61 Century Farms – Totara gives pioneers access and income
62 Property Brokers update
THE
PLAN365
Plan365 Nutrition
39 Fast action on sick calves saves lives
41 Planning helps farmers and animals keep safe
43 Balancing diets with an eye on fertility
Plan365 Animal Management
45 Fidgety cows point to increased mastitis risk
47 Tailing ideal time for selenium, B12 doses
49 Controlling parasites helps cows deal with challenges
51 Switch means no lambs lost to abomasal bloat
Plan365 Forage and Arable
53 Kiwifruit fertiliser ensures right nutrients at right time
55 Expert optimistic on fungicide resistance
Farmlands shareholders Donovan Croot and Sophie Cookson, with children Thomas, 2, Estelle, 6, and Penelope, 4, on their South Taranaki farm. Donovan and Sophie have both found benefit in regular exercise sessions.
Bay of Plenty v Waikato It’s Blue September and Farmlands is packing down with the Bay of Plenty and Waikato rugby teams for their Round 5 Bunnings Warehouse NPC fixture in Tauranga. Farmlands is the game-day sponsor and $5 from every ticket scanned at the gate goes to the fight against prostate cancer.
22 - 23
SEPTEMBER
Young Grower of the Year
This annual competition run by Horticulture New Zealand aims to find the finest young fruit or vegetable grower in the country. Venue this year is Lower Hutt Events Centre.
Rachel Naylor Salesperson, Mossburn Branch
Q: Congratulations on winning this year’s Farmlands Health, Safety and Wellbeing Excellence Award. The judges praised your willingness to share knowledge and help others. How was that experience?
A: I enjoy sharing my knowledge and was able to use skills I have gained around health and safety over the years to assist other branches in our Southland area. I was very proud to receive this award for myself and our great Farmlands team here in Southland. It is a great feeling knowing your knowledge is valued and appreciated.
Q: What motivates your focus on health and safety?
A: I believe a happy, healthy workplace is so important. My workmates are like family to me and I care about their safety and wellbeing. I want them to go home healthy to their families and enjoy their lives outside of work.
Q: What do you do to keep yourself healthy?
A: We are super lucky to have Fiordland at our backdoor and I love exploring nature. I enjoy tramping and fishing on our stunning lakes. We really do have a beautiful country.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working for Farmlands?
A: Farmlanders are great people to work with. Every day we help our shareholders solve problems. We are a listening ear when needed or enjoy a laugh with them. Mossburn is a wee town with a big heart and I love that we are providing a great service for our amazing rural community here.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about spring?
A: New growth, longer days and hopefully a bit more sunshine.
Ingredients
• 100g butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup standard plain flour
• 3 eggs
• Whipped cream
• Berries, fresh or frozen
• Passionfruit or lemon curd
• Melting chocolate
Loaded Chocolate
Eclairs
Method
1. Combine water and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and quickly add flour. Beat with a wooden spoon until mixture leaves the sides of saucepan. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each egg until the mixture is glossy.
3. Spoon dessertspoon-sized piles of mixture onto a tray covered in baking paper. Bake at 180°C fanbake for 30 minutes until golden and puffy, then lower heat to 100°C for 25 minutes until eclairs are dry.
4. Cool thoroughly. Cut slits into the side of each eclair and fill with cream, berries and curd. Drizzle your favourite melted chocolate on top.
Welcome to the September issue of The Farmlander. Our theme this month is Health, Safety and Wellbeing and in this issue we profile shareholders and organisations working directly with rural communities to reduce impacts, injuries and situations that can lead to loss of life.
While physical health and safety is paramount, so is looking after our mental and emotional wellbeing. While economic conditions are generally buoyant, high workloads exacerbated by staff shortages and anxiety over the extent and pace of climate-driven regulatory reform are driving high stress levels and burnout in rural communities. It’s important we check in with ourselves daily and that we keep an eye on our family members and neighbours who might be quietly doing it tough. Sharing your stories and experiences with others helps. We hope that sharing stories of shareholders and others dealing with some of the trickier issues for on-farm safety helps also.
We are conscious too that the extent and pace of change from Government, manifested recently in the Groundswell protest, is front and centre for many of you. Over the past month, I have listened to questions and concerns raised by a number of shareholders about our stance on supporting the Howl of a Protest. We have also had a conversation with our staff, who are passionate supporters of the sector and shareholders on this.
I want to take the opportunity to briefly clarify our position on support:
• We empathise with the issues for reform rural communities are concerned about and don’t disagree with the issues raised by Groundswell.
• However, we choose to respond to and support that change in a way that plays more to our strengths, using relationship capital built over years through direct engagement with primary sector organisations, government and lawmakers.
• Whether we like it or not, we don’t control the actions of individuals in a protest movement on the day and should not risk our brand and ability to remain effective in our ability to protest in our way through our behind-the-scenes work.
• Working with Government last month to negotiate access to critical animal health inputs stuck on ships is just one small example of this type of work, and where relationships and access to decision-makers is critical to getting stuff done on your behalf. Damaging this is in no one’s interests.
• Farmlands staff are free to join any protest. All we have asked is that they do so in their individual capacities.
• Putting my “money where my mouth is”, I attended the Gore protest in my personal capacity and was quite moved by the event.
• There is no question about whether we support shareholders or Groundswell.
• We simply choose to do so by playing to our strengths and sticking to doing the job we were established to do as well as we can every day.
I encourage you to visit the Farmlands website, where Farmlands Chairman Rob Hewett and I have penned an open letter to all shareholders.
My best wishes for your month ahead. This is my final intro for The Farmlander as Acting CEO. Later this month we look forward to welcoming Tanya Houghton to the team as our new Chief Executive.
Kevin Cooney Acting Chief Executive Officer Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited
5 minutes with the YOLO Farmer
Wayne Langford, the man behind the You Only Live Once Farmer blog and President of Federated Farmers Golden Bay.
How did you come to be the YOLO Farmer?
After struggling with my mental health I decided that I needed to do something to get myself out of “the rut” before things got worse. On my 34th birthday I jumped out of bed and headed to the beach with our family. After having a great day (the first in a long time) I told my family, “We are going to do something every day for the next 365 days to say that we have ‘lived’ for each day.” One of the kids said “YOLO” (You Only Live Once) and that’s when our journey started. I started recording what we were
doing each day on our Facebook page, YOLOd2, YOLOd3. After 365 days and having a bunch of people following along, we created its own social media platform. We are now at YOLOd1580 with over 30,000 people following along.
What are some of the things you have done?
At first I thought it was going to be one of those movies – climbing to the top of mountains, travelling the world and finding myself. What I didn’t realise was it was going to be the small things each and every day that would make the huge difference. Whether it be a trip to the beach, a bush walk, throwing rocks off a bridge or playing sports, it all helped. Most of all, connecting with old friends and members of the community was our biggest win. Each conversation opened my mind, just a little bit at a time. Remember my mind had closed itself off to the world, so by opening it up a little piece at a time it
eventually became more light than dark. It takes time and it’s absolutely worth it. Did you have any idea where it would end up?
We thought it would be a massive achievement to make 365 days. So to make it to where we are today has blown us away. Little did we know how much it would change our lives and how many doors it would open along the way.
You must have helped a lot of people. Tell us about some of them.
One of the reasons we kept going after 365 days was because we were getting numerous messages every week of other people sharing their stories. By being slightly vulnerable myself, it helped others feel it was OK to share what they were going through. Mental health can often be seen as dark and cold. I wanted to change that to a positive experience, showing smiles and happiness that come from living life.
Tyler was the rock behind my journey. She put down her life to pick mine up.”
How do you feel your experiences help you in your role as a farming leader and as a farmer?
It’s easy to look at farming as a job, a business or an investment. Of course it’s far more than that and I think it’s really important as farming leaders that we show that. I love to talk about the emotions and experiences that come with farming. It’s great to have people on-farm experiencing just a fraction of what we get to experience every day. Most of all it’s great to show our communities that it’s about more than just the money at the end of day, it’s about the community, the environment and joy of doing what we love on-farm.
You got a lot of support from your wife, Tyler – how important has that been?
With the increased focus on mental health, especially in the rural sector, there has been plenty of attention on the person struggling. What is continually missing is the support for the partner or person helping those going through that challenge. Tyler was the rock behind my journey. She put down her life to pick mine up and I’ll be forever grateful for that. It’s a tough role to play and I would suggest getting support and help. Otherwise it could be a long, lonely, difficult journey. What’s your favourite way to spend the day?
My favourite thing to do is opening my mind, challenging myself to think
differently and getting outside my comfort zone. I now live a busy life but one that is focused on family, fun, farm and the future, in that order.
Is there a book, author or speaker you have found particularly helpful on your journey?
I’m not a big reader but I do love to watch and listen to people. I don’t hold anyone in particular on a pedestal, instead I like to get thousands of little lessons from thousands of people and piece them all together. Remember, don’t ever talk to someone about the weather because I guarantee they have a far better story to tell than that.
If you could give people one piece of advice, what would it be?
You Only Live Once – think about
what that means? You could be dead tomorrow – what are you waiting for?
Even if you do live for another 50 years, do you want to do 5-10 new things, or do you want to do 20,000 adventures, one each and every day. Live life.
Tell us about your farming operation?
We milk 230 cows once a day on 93ha in Golden Bay. We have moved from 360 higher-input cows to 230 lowerinput cows over the last 5 years. Our future goals are to simplify our farming system, reduce inputs and increase profitability, while being proud of how we are farming and who we are.
To find out more, visit www.facebook.com/YOLOFarmerNZ/
GETTING FOR HEART
| Farmlands shareholders Donovan Croot and Sophie Cookson, with children Thomas, 2, Estelle, 6, and Penelope, 4, on their South Taranaki farm.
PHYSICAL
AND HEAD
As awareness has grown of the stresses farmers face, a network of groups has sprung up dedicated to supporting rural mental health. Need help? All you need do is ask.
When Farmlands shareholders Donovan Croot and Sophie Cookson saw a post on their local Facebook page canvassing interest in organised fitness sessions, they thought they would give it a crack.
At their dairy farm in Manutahi, south Taranaki, they were living with all the financial stresses and workload strains that come with farming. Here was something that might relieve that mental stress and maintain their fitness for the physical demands of working the land.
Kane Brisco, the man behind the post, was already a convert to the power of exercise to help with the pressures of farming. He and wife Nicole had been through some tough times on their dairy farm in nearby Ōhāngai, what with the financial pressure of a falling milk pay-out, a young family and all the stresses that farming brings. Kane was finding the relief that exercise brought him was an important part of his week. He was looking after himself better too. Kane reasoned that what was good for him was probably good for others too so hence the post, which went viral in a South Taranaki kind of way.
Soon Kane found himself at the helm of a new business, Farm Fit, running two training sessions a week on his farm, using traditional bootcamp and body weight exercises alongside some gear he built out in the paddock.
The hour-long sessions are a mix of strongman stuff such as flipping tyres and swinging sledgehammers, and classic farmers’ movements such as lifting and carrying. “I gear it to that typical stuff that farmers do. Whether they are farmers or not, people enjoy it. I push their boundaries, make it fun. It’s real-world stuff – everyone needs to be able to pick something up off the ground and carry it,” Kane says.
