Business Rural South Autumn 2016

Autumn 2016

www.waterfordpress.co.nz

Milk cooling rules tighten Max Dewhirst (left) says the Vari-COOL milk snap-chilling unit he has installed in both of his dairies is a big step in future-proofing new Ministry of Primary Industry requirements for milk cooling. He chose to install the unit rather than make additions to his old system, and believes his bonus will come in power saved by recovering the heat from milk. Matt Cammock (right) and Southfreeze Dairy Ltd staff did the installation. More on the new regulations: page 58.

INSIDE

Silver lining seen in low payout - PAGE 11

Temperament top trait for bulls - PAGE 28

Farmstay ‘a seamless fit’ - PAGE 42

Maintenance earns return - PAGE 52

www.waterfordpress.co.nz

Now offering

Bruce Hore Consultant

0275 760 303 bruce@agriganics.com

- Independent Soil Fertility Consulting - Animal Mineral Balancing - Hair Testing - Precision Soil Mapping

Jeremy Cunningham Consultant

027 2002 303 jeremy@fcn.co.nz

2|

Business Rural

CONTENTS »

16

06 Dairying career turns full circle

The high-country legend lives on

Justin Pigou’s first dairying job was at the Telford Farm Training Institute dairy unit near Balclutha, He has since helped pioneer dairying in Sudan and Zambia.

Now he’s back where it all began – managing the Telford farm.

While the reality of high-country farming is generally well removed from the archetypal, somewhat honeyed image, the Stevenson family certainly wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

39

26 Don’t miss out, breeders warn

‘Super food’ heads for export

Bull breeders Drew and Carolyn believe a lot of farmers are missing out on the benefits of hybrid vigour and other benefits of cross-breeding because they are not using a terminal sire over their cows

Tony and Afsaneh Howey – whose certifiied organic blackcurrant orchard in South Canterbury is the largest in New Zealand – are looking to expand their product range with exporting in mind.

45 Couple go for an ‘exclusive run-off’

In the interests of self-sufficiency, the Volckmans, of Little Wanganui, have converted a 120ha block of dairy land into a run-off, growing winter swedes, oats for silage, and grass for silage and hay..

PUBLISHER James Lynch Ph: 03 983 5500 | Email: james@waterfordpress.co.nz GENERAL MANAGER Rex Lynch | Email: rex@waterfordpress.co.nz

112 Wrights Road, Addington PO Box 37 346, Christchurch www.waterfordpress.co.nz

EDITOR Dion Crooks, Paul Mein Ph: 03 983 5505 | Email: dion@waterfordpress.co.nz JOURNALISTS Jo Bailey, Kelly Deeks, Karen Phelps, Neil Grant, Sue Russell, Russell Fredric, Kim Newth MARKETING CONSULTANTS Allan J Knowles, Adam Feaver, Mandi King Ph: 03 983 5514 | Email: sales@waterfordpress.co.nz

57 Old Fergies crank up at Edendale

More than 10,000 people turned up for the 2016 edition of the Edendale Crank-up. Now an annual institution that began in 1986, the crank-up is Southland’s largest event and New Zealand’s largest vintage machinery show.

ART DEPARTMENT Samantha Stuart, Liki Udam, Anton Gray, Jessica Ann, Mike Perry, Emma Bone Ph: 03 983 5560 | Email: art@waterfordpress.co.nz

Autumn 2016

www.waterfordpress.co.nz

OFFICE / ACCOUNTS Helen Bourne, Jill Holland, Alex Cohen Ph: 03 983 5500 | Email: helen@waterfordpress.co.nz CUSTOMER SERVICES Ann-Marie Frentz, Sarah McQuilkin, Charlotte Frentz, Ph: 03 983 5554 | Email: annmarie@waterfordpress.co.nz

PRODUCTION MANAGER Luke Lynch Ph: 03 983 5502 | Email: luke@waterfordpress.co.nz

These conditions are prescribed for the sake of understanding between the Company and its clients. Advertising is charged for on the basis of space taken up using a standard tabloid page. Actual space may be reduced during the printing process but this will effect all advertisers equally so no credit will be given for any reduction in size due to processing. The Company reserves the right to alter, change or omit entirely any advertisement or article that it considers to be objectionable or which may contravene any law. In the event of a failure on the part of the Company to insert advertising as instructed the Company may publish the advertisement at the first available subsequent reasonable date unless the advertisement features date sensitive material. Every care shall be taken to publish the advertisement in accordance with the advertisers instructions as to page and position but the Company reserves the right for whatever reason to place advertising in a different position and in doing so shall incur no liability whatsoever. Advertisers must advise Business immediately of any error or omission in advertisements and shall work constructively to remedy the situation which in the first instance shall be a rerun of the corrected advertisement in the next available issue of Business. Where advertisement proofs have been faxed or mailed to the client 48 hours prior to the nominated printing cutoff time acquiesce shall be taken as confirmation and acceptance. Corrections made by telephone shall be accepted but the Company reserves the right to decide whether a further proof should be faxed or mailed to the client. Accounts for advertising are due for payment within seven days of publication of the newspaper. Accounts not paid within this time may incur a penalty of 3% per month until the account is paid. Any debt collection costs incurred by the Company will be added to the account of the debtor. Views and opinions expressed in Business Rural are not necessarily those of the editors, Waterford Press Ltd or publisher. Business Rural welcomes contributions from freelance writers & journalists. All articles published at editors discretion. Business Rural accepts no responsibilty for loss of photos or manuscripts.

INSIDE

Under-rated breed on positive track - PAGE 4

‘Clean freaks’ clean up title - PAGE 13

‘Huge transition’ clouds dairy future - PAGE 20

Kiwi stud leads breed revolution - PAGE 30

www.waterfordpress.co.nz

Now offering

Bruce Hore Consultant

0275 760 303 bruce@agriganics.com

- Independent Soil Fertility Consulting - Animal Mineral Balancing - Hair Testing - Precision Soil Mapping

Jeremy Cunningham Consultant

027 2002 303 jeremy@fcn.co.nz

RURAL PEOPLE » Longridge Stud

Business Rural

|3

Three studs better than one Neil Grant Running three sheep studs at the same time might seem a bit complicated, but for Min Bain, it makes sense.

Initially, he carried on a family romney stud established 33 years ago at Moa Flat. When he realised that buyers were often needing terminal sires as well, establishing a dorset down stud added a complementary opportunity.

Longridge Stud, near Waitahuna, is 329 hectares of steep to rolling country that cops weather from all directions. The sheep can get shelter in the gullies if there are snowstorms, or in hot, dry conditions in summer Tough conditions contribute to developing tough traits, he says. The romneys have been bred to exhibit strong survivability, easy-care lambing and good growth rates.

The romdales exhibit the same traits as the romneys, but have the extra advantage of a bit more hybrid vigour.

The dorset down sheep are bred to produce lambs that will get as much meat on them as quickly as possible so that they can get on the truck early to capture the pre-Christmas market. They can put extra weight on without turning to fat, which is preferred.

The Longridge flock is made up of 420 stud dorset ewes, and 370 stud romney ewes. Four hundred and fifty romney ewes go to perendale rams to breed the romdales. Altogether there are 2200 ewes, 750 ewe hoggets, 285 ram hoggets and 30 rams.

“Last year we averaged 19.38 kilograms, including stock purchased at an average price of $100.08. This year’s lambing was 147 per cent to the ram, which we were very pleased with considering the tough winter and slow spring,” says Min Bain. “We grow seven to eight hectares of rape for lamb fattening and a paddock of summer turnips for ewes to combat summer-dry conditions.”

His wife,Lisa, works at Waihola School during the week, and Lochie and Danielle, their son and daughter, are good farm kids who help out when they are not away at school. So, “I pretty much run the farm by myself,” says Min. Pasture renewal involves concentrating on the paddocks on the workable land to keep them up to speed, and leaving the gullies. About 25 hectares are worked up for crops.

“We mostly grow swedes, but are trying fodder

PHOTOS Left: Romney ram lambs in the yard.

Lower left: Feeding out during the big snow in 2013.

Bottom left: Two-tooths in the paddock.

P ETER L YON S HEARING Servicing wool growing clients in Southland, Otago & South Canterbury

beet this year. We can put the ewes on it early in the winter, and the ewe hoggets over September.

September is the pinch period, so that takes the pressure off. We have a 4ha paddock of lucerne that we get 150 bales of balage off, and we make a few wee bales of meadow hay.”

Very little supplement needs to be bought in, although at times they will buy in sheep nuts.

“I like feeding sheep nuts, rather thana balage, to multiple-bearing ewes in August and September.

Balage makes them fat and lazy; nuts keep them fit.”

Rams are all eye muscle scanned at 200-day weight, and are sold privately from the farm rather than at saleyards. Buyers come from as far afield as Riverton in the south and Cheviot in the north, but most are more local. Usually, sales are to farmers in

tougher country as dairying pushes sheep farmers further back into higher areas.

“Selling privately gives a more personal touch.

It’s the only time we can catch up with clients, have a yarn and find out what they want. Once we get a client, they mostly stay with us, although many are cross-breeding more than they used to keep up hybrid vigour.

“Moving here to Waitahuna West was a good move. We have picked up new local clients.”

Peter: 027 433 3522 Phone: (03) 448 6378 Fax: (03) 448 9201 www.peterlyonshearing.co.nz

Proud of our association with

Longridge Stud Min & Lisa Bain Ag Chemical Specialist Croplands Spray Equipment Hardi Spray Equipment C-DAX Spray Equipment • Pump Repairs

Proud to Support Longridge Stud

Local Livestock Rep Patrick Clegg Ph: 027 437 5276 Lawrence Rural Supplies.................03 485 1010 John Duffy Livestock Mgr...............0272 403 841 Grant Bezett Tech Field Rep...........027 488 6411

03 418 0988 - 1 Barr Street, Balclutha 03 203-9100 - 14 Tamworth Lane, Gore

Proud to support Min & Lisa Bain, Longridge Stud

BILL FITZGERALD CONTRACTING

LAWRENCE excavator • truck • grader Phone (027) 269 4495 • (03) 485 9228

4|

RURAL PEOPLE » Ben & Jemma Abernethy

Business Rural

Staying in contact good career move Karen Phelps The dairy industry can be a small community, and nobody knows this better than Canterbury farmers Ben and Jemma Abernethy. Staying in contact with farmers in the region has led to them gaining work on some farms more than once during their careers.

“Having good relationships with people has really helped us through our career,” says Ben Abernethy. “We’ve got a lot of our jobs by word of mouth. I believe the dairy industry is quite a small community, so having a good reputation goes a long way.”

He grew up on a lifestyle block and showed interest in agriculture while at high school. On leaving school, he headed straight into a dairy career as a farmhand on Ian and Juliet Ward’s 86-hectare unit milking 270 cows near Rangiora He then moved to a job at Culverden before returning to Rangiora to work on David and Maria Ashby’s 100ha property milking 300 cows. He had maintained contact with the Wards and returned to their farm to manage it for three years. Then its was back to the Ashbys to manage their place for two years.

By this time Jemma had joined him in the business and the pair took on their first lower-order sharemilking position at Leeston, milking 620 cows on a 180ha unit. Jemma’s human resources background quickly proved useful in their new job.

After three seasons there they moved to their present lower-order sharemilking position for Gay Hill at Eyrewell Forest, near Oxford. The 185ha effective/197ha total unit milks 650 friesian and friesian-cross cows through a 70-bail rotary shed with electronic milk metering, automatic cup removers and an in-shed feeding system.

The farm is on the Waimakariri irrigation scheme, which is prone to full irrigation restrictions in the drier months of January, February and March.

A 4ha water-holding pond, built over last winter, is capable of holding 15-18 days of water, and is a “massive help” in countering the dry. The entire farm is irrigated with a centre-pivot supplemented by sprinklers in the corners. Effluent is dispersed by guns mounted on the pivots, and spread over 75ha.

The low payout has heightened attention to detail in all aspects of the operation – minimising wastage, using every blade of grass possible and reaching post-graze residual targets, while keeping cows well and efficiently fed. Each cow is being fed 300 kilograms of barley in the shed this season, 300 tonnes of dry matter in the form of green chopped oat silage is bought in.

“Attention to detail is my motto,” says Ben

PHOTOS Left: Ben Abernethy introduces four-year-old Ashlyn to some friesian friends.

Below: Sunset over the Eyrewell Forest farm where Ben and Jemma Abernethy have spent the last three seasons.

Abernethy. “I believe this is the key to farming as everything else flows on from that.”

The Abernethys employ one full-time staff member. Jemma helps at calving and takes care of the human resources and financials as well as caring for the couple’s children, Ashlyn, four, and Harper, two.

They are on target for 300,000 kilograms of milksolids this season – 10 per cent up on the 267,000kg in 2014-15. Before the Abernethys came to the farm, the best production was 190,000kg.

• To page 5

Dawes Grain & Stockfeeds Stockists of quality feeds, grains and pasture mixes

For all your animal requirements at competitive prices and personal friendly advice call into 593 Halswell Junction Road, Hornby (between Springs & Shands Road)

Open: Monday - Friday 8.00am - 5.00pm Saturday 9.00am - 12.00pm Phone 03 349 2484 or 03 349 2486

Proud to be associated with Ben & Jemma Abernethy

STUBBS GROUNDSPREADING LTD 174 High Street, Oxford | Phone: 03 312 4505 | Fax: 03 312 4115

Pleased to support Ben & Jemma Abernethy For all your fertilising requirements: •Lime •Super •Seed Mixes For all your Fertilising needs: Contact : Ivan 021 312080 Spreadmark Certified

RURAL PEOPLE » Ben & Tanya Davie

Business Rural

|5

`Good cocky’ sets the bar high Russell Fredric Clydevale sharemilkers Ben and Tanya Davie have a simple approach to dairy farming, but on digging a little deeper, it is apparent they are guided by an uncompromising dedication and passion to work and family.

The couple have four children, one girl and three boys, aged from two to eight, and are lower-order sharemilkers with Raymond and Claire Sutherland on a 275-hectare property in South Otago.

Although the Davies have no ownership of the herd of 700 friesian/kiwicross cows, Ben’s commitment to excellence in every aspect of the farm is undiminished.

“We take a lot of pride in the land, we take a lot of pride in looking after the stock,” he says.

“I am hugely proud of this farm we run; the cleanliness, good pasture quality, the nice healthy cows that walk in to the shed twice every day and deliver the goods, and the happy team environment we have.”

That team environment starts with the couple’s relationship with the Sutherlands.

“We’ve got a unique relationship with Raymond and Claire,” says Ben Davie. “We run a tight ship between us. They’re always fully informed of what’s going on on the farm.”

He concedes that it is not easy to move up the equity ladder as a lower-order sharemilker in the present economic environment, but remains strongly optimistic.

“We are relatively lucky because we’ve got low debt.”

He is focused on farming a highly productive unit while putting himself in a position to take advantage of any opportunities for ownership of a herd, and potentially leasing or investing in a farm or in an equity partnership.

The farm is a low-input system, with its cows about 85 per cent grass fed, supplemented with silage and 100 tonnes of wheat. It is supported by a 250ha run-off block in Hillend, South Otago.

Fodder beet is a staple winter crop, and when supplemented with balage, enables cows to gain weight, with the aim of a body condition score of 5.5 at calving.

Production is targeted at 465 to 475 kilograms of milksolids annually per cow.

“Milking cows is simple, you feed them and treat them right, and they’ll produce. We don’t run a highly stocked unit; our stocking rate’s 2.7 (cows per hectare). We are not pugging the ground as much, nor overloading effluent.”

The high level of trust in his relationship with the Sutherlands means he has carte blanche in selecting the genetic traits of the herd.

“We are contracted to Ambreed and they supply us with genomically evaluated sires. We put them

PHOTOS Farmers Ben and Tanya Davie with family (top) sharemilk with Raymond and Claire Sutherland on a 275-hectare property in South Otago milking a 700-cow herd. over our cows and then they judge the stock when they come in to the herd. The programme uses elite young sires from the national herd that supply an average genetic gain of 10-12 breeding-worth points each year. This means we gain first access to the top genetics of tomorrow at a significantly lower cost”.

Cows are assessed by Ambreed on traits such as capacity, rump angle and width, legs, udder support and teat placement, front and rear udder, weight and condition score, while Ben judges on the likes of milking speed, adaptability to milking, milking shed temperament and his “overall opinion”.

Raymond Sutherland says Ben “is a good cocky” who demands high standards of himself and others.

“He very conscientious about the cows. He loves his animals. He’s as conscious as hell how the farm looks. He’s particular on how everything’s got to be. He wants to go places.”

Payout risk • From page 4 Although the farm has come a long way, Ben and Jemma feel there is still room for improvement.

In fact, they predict that after another five years of pasture renewal and herd improvement, the farm will be one of the top performers in the region.

Next season the Abernethys’ career is set to turn full circle when they return to the Ward farm to take on a 50:50 sharemilking position.

“I’ve always had a passion for cows,” says Ben. “I said I wanted to be 50:50 by the time I was 30 and I’ll be 32, so that’s not too bad.

“The lower payout is a bit of a risk, but this is my 15th season of milking and I’ve seen the ups and downs. I’m confident the industry will come right, and to get in while cow prices are lower will be an advantage.”

They acknowledge it will be sad to leave Gay Hill’s farm. But given their record for returning to farms where they have previously worked, you wouldn’t bet against coming back one day.

Personal & Professional Service, Farm, Commercial & Business Accountancy Taxation Advice, Financial Returns

Specialising in: Farm Drainage Roading Root Raking Civil Construction

Dairy Conversions General Earthworks Site Foundations Auger Equipment Tree Topping

Field Tile Cleaning Alkathene Layer Stump Grinding Firewood Post Driver on 14 Ton Excavator

5, 14 & 20-ton Excavator, Tree Shear, Tree Saw, Six Wheeler Tip Trucks. Grader, Tree Topper, Vibrating Roller, Vibrating Plate, Transporter

Phone Kent 027 496 8766 | After Hours 03 415 7026 Email mckeecontracting@clear.net.nz | Office 30 Main Road, Clinton

6|

RURAL PEOPLE » Upcot Station

Business Rural

High-country legend lives on in the Neil Grant Climate, geology and people define New Zealand high country farming.

Although most Kiwis live in large towns or cities, many retain an emotional connection to the stereotypical high-country farmer – a hardy, laconic, Swanndri and shorts-wearing fellow with a long manuka pole in one hand and a black and white dog at his heels.

While there may be an element of truth in that, the whole truth is more complex. Genetics, a complex science, is integral to successful sheep farming. Economics, not everyone’s cup of tea, is bread and butter. Stock management has so many subtleties, a townie might never master the art.

That faraway look is a mixture of scanning hillsides to spot any reluctant merino that has escaped the muster, wondering if the cold front is going to hold off long enough to get the mob in the yard, and the sheer inner joy of being part of some of the most dramatic and beautiful country in the world.

Bill Stevenson is the third-generation landholder on Upcot Station in the Awatere Valley. His grandfather bought it in 1902. His father began the merino stud in 1944 importing South Australian ewes and rams; big animals with strong wool.

Twenty years ago, their Australian wool classer suggested they change to the sweeter-woolled New South Wales type. This has enabled them to sell half their clip to Icebreaker each year. The rest goes to the merino auction in Melbourne.

Upcot is well up the valley, with only Muller Station between it and Molesworth.

“It’s pretty straight up and down country,” Bill Stevenson says. “You’d never turn into a fat bugger up here. We’ve had a few scorchers this summer, but I like the hot stuff, and merinos do well on it. It produces sweet, fine-textured meat. They love the

Steep country: Upcot Station covers 13,500 hectares on the north side of the Awatere Valley.

RENNER CONTRACTING LTD Residential · Rural · Industrial “ Specialists in Agricultural Aviation, Lifting, Vineyard Spraying, Suspension Fertiliser Application, Charter ”

Accredited Fencing Contractor Farm & Lifestyle · Stock Yards Commercial & Security Pool & Tennis Courts Repairs & Replacements Vineyard Development Mike - 021 416 798 Brad - 021 416 703 rennerfencing@hotmail.com

www.rennerfencing.co.nz Omaka Aerodrome, PO Box 731, Blenheim 7240 Ph 03 578 9684 Fax 03 578 0194 Email marl.heli@xtra.co.nz

SPM Proudly supporting

Bill Stevenson -Upcot Station For all your shearing and crutching requirements phone 0272207328 or (03) 5792302 Marlborough

Regional Livestock Manager Tasman North Canterbury Canterbury Mid and South Canterbury Otago Central Otago Southland/ West Otago Eastern & Northern Southland Southland

www.affco.co.nz I 0800 AFFCONZ (2332669)

Lo cal People k Local Li vestoc

M: 021 475 853 T: 0800 000 272 M: 021 471 943 M: 021 823 085 M: 021 341 854 M: 027 2087 250 M: 021 904 434 M: 021 273 2078 T: 0800 610 003 M: 021 475 893

South Pacific Meats

WAV22720

Nicola Harper

Murray Napier Stephen Arends Carl Forrester Greg Stevenson Andrew Stark Andrew Keen Tony Brun Ryan Shaw Craig Dickson Murray Gilchrist

RURAL PEOPLE » Upcot Station

Business Rural

|7

Awatere dry feed, and rain degrades the quality. It’s better if the rain stays away until February or March.”

Upcot has 13,500 hectares on the north side of the valley.

“We’re lucky – all the good country is freehold.

The leasehold stuff is quite rough and quite high.

We’ve never flogged it. If you want to poke some cattle up the gullies, there’s always a bit of feed for them, so it’s important to us. It is a little cooler here in the winter but does not dry out as much as the country on the south side. We get a bit of snow, but rarely have to go snow raking.

“There’s not much flat land here, about 100ha.

We have about 50ha in lucerne on the flat. It is a really good plant, although it does take some looking after.”

Upcot has 800 mostly angus/hereford cross cattle. Three hundred are cows. Steers are kept to three years old to use the rougher country for a couple of winters.

Bill and his wife, Nicky, are the main staff. They each have their own dogs and do most of the tasks.

Contractors, musterers and shearers come in as required. At Christmas, their four girls help with tasks such as calf marking and tailing. They all have horses, and all enjoy a bit of bunny shooting.

The girls did correspondence primary schooling.

The eldest is at university, planning to be a teacher.

The second has started at a cadet farm near Hunterville, learning not to accept her father’s bad habits.

“They do everything properly: chainsaws, shearing, dog trials, fencing,” says Bill. “It’s great for us to know she’s keen to come back. She’ll have a few years in the North Island, then perhaps Aussie on a stud farm. She’ll learn heaps and come back firing on all cylinders.”

The younger two are at Nelson College for Girls.

Upcot’s merino stud is for the Stevensons’ own purposes.

“I enjoy the stud work.” says Bill. “We do AI every couple of years. We tinker with wool quality, developing fibre structure and making sure the wool is well nourished.”

Hieracium has been a problem, but superphosphate, and sowing grasses and clover has given good results. It still has a bit of a hold on some of the higher country they can’t easily deal with. Rabbit numbers fell dramatically when RCD took hold, but built up again; a poisoning programme knocked them back, as did a couple of wet summers.

Diversifying into tourism has brought another aspect to family life. Every week or so in summer, four-wheel-drive or cycling groups stay in the shearers’ quarters, and get their evening meal at the homestead. This has led to some enduring friendships.

A conversation with Bill Stevenson confirms

all those high-country attributes. He may also like a Speight’s, probably a fine wine from a vineyard down the valley. That high country legend, a part of us all, lives on.

It’s pretty straight up and down country. You’d never turn into a fat bugger up here. We’ve had a few scorchers this summer, but I like the hot stuff, and merinos do well on it. It produces sweet, fine-textured meat. They love the dry feed, and rain messes it up. It’s better if the rain stays away until February or March.

PHOTOS – Top: Upcot Station’s Bill Stevenson (top) takes a smoko break with family members. Above: The mob down on the flats.

PLUMBING PLUMBING / DRAINLAYING /GAS SUPPLIER & FITTING / ROOFING

K J Morgan Plumbing Ltd

11 Purkiss Street, P O Box 925, BLENHEIM 7240

t: 03 578 0060 | f: 03 578 0994

e: info@morganplumbing.co.nz | www.morganplumbing.co.nz OUR EXPERTS AVAILABLE TO YOU:

TAKING YOUR WOOL TO THE WORLD. THE NEW ZEALAND MERINO COMPANY Level 2, 114 Wrights Road, Addington 8024 Phone (03) 335 0911 Fax (03) 335 0912 www.nzmerino.co.nz

NZM Business Rural Advertisement 6x8_Dec '15.indd 4

BLAIR DAVIES MARLBOROUGH AREA MANAGER blair.davies@nzmerino.co.nz MARK FERGUSON PRODUCTION SCIENCE MANAGER mark.ferguson@nzmerino.co.nz WAYNE CAMERON AOM BUSINESS MANAGER wayne.cameron@nzmerino.co.nz

7/12/15 9:55 AM

8|

RURAL PEOPLE » Mt Hutt Station

Business Rural

Plenty to cheer about deer Jo Bailey Bruce Hood, of Mt Hutt Station, is no stranger to the ups and downs of the deer industry. And he says there is plenty to be happy about in the current climate.

He and his wife, Becky, visited the United States as ambassadors with Mountain River to meet a number of American chefs and promote New Zealand venison.

“There is strong demand for our top-end cuts in America,” he says. “I think we need to keep pushing into this market. It was interesting to meet the chefs who told us they are after healthy, low-fat meats grown in a clean, green environment. New Zealand venison definitely fits the bill.”

He reports strong demand for venison in the domestic market, and velvet is also doing well.

“The market for velvet is still pretty limited, so we have to be careful not to over-produce.

Otherwise we could see more big animals go into venison production, which wouldn’t affect the premium Cervena brand, but might have an impact on lower-end cuts.”

He says this is “the most pessimistic thing” he could say about the industry when things are “generally very bright.”

The positive supply-and-demand cycle is partly driven by the strong rate of dairy conversions over the last few years: “Even some of the early pioneers have decided deer is a young man’s game and have either gone into dairy grazing or converted.”

Bruce Hood is highly regarded in the deer industry, and is carrying on the legacy of his pioneering father, Keith, and uncle, Doug Hood, a who was a contractor.

Before they bought Mt Hutt Station at auction in 1978 for $1 million (the first farm in the South Island to reach this milestone), the Hood brothers gained fame for constructing the Mt Hutt skifield road, through Doug’s company, Doug Hood Contracting.

“Dad took the first dozer up to the top of the mountain,” says Bruce Hood. “Everyone said it couldn’t be done, but they did it.”

After buying the station, the Hood brothers farmed sheep and cattle but the enthusiastic hunters were always keen to get into deer.

• To page 10

Bruce Hood feeds a pet deer at Mt Hutt Station (above and right)

PROUD TO SUPPORT MT HUTT STATION

Fogarty Deer & Livestock Ltd We are proud to support Mt Hutt Station - Bruce & Becki Hood P O Box 490, Wanaka, NEW ZEALAND P. 03 443 6628 • M. 0274 345 130 • F. 03 443 6672 E. deervelvet@wanaka.net.nz

Business Rural

|9

Advertisement

Velveting made easier with weigh scales Mt Hutt Station is one of the earliest large-scale deer farms established in New Zealand. Even with the smallest enquiry, it is evident the Hood family have built this large-scale deer farming operation from the ground up through hard work and long hours. Bruce Hood says they now have their fingers in all aspects of deer farming.

“We are in the velveting, breeding and finishing side of it.”

Covering 7000 acres, with 2500 velvet stags, and 1000 rising one-year olds or ‘spikers’, a large portion of the station income comes from velvet. Around eight tonnes is cut annually, including spikers and regrowth. Every year spiker deer have their spikes cut off to gauge their potential for bringing into the velvet mob.

About 500 are taken through. Culling decisions are based not just on the main cut of velvet antler, but also regrowth.

There is a lot riding on managing data of individual animals, accurate recording and managing NAIT requirements. Last year Bruce upgraded his Tru-Test 3000 weigh scales to the newly-released XR 5000 partly based on its considerable data collection and storage capacity.

At this stage Bruce uses the XR5000 on the velveting side of the operation to record all velvet weights, regrowth rates, spiker grades and comments for all the stags. “All the information for all my stags can be at my finger tips on the day of cutting them.”

“I have a life history of all those stags from birth to 12 years. That means I can be away from the farm and someone else can have all the information they need. Everything can be there about the stag without me needing to sort it out.”

“The XR 5000 series is also capable of telling me growth rates, how many grams of velvet

stags are putting on per day”. Next season Bruce is looking forward to using this function to test variables on the farm.

The station grows 100ha of short rotation pastures with 90 to 100 tonnes of grain fed, and 100ha of winter greenfeed crops of swedes and kale.

“We can use the weigh scale to find out how good a quality pasture is doing by monitoring weight. Then go back and weigh in a couple of months find out what’s worked and what hasn’t, whether it is specific pastures or supplying

NEW Offspring Pairing Feature

supplements, whether they have been benefiting or not.”

‘Offspring pairing’ is a new XR5000 software feature released this summer which will be attractive to many deer farmers. The offspring pairing feature allows a breeder to link offspring to a dam so they can look up an animal’s lineage and is intended to be used in a workflow where the Dam ID is entered first and then its offspring’s IDs are entered. It will link a Dam with its current offspring and record into the offspring lifetime information, record other

information for the offspring and/or Dam such as date of birth and breed and optionally record weights, either by connecting to a load cell/ load bar or by manually entering, or enable calving percentages to monitor reproductive performance to be viewed.

A real benefit of the 5000 is its ability to transferring to NAIT and download quickly.

“Drafting is a lot quicker. It’s compatible with everything. You can do everything right there in the shed so it saves time going back home and sitting at the computer. It’s working for me.”

