Rural News 22 Oct 2013

opinion Go dairy farming for a real living wage. page 30

southdowns Easy lambing and early mean kill dates find favour with commercial producers. page 41-43

Rural NEWS

angus forum A new premium brand soon to be launched in Auckland resturants.

page 13

to all farmers, for all farmers

october 22, 2013: Issue 548

www.ruralnews.co.nz

Watchdog promises more bite P E TE R BU R K E peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

THE MEAT Industry Excellence group’s (MIE) new chairman John McCarthy says that as a “watchdog group” it will get involved anywhere it can make a difference for the betterment of farmers and the meat industry. McCarthy, who has farming interests near Ohakune, has succeeded Richard Young who is standing for the board of Silver Fern Farms. McCarthy applauds Young’s leadership of MIE, saying he is one of the best chairmen he has worked with. Another former MIE executive member, Dan Jex-Blake, is also standing for the SFF board. McCarthy says MIE is endorsing both Young and Jex-Blake, but neither is standing as MIE candidates. McCarthy describes Jex-Blake as commercially savvy and hard-working. “The meat industry is reaching a crossroads where farmers really have to make up their minds to continue to support the status quo or reach for the sky,” he told Rural News. “It’s basically a vote for being price-takers in perpetuity,

or for change. That’s not a criticism of the current model, it’s just the way it is.” MIE says sheep and beef farmers should not continue to be forced into the hills by the dairy sector. McCarthy says the ginger group is committed to scale and volume and to committed supply. “Committed supply is the way to go. It gives companies a bankable platform that gives bankers certainty and allows them to do long-range planning as opposed to the short-term planning that dominates New Zealand at the moment.

“It also obviously has advantages in the market because if you have committed supply, volume and scale, it puts you in a much stronger position when you are dealing with the supermarket chains. It cuts down the risk of being kneecapped on price; when you’ve got 26 players in one market that’s what inevitably happens.” MIE wants better cooperation between the cooperatives and McCarthy concedes this may not be amalgamation. He says if the cooperatives worked together they would control 53% of the

supply. That’s why he is urging farmers to vote for the two former MIE members standing for the SFF board. “MIE is totally focused on farmers’ fortunes. We don’t want to appease everyone and we think the whole industry has been badly served by the model of having to keep everyone happy – pretending we are all as one – when we are not. “We are prepared to state our position and put our line in the sand and defend that because we are confident about the reasoning behind our arguments.”

she's a winner! Isabel Tait, from Western Southland, was one of ten agriculture students recently honoured at Massey University’s annual awards dinner in Palmerston North. About 200 students, staff and guests attended the function, which recognises the outstanding achievements of Massey’s top agriculture students. More page 16

Adapt or die! P ET ER BUR K E peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

MANY NEW Zealand primary sector companies are failing to keep pace with competitors and are not innovative enough in connecting with consumers. This is one of many points highlighted in the latest KPMG Agenda report which, this issue, focuses on “evolving a truly customer-centric industry”. The 40-page report recommends changes it says are essential for New Zealand to retain its competitive advance in global markets. KPMG claims our primary sector companies are more akin to Nokia and Kodak in their willingness to review the world through “a different lens”. Both these companies have been overtaken by others – such as Apple – which are far more innovative. The report says most New Zealand companies have not been willing to take a blank sheet of paper and re-engineer how they deliver to customers. “Put simply, New Zealand exporters are not consistently producing innovations that can sustainably retain a price premium for our products.” KPMG recommends New Zealand companies incorporate new technology in their products to enhance consumer experience and/ or provide a ‘virtual’ shopping environment. – (More on the KPMG report, page 5.)

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

news 3 issue 548

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News ������������������������������ 1-20 World ������������������������������ 21 Markets �������������������� 22-23 Agribusiness ����������� 24-27 Hound, Edna ������������������� 28 Contacts ������������������������� 28 Opinion ����������������������� 28-32 Management ����������� 34-37 Animal Health �������� 38-40 southdown special ������������������������������������� 41-43

Danone dumps Fonterra in it A n drew Swallow andrews@ruralnews.co.nz

FONTERRA’S BOTULISM balls-up looks likely to cost Danone well over $1 billion, judging by figures released in a third quarter update from the French firm. It says €170m of sales were lost in the third quarter due to the scare, and anticipates a €350m impact on sales for the year. A €280m hit on sales margin is also expected as it incurs extra costs in efforts to rebuild sales. At last week’s exchange rate of €0.62 per NZ$, those lost sales and extra costs alone total just over NZ$1 billion, and Danone estimates there will be a €300m impact on cash flow,

suggesting there will be an interest cost to add to the bill. Fonterra last week refused to answer Rural News’ questions on the subject, including whether it would be revising its profit forecast as a result of the Danone figures, saying only that its dispute resolution process with Danone is on-going, and referring to its October 2 statement, in which it said it strongly denied any legal liability to Danone in relation to the recall. Earlier this month international news agency Bloomberg reported Danone seeking at least €200m (NZ$323m) in compensation from Fonterra. Danone’s statement announcing its

third quarter result blamed the drop in its baby nutrition division purely on Fonterra. “The Baby Nutrition division saw a very steep decline in Q3 sales due to the false alert issued by Fonterra, which triggered a recall of selected infant formula products in eight Asian markets…. “Danone estimates that the incident will have a significant impact on its 2013 results,” it said. However, Bloomberg noted Danone has also been weighed down by bribery claims at its Dumex baby-milk business in China, where it was fined for fixing prices of infant formula. @rural_news

Farmers back Fonterra FONTERRA FARMERS have strongly backed the co-op’s handling of the precautionary recall of WPC80 products, claims chairman John Wilson. He says there was a lot of discussion on the false botulism scare at recent farmers meetings. “There was some good robust questioning but the strong support we received from farmers is quite humbling.” Wilson says the board inquiry into the WPC80 incident is ongoing and directors could not provide a lot of details to farmers. Fonterra directors held 45 meetings nationwide, between 15 and 90 farmers attending each meeting. Wilson says it was the first round of annual account meetings in five years that did not feature the co-op’s capital structure. – Sudesh Kissun

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Machinery and Products ������������������ 44-48 Rural Trader ���������� 49-50 Head Office Top Floor, 29 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622 Phone: 09-307 0399 Fax: 09-307 0122 Postal Address PO Box 3855, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 Published by: Rural News Group Printed by: PMP Print Contacts Editorial: editor@ruralnews.co.nz Advertising material: davef@ruralnews.co.nz Rural News online: www.ruralnews.co.nz Subscriptions: subsrndn@ruralnews.co.nz

FARMING TOUR operator Farm-To-Farm Tours, Rangiora, set itself a record early October when it shepherded 170 Colombian cattlemen on a five-day visit to Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty. “They were looking chiefly at our dairying systems before going on to Queensland to look at beef farming,” said tour organiser and FTF principal

Ross Macmillan. All members of Fedegan (Colombian Federation of Cattlemen with 400,000 members), the farmers were invited by Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy during a visit to Colombia earlier this year. Fedegan takes its farmers to a different country each year.

The Colombians visited six dairy farms including seasonal and split calving properties, share milkers, high input and low input farms and Landcorp dairy development blocks near Taupo. Colombia has 10 times more people than New Zealand and four times more land, Macmillan says. Vast tracts are undeveloped.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

4 news

Europeans face shortages of New Zealand lamb there is a subtle difference when you sit in front of a group of customers with varipeterb@ruralnews.co.nz ous charts and indicate what you [sold] last EUROPEAN LAMB buyers have finally year, then in the last six months, then what caught on to the influence China is having you have already sold. “Then when you talk about next year’s on the world sheepmeat market, says Silver Fern Farms chief executive Keith Cooper. programmes and you say you can supply only half what they traditionally He’s just returned from would want to buy… that starts Europe where, among other to hit home.” things, he attended the huge At Anuga, Cooper says, they world food fair Anuga in “don’t pitch a tent and set up a Cologne, Germany. There he sales site” but it’s a place where met many buyers of New Zeayou can see a lot of people in a land lamb and updated them on short time. the supply position here. “Everybody can start talking “The market now under- Keith Cooper about their specific business stand New Zealand now has no unsold inventory. We have a lower lamb plans with us in the coming 12 months. kill coming this season and we have China People have different interpretations and already booked for significant volumes this different wants and desires on the back of the current situation. We are talking year,” Cooper told Rural News. “It adds up to a very tight supply market, about a wide range of things, whether it’s which has seen the price rise in Europe over a shortage of lamb meats or lamb racks or the last three weeks and this will continue the launch of our reserve beef or venison to rise as the realities of the short supply supply programmes. It’s a very broad discussion.” from New Zealand hits home.” Regarding China, Cooper points out Cooper says if the Europeans weren’t aware of the New Zealand-China situa- that SFF has been in that market for 18 years but it has grown markedly in the last tion they are now. “They were probably aware of it, but six months. peter burke

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Mike Petersen wants European markets to be paying a higher price for NZ lamb.

Pay more or lose! EUROPEAN SHEEPMEAT producers are at last awakening to the influence China is having on the global sheepmeat market, says Beef + Lamb NZ chairman Mike Petersen. He says unless Europe is prepared to pay higher prices for lamb, New Zealand could ship a lot

more to China. Petersen has just returned from an international sheep forum in Brussels where about a 100 producers from around the world discussed issues of sheep meat production and marketing. There was much discussion of what’s happening globally in the market, much of it big news to the Europeans who operate almost exclusively in their own market. “Our knowledge of global markets is one way we can provide leadership in the sheepmeat world – by talking about what’s happening in other markets around the world and how that’s going to influence particularly the European market,” Petersen told Rural News. “At the forum a big talking point was China and the effect and influence it is having on supply demand and pricing, and that if Europe isn’t prepared to pay better prices for sheepmeat then,

frankly, China will take everything New Zealand has. That was real eye opener for them.” Petersen told the Europeans there was a risk they could lose out on having New Zealand lamb on supermarket shelves during the European ‘offseason’. That would badly hit European farmers because no supermarket would be prepared to have lamb on their shelves for just six months of the year. Petersen hopes this message gets through to both European farmers and supermarkets. “I think we will still send significant volumes to Europe this year but we won’t fill the quota; there is no doubt about that. Remembering the quota year runs from January to December, I am picking we’ll fill 75-80%, which is low in historical terms.” This is just the second forum of its kind – the first was held in 2009 – and Petersen says that

one was quite acrimonious. At the time there was a lot of tension because of the competition between New Zealand exports and domestic production in that market. “This time we have had good discussions and conversations and it seems we are all much better informed about each other’s sector. “Frankly that’s because of all the hard work we have put in over the last five years to get this space,” he says. Petersen says neither China nor the USA were at the forum, but James Parsons (Beef+Lamb chair– elect) went to Russia on the way to the forum and also had talks with Polish farmers. Peterson says there was a great deal of interest in the ‘extension’ work BLNZ is doing and they were asked to help at least one country on this issue. – Peter Burke @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

news 5

Invermay dismay! A N D REW SWA LLOW andrews@ruralnews.co.nz

CROWN RESEARCH Institute AgResearch says it hears southerners’ concerns about its plans to gut Invermay, but has so far avoided making any commitment to reconsider. That’s despite AgResearch’s executives and directors meeting regional and city council chairs and executives, and university and farming representatives, in Dunedin earlier this month. “Our concern originally was ‘don’t take these 85

jobs’, but it’s grown much wider than that,” Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Woodhead told Rural News after the meeting. “We’re really concerned this will have a significant impact on AgResearch’s ability to deliver the science for the pastoral and food sectors that New Zealand requires.” Livestock genetics and deer research stand out as two areas set to suffer most under the move to ‘hub’ AgResearch’s operations at Lincoln

and Palmerston North, says Woodhead, noting AgResearch’s own consultation found 80% of staff do not want to relocate. “The concept of hubbing has some merit but it shouldn’t be at the cost of existing successful teams such as we have at Invermay Dunedin in deer and genetics.” Invermay’s infrastructure is also some of AgResearch’s best, notably the Christie building which opened only five years ago. “I really question the need to spend $100m

on new buildings when there’s capacity at Invermay that’s underutilised. And it’s AgResearch’s most productive campus…. But at the end of the day, science is about the people that do it, not the buildings.” That’s echoed by Southland sheep, beef and dairy farmer Andrew Tripp, from near Gore, who was also at the meeting in Dunedin. He’s critical of the lack of consultation with farmers. “The biggest impact for me would be as a stud breeder. The changes

ORC chair Stephen Woodhead wants AgResearch to reconsider its restructure.

affecting the genetics and genomics side of the research would have a direct effect.” Even if long-term the genetics team could be rebuilt at Lincoln, in the short-to-medium term there would be a severe impact from the restructure, he believes. “We don’t want to lose the edge.” He’s also concerned that with only 30 staff left at Invermay, the next move would be closure. “There would be a lot of empty space and as we’ve learnt in the sheep indus-

try, that usually ends up in closures.” AgResearch chairman Sam Robinson last week told Rural News there is no commitment to change the plans, which were “well thought out and twoand-a-half to three years in the making”.

However, there’s no commitment not to change the plans either. “We didn’t go to the meeting with closed minds. We went there to listen and there were some well thought-out submissions put up by the southern leaders.”

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

6 news

Bigger investment in China needed – exporter PA M TI PA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

NEW ZEALAND must put far greater resources into solving regulatory issues with China on meat exports, says Anzco Foods chairman Sir Graeme Harrison. He likened it to when Britain joined the European Union and says it needs to come through public-private partnerships to build trust and relationships in China. Speaking at last week’s China Business Summit – at which all speeches were translated immediately into Mandarin – Harrison said the New Zealand meat industry does not have a reputation for food safety issues in China; instead its difficulties are market-related. “We are being presented with huge opportunities that require a concerted New Zealand publicprivate partnership on a larger scale than ocurred even – in a trade preservation sense – when Britain

joined the European Union. “Decisions need to be made on how we prioritise our limited political capital. So far dairy, rightly, has been the main beneficiary, but a broader approach is overdue.” Anzco’s business focus is on some downstream-manufactured products not currently allowed in China. The process of getting New Zealand processing plants listed by the China regulatory authority AQSIQ has been tortuous. It took one plant four years to get listed and only five Anzco sites are listed; 17 sites in the industry, certified for China by MPI, await listing. Chilled imports, sheep and beef offals and meat paste are prohibited. But Harrison says New Zealand needs to step up to meet these challenges or miss out on big opportunities, not forgetting that the US, Japan and EU compliance journeys had presented huge challenges. “Ultimately importing countries have to rely on the export-country controlling authority operating in

Graeme Harrison says NZ needs to step up to meet challenges in China or miss out.

their best interests. This requires acknowledgement of equivalents which can only be achieved through people relationships and trust formed. “In this regard New Zealand has been too quick with China to play the equivalents card and not put in place the qualified [people] to work through the trust building process. “There are four key ports in New Zealand’s meat trade with China. We need to lift our performance in understanding the import authority’s requirements at these destinations. In conclusion, the pace of change in China and the demand for imports

has been underestimated and underresourced by New Zealand despite the trade goals set by leaders in 2010. “If we are serious about goals we need to plan execution steps. The equivalents journey with China has to accommodate internal food safety scare concerns and require some scrutiny of the New Zealand regulatory model. Trust comes through people-to-people relations and requires a public-private partnership to settle priorities.” Trade Minister Tim Groser said the opportunities in China were huge but the challenges facing our organisations and government were huge. Mistakes had been made in meat certification. “People who have responsibility need to start putting in place the management systems necessary to address these problems. Don’t expect a result quickly.” On the issues of the AQSIQ he said this needed to be handled with enormous care and was not something for amateur politicians to wade into.

Crucial FMD experience first-hand A GROUP of ten including vets, farming leaders and MPI staff will take part in foot-andmouth disease (FMD) training in Asia next year to gain first-hand experience in working with the disease. “The training will develop a larger pool of people in New Zealand with experience in recognising, diagnosing and controlling the disease,” says Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy. It is the latest in 18 months of projects involving MPI and an industry working group, including mapping resources for an FMD response, including a personnel inventory; pre-agreement on a notification process for stakeholders; carcass disposal plans; a vaccination workshop last month; trade pre-agreements; identification of recovery needs; and a Trans-Tasman action plan announced May. “The agricultural sector is the powerhouse of New Zealand’s economy and any outbreak would have a major impact. This is why biosecurity is my number one priority as minister, and why the Government and industry are working together on this issue,” says Guy. – FMD would cost Australia $51 billion – page 19

Rural News // october 22, 2013

news 7

A dam over troubled waters? peter burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

THE HAWKE’S Bay Regional Council’s (HBRC) Ruataniwha dam water storage scheme faces new and tough scrutiny as a result of the local body election. New councillors supported by a ‘growers action group’ are vowing to review public consultation on the scheme; they want assurance it will bring economic benefit and “not a long term ratepayer debt”. One new councillor, former Pipfruit NZ chief executive Peter Beaven, told Rural News the public lacks confidence in the

scheme and its planning process. “There are conflicts of interest that haven’t been properly dealt with by the regional council until now and there is lack of information and communication about the project. Some people are quite disaffected by that…. We need to look at the process and Peter Beaven make sure we get to the end of it much better.” Beaven says while he’s not opposed to the dam as such, he wants the council to give people opportunity and information

Feds back dam FEDERATED FARMERS has got into the Ruataniwha act, with local provincial president Will Foley expressing concern that the project may be delayed. He says the Ruataniwha water storage scheme remains central to Feds. “We appreciate the concerns some may harbour towards it and, frankly, there’s got to be a much better job done of explaining its economic and environmental benefits. “Yet with TrustPower and Ngai Tahu on board, Ruataniwha is just starting to get a real roll on. That’s reinforced by the 96 farmers who have signed expressions of interest covering enough water to irrigate some 11,500ha,” he adds Will Foley says that if momentum was lost now, Feds would be concerned it could delay water storage developments for a very long time.

