy for farmers to decide. It is a draft proposal, but should there have been more information and discussion with farmers well before it was released late last year? This may have led to more acceptable options. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of time left for consultation and hammering out an acceptable option. If farmers don’t come up with an option in April the Government will throw it into the emissions trading scheme. One of the gripes from people in the industry was not addressing the reduction targets which were unfair and unworkable. They argue He Waka was the place to have dealt with the targets. Levy groups say the reduction targets were outside the scope of He Waka and can be dealt with later. Critics say any analysis should focus on GWP*, a more accurate measure of ag methane emissions. He Waka has bought farming time as it could have been in the emissions trading scheme nearly three years ago. He Waka seems more political than sciencebased and if this is true then the only solution may be a political one. There is an argument to take the short-term pain of being forced into the ETS rather than

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February 2022

sign up for a poor He Waka option. There is also an expectation that the ETS is unsustainable and not reducing emissions enough by allowing emitters to pay a tax to sin; that it would be scrapped by a change of Government. If ag sectors agree to He Waka and a poor deal, it will be hard for a future government to undo it. With New Zealand about to be engulfed by Omicron the Government will have more pressing matters. Will it want to put ag in the ETS and risk protests highlighting the ineffectiveness of the scheme? It seems crazy that NZ ag, the world’s most efficient, low carbon-emitting pastoral producer, will be penalised and forced to lower its production. It will only lead to the gap being filled by inefficient producers with higher carbon emissions. And for what? NZ is less than a quarter of a percent of the global emissions. One thing farmers must do is get involved and give their feedback to levy groups. It is the last chance.

Terry Brosnahan Got any feedback? Contact the editor: terry.brosnahan@nzfarmlife.co.nz or call 03 471 5272 @CountryWideEd

Contents

ACHIEVING A DREAM Pahiatua farmers made all the right moves to maximise their business development.

DECISION TIME FOR FARMERS Farmers need to tune in fast to pricing proposals for ag emissions.

8 BOUNDARIES HOME BLOCK 11 Roger Barton sees water and rules everywhere

EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM

The benefits of monitoring for porina.

12 Chris Biddles makes a big decision about his leg 13 Gaye Coates recalls when weather forecasting meant watching the clouds 14 Blair Smith gets thinking among the thistles 15 It’s the annual rellie invasion for Charlotte Rietveld 17 John Scott is ready to tear into 2022

BUSINESS 18 He Waka Eke Noa could be a stop-gap 22 Ag emissions - Decision time for farmers

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February 2022

BUSINESS 24 Ag emissions - Farm vegetation valuable?

Country-Wide is published by NZ Farm Life Media PO Box 218, Feilding 4740

26 Methane levy - Understanding GHG costs 30 What’s behind He Waka Eke Noa? 31 Ag emissions - Irony in deer financial hit

General enquiries: Toll free 0800 2AG SUB (0800 224 782) www.nzfarmlife.co.nz

32 Emissions pricing - GWP100 or GWP*? 34 Carbon forestry spreading 36 Offsets upset Aussie farmers 38 Borrowing - Fix vs float 40 Reducing stock numbers: A one-sided story

LIVESTOCK 42 Onfarm: Scanning cuts development time 48 Fine tuning for tupping 50 Onfarm: Achieving a dream 58 Where to next for dairy beef?

ANIMAL HEALTH 62 Consequence of BVD in sheep

WHERE TO NEXT FOR DAIRY BEEF?

What to do with lowervalue animals and where to raise them to finishing.

63 Vet Voice - Lost export earnings

CROP AND FORAGE 66 Pasture renewal: Picture the big picture 68 Porina: Early bird gets the worm

ENVIRONMENT 72 Beginners’ guide to climate change research

YOUNG COUNTRY 78 Running for their future

80 SOLUTIONS 82 FARMING IN FOCUS

BEGINNERS’ GUIDE TO CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH

Nicola Dennis sorts through the nuts and bolts of human awareness of climate change.

Design and production Lead design: Emily Rees 06 280 3167 emily.rees@nzfarmlife.co.nz

Partnership Managers Janine Aish | Auckland, Waikato, BOP 027 890 0015 janine.aish@nzfarmlife.co.nz Angus Kebbell South Island, Lower North Island, Livestock 022 052 3268 angus.kebbell@nzfarmlife.co.nz Tony Leggett | International 027 474 6093 tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz Subscriptions nzfarmlife.co.nz/shop | 0800 224 782 subs@nzfarmlife.co.nz Printed by Ovato Print NZ Ltd ISSN 1179-9854 (Print) ISSN 2253-2307 (Online)

OUR COVER James McKay and son Hadley (8) on their Alfredton farm. A thriving scanning business has helped the McKay family cut the time to achieve their farm ownership dreams. Photo: Mark Coote.

Sub editor Andy Maciver 06 280 3166 andy.maciver@nzfarmlife.co.nz

Writers Anne Hardie 03 540 3635 Lynda Gray 027 465 3726 Robert Pattison 027 889 8444 Sandra Taylor 021 151 8685 James Hoban 027 251 1986 Russell Priest 06 328 9852 Jo Cuttance 03 976 5599 Joanna Grigg 027 275 4031

64 Velvet comes indoors

76 Hard yakka and teamwork

Publisher Tony Leggett 06 280 3162 | 0274 746 093 tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz

Jo Hannam 06 280 3168

DEER

COMMUNITY

Editor Terry Brosnahan 03 471 5272 | 027 249 0200 terry.brosnahan@nzfarmlife.co.nz

@CountryWideNZ

PASTURE RENEWAL

Picture the big picture

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February 2022

BOUNDARIES

A woman was in bed with her lover when she heard her husband opening the front door. “Hurry!” she said, “stand in the corner.” She quickly rubbed baby oil all over him and then she dusted him with talcum powder. “Don’t move until I tell you to,” she whispered. “Just pretend you’re a statue.” “What’s this, honey?” the husband inquired as he entered the room. “Oh, it’s just a statue,” she replied nonchalantly. “The Smiths bought one for their bedroom. I liked it so much, I got one for us too.” No more was said about the statue, not even later that night when they went to sleep. Around two in the morning the husband got out of bed, went to the kitchen and returned a while later with a sandwich and a glass of milk. “Here,” he said to the ‘statue’, “eat something. I stood like an idiot at the Smiths’ for three days and nobody offered me as much as a glass of water.”

Ronnie King’s family (left to right): Ronnie, Bridie, Buzz and Dallas.

A whanau in farming FOUR OF THE KING FAMILY AND THEIR PARTNERS have all enjoyed successful farming careers. Growing up in remote Whangamomona (between Taumarunui and Stratford) where their father Ross and mother Polly farmed a ballot block, the two boys Eugene and Ronnie and sisters Nukuhia and Marama all developed an excellent work ethic at an early age. Through shearing, shed-handing and fencing they collectively were able to raise enough capital to leave their birthplace and buy Mangaroa Station about 55km north of Wairoa in northern Hawke’s Bay and lease Ruakaka Station next door. This enabled them to divide their labours but reunite for some jobs with Ronnie and Marama and their partners farming Ruakaka and Eugene and Nukuhia and partners farming Mangaroa. In this way the four families collectively were able to generate enough capital to go their separate ways. Ronnie and Buzz bought Puketawa Station near Tiraumea in the northern Wairarapa in 2013, Eugene and Pania purchased Kiriroa Station, Gisborne, in 2014, Marama and Rob acquired 310ha near Eketahuna in the northern Wairarapa in 2007, while Nukuhia and Bart Hadfield remained on Mangaroa Station. Since establishing their separate farming businesses, two of the family and their partners have won the coveted Ahuwhenua Maori Farmer of the Year Trophy. Barton and Nukuhia Hadfield in 2015 and Eugene and Pania King in 2019 while Ronnie and Justine (Buzz) were runners-up in 2017. Ronnie says the families have always worked well together and always had the long-term goal of individual farm ownership. Though now separated, they continue to work together through the whanau processing collective and national shearing events in which Ronnie, Bart and Eugene are often called upon to adjudicate.

• More on the Kings p50

Once a year the small North Otago town Kurow holds its main event - the Kurow Races. The race meeting at the end of December brings in thousands of visitors. Like all years, this year’s meeting focused on the children as much as the horses and betting. While the adults enjoyed the refreshments and gallops, the children competed in sack and running races and the big event, the tug of war. It was boys against the girls. After the first bout was won by the boys and the girls were losing, the cavalry arrived to the rescue, on foot. Three female jockeys joined in along with a dad or two. But male jockeys couldn’t keep away and the boys won again. The big winner was Kurow. Despite Covid and a wet forecast the crowd turned up and the money poured.

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February 2022

A BENT FOR WIRE ART

SPREADING GOLD DUST Checking the price of fertiliser recently a close contact of County-Wide’s nearly choked on his Weetbix. At $1200/tonne for urea or $1300/t for DAP he calculated the extra autumn drymatter he hoped to grow would cost him well over 20c/kg DM, before spreading costs. Even with lambs making $8/kg on the hook he decided to give it a miss rather than risk a marginal return from what’s an environmentally questionable practice in any case.

Entries have opened for those with a creative bent with a piece of wire for the Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award The prize pool is worth nearly $10,000 for the awards which are hosted by Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato and supported by the New Zealand National Fieldays Society. Approaching its 25th year, the competition will be judged by carver, sculptor, and multidisciplinary artist Eugene Kara. A digital judging platform will be used to review photos and select the finalists. This platform also keeps the entrant identities confidential, enabling the judges to focus solely on the art. The winner will receive $7000, and prizes of $1000 and $500 for the second and third place respectively. Further prizes are also awarded for People’s Choice and President’s Choice. The award culminates in a month-long exhibition at Hamilton’s ArtsPost Galleries & Shop, opening this year on Friday 22 April. Visit www.waikatomuseum.co.nz/no8wire

HOT SUMMER NIWA scientists say 2021 is New Zealand’s hottest summer and further proof of Climate Change. Scientist Jock Allison, an outspoken critic of Climate Change action (January issue), says one hot summer in NZ tells us very little about the world. Perhaps it is still thawing out after the Little Ice Age which ended about 1800. The temperature in the lower atmosphere hasn’t risen much in the last 23 years. He says some warming is advantageous to NZ.

DID YOU

KNOW ?

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WHAT’S YOUR GADGET?

The team behind last year’s Protype award winner, the Springarm flexible ballcock arm for stock water troughs.

The Fieldays Innovation Awards applications for 2022 have opened, and individuals and businesses with innovative solutions to the world’s food and fibre challenges are encouraged to apply. The innovation lifecycle has three award categories: Prototype, Early-Stage, and Growth & Scale. This range of categories allows individuals and companies, big or small, to get the support, recognition, and mentoring they require to take their innovation to the next level. Special recognition is also given to younger innovators, with an award for the Fieldays Young Innovator of the Year. The total prize package is over $60,000 worth of cash, services, and products with tailored opportunities to progress innovations in each award category. Entries are open until May 1, 2022. Apply now at fieldays.co.nz/innovation.

Larger eyeballs work better because they receive more light. Larger animals have larger eyes because they are, well, larger overall. But faster animals have proportionally larger eyes to avoid obstacle collision. Being one of the largest and fastest animals on land, the horse’s eye is one of the biggest and best. Running at 88km, the horse is technically faster than a greyhound which tops out at 72km. Although both animals are lauded for their superior vision.

February 2022

PRIVILEGE ABUSED A Canterbury farming family which permits walking access across their farm for beach visitors has experienced a range of public attitudes towards the privilege. Most experiences are positive but one recent example of public pushing the boundaries rates a mention. One afternoon a large, modified 4WD was found well and truly stuck midstream in a creek near the beach. This vehicle was well beyond public areas and deeply ensconced on private property. The teenage occupants admitted to knowing this but maintained they were never intending to cross the creek – rather they were merely trying to turn around next to it before the vehicle slid into the water (off a large, flat area on a dry day). Displaying already stretched tolerance for fibs, the farmer told them he was too busy to help right then but to come and find one of the family later if they still needed assistance. The couple were not seen for another seven hours. At 9pm they eventually knocked on the farming matriarch’s door, soaking wet, with no food, water or mobile coverage, and asked to borrow the tractor. They were denied the tractor and given a lengthy lecture crossed with an interrogation. The driver was berated by his female companion who told him she was “wet, cold and f***ing sick of it.” Somewhat oblivious to the annoyance he had caused everyone else involved, the driver decided to dig deeper and asked to dry his trousers in the family’s clothes drier. He then sat in their lounge in his underwear while the lecture continued. After several phone calls, friends picked them up and they returned in the early hours of the morning to tow the vehicle with another 4WD. This failed and it was 11am the next day when the family took a tractor down and towed the 4WD out. The vehicle had settled much lower in the creek and the driver of the stricken vehicle was bitten by an eel when he was hooking the tow strop on. By this time the driver’s female companion was barely speaking to him. On his way out the driver promised to return with some beer and whisky to thank his rescuers but hasn’t been seen since.

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February 2022

HOME BLOCK

Greytown

Water, water and rules everywhere The crops enjoyed some early summer rain, but the question of water is exercising many, Roger Barton writes from South Wairarapa.

NOTHER NEW YEAR USHERED IN quietly. Getting off farm to celebrate always means a lot of rushing around to the point that going away seems to add to the stress, not diminish it. Jobs that might remain undone if you were staying onsite just have to be cleared out of the way. We had perfect settled weather at the bach and came back to drier conditions than I’d left four days earlier. We had 17.5mm of rainfall on January 6. People who tell me I am lucky get a quick reminder that it is tied up in our capital values and we are getting what we paid for. Unfortunately, our rocks see that it doesn’t hang about in the soil structure too long. The chicory and brassica crops have enjoyed it and lambs are growing well. Now for some orderly marketing and processing. The markets might be hot but getting space has become an issue. Automation of the industry must surely get some priority funding so that the more menial tasks can be completed with minimal labour. Those things are more in the realm of the processors but ultimately the value to get to that phase must be extracted from our product. Given prices, plus projections about the labour pool, perhaps we had better go faster in this area? First lambs out the gate did 18.5kg and some lesser models, mostly ewe lambs did 16.2kg. There are plenty of good ones to follow at 18kg plus. We just need systems to flow and work. With an increase in lambing percentage plus hogget lambs on top we have 16% more lambs on board this year. We also have an increased number of beef calves on deck and have made use of the opportunity to sell one line of cows, with calves at foot, on a grass market. One way to get rid of work is to sell it. Having made the threat to lessen the workload we have made a poor job of achieving the goal. It seemed time to make some moves after last winter went on forever. Ewes at weaning have been lighter than usual although this seems to be a common theme around this region. Because I can’t help myself, I’ve been taking more than an average interest in the Three Waters legislation but more importantly the “Water services bill.” As

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February 2022

"Even the Misuse of Drugs Act doesn’t require, as far as I’m aware, for people to dob class A drug peddlers into authority."

we have done a bit of subdivision here, we still have infrastructure on lifestyle blocks where we can choose (i.e. our discretion) to allow water to be taken from our own home/livestock water system. If we choose to do this in future, legally, we must register with Taumata Arowai, the water regulator, before we supply drinking water for human use. It seems sensible that in times of need we allow this to happen so that tanks can be topped up over a few nights when stock demand is minimal. No carbon cost of delivery and no cost, unless we choose to charge, to the recipient. But then the problems for the supplier start. I must know that the recipient of my water has a functioning water treatment system active and fit for purpose to treat that water pre use. It’s a bit like the manager at New World supermarket knowing that your fridge operates at 4C or less for food safety reasons. But it gets more draconian. If someone I know is a water supplier but fails to register with Taumata Arowai inside a given timeframe I have an obligation to dob them in to the authorities. Even the Misuse of Drugs Act doesn’t require, as far as I’m aware, for people to dob Class A drug peddlers into authority. I know which I think might be doing more harm to society. One of Damien O’Connor’s stated aims at the beginning of his time as minister was to ensure all legislation was subject to “rural proofing”. I have written to the ag minister enquiring about this process and because I wasn’t too enamoured with the quality of his reply I have now gone to the extent of seeking an Official Information Act request to see the methodology for the rural proofing. This normally is supplied in 20 working days. Having issued my request in early December O’Connor has advised he needs an extension until March 14 to handle it. Given this should have been a single concentrated body of work I can only feel that the minister is taking the p**s out of my request. Lack of openness and transparency is a fertile breeding ground for discontent. I’m prone to keep on adding fertiliser and fuel with my demeanour on this one.

HOME BLOCK Te Kopuru

The big decision After three years of surgery and medication Chris Biddles decided to have his leg amputated.

I "I tell people if they would like to piss me off, they can do one of two things or if they really want to make it worthwhile do both: give me advice and offer me sympathy."

T SEEMS EVERYBODY WANTS TO FORGET 2021 for many reasons. I am not sure how I would rate the year, but I do know one person who has had to endure a massive amount of difficulty in 2021. My long-suffering wife, Karren. She has had to put up with me spending 40 nights in hospital over four occasions since January 2021. Karren has also driven a very impatient passenger to some 20 specialist appointments, mostly at Whangarei base hospital 100km from home. From July to the end of October these were weekly. Karren was left to carry a bigger load onfarm with me farming when I could in plaster or a moon boot and on crutches for nearly 10 months, while also self-administering intravenous antibiotics on four different occasions. To recap, it was three years ago (February 1, 2019) that due to severe fatigue I made a dumb decision on my quad that resulted in a shoulder smashed in half and a completely dislocated and compound fracture of the ankle. In October 2020 I had the ankle successfully fused and just as I was about to start walking, in January 2021, I got a massive infection in the ankle which required surgery. In April 2021 I had further surgery to remove half the steel from my ankle. With the infection persisting, further surgery was needed to remove the remainder of the steel. In June 2021 I had surgery number 10. My surgeon told me the infection had followed the screws deep into the bone and would never be beaten. It was hoped we would get on top of the major infection but could expect flare-ups now and again. Posible years apart possible months apart. Strong antibiotics would hopefully give a short/ long-term fix. The second suggestion was longterm low dose antibiotics for life and the third was amputation. At 4.00am the next morning after a sleepless night noted by my night nurse, after talking with that nurse for an hour I decided I was not putting up with this shit for life. So next morning I told my surgeon this was the last go at getting it under control, but if the infection came back again I wanted amputation.

Chris Biddles on his temporary prosthetic leg.

She supported my decision. I then talked with all my health care providers that by this time had risen to well over a dozen and every one supported my decision. We got the infection right down in July/August and in September, six days after finishing high powered antibiotics my CRP level had jumped to 108 from 1. I agreed to one more go as it had been looking so good. This meant 19 antibiotic pills per day, but three weeks later an MRI showed the infection had moved into the fused part of the ankle. Several options were considered with the only one likely to succeed being amputation. A week later Margy gave me a tentative date in November and I was elated. I was going to get my life back. One by one every one of the nurses in the fracture clinic that I had got to know so well came into the room with Karren and I to tell us what a great decision we had made. They knew the alternative was a life of crap and they see it all the time with patients. So on November 10 the lower leg came off in surgery number 11. Two days later I received my last IV antibiotics and for the first time in 10 months I was antibiotic free. At writing this, it is eight weeks since the amputation, I am in a wheelchair around home much of the time. I have a temporary prosthesis which for now I wear for a few hours a day, I am able to do some work. I tell people if they would like to piss me off, they can do one of two things or if they really want to make it worthwhile do both: give me advice and offer me sympathy. So 2021 ended really well for me, life is good and I am enjoying this new challenge.

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February 2022

HOME BLOCK

Haupiri

Overcome by technology A cap of cloud on Granite Peak was once all that was needed to forecast imminent rain, Gaye Coates writes.

Paddy Coates was concerned his new tractor would offend his hard-working horse.

ACK WHEN MURRAY’S GRANDFATHER was farming at Haupiri, technology by today’s standards was not a significant feature. Shearing could be postponed on a sunny day; a decision not made by consulting five different weather apps, but by the conviction gained by simply looking at a cap of cloud hanging over a mountain peak, confidently knowing this signalled imminent rain. It is said that innovation and the adoption of it come from necessity and even in the 1920s when Paddy (husband Murray’s dad) was starting out, the need to increase productivity and have more efficient land use saw him take up “modern” alternatives. One of the family stories I am particularly fond of is the recount of a letter written by him to his later to be wife, Violet. In the letter Paddy describes the purchase of his very first tractor and of his concerns that despite the improvements this innovative piece of equipment offered, he would offend his loyal and hard-working horse. Needless to say, tractors have remained at Haupiri, while the horses and stables are long gone. Over the decades of our time here, technology in a variety of forms has been steadily introduced on the farm. Modern machinery is now equally matched with digital “implements” of accounting software, payroll apps, proof of placement “brains”, digitalised diaries and computerised herd management systems. While introducing technology seems a reasonably simple process, the reality of adapting to it seems significantly less so. I’m unsure why something that is supposed to be so useful produces such hefty, despondent sighs and exasperated groans from behind the office door? There are less than subtle glimpses of cynical humour in our children, knowing those sounds reflect that they are about to be asked yet again to sort out whatever new technology seems to be pushing the owner of the noises out of their depth and sense of control.

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February 2022

"While introducing technology seems a reasonably simple process, the reality of adapting to it seems significantly less so."

The week of Christmas saw these pronounced exhalations reach a cantankerous crescendo. The faithful desktop computer had after a decade of use developed symptoms of a terminal illness. The district landline telephone system with its wireless technology that was innovative in 1945 was no longer able to be serviced; the Sure Signal system that gave us our cell phone reception was turned off and the “I’ll get around to switching from Cash Manager to Focus when I have some time” became that very same week, an urgent “I have to do it now”. The new satellite service to give us a telephone was switched on. We now have to count to 10 before we can say a hello that will be heard with any assurance and there seems to be a kink in the virtual cable connecting our “tin can” with the one suspended in the sky, constricting the conversation to a frustrating level of hesitancy and stiltedness. The new cell phone solution of WiFi calling was not compatible with our existing phones and required the input of a tech savvy son coerced with the enticement of Mum’s cooking. The new computer seemed anything but friendly and Focus is yet to be a BFF. So, it was with a sense of relief that the beginning of 2022 saw us as a family escape to a “disconnected” backcountry hut, devoid of any technology except the PLB designed to rescue us from any scenario that would not see us safely back one night later and a phone solely for the purpose of capturing photographic memories. That night, amidst the background symphony of sandflies, a game of Scrabble began. The shift from companionable to competitive was an early transition with the exclamation: “That is not a word”. “It is” recounted the confident child. “See, here it is in the dictionary on my phone”. Ahh yes… innovation not only comes from necessity, but from the innate desire in us all to win the game. The laments from behind the office door seem set to continue.

HOME BLOCK

Five Forks

Thistles in the wind Knocking back the thistles is Blair Smith’s recipe for avoiding discord over facts and figures.

“

“I did the sums on ‘should I carry on this conversation and tell her my real thoughts or should I just go out and spray thistles’. A fair few thistles got sprayed that year.”

The Fossil Creek cows and calves are blissfully unaware that they are now targeted as methane terrorists.

T WILL NEVER HAPPEN”- CAPTAIN E J Smith’s reply when asked whether the Titanic would ever sink. I began to question my Smith lineage yesterday due to the similarity between EJ and my arrogance when the air compressor (that I vowed and declared wouldn’t make any sudden noise amongst the freshly weaned hill block lambs), saw lambs smashing through a gate in spectacular fashion when the air pressure released – similar to when trucks let off their air brakes. While I’m no scholar, if I was ever going to write a book, the title would be ‘Tales blown in on a dusty Norwester’. One chapter would outline the windswept day that Jane lost the weaning weight data of more than 1200 of the stud lambs with a push of a button. Given that she had a six-week-old baby, a couple of toddlers at foot and pretty much no sleep for 42 days, it was one of those pivotal marital moments when I smiled, said “that’s no big deal” and spent the next nine hours re-weighing each and every lamb. This was pre-EID tag days when each lamb had to be manhandled, tag number called out and weight manually recorded. Now the real page-turner was three days later, Jane tells me (very) casually that she had found the weights further down the spreadsheet, and had taken the liberty to do a data check on all the reweighed lambs and found 12 discrepancies which she wasn’t happy about. Another key marital crossroad moment. I did the sums on ‘should I carry on this conversation and tell her my real thoughts or should I just go out and spray thistles’. A fair few thistles got sprayed that year. Our hills this spring looked more like mid-winter in a Soviet republic. I was beginning to wonder if Mother Jacinda had assembled a coalition to supersede Mother Nature and had the weather under

a cold, dry socialist grip. However, rain arrived in late November along with the best summer growing conditions for decades. A bloody good challenge for the stud Perendales with our nil-drench policy going from dust to knee-high clover within a matter of weeks, and a good chance to see the genetic potential of all stock - without the usual game of survival of the fittest. I am no political beast but one issue that runs through my head while sitting on the tractor seat is global overpopulation. No farm can keep increasing stock numbers with less inputs and expect a good outcome. I’m yet to see a sandal-sucking Greenpeace activist say on their digital soapbox “holy shite, I’ve just worked out the problem – it’s people”. Strange that populations are out of control, yet even low-impact livestock (converters of hill country pasture to premium protein) are public enemy number one. These eco-terrorists would be better to chain themselves to the gates of the well-endowed land being converted to corporate-owned carbon mining pine trees, or questioning why the hell NZ Ag ‘leaders’ have bought into the laughable emperor’s new clothes concept of methane emission taxes on livestock. Heads should roll for ignoring science and creating economic and environmental disaster. The good news is I’ve come up with a plan more scientific than theirs. The methane chamber they are prancing around sheep farms on their genetics propaganda tour should fit two large Labour ministers or three anaemic Green party members in it at a time. The resulting hot air can be used in lieu of fossil fuels - and as the Government is so sure that livestock are evil methane missiles, destock all Landcorp farms (saves them losing any more taxpayer money) and plant every hectare in leftover politicians, joyless university know-it-alls and impotent Greenpeace activists.

