Farmers Weekly NZ September 1 2025

Experts flag perils of Fonterra sale

FONTERRA’S $4.22 billion sale of its consumer and associated businesses to Lactalis will create challenges in the long term for the co-operative.

Fonterra is “putting all of its eggs in one basket”, and that creates risks, Lincoln University Professor of Agriculture and Food Economics Alan Renwick said.

One such risk is that ingredients can be much more easily substituted than a brand.

The longer-term impact will depend on the ability of Fonterra, without the consumer side, to be resilient to shocks.

Prof Alan Renwick Lincoln University

If a company is just an ingredient supplier to a brand such as Nestlé, would consumers of the brand have any understanding if it moved away from that supplier, he asked.

“The answer would be no, because there’s no visibility of where that milk is in your chocolate or whatever it is that you’re consuming.

“My concern is that it would be

easier for them to move between different suppliers.”

Renwick also questioned what would happen in 10 years’ time when the supply agreement Fonterra has in place as part of the sale conditions is up for renewal.

“Transnational companies will allocate their resources, production and marketing to the one that’s most efficient for them. That might in the long run not be New Zealand.”

On the positive side, the sale will mean a large injection of cash for Fonterra farmers, which they can use to pay off debt or re-invest back into their businesses. Some will also be retained to invest back into the co-operative.

“It’s a one-off positive shock to the economy. The question is, the longer-term impact will depend on the ability of Fonterra in the future, without the consumer side, to maintain the returns, be resilient to shocks.”

University of Auckland Emeritus Professor of Economics Tim Hazledine said the sale saddens him because it means Fonterra is losing its value-added capacity.

“It’s sad. Here they are dealing with 80% of the country’s milk and they are not very good at one big segment of the milk-processing business, which is consumer products.”

He asked whether there are not

Continued page 5

Fert sales take off as confidence spreads

Otago Airspread owner Des Neill says his four aircraft, based from Waimate to Gore, have been kept aloft as farmers once again invest in fertiliser. Suppliers agree, noting a sharp increase in fertiliser sales compared to last year as growing farmer confidence is reflected in greater volumes being applied.

NEWS 6

Retailers scramble to supply calf milk powder as calf rearing rises.

NEWS 5

Tokyo develops taste for grass-fed beef

Consumer shifts to leaner cuts and the health benefits of grass-fed beef are helping Silver Fern Farms lift sales volumes in the high-value Japanese market.

Zespri jobs in firing line as company looks to streamline business.

NEWS 7

Greenpeace is no one’s idea of a proper charity, says Alan Emerson.

OPINION 19

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ISSN 2463-6002 (Print) ISSN 2463-6010 (Online)

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18-19 Sector Focus

21 Federated Farmers . 22-25

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STRATEGIES: Westpac head of environmental, social and governance Olaf Adam says many businesses have ‘quietened down’ when it comes to discussing ESG strategies, but the work is continuing and will only spread to more of the global economy.

News in brief

Hort support

The government has announced $24.62 million in funding for horticulture projects in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti that will go towards water storage, flood resilience and whenua Māori projects.

The money, from the Regional Infrastructure Fund, was announced by Regional Development Minister Shane Jones at an event in Wairoa. Supporting regional New Zealand is a key part in the government’s focus on growing the economy, he said.

Gene report delay

The Health Select Committee has once again delayed the release of its report on the Gene Technology Bill.

The extension, until October 10, follows a previous delay from an initial planned release date of July 31 to August 22 2025. Former agriculture minister and current Labour MP Damien O’Connor said the legislation was rushed and ill prepared, generating huge opposition.

Dagg doco

The New Zealand trailer for Not Only Fred Dagg, a feature documentary on one of New Zealand’s most influential cultural figures, has been released.

Written and directed by John Clarke’s daughter Lorin Clarke, the film opens in New Zealand cinemas on December 26, celebrating the man who gave us Fred Dagg.

Changing hands

Listed company Allied Farmers has made a conditional agreement to sell its majorityowned subsidiary NZ Farmers Livestock (NZFL) to the South Island-based Rural Livestock for $11 million.

A 52% ownership share in Hawke’s Bay-based Redshaw Livestock plus saleyard interests are included in the proposed transaction. NZFL and Redshaw will continue to operate regionally and separately with staff members and livestock agents employed or contracted as they currently are.

Calf milk powder a hot item as rearing rockets

THE larger than normal number of calves being reared this spring has left some rural retailers scrambling to match supply of calf milk powder with a spike in demand.

It has seen the product flying off the shelves at stores across the country and some farmers are having difficulty finding enough powder for their calves.

Te Kuiti sheep and beef farmer Gordon Lewis rears 150 calves on milk powder annually and finishes them to 18 months. He said he had a verbal agreement with PGG Wrightson in June-July to supply 2 tonnes of powder to feed the calves.

Then late last week he received a call from PGW telling him it could supply him with only half of that and no more was available.

The store was able to find enough powder for Lewis, which he was grateful for. However, he feared other larger-scale rearers could be in a precarious situation.

Fonterra’s new rules around non-replacement calves,

RISK AHEAD: If Fonterra becomes just an ingredient supplier to global brands such as Nestlé, would consumers have any understanding if Nestlé suddenly dropped Fonterra in the future, Lincoln University Professor of Agriculture and Food Economics Alan Renwick asked.

combined with a very tight calving period, mean a large volume of calves are coming to the market in a very short period of time, he said.

The latest AgriHQ bobby calf data at seven weeks into calving showed there were 82,000 fewer calves killed compared to the same period last year across the country.

In the North Island, the kill was down 18.5% or 58,967 based on seven weeks of data while in the South Island the kill was down 28% or 23,000, based on three weeks of data.

With the payout being so good, people aren’t taking milk out of the vat, so powder demand is high.

While not speaking specifically on Lewis’s situation, PGG Wrightson general manager for retail and water Nick Berry said farmers across the country are facing mounting pressure as demand for calf milk replacer products continues to outstrip supply.

“Everything is getting reared this year and with the payout being so good, people aren’t taking milk out of the vat, so powder demand is high.”

But the company is on top of the shortages and he is confident it will be able to meet demand for the rest of the season.

“Our main supplier, MaxCare, are now doing night shifts as well to try and keep up with demand.”

He suspects it will be a record year for calf milk powder sales, not just for PGW but among other rural retailers as well.

“Our team are working hard to shore up supply.”

Meal manufacturers are also ramping up production in preparation as calves begin transitioning off an all-milk diet and onto more solid food, he said.

Farmlands chief supply chain and manufacturing officer Caleb Nicolson said they too are expecting it to be a record year for powder sales.

“We are double digits up on last year.”

They had closely monitored the market signals early on, had anticipated the rush on calf milk powder and had planned accordingly.

Continued from page 1

better alternatives to selling the consumer arm.

Auckland University Associate Professor of Marketing Michael Lee said Fonterra is consolidating its business so it can be more of a BtB (business to business) company.

If it properly invests the capital raised from the sale and becomes known as a premium international ingredient business and knows what the world wants with its powder and can come up with

“We didn’t have a supply issue of any significance,” he said. They had worked closely with their main supplier of calf milk replacer (CMR), Milligans Feeds, and had taken a lot more of its product into the Farmlands supply chain this year, he said.

“It’s set us up pretty well for the season so as of today Farmlands doesn’t have a shortage of CMR.”

Farmlands general manager of integrated business planning, Siobhan Williamson, said they had anticipated more calf rearers re-

good BtB brands, then it is money well earned, he said.

“Their shareholders and their farmers are good at making milk, but maybe not so good at marketing the end product of that milk.”

Lactalis could turn Anchor into the Coco-Cola of butter – then the origin of the milk would not matter because it is such a strong brand, he said.

“It’s all about the brand and the taste and if the new owners of Anchor can do that with butter or milk and make it this

entering the market this year and had planned accordingly.

“The signals were there going, ‘It looks like it would be profitable to raise calves,’ so our forecast heading into the season was higher than previous years because of that assumption already.

“The level of demand we are seeing is not unexpected.”

Fonterra-owned Farm Source said it had seen “heightened demand” for CMR products, which it sources from its subsidiary, NZAgbiz.

international brand and is no longer dependent on its sole ingredient being New Zealand milk – then good on them, they have cracked that code.”

However, at present Anchor’s main selling point is that it is made from New Zealand ingredients.

“Whether they are able to flip that from a commodity-based brand into something that’s more brand image based, that’s the $10bn question.”

MORE: See pages 7, 18

Fert sales take off as confidence spreads

Neal Wallace NEWS Fertiliser

OTAGO Airspread is as busy as it was in 2021.

Owner Des Neill says his four aircraft, based from Waimate to Gore, have been kept aloft as farmers once again invest in fertiliser.

In some cases his aircraft are working on farms last visited three years ago.

“There is a really positive sentiment. Everyone I talk to is happy,” he said.

Fertiliser companies agree, noting a sharp increase in sales compared to last year as growing farmer confidence is reflected in greater volumes being applied.

Neill, who flies out of Taieri Airport near Dunedin, has noticed increased work from dairy, sheep and beef farmers and said they have been applying high analysis fertilisers and superphosphate.

“It’s been a cracking start,” said Ballance customer manager Jason Minkhorst.

While it is still early days, Minkhorst said, sales for the year to date are well ahead of the 7.5% increase in nutrient tonnage reported by Ballance for the 202425 financial year.

He declined to provide actual numbers, fearing he could “jinx what is shaping up to be a fantastic season for our farmers and growers”.

Current sales activity reflects growing confidence after a couple of years of farmers reprioritising spending.

Sales in Waikato and Bay of Plenty are up but Minkhorst said the South Island has been especially busy.

He noted some areas are quieter, such as Nelson – still recovering from winter flooding.

Fertiliser sales to sheep and beef farmers increased markedly in autumn and Minkhorst said there has been a noticeable recent increase in the use of urea ahead of lambing, something that has been absent for the past few years.

There is a really positive sentiment. Everyone I talk to is happy.

Des Neill Otago Airspread

Dairy farmers have been applying capital fertiliser but are now applying products to set them up for the season.

Minkhorst said Ballance predicted greater demand and ordered stocks early. It has held prices for nitrogen and sulphur products and is offering fixed prices for key nutrients

Daniel Pranic, Ravensdown’s chief sales and marketing officer, said there has been a sharp increase in fertiliser use by the sheep and beef sector.

“As a result, our Aerowork spreaders are around twice as busy as they were this time last year.”

