Two hundred rural contracting drivers will be granted special visas as part of a border exemption for the industry.
The farming sector is grateful, but worries drivers will be delayed by the MIQ lottery system.
Farmers fear someone will die as shortage of experienced overseas workers leads to rise in accidents. Sectors desperate for staff are still struggling despite promise to let in critical migrant workers.
This farm machinery is more transformer than tractor and takes highly-skilled drivers to operate.
Usually 400 come here from overseas – but only 125 have been allowed in. . .
DairyNZ is relieved the Government has listened to its call to allow more dairy farm assistants into New Zealand in January 2022.
However, the industry-good organisation says more workers are needed and is continuing to push for another 1500 dairy international workers to be let into the country for the 2022 dairy season. The workers will help alleviate crippling staff shortages that are having a serious impact on farmer wellbeing.
Earlier this year the Government said 200 international dairy workers would be allowed into New Zealand on a dairy class border exception – with 50 places available for farm assistants and 150 positions available for herd manager and assistant manager roles.
Today, the Government confirmed it will remove the restrictions on how many farm assistants, herd managers and assistant managers can make up the quota of 200 workers, and allow applications for all roles. . .
Federated Farmers is pleased to see the Government has approved border class exceptions for a number of international agricultural workers for early 2022.
The border exceptions will allow approved workers to assist with the shearing and arable sectors over their peak busy period. The Government has also made some changes to the current dairy worker border exception, allowing more dairy farm assistants to meet the high demand for entry level staff around the country.
“For seasonal work such as shearing and the arable harvest it is essential that we bolster our local workforce with talent from overseas,” Federated Farmers immigration spokesperson Chris Lewis says.
“We are also pleased to see the settings are being changed for the dairy border exception. Farmers across the country are asking for boots on the ground to help milk and feed livestock and the dairy assistant is the right role for doing this.” . .
Farmers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a capital restructure for Fonterra—- and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, who previously raised concerns about the plan, now says he is confident the government can work with the board to get the change across the line.
Fonterra chair Peter McBride last week told Fonterra’s meeting:
“Either we’re a corporate or we’re a co-operative. The current model, where we’re trying to have a foot in each camp, is not sustainable”.
Farmer-shareholders made it plain they wanted the “pure” co-op rather than the corporate model. . .
Recent large deliveries of tractors and equipment reflect strong demand throughout the country on the back of strengthening commodity prices, according to Tractor and Machinery Association (TAMA).
President Kyle Baxter said the second half of 2021 continued the exceptionally strong sales growth of the first half compared to 2020. Overall tractor deliveries to the end of November reflect an average increase in demand by 27%.
“There has been significant growth across the traditional lifestyle 0-60hp segment, which increased by more than 35%, while the 60-100hp horticulture, orchard, viticulture segment up 20% and the 100-120hp dairy sector up 9%.”
The biggest increase was in the 120-250hp mainly arable and dry stock farming sector, which increased 42% compared to 2020. The big agriculture outlays of 250hp+ increased by almost 36%. . .
The final brekkie for the breeding bunches this morning. Let’s hope for lots of lambs! 🐑 pic.twitter.com/mx1pdkytXN
The Australian wool market ticked along quite nicely last week in the penultimate sale before the Christmas auction recess.
There was enough business done in the few days prior to keep the trade active, and a volatile local currency added enough fuel to the fire to make it nice and warm – but not too hot.
In local currency terms, the market lifted by 14 cents a kilogram overall. This was US6c/kg and 8c/kg in Euro.
So, buyers overseas were not affected greatly, and could continue picking up their requirements. . .
A friend arrived in New Zealand 11 days ago, she still hasn’t had a test for the virus.
She has asked for one, as have others on her flight who are at the same isolation hotel. None of them has been given one and none has been told when they’ll get one even though everyone is supposed to be tested on days three and 11.
She said her hotel is probably one of the better ones for protocols with social distancing but new intakes are arriving each day so even if everyone is careful about social distancing, there’s a heightened risk of arrivals from different cohorts infecting those who’ve been there longer.
She’s in Auckland but a friend of hers was one of those who was put on a bus and only when they were well on the way were they told they were going to Rotorua.
Were those in control scared of a revolt if they announced the destination earlier?
If there is not enough accommodation for isolation and quarantine in Auckland people have to go somewhere else but surely they should be told where they’re going, especially if they’ll be on a bus for four hours as those going to Rotorua were.
There is a health risk for people sitting still on a long flight that is exacerbated if it’s followed by sitting still for a long time soon after. Several years ago a friend flew from New Zealand to London then drove three hours, got deep vein thrombosis and died as a result.
I supposed we should be grateful that even though everyone is still not getting tested on days three and 11, more people are being tested before they leave isolation and tests are catching people.
There’s been at least one more case since yesterday’s announcement of two more cases:
BREAKING NEWS: There's a new case of Covid-19 that's been staying in our managed isolation hotel. The Novotel Auckland Airport is now in full lockdown and we're told to stay in our rooms until further notice. @rnz_news@NZMorningReport
. . .The management of people arriving at the border has cost the government $81 million so far.
That’s a lot of money to spend on a sieve when you needed – and thought you were buying – a top-quality bucket. . .
We can’t know how many people with the disease have slipped through the sieve, but if there have been eight cases detected among people coming in from overseas in less than a week, is it possible there were absolutely no cases among all those people who have come into the country and not been tested in the past couple of months?
More than 200 people a day for a couple of months is a very big number to have no infections.
Given how rife the disease is overseas, it is almost impossible that there has been not been people with the disease, asymptomatic or not, who came in, went through isolation and were released without a test.
We have been very, very badly let down by the government and the agencies that were supposed to be keeping the border secure.
And while the military and another Minister have taken charge, the management of isolation still seems to be an omnishambles when people who ask for tests aren’t getting them and don’t know when they will.
The much-used Kiwi phrase ‘No. 8-wire mentality’ has long been considered the way we do things in the farming world, but Head of Analytics at NZX Julia Jones is wondering if its value has now expired.
Yes, “No. 8-wire mentality” is cute, and it’s a little bit funny, but what I hear when people say it is: not asking for help, roughly stringing something together without a plan, a rip-shit-and-bust kind of attitude, a default solution and a broken piece of wire holding something together within inches of its life.
I just don’t see how this is something for us to strive towards for the future; we deserve better than being seen as No. 8-wire thinkers, because we are far more than that. . .
A couple of years ago, almost to the day, I wrote a column calling for there to be a Cockietober – a month to celebrate farmers and their invaluable contribution to the economy.
I felt, back in 2017, that farmers had got a rough ride during the election campaign, and that farmers were getting it in the neck unfairly. They were being blamed for the poor water quality in New Zealand despite the fact that city dwellers are letting literal and metaphorical crap flow into their harbours and rivers. They were being told how to manage their stock bypeople who’d never set foot on a farm. They were told they didn’t pay their workers enough, they were being told they were destroying the planet by providing milk and meat for consumers, they were told they mistreated their animals.
I thought things were bad two years ago. But it appears things have got much, much worse.
In an open letter to the nation, BakerAg, a rural business consultancy firm, has called for people to get in behind our rural community. Director Chris Garland says morale among the company’s farming clients is as low now as it was in the Rogernomics years of the late 80s and during the GFC. . .
Four families working together presents challenges but equally it’s provided disproportionate opportunities for the Guild clan on High Peak Station, farm operations manager Hamish Guild says. Annette Scott visited High Peak to learn how the pieces of the large farming puzzle have come together.
High Peak Station is a spectacular 3780 hectare, high-country farm near the Rakaia Gorge in Canterbury.
The Guild family bought the traditional pastoral farming property in 1973, originally running just sheep and beef with deer added in the late 1970s.
It was a case of having to look at a new way of making the property viable.
“Dad (James) and his brother Colin took up farming High Peak, moving from their family cropping farm at Temuka (South Canterbury) when their father, my grandfather Alastair, decided High Peak was for us,” Hamish said. . .