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February 2022

HOME BLOCK

Rakaia Gorge

Here come the rellies January and school holidays means it’s down on the farm for city kids. Charlotte Rietveld and team accommodate the invasion.

Richard Perkins and The Boss, Bruce Nell with the Blowflies and their endangered dogs.

HE YEAR BEGAN WITH ME EATING my hat. Assured of gales, a scorching drought and crashing stock prices, yet again I was proven wrong. If anything, our annual rainfall average appears to be taking a 10% long-running lift, stock prices have remained unfathomably good and the nor’west gave way to a refreshing run of sou’easters. Even the perennial delights of silage stacks and flystrike failed to tarnish the summer joy. But I’d forgotten January’s annual arrivals. I suspect we’re not alone in experiencing an influx of visitors every year throughout January. Often it is long-lost cousins, neighbours or relations. Occasionally it’s school, uni or work mates from days gone by, but most likely these days, it’s nieces and nephews on school holidays. Earnestly sent packing by their parents for a bucolic break, the reality is rather different; dirt, work and a withering lack of wifi. Such was the case with this year’s arrivals, the three city-dwelling grandchildren staying with The Boss and The Chief Inspector for a week. As an ex-school teacher, Granny is a slick operator in such times. When the grandchildren arrive, she’s the Chief Inspector, Governor General and Minister of Corrections combined. She runs a formidably tight ship, unchanged since the 1980s, centred on food, job lists and “off you go outside!” Evicted outdoors and presumably lured by the clouds of dust, said children teamed up with their country cousins, arriving in the sheepyards eager to help. “Help?!” we feebly repeated. Yes, they nodded, assuming us short of hearing when really we were verbalising a desperate request for intervention. Granny obviously had her feet up nursing a Nescafé while trialling their noise cancelling headphones, as none arrived. Instead, with 3000 ewes and lambs in the yards awaiting drafting, drenching and dipping, weaning was warily resumed.

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February 2022

"By the end of the week the gang of six were affectionately known as the Blowflies; insatiably seeking a food source, incompatible with sheep and consistently appearing from nowhere to be in the wrong place at the wrong time while emitting endlessly irritating noise.”

Our new workforce consisted of six children ranging in age from 2-12 years. Starting off with high hopes, it was quickly apparent the time any one of them took to open a gate was also 2-12 years. Undeterred, they were stationed alongside the force pen with instructions to crouch when the pen was being refilled. What I thought would be a failsafe location quickly turned into a head-bobbing farce of paediatric whack-a-mole. A stint at the back of the yards followed, with children generously granted several of the endangered breed Notuxis needis, more commonly known as a Pak’nSave dog. This proved marginally more effective for our now-dismal work rate but clearly wasn’t as thrilling for the yellow-bag circus at the back as “what do we want?! …Milo!” chants soon emerged. Convinced they either had an E Tu union rep or Brian Tamaki in the yards, we quickly buckled to their protest demands. Her indoors had fortunately rustled up a smoko extravaganza; fruit cake for the primary industry and honey sandwiches for the primary school. Roundtable negotiations were held, zero-hours contracts offered and a pay-freeze proposed. None achieved the desired deterrent so with strike demands of Milo met, we resigned ourselves to overstaffed sheepyard mayhem. The week of weaning continued in similar fashion. Rolling smoko strikes resumed and their gateopening pace improved just enough to allow the odd box-up. By the end of the week the gang of six were affectionately known as the Blowflies; insatiably seeking a food source, incompatible with sheep and consistently appearing from nowhere to be in the wrong place at the wrong time while emitting endlessly irritating noise. Needless to say, proactive planning is already underway to avoid next year’s flystrike.

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February 2022

HOME BLOCK Scotland

Ready to tear into 2022

FEARN FARM

John Scott reflects on the disruption to life at Fearn Farm and looks forward to a better 2022.

ELL 2021 WAS A BUGGA WASN’T it. Glad to put that one behind us and lets get ripped into 2022, surely it will bring us a path beyond what is becoming our far too-familiar new mate Rona (coronavirus). We had a wee gathering planned for just before Christmas. Haven’t had one for a while and you could tell that our friends were lining up for a break-out. You know the sort of night where the local farming community is noticeably MIA the following morning. It had to be postponed and rightly so. We have had quite a few friends in isolation over Christmas, hopefully it will get rescheduled before the spring work kicks in and obviously we will need to fit it in around the six nations rugby. Over the festive season we have been running on half power in terms of our team as everyone has had a well-deserved break. Hopefully they will return with renewed enthusiasm and we will hit the ground running in January. We plan to organise a couple of team-building events before the spring chaos starts. Senior staff have been delegated with planning something so who knows what they will come up with but it's needed. There have been virtually no farm-based CPD events for almost two years now and there’s no doubt that it’s had a negative impact on team morale. Our sheep team is still short so we are casting the net again at the moment, not many Kiwis on the go over here at the moment who would often fill a gap. I really hope there are plenty of youngsters planning their OE once things settle down, it’s vital that this tradition continues in both directions. It plays a huge part in personal development and the friends that are made for life are irreplaceable. Lambing is now not that far away with 400 broken mouthed and older ewes due in mid-February, we had stopped this early lambing but the lure of the boost to cashflow in midsummer which can be a bit tight was too strong a temptation. It also gives us the chance to train the greener members of the team in the art of indoor lambing, a practice we have mixed feelings about.

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February 2022

"I really hope there are plenty of youngsters planning their OE once things settle down, it’s vital that this tradition continues in both directions."

In an ideal world we would lamb everything outside with little assistance and no predators (badgers, foxes, ravens, hooded crows and blackback gulls), awesome weather and experienced staff who understand sheep and how to manage them on grass during lambing. In reality cash is king and we need as many lambs on the truck as possible and the best way we can achieve that is through a hybrid system which involves lambing both inside and out spreading workload and responsibility throughout the season. The bulk of our lambing and calving has been scheduled for mid-March and April when James and Izzy (No 1 and 2 offspring) will be home to supervise (run the show). There’s no doubt 2022 has the potential to be a fairly busy year at Fearn. Along with normal farming activity we have various construction projects which will mean a fair bit of upheaval. First, we have sold some of our less-productive land to Glenmorangie distillery for warehouses which they will store barrels of whisky in. While this makes financial sense it does mean we are losing some sheltered fields and two sheds which will need to be replaced. I can visualise a fellow columnist from the Wairarapa getting very excited as he reads this and he will no doubt be over once they are built to patrol the boundary fence for an entry point as I know from previous experience that he’s partial to a drop of the good stuff. Also on the agenda is the relocation of our sheep and cattle handling undercover which will make handling stock easier and more efficient whilst certainly making it more pleasant on wet and windy winter days. By doing this we free up a decent space with a cracking view of Fearn Abbey which was originally built 10 miles away in the 1220s but moved in 1238 to its current site to avoid the turbulence caused by the northern clans while gaining the benefit of better soil. We are weighing up various options for the space vacated, but it’s likely we will try and add value to what we already do at Fearn.

BUSINESS

In the first of a series Country-Wide investigates the Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership’s (He Waka Eke Noa) proposed greenhouse gas emissions pricing options. Terry Brosnahan reports.

armers have been sent proposals for greenhouse gas emissions pricing mechanisms but there is criticism that both options are unacceptable and more work is needed. After two and-a-half years and out of 140 options, two have been sent to farmers in a draft proposal, a processor and a farmer levy (see page 22 for more detail). The farm levy is more costly to set up and administer but the annual costs are lower. The processor levy has a lesser cost but is a blunt instrument. Both options have gone out for discussion and an acceptable option has to be put to the Government by April or agriculture goes into the emissions trading scheme (ETS). Federated Farmers President Andrew Hoggard says neither of the two levy options seem viable long term. There are positives and negatives and he wants to hear if farmers are happy for one to be a short-term measure. “Neither of these fit the bill but maybe use one as a stop gap.” That would give time to create the systems to be put in place. The wording would have to be clear that it was only for a set number of years. Hoggard says Federated Farmers put the proposal to the He Waka group before Christmas but hadn’t heard back. Leading North Otago farmer and

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February 2022

farming advocate Jane Smith congratulated the levy groups for the split gas approach and for pulling He Waka together. Smith didn’t want He Waka to fail but its options needed to be “panel beaten” into something more palatable. They should not have narrowed it to two options which were administration heavy. “There should have been more options to choose from.” She says He Waka is a sideshow. The big picture is the reduction targets which sit above the options. Smith and others were angry levy group leaders did not fight the reduction targets. Instead they went down a rabbit hole with He Waka. “No matter how good the pricing options we come up with we have to meet targets which are undoable in farming.”

Is ETS an option? Farmers have the sword of Damocles hanging over them with the ETS. If they don’t come up with an option they will be forced into the ETS. Some farmers and industry people spoken to on and off the record believe the ETS would be the better option if He Waka doesn’t change. Farmers shouldn’t accept such a fundamentally wrong scheme and

take the short term pain of the ETS. Hoggard says there are a whole range of political risks with the ETS. National had a track record of getting into power and continuing with Labour’s legislation. In an advisory note to members before Christmas, Hoggard said any new Government was unlikely to overturn a “less bad” He Waka option, especially if the ag industry had all agreed to it. There has been surprise and disappointment that only two options were offered to farmers. That there wasn’t enough transparency in the process. Farmers should have been more informed and had input before the draft went out. Beef + Lamb New Zealand chief executive Sam McIvor says the process is complex. The two options were not made public earlier because they didn’t want to go out to farmers with “half-baked” options. There had been meetings with the farmer council and Maori farmers for early feedback on the draft, he says. Hoggard says in hindsight the process should have been more transparent with key milestones discussed with farmers. However, there was a risk if it was too transparent people weren’t as honest and played to a crowd.

“No matter how good the pricing options we come up with we have to meet targets which are undoable in farming.” Country-Wide

February 2022

The steering group members were not allowed to talk publicly about it. Critics say the ETS won’t last because it is unsustainable and not reducing emissions. Ag environmental consultant and farmer Steven Cranston agrees. Cranston says there is no way the ETS is going to last, especially past the next election. It is a straight levy allowing emitters to emit and pay. It won’t reduce emissions. The He Waka options have not been priced fully yet. “But if Government wants a 10% reduction, the pricing will go up dramatically.” He says the ETS is about the same cost to farmers as the He Waka proposals, but would effectively allow farmers to continue business as usual. The ETS levy would be applied across all production so would not incentivise farmers to reduce output. “Inversely farmers may increase production to help offset this new cost.” A short stint in the ETS while farmers wait for a new government which understands farm emissions may be preferable to being locked into a bad pricing mechanism. Professor Jacequeline Rowarth says the cost of the ETS would damage farming if the sector does not agree to a He Waka option. In an opinion piece in Rural News she said agriculture was already in the ETS but had a 100% free allocation until 2025. Then 95% reducing 1% a year until 2030. By 2050 it would be entirely included. He Waka’s split gas approach and a 10% reduction by 2030 gave time for more research and progress reassessments by the Climate Change Commission, she said. Smith says according to Professor David Frame, NZ’s Climate Change expert, the 10% reduction by 2030 is unachievable but is by 2050. The environment doesn’t care if it is 10 years or 30 years. “So why go broke doing it?” Smith says the public would see a one percent reduction as bugger all but it was huge.

On the first page of a He Waka document, ‘Primary Sector Climate Change Commitment’, it states: “The primary sector will work with MPI to develop an agreed methodology and systems for calculating net onfarm emissions. This includes approaches to using models, definitions of farm boundaries, and quantification of onfarm sequestration, and processes for recognising new mitigations in calculations.” Cranston says levy group leaders were wrong to say the discussion should be just on the pricing mechanism and not linked to reduction targets. The price farmers pay for emissions and targets are directly linked. Cranston says this is the time to include the likes of the GWP*. Even the agriculture minister Damien O’Connor said it was the place. He had asked the minister why didn’t he look at GWP*. “His response was that we are waiting on advice from He Waka Eke Noa.” Farmers won’t get full credit for carbon sequestered by bush planted pre-2008. They will only get additional credits if the bush is fenced and maintained.

DairyNZ accepted the 10% reduction in emissions by 2030 when others like Beef & Lamb publicly supported the reduction by 2050. Smith says it is convenient for the dairy industry to have emissions paid for across the whole ag industry. She had seen figures with a tax of $180-$200/cow versus $1500-$1800 if dairy was separate. “No wonder they want to be in with the sheep and beef industry.”

Call to use GWP* There is a call for the GWP* to be used to set the targets which is a more accurate measurement of methane than GWP100. The GWP* showed NZ farming was having a cooling effect and it should be in the analysis. Hoggard says the GWP* is to do with the targets and outside He Waka. GWP* for methane made sense at a national level but there would be problems with grandparenting at a farmer level. An inefficient farmer massively overstocked would look good for reducing methane by 0.3% but an efficient farmer with the ideal stocking rate would find it harder to reduce. “We all know about the issue of grandparenting when it comes to nutrient allocation with water quality.” Rowarth says the GWP* isn’t ready for farm-scale reporting and more research is needed. McIvor says it is not the right place to push GWP*. “He Waka isn’t the appropriate mechanism for doing that.” The Government set down in legislation agriculture would join the ETS and would pay on emissions. Within the legislation is a target set for 10%. “We cannot change the legislation.”

“What we are trying to do is get a feeling across the industry of what farmers think will practically and fairly work for them.”

Concern over consultation There is concern there will be no farmer vote and the consultation in February will be the last chance for them to influence the process. That feedback from farmers may not be accurately reflected in the final option presented to the Government. Hoggard says there was no farmer vote for feds members and was not aware of other levy organisations holding one. Feds would survey members and act on their behalf. He Waka also had a form people could fill in online. “So farmers want to make it clear in the consultation.” Under He Waka farmers won’t get full credit for carbon sequestered by bush planted pre-2008. They will only get additional credits if the bush is fenced and maintained. Cranston says it would have been a better option to give all farms with bush credits and reduce them if they are not looked after. McIvor says that might be another option which comes back through farmer feedback. “What we are trying to do is get a feeling across the industry of what farmers think will practically and fairly work for them.” A lot of work has been done on exotic sequestration, not natives, but the science will continue. The industry, the Government and others would continue to invest in science to better understand sequestration and emissions. So as the science continues to develop farmers would be able to get more accurate recognition of the emissions and sequestration happening on their farms. Eyebrows were raised over the special treatment for Maori in He Waka. Maori will have ‘oversight of the implementation programme, including decisions on revenue distribution and monitoring’. McIvor says He Waka was a partnership between the sector, Government and Maori. If Maori were not in the partnership ag would be in the ETS.

Country-Wide

February 2022

BUSINESS

Ag emissions

He Waka not good enough – survey BY: LYNDA GRAY

urther investigation of emission pricing options is desperately needed, farming advocacy organisation Groundswell says. The He Waka Eke Noa proposed pricing options were poorly negotiated by industry representatives, it says. There should have been more input from farmers, and major changes made before the discussion document went out for consultation. Groundswell got farming industry feedback on the He Waka proposals from an online December survey which attracted responses from 2417, of which half were farmers. While purists will argue that the response rate is not statistically significant, there’s no arguing that it’s reflective of the undercurrent of concern across rural New Zealand. Based on the survey results Groundswell will be pushing for more investigation of

other pricing options. He Waka mentions four other pricing options considered but not pursued. A split-market cap and trade scheme was worthy of further investigation, according to Groundswell. Under the system two emission caps would be set: one for short-lived and another for long-lived gases. Farmers would surrender units according to emissions over a set period and could buy more units. The price paid would be set by supply and demand. Groundswell will also seek more clarity on the methane reduction target. In the survey 97% said they wanted more information before agreeing to any pricing mechanism because the methane target will directly influence the price paid by farmers. The Government has agreed to cut biogenic methane levels by 10% on 2017 levels by 2030 However, modelling based on current environmental policies has estimated a reduction below 2017 levels is possible if agricultural sector methane

emissions are cut by just 3-4%, and nitrous oxide by 2%. Another big concern of survey respondents were administration costs. The farm-level levy would cost $113 a year to run ($63 million cost to farms in time spent reporting, and $50m operational costs). An estimate for the administration cost of the processor-level hybrid levy was not included in the He Waka document but was described as a “low-cost system to collect revenue”. “These results indicate that He Waka is going to have problems if major changes are not made. “ Groundswell is concerned that the February consultation may be farmers' last chance to influence the process, but that the vote on the final proposal by farmer organisation levy bodies will not reflect farmer views. “We may end up putting forward our own solutions during the consultation period if He Waka does not lift its game.”

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February 2022

BUSINESS

Ag emissions

DECISION TIME FOR FARMERS Farmers need to tune in fast to pricing proposals for agricultural emissions, writes Joanna Grigg.

uddenly it is the most important issue, leaving freshwater strategy, biodiversity strategy and pastoral lease reform in its wake. February is the month for attending a roadshow and putting in a submission. Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are the greenhouse gas outputs from stock and fertiliser that look to be ‘taxed’ in some shape or form. The plan is for a pricing system for farms to be designed, tested and up-and-running within three years. Whether gases are measured and levied at the farm-level or at the processor level (as meat or milk comes in) is what will

Warwick Lissaman, Marlborough sheep and beef farmer, will attend the roadshow this month to find out more.

be discussed at the roadshows. These are hosted jointly by Beef + Lamb NZ and Dairy NZ, and supported by Federated Farmers, although feed into the wider primary industry consultation (known as the Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership or He Waka Eke Noa). Warwick Lissaman, a breeding/trading sheep and beef farmer from Marlborough, is keen to get an answer at the roadshow as to why farmers should buy-into paying a levy, as well as the options for how. As a previous NZ Grassland Association president, Marlborough Research Centre board member, Chilean Needle Grass Action Group chair, host of dryland legume research and most recently, the Beef + Lamb NZ Northern South Island rep, Warwick has shown to be up-to-speed on the science, markets and politics shaping agriculture. He says farmers are good at following market signals and will take ownership of an idea if they understand the reasoning behind it. “I do want to know if the agricultural emissions pricing scheme is going to be a good end-game for our markets, will it improve the environment on the farm or is it a platform for the Prime Minister to stand up and say New Zealand is great? “Show me the actual difference it will make to the market big picture, then I will

Table A: If Ag is in the default option NZ ETS - A hypothetical 2030 Killsheet showing greenhouse gas tax share. Created by Country-Wide stargazers. Buyer: Amazon Grade

Lamb grassfed max protein

Weight

14.5kg-16kg

Number

110 lambs

Total Weight

1670kg

Price

$9.05/kg

Total value

$15,126

ETS TAX

$0.33/kg based on a $135 carbon price = $551.10 (Per head $5.11)

Note: assumes a carbon price of $135/tonne CO2e in 2030 and 90% discount (subsidy) that phases out one percentage point a year.

make the changes needed. “I understand farmers must play our part whether we agree with it all or not. “When farmers get the reasons, they are more likely to buy in. The ‘why’ will drive the data needed and the reporting to be as efficient as possible.” He queries whether a better option entirely would be for farmers to formally measure their emissions for market advantage but not be levied on them.

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February 2022

Table B: Agriculture Emissions Pricing Proposal – NZ ETS, Farm Level versus Processor Level Hybrid, Steering Group Discussion Document November 2021 Backstop: Agriculture in the NZ ETS Who is responsible for reporting and paying for emissions?

Meat and dairy processors, synthetic N-fertiliser manufacturers/importers.

Option 1: Farm-Level Levy Farms that meet the farm definition either individually or as part of a collective.

Option 2: Processor-Level Hybrid Levy Meat and dairy processors, synthetic N-fertiliser manufacturers/importers. Farms and collectives can apply for payments via an Emission Management Contract (EMC).

How are emissions calculated?

Tonnes product (meat, milk solids, synthetic N-fertiliser) multiplied by a national emissions factor to determine emissions per unit of product (output)

Central calculator that includes a simple and detailed method to determine actual emissions at farm-level.

Tonnes product (meat, milk solids, synthetic N-fertiliser) multiplied by a national emissions factor to determine emissions per unit of product (output).

How are emissions priced?

Participants pay the carbon price of the day in NZ ETS by purchasing and surrendering NZUs, but also receive 95% free allocation, that reduces by 1 percentage point each year.

Unique levy rate for CH4 and N2O broadly aligned to NZ ETS carbon price.

Unique levy rate for CH4 and N2O. Minister/s responsible for setting the levy seek and consider the advice of an external advisory group.

NZ ETS eligible forests can be entered into the existing NZ ETS.

Emissions are directly offset by sequestration from some vegetation types not included in NZ ETS. This includes: • Indigenous/native vegetation planted or regenerating vegetation • Perennial cropland (orchards and vineyards) • Scattered trees and small woodlots established on or after 1 January 2008 that are not NZ ETS eligible exotic forest.

Rewards sequestration from vegetation types as described in Option 1 through an Emissions Management Contract (EMC).

Government intends that any revenue raised through the backstop would be invested back into the agricultural sector to support further emissions reductions. This could include paying for sequestration not eligible for the NZ ETS (e.g. riparian plantings).

The revenue raised through the levy would be invested back into the agricultural sector to generate further emissions reductions through research and development or actions on-farm that help reduce emissions including uptake of new technology.

The revenue raised through the levy would be invested back into the agricultural sector to generate further emissions reductions through research and development or to reward actions on-farm that help reduce emissions via an EMC.

Low-cost system to administer/collect revenue.

Treats CH4 and N2O differently.

Low-cost system to collect revenue.

Farms who have taken early action to reduce emissions will face a lower emissions cost because emission reductions from on-farm efficiencies and mitigations are recognised in the tool to calculate on farm emissions.

Treats CH4 and N2O differently.

How can emissions be offset with sequestration?

How will the revenue from the system be used?

Key advantages

Farms who have taken early action to maintain and increase sequestration will be rewarded because recognised sequestration includes that associated with existing vegetation (if it meets He Waka Eke Noa requirements). Does not treat CH4 and N2O differently so misaligns with emissions targets. No control over price.

Key disadvantages

Does not recognise individual farms for actions they take to reduce emissions. A processor-level price is blunt and is unlikely to be effective at reducing emissions, but the revenue raised would be redirected into initiatives to help reduce sector emissions.

“Would education and the use of reduction tools make the environmental difference we need, rather than a scheme tax? “I’ve made environmental changes on my farm to make my products more appealing, but without a tax to drive change.” He acknowledges farmers collectively are faced with designing a system and backing it by the end of February, or the Government reserves the right to price agricultural

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Ministers responsible for setting the levy seek and consider the advice of an external advisory group.

February 2022

Setting an affordable price for all farms is unlikely to be effective at reducing emissions but the revenue raised would be redirected into initiatives to help reduce sector emissions. Potential to use rebates to maintain an incentive to reduce emissions with a lower net price but to date no practical and equitable rebates have been identified. High cost to administer both to farms (mostly in time) and implementing agency.

emissions in the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) earlier than 2025. In December he challenged his farming peers to watch the 2021 Hopkins lecture by Dr Rod Carr (the Chair of the Climate Commission) on YouTube – to understand what is driving him. “It was interesting to hear that total emissions linked to producing a kilo of beef or lamb is about double that of pork and chicken, although off a different landscape.