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to make them feel this is good idea. “There needs to be good public consultation and I’m worried that only two months has been allowed for that process; two months is starting to look like a very short time to me.” Beaven says transparency is a major issue. And conflicts of interest – councillors being on the Ruataniwha feasibility committee and also believing they can vote on the proposal – must be addressed. These councillors cannot be both prosecutor and jury, he says. Beaven claims water rights for farming and horticulture have been badly managed by HBRC and the right to farm severely compromised. “This must change.” The Ruataniwha scheme continues to be in news headlines especially over the submission made by the Department of Conservation. The political ructions over the role Conservation Minister Nick Smith played in the submission by his department were the focus of attention last week in Parliament. (See story page 20.) @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews

Environmentalists challenge process The Environmental Defence Society (EDS) says the Ruataniwha public hearings process is “stacked against” opponents of the scheme. EDS chairman Gary Taylor says he has “serious and compelling concerns” about the fairness of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) process for the Tukituki hearings, which are linked to the project. The hearings, now before a board of inquiry, relate to a proposed plan change for the Tukituki River, Hawke’s Bay, and the Ruataniwha dam scheme. “The board of inquiry process is so heavily stacked against the interests of submitters, that it fails the fundamental requirements of fairness,” Taylor says. “Because government entities are not participating in the hearing, the burden of testing the applicant’s arguments has fallen on the voluntary sector. Engaging in the process is extremely challenging.” He says the council has had years to prepare its case and has produced an overwhelming amount of highly technical evidence that submitters had only four weeks to evaluate and submit on. “These timelines have put enormous and unreasonable pressure on submitters. It gets worse: there are also burdensome administrative requirements, with formal requests needing to be filed to do anything.” Taylor wants the Government to review the process and the board of inquiry to have another look at timeframes.

Rural News // october 22, 2013

8 news MPI under-resourced and underprepared for China scares PA M TI PA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

THE MINISTRY FOR Primary Industries did not have enough resources in China to deal with a succession of threats to its food safety reputation, Minister of Trade Tim Groser says. “Clearly we did not have enough resources in MPI and whenever I raised this issue, the response was “this is an operational matter minister, don’t worry your head about it”, Groser said at a China Business Summit, held in Auckland last week. “They have not had enough resources and I have been saying this for a long time in private.” Groser was answering questions from Labour trade spokesman Phil Goff who cited the DCD response, the botulism scare, Westland nitrates, meat export certification problems and Zespri. He asked if one MPI staff member in Beijing was enough during rapid expansion of meat exports and was the communications strategy good enough

at the time of the DCD release. Groser said, “In terms of communications strategy, the answer is again ‘no’. For people to say ‘it wasn’t a food safety issue’ then to have your ambassador in Beijing hold a press conference to apologise to the Chinese people indicates something has gone wrong. I have been saying this in private, now I am saying it in public. There is no point in trying to hide this under the rug. This is the point of this Tim Groser seminar: to have a public discussion about this.” The summit in Auckland entitled ‘A Wake Up Call’ was attended by several hundred business and trade representatives looking at restoring reputation and trust in China following the Fonterra false

alarm botulism scare. Marco Marinkovich, chief executive of Creative Bank, said MPI had failed to manage the ‘greymarket’ export of infant formula into China via Hong Kong. If contaminated product had got into China via the back door and babies had died, there is no way New Zealand could have traced that product. “New Zealand dodged a bullet”. He says New Zealand needs a massive brand campaign in China. “And we should get rid of corrupt cowboy operators trading on New Zealand’s reputation.” Marinkovich said we needed to raise the standard of infant formula production to pharmaceutical grade and set the world standard for quality and safety. “If we do this

we will be on the fast boat to China. Remember we were 8-1 during the [America’s] Cup. The unthinkable did happen. Let’s not let it happen again in New Zealand’s race for China.” Meanwhile, Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings said his biggest concern was the “level of elevation” about the potential risk and this was based on the “she’ll be right” attitude. “She’ll be not all right. If you start testing for botulism at the end of May and you have only two outcomes, black or white, you need to act – those are key learnings. She’ll be right attitude is not acceptable.” “We are world-class in manufacturing, food safety and food quality but we have to lift the game. We have to become the NASA of food safety and food quality of the world. I have spoken to our key customers, key multinationals who have been affected by this and they are willing to join us.” @rural_news

Just too perfect? NEW ZEALAND’S image was “too perfect” and it had tried hard to maintain that, said Liu Feng, chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. “In other words you are victims of your own creation.” But nobody is perfect and there’s no exception “so it’s time to get the perception right,” he told the China Business Summit. “New Zealand also needs to ramp up its PR and get the message out to customers that it has a quality system that works quite well – too well perhaps, as the botulism false alarm suggests.” But it was better than no alarm, so Fonterra should be given credit for that. The PR could be an uphill battle because of the tough competition in China, he said, and the price of the product still had to be right. But hiccups were inevitable as New Zealand tried to “swallow up a much bigger chunk of China’s market than it ever had dreamt of.” Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon said the botulism scare was a “wake up call” because it made his company look at its own processes in China. “We have actually made some changes…. We have appointed a different PR agency that’s better equipped for a potential major incident in our business.” Andrew Grant, head of global public sector practice at McKinsey, the brand image company that Fonterra has turned to to help rebuild its reputation, said the opportunities presented in China were higher than any other country, but so was the risk and the challenge. The wake-up call was to lift investment and professionalism to the next level.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

news 9

Claims smaller dairy companies cashing in on Fonterra milk dismissed SUD ES H K I SSU N sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

FONTERRA FARMERS are frustrated with independent processors using the co-op’s raw milk to bolster returns and trumping it in the payout stakes.

John Wilson says farmers “rightfully find it very frustrating” that independent processors use raw milk from the co-op to boost their returns. “But we are happy this provision will be closed within two to three years,” he adds.

“ I can understand how Fonterra farmers feel about DIRA milk, but it’s being phased out and everyone has accepted that. It’s a bit mischievous to be still talking about it.” But Waikato independent processor Tatua says its solid performance last season had very little to do with the 40 m litres of raw milk obtained under the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act (DIRA) raw milk regulations. Fonterra finished behind Tatua and Westland Milk in the total-payout battle for the 2013-13 season. Some Fonterra farmers expressed their frustration at farmer meetings held this month to discuss the co-op’s annual accounts. Fonterra chairman

Tatua chairman Steve Allen says there are a whole lot of other things Tatua does to lift its returns. “Our performance has very little to do with DIRA milk. I can understand how Fonterra farmers feel about DIRA milk, but it’s being phased out and everyone has accepted that. It’s a bit mischievous to be still talking about it,” he told Rural News. Allen points out that DIRA raw milk from Fonterra isn’t cheap. Tatua paid Fonterra 38c/kg on top of the milk price and

this includes a freight cost of 28c. “So, if Fonterra paid its farmers $5.84/kgMS last season, we paid Fonterra 38c/kgMS extra for that milk,” says Allen. Tatua’s payout last season topped $7.40/ kgMS, even after the co-op had retained $1.17/kgMS to grow the business. Westland, Hokitika, paid its farmers $6.04/kgMS, retaining 30c. Miraka, Taupo, says its farmers

were paid $5.94/kgMS. Fonterra’s cash payout for 2012-13 is $6.16/kgMS – a farmgate milk price of $5.84 and a dividend of 32c. Fonterra’s retention was 14c. In total payout Westland’s was higher than Fonterra’s. Net of retentions, Fonterra’s payout of $6.16 was larger than Westland’s of $6.04. Wilson says there was little difference between Fonterra and Westland’s

payouts. On Tatua, he says its product mix returns were favourable and it had made good use of raw milk obtained under DIRA. “Good luck to Tatua,” he says. But Wilson says while the domestic market is important to Fonterra, it’s the battle with global co-ops FrieslandCampina and Arla that matters the most. @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews

Tatua chair Steve Allen says its stellar performance had little to do with DIRA milk.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

news 11

Traceability is sector’s insurance policy

A whole lot of bull! AN INTERNATIONAL youth competition was one of the highlights at last week’s PGG Wrightson World Angus Forum in Rotorua. Youth teams from all over the world competed in five sections; general knowledge; parading; stock judging, animal preparation and agri-sports and a major prize of $10,000. Pictured is Western Australian animal science student Claire Payne, who works part-time for a commercial Angus property, was one of the participants. Here she’s grooming an Angus heifer from the Waitawheta Angus Stud, Waihi before a parade at the Rotorua A&P Showgrounds. Organisers says investing in the youth programme provides invaluable experience in the skills and leadership for the future of world Angus organisations.

SUD ES H K I SSU N sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

AGRIBUSINESS LEADER Sir Bill Gallagher says traceability is an insurance against the outbreak of deadly diseases like foot and mouth disease. Addressing the PGG Wrightson World Angus Forum in Rotorua last week, he noted there was “a bit of resistance” from farmers when NAIT was first introduced. But Gallagher pointed to the 2007 outbreak of FMD in the UK and the culling of thousands of animals in affected zones. “We wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” he told about 300 delegates. Chairman of Hamilton-based, Gallagher is a leading supplier of EID equipment. Gallagher says there is a reason for tagging and monitoring animals. “There is a cost attached to it, but it pays itself off so the insurance policy is free.”

“There is a lot of concern about recessive genes among Angus breeders.” He also spoke on free trade and Europe’s Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). CAP takes up 46% of EU’s budget and costs its taxpayers $144 billion annually, he says. “It’s an illusion that it’s just for small farmers. They only get 4% CAP assistance.” Gallagher also referred to problems faced in Europe selling the company’s flagship product- electric fences. He says electric fence standards were changed by two European manufacturers and technocrats, without any farmer representation. Power generated through the fence was limited to maximum 5J instead of the 60J available internationally, a move Gallagher says put energiser performance “back 40 years”. “They dressed it up as a safety issue but there were no accidents with large energisers, it has a perfect safety record,” he says. “It has made Europe’s new standard on electric fences 10 times less safe and four times less effective. The technocrats said higher power was not needed on smaller farms. “But permanent electric fence has to work all year including high growth spring time and lower power fences are limited to seasonal use or clean fences.” Gallagher says Australian and New Zealand authorities understand what electric fences are and Europeans believe in “toy electric fencing”. The week-long Forum was also addressed by PGW chief executive Mark Dewdney who said the future for agriculture was bright given the growing demand for food and dairy protein. But he warned Angus breeders to be “deeply connected” with customers and the markets and meet their evolving needs. Genomics was also a major topic at the Forum. Angus Australia chief executive Peter Parnell said genomics allowed more accurate selection of bulls. It also allowed for management of recessive genes. “There is a lot of concern about recessive genes among Angus breeders,” he says. Highlights of the Forum included a heifer parade and agri-challenges featuring 10 youth teams of Angus breeders from around the world. Australian adventurers, ‘Cas and Jonesy’ received a standing ovation from the Forum delegates after relating experiences from their 2012 unsupported polar expedition, a record breaking feat. James Castrissian and Justin Jones also paddled across the Tasman Sea in 2008, setting a record.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

12 news

Dairy’s $5 billion windfall peter burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

NEW ZEALAND dairy farmers are set to earn an extra $5 billion this season if the payout forecast holds and no spanners – such as another drought – fall into the works. Westpac’s chief economist Dominick Stephens told Rural News dairy farmers’ revenue will be 50% up on last season; this is farm income and should not be confused with export revenue for dairy products, which is different. Dairy farmers could earn in total $12 billion. Stephens says the $5 billion assumes the Fonterra payout remaining at $8.32/ kgMS or better and milk production being up by 5%, where it is now tracking after a bumper start to spring.

The figures are based on data from Fonterra and assumptions made on other dairy companies. The prediction for this season contrasts sharply with that of last season when milk price and production were depressed by drought, Stephens says. The big question is what might dairy farmers do with this windfall? “Historically the tendency is to buy more land and convert more farms into dairy. Certainly that’s what one would expect. I think it will result in a rise in the price of dairy land and probably a greater turnover in farms.” Stephens expects some farmers to pay debt, and others to buy new technology for their farms and make changes to improve profitability. He doesn’t believe new environ-

mental standards imposed by regional councils on dairy conversions will deter those wanting to invest in dairying. Prospective investors will weigh up the profitability of investments according to payouts and other factors, he says. “There is still a fair way to go around Canterbury with the potential of land on the plains to be irrigated and converted to dairying. Irrigation can make a huge difference to land once considered unsuitable for dairying.” But the windfall payout might be on the back of a ‘one-off’ good season, say commentators spoken to by Rural News. There are predictions of a 2015 season payout of about $7. And there is speculation Fonterra may be hit by large compensation claims because of the botulism scare. Stephens

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concedes this could be a problem, but he believes claims will be small relative to Fonterra’s global revenue. Craig McBeth, DairyNZ, says milk production in most regions except, notably, Southland and Northland, is well up on last season for this time of the year. But these are early days, he points out. With the prospect of a bumper payout, McBeth is urging farmers to be cautious about splashing out on their windfall. Commodities are well known to be cyclical in price and will eventually drop from their highs for the usual reasons of supply and demand.

Farmers must plan for the mediumlong term and farm within the resources they have on their properties, McBeth says.

A good problem GREAT WEATHER causing phenomenal garass growth has raised milk production by 5%, creating a fresh challenge – how to manage the grass. Craig McBeth, DairyNZ, advises making sure it doesn’t go to seed which it can do quickly. “So focusing on grazing paddocks down to the right grazing residuals – 1500-1600kgDM/ha – is important to maintain the quality of the pasture and the nutritional value. Maintaining good grazing pressure for quality grass to feed cows next time they come around to that paddock in a month is really important.” Greater grass growth in August was a problem: it was hard then to decide whether or not to cut silage, McBeth says. Now farmers must keep watch on grass in danger of turning from a vegetative to a reproductive stage. The amount of silage now being cut varies from region to region. Meanwhile, mating time approaches and farmers must be mindful of how best to feed their cows. “They face a challenge: not wanting to drop back on the supplements they are giving their cows because they think feeding a bit of supplement has an impact. But research suggests that is not the case; the die for mating performance has been cast long before now. Feeding grass is fine; it’s a great diet for cows.”

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

news 13

Angus ‘special’ to beef up menus SUD ES H K I SSU N sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

AUCKLAND RESTAURANTS will soon be serving a new premium brand of Angus beef. The North Island launch of Angus Pure Special Reserve in December is an extension of the Angus Pure brand made famous by fast food chain McDonalds. Angus New Zealand plans to eventually introduce the special reserve meat into restaurants in Asia. The launch was announced last week at the World Angus Forum in Rotorua. Angus NZ president Tim Brittain says while the Angus Pure brand has been around since 1999, McDonald’s launch in 2009 of the Angus Pure beef burger had boosted awareness. Angus Pure Special Reserve will be of a higher quality with more marbling for juicier, more tender and tastier meat, he says. Marbling refers to white flecks and streaks of fat within the lean sections of meat – a key criterion in judging the quality of cuts. In general, the more the marbling, the better the cut. The special reserve burger patties will be made by Wilson Hellaby and Land Meats

Wanganui. Brittain says the product will be certified by AusMeat Limited, responsible for establishing and maintaining national industry standards for meat production and processing. “We are confident Angus Pure Special Reserve will be a hit in Asia. It has all the brand attributes for the Asian food service industry,” he told Rural News. Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy, who addressed the World Angus Forum via Skype from Wellington, said he was looking forward to the launch of the new brand. Guy noted Angus Pure’s association with McDonalds had been hugely successful. He praised Angus breeders for their heritage in New Zealand, dating back 150 years. New Zealand has 200 registered Angus breeders who farm about 25,000 cattle. They have done well over the past three years, Brittain says. Bull sales rose 42%, and prices offered rose as much as $1500. The World Angus Forum attracted at least 300 delegates from around the world. New Zealand last hosted the world forum in 1981. Brittain says visit-

ing Angus farmers were impressed with New Zealand farms. In his Skype address, Guy also touched on New Zealand’s global reputa-

tion as a supplier of quality grass-fed beef. “We rely heavily on our reputation as a food exporter. Our beef is grass-fed and the animals spend most of

their time outdoors grazing on pasture,” he told forum delegates. Guy says total New Zealand beef exports last year reached $2.2 billion.

Angus NZ president Tim Brittain.

US blizzard THE IMPACT of this month’s devastating blizzard in mid-Western US will be noticed in the country’s beef industry, says Angus America chief executive Bryce Schumann. Speaking to Rural News, at the World Angus Forum in Rotorua last week, Schumann described it as a major weather event from which farmers will take a long time to recover. About 60,000 cattle, including calves, were lost in the blizzard that brought 50cm of snow to western parts of South Dakota, he says. “Farmers will take time to recover and the blizzard’s impact on beef prices will also be noticed somewhat,” he says. “The US beef herd is at its lowest inventory since 1951.” He says a blizzard mid-autumn is almost unprecedented. “In early fall (autumn) cattle don’t have much hair cover and the animals became chilled in the wind and snow.” South Dakota is in the top 12 beef producing states in the US. • More on the South Dakota Blizzard page 21

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

14 news

Retiring chair leaves Ballance in good heart sudesh kissu n sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

RETIRED BALLANCE chairman David Graham is confident the fertiliser co-op is well placed to help meet the growing global demand for food. Graham, who last month stepped down after 15 years as director, and the last 10 as chairman, believes the co-op is in good heart. And it is fitting that Graham, an accountant and farmer, signed off with

a record financial result. Ballance paid a record rebate and dividend of $65/t and a record trading result of $92.6 million despite the drought drying up fertiliser demand and impacting sales volumes. The rebate averaging $60.83/t and a fully imputed dividend of 10c/ share put $65 m into the 18,300 shareholders’ hands in August. Shareholders at the annual meeting last month approved a 60c increase in the value of the co-op’s

shares to $8.10. Graham told Rural News his departure on such a high note wasn’t planned; it resulted from good governance and an exceptional chief executive officer, Larry Bilodeau. “We have a very good record of good governance and we haven’t made too many mistakes.” He observed the world’s population will top 9 billion by 2050. “There will be a lot of mouths to feed and agriculture is in the box seat. We don’t

David Graham departs on a high note.

grow grass out of fresh air so demand for fertiliser to help produce more food will be strong.” He says Ballance Group is well placed after expanding its core fertiliser business to provide the full range of nutrients. “We have changed with the times so the level of scientific and environmental advice we provide today more than equals the expectations of shareholders and customers, and we continue to invest in research and devel-

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through our rebate.” Graham is succeeded by Raglan farmer David Peacocke, who echoed the outgoing chair’s sentiments about the co-op strong position. “The co-op is in excellent shape

and it’s a great time to be taking over as chairman.” Peacocke, who visited key Asian customers recently, says it will be business as usual. @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews

Smart buying and lower costs add to gains BALLANCE CHIEF executive Larry Bilodeau says the cooperative’s ability to deliver a record result in a tough year arose from smart buying, close attention to costs and efficiency and the return to full production of its Kapuni urea plant. “A record trading result and rebate is always a good outcome, but more so in a tough year when sales were down,” he says. The current financial year had started well and Ballance had lowered domestic fertiliser prices in June and July, so farmers could make the most of good spring growing conditions. “From a cost perspective, we are expecting fertiliser prices internationally to stabilise at their current lower levels for the medium term.” Bilodeau says global influences were at play, with prices for most major nutrients including nitrogen, phosphate

and potash all well below price levels of the same time last year. Key price drivers were over-supply of some products and lower-thananticipated demand for others. “World events, be they financial or political, can lead to shifts in demand and pricing for food producers and the businesses that supply and support them. We are seeing a classic example of this at present, with India’s declining domestic currency directly contributing to weak global DAP trade.” In addition, recent instability in the potash market in Russia had created an influx of capacity for potash, although this trend appeared now to be reversing. “We are following global fertiliser prices and will adjust domestic prices in line with any changes. It does depend on where international prices go and we are watching the trends closely.”