A group of farmers near Whakatāne are working with the regional council to try and improve water quality by changing the way they farm.
Agribusiness consultant Ailson Dewes has gathered about 15 dairy farmers on behalf of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to understand more about how their farming systems can impact water quality.
Ms Dewes said the group was facing the issue head-on.
“They are sitting around the table, they are exposing all their numbers in terms of the health of their business, their environmental footprint, the way they farm – and they’re saying ‘we realise the way we farmed in the past is not the way we can farm in the future’.
“They are dead keen to solve problems and find new ways to farm with a lower footprint.” . .
Joe Ngan was born in 1932 in a small village near Guangzhou in southern China.
He’s now 87 and lives near his two kiwifruit orchards in Kerikeri, Northland.
But getting to his home of 40 years was a scary and long-winded affair.
When Joe was two, his mother died while giving birth to his sister, leaving Joe and elder brother Sun virtually as orphans. Their father was working in New Zealand. . .
For those who blame farmers for carbon emissions, please know that an acre of farmland vs urban land produces up to 70 times (!) less GHG while feeding the nation. #NoFarmsNoFoodpic.twitter.com/rp0OLKuErS
A story in The New Yorker came out this week about Dr. Pat Brown, the founder of Impossible Foods. If readers scan the headline and subhead, they’ll get the gist of what author Tad Friend is trying to say: “Can a plant based burger help solve climate change? Eating meat creates huge environmental costs. Impossible Foods thinks it has a solution.”
That’s unfortunate. It might even be dangerous. In the article, Mr. Friend writes that “Every four pounds of beef you eat contributes to as much global warming as flying from New York to London – the average American eats that much each month.”
An important moment for farming in the Taieri area occurred last night, when the Otago Regional Council released the new strain of rabbit-killing calicivirus.
Clad in overalls and armed with a bucketful of contaminated carrots, council environmental officer for biosecurity Kirk Robertson released the virus RHDV1 K5 in the hills near Outram.
He had nine other sites to visit, and across the wider Otago region a team of six or seven people had been laying poisoned carrots in about 100 locations. . .
More than 200 Kaimanawa horses could be sent to slaughter following this year’s muster.
This year is expected to be one of the largest wild horse culls on record, with about 300 animals being mustered from the Waiouru Military Training Area.
The muster is carried out every two years, organised by the Department of Conservation and Kaimanawa Heritage Horses. . .
Every $1 that Agriculture earns creates a spin-off of a further $2 – $4 for the wider economy – show me a better rate of return than that! pic.twitter.com/U5hANLIjMN
Good farm records have helped to relieve a South Island farming business of some of the effects of getting through a Mycoplasma bovis infection, reports FarmIQ Systems Ltd, a software company.
MPI placed a restricted place notice on two properties owned by Lone Star Farms in mid-January because they had infected calves. Lone Star was among the first non-dairy businesses identified with the disease.
“We brought in about 400 calves for rearing — 200 of them from a Southland property later found to have M. Bovis,” says Lone Star general manager Boyd Macdonald. “So we know exactly how it’s got here.” . .
Is it fair that the New Zealand dairy industry is criticised while tourism is lauded?
Overseas income from tourism is now claimed to exceed the dairy industry’s export income.
Dairy farmers are accused of polluting not only our waterways but now also our air as a result of burning farm waste. Tourism is said to be ‘clean and green’, rapidly growing and promoting the best of NZ to the rest of the world.
Like many glib statements, the truth is often more complicated. . .
We need to find 50,000 new employees for our NZ primary production sector by 2025, which means we need to market Ag to today's 11 year olds! pic.twitter.com/q3SceYpwZe
GREATER DIGITAL adoption in rural areas could add £12 to £26 billion a year to the UK economy, according to a new report.
Research by Rural England and Scotland’s Rural College, commissioned by Amazon, concluded that greater use of digital tools and services could deliver 4 to 8.8% of additional Gross Value Added per year for the rural economy, as annual business turnover in rural areas grew by at least £15 billion, with rural microbusiness and small-sized business seeing the greatest returns. . .
Fonterra’s high court injunction is causing “the Streisand effect”, with Fonterra’s farmer-shareholders now anxious to know what is being kept from them, says Federated Farmers.
National dairy chairman Chris Lewis said his phone has rung constantly with inquiries since Fonterra late on Friday secured an injunction gagging former director Leonie Guiney and preventing a weekly publication publishing or using any “confidential” information it received from her.
The injunction also prevents other unnamed media, including the New Zealand Herald, from spreading any “confidential” information it may have received from Guiney. . .
DairyNZ, Beef+Lamb NZ and the Meat Industry Association will pay $11.2 million towards the costs of combating the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis.
The details of the financial contribution are yet to be worked out.
Minister of Agriculture and Biosecurity Damien O’Connor said in funding of $85m for operational and compensation costs for the outbreak response, from July 1 last year to the end of the current financial year, was approved by Cabinet on Monday. In December last year, $10m was approved. . .
Organisers have made the tough decision to drop a commercial dairy heifer competition to avoid the risk of spreading Mycoplasma bovis.
The Royal Agricultural Society-run dairy heifer competitions for Southland, Otago and Canterbury, as well as the South Island competition, which are run yearly through March and April, will not be held this year.
South Island competition convenor Merv Livingstone said the southern district of the agricultural society had made the tough call to cancel the competition because of the possible risk of further spreading the cow disease. . .
A Southland vet says farmers in the region are worried about the spread of the cattle disease when dairy herds are moved around on the upcoming Gypsy Day.
Gypsy Day is officially the first of June, and VetSouth director Mark Bryan said almost all the dairy cows in Southland, Otago, and Canterbury will be shifted to new properties for winter grazing or new sharemilking contracts. . .
Fonterra has claimed an industry first with the launch of its ingenious packaging solution for high-quality milk fats, known as AMF. The solution is the first of its kind in the dairy industry.
Challenging the industry norm for storing the light-shy product in giant drums or in frozen packs, Fonterra has developed small 15L cardboard packs that are easily stackable and manoeuvrable and can be stored at room temperature. A butter alternative, AMF is an ingredient in many foods such as ice cream, confectionary and bakery goods. . .
Richard Laven was in his office at Massey University in June last year when a South Island veterinarian called him, asking for advice on sick cows.
The cows had just calved and the veterinarian told the associate professor of animal health that they were suffering from mastitis and lameness and not responding to treatment.
Laven told the veterinarian it was the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis and advised they must ring the Ministry for Primary Industries. . .
Farmer optimism has fallen for the first time in two years, the latest Farm Confidence Survey shows.
Releasing the findings of its mid-season survey last Thursday, Federated Farmers said the stand-out features were a marked drop in farmer optimism and growing concern about being able to recruit suitable staff.
The survey is commissioned by the federation and conducted by Research First in January and July each year. January’s responses came from 1070 farmers.
They included negative views of the economy and of farm profitability, production and spending. Debt levels had increased and fewer farms were debt-free. . .
A couple of hundred farmers have taken over Crawford Green in Wellington today for a Young Farmer competition, the first to ever be held in the capital.
It’s the Tarananki/Manawatu Young Farmer Regional Final, and the winner from today will go through to the grand final.
The eight contestants, who each came first or second at their district contest, had an exam on Friday night, then today are being put through their paces on Miramar’s Crawford Green, and this evening will also have to perform well in a quiz. . .
A Feilding-based technical field rep for PGG Wrightson, Will Taylor, has been named the Taranaki/Manawatu FMG Young Farmer of the Year. pic.twitter.com/8hWDaLwcx9
Forget about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for a minute. The underlying technology is what I’m interested in. Blockchain is working its way into all aspects of B2B commerce, including our food chain.
Here’s the why and how of this latest expression of a technology that is bringing massive change, and benefit, to yet another industry.
According to the World Health Organization, 10% of us fall ill with a food-borne disease each year. Most of these diseases aren’t hard to prevent, but without clear and consistent oversight they remain prevalent. With the meteoric rise of the blockchain phenomenon, food commerce will soon get the shakeup it needs. . .
