Coast & Country News - June 2019

Ellen and Jesiah Alexander, of Alexander Organics, own an organic herd and sell raw milk from their family’s property in Cambridge. Read more about their certified organics operation on pages 6-7. Photo: Catherine Fry.

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COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Getting that edge Welcome to winter! Well, it hasn’t actually got that cold yet but surely lower temperatures will creep in soon.

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Some readers will have finished kiwifruit harvest, others might be on the cusp of the new dairy season, and organised lifestylers will have the shed full of dry wood ready to light and fight the cold.

This edition’s theme certainly seems to be innovation. As usual, we have our annual Fieldays liftout jam-packed with information on what and who will be exhibiting at Mystery Creek from June 12-15 – plus all the entertainment on offer.

I’m suspect big crowds will attend as there seems to be a hunger for innovation from all corners of the primary industries, as they all face an array of challenges going forward.

This call has been somewhat answered for horticulturalists in the Bay of Plenty, with the launch of the PlantTech Research Institute in Tauranga – it has the aim of ensuring this industry remains ahead of challenges such as environmental sustainability, labour shortage, productivity, climate change, and biosecurity. See page 3 for more details.

Meanwhile columnist Bill Webb is warning dairy farmers and sheep and beef farmers about the threat of plant-based meat substitutes to their livelihoods –

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and how they need to get an edge over competitors worldwide. See page 14.

There’s talk of how upcoming requirements for de-budding cattle reflects a shifting attitude towards understanding and application of pain relief, as well as moves to improve welfare in farm animals. See more on page 17.

And a new project getting underway soon will investigate and mitigate fruit disorders on avocado orchards, with researchers expecting to improve grower returns by reducing fruit losses that have plagued the industry during the last few seasons. See page 39.

On page 51 a local biotech company unveils its new pasture spray that enables treated plants or pasture to improve the carbohydrate and protein digestion efficiencies in livestock.

Plus we talk to a couple working hard to build a successful beekeeping business on pages 8-9, a Western Bay of Plenty farmer who keeps diversifying into different industries to minimise risk in different markets on pages 20-21; and tell the journey of a Waikato organic beef-farming couple on pages 52-53.

We’ve also been around the districts covering the Dairy industry Awards in recent months – and profile regional winners’ stories in our ‘Welcome to the District’ features this edition. See pages 19-33.

Happy reading – we hope it brings some inspiration.

Merle Foster

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Page 3

BOP ‘perfect home’ for research institute The Bay of Plenty, a regional powerhouse for horticulture with the fifth largest regional GDP and second highest GDP growth rate, is the perfect home for PlantTech.

scales of business – not only benefiting the NZ horticulture sector, but also impacting global markets with home-grown technologies.

Demand-driven research

PlantTech Research Institute CEO Mark Begbie says PlantTech is NZ’s first demand-driven research This was Minister of Research, Science and Innova- and development organisation dedicated to delivering tion Dr Megan Woods’ message as she opened the science excellence that will take regional research institute at Mount the horticulture industry to Maunganui in May. new heights.

PlantTech “PlantTech strives to leverage Research Institute, a the BOP region’s strengths in collaboration between plant-based value chains and Priority One, the robotics and autonomous University of Waikato systems to ensure the horticuland a consortium of ture industry remains ahead eight local businesses, of the inevitable economic, began with a start-up environmental, biosecurity, investment of $9.4m climate change and crop via the Ministry for health challenges that lie Business, Innovation ahead. and Employment’s “Focussing on research to Regional Research enable digital support and Institute fund automation of devices for and shareholder growers, including robotcommitments. r ics and digital sensing, te is in M e with It is a demand-driven, r Mark Begbi ovation, we strive to become a D O E C h ec d Inn PlantT an ce collaborative research en ci S global leader in supporth, ines. of Researc ds. Photo: Daniel H organisation, seeking oo W ing customised, precise and an eg M Dr to accelerate innovation automated production systems that are accessible to and deliver solutions to horticulture challenges all scales of business.” through technology. Around 200 invited guests Mark says AI is having a transformational impact attended the institute’s official launch on May 23, on the world, meaning businesses, including those in which included displays by its partners Robotics the agriculture and horticulture sectors, need to adapt Plus, Trimax Mowing Systems, Bluelab, Cucumber, quickly as the landscape changes.

GPS-it, Eurofins, Waka Digital, Zespri, University of “NZ horticulture is a big business with an industry Waikato and Priority One. The Minister says PlantTech shareholders’ commitment to research and development investment in the region, the University of Waikato’s new campus in Tauranga, growing GDP and strong export streams created “the perfect environment for an advanced R&D hub, which will continue to drive economic development, high skill jobs, and higher wages for this area and New Zealand”.

“A prosperous, sustainable future for NZ is one which means high-quality jobs for all New Zealanders, higher wages, lower environmental impact, more innovation, and improved wellbeing.

Ahead of challenges “Science and innovation will help us achieve this vision by generating leading-edge ideas and knowledge that our industry and public services can apply.

“Through robotics, autonomous systems and AI research, PlantTech will ensure the horticulture industry remains ahead of shared challenges such as environmental sustainability, labour shortage, productivity, climate change, and biosecurity,” says Megan.

“This also gives us the chance to become a global leader in supporting customised, precise and automated production systems that are accessible to all

value of $5.6 billion, excluding wine.

As a nation, we export 60 per cent of what we grow – $3.4 billion in value – to 124 countries. Exports increased by 40 per cent from June 2014 to 2016.

Horticultural hotbed

“NZ’s agriculture industry is worldrenowned for food production and quality. With this as our development environment, and a No.8 wire mindset, there is much we can do to increase our presence in the multi-billion-dollar global agtech industry, and to lead the way in agricultural sustainability,” says Mark.

Priority One CEO Nigel Tutt says it’s appropriate the BOP has become home to PlantTech. “This burgeoning region is a hotbed for the horticulture and technology industries, and in PlantTech the two have come together to further this growing industry’s global competitiveness.

“There is more than enough opportunity for NZ’s plant-based value chain to prosper in the large global market.

PlantTech’s ability to unite areas of the industry will offer the best opportunity to gain the critical mass required to take on global markets and big players in agtech around the world.”

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Page 4

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

June 2019 Coast & Country News

The new fully-automated coolstore at EastPack’s Quarry Rd packhouse can store 1.2 million trays of fruit. Photos: Daniel Hines.

When EastPack’s new, fully-automated, coolstore became operational in mid-May not one person was inside it.

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The first fully-automated coolstore for the kiwifruit industry – located at EastPack’s Quarry Rd operation – works using robots and artificial intelligence to check, move and position pallets of fruit into two rooms, each with a tall tower of racking that reaches 14m high.

The entire structure is 51m by 41m, is 18.2m high and has the capacity to store 1.2 million trays.

Like every business in the kiwifruit industry, EastPack – New Zealand’s largest grower-owned kiwifruit and avocado post-harvest provider – is facing huge growth of fruit volume in the next five years.

EastPack chief executive Hamish Simson says during the 12 months of 2018’s season his company packed a record 41.1 million trays across six sites in the Bay of Plenty region.

“During the last three years we’ve channelled significant investment towards packing, pre-cool, and coolstore capacity to keep ahead of rapidly increasing Functional Fertiliser fruit volumes, particularly Gold.

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2025 – and much of our time here is spent planning on how we will deal with this.”

EastPack chief executive Hamish Simson outside the The new fully automated coolstore is an new coolstore, which is 51m by 41m, and 18.2m high. investment in storage So the pallet has to be absolutely capacity for bigger fruit volumes. square. If a pallet is twisted, it rejects Hamish says the Swedish system is present at one other facility in NZ – an it.” If accepted, it is stored using a set of pre-programmed algorithms – or Auckland-based salad/vegetable conrequirements. “Robots ferry the pallet tainer company.

“When fruit comes in from harvest to to the crane, which goes up and down the middle of the racking. It lifts a our packhouses it is anywhere between pallet to the preferred height and 16-20 degrees Celsius – then we need smaller shuttles carry the pallets into to store it for an extended length of the racking and deposit them. time. The key tool we use to do this is “Based on the rules given, the algotemperature. rithms find the optimal way to put it “We try to get fruit down to around away – we don’t.” five degrees Celsius as quickly as pos“When we need to fill an order we sible by putting it in a forced precool instruct the robots and they will assemfacility so within 24 hours it’s down to ble the pallets ready for us to load into around five degrees Celsius.

“Then we take it very slowly down to containers.”

Hamish says the coolstore is a almost zero degrees in the coolstore – blueprint for EastPack’s planning to this means we can store fruit anywhere meet huge future demand. “This new from six to eight months. Most fruit is coolstore will satisfy predicted demand stored for a maximum of six months. of an extra 1.2 million trays of fruit “This new coolstore is what we term next season – but the season after we a ‘lights-out’ coolstore – it has no people inside it and works with a series will need another one of these to meet demand. of robotics.

“So we’re already planning the next “First, a forklift driver drops a pallet onto a conveyor outside the coolstore – one. We’re looking at the possibility of it conveys inside and cameras check the putting another on this site. But every site needs more cool-storage – so where pallet because if it is twisted it will not do you start?” fit inside the racking.

EastPack has three packhouse sites “And we actually can’t send people in Te Puke, and one each in Katikati, in to get it out – you need a special Edgecumbe and Opotiki. recovery team for that.

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Page 5

Removing the peak of packing gold fruit In the first ever NZ harvest where the volume of SunGold kiwifruit has surpassed that of Hayward green, nearly 1200 staff at Trevelyans have worked longer hours each shift to help the packhouse through the season’s peak.

General manager James Trevelyan says to cope with fruit volumes at peak harvest in April-May – amid the declared labour shortage in the Bay of Plenty – he asked the staff to work longer hours so they could keep their scheduled days off.

“We usually run 10 shifts in a 20-hour period and The dew perspiring from a piece of gold fruit, this season we’ve run eight shifts – as we didn’t have which has been labelled in the air-controlled the numbers for the last two shifts.” room at Trevelyans. Photos: Daniel Hines.

James says the kiwifruit industry is changing very quickly and his company is looking at how it can wisely improve efficiencies in both labour and infrastructure.

“During the last two years our company has invested more than $12 million into our plant at Te Puke to meet future demand.

“The bulk of that money has gone into coolstorage, software development and trial Inside the air-controlled ‘bubble’ with clear plastic barriers is a trial to work on how to deal successfully label gold fruit that’s come out of coolstorage. with the increasing be labelled.” volume of fruit that is coming.”

So since last season a clear plastic barrier has cordoned off an area of the packhouse – and refrigMajor challenge eration units stationed outside pump cool, drier air James says their major challenge is managing the into the ‘bubble’ so gold fruit can be sent through to two weeks of peak volume of SunGold fruit each be labelled inside the area without a dew forming on season. “We could have spent $12m and built the skin. another packhouse – but when you only need it for two weeks the investment didn’t seem wise.

Tucking away fruit “There’s an old saying from a Japanese friend of “When you pull fruit out of coolstorage and it’s mine that you’ve ‘got to use your mind before you been sitting at a low temperature on a muggy day, use your money’. So how do you solve this in another moisture will form on the fruit surface,” says James. way?”

“When you stick a label on a Hayward fruit – the Instead it was decided the money would be better label actually sticks to the fur. spent on aiming to smooth the demand curve of fruit “With SunGold having no fur, this doesn’t work. requiring packing in such a short time period.

“So the investment has been on development of a concept where we’re trying to increase people’s work rate and remove the peak of the curve of fruit requiring packing immediately.

“What we’ve done with Hayward fruit is taken the highs and lows out of packing demand – and given staff a smoother, more consistent rate of work.”

Now they’re trying to do the same with SunGold fruit by coolstoring fruit and packing it at a later date – to smooth the demand curve and keep workers in continuous employment.

“The major issue is the labelling of SunGold fruit.

Zespri requires 90 per cent of fruit packed to

Hence, we struggle to hit those 90 per cent labelling rates. So the investment has been playing around with – how do you make this work?

“We we’re doing trials with Hort16A years back but now we’ve got serious about it with SunGold.

“We’ve spent hundreds of thousands last season trying to solve this – and about another $600,000 this season.

“Now we’ve got a feel for where we’re going – on a busy week we’ll tuck fruit away in a coolstore and now [in midMay] when SunGold has just about finished and Hayward is not quite

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ready to pack we’ll open the coolstore doors and just run the fruit through [to label and pack it].

“This allows us flexibility with how we provide continuous employment for staff but also with the end-product as well – if we have quality concerns we can advance the shipping of the fruit.”

With the industry volumes forecast to rise to 115 million trays of SunGold in the next five years, James says Trevelyans could potential be packing 11 million trays of that volume.

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COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

June 2019 Coast & Country News

A couple’s passion for organic farming The couple behind Alexander Organics, Jesiah and Ellen Alexander, have a shared passion for the more natural life.

Jesiah and Ellen Alexander on their farm. Photo: Catherine Fry.

These dedicated and focused 24-year-olds already have a wealth of knowledge about organic and sustainable farming, and a thirst for further knowledge and education in this field.

These childhood sweethearts married in 2014. Jesiah had been brought up on a dairy farm, and worked for six years with Ellen’s grandad on a conventional dairy farm in Cambridge, with Ellen helping out.

“We are both very health-conscious, and an idea started forming in the back of our minds,” says Jesiah.

“We both liked the idea of owning our own organic herd and selling raw milk, fruit and other products on a small scale from our own property,” says Ellen.

Their dream was realised in 2016, and the couple are grateful for the opportunity to lease 50ha from Ellen’s granddad’s Cambridge property on “family terms”.

but weeds such as blackberry, gorse and ragwort are painstakingly grubbed out by hand.

“Our pasture is very diverse, with different minerals being brought up by the varying root depths of the individual plant species,” says Ellen.

“The soil has a wealth of good bacteria, fungi and nematodes, all working in their own ecosystems, leaving little room for anything bad to take a hold,” says Jesiah.

Small numbers of chickens, ducks and sheep also add to the diversity on the land.

Hundreds of fruit trees have been planted, lining the races as fodder, which the cows are allowed to nibble on their way to and from the shed. A small orchard has also been planted from which the fruit will be sold in The Shop in future.

Selective breeding

Jesiah and Ellen bought their own herd of Dairy Shorthorns for their land. The breed is known for its hardiness, and good resilience to disease. ...continued

Pasture-fed

The Alexander Organics property is certified to the NZ and overseas organic markets.

“You don’t just take a conventional plaster off and stick on an organic one. It’s a whole philosophy,” says Jesiah.

The soil is fertilised with organic quality-brewed seaweed, and compost, either as organic matter or sprayed on as a tea. Anything applied to the land or animals must be compliant with each organic market. Alexander Organics adheres to the NZ Domestic, European Union, and United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program organic standards.

The cows are 100 per cent pasture-fed. The Alexanders never plant just one pasture crop, but stitch in several grass species combined with different herbs.

Buttercups and docks are left to enrich the cows’ diets,

Ellen stripping the foremilk and visually checking the milk quality, on a cow from the raw milk herd.

Photo: Jesiah Alexander.

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COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Ellen and Jesiah Alexander on their way to the shed. Photo: Catherine Fry.

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The couple are looking to expand the 60-strong, individually-named herd, to 100, using selective breeding to introduce traits they want within their herd.

The cows’ 100 per cent pasture diet is supplemented by organic apple cider vinegar, and brewed seaweed in their drinking water, aiming to aid a good immune system.

“If one of the animals gets sick, of course they receive whatever treatment is required,” says Jesiah.

“If a non-organic treatment needs to be used, the cow has to be removed from the organic herd after that.”

Only 13 of the cows are used for the raw milk collection, and the process around their milking is of a very high standard. A full alkali wash of all the milking equipment in the 20-aside herringbone shed takes place prior to milking, on a daily basis.

“We also hand-wash each individual teat, strip the foremilk by hand, sanitise the teats, and dry with a single use paper towel. Then we attach the cups and start milking,” says Jesiah.

“The process is time-consuming but we take safety precautions prior to milking, rather than needing to process the milk after,” says Ellen.

Organic Dairy hub, a New Zealand co-op that really supports and encourages organic farmers,” says Jesiah.

The Alexander’s milk will be collected for organic milk, cream, cheeses and other organic dairy products, catering for the growing organic niche market.

Ellen and Jesiah work very hard on their farm, milking twice-a-day, and as a result are very much in tune with the land, and their animals, constantly noticing small changes around them.

They see the farm as a lifetime project, and are constantly improving it, aiming to leave it better for the next generation.

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COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Page 8

June 2019 Coast & Country News

A journey to hunt and gather honey Rory and Hannah O’Brien have put everything into their beekeeping business – both financially and emotionally – and there is no turning back as they aim for the day when the business supports them.

Hannah O’Brien with her children, Kieran and Alice, next to some of the Hunt and Gather beehives in the bush at Whale Bay, Raglan. Photo: Catherine Fry.

Now based at Te Mata in the Waikato, the pair initially sold their house and used the money to buy their first hives.

Originally from the Thames area, Rory and Hannah met at 17. Straight out of school, Rory followed in his parents’ footsteps and went dairy farming while Hannah trained to become a primary school teacher.

“We farmed in Thames, and all over the Waikato, then had a change of scene in Cromwell,” says Hannah.

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Here Rory became involved in beekeeping, and discovered he had a passion for it. “It was outside, working with animals, and seasonal. He loved it. We both felt it was something we could make progress in,” says Hannah.

By then the couple already had Kieran, now aged five, and Alice, now two, was on the way. They moved up to the Coromandel to be near family and started their own beekeeping enterprise called Hunt and Gather Bee Co. “We sold up our house and used the money to buy our first hives,” says Hannah.

Move to Waikato

Those first few months were full on. They lived with Rory’s parents on the farm. Rory looked after the beekeeping and the children, while holding down a part-time painting job.

Hannah worked as a full-time teacher in Hamilton, doing the gruelling daily commute from the Coromandel.

There was method in their madness though. “There are quite a lot of beekeepers in the Coromandel and land is expensive. We intended to move to the Waikato, somewhere near Raglan, where my mother lives.”

Splitting hives

The right section came up in 2016 and the young family stayed with Hannah’s mother while they set up their business on two acres in Te Mata.

“The plan was always to grow the business from the original 16 hives by splitting them each season and using cashflow to expand, not further investment.”

Half of their hives are in the Coromandel and half are around the Raglan area. Rory works full-time with the bees now, commuting back and forth as required. The actual honey production season is only six to eight weeks and is very climate dependent. Their first two seasons were two of the worst recorded as far as honey production goes.

“Having two sites halves the risk to the hives or honey production due to a weather event in one area. It also doubles the types of honey we can make,” says Hannah.

Hunt and Gather Bee Co produce six types of honey: Rewarewa, Kamahi, Manuka, Kanuka, a West Coast blend from the Raglan bees, and a Bush Blend from the Coromandel Bees.

Extracting honey

They don’t extract their own honey.

Rory takes the honey boxes to BeeNZ, in Katikati, where it is extracted and comes back to Hunt and Gather Bee Co all packed and labelled in cartons.

Hannah can’t speak highly enough of David and Julie Hayes of BeeNZ. “They’ve been so good to us, and they have a cutting edge, hi-tech set up, meaning we get export grade honey.”

The honey is sold locally in Raglan, in 25 stores nationwide, at Cambridge and Hamilton Farmer’s markets, and one-off summer markets.

Hunt and Gather Bee Co is now looking to supply more Kiwi retail stores, then tackle the export market.

Until the end of 2018, Hannah had continued to work two days a week as ...continued a teacher in Hamilton.

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Kieran O’Brien, 5, helping dad Rory with the bees. Photo: supplied.

June 2019 Coast & Country News

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Page 9

The O’Brien family at home in Te Mata. Kieran, 5, Rory, 31, Alice, 2, and Hannah, 30. Photo: supplied.

FOOTWEAR

continued...

MANUFACTURERS

Rory O’Brien working with one of the bee hives. Photo: supplied.

Business award

“Rory has a beekeeping certificate through Lincoln University and is very good at the theory and practical side. I really enjoy the business side, and love working with people, so I do more of the markets too.”

Recently Hannah was presented an NZI Rural Women New Zealand Business Awards’ Emerging

Business category award at a ceremony at Parliament in Wellington. Hannah fitted the criteria of running 50 per cent of the business, and being based in and involved in a rural area.

The application included a 20-page proposal and an interview to become a finalist, so she’s really proud of her achievement. And she highly recommends the “fantastic” Rural Women NZ organisation. “They have a huge network and a lot of resources.

“It would be great to see more young, rural women getting involved with their local branch and entering their business awards. It has been a huge boost for our business.” To find out more, see: www.huntandgatherbeeco.com Catherine Fry

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While she avoids too much physical contact with the bees due to an allergy, she has put in many hours in the administration, sales and marketing side. Now she’s looking forward to being able to do this in ‘nice’ hours, rather than late into the evenings, and being able to spend more time with her children.

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CervusEquipment.co.nz CONDITIONS: ^Finance available through John Deere Financial Ltd to approved commercial applicants only. Offer is based on a 48 month term, 20% deposit & GST back within the first 3 months. Fees & charges apply. Additional terms are available. If not amended or withdrawn early, offer expires 30 June 2019. *Prices listed are for the tractor only with the listed specifications. Prices are GST exclusive. Image is for illustrative purposes only & some features shown may not be available on NZ models.

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

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Valid from 1 May 2019 to 30 June 2019. Units must be registered by 30 June 2019. Ooer cannot be used in conjunction with any other ooer. Nissan reserves the right to vary, withdraw or ex tend this ooer. Accessories shown are optional ex tras. Come and see us at site No. E96A at Fieldays®, 12-15 June, Mystery Creek.

*Finance offer available to approved applicants of Nissan Financial Services only and excludes all lease and some feet purchasers. Available on new Nissan vehicles only. Maximum term 36 months. No deposit required. $375 establishment fee, $8.05 PPSR fee, and $10 monthly account keeping fee apply. Terms and conditions apply. Valid nissan.co.nz from 1 May 2019 to 30 June 2019. Units must be registered by 30 June 2019. Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Nissan reserves the right to vary, withdraw or extend this offer. Accessories shown are optional extras. Visit Nissan at Fieldays® site No. E96A 12-15 June, Mystery Creek.

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Page 11

We need to live with the land “The whole world needs to change their philosophy – from ‘living off the land’ to ‘living with land’, says Lincoln University’s Professor Pablo Gregorini.

Argentinian-born, Pablo has an extensive background in ruminant nutrition and foraging ecology, specialising in livestock production systems. His research programmes at Lincoln are re-envisaging grazing animals in New Zealand’s future landscapes.

“Agricultural products reflect the history of landscapes, foodscapes, and agricultural systems, manifested through soil and plant chemistry, and thereby…our health! Ultimately, we are what we eat, eats,” says Pablo.

Both the farmer and the public have questions around ‘going green’, and considering environmental impact, biodiversity, animal welfare and product integrity, says Pablo. “You can’t go green if you are in the red.”

But he believes science should not look for ‘silver bullets’, and more emphasis should be put on systemic practices, and “to start linking ecological processes with ecosystem health”.

Lincoln University’s Professor of Livestock “It’s like solving the Rubik Production, Pablo Gregorini, speaking at cube...if you focus on one single the OPDG conference. Photo: Catherine Fry. side, you’ll never win the game.

We need to focus on all part of Recently presenting some of his latest the systems – all sides of the cube – at research at the Organic Dairy and the same time. The main thing is not Pastoral Group conference in March, to win the game though…rather keep Pablo’s topic was ‘Ground-breaking playing!” research on powerful tweaks you can Diversity and variety of diets, an make to boost pasture production and animal’s personality and emotions, the quality’. link between ingestion, digestion and

excretion, and transgenerational links, have all been part of his recent field of research. No single forage has the perfect balance of nutrients, and herbivores need diversity at a pasture and whole-landscape level.

“Farmers are like a chef, designing menus for their animals, and have the power to please and influence their ‘diners’ at both meal and daily menu level.”

Pablo envisages a more holistic approach to manage grazing based on recent advances in the understanding of the nutritional ecology of grazing animals, and proposes management practices that may enable pastoral livestock production systems to

evolve continually as complex creative systems.

Mitigating the impacts of people in the Anthropocene – viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment – can be enabled through diet to improve human and environmental health.

But Pablo says that will require profound changes in society. People will have to learn we are members of nature’s communities.

“What we do to them, we do to ourselves. Only by nurturing them can we nurture ourselves.”

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Page 12

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Safety ‘crucial’ this game bird season Game bird hunters should realise they’re in the public eye “as never before” this game bird season – and that safety measures have never been more important.

Fish and Game NZ chief executive Martin Taylor says it’s crucial hunters treat the safe transport and handling of their shotguns with the “utmost care and sensitivity”.

This season is the first under NZ’s reformed gun laws, which have made most semi-automatic firearms illegal.

“Fish & Game supports these changes to these gun laws and believes that good decisions have been made for both game bird hunters and the community,” says Martin.

“There will be no real change for the

vast majority of game bird hunters as we successfully made a case to retain semi-auto and pump shotguns for game bird hunting.

“This means game bird hunters can use semi-automatic and pump action shotguns as long as their internal magazines only hold five shots.”

