Business Rural South Spring 2015

Spring 2015

www.waterfordpress.co.nz

New name rolls into rural NZ Group managing director Craig Carr says the launch of the new Carrfields business is an ‘exciting time’ for everyone involved.

• More on page 56.

INSIDE

The fine art of a Central pinot - PAGE 12

A passion for advocacy - PAGE 19

Southern transport firm expands - PAGE 34

Make the most of rural professionals - PAGE 49

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

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RURAL SCIENCE » Southland Grain & Seed

Business Rural

More than 60 varieties of ryegrass have been trialled by Southland Grain and Seed to evaluate yield and persistency of grasses.

Ryegrasses put to independent test Kelly Deeks Southland Grain and Seed has been trialling more than 60 varieties of ryegrasses to see how they perform on high- and low-analysis fertiliser plots, to evaluate yields and persistency of grasses.

Director Kevin Kubala says Southland Grain and Seed is the first company to do a completely

independent trial of almost all the ryegrass varieties on the market.

While seed manufacturers’ suppliers complete their own trials, the results published in their pamphlets will invariably claim their varieties are the best, he says.

“Our trials are completely independent, and provide accurate information so that I can get all the very best products out to my farmer clients.”

DLF Seeds, the world’s largest grass and clover seed Company, is right at home right here in Southland. DLF Seeds is proud to be a valued supplier of grass, clover and fodder beet seed to Southland Grain & Seed Ltd. For more information please contact Ken Johnston on 029 201 0075

PUBLISHER James Lynch Ph: 03 983 5500 | Email: james@waterfordpress.co.nz EDITOR Dion Crooks Ph: 03 983 5505 | Email: dion@waterfordpress.co.nz

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The trials are being done in Southland to evaluate which grass varieties can handle the tough conditions in the area.

Every month the grass plots are cut and weighed, and the data is then sorted to show the performance of each grass in each month, year round.

The results of the trials have been interesting to say the least, says Kubala. “We have found that just by choosing the right grass type, you can increase your production by up to 30 per cent,” he says.

The yield of perennial diploid grasses on high analysis fertiliser (urea) plots in the trials increased by 20%, and that of the tetraploid perennial and Italian ryegrasses increased by 25%.

“The most interesting thing was that we had a terribly wet spring last year and the increase was 50% .”

Kubala says it was also interesting that in the trials, italian ryegrasses crossed with perennial grasses consistently outperformed almost all of the italian grasses in spring, summer and autumn.

Top-performing perennial ryegrasses included new technology that produces low-aftermath heading cultivars, which give more grass, retain

more leaf, and produce fewer seed heads in early summer.

Many older grass varieties performed poorly in the trials, says Kubala, Nui ryegrass for example.

“Most farmers look for is the persistency of grass cultivars,” he says. “Out of 33 perennial diploid varieties, only seven showed distinctive persistent traits – all were fine-leaf varieties.”

Similar findings were found with tetraploid varieties.

Southland Grain and Seed’s next big trial is on mixed grass varieties, with the aim of achieving a gain in yield and persistency that will benefit farmers.

Kubala says that as an independent company, Southland Grain and Seed is in a position to get its hands on particular varieties which larger companies don’t deal in. The high yielding Magnum oats is an example. “That has been a big plus. I’ll deal with anyone who has a good product.”

The company is also a supplier of AGPRO DIRECT agricultural chemicals, which include sprays for pasture weed control, glyphosate, and grain, brassicas, and beets, with the objective of supporting production.

ART DEPARTMENT Samantha Stuart, Michael Parker, Liki Udam, Anton Gray, Mike Perry, Jessica Ann. Ph: 03 983 5560 | Email: art@waterfordpress.co.nz OFFICE / ACCOUNTS Helen Bourne, Jill Holland Ph: 03 983 5500 | Email: helen@waterfordpress.co.nz

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Spring 2015

www.waterfordpress.co.nz

New name rolls into rural NZ Group managing director Craig Carr says the launch of the new Carrfields business is an ‘exciting time’ for everyone involved.

• More on page 56.

INSIDE

The fine art of a Central pinot - PAGE 12

A passion for advocacy - PAGE 19

Southern transport firm expands - PAGE 34

Make the most of rural professionals - PAGE 49

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

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RURAL SCIENCE » Baker No-Tillage Ltd

Business Rural

|3

No-tillage sowing a game changer Neil Grant “Food production is the single most important thing mankind is coming to grips with, says no-tillage pioneer John Baker. “It is becoming unsustainable under tillage, which is the most inorganic thing you can do to soil.”

Baker is no wild-eyed fanatic – he is an engineer, after all. He presents calm and reasoned evidence for the claims he makes, and the decades of energy he has put into improving farming practice.

In 1967, Baker was lecturing at Massey University and looking for a PhD project. His supervisor, Mervyn Cross, was looking at how to sow grass seeds in fragile, central North Island soils without cultivation, There were two problems – the competition new grasses faced from existing plants – and getting the new seeds to establish.

So, Baker had a topic for his study – improving no-tillage seed drills.

Paraquat killed the existing plants and was deactivated by the soil. But it was highly poisonous, has no known antidote, and kills only above-ground vegetation. Then Roundup, invented by Monsanto, proved relatively non-toxic, translocated into plant roots, and was deactivated by the soil.

“This was the breakthrough,” he says. “There are objections to it because of people’s hatred of Monsanto. It is true they did some dumb things (as well as good things) with their genetic engineering, but the reality is that Roundup may be the most important chemical ever invented. There is no evidence it is bad for the environment at normal application rates. On the contrary, there is strong evidence it is cumulatively beneficial. Some people have found evidence of it in groundwater, but if you went looking for toothpaste in groundwater, you’d probably find that, too.

Baker credits his early progress to Massey University, which had farm-machinery experts rubbing shoulders with agronomy and soil experts.

He reckons most machinery groups are located in engineering schools, but claims that unless someone can tell you what biological function a piece of equipment is required to achieve, you may be wasting your time.

“The plough’s biological function is to kill weeds. Early no-tillage sometimes failed, so I set out to find what would make seeds germinate. If I could find the biological reasons, I could do the engineering.”

For 20-odd years, and with the help of 27 graduate students, he worked on improving drilling equipment to fulfil seeds’ biological requirements, satisfy the ideals of no-tillage, and be sufficiently

The

CROSS SLOT No-Tillage Seed Drill

R

No-tillage pioneer John Baker with one of his Cross Slot seed drills in Australia. fail-safe that farmers, a conservative bunch of people, would see its advantages. The Baker Cross Slot low-disturbance, no-tillage seed drill is the result.

The Cross Slot opener looks like an inverted capital T. The latest version is, in fact, more like two capital Ls back to back, with a disc between them.

The idea is that the drill is pulled through the soil, opening a vertical slot, and the arms of the Ls form horizontal slots on each side. Seed goes onto the horizontal shelf on one side and fertiliser onto the other. As the machine passes, it closes the soil andresidue mulch over the slot.

There were four key pieces of science, Baker says.

First, was to get all seeds to germinate. In undisturbed soil, particles have films of water and pore spaces are at 100 per cent humidity. Ploughing or vertical slots disturb this and allow the humidity to escape. Cross Slot slots trap it, so farmers no longer get germination failures.

The next thing was to get fertiliser into the soil without burning the seed. The horizontal slots get nitrogen and phosphorus (plus anything else thought desirable) in, but not too close to the seed.

The third item concerned the need for the drill to be able to sow arable crops through crop stubble as well as pasture, so as to get carbon back into the soil.

“Residues have proved most important. Burning stubble is dumb. A farmer spends money growing a

No tillage versus the plough Neil Grant You cannot beat a good controversy, especially one that pits a modern idea against something that has been held true since the beginning of time.

If the new idea is a New Zealand invention, the controversy is likely to gain considerable traction in this country.

The plough in one form or another has been about in agriculture for most of recorded history.

Turning over the upper layer of soil, supposedly to bring nutrients up and put weeds down, has until recently been regarded as nothing more than common sense.

Tillage, by the traditional method, involved ploughing, discing, harrowing, then planting. This was supposed to loosen the soil so that water and oxygen could get to where the seeds are.

In the 1940s, some people started

questioning the method, citing compaction of the lower layers, loss of organic matter, the death or destruction of soil microbes and other organisms like earthworms, and soil erosion when the top layer is blown or washed away.

After World War 2, the development of “non-residual” herbicides led to researchers and farmers in various parts of the world trying out the idea of no-tillage.

No-tillage leaves crop residues and soil organisms at the surface. Sowing and fertilising are completed with little soil disturbance.

The method reduces labour, irrigation, erosion and soil degradation. It increases organic or carbon matter in the soil and maintains higher moisture levels.

For a couple of decades, no-tillage remained the realm of enthusiasts. By the 1970s, a number of factors, including improved, less-poisonous herbicides and smarter machinery, saw an uptake more into mainstream farming.

• To page 4 Phone: 03 315 6305 Mobile: 027 222 4464 Email: andrew.helen@amuri.net

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RURAL SCIENCE » Andrew Miller

Business Rural

Andrew a big fodder-beet fan Sue Russell There’s a simple way Outram dairy farmer Andrew Miller describes his family’s journey farming in the district south of Dunedin: “We’ve been farming here since we got off the boat.”

He sharemilks on the family farm and one of his earliest memories is riding on a wee Massey Fergy 35, knocking out mangolds mangold (a beet with a large yellowish root, grown mainly as cattle feed) with his father and uncle.

“Mangolds have been used here since at least the early 1900s and they have never really gone away,” Andrew Miller says.

His association with and respect for fodder beet as a serious food option for stock has continued to evolve through his farming career. He now grows a substantial amount of the highly nutritious crop on part of the farm.

He came across the plant again in the mid1990s in Tasmania and remembers thinking then that it was “an interesting plant”.

He also remembers that on his return home, de did some early investigation into the species and carried a sense of ‘flying blind’ in terms of how to best manage the plant.

While literature on the crop said 9-13 tonne of dry matter per hectare could be achieved, he soon saw that at least double, and in exceptional circumstances, triple, this amount could be produced.

“I bought seed off John Thornton without understanding the growing of it, but that experience was valuable for me because it caused me to really study and figure out how best to use the crop from my own experiences of growing it.”

As his knowledge of how best to use the exceptional nutritional content of the plant grew,

Miller has come to rely on using a low dry-matter varietal “tweaking it here and there” as the primary supplement to grass for his milking herd.

Now, with years of “tweaking” under his belt, he has come to appreciate the feeding flexibility fodder beet offers.

“We can grow it for the stock to feed directly on, or we can lift it. It also has a huge grazing window.”

When used as a direct grazing feed, it is ideal for liveweight gains in late lactation, he says. “We feed up to five kilograms dry matter a day to the milking cows.”

He stresses the importance of introducing stock

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to beet gradually, allowing at least a two-week introduction period and making sure the total diet remains balanced for protein, fibre and minerals.

When attention is given to growing the plant in the optimum soil conditions at the correct time of year, the result is a highly palatable and extremely nutritious crop.

Andrew Miller pleased to see more and more interest in growing the ancient crop – so much so that an advisory network has been established to assist those new to growing fodder beet.

He describes it as very much a “ducks in a row crop”.

“I have tweaked some things and found it very, very difficult to repeat a result.”

This season he is calving 560 cows on the 200-hectare (effective) family farm.

His long-term plan is to harvest up to 40 tonnes of dry matter per hectare of fodder beet, though in this season’s budget, he has allowed for 26-tonne production.

“Beyond the flexibility of approach toward using differ beet, one of the reasons I’m so keen on this plant is that it has a high sugar content, which gives the cows a bit more energy. It’s also ideal for plugging any feed gaps.”

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This is the second winter Miller has sent his cows away to winter on fodder beet. When the stock returns to the farm he continues to feed out beet for the first three weeks.

To help him assess in real time the impact that feeding fodder beet has on cow condition and behaviour, he has planted the crop “within cooey of the cow-shed”.

Andrew Miller describes himself as “giving things a bit of a crack” when it comes to trying new practice on.

“I do get satisfaction from trying things out that I wouldn’t necessarily recommend to others to try.”

Getting carbon back into soil • From page 3

LIMITED TOTAL HARVESTING

PHOTOS – Above left: A farm worker holds lifted fodder beet on Andrew Miller’s Outram farm.

Above: A couple of Miller cows show what they think about a bite of fodder beet.

crop that could produce 20 tonnes of biomass per hectare, and in the process soaking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

The farmer could harvest 10 tonnes as grain, but will also have 10 tonnes of straw, stubble and roots left behind. Letting these decompose lets worms and other soil organisms put the carbon back into the soil, whereas ploughing or burning puts it into the atmosphere. Burning does it directly while the act of ploughing releases more carbon into the atmosphere from the soil than is gained by burying the residues.

“This was our biggest challenge,” says John Baker. “We spent several years trialling every imaginable way to make the tines handle residues.”

The breakthrough came by splitting the T into two Ls and putting a vertical disc between them, which slices through the residue.

The fourth piece of science was putting seed at a constant depth. Untilled soil has hollows and humps, and hard and soft patches. Springs cannot

deal with these adequately, so Baker’s drill uses electronically monitored hydraulic cylinders that measure the soil condition 10 times per second and adjust themselves three times a second.

“It is pretty much self-adjusting and low maintenance,” he says. “The only downsides are that it needs a big tractor, and is relatively expensive. But a simple analysis of increases in crop yield shows it is very cost-effective. A crop yield improvement of 1-2 per cent justifies it, but we regularly get 10 to 40% yield increases.

“In the mid-1990s, no-tillage sowing was used by about 4% of farms in New Zealand. Now it is 25%, and 20% of that is with our Cross Slot. It simply lifted the bar. We sell them in 18 countries, especially in New Zealand, Australia, North America and Europe.”

Now we get to saving the world.

Baker says that 85% of the world’s food comes from arable crops, but most arable soils are now almost devoid of organic matter.

“Soils might have been 6-10% humus when first broken in, but many are now 0.5-1%t. There is hardly any arable soil with more than 3% left

We spent several years trialling every imaginable way to make the tines handle residues. The breakthrough came by splitting the T into two Ls and putting a vertical disk between them, which slices through the residue.

RURAL PEOPLE » Macca Lodge

Business Rural

|5

PHOTOS – Left: Group One winning filly Arden’s Choice, by Macca Lodge sire Panpacificflight, with her West Otago owners after winning the Caduceus Club Fillies Classic in April, Right: The lush pastures of Macca Lodge near Riversdale in Northern Southland.

Winners flow from southern nursery Jo Bailey Diversity is the key to prospering in the standardbred breeding and racing industry, says Brent McIntyre, who, with wife Sheree, owns the Southland-based Macca Lodge.

“In this game you have to be able to adapt and have a finger in a lot of pies,” says Brent McIntyre says. “We continue to run our breeding and agistment operation, and now have Tony Stratford, a very good trainer, running our training barn.”

McIntyre says the move into training happened organically as he was “breeding too many horses”.

“Money is tight in the industry and stakes have dropped considerably, which has forced some people to stop breeding. But we’ve gone against the tide and increased the number of mares here in the last two years. Despite the Australians putting a tax on horses being exported over there, the end market is still good for nice horses.”

Having their own training barn at Macca Lodge means they can bring horses up themselves to race and sell, he says.

“We’re lucky we can do that. We have plenty of stock for Tony to work with, and also train for outside owners.”

Macca Lodge usually has around 30 horses in work at any one time, with up to 20 of those in the “race team”.

The latest success story to come out of the

McIntyre’s stable is Alabama Shakes, a two-yearold Changeover filly. She caught the eye of an Australian stable after winning a trial over a mile in an impressive time at Winton in December, and less than a month later, equalled the Australian record for a two-year-old filly for her new owners.

Progeny from Macca Lodge’s stallion, Panpacificflight – the first stallion Macca Lodge has stood in its own right – are also starting to make an impact.

Arden’s Choice last season recorded the second fastest time for a two-year-old filly in New Zealand, and finished first, second and third in her three Group 1 starts for owners John and Judy Stiven.

The frozen semen from the United States sire was acquired after completing a deal with his Amish owner, Jacob Miller, from Shipshewana in Indiana.

“We have become good friends with the Millers and have enjoyed their hospitality with three visits there, the last being to his daughter’s wedding,” says McIntyre. “The Amish still use horse drawn buggies, so it’s not surprising they are good with horses.’

Panpacificflight has serviced 20-30 mares a year in New Zealand, but McIntyre expects this number to increase now he has promising racing stock on the ground.

“He has left other winners and we have heaps of nice young three-year-olds coming up that we’re rapt with.”

Macca Lodge is also offering the frozen semen of Net Ten EOM, a son of US super-sire Somebeachsomewhere, which the lodge also offered to New Zealand breeders for a couple of seasons.

“Net Ten EOM is out of a world champion racemare which won more than $US2 million, so is royally bred,” says McIntyre.

“He is showing a lot of early promise as a sire in the US with a full book of mares. We will be putting all our own mares to Panpacificflight and Net Ten EOM this year and hope they will make their name in Australasia.”

With four full-time staff, Macca Lodge is one of the bigger standardbred operations in Southland.

It is an internationally regarded establishment for short or long-term boarding of broodmares, operates a 24-hour-watch foaling service, provides foal weaning and pre-training education, and is in demand as a resting and agistment base for standardbred and thoroughbred racehorses.

“At the moment we’ve got about 130 mares on the place. We still bring up young horses and break in about 60 a year.”

Brent McIntyre says he and Sheree are pleased that their son, Caine, has become a business partner in Macca Lodge.

“Caine has done the hard yards here. He’s a real all rounder and a very adept horseman, running the breeding barn, breaking in horses and helping Tony with the training.

a priority for food producers

“He’s going really well and we hope he will take over the stud one day.”

Horses have been a life-long passion for Brent, McIntyre, who says he gets a lot of pleasure out of the industry: “It can be challenging and there is little glamour, but it can be really rewarding and we get to meet some great people.”

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WAIPOUNAMU CONTRACTING LTD John Baker says his group’s technology gives a better yield and improves soils. in it. So, arable soils are going down but peoplenumbers are going up.

“We’re at a critical point where although we can now feed the world, the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organisation says that by 2050, we will need 70% more food than we now produce from the same area of soils.

“The most effective way of achieving and sustaining that will be getting carbon back into the soil to produce the food, and the only realistic way of doing that is by low-disturbance no tillage,” says Baker.

“Our group has developed the best way of doing that. In most cases, our technology gives a better yield from day one and the soil gets progressively better over time, not worse. We haven’t made a huge impact in the world market yet, but when the big boys feel threatened, they’ll come running.”

As the world grapples with global warming, caused largely by increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, and faces the need to feed an everincreasing population, Baker’s Cross Slot drills, developed and assembled at Feilding, may just be the answer.

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RURAL PEOPLE » Aad & Wilma van Leeuwen

Business Rural

Pioneering couple add 24 milk robots Jo Bailey Aad and Wilma van Leeuwen have continued to invest in robotic technology after building one of the world’s largest robotic dairies at Makikihi, in South Canterbury, last year.

In addition to the 24 DeLaval robots being used to milk around 1500 cows in their 13,000-squaremetre cowbarn, the van Leeuwens have invested in 24 new Lely Astronaut A4 milking robots for two of their other farms.

The pioneering couple were the first dairy farmers in New Zealand to introduce large-scale robotic farming.

They developed their first robotic shed back in 2008-09 to enable them to milk year round and prevent cows getting “knocked around” during the winter months, says Aad van Leeuwen.

“We thought that if we’re going to build a barn, we may as well put robots in. It worked well, so we built a second robotic dairy in 2010 before converting the 600-hectare farm at Makikihi and starting the big shed two years ago.”

Sixteen of the new robots will go into another development on the van Leeuwens’ home farm, with the other eight going into a dairy shed being upgraded across the road.

Around 500 cows will eventually be milked through each of the three smaller robotic farms, in addition to the “big shed”.

The van Leeuwens’ entire large-scale operation encompasses 12 farms and 12,000 cows.

Aad van Leeuwen is philosophical about making another big investment during the dairy downturn – there were similar market conditions back in 2008 when the couple first introduced the technology on their property.

“We’ve done it before, so it’s nothing new. Once we get the robots going, things will pick up again.”

• To page 8

Wilma and Aad van Leeuwen (right) with their son, Rodney, who manages the home farm, which has 16 Lely robots.

We thought if we’re going to build a barn we may as well put robots in. It worked well so we built a second robotic dairy in 2010, before converting the 600ha farm at Makikihi and starting the big shed two years ago.

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RURAL PEOPLE » Aad & Wilma van Leeuwen

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Business Rural

‘Huge’ gains from robotic system • From page 6 The Lely technology is imported from Holland, and the couple decided it was worth “taking a punt” and buying the equipment while the New Zealand dollar was high.

“When we installed the first robots, the dollar was worth around 37 cents, but it was around 65 cents when we bought the latest machines, which makes a whole lot of difference.”

After seven years using the technology, he says both his staff and the cows have adapted well.

“We quietly break the cows in and only have to push them into the milking stalls a few times before they get the idea. There are usually only a few lazy girls we have to persevere with.”

The cows decide when they eat, sleep, and are milked by the robots with hydraulic arms guided by optical cameras and dual lasers. They are enticed into the stalls by feed, which slowly trickles in.

He says the biggest advantage of the robotic system is the huge production gains, which are almost double at certain times of the year.

“The cows come to the robot an average of 2.7 to three times a day, with fresh cows up to four times a day and late-lactation cows between 1.8 and two 2 times.”

Information collected about each cow includes milk volumes, conductivity and weight. Cows that approach the robot but are not ready to be milked are rejected.

Rubber-floored stalls and lanes in the robotic dairy sheds make it more comfortable for the cows, which are housed 10 months of the year, going outside only during calving.

“Fresh concrete can do a lot of damage to the cows and it gets quite slippery after a while,” says Aad van Leeuwen. “Rubber is a lot kinder to them.”

The operation was on a premium with Fonterra, but this has come to an end, he says.

“With a bit of luck Oceania will progress its $400 million development project at Glenavy, and start paying a premium in years to come.’ van Leeuwen has farmed through many ups and downs but believes the latest downturn is more severe than most: “We’re lucky the banks have been pretty supportive of dairy farmers. If things turn around before Christmas, I think most of us will be all right, but not if it goes on for another year.

At the moment our focus is on sticking with what we’ve got and keeping costs down.”

He worries about the young contract milkers and sharemilkers who are having a “very hard time.”

“Our sharemilkers are OK at the moment, but we’re supporting various contract milkers in the hope of pulling them through. We don’t want to see good young farmers being lost to the industry.”

The biggest advantage is the huge production gains, which are almost double at certain times of the year.

The “big shed” (top) is 200 metres long, covers 13,000 square metres and houses 24 DeLaval robotic milkers. The jersey barn (above) has eight Lely robots

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RURAL PEOPLE » Jim & Sandra Andrew

Business Rural

|9

Once-a-day the ‘progressive way’ Karen Phelps Once-a-day milking could help benefit farmers in low pay-out years, believe Southland farmers Jim and Sandra Andrew who are keen advocates of the system: “Honestly, I don’t think twice-a-day farmers know what the benefits are,” says Jim Andrew.

“The original recommendations from Dairy NZ on once-a-day were based on Taranaki trials and showed it in a poor light.

“But the modern-day, once-a-day system has evolved as a completely different beast. A lot of once-a-day farmers are now exceeding production levels they achieved under twice-a-day with up to 26 per cent lower costs. Under a lower payout,

once-a-day benefits become even stronger.”

The Andrews both come from sheep-and-beef farms. Jim is originally from Wairarapa’s east coast and is a graduate of Massey University, while Sandra is from Castle Douglas, in Scotland and is a graduate of Dundee Art College.

They moved to Southland in 1991 when Jim took up an operations-manager role with Landcorp in the Te Anau basin while Sandra looked after their young family.

Jim later worked in rural banking for the Bank of New Zealand before the couple entered dairy farming through an equity partnership. They managed a 160-hectare farm between Winton and Lumsden for three years, milking 400 cows.

They then sold their share and bought a farm at Otautau; over 10 years they built it up to 650 cows

and bought their present farm at Dipton, which they set up as a dedicated once-a-day unit. They ran both farms for two years before selling the Otautau unit to focus on the Dipton property. They are now in their sixth season there.

The Andrews, who started dairying on a twicea-day system initially had to be convinced to give once-a-day a try. Now they say they would never go back.