The Wool Press: Where we shine the spotlight on a Wool Product or Producer to celebrate wool as an environmentally friendly, innovative, humane and versatile natural fibre of now and the future. Today we talk to Tim Brown, former captain of the All Whites and founder of the worlds most comfortable shoes, Allbirds : The hugely popular runners and loungers made from New Zealand Merino.
1. What made you choose NZ Merino as a textile when you created All Birds?
We wanted to create the world’s most comfortable shoe so it made sense that we would use the world’s finest fibre to achieve that goal. In NZ Merino and their ZQ certification, we found a partner that is the gold standard in the delivery of sustainable and ethically sourced merino and we haven’t looked back since. . .
Wool isn’t just for winter wear anymore, and its use in everything from shoes to underwear briefs is pushing prices of merino, the most popular type of wool fiber for clothes, to near-record highs.
Wool sneakers popular in Silicon Valley from startup Allbirds Inc. helped kick off a global trend. Brands from Adidas to Lululemon and Under Armour are selling wool apparel, touting the fiber’s soft feel and odor-resisting properties. Merino wool, named for a breed of sheep, is even being woven into shorts, tank tops and short-sleeve T-shirts.
Demand has helped drive up merino wool prices at a time when the sheep population in Australia and New Zealand, the world’s largest wool exporters, is near a 100-year low. Many sheep farmers here invested in converting their operations to dairy farming or higher-yielding crops after prices of wool collapsed in the 1990s. . .
Besieged by celebrity vegetarians, our agriculture industry is taking up the challenge of finding alternatives to old-style farmed meat. Madison Reidy investigates, in Part 2 of our three-week series.
Deep in the Rangitikei, Richard Morrison and his livestock seem safely tucked away from threats. But he, like all meat farmers, is being confronted by a laboratory-grown blight that he cannot fence out.
Bullish new companies are putting meat mimic products on supermarket shelves, challenging one of New Zealand’s most valuable export industries and forcing farmers to rethink their future. The options are popularising a consumer movement away from slaughtered food, causing demand for beef and lamb to drop.
Owners of 150-year-old family farms like Morrison’s are shaking in their gumboots, hoping the world’s red-meat cravings will continue. . .
Kazuhiko (Sam) Misonou will take over as chairman of New Zealand food company Anzco Foods, replacing company founder Sir Graeme Harrison who is retiring from the board at the end of March.
Misonou joined the Anzco board in 2013 and brought with him international business experience. Previously he worked in beef processing and feedlot operations in Australia, had six years in the pork industry in the United States and worked extensively in the meat industry in Japan.
In 2016, Misonou became president of Yonekyu Inc., a Japanese meat production, marketing and sales company that was established in 1965. . .
A new $230 million dairy factory in King Country has been granted land consent despite local opposition.
A report from the Otorohanga District Council last November said the factory should not go ahead because it would impact on the local ecology, landscape, and rural character.
However, after two months of deliberation the council has now granted Happy Valley Milk the land consent to build its infant formula factory.
Public submissions included concerns about the factory drawing too much water from the ground, and discharging stormwater, wastewater, and air pollution. . .
Waimea Irrigators Limited (WIL) has publicly released a Product Disclosure Statement for the Offer of Water Shares, which opened yesterday and is publicly available for irrigators on the Waimea Plains to consider.
The Product Disclosure Statement is an offer to buy water shares in WIL. Shareholders can enter into agreements that allow them to apply under the Tasman Resource Management Plan (TRMP) to affiliate an existing ground water or surface water permit for water provided by the Dam, once it’s built. Landowners will be able to apply for shares in WIL even if they don’t have an operative water permit, which would enable potential future water users to buy into the scheme. . .
(BusinessDesk) – Farmer-owned cooperative Livestock Improvement Corp’s board has released its suggested plan to merge its two share classes in a proposal the independent adviser described as relatively complicated but overall will deliver benefits.
LIC has two classes of shares: unlisted cooperative control shares and investment shares, which are listed on the NZX Alternative Market (NZAX). Chair Murray King said the current structure means cooperative shareholders have greater voting rights but limited exposure to the financial benefits, while investment shareholders can reap financial gains but have limited ability to influence the cooperative’s direction. . .
Auckland Anniversary Weekend Saturday saw the 151st Warkworth A&P Show held, as most years, in hot and sunny conditions, but at least this year there were no strong nor ’easterlies or a major blockage of State Highway 1, apart from the normal holiday weekend traffic queues. Not that this was of great concern as I drove to the Showgrounds at 6.15 to greet the gate officials who have the responsibility of admitting exhibitors and competitors early and taking money off the public who start to arrive any time after 8.30.
As chairman of the Warkworth A&P Society for the last few years – nobody else appears to be willing to put their hand up – I should be used to the frenetic lead up to the Show, which involves last minute trade exhibitors, arranging someone to mark out the show grounds which for the rest of the year are the Mahurangi Rugby pitches and making sure everything else is under control including money in the bank account to cover prizes. But this time was a bit different because Marjorie Blythen, our Secretary of more than 30 years, had retired after the 150th Show and, for all of us, it was a whole new challenge to remember critical things that previously appeared to happen automatically. Fortunately there is a good committee able to take responsibility for each section. . .
West Coast farmers are picking up the pieces after ex-cyclone Fehi left paddocks ruined, fences ripped out, and trees down.
The Westland dairy factory in Hokitika only has limited power and can’t process milk or pick it up from several parts of the region – including farms in Ikamatua and north, Runanga up to Karama, and Mount Hercules south.
Dairy farmer Rebecca Keoghan lives near Westport and manages seven Landcorp farms in the area. . .
Various events and gatherings to help farmers coping with drought conditions have already been scheduled throughout Otago.
On Tuesday, the drought in Southland and parts of Otago was classified as a medium-scale adverse event.
That classification covered all of Southland, plus the Queenstown Lakes, Central Otago and Clutha districts and triggered additional funding of up to $130,000 for rural support trusts and industry groups to co-ordinate recovery support. . .
A Hawke’s Bay farmer and his dogs have survived an attack by a half-tonne bull that flipped over his quad bike.
“One bull just broke out of the mob and snorted a couple of times, and you have that sense of dread that something’s not going to go right here,” said Robert Pattullo, 57, from his family farm at Puketitiri 15km west of Napier.
“He charged at the bike – I’d hopped off by that stage – completely flipped it over in one go. This is a 650-kilo bull against a probably 350-kilo bike.”
Friesian bulls were normally placid and he did not know what had set the animal off yesterday morning, Mr Patullo said. . .
Westland Milk Products has cut its forecast milk price back by more than 20 cents.
The co-operative is now expecting a price of between $6.20 and $6.50.
Fonterra’s farmgate forecast milk price is currently $6.40 kg/ms, and Synlait is forecasting $6.50.
Westland chair Pete Morrison said the drop in milk price was in line with other milk companies.
“We’re kind to all our stakeholders and we want to keep it as reliable and with as much integrity as possible … so we thought best to indicate that now. . .
(BusinessDesk) – Open Country Dairy, New Zealand’s second-largest milk processor, generated more than $1 billion of revenue last year but payments for milk rose faster than receipts from customers and profit fell.
Profit was $23 million in the year ended Sept. 30 from about $62 million a year earlier, its accounts show. Sales rose 34 percent to $1.1 billion while cost of sales gained about 44 percent.
Open Country didn’t disclose volume figures in its public annual accounts but chair Laurie Margrain said it was up on a year ago.. . .
A number of our contacts are revising down their NZ milk supply forecasts. Despite recent rains, milk supplies (as a whole) have not rebounded as much as some were expecting. The heat isn't helping… pic.twitter.com/uFeAOkNdFO
Beef + Lamb NZ (B+LNZ) is seeking farmers’ views on its Sector Capability Programme.