Martin says each and every hunter should make themselves completely familiar with the new gun laws – “and what they need to do to comply”.

And he urges every single hunter to focus on safe gun handling by each person in their party, and be fastidious about checking firing zones to make sure it’s safe to fire. The season closes August 25 for upland game, while duck season closes earlier for individual regions.

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Kiwi recreational anglers can now only bag one southern bluefin tuna per day.

From this month onwards recreational anglers are only permitted to catch one bluefin tuna per person, per day, with Fisheries New Zealand introducing a daily bag limit from June 1.

The new rule, which was announced by FNZ on April 18, now applies to all amateur fishers in New Zealand fisheries waters.

Southern bluefin tuna is a high value species currently subject to a regional rebuilding plan under the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna. The CCSBT, which NZ is a founding member of, internationally manages the specie and sets global total allowable catch rates in three-year blocks, using a management procedure.

FNZ acting director of fisheries management Steve Halley says this is the first time a catch limit has been put in place for the recreational southern bluefin tuna fishery and reflects the need to carefully manage the rebuild of this stock.

“Estimates of recreational catch in this fishery have been low in previous years, however, in July 2017 we saw a substantial increase in how much was being caught.”

According to an FNZ discussion document prior to the decision being made, for the three-year block from 2018 to 2020, the CCSBT raised the global total allowable catch by 3000 tonnes, to 17,647

tonnes per annum. As a result, NZ’s national allocation increased by 88 tonnes, to 1088 tonnes per annum.

And previously, NZ’s recreational catch for southern bluefin tuna was typically low, with no catch reported in 2014, then 1.1 tonnes reported in 2015, and 1.4 tonnes reported in 2016. This formed the basis of a FNZ decision to increase the recreational allowance from eight to 20 tonnes.

But in 2017 the reported recreational catch increased substantially to an estimated level of 24.3 tonnes.

“Social media posts, good catch rates, and favourable weather conditions attracted hundreds of anglers to the Eastern Bay of Plenty to target these fish,” according to the 2018 FNZ discussion document.

Steve says following consultation and receiving responses from tangata whenua and submissions from stakeholders, FNZ advised the Minister of Fisheries to introduce a daily limit for the recreational fishery.

“Introducing a bag limit will ensure that NZ continues to meet its international obligations under the CCSBT. “NZ is a founding member of CCSBT, which regionally manages this highly migratory species and we have an obligation to manage our catch of southern bluefin tuna within our national allocation.

“FNZ will be looking at longer-term measures to manage this fishery, but in the interim, a bag limit will be in place until we understand more about this highly variable developing fishery.”

June 2019 Coast & Country News

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Page 13

DAIRY

Page 14

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Meat substitutes

pose big threat

Welcome to the new farmers to our district – and all the best for this new season. The threat of plant-based proteins to our beef and dairy sectors is a hot topic.

Last month a US-based production company called Beyond Meat, which makes plant-based burger patties and sausages, made history by achieving the best first-day result this year on the US stock market.

Their shares, which opened at US$46 (NZ$69.58), closed their first day of trading up 163 per cent to US$65.75 (NZ$99.46) in New York, giving the company a market value of about US$3.8 billion (NZ$5.7 billion.

I understand in the previous two years this company has suffered losses of $30 million annually. So obviously they haven’t made much money but when they listed shares, some thought: ‘Oh, I should invest in this’.

From research, I can tell you when compared to a ‘normal’ 113g patty of 80 per cent lean beef with 80mg of cholesterol and 9g of saturated fat, a Beyond Meat patty has no cholesterol and 5g of saturated fat. The patties are made of pea protein and beet juice, and the company says its plant-based burger takes 99 per cent less water and 93 per cent less land to produce than a beef burger, and generates 90 per cent fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Another California-based food company attempting to revolutionise the way we think about animal agriculture with its plant-based meat substitute is called Impossible Foods.

Founder and CEO Pat Brown started his business in 2011 after his research led him to discover “the detrimental impact of meat production on the planet”.

He says meat production is considered by far one of the world’s greatest contributors to climate change, not only for the level of greenhouse gas it produces, but the water and land consumption it requires.

This is the sort of stuff going on in the US. The real facts in relation to animal farming versus plant farming and the environmental impact are…we don’t know – but clearly the US public is showing they’re concerned about meat production and how it relates to climate change.

Environmental initiatives

So, what’s happening in NZ in regards to this? Beef + Lamb NZ has rolled out environmental initiatives to support farmers. They have two goals – every sheep and beef farmer has a tailored and active environmental plan by 2021; and the whole sector moves towards becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.

We’ve just had a Zero Carbon policy debuted by the Government – so we’re going to have to do something about our emissions. Dairy farmers as well as sheep and beef farmers will need to look really closely at what they’re doing – and what their competition is. We need to keep our finger on the pulse.

The enthusiasm shown towards Beyond Meat is a warning to our farmers that health and environmental claims of the alternative meat industry have to be countered by adopting these clean practices – as soon as possible – otherwise we risk losing business to this new industry.

On a lighter note, Fieldays this month is a real good chance to look at innovations that may solve problems and improve operations on-farm. Think about what investments could help you to get an edge in production, whether it be labour-saving, health and safety-related or helping to reduce your environmental footprint. Is there anything that enables you to reduce carbon emissions?

We need to be looking for and at these things and getting our heads around them – especially with what could be on the horizon and how consumers’ tastes are changing. The US used to be our biggest market for beef – we don’t want our foothold sliding away to meat alternatives.

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Farmers need to be wary of their pastures’ nitrate levels now. Things have been growing well, so nitrates are a real issue. Take leaf samples to your veterinarian for testing – do this before you put stock on pasture, not afterwards. It is wise to feed out silage or hay before putting stock on new pasture. Keep monitoring stock and the nitrate levels.

Farmers need to spray pastures for weeds and give them a dose of nitrogen after the first grazing and until clover gets established.

Grass has been slow to recover from the dry summer and autumn, so for anyone caught short of supplementary feed we still have a good supply of quality grass silage, hay and straw available for immediate delivery – just give us a call.

DAIRY

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Maximising genetic potential Imagine buying a Maserati to be told you’re only permitted to drive it at 50km/hr.

Bit of a waste of potential, don’t you think?

The same goes for dairy cows. Many are not performing to their true genetic potential because farmers choose higher stocking rates, leaving cows underfed and underperforming.

Farmers spend a lot of time and money choosing the best genetics to breed their cows, but there is no emphasis on getting a return on that investment.

With artificial breeding, most cows have the potential to do high production – approximately 1kgMS per 1kg liveweight.

However, what varies is the ‘opportunity’ to express that genetic potential in milk production – is the herd being fed enough to perform at its potential? Or has the farmer tipped the balance between stocking rate and feed availability? In a calendar year, a cow generally only needs eight weeks – or 56 days – dry to prepare herself for the next season. That leaves 44 weeks – or 308 days – in which to maximise her genetic potential.

Lactation days

So how do you work out the current number of lactation days of a herd? Look at the time between median calving date and dry-off date, and you’ll get a general estimate of total number of lactation days.

If your herd’s average lactation length is 235 days, you’re experiencing a dramatically shortened season and individual cows are

not milking to their full genetic potential. To see maximum genetic potential, you need to be able to feed cows comfortably to a 270-300-day lactation.

This is where stocking rate comes in. A 500-cow herd with average of 235 days lactation equals a total of 117,500 lactation days across the herd.

Increasing lactation length by just one month, to 265 days, means you can lower your stocking rate to 443 cows without losing any lactation days. This is 117,500 divided by 265 equals 443 cows.

Those extra 57 cows would have required 12kgDM/cow/day as maintenance, a total of 684kgDM/day. Over a year that’s 249,660kgDM, costing roughly $80,000 at .32c/kg.

Instead, that 684kgDM/day, divided by the lesser stocking rate of 443 cows, is 1.54kgDM/ day extra feed available to the herd.

That extra feed goes a long way toward cows expressing their genetic performance potential.

Smaller herd

At 1kgMS per 1kg liveweight, an average mixed breed cow can comfortably produce 450kgMS if it is fully fed on a mixed ration diet. With a herd of 443 cows, that’s 199,350kgMS. However, a herd of 500 cows may only produce 340kgMS due to being underfed –

Page 15

that’s 170,000kgMS. In comparison, it’s easy to see tin most cases it is far better to fully feed a smaller herd, allowing them to perform closer to their genetic potential, than to have a higher stocking rate and be unable to fully feed them.

Condition scores

Underfed cows not only experience lower production but calve at a lower Body Condition Score. Heading into the peak profit window of July-December, low BCS cows don’t have reserve condition to pull themselves through the increased demand.

They’re also under more pressure at mating, resulting in higher empty rates. All these flow-on effects cost the farmer money.

Every farm has a different system: some carry young stock, or winter all or a percentage of cows on-farm, requiring a build-up of feed on-farm; others winter cows off-farm, allowing pasture recovery during winter.

Comparing your farm system to others doesn’t accurately determine whether your business is profitable or sustainable – but by designing Key Performance Indicators for your own farm system, you can decide what a profitable system is, and how you will measure that. Read this column in full at: www.coastandcountry.co.nz David Law is the director of Forward Farming Biological Consultancy.

Get certified to safely use agrichemicals The use of hazardous substances in the workplace, including agrichemicals, is now managed under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Growsafe programme. It offers certificates that meet the requirements of WorkSafe, the Environmental Protection Agency, the market and industry at the same time.

One significant change is all “For those new to the use of businesses using agrichemicals agrichemicals, the Growsafe must keep an inventory – a Basic course provides an introlist of all hazardous substances duction to their safe use with on the property, the likely a focus on understanding the maximum quantity of each and label and practical compewhere they are. tency when mixing and using Essentially this is a risk agrichemicals,” says NZAET identification process. From the general manager Jane Lamb. inventory, you can work out “The Growsafe Standard what controls you need to have course is designed for those in place to manage your risk. in charge of a workplace and To help manage risk, the includes information on how new Hazardous Substances to meet legal requirements.

Regulations require all users of “The Standard certificate can hazardous substances to have also be used to demonstrate NZAET general manager Jane Lamb. training and instruction in their competency to a rural retailer use. to be able to purchase some They must also be given information on hazards of classes of agrichemicals with higher risks.” products they’re using and supervision whilst gaining The Approved Handler certificate has now been practical experience. replaced by the Certified Handler certificate and So where can you go to get this training? The New is only needed for highly toxic (class 6.1A and B) Zealand Agrichemical Education Trust runs the agrichemicals.

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DAIRY

Page 16

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Passionate about pasture diversity Huntly dairy farmer Steve Broughton farms the land that’s been in his family since 1909, milking 320 cows.

And the fourth-generation farmer is so passionate about pasture diversity that he often runs his own experiments on his 289ha.

Currently completing a course to become a dynamic educator, he willing shares his findings with his fellow farmers – and spoke about them at the recent Organic Dairy & Pastoral Group annual conference in March.

Planting and establishing mixed pastures for 12 years, and reaping the benefits, he shared his success and

Attention Farmers

failures in creating diverse pastures.

“The 84-day plot wasn’t eaten down, the He told the conference he’s “not yet” cows were hungry, but there were no certified organic, but practices pasture weeds.” management to organic principles, This optimum number of days was and is hoping to gain certification in somewhere in the middle, and is the future. dependent on the seasonal conditions Steve describes his pastures as and the necessity to carry food. varied, and he works around the Steve’s also been digging down into weather. “I over-sow the paddocks the clay soils of his farm, measuring the five days in front of the cows, using depth and width of root systems of differa multi-tine harrow, so the seeds get a ent pasture plants. fine cover of soil,” says Steve.

“A healthy soil requires plants of varying He uses two seed mixes that he’s made root depth, each one contributing to the Steve Broughton. up himself, and are sown depending on ecosystem of nutrients underneath the soil Photo: Catherine Fry. the season. in ways that we may not have previously Steve would normally use 10kg of seed per hectare, considered when planting our pastures.” increasing this to 20kg, and even 30kg after a maize This ‘straight from the farmer’ based research crop. This is to ensure there is good bulk feed availprovides valuable statistics to be used in conjunction able in early winter. with studies from scientific research facilities.

Paddocks are prepared for summer crops by rotoCatherine Fry tilling the ground twice and rolling it. Planting can be as early as September, but the seed is matched to the ground temperature.

“The cows really love the pasture mixes we use,” says Steve.

Using break-feeding, grazing is holistic with 60 per cent eaten, 30 per cent trampled, and 10 pe rcent left standing.“ For regrowth goals, these are good statistics to have.”

“Even the trampled pasture means that in January and February there is still lots of moisture underneath, which works well.”

Steve’s also been trialling grazing round lengths, An example putting cows into a paddock and allowing them to of Steve graze to residual in 84, 63, 42 and 21-day plots.

Broughton’s “The 21-day plot was cleared out, with weeds getdiverse pasture. ting in, and the soil starving.

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PITGATES

New Zealand’s iconic ice cream company Tip Top has been purchased by global ice cream giant Froneri for $380 million.

Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell says last month’s sale was a bittersweet moment for Fonterra. “Since we took ownership of Tip Top in 2001, a lot of work has gone into ensuring it remained NZ’s leading ice cream company.”

Miles says one big attraction for Froneri is the fact Tip Top and Kapiti ice cream use fresh milk and cream from NZ grass-fed cows. “We’ve signed an agreement with the new owners to supply milk, which ensures Fonterra farmers will continue to be part of the Tip Top story.

“We’ll also retain full global ownership of the Kapiti brand and will be licencing its use for ice cream to Froneri. This means our popular Kapiti cheese isn’t going anywhere.

Froneri is the third largest ice cream manufacturer in the world, selling a staple of well-known ice cream brands in 20 countries.

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

DAIRY

Page 17

Pain management top of vets’ minds on mammary health and fertility found using a non-steroidal pain reliever like Metacam 20 when treating even mild cases of mastitis resulted in lowered Somatic Cell Counts.

There was also a 42 per cent lower likelihood cows would be culled for mastitis, when compared with placebo treated cows.

Researchers found administering Metacam 20 alongside antibiotic mastitis treatment improved the probability the cow would conceive to artificial insemination on her first service, and

also increased the probability she’d be pregnant by 120 days post-calving by 29 per cent.

A further unexpected finding was cows treated with Metacam 20 and antibiotic mastitis treatments had a 32 per cent higher chance of bacteriological cure, when compared to cows treated with antibiotic and a placebo.

“So even putting aside the welfare issues of delivering anti-inflammatory pain relief medications, there are proven production benefits that also sit alongside that make BIAH NZ technical addressing the pain element that accompaveterinarian nies mastitis well worthwhile,” says James.

James Laidlaw.

MILK SOLIDS INCREASE PER COW*

Greater understanding about livestock’s ability to sense pain has more vets integrating pain relief into some treatments, as regulations also start to tighten on treatment standards.

On October 1 this year, it will be a legal requirement that all cattle being disbudded or dehorned will need appropriate and effective local anaesthetic that’s been authorised by a veterinarian. The New Zealand Veterinary Guidelines also recommend the use of an appropriate long-acting pain killer at the time of disbudding and dehorning.

Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health NZ technical veterinarian James Laidlaw says the upcoming requirements for de-budding reflect a shifting attitude towards understanding and application of pain relief, as well as moves to improve welfare in farm animals.

“Our understanding and recognition of animals’ ability to sense pain has shifted considerably in the last decade. But results from various global surveys indicate there is still quite a wide range of opinions from vets and farmers about where they perceive different operations and conditions sit on the pain scale.”

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Interpreting pain Globally, surveys conducted among vets and farmers in the last 10-15 years highlight the difficulty of interpreting pain in cattle. This is mostly due to the fact these animals have evolved to hide displays of pain.

“Vets and farmers have been well aligned in their assessments, but the surveys have highlighted wide ranges of individual interpretations of how painful various procedures and conditions are in cattle.”

Historically, a lack of standardised guides to assess pain in cattle and benchmarking of how painful conditions and procedures are has only made interpreting pain and approaching pain relief difficult.

Higher welfare standards Meanwhile, farmers are facing increasing demands from consumers for higher welfare standards in farm animals and higher public expectations around farm animal welfare.

These, along with the provision of pain relief, are driving the industry to be more conscious about addressing pain in farm animals.

“This is something we need to be considering if we wish to market the highest quality of product and to maintain our ‘clean, green image’ locally and globally,” says James.

Mastitis ranks as a significant pain-causing condition in dairy cows.

Work by one of the country’s leading animal researchers indicates offering anti-inflammatory ‘pain relief ’ medication alongside antibiotic mastitis treatments, even for moderate cases, can improve that animal’s response rate and productivity.

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - WESTERN BOP

Page 19

Upholding the ideals of the fourth estate

and send with your name and address to: merle@sunmedia.co.nz Or put these details on an envelope and post to Country Funnies, PO Box 240, Tauranga 3140 to arrive by June 20.

Winner of April’s Country Funnies is Graham Callis of Matamata. He wins a copy of ‘Keepers of History’ by Renée Hollis.

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Kiwi Stephen Davis has been on the O U NT R frontlines of journalism for three decades as an investigative reporter in TV, magazines and newspapers and as a leading journalism educator, trying to F U N NIE uphold the ideals of the fourth estate, and to inspire his students to do the same.

From the rainforests of Brazil to the icy wastes of Antarctica, from London to Los Angeles, from the Middle East to Australia and New Zealand, he’s sought out the truth and sometimes found it.

‘Truthteller – an investigative reporter’s journey through the world of truth prevention, fake news and conspiracy theories’ is Stephen’s newest book.

It covers how there’s an increasingly large number of weapons in the arsenal of the rich, the powerful and the elected to prevent the truth from coming out — to bury it, warp it, twist it to suit their purposes. Stephen worked for ‘The Sunday Times’ in London and LA, been a war and foreign correspondent, a TV producer

‘Truthteller’ is the book prize for June. for ‘60 Minutes’ and ‘20/20’, a newspaper editor, a documentary film-maker for the BBC and Discovery, and taught journalism to students Thanks to Exisle Publishing, Coast & Country News has a copy of ‘Truthteller’ to give away.

To be in to win, email captions for the photo above

Are you considering selling up or moving on? should not be left to wonder how things are going,” Whether you’re looking to move in or move out, says Chris.

Chris A’Court from Tall Poppy Real Estate can help “I’m always updating my vendors and keeping you find the perfect home for your lifestyle. them informed.”

Chris has more than two years’ experience Chris mainly helps retired farmers or people selling properties from Katikati to Waikino who are used to a bit of space to downsize into and everywhere in between. their perfect home.

She’s professional, friendly and passion“I’ve even had a few instances where people who ate about real estate and is committed are used to larger lifestyle blocks have moved into to building a good relationship with her town, and have found it wasn’t for them due to the clients. proximity of neighbours and feeling hemmed “I like to go the extra mile,” she in. “They want to sell up and move to says. “Nothing is too much trousomething bigger and I like to help them ble because I love my work.” do that.” If this sounds like something Chris is known for her excelyou’re experiencing, Chris currently has lent communication and her a few properties in Waihi that range supportive and empathetic from 2500m2 to 3600m2 that would attitude towards her clients.

Tall Poppy’s Chris A’Court. appeal “Comunication is vital, vendors to you.

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - WESTERN BOP

Page 20

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Diversifying income streams is Starting out with sheep 30 years ago, the Honeyfield family at Welcome Bay, Tauranga, have diversified their 100ha farm into four different revenue streams – and they’re about to plant another produce on-farm this spring.

While it’s commonplace today to diversify into new markets, Colin Honeyfield began doing this not long after he and his father Joe Honeyfield bought the farm at Welcome Bay in 1989 – and he’s not finished et.

Why? Because having multiple revenue streams pulls risk out of the volatility of different markets.

“Yes, big time,” says Colin. “For example, if one market is high this year and crashes the next, you still have other incomes. And if it does crash, you can save and use that year to breed up your numbers – it gives you a range of options.”

“For example, we’ve had years where we’ve been in all sheep and our income has halved in two seasons. And it was just because of price in the end that we diversified Today, it’s called building resilience in your operations.”

Colin was 18 when he leased his first block of land.

After getting married the farm was purchased in Welcome Bay; today they also utilise lease land up the road.

Feijoas

They started with basically all sheep on the farm but soon began harvesting feijoas. “The feijoas were already here but we just worked out better ways to manage it…we do as much as we can for the local supermarkets and whatever is not up to standard we have a juice contract for

Colin Honeyfield di ersified into feijoas not long after buying his Welcome Bay farm. Photos: Daniel Hines.

Simply Squeezed,” says Colin. “It took about fi e years to establish a good income from them.”

Today 1000 feijoa trees produce an average of 20-25 tonne per year – with a 50/50 split going to supermarkets and juicing. But with locals selling the fruit at stalls, on the roadside and online, Colin says demand drops pretty quickly – and coupled with difficulties finding labou , and the recent minimum wage rise, Colin says “the margins are pushed now”.

So he’s cut from four to two workers and himself to pick the feijoas in April-May. At this time of year he’s also busy with autumn-calving beef cows.

The farm has gone into breeding beef cattle in the last few years – both Angus and Charolais. “We’re trying to become a breeding property, rather than trading cattle.”

Cattle

Colin has 25 Angus cows to the Angus bull, then about 40 Angus cows to the Charolais bull. “We’ve topped the sale in the last two weaner fares – but we’re back a bit from last year.”

The aim now is to increase Charolais numbers “because they have better growth and will be worth more as a weaner than Angus cattle”.

In winter they also graze 150 cows for dairy farmers.

“That’s an extra income for us as well.” Colin utilises cross-grazing, which is beneficial for both the c ws and the 400 Romney sheep on-farm. “Sheep don’t like long grass, so the cattle are the groomers really.”

Sheepmeat has been bringing exceptional prices in the last two years – “especially off-peak when you can achieve record prices” but the income from wool is “virtually non-existent” once shearers are paid.

Sheep

After decreasing numbers in past years amid low prices, Colin is now slowly breeding up his flock again – as opposed to spending a lot buying in ewes. He’s continuously reviewing how much he has invested in each operation by following the markets and says mostly it’s a case of having some confidence in them.

“Sheep are at a level now where there is a slight

...continued

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - WESTERN BOP

name of the game continued...

shortage. This is why we’re slowly going to increase numbers. And it’s the same with cattle – many have cut numbers because dairying has been down a bit, so they go into having their own stock and that’s what kept cattle [prices] up a bit. We’ll probably go out of dairy grazers soon and have more of our own stock, where you do make more money.”

Colin says many farms now diversify but it depends where you’re located. “Here in the Bay of Plenty, we’re lucky we can grow a range of horticulture crops. In the South Island, options are limited.”

As a result, Colin is going into avocados. This spring he’ll plant 120 avocado trees. “The family is keen on

them so we’re going to try them out on the northernmost part of the farm and hopefully the warmest part. Hopefully, this will provide another viable income stream in future years.”

But diversification does bring an extremely busy lifestyle for the Honeyfields. They’re busy year-round with shearing, lambing, beef cows, dairy grazers and feijoas.

“We shear in early-April and November, the cattle calve in autumn and spring; we start lambing in mid-July just after the dairy grazers go home to calve,” says Colin. “With the feijoas we pick seven days a week through April and May. You can’t pick the whole tree at once; you have to pick it when it’s ready.”

Maddison Brown & Merle Foster

Look no further for animal bedding Taylor Bros Transport Ltd has been a leading supplier of animal bedding to the dairy industry for more than 20 years.

“In that time, we’ve learnt from farmers about which products work best to keep their animals happy,” says Andrew Taylor, managing director of Taylor Bros Transport Ltd. “We’re associated with sawmills between Taupo and Auckland, who supply us daily with untreated NZ pine products, which we store and manage at our conveniently-located depots in Matamata and Kerepehi.

“With our dedicated fleet of eight truck-and-trailer units, we’re able to promptly move product from our depots to your farm, causing minimal disruption to your daily routines.

“We have a team of experienced, professional drivers, combined with consistent, good quality products, and a service that is second to none – this makes us the leader in our field.”

Taylor Bros Transport Ltd’s key products include postpeel – this is the most suited and economical product for outdoor wintering pads.

While woodchip is easy to handle and keeps in better condition for longer periods of time. “This is ideal for indoor animal housing and calf sheds,” says Andrew.

And sawdust – it’s an old favourite that can cover pretty much anything.

“While the dairy industry is the biggest user of our products, we also supply to pig, sheep and goat farmers.

“So if you need animal bedding products for your farm, please call us now to find out how we can help you.”

See advert on this page for more information.

A Taylor Bros Transport Ltd truck delivering a load of postpeel.

CUSTOM TRELLIS MADE TO ORDER

Page 21

Page 22

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - WESTERN BOP

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Living inside with the animals at Paengaroa

The 2kg orphan saddleback piglet ‘Stanley’ makes friends with his feathered housemate. Photo: John Borren.

It’s hard to figure where the farmyard stops and the farmhouse starts. That’s because the ducks and chooks, the goat and dogs, and the pigs – yes pigs – pretty much have free reign up Allport Rd in Paengaroa.