For Donovan, the sessions have been a boon. He reckons his physical fitness and mental health have improved 10-fold since he started going along. Everyone comes away from a session feeling better than before.
“The rural setting is just perfect as it doesn’t feel like a gym, which could be quite overwhelming for people who live isolated,” Donovan says.
Since the 1980s, when Rural Support trusts were formed to support the farming, cropping and horticulture communities
| Donovan and Sophie have found the Farm Fit sessions a boon.
Farmers identified finances
and work as two of their most common worries.”
during the financial upheavals of that decade, a network of groups dedicated to supporting rural mental health has formed. These range from nationwide campaigns sponsored by industry groups such as Federated Farmers to local efforts often led by women’s groups within that community.
Alongside that, growing awareness of the importance of supporting people’s mental health has spawned public campaigns such as Like Minds, Like Mine and initiatives such as John Kirwan’s depression.org.
Gordon Hudson, formerly the rural coordinator at Like Minds Taranaki, is passionate about improving rural mental health. He believes it to be a much bigger issue than it used to be. Why? Because of the changes the industry has gone through.
“Farming successfully these days means constantly focusing on your next goal, dealing with increasingly complex technical and compliance issues, keeping on top of equity and cashflow and thinking a generation ahead to make sure that your succession planning is in place,” he says.
He sees farmers struggling with business and personal issues but unwilling to talk about them. They fear the stigma associated with
mental illness, partly because of the conservative nature of the communities he works in (“most farm owners are over 50”), and partly because of the ‘glass bowl’ effect in isolated rural areas. Just how much of a problem is this? Starting in 2010-11, male and female dairy farmers were interviewed over 3 consecutive years at dairy events across New Zealand. The interviews formed part of the 4-year Dairy Farmer Wellness and Wellbeing Programme. Funded by farmer levies through DairyNZ and by the Ministry for Primary Industries, this programme focused on physical and emotional wellbeing, including reducing stress and fatigue and building networks to support dairy farmers to improve their health. The interviewers found that the prevalence of depression among dairy farmers was slightly lower than national data, while the prevalence of a mood or anxiety disorder was higher. Significantly, 20 percent of respondents were identified with “unacceptable scores associated with depression and/or anxiety” and were followed up.
The project found that farming was associated with a unique set of characteristics and stressors. The physical environment, the structure of farming families, economic difficulties and uncertainties combine to make farming potentially hazardous to mental health.
In a 2014 review of research, ACC analyst Alison Goffin found farmers identified finances and work as two of their most common worries. Financial worries included irregular and uncertain income and debt, the effects of new government regulations and compliance with these, bureaucracy and paperwork. Work worries included the amount of it, time pressures, long hours especially during peak times such as
harvesting or calving, difficulties with new technology and working alone.
Most commonly, the worry manifested as sleep problems, feeling irritable and down, fatigue and high rates of stress. Mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and psychological distress were identified as risk factors for individual farmers. Background attitudes that limited a person’s ability to acknowledge or express mental health problems and seek help were identified as significant risk factors for suicide in farmers.
So it’s physically and mentally tough work often done remotely and alone with all the uncertainty and stress of having the weather as a business partner. In the face of all this, it seems the Kiwi farmer has shown remarkable endurance.
If only they would talk about it. Remember the 20 percent the interviewers found were at risk of depression or anxiety?
The same research found that in 2012-13, 58 percent of the respondents said they did not talk to anybody about feeling emotionally unwell during the past year; 87 percent said they did not talk to a health professional.
Gerard Vaughan, manager at Farmstrong, says the stigma around farmers needing to be tough has caused many to ignore signs of depression and wait years before doing anything about their mental health. That’s why Farmstrong and
other such organisations want to normalise the conversation around rural mental health.
Kane’s Farm Fit is much more than the bootcamp sessions. Within a few weeks of kicking things off and in response to the strong level of interest, he and Nicole set up a Facebook page for Farm Fit.
The page now has over 6,500 followers, many of whom are keen to share their tips and tricks for physical and mental fitness and how they balance work and life. For spring, Kane has posted a programme pitched specifically at farmers to help them get fit for the season.
“We thought if we can inspire a few more people around the country that’s got to be a good thing. It’s evolved from there,” Kane says.
That evolution includes taking Farm Fit on the road to young farmers in Palmerston North for sessions sponsored by MPI.
Kane knows he has helped others both in person and online, both mentally and physically. “We’ve had some pretty heartfelt messages come through over the years and you can see it in people’s faces when they finish a session and then have a good yarn.”
It’s all about growing connections. Part of the reason Kane set up Farm Fit is because Ōhāngai no longer has a local hall or
We need people to understand how important that connection with neighbours and the local district is.”
Kane Brisco, Farm Fit
local school, with the latter closing in 2012. That means “all these amazing people out here” don’t get together as a community anymore because there is no focal point.
Kane says rural communities have changed a lot in the last 20 years, with distractions such as Netflix adding to the isolation forces. “We need people to understand how important that connection with neighbours and the local district is.”
If there’s a greater willingness among younger rural people to reach out for support then it’s an echo of a wider trend, with a younger generation much more likely to share their mental health woes than bear them in silence.
Where the pub banter might consist mainly of rugby and racing with a bit of weather thrown in, online communities offer isolated rural people scope to share their ups and downs with people who know and understand.
For Donovan it’s about “more of the good mahi” already being done to promote wellbeing in rural areas. Communities can help themselves by “getting amongst it”, he says.
For Kane, the hard part is “finding that one person in the community willing to sacrifice a bit of their time for the betterment of others”.
“Everything takes a leader. There’s a desire but no one wants to put their hand up to do all the work required behind it. That’s the challenge, finding that one person in the community willing to sacrifice a bit of their time for the betterment of others.”
FOR SEPTEMBER'S CALENDAR
1st NZ Random Acts of Kindness Day 10th World Suicide Prevention Day 27th Mental Health Awareness Week begins
IF YOU NEED HELP
• 1737, Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 to talk to a trained counsellor.
• Anxiety New Zealand 0800 ANXIETY (0800 269 4389)
• Depression.org.nz 0800 111 757 or text 4202
• Kidsline 0800 54 37 54 for people up to 18 years old.
• thelowdown.co.nz Web chat, email chat or free text 5626
| Kane Brisco set up some training gear in a paddock for his Farm Fit sessions.
Teams stand ready to help with wellbeing
Controlling what you can control is a common theme in discussions around mental wellbeing. Farming is full of “uncontrollables” that make each day a challenge. These organisations are here to help you focus on what you can control and take steps towards your and your family’s wellbeing.
Farmstrong
Farmstrong is a nationwide wellbeing programme for the rural community. Founded by the Mental Health Foundation and insurer FMG, Farmstrong aims to give back to communities by travelling directly to rural New Zealand to share practical information and tools based on the latest wellbeing science. Your wellbeing can increase or decrease depending on what you do and how you think. Increasing wellbeing builds resilience to face the many pressures involved in farming. Being more resilient allows you to recover quickly from setbacks and to use these as opportunities for learning and growth.
Farmstrong provides resources for improving your wellbeing across topics such as sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress and healthy thinking. Experts from doctors to clinical psychologists
are available for farmer-focused help, including men’s health checks and injury prevention. Farmstrong runs events where farmers can learn more about wellbeing and support communities with rural media coverage, educational content delivered across multimedia platforms and rural initiatives designed to help farmers connect and get off-farm. www.farmstrong.co.nz
Stay Well NZ
The Stay Well NZ Charitable Trust was formed in 2017 to provide free, fast and friendly health checks for rural people. Stay Well attends agricultural events, offering health checks and a contact list of experts if extra assistance is required.
“The most important animal on any farm is the farmer,” Stay Well says. Staying healthy can be easier said than done,
especially with the intense physical work that farming requires. Stay Well checks aim to support farmers in recognising the signs of declining mental or physical health.
Stay Well is present at rural events around the country so pop into the tent to get your blood pressure, cholesterol and skin checked by the team. Early detection can be the key to successful treatment, so make sure you get checked before something small becomes a bigger problem. www.staywellnz.com
GoodYarn
GoodYarn is an evidence-based, peer-delivered mental health literacy programme for the workplace – both rural and urban.
GoodYarn has three key aims and evaluation indicators:
• Increase awareness of signs and symptoms of common mental illnesses.
• Build confidence in starting a conversation where you are concerned.
• Improve knowledge of where and how to get help.
Having the confidence to have conversations around mental health with your staff is an important part of running a business and GoodYarn is designed as a practical starting point for businesses and organisations wanting to address mental health and wellbeing.
Businesses nominate people within their organisation who have the right skills and attributes to become GoodYarn facilitators. Facilitators are trained up over an intensive 2 days. Once their organisation has become “licensed” to deliver the programme, the facilitators are provided with all the necessary resources to deliver their learnings in the workplace. www.goodyarn.org
Rural Support Trusts
The Rural Support Trusts (RSTs) were originally formed to support the farming, cropping and horticulture communities during the financial pinch of the 1980s, or after a severe weather event.
The trusts know that living and working rurally can be a challenge. Sometimes things can get a bit too much. RSTs cover all aspects of rural agribusiness such as dry stock, dairy, cropping, horticulture, forestry, poultry and rural contracting. They support all rural people — owners, managers, staff and contractors.
The trusts are available to help with chats, guidance and referrals if more than a cup of tea and a yarn is needed. Trusts can connect farmers with professionals who can provide further support across farming or business advice, financial information, health, mental health and counselling services.
If a natural disaster occurs, such as a storm or flood, your local Rural Support Trust will be on-hand to help, working with Civil Defence, government and emergency services on behalf of rural communities.
If you’re facing any other challenges or feeling financial pressure, the trusts have the resources and connections to give you a hand.
www.rural-support.org.nz
Depression.org
Depression is a common mental health issue and is like cancer or a heart condition — it is serious and chronic and often goes untreated. But unlike those physical diseases, depression often carries a social stigma. Depression.org believes that research, early intervention, education and better access to care in all communities are key to better mental health.
The team at Depression.org includes university researchers, therapists and clinicians, scientists and other specialised experts. They are dedicated to providing access to new research and treatments to educate and support people around the world.
Genetics, the environment, psychology and biochemistry all factor into depression. Whether you suffer yourself or it’s a family member, close friend or co-worker, Depression.org has resources available to help inform and educate about major depressive disorders.
www.depression.org/
CHECKING IN FOR SPRING
Health and safety is a crucial part of any business or home life. As we get comfortable with our day-to-day jobs, we can get complacent when keeping ourselves and our families healthy and safe, which can lead to disastrous consequences.
Farmlands’ Card Partners are experts in their field and take the wellbeing of their customers seriously. To enable you to make the most of your spring season, several of Farmlands’ Partners have put together their top tips to ensure your on and off-farm crew stay as safe as possible.
Don’t let the rush of spring catch you off guard. Make sure you have your health and safety practices sorted to give yourself, your family and your business the best chance for success.
Check your skin with MoleMap
MoleMap are skin cancer detection specialists and have a proven skin-mapping system for identifying early signs of the disease. You can check your own skin for early signs of melanoma by following the ABCDE rule.