5000 Series Weigh Scales

3495*

2495*

$

$

Set up – made easy Visibility – made easy Data storage – made easy Data capture – made easy Data transfer – made easy

Hard work Made easy Call us for an on farm demonstration www.tru-test.com/5000

* Pricing includes GST

How are you tracking?

Let’s talk.

0800 263 278

10 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Mt Hutt Station

Business Rural

PHOTOS: Mt Hutt Station is a 7000 to 8000-stock-unit deer operation, which is largely focused on velveting, finishing young stock for venison, and selling in-calf hinds.

‘Very good year’ on velvet side • From page 8 Much of the station’s early stock was captured live until the practice eventually proved uneconomic, and it became more attractive to buy domesticated animals with a better temperament.

Bruce Hood grew up on the station and, after spending some time overseas, came back to work with his father. When Doug died, Keith bought Mt Hutt Station in his own name and sold the original homestead and a 260ha block for a dairy conversion.

Keith and his wife, Dennise, now run the station alongside Bruce and Becky. They have a sizeable deer operation – 7000 to 8000 stock units – largely focused on velveting, finishing young stock for venison, and selling in-calf hinds.

Bruce Hood says Mt Hutt Station has had a “very good year” with velveting, cutting nearly 10 tonnes, including regrowth.

“This was well ahead of the eight tonnes we cut last year. We had an extra 500 young stags in the velveting herd contributing to the result, but genetics could also be a factor.”

The Hoods velveted 2500 stags this year and cut about 1100 spikers. The station also carries nearly 3000 hinds and 1100 yearling hinds, along with 130 breeding cows that are used mainly to “tidy up

The latest project is an irrigation development covering 50 hectares of lighter, stonier soils that are prone to nor-west winds. We fawn hinds on this land, and sometimes have to take in heaps of feed if we get caught out by early, dry conditions.

the place”. The final-cull stags were timetabled to have left the farm by the end of February.

There hasn’t been a stag sale at Mt Hutt Station for several years, says Bruce Hood.

“We’ve gone down the more commercial line, breeding the majority of our own stag sires, apart from a few we bring in, and selling a few stags to other farmers if they want them.”

Keith has just added a 20-tonne digger to his collection of “toys”, which area used in the ongoing development of the farm.

Bruce says the latest project is an irrigation development covering 50 hectares of lighter, stonier soils that are prone to nor-west winds.

“We fawn the majority of hinds on this land, and sometimes have to take in heaps of feed if we get caught out by early, dry conditions.”

The Hoods originally planned to irrigate 80ha of this part of the farm, but had to downscale to 50ha to meet consents.

“Our nice simple plan took six or seven years to get through in the end,” says Bruce.

He describes Mt Hutt Station as effectively “two environments in one”, with the nor-west block offset by a wetter, colder sou-west block that can get up to 2000 millimetres of annual rainfall.

He and Keith also have some other developments under way, including splitting 50ha blocks into smaller paddocks, and fencing the last hill block for deer.

“This block is close to a couple of hundred hectares and goes nearly right up to the skifield road, so it’s a big job. We’re still planning the best way to do it,” says Bruce.

He doesn’t expect his father to retire any time soon, and says he will “never leave the place”.

“It’s part of him. He is one of those old-school guys who believe that every day is a work day.

Becky and I have four children, two boys and two girls, who try to slow him down a wee bit.”

Despite many years working side by side, Bruce says he and Keith rarely have a cross word. In fact, the opposite is true if there is a disagreement.

“Neither of us has a temper, but if we do get annoyed, we just stop talking. If I’m getting the silent treatment from Dad, I know I must be in trouble.”

MOUNTAIN

RIVER

VENISON

&

MOUNTAIN

Passionate and committed to the deer industry • Exclusively focussed on processing and marketing • State of the art venison processing facility at Rakaia • Premium value niche markets around the globe ob be Our supply chain relies on strong relationships with committed suppliers in the local region and further afield.

CONTACTS Supply Liaison Rob Millar Processors Ian Stewart Marketing John Sadler

229 027 523 22 2229 54 42 03 302 7542 229 027 576 2229

mountainrivervenison.co.nz

RIVER

PROCESSORS

RURAL PEOPLE » Aaron Wilson

Business Rural

| 11

Silver lining to low payout?

Russell Fredric Balfour dairy farmer Aaron Wilson makes no attempt to butter up his outlook for the next two seasons and beyond, but he emphasises there could be a silver lining to the dairy industry’s woes.

While rain in his home province of Southland brought a heavenly gift in late February, the present painful payout could be creating a perfect storm, he says.

In January, Fonterra reduced its forecast farmgate milk price for the 2015-16 season of $4.60 per kilogram of milksolid to $4.15 and then $3.90 in March, leaving dairy farmers grappling with ways to manage costs and expenditure.

Some could ultimately run out of options, Aaron Wilson says.

“People probably now will have played just about all their cards as far as cost cutting (and using) equity. Now they will be chewing in to their farm equity.

“The problem with that will be you’ve still got to finish this season out and we don’t really know what next season’s going to look like yet, and most people will need finance for next season.

“Everyone’s trying to do their best, including the banks, but everyone is also wary that eventually if it keeps going and it’s not a sustainable payout, then there will be readjustment with land values and people will be sold up.”

He believes the commonly touted break-even figure of $5.50 per kilograms of milksolid not tell the full story.

“A lot of farms in Southland are relatively late conversions so I would imagine that $5.50 would be a minimum just for the debt that will be on those farms. There could be up to (the equivalent of) $2/$2.50 debt in that figure.”

Taking operating expenses into account, in this scenario a farm could be losing $1 a kilogram on its milksolids payout.

“Not everyone understands that at $5.50 you haven’t made a cent. You are doing it for free.”

Sharemilkers are also vulnerable in the present climate, he says.

“There are a lot of sharemilkers that would like to exit the industry, or will have to exit the industry.

They’re going to be the first people off the rank.”

And dairy farmers could be facing a long

There’s actually been some pretty amazing stuff happening on farms because of the costcutting. People have already looked at their whole operation and they are going to be stronger for it. hangover, even when the payout picks up, he says.

“When we do come out of this, we need to start paying back the equity we’ve used to get to the end of this cycle.”

Nevertheless, he believes it is not all doom and gloom.

“There’s actually been some pretty amazing stuff happening on farms because of the cost-cutting.

People have already looked at their whole operation and they are going to be stronger for it.”

Cost-cutting measures include culling lowperforming cows rather than providing them with supplementary feed to chase production, and paying extra attention to pasture management. At the same time, environmental compliance rates in Southland have not suffered.

“I think it has just sharpened everyone,” he says. “They are really concentrating on the basics.

In the long term, that’s a good thing in my opinion.”

He sees part of the long-term solution in the dairy industry, and New Zealand as a whole, in transitioning from being a commodity producer to a value-added economy.

Aaron Wilson praises Fonterra’s efforts in gaining markets for value-added products such as nutraceuticals.

“It has been under-reported here, but last year they earnt $6.5 billion of value-added revenue which is more than the red-meat industry combined. To me, that says they are doing something right.”

Aaron Wilson converted his 400-hectare farm in 2007. The farm is milking 800 cows this season, 100 fewer than 2014-15, and is supported by a 350-hectare run-off block.

Balfour farmer Aaron Wilson converted his 160-hectare farm in 2007 and is milking 800 cows this season, 100 fewer than in the 2014-2015 season.

Proud to be supporting Aaron Wilson

R yan Mcmaster 0273732848

Renovations • Sheds Houses • Concrete

EATON WILLOW LODGE LTD For all your:

Proud to be associated with Aaron Wilson 3 Fairfield Street, PO Box 268, GORE | P: 03 208 9560 | F: 03 208 9189 | E: gore@mallochs.co.nz

And now available Lely Welger Baler/Wrapper combo

• Agriculute Spraying • Large Square Baling • 3x 6x4 Tip Trucks • 2x 8x4 Tip Trucks • 8.3m Roller

• 6m Leveller • 2x European Ploughs • 9m Cultivator • Aerating with James Aerator • Drain Plough • Power Harrow & Seeder

Ph/Fax: 03 201 6335

Paul 0274838103 | Derek 0274375706 | Brent 0274855994 willowlodge@kinect.co.nz

12 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Hayden & Gillian Ussher

Business Rural

Kelly Deeks

Canterbury farmers Hayden and Gillian Ussher run a 320-cow Fonterra herd and a 12 to 15 Farm Fresh Milk herd, supplying raw milk from an on-site vending shop (below) at their Fernside farm.

Milk that really is fresh from the farm Kelly Deeks With a view to bridging the urban-rural divide, Canterbury dairy farmers Hayden and Gillian Ussher operate a raw-milk vending business complete with viewing area where visitors are welcomed and encouraged to see milk being harvested.

Hayden has a real thing about the urban-rural divide.

“There is such a lack of knowledge about what goes on on farm and where you milk comes from,” he says.

“Our main reason for starting up Farm Fresh Milk was to fill that knowledge gap and encourage people to understand how and where their product comes from.”

The Usshers run a 320-cow Fonterra herd and a 12 to 15-cow Farm Fresh herd on their Plaskett Rd farm at Fwernside, near Rangiora.

The original 60 hactares is the old family farm, with the Usshers the third generation running it.

They were 50:50 sharemilking on the property before buying it 12 years ago.

They have since bought smaller neighbouring blocks and built the farm up to 140 hectares. This is supported by about 60ha of lease land in the local vicinity where the cows are wintered, young stock are grazed, and supplement is made if and when available.

As fresh, raw milk producers, the Farm Fresh herd is prepared for milking for about as long as the cows are actually milked. A meticulous hygiene strategy is followed to ensure no chance of contamination.

“The milk in the cows’ udders is 100 per cent,” says Hayden Ussher. “Any chance of contamination is from the teat or your milking plant.”

As well as providing some education for the agriculturally challenged, Farm Fresh Milk provides unpasteurised, unhomogenised, completely safe-todrink milk, fresh from the udder.

Customers include those with allergies, digestive problems, and high cholesterol, as well as those who simply prefer raw milk.

“Anytime something goes wrong with milk, you hear the words salmonella and campylobacter, but nine times out of 10, it’s come through poor

Our main reason for starting up Farm Fresh Milk was to fill that knowledge gap and encourage people to understand how and where their product comes from. hygiene, poor systems, or something totally outside the milking environment, even birds pooping in the water trough,” he says.

“Our Farm Fresh herd is vet-checked every quarter, and checked by us every milking for any signs of ill health. Because it’s such a small herd and we spend a lot more time with them, we can see very small changes very quickly.”

The Usshers don’t use antibiotics and don’t treat for mastitis or lameness. Not because they are organic, but because they don’t need to.

“We have achieved that mainly through breeding,” Hayden says. “Our main herd has a somatic cell count of 160,000, and our vending herd is 30,000.”

The Farm Fresh herd is milked year round. The winter milkers are selected from the highest-quality empty cows at the end of the season,. They are

then sent for some rest and recreation when the spring milkers are selected in November.

“We herd-test, we look at production and somatic cells, and we know ourselves whether they’ve got strong feet or whether they get mastitis,” Hayden says.

“We also select our Farm Fresh herd for temperament, and personality goes a long way too.”

• Effluent system design, construction and installation - Sloping screen/revolving drum/ pond systems • Dairyshed water reticulation - Leading the field in technology • Pump sales, upgrades and new installs • Suppliers of tanks, poly, pvc and all pump accessories •24/74 Unsurpassed breakdown service

Rangiora 03 313 3444

Ikamatua 03 732 3678

0800 786 792

RURAL PEOPLE » Duncan & Lyn Barr

Business Rural

| 13

Breeding contract a cash cow?

Karen Phelps With dairy farmers increasingly looking to diversify their businesses and add cash flow into their systems, could wagyu provide part of the answer?

Mid Canterbury farmers Duncan and Lyn Barr believe so.

The couple have entered into a contract with Firstlight Foods Ltd, the only commercial-scale producer of grass-fed wagyu beef in New Zealand, to breed the Japanese cows as part of their dairy farming operation.

The Barrs will rear 150 to 180 wagyu calves this season and have plans to set up a calf rearing unit the following season so they can benefit further by adding another 500-600 Wagyu to their contract to rear the entire herd to sell them as weaner calves.

“Rather than having all our eggs in one basket, this will help to diversify our business. With jersey bobby calves getting $20-30, wagyu heifers and bulls fetch $175. The rearing contract is pretty attractive as well with prices of around $300 for rearing them through to 90 kilograms. We’re losing money on milk at the moment, so we hope this will give us positive cashflow by Christmas next year,” says Duncan Barr.

He is no stranger to the ebbs and flows of the industry. He grew up on an 80-hectare dairy farm in Taranaki, completed a Bachelor of Agriculture at Massey University, then worked on dairy farms in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. He met his English-born wife, Lyn, in the UK where she was a childcare worker.

“She was looking after the kids on the farm and I was looking after the cows,” says Duncan with a smile.

The couple returned to New Zealand together and worked on his parents’ farm for a year before taking on a 50:50 sharemilking position at Hawera on a 160-cow unit for seven years.

The pair then went into an equity partnership with Duncan’s brother, Steven, and his wife, Mary, on the home farm, which was by then milking 450 cows on 120ha. They also bought a similar size farm in Feilding and milked the same number of cows there.

During the five years of the partnership, Duncan was also a farm consultant and the Barrs went into a second equity partnership on a 130ha, 500-cow farm in Canterbury.

In 2004 they sold everything and a year later, bought their first farm in Canterbury, a 110ha unit

• To page 14

Cultivation and Drilling Specialists Contact: Brad Coleman 0275445669 Email: brad@colemanag.co.nz Bridge Street, Arundel, RD22, Geraldine

Rather than having all our eggs in one basket, this will help to diversify our business. With jersey bobby calves getting $20-30, wagyu heifers and bulls fetch $175. The rearing contract is pretty attractive as well with prices of around $300 for rearing them through to 90 kilograms.

-YLZO -LLK [V `V\Y -HYT :[VJRMLLK THKL MYLZO VUZP[L VY KLSP]LYLK WYLTP_LK

.PCJMF VOJUT TQFDJBMJTJOH JO %BJSZ BOE $BMG NFBM -BSHF SPMMFS NJMM BOE IBNNFS NJMM BWBJMBCMF "EEJUJWFT DBO CF TVQQMJFE BOE NJYFE PS CMFOEFE XJUI NPMBTTFT JG SFRVJSFE 8F GJMM ZPVS TJMPT PS TVQQMZ JO CVML TFF XFCTJUF GPS NPSF EFUBJMT

FEEDMI Ltd +H]L *HTWPVU 7O c ^^^ MLLKTP_ JV Ua

Mid Canterbury couple Duncan and Lyn Barr have entered into a contract with Firstlight Foods to breed Japanese wagyu cattle as part of their dairy-farming operation.

• Ground cultivation • Maize/Fodder Beet planting • Fodder beet harvesting • Direct/Roller Drilling • Pivot rut filling • Excavator work • Muck spreading • Calf pen woodchip

Proud to supply Duncan with our on- site Mill and Mix service for Dairy and Calf meals

No budget to buy in feed????... then grow it using the proven performer ASN Coldstart™ whatever the weather conditions..

Ammonium Sulphate Nitrate is a granulated fast acting fertiliser that works even in cold conditions where all the alternatives take a lot longer to get cracking.

ViAg is proud to supply to Duncan Barr

HARACOAT™ CONTROLLED RELEASE NITROGEN, POTASSIUM & SULPHUR products for all crop requirements

™ Registered trademark of AGRI NZ Ltd

Contact Clayton Kinsman M 027 836 3727 E ckinsman@viag.co.nz

Greg Sim

Building & Excavating • New homes • cow sheds • farm buildings • Alterations/additions • 4 diggers - 20 ton, 14 ton & 13 ton • Mini digger & truck for smaller jobs • Tip truck hire • Drain cleaning • Headrace work & trenching • Grader • Dairy Lanes Proud to support Duncan Barr

Phone: (03) 303 7227

Mobile: 027 437 5843

www.viag.co.nz

14 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Duncan and Lyn Barr

Business Rural

Wagyu breeding part of dairy farm operation • From page 13 milking 450 cows. In 2012 they moved to their present farm at Ealing, south of Ashburton where they milk a predominantly friesian/friesian-cross herd of 650 cows.

The 181ha total (171ha effective) unit has a 54bail rotary shed with Protrack, automatic drafting, an in-shed feeding system and a heat-detection camera. The camera was installed this season to assist their new wagyu venture.

“We’ll use no bulls this year,” says Duncan. “ We’ll do six to seven weeks of friesian AB followed by four weeks of wagyu beef straws then 10 days of short-gestation crossbred genetics to tighten up the late-calvers to make them calve 10 days earlier.”

The farm is supported by an 80ha run-off and a 40ha lease block used to winter cows and to rear the wagyu and calf replacements.

The Barrs made the decision to hire a contract milker this season because, says Duncan, “we

need people who have skin in the game to keep the farm running right”. He and Lyn will rear all the calves and run the support blocks as well as oversee the operation.

They have moved away from more expensive feed options, instead taking out a waste-vegetable contract with a local processing company giving them leftover potatoes, peas and beans amongst other nutritious goodies to feed their herd economically.

But the Barrs also see the value of supporting local businesses that they rely on to keep their farm running.

“We want to help keep support industries going as much as we can so that when the pay-out rises, they will still be around for us to use,” says Duncan.

“So rather than cancelling contracts, we are just using less at the moment, and when the pay-out rises, we can bump up our contracts again.”

• To page 15

We want to help keep support industries going as much as we can so that when the pay-out rises, they will still be around for us to use.

FORAGE QUALITY HAS NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD!!

MOO O O -VE - ON OVER TO THE CLEANEST CALCIUM AVAILABLE. E. LOW VOLUME - HIGH ENERGY CALCIUM DESIGNED TO: BUILD PLANT SUGAR CONTENT DECREASE SOIL COMPACTION INCREASE SOIL WATER HOLDING CAPACTITY Proud to be working with Duncan and Carolyn Barr AGRAFORUM NZ LTD · ALLAN PIERCY · +64 (0) 274 485 159 · allan@agraforum.co.nz · www.agraforum.co.nz

Mid Canterbury farmers Duncan and Lyn Barr.

Proud to be a supplier of Duncan Barr Office. 03 308 7166 Company Representatives Corey Hastie 0274 335 793 • Paul Winter 0274 341 787 Morgan Hunt 0274 796 094 • Nicholas Williams 0272 732 786 Martin Reid 0274 323 269 • Kasey Morris 027 210 6556 2 Kermode Street Ashburton P. 03 308 7166 or 0800 900 308 • E. info@cates.co.nz • W. www.cates.co.nz Main Road, Rakaia • Phone. 03 302 7319

“Farming, it’s what we do”

Proud to support Duncan Barr

Duncan Barr used Alltech OPTIGEN®II for the first time last year and was pleased with the results. OPTIGEN®II is now part of his toolbox - a useful product to use at certain times of the year.

– Duncan Barr Barrhill Farms Limited, Hinds, Canterbury

Phone: +64 9 837 3243 | Email: newzealand@alltech.com Alltech.com/newzealand AlltechAP

RURAL PEOPLE » Craigmore Farming

Business Rural

| 15

Development ‘positive for community’ Kim Newth Craigmore Farming’s dairy development work in North Otago over the past two years has been a major boost for the local economy.

That according to Craigmore’s North Otago operations manager Francois Tillard, who says the farming partnership has been through a very busy consolidation and development phase since 2014.

The company’s extensive holdings in the region cover Corriedale (two dairy farms), Waiareka (one dairy unit), Windsor (two dairy units), Arnmore (one dairy unit) and Abercairney (a grazing block).

In total, Craigmore’s North Otago farming portfolio totals around 1760 hectares.

One of the first properties to be set up was Waiareka, which has been fully reconverted with new fencing, drainage, lanes, irrigation and water supply. The entire farm has been re-grassed.

New cowsheds have been commissioned at Abercairney (October 2014), Corriedale (December 2014) and Waiareka (August 2015).

“Two are 40-a-side with feedpad, and there is a new 50-bail rotary shed at Wairareka,” says Francois, who began sharemilking in New Zealand in 2004. He bought Arnmore, his first farm, in 2008 before converting it to dairy.

Moving into an equity partner role with

Craigmore has proved a challenging and interesting transition: “With a corporate structure, there is more scrutiny on the business compared to operating as a single farm owner. Achieving consistent top performance on every farm is reasonably hard to achieve.

“Of course, the benefit of it is that you have got some scale, in terms of buying power and creating more of a shared culture. We are constantly striving to do better.”

The company has around 6000 cows across the North Otago group, with an annual milksolids target of around 2.5 million kilograms. A grassbased system is used, with supplementary feed as required.

Craigmore’s development programme has been a shot in the arm for the local economy, with local contractors inevitably involved in building new sheds and houses, installing irrigation and carrying out earthworks. The farms themselves employ local people.

“It has definitely been positive for the community,” he says. “We use local people all the time. The farms themselves are now operating much more efficiently and productively than before and we have got a stable workforce.”

While low milk prices are not making it easy, Francois suggests the development work done puts the Craigmore farms in a strong position.

Craigmore Farming’s North Otago portfolio totals around 1760ha. The company has around 6000 cows with an annual milk solids target of around 2.5 million kilograms.

“We are well-placed. Our goal is to consolidate the gains we have made.”

Another positive for the local area is that Craigmore has worked to improve public access for recreation by allowing access across one of its farms for the planned Alps2Ocean Cycle Trail.

Forbes Elworthy and Mark Cox, who established

Craigmore Farming in 2008, now have people across New Zealand managing a mix of dairy, grazing and horticultural farms spread over 15,000 hectares. Their aim is to be a long-term producer of high-quality, food products through farming the land sustainably and by partnering with operational managers in New Zealand.

Soil biology becomes priority • From page 14 They place environmental concerns at the forefront of their farming, and believe in diet manipulation as a key part of this equation.

“Using the right feed at the right time when it’s needed,” says Duncan.

“When cows eat, they consume too much protein at certain times of the year, which is then excreted and can leach into ground water. Other times of the year, cows are in a protein deficit, so need protein added into their diet.

Through milk-composition tests, we can look at the protein-to-fat ratios and milk urea, then use this data to adjust the ratios of protein and carbohydrates the cows are fed accordingly.

With the lower pay-out, it’s not really feasible to invest in this, but we’ll return to this again to a greater extent when the pay-out rises as we’ve seen it works with gains in production and environmental outcomes.”

The Barrs also focus on enhancing their soil biology, believing profit starts from the ground up.

“It’s the sort of stuff that 10 years ago I would have thought was crazy, but we’ve seen improvements from focusing on soil biology, such as needing to use less water and nitrogen, and increases in production.”

JAMES JA S & SON JAME

It’s the sort of stuff that 10 years ago I would have thought was crazy, but we’ve seen improvements from focusing on soil biology, such as needing to use less water and nitrogen, and increases in production.

Rather than making money this season, the biggest challenge is not to lose too much, says Duncan.

“Crazy as it sounds, that’s the reality this season. There are a lot of things I want to do on the farm, but the pay-out makes it impossible. It’s very frustrating.”

(NZ) Pty. Ltd.

Soya & Canola Meals

Tapioca & Molasses

Vegetable CoProducts

Palm Kernel Meal

Custom Blends

Dairy Silo Meals

Dried Distillers Grain

Delivering animal feed expertise since 1850 . .

James & Son (NZ) Pty Ltd New Zealand Ph: 0800 67 3333 Fax:(04) 499 4850 www.jamesandson.co.nz

• Irrigation Installation • Dairy Shed Installation • Dairy Shed Maintenance

• Dairy Shed Power Efficiency • Master Electrician • Eco Smart Company

Calum Reid- Registered Electrical Inspector 40 Bledisloe St, Kurow PO Box 75 Kurow 9446 4 Regina Lane, Oamaru Ph: 0800 360 063 Mob: 0274 368 700 Fax: (03) 436 0053 E-mail: calum@calect.co.nz

www.calect.co.nz

THE WISDOM TO GET WATER PRECISELY WHERE YOU NEED IT.

With leading industry knowledge and technical expertise, WaterForce has the wisdom to breathe life into your land to make it more productive and sustainable for tomorrow.

Whatever challenge you are faced with, we will provide a future-proof solution designed specifically for your requirements that will stand the test of time.

With the most experienced up-tothe-minute advice and 24/7 after-sales support, WaterForce will provide the smartest and most effective irrigation and water management solution to get water precisely where you need it.

0800 436 723 waterforce.co.nz

IRRIGATION

TECHNOLOGY

WATER TREATMENT

For all your Excavators, Tip Truck, Grader, Rut-Buster, Transporter Hire

STOCKWATER

EFFLUENT

(Mulligan Contracting Ltd) 90 Shortland Rd, 1 KRD, Oamaru Phone / Fax (03) 437 0899

Calf Meal “Plus Many More”

MASTER electricians

FREE QUOTES Brent Mulligan Mobile: 027 643 2528

16 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Justin & Gaylene Pigou

Business Rural

Sudan, Zambia and back to Balclutha Sue Russell Having pioneered dairy farms in the Sudan and Zambia, Justin Pigou’s return to manage Telford Farm Training Institute’s dairy unit near Balclutha brings him back full circle to a place and role he experienced two decades ago.

The institute offers agricultural training courses, and his role is to manage the same dairy unit he managed all those years ago.

Telford operates as an independent organisation with its own board, but works closely with agricultural students enrolled at Lincoln University.

Telford farm is described by the university as its rural campus and a number of students from Lincoln go there to gain hands-on experience.

“The dairy farm is used by two groups from Lincoln – rural vet technicians, and agricultural diploma and certificate students. As such, it’s a busy dynamic environment with permanently employed staff and students working alongside each other.”

For the rural technicians, time on the farm is centred mainly around group activities in the milking shed, including milking, handling stock, testing to measure animal health, dry-off therapy, foot treatment, and teat sealing. Three or four students are on site each week for work experience.

Over a year Lincoln’s 60 or so certificatecourse agriculture students also spend part of their practical-experience time at Telford, as well as visiting and working on other Telford units and with farmers who support the programme. The course caters for those keen to pursue careers in the forestry, apiculture and equine industries.

“They are expected to work the same hours as properly employed farm staff, says Justin. “It is a very well run course.”

His main role is to oversee the students on the farm and link them to the permanent dairy staff. A second-in-command acts as herd manager and runs the shed, and another full-time staff member looks after the farm machinery.

The goals for the next five years relate to slowly building up per-cow productivity while managing farm costs closely. Just this season, per-cow production has increased from 340 kilograms of milksolids to 370, and Justin says there is room to close in on 480kg per cow in five years.

“The farm hasn’t really moved forward in the last few years, so our focus is not to try to push production too quickly, but rather to create profitability by maintaining costs and gradually gaining cow-production capacity.”

Managing pasture on a farm with a range of topographies and consequent soil profiles is a

Telford Dairy unit manager Justin Pigou and wife Gaylene. challenge, but he describes it as satisfying and is seeing good results.

The river terraces are made up of a heavy clay sub soil and silty top soil, and drainage has been an issue. On the river flats, says the soil is peatier in nature and capable of growing good grass.

Justin describes the herd as a mixed bag of dominant breeds, and says the focus is on breeding out the larger framed heavier cow with a view to preserving good pasture performance for as long as possible through winter.

“How we want to be wintering cows is something we are beginning to look at carefully. It’s possible more barns will be erected over time with

• To page 17

CCMP are proud to support Telford with the latest in dairy shed technology.

SOUTH OTAGO GRAIN Co Ltd Manufacturers of high quality VITAL Stockfoods Any rations made to order Bagged or Bulk

%DOFOXWKD ± +HDG 2I¿FH Cnr of Frances and High Streets

0800 FOR CCMP 0800 367 2267 Momona 1 Bruce Road, Momona, Dunedin

0800 185 300 Call in and see the team.

Your

www.ccmp.co.nz

STOCK FOODS

Dealer

Ph/Fax: 03 418 1197 | E: sograin@xtra.co.nz 168/170 Owaka Hwy, Balclutha 9271

www.southotagograin.co.nz

FOLEYS

› Plumbing › Drainage › Mechanical › Electrical

CALL

0800 30 35 30 Servicing our Communities since 1934

www.foleyplumbers.co.nz

ONE NAME COVERS IT ALL

P 0800 489 348 Russell 0275 200 120 Tony 0274 357 270 Cnr State Highway 1 & Stack Street Airport Turnoff, Allanton, Mosgiel Workshops in Balclutha & Alexandra

GERMAN QUALITY

*Normal lending criteria applies for finance

www.powerfarmingotago.co.nz

RURAL PEOPLE » Liam & Claire Guiney

Business Rural

| 17

Pasture paramount for former Cork couple Kim Newth

Above: The herd on the move at the Telford Farm Training Institute dairy unit.

Right: Justin and Gaylene Pigou, with their children.

Learning experiences valuable – feedback • From page 16 the long-term goal of having half the herd housed at any one time.”

This season, for the first time, 11 hectares of fodder beet has been grown. Justin describes this crop as a ‘game-changer’.

“I think it will change the winter set-ups

considerably. It lasts so well and, if it is grown well, the cost to produce is less than kale.”

Meanwhile as a new tertiary year begins, he is looking forward to rubbing shoulders with students.

“The programmes work really well and the feedback I receive from students and the faculty at Lincoln is that we are delivering valuable learning experiences.”

Maximising grass growth is a key goal for Liam and Claire Guiney, who first took up farming in South Canterbury in the July 2013 season.

Liam’s brother, Kieran, and his wife, Leonie, run four dairy farms near Fairlie, the first of them bought in 2005.

Like Kieran, Liam grew up on a dairy farm in Ireland. Three years ago, he and Claire and their family of three followed Kieran’s lead and left their home in Cork to try their hand at farming in New Zealand.

“We had been on holiday here, and we really liked it,” says Liam. “We were pretty busy back home with Claire working in banking while I was farming on my own. We decided to come to New Zealand and give it a go.”