“A once-a-day system is dynamic, it is profitable and doesn’t need a capital investment,” says Jim Andrew. “It is also challenging as you have only one chance a day to get things right, so your management has to be spot on.”

Their 497ha property (173ha leased) has a milking platform of 321ha on which they also grow 12ha of summer turnips and 42ha of fodder beet.

The herd of 800 predominantly jersey cows is split into two, with one herd milked in the morning and the other in the afternoon through the farm’s 40-a-side, twin-pit herringbone shed.

The Andrews are targeting around 400 kilograms of milksolids per cow after achieving 345kg last season. The farm is supported by a 78ha lease block at Waikaka, which is used as a replacement platform carrying around 200 heifers.

Jim Andrew cites numerous benefits of the once-a-day system, including cows lasting longer in the herd because of less stress, fewer empty cows, fewer replacement heifers required to be carried, fewer animal health issues, and (he hopes) greater environmental friendliness.

In addition, the cows don’t require as much feed during winter – about 20% less in the Andrews’ experience – as they are in better condition going

into the colder months. Mastitis is also not an issue.

“We’re not spreading bugs twice a day,” says Jim. Daughter Heather, 20, has just returned to manage the dairy unit – a source of pride for her parents. The farm has three full-time staff and Jim oversees all operations and the 160ha irrigation system. Sandra helps out when someone is absent from the shed and manages calf-rearing and colostrum cows.

Jim Andrew says if he were to have one frustration with once-a-day milking, it is the lack of commercially available bulls proven in once-a-day systems.

“LIC (Livestock Impovement Corporation) tells us that a good twice-a-day cow is a good once-a-day cow, which is rubbish,” he says.”A plan has been mooted by once-a-day farmers to have a national once-a-day, sire-testing scheme within once-a-day herds which will give us huge generational gains.”

The Andrews say that with once-a-day milking being relatively new in New Zealand, small changes can bring large gains and they are looking forward to developments.

“Around 3-5% of herds in New Zealand are oncea-day,” says Jim. “It sounds small, but because New Zealand has a large dairy industry, that’s a lot of cows.

“I think this figure is growing, but a lot of farmers still don’t see once-a-day as a progressive way of farming. We believe we’ve proven it is.

“The people involved in the once-a-day system are making enthusiastic leaps in productivity. We are happy to stay in farming for another 10 years or

PHOTOS – Left: JIm and Sandra Andrew’s daughter, Heather, has recently returned to manage the dairy unit on the Andrews’ Dipton farm. Above, left: Sandra and Jim Andrew with daughters Emma, Joyce and Heather. Above, right: A jersey-friesian-cross cow, one of a herd of 800 predominantly jerseys on the Andrew farm.

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10 |

WINE PEOPLE » Grape Vision

Business Rural

Vision grows Neil Grant

PHOTOS: Vineyard workers harvesting and pruning in Central Otago. Cromwell-based Grape Vision, a vineyard development and management company, employs 35 Kiwi workers supplemented by seasonal workers from Vanuatu. Grape Vision is responsible for developing new vineyards, managing young and mature vineyards, and providing consultancy.

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Central Otago is internationally known for its pinot noir wines, yet its vineyards produce less than five per cent of New Zealand’s total wine production. With 80 vineyards occupying less than 1800 hectares, most are quite small businesses.

Most are family-owned, while others are owned by companies. In either case, a few owners live overseas or elsewhere in New Zealand, so need someone else to do the work required.

Grape Vision is a vineyard development and management company based in Cromwell. Its three main functions are developing new vineyards, the management of young and mature vineyards, and vineyard consultancy services.

In 1992, South African viticulturist Robin Dicey arrived in Central Otago having left the kiwifruit industry in the Bay of Plenty, which he had found soul destroying. One of the originators of Mt Difficulty Estate, he recognised a lack of viticultural expertise and knowledge in the area, so ran a course for the Cromwell campus of Otago Polytechnic. Some people who had taken the course asked him to develop their vineyards for them, or just to give them advice. The result, in the late ‘90s, was Grape Vision.

Son James Dicey got involved in the business on his return from working in the United Kingdom.

“I’m a reformed chartered accountant,” he says. “I identified skills I had developed managing projects and budgets for clients were transferable to Robin’s business. I spent nine months in 2005 retraining at Lincoln University, gaining a Graduate Diploma in Viticulture and Oenology. I worked with Robin for four years at a practical level, then bought the business from him. Robin acts as advisory consultant.

“My university and technical training and skills don’t come close to his 40 years of growing grapes and fruit, so having that to call on is invaluable. It’s a huge advantage to me to bring me up to speed rapidly. He’s on tap, when and where I want it.”

Grape Vision’s full-time staff of 35 Kiwi employees is supplemented by seasonal workers from Vanuatu, who come under the government’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme via Seasonal Solutions Co-operative.

“This is a key to success in Central Otago wines.

It allows me to retain a highly skilled permanent Kiwi workforce and spend money on training them.

Some Vanuatans have come back year after year for up to 10 years, so work productively from day one. They are self-managing, very productive and reliable. After tourism, RSE is the largest income earner for Vanuatu. It enables those workers to pay for secondary education for their children and start their own businesses, having learned the ethics and systems we have here, rather than just subsistence farming.”

Grape Vision provides consultancy services covering site evaluation, climate assessment, through to budgeting. Staff can identify a bare bit of dirt for a client, do the preparation, irrigation and planting of suitable grapes, establish structures for the vines, and provide frost protection.

The firm can then manage the vineyard for absentee owners – which includes training, pruning, spraying, harvesting. and, if required brokering the sale of grapes to winemakers.

Some clients want all of these things, others just some.

“I enjoy my job. I’m my own boss, living or dying by the decisions I make,’ says James Dicey. “I answer to my clients and staff. The consequences of what happens is predicated on how good a job I do. That’s how I like it.”

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Business Rural

WINE PEOPLE » Grape Vision

| 11

in scope to consultancy I enjoy my job. I’m my own boss, living or dying by the decisions I make. I answer to my clients and staff.

The consequences of what happens is predicated on how good a job I do. That’s how I like it.

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12 |

WINE PEOPLE » Quartz Reef Wines

Business Rural

The fine art of making a classic Central pinot Neil Grant

Rudi Bauer: ‘Every year I am most proud of one wine, The following year, I am proud of another.’

Artists are drawn to strong landscapes. Central Otago painters like Douglas Badcock and Graeme Sydney, and poets like Brian Turner, are moulded by their surroundings, and express themselves in ways other people respond to.

Among recent artists in the region are the winemakers who have established themselves at Gibbston, Alexandra and the Cromwell basin. Their works are designed for consumption rather than lengthy contemplation, but producing a fine Central pinot noir requires no less artistic skill, creativity and flair than does a painting or a poem.

Visitors to Bendigo 20 years ago would see not much more than scabweed and rabbits infesting the land between the schist outcrops. Now, the flats and lower slopes have established vineyards providing a different texture to the land.

In the early 1990s, Rudi Bauer, an Austrian who had studied viticulture and winemaking in Austria, Germany, the United States west coast, France and New Zealand, took a gamble on this barren piece of land. Establishing that it had water to pump from below led to his planting the first vineyard in the area in 1998; Quartz Reef Wines.

It was a financial gamble. They had to bring power onto the site, find water, do the soil testing and climate checks.

“When we first planted, my business plan was to make sparkling wine, pinot noir and pinot gris,”

Bauer says. “I grew up with pinots in Europe, and Rolf Mills, of Rippon Vineyard, and others had established that pinot was the most consistent for Central Otago.

“Pinot noir and pinot gris are a brother-sister relationship, but we still did not know if it would fly.

So plan B was to make a sparkling as a back-up.

Luckily, it all worked. The land was better than I expected, but also more difficult to understand than I expected.”

The slopes have leaner soils, but lying to the sun they are warmer, so grapes ripen earlier and have more intensity. On the flat, the soils are richer and have higher yields.

The whole vineyard and business is based on an organic approach called biodynamics. This involves maintaining and enriching the land with natural compost, herbal teas and liquid manures rather than systemic sprays and industrial fertilisers.

“The key is to build up the lean, weak soils with organic matter to give strength, so the place is in better shape for the next generation.”

Many vineyards have a quite wide range of grape types. Quartz Reef grows just three: pinot noir, pinot gris and chardonnay.

Bauer says that as winemaker, his role with pinot noir is to make a wine with purity of varietal expression, that is, true to type, then to ensure it expresses Bendigo with its soil types and climate.

The third characteristic is that it has really good

• To page 13

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WINE PEOPLE » Waimea Estates

Business Rural

| 13

PHOTOS – Left: Family-owned Waimea Estates has 140 hectares of vineyards, growing mainly sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, pinot noir, chardonnay and riesling varieties. Right: The grape harvest..

Winemakers ‘giving back to the land’ Neil Grant Family-owned vineyards are a distinguishing feature of Nelson’s wine industry. Unlike the brash international companies in neighbouring Marlborough, small wineries from the outskirts of Nelson city through to Moutere produce distinctive wines, many of which are highly regarded and award winning.

Trevor and Robin Bolitho changed from orcharding to grape growing and winemaking. Just south of Nelson city where the highway meets that heading towards Golden Bay, they planted their first vines in 1993, producing their first wines in 1997.

Winning the Winestate Australasian runner-up trophy for best sauvignon blanc in 1998 showed it was a good move. Over the next few years the business expanded and new vineyards were planted within the Waimea district.

The Bolithos’ son, Ben, joined the firm using his engineering expertise to build tanks and equipment.

He then gained viticulture qualifications and became the business’s chief viticulturist and general manager.

Waimea Estates now has 140 hectares of vineyards. The district has stony loam soils and

a maritime climate, that is, warm summers, and cool winters moderated by ocean airflow. This combination produces many wine styles, but is particularly suited to aromatics. Over the last two decades Waimea Estates has gained 24 trophies and 133 gold medals for both its premium Waimea label and its fresh and fruit-driven Spinyback label wines.

“We grow only what we like,” says Ben Bolitho.

“As a family, we like aromatics. We are focused on sauvignon blanc which is 50 per cent of our production, then pinot gris, pinot noir, chardonnay and riesling.

“But diversity creates interest in our brand for our customers, so we like trying new varieties we think will fit.”

“Gruner veltliner is an Austrian white. We sought out the stock because we thought it was suited to our terroir and climate. We think it should appeal to New Zealanders’ palates. It is very approachable – more spicy than pinot gris or riesling, and drier.

Albarino is very new to us. We made 80 cases and it got gold at a show, and sold out overnight.

We’ve got more volume this year. It’s a higher-acid wine with a crisp saltiness. Although not like salt water,” he adds quickly. “It’s young and interesting.

“Sauvignon gris is a new grape to us, too. We

are into our second vintage now. It is heavier bodied than sauvignon blanc with more power. We ripen it for longer for riper flavours, more weight and concentration.”

The Spinyback range provides direct funding for the tuatara programme at Tahunanui. Tuatara were discovered on Stephens Island, a place where the family has spent a lot of time, so it seemed like a good way to give back to to their region.

Funding also goes to the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary, a mainland “ecological island” only a few minutes’ drive from Nelson city, which is being developed to make a predator-free area where

native fauna and flora can re-establish.

Most Waimea Estates wines are destined for overseas markets, especially the United Kingdom where the company has invested in a distribution company to help develop that market. The United States, Canada, China and Australia are other international markets. Some of the new wines Waimea is producing are better known in those markets than in New Zealand.

“We are a family company, striving for sustainable policies,” Ben Bolitho says. “We believe in giving back to the land, not taking all the time. We want it to be better than it was originally.”

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The pinot gris is a bone dry wine using wild yeasts. Its texture is important so that it can handle accompanying spicy foods.

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“Central Otago is an extremely young wine region, but it has developed a very good reputation for quality. Every year I am most proud of one wine.

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14 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Thomas & Hannah Oats

Business Rural

Award winners love the lifestyle Sue Russell Thomas and Hannah Oats are into their fourth season of contract milking 12 kilometres from Reefton on the West Coast.

But this year is a bit different – the couple now hold the West Coast/Top of the South Farm Manager/Contract Milker of the Year title.

Last season was the second time they had entered the event, having tried their hands two years ago.

“It really helps you and I would recommend it to anyone,” says Hannah Oats.

“We had to do a presentation for each stage of judging. You have two hours to show them how you run your farm.” .

She readily declares that while it’s important for the business to hold its own financially, their top priority and real reason for farming is that they are both very passionate about their stock.

“Given this, the experience of entering the competition really helped us in developing the financial and health and safety aspects more.”

And for their efforts and their success, they earned $2500 in cash, along with $3000 worth of travel vouchers, and a trip to the national final in Auckland.

Thomas says the 170-effective-hectare farm, which is owned by his parents, Richard and Wendy Oats, operates to a system 2-3 feeding regime. It is supported by a 29ha run-off 35 kilometres away where Richard and Wendy live. This is used for grazing. ‘’We’re pretty much grass-based and we top the nutrition up by bringing in 630 kilograms of additional meal-feed per cow,” says Thomas.

They calved just over 361 cows from midAugust this year. The herd, which is predominantly a jersey/friesian cross, is milked through a 10-yearold, 40-a-side herringbone shed. Thomas describes it as a simple shed, and says he likes it that way.

“Hannah and I run the farm together with one full-time worker who is on a 10-days-on, four-days-

Reefton farmers Thomas and Hannah Oats with daughter, Ellie. off roster.”

The property was converted from deer a decade ago, and has a mix of 45ha river flats, 35ha of natural peat and 90ha of hump and hollow.

With a solid infrastructure now in place, Thomas and Hannah have of late been concentrating their energy on developing a re-grassing and cropping

The thing we enjoy most about farming is the lifestyle and doing the work ourselves. We love being able to take our daughter out on the farm with us, and she loves coming with us. It enables us both to be working full-time.

programme.

“The thing we enjoy most about farming is the lifestyle and doing the work ourselves,” says Thomas.

“We love being able to take our daughter, Ellie, out on the farm with us, and she loves coming with us. It enables us both to be working full-time. “ You might work longer days, with up to 16 hours on the job in spring and then falling back to eight hours in winter. There is a lot of flexibility. We

also love working with cows.”

Once weaned, the calves head to the run-off in December before returning to the farm the following October.

Hannah Oats says she is feeling quite positive.

“There have been little improvements on the farm and it is looking pretty good.”

All but 20 cows are wintered on the farm with a lighter mob on rape, silage and palm kernel, another mob on grass, silage and a small amount of rape in wet weather.

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Once weaned, the calves are taken to a run-off where Thomas’s parents, Richard and Wendy, live.

They move to the run-off in December and return to the farm in October.

RURAL PEOPLE » Nick Templer & Anieka Venekamp

Business Rural

| 15

Southland-Otago Farm Manager of the Year winners Nick Templer and Anieka Venekamp milk 650 cows for Jan and Lyall Hopcroft between Lumsden and Balfour.

High-input system profitable Karen Phelps 2015 Southland-Otago Farm Manager of the Year Award winners Nick Templer and Anieka Venekamp say they have proved that a high-input farm can be profitable in Southland. But they admit that this will be more of a challenge in the low pay out season ahead.

“In Southland it’s usually a grass-based farming system,” says Templer. “Everyone wonders why we are high-input in one of the best grass-growing regions of New Zealand. But it is a bit dryer in northern Southland and we believe we’ve shown the benefits of operating a high input farm here.”

The couple, who were third-time entrants in the competition, also picked up several merit awards for leadership, financial planning and management and the environment. They were pleasantly surprised to win but, say time spent on the farm (they are now in their fourth season) meant they knew the farm well and had made changes to improve their business based on comments from judges in previous years.

The couple contract-milk for Jan and Lyall Hopcroft on a 238-hectare effective/240ha total farm halfway between Lumsden and Balfour.

The farm is classified as system four and they have been feeding around 1.4 tonnes of wheat, palm kernel and silage per cow each season. They say they will now lower inputs and look at cheaper options where possible to cope with the lower payout this season.

The herd of 650 predominantly friesians is milked through a fully automated 54-bail rotary shed.

Nick Templer says one major change they have made has been to split the herd into two.

“Cows had always been run as one herd, but we noticed in records that there was a high wastage of young heifers because they were leaving the herd early because of being empty. This was because of pressure placed on them in the herd through older cows pushing them around. It’s a dry farm, so there was more competition for food. We’ve put the

young and skinny cows in a different herd – not only has this reduced wastage, it has improved our production. We’ve also got more options when it comes time to cull.”

Traditionally the cows had achieved around 470 kilograms of milksolids; this figure has now risen to 520kg without extra inputs. The farm is supported by two run-off blocks (187ha in total) used for silage, wintering and young stock. Thirty hectares of kale is grown on the run-offs for feed to supplement 3ha of kale and 15ha of turnips grown on farm.

Nick Templer was raised on a sheep and dairygrazing property just out of Invercargill. He left school and immediately went shepherding. Anieka, who was born in Holland, arrived in New Zealand when she was five and grew up on dairy farms in Southland and South Otago. She left school to go dairy farming, starting as a farm assistant, then soon promoted to herd manager before she managed her parents’ farm for three years.

At that time she met Nick, who joined her in 2009 and they worked for Anieka’s parents for two years before taking a second-in-charge position at Waianiwa for a season on a unit milking 820 cows.

They then moved to their present contract-milking position.

Entering the awards has helped them focus on their business and improve, they say.

“We realised that we had to do more work on some areas of our business,” says Nick. “It has been good to get ideas from others in the industry.”

He works full-time on the farm while Anieka is part-time now they have a daughter, Maycie, one.

Anieka steps into a full-time role around the busy calving period.

The couple are working to raise their equity through buying and trading stock. They are also developing a holstein friesian and ayrshire stud, Maybella. This is a passion for Anieka and they have around 35 cows and young stock in the stud.

They have two years let on their present contract. They then hope to step into a 50:50 sharemilking position.

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16 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Carlos & Gisela Cuadrado

Business Rural

Argentine farming a whole different ball game Karen Phelps Carlos and Gisela Cuadrado say that any Kiwi farmer would appreciate all the benefits dairy farming in New Zealand brings if they had spent time farming in Argentina.

“Working hard in New Zealand you can receive the awards and achieve your financial goals,” says Carlos.

“In South America you work hard, but the system works against you. There are no cooperatives to help you. I tell people in New Zealand they should farm for six months in South America to realise how easy it is in New Zealand.”

Carlos Cuadrado grew up on a dairy farm in Cordoba in Argentina. He worked on farms while still at school then obtained an agricultural degree at university where he met Gisela, who was also working towards the same qualification.

He was interested in dairying from the outset, which was what led him to New Zealand for three months in 1998. He spent time on a farm near Hamilton and says he was amazed by the ease with which he could complete the job compared with farming in South America where roads were often made of dirt and some farms didn’t have access to electricity.

He returned to Argentina to complete his degree, then managed a 1200-hectare dairy and beef farm for three years.

When the farm was sold after the 2001 economic collapse in Argentina, he found himself out of work, so he and Gisela, who by that time had

also finished her degree, headed to New Zealand.

They were immediately employed as farm assistants on a 750-cow farm near Tauranga where they remained for one season. They then moved to Ashburton as unit managers on a farm with an 850cow herd. Next was a second-in-charge position at Westerfield, near Ashburton, on a 1350-cow unit milking through an 80-bail rotary shed.

The arrival of their first daughter, Constanza, meant that Gisela helped out and did relief milking.

In 2005 they moved to their present job at Pendarves, just north of Ashburton. as herd managers of 720 cows on a unit owned by Michelle and David Procter. Gisela took a microbiologytechnician job at nearby Canterbury Meat Packers.

A year later they returned to Argentina because they were missing home. They sharemilked for two years on a 1500-cow farm and say the trip was not a wasted as, especially after the arrival of their second daughter, Paulina, it made them realise New Zealand was the place they wanted to bring up their children and build their careers.

Fortunately they managed to return to the Procters’ farm where they worked as herd managers for a season before taking a lower-order sharemilking position with 850 kiwicross cows.

The 241ha effective/250ha total unit now milks 900 cows through a 50-bail rotary shed with automatic cup removers.

During this time the opportunity arose to convert a farm and enter into an equity partnership (Winters Farms Ltd) with neighbours Greg and Rachel Roadley. The farm, which is seven kilometres from the Proctor property, was converted in 2011. The

Gisela and Carlos Cuadrado with their children (from left), Rose, Noah, Paulina, and Constanza.

Cuadrados own 25 per cent of the company.

The 122ha effective/125ha total unit milks a herd of 570 kiwicross cows through a 42-a-side herringbone shed. Winters Farms employs a contract milker.

Carlos Cuadrados says their aim is to farm profitably while maintaining a neutral effect on the environment and a good relationship with all those involved with the farm.

The farm has been operating on working expenses of $3.50. The challenge in this lowerpayout year is to maintain both this cost structure and production levels.

“We have to farm in a way independent of the payout. The cost of production has to cope with really low payouts to weather the downturns. We farm only with what we need, not with what we want.”

Empty cows are the biggest losses on both farms. with empty rates of between 11 to 13 per cent. The Cuadrados are concentrating on cow condition and plan to condition-score their cows every three to four months.

Last year the Procter farm peak-milked 890 cows and produced 412,000 kilograms of milksolids. The cows were fed 300kg of supplements per head – 100kg of silage made on farm and 200kg of bought-in grain and silage.

Winters Farms peake-milked 565 cows and produced 255,000kg of milksolids. The herd was fed 200kg of supplements per cow, all produced on the farm.

Both farms use fodder beet for winter grazing.

The Cuadrados are aiming for similar production figures this season.

They now have four children – Constanza, 11½, Paulina, 9, Rose, 4½, and Noah 2½. They say they are looking for opportunities to keep investing to continue to develop their business. But they are not looking solely within New Zealand and are investigating overseas opportunities.

Moving to New Zealand was one of the best decisions they made, they say. “A no-brainer,” says Carlos. “It is a paradise. You can spend time with family and friends and grow your assets. What else do you need in life?”

Time out for the Cuadrado children (from left) Constanzia, Noah, Rose and Paulina.

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RURAL PEOPLE » Daniel & Christine Bishop

Business Rural

| 17

Pivots a double whammy Karen Phelps A new irrigation system has made getting water onto the farm easier for Daniel and Christine Bishop. The couple, who farm a 428-hectare effective/460ha total unit on the Oamaru side of Kurow, have gained an extra 60ha of land by replacing the border-dyke system with centre-pivots so that the entire farmer is now under irrigation.

They also plan to spread effluent over the farm through the same system. A two-pond effluent system gives them four weeks of storage.

The Bishops milk a herd of 1500 friesian-cross cows through a 60-bail rotary shed complete with automatic cup removers, teat sprayers, heat detection, milk metres and Protrack. They are in the third season on the unit in an equity partnership with Daniel’s parents, Wayne and Vivienne Bishop.

Although the farm was a dairy unit when they bought it, Daniel Bishop says they have basically had to re-convert the property. Around 6000 trees have been cut down and new fences, water troughs and lanes put in.

A third of the farm was re-grassed last season; they aim to re-grass another third this season and the remainder next season. They have been using Trojan, Bealey and Prospect grass species, which, they say, seem to last well on the farm.

This season they are looking to use less supplement and find cheaper options to cope with the lower payout. They are hopeful the irrigation and better grass species will see the farm naturally producing more and better grass. They plan to buy in 500 tonnes of palm kernel for the first time.

Usually they use grain, but this season palm kernel prices are cheaper.

Daniel Bishop says they plan to do just AI this season and not use any bulls, taking advantage of the automatic heat-detection technology in their shed. This should also be easier for the farm’s seven staff.

The Bishops employ an assistant manager and Christine assists through calving, handles the administration, and helps in the shed when needed.

Daniel and Christine Bishop with children (from left) Lawsyn, Archer and Fynlay with their new irrigation system and some of their re-grassed pasture.

Daniel is full-time on the farm. His parents live at Oxford where they have a 280ha, 1000-cow dairy farm operated by Daniel’s brother, Darcy.

Daniel grew up on a dairy farm in the North Island and started his farming career when he was 21, working on the Hauraki Plains.

He returned home to manage his family’s 400-cow farm a few years later before the family – Daniel, his parents, and Christine – bought a

farm at Ngatea, on the Hauraki Plains, in an equity partnership together. The 127ha unit milked 380 cows and the family owned it for six years before selling up and buying the North Otago property..