Richard Wakelin, B+LNZ’s General Manager Innovation, says the review will consider farmer investment through B+LNZ in the Sector Capability Programme overall and its various activities.
“The review will look at B+LNZ investment in the current portfolio of activities, how these activities align with farmer needs and perceptions, and how they provide value back to the sheep and beef sector.” . .
The New Zealand kiwifruit sector is set for growth following 2017’s record season and new development opportunities across the country, according to the ANZ Kiwifruit Insights paper.
The sector has bounced back following the PSA crisis, helped by increasing global demand which saw kiwifruit sales rise by $694m from the 2015/16 – 2016/17 seasons.
“The success of the kiwifruit sector is remarkable. It has continued to invest in new varieties while staying connected to consumer demand and has worked hard to keep international markets alive,” said ANZ Managing Director for Commercial & Agri, Mark Hiddleston. . .
A new partnership has been announced between New Zealand and the State of Himachal Pradesh under the Himachal Pradesh Horticultural Development Project which targets smallholder farmers in northern India.
The Himachal Pradesh Horticultural Development project aims to be the start of a much broader relationship with New Zealand horticulture.
The New Zealand team, working on the project, includes scientists from Plant & Food Research, Agfirst Engineering, Fruition Horticulture and other New Zealand-based specialists with additional support from the New Zealand pipfruit industry body, New Zealand Apples & Pears and New Zealand Government agencies. . .
The Woolmark Company and leading sports brand adidas have joined forces to launch a design competition focussing on the development of innovative, forward-thinking products for the performance industry. The Woolmark Performance Challenge is a new annual competition for tertiary students in Europe and North America and is set to kick-start the career of the eventual winner.
The competition provides an unrivalled opportunity for tertiary students to develop innovative new product applications within the sports and performance market, by applying the science and performance benefits of Australian Merino wool. . .
A ground-breaking plant breeding software tool called DeltaGen has been developed by AgResearch (with support from Pastoral Genomics) – available free at https://t.co/vFbM7pNtmK. Expected to make particular impact in developing countries. More at https://t.co/O0HudvItdU 🌱🍀🔬💻 pic.twitter.com/ryF2p1C2Jc
One of the country’s largest farming stations expects to lose about $1 million because of the harsh summer.
The 13,200-hectare Mount Linton Station in Southland has had about a quarter of its usual rainfall in the last year to date – 250 millimetres instead of more than 1000mm.
Farmers and rural support professionals have been invited to attend free drought support events in Southland this week.
Organised by industry organisations, the events are being held in the Combined Sports Complex in Otautau tomorrow and the James Cumming Wing in Gore on Friday, both starting at 10.45am.
A drought committee was set up in Otago-Southland before Christmas, ready to spring into action if required, Beef + Lamb New Zealand southern South Island extension manager Olivia Ross said. . .
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) and the Meat Industry Association (MIA) welcome the conclusion of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) negotiations in Tokyo.
During the recent negotiations, officials resolved the outstanding issues and have agreed to meet in Chile to sign the agreement on 8 March.
Sam McIvor, chief executive of B+LNZ, said the conclusion of the agreement represents good news for sheep and beef farmers and all New Zealanders. . .
Confidence in the future profitability of venison and velvet production has flowed through to the market for sire stags, with strong sales reported throughout the country, says Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ).
Breeders report a marked improvement on last year’s results. Although no stags broke the $100,000 mark, average prices were up strongly for most sales, several by more than 50 per cent. Overall clearance rates were 94 per cent, compared with 83 per cent last year. . .
(BusinessDesk) – Livestock Improvement Corp posted a 22 percent slide in first-half profit as the farmer-owned herd genetics cooperative ramped up spending to overhaul its business, which it says is vulnerable to the same disruption other industries face.
Net profit fell to $14.9 million, or 51 cents per share, in the six months ended Nov. 30, from $19 million, or 65.3 cents, a year earlier, the Hamilton-based company said in a statement. . .
The country’s leading cashmere wool-fibre farmer wants to breathe new life into what he describes as a stagnant industry with huge potential.
David Shaw, who farms in Central Otago with his wife Robyn, said the cashmere industry in New Zealand was still cottage-style producing hundreds of kilogrammes of wool.
That was a far cry from the need to produce somewhere between five and 10 tonnes to be able to satisfy the local market and start competing internationally. . .
Due to the cost of silos many Argentine farmers store #grain similar to silage & use this machine to load onto trucks to market. The biggest threat to this type of storage are armadillos who often cut into the bag – so they are watched carefully! #LEADelawarepic.twitter.com/j0AXYAg55y
The urban/rural disconnect is real, more so in Western and urbanised societies, and both the media and farming industry are contributing to it.
Some mainstream media coverage is clouded by urban bias, knee-jerk distrust of agribusiness, failing to differentiate between campaigners and informers and an over-reliance on too few sources with an overt political agenda. There is a severe lack of agricultural specialism among general news journalists.
Farmers and industry are fuelling the disconnect through a lack of openness and transparency, disproportionate defensiveness in the face of legitimate challenge, disunity among farming sectors and a sense of ‘exceptionalism’ or entitlement to positive coverage.
The public debate and narrative around agriculture is being dominated by farming unions and lobbyists. Politics at an industry level is drowning out individuals at a farm level, contributing to more distrust.
Jones visited USA, Kenya, Denmark, Ireland, France and Belgium. Would her findings be very different here?
New Zealand has some very good rural journalists in the print media including the Otago Daily Times’ Sally Rae; Stuff’s Kate Taylor, Gerald Piddock and Gerard Hutching; NZ Farming Weekly’s Neal Wallace, Annette Scott, Richard Rennie, Tim Fulton, Alan Williams; Pam Tipa and Nigel Malthus at Rural News and RNZ’s Alexa Cook.
We also have a good variety of rural shows on radio and television.
Jamie Mackay does an excellent job of covering farming and wider rural issues on The Country as does Andy Thompson on The Muster.
Country Calendar seems to cover more lifestyle and alternative farmers now but still does very good work. Rural Delivery was always interesting but now it’s failed to get NZ on AIr funding probably won’t be back.
RNZ has Country Life and its Friday night and early Saturday morning slots don’t matter so much when it’s easy to listen online at a time that suits better.
We are generally well served by rural media and rural journalists in general media.
The problem is other journalists outside rural media who don’t understand farming and wider rural issues.
They’re the ones who buy the anti-farming propaganda often wrapped in faux-green wrapping; the ones who pedal the emotion and don’t have the inclination or time to check the facts.
They’re the ones who serve farming and the wider rural community badly and undo much of the good rural media and journalists do.
The $57million North Otago Irrigation Company expansion is complete — much to the relief of shareholders, with weather forecasters predicting a warm, dry summer. But irrigation is not so easy for farmers as simply turning on the water and watching the grass grow, Hamish MacLean finds out.
It could be a couple of years before North Otago’s newest irrigators get to grips with their new resource, but with a big dry spell predicted this summer, farmers are pleased to have a guaranteed water supply.
While the water on the North Otago Irrigation Company’s expansion began flowing in September, it was the end of November when all 85 off-takes of the expansion were commissioned, reaching the end of the line at All Day Bay. . .
Rabobank New Zealand has announced it proposes to appoint Todd Charteris to the position of chief executive officer, subject to regulatory approval.
Rabobank New Zealand chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden said Mr Charteris “will bring significant experience with Rabobank on both sides of the Tasman to the role of CEO, as well as a deep knowledge of agribusiness and extensive relationships across the global Rabobank network”. . .
You could call Jonni de Malmanche a jack-of-all-trades, or more accurately, a Jane of them.
The South Otago woman is one of the long-serving staff members at Fonterra’s Stirling cheese factory, having worked there for the past 23 years.
“I still enjoy coming to work every day. I love the people, I love basically what Stirling stands for which is we make great cheese,” she said.
The factory, which opened in 1983, was built by the Otago Cheese Company, formed after the merger of three small South Otago dairy companies. In 2010, Fonterra spent $7.75 million upgrading the factory. . .