Customers who withheld buying fertiliser for a couple of years are active again, particularly those on smaller farms, while there has

WORKING ON ITS CORE: Pamū chief executive Mark Leslie says a backto-basics focus on core farming and efficiency is paying dividends for the state-owned farmer.

Pamū shoots the lights out with 2025 results

Neal Wallace NEWS Agriculture

HIGHER product prices and a focus on the basics have underpinned a significant financial turnaround by Pamū in the past financial year

A 23.4% lift in income has enabled the state-owned enterprise to report a $49 million net operating profit for the year to June 30 – 145% higher than the $20m reported for 2024

Its $120m net profit after tax for the 2025 financial year was 561% higher than the $26m net loss for

been a significant pick-up in sales in Northland and the southern South Island.

He noted sales of superphosphate are strong due to favourable pricing but more customers are opting for products treated to slow the release of nitrogen and urea.

Rabobank’s August agribusiness report notes global fertiliser prices continue to increase with monthon-month increases for urea of 12%, DAP 6% and potash 3%.

Post-deal Alliance structure agreed

Neal Wallace NEWS Production

SHAREHOLDERS have generally reacted positively to the proposed investment by Dawn Meats, says Alliance Group chair Mark Wynne.

The proposed $250m investment in the co-operative by the Irish meat processor and exporter for 65% of the co-operative will, he said, be an opportunity to create a stronger, more profitable and more valuable business.

A series of shareholder roadshows are planned from the end of September ahead of a special general meeting in Invercargill in mid-October.

Wynne said the investment is more than just capital.

“It’s about creating a more competitive and thriving partnership for our farmer shareholders between two companies who naturally have a lot in common.”

Alliance has 4300 shareholders and 106 million issued shares.

For the sale to be approved, a

minimum of 75% of shareholder votes cast must be in favour and those voting in favour must represent 50% or more of the 106 million issued shares.

Each shareholder can cast one vote for every share held.

If approved, Alliance shareholders would hold a 35% stake in the processing company via a new joint venture company, Alliance Investment Co-operative, alongside the majority shareholder, Dawn Meats.

The Alliance board would be reduced from nine to five, with three from Dawn Meats and two from the co-operative.

The Alliance Investment Cooperative would have a board of up to five, of whom three would be farmer-elected directors and up to two independents.

Wynne said the two parties have agreed to a structure and terms to safeguard the interests of farmers and the co-operative.

“Under the proposed partnership, the board has agreed with Dawn that Alliance would

maintain decision-making controls over a number of critical strategic and operational matters in the interests of our farmers and staff.

“For example, setting operational budgets, development of business plans, asset management, and related party transactions, would require unanimous agreement, ensuring the co-operative remains protected and retains equal influence.”

If the deal is approved by shareholders, up to $40 million will be distributed to the cooperative, determined according to livestock flows.

Some shareholders have questioned whether moving Alliance shares to be traded on the Unlisted Securities Exchange (USX) will provide the liquidity claimed.

Wynne said the move removes redemption requirements and the five-year stand-down period for surrendered shares to be paid out by allowing farmers to actively buy and sell shares at market-driven prices.

Alliance-Fonterra hookup looks tasty

Neal Wallace NEWS Production

THERE would be some logic to Fonterra investing in the Alliance Group, according to pioneer beef protein snack producer Daniel Carson.

2024, which includes fair value gain on animals and forestry of $96m compared to a $9m loss in 2024.

Pamū will pay the government a $15m dividend.

Chief executive Mark Leslie said the adoption of a back-tobasics focus on core farming and efficiency is paying dividends.

“Our relentless pursuit of farming excellence is driving commercial performance,” he said.

Strong global demand has driven high commodity prices and underpinned this turnaround despite challenging weather conditions in some regions.

A co-founder of Oamaru-based Mīti Beef Bites, Carson said such a relationship would help solve the dairy industry’s bobby calf issue, tap into the growing low-carbon lean beef protein snack category while also increasing the number of animals available for meat processors.

“It works for all parties,” he said.

About 1.8 million bobby calves are killed each year, a looming social licence issue for Fonterra and the dairy industry.

Carson was commenting on the potential synergies of Alliance potentially selling 65% of the co-operative to Irish-based Dawn Meats for $250m and Fonterra selling its consumer branded business to Lactalis for $3.845 billion.

He said too much of our thinking

is siloed, looking at and replicating what others are doing when there are solutions the offer mutual benefit.

Under his proposal, farmers will be contracted to keep bobby calves to between 10 and 18 months of age before being released for processing at either a date or age.

This would provide year-round processing for meat companies and a new and constant supply of grinding beef for customers.

Technology such as automated calf feeders and Halter would reduce on-farm staffing issues and costs.

Because it is grinding beef, Carson said that process could also be automated.

Fonterra would benefit from resolving the bobby calf issue and be able to offer its dairy ingredient customers with low carbon grinding beef for associated burger, pet food and other meat product businesses.

“Fonterra already has relationships and understands the ingredients business, the value chain and the infrastructure to extract value.”

He said Chomps, a grass-fed beef jerky snack, is the fastest growing snack in the United States.

Established in 2013, this year it will earn US$1 billion, with 70% of its customers women.

Despite this opportunity, Carson said his approaches to meat companies reveals a lack of willingness to divert from their existing business structures.

This week’s poll question:

Should Fonterra invest in Alliance Group to help resolve its bobby calf issue?

Jobs overboard as Zespri trims sails

Richard Rennie NEWS Horticulture

MORE than 60 active jobs are in the firing line at Zespri as the kiwifruit marketer zeroes in on creating a simpler, more focused approach to operations.

Industry sources indicate the bulk of the 65 job losses will fall onshore in the Tauranga head office, where almost half the company’s 850 global employees work.

A further 70 vacant positions currently advertised will not be filled.

Zespri’s head office in Tauranga can accommodate up to 340 staff,

meaning 40% of its positions could be vulnerable to termination or being absorbed by other staff in the latest move.

The announcement comes in the wake of the marketer’s development of its 2035 strategy, and changes to its executive leadership structure under new CEO Jason Te Brake.

In a letter to the industry, Te Brake confirmed the reduction in positions to “better align resourcing with priorities”.

The 2035 strategy has several key pillars, under the overarching goal to be recognised as the world’s healthiest fruit.

Within that is included greater demand generation, supply chain changes, better alignment of growers’ shares to production,

and a sustainability focus.

Farmers Weekly understands the cuts will fall harder upon areas of grower extension and liaison.

It is an area where post-harvest packers also have staff engaged, and the changes may see more of the role undertaken by the postharvest operators.

One grower told Farmers Weekly that Zespri had over-extended its reach in recent years into areas better left to post-harvest processors who “have skin in the game”.

“And right now the industry is awash with dollars. That means you’d usually expect them [job numbers] to go the other way. So as a grower this gives me more confidence in Zespri and its leadership.”

Bega adds cheese on top of proposed Fonterra sale

Hugh Stringleman NEWS Dairy

A FURTHER $375 million has been added to the proposed $3.845 billion sale of Fonterra’s Mainland Group of consumer-facing brands and production facilities to multinational Lactalis Group of France.

Settlement has been reached in a licensing dispute between Bega

Cheese dairy company of New South Wales and Fonterra, which frees up Lactalis to pay $375m for the Bega licences.

The total proposed divestment of Mainland will now reap $4.22bn for Fonterra of which $3.2bn will be paid as capital return to shareholders at $2 a share.

Farmer-shareholders will be asked to approve the sale at a special meeting in late October or early November.

“Bega agrees that the structure of the sale to Lactalis of Fonterra’s global consumer and associated businesses does not constitute a change of control under the Bega licences,” Fonterra announced.

“As a result, the Bega licences held by Fonterra’s Australian business will be included in the divestment.”

Bega cheeses and butter have been made by Fonterra under

licence from the Bega company for decades.

When Fonterra signalled its in-tention to divest brands and plants in Australia, Bega responded with an interest in purchasing.

It was outbid by Lactalis and has now settled the licence dispute with Fonterra, which has agreed to pay Bega’s legal costs.

Bega said the sale to Lactalis does not alter the current

contractual arrangements associated with the Bega brand or the benefits Bega Group obtains.

Lactalis Group is a French family-owned dairy company dating back to 1933 in western France.

It is now the world’s largest dairy group, operating in 50 countries with 270 production sites, 85,500 employees and a reported revenue of €30bn in 2024.

“ We look to the exper ts to drive a lot

of the technical decisions we make.”

Dan & Gina

Duncan, Dair y Farmers

We asked Dan & Gina:

How do you make it count?

Gina : We don’ t need to know all the technical stuff, that ’s what Mar t y, our Nutrient Specialist is for What we care about is that the plan work s for our farm.

Dan: I trust that the science is there behind it , I just want it to be practical So far, it ’s been bang on

Ballance : Behind ever y recommendation we make is a deep base of science , research, local knowledge and understanding of your unique business and farm’s goals . Make it count with science -backed advice from Ballance . Talk to your Nutrient Specialist today.

Tokyo develops taste for grass-fed beef

MARKETS Sheep and beef

CONSUMER shifts to leaner cuts and growing awareness of the health benefits of grass-fed beef are helping Silver Fern Farms lift sales volumes in the high-value Japanese market.

With over 25 years with the company, going right back to its Richmond days, there is little Yas Kato, Silver Fern’s country manager in Tokyo, has not seen.

A longtime Tokyo resident, he appreciates the shift he is now witnessing in tastes.

“People are increasingly aware of the health implications of eating a fattier Wagyu product, especially as they age,” he said. Wagyu beef has strong cultural connections to Japanese consumers, but they are starting to baulk at both its higher price and higher fat content.

Top-end Tokyo supermarket Meidi Ya has A5 grade chilled Wagyu, the highest marbled grade containing about 50% fat, retailing at NZ$17 per 100g.

This is alongside Silver Fern Farms grass-fed sirloin in the chiller retailing at nearly half the price. Japan is a significant market for

CONVERTING: Silver Fern Farms country manager Yas Kato, left, says more Tokyo consumers are sampling grass-fed beef and liking what they taste, particularly with respect to health and price comparisons to traditional Wagyu.

beef exports, China 30% and then Japan, well behind at 7%.

We are now starting to sell more of it, consumers are more open to the idea, the taste and the price point of it.

Yas Kato Silver Fern Farms, Tokyo

Silver Fern, among its top three as it is for the entire New Zealand beef sector.

Last year the United States accounted for 36% of national

On a per capita basis Japanese consumers sit well behind the likes of their Korean counterparts, averaging about 8kg of beef per person per year, to Korea’s 14kg.