• Asymmetry – Check that the shape of one half of the mole does not match the other.
• Border – Check if the edges are ragged or irregular.
• Colour – Check if the colour is uneven.
• Diameter – Check if the size changes or increases.
• Evolving – Look for new moles or change in existing moles.
For more tips on checking for melanoma, go to www.molemap.co.nz/melanoma/how-to-identify
Check your tyres with Bridgestone
Bridgestone has a global reputation as the tyre industry market leader and has developed a simple test for you to find out whether the tyre tread on your on and offfarm vehicles will be up to spring conditions. To measure your tyre’s tread depth, place a 20c coin in one of the central circumferential grooves of your tyre. If you can see the whole of the number 20, that indicates your tyre has 2mm or less tread left. If you’re hitting this mark, it is time to think about investing in some new tyres to make sure you stay safe while driving.
Check your hearing with Triton Hearing
Has hard work damaged your hearing? Have you noticed that you are:
• Turning the TV or radio up louder than usual?
• Finding it difficult to follow conversations, or focus on the person you are talking to?
• Struggling with background noise?
• Catching yourself lip reading?
• Does it sound like people are talking very quietly or mumbling?
• Are conversations at work becoming a challenge?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you’re not alone. In New Zealand, about 1 in 6 people experience hearing loss. Triton Hearing has been specialising in hearing healthcare for 3 decades and offers a free hearing check.
To book yours, visit https://clinics.tritonhearing.co.nz/ search to find your local clinic or call 0800 45 45 43.
Check your insurance with FMG
Despite best efforts, accidents can happen. Often it’s not always the accident itself but the recovery that can be most difficult to cope with. While ACC provides excellent support, it does have its limits so it’s worth thinking about the costs and impacts of an injury or illness such as medical and rehabilitation costs. Have you also thought about whether you’ve got enough savings to provide an income for your dependants if you can’t work due to injury or illness?
Health insurance can provide cover for surgery, related expenses and specialist costs plus more. Income and Key Person insurance can ensure you are still receivingan income in the event you are unable to work, taking the stress off when you need it most to recover.
Not knowing what your Life and Health insurance options are and not making decisions to prepare for the future can make things even harder, so make sure you get insurance plans in place early.
Check your height hazards with NZ Safety Blackwoods
What tasks does your farm have that involve working at heights?
Before you get above the ground, remember the ABCD of height safety systems:
• A – A nchorage: Make sure you have a secure point of attachment to structure for a fall arrest system (this can be temporary or permanent).
• B – Body harness: A harness provides a connection point on the worker.
• C – Connector: Make sure you’ve got strong devices to connect the worker’s full body harness to the anchorage system, for example lanyard, self-retracting lifeline (SRL) etc.
• D – Descent/rescue: Rescue and retrieval of a fallen worker is a required component of any fall arrest system. Make sure you’ve got a rescue kit and tripod on hand.
Protective equipment won’t keep you safe unless you’re trained to use it correctly. If you need some help, reach out to NZ Safety Blackwoods by phoning 0800 967 572, or email training@nzsafetyblackwoods.co.nz
Conferences highlight growth opportunities
I believe the opportunities in front of us as a country are bigger than we have ever had, but the need for change is also bigger than we have faced for a long time – and herein lies the challenge.
I recently had the privilege of attending or reviewing several primary industry conferences around the country. Key themes of these conferences included:
• The environment and the urgent need to reverse the alarming damage happening to our planet. There are opportunities here as well: to produce food and fibre with a low or zero carbon footprint; and to ensure wool benefits from a swing to natural products.
• The disruption from synthetic alternative proteins that are forecast to be significantly cheaper than what we produce. We were told we will struggle to compete at the commodities end and must be high-end producers.
• The connection the customer has with where they spend their money and the effect the products
Thought leadership from Farmlands’ Director of Growth and Innovation, Andrew Horsbrugh, on the progress that's been made and the need to maintain the momentum.
they consume have had on the environment or society. Customers do not want to just buy a “product”, they want to buy something that is having a positive impact on the world and from suppliers that are doing the right thing. The big shift to whole foods / healthy foods / food as medicine is positive for NZ provided we can prove our produce and systems align with their values.
Some attending farmers felt a mindset change due to a better understanding of what the consumer wanted. They felt more connected with their “why”, less concerned about what was coming at them and more focused on what they wanted to do for the environment. It was great to be reminded of our ability to farm in a low carbon manner – we have the lowest carbon footprint per kg milksolids in the world by almost a factor of two.
| There are huge opportunities in food produced naturally and sustainably.
Every landowner I know wants to leave their farm or orchard in a better condition than they received it.”
Our producers and marketers are connected with our customers and are showing us the way. There are huge opportunities in natural products solving environmental issues, such as wool replacing plastics and whole and healthy food being produced naturally and sustainably.
Other attendees commented that while it was exciting to hear what our end customer wants and what we need to do to stay at the premium end, they were concerned about how they could personally do all this on top of everything else coming at them.
So how do we close this gap between what we need to do and having the resources available to do it?
Every landowner I know wants to leave their farm or orchard in a better condition than they received it. We know that some historical practices need to change and we are changing them. We heard at the
conferences that most legislation is a subset of what the customer wants so we are all aligned in the need for these changes. We just need a little help. My key ask of the legislators is that they c-oordinate their activities so that required changes occur in a rational, practical manner and that changes are accompanied with a clear “why”. Much frustration occurs when changes are not practical, not recognising work already done or when they work counter to each other. Please do not create labour scarcity, particularly when we need more labour to deal with all the changes. Please also remind the whole of NZ that we seek the same outcome, are making progress and are all in this together.
To the processers and marketers: The positive energy and directions that come from your conferences are infectious. Thanks for keeping us connected with the customer and their needs and for
telling us what we are doing well and what we need to do better.
To Farmlands shareholders: Please let us know how we at Farmlands can help. What are the new products or services we can provide to help you meet your evolving requirements?
Most importantly, thank you for what you are doing every day on your land and for what is often not appropriately recognised. Thank you for the positive way you are working through the many changes required, as we still have much to do. These actions are securing our reputation for supplying the world with premium products and helping us look after the planet for the next generation.
Andrew grew up on a sheep and beef farm in the Wairarapa and now farms in Canterbury. This article is from Andrew’s perspective as a landowner, Farmlander and Farmlands shareholder.
Horticulture exports grow despite COVID handbrake
Horticulture exports have continued to climb despite the challenges created by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
New Zealand’s horticulture exports increased 25 percent from 2018 to 2020; by 30th June 2020, horticulture exports were worth $4.521 billion, up $903 million from 2018.
The pandemic affected trade from early 2020, with export figures up 7 percent year on year. This increase was expected to be significantly higher had there not been trade disruption from March 2020.
COVID-19 brought a surge in people wanting to eat healthy, locally produced food. They were shopping more for
groceries and wanted to know more about where their food comes from.
The flipside for growers and exporters has been securing reliable access to essential resources like water, skilled and reliable personnel, logistics, capital and infrastructure. There has also been pressure on global supply chains with disrupted trade flows and consumption patterns and a challenge to keep up with the speed of change, whether that be on issues of sustainability, traceability or changing customer/ consumer requirements.
As of 30th June 2020, kiwifruit and apples were our dominant horticultural crops, accounting for 75 percent of
the total export value in 2020. Kiwifruit accounts for over $2.5 billion (56 percent) of the value of horticulture exports.
‘Horticulture exports’ refers to food and some juice products. Wine is classified as a ‘beverage’ and subject to different export market requirements.
Based on 2020 values, onions, potatoes and avocados are ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively as the most valuable horticulture exports. Onions increased 59 percent between 2018 and 2020, surpassing potatoes and avocados. Potato exports decreased 11 percent, while avocados increased 14.6 percent in 2020.
The EU remains New Zealand’s most
valuable export market (total earnings) for horticulture, ahead of Japan and China. Those three markets accounted for 56 percent of total export earnings in 2020.
With the exception of 2012, the EU has been the top-ranked market destination each year since the first report in 2004. Australia and Taiwan are placed fourth and fifth. The USA and South Korea retain sixth and seventh positions.
Vietnam has moved from 10th to eighth, with export value doubling between 2018 and 2020. The Vietnamese market is now valued at $124 million and ranks above Hong Kong and Thailand.
Over the longer 10-year timeframe, China and Vietnam have climbed the most, while exports to Japan and Taiwan have doubled. The EU market has increased more than 50 percent. Australia has shown only modest growth.
Asian economies continue to grow in importance, with seven of the top 10 markets in the north Asian region.
ASEAN member countries, especially Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam, were collectively worth $425 million in 2020, an increase of $150 million from 2018.
Horticulture Export Authority Chief Executive Simon Hegarty said over the same period the cost of tariffs on horticultural exports decreased 29 percent to $152 million in 2020 from $214 million in 2018.
“The drop in tariff costs is primarily because bilateral or regional free trade agreements have removed most tariffs in many of New Zealand’s key markets such as China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam. Tariffs now account for an average of 3.4 percent of the value of horticultural trade, which is down from 5.9 percent in 2018.”
The Horticulture Export Authority promotes the effective export marketing of horticultural products by providing an exporting structure and support network
Kiwifruit and apples were our dominant horticultural crops, accounting for 75 percent of the total export value in 2020.”
for the NZ industry and liaising with sector stakeholder groups on market access, trade barriers and their removal. Its success is based on industry collaboration to maximise the co-ordination, distribution and marketing of their products via an export licensing structure.
The fundamentals of horticulture tick a lot of boxes for investors, particularly in the health and wellness and sustainability areas, Simon says.
Technology is enabling the growth in opportunities and these are attracting interest from innovators and those interested in having a greater stake in their food supply.
He also believes innovation in the horticultural sector is critical for its long-term success. “There are a wide range of innovative developments, from plant breeding, new product varieties, widespread use of digital technologies and even trialling robotics for harvesting some products.
“The profile of the horticultural sector
continues to evolve. Many horticultural industries have experienced a degree of consolidation from the mid-2000s, with several industries now having fewer growers but largerscale commercial operations.
“This is evidenced by many horticultural product groups reporting smaller numbers of growers with a similar production area, or in some cases the total production area has increased significantly. This consolidation has been driven by a range of factors, primarily economic, whereby compliance (worker safety, food safety and environmental) and production (labour, utilities, transport and machinery) costs are increasing. Larger-scale operations tend to be more insulated from these costs due to economies of scale compared with individual smaller grower operations. This has the cumulative effect of forcing some small growers out of business or selling their operations to larger grower businesses,” he says.
*Terms and Conditions apply. Visit farmlands.co.nz/tripod-tank-replacement Purchase your new tank from Farmlands and save with exclusive purchase offers. Plus, you could win a Choices Rewards prize pack valued at $1,000 when you buy a fuel tank.*
End of the line for tripod fuel tanks
Time is running out if your on-farm fuel storage tank doesn’t comply with safety standards. As of the end of the year you will find it hard if not impossible to get fuel delivered by a regular supplier. This includes Farmlands.