Liam started working on one of his brother’s farms at Fairlie with sharemilker Kim Reid. Now he is a contract farm manager on a 240-hectare farm run by Eire Dairies Ltd. After being used to working with wetter soils in Ireland, he found it hard adjusting to the drier conditions of South Canterbury.

“It was like going from one extreme to the other.

We had to dry off the cows in March last year. This year is much improved though. Being able to use irrigation this year has made a huge difference; last year we were hampered by water restrictions. We’re still milking and hope to keep going through to the end of May this season.”

Claire assists with spring calving on the farm and is also busy keeping up with the school

schedules of the couple’s three children, Cathal, 16, Emma, 12 and Christopher, eight.

“They love it in New Zealand,” says Liam. “They have settled in really well. Cathal enjoys mountain biking, so I often take him to races for that, and he also loves rugby.

“I’ve got a few mates who play for the Mackenzie rugby club, so enjoy going to their matches.”

Working on the farm also are second-incommand Vanessa Tiffen and herd manager Vegesh Dutt.

In 2014, Kieran and Leonie won the best low-input system in the Dairy Business of the Year awards and were runners-up overall. Their 250ha, 900-cow farm recorded the lowest cost of production of all finalists.

Their philosophy of fully using pasture to boost efficiency is shared by Liam and Claire.

“We’re trying to use the grass to grow as much as we can,” says Liam. “As well, we are committed to keeping the farm tidy and as weed-free as possible.”

Their goal this season is 300,000 kilograms of milksolids. The farm is currently milking 760 cows, down slightly on the usual 800.

“We sold some cows this spring as we thought we might be facing another drought year,” Liam says. Milking is done out of a modern 54-bail rotary shed.

This winter, they hope to winter all the cows on the farm. They have thirty hectares of rape and four hectares planted in fodder beet.

“Are you looking at the road ahead?”....... We are!

Quantum Advantage LtdChartered Accountants and Business Advisors

Quantum Advantage Ltd Proud to be associated with Liam and Claire Guiney *No deposit & No Repayments for up to 12 months *3.99% Interest over 36 month terms on NEW Grizzly & Viking *VALID until 30th APRIL 2016

quantum advantage

Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors

P 03 687 1222 F 03 687 1223 E enquiry@qaltd.co.nz www.quantumadvantage.co.nz

Power Farming are proud to support

Chris Evans Ph 03 418 0527

Liam & Claire Guiney

7 Clyde Street, Balclutha Email findyam@xtra.co.nz

For all your Tractor and Machinery Sales / Service Requirements

03 687 4127

FINDLATER YAMAHA 2005

03 688 7029

Proud to support Liam & Claire Guiney

Proud to be associated with Teleford Dairy Unit

www.ruraltransport.co.nz

• Stock Cartage • General Freight • Fertiliser Spreading • Bulk Cartage • Hiab Hire Ashburton (03) 308 4079 • Kurow (03) 436 0849 • Fairlie (03) 685 8911

18 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Neville Alderton

Business Rural

Cows ‘fat as seals’ in sheds Russell Fredric Wintering cows in Herd Homes® is proving a game changer for a Southland dairy farm, but owner Neville Alderton says the need for good management starts at ground level.

Like his fellow farmers in Greenvale, near Gore and beyond, Neville is closely watching costs, with expenditure on fertiliser one item receiving attention.

He is expecting savings will be made by using less expensive fertiliser, and less of it, as a result of recent soil testing.

“We’ve had the whole farm soil-tested this year; it cost us $2500 for that. All I’ve got to save is seven tonnes of fertiliser going on the property, and putting the right fertiliser on the right spots.”

One of the surprises of the soil testing was that some paddocks are low in phosphorous – levels as low as 12 Olsen P instead of the optimum of 22 to 23 Olsen P. According to Dairy New Zealand, phosphorous is the most expensive fertiliser element, and makes up nine per cent of superphosphate.

The soil-test results highlight the need for dairy farmers to target fertiliser paddock by paddock, Neville says “From the results I’ve got back, I’m surprised at how different some of the paddocks are, and I’ve put the same fertiliser on for years, but some paddocks are a lot less (phosphorous) than others and I don’t know why.”

“Instead of putting on, say sulphur, which I don’t need in a (specific) paddock, I’m putting on what it requires. It’s costing me no more, but the right super is going on the right paddock” The farm’s paddocks, which have solids applied when the Herd Homes® are cleaned out each year, are showing good levels of potassium.

“We’ve tested all those paddocks to see how the potassium rate is so (those paddocks) will probably need sulphur. Why put the potassium on when you don’t need to put it on and you can put something else on to establish some better grass?”

Veterinarian fees are another area where Neville has been able to make savings, without compromising the health of the herd.

Because the fees are a significant cost, it is important for farmers to make comparisons between veterinarians as well as the cost of products such as CIDR cow inserts, which Neville has found can vary widely.

A large capital cost to the farm in 2014 was having two 75m Herd Homes® built, but the

expenditure on these is paying big dividends, particularly in the light of last year’s relentlessly cold winter and spring in Southland.

“In our shed the cows were as fat as seals. We had to cut (the feed) back a bit because we were feeding them too much.”

Along with the well-known benefits of reduced soil compaction and no wastage of feed through trampling, the wintering shed has brought an added benefit; extra pasture growth means the Aldertons will be able to bank some green dollars.

“We’ve made 200 bales of extra balage which we will sell, and we will probably make 100 tonne extra of silage this year as well, that we will have in reserve.”

“It’s absolutely marvellous. It’s money in the bank. Silage will last for years if its covered properly.”

The Aldertons’ 295-hectare (effective) farm was converted in 2012 and is peak-milking 520 cows this season.

Neville’s daughter, Bridget, and son-in-law, Nick, are in the process of taking ownership of the farm, with Neville and his wife, Carey, planning to retire soon.

PHOTOS: Wintering his herd in sheds (top) has allowed Greenvale farmer Neville Alderton to make 100 tonne extra of silage this year.

WAIPOUNAMU CONTRACTING LTD Dairy shed confidence 24/7

TOTAL FARM MAINTENANCE SERVICE SLURRY TANKER & MUCKSPREADING NEW UMBILICAL SLURRY SYSTEM WATER SCHEMES/CABLE LAYING/TRENCHING DIGGER/LOADER & ALL TRUCK WORK GRADER/COMPACTING ROLLER/BOBCAT HAND GUN GORSE SPRAYING CONTACT: JASON 0274332032 KEN 0272954875 OFFICE 03 202 5737 EXT 1

Agents for 23 Clyde St, Balclutha | Phone: 03 418 2089 or 0800 820 894

O’Connor Richmond

Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors Dallas Shaw Mob 021 223 0810 TTel 03 489 4942 Te Fa Fax 03 489 4945 Ema Email dallas@dsbuilding.co.nz w ww www.dsbuilding.co.nz PO Box 312 Mosgiel 9053

Pleased to support Neville Alderton Chris Boyle | Mike Millard | Craig Carran Phone 03 208 9240 | Fax 03 208 9433 Email: admin@ocr.co.nz | 15a Hokonui Drive, Gore

RURAL PEOPLE » Colin & Tania Lawry

Business Rural

| 19

Otautau farmers Colin and Tania Lawry (above, left ) have entered into a new three-year contract with Kayne Smith and Tiarna Graham (above right).

Communication key to partnership Colin and Tania Lawry are in their thirteenth season in partnership with Colin’s parents on a 230-hectare farm at Otautau, 50 kilometres north-west of Invercargill.

For the couple, who have had contract milkers for the last four years during this tenure, low payout years are times for consolidation, though Colin acknowledges some farmers are struggling.

“Some farmers are fairly highly geared and that has made a significant difference to how they have been able to adapt to the current tight financial conditions,” he says.

Kayne Smith and Tiarna Graham are the latest contract milkers, and Colin says that, despite having only short notice of the former contract milker leaving, he couldn’t be happier.

“We got notice only late last season and we thought ‘Crikey, what are we going to do about finding a good replacement?’ We talked to our local PGG Wrightsons stock agent who knew Kayne and felt he would be interested.”

Initial discussions between the two couples were reasonably informal.

“You get a sense of people and I was impressed

with his go-ahead attitude, with goals set for himself to move on in his farming career.”

Kayne is keen to eventually go 50:50 sharemilking, and Colin says he has observed a small trend back to sharemilking situations in the district.

Communication is at the heart of a productive working relationship between owner and contract milker. While Kayne provides Colin with monthly formal reports on production, the Lawrys still live on the farm and there is a lot of informal sharing of information and ideas.

The farm has a herd of 600 predominantly friesian cows, and over the last five or six seasons there has been a definite trend towards building up the friesian gene pool.

“I just like friesians,” says Kayne. “Last season we produced 245,000 kilograms of milksolids through a 50-bail DeLaval All Pro system.

“I feel we can easily reach a potential 275,000kg by milking more cows longer and putting more feed into the system, when the pay-out allows.”

Colin’s time is mostly spent managing three small run-off blocks used to graze young stock and for winter grazing.

Meanwhile, Kayne Smith says it has been a

For us we don’t have any family who own farms so we were looking for a farm where we could progress by putting cows into the herd. We have a three-year contract here and then we’ll see just what we’re capable of doing in terms of the next step.

Phone Eddie: 021 362 766 Complete Silage, Balage, Cultivation & Effluent Contracting Service

Rabco Ag Ltd Tel: 03 225 8488 Fax: 03 225 8440 E-mail: rabco@woosh.co.nz

pleasure moving from a contract-milking role in a corporate farm setting. He says he has especially enjoyed the enthusiasm and support that Colin and Tania give to see Tiarna and him progress in their own farming careers.

“We don’t have any family who own farms, so we were looking for a farm where we could progress by putting cows into the herd,” says Kayne.

“We have a three-year contract here and then we’ll see just what we’re capable of doing in terms of the next step.”

There’s a strong impulse towards working with environmentally sustainable practices, and Kayne says Colin is really keen to enhance the sustainability of the pasture on the run-off blocks.

Tiarna, a qualified veterinary nurse, works four days a week for Vet South in Winton as a technician.

Helping the couple run the farm day to day are a full time herd manager and a four-day-a-week milking harvester.

“This job has gone brilliantly,” says Kayne.

“Already we are up in production this season by four per cent. We managed through the spring pretty well and the cows are still in good condition.

We’re on track to produce 260,000 kilograms of milksolids this season.”

The couple belong to the Otautau/Opio Dairy New Zealand discussion group and have also availed themselves of new learning by participating in the Biz Grow programme run by the same organisation.

As for Kayne he can’t speak highly enough of Colin and Tania’s commitment to the farm and to helping the young couple progress.

For business advice that creates results

“Colin and I are both pretty open people. It is good to have an owner who knows the property so well.”

While acknowledging the corporate setting was a good starting point with its strong emphasis on health and safety and reporting, he is happy to be making his farming career on a farm in private ownership.

“It is a different relationship but I have definitely benefited from both experiences.”

C

Sue Russell

EBRATING EL

20

Imported Feed Blends & Contracts Dairy Meal Dairy Pellets PKE Blends & Contracts Bulk Molasses Personalised Mixes to Suit

PHONE NOW

0800 621 431 www.clarkes.net.nz

20 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Tom & Sally Beattie

Business Rural

Conversion right nove despite ‘very tight times’ Russell Fredric Converting a generational family sheep farm to dairying four years ago is still seen as a positive move by Kelso couple Tom and Sally Beattie despite the prospect of “very, very, tight times” during the next two seasons.

Outlining some of the original reasons for converting their West Otago farm, Tom says he was time-starved from running agricultural contracting businesses (cultivating, sheep dipping, and lamb trading) alongside the demands of the family farm.

“I just wasn’t spending any time at home with the family,” he says.

“It was good cash-flow, then, but there were always intentions when we bought the neighbour’s place that we were going to convert at that stage.”

The Chinese infant formula/melamine contamination scandal in 2008 initially stymied their plans to convert until international markets recovered from the outfall of the scandal.

The Beatties’ farm totals 230 hectares, which includes 125ha added from the purchase of a neighbouring property 12 years ago.

Planning for the conversion, construction and re-grassing of the farm started two years before the dairy farm was operational for its first full season in 2012-13 with a herd of 580 kiwicross cows producing 234,000 kilograms of milksolids.

“It was very good timing for us because it was off a high,” says Tom. “We had one extremely good year, as in high milk prices, when it was $7.50.”

“We paid off a bit of debt and got all our share costs out of the way when it was on a high. If we converted now on this (present) payout, it would be very sad.”

He is pleased with the decision to have a 54-bail rotary milking shed built as part of the conversion.

Incorporating automatic cup removers and an

automatic milking machine wash system, the rotary platform continues to streamline each day’s milking.

“It was a pretty high-tech shed with all the bells and whistles.”

This season the Beatties have “young, keen” contract milkers Darren and Melissa Cummings.

Darren is proving a saving grace for Tom, following difficulties the Beatties have had with some of the farm’s managers since the conversion.

As contract milkers, the Cummings employ the staff, pay for power usage in the milking shed along with chemicals, provide some of their own equipment, and, in return, are paid a percentage of the milksolids produced.

“It’s a stepping stone for him and a relief for me,” says Tom Beattie. “It’s the best thing I’ve done.”

The Beatties lease a 125ha run-off block seven kilometres away at Heriot where 450 of the herd are wintered on self-fed silage, leaving about 200 to graze elsewhere.

The herd has increased to 620 cows and produced 272,000kg milksolids MS in the 201415 season and is on target for 276,000kg this season after a “hideous” West Otago spring that was followed by dry weather during January and February.

Tom believes the increasing year-on-year production is helped by a programme to re-grass 12 per cent of the farm’s pastures each year, along with proactive management.

But, despite the dairy conversion, Tom has not given up his day job yet. He continues contracting for about 1000 hours a year, cultivating paddocks before they are planted in swedes for winter crop; work from which the income has also proved a saving grace during the present tight times.

“It’s good for cash flow. There’s huge costs at the start of the (dairy) season.”

Aove: Sally and Tom Beattie and their children Sam (left), aged five, and Louie, seven, in the 54-bail rotary dairy. Below” Contract milkers Melissa and Darren Cummings with some of the 620 cows.

HERIOT EARTHMOVING 2000 LIMITED

FOR ALL YOUR EARTHMOVING REQUIREMENTS DAIRY CONVERSIONS & GENERAL CONTRACTING > Excavators > Grader > Roller CONTACT

> Tip Trucks > Gravel Supplies > Rock Supplies > Post Driving & Root Raking > Bulldozer

MURRAY YOUNG 0274 324 298 BLAIR YOUNG 0274 334 822 A/H 03 204 2192

Proud to be associated with Tom & Sally Beattie 3 Fairfield Street, PO Box 268, GORE | P: 03 208 9560 | F: 03 208 9189 | E: gore@mallochs.co.nz

Secure a deal with

RURAL PEOPLE » Ryan & Abby Moseby

Business Rural

| 21

Ryan and Abby Moseby are the sixth generation to farm Kanadale, near Gore, converting the original sheep and beef property to dairy two years ago.

Performance exceeds targets Sue Russell When your family has farmed the same plot of land for 140 years and now it is your turn, the relationship you have to the land is akin more to stewardship than ownership.

Such is the case with 31-year-old Ryan Moseby, whose family have worked the 355-hectare property for six generations.

“I certainly feel the history of this farm and value how each of my ancestors has contributed to its development over so many years,” he says.

“As the years pass, the significance of such long-standing family ownership increases and we are extremely grateful to have the opportunity of our tenure on the farm.

“We hope we can continue the family legacy by creating a sustainable business, both environmentally and financially, that provides future generations the opportunity that we have been given.”

The farm, 10 kilometres from Gore, is a mix of rolling to steeper contour peppered with various riparian plantings and forestry blocks, and

I certainly feel the history of this farm and value how each of my ancestors has contributed to its development over so many years...We hope we can continue the family legacy by creating a sustainable business. numerous waterways. It has heavy soils, which create the challenge of winter-wet conditions while enjoying the benefits that come with being summersafe.

The 250-effective-hectare milking platform services two herds which, when Rural South caught up with Ryan, were on a 16-hour milking cycle, typical for February.

A lot has happened in the past two years with the decision to convert the original sheep-and-beef property to dairy. Now in his second season of dairying, Ryan says it has been a steep learning curve as they went into the conversion with virtually no dairy experience and are in an area where dairy farming is not a traditional land use.

The production target for year one was achieved in a difficult growing season, and production this season is exceeding targets. Over all, the Mosebys

are very pleased with how the farm is performing.

“The herd is predominantly medium-framed, crossbred cows, which suit the farm; this year we peak-milked 625. Next year we will increase the herd to about 750 cows because of the acquisition of an adjoining block of land we have just completed converting.”

Ultimately, with 750 cows, the goal is to harvest more than 300,000 kilograms of milksolids, which Ryan maintains says is achievable.

The farm runs a predominantly grass-based system with a small amount of supplement used, as required, on the shoulders of the season to fill feed deficits. While they are still going through the development phase, some winter crops are grown, including kale and fodder beet, which will enable most of the herd to be wintered at home over the coming winter.

The work-horse of the farm’s milk production is a fully automated 54-bail rotary cowshed.

Ryan’s wife, Abby, takes care of the calf rearing and works full-time in agribusiness, and his parents, Ken and Sue, still live on the farm.

Farm consultant Alex Hunter assisted with information around the initial appraisal of the conversion process. Ryan says one of the most critical aspects was to get a clear sense of just what the farm was capable of producing under a dairy system.

With dairying coming into the district in recent years, Ryan is keen to see a discussion group formed for those farming in an environment that is not perhaps typical of your Southland dairy farm.

This is under way with the hope of having it operative for the 2016-17 season.

“I think it will be a really good thing to see evolve,” says Ryan.

“There are now a few of us around here who farm on similar land in the same environment that can sometimes present slightly different challenges.

So, to be able to share information and learn from one another will be invaluable”

• DAIRY SHEDS • FARM BUILDINGS • RESIDENTIAL & LIGHT COMMERCAL • CONCRETE LAYING NATION WIDE

Neil 0274 733 108 - Greg 027 270 3315

Comfort Cow Barns FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION AVAILABLE

*

* Your initial consultation is FREE, based on a nominal 2hrs and 50kms of travel.

We have a team of experienced Professionals providing...

Independent Environmental

tting behind RDAgritech - ge ustainable your Future with S To Solutions day

Russell Morton 027 217 1945

e ct on Contrafriendly! u o A f D o m TO Y tea

Health Checks (WOF+) Environmental Assessments – Pre Purchase Due Dilligence – Risk Mitigation Plans Environmental Management Plans & assessment of Environmental Effects Farm Dairy Effluent (FDE) Management Plans

Independent Nutrient Budget review Soils Type assessment & Capability testing

Pond drop tests, water quality sampling & reporting

Irrigation & Hydraulics review/design Customised Effluent system designs, upgrades & certification

Environmental support & advice

ph 0800 732474 | info@RDAgritech.co.nz | www. RDAgritech.co.nz RDAgritech for your Consents and Effluent / Environmental Solutions

22 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Roger & Sue Bates

Business Rural

Aftershocks for fault-line farmers Kelly Deeks Fault-line farmers Roger and Sue Bates are now farming on somewhat humpier and bumpier terrain than before September 2010.

The Bates’s dairy farm at Charing Cross, near Darfield, used to be perfectly flat with some rolling country by the Braden River. Now it has a two metres of rise on the worst affected part of the farm where the faultline goes through. The river-side valleys have sunk about 250 millimetres and the rises have risen about 250mm.

The Bateses own about 2 kilometres of the Greendale fault, where the powerful, 7.1 magnitude earthquake occurred at 4.35am on September 4, 2010.

“We felt it, but we didn’t know what to expect,” says Roger. “We expected all sorts of damage and I thought I would see cows all over the place.”

Luckily there was no livestock damage on the farm, however cows in the area that were standing on concrete pads or in yards were not so lucky.

The Bates’s rotary platform was thrown off its rollers, but he and the staff managed to jack it back up and were milking again that afternoon with the help of a generator.

“We milked once a day for three days, then went back to twice a day when the power came back on,” Roger says. “The biggest problem was getting the milk cooled. We lost a couple of days of milk,

but you get that with the big jobs. We just had to do what we do and get on with it.”

The September quake also took out an irrigation pump house, a silo containing 8000 litres of milk, and ripped apart a 3-metre strip of boundary fence.

“Our insurer, Farmers Mutual, fixed pretty much everything,” says Roger.

“They were brilliant and we’re now on a first-name basis with them. Everything has been strengthened and rebuilt.”

With the effects of the earthquake taken care of, the Bateses are now faced with dealing with the more common problem of a quite devastating spring dry combined with the low milk payout.

“We had 100 milliltres of rain from June to January (2015-16), and even irrigation can’t keep up with those sorts of numbers,” Roger says. “It has affected all our crop and even our cereals.”

A lifelong farmer who grew up on a Northland dairy farm, Roger says he has never seen the milkprice situation so bad, as far as overseas influences are concerned.

“None of them are changing and the world is awash with milk,” he says.

He thinks back to his sharemilking days and in particular 2000, when the industry was getting a $4 payout, and he and Sue were doing quite nicely.

“But the costs have just about tripled in the past four years alone, fertiliser and feed are both

• To page 31

We had 100 millilitres of rain from June to January (201516), and even irrigation can’t keep up with those sorts of numbers. It has affected all our crop and even our cereals.

For a more efficient farm dairy

For aWemore ef cient farm dairy are the specialists in milking parlour design and construction We are the specialists in milking parlour design and construction

For a more ef cient farm dairy We are the specialists in milking parlour design and construction A devastating spring dry and a low payout are further shocks for Darfield farmer Roger Bates, whose farm straddles the Greendale fault, epicentre of the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on September 4, 2010.

more ef cient farm dairy

specialists in milking parlour re the adesign more ef cient farm dairy and construction

We are the specialists in milking parlour design and construction

Roger & Sue Bates are proudly backed by BDO BDO Christchurch BDO Christchurch is a leading rural accounting specialist who are passionate about the rural sector, assisting clients and their business’ in realising their potential.

BDO also provides wider accountancy, business and taxation advice.

High cow flow efficiency Permanent and low maintenance High cow flow efficiency Rotary or herringbone design Permanent and low maintenance All surfaces are easy to clean Rotary or herringbone design

Frazer Weir | Simon Wing | Rod Hansen T: +64 3 372 0320 E: canterbury.agri@bdo.co.nz Audit | Tax | Advisory www.bdo.co.nz

All surfaces are easy to clean Call today for an on-site design consultation

Bringing innovative working solutions to the rural building sector Proud to be the builder of choice for Roger & Sue Bates today for an on-site design consultation Call today for an on-site design consultation High cow flow efficiency Permanent and low maintenance Rotary or herringbone design All surfaces are easy to clean

270 557 0274 Nigel Hodges

www.ruralbuilding.co.nz

Rotary orwww.chapmandairy.com herringbone design

Ruth Hodges 027 309 0334

I ruth.hodges@colliers.com

0274 270 557

High cow flow efficiency Nigel Hodges 0274 270 557 www.ruralbuilding.co.nz www.chapmandairy.com Licensee of and low maintenance  Permanent Nigel Hodges High cow flow efficiency Rotary or herringbone design www.ruralbuilding.co.nz Permanent and loweasy maintenance All of surfaces are to clean www.chapmandairy.com Licensee Call today for on-site Allan surfaces aredesign easy to consultation clean

OVER $300 MILLION IN RURAL PROPERTY SALES PROUD TO SUPPORT THE MALVERN COMMUNITY

RURAL & AGRIBUSINESS

LOCAL PEOPLE. GLOBAL REACH.

RURAL PEOPLE » Mark & Jess Cudmore

Business Rural

Mark and Jess Cudmore are in their fourth season managing this 580-cow dairy conversion near the Hurunui River mouth.

| 23

Awards prove stepping stone Neil Grant The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are a real incentive for farmers to build up their skill levels and achieve success in their industry.

Mark Cudmore is now in his fourth season managing a 580-cow dairy conversion near the Hurunui River mouth. He had worked holidays on his father’s dairy farm, and full-time as a pasture and forage technical field rep when he took on the 152 hectare property. So he was pretty green, and it was a leap of faith.

He reckons he got most of his early knowledge from the Dairy New Zealand website, which has just about everything a dairy farmer needs to know; the experience that comes from jumping in the deep end; and surrounding himself with really good people.

In his third season, Cudmore took the plunge and entered the Canterbury North Otago farm manager of the year competition. He won that, so went on to the national awards where he was runner-up farm manager of the year, and won merit awards for the interview, and human resource management sections.

“I don’t think we’ve done anything special that others don’t do, but we do like to do everything well. We look after our staff well, and our cows, production and the environment.”

One thing that has changed on the farm refers back to his previous job– pasture management.

“We had been growing pretty much what the

cows needed, and that’s easy to manage. For the last six to eight weeks, we’ve been growing 100kg dry matter per day, which is about 20 to 25kg more than we need. One of the hardest things to manage is an excess of feed, making sure you are still giving the cows good quality feed, and keeping the coverage right. We have made more balage this year, close to 100 tonnes, and that takes more management. Our stocking rate is about the same, but we don’t have to buy supplement. It has a cost to produce, but is still a cheaper option.”

The success in the awards became an incentive to move up a notch in the industry. He and wife Jess, with their four boys, are moving next season to a farm, nearly twice as big and with 900 cows near Methven. It is two years into its conversion.

They will manage it for the first year then contract milk it. The first year will let them get its costings, employ and manage new staff, get used to using much more irrigation, and adapt to a climate with more rain as it is close to the foothills, and with the possibility of snow.

“The industry awards meant we made more contacts, and that helped us to take the next step.

I’ve now jumped on the Canterbury North Otago committee as team leader for the farm manager section, so am busy organising judges.

“We got really good prizes, so are now looking after the sponsors. For instance, we are changing banks. I see it as helping out the ones who helped us.

“We have met so many people we wouldn’t have otherwise. The new farm would not have been option if it was not for the awards.”

‘Traditional, low-cost operation’ • From page 30 a lot more expensive. Sure, there is a low interest rate at the moment, but there is also more money borrowed, and that’s where there is going to be some issues.”

He says that after hearing that the new norm is a $6 average milk payout, everyone worked on their budgeting with confidence, until it was announced that actually, the new norm is now a $5 average milk pay out.

“People now realise how tough it is,” he says.

He is now working towards having a milk payout of $3 for next season, keeping close tabs on

everything being spent.

“We run a tight operation anyway, we’re reasonably traditional and low cost,” he says.

“There is no grain in our shed and no palm kernel, so there are things we can’t take out of the business because they’re not in the business.

It’s going to be the nuts and bolts that make the difference.”

He reckons there is now a generation of dairy farmers who don’t know how to farm without grain and palm kernel, and they are now struggling to get their head around a low cost system.

“Perhaps 500 kilograms of milksolids per cow is not the most efficient way to farm,” he says.

C O N T R A C T I N G

Jess Cudmore gets a helping hand from son Nate in the shed.

Locally Owned and Operated

by Greg, Bev & Dan Thiele Mob: 027 511 7656 (Dan) Ph: (03) 319 2779 Mob: 027 240 4776 (Greg) Ph: (03) 319 2700

L T D

BALING & EXCAVATION BIG AND MEDIUM SQUARE

WARREN SHEAT 027 431 8709 or 03 325 4028

Carriers of Livestock, General Freight, Bulk & Fertiliser Barry Hanna P: 03 319 8644 F: 03 319 8144 A/H: 03 319 8131 99 Ward Road, Cheviot 7310

24 |

HORTICULTURE » Oakleys Fresh Premium Vegetables

Business Rural

Grower cultivates new technology Jo Bailey Oakleys Fresh Premium Vegetables is harnessing new technology to increase productivity at its growing operations, says owner Robin Oakley.

“We have used GPS for all our planting, interrow cultivating and ridging up of the potatoes for a while, which has created efficiencies and given us the flexibility to do more jobs at once.”

The Southbridge-based company has also acquired a new Simba Express cultivator, which is being used mainly at its Amberley lease block, where it grows winter broccoli and early season potatoes.

“Getting contractors up there to work ground was a bit of a mission, so we wanted a machine that would incorporate any residue and provide a good cultivation bed without having to plough.”

He says the cultivator is narrower than the firm’s other machines and can incorporate several attachments, including a ripper, discs and roller.

“It can do all the jobs in one pass and the narrow width of the machine, working in conjunction with GPS, means we can cultivate the paddocks without doubling up or missing strips.”

Last season the company also introduced three new moisture probes to its operation after successfully trialing one the season before.

“It’s quite a good management tool, particularly for the potatoes. All the data can be checked from an iphone, which allows us to make better decisions around irrigation.”

Oakleys is one of New Zealand’s larger horticultural businesses, growing around 300 hectares of crops each year – mainly potatoes, beetroot, broccoli and pumpkin.

All vegetable are processed and packed in the firm’s own packing and cool-storage facilities. The

majority of the produce is sold through Foodstuff’s Pak ‘N Save, New World and Four Square supermarkets.

Robin says the company is “quietly growing” its market share for beetroot and last year introduced new branded packaging for this product.

“Sales have gone really well since our fully printed Oakleys beetroot bags hit the shelves in the middle of last year,” he says.

“The bags look more professional, and recognition of the brand has noticeably increased.”

Demand for Oakley’s Golden Gourmet potatoes has also steadily increased over the last year, which simply comes down to flavour, says Robin.

“It’s amazing the number of people who tell me how much tastier they are than other potatoes.”

This summer season has been kinder to Oakleys with good rainfall compared to last summer’s tinder-dry conditions.

“The weather since December has been very favourable for us. Until then we were tearing our hair out with the dry and heat, especially on the block up at Amberley.

“The rain was particularly welcome there as our water consent is tied to a lowland stream and the well was also starting to dry up.”

In addition to vegetables, Oakleys grows around 100 hectares of arable crops such as barley, maize and Watties peas.