Daniel and Christine have three boys: Fynlay, 10, Lawsyn, 6, and Archer, 2.

“The kids get out on the farm and love it,” says Daniel. “Fynlay even helps out in the shed and at calving.”

They Bishops milked 1100 cows in their first season at Kurow, producing 510,000 kilograms of milksolids. In their second season, herd numbers increased to 1400 and production rose to 620,000kg milksolids.

This season, with the new water system and new pastures, they have a target of 680,000kg.

They say they will continue to develop the farm, renovating pastures and increasing production.

They are looking to use less supplement and find cheaper options to cope with e lower payout. They are hopeful the irrigation and better grass species will see the farm naturally producing more and better grass... they also plan to do just AI and and not use any bulls.

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18 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Craig McGregor & Megan Edgley

Business Rural

Payout forces rethink on strategy Karen Phelps New sharemilkers Craig McGregor and Megan Edgley have been increasing cow numbers to build their herd quickly on a 200-hectare total/181ha effective farm at Riverton.

The couple are 50:50 sharemilking in an equity partnership with Dylan and Sheree Ditchfield on a farm owned by David Wholer. They peak-milk 540 friesian cows at a stocking rate of three cows per hectare, but with the lower payout, they are having to rethink their strategy.

“We’re re-jigging things to get the best out of the system in the current payout,” says Craig McGregor.

“We’ll maybe drop numbers to 510 next season and winter 400 cows on farm and on our lease block rather than grazing them off. We’re really focusing on getting the farm up to speed to make it work more efficiently.”

This season they are concentrating on budgeting and analysing costs to see where savings can be made. They are also identifying work they can do themselves, such as servicing farm vehicles.

They plan to grow fodder beet for the first time.

As a more nutrient-rich feed, it should give them more nutrition for the area planted.

But despite the low payout, investment is still being made in the farm. The herringbone cowshed has been upgraded to a 42-a-side; maintenance work has continued on gateways and lanes; large

This year we’ve struck a low, but we don’t know any different as we’ve never been sharemilkers in a high-payout season.

Riverton sharemilkers Craig McGregor and Megan Edgley say farming in a low-payout climate gives a good understanding of cost structures paddocks have been split up to make grazing management easier.

Craig McGregor grew up on a pig and sheep farm at Balfour; when he was 12, the family moved to a dairy farm where his parents, Charlie and Delwyn McGregor, were equity partners.

Craig quickly developed a passion for dairy as he helped his parents, who managed the unit.

He left school at 15 and took on a farm-assistant position on another farm before interspersing stints on farms with tractor driving. At 18, he took on his first contract-milking position with a herd of 480 cows on a farm owned by the Ditchfields.

Craig then moved to manage a 700-cow farm at Otautau for a year before he and Megan tackled their first contract-milking position together on a 500-cow farm at Lochiel. After two seasons there, they moved to their present sharemilking role at Riverton.

They say they were attracted to the position by the opportunity it presented to expand their business.

Their target is to fully feed the herd on a grass -based system. They have 21-day rounds and graze

PHOTOS: Maintenance work on lanes (lower left) and splitting up large paddocks to make grazing management easier (above) have been part of Craig McGregor and Megan Edgley’s investment in the farm. paddocks down to residuals of 1500-1600 using the mower to tidy up in front of cows if necessary.

They say the grass species on the farm are good as the previous contract-milkers wintered on farm and at least 20 hectares was re-grassed each season.

The payout is their biggest challenge in their their first year of sharemilking, but they feel this will make them better farmers.

“We’ve struck a low, but we don’t know any different as we’ve never been sharemilkers in a high-payout season,” says Craig pragmatically. “At the end of the day it’s pretty simple. We can’t just go out and buy things. We have to make do with what we’ve got, but we can’t cut corners on things like animal health, or next season we’ll suffer.”

The couple employ one full-time farm assistant and a full-time second-in-charge. Both Megan and Craig are active on the farm.

Effluent is spread over 56ha by k-line supported by a 45-day storage pond. They will buy in feed as required.

“Grass is the cheapest feed. If we have good

grass management, we shouldn’t need to buy in too much supplement.”

Their target this season is to produce 400 kilograms of milksolids per cow, or 216,000 kg total. The long-term goal is 430kg milksolids per cow.

The couple have two children – Sienna, four, and Carter, two. Carter is already showing interest in machinery and Sienna in animals.

Having just reached one milestone by going 50:50 sharemilking, they say it is too early to determine a time-line for their next goal – farm ownership. More thank likely, within 10 years, is their closest prediction.

“The low payout is a good experience in some ways,” says McGregor.

“It’s giving us a good understanding of cost structures. When the payout goes up one day, we’ll be able to farm well. You have to work hard to get what you want in life. We won’t have much of a life in the short term, but in the long term we’ll be better off.”

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Business Rural

RURAL PEOPLE » Graeme & Jessie McKenzie

| 19

Advocacy beyond the farm gate Kim Newth A passion for advocacy has persuaded Southland dairy farmer Graeme McKenzie to step up this year as dairy chairperson for Federated Farmers Southland,. He was previously the vice-chair.

Before returning to Southland in 2011 to join his family’s substantial Oraka Farms dairy operation as business and run-off manager, he had worked in Auckland and Wellington for the Food Safety Authority in a primary industries policy advisory role.

“I wanted to carry on using those skills and saw a place for that at Federated Farmers,” says McKenzie, who was elected to the dairy chair position in May 2015.

“It is important to have people who are willing to take the time to look further into issues on behalf of our members.

“Our executive wants to make sure we advocate well and have a strong voice. There are multiple challenges and issues being faced at the provincial level on a week-by-week basis.”

However, he suggests the biggest issue looming for farmers is the limit-setting process that obliges councils to meet water-quality standards under the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management by 2025.

“In Southland, our regional council is looking to do it catchment by catchment, so this will be ongoing for many years.

“Members of the farming community and the wider community are going to have to take the time to make sure they get the outcomes that are the best for them.

“There are really four parts to this that will need to be considered equally: environmental issues, economic issues, social issues, and cultural issues.

These are the four key parts of the Resource Management Act that have to be well considered and well balanced.”

There are really four parts to this that will need to be considered equally: environmental issues, economic issues, social issues and cultural issues.

These are the four key parts of the Resource Management Act that have to be well considered and well balanced.

In his role as dairy chair, Graeme McKenzie plans to work closely with and build his local networks, and continue to encourage members to be an active part of Federated Farmers.

“It comes down to building networks that enable you to have access to members’ views, but also having good networks with the people you are dealing with day by day.

“The executive is always keen to have members come to meetings if there are issues that affect certain people or areas. We will call meetings to engage those farmers.

“The crucial part of being an elected representative is to canvas the views of members to make sure you are advocating correctly on their behalf.”

Born in Invercargill, Graeme McKenzie is a

PHOTOS: Graeme McKenzie (top), is the dairy chairperson for Federated Farmers Southland and business and run-off manager for his family’s Oraka Farms enterprise. At its peak, Oraka Farms (above and lower left) milks 2150 cows. fourth-generation Southland dairy farmer who was raised on the family’s original dairy farm, Seaward Downs.

His uncle, Grant, now has that farm, while his father, Gordon, and uncle, Brent, are still dairying as well. Gordon McKenzie started farming at Seaward Downs, then moved to Oteramika where he acquired neighbouring land and built two more sheds, extending Oraka Farms total area to 763 hectares.

Graeme’s brother, Blair, is Oraka Farms’ operations manager, while their younger brother, Brad, has recently returned home to manage one of three dairy units.

At its peak, the combined operation milks 2150 mainly crossbred cows. Their milksolids target for the year is 890,000 kilograms.

Graeme’s wife, Jessie, helps with the business management, and the couple have two daughters, three-year-old Ida and baby Elsie.

Neil 0274 733 108 • Greg 027 270 3315

20 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Geoff Wilson

Business Rural

Shelters boost herd happiness Kelly Deeks Holstein friesian breeder Geoff Wilson is convinced that building two new HerdHomes® two years ago has improved sustainability, animal welfare and pure enjoyment for those working on his Taieri dairy farm and stud.

He owns 50 per cent of the 150-hectare Maungatua farm;his parents, Phillip and Heather Wilson own the other half of the business.

Geoff Wilson also owns the herd of 300 cows and holds an equity sharemilking position on the farm where he has worked for the past 13 years.

It has been developed from the original 60ha block. The most recent addition came this year with the acquisition of a 24ha adjacent block. The additional land is being used to graze young stock and milk cows to a small extent.

Wilson says the decision to build the HerdHomes® came out of an aim to improve sustainability.

“This is possibly the only farm on the Taieri that’s completely unfloodable. It has four streams running through it, which makes for good, free draining paddocks; but, also, a reasonable part of the farm has clay sub-soils, and the farm has no feedpad or stand-off pad.”

The Wilsons decided the HerdHomes® were perfectly suited to their style of farming and what they were trying to achieve.

When using the shelters for the first time last winter, Wilson decided not to fully stock them.

“I was learning what I was doing, and I didn’t want to learn the hard way,” he says. “Not fully stocking them gave the cows more comfort to be relaxed and for me to learn how to accommodate them.”

The winter went brilliantly, he says. The cows were relaxed, and Wilson took great pleasure in seeing them tuck into their feed, then have a good sleep.

At the end of winter, cow condition and general wellbeing had been built to optimal level and, although spring was wet on the Taieri, the herd hit the ground running.

Then, in spite of the second-driest summer on record for the area, the good start to the season put the farm on track to beat its production target.

Calving was also a fantastic time in the HerdHomes®: “At such a high stress time, I could go down and check the cows in my suit and dress shoes.”

“We installed lights inside so that I could see everything I needed to see with needing a torch.

I’ve got quite friendly cows anyway, but they were

Telesis Holstein Friesian Stud owners Geoff and Phillip Wilson, with Firenze, one of the most prolific bulls in the country. Firenze’s owner, CRV Ambreed, recently retired the bull and it was shipped back to its breeders to retire. so relaxed I could go in there and assist them very quickly – happy calf, happy mum – then go back to bed and know I hadn’t missed a thing.”

That calving resulted in only two cases of mastitis, which Wilson attributes to being able to tailor an ideal diet for cows about to calve, and the cows being able to calve when it suited them.

“Everything went a bit more naturally, a bit

• To page 21

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RURAL PEOPLE » Retro Organics

Business Rural

| 21

Retro Organics produces a wide range of cheeses including camembert, brie, feta, haloumi, farmhouse cheddars and gruyere.

Organic butter boosts dairy range Kim Newth Retro Organics was first to market a few years ago with a lactose-free milk and yoghurt, sold in supermarkets through New Zealand. Organic butter is now joining the range of this boutique producer.

From late July/early August, 250g packs of Retro Organics’ butter have been hitting stockists’ shelves.

Until now, Australia has virtually cornered the organic butter market, but Retro Organics expects that will change once consumers get a taste for their creamy, locally made product.

Robin and Lois Greer have spent almost two decades developing their organic farm and dairy at Tuturau, near Gore. They chose to go organic out of a desire to farm in a healthier, chemical-free way.

“Both our families had a history of cancer, so we wanted to cut chemicals out of the equation,” says Robin Greer. “We moved to an organic way of farming over five or six years after we purchased the farm in 1993.”

Their 100 per cent-organic dairy operation always seems to have something new on the go.

This winter also saw the release of a light, low-fat

yoghurt, in response to consumer demand.

“I’m always looking for new ideas; we have more new products coming out in October too,” says Greer A herd of 350 jersey cows graze the Greers’ 20-hectare property. Jerseys might seem an unusual choice given that larger friesians dominate the southern dairy sector. The Greers chose jerseys not only because they calve so easily and naturally, but also because of the higher cream content of their milk.

“Jersey cows do fit well with a pasture-based system and the cream content of the milk is what gives our cheeses their distinctive flavour,” says Robin. The milk also has a creamier colour compared to the regular milk sold in most stores.

At the farm, fresh milk is pumped directly to a nearby dairy processing facility, used to produce creamy yoghurt, butter and a wide range of cheeses, including camembert, brie, feta, haloumi, farmhouse cheddars and gruyere, (another new addition).

The shed is just 75 metres away from the processing plant.

Learning how to make all these products has taken time, study and considerable perseverance. A

Herd rated highest in South Island • From page 20 healthier, and the calf was stronger,” he says. “We had excellent results.”

The Wilsons stud, Telesis Friesians, was started

by Phillip and Heather Wilson in 1970. this year Wilson’s herd is rated the highest-breeding-worth friesian herd in the South Island, and the fifth highest of any breed in New Zealand.

Telesis has two bulls in the CRV Ambreed premier sires team this season.

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Wilson has started doing yearling matings on just under half of his top yearlings against easy calving friesian bulls.

The aim is to speed up genetic gain and he says some significant results are already showing with the latest addition to the CRV Ambreed premier sires team coming from a yearling mating.

“The heifers that have come through would normally have been a jersey-cross calf I would sell, and now they are some of the best new replacements,” he says.

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degree of perfectionism probably helps.

“We have done a lot of reading and research – it takes a lot of trial and error,” says Robin Greer.

Yoghurt remains a mainstay for Retro Organics.

No thickeners are added. Rather, the yoghurt is drained naturally to produce the thick texture.

The result is a creamy, smooth product based on wholemilk.

He is a firm believer in the benefits of healthy soil and pasture, seeing this as fundamental to solving many potential, animal-health problems.

Fields are nourished with fish oils, natural rock fertilisers… and dung beetles.

“We were the first in the South Island to release dung beetles and we don’t use acid fertiliser or chemicals. We try to keep the soil biologically alive rather than killing it.

“Having herbs in the pasture is also very important. Deep-rooted plants bring up nutrients and trace elements from down deep.”

The gourmet pasture selection includes heirloom rye, chicory and plantain herbs, clover and sweet timothy.

The couple’s approach to farming marks a return to an older style of farming focused on working with nature to make handcrafted boutique dairy products. They have cherry picked all they need to know about how to farm successfully organically, while rejecting industrialised farming practices they deem to be harmful.

Retro Organics Southland location is blessed with plentiful rainfall, so irrigation is not a big consideration. Fourteen staff contribute to the farm and dairy operation.

Both our families had a history of cancer, so we wanted to cut chemicals out of the equation.

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RURAL PEOPLE » Patrick & Karen Westenra

22 |

Business Rural

Patrick and Karen Westenra milk a mix of ayrshire, ayrshire-cross and jersey-cross on their 130-hectare (effective) property near RivertonL Above: The cows enjoy a seaside view while they graze. Right: Calves gather at feeding time.

Discussion groups vital in downturn Jo Bailey Patrick Westenra says farm discussion groups have become “more important than ever” given the challenging times facing the dairy sector.

“You come away realising you are not the only one in a grim situation, that most people are in the same boat one way or another.

“The discussion groups also provide a good opportunity to talk things through and hear how other farmers are managing to keep production up without spending money.”

For the last 14 years Patrick and his wife, Karen,

have farmed their own property at Riverton where last season they peak-milked 340 cows.

They are part of the Riverton Farm System discussion group, and hosted a mid-winter catchup on their property in July. This provided an insight into their winter-milking operation and how they manage it.

“It was a good day. We have an active group with up to 30 farmers showing up to some events.”

Like many dairy farmers, the Westernras are finding it tough to manage their way through the downturn.

“We’re constantly going over our budgets and cutting costs where we can,” says Patrick.

“We’ve been dairy farming 25 years, so it’s not the first time we’ve seen these ups and downs in the market. We just have to stick it out and do as much of the on-farm work ourselves that we can.”

The Westenras’ 130-hectare (effective) property includes two adjacent lease blocks totalling 25 hectares.

“Since we bought the farm, we’ve built a new cowshed, a feedpad and two calf-sheds, and put in a new effluent system,” he says. “We’re lucky to have a well set up farm as we won’t have to worry about any capital expenditure for a while.”

Purebred ayrshire cows make up around 20 per cent of the Westenras’ herd, with the rest a mix of

jersey and ayrshire crossbreds.

Patrick is a member of Ayrshire New Zealand “out of interest”, and likes the breed’s good size and ease of management.

“They are good hardy animals that are not too big or too small. Ayrshires tend to cruise along, eat and produce milk without creating a lot of fuss.”

The late-calving cows were milked through the winter by Patrick and full-time staff member Jacque Dobias.

“This time last year we had a couple of relief milkers, but we’re doing it all ourselves this season.

• To page 23

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RURAL PEOPLE » Paul & Tarn Greenwood

Business Rural

| 23

Grass king at Greenwoods Kim Newth Paul Greenwood is pleased he chose a strictly grass-fed farming regime after converting to dairying, with an equity partner, eight years ago.

“We have stuck to that and it is really paying off,” he says.

“It is our area of expertise. Not having to rely on imported, expensive feeds is a big saving for us.

We create some of the best grass of anywhere in the world and there is not a huge cost associated with it.”

He continues to take care not to over-stock the 278-hectare farm at Southbridge, a little south of Christchurch,. This ensures there is sufficient pasture to support the herd of 800 friesian and friesian-cross cows.

Heavy soils mean the farm also performs well in drought years. The cows are wintered on a 48ha run-off block.

“That goes into fodder beet and kale so as to be ready for the winter,” he says.

Greenwood’s cost of production is low at a projected $3.90 per kilogram of milksolid this year.

Since the farm’s conversion to dairy, the cost of production has never been higher than $4/kg milksolid – it was $3.70 last year.

The milksolids target for the 2015-16 year is 330,000kg.

“For me, being a farmer means being hands on,” says Paul Greenwood. “So, if something needs fixing, I’ll do it myself. Having a can-do attitude is pretty important.”

At the same time, he takes care to be conscientious about applying fertiliser, using irrigation when required, and maintaining animal health to support the farm’s production.

Four permanent staff work with him, along with two relief milking staff who also do calf-rearing work. The cows are milked through a 54-bail rotary shed.

The Southbridge farm has been in the Greenwood family for more than 50 years.

Paul’s father, Ken, farmed the property as a crop and sheep farm for decades before the dairy conversion.

Paul got his start in farming as a farm cadet

Paul Greenwood(centre) in the milking shed with with staff Cherie Kitney (left) and Sue Hughan. and spent several years working on another crop and sheep farm before returning to Southbridge.

He also spent four months gaining experience in cropping in Western Australia.

He says he does not miss the life he had running a crop and sheep farm.

“We did think hard about converting to dairy at the time and we’ve had no regrets. It has definitely

freed me up a bit more. In cropping you are either harvesting or watering all the time.

“I still like to keep my finger on everything, but at least now I can step away every now and again.”

Having enough time to spend with his family is important to him.

His wife, Tarn, is a teacher aide at Ellesmere College and the couple have two children – a

Drop below $4 ‘really grim’ • From page 22 The downturn must be having an impact on people like relief milkers and contractors who provide services to the dairy sector.”

Any extra cows on the farm have been culled, with the Westenras also cutting back on the amount of feed they buy in.

“The milking cows spend the day on the fodder beet paddock and also get balage and palm kernel on the feedpad. We’ve been feeding fodder beet for three or four years. The cows love it and do really well on it.”

Their heifers started calving in mid-July, as long as they are well grown, three weeks ahead of the main herd.

“We like to give them those extra weeks to settle

14-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son, who plays junior rugby for the Southbridge club. Paul is taking a year off coaching this year after having been club coach for seven years.

Long term, Paul and Tarn Greenwood have their eye on buying another dairy farm, or else buying up neighbouring land as it becomes available to expand their present operation.

It is our area of expertise. Not having to rely on imported, expensive feeds is a big saving for us. We create some of the best grass of anywhere in the world and there is not a huge cost associated with it.

in and start cycling, as it helps with mating later on.”

Westernra says that if the dairy payout drops below $4, as some pundits are predicting, things could get “really grim” for a lot of dairy farmers.

“We’ll worry about that if it happens. Commodity cycles have always come and gone. However, the cycle does seem to be getting faster, with higher highs and lower lows.

“With all the technology and information available today, you would think the industry could better predict what’s going to happen, but this doesn’t seem to be the case.

“However, I still believe the long-term future of the industry is good. We just have to survive the current climate until it comes right.”

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24 |

RURAL PEOPLE » CottesBrook Dairy Ltd

Business Rural

Young farmer taking giant steps Sue Russell Matthew Haugh has been on the family dairy farm in West Otago for seven seasons.

He owns the cows, the shares and farm plant in the CottesBrook Dairy Ltd business, which leases the land from this family. It’s an arrangement the 26-year-old says has worked well, enabling him to make substantial steps.

He also leases the family run-off of 157-hectare, family-owned run-off for his young stock and silage, along with 132ha of a neighbouring farm, which is used for outside dairy grazing and silage.

The farm’s milking platform extends over 280ha.

And, over the past three years, stock numbers have increased dramatically.

“When the property was converted 21 years ago, 400 friesian and friesian-cross cows were milked by a sharemilker on 200ha,” says Matthew Haugh.

“Over the years the farm increased in size and 600 were milked. Then a new dairy was built and a run-off was bought, and numbers went to 750.

This season we calving 880. My target in terms of sustainability is to get to 900.”

Last spring work began on constructing a $2.6 million, free-stall cowbarn, and since May 1 the shed has been home at times to 840 cows.

“It is saving a lot of our pasture and we have introduced a hybrid feeding system, not sitting on a traditional grass based system.” says Haugh.

“We use the barn a lot when it is wet. The whole point of using the barn is to ultimately save feed and stop damaging pasture while increasing production giving us a double benefit.”

The barn was in the pipeline for a few years, but was not wanted until the cows and land were performing. A 64-bail, fully automated Milfos shed has built-in herd testing in every fourth bail.

“It means we can monitor our cows on actual milksolids and it takes places two or three times a week,” says Haugh.

For the last two years the herd has produced an average of 530 kilograms of milksolids per cow; the cows have an average liveweight of 470kg.

Farm working expenses over the last two years have been $3.20 per milksolid produced, but Matthew Haugh expects the new barn and feeding system will push per cow production to 580kg milk solids and reduce per kilogram production expenditure to $2.70.

“I built the shed to ultimately decrease farm working expenditure per milksolids,” he says. That’s the bottom line.”

He says the goals he has set will be achieved

PHOTOS – Top: Cows feeding in the $2.6 million cow barn. AbOve left: Matthew Haugh, company owner and operations manager of Cottesbrook Dairy Ltd. Above right, top and bottom: All the agricultural work is done by staff with the exception of cutting and stacking the silage. by producing more for the same amount of money.

He describes himself as the company owner and operations manager for Cottesbrook Dairy, the runoff and the lease farm.

Second-in-command Michael O’Reilly has been on the farm for one season and will complete this season before joining the police. There are also two dairy assistants.

“The run-off is a critical part of the overall operation of the farm,” says Haugh. “It can actually

provide everything we need –grazing for young stock, and silage production. On the spare land of the lease block, I sell dairy grazing and some silage.

All farm working expenses there are paid for by the dairy company.”

Matthew’s father, Philip, is the company’s accountant and a 10% shareholding in the business.

“He still likes to help out and he has a very level-headed approach and a wealth of farming experience,” says Matthew. “It’s a busy operation

with all the agricultural work being undertaken by the staff with the exception of chopping and stacking the silage.”

He says this level of continuous activity was chosen to ensure there’s always something different for staff to do.

“Everyone experiences a whole range of activities. It makes for a more interesting and challenging farming life, and keeps all the staff busy and engaged.”

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RURAL PEOPLE » Daniel & Amanda Schat

Business Rural

| 25

Canterbury sharemilkers Daniel and Amanda Schat with their children, Harper and Lexi. The couple are excited about the implications of the Central Plains Water scheme.

Water scheme offers certainty ELLESMERE TRANSPORT

Karen Phelps Daniel and Amanda Schat are excited about the implications of the first stage of the Central Plains Water Scheme. Construction started in April 2014 and is scheduled for completion about now. It will include 23,000 hectares between Te Pirita and Sheffield.

“Water has been the biggest challenge for us.

This scheme should give us more certainty of water for the whole season,” says Daniel Schat.

The couple are about to enter their third season as 50:50 sharemilkers on a 224ha (effective) unit (242ha total) at Te Pirita owned by Daniel’s parents, Harry and Gail Schat.

The herd of 800 predominantly holstein friesian cows is milked through a 50-bail rotary shed with automatic cup removers and an in-shed grain feeding system integrated with MilkHub technology.

