Brian Easton says his new book could not ignore farming’s contribution to the history of NZ.
William Soltau Davidson is not usually considered one of New Zealand’s great 19th century heroes. He came to New Zealand in 1865 as a 19-year-old farm cadet at the Levels in South Canterbury. By the age of 32 he was general manager of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, which held some 3,000,000 acres in the South Island, in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, some of which Davidson sold off to small holders.
In 1882 he supervised the loading of the first exports of frozen meat at Port Chalmers and welcomed the Dunedin when it reached London. That Davidson does not appear more prominently in our general histories reflects their neglect of the central role of farming.
It is a strange omission, probably the result of the urban base of the writers, the tendency to imitate foreign histories with their focus on industrialisation and their lack of interest in the economy. . .
Two-time women’s Rugby World Cup winner Bex Mahoney is these days putting her energy into running a Tararua farming business with her husband Luke but she’s also breaking new ground on the rugby field. There are synergies between the two, as Colin Williscroft reports.
Bex Mahoney likes to challenge herself to have a go at different things because that gives her an edge.
Is a simple philosophy but one that has paid off for the Pahiatua farmer.
Only the fourth New Zealander to have played 50 first class games of rugby and gone on to referee 50 first class games, both men’s and women’s, the mother of two young girls spends much of her time getting her hands dirty on-farm while also exploring new farming opportunities online and on the phone. . .
Rural wellbeing initiative Farmstrong is celebrating its fifth birthday.
More than 18,000 Kiwi farmers and growers have engaged in the last year alone.
Farmstrong helps farmers and their families cope with the ups and downs of farming by sharing things farmers can do to look after themselves and the people in their business.
It offers practical tools and resources through its website, workshops and community events, inviting farmers to find out what works for them and lock it in. Farmers using good techniques to stay mentally and physically fit and healthy are regularly featured in stories in Farmers Weekly. . .
Bruce McKenzie is proud of his Queen’s Birthday Honour, even though rumour has it, he thought it was a joke at first.
The Wairarapa beef breeder was awarded Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his services to the cattle industry.
“It’s a great honour to receive this. I think agriculture is going to be a part of the future in New Zealand and I feel very proud to have this honour” he told The Country’s Jamie Mackay. . .
Kiwi researchers have found the temperature of a sheep’s eye is linked to the animal’s level of stress.
Thermal imaging technology is being used by AgResearch scientists to gain greater insights into how livestock experience stress, and how that knowledge can help enhance animal welfare.
While it may sound like a cliché to say that Ireland and New Zealand both punch above their weights, it’s clear from the figures that it’s true.
Ireland, a country of less than 5 million people produces enough food to feed over 50 million people, while NZ’s agri-food is known across the world for its food – with its dairy farming passing $15b in export earnings annually.
Both countries are united by their shared commitment to quality, traceability and the highest standards in production and safety.
There is another pandemic sweeping the nation. It is a new, exceedingly virulent virus, which is likely to do more damage to the New Zealand economy in the long-term than COVID-19, if left unchecked.
I am calling for an immediate lockdown – total elimination is essential to prevent New Zealand agriculture slipping back to the dark ages.
It is coded RA 20, but the full medical name is “Regenerative Agriculture 2020”. RA 20 is believed to have originated in the Great Plains in America. It quickly spread to the Australian Outback and then hopped the ditch to New Zealand.
Interestingly, like Covid-19, it is particularly severe in those weakened by other complicating factors. Some victims are known to have no knowledge of the important values of science, evidence, logic and reason. Another cohort includes those who know little about the principles of soil fertility, pasture management and animal husbandry. . .
A young Kiwi, Los Angeles-based, filmmaker has made good use of the lockdown period to help farmers battling with mental health issues.
Twenty-year-old Hunter Williams has shot and produced a short video that addresses the poorer mental health outcomes facing the rural sector. The short film encourages rural people to talk about the struggles they may be facing and not keep their feelings bottled up.
Williams told Rural News that he’d had his own mental health issues growing up and the film was something that was close to his heart. The eight minute documentary is called ‘The Monkeys on Our Backs’. Various farmers and organisations have been involved in the production, including the Rural Support Trust and Farmstrong.
Williams was raised in Hawkes Bay and comes from a large farming family.
Marketers of New Zealand farm-raised venison are making a concerted push to build sales through on-line outlets and through gourmet retailers. This gourmet product, normally sold mainly through food service distributors to chefs, has been particularly hard-hit by the sound of restaurant doors slamming shut around the globe.
Deer Industry NZ (DINZ) chief executive Innes Moffat says Covid-related restaurant shut-downs created a crisis for their food service suppliers and the farmers that supply them. Demand from chefs for NZ farm-raised venison – one of the industry’s greatest assets – overnight became a vulnerability.
“Fortunately our venison export marketers and/or their overseas partners already had small retail and on-line marketing programmes. They are now putting a lot of energy into generating more sales through these channels, while looking out for the green shoots of recovery in food service.” . .
Rising prices for potatoes, soft drinks (large bottles), capsicums, and fresh eggs saw overall food prices up 1.0 percent in April 2020, Stats NZ said today.
Potato prices rose 18 percent in April to a weighted average price of $2.51 per kilo, an all-time peak.
Some media reports suggest the potato industry has seen a 30–50 percent increase in demand from supermarkets and a shortage of workers.
“Higher demand and a shortage of potato pickers, many of whom stayed home due to fear of the COVID-19 virus, could explain this large price increase,” consumer prices manager Bryan Downes said. . .
New Zealand’s guided hunting industry has been severely impacted by COVID-19 and is appealing for support from domestic hunters looking for a unique hunting experience.
“Guided hunting was worth over $50 million a year to the New Zealand economy and provided primarily international visitors with fantastic Kiwi hunting experiences on both private and public land,” says Game Animal Council General Manager Tim Gale. “It has also been an extremely important employer in provincial regions and has a low impact on our environment.”
“It really has been a New Zealand tourism success story.” . .
It's getting fresh out on the bike, but there's just something nice about these late Autumn evenings. pic.twitter.com/oBkDK8OCQm
Remote selling isn’t something new yet we’re seeing a lot of resistance to it right now.
Many clients are telling us their reps won’t sell remotely, complaining that they “need to see the customer”.
Whilst I buy that argument in-part, selling remotely has been around for a wee while. Phone, email or online have been a stable source of sales for years. They aren’t new technologies.
The real reason why most sales reps feel they can’t sell remotely is because of fear. . .
