Fresh Breath of Farm Air

From Peterson Farm Bros:

Young Country a winner

Young Country won the Best Trade or Professional magazine category at the Canon Media Awards.

As a relative newcomer to the subscription magazine shelves, Young Country has been taken to heart by subscribers all over the country since its launch in 2009 says editor Jackie Harrigan.

“Young people around the country are enjoying reading the magazine and now recognition of the magazine’s place amongst top trade or professional magazines is a fantastic result.”

Published by NZX Agri in Feilding, the magazine is currently transitioning to a monthly print/digital format from six print issues per year and is aimed at young people involved in agriculture and the primary industries.

“We aim to tell inspiring stories about young people building fantastic careers and businesses and revelling in the opportunities a country lifestyle offers,” Harrigan said. . .

It might be aimed at young people but it also appeals to older readers.

We subscribe to the magazine which is well read and enjoyed by our staff who range in age from early 20s to 83.

The full list of winners in the Media Awards is here.

Water, water not everywhere

Wouldn’t you know it, the drought-breaking rain has missed those who need it most.

Hard as it may seem to believe, the widespread rain which has brought flooding to Auckland and Wellington, has managed to evade the farming areas most desperate for rain.

“It is safe to say the drought has broken in most parts, excepting unfortunately, those farms which have been affected by drought for the longest time,” says Katie Milne, Federated Farmers adverse events spokesperson.

“Farmers are gutted to see biblical quantities of rain falling while they are lucky to scrape up more than a few millimetres.

“It is fair to say our areas of concern have now shrunk. What remains a concern is for those farms still in drought because it looks like being ‘first in, last out’. . .

It’s a case of water, water but not everywhere and particularly not in the places most in need of it.

Dame Kiri in concert

The $10 million refurbishment of Oamaru’s Opera House wasn’t without controversy.

That’s a lot of money for a small town.

But the leadership of the project by then-mayor Alan McLay and then-deputy, now Waitaki MP, Jacqui Dean, prevailed.

Last night the building got the seal of approval from Dame Kiri Te Kanawa who in opening remarks in which she described Opera House as a little gem and spoke of the importance of heritage.

This was the third time I’d heard her in concert. The first was at Millbrook, the second in Dunedin’s town Hall but this was the best.

There was no need for a microphone in the Opera House seats only about 500 people.This created an intimacy as she held us spell bound through a selection of opera and lighter songs.

She had us laughing, and also crying. Danny Boy is a family favourite, we sang it at our son, Dan’s funeral, but we weren’t alone in having tears in our eyes when she sang it.

Her accompanist, Professor Terrence Dennis, was a performer is his own right.

The ODT reports on Dame Kiri’s visit  here and here.

It was a very special night in a gem of a building with a star.

$80m investment bridge for irrigation

The Speaker-elect has made a significant announcement for irrigation in his final days as a Minister:

The Government is establishing a company to act as a bridging investor for regional water infrastructure development, Primary Industries Minister David Carter announced today.

In 2011 the Government signalled plans to invest up to $400 million in regional-scale schemes to encourage third-party capital investment. Cabinet has now directed that $80 million for the initial stages of the company’s operation be set aside in Budget 2013.

“The development of well-designed storage and irrigation infrastructure has the potential to deliver significant economic growth for our primary industries and support new jobs, which will have a flow-on effect for all New Zealanders,” says Mr Carter.

“New Zealand naturally has plenty of water – this is about managing the resource better for the economy and the environment.”

Two examples of how much spare water we have is the large amounts being spilled at the Clyde and Roxburgh Dams:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr Carter says that because the opportunity to take a stake in developing regional-scale water infrastructure is new for private investors, it is appropriate for the Government to take a bridging investment role to ensure the right projects can get underway.

“The Crown-owned company will be a minority investor in any development project, and it will also plan to be a relatively short-term investor.

“A number of groups are developing proposals for these larger, regional-level schemes, and the Government expects to consider at least one proposal in the next 12 months.