“The impact of price and cost increases has also been significant, both for beef producers here, and for consumers,” Yas said.

Taking longer to finish to full fat marbling means Wagyu cattle naturally take longer to rear.

But Japan relies heavily upon imported grains and feed, which have had heavy cost increases in

the past three years with the yen’s devaluation against the US dollar by 30%.

In 2022 Silver Fern experienced the highest ever volume exports to Japan, thanks in part to a shortfall from Australian supply and the ever-increasing cost of local beef.

The ensuing high beef prices saw a drop in volumes for 2023 “but we are seeing people getting used to the higher prices. It’s widespread with 20,000 items having a 50% increase in price over last year.

“For Silver Fern, we are well on track to recover from the slide in 2023.”

The shift in the cost of food has taken many Japanese customers by surprise in an economy that had become almost accustomed to a deflationary environment as the economy had remained moribund for many years since 2000.

“The government has tried to get companies to increase wages, but wage increases are struggling to meet those price increases.”

Since covid ended, consumers have shifted back to eating out more, with about 80% of Yas’s business coming from restaurants and hotels.

“This is not to say there is no further potential in supermarkets. US beef has been getting more expensive, almost Wagyu-like prices, thanks to the weaker yen.”

Tokyo’s consumers are relatively

new to grass-fed beef, which has typically been consumed in western Japan in cities like Osaka.

“But we are now starting to sell more of it, consumers are more open to the idea, the taste and the price point of it.”

With 40 million potential customers in his native city, Yas has developed a comprehensive pitch for interested supermarkets, food service and restaurant companies to engage them with grass-fed beef (see accompanying article)

“After hearing the selling points and then tasting it, almost 100% describe it as ‘very good’.

“In food service we have customers changing to it, on grounds of taste alone.”

MORE: See page 10

• Richard Rennie’s Meeting the Market tour has been made possible with grants from Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, Rabobank, Zespri, Alliance Group, Meat Industry Association, Wools of NZ, Beef+Lamb NZ, NZ Merino, European Union Commission and Gallagher. https://www.farmersweekly.co.nz/ meeting-the-market/

Fonterra growing with ageing market

JAPAN’s own constrained dairy production and the fact that its consumers are increasingly seeking out high quality protein to help them age healthier are ensuring Fonterra’s ingredients business thrives, even in a market with a declining population.

Fonterra’s sales director for Japan, Kenichi Hada, said much is made of Japan’s declining and ageing population, but it is largely a signal of what will, or already is, playing out across many world markets – requiring refocus rather than reduction to leverage off the population’s age bulge.

While domestic supply from within Japan may be constrained, the understanding of protein’s value in the diet of an ageing population that comprises 90,000 centenarians is growing.

“Less than 10 years ago the focus and understanding was on minerals and vitamins, but now it’s all about protein.”

The bulk of Fonterra’s sales within Japan are as business-tobusiness ingredients, with limited brand presence.

The model, and the businessto-business focus, means Japan is

one of the markets least affected by any brand sell-off, and may provide a good template as other markets adapt post sale.

“The sense is that if you can succeed at this level in Japan, given the quality standards and expectations of business clients, you should be able to create a very similar model elsewhere successfully.”

“Grass fed” is playing as strongly at the business-to-business level as it is at the consumer level in Fonterra’s health and nutrition messaging, in a market where sustainability is also just starting to resonate more with consumers and client companies.

Domestically, Fonterra has also been working with dairy farmers in the Hokkaido district, the country’s main dairying region, helping them increase their skills around pasture management for milk production.

The ten-year-old project includes Fonterra, the New Zealand embassy and local farming supply company Farm Age in an effort Hada said may appear counterintuitive, coming from the country’s biggest dairy import source.

“If we as a company are promoting ‘grass fed’ in our products, it is a good message to encourage through the industry as a whole.”

Protec t your crop, farm and future.

GOLDEN EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES IN JAPAN

Fonterra’s own grass-fed label can be attached to client companies’ products that include the likes of shredded cheese and butter.

“These larger companies are also looking further afield, given Japan’s demographics, to countries like Vietnam that still have a younger population and strong growth prospects.”

Just as butter prices have been topical in NZ, rice price increases have sharpened food price rises in Japan.

“We have seen a 10kg bag of rice go from 2500 yen to 4000 yen in only a year and, given its importance as an ingredient, this has made consumers far more aware of food costs after a prolonged period of stable prices, in what has even been quite a deflationary economy at times.”

Hada believes many Fonterra business customers have reached their limit on how much of the cost increase they can absorb, with increases starting to feed into the likes of cheese ingredients.

Interestingly, Anchor branded butter sold as a 227g pack in a Tokyo supermarket chain retails

today for 1180 yen or NZ$14, considerably more than the NZ prices under contention now.

With protein’s rise as an ingredient, Japan shares similarities with Korea, where manufacturers can be engaged in a protein arms race, adding higher percentages, along with other nutritive extras like fibre.

“There is no denying demographics are ageing, but they want to age well, and it’s a shift happening everywhere,” Hada said.

“Japan is proving a good market to build our knowledge for the other markets experiencing the same thing to different degrees.”

• Richard Rennie’s Meeting the Market tour has been made possible with grants from Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, Rabobank, Zespri, Alliance Group, Meat Industry Association, Wools of NZ, Beef+Lamb NZ, NZ Merino, European Union Commission and Gallagher. https://www.farmersweekly.co.nz/ meeting-the-market/

Roll up to support charity bull auctions

TWO beef studs are to hold mid-September charity auctions to benefit emergency services in the central North Island.

Cory Norman of Rolling Heights Herefords at Huntly in North Waikato wants to raise $40,000 from the auction of a Hereford bull and goods and services donated by farm suppliers and supporters. For the third year running the money raised will go directly to

the Waikato newborn intensive care unit, where Norman’s daughter Kelly June passed away in 2017.

Norman expects up to 150 people to the auction on September 19, when 50 yearling and two-year commercial Hereford bulls will be offered, followed by the charity auction and a catered lunch with Rolling Heights beef by chef Marc Soper. Last year $32,000 was raised.

“I am so grateful to all the 25 or so rural businesses who support my miniature field days and donate to the auction and then of course the farmers who come

and buy, giving to a good cause,” Norman said.

“The money goes directly to the intensive care unit, not via the district health board.”

Stokman Angus, Waikite Valley, Rotorua, will donate the auction proceeds for one Angus yearling bull to the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter service based in Taupō.

For the Stokman family, the difference between life and death came down to rotors in the sky, when Mark Stokman rolled a CanAm ATV in March 2024.

He was thrown out and pinned underneath 600kg of twisted metal, seriously injured, unable to move, and at least one hour by road ambulance to hospital.

After a superhuman lift by farm employee Craig Moyes, Stokman was flown by helicopter to Rotorua Hospital for stabilisation and then to the Waikato Hospital high dependency unit. Injured, forever changed, but alive.

But that was not his first ride in the rescue helicopter.

Support the service that turns impossible distances into manageable minutes.

Sherrie Stokman Stokman Angus

HORRIFIC: Angus breeder Mark Stokman of Rotorua had an accident in this ATV in March 2024 and was airlifted to hospital.

In 2014, when a major heart attack struck him on the farm, it was the same helicopter and the same dedicated team that had saved his life.

Two emergencies. Two rescues. One family grateful beyond words.

Stokman Angus Lot 111 will be auctioned on September 17 and all the proceeds will go to Greenlea

Rescue Helicopter service.

“Support the service that turns impossible distances into manageable minutes,” Mark’s wife Sherrie Stokman said.

“Because you never know when you might need a miracle too.”

Greenlea Rescue Helicopter service flies over 500 missions a year and has nearly $5 million annual costs.

Grand opportunity to buy rare Galloways

Hugh Stringleman MARKETS Livestock

NEW Zealand’s world champion herd of Galloway cattle is to be dispersed by tender in mid-September as breeder Beth McVerry reluctantly calls time after 18 years.

The Cherrybank Stud at Pukeatua in southern Waikato has been home to rare breeds of Galloway cattle and American Miniature Mediterranean donkeys, now sold.

More than 30 Galloways of all ages will be offered for tender on September 19 after an open day on September 13.

There are 19 breeding-age cows, two Riggit Galloway bulls and 11 of this year’s calves.

All of the cows are rarities, either white with black or red points, or part of New Zealand’s first and largest herd of Riggit Galloways.

Riggits have solid dark colour sides with a white strip down the back, which McVerry has been breeding towards for years while keeping a focus on sound conformation, low birth weights, fertility and good temperament.

Now a five-year-old Riggit

bull, Arapuni Pride was judged champion Galloway of the world in 2022 as a yearling, an award presented to McVerry in person at the 2023 Farmfair International in Edmonton, Canada.

Along with Pride, one of his sons, Cherrybank Luca, is included in the sale cattle.

Semen and embryos have been sent overseas because Riggits are sought after, especially in the United States and Australia.

Having pioneered Riggit Galloways in NZ, McVerry is keen to see new breeders realise the potential of red Riggits and miniature sizes.

She is happy to stay in touch with new owners and give breeding advice and introductions around the world where needed.

Galloway bulls are soughtafter by dairy farmers to use over non-replacement cows for their low birth weights, good growth rates, high-yielding carcases and distinctive coat markings.

“Galloways and their crosses get to around 600kg liveweight and have very good yields of lean, marbled beef, all graded excellent,” she said.

McVerry said the dispersal is a singular opportunity for a new or established cattle breeder to obtain the nucleus of a Galloway herd, including the Riggit coats.

“While I have bred for special colour patterns we made sure that all animals are high quality and fully functioning, fertile, good mothering and excellent temperament.”

Yara’s got nutrient bases covered

Fertiliser is a key input for Marton arable grower Simon Nitschke. With Yara products, and support from Ballance, he has confidence every seed is getting the exact amount of nutrients needed to give it the best start at life.

Simon, who was recognised as the Maize Grower of the Year and overall Arable Grower of the Year in 2024, grows about 300-hectares of grain between maize, barley and wheat, on both his own and leased land. He held the record for tonnage of maize grown in New Zealand in both 2023 and 2024.

As well as growing, Simon co-owns and runs Arable Solutions, the family’s specialist agricultural contracting, feed grain supply, storage and transport company based at Marton in the Rangitikei. Arable Solutions is a multi-integrated agri business, from growing through to transport, contracting and valueadd for grain, they have it covered.

At their grain silo and weighbridge facility just out of Marton they can hold 5000 tonnes of grain at any one time and process about 13,000 tonnes of grain through their silos annually.