One of the strongest harvests on record, together with a big lift in sales resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, have combined to brighten the outlook for New Zealand’s mānuka honey sector.
The harvest, which endssoon, is well up on last year, and mānuka honey is in demand overseas for its claimed health benefits.
It’s not all good news, however. Domestic sales aimed at the incoming tourism sector have been hit hard as countries go into Covid-19 lockdown and air travel subsides. . .
Living a carefree life comprising a diet of bugs, apples and organic maize has earned the chickens raised by Hawke’s Bay brothers George and Ben Bostock New Zealand’s supreme food award.
The Bostock brothers were named the supreme champions for their organic whole chicken brand in this year’s Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards.
The firm was established by Ben five years ago.
Today the brothers supply organic, free-range chicken to butchers, supermarkets and the pre-covid-19 restaurant trade. . .
Waikato owner-operated farmers Nacre and Anthony Maiden says the “stars aligned” this year to give them a particularly bumper maize crop despite the drought and their sandy loam soils.
However being flexible with their planting timing, good communication and use of their Herd Homes effluent all helped with their maize crop.
“We were impressed with their maize this year considering the soils we farm,” Nacre told Dairy News. . .
The finalists in the inaugural Ahuwhenua Young Māori Grower Award have just been announced.
The finalists are:
• Twenty-four-year-old Brandon Darny Paora Ngamoki Cross, 24, works as trainee orchard manager for the large kiwifruit orchard management and post-harvest company Seeka.
• Maatutaera Tipoki Akonga, who is 26, works as a senior leading hand at Llewellyn Horticulture based in the Hastings area.
• Finnisha Nicola Letitia Tuhiwai, 25 who is a packhouse manager for Maungatapere Berries, located west of Whangarei.
Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork processor, said on Sunday it will shut a U.S. plant indefinitely due to a rash of coronavirus cases among employees and warned the country was moving “perilously close to the edge” in supplies for grocers.
Slaughterhouse shutdowns are disrupting the U.S. food supply chain, crimping availability of meat at retail stores and leaving farmers without outlets for their livestock.
Smithfield extended the closure of its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant after initially saying it would idle temporarily for cleaning. The facility is one of the nation’s largest pork processing facilities, representing 4% to 5% of U.S. pork production, according to the company. . .
When government policy goes wrong it can deliver disastrous consequences. Such is the case with the Government’s climate change policies.
North Canterbury is a stronghold of agriforestry and there are many benefits to having exotic forestry integrated on farms.
However, like the rural lobby group 50 Shades of Green, we have major concerns about the Government’s climate change policies. If the policy direction continues we will see changes to our landscapes and rural communities of a scale not seen since the land clearance subsidy days pre-1980. . .
Working in farming doesn’t always mean driving the tractor, herding the sheep or milking the cows, says Next Farm’s Sammi Stewart. She talks to business reporter Jacob McSweeny about her hopes to inspire younger generations to realise the types of futures available in the agritech sector.
Sammi Stewart wants to get kids back into farming but she does not mean chucking on the gumboots and getting up early to milk the cows.
‘‘I grew up on a farm in Southland so my parents had a sheep and beef farm and when you live in rural Southland you either milk cows or shear sheep,’’ said the brand manager of Dunedin start-up Next Farm. . . .
Chris Lewis, Federated Farmers employment spokesman, lists his top seven “must-do’s” for farmers when it comes to employment contracts.
Recent legal decisions on employment agreements have highlighted the need for farmers to get the fine print right. Here are my top seven considerations from a farmers’ perspective.
1. Get an agreement in place
The first priority is to get a written employment agreement in place to begin with for every employee, even for casual and part time workers. This should outline the terms and conditions of employment fully, be provided to the employee before they start work, and be agreed upon and signed by both parties. . .
That’s official now, as she was formally enrolled as a Member of Excellence of Rural Women New Zealand last year.
Margaret’s years of service to the organisation were recognised when she was enrolled as a Member of Honour and presented with the Olive Craig Tray in recognition of her dedication and commitment.
Only two women received this honour in 2019, and Margaret says it is still only just sinking in as to quite how special the honour is. . .
Oamaru Meats Ltd (OML) is set to open again a week into the new year, after a suspension in the China market forced its closure in September.
The factory will open its doors again on Monday.
The suspension came after some beef fat packaging was not up to standard.
The closure put 160 seasonal workers out of work and OML director, Richard Thorp, said it was likely most of them would return.
‘‘I think for this start-up period it won’t be a lot different. There’ll be about 140 to 150 people employed on the site come the sixth. . .
Girls get their dinner with a view tonight. If anyone needs some advice on how to grow a good crop of barley grass, we’re happy to pass some tips along 😜
Very lucky to be this green when not far away the other half of Gippsland is in Drought. May they get rain for Christmas🤞 pic.twitter.com/ZagPb7izpF
With tariffs announced against Brazil and Argentina, and a threat against France, Donald Trump is dragging the world deeper into a damaging trade war. Largely unnoticed, the European Union is also in trouble at the World Trade Organisation for its continuing and worsening record as a protectionist bloc.
Last month, at the WTO meeting in Geneva, India joined a list of countries including Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil and Malaysia that have lodged formal complaints against the EU over barriers to agricultural imports. Not only does the EU raise hefty tariffs against crops such as rice and oranges to protect subsidised European farmers; it also uses health and safety rules to block imports. The irony is that these are often dressed up as precautionary measures against health and environmental threats, when in fact they are sometimes preventing Europeans from gaining health and environmental benefits.
The WTO complaints accuse the EU of “unnecessarily and inappropriately” restricting trade through regulatory barriers on pesticide residues that violate international scientific standards and the “principle of evidence”. Worse, they say, “it appears that the EU is unilaterally attempting to impose its own domestic regulatory approach on to its trading partners”, disproportionately harming farmers in the developing nations whose livelihoods depend on agriculture. . .
The viability of some meat processing plants in New Zealand will be in doubt under the Government’s current freshwater proposals, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
“While we generally support the ambition of the proposals for cleaner freshwater, the planned river quality limits are excessively tight and exceed current limits already consented by regional councils,” says Tim Ritchie, chief executive of MIA.
“These limits are likely to result in substantial economic costs to the me . .
Wishing you all the very best for the festive season and 2020 from Poll Dorset New Zealand. Check us out on Facebook!! pic.twitter.com/pksid3LHPl
Fonterra’s announcement that it is purchasing the minority shareholding interests in Chilean dairy company Prolesur solves an acrimonious relationship between Fonterra and the Fundación Isabel Aninat. This may prove to be an early step in the rationalisation and eventual divestment of Fonterra’s Chilean operations.