Rural News // october 22, 2013

news 15

Questions over Fonterra’s milk price setting

Maori encouraged to cast net wider peter burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

THE LEADER of the recent Maori primary sector ‘boot camp’ held at Stanford University, California, says Maori shouldn’t be afraid to work with non-Maori. Maori trustee Jamie Tuuta led the boot camp, in which 34 Maori leaders from the primary sector spent a week at the presti-

gious US university, with access to some world-leading academics. The boot camp was similar to one held for primary sector leaders earlier this year. Tuuta says the need for greater collaboration within Maoridom and with non-Maori was a key point to emerge during the camp. People need to understand that while Maori perform well in innovation they are relatively new

at managing and administering assets. “Business enterprises are new for Maori. For a long time Maori have been passive in terms of managing and administering assets. In a way we are a developing economy within a developed economy; we are quite new to actively managing assets. One of the things we were discussing at the boot camp was how do we

achieve the aspiration to actively manage land and set targets and aspirations for where we want our dairy or fishing industries to be.” Tuuta says Maori recognise they also need to look globally for new opportunities. And they need to be more connected amongst themselves and with CRIs and universities. @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews

pam tipa

THE COMMERCE Commission has taken issue with two rules in Fonterra’s milk price manual. Lack of clarity in parts of these two rules means it can’t assess whether they are practically feasible, the commission says. It released, last week, a draft report on its statutory review of the milk price manual for the 2013-14 season. The manual sets out the methodology for calculating Fonterra’s farmgate milk price. It is the first of two statutory reviews now required to be carried out by the commission each dairy season under changes to the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001 (DIRA) last year. “This is the second time we have reviewed the milk price manual. “Our current view is that, to the extent we are able to assess it, the manual for the 2013-14 dairy season is largely consistent with the purpose of the DIRA milk monitoring regime” says Sue Begg, Commerce Commission deputy chair. “However, the changes made to the manual since our last review, and our increased understanding of how the manual is currently applied, have raised for us a general concern about the lack of prescription in some rules.” The lack of prescription “undermines transparency” and means the commission will need to consider the application of the rules before it can conclude “the extent to which they provide for contestability”. This will form part of the second statutory review at the end of the season. The commission is concerned about the calculation of ‘repair and maintenance costs’ in one of the rules. It says it introduces a degree of discretion as to how it might be applied. It is also concerned about the calculation of ‘other costs, including site overheads, general overhead costs and R&D costs’ in another rule. Fonterra had signalled its intention to change the methodology to calculate these costs. For both rules the commission says “we are therefore no longer able to conclude on the extent to which the rule itself is practically feasible”. It has also found that one issue from its previous reviews, regarding the treatment of stranded assets, has not been addressed by Fonterra in the 2013-14 manual. The dairy co-op collects about 89% of raw milk supply in New Zealand and therefore “there is not a workably competitive market process to derive a farmgate milk price and it is determined by Fonterra using an administrative methodology”, the commission explains. Given Fonterra’s dominant position, its farmgate milk price also effectively sets the minimum price other dairy processors need to pay farmers for raw milk. Fonterra calculates the farmgate milk price from the total pool of money available for payment to farmers for their raw milk supply to the co-op in a season, which is determined by potential revenue from the raw milk available, costs including collection, processing, transporting, marketing and administration/overheads, and capital costs. The commission wants comments from interested parties on the draft report by 5pm on Friday, November 15. After considering all comments, it will publish the final report by December 16. @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

16 news

Top student passionate about sheep ern Southland, says her parents’ farm is a lone sheep property surrounded by dairy farms, but they are sticking to sheep.

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Isabel Tait receiving her award from former winner Michael Dodd.

wanted to work with animals and decided to study veterinary science at Massey. “But I wasn’t successful in getting in so I transferred to ag and it worked out really well. It was the best decision I have ever made and I love it. I am really glad I am here at Massey,” she told Rural News. Her parents have a Romney flock and also Poll Dorsets. Tait says she’s always loved sheep and this love has carried through to her studies. “I am currently in my third year and am going to do honours next year. I am leaning towards specialising in the sheep genetic side and I am interested in trying to help the sheep industry move forward and become more profitable. “In my career long term I’m interested in research – maybe trying to help industry in the advisory area, but I’m keeping my options open at this stage.” Partly a desire to work in the open air prompted Tait to make a career in agriculture. “When I was at school and thinking of leaving, I weighed being an

accountant against doing something practical. The idea of being outdoors far outweighed sitting in an office all day because you have to love what you do to grow, so that’s what I am aiming for.” Tait says her love of farming was fostered by her parents and later at Massey, but not at school. “I don’t think they are well educated in that area. I came from an allgirls school so [agriculture] was almost frowned upon. We never had ag or hort subjects in school, so the awareness just wasn’t there.” Tait says she loves Palmerston North; it’s a bit like Invercargill, only warmer. Meanwhile, for the person presenting Isabel with her award, Dr Michael Dodd, the occasion was particularly significant. Dodd works for AgResearch Grasslands and is the vice president of the Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science. He won this same award 24 years ago and says it was a real privilege to hand it to the next generation.

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MASSEY UNIVERSITY’S top agricultural and horticultural student says it seems only people who

farm sheep are deeply passionate about the industry and she’d like to see more people involved in the sector. Isabel Tait, from West-

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

news 17

Not-so-woolly thinking picks high-end markets A SUITCASE MADE OF recycled carpet and textiles bonded with gold and silver are among innovative ideas Wools of New Zealand is considering to appeal to high-end markets. The suitcase made from recycled wool was developed by a New Zealander, Daniel McLaughlin, studying at the Royal College of Art in London. He came to Wools of NZ and said “I want to do something with wool and bio-resins,” says Steven Parsons, Wools of NZ’s UK-based market development and innovation manager. They hooked him up with a company taking Wools of NZ brand Laneve carpet ex-factory waste and turning it into underlay. “What we like about it is when you put wool into existing supply chains people think they know what it is worth. But if you are a suitcase manu-

facturer and you’ve never worked with wool – what’s the price? It is whatever the market is willing to pay,” Parsons says. But with this type of innovation, price isn’t the first conversation, Parsons told a Wools of NZ roadshow in Wellsford. About 40,000 tonnes of carpet goes into UK landfill every year – a huge problem. Being part of the solution enhanced Wools of NZ reputation in the high-end markets. Wools of New Zealand chief executive Ross Townshend says the company is working with Erutan, a joint-venture of three Dutch companies looking at what to do with discarded carpet. It is an important part of social responsibility relevant to European and UK markets. They have also done trial work with AgResearch at Lincoln on a low-tech enzyme scouring process. It has advantages in energy use, effluent and the quality of the lanolin.

They are also working with Victoria University professor Jim Johnston on a nanotechnology process to incorporate gold and silver into carpet. “Gold will be a super-small highend product that will only be sold in hundreds of kilograms. The silver has an anti-microbial feature; a carpet that is anti-microbial gets us into a lot of markets.” Parsons says the wool with pure gold will be used in items such as luxury yachts and jets and fine suiting. Discussions have been held with a luxury Paris brand, but the science needs to be 100% proven. Permanence is the advantage of the antimicrobial silver-bonding innovation they are developing. “There are dozens and dozens of anti-microbial technologies in the world, none of which work properly with wool and none of which are permanent. This is the first time somebody has applied this technology to wool where

it is permanent: it won’t come off.” Cuttingedge applications include using the silverbonded wool for protecting vaccines or for human condition monitoring. Cheryl Kindness, development director with Camira Fabrics, a major UK customer, The suitcase made from recycled carsays the antipet by Kiwi Daniel McLaughlin while microbial studying at the Royal College of Art, London. textile will also be of interest in America because they the transport investigated what is living market. “We sell a lot of in the bottom of a seat and anti-microbial treated didn’t much like it.” products, particularly in

HALF OF New Zealand’s coarse wool goes to China but it is an incredibly price sensitive market, says Wools of NZ chief executive Ross Townshend. In China the fifth, sixth and seventh conversations can be about price. Wools of NZ wants to get beyond that and use its expertise to provide support for Western-standard designs, styles and trends. He wants to see NZ wool supplied into China, made into carpet to Western standards and sold to Western markets. “There is also a huge market in hand-tufted [product] where all the tufts are put in by a person with a hand-tufting gun. We have to get ourselves above the bottom end of the market.” One of the two Wools of NZ staff in Beijing was a “seriously smart technical guy”. The business has 16 staff, of whom nine are in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, in technical R&D design, styling and marketing. “It is one of the jewels in the crown of the company,” Townshend says. He visited Atlanta, UK and Chinese operations during a three-week tour. “We have strong linkages into UK and European markets and are connected to most of the heavy hitters in the carpet business. The strength of the Wools of NZ brand, in particular its Laneve brand, is not to be underestimated.” The biggest opportunity in the UK market is in traceability and they have a retail programme with seven different organisations. In North America the company had two “particularly smart” women working for it but wool was only 3% of carpet sales in that market.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

news 19

FMD could cost Australia $51 billion destroyed during control procedures. The ABARES estimates are much higher than other studies: a 2002 Productivity Commission study put the upper limit at an inflationadjusted $20 bn. But the ABARES says the higher estimates reflect the expected market access requirements from trading partners due to

A MAJOR multi-state foot-and-mouth (FMD) outbreak in Australia could cost up to $51.8 billion over 10 years, a study for the Australian Government shows. This is more than double the estimates of previous studies, which put the upper limit at about $20 billion. This latest study also says a smaller outbreak,

Internationally, government policies perceived to have adverse animal welfare implications are attracting public outcry. for instance limited to Queensland or Victoria, would cost up to $6.2 billion over 10 years, assuming export markets lifted bans on Australian products quickly. Producers of FMDsusceptible livestock would bear most of the revenue losses as a result of restrictions on imports, says the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) study released this month. Flow-on effects to other industries would contribute to the regional and national impacts. With a large mult-state FMD outbreak, ABARES estimates revenue losses of $49.3 bn to $51.8 bn over 10 years. These revenue losses account for about 99% of direct economic costs, the remaining 1% being the cost of disease control. Costs of disease control are estimated at $60 mn to $373 mn, and $6.3 mn to $60.2 mn required in compensation for animals

a longer time out of the market and great loss of market share. The estimates are based on data from FMD outbreaks overseas and Australia’s experience with other livestock disease. Regarding eradication strategies, historically, stamping out has been used to manage FMD outbreaks, the study says. It ensures a swift return to disease-free status and access to international markets. However, it involves the rapid destruction of large numbers of stock. This can be highly resource intensive and can also lead to criticism within the community. More recently several countries have combined vaccination with stamping out to achieve effective control of FMD. Various scenarios of targeted vaccination were investigated by the study. In an FMD outbreak in an extensive production area of, for instance, North Queensland,

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ABARES says the extra time needed to remove vaccinated animals from the population and regain FMD status would cost an extra $6 bn over 10 years. Similar costs were found for combining stamping out with vaccination in a small outbreak scenario in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley, a high density production area. However for a large outbreak, the reduction in eradication time with vaccination more than offset the time required to deal with vaccinated animals, allowing a

quicker resumption of trade. So in a large outbreak, combining targeted vaccination with stamping out is estimated at $2.6 bn less than with using stamping out alone. Internationally, government policies perceived to have adverse animal welfare implications are attracting public outcry, the study says. This includes the use of stamping out strategies, especially where large numbers of animals are culled. For example, in the United Kingdom

and the Netherlands, the mass culling and images of burning pyres in 2001 shocked the public on animal welfare grounds. In 2010–11 the slaughter of apparently healthy animals and the methods used during an FMD outbreak in Korea attracted criticism globally. Using vaccination for large outbreaks would avoid large-scale, preemptive destruction and disposal of animals and the resulting social and environmental costs. In terms of

Explosive costs... a major foot and mouth outbreak could cost the Australian economy up to $51b over 10 years.

communication, the study says few case study participants were aware of current communication protocols between state agency staff and support staff. Online information

about FMD also does not appear to be reaching its target audience. Some producers, stock agents and livestock transporters are unaware of FMD implications and response plans.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

20 news

Ruataniwha dam hits a wall VIVIE NNE H A L DA N E

CONTROVERSY HAS surrounded the Ruataniwha Dam proposal in the past month, with more questions raised than answered. The dam, said to be the silver bullet for Hawke’s Bay’s summer water woes and the local economy, has passed through feasibility studies to engineering design and is now at the resource consent application stage. Submissions for and against the dam proposal are now before the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) board of inquiry, a hearing will start mid-November and a final decision will be made in April 2014. In September, it was alleged Conservation Minister Nick Smith had withheld information over a Department of Conservation (DOC) draft submission to the EPA. Green MP Russel Norman demanded the submission process start from scratch.

In a debate in Parliament shortly after, Norman accused Smith of suppressing information on the dam “in order to support the Government’s irrigation agenda.” On September 24, Smith asked for a review of the handling of the DOC draft submission. A DOC media release the same day also spoke of the department’s process for dealing with the submission on the Tukituki Catchment Proposal. However, the director-general of conservation Lou Sanson stands by the decision taken by his senior managers not to submit on the wider environmental aspects of the proposal and says the minister did not direct DOC about the submission it was making. Sanson said he did have questions about the timeframes for making final decisions on the submission. He has also initiated an internal investigation into the unauthorized release of a departmental email in connection with the submission process.

Meanwhile, Federated Farmer’s president Bruce Wills, who is in favour of the Ruataniwha dam, is unfazed by the September dust-up over the DOC report, saying that a draft report was “not the final product”. Groups in Hawke’s Bay, including HB Fish and Game, Ngati Kahungunu and a lobby group, Transparent Hawke’s Bay (THB), worry that plans for the dam are moving too fast, have called for ‘time out’. In April this year, concerns about the “inadequate and insufficient consultation” by the HBRC over the Ruataniwha dam were formally lodged with the auditor-general’s office by THB. “The auditor-general said there would be a point for further consultation and that had not yet been reached,” THB spokesperson Pauline Elliott says. “Our concern is by then Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) will have spent $11 million on the project and with little public consultation. The informa-

The proposed dam is hoped to be the answer to Hawkes Bay summer woes as experienced earlier this year.

tion unravelling at the moment is what we want on the table, long before they have spent such money.” To date, South Island iwi, Ngai Tahu Holdings Corporation Ltd and TrustPower Ltd have lodged expressions of

interest in investing in the Ruataniwha dam with Hawke’s Bay Regional Investment Company (HBRIC Ltd). @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews

Project timeline fast facts NOVEMBER 2013 WEDNESDAY 13 TO FRIDAY 15

2004: Surface water/groundwater consents on the Ruataniwha Plains expired. 2005: Ground water consents on Ruataniwha Plains granted for 10 years. (Some granted for 20 years where their impact on flows considered negligible.)

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2009: Council ten-year plan programme initiated to address water management challenges; includes water storage investigation. 2009: Ruataniwha Plains Water Storage (RWSS) prefeasibility study completed. 2010: RWSS advanced prefeasibility study completed.