The facility includes a large grain dryer and kibbling system, allowing them to create value-add for customers, providing feed for dairy farmers, poultry and supplying the Nestlē dog biscuit factory in town.

“It covers pretty much every avenue of the grain industry,” Simon explains.

Simon attended Lincoln University, completing a Diploma in Agriculture majoring in crop production. He went on to work as an agronomist in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. With his background in agronomy, Simon oversees everything from truck driving to plant husbandry and all buying, selling and trading of grain. He also does a lot of agronomy work for growers who supply Arable Solutions.

Quality inputs

On the growing front, Simon has been using the Yara fertiliser range, a premium range of compound fertilisers distributed by Ballance, for about 10 years.

As an agronomist and award-winning

grower, Simon understands that a successful crop starts in the paddock, and fertiliser is a big-ticket item for the business – a non-negotiable.

“There are a few key factors you have to get right up front, and your base trace elements are key,” he says.

What Simon likes about Yara is the fact it is a premium, compound-based fertiliser. This removes all guesswork as he knows that every granule in the blend contains exactly the same quantity of high-quality nutrients.

“To get that right next to the seed for the plant’s establishment is key really.”

They use YaraMila Actyva S and, for Simon, the attraction is all about quality of product and ease of use.

“With blends, they would separate in the tank and you didn’t know what proportion was

I also like the quality of Yara. It’s bagged, it arrives in the country like that, so there’s no rubbish or lumps, things that will block your planter, which costs time.

coming out the other end. Yara products flow through the drill really well. As the years have gone on, we are always looking to improve and the fertiliser blends were always a pain through drills and rotted things out.

“I also like the quality of Yara. It’s bagged, it

arrives in the country like that, so there’s no rubbish or lumps, things that will block your planter, which costs time.”

Another bonus is that the product gets delivered on-site, which is a big time saving when he’s using up to 100 tonnes of it annually.

Plan for success

Simon works closely with his Ballance Nutrient Specialist, Amy Tomsett, and the pair meet regularly.

Amy takes care of all soil testing, which is another important cog in the wheel, especially when fertiliser is such a major input.

“Soil testing is very important. We soil test every paddock every year. We have a strong emphasis on pH levels and feeding the crop for exactly what it needs. I don’t want to be using fertiliser if it’s not delivering bang for buck,” Simon says.

With such a large and busy operation, planning early is also vital.

“With prices of fertiliser increasing, especially for DAP, we like to have our product in the shed early for planting.

“We always forward plan and we know roughly what we will do year-to-year within the rotation. We always buy our base fertiliser and nitrogen from the store.”

Simon usually meets with Mark Redshaw from Yara once a year, giving a valuable insight into the fertiliser market and new products coming on stream.

Through Yara, Simon got on to a leaf testing machine – the Yara N-Tester, which he uses to carry out leaf analysis for nitrogen.

“I got the machine through Yara, it’s for cereals mainly. I can test the leaf at different growth stages and it tells me if the plant needs nitrogen through the colour and pigment of the leaf.”

For example, with winter wheat, the machine can tell him exactly how far behind or advanced they are with nitrogen application during the season.

Through attention to detail, measuring and planning, clever use of technology and confidence in a quality product, Simon knows that he has all nutrient bases covered when he uses Yara.

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Trust will be key to ag’s embrace of tech

Gerald Piddock TECHNOLOGY Agriculture

NEW technology such as artificial intelligence has the potential to solve many of the issues the primary sector faces around meeting regulatory compliance.

But first it has to win the trust of farmers, a panel of agribusiness leaders said at the Agritech Unleashed event in Waikato.

The one-day event at Mystery Creek brought together innovators, farmers, processors, exporters, researchers and investors to share experiences, challenges and opportunities across the agritech industry and featured panels and workshops held across the day.

Ministry for Primary Industries on-farm support director Vanessa Winning said building up that trust takes time, and its impact is not to be underestimated when it comes to taking on new technologies.

“We are going to solve most of the issues that we have with the externalities that we have with farming probably in the next 10 years only if we can take on that

adoption side.”

One major challenge is understanding that every farmer is different and the technology in question has to be backed up with credibility and science, she said.

Waikato Regional Council chair and farmer Pamela Storey said speaking as a farmer, there is still more work to do before trusting artificial intelligence (AI).

She highlighted an example when she recently sought an AI response to a question very specific to the region, to which the Chat GPT software gave her the wrong answer.

“That’s an insight into the technology that we think is going to be part of the future of agriculture. We have to make sure that it can be trusted.”

Scales reports rosy apple results

Hugh Stringleman NEWS

Horticulture

SCALES Corporation has reported a 50% increase in earnings and net profit in the first half of the year and directors have lifted their guidance for full-year earnings to be between $45 million and $50m.

Scales chair Mike Petersen said the horticulture division had reported excellent performance in part due to long-term strategic investment in apple

varieties suited to Asian and Middle Eastern markets.

Premium varieties have increased to 75% of apples grown, one-third of which are the Dazzle and Posy varieties.

As of now, the Mr Apple division still has 18% of the 2025 apple harvest to be exported.

The Global Proteins division, mainly dealing with the ingredients to make pet foods, had steady underlying earnings of around $30m.

Underlying earnings for Scales Corporation as a whole were $86.7m and net profit after tax

attributable to shareholders was $48.9m, up 72%.

The balance sheet is in a healthy state, with net debt of $67.5m on June 30, compared with $82m the previous year. That reflects the acquisition of a further 7.5% of Shelby pet food maker in the United States, for US$24m, or NZ$41.4m, to be countered by the sale of the Whakatu coolstore for $24m, which will settle in August.

After the results announcement the share price increased by 18c to $4.93 and that is 40% increase over the past year.

This is where trusted advisers still have a role to play, she said.

Winning said upskilling and improving the literacy of farmers and growers so they can understand what it means for their farming system is key.

I think we have to be careful not to lose those people as change happens.

“There is a generational gap between those that are more computer and ‘internet of things’ literate verses the next development that is coming very quickly. I think we have to be careful not to lose those people as change happens.”

New Zealand also has a succession issue with this technology and even internet banking is feared by some elderly farmers.

Storey said farmers have been saying for years they do not want to fill out multiple datasets for multiple providers.

But some farmers are not prepared for institutions to be able to do what they wish with that

data, despite those institutions having the ability to solve that data duplication issue.

She does not believe we are getting closer to the creation of a national database that multiple parties have access to.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we are getting more comfortable with that.”

It is also unclear whose job it is to build trust in the new technology, she said.

“Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy on this.”

Overcoming this distrust will move the industry further ahead and everyone will benefit, Storey said.

Winning said that the eventual arrival of Freshwater Farm Plans will be a chance to demonstrate how AI can assist farmers.

Most of the information required is there; the only thing farmers will need to make clear is what is unique on their farms.

“It will solve so much of the angst because we can join up the components together to give real meaningful information ...

“There are some things coming ... we will be able to demonstrate to farmers and growers the opportunities and the possibilities without it being scary.”

Banks quietly resolute on ESG targets: banker

Bryan Gibson NEWS Finance

BANKS will continue to focus on sustainable lending and rewarding businesses that commit to environmental, social and governance targets despite the “noise” over their role in that space, Westpac’s head of ESG Olaf Adam says.

Adam told the Horticulture NZ conference in Wellington that the primary driver was risk management – it simply makes sense for lenders to consider the future risks associated with any loan it holds.

But behind that are other, more complex drivers of change.

The institutional lending scene is dominated by superannuation funds, where people invest over long periods of time and those investors increasingly apply their values to decision-making.

“If investors care about that stuff, then surely they’re going to care about how different organisations and companies are managing it. And that makes it really, really important for us as a

bank to get underneath those risks, understanding what they mean for us as a bank,” he said.

“It wasn’t just that we suddenly discovered that climate change is bad. It was a realisation of the new definition of the fiduciary duties of asset managers that have given rise to the ESG risks, and that has not changed.”

When people are talking about their value chain and emissions, they’d better have a good story that comes with it.

Olaf Adam Westpac

While many businesses have “quietened down” when it comes to discussing these strategies, the work is continuing and will only spread to more of the global economy.

Adam said this long-term focus that investors are taking mirrors the views many farmers and growers have.

They are driven by a need to leave something of value to the

‘Māori

next generation, and preserve their natural capital.

Regulatory changes are also a factor, because while climaterelated disclosures do not drive sustainability directly, the transparency that comes with releasing information drives businesses to plan for environmental improvement.

“If I have to talk about something publicly and loudly, I’d better make sure it’s good. Therefore, when people are talking about their value chain and emissions, they’d better have a good story that comes with it.

“That means that the pressure that arises on institutions or organisations that have to do climate related disclosures, filters through their supply chain, through their value chain, and some of you will pick that up along the way, and some of you already will be feeling that pressure.”

Another factor that many people miss is the influence employees of lending institutions wield.

Attracting the best talent means providing a workplace that fits the values of that talent, a place where people work hard and are happy.

Lastly, Adam said that

STRATEGIES: Westpac’s head of ESG Olaf Adam says many businesses have ‘quietened down’ when it comes to discussing ESG strategies, but the work is continuing and will only spread to more of the global economy.

sustainable financing builds resilience into a lender’s business as the climate changes.

“We don’t quite know how bad it’s going to get and how messy it’s going to get, but if our customers are doing these things and doing them well, then we know that this portfolio, that these customers, will perform better and will make us more successful and that’s why we still really, really strongly encourage that uptake of these products.

“That’s why we are still strongly underpinning and underlining our commitments to ESG and to sustainability.”

ownership no barrier to investment’

Bryan Gibson NEWS Investment

MĀORI-owned land should not be hindered by its multiple ownership structure when it comes to accessing investment, the Māori Trustee Dr Charlotte Severne says.

She told the Horticulture NZ conference in Wellington that many businesses have multiple shareholders and that isn’t a barrier to investment, so Māori incorporations should be no different.

Severne said the Māori food and fibre sector owns 5.47% of the land in Aotearoa, but much of it is the

less-productive Class 6-8 land.

However, Severne said, 42% of that land is natural forest, which means Māori landowners are subsidising other landowners in terms of emissions budgeting.

As Trustee, Severne oversees around a third of all Māori Land Trusts. She said the view that they are a risky investment is a myth.

“People have been using Te Ture Whenua Māori Act for business for decades, so just don’t worry about multiple ownership. That’s what good governance takes care of. We can transact very quickly, as long as there’s a connection and relationship.”

But there’s a difference between

a connection and a contact, Severne said.