Fonterra’s Chilean operations are managed under a complex structure. The major asset is the almost wholly-owned Soprole, which in turn owns 70.5 percent of Prolesur. Fonterra also owns additional shares in Prolesur through another structure, giving it a total Prolesur holding of 86.2 percent.
The key minority shareholder in Prolesur is Fundación Isabel Aninat which has ties to the Catholic Church. . .
A willingness to proactively improve farming practices has seen 89 per cent of Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL) shareholders achieve an A or B Farm Environment Plan (FEP) audit during the 2018/19 season; an increase of 21 percent from the 2016/17 season.
C audit grades have decreased from 28 per cent in the 2016/17 season to 9 per cent in the 2018/19, while just one farm received a D audit grade.
Farm Environment Plans help farmers to recognise and manage on-farm environmental risks. Once the plan is in place an independent audit is carried out to check how the risks are being managed and how Good Management Practices (GMP) are being applied to minimise the impact on water quality. . .
Farming is a physically demanding job and can cause a lot of wear and tear on the body if you don’t look after it so Farmstrong has teamed up with VetSouth to make a series of short injury prevention videos for farmers.
VetSouth director and large animal vet Neil Hume is based in Winton. He and his team have been working with local physiotherapist Dennis Kelly to help staff avoid injury.
“A lot of the work vets do is repetitive,” Hume says. . .
A chance conversation over the fence between a blueberry grower and a brewer prompted the men to combine their talents to create a blueberry beer for summer.
Waikato blueberry grower and Blueberries New Zealand chairman Dan Peach said it was a fortuitous encounter with Good George brewer Brian Watson that provided a new market for his crop.
Watson said it has taken three years to get to the point the beer can be commercialised. . .
One gripe that came out of a bushfire community recovery meeting last week in Bowraville was the lack of young hands being raised to help with the clean up.
Well there’s currently a dozen or so young guns out at South Arm who are working hard to rebuild fences and faith in their generation.
For the past two weeks primary industries students from Macksville High have been volunteering their skills and their brawn to pull down charcoaled fencing and drive in new posts at the Perks’ farm along South Arm Rd. . .
ANALYSIS has shown running a livestock operation under regenerative agriculture principles over a period of ten years sets profit back to the tune of $2.46m.
The work by prominent farm business consultants Holmes Sackett found farms not classified as RA systems generated operating returns of 4.22 per cent, compared to those who were classified RA returning only 1.66pc.
Holmes Sackett director John Francis said the analysis was not a criticism of the philosophy of RA but an analysis of the financial performance of these systems relative to other farm management practices. .
First draft of #NZLamb for the season, this week from #MangaRa Station. 450 lambs! The development blood, sweat and tears, with the team, are starting to pay off!
How do other farmers look after themselves and their teams? Check out the advice below, including some great ideas from Farmstrong.
Farmstrong’s top tips
Farmstrong is a nationwide, rural wellbeing initiative that helps farmers and their families cope with the ups and downs of farming. Here are some of its suggestions for keeping well.
Stay connected – Surround yourself with a network of people you can reach out to. It can be as simple as having a conversation in the pub or over the fence.
Keep active – Biking, walking, hunting, team sport – whatever appeals. It keeps you ‘farm fit’, boosts your mood and gets you off-farm.
Enjoy the small stuff – When you’re working, take a moment to stop and enjoy the view or the nature. Not a bad office, is it?
Eat well – Make sure you have enough fuel in the tank to keep your energy levels up.
Look after yourself, look after your team – People are the most important part of the dairy sector. . .
Sheep milk’s protein is more readily digested and its fats are more readily converted into energy compared to cow milk, a New Zealand study has shown. The milk’s unique composition could make it a good option for the very young and the elderly, sports nutrition, and people who are looking for alternatives to cow’s milk, researchers say.
Anecdotally, evidence from consumers already suggests that sheep milk may be better tolerated than cow milk by some people.
This is believed to be the first human study in the world to investigate how differences in the composition of New Zealand sheep milk affect ease of digestion, digestive comfort, and the body’s ability to make use of milk protein. . .
Fonterra has purchased the minority interest in Prolesur, held by Fundación Isabel Aninat (the Fundación), as the Co-op looks to streamline its operations in Chile.
The Fundación has sold its 13.6% shareholding for $29.3 million NZD, which takes Fonterra’s ownership of Prolesur from 86.2% to 99.9%.
Prolesur is a milk processor in southern Chile which sells most of its production to Soprole. Soprole is a leading consumer branded dairy company in Chile and is 99.9% owned by Fonterra. . .
Dairy led the rise in goods exports in November 2019 as milk powder exports reached $1.1 billion, Stats NZ said today.
This is the highest value of milk powder exports for a November month since dairy exports peaked in 2013.
The value of dairy exports (milk powder, butter, and cheese) increased $348 million in November 2019. Dairy was the main contributor to total goods exports reaching $5.2 billion, up $371 million from the same month last year. . .
500 farmers attend @DairyNZ meetings to discuss future focus. Main takeaways- that DairyNZ help farmers tell their story, investment in farm system research and all ag bodies cooperate on advocacy, research. Farmers appreciate DairyNZ has their backs, says chair Jim van der Poel. pic.twitter.com/SCyio42dr3
Much has been made about New Zealand’s status as “100% Pure” and how much, or how little, needs to be done to keep that claim valid.
While that debate rumbles on, the primary sector has been doing much to deliver on Prime Minister Jacinda Adern’s promise to the United Nations in September 2019 that New Zealand will be “the most sustainable food producing country in the world.”
As overseas consumers have become increasingly sophisticated and demand to know where their food has been sourced from, all parts of the New Zealand primary sector have been working to ensure the “paddock to plate” story is more than just a story. . .
The return of the spring peak in venison prices is not expected to reach the unprecedented highs of last year.
Deer farmers are starting to see a return of the seasonal venison price increase that traditionally occurs each spring, Deer Industry New Zealand chief executive Dan Coup says.
It follows an unusual 2017-18 season when venison prices climbed steadily from January 2017 before peaking in October last year.
The return of the spring peak doesn’t come as a surprise but Coup hopes the peaks and troughs in the seasonal price curve will be less marked than in the past. . .
The profit made by the country’s largest farmer from the sale of its shares in Westland Milk Products, will disappear into government coffers via a special dividend.
Pāmu, or Landcorp, owns 10 farms supplying to Westland and is its second-largest shareholder.