Last season they produced 375,762 kilograms of milksolids, slightly down on the farm’s best; this season their target is to produce 396,000kg milksolids.

A centre-pivot irrigator was installed on the farm three years ago, pumping from an underground aquifer 100 metres beneath the earth’s surface.

This has made water expensive, especially as it gets harder to source through the summer months, says Schat. The new scheme will allow him to pump 5 millilitres per hectare per day.

“It opens up the opportunity to reduce running costs. In the next year or two, that could be quite handy if the payout stays down.”

He admits it is hard for them to quantify the value of water in the business:

“For example, we had a pump blow up on Christmas Day once, and could irrigate at only 40 per cent for a month in the height of summer. The scheme will take away that kind of risk.”

The couple are hopeful the scheme might also enable them to grow more grass, make re-grassing decisions easier, and give them greater security of feed supply. They may also be able to increase production while keeping feed costs similar, and to feed cows better for longer.

“It’s a little bit of a case of waiting to see to determine what it means for the farm, but we are very excited and hopeful about the prospect of what it will bring,” says Daniel.

The scheme is being operated by Central Plains Water Ltd, a shareholder-owned company established in 2003.

The company will be responsible for the implementation and operation of the scheme, which will be developed in three stages. The company employs a core of 30 professional staff, and is governed by a board of seven directors from a variety of backgrounds, including farming, legal, finance and farm advisory. A number of the board members are also shareholders in the company.

Daniel Schat grew up on dairy farms in the Canterbury region. He didn’t initially want to be a dairy farmer, but at the age of 16, the farming bug grabbed him and he left school and started working on dairy farms as a farm hand.

At the age of 22 he returned to his parents farm as a herd manager for the 2001-02 season milking 680 cows.

After a brief stint overseas doing his OE, including working on farms in the United Kingdom and contintental countries, he returned to New

Zealand and carried on managing his parents’ farm for another couple of years before going into a lower-order sharemilking position.

In 2010 Amanda joined the business. The Schats now employ three full-time staff and Amanda helps with calf-rearing. They have two children: Lexi, four and Harper, one.

They are both also focused on breeding and aim to breed genetics for the industry. They use World Wide Sires semen along with high-index genetics for a small part of the herd.

Daniel said this is because when they want to sell stock in the New Zealand market, people still predominantly look at the BW (breeding worth) figures.

They have already had success. One of their holstein friesians has been accepted for the Holstein Friesian Discovery Project this year. They haven’t made the breeding catalogue yet, and that is their next goal.

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26 |

WATER & EFFLUENT » Irrigation NZ

Business Rural

Supporting regional development –

This aerial picture shows the dramatic effect irrigation has made on the Culverden basin during this year’s drought.

While some media claims that New Zealand’s regions are suffering from neglect, while big cities get attention and money are exaggeration or simply untrue, there is strong evidence to suggest that growth in many regions is lagging, says Irrigation New Zealand chief executive officer Andrew Curtis.

He pinpoints Northland, Bay of Plenty and Hawke’s Bay, and says there is an obvious solution to this problem – water storage and irrigation development.

“This is a viable way to regenerate our regions,” he says. “You only need to look at Canterbury and Otago to see how water has impacted on the regional economies.

“In North Otago, the North Otago Irrigation Company contributes at least five per cent, or $48 million, annually to the region’s gross domestic product and maintains 274 jobs. In Timaru, the nearby Opuha dam and related irrigation creates 480 jobs and adds $41m a year to the region’s GDP. At 2.3% growth in GDP, Timaru is outperforming the Wairarapa region’s 1.3%.

“And everyone knows that irrigation in Ashburton has transformed the district into a powerhouse of New Zealand’s agricultural economy. The area now accounts for more than 43% of national arable farm production. What’s more, these figures do not include Christchurch where a large proportion of service, retail, manufacturing and support industries are reliant on rural customers.”

Curtis says it was pleasing to see National MPs, at a recent South Island gathering, pass a remit supporting water-storage development. The remit recognised that a “significant increase in water storage in Canterbury and all other appropriate water-dependent areas” is needed to improve the growth prospects of many communities.

“IrrigationNZ applauds this initiative as we also believe water storage will ‘enable the nation to achieve environmentally sustainable primary production targets’.

He says you only have to look at one of the most recent storage developments in Canterbury – Mayfield Hinds Irrigation Ltd’s ponds at Carew – to see what a difference water storage can make.

Developed over 10 years, the ponds will allow more efficient water use and reliability. Excess water from the supply race will be diverted into the storage ponds, and stored water will be gravity-fed back

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WATER & EFFLUENT » Irrigation NZ

Business Rural

| 27

the flow-on effect of water of irrigation development and water storage infrastructure will be IrrigationNZ’s 2016 conference and expo on April 5-7 next year. The event will be held in Oamaru and will showcase the fruits of irrigation investment in North Otago. Curtis says the area and community continues to show the gains irrigation can bring. The principal conference sponsors are Anderson Lloyd, ANZ Bank and Waterforce.

The conference will see the launch of IrrigationNZ’s SMART (Sustainably Managed, Accountable, Responsible and Trusted) Irrigation Showcase. The session will involved 12 15-minute presentations to promote new opportunities for irrigators and the industry. IrrigationNZ has called for submissions of abstracts to select the 12 presentations.

Exhibition space is also on sale and sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact Chris Coughlan: 03 3412225; ccoughlan@irrigationnz.co.nz.

Conference registrations will open on October 6.

Andrew Curtis, Irrigation New Zealand chief executive officer. into the main race during irrigation restrictions.

Water storage is the essential complement for a run-of-river supply subject to seasonal river restrictions, says Curtis. As last summer emphasised, dry periods can be weathered if farmers have access to a reliable and secure supply of water.

The advantages of water storage also extend to the community at large. Reliable irrigation can help farms remain profitable and sustainable, so protecting jobs and maintaining downstream benefits for local businesses.

Another forum for demonstrating the merits

• Curtis says the Board of Inquiry decision affecting the Tukituki catchment in Hawkes’ Bay was a far from practical outcome for farmers and the regional economy.

“The nutrient limits that have been set for the Tukituki system – while fair on the face of it – remain unrealistic for what is a productive, working agricultural landscape.”

While excluding some hill-country farms, forestry, orchards and lifestyle blocks from having to gain consents was a good move, the majority of commercial enterprises in the area will still require consent, he says.

However, the decision does give farmers in the catchment involved with the scheme some headroom as land use can now be managed to

A training workshop run by Irrigation NZ . achieve the nutrient limit of 0.8mg dissolved nitrate per litre of water (DIN limit) by 2030, rather than 2020 as previously stipulated. And nutrient levels will now be on an individual-farm basis rather than at the bottom of the catchment.

“While it is good that the measuring point can be better related to individual farms, it still creates issues for those further down the catchment who end up with compounded impacts of the upstream farms.”

Curtis says Canterbury farmers may not think the decision affects them, but he says there are a lot of parallels with what’s happening in Canterbury under the new regional and sub-regional plans, the implications for catchments, and the viability of farming.

He says IrrigationNZ is looking forward to the completion of the Board of Inquiry process, and the being revisited in the context of the 2014 version of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater.

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28 |

WATER & EFFLUENT » Environment Southland

Business Rural

Effluent disposal site Southland’s first After years of planning, Southland’s first stocktruck, effluent-disposal site has opened at Five Rivers, at a cost of around $300,000.

Environment Southland senior policy planner (transport) Russell Hawkes says the development of the site was a joint project between Environment Southland and the New Zealand Transport Authority.

A number of locations were suggested before Five Rivers was settled on. The site had the backing of the industry and buy-in from adjacent land-owners.

The key is that the site is on a major route used by stock trucks taking milking cows from Southland dairy units to winter grazing on farms in Central Otago and further north. The site is capable of holding 20,000 litres of effluent, and operates on

an electronic system that sends a text to Hawkes and two contractors when it reaches 50 per cent capacity and again when it hits 75%. This allows the contractors to empty it.

Hawkes says transport-industry representatives were very supportive of the plan and had considerable input into choosing the location. They also ensured stock trucks were fitted with effluent tanks.

“Everybody will benefit from this site,” he says.

“There will be less effluent on the roads, which makes it safer and improves the general look of the area.” Funding for a second site has been allocated in Environment Southland’s draft long-term plan.

The location has yet to be determined.

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Environment Southland chairman Ali Timms, Transport Services Ltd driver Jason Goodwin and the New Zealand Transport Authority’s senior network manager for Southland, Peter Robinson, at the official opening of the Five Rivers effluent-disposal site.

Business Rural

WATER & EFFLUENT » Sustainable Water

| 29

Business pursues wise use of water Jo Bailey Ashburton firm, Sustainable Water is helping farmers maximise their water use and prevent losses through environmentally friendly methods.

Director Tim O’Sullivan says the company strives to find the best possible systems for individual clients to ensure their farm’s agronomic and environmental requirements are met, and that water is used as efficiently as possible.

“Water is becoming an increasingly valuable asset and, in the current climate, farmers have got to ensure its use is effective. We design irrigation systems that meet the soil’s infiltration rate, and minimise nutrient loss caused by over-watering.”

Sustainable Water delivers everything from consultancy, evaluation, design, and overseer modelling to sales, consents, project management, construction and integration of a client’s efficient and environmentally sound irrigation or effluent system.

The company is also a specialist in dairy shed water-efficiency use, says O’Sullivan.

“By quantifying water consumption of dairy sheds, there is usually the ability to significantly reduce fresh water use.”

Options such as the recycling of green water for backing-gate operation, and the introduction of a closed-circuit, plate-cooling system can collectively offset water use in some sheds by up to 60 per cent.

“Our clients are getting good results with this system,” he says. “One farmer has reduced water use from 120,000 to 50,000 litres per day, creating far less effluent to process and store.”

In addition, Sustainable Water offers advice on

PHOTOS – Top: Sustainable Water’s Irrigation project manager Steve Kirsopp. Middle: Installation of a HDPE liner for a new effluent pond in Mid Canterbury. Above: Irrigation systems are designed to meet the soil’s infiltration rate and minimise nutrient loss caused by overwatering.

effluent projects. including pond systems, sludge beds and screening systems. The firm supplies and installs both HDPE geomembrane and geosynthetic clay pond-lining for effluent ponds.

“The majority of our projects use HDPE, which is a cost-effective, robust, and tried-and-true product.”

O’Sullivan (who was the National Bank Young Farmer of the Year in 2009) founded Sustainable Water in 2011 after his former business partner left to go farming.

He says the company’s 10 staff, including parttimers, do around 95% of the installation work.

“Our accredited professionals install thousands of metres of irrigation and effluent storage ponds annually.”

Most of the firm’s irrigation projects are based within the Mid Canterbury region. However, it services much of the South Island for effluent work.

Being an independent is one of the company’s biggest points of difference, says O’Sullivan.

“We are not pushing a particular product or system, and we are able to spend a bit more time with our clients to provide them with an unbiased recommendation of what’s the best answer for their farming business.”

Sustainable Water was a finalist at the 2013 Champion Canterbury Business Awards for professional service, which, according to O’Sullivan, was a solid achievement for a young company.

“The agricultural industry is continually evolving, and our focus as a comprehensive water management company is to continue to provide efficient, innovative, environmentally friendly service to farmers.”

30 |

RURAL SERVICES » Southern Vegetation Control

Business Rural

PHOTOS: Southern Vegetation Control (formerly Southland Vegetation Control) has expanded. The company operates five trucks with GPS and 16-metre boom spray capability.

Name change reflects expansion Karen Phelps Southern Vegetation Control (previously known as Southland Vegetation Control) has expanded its sphere of operations to cover the Clydevale area and its surrounds.

A year ago the company bought another spray business which gave it a Clydevale base. The company name was changed to reflect the wider coverage, says company director Bretton Taylor.

He says Southern Vegetation Control will provide the same services in Clydevale as it does from

its Waikaka base in Southland. One full-time staff member, Benji Perry, is employed in Clydevale, The company’s now has five staff, with Taylor also out on the job. He grew up on a farm and says this background is important as it gives him a good understanding of the needs of farmers.

He started the business in 2001 after working in the spraying industry in the North Island. He saw a gap in the market for a spray-contracting service, made the shift to the South Island, and has no regrets.

“It was quite a risk, I guess, looking back on it, but we had good equipment and word of mouth has

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played a big part. Southland is a good, safe, friendly environment. We have good loyal customers – it’s a great place to run a business.”

He expects the volatility of the dairy industry may mean farmers will be tempted to cut back on costs when it comes to weed control. But he warns that this is an essential part of their dairy operation: “It’s a double edged sword. If the payout is not good, they need to cut costs; but if this includes weed control, they could lose production if pasture quality is not as good. “Looking after pasture and winter crops is essential. If weed control is not done properly and in a timely manner, it not only can reduce crops but in the worst-case scenario it could wipe the crop out.

“We can offer the right advice as to what farmers need to do within their budget as well as provide an efficient and reliable service. Weed control is not a huge part of their budget, but it is an important part. “ This is especially important with the increasing numbers of farmers growing fodder beet, he says.

As fodder beet is an expensive crop to grow, it is essential that weed control is done properly to maximise yields.

Taylor says investing in technology is an important part of the business. He has five trucks with GPS and 16-metre-boom spray capability. The GPS technology gives proof of placement.

“The traceability aspect is becoming increa-

The traceability aspect is becoming increasingly important. We can produce GPS maps that show farmers exactly what we have applied, and where. singly important. We can produce GPS maps that show farmers exactly what we have applied and where.”

The bulk of the company’s wprk though is boom spraying for weed and pest control and application of liquid nitrogen and ProGibb.

Southern Vegetation Control is a member of the Rural Contractors’ Federation of New Zealand, which, says Taylor, keeps him up to date. The company is a registered chemical applicator, and he says there has been a big shift towards regulation in this area.

“It is peace of mind for customers. They know we have the right equipment and experience to do the job, and do it safely. Farmers are now keen to get a professional in to do this job.”

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RURAL SERVICES » McHaffie Building

Business Rural

| 31

A bathroom and house renovation completed by Gore-based McHaffie Building.

Space galore in new Gore subdivision Kim Newth Southland residents on the hunt for a roomy town section in Gore will not be disappointed by a new residential subdivision under way in Kakapo Street.

Developed by McHaffie Building Ltd, the subdivision has eight sections, ranging in size from 2000 to 2700 square metres.

Paul McHaffie says most sections in Gore have traditionally tended to be much smaller. He believes people will relish the prospect of town-living with elbow room. Prospective buyers will be able to design and build their own house, with McHaffie Building also offering house and land packages.

“We just saw an opportunity to meet the needs of people wanting to be in a new development on a decent-sized section,” he says. “For example, most farmers coming off the land don’t like being cooped up. They like room to move, so that is why we have gone down this track.”

Building has begun on the first section sold and McHaffie expects strong demand into spring. He and his wife, Nicole, are also planning to build a new family house for themselves and their two preschool-aged children within the subdivision.

“New-house builds in the Gore township have been a little slow in recent times, maybe because of the lack of available, quality sections. This subdivision is on the newer side of Gore, to the west. Even before we really kicked this off, we were getting a lot of enquiries, so we think the demand is there.”

The McHaffies formed their building business eight years ago, with Paul as the sole-charge builder and Nicole doing the accounts.

Now the company employs two other qualified builders, along with two apprentices and another part-time worker. Given that Paul McHaffie took on his first apprentice only five years ago, growth has been rapid.

Paul McHaffie, who grew up locally, puts a lot of the company’s success down to a solid reputation based on performance with clients.

We saw an opportunity to meet the needs of people wanting to be in a new development with a decent-sized section...

Most farmers coming off the land don’t like being cooped up.

“Most of our work comes through repeat business and word of mouth – we have a good client base now.”

McHaffie Building covers the farming sector, as well as residential work, and gets enquiries from across Otago and Southland.

The company is associated with the Master Builders’ Association and is a licenced building practitioner.

Paul McHaffie himself is a service agent for Clearlite Athena Bathrooms and has access to a showers, vanities, baths, spas and other bathroom products to suit most styles and budgets.

“Home renovations have made up the bulk of our work lately, although we have also been doing lots of calving sheds and general building and housing maintenance,” he says.

“Our new builds have included three or four dairy-farm cottages as well as a few nice family homes here in town.”

While falling dairy prices are having an impact, the business has a diverse client base that includes sheep and beef farmers and town residents.

McHaffie is now well known and recognised locally, and there is no shortage of building work on this company’s books.

McHaffie Building staff at the new Kakapo subdivision in Gore.

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32 |

RURAL SERVICES » Donald Love Windrowing & Baling

Business Rural

Contractor primed with latest gear Karen Phelps Donald Love Windrowing & Baling can offer farmers a complete service covering the whole spectrum of winter feed.

As the name suggests, the Mayfield-based company provides windrowing and baling services.

It is complemented by Plains Drilling, a company Donald and Kay Love own in partnership with their son, Robert, to provide direct drilling, conventional drilling, ploughing and disc rolling services.

Donald Love Windrowing and Baling was formed in 1992 when Donald bought a local hedge-cutting business. By 1999 the firm had grown to the point he bought a windrower to supplement the hedgecutting and provide steady work year round.

Gear was slowly upgraded as the business grew and it now has four windrowers. A choice of header fronts, from 14-foot to 25-foot widths, enables the company to take on a wide variety of work.

Love says the business has vast experience in specialist crops.

“The arable industry has changed with more specialist crops grown these days. Specialist crops are very high value and have to be cut at very

specific moisture contents. It used to be a bit of the ‘She’ll be right mate’ attitude, but it’s now a very precise science.

“As it gets close to the time, farmers usually take daily moisture readings to keep us informed.

We have to be on call and when the crop is ready, we have to be really responsive to their needs.

That’s the main reason we have four windrowing machines – so that we can get the job done when the farmer needs it.”

He says changing commodity prices over the past five years have separated the wheat from the chaff in the industry, so to speak, leaving only the dedicated professional players.

His company has responded by making a firm commitment to clients and continuing to invest in late-model gear and expand its services.

For example, the company has been baling commercially for just four seasons, but it’s a service that has proved popular with clients, says Love.

It can handle both round and square bales, tube and individual wrapping, and cartage. Equipment

• To page 33

Specialist crops are very high value and have to be cut at very specific moisture contents. It used to be a bit of the ‘She’ll be right mate’ attitude, but it’s now a very precise science.

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PHOTOS: Donald Love Windrowing and Baling continues to invest in late-model machinery, including a selection of four windrowers (top) and Case balers (above).

Ashburton 307 7153

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RURAL SERVICES » Peter Lyon Shearing

Business Rural

| 33

Merino shearers strut their stuff Kim Newth Spare a thought for the country’s hard-working shearing gangs at this time of year. They have a big job on their hands right now to trim heavy winter fleeces off thousands of merino sheep.

Peter and Elsie Lyon run one of New Zealand’s biggest merino-shearing contracting businesses, based out of Alexandra in Central Otago. Their merino-shearing operation is in high gear, with ewes being shorn before lambing. By October, the shearing teams will switch focus to the region’s young hoggets, then finally the wethers.

In September, the Lyons have 20 shearing gangs going out to farms every day. On average, each gang has five shearers, six shed-hands and two pressers.

They cover a vast area, stretching from Middlemarch to Queenstown, and Tekapo to Five Rivers. Most of the fine soft wool produced is destined for the high-end export market.

“We have a big infrastructure, including good health and safety procedures. It means we can provide a good service, “says Peter Lyon.

“I organise the teams and put the right people in the right places, then go and make sure the job is being done properly. We are quite accessible people and are closely involved in what happens every day. It could not be run any other way. However, we recognise that we’re only as good as our staff.”

Elsie Lyon mentors a lot of young wool handlers and manages the administration. This is a considerable task; the payroll alone includes 300 work codes and there 18,000 to 19,000 sheep are shorn daily at the peak of the season.

Skilled people are needed to ensure the jobs of shearing and wool handling are done well. It can take five or six years to acquire a good level of proficiency. While Peter Lyon says it is hard to

Peter and Elsie Lyon...they worry about how skills will be replaced in the shearing industry. gauge precisely how much value a good team adds to the end-result, a poor performing team could potentially cost a farmer a dollar or two a kilo.

The couple are committed to fostering skill through training on the job and are pleased at how many experienced hands return to work for them each season.

Accommodation is provided at their shearers’ quarters or the Alexandra Tourist Park, which they own.

“We have mothers who have arranged babysitters for two or three months so that they can come and do the merino part of the year. They like the product – it is soft to handle and nice to work with. Merino shearing creates its own culture.”

Peter is a life member of the New Zealand

Shearing Contractors’ Association and made his mark in Golden Shears history by winning the 1974 intermediate and 1975 senior titles, and finishing fifth in the 1978 and 1979 open finals.

He believes today’s shearers are more skilled than ever, because many spend part of the year shearing merinos in Australia. Fortunately the seasonal peaks do not clash, so demand from Australia does not cause recruitment issues here.

However, he does worry about the future of the industry, in terms of how skills will be replaced longer term.

“I would certainly like to see a small levy introduced that would go directly into training.”

Having been in the industry for more than three decades, Lyon is able to see both the pros and

Skilled people are needed to ensure the jobs of shearing and wool handling are done well. It can take five or six years to acquire a good level of proficiency. While it is hard to gauge precisely how much value a good team adds to the end-result, a poor-performing team could potentially cost a farmer a dollar or two a kilo. cons of changes in merino-sheep farming.

“From a shearing contractor’s point of view, the wool generally has improved, prices have improved a little, and production has improved dramatically.

What is left of the industry seems to be OK at heart, but a lot of farmers seem to struggle for profitability.”

Once the merino shearing season is over, there are crossbred sheep to be shorn. Summer shearing and crutching – January to April – brings another peak.

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

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

“You cannot beat NZ Wool it is naturally grown from grass” IN WOOL BUSINESS FOR 26 YEARS MARKETING MERINO, HALF BREED & CROSS BRED WOOLS OUR EXPERIENCE COUNTS A McHale round baler at work in Mid Canterbury for Donald Love Windrowing and Baling.

Firm has Mid-Canterbury covered • From page 32 includes a Case 4x3 and 3x3 baler, a McHale round baler, wrappers and trucks.

The trucks are a newer addition to the fleet and allow the company greater control over the cartage of silage, straw and balage.This gives the firm greater self-sufficiency and reliability rather than having to rely on contractors.

This season Donald Love Windrowing and Baling has bought a set of nine-metre triple mowers and a nine-metre tedder.

While Donald Love is out on the job, Kay looks after the office and administration. The company employs eight staff. The firm works across the Mid Canterbury region..

Both Donald and Kay Love grew up on mixed arable and sheep farms at Methven, and they still run their own farm – background and experience they say has given them a good understanding of clients’ needs.

The couple now run a 50-hectare farm and a 100ha lease block at Mayfield where they provide dairy support services and do a small amount of cropping.

The describe their contracting activties as “a family-owned business that looks after our local farmers, big and small”.

“One of our strengths is that Robert or I are out in the field with our guys,” says Donald Love..

“Farmers deal with the owners of the business. We think that’s really important.”

Main West Coast Road, Yaldhurst, RD 6, Christchurch 7676, New Zealand Phone:+64 3 342 6223 Fax:+64 3 342 6234 Web: www.nzwool.com

34 |

RURAL SERVICES » Cranleigh Haulage

Business Rural

PHOTOS: Cranleigh Haulage has gone from a two-truck to a 13-truck operation and now provides a full range of rural transport services.

Acquisition bolsters South Otago Kim Newth

As a result of this acquisition, we are now able to provide better service and our operations are much more economic.

Scaling up operations to compete in a tight market is proving a winning formula for Balclutha-based transport company Cranleigh Haulage.

Cranleigh Haulage director Reece Johnston took his accountant’s advice last year to look at ways of expanding his business. He had heard that the owners of another local company, Murray and Gwenda Nyhon, of Nyhon Transport, were nearing retirement and were considering selling up.

“We went from there – Cranleigh Haulage ended up taking over Nyhon Transport last November.

Murray and Gwenda provided an A-grade service to their clients. They left big boots to fill. They made a name for themselves by offering the best service possible. Our job now is all about maintaining that level of service, as well as combining that work with what we do.”

It has been a rapid growth curve for Cranleigh Haulage, which is only a young company. It was established in July 2011 with one truck subcontracting at that time to Dynes Transport for milk cartage. Cranleigh bought its first stock truck in January 2012.