On the 7th day of Christmas, MPI gave to me, a super sniffer whose name starts with V. 🐶🎄 Vashti is one of our @AKL_Airport crew, who with handler Ruby will be working hard over the summer stopping any fruit (and fruit flies) from getting across the border #12DoggosOfChristmaspic.twitter.com/AyyEjIn0cK
New Zealand’s second largest milk company is planning to step away from selling dairy products alone and expand into alternative protein and blended products.
Westland Milk Products has bounced back from a $14.5m loss in 2015/16 to break even this year.
Chief executive Toni Brendish says the co-operative worked hard over the past year to become more efficient.
The company’s purpose was now “nourishment made beautifully for generations” which she said gave it freedom to go beyond traditional dairy products. . .
(BusinessDesk) – Dry summer weather is denting grass growth, prompting farmers to reduce their livestock numbers, with the increased volumes of animals hitting the market starting to weigh on prices, according to AgriHQ’s Monthly Sheep & Beef report for December.
“The common factor pulling values down throughout NZ is the weather,” AgriHQ analyst Reece Brick said in his report. “It was a rapid transition from a particularly wet early spring into one of the driest late spring/early summers in recent years, catching many farmers off guard.”
For the sheep industry, below-average growth rates through November kept a lid on the number of lambs being sent to slaughter, keeping prices higher than anticipated. However numbers were now coming forward in significant volume and the long awaited fall in prices has finally begun, Brick said, noting that meat companies had dropped lamb slaughter prices by 15-20 cents per kilogram over the past fortnight, bringing the price to $7.10/kg. . .
With the new government reversing National’s tax cuts in April 2018, the government has now announced the items that are on the tax agenda, and have also signalled other potential changes. Tony Marshall, tax advisory partner for Crowe Horwath, predicts how the government’s new tax agenda may affect farmers.
As promised, the government is forming a Tax Working Group and has stated one of the focuses of the group will be looking into capital gains associated with property speculation. Capital gains tax has always been a contentious topic and sends nervous tension through the farming community. . .
• NZ milk production for November 2017 was up 4.2% (+3.4% on a milksolids basis) • NZ milk production for the season-to-date was up 1.8% (+1.8% on a milksolids basis) • NZ milk production for the 12-months through November 2017 was up 1.3% (+1.9% on a milksolids basis)
A small business in rural Hawke’s Bay is cashing in on global demand for its health and beauty ingredients made out of animal by-products such as placentas, brains, and eyes.
The ingredients manufactured at Agri-lab, tucked away in the small town of Waipukurau, are sent all over the world.
“We do all sort of placenta products … horse, sheep, pig, deer, and cow placenta,” said Agri-lab owner Angela Payne.
Ms Payne started the lab business in 1999, having previously worked as a veterinary nurse and on various jobs such as embryo transfer and parasitology.
In the first year turnover was $5000, but that figure has soared to an expected $2.5 million for the 2017/18 financial year.
New Zealand’s largest sheep meat processor, Alliance Group, is working overtime to keep up with an influx of sheep and lambs due to farmers off loading stock in preparation for a long dry summer.
Many regions are dealing with low soil moisture levels, slow pasture growth rates, and a lack of rain.
Alliance’s General Manager Livestock and Shareholder Services, Heather Stacy, said there could be some delays because many farmers were wanting the same space at the same time.
All of the Alliance plants were flat out with all of the plants and chains in operation and working extended hours. . .
Did ewe know . . . wool socks stink less as wool is naturally mildew and mould resistant.
The suicide rate for farmers is more than double that of veterans. Former farmer Debbie Weingarten gives an insider’s perspective on farm life – and how to help.
It is dark in the workshop, but what light there is streams in patches through the windows. Cobwebs coat the wrenches, the cans of spray paint and the rungs of an old wooden chair where Matt Peters used to sit. A stereo plays country music, left on by the renter who now uses the shop.“It smells so good in here,” I say. “Like …”“Men, working,” finishes Ginnie Peters.We inhale. “Yes.” . . .
(BusinessDesk) – Mānuka honey will be given an official marker under a new testing regime issued by the Ministry for Primary Industries, as the UK recognises New Zealand’s rights to the name.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced the new standard for the honey today. The mānuka honey industry is currently worth around $180 million to New Zealand every year, but there have been concerns about the authenticity of products sold as mānuka honey as more was being sold than was being produced in New Zealand, and it was until now not regulated. . .
An early Christmas present for New Zealand and its beekeeping industry has arrived in a landmark decision overnight by the UK Trade Mark Registry to accept the term Mānuka honey as a certification mark.
UMF Honey Association (UMFHA) spokesperson John Rawcliffe said the decision is a major milestone for all New Zealanders and, particularly, Maori.
“This is a critical foundation stone, as we look to protect the term Mānuka as being intrinsically intertwined with New Zealand and positioning our important Mānuka honey industry in world markets. . .
(BusinessDesk) – Moana New Zealand, the iwi-owned company that holds a half stake in Sealord Group, posted a little-changed full-year profit as improved returns from ready-to-eat products and aquaculture was offset by a weaker performance in fin fish and lobster.
Profit was $19.27 million in the 12 months ended Sept. 30 from $19.4 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said. It didn’t immediately provide a revenue figure. It will pay a dividend of $9.7 million, which it said was a record payout, from $8.2 million a year earlier.. . .
Did ewe know . . . shearing is like a haircut! But this haircut is important for stopping sheep getting sick, improving metabolism and reducing heat stress.
The export price of butter reached a new high in the September 2017 quarter, to be up 8.8 percent from the June 2017 quarter, Stats NZ said today.
Export butter prices increased 75 percent in the year ended September 2017, and these gains were closely tracked in domestic butter prices in New Zealand shops.
Whole milk powder prices were down 2.0 percent and cheese fell 1.7 percent in the September 2017 quarter. Dairy product export prices as a whole increased 38 percent in the September 2017 year, despite dipping 0.9 percent in the September 2017 quarter. . .
The summer stonefruit season is only 10 weeks long, from mid-December to March, but New Zealanders certainly make the most of it.
Figures from Summerfruit NZ show that in the 2016-17 season, New Zealanders consumed 4,064 tonnes of nectarines; 3,579 tonnes of peaches; 2,366 tonnes of plums; 1,737 tonnes of apricots and 1,683 tonnes of cherries.
Export volumes are much lower – apart from cherries, which do well in Asian countries. Around 66% of New Zealand’s cherries are exported – some 3,396 tonnes last year. . .
Cromwell and Roxburgh orchardists are intending to start harvesting cherries this week, which is up to 10 days earlier than usual. However, there is also a shortage of workers.
Orchardists spoken to by Southern Rural Life said at this early stage of the season, the region’s crops of cherries and apricots were shaping up as some of the best there had been for a few years, thanks to the milder spring.
Cromwell orchardist Mark Jackson, of Jacksons’ Orchard, said everyone he had talked to was ”pretty happy” with the season so far and with the way the crops looked. . .
In a pair of towns straddling a major highway, the sound of engine noise at night has become a curiosity.
People prick up their ears from inside earthquake-damaged homes, wondering about a noise that until a year ago was a near-constant hum in the background.
Any road big enough to matter is called arterial, but for the south Marlborough towns of Seddon and Ward the description is particularly apt for State Highway 1.
Winding its way through the surrounding vineyards and gold-coloured rolling hills, the highway pumped through a steady stream of travellers and trade – lifeblood for businesses in the area. . .
Stretching along both sides of the Clarence River and straddling the Clarence Fault, which runs between the seaward and inward Kaikōura Ranges, is Muzzle Station.
It’s New Zealand’s most isolated high country station, and when the Kaikōura earthquake struck, its most precariously placed.
No time to read? Listen here now
It’s also the home of managers Fiona and Guy Redfern, and when the 7.8 quake hit just past midnight on 14 November, the couple could hear the horrific sound of rock walls around the house tumbling down, and the house cracking with the movement. . . .