Earlier this month Westland’s 350 farmer shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of selling Westland to China’s Yili dairy conglomerate at a rate of $3.41 per share.
Sediment traps, back fencing, portable water troughs and buffer zones are some of the key elements of good winter grazing practices that Wilden sheep and beef farmers Simon O’Meara, and Peter Adam, recommend.
By careful management, both farmers ensure their sheep and cattle are well fed and as sheltered and comfortable as possible during winter break feeding and adverse weather events.
At the same time, by using the same principles, they can also reduce nitrate and sediment loss and enhance water quality on their properties. . .
Magnificent view driving to work today. It all represents farmers working hard to feed the world. pic.twitter.com/SzCSwK9Rb5
THE ACRYLIC nails are gone, so has the nail polish, their high heels replaced with moccasins.
They don’t meet for coffee on a Saturday morning, instead this group of amazing women dressed in black head to a woolshed ready for some hard yakka.
Every Saturday since March this group of professional women have been training hard. They call themselves Women in Wool and their goal is to raise as much money as possible for Farmstrong — a nationwide rural wellbeing programme for farmers and growers to help them live well to farm well. . .
Complaints of missing gloves, stolen food and shredded windscreen wipers at Treble Cone skifield could soon be a thing of the past when a new kea playground is installed.
The familiar mountain parrot has been a regular visitor to Wanaka’s closest skifield for many years, attracted primarily by the prospect of food scraps.
Treble Cone brand manager Richard Birkby said despite erecting signs and staff educating guests about the thieving habits of kea, the skifield still received regular complaints about kea knocking over mugs, flying off with trays of chips and destroying gloves.
Health and safety officer Jessica Griffin said the idea for the kea playground at Treble Cone skifield was prompted by the kea gyms in Nelson and at the Homer Tunnel and Manapouri power station at West Arm, established primarily to keep kea away from roads and damaging cars. . .
The link between mental skills and performance is well-established in sport. Now those ideas are gaining traction in farming. Recent finalists in the Young Farmer of the Year competition have received sports psychology training to cope with pressure. Farmstrong caught up with three to see how it helped.
The Young Farmer of Year competition is one of the flagship events on the rural calendar.
By grand final week more than 300 contestants have been whittled down to just a handful. Over several days they compete over a range of practical and technical tasks, an HR challenge, a speech and a fast-paced quiz of agricultural and general knowledge questions. . . .
A vet whose determination led to the identification of the cattle disease Mycoplasma Bovis in New Zealand has been recognised for her contribution to the farming sector.
More than 300 people attended the Primary Industries Summit gala dinner in Wellington last night, where Ōamaru vet Merlyn Hay received the Outstanding Contribution to the Primary Industries Award.
The audience heard Dr Hay was not satisfied she had found the root cause of the unusual and distressing symptoms she had observed in cows and calves on a South Canterbury property and left no stone unturned until the cause was diagnosed. . .
He Tangata, He Tangata, He Tangata. Our communities are going through change and it seems like it is happening so fast we may not feel the full impact until it has already happened.
Change is good but only if there are clear outcomes sought for all involved.
The rapid expansion of forestry throughout the Tararua is causing much angst and stress for our communities and it concerns me to watch our people genuinely hurting in so many ways.
This is hurt at a local level, far removed from Government politicians and policymakers, and there are few levers to pull as we see our local democracy eroded by central government aspirations. . . .
Jess Cairns is fizzing about where New Zealand beef is going.
Having just spent six days in Brazil at the International Beef Alliance (IBA) the 24-year-old Southlander is back working as a stock manager at Coalbrook Farm, a 500ha sheep and beef operation just outside Gore.
And while she loves her job, she reckons the trip to Brazil will be a tough one to beat, describing it as ”hands down the best thing I’ve ever done in my professional life.”
That’s saying a lot. Ms Cairns started with Coalbrook as a shepherd a little over a year ago, on the strength of a bachelor of agricultural science with first class honours. . . .
That was the title of Wellington economist Peter Fraser’s talk at Victoria University last Friday lunchtime on why Fonterra has failed (it is apparently also a term in use in various bits of popular culture, all of which had passed me by until a few moments ago – and a Google search). Peter is a former public servant – we did some work together, the last time Fonterra risks were in focus, a decade ago – who now operates as a consultant to various participants in the dairy industry (not Fonterra). He has a great stock of one-liners, and listening to him reminds me of listening to Gareth Morgan when, whatever value one got from purchasing his firm’s economic forecasts, the bonus was the entertainment value of his presentation. The style perhaps won’t appeal to everyone, but the substance of his talk poses some very serious questions and challenges.
The bulk of Peter’s diagnosis has already appeared in the mainstream media, in a substantial Herald op-ed a few weeks ago and then in a Stuff article yesterday. And Peter was kind enough to send me a copy of his presentation, with permission to quote from it. . .
Native birds in beech forests in Otago could face local extinction in some valleys without aerial control, the Department of Conservation says.
Mast years occur every two to four years, when trees produce high amounts of seed that drop to the ground.
This is the biggest beech mast in four decades, and populations of rats, mice and stoats are expected to increase due to the abundance of food.
Doc operations lead Colin Bishop said there was variability across Otago sites, but Doc was still projecting rodent numbers to reach levels requiring aerial predator control. . .
NZ apples everywhere here at Enzafruit/T&G in Antwerp, impressive for #ihip2019 tour to see how our apples are being received, inspected and wharehoused here before entering European supermarket shelves. Major logistics! @ENZAFRUIT@nzapples@MasseyUnipic.twitter.com/u3UAf9rm3j
AUSTRALIAN beef producers gained an invaluable insight into the South American feedlot sector during a visit to the Conecar Feedlot in Argentina’s famed Panpas region.
The 10,000 head showcase feedlot is located at Carcara in the Santa Fe Province, about 350km north west of Buenos Aires. The yard was visited during the recent Alltech Lienert beef tour to Argentina.
Conecar is predominantly a custom feed yard servicing 12 customers who supply beef into both domestic and export markets. Any spare capacity in the facility is usually taken up by the owners of the yard, who also operate a premix and stockfeed plant supplying other feedlot operators. . .
Well-maintained pastures prevent erosion, protect water and, as it turns out, can restore the soil’s organic matter much more quickly than previously thought, according to a team of researchers from the University of Georgia and the University of Florida.