Of particular concern are tripod or three-legged fuel tank stands. Approval for the manufacture of these was cancelled over 20 years ago. The intention was that any existing tripod tanks would be phased out. Their use has continued though, with many of the surviving stands nearing the end of their safe working life.
John Campbell, General Manager of Sales and Retail at Farmlands, says action is urgent. “If you have one of these tripod stands still in use, it must
be replaced or you won’t be getting deliveries. There’s been plenty of notice. People have been injured. The design of these old tanks is dangerous and they need to go. That’s why Farmlands has come up with some deals to help.”
The law is clear that:
• Any tank over 250L that contains diesel, petrol or other liquid must meet Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) 2017 Regulations.
• As per the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, businesses and workers must do what they reasonably can to eliminate health and safety risks.
Farmlands stopped accepting new requests to deliver to tripods in 2013
and has been promoting alternative tank solutions to its fuel customers since. With the clock ticking, Farmlands is offering its fuel customers yet to switch the option of buying a compliant tank at discount and signing a 2-year supply agreement with Farmlands, or buying the tank unencumbered.
A variety of on-ground and overhead tank options are available through Farmlands in both islands.
See www.worksafe.govt.nz for guidelines on above-ground storage on farms and stationary tanks.
Make an inquiry to the Farmlands team at farmlands.co.nz/tripodtank-replacement, contact us on 0800 666 626 or email fuelaccountmanagement@ farmlands.co.nz.
WHAT’S ON OFFER
Subsidised tank: Purchase a new fuel tank from Farmlands with an exclusive 2-year supply agreement and we’ll discount the tank purchase price by $300. Plus get an additional $50 off the tank if you’re new to buying bulk fuel through Farmlands.
Purchase only: Purchase a new fuel tank from Farmlands without a supply agreement and either purchase fuel from Farmlands or a vendor of your choice.
Win: Buy a tank from Farmlands between 1 August and 30 November 2021 and go in the draw to win a Choices Rewards prize pack
at $1,000*.
Helping Kiwis feel at home since 1918.
Come in-store, take a seat, have a lie down, watch some TV, listen to some music. But we’d prefer it if you didn’t put your washing on.
You could even buy something if you really want.
And if you shop with your Farmlands Card you’ll get exclusive pricing on a massive range in-store.
Alumni share benefits of partner programmes
Building critical thinking and connecting with like-minded people within the agriculture industry have been common takeaways for participants in Farmlands’ partner Rural Leaders’ Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme and Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarship.
Applications for both programmes are open, closing 14th November. The Farmlander caught up with two of the alumni to find out what the programmes gave them and why you should apply.
What prompted you to join the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme?
Bryan: Personal growth was a big driver for me. I wanted to be leading people so saw the programme as an opportunity to grow my leadership skills and meet other interesting people in the primary sector.
Ed: I’ve been in agriculture all my life and knew it was a well-regarded leadership and learning platform. I’m a farmer and increasing my people management, presentation and networking skills was an important factor. For Nuffield it was an extension of this – I’m in the 2020 programme so we haven’t managed to make it overseas except for a short trip to Australia just before lockdown, but we are making the most of an unfortunate situation.
What did you learn from the programme?
Bryan: Before going into the programme I’d been thinking about the commentary throughout the industry around change and how it felt like it was all happening around us instead of us being a part of it. I wanted to look into if the industry was ready for change and if we could get recognised and premium
dollar for it. The programme refined that topic into my end report, “The Triple Bottom Line”.
I also went into the programme wanting to explore areas of growth with leadership of people. Interestingly, following a restructure within Farmlands in late 2020, I went into a role where I wasn’t leading people anymore. The Kellogg programme changed the way I looked at leadership and gave me more of a focus on influencing others rather than direct leadership. The power of curiosity has helped me in many situations post completing Kellogg.
Ed: I enjoyed the whole exercise, both the Kellogg and Nuffield programmes. It definitely gave me leverage and increased my skill set around public speaking and critical thinking. My purchase of Jericho Station was a couple of years after the programme and it was quite public but I put the Kellogg experience down to aiding in getting the result I was after. Without the Kellogg experience I’m not sure if I would have achieved that as it really gave me the communication and attention to detail skills.
The Nuffield Scholarship has been about education on what systems are available within the agriculture industry to get more people into agriculture. It’s meant I’ve been able to get a very broad view of where New Zealand stands in the global market and gained more perspective on where farmers need to be going in the future.
What advice would you give someone wanting to apply to the Kellogg programme or Nuffield scholarship?
Bryan: Trust yourself and dive in. The Kellogg programme gives you the confidence to be able to go into a room and know that your questions and presence is valid. You are put in front of big leaders in the industry and given the opportunity to explore your own mind and embrace curiosity.
Ed: Give it a go, it’s a lot of work but very rewarding. You come out of it with great networks and are surrounded by like-minded people who all support each other. My group learnt a lot and still keep in contact now – we mentor each other.
To find out more and apply, visit ruralleaders.co.nz
| Ed Pickney, owner/director of Jericho Station, Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme 2016 and Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarship 2020.
Partnership puts focus on rural melanoma risk
Farmers, growers and rural workers are being urged to sign up for a melanoma spot check.
Jack Keeys was shocked when he found out in 2019 that the mole on his upper back was a melanoma. He was just 24 years old.
“The scary thing is I nearly skipped my annual skin check because of my age. I was thinking about going the following year instead,” he says.
Melanoma New Zealand CEO Andrea Newland says that while melanoma can be perceived as a concern only for older people, that’s not the case. “Melanoma can be found in younger age groups too, especially people aged 25-39,” she says.
For Jack, his skin check caught the melanoma early and after two surgeries he was given the all-clear by his specialist. “I am really relieved that I didn’t wait; my skin check has probably saved my life,” Jack says.
Jack’s mum lives on a dairy farm near his home town of Paeroa, and he’s moved back home to help out. He juggles this with his role as an agri-food research and insights analyst at KPMG in Auckland.
Melanoma NZ’s Andrea says we have the highest incidence of the cancer in the world. More than 4,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma each year and about 300 people die from it. More people die from skin cancer than die on our roads.
| With an all-clear from his specialist, Jack Keeys relaxes on the family farm near Paeroa.
More people die from skin cancer than die on our roads.”
Rural people are at particular risk, which is why Melanoma NZ has partnered with insurer FMG to increase awareness among farmers and growers of how to protect your skin when outdoors and the importance of regular skin checks. “They will save lives,” Andrea says.
For FMG, the most important asset on a farm is the farmer, its Chief Client Officer, Andrea Brunner, says.
“The benefits of doing a regular skin check are undeniable given that if melanoma is caught early, it’s almost always curable. Our farmers and growers are among the most at risk of melanoma in the world due to New Zealand’s UV radiation intensity. Supporting you to remain well so that you can continue to grow and prosper is very important to us,” she says.
Melanoma NZ and FMG launched their partnership at Fieldays in June. Visitors were encouraged to get a free spot check at the Melanoma NZ site. The team were inundated with farmers keen to get checked and ended up providing 673 checks. They identified 54 suspicious lesions (including melanomas) and these
MELANOMA AWARENESS WEEK
27th September to 1st October is Melanoma Awareness Week. You can join in by connecting with your local school or childcare centre and encouraging them to take part. They can raise funds for Melanoma NZ at the same time as raising awareness through selling cupcakes, a gold coin donation to dress up in spotty clothing, playing Spot the Difference games and more. Schools who take part and submit photos will be in to win a prize.
Schools can register on the Melanoma New Zealand website www.melanoma.org.nz/schools-get-spotted
were referred on for further evaluation. Each visitor to the van was also provided valuable education, empowering them to know what to look for when checking their skin. Melanoma NZ also did a survey that found 61 percent of people asked said they had never had a full-body skin check before. After speaking with the team, 82 percent said they would book one.
Melanoma is preventable and is almost always curable if caught early enough, Andrea from Melanoma NZ says. “It’s more common in males than females but everyone is at risk. You’ll increase your risk of melanoma if you don’t protect your skin from sunlight and it’s important to be aware that sunburn at
any age increases your risk of melanoma later in life.”
The team at FMG are helping to share Melanoma NZ’s message through their connections into rural communities. This includes at events such as regional field days, A&P shows and community events.
So before summer kicks in, check the expiry date on your sunscreen and book a skin check next time you’re in town. You can find your local skin check providers on the Melanoma NZ website www. melanoma.org.nz or contact your GP. MoleMap is a Farmlands Card Partner and provides a rebate on skin checks for shareholders.
Cancer campaign the winner on the day
It’s Blue September and Farmlands is packing down with the Bay of Plenty and Waikato rugby teams for their Round 5 Bunnings Warehouse NPC fixture in Tauranga. Farmlands is the game-day sponsor and $5 from every ticket scanned at the gate goes to the fight against prostate cancer.
Today, 10 Kiwi men will be told they have prostate cancer. It is the most common cancer in New Zealand men, with more than 3,500 diagnosed each year – more than the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer.
Blue September is the major annual fundraising and awareness campaign for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand, during which they aim to raise $1 million to continue providing vital support, funding essential research and advocating for patients and their loved ones.
Scott Kahle, Chairman of the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union, says the team and staff are proud to support the Blue September campaign.
“The ability for us to help raise awareness and funds for a worthy organisation like
Blue September is rewarding for our staff and the Steamers and it has a greater good for men’s health. We have a clear focus on helping our wider community through the vehicle of rugby and sport.
An added bonus is that it will help get farmers off-farm to enjoy what will be a great game of rugby,” he says.
Foundation Chief Executive Peter Dickens says that more than 650 Kiwi men will die from prostate cancer this year. “That’s 55 mates, fathers, sons, brothers, grandfathers dying each month.
“We receive no government funding so by supporting Blue September you can help make a tangible difference in people’s lives,” Peter says. “Every dollar raised during Blue September helps to improve the health outcomes of New Zealand men.”
The 2021 Blue September campaign is all about encouraging people to ‘Do Something Blue To Help a Mate Through’.
“The options are endless when it comes to doing something blue. It could be anything from arranging an office morning tea to baking a blue cake or wearing blue on the golf course,” Peter says.
Over 42,000 men in New Zealand are living with prostate cancer and early detection is key to survival. Most men won’t experience symptoms so regular check-ups are essential.
“Early detection leads to better outcomes so it’s important to get checked and tell your friends and family to get checked too,” Peter says.
Testing for prostate cancer involves a simple blood test, called a PSA test. “It’s really easy to get a test and have that peace of mind. We encourage men over age 50 to get regular check-ups, or age 40 if there’s a family history, and ask their GP for a PSA test,” he says.
‘Blue Doers’ are encouraged to share what they do on social media with the hashtag #DoSomethingBlue to help spread the word. There are lots of other ways to support Blue September this year including making a donation, buying sponsored products or Blue September merchandise.
Find out more at www.blueseptember.org.nz
Farm race lifts school fortunes
In this extract from Tim Fulton’s Kiwi Farmers’ Guide to Life: Rural Tales from the Heartland, Farmlands shareholders Leighton and Jane Croft share their story of fostering a healthy community as well as a healthy Omihi School bank balance.