“Think about connection. Many of us are drowning in contacts, but how many of you can say you have honest and deep connections with people?

“This is what indigenous people bring to the floor. The globe wants a different story, and whenua, and those faces that sit in that whenua, are part of that story.”

Demographics are another advantage for Māori, as 50% are under 30, while the rest of the population is ageing.

Turning that advantage into value will rely on finding and training them.

“We have to get better at

opening the capability pipeline up, and that doesn’t mean having 20 different capability pipelines.” Māori values are also helping redefine return on investment, as is happening elsewhere in the world.

As a geologist, Severne said, she was literally a gold-digger and had no problem with making money. But there was more to it.

“Whānau in enduring connection with land, coupled with economic sustainability, that’s the gold, right? That is really the gold, seeing our rural communities flourish and our regional economies grow. That’s what we want, and we can’t do it in isolation.”

From the Editor

Window opens as Fonterra closes a door

TNeal Wallace Senior reporter

HERE is little room for nostalgia in business. Just ask Fonterra’s directors.

Their decision to sell the consumer brands business, and with it household brand names such as Anchor, founded in 1886, and Mainland, established in 1954, would not have been taken lightly.

These brands are intrinsic to New Zealand’s 200-year-old dairy industry, but the world is changing and the board must act in the best interests of the company.

Fonterra announced last month that it has agreed to sell its consumer brands business to French dairy giant Lactalis for $3.845 billion.

It still requires the approval of shareholders and regulators.

Directors have concluded that the costs and risks of running a consumer brands business are greater than the return and

LAST WEEK’S POLL RESULT

that the capital employed could be better used elsewhere.

Food service and ingredients have in recent years achieved or exceeded the board’s 10% return on capital target, but not the consumer branded business.

In the 2025 financial year ingredients and food service profits all improved. While margins for its consumer brands arm increased, profits were flat.

Fonterra’s consumer brands business is small by international standards and managing it is complex and expensive.

The business includes more than 20-branded products that are sold into more than 20 countries, overseen by more than 17 global offices and 12 offshore manufacturing sites. It takes about 1.4 billion litres of milk.

Under the sale agreement, Fonterra will continue to supply milk to Lactalis.

The world has changed and the risks have increased.

Just a few years ago markets in Asia and China were growing rapidly, there was an abundance of energy and cheap capital.

Today we have widespread volatility, growing nationalism and protectionism, disruptive technology, ageing populations in Asia, global climate commitments and high capital costs.

Fonterra has concluded its future is as a leading provider of sophisticated dairy ingredients and food service with China remaining a key market.

During a Meeting the Market visit to

MORE than 65% of voters thought access to more technology and data tools is key to New Zealand’s farming success. But many say it cannot address all the issues on farm.

“Some technology yes, but ... a lot of technology will not provide the benefits claimed,” said one.

“Many older farmers are resistant to tech even though it will assist with improving production or the quality of their farm, wellbeing and animals,” said another.

Of those who did not think more technology was needed, one said some farmers relied too much on technology, rather than their own farming knowledge.

“Some of the technology and data is good but you’ve got to remember you are dealing with nature and animals. A lot of technology doesn’t know much about the variables in these. I see a lot of farmers today who struggle with animal husbandry, agronomy etcetera, because they rely on technology and advisers to tell them what to do instead of actually knowing the stuff themselves.”

China last year, Farmers Weekly toured Fonterra’s sixth food application centre that had opened in that country.

Through these kitchens Fonterra’s 50 chefs work with bakery and beverage customers on how to best use Fonterra dairy products while also helping to develop new goods.

Chinese food service has recently been growing at $100 million year on year, providing the co-operative with a 19.6% return on capital compared to returns from ingredients of 10.2% and consumer brands 6.8%.

With available capital and a narrower business focus, it is demand such as this that the co-operative now intends to target.

Fonterra still has to win shareholder approval, but talking to farmers there appears to be an air of trust and confidence in the board and management, no doubt driven by recent stellar financial performances.

While there is genuine sadness at the loss of the link between NZ dairy farmers and consumers through these renowned brands, they are confident the board has carefully considered its options.

The proposed special $2/share dividend will entice some support, which for many it will be used to retire debt.

More significantly, farmers realise the business has to evolve to stay profitable and that requires decisions based on economic reality, not sentimentality.

Last week’s question: Do you think access to more technology and data tools is key to New Zealand’s farming success?

Letters of the week

To GE or not to GE

Simon Thomson Western Waikato

GORSE, thistles, kikuyu, possums, rabbits: as farmers we work everyday with the substantial overhead and lost productivity that comes with introduced species. My father remembered the introduction of kikuyu, the experts reckoned it was going to be the saviour of the sand country, yet it became a plague.

Today as farmers we get to make a conscious choice around the potential of a new plague – that of the genetically engineered (GE), edited or modified, all euphemisms for a raft of technologies pedalled as safe, effective and precise when the reality is vastly more chaotic.

The marketing is slick.

The sales pitch that has been regurgitated for decades is on a loop – drought resistance, nitrogen-fixing maize, increased yields, pest resistance, novelty colours for fruit and produce, engineering animals to produce specific proteins, engineering possums to be sterile, terminator technology, gene drives, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and of course herbicide resistance, which allows crops to be sprayed with layers of chemical products.

But new efficiencies are emerging that will allow GE products to be rained down on crops, altering the DNA expression of target pest insects. Also affected could be dozens of other species with the same genetic markers.

All the while manufacturers are legally absolved of blame as long as it wasn’t their “intent” to harm off-target species.

Recently, our Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard stated that “labelling” foods would be too costly and impact the cost-of-living crises. Is the cost of a few letters of ink really such an inflationary burden on an impoverished populace, or our international discerning customers?

I challenge anyone to find a single consumer on this planet who walks into their supermarket, bangs their fists on the counter and demands genetically engineered food.

Each of us as farmers have to make a choice, and make our opinion known. We need to know who will legally be responsible for escaped species, how those will be controlled.

Is any form of insurance available against bees carrying genetically engineered pollen across the boundary, breeding genetic material into your ryegrass which you will then have to pay royalties on? Perhaps more than any other profession we trust our gut, and that alone is enough. Our opinion does not need to be filled with data, and our government is there to serve us.

This week’s poll question (see page 6):

Have your say at farmersweekly.co.nz/poll Should Fonterra invest in Alliance Group to help resolve its bobby calf issue?

Sense and security: tips for using AI in ag

Eating the elephant

agribusiness professional and a human

ARTIFICIAL Intelligence.

It’s the buzzword that’s everywhere, from banking to healthcare, and now it’s knocking on the farm gate. You’ve probably heard the hype – AI can crunch numbers, predict pasture growth, even help with feed planning. Sounds great, right? But here’s the thing: like any tool, it’s only as good as how we use it.

For farmers, AI could be a gamechanger. Done well, it can save time, improve decisions, and take some of the stress out of running a business. Done badly? It could open the door to data being sold without your say-so or lead you down the wrong track because of a dodgy prompt.

So, should we jump in boots and all? Not quite. My take: AI is worth exploring, but we need to tread carefully.

AI isn’t magic, but it can be handy. Think of it as a tool that can crunch numbers faster than you can sharpen a pencil. Feed budgets, pasture growth predictions, financial modelling, AI can help with all of that. It can

pull together data from different sources and give you a quick snapshot of what’s going on.

But here’s the catch: AI doesn’t know your farm like you do. It doesn’t see the broken trough, the dodgy fence, or the weather that never quite matches the forecast. It works off data, and if that data is wrong or incomplete, the information will be too.

So yes, AI can make life easier, but it’s not a silver bullet. It’s a decision-support tool, not a decision-maker. The real value comes when you use AI alongside your own experience and common sense, not instead of them.

Here’s the part that doesn’t get talked about enough: your data.

Every time you use an app, a platform, or an AI tool, you’re feeding it information: stock numbers, production data, financials, even compliance records.

That stuff is gold. And if you’re not careful, someone else might be cashing in on it.

The biggest risk? Your data being sold or shared without you knowing. Tech companies love data because it’s valuable. They can use it to develop new products, train their AI models, or even sell aggregated insights to agribusinesses and banks. Some might use it for targeted marketing, pushing products they know you’ll need.

Most farmers don’t think about this much, being focused on

AI is a tool, not a replacement for experience and common sense.

getting the job done, not reading the fine print in a terms-of-service agreement. But here’s the reality: once your data is out there, you can’t pull it back.

So before you sign up for the latest AI tool, ask the hard questions: Who owns the data? How is it stored? And what’s stopping it from being sold to the highest bidder?

Another major factor is trusting what AI spits out. AI sounds smart,

but it’s not a farmer. It doesn’t know your herd, your soils, or your farm. It works off data and prompts. If the data’s wrong or the prompt is vague, the answer will be too.

I’ve seen people treat AI like a crystal ball, ask it a question, take the answer as gospel. That’s dangerous. AI can give you a good starting point, but it’s not the final word. If you blindly follow its advice, you could end up making a costly mistake.

The rule of thumb? Always double-check. If it’s a big decision that you’re unsure about, get a second opinion from an expert.

AI is a tool, not a replacement for experience and common sense.

Here’s the thing, AI isn’t going away, so the question is: how do we make sure we’re using it well? Right now, there’s a lot of hype and not much guidance. Most farmers don’t have time to figure out what’s a good prompt, what’s a bad one, or how to check if the advice is even right.

What we need are simple, farmer-focused resources. Things like how to write a clear prompt, how to double-check AI answers and what questions to ask before signing up for an AI tool.

This isn’t about rules for the sake of rules, it’s about giving farmers confidence to use AI without getting burned. If industry groups or rural professionals can pull together some practical guides, that would go a long way. Because the tech is here, and the best way to stay in control is to know how to use it properly.

Like any new tool, it comes with both promise and pitfalls. Used well, it can save time, sharpen decisions, and take some of the pressure off running the business. Used badly, it can lead to poor advice or hand over your data without you even knowing.

The key? Treat AI as a helper, not a boss. Double-check what it tells you, ask questions about where your data goes, and learn the basics of how to use it properly.

Greenpeace doesn’t present a charity case

the community”. It goes on to claim that a charity must, with the exception of the relief of poverty, benefit “an appreciably significant section of the community”.

Alan Emerson Semi-retired Wairarapa farmer and businessman: dath.emerson@gmail.com

IHAVE many issues with Greenpeace, the major problem being its charitable status. As a charity it doesn’t pay tax.