There’s a photo of a goat on the double bed, a duckling swimming in the bathroom basin and a Large Black, before the pig gets large, asleep on a lap in front of the TV. “There used to be boundaries,” says a reflective Deborah Moore. “But the animals teach you to put things in perspective. It’s enjoyable and it’s quirky.”

The place is quacking, clucking, squawking and squealing. And there’s a chook on the front doorstep and dead-set cute 2kg package of pig comes snuffling out the front door. Hi ‘Stanley’.

“You can’t be too precious about it,” says Deborah’s husband Jim. “Otherwise you wouldn’t enjoy it.”

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“They’re all cute,” says Deborah, an interior designer by day and mother to all God’s creatures on a 28ha Paengaroa lifestyle block by night.

She falls in love with every one of them. “We’re quite ridiculous.” Pigs, dogs, sheep, lambs, rescue goats, chickens, ducks, cows et al. “And a husband.”

He’s number three in the list of priorities after work and animals. “Nice to be that high really,” says Jim. Then this is all his fault. Born on a farm, spent 20 or 30 years in Auckland and yearned for animals again.

So here they are in Paengaroa sharing their lifestyle block, and their house, with a menagerie.

“Like Noah’s Ark – two of everything.” Then a quick reassessment. “More like 30 of everything. And yes, it has got out of hand to some extent.” Especially the ducks. “Started with two,” says Deborah.

“But they keep fornicating on the front lawn and hiding their eggs, and suddenly another family arrives.”

They’ve been meaning to have a cull – it’s been on the ‘to-do’ list for three years but you suspect they’d rather live with ordered chaos rather than part with any animals.

Animal-centric? They agree, absolutely. And fascinating. “Everyone who comes up here and listen to our stories, love it.

They think it’s gorgeous.”

But Deborah still worries.

“You might be fascinated in thinking we are odd.”

But then so many ‘townies’ visit and many, apparently, have never even been near a chicken.

“So it’s quite nice to provide a new experience.”

For ‘Stanley’, a deadset cute three-week-old orphaned package of pork, things looked bleak.

Read this story in full at: coastandcountrynews.co.nz

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - WESTERN BOP

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 23

Paradise for golfers and peaceseekers alike If you’re looking to live in a paradise for golfers, the Fairway Views Omokoroa subdivision is perfect for you.

This ultimate lifestyle subdivision is selling now – with its stellar views of the golf course and vistas over the Tauranga Harbour, this stunning serene slice of paradise is waiting for you to come and have a look.

If you become or already are a member of the Omokoroa Golf Club, you’ll have the luxury of direct access to the course right on your doorstep.

And aside from sport, this subdivision offers a great lifestyle if you’re seeking peace and quiet or want to live in a serene area.

There is a wide range of sections to choose from for you to make your dream home a reality, with generous flat sections raging from 554m2 to 870m2 and all amenities included.

The Fairway Views Omokoroa subdivision is situated on the corner of Western Avenue

and Gane Place, Omokoroa, and is walking distance to the local playground, sportsground, skate park and local playcentre.

Development company Rowesdale Developments is a family-run operation with director Alison Rowe and sons Grant and Mervyn Rowe.

“We had a passion for this great area and we were committed to creating an outstanding residential subdivision,” says Alison.

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Western Bay of Plenty contacts Federated Farmers Provincial president Bay of Plenty Darryl Jensen 07 533 1300 021 332216 waione@xtra.co.nz Young Farmers Te Puke chairman Nigel Gordon 027 355 1522 Waihi chairman Kirsty Duynhoven 027 384 5806 Western Bay of Plenty District Council 1484 Cameron Rd, Tauranga 3112

07 571 8008, 0800 926 732 www.westernbay.govt.nz Bay of Plenty Regional Council 87 First Ave, Tauranga 3110 0800 884 880 www.boprc.govt.nz Te Puke Information Centre 130 Jellicoe St, Te Puke 07 571 8008 Waihi i-Site 126 Seddon St, Waihi 07 863 6715 Katikati Information Centre 36 Main Rd, Katikati 07 549 1658

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WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - EASTERN BOP

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Growers study stink bug in Italy Opotiki kiwifruit growers Mark and Catriona White, with their children Letisha, 16, and Lochlan, 14, have just returned home from a two-week trip to Italy touring Zespri orchards to learn how Italian horticulturalists are dealing with an incursion of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug. The Whites, who grow kiwifruit organically on their Eastern Bay of Plenty orchard, took the trip as part of their prize as 2018’s national winners of the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

Last June the couple became recipients of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy – chosen from 11 regional winners – and National Ambassadors for Sustainable Farming and Growing, taking them on a 12-month journey of sharing their story of sustainability while also learning new skills.

Biosecurity focus

Catriona says they chose to visit Italy with a biosecurity focus, primarily to learn how orchardists there deal with the stink bug (Halyomorpha halys). “Historically,

Opotiki kiwifruit growers Mark and Catriona White took their children Lochlan and Letisha – now aged 14 and 16 – on a recent biosecurity research trip to Italy. Photo: Bay of Plenty Ballance Farm Environment Awards. when vine-killing disease Psa-V was detected in New Zealand that disease was already in Italy. When it came to NZ we were very underprepared for it.

“With the stink bug, there’s so much data out there – and there’s been so many bugs found outside of quarantine facilities in NZ already – it hasn’t taken hold here yet but we’re in big danger [of it doing so].

“Whereas Italy already has the bug and they’re farming through it – so we want to see up-close how they deal with it, what they do, and I believe many Italians use quite traditional growing methods – with our orchard being

organic, they may hold some organic answers,” Catriona told Coast & Country News before the family left NZ on May 10.

“The thing with this stink bug is there doesn’t appear to be – even for conventional orchardists – a relatively simple solution to control it,” says Catriona.

Proactive

Although she’s pleased the Ministry for Primary Industries, the Government and the Environmental Protection Agency have authorised release of a Samurai Wasp in the case of a stink bug incursion in NZ.

Eastern Bay of Plenty contacts Federated Farmers Bay of Plenty provincial president Darryl Jensen 07 533 1300 021 332216 waione@xtra.co.nz Young Farmers Eastern Bay of Plenty Cameron Law 027 844 6220 Whakatane District Council Civic Centre, 14 Commerce St, Whakatane 07 306 0500 info@whakatane.govt.nz www.whakatane.govt.nz

Opotiki District Council 108 St John St, Opotiki 07 315 3030 info@odc.govt.nz www.odc.govt.nz Bay of Plenty Regional Council 5 Quay St, Whakatane 0800 884 880 info@boprc.govt.nz www.boprc.govt.nz Whakatane i-Site Quay St, Whakatane 3120 0800 942 528 Opotiki i-Site 70 Bridge St 07 315 3031 infocentre@odc.govt.nz

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - EASTERN BOP

Page 25

Making his own way Alex Sainty may have grown up in town, but his passion for ‘getting out there and doing’ has won him the Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year title at this year’s Dairy Industry Awards.

Award-winning dairy trainee Alex Sainty is farming at Galatea. Photo: Cayla-Fay Euinton.

He won $5250 in prizes and two merit awards, after placing third in the category last year.

Born in Rotorua, Alex and his family moved to the Kapiti Coast when he was young. He decided dairy farming sounded more engaging than school, so he took his future into his own hands.

“I was about halfway through Year 13 and I didn’t want to go to school anymore and I thought farming might be a good option – it’s outdoors and it involves a lot of machinery,” says Alex.

At age 17, he enrolled at Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre to study a Level 3 dairy farming course.

Partway through, Alex decided to leave and take up a full-time position as a farm assistant on a 750-cow, System 4 dairy farm in Te Awamutu.

Alex says his first employer is one of his key sources of inspiration.

“Someone who inspires me is my first boss, Chris Numan. He just really took the time to teach me everything and he really taught me how to drive a tractor properly, and that’s really helped in my life and my career.”

Today the 21-year-old is assistant manager for Peter Overdevest and Tania Akehurst on their 390-cow, 132ha property at Galatea, and has completed Level 3 Primary ITO courses.

Alex’s biggest piece of advice to youth considering dairying is: “Don’t really think of it as a dumb person’s job, because it’s not. It’s a rewarding career and you do progress through it”.

Cayla-Fay Euinton

Whites to share their trip this month “That could be our biggest defence – but it’ll be interesting to see what damage we see on Italian orchards, and what Italians are doing to control their crops. Plus we’ll learn about other pests and diseases we see there too.”

The Whites were heading to Rome then south toX the133.5H Latina regionMM – Catriona 180W believes is Italy’s biggest kiwifruit-growing region. “Latina is hosting a Greek MM 180W X 133.5H Kiwifruit Growers convention while we’re

there – so we’ll join their tour of organic and conventional orchards with Greek kiwifruit growers.

“Hopefully, we can chat to them and learn about growing kiwifruit in Greece as well.”

They were also heading north to Bologna and Verona to visit orchards.

Catriona says the decision to take their teenage children along came naturally – they’ve grown up on the orchard and are very much part of its development.

ER ER P SU AD ITH L R E E W VA P S US MO S E R T FO IN R DUC A ST PRO

“The kids have a tiny block in our orchard they look after and do the work on, so they have an interest in kiwifruit orcharding as well – and both are passionate about all things environment.”

The Whites will now share their Italian research trip at The New Zealand Farm Environment Trust’s National Sustainability Showcase 2019 on June 6 in Hamilton. They also plan to brief HorticulMerle Foster ture NZ and MPI.

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WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - CENTRAL PLATEAU

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Tom’s goal to own farm within decade Twenty-two-year-old Tom Bridgens is working and saving hard and investing in young stock to achieve his goal of becoming a 50:50 sharemilker with a 260 to 280-cow herd by June 2020.

ing new skills, to further my own growth and set up a The 2019 Central Plateau Share Farmer of the Year farm that’s sustainable, environmentally-friendly and already has a healthy savings account – with help profitable for myself and family in the future,” says from parents Sally and Pete Bridgens raising 56 calves Tom. “I want to be able to wake up every morning, go for him, and is building his equity growth towards outside and work on my own farm that I’ve purchased sharemilking and the goal of farm ownership within through many years of hard work.”

10 years.

Tom is the farm’s only full-time staff, employing relief Tom outlined his financial plans to the 80-plus milkers when required. people at the NZ Dairy Industry Awards’ Central The property operates as a System 3 with 1TDM/ Plateau Winners’ field day on the 300-cow, 80ha farm near Tokoroa owned by Rex and Loris Bates, where he’s cow, with 17 per cent of imported supplement for the 2018-2019 season, including PKE blend, maize and contract milking.

Tom is grateful for the opportunity Rex and Lois gave grass silage. him in 2018. He was working for a contracting Tom uses a plate meter to augcompany in Australia when ment his daily visual assessments he decided to return to NZ of the amount of feed in each and farming, but arranging paddock and uses MINDA job interviews from across the land and feed programme to Tasman wasn’t easy. create a feed wedge to deterHowever, Rex was impressed mine upcoming surpluses or deficits. The aim is to hold a with Tom, particularly his defi communication skills, and is 100-day round through winter with autumn milkers. Pasture happy with how he’s managed growth is monitored and rotathe farm and herd, including tion length sped up as cows through the challenging dry come back to the milking summer of 2019. platform to calve.

Tom is from a dairy farming Tom also won the Ecolab family and began relief milking Farm Dairy Hygiene, LIC at age 13. He left school at 16 to Recording and Productivity, become a farm assistant before leaving on his OE. “My vision The 2019 Central Plateau Share Farmer Ravensdown Pasture Perforis to create a business where I of the Year, Tom Bridgens, with his proud mance and Westpac Business Performance awards. never stop learning and developparents Pete and Sally Bridgens.

Elaine Fisher

Pasture management on the farm where Tom Bridgens (right) is contract milker is explained to those at the winners’ field day in April. Photos: Elaine Fisher.

This service is offered in association with

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - CENTRAL PLATEAU

Page 27

Dairy manager winner leads by example Dairy farming was not a career 2019’s Central Plateau Dairy Manager of the Year Laurence Walden had ever considered, until a rugby mate asked him to help out with milking.

“I was a bushman for seven years but the industry was quite unstable,” says Laurence. “A rugby mate was a dairy farmer and asked me to give him a hand. I thought: ‘Wow, this is pretty cool. I could do this’ and I haven’t looked back since.

“It’s a lot of hard work and sacrifice – you have to do the mahi (work) but it is important to keep a balance in life, with time for family and friends,” Laurence told the 80-plus people who attended the NZ Dairy Industry Awards’ Central Plateau winners’ field day near Tokoroa in April.

Laurence also won the James and Son Feed Management Award and the DeLaval Livestock Management Award in the competition – and has since placed third nationally in the Dairy Industry Awards’ national Dairy Manager of the Year competition, announced last month, winning $8000 in prizes and the DairyNZ Employee Engagement and Fonterra Dairy Management merit awards.

The judges describe Laurence as a humble, passionate, family man with mana, who excels in team management. “He is strong across all areas, but especially in community involvement and leadership.”

“I’m a proud husband and father to five kids – I like to

think I lead by example,” says the 40-year-old, who believes work-life balance is important for every one of his staff on the Tauhara Farms Ltd Partnership 365ha, 1040-cow farm he manages near Taupo.

“Managing staff is not all rainbows and butterflies but we have an awesome team and a happy team equates to happy, productive cows.”

Laurence is passionate about achieving high standards in the dairy industry and that includes ensuring staff and animal safety and meeting compliance requirements of the Waikato Regional Council and Te Ara Miraka – the standards of the Maori-owned dairy company Miraka, which the farm supplies.

This is Laurence’s third season as manager for the trust farm number 601. Next season he’ll also take on running a second trust farm, an opportunity he’s looking forward to.

“This is a big challenge but I’m excited about it.

I’m lucky to work for Tauhara Farms. They provide the resources to achieve high results, such as good machinery and technology and have supported me to enter the awards and given me so much opportunity as a manager,” says Laurence, who is studying towards a Diploma of Agribusiness Management.

The farm Laurence currently manages is a system 5, a historically dry farm, on pumice soils and a stocking rate of 2.8 cows per hectare with a target of 385,000 kgMS. It is supported by a run-off growing lucerne, grass silage and hay. A summer crop of 28ha of turnips is grown, with 18ha planted in oats for early-winter.

Imported feed of 6 tonne/ha or 2 tonne/cow is also used.

Elaine Fisher

teau Central Pla The 2019 ger of the Year, a Dairy Man Walden, with ce n re by Lau ma and ba his wife Em to: Elaine Fisher. ho Tawhiri. P

Bringing dairying to students online DairyNZ has a new website for teachers, giving them free, curriculum-based learning resources to help children learn about dairy farming.

The new website, called DairyNZ Schools, is part of DairyNZ’s in-school education programme, which is designed to ensure NZ school children get the opportunity to learn about dairying.

The website has learning resources for teachers of children from Year 2-11, which are free to download

and teachers can filter resources by year level or subject area.

The resources have been developed through DairyNZ’s education programme during the last six years and in partnership with education specialists to ensure they meet the needs of teachers and provide effective learning, as well as being innovative, interesting and fun.

All resources have a dairy context, meaning children get to find out about the dairy sector while learning about science, maths,

geography, economics, problem solving and much more. They get to see the breadth and variety in dairy farming, and the career options available.

All teachers who use the DairyNZ resources can also take children onto a farm to experience dairy farming in real life. Teachers and students also share with DairyNZ their photos and letters created when using the learning resources, or visiting a farm.

See: www.dairynzschools.co.nz

FIRST

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FREE

Page 28

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - CENTRAL PLATEAU

A team that knows their stuff Reporoa-based milking plant dealer and installer Dave Goddard has come a long way in 15 years.

Phone: 07 362 8433

June 2019 Coast & Country News

He began by subcontracting to the original Reporoa Engineering firm, travelling around in a van tackling milking plant jobs by himself. Then he went on to purchase the Waikato Milking Systems dealership.

Today his Camco Dairy Services Ltd business has 10 staff installing and servicing milking plants for dairy upgrades and new sheds around the Central Plateau region.

Last month Dave travelled to the US for the first time to help teach a fellow Waikato Milking Systems dealer and his team to install a WMS plant in a 50-bail rotary near Wisconsin. “I went over there to do some dealer training – it was a 10-day trip to help a WMS dealership put a plant in a new 50-bail rotary – the first one they’ve put in.”

The gig came about via former Waikato Milking Systems CEO Dean Bell, who lives in the US operating his own project manag-

ing company for WMS. Back home Dave’s team has been busy at the workshop with maintenance and repair jobs and preparing for some new shed projects coming up.

“What farmers should know is we’re a dealer for Waikato Milking Systems but we can repair all brands of plant equipment. We lots of dairy plant upgrades – like automatic cup removers, milkpump upgrades, and chilled water systems are popular – as well as install new milking plants in new dairy builds.

“We can tackle water reticulation in new builds, plus any farm water supply projects, water pumps – anything to do with water – and effluent, as we are an accredited dealer and installer for HiTech Enviro Solutions.”

Camco’s milking machine and water pump technicians offer a 24-hour-seven-day breakdown service. “Cows don’t stop drinking water or making milk during weekends so we are available to support our clients.”

And while many farmers are taking a break, Dave advises they should be thinking about completing upgrades or the mandatory

Camco Dairy Services Ltd owner Dave Goddard on the job in a Kiwi dairy shed.

12-monthly milking machine test to prepare for the upcoming season. “We have three NZ Milking and Pumping Trade Association-accredited machine testers on our staff to cope with demand during this period.”

Merle Foster

Authorised Dealers Authorised Dealers

Central Plateau Contacts

• Dairy Shed installations and upgrades • Service and parts for all types of milking machines • Drench pumps, teat spray systems, hoses and supplies • Machine Testing • Effluent and Irrigation Supplies • Pumps & Water fittings – Galvanised, PVC and Alkathene • Rubberware • Stainless Steel manufacture and repair • Trenching

DY Y TI VER

NEW

ES

TYR

DY Y TI VER

Federated Farmers Rotorua Taupo Provincial president Alan Wills 07 333 8528 027 281 8626 awills22@xtra.co.nz

Young Farmers Reporoa Chairman Luke Homs 027 816 3961

Provincial dairy chairperson Colin Guyton 027 275 6546 guytonfarms@xtra.co.nz

Taupo District Council 46 Horomatangi St, Taupo 07 376 0899 www.taupodc.govt.nz

Sharemilker farm owners’ sub section Gifford McFadden 07 333 8079 027 281 4364 g.r.mcfadden@outlook.com

Taupo i-Site 30 Tongariro St, Taupo 3330 07 376 0027

Tihoi/Western Bays chairman Donna McKinley 022 183 9221

Turangi i-Site Ngawaka Place, Turangi 3335 07 386 8999

TIDY

June 2019 Coast & Country News

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - WAIKATO

Page 29

Selling shoes is all about quality service At Mavis and Mick, the main focus is the customer. “Our service is absolutely second-to-none,” says Mavis and Mick’s Mikala Walshe.

“I think at the end of the day, it’s about genuine good service and just being really honest with people.

“There’s no point trying to make it work and telling somebody that a shoe looks great when it doesn’t.”

And this mentality has seen them open their three shoe stores – one in Cambridge, one in Morrisonville and a recently-opened one in Matamata – with a diverse range of brands, styles and sizes.

No matter what your needs or your style, Mavis and Mick can help you find what you need.

“We’re quite diverse in who we stock – we sell Fly London, Beau Coops, Neo, Hispanitas and Eject so we’re really diverse,” says Mikala – the ‘Mick’ in Mavis and Mick.

“We also sell a few comfort platform brands like Ziera, Rieker and Revere as well.”

And customers always go home with a top-quality product after experiencing top-quality service.

“When anybody buys anything from us – whether it’s shoes or bags or whatever it might be – we spray the item with the protection spray we sell to help protect the item from water and dirt and the damage of everyday life,” says Mikala.

And the name? Well, it’s a bit of a funny story.

“People ask me all the time ‘are you Mavis?’ and I’m actually ‘Mick’ for Mikala and Mavis is a nickname for my dairy farmer husband that we gave him years ago.

That’s how we came up with the name.”

‘Mavis and Mick’ also known as Seamus and Mikala Walshe.

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - WAIKATO

Page 30

June 2019 Coast & Country News

From Wales to the Waikato pays off A passion for the farming industry, a strong desire to provide an enjoyable and safe working environment, and a commitment to making community connections, teamed with a good sense of humour, sums up Marc and Nia Jones’ approach to life. stry y Indu rmer r i a D Fa 19 The 20 aikato Share Nia d an sW Award e Year, Marc oa farm of th n the Tokor milk. o t Jones, they contrac . ry e F r e e in h er w th Ca Photos:

Marc and Nia Jones were named runners-up in 2019’s Share Farmer of the Year national competition at the Dairy Industry Awards.

The dynamic Welsh couple are runners-up in 2019’s Share Farmer of the Year competition at the Dairy Industry Awards, which they qualified for by winning Waikato Share Farmer of the Year plus three merit awards.

The couple impressed judges with their focus on developing their team’s personal and professional goals.

“They had this word ‘AgriCULTURE’ – they create and live a high-performing culture, developing and caring for people, the land, the environment. They don’t just say the word, they live it. People are a real focus of their business, they truly care.”

Marc fell in love with dairying on his OE in 2010 while working for the late Ian Elliot and wife Margaret on their 270ha, 970-cow Tokoroa property. Today the Jones contract-milk on the same property, which hosted the Waikato DIA Winners’’ field day in April.

Margaret’s daughter Sarah sharemilks, and Marc and Nia initially managed the farm for a year.

Fell in love

The Nia and Marc Jones with 18-month-old Etta.

Both were born and raised in Snowdonia National Park, North Wales. Marc left school at 16 and went to Agricultural College for two years. Born on a farm, Nia completed a Bsc Hons in Sports and Physical Education at university.

Marc, 33, travelled to NZ in 2009, while Nia, 29, travelled Aotearoa in 2011 and also fell in love with the country.

The married couple came to NZ in 2016, working in Southland, before taking up the offer to return to Kennedy Farms in 2017. They have one daughter and another child on the way.

The System 5, 270ha farm, including 35ha of leased dairy platform, is on Otorohanga Allophanic and Makiekie Pumice soils. The pasture is predominantly rye grass and clover, with addition of plantain. “Visual pasture assessments are carried out weekly, and we carry out 41 full farm walks a year,” says Marc.

Imported supplements include PKE, DDG and Tapioca, which is fed in-shed. Grass silage is grown on the run-off, and hay is brought in. Plus 16ha of maize is grown on the platform, and 2ha of swedes to help transition 400 dried-off cows heading to the run-off for 80 days during winter.

Calving switch

The 970 cows are milked in a 60-bail rotary using automatic cup removers and Protrack monitoring.

Reducing cow numbers from 1050, and a stocking rate from 3.9 cows/ha to 3.6 cows/ha, has resulted in a similar kgMS/ha of 1593, a higher kgMS/cow with 443 compared to around 400, and a drop in empty rates from 17 to 12 per cent.

And a switch has been made during two seasons

June 2019 Coast & Country News

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - WAIKATO

The 2019 Dairy Industry Awards Waikato Share Farmers of the Year, Marc and Nia Jones, hosting the Winners’ Field Day at Kennedy Farms outside Tokoroa. from split calving to 100 per cent spring calving in 2018/2019. The farm uses all AB for 12 weeks from October 8, breeding 90 per cent Friesians and 10 per cent crossbreed, also aiming towards all A2 genetics.

“For us, spring calving offers more discipline around reproduction, but it’s been a big learning curve transitioning,” says Marc.

The couple also won the Dairy NZ Human Resources Award – with the judges “blown away” by their commitment to looking after their team. The team consists of Marc, three full-time staff, and Nia completes

Waikato contacts Federated Farmers President Andrew McGiven 07 884 4360 021 190 2883 mcgiven@gmail.com Provincial dairy chair Ben Moore 07 883 4777 027 549 2996 bnmoore@hotmail. com Young Farmers Hamilton City chairman Memphis Wright 027 367 8653 Hauraki chairman Terence Potter 027 953 6666

North Waikato chairman Nico Fabrello 021 022 35393 Piarere chairman Richard Waugh 027 274 9389 South Waikato chairman Eoin O’Mahony 021 247 9077 Waikato District Council 0800 492 452 info@waidc.govt.nz Waikato Regional Council Private Bag 3038 Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton.

0800 800 401

The Kennedy Farms team: Workers Preet, Jas and Ravi, Nia Jones, baby Etta and Marc Jones, and sharemilker Sarah Elliott. admin, financials, team meetings, rears calves, is mum to 18-month-old Etta, and fills in as required.

“We strive towards the Maslow hierarchy of needs for us and our staff,” says Marc. “We also have open communication and a great relationship with Margaret and Sarah,” says Nia. Since coming to NZ, Nia and Marc have thrown themselves into the community and dairy scene. The judges were “mystified as to how they manage to pack so much into their days”. The Jones have started a local progression group, utilise local community networks and have groups on-farm for demonstrations and activities – winning them the Federated Farmers Leadership Award.

The couple also netted the Honda Farm Safety, Health and Biosecurity Award. “We have weekly team meetings where health and safety around what’s happening that week is a key agenda item,” says Marc.