Soil contains the largest terrestrial reservoir of carbon. Tilling fields every year to plant crops releases soil carbon into the atmosphere. It’s been known for a long time that transitioning cropland to pastureland where livestock grazes replenishes the soil’s carbon, but their study showed that the process can be much more rapid than scientists previously thought.
“What is really striking is just how fast these farms gain soil organic matter,” said Aaron Thompson, associate professor of environmental soil chemistry and senior author on the study. . .
Westland Milk’s biggest shareholder, Southern Pastures, said it would abstain on the vote called to decide on whether the co-operative can be sold to China’s Yili.
Southern – an investment fund – said the move would allow West Coast farmer-shareholders to decide its future.
Hokitika-based Westland said in March that it had signed a conditional agreement for the sale of the co-op, which will see the Chinese dairy giant pay farmer-suppliers $3.41 a share. The deal is worth $588 million. . .
(BusinessDesk) – Kiwifruit marketer Zespri is forecasting annual profit growth of up to 7 percent.
The firm, which markets kiwifruit on behalf of 2,500 New Zealand growers and another 1,200 in Italy, Japan, Korea and France, is expecting net profit of $182-$192 million in the current year, including licence release income.
That is up from the $179.8 million net profit reported for the year ended March, which was a 77 percent increase from the year before as the firm shipped more fruit for better prices. Total trays sold climbed 21 percent to 167.2 million last year – 85 percent of which was New Zealand-grown green or gold kiwifruit. . .
A new Federated Farmers dairy-farming leader hopes to be a voice for farmers.
Karl Dean was elected as the federation’s North Canterbury dairy chairman during the provincial annual meeting at Oxford in April, replacing Michael Woodward, who bought a farm in the North Island.
”It was sprung on me a little bit when Woody got a good opportunity up north.
”But I see it as a good way to get more involved and tackle some of the issues which are going to arise with climate change and make sure farmers are aware of the legislation, and that Feds are fighting it.’ . .
The firearms buy-back process for what are now prohibited semi-automatic firearms must work for rural firearms owners, Federated Farmers says.
The process will require farmers to travel to collection points to hand over firearms and agree on the value of the surrendered firearm. A member survey showed that at least twenty percent of Feds members had a firearm impacted by the new regulations, and these owners will be looking for good access and a smooth process for the hand-over of firearms and payment of fair compensation.
“The sooner the details of the process, including the number and geographical spread of collection points/events, are clear the better,’’ Federated Farmers Rural Security Spokesperson Miles Anderson says. . .
Mitch Daniels, a Post contributing columnist, is president of Purdue University and a former governor of Indiana.
Along with the rise of women and the expansion of civil rights, the most important social transformation of America’s first quarter-millennium has been the triumph of modern agriculture over famine and the ceaseless, backbreaking effort simply to feed one’s self that had been the dominant fact of human life throughout history. Most of those who preceded us lived their entire lives on the farm. A little more than a century ago, a third of all Americans were farmers.
Successive revolutions in mechanization, horticulture and biotechnology have been an enormous blessing, enabling a tiny percentage of Americans — today fewer than 2 percent— to feed the rest of us and much of the world. Incalculable human talent has been liberated to invent all the other miracles we enjoy. We spend less of our income on food than any society ever. . .
Every five years the USDA undertakes a census of American agriculture. The latest survey has just come out in recent weeks. The big message is that the big are getting bigger.
Aligned to this message is that family farms continue to decline. This is particularly the case in dairy. However, it is also the case in cropping, where the new generation of prospective family farmers prefers the urban life, but does not necessarily want to sell the land. So leasing of land is huge, particularly in the cropping heartland of the Midwest.
In total there are over two million American farmers. Seventy-five percent of the production comes from five percent of the farmers. More than half of American farms are cash-flow negative. The average age of American farmers is now 57.5 years, up 1.3 years in the last five years. . .
We've been named finalists for the @TR_NZ NZ Health & Safety Awards: ACC Best industry leadership. THANK YOU to everyone for your ongoing support. #fingerscrossed for May 28! pic.twitter.com/pq3F7AgVsG
AgResearch social scientist, Dr Margaret Brown and Dr Bill Kaye-Blake, director at PricewaterhouseCoopers discuss the findings from a decade of research into the resilience of rural communities and the role it has in helping settlements to prosper. Around 20 percent of New Zealanders live rurally, but the decisions made about them are predominantly decided by from urban people – so there is a lot of room for a disconnect between the countryside and the policy makers. The results have been published in the book, Heartland Strong – How rural New Zealand can change and thrive. . .
A2 Milk Company’s sales show no sign of slowing as nine-month revenues reached $938 million, a 42% lift on the corresponding period last year.
Sales growth has continued in nutritional products and liquid milk, building on record market share in the first half of the June 2019 year, the company said in a presentation to a Macquarie Australia investment conference in Singapore.
Nick Paulin from Aotearoa New Zealand Fine Wine Estates (AONZ) has been shortlisted for the new international ‘Future 50’ awards.
Launched this year by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) & the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) their goal is to “unearth the industry’s up and coming talent” and recognize fifty top young professionals.
They have teamed up to create “a unique, global platform to champion the young people shaping the future of our industry”. . .
A large maturing pine forest on Auckland City’s metropolitan boundary which is ready for harvesting in the near future has been placed on the market for sale.
The 135-hectare block is located at the lower foothills of the Hunua Ranges some 50 kilometres south-east of Auckland City. Owned by the current proprietor for past 50 years, the forest was planted between 1993 and 2000 in a mix of lusitanica and radiata pine varieties.
The freehold land and forest at Stevens Road are now being marketed for sale by tender through Bayleys Counties, with tenders closing at 2pm on June 6. The forestry plantation encompasses six individual land titles which are all zoned rural under Auckland Council’s land usage plan. . .
The prospect of an open pit diatomite mine in Middlemarch has caused division, and many are concerned about the effects of hundreds of trucks, mine dust, and the loss of Foulden Maar (MAAR), a “pre-eminent” fossil cache.
There are also corporate links to controversial palm oil plantation developments.
With no information released since mid-2018, Simon Hartley revisits the proposal, based on a leaked investment document penned by investment bankers Goldman Sachs.
A proposal to mine diatomite near Middlemarch for the next almost 30 years appears to have stalled as feasibility studies and regulatory hurdles take their toll. . .
We're usually on night collection. Nice to have a chat to the @Fonterra driver today. Our milks off to Takanini! We were discussing how to get younger people in all aspects of physical work, tanker drivers are getting older too! pic.twitter.com/IXj7rCNlmN
Time off farm is the number one wellbeing priority for farmers but many are still reluctant to take breaks.