Omihi is best known for its farmer All Blacks, including World Cup-winning former coach Alex Wyllie.
Leighton Croft didn’t reach those rugby heights but he also grew up on an Omihi farm, played a few games for Canterbury, coached the famous Glenmark Seniors and did a stint as club president. And like most of the farming locals, he and his wife, Jane, are thoroughly community-minded.
The Crofts host the Omihi Farm Race, an imaginative annual bike, run/walk event raising funds for Omihi School.
The sheep and beef farmers’ hill-country property has about 600ha of effective grazing and runs about 2,000 Romney or crossbred ewes, 500 replacement hoggets and about 100 Angus breeding cows.
A partnership between the farmers and an outdoorminded community, the race has been a boost for a community that has been through the mill.
First came several years of drought, then a fire which razed the cherished Omihi hall, the habitual gathering point for the area’s famous rugby team. Those were dark days, made more worrying by a school roll that fell to fewer than 10 pupils. It eventually rained and a monumental fundraising drive built a new community centre from the ashes. To the relief of many, the school roll has risen again as well, helped by the arrival of a new principal, Maree Lucas.
Seeing the obvious danger of closure for the school, she managed to muster a busload of new kids from Pegasus Village, 30 minutes to the south. The roll is now a much heartier 30 to 40 kids strong.
Maree taught at other North Canterbury schools early in her career before heading overseas to teach in London. She answered Omihi’s urgent call for new leadership soon after marrying George Lucas, a sheep and beef farmer in nearby Greta Valley.
Maree also owns and operates event-organising company M Factor Events, so she has been able to put the sum of her professional skills to work for the farm race.
The event every March nets between $15,000 and $20,000 for the school and the Crofts only need to spend about a week setting up the course. It’s not like the old days of sausage sizzles, which Leighton describes as ‘hours and hours of work for bugger-all money’. The hardest part is probably hunting down prizes, he says. “There are so many fundraisers on around the place . . . poor old Farmlands in Amberley, they must get hit up about half a dozen times a week.”
March is a good time for the event because stock numbers are usually low. “I can shift stock around to certain blocks if I have to, but sometimes I just get extra people to sit on gateways. I just drop them off and they make sure people go through, but no stock. And it’s quite good having people spread out, because if anyone’s having problems we’ve got half a dozen radios out there round the farm.” Forestry investment company Rayonier helps too by allowing competitors access to a forestry block. Like a good stockman, Leighton has a plan for stragglers. “I think at the end of the day we’ve got our tail-end Charlies so if there’s anyone left on the course they just get picked up.”
A promotional flyer lays the details bare: “It is all on a beautiful farm that the Crofts have very kindly let us use. There is definitely climbing in every race, but the longer bike will have a bigger climb (and better views!). There is always the option of pushing your bike up the hill if need be.”
The event was originally called the Omihi Farm Race Challenge, with emphasis on the ‘challenge’, but there are now more categories, including more leisurely social formats for all ages. Entrants range in age from 8 to 80.
Generally, barring changes due to stock movements, for example, runners can opt for either 12km or 18km, beginner and intermediate bikers 12km and advanced intermediates 18km or 26km. Walkers can expect 12km. Depending on the category, the race starts between 9am and 10am. One year, the whole Omihi Valley was covered in fog early in the day and it seemed like most of the competitors would miss the views. Jane remembers that all changing, right on cue. “Just as people got up above the fog, it was stunning.”
The landscape is eerily quiet on a day like that, except for the padding of feet and calls of encouragement. Generally, the weather or tracks have to be pretty gruesome for the event not to go ahead, though in 2020 the event was postponed, firstly because of COVID-19, then heavy rain before a scheduled re-do later in the year. Jane reckons next time round they might do a rogaine challenge (longdistance cross-country navigation), just for a change.
Meantime the Crofts have had competitors suggest they should put a permanent walking track around the farm, and possibly accommodation too. Some years ago an eco-tourism business pitched the idea of a glasshouse-like pod on their place. Looking back, they made the right call to turn down the idea, Jane says. ‘While the accommodation provider would have managed bookings, the Crofts would have been responsible for the facilities. We just thought, do we want that tie every day of the week, with cleaning and all that? Actually, no.’
On the farm, the Crofts raise stock either to a certain weight for sale to other farmers or to send direct to slaughter, depending on seasonal feed and weather conditions. They also have about 80ha of Pinus radiata forestry and bush including 20ha of natives under a covenant. Some of the newer forest is financed by the government-backed One Billion Trees programme. The family also has a covenant near the top of the farm where they have planted natives as part of a long-running conservation programme. Now well established, the area is turning into a remedy for vulnerable hillsides and gullies and a haven for animal life. ‘They’re catching geckos and skinks and re-homing them, just where the track is going to go. There’s going to be a 170-hectare covenant up there. We’ve actually noticed a few kereru coming in — they love the bush from over the top and they come down here to the house every year,’ Jane says. It seems those farm race competitors and kereru have something in common.
Photo: Claire Inkson
WIN A COPY
Farmlands has three copies of Tim Fulton’s book to give away. To be in the draw to win, go to www.farmlands.co.nz/bookcompetition and enter your details, or address an envelope to Book Competition, Farmlands, PO Box 271, Christchurch 8053. Remember to include your contact details. Entries close 10th September. Winners will be notified and also listed in the October edition of The Farmlander.
Kiwi Farmers’ Guide to Life: Rural Tales from the Heartland by Tim Fulton, published by Bateman Books, RRP $39.99. Available now.
SUPPORTING TOMORROW’S RURAL LEADERS
APPLY
NOW
FOR A $2,000 STUDY GRANT
The Tom Cranswick Memorial Award offers five under-25s financial support to assist their tertiary study in the primary sector.
APPLICATIONS are open to shareholders and the children of shareholders, who have completed at least ONE YEAR of tertiary study related to the rural/primary sector and intend to continue their course of study in these sectors next year.
The grants will enable students to further their knowledge and experience, helping them achieve more in their chosen careers to give back to the primary sector.
The Memorial Award is in honour of Tom Cranswick, a founding Farmlands Director and 20-year Chairman, whose passion and dedication helped establish Farmlands. The Cranswick family has been hugely supportive of Farmlands and it is an honour to offer this award in his memory.
Award applications close 12th September 2021. For more information and to register, please visit www.farmlands.co.nz/tomcranswick
Staying positive key to retirement wellbeing
In all phases of life, attitude and health are the two key factors that give us the best chance of achieving emotional and financial happiness and security. If we are able to achieve that in our retirement years, our overall wellbeing is pretty much assured. The term ‘wellbeing’ can be broken down into three types: emotional, physical and financial.
Emotional
Getting up every morning with a purpose in mind for the day ahead and a positive attitude is essential. Other ways to contribute to our emotional wellbeing are setting goals, helping others, connecting with and socially interacting with groups of people from different walks of life and with different interests, being thankful for what we have, treasuring the small things, staying active, doing what we are passionate about and even continuing to work beyond 65 for less than full-time hours. This will ensure a continuity of connection with people and continues to provide income.
Also important is estate planning. Your Will should already be in place. Time now to appoint Powers of Attorney, provide those who need it with a Memorandum of Wishes and a Guide for the Living and deal with any trusts and companies you may have.
Physical
Our physical wellbeing can only be achieved by having the right mindset to eat well and be active. Every day we are exposed to the virtues of a healthy diet and the need to exercise regularly. However, our diet and exercise practices throughout our lives will be what we take into our retirements. For many, to achieve physical wellbeing is going to require change but a human behavioural trait is that we do not like change, particularly as we get older.
Your challenge is this: if you think you need to or should improve your physical wellbeing, make some changes now. They don’t have to be revolutionary. Learn about eating healthily and what is recommended by qualified
If you think you need to or should improve your physical wellbeing, make some changes now.”
dietitians. Eat items like bread and potatoes in moderation and drink alcohol in moderation. These are the big contributors to weight issues. Go for a walk each day. Set yourself some physical wellbeing goals. Achieving them is a real way of giving yourself a better chance of living a longer, happier life.
Financial
This can be defined as having sufficient capital to allow lifestyle choices – the more capital we can access, the more choices we have. How much capital will a couple need to supplement NZ Super and retire comfortably? This will depend on where you live. In a larger city it’s about $785,000; if you live in a provincial region it’s about $486,000.
The best website for help is www.sorted.org.nz It has a variety of tools to assist you to calculate what you need for your future financial wellbeing.
Retired accountant and succession specialist
Barry Rosenberg is director and founder of 65 Not Out – Reinventing Retirement, www.65notout.com
TOP 5 TIPS FOR WELLBEING
1. Communicate and be connected to people.
2. Make sure you get up each day with a purpose and positive attitude.
3. Keep your body and mind active.
4. Eat healthy.
5. Begin your financial planning well before retiring.
| Farmlands shareholders Barry Rosenberg and son James.
Where the sun shines
Farmlands shareholders Liz and Andy Hayes count themselves lucky to call the Hakataramea Valley and Million Springs Farm their home.
An 830ha property, Million Springs Farm has been in Andy’s family for over 140 years – it was originally purchased by Canadian immigrants Alpheus and Anna Hayes in 1878. After being converted from sheep and beef in 2013, it’s the only dairy farm in the Hakataramea Valley today, running over 2,000 milking cows with a team of 15 staff.
With eager approval from their three children, Charlie, 10, Ayla, 8, and Hugo, 6, Liz and Andy are making the most of their middle-of-nowhere setting and have launched a colourful side hustle called Nest. This treehouse hideaway, perched in the branches of pine trees planted by Andy and his dad decades ago, looks out over a patchwork of land that spreads out along the Hakataramea River.
With its wide, salmon-filled river and deep rolling hills, the Hakataramea Valley has become an anchor for the Hayes. The original homestead, built in 1880, is still the main residence at
Million Springs Farm. The sprawling white house has been built onto many times over the years, with a beautiful garden most recently added by Andy’s mum. The kids run through the wide hallways and all the bedrooms face out to the rising and setting sun.
“It’s a pretty exceptional place, which I didn’t really appreciate until Andy and I went overseas,” Liz says. “We went on an OE when we were in our early 20s and saw so much beauty, especially when we were in Lucerne, in Switzerland. It was so crisp and beautiful there and I said to Andy, ‘This could be home!’ It was just like a winter’s day in the valley.”
Choosing to share their home and land with others wasn’t a hard decision to make, but for Andy, who manages the large-scale builds on the property, there is always the question of where the material and tools will come from.
Farmlands in Kurow has provided the Hayes with nearly all of their farming and building supplies over the years.
“Lizzie and I are mindful that we have to keep the farm profitable and that sometimes means diversifying our business,” Andy says. “Farmlands has
The kids run through the wide hallways and all the bedrooms face out to the rising and setting sun.”
been great with all of the dairy and agronomy side of things. When we were building the two dairy sheds, I was probably there two or three times a day – their supplies have been fantastic throughout both conversions.” Farmlands is also a default post office too. “We even get our My Food Bag delivered to the Farmlands store because they don’t deliver to rural addresses.”
Read more of Liz Hayes’ story in the spring edition of Shepherdess magazine, at your local Farmlands store from 13th September.