Dr Ants Roberts has been awarded the Ray Brougham Trophy for his outstanding contribution to pastoral farming.
Nicknamed Dr Dirt by his colleagues, Roberts is a soil scientist and Ravensdown’s chief scientific officer.
“I’m deeply humbled to be recognised amongst my peers in this way for effectively doing something that I love and am passionate about. . . .
Check out the amazing view these lucky cows have! Photo taken by Nicola Wilson at our North Waikato discussion group in Awhitu yesterday. pic.twitter.com/V8t29vhjeP
(BusinessDesk) – Westland Milk Products says it’s a better poster child for New Zealand’s clean, green image than some of its rivals and having returned to profit it is now focused on ensuring its returns to farmers stay competitive as it grows.
“When people think of New Zealand they think of clean water, green pastures, forest-covered hills and snowy peaks,” said chief executive Toni Brendish, who started in September 2016. “Westland is the exemplar of this landscape. Our shareholders’ farms literally border world heritage national parks. More than 90 percent of our rivers meet or exceed the criteria for ‘swimmable’.” . . .
The dairy farmer at the centre of the South Island cattle disease outbreak is worried it could be more widespread than thought.
First discovered in July, mycoplasma bovis has been found on seven farms in South Canterbury and North Otago – five of them owned by the Van Leeuwen Dairy Group who have 16 farms in the area.
Artificial breeding company World Wide Sires New Zealand is calling on the industry to bring in a standard testing process for the cattle disease mycoplasma bovis.
About 4000 thousand infected cows are being culled and the Ministry for Primary industries is cautiously optimistic that the disease is contained. . .
we strive to teach our children about our responsibilities to the environment. we have a beautiful native wetland on this farm, that @FishandGameNZ are going to help fund restoration work on, and envrionment southland are going to fund some native plantations on. pic.twitter.com/uaApzvYs5G
Record returns of more than $10 a kilogram for venison and more than $4/kg for mutton point to one of the brightest starts to the meat export season for many years.
Demand and pricing for lamb is also strong.
While export returns typically peak in spring, as exporters compete for limited supplies of livestock to fill higher-value chilled markets, prices are still well up on the same time last year. . .
Keeping his animals content and happy was always a fundamental farming principle for Paparata Farms owner Trevor Johnson. Now he’s passed that baton to his staff, he’s applying the same zeal to looking after them.
“My staff and I are a team and I get a lot of satisfaction out of supporting them and providing an environment where they and their families are happy,” says Johnson, whose 7100-hectare high-performance romney and cattle breeding operation on the Forgotten World Highway west of Taumarunui is gearing up for its 29th annual ram sale.
“It’s rewarding, caring for people and seeing them enjoy the work they are doing.” . .
(BusinessDesk) – Rural Equities, the farming group majority-owned by the Cushing family, is eyeing investments outside New Zealand rural property where it sees an “uncertain” future.
The Hastings-based company, which owns 22 farms in New Zealand, told shareholders in its annual report published this week that directors decided to consider new long-term investment opportunities in other asset classes and potentially other jurisdictions to provide enhanced returns and portfolio diversification. . .
Sheep have demonstrated the ability to recognise familiar human faces, according to a study.
Cambridge University researchers were able to train sheep to identify the faces of actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Emma Watson, former US President Barack Obama and BBC newsreader Fiona Bruce.
After training, the sheep chose photos of familiar faces over unfamiliar ones significantly more often than not.
It shows that sheep possess similar face recognition abilities to primates. . .
Shortly after our oldest was born, I started reading everything the search engine returned about how to feed children the “right way”. It would be a few more years before I realized this is almost never a good idea. From the first article on, an overwhelming weight was being pushed onto my shoulders. The weight of fear, fear of our food. Everywhere I looked, I was being told our food was scary. It wasn’t like it “used to be”. It wasn’t “natural”. It wasn’t “simple” or “clean”. His runny nose, my extra baby weight, his occasional rashes, my cough, our inability to sleep well, the mysterious missing other sock – all clearly stemmed from consuming this new “Franken-food”. I was being told this, being sold this, by food manufactures and restaurants and bloggers and even other moms. I was being told I had to pay more, be more selective, and demand more. I had to “know my farmer” and “buy local” or else…
Wellington-based Radio New Zealand Radio Rurals journalist took out the top award for agricultural journalists at the 2017 awards night for the New Zealand Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators.
Alexa Cook won the supreme award, the Ministry for Primary Industries Rongo Award, which recognises excellence in agricultural journalism. She won the award for coverage of a week-long mustering in Muzzle Station, the first after the Kaikoura earthquake. Her items were featured on Morning Report, Checkpoint, and Insight programmes and on the Radio NZ website.
Rural New Zealand is very well served by specialist rural and farming publications but many of these are delivered free only to those on rural delivery postal routes.
Radio NZ, is broadcast nationwide with a big urban audience which means Alexa’s work has a broader reach in both town and country.
Runner-up in the MPI Rongo Award was The Dairy Exporter team of NZ Farm Life Media, for several features, particularly the Team Building feature.
Other award winners were:
The AgResearch Science Writers Award, established to enhance standards of science writing, especially about pastoral agriculture, was won by Alexa Cook and Carol Stiles
The Rural Women New Zealand Journalism Award was won by Sally Rae of Oamaru, for articles which appeared in the Otago Daily Times
The Federated Farmers Broadcast Journalism Award was won jointly by Carol Stiles and Alexa Cook
The DairyNZ Dairy Industry Journalism Award which recognises the ability to communicate the complexities of the dairy industry, was won by Jackie Harrigan for articles in The Dairy Exporter.
The inaugural Zespri Export Journalism Award, which recognises the vital importance of exports to the New Zealand economy, was won by Fairfax Media’s Gerard Hutching.
The Alliance Group Ltd Red Meat Industry Journalism Award, which focuses on all aspects of the red meat industry was won by Alexa Cook, of RNZ Rural News
The Beef + Lamb New Zealand News Award, which recognises excellence in hard news journalism, focusing on any aspect of the beef and sheep industry, was won by Nigel Stirling for articles in Farmers Weekly and NZX Agri’s Pulse, both on trade talks.
The Federated Farmers Rural Photography Award was won by Des Williams, for a photo which appeared in Shearing magazine.
The inaugural Rural Women New Zealand Rural Connectivity Award, recognising the importance of connectivity to rural communities and agri-businesses in rural areas, was won by Alexa Cook.
The Guild’s own award – the Agricultural Journalism Encouragement Award – is designed to encourage and recognise excellence among journalists with three or less years reporting on agricultural issues. This year, it was won by Brittany Pickett, of Invercargill, for articles which appeared in the NZ Farmer.
These are my reflections on irrigation projects, including the retention of Crown Irrigation Investments Ltd, for the policymakers and politicians who are going to be running the country for the next three years. The intention is to balance the multiple one-liners, 10-second soundbites and vitriolic comments that sprang out of the water debate during the election.
Ø Food is New Zealand’s largest export by value. Growing food depends on water. Irrigation allows water to be applied at precisely the right time to optimise quality food production.
Ø There is a strong correlation between irrigation and regional economic development . .
One of Europe’s leading carpet makers is preparing to launch a campaign promoting the virtues of New Zealand wool.
Dutch company Best Wool Carpets wants to fight back against the dominance of synthetic products which dominate the global carpet market with a whopping 96 per cent share.
It aims to counter some of the falsehoods propagated by the synthetic industry, such as that wool carpet fades in UV light. . .
A Bay of Plenty farmer says this has been the toughest year of farming in his 35 years on the land.
Kevin Clark is a dairy farmer on the banks of the Waimana River near Whakatane, and lost large chunks of land, fences, and farm races when the river burst its banks earlier this year during Cyclones Debbie and Cook.
The family’s farms on both sides of the river were left with thick layers of silt and debris, and dairy cows had to be culled or sent away for grazing. . .
A major exhibition on the development of New Zealand’s National Parks has just opened in Beijing.