“Reliable irrigation represents a major step in unlocking economic potential for New Zealand, having our tradable sectors growing strongly and delivering on the Government’s economic growth goals.

“It will also be better for the environment, as these schemes will lead to more efficient water use, and can provide for the replenishment of aquifers and the restoration of stream and river flows,” Mr Carter says.

The company will provide short-term bridging loans to irrigation schemes to enable regional projects to get underway.

The necessity for large amounts up front for schemes which will have multi-decade pay-backs has been a very high hurdle which has held back irrigation development.

The company will provide short-term bridging loans to irrigation schemes to enable regional projects to get underway.

Federated Farmers is grateful for the kick-start:

“What the Government is doing here should be applauded by environmentalists as much as it will be by farmers,” says Bruce Wills, President of Federated Farmers, speaking from his farm in the Hawke’s Bay.

“It was over 30 degrees outside and the pasture I was looking at is brown. The last significant rainfall we had here was before Christmas but I am not complaining, this is farming on the East Coast.

“In saying that it highlights the big two opportunities we have with water storage, the economic and the environmental.

“The best way to keep nutrients and soil on our farms and out of water is green living grass. It is really that simple.

“Farms like mine have dams but they can only last so long. In winter, when you see our rivers over capacity, you ask why this cannot be stored for use when we hit a dry spell like now.

 “Take the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Ruataniwha Plains Water Storage Project as one example. If it comes off, it will not only be big for the Hawke’s Bay but big for New Zealand.

“The resulting reservoir will cover an area of some 372 hectares; only slightly smaller than Sydney’s central business district but around double the size of Wellington’s.

“Farmers will have to pay a water distribution price so this is not a hand out, but a hand up. The government will exit to bring in further private sector investment. We only need look to the performance of Fonterra’s units on the NZX to see what could be possible.

“It also speaks volumes that the poster project for water storage remains Canterbury’s Opuha Dam. This exercise in perseverance took years highlighting why short-term government involvement is needed to deliver economic infrastructure.

“What we know from Opuha is that since it opened there has been numerous environmental and recreational spin-offs, in addition to benefiting farmers of course.

“The Ruataniwha Plains Water Storage Project in my area will lift the area of land influenced by irrigation from 6,000 hectares to some 42,000 hectares.

“Economic analysis indicates farm output in the Hawke’s Bay will rise by $160 million each year with farm value add increasing by $70 million. That last amount includes additional household income worth $24 million each year.

“An additional 632 full-time equivalent jobs will be created and we are just talking about one project. These are real green jobs because that is the colour of the grass it will grow.

“This will greatly aid the development of not only pastoral agriculture and horticulture, but value-added manufacturing too. In early 2012, Heinz announced closure of their Australian plants in favour of the Hawke’s Bay.

“Politicians from the left and the right agree Canterbury’s Opuha Dam works, so why not speed similar projects along? This is what the Government is doing here and it will be as good for jobs as it will the environment,” Mr Wills concluded.

David Carter has been a strong advocate for irrigation in general and water storage in particular.

This initiative is a wonderful legacy from his time as Minister.

There’s an irrigation funding fact sheet here and irrigation funding Q&A here.

Opera flashmob at W(h)anganui market

TV3 has the story.

When a Child is Born

Dame Kiri in Oamaru Update – sold out

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is to perform in the Oamaru Opera House on Thursday March 27th next year.

Her schedule allows only one concert and tickets reserved for Waitaki District residents sold out on the first day.

Remaining tickets go on sale at 10am today.

UPDATE:

We got tickets when they first went on sale for Waitaki residents but out of curiosity I just (at 10:12)  checked if there were any more seats left – they’re sold out.

Word of the day

Labour – productive work, especially physical toil done for wages; workers, especially manual workers, considered collectively or as a social class or political force; difficult or arduous work or effort; a particular job or task, especially of a difficult nature; the process or effort of childbirth or the time during which this takes place; work at an unskilled manual occupation; to strive; to be burdened by or at a disadvantage because of; to make one’s way with difficulty; to deal with or treat too persistently; to be in labour; to pitch,roll or toss (of a ship); work noisily and with difficulty (of an engine).