In addition any donation made to Greenpeace is tax deductible so it has it both ways. What that means is that donations to Greenpeace and any business dealings Greenpeace has are tax free. Money that could go to schools and hospitals can effectively go to Greenpeace courtesy of its status as a charity.

The New Zealand Charities Act 2009 defines a charity as an entity that “relieves poverty, advances education or religion and benefits

Of interest is that the Act was introduced “out of concern that the charitable sector needed to be more accountable for, and transparent in, its dealings with the donating public and the government”.

I’d argue that Greenpeace doesn’t meet any of those criteria. It all comes under the Charities Commission, which, among other issues, must promote public trust and confidence in the charitable sector and encourage the effective use of charitable resources.

I would humbly suggest it’s failed, certainly as regards Greenpeace.

An additional issue that I have is the complete disregard Greenpeace shows for factual, honest debate.

Recently it demonised glyphosate in a fact-free rant.

Another example is its campaign on the importation of palm kernel.

In April this year Greenpeace activists occupied a section of Port Taranaki over the importation of palm kernel.

They were upset that the kernel, derived from “illegal palm plantations and deforestation of paradise forests in southeast Asia”, was being exported to New Zealand.

The harsh reality Greenpeace activists ignore is that palm kernel is a byproduct of the palm oil industry.

Palm oil is a “versatile oil used in food, cosmetics and bio-fuel production”.

Auckland Zoo estimates that palm oil is in 50% of all products contained in the supermarket.

If palm kernel can’t be sold for animal feed it is burned as a worthless byproduct of palm oil production with all the pollution and GHG emissions that burning encourages.

I could present an argument that our animals’ consumption of palm kernel is positive for both the environment and the sustainability of the planet.

I could also ask why Greenpeace doesn’t boycott supermarkets where palm oil, the main beneficiary of “the deforestation of paradise forests in southeast Asia” is in 50% of the products sold there.

An additional function of the Charities Commission is to “monitor entities to ensure they continue to qualify for registration”.

Again, it has given Greenpeace a free ride, a “get out of jail free” card.

In addition to the Greenpeace free ride as a charity is the leniency granted it by the courts.

In 2016 Greenpeace activists chained themselves to a climate

research ship. They were convicted and discharged.

In 2018 12 Greenpeace activists were arrested for protesting against a farm in the Mackenzie Basin. They weren’t convicted.

Greenpeace CEO Russel Norman and two fellow protesters were arrested for positioning themselves in front of an oil and gas exploration ship off the Wairarapa Coast. They were discharged without conviction.

In addition to the Greenpeace free ride as a charity is the leniency granted it by the courts.

More recently we had the Greenpeace fiasco in Gore where local Federated Farmers president Jason Herrick renewed the call for Greenpeace to have its charity status removed.

Greenpeace defaced the iconic Gore trout in the dead of night, protesting about nitrate levels in the local water supply and blaming dairy for it.

The truth of the matter was that one of three bores showed marginally high nitrate levels and Environment Southland couldn’t define the source.

In a gesture of unexcelled magnanimity Greenpeace wrote to the local mayor, Ben Bell, offering to fix the problem. Mayor Bell

wisely turned the offer down. For whatever reason the Gore police didn’t prosecute. That left the Gore ratepayers with the bill for fixing the damage.

Herrick described the vandalism as the act of “total cowards who are slinking around in the shadows vandalizing property under the cover of darkness”.

Politically a change in status for Greenpeace could be in the wings. Select Committee chair and ACT MP Mark Cameron is in favour of the change, telling me that “Greenpeace has lost the ability to have adult conversations”.

New Zealand First will write to the Charities Commission asking it to “look at Greenpeace”.

MP Mark Patterson told me that they will ask the commission to be consistent in its approach citing the recent deregistration of Family First as a charity.

I also approached the minister responsible, Louise Upston, who effectively kicked for touch telling me that “the Charities Registration Board and the Department of Internal Affairs are responsible for registering charities. The minister is completely independent of any investigation and decision making.”

Life is about to get extremely interesting.

PERFECT PARTNER PASTURE’S

A legacy of love for the land

FROM fencing off land for retirement to spraying gorse, Porirua beef farmer Diane Strugnell can do it all, and with a sense of humour. Her can-do attitude, dedication and commitment to environmental stewardship were recognised when she was named as a finalist in this year’s Ballance Farm Environment Awards for the Greater Wellington region. Diane took out the Biodiversity Award for 2025.

Diane runs 100% cattle on the 265 hectare farm, and has developed a system that works for her, meaning she can work the farm by herself, with help from family and friends at busy times like calf marking and weaning.

The thing I found was the steps I’m taking for the environment are actually helpful to my farm management ... it feels like a win-win.

Diane Strugnell Porirua

The farm is not easy, with no tractor country and three steep gorges intersecting it. There are parts of the farm she can only access on foot in winter.

She runs between 115 and 125 Angus mixed age cows, keeping her own replacements and selling all other progeny at weaning via the Feilding sale. Diane yard-

weans and docility is the number one trait she looks for in her cattle.

“It’s just me. I don’t have a working dog anymore and I’m going to sound like a crazy lady, but I have a bell, like an old school bell. I ring it at the gate and the cows come.”

Growing up on a dairy farm at Reporoa, life on the farm wasn’t what she saw as her future. Instead, she headed to Wellington and trained to become an occupational therapist. But she met and married Mike, a city Englishman from Southampton, who was travelling New Zealand and harboured a dream of becoming a farmer.

“I thought I would be living in town, but we ended up on a 10 acre bare land block. We had it for 20 years, built a house and raised our children. This farm came on the market, not even 1km down the road, and Mike had always wanted to go farming, so we bought it.”

When Mike got cancer and passed away 16 years ago, Diane discovered she didn’t want to leave the home and farm they had painstakingly developed, and resolved to carry on his legacy, with a goal to leave the land better than when they found it.

“I say to everyone that I inherited the farm. I wanted to keep the farm and provide the rural opportunity for our grandchildren to experience. And I loved the land; I loved the farm. I decided to make it work,” she said.

The land was previously owned by Saint Patrick’s College Silverstream, and the school had built a woolshed and set of yards, but there were no other facilities.

The couple lived in the woolshed

for 10 years before they could afford to build a cottage.

“Everything went into the farm. The living conditions were not what I had anticipated,” she said with a laugh.

It took a long time to turn the farm into what they wanted, and she said there’s still work to do.

Diane entered awards at the suggestion of her Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) environment restoration adviser.

“I did it for two reasons. Firstly, they said if you wait until everything is perfect, you would never do it. Secondly, people said the feedback and experience was helpful and I thought, okay, I’m up for learning.”

From the use of biological controls to combat ragwort and old man’s beard to her work retiring land, creating wetlands, releasing dung beetles, monitoring streams and facilitating fish passage, Diane has leaned into doing the best by

the land, and its inhabitants. With a thirst for knowledge and demonstrating leadership in enhancing freshwater outcomes in her area, Diane has shown that education is the key to raising awareness of what can be achieved when we work collectively.

She was instrumental in providing a farmer voice in 2014 when GWRC introduced the community-led Whaitua Programme to support the implementation of the National Policy Statement for freshwater management.

“There was a feeling that carrots were better than sticks. The recommendation was that farmers had some way of planning and measuring what their impact on the land was.

“I started setting up a farm environment plan as I felt I needed to know what one was and how it would work, if I was going to be recommending it.”

She went on to initiate the Pāuatahanui Freshwater Catchment Community, often organising workshops for members.

“The thing I found was the steps I’m taking for the environment are actually helpful to my farm management. I’m not spending time in gullies looking for cows or getting cows out of bogs. What initially felt like a loss to me and a win for the environment now feels like a win-win.

“I don’t know what the future holds for the farm, but I want to keep my options open, and to keep learning.”

Perhaps the best indication she is succeeding in her aim to leave the land in better shape than when she found it. Diane shares a Christmas gift from her granddaughter:

“She gave me a notebook to record the different trees on the farm. In the front it says ‘Dear Gran, I love you as much as you love trees.’ Maybe that’s the legacy, sharing the appreciation.”

FEDERATED FARMERS

Vol 3 No 34, September 1, 2025

Banking inquiry delivers major win

Federated Farmers is calling the final report into banking competition a major step forward for rural New Zealand – and a vindication of the farming sector’s concerns.

“This is the most significant progress we’ve seen in a generation on rural banking issues,” Federated Farmers banking spokesperson Mark Hooper says.

“Federated Farmers fought hard to make this inquiry happen because we knew many farmers were getting a raw deal from their banks and felt greater scrutiny was needed.

“Throughout the process, we’ve raised firm questions and put forward constructive suggestions for how the banking system could be improved for all New Zealanders.

“Politicians have clearly listened, recognising that farmers have been facing an unfair playing field for too long – and now they’ve presented concrete changes to start fixing it.”

In a long-awaited report released on August 22, the Finance and Expenditure Committee has recommended greater transparency and oversight of rural lending.

“Federated Farmers asked for changes to ensure regular and direct scrutiny of banking bosses – and this report has delivered just that,” Hooper says.

“Six-monthly appearances before the Finance and Expenditure Committee should keep the big banks honest, with significantly increased accountability and political oversight.

“It also puts the spotlight on their lending behaviour and profitability

and sends a clear message: fair and competitive lending to rural New Zealand is no longer optional.”

Federated Farmers also welcomes the recommendation to immediately halt any further increases in capital requirements for agricultural lending.

“This report backs what we’ve been saying for a long time – that these capital rules are stripping hundreds of millions of dollars out of rural New Zealand each year,” Hooper says.

“Overly conservative capital holding rules have only added additional and unnecessary costs onto farmers. They’ve also made it much harder for farmers to access capital to grow their businesses.

“This immediate stop to increases is a huge result and will directly save farmers thousands of dollars in unnecessary interest costs.”

The Reserve Bank will also be required to review capital requirements for rural lending, with changes monitored and publicly reported.

The report confirms capital rules are currently costing farmers between $555 million and $714 million each year.

The Committee is also calling for more transparency from lenders, including a requirement to formally disclose how risk margins and loan pricing are calculated.

“This has been a real grey area for farmers, who have been asking fair questions about why they’re paying so much more interest than residential borrowers,” Hooper says.

“Making the banks explain

BANKING BREAKTHROUGH: Mark Hooper says the banking inquiry report puts forward changes that would force the big banks to be more transparent, accountable and competitive on rural lending.

those margins will give farmers much-needed visibility and clear information to secure fair financing.”

Other proposals include independent reviews of the Reserve Bank’s prudential performance, and the reinstatement of market efficiency as a core Reserve Bank objective.