One of the biggest challenges facing the business is its growing reliance on seasonal holiday workers, he says.

“We take on a lot of backpackers and travellers to do the picking work, and have a few working in the packhouse as well. They tend to be pretty motivated and want to earn money. We’d struggle to get the work done without them.”

He says there seem to be fewer people wanting permanent work in horticulture, and believes the

Staff grade and process potatoes at the company’s packhouse and coolstore facility.

Getting contractors up there to work ground was a bit of a mission, so we wanted a machine that would incorporate any residue and provide a good cultivation bed, without having to plough. It can do all the jobs in one pass, and the narrow width of the machine, working in conjunction with GPS, means we can cultivate the paddocks without doubling up or missing strips. industry could do a better job of promoting the pathways through to management level that are available for motivated people.

“I think it’s an industry-wide issue that also needs to be addressed by training organisations

ELLESMERE TRANSPORT

ALEX McDONALD LTD. SEED POTATO SPECIALISTS • PRODUCE MERCHANTS

Unit 3, 7 Sir Gil Simpson Drive, Burnside, Christchurch | P.O. Box39083, Harewood, Christchurch 8545 Phone: +64 3358 3390 | Fax: +64 3358 339

www.almac-nz.com

and tertiary providers.

“There doesn’t seem to be anyone coming out with degrees who are keen to move into our industry, which is something we need to work on.”

Proud to Support Oakleys Premium Fresh Vegetables Ltd

• Livestock Cartage • Concrete • Grain Cartage • Fertiliser Spreading - Farm Mapping • Shingle Supplies - GPS tracking • Daily Freight

Leeston 03 3248 070 Dunsandel 03 3254 039 ellesmeretransport@xtra.co.nz

Ph: (03) 366-8834 Fax: (03) 365-7922 84 Buchan Street, Sydenham, Christchurch

Hawkins Refrigeration are pleased to supply Mechanical Services for Oakley’s Premium Fresh Vegetables Limited.

HORTICULTURE » Vailima Orchard

Business Rural

| 25

New varieties spur premiums Karen Phelps Investing in new varieties has allowed Vailima Orchard to obtain premiums for its fruit as well as bring new products to the market, says company operations manager Tristram Hoddy.

The company has an extensive programme of trialling new varieties including Golden Gala, MN1914 and OPAL. But it is its Ambrosia and Smitten varieties, which the orchard is currently focusing on, that are proving popular in the world market, says Tristram.

“Ambrosia, which is being sold into Asia, Canada and New Zealand, really appeals to a vast range of people because of its sweet flavour.

Smitten is an early apple, ready to harvest in early February, and is a crisp, sweet, firm apple, which we are selling to New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom,” he says.

Vailima Orchard plans to expand its current area over the coming years.

Vailima Orchard Ltd is a privately owned business managed by Tristram’s parents Richard and Susan. Richard is a third-generation orchardist on the land that was bought by his father. Richard and Sue own three properties (totalling 128 hectares) on the Waimea Plains and lease an additional 21ha.

All of this land is GLOBALG.A.P accredited, a voluntary good agricultural practice certification.

GLOBALG.A.P has more than 228 certified products and more than 140,000 certified producers in 118 countries and works with more than 1700 trained inspectors and auditors working for 136 accredited certification bodies to perform independent, thirdparty producer audits and issue its certificates.

Vailima Orchard is set to continue to be a family-run business. Tristram (who has a Diploma in Horticulture Management) is concentrating on orchard development, and his brother, Matthew (who has a Bachelor of Commerce (horticulture) from Lincoln University), are the next generation working in the family business.

Vailima Orchard’s current production is 8600 tonnes, with potential to exceed 12,000 tonnes.

Varieties grown are Smitten, New Zealand Beauty, Cox Orange Pippin, Royal Gala, Jazz, Ariane, Eve™ (Mariri Red), Braeburn, Divine, Envy, Pink Lady™ and Granny Smith.

More than 80 per cent of the property is on dwarfing rootstocks planted intensively (more than 2000 trees per hectare). The remaining orchard is MM106 single leader semi-intensive.

Vailima Orchard is part of the Heartland Group, a Nelson-based growers’ consortium established in 1993. Export fruit is marketed by Heartland Fruit NZ Ltd under the Luv’ya brand and apples in New Zealand under the Love Apples brand. Tristram says

• To page 26

DO OUR READERS KNOW YOU EXIST?

Waimea-based Vailima’s Orchard produces 8600 tonnes of fruit but has the potential to exceed 12,000 tonnes.

Thinking Tyres?

Think Jacks Tyres Local People Supporting Local people

1 Main Rd Hope, Richmond

Nelson & Christchurch 0800 478 633

Put yourself in front of potential clients.

Proud to be associated with Vailima Orchards

CAR, 4WD, TRUCK, TRACTOR & AGRICULTURAL TYRES Tony Inwood 027 644 9941

Tyres . Mags . Batteries Phone: 03 983 5500 Fax: 03 983 5552

www.waterfordpress.co.nz

03 544 0215

Pumps Filtration Industrial Domestic Marine

83 Ellis St Brightwater inwood-holdings@clear.net.nz PH/FAX 03 542 4247 Proud to support Vailima Orchards

0800

Agricultural Horticultural Design/ supply/ install

26 |

HORTICULTURE » Vailima Orchard/ViBERi Organic Blackcurrants

Business Rural

Blackcurrants – Kelly Deeks

Ripe fruit ready for harvest at Vailima Orchard

Lack of skilled workers a concern • From page 25 all the Heartland Group growers are actively involved in the consortium, and meet regularly to discuss issues.

“The aim of the group was to improve their respective businesses by facilitating the free exchange of information including orchard management practices,” he says.

“This approach has led to developments in packing, cool-storage, controlled atmosphere facilities, logistics, marketing and new variety development.”

He says things are very positive in general, with the biggest hindrance to the growth of the industry coming from problems with attracting enough skilled workers.

Vailima Orchard has partially solved the problem by investing heavily in picking machinery.

Although fruit is still picked by hand the machinery

makes the job easier for both pickers and managers.

“Instead of a picking bag over their shoulders, workers can stand on the machine and place the fruit on a conveyor. The machine holds six workers, which makes management easier.

“Because the job is easier using a machine, people can pick consistently and for longer without feeling so tired at the end of the day. This makes the job more enjoyable and helps us attract staff.”

Vailima Orchard remains a family-owned and operated business, with all members actively involved.

Matthew and Sue are in charge of the office and administration, Tristram runs the day-to-day operations, and Richard is involved with operations as well as representing the company in the Heartland Group.

The aim, says Tristram, is to capitalise on the strong international for their fruit.

Having spent the past five years producing the ViBERi range of 100 per cent organic, artisan superfoods, created from New Zealand blackcurrants at their South Canterbury orchard, Tony and Afsaneh Howey are now looking to expand their product range for wider export appeal.

ViBERi’s orchard at Pleasant Point, in South Canterbury, is New Zealand’s largest commercial, certified-organic blackcurrant orchard.

Since the company’s inception in 2011, the Howeys have developed products to suit a variety of tastes and recipes: • Snap-frozen organic blackcurrants straight off the orchard to keep the goodness packed inside.

• Freeze-dried and soft-dried organic blackcurrants for cereals, smoothies, salads, and nut mixes; • Chocolate-covered organic blackcurrants rolled in high-grade, 70% cacao organic belgian chocolate – a superfood in its own right packed with healthy chemicals such as flavonoids and theobromine.

Now gaining traction amongst New Zealanders, ViBERi is turning its attention to the export market, and working on product development with different tastes in mind “We have to make sure that what we’re offering is user friendly,” Tony Howiy says.

“For example, a lot of Asian cultures don’t eat muesli or cereal for breakfast, so we need to be

able to give them something that fits in with how they eat.”

The Howeys have also recognised an opportunity to get more involved in the gift market, and are looking at ways of presenting and packaging product.

They say blackcurrants have long been known to contain medicinal properties, with traditional healers using them to treat conditions such as arthritis, liver disease, kidney stones, gout, inflammation of the mouth, stomach and bowel disorders, lung ailments, fatigue, and as a diuretic.

More recently, scientists have begun to seriously investigate the healing and protective powers of blackcurrants.

Scientists at Plant & Food Research (New Zealand) in collaboration with Northumbria University (UK), last year demonstrated that compounds found in New Zealand blackcurrants increased mental performance indicators, such as accuracy, attention and mood.

The study also showed that juice from New Zealand blackcurrants also reduced the activity of a family of enzymes called monoamine oxidases, which regulate serotonin and dopamine concentrations in the brain.

These chemicals are known to affect mood and cognition, and are the focus for treatments of both neurodegenerative symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease and mood disorders, including stress and anxiety.

Tony says blackcurrants contain extraordinary levels of vitamin C and potassium, and also a large

The blackcurrant harvest under way at Tony and Afsaneh Howey’s organic orchard.

JPNZ supporting local business by providing high quality Contract Food Processing Services.

Full customer back up and support with full field and workshop service

19 Putama St, Richmond 03 544 5936

Long time suppliers to Vailima Orchards for all their Auto ‒ Electrical Servicing, Parts and Batteries.

Best wishes for all your Ventures Vailima!

10 Poutama Street, Richmond (off Gladstone Road) www.auto-electrical.co.nz

67 Sheffield Street Washdyke, Timaru

Telephone: +64 3 687 4170 Facsimile: +64 3 688 2277

www.jp-nz.com

HORTICULTURE » ViBERi Organic Blackcurrants

Business Rural

| 27

‘super food’ that tastes great amount of anthocyanins, (a type of antioxidant) which have been shown to have a positive effect on muscle recovery and enhancing sport performance.

New Zealand-grown blackcurrants contain more antioxidants than their European counterparts because of differences in varieties and growing conditions.

They have also been shown to help maintain optimal eye health, and are believed to improve blood circulation and reduce inflammation.

This year’s growing season at ViBERi looked to be a boomer with a hard winter setting up a good flowering going into spring.

A frost in early November and five inches of rain in January took off the edge, but ViBERi will have ample product to meet its sales projections until 2017. The firm carries at least 12 months of stock on hand to guarantee supply to clients should a crop fail.

The Howeys are so passionate about what they are doing they have taken to the road to market their products themselves, presenting at food shows and hosting tastings up and down the country.

“We are selling something we really believe in,” says Tony. “We have a passion for what we have created, and our customers pick up on that. It is so exciting to see people’s reactions. People are looking for wholefoods and something that’s good for them, but tastes great.

“There really is no comparison when you take into account the health benefits and the flavour, and now with the science to back it up, people know it’s not just us saying it!”

South Canterbury growers Tony and Afsaneh Howey own New Zealand’s largest certified organic blackcurrant orchard at Pleasant Point, near Timaru. The Howeys have developed a range of products including snap-frozen, freeze-dried and chocolate covered blackcurrants marketed under the ViBERi trade name.

1973 LT L LTD D | ELECTRICIANS WE SPECIALISE IN: • INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL • DOMESTIC PRIVATE • RURAL • APPLIANCE SERVICE • DATA & COMPUTER WIRING Workmanship Guarantee Scheme Obligation Free Quotes

TU 686 2422 24 HOURS 60 Gleniti Road

Email. mwaddell@xtra.co.nz Fax. 686 2423 AH/On call 027 495 8255

Baxter Irrigation Ltd • • • •

Centre Pivots Irrigators • Diesel Pump Sets Phone: 03 688 2413 Hard Hose Irrigators • Hoses Fax: 03 688 2412 Soft Hose Irrigators • Pumps Lyndon Baxter: 027 522 9837 PVC & Poly pipe 196 Timaru Temuka Highway Seadown

Proud to support Viberi NZ Ltd

28 |

BULLS » Taimate Angus Stud

Business Rural

Taimate Angus owner Paul Hickman with some of the bulls that will go under the hammer at the annual bull sale on June 20.

Temperament the top trait Russell Fredric

“Having very, very quiet cattle has been very important right from the get go. Quiet stock do better. They finish better, they perform better.”

Collating Estimated Breeding Value (EBV) data – an assessment of each bull’s genetic merit – is increasingly an important aspect of the stud’s genetic selection programme. However, says Paul, visual assessment is still “first and foremost”.

“You’ve still got to structurally assess an animal; the EBVs are just a guide, but you need to see an animal, how he walks and moves, and everything structurally about him.

“I always tell my clients to choose the type of bulls you require for breeding, then look at the EBVs and go with the ones that suit you. Some people want to finish their beef at 200 kilos, some want to finish their beef at 400. Our type of animal is for hard hill country.”

Each year he searches extensively for bulls to introduce new genetics to the stud; last May he assessed about 600 bulls around New Zealand for five days.

During the past two years Taimate Angus has paid big money for bulls sourced from two Gisborne studs – $47,000 for a bull from Tangihau Station, and $37,000 for one from Rangatira Angus stud.

“We don’t mind paying good money for a bull which we think is going to enhance our herd,” says Paul Hickman.

“I want to buy the best that’s out there, but obviously, something that will fit our programme and, more importantly, the programme of our clients.”

Bulls and sauvignon blanc seem an unlikely combination, but there are no problems with their compatibility, at a distance at least, for Taimate Angus owner Paul Hickman.

Based at Ward, in the drought-stricken province of Marlborough, the property is home to the angus stud, a romney sheep stud, and 25 hectares of the area’s world-renowned grapes grown on contract and managed by Paul’s brother, John Hickman.

A highlight of the stud’s calendar is its annual bull sale, which will be held this year on June 20.

Taimate Angus stud continues to raise and breed top-quality bulls despite the region’s ongoing drought, says Paul Hickman.

The drought is so severe that nearby Lake Eltewater, presently dubbed Lake Outtawater by some locals, is dry and has been used as a lightaircraft landing strip and cricket pitch.

Taimate Angus was originally a 160-hectare, sheep-and-beef farm; it was not until the mid1950s that Paul’s father,.Ozzie, added the romney stud, and the angus stud was started by Paul’s grandfather, Jack, and his brother, Tom. Taimate Stud now covers 740ha; it’s 20 per cent flat, 20% rolling easy contour, and the balance is hill country.

“We are dictated to a lot by the seasons,” says Paul Hickman. “At the moment it’s a hell of a drought. The last good rain we had was in June 2014.”

About 45 angus bulls will be offered at this year’s sale. But when Paul took over the stud from his father in 2002, it was selling just six to eight bulls a year.

“I always said I would like to get up to 50 bulls in a sale.” Paul says.

At last year’s sale 41 bulls were sold, at an average price of $6000 and a top of $15,000.

He says Taimate bulls are bred for “standard traits” such as fertility, longevity and, above all, Taimate bulls happy they’re not up that dry hill country. temperament.

BULLS » Matariki Station

Business Rural

| 29

History, traceability at Matariki Neil Grant History, enthusiasm and traceability are constant reference points in a conversation with James Murray.

Matariki Station, near the mouth of the Clarence River, is part of Woodbank Station bought by his grandfather in 1900. In 1945 Matariki was split, with Murray brothers Ross and ‘JG’ each running a station. Their respective sons, John and James Murray, now run the farms, and each have children involved in the stations.

Each station has a cattle stud: Matariki herefords, and Woodbank angus. Combined bull sales are held every year, and a number of clients buy stud animals from each.

Says Matariki’s James Murray: “We have 1400 hectares. Sixty hectares by the river mouth are irrigated where we finish lambs and young stock, and use the feed at the right times. On the terrace are 200ha of good flats. There’s 450ha of claybased down country – dry in summer and wet in winter – and 700ha of broken country with scrub that is good for the cows with the ewes in among them. A lease block up the road gets us through droughts.

“My wife, Beck, and I farm it, and the kids come underneath that.” Sam is the farm’s stock manager.

His twin, Lucy, is a field rep for Wrightsons, and Jack is on the Grampians in the Mackenzie Basin.

“They’re all very keen on farming,” says James.

“We have them involved in how the business runs.

Everybody brings ideas to the table, and we all look at them. It’s great.”

The sheep are halfbred corriedales. At 23 micron for hoggets and 26-27 micron for ewes, the wool fits into the merino wool contract.

“It’s all about branded products. Whether it’s wool or beef or whatever, people like to know where it comes from.

“It is hard to meet the criteria, but it’s exciting to see products like Hereford Prime, Angus Pure and New Zealand Merino. It’s the way of the future.”

The hereford side of the business has 300 stud cows. The recent dry seasons have seen 100

Matariki Station’s James Murray with a mob of hereford bulls (above) and mixed-age cows winter on steeper hill country (lower left commercial animals dropped. The cows and ewes winter on the steep high country. The cows then come in at the end of August for TB testing, and calving. Soon after, they are fed well, and got back into calf, because that is where the profitability is.

“The beef cow is an awesome machine,” says James. “It cleans up rough tucker and sheep worms, and winters well. No other animal can do that. Yet it still produces a good calf, even though it is being pushed back into the harder country.

“Our 150 bulls are all treated the same. They are run in two big mobs, and the good ones always come out on top.”

The Murrays like to buy the best sires they can. Many are New Zealand sires because they know what they will do. Matariki Herman 070400, an older bull still breeding well, and Matariki Holy Smoke have put the stud on the map.

“In 2014, one of Holy Smoke’s bulls sold in

Australia for $40,000, which was pretty cool,” says James. “He has awesome offspring.”

The traits he works on are structure, constitution and carcase: “I believe in longevity in cattle, and to get that, you need good structure. A bull needs to get a cow into calf every year, rain, hail or snow.

“EBVs (estimated breeding values) are great, but things have got to be in balance. They are only an estimate. In New Zealand, most stud breeders are raising grass-fed cattle that calve in spring. That helps EBVs. These are good farmers with a passion to drive the industry.”

He likes to buy, and use a bull.

“We buy one or two a year so that we are

supporting others. We use AI, breed a son, and then use that son because we know the cow’s line.

We sell 50 two-year bulls, and 80 bulls into the dairy industry in spring.

“As a stud breeder you want to reward those who believe in what you are doing, putting in good genetics to enhance their programmes to produce better cattle, because the biggest gain is in genetics. People who have stuck to breeding programmes are being rewarded.”

He believes strongly that it is time the meat companies came up with a base minimum price so that farmers can buy calves they know they will make a margin on.

MATARIKI

HEREFORDS

QUALITY HORNED AND POLLED HEREFORDS ON FARM SALE - Tuesday 21st June 2016 1pm Combined with John Murray ‘Woodbank Angus’ • Bulls Service Capacity Tested • Scanned for Carcase Analysis • BVD Tested and Vaccinated • Breedplan Recorded • Grass Fed

All enquiries and visitors most welcome Solid Fertiliser Applications • Hillcountry Weed Spraying Application of Poison Baits • Grape Spraying • Crop Spraying Marlborough | 36 Brook St Blenheim | Ph 03 972 3948 | Cell 027 544 3917

James and Becky Murray, Matariki, Kaikoura, RD1 Telephone: (03) 319 4331, Mobile: 027 486 6699, Email: matariki@xtra.co.nz

30 |

BULLS » Stern Angus

Business Rural

Angus stud negotiates rare semen Karen Phelps In a rare semen export agreement, Stern Angus has completed the sale of Australian semen rights in home-bred sire William of Stern. The sale for $A30,000 went to Australia’s largest independent semen distributor, Agrigene Pty Ltd, and Coolie Angus, of New South Wales. Stern Angus owner James Fraser says interest in William was widespread because of his strong structure and EBV performance.

“William’s pedigree includes Braveheart of Stern, a sire that has bred exceptionally well on both sides of the Tasman, and Stern Exact, whose sire was the highly regarded Hingaia 469. So it’s a very predictable pedigree with the thickness that our cattle are renowned for,” he says.

The strong interest was accentuated by last year’s record sale of Millah Murrah Kingdom for $A150,000, also by Hingaia 469.

The semen rights sale comes after Earnscleugh Angus bought a half-share in the walking rights in William for $25,000 and solid New Zealand semen sales.

Although the international deal is a coup for the stud, James Fraser says the focus for Stern Angus remains on its New Zealand commercial clients.

The real significance of the sale, he says, is that it will enable these clients to get their hands on highly regarded genetics directly from the source with 65 calves from William on the ground.

The Stern Angus stud was founded in 1937 in Southland by James’s grandfather, Robert, and moved to its current location at Totara Valley, South Canterbury, in 1942.

“Many of our clients are either second generation or on the same property that has been buying Stern Angus bulls for 50 years. It’s great to see that confidence in our programme continuing and expanding.

Stern Angus now mates more than 650 cows

PHOTOS Left: The first sons of Stern McCaw (left) will be among the 105 bulls on the market at Stern Angus’s 2016 sale on June 23, Right: Januaryweaned cows and calves (earned at four and a half months) on the Stern Angus property in Totara Valley. and yearling heifers. Summers are dry, particularly in the last couple of years when rainfall has been down to 425 millitres. This necessitates early weaning and pushing cows away into gullies and hills to tidy up dead feed around the district.

James says one of the stud’s primary strengths is its large selection of bulls, which can reduce pressure on buyers. Last year half the annual sale catalogue sold between $3500 to $7000.

Another strength is the balance the stud aims to achieve between good structured cattle and high performance cattle.

“We’re not aiming for the highest EBVs. That would be easy to achieve from use of imported

semen, nor are we just looking for pretty, underachieving animals. With sensible breeding we can produce bulls like William and Stern McCaw that rank in the near top 10 per cent of the breed for self-replacing Index “We must look after the maternal traits to ensure cows are functional and fertile to be efficient workers on our high country clients’ properties.

We can’t ignore the science of EBVs or use of semen and embryo transfer. We use all available

technology to provide sensible profit orientated genetics to our clients. William of Stern is just the latest product of this programme.”

He says the beef industry is relatively well placed compared with other sectors, which is helping offset the poor financial performance from sheep.

Stern Angus will hold its 2016 on-farm sale on June 23, with an increased offering of 105 bulls, featuring the first sons of Stern McCaw.

“Are you looking at the road ahead?”....... We are!

Quantum Advantage LtdChartered Accountants and Business Advisors

THE BUILDING BLOCKS FOR YOUR PROFIT

Quantum Advantage Ltd Proud to be associated with Stern Angus quantum advantage

Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors

P 03 687 1222 F 03 687 1223 E enquiry@qaltd.co.nz www.quantumadvantage.co.nz

Servicing South Canterbury for 49 years

105 Bulls Sell - June 23rd 2016, 1pm Totara Valley, South Canterbury Contact: James Fraser - Phone: 03 614 7080 Mobile: 021 1864 796 or Donald Hay - Phone: 03 614 8786 Mobile: 021 1878 186

FREEPHONE 0800 TEMUKA A (0800 836 852)

Phone: (03) 615 9500 Fax: (03) 615 9501 Email: slim@temukatransport.co.nz

Business Rural

export deal

BULLS » Stern Angus

| 31

TAIAROA & COTSWOLD CHAROLAIS 22nd Charolais Bull Sale

Held on farm at Glen Ayr, Paerau Offering 28 Horned and Polled Charolais Bulls

Monday 23 May 2016 Stern Angus Stud owners James and Fiona Fraser.

Drew & Carolyn Dundass | 03 444 9770

Sample of sale Bulls 2016

TWIN RIVER CHAROLAIS

32 |

BULLS » Kakahu Angus

Business Rural

Kakahu farm manager Tom Hargreaves is focusing on pasture management, technology and genetics to increase their established angus beef business. Emphasis is placed on breeding animals with high production and great constitution.

Farming, architecture form busy Managing the farm is something I always wanted to do.

I’ve done more things outside of farming because I wanted more strings to my bow. I may have bitten off more than I can chew, but when you are young and eager, there are opportunities you need to take.

Neil Grant As if being a farm manager was not a full-time job in itself, running an architectural business and learning how to be a new dad as well, sounds like burning the candle at both ends.

That’s the situation Tom Hargreaves is in, and he’s loving it.

He has taken over day-to-day control of Kakahu farm near Geraldine, while his father, Gerald, works with the genetics on the associated angus stud.

“Managing the farm is something I always wanted to do. I’ve done more things outside of farming because I wanted more strings to my bow. I may have bitten off more than I can chew, but when you are young and eager, there are opportunities you need to take.

“You need decent staff, and I’m lucky. I oversee and look after a fair chunk of the day-to-day running of the farm. A farm’s only as good as who’s working on it, and that includes me. It’s not just about management, it includes human resources, health and safety, trading, having stock that suits

the farm and working with agents and advisers.

Using the guys who know a lot helps us make really good decisions.”

In his spare time (that’s a joke) Hargreaves works as an architect. He does no advertising – commissions come by word of mouth. Most of his work has been rural, and in South Canterbury, which, he says, has a vibrant economy at the moment. But the word is spreading. He has a house being built in Culverden and another about to start in Christchurch.

“I try not to get too busy. My priority is the farm. I have to put 100 per cent into that. But it’s an important part of my life, so I make sure I do it right.

“I design the building. My wife, Anna, does the graphics and interior design. She does the finishes, colour schemes, kitchen, bathrooms and tiling. A drafter takes about 120 hours to do the drafting, which takes the pressure off. I do the 3D work on the computer so I can communicate with the client and the drafter, and the engineer. We have worked together for a long time so work well together.”

Getting the drawings done in a timely fashion

39 George Street, P O Box 125, Timaru, New Zealand Phone (03) 687 9222 Fax (03) 684 4319 Email hcmail@hcpartners.co.nz www.hcpartners.co.nz

HC Partners LP, Chartered Accountants are proud to provide accountancy, tax and Kakahu Angus

Clayton Station Proud to support

Kakahu Angus Ph: 03 685 4880 Rd 17, Fairlie

BULLS » Seadowns Hereford

Business Rural

| 33

Marketing edge claimed for NZ grass-fed beef Russell Fredric

Kakahu farm manager Tom Hargreaves also runs a busy architectural business.

rural lifestyle is important for the client, so no-one can hold up the process. He takes on only three houses or renovations a year, and will turn down a job if he thinks he can’t do it justice.

Taking over managing a farm can be stressful for a son or daughter, if the parents are reluctant to let go of the reins.

Tom Hargreaves says he is fortunate because Gerald has always been an innovator and kept up with technology. This has meant that change has been a part of the farm’s process, so any new changes are a part of that, rather than appearing to be a son putting his own progressive stamp on things.

“The farm is continuing that trend – the more the industry learns, the more we improve. Recording is getting better and better, so the farm is doing better. In pasture management, what’s happening in the dairy industry has helped us. Pasture renewal is huge: trying to continually get maximum growth rate means you can kill animals at an earlier stage.

“Clients are achieving a higher turnover through genetic gain. It’s really exciting. There is a huge amount of data, so we can see which animals are performing and which aren’t – more like in the dairy industry. Embracing that technology gets more dollars per hectare. Costs are going up so you need to improve so your income will as well.”

Hargreaves worries that sons (and daughters) can go into farming thinking that what their fathers and grandfathers had always done is gospel, and this can hold the beef industry back “Dad’s always pushed the boundaries, and our farm adviser, Andy McFarlane is always innovating and pushing us.

“The thinking that the visual aspect is more important than genetics is not moving with the times. It is important an animal looks right of course, but it also has to have the right genetics.

We get rid of any animal that has not got the right genotype as well as phenotype to help with longevity. Why wouldn’t you have both?”

Colin Gibson likes his prime hereford steak medium to well-done, but not surprisingly it must be grassfed beef.

“I think its very hard to beat. It’s the same with lamb. Any meat that’s grass fed, it’s got a bit more flavour about it,” Colin Gibson says.

At 70, the owner of Seadowns Hereford stud admits he does not eat a lot of steak these days, despite the quality of his cattle and of New Zealand beef in general.

As a former shearer, he recalls his unpleasant memories of eating beef in the United States while tutoring in shearing schools there many years ago.

“I got sick of eating ‘raw’ meat over there. Dry, grain fed stuff half-cooked. It nearly put me off steak.”

Colin believes there is a significant marketing advantage in New Zealand’s grass-fed beef, but educating consumers internationally remains a challenge.

Locally, beef farmers looking to bring in new blood-lines to their herds will have the opportunity to see the results of Colin’s 26 years operating

We sell bulls as far north as Arthur’s Pass and the (farmer) tells me our bulls are some of the smallest he buys, but by the spring they’re the biggest.

Seadowns Hereford stud among the bulls on offer at its annual sale on May 30.

Colin’s clients usually include repeat buyers, ranging from a wide geographic area from Matukituki west of Wanaka to North Otago, Twizel and beyond.

“We sell bulls as far north as Arthur’s Pass and the (farmer) tells me our bulls are some of the smallest he buys, but by the spring they’re the biggest.”

• To page 34

Seadowns Hereford stud bulls on offer at its annual sale on May 30.

SAM PERCIVAL CONTRACTING - NORTH OTAGO BALING CONTRACTING SPECIALISTS m. 027 423 4284 www.balage.co.nz

Situated just south of Geraldine, the property of Kakahu is 1100 hectares ranging from river flats to steeper hills. 250 hectares are irrigated.

Proud to support Seadowns Herefords

34 |

BULLS » Seadowns Hereford/Meadowslea Angus

Business Rural

Targeted: tough Russell Fredric

Typically about 25 stud bulls – bred for high country conditions – are auctioned at the annual Seadowns Herefords sale.

Bulls farmed the natural way • From page 33 Seadowns farm carries about 3000 stock units, largely cattle and calves and a small percentage of sheep, on 300 hectares of rolling to steep contour at Airedale, near Oamaru, about seven kilometres from the coast.

Colin says bouts of cold easterly winds can stunt grass growth while also often preventing him from wearing shorts.

After selling 130 hectares of the farm’s original 430 hectares, he was hoping to buy a tussock block to run cows on, but has had no success so far.

His son and daughter-in-in law, Scott and Nicky, are presently in the process of taking over the farm, but Colin will continue to run the hereford stud.

Typically, about 25 stud bulls are auctioned at each year’s sale. Colin is hoping for a better result than last year when demand was lower than usual.