Kate and Mike Gee-Taylor of Rangiwahia are on a mission to change that.
They own a typical family farm, a 566ha sheep and beef operation in hill country at Rangiwahia in Manawatu. Mike grew up there and met Kate 28 years ago. They still both love the area and the lifestyle.
But life’s thrown up a few challenges too. Two years ago Kate fell ill and nearly died. It took 30 units of blood to save her. . .
The Crutchley family from Maniototo high country have claimed a top award in this year’s Food Producer Awards with their Provenance lamb.
The family’s Provenance brand won the Ara Wines Paddock Champion Award for a lamb product judges praised for its juiciness, moistness and good flavours.
David and Glenis Crutchley’s 6121ha dryland farming operation near Naseby transitioned from conventional farming systems to biological farming eight years ago. They dropped conventional fertilisers for fish-based nutrients and a focus on building up soil micro-bacterial activity. . .
On May 11, the national winners of the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards will be announced at a black-tie awards dinner at TSB Arena in Wellington. The South will be represented by Southland-Otago share farmers of the year Cameron and Nicola van Dorsten, farm manager of the year James Matheson and dairy trainee of the year Caycee Cormack. Agribusiness reporter Sally Rae attended the regional winners field day at the van Dorstens’ property last week.
Farm ownership remains one of the goals of Taieri dairy farmers Cameron and Nicola van Dorsten.
The couple, who won this year’s Southland-Otago share farmer of the year in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards, are 50:50 sharemilking 575 cows on a 204ha farm owned by Ray Parker and Sharon Corcoran
Jars of mānuka honey are being marked with invisible ink and tracked with blockchain technology in an effort to keep counterfeit products off the market.
The honey has become such a precious commodity, producers are using increasingly high-tech methods to prevent imitation.
Midlands Apiaries, manufacturers of Puriti mānuka honey, has introduced jars with 11 consumer security and anti-counterfeit features, including invisible ink and laser etching. . .
After losing 4000ha of productive land from 1996 to 2012 Waikato District Council has recognised continued losses of some of the country’s most productive pastoral land will hit the region hard economically.
The council has lost the second largest area of rural land in New Zealand in that time, coming after Auckland lost 4200ha.
That is on top of recorded land losses from 1991-2001 of 3200ha and the total puts Waikato region’s productive land loss close to Auckland’s over a 20-year period.
The region accounts for the highest number of dairy cows and the second highest number of beef cattle after Manawatu-Wanganui. It also contains 7000ha of high-value horticultural production land, similar to Auckland. . .
A sale of Beltex-cross ram lambs in Southland last week “went through the roof”, PGG Wrightson livestock genetics representative Callum McDonald said.
The Robinson family, from Glenham, near Wyndham, held their first ram lamb sale at Gore showgrounds, offering Beltex-Texel, Beltex-Suffolk and Beltex-South Suffolk ram lambs.
The sale, across the board, averaged about $1776. Top price of $8000 was paid by Guy Martin, and Grant Black from Canterbury, for a Beltex-Suffolk-cross lamb. . .
Three young Kiwis have entered a demanding 3500 kilometre rickshaw race across India to raise money for Farmstrong.
Crammed inside a seven-horsepower, motorised tuk-tuk with a top speed of 50kmh, going downhill, Nikki Brown, Natalie Lindsay and Gina McKenzie will battle 80 other teams as well 40C heat, dust and the free-for-all of Indian traffic for two weeks.
When you use the word ”lean” in the farming area, it’s usually applied in the context of meat and fat content, but a Lean system developed for dairy farmers is something else entirely.
The Lean management process being introduced for dairy farms has its roots with car company, Toyota. The objective being that, as with the production of cars, producing milk would benefit from smoother, more efficient processes and little waste in the system.
The FarmTune system, developed by DairyNZ for dairy farmers, is built on the principles of Lean, and helps dairy farmers sharpen their operations and increase efficiency and environmental performances. . .
In a boost for health-conscious red meat fans, James Cook University scientists have found that lambs fed canola oil or flaxseed oil have improved growth rates and contain more of a beneficial fatty acid that protects against disease – all with no loss in their wool quality.
JCU’s Associate Professor of Animal Nutrition and Genetics, Aduli Malau-Aduli, is the lead author of the new study. He said increased incidences of central nervous system disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers in modern times have been associated with high consumption of red meat.
“This is due to the high levels of saturated fatty acids and low levels of the beneficial long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated (n-3 PUFA) fatty acids in typical red meat meals,” he said. . .
Crop protection company Adama and STK bio-ag technologies have signed an exclusive agreement for the distribution of Timorex Gold botanical-based bio-fungicide and STK Regev ‘Hybrid’ fungicide throughout Colombia.
In Colombia, Timorex Gold is approved for the following crops: Bananas, Rice, Ornamentals, Tomatoes, Avocados, Onions, Coffee, Corn, Tobacco, Potatoes, Passion fruit and pitahaya. Colombia has also approved STK Regev on rice, with expected label extension on bananas, ornamentals, coffee and tomatoes. . .
The identity of a South Island livestock killer remains a mystery.
Nine months ago Peter McLeod, who farms in Kauri Bush near Dunedin, was left with nine dead lambs – cattle from neighbouring farms were also shot and killed.
But the culprit was never caught.
Earlier this week three newborn lambs were killed in Mosgiel, bringing back bad memories for Mr McLeod. . .
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) welcomes the final report from the Prime Minister’s former Chief Science Advisor Sir Peter Gluckman which effectively endorses B+LNZ’s approach for individual farm plans as a tool for helping the agricultural sector play its part in combating climate change.
In May of this year in launching its Environment Strategy B+LNZ set itself two ambitious goals – for the sheep and beef sector to be carbon neutral by 2050 and for every farm to have an active farm plan by the end of 2021. . .
Rural women want more time off-farm, better sleep and more exercise to improve their wellbeing, a Farmstrong survey has found.
More than 800 farming women did the survey online or at in-depth, face-to-face interviews.
“There was also a high interest in other topics that Farmstrong focuses on including nutrition and thinking strategies to deal with the ups and downs of farming,” Farmstrong project manager Gerard Vaughan said.
“Some of the other topic areas that the survey revealed women are interested in include mindfulness, relaxation techniques, self-confidence and self-compassion. . .
(BusinessDesk) – First New Zealand Capital lifted its rating on the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund to ‘neutral’ from ‘underperform’ and said the first signs of a change in approach look encouraging.