EMCs could make a processor-level price more effective at reducing emissions, and recognise efficiencies and mitigations taken up by farms. Provides a transitional step towards a farm-level pricing system. Farms who have taken early action to maintain and increase sequestration can be rewarded via an EMC because this includes recognising sequestration associated with existing vegetation (if it meets He Waka Eke Noa requirements). A processor-level price signal is blunt and does not recognise individual farms for the actions they take to reduce emissions. Price is unlikely to be effective at reducing emissions, but the revenue raised would be redirected into initiatives to help reduce sector emissions. There is potential for Emissions Reduction Contract (EMC) to recognise farms who have taken early action to reduce emissions, however, to be effective at incentivising emission reductions EMCs may require a benchmark from which to measure change. This could disadvantage those who have taken early action to reduce prior to the benchmark. The detail of how this could work is still being worked through.

“Carr’s comment to stop listening to your own bullshit was confrontational, but I agree farmers do need to look globally and be in step with wider views.” Lissaman is not ready to pick between the proposed farm-level or processor levy options as he wants more information. “Can landowners move between the options? “Whatever one I vote for, it has to be simple – with figures dropping down from

BUSINESS

our annual accounts and easy-to-use mapping tools. “Farmers are very busy people who can’t keep being loaded up with more stuff or costs.” After running his farm stock numbers, fertiliser and shrub/tree areas through the GHG Calculator (Beef + Lamb NZ version) he says his number is really variable over the years. As the 400ha farm, Breach Oak, runs between 2500 to 4000 stock units, with a large trading volume, plus ‘lumpy’ fertiliser purchases, he would prefer to see a rolling three-year average figure used. He has been planting woodlots as part of the wider farm plan and is using an environmental consultant to plan which land to retire and what to farm. His pick is that at least 10% of his land will need to be on a rotation for, as he puts it, “non-ruminant food producing” but he is unsure whether more land needs to be added over time. Greenhouse gas emissions figures and a plan for reduction are likely to be part of my Farm Environment Plan, he says. Across the industry, he sees the age of farmers, debt levels, and land scale will drive the amount retired into trees. “We don’t want our landscape covered in trees as there will be much less water making it downstream – what will that do to the viticulture-based economy in Marlborough for example?” Lissaman says any pricing scheme should have an incentive to allow turnover of stock quickly, to calculate actual days alive on the farm. It should also reward farmers who both off-set emissions and can produce the same product for less emissions. One negative of the default NZ ETS is that it has a set tax per stock unit so does not reflect farm systems that are able to produce less emissions per kilogram of product. There would not be the commercial drive for better breed, genetics, or feed systems. Another negative is that most farm shrubland, shelter belts and pre-1990 bush does not qualify as off-sets in the ETS.

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Hopkins Lecture Dr Rod Carr www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_4Gj05FTNk

Ag emissions

Many types of trees – woodlots, shelter belts, indigenous regeneration, would be eligible in the proposed greenhouse gas emissions agricultural pricing schemes by He Waka Eke Noa. This includes permanent or cyclical, such as a vineyard.

Farm vegetation valuable? BY: JOANNA GRIGG OUT THE TRUCK WINDOW ARE shelterbelts skirting good pasture and, further back, an extensive face of kanuka, mixed with shrubs like coprosma. Will they be worth anything as offsets for greenhouse gas emissions from sheep and cattle grazing nearby? Whether these carbon sinks become a recognised asset will be decided following farmer feedback at the emissions roadshows. If farmers back either the proposed farmlevel or processor-level levy emissions scheme via the there are options to count this woody vegetation as a carbon sink. If agriculture is defaulted into the NZ ETS, it is likely to continue to go unrecognised as a carbon sink. A yes to one of the levy options would give farms a way to offset some of the financial liability from their emissions. The bottom line is the sequestration rates would be low for indigenous species and a large proportion of the farm would need to be in indigenous shrub cover to match sheep and cattle methane costs. As time rolls on however, it’s likely the cost of sheep and cattle emissions will increase and the farm's woody vegetation will become more valuable. He Waka lists the basic principles they

recommend for recognising sequestration in their December 2021 discussion document. These are; the faster trees grow, the faster carbon is accumulated. Typically, exotic trees grow faster than indigenous trees. However, unharvested forests (i.e: native forests) store more carbon than clear-fell plantations over the long-term. Secondly, for a given type of vegetation at a particular location, two broad factors impact sequestration: the stage of growth, and the way it is managed. A pinus radiata forest would be the sprinter's approach to offsetting and eligible for the NZ ETS, so it may be worth more to have it to be counted in that scheme, rather than an agriculture emissions scheme.

In the He Waka Eke Noa Scheme more shrubland and trees are proposed to be included as carbon sinks, compared to the NZ ETS. The NZ ETS has strict species, height, age and density guidelines as well as a tendency by its administrator (Ministry for Primary Industries) to consider pre-1990 scattered shrub or trees as a forest (so ineligible). See page p25 of the He Waka Eke Noa Discussion Document: Comparison of sequestration currently in NZ ETS and proposed in the new pricing system.

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BOARD COULD SET LEVY PRICE It can’t be counted twice. The amount of carbon different vegetation types sequester is finite. When vegetation is removed, it can become a source of emissions. All vegetation types that are recognised would need to be maintained in vegetation or face a liability if they are cleared (permanent categories) or cleared and not replanted (cyclical categories). This could be tricky when it comes to cyclical spraying out of hill country to maintain production. If farmers removed it, that would sit as a cost on the so-called emissions balance sheet Understanding all this is a key issue for farmers with chunks of ‘ineffective’ shrub areas on their land. The pricing scheme they choose will impact pasture management decisions for the future. Some poor value scrub gullies might be rebranded by farmers as handy methane soak patches. Spraying out that regenerating kanuka may bring a liability. Any resulting scheme is likely to classify vegetation into permanent and cyclical. Under permanent it is either woody vegetation established before 2008, with stock excluded or post-2008 established areas (possibly with a declaration form required from the landowner saying it was grazed in 1990). The third option is riparian plantings more than one metre wide with mixed species. An interesting side thought here - if planting riparian strips, don’t just plant flax and toe toe. Get some trees in too. The cyclical category vegetation is defined as vegetation that is planted and may be felled and re-established. This kind of forest is not self-sustaining and needs to be replanted to ensure its continuation. To be eligible for the system, all cyclical categories must have been planted on or after January 1, 2008. Within this are perennial crops (think orchards/vineyards planted after 2008), forest and woodlots. NZ ETS-eligible indigenous forest would not be eligible to be entered into the agriculture pricing system. You can’t double-dip. Under the processor levy option, signing up to have sequestration onfarm recognised is optional. In this option, farms and collectives would choose to enter into a sequestration management contract voluntarily, but once established it is a legally binding contract, the December proposal suggests. This would keep administration costs lower.

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Both the farm-level or processorlevel options proposed would recognise sequestration onfarm by following the international accounting approach of ‘additionality’. This means only ‘new’ or above ‘business-as-usual’ sequestration is rewarded. This approach ensures environmental integrity when using carbon removals or offsets to meet climate targets. Additionality is usually determined by setting a year as baseline. Farmers will have to think back to what cover they had in 2008. The system would reward sequestration by following the additionality approach in two ways. First, setting a baseline year so any sequestration in new vegetation established on or after January 1, 2008 is considered additional. Secondly, setting a baseline of ‘business-as-usual management’ so that any sequestration associated with ecological/vegetation management is considered additional. The use of this baseline allows recognition of vegetation established prior to 1990. Indigenous vegetation established before January 1, 2008 would be rewarded with an annual rate. Farmers would need to provide proof of active management (stock exclusion). The amount of sequestration rewarded would depend on the age and state of the vegetation. This opens up off-setting potential for all those areas of original bush that were previously excluded. Cyclical vegetation would be rewarded by recognising the long-term average carbon stock. This is the average carbon after considering losses from harvesting and gains from replanting. The proposal also suggests if an area of vegetation were significantly damaged or destroyed by an adverse event, the farm would not face any penalty. It would no longer receive recognition for the sequestration in that area until it reached the same state it was in prior to the adverse event.

CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION PARTNERSHIP: Beef + Lamb New Zealand ∙ Dairy NZ ∙ Federated Farmers of NZ ∙ Horticulture NZ ∙ Federation of Maori Authorities ∙ Ministry for the Environment ∙ Ministry for Primary Industries ∙ Foundation for Arable Research ∙ Dairy Companies Association ∙ Deer Industry NZ ∙ Meat Industry NZ∙ Irrigation NZ ∙ Apiculture NZ.

Farmers will get more choice and control over greenhouse gas costs if they keep out of the emissions trading scheme market suggests He Waka Eke Noa. This was outlined in its December pricing proposal to dairy and red meat farmers. It suggests picking one of the two partnership pricing options floated, as costs would be much less than the NZ ETS. The proposed levy could be set and controlled by an advisory board with some agriculture representatives. It does add that estimated costs for the two options (farm-level or processor-level) are still to be determined. Initial costs in the proposed Farm-Level Levy model range between $0.09 and $0.19/kg sheep meat and $0.06 and $0.29/ kg beef. If agriculture is defaulted into the NZETS then the agriculture sector would have no control over the carbon price, with demand driven by other sectors of the economy. Speculators drove the carbon price beyond $65/NZ Unit (NZU) when units were released late 2021. The Climate Change Commission indicated that ETS charge for agriculture could start at 5% of the true price in 2025, with the portion increasing about one percent every year. By 2050 the next generation of farmers could face paying 30% of what could be a hefty emissions cost. The idea floated by HWEN is for an advisory board to set a price, allowing a balance between agriculture interests and climate change objectives. Any levy coming in could pay sequestration offsets, and fund research to help lower stock emissions. The official line is that farmers should expect levy prices to start at a broad base, then increase in the short to medium term to create revenue to fund sequestration and technology. In either option, groups of farms would have the choice to register as a collective and report their emissions to reduce and offset them. Farm enterprises could link their farms and submit a single return, or industry assurance programmes could use their current systems to report on behalf of their suppliers. Within the farm-level option, breeding farms would face more of the cost because an animal spends most of its time on this type of farm, compared to finishing. The impact will be higher for red meat farms than dairy, due to lower emissions intensity for dairy production. It would impact the viability of some red meat farming systems. More detailed cost modelling will be presented at the roadshows.

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Methane levy

ETS

If hopping in the ETS Ferrari passenger seat with government and carbon speculators at the wheel doesn’t appeal, farmers need to consider two completely different options.

Understanding GHG costs Start thinking about sheep burps as a daily cost against farm income. Joanna Grigg helps farmers get up to speed on proposed agricultural emissions pricing.

p for discussion is how much administration farmers would take on, which scheme creates incentives to reduce emissions and counts sequestration, who collects the levy and what the running cost of the three proposed options will be (or whether running costs pale against the levy costs anyway). When buying a car, a cheap deal may mean higher costs long-term – in breakdowns and parts. Farmers should bear this in mind when reflecting on what sort of Emissions Pricing Scheme to choose out of the He Waka eke Noa options. Savings in running costs, by having a simpler administration may, in fact, mean less influence over emissions price structure, less ability to use on-farm offsets and limited ability to be rewarded for good work on mitigating emissions. The three options on the table to test drive by 2025 are the Farmer-Level Levy, Processor-Level Hybrid Levy or, being left to government whim and being included in the NZ ETS. There is also an option to start with the simpler processor level scheme and move to the farm-level scheme over time. The default ETS option is cheapest for farmers as they don’t have to measure and report (the processors gather it per kilogram

of meat). But it is a poor performer in terms of control, choice, offsetting and recognising the split-gas approach. It exposes farmers to the open carbon market. Alarm bells sound all through the He Waka Eke Noa Booklet that was posted to red meat and dairy farmers in December. It brands the ETS option as a ‘broadbased tax which is forecasted to increase significantly” and will “strip farmers’ ability to influence change”. If hopping in the ETS Ferrari passenger seat (racing from $65 to $130/tonne in two years) with government and carbon speculators at the wheel doesn’t appeal, farmers should get in the ute with a He Waka option. Options are the Farm-Level Levy – think in terms of a bells and whistles top-range ute with extra spending on bull bars, terrain monitoring, a stock counting APP and tree mapping tools. Or the Processor-Level Hybrid – perhaps a more middle-of-the-road ute that has a stock counting feature that only works once a year, and an all-terrain monitoring and mapping tool as an optional extra. The proposed Farm-Level Levy is described by He Waka Eka Noa as “high cost in establishing a new report system and administration and high reporting input required from farmers.” This is because farmers would need

to run their stock numbers and fertiliser inputs through a greenhouse gas calculator, then, if they choose, measure areas of farm vegetation. The total operating costs are estimated to be around $113 million per annum ($63 million cost to farmers in time spent reporting and $50 million for operational costs) and establishment is estimated at $142 million. This office-work reporting (or consultant fee) may put farmers off, but when it comes to actually paying the bill for the emissions levy, the annual bill may be lower in the proposed Farm-Level levy. This is because running a ruler over the farm system and counting stock numbers on the farm/day takes in fluctuating stock numbers while counting on-farm vegetation allows more offsets. This would appeal to farmers that trade, and those with less intensive farms and/or more shrubland and trees. He Waka Eke Noa modelling of case study farms found the Farm Levy price option was slightly cheaper than the NZ ETS backstop and had a lower impact on Effective Farm Surplus. This is because it accounts for the actual length of time livestock are present on-farm, and uses emissions factors that relate to individual stock classes. In comparison, the NZ ETS backstop currently uses average emission factors for individual stock types and average lifespan.

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In the Processor-Level Hybrid Levy option, emissions are calculated by the product tonnes sold (meat, milk solids) multiplied by the national average emissions per unit of product. The emission charge per sheep for example, is based on a national average, not actual days on the farm. It’s a blunt instrument. At this point, farmers might ask what’s the point in all the emission reduction tools like boluses, changing feed systems, genetics or more onfarm vegetation to off-set? Farmers who finish stock faster (fewer days on the farm) would not be rewarded by having acknowledgement of less emissions generated/year. Where’s the commercial incentive for environmental improvement? What saves the processor-Level option is adding on a voluntary option for farmers (either individually or in collectives) to enter into an emission management contract or a sequestration management contract or both. This EMC, as it is known, is where farmers show they use tools to reduce emissions from their stock. The sequestration management contract is where farmers show they have areas of shrub vegetation/trees sequestering carbon and get the benefits of this. It’s a way of offsetting and reducing the charge billed via the processor. These would be voluntary but, once established, the contracts will be legally binding. Any option that takes in onfarm vegetation would appeal to farmers with non-ETS older blocks of indigenous forest. Farmers that took early action to increase sequestration will be rewarded. Orchards and vineyards get a chance to be included in this too. The Processor-Levy Hybrid is described as having “medium cost compared to other options”. Processors will administer the reporting and charge on to farmers. How the options compare is laid out in Table B on page 23 but the real detail is in the 31 page November Discussion Document (available via Beef + Lamb NZ website). He-Waka-Eke-Noa-Farmer-Engagement. pdf (beeflambnz.com).

Better reward if bail from ETS BY: JOANNA GRIGG

armers would be better off if they pick an He Waka Eke Noa emissions pricing option according to Beef + Lamb NZ chief executive Sam McIvor. Case study analysis of 16 different farm types was done in November by He Waka showing expected changes in effective farm surplus (EFS) with an emission ‘tax’ in place via the NZ ETS. The conclusion was, at this price and proportion, the bottom-line effect is such that it would “impact the viability of some red meat farming systems”. North Island intensive EFS was modelled to drop the most by 2030 (by 14%) while North Island Hill was down 10%. South Island Hill EFS looked to be impacted by 8% while South Island deer EFS was down 8.4%. Annually this was about $20,000. Dairy farm surplus was projected to be down 5%. But despite the cost, the change in actual greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture is expected to be down less than one percent than 2017 levels. This point needs to be front and centre. In the ETS farmers would not have a way to be rewarded for change, or for most farm vegetation offsets but would get stung at a projected 33c/kg sheep meat, 20c/kg beef

and 43c/kg venison by 2030. Fertiliser ‘tax’ is expected to be 7c/kg N at this point in time and increasing each year. Carbon price is expected to be about $138/tonne in 2030 but, most importantly, only 10% of the true cost would be allocated on to farmers (90% subsidy rate). This subsidy drops one percent each year. If the full market carbon equivalent costs were charged, most farms would be out of business – no question. He Waka have come up with bespoke pricing schemes that are both carrot and stick. They have rewards for farmers for reducing greenhouse gases and importantly, a price cap to keep them cheaper than the ETS about 4-5% reduction by 2030. Under the ETS option, agriculture is unlikely to see reductions of one percent. This is the point of the whole exercise. McIvor predicted the cost to farmers is hard to pin down although they are working on it. Modelling the farm surplus under the alternative options (farm-levy or processor) is a hugely complex task. He said the cost to a farm depends on many unknowns such as market price, adoption rate of methane reduction tools by farmers and sequestration rates. “Models are a useful guide but we have to be careful relying on them to drive decision making.

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Table C: Effects of Greenhouse Gas ‘costs’ on Effective Farm Surplus if agriculture remains defaulted into the NZ ETS, Modelling in Discussion Document, November 2021 He Waka Eke Noa. Case study farms: Case study analysis on 16 different farm types shows the direct impact of price under the different pricing system options, and the impact on EFS. 2025 ($85/tonne CO2e, 95% discount) *

2030 ($138/tonne CO2e, 90% discount)

Farm Type

Price

% change in EFS

Price

% change in EFS

North Island Hill Country

$6348

-3.2%

$20,613

-10.2%

North Island Intensive

$6515

-4.5%

$21,156

-14.7%

South Island Hill Country

$4772

-2.5%

$15,496

-8.3%

South Island Deer

$5903

-2.6%

$19,168

-8.4%

South Island Mixed Cropping

$7502

-2.4%

$24,358

-7.8%

$10,138-$18,515

-3.2% - -1.9%

$32,918 - $60,119

-6.2% - -10.4%

$16,850

-1.7%

$54,712

-5.5%

$5683

-1.7%

$18,452

-5.5%

Māori Agribusiness sheep and beef range** Canterbury Dairy Taranaki Dairy Waikato/Bay of Plenty Dairy Māori Agribusiness dairy range

$6607

-1.7%

$21,452

-5.6%

$6419 - $10,756

-1.4% - -6.2%

$20,843 - $34,925

-4.6% - -20.1%

*Prices in line with Climate Change Commission price assumptions for NZU price. ** Māori Agribusiness sheep and beef case study farms carry more stock units than the other sheep and beef case study farms.

“It’s an ongoing process as we lead up to the consultation phase.” Both the farm and processor options look to have a levy rate for methane and nitrous oxide broadly aligned to NZ ETS carbon price. As to the actual price of the levy, He Waka states “Ministers responsible for setting the levy seek and consider the advice of an external advisory group”. Looking more closely under the bonnet and giving each scheme a test drive is the only way that the true cost and mechanisms will be revealed. McIvor said sheep and beef farms are less efficient at converting feed to product than dairy. This means they are more vulnerable than dairy if the chosen scheme counts costs on a per kilo basis. “Our industries are so integrated however, that dairy and sheep and beef have agreed to partner together to find a pricing system that works for all.” The farm levy option is the fairest for recognising and rewarding what is happening on the farm. As technology for reducing methane from stock is in its infancy, starting with the processor levy and moving to farmer levy may be simpler for administration. This also gives time for vegetation mapping tools to become easier and cheaper to use. The Processor-Levy may favour breeders

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February 2022

“Models are a useful guide but we have to be careful relying on them to drive decision making.” over finishers (the levy would be taken off meat income). Finishers will factor this in margins paid to breeders however. The stock agent spiel will now include reference to emissions tax. A Farm Level Levy may result in an overall cheaper farm emissions bill than the Processor Level Levy. McIvor said the industry should find a balanced scheme – one that brings in revenue to match the level of rewards going out. “It needs revenue to invest in future technologies to reduce emissions and to reward sequestration.”

Transition option might be best Sam McIvor wants to hear what farmers think of the He Waka Eke Noa agricultural greenhouse gas pricing options. He says the organisation doesn’t have a firm position at the moment whether processor or farm level is best. But changes to the options put forward by He Waka Eke Noa in January 2022 have seen a new option come forward – a transition option to go from a Processor-

Level Levy to a Farm-Level levy over time. “We consulted with target farmer groups and this came up as an option.” McIvor sees the advantages. “It gives time for farm mapping tools to improve, to make the administration cheaper and gives time for methane reduction technology to roll out.” Farmers can voluntarily enter contracts to record either their emission reduction work onfarm, and/or their sequestration. “The latest suggestion is to split them out as it adds flexibility for farmers who may not want to do both.” The biodiversity study by Beef + Lamb NZ showed that, since 2008, farms have added to areas eligible for sequestration. The average area per farm is unknown, he says. “But this is a real benefit to New Zealand and should be recognised.” McIvor has a high degree of confidence that agriculture can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, although the organisation does not agree with the current government reduction targets. “That is another issue and is being tackled by advocating to the Climate Change Commission.” “We need a cost-effective and practical method to support these reductions and a workable scheme is what we need to be focused on developing.”

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He Waka

What’s behind He Waka?

The primary industry climate action partnership - He Waka Eke Noa - has proposed options for pricing greenhouse gas emissions in farming. By Lynda Gray.

e Waka Eke Noa was released in November last year, a 29-page discussion document detailing two proposed pricing options for greenhouse gas emissions: the Farm-level levy and the Processor-level levy. The document also explained the ‘backstop’ option if the agricultural sector is included in the Emissions Trading Scheme. This option will come into force if the government doesn’t agree with the pricing proposals put forward by He Waka.

The Options 1. The ‘Backstop’ – Agriculture in the NZ ETS Emissions calculated at meat, milk and fertiliser processor-level based on the quantity of product supplied by farms, or fertiliser sold to farms. Cost would be passed on to farmers based on the quantity of product processed/fertiliser bought.

Initially farmers would pay for 5% of emissions, this would increase by one percentage point a year. Nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) would be priced at the same rate per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Only sequestration (carbon removals from vegetation) is eligible for the New Zealand ETS. Revenue raised will be invested back into the agricultural sector on emission reducing efforts. Pros/Cons • Blunt pricing mechanism • Low admin costs: $10 million p.a. • Doesn’t recognize the on-farm mitigations and actions to reduce emissions such as riparian plantings. • Does not differentiate between CH4 (a short-lived gas) and N2O and carbon CO2 long-lived gases emissions. • Only applies to farms who supply directly to processors.

2) Farm-Level levy Emissions calculated at farm level using farm-specific data. The farm then pays a price for its net emissions. A split-gas approach to pricing; less for CH4 which is short-lived and more for N2O and CO2 longer-lived gases. Rewards ‘eligible’ on-farm sequestration which can offset some of the cost of the emissions levy. Pros/Cons • Farm-level calculation of emissions recognizes efficiency and mitigations taken on-farm. • Farmers who have taken action – that meets He Waka requirements - to maintain and increase sequestration are rewarded. • High admin costs: an estimated $113million a year ($63m to farmers in time spent reporting, $50m for operational costs).

TIMELINE AND TARGETS DECEMBER 31, 2021

JANUARY 1, 2022

FEBRUARY 2022

That 25% of all farms must know their total onfarm GHG emissions. As of August 31, 2021 57% of farms knew their GHG emissions number. He Waka estimated that 60% of farms would know their GHG number by December 31, 2021.

A total of 25% of NZ farms have a written plan to measure and manage emissions. As of August 31, 2021 9% of farms had a written plan. He Waka estimates that 23% of farms would have a written plan by January 1, 2022 (He Waka six month progress report, October 2021).

Nationwide engagement with farmers and growers on pricing options for GHG emissions discussion document.

DECEMBER 31, 2022 All farms must have a person responsible for documenting total on-farm GHG emissions.

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February 2022

Onfarm sequestration The farm-level and processor-level hybrid options are a lot more inclusive of vegetation types eligible for on-farm sequestration. This includes permanent indigenous/native vegetation that will not be harvested; cyclical vegetation that is felled and re-established; riparian plantings; indigenous regenerating/ planted forests; shelter belts; perennial cropland; non NZ ETS-eligible woodlots/ tree lots, and scattered exotics. The HWEN options would also look at other forms of sequestration such as soil carbon, tussock grasslands when there is sufficient evidence of measurement techniques. Also, different methods would be used to calculate sequestration according to vegetation type. Farmers would be liable if permanent vegetation categories were cleared, or cyclical vegetation categories were cleared and not replanted if it is cyclical use different methods to calculate emissions according to vegetation type, generally exotic species.