Taking over a business such as Nyhon Transport, which had been in operation for 26 years, was an ambitious and challenging goal, says Johnston.

But he says he had little option if he wanted to secure Cranleigh’s long-term viability.

Eight months after the acquisition, Cranleigh Haulage is a very different business.

It has grown from a two-truck operation to 13 – a mix of stock trucks, dip trucks and spreaders.

It used to have one dedicated stock truck; now it has five.

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SERVICES » Cranleigh Haulage

Business Rural

| 35

transport firm some who stayed on from Nyhon Transport – and a couple of casuals.

“As a result of this acquisition, we are now able to provide better service and our operations are much more economic,” says Johnston.

“We have trucks going in different directions all the time. So, if there is a load that needs to come back, we have a truck to pick it up.”

The acquisition and expansion has also allowed Cranleigh to offer bulk-spreading services.

“Before this, we never had bulk spreaders of our own. There were three spreaders in this other company, so that really has added another angle to what we can do. “Now we can provide a full range of rural transport services.

“We are able to transport everything from milk and stock to logs, hay, bulk fertiliser – both cartage and spreading – sawdust and wood shavings for local farmers. We will go wherever we are required to go. We had one truck go up as far as Huntly

recently, but our core of business remains in the South Otago region.”

And Cranleigh Haulage is not servicing just the dairy sector, he says. The region still has a large large number of sheep farmers who require cartage services.

Fully adjusting to the larger scale of operations could take another year or two, Johnston suggests.

“It will take time to get to know individual customers and their needs, and to get to know where everything needs to be at the right place and the right time.”

Reece Johnston is a Clydevale local – off a sheep, beef and grain farm. He worked in a local motorcycle shop for 12 years as a mechanic and salesman, where he got to know many of those who are now his transport customers.

“Having that local knowledge really helps, both in terms of knowing the region, but also in knowing your community,” he says.

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36 |

RURAL SERVICES » EAL AgriServices Group

Business Rural

New name and Sue Russell

Tim Rigden, managing director of EAL AgriServices Group, which was formerly known as Ellesmere Agricultural Ltd.

A strong vision sits behind Tim Ridgen’s decision to open a new depot and change the name of his busy agricultural contracting company from Ellesmere Agricultural Ltd, which he founded in 2002, to EAL AgriServices Group.

While the company’s original depot continues to operate out of Southbridge, 40 kilometres south of Christchurch a new facility in Malvern will service clients in that area.

“I originally come from the Malvern district and we have established clients in that district and further afield,” says Ridgen. “I felt that to do justice and to take up further opportunities, a closer depot was needed.”

Each depot operates independently and has its own manager, Mike Quinn at Malvern and Mike Greenwood at Ellesmere.

Tim’s job, as managing director, is to oversee and co-ordinate work from each depot, to communicate with clients, and to keep an eye on‘the bigger picture.

“I had been driving past the closed-up, powerboard site in Malvern for a number of years,” he says. “I always thought it was such a waste of good infrastructure and deserved to be used again, not only by EAL AgriServices Group but also evolving into an agricultural servicing hub.”

Contracting business Malvern Agricultural Spraying Ltd has already joined EAL AgriServices Group on the site, and Ridgen us discussing its use with Central Plains Water.

EAL AgriServices Group has been servicing clients in the Malvern/Darfield area for some time and it has some staff already based in that area. A new depot will provide them with the ability to travel to farms in more effective time-frames.

This is a business very much about performance and I can only see benefits in agriculturalcontracting companies sharing facilities to provide the best service

The addition of the new depot has broadened EAL AgriServices Group’s geographical operation to cover the whole of central Canterbury.

“It’s all about providing our clients with the best possible service,” says Ridgen. “This is a business very much about performance and I can only see benefits in agricultural-contracting companies sharing facilities to provide the best service capabilities.”

The firm’s core business remains baled silage, though Ridgen foresees expansion in the slipstream of the new irrigation system servicing Malvern and surrounds.

When the season is at its peak, full-time drivers from each depot are supplemented with seasonal staff from the United Kingdom, increasing the number on the machines significantly.

A new McHale Fusion 3 Plus baler has also been added to the company’s working fleet recently.

Ridgen describes it as having “unique technological features”.

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RURAL SERVICES » EAL AgriServices Group

Business Rural

| 37

depot part of ‘bigger picture’

PHOTOS: EAL AgriServices Group has a wide range of contracting equipment, including a new McHale Fusion 3 Plus baler (right) which uses ‘film on film’ baling technology to create vacuum pressure inside bales, reducing damage from oxygen and mould.

“It makes a far better bale and the dry matter losses are much less than what occurs with the more common baling machines.”

Typically, bales are bound in net-wrap before an outer layer of plastic is wrapped around it. Instead, the Fusion 3, which originates from Ireland, uses a “film on film” baling technology, wrapping each bale tight with wide-width polythene film, creating significant vacuum pressure inside the bale, and in the process considerably reducing damage from oxygen and mould.

Overall total dry-matter losses are halved in bales wrapped by the Fusion 3 Plus – a benefit that is passed on into more efficient transfer of food in milk production.

“The best part is that from an environmental

perspective, complete recycling of the baling product is possible,” says Ridgen.

Tests have also shown that the bales of silage are sweeter, more energy-dense and more proteinrich, contain less ammonia nitrogen, and have lower pH levels – which acts to prevent protein breaking down at the rate that occurs in traditional bales.

Tim Ridgen describes his role as continuing to evolve the company by looking for fresh opportunities.”

He has a lot of respect for the professionalism and capabilities of his drivers.

“I have got guys who are extremely competent operators, who thrive on challenges, and who have very high standards about their work.”

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38 |

RURAL SERVICES » Pump Services

Business Rural

Pump specialist eyes ‘untapped potential’ Sue Russell When Ross Johnson and his then business partner formed Pump Services Ltd in 2006, the dairy boom in the Canterbury region was just beginning.

“Both of us carried an engineering and mechanical background and had worked in the pump and irrigation industry for a decade before forming the company,” says Johnson.

The Rangiora-based company looked at the service sector of the industry and with the boom, the two-man band hit the ground running, increasing staff by 200 per cent in the first year.

Since 2010 Ross Johnson and wife Glenda have owned the business outright, and he can’t speak highly enough of his staff, which includes Glenda.

“She’s there for everybody, runs around sorting out the vehicles, making sure the boys have

I think the businesses that will get through this well, will be those that are prepared to adapt and find new markets and still be there for the farming community.

everything they need. It’s a reflection of the family feel this business has evolved.”

Son Andrew also works in the company, coordinating projects, and his partner, Jenna, is the voice that greets customers and helps manage the day-to-day running.

While turnover has tracked around $3 million a year. Johnson has concentrated his energy in the past year to diversify the company’s services.

“We have got into lifestyle blocks and small irrigation systems far more of late,” he says.

“One of the things we offer, which is a great service for lifestyle-block owners, is to visit a property and advise on what pumping/filtration/ irrigation infrastructure would be best suited.”

The company stocks fittings, new pumps, pressure tanks, poly, and PVC pipe.

“We deal only with top suppliers when it comes to the products we sell and install,” says Johnson.

“Companies such as Reid & Harrison, Brown Brothers, A W Harper, Pentair and Pump & Valve.”

Diversifying has also meant building capacity within the company’s staff, which now includes two drainlayers and a plumber.

The dairy downturn has brought a consequent drop in farm-conversion installations.

“It has really bitten into the dairy-servicing industries like ours,” says Ross Johnson. “I think the businesses that will get through this well, will be those that are prepared to adapt and find new markets, and still be there for the farming community.”

Dairy effluent separation is one of the services provided by Pump Services Ltd. However, new rules and standards governing the processing of effluent in the rural and farming industries is increasing demand for the effluent management services the company offers.

In 2010 Pump Services opened Pump Services West Coast at Ikamatua, in the Grey Valley, between Greymouth and Reefton. It was a move in response to the largely untapped potential for servicing dairy farms in the area.

“We were very lucky to meet the ‘mayor of Ikamatua’, Bob Brown, who took up the challenge to lead the West Coast business,” says Johnson.

“The West Coast is getting right into the issues of irrigation and effluent. Pump Services West

Coast was the first company to install centre-pivot irrigators (now 12 units) and many more k-line systems.”

He describes the West Coast as very different from Canterbury where the average -size farm will run 600-1000 cows.

“Over on the Coast you are talking about much smaller farming entities, 200-400. Most sheds are older and, historically, they have always relied on the huge rainfall to assist in disbursing effluent naturally.”

Canterbury Pump Services 2010 Ltd, services the area from Kaikoura to the Rangitata, though the bulk of its business is in North Canterbury.

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RURAL SERVICES » Permbrand

Business Rural

| 39

Website plays pivotal role Sue Russell

Silos for meal-feeding systems (top) and specialised teat seal trailers (above) are part of Permbrand’s product range, which also includes stockyards, horse stalls and arenas.

Permbrand has carved out a niche market, servicing the farming and equine industries by supplying top-of-the-line, portable stockyards and associated products.

In the dozen years ago since the business was founded, demand for the company’s products has soared, says sales manager Steve Waters.

“Our clients are dealing with just one or two people all the way through and our back-up service is second to none,” he says.”These have been the key factors in our success.

Waters and operations manager Phil Shaw, oversees the day-to-day running of the firm at its Rollleston workshop, just south of Christchurch.

Permbrand’s products include fixed and portable stockyards and ramps, in-shed meal feeding systems and exercise arenas for horses. A large percentage of the componentry in the meal-feeding side of the business is imported from Europe.

A lot of the company’s work involves the installation of meal-feeding systems from scratch when a new dairy shed is built, as well as retrofits into sheds.

“The components for the meal-feeding systems we construct are imported from Belgium and the United States,” says Waters. “In those countries they are designed for the pig and poultry market in Europe.

“We’re the only ones in the world who use this same technology for the dairy industry, and our suppliers are quite intrigued by this.”

He has observed that with the lower payout has come a shift in the feed farmers are choosing to provide to their stock, with a consequent demand for systems that feed palm kernel.

“Palm kernel costs about half the price of grain, so we’re more and more getting involved in installing silos to accommodate this feed.”

Ideally, when a farmer is contemplating installing a meal-feeding system into a new shed, Waters will visit and assess the site. He says it makes sense to get involved right from the start to avoid fit-out problems.

“Farmers want a timely installation; it all works around calving, so the sooner we get involved, the more assured the farmer can be that the project will be delivered on time. It usually takes about a week to install a feeding system.”

Phil Shaw, who manages the workshop and construction processes, says it’s a lean and

extremely efficient structure. Two staff specialise in constructing silos while the engineers concentrate on production in the workshop.

“A big part of our reputation has been built on the quality of our ongoing maintenance programmes to farmers after installation.,” says Steve Waters. “After two or three seasons, particularly if a lot of grain is being fed, wear on the components will begin to occur.”

A key growth area in the company has been the manufacture and sales of horse stalls and arenas.

The company’s website receives a lot of hits from those connected with the equine industry.

There has also been considerable interest from vets for teat-seal trailers Permbrand manufactures.

“We’ve designed and manufactured these specialised trailers for the New Zealand and Australian dairy sectors.”

Steve Waters says that when he took over in the sole sales position, time and energy was invested into developing the website, and it has been pivotal to the business.

“That and getting on the phone as soon as an enquiry comes in for our products has meant we’re now in the position of having a considerable amount of repeat business.”

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40 |

RURAL SERVICES » Advance Quip

Business Rural

Rapid growth for machinery supplier Kim Newth Since launching in Gore in 2004 as a regional distributor of used trucks and machinery, AdvanceQuip has grown into a national supplier of construction machinery with clients in both the farming and construction sectors.

The company’s branches in Auckland, Christchurch and Southland provide a sales, parts and service package for clients. Southland remains the main administrative base for accounts enquiries and warranty processing, and all branches handle machinery sales, parts and servicing. Trade-in deals are available on used machinery.

Christchurch, the third fully serviced branch, opened in the former John Deere premises on Main South Road last year. The company reports strong demand for excavators as the volume of sitepreparation work increases with the Christchurch rebuild.

AdvanceQuip’s early focus was the ASV PosiTrack skid-steer tracked loader, now sold under the Terex brand. This led to wider access to Terex machinery, including excavators, wheel loaders and off-highway dump trucks.

In 2014, the family-owned and operated company took on the New Zealand distributorship for Case construction machinery. The excavators start with the compact 2.7 tonne CX27B model, and go through to the heavy-duty CX470C (operating weight of 46,900 kilograms). A selection of shortradius machines is included in the range; they are

• To page 41

PHOTOS: Excavator delivery (top) and a wheelloader at work in a silage pit (right).

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RURAL SERVICES » Rural Transport

Business Rural

| 41

The truck graphics say it all. Rural Transport has a long history in Mid-Canterbury and now has more than 50 trucks on the road. Its new premises north of Ashburton (below) sits on a 12-acre block and includes a 100-metre by 30m warehouse.

On the road for the long haul Sue Russell Jim Crouchley has lived and breathed trucks all his life; first as a qualified tractor and truck mechanic and since 2009 working for Mid-Canterbury rural trucking company Rural Transport Ltd. As the company’s general manager since 2014, based at its Ashburton head office, he oversees 50-plus trucks working in livestock, general freight, bulk cartage and spreading. Helping him is Rhys Young, Rural Transport’s operation manager and second-in-command. despatch operators and drivers.

“With a fleet the size of ours, you have new gear coming in all the time, so there is a constant level of reinvestment,” says Jim Crouchley. “Each year we usually turn over four or five trucks and that keeps the fleet ticking over nicely.”

With the lower payout hitting the dairy sector for the second consecutive season, the crunch time for the company will probably be in spring. he says.

“It will be interesting to observe the level of work we have in delivering fertiliser and livestock around the area we service.”

He says the backbone of the company is its staff, some of whom have been with Rural Transport for more than 40 years.

“We’ve recently farewelled a driver who was with the company just on 50 years. With that sort of experience, you have a really solid base.”

The company’s association with the region dates back to1927 when Bob Burnett, a young motor mechanic, began a carrying business at Hinds, driving a Reo truck around the Ashburton county.

Not one to sit quietly with a small operation, Burnett was always on the look-out for business opportunities. He acquired a controlling interest in the Mt Somers coal mine, bought Mt Somers Station, and in the 1950s, expanded into earthmoving. By 1957 his business owned more than 100 vehicles.

The the company merged with other related businesses to the point where it is now owned by a partnership of Philip Wareing Ltd and the Wilson Bulk Transport Charitable Trust. The head office and

yard remain in Ashbur-ton, but11 trucks are now based at Kurow and five in Fairlie.

Crouchley has a philosophical approach to viewing the transport business, saying it is important to look at every opportunity.

The company works South Island wide, but is predominantly delivering stock, bulk goods and farm supplies between North Canterbury and North Otago.

At the beginning of this year, Rural Transport moved to purpose-built premises with significant warehousing space on site,.just north of Ashburton.

This has opened up the opportunity to add general warehousing to the business activities, which would be timely, says Crouchley.

“We are on a 12 acre block and have a

Options aplenty for agricultural sector • From page 40 designed for sites where space is limited, such as road construction, bridge projects and urban construction.

The Japanese-built, C-series excavators claim superior productivity, improved fuel economy, ROPS and FOPS certified cabs that are quiet, comfortable and spacious with excellent visibility, and smooth, powerful hydraulics with anti-drop valves as standard on all boom cylinders.

Wheel-loaders, graders, dozers and skid-steers

round out the Case range. The first of the new 865B graders is working in the Otago region. Most operators are reported to prefer the traditional lever-type controls of this model over the joystick control.

Case offers warranty cover of three to five years for most components.

AdvanceQuip also distributes Atlas material handlers and hydraulic attachments for excavators, loaders and skidsteers. These include road stabilisers, stump grinders, grader blades, landscape rakes and rotary brooms. The company

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Options for the agricultural sector include excavators and wheel-loaders. The wheel-loaders are at work in fertiliser works, quarries and hire fleets. When fitted with ag tyres and attachments, the 20-tonne Case 921F and 18-tonne, 821F are suitable (plenty of compaction and handy reachheight) for building silage stacks and loading mixer-wagons.

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substantial 100-metre by 30m warehouse for managed warehousing and storage. While the income stream received from this source is very small, it has the potential to grow much bigger.”

A range of activities complementary to the transport operation are already on the site, including feed-mixing, coal storage, and six bulk-silos for storing grain.

Rural Transport’s revenue streams are diverse – 43 per cent of income is derived from carting livestock, 20% from bulk cartage, 21% from general freight, 14% from delivering fertiliser, and 2% from warehousing.

“I think it is very critical for the financial stability of the company and for the security of our valued team we employ that we have diverse income streams.”

Rural Transport’s support for rural and community activities includes dog trialling, A & P shows, and sponsoring the Rakaia rugby team.

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42 |

RURAL SERVICES » Spreading Canterbury

Business Rural

Precision spreading boosts production Kim Newth Accuracy is essential for effective ground spreading to support farm productivity. Technological advances in recent years are such that a high standard of accuracy can now be achieved by certified operators.

Through its local partnerships, Ravensdown has become the largest spreading operator in New Zealand and claims the country’s most accurate spreading technology, Ravtrak.

One such local partnership is Spreading

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Canterbury. Formed in 2008, Spreading Canterbury is a 50:50 partnership between Ravensdown and Palmers Transport Ltd. All 10 of its spreaders – based out of Southbridge, Hornby, Rakaia and Ashburton – are equipped with the latest Ravensdown spreading technology. Its trucks are Spreadmark-certified and meet the industry’s quality-assurance standards.

Brothers Wayne and Gavin Palmer are at the helm, custodians of a long-established family business, Palmers Transport Ltd, that began in the early 1960s.

Gavin Palmer believes one of the biggest changes has been the advent of variable-rate spreading, which varies fertiliser spread according to soil type. He says it means just the right amount is applied where it needs to go. This not only cuts down on waste, but boosts productivity and allows fertiliser to be applied in an environmentally responsible way. Targeted rates of application enable targeted responses for pastures to be achieved.

“A trial we did last season, which we are pushing out this season, was to apply a variable rate of nitrogen or urea fertiliser under effluent and non-effluent areas in paddocks,” he says.

“It means we can now apply urea at different rates under effluent areas which don’t need as much nitrogen.”

The technology is being fine-tuned all the time, he says. Automated-guidance control eliminates potential for erroneous application and precision delivery also means farmers can check details of each placement through proof-of-placement maps.

Spreading Canterbury’s does not just work with Ravensdown products, but all types of fertilisers and other products from a variety of companies.

It also operates a mini-spreader with single tyres for specialist crop work.

But technology is not just transforming the

Spreading Canterbury’s trucks are equipped with the latest spreading technology. spreading side of this partnership. Bulk cartage has also gone through big changes in recent years, according to Wayne Palmer.

The days of heavy lifting and manhandling bag loads of goods are largely over. Five of their tip trucks are equipped with blowing systems to enable grain such as wheat or barley – or urea – to be blown directly into silos.

“It means farmers no longer require tractordriven augers to do that work,” he says. “It is one less bit of machinery they need to worry about.

“It started with delivering urea for Ravensdown.

We’re doing silos for Ravensdown from Kaikoura

to Ranfurly now. As soon as farmers saw us doing that for urea, they realised it was a good idea to apply the same technology to grain.”

As well as carting bulk fertiliser and grain, the other major area of demand is icarting track rock for dairy farms.

Cartage rules have changed over the last two years, allowing vehicles to cart larger loads.

Specified vehicles can now take up to 50 tonnes, compared with 44 tonnes previously.

Wayne Palmer says it is a win-win for everyone since the number of trips required has been cut and drivers spending less time on the road.

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RURAL SERVICES » Beattie Insulators

Business Rural

| 43

Insulator stands test of time Neil Grant Farmers are an inventive bunch. Working, often alone, and faced with problems looking for an answer, their minds seem to churn away until that lightbulb lights up and they head for the workshop to produce something that often is charmingly simple, yet gloriously effective.

The electric fence, the farm bike, aerial topdressing, the rotary milking shed and the fence strainer all came about in this way.

Electric fences originally used porcelain insulators. These were expensive and time consuming things to deal with.

In 1959, Doug Beattie, the manager of The Haldons Station near Seddon, had the bright idea of making a low-density, polyethylene insulator for waratahs, and later wooden fenceposts. Dies were cast, and Beattie’s patented insulators were produced and distributed from Christchurch.

In 1964, he bought a farm on the Inland Kaikoura Road, named it Haldon Downs, and carried on farming and inventing.

For the 16 years the patent ran, millions of Beattie insulators were sold in New Zealand and Australia. When the patent ran out, others copied the idea, but by then the Beattie name had become synonymous with practicality and long life. The insulator was a premium product with a 20-year replacement guarantee.

Other products were dreamed up to meet Doug Beattie’s needs as a working farmer. The doubleclevis tractor drawbar became the inspiration for the Pinlock insulator.

Super-strong insulators with a high-strength, nylon insert known as Permanents can take extraordinary punishment, such as a tree falling across the fence. Insulated fence-reels with an unbreakable bobbin, gate cut-out switches, pigtail outriggers.

Beattie Insulators now has a huge range of products for farmers who use electric fencing.

“Grandad took out more than 30 patents, and we now make more than 100 different products,” says Matt Anderson, Doug Beattie’s grandson and now the’ sales and marketing manager for Beattie Insulators.

“In the early days it was all about insulators.

Now we’ve developed unbreakable gate handles, underground cables, and Grandad and another farmer, Kevin Smith, came up with the prill and granule applicator bottle about 25 years ago. It’s a 500ml applicator bottle that farmers can carry

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Neal Irwin is proud to have supported Beattie Insulators for the past 20 years PHOTOS: Beattie Insulators (above and right) are synonymous with practicality and durability. with them on their bikes for spot control of ragwort, thistles and gorse.”

The Beatties took back distribution to their Kaikoura property and now handle that and administration, marketing and assembly from there.

They also distribute the Sprong electric gate, a cunning device that allows motor bikes and pivot irrigators to pass through a fenceline while keeping the stock in the paddock.

Doug Beattie died in 2014, having retired from the business and the farm the previous year at age 87. His daughter, Linda, and her husband, Grant Anderson, bought the farm. Linda manages the insulator business.

“Grandad was a farmer. It had to work for him or he wouldn’t sell it,” Matt Anderson recalls. “He said, ‘We’re New Zealand farmers, and we keep everything New Zealand-made’.

“We can keep a close eye on things. It gives us peace of mind with marketing and quality control.”

“Our products would be cheaper if they were made in China. We’re a wee bit more expensive, but we brand our products as a premium range. There is a big export market, but we haven’t pushed it much yet.”

Clearly, it’s only a matter of time.

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44 |

RURAL SERVICES » Power Farming Timaru

Business Rural

We’ve added a 13m x 20m extension, which will give us four extra service bays plus a purpose-built grooming and assembly bay. Everything, including our water blasting area will be fully covered.”

The Power Farming Timaru managenment group: from left, Jo Dawbin (administration manager), Stuart Hessell (service manager), Ross Dawbin (dealer principal), Andrew Kaufman (parts manager), Brian Marsh (sales manager), Dave Laughton (sales).

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A diverse client base is helping Power Farming Timaru weather the storm of the dairy slow-down, says dealer principal, Ross Dawbin.

“The lower dairy payout has had some impact, but I’m happy with the progress we’re making and business we’re doing,” he says.

“We service a good mix of other farming sectors such as cropping, sheep and beef, deer and horticulture, which are still spending on machinery, tractors and other equipment.”

There has also been good growth in the firm’s service operation – prompting a gradual increase in service staff from seven to 11, and an extension to the workshop this year “We’ve added a 13-metre x 20m extension, which will give us four extra service bays plus a purpose-built grooming and assembly bay,” says Dawbin. “Everything, including our water blasting area, will be fully covered.”

The development will enable the company to provide enhanced service and back-up to its client

base and support its five field-service vehicles, which carry out on-farm repairs, he says.

“Service is a key thing with the way the dairy economy is. A lot more farmers are repairing machinery and equipment rather than replacing it.”

Despite the current economic climate, Dawbin says there is no better time to invest in new gear.

“With the Reserve Bank dropping the official cash rate (OCR) and the exchange rate falling, any tractors we order from now on will be dearer,. So, if people are looking at new machines, they’d be wise to get them ordered from stock that’s already in the country.”