Fonterra’s full-year loss was disappointing but “with the recent changes in board chair (with annual election of three directors coming up) and CEO (interim) it was encouraging to see FSF take no time in fronting up and acknowledging the issues,” analyst Arie Dekker said. . .
Two moths may now be imported into New Zealand to combat invasive horehound, following a decision by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
The Horehound Biocontrol Group, a collective of farmers whose crops are infested with horehound, applied to introduce the horehound plume moth and horehound clearwing moth to attack the weed. Its application was supported by the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) sustainable farming fund. . .
Australian forestry company, OneFortyOne (OFO) has announced its intention to purchase the Manuka Island forest estate in the Wairau Valley near Blenheim. The proposed purchase is now being reviewed by the Overseas Investment Office.
The Manuka Island estate is approximately 2000 hectares of forest and currently owned by Merrill and Ring. Manuka Island will be integrated and managed as one forest estate by Nelson Management Ltd, the management company for Nelson Forests. . .
Tag 10 #Ezicalve calves. Just catch up for the morning. Another 3 calves just born. And this is only my cow mob!
What’s happening on farms and orchards around Aotearoa New Zealand? Each week Country Life reporters talk to people in rural areas across the country to find out.
Te Tai Tokerau, Northland, turned a corner this week, the days were warmer and soil temperatures have lifted. Pasture covers are still a little ratty but in the next week grass will start growing faster than the stock can eat it. . .
We asked influencers in the industry why young people should choose farming as a career, they were both practical and poetic in their responses. The study of agriculture grows in popularity but how do we convey the realities of farming to encourage lengthy careers? As a strong community, it is important to show the enthusiasm and pride we have in our jobs.
RECONNECTION WITH FARMING
With meat and dairy products readily available 24-hours-a-day and even delivered to the door, it’s easy for people to forget about farming origins: “The moment that people domesticated plants and animals, settled down, and began to produce the kind of society in which most of us live today.” There is an evident rift between farming and the food on people’s plates. . .
A group of Central Hawke’s Bay businessmen are hoping to resurrect the controversial Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme after buying the intellectual property from the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council for $100,000.
The regional council spent $14 million, and four years, trying to get the scheme off the ground before the Supreme Court ruled last year it could not flood a large parcel of conservation land.
Now, a company called Water Holdings CHB has bought the intellectual property and rights to the scheme from the regional council’s investment arm.
Water Holdings CHB director Gavin Streeter said owning the assets, which included consents and modelling data, would allow the community to explore options for reviving the scheme. . .
Farmstrong has developed a new online survey to better understand the pressures facing younger farmers and farm workers, and asking them what works to improve their wellbeing.
The survey is being undertaken in association with NZ Young Farmers, and is open for all under 35 year old farmers and farm workers.
We have developed two surveys, one for women and one for men. Most of the questions in the two surveys are similar, but there are some that are specific to men or women, such as the networks they belong to or the print magazines they read.
The survey is confidential and only takes about 10 minutes to complete. It is open till 16 July 2018. . .
A fledgling New Zealand agritech company run by a rising Kiwi entrepreneur who has worked for Rocket Lab has raised $8 million, from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Data Collective, which is likely to result in massive changes to the nation’s burgeoning dairy industry.
Waikato company Halter will use the $8 million boost to help farms guide and manage their dairy cows by using IoT and artificial intelligence, sustainably increasing production, saving billions in labour costs and improving environmental compliance and animal welfare. . .
Ten years ago, Global Dairy Trade held it first online auction on the GDT Events platform with the aim of being the most credible and comprehensive provider of prices across core dairy ingredients.
By the end of June this year, GDT Events had facilitated the trade of more than US$22 billion cumulative value of dairy products to buyers from over 80 countries.
Eric Hansen, Director Global Dairy Trade says the GDT Events auctions re-wrote the rules of engagement for buying and selling dairy commodities. . .
Fonterra welcomes the appointment of Bao Xiufei (Bob) to the role of General Manager of Beingmate Baby & Child Food Co Ltd. The move was announced yesterday and follows a comprehensive search.
Mr Bao joins Beingmate from Royal FrieslandCampina China, where he had a successful career, including most recently, as Friso Chief Sales Officer (CSO) and Consumer Dairy Managing Director. Prior to this, he was the Sales Director at Wyeth Nutrition and held senior roles at PepsiCo and Wahaha Food Group. . .
Horticulture New Zealand’s Board is asking growers to vote to renew the levy funding that keeps the organisation going, with voting papers going out today.
A levy rate of 14 cents per $100 of sales of the fruits and vegetables covered in The Commodity Levies (Vegetables and Fruit) Order is the principal funding mechanism to support Horticulture New Zealand’s work for commercial fruit and vegetable growers. The levy expires in May 2019 and voting to renew it, or not, needs to be completed by 13 August 2018.
“The purpose of Horticulture New Zealand is: Enabling, promoting and advocating for growers in New Zealand to achieve the industry goal (a $10 billion industry by 2020),” says Board President Julian Raine. . .
‘Agtech’ has been described as the fourth agricultural revolution – a marriage of data, farming and technological innovation that will further transform the industry and help us to achieve so far unrealised levels of productivity (such as the long-sought 20t/ha wheat yield), efficiency and environmental sustainability.
3D printing
According to Dr Larousse, eight technologies are at the heart of agtech and all have the disruptive power to transform agriculture. Four of them are software, four hardware. One of them is already being practised by Alltech: after its recent purchase of the feed solutions company Keenan, it decided it could provide a more efficient spare parts service by turning to 3D printing, allowing farmers around the world near-instant access to parts from their local dealer. “But it needn’t stop there: we could also ‘print’ food from its constituent ingredients or provide robots with the means to self-repair.” . .
The Northland contract milker caught hitting cows by hidden cameras has been banned from working unsupervised around animals.
Owners of the dairy farm said “as lifelong and committed dairy farmers we are shocked and deeply saddened” by the reports of the ill treatment of some stock on their farm.
“As of today the contract milker concerned has been removed from all duties requiring unsupervised contact with stock pending the outcome of due process with regard to our contractual obligations,” they said in a statement.
The man had earlier been described as a sharemilker, but the owners clarified that he is a contract milker. Sharemilkers own their own cows, whereas contract milkers work with a farm owner’s livestock. . .
If he had not won the FMG Young Farmer of the Year last year, Lovells Flat sheep and beef farmer Nigel Woodhead would be in Invercargill giving it another go next week.