Recap In October 2019, the Government announced the establishment of He Waka Eke Noa, a five-year partnership between the Government, primary sector and Maori to: • implement a framework to reduce GHG emissions and build the agriculture sector’s resilience to climate change. • incentivise farmers/growers to reduce GHG emissions through an appropriate pricing system. The name ‘He Waka Eke Noa’ is a Maori proverb that translates to “We are all in this canoe together.”

IRONY IN DEER FINANCIAL HIT BY: LYNDA GRAY WHAT’S THE END GAME? INNES Moffat Deer Industry New Zealand chief executive asks He Waka Eke Noa. “In the absence of technologies that farmers can adopt to reduce their emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, it’s unclear what a carbon price on venison and velvet will achieve. What’s its purpose?” The deer industry is fully supportive of reducing GHG emissions, Moffat says, and that needs to happen using a price mechanism that incentivises methane reductions while retaining profitability. Deer farming, which contributes an estimated 1.6% of NZ’s agricultural emissions, will be one of the pastoral industries hit hardest by He Waka’s proposed pricing options. Under the farmlevel levy a South Island deer farm would pay an annual emissions price of $11,305, reducing EFS by 5%. It’s the third highest annual price: a Canterbury dairy farm is estimated at $12,966 and large-scale Maori agribusiness sheep and beef farms $12,774-$22,451. Under the processor-level hybrid levy a South Island deer farm faced an estimated financial penalty of $5903 and a 2.6% cut in economic farm surplus. The financial hit is a great irony, considering most NZ deer are raised in low-input extensive farming systems, in which farmers have very little ability to reduce the use of fertiliser or imported feed as a way to reduce their GHG

emissions, Moffat says. Of equal concern is the methodology used to calculate the He Waka figures which Moffat says are not reflective of a real farm situation. For this reason, DINZ has sought expert advice on the He Waka options, engaging AgFirst to study the implications of the pricing proposals on four case study deer farms. “These are real farming systems. They range from dry Hawke’s Bay to mixed livestock Canterbury and High Country farms. Some have limited opportunity for sequestration, and some have no opportunity.” The goal was to have a solid bank of information to inform debate during the February consultation. “There is clearly a climate crisis being caused by increased levels of GHGs in the atmosphere as a result of human activity. As producers of healthy high quality proteins for discerning international markets we obviously should play our part in reducing emissions. “But we need to keep this in proportion. Climate change is principally being driven by the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of rainforests in the tropics.” DINZ is a He Waka partner but a “small voice” around the table, and not a member of the steering group.

APRIL 2022

JANUARY 1, 2024

JANUARY 1, 2025

Delivery of a report to the government on a recommended pricing system for agricultural emissions, as an alternative to inclusion in the NZ ETS.

A pilot of a farm-level emissions accounting and reporting system across a range of farm systems to be completed.

All farms are using the accounting and reporting system to report their 2024 emissions.

DECEMBER 31, 2024 All farms to have a written plan to measure and manage their GHG emissions.

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BUSINESS

Opinion

CH4 EMISSION PRICING MECHANISMS – GWP100 OR GWP*? Adoption of modern science, including use of the more accurate GWP* calculations for methane emissions, will allow us to achieve ambitious and fair climate change targets, argues Deane Carson.

mission pricing mechanisms for livestock and fertiliser use have recently been released. To understand the importance and validity of them, a short review of the past is helpful. For decades climate change, carbon emission and livestock effects have been pushed by environmentalists. During that time, some have viewed the rural sector as sluggish to acknowledge its role and to take responsibility. Some of that reluctance has come from reasoned issues such as equivalencing gases like methane from ruminant belches with fossil fuel emissions from vehicle exhausts. Traditionally methane emissions were simply multiplied by 28 times to give a CO2 equivalence (CO2eq). This calculation is part of methods known as GWP100 and has been shown to misrepresent the impact methane has on warming. In July 2018, Professor Myles Allen, Dr Michelle Cain both of Oxford University, and Dr David Frame of New Zealand’s Victoria University tackled the problematic and erroneous GWP100. They looked at methane as a short-lived gas that cycles and came up with a calculation that considered the change in methane over time to closer match the impact it has on warming. This calculation was called GWP* and has recently been acknowledged by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. This science initiated the concept of a split gas approach and treating methane separately. Fundamental to this new position, is that static

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February 2022

levels of methane have a relatively small impact on warming, increases in methane have a much bigger warming impact than previously acknowledged, and reasonable decreases can have a cooling effect. In August 2018 the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) Simon Upton looked at methane reductions with this split gas lens. With modelling done by Dr Andy Reisinger, he found that a 10-22% reduction in biogenic methane would be required by New Zealand to meet a goal of no further warming from methane by 2050. IPCC recently calculated a similar reduction target with 0.3% reduction per annum or 10% by 2050 representing no warming from methane. The equivalent of net zero carbon from methane.

Act seen as groundbreaking In 2019, the NZ Government passed the Zero Carbon Act. It was seen by some in the rural sector as groundbreaking, as it established two standards of emission consideration. Where long term gases, like CO2, are required to reach net zero by 2050, short term gases like methane, are required to reduce by 24-47%. The reduction in methane is roughly in line with the Paris Agreement which requires a 24-47% reduction between 2010 and 2050. Although many in the industry admired and lorded a split gas outcome, many also noted that there was a big difference between what science was telling us and what the Government had set as a target. In October 2019, the Government agreed to work with the Food and Fibre Sector and Iwi on establishing a process to determine a pricing mechanism for the livestock and fertiliser sectors. He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) was set up as a result. A complex relationship was established between the Ministries for the Primary sector (MPI) and the Environment (MFE), primary industry organisations and the Federation of Maori Authorities (FOMA). In late November, HWEN released a discussion document and proposed two pricing mechanisms. A farm levy mechanism, where example farms would pay between $4500 to $22,500 by 2025; or a processor-farm levy hybrid, where the same example farms would pay $5900 to $18,500 by 2025. A third position is considered, and that is if HWEN fails to meet its objectives, farming would enter the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Under this position, the same example farms would pay between $4800 to $18,500 by 2025, and $15,500 to $60,100 by 2030 based on the assumptions. While the financial differences between systems don’t seem large, there are practical implications with the options included in their report.

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February 2022

“My message to the HWEN team would be thanks for your hard work, can we please have an analysis that includes GWP*.”

Old system chosen Critically, the calculations used to determine these numbers are GWP100. That’s right… The old system where methane is unfairly considered, but with a 95% offset to make an ad hoc adjustment. A system that reasonable logic suggests will become obsolete in the near future, due to it being a system that does not closely represent warming. A significant reason for choosing this metric seems to be about application. Nearly all the tools for determining emissions across the country are based on GWP100. Overseer, the B+LNZ emission calculator and even our official Greenhouse Gas Inventories are based on GWP100. GWP* also requires a calculation of methane over 20 years. Challenging to apply to a farmer who may not have been farming for 20 years. These issues with GWP* as a regulatory calculation are not insurmountable. It is possible to annualise any calculation that occurs over a time period. Also, some of the emissions calculators were designed with the possibility to modify to accept GWP*.

Contraction represents cooling There are other considerations with GWP* with warming and cooling effects calculated as being more pronounced. Costs associated with increases in emissions would be greater and credits for reducing emissions could be allowed for. Examples in practice include: if a land use reduces stocking rate or even quits ruminants in preference for something like trees, would a credit be given for cooling and to whom? Or if a more intensive methane systems per hectare occurred, like would typically happen with sheep to dairy, who would be liable? The sheep farmer or the dairy farmer? Or the industry? I expect participants of the sheep and beef industry will quickly realise that industry contraction can represent a climate cooling. Sheep numbers have declined by 53% since the 1990s and lamb production has decreased by 9%. When HWEN proposes a tax rather than a credit, questions will be raised. It strikes me that it is only through the adoption of modern science will we achieve ambitious and fair climate change targets. Important targets to humanity. My message to the HWEN team would be thanks for your hard work, can we please have an analysis that includes GWP*? In tandem, I would appeal to Government agencies to show leadership that may require us to find an alternative to Paris and Kyoto agreement obligations. Profound changes to climate science are still happening. Fluidity and a bold purposeful approach will lead to efficient, meaningful change. Which is much needed.

BUSINESS

Carbon forestry

A BY: GLENYS CHRISTIAN

n update of sales of pastoral land has sparked fresh concern about the increase in that bought for carbon forestry as well as movement into betterquality land and more areas of the country. Forestry consultancy, Orme & Associates was commissioned by Beef + Lamb New Zealand to carry out the work based on BakerAg’s report published in August last year (Country-Wide, January p22/23). The latest report covers the first six months of 2021 and takes into account some sales not included in the first report because of timing and settlement issues as well as the effect of Covid-19 restrictions. As a result, 2020 totals were boosted by 8832 hectares to 28,159ha. A significant growth of land sales was seen in the fourth quarter with 7949ha identified as being sold for carbon forestry, bringing the total for the year to 45% of the area sold for forestry. Sales where domestic buyers were interested in both forestry and carbon totalled 6522ha or 23%, those which needed Overseas Investment Office (OIO) approval made up 5760ha or 20% and the lowest level was sales for honey production at 3295ha or 12%. From the start of last year until June 30 out of the total of 14,219ha sold about 3750ha was for carbon forestry, or 25% of the total. Domestic forestry purchases were slightly larger at 3899ha or 27% while 2714ha or 29% was identified as needing OIO approval. Sales of a further 3498ha were approved in July last year and 5499ha in August but these were not included, being outside the reporting period. The 2634ha of land for honey production again made up the lowest amount at 19%. Over 80% of the whole farms sold into forestry were in clear pasture, compared with 65.7% across the 2017-20 period. Just 5.1% was potentially reverting country, down slightly. But there was

Country-Wide

February 2022

FARMER AND WHIP SEEK ACTION ON TREES

a big dip in land sales with exotic or indigenous species to 14% from the previous 27.5%. Together these figures show a change of 13.5% less vegetation on the properties sold. There was a small shift to more productive land being bought for afforestation with 72.6% in land use class (LUC) 6 compared with 52% from 2017 to 2020. Land in LUC 7 fell from 36.7% to 18% and in LUC 8 from 1.7% to 0.2%, meaning a small shift up from 90.4% to 91% of land being above LUC 6.

Over 80% of the whole farms sold into forestry were in clear pasture, compared with 65.7% across the 2017-20 period. An increase was also seen in the amount of land sold in the low and moderate erosion susceptibility classifications (ESC) with that in the low category rising from 28.2% to 42.4% and moderate from 35.8% to 43.7%. Sales in the high category dropped from 26% to 13.3%. With the rising carbon price and a shortage of suitable farms real estate agents have been looking to pay upwards of $14,000 to $16,000/ha. And there were also signs land sales were moving into new areas such as Otago. Beef + Lamb NZ chief executive Sam McIvor again called for urgent changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). “We’re extremely concerned the sale of sheep and beef farms into forestry will only accelerate as the carbon price increases, and fossil fuel emitters will continue to receive a ‘get out of jail’ free card and not reduce their emissions.”

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February 2022

WAIRARAPA SHEEP AND BEEF farmer Derek Daniell has taken his concerns about carbon farming to his local member of Parliament and chief Government whip Kieran McAnulty, saying it amounts to asset stripping the country. “We’re in agreement that the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) as it stands is promoting behaviour in the wrong way,” Daniell said after their mid-January meeting. “It’s opening the door to push up the price of land which in the short term doesn’t achieve anything.” He runs Wairere Stud on 1206ha (1070 effective) at Bideford, northeast of Masterton. He’s run the farm since 1984 and in the past 20 years has established joint ventures in Australia, where a Victorian farm was bought in 2015, the United Kingdom and South America. He’s been a member for the last two years of the group 50 Shades of Green which has raised awareness of increasing forestry purchases and the effect the reduction of sheep and beef farming this will cause will have on rural communities. “We’re asset stripping the country,” he said. We’re planting trees thinking we’re going to save the world while only 11% of the globe’s surface is used for farming. And all New Zealanders would end up paying for carbon credits received by forestry owners through their taxes. Daniell wrote to McAnulty early in January this year, drawing his attention to several recent farm sales to forestry in Hawke’s Bay and describing the ETS as “a rort”. “It is supposed to reduce New Zealanders’ use of fossil fuels, but it is a total failure in that respect. The only change brought about by the increase in carbon price is a doubling in the price of hill country land. “As you will be well aware, large tracts of your constituency are disappearing under pine trees. There is no respect for the generations who worked for 150-plus years to develop food and wool-producing farms. There is no respect for the Paris Accord, which states that food production should be preserved.” McAnulty said in his emailed response the issue had been an area of particular concern for him for some time. “I have been pushing for a fix ever since being elected to Parliament.”

He said he had worked with the mayor of the Tararua District to take the Minister for Primary Industries (MPI) by helicopter to see the number of plantations in the district and was determined to find a solution to what was a complex issue. This would involve pushing the minister hard to implement election campaign promises and then further exploring broader issues such as the planting of pines versus natives. The most recent meeting had occurred two weeks before the Christmas break with the ministers of forestry, environment and climate change, as well as Minister of Conservation, Kiri Allan from the East Coast. “I made my views clear that action needs to be a priority and was encouraged by the response,” McAnulty said. Daniell said he suggested a two-month moratorium on further sales be immediately put in place to investigate the long term consequences for the NZ economy and for rural communities. He said one real estate agent estimated that land which had been running one million stock units on the North Island’s east coast alone had been sold for forest planting. But McAnulty “wasn’t keen”. Instead he had suggested farmers could be able to plant part of their land in trees with local councils designating what areas were suitable. But Daniell said that approach “smacks of bureaucracy” and a better solution was to reposition NZ as being carbon positive. Recent measurements showed a much greater tonnage of carbon was sequestered annually by native bush than previously calculated. Instead of being cleared, wilding pines could be left to grow providing a carbon farming resource at no cost and native bush areas could be left to revert. Or NZ could divert tree planting funding to different areas of the world, preventing the Sahara desert moving south, or deforestation of the Amazon jungle. “New Zealand is playing its own little game when we should be supporting other countries,” he said. “This is a global issue, not a New Zealand issue. At some point the Government will say we have planted enough trees. “New Zealanders don’t realise how their standard of living relates to what we produce off the land, so we are on a hopeless course. We are pinning our hopes on what happens in 30 years’ time.”

BUSINESS

Carbon forestry

OFFSETS UPSET AUSSIE FARMERS BY: GLENYS CHRISTIAN

ike their Kiwi counterparts, Australian livestock farmers are concerned about their government’s carbon farming initiatives which have seen a rapid rise in carbon credit prices as corporates seek to offset emissions. The federal government has recently asked for feedback on proposals which could restrict the amount of land being used for this purpose as well as strengthen pest and weed control requirements. Olivia Lawson, environment spokesperson for the Cattle Council of Australia said programmes that rewarded investment in agricultural land to be used solely for emissions abatement had led to poor land management in a number of instances. Farmland bought for the sole use of offsets that was not actively managed was at risk of poor fire, water, pest and weed management which affects food production. It was important all landholders had the same responsibilities for land management as the entire agricultural sector. Australian carbon credit prices finished 2021 up 180% to a record A$47/tonne and there have been predictions they could go as high as A$60. In mid-January the spot price sat at A$54/t, the increase fuelled in part by the tight supply of credits connected to the large volume of Australian carbon credit units (ACCU) contracted by the government to the A$2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF). This was established in 2015 and so far more than 1000 projects have been registered with yearly increases in approvals seen. The initial price per unit was A$13.95 but after dropping back to A$10.23 this now sits at A$16.94, creating a floor price which most carbon credit producers try to avoid.

Country-Wide

February 2022

One or two auctions are held each year with decisions made on which projects put forward will be funded. So far out of 209 million tonnes of abatement approved agricultural projects make up 15.1m tonnes, vegetation projects account for 145.2m tonnes and landfill and waste, energy efficiency and transport make up the rest.

Avoid those emissions The voluntary scheme was recently expanded to include carbon capture and storage projects, where carbon dioxide could be stored underground, but the Australian government has come under repeated pressure to adopt an avoid-emissions-first approach, which would leave carbon offsetting for processes that are difficult to quickly decarbonise. It’s argued that while 80% of Australia’s emissions come from burning fossil fuels, 80% of ERF money has been spent on land carbon sequestration which is no replacement. A number of experts say a massive offset programme would be needed which can’t rely on bio-sequestration to reach the net zero by 2050 policy adopted after the recent climate summit in Glasgow. Some say that with its changing climate Australia would be lucky to hold on to the soil carbon it already had and research estimates are that if the government was to directly fund emissions reduction offsets that would cost about A$16 billion a year. Farmers can participate in two ERF schemes, human induced regeneration (HIR)and native forest from managed regrowth (NFMR). HIR involves management of the timing and extent of livestock grazing as well as plants not native to the area and controlling feral animals. With NFMR there needs to be some vegetation to start with to show there’s forest potential, although existing trees aren’t included. Data collection, validation, independent auditing and reporting are all required through the Clean Energy Regulator for ACCUs to be issued. Five-year gateway checks are also put in place to make sure the trees are growing as fast as forecast and that carbon abatement has been correctly estimated. Once they are certified ACCUs can be sold under the ERF. To be approved by the Clean Energy Regulator and meet additional requirements, farmers need to demonstrate the activity is above and beyond normal management practices. Carbon estimation areas are used to ensure forest cover is achieved in 15 years and maintained for either 25 or 100 years, with ACCUs discounted by 20% for the lesser period.

and having a fire management plan, in order for payment to be made. Farmers most concerned about present policies are graziers in southwest Queensland, worried about increased pest and weed threats, and a slip in community spending as the rural population shrinks. An estimated 324,000ha in the Paroo area, much of it now owned by corporate investors, have gone into carbon farming projects. Locals argue that no one is now employed on the properties, meaning several million dollars of losses of income in the area’s towns. There are also worries about young people’s ability to take up farming if they have to compete with large companies for land. Some landowners believe that while carbon farming might be good in theory the practicalities haven’t been thought through and want corporate managers to be tied into pest control. Late last year the Australian government asked for feedback on proposed measures it said would limit risks to agricultural production or local communities under the ERF.

“We should await results from some hard evidence... and avoid rushing this excessively bureaucratic government overlay on an already heavily regulated industry.”

The risks of poor fire control on carbon farms is a major concern.

Weeds, pests and fire a threat With both schemes weed and feral animal control needs to be demonstrated to be above what would usually take place along with maintaining fire breaks

Country-Wide

February 2022

Monitoring for compliance

The Cattle Council says it’s working with the government on its policy frameworks and supports further development of market-based mechanisms and financial incentives to reward beef farmers who choose to invest in emissions reduction, conservation, and regeneration activities. That would contribute towards the Australian beef industry’s carbon neutral by 2030 target. But Lawson said it wants to ensure any changes support environmental stewardship and lead to improved environmental outcomes. However the Carbon Market Institute has urged the government not to rush the proposals, on which feedback closed in mid-January. It’s the independent industry association for business leading the transition to net zero emissions with 120 members which include farmers. It says the planned restrictions are unnecessary and could hinder landowners seeking to boost productivity as well as possibly threatening the growth and viability of carbon farming best practice. Chief executive, John Connor says farmers have been the big winners from Australia’s carbon credits scheme which had added to their agricultural productivity. It’s involved in a study into carbon farming in southwest Queensland which is about to get underway. “We should await results from some hard evidence rather than undocumented concerns, and avoid rushing this excessively bureaucratic government overlay on an already heavily regulated industry.” CMI estimates the 57 carbon farming projects in the Paroo area mean around five million tonnes of carbon are captured or avoided each year, which equals taking around 1.5 million cars off the road.

BUSINESS

Borrowing

With interest rates turning up after years of trending down, Victoria Rutherford looks at the options with borrowing.

vs WHOSE RISK ARE YOU MANAGING?

hen you’re fixing your interest rate it pays to ask the question – whose risk are you managing? Significant differences in longer-term fixed rates between banks indicate some providers are taking a pessimistic view of risks, which could in turn add significant cost to the farmer. Timaru-based director Andrew Laming from New Zealand Agri Brokers (NZAB) says they’ve been having discussions with their customers recently about fixing interest rates, given the increase in rates via recent OCR changes. Until recently, the downward trend of floating interest rates has made them the product of choice. However, expectations are now up rather than down, with most economists plus the RBNZ forecasting further rate increases. Laming says they are seeing those expectations played out in the swap curve, where five-year swap rates have moved from historical lows of about 0% to a peak of about 2.8% recently. He goes on to highlight the significant discrepancy between banks at present with their various fixed rates, even when standardised back to the same customer margin. “What's happening between the four banks is that you've got different expectations about what margin they might require in the future, to justify continuing to lend the capital to the farmer.” “Historically, we don’t typically see such a big difference between banks across the terms, but given the big gap opening up and customers looking to make fixing decisions right now, we thought it would be useful to point this out,” he says. Laming says the way bank loans are priced these days are complex. “There’s the cost of the money, both domestically and offshore, but also, it's the bank’s view of the future risks that might impact on their own return. Uncertainty over future reserve bank regulatory capital amounts, the growing impacts of climate change and the volatility of farm returns are all now having a negative drag on margin. Added to this are the more traditional impacts – the bank’s internal portfolio ratings, the level of good and bad loans and whether they are in growth or retrenchment mode. All of those things combined, make up a bank's margin.”

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February 2022

Figure 1 shows data from the four main banks depicting the margin above the swap rate for each term of one-to-five years. NB: 1. This is based on a customer base margin of circa 2.5 basis points above a typical bank market bill rate (BKBM) for illustrative purposes only. 2. The colours of the graph are meaningless versus the normal colours of the main banks. 3. This is only one data point and only one consideration out of many when discussing and then agreeing on an interest rate risk management strategy. Laming says the numbers in this case are extremely stark. At one-to-two years, most banks adopt similar margins above the swap curve as each other. “However, when we move out to three-to-five years, two banks in the marketplace have significantly higher margins inserted in their three-to-five-year rates than the other banks.” He says at their broadest gap – the five-year rate, those margin differences are as much as 65 basis points. To put that in context, that means $6500 per year per $1 million locked away. That means $32,500 over five years. “If it was a $10m loan, that would be $325,000.” He says this premium is above and beyond the market, and ultimately does nothing to manage the borrower’s risk.

What causes the difference in rates? The difference in rates can be caused by several things, but Laming says the major reason is the banks’ differing views around the required margin changes that they might need to make in future if (a) a customer’s credit risk changes or (b) RBNZ capital regulations change. “When a bank locks in a fixed rate with you as a borrower, the margin and their return with it is generally locked in for that period of time. “If the amount of bank capital that they hold against your loan needs to change in the future (due to credit risk or regulatory changes) and that impacts on their return on equity, then they can’t do much about that if there is a fixed margin in place.” Therefore, uncertainty about the future results in a bank attempting to manage this risk with various margin buffers and views on what the future may hold. He says some banks are a bit more uncomfortable about locking away that fixed level of return, given things might change in the future that might impact on that return. “In other words, they’re managing their own risk at the same time, by transferring that risk on to borrowers. Clearly some banks have a much different view of that future than others.”

Country-Wide

February 2022

Figure 1: Agri fixed rates Observed margins over swap.

3.70 3.50 3.30 3.10 2.90 2.70 2.50 2.30

Bank 1

“What's happening between the four banks is that you've got different expectations about what margin they might require.”

2 Bank 2

3 Bank 3

5 Bank 4

Andrew says this should not be a deterrent to making a fixing decision as the highlighted data point is only one consideration out of many when discussing and then agreeing on an interest rate risk management strategy. “With fixing versus floating, it's a risk management decision, but often it is clouded with a bit of emotion, and what I mean with emotion is fear. “The reason that people start talking about fixing interest rates is to manage risk, but also it's because they're scared that the floating rate's going to go higher, and that's entirely valid. “Immediately they then go to the bank and go, what are my fixed rates? They're trying to manage that fear or that risk that rates will go up. Now, inadvertently, particularly when you get to three to five years, you may be locking in significant additional margin, which goes beyond just managing your own risk. “In other words, the borrower is paying a premium, which probably sits above what is necessary, and it defeats the purpose to some degree, of what they’re attempting to do.” Market forces will likely sort out the discrepancy in time. “Like most things in our market, you can't remain an outlier for too long because competitive forces drive that back into the middle. “But that doesn't mean that all rates will come down. It might mean some of the other rates come up. His advice for farmers looking to fix interest rates is to seek advice around what the banks are offering. “A wider discussion needs to happen between farmers and their professional advisers about all the components of risk in their business and how they might build a plan to manage them, aside from their banks. Those that get that right will enjoy very good ongoing margins from their bank”.