Power Farming Timaru has a no-interestor-repayment deal until February 2016 on new, German-made Deutz-Fahr tractors.

“The deal has helped a lot of farmers get into a new tractor,” says Dawbin.

“We’re very pleased with uptake of the Deutz 5000 and 6000 series with revamped cab and transmission since we launched them into the market in late 2013.”

He is also excited about the firm’s new range of

Versatile tractors. These include an articulated fourwheel drive, pivot-steer models with a DeltaTrack four-track system rather then wheels.

The Canadian-made tractors have an “extremely good” Cummins engine with Caterpillar transmission behind it, and one of the largest cabs on the market, he says.

“These machines are already proving very successful on big cropping operations in Australia.

In February we delivered our first 460 Deltatrack to a local client with a 450-hectare cropping farm for cultivation and drilling work.

“It’s the first of its type to be sold in New Zealand and is going really well.”

Power Farming Timaru has also recently imported a Treemme hedgecutter, manufactured by the Merlo telehandler company in Italy.

“This machine has been brought in for a local contractor for trimming, hedging and mulching gorse. It has a 10-metre boom and is the first one to operate in Australasia.”

• To page 45

RURAL SERVICES » Marshalls Excavating

Business Rural

An ‘experienced eye’ takes some beating Kelly Deeks With more than 11 years of rural contracting experience under his belt, Nigel Marshall now has an eye for what’s going on and what’s needed when he walks into a paddock.

After a truck-driving career that began when he was 18, Marshall swapped trucks for diggers when he started work for Wyndham-based Yorks Excavating 11 years ago.

Three years on he bought the business and its one truck and digger, and continued to carry out general farm work and maintenance around Southland.

It was a quiet period in the contracting industry, but he was able to pick up new clients through active promotion and personal visits. After 18 months, he upgraded his truck and his digger. The business has continued to grow, he saysl.

In his first few years of Marshalls Excavating, he got stuck into dairy conversion work, completing up to four conversions a year.

Conversion work around Southland has since slowed, but it has been replaced with development work as farmers increase the size of their farms and break in land for new pasture.Last summer was particularly busy, with three conversions to do.

The company runs three staff through the winter, but that balloons to 15 over summer so that the work can be completed on time.

Marshalls Excavating now runs two 12-tonne

diggers, which are used for drainage and maintenance work, and a 20-tonne digger for bulk work. It also supplies alkathene for water systems, and does lane scraping and fencing, A walking-floor trailer and a four-axle tip-trailer are used to shift woodchip, rock and gravel, and a bulldozer is available for hire to contractors.

Nigel Marshall has recently upgraded his tiptruck and bought a new four-axle transporter to shift gear that can weigh up to 32 tonnes around the South Island.

The business also specialises in drainage and overflow work, providing systems to remove surface and sub-surface water from paddocks and so improve their productivity.

Marshall says he uses an experienced eye to assess the needs of each paddock – whether it needs re-contouring, improved surface drainage, or sub-surface drainage.

He has changed his drainlaying procedures.

Where he used to use hay to surround overflow pipes in the ground, he now uses gravel, because he has discovered it works a lot better and is a lot more durable.

Marshalls Excavating sources its gravel from Ota Creek, working the gravel pit about 40 hours each month.

The company also began working a rock pit for a local farmer about 18 months ago. And, says Nigel Marshall, it has brougt out what he describes as some of Southland’s best rock, and then crushing and carting it.

Hedgecutter first for Australasia • From page 44 Other brands sold by the firm include: Simba Great Plains arable drills; Jaylor mixer wagons; McIntosh silage wagons and bale feeders; Same tractors from Italy; McHale balers from Ireland; and Schuitemaker loader wagons from Holland.

The company also turns over a significant number of used tractors and farm machinery.

The Timaru branch of Power Farming operated

from its purpose-built showroom/warehouse/ office complex in Washdyke from 2004 to 2008.

It services a widespread area – from the Rangitata River to Palmerston, and into the Mackenzie Country.

Dawbin became branch manager in early 2007, then in April 2008, he and his wife, Jo, bought in a 50 per cent shareholding in the business.

“We’re happy with how things are going and will continue to look at the possibility of adding new products to our portfolio,” he says.

Proud to be supporting Marshall Excavation

| 45

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46 |

RURAL SERVICES » Wyatt Building

Business Rural

Quality, price draws loyalty Karen Phelps Quality of workmanship and competitive pricing has enabled West Coast company Wyatt Building Ltd to establish a loyal clientele.

“We give an honest price to customers at the beginning of the job, so there are no unexpected surprises,” says company pwner Adam Wyatt. “Our mainly rural clientele really appreciate this honesty.”

The fact he was raised on a dairy gives him empathy with rural clientsl. His family milked 250 cows at Hari Hari, in South Westland.

“Growing up on a farm I can easily understand farmers’ needs and requirements,” he says. “This makes a big difference to getting the job done economically, quickly and efficiently.”

After leaving school, he headed to Christchurch to complete a building apprenticeship. He worked there for more than 10 years before moving back to the West Coast and setting up his business in Hokitika.

The opportunity to build a dairy shed got him started in rural work. Wyatt Building now works directly for farmers as well as sub-contracting to Westland Dairy Sheds.

Wyatt Building repertoire includes rotary and herringbone cowsheds, farm buildings (including sheds and fertiliser bins), and concrete work, such as cow yards and feedpads.

The company also builds new houses and does alterations, extensions, maintenance and repairs.

Wyatt Building is a member of Registered Master Builders and all of its new houses come with a 10-year guarantee.

Typically there is just Wyatt and two staff on the

We give an honest price to customers at the beginning of the job, so there are no unexpected surprises.

Our mainly rural clientele really appreciate this honesty. job. One staff member has been working for the company for nearly eight years.

“This means that everyone knows what’s going on in each job and that we are a tight team,” says Adam. “I’m on the tools and on site most of the time. This makes a big difference to quality control and timing of jobs.”

He says he and his staff are continually seeking to discover new ways of doing things better for the benefit of clients. One example is in the cow sheds built by Wyatt Building – most have retaining walls made of concrete-tilt slab.

“We used to box the wall in place, which is labour-intensive and the finish is not as good. Using tilt slab gives a better and cleaner finish, and it’s also a quicker process.”

To lift tilt-panels into place, the company has

• To page 47

PHOTOS – Top: A fertiliser bin with sliding roof. Middle: A covered feedpad. Above: A three-bedroom house. What do they have in common? All built by Hokitika-based Wyatt Building Ltd.

RURAL SERVICES » Greg Sim Builder

Business Rural

| 47

Builder/contractor enjoys test of time Sue Russell As Greg Sim looks back on a long and positive 40-plus-year working life as a builder and contractor servicing the rural sector in Canterbury, he carries fond memories.

“It would seem I haven’t moved very far in my life,” he says. “In fact, I’ve had four moves – each time up and down the same street here in Hinds where I live,” he adds with a chuckle.

Greg Sim began working for himself in 1971.

The the vast majority of his work then was constructing milking sheds and other farm-related buildings. And that continues to be the case.

Yes, he agrees, this work has definitely been his main-stay.

As you’d expect there have been some pretty interesting jobs come across his desk during that time – and he remembers them well.

“One year we installed a snow-making shed and pump house at Mt Hutt. We had to fly the concrete in with a helicopter.

“In 1984 we built the Hinds community hall.

We’ve also rebuilt the bell tower for the local Anglican church.”

There would have been a time when there were no more than 30 diggers servicing the central Canterbury area. These days the little township of Hinds would have 30 diggers within arm’s reach.

He bought his first digger in 1984 and became more and more involved with clearing projects on farms. This including clearing and cleaning out water-races for stock, cleaning drains, trenching work and creating dairy lanes.

Greg Sim has been a survivor on what has long been a competitive part of the contracting industry, and particularly so in rural environments in the last couple of decades.

“There would have been a time when there were no more than 30 diggers servicing the central Canterbury area. These days the little township of Hinds would have 30 diggers within arm’s reach.”

A low dairy payout for a second successive year will undoubtedly trickle through to impact on the

businesses servicing the industry, he says.

“We’re fortunate that we have work ahead at this time, though I’m sure farmers will be thinking twice about getting some work done,” he says.

“But we’re a well-established business and you just have to remain positive.”

His company has a fleet of four diggers, ranging in size from a 1.8-tonne track digger, through 13 and 14-tonne wheel diggers, to a 20-tonne track digger.

He has one operator concentrating mainly on the digger work, while another employee moves between the building and the excavation work as needed.

“I do everything,” he says, “though these days

I’m not so much involved on the digging operation.”

Greg Sim remembers a time when the company did a lot of water-race and irrigation work, but he says the increasing use of centre-pivot irrigators has seen stock water-races largely disappear.

“We had a substantial contract with the local district council cleaning 360 kilometres of waterraces.”

In 1987 he added another business and interest to his life when he built a tank and began farming salmon with an uncle and two cousins.

Track forward another decade to 2008 when Greg and his wife, Wendy, bought a 505-hectare block – just waiting, he says, for someone with the time and energy to develop it.

“That’s been a part of my life that I’ve really enjoyed, running deer and beef.”

As his 65th birthday approaches, Greg Sim says he has no immediate plans to stop work – for the straighforward and very good reason because he still enjoys it.

“It is nice to look and see what we’ve achieved on the block of land and the landmarks our company has reached in the building and digging work we’ve done in this area.”

PHOTOS – Two examples of Hokitika-based Wyatt Building Ltd’s handiwork when it comes to milkingshed construction handiwork: a 50-bail rotary milking shed (above) at Kowhitirangi and a 44-bail rotary (above right) at Kokatahi.

Company well self-contained • From page 46 acquired its own 14-tonne excavator. The excavator is also used for site works, which speeds up the building process because the farmer has to deal with just one contractor. It’s also more costeffective, says Adam Wyatt.

The company also has its own concrete saws, vibrators, compactors and the like – or, as Wyatt puts it, everything needed to get the job done quickly and efficiently.

Wyatt Building works West Coast-wide from Haast to Karamea. Wyatt says he has had a lot of

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insurance work recently, repairing sheds and barns damaged in high winds during a storm on the West Coast.

Demand for new cowsheds has remained steady – the company has recently completed a 30-a-side herringbone shed for a client at Karamea to replace an older dairy shed.

But he is expecting that with the low payout, farmers will start to concentrate on maintenance to get the best performance they can from the shed they’ve already got.

However, he stresses, no job is too big or too small.

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48 |

RURAL SERVICES » Awamangu Contracting

Business Rural

PHOTOS – Left: David Smollett, director of Awamangu Contracting, which specialises in silage harvesting in Clydevale and Balclutha. Right/below/lower left: The company runs one forage harvester, mowers, four rotary swathers and trucks.

Silage specialist big on personal touch Karen Phelps Concentrating on pit silage means that when the grass is ready, Awamangu Contracting is there to harvest it, says company director David Smollett.

“People have asked us if we do balage or other contracting work, but we specialise in silage as this gives us the experience to do the best job possible,” he says.

It is this expertise in pit silage honed over nearly three decades that makes the difference for the clients of Awamangu Contracting, he says.

From the age of about 20 Smollett has always

Timing is critical. You can’t make good silage if it’s harvested at the wrong time. The experience of doing this on our own farms is invaluable. We know what good silage and what bad silage is.

done the silage on his parents’ and uncle’s farms.

When the family bought a self-propelled silage harvester and whole crop front to direct-cut barley, they started getting requests to cut barley and silage from neighbouring farms.

This was about 10 years ago and was the start of Awamangu Contracting, which was started by Smollett and his brother, Blair. David and his wife, Michelle, bought Blair out of the business this year.

David and Michelle also have their own farming business. In 1988 they leased a 200-hectare sheep and beef unit in Awamangu. Three years later they bought 98ha and a couple of years after that bought the 200ha block. Another 42ha has been added, giving them a total of 340ha.

They farm 1400 ewes as well as winter-grazing 900 dairy cows and carrying 164 dairy heifers through from May to May. The Smolletts say operating their own farm has been beneficial to their contracting business as it gives them a hands-on understanding of their clients’ needs. It also helps them to employ staff full-time and year round. The business employs three full-time staff, plus another four during the summer season.

Awamangu Contracting experienced significant growth five years ago when the Smolletts bought out another local contracting company. This gave them the necessary growth to buy additional machinery, says David Smollett.

The silage season starts in October with the first cut of grass off the dairy run-offs, which runs through to Christmas. Second-cut grass, wholecrop silage and silage on sheep and beef farms, runs from January until the end of April.

“Because the grass all comes on at the same time, it’s not easy,” he says. “We have to harvest when the time is right. When the weather is against us, this can really put the pressure on. “ We need to have really good planning, work hard, make sure the equipment is up and running at all times, and get the job done as efficiently as possible.”

The company runs one forage harvester, mowers, four rotor swathers, and trucks. Smollett places a big emphasis on keeping equipment modern and up-to-date. He favours larger-capacity equipment as he runs only one crew to get jobs done faster.

He has just had maintenance done on a harvester and is in the process of importing a wheel-loader from Australia for compacting silage.

Another purchase is a firewood processor. – he

plans to process firewood to help keep staff busy over winter and to diversify the business. Retain skilled staff is vital as it is difficult to get seasonal drivers with heavy traffic licences.

Awamangu Contracting works in the Clydevale and Balclutha areas, and also offers cultivation and excavation services in the shoulders of the season.

Smollett takes great pride in working on the job: “I’m usually driving the harvester, so I’m keeping an eye on things, which is a big advantage. Because I’ve been doing this for so many decades, I have experience with the weather conditions and know what the grass is doing.

“Timing is critical. You can’t make good silage if it’s harvested at the wrong time. The experience of doing this on my own farms is invaluable. With our dairy grazing, we feed a lot of silage to cows. We know what good silage is and what bad silage is.”

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RURAL SERVICES » Rural Professionals

Business Rural

| 49

Why use a rural professional?

Julia Jones

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.

I work with KPMG as a consultant helping farmers take their business from good to great. Before this I worked in agri-banking. Over this time I have observed the difference between a good and a bad rural professional. I have also observed those who didn’t help themselves when it came to using rural professionals.

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.

• 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,

Julia Jones works with KPMG as a farm enterprise specialist. 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/

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?

*

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

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

A rural professional 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.

‘One connection’ rural broadband grains traction in SI A Smartfarm service that delivers broadband services to dairy farmers’ homes, cowsheds and farm workers’ cottages under one connection has been a “massive success” for internet provider Ultimate Broadband, says director Mike Smith.

“We have a large number of dairy farms connected to the service. With one independent wireless or fibre connection to the property, the broadband can be distributed to all areas of the farm at a small cost. Farm workers can move into their accommodation, start paying one of our flexible plans and access broadband immediately without having to get their own connection.”

The service has been particularly popular in Mid, South and Central Canterbury where Ultimate Broadband has established its own Ruralnet network – a mix of hill-based high sites that cover large areas, and flat land wireless micro sites limited to smaller areas by natural obstacles.

The firm has plans to extend its reach into the wider Canterbury region, including North Canterbury and the greater Christchurch area.

“Our network is generally a line-of-sight service, which means that if the site can be seen from a house, farm or business, it is likely we will be

Broadband can be distributed across all of a farm with one wireless or fibre connection to the property. able to connect them,” says Smith. “We can even provide coverage right into the high country via several smaller repeater sites and have already connected up homes in the Canterbury gorges where no service was previously available.”

Between its Ruralnet and RBI wireless networks, and partnerships with other providers, Ultimate Broadband can provide national coverage, he says.

However, he says customers can get the greatest value through Ruralnet, which he describes as a “great alternative”: “Because it is our own network in a defined area, we have really good cost control and can deploy services quite cheaply. This

means we can offer a better value proposition than we can on other networks. With total access to the Ruralnet network we can also provide faster service if there is a problem, which are fixed remotely more often than not.”

Smith says the company has come up with a ‘DIY’ service where a RBI connection kit is sent to the customer with set-up instructions, saving them installation costs.

“The gear is not ultra-complicated to set up so customers don’t necessarily need a technician like they do for our Ruralnet network. Around 25 to 30 per cent of our rural customers on the RBI network

choose the DIY option. It depends on location and whether a decent mobile connection is available. It comes down to asking the right questions. We get very few returns.”

Before establishing Ultimate Broadband, Smith worked in the telecommunications industry, specialising in cellular technology. He now has nine staff at the firm’s Christchurch office, with a mix of customer service, technical and engineering expertise.

Technology is changing rapidly and the value today is already “miles better” than two or three years ago.

“The cost of delivery has always been the biggest hurdle with broadband. However, new technologies have made a massive difference to economies of scale.”

The firm’s latest project is to upgrade more than 50 of its repeater sites.

“This upgrade is already allowing us to offer peak speeds of 10Mbps on a large number of sites. We aim to increase our speed right across the network to 20Mbps by mid 2016. Three years ago this project would have cost 10 times what it is today.”

50 |

ON FARM » Jason Bruce

Business Rural

Snow-capped mountains make a spectacular backdrop to the 300-hectare farm, owned by Charles and Jan Whitehead, near Methven.

Manager gets rid of on-farm hierarchies Sue Russell Jason Bruce has worked for large corporate farms with upwards of 3000 cows, but he says he is enjoying the sense of freedom and the ability to make decisions his role as a farm manager offers.

“I’ve got a bit more management say whereas when I was working on the bigger corporate-owned property, I had less choice as to how the farm ran.”

He is managing a 300-hectare farm, owned by Charles and Jan Whitehead, near Methven in MidCanterbury.

The farm carries a herd of 900 cows on its 277ha (effective)milking platform, and this season’s production target is 370,000 kilograms of milksolids – 410kg per cow.

“Last season’s target was 410,000 and we produced 395,000, mostly because of the dry spell through December and January.”

The farm has no irrigation and Jason describes it as fairly flat with soils ranging from quite heavy to

I’m just as accountable for what I do as they are, and I get their respect through what I do. quite boney. The nor’ west rains service the farm adequately.

Last year the farm had more than 1050 cows, but it was decided to cut back in an attempt to match feeding inputs to pay-out.

The 200-cow reduction was managed by a random split on the computer. This season’s feeding system is also very different to that of previous years.

“We only use PK (palm kenrel), grain and silage in the shoulders and just when necessary,” says Bruce.

Milk is produced through a 60-bail parlour, a

Part of the 900-cow herd moves between paddocks. combination of Read/Delaval rotary sheds with inshed feeding and a feeding pad capable of standing 1000 cows.

Three full-time staff are employed and two parttimers are brought in during the calf-rearing phase.

Jason Bruce says he made a conscious decision not to give job titles to staff, including himself.

“I am just as accountable for what I do as they are, and I get their respect through what I do. I just find that if you take away the hierarchy, then this makes everyone accountable. I’m also really focused on helping newer farmers into the industry progress with their farming careers.”

Salaries are paid according to individual contribution and training is tailored to meet the individual aspirations of each worker, he says.

As to his own aspirations, he says he is happy managing and, at this stage, doesn’t wish to move toward sharemilking.

“Staying as a manager is right for what I know.

I’m good at people and systems. My aspiration in the here and now is to get this farm operating as successfully as possible, and that’s all about doing the little things right.”

He enjoys being part of the Dairy NZ local discussion group where the conversation of late has been a blend of the seasonal tasks and the perennial issues of staffing, and health and safety.

“The successful running of the farm is partly due to our on-farm SOPs (standard operating procedures) which all my staff have been involved in developing. I don’t really see that level of involvement on many other farms and I think it’s very important to have their input ” Bruce is passionate about care of staff and is concerned at the number of ‘cowboys’ holding down responsibilities towards staff.

“You take care of the staff and everything else falls in to place. We just train, train, train them.

I think it is critical that the staff ‘fit’ because a farming situation is a close culture where we rely on each other.”

He has three New Zealanders and a Brazilian on his staff.

His partner, Raewyn, is a former teacher who helps with the calf-rearing and on the farm as needed. Between them, their family extends to five children and four grandchildren.

PHOTOS – Left: Lush farm paddocks are irrigated by nor’west rain. Above; Spring calves enjoy a drink.

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ON FARM » Graeme & Susan Carran

Business Rural

| 51

Graeme and Susan Carran with their children (from left), Libby, Charlie and Jonty, .

Understanding bank big help Karen Phelps The pay-out is affecting farmers across the country but farmers who have entered the game more recently are struggling the most.

Graeme and Susan Carran, who farm a 154-hectare (effective) unit at Otautau, are in their fifth season after converting to dairy and are thankful they run a grass-based system. But they say this has made cutting costs even harder.

“For us, it has been about fine-tuning costs across the board,” says Graeme.

The understanding relationship he has with with his bank has made coping with the lower pay-out easier, he says.

“The banks are more understanding these days. They came to us and put us on interest-only rather than principal-and-interest as they could see a tougher season ahead. We’ll struggle, but so will everyone, just some more than others.

“A year or two will be fine, but after that it will be tough and hard decisions will need to be made by many farmers. I believe every industry needs a downturn, and this will keep those fully committed to the industry.”

The couple milk a herd of 450 crossbred cows through a 40-a-side herringbone shed. They own a 60ha run-off which they use to winter half the herd, while the other half goes out to grazing.

Last season they grew 3ha of summer turnips on the dairy platform to help them cope with the drier months. It worked so well they plan to repeat it this season as it lessened pressure on pasture.

They also planted 9ha of pasture grass to grass as well as planting the turnip plot in new grass helping to keep pasture quality high. Graeme Carran also does farm walks every seven to 10 days to manage grass growth.

Cows generally go into the paddocks at 3000 residual, eating the pasture down to residuals of 1600-1700. The farm operates on a 30-day round.

Reasonable rainfall means there’s no need for irrigation. The Carrans operate a pod effluent system – two lines, each of five pods.

One line runs for 15 minutes, then the other takes over for the same amount of time. After three hours the pods are moved. Each paddock gets three shifts.

A weeping-wall system gives the farm more than 180 days of storage, allowing good control over nutrient dispersion.

A year or two will be fine, but after that it will be tough and hard decisions will need to be made by many farmers. I believe every industry needs a downturn, and this will keep those full committed in the industry, This season, for the first time, Graeme Carran has taken over as manager. Partly a cost-cutting measure and partly because he felt he had learned enough to take on the more challenging role.

The farm employs two full-time staff. Susan helps with calf-rearing and does the bookwork. The couple have three children: Jonty, 13, Charlie, 11 and Libby, 10.

Last season the farm produced around 175,000 kilograms of milksolids, and this season’s target is 190,000 – 200,000kg.

Both Graeme and Susan Carran come from farming backgrounds in Southland. They grew up quite close to each therm but met back in New Zealand after doing their OE. Graeme trained as a builder and Susan as a teacher before they decided to buy a sheep farm in 2001.They converted to dairy after seeing greater opportunities in the industry.

“It was totally different from sheep farming, but exciting and new,” says Graeme. “As long as you’re prepared to listen, you’ll learn.”

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ON FARM » Adam & Jenna Waite

52 |

Business Rural

Couple set their sights on an equity partnership Jo Bailey Despite the downturn, Southland contract milkers Adam and Jenna Waite are confident of working towards an equity shareholding in the155-hectare farm they run for owners Kevin and Debbie Hall.

“At the moment we’re focused on surviving and farming to the system we know, while trying to maintain the farm as a long term prospect,” says Adam Waite. “ Key to that is keeping the lines of communication open with Kevin and Debbie.”

The Waites have invested in stock to build the equity they need to achieve their goals.

“Last year we had 60 cows that we sold at the end of the season,” says Adam. We have since

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bought another 70 cows, with 40 of those leased to the Halls, and the remainder to a farmer at Oamaru.

“If stock values recuperate over the next 18 months, we are hopeful that we will be in a position to move towards an equity percentage in the farm.”

The farming relationship between the couples has already spanned five years, with the Waites working as contract milkers on the Halls’ previous farm at Winton. This property was sold two years ago to fund the purchase of the Seaward Downs operation, near Edendale.

“The new farm was already well established and is closer to Kevin and Debbie’s home farm, as well as their run-off block at Waimahaka,” says Waite.

“It is a bit more summer safe than the old farm, with a fairly reliable water supply.”

Some equipment and the run-off are shared between the Halls’ two farms, including the herd shelter on the run-off where around 680 cows across the two herds were housed for a couple of months in winter.

Adam Waite says around 470 cows will be milked on the Seaward Downs farm this season.