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2011: April, extra project funding sought from central government. 2011: May, technical experts commissioned to lead full feasibility investigations. 2011-2012: full feasibility study, includes environmental studies, commercial and governance opportunities, engineering and water resource investigations. July 2012 – July 2013: lodge resource consent application; consenting process. July 2013 – July 2014: detailed engineering design; develop prospectus and seek partners/investment funds; application for building consents July 2014.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

world 21

Canadians want a slice of Aussie dairy AUSTRALIAN DAIRY PROCESSOR Warrnambool Cheese and Butter (WCB) has supported a $390 million take-over offer from Canadian processor Saputo – just weeks after it rejected a take-over offer worth $320 million from fellow Australian company Bega Cheese. In a shock revelation, the two parties made a joint announcement on October 8. WCB managing director, David Lord,

said the company recommended all shareholders accept Saputo’s offer of $7 a share, in the absence of a superior proposal. “Saputo’s offer underscores the strategic value of WCB’s assets and vindicates the board’s decision to reject Bega’s inadequate, highly conditional offer,” Lord said. “Saputo’s all cash offer provides greater certainty for WCB shareholders and a substantial premium for their

Massive cattle losses in US THE LIVESTOCK death toll from a blizzard in the American west is put at more than 20,000 head, but the disaster has gone barely noticed in a country focused on the government shutdown and the debt ceiling threat to its financial reputation. The snowstorm buried eastern Wyoming, southern Montana, western South Dakota and northwest Nebraska in 50cm of snow and is being described as one of the worst disasters ever for cattlemen in the region. Early estimates put the number of cattle killed in the region at 60,000-100,000 head. South Dakota state veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven says total confirmed cattle deaths in his state are about 2000 head and he expects the final total will be 10,000-20,000 head. “Everybody wants to know the number, but truthfully we don’t know,” Oedekoven told the Capital Journal newspaper in Pierre, the state capital. “We won’t know for some time.” Snowdrifts covered fences and cattle were able to wander at will, making it harder to get a casualty count. Oedekoven says the death toll was not uniform across western South Dakota and while some ranches lost 50% or more of their herds, others lost just a few animals. Losses in Nebraska were put at up to 3000 head. North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp told the US Senate the cattlemen urgently need help because the livestock indemnity programme expired when the farm bill expired at the end of September and Farm Service Agency offices are closed because of the government shutdown. Heitkamp says people mistakenly believe one cow is just like the next and can be replaced. “The herds are the product of years and years of selective breeding, years and years of working to improve the quality of their herd and to meet different specifications in the market,” she told KFGO Radio in Fargo. “It’s not an exaggeration to say they’re more than cows. They contain an intellectual property component that is not easily replaced.” A fund has been established by state livestock groups to help affected cattle producers. “With the government shutdown and no farm bill in place, we need South Dakotans to help their neighbours,” Gov. Dennis Daugaard says. “Many concerned individuals are wondering how they can help, and this fund will provide a way.” Heitkamp says it’s time for congress to do something. “We have got to get the Congress back working for the American people, particularly for the hard hit farmers and ranchers of southwestern North Dakota and of west river South Dakota.” The beef cattle industry ranks as the leading agricultural industry in South Dakota with about 17,000 ranchers and cattlemen producing 3.7 million head of cattle a year. – Alan Harman

WCB shares.” Saputo is one of the top 10 dairy processors in the world. It is the largest dairy company in Canada, the third largest in Argentina and one of the three biggest cheese manufacturers in the US. It exports products to 40 countries around the world and has sales of C$8.6 billion. Saputo’s offer is subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board and conditional on Saputo gain-

ing at least 50.1% of WCB shares. An application was lodged with the investment review board about September 10, but he had not yet received any feedback. Lord said foreign investment in the Australian dairy industry in the past 50 years had provided the foundations for today’s industry. “Kraft, Nestle, Fonterra – they’re three big international investors who came to this country and invested heav-

ily in the dairy industry and grew it for the benefit of all the current participants,” Lord said. “I think suppliers should be excited about this transaction and its potential. “Saputo are planning to invest in this business. If we increase capacity and capability we need milk supply to support that.” The Saputo bid will remain on the table until early December. Bega’s offer is slated to close on November 28.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

beef market trends

 

 

 

 









































NI

LAMB PRICES Change

c/kgCWT

P2 Steer - 300kg



 









5.90

5.90

5.65

n/c

5.91

5.91

5.66

MX1 - 21kg

n/c

3.30

3.30

3.20

YM - 13.5kg

n/c

5.80

5.80

5.56

PM - 16.0kg

n/c

5.80

5.80

5.58

3.20

PX - 19.0kg

n/c

5.80

5.80

5.60

2.95

3.10

PH - 22.0kg

n/c

5.80

5.80

5.61

4.40

4.30

n/c

3.28

3.28

3.15

Last Year

5yr Ave

n/c

4.60

4.60

4.35

Mutton

P2 Steer - 300kg

n/c

4.32

4.32

4.25

SI Lamb

M2 Bull - 300kg

n/c

4.15

4.15

4.00

P2 Cow - 230kg

n/c

3.15

3.15

M Cow - 200kg

n/c

2.95

Local Trade - 230kg

n/c

4.40

55,610

86,426

62,317

64,684

17,554

23,153

21,477

21,080

73,164

109,579

83,794

85,763

4,503

11,179

4,970

4,961

629

1,023

687

1,135

-60%

-40%

16,202

26,982

15,570

17,111

8,065

10,114

10,260

9,552

17,420

22,522

20,543

20,666

3,386

5,295

3,265

3,358

-20%

Str SI

-23%

Cows NI

-36%

Cows SI

Mutton

1000s

Change

Aug

Jul

-23%

524

677

477

Lamb SI

-23%

223

290

215

235

Lamb NZ

-23%

747

967

692

713

Mutton NZ

-48%

106

202

108

116







 

 

Export Market Demand









Last Season This Season

 





  

Export Market Demand



Change

  

 











n/c

1.82

1.82

1.34

1.80

-8

7.73

7.81

5.78

8.62

 Last Year

5yr Ave

 

+2

2.04

2.02

2.06

1.69

NZ$/kg

+6

5.42

5.36

5.54

5.02







 















Procurement Indicator







2Wks Ago

-1%

79.3%

80.2%

76.69%

80.5%

% Returned SI

-1%

76.6%

77.4%

72.2%

74.5%

Last Year

5yr Ave

















3 Wks Ago

% Returned NI

+2%

77.6%

75.5%

99.5%

71.2%

% Returned SI

+2%

75.3%

73.6%

98.6%

70.2%

      















 





Last Year 5yr Ave

 

























  





2Wks Ago







Change

 





% Returned NI

Change





3 Wks Ago









Procurement Indicator























Last Year 5yr Ave

NZ$/kg 2 Wks Ago





2 Wks Ago

UK Leg £/lb

Last Week

95CL US$/lb



Last Week

Change

         

478







Last Year 5yr Ave



             



Total Monthly Kill

Lamb NI

 

MX1 - 21kg

NZ Slaughter

Total Monthly Kill

-39%

Str NI



n/c

PH - 22.0kg

Local Trade - 230kg

Bull NI

  

PX - 19.0kg

3.40

3.40

-33%

5.61

3.50

3.50

-24%

5.86

5.63

3.40

-36%

5.86

5.88

3.50

Jul

Last Year

5.88

n/c

Aug

n/c

2 Wks Ago

n/c

n/c

Change

YM - 13.5kg

Last Week

PM - 16.0kg

M Cow - 200kg

Bull SI



NI Lamb

P2 Cow - 230kg

Cattle NZ



4.25

4.25

Cattle SI



4.60

4.30

Cattle NI



4.60

Change

c/kgCWT

4.30

1000s   

Last Year

n/c

NZ Slaughter 

2 Wks Ago

M2 Bull - 300kg

SI



n/c

Last Week

    



BEEF PRICES













lamb market trends



Market snapshot

      

 





















Venison Prices



 

















Change



 Beef  & venison prices are reported as gross (before normal levies & charges are deducted). Lamb & mutton prices are reported nett (after levies & charges are deducted). Note: Freight is paid in the North Island but not by all companies in the South Island. 

Last Week

2 Wks Ago

Last Year 5yr Ave

NI Stag - 60kg

n/c

7.15

7.15

7.50

8.41

SI Stag - 60kg

n/c

7.40

7.40

8.10

8.84

Stock as security who would have thought

Rural News // october 22, 2013



news

price watch WOOL PRICE WATCH

BEEF

Change

10-Oct

03-Oct

Coarse Xbred Indic.

+15

5.34

5.19

3.83

Fine Xbred Indicator

+16

5.55

5.39

4.61

Lamb Indicator

-

-

-

-

Mid Micron Indic.

-

7.44

-

8.57

Weight gain takes precedence over slaughter

Indicators in NZ$

Numbers of cattle to slaughter over the past two weeks have been good relative to the limited capacity available. However, reports indicate that the struggle for numbers might begin again soon as weight gain takes precedence over slaughter. Some companies are predicting challenging times up until Christmas. Cattle are gaining as much as 2-3kg/day which easily offsets the small downward movements seen in schedules so far. Reports of premiums paid above printed schedules varies between companies, with some unprepared to move at all, and others with a bit more leeway depending on space available. Average pricing for a 300kg export bull and steer in the North Island was at $4.30/kg and $4.60/kg respectively last week (gross), however there are reports of up to $4.50-$4.60/kg paid for bull to get them on the hooks. In the South a 300kg export bull and steer were $4.15/kg and $4.32/kg respectively.

Are the cattle out there?

DAIRY PRICE WATCH Last Year











Skim Milk Powder Whole Milk Powder Cheddar



Prev. 2 Wks

Last Year

-10

4849

4859

3966

-11

5481

5493

4149

-12

6053

6066

4027

-11

5361

5372

4759

  





Last 2 Wks

Change

Butter





 







  









 



















  



Slaughter prices for cattle held up through winter on the back of much tighter numbers. While the drought may have claimed a few earlier cattle the big question now is are the cattle actually out there. The statistics would suggest that we are staring at a wall of cattle and reportedly the cattle kill has picked up with prices retreating. We would expect the kill rate to continue to seasonally climb from here on in, but on-farm talk suggests the numbers aren’t stacking up like previous years. Supporting this would have to be the strong prices paid for store cattle in the last two weeks. With top yearlings hitting $3/kg at some sales it would suggest some out there have plenty of space and feed.

Indicators in NZ$/T







 





 











Last Year

Overseas Price Indicators Indicators in US$/kg

10-Oct

03-Oct

+11

4.43

4.32

+12

4.60

4.48

3.78

-

-

-

-

-

6.17

-

7.01

Fine Xbred Indicator Lamb Indicator Mid Micron Indicator











Overseas Price Indicators

Change

Coarse Xbred Indicator



3.14

Indicators in US$/T

Last 2 Wks

Prev. 2 Wks

Last Year

n/c

4550

4550

3400

n/c

5025

5025

3300

n/c

4450

4450

3900

Change

Butter

n/c

Skim Milk Powder Whole Milk Powder Cheddar

4025

4025

3250

LAMB 



Early start to new seasons lambs Good numbers of old seasons lambs have been flowing through the works, most of which are reportedly on contracts. Companies that have not offered short term contracts are short of lambs and will remain so until new seasons lambs come on stream; forecast to be around Labour weekend. The Christmas chilled trade is in swing and with the last boat scheduled to leave at the start of Dec, Nov is likely to see good competition for the new seasons lambs that are out there. Prices for last week were between $5.90-$6.10/kg gross (incl presentation, wool/pelt etc). Contract pricing varies at present between $6.00-$6.50/kg gross. Good demand for mutton from China is keeping pricing strong between $3.20-$3.60/kg.











 

 













 



  

 

Lift in dairy prices in the latest GDT









  

















 

CURRENCY WATCH vs. NZ Dollar

Last Week 2 Wks Ago 4 Wks Ago Last Year







0.830

0.811

0.820

Euro

0.613

0.609

0.611

0.634

UK pound

0.519

0.514

0.514

0.511



Aus dollar

0.876

0.880

0.877

0.798



Japan yen

81.74

80.72

80.81

64.25

  













UK Pound













0.830

Euro



US Dollar



US dollar



Prices of dairy products rose in the latest Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction at the beginning of Oct. The GDT Price Index rose 2.4 percent compared to the last sale in mid Sept. Whole milk powder rose 2.3 percent and skim milk powder lifted 3.9 percent. These two products account for approximately 80 percent of the volume traded at auction. Global dairy prices are forecast to remain high well into next year driven by the increasing demand for dairy produce from China.







DAIRY











Drought induced slaughter in the main sheep producing regions of Australia will lead to an estimated fall in sheep numbers for 2012-13 to around 73.8 million. ABARE forecasts suggest that while a return to more favourable conditions for 2014 will see the flock being rebuilt again, lambing percentages will be considerably lower as a result of lower ewe condition at mating, and less ewes mated. This will lead to a 7 percent decrease in lamb production for 2013-14. While mutton slaughter has been high this year due to drought, slaughter and subsequent mutton production is estimated to fall significantly in 2013-14 as producers look to rebuild numbers.

 





Drought impacts Australian sheep production

 



 

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

24 agribusiness

Water saving crucial factor in dairy conversion vivie n ne h a lda n e

IN PLANNING a new dairy conversion in Central Hawke’s Bay, Campbell Chard wanted the operation to use recycled water as much as possible. “Water is one of the main environmental issues in Hawkes Bay right now and we wanted to front foot opportunities in this area.” Hence, the dairy shed and feed pad were purposely built up to have a natural fall. “This allows us to separate the stone trap solids (stones and sand that gather on cows’ feet) and then take that water to a pumping station and recycle from there back to the flood wash for the feed pad and dairy yard.” The farm’s target is 30-40 % dairy shed water savings, with water recycled up to four times in a variety of ways. “Nor-

mally it would be used just once. We are maximising the amount of water we recycle in order to minimise the amount of water needed to run our system,” says Chard. “In a dairy shed it’s easier to manage recycled water than it is to save water. We have a reservoir that we pump from that has a three way split at the pumping station. Water can be recycled back to the feed pad or the dairy yard. There are holding tanks on both of these. From the pumping station, recycled water can then either go back to the tanks, the dairy shed yard and effluent pond or it can be applied to land.” Chard, his wife Yvette and her sister Justine Kidd – the current NZ Dairy Woman of the Year – are part of Avance Ltd, a largescale, dairy farming corporate, family business they set up in Waikato in 2004.

key points ● Manager, Todd Cuttance ● 80ha ● 380-400 Friesian/ Jersey (Kiwicross) ● Winter milk farm ● Milking twice a day, year round ● Calving twice a year, autumn and spring ● Crops – maize and fodder beet ● Targeting 30-40 % dairy shed water savings ● Herringbone 36 aside dairy shed. Avance moved to Hawke’s Bay in 2008 to run BEL Group dairy farms, owned by the late Peter Barry and his wife Andrea. Chard is general manager and Kidd is the business manager of BEL Group, which now has 10 farms in Central Hawke’s Bay The current conversion, known as Dairy CHB, is a joint venture between BEL Group owner Andrea Barry and the Avance partners. The conversion began

in November 2012 and was ready for milking by May. Come September, Chard was beginning to relax a little. “To date, we are on budget and on plan.” Spring calving has happened with 15% of the herd yet to produce. “The slowness of it is a bit disappointing but that is not in our control, since we bought cows from three different properties.” The decision to convert this particular farm was an easy one says Chard. “It’s a block we always thought we could do something

Water saver: Campbell Chard beside the feed pad at the Dairy CHB conversion. The water holding tanks are in the background.

with. It used to be a support farm for our other dairy farms and is irrigated. We’ve designed it to be uncomplicated: all the paddocks are the same size, the races are down the centre of the property, we have a simple shed layout and are recycling water using gravity rather than a lot of pumps.” Ideas gleaned from dairy colleagues in the area went into the design mix. “There are some excellent farmers here in Hawkes Bay who have very efficient systems. Kevin

Davidson from Plantation Dairies has a similar layout and he helped me to design the shed.” He says because the farm is not owner-operated it has to be simple so the least amount of moving parts or motors the better. “That’s where the concept of using gravity to move water and using the recycling option came in, to keep down the use of machinery and labour around the shed.” The other reason for keeping it pared down is the scale of their opera-

tion. “Dairy farms are busy; we do long hours. You can’t run multiple site properties with intensive, complicated systems without expecting serious issues, whether its people, animals or quality of product.” The aim is to apply effluent to up to 50% of the farm. “We will grow crops on the areas we put a lot of effluent on, therefore keeping our fertiliser inputs down.” Currently, base soil fertility levels on the farm are to page 27

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

26 agribusiness NZ Dairy Market GDT Auction 3 Mth 15/10/2013 Change

Product

6 Mth Change

NZD/Tonne

Whole Milk Powder(WMP)

$6,040

7.5%

-6.4%

Skim Milk Powder(SMP)

$5,422

1.8%

-11.6%

Butter Milk Powder(BMP)

$5,589

2.1%

2.1%

CHEESE

$5,165

-3.1%

-6.1%

Trade Weighted Index (GDT- TWI)

5,837

4.9%

-6.9%

francis wolfgram Finance Matters

Dairy prices continued to soften at the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction on October 15, with the GDT price index dropping by -1.9%. Buttermilk powder had the largest fall in our product group Change in down a sharp 5.2% with whole milkpowder also down 2.9%. One 2013 factor in these declines is the strong milk production outlook and solid start to the season for milk intakes with Fonterra reporting year-to-date milk flows up 3.4% at the end of August. Many analysts have recently revised their production forecasts up as 55.1% Fonterra forecast an increase of 5% for 2013-14. 2013 has been a rocky year for dairy prices; while sharply up for the year overall our 35.1% chart shows the volatility over the three and six month periods outlining the link between prices and forward production forecasts. With international dairy markets shrugging off the August 28.2% incident at Fonterra and farmgate milk price forecasts continuing to rise has seen a rise in confidence. Debt repayment, land acqui22.7% sition, off-farm investment, or plant replacement may come back on to some farmers agendas moving into 2014 so figures are 42.3% crossed mother nature plays nice this summer.

new zealand agri shares Code

Company

Prices as at 15/10/2013

Divdend Price Change Return in 2013

ALF

Allied Farmers

$0.052

0%

73.33%

ATM

A2 Corporation

$0.690

0%

27.78%

FSF

Fonterra Shareholders Fund

$6.980

4.57%

-1.45%

HNZ

Heartland Bank

$0.85

9.80%

25.00%

LIC

Livestock Improvement Corporation

$6.08

12.54%

12.59%

PGW

PGG Wrightson

$0.380

11.40%

-17.39%

SEK

Seeka Kiwifruit Industries

$1.800

9.39%

100.00%

TUR

Turners & Growers

$1.680

0%

1.82%

Moving into the last few months of 2013 all the signs are that the New Zealand sharemarket is set for another year of strong overall gains. Our table of agrishares is showing strong gains also with some double digit gains across the board. The Fonterra Units and PGG Wrightson are the only shares showing negative price growth. This, however, is offset in Fonterra with a dividend payout of 4.57% but the large dividend in PGG was not enough to claw back the capital loss in the share price of 17.39%. Fonterra Units have been somewhat of a surprise over 2013; down 1.45% as most pundits would have picked a decent double digit gain – especially on the back of a strong overall sharemarket performance.

rural property market Current

3 Mth Change

6 Mth Change

Change in 2013

REINZ All Farm Index

2,980.90

0.42%

1.41%

-3.96%

REINZ Dairy Farm Index

1,776.10

0.41%

3.13%

0.58%

Dairy $ Per Hectare

$32,234

-7.51%

-3.07%

-6.52%

Finishing $ Per Hectare

$26,107

45.82%

37.20%

38.48%

Grazing $ Per Hectare

$16,744

24.56%

29.80%

1.41%

Lifestyle Median $ Per Sale

$485,000

-4.81%

-2.02%

-1.02%

The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) most recent statistics for the three months ending August 2013 show an increase in farm sales year-on-year. Up 16% from August 2012, but down 15.8% for the three months ended July 2013. Dairy farm sales show 35 properties sold in the three months ended August 2013 compared with 47 properties for the three months to July 2013 and 21 properties for the three months ended August 2012. ANZ turnover indicators and prices during the winter period reinforced a noticeable lift in underlying price trends that started at the beginning of the 2012-13 season, total farm sales turnover during the winter has run at nearly 90% of the 10-year average over July and August. We see some very volatile figures on our chart for the price per hectare as these figures can be skewed by factors such as farm type, size and location, the farm indexes adjust for these factors and give a clearer overall picture. This table is a list of shares linked to New Zealand’s rural industry and is in no way a recommendation to buy or sell any share. You should seek the advice of a trusted financial advisor before entering into any sharemarket investment.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

agribusiness 27 Recycling water a crucial factor in dairy conversion from page 24

not high: Olsen P’s (phosphorus) are only 25. “This means we will need to raise our base fertility to optimise the amount of grass growth. Once this has happened we will use effluent as a tool to reduce our running costs.”