BUSINESS

Opinion

ONLY OF ONE THE SIDE STORY Calls for New Zealand farmers to follow the example proposed for the Netherlands fail to acknowledge reality, Jacqueline Rowarth writes.

ress releases are designed to grab attention. Usually they have some truth in them, but often that truth is presented in such a way that it assumes greater significance than warranted, and sometimes important factors are omitted. With this in mind, Greenpeace Aotearoa’s preChristmas release is worth examining. “Netherlands announces €25bn plan to cut livestock numbers: NZ can do the same”. The headline was in bold to attract attention and many of the words in the press release were similarly designed to create impact: ‘crisis’, for instance. "The climate and biodiversity crisis require us to cut cow numbers in Aotearoa…” New Zealand’s contribution to global greenhouse gases is less than 0.2%. Agriculture is half that, and dairy cows are responsible for half of agriculture’s contribution. It is difficult to see how a cut in the national herd will effect global change and avert a crisis. The biodiversity crisis is also a global problem. NZ’s loss of biodiversity occurred long before dairy farms occupied 1.7 million hectares (less than 7%). Further, at the beginning of last year, Sir David Attenborough commended NZ for its work in biodiversity. Government-funded work has been possible from taxes and rates, both of which involve payments from farmers. In addition, much of the restitution has been on agricultural land – the wetlands and QEII Trust native areas that put conservation to the fore for perpetuity. The Greenpeace article continued with 'other countries’

plans - such as this week’s Netherlands’ announcement to buy out intensive farming - are leading with demonstrations of what is possible, while NZ falls further and further behind.” Behind what? And countries ‘other’ than the Netherlands? Which countries? Belgium and Germany have been identified as being in breach of European Union directives but have not yet made any decisions, and even the Netherlands is still debating what to do, despite the headlines. News that Brazil plans to increase its national herd by 24 million cattle by 2030 makes any attempts by other countries to reduce their numbers an economic sacrifice for no global gain. Certainly many countries in the developed and developing world subsidise their farmers and growers to ensure domestic food supply, and subsidise them to export surpluses, but that isn’t the same as subsidising them to reduce stock numbers. The Netherlands plan is in response to ongoing breaches of the EU’s Habitat Directive. Since 2019, the Netherlands has been breaking the EU law that promises healthy nitrogen concentration for at least half of protected nature areas. The problem is that ammonia, coming from intensive animal management systems (feedlots) results in nitrogen in rainfall. The Netherlands has the highest density of livestock in the EU with 3.8 million cattle, 102 million chickens, and 12 million pigs in total. The 13-year plan to reduce animal numbers is voluntary, at least at this stage, and includes compensating livestock

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February 2022

NZ farmers can do what Greenpeace suggests, but there would be consequences.

farmers to relocate or leave the industry. Others will be helped to transition to less-intensive forms of animal farming, with smaller herds on a larger area of land. As the current dairy herd stocking rate is approximately twice that of NZ, it could be that the Netherlands starts to look more like here, except during winter when stock will be moved inside because of weather and concerns about soil and pasture damage. Whether this will reduce the nitrogen balance, which has already halved since the 1990s, is a moot point. The OECD reports that the Netherlands balance (loss) is almost three times that of NZ (187kg/ha in comparison with 63kg/ ha). But omitted from the Greenpeace press release was the fact that the top exports from the Netherlands are fossil fuels - refined petroleum, crude petroleum and petroleum gas. Fossil fuels are 23% of value whereas food stuffs are only about 11%. Greenpeace has been urging NZ into what it describes as ‘a cleaner, regenerative food system’ for some time. Now the NGO is challenging political leaders to step up and “show the kind of leadership New Zealanders deserve". The wording is designed to appeal to political leaders looking for a point of difference. It also suggests to New Zealanders that they might be being robbed of what they ought to have. Greenpeace’s final injunction is that it is “time to end the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and invest in the regenerative agricultural revolution that is 100% possible”. The NGO is right; it is 100% possible to farm without synthetic nitrogen. But the implications are considerable. Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser has been estimated to provide food for 50% of the global population.

Researchers in the United Kingdom examined what would happen if England and Wales became organic, prohibiting all synthetic chemicals, as activists have urged. They concluded cereal yields would fall to 60% of what was being achieved with conventional agriculture, forage peas, beans and potato supplies would stay similar (but more area would be involved to compensate for decreased yields) and vegetable supplies would also be similar. Organic dairy would produce about 70% of what was being achieved under conventional systems, eggs would fall to approximately 73%, pig and poultry meat to 30%, and beef and sheep would probably increase as land became unsuitable for other uses. To meet the need, food would have to be bought from elsewhere. Swedish research concluded similarly. A change to organic production systems would reduce yields by 40%, but in some cases such as potatoes, to 0% due to fungal attack. Of further interest is that the authors could find no evidence to support the contention that organic yields would pick up after the initial decrease. This means that “100% possible” would not feed the population, let alone the projected growth. Context is important. NZ farmers can do what has been suggested by Greenpeace but there would be consequences. Although it is not unusual to hear only one side of a story when passionate people are involved, one side is not a good basis for progress. All press releases should be examined for their grains of truth and only those grains should be swallowed.

“It is difficult to see how a cut in the national herd will effect global change and avert a crisis.”

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February 2022

• Dr Jacqueline Rowarth, Adjunct Professor Lincoln University, is a farmer-elected director of DairyNZ and Ravensdown. The analysis and conclusions above are her own. jsrowarth@gmail.com

The McKay family. James and Kate with Hadley (8), Olive (6) and Joe (2).

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February 2022

LIVESTOCK

ONFARM

SCANNING CUTS DEVELOPMENT TIME Business planning, astute decision-making and sheer hard work have put a Wairarapa farming couple in a position to grow their business earlier than expected. Richard Gavigan reports. Photos by Mark Coote.

focus on feeding, condition scoring and animal health along with the success of their livestock scanning business means James and Kate McKay can expand their sheep and beef operation 10 years ahead of schedule. James and Kate, who have three children, farm “Te Keo” at Alfredton, 50km north-east of Masterton. They are supported by shepherd-general Ryan Cooper who has worked full-time on the farm for four years. James and Kate bought Te Keo from James’ parents in 2015 and have been farming on their own account since then. Prior to that, James had been working on the farm while setting up his livestock scanning business. This business, which includes calf disbudding, takes James off-farm for much of the year. While he can sometimes be home by lunchtime during the cow scanning season, ready for an afternoon on the farm, being a scanner makes for some long hard days, and Ryan and Kate are essential to the smooth operation of Te Keo in his absence.

The farm at a glance Te Keo is 430 hectares, 380ha effective (50ha of the farm is in native bush) and a further 20ha is leased from James’ parents at Masterton. The farm is considered summer safe and has an average annual rainfall of 1200mm. It comprises 50ha of flat land, with the balance of the farm medium to steeper hill country. There are 45 hill paddocks averaging just over 7ha and 22 paddocks on the flats averaging 2ha. Feed production on the flats includes 10ha of turnips

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February 2022

(sown in October), 4ha of Kale (sown in October) and 36ha of plantain/white clover. All crops are direct-drilled and the plantain/white clover pastures persist for three to four years. Te Keo winters 2050 ewes (including two-tooths), 600 ewe hoggets, 80 breeding cows, 30 carry-over dairy cows, 60 rising 2-year bulls and about 300 trade lambs. Olsen P levels range from 12-18 on the hills and are 20 or better on the flats. The McKays think that the farm’s pH (5.5–5.6) is limiting pasture production and applied 2t/ha of lime last year. Superphosphate is applied on an annual basis at a rate of 250-300kg/ha which includes a capital component of 50-100kg/ha.

Based on business planning Physical and financial performance goals are a key component of the Mckays’ business plan and a big driver of their success. The couple began formal business planning in 2012, updating their plan annually and referring to it on a regular basis throughout the year. Goals are broken down into long-term (7–15 years), mid-term (3–7 years) and short-term (1–2 years), are clearly defined and quantified, and apply to both the farm and livestock scanning components of the business. The McKays also use BakerAg’s annual financial analysis benchmark (FAB) to review their performance and compare it with other Wairarapa farm businesses. Submitting annual information to FAB is an important benchmarking exercise for them and the figures produced form the basis of their annual business plan and targets for the future.

Above: Charolais cross yearling bulls. Below: Freshly weaned lambs finishing on plantain chicory clover.

Making it happen Sheep performance has improved significantly in recent years. While ewe scanning has always been good (about 175% not counting triplets) docking has increased from 125% to 145% in the last 10 years and average lamb weaning weights have also improved to 31kg in 2020. In 2021, 100% of Te Keo’s 600 Romney ewe hoggets were mated on April 20 at an average liveweight of 46kg and a minimum of 40kg. This age-group of sheep have scanned 130% and docked 90% (ewe hoggets put to the ram) for the last two years and have weaned lambs at 30kg average just after Christmas. Kate credits some of this progress to getting involved in the StockCare (formally Sheep for Profit) programme in 2011. StockCare has a strong animal health focus and employs strict body condition score and liveweight monitoring protocols. Samples of Te Keo ewes are condition scored at weaning, premating, mating, ram removal, scanning, set stocking and docking. Much of the improvement in sheep performance can also be attributed to an emphasis on feeding and growing

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February 2022

Left: James and Hadley check out the turnip crop. Below: Wetland area planted in 2020.

replacement ewe lambs well, which has positive effects on their ability to lamb as hoggets and their lifetime productivity. All lambs are weaned in mid-December at about 90 days, with ewe lambs weighing 2830kg. Some smaller, less-desirable ewe lambs that will be culled are identified and marked at docking. After weaning, 750 ewe lambs are grazed on the hills until mid-February when they are shorn then grazed for the next six weeks on 10ha of turnips, sown in mid-October on the flats. James says the turnips provide a large bank of feed at what is usually the driest time of the year on Te Keo and a period of lower pasture quality. The ewe lambs are shuffled around five 2ha turnip paddocks in a single mob of 750 and eat the turnip leaf and part of the bulb. While lamb liveweight gain is only moderate on a per head basis (180-200g/day), it is very high on a per hectare basis due to the high stocking rate. Once the lambs have had first pick of the turnips, they are culled down to 650 and grazed on the hills again, with any lighter replacement ewe lambs remaining on the flats to be priority-fed on plantain/white clover pastures. Light-conditioned breeding

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February 2022

ewes follow the ewe lambs on the turnips, eating the rest of the bulb and gaining weight at about 100g/day. The McKays’ success in growing their replacement ewe lambs is also reflected in the performance of their sale lambs. In 2020, about 850 (40%) of male lambs were sold prime off their mothers at weaning at an average carcaseweight of 17kg. The remaining sale lambs were finished on plantain/white clover pastures at 18.5-19kg carcaseweight. Four separate sheep mating mobs, including the ewe hoggets, are run on TeKeo. Seven hundred of the 2050 Romney ewes are mated to ¾ Charollais 1/8 Poll Dorset 1/8 Texel terminal sires bred by Alistair Brown from Brabazon Charollais. The McKays first started using the Charollais over their ewe hoggets five years ago as the breed was known for lambing ease due to its narrow shoulders and wedge shape. However high growth rates and meat yields in the progeny, as well as great longevity in the rams themselves, were encouraging and now all 6-year-old ewes and any ewes considered undesirable in terms of

type, conformation or previous wet-dry status (“B-flock” ewes) are joined with the Charollais about March 25. Lincoln-based livestock conformation specialist Guy Martin helps the McKays select sheep for this mob. The rest of the mixed-age ewes and all two tooths are mated to Wai-iti Romney rams on 5 and 10 April respectively. The mixedage ewes are typically mated at about 70kg liveweight and a body condition score of 3-plus, with the two-tooths slightly lighter (66kg) in similar condition. The B-flock ewes are teased for two weeks before mating, then the Charollais rams harnessed for the first 10 days, enabling about 400 “early” ewes to be identified. These ewes are lambed on the hills then brought down on to plantain/white clover pastures on the flats, as soon as the lambs are mobile enough. This forage drives lactation and pre-weaning lamb growth rates. The lambs from the B-flock ewes are weaned early and the ewes either sent to the works as soon as space is available or kept on for pasture control.

Triplet lamb losses The ewes on Te Keo usually scan about 175%, not counting triplets. While it may seem ironic that a professional sheep scanner doesn’t scan his ewes for triplets, James says that he hasn’t had much success lambing triplets by themselves in the past. Despite excellent pasture covers, bad weather has often resulted in high triplet lamb losses on the flats, so 200% is a good result. He considers there is more

to be gained financially from bringing the early lambers down to the most productive pastures at the front of the farm than in trying to do something special with triplets. The McKays’ biggest sheep production challenge is lamb survival, with anything from 17-24% lost between scanning and docking in any one year. A large part of Te Keo faces south and little can be done to mitigate the effects of cold southerly weather during lambing, but the McKays have a multi-faceted approach to improving weaning percentage in the future. When selecting Romney sires, close attention is paid to index information on the number of lambs born and the number of lambs reared. At set-stocking, a minimum ewe body condition score of 3.0 and 1200kg drymatter (DM)/ha pasture cover are targeted to optimise ewe colostrum production and improve lamb survival. Also, spring nitrogen application and adjusting ewe set-stocking rates are tools that can be used to improve lactation and weaning results. Sheep health management is an important focus, although the McKays are now looking to reduce their animal health expenditure from a high $6.76/su to $4.80/su. At the moment, all lambs are vaccinated at docking and weaning with a five-inone vaccine containing vitamin B12 and selenium, and are drenched pre-weaning, at weaning and every 28 days through to June. They are vaccinated for toxoplasmosis and campylobacteriosis and receive a drench capsule at pre-lamb shearing in August.

James with his scanning gear.

PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE TARGETS:

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE TARGETS:

Long-term goals (7 – 15 years) • Produce high quality meat and wool.

Long-term goals (7 – 15 years) • Run a financially stable business with increasing profitability.

Mid-term goals (by 2024 – 2028) • 150% lambing in ewes • 100% lambing in hoggets • 32kg average lamb weaning weight • 40% of sale lambs sold prime at December weaning at 17kg CW average • 90% calving. Short-term goals (by 2022 – 2023) • 145% lambing in ewes • 90% lambing in hoggets • 32kg average lamb weaning weight • 90% calving • 260kg average bull CW • 240kg average calf weaning weight.

Mid-term goals (by 2024 – 2028) • $1500/ha gross farm revenue • $700/ha economic farm surplus • Invest 10% of equity off-farm. Short-term goals (by 2022 – 2023) • Maintain regular contact with the accountant and bank manager • Monitor and manage personal drawings • Continue to pay off debt • Monitor livestock scanning business costs and adjust where necessary • Reduce animal health expenditure to $4.80/su (now $6.76/su).

Two-tooth ewes are vaccinated for salmonellosis, are boosted for campylobacteriosis and are drenched with a triple combination anthelmintic 10 days before the rams go out. All ewes receive a mineral drench containing iodine before lambing, although this may not continue. The ewes are shorn twice a year in December after weaning, and at the end of May.

Cattle Beef breeding cows, carry-over dairy cows and rising-two-year bulls make up the McKays’ cattle system. Eighty “as-long-as-they’re-black” breeding cows are mated to Charolais bulls on December 20 to calve on October 1. The weaner heifer calves are sold in March, and the bull calves are finished on plantain/white clover, all sold prime at 15 months in midJanuary at an average carcaseweight of 270kg. The weaners grow well on the flats, averaging 2kg LW day, but bloat can be an issue due to the high clover content. Because

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of this, all weaner bulls are given a bloat capsule, but vigilance is still required. The McKays think the breeding cows are a useful pasture management tool and complement the sheep system on Te Keo. Replacements are bought as scanned-in-calf cows in April each year. James says the carry-over dairy cows are a profitable stock class. Thirty are bought in April, put to the bull in June and sold just before calving in March as autumn-calvers. They can also be used as a pasture management tool, although not to the extent of the breeding cows due to their less-aggressive grazing habits. Sixty rising two-year Friesian bulls are bought in late winter at 400-450kg liveweight and are typically all sold prime by the end of January at an average of 300kg CW. The bulls are rotated with hoggets with lambs at foot on the hills.

Scanning business James McKay Sheep Scanning Services was established in 2011, with the Ultra-Scan (cow) pregnancy testing and calf disbudding franchise bought in 2016. These days, James hits the road in December and works through into April pregnancy testing dairy cows up to five days each week. He starts scanning sheep towards the end of May and works at least five days a week until the beginning of August when the calf disbudding starts. Disbudding continues until the end of October, with November and December the only months of the year when James is not busy off-farm. In total, James handles 35,000 cows, 130,000 sheep and 12,000 calves each year, providing service to 80 farmer clients. When he first started sheep scanning James would often scan seven days a week and up to 50 or 60 days in a row. He usually left for work before the kids woke and would often have to head out on the farm almost as soon as he got home. Scanning in the weekends was standard practice. However, the McKays have streamlined their activities in recent years. The employment of Ryan Cooper, improvements to farm infrastructure including three sets of satellite yards, and Kate’s role in farm and scanning business administration means that James is now able to spend more time with the family and on the farm in the weekends. While it’s hard work, the McKays’ livestock scanning and calf disbudding business has been integral to fast-tracking their farm development plan, paying off debt quickly and setting up their business growth and farm succession plans. What was originally forecast to take 15 years has been completed in five years, and they are now actively seeking opportunities to expand their farming business.

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February 2022

Above: Hadley with Jean, Rex and Maeve.

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LIVESTOCK

Mating

FINE TUNING FOR TUPPING

There are definite benefits in pushing lambing later than what is often the average for your region, writes Ken Geenty.

s the time comes for rams to go out for tupping it’s not too late to do some fine tuning. Included could be building on body condition score (BCS) to get a dynamic ovulation rate boost and some final thinking on lamb joining dates for a better lambing fit with seasonal feed supply. A month or two pre-mating it’s probable most of you will have ewes up to BCS three on the 1-5 scale but inevitably there will be a tail end. One option is to run your hand over the ewes and draft out the lower end for preferential feeding. But importantly not at the expense of those remaining. At a good ewe growth rate of 150g/day it will take up to six weeks to put on 5-6kg liveweight or add one condition score. Having ewes up to a good BCS level benefit ovulation rate and conception, particularly if feeding during tupping remains at just above maintenance. There is evidence that a rising level of feeding around mating can have a dynamic or

‘flushing’ effect with increased ovulation rate, particularly in lighter or lower BCS ewes. In most cases a feeding boost around mating will be on pasture with levels required summarised in Table 1. Note that 60-70% more feed is required on poorer pastures compared with better quality

legume dominant swards. Other options include feed supplements such as silage, good quality hay or cereal grains etc. summarized in Table 2. Cost-effectiveness in many cases may be questionable. If unsure, discuss with an informed colleague or adviser. Allocation of pasture feed leading up to

Table 1: Pasture feeding of adult ewes for maintenance and liveweight gain Poor (25+ % dead material) 8 MJME/kg DM

Average (Green leafy) 10 MJME/kg DM

1.13

0.85

0.67

1.31

1.00

0.79

1.50

1.15

0.92

1.69

1.30

1.00

Liveweight (kg)

Good (legume dominant) 12 MJME/kg DM

Extra feed required for liveweight gain, assuming average quality feed (10 MJME/kg DM): 50g/day gain: Add about 30% to the maintenance amount above 100g/day gain: Add about 60% to the maintenance amount above 150g/day gain: Add about 100% to the maintenance amount above

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February 2022

and during tupping obviously relies on supply. Average monthly pasture growth rates in New Zealand regions in B+LNZ’s ‘A guide to feed planning for sheep farmers’ indicates large yearly variation both between and within the various areas. Generally North Island spring growth kicks away in early August with pasture production jumping from 10-15 to 20-3kg DM/ha/day. In the South Island a similar jump normally happens about a month later in September. With this in mind an important consideration going into the mating period is actual date of putting your rams out with the ewes. This date should not be set in concrete but reviewed each year. It’s expected that most of you probably stick to the average with others in your area. In this author’s experience in both NZ and Australia it is still very common for lambing to be earlier rather than later. It’s my observation, and based on some early research, there are definite benefits in pushing lambing later than what is often the average for your region. Reasons being the importance of good ewe feeding at the other end both for lamb survival and milk yield in early lactation. A feed shortage later in lactation may be a worry but there are management options around weaning. If pasture feed supply is tailing off before normal lamb weaning options include creepgrazing of lambs, earlier weaning and/or use of alternative feeds listed in Table 2. Again the cost-effectiveness of different feeding options needs to be examined. The main objectives being to maximize lamb growth and minimize ewe liveweight loss. Remembering the high feed cost of regaining ewe liveweight with some 1.5kg of good pasture drymatter saved for each kg lost but over 6kg later required to replace that kg of liveweight. A good rule of thumb is that if quality pasture is limiting in late spring it should if possible be channeled through growing lambs rather than ewes. And remembering when lambs are weaned and ewes stop lactating their daily feed requirement pretty much halves. Ram joining around mid-March is probably the most common North Island practice for lambing to start in mid-August. In the South Island later into April for a September lambing is more common. As with all farming activities there are no set recipes due to the characteristic variation in weather and pasture supply. Your decisions on dates and practices will be based largely on experience and recommendations from others. But don’t be afraid to experiment a little, especially with timing, and you never know you may strike the jackpot!

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February 2022

“There is evidence that a rising level of feeding around mating can have a dynamic or ‘flushing’ effect with increased ovulation rate, particularly in lighter or lower BCS ewes.” Table 2: Nutritional value ofof different Appendix 4.3. Nutritional value differentfeeds feeds % DM

*Relative ME Value on DM Basis

MAKING EVERY MATI

Source: Making every mating count, B+LNZ

ME Concentration (MJME/kg DM)

% Crude Protein DM Basis

Pasture Short leafy

1.1

11.7

Mixed-length leafy

1.0

10.8

27 21

Dry stalky

0.8

8.1

Lucerne 0.9

8.5-11.0

Bud formation

Green vegetative

0.8

8.5-9.5

10-20% flowering

0.8

8.0-9.5

0.9

8.4-9.5

12-20

Silages

15-25

15-20

Lucerne

0.8

7.1-8.5

Formic acid lucerne

0.8

8.0-9.5

Wilted lucerne

Maize

1.0

10.2-10.8

Pasture Good quality

0.8

8.4

Poor quality

0.7

7.3

Lucerne

0.8

8.0-9.5

Hays

Straws Oats

0.6

7.0

Wheat

0.5

5.7

Barley

0.7

7.1

Ryegrass

0.7

Pea

Corn stover

7.1-8.0

0.7

7.2

0.8

6.9-9.4

Crops Swede tops

1.3

13.5

bulb

1.3

13.5

Turnip tops

1.3

14.1

Bulb

1.2

12.9

Choumoellier

1.1

11.7

Rape

1.2

12.4

Kale

1.1

11.9

Mangels

1.1

11.9

Fodder beet

1.1

12.1

Carrots

1.2

13.0

Potatoes

1.2

12.6

Green maize

0.9

Lupins (sweet)

1.0

10.3

Fodder radish

1.0

11.5

8.8-11.3

8 10

*Relative ME values are relative to leafy pasture with a value of 1.0(ME concentration of 10.8 MJME/kg DM)

LIVESTOCK

Onfarm

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February 2022

Achieving a dream The buying of Maru Farm and sale of part of their Puketawa block has allowed the King family to maximise their business development. By Russell Priest. Photos by Brad Hanson.

onald (Ronnie) and Justine (Buzz) King had almost completed a development programme on their 1108-hectare block of difficult northern Wairarapa hill country when Country-Wide last visited in the spring of 2017. Their success earned them the runner-up title in the 2017 Ahuwhenua Maori Farmer of the Year Award. But a lack of finishing country hindered further development of their

Left: Ronnie King with some of his Hereford cows and calves.