The Reserve Bank will also have to appear annually before the Primary Production Committee to discuss agricultural lending trends and policies, ensuring farmer-focused financial support.

“We’re really pleased the report supports open banking and standardised credit information,” Hooper says.

“That’ll make it much easier for

This is the most significant progress we’ve seen in a generation on rural banking issues.

Mark Hooper Federated Farmers banking spokesperson

farmers to compare loans and switch banks, improving competition and access to finance.”

Hooper says one area the committee could have been stronger on is climate lending rules.

“Farmers are very frustrated about having to provide emissions

data, and about inconsistent and confusing information requests.

“The report calls for clearer climate-related lending rules, standardising practices to balance environmental goals with practical lending.

“However, when it comes to climate issues, we don’t think the committee has gone anywhere near far enough.

“Mark Cameron has a bill removing the requirement for banks to submit climate disclosures entirely, which would have been a much better direction to head.”

Federated Farmers’ six-monthly banking survey shows having to provide emissions data to their bank is a real pain-point for many farmers.

Hooper says sustained political oversight will be key to ensuring the recommendations translate into real, long-term change.

“Recommendations are only words on a page unless Ministers and regulators act on them, but with more regular reporting and Parliamentary scrutiny, there’ll now be nowhere to hide.”

Hooper says the farming voice has clearly been heard – and now it’s time for action.

“At the heart of this inquiry has always been one simple ask – a fair deal for farmers.

“This report is a major step toward that.

“If the Government and the Reserve Bank follow through, we’ll finally see a banking system that serves rural Kiwis with the transparency, competition and respect they deserve.”

Southland farmer warns carbon forest crisis will get worse

Rural communities are already feeling the fallout of rampant carbon forestry, but things will only get worse if the Government doesn’t act now, a Southland farmer says.

Dean Rabbidge, a fifth-generation farmer near Wyndham, says he’s watching prime sheep and beef country across his region disappear under pine trees – and it’s happening faster than ever.

“It’s pretty heartbreaking what we’re seeing in Southland,” says Rabbidge, who farms 700 hectares with his wife and three kids.

“There are some fantastic properties that have been acquired by forestry companies and planted out in pine trees.

“This isn’t marginal land at all – they’re clean, fertile, highperforming farms that would be in huge demand if they were in Canterbury.”

Rabbidge, Southland Federated Farmers meat & wool chair, says carbon forestry conversions have ramped up in the past six months, as investors rush to capitalise on current Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) settings.

“We’re talking about beautiful hill country farms being planted in permanent pine.

“These farms underpin our red meat sector and once they’re gone, they’re gone.”

Under the Government’s draft rules, only farmland in land use capability (LUC) classes 1 to 5 would be limited to 25% registration in the ETS.

But Federated Farmers says only 12% of recent carbon conversions have occurred on this type of land.

The remaining 88% – including almost all of Southland’s sheep and beef country – sits in classes 6 and 7,

which face little to no protection.

“None of the farms being targeted for carbon forestry down here are class 1 to 5. They’re nearly all class 6 or 7, and those are left completely exposed,” Rabbidge says.

“The Government’s rules, as they’re written now, just don’t work.”

He says rural communities are already suffering, particularly those reliant on sheep and beef farming.

“You talk to shearing contractors, tailing gangs, sheep handling crews – they’re all forecasting 10% to 15% revenue drops this year.

“Go into Gore and talk to the machinery dealers and they’re saying the same thing.

“The ripple effects go right through our towns and businesses.”

The mental strain, the loss of income, the depopulation – it’s really concerning.

Dean Rabbidge Southland Federated Farmers meat & wool chair

Rural schools, sports teams and volunteer groups are also under threat as farming families are displaced.

“We saw this in the 1990s in Southland when forestry took over in some places – schools closed, towns dried up.

“That was production forestry. This time it’s carbon, and the consequences could be even worse.”

Federated Farmers is calling for urgent changes to the draft legislation.

It wants the 25% ETS cap extended to all land classes, including 6 and 7, and for the Government to stop allowing companies to offset 100%

of their emissions through carbon farming.

“We’re not anti-forestry and we’re not anti-property rights,” Rabbidge says.

“But we’ve got to be honest about what’s driving this – it’s not about timber, it’s about carbon credits.

“Big emitters in the cities are paying their way out of reducing emissions, and rural New Zealand is footing the bill.”

New Zealand is now the only country in the world that allows 100% offsetting through carbon forestry – a policy Rabbidge says is both short-sighted and dangerous.

“The mental strain, the loss of income, the depopulation – it’s really concerning.”

With export earnings and rural resilience at stake, Rabbidge says the Government must take a broader view.

“A lot of our breeding country is class 6 and 7 – that’s where animals come from before they move on to finishing blocks.

“If we lose that land, the whole New Zealand farming system gets thrown out of whack.”

He warns the Government’s goal to double exports by 2030 will be impossible if carbon conversions continue at the current pace.

“We’re just not going to have the stock numbers or the critical mass to meet that goal.

“And we’ll lose access to international markets if we can’t maintain consistent supply.”

Rabbidge says the Government’s December 2024 promise to halt carbon farming hasn’t been delivered.

His message to the Government is clear: act now, and back rural New Zealand.

Dean Rabbidge is in disbelief that fertile, highperforming farms in Southland are being allowed to go into carbon forestry.

“Close the loopholes, extend the ETS cap to all land classes, and stop the 100% offsetting.

“Come down to Southland and see the damage for yourselves. This is not just about farmers – it’s about

understand

listen to whatever ’s on your mind

the future of our communities and our country’s food production.”

• Hear more from Dean Rabbidge on episode 49 of the Federated Farmers Podcast, going live on 26 August.

Freedom camping rules leave farmers to clean up the mess

Freedom campers are already causing major problems for rural communities, and Federated Farmers says proposed new rules would only make things worse.

“Most farmers have a horror story about freedom campers,” Otago Feds president Luke Kane says.

“We’re talking about everything from human excrement and rubbish dumped in roadside paddocks, to dogs hassling stock, campfires during fire bans, trespassing, and vehicles getting stuck – all of which ends up being the farmer’s problem.

“Now a bunch of councils around the country are proposing new rules that would only exacerbate the problem.”

Federated Farmers has given strong feedback to three district councils – Queenstown, Tararua and Whanganui – on their Draft Freedom Camping Bylaws.

Kane says the draft rules for

Queenstown Lakes District would push campers out of restricted urban areas and into rural areas where problems are harder to manage.

“We support the intent of the bylaw – to protect the environment, visitor safety and access to nature –but we’re seriously concerned about allowing freedom camping on most rural roads.

“Let me be clear – most freedom campers are great, and we want them to enjoy New Zealand’s

It’s baffling that some think it’s acceptable to dump rubbish in the very places they’ve come to enjoy for their ‘clean and green’ appeal.

Kane

Luke

Otago Federated Farmers president

stunning scenery, as long as they do it respectfully.

“We’re all for people making the most of our country, but there needs to be strong measures in place for those who ignore the rules and basic decency.

“It’s baffling that some think it’s acceptable to dump rubbish in the very places they’ve come to enjoy for their ‘clean and green’ appeal.”

Kane says he’s seeing more and more campers flock to the district and they’re increasingly difficult to police, leaving rural communities to pick up the pieces.

“A bylaw is only effective if it can be enforced, and in this case, enforcement will be impossible in remote rural areas.

“Even though campers are supposed to be self-contained, some don’t follow that rule – and rural people and water quality end up paying the price.”

Farmers are too often called on to help when campers get stuck after pulling off narrow gravel roads into paddocks or soft verges, Kane says.

“Some rural areas have no cell coverage or services. When campers get bogged, it’s the local farmer who gets called in to haul them out.

“Some of the roads identified in the bylaw are basically farm driveways. Others are too narrow, with no laybys or gravel shoulders – they should be removed from the freedom camping maps.

“These remote areas might offer a pretty view, but they’re also home to working farms. Letting people park up here without understanding the risks is a recipe for trouble.”

The impact on biodiversity and farm safety is another concern.

“Many of our members have fenced off native bush or wetlands

to protect birds and biodiversity.

The last thing they need is campers showing up with unrestrained dogs,”

Kane says.

Otago Federated Farmers is calling for a user-pays system, with designated freedom camping areas that include appropriate facilities.

“We’re asking that the bylaw makes it clear that no authority is granted to camp on private land – even within 200 metres of a road.

“We also want freedom camping on rural roads prohibited or restricted within 500 metres of a rural dwelling or workplace.

“Urban residents are given protections in this bylaw – the same respect should be shown to rural people.

Whanganui Federated Farmers president Ben Fraser says freedom campers are a major issue for his members too.

“I’ve spoken with farmers who border designated freedom camping sites or farm near popular rivers and lakes.

“Some campers are responsible –but many leave litter, toilet where they shouldn’t, and cross onto private land without asking.”

Like Kane, Fraser says restricting freedom camping in urban areas without proper enforcement in the countryside just shifts the problem onto farmers.

“Let’s be realistic – council staff can’t patrol all the quiet backroads in the district.

“If they push freedom camping out into rural areas, they need to listen to farmers and protect their rights too.

“We’re working closely with the council to make sure they hear the views of farmers. We’ll be pushing hard for rules that are far more sensible and fair.”

Tararua leader maps out bold plan

After a decade of speaking up for Tararua farmers, Aaron Passey is now doubling down on understanding them better than ever.

With Sally Dryland standing for Horizons regional council, Passey recently stepped up from being dairy chair to lead Federated Farmers Tararua.

“For me, everything Feds does comes back to one thing – making it easier for people to farm and produce high-quality food and fibre, now and into the future,” he says.

“I want to help create an environment where farming is still a valid option for my children to be able to take over our farm and continue that great rural lifestyle.”

One of his top priorities is to build a sharper, data-driven picture of Tararua farmers – members and nonmembers alike.

To do that, he’s harnessing the power of GIS (geographic information system), which can layer and analyse everything from land use and forestry cover to farm size, stock numbers and long-term trends.

Federated Farmers has a dedicated GIS analyst and co-ordinator, and the tool has been used to great effect.

“It’s proven really effective in the wake of adverse events, to pinpoint pest hotspots and telecommunications blackspots, and arm our policy team with robust data for local and central government submissions,” Passey says.

Tararua’s membership is roughly 50/50 split between dairy and meat and wool farmers, but Passey says GIS will help the leadership team and policy staff truly understand what farmers are dealing with on the ground – and what they need most.