Produced by Lincoln University, the exhibition showcases New Zealand’s protected areas and encompasses a range of exhibits, including a three-metre tall giant moa skeleton, outdoor equipment, signs, books, and historic documents.
The project is part of Lincoln’s five-year collaboration with leading Chinese Universities and links with the Chinese Government’s push to establish a national agency to manage its protected areas. . .
One of the ways I like to unwind and connect with nature is to go hunting. I schedule in trips regularly – which are non-negotiable. #MHAWpic.twitter.com/1DLb0FTTtc
Proud to Be a Farmer NZ Farmers Fast Five : Where we ask a Farmer Five Quick Questions about Farming, and what Agriculture means to them. Today we talk to Kaituna Valley Proud farmer Matt Wyeth.
1. How long have you been farming?
The best thing I knew right from a young age was I wanted to be a farmer. So it was easy to leave school and follow my dreams – Shepherding, Lincoln University, shearing, rearing calves, farm management, share farming, ownership, now 17 years of living the dream. . .
With just over a week to go until entries open in the 2018 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards, organisers of the regional competitions are ready to host launch events.
General Manager Chris Keeping says the launch events provide an opportunity to find out more information about the Awards and which category they are eligible to enter.
Entries in the New Zealand Share Farmer of the Year, New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year and New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year categories will be accepted online at –
The farming community needs to step up to help lessen the rift between city and country.
I believe the debates during the course of the recent election campaign oversimplified some issues that are core to the agri sector, such as water and soil quality. These have created divisions that are not helping New Zealand move forward.
As with many complex issues, the rush to simplify the discussions and debate has seen farming, in particular dairying, blamed for many of our environmental problems.
Stopping to appreciate the small things in life really helps people handle the big stuff.
That was one of the messages coming through loud and clear from farmers involved in rural wellbeing initiative Farmstrong, project leader Gerard Vaughan said.
Over the last two years Vaughan and video maker Nigel Beckford have been busy interviewing Kiwi farmers about what they do to keep well and avoid burnout.
They’ve been sharing the best tips and advice in short video clips on the Farmstrong website – http://www.farmstrong.co.nz. . .
It’s Mental Health Week and the theme is “Nature is Key – Unlock Your Wellbeing”.
The idea is to escaping stressful or ‘same old rut’ work and home environments to eat your lunch in a park or at the beach, to take the family for a weekend bush walk, etc. It can lift spirits, put you back in touch with Nature, and get you thinking about your health, your priorities – and whether you may need to reach out for help or advice.
Federated Farmers President Katie Milne welcomes the focus on mental health and talking through issues and feelings with others. “Our great outdoors can also be a wonderful tonic.”
But for rural folk, Mother Nature can also be a source of considerable stress. Storms, floods, ailing livestock, droughts, etc., can ratchet up financial woes, relationship strains and the feeling ‘it’s all too much’.. . .
A Waikato farmer is pushing for the government to provide better mental health support for the rural sector.
Research shows that the suicide rate in New Zealand’s rural sector is up to 50 percent higher than in urban areas.
Dairy farmer Richard Cookson has had his own struggle with mental health, and said while there is good crisis support for farmers, such as the Rural Support Trust, there isn’t enough for depression.
This Mental Health Awareness Week, Mr Cookson said a good start would be free counselling to get farmers in the door, but the sector also needs quite specific help. . .
Damn it all. Someone is not listening and I am now forced to repeat myself. My last column ended thus:
“Without an independent principled fourth estate we may be drifting away from being a society in which our policies are based on evidence, rational thought and logic analysis and which encourages and embraces criticism. If we are not careful we could drift back to a time when humans believed in alchemy, witches and taniwha”.
In this last week, as if on cue, three media outlets coughed up three items of demonstrable drivel.
Exhibit 1: The NZ Farmers Weekly (October 2) gave their opinion page to Phyllis Tichinin in an article headlined, Urea cascade cause of problems. She attributes many animal health, soil and environmental problems to the overuse of urea. Opinion yes, evidence no. Her whole thesis fails the logical test of cause and effect. How can one thing – in this case urea – have so many unrelated effects? As one qualified reader expressed it to me: “I struggle to find one fact or one statement that isn’t a falsehood.” . . .
Synthetic food is being talked about rather more than it is being eaten.
The balance might change in future as the technologies develop, but at the moment there is more hype and interest than hunger and intake.
The Impossible Burger seems to be the focus at the moment. The burger is made in the laboratory from wheat (grown in a field) and involves a ‘haem’ from legumes. The haem is pink (it is responsible for the colour in healthy, nitrogen-fixing clover root nodules) and so confers the burger with ‘bleeding’ properties. . .
The Farmers Fast Five : Where we ask a farmer five quick questions about farming, and what agriculture means to them. Today we talk to Marlborough Proud Farmer Doug Avery whose Resilient Farmer platform aims to deliver powerful support to New Zealand farmers across the three pillars — financial, environmental and social. Through road shows and ongoing mentoring, he helps farmers to adopt new thinking and practices. Check out his best selling book The Resilient Farmer, and his website http://www.resilientfarmer.co.nz for more information . How long have I been farming?
46 years but I am only involved in the directorship of the business now and financial control. What sort of farming are you involved in? We grow wool, meat, crops , dairy support and people. . .
The importance of the primary sector to the New Zealand economy is emphasised today by Fieldays’ 2017 Economic Impact Report.
A report prepared by the University of Waikato Management School’s Institute of Business Research, reveals that the biggest agricultural expo in the southern hemisphere, generated an estimated $238 million to New Zealand’s GDP, an increase of 24.7 per cent when compared to 2016.
Federated Farmers’ Board member Chris Lewis is particularly familiar with Fieldays and regards the event as a key indicator to how the country is faring. . .
As AgResearch looks to drone-mounted lasers to combat weeds, a new report shows an expected surge in ag drones https://t.co/Gf01MEAb2r
The number of deaths and serious injuries in the farming sector have dropped this year.
Figures from WorkSafe show that this year, up until 1 October, there have been nine deaths in agricultural workplaces, compared to an average of 15 deaths for the same period each year from 2014 to 2016.
Statistics show that the agricultural sector has had almost four times the number of workplace deaths than forestry, construction and manufacturing since 2011. . .
Voting is open in this year’s Farmlands director elections and there is a strong southern presence among the South Island candidates.
Nine candidates will contest the three director vacancies this year, with elections required in both the North and South Islands.
The South Island vacancy will be contested by former long-serving Alliance Group director Murray Donald (Winton), former Otago regional councillor Gary Kelliher (Alexandra), accountant Mel Montgomery (Southland), former Federated Farmers national board member David Rose (Southland) and current Alliance Group director Dawn Sangster (Maniototo). . .
Alliance Group is investing $54million in capital expenditure during the next year.
Outlining the investment at a series of roadshows throughout the country, chief executive David Surveyor said the success of the business strategy meant the co-operative was in a position to reinvest to continue to build the company’s operational performance.
In addition to a pool payment, the company would have a bonus share issue and reward farmer shareholders by increasing their shareholding in the co-operative.
The level would be based upon the supply of lambs, sheep, cattle, calves and deer during the 2017-18 season, Mr Surveyor said in a statement. . .
The story is about an entry in the WWF-NZ’s Conservation Awards for 2017; I hope the judges have a good grasp of science and scientific method. From the article:
The entry from Kerikeri promotes a new take on an old-world biodynamic method of ridding fields of rodents and other furry pests.
It is called peppering, and involves burning the pelts and carcasses of said pests until they’re little more than ash, grinding it finely, mixing it with water and “spray painting” the substance back on the affected land.
Apparently, this version of the ‘traditional’ practice is new in the sense that so far it has not been applied because it lacked ‘scientific background’. . .
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) announced today that sheep meat and beef levies will remain unchanged for the levy year commencing 1 October 2017.