He says Seadowns herefords are bred for highcountry conditions.

“We aim for something that’s not too big, but we like to have something that’s got a bit of meat on them. We usually have them around 700 kilograms

by May, which is when they are about 18 months old.”

“I like to see a good bit of meat on the back end.

I like to have a good spring of rib and good eye muscle; we scan for eye muscle.”

He also favours bulls that show above-average EBV milk figures in their progeny, based on the milk production of a calf’s mother.

While good growth rates are important, there is a balance, Colin says.

“We try not to force (growth) too quickly because young animals, if you overdo it, can pack up in the joints. We just like to try to farm them as naturally as possible. We try not to have them too fat.”

Hill country cattle farmers will have the opportunity to view the best Meadowslea Angus stud have on offer at its annual bull sale on June 24.

Owner David Giddings expects 60 to 70 bulls will be brought to the ring this year; last year the top price achieved was $17,000 (a record for Meadowslea) for a bull bought by Earnscleugh Station.

The Fairlie stud is producing cattle bred from strong, proven New Zealand bloodlines, which David says perform well in harder hill country.

“Our experience is that the American and Australian bloodlines don’t work very well in our type of country. So we’ve kept well out of them and tried to breed a cow that can handle that tougher environment, a cow that can get through the winter and live off the fat of her back, and produce well every year for 10 years.”

Demand for Meadowslea bulls has increased as a result of beef herds being pushed back to harder hill country because of highly productive flat land being used for dairying.

“The market is strong for animals that can survive, thrive and produce in the lower-class country. You’ve got to breed a certain type of animal that can handle that country and can produce in that country.”

David says that, based on a field of science called epigenetics, it is now known that environmental factors can trigger the development of particular genes in an animal’s DNA. Calves born in a tough environment carry genes to thrive and produce well and pass those genes on to the next generation.

“Science is just now working out through epigenetics that the environment has a much bigger part to play in genetic gain than was previously thought.”

Meadowslea cattle are selected for easy fleshing and a moderate frame with plenty of meat and adequate fat cover.

Sires used are all New Zealand bred, with emphasis placed on structural soundness, mobility, longevity and fat cover.

The Meadowslea herd contains more than 350 cows run at an altitude of 1500 to 3000 feet. The cows are run entirely under commercial conditions with heifers calving as two year-olds. Strong emphasis is placed on cow fertility and ease of calving.

During the past seven years the farm’s stud cows have also grazed on Berkley Downs, which neighbours the home farm and consists of native tussock blocks; this has further tested their hardiness and constitution.

All yearling heifers have the opportunity of the bull and anything not in calf is culled. Only after proving they can raise a good calf and stay in good order on the tussock are the two-and-a-half-yearold heifers selected for the herd.

Sale bulls are entirely grass fed, and finished with kale and silage before sale; no grain or protein supplements are fed.

Meadowslea also operates a hill-bred sheep stud comprising seven breeds: texel, romney, perendale texel romney, kelso romney, kelso composite as a maternal breed, kelso terminal as a meat breed.

The once ubiquitous romney is regaining popularity as a New Zealand sheep breed, David says.

“There’s always a good strong demand for the romneys, and that’s probably increasing as a lot of farmers who have been in the composites for 20 or 25 years are now wanting more bone and wool back in their sheep.

The traits of today’s romneys are significantly different from those of 20 years ago.

“We’ve now got a type that produces as well, if not better than the other breeds.”

Demand for Meadowslea bulls has grown as a result of beef herds being pushed back to harder hill country because of productive flat land being used for dairying.

Mark Yeates

Your local Livestock team www.pggwrightson.co.nz Freephone 0800 10 22 76

39 George Street, P O Box 125, Timaru, New Zealand Phone (03) 687 9222 Fax (03) 684 4319 Email hcmail@hcpartners.co.nz www.hcpartners.co.nz

Livestock Manager Ph 0275 904 217

Rod Naylor

Livestock Rep Ph 0274 393 318

Roger Keach

Genetics Ph 0274 325 766

Helping grow the country

HC Partners LP, Chartered Accountants are proud to provide accountancy, tax and David Giddings

Business Rural

BULLS »Meadowslea Angus

| 35

types thriving on tough times

PHOTOS George, Celia and David Giddings run Meadowslea angus and romney stud near Fairlie.

350 cows make up the The Meadowslea herd and run at an altitude of 1500 to 3000 feet. The stud breeds tough cattle for tough terrain and is having its annual bull sale on June 24

36 |

BULLS » Te Mania Angus

Business Rural

Genetics, biological farming pays off Kim Newth Te Mania Angus, situated at Conway Flat, 30 kilometres south of Kaikoura, has long prided itself on the depth of its breeding programme. The stud can now add success in biological farming to its record of achievement.

After trialling biological farming practices from 2005 to 2007, the approach was rolled out over the whole property as a more sustainable alternative using Viafos products and trace minerals as a fertiliser programme. The goal has been to achieve a more sustainable approach to fertiliser inputs and to balance the soil to produce more nutrient-dense pasture.

Almost a decade later, there is no doubting this was the right choice.

As Te Mania soil consultant Rob Flynn says: “We try to maintain a good fungal bacterial ratio in the soil. A lot of what we do is lime-based and we try to limit, where possible, the use of potentially harmful inputs such as sprays and overuse of nitrogen and acid-based fertilisers to help protect that soil biology. A better balanced soil means healthier pastures that allow you to get trace minerals into the animals to grow them out better.”

Tim Wilding, who, with his wife, Katie, has been at the helm of Te Mania’s herd since 1982, says he is sure animals grazed on naturally grown pastures are much more content and overall fertility within the herd has improved.

“If the animals are getting everything they need out of the pasture, their health tends to be better, which means less drenching or having to reply on supplements.”

In a normal season Te Mania runs about 8500 beef stock units on just under 1000 hectares of effective grazing land made up of irrigated flats and cultivatable hills, rising to steeper hill country.

Whole-crop cereal silage, lucerne and fodder beet is grown and fed as a blended mix for growing out young stock, and cows are brought off the hill and wintered before calving on kale to enable accurate birthweight and gestation measurements to be taken.

Tim is particularly excited by the potential of finishing stock on fodder beet to help enhance premium carcass quality traits such as marbling.

“This feed phenomenon has opened up a huge opportunity for farmers who have the right genetics in place to really start being rewarded for quality beef production by finishing cattle through the winter months and being paid significant premiums of up to $150 per head by meeting the specifications.”

Te Mania has always had a focus on breeding bulls to improve carcass traits to grow quality premium beef.

“In the long term, breeders need to decide if they want to be commodity suppliers of beef or to supply the top end of the market,” says Tim Wilding.

“If they want to get the rewards that are out there now through branded beef programmes such as what Silver Fern Farms are offering or the Countdown Farmpure programme or Angus Pure, then they need to start using carcass Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) and genetics to infuse those quality traits into their herds.”

Working alongside his father at Te Mania is Will

Wilding, who took on the role of stock manager after the previous manager left in October 2014.

With early weaning of 600 calves out of the way, Will is now busy sorting up and preparing this year’s sale line-up of 120 18-month bulls for sale on June 22.

Tim Wilding says the feature sire of the Te Mania bulls this year will be an imported-semen sire called Thomas Up River.

“He is powerful young bull with great structure

• To page 37

PHOTOS Top: Imported semen sire Thomas Up River will be one the feature sires of this year’s Te Mania bull sale on June 22. Some of his sons will be on the market.

Above: Tim Wilding checks a paddock of wholecrop cereal silage before harvesting on the Conway Flat property.

Leading the way in sustainable, natural farming practices

All Ag-work Hay Balage & Silage 787 Leader Rd East 4 Cheviot Proud to support Te Mania Stud

Consultancy relating to all soil matters – pastoral, cropping & viticulture Comprehensive soil testing & reporting Individual soil & fertiliser management plans

Specialists in the use of biological farming methods and products to increase the nutritional value of crops and pastures, decrease weed and pest pressures, and improve animal health.

Customised eco-friendly, sustainable fertiliser blends Nutrient budgeting & farm environmental planning

www.soilmatters.co.nz

Ag 360 rimap Par tne r

‘Proud to manage Te Mania’s Biological Farming Programme’

BULLS » Peters Genetics

Business Rural

| 37

Trevor and Karen Peters operate the Peters Romneys Stud franchise on five farms in West and Central Otago under the Peters Farms Ltd.

Strong opinions born from experience Neil Grant To paraphrase Jane Austen: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a farmer in possession of several farms, and a sheep and cattle stud, is bound to have an opinion or two.

Trevor and Karen Peters’ lifetime acquisition of their farm portfolio has been written about in this paper before. They believed a succession plan needed to be started when the children were young; leaving it to near retirement is a recipe for trouble.

So each of their three children now has at least one farm, and three others are under management.

Clutha Downs is the first farm they bought together. Found at the end of Chinaman Flat Rd which skirts the Clutha River near Beaumont, it runs back into rolling country reaching above 300 metres. Bisected by streams and gullies, it is exposed to some serious weather at times, so stock need to cope with extremes.

Since 1986, the Peters have run Wairere romneys along with their dorset down flock. In 1992 they became the South Island franchise for Wairere, then in 2012 established their own stud, Peters Genetics, based on those Wairere genes.

• To page 38

Focus on breeding bulls to improve carcass traits

Young fodder beet under centre pivot at Te Mania.

Tim Wilding is excited by the potential of finishing stock on fodder beet to help enhance premium carcass quality traits such as marbling.

• From page 36 and amazing width of base and muscle expression.

Thomas Up River has an exceptional balance of EBVs and growth data, being a trait leader for 200, 400 and 600-day growth, with calving ease and moderate mature cow weight, and positive fat EBVs that are popular with hill-country breeders.

His carcass data expressed as index values or profitability traits as self-replacing and Angus Pure indexes have him in the top one per cent of the angus breed.

Te Mania has also entered two young sons by Thomas Up River in this year’s Beef Expo. Last year, the stud’s bull, Te Mania Jonah, won the champion of champion bull title.

We try to maintain a good fungal bacterial ratio in the soil. A better balanced soil means healthier pastures that allow you to get trace minerals into the animals to grow them out better.

38 |

BULLS» Peters Genetics

Business Rural

Meat firms come under heavy fire • From page 37 “We had improved a lot of people’s breeding,” Trevor Peters says. “I’d had the opportunity to meet people from around the South Island and help them.

I established long-term relationships. I became a sort of non-paid farm adviser.”

Genetics is a pretty complicated science.

The years he had spent doing the stud work with Wairere’s Derek Daniel, learning from friends and relations and observation of his own farm, saw him develop some strong philosophies.

“If a farmer is thinking of changing breeds, and does it slowly, he’ll never see the gain. You’ve got to get the base flock turned around quickly. Don’t muck around.

“Put a black face over the mob and buy ewe lambs for a few years. You are killing one lamb but getting a new one for only $5 more.”

Farmers who have adopted this approach have, over five or six years, seen a 40 per cent rise in lambing percentages and an extra four kilograms in lamb weight.

His observation on multi-breed sheep, so popular a few years ago, is that many farmers who took that route are among those who have converted to dairying. Farmers who stayed with the more traditional breeds are more likely to be still in the business.

As for the meat companies? Not many of his thoughts are positive.

“When Fortex collapsed (in 1994) we were averaging $64 a lamb at 16kg. In the last few weeks we’ve been killing lambs at 18kg and getting in the late $70s. It’s a joke. We’re being misled badly.

“Between what they were predicting at their road shows in late November and what we are getting now, we’re $20 short. If they can get it so wrong, the directors are not doing their job.

“Farmers need to ring them constantly and say ,’Is the price the same as last month?’ And if it’s not, ‘What is the reason you’ve lowered the schedule?’

“If they keep bothering them, they get back to the board who are just sitting around drinking coffee and eating chocolate biscuits. Boards are all about living the good life. They’re not out on the coal face. There are too many people sucking out of the system. They’re going to wreck the industry.”

Still, it’s not all bad: “Sheep and beef has a

positive future. I say that because I back what I believe in. My boys are better farmers than I ever was. They are dedicated farmers where I was too busy growing the business. They are doing all the measuring of skins at birth, and egg counting, counting for clean bums, and mothering ability.

“We’re making the farm more profitable by

Proud to be associated with Peter Genetics 3 Fairfield Street, PO Box 268, GORE | P: 03 208 9560 | F: 03 208 9189 | E: gore@mallochs.co.nz

PHOENIX AVIATION Prompt service • Specialists in all types of aerial work Group and bulk discount schemes available Aircare Accredited Agriculture Aviation Operator

PILOTS

Gore Balclutha

OFFICE 0800 PHOENIX

027 432 8617 027 294 9863

Central Otago Lumsden

03 449 2502 027 432 1510

subdivision – growing more grass by separating the dark country from the sunny country. Eighty per cent of this farm is now in 20ha blocks. Fencing costs a lot, but it saves a lot of man-hours putting up electric fences.”

Like the Clutha River, Peters’ farms just keep rolling on.

Central Otago farmer Trevor Peters has some interesting opinions on sheep genetics and meat companies.

Farmers need to ring them (directors) constantly and say ‘Is the price the same as last month?’ And if it’s not, ‘What is the reason you’ve lowered the schedule?’ If they keep bothering them, they get back to the board who are just sitting around drinking coffee and eating chocolate biscuits.

Boards are all about living the good life. They’re not out on the coal face. There are too many people sucking out of the system. They’re going to wreck the industry.

BULLS » Taiaroa Charolais

Business Rural

| 39

Taiaroa Charolais owners Drew and Carolyn Dundass with fellow charolais breeder Don Organ. Photo: Diane Bishop.

Breeder backs crossing benefits Kelly Deeks Charolais bull breeder Drew Dundass says a lot of farmers aren’t getting the benefits of using a terminal sire over their cows.

“Mating these maternal lines to terminal sires with large mature size and high growth rates, like the charolais, produces offspring with the benefits of fast growth rates and leanness to achieve heavy carcass weights while maintaining smaller, highly productive breeding cows.”

He says the most significant reason to crossbreed is to take advantage of the natural phenomenon known as heterosis, or hybrid vigour, the difference in an animal’s performance from that of the average of the parental breeds.

“Another benefit is you don’t get any poorer genetics back into your herd. And if there is a dry season and you’ve got no feed, you can put those charolais-cross calves in a sale.”

Drew is working with 48 years’ worth of genetics at Taiaroa Charolais, in the Paerau Valley, in the Maniototo, Central Otago.

It is the oldest charolais stud in New Zealand that is still owned by the founding family – Drew’s wife, Carolyn, provides the link with the Aitkens.

There are 92 cows from the Taiaroa stud, and the farm runs another 58 charolais from Cotswold Charolais; these are share-farmed with their owner,

Taiaroa Charolais cows run their eye over the available feed at their Paerau Valley home in the Maniototo.

Don Organ, who sold his Hawke’s Bay farm three years ago.

“Don has one of the finest charolais studs in the North Island,” says Drew Dundass.

“His cows have very good genetics, very good temperament, and are very easy to handle. Sharefarming his cows has given us a chance to improve our genetic base, increase cattle numbers, and gather expertise from Don, who is a top-class stock man.

At Keogh McCormack we see business as more than numbers.

For us it’s people, which is why we support Glen Ayr - Drew & Carolyn Dundass

For practical business advice and support that counts, Contact us...

KM

Peter McCormack, Ken Rewcastle Jono Bredin 248 Cumberland St, Dunedin.

T 03 474 0475 F 03 474 0477 info@kmbusiness.co.nz www.keoghmccormack.co.nz

“We’ve got the best of both studs, so it has lifted what we present for a sale.”

This year’s sale will be on farm on May 23.

The Dundasses also run about 2300 ewes and about 650 hoggets. Over the past 48 years, the Aitkens have found that charolais thrive in Paerau’s long cold winters and hot dry summers with temperatures ranging between -10C and the mid-30sCs. “Our farm is probably at the highest altitude of

any stud in the country,” Drew says. “The cows are wintered at 920 metres above sea level. They’re hardy, they run on hill country, and the cream comes to the top. We feel our cows would do well in any environment because they’re bred in one of the harshest environments in the country.”

Paerau averages a 120-day winter, and Drew plans for a 150-day winter where he feeds supplements of silage, balage, kale and swedes, and, for the first time this season, fodder beet..

40 |

ON FARM » Paratiho Farm

Business Rural

Paratiho includes six guest suites, a spa, a gymnasium with sauna, a manager’s apartment, offices and garaging for six large vehicles. The grounds include four lakes, a croquet lawn, a professional standard putting green, nine hole golf course, swimming pool, tennis court and a heli-pad. The 7690-hectare property runs 7500 stock, 75 per cent sheep, 20% cattle and the remainder deer.

Farm manager in the lap of luxury Karen Phelps Paratiho has undergone substantial changes to its farming operation in the last four years. And if anybody knows just what has gone on, it’s manager Dave McEwen – he spent part of his childhood growing up on the property when it was owned by his parents, Peter and Gwen, back in the late 1970s.

It was a ballot farm when the McEwens bought it and over a decade they developed it to around 4000 stock units. The property was bought by British couple Sir Keith and Lady Sabine Whitson in 2009, and Dave returned as manager four years ago when he saw potential for further development. Paratiho is now on he market again.

The 7690-hectare property runs 7500 stock units – 75 per cent sheep, 20% cattle and the remainder deer. The farm doesn’t sell store stock; all animals leave the farm gates prime.

“I can’t see any point in selling it to someone else to make more money from,” says Dave whose business-focused attitude has brought significant changes and has seen profitability increase substantially over recent years. He previously worked for Lone Star Farms in the Nelson Lakes region, managing two units.

“I’ve always loved the Motueka region,” he

says. “In other farming areas, if you can’t talk about rugby, sheep and cattle at the pub, there’s nothing to talk about. Here it’s very diverse.”

His wife, Kate, shares his love of the rural life.

Although officially she has no role in the farming operation and works full-time as a nurse at Jack Inglis Friendship Hospital in Motueka, Dave says she often lends a hand.

“She has helped dag the lambs and she has got up at 5.30am to feed two orphan calves. Good farming families help out to get the job done. She’s extremely supportive, maybe she works harder than I do.”

Major changes he has instigated include restructuring staff so that the farm now employs just one full -timer, and dramatically changing grazing management to increase efficiency. He says he is a big believer in rotational grazing and has implemented a focused, re-grassing regime.

“The farm has roughly 60ha of irrigated flat.

I can’t see the point in putting water on run-out under performing grasses. So we put in a winter crop, followed by a summer crop, then into semipermanent pasture for four years. This land is now riddled with plantain, chicory and clover, so when water is put on, we get a good crop.”

The farm is irrigated by a travelling irrigator supplied from two large dams and numerous smaller reservoirs, a government group supply, and various bore-holes and wells. Dave noted water

wastage from applying too much at one time, so implemented a policy of rotating the irrigation faster to avoid this problem. This resulted in more grass growth.

He says lambs put on these paddocks since have thrived, livestock production has increased, and animal health issues have diminished.

Another major change has been identifying drench resistance in lambs.

“When I came here somebody told me the lambs had just been drenched, but I couldn’t believe it – they were riddled with worms. So we changed the drench.”

There has also been a change to a romneytexel flock from a five-way composite base. Dave says putting texel-romney rams to the breed has improved wool, hardiness, survivability and lambing percentages. This season the farm is targeting lambing percentages of 139 per cent for the mixed-

D & S KRAMMER AGRICULTURAL CONTRACTING

age ewes, 117% for the two-tooth ewes and 50% for the hoggets.

Expectations have also risen for cattle and deer.

Calving rates are now 95% and fawning 90%. The farm used to farm red deer and well fawns straight off the mother at weaning. Dave saw capacity to increase the size of the deer operation, and fawn numbers have now almost doubled.

No stags are held on the property. They are leased for mating, using a wapiti/red cross that produces larger fawns and makes finishing easier for a quicker sale to market. As all fawns are now finished and sold each season the farm buys in 20 in-fawn deer replacements.

The angus cows are introduced to a terminal sire, with a charolais bull put over the cows from which replacements will not be bred. A bull is put

• To page 41

Motueka Tyres

Proud to support Paratiho Ltd

Loyal to wool since 1888 H Dawson Farm Direct Packing Shed Corner Riwaka, Motueka Store Phone: 03-528-7980 | Fax: 03-528-7903 | Cell: 027-207-4004

H Dawson Farm direct are proud to have marketed all the wool for Paratiho over the years We wish them well for the future

On site service available

Contact Dave & Suzie 03 528 8467 suzie.krammer@xtra.co.nz

For 24 Hour service Call 03 528 1020 E: motueka@tyregeneral.co.nz

www.tyregeneral.co.nz

The real farmers’ co-op and card

for all your farming and family needs

the real farmers’ co-op 0800 BUY ATS (289 287) www.ats.co.nz

Real discounts for real farmers 0800 RURALNZ (787 256) www.ruralco.co.nz

ON FARM » Robert & Cindy Rosser

Business Rural

| 41

New bridge boosts farm access Kim Newth Spending $220,000 on a new bridge last year was a big investment for Upper Takaka farmers Robert and Cindy Rosser, but the asset is proving invaluable in terms of time saved.

What used to be a six-kilometre trek from milking shed to the run-off block has been slashed to one easy kilometre, thanks to the new bridge spanning the river that runs through Rosser Holding Ltd’s 160-hectare farm.

“It is a massive time-saving for us to be able to walk the cows straight across the bridge, rather than having to go all the way down a gravel road and back up,” says Robert Rosser, who is the third generation on the family farm.

After leaving school, he spent four years working on dairy farms in the Ashburton area, including time with Mark and Devon Slee (who won the supreme award at the 2014 Ballance Canterbury Farm Environment Awards).

He then returned home to Upper Takaka where he has now been farming for 15 years. When he first came back, the farm was running 300 cows.

This year, the herd totals 550.

“We keep getting more land and that has enabled us to increase herd numbers. Within the last two years, we bought a run-off block and milk off half of it. The main road goes through part of it. We milk on 20 hectares of it, where we built the bridge.”

An additional hill block came with the run-off, which has been planted out as pine forestry.

In his time on the farm, Robert has also put in irrigation with three pivots now operating. A modern, 50-bail, rotary shed was built seven or eight years ago.

“This year we hope to get 400 kilograms of milksolids per cow, compared to 430kg a cow last year. With the new block, we put 150 cows on once-a-day milking at Christmas. That’s a nonirrigated block, so it bought production down a bit.”

In the current climate of low dairy pay-outs, Robert and Cindy Rosser are keeping a tight rein on spending.

“We’re getting quotes for whatever we buy now.

We watch the fertiliser we are putting on. We have good levels already, so we don’t need to put a lot on.

“We’re still feeding the cows 100 per cent to support calving and milk production.”

Over the Christmas-New Year period, conditions were very dry on the farm, with water restrictions adding to the stress of having had poor spring pasture growth. Good rainfall in January has put the farm back on track.

Supporting the work of the farm are two full-

Above: Upper Takaka farmer Robert Rosser, with son Benjamin on the new access bridge. Below: Work under way on the bridge supports.

“Totally Dependable”

Laser Electrical - Takaka Domestic | Commercial | Solar | Communications | Freeview TV | Agriculture

Call 03 525 8150 After Hours: 027 681 0040 time staff. Robert’s parents, Roger and Shirley, also lend a hand through spring and other times when needed.

“My Dad still makes the hay for me. They come and feed the calves for us through spring which helps us out big time.”

Cindy assists with the farm’s administration,

while also caring for the couple’s nine month old baby boy, Benjamin.

As well as spending time with his family, Robert is active in the community as a volunteer member of the Upper Takaka Rural Fire Brigade.

Call Us, We Deliver

Paratiho ‘a beautiful property’

0800 MOOJUICE 0800 666 584

• From page 40

out with the 30 best yearlings so that they no longer calve as three-year-olds, but a year earlier. All stock is finished on farm.

The property sits in a north-facing valley with a balance of irrigated flats and gently rolling hills. It is a 12-minute drive from Motueka.

The main residence was built around 2000, originally operating as a luxury lodge. It is now the family home of the Whitsons and includes six guest suites, a spa, a gymnasium with sauna, a manager’s apartment, offices and garaging for six large vehicles. The grounds include four lakes, a croquet lawn, a putting green, a nine-hole golf course, a swimming pool, a tennis court, a heli-pad and an area of native bush.

Despite all the changes, Dave says there is still room for improvements.

“There’s a lot of loyalty to this place for me, and that comes into it very strongly. I would love to stay and see the property reach its full potential. It’s not a finished project by any stretch of the imagination.

“The big changes have already happened, now it’s a matter of fine-tuning things. It’s a beautiful property. It’s the sort of place you could take a photo of and turn it into a postcard.”

e: goldenbay@laserelectrical.co.nz www.laserelectrical.co.nz

or email us: service@moojuice.co.nz

"Proud to support Robert Rosser" Dairy Solutions (2007) Ltd.

Managing Directors: Alan and Regan Williams 59 East Takaka Rd, RD1, Takaka 7183, Golden Bay, New Zealand ph.03 525 9755 cell 027 4320009

Roger Simpson Shearing Contracting Servicing the top of the South Island

Available for Shearing, Fine wool and Cross-breed Phone Roger: 027 495 1709 Email: brendakinzett11@gmail.com

Specialists in • Pilings • Farm Bridges • Stock Under Passes • Precast & Prestressed Concrete Manufacture

Ph/Fax: 03 544 8906 McPherson Street, P.O Box 3072 Richmond, 7050 Nelson

After Hours: David Thelin H 03 544 4014 M 021426938

42 |

ON FARM » Kurt & Rachel Bartrum/Murray Hill Dairies

Business Rural

Farmstay ‘a Karen Phelps

Kurt and Rachel Bartrum with twins Henry and Poppy (13) and Billy (16).

Fernleigh Contracting

• Reversible plough • Simba discs • Terra discs • James Deep Ripper/Mole Plough • James Aerator • New Taege direct drill with tyre roller • Roller drill • 20ft heavy harrows • Balage, hay and pit silage machinery (round and square) • Flat to steep hill country spreading from Blenheim to Cheviot

Contact Paul Smith 0272 007 960 or 03 319 6007

When Kurt and Rachel Bartrum took on the job of managing a sheep-and-beef farm on the Inland Road near Kaikoura five years ago, they also saw an opportunity to showcase a real Kiwi farm experience to visitors passing through the area.

“We could see the potential for a farmstay to add to the existing business and it also provided me with a role on the farm,” says Rachel.

“Until then, I had been teaching and I was looking to do something on the farm that was a bit different. It works in so well. When things are quieter in the winter, it means I can also help out on the farm.”

Getting used to sharing their home at Lynton Downs Farm with guests over the summer has been a big adjustment for the couple’s three children – Billy, 16, and twins Poppy and Henry, 13. But they have more than taken it in their stride.

“They have learned a lot through meeting people from all different countries,” says Rachel. “Poppy is our top lamb feeder and enjoys introducing our guests to all the farm pets. It is a real family affair.”

In total, the property covers 3555 hectares of mostly flat to rolling country, including 1000ha of effective pasture and 350ha in forestry. The balance is made up of high-country terrain and native bush.

Lynton Downs is a romney breeding property, finishing 60 per cent of lambs weaned. The beef side of the operation involves selling steer calves at weaning and retaining heifers for winter.

Shepherd Kerry Dillon is fulltime on the farm with Kurt. “Kerry and his wife, Gill, help us run the business, along with casual contractors,” says Rachel Lambing, tailing and shearing are busy times, and often shared with curious guests.

“The boys might be working down the yard or shearing and we will let the guests know what’s going on. In light of health and safety, we will involve guests only in things that are safe. They cannot go on a quad bike, but they can jump in the

The boys might be working down the yard or shearing and we will let the guests know what’s going on. In light of health and safety, we will involve guests only in things that are safe.

They cannot go on a quad bike but they can jump in the truck or walk down to observe what’s happening. truck or walk down to observe what’s happening.

If they want to help, they can – provided it’s safe.

People love being on a working farm– it’s very natural.”

A self-contained apartment within the farm’s historic house serves as guest accommodation, along with a converted and refurbished shepherds’ cottage (‘The Quarters’) and two purpose-built, self-styled shepherds’ huts.

The farmstay option has been running for just over a year, with the bulk of guests coming from overseas and staying an average of two to three nights.

“It’s great –it has been going very well. We do also get New Zealanders travelling through and people coming across from Wellington. We’re already starting to get repeat customers from New Zealand and overseas.”

The couple have also developed walks on the farm so people can get out and explore the farm, from flat rolling pasture to steep hill country.

“There are some beautiful views of Kaikoura and the peninsula, and over the farm.”

High-protein pellet experiment shows Karen Pheps Farm ownership is not the be-all and end-all for Rick Munro, the manager of Murray Hill Dairies near Lumsden.

“It’s very important to me to spend time with my kids – Zoe, aged seven, and George, six – and these farm-owners make that possible.

“Before I started managing here, I was focused on the sharemilking path and owning my own land,” he says.

But this is my dream job. It’s a great place to be.”

Owned by Graham and Heather McCullough through the McCullough Family Trust, the 401-hectare effective/431ha total farm milks a crossbred herd of 1350 cows through a 54-bail rotary shed with Protrack, heat detection camera, automatic cup removers and weighbridge.

The shed also includes a dual feed system,

For example contractors that come on the farm need to view the farm policy and they also need to show the farm their own health-and-safety policy as well as have an induction. On farm we have weekly health and safety meetings. which allows for more customised feeding of the herd.

For the past two seasons Murray Hill Dairies has been using high-protein pallets to ascertain the benefits compared with a more grass-based system.

The results have been good, says Rick. Fertility rates have improved and the farm’s six-week, incalf rate is now 76 per cent.

Somatic cell counts have dropped dramatically, which Rick accredits to the use of the pallets, along

with a general tightening of farm procedures and policies. The somatic cell count now sits at an average of 100 or below – it had been nearly double this.