“We can get a much clearer view of their land types and uses, forestry cover and, over time, changes in such things as farm size and number, stocking rates and more.

“That data is confidential to us, but in anonymised form it means we can be much more informed and precise when we advocate to council on

For me, everything Feds does comes back to one thing – making it easier for people to farm and produce highquality food and fibre, now and into the future.

Aaron Passey Federated Farmers Tararua president

how their district plan regulations affect farmers, for example.”

Passey was a city lad – he lived in Upper Hutt until he was 18 – but a farming career was always in his sights.

“My school holidays were spent on farm with my granddad or with uncles.”

After studying Applied Science and Agriculture at Massey University, with the bonus of meeting his future

wife Jo there, Passey started his climb up the dairy career ladder.

“We worked our way through contract milking, then lower-order and 50/50 sharemilking.

“We’re now 50% equity partners in our current farm.”

In 2013, between hunting, riding motorbikes and spending time with his growing family, Passey made it to the Young Farmers grand final, representing East Coast.

He and Jo now have four kids, with their eldest 18 years old and heading off to study agri-science.

The Passey’s farm sits under the Tararua Ranges, 14km north of Dannevirke.

At 200ha effective, including 70ha they took up a lease on four seasons ago, they’re running 450 cows.

“It’s two-thirds rolling to hilly stuff, the rest flat, with high rainfall and plenty of wind.”

Aptly, the farm is called Te Angi,

with meanings including air, breeze or ‘to move freely’.

Aaron and Jo were actively involved in the Tararua Plantain project from 2019 and are part of the Plantain Potency and Practice partner farm project.

Plantain is present in more than 60% of Te Angi’s paddocks and monitoring of its effectiveness will continue until 2027.

“Our home farm is currently unconsented under the Horizons One Plan and plantain was one of the most appealing tools to get our nitrogen down and be consentable, without big capital investment like a feed pad,” Passey says.

“So far it’s dropped our N indexing by 20%.”

Federated Farmers’s June Farm Confidence Survey shows East Coast farmers, Tararua included, had the highest confidence in current economic conditions of all regions,

A r e m e n t a l h e a l t h s e r v i c e s wo r k i n g fo r r ur al NZ? Minister Matt Doocey and Feds pr esident Wayne Langfor d look at w hat’s ch a n g i n g , w h at ’s n o t , a n d w h at r e a l suppor t for far mer s needs to look like.

REFLECTING ON FUTURE: Tararua

Federated Farmers leader Aaron Passey, seen here with his wife Jo and their children, intends harnessing GIS as another tool to understand – and deliver on –the needs of local farmers.

and also the biggest upward shift in farm profitability since the January survey.

“We needed it,” Passey says.

“That comes after a couple of tough years of abysmal returns, particularly on the sheep and beef side.

“For many, better returns are allowing them to play catch-up, to get out of the financial hole, and for those on the coast, to continue fixing up damage from Cyclone Gabrielle.”

It’s also in Tararua coastal areas where farmland has been snapped up for carbon forestry.

“I’m proud Federated Farmers played such a key role in getting the Government across the line with restrictions to rein that in.

“Time will tell how effective the new rules prove to be – but either way, we’ll keep fighting to protect good farmland and the future of farming in Tararua.”

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Herd Averages: 200BW, 214PW, RA100%

To view the full sale catalogue, visit our website and click the ‘on-farm auctions’ tab.

Enquiries contact:

Mike McKenzie – 027 674 1149

Luke Gilbert – 027 849 2112

Upcoming Bull Auctions:

Tuesday 2nd September

Matai Mara & River Rock Angus Bull Sale Online ONLY via BIDR

Friday 5th September

Hairy Spot Hereford Bull Sale, Taranaki

Friday 5th September

Matapouri Hereford Bull Sale, Whangarei

Monday 8th September

Kaingaroa Simmental & Angus Bull Sale Online ONLY via BIDR

Tuesday 9th September

K Flower Hereford Bull Sale, Dargaville

Tuesday 9th September

Fowler Farms Mix Breed Service Bulls, Taranaki

Wednesday 10th September

Riverina Recorded Yearling Jersey Bull Sale, Te Awamutu

Monday 15th September

Hillcroft 2yr Old Angus & Hereford Bull Sale, Te Kauwhata

Monday 22nd September

Riverlee Downs 2yr Old Hereford Bull Sale, Rangiwahia

Tuesday 23rd September

Kaipara Hereford Bull Sale, Dargaville

Wednesday 24th September

Port Family Bushy Downs Hereford Bull Sale, Te Awamutu

Thursday 25th September

Premier Cattle Company Stud Bull Sale, Cambridge

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All bulls are:

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All bulls are:

We’ve done the work for you!

• Performance recorded for 55 years

• Performance recorded

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Markets

Confidence soars at southern yearling sales

All eyes on Balclutha saleyards as pens notch up unprecedented returns.

TFiona

Quarrie MARKETS Livestock

HERE has been a perfect storm brewing over winter and now that spring has arrived on our doorstep, so too have unprecedented returns for yearling cattle.

And while much of the country has had positive results, the Otago and Southland markets take confidence to a new level.

At Balclutha saleyards on August 27 there were close to 500-head of cattle yarded and 300 of those were yearling. The sale attracted plenty of interest from both a buyer and spectator perspective.

Auctioneer for Rural Livestock, Rob Fowler, reported that there were roughly 60 people watching on bidr and 30 registered, although only four online buyers were active.

While there were a few pens that sold to these buyers, the bulk went to those in-house, and many cattle were heading to Southland at the end of the sale.

“Results for 2-year cattle were okay, but the yearlings were strong,” Fowler said.

“There were a lot of cattle purchased from this sale to finish crops as utilisation has been good.”

It is no secret that Southland has been short of stock, and

this is affecting the market at both ends of the supply chain. Processors in the South Island have had to battle it out to secure prime cattle and this has meant special spot premiums have been paid frequently. This all adds up to some great returns on prime stock, but they do need to be replaced.

Buyers obviously have confidence in the strength of schedules continuing and have formulated their budgets to ensure there is still a margin in it for them.

Strong competition is putting the squeeze on these, though. As Fowler put it, “it is a sellers’ market, but let’s face it, the cost of getting them there has been phenomenal too. In the end everyone is happy, both the vendors and buyers.”

The opening pen of yearling steers were Simmental-cross, which averaged 363kg and fetched $6.50/kg or $2360. Just a few pens later, Charolais-cross steers at 264kg reached $7.20/kg or $1900. These are some big figures to climb to at an auction but when auctioneers are taking $20 bids, the numbers quickly rise.

It was the Castlerock winter cattle sale the week prior that got the ball rolling on the $7/ kg-plus yearling cattle returns. Simmental-cross steers at 267kg managed $7.15/kg, but the top per-kilogram return of $7.27/kg

The last 12 months have been littered with unusual market trends, and this is just another example.

went to 242kg Hereford steers from Nokomai Station.

To put all of this into perspective, it makes sense to look at calf sale returns from April, just over four months ago. The

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Temuka saleyards Eastern and Southern Section calf sale was described as a cracking day to sell calves. At this sale, Simmentalcross steers at 361kg collected $1560, or $4.32/kg and 220kg Angus were a bit over $1000.

Between the islands, the normal trend for the store cattle market is for the South to track behind and sometimes on par with the North.

The last 12 months have been littered with unusual market trends, and this is just another example. For the month of August,

the average yearling steer return for the South Island is sitting 46c/kg higher than the North Island. How long this continues is anyone’s guess.

There has been a dollar in it for those who have wintered these cattle and current indications suggest that those taking them through to processing have confidence that they will also make their margin. At the end of the day, though, it is the cost of replacing them that counts.

Cattle Sheep Deer

Weekly saleyard results

These weekly saleyard results are collated by the AgriHQ LivestockEye team. Cattle weights and prices are averages and sheep prices are ranges. For more detailed results and analysis subscribe to your selection of LivestockEye reports. Scan the QR code or visit www.agrihq.co.nz/livestock-reports

mixed-sex lambs, most

Balclutha | August 27 | 474 cattle

LATE LAMBS ATTRACTIVE: There was a higher proportion of finewool lambs at Temuka on Monday, August 25. These Corriedale wether lambs collected $179 on a firm market.

Philip Duncan NEWS Weather

T IS now spring on the meteorological calendar, although still three more weeks of winter if you go by the astronomical calendar (Earth’s cycle around the Sun).

There is no “official” start to any of our seasons. When Minister Peter Dunne was in charge of Internal Affairs (2014-2017) we asked him which date the New Zealand Government adopts as the official start to spring. He said there wasn’t one.

Certainly weather forecasters adopt the start of the month as the start of a new season – this is because it’s much easier for record keeping to contain statistics into full months and not partial months.

Earth’s journey (and tilt) around the Sun also gives us four seasons, but as I’ve written about many times before here – do we really have four even seasons in New Zealand? It sure seems like much of winter is more like spring/autumn (maybe not for everyone!) and

summer isn’t always summer-like. So what do weather forecasters look for? In New Zealand it’s all about the weather pattern and nature, which can define our seasons. Take this week for example.

Windy westerlies – which have been roaring at times over the nation since the final days of August – are a classic sign of the start of spring.

Windy westerlies –which have been roaring since the final days of August – are a classic sign of the start of spring.

Pollen, especially pine, usually kicks off allergies for people as early as August. Not to mention daffodils (which often come out in winter in NZ) and blossoms, which have also been out recently. My grapes are budding now too. Here comes spring!

Spring is all about winter SLOWLY fading away and hints of summer SLOWLY coming in.

It’s a process that usually peaks in October with November often

drying out more as high pressure and westerlies tick up. The Southern Ocean storms are at their peak now and many of them have air pressure down to the 950hPa range. A low the other day in the Southern Ocean between NZ and South America was down to 920hPa.

These are big storms – but as high pressure (usually) starts to increase in the weeks ahead, this encourages more windy weather over NZ.

Going into the first half of September we see more high pressure exiting Australia and moving north of NZ (or over northern NZ). This means cold fronts (wintry at times) will still frequently move into the South Island bringing rain to the West Coast.

As a geography teacher on social media platform X reminded me of the other day, this is orographic, when rain is dumped on one side of the mountains (west coast) and drier, warmer, windier air moves down the other side (east coast).

This is something that, over winter, didn’t happen as often as previous years – so the first

week of September brings that prevailing set-up.

As for La Niña, you’ll hear more about this in the coming weeks (or months), but for now there

is nothing showing up that will alter NZ’s weather in the near future.

The cyclone season is now just two months away.