He’s created Standard Operating Procedures for the farm so all staff have something to refer back to with confidence after training. “We have a WhatsApp group chat set up to keep the team informed and updated about new hazards, or anything we all need to know.

“We also use it for more lighthearted messages, which helps foster that team atmosphere,” says

Page 31

The 2019 Dairy Industry Awards Waikato Share Farmer of the Year, Nia and Marc Jones, were well prepared for their farm tour.

Marc. And the farm hazard map clearly shows no-go zones for health, safety and biosecurity.

With the Jones’ second baby due this month Nia will be “conveniently” away

from calving. But a good family life/ work balance is important to them.

They want to live comfortably but are investing in building equity towards buying a farm.

Catherine Fry

Page 32

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - KING COUNTRY

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Rural people helping rural people Moving house and changing jobs are acknowledged as two of life’s most stressful events, and currently in the thick of it are dairy farmers moving to new employment.

Supporting the rural community through stressful times like these is the Rural Support Trust.

In the Waikato, the trust typically deals with 300-350 calls a year – almost one per day – confirms Waikato branch chair Neil Bateup.

Calls are spread pretty evenly throughout the year, but can spike during adverse weather events, calving and other high-pressure times of the year, says Neil.

The issues people call about are varied: financial problems, employment issues, relationship difficulties, mental health concerns and farm management problems. Working through the impact of adverse weather events also generates many calls to the trust, says Neil.

One-on-one support is part of the service provided by the trust. In Waikato, one of 25 volunteers will visit the caller and have a chat to discuss the problem.

“Our people have a rural background and are often farmers themselves, so they understand and relate to the issues people are calling about.

“Our trust is about rural people helping rural people during difficult times – no matter what or when.

“We lend a listening ear, and help people separate out the issues and work alongside them to develop a way forward.

“Sometimes it’s as simple as needing someone to talk to. Other times a more comprehensive response is needed,” says Neil.

Rural Support Trust maintains an extensive network of contacts and when needed will facilitate a referral to specialist support including mental health professionals, counsellors, financial advisors, farming experts and business mentors.

Kiwis are notoriously staunch – and, the biggest barrier to accessing the trust’s services is often an unwillingness to ask for help, says Neil.

“We’re always there if people need us. They just pick up the phone.”

The trust’s confidential support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week – and with 14 branches nationwide there is always someone nearby to assist. Supporting farmers during floods and other adverse weather events is an important part of the trust’s work.

“We co-ordinate community meetings, bring in experts and work alongside Ministry of Primary Industries and organisations like Federated Farmers to support people through these difficult circumstances.”

The trust’s work is part-funded by MPI, with donations and fundraising making up the difference. Contact the Rural Support Trust via their website, Facebook or on 0800 787 254 to get in touch with a support person in your region.

Josephine Reader

Rural Support Trust’s Waikato branch chair Neil Bateup.

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - KING COUNTRY

Page 33

Planning key to stock wintering options Soil health damage during winter has been recognised as a significant issue for the farming community. It coincides with high stock densities and high soil moisture conditions.

Stock wintering systems are thought to play a major role in water quality and soil health, because stock graze at a time of year when there is much hydrological activity that moves contaminants off land and into nearby waterbodies.

It’s general practice during winter to graze stock intensively on winter forage crops, supplying large quantities of feed in a relatively small area.

Now is the right time for farmers to consider the impact of stock wintering practices on soil health and water quality.

These practices can impact surface and ground water quality, as well as soil quality due to heavy concentrations of dung and urine, the creation of bare ground and the risk of run-off in wet weather. Many studies have shown that water quality guidelines and standards have been exceeded as a result of intensive agricultural activities.Here are some stock wintering options that can achieve good environmental results, are animal-friendly and make economic sense.

Feed and stand-off pads protect soil physical structure during wet periods.

King Country Contacts Federated Farmers Ruapehua Provincial president Luke Pepper 07 895 6121 027 329 2849 chillipeppers@xtra. co.nz

Waitomo District Council Queen St, Te Kuiti 3910 0800 932 4357 www.waitomo.govt. nz

Provincial meat and wool chairperson Nick Street 07 895 7664 027346 0315 Nik.street.nz@gmail. com

Otorohanga i-Site 27 Turongo St, Otorohanga 07 873 8951

Young Farmers Taumarunui chairman Travis Carter 027 302 9042 North King Country Andrew Sparks 027 7406 901 Otorohanga District Council 17 Maniapoto St, Otorohanga 3900 07 873 8199 www.otodc.govt.nz

Te Kuiti i-Site Rora St, Te Kuiti 07 878 8077 Ruapehu District Council 59-63 Hui St, Taumarunui Taumarunui 07 895 8188 Ohakune 06 385 8364 Raetihi 06 385 4447 www.ruapehu.govt. nz

The feed pad is a dedicated concrete platform where supplementary feeds are brought to the stock. It has higher feed efficiency as the wastage is reduced to about five per cent compared with 20 per cent or more when silage is fed in paddocks.

Stand-off pads

Stand-off pads are a dedicated loafing area for stock.

These pads are constructed using a softer, free-draining surface utilising materials like wood chips. As stock can be withheld from pasture for longer periods of time, the area required per cow has to be bigger – say about 8m2. Capture of effluent is an important aspect of stand-off pads. It requires the base to be sealed underneath, either with compact clay or artificial liner or concrete, and the captured effluent directed to a treatment system.

Animal shelters are gaining popularity. Herd homes are a combination of a feeding platform, stand-off facility and animal shelter. Sheltered feeding for stock takes place over slatted concrete floors. As the cows stand on the reinforced slatted floors, their effluent drops through and into a concrete-lined bunker below.

Composting barns

Composting barns are another type of stock wintering option, with the composting occurring in situ. The cows roam freely in the barn and lie on a mix of wood chips and straw. The beds must be kept dry by providing adequate ventilation and aeration.

In the past, sacrifice paddocks have been used when other options were not available to stand animals off or feed supplements when it is very wet. However, there is a risk of soil structure damage and animal health problems, such as lameness and mastitis. If soil potassium levels become too great – potassium is excreted in urine – it may predispose the calving cow to metabolic problems. These paddocks come with a very high risk of discharges of contaminants to water, so must be

sited well away from waterways, with an area of rank growth to trap any sediment or dung that washes off.

Build your wintering structure well away from waterways and allow for solid and liquid waste disposal into your effluent disposal system. Don’t use supplementary feeds in areas where run-off may reach any waterbody.

By planning now and implementing proper stock wintering management practices, you can play an important part in improving water quality and soil health. Bala Tikkisetty is a sustainable agriculture advisor at Waikato Regional Council. Contact him on 0800 800 401.

Bala Tikkisetty, Waikato Regional Council

Fieldays 2019 ˜°˛˝ Lift Out

Photo: Courtesy of Fieldays.

Our New Brand Is Coming Soon For a while now we’ve been known as

But we’re changing our name to Dairy Technology Services, DTS.

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isn’t changing is our great range of Dairy Technology Solutions

as Dependable and Durable, Terrific and Trustworthy, Service

as New Zealand’s leading manufacturer of milk vats and cooling

and Solutions. While our new DTS brand is coming soon, what

equipment, and on farm automation services.

To find out more about our Dependable Terrific Service, call us on 0800 500 387 or visit www.dts.co.nz

FIELDAYS ®

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

Agricultural innovators to test ideas Visitors to Fieldays this month will get to see some of the latest cutting edge developments and innovations being created to solve many woes in the primary industries as the Innovation Centre opens it doors from June 12-15.

The centre is where the 2019 Fieldays Innovations Awards entries will be housed for the four days – offering a chance for agricultural innovators to test their ideas, gather information, launch products and make connections.

Each entry has a booth displaying and educating on their innovative products

– with Innovations Awards categories including Prototype Grassroots focussed on showcasing ideas, Prototype Established recognising product development, Launch NZ for innovations ready to go to market; and International for launching innovations globally.

Fieldays Innovations event manager Gail Hendricks says there’s many benefits from entering the awards.

“As well as the $60,000 prize pool on offer in cash and support, entrants will also be given a platform to test the market, the opportunity to learn from industry experts and the chance to develop their innovation through the various production stages,” says Gail.

“These awards support ingenuity and creativity the Kiwi can-do attitude, recognising people picking good problems

or processes and being creative in the way they solve or enhance them.”

Entrants get the opportunity to present their innovations to the many visitors and exhibitors that attend Fieldays from around the country and internationally.

Last year’s winners included a robot that navigates kiwifruit orchards capturing highly accurate data, groundbreaking deer milk products, an app to help orchard supervisors collect timesheets and push to payroll, a plantain that reduces nitrogen leaching, and a two-wheel drive electric utility vehicle – just to name a few.

And with Fieldays attractAcuris Systems’ co-founders Nicholas Woon and Matthew Warner with ing 130,000 visitors last their fully-autonomous robot system, which can scan orchards and give year, making it the largest hard data to growers, at Fieldays last year. agricultural event in the Southern Hemisphere, Gail says it’s the ideal advice and connections that each of our partners have platform for backyard inventors and start-up compafor entrants will do wonders in advancing their ideas, nies to interact with their end-users and progress their propelling them onto the national and world stage innovations. with such reputable knowledge behind them.

Award entrants are supported by a group of knowl“AWS has supported many successful NZ start-ups edgeable and insightful organisations and individuals and enterprises in their technology journeys, and with who provide advice around law, research, networking, AgTech being such a common theme amongst innovaengineering, technology and science. tion entries, we see them being a hugely beneficial part And this year this support will be boosted by three of the Fieldays Innovation Awards’ team of sponsors.” new sponsors. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Gait Kiwi entrepreneur and CEO of Gait International International and James & Wells join Vodafone NZ, Daniel Given says his company is very keen to get Callaghan Innovations and Massey University to form involved in Fieldays Innovation, as it’s been key to the strong team of sponsors fostering NZ agricultural enabling Kiwi agri-business innovators. innovations in the awards.

“Building successful businesses is hard, we are excited Gail says they’re really lucky to have a group of to be able to share some of our experiences and provide amazing sponsors’ support for 2019. “The support, mentor ship to the agri-businesses of the future.”

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

FIELDAYS ®

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Building skill, relationships and business The fencing competitions at Fieldays is very serious stuff. So serious in fact that once, a number of years ago when the Queen was visiting and she stopped to ask one of the fencers a question, he said: ‘Sorry Ma’am I haven’t got time to stop and chat’ and he kept fencing.

Paul Van Beers is chairman of the New Zealand Fencing Competitions and has won the Golden Pliers at Mystery Creek, sponsored by WIREMARK, 14 times. He’s now retired from fencing and is one of the judges.

“I was introduced to the fencing competitions by one of the judges, who was my boss at the time so it was natural to enter the competitions.

“It was one of the best things to happen to me. Through the competition I improved my fencing skills, met other

like-minded people and contracted more fencing jobs. With my wife Wendy, we were able to buy an 800ha sheep and beef farm at Porangahau in the Hawke’s Bay. We run 2000 ewes and 500 head of cattle,” says Paul.

Fencers in the competition are judged approximately on one-third speed, one-third appearance and one-third strength.

The first person finished is not generally the winner. There are usually 30 entrants in the singles competition and 16 in the doubles. There are mostly male competitors but there has been women competitors in the past.

“There are 12 people in the judging team and two judges check each aspect of the fence. The wires have to be the right tension, the footings have to be done properly, a good appearance

and last a lifetime. A fence’s main purpose is to contain stock so it has to be strong,” says Paul.

For the Golden Pliers the fence has to be 50m long, have nine wires, a post at every 4m, a wooden batten every metre and then swing a gate and latch it on to the gate post. The competitors have up to six hours to complete the job.

The top eight competitors go into the Golden Pliers, the next six go into the Bill Schuler competition, named after the ‘father of fencing’.

“Although it is a competition the experienced guys like to encourage the newcomers and keep them interested in fencing. It can be very rewarding, and can be the start of a business.

‘We are all like-minded people, love the outdoors, hunting, cycling and quite often the views are pretty good too,” says Paul.

Helen Wilson

Right: The Silver Spades competition.

Photos: Roz Anderson Photography.

Below: Paul Van Beers judging last year's competition.

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FIELDAYS ®

June 2019 Coast & Country News

FIELDAYS ®

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 5

Waikato artist snares Fieldays art award

Hamilton artist Gaye Jurisich with her award-winning creation ‘Snare’. Photo: Fieldays.

Hamilton artist Gaye Jurisich has taken the top honour in 2019’s Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Awards with her captivating piece labelled ‘Snare’.

The awards are hosted and coordinated by Waikato museum, partnered by Farmlands cooperative and supported by the New Zealand National Fieldays Society.

Judge Linda Tyler praised Gaye’s piece of art for using the space effectively. “Often with sculpture, people think that it’s fine to have something wallmounted.

“The whole attraction of this piece is the fact it is sprouting out of the walls and using the floors as well, so it is a real installation,” says Linda.

“Gaye’s sculpture really captured the energy of the material well. No.8 wire is really strong stuff, and when it’s coiled it’s got all that springing energy. It really did express the quality and energy that’s inherent in No.8 wire.”

‘Snare’ is one of 25 artworks created by 23 artists on display at ArtsPost Galleries & Shop showcasing the value, versatility and symbolism of No.8 wire through the creation of artworks made from this icon of Kiwi agriculture.

New Zealand National Fieldays Society president Peter Carr awarded his President’s Choice to Dagmar Elliot of Te Awamutu for her piece The No.8 Pataka.

The Pataka, or Maori house, struck a chord with Peter who appreciated its connection with food.

“This piece really symbolised food, farming and Fieldays.

“The fact the roof of the little house was made from rusty-looking No.8 Wire paid great homage to the material’s durability showing that it will last forever,” says Peter.

Second place went to Bev Goodwin and Jeff Thomson of Auckland for their clever creation ‘Recoil’, which Linda says is a witty idea using shapes making a heavy material seem light and buoyant.

Jasmine Clark’s ‘Kupenga’ received third place, with Linda very impressed with the skill involved in weaving the wire to make it seem as if it were a delicate natural fibre rather than a strong metal.

The reference to the ingenuity of traditional fishing methods within the Maori culture gave it great background.

The No.8 Wire National Art Award exhibition at ArtsPost Galleries & Shop is open daily 10am-5pm until June 9.

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Page 6

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Rural Catch finalists have been Eight rural singletons have been named this year’s Fieldays Rural Catch finalists, and will compete for an impressive $20,000 prize pool and to take home the coveted Golden Gumboot.

Fieldays Rural Catch gives four guys and four girls some time off-farm, an all-expenses paid trip to Fieldays and the chance to meet some like-minded individuals and compete for some great prizes.

Finalists this year include six from the North Island, two from the South Island and two wildcards selected by Fieldays Rural Catch partner Farmlands and The Edge.

The Edge’s Wildcard finalist is Gordon Mead, a musterer from Taumarunui who loves to socialise, has an interest in deer farming, and is passionate about mental health awareness. Gordon’s ideal date would be a fancy dinner restaurant followed by a good dance at a country club.

Farmlands’ Wildcard finalist is Aleisha Broomfield, a 50/50 sharemilker in Morrinsville.

Lewis Nichols is a heavy machinery operator in Otorohanga.

Kerry Taylor, a shepherdess from Wanganui, describes herself and an easy-going, positive friendly girl who loves a laugh and doesn’t take things too seriously. She’s passionate about stock welfare and is after someone with a good sense of humour who’s easy on the eye. Her ideal date would be an outdoors activity.

Kerry Taylor is a shepherdess from Wanganui.

Lewis Nichols, a heavy machinery operator in Otorohanga, found his destiny driving tractors and is passionate about sustainably cropping and mental health in the rural sector. Lewis is after a country girl who knows what it takes to be on the land. His ideal date would involve a nice meal and a good beer at a quiet restaurant with plenty of good yarns.

...continued

The easy way to clean your swimming pool Owning and operating Floatron NZ for more than 20 years, Melissa Growden has exhibited at just as many Fieldays.

In 1996 she began selling Floatron swimming pool purifiers after her family were so impressed with the results of this solar-panelled device and how clean it kept their family pool with minimal chemicals.

Come and see what’s new site F30

“My family had tried it as a last resort after ongoing frustration in maintaining their pool and were so amazed with the simplicity, they knew they were onto something special,” says Melissa.

Not long after Floatron NZ Ltd added Zodiac automatic and robotic pool cleaners to their product range. “These vacuum your pool so you don’t have to. They range from traditional suction cleaners to the latest robotic cleaners with wi-fi and smartphone technology.”

Melissa describes the Floatron as “the easiest way to keep your pool clean” because it reduces the need for costly pool chemicals.

Her and husband Craig have used Floatrons in three pools in the last 20 years and a range of Zodiac cleaners. “The Floatron releases mineral ions into the water, which help combat algae and bacteria. This allows pool owners to reduce chlorine use up to 90 per cent.”

And the health benefits of Floatron have positively impacted Melissa’s family. “Our middle daughter had severe eczema and heavily chlorinated or salt pools would irritate it. She has no reaction in our pool.”

Floatron offers the best solution for your pool – making it low maintenance while saving money on chemicals. Visit Melissa at site TC98 at Fieldays.

Fieldays deals are at: www.floatron.co.nz

FIELDAYS ®

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 7

announced ahead of Fieldays Trent Hill is a senior shepherd at Taupo.

continued...

Charlotte Leach of Hamilton is a DairyNZ research technician who loves to learn and is passionate about reducing environmental impact and improving animal’s welfare. Charlotte is after a respectful, mature bloke who loves adventure and having a good laugh. Her idea date would be a sunset with a rural view and settling down to chat under the Sam Harvey is an ICP Charlotte Leach of Hamilton is a stars. manager for AsureQuality in DairyNZ research technician.

Ash Foley, an arable senior assesChristchurch. sor based in Christchurch, loves being outdoors, enjoys being chainsaws, health and wellbeing, finance and ATV involved in her Waimak Young Farmers club and skills. feels the need to educate society on the importance Find out more about the Fieldays Rural Catch comof farming and the connection to where food comes petition at: fieldays.co.nz/whats-on/rural-catch/ from. For her ideal date, Ash would like the guy to take the lead and show or teach her about something they’re passionate about.

Sam Harvey is an ICP manager for AsureQuality in Christchurch who describes himself as a sporty farmer who is always on the go. Sam loves the freedom of rural life and is passionate about lessening the disconnection between the rural and urban communities. Sam’s idea of a good date would involve activity of some sort – biking, swimming, running or boxing.

Farmlands’ Wildcard finalist is Aleisha Broomfield, a 50/50 sharemilker based in Morrinsville who loves a good banter and is after someone kind and caring who’s driven to achieve and values family. Aleisha is passionate about showing the positives of the farming industry and her ideal date would be something fun outdoors followed by a cold beer.

Trent Hill is a senior shepherd from Taupo who describes himself as a typical Kiwi bloke who enjoys hunting, fishing and sheep and beef farming. Trent’s after someone he can have a laugh with and his ideal date would involve something casual like a few beers at the pub.

This year competitors will brush up their confidence with media interviews, sponsor engagements and show off their skills in fencing, innovations,

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Ash Foley is an arable senior assessor in Christchurch.

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Gordon Mead, a musterer from Taumarunui, is The Edge’s Wildcard finalist.

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FIELDAYS ®

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

Selling and servicing cleaning machines SAVE TIME and MONEY with the ORIGINAL AUTOMATIC chicken and poultry feeder!

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PTO machine or pump, you want advice you can trust from someone with experience to guide you in the right direction.

Kleantech is the wholesale importer and distributor of quality, Italian industrial, commercial and domestic With Kleantech’s extensive knowledge of servicing cleaning machines and accessories. all makes and models of cleaning machines in New “Our quality imported cleaning machines come from Zealand, Mike Mark was able to hand-pick machines Italy, which means value for suited 100 per cent to our condimoney,” says Mike. tions and people.

“We’ve found these machines “No one else in the market can outperform the rest and are the claim this as they are always changbest, most cost-effective solution ing suppliers or models,” says Mike. for our customers.”

Kleantech still sells machines they “Kleantech strive to make our sold in 2000. Why? “Because they customer service stand out from are good and work well,” says Mike. other businesses and will go the “Kiwis are a very different breed extra mile for you.” to the rest of the world, where we Talk to their friendly team fix everything instead of replacing today to get the best advice it – so quality is 100 per cent the top and support for your cleaning consideration.” machines and equipment.

When you’re looking for the very Visit Kleantech at Fieldays The Powerwash Gold Base best quality water blaster, drain at site H33.

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Grab the money – because cash is king!

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There is even a song called ‘Grab the Money and run’, but I’m not suggesting the run bit of course.

In life we’re presented with all sorts of opportunity. Recognising positive opportunity is everything and the majority never see it, however some do. They take on some risk, become an ‘early-adopter’ and grab the opportunity.

This article, however, is more about deciding to grab the money when it avails itself.

My first experience was as an ambitious graduate with 20 cattle on my block, which were mature and ready to sell in the early autumn.

I was all set to cash them up there and then and grab the money. My best mate was in the stock business

and said to hang onto them, put more weight on and I’d get more for them. I took his advice – I ran out of feed, as you do, the market softened, and I sold them for considerably less than I would have.

Boner cows spring to mind. You can round up empty and boner cows and sell them early. Grab the money and put it in your bank.

Selling land comes in this category too.

You put your place on the market, and a ‘below your expectation’ offer comes in and you say: ‘No, I want more’. You should grab the money. I’ve been caught twice in this situation (I made the same mistake twice!)

I had an offer on my two 10 acre blocks when I was ...continued unconditional on my dairy farm.

FIELDAYS ®

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 9

How to stop rust and maintain machinery A lanolin-based industrial lubricant and corrosion inhibitor made here in New Zealand offers many uses within agricultural and industrial sectors for preventing corrosion and lubricating machinery.

applied, saving repetitive maintenance.

A coating of ‘Prolan Enduro Medium’ grade on quadbike chassis prevents corrosion caused by manure and salt – but the biggest benefit is a cold-water blast

Murray Shaw of Prolan NZ says commercial operators as well as farmers have found Prolan ‘Enduro Heavy Grade’ is an excellent rust preventative on 4WDs, fertiliser loaders, trucks, buses and motorhome chassis. “It works that well many Prolan being applied to an ATV vehicleside-by-side to prevent rust. testing stations are recommending a coating of Prolan to prevent will not remove the Prolan coating. It corrosion. Prolan saves the life of stays on, preventing corrosion and keepmachinery exposed to air and moisture ing the frame in top shape.” while in the field or in storage.”For Prolan Anti-seize Grease is popular general maintenance, Prolan’s ‘Enduro for assembly of components. “A small Medium grade’ is a great general lubricant – penetrating into seized bolts, smear of Prolan grease applied to bolts or pins ensures they can be undone chains and other moving parts, says years later. It also minimises parts Murray. “Plus, farmers and contracreplacement as they can be removed tors have noticed Prolan stays on once

without force, which can result in breakage.”

Prolan products are made of natu-

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Strong cash position puts you in control continued...

I messed around, asked for more, lost the deal, sold the blocks nine months later for less – plus the bridging costs.

Ouch! I should have grabbed the money.

The second time was similar with an even worse outcome.

So, do you take a $1000 now or $1100 in 12 months’ time? Might be tempting, but my experience has been to grab the money now. The deal might fall over and you get nothing, who knows?

Right thing to do

I was watching rugby the other night with a great friend. A penalty was awarded near the end of the game, which would have equalled the score.

They elected to kick for touch in the hope of getting a converted try, which may have sealed a win. My friend said that was the right thing to do. I kept saying: ‘Take the penalty, equalise the score and then try to get more points’.

‘Take the money!’ I yelled when they did not score to equalise. Take the penalty, re-equalise and go after more points.

I’ve seen it in mediation many times when I’ve got a very reasonable settlement for my clients and I’ve suggested strongly that they take the settlement.

Their lawyer advises to go the legal way to get more. Most fail and they end

up far worse off. It is a bit like the first offer is the best offer, but this goes way beyond that. When there is a deal on the table, always leave a bit in it for the other fellow and grab the money.

Make a decision

Being able to make a decision and stick with your own gut feeling is a very important and we need to be careful not to be talked out of it by lawyers and accountants who are worrying about their ‘legal’ liability. If there is a deal there and you can live with it – grab the money!

Everything you read now says interest rates are low, world economies have got the wobbles, house prices are falling in some countries and all the indicators are that a correction is probable. What do you do? Stay in shares, houses etc or do you reduce your exposure and grab the money? Cash is king. Never forget it.

Grabbing the money and putting it in the bank gives you options. No money in the bank – no options. Being in a strong cash position puts you in control and dare I say it, feeling better.

Disclaimer – These are the opinions of Don Fraser of Fraser Farm Finance. Any decisions made should not be based on this article alone and appropriate professional assistance should be sought. Don Fraser is principal of Fraser Farm Finance and a consultant to the farming industry. Contact him on 021 777 675.

A disclosure document is available on request.

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FIELDAYS ®

Page 10

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Going back to Dairy Technology Services The apparent market confusion around who is Tru-Trust Dairy Solutions will be solved by going back to the future for Dairy Technology Services.