Photo: Francine Boer
New season brings new risks on-farm
Heading into spring is a good time to review your farm health and safety plan and discuss with staff new risks that may come with the change of season.
Spring brings high numbers of farm workplace injuries involving vehicle incidents, hitting stationary objects, being trapped between a moving and stationary object, muscular strains and falls.
Working with employees to identify risks and ensuring people are well prepared and well equipped to manage these is critical. It is also important to manage less obvious risks that can be a significant factor in accidents, such as fatigue and the many factors that contribute to fatigue.
“Fatigue reduces a person’s ability to perform work safely and effectively,” says Al McCone, Agricultural Lead for WorkSafe. “It reduces alertness and speed of decision-making, which leads to errors and an increase in workplace incidents and injuries.”
Fatigue can be a result of work schedules, such as long or irregular hours or night work, physically or mentally demanding work or working outside in very hot or very cold weather. Many farms are exploring different ways of working such as rotating rosters as a way of reducing fatigue and injury. Other pressures, such as regular criticism, unrealistic deadlines or issues with colleagues, can be emotionally exhausting.
“People may also be facing pressures outside work,” says Al. “Having young children can disrupt sleep or people may be facing personal or emotional
worries. People often don’t feel able to admit to feeling below par, so it’s important to be aware if they seem low or tired. If it’s down to too many late nights socialising then it’s time for a talk about work/life balance, but it may be down to the way work is organised.”
The law requires employers to ensure so far as is “reasonably practicable” that the health and safety of workers and of others is not put at risk from their work.
“That means managing the risks that arise from fatigue and that is certainly something that can be an issue on farms,” says Al.
“Creating a positive work environment where you look out for your own and your workers’ wellbeing and manage any fatigue issues will bring health and safety and productivity benefits.”
Where possible, avoid working outside during temperature extremes or minimise
exposure through job rotation. Provide adequate facilities for rest breaks, provide drinking water and set an example by taking adequate breaks yourself and reminding workers to take theirs. Working through tiredness should never be seen as a badge of honour.
“It is important to make sure workloads are manageable and avoid impractical deadlines,” says Al.
“At the end of the day, if you are relying on people always doing the right thing to avoid incidents, you are looking at safety the wrong way. People will always make mistakes – no one is perfect. Reduce the chance of making errors and harm. Always look to make sure that when a person makes a mistake, the amount of harm is reduced. Wear seatbelts. Put crush protection on your quads. Have emergency systems for people working alone.”
Article supplied by WorkSafe NZ
| Spring brings with it high numbers of farm workplace injuries.
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Articles in the Plan365 section allow Farmlands suppliers to share best practice and the latest advances in rural technology, to help shareholders with their farming needs all year round.
Fast action on sick calves saves lives
Calf-rearing is hard work, with sickness being the biggest threat to both calf and rearer. As soon as we are feeling tired, stressed or run down our immune defence is threatened, along with our ability to cope mentally. This can then make our calf-rearing decisions reactive and costly.
Both calf and rearer need plenty of calories to fight off nasty bugs that love to join a party, especially when there are other pathogens around.
To develop passive immunity, calves need to get enough good quality colostrum at the right time. The degree to which this happens can strongly dictate the immunity curve. But the immune defence can also be weakened by the stress of dehorning, vaccines, going outside, environmental factors and the level of nutrition the calf is receiving.
Identifying sick calves early saves lives and the mental health of the rearer. Stress equals distress in both calf and human. Take 5 minutes to observe the animals in the paddock or the shed – is their behaviour normal? Other senses such as smell can also alert you if things are taking a turn for the worse.
CALF REARING
It all comes down to the five Cs:
• Colostrum
• Cleanliness
• Comfort
• Calories
• Consistency
Ammonia smells put our calves at risk of respiratory disease and pneumonia and result in long-term damage to the calf.
For a growing calf, detection and fast action are paramount. Calves need to be disease free, and problems not attended to and fixed quickly can affect future production or performance.
Signs that all is not well include:
• Fever
• Slow to feed/uninterested in feed
• Chewing the teat
• Start drinking then stop partway in
• Slow to stand
• Depressed looking, doughnut eyes
• Wet tail/scouring
• Droopy ears, cold ears
• Grinding teeth
• Dry nose
• Coughing
• Elevated breathing
• Swollen navel
• E xcessive salivation
• L ameness
• Self-isolation
• Dull coat
IMMUNITY CURVE
Supplementation with probiotics may help to restore the intestinal environment, especially if your vet has supplied your calf with antibiotics.
Normal, healthy calves should be bright and reactive to the environment. They should be running around before their expected feed time and show lower activity after their feed. General appearance should be alert and standing square with their head held high, watching everything that is happening around them. A healthy animal that is lying down will get up quickly.
Eyes should be bright with no discharge at the corners, nose should be clean with no discharge and the muzzle moist. Ears should be upright, move to pick up any sound and should flick rapidly to get rid of flies.
The agents that cause disease are always there. Comfortable, clean calves with good colostrum management, consistent feeding and management practices and plenty of calories in the diet make for a successful season.
For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.
Article supplied by Technical Specialist Karen Fraser
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Planning helps farmers and animals keep safe
Whenever you are working with stock, the potential is there for safety to be compromised. The cause can be equipment or facilities that are not up to scratch or flawed decisions resulting from poor technique, tiredness or underlying mental health issues.
If you find yourself in such a situation, stop and ask yourself, “If I continue doing this job the way I am, will I be safe from physical harm and will my stock avoid injury?” If you answer no, making some safety adjustments could mean you avoid becoming another of New Zealand’s workplace injury statistics because you lost a finger after injecting yourself and not the animal, or your arm was broken after being crushed or horned in the stock race while drenching. In 2020 a Southland man was killed by a stag within days of saying it had to be culled as a safety risk.
Administering animal health products such as drenches and vaccinations is one such situation. It is essential that these treatments are given in a way that ensures the safety and wellbeing of the person administering the product and of the animals.
Creating an animal health plan will help. You will then know well in advance when and what product needs to be given to which animals. This includes scheduling some faecal egg counts on vulnerable stock before drenching, testing some animals for trace minerals or getting a soil sample analysed to help inform your fertiliser decisions. Planning and preparing everything in advance saves time, money and energy.
Well beforehand, ensure all necessary resources and equipment are checked and working properly, any infrastructure is in a fit state for use, all gates are secured, all team members are trained on how to do the job and that when using vaccines you have enough coolie bags and frozen ice packs. An ice pack sitting in the cupboard is not frozen! Check you have adequate equipment supplies including cradles, weighing equipment and sterilised needles for vaccinations. Check that all vaccinator or drench guns are calibrated to deliver the correct dose safely to the right group of animals.
For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.
| Preparing everything in advance saves time, money and energy.
DON’T FORGET…
• For everyone’s safety, implement and always follow farm biosecurity measures.
• Make sure you have enough supplies on hand or order well ahead so you have the product you need when you need it. It’s no fun running out of Multine 5-in-1 while vaccinating a mob of lambs in a remote location.
• Study the product label for withholding times. Avoid missdosing any animals as this can result in ill health or toxicity problems. For worm drenching, best practice is to weigh and sort stock by size to ensure you give the correct dose and limit drench resistance.
• Check the weather forecast to avoid putting stress on livestock that could lead to health problems.
Article supplied by Tiffany Menzies, Farmlands Nutrition Technical Manager
Balancing diets with an eye on fertility
A customer recently asked if the link between high milk production and infertility is overstated because his highest yielding cow was recorded at 969kg milksolids last season and then calved 377 days after the previous calving.
High-production housed dairy systems around the world are often associated with poorer fertility than we expect here despite them having more control over feeding and ability to feed to appetite regardless of the weather. Clearly this pasture-based super milker partitions a lot of energy to milk production but is still cycling and conceiving in an acceptable time. This exceptional cow suggests that if you support production, even very high yielding cows can have good fertility.
Pasture-based cows tend to be underfed relative to their genetic milk production potential so you would think their fertility would suffer but I suspect that nutrition
through mating can to some extent make up for a poor start to the season. When I have seen herds peak low due to an early feed pinch and then pasture conditions improve through mating, fertility has improved as the cows regain condition.
Supplements that raise peak milk production do not always improve herd fertility as much as was hoped because they can effectively raise the goalposts. Critically, a negative energy balance can occur through mating if pasture quality or quantity becomes compromised.
Increasing supplementary feeding rates over mating may be a reliable way to help maintain energy intakes at a time when pasture quality can fall. Extra high-energy feed in the shed will reduce dry matter intake from pasture but the extra feed will help offset reductions in energy intake from pasture becoming less digestible or, if conditions become overcast, falling sugar levels.
Milk protein production is a key indicator of fertility and is easy to quantify and monitor. In November 2020 the average cow produced 0.83kg protein per day compared with a peak of 0.92 in October 2020 (NZ Dairy Statistics 2019-20) – a fall of nearly 10 percent coinciding with the start of mating on spring-calving herds. Feeding to slow the fall from peak milk production and especially milk protein production will minimise the risk of cows experiencing a negative energy balance, which could be detrimental to oestrous activity and conception rates. Sustainability is a hot topic but what about our cows? The low replacement rate of NZ dairy cows – about 22 percent compared with 30-38 percent in some high-production systems – suggests our low carbon footprint pasture-based system might be good for our cows and the environment. A recent NZ study suggested about 33 percent of culling in NZ was due to infertility. Improving average life expectancy and lifetime milk production of the national herd would seem a good goal to reflect healthier cows, good animal welfare and efficiency. If we want to make more voluntary selection choices in the future, such as including reduced methane production or enhanced protein utilisation, changes to management and feeding to enhance fertility seem worth while.
For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.
Article supplied by Dr Rob Derrick, Farmlands Head of Nutrition and Animal Health
| Nutrition through mating can make up for a poor start to the season.
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Fidgety cows point to increased mastitis risk
Spring can produce a peak in mastitis due to environmental challenges at calving, but as you move further through the season the incidence of mastitis should reduce, along with the bulk tank somatic cell count. If mastitis incidence does not decline, factors around shed and teat spray function could be at play.
It is commonplace to have the shed checked by a milking technician during the winter but this does not identify all issues. The cows are a great indicator of shed issues so take some time to look at them. Observe how comfortable they are in the shed, or if they are kicking or fidgety. How quickly do they let their milk down after cups on, or is there a delay either at cups on or after a short let-down? Do the udders look evenly milked out at the end of milking? Any anomalies here can point to shed function issues.
Also take time to look at teat ends and teat condition. Turning over teats and inspecting the ends can be a useful indicator of shed function. The early stages of teat end damage are reflected in thickened teat ends with minor cracking, which can be subtle. As the teat end damage worsens this can show more obvious crusting and thickening. Other signs to look for at milking time are ringing at the base of the teat end or pinpoint red spots, along with bluish teats. All these point to an issue with the shed, such as high vacuum, incorrect pulsation, unsuitable liners, dry teats and overmilking and should be addressed. Failure to rectify will see an increase in mastitis.
The teats should be supple, smooth and crack-free. Aside from looking unsightly, cracked teats harbour bacteria and are uncomfortable for the cow. If more than 10 percent of the herd have cracked teats, then the teat spray system and environmental factors should be reviewed.