B+LNZ Chairman James Parsons says the Board has reviewed budgets and activities for the financial year commencing 1 October 2017 and that the sheep meat levy on all sheep slaughtered would remain $0.60 per head and the beef levy, on all cattle slaughtered (including beef cattle and dairy cattle but excluding bobby calves), at $4.40 per head GST (exclusive). . .
Voting is now open for the 2017 Fonterra Board of Directors’ Elections, the Shareholders’ Councillor Elections in 10 wards, and six Annual Meeting resolutions.
This year Shareholders have the opportunity to elect three Fonterra Directors. The three candidates are Independent Nomination process candidates Brent Goldsack, Andy Macfarlane and John Monaghan. Each candidate requires Shareholder support of over 50% of votes to be elected. . .
Farmers Fast Five : Where we ask a Farmer five quick questions about farming, and what agriculture means to them. Today we talk to John McCaskey : Pioneer of the Wine Industry, Farmers Advocate, Entrepreneur, and Proud Farmer.
1….How long have you been farming?
Since I was big enough to hold a bottle and feed a lamb—say 1939! My infant years were filled with helping feed pigs & chooks progressing to milking the house cow and churning butter after school! By age 10 I was going to be a farmer! I passed all agriculture subjects for School Cert 1954 . .
Leading Queensland seedstock producers, David and Prue Bondfield, Palgrove, are the latest agribusiness to partner with a superannuation fund in order to grow their business.
The Bondfield family released a statement on Wednesday saying their business, had entered into a partnership with the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZSF). The terms of the transaction remain confidential. . .
Select Harvest has more than 7000 hectares of almond plantations likely to deliver about 15,800 tonnes of crop next year.
Hot on the heels of rejecting a $430 million Arab takeover offer, big almond growing and nut processing business, Select Harvest, has launched a share market capital raising bid for about $65m.
Select has already placed 10.7m new shares worth about $45m with institutional investors. . .
A record number of applicants have been narrowed down to a shortlist of seven for the prestigious agribusiness badge of honour, the Zanda McDonald Award.
The trans-Tasman award, now in its fourth year, recognises agriculture’s most innovative young professionals. The four New Zealand and three Australian finalists for the 2018 award were selected for their strong leadership skills, passion for agriculture, and their vision and inspiration for the primary industry.
The Kiwi finalists are Thomas MacDonald, 24, Business Manager of Spring Sheep Milk Company in Waikato and Sir Don Llewellyn scholar, Lisa Kendall, 25, owner/operator of Nuture Farming Ltd and vice-chair of the Franklin Young Farmers Club, Ashley Waterworth 34, who manages and co-owns the family sheep and beef farm in Waikato, and Hamish Clarke, 27, third generation farm manager in the Northern King Country. . .
The country’s biggest sheep meat processor Alliance is calling for more merino farmer suppliers for its Silere brand, as Asian demand for the meat grows.
Alliance took over the brand Silere from New Zealand Merino and Silver Fern Farms last year, when it wanted to expand its portfolio of premium products.
Silere Merino’s season is very short and more lambs are needed to meet the strong demand, Alliance marketing manager for premium products Wayne Cameron said.
Processing here started at the end of September and goes through until Christmas, which is winter in Asia and when consumers prefer to eat lamb. . .
On a bend in the Clarence River, tucked between the Inland and Seaward Kaikoura ranges under the distant towers of Mt Tapuaenuku is New Zealand’s most remote high country station.
Muzzle Station is only accessible by 40 kilometres of rugged, muddy 4WD track that connects it to the Inland Kaikoura road. The track crosses the Clarence and a 1300 metre pass on the Seaward Range.
Deep snow makes it impassible in winter. It takes about three hours to get from Muzzle to Kaikoura and that’s on a good day when the river is fordable and the pass ice-free. . .
Foreign investment in forestry is crucial and New Zealand could never afford to buy back all the forests it has sold, the Forest Owners Association says.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the future of forestry and timber supplies for local mills is one of his party’s priorities as it heads into coalition talks.
He wanted the next government to protect wood supply to domestic mills by creating a Forest Service, and had previously stuck-up for Northland wood processors who said they were being squeezed out of the market by foreign forest owners and buyers.
Commercial forestry is a much bigger industry than most people think, with $25 billion to $30bn invested in plantations, the association’s president Peter Clark said. . .
The Hawkes Bay apple industry is negotiating with Napier’s port over two proposed levies the sector says could cost it millions of dollars.
The first levy is to cover an extra $2 million in insurance premiums, which have risen because of quake damage in Lyttelton and Wellington.
The second is aimed at the pipfruit sector during peak season. The port is proposing a fee of $100 per 20,000-foot refrigerated container, starting in February. . .
Drone-mounted lasers could be used to zap weeds that are posing a billion-dollar problem for New Zealand agriculture, AgResearch scientists say.
AgResearch – with partners the Universities of Auckland and Michigan and NZ-based technology firm Redfern Solutions Limited – has been awarded just under $1 million from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment’s Endeavour Fund to look into how to “map and zap” the many weeds plaguing productive land.
A recent study led by AgResearch concluded from available research that the known costs of weeds to New Zealand agriculture was at least $1.685 billion a year, but that the true cost from all weeds was likely to be much higher. Environmentally friendly tools are being urgently sought for the early control of these weeds. . .
Farmers are being urged to check sheds and chemical stores for DDT or other banned pesticides as The Great DDT Muster does a final sweep of the country.
Funding for this free collection and disposal service for persistent organic pesticides (POPs) is coming to an end but the company responsible for the service, 3R Group Ltd, believes there is still more out there.
3R’s ChemCollect manager, Jason Richards, says they’ve been running rural chemical collections for a number of years but knew that farmers weren’t having DDT and other POPs picked up simply because it was too expensive. . .
A new study has found that mānuka and kānuka plants reduce nitrate leaching into waterways.
Researchers planted young mānuka, kānuka, and radiata pine trees in containers, called lysimeters, which measure drainage and evapotranspiration from the soil, and then fertilised the plants with urea for 15 weeks.
They applied the equivalent of 800kg per hectare to each pot to simulate urine patches, because research shows that on grazed land, animal urine adds nitrogen at rates up to 1000kg a hectare, contributing up to 70 percent of nitrate leachates. . .
Beleaguered Westland Milk Products has achieved a profit turnaround and promised co-op shareholders to do better this dairy season.
It has also confirmed its target forecast payout range of $6.40-$6.80.
Westland Milk Products payout to farmers of $3.88 per kilogram of milk solids, was the lowest in the country in the 2015-16 season, as the company booked a $10.3million loss. . .
Zespri’s chief executive of nine years Lain Jager stepped aside last week for new executive and long-time company man Dan Mathieson. Mathieson spoke to Richard Rennie about where he sees the marketer going after a period that has included the worst of times and the best of times for the industry.
Only four days into his new position Dan Mathieson is having to think hard about how he will balance the local, supply-focused challenges of growing more fruit in Bay of Plenty and beyond with the rocketing market growth being experienced out of the company’s Singapore marketing hub.
To help achieve that he intended to spend his time split evenly between head office in Bay of Plenty and the Singapore base he had headed up as Zespri’s global sales and marketing manager. . .
Further declines in beef prices have been predicted as the strength of the New Zealand dollar and falling United States prices weigh more heavily on exporters. Rabobank animal proteins analyst Blake Holgate said beef prices had dropped “marginally lower” during the past quarter.
However, further downward price pressure was expected in the months ahead from increased Japanese tariffs on frozen beef imports, creating additional headwinds for Kiwi exporters, he said. . .
The confidence boost from winning the 2010 Dairy Trainee of the Year award is propelling a young sharemilker along a valuable career track, he says. Blake Korteweg, a young herd manager from Otago, in 2010 entered the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards and won the Southland-Otago Dairy Trainee of the Year competition.
Later that year at the national awards gala dinner in Rotorua he was named 2010 Dairy Trainee of the Year.. . .
RT @dpfdpf: Our early childhood centre has just told us fees going up $600 a year because their costs have increased 10% and government sub… 1 hour ago
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