Confusion began when DTS was bought

by Tru-Test Group in 2013 and was rebranded Tru-Test Dairy Solutions even though their legal trading name remained Dairy Technology Services.

In 2018 Tru-Test Group then split the business into two separate operating divisions – Retail Solutions and Dairy Solutions, so the former could be sold to Swiss firm Datamars along with the TruTest brand.

This left Tru-Test Dairy Solutions out by itself as a provider of Farm Holding Tanks, Milk Cooling & Refrigeration, and Dairy Automation Solutions – and with a time-

frame to stop using the Tru-Test brand by September 2020.

Sound confusing? Not for much longer, says Dairy Technology Services CEO Gavin Thwaites.

“The re-branding back to Dairy Technology Services was logical as many of our customers still refer to us as DTS,” says Gavin.

“In fact, our Normanby plant in Taranaki, which manufactures 95 per cent of FHTs in New Zealand, has always been known as Dairy Technology Services.”

“While the brand needs to be clarified, continuing to supply and service our core product range through our nationwide network of sales and service teams remains our focus.”

DTS has a contract to supply FHTs to Fonterra co-op farmers and is also commissioned to supply FHTs to Synlait, Open Country, Westland and Tatua.

DTS’ milk cooling product range includes pre-cooling of milk before the FHT, FHT refrigeration, and FHT insulation wraps.

DTS is also a leader in remote on-farm monitoring – measuring and reporting milk temperature as it first enters the FHT then as it’s refrigerated via smart devices, with automated alerts.

In its Dairy Automation Services range, DTS continues to develop a range of on-farm services including manual and autodrafting, in-race IDs and walk-over weighing, feed control, in-bail identification and inline sensors – all run off smart devices.

“We’re currently engaging staff and key stakeholders in the re-branding exercise with the timeline of launching the new brand and its livery in time for spring,” says Gavin.

“So as they say – watch this space!”

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Mowing grass higher has benefits As Kiwis we enjoy a temperate climate with a high average rainfall, which keeps grass growing most of the year.

This climate is fantastic for farmers but also contributes to challenging lawn mowing conditions, says Andrew Peacocke of ZTR Mowers, which imports the Grasshopper ride-on mower brand into New Zealand.

“Many lawns are made up of fastgrowing paddock grasses or very tough kikuyu. In cooler seasons mowing moist grass can be unavoidable and many of us like to mow lawns very low, which is hard on the grass and mowing equipment.”

But mowing equipment has come a long way – it no longer needs to be a test of endurance, wrestling with a steering wheel and negotiating pedals, says Andrew.

“Mowing large areas on a comfortable zero-turn ride on mower like a Grasshopper is so fast and easy it doesn’t feel like a chore. In fact, many people now say they love mowing and view it as good therapy.

“And rather than cutting it to the ground many are starting to mow grass

higher and enjoy the appearance and results.” Andrew says mowing low is hard on the machine and blades need to be sharpened more often.

“Blades lose their sharp edge faster cutting thicker grass stems and through scalping the ground.

“This is also slower, harder work for the mower and the engine, which uses more fuel, and leads to increased wear and tear on the running gear.”

If you have questions about the beenfits of mowing higher, the Grasshopper brand or would like a copy of Grasshopper’s ‘Guide For A Beautiful Lawn’ brochure, visit ZTR Mowers at Fieldays site E20.

A Grasshopper front-mounted ride-on mower.

FIELDAYS ®

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 11

Zero carbon goal a challenge to us all The Carbon Zero Bill was introduced into Parliament on May 8, 2019. This Bill if made law will commit New Zealand to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions particularly carbon dioxide; ensuring we act in a way that reduces our impact on the climate; and increase our environmental resilience.

The Bill’s targets are ambitious with the aim being to keep New Zealand within the 1.5 degree Celsius limit for global warming. For pastoral farming the most controversial provision is the Bill’s target for a 10 per cent reduction in biological methane emissions by 2030, and for a provisional reduction ranging from 24 per cent to 47 per cent by 2050. The issue here is reaching 10 per cent by 2030 will be difficult enough, but further reductions will only be possible with technological advancements or destocking.

Lower emissions fertiliser The main issue facing horticulture is emissions from the use of fertiliser. Today the only effective control mechanism is to use less fertiliser and that means less production. This is not a formula that can be used. Guidance on how best to efficiently use fertiliser is the key to meeting those targets. A certain amount can be achieved by good management and that is already

being worked on. The key to achieving these targets is an exponential increase in research and development to find technological solutions such as the development of lower emissions fertiliser. We also believe it’s important to manage nitrous oxide, one of the long-lived gases, in two ways: one programme managing biological emissions and the other programme managing emission from fertiliser use.

For fertiliser emissions this will allow a research-backed, targeted programme that can achieve the targets provided the research is adequately funded, is readily adoptable by growers and, to achieve the targets, a comprehensive technical transfer programme is run for growers.

Land use

Land use is also a vital component to meeting these targets. If the high quality soils are used for growing our fruit and vegetables, there is a need for less fertiliser. So therefore regional and central government planning to enable growing to be done on the most climate change beneficial soils in NZ needs to be addressed as part of the comprehensive package to enable us to meet these targets. In addition, the programme needs to recognise sequestration from vegetation on the farm. There needs to be recognition that all forms of vegetation are effective for sequestration not just trees over a certain arbitrary height. The many hectares of vines and smaller fruit trees are already working to reach the targets and their efforts need to be recognised.

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It’s not just on-farm that changes need to be made.

The transport infrastructure also has a major negative impact on the Bill’s targets. We need to re-organise the way we move food and goods around the country.

This means we should be planning to grow our fruit and vegetables across the country in as many locations as possible. In many areas this will require water storage to enable growing and also require recognition that glass house operations will need to be positively accounted for NZ-wide.

The targets are a first step. Reaching those targets is the real challenge. I don’t believe these targets can

be achieved without a very active government and industry partnership founded on extensive research backed up by a technical transfer programme to enable growers to adopt the outcomes of the research. I don’t support the imposition of punitive taxes and penalties as the way to achieve these targets as they will engender resentment and endanger the country’s ability to meet the targets. This has to be a proactive and joint approach to reaching solutions. So this is not only a challenge to the people of NZ, industry, the primary sector but also a challenge to government: business as usual will not let us collectively meet the targets.

Page 12

FIELDAYS ®

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Chefs to fire up Kitchen Theatre Six chefs, a nutritionist and a wine judge/columnist are this year’s major drawcards to Fieldays Kitchen Theatre.

Visitors to Fieldays’ Kitchen Theatre from June 12-15 will be treated to a wealth of knowledge and experience from the celebrity chefs who will aim to educate, entertain and inspire.

Peter Gordon, who has made a huge mark in the world’s culinary industry with eight cookbooks, his two London-based and two

Auckland-based fusion restaurants, will be on-site. His mission will be to demonstrate ‘everyday recipes using the best of local produce’ and give a lesson on ‘savouring flavour – by getting the most from fantastic ingredients’.

Qualified nutritionist Claire Turnbull will be behind the Kitchen Theatre bench this year. She’s been working in the health and wellness industry for more than 15 years, including on TV and radio and with the ‘Healthy Food Guide’.

NZ-born, London-based chef Peter Gordon:

Qualified nutritionist Claire Turnbull.

Kiwi wine judge and columnist Yvonne Lorkin.

NZ celebrity chef, entrepreneur and food writer Simon Gault.

Chef and owner of awardwinning Auckland cafes Little Bird Organics and The Unbakery, Megan May.

Greenlea Butcher Shop’s brand ambassador, awardwinning executive chef and food teacher Marc Soper.

NZ’s first MasterChef and executive chef at Strata Lounge Auckland Airport, Brett McGregor.

Professional chef, awardwinning food writer and ‘MasterChef NZ’ judge Ray McVinnie.

Photo: Corey Schweikert.

Self alignment - for smooth jam free running.

Width distance rollers allows variation in tracks.

(Easy assembly of yard.)

Can have entrance or exit gates anywhere in side rails of yard. (Loading ramp, pens etc.)

Gate length - Up to 16mtrs. (16 mtr gate over feed pad, etc.)

Light weight, strong construction - minimises cost in yard construction.

Four wheel drive.

“we make farming ezy”

At Fieldays her ‘Healthy Made Easy’ demonstrations will offer smart ways to get more vegetables into everyday meals, easy ways to adapt favourite recipes, build a perfectly balanced meal and a pudding packed with fibre.

Professional chef, award-winning food writer, cookbook author, lecturer and ‘MasterChef NZ’ judge Ray McVinnie is passionate about good home cooking and encouraging food socialising.

This year he’ll host demonstrations on ‘Fad-free and Fantastic’, ‘Making Farmers into Foodies’, and ‘Eat Real Food’ by making meals that are easy and healthy.

Celebrity chef, entrepreneur, food writer and television personality Simon Gault is known for appearing as a celebrity chef judge on ‘MasterChef NZ’.

At Fieldays he’ll share his expertise and boundless enthusiasm for food to get people to give things a go in the kitchen. Megan May, who is chef and owner of award-winning Auckland cafes Little Bird Organics and The Unbakery,

will be in the Kitchen Theatre too.

After struggling with severe allergies to gluten, dairy and sugar, Megan began a lifelong love affair with creating and sharing raw food for wellbeing and pleasure. So don’t miss her wise words of food wisdom.

Greenlea Butcher Shop’s brand ambassador, award-winning executive chef and food teacher Marc Soper is there. With his modern European food with a Kiwi twist, visitors can watch Marc illustrate the best Greenlea Butcher shop’s export quality, grass-fed, pasture-raised, antibiotic and hormone-free beef range.

First NZ MasterChef, Brett McGregor will host demonstrations ‘Waste Not, Want Not’, encouraging utilising all parts of a chicken and making the most of what you have in the pantry.

Wine judge and columnist Yvonne Lorkin of Winefriend will share her extensive knowledge of NZ’s wine scene.

She’ll be at the Kitchen Theatre and Town and Country Marquee.

FIELDAYS ®

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 13

A biological approach to fertilising Environmental Fertilisers takes this biological approach and offers growers a range of new products and ‘new tools in the toolbox’ so these goals are met.

The P.S.A Brew/ S.A.R are both state-of-the-art liquid microbial based foliar ferts, says Environmental Fertilisers’ Grant Paton.

“Both of these liquid ferts will become industry leaders in the future as the demand for chemicalresidue-free produce becomes apparent,” says Grant.

“Conventional management has obliterated a huge

volume and diversity of beneficial mic oorganisms from our soils – there is a great need to reintroduce these guys back into our production systems now.

“P.S.A Brew in 2012 maintained a population of beneficial microorganisms on the leaf of kiwifruit vines so well the disease could not get a foothold in,” says Grant.

“This is biology at its best and at 50 cents per litre it’s a bargain – everyone wins here.”

Stock-Primer is a liquid mineral enzyme packed supplement with a Humic Acid base that has proved A plane loaded with fertiliser.

itself year-after-year, says Grant.

“One of our clients says when his 1000L IBC arrives each year, ‘it’s like a half a dozen vets arriving for the calving season’,” says Grant. “At fi e-10 cents per cow per day it’s great animal

health insurance.” It can be drenched, added to meal, hay or to the calves’ milk.

For further information on how the team at Environmental Fertilisers can help you, see their advert on this page.

Multi-use post rammers proving popular The use of diggers in the construction industry, and to a lesser degree in agriculture, has increased dramatically in the last few years, says Nick Barnes of Farmgear Ltd.

The Fencepro Mule V with digger boom and no tree.

“This has led to operators looking for post rammers and pile drivers that fit to e cavators.

“In some cases, they want the rammer to be used by a digger and a tractor.

“This is more so the case in the farming industry. Fencepro has a digger hitch, which connects a standard post driver to an excavator. This can be simply removed for tractor operation.”

Following Christchurch’s earthquakes there’s been a change in how building foundations are specified y civil engineers, says Nick.

“Piles have proven to be a preferred design option for engineers and architects as they meet new regulations.

“Engineers often also specify tests so they’re assured piles will work as designed.”

Nick says a dedicated pile driver on a digger can be activated by controls in the cab. “This utilises electric solenoid valves on the pile driver and a wiring loom to the digger. It’s a much-preferred option to the operator trying to reach controls on the machine.”

Nick says another Fencepro innovation proving to be a real winner is the RB800 Rotating base post driver. “Its simple-butclever design allows the base to rotate 180 degrees using a standard hydraulic ram. With 800mm travel in and out from the centre, and a 350mm mast shift, pinpoint post placement over a huge area is fast and easy.”

Visit the Mule V Series and RB800 in action at Fieldays on sites J39 and J40. To contact the Fencepro team, see Farmgear’s advert on this page.

So The incredibly versatile side mounted comes with a free post lifter and free reversible linkage when purchased before 31 July. ● Ultra G2 4.5 m hydraulic hinged mast ● 350 mm mast shift ● 900 mm side mount unit ● Reversible linkage ● Hydraulic Post Lifter as shown in photo

Site J39 at Fieldays CALL NOW 0800 372 776

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Page 14

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Quality, durable gear for commerical use If you want quality equipment to get the job done right, the team at Briggs & Stratton can help.

“We have a lot of equipment for commercial use,” says Briggs & Stratton’s commercial products and technical manager Darren Mayo.

“Equipment best suited for foresters, farmers, contractors, farm users, tree felling – that type of line of work, where a domestic, hand-held wouldn’t

do the job.”

They specialise in quality, durable equipment, and will have a range of gear on display at this year’s Fieldays.

From commercial ride-on mowers

by Ferris and Victa to commercial cleaning equipment by Billy Goat, the team at Briggs & Stratton has the right equipment to make your job easier.

“One of the unique features of Ferris mowers is the added suspension,” says Darren. “It prolongs the life of the equipment by protect-

ing major components from vibration and also adds to rider comfort, which is a nice bonus.”

“We also have Echo and Shindaiwa chainsaws, line trimmers and other hand-held outdoor petrol-powered outdoor equipment,” says Darren.

Briggs & Stratton will have a full team at Fieldays, who are friendly, approachable and ready to answer your questions.

“We’ll have some deals on the stands, displays of some Briggs & Stratton engines, which at the end of the day is what Briggs & Stratton is known for,” says Darren.

So if you need something with

a bit more grunt, visit the team at Briggs & Stratton. They’ll be at Fieldays on stand G78.

“We’re at the end of the row, so it should be pretty easy to find us.”

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35.000 volts dielectric strength, thus aiding electrics CorrosionX products come in aerosols, trigger and electronics struggling with water ingress. bottles, bulk packs and sprayers are available.

FIELDAYS ®

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 15

One cleaning product is all you need If it feels like you need to use dozens of different cleaners to get your house shining, there could be a better way.

Citrus Based Cleaner Ltd is one of NZ’s most biodegradable and environmentally-friendly cleaning products on the market today.

And Citrus Based Cleaner’s Sheree Hayward says it is one of the most versatile cleaning products available.

“We’ve been established for nearly 20 years. It is all your cleaning products in just the one bottle,” says Sheree. “It is biodegradable, so suitable to use if you are on a septic tank. And you don’t need to clutter your cupboards with different cleaning products, Citrus Based Cleaner is the only product you need.

“We are a Christchurch owned-and-operated business that markets its exceptional citrus-based cleaning products to industrial, commercial, and residential consumers throughout NZ and internationally.”

Established in 1996, Citrus Based Cleaner Ltd uses

Sheree Hayward with Citrus Based Cleaner. its expertise to deliver a superior all-in-one cleaning product that cleans anything and everything.

“It’s a non-hazardous and non-flammable product based on a natural solvent from orange peel called d-limonene. This helps with the degreasing performance of this organically-based product.” It doesn’t contain petrochemicals, phosphate, benzene, bleach, nitrates, ammonia, or chlorine. It is non-toxic, and a broad spectrum disinfectant. Try the product at Fieldays’ Town and Country Marquee site no 197.

Getting the most from your investment Precision agricultural principals of using GPS, rate control hardware, and software are not new to agriculture.

However, understanding the return on investment, and value they create is something that is poorly understood.

Often precision ag hardware is installed on new machines and farmers are not shown how to get the most from them or sold to the farmer by people who don’t understand and cannot support the industry, says Unearth Ag’s Matthew Gray.

Unearth Ag Ltd is dedicated to selling and servicing Raven, Ag Leader and ARAG Precision Agriculture hardware, with an extensive background in agriculture hardware and agronomy worldwide and utilising the hardware in other aspects of the business.

“We know what it takes to keep you going in the field,” says Matthew.

“As we own and operate the hardware ourselves, so often problems can be talked through on the phone and solved very quickly.”

Whether you are building a sprayer, maize planter, air seeder, variable rate spreading, looking for tractor and implement steering, designing orchards, yield monitoring or anything in between, and if you already have some hardware, with ISOBUS hardware solutions, Unearth Ag can help you get the most from your existing purchase.

“We have the tools to tailor solutions to your business, offering proof of placement, and job management tools that integrate with the hardware in the field,” says Matthew.

Visit the team at Unearth Ag at Fieldays site F78 and check out the latest rate control and GPS solutions from ARAG and Ag Leader.

“We can talk to you about how this hardware will help your business succeed,” says Matthew.

Unearth Ag can help you understand your hardware.

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Page 16

June 2019 Coast & Country News

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Page 34

CALF REARING

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Smart covers to meet customer demand TM Covers’ calf shelters are dotted around our nation and are keeping calves safe and cosy.

“Before you say: ‘But my farm is really windy’, Canterbury is really windy and there are lots of happy farmers down there using them,” says

A TM Covers calf shed.

director Christine Clark.

“We’ve just sent seven to Tasmania so we’ll see what the wild weather there throws at them!”

TM Covers has spent the last 30 years being a ‘local canvas company’ but times change.

“We are now the go-to company for insulation wraps for pipework, vats and exhausts,” says Christine. “Vineyards use them, farm vats have them – it’s a no-brainer really to keep liquids at a stable temperature. Power usage is reduced when you are not losing or gaining heat.

“We do removable insulation – you take it off for any maintenance and then put it back on,” says Christine. “No waste.”

The other products that are keeping the team at TM Covers really busy are their pond and tank liners.

“Our liner is lighter but just as strong, if not stronger, than most,” says Christine.

“What our customers love is the ease of installing – less labour to roll it out – and easy to cut holes in for any pipework.

“Don’t worry, it still has a 20-year warranty and also carries potability certification. One has just gone to Gisborne for a sheep milking operation’s effluent pond.”

What sets TM Covers apart is their attention to customers.

“What makes us who we are? We think about you, we ensure the back-up from our suppliers and we stand by our work,” says Christine. “The world demands smart stuff now and we love it, so bring it on!”

Hone your calving technique As the dairy industry’s busiest period approaches, it’s the ideal time to brush up on calving skills.

“Calving is traditionally a very busy time, and some simple preparation will go a long way to reducing stress levels,” says DairyNZ’s Bay of Plenty regional leader Andrew Reid.

He says the DairyNZ-led workshops aren’t just for those new to calving – there are practical hands-on skills sessions for the less experienced, and for farm owners and managers. And the sessions focus on tools for successfully managing the team through the busy spring period.

The hands-on skills session support attendees to learn the signs of calving, stages of labour, identifying when to assist calving cows, safe handling of newborn calves and transporting calves.

This part of the session is supported with life-size, anatomically-correct models of a cow and calf, which allows participants to

see how a calf is presented within the cow, says Andrew.

“The sessions provide a lowstress way to learn proper technique for calving a cow, so that it’s safe for the cow, calf and farmer. It’s good to have a dry-run now, so that you’re not trying to learn in the thick of it.”

Manager and owner sessions focus on team management and tools for improving health and wellbeing, says Andrew.

Simple things like a having a team meeting before calving to establish who is doing what make a real difference, as do eating properly and having a roster so that people are not overworked.

“We also cover off looking for signs of stress and tips for managing this if it arises,” says Andrew.

Good processes are discussed as well, with many practical tips

Vinegar products

offered – like having a wellstocked calving kit stored near the springer mob – to make calving go smoothly.

Introducing or reminding staff about systems and processes for calf recording, rearing and handling is also important, says Andrew. “Then everyone is on the same page before calving starts.”

The sessions are very practical, and both owners and staff will come away with tools they can use on-farm to make the calving run smoothly, says Andrew.

These sessions are run annually around New Zealand, and are well attended with up to 100 participants at some events, so bookings are essential.

There are three CalvingSmart workshops in the Bay of Plenty in early June: at Whakatane on June 4, at Te Puke on June 5 and at Reporoa on June 6. For dates in other parts of the country, see: www.dairynz.co.nz

June 2019 Coast & Country News

CALF REARING

Page 35

Research to improve calf welfare And AGMARDT, Massey University, Veterinary Enterprises Group Ltd and Dairy Cattle Veterinarians Society of NZVA are also contributing to the research costs.

Research results will be presented at the World Veterinary Confer-

New research will observe calves in the hours immediately following their birth to better understand how feeding patterns and farm management during this time influence their ability to resist disease.

feed, how often they feed in the period between when they are born and when they are moved to the shed.

“We’ll also be observing cow and calf interaction, and recording other variables like pasture cover, stocking rates, size of the feed break and more.”

Designing the research was challenging because the logistics of gathering data is difficult, says Emma.

“Ultimately, the goal of the research “Research techs will be on commercial is to improve calf welfare,” says Emma farms observing calving for 24 hours per Cuttance, head of VetEnt Research, day, six days per week. They will work who is leading the study. in shifts to collect data during 12 full “We know that a calf ’s ability to overdays per farm, and will be positioned on come disease challenges are dependent scissor lifts to minimise disruption. on obtaining high “Research like this hasn’t been underquality colostrum. taken before in New Zealand on this “What we don’t know for sure is what scale.” happens in paddock before the calf Blood tests to gather data on the level is separated from its mother, because of antibodies will be taken immediately previous research done after the calf is removed from its mother in 2015 has focused on what and again three days later. This happens after they arrive at the will help provide a picture of how calf shed.” what’s happening in the paddock Around 70 per cent of New and in the calf shed is working, Zealand farmers collect new says Emma. calves es once per day, so good Data will be collected at two information about how well North Island and two South cows are feeding their calves, and Island farms per year as part of the whether there are things farmtwo-year study. ers can do to support initial Welfare Matters Action feeding will be helpful to Group, of which VetEnt improving calf welfare, Research is a member, says Emma. secured a $260,000 “We want to undergrant from the stand how long Sustainable Farming it takes for calves Fund to fund the Emma Cuttance, head of research. to get their first VetEnt Research.

ence to be held in Auckland in April 2020. The results will also be presented to farmers and rural professionals as soon as possible in 2020 and 2021, says Emma.

This research, which focuses on calf welfare in the first week of life, is part of what VetEnt Research

hopes will become a three-part research project. Subject to further funding, the impact of delayed separation on cow and calf will be examined and work to understand quality of colostrum and how that changes with management is also planned.

Josephine Reader

LIFESTYLE FARMING

Page 36

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Mycoplasma bovis and stock movement The disease may be dormant in an animal, causing no distress at all. But in times of stress – for example, calving, drying-off, transporting, or being exposed to extreme weather – it may shed bacteria in milk and nasal secretions.

As a result, other animals may be infected and become ill or carriers themselves. Farmers should call their veterinarian if they suspect their cattle are showing any clinical signs of the disease, including mastitis, that don’t respond to treatment – respiratory distress, profound lameness and late-term abortions.

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By December 2018, good progress had been made towards the goal of eradication made one year ago. If accomplished, this will be a world first and one the NZ cattle industry together with government support is keen to achieve. Spearheading this progress is extensive dairy bulk milk monitoring, which revealed only a few new Infected Properties.

Further efforts are being made by MPI for beef cattle, with about 200 farms shortly due to be closely monitored with notices of direction – known as NoDs.

Stock movement awareness

Any animals that come onto your farm are a potential source of disease for your herd.

Sending animals away for grazing could expose them to diseases that you may not have on your farm.

Before purchase/entry

Use a pre-purchase checklist when you buy or lease cattle. Ask questions about animal health, TB status, vaccinations, and disease and treatment history.

For example, see: www.dairynz.co.nz/mbovis-pre-purchase-checklist. If in doubt consult your veterinarian for specific disease management advice. Make sure all sending and receiving movements are sent to the NAIT system for all animal movements.

Clearly, the above relies on making sure all your animals have NAIT tags.

Talk to your grazier about managing grazing to avoid nose-to-nose contact with other stock. Consult your veterinarian for specific disease management advice for animals grazing away, preferably before sending them away – and especially if you intend to bring them home.

New arrivals

Treat your own animals as new arrivals when they return home. Keep any newlyarrived animals separate from resident animals to check the health status of the new animals for at least two-three days and ideally up to one week if practical. Monitor new arrivals for signs of disease and talk to your veterinarian if you are concerned.

Subdivision limited to 40ha blocks in Waikato As expected, Waikato Regional Council has made a submission to the Waikato District Plan requesting lifestyle blocks can only be subdivided from titles that exceed 40ha in size. This, in addition to the title needing to predate December 6, 1997, in most cases. This was always going to happen, as regional council had appealed the district council’s decision on the last plan change and clearly weren’t going to give up.