Correct teat spray coverage will help improve teat condition and ensure the teat end is protected from bacteria, along with offering healing of the teat ends if there is damage. All four teats should be fully covered with spray (fronts included), with a drip on the end of the teat. Adding Donaghys Glycerine or Emolan will aid in the recovery of cracked teats and damaged teat ends. Observe auto-sprayers at every milking to ensure they are working and then every week or so fully assess teat spray coverage (as outlined above). Observe at least 50 cows during this process. You may find that some bails are being missed or cups sprayed when the cow is still milking. This may indicate that the sensors are not working properly or the tension bars are not correctly positioned. Ensure these are rectified. The same principles apply for manual spraying. Use a teat spray concentration that is appropriate for your level of mastitis risk and the time of year. While it can be tempting to drop back the rate as the season progresses, think about herd level risk factors such as mastitis incidence rate, teat condition and teat end damage, along with the environmental challenge, to determine if dropping the rate is appropriate. Make a fresh batch of teat spray every
2-3 days and use 20ml per cow per milking for manual spraying and higher for auto sprayers.
Ideally liners should be changed every 2500 milkings so have a system to ensure this happens. Using the liners past this time will compromise the milking system and teat health. Ensure the liner you have is appropriate for your cows and shed. An incorrect liner is a common cause of teat end damage. Donaghys has an excellent selection of liners, teat sprays and emollients. Speak to your local Farmlands or Donaghys TFO for ways they can help your herd perform at its best.
For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.
Article supplied by Donaghys
| Observe how comfortable the cows are in the shed, or if they are kicking or fidgety.
Don’t let docks and weeds control you!
Control docks and other broadleaf weeds in one hit with Dockstar® and Baton® 800WSG. Left unchecked, these weeds can create pasture suppression this spring.
Tailing ideal time for selenium, B12 doses
Selenium and vitamin B12 are both vital nutrients, and if your sheep are deficient it can have a significant economic impact. If your farm soils are low in selenium and/ or cobalt, tailing is an excellent time to begin supplementation.
Selenium is a trace mineral found in soil and pasture; once ingested, it acts as an antioxidant, preventing and repairing cell damage. Selenium-deficient sheep may have low fertility, be ill-thrifty or immune-suppressed. About 30 percent of NZ pastures provide insufficient selenium for grazing stock.1 If you are unsure about the selenium status of your farm, work with your vet and/ or farm advisor on some testing before supplementing, as overdosing can cause toxicity. Where selenium supplementation is indicated, 2mg is the optimal dose for lambs 10-20kg in weight, while 5mg is more appropriate for heavier sheep2
Vitamin B12 is important for energy metabolism. Young, growing ruminants, like lambs from tailing, have the highest B12 requirements of any class of stock.
Lambs with B12 deficiency show signs of ill-thrift despite grazing good green pasture. Cobalt is the trace element required for vitamin B12 synthesis, but about 46 percent of New Zealand pastures provide insufficient cobalt for sheep.3 While you should be careful about over-supplementing selenium, vitamin B12 has a high safety margin4 and can be used at the same time as other cobalt supplements, such as mineralised drenches.
Supplementation of selenium and/or vitamin B12 from tailing may coincide with lambs receiving clostridial vaccines such as Multine® , New Zealand’s leading 5-in-1 vaccine. Clostridial vaccination programmes require that lambs receive two doses – a sensitiser at tailing or weaning followed by a booster dose 4-6 weeks later. Stock should then receive an annual booster of clostridial vaccine, with replacement ewes receiving their booster pre-lamb to provide passive protection to their lambs via colostrum. For convenient selenium and vitamin B12 supplementation from tailing,
Multine is now available with B12 (Multine B12) or with B12 and a 2mg dose of selenium in combination (Multine B12 Selenised).
For ewes 2-4 weeks pre-lamb, Multine 5-in-1 Selenised (containing 5mg selenium) or Multine B12 are appropriate if you would like to combine clostridial vaccination with injectable selenium or B12 supplementation.
For more information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.
1.Beef and Lamb New Zealand, Trace Element Nutrition of Sheep, March 2020. www.beeflambnz.com
2.West D, Bruere N and Ridler A (2009). “The Sheep, Health, Disease and Production”. Massey University Press p138, 200.
3.Knowles SO and Grace ND. Vitamin B12 status and the effects of vitamin B12 supplementation during the first year of life of spring calves from pasture-fed dairy herds. NZ Vet Journal, 2014: 274–8
4.Mulvaney C, Hodgson B, Cuttance W. MSD data on file.
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Controlling parasites helps cows deal with challenges
Calving is a stressful time for farmer and beast alike. For dairy cows it’s physiologically challenging –imagine having to suddenly change your diet and start producing kilos of milk solids. Then just as you reach peak milk production, your ovaries need to crank into gear to produce viable eggs that hold the pregnancy. It’s a tough gig being a cow.
There are a few things we can do to ease the challenges they face. One is minimising their exposure to parasitic roundworm larvae. Cows ingest these larvae with grass every day, thousands of them. Adult cows, being older, bigger and with immunity through previous exposure, are less affected than calves but the larvae still cause production loss. The cow’s genetics will determine how the loss is expressed. Improved production and conception have been shown when worm larvae are removed. Removing the larvae isn’t done by spraying pasture but by using a long-acting endectocide such as Cydectin® Pour-On. Cydectin PourOn has the longest activity against the key production-limiting worm in cows, Ostertagia ostertagi. As larvae are ingested, they are killed in the cow before the body needs to react, saving the cow’s nutrients for a better purpose. Trials in New Zealand and overseas have shown that when cows are exposed to a larval challenge there are production responses from treatment, and this effect is repeatable.1,2,3,4,5
We should always be mindful of drench resistance, so to minimise the risk of this and maximise production gains,
be strategic about which animals you treat. Logically, cows that are younger, in poor condition or have been sick or compromised in some way will likely have poorer immune responses than other cows and so may be more affected by worms. Treat them rather than the ones that are in good condition and doing well.
To make things easy, Cydectin Pour-On has nil withholding periods for milk, meat and bobby calves, making it a great option to have in the shed around calving. It’s also rainfast and made in New Zealand to rigorous Zoetis quality standards.
For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.
Cydectin is a registered trademark of Zoetis. ACVM No. A6203
1. Murphy, A. The effect of treatment with moxidectin, a long acting endectocide, on milk produc-tion in lactating dairy cows, Buiatrics World Congress, 1998.
2. McPherson WB, et al. Effect of a peri-parturient eprinomectin treatment of dairy cows on milk production, NZVJ, 2001.
3. McPherson WB. The impact of eprinomectin treatment on dairy cattle reproductive performance, Proc Society of DCV NZVA, 2000.
4. Sanchez J, et al. A meta-analysis of the milk-production response after anthelmintic treatment in naturally infected adult dairy cows, Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 2004.
5. Geurden T. et al. A multi-country study to assess the effect of a treatment with moxidectin pour-on during the dry period on milk production in dairy cows, Vet Parasitol, 2017.
Article supplied by Zoetis NZ
| Cows ingest thousands of roundworm larvae with grass every day.
Switch means no lambs lost to abomasal bloat
Lynley Wyeth rears 350-500 orphan lambs annually. She and her husband Matt own Spring Valley Enterprises in north-west Masterton. They run 15,000 stock units, 80 percent sheep and 20 percent Angus breeding cattle.
The orphan lambs are a mix of triplets, quads, quins, any that are mismothered or have lost their mothers and those affected by severe weather.
In her first few years of rearing lambs, Lynley had consistent trouble with abomasal bloat. ‘Yoghurtising’ milk was sometimes successful but not always. Another challenge was weaning lambs from milk onto concentrates.
Searching for a solution to the bloat issue, in 2013 Lynley came across AgriVantage’s Sprayfo Primo Lamb Milk Replacer.
“Switching to Sprayfo solved our abomasal bloat issues straight away,” she says. “I haven’t lost a single lamb to bloat since we started using it. There was also a considerable drop in nutritional scours cases, and weight gain was more consistent and higher than before.” The lambs gain 200-220g/ day on average pre-weaning.
Transitioning the lambs onto a pellet became so much easier too, Lynley says. Being whey-based, Sprayfo Primo Lamb is quickly digested and helps to enhance rumen development because the animals seek out concentrates sooner.
The orphan lambs initially come into nursery pens where they are closely monitored (3-4 times daily). Most are fed Launchpad18 colostrum on arrival, followed by Sprayfo Primo Lamb
supplemented with Biopect, an allnatural anti-scour prebiotic, for days 2, 3 and 4.
The prebiotic encourages and maintains good gut health and gives young animals a boost after periods of risk, such as stress from a new environment, change in diet or adverse weather.
Once Lynley is happy that a lamb is thriving, it is moved into the rearing shed where the animals have on-demand access to milk through automatic feeders. Until 2 years ago, the lambs were fed with adapted calf feeders. Lynley says Sprayfo has worked well with manual and automatic systems.
“This milk replacer is easy to mix manually and any equipment used is easy to clean,” she says. “It goes through the automatic feeders easily too. There’s no blocking of tubes; even if a tube doesn’t get sucked, the milk doesn’t solidify in the tube.”
Lynley says support from the AgriVantage team has been invaluable. “AgriVantage had huge input into our shed set-up and continue to feed us good information, tips and tricks. I remember when we introduced the automatic feeder and the lambs were chewing the teats off. Their advice was to try recessed teats – it changed my life!”
For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.
Article supplied by AgriVantage
| Lynley Wyeth tends to orphaned 2-day-old lambs in a nursery pen.
Grow perfect fruit
ChampION++® is a unique WDG Copper formulation controlling a range of bacterial diseases on grapes, as well as other fruit, vegetable and brassica crops.
Exclusive to
Available in selected Farmlands stores.
Kiwifruit fertiliser ensures right nutrients at right time
Kiwifruit growers know the importance of supplying vines with nutrients at key seasonal plant growth stages.
“Nutrient deficiencies are known to impact vine health, fruit yield and post-harvest fruit storage and quality,” says Ballance Agri-Nutrients Science Extension Officer Angus Dowson.
Annual fertiliser applications should aim to replace the quantity of nutrients removed during crop harvest and supply additional nutrients to support root, shoot and leaf growth, as well as maintain long-term soil fertility.
“For example, when kiwifruit is harvested, more than 9t/ha of dry matter from the orchard might be removed, along with large amounts of essential nutrients. These nutrients need to be replaced, otherwise soil nutrient levels decline and vines begin to suffer.”
Soil testing
Soil testing is one of the best ways to check a fertiliser programme’s effectiveness and should be done annually between late autumn and midto-late winter at a similar time and place (to establish more robust trend data).
Sampling involves taking 15-20 cores from sites across a block to best represent the block’s attributes. Blocks could be based on age, plant variety, performance, soil type, topography or fertiliser history. Clean equipment should be used to take samples from the root zone of the female vines at a depth of 15cm. Samples should be sent to the laboratory as quickly as possible.