The only teething problems Dairy CHB has experienced are those that go with a new conversion: getting used to a new shed and staff, tweaking the feed pad and easing into the routine. While it is too early yet to tabulate any exact

data, the plan is to achieve 1500-1800 kgMS/ha. Now, says Chard, it’s about staying on “mission critical” which is feeding the cows. Compared to their other farms which are 2, 3 or 4 on Dairy NZ’s production systems

rating, Dairy CHB is a 5, and as such is an intensive operation with a higher stocking rate, less fertiliser and imported feed. Is it a bit of test case? “Yes we want to try out this system so it’s a bit of suck-and-see. Whether

you are in system 1 or 5, you can make good money, but you need to know what the rules are in each,” he explains. “Dairy CHB is different, not for the sake of being different but because we think there is an opportunity there.”

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Psa spreads to Wanganui kiwifruit PAM TIPA

WANGANUI IS the latest area to succumb to Psa-V, but with the absence of Gold variety Hort 16a, it may be easier to manage. Hort16a has been particularly susceptible to Psa with Kiwifruit Vine Health advising growers nationwide to replace it with new Gold varieties, such as G3. Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH) chief executive Barry O’Neil says since Psa was found in three orchards in Wanganui, all orchards in the region are being monitored. The Psa was found in the Hayward Green variety, which stands up to Psa better than Hort16a. “Since there’s no Hort 16a we are hoping that growers, by being proactive, will be able to manage the impacts more easily,” he says.

“We have seen far less Psa than in previous years. Even now it is still less but we are starting to see it move.” KVH is testing other orchards where possible symptoms are found but so far none have come back positive. “However it wouldn’t be unexpected that we would find further infection in the region.” The Psa was found on the river out of Wanganui. In a ‘controlled area’ of a 10km radius around the first orchard identified, there are seven orchards with 38ha of kiwifruit. The Wanganui find leaves only three kiwifruit growing regions free of the disease – north-west Auckland, Whangarei and the South Island. However one other infected area, Kerikeri in Northland, had only one infected orchard found last year, with none since. Until the last couple of weeks, Psa has been “relatively quiet” in infected regions nationwide, but the disease becomes active in spring. “We have seen far less Psa than in previous years. Even now it is still less but we are starting to see it move.” In New Zealand’s main kiwifruit region, the Bay of Plenty, there is little Hort16a left so KVH is not seeing the levels of infection of previous years. “We are benefitting as an industry from a very good summer, a very mild winter as far as freezing and frosts go, less Hort16a and a more proactive approach by growers. It all helped to reduce the amount of Psa.”

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

28 opinion editorial

edna

Enough, already, of this whingeing IT’S TIME for small dairy infant formula exporters to get over it. It’s almost three months since Fonterra’s false botulism scare hit the headlines, but the small exporters are beginning to sound like an old record. Their catch phrase – “we are collateral damage”, frankly, doesn’t hold water any more. Business, whether it involves selling food or toilet paper involves risk. Economic conditions, consumer demand, quality of product and brand and reputation in the market can either make or break your business. This time last year, everyone was clamouring for the Chinese dairy market. Reports were rife of cartons of infant formula being swept off supermarket shelves and being sold through backdoor by retailers. This was NZ Brand Inc in action. Propped up by New Zealand’s quality and clean-green image, everyone was jumping on the bandwagon of the lucrative Chinese market. One Auckland processor was packing 300,000 cans of infant formula a month for a range of small brands. No one is taking anything away from these small and medium dairy exporters – they are astute businesspeople in their own right. However, their success in China has only been possible as a result of New Zealand’s great dairy reputation – fostered over the years by Fonterra. When the dust settled on the false botulism scare, it became clear Fonterra wasn’t at fault. Agreed the co-op’s communications strategy left much to be desired, but blaming it for the demise of contracts and crash in sales is a bit over the top. During the good days, everyone was happy to ride Fonterra’s coat tails and feed off New Zealand’s clean-green reputation. Now, everyone wants a slice of the co-op because their business has slumped. Fonterra, the world’s fourth largest dairy producer, has its reputation to maintain. It’s not the co-op’s job to protect small exporters who have piggybacked on it into the Chinese market. Every business has its risks. The Infant Formula Exporters Association should have had a crisis management plan in place to deal with road bumps in China. They haven’t been abandoned. The Government provided $2 million in travel grants for these companies to visit key markets as part of the rebuilding process. However, blaming Fonterra and whingeing about the lost market doesn’t wash anymore and they must take greater responsibility. When the good days return, many will again be clamouring for a seat on the Fonterra bandwagon.

RURAL NEWS HEAD OFFICE POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 3855, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 PUBLISHER: Brian Hight .............................................. Ph 09 307 0399 GENERAL MANAGER: Adam Fricker ........................................... Ph 09 913 9632 CONSULTING EDITOR: David Anderson .......................................Ph 09 307 0399 davida@ruralnews.co.nz

“If I’d known last Tuesday was rural women’s day I’d have bought you a new axe handle!”

the hound Apt description? THE HOUND hears that a ‘rural’ submitter to a recent Environment Court hearing accidently let his strong feelings be known about a fellow submitter. After reading the submission, the judge noted there was a file reference on the front page of the submission which left him somewhat bemused – it read: “time wasters and wankers”. The result of court’s decision is still pending.

Want to share your opinion or gossip with the Hound? Send your emails to: hound@ruralnews.co.nz

Attention!

Winners?

Puddle deep

Big loss

YOUR OLD mate wonders if the recent appointment of a former army majorgeneral as director-general of MPI means the Government is finally getting serious about beefing up biosecurity? With 27 years in the military, including commanding our forces in East Timor, Martyn Dunne certainly has plenty of security experience in his bio. The question is whether he and his troops at MPI will have the spine to stand up to trade lobbies that object to our standards, or indeed our own Government when it wants to shave another few minutes off the time it takes for tourists to pass through our borders.

THE HOUND reckons recent media releases from a couple of companies supporting AgResearch’s rationalisation of campuses smacked of self-interest and some serious behindthe-scenes lobbying from the CRI as it tries to counter flak for gutting Ruakura and Invermay. Sure, the moves will be great for those close to Lincoln and Palmerston North, but your old mate bets the rest of the country will be less well served. AgResearch seems more focussed on earning international research revenue than advancing our domestic industry – more ExpoResearch than AgResearch if you ask him.

A FRIEND of The Hound’s reckons farmer shareholders in Fonterra should – like this old mutt – be shaking their heads in disbelief at the seriously shallow talent pool in this year’s director elections. It’s a fair bet that of the three vacancies available, two current sitting directors Malcolm Bailey and Ian Farrally will be returned. This means the one seat up for grabs – held by former chair Sir Henry van der Heyden – is going to be won by either Michael Spaans, Donna Smit or Eric Ray, all of whom were rejected by voters last year.

YOUR OLD mate can’t help but notice the big change in former ag industry heavyweight Ross Townshend who now heads up Wools of NZ. The Hound remembers back in his Affco and NZ Dairy Group days, a few years back, Townshend cut a much fuller figure – figuratively and literally. Then he was regularly in the media and also weighed a whole lot more. It looks as though in the intervening years, ‘not-so-big Ross’ has shed not only quite a few kgs, but also learnt to keep more out of the media spotlight in his new notso-high-profile role at WONZ.

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ABC audited circulation 81,232 as at 30.06.2013

Rural News is published by Rural News Group Ltd. All editorial copy and photographs are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions or comments expressed within this publication are not necessarily those of staff, management or directors of Rural News Group Ltd.

Rural News // october 22, 2013

Why going back is not really going forward WINDING BACK the clock 20 years to save New Zealand land and water, is an interesting concept promoted last month at the Resource Management Law Conference. The concept of 1980s farming methods was ‘less intensification’ and therefore fewer cows in total. Actual farming systems – particularly to do with effluent management – use of chemicals and management of waterways have improved considerably since the 1980s. Land disposal of effluent, for instance, is the norm and few farms have consent to discharge treated waste to waterways (in contrast to some city councils, notably those in the Manawatu and Whanganui regions). Examining the concept and implications in more detail is important before regional and national governing bodies grasp it as a solution. Using the 1982/83 and 1992/93 figures for a comparison with the 2011/12 dairy statistics (data for 1991/92 are incomplete): New Zealand had 2.1 and 2.6 million dairy cows on

1.0 and 1.07 million effective hectares. By 2011/12, there were 4.63 million cows on 1.64 million ha. This is an increase from an average 2.07 to 2.43 cows/ ha to 2.83 cows/ha, indicating an increase in intensity of land management. Productivity per cow also increased: average kgMS was 259 in 92/93 and 364 in 2011/12. During this time the population of New Zealand increased from 3.233.5 million to 4.4 million. The population of the world increased from about 4.6-5.5 to 7.0 billion people. At the same time, milk in New Zealand increased in price from the government-subsidised 4c/pint. By 1994, when the subsidies were removed, an average cost for 2L of milk

was $2.37 (including 12.5% GST); in today’s money that is $3.78. Add another 2.5% GST to that price and it cost $3.86. In the supermarket this month the price of milk ranged from $3.39 to $4.30, including GST. Returning to 1980s or 1990s farming methods might or might not impact beneficially on the environment, but would affect the quantity of milk produced, and that would affect price. The drought last season in New Zealand caused a 1% increase in the global food price index because of reduction in milk supply. The alternative to a price increase is to manage demand through

reduced global population, and although this might happen, it certainly isn’t happening overnight.

1960s when city effluent was discharged into it. Monitoring since 1993 shows deterioration in tur-

opinion 29

ity of food that reaches the consumer. Pasteurisation of milk, for instance, reduces the likelihood of

Returning to 1980s or 1990s farming methods might or might not impact beneficially on the environment, but would affect the quantity of milk produced, and that would affect price. Modern methods of food production have improved availability of food and decreased the impact on the environment. A report on the quality of the Waikato River released mid-year stated that overall the river had much improved since the

bidity (sediment and phytoplankton) and nitrate (the peak in 2009 was considerably below any health concerns) and improvements in phosphorus and biological oxygen demand. Modern methods of food production have also increased the reliability of harvest and the qual-

foodborne illness. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that unpasteurised milk is 150 times more likely to cause illness than pasteurised milk. Reports that pasteurisation significantly reduces nutritional value have not been substantiated by research.

In the 1980s and the 1990s, the global environment was very different from now, as were the expectations of society. The dominant imperative now is cheap food from a well-managed environment. Technology is allowing improvements in sustainable production but it is clear food prices will increase as population puts pressure on demand. Reducing productivity by reducing numbers of cows would accelerate food price increases. Resource management is important, but winding back is not the answer. • Jacqueline Rowarth is professor of agribusiness, The University of Waikato.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

30 opinion

Go dairy farming for a real living wage ANY INDUSTRY that can pay a $35,000 salary to those starting out on the bottom rung deserves to be applauded. That is just the beginning of a good news story. For those that can handle the pace, the salary package keeps on growing. It’s not out of the way for a teenager who joined the industry when leaving school to be making about $45,000 plus. The first rung is usually a dairy herd assistant position, but then he/she can move along quickly depending on his/ her determination and the level of responsibility. Assistant herd manager’s average salary is $43,700 and a herd manager averages out at $49,700. Dairy farm manager salaries also depend on the size of an operation, but can average $42,000-$62,000. The highly skilled managers running large or multiple operations can earn up to $100,000. According to the Federated Farmers/Rabobank survey at the top end

there were salaries up to $200,000. Sharemilker operations come in varying sizes and income will depend on the profit sharing agreement with the land owner and the production from the cows. In most operations there are free or subsidised accommodation, power and telephone. There is often farm killed meat. These extra benefits are worth about $4000 a year. Here is an industry loaded with opportunities, but struggling to build an adequate workforce. The result is a reliance on immigrant labour. Industry leaders regularly express dismay at the numbers of potential dairy employees missing out on opportunities waiting to be taken up. The work is varied including the latest high technology. It is well paid from the time an employee steps into

the milking shed. It’s been suggested that possibly the staffing difficulty goes back several decades when the farm was seen as the place for the unskilled who would struggle in academic or clerical careers. In fact, today the dairy industry needs and uses the latest technology to maintain its production levels. Dairying today is a far cry from earlier times when 200 cows was seen as a strong unit. While these numbers can still be economic, the dairy industry is not all about size: there are smaller units in the 250-300 range operating highly profitable operations. There is a concern that the country’s biggest earner attracts 0.5% of the 20,000 graduates coming onto the market each year. They put it down to a lack of knowledge and understanding,

The highly skilled managers running large or multiple operations can earn up to $100,000.

which probably starts with schools, where farming is often seen as less important than creative arts. The industry believes there is still that old belief hanging about that dairying is for the less intellectual. Yet at the top end of the industry salaries can be eye-watering. These salaries are matched with the opportunity to manage multimillion dollar businesses. This is possible while still in one’s twenties. It is important that teaching insti-

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

opinion 31

PMs science advisor maybe a scientist, but he’s no climate change expert! d o n n i co lso n

THE PRIME Minister’s chief science advisor, Sir Peter Gluckman, was reported (Rural News, September 17) as having called for government departments to appoint their own science advisers. Sir Peter was quoted in a recent report as saying: “worryingly some officials have limited understanding of the scientific process of knowledge production”. Undoubtedly expert in his branch of medical research, Sir Peter is not averse to portraying himself as distinguished in other fields far removed. A recent example was his paper on climate change: http://tinyurl.com/ kxbavxx This paper contained so many inaccuracies that it provoked an open letter by 12 independent scientists with qualifications in various disciplines related to climate behaviour: http:// tinyurl.com/k5m6o47 The 12 signatories wrote that their concerns were directed to three aspects of the report: 1. “The timing and purpose of the report.” 2. “The language of the report, in particular the use of phrasing which we believe will mislead even a discerning reader and will direct many to an alarming conclusion we believe to be unjustified; information which is

not justified by clear and direct evidence. Statements and conclusions of a political nature have no place in a report that purports to be a submission of scientific evidence.” 3. “The sources of information used for the report represent only one viewpoint in the debate about climate change. We are concerned that there appears to have been no endeavour to source information from those who do not accept such a viewpoint and who can offer credible evidence to the contrary. We believe this to be a bias unbecoming of what should be an impartial report.” So it is worrying that Sir Peter himself appears to have in his own words: “limited understanding of the scientific process of knowledge production.” The signatories also objected to Sir Peter’s use of the term “ocean acidification” as misleading and intended to alarm a reader with an implication that the ocean is becoming dangerous. The word acid carries a connotation of danger. The pH range of the oceans is from about 7.8 to 8.5, which is well inside the alkaline condition. But the correctly descriptive term ‘reduced alkalinity’ is not sufficiently alarmist for those dedicated to climate scaremongering. Further, there is a large range of scientific peer-

reviewed reports showing ocean animal and plant populations adapt well to a range of pH levels, meaning minor alarmism re biological effects of the so-called ocean acidification are wildly hyped. In the same league

are alarmists who describe as a ‘pollutant’ the trace gas carbon dioxide (0.04% of Earth’s atmosphere), which is in fact a fertiliser enhancing vegetative growth including the pasture that nurtures our farm animals.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

32 opinion

Psuedo-science falls under scrutiny d o ug edm e a d es

Robin Boom falls into a trap in attempting to defend the base cation saturation ratio (BCSR) theory (Rural News, October 8). He contradicts scientific evidence by asserting that plants need sodium (Na). To support this opinion he claims Dr Max Turner “found pasture responses to salt over 30 years ago.” Turner did no such thing. Turner is best known for advancing the theory that incidence of bloat was related to the pasture potassium (K) to sodium ratio, the implication being that adding salt (sodium chloride) to fertiliser could reduce bloat. This speculation was based on a sample of 12 farms, and was debunked by Carruthers and co-workers in a more comprehensive survey of 91 farms in 1987.

So, to reassert the science, sodium is not an essential plant nutrient, meaning most plants do not need sodium to complete their life cycle. Sugar beet is a noted exception. However, sodium can substitute for potassium, a fact put to good use in New Zealand after World War II when potash (potassium chloride) was in short supply. More recent work (1980s) was done by my mentor Mr Mike O’Connor. By adding sodium to soils the pasture’s requirement for K can be reduced. This is not very beneficial information for farmers at present because Na costs much more than K. But it is very important knowledge when interpreting scientific data, as we will now discuss. Boom refers to UK research by Phillips and Chiy showing that adding salt (sodium chloride) to pastures (ryegrass not clover-based) increased pasture

Boom response Robin Boom last week told Rural News he stands by his October 8 article and welcomes the airing of views which are often kept behind closed doors. “It’s good to have the debate in the public domain.”

and milk production. Oddly, supplementing the animal directly with salt had no effect. The likely explanation for the result is that the soil was K deficient. Adding fertiliser Na alleviated this constraint on ryegrass growth, increasing pasture and milk production. Subsequent research on this topic in the UK is contradictory. For a full discussion see my review paper on pasture sodium requirements at www.agknowledge.co.nz/publications Boom also cites research conducted by Carran as evidence that altering the calcium to magnesium ratio in soils affects plant growth. Carran found, in a glasshouse and on only one soil, that growth of clover, but not ryegrass, was depressed when a pH 5.2 soil was limed to pH 6.1 with calcium carbonate. This effect was alleviated to some extent by adding magnesium carbonate. Interpretation of these results is difficult because it contradicts the findings from hundreds of lime trials which show liming soils that have a pH less than 5.8-6.0 increases clover and ryegrass growth. I am always wary of extrapolating results from the glasshouse to the field, especially when they involve liming and acidity.