Council advised that further submissions in support or opposition to the original submissions were to be received by May 27. However, it seems there’s been mistakes in processing some – nearly 1000 submissions with close to 10,000 submission points – and they’re now to advertise a new closing date, once issues have been corrected. This is your last chance to be heard on the proposed new subdivision rules being written to accommodate the merging of part of Franklin District with the Waikato.

Once the rules are ratified through the public submission process, Franklin owners could have the same opportunity as their peers situated within the original

Waikato District area – but only if they haven’t subdivided within about the last 22 years. However, with the minimum size being challenged by WRC, it is more than likely they will miss the opportunity to subdivide a lifestyle block off a 20ha block as has been possible in the ‘old Waikato’ for many years.

Under the general subdivision rule proposed, a lifestyle lot of about 1ha can be cut off many older large titles.

If you’re located in the old Waikato area you’ll still be eligible to apply to subdivide a property more than 20ha in size, but you’d need to act very soon.

Should the regional council’s proposal be adopted, which is highly likely, your title size will need to be 40ha to be eligible.

With rural subdivision becoming harder and harder, much future subdivision will come from protection of ecological features such as wetland, stream margins and native bush. If you have these features on your land you may qualify for subdivision.

Boundary adjustments between neighbours, and adjustments in size and location of multiple adjoining titles, can be applied for along with subdivisions

that protect qualifying ecological features.

A major driver for these rule changes is protection of quality production land, which is undoubtedly a great goal.

However, there’s a genuine desire in this country for a rural address away from the pressures of urban life, and there are pockets of land around far inferior to horticultural land surrounding Pukekohe that we see being steadily lost.

Don’t sit back if you believe you have an opportunity to restructure your titles or create an additional title for yourself, family or indeed for sale. To find out what opportunities might potentially be lost or gained through this process, feel free to give me a call and discuss your situation without delay.

Brent Trail, managing director of Surveying Services, specialises in resource consent applications for subdivisions across the Waikato, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty.

For further information call 0800 268632 or email: btrail@surveyingservices.co.

AVOCADOS

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 37

Focusing on marketing the very best produce The team at Freshmax is dreaming big – it has the vision to be the Southern Hemisphere’s leading producer of diversified fresh produce, delivering best products and premier brands to the world.

Dan Turner from Freshmax Brisbane and Jim Tarawa outside the Freshmax Brisbane wholesale stand at Rocklea’s Brisbane Markets.

“We grow and market fresh product across New Zealand and export markets,” says Freshmax’s Jim Tarawa.

Freshmax specialises in offering customers a truly global business model that can source fresh produce from all corners of the world – with offices and people in Australia, Indonesia, the United States, Chile, Peru, South Africa, the Middle East, India and right here in New Zealand, all focusing on marketing the very best produce.

And what sets Freshmax apart

is their focus on building a presence in the Asian market for avocados.

“On a percentage basis we already have the largest proportion of our fruit going to customers in Asia than the other New Zealand exporters.

“We have 460ha of multiple crops under ownership or lease, 200-plus ha under management or partnership and more than 700ha of proprietary varieties planted across New Zealand and Australia,” says Jim. “The relationships we build

are about partnering with suppliers to grow the business and our specialised teams are able to bring the full suite of product categories to the table.”

The proof is in the numbers.

The last three years has seen Freshmax become one of the highest-returning exporters to growers.

“Having our own people on the ground in multiple markets has allowed us to shepherd our growers through the best markets and customers globally,” says Jim.

TM

New payment pool structure announced Just Avocados, at their recent season review meetings, announced a new export payment pool structure for their growers.

The specialist avocado packer and exporter has introduced an early season pool, a late season pool and a consignment (shipment-by-shipment) option.

“Our new split pool and consignment options give Just Avocados growers even greater flexibility and the freedom to decide how they want their orchard business to run,” says Just Avocados’ supply and logistics manager Jarrod Redwood.

Jarrod says that growers have diverse goals when it comes to what they want to achieve on their orchards and the new pool model has been designed to work with this.

“We’ve spent a lot of time understanding what drives our growers and while most are after the best export return, others look at the total crop income; then there are others who are also mindful of supporting orchard health and encouraging return crop.”

Just Avocados has moved away from a traditional season-long pool model to align with their earlier harvest strategy and to provide growers with a model where they can decide which pool and option suits them best.

“Growers can place fruit in either one of the pools or both pools based on your personal goals and harvest strategy.

“You can place fruit on a shipment-by-shipment basis and put the remaining fruit in either pool but not in the same harvest period – for example, early harvest on consignment and late fruit in the late pool or alternatively early pool and late harvest on consignment.

Just Avocados is the only exporter offering split pools and a consignment option, says Jarrod.

“Feedback we’ve received has so far been positive, growers are liking the ability to decide when they want to pick their fruit and how they would like that transacted.”

The long-term strategy to move to earlier harvest is a focus that’s been driven by high values in Asia and fruit quality issues in Australia.

Just Avocados plans to place 50 per cent of export volume into Australia and 50 per cent into Asia during the 2019-2020 season – this is an increase from the 30 per cent placed into Asia for the 2018-2019 season.

“The new pool and consignment options align with our strategy of placing larger and earlier volumes into Asia, reducing the need for holding fruit late for Australia at a time when fruit quality is deteriorating, fruit drop occurs and export pack outs decline,” says Jarrod.

“There is also the important factor of reducing the stress on your trees that occurs when holding significant

volumes of crop.”

The exporter believes there is greater value for growers to achieve through the new pool model. “The new options will benefit growers with improved cashflow as the early pool will finalise early-2020.

“Late pools will be reflective of late season values, therefore providing total value upside for growers who wish to hold fruit for the late value markets.”

Growers interested in seeing how the new model might benefit them are invited to contact the Just Avocados team.

"Passionate about Avocado's"

Freshmax provides: - On Orchard Technical advice - Direct to Retail Marketing Specialists - Flexible Harvesting and Packing Options - Food safety C e r t i fi c a t i o n s e r v i c e s

JIM TARAWA

DAVID ALDERTON

AVOCADO PROCUREMENT MANAGER BOP

TECHNICAL SERVICES

+64 27 274 7076 jtawara@freshmax.co.nz

+64 21 505 814 dalderton@freshmax.co.nz

WHAT’S YOUR HARVEST STRATEGY? • • • •

Optimise Optimise Optimise Optimise

harvest efficiency tree health return crop market returns

Talk to us about how we can optimise your orchard’s potential.

John Emett

Kyra Fielden

Orchard Management and Grower Services (Northland)

Grower Services Representative (Bay of Plenty)

027 476 9087 john@justavocados.co.nz

027 257 5028 kyra@justavocados.co.nz

@justavocados info@justavocados.co.nz www.justavocados.co.nz 07 549 3027

Page 38

AVOCADOS

June 2019 Coast & Country News

A compelling proposition for growers This month avocado growers across the Bay of Plenty and Northland are renewing their supply contracts for export, with Avoco’s favourable returns for a sixth-consecutive year expected to win support from even more growers.

Marketing and communications manager Steve Trickett says Avoco has historically remained humble about its strong financial pe formances. But its executive team and staff from six packhouses supporting Avoco believe there’s never been a better time to supply the company with export fruit.

“After six years, we’ve created a network of the best selection of customers

across Australia and Asia, all the while building on our strengths and experience with export logistics and supply chain management,” says Steve.

“With strong brands such as Avanza working so well for us in Asia, we’ve struck a formula we know works – both for our customers and our growers back home.

Our financial eturns last season are proof of that.”

Last season, Avoco exported 1.87 million trays, or 63 per cent of the industry’s export volume.

Final payments made to Avoco’s 800-plus avocado growers in April showed the company continues to lead the way with Orchard Gate Returns, despite challenges of a below-par season for fruit quality. Its pool of growers was preparing for tray returns in the mid to high-teens, but prudent management in various critical areas enabled Avoco to reward growers with OGR payments up into the twenties on a weighted average basis.

The upcoming season’s NZ crop will be larger, but not the ‘bumper’ harvest earlier predicted.

Early estimates suggest the total industry crop will be up somewhere between 20-25 per cent, resulting in an indicative forecast volume of between 3.5 million and 3.8 million trays.

Avoco is planning to use its share of volume to ship about 75 per cent of fruit to a mix of retail and wholesale markets in Australia, with the balance distributed across Asia and exported under

the Avanza brand.

Within Asia, the markets receiving the greatest volume will continue to be South Korea and Japan, together with measured increases in Singapore, Thailand and India, and growth in new markets of China and Taiwan.

For the Australian market, Avoco will allocate around 80 per cent of its Australian volume to key retail chains so growers continue to benefit f om higher overall returns.

Avoco will also work closely with importers-handlers in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria states, who are refining their integrated clearance p ocesses and operations. This will lead to greater efficiencies relating to movement of fruit from port to warehouse, helping mitigate quality risks associated with fruit age.

Back home, Steve says Avoco is supporting growers with research and technical advice aimed at improving fruit quality. “When you combine our focus on supply chain management and orchard best practice, with our outstanding financial performances year in, year out, Avoco offers a very compelling proposition for growers.

This is the year that anyone undecided about who to supply needs to make the move to Avoco.”

Avoco is connected to high-value markets in Australia and Asia, including Thailand, where its NZ avocados are marketed under the Avanza brand.

Tidying orchards ready for spring growth One way of looking at the present time of the season is we’re on our way to spring.

However, don’t be too hasty as there are still jobs to get done.

This time of the year is when we tidy the orchard and start getting it ready for spring growth.

It’s also a time to take stock.

Check that enough material has been removed via pruning and that pruning cuts are tidy and well-shaped. Cleaning out small litter hanging in trees will aid the reduction of decaying material carrying spores causing fruit rots.

It’s also time to start sorting the winter fertiliser programme. Our AAL programme tends to limit

nutrient application – and, if we do put any on it’s more readilyavailable nitrogen. This year we’re applying 3tonne/ha lime in a prilled form because it’s easier to handle and more readily effective. This also adds calcium.

We’ve finished injecting bu in July we’ll undertake an inspection of the trees to check effectiveness. July is also a good time to start to decide on the second round of injecting in August. We inject the trees to stop the winter blues.

Many growers are now making decisions about exporting crops.

We run our crops open to all markets, meaning we can place them in any export market or

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the NZ market. Both provide opportunity early, however with increased fruit volume this season there will be increased amounts of fruit in the NZ market.

I hope NZ markets spend some dollars on driving pull-through and consumers having repeat purchases. And it will be important that we present good quality fruit. Already I’ve seen fruit that appears untested and unripened being sold on the NZ market.

And there’s always bookwork to do during cooler months – this is a good time to get the season’s planning done.

Tony Bradley of Aongatete Avocados Ltd

AVOCADOS

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 39

New research aims to cut avocado losses A new project to investigate and mitigate fruit disorders on avocado orchards is expected to improve grower returns by reducing fruit losses that have plagued the industry during the last few seasons.

Led by NZ Avocado, the project has attracted a $489,000 grant from the Government’s Sustainable Farming Fund, and will deliver best practice guidelines for the management of fruit quality on orchards.

Issues with fruit quality in the 2018-2019 season highlighted the need for growers to be more conscientious about orchard health, which provided impetus for the project, says NZ Avocado chief executive Jen Scoular.

“Some of those issues were the result of ongoing rain during harvest, which leaves avocados turgid and more susceptible to damage across the supply chain.

“While we grow great avocados in New Zealand, we are challenged with cooler, wetter and windier environmental conditions than some of our competitors,” says Jen. Supporting growers to manage their orchards in these weather

conditions is important to maintaining a consistent supply of high quality fruit.

“The research will enable us to build on our existing best practice guidelines with more scientifically sound principles,” says Jen. NZ Avocado, Plant & Food Research, avocado growers and industry stakeholders are collaborating on the project during the next three years, with work expected to start next month.

The research will kick off with a year-long orchard comparative study of existing grower practices, and year two will focus on field validation of identified best practice strategies. New sustainable best practice guidelines for industry-wide adoption are expected to be available in 2021/2022.

The research into best practice is coupled with a comprehensive review of all areas of the avocado supply chain, says Jen. “We’ll be looking at practice within nurseries, orchards, packing facilities, cool chain and export infrastructure to determine where quality issues could occur, and providing strategies to eliminate them from the supply chain,” says Jen. “As the industry body, we need to be more proactive in directing research towards best practice, which we will also do with our

packer and exporter stakeholders.”

In early-May, members of the NZ Avocado board travelled to the Far North to see new greenfield developments around Houhora including a well-established 160ha orchard and three new developments.

“These new orchards are using the best expertise from around the world to maximise both the quality and productivity of their avocados while also acknowledging the need to care for the environment and the people working there.”

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FARM VEHICLES, MACHINERY & EQUIPMENT

Page 40

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Ferguson all the way For John Walsh, it has been Ferguson all the way since the day his father bought the first tractor for the family farm, Glenfalls Farm, near Morrinsville.

As a five-year-old in 1953, he vividly remembers its arrival, and the terrified farm dog ‘Scott’ when it was started up. By age six-and-a-half John was driving it to turn hay.

He started to collect tractors relatively late in life, in 1993 when he bought his octogenarian father “a small Fergie like we used to have”, to assist with some work around the homestead.

“This started it all as I was then asked to display it at a Waikato Vintage Tractor and Machinery Club Rally.

“I could see how grandfathers loved showing their grandchildren the tractors from the old days.”

During 26 years, John, and his wife Alison, have collected 71 tractors, mainly rare Fergusons from between 1937 and 1967. Most are fully restored and working and housed in a huge purpose-built shed.

“We’ve probably got the biggest collection of Ferguson tractors and implements in New Zealand.”

John chose a 1953 Ferguson 28 with rare Ferguson half tracks, from one of his “many” favourites to show Coast & Country News.

“This little tractor is the same as the ones that were modified by Jim Bates, the founder of BLM Engineering in Morrinsville, for Sir Edmund Hillary’s January 1958 expedition to the South Pole.”

John found this tractor in a Gisborne orchard, still being used in the 1990s. After persuading the owner to sell it to him, John stripped it right down and rebuilt it, painting it in the traditional Ferguson Stoneleigh Grey.

Nearly all of the tractor is original, and John sources

tractor

attraction Tales of ‘Pet’ Tractors & Machinery alike John Walsh with his 1953 Ferguson 28 half track. All photos: Catherine Fry. spare parts from original machines.

“It has a rare Ferguson epicyclic gearbox, which was way ahead of its time,” says John.

“The half tracks were bought on TradeMe from a builder who found them under a woolshed in the Franklin District.”

The Ferguson 28 is a general workhorse for the land, and with the half tracks it copes well with steep and muddy land. When conditions are really

wet, this little tractor can still outperform modern tractors, says John who enjoys taking the 28 to rallies and letting people drive it. “It always brings a smile to people’s faces when they realise that it’s so easy to handle.

“Plus the stories about the similar machines going to the South Pole with Sir Edmund Hillary always interests people.”

To visit the ‘Glenfalls Collection’ email: jwalsh171@gmail.com Catherine Fry

John Walsh’s huge Glenfalls Collection is housed in a large purpose-built shed on his Morrinsville farm.

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FARM VEHICLES, MACHINERY & EQUIPMENT

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 41

National standard in place for AB facilities Artificial Breeding technicians are safer on-farm after a national campaign aimed at improving their work environments produces “outstanding” results.

LIC national AB manager Dave Hale says AB technicians are tasked with one of the most important jobs on farm – getting cows in-calf, but their success can be compromised by the state of facilities provided.

“The variation between facilities on each farm was vast, with most technicians required to carry out their job in the confines of milking sheds.

“Balancing precariously on unstable platforms while inseminating cows wasn’t out of the ordinary and it wasn’t good enough.”

To ensure LIC’s 840-plus AB technicians were working in a safe environment and given the best chance to get farmer’s cows

based on the same criteria.”

The national standard includes requirements to ensure animals are held safely and securely and tech-nician’s footing is firm, safe and on the same level as the animal. “In addition to the bronze minimum standard, we set up silver and gold grades. This is a longterm ini-tiative so we wanted to give

farmers a gold standard to aspire to.”

Dave acknowledges some farmers have challenged the standard but once the purpose of the checks was understood, most have been understanding and some even welcoming. “We simply want our staff to have the best opportunity to get our farmer’s cows in-calf and return home safely every day.”

An upgraded off-farm AB facility near Waipukurau. in-calf, the farmer-owned cocent compared to 2016. operative developed a national “Although it was common practice standard for AB fa-cilities and for facilities to be checked before the trained a team of 30 technicians start of the AB season, the approach to carry out checks nationwide. wasn’t consistent,” says Dave.

To date, reportable health and “Establishing a national standard safety incidents for LIC’s AB techfor AB facilities and implementing nicians in the 2018 season, ending this nationwide is a first for NZ. May 31, have dropped by 47 per It has meant all farms are treated cent compared to 2017 and 43 per fairly as they’re checked and graded

Looking after and keeping farmers moving Te Aroha Tractors would like to announce they are now an authorised dealer for Lemken.

The team at Te Aroha Tractors can easily relate with farmers and their needs.

Lemken is a world-renowned product that specialises in soil cultivation and sowing equipment.

“We were offered the chance to jump on board and took it,” says Te Aroha Tractors director Stan Knight.

“Lemken is a premium product made in Germany and it has been a family-run business for more than 230 years, so we can relate to that as we are a small family run-business in a small rural town ourselves.”

Te Aroha Tractors also service and repair heavy diesel, cars, tractors, ride-on lawnmowers, chainsaws, hydraulics and other equipment.

They are also the Waikato agents for Landini McCormick tractors, along with local agents of Husqvarna chainsaws, trimmers, brushcutters, cultivators, garden tractors and mowers, and Ford parts and services, AA, State Insurance and NZI emergency car assist services.

Being part of the farming community, Stan and his wife Fiona pride themselves on their small-town roots and can easily relate with farmers and their needs.

Fiona manages a local dairy farm and Stan runs the business in town. “We’re not a corporate,” says Stan.

“Customers don’t need to deal with that corporate side of things – we’re more in touch with our customers because we are a small-town business.

“This is who we are and what we do and we take pride in looking after and keeping farmers moving.”

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FERTILISER

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Is science being misused?

Because it is under permanent grazed pasture that carbon can be most readily sequestered is why pastoral farmers should be excited about an economy that’s putting increased focus and value on carbon.

And yet we’re not, for the very good reason that intensive pastoral farming – as practised on most dairy properties – results in a loss of carbon.

One of our leading research scientists in a discussion, a little more than two years ago, stated that all irrigated land in this country “without exception” was losing carbon.

The question is, how is it that adding water resulting in increased pasture production causes carbon to be lost?

More pasture growth results in more carbon dioxide being sucked in by plants, oxygen is then released with the carbon fraction being stored in the soil. Yet that process doesn’t appear to be working.

Maybe the measures aren’t accurate, or the wrong stuff is being measured. That would seem unlikely. More likely is something is happening in the soil that’s stopping the natural process of carbon sequestration occurring.

It’s an important issue because where extra carbon is stored, more nitrogen can be captured and held resulting in less being lost via leaching to groundwater.

For this reason intensive pastoral farming should be encouraged, particularly in sensitive catchment areas. Yet the reverse is the case with the consequence that livestock farming will become less intensive with catchment areas being increasingly planted in trees.

There are intensive, highly productive pastoral properties that are carbon positive, but they are in the minority.

Frequency and amount

The reason some do but most don’t comes down to the frequency and amount of nitrogen fertiliser applied, and a three-year study by a recognised research institute could confirm that and also identify the reasons for it occurring.

Dr Christine Jones states that for carbon to be sequestered in the soil, particularly in a form that is resistant to loss, specific microbial activity is necessary.

The frequent application of fertiliser nitrogen creates an environment

whereby soil microbes are unable to carry out this function and carbon, as a result, is steadily lost.

With less carbon in the soil, moisture and nutrient holding capacity is reduced and annual pasture production declines. That’s been the case here for the last 40 years, and as time goes on it is becoming increasingly apparent.

To counter that loss farms have become increasingly reliant on cheap brought-in feed, and more grazing off. The days of cheap PKE are numbered and unless a fair price is paid for hay, silage, and balage, it will become increasingly scarce and more expensive.

Quality grazing will also in time reflect the true cost of growing that feed and prices will inevitably lift.

Price of land

Perhaps the greatest concern at present is the price of land. Fewer farms are selling and they are taking longer to sell. The solution is a reduction in prices being asked. If the price of farms halved more would sell, however the consequences of that would result in huge upheaval.

The obvious solution to all of the above issues is to move from a fertiliser nitrogen reliant system to one where the same amount of N is available as a result of natural soil processes.

And for those who think this change isn’t feasible or plausible, even folk at the major fertiliser companies acknowledge that change is imminent and probably a good thing.

Many rightly argue that any change must be science-driven. Making the science available is just a matter of demanding that the research be undertaken. The long-term consequence of not doing so is a significant reduction in our pastoral farming industry and resultant land prices that are anyone’s guess. For more information, call Peter on 0800 843 809.

FAR conference this month The Foundation for Arable Research 2019 two-day conference is on June 27-28 at Lincoln University with this year’s them being ‘Research Leading Change’.

The conference will feature three formal sessions, an afternoon of field visits and a conference dinner.

The sessions will focus on soil water and nutrients; crop protection; and innovation and technology.

The soil water and nutrients session has a keynote address from New Zealand’s Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment

Simon Upton.

The crop protection session will host keynote speaker Professor Fiona Burnett from the Scottish Rural University, who chairs the UK Fungicide Resistance Action Group and she’ll talk about fungicide resistance.

The innovation and technology session will have a keynote address from Andy Macfarlane from Macfarlane Rural Business on the topic ‘What is good farming?’ Each session will also have a farmer panel discussing a specific topic.

For more information, contact Anna Heslop. Phone: 03 345 5782 or email: admin@far.org.nz

June 2019 Coast & Country News

FERTILISER

Page 43

Fifty reasons to talk fert with us at Fieldays Kiwi Fertiliser follows the principles of the Albrecht soil fertility system, as taught

by Neal Kinsey. Soil samples are sent to Perry Agricultural Laboratory, Missouri.

PAL receives samples from 75 countries.

In most of these countries there are fully trained consultants who meet regularly for discussions, plus attend training courses etc. There are a few NZ companies that claim to follow the Albrecht system. If they do not send soil samples to PAL, they will not arrive at the same answers that Dr Albrecht would have. We know of no Lab in NZ that claims to emulate the results from PAL. Below are just some of the results we know about.

The best quality wine grapes and wines in France, Germany and USA are produced on this programme, with some wineries able to charge up to $2000 per bottle. More than 40 per cent of the wine grapes grown in Marlborough are on this programme, with 20-year veteran Steve McKenzie of Wairau Valley, who supply’s a co-op that purchases wine grapes for wineries, being the number one quality supplier to the co-op year on year.

Results

Australia’s most noted Hereford finisher Paul Mason buys up to 650 steers. Prior to changing to the Albrecht soil fertility system, his results were 350kg carcasses in 15 months at a 54 per cent yield.

After changing, the results were 370kg carcasses in 12 months at a 57 per cent yield, and still improving.

Besides the shorter fattening period, the extra return on those cattle at $3.80/ kg is $76. With 650 cattle, that is an extra $49,400.

Paul commands

a higher price for his quality cattle. In addition, he grazes 1000 wethers for 24 weeks. That’s another $24,000.

Ratto Bros in California, which produce organic vegetables on 1200ha for top-end supermarkets, tried many other fertility programmes including using compost. Their soils deteriorated, so they changed to the Albrecht-Kinsey soils programme. Their produce dramatically improved and is now sought out by consumers. Bill Brush of California grows walnuts and almonds and receives additional bonus payments for producing the best quality. His almonds produce three times the Californian average yield.

Uncle Matt’s Organic 600ha of citrus groves in Florida are on the programme. Some reviewers claim the juice is the best in the world.

Seven dairy farms that supply Miraka Dairy Factory are on our programme. Miraka has 110 suppliers.

And 35 per cent of the 20 places – 10 for Somatic Cell Count and 10 for Milk Quality Score – are taken by Kiwi Fertiliser suppliers and we service only six per cent of the suppliers.

On the programme

Sheep and beef farmers of the year are on this programme and since changing had the best lambing percentage they ever recorded. Kiwifruit producers receive premiums for early start, taste and size while producing above average yields every year. Avocado growers out-produce conventional with less biennial bearing. The best quality and quantity bananas in Ecuador and South Africa;

Nutrient use booklets launched The Fertiliser Association of New Zealand has launched two new booklets to help farmers and growers with their use of nutrients and assist them in understanding what will work best for their properties.

The two booklets – which are available on their website – and titled: ‘Lime Use on New Zealand Pastoral Farms’ and ‘Nutrient Management for Vegetables Crops in New Zealand’.

The first booklet summarises current knowledge about lime, benefits of it and best approaches to its use via well-established through many decades of research.

The second booklet is published by Horticulture NZ on behalf of the Vegetable Research & Innovation Board and FANZ. This book is intended to be a resource of best-practice advice to manage the nutrition of vegetable crops in NZ, with the emphasis is firmly on practices that are scientifically defensible. To order hard copies of the booklets, email: info@fertiliser.org.nz

top thoroughbred race horse stud in South Africa; three of the top thoroughbred studs in NZ; the best producing dairy goat farms; the best quality

Lucerne; and the best kumaras are on this programme. Even at 3kg they are so creamy and tasty; and an award-winning citrus orchard is on this programme too.