At the start of the season two kilograms of the pellets were fed to the herd each day; this increased to three kilograms after calving through until Christmas where rations were dropped back to two kilograms of soya hull pellets and crushed barley. Around 300 grams of supplement is now being fed.

Proud to support Murray Hill

Northern southlands only Dairy farm specialist Electricians Phone 0800-LUMSDEN ANYTIME

ON FARM » Kurt & Rachel Bartrum/Murray Hill Dairies

Business Rural

| 43

seamless fit’ for family

Kurt and Rachel Bartrum combine guest accommodation with managing the 3555ha Lynton Downs farm, a romney breeding property.

promising results on fertility, somatic cell count “Traditionally farms in this area go to once-aday milking from Christmas because of the dry, but because of the feed and centre-pivot, we’ll be twice a day until the end of the season,” says Rick.

The farm is now in its eighth season of dairying and this is his third season as manager.

He credits Murray Hills’ five full-time staff of farm workers with playing a big part in the success of the operation. This includes his partner, Debbie MacLennan, who is officially employed as a dairy farm assistant although her role extends far beyond this.

Rick Munro says another big focus for the farm

is on developing extremely robust health and safety policies.

“For example, contractors that come on the farm need to view the farm policy and they also need to show the farm their own health-and-safety policy as well as have an induction. On farm we have weekly health and safety meetings.”

With the payout looking likely to remain low next season, farm policy will change, he says. Inputs will be lowered and the farm will move to a more grass-based system.

Around 133ha of the drought-prone unit is under centre-pivot irrigation, which should help ward off

With the payout looking likely to remain low next season, inputs will be lowered and the farm will move to a more grass-based system.

Proud suppliers of Grain throughout Southland & Otago

the summer dry and the need for higher inputs.

Last season the farm produced 540,000 kilograms of milksolids and this season, is on target to produce 530,000 kilograms with 100 fewer

cows.

With the lower payout, the biggest focus now is on survival – strict budgeting and pasture management, says Rick.

Specialising in

STOCK WATER, EFFLUENT, IRRIGATION SYSTEMS & EARTH WORKS

BEN BRUNELL 027 660 6111 OR (03) 236 1236

Simply Baling & Ag Ltd Daniel Fletcher: 021 224 6730 • Russell Horner: 027 437 5363 Daniel A/H: 03 248 6177 • Russell A/H: 03 443 6117 Email: simplybalage@gmail.com

For whole or crushed grain pricing & contracts, contact us today

Phone 03 201 6246 Mobile 027 249 9317 www.wilkinsfarming.co.nz

For all your Baling & Agriculture Requirements No job too big or small!!

44 |

ON FARM » Robin Hornblow/ Steve & Maylene Fenwick

Business Rural

Career pathways an attraction Kim Newth All the advantages of scale and experience made Central Canterbury’s Camden Group an attractive career choice for Lincoln University agricultural graduate Robin Hornblow.

The 28-year-old cut his teeth on one of the group’s farms, Willsden. After finishing his agricultural diploma at Lincoln, he worked at Willsden Farm for 15 months from November 2007 before studying for a Diploma in Farm Management.

“I really enjoyed the experience of working for Camden Group and liked their innovative approach,” he says.

“So, throughout university I kept in touch, did some casual work for them around summer milking and irrigation and the odd job in winter with drying off.”

After travelling and working extensively through Australia and Europe in 2010 and 2011, Robin returned to work on his parents’ sheep-and-beef farm in Hawke’s Bay. Six months later, an opportunity came up for him as second-in-charge on Prairie Farm, one of Camden Group’s three irrigated dairy units in Central Canterbury.

He has made the most of that opportunity,

ELLESMERE TRANSPORT • Livestock Cartage • Concrete • Grain Cartage • Fertiliser Spreading - Farm Mapping • Shingle Supplies - GPS tracking • Daily Freight

Leeston 03 3248 070 Dunsandel 03 3254 039 ellesmeretransport@xtra.co.nz

I’m happy with how it’s going here – so far, so good. having been promoted to farm manager in 2013.

Robin says there has been plenty of scope for him to develop.

As well as being promoted to farm manager, he has also been able to draw on the expertise of other farm managers within the group.

“We are always in contact with one another and having impromptu meetings, along with formal meetings with farm advisers and the whole management team.”

Prairie Farm, on the north bank of the Rakaia, has an effective dairy platform of 274 hectares and shares a 250ha run-off with his old stamping ground, Willsden Farm, and the group’s Chiswick Farm.

“Next season we will winter 1000 cows from this farm.”

Last winter was “pretty rough” on pasture growth with heavy frosts and snow virtually bringing growth to a halt. Spring got off to a bad start with the farm having to bring in supplementary feed.

“Fortunately, it is looking much better now. That January rain really helped.”

With low farm-gate milk prices, the group as a whole is keeping a close eye on costs. Robin says staying on top of maintenance is key to avoid surprises.

To help manage shed costs, the farm has moved to milking three times over two days, rather than milking twice a day.

“It reduces shed running costs and puts more condition on the cows. From what I have seen, production has not been affected. There are lots of benefits to it.”

Production is holding steady at 1.6 kilograms of milksolids per cow per day. While the poor start to the season saw the farm fall behind budget, it is catching up and is on track for budgeted production of 440,000kg of milksolids.

Robin has four full-time staff and a part-time calf rearer and relief milker. His partner, Kirstie, works off farm at the local Synlait milk factory.

He envisages staying with the group and potentially taking on a higher management role, or looking towards share milking.

“I’m happy with how it’s going here – so far, so good.”

CULTIVATION & DRILLING

Robin Hornblow with a tame cow (above) and doing a night check during calving (right). The Fonterra tanker calls (below).

In tough times ‘you do Karen Phelps Farmers have had a lot of good years, which is one reason North Otago farmers Steve and Maylene Fenwick believe many may be finding the new reality harder to deal with.

“Farmers have had it good for a long time,” says Steve. “This is a big wake-up call as now farmers have to realise it’s OK to get back in the shed and do a few milkings to cut labour costs, not have the fancy car and overseas holidays. You do what you have to do to survive.”

Both Steve and Maylene grew up on dairy farms in the Waikato. At 19 Steve had his first 50:50 sharemilking position, milking 140 cows. In little more than a decade, the couple had stepped up to a 900-cow conversion at Te Kuiti where they built up cow numbers to 1500 over the next five years.

All 1500 cows were milked through a 44-a-side herringbone shed.

Their move into farm ownership came in 2001 when they bought 208 hectares of rolling hill country at Duntroon and started milking 570 cows.

With land acquisitions, their Grandview Dairies

company farms 438 hectares. They are also in a 50:50 equity partnership with their neighbours, milking 700 cows on a separate 240ha property, Avonlea. Each farm has a 60-bail rotary shed.

Their business has weathered the 1987 stockmarket crash when they were 50:50 sharemilkers and paying the bank back at interest rates of 22 per cent.

“I milked and did whatever I could to supplement the farm income to make things work,” says Steve.

It was hard, but if that’s what you’ve got to do to stay afloat, that’s what you do.”

He sees this downturn no differently. He is back in the shed to fill in where he can. His children are also working hard. Sarah, 24, and her husband, Tyrone (who previously managed Grandview Dairies) have taken on a lower-order sharemilking position together. They are just completing their second season as well as bringing up their first child, Leah.

Steve acknowledges Tyrone’s skills in the shed: “He’ll get more milk out of a cow than I ever will.

He’s a hard worker with good grass management skills. He’ll shift the cows three times a day if he has to, even if he has to go out at 10 at night. His

SCOTT SIMPSON CONTRACTING LTD Proud to support Grandview Dairies

• 3 RTK GPS Tractors • 2 Topdown Cultivators • Ripping • Vaderstad Drill • Fodder Beet Planter • Direct Drilling • Ploughing • Cultivator & Roller • Swifterdisc

STEVE ROBERTS

M: 027 439 8410 E: tepirita@xtra.co.nz

• Baleage - Round & Square • Silage - Fine Chopped • General Ag. work • Buying & Selling Supplement Feed

Phone Scott: 021 607 957 or 03 432 4207

ON FARM » Frano Volckman & Kylie Galway

Business Rural

| 45

Promising signs on new run-off conversion Kim Newth

Top: Frano Volckman and Kylie Galway; Above: A worked paddock on the run-off block on their Riverlands farm at Little Wanganui, near Karamea.

what you have to do’ soon. Son Dean, 21, who has been second-incharge on a 1000-cow farm at Duntroon was taking over the management of Avonlea in March.

The fact that the Fenwicks’ farms are pretty selfsufficient has helped them budget in tougher times.

They grow all their own heifers, cows and silage on a neighbouring 324ha support block.

“The aim was to control feed and grazing costs, especially in years like these,” says Steve.

“At Grandview we just bring the cows over to the block to feed directly, also eliminating cutting and transportation costs. The cows leave their effluent behind, so the block self-fertilises. We’re essentially not taking anything away from the land.”

Despite the current harder times, the Fenwicks are on target for record production and remain dedicated to the dairy industry. They aim to produce over one million kilograms of milksolids over the two farms.

“We don’t eat out as much and farm development is on hold,” says Steve. “At the moment it’s about keeping things basic. We’re pretty proud of the progress our children are making in the industry, making it the fourth generation to go dairy farming on both sides of our family.”

cent-per-milksolid-produced labour cost is 23 cents per kilogram. If you talk to most farm consultants, that figure is normally nearer 60-65 cents. Even in a bad year, Tyrone is making things work through hard work and determination, even if he has to put in more than 100 hours per week. It’s a short-term thing until the pay-out comes right, but it’s simply what you have to do at the moment.”

The Fenwicks think other lower-order sharemilkers, who might see the struggle as too great, could benefit from such a work ethic. They stress that there are many hard working, lowerorder sharemilkers, they suspect that a different generation of new lower-order sharemilkers who have never seen a downturn could be making things seem harder than they are.

“A lot of lower-order sharemilkers want farmers to make it easy for them,” says Steve. “I’ve been farming for more than 30 years now and I’ve seen a few downturns. We’ve had to work hard. You change the things you can and keep going.”

The Fenwicks’ farm manager has finished his time on Grandview Dairies, so Steve is back in the shed. The second-in-charge (Tyrone’s younger brother, Cody) will step up to a more senior position

• Irrigation Installation • Dairy Shed Installation • Dairy Shed Maintenance

• Dairy Shed Power Efficiency • Master Electrician • Eco Smart Company

Calum Reid- Registered Electrical Inspector 40 Bledisloe St, Kurow PO Box 75 Kurow 9446 4 Regina Lane, Oamaru Ph: 0800 360 063 Mob: 0274 368 700 Fax: (03) 436 0053 E-mail: calum@calect.co.nz

www.calect.co.nz

MASTER electricians

Riverlands Farm – located in Little Wanganui, 20 kilometres south from Karamea on the West Coast – has taken a big step towards achieving self-sufficiency. A 120-hectare block of dairy land has been converted into a run-off to grow winter swedes, oats for silage, and grass for silage and hay.

While the land is still in its first season of use exclusively as a run-off, farm managers Frano Volckman and Kylie Galway are confident it is the right move.

The couple, who are managing the adjoining 240ha milking platform, say the run-off conversion will ensure better feed for their herd and at lower cost.

“We can grow more supplementary feed and become fully self-sufficient,” says Frano. “It has been a massive changer, but a good one.

“We pinched some land from it so that we’re milking more from our shed, but we have centralised everything to make much better use of our resources. We no longer need to employ a manager and we have barely cut production.”

While the herd has dropped from 1000 cows to 800, production remains strong: “We’re banking on 400 kilograms of milksolids per cow,” says Frano.

Their 50-bail rotary shed is just four years old and has automatic drafting and an automated spray and wash system. All of this makes milking a oneperson job.”

Frano Volckman grew up on the home dairy farm at Karamea. His grandfather, Len, started farming near Karamea in the late 1950s. His parents, Geoff and Maryanne, later added a neighbouring beef farm to the original property and converted this into a dairy farm four years ago. His sister and her partner run a 200-cow farm just over the river Frano spent time working in Australia and travelling before studying agriculture at Lincoln University and then taking up the reins of the family farm.

He says he and Kylie, who have been together five years, bring complementary skills to their partnership.

We can grow more supplementary feed and become fully selfsufficient. It has been a massive changer...We have centralised everything to make much better use of our resources. We no longer need to employ a manager and we have barely cut production.

“Kylie is a very good stock woman. She is very focused on her animals, the young stock and the cows. She’s really good in the milking shed. I still have to do a fair bit of milking too and work on developing the farm, which was converted from beef only a few years ago.”

Growing crops, fencing and race work are among the high priority jobs.

“The beef farm didn’t have high fertility, so we’re also trying to build that up. We do everything ourselves. We’ve got our own diggers and a tractor and trailer.”

Helping them on the farm is all-round handyman Justin Beveridge and Frano’s dad, Geoff, who is always out driving the tractor or digger, or taking care of young stock.

Off-farm, Frano plays cricket for Buller which started the year with an incredible win over Canterbury Country in Rangiora to claim the Hawke Cup – “It was like Japan beating South Africa at rugby”. He travels to Westport twice a week to meet his team commitments.

For Kylie, the big focus for the year is their wedding, set for April 2.

Proud to support Frano Volckman

46 |

ON FARM » Nithdale Genetics/Russell family

Business Rural

Irrigation system Jo Bailey

Romney and suffolk sheep stud Nithdale Genetics has won the Internal Parasite Resistance award for the fourth year running.

Award confirms worm resistance bid on track Kelly Deeks Romney and Suffolk sheep stud Nithdale Genetics has taken out the SIL-ACE Dual Purpose for Internal Parasite Resistance award at the 2015 Beef + Lamb New Zealand Sheep Industry Awards, for the fourth year in a row.

“We’ve got the monopoly on that award,” says Nithdale owner Andrew Tripp.

He and his wife, Heather, see breeding their omneys for resistance to internal parasites as the long-term solution to drench resistance and dependence on animal health products.

“In the world markets, people are saying they don’t want meat with drench in it,” he says. “Worm resistance is a big thing for us. If I can breed a sheep you don’t have to drench, its saves time and money, and it also saves drench resistance.”

He says Nithdale is about halfway to achieving worm resistance, and winning the award again shows he is still going in the right direction.

Nithdale was also the winner of the 2015 SILACE Dual Purpose for Reproduction award for the third year in a row, having been breeding low-cost, maternal sheep that are able to handle tough environmental conditions while maximising meat and wool output.

Nithdale has also been breeding for facial eczema (FE) tolerance for the past four years. A growing number of the farm’s North Island and Nelson clients are facing natural FE challenges in their sheep.

“Looking long term, it will take only a twodegree increase in temperatures in the South Island because of global warming for FE to become an issue down here,” Andrew says. “Like any breeding programme, it takes time. We want to have FE

tolerant sheep before we need them!”

Until recently, to select for FE tolerance breeders, had had to dose animals with sporodesmin and blood-test for an enzyme called gamma glutamyl transferase, which indicates the level of liver breakdown from fungal toxin.

With the development of Sheep 50K, a DNA test that determines the genetic potential of an animal for various traits, animals can now be selected for FE tolerance based on the DNA of the animal.

“This autumn our highest ranked ram lamb was the highest also for FE tolerance and was used in the stud,” Andrew says. “We have also made enquiries with other breeders who have been testing for FE tolerance for a number of years, and we plan to use some rams next year that have top breeding values for FE tolerance.”

Breeding for FE tolerance is all part of Nithdale’s overall philosophy of breeding low-cost, dagfree sheep, lambing unassisted in the hills and producing good lambs and good wool.

“We have been breeding for worm resistance for more than 20 years, so breeding for FE tolerance will add to the disease resistance and tolerance of Nithdale romneys,” Andrew says.

For the past eight years, Nithdale has been breeding the myoMAX gene – the muscling gene predominant in the texel breed –into its romneys.

Trials show an animal with two copies of the gene has around 10% more lean meat on its carcase than an animal with no copies.

“We began crossing some of our romneys with texels that had two copies of the gene to increase the meat yield in our romneys,” Andrew says.

“Our objective is to breed a sheep which effectively has the all the traits we have been breeding for in the romney with the meat traits of the texels.”

MacKENZIE AVIATION

Aerial fertiliser spread

0800 743 2763 Jason & Shara Davis Ph: Balclutha 03 418 0824 027 223 8748 Gore 03 208 4325 PO Box 323, Balclutha 9240 Email: shara.jason@xtra.co.nz

An almost foolproof irrigation system is a key to Landcorp’s new 900-cow Eyrewell dairy unit at West Eyreton operating on an all-grass system, says farm manager Zachary Haderbache.

“We’re sourcing water from Waimakariri Irrigation Ltd, and we have a big holding pond so that we have plenty of water in reserve. At the same time, we have a big deep well that we can use as a back-up to pump water into the pond when there are restrictions.”

Eight centre-pivots provide water to around 385 hectares of the 424-effective-hectare property – a 316ha milking platform and 108ha run-off across the road.

The system is its first season of operation, says Zachary.

“It seems a lot, but the farm is a big, long narrow strip of land and quite hard to cover. Two of the pivots have variable flow rates, which are a great management tool, allowing us to precisely monitor and apply irrigation or fertigation (water mixed with effluent).”

Aquaflex moisture sensors are also used to monitor soil moisture to assist with scheduling, he says.

“We are applying only what the paddocks need, which saves water, costs and provides environmental benefits. We’re very conscious of meeting our obligations in terms of nitrogen leaching, and being ready to respond to any changes as they happen.”

When Landcorp decided to convert the property around three and a half years ago, it originally intended to feed supplements such as grain and palm kernel.

But with the fluctuating payout, the company decided to switch to an all-grass system to take advantage of the Synlait premium for all-grass milk, and to save the costs of buying in feed.

Zachary says all other costs were closely scrutinized during the conversion process and trimmed where possible.

However a high degree of automation was retained in the property’s new 60-bail rotary

We’re sourcing water from Waimakariri Irrigation Ltd, and we have a big holding pond so that we have plenty of water in reserve. cowshed, which has automatic cup removers, inshed feeding and MilkHub technology.

The new Eyrewell dairy unit (around 10 minutes from Oxford) is now one of five farms in Landcorp’s Canterbury Complex, which includes one other in the Waimakariri district, and three at Maronan, in Mid Canterbury.

Around 5000 cows are milked across the five properties.

Zachary says 920 cows have been peak-milked at Eyrewell in its first season.

“Like all new conversions, the first year has been quite challenging. But overall, we have achieved a lot and will probably end up with about 365,000 kilograms of milksolids for the season, or 396kg per cow, which is around the average for Canterbury.”

With some fine-tuning, he says the farm should easily achieve above 400kg per cow, even as high as 420kg or 430kg on an average stocking rate.

“I’m not a fan of a high stocking rate. We’ll have a maximum of around 1000 cows on the milking platform at a rate of 3.3 per hectare.”

The adjacent 108ha support block has been used to run the property’s rising two-year heifers, and calves after weaning, he says.

“We have also grown 15ha of fodder beet on the support block this season to try and extend lactation a bit and transition the cows from grass before they go to winter on a private property with fodder beet. We’re allowed to feed other forage crops such as fodder beet under the Synlait contract.”

Zachary Haderbache was manager of Landcorp’s Ruru Dairy on the West Coast, before crossing the Alps to take up the role at Eyrewell.

New equity partnership part Karen Phelps A new equity partnership established by the Russell family of Westerfield, has seen the next generation start to take over the family business.

Farming inland from Ashburton, Mitch and Jo Russell are well established dairy farmers in the region after entering an equity partnership in 2003 with businessman Allan Hubbard and cropping farmers Brian and Lynn Stratford.

The partnership was dissolved in 2012, which paved the way for the Russells to enter a family equity partnership with son Mark, and daughter Natalie and her husband, Phil.

The family now farms two dairy unitsm each totalling around 240 hectares effective and each milking a herd of 960 cows through two 60-bail rotary sheds.

One dairy farm is from the previous equity partnership and the other is a new conversion. The family also leases an additional 280ha. This season the focus is on converting this new addition to the business from a cropping farm into a self contained run-off.

Phil, who hails from a background as a builder, got into farming when he met Natalie. They worked for Mitch for two years before going contract milking for four years on farms around Mayfield and Hinds. This financed them into the family equity partnership.

Phil and Natalie now run one of the dairy farms while Mark, also an ex-builder, who has been farming for the family for some time, takes charge of the other farm. Mitch and Jo take care of the financial side of the operation. With the lower payout this season Phil says Mitch and Jo’s long experience of the ebbs and flows of the dairy industry will prove invaluable.

proud to support

Nithdale Station P (03) 208 9193 M 0274 320 274 F(03) 208 9093 PO Box 300, GORE

Honda Country, 740 East Street, Ashburton | Phone 03 308 2030

Servicing, Sales, On Farm Servicing.

ON FARM » Landcorp Eyrewell Dairy

Business Rural

| 47

key to new Landcorp dairy unit

This huge holding pond is an integral part of the irrigation system that lies at the heart of Landcorp’s new 900-cow Eyrewell diary unit.

He is assisted on the farm by four permanent staff.

“Everything we do is based on Landcorp’s five pillars – volume, value, efficiency, environment and people – which drive the business,” he says.

There is also huge focus on the safety of people and animal welfare. he says.

“We have regular toolbox meetings, and all contractors must complete a safety induction before they go onto the farm.”

Overall he is pleased with progress of the operation across its first season: “With some more fine tuning, we’ll end up with a nice, productive farm.”

of succession planning Mitch grew up on a sheep farm south of Auckland and his father Ray was a well-known sheep dealer.

Mitch and Jo decided to go dairying moving south in 1997 to take on a sharemilking position for Tasman Agricultural before going into an equity partnership in 2003 so have been in the game a long time.

Phil says the family has slightly lowered the stocking rate by 50-60 cows over both farms and are keeping a close eye on costs in response to the dairy pay out.

For example, this season 10ha of fodder beet is being grown on the dairy platform for the first time to save on cutting and transportation costs as in the past this feed has been grown off farm. By break feeding on the dairy platform these costs will be eliminated, says Phil. The cows will transition onto the crop in April/May. The farms are fully irrigated with six centre

pivots and one lateral irrigation system ensuring the farms are saturated with 3.5mm of water every second day. Effluent is distributed on selected parts of the farm through the centre pivots from a twin pond storage system.

A Protrack system installed some years ago in the cowshed with electronic identification ear tagging and auto-drafting and feeding has made a huge difference to the efficiency of the operation, says Phil.

Production has been slowly improving as the family has re-grassed and changed its fertiliser plan. Last season the farms achieved 996,000 kilograms of milk solids and the aim is to hit one million this season.

With the dairy scene rapidly expanding in the Canterbury region Phil says he, Natalie and Mark aim to increase their percentage of the equity partnership to continue the succession plan for the farm.

Greg Sim

Building & Excavating • New homes • cow sheds • farm buildings • Alterations/additions • 4 diggers - 20 ton, 14 ton & 13 ton • Mini digger & truck for smaller jobs • Tip truck hire • Drain cleaning • Headrace work & trenching • Grader • Dairy Lanes Proud to support Mitch Russell

Phone: (03) 303 7227

Mobile: 027 437 5843

FINE CHOP BULK SILAGE • BEET DRILLING BALEAGE, HAY & STRAW ROUND & SQUARE • BALING FULL HARVEST SERVICE • CULTIVATION

Mehrtens AG proudly supports Zac at Landcorp

Nigel: 021 275 2432

Steve: 021 825552

www.mehrtensag.co.nz

Frews Transport are pleased to be associated with Landcorp West Eyreton

DENSEM CONTRACTING (2010) LTD 267 Bealey Road, RD3, Leeston 7683 Ph: 03 324 2289 Fax: 03 324 2281 Mob: 027 221 5288 Email: densem.i.e@xtra.co.nz

CONTACT IAN DENSEM FOR: DAIRY FARM CONVERSIONS • DAM CONSTRUCTION • HEAVY HAULAGE RIVER PROTECTION • PIP & CABLE LAYING LAND CLEARING & FORESTRY

48 |

RURAL SERVICES » Rural professionals

Business Rural

Why use a rural professional?

JULIA JONES is a consultant with KPMG. Before this she worked in agri-banking. She says these roles have allowed her to observe the difference between what makes a good and a bad rural professional, and also those people who didn’t help themselves when it came to using rural professionals. She offers some thoughts and advice on the what rural professional have to offer, why you might need one, and how to extract the best value from your relationship with one.

It’s important to not only understand what you should expect from rural professionals, but also to understand what you need to do to get the best out of working with them.

What should you expect?

• Trust, respect and integrity.

• Someone prepared to first seek to understand, then to be understood.

• Someone to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.

A rural professional – whether its an accountant, a banker or a farm consultant – is on the outside looking in. While no one will ever fully understand your business as well as you do, an outside person sees it through a different lens and may see things you are missing.

• Someone to challenge your thinking.

• Someone to provide context without raining on your dreams.

• Someone who sees you, as the customer, as the most important person – their purpose, not an interruption to their work.

This may seem like pointing out the obvious, but if rural professionals are not doing at least this, you are probably not getting best value. Some people, however, don’t see the value in using a rural professional at all. So, what value is there?

Ever watched a rugby game and seen where a try should have been scored, but those playing the game completely missed it? When you are working in your business, it can be hard to take a cold view of the game and see where the try should be scored.

A rural professional – whether an accountant, a banker or a farm consultant – is on the outside looking in. While no one will ever fully understand your business as well as you do, an outside person sees it through a different lens and may see things you are missing.

Rural professionals also experience many farming businesses. They see what works and what doesn’t, and can share this knowledge and experience. During difficult financial times, the use of rural professionals can diminish. But it’s in such times that you need help more than ever.

Stressful times make it difficult for farmers to make the best decisions and rural professionals can be a great sounding board and voice of reason.

Rural professionals have a great deal of responsibility to ensure they work hard for you, but, as in any relationship, both parties have responsibility.

Here are a few things you can do :

* Be prepared

If you’re meeting with a rural banker, accountant,

Ever watched a rugby game and seen where a try should have been scored, but those playing the game completely missed it? When you are working in your business, it can be hard to take a cold view of the game and see where the try should be scored.

lawyer etc, have all the information you need to make the meeting efficient. If you’re not sure what you need, make contact a few days before to find out. If you’re going to a bank for an extension on lending, take the time to understand exactly how much you need, and when. Plan ahead as much as possible – don’t go the day before you need the money.

* Listen and understand suggested changes

A rural professional may suggest changes you don’t like, but before you say no, listen all the information. Suggestions are simply suggestions about what this person thinks is best for your business; they are not a judgement on you or your performance, but a suggestion for change/

* Keep advice as independent as possible

This is particularly important when it comes to financial advice. If rural professionals, and this includes accountants, suggests investing in farming businesses in which they have ownership, seek external independent advice before agreeing.

* Be responsible for your decisions

A rural professional should be a partner in your business– a balance of energy (the personal side) and structure (the business side). The professional’s objective should be to empower you, and expand your knowledge so that you need them less and less.

Rural professionals are there to provide information so that you can make well-informed decisions. They are not there to make decisions on your behalf.

* Drive for proactive service

You pay the bills, you call the shots. You should set the expectation that you want a rural professional to be proactive, to keep you informed.

If you are always the one making the calls, the rural professional is not doing the job effectively. You should expect your accountant to be checking when you need your annual accounts, not telling you when they will be ready; you should expect to be chased for cashflows for the new season.

* Get rural professionals involved early

If you are buying a new farm or making significant changes to your farming business, get your consultants in early to help you with planning and decision-making. The most efficient thing to do is to get them all together so that everyone hears the same story and everyone understands the likely impact of their advice.

A rural professional should be a partner in your business – a balance of energy (the personal side ) and structure (the business side). The professional’s objective should be to empower you, and expand your knowledge and skill so that you need them less and less.

* Do they yield value?

Think about the rural professionals working with you, and ask yourself: Did my last bit of communication with them make a positive difference to my business? Would I recommend them to a friend?

RURAL SERVICES » Insurance

Business Rural

| 49

Accidents can happen and when they do they can have a massive financial impact. Disability insurance may be the best policy, in case you have to bail.

Disability losses can be staggering

Lindsay Strathdee is a certified financial plannerCM and chartered life underwriter with close to 30 years’ experience in the industry. He specialises in working with rural clients. Contact: via www. premierrural.co.nz or 0272220341.

Serious illness or accident can have a massive financial impact – how does your risk stack up?

For most of us, our ability to work and earn income pays for everything we do, from keeping the family safe and fed to creating a valuable asset.

Have you considered what would happen if you were seriously disabled and could not work for a protracted period? The losses brought about by disability can be staggering, hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions for permanent disability.

Do you have a contingency plan if you are disabled and how will you fund this if you can’t earn an income? “ACC” I hear you mutter. They may not come to the party at all. ACC only covers inability to work due to accident and it only pays for an individual’s loss not a company or business. It pays nothing if your disability is illness related; it is

also important to know that unless you have been showing healthy profits, an ACC payout may be disappointingly small, if anything.

We accept that most farmers are at risk of a serious accident, but less often we imagine serious illness until it strikes. Times can be tough and the hours long. Profits are under threat, yet the bank will still want it’s debt serviced, contractors need paying, stress and other pressures are building, all adding up to an increase in disability risk.

The good news is, insurance can help remove much of the financial impact a period of inability to work may bring, and appropriate policies will pay regardless of whether disability is caused by illness or accident. It’s about maintaining the financial health of your farm business while you take the time to recover and return to work.

For smaller family owned farms or sharemilkers in particular, the costs of hiring replacements and housing them alone can “break the bank” and that’s thinking only about the business. Who will keep paying family expenses?

For larger corporate farms, the disability of a key manager may also result in extra costs and reduced production. While some of these costs might be carried by general revenue for a short period, long term disability costs may sink your entire operation.