Boom challenges my claim that calcium deficiency does not occur in New Zealand soils. I have made this claim many times and reassert it again. Our soils are geologically young, ie not highly weathered, and we use lots of lime (40% Ca) and superphosphate (20% Ca). Furthermore, we know from many field trials that pasture responses to lime (calcium carbonate) occur not because the soils or plants are calcium deficient but because the carbonate in the lime changes the pH which in turn increases soil biological activity. Against this depth of evidence Boom simply asserts his opinion that adding Ca to some soils in the Kaipara and Hauraki Plains might be beneficial. In summary, Boom’s process of dressing up opinion in scientific language is pseudo-science, in its purest form. • Doug Edmeades is Managing Director of

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

34 management

Robots roaming pastures In the final Rural News preview of papers to be presented at next month’s New Zealand Grassland Association conference in Tauranga, Andrew Swallow relays a ground-breaking concept in pasture and environmental management. ROBOTS TRAVERSING dairy paddocks, patch spraying a treatment here, applying some fertiliser or effluent there: sounds farfetched but the reality is the technology’s already available and a commercial product is just around the corner. “We’re aiming to launch at Mystery Creek 2014,” says Geoff Bates of Callaghan Innovation and Pastoral Robotics. “The plan is to have a limited release on up to 10 farms we can monitor closely.” If that goes well, the first truly commercial

models of the robotic urine-patch treatment machine, dubbed the Mini-ME, will be available for the 2015-16 season. The detail of how the Mini-ME will operate is spelt out in a paper Bates and fellow developer Bert Quin, of Pastoral Robotics, will present at next month’s New Zealand Grassland Association conference. At the heart of the machine is patented new technology which identifies urine patches. Crucially, it can do that immediately after cows

leave a paddock, without waiting for grass to change colour. “By the time you’ve got vibrant growth it’s too late: you should have been treating the urine patch five or six days earlier,” notes Bates. Such treatment also negates the risk of DCD contamination of milk as it will typically be at least 28 days before pasture is grazed. Not that the development is dependent on the moratorium on DCD use being lifted, as there are alternatives such as urease inhibitors which, given the

When the cows come out, the Mini-ME robot (one-third scale prototype pictured) will go in and spot spray urine patches.

timeliness of the intervention, would be effective at slowing the nitrate release. “It would great if they can get the [DCD] issue sorted and they say we can

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

management 35

soon a reality Conference details The New Zealand Grassland Association’s conference in Tauranga, November 5-7, is the Association’s 75th. See www.grassland.org.nz for registration details and event programme.

for general location, and aged that will apply liquid country a cow is comonboard sensors to locate urea, trace elements and fortable on and it won’t the coupling point and other pasture additives tip over. “It’s much more guide Mini-ME XT into the as required. “Applicastable than a quad bike.” refilling position.” tion of urea will be linked Ultimately, he envisEventually, a considerto urine detection so the ages every farm will have urea delivery cuts out over ably larger robot, dubbed such a machine, but iniMaxi-ME, is envisaged, urine patches.” tially it will be the larger, which would perform all Applying 50kg/ha of most likely South Island the functions farms, that of the Mini-ME it will suit. “Application of urea will be models but also “Where they be able to spread were spendlinked to urine detection effluent and ing $10,000/ so the urea delivery other bulk fluiyear applying dised fertilisers DCD all over cuts out over the urine such as phosthe property, patches.” phate and potash. that’s where it It would be becomes ecodesigned to opernomic.” Enviate 24 hours/day, with a fluidised urea (23kgN/ ronmental regulations 3000-5000L product tank. may also prove a driver for ha) using a 25L tank will As such, the electric-powrequire 16 refills to cover use in certain regions, he ered robot’s likely to be 8ha, so Bates and colnotes. 3m long, 2m wide, and 2m leagues are working on While the Mini-ME is high, and weigh up to 7t automated docking with likely to be the first prodfully loaded. uct off the shelf – or rather a tanker positioned at the Bates and Quin predict start-stop point in the padrobot on the paddock – a it will use only a quarter larger ‘XT’ version with an dock. “The robot will use of the power of a compadifferential GPS (DGPS) extra spray tank is envis-

rable tractor and effluent wagon, and of course, there’s no driver required. However, no driver means many more safety features must be built in so it stops before hitting anything – animate or inanimate. The benefit of such a large-scale robot is it will track back to a central point on the farm to refill with effluent, fertiliser, or other product for application, not to mention the precision application and management of the whole farm without having to leave the farm office. Bates says the application of the GPS, robotic

and sensing technologies to manage nutrient applications and losses in a pastoral setting is, as far as he’s aware, unprecedented globally. “There’s a lot of potential. Australia’s dairy industry has some similar environmental problems to us and in Europe there’s a demand for this type of technology as a labour replacement, as well as the environmental aspect.” Geoff Bates, Pastoral Robotics.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

36 management

Pasture tool a prompt a n d rew swa llow andrews@ruralnews.co.nz

HOW MUCH grass is going to grow on your farm next week? While you might have a figure in mind, and the ability to factor the weather forecast into that

mental calculation, a new online service promises to provide a reliable reference prediction. At a district level, the Pasture Growth Forecaster (www.pasturegrowthforecaster.co.nz) is free thanks to funding from Beef + Lamb New

Zealand and DairyNZ. By registering for the service users get an e-mail every Sunday predicting what the typical dryland dairy or sheep and beef farm in the district will grow in the coming week. Go online and the free forecast extends to a fort-

 

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night. For a $9.95/month subscription, a forecast tailored to a 5km square is available, taking account of the water holding capacity of the five main soil-types in that square. Besides the week-toview and fortnight forecasts, there’s a prediction for season-long pasture growth, showing the range from production in the best years, to the worst. Rezare systems, with the help of farm management company Farmax, built the programs that generate the forecasts which are administered by Farmax to provide the service. “We see this as an awareness generation tool,” Farmax general manger Gavin McEwan

The dairy and sheep and beef predictions gave different results, explains Farmax’s Gavin McEwen (inset).

told Rural News. “You’ll look at it and get an indicative measure of pasture growth for the region of your farm, but there’s no substitute for getting out there and actually measuring growth.” Beef + Lamb New Zealand chief executive, Dr Scott Champion says while nothing about the weather is ever certain, the tool “pulls together the best information available to forecast grass growth”. That should give greater confidence around decisions such as feed allocation, grazing rounds, or stock ratios, he says.

“Knowing when you are likely to have more or less feed than usual is going to be a key benefit of using this tool.” Some BLNZ and Farmax project farms trialled the forecaster over the past year. “They’ve found significant benefit in being able to calculate pasture growth on their own farms, supporting timing decisions around destocking or buying in animals to use the available feed,” says Champion. There are 44 districts at the free service level. Each district forecast is

built up from the mean of the 5km square forecasts that are available by subscription. McEwan acknowledges there may be big discrepancies between the predictions and what farms actually grow, particularly as the dairy model, at this stage, is dryland regardless of location. However, the predictions should provide benchmarks which can be used to derive forecast figures “tweaked” according to the particular farm and management inputs such as irrigation and nitrogen fertiliser.

High non-return rate may be a bad sign

                                                

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

  

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

  

   

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LOOK HARD at non-return rate five week’s into mating and if it’s over 70% after treatment for noncycling, alarm bells should be ringing, says specialist cattle vet and managing director of Cognosco, Scott McDougall. “Realistically the first service conception after a non-cycler treatment rate is about 40% and only about 50% in cycling cows, so if you get 70% not returning in week five, it can’t be correct: there must be cows in trouble there,” he says. The cows “in trouble” are often referred to as phantom cows – those not showing a heat within 25 days

after insemination but later testing as not pregnant. Using re-synchrony programmes without pregnancy testing is a possible solution, but McDougall warns progesterone alone has a negative effect on first pregnancies. Similarly, confirming pregnancies by early checks before initiating treatment may affect existing pregnancies and accurate early pregnancy testing is critical. A South Island trial with 1800 cows by Oamaru vet Mat O’Sullivan found re-synchronising best for low body condition score phantom cows (BCS 4.5 or less) whether or

not they had been treated as noncyclers earlier in the breeding season. When resynchronised there was a significant increase in the 10-week in-calf rate of the thinner phantom cows, lifting from 25% on average without treatment, to 60%. McDougall recently summarised research on the problem of phantom cows for vets during Zoetis’ spring roadshow. Last week he was in the UK as a keynote speaker at the British Cattle Vets Association, presenting on mastitis control in grassbased systems.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

management 37

Keep milk pumping post peak AS DAIRY production peaks for the season look at the drop post peak in previous seasons and ask could it have been better, says feed firm Seales Winslow. The Ashburton-based firm’s extension manager, James Hague, warns many seasonal calving herds experience a sharp drop in milk from peak, sometimes in excess of 4% per week and lasting for 4-8 weeks. “This drop slows back to a normal 2-2.5% per week but by then the potential for thousands of

James Hague

kilos of milk production in the whole season has been lost. For an average sized herd this could be 25,000 kgsMS which, at an $8.30 payout, would mean more

than $200,000 of income that never arrives in the bank.” With milk prices at record highs, closer attention to a herd’s nutrition can help prevent such losses and extend peak production, he says. “We have been tracking farm production data on more than 200 farms with our Tracker system, and for the majority of these farms it is in the post peak drop that the milk potential is lost. Analysis of this data shows that these farms could have produced 27% more milk

(worth $203,000 at an $8.30 payout) if the gap between actual production and target was closed.” Hague also says think about how much of the peak milk came from the cows back. Have cows dropped a lot of body condition to support high output at the peak?

“A cow that milks hard off her back typically has lower dry matter intakes and will suffer a greater drop post peak than a cow whose dry matter intakes are high. Getting dry matter intakes up is essential and so is good feed conversion efficiency. “This comes from

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bays, cabins, air intakes, bale chambers etc also risk spreading problems from one property to another. Ideally, pressure-wash machinery before leaving and preferably close to the paddock worked, but away from water courses or public drains. Contractors should agree wash-down sites with landowners and provide cleaning checklists for each piece of kit to staff. “Checklists make the inspection and cleaning process faster and easier and form a record of proof that the machine has been cleaned.”

Fermentable energy is required by rumen bugs to multiply and more effectively digest the total diet, so there’s an additive effect. Not all feeds do this, especially oily feeds which can appear high energy, but actually reduce fibre digestion in the rumen.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

38 animal health

Plan drench strategy for season ANDREW SWALLOW andrews@ruralnews.co.nz

WHERE DO you expect to be grazing your weaned lambs this summer? If it’s on paddocks already grazed by ewes and lambs, then plan a regular, relatively short interval drench programme. However, if it’s on cleaner ground, for example after cattle, then you can plan to stretch intervals, says WormWise spokesman Trevor Cook. “Use faecal egg counting as a safety net if; you are stretching intervals,” he recommends. “Going onto contaminated areas the expectation must be that you’re going to be frequently drenching. The variation to that would be if it got very dry.” With lambs going onto contaminated areas waiting for faecal egg counts to rise as a signal to start drenching is a risky strategy as eggs are only shed sev-

eral weeks after worms are ingested, by which time considerable damage may have been done, he warns. Whatever the plan, there needs to a readiness to be flexible, as the best laid plans can go awry, he adds. The same applies with the more immediate issue of lambs on their mothers. With ewes in good condition and milking well there is a strong protective effect so no treatment should be needed. However, as milk intake declines, or if there Trevor Cook was never much milk in the first place, keep a close watch and if a worm burden is suspected test and be prepared to drench. “Some trials show there is a response, but it tends to be in situations where the ewes are not fed very well.” As for what to drench lambs with,

Cook says: “An effective combination, which begs the question ‘what’s an effective combination’ and only about 10% of farmers know what’s effective on their property.” After years of urging farmers to find out the resistance status of their property, his frustration with that low percentage is clear. “It’s as important as a soil test but why won’t they do it?” The cost of maybe $1200 to $2000 for a Faecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT) can quickly be recouped in improved performance by using effective products. In some cases, cost savings by not using more expensive mixes unnecessarily. The knowledge will also help build a resistance management

strategy which will postpone, possibly indefinitely, a major resistance problem developing. “You could be using a combination which is 100% effective, but the components could be failing quite significantly so your combination could fall over at any time.” For example, the common combination of albendazole plus levamisole may be 100% effective, but test the constituents separately and they may only be 60-70% effective. To carry on using such a product routinely in such a situation would be asking for trouble. Resistance status knowledge also feeds into other management strategies, such as refugia, the practice of leaving some animals from a mob untreated. “If you’re using a combination in which the active ingredients are still very effective individually then the modelling shows you only need to

leave a very small number of animals untreated for your regime to be sustainable but where the combination constituents are not as effective, then you need to leave quite a lot more untreated, maybe 10%.” Cook admits the modelling hasn’t been done for the scenario where the combination is 100% effective, but the individual components are failing, so 10% is a best guess. What is known is that once the efficacy of a combination starts to wane, even if only a little, the level of refugia required soars. “With a combination that’s only 95% effective the level of refugia to maintain efficacy at that level is 20 or 30 times more.” As a principle, refugia has been “taken on board” by most farmers, he says. It’s just the detail now that needs to be worked on, and knowing resistance status is essential for that.

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WILD HARES in Australia have been found to be important carriers of sheep worms and are likely to be helping spread strains which are resistant to drenches. The University of Adelaide and Sturt University report, in the in the journal Veterinary Parasitology, Trichostrongylus colubriformis was found in 79% of 110 hares caught, but only 9% of the 88 rabbits. “There were more sheep worms in the hares than there were rabbit

or hare worms,” says Dr Philip Stott, senior lecturer in the university’s School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences. “This has important implications for sheep management in Australia, and for hare conservation globally.” Parasitic worms are second only to blow-fly strike for causing production loss in the Australian sheep industry, and drench resistance is widespread. “This is a serious problem for commercial sheep producers and requires careful management,” says Stott.

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While rabbits have a limited grazing range, hares cover as much as 180ha and the researchers found wherever sheep grazed, so did hares. “The hares are moving

readily through fences, transporting worms from one property to another and potentially transferring resistance between properties as well.”

Hares link unlikely here New Zealand parasite specialist Dave Leathwick, Agresearch, says while the Australian finding is interesting, it is unlikely to be of commercial consequence here. “The number of worm eggs deposited on pasture by a hare each day would be very small in comparison to even a small lamb, so the threat of significant new [worm population] establishment has to be small,” he told Rural News. “I would expect that one or two of the neighbours’ sheep getting through a hole in the boundary fence would be far more of a risk (of transporting resistant parasites) than a couple of hares moving through.”

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

animal health 39

Rangitata TB came from West Coast

related than geographically distant farms linked by cattle movements. In the UK context, the finding confirmed that while long distance spread via cattle movements plays a role, local transmission mechanisms appear to drive the spread of the disease. Researchers were unable to determine what these local transmission mechanisms were, but UK native species the badger is frequently blamed. Principle investigator in the Northern Ireland work, Professor Rowland Kao, says he’s optimistic the approach will, in due course, finally determine what role, if any, the badger plays in transmission of the disease. After years of protest from animal lovers and conservationists, but lobbying from agriculturalists, the English Government last year sanctioned a trial cull of badgers. The cull commenced earlier this year but has been labelled a farce for failing to meet the target 70% kill in the trial areas. An extension has been granted.

a n d rew swa llow andrews@ruralnews.co.nz

TB FREE New Zealand says recent cases of the disease in two herds in the Rangitata/Orari area of South Canterbury were a West Coast strain. “All test-positive cattle have been slaughtered and were found to be infected with a West Coast strain,” it said in a letter to local farmers earlier this month. “This confirms that the herds have become infected from bought-in TB infected cattle.” TB Free last week told Rural News a thorough investigation into exactly where the infected cattle came from continues. “The herd infections were no fault of the South Canterbury farmers. However, it remains vital that herdowners are aware of the TB status of any stock coming onto their property,” said a spokesman. They could do that by calling 0800 4824636, he said. A wildlife “survey” in the area caught 996 possums, all of which tested free of the disease. Final results on nine ferrets caught are pending. TB Free national disease manager Kevin Crews last month told Rural News’ sister paper Dairy News that the maze of stock movements uncovered by investigations into recent cases, including those in Taranaki, Waikato and Northland, is prompting a rethink on testing protocols. “The traceback is proving quite fraught in its complexity and [because of] the number of animals involved,” he said. “It’s just the way the modern dairy industry operates with new conversions and herd expansions.” Currently TB Free’s DNA testing can identify over 100 strains of

Recent cases could lead to testing changes, says TB Free’s Kevin Crews.

the disease but complete genome sequencing, taking testing to a new level, could be routine within five years’ time, predicts Crews’ colleague Paul Livingstone. Experimental use of such testing in Northern Ireland was

reported at the Society of General Microbiology conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in August. The results showed that, even on a scale of a few kilometres, TB samples from neighbouring farms were more closely genetically

@rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews

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Queensland producers cop more movement restrictions ANOTHER 40 QUEENSLAND beef producers have movement restrictions on their herds following a fifth farm found to have bovine johnes disease (BJD), a notifiable disease in the state. The new case is linked to last year’s outbreak on a stud property at Rockhampton which

saw 170 farms placed under movement restriction. Of those, 28 are still under movement restriction, reports Australian website Beef Central, and the latest case is the fifth from 108 “trace forward” properties tested to date due to cattle movement links to the Rockhampton stud.

Announcing the latest case, Biosecurity Queensland advised producers not to dispose of any suspected animals before discussing their situation with the agency. “Disposing of animals without appropriate testing can greatly prolong movement restrictions,” it warned.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

40 animal health Make sure Your Toxovax® is There wheN You Need iT. avaiLaBLe FroM 21 oCToBer 2013 Toxoplasmosis is on every New Zealand farm, and it can cause ongoing losses or abortion storms.