Page 44

COUNTRY LIVING

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Garden blogger shares secrets Hidden away in the bushclad lower slopes of Mount Karioi, just south of Raglan, there’s a three-and-a-halfacre block of native bush with idyllic sea views.

This is home to Lucy Donaldson, 29, her builder husband Elliot, 40 and their children, Aria, 3, and Makai, 1.

It gives ex-theatre nurse, and now fulltime mother the chance to put into practice years of reading permaculture articles and watching her own mum at workin the garden.

“I’ve always been enthusiastic about organic gardening and becoming self-sufficient from your own land,” says Lucy.

The couple had owned the propLucy and Makai picking the day’s produce, with Hunt and Gather Bee erty for five years before they moved Co collecting honey from their hives on the Donaldson property. to the land in 2014, before Aria was on the property because of water for spraying fruit trees with leaf curl.” born. the abundant manuka and A layer of mulch conserves precious moisThey cleared blackberry, ginger Lucy and Makai kanuka trees, and the bees ture, and curtails weed growth. and diseased fruit trees from about taking a closer look pollinate the fruit trees.

Lucy uses mainly seeds from the Kohanga an acre, which is now planted with at their crop.

The approximately 8m2 Institute, favouring non-hybrid heirloom lawns and being converted into a vege patch has raised beds neatly contained varieties and collecting further seeds from food forest. with railway sleepers, and is fenced in to her crops.

“We had planted 25 different heritage give her chickens free range everywhere else.

And people started asking questions fruit trees, which are all producing now.”

Lucy plants by the moon phases. about her methods. “I started a blog on my Actually living on the property meant From her results, she is satisfied this gives website, where I share my experiences, ideas Lucy could start her own vege garden and the plants the best start in life, to grow and seasonal recipes.” apply the organic and permaculture princistronger with greater resistance to pests When she started an Instagram account, ples that fascinated her. and disease.

Lucy quickly found herself with 1000 fol“For us it’s all about reducing our carbon At night she hunts for slugs with a torch. lowers hungry for information. footprint and our food bill, in the most By day she pulls off white butterfly caterpilAs Lucy gets closer to self-sufficiency, her organic and sustainable way we can. It’s lars and eggs from the leaves. journey can be followed @gardentalesnz on about providing healthy, seasonal food for “Companion planting really works and Instagram and her blog is at: the family.”

I’ve been trying different essential oils in www.gardentales.co.nz Catherine Fry Hunt and Gather Bee Co has some hives

A back country tour you just can’t beat NZ Adventures 4x4 Tours’ longest-established tour – High Country Heritage, which goes down the eastern shoulders of the Southern Alps from Blenheim to Cardrona – still remains popular, say owner-operators Robbie and Connie Crickett.

“The trip is offered in various formats four times each summer-autumn season. In December, February and April the trip is six days. In March, the trip is seven days and offers a slightly different route,” says the couple, who offer a range of back country tours throughout the South Island.

Highlights of the trip – no matter the format – include station country of the Waihopai and Awatere Valleys and the vastness of Molesworth on day one.

On day two be charmed by the hidden vastness and spectacular vistas of inland North Canterbury.

Day three the trip travels up into the alpine region and headwaters of the Rakaia and Ashburton rivers.

“This is one of favourite days of all of our tours,” says Connie.

Day four travels across the upland of the MacKenzie Basin, offering turquoise glacial waters and stunning views from ridges high above the region’s lakes, canals and seemingly empty plains.

Day five heads from Canterbury into Central Otago with time in haunted St Bathans and driving on high country stations.

Day six takes on some of the highest tracks in the western Central Otago area on the Carrick and Pisa ranges.

“On the March tour, in the seven-day format, day three is shorter, finishing in Geraldine and day four has a different afternoon route exploring the alpine valleys above Lake Tekapo before ending up in Twizel,” says Connie, who reckons the tour is an “excellent overview back country trip down the South Island that’s certainly stood the popularity test over a long time”. To contact Robbie or Connie, see their advert on this page.

COUNTRY LIVING

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 45

Dedicated to exceptional heating solutions Marshall Heaters have been manufactured and marketed successfully throughout our nation and the South Pacific for more than 50 years and are approved by AustralianNew Zealand Standards.

“We have models available that have a tested output of 40kW and 50kW burning wood,” says Marshall Heaters’ Meryl Partridge.

Over time Marshall Heaters have become the benchmark for multifuel coal, solid fuel, gas, diesel or a combination dual-fuel heater burning solid fuel or diesel.

Meryl says Marshall Heaters

is a business dedicated solely to designing and manufacturing efficient non-electric hot water heaters and has developed and improved the extremely successful Split System heater and Integral Water Heater/Boilers.

“These have proved successful in the face of increasing electricity costs. They are also compatible with solar and PV panels.”

Marshall Heaters offers a professional and personal service and the chance to discuss your options with no obligation. Meryl has been involved with Marshall Heaters for more than 25 years, so holds a wealth of experience in the industry.

“Over the years there have

been many imitators but there is still only one original Marshall Heater.”

Meryl says Marshall Heaters offers incomparable service where customers’ needs and requirements are paramount.

“Marshall Heaters can be adjusted to meet any requirements. During the last 50 years, hundreds of Marshall Heater systems have been installed in homes, motels, dairy sheds, camping grounds, backpackers, marae and more.” They also manufacture swimming pool heaters.

For further information or to have a chat about your situation, see the Marshall Heaters advert on this page for contact details.

Kaimanawa drinking water supply project begins Hauraki District Council’s $4.4 million Kaimanawa drinking water supply project near Hikutaia is now underway.

The project will supply quality drinking water treated at the Paeroa water treatment plant to properties in the Kaimanawa and Maratoto areas currently connected to the rural supply.

To make sure there’s a continuous supply HDC will also build a 2000m3 reservoir, which will store enough drinking water for three days. It’s hoped the reservoir will be completed this year.

The Kaimanawa drinking water supply is the last of HDC’s rural supplies to be upgraded as part of an ambitious project to upgrade all its rural drinking water supplies. The Waikino, Karangahake and Mackaytown water supplies have all been upgraded in recent years.

A permanent boil water notice is in place for users of the Kaimanawa supply.

The water is treated but there have been problems with water quality and supply in the past, especially during flooding HDC began laying water pipes in rural areas between Hikutaia and Paeroa in March and begins laying water pipes in Paeroa township this

month. It’s expected work will be complete in September.

The work through Paeroa township will

be installed by a less invasive method of drilling underground, rather than digging open trenches, and mostly in

road reserves. Once the new system is complete, the existing Kaimanawa drinking water supply will be shut down.

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COUNTRY LIVING

June 2019 Coast & Country News

High quality products During the last 26 years Grochem has evolved from a business that supplied product on demand to becoming a key supplier for the horticulture industry and now produces 10 times the amount they used to.

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product that leaves the factory, Grochem exercises above-industry-standard internal control methods and processes and are always innovating in how this achieved.

“Grochem’s four-step manufacturing process includes raw material specification testing, As an established and trusted robust risk analysis, independmanufacturer and supplier of ent product batch testing and innovative, sustainable options for final product dispatch testing.”

Alongside their robust process growers including plant nutrition, is on-site production chemist insecticides, fungicides and plant Grochem’s on-site production Martin Turver. growth regulators, the quality of chemist Martin Turver.

Marcus says Martin is their products is one of the most responsible for ensuring everything that comes into important aspects of the business, says operations the factory and leaves as a finished product is to the manager Marcus Albrecht.

“The Grochem team is committed to a high-quality high-quality standards their customers expect, right down to the last decimal point. and effective product every time and that can only “This commitment to a being best-in-class for happen with two crucial things: a good team and a quality control gives both our team in the field, our robust quality control process.” clients, and New Zealand’s growers the utmost Today, everything from the raw materials sourced confidence in Grochem products.” from across the globe to the ready-to-use

Countering future biosecurity threats to citrus

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A joint three-year programme of work to better protect New Zealand’s citrus industry from biosecurity threats is underway as part of a move by Biosecurity New Zealand and Citrus New Zealand agreeing on how to prepare for and respond to risks in future.

The programme is part of a Sector Operational Agreement for Readiness and Response signed by Biosecurity NZ and Citrus NZ under the Government-Industry Agreement partnership.

Head of Biosecurity NZ, which

is part of part of the Ministry for Primary Industries, Roger Smith says the GIA partnership enables his organisation to work alongside industry to better understand the risks “and how we might deal with them if they reach our shores”.

“The pressure on our biosecurity system is increasing and we have to be better prepared for outbreaks.”

Under the agreement, Biosecurity NZ and Citrus NZ will jointly agree and fund readiness activities to improve preparedness for incursions of pests and pathogens

that are considered a major concern to the citrus industry. “We’re all responsible for protecting Aotearoa from pests and pathogens, and this agreement under the GIA aligns with the wider Ko Tatou This Is Us Biosecurity 2025 programme to improve NZ’s biosecurity system,” says Roger.

Citrus NZ says the agreement gives their relatively small sector the opportunity to take action to minimise the risks from diseases that could devastate their citrus production in NZ.

COUNTRY LIVING

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Feather business a free pest option for farmers

New enhanced formula

Peacocks are not a farmer’s friend – they can eat as much grass as one sheep and, because they are rapid breeders, scores of the big birds can take up residence on farms.

But Whakatane business owners Dave Barrett and Mawera Karetai can provide a free solution to the problem thanks to their innovative business Feathergirl – and it’s free!

Dave and a team of experienced hunters cull birds for farmers who want them removed; and Mawera and Dave make a living selling their plumage to clients throughout New Zealand and overseas.

“We started the business 15 years ago and are delighted at how successful it’s been,” says Mawera.

“The free service we provide to farmers means they can get rid of pest birds without using poisons, which has to be good for the environment; and we are able to harvest birds for meat and feathers. Nothing is wasted.”

Feathergirl and its associated pest control service is currently looking for more farms to hunt for

Hunters Tony Newth, Blair Anderson and Dave Barrett with some of the peacocks shot for meat and feathers. peacocks to supply their business with feathers. Dave and the team hunt can also target other pest species if the landowner requests it.

The hunters meet the farmers beforehand and talk about what birds they want removed, identify any safety issues and check out the location.

“When it comes to culling the birds we do it in a way that is humane and

doesn’t damage the feathers.”

Mawera says once the birds are brought in, they remove and grade the feathers by hand, then cut up the meat. “What’s left goes to feed pigs so there is nothing leftover.”

Dave and Mawera are keen to hear from property owners who want to use their free pest control service.

For inquires, email: info@aimslimited.co.nz

How are your joints functioning? – Part 1 I’ve just got off the phone from speaking with a client in his 70s.

He had damaged his knees from playing rugby and now had fairly advanced osteoarthritis in both.

We started him on a programme for his knees early in the year.

This involved reducing inflammation with some diet changes and adding my high chondroitin joint formula, initially at a double dose delivering 1600mg of chondroitin, the same of glucosamine and 400mg of a 95 per cent curcumin (from turmeric) extract. High levels of chondroitin are important as this helps to stimulate cartilage production from specialised cells called chondrocytes.

He’s been genuinely surprised by how much more comfortable he is. The degeneration is still there but reducing joint inflammation and helping to improve remaining cartilage function can translate to real improvements.

When starting a joint programme I encourage people to regularly assess how they’re progressing. A simple way is to do a regular assessment every couple of weeks

N

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ZEALAND MA D

Page 47

by rating the pain and mobility out of 10.

Someone with an 8/10 rating may have a three-month goal to get to 5/10.

Another good way to monitor is the amount of any pain relief/anti-inflammatory medication being used. Whatever system of assessment, what we’re looking for is a reduction in pain and corresponding improvement in mobility.

While diet and supplements can make a huge difference the most important factor is time. Today I created a programme for someone with serious degeneration in both wrists with one so severe a specialist has recommended surgery. I stressed to her that the critical time period is not so much the first weeks but the six-12 week timeframe when I’m sure she will notice a difference.

John Arts (B.Soc.Sci, Dip Tch, Adv.Dip.Nut.Med) is a nutritional medicine practitioner and founder of Abundant Health Ltd. For questions or advice, contact John on 0800 423559 or email: john@abundant.co.nz Join his all new newsletter at: www.abundant.co.nz

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EFFLUENT & IRRIGATION

Page 48

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Dropping the footprint but keeping profitable

John Haywood and Susan O’Regan – their new effluent tank is 29m in diameter and stands 2m tall.

Award-winning Te Awamutu dairy farmers John Hayward and Susan O’Regan don’t view the money they spend on environmental projects as a cost, but as an investment. Their business, Judge Valley Dairies, is committed to sustainability and biodiversity.

As one of 15 DairyNZ Climate Change Ambassadors, they have an “open gate” policy and a willingness to share their knowledge.

The 240ha farm has a 130ha dairy platform, 70ha for drystock, and the remainder is native bush, pine and manuka plantations, 11 wetland areas, two sediment dams, and fully-fenced waterways.

“We’ve chosen to plant the trees, and many of the riparian strips,” says John. “Planting on the marginal land, that wasn’t particularly productive as pasture, mitigates sediment, phosphate, nitrogen and E. coli loss, and creates diversity.”

Reducing nitrogen footprint

“The ultimate goal is to drop the footprint but keep the industry profitable,” says John. Judge Valley uses low N sires, to breed cows that excrete less nitrogen.

After joining Open Country Dairy in 2013, the farm milked 480 cows in a split calving operation but in a drive to become more sustainable they now milk 380 cows in an autumn calving system. John and one worker run the farm, and Susan is fully involved behind the scenes, while also carrying out her role as Kakepuku Ward Councillor at Waipa District Council.

The farm is now a System 2, with most feed being grown on-farm. The purpose-built feed pad utilises feed grown on the land effectively. “Before we had another worker, a bigger footprint, and were bringing in feed,” says John.

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EFFLUENT & IRRIGATION

June 2019 Coast & Country News

John Haywood and Susan O’Regan with the new AgFirst WETA Low Rate Travelling Rain-gun.

Recycled water filtering through a weeping wall to wash down the feed pad.

John Haywood monitoring the farm using the HALO farm system.

“We still make a similar profit because those extra cows covered the effort involved in maintaining and milking them.”

Effluent goals

When John and Susan took over the farm in 2000, it had a dated and likely non-compliant two-pond effluent system.

Their system now allows them to wash down their feed pad with recycled water, which is then filtered through a weeping wall. To complete this project, 2019 has started with a further $100,000 investment in the farm’s effluent system.

“We’ve been designing a system that is affordable, futureproofed, and hopefully something people can see and replicate on their own farms,” says John.

A 1.3 million litre, flexible polypropylene-lined Kliptank has been centrally placed on the property.

It is 29m in diameter and stands 2m tall. Despite its dimensions, the soft green-coloured walls blend into the surrounding pastures.

When John and Susan stand in the base of their empty tank – “the first and last time” they ever will – it gives a real perspective of its size.

The decision to get an above-ground tank was partly to do with the couple having young children, and feeling this type of tank posed less of a safety risk than an in-ground pond. So 500m of pipework has been laid to service the new tank.

The tank is hooked up to the existing hydrant system, and the new AgFirst WETA Low Rate Travelling Rain-gun. John’s eyes light up when he talks of the WETA irrigator.

“It runs on a turbine driven hydraulic winch system, powered by the effluent flow. It applies high volumes of effluent at low rates over large areas.”

With its ability to achieve wetted widths of up to 130m, the effluent has time to slowly soak into the soil and stay for longer in the rootzone of the plant, rather than running off or leaching away.

Along with current systems that are monitored by the farm’s HALO farm system, the new effluent tank and effluent irrigation records will be part of the data collected and used.

“There will be effluent level updates automatically every 15 minutes, with effluent application calculations made, and the amount used mapped and recorded.”

Aeration and stirring

The tank will have two pumps and a stirrer. The innovative KlipJet Oxy Aerator Stirring System stirs and aerates effluent prior to irrigating the pasture.

“Not only will this process stop the tank from smelling, it will stir up the sludge and break the crust and introduce oxygen.

“In simple terms it’s a bit like the first stage of water treatment, the oxygen fixes to the nitrogen in the tank.”

That is good news for the environment as the nitrogen is already fixed and in a form the plants can immediately start taking up. As well as speeding up the usage of the effluent, it also reduces the amount of nitrogen leaching.

Although the tank will hold 1.2 million litres, that takes into consideration the 1100mm of rainfall each year falling onto the surface area of the open tank.

“If we need more holding capacity in the future, we can invest in a cover at a later date, and that will free up more space in the tank,” says John.

Judge Valley Dairies can now tick the box for being fully compliant with all the upcoming effluent management legislation.

Catherine Fry

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Page 49

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Page 50

June 2019 Coast & Country News

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SHEEP & BEEF

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 51

Spray to aid environment and production Kiwi farmers can increase milk and meat production while also making a huge contribution to New Zealand’s climate change management obligations, according to local biotech company Zest Biotech.

“Many farmers and the public are not aware that dairy cows and cattle are inefficient as they only convert 25 per cent of pasture protein to milk or meat, while 75 per cent is wasted as urea and methane,” says Indigo founder and scientist Nathan Balasingham.

Certified organic, Biozest, alongside its sister kiwifruit product, Agrizest, were conceived by Pukekohe-based biotechnology company Zest Biotech – and parent company Indigo has carried out research and development trials on both products for more than 20 years.

“We now have a proven new technology that can enable treated plants or pasture to improve the carbohydrate and protein digestion efficiencies in livestock. That’s our point of difference,” says Nathan.

“When our pioneering product Biozest is applied on pasture it improves resil-

ience, quality and yield, but importantly when treated pasture is consumed it improves ruminant digestion leading to increased milk and meat production.”

Paddock and farm-scale trials in the last 10 years show Biozest-treated pasture can increase milk and meat production by up to 30 per cent while simultaneously reducing urea excretion by more than 20 per cent.

Positive impact

Nathan says many Kiwis have been led to believe that addressing greenhouse gas emissions will economically cripple farming – but he believes Biozest is a way to make a positive environmental impact while significantly increasing pasture yield and milk and meat production.

“Instead of being converted to milk and meat, pasture protein and carbohydrates are being wasted as urea and methane. We can help produce more milk and meat and less waste as urea and methane.”

Biozest meets all regulatory approvals and is an economically and climatesmart product.

Nathan firmly believes addressing agriculture’s environmental concerns should not be seen as an unwanted “extra cost”.

“Reducing urea and GHG doesn’t need to be viewed as a threat or an attack on farmers – as long as scientists and developers are providing them the tools they need to respond.”

Stan Matenga, an organic dairy farmer at Mata, near Whangarei, started using Biozest in its early stages of development as part of paddock trials on his farm where pasture production was measured and compared between multiple Biozest-treated paddocks and untreated paddocks.

The trials, which ran for one year, all found pasture productivity increased and the pasture consumed doubled.

Great tool

Aside from increased production, Stan also noticed positive behavioural changes in his herd. “I’d put a mob of calves into the paddock and they’d immediately head over to the side treated with Biozest.

“The grass looked healthier and the calves seemed to be saying they enjoyed eating it more than the untreated areas.”

As an organic farmer, Stan says Biozest is a great addition to his toolkit of on-farm environmental measures. “It’s something else I’ve been able to add to my

Indigo founder and entrepreneurial scientist Nathan Balasingham.

bag of tricks, alongside other organic sprays, seaweed and longer-rooting plants in pasture.”

Stan says that unlike many traditional sprays, Biozest is safer to handle. “I often say it’s a bit like handling chocolate milk – you don’t have to worry about getting it on your hands or clothing because its food grade and organic.”

He also believes his pasture has recovered better from this year’s summer dry period than in previous years.

“Compared to the years we haven’t used Biozest, I’ve noticed this year our pasture had more resilience to dry periods – and I don’t think we’d be in as good a place as we are now if we had not have used it.”

Forty years of bulls at Kairuru Husband-and-wife team Kevin and Jane McDonald have been breeding Hereford cattle for 40 years.

bulls for the dairy industry.

The McDonalds focus on breeding the right bulls to suit the needs of their clients – if a person wants help with choosing a bull for their programme, they are only too happy to help.

At the sale Jane hosts a Hereford Prime barbecue lunch, which is thoroughly enjoyed by all.

The Kairuru Stud has competed at the NZ National Show since 1989, placing in the ‘top six’ 14 times.

They’ve also won Champion Hereford Bull three times. On May 14 Kairuru Ollie gained third place at the National Show in Feilding.

Ollie sold for $11,000, the second-top price of the sale.

They bought their first stud Herefords in 1979 and over the years have built up the stud – both in size and quality. They’ve hosted an on-farm sale each June, with about 28 registered rising two-year bulls for sale this time round.

The family farm is now owned and run in partnership with son Jeff and his wife Nicola. Kevin has a real passion for the Hereford breed.

“They have a kind temperament, easy-going ability and are hardy and adaptable,” says Kevin.

Their 28th annual bull sale is on the first Wednesday in June, at their farm on Jay Rd, Reporoa.

At the Kairuru Sale, the majority of bulls usually sell to commercial beef farmers from all over the North Island.

Some clients farm hill country, others are on easier contours and a Third place winning stud, number breed Hereford Kairuru Ollie.

Biozest

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Page 52

SHEEP & BEEF

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Establishing a Red Devon organic herd “My only wish is that I had started doing this when I was younger” is the one regret of organic beef farmer Steve Harris.

Steve and his wife Angela wholeheartedly changed the way they farmed in 2007, when they moved to their 46ha Horahora farm in the Waikato.

Immediately applying organic principles, they worked through the three-year process to become fully USDA organically certified in 2011.

The Harris family emigrated from the United Kingdom in 1988, after both falling in love with New Zealand on extended visits. They did poultry farming, contract milking, and then bought their first farm in 1993. Three farms later they came to Horahora to dairy farm.

Steve firmly believes that agricultural chemical use in

the 1960s and 1970s led to the subsequent ill health of close family members.

“I’d always had my eye on farming organically, and felt that there was a healthier way to farm,” says Steve.

“The severe drought of summer 2007/2008 was also a wake-up call as how to safeguard future tough seasons.”

Lightbulb moment

Steve and Angela milked 90 cows, supplying Fonterra with organic milk. They milked British Friesian type cattle.

“A turning point came in 2015 when the farmer who grazed our heifers decided to drop the organic status of his land,” says Angela.

“We were also at the point where our effluent and refrigeration systems needed upgrading, which

was silly money at our stage in life,” says Steve.

Seeing a niche for grazing organic dairy heifers, the couple decided to make the switch from dairying to grazing. They now graze 50 per cent of the farm with heifers from three other organic farms.

The rest of the farm is grazed by the couple’s own cows, as part of their new project.

Wickton Red Devons

Steve had always been aware of Red Devon cattle, but an article in ‘Acres USA – The Voice of Eco-agriculture’ emphasised the ability of the breed to perform well in organic conditions.

Red Devons, with their deep ruby red, curly coat are a traditional breed which fleshes easily to produce quality, grassfed beef. They are very efficient foragers and adaptable to a range of conditions.

After the dairy herd was sold, an initial group of Red Devon heifers, from the Woodlands Herd at Waihi, were added to the eight remaining dairy cows on the farm. Additions were made from four other herds.

One cold winter’s day ‘Croyde’, a five-year-old Woodlands bull, arrived from Gisborne via ute-and-trailor.

Wickton Red Devons became a reality, with the stud name borrowed from an ancestor’s beef herd in the 1900s.

“To be organic, a beef calf has to be born from a cow or heifer that has been on the property more than three months prior to the birth,” says Steve.

Photo: Angela Harris.

Angela and Steve Harris with some of their organic herd, at their Horahora farm.

Photo: Catherine Fry.

Like us on Facebook: Okupata Herefords

June 2019 Coast & Country News

SHEEP & BEEF

Page 53

Wickton Red Devons shoulder-deep in lush early-summer diverse organic pasture.

Photo: Angela Harris.

Steve and Angela Harris have planted many trees on their organic Horahora farm. Photo: Catherine Fry. The 30-cow herd is now more than 70 per cent pedigree Red Devons. And 80-plus beef cattle are currently grazed as well as 73 organically certified dairy heifers.

leaving higher post-grazing residuals to assist with storing carbon, and building organic matter, through harvesting solar energy. An added bonus is cooling the soil in summer and warming it in winter.

More specimens and fruit trees have been planted around the property, both to provide shade, and diversity.

At peak growth times of the year, the

Wickton herd and dairy heifers can be seen grazing in knee-high pasture.

Both Angela and Steve are passionately committed to their organic lifestyle, and the upkeep of the land.

The book that set them on their journey is ‘Out of the Earth’ by Louis Bromfield. Steve in particular is very well read, collecting and eagerly reading

books from all eras.

They also belong to the Organic Dairy and Pastoral Group, where knowledge-hungry farmers share ideas and experiences.

A borrowed expression Steve uses to keep himself focused is: “If your farm looks like a golf course, you should be charging green fees”.