Max Bygraves 16.10.22 – 31.8.12

English entertainer Max Bygraves died yesterday, aged 89.

Most Sundays of my childhood started with children’s requests on the radio and Bygraves singing You’re A Pink Toothbrush was always a popular choice.

Look, listen

The Pati, Pene and Amitai,  brothers have amazing tenor voices.

Their parents brought them from Samoa to give them better opportunities and they’re getting them.

TVNZ has the story – and their singing – here.

#Songs from the South Island

Twitter has a whatever things are called on Twitter on songs from the South Island.

Among them are:

Bluff the Magic Dragon; Stairway to Blenheim; You Picked A Fine Time to Leave Me Mosgiel; Wake Me Up Before Otago; Sgt Peppers Lonely Hast Club Band; If I had a Hamner; Hazy Shade of Winton; Sumner Nights;  Fraction Too Much Picton; Stuck in Middlemarch With You; Shine On You Crazy Diamond Harbour; I See Red-Zone; and Mull of Rakaia.

Hat Tip: Today Is My Birthday

Viva la France

In honour of Bastille Day: Do You Hear the People Sing at the 10th anniversary, sung in their own languages by 17 men who played Valjean.

Overeating cues & sleep deprivation

Discussion topics on Critical Mass with Jim Mora today:

How external cues make us overeat

and

How little sleep can you get away with?

Robin Gibb 1949 – 2012

British born, Australian singer Robin Gibb has died.

Robin enjoyed a musical career spanning six decades, from humble beginnings in the 1950s singing with his brothers in cinemas, to his recent first classical venture, The Titanic Requiem, penned with his son Robin-John.

Gibb was too ill to attend the April 10 premiere, where he had been due to perform the song Don’t Cry Alone.

“It’s not about how complicated music is; it’s about how simple and relative to the human spirit it is,” Gibb said on his new composition.

Robin’s twin Maurice died in 2003. Robin’s death leaves Barry as the only surviving brother of the Bee Gees.

Theirs was the music which backgrounded my teens and twenties.

 

 

Bad weather good?

The weather that rained on so many people’s holidays has been good for the economy.

“New Zealand’s big six agricultural exports have grown in export value by an amazing $2.6 billion over the past year,” says Bruce Wills, Federated Farmers President and its economics and commerce spokesperson.

“Despite the occasional weather bomb, such as the weekend’s storm, wrecking havoc, the summer of 2012 may go down as the dismal summer that boosted the economy.

“The increased value of dairy, meat, wood, fruit, fish and wine exports this season is more than all the revenue generated by Telecom.

“This increased export value provides 2.6 billion reasons why New Zealand needs to safeguard and maximise its agricultural potential.

“Merchandise export volumes right now are at their highest in 22 years and New Zealand’s merchandise exports are up 13 percent on January 2011.

“Dairy remains a star with its export receipts up 17 percent on 2011.

“In December, Fonterra Cooperative Group was packing an export container every 2.7 minutes. Because January and February were mild and damp in most regions, we can expect record numbers given milk production was up around 10 percent on 2010/11.

“Wool has also increased its export receipts by 29.6 percent over last year. The $818 million it generated in the year to January 2012 is an increase of $187 million. While we know meat production volumes are down, its value is up.

The weather that was so disappointing for holiday makers was great for growing grass, however it’s been frustrating for people trying to harvest crops or make hay and silage.

The weekend’s weather bomb has also been very expensive, with claims the devastation was worse than after Cyclone Bola.

Insurance comapnies will take another hit with millions of dollars of damage to buildings but farmers will have to carry the cost of slips and lost trees.

When A Child Is Born

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph8XxS03bGA&feature=related

Away in a Manger

Oh Holy Night

Sticky Beak the Kiwi

Sticky Beak the Kiwi stumped all but one of the respondents to yesterday’s quiz.

It was one of the few local offerings on the children’s request programme on the radio when I was a child.

NZ History Online has the story behind the song.