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business. “We were farming in a summer-dry environment subject to the whims of both the store market and the weather so were vulnerable to both,” Ronnie says. “We needed more finishing country which didn’t dry out in the summer.” After just missing out on blocks close to their farm, Puketawa, a local agent suggested a 490ha block (Maru Farm) near Mangatainoka. They initially dismissed it, thinking it was beyond their budget, but when the farm didn’t sell, they viewed it and were pleasantly surprised by its easy contour and soils. To buy Maru Farm, 450ha of Puketawa’s front country was sold, while the back 600ha was retained with two partners. Of this, 485ha was planted into pine trees in a joint venture project with Crown Forestry, while the balance was planted in Manuka and other natives. “Being an absentee owner means I seldom visit the pine block, however once the pines get big enough I’ll be able to run some cattle there,” Ronnie says. Since buying Maru in 2018, the Kings, together with children Dallas and Bridie, have bought an adjacent 170ha block giving them a total of 660ha (576ha effective) between the Mangahao River and SH2 at Mangatainoka. The unfarmed 84ha includes pine plantations, riparian plantings and steep areas in natives including Manuka. These plants provide winter sustenance for 100-150 hives of bees for which the Kings receive $20/ hive. A few hives remain on the farm over the summer. Part of this area (42ha) is registered with the ETS, providing an income stream and an offset for the business’ own greenhouse gas emissions. Maru Farm is a breeding and trading stock business running 63006500 su at 11-11.3su/ha. The trading stock component provides a safety valve to cater for annual variations in pasture growth.

Capital stock include 150 mainly Hereford cows plus 30 in-calf Hereford R2 heifers, 72 R1 Hereford heifers, 70 R1 Hereford bulls, 1850 ewes and 340 in-lamb replacement hoggets. Trading stock include 126 R2 bulls, 40 R2 steers, 70 home-reared R1 dairy cross bulls and 1000 – 1200 male lambs for winter contracts. The breeding cow herd includes about 40 Angus which will be replaced next year with homebred Herefords. Supplying Hereford bulls to dairy farmers is the reason the Kings run Herefords with between 30-40 bulls being sold annually.

Cows groom the pasture The 150 breeding cows groom the pastures during the spring/summer period and clean up winter roughage. Ronnie used to put more pressure on the cows over the spring/ summer to stop pastures running to head, however he now uses them in conjunction with mechanical topping to achieve this. “I was being a bit hard on the cows and they and their calves were suffering a bit, so now after they’ve been in a paddock Dallas comes in with the mower to finish the job. They still have to do a thorough job on the hills however.” Heifers are calved as R2s with the bull going out on January 10. A low birthweight EBV bull is used for a 25-day mating period and Ronnie likes the heifers to be at least 350kg before going to the bull. “My policy is to grow the heifers as well as I can through to calving to ensure I end up with a good-sized cow. We normally put 35 to the bull and get 30-32 in calf.” Bull-out date for the cows is December 15 for 42 days, with the empty rate under 3% and the calving percentage in the late 90s (live calves to cows wintered). Calving takes place behind a hot wire on pasture shut up in early August. Baleage is sometimes fed as a supplement. When selecting herd sires Ronnie insists on them being structurally sound, polled with excellent temperament, good growth and length and with a background of strong maternal traits (ease of calving, fertility and milk). A flock of 1850 Romney ewes are the other breeding component of the business. The Kings are justifiably proud of the ewe flock as it represents the product of a breeding programme that they started at Puketawa after buying part of Chris Bendall’s Romney stud flock. Each year a top Indexing stud ram is bought from Chris’ son Geoff with a particular focus on facial eczema (FE)

The King family (left to right): Dallas, Buzz, Ronnie and Bridie.

tolerance as Ronnie believes the only long-term solution to the disease is through breeding. Enough rams are bred to service their own commercial flock with those surplus to requirements sold to acquaintances. In spite of a regular drenching programme, Ronnie struggled to achieve acceptable growth rates with the first crop of lambs on Maru Farm, leading him to do a drench reduction test. To his horror he found the farm carried worms resistant to all drench families. The response was to minimise drench use by only drenching ewes that needed it and restricting the lamb drenching programme to a triple drench after weaning, followed up with regular faecal egg counting, running lambs on crops

wherever possible and using Zolvix as an exit drench in May/June. Ronnie doesn’t hesitate to drench if high populations of Barber’s pole larvae are present. “When we first came to Maru we were drenching every 17 days with no effect. However, now that we’ve cut back we’re starting to get on top of the problem and we’ve saved big dollars.” Their aim is to breed sheep that are tolerant or resistant to worms, and already the Kings have made a positive start by not drenching any ram lambs out of the stud ewes while monitoring them for growth rate and dags score. If they start displaying signs of ill-thrift or dagginess they are culled. Those that make it through this rigorous

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February 2022

culling programme form the pool of rams from which Ronnie selects his flock sires. “This selection programme seems to be working as the constitution of our ewe flock seems to be improving.”

Stud ewe hoggets to Sufftex rams Stud ewe hoggets are mated to Sufftex rams and they must be capable of weaning a good lamb without problems if they are to be considered as stud flock replacements as two-tooths. A two-flock system differentiates between ewes going to Romney rams (A flock) and those going to terminal sires (cull A flock ewes, B flock and one-year ewes). About 600-700 are mated to mainly Sufftex rams in mid-March for two cycles while 1150 A flock ewes including twotooths go to Romney rams on April 13 for two cycles. Two-tooth ewes and MA ewes are mated and lambed together. Wet dries from the breeding flock are tagged and relegated to the B flock. If they are dry/wet-dry in the B flock they are culled. Ronnie says the number of wet dries is declining. Average lambing percentage for the A flock is 152% with B flock and old ewes 148%. In the past ewe hoggets were mated at between 36-40kg however Ronnie says it took him a while to realise the importance of growing hoggets as big as possible so they are able to rear a good lamb(s) and achieve good two-tooth weights. They must now achieve a minimum weight of 40kg by May 10 to be mated. Sufftex rams are used and run with the hoggets for two cycles. Between 82% and 85% of the hoggets go to the ram achieving a lambing percentage of 105.

Trade cattle margins R2 trade cattle are usually bought between March and May, sometimes earlier if good buying. They are onfarm for seven to nine months and work on a trade margin of $650 to $800 depending on the schedule. Trade lambs Lambs are bought in autumn, and the Kings farm them through till September/October, working on a margin of about $70 to $80 again depending on schedule. Lambs are not bought through the summer as the Kings trade their own then.

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February 2022

Lambs on crop of Hunter leafy turnip.

“When we first came to Maru we were drenching every 17 days with no effect. However, now that we’ve cut back we’re starting to get on top of the problem and we’ve saved big dollars.”

Cropping costs Establishment costs are usually about $630/ha including fert, plus the cost of seed. If needing to giant disk, it is an extra $150/ha Whanau collective The only whanau collective is a key account with Affco under the name King Whanau Group. Each is financially independent of the other, just marketing stock together as a collective. Gross farm income An accurate GFI for Maru Farm for the last three years is not available as until recently the Kings have still traded stock out of Puketawa.

A refugia approach to drenching hoggets is practiced with only 2% requiring drenching. All ewes and hoggets put to the ram are scanned with the A flock ewes scanning 186%, the B flock and old ewes 184% and the hoggets 121%. Ewes are wintered in two mobs (A flock including two tooths and B flock with old ewes) on a 70-80-day rotation (first round) with three-day shifts. The second round involves two-day shifts then the focus is on evening-out pasture covers ready for set stocking at lambing. The rotations continue right up to lambing before the ewes are set stocked at 6-7su/ha. Rotations are briefly interrupted by scanning and pre-lamb crutching and vaccinating with 5-in-1. B flock and old ewes start lambing in early-to-mid August. “We lamb as early as we can but are restrained by the availability and cost of growing early-spring feed. It’s a balancing act between these two factors and the early season processing premiums for ewes and lambs.” Lambs out of B flock and old ewes are generally weaned December 10 with 65% killed off their mothers at 17kg CW

Protecting your ewes against abortion storms takes two vaccines.

CONTROL THE RISK OF TOXOPLASMA

CONTROL THE RISK OF CAMPYLOBACTER

Toxoplasma and Campylobacter are widespread on New Zealand farms1. These diseases can cause abortion storms with losses up to 30%, or more, of lambs2,3. Preventing them takes two vaccines. Maiden ewes require 1 dose of Toxovax® and 2 doses of Campyvax® 4 ahead of mating. Mixed age ewes require an annual booster of Campyvax4 prior to mating. Protect against abortion storms, and improve flock performance.

ORDER TOXOVAX AND CAMPYVAX4 FROM YOUR VET TODAY. AVAILABLE ONLY UNDER VETERINARY AUTHORISATION. ACVM No’s: A4769, A9535. Schering-Plough Animal Health Ltd. Phone: 0800 800 543. www.msd-animal-health.co.nz NZ-CVX-211100003 ©2021 Intervet International B.V. All Rights Reserved. 1. Dempster et al (2011), NZ Veterinary Journal , 59:4 155-159. 2. Wilkins et al (1992) Surveillance, 19:4, 20-23.3. Sahin et al (2017) The Annual Review of Animal Biosciences. 5: 9.1-9.22

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February 2022

Drone view of Maru Farm.

average. All old ewes are killed at the same time. Lambs from the A flock ewes are progressively weaned from mid-December through to early January with all finishing lambs going on to Hunter and raphno forage crops. “We wouldn’t normally start weaning the A flock lambs quite as early with so much grass around, however the crops have grown so well we’ve been forced to graze them before they start losing their quality.” Lambs are drafted every three weeks off the finishing crops with average weights being 17.5-18.5kg. Remaining lambs are faecal egg counted after each draft. All stock are killed through Affco where the King Whanau collective is a key account holder, annually processing 10,000-12,000 lambs, 2000 ewes and 500-600 cattle. The collective includes Ronnie and Buzz, older brother Eugene and wife Pania, sister Nukuhia and husband Bart Hadfield, and sister Marama and husband Rob Papworth. Independent agent Simon Bradley of Bradley Livestock, Taumarunui, is their collective agent.

Blocks needed injection of fert Having bought Maru Farm and the adjoining block for an average of $10,000/ ha the Kings’ appetite for development was rekindled.

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February 2022

FARM FACTS • Maru Farm (660ha – 576ha effective). • 7km north of Pahiatua in Northern Wairarapa • Sheep and beef breeding and finishing farm. • Grows 25ha crops for finishing lambs and wintering cattle. • Produces Hereford yearling bulls for dairy farmers • Running 6300 - 6500su at 11 11.3su/ha. • Family collective killing stock through Affco.

“Both blocks needed a decent injection of fertiliser and lime so we’ve been applying 350-420kg/ha of SurePhos and 2.5t/ha lime to get the pastures going.” Future rates of fertiliser application will be based on soil test results carried out on GPS sites every three years to ensure sampling consistency. Most of Maru is easy contour and covered in a mantle of well-structured Dannevirke silt loam. On the western end of the farm at its lowest point is 30ha of flood-prone alluvial soil next to the Mangahao River. “The water floods the flats and is generally gone in 24 hours leaving little or no debris.

We have an excellent monitoring system so we get plenty of warning to shift stock to higher ground.” Last year 12ha was leased to grow maize and Ronnie hopes to continue this arrangement. Balage is harvested off part of it and because it doesn’t pug it is ideal for wintering cattle. With half of the farm being cultivable the Kings have wasted little time in getting into a cropping rotation involving swedes, Pallaton Raphno, green-feed oats, Italian ryegrass and Hunter leafy turnip. All cropping is carried out by a local contractor and takes out 20–25ha of pasture a year. Hunter is used entirely for lamb finishing with oats, Raphno, Italian and swedes being used for feeding lambs and cattle. “I particularly like Raphno because you can use it to feed lambs over the summer then shut it up in the autumn and breakfeed it to cattle in the winter.’ Ronnie admits there are better lamb finishing crops available, however he uses it to hold lambs before finishing them on Hunter, or for holding winter-finishing lambs in the autumn. He grazes it hard five times during the summer before applying 100kg urea in May and shutting it up for six weeks before break-feeding to cattle in mid-June. “It’s an easy crop to transition on from

Hereford 2yr heifer and calf.

both Hunter and grass and once its tap root is established you can graze it to the ground.” Sown in mid-November the Raphno establishes its tap root before being grazed around Christmas by 50-60 lambs/ha. Once they get on top of it and it recovers, the grazing number is reduced to 40/ha. The Kings are enjoying being able to finish all their homebred lambs and cattle. Besides finishing most of their lambs over the summer/autumn on crops, the Kings buy in 1000-1200 trading lambs starting in January for finishing over the winter/spring. Ronnie prefers to buy mixed-sex blackface lambs for earlier finishing and male Romney lambs (particularly cryptorchids) for the winter trade because he can “screw them down” a bit over the winter and rely on compensatory growth to get them up to killable weights after shearing. They are finished mainly on grass at 22-24kg CW with a little help from oats. “This works well because all of the trading lambs are gone by the time demand for feed from pregnant/early lambing ewes increases. Trading stock are an excellent safety valve if the feed situation gets tight.”

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Last year grass was in short supply in the spring so the Kings were forced to sell 250 old ewes with 420 lambs at foot ($115 all counted) and 120 dry hoggets to free up feed for later lambing ewes.

Monitoring for faecal egg counts Ronnie is a great believer in monitoring thereby enabling decisions to be made early. Regular faecal egg counting is done, as is eczema spore counting in the summer/ autumn. ”We’ve done spore counts over the whole farm and know where the hot spots are so avoid them during periods of high spore counts.” The Kings on average winter 600 cattle of which about half are fed on crops plus balage for 90-100 days from mid-June to mid-September. Cattle involved include 126 R2 bulls, 40 R2 steers and 140 R1 bulls. “I break-feed all winter crops to cattle which is a bit of a chore but at least I know they are being fed.” The R2 bulls go on to crops at 425-450kg in mid-to-late June for 90-100 days. From experience Ronnie knows that if they come off the crops at the same weight as they went on, compensatory growth will enable them to be killed at 620-650kg LW before Christmas. The present bull-trading policy is to buy about 50 R2 bulls in May and kill them seven or eight months later generating a good margin. The future policy is to rear and breed all their own bulls. Ronnie checks the breeding cows. The Kings supply about 40 Hereford bulls a year to dairy farmers.

Ronnie inspecting a young crop of Pallaton Raphno.

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February 2022

Last year Buzz reared 70 four-day-old calves after buying them for between $10 and $30. “Bulls certainly earn you good money and are more flexible than steers in that you can kill them at any time.” The Kings run 40 steers as a buffer to stop bulls fighting when mobs are mixed. These are killed as R3s in the autumn at 350kg and complement the bulls well in that they help control pastures when there is rapid growth and a declining stocking rate. “We tend to make balage when the bulls are being killed to cater for the surplus grass. We couldn’t make supplements on Puketawa nor could we do any cropping or finish all our own stock.” About 50 cull R2 Hereford heifers are killed for local trade in the late autumn at between 220-240kg CW. Ronnie and Buzz are fortunate to have the experienced services of Buzz’s father Ron Falconer as a shepherd/general for two days a week and more if required.

LIVESTOCK

Dairy beef

Dairy beef – where to next? As the dairy industry moves to phase out bobby calves from the system, challenges include what to do with the lowervalue animals and where to raise them to finishing, Bob Thomson writes.

ou could be forgiven for thinking that the industry is ‘crying wolf’ over the bobby calf debacle. On the surface it looks like business as usual with no apparent change; just a lot of hot air and talk fests. But be assured, behind the scenes, a lot of stuff is happening. One major farming corporation has decided to phase-out bobby calves by 2030. And an increasing number of forward-thinking dairy farmers have already made the call to be bobbycalf-free. We also know that our dairy companies are on the case, and it is likely they will incentivise farmer suppliers to phase-out bobby calves over the next few years. But there are plenty of challenges if our two million bobby calves are to enjoy an extended life out on the land. The most obvious challenge is where to find beef finishing farms for these dairy beef calves as our pastureland succumbs to production forestry and carbon farming. This challenge is closely followed by the poor quality of the bottom-end bobby calves that

will be on offer. Beef finishers will be unlikely to purchase poor type, low-growth calves. Perhaps if they were paid handsomely to take them off the dairy farmer they might be persuaded to put up with them. A recent project I have been involved with has been looking at how to separate bobby calves into three categories based on their potential value as beef finishing animals. I found the approach a bit too restrictive, and the following table shows a more realistic four categories. These four categories are based on basic information, but the principle of calf categorisation remains a good one. While Table 1 shows four calf categories, the modelling process involved just three categories of weaned calves based on their growth potential. We did this modelling on the same pasture growth curve, so feed demand was matched with feed supply. Irrespective of whether the calves had high, medium, or low growth potential we started them off as weaners at 100kg for bull or steer calves and 90kg for heifer calves.

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“One major farming corporation has decided to phase-out bobby calves by 2030.”

If we assume a high-quality category A calf with good growth potential was bought for $500 then the relative value of medium category B and low growth potential category C calves was determined by adjusting the buying price of the calf to achieve the same gross margin as the most profitable Category A bull policy. The results from this process are shown in Table 2. The most profitable calves are the benchmark Category A Bull calves, purchased in October at 100kg for $500. The purchase price includes the cost as a five-day old calf plus the cost of rearing. If we assume the cost of the five-day old category A bull calf was $100 then the cost of rearing (milk, meal, animal health and labour) would be $400. In practice the rearing cost is higher for category C calves because they are smaller at birth, grow slower and therefore cost more to get through to target weaning weight. What is clear is the cost of rearing is at least $400 and is non-negotiable meaning that the category C heifer calf must bear the discounted price of at least minus $120 per head. Or put another way, the October bought category A bull calf is worth $620 more at calf weaning compared to a Category C

heifer calf at the same time. The message for dairy farmers is quite straight forward – produce more Category A calves otherwise your calves will be unwanted, or heavily discounted, to the point where you will need to pay a beef finisher to take them away. This modelling project also highlighted the need to be thinking about dairy beef calves on more than what they look like. Things like whether they have five white points, in the case of Friesian bull calves, or a white head in the case of steer and heifer calves, is not good enough. We need a system which is much more objective than that. The strong suggestion is that we need an Index for dairy-beef calves based on their potential value to finish profitably. The basis for an Index system could work as follows: 1. All dairy beef calf offspring are DNA tested and reported with sire and dam and an associated Dairy Beef Value Index (DBVI) within five-days of birth. The basis of this system would be: • All dairy cows and all dairy and beef sires utilised in dairy herds are DNA-profiled (many are already).

Table 1: Matrix of Calf Breed Categories A-D Dam Breed

Dairy Sire Breed Calf Sex

Friesian

Kiwi

Jersey

Beef Sire Breed

Jersey

Kiwi

Friesian

NoG

AvG

G+

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Legend A = High value calf for rearing to finish B = Medium value calf for rearing to finish C= Low value calf for rearing to finish D = Little or no calf value NoG = Beef Sire with unknown genetics AvG = Beef Sire with average genetics G+ = Beef Sire proven with above average genetics and probably AI

Table 2: The Relative Value of a Dairy-Beef Weaner (benchmarked between Sex, to Bull Category A October purchase) $500 $400 $300 $200 $100 $0 -$100 -$200

Bull CAT A

Bull CAT B

Bull CAT C

Steer CAT A

Steer CAT B

Steer CAT C

Heifer CAT A

Heifer CAT B

Heifer CAT C

October

$500

$416.50

$321

$218

$140

-$106

-$37

-$49

-$120

November

$494

$430.50

$316.50

$238.50

$168

-$57.50

$31

-$17

-$71

December

$468.50

$416

$323.50

$210

$141

-$51

$46

-$10

-$71

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February 2022

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Table 3: Top bullsfor forcarcase carcase weight had at 10 least 10 progeny processed, 2018 or earlier). Table 11. Top 20 20 bulls weight (that(that havehave had at least progeny processed, born 2018born or earlier).

Gestation length (days)

Birth weight (kg)

Weaning Age (days)

200-day weight (kg)

400-day weight (kg)

600-day weight (kg)

Ultrasound* EMA (cm2)

Carcase weight (kg)

MSA marbling score

Rib fat Depth (mm)

Charolais

282.6

39.1

77.7

187

324

469

77.2

298

257

6.1

Hereford

280.8

38.8

86.5

173

292

441

294

273

8.1

19507012H41

Angus

280.0

40.5

83.0

177

298

443

293

298

5.7

Stabilizer 165287

N/A

Stabilizer

282.0

35.7

89.3

183

312

451

73.7

293

317

6.7

Glenside Crumpy C4

1312AC0004

Simmental

280.4

36.9

80.3

185

304

449

75.8

291

306

5.9

Janefield Ed

1671AE0001

Simmental

284.0

39.3

85.7

185

309

443

77.3

290

287

6.2

Limehills Awesome X117

0677020117

Hereford

287.2

45.3

79.0

184

304

451

289

170

3.1

Koanui Briton 2044

0216122044

Hereford

284.6

37.2

81.7

178

299

441

287

269

7.7

Flagstaff Big Red E8

0759090008

Hereford

283.8

41.0

84.8

174

297

445

286

246

6.6

Koanui Unanimous 0408

0216100408

Hereford

283.8

39.9

81.3

179

304

445

286

227

5.1

Te Mania 15380

16932015380

Angus

281.5

36.7

84.5

171

293

433

285

368

7.4

Koanui Bedford 4081

0216144081

Hereford

282.6

40.7

78.8

178

299

448

285

240

4.8

Rissington Protégé 110002

145720110002

Angus

278.6

37.4

81.0

178

302

447

284

321

5.1

Rissington C200

14572015C200

Angus

278.8

33.2

82.6

177

297

432

75.5

284

390

7.3

Koanui Rocket 0219

0216000219

Hereford

283.7

38.0

83.8

179

298

437

72.5

284

266

6.7

Kakahu For Bond 13007

13300013007

Angus

281.4

38.1

86.0

178

289

424

284

261

4.7

Te Taumata Deluxe 12520

0308120520

Hereford

281.8

40.4

90.5

164

283

436

283

322

4.5

Riverton Baltic 09 183

0091090183

Hereford

284.6

39.2

90.1

175

292

436

283

226

3.8

Wirruna Echucae 99

AUWNAE99

Hereford

283.4

38.6

82.4

174

296

437

283

265

5.1

Storth Oaks K122

19507014K122

Angus

279.2

35.4

85.3

170

289

430

283

369

7.4

Sire Name

Herdbook number

Breed

Kakahu Gerry 140506

001140506E

Beechwood Doubtless

0051140527

Storth Oaks H41

73.1

75.7

73.5

Bulls used at Limestone Downs only do not have ultrasound records on their progeny.

• Every dairy dam is categorised with their Friesian and Jersey content and therefore their calf’s potential for growth e.g. greater than F12, F11 down to F8, F7 down to F4 Progeny and less (This B+LNZ Genetics Dairy-Beef Testthan Report:F4 June 2021 information is also known in most cases). • Every sire used in dairy herds is categorised with their potential for growth. Ideally all beef sires would have been progeny tested through the Dairy Beef Progeny Test. If not then their value should be discounted according to the information available. • Dairy farmers already have their MINDA system for recording their breeding stock and so it would be a small step to include the dairy beef offspring into this system. Yes, there would be a small extra cost, but the value of the information would by far exceed this investment. 2. Overlays of calf birth weight and birth date can be added to the DBVI as per client requirements. 3. Finally Relative Economic Values could be applied to the contributors of calf value in much the same way as at the Terminal Index compilation with Breedplan for beef and N-Prove for sheep. Provided the dairy beef calf was healthy and up to weight the beef finisher would have much more confidence to purchase when the Index, and associated purchase price, more objectively represented the potential of the calf to grow and finish.

How do you get a Category A calf ? Category A calves would be the sons and daughters of proven high growth rate sires out of either Friesian or Kiwi cows. High content Friesian bull calves naturally fall into this category but to get a beef sired calf produced as a Category A you need calves sired by high genetic merit bulls with proven

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February 2022

performance. An obvious place to identify and potentially source these sorts of bulls is through the Dairy Beef Progeny Test program. The latest information can be found at https://www. 15 blnzgenetics.com/files/1623975761_DBPT%20Report%20 2021-FinalV2.pdf. And for your information the top twenty bulls for carcase weight are shown in Table 3: Points to note about this report are that: • The Dairy Beef Progeny Test (DBPT) has been operating since 2015. • To date 150 bulls have been entered into the program and each year ~20 new bulls are added for testing. The breeders of the bulls entered into the DBPT have selected them on merit and so they are not just average industry bulls, they are much better than that. • The top five bulls are from five different breeds. • There are big differences, even among the top bulls. For reference the averages of the DBPT bulls for some of the traits shown are: • Gestation Length 281.5 days • BWT 37.7kg • Weaning age 85.4 days • Carcaseweight 276kg • Rib-Fat 4.7mm. • The highly ranked bulls, those that can generate Category A calves, will not be available for natural mating but will likely be available via AI at a realistic price. • More information can be found on the Beef & Lamb Genetics website https://www.blnzgenetics.com. Once on the site follow through to the Dairy Beef Progeny Test and the June 2021 results. • Bob Thomson is an AgriFirst agribusiness consultant.