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Dealing with dogs that get aggressive Recently a friend, a top dog woman in her own right, came to stay. She had with her a 9 month old male pup. When the pup was a few months old it was attacked by someone else’s dog; it had become defensive, showing deliberate aggression with strange dogs. It’s not the pup’s fault. When something like that happens at an early age it can go one of two ways: either the pup becomes shy and timid around other dogs, or the opposite can happen; it becomes aggressive in order to protect itself. Then there are dogs born with a dominant nature. Watch any litter of pups and you will see potential leaders emerging. A few years ago I was given a young Heading bitch, Joe. She was a nice type and well bred but she had two problems. She would eye and handle sheep beautifully but if one tried to bolt away she would fly in, grab it, and not let go. Luckily she’d only done it on a few occasions and it hadn’t developed into a full blown addiction. That was easily solved; she just needed to be taught that was unacceptable behaviour and I never saw her bite again. I demonstrate my kind method for teaching dogs confidence, without biting, at my training days (see panel). Joe’s other issue was she wanted to be top bitch the very day she joined the pack. How do I handle dogs that show signs of aggression over other dogs? It is vital that any undesirable behaviour in dogs is quickly curtailed at the first sign so that a habit isn’t formed. Consistency is vital. Every time the dog does the misdemeanour there must be consequences, or the dog will get mixed messages and be confused. How can it learn if you allow it to do something several times then chastise it out of the blue when it has been allowed to get away with it previously?

training day Anna’s next Teaching People Dog Training day is at Otorohanga, Sunday 10th November. Tel 07 217 0101 for details. The very first time Joe raised her hackles and growled at another one of my dogs, I caught her, lay her on the ground as described in my last column, and lightly strad-

working farm dogs, or any other dog for that matter. In the wild, dogs fight, targeting the throat. There is the dominant male and the dominant bitch and

Then there are dogs born with a dominant nature. Watch any litter of pups and you will see potential leaders emerging. dled her so there was no way she could get up. Then I called over the other dogs, making sure her victim was there. It was important for them to stand over her and at the same time I had her by the throat and gently choked her. Before you leap to the phone to complain to the editor or me about animal cruelty, I stress the word gently, and please read the rest of this article. If you still don’t get it then, please don’t bother us because you never will: “please”, “thank you” and tit bits aren’t the way to train

other members of the pack submit to them. If they don’t, there will be a fight. Puncture wounds, blood, hair loss, even fatal injuries result. Allowing your dogs to

Behavioural roots: today’s farm dogs and their unschooled wolverine relatives (above).

fight can be expensive – vet bills aren’t cheap. Being the leader I forced her into a submissive position, and by calling over the other dogs to stand over her it gave the message that “you are no higher in rank than them”. I did this every time she showed any form of aggression and after a few such lessons the aggressive behaviour was cured and peace prevailed, with not a drop of blood lost. • Anna Holland is teaching people dog training, for more information www.annaholland.co.nz, annaholland@ xtra.co.nz, ph 07 2170101

Rural News // october 22, 2013

southdown special 41

President reflects on progress

With lambing drawing to a close across the country thoughts are turning to ram selection. In this special feature, Rural News finds the Southdown breed’s easy lambing and early mean kill dates finding favour with commercial producers (pages 42-43), and talk to breed society president Stuart Brannigan. a n d rew swa llow

FROM SHORT and stocky, to longer and leggier, and now with muscle built onto that, the Southdown breed has come a long way in recent decades, says current breed society president Stuart Brannigan. As owner operator of the Musberg stud, established by his father in 1969 and which he bought in 1982, he’s well placed to reflect on the breed’s progress over the years. He also has copies of the Southdown breed books going back to 1926. “Before that they were all in the one book, the New Zealand Sheep Breeds.” Besides the breed books, he’s compiled a dossier of historical information on the breed over the years.

“The Deans family, Christchurch, were the first registered breeders of Southdowns in 1863 so it was fitting that the Southdowns did well at the 150th Canterbury A&P last year.” He also has a record of the breed in New Zealand which pre-dates even that: a Nelson Mail report from 1843 which says Alfred Saunders imported a number of Southdown ewes and rams from England. “Apparently one was killed by a dog a few months later and it was said the animal was worth £50 – in 1843!” But for all the history Brannigan has collated on the breed, he stresses the breeders’ council is very much looking to the future and building on the commercial success the breed is again enjoying.

“The breed has got stronger as far as survivability goes and it’s a case of them looking after you these days rather than you having to look after them.” Easy lambing remains a key feature and the extremes of length and legginess that some animals were showing 15 years ago has also gone. Those extremes came about as breeders sought to move the conformation on from the very short legged, stocky animal of yesteryear which had gained a reputation for throwing lambs that became overfat if taken to heavier kill weights, he explains. The longer, leggier animals marked a move to a more commercial terminal sire that could manage large mobs of commercial ewes, and throw lambs

Southdown’s today: the line up of rams in the Merial Ancare Carcase Evaluation class at last year’s Canterbury A&P.

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That was then: Southdown breed society president Stuart Brannigan shows a couple of shots from his archives.

which still grew fast, but didn’t run to fat too soon. Now breeders have put more meat on to that larger frame, without losing the lambing ease for which the breed’s renowned. “We’re pretty happy with where the breed is at but something we are looking at, because of the way some of the meat companies are starting to pay like Alliance is with its Viascan, is whether we should be trying to put a bit more muscle on the shoulders to maximise carcase value. “But we need to make sure we can do that without upsetting lambing ability.”

That easy lambing ability has made the breed a popular choice for use over hoggets. The potential to finish Southdown cross lambs early, taking a sizeable draft at weaning, and in some cases even a pre-wean draft, is another boon with hoggets, allowing them to be grown out better. The early finish also applies with lambs off mixed age ewes, notes Brannigan. In the case of his own flock, admittedly a small one on lowland, he reckons to be killing purebred Southdown lambs at 18.5kg cwt by the end of October, from July lambing.

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RAMS AVAILABLE PRIVATELY OR AT FEILDING STUD FAIR Bred in the difficult Northland conditions these rams provide the opportunity for Prime Lamb finishing farmers to achieve the optimum mean kill date.

Rural News // october 22, 2013

42 southdown special

Eye adjustment when drafting Don and Jo Murray

‘RIVERSIDE’ R.D.3 Waitahuna Otago

Phone 03 4859 186 | joanddon@xtra.co.nz “Our focus is survival and early maturity on Hill Country”.

Willowhaugh Southdowns ~ Established 1956 ~ Contact: IAN & CHRISTINA JORDAN, R D 1, Blenheim. wjordan@xtra.co.nz Ph 035728430 or 027 628 5308 or our PGG Wrightson Genetics representative Graham Sidey Ph 0274 321 384

Client comments... Ben & Caroline Murray, Woodbank Angus Stud, Clarence • Using “Willowhaugh” Southdowns over their hoggets • Mated 400 hoggets for 30 days • Scanned 108% • No hoggets died during lambing • Started lambing 27 September and weaned on 15 December @ 27 kgs average • Growing @ 329 grams/ per day

Derek West, Ward

SIL recorded rams available

• Using “Willowhaugh” Southdowns over mixed age ewes • Drafted at 10 weeks of age on 9 October 2013 • Average 18.7 kgs carcase weight • “.......... they were little bricks!”

DON’T JUDGE a book by its cover, goes the saying, and when it comes to Southdown-cross lambs, it’s not a bad analogy, it seems. “You have to adjust your eye on the drafting gate to go a bit smaller when it comes to the Southdown-cross lambs,” Wairarapa sheep and beef farmer Ben Morrison told Rural News. Why? Because like for like they’re that much heavier, he explains. “A Southdown-cross of the same size [as a Romney] is always heavier. Visually you can’t pick it but the scales don’t lie. It’s just the depth of body and the way they’re muscled.” Morrison farms 560ha of mostly steep hill country at Alfredton, using Southdowns over hoggets and a B-flock of about 300 out of the 2300 Romneybased mixed age flock. “We use them over our hoggets because they have a small lamb at birth and then grow on well.” They also cope with being born on steep hill country climbing to 540m above sea level.

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Phone 03 3242 751 • musburg@xtra.co.nz October born “Musburg” Southdown X weaning draft lambs from “Cloudy Peaks Station” Fairlie. Sold Temuka sale 7th February 2011. Pen 279 average liveweight 44kgs, $130 each.

Bring forward your MEAN KILL DATE with Southdowns With the added value of using your Southdown rams over both Mixed Age Ewes and Ewe Hoggets!

The hoggets lamb up there, explains Wairarapa farmer Ben Morrison.

“We lamb our ewes on our better country and view the hogget lambs as a bonus so we set stock them on the same country we would if they were dry…. If these lambs didn’t get up and go in an exposed environment like this they wouldn’t survive.” Of the 560ha, only about 10ha is flat; the rest is rolling to seriously steep. In a normal year about 1000 hoggets are put to the Southdown rams, with about 700 getting in lamb. Those that do are kept to go into the predominantly Romney flock as two-tooths; those that don’t are sold. Last year’s drought forced a change of plan – twice. Initially, no replacements were to be mated to lamb as hoggets but as they went through for a final draft in April, a

couple of hundred ewes lambs were found to be suitably heavy and went to the rams. “We got one of our higher conception rates.” The last-minute reversal of the decision not to mate meant campylobacter and toxoplasmosis vaccinations were missed but fortunately only a few aborted, says Morrison. “The weather’s bowled the odd one too, but considering some of the weather we’ve had this year, that’s hardly surprising,” he added shortly after a blast of wind and 50mm of rain swept through earlier this month. From October lambing the hoggets’ lambs are weaned “towards the end of January” with about 20% going in a weaning draft.

The B-flock is weaned first week of January, 30-40% going straight to the works, compared to 10-15% from the A-flock. “That little bit of hybrid vigour probably helps too.” Morrison admits he’s occasionally been caught out by the Southdowncross lambs’ growth rates and deceptively high weights. “We share-farm some in Feilding and did get some at 25kg (cwt) there last year so we put a second lot into the [Feilding] sale rather than get penalised at the works and they made $120/head at auction, so were no worse off.” Even at such weights they’ve had no problem with overfats, he adds. “They rarely go into the T grade. They just get heavy.”

Southdown Rams available throughout NZ visit www.southdownsheep.org.nz or contact Christine or Joanne Phone/Fax 06 323 4156

NZ1102764-Gray, S W:NZ1066684-Gray, S W

26/10/2010

3:34 p.m.

Rural News // october 22, 2013

southdown special 43 Silverdale & Oakdale

Common themes emerge with users TALK TO users of Southdown rams and a couple of common themes emerge: the ease of lambing and early mean kill dates. They also talk about great “get up and go” and lambs that weigh heavier than they look. While some have been using the breed for years, and typically only have purebred maternal counterparts to compare their crossbred Southdown’s with, others are more recent converts. “We were using South Suffolks as our terminals, but we just found they’re slower growing and very susceptible to the cold,” says Murray Smith, who farms on the Otago Southland border between Clinton and Gore. While the farm is rolling country, it’s quite exposed to the southwest and in the 2011 spring storm they had snow for ten days. “It’s not an early area. We can have quite late springs.” Nonetheless, they put their B-flock to Southdowns for lambing to start in the second week of September, while the A-flock – about 1500 of the 2250 Romneys – is mated to start a couple of weeks later. Earlier this month they were already tailing Southdown cross lambs in early October and they’ll be weaned early December with 200 to 350 drafted then. “The growth rates are really good. With the South Suffolk we were weaning later and not getting as many away.”

Most producers say they get a good draft at weaning.

Southland farmer Murray Smith shows off a Southdown crossbred lamb while tailing earlier this month.

Stud & flock rams & ewes available

He reckons on all Southdown cross lambs being away to the works by February, freeing up pasture for other uses. “We can bring our white face ewes onto that country and start putting weight onto them.” Steve McLaughlin at Ngaruwahia, Waikato, uses Southdowns across 900 of his Romneys, out of a flock of 2300. “The rest go to the Romney for replacements.” Unlike Smith, he’s a long-time user of the breed. “My father first used them in the 1960s, putting them across two-tooths for their ease of lambing.” Their get up and go at birth, and rapid growth, was apparent then but they could become overfat if taken too big. While McLaughlin still keeps an eye on that, it’s less of a problem now with the modern Southdown “longer and higher off the ground,” he says. Historically they started lambing mid-August but in recent years that’s been brought forward to the end of June, aiming to meet higher early season schedules and have lambs away before it gets dry. “We can dry out quite quickly so we like to have them all off farm by the end of January.” A first draft in mid-November – “straight off mum to the works” – yields about 320 lambs, and across the season, kill weight averages about 17.5kg. “Put across the Romney we find we get a faster turnaround with getting lambs to the works.”

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• Breeding rams that are well muscled with length, to produce early maturing lambs improving mean kill date. • All rams scanned for Eye Muscle Area.

Won “B

” est Southdown Carcass Sheep at 2010 Canterbury Show

Page 1

Rural News // october 22, 2013

44 machinery & products

Farmers stick with proven gear TAUMARUNUI FARMER Ron Carey sticks to a philosophy of ‘if it’s not broken, why fix it?’

So he’s he’s sticking with Lely, he says. “I won’t change from Lely because I’ve had such a good run

with them.” Carey and wife Sandra own a farm and run a contracting business, making

Ron and Sandra Carey

balage and hay and doing general cultivation. It’s a two-person operation: Carey does the

mowing and baling, and Sandra does the raking, wrapping and most of the stacking. Together they

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With it’s 2.4 m cut, 2 drum / 8 double edged blades, the UFO 2400 delivers long periods of low cost operation. The work-horse on the farm and absolutely bullet-proof. Usually $9,450 + GST NOW: $8,250 + GST What you see here is the best valued disc mower range on the market today. And that's according to our RD Disc mower owners. A world renowned cutter bar and a rock solid headstock makes this one-hell-of-a-New Zealand made-mower! RD 2400: Usually: $12,995 + GST NOW: $10,895 + GST (2.4m cut) RD 2800: Usually: $13,995 + GST NOW: $11,895 + GST (2.8m cut)

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make 6000 bales a season. They’ve had a lot of Lely mowers over the 19 years they’ve been at their current property. Carey says one of the initial attractions was the service from the Lely dealers, Giltrap in Otorohanga, and the fact the mower needed low power. He is now on his sixth Lely mower. The latest one is a Splendimo 320MH centre pivot and was new last season. “Centre pivot mowers follow the ground far better,” Carey says. “There is less stress on the mower at the end of the cutter bar.” Few of the paddocks the Careys work are flat so the centre pivot is vital. “In a lot of places the tractor is leaning one way and the mower the other. If you’re going through a V-shape valley with the tractor on one-side, the mower will lift up to 35° on the other side of the bank. “The Splendimo 320MH copes equally well with grass and oats in any conditions. It flies through whether it’s long, short, wet or thick. Also the hydraulic break away system works extremely well.” Carey says the blades are quick and simple to change. The option he ordered has two inner and two outer swath discs on the cutting bar to bring in the swath in so Sandra can rake up three mower widths. In 2011 Ron and Sandra bought a Lely Hibiscus 805 rake. They looked at a model with adjustable width through two hydraulic rams but they decided that an older model suited them better, because they always leave it on the maximum width anyway. “The Hibiscus is built like the brick proverbial.

It has lots of cam settings but we don’t change them either. Mike Walsh, a representative from Lely’s head branch in Hamilton, came down with the rake. He set it up for us, and we haven’t altered it since. He spent half a day showing how to work it.” Sandra rakes with her 180hp tractor but Carey says 80hp or 90hp would be enough. The rake has made it much easier to form a bale. “It makes me look really good when I’m baling. Some of it is Sandra, as she knows how to rake a paddock, and some is the rake. It lifts up and folds in the outside of the row, so when you’re baling you’re not zigzagging down the row. There’s more grass on the outside of the row and it makes nice square sides on the bale.” The Careys’ baler is a Lely too – a 2009 Welger RP435 variable round baler. For hay, Ron makes up to 15 bale equivalents and around 10 for silage. It has optional knives, and a drop floor for blockages. “The day I got it was the first time for ages I’d come home with a smile on my face. You just don’t have to get out of the tractor. If it blocks you just drop the floor, the blockage sucks through, raise the floor and you’re away again.” The RP435 does not get blocked often. “I saw a demo before I bought one. It was a drizzly day with wet-as grass that had just been cut. The baler was fair flying around. Someone made a heap of grass just to block it. You could hear the baler working but it kept going. It just went straight through it.” Carey likes the fact that the RP435 is stable on hills. “I feel safe on the side of hills even with a full bale.”