“I would say we sit somewhere between a system 3 and system 4 farm. On a good season, we aim to cut 50-60 tonnes of dry matter for our own silage and buy in about 180 to 200 tonnea of dry matter. All young stock and cows are wintered off.”

The property is 70 per cent flat, with some rolling hill country and four soil types, which can make it “slightly hard” to manage in wet times, he says.

“We can’t always get the tractors into every paddock to feed out in those conditions. However, overall it is a good reliable area.”

They haven’t introduced in-shed feeding yet, although this could be “quite handy” wet winters, he says.

Adam Waite is pretty happy with how he and Jenna are progressing through the dairying ranks, given he grew up as a “townie” in Taranaki.

The idea of doing an office job didn’t appeal. so I came down to Telford for 12 months, then was a stock agent for four years before deciding dairying was the way I wanted to go.

The networks from my stockagent days helped as we have been able to work with people who could boost us along, teach us skills, and help us chip away towards the next level.

• To page 53

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ON FARM » Paul & Brenda Duthie

Business Rural

| 53

Once-a-day evens out work-life balance Kim Newth Having switched to once-a-day milking three seasons ago, South Otago farmers Paul and Brenda Duthie would not have it any other way.

The couple, who are in their fifth season on their dairy farm near Milton, decided to step back from twice-a-day milking after realising much of their hill-country land was just too dry over summer to sustain the more intensive twice-a-day regime.

“The farm needs so much work,” says Paul Duthie. “By going once-a-day for the full season, I also have more time to work on the farm and I have more time for a life as well.”

He previously sharemilked on a neighbouring farm for nine years. He and Brenda married in his final year of sharemilking and they leased a 131-hectare block of river-flat country for 16 months before buying their own 150ha hillcountry farm.

They still lease the river flat land and last season bought an additional 83ha block of former lease land.

A water scheme has been added to this block, so that it can support milking. In addition, a new pump has been installed at the cowshed

to service the whole farm, and the farm has been properly laned. The other leased block has been similarly improved for milking.

Drainage has been improved too, and Pau Duthiel has been “quite aggressive” over regrassing.

The 500-strong herd of mostly crossbreds is slowly being bred back to favour the jersey cow, which, he says, “seems to be the best breed for once-a-day farming”.

Their milksolids target for the 2015-16 season is 185,000 kilograms.

“Normally we bring in balage for winter, but apart from that, we’re pretty self-sufficient.

We run a simple, low-cost grass and silage system.”

The Duthies have three foster children and are active members of the local church in Waihola, where they run a youth group.

They are pleased with how once-a-day milking is helping them to achieve a more sustainable work-life balance, both on and off the farm.

“Part of the reason behind going to once-aday milking is so I’m not so tied to the farm,” says Paul. “If something comes up, I can take the afternoon to attend to it.

He has a 12-seater van which he uses to go around on Saturday night picking up youngsters to take to the youth group at Waihola: “I’m free to do this because of not having to milk in the afternoon.”

Paul Duthie grew up on a rural property in Waihola, while Brenda has swapped a background of urban living in Auckland for the farming lifestyle.

Part of the reason behind going to once-a-day milking is so I’m not so tied to the farm. If something comes up, I can take the afternoon to attend to it. I’ve got a 12-seater van and I go around on Saturday night picking up kids to take to the youth group at Waihola. I’m free to do this because of not having to milk in the afternoon.

In the longer term, their goal is to further improve drainage on the hill country and plant more shelter belts and native trees.

“The land we lease has lots of shelter belts and it has a really nice feel,” says Paul. ”I tend to think that if we can get shelter belts onto the hills here, it would cut the wind down a bit and would lead to more moisture being retained in summer.”

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Farming ‘a long-term prospect’ • From page 52 “The idea of doing an office job didn’t appeal, so I came down to Telford in 2003 for 12 months, then was a stock agent for PGG for four years before deciding dairying was the way I wanted to go.”

By the time he started his first dairying job on a farm just out of Edendale in 2008, he had already met Jenna, who was a technical field rep at PGG, and came from a semi-rural background.

Just a year after entering the industry, Adam Waite was named the 2009 Southland Dairy Trainee of the Year.

“I applied myself right from day one as Jenna and I always had goals to have a family and build up equity.

“The networks from my stock-agent days helped as we have been able to work with people who could boost us along, teach us skills, and help us chip away towards the next level.”

The couple have two sons, Kieran and Bayden, who keep Jenna busy along with doing the accounts and herd records.

“Now that the children are old enough to enjoy being out on the farm with us, Jenna also helps with the calves and day-to-day stuff on the farm to help keep labour costs down.”

One full-time staff member, a casual worker and relief milkers provide additional support.

Adam says the couple are happy with the

Although there will be a few struggles over the next 18 months, we believe things will recover and we’ll see growth within the industry again. current size of the operation and have no desire to take on a bigger farm “We probably have the skills to farm a 1000cow operation, but that’s not really for us. We value the long-term working relationship we have established with Kevin and Debbie, and the opportunities we have to grow alongside them.”

The Waites accept that volatility in the dairy sector is here to stay, and they have to balance their farming skills and business structure around it, he says.

“Although there will be a few struggles over the next 18 months, we believe things will recover and we’ll see some growth within the industry again.

Farming is a long-term prospect for us, and we hope we’ll be on this farm for quite some time.”

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54 |

ON FARM » Steve & Daphne Woods

Business Rural

‘Right decisions’ prove positive on family farm Sue Russell Steven Woods spent many years driving trucks, but it was always at the back of his mind to return to thome-base. He and his wife, Daphne, have now had full control of their fourth-generation, dairy farm near Takaka for three seasons.

All but 10 of the farm’s total area of 184 hectares form the effective milking platform, says Steven..

“Our farm is landscaped in three terraces with a very stony top terrace of 90 hectares, which is very hard to work up, a middle terrace of 40 hectares, and river flats of another 40 hectares or so with good loaming soil.”

Because a large proportion of the land has stones, he decided not to crop on the top terrace this season, even though the stones are “little microwaves” that grow good grass.

This season the Woodses calved 490 cows, predominantly a mix of jersey and friesian crossbreds.

“We started cross-breeding about 14 years ago because there was a little bit too much jersey for our liking,” says Stephen. “I want a bit more black and white.”

In the three years Steven and Daphne have had sole charge of the farm, production has increased substantially – particularly between their first and second seasons when they gained a massive 30,000 kilograms of additional milksolids..

Stephen Woods days the farm had just come out of a 12-year equity partnership and was fairly run down...most of the equipment old and was costing more to run than was practical.

“In our first season, we made some wrong staff choices that cost us quite a bit of money and frustration. However, we learnt a valuable lesson and now we are very happy with our choice of staff.

“This season we have employed another full-

time staff member instead of a relief milker, as we had had previously.”

In their second season, they also decided to get rid of the cup removers and introduce another 100 tonnes of palm kernel into feeding regime.

Daphne looks after the rearing the calves and also does all the bookwork.

The 44-bail rotary, which startled life in 1976 with 36 bails, is in need of replacement. While a new shed was programmed in the budget for this season, they have found that getting rid of the cup removers has made milking much smoother.

So, the combination of this development and the downturn in the payout has seen replacement of the shed put on the back-burner for a few more years.

They are also reducing palm kernel feed inputs by 25 per cent this season “With the low payout we’re focusing on watching what we spend money on,” says Steven Woods.

“When we took it over, the farm was in quite a run-down state. But we’ve re-fenced 90 per cent of it and put extensive irrigation in, so the farm is now in a good situation in terms of infrastructure, which is good at this time.”

He is philosophical about the next season or two:“We’re certainly not going to be chasing production and will be satisfied with 200,000kg milksolids. We’ve got our farm working expenses down pretty low, as low as we can without making some radical changes to our operation.”

While the payout was not a surprise to him, he acknowledges that he would have wished for more, He has locked 25% of his production under the guaranteed-milk-price system.

He says a key aspect of farming that he gets most satisfaction from is learning about feeding and seeing the positive results from correct decisions.

“I’m certainly feeling a lot more confident about pasture management. I can do things now and see direct results.”

PHOTOS – Top: Steven Woods says he gets great satisfaction from learning about feeding his cows.

Middle’ The view across the Woods’s Takaka property to the farmhouse. Above: Cows strip-feed on the middle terrace. Left: The view across the river flats.

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MEAT & WOOL » Rosedale Growbulk

Business Rural

| 55

Partners eye commercial halfbreds Karen Phelps Continuing to invest in the latest technology has seen Rosedale Growbulk partner with Nine Mile Merino to produce a merino-growbulk cross to explore the opportunity of developing a new halfbred option. Merino growbulk ram lambs are on the ground this year.

Don Morrison, director of Rosedale Growbulk, says the partnership is a long-term commitment to breed a commercial halfbred flock.

“With collaborative breeding work such as this, finding the right preferred partner is the biggest part of the equation. Together we want to produce a stabilised halfbred ewe with superior meat production based on carcass and a finer wool option that meets the SmartWool contracts.”

He says the partnership is an example of Rosedale Growbulk’s focus on “value innovation”, a term Morrison has coined to describe his company’s intent to create a leap in value for commercial clients.

“By changing nothing more than the rams they are using, we aim for farmers to see benefit when the production genes from growbulk rams immediately lift performance on their farm.”

A further example of this is the company’s charollais growbulk cross, which Morrison is already selling as a terminal option to his clients.

Rosedale Growbulk is also involved in a perendale growbulk cross with Rangiatea Perendales.

Morrison and his wife, Brigette, who farm in the Waikaka Valley in eastern Southland, have been using growbulk genetics for 16 years after entering a joint partnership with AgResearch, which developed the breed. Growbulk has been developed from a mix of romney, poll dorset and texel genetics.

“We were looking for something that would give us an edge and have the possibility of moving production forward,” says Don Morrison.

“Growbulks gave us results almost instantly.

We saw lambs that had survival advantages, were faster growing, and had high yielding carcasses.

We thought we would use growbulk genetics for a

Waikaka Valley farmer Don Morrison, director of Rosedale Growbulk. few years to get the advantages, then go back to romney. But growbulk has continued to raise our production so much going back hasn’t been an option.”

The Morrisons were one of the first breeders in New Zealand to introduce terminal-production genes into a maternal sheep breed. Over the last 10 years they have seen their lamb survivability increase markedly and kilograms of meat sold per hectare lift by 80-90 per cent. Don Morrison says growbulk has also been good for wool production, resulting in a low-micron, high-bulk wool that was

Growbulk gave us results almost immediately...We thought we would use growbulk genetics for a few years to get the advantages, then go back to romney. But growbulk has continued to raise our production so much going back hasn’t been an option.

another of the main aims from the AgResearch breeding programme.

The Morrisons place a big emphasis on continuing development and have been involved in a number of AgResearch-Ovita trials and AgResearch lamb survival and ewe efficiency trials. They have also been involved with Cropmark and Alliance Group on taste-test and pasture-growth trials.

“We love the involvement we have in research because it is really the key to us making progress,” says Don Morrison. “I believe the big future to increase production further is in identification and use of DNA gene technology.”

Rosedale Growbulks has recently been using 5K SNP chip DNA technology on more than 350 ram hoggets. Morrison says this makes the most accurate DNA breeding-value information available for breeding selections and has been an aid in the retention of highest value rams for sale.

Rosedale Growbulks is also heavily involved in the development of a SIL ewe body condition score breeding value which. Morrison says. will be available this year from SIL. He believes it will

enable farmers to make better decisions, as ewe body condition score has a huge effect on lamb survival and lamb growth rates pre- and postweaning. Further research work will concentrate on a ewe longevity breeding value: “It has got huge potential for commercial farmers to make ram selection on very relevant commercial traits. A breeding value is, in effect, the genetic worth of an animal in dollar terms.”

Morrison is the fifth generation of the family to farm Rosedale, which was bought in 1876.

The 465-hectare farm runs 7200 stock units on flat to rolling country – 1800 growbulk stud ewes and 200 stud romney ewes, with the remainder commercial growbulk sheep. The Morrisons raise 1000 growbulk ewe hoggets and 420 growbulk ram hoggets for sale, and graze dairy cows over winter.

In December they will offer their growbulk genetics to the market. with 400 of their rams put up for private sale.

“It’s all about value innovation and investing in new genetics to lift performance so that we can provide more opportunities to farmers,” he says.

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56 |

MEAT & WOOL » Peters Genetics

Business Rural

Hard road finding the perfect Neil Grant “She’s a hard road finding the perfect woman, boy, but that doesn’t stop a man from trying,” says the grizzled old fellow in the Speights ad. He could have added that she’s an equally rough rural road finding the perfect breed of sheep.

In true Southern Man style, Trevor Peters has been working for years finding that sheep, and now his sons have taken up the challenge.

Peters Genetics, spread among family farms in West and Central Otago, has been building a reputation based on romney genetics since the late 1980s. Even though they reckon they have got things pretty right, it hasn’t stopped them from trying to get even better.

Trevor and his wife, Karen, gradually put together a portfolio of farms to develop a succession plan for their sons, Clayton and Morgan, and daughter, Justine.

The farms are run individually, but juggle stock and plant among them. Clayton and Jeannette are on Spylaw Farm at Dunrobin, west of Raes Junction. Morgan and Megan’s Bullock Range farm is at Moa Flat, a few kilometres further north on the road to Ettrick. The other farms in the system (with managers) are Clutha Downs at Beaumont, Teviot Valley at Millers Flat (where Trevor and Karen live, with the farm managed by studmaster Shane Carter), Attadale near Middlemarch, and Mount Margaret at Waikaka.

These all have a range of topography from flats to rolling, gullies to steep uplands, and a wide range of weather conditions to match.

PHOTOS Right: Clayton, Jeanette, Josh and Annabel Peters.

Lower right: Twotooth and mixedage stud ewes at Spylaw

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MEAT & WOOL » Peters Genetics

Business Rural

| 57

sheep, but they’re trying We’re grateful for what our parents have done. They took chances and they paid off. We hope to carry it on for our children.

Justine and her husband, Don McLachlan, now farm outside the district, running two farms near Gisborne.

Good country to develop animals able to handle the various conditions New Zealand farmers face.

Trevor and Karen Peters are easing their way out of the heavy lifting, but keep an overall eye on things, and handle pricing, and major supply purchases. The studs they built up are a continuing interest.

The romney stud is the mainstay. The Peters animals are bred for high fertility, lamb percentages and weight gain, and an ability to endure harsh winters and, not to forget, bright white wool. Peters hotshot terminal rams, a suffolk/texel cross, were developed to give meat growth and yield in hot dry summers and long cold winters. Romney-texel stud ewes and a perendale stud are part of the mix.

The stud sheep sit alongside an angus stud breeding programme with the mission statement: “Breed rams bulls that earn farmers extra bucks”.

She may indeed be a hard road, but that doesn’t stop a man from trying.

Clayton Peters’s Spylaw farm is a 1000-hectare (effective property) ranging from flat to rolling, to steep country, then extending to nearly 700 metres.

It runs 8600 to 8800 romney ewes, 2600 to 2700 hoggets and 250 to 300 fattening cattle, plus 100 ‘killers’. The five houses on the property cater for the tractor and truck drivers who do the major contracting work on all the properties.

“We’ve had a tough season,” Clayton says.

“Late spring till late November was wet and we couldn’t use the tractors. In December it was drying out. From New Year’s Day we were in drought until it was wet again in the middle of March. It’s still wet now and has been one of the coldest winters. Not much snow but wet and frosty. So, fattening lambs

PHOTOS – Above: Morgan, Megan, Tyler and Aden Peters at Bullock Range, Moa Flat. Below: Yearling angus heifers at Clutha Downs.

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58 |

MEAT & WOOL » Peters Genetics

Business Rural

PHOTOS – Above: Two Peters farm landscapes...Clutha Downs (left) and Bullock Range (right). Below: Mixed-agred commercial eqes at Spylaw.

Peters pursuit of perfect sheep • From page 57 has been hard, plus we’ve got clover weevil. All the same, we averaged 17.3-kilogram lambs. We were averaging 16kg when we came here. It’s mostly due to the breeding.

“We put in rape as lamb fattening feed because there’s not a lot of clover. The weevil is widespread in West Otago.

“We’ve introduced a wasp that eats the weevil over a three-year cycle. We’re in the second year ,so should be all right next year.”

For the last five years lambing has averaged 150

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per cent, including hogget lambs. This is up from 110% when they started at Spylaw. This year, the farm’s stud ewes scanned at 194%.

“We were happy with that.”

Clayton and Morgan are carrying on a family tradition, developing a stud with merino-romney halfbred rams. They are being run at Stacey Anderson’s Mount Brown property near Wanaka.

“They are looking good,” says Clayton. “They are for drier country like Central Otago and Ranfurly where merino farmers are looking for more lambs on the ground, and for meat and fertility. There’s a two-way cross – merino across romney, and romney across merino. We’ll work out what’s best.”

Spylaw runs 180 black bull calves among the cattle herd. They are taken through to late November and many are sold to dairy farmers. The rest are fattened.

“We’re grateful for what our parents have done.

They took chances and they paid off. We hope to carry it on for our children.”

Clayton and Jeanette Peters’s children, – Joshua, 10, and Annabel, 7 – have a fine legacy to look forward to, if they want it.

Up the road, Bullock Range is 1300ha effective rolling to steep country, also up to nearly 700 metres. Five hundred hectares is oversown tussock.

There are steep gullies. This winter has seen nine

snowfalls to the end of July. Two years ago, the woolshed collapsed under the weight of the snow.

On the plus side, there has been little sign of the clover weevil “We run 6600 romney ewes, 1850 hoggets, 300 angus breeding cows, 130 heifer calves and 25 bulls,” says Morgan Peters.

“The 1300 stud ewes run with the commercial flock until single-sire mating when they are run separately. If they can’t handle being in a big mob, there’s no point. The hoggets go on swedes and chou’ in winter. A lot of our neighbours are growing fodder beet, and their stock are looking good.

“We are summer dry with a short growing season up high. We’ve a good balance of everything.”

The cattle are used for tidying up roughage in the winter. Morgan keeps a close eye on first calvers, then they are spread out after calving.

Like the other farms, main contracting work is done by staff using the collective plant. Each farm pays its way, and does the general work using its own tractors.

Morgan and Megan Peters’ daughter, Tyler, 14, and son, Aden, 6, are “good farm kids,” says their dad.

Like Jeannette at Spylaw, Megan does general farm work and is the computer operator.

“Dad and Mum taught us to stay positive in the tough times. There are a lot of young people who would like the same opportunity. I don’t want to let it slip.”

MEAT & WOOL » Balmoral Station

Business Rural

| 59

PHOTOS: Balmoral Station, near Lake Tekapo, covers 9700 hectares and is a diverse business operation including high country station, hospitality and retail ventures, property development and golf course.

Balmoral business a real family affair Jo Bailey Keeping it all in the family is a mantra closely followed by the Simpson family, of Balmoral Station near Lake Tekapo.

Over the last decade the family has harnessed their combined farming, entrepreneurial and business skills to create a diverse business operation that includes everything from the highcountry station, merino stud and high-end merino meat and fine wool ventures; to tourism, hospitality and retail ventures; property development; and even a golf course.

“We do what we can to try and survive and include as many family members as possible in the business,” says Andrew Simpson..”Our viability depends on us having diverse income streams to give our business robustness.”

Cataloguing the ventures takes some doing.

Andrew and his wife, Karen, bopught the 9700-hectare Balmoral Station in the mid-1970s. It now runs 5500 merinos, a merino stud and a small number of deer.

They still live on the station where their son, Sam, looks after the day-to day-management, and his partner, Sarah Kerr, owns and runs Mackenzie Alpine Horse Trekking.

Andrew and Karen Simpson’s daughter, Amanda, and her partner, Steve Berge, run two subsidiary companies – Balmoral Merino (a fine-wool operation manufacturing high-quality garments) and Balmoral Estate (a high-end merino meat company).

Eldest son Ben is a doctor in the North Island, but has invested in a helicopter hangar and pad built by the family on Balmoral and rented to Lake Tekapo Helicopters.

Snow on the ground at the historic Mt John homestead, in a new life as the the Balmoral Farm Shop.

The family also owns the historic Mt John Station on the outskirts of Lake Tekapo, where Amanda and Steve run an accommodation business and function centre; and a small retail outlet (Le Stables) where the family’s high-country produce is sold.

“We supply meat to restaurants in Tekapo and the wider Mackenzie as well,” says Andrew.

Amanda also assists Andrew with the family’s property-development enterprise, The Cairns, a residential subdivision with a nine-hole golf course that is open to the public.

The third stage of 23 lots at The Cairns will be auctioned in December; the first two stages are fully subscribed, says Andrew.

“There is a lot of interest in Tekapo which is

evolving into a really innovative area. We’re lucky to have some good entrepreneurial people putting in quality developments such as the hot pools, Earth and Sky, and the skating rink. It’s really exciting.”

With product prices “pretty average” and an exceedingly dry summer, he says it has been challenging at Balmoral Station, which also has harsh, cold winters.

“We managed to get the stock through, but they were down a bit on where they would normally be.”

The Simpsons bring semen into the breeding programme sourced from a sheep-classer from Australia who visits the station every year.

Andrew says “good robust animals” is the main aim, along with the ability to produce between 17.5 and 19.5 micron wool and good wool weights.

“Survivability is of course another key thing in this climate.”

Weed and pest control is a huge cost to the station, with $5-7 per hectare spent on keeping rabbit numbers down and killing wilding pines and hieracium.

He has planted around 15 to 20ha of forestry annually for the last 20 or so years, and has consents to plant out 900ha in total.

He hopes carbon will come back to $15 to 20 per tonne in the next two or three years, which would give the station about $200-300/ha-a-year income off carbon credits, as opposed to $15-20 from domestic stock.

Around 180ha of Balmoral Station has been fenced off as a benchmark area for conservation, with 360 vegetation plots that have been GPSsurveyed.

“We have 180 vegetation plots outside the benchmark area that we are also regularly monitoring. Without a benchmark area, it is very difficult to judge whether the farming operations are sustainable or not. Sustainability is very important to us, as if we started mining the farm, we’d have nothing to hand down to our great grandchildren.”

Farm succession is a big priority for the family; they set up an advisory board around 18 months ago to manage the complex business arrangements.

“The board is made up of family members, and we have a legal secretary and an independent chair,” says Andrew.

“It has proved a great way to give everyone an active role and a say in how the business will move forward. The most satisfying thing for Karen and me is that the business is going to be retained in the family.”

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60 |

MEAT & WOOL » W S Hickey & Son

Business Rural

Country boys sock it to the Neil Grant Tell anyone living outside a major city how much more efficient things will be when a business is consolidated into some metropolis, and you will get the ‘Yeah, right’ response you deserve.

Omakau, in Central Otago, has a population of about 250. It can be quite a busy little spot, especially in the better weather when cyclists do the Otago Central Rail Trail. It never gets a traffic jam, but it has got a business right up with the play.

In 1956, Bill Hickey set up a wool-buying business run out of an old garage. At that time, and through until the 1980s, most farmers sold their wool through stock-and-station agents. Hickey bought dags, which he processed, sheep skins, the odd clip of wool, and did shed clean-ups after shearing. He became known as ‘Honest Bill’ for presumably obvious reasons.

In the late 1970s, Honest Bill’s son, Brent, came on board, and gradually took a greater role in the business. He picked up the title, ‘Nearly Honest Brent’ and the business took its W S Hickey & Son name.

In 1956, the business handled 50 bales of wool in a year. Today, 12,000 bales pass through the new, much larger store. There is now 2200 square metres of storage, and 3500 bales can be handled at one time.

A dramatic increase in business, and not a corporate suit in sight.

Among the changes leading to increased turnover were: stopping the dag-crushing side of the business and sending dags off to an Invercargill plant; buying modern equipment to handle bales more efficiently; and getting payouts to the farmers more quickly than they were used to. Farmers

appreciated this, the word got about, and business picked up.

I get out and about into sheds at some part of the shear. I make sure the farmer and classer are comfortable with how we handle things

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“I get out and about into sheds at some part of the shear,” Brent Hickey says. “I make sure the farmer and classer are comfortable with how we handle things.”

Local transport firms bring the bales into Hickey’s store. Here, there is a modern forklift with cat’s claws that can handle up to six bales at a time.

“It can lift these bales up to three and a half

meters high and block stack them one on top of another,” says Brent Hickey.