ANIMAL HEALTH

Hairy shaker disease

Consequence of BVD in sheep BY: SARA SUTHERLAND HAIRY SHAKER DISEASE (HSD) CAUSES lambs to be born small, with a hairy fleece and often tremoring or trembling. This can be caused by border disease virus (BDV) or bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVD). Sheep catch border disease virus from apparently normal sheep who are persistently infected (PI) with the virus. Sheep can catch BVD from PI cattle who are shedding BVD virus. Like BVD in cattle, the impact on the lamb will depend on what stage of gestation they were infected. With ongoing exposure in a naïve flock you will see a range of effects from empty ewes at scanning, late ewes (who were infected, lost an early pregnancy, and came back in heat for the last cycle), abortions, lambs born deformed and then dying before docking, lambs born viable but with slower growth rate and higher preweaning losses, and lambs born apparently normal but carrying and shedding the virus all the time. With a single exposure you will get a few but not all of these signs. Naive means previously unexposed to the virus, so the immune system hasn't had an opportunity to make antibodies. That all sounds pretty bad. What is the consequence for a farmer who gets affected by HSD? Imagine you had a pretty good scanning result and were expecting a good docking. Come docking you notice lambs are smaller and your result is 10% less than what you were expecting. You see some lambs that are falling off when you try to muster them. After a talk with the vet and some blood tests to confirm what is going on, you realise you shouldn’t keep any ewe lambs from this year’s lamb crop – the ones that are showing signs won’t grow well enough to get to mating weight, and those that aren’t

To prevent Hairy Shaker from BVD in cattle, control BVD in your cattle herd.

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Lamb with hairy shaker disease.

showing signs might be PI lambs that will continue to spread it in the flock and affect others. You continue to see dead lambs between docking and weaning. Then you start to wonder – should you sell these lambs store so that someone else struggles to finish them? How do you make sure someone doesn’t buy the PI ewe hoggets and use them as replacements? You need to buy in replacements – how will you know you are buying healthy ones? What are the risks to your flock and how can you manage that? We only sporadically see HSD in the North Island and my experience is that it’s usually from BVD in cattle. In the South Island it is just as commonly from BVD in sheep. How to prevent this disease affecting you? To prevent Hairy Shaker from Border Disease virus in sheep, avoid mixing mobs during or just before mating, or in the first half of pregnancy. Most cases occur from naive sheep coming in contact with carriers. If sheep are in contact with the virus when they aren’t pregnant, they will recover and there are no long term detrimental effects. To prevent Hairy Shaker from BVD in cattle, control BVD in your cattle herd. About 50% of beef herds still have BVD. If your herd is afflicted with BVD you might see more empty cows, losses in calves, or young cattle with episodes of diarrhoea and weight loss. If you aren’t controlling BVD in your cattle, talk to your vet about what combination of biosecurity, testing and vaccination would work for you. If you don’t do it for your cattle, do it for your lambs. • Sarah Sutherland is a veterinarian for Veterinary Services Wairarapa.

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ANIMAL HEALTH

Vet voice

Lost export earnings BY: TREVOR COOK IN DECEMBER I SEEMED TO GET exposed to an unusually high incidence of problematic land use, none of which were new, but in abundance were concerning. I spent some time in two North Island areas in which highly valuable soils were being covered with houses. Of course that value is seen only in my eyes but to the homeowner most of that value would have been in contour and location. An irony is that the environmental cost of that land changing from livestock use to residential use is huge. The sheep and beef systems that were replaced, some of which had been very intensive, would have had a tiny environmental cost compared to houses at 15 a hectare. The cost not being acknowledged is the lost export earnings from those livestock systems. But of course the houses have to go somewhere and their accompanying pollution. Also in December I was at the forefront of the competition between hill country being used for livestock farming and it being used for carbon farming. The rhetoric calling it tree farming is just fudging what is happening by using a more friendly name. Right tree in the right place is another phrase being used when the intent of the user was never going to be

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February 2022

that selective. Again, the big cost not being acknowledged is the lost export earnings from those livestock systems, let alone other community and environment costs of whole farm tree planting. My home ranch of 25 hectares is getting closer and closer to being covered by those pesky houses. The value of that land use change to me will be big and my soils are far from being pristine.

“Right tree in the right place is another phrase being used when the intent of the user was never going to be that selective.” Those that have begun the change across the road now realise that living on heavy clay has its drawbacks. But in the meantime for me it is a pasture platform enjoying an awesome start to summer. The big cattle on finishing mode and the larger mob of year younger cattle on clean up mode is working just as planned. I have had some doubts that my deferred grazing might be surplus to requirements,

but then I do have better pasture quality due to it being there. Also working so well is the growth of my hardly pristine lawns. A year ago I wrote about the three follies of having grazing systems that require lambs and calves to be drenched every month. It was the need to mow my lawns every three or so weeks that sparked my reflection about monthly drenching. For me to not mow that frequently requires me to do something very different. The benefits of mowing a lot less are huge. Of course the big one would be that I am emitting a lot less greenhouse gas from my lawn mower. But on the other hand maybe stimulating my lawn to grow faster is capturing more CO2. It is a very messy equation and how we know at all what the relative status of emissions and CO2 sequestration can only be a guess at best. My column a year ago stirred a lot of comments and that need to make significant change has become a reality for many more farms. Two of my reasons for these “drench every four week” grazing systems to be flawed were the financial cost and liveweight gain cost. But the third reason was that the mainstay tool for managing worms, drench, has just continued to fail. More and more farms now know that they have limited fully effective drench options. So to still farm with that constraint and not have the production costs of continuing to use products less effective, there have had to be significant changes to the system. Just as changing lawn mowers would not change the need to mow, changing drenches is no longer a way to manage this major threat. Farmers have managed change extremely well over the years and mostly that change is driven by financial gain. The incentive to change and the benefits are obvious. Many changes being asked to make now do not have obvious benefits. Greenhouse gasses and riparian strips are good examples of this, so it becomes a compliance-driven change. The worm issues described above are not that visible as long as the four week approach is maintained. The costs are an accepted part of the system and the weight gain losses are not visible to the eye. The weight gain losses due to drenches not being fully effective are usually not visible. But the farms that do not need any tests for them to know something is wrong are very open to change. Intervening before that happens is surely a good investment.

DEER

Wintering

Bruce Allan inside the 760m2 Redpath wintering shed.

VELVET COMES INDOORS Wintering velvet stags indoors reduces the risks of winter grazing on a Southland farm. By Lynda Gray.

he Allan family are gearing up for a third indoor wintering shed for velvet stags. It will cost more than $100,000, but Bruce Allan says it will be money well spent. “We could grow a lot of winter crop for that money, but I view it as a long-term asset, and it mitigates some of the environmental/ animal welfare risks around intensive winter grazing.” Keeping the stags dry and off soggy paddocks to prevent pugging and pasture damage are the main reasons for the move indoors, which started in 2019 with construction of a three-pen 760sq m clear panel roofed and enclosed Redpath shed. It was built on the footprint of a former weaner wintering pad and cost about $80,000 to build plus fitout. The second shed, a 160m2 kitset Alpine was built during the 2020 lockdown. It’s a single pen that’s enclosed on the south side and has a Colorsteel and clearlight panel roof. In both sheds the ground is covered with a mix of post peelings and sawdust, with the top layer scraped out at the end of winter. The new build, another Alpine kitset covering

360m2 will be constructed in March on the east side of the other shed, and ready for winter 2022. The three sheds will have capacity for at least 350 stags. Last winter (2021) 250 stags were indoors from mid-May until the third week of August. That was earlier than the previous year because of low pasture covers in late autumn. “I wanted to keep them on grass until the start of June but started earlier because we had spare silage to feed them,” Bruce says. The older stags were separated into three agegroup pens in the Redpath shed, and all the R3s were wintered in the Alpine shed. Silage is fed daily from a silage wagon on ground along one side of the sheds. The fine chop cereal silage is easily accessed by stags through the exposed 30cm-high gap running along the side of one wall. In the first year balage was fed but stags tended to drag it back into the shed and waste it, that’s less of a problem with the silage. Bruce is very pleased with the sheds, particularly the natural light and air flow which helps keep the ground surface dry.

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February 2022

FARM FACTS • Grandview • Bruce and Robyn Allan, and AnnaMaree, Andrew and Fiona • Velvet and venison production on 79ha (75ha effective) of flat to easy-rolling hills at Charlton, near Gore. • Wintered stock • 260 MA Red velvet stags, plus 80 R2s • 180 MA Red hinds • 160 weaners

In winter 2022 all Grandview’s velvet stags will be wintered indoors.

Last winter (2021) 250 stags were indoors from mid-May until the third week of August.

The stags adapt very quickly to the indoor routine and have plenty of space to move and lie down. The only change made was the replacement of 30mm timber with 50mm timber where stags reach through to feed – the lighter timber didn’t withstand the occasional pushing and shoving from some of the stags. The $250,000-plus investment in wintering sheds over the last three years and the add-on cost of making conserved feed is a huge commitment but it fits with the Allans’ overall goal of better pasture management and soil protection. “We’re growing more grass at key times because we’re keeping the deer off the paddocks when they cause the most damage and it gets us off to a good start feeding-wise in spring.” This year’s spring pasture cover was about 25% up on an average year after good winter growth but having stags off the paddocks in late autumn and

Deer access the fine chop silage from a gap that runs at ground level along one side of the shed.

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February 2022

early spring definitely helped. Feeding the stags indoor has reduced by half the area of fodder beet grown. It’s changed the pasture renewal programme, with a cereal silage crop following the winter crop. “We’ve slowed down regrassing now that we’re doing just 4-5ha of winter crop a year. All paddocks will get turned over eventually and where needed we’ll stitch in a hybrid ryegrass.”

Sub-par results with sub-clover In 2018 (Country-Wide April 2018) Bruce Allan was in the second year of growing a sub-clover pasture to provide quality feed for deer over spring and autumn. He liked the concept of sub clover because it was likely to grow through the cooler months and reseed every year. He was also encouraged by the success that South Otago farmers Peter and Joy Wilson (Country-Wide, April 2016) were having with the hairy-leaved clover in a cold wet climate. A Monti and Denmark sub clover mix was established in 2016, and another similar mix the following year. It wasn’t cheap to grow at $475/ ha, but the initial results were encouraging – the highest ever weaning weights of fawns which Bruce attributed in part to the high quality feed. He was also hopeful about its nitrogen fixing ability, which legume expert Derrick Moot has estimated in the past to be worth about 30kg per tonne of drymatter grown into perennially nitrogen deficient pastures. However, the stumbling block was the failure of the legume to re-seed and spread which has switched him off sub-clover and on to highperforming ryegrass, red and white clover mixes. “I had the confidence to try it but in hindsight it wasn’t a good fit for our grazing system.”

CROP & FORAGE

Pasture renewal

PICTURE THE BIG PICTURE Kerry Dwyer considers the challenges of pasture renewal in 2022.

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February 2022

If your return is 20c/ kg drymatter (DM) the difference between 50% and 80% utilisation could be 4000kg DM not used or $800/ha, a sizeable lump when compared to the cost of pasture renewal. The cost of additional permanent subdivision may be up to $2000/ha (i.e. 100 metres of fencing to enclose 1ha on one side, at $20,000/km), but that is a long-term investment which has a fairly good rate of return if you maximise the pasture utilisation. Lower-cost fencing has an even better rate of return.

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February 2022

he end of 2021 has seen rampant inflation in farm costs. Pasture renewal that cost about $1000/ha a year ago is now looking to be closer to $1250/ha or higher. Meat and milk prices have risen also but it might be time to consider what you are aiming to achieve with pasture renewal. We may want to grow more grass on our farms, but can we harvest more at a profit? The three key things to consider as part of the deal are: subdivision, stock water and species. Pasture renewal is aimed at improving both pasture quantity and quality, the real benefit comes if you can harvest more of that and turn it into saleable product. Pasture utilisation is the proportion of pasture grown actually consumed by our grazing stock. While much work has been done on measuring pasture growth, far less has been done on calculating utilisation. Most estimates of pasture utilisation show a wide range from under 50% to maybe 80% with tight management of high-quality pastures. The well-known key to high utilisation of pasture is rotational grazing at well-planned intervals. To do that requires getting the mob sizes to fit the paddock size to allow a short grazing period and a reasonable recovery period; which generally means more subdivision. To make the most of the subdivision you may need to extend your stock water reticulation, another cost. Typically farm stock water systems are costed at about $200/ha on a whole-farm basis, so what is it going to cost you to add some pipe and troughs to an existing system? The catch is that if you don’t extend the water system you don’t maximise the benefit of either the pasture renewal or the additional subdivision, it is a package deal. The other important factor to consider is species, which is a double-barrel item being pasture species and stock species/class. After 35 years of farming and consultancy it still irritates me to watch pasture production decline rapidly three to five years after being sown. We know new pastures are more productive than old pastures but I want a mix that is still looking reasonable by the time we look at renewing it at about 10 years of age. I use the analogy that sprinters seldom last a marathon distance. A fast-establishing species

Much work has been done on measuring pasture growth, far less has been done on calculating utilisation.

that looks great in the first couple of years is not going to be looking so good at years five-10 unless you can pamper it through any challenges. Consider what species can handle your environment and management over the longer term and consider a mix of species and cultivars for longevity. I am not suggesting a 20-species mix including sunflowers, our agronomy knowledge is actually better than having to use a blunderbuss approach. A consideration if you extend your pasture mix is to fit your sowing times, rates, sowing methods and early grazing to fit that mix, which might well mean changing your management systems. More commonly farmers will expect new pastures to fit existing management but is that giving the best results short and long term? Also think about how you are going to use the new pasture - what stock is going to give you the best return from the new pasture? Finishing lambs or cattle might give a return of 30c/kg DM while breeding ewes on maintenance are well under 20c/kg DM for much of the year. An autumn-sown new pasture grazed by ewes pre-lamb is going to return up to 60c/kg DM, a better return than feeding them a maintenance ration of brassica at the same time. To get the best return on pasture renewal, have a good think about the big picture. Additional subdivision and water reticulation are a longerterm investment that allow improved pasture utilisation which improve the return on overall investment. Consider what stock will give you the best return at various times, and consider that management might have to change.

CROP & FORAGE

Porina

EARLY BIRD GETS THE

WORM

Morgan Inness reports on the benefit of monitoring for porina.

asture damage from porina seen by many farmers around the country this winter and spring, has no doubt raised the question of “why was it so bad this year?” Many farmers have sprayed too late or have not sprayed large enough areas of their farms and have seen severe pasture damage. It helps to have some basic understanding of the biology, life cycle and benefits of monitoring for controlling porina. Porina is the common name for a group of moths and caterpillars found in New Zealand, some of which significantly affect pasture production and plant composition in our pastures. All porina species have one generation per year; however, different species fly at different times. There are typically one to three main flight periods per season depending on location. Generally the South Island locations experience a later spring and a mid-summer main flight. Many North Island areas have a main flight in later summer to early autumn but these timings can vary.

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February 2022

Figure 1: Porina damaged pasture in the central North Island observed during November. Source: (Perrin Ag 2021).

Figure 2: Cost of porina to sheep and beef or dairy production. The change in slope between 40 and 60/sq m reflects the change from a grazing to a denuding pest. Source (Ferguson et al. 2019). 500

4500 4000 3500 3000

300

2500 2000

200

1500 1000

100

500 0

0 0

80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 Porina/m2

Pathogen control

The moths themselves do not feed and only live for a few days. However, females will lay several thousand eggs during this time. Eggs are jettisoned by females during flights over several hundred metres. Eggs typically take three to six week to hatch depending on the temperature, and at higher temperatures eggs will hatch faster (above 25C the eggs will die). Pasture damage starts to occur when the newly hatched caterpillars living on the top of the soil in leaf litter and at plant bases start to feed on surrounding plant matter. As they grow they start to construct burrows into the soil that can reach 30cm deep. At this stage caterpillars will emerge from their burrows at night and feed on leaves close to ground level and take them down into the burrow. Their reluctance to move far from their burrows consequently kills plant crowns opening bare patches within pastures.

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February 2022

Porina numbers are strongly affected by naturally occurring pathogens in pasture. In a stable environment such as tussock grasslands or old pastures, these pathogens tend to regulate porina populations so numbers are low (less than 15/square metres). Many pathogens found in pastures are dependent on porina, so caterpillars must be present in sufficient but not damaging numbers. When this interaction between pathogen and porina numbers is disrupted by drought, cultivation, or application of some insecticides a damaging outbreak of porina is likely. Typically, these outbreaks will occur two-four years after a disruption event. Porina are grazers at low densities (20-40/sq m) but are denuders at higher densities (40+/sq m). At low densities, porina will consume an equivalent to one ewe with a lamb (one stock unit). However at higher densities the amount of pasture consumed by porina can be a lot more costly. It has been estimated that the loss in pasture area from one caterpillar is 50 square cm (Ferguson et al. 2019). Figure 1 shows a pasture recovering from severe porina damage. While hard to see in the image, the re-growing pasture species are predominantly weeds. As a result the productivity of this pasture has been dramatically reduced. Not only has the direct loss in pasture cost the farmer through reduced feed intakes, there is either an additional cost to regrass and get the pasture back to a productive state or a longer ongoing loss of productivity. As Figure 2 shows, the damage caused by porina when populations increase above 40/m2 can have a dramatic effect on a farm business's bottom line. Therefore monitoring and implementing mitigation strategies is key to reducing the economic impact of porina.

$/ha dairy

$/ha sheep and beef

400

Monitoring Figure 3: Peak porina moth flights (solid line), approximate caterpillar size (mm) (dashed line) and time of larval moults (small vertical lines). Source: (Zydenbos et al. 2013). 600

Full insecticide rates after this point

Peak moth flight and egg laying

500

Caterpillar length (mm)

40 Diflubenzuron less effective from here

400

300 20 200

100 Caterpillars can be seen at about 20mm long

0 -60

0 -30

120

150

180

Days from peak moth flight

210

240

270

300

Moths flying per night

The most important factor in dealing with porina is monitoring from when the main flights occur. It should be noted different species can fly at different times so continued monitoring over the late spring, summer and autumn period is key depending on your location. Peak flights are very obvious; an outside light will attract moths in large numbers and often observing this is all that is needed to recognise them. It is recommended that at risk pastures should be sampled eight-12 weeks after the peak flight. An at risk pasture can be defined as: • A new pasture which is under four years old. • A long pasture which has been saved for feeding in the autumn/winter. At eight weeks, caterpillars are just 10-15mm long so searching has to be thorough. However the majority of caterpillars will be either on the soil surface or 3-4cm deep at most. Between

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February 2022

12-16 weeks post-flight, digging should be between 5-15cm and after 16 weeks at 2025cm deep. It is best practice to do at least 10 representative holes per pasture. As Figure 3 shows, eggs start to hatch from two-three weeks after peak moth flight. From this point until week 12 it is highly recommended that diflubenzuron, insect growth regulator that prevents the larvae from moulting, is used. At this stage, caterpillars are small, meaning they are causing little to no damage, they are on or near the soil surface and moulting frequently, which allows diflubenzuron to work effectively. Diflubenzuron is relatively safe for users and many non–target insects, and it usually leaves sufficient porina in pastures to allow the persistence of naturally occurring pathogens that suppress any residual population. This insecticide is also considerably cheaper than the organophosphate insecticide option. The price for diflubenzuron is $19/ha, compared to organophosphate insecticides $48/ha, plus application costs. After week 12 from peak moth flight, organophosphate insecticides are the only option to controlling porina populations. This is often the most common option for farmers as it requires less knowledge about pest development but unfortunately has a wider negative environmental impact and greater safety risks.

Financial analysis of monitoring The time and effort it takes to monitor porina levels is often overlooked by many farmers and therefore a reactive approach is often taken to control porina after the pasture damage has been seen. The financial analysis in Table 1 demonstrates the financial impact of either leaving the monitoring of porina late or not monitoring at all compared to monitoring early. The financial analysis represents a theoretical central North Island farm which is typically one of the areas in NZ that can be badly affected by porina outbreaks. This analysis is based on the time period from lambing to weaning. However it should be noted that the effects of porina will also have a financial cost both before lambing and after weaning. The main flight event would have occurred during the prior summer or autumn.

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Table 1: Financial impact of monitoring for porina early, late and not at all, on a per hectare basis. Normal year

Early monitoring

Late monitoring

No monitoring

Target lamb finishing weight (kg CWT)

16.5

Schedule price ($ kg/CWT)

$7.50

Average lamb weaning weight (kg LW)

$3.50

Store price ($/kg) Target lambs to be finished (hd/ha) Number of porina/m2

100

200

Pasture loss (%)

2.5

100

Lambs finished (hd/ha)

Lambs sold store (hd/ha)

$1,856.25

$1,800.00

$1,584.38

$1,207.50

$0.00

$79.00

$108.00

$0.00

$1,856.25

$1,664.75

$1,204.50

$558.75

-10%

-28%

-54%

Income ($/ha) Spray cost ($/ha) P & L ($/ha) Reduction in potential P & L

Note: For the late monitoring scenario only, both the 7.5 store and 7.5 prime lamb numbers were rounded up to 8.

The key assumptions are: • Helicopter cost of $60/ha for insecticide application. • In the early monitoring scenario porina are sprayed with a diflubenzuron based product. This scenario assumes the farmer has monitored for the main flight and porina levels on the ground. • In the late monitoring scenario porina are sprayed with an organophosphate insecticide. This scenario is based on the farmer controlling porina only once physical pasture damage has been seen. • The percentage of pasture loss in each scenario determines the number of lambs that will unlikely be finished and therefore sold store at weaning.

It should be noted that pasture loss was calculated using the pasture area eaten by one caterpillar of 50sq cm. As Table 1 shows, monitoring early for porina can greatly reduce its impact on farm profitability with a 10% reduction in profit relative to a non-flight year compared to a 28% and 54% reduction in profit if monitoring late or not monitoring at all. The true cost of porina on a farm’s profitability would likely be much higher than the figures in Table 1, with the additional loss of feed before lambing (winter) and particularly after weaning potentially impacting on ewe body condition. While the appearance of porina on the farm will invariably result in some profit erosion, proactive monitoring will allow for less-expensive intervention and lower pasture damage. When it comes to porina management, the early bird really does get the worm. • Morgan Inness is a consultant with Perrin Ag.

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO

CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH Overcoming a specific form of writer’s block, Nicola Dennis sorts through the nuts and bolts of human awareness of climate change.

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February 2022

ENVIRONMENT

limate change. Could there be a bigger buzz kill? I’ve been encouraged numerous times over the years to write something on climate change. My computer is filled with halffinished drafts, but I’ve always pulled the pin. It’s too complicated. It’s too political. It’s too depressing and my poor little brain is not trained in climate science. If we have crossed paths professionally, you might be thinking “wait, isn’t your name stamped on a bunch of greenhouse gas modelling stuff?” and yes, it is. But, the agricultural side of things is fairly simple. Pasture absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, livestock eat the pasture and produce a reasonably predictable amount of greenhouse gases (most notably methane and nitrous oxide) as well as the tasty meals, cozy fibres and useful byproducts that pay the bills. Without new methane-busting technologies (and possibly letting dicyandiamide, DCD, back off the naughty seat) then the greenhouse gas calculations for New Zealand agriculture are fairly simple; the more pasture consumed, the higher the emissions. If you don’t have a pre-existing beef with animal agriculture, then there’s not that much to fight over. Everybody is striving towards the most efficient use of pasture whether their primary motivator is profit, animal welfare, or environmental impact. If the climate change problem was limited to Kiwi agriculture, it would be solved by now. But, outside the farm gate there is a bewildering wasteland of fossil fuels, political pledges, competing ideologies, energy crises, wishful thinking, grifters, and greenwashing. And if Captain Planet intends to show up to fix this mess, then he is taking his sweet time getting here. So how about you and I take a deep breath and try to get our head around some of the science?

When did we start caring about carbon emissions? I have been curious about when the climate change panic bells started ringing. Some say the alarm was raised by T.C. Chamberlain in 1899 which I found oddly reassuring. Somehow the thought of humanity investigating/ignoring the issue for more than 120 years makes me feel less culpable. I love to dredge up historical science literature. Back then, writing was the only way to express yourself and the old dudes really knew how to craft a manuscript.