Your best protection against an inability to work is a clearly defined disability contingency plan with the necessary source of money to fund it. You could use your assets to fund disability but your assets are what you work hard to create in the first place. Why put it all at risk? A more efficient option is to get the correct insurance policy to fund your disability, leaving your asset and lifestyle intact.

I sometimes hear people say they can selfinsure. This is wishful thinking. There is no such thing as “self-insurance”, there is only “self-risktaking”. Firstly, most don’t have time to save up the significant sums of money they might lose as a result of a serious disability but even if you did, holding this in “reserve” is inefficient use of capital.

If that is unfortunately you, even if you have the assets, why would you want to lose them to disability? Insurance is as much about protecting your assets as it is about having the cash to get by.

Disability insurance products are many and varied and some are specifically designed with farmers’ business interests in mind. Others are designed to look after the family. It is likely most will need both, a product to protect the business (usually short term payments) and the family (where long term payments are necessary).

The best investment you can make is getting

advice from a qualified, experienced insurance adviser, not only around the financials (how much your losses and additional costs might amount to) but also around the best combination of products and product providers, and getting them to design a cost-effective and comprehensive package of insurance.

50 |

RURAL SERVICES » Molloy Agriculture

Business Rural

The Molloy Agricuture fleet (one Bateman sprayer is missing). A combination of truck and self-propelled sprayers gives the company the flexibility to tackle crops of all ages and heights. Photo: Bill Irwin,

‘Advise, supply, apply and recycle’ Karen Phelps Spraying company Molloy Agriculture has sought to set itself apart in the market by offering independent advice to clients and handling all aspects of each job in house with the aim of greater control over quality and timing, says company director David Molloy.

“Advise, supply, apply and recycle sums up what we are about,” he says.

Advising customers is the first step before spraying is even considered, he says. The company’s agronomy division, Mountainview Agronomy, was established in 2008 to offer clients independent advice on this aspect of their business.

“As an independent division, we work directly for the farmer, so our advice is impartial and free from sales motives,” says David Molloy.

“We can help farmers with advice on a wide range of crops, including cereals, grass seeds, pasture renovation, winter feed and silage. We give advice on cropping plans, cultivations, fertiliser use and chemical inputs to achieve the best return for the grower.”

Mountainview Agronomy seeks to keep up with the latest technology so that it can assist farmers.

This includes Green Light grower management software, which allows the development and production of clear and concise chemical recommendations, and the recording of fertiliser applications.

“Green Light securely records and shares cropping data on line so that farmers can access their cropping information from anywhere, at any time, reducing risk and increasing transparency,” says David Molloy.

Molloy Agriculture can supply a wide range of product to farmers, including agri chemicals, seed and fertiliser including United Fisheries Bio Marinus fish fertiliser and Ravensdown’s liquid nitrogen Flowfert N, which is manufactured under licence.

The advantage for farmers lies in the firm’s bulk-buying power, says David Molloy. This reduces the chances of farmers being be left with half-used containers of product to at the end of the job.

The company can also attend to the application

• To page 52

Company director David Molloy out in the field with long-serving staff member Tim Morgan. Photo: Bill Irwin.

We work directly for the farmer, so our advice is impartial and free from sales motives. We can advise on a wide range of crops, feed and silage. We give advice on cropping plans, cultivations, fertiliser use and chemical inputs to achieve the best return for the grower.

Ravensdown proudly support Molloy Agriculture Ltd in farming excellence. ®

®

Call your local Agri Manager or Molly Agriculture Ltd on 03 302 8098 to see how we can help you ravensdown.co.nz

Driven. For your success.

SECTION » Feature

IPM management of Diamondback moth.

Warmer conditions mean an abundance of insect pests. Farmers wanting the best returns understand how important it is to have an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy to manage damaging pests such as diamondback moth which can devastate brassica crop yields.

Diamondback moth is mostly active at night and can lay up to 100 eggs.

The eggs transform into hundreds of larvae which cause a huge amount of damage as they feed on the leaves. The problem isn’t generally noticed until the autumn when pest numbers peak and plant growth slows. Effective control needs to be achieved in the summer months whilst integrating pest management options.

For an effective IPM programme, consideration should be given to all available pest control techniques.

By using the appropriate control methods, pest populations can be managed and kept below economic thresholds as well as reducing risks to human health and the environment. Fundamentally production output is still the primary consideration, therefore an IPM program should always pose the least risk while maximizing benefits and reducing costs.

“Sparta™ is proven to be the best product available for diamond back moth whilst being selective to beneficial predators such as lady birds.”

Be more selective – When choosing an insecticide for an IPM program you need to consider the products selectivity, it must offer high levels of pest control whilst minimalising the impact on beneficial insects.

Highly selective insecticides such as Sparta™ insecticide have revolutionised IPM programmes around the world by offering cost effective, highly targeted control without the risks associated with organophosphates and other toxic chemicals.

Using a product soft on beneficial insects such as Sparta™ insecticide allows beneficial insects such as ladybirds and lace wings to work hand in hand with the chemistry in a balanced way. The use of nonselective chemistries will disrupt the natural balance allowing secondary insects such as aphids to flare up creating yet another pest issue.

Sparta insecticide has proven performance across a wide range of insect pests such as diamondback moth, white butterfly, leaf miner, springtails and nysius making it a versatile choice. Sparta is proven to be the best product available for

diamond back moth whilst being selective to beneficial predators such as lady birds.

Resistance management is another key consideration. Some chemicals are known to have wide spread resistance, this means that the level of control that was once expected is no longer achieved because the insect pests have become immune.

Sparta belongs to a unique chemical class known as the Spinosyns which have no known insect resistance and is ideally suited in rotation with other IPM compatible insecticides.

Your health and safety should also be at the forefront. Concerns about handling older more toxic chemistries are justified. Farmers and contractors want products that deliver the highest level of control, minimal impact on beneficial insects and ideally something that is safe to use; Sparta delivers on all three counts.

Sparta is derived from a naturally occurring active ingredient that poses minimal risk to people, animals and the environment.

Sparta’s unique chemistry provides powerful control of diamondback moth and white butterfly that out performs current market standards. ™ Sparta is a registered Trademark of Dow AgroSciences

52 |

RURAL SERVICES » Molloy Agriculture/Field Engineering & Construction

Safe disposal of surplus agrichemicals a priority • From page 50 of product. It claims expertise in dealing with all types of liquid fertiliser and offers a groundspraying service for a wide range of arable, vegetable and pastoral crops, including wheat, barley, ryegrass, clover and peas.

A combination of truck and self-propelled sprayers provides the flexibility to tackle crops of all ages and heights. The company also has a quad bike sprayer. Other services include gorse spraying and slug baiting.

Utilising the latest equipment and technology means that Molloy Agriculture can offer farmers a professional service with fully trained operators, says David. It also helps avoid problems of over lapping and over application. The company can supply proof of placement if required.

As an additional service Molloy Agriculture is an agent for Bateman Engineering’s self-propelled sprayers, selling and servicing this Bateman range quad-bike sprayer, and does gorse-spraying and slug-baiting. The company also an agent (sales and service) for Bateman Engineering’s self-propelled sprayers, and stocks and supplies Syngenta nozzles.

Molloy Agriculture is a member of the Agrecovery recycling programme, a scheme for

PROUDLY SUPPORTING ONE ANOTHER. 122 Archibald Street, Tinwald, Ashburton Ph: 03 307 9268

- YOUR LOCAL ASHBURTON DEALER

This provides customers with a safe and sustainable alternative to burning or dumping these items, a practice now actively discouraged because of proven impacts on health and the environment. When we complete the job, this also involves correct disposal of any containers. safe disposal of unwanted agrichemicals and recycling of empty containers and drums.

“This provides our customers with a safe and sustainable alternative to burning or dumping these items, a practice now actively discouraged because to proven impacts on health and the environment,” says David Molloy, who is a trustee of the Agrecovery Foundation.

“When we complete the job, this also involves correct disposal of any containers,” he says.

Based in Mid Canterbury, Molloy Agriculture was started in 1985 by David Molloy and his wife, Sonia.

The company now has 21 staff, including three seasonal workers, and owns and operates six Bateman sprayers along with five four-wheel-drive truck units. The company is a member of Rural Contractors New Zealand.

As managing director David Molloy concentrates on growth opportunities for the business and quality within the company. Sonia Molloy is also a director of the company. Their eldest daughter, Emily, has joined the company in a human resources and administration role.

The Molloys are also active in the local community and the company sponsors a variety of local groups.

“We’ve been in the business for more than 30 years,” says David Molloy. “We’re passionate about what we do and it shows. We aim to continue to create success for our company, staff and clients.”

Proudly supplying NuFarm NZ with quality weed control.

Business Rural

Maintenance work Karen Phelps With the lower dairy payout and a reduction of new builds, Field Engineering & Construction has focused on enhancing its maintenance division. The company now has a dedicated vehicle and engineer on the road to service farmers’ needs in the wider Timaru district, says company director Robert Kircher.

“We want farmers to know we don’t just build dairy sheds, but take a more comprehensive approach aiming to service the customer’s needs, including on-going maintenance and providing the latest products and innovations.”

He says the firm’s service engineers have worked for him for more than 10 years, building rotary platforms and yards and learning to service every aspect of them.

Through our REL dealership we have had a lot of exposure installing meal-feed systems, so maintaining these is also a natural progression.”

By maintaining plant, farmers ensure they will get the best out of their investment in terms of longevity, running and operational costs as well as avoiding untimely breakdowns., says Robert Kircher.

Field Engineering & Construction is equipped to provide mechanical servicing on all makes of rotary dairy sheds, herringbone sheds, mealfeed systems, backing gates and general farm equipment.

The company’s preventative maintenance service is Dairyminder, offered through the Timaru Waikato Milking Systems dealership, which Robert bought last year. The 24-point check can be applied to any brand of dairy plant, rotary platform or herringbone.

“Preventative maintenance reduces costs for farmers in the long term and reduces the risk of

breakdowns and downtime,” says Robert Kircher..

“For a fixed price they can know what it will cost them to service their shed because they don’t want any unexpected large costs at the moment,” he says.

The company also has an on-call emergency breakdown service, and Robert stresses that he is seeing an increase in call outs, which are costing farmers both time and money.

He says the company’s scheduled maintenance service, which he likens to ‘insurance’ for the ongoing operation of the farm is becoming more popular and reduces the need for call outs.

Robert Kircher started Timaru-based Field Engineering & Construction in 2011 after managing an engineering company in the dairy sector and seeing a gap in the market for “a more professional, comprehensive approach”..

The company has added meal feeding, milking machines and Hi-Tech effluent systems to the services it offers.

Its specialist field also includes the design and build of new dairy sheds, dairy and yard alterations, track and roller replacements, structural steel fabrication and erection, effluent pontoons and general engineering.

The firm has its own design CAD facility, which means it can take a project from conception to completion, says Robert Kircher.

Although the pace of new dairy shed builds may be slower at the moment, Robert Kircher maintains that business is still steady.

The company is set to start a new 50-bail rotary project at Papakaio, in North Otago, and a 46-a-side herringbone shed for one of the farms set to benefit from the Waihao Downs water scheme.

“We know times are tough at present for our clients, but we are working at increasing our services and improving efficiencies so that we can offer them the best service at the best price”

Dedicated to Temperature Maintenance Proud to be the preferred refrigeration contractor to Field Engineering Construction

• All your on farm refrigeration needs • Milk Silo refrigeration needs • Preventative Maintenance Programs • Thermastore Heat Recovery • Water Chilling • Glycal Snap Chilling Andy Turner - Managing Director 85 Meadows Road, Washdyke, Timaru

Email: atr@actrix.co.nz Address: 14 Norwood Street, Timaru Mobile: 027 2848 345 Fax: 03 688 7322 Telephone: 03 688 7311 - 24hr phone

RURAL SERVICES » Field Engineering & Construction

Business Rural

| 53

reduces breakdowns and downtime

PHOTOS (clockwise from top): Backing gate; 54 bail shed with Waikato platform at Otekaieke; 50 bail shed with Waikato platform and 16m round yard and backing gates at Southburn; trailer project.

Proud to support Field Engineering & Construction

TIM A RU

03 684 8410

Electrical Solutions S.C. Ltd

O A M A RU

0800 434 840

New Homes • Renovations • Farm Buildings • Concrete Work

Cowshed & New Home Specialists Telephone: 027 439 8151 After Hours - Ph / Fax: 03 689 1429 Email: russ.jill@xtra.co.nz

19 Donald St Temuka Phone 03 615 9114 Mobile 021 029 45081 esolution@xtra.co.nz

Servicing South Canterbury Proud to support Field Engineering

03 688 5111 027 541 1001 Experienced and professional construction team New dairy conversions Design and build drafting facility Structural fabrication & erection Rotary & Herringbone feed systems

David Vincent Electrician Commercial • Industrial • Rural

Motivated and competent maintenance team Rotary repairs and maintenance Annual servicing programmes Breakdown & call out service Yard alterations and repairs

www.fieldengineering-construction.co.nz

Design | Build | Maintain

54 |

RURAL SERVICES » Hyslop Rural Transport

Business Rural

Cartage firm has strong rural links Russell Fredric Being thrown in the deep end of running Hyslop Rural Transport in October 1994 was a tough time for its then new owners, cousins Wayne and Derek Hyslop.

Wayne says those early days were incredibly stressful, with sleepless nights not uncommon, while getting to grips with the day-to-day operation of the business in Outram, about 25 kilometres inland from Dunedin.

“The day we took over was the first time we had anything to do with running a business. It was a huge learning curve,” Wayne Hyslop says.

Derek concurs and explains that the October start date did not reveal the full picture of the annual cashflow of the business, which is strongly linked to the farming sector.

“We had a good year the first year because we didn’t have the winter to go through, so we thought “this isn’t too bad”, but we had the winter to go through (when) we had a big drop in income, so it was quite tough for a couple of years after that.”

A saving grace was the good relationships the cousins had already established, as drivers, with the company’s clients who were very supportive.

Over the years, the pair have rotated their roles between driving and administration, as business and personal needs have dictated, but in more recent years, Wayne has been the office guy and Derek on the road driving stock trucks.

Fertiliser spreading, livestock cartage and general rural cartage, including wool and balage, provide the bulk of the company’s business.

Hyslop Rural Transport was started as C. H.

Hyslop and sons in 1946 by Wayne’s grandfather, the late Charlie, and his son, Jack, who is Derek’s father, Jack’s remaining brothers – Eric, Fred and Wayne’s father the late Les Hyslop – became partners about two years later.

“In the first five years there would only be a couple of trucks, then they bought another two or three companies around the area,” Wayne says.

The business was built on cartage for the area’s former market gardens, with produce being trucked about 25 kilometres to Dunedin, as well as cartage of dairy products, livestock and general cartage.

During the 1950s large tracts of land were developed by Lands and Survey, the forerunner of Landcorp, requiring the application of large amounts of fertiliser and lime by Hyslops.

The company’s fleet developed from five to six ton British-made trucks such as Austin and Bedford, to International during the 1960s, and Mercedes from the 1970s.

Hyslop Rural transport continues to operate predominately Mercedes trucks in its fleet, with two new 15-litre, 600-horsepower V8 tractor units bought last year.

These replaced units with lower horsepower in the expectation the more powerful trucks will cope better and need less maintenance resulting from the hard work they do on the area’s steep terrain.

The company’s oldest Mercedes, bought in 2000, has clocked up 760,000 kilometres.

After having 40 trucks operating at its peak during the late 1970s, Hyslop’s now runs 10, including three Scania bulk spreaders and four truck-and-trailer units for stock haulage.

• To page 55

Livestock cartage (top) and bulk spreading are just some of the general rural cartage services provided by Outram-based Hyslop Rural Transport.

Solid Fertiliser Specialists Since 2001 Superior is proud to work with the Hyslop Rural Transport team.

Specialists in: · Custom blended solid fertiliser · Soil and Plant testing, analysis and recommendations · Annual fertiliser planning and management

For further information or to arrange a free onsite assessment please contact Superior on

ACTION

DUNEDIN

TRUCK SERVICING SERVICE

“Proud to be associated with & supporting Hyslop Rural Transport for over twenty years”

Cnr Cresswell and Bombay Streets, Dunedin

Cnr Cresswell & Bombay Sts, Dunedin - Ph: 03 479 0150

Proud to be associated with Hyslop Rural Transport 65 Bridgman Street, PO Box 2265, Dunedin Phone (24HR) 03 455 2005 Corner River & Mersey Street, Gore Phone (24HR) 03 208 8110

0800 685 958 · www.superior.net.nz “THE WORLDS MOST TRUSTED RETREAD”

RURAL SERVICES » Des Gill Fencing

Business Rural

| 55

Fencing farmer stands test of time Kelly Deeks Des Gill Fencing has serviced Southland for more than 15 years, providing all types of rural, residential, and security fencing and building a reputation for delivering top of the line, fast, and efficient work at competitive rates.

Des Gill Fencing specialises in dairy conversions, sheep and deer fencing, sheep and cattle yards, post and rails, and underpasses.

Des Gill has been a farmer all his life, and says his experience with sheep, beef, and deer have given him the experience to assist farmers in general with their fencing needs.

He has run deer and beef in the past, but his’ Makarewa farm currently runs a few ewes and grows grass for dairy farmers, which allows him to focus on his fencing business – and even have a day off from time to time.

Des’s introduction to the fencing trade happened when he went to work in his nephew’s fencing business. He learnt some of the finer points of the trade, then ended up buying the business.

Des Gill Fencing ran a three-man staff until the past few months, when one of his team left the district. With this year’s low milk payout, Des was wondering if things might quieten down.

“But the phone still keeps going,” he says.

“We’ve got some big clients and hopefully dairying will come right soon.”

A lot of the firm’s work comes by word of mouth and referral.

‘Because we make a nice, tidy job, and we try to be as quick as we can in doing it, people will see us working somewhere and enquire, or they will ask their friend or family who did their fence. That’s how a lot of our work is created. If you do a good job, they get you back.”

With new conversions now slowing down

Loyal client base crucial • From page 54 The most significant changes Wayne and Derek have seen since 1994 are larger trucks capable of increasingly higher tonnages, and more competition.

Hyslop Rural Transport is fortunate to be in a relatively favourable position in a tough industry, Wayne says.

“We are not probably not too bad here, we have a lot of big clients and we are getting full loads a lot of the time. Trying to keep your repairs and maintenance down is probably your big thing. Profit margins are not huge in my opinion.”

As a consequence, having a loyal client base is not just something to feel good about; it is a crucial contributor to the company’s bottom line and its directors and staff are appreciative of their client’s on-going support.

A silver lining at present is the low diesel price, particularly with a fleet of trucks which consume about 35,000 to 75,000 litres of fuel a month, depending on the time of year.

I upgrade the post driver every four years as it gets a lot of wear and tear. It does a lot of work in very harsh conditions, all day every day. and getting further away, Des Gill Fencing is now travelling further to work.

A previous client even took the business up to Tarras to do a conversion, and it has recently secured conversions at Mataura and Mossburn.

The fencing gear has much improved during Des’s time in the industry. The less efficient postdriver he used when he first started out has now been replaced by the latest, cutting edge Fencepro post driver, offering versatility, durability, and a clean job.

Fencepro post drivers are designed specifically to handle the extremely difficult rocky conditions in the South Island, where every post must first have a pilot hole punched with a rock spike, otherwise the post would break up under the strain.

The sheer work rate of this type of fencing calls for a special type of machine, that can handle a lot of vibration every day, year after year.

“It’s very important to keep my gear in good order to eliminate any down time,” Des says. “I upgrade the post driver every four years as it gets a lot of wear and tear. It does a lot of work in very harsh conditions, all day every day.”

Des Gill Fencing guarantees all its workmanship and offers free quotes, and excellent customer service.

H 24/7

MOBILE SERVICE

PO BOX 315 MOSGIEL, dUNEDIN

477 7741 best under pressure

GROUP

Proud to support Des Gill Fencing

• Posts • Poles • Timber • Concrete troughs • General farm supplies

Invercargill Ph: 03 215 9738 Gore Ph: 03 208 9656

ww w.greats outhern.net.nz

A Fencepro post driver at work (top) and a post and four-rail fence (above) from Des Gill Fencing.

56 |

RURAL SERVICES » Valuation

Business Rural

The valuer’s role in selling a property John Sweeney ANZIV, SPINZ, Dip VFM, from PRP Fergusson Lockwood Ltd, Hamilton, details the role of the valuer and outlines the factors you should be considering if you are thinking of putting your property on the market.

A valuer’s role is to provide a fair market valuation or assessment of a farm as at the date of the inspection. This takes account of market conditions, such as how many buyers are cashed up or prepared with their bank manager to buy a farm for whatever millions of dollars they can afford to service etc.

So, valuers have to have a fairly sound knowledge of the productive capability and market demand for properties in particular areas.

Preparing a farm for sale is not a valuer’s role – it is normally up to the land agent to advise a farmer on presentation. A valuer can be called in to value a farm for all sorts of reasons. Such as: • A bank requiring a valuation for security purposes, to protect its loan ratio, or an assessment of the value against debt loading.

• The transfer of the asset to another family member or an equity partner.

• The death of the owner, and the estate trustees requiring an idea of what the farm is worth before it goes to the market.

• An owner who is considering selling and needs this information to help in the negotiation process.

• A purchaser who wants to go to a bank to arrange finance.

As you can see from the above scenario we would be looking at farms at their worst/best, good days and weather-wise when either snowing/ raining/windy or, hopefully, in sunshine .

Farms rely heavily on mother nature and their soils and levels of fertility and the management and husbandry skills of the farmer to perform.

If I were an agent helping a farmer market a farm, I would be prepared to offer this advice:

Farm Presentation

What would a prospective buyer be looking at (in order of priority)?

1: Standard of housing.

This used to be a low priority, but if you haven’t got a high standard of housing for staff and family, you are not thinking about their health and welfare.

Exterior painting, insulation, dwelling surrounds and garaging are all obvious things that need to be looked at.

2: Farm buildings

If it’s a dairy farm, cowshed compliance with dairy-company requirements needs to be right. If the shed is old and/or dated, its value can discount the value of the property. But it’s still important that it is operational, particularly with regard to water quality, local-body compliance on water use, milkcooling system, plant hygiene, and the provision of shed inspection reports for purchaser.

Details of associated yards, the disposal of effluent, and compliance issues on daily storage

Good health and maintaining liveweight gain in

Good health and maintaining liveweight gain in young stock is essential to their future productivity. young stock is essential to their future productivity.

Cattle Young Stock Block supports post-weaning growth in calves. The addition of a unique blend of essential oils improves growth rates by stimulating appetite, feed intake and nutrient digestion.

Tomake makesure sureyour youryoung young stock nutrients they To stock getget thethe nutrients they needcall call0800 0800287 287325.

325. need

and handling of effluent around the farm also need to be made available to potential buyers.

3. Fences and farm access

Security of stock is very important, so broken posts, broken wires, smashed gates are not a good look. Any needing attention should be repaired or replaced. Farm races, stock and vehicle access are also important items that need tidying up, either by grading or the application of metal/rock, especially around key stock-movement areas.

4. Condition of pastures, soil fertility The provision of regular soil tests (from a fertiliser company or farm adviser) to a prospective purchaser is important. These will give a clear idea of the farm’s overall fertility status, the amounts and types of fertiliser applied, and frequency.

The presence of weeds, such as ragwort, nodding thistles and thistles, is never a good look.

Attention to weeds, farm grazing management,and composition of pastures and/or crops are very important. There’s nothing worse than a poorly presented farm with crops struggling because they haven’t had the right fertiliser, or pastures struggling to keep up with stock demand.

5. Farm accounts

The provision of a set of farm working-accounts is very important, particularly for high-input farms and those producing a substantial amount of milksolids or meat. Being able to see the productive capacity and income-earning potential of a farm helps a would-be purchaser make a clear and concise decision about his/her ability to service farm debt, even if a buyer may be looking at changing the system.

If you are selling a dairy farm, obviously you should provide herd-test records to show the type of stock you have and their productive capabilities, particularly if you are selling the farm as a going concern with stock included.

It is also probably important to tell staff of your intention to put the farm on the market, and brief them fully on house inspections and shed inspections, and give them an opportunity to present the good side of the farm and, possibly, opportunities for them to be retained by the new owner.

6. Supplements to be left on the farm at

termination/purchase date Have a clear picture of what supplements and quality/type will be left on the farm at the termination or sale date. Also, of the amount and type of fertiliser you would be applying and when, and how much pasture would be closed or made available at the beginning of the contract.

Clear communication between vendor and purchaser over the movement of stock on or off the farm at the end is also worth thinking about to help create a smooth transaction for all parties.

Business Rural

RURAL SERVICES » Wayne Stevenson Contracting

| 57

Vintage machinery draws the crowds Peter Owen The Edendale Crank-Up – now an annual in the last week of January – has become Southland’s biggest event and the biggest vintage machinery show in New Zealand.

This year’s event – the 29th – drew more than 10,000 people from around the country. The event – run by the Edendale Vintage Machinery Club – has become a “must attend” for many Southlanders. As well as celebrating vintage vehicle and machinery, it is a meeting place.

The first crank-up, on a local farm in 1986, had 25 tractors and other machinery on public display.

The event shifted to the Edendale Recreation Grounds in January 1988 and now incorporates all available space there, plus five paddocks of the adjacent Fonterra farm.

It became a weekend event in 2002, starting on the Friday night with a street parade and ending on Sunday afternoon.

This year, 2016, there were hundreds of entries of vintage tractors and machinery, vintage cars, stationary motors, motorbikes, and a vast array of machinery, equipment and crafts (some operating, others on display).

This year’s crank up celebrated the contribution the Ferguson tractor has made to farming in New Zealand, and profiled Italian motor cars.

Entertainment included celebrity events, marching girls, country music, vintage shearing, working displays, children’s entertainment, and craft and food stalls.

The Mataura Lawnmower Racing Club ran several of races. This form of sport began with standard reel mowers without blades, and has progressed to specially designed racing lawn mowers.

Crank-Up is a real community event, with community groups all pitching in to help the Edendale Vintage Machinery Club on its big weekend.

More than 10,000 people attended the annual Edendale Crank-Up, run by the Edendale Vintage Machinery Club. This year’s entries included vintage tractors and trucks, motorbikes and a vast array of vintage machinery, equipment and crafts.

Machinery runs in contractor’s blood Russell Fredric Wayne Stevenson has made both a career and a hobby out of operating and collecting machinery.

As the owner of his namesake business, R W Stevenson Contracting 1998 Ltd, Milton, his pride and passion for machinery shows in the quality of his work, which has been one of the reasons many of his clients have remained loyal, despite the sometimes strong competition from other contractors.

As a contractor based in a rural Otago town, much of his work is intrinsically linked to the farming sector, whether it is making silage pits, dairy conversion site preparation, lane maintenance, drainage work or anything needing a digger, truck or grader.

While the strong rural link means there presently is not an overflow of work, it was the reason for the business becoming well-established after its inception in 1991.

“It was pretty quiet for a start, but once the dairy conversions started it just boomed from there,” Wayne Stevenson says.

R W Stevenson Contracting operates a 14-tonne Caterpillar 312D digger, which is supported by a truck and a 1962 Caterpillar grader; an item of equipment in which, for Wayne, age is no obstacle.

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever bought for building roads and tidying up farm lanes.”

“I’ve probably done more than half of the dairy conversions in the area.”

R W Stevenson Contracting is one of the preferred contractors for the Otago District Council.

Late last year the company gained a contract

from the council which involves cleaning about 140 kilometres of drains and waterways in the Tokomariro catchment.

“Most of the farmers wanted me to do the contract because I do a neat job.”

The council contract is particularly timely for his business considering Wayne’s economic outlook for the rural sector.

“I think that by this time next year, there will be a lot of people hurting.”

Starting a contracting business was a logical choice for Wayne because of his long-held passion for machinery; he owns a collection of vintage tractors and bulldozers which he has built up since he was a teenager.

“I’ve always been keen on machinery; that’s why I’ve got about 20 vintage tractors. I was 15 when I bought my first old tractor.”

“In my line of business I got quite a few on my travels, on different farms lying around.”

The pride and joy of his collection is an 1860s six horsepower McLaren traction engine.

He believes it is the oldest complete traction engine of its type in New Zealand, but when he aqcuired it after buying the family farm at Waihola, there was a small problem.

“It had a tree growing through it, so I had to cut that out and bought it home (to Milton).”

Although it is complete, Wayne believes it could cost about $250,000 to fully restore it, a job which will likely be left until retirement.

Until then Wayne Stevenson will continue to do what he does best while relying on his simple, but successful, approach; providing a high standard of service and workmanship to his clients at reasonable rates in order to attract repeat business.

I’ve always been keen on machinery; that’s why I’ve got about 20 vintage tractors. I was 15 when I bought my first old tractor.

In my line of business I got quite a few on my travels, on different farms lying around.

Business Advisors & Chartered Accountants Contact Lee McAuslan or Stephen Kornyei 17-19 John Street, Balclutha.

Balclutha (03) 418 1256 Milton (03) 417 8588 Email adviser@haymake.co.nz

Proud to be associated with Wayne Stevenson Contracting

58 |

HYGIENE » Ministry of Primary Production At Cool Air we pride ourselves on being

innovative and keeping up to date with the latest farm technologies

We can design the most cost effective solution for your farm whether it be 100 head to 1000 + We supply, install and service milk silo

refrigeration, milk silos, water chill plants and heat recovery systems

Business Rural

New milk cooling requirements

24-hour emergency breakdown service,

installation, maintenance and servicing of milk silo refrigeration units

w.coolair.nz

Please visit our website ww

Office: 03 684 8034 | Mobile: 027 4399 408 | Email: info@coolair.nz 6B King Street, Timaru 7910 | PO Box 825, Timaru 7940

FOR COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL REFRIGERATION AND AIR CONDITIONING

Milk Vat & Milk Cooling Systems Warm & Hot Water Heat Recovery Heating System Design • 24 Hour Service Preventative Maintenance • Equipment Supply ACTIVE REFRIGERATION LTD - 11 Lunns Road, Christchurch P. 03 339 2617 E. info@activerefrig.co.nz www.activerefrigeration.co.nz

New milk cooling standards on cooling requirements for milk well be introduced gradually over the next 18 months. The new rules will take effect on August 1, 2016 for new farm dairies or dairies making significant changes to their refrigeration systems, and from June1 1, 2018 for other farm dairies.