“I bought a coring machine from South Africa that tips a bale upside down and pokes the coring rod in automatically. It is much quicker and more efficient than a hand corer – it can do 100 bales before it gets blunt. We’re cost conscious. We can do things a lot cheaper than our competition.”

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Business Rural

MEAT & WOOL » W S Hickey & Son

| 61

city-slickers

PHOTOS Opposite page Top: Wool processing equipment at W S Hickey and Son’s Omakau plant.

Bottom: Hickey trucks on the road against a Southern Alps backdrop.

This page Above (left and right): There has been the odd development in the transport of wool and sheep skins since Bill Hickey’s days in the mid-1950s.

Right: Bales of wool in storage at W S Hickey & Son’s headquarters in Omakau.

Below: The storage shed at Omakau.

nickname, but it is probably only a matter of time – has joined the business, bringing with him skill in technology.

“He’s instituting modern bits and pieces, computers with a database and invoicing system that keeps track of every kilogram of wool in the store and records test results of each farmer’s wool,” says Brent.

“We use an on-line selling system that’s going well.

“Farmers used to be loyal to the stock firms, but now they’re looking for the best deal. Whoever can get the return better and quicker gets the business.

“Farmers are seeing that we can get them prompt payments and market value is being

realised. So more business is coming our way.”

Hickeys had been handling mostly crossbred wool in a wide range of microns. The upgraded equipment has allowed the firm to handle merino and halfbred wool as well.

Brent Hickey maintains the company’s efficiency and experience in shed clean-outs of wool fadges, leftovers and bales makes it a real Central Otago competitor in the wool-handling business.

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62 |

MEAT & WOOL » Cheddar Valley Station

Business Rural

Flexible farming family offsets drought Jo Bailey Waiau sheep and beef farmer Jason McDonald, of Cheddar Valley Station, says farming in a family partnership with his brother, Glen, and father, John, has allowed him to keep ahead of the worst impacts of the drought.

“We sent several hundred hoggets, two-tooths and most of our heifers down to graze at Glen’s farm at Roxburgh. This gave us a huge amount of flexibility and saved us having to kill or sell our young stock.”

Jason McDonald says hanging onto his stock has been his biggest concern during the drought and its aftermath.

“We can’t just buy fat ewes off the flat and chuck them on the hills here as they lose too much condition while they’re getting used to it. Nothing can replace our own stock.”

Between them, the McDonalds run three stud operations – kelso, snowline and the ranger breeds – across their three farms (at Waiau, Roxburgh and Lake Onslow).

Jason and his wife, Tracey, run the snowline stud at Cheddar Valley Station.

He says the drought hit the 2300-hectare farm relatively hard, but not as bad as some farms in Cheviot and Scargill.

“Considering the conditions, our scanning rates have held up pretty well. Our stud ewes scanned 176 per cent, flock ewes 165, and two-tooths 153, which was pretty good given they lost around 10 kilograms over mating.

“Things could have been worse. We’ve just got to keep looking forward and not backwards.”

Stock numbers have remained static over recent years; the dry has forced all hoggets, and twotooths out onto grazing for a two-month period. The stock left on the farm over winter have been fed baleage and sheep nuts to get as much calcium and

Cheddar Valley snowliners at Jason McDonald’s Waiau property. magnesium into them as possible before lambing.

Most of the animals being grazed off farm returned in the spring, apart from the hoggets and heifers.

“We don’t mate our hoggets until 1 June so they lamb much later than the rest of the flock. Latemating the hoggets has been really successful for us. They are well grown by the time they have their lambs and the birth doesn’t knock them around as much. The survival rates are also better.”

This year’s hoggets were weaned at 62kg in early February, but lost a bit of condition due to the dry conditions.

“They’ve hung in there and we’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well they scanned. You

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still get a result with snowliners even if they’re not quite up to spec.”

The McDonalds used to have an on-farm ram sale each year, but in the last couple of seasons have gone back to private selling from early December.

It’s a more time consuming process, but Jason says it is worth it: “We can spend time with with our clients properly and get an idea of what they’re doing and what works for them, instead of trying to see everybody in half a day.”

With the private sales happening around weaning time, he says it is “all hands on deck”, with his father, John, giving them a hand over the busy period.

Jason and Tracey McDonald also place a lot of

emphasis on their smaller, beef-breeding business.

Their breeding programme over the last decade has resulted in a “compact, efficient composite breeding cow”, which is more of a dual-purpose rather than straight maternal animal, Jason says.

“We’re starting to get a few of our ranger cattle into the dairy side of things, and have a client buying bulls off us to use in his commercial beef herd, which is promising.”

Without feed cover coming out of winter, he is expecting a difficult spring, and says he will have to put in extra summer crop.

“This year has been a real challenge, but we’ll get through. I’m reasonably positive about the outlook for lamb. It’s certainly not all doom and gloom.”

Business Rural

MEAT & WOOL » Wilfield

| 63

Stripfeeding ewes at Wilfield.

Scanning rates steady despite drought Jo Bailey Given last summer’s drought, Robin Wilson is pretty happy with the pregnancy scanning rates at Wilfield, one of New Zealand’s largest corriedale operations.

“We’re back about 10 percentage points on average, but are fortunate to have recovered as well as we have after some good rain in April. I feel for the farmers in North Canterbury who are struggling, and have had to make some tough calls about destocking, grazing stock off or buying in feed.”

The corriedale is known for its hardiness and drought resistance, with the breed appearing to have come through the tough conditions relatively well overall, he says.

“Anecdotally, the stories I’ve heard from the worst-hit drought regions are that the breed has come through as well as any other, which is great to see.”

Wilfield has dropped its flock size down to around 3200 ewes and 750 hoggets, although this is more to do with selling some of its land at West Melton for subdivision than the dry conditions.

Robin, his wife, Pip, and brother, Gavin, run the sizeable Canterbury operation which comprises five corriedale studs, and a suffolk texel meat-breed flock.

The stud operations account for around 20 per cent of the farming operation, with cropping and lamb fattening making up the balance.

In recent years the Wilsons have introduced some high performing corriedale genetics from Australia into the stud flock with good results.

“The first crop of two-tooths are about to lamb, and have returned an exceptional conception rate with all bar one scanning twins. It is better than we expected.”

The Wilsons introduced the genetics to gain improvements in the quality of their wool and carcass, so the extra fertility has been a bonus, he says.

“You have to take a bit of a risk to try and get some advantage, and we are very pleased with the results.”

Wilfield uses Sheep Improvement Ltd (SIL) across-flock analysis and gene-marker technology to identify its most productive and profitable animals.

SIL has a relationship with Sheep Genetics Australia, with the organisations combining data to identify the top-performing animals on both sides of the Tasman.

“The latest across-block analysis resulted in one of our rams being rated number one in Australia and New Zealand. It is not an easy feat to achieve,

We’re back about 10 percentage points on average, but are fortunate to have recovered as well as we have after some good rain in April.

Corriedale ewes ready for scanning at Wilfield. so we were pretty excited,” says Robin Wilson. The first progeny of this top ram, born in 2012, will be presented at Wilfield’s private ram sales late this year.

“We’ve already had enquiries from overseas for his semen,” he says.

Through December the stud will sell more than 200 rams privately on farm, including some of the suffolk texel rams.

“We prefer to sell privately as we can give our customers quality time to help them choose the exact animal they want under no pressure. People are welcome to view the stock at any stage, but they don’t go on the market until the start of December.”

Robin is pragmatic about how the challenging times for the sector might impact on the sale, but believes Wilfield rams offer a point of difference.

“The objective measurements we put our sheep through, plus their extra fine wool, wool production, and fertility, all add value to commercial clients.”

He says corriedale breeders have recognised the benefits of working together to improve the breed and address any issues.

“Initiatives such as CT scanning of ram hoggets and ewe hoggets, and a ram hogget trial run by the Corridedale Society have all been positive, with the results starting to recognise the breed as a genuine, dual-purpose animal with some good meat qualities.”

Although the next 12 months will be challenging given the difficult market conditions and the impact of the drought, Wilson remains upbeat.

“There is always something positive to focus on, with the wool price significantly better than what it was. We intend to continue to grow and diversify our stud business and make improvements in our stock where we can.”

Proud to Support Robin and Gavin Wilson, Wilfield Farm

Primary Wool 03 343 5960

Web: www.eldersprimary.co.nz Email: epw@elders.co.nz

447 Blenheim Road PO Box 11041, Sockburn, Christchurch

Eye Muscle and Pregnancy Scanning Eye Muscle data recorded on PDA, data sent to SIL, ranking to breeder within 24 hours

For all Enquiries or Quotes Ph Peter & Carolyn Clulee • (03) 486 2094 • Mob: 027 221 9799 cluleesplace@xtra.co.nz • 52 Woodside Rd, R.D.1, OUTRAM

64 |

MEAT & WOOL » Benmore Station

Business Rural

Station claims Clip of the Year hat-trick Neil Grant The Otago Merino Association holds an annual award night in May. This year for the third time the Sutherlands, of Benmore Station, won the clip of the year title. To add to the excitement, they also won the stud-flock category, and the family’s associated Ahuriri Downs station won the best commercial flock award.

Sutherlands have farmed Benmore Station for 99 years, so 2016 will be an historical milestone.

Andrew and Deidre Sutherland and Andrew’s brother, Bill, and his wife, Kate, are the present incumbents.

They also own Ahuriri Downs, about 20 kilometres towards the Lindis Pass. The Sutherlands oversee the two farms, which are run separately by stock managers. Ahuriri Downs is a dryland farm, breeding calves and lambs that are finished on Benmore.

Benmore can do the finishing thanks to the

Change comes at a cost, but compared to 15 years ago, we are now in control of our own destiny. irrigation system installed in 2008. Water drawn from the Lake Ohau outlet travels by canal feeding six properties, including Benmore.

“It changed the nature of the business,” says Andrew Sutherland. “This was a dryland farm with emphasis on wool. Now we focus on quickermaturing stock for the meat market. We are using scanning, and checking body muscling, growing lambs that mature quickly. Every day you don’t have to feed them, you’re making money.”

The water feeds huge pivots which have

transformed this southern part of the Mackenzie Basin.

Unlike most pivots the traveller sees, these are not for dairy farms – their purpose is to grow pasture and greenfeed crops for the lambs, hoggets and beef cattle. About half the irrigated land is in permanent pasture, the rest in short or medium term pasture, or turnips, barley or kale which return to pasture after three or four years as part of the renewal programme.

Until the late 1970s, corriedale had been the breed of sheep. A crashing meat market led to the change to merino since wool was looking strong.

Also, corriedale competed with the cattle for feed, but merinos and the hereford herd work together better.

The farm had traditionally run abut 7000 ewes.

Irrigation allowed for a change in style. There are still a similar number of merinos, but a halfbred flock has been added. About 3000 ewes from romney rams put over the older merino ewes are then mated to suffolk/texel/poll dorset terminal sires.

“They grow,” Sutherland says.

Most of the merino cross lambs are fattened and then sent to Canterbury Meat Packers, although some go to Silere, marketed as merino. Most wool gets sold through the Merino Wool Company, with about a third sold under contract.

The beef herd has 350-odd hereford cows. Eight hundred calves are bought in for fattening, often charolais or simmental for their size and growth rates. Benmore’s own hereford bull calves are kept entire to be sold to the dairy industry.

“We’ll have to see how that goes this year,” says Sutherland Without doubt, water allows for greater farming flexibility. The formerly sparse, dun pastures have turned to lush green.

Different breeds of sheep, and greater numbers of both sheep and cattle have turned a business dependent on the whim of the weather and the market into one where adjusting when appropriate is more easily actioned, and there is a more satisfactory level of certainty.

“Change comes at a cost,” Sutherland says, “but compared to 10 or 15 years ago, we are now in control of our own destiny.”

PHOTOS – Top: Irrigation has transformed parts of the Mackenzie Basin, including Benmore Station.

Left: : A mob of sheep on the tussocky slopes at Benmore

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MEAT & WOOL » Bob & Marilyn Masefield

Business Rural

| 65

Gough’s Bay farm incorporates three sheep studs – romney, romdale and dorset down.

Peninsula landmark on market Neil Grant Gough’s Bay farm has been in the hands of Masefields since 1863. For the first time since then, it is coming on the open market.

“We are reluctant to part with it, but it’s time,” Bob Masefield says, “The hills are getting steeper and we don’t have a son who wants to take it on.”

There is a sense of wistfulness in his voice as he reflects on what makes this place so special.

“We seldom suffer extremes here. We get 38 inches (965mm) of rain a year and that’s evenly spread. It can get dry, but there’s never a drought.

The beauty of it is we get easterly rain, and a bit from the sou’west, but there are virtually no frosts.”

Gough’s Bay is the most easterly of Banks Peninsula’s narrow indentations The beach attracts surfers and family groups who arrange access.

Spectacular volcanic cliffs rear up out of the sea.

The 680-hectare farm stretches from sea level up the hill slopes. Great country for rearing hardy sheep and cattle which will do well in much of New Zealand’s farmland.

“It’s a well balanced farm,” Masefield says, “and very well set up as a stud farm. Our stud animals run with the commercial sheep except at lambing time. Rams spend 95 per cent of their time on the hill, apart from a small handful that go to the Christchurch Show.”

Masefield and his wife, Marilyn, have three sheep studs; romney, romdale and dorset down.

Each has its particular qualities, so Gough’s Bay rams are bought by farmers from around much of the country. Masefield romneys are bred for growth rate and fertility; romdales (a romney/ perendale cross) for thriving in tough environments; and the dorset downs have been fine-tuned to add well-developed mid loins and hindquarters, and footrot resistance to their early maturing export lamb qualities. Another cross, dortex (dorset down and texel), is described by Masefield as, “little meat machines” because of their huge hindquarters.

For the third year running, there will be a Gough’s Bay ram sale at Little River a week after the Banks Peninsula Show. The Masefields trialled this because they felt some farmers found travelling so far to the bay was a bit off-putting. It has proved

I wouldn’t mind helping a young fellow get into the business. Peninsula farming is a low-cost, simple way of farming. The simpler you keep it, the more success you have.

very successful, both for them and their clients.

Getting all the rams sold in one day instead of spread over a couple of months clearly has its advantages.

The beef side of the business has hereford cows with angus bulls put over them. They cope well with the country they live on. They run 80 to 100 twoand-a-half-year-old steers, and the same number of 18-month heifers. Replacement heifers are bought in, but calving starts with three year old cows.

The Masefields hope the farm will sell to a New Zealander, and would especially like it to be to someone local. It might sell as a complete business, or the studs could be sold off separately.

“I wouldn’t mind helping a young fellow get into the business,” says Bob Masefield. “Peninsula farming is a low-cost, simple way of farming. The simpler you keep it, the more success you have.”

The Masefields’ intention is to move to a small block at Akaroa, just 20 minutes’ drive away.

Whoever buys the farm will have 150-odd years of experience just over the hill if they need it.

PHOTOS – Gough’s Bay farm (right) covers 680 hECTARES and stretches from sea level up the hill slopes. The farm has been owned by generations of Masefields since 1863, but current owners Bob and Marilyn Masefield (top right) are putting it up for sale.

R J PRESTON LTD Specialists Farm Accountants

Proud to be associated with Bob Masefield JAMES GORDON IAN COOKE E-mail: James@rjpreston.co.nz GRANT DAVID McCULLOCH E-mail: Grant@rjpreston.co.nz

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32B SHEFFIELD CRESCENT PO BOX 39065, CHRISTCHURCH 8545 TELEPHONE: 03 358 5686 FACSIMILE: 03 358 7958

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66 |

MEAT & WOOL » Stonehenge

Business Rural

High country, horses and hard men Neil Grant Tradition runs strongly through Stonehenge. The farm in the south of the Maniototo celebrated 100 years in the Hore family’s ownership in 2010 with a bit of a do that attracted more than 400 people.

Relics of the goldmining days dot the landscape – an old gold dredge, stone fenceposts and buildings, and the legendary Dunstan Trail. which passes through to the interior.

Mustering is done in the time-honoured fashion, that is, on horseback. The high country of the Rock and Pillar Range is too extreme for stock in the winter, so farm staff, friends and neighbours, saddle up and take their dogs away for several days of hard work, hut life and camaraderie.

“It’s great,” says Charlie Hore. “You spend a few nights in the hut and tell a few lies. It’s good fun. I enjoy getting out there.”

Hore and his brother, Andrew, are taking an increasing role in the running and management of the station. Their parents, Jim and Sue, are gradually releasing the responsibility they have had as the third generation in charge, and the two sons are picking things up.

“Jim’s still involved,” Charlie Hore says. “He still loves it, and he’s at the forefront. We’re all in it together, and all have a rough idea of what’s going to happen. We catch up during the day.”

Neighbouring Patearoa Station was brought into the family, increasing the total area to 18,600 hectares.

This has had two major effects. One is the future ability to ease the way for the family’s succession

plan, and the other the ability to mix and match according to weather or other events that can make one or the other property better for total farm management.

Stonehenge has a merino stud, which was begun in 1969 by Jim and his brother, Neville.

For many years it has been widely known for its superfine fleeces, but this is gradually changing.

“We’re going away from the superfine and

aiming for fine fleeces,” says Charlie Hore. “You can’t change overnight, but there is a greater demand in the wool market for stronger wool of 17 to 21 microns. Superfine sheep have smaller carcasses. The fine sheep are bigger, so have more wool weight and bigger lambs.”

Lambs are sold to Silere – a Silver Fern brand selling into the high-end meat market here and overseas.

“It’s not easy to do. Overseas restaurants want consistent supply spread over 12 months, but our lambs are quite seasonal.”

The Maniototo irrigation scheme made a huge difference to Stonehenge’s business.

“We’re lucky. We had no water cuts over summer, although Patearoa did. The water

• To page 67

PHOTOS: Stonehenge covers 18,600 hectares in the south of the Maniototo and includes the high country of the Rock and Pillar Range. Mustering stock off the high country, too extreme for stock in winter, is done on foot and on horseback.

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

Omakau, Central Otago Tel: 03 447 4031 Email: lakecontracting@hotmail.com

Proud to support Stonehenge and the Hore Family

Ranfurly Contracting Ltd proudly supports Stonehenge.

We wish them all the best for the future.

MOBILE 027 439 7481 • PHONE 03 444 9668

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

Business Rural

MEAT & WOOL » Stonehenge

| 67

Brothers buy romney stud as ‘a little variety of interest’ • From page 65 guarantees our winter feed crops We grow swedes, and we’re playing around with fodder beet. They seem to be going all right. We grow turnips and Moata (a type of ryegrass) if the pasture gets couch and fathen. Unlike swedes, Moata grows again after it has been eaten.”

The brothers get on well, he reckons. They do have different ideas, but they also have a lot in common. Rugby is one common interest, and they both coach local teams, now their own All Black or provincial playing days are over.

They have jointly bought a romney stud to provide a little variety of interest. Jim Hore once said, “You don’t want to get too carried away with

the fancy ideas. Simple farming is what we do here. Feed the bastards and they’ll produce you something.”

He would be pleased to hear his son say, “We’re not tinkering too much with the farm’s model. We’re into wool and fattening. Some things could change, but if it’s not broken, don’t change it. Andrew and I can share lots of things. Further down the track we may go our separate ways, but we lean on each other.”

In the meantime, Charlie’s kids – Max, Perri, Ruby and Marley – like “charging around, opening gates and catching lambs”. And he and his wife, Belinda, along with Andrew and his wife, Frankie, and their two, Tyrell and Esme, are happy to be carrying on the tradition.

PHOTOS: Left: Riding out with the dogs. Above: The Hore children at play. Right: Merinos in the shed.

Proud to support Stonehenge in providing their Helicopter Spraying services.

Andrew Preston A/H P: 03 448 8568 M: 021 334 132 Email: lxair@gallowaystation.co.nz

P1 137 APPROVED

Knox Street, Ranfurly, Central Otago For Productivity Improvement

Contact us for all your agricultural, hay & baleage requirements James 0274 797 102 The Yard 03 4449 705 Ph/Fax: 03 4449 370

STONEHENGE MERINOS LIMITED CENTRAL OTAGO HIGH COUNTRY SHEEP & BEEF STATION Family owned and operated for over 100 years. Breeders of large framed, horned merinos. Bright, bold crimpy wool.

Ranging from 16-20 micron. Merino and Romney Stud Rams for sale. Half-bred Rams also for sale.

stonehenge, 1000 paerau road, rd4, ranfurly. charliehore@googlemail.com, 027 3884 416 andrewhore@hotmail.com, 027 2478 308

68 |

Business Rural

MEAT & WOOL» Roslyn Downs

We wanted an investment further down the value chain in the wool industry. Too often farmers talk about change, but often change starts with us. Producers have to be prepared to invest capital back into the industry and put our money where our mouth is.

The Millers: Brothers Jason (left) and Quentin (right) with their dad, Chris (centre).

Farmers buy into yarn Karen Phelps Proud to support Roslyn Downs

The Millers from Southland sheep farm Roslyn Downs have put their money where their mouth is and invested in Christchurch-based NZ Yarns.

“We felt we wanted to have an investment further down the value chain in the wool industry,” says Jason Miller.

“Too often farmers talk about change but often change starts with us. We as producers have to be prepared to invest capital back into the industry and put our money where our mouth is.”

COOPDALE TEXEL GENETICS Will Improve Survivability + High Yielding Carcass

While the family is obviously hoping NZ Yarns trades profitably and provides them with a dividend, it also gives their farming operation a direct link to the market and its demands. This has already affected the management on their farm and genetic selection processes, says Miller.

“For example, everything is on an eight-month shearing cycle now because that is exactly the wool length required by NZ Yarns. We’ve found that by doing this production, animal health and management has improved. We’re producing slightly more wool because sheep grow more wool over a 12-month period by shearing them twice instead of once.

“With shorter wool, we can keep a better eye on animal condition because full wool can cover up problems. We have a lower incidence of casting with shorter wool. The wool is also a better colour with less yellowing due to moisture and heat.”

These advantages offset higher shearing costs, he says. While he acknowledges wool prices are still not great for farmers, he contends they have to focus on shifting their wool up the value chain by producing a better-quality product to market demands.

“We are seeing steady improvement in wool prices as supply and demand is in better balance.

We still believe firmly in the sheep industry. We have challenges, but there are also some fantastic opportunities in the market.”

Jason’s parents, Chris and Gaynor Miller bought the original, 148-hectare Roslyn Downs block in 1960. Their now-800ha operation at Glencoe, between Hedgehope and Mataura, sees three blocks run as one farm, and a lease block 18 kilometres away.

The business is owned a third by Chris and Gaynor, and a third each by their sons, Jason and wife Jocelyn, and Quentin and wife Eleanor. All

Bred for • Survivability • Natural Lambing • High Yielding Carcass • Fast Growth Chris, Jason & Quentin Miller Phone 03 230 6144 Email rosdowns@ispnz.co.nz

A weaning draught of lambs at Roslyn Downs

of them work in the business. Jason and Quentin run the commercial side of the operation. Quentin tends to specialise in fencing and the agricultural side, while Jason manages stock and fertiliser.

The women handle the accounts under Eleanor’s guidance.

Chris looks after the coopdale stud, which was founded in 1979. It now runs 800 ewes and is producing good results. The main focus is survival, growth rates and meat yield.

All lambs that are killed are sent to Alliance Group and are scanned through the ViaScan system consistently at 56-57 per cent yield. Lambs are killing out at 19 kilograms and the farm mean kill date is the first or second week of February, which equals growth rates of 250-300 grams per day.

“We are not so worried about fertility now as most of the ewes in the stud are scanning at 190% fertility,” says Jason Miller. “We consistently average 155% survival over the flock. We are aiming to establish a robust breed as we are running a large scale commercial enterprise and we want to breed a sheep that can handle those conditions.”

Including the stud, the farm runs 6000 breeding ewes, 2000 replacement hoggets, 200-250 stud ram hoggets and 180 bulls and 100 beef heifers.

Around 7500 lambs are sold to Alliance Group each year. The Millers are involved with Zoetis SNP chips, which they have found gives them accurate information earlier, along with SIL data.

“Instead of waiting a year to get growth rates, by using SNP chips we can use the ram lambs a year earlier with confidence,” says Jason. “So, it helps to step up the genetic gain in the flock.”

The Millers will offer 200 coopdale rams plus texel rams for private sale in late December and January. All sale rams rank in the top quarter of the farm’s flock.