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February 2022

Plus, in the biological papers I am more accustomed to, the authors often masterfully describe experiments that would lead to prison sentences today. All that is to say that T.C Chamberlain’s 1899 paper “An Attempt to Frame a Working Hypothesis of the Cause of Glacial Periods on an Atmospheric Basis” is an exquisite read, if you are used to consuming today’s dry and emotionally vacant science papers. But, I couldn’t find any explicit warnings about the burning of fossil fuels in the paper’s 40 pages. Back then, the major question was how to explain the geological evidence of ice ages in the earth’s history. What was causing the earth to cool? Was it caused by the earth wandering off into a cool patch in space? Not exactly, says Chamberlain who does a good job of distilling the chemical properties of rocks, marine wildlife and atmospheric gases (hard won evidence stemming from holding test tubes of gas in the sunlight and measuring the infrared radiation of moonlight) into a working hypothesis that natural fluctuations in the amount of carbon dioxide slowly warm and cool the earth. Chamberlain points out that large deposits of coal indicate there were periods long ago when carbon accumulation was outpacing carbon release. But he seems to stop short of saying “maybe don’t put all that carbon back into the atmosphere”. To be fair to Chamberlain, this paper was only written five years after the invention of the automobile and 75 years after the invention of cement. The idea that humans would seek to burn every last drop of dinosaur was probably not on his radar.

Global cooling crisis As far as I can tell, it was G.S. Callendar in 1938 who was the first scientist to postulate that burning fossil fuels was heating things up. Armed with some historical carbon dioxide levels and temperature records, Callendar fought against the conventional wisdom that the ocean was helpfully absorbing all humanity’s carbon dioxide emissions. His contemporaries argued that the amount of carbon dioxide in the land and sea vastly outweighed the amount in the atmosphere, ergo the ocean eats our waste. Despite being on the right side of history, the tone of Callendar’s paper is more “yay humans are staving off the next deadly ice age” rather than “maybe we should stop and think about what we are doing”. Climate change research picks up throughout the 1950s and 60s as methods for measuring gases improve. But during this time, smog and acid rain are presenting a

Measurement type:

Atmospheric carbon dioxide over time Long ago

Quite long ago

Ice core

Not so long ago

Direct

Recent-ish

Smartphones invented

Television invented

Scientists start taking ice core samples

First automobile

Cement invented

Humans start recording history

Dogs tamed

Humans start farming

End of last ice age

Start of last ice age

250

Hello Homo Sapians

300

Antartic glaciers form

Parts per million

350

First recorded use of a firearm

Horses domesticated Woolly Mammoth go extinct

400

Year

2000

1950

1900

1850

Source: EPA's Climate Change Indicators in the United States: www.epa.gov/climate-indicators

real issue. In fact, the smog was blocking sunlight and causing a global cooling effect. If humans couldn’t get on top of their sulphur dioxide emissions (the chief cause of smog) then we were sending ourselves into the next ice age. The mainstream media, predictably, misunderstood the time frames involved for the next ice age and pretty much told everyone to grab their snowsuits. Anyway, humanity works out how to stem some of its coal use and invents nifty things like catalytic converters and adBlue etc to reduce sulphuric emissions from cars. The global cooling crisis is solved. A victory for mankind! Except fixing this problem really takes the brakes off for global warming. There was also the hole in the ozone layer to fix too so that humans wouldn’t be fried by ultraviolet radiation. Team Humans kicked that problem’s butt, but ozone (while very helpful) is also a greenhouse gas. By the 1980s the smog had cleared and it was time to start panicking in earnest about rising temperatures. In 1988 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed and has been churning out gigantic, soul-destroying reports since then.

0 1800

-4000

-8000

-12,000

-100,000

-200,000

-300,000

-400,000

-500,000

-600,000

-700,000

-800,000

200

How is global temperature assessed? The temperature side of things is definitely a brain teaser. A few degrees in either direction is the difference between the next ice age or desiccating the land. In fact, there are apparently pathways for global warming to trigger the next ice age by melting too much ice at once and disrupting the temperature distribution of the earth. We don’t have time to school up on ocean currents and advance thermodynamics. Let’s just get our heads around how they assess global temperature. So, I think we can back ourselves to work out how temperatures are measured. Thermometers in weather stations etc. But because temperatures vary so widely from place to place and season to season, what is reported is the temperature anomaly. That is how much warmer or cooler is today’s temperature than the “average”. The average is often the past 30 years of data for that station at this time of year. But it can sometimes be relative to a different time point. NASA’s earth observatory reports temperatures relative to 1951-1980. An extra degree or so in my hometown Dunedin, no big deal. A nice change even.

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“By the 1980s the smog had cleared and it was time to start panicking in earnest about rising temperatures. In 1988 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed and has been churning out gigantic, soul-destroying reports since then.” The whole world taking on enough heat to bring the average ocean temperature up by a couple of degrees is a big deal because of winds and currents and ice and, um, stuff and things.

When dinosaurs roamed earth How they estimate global temperature and greenhouse gas levels in prehistoric times is interesting. It involves digging very deep holes and pondering over the things they find down there. A pastime many farmers also dabble in. The Antarctic ice core experiments involve tunnelling through 3km of ice to measure gases that have been trapped for up to 800,000 years. Sounds cool (pun intended). The age of the samples and the global temperature at the time are estimated by measuring isotopes. I spent hours revisiting my very dusty chemistry knowledge to bring you the next few sentences so I would like you to cherish them. Basically, the chemical elements that we know and love like carbon, oxygen, hydrogen (and all their friends that we had to memorise off the periodic table) can have different forms that do the same thing but are different weights because they pick up or lose neutrons. For the purpose of this explanation the chemical elements are farm utes and neutrons are the crap you store in them. You and your neighbour might both have Hiluxes. They look and act the same. But you’ve had yours for longer so it’s filled with more baling twine and pipe fittings. If the weather is warm, both cabs will start filling up with ice cream wrappers and empty drink bottles. From careful observation we can estimate how long a farm vehicle has gone between mechanic visits by the amount of clutter it has accumulated. If that is too voodoo for you, there are also fossils. It is possible to predict, say, the amount

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of carbon dioxide millions of years ago by counting the amount of stomata (the organs used for gas exchange) on fossilised leaves. The more carbon dioxide that is around, the less work plants have to do to get it into their leaves. Or you can track the whereabouts/extinction of temperaturesensitive animals in the fossil records. If we track back to the time of dinosaurs, millions of years ago, carbon dioxide levels were very high. Up in the thousands of parts per million which is much higher than the 650ppm projected for the year 2100 if we don’t get our act together. The plants were ginormous and the hot weather was perfect for monster-sized lizards. So I guess the good news is that, contrary to popular belief, the planet itself is not in danger. The bad news is that the fossil records are littered with massextinction events where climate changes have extinguished the majority of life on earth. Well now, see that wasn’t depressing at all.

Searching for a positive end message No wait I can turn this around. I will find a positive message. You and I will (probably) die of old age before the end game kicks off. No, I don’t know enough about climate switch points to promise that but look at all the cool things humans have achieved in our brief time in existence. Humans go from “I wonder if wireless telephones are possible” to “Hey Google, fetch me a drone” in a blink of an eye. We’ve got a fighting chance. As I write this, a company has just announced that they are going to start synthesising flour using carbon dioxide sucked directly from the atmosphere. Quite literally manufacturing things from thin air. And, I have just discovered a very reassuring podcast called “39 Ways to Save the Planet”. Yeah, we’ll sort this out.

COMMUNITY

Teamwork

HARD YAKKA AND TEAMWORK BY: KEN GEENTY

ard yakka has always been an accepted part of farming. As in other pursuits like sport, it’s not only a necessity but helps build achievement and great camaraderie among the work team. The everyday grind of farming not only sees bouts of hard physical work but underlying is the constant mental drive for completion of goals in the farm plan, particularly with owners and managers. A worthy aim is a confident feeling of control, enhanced with effective teamwork and risk management for things you can’t control. Being on top of a smooth-running farm business is the ultimate. This author has been fortunate to experience some of the hard yakka and energetic personalities contributing to teamwork and achievement in both sport and farming. An early highlight for me at Napier Boys High School was the opportunity, along with good mate Mike Mohi, to complete a shearing course with the famous Bowen brothers, Godfrey and Ivan. With engaging personalities they instilled not only shearing skills but a strong work ethic. In the hazy photo from around 1960, Mike and I are with then minister of Agriculture, Mr Hayman, enthusing about

Above: Many agree the hard work and satisfaction of achievement in rugby and other team sports has parallels in farming.

shearing after one of these lessons and at the opening of the new school woolshed. In those days the school had a crack rugby first XV unbeaten by other schools and with several Hawke’s Bay under 23 reps including Mike and myself. He was also the assistant coach of our team. We were both to eventually work in farm-related jobs with Mike becoming a high-profile figure in Maori land conservation as well as running a farm and contract shearing gang. While still at school he had been considered by then Hawke’s Bay selector Colin Le Quesne to play at the tender age of 17 for Hawke’s Bay against the touring British Lions, only to have it scuttled by then school headmaster and rugby union chairman ‘Honk’ Henderson. As well as being multi-talented Mike was a character. During the usual reminiscing among a group at a recent rugby reunion Mike was heard to say ‘I sidestepped ex-All Black Kel Tremaine once …. he had the ball!’ Many agree the hard work and satisfaction of achievement in rugby and other team sports has parallels in farming with good teamwork paramount. This is often seen when farmers and researchers work

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February 2022

Mike Mohi and Ken Geenty talking shearing with then agriculture minister Mr Hayman at the 1960s opening of Napier Boys High School’s new woolshed.

together with productive results. A great example for me was the development of genetics programme Sheep Improvement Ltd in the late 1990s. The success in joining the likes of Animalplan, Flocklinc and others into an innovative system hinged on some very good teamwork between farmers and geneticists. The skilful building of the system relied on experts like Drs John McEwen and Neil Clarke and Prof Dorian Garrick. Farmer acceptance and implementation was ensured by producer organisation and sheep council farming leaders spearheaded by Lochie McGillivray, Robin Campbell and Jeremy Austin. For me as project manager this was a formidable team which was always going to get the job across the line with spectacular ongoing benefits to sheep farmers and the wider industry. Examples of committed hard work in farming are plentiful. A first hand experience I had was working with Rangitikei farmer Denis Hocking in the early 1990s when I share-grazed my hobby flock of Merinos on his farm near Bulls. Good friend and Wools of NZ workmate Richard Gavigan and I helped Denis shear his 1200 hefty Coopworth ewes. On the final afternoon we finished work with about 75 ewes still in the catching pens and on asking him if he needed us the next day Denis replied ‘no don’t worry boys I’ll come back after dinner and knock them off’. As a part-time shearer I was knackered and gobsmacked at the relaxed and matter-of-fact attitude of hard-working Denis, though Richard, being a fitness fanatic, pretty much took the hard work in his stride. We had both benefited from occasional honing of our shearing skills with Robin Kidd’s Wools of NZ instructors. We always enjoyed visiting the Hocking farm as combined with the hard yakka was much innovation and interest. With high university qualifications Denis ran sound sheep and cattle enterprises combined with farm forestry which saw nearly equal areas of trees harvested and planted annually with novelty use sometimes of a couple of Clydesdales to pull logs out. The trees were not only pine monocultures for timber but included a variety of other species like cypress, blackwood and eucalypts. Denis had long been a leading figure in farm forestry. Hard work by farmers is often subjected to the ‘work smarter not harder’ mantra. A classic example was related to me by a farm adviser friend who said he arrived one day at Joe’s farm to find him sweating over the hand-piece ‘button holing’ his large flock of ewes prior to the rams going out. On politely asking Joe why he was doing this it was resolved there would be absolutely no benefit to animal health, performance and lambing percentage. After further discussion it was agreed by Joe that his energy would be better spent on other priority activities and the

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February 2022

Mike Mohi and Ken Geenty talking shearing with then agriculture minister Mr Hayman at the 1960s opening of Napier Boys High School’s new woolshed.

The balance between getting the job done as part of your operational plan and spending time fine-tuning the strategic side is often difficult to achieve.

job was abruptly abandoned. The balance between getting the job done as part of your operational plan and spending time fine-tuning the strategic side is often difficult to achieve. This is where teamwork comes in with other members of your family and/or work force, as well as rural professionals. Often meaning a good proportion of time spent on office work to ensure the farm plans are alive and well and being effectively implemented. The old and sometimes ingrained fear by farmers that they’d be labelled lazy if caught inside by a phone call during the day is long gone. The benefits of including off-farm help, perhaps from your farm adviser, with farm planning and operations can be enormous. A classic example for me was a farm adviser acquaintance once quoted as saying to a farmer client ‘spend $500 on me and I’ll make you $5000’. Such a cost:benefit ratio of 1:10 is not uncommon underlining the great results possible from outside advice. The above example reminds me of an amusing incident when I happened to be sitting next to a farmer once on a passenger flight out of Christchurch. After striking up a conversation about farming and responding that I was involved in research and development he abruptly said ‘oh, so you’re one of those farm adviser jokers?’ I reacted by recounting the above example of potential benefits from farm advisers. The farmer, obviously a man of few words, seemed uninterested by not responding and carrying on reading his book. Then after we had disembarked the aircraft he eagerly sought me out in the terminal and asked ‘what was that farm adviser’s name again?’.

RUNNING FOR THEIR FUTURE Long-distance running for charity has been a big boost for two young North Canterbury men, Annabelle Latz writes.

George was great support for Ben during his run.

he love for the rural sector will always be there for Ben O’Carroll and George Black. These two youngsters know its path can be varied and challenging, demanding mental toughness. This skill is sharpened by tying up their running shoe laces and hitting the road. Last November Ben, 30, who grew up in Waikari in North Canterbury, ran 111km from the Trust Hotel in Cheviot to the Carlton Hotel in Christchurch, raising $25,274 for Movember Foundation. Last June George, 25, who grew up just down the road on a sheep and beef (now dairy) farm in Culverden, ran 100km in his gumboots from The Peaks in Hawarden to Deans Avenue Christchurch, raising $20,655 for the North Canterbury Rural Support Trust. Their efforts left a huge feeling of gratitude and satisfaction. “It’s all about the mental toughness, the waves you go through, and coming out the other side,” George says. After high school, Ben headed to Lincoln University completing a Diploma in Agriculture. He cut his teeth shepherding at Matukituki Station near Wanaka, with an old huntaway bitch and a two-year old heading dog. The opportunity to start a scanning business arose when he was 23. “I thought about the money that could be made, and

the potential of farm ownership through that,” Ben says. Omihi-based now, BocScan Ultrasound keeps him busy for part of the year, the remaining months spent tailing and crutching for Clean Crutch Contracting all over North Canterbury, Central Otago and Southland, and Southern Sheep Services in Gore. He says farming has so many regulations these days and the price of farms is so high, making it harder or impossible for youngsters to get into ownership. “Hard graft, business ownership and farm management positions all help, and there’s more families helping younger ones getting into farming, because it’s nearly impossible to do it by yourself.” Ben enjoys the physical and mental demands of owning his own business, admitting he’s learned a lot in the past eight years. “At 23 I was clueless and didn’t know what I was doing, it was with the help of family members and dad that I got through the early years.” Accuracy is vital because he’s providing farmers with data that will dictate a major part of their annual income. “Lambing percentage wise, this is improving all the time, farmers are investing in getting good feed into their ewes.” To keep on top of things mentally, Ben started running about last April, swapping it for the beers.

"At 23 I was clueless and didn’t know what I was doing, it was with the help of family members and dad that I got through the early years."

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February 2022

“I’ve really enjoyed the mental toughness side of it, getting home from work and putting on my running shoes. It’s made me feel good about myself.” Movember was approaching, so on November 1 he dedicated the 111km run to this cause. Having dealt with a patch of mental health issues, Ben saw this run as therapy and a way to help others. “I’d been running 50-60km per week, but I’d always wanted to get into ultra distances. I thought it might take a couple of years though.” He admitted people would think he was mad for trying that. “I knew I was mentally tough, I just hoped my body would hold up.” Ben knew he had to start slow, enjoy the good moments, and embrace the tough parts. He was very happy with his run, completing the 111km in a shade over 13 hours. He had company throughout, including George for the second half which was much appreciated when Ben had to dig deep running the final section into Christchurch. “I got pretty emotional at times and some parts were really tough, but it was incredible and I was on a massive high afterwards.” Ben has been thanked and congratulated by strangers and friends, many telling him running has helped their motivation and mental health too. “It’s a really amazing feeling to make a difference like that, I feel like a better person for doing it.” George enjoyed being carefree running around on the farm as a kid, but near the end of high school decided to swap the text books for a rasp and toe clips, learning the trade of a farrier. He shod horses for four years which he thoroughly enjoyed, both the precision of the job and the people interaction. During that time his parents bought a 650-hectare farm in Pyramid Valley where they farm beef, dairy cross, and grow grain, to complement the 220ha farm in Culverden where they are now in their ninth year of dairy farming. George’s older brother Ben was the driving force behind the conversion. The complete in-house farming system ethos excited George, and he saw an opportunity to also be involved, so he bade farewell to shoeing horses and took to the farm. “That was really cool, I did a fair bit of fencing and development on it when we first moved on, which required precision just like the shoeing.” They took the farm over in February 2016 and the three-year drought broke a month later in March. Its main use is winter grazing the dairy herd from Culverden and growing out the dairy replacements. They also grow grain and use it as a support block to finish a few beef cross animals out of the dairy herd, and cut and carry feed to the dairy farm. George enjoyed the stock work and the satisfaction of producing well fed animals, but knew he had to

make a break financially to set himself up for the future. “I wanted to do my own thing, see how far I could go.” Almost a year ago George saw an opportunity to move into real estate, joining up with Bayleys in Rangiora. The money side of things was appealing, to save for a farm in the future and allowing financial freedom now. “I liked the idea of having pressure put on me. It’s challenging, it’s a mental game.” He said similarities with farming include the sevenday-a-week expectation. “It’s sink and swim stuff, there is no fall back.” Buying and selling in the residential and lifestyle market, George says the people side of things is really enjoyable, as well as networking and learning about another side of the rural sector. “The aim of our Pyramid Valley farm was to be self-sufficient and to cut out agents clipping the ticket buying and selling stock and feed for the dairy farm, so it’s ironic I have become a commission-based agent myself.” He admits the farming ladder is tough, he’s seen a few mates getting into farm ownership through family, but buying one takes some thinking outside of the box. “Corporate farming is making it harder, and the carbon thing is driving the big farm sales.” Running has always been a good time for head space for George, who’s run a couple of marathons and appreciates the confidence it gives him to keep pushing through, getting the bad patches and having to carry on. The Rural Support Trust was a group he wanted to support in his gumboot run, particularly after the drought that hit North Canterbury hard in 2021. “It was an awesome thing to do. That level of satisfaction was massive, I was on a high for about three days.” His footwear of choice worked a treat, and certainly didn’t hold him up. With just a couple of early stomach issues that sorted themselves out, George reached Deans Ave in just over 12 hours. He simply told himself there was no way he was not going to complete it. “I had a couple of blisters, but they went really well and yes I’m still using them!” He wasn’t expecting the run to relate as well to life as it did, and he was humbled by how much people’s response resonated with his effort. “I think people like the idea that you’ve run 100km. He says a lot of people think they can’t do it, but they can. Ben and George are both looking forward to the next big run, perhaps lifting the distance to 100 miles. “I’d run 160km in gumboots, but 200km might be stretching it… you’d be asking for trouble wouldn’t you?” George says.

SOLUTIONS

Higher costs combined with a lack of supply may lead to fewer pest control options being used, causing dire circumstances for pest and disease management.

Drastic policies will hike inputs BY: MARK ROSS AMBITIOUS TARGETS TO REDUCE carbon emissions has forced China to make drastic policy changes, resulting in strict measures to control energy supply. The global market will be caught in the crossfire of China’s measures to reduce its environmental footprint, with ambitious goals to be carbon neutral by 2060. Although noble in cause, the spin-off will be further price hikes for goods on top of an already strained supply chain. Depending on the economic outlook for our primary industries, farmers and growers will either absorb the price hikes, pass them on, or change production. Inevitably, food prices will keep creeping upwards. With pressure to meet environmental targets, China had to redefine its reliance on coal. In 2020, about 57% of China’s total energy consumption came from this most carbon-intensive fossil fuel, according to a report commissioned by CropLife Asia. In September 2020, China announced plans to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral before 2060. A policy towards carbon neutrality was published in August last year, much

of which involves controlling electricity supply. Any company sourcing from China could be affected by a resulting lack of energy availability. Limitations on production will be supply chain-wide, from mining to pesticide formulators. A limit on the number of days many Chinese chemical companies and their raw materials suppliers can manufacture is expected. This will have wide-ranging impacts on the supply and price of goods from its manufacturing plants. Exacerbating the supply issues was the ban of Australian coal imports amid growing tensions between the two countries. With temporary suspensions of operation, Chinese agrichemical companies face shortages of raw materials and electricity supply at the same time. The ongoing lack of power availability will likely increase active ingredient prices and other farm inputs. Forecasts of lower crop prices in key markets could preclude growers from absorbing price increases. A move away from fertiliser-intensive crops, such as maize, in favour of those with lower

fertiliser requirements, such as pulses, could eventuate. Through reduced availability from China and high gas prices in Europe, the high cost of fertilisers is reportedly impacting grower planting intentions in the United States. There are indications that this could spread further. Growers may forgo certain applications in favour of non-chemical methods of pest control (e.g. ploughing in the place of pre-plant herbicides). Ironically, this will increase agricultural emissions, as ploughing releases carbon into the atmosphere and uses more fuel to power the farm machinery. The most favourable solution is to use pest control products, according to label instructions, only when necessary. Farmers and growers can adopt Integrated pest management plans such as crop rotation, use of locally adapted or pest-resistant/ tolerant varieties and manipulating planting/harvest dates to avoid pests. • Mark Ross is chief executive of Agcarm, the industry association for companies that manufacture and distribute crop protection and animal health products.

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February 2022

BEEF FARMER A WINNER

AACo boss Hugh Killen: Award recognises determination and passion.

Big beef joins Zanda Award

BOOKS

AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST integrated cattle and beef producer, Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) is to partner the annual transTasman Zanda McDonald Award. AACo owns and operates stations, feedlots and farms comprising around 6.4 million hectares in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Managing director and chief executive Hugh Killen says the company can play a role in helping develop the next generation of industry leaders.

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He says AACo has been helping grow agriculture in Australia for almost 200 years and our association with the Zanda McDonald Award continues this legacy. The Zanda McDonald Award is all about making a difference in agriculture. It recognises determination and passion, giving the winner an opportunity to develop their skills and make a lasting difference.

Northland beef farmer Mack Lynn won the MaxCare feeder competition just in time for Christmas. Mack Lynn and his fiancé Mathilde Schwarz of Lynn Brothers Farm, Haruru, Bay of Islands, are the winners of the McKee 60 Teat Gravity Calf Feeder, valued at $7795. Lynn Brothers specialise in rearing a mixed variety of calves which are on-sold to other farmers or finished on the property. They have recently made a significant investment into expanding their rearing sheds and increased the number of calves reared. “It was perfect timing as we were looking at purchasing a new feeder,” Mack says. “When we started using MaxCare, we were very impressed by the mixability and consistency of the product, which positively contributes to the rearing of our calves.” Celebrating their third anniversary in the New Zealand market, MaxCare in conjunction with PGG Wrightson ran an in-store competition through the 91 PGG Wrightson stores across both North and South Island, with more than 747 farmers entering. MaxCare specialise in infant animal nutrition. The MaxCare range of milk replacers has been specifically formulated using high quality ingredients to ensure optimum health and nutrition in infant animals.

• Visit aaco.com.au

We have a range of books for sale on our website:

Go to: www.nzfarmlife.co.nz/shop

February 2022

FARMING IN FOCUS

Te Keo farm; clockwise from top left: Te Keo farm entrance; Hadley McKay (8) in the turnip crop; Te Keo farm dogs Rex (Tan) and Jean; Weaned lambs.

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February 2022

Top left: Hurrah: Columnist Chris Biddles in his wheelchair with grand daughter Brooke. Top right: An overnight tramp for columnist Gaye Coates and her family to Tutaekuri Hut allowed an escape from some technology. Centre: Columnist Charlotte Rietveld’s relatives visit from the city for the school holidays. Above right: The King family homestead and horse arena in northern Wairarapa. Above left: Long-distance runner George Black enjoys being part of the family farm in Pyramid Valley.

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February 2022

On the Fence right now ?

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February 2022