The new standards will require raw milk to be cooled to 10ºC or below within four hours from the start of milking; cooled to 6ºC or below within six hours from the start of milking or two hours from the completion of milking (whichever occurs first).

Raw milk must also be held at or below 6ºC without freezing until collection or the next milking, and its temperature must not exceed 10ºC during subsequent milkings.

Where there is continuous or extended milking, such as with robotic milking systems, the milk must enter the bulk milk tank at 6°C or below. Continuous or extended milking is defined as “milking for six hours or longer from the time milk first enters any bulk milk tank”.

The current cooling standard requires milk to be cooled to 7ºC or below within three hours of the completion of milking.

This standard has proved sufficient for the traditional range of dairy products manufactured.

However, as herd sizes have grown and farming systems have become more varied, standard milking times have become longer.

The Ministry of Primary Industry is recommending that farmers consult their dairy company, refrigeration-service provider, farm-dairy assessor and the EECA website before committing to capital expenditure.

A ministry spokesperson says it will be working with Federated Farmers, dairy companies and

Raw milk must be held at or below 6 degrees without freezing until collection. other organisations to provide information to assist farmers affected by the changes.

The likelihood of a new milk-cooling regime was flagged by the MPI in 2013. Farmers were given long transition period to help those thinking of upgrading their milk-cooling system.

Dairy companies have also helped farmers understand the likely impact of the new cooling requirements.

TM

Specialist Refrigeration Equipment

COOLSENSE VARI-COOLTM On Farm Milk Chilling

SPECIAL OFFER

Call now to discuss our exciting new finance options.

Expense the monthly cost and let the power savings pay for your Vari-COOL!

Features on the New Vari-COOLTM include: • Snap Chilling • Variable Output Kilowattage • High Grade Hot Water Heat Recovery • Packaged Turn Key System • Product Temperature Data Backup • Built in Web based Remote Connection • Guaranteed Fast Payback

Contact: Matt Cammock P +64 (0) 3 374 3437

E

M +64 (0) 21 633 583

W www.southfreezedairy.co.nz

southfreezedairy@gmail.com

Business Rural

RURAL SERVICES » Succession Planning/Health & Safety

| 59

Succession: sharpen the axe Succession planning in the rural sector is one of the most talked about, reported on, researched issues in farming. Yet, year after year, it remains an issue.

The word succession implies ownership transfer to the kids, with mum and dad pursuing other interests or retiring. It’s an intriguing concept. Why remove the experience and historical knowledge from the farm?

The flip side is: Does your son/daughter have the skills to develop someone else’s business?

Why do we always start with looking at how to transfer ownership? In reality, if the management hasn’t evolved and governance isn’t in place, what value are you transferring?

New Zealand is among the best in the world at farming, but are we among the best at managing our farming business? We put farming practice, business management, governance and succession into individual compartments as if they are mutually exclusive; we pull the most applicable aspect out when we think we need it, if at all. To ensure we continue to build prosperity in New Zealand farming, we need to learn how to integrate the past with present capability, and plan for potential.

The best place to start succession is with management, not ownership.

Management is: the act or art of managing, conducting or supervising something (as a business); judicious use of means to accomplish an end; the collective body of those who manage or direct an enterprise.

•Means to accomplish an end What “end” is in mind? What are the goals for your business, family and future generations? Are you creating an asset for your grandchildren and their grandchildren? Or do you just want to sell up and have a blinder of a retirement.

There are no right or wrong answers, but it’s good to have an idea of where you want to go and at experiences you would like your family and business to have along the way. Establishing goals takes energy, honesty and understanding, and it’s best to have someone else facilitate this process – that person will be able to ask the questions that need answers but which you don’t want to ask. At this stage, the main purpose of a facilitator should be to help you establish your goals, not how to achieve them.

It’s best to use someone who doesn’t know too much about your business/family or the personalities within it. The intent is to work out what you all really want, and communicate this and help you understand this as a family.

This is the hard part because few people want to share their dreams and desires. But if there are six in your family, you can virtually guarantee there will be more than one dream/desire; once you know this, you can understand and make it work for all

Like a family heirloom, good or bad succession will be passed through generations. In may time in banking, I saw too many times where it had gone wrong and created terrible stress and, unnecessarily, divides in families. involved, rather than be forced to deal with it at a bad time.

RaboBank has a specialist who helps facilitate discussions in business planning – his sole purpose is to facilitate discussions so that families and individuals can understand what is wanted. He listens and leads everyone to have their say, and provides a detailed report.

This person recalls one case where the parents discussed how badly their parents had completed succession, and they didn’t want their kids saying the same about them. The only problem was they were doing just what their parents did, but expected a different outcome.

•The collective body of those who manage and direct an enterprise There is no greater collective body than a family. There is also no greater dysfunctional body than a divided family running a business without guidelines. Once the goals are understood, the process moves to outlining the “rules of engagement” for making decisions, such as meetings and individual roles.

Outline descriptions of responsibilities for each person. You may have a few passive “benefactors” but that doesn’t mean they don’t care about what happens in the business, and they still have a role, albeit small. Dad might step down from running things day to day, but works on projects, he gets the run-off up to what he always wanted, or gets the new shed built to perfect specs on Farm 2.

The rules will not remove conflict, disagreements or challenge to the status quo, nor should they, as individuals will have different ideas. But you need a framework that helps guide you through these moments, helps make them

Writer Julia Jones has a background in rural banking and now works as a farm enterprise specialist for KPMG in Hamilton. constructive and, most importantly, allows the family to still be a family.

The last generation were entrepreneurs who got things to where they are now; the next generation’s role is to manage and create a business for the subsequent generation to work on. This is a lot of work, but as Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree – I will spend four sharpening the axe”.

A group I dealt with changed their business structure to make it more tax effective, thinking this would also take care of the succession thing, but that didn’t take into account the business’s other needs, such as the ability to lend to grow. Yes, the owners would have a tax-effective structure, but if the business wasn’t well managed and couldn’t grow, then tax probably wasn’t going to be a big concern anyway.

It’s not about isolating focus, it’s about integration. There is no true succession without good management, and good management requires governance.

You will have nothing to manage if you can’t produce effectively, and future generations with have nothing to own if you don’t make it sustainable. Chances are that within your family,

there are strengths in all these areas; if not, bring expertise in to work within your rules of engagement with the family keeping control.

I heard of a situation where the succession plan was deemed effective, but the management and governance was not. The farm was heavily borrowed against for interests outside farming that didn’t work out, and no assets were left to pass to the next generation. None of this was done with ill intent, but with an absence of good governance – there were no controls and processes to assess the risks.

Like a family heirloom, good or bad succession will be passed through generations. In my time in banking, I saw too many times where it had gone wrong and created terrible stress and, unnecessarily, divides in families.

When I was discussing succession with a farmer one day, he said: “Don’t ask me about my family succession, it’s a mess.” Think about your farm and family.

Are you focused on ownership or management?

Have you created a structure that divides fairly if you die? Have you created the legacy of a sustainable business that will go on for generations?

Take care – avoid farm accidents

Al McCone

Agriculture programme manager Worksafe New Zealand Every time of the year always seems like a busy time for farmers across the country these days – there always seems to be a job of some sort that needs doing.

The tougher workload and the longer days also bring a higher risk of an injury or accident on the farm. Farmers and their employees are therefore usually flat out and additional seasonal workers may have been taken on to help.

Apart from the tragedy of a serious injury or death, being laid up with an injury or having staff off work can hit productivity and income.

Many people are hurt by cattle each year, mostly by kicking or crushing. While children and inexperienced people are most at risk, experienced farmers can also be injured or killed.

Incidents often happen when people are doing the routine tasks they have done many times.

Before you or others begin on any job on the farm, you should stop and consider what you need

Al McCone, Worksafe New Zealand’s agriculture programme manager to watch out for and how you can complete it safely.”

Changing the way you’ve always done things can be daunting, but many of the concerns

being raised by farmers are fuelled by myths and misconceptions around health and safety.

We do hear concerns that health and safety processes mean more paperwork or a visit from an inspector which will always just result in a fine or prosecution. The reality is very different. An inspector isn’t there to tell you how to farm but to help you recognise and manage risks that may cause injury to you, your family, your staff or your visitors.

It’s a good idea to have a written list of risks and hazards, and how you’re going to manage them.

You’ll need to put a bit of time into setting that up but it doesn’t need to be complex. You just need to clearly identify where people can be injured on your farm, set out sensible steps to manage these risks and communicate them to your team. Involving the team is crucial to successfully managing risk.”

Mark Johnson, farm business manager for Landcorp’s Sweetwater Station, near Kaitaia, reviewed health and safety approaches across the four farm dairy operation after hearing Wiremu Edmonds speak at a Landcorp conference about the loss of his son in a forestry accident.

The farm now has a practical health and safety policy, including measures around hazard assessment and people working alone.

But Mark wanted strong buy-in from his team.

“We felt people saw me as the ‘overseer’ imposing health and safety compliance,” he says.

“So we called a ‘no blame’ meeting.

“I talked about how we all work together and know each other’s families and everyone has a responsibility to call people out if they see them doing things that aren’t safe. I asked them outright to call out colleagues there and then.

“No one said a word. I said I had seen a few things I had up my sleeve but wanted to give them a chance first. Still silence.

“So I said ‘This is a free for all.’ I want you to tell your mates if they did something and you are calling them out because you care about their safety. Finally one guy stood up and described some unsafe behaviour he’d seen. Then everyone had something to say. That was the start of change.

“We agreed we were going to start calling people out and would take the approach that this

• To page 60

60 |

RURAL SERVICES » Health & Safety/Calect Electrical

Business Rural

Health and safety more than common sense • From page 59

Our job is to help you make good risk management practice a common event on your farm. Many farmers have indicated they know good health and safety is important but don’t know where to start. We want to help with that.”

How often have you heard at a farmers’ gathering ‘How could it happen? He’d been driving tractors for 30 years’, or ‘He’d grown up riding quad bikes.’ If we are going to address this unacceptable toll and its impact on the farming industry, there has to be a shift in mind-set from the ‘accidents will happen’ approach to one of ‘accidents don’t have to happen’.

This is about looking after yourself, your team and your business. Farmers embrace change all the time: New fertilisers, chemicals, feeds, machinery – all to address practical issues and boost productivity.

Good health and safety can be approached in the same way. It’s a critical part of a profitable farm.

By managing your farm’s legal health and safety obligations, you’ll also see improvements to your productivity – with fewer accidents and fewer staff sick days.”

• Everything you need to set up a health and safety plan is available on the Safer Farms website (www.saferfarms.org.nz) or as hard copies from 0800

wasn’t being a ‘nark’ but about wanting everyone to go home safely.”

Another major misconception is that farming is inherently dangerous and that health and safety is ‘just common sense’.

One hundred and twenty people have died in farming accidents in New Zealand since 2008 – more than any other industry – and 220,000 work days are lost each year due to farmrelated incidents. Most of those accidents were preventable.

If health and safety was really just common sense, and if common sense was really common, then we would not have the accident and death rates that we do.

Good health and safety needs to be based on more than just common sense and good farmers manage risk by placing the same priority on health and safety as on other production decisions.

There has to be a shift in mind-set from 'accidents will happen' approach.

The risk of injuries and accidents on farms rises at the busiest times of the year.

Electrical firm looks at solar systems for dairy sheds well and quickly so that the farm can continue to operate.”

Calum has concerns about the future of the electrical industry, particularly about the perspectives many high-school careers advisers and teachers have on the trades generally.

“Often teachers tend to think that those below a university-level intelligence can consider the trades as an option yet the kind of work we do is highly evolved scientifically and technically. Electrical apprentices need as minimum, NCEA level 2 maths, science and English to be able to do the work.”

He remembers that in Helen Clark’s time as prime minister there was a massive amount of funding steered towards modern apprenticeships.

Now he is worried about the future of the industry given that there are fewer and fewer traderelated pathways.

Despite the tougher times affecting the dairy sector, Calum Reid says he is still busy pricing jobs.

His firm’s dairy-shed maintenance programmes involve about 80 farms from just south of Timaru through to south of Oamaru and west to Twizel.

Working out how to install electrical hardware effectively and in a way that makes it accessible for subsequent servicing has been an evolutionary challenge for Calect Electrical.

“We’re often working in really physically challenging spaces to put the electrical hardware in with a view not only to suit the way the farmer works in the shed, but also the ease with which we can get in to do regular servicing and any repair work.”

Calum is also keen to see his staff develop professionally. Such is the rate of change and innovation in the world of electrical engineering that

Sue Russell Calum Reid has worked hard to expand his business from the humble beginnings of a one-man operation to become the largest electrical firm servicing the Waitaki Basin and Mackenzie district.

Calect Electrical has been based in Kurow since 1993.

He is in charge of a company that employs 12 staff, including two apprentices. For Calum, the ability of his staff to operate to work independently is a core factor for the business.

“When I started, dairy farming in the Waitaki Valley was minimal.” he recalls. “ got involved in the rural sector initially doing farm power stations, but with the dairy boom, the focus has hugely shifted to the point where we now look after 70-80 dairy farms.”

While Calect Electrical offers a full set of electrical services spanning the domestic and farming sectors, the bulk of the firm’s work is connected with on-farm power supply and maintenance.

The backbone of the work is the preventative maintenance programmes the company offers.

Dairy-system servicing options cover Protrack, temperature sensors, heat-recovery, effluent irrigation, generators and UPS back-up power supply units to safeguard computer software and data in power cuts.

“We also specialise in designing, installing and maintaining pump irrigation systems,”says Calum.

“In the area we work in, the landforms are often elevated and pumping water is an absolute essential process. Any breakdowns have to be repaired

• Irrigation Installation • Dairy Shed Installation • Dairy Shed Maintenance

• Dairy Shed Power Efficiency • Master Electrician • Eco Smart Company

Calum Reid- Registered Electrical Inspector 40 Bledisloe St, Kurow PO Box 75 Kurow 9446 4 Regina Lane, Oamaru Ph: 0800 360 063 Mob: 0274 368 700 Fax: (03) 436 0053 E-mail: calum@calect.co.nz

www.calect.co.nz

MASTER electricians

Calect Electrical managing director Calum Reid is looking at solar energy systems for milking sheds in tandem with a specialised solar energy business in Wellington. continuing professional development and upskilling on innovations is a fact of life.

Health and safety has become a significant issue within the industry as a whole, and with the help of a business manager from Auckland who visits each month, the firm has developed an in-depth modulebased programme for staff.

The company has also begun selling security alarm systems, and in tandem with a specialised solar-energy firm in Wellington, is looking at solarenergy systems for milking sheds..

“When you start to look at the ongoing savings possible by harnessing solar energy produced from the dairy-shed roof, the initial capital investment more than stacks up economically,” says Calum Reid.

He has on-call staff available around the clock to service his customers’ electrical repair needs.

“We always prioritise repair jobs and have the capacity with our fleet of fully equipped vehicles to respond in the shortest possible time.”

Electric Motor Specialists Supplies, Rewinding & Servicing Ph/Fax: (03) 455 5757 Mob: 027 555 7568 Mob: 027 555 7580 Email: roscoesrewinds@gmail.com 70A Fox Street, South Dunedin 9012

WATER » Waimakariri Irrigation

Business Rural

| 61

Irrigation project one step closer Jo Bailey Waimakariri Irrigation Ltd (WIL) has taken another step towards progressing its proposed $30 million storage pond, designed to improve the reliability of its North Canterbury irrigation scheme.

WIL general manager Brent Walton says a hearing at the Environment Court in August 2015 was adjourned so that the irrigation company, the group opposing the development, Ecan and WDC could re-evaulate their evidence against updated 2015 NZSOLD dam safety guidelines, which came out around the same time as the hearing.

“Engineers from each party have got together and basically nutted out where the main issues lie in terms of the explicit parameters released in the new guidelines. The peer review team also looked at issues not covered by the guidelines to make judgment calls.”

This exercise was completed late last year, with each party currently presenting its revised evidence to the Environment Court.

Brent expects there to be another hearing in the second quarter of the year.

“It has been a very drawn out process, but I’m absolutely confident of getting the storage facilities over the line. The community has a right to feel safe, and we believe this review demonstrates the dams have been appropriately designed.”

WIL was issued with a building consent for the project in 2013 and resource consent in 2014, which was appealed by an opposition group due to safety concerns.

The proposed 100-hectare, two-pond storage facility on the corner of Wrights Road and Dixons Road will hold 8.2 million cubic metres of water, increasing scheme reliability from current run-ofriver reliability of 73 per cent up to approximately 92 per cent.

... I’m absolutely confident of getting the storage facilities over the line.

Brent says the large-scale storage pond is a “strategic initiative” to ensure the reliability of the scheme and provide certainty to farmers.

“It should give farmers another 15 to 20 days of irrigation when the river is on full restrictions, which for most people will take them through the critical period. We desperately need to sort out reliability to reduce risk. Otherwise farmers naturally fall back into the habit of irrigating land just in case rather than just in time.”

This is particularly critical given the tight times facing the dairy industry, when every cost saving counts, he says.

“There are significant savings to be made when water is applied properly and farmers aren’t wasting a lot of money running pivots and doing repairs and maintenance. It also saves valuable nutrients, and reduces leaching which is good for the environment. It’s a win win.”

WIL is a cooperative company owned by around 200 farmer shareholders, located between the Waimakariri and Ashley Rivers covering a total catchment area of 44,000 hectares.

Each share entitles the irrigator to 0.075 litres of water per second per hectare, with shareholders holding an average of seven shares per hectare. .

WIL is consented to draw up to 10.7 cumecs of water from the Waimakariri River; along with 3.0 cumecs of Ngai Tahu water; and 2.1cumecs of Waimakariri District Council stock water.

Brent says there have been a few periods of restrictions on the scheme over summer but hasn’t been a bad season due to reasonable rainfall.

“We haven’t had the critical moisture deficits we’ve seen in other years.”

A new scheme-wide discharge consent has eliminated the need for farmers in the red and orange zones of the scheme to gain their own discharge consents, as long as they have completed farm management plans (FEPs) by September 2016, as required by the consent For some time WIL has provided assistance, including web-based resources to help all its farmer shareholders to streamline the FEP process.

It has also extended water and use efficiency and scheduling trials with NIWA and ReGen using a

combination of techniques looking at soil moisture monitoring, flow meter data, weather forecasting, and soil type; and has embarked on pump efficiency trials with EECA. “We are putting massive effort into actionbased solutions that will help farmers improve their practices and be more efficient, rather than getting wound up about Overseer and MGM numbers.

This approach combined with sorting out reliability and fixing up the irrigation systems will lead to more accurate scheduling of irrigation, significant environmental gains and cost savings. The numbers will come down by default.”

Congratulations Waimakariri Irrigation Ltd Damwatch Engineering Ltd is proud to support Waimakariri Irrigation Ltd in their development and management of irrigation projects in the region.

We are dam engineering and dam safety specialists – we have a track record of successfully designing and developing irrigation projects throughout the South Island. We can assist with option development and consents through to construction supervision and commissioning of your irrigation scheme.

Damwatch Engineering: from concept to “turning on the tap”.

Contact: Steve McInerney, Engineering Manager tel: 04 381 1300 email: info@damwatch.co.nz

!

/ 0

1

,

- . / !

/

"

#$## %&$'&() #$## *+&'(%)

62 |

WATER » Energy Systems Plus NZ

Business Rural

Irrigation unit boosts grass, Karen Phelps A New Zealand company has just released a new product to the market which, it says, will help farmers optimise the water on their farms resulting in benefits such as improved grass growth and stock health.

Michael Richards from Energy Systems Plus New Zealand (ESPNZ), the company that has developed the product, says that Our Rainmaker is a new energy transfer process, which electromagnetically charges water to enhance ionic processes (absorption) and raise the energy levels in biodynamic and metabolic functions of those that utilize the treated water.

The product is a low-energy device, which works by being installed in a tank water supply or clipped into a pipeline. It may be a bit of a stretch for many farmers to grasp the concept, as it is totally new to the New Zealand market, but Michael says the company has scientifically proved it works after conducting tests at Lincoln University with results showing 16% more grass growth against a control experiment.

Michael, an ex-dairy farmer, says ESPNZ is committed to developing products that work in harmony with nature. It’s something that is close to his heart after his own farming career came to an abrupt end when he was poisoned by the chemicals he was using on his farm.

His ill health caused him to reassess how farming was being undertaken in New Zealand. He began farm consulting then later bought a liquid fertiliser business, Liquid Spread, which he runs in conjunction with ESPNZ. When he was struggling to get the environmental improvements and the early return on investment he wanted for his clients he started to look for alternatives, which is where the seeds of the Our Rainmaker originated.

Our Rainmaker was developed in conjunction with Michael’s business partner Bob Greer, a radio engineer and electronic systems integrator.

Michael stresses the importance for farmers to look after what he calls the farm’s “underground livestock”, or the microorganisms that live in the soil.

“Soil is one third minerals, one third dirt and one third underground livestock. If the livestock is looked after the minerals required are significantly less saving farmers money.”

He says that by cleaning up and enhancing the electrical properties of the water, Our Rainmaker helps increase the efficiency and absorption of water, and subsequently the fertilizer, used on

Tests carried out by Lincoln University have shown a 16 per cent boost in grass growth against a control experiment using the new irrigation unit. the farm as well as providing the conditions for ‘underground livestock’ to thrive.

The results spread from the ground up. As percolation in soil/humus is improved with deeper root systems enhancing growth, resilience and drought resistance less nutrients are lost to leaching. By increasing soil biological activity more bacteria, fungi and earthworms result in healthier soil. This, in turn, helps increase plant energy for

We specialize in spray equipment for the Agricultural industry

ADVERTISING ADVERTISING IS GREAT GREAT IS FOR BUSINESS! FOR BUSINESS! Get new clients with regular

Get clients with regular printnew media print media Phone: 5500 Phone:0303983 983 5500 Fax: Fax:03 03983 9835552 5552

waterfordpress.co.nz waterfordpress.co.nz

acquiring water and nutrients by raising the cellular metabolism helping plants to reach their full genetic potential earlier, increasing size of plants/crops and extending their shelf life.

The benefits spread from further up the chain with fewer animals lost to disease and most gaining weight due to less pathogenic activity. The need for hormones and antibiotics is typically reduced.

Our Rainmaker has only just been released to the general market, but Michael says one customer with an iron problem in the farm water, where if a glass was left in the kitchen sink overnight it blackened, has already had clear water in just three days of using the product. A bonus is that the cost of running Our Rainmaker is less than a sidelight bulb on a Ute, says Michael. The system can also be powered by solar energy.

He believes Our Rainmaker can potentially save farmers 10-20 per cent of their irrigation water as well as help clean up New Zealand’s lakes and waterways. Our Rainmaker also has uses outside

I’ve seen the damage my generation has done to the land and with Our Rainmaker we’re trying to help turn that back. the agriculture industry, and ESPNZ has its sights set on the international market. But he believes the biggest hindrance to company growth will be the slow uptake of farmers to new technology. To help combat this factor, Our Rainmaker comes with a 100% money-back guarantee so that farmers have nothing to lose by giving the product a try.

“I’ve seen the damage my generation has done to the land and with Our Rainmaker we’re trying to help turn that back.”

Workshop: 313 8224 Fax: 313 8223

Forestry Road, Ashley Forest, Rangiora

YOUR ONE STOP SHOP FOR: • Farm Tractor/Implement Repairs • Heavy Equipment Repairs • Vehicle Repairs/WOF • Small Motor Repairs • All Accessories relating to above Repairs • Welding/Steel Fabrication work

Business Rural

WATER » Martin & Diane Cochrane/Energy Systems Plus NZ

stock health

| 63

Reliable water supply will “guarantee production” • From page 64 They have increased bull beef numbers again and currently carry around 430 rising one-year friesian bulls and 280 rising two-year bulls.

“We hope that with the water on board we’ll be able to finish about 600 head a year.”

For the last 13 years the Cochranes have provided dairy grazing for around 500 cows for a local farmer, and also grow 40 to 50 hectares of barley.

“Having a reliable water supply will take the major stresses out of farming in this area, and guarantee production with a bit of luck. Our river flats kill us in a dry year, but this will probably end up being our most productive land.”

The Cochranes are already well aware of the difference irrigation can make. They have been irrigating around 50ha of their farm via their consent to pump 35 litres/second from the Waihao River, which runs adjacent to their farm.

“We’ve had a water consent since the 1970s to pump water out of the Waihao River, but it’s not very reliable. When the flow gets under a certain level our supply is cut off and that’s usually when we need it most.”

Martin wasn’t previously a big fan of pivot irrigators, but has had a change of heart after putting his first variable-rate centre-pivot on the farm last year.

“It has opened my eyes to how efficient they are. We just push the button and away they go.

The variable-rate application is proving its worth as we’ve got three soil types in some areas of the farm, so can just put the water where it is needed.”

Martin and Diane’s daughter, Jess, gives them a hand on the farm, along with a tractor/digger driver.

wratt Fencing

If we can get water by the end of February, it will help the crops and do a bit of good leading up to winter.

It’s still going to be hard work, but farming always is.

“Jess has two degrees, so is a very highly qualified farm worker. She came back to look after the place while we went overseas for nine weeks, and enjoyed it so much she stayed on.”

The property has been in Diane’s family, the Elliots, since 1899 when they won it in a Ministry of Lands ballot.

The original 180ha block was a sheep farm when the Cochranes leased it from Diane’s family in 1990.

Since buying it in 1996, the couple have acquired a significant amount of neighbouring land, built up and sold a pig operation, and diversified into the current farming business.

Martin says a dairy conversion is still an option, but will probably be driven by the next generation.

In the meantime he and Diane are “pretty happy”, he says.

“If we can get water by the end of February, it will help the crops and do a bit of good leading up to winter. It’s still going to be hard work, but farming always is.”

For all fencing requirements both urban and rural - sheep/cattle/deer fencing - stock yards - pole sheds - 3.5 digger with augers and truck

Phone Jamie on • Mobile 021 493 377 • A/H 03 612 6099

A typical irrigation installation with a cow protector over the unit.

Proud to support Martin & Diane Cochrane

313 Lincoln Rd Addington Christchurch Phone: 03 338 3255 | Mobile: 021 395 320 Email: hillcars@es.co.nz www.syntheticoil.co.nz

New homes, renovations, farm buildings, dairy sheds & roofing Home phone/fax: 03 689 1354 Email: djbl@xtra.co.nz

Gorse Spraying Ross Brown Contracting Proud to have done weed control for the Cochranes for 26 years Please contact us | 027 481 9190

64 |

WATER: » Martin & Diane Cochrane

Business Rural

Couple take plunge in water scheme Jo Bailey Martin Cochrane says there were a few anxious moments before he and wife Diane decided to invest more than $3 million in the Waihao Downs Irrigation Scheme.

“It’s an awful lot of money and a massive investment for us. Were we going to watch the water go past our gate or grab it? In the end we decided to grab it.”

The $30 million project will pump water from

MARTY GREENE

Proud to support

Martin & Diane Cochrane

021 689 482

the neighbouring Morven Glenavy Ikawai (MGI) scheme’s main race, over the hills to the Waihao Downs area, which sits around halfway between Waimate and the Waitaki River.

The Cochranes are among 24 shareholders spending $9000 per hectare or “share”. They have signed up for 350 hectares out of the total 3300 hectares that will be irrigated by the scheme.

“We’ve been incredibly lucky MGI has helped to progress the scheme as it might not have happened otherwise. Gary Rooney, of Rooney Earthmoving, has done a terrific job of designing and building the project. It is likely to be finished a year ahead of schedule and under budget which is pretty unheard of.”

Martin and Diane run a bull beef, dairy grazing and cropping operation on their long, narrow 438-hectare farm, which has around 200ha of flat, terraced riverbed country, with the balance clay downs rolling country.

“A couple of years ago when we found out a reliable water supply was coming, we seriously considered converting the farm to dairying, and were pretty keen on setting up a high-tech robotic milking operation,” he says.

In anticipation of a possible dairy conversion, the Cochranes sold up their kelso sheep, invested in new tracks and improved fencing and scaled down their bull beef operation.

But after getting lots of expert advice, and crunching the numbers, a conversion didn’t stack up under the current market conditions.

“We were pretty disappointed, but are pleased now we didn’t go down that road," he says.

"Although it will be tight, the irrigation development will still pay for itself based on our conventional farming model.”

• To page 63

PHOTOS: Irrigation guns form a rainbow on the riverside flats of the Cochrane farm (top). The mainline ditch in preparation for irrigation pipes.

LIMITED

• Pivots, Laterals, Pumps, PVC & all Associated Equipment • Experience, Innovation & Skill • South Island Wide

Irrigation System Design & Installation Centre Pivot & Lateral Irrigators K Line, Long Lateral & Solid Set Sprinkler Systems Submersible & Surface Pumps Water Meters, Data Loggers & Telemetry Self Cleaning & Riverscreens Polythene & PVC Pipe & Fittings Service & Repairs to all irrigation products

Grafton Irrigation (2005) Ltd

0800 ZIMMATIC

STRENGTH TO GROW ON

YOUR ZIMMATIC IMPORTER & DISTRIBUTOR

25 McNally St Ashburton Ph 03 307 2027 81 Hilton Highway Timaru Ph 03 688 7042 9 Rogers St Cromwell Ph 03 445 4200

44 Rothwell St Redruth, Timaru Phone 03 687 1234 Freephone 0800 472 3866