Catherine Fry

Homeopathic support

Organically certified minerals are put through the water after pre-mating blood testing identifies what may be required.

While Wickton uses the services of Homeopathic Farm Support in Hamilton for animal health remedies “we also vaccinate against Lepto, as that has human consequences,” says Steve.

The farm is bordered by the Waikato River, and has alluvial sand soils 1m deep over river bed metal, with six to seven inches of top soil.

Steve uses organically certified slow release fertiliser.

Advice is taken from their Kiwi Fertiliser representative, Gerald Lane, following bi-annual soil tests.

Vibrant soil

Steve has introduced pasture diversity, using in excess of 15 varieties of organically-approved seed, and is tackling one of the issues on the farm – run-off through the sandy soils.

“We’re aiming for a diverse root system to sequester nutrients in a biologically vibrant soil,” says Angela.

Steve endeavours to ensure the soil has “armour” –

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Page 54

FORESTRY

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Some farmers not keen on planting It’s probably fair to say that Federated Farmers and the New Zealand Farm Forestry Association won’t be exchanging Christmas cards.

Using more land for forestry “risks the viability” of farming, Rotorua-Taupo Federated Farmers’ representative Neil Heather told the NZFFA annual conference in Rotorua on May 15-20.

Neil, who farms on Paradise Valley Rd near Roto-

rua, pulled no punches in his address during a panel discussion at the conference in Rotorua.

There are barriers to new forestry planting, says Neil. “You have to know how much to plant, what sort [of trees] and where to plant without affecting your farm business. And, does it make environmental concerns go away?”

Neil also questioned the current financial returns for timber. With its One Billion Trees Programme, the Government “prefers” forestry over farming, particularly drystock.

Neil notes that he’s planted thousands of trees on his family property, along the banks of the Ngongotaha River.

“Farmers have done a hell of a lot of work environmentally and not received any kudos.”

Responding to a question from the audience, Neil says Federated Farmers’ views are not “extreme” and he believes climate change is “real”. “Federated Farmers is open to discussions to dispel myths.”

However, Neil expressed concern at overseas investment into farmland for conversion into forestry.

Fewer farms will see less agricultural production, with the resulting loss

Whether farmers would convert more of their land to forestry was a hot topic at the recent NZFFA annual conference. of schools and rural services.

“Just leave us to do what we do,” says Neil. “We know what’s best for our farms.”

Beef + Lamb NZ took the middle ground, with environment strategy manager Simon Stokes supporting the call to “get trees in the ground” but suggested the strategy is simply

“moving too fast”. “They are in fifth gear, but need to drop back to third or fourth.”

“Farmers [and people] have got to want to do it, not have to,” says Simon. “They are ready, but are they willing and able?”

Simon says a collective approach is required, with individuals, communities and catchments all working together.

Forestry needs to think of the millennial generation and provide a legacy for the future, says Simon.

Conference organiser Graham West says he’s worried about talk of “going slower” in forestry, particularly with this year’s conference theme being ‘Fast Forward’.

He recommends the association move to a more professional basis rather than a service group run by volunteers. “Or do we remain tree-huggers in homespun jerseys?”

Steve Edwards

June 2019 Coast & Country News

FORESTRY

Page 55

Trees are our nation’s ‘future oil wells’ The NZFFA has around 1500 members in 25 branches nationwide, with 260 registering for this year’s conference.

Feedback forms from members who

attended the Rotorua event will now be analysed, with all information and recommendations – including those by three working groups – reported to the NZFFA council in six months’ time.

Steve Edwards

Graham Wes t.

The New Zealand Farm Forestry Association has to act now for “our children’s future”.

This is the hard-hitting message from Graham West, organiser of the association’s annual conference in Rotorua from May 15-20.

“Farm forestry transformation needs to be on fastforward – the conference’s theme,” says Graham.

Citing the sector’s capability to enhance the environment and contribute to the economy, Graham says forestry is the key to New Zealand’s future sustainability.

“Small forestry growers can be the future chemical, fibre and energy suppliers.”

Graham says trees are this country’s “future oil wells” and can provide a long-term substitute for fossil fuels.

However, Graham does admit that the NZFFA needs to “organise and sell” the idea, and convince landowners and politicians.

Co-operation and communication are keys to making this happen, with a particular emphasis on recruiting and retaining younger members.

Graham says the association needs to build stronger relationships with groups and organisation including

iwi, Beef + Lamb NZ and Federated Farmers, plus obvious links with councils and the Government.

Forestry Minister Shane Jones created “a bit of a buzz” on the eve of the conference when announcing a further $58 million injection into the forestry sector.

Part of this will be used to build a Te Uru Rakau Forestry New Zealand office in Rotorua, creating 80 jobs.

The Minister says the funding will allow FNZ to increase its regional presence to ensure foresters and landowners have the support they need and will also see the agency focus on the Government’s goal of developing a sustainable domestic forestry workforce.

Graham says the NZFFA should be part of this action. “There is a crying need for better representation around small forestry. There is no-one else representing this sector.”

He says the association needs to engage not just with its members, but the 12,0000 small forest owners throughout NZ. Graham recommends the association tap into government funding to employ professional administrative staff, while also increasing efforts on the youth front.

Fourteen Young Farm Foresters attended this year’s conference, a figure he hopes to double in 2020.

RESTS O F R U LOVE O S TE DOE A M I L C OUR

Industries and vehicles produce carbon dioxide gas which causes dangerous climate change.

Fortunately, trees reabsorb that carbon and safely lock it up in solid wood.

Planting more fast growing trees is the only tool which is powerful enough to get the New Zealand economy to carbon neutral by 2050.

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Cosio Industries Ltd are official Firestone Building Products Australasian distributors and post to Coast & Among the stories are those of joint Available in 2 metre and 4 metre widths. of an envelope FROSTGUARD The book ‘Seeds of non woven spunbonded lowCountry News, PO Box 240, Tauranga venture orchards on Maori land at Te FROSTGUARD Contact us for nationwide cost polypropylene fabric available of in 16gm2 and Success – the stories 3140 toinstallers arrive by June 20, 2019. The Kaha and the orchards developed at 30gm2. Also air and water permeable allowing New Zealand’s Kiwifruit winner will be announced in our air and water movement.

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Cosio Industries Ltd are official Firestone Building Products Australasian distributors conditions. Ultra-Mat prevents weeds and stimulates growth of plants tha The book also records how today’s high light reflection for optimum yield. major and sophisticated post-harvest another qua Sizes available companies have emerged to replace the 1.1m 120gms/m2 ULTRAMAT White Woven, 3.3m , 4.15m 100gms/m2 ULTRAMAT White Woven small, simple packhouses once found on The Profess nearly every orchard.

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June 2019 Coast & Country News

KIWIFRUIT

Page 57

Family values keeping the Bay running Whatever your electrical, refrigeration and air conditioning needs are, the team at Dobsons can help.

They have been servicing the Bay of Plenty |for more than 40 years and offer a full range of electrical and refrigeration services to domestic and commercial customers.

Twenty years ago, Brian and Amanda Tucker took over Dobsons and the family values they instil form the foundation for how they do business.

“Having the right people in the right job is key to a positive culture and productive environment and ensuring the best service is provided to our customers,” says Brian.

Their skilled team of electricians and refrigeration engineers are committed to keeping up with the latest technology to deliver the best solutions to customers.

This ethos has seen them provide bespoke services to farms, orchards, packhouses and coolstores around the region.

Farms and orchards are specialist areas for Dobsons and they understand the importance of getting failed equipment up and running as soon as possible, offering a fast and responsive service for those urgent jobs that cannot wait. Services provided include irrigation,

Amanda and Brian Tucker.

frost protection, coolstores, dairy vat refrigeration, MilkSure monitoring technology, ice banks, cowshed wiring, effluent systems, water pumps, monitoring and control, and a 24-hour breakdown service.

The team at Dobsons is accustomed to working on multiple projects with tight deadlines and understand how important timelines are.

“Our team work together to ensure your job is completed efficiently and effectively,” says Brian.

EDUCATION

Page 58

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Great opportunities exist in horticulture Primary production is the foundation of our national economy. As the population grows worldwide, demand for high quality and fresh food will increase tangibly both domestically and overseas.

One of the important enablers is availability of trained staff who understand the complexities of modern growing and can handle the operational needs on the ground, says Dr Raj Saini of Franklin Institute of AgriTechnology in South Auckland.

The Ministry of Primary Industries, several studies and first-hand informa-

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tion from the growing sector, all point to a looming skill shortage in the horticulture industry, says Raj. “The pain is already being felt in the industry and is bound to become more serious when our aging workforce retires, especially because industry still wants to grow.

“MPI has projected the need for training for some 26,000 people in next 10 years and this, coupled with the falling enrolments in this sector, is posing a serious challenge.”

In view of the situation, RUPEX Group, a key industry player in Pukekohe, set up Franklin Institute of Agri-Technology in 2016 with due approvals and accreditations from NZQA. Based on a commercial horticulture production site, FIAT offers the NZ Diploma in Horticulture Production (Nursery Strand) Level 5 as a two-year programme for young school leavers.

EPSOM HOUSE Boarding Positions 2020

• Access to a state school with a tradition of academic excellence for young women from outside the Auckland area.

• A wide range of courses and co-curricular activities in sports, culture, arts and leadership.

• We encourage self-esteem and confidence with strong links between home and school.

• Full board with weekend leave for young women from Year 9 to Year 13 with caring and supportive staff in a safe living environment.

•

Years10 to13

Enrolments close: Friday 30 August 2019 (limited places only)

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Students at Franklin Institute of Agri-Technology in South Auckland doing practical study.

“Mature people with experience in horticulture can complete the NZDHP5 in just one year,” says Raj. “This programme has been developed to meet the operational needs of horticulture production on the one hand – and statutory requirements of quality, safety and traceability of the ‘greens supply chain’ on the other.

“Students develop a thorough understanding of production requirements, awareness of commercial sensitivities and hands-on practical skills to handle the operational needs of the businesses.”

So far, all of FIAT’s students – both current and graduated – are fully employed in appropriate jobs in

horticulture, giving a 100 per cent job placement success rate, says Raj. “Currently, FIAT is based on Glenbrook Rd in South Auckland.

From next month, a regional training centre will be opened in Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, where a shortage of skilled workers is a major constraint for the industry.”

Raj says tremendous opportunities exist for young people to join and develop long-term careers in NZ’s booming horticultural sector.

“It is very important to create awareness among our at-risk young people and harness their capabilities to their, industry and country’s best interest.”

EDUCATION

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 59

Matching up potential The Provincial Growth Fund and Horticulture NZ are working to maximise the number of Kiwis employed by the sector and to ensure sustainability of horticultural growth, says Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones.

The PGF will invest $1.1 million in six horticulture career coordinators, who will work throughout the Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Upper South Island, Otago and Manawatu, to tackle the labour supply issues facing the horticulture sector by helping to match potential workers with potential employers.

In Northland, PGF investment will support an established horticultural careers progression manager for an extra 12 months.

Horticulture is NZ’s fourth-largest primary industry, worth more than $5.6 billion to the economy.

“However, people capability has been highlighted as a clear focus for the industry,” says Shane.

“Horticulture is a priority sector for the PGF but there’s no point trying to expand the prospects of this

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GLAMPING IN AFRICA Six horticulture career coordinators are being invested in by the PGF to help match potential workers with potential employers in NZ’s horticulture industry. industry if we don’t have people to fill the jobs we’re creating. A major focus for HortNZ will be engaging with schools and bridging the gap from education to employment,” says Shane.

Welcoming girls to join the family Scotlands Hostel provides a safe and nurturing environment where each New Plymouth Girls’ High School student can grow in confidence and independence.

“Scotlands Hostel is our ‘home away from home’, a place where young women hope to build longlife friendships,” says principal Victoria Kerr.

The hostel sits proudly beside New Plymouth Girls’ High School, which provides quality education and has proven academic excellence in sport, visual and performing arts, vocational pathways, and cultural pursuits, says Victoria.

“We are surrounded by hectares of attractive greenspace with Mount Taranaki as our exquisite backdrop. Our school is built on

traditional values with innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

“Together we offer the best of education and accommodation to support and encourage students to follow their passions and achieve to their full potential.”

Victoria says the school’s values of whakamana – respect – haepapa – responsibility – and whanaungatanga – positive relationships – create an environment where students can discover and develop the necessary knowledge, skills and values that help build young women of outstanding character.

“We welcome your girls to come and join our family here at Scotlands and New Plymouth Girls High School.”

Enrolments for 2020 are now taking place. Spaces are available in all year groups. To contact the school, see their advert on this page.

New Plymouth Girls’ High School principal Victoria Kerr.

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RETIREMENT

Page 60

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Best value golf course and lifestyle living ‘The Drive’ is the latest and premium subdivision at Fairview Estate, just south of Katikati, and offers a mixture of golf course fronting and internal freehold sections.

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With titles issued and initial houses under construction, this brand new subdivision of generously-sized properties offers a spectacular setting and outlook with a variety of aspects and views of the golf course, clubhouse and the Kaimai Ranges.

“The subdivision is accessed via a private road through the golf course, beautifully-framed by stone entry walls and ponds to create a real sense of entry,” says Fairview Estate property sales manager Brian Hainge.

Property purchased in The Drive comes with membership to Fairview Country Club, which includes use of tennis courts, indoor pool and spa, health studio, members bar and lounge, and barbecue and petanque area.

“There are no ongoing maintenance costs for these

facilities and residents can enjoy their membership for as long as they live at Fairview, giving them the ability to create their perfect lifestyle and enjoy the community spirit,” says Brian.

“Fairview has an 18-hole golf course with practice facilities and a fully-stocked golf shop that includes grocery essentials to save a visit to the local supermarket.

“There’s a café and bar, with indoor and outdoor seating, open seven days to residents and the public, which offers an array of quality food and beverages,” says Brian. Sections are on sale now and represent the best value golf course and lifestyle living. “House and land packages are also available for purchase through our building partners. Get in quick as they won’t last long!”

Returning to Italy to commemorate comrades

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The last remaining member of 28 (Maori) Battalion B Company has been to Italy to remember the comradeship, loss and fear he experienced 75 years ago during the Battles of Cassino.

Rotorua man Robert Gillies, aged 94, returned to Cassino last month for commemorations of the battles and was presented with a New Zealand Defence Force Nga Tapuwae kahu huruhuru [cloak].

His battalion played a crucial part in the battles during World War II – it was the only NZ battalion able to cross the flooded Rapido River and start an assault on the town’s well-defended railway station.

Soldiers seized positions in and around it before being forced to withdraw when German troops counter-attacked. More than 150 of the 28 Maori Battalion soldiers were killed, wounded or captured in that battle alone. “We couldn’t hold the station. We had to come back.”

Shrapnel in his arm is a lasting reminder, along with memories of the good men and women he served with.

“It’s always there in your mind.”

After war Robert returned to Rotorua and married Rae Gillies in July 1948.

The couple had three sons. Today he’s the final member alive, along Masterton man Epineha Ratapu, aged 97, who was in C Company.

The last surviving member of B Company, Robert Gillies, places a poppy on a headstone.

June 2019 Coast & Country News

RETIREMENT

Page 61

y, ail d n pe iew! o e v lag to Vil call

A village to do what you enjoy People from all over the North Island now call the retirement community Copper Crest home, says Arvida sales manager Robyn Morton.

revolves around the well-equipped Meridian Centre. “This community hub features a heated swimming pool, spa, gym, library along with a dancing area, hobbies room, dining room and bar.

Find your new home at Copper Crest, a retirement “Residents can enjoy a game of pool “If you’re looking for a new home in community with heart, along with quality homes, or table tennis or try out the six-lane a quiet location, Copper Crest could outdoor bowling green.” The village facilities and a range of activities on your doorstep. be the perfect place for you.” van runs regular shopping trips and social outings too.

Robyn says there are brand new north-facing villas Copper Crest offers a wonderful retirement lifestyle in a beautiful available now. “These two location. You can be a part of an amazing community of active, and three-bedroom homes engaged and happy people living the lifestyle they love. Our brand are built to capture the sun, new north-facing two and three-bedroom homes are architecturally include a heat pump and double-glazed windows to designed with open plan living, contemporary interiors, sunny patios keep you warm through and wonderful views. Our community offers great facilities including winter. indoor pool, spa, gym, library, residents’ bar and bowling green.

“And their open plan living Copper Crest revolves around the Meridian creates a truly spacious feel.

To arrange a tour or to chat Centre, with a six-lane outdoor bowling green. “There is a choice of single or about your personal needs, double garaging, appliances Found in the friendly Tauranga are included and you’ll have your own call Sarah or Wendy now on suburb of Pyes Pa, Copper Crest enjoys raised garden.”

07 578 6245 - or email  spectacular views of Mount MaunIf you’re looking to move to a friendly sales@coppercrest.co.nz ganui and Tauranga Harbour. The community, call Copper Crest today local shopping village, library and golf and make an appointment to come course are not far away. and view. For contact details see their www.coppercrest.co.nz 52 Condor Drive, Pyes Pa, Tauranga.

Robyn says life at Copper Crest advert on this page.

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  —  — — -    -  -   

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                      

         



  

          

     

 

 

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classified listings curriculum vitae

’VC s AHT T TS AND TUO . Don’t let your C.V. get lost amongst all the others. Get the WOW factor. A C.V. For You can provide you with a personal and professional touch.

From scratch or update existing ones. Check out samples on www. facebook.com/acvforyou or Ph/text on 021 27 27 912.

for sale

PULLETS YH -LINE NWORB , great layers. Phone 07 824 1762 www.eurekapoultryfarm.weebly.com

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REACH OVER 31,000 SEMOH Only $20 for up to 20 words. Email us today or call 07 928 3053 kathy@sunmedia.co.nz

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Garden Design, 9am-3pm (two weeks), Fraser High School Hamilton, $89. See: tinyurl.com/y8xx4ctc

LIST YOUR RURAL EVENT HERE!

June 12-15

email your listing to: merle@sunmedia.co.nz with ‘Rural Event’ in the subject line.

June 8

Fieldays,

Mystery Creek, near Hamilton.

June 17

Grow Your Own Mushrooms Workshop, 10am-3pm, Papamoa Hills, $89. See: craftygatherer.co.nz Rotorua Botanical Society Field Trip, Piripai Spit, Whakatane. See: tinyurl.com/ h4zph2x

Rotorua Botanical Society

AGM, 6pm, Rotorua. See: tinyurl.com/h4zph2x

June 18 & 22

Propagation of Winter

Hardwoods, 9.30am-2.30pm, Whakamarama (near

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Tauranga), $68. See: tinyurl. com/y2p76cfe

June 27

Garden Centre, Bethlehem (Tauranga), free.

June 23

Society: Notable Trees, 7.30pm, Hamilton Gardens Gate 2, $5. Ph Carmel: 07 855 3404.

July 6

Solstice Tree Day,

11am-4pm, open day at Koanga Institute, near Wairoa, koha. Includes introduction to forest gardening and a pruning demo. See: tinyurl.com/ yxgee36s

Bonsai Workshop, 2-4pm,

Bunnings, Te Rapa, Hamilton, free.

Waikato Horticultural

June 29

Worm Composting

Workshop, 1pm-3pm, Settlers Hall, Omokoroa, $34.50. For WBOP District residents only. See: tinyurl. com/yy2rj33q

June 30 Rose Pruning Demo, 2pm,

Palmers

Tree Crop Sale, 9am-1pm,

Hamilton Gardens Camellia carpark (gate 2). Cash only.

Ph Beryl: 027 695 6229.

July 6-7

Plant Sales, 9.30am-4pm, Hamilton Gardens.

July 7

Rotorua Botanical Society Field Trip, Maungaongaonga Scenic Reserve, near Waiotapu. See: tinyurl.com/ h4zph2x

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PEPP ER

Downloa d you r free A pp now!

With cooler weather now kicking in, anglers are being encouraged to hook up a fishing up licence and a feed of trout this season.

Fish & Game-administered winter season licences are on sale now and are valid until the end of September.

Fish & Game policy and planning manager Robert Sowman says the $78 adult licence gives people the chance to target trout that are currently feeding up, to get themselves in top condition before spawning.

“It really is a six-month licence that provides for enjoyment in the great outdoors and the chance to take some home healthy wild food for the dinner table.”

Robert says for those planning a one-day or one-week trout fishing trip there’s well-priced Short Break three-day or Long Break nine-day licences available.

“Although many tributaries close for winter spawning, there are still a large number of main rivers and lakes that remain open to anglers,” says Robert.

In the Rotorua Lakes district, nearly all the fisheries remain open until the end of June when some upper reaches of rivers close to protect spawning trout and lakes Tarawera, Rotoiti and Okataina close to boat-based fishing.

In the South Island, many lakes and rivers remain open through winter, with many lakes offering land-locked salmon for anglers.

In Southland, Lake Te Anau and Lake Manapouri offer great fishing, as do Otago lakes like Wakitipu and Wanaka.

“For anglers looking for big fish, the Central South Island’s famed hydro canals are a ‘must visit’ destination at this time of year,” says Robert.

Check local regulations at: https://fishandgame.org.nz/ freshwater-fishing-in-new-zealand/ fishing-regulations/

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Page 63

MASSEY FERGUSSON GLOBAL TRACTOR RANGE With the new Global Series, Massey Ferguson has taken the concept of a utility tractor and re-engineered it from the ground up to meet the needs of present and future farming.

On offer in this power bracket is an array of build specifications, options and accessories, all designed to help tailor your machine exactly the way you need for your farming operation

4700

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• 4707 & 4708 ROPS • 74 & 82HP • 12F X 12R Synchro shutt transmission • 65lpm Hyd flow • 3300kg rear lift

• 5709 & 5710 ROPS • 92 & 102HP • 12F X 12R Synchro shutt transmission • 92lpm Hyd flow • 4400kg rear lift

• • • •

6711, 6712 & 6713 ROPS & Cab versions 112-122 & 132HP 12F X 12R Synchro shutt transmission 92lpm Hyd flow • 5200kg rear lift

5700SL MASSEY FERGUSON MID RANGE Our 5700SL Range consists of 5710, 5711, 5712 & 5713 all with the 4.4L AGCO Power engine which delivers power and performance while maintaining maximum efficiency. These Massey Ferguson transmissions are renowned for their outstanding robust reliability with smooth and effortless operation, offering completely clutchless control via the left-hand Power Control lever or those on the right-hand console or armrest, as well as on convenient loader joystick controls.

5710 • 100HP

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Transmission 16F X 16R Dyna4, clutchless power shuttle, 100lpm hydraulic flow, 5400kg rear lift. The MF 5700 SL Series tractors are designed specifically to provide optimum handling ability with the MF Series loaders. The perfect combination.

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DM Series Mowers & Conditioners Working widths 2.82m to 3.85m

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TD Series 3 point linkage tedders Working widths 5.2 & 6.6m

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RB Series Round Balers RB4160V Patented Constant Pressure System (CPS) Hyrdroflex control (HFC) on drop floor Std with 13 knives Large greasable bearings Variable chamber up to 1.6m

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Full Range of Quality Farm Machinery I www.piakotractors.co.nz

Page 64

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

June 2019 Coast & Country News

Visitors venture through the farm gate “It’s warm!” the kids squealed as Papamoa farmer Andrew McLeod squirted milk straight from a cow into their hands, so they could have a taste, at the Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers’ Farm Day on March 24.

Somehow surprised the milk isn’t cold, as they’re used to, and that udders don’t have in-built refrigerators, the farm owner says it’s the kind of learning experience the annual event at his farm is all about.

And despite persistent drizzle, 616 visitors went through the gates of Andrew and Robyn McLeod’s 400-head dairy farm at Welcome Bay – the 10th time the event has been held, and the ninth on the couple’s property.

Mostly from Tauranga, but from Te Puke and as far as Gisborne, the crowd saw displays of milking, sheep shearing, butter churning and expensive machinery and gadgets.

They tossed gumboots, burrowed into hay to find hidden lollies and tucked into ice creams from Fonterra. Plus the Ministry for Primary Industries had a stand detailing how detector dogs are being trained to sniff out brown marYoung and old get a feel of the gentle massaging morated stink and suction of the milking machine cup that gets bug – underthe milk flowing from the cow’s udder. stood to be a world-first.

At the fertiliser tent they heard how nitrogen, phosphorus, months potassium and ton, 18 about s g n i v i sulphur is vital to Nina L ’t at all fazed any sn crop and pasture old, wa g an animal m s dad h c u growth – and how to in size, so long a er fertiliser drives some i t mes h s holding her. a w 50 per cent of the world’s food produc‘Maria’, a 15-year-o tion. of TLC fro ld donkey, enjoyed a Playing DairyNZ’s ‘Rosie the Cow Bingo’, visitors m Skyla bit Anabelle L Marr and also picked up that cheese has been around for at evakou. least 4000 years, why a cow needs four stomachs and how it needs to eat some 70kg of grass a day. say they have a better understanding.”

Andrew says is a big ask to put together – but the Tourists from Korea, Germany, China and the US effort is worth it. “We get terrific feedback. It’s great also squelched around in the farmyard mud this year. to see how happy the kids are and to hear the adults