LATEST STORIES EVERY DAY Get upto date news at www.ruralnews.co.nz

Rural News // october 22, 2013

machinery & products 45

New turbines make wind power an option GARETH GILLATT

A NEW mid-sized turbine has made setting up a wind and solar energy generation system more

generate their own power to reduce reliance on the grid. “Farmers inquiring… say they are disgusted at being left off the grid for

The renewable energy system becomes the main power supply. The mains grid supply becomes the back-up and so there

is a large reduction in on-going running costs as mains power usage is reduced significantly.” This is economically

viable as it can give a payback over a period of 6-10 years depending on resources. Systems generally

st e v r a h n and

iO t a v i t l u C A mid-sized 7.5kw wind turbine is capable of producing the same price/ kw generating ratio as 20-100kw models, but without the huge price tag.

of an option for farmers, says Tecnico managing director Tony Pearson. The energy company recently released the Windspot 7.5kw wind turbine capable of 9.5kw (max.). It achieves the same price/kw generating ratio as 20-100kw models, but without the huge price tag, says Pearson. Small 1.5-3.5kw turbines and large 20-100kw turbines have been on the market for a while. But Pearson says neither meets the budget and power requirements of dairy farmers; they would have to use an overly large number of the smaller units to generate enough power, or, to use the large units would have to pay an uneconomical price. Pearson says the 7.5kw models are a good midpoint and were sourced after increased interest from dairy farmers. The company specialises in installations for small farms and households off and on the grid, but Pearson says a growing number of dairy farmers are looking to

lengthy periods when the lines companies’ efforts seem to go towards the larger number of domestic customers. “These farmers lose income from not being able to milk or not being able to store the milk through lack of cooling and they get large vet bills for cows missing milkings.” Pearson says farmers are also looking to reduce power bills. “They want to get their own back on power companies.” Alternative generation produces power and allows the sale of any surplus back to the electricity companies. A complete system would include wind, solar, batteries and back-up diesel generation. Pearson says while this would cost more than a simple back-up system, such as gas or diesel generators, it works as a true alternative to mains power rather than being just an emergency measure. “Costs are higher than for other back-up systems, but this is not just a back-up system.

use a mix of wind and solar generation to give consistent supply. However, a diesel generator is still required

for periods of peak loads if mains power is not available. Tel. 04 212 4873 www.tecnico.co.nz

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dersta e’s hav ed by a ry Centr support s. We un e r o a in e ls h y a c 0 a e r 6 M ck and a asonal items. d Farm for over riced, ts in sto Norwoo operty owners r a p nd se itively p y y t a r e e g r p in p in m h v c o le o c a lifesty chiner slow m nge of ltural m rgest ra o satisfy the ma e. to even rs. f agricu e s la o s m e e e o c h g t t c s n a o u a t t r ls c e ick k access and accessories s than anyone e extensiv entre giving qu ic u n q a s e ld r o d s u We h e bran Parts C you, ens akes’ spare part ational and mor tend to s r x m o e t ll c e ‘a a w r s based N t hich well a ore con port of w arts’ as rmers, m a f e r This sup ality ‘genuine p o eds of m qu epair ne r highest d n a e anc mainten

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

46 machinery & products

Grass harvesters keep pace after 50 yrs FIFTY YEARS in rural contracting has given Peach Contracting lots of experience and some interesting angles on the business, reports Kuhn New Zealand, whose gear the contractors use extensively. John Peach and his son Isaac service clients in Manawatu and Tararua regions and further afield, doing supplement feeds, trucking, agricultural work, paddock maintenance, water systems, cowshed maintenance, pumps, hot water systems, effluent pipes and pond cleaning. And they are certified in plumbing, gas and drainage. Peach speaks well of Kuhn equip-

ment for their hay and baleage work: “They’re second to none,” John says. “We’ve tried other products and they haven’t stood up as well as these. By having good, quality gear we don’t have the downtime.” They bought their first Kuhn two years ago, now they’re up to four – a GA7501 rake, an 8702T tedder, a VBP 2160 combination baler/wrapper and a SW4004 wrapper. The GA7501 semi-mounted gyrorake has twin rotors and can gather in 8m of grass to make windrows from 1.35m to 1.95m. It arrived in September and is the Peaches’ second Kuhn swather.

“It combs the product into a better swath so the pick-up into the baler is better, creating a more even bale.” The rake is said to work equally well for hay or silage, no matter how thick the crop is. Another recent purchase is a Kuhn 8702T, generation II, trailed tedder with eight rotors with six tines per rotor. The rotors are small, giving a greater angle to turn over the grass for faster drying. The 8702T’s working width is 8.7m, and the driver can fold it to its 2.4m transport width without leaving the cab. They can set up the tedder to pull the swath either way. “It can twist to the left or right to take product away from fence lines and difficult areas, or you can change it for a specific scattering programme.” Kuhn’s variable chamber VBP 2160 baler/wrapper makes round and square bales from 1.0m to 1.6m. John bought it two years ago because it is a one-pass option and reliable. The VBP 2160 has a 2.3m pick-up width and a drop floor in case of blockages. “Once you drop the floor, a blockage just sucks through. You

John (right) and Isaac Peach surrounded by Kuhn gear.

don’t have to get out of the cab. “It makes a great bale. It maintains a specific density and the diameter is uniform. That makes it easier to transport them.” It copes equally well with hay or silage, and the only difference for the driver is the push of buttons on the computer, Peach says. Kuhn’s 3D wrapping system is fast, first wrapping the bale on the ends, then reotating it to wrap the middle – a wellbalanced bale that lasts a long time, “user-friendly, easy to load the net and wrap.” They tow the VBP 2160 with a 180hp tractor; it’s said to be easy to drive on paddocks or roads. Kuhn’s SW4004 wrapper is offset from the tractor and designed so the

driver has a clear view of the wrapping. “It will do a complete wrap in 32 seconds. When we did square bales with our old wrapper, the wrapper driver would leave two to three hours after the baler, now they mostly leave at the same time.” All the Peaches’ Kuhn gear has come from TransAg Centre in Palmerston North, owned by father and son Merv and Euan Avery. Peach notes a “partnership” in working with the Averys and their technical staff. “The back-up from TransAg is second to none…. If we have an issue, they promptly sort it out.” Kuhn is imported in New Zealand by C B Norwood Distributors Ltd.

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Rural News // october 22, 2013

machinery & products 47 Less waiting time after spraying new herbicide GLYPHOSATE HERBICIDES on offer by Nufarm include a new premium strength product called WeedMaster TS540, a patented formulation containing 540 g/L glyphosate and the maker’s Twin Salt technology. The product cuts waiting time, the maker says: graze, drill or cultivate within 24 hours after spraying annual weeds and three days after spraying perennial weeds. It combines potassium and isopropylamine salts plus a blended-in-can surfactant. The result is fast uptake, efficiency and consistent results, Nufarm says. Called Activate, the surfactant accelerates the plant’s absorption of herbicide through the waxy cuticle on the outside of the leaf, which means a lethal dose is delivered to the stem and root system before the plant’s natural defences can kick in. The result is said to be total killing of targeted species. Mix-in-tank Pulse Penetrant deals with the problem of rain – even within 20 minutes of spraying, Nufarm says. And the solution remains active up to five days after mixing, giving more flexibility and less wastage. If the product fails the company will replace 100% of the initial use rate of WeedMaster TS540 for re-treatment. Other aspects of the product are low temperature storage ability, faster tank filling and mixing, easy pouring, low foaming characteristics and less product and packaging to transport, store and dispose of. All WeedMaster formulations qualify for points under the Priority Partnership loyalty programme.

Serious about Fencing!

STEELPOST TREADIN ➥ 5 position angled insulator clips, now with tapered lead in ➥ New insulated handle prevents accidental shocks

Big difference between mowers and toppers MOWERS AND toppers are completely different machines designed to do different jobs, points out manufacturer Maxam. Toppers are excellent in light cutting and flat ground; that is why they are commonly used on sports fields and recreation grounds. However, use them on normal farming conditions and they quickly show their limitations.

Heavier cutting is out of the question, as the volume of grass tends to block them up. They also struggle to cut low enough – without scalping the ground. Disc mowers are very capable and frequently used for topping. However, there are some downsides to this practice. They require more skill to set up correctly and operate, and are not as robust when topping in rougher

conditions. The Maxam mower is designed especially for fast, safe and easy everyday mowing and topping. These mowers can mow all crops – including silage and hay – and are the “ultimate” toppers as well, the company claims. “They’re as simple to set up and use as a topper, yet able to mow low without scalping, thanks to the long skids underneath the

cutting drums.” A Maxam mower can mow the crop into rows for silage, or for cutting in front of the cows. Remarkable mowing and spreading capabilities, plus ‘boy proof’ durability and all-round dependability make the brand and designs very popular, says the maker. Tel 0800 362 776 www.maxam.net.nz

Amazing Performance. Even Better Value.

When it comes to value for money there’s nothing better than BKT, New Zealand’s most popular replacement tractor tyre brand. BKT’s worldwide reputation is built on providing a competitively priced, quality tyre that is manufactured to meet exacting international standards. With NZ’s largest range of agricultural tyres TRS can provide farmers with the right BKT tyre to fit most applications. So for expert advice, talk to someone who knows the territory.

➥ Galvanised spring steel shaft ➥ Hot dipped galvanised foot

How to fencing guides on you tube “strainrite fencing guides” www.strainrite.co.nz Contact your local rural supplies merchant or phone 0800 266 258

0800 336 334 www.trstyreandwheel.co.nz or see your local reseller

10529

Rural News // october 22, 2013

48 machinery & Products

She ain’t pretty, but tough off-road MAR K MACFARLANE

WHAT TO do when you’re loaned the Toyota Land Cruiser 70 to review? Head for the hills! Only off-road and in challenging landscapes does this vehicle begin to make sense. Lofty, pliable suspension, basic but easyto-clean interior and a snorkel intake outside the driver’s window signal this is a work truck, not a school run-faker. Indeed that is the essence of this

F

e e r

truck: it isn’t a townies’ vehicle for off-road, more an off-road vehicle for driving to town. Pretty it is not. Planning a trip overland through Australia or Africa? Perfect, it won’t break a sweat and is likely to be going decades later as previous models have shown. The heart of the beast is a great engine: a V8 of 4.5L, and though maximum power is only 151kW it is the torque-rated at

430nM that will haul you from trouble. A flat torque curve from only 1200rpm makes hard work seem effortless. The Land Cruiser is still fairly quiet and only pushing up the rev range – a bit pointless given the pulling power at your foot – will make the cabin noisy. Inside the creature comforts are few: a reasonable stereo with Bluetooth and air con of course, but don’t go looking for enter-

tainment screens, reverse cameras, cruise control or even electric mirrors. These are big protected units you get out to manhandle for adjustment. An unexpected bonus is the seating: it doesn’t look especially sculptured, but it’s very comfortable. Even on a long trip, you won’t be squirming for circulation in the legs. Rural News tested the double-cab chassis with a nicely made Toyota deck on the back. Carrying

ld t v er s o t r l

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capacity is solid and it has a tow capacity of 3500kg braked. It makes for a long parking space requirement at 5.230m long and with a turning circle of 14.4m you won’t be racing off to the mall in a hurry, but this all makes sense when you go off-road.

he

s e m i -va r i a b l e r o u n d b a l e r Comprima F 155 and F 155 XC with semi-variable bale chamber are the first round balers that operate on the fixed chamber principle whilst producing bales of variable diameters that range from 1.25m to 1.50m.

www.tulloch.co.nz

0800 88 55 624

DEALERS NATIONWIDE

listed at just 11.5L/100km for the cab chassis models and 11.9L/100km for the hardtop and wagon versions; this made possible, no doubt, by how little work the engine has to do. Prices for the Toyota Land Cruiser start at $69,680 and top $83,580 before extras. That’s somewhere to start. The usual warranty is three years, though five year options are available. Tel. 0800 TOYOTA

Parts 24/7

comprima

Combining the functions of both fixed and variable chambers, the semi-variable chamber is a unique system on the world market. Relying on the new NovoGrip system, the design combines quiet running with high baling pressure. Comprima F 155 XC features the X-Cut rotor cutter.

Our LX model had a nice set of alloys and different bumpers, and most models have aluminium running boards. A variety of body types are available, in single- and double cab options, plus an 11-seat long wheelbase hardtop (think forestry transport) and a five door wagon. A useful 40L auxiliary tank for the double cab and wagon, plus a 90L makes for continent-crossing range because fuel use is

NORWOOD FARM Machinery Centres have gone online to service farmers nationwide who want 24-hour access to ‘data and deals’ on tractors, implements and consumables. The Norwood Online web store offerings include access to experienced technical support teams and the largest agricultural parts warehouse in the country, Norwood says. Convenience shopping is important to their customers, says the company. “The ability to shop when and where you want has become a high priority for farmers ‘on the go’ – 24 hour, 7 day a week access.” Norwood Online offers instant access to specials and promotions, purchases made directly within the secure website (https) on VISA or Mastercard, 24/7 access and dedicated nationwide courier service. Norwood Farm Machinery Centres are offering a freight free promotion during the launch of the new site. To get these savings, enter FR8FRMG at the checkout within the website. www.norwoodonline.co.nz

ROBERTSON TRANSPREAD DIRECT SPREADERS FROM 1.4 TONNE TO 12.5 TONNE. CONTACT US TODAY FOR SHARP PRICES!

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• Stainless steel bin • 700mm wide conveyor • 3 speed gearbox • Optional load cells and Twin floor • Optional electronic auto steer

Steering Transpread • Steering drawbar allows spreader to follow in the exact path of the tractor to eliminate any corner cutting • Perfect for crop growers

For your free catalogue of all our products please contact Andrew 027 443 4777 or Don 027 433 2212 P O Box 6 Hinds, Mid Canterbury • Ph 03 303 7228 • www.robfarm.co.nz • email: andrew@robfarm.co.nz

Rural News // october 22, 2013

rural trader 49 Rubber Safety Matting

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• Make a big job quick and easy • Retire the shower and plunge dip • Quicker and much more effective than a hand wand! • Deep penetration, total body coverage, 2.5 litres/sheep • No re-cycling – always fresh clean dip prolonging residual effect of your dipping product

PPP Super Jetter Manufacturing Jetters since 1980. 1000’s sold in NZ & overseas.

Freephone 0800 901 902 email: sales@pppindustries.co.nz or www.pppindustries.co.nz

Advantage Plastics Rangiora call: 0800 668 534 or (03) 313 5750

ALL PRODUCTS HAVE 3YR WARRANTY

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SD-1825 with 1 collar ................$640.00 SD-800 with 1 collar .................. $470.00 Extra collars unchanged at $245.00 PRICES INCLUDE GST

Peter Iremonger Trading Beneden-Leeuwen HOLLAND Ph/Fax: 03 3181 344 perfect@vanwamel.nl Mobile: 027 645 1894 E-mail: pitrading@xtra.co.nz www.vanwamel.nl

We have the expertise to look after your farming community. Programmed Property Services offer a range of distinct services designed to add value individually or as a packaged approach to your property upkeep needs. Painting Services

Corporate Imaging

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Heritage work and specialised finishes

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Contact us to find out more about how we can help. T: 0800 620 911 E: marketing@programmed.co.nz W: programmed.co.nz

Rural News // october 22, 2013

50 rural trader FLEXISKIN RAINWEAR SALE! 40% OFF OFFER AVAILABLE 2 WEEKS ONLY! COMFORTABLE, HIGHLY BREATHABLE & LIGHTWEIGHT! $80 valued at $200 $70 valued at $140

$100 $60 valued at $190 valued at $120

Please add $10 Freight per order

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STOP RATS NESTING IN HOMES, BUILDINGS, MACHINERY

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Pest Free Domestic for homes, garages, etc to 200sq,m – $159.90 incl. GST & post.

on Duals for more traction, stability, flotation, towing power, versatility.

Clic Wheel Systems Ltd, Rotorua

Ph/Fax 07 347 2292

www.clicdualwheels.co.nz

Pest Free PRO for large homes, small offices & factories, etc to 400sq.m – STOP RATS with Pest Free $399.90 incl. Buy with confidence from authorised rural sales agent N + J Keating, GST & post. 70 Rimu Street, New Lynn, Auckland 0600. Tel. 09 833 1931 Pest Free Commercial (cell 021 230 1863); email keating@orcon.net.nz for dairy TWO WAYS TO ORDER/PAY: sheds, 1) POST: cheque to N. Keating telling us the product(s) you want, grain mills, plus your name, address and telephone number. 2) INTERNET: direct credit ASB 12 3039 0893559 00 factories, (your surname as reference) PLUS telephone or email us, etc – $1800 saying which product(s) you want. incl. GST & post.

Scott Evangelou, MEntr Precious Metals Dealer

Culvert Pipes New Zealand’s CHEAPEST Culvert Pipes! FREE joiners supplied on request.

ONE STOP WATER SHOP 300mm x 6 metre ................................ $410 400mm x 6 metre ................................ $515 500mm x 6 metre ................................ $690 600mm x 6 metre ................................ $925 800mm x 6 metre .............................. $1399 1000mm x 6 metre ............................ $2175 1200mm x 6 metre ............................ $3475 ALL PRICES INCLUDE G.S.T.

RAM & EWE SALE ** NEW DATE**

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McKee Plastics, Mahinui Street, Feilding Phone 06 323 4181 Fax 06 323 4183 McKee Plastics, 231 Kahikatea Drive, Hamilton. Ph 07 847 7788 sales@mckeeplastics.co.nz www.mckeeplastics.co.nz

Including: South Suffolk, Border Leicester, Poll Dorset, Texel, Southdown, Suffolk, Dorset Supported By Down. Catalogues available at the 2013 Canterbury A&P Show in Christchurch.

Ph: 03 343 3033 info@theshow.co.nz

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Web: www.BuyBullion.co Email: scott@buybullion.co Office: (03) 477-9178 Cell: 027-477-5198

Phone

0800 625 826

for your nearest stockist

Joiners supplied FREE with culvert pipes

Opus has been New Zealandʼs marketleading cereal fungicide for many years. We know you still love it (and swear by it), but that doesnʼt mean we couldnʼt improve it! Especially when it means you can increase your income by an average $95 per hectare!*

Unlike Opus, Opus Ultimate is a single-action emulsifying formulation - for faster, more effective, action against all fungal diseases.*** You’ll probably need a bigger silo. Sorry about that!

Introducing Opus Ultimate, the Opus upgrade with the trial-proven potential to increase yield by boosting disease control in barley, wheat and ryegrass by up to 15%!**

Available from your local rural supplier or call BASF on 0800 93 2273 Details at www.agro.basf.co.nz *

In four irrigated trials Opus Ultimate, at eld rates, consistently out-yielded Opus by an average of 237kg/ha grain. At $400/tonne, that’s a tidy $95/ha. ** In ve trials in 2011, Opus Ultimate out-yielded the untreated by more than 3 t/ha. grain on average. *** In the 2010 season, the Opus Ultimate advantage was clearly seen on stripe rust and powdery mildew; in 2011, on brown rust and speckled leaf blotch. Opus® and Opus Ultimate® are registered trademarks of BASF Always consult the product label before use. BSF 7875 10/13

THE LONG RANGE FORECAST IS FOR ACCURATE FEED BUDGET PLANNING

Knowing how your grass will grow is critical to making good management decisions, and the sooner you know the better; forewarned is forearmed. The Pasture Growth Forecaster is a free, easy-to-use visual guide to predict how grass will grow up to two weeks in advance. Developed specifically for New Zealand farmers to suit New Zealand’s climatic conditions, it helps you make better feeding decisions sooner, before it’s too late.

Manage your pasture more effectively with the Pasture Growth Forecaster and add value to your business today.

pasturegrowthforecaster.co.nz

Dairy NZ and B+LNZ have jointly funded the pasture growth forecasting model to help farmers increase profitability.

KingSt12270_RN_A

Disclaimer – the figures shown are indicative only.