Rural round-up

The big dry – Waimea Water:

The 2001 drought was the most severe drought our region experienced in 60 years. Different phrases were used to describe it, including a shortage or a crisis. Early on it was ‘water fears.’ In the end, the drought stuck and it became known as the ‘Big Dry’ and it affected everyone in the region from Nelson to Richmond to Motueka to Golden Bay.

Riverbeds dried up. Saltwater threatened the bores in the lower Waimea River. Stories about the scarcity of rain appeared almost daily in newspapers. Councils met to assess the water supply risks and the rationing requirements. Green pastures were brown with no grass in sight. Dairy farm stock had to be dried off months early, with cattle and sheep sold below cost to cover lost revenue. Permitted users, including irrigators across the Waimea Plains, had been reduced to 40 percent of their allowed take.  . .

https://twitter.com/WaimeaDam/status/925454753995243520

No Waimea dam: I’m out, says long-time market gardener Mark O’Connor – Cherie Sivignon:

For four generations, Mark O’Connor’s family have been on the Waimea Plains. For the past three, they’ve been growing vegetables.

But the Appleby Fresh managing director says if there’s no Waimea dam, he will consider subdividing some of the land and selling up.

“We actually had a meeting the other day and said what are we going to do if we don’t get the dam and I said: ‘I’m out of it; it’s too hard to farm without having water’,” he said. . . 

https://twitter.com/WaimeaDam/status/925166937583206400

Fonterra to invest $100m in Australia after hitting full milk processing capacityFonterra sees Aus opportunities – Gerard Hutching:

Fonterra has unveiled plans to invest $100 million immediately into its Australian business in a major expansion plan.

It is also looking into the possibility of its Australian operation becoming a co-operative.

Chief executive Theo Spierings told the co-operative’s annual general meeting in Hawera on Thursday that Fonterra’s reputation had climbed from 9th to 5th in the RepZ survey and had “changed the minds of 1.5 million New Zealanders.” . . 

https://twitter.com/FonterraFarmers/status/925566686467563520

We’ve got the bull by the udder – John King:

Here’s a quiz for morning smoko. According to modern grazing practice, where’s best on the curve in the illustration for the following:

• · Maximum livestock growth?
• · Maximum pasture longevity?
• · Maximum soil development and structure?

Many farmers and all agricultural professionals will know where’s best for growing livestock, a few less will know where’s best for pasture longevity, and most wouldn’t even consider where’s best for soil, let alone there might be two places. That’s due to the prevailing culture and training railroading what we believe is normal – focusing on single goals.John King

Farmer Fast Five – Richard Power – Claire Inkson:

The Farmers Fast Five : Where we ask a farmer five quick questions about farming, and what agriculture means to them. Today we talk to Hawarden Proud Farmer Richard Power, who with his wife Mez, won the Romney section of this years Ewe Hogget Competition.

How long have you been farmer?

I am a third generation farmer.  I was bought up on our stud sheep and beef farm where from a young age was taught how to handle and judge stock.  After a stint at Lincoln I went lamb drafting for 5 years.  Travelling around so many different farms gave me a great insight into different breeds and ways of farming.  I carried on drafting for another 3 years after taking on the home farm with my wife in 1990 and changing to a commercial operation.

What sort of Farming are you involved in?

We are involved in a traditional dryland sheep/beef and crop operation, concentrating on early lamb production. All our lambs are gone by Christmas, and what doesn’t go prime is sold store.  On a normal season the split would be 80% sheep and the beef/crop sharing 10% each.  Beef cattle of any type are traded from Autumn to Spring and Barley is grown for a local farmer. . . 

Major deer shed upgrade underway:

Most deer farmers are upgrading their deer sheds so that velvet is harvested, handled, stored and transported in a clean environment.John Tacon, quality assurance manager for Deer Industry NZ (DINZ), says the regulatory bottom line is that all sheds must have a “clean zone” – a designated area where velvet antler is removed, handled and frozen. In this zone, all contact surfaces must be washable and clean prior to velvet removal and handling. 

“As soon as practicable after harvesting, but within 2 hours, velvet also needs to be placed in a velvet-only freezer capable of freezing to at least minus 15 deg C.” 

At some time in the future he expects standards could well be “ramped up, but it’s a good starting point”. . . 

Autumn – Ben Eagle:

 Today I began the first of what will be many bramble bashing (or should that be obliterating) sessions throughout the autumn/winter as I try to get on top of the scrub encroaching on some of the farm’s stewardship plots. The sky seemed to be missing today, a great grey and white canvas only intermittently marked by the odd passing pheasant or pigeon, the former unable to get much lift to make sufficient impact upon the bleak sky as I looked upward and across. Pheasants annoy me, with their loud cackling call, their pompous plumage and their inability to fly properly, but I know I shouldn’t hold it against them. As I write this post now I hear them outside. Something has spooked them and they are calling out, confused and terrified of the world. Who can blame them I suppose when you primary reason for existing so far as human kind is concerned is to be shot. . .