New formula
The reformulated Advantage Kiwi fertiliser range better meets the needs of growers and reflects the latest research and expert advice on kiwifruit nutrient requirements.
“The Advantage Kiwi range provides a series of science-based products tailored to meet the requirements of the kiwifruit vine throughout the year. This makes it easier and faster for growers to apply the right nutrients at critical times,” says Angus.
For example, Advantage Kiwi Bud Break is specially formulated to meet vines’ requirements at bud break in September. “At bud break, vines need nutrients that will support new leaves to grow
and capture the maximum amount of sunlight to turn into carbohydrates (sugars). It’s really important this process is not limited.”
Advantage Kiwi Bud Break has a base of YaraBela CAN, a high-quality nitrogen fertiliser, and contains nitrogen (as nitrate and ammonium for optimum plant uptake) and fast release magnesium, both of which are critical for photosynthesis and leaf development.
“Potassium is particularly important for fruit taste but also supports the plant’s water and cell structure. Advantage Kiwi Bud Break contains potassium in the form of chloride-free sulphate of potash.”
Advantage Kiwi Bud Break is an excellent physical blend for spreading and depending on the yield of the orchard is typically applied in the range of 300-600kg/ha.
For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.
Article supplied by Ballance Agri-Nutrients
Taking care of the bad guys. And the good guys.
There are goodies and baddies lurking everywhere in your fodder beet crop. Fortunately, MAVRIK® can tell the difference.
MAVRIK offers powerful control of Nysius and cutworm in your fodder beet crop. This unique SP insecticide is IPM friendly and crop-safe, yet highly effective against pests.
MAVRIK is far more user-friendly than existing OPs, but no less effective. Combined with our other fodder beet specific products, like GOLTIX®, TOREROTM, ETHOSAT® and RIFLE®, it will help maximise the return from your crop.
Visit your local Farmlands store today and ask about MAVRIK.
Mavrik Aquaflo Insecticide (Mavrik)
Goltix, Mavrik, Rifle and Torero
Expert optimistic on fungicide resistance
As all cereal growers know, catastrophic weather events are the single biggest threat to yields. Disruption can last for months, along with loss of income. Short of the safety net of insurance, there’s not a lot that can be done about it.
Global experts say there is another adverse factor close behind weather in terms of impact that we do have the tools to combat – fungicide resistance.
In recent years, New Zealand has experienced resistance to chemistries that have been relied on for generations, raising a red flag for careful management to protect existing and new chemistries.
At the forefront of this science is fungicide authority and ADAMA UK Technical Specialist Andy Bailey. Speaking from his home in England, Andy, who has visited New Zealand twice to learn from local experience and share his knowledge, says the science is available to address the issue of resistance but it is still a challenge.
“The new chemistry is brilliant, but for how long? It’s all about how we can protect these single-site chemistries and their efficacy,” he says.
Andy advocates including multi-site protectants such as ADAMA New Zealand’s Phoenix® Fungicide (Phoenix) in spray programmes.
“Multi-site fungicides should be the first thing in the tank. Folpet, the active in Phoenix, is definitely extending the life of single-site chemistry. There is no known resistance to folpet anywhere in the world.”
Andy says with all resistance, the first thing to go is the curative effect. Then
doses tend to be increased to achieve field control. “Single-sites are still badly exposed to fungi’s ability to mutate. I tell people; folpet will do the same year after year after year. New chemistry will do extremely well, but then we’ll start to see erosion because it’s still single-site,” he says.
ADAMA New Zealand Commercial Manager Daren Mabey says the new single-site chemistry on the market, including Questar, Revystar, Vimoy Iblon and Caley Iblon, can be protected by Phoenix. “What’s important here is to think about the future, to learn from overseas experience and to take action now before we suffer other severe control issues.”
ADAMA New Zealand says for Septoria, application at T1 with a DMI such as Bolide® is strongly recommended and supported by industry bodies.
If only one spray of Phoenix is being applied in barley, T2 is the optimum timing. This ensures that leaves 2 and 3 are protected. For best results though, a programmed approach shows even higher levels of Ramularia control when using Phoenix at both T1 and T2. These applications maximise the crop’s green leaf area index to maximise yields by promoting healthy spikelet and ear development.
Phoenix can now be used in greenfeed crops and up to GS 39 in wheat and GS 59 in barley. Bolide can be used at all critical growth stages of both crops but treated crops should not be grazed or fed within 42 days of application.
For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.
Article supplied by ADAMA NZ Ltd
| Protecting existing and new tools is vital for cereal growers.
For more information about these products speak with your local Farmlands representative or visit crop-solutions.basf.co.nz
All over the country more and more growers and agronomists are turning to the trusted performers and the ever-growing range of crop protection and production solutions from BASF
Candice and Daniel Nichol, Waimate, Canterbury
The weigh in.
W-0 Weigh Scale
Entry level weigh scale to measure livestock performance. Monitoring livestock weights is a powerful performance measurement tool, giving you insights into animal health, growth and performance. Use the Gallagher Animal Performance App to manage your animals straight from your phone.
Talk to your local Farmlands team now for more info.
Protect your new pasture against grass grub
suSCon® Green controls grass grub and manuka beetle in turf, cereals, clover seed and pasture, and black vine weevil in ornamentals.
The New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards aim to capture and preserve the history of our country’s farming families. Each month we will share stories from Farmlands shareholders who have worked their land for 100 years or more.
Totara gives pioneers access and income
A densely wooded block near Taihape in time became a thriving dairy farm.
Around 1890, the government surveyed a block of near-flat land within the Taihape area into 200-acre blocks suitable for dairy farms.
John George Collins and his wife, Enid Annie were allocated two blocks in the survey in 1895.
The only access to the farms was across a fallen totara tree spanning the Moawhango River, wide enough to carry a horse and cart. All the blocks were in solid native trees – totara, maire, matai, kahikatea, lancewood, five finger, cabbage, etc. The bush was so dense that the milking cows had to have a bell around their neck to be found for each milking.
John also acquired two of the adjoining blocks after the owners found the task of felling the bush too daunting. He built his first house with hand
split totara, corrugated roof and chimney. Unfortunately, a fire caught the building and everything was lost, including many early records.
In 1903, John rebuilt a modern homestead to cater for his growing family. In 1904, 5 acres was given for a school that is still there today, and later 4 acres was used for the house for the local “roadman”.
Early income came from the totara trees. Totara sleepers were hand split and pushed into the Moawhango River to float down into the Rangitikei River, where they were trapped at Bulls so they could be used for the Main Trunk railway line that arrived at Taihape in 1904.
After the war, John retired back to Palmerston North and the farm was taken over by three of his sons.
The eldest, Douglas received the homestead and original three blocks, whilst the other boys each received one of the remaining blocks on which they built their own houses.
In 1929, Douglas married Edith Alexandra Symes from Alexandra and
they had three children – Anna (Gay), Enid (Lorraine) and Douglas (Gordon).
In 1967, Gordon married Myra Ann Smith from Rotorua. Douglas and Edith retired to Taupo, at which time Gordon and Myra took over the homestead blocks with the other blocks subsequently sold to neighbours. They raised four children – Mark (deceased at five years), Julie Ann, Todd Ashley and Sharon Lee.
In 2003, Todd married Natasha Marlee Stratford from Dannevirke. They have two children, Sienna and Joshua. In 2016, Todd and Natasha took over the running of the farm in conjunction with purchasing an additional 200 acres which allowed Gordon and Myra to continue residing in the original homestead.
| Todd and Natasha with their children, Joshua and Sienna, 2018.
| Homestead built in 1903.
| John and Enid with their growing family (there were three sets of twins).
Rural market update
The New Zealand lifestyle market continues to set new benchmarks hitting $10.5b in annual sales to June 2021, up from $5.7b the same time last year.
We’re often asked if the residential market is having an impact on the rural property market, and for the most part, there is no evidence to show any effect. Up until this year the rural market had been in decline since 2017. The lifestyle market however has definitely benefited from the residential sales as property owners trade up and take advantage of windfall gains.
Lifestyle rolling 12 month sales
Period endNo. of salesTotal Sales value
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
10,398$10,530,217,414
10,405$10,279,543,070
10,052$9,797,700,729
9,391$9,019,662,881
9,126$8,641,391,580
8,885$8,232,423,217
8,814$8,081,114,829
8,416$7,593,902,263
7,959$7,028,750,092
7,630$6,629,852,625
7,163$6,116,609,327
6,845$5,757,659,689
The knock-on effect for rural has been lifestyle gains now being converted into more land, typically small rural holdings that can support improved farming scale. Farms that are being amalgamated are generating value gains too, through subdividing the homestead or creating smaller parcels of grazing land to be sold off. For some, this will be a steppingstone property towards the goal of owning an economic farm. For many others, particularly rural professionals, these smaller farms represent the perfect size to now legitimately buy a pen of cattle at the local sale!
It is quite amazing that in many provincial locations around the country, within 20km of the town boundary, just how many lifestyle properties have valuations of $1m+. Historically, you got a lot more house for your dollars when buying a developed lifestyle block. These days with the significant value appreciation of the land, it’s a very different story.
The gains in our lifestyle market over the last 12 months are without precedent and the demand for a better quality of life for the family, and to be a little more self-sufficient, does not appear to be backing off anytime soon. For those lifestylers out there thinking of selling, don’t be too quick to take the first offer in the current market. Our sales processes regularly deliver unforeseen premiums on behalf of our vendors. Hence requesting a professional market appraisal heading into spring may be a good process to determine next steps. No one location is the same and our local knowledge in the regions is always a great assist and potentially the catalyst to set you up for the future.
So, to close where we started, current valuations and sales activity is without precedent in the current lifestyle market. This is a good news story and it’s having a positive economic impact across provincial New Zealand and a knock-on effect in support of the rural market too.
For rural and lifestyle property advice from a national team of committed salespeople, supported by our expert marketing team, right across New Zealand, call 0800 367 5263 or visit pb.co.nz
Conrad Wilkshire, GM Rural for Property Brokers Ltd conrad@pb.co.nz
Porangahau 708 Old Hill Road
Central Hawkes Bay
An extensive breeding property
Tender
609 hectares breeding property in the Porangahau district of Central Hawke’s Bay, 40 km south of Waipukurau and on the boundary of the Porangahau Village. An approx. 30 min drive from Waipukurau. Contour is classified as easy, medium, steep hill rising from sea level to 260 m. The country is relatively clean with poplars and willows providing shade and erosion control. Reticulated water from elevated dam reservoirs. lmprovements include, four bedroom and office, renovated homestead with views to the coast and over the farm. 4 std woolshed, covered yards and an excellent set of cattle yards. A feature of the property are 2 lane systems providing for good access to the farm. The property is run in conjunction with other land and is utilized as a breeding property for lambs and cattle.
Being offered as a 609 hectare block Stoneridge does comprise 4 titles. The vendors have sold their capital stock and are committed to selling.
42 2 2
Tender closes 2.00pm Thursday 30th September 2021 at Property Brokers Ltd office, 98 Ruataniwha Street, Waipukurau
View By appointment
Web pb.co.nz/WR94108
Pat Portas
M 027 447 0612
P 06 928 0521
patp@pb.co.nz
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