The 50th anniversary event kicks off in Invercargill on Thursday and runs until Saturday.
“I would be studying my backside off right now to have another go,” the 29-year-old said.
It is now up to another past grand finalist and this year’s Otago-Southland regional winner Logan Wallace, who farms at Waipahi, to have a shot at the Southland-based grand final. . .
Farmstrong has developed a new online survey to better understand the pressures facing younger farmers and farm workers and ask them what works to improve their wellbeing.
The nationwide, rural wellbeing initiative provides tools and resources for farmers, growers and farm workers to help them better cope with the ups and downs of farming.
It will help provide a clearer picture of the things that might work to improve the wellbeing of younger farmers and farm workers. . .
Beef + Lamb New Zealand says farmers care just as much about the environment as everyone else, and with its new Environment Strategy and Implementation plan, it plans to help sheep and beef farmers promote reduced carbon emissions, cleaner water, thriving biodiversity, and healthy productive soils.
I recently spoke at a farmer’s event in Christchurch with a few hundred sheep and beef farmers from the northern part of the South Island. At the end of my talk, an older farmer came up to me and asked why I hadn’t talked about organics. On my way home, someone tweeted me that they’d “always said we should have declared all of New Zealand organic and GMO-free. The price premium could have been whatever we asked for.”
At the Beef + Lamb AGM recently, a group of farmers (mixed ages, from their 20s through to their 60s) asked me why I hadn’t talked more about Regenerative Agriculture – farming that heals the land, the lifeforms that dwell there, and the communities of people too. The fact that I keep being surprised by this stuff says more about me as an urban Kiwi than it does about farmers. . .
The National Party’s announcement of bipartisan support for the Climate Change Commission last week made it clear that environmental conservation is currently at the forefront of political and social concern in this country.
Part of that concern is the issue of national water quality, breached by David Parker several weeks ago with his announcement of plans to introduce nationwide farm nutrient limits.
A particular point of contention was the suggestion that destocking would have to take place in certain areas to meet the new limits. However, Federated Farmers national board member Chris Allen says if all else fails, it’s just something some farmers may have to accept: . .
What are the attributes of a really good farmer? Would they include a penchant for order and neatness? A single-minded focus on efficiency and yield maximization? A bullet-proof resolve in the face of risk? What about drive for expansion and scale or technical proficiency? While some or all of these may currently inform our rating of farmers, I want to propose some alternative attributes in response to this question. But before getting there, some context is needed.
One of the formative ideas, probably the most important one, that shaped our thinking when we started Blue North in 2011, and which fundamentally shapes what we do to this day, is understanding farmers as the key role-players in determining the sustainability of food supply-chains, and, by extrapolation, the sustainability of mankind as a whole. . .
Kenya is on the brink of embracing biotechnology in agriculture. On the brink. Now I’m ready to say something new. We’ve been on the brink for too long.”
These words, offered by Gilbert arap Bor, a Kenyan smallholder farmer and lecturer at the Catholic University of East Africa- Eldoret, illustrate the frustration shared by many farmers -smallholder and large across Kenya and much of the African and Asian continents. With the safety of GE crops confirmed and supported by scientists, approved by every regulatory agency around the world, based on thousands of reports and 21 years of data, why does the war regarding the safety of these often life-changing crops continue to rage?
Have no doubt: The impacts of this ‘war’ are real, and they challenge farmers in the developing and developed countries around the world. . .
It’s one thing to plant a billion trees; it’s quite another do it well.
Recent floods in Tasman, and now the East Cape, signal what’s at stake. Witness the logs piled up against Mangatokerau Bridge in Tolaga Bay. Or the hillsides scoured with slips in Golden Bay, left vulnerable to erosion by clear-felled forest lands. With extreme weather events expected to increase due to climate change, it is critical that we don’t plant one billion of the wrong trees in the wrong place with the wrong management system.
Our future forests need to be financially viable, environmentally sustainable, and resilient. Crucially, we also need forests that people want to live with, to be nurtured and protected in future decades. . .
It is becoming increasingly evident pinpointing an exact path for the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis into New Zealand might never happen though charges for Biosecurity Act breaches are pending.
The Primary Industries Ministry has not said how it thinks the organism entered the country.
While speculation is rife that European-sourced semen is the most likely suspect, Biosecurity NZ head Roger Smith said investigations do not support that.
The M bovis strain has been confirmed as of European descent but is also occasionally found in America. . .
As we all know, the Government has made the big call to have a go at eradicating Mycoplasma bovis from the country.
It is supported by our own industry bodies.
They were damned if they tried and damned if they didn’t but have shown faith in the scientists and experts and believe there is a reasonable chance of achieving the goal.
Leadership can be a difficult place at times like this and I respect the resolve, compassion and decision-making Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Agriculture and Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor have shown over this very difficult matter.
I’ve had several conversations with farmers from South Canterbury who have been dealing with the consequences of this disease. . .
[For the last three years I have been writing fortnightly columns for NZFarmer, which is delivered free to all New Zealand farmers. However the agricultural press in New Zealand is undergoing major change. One part of that change is that Stuff (formerly Fairfax) is now moving towards a digital focus and will cease to publish the weekly NZFarmer. This was my farewell column to NZFarmer.]
With the impending demise of NZ Farmer, this will be my last article published here. So, I had to give a lot of thought as to what I wanted to say.
Right now, we are surrounded by forces for change. There are so many topics that could be covered. So, I have decided to provide a smorgasbord of key issues.
Mycoplasma bovis It would be impossible to walk away without saying something about Mycoplasma bovis. This disease, and the way we have chosen to respond to it, will change many aspects of dairying going forward. My personal perspective is that we might struggle to eradicate the disease, but if we do fail, we will still succeed in managing the disease. There are many worse diseases. . .
(BusinessDesk) – Sanford has appointed Katherine Turner as the new chief financial officer of New Zealand’s largest listed seafood company.
Turner has worked for 25 years in various finance roles, almost 12 years of which were with the country’s largest company, Fonterra Cooperative Group, where she was most recently commercial director for Fonterra Brands, New Zealand’s biggest fast-moving consumer goods business responsible for brands such as Anchor, Mainland, Fresh’n Fruity and Tip Top. Prior to Fonterra, Turner had nine years in finance roles with French dairy company Danone in New Zealand and France. . .
Canterbury dairy farm contractor Nicole Jackson is on a mission to reduce the number of injuries to female calf rearers during the physically demanding calving season.
She’s created a six-week online conditioning and strengthening initiative for women to prepare their bodies for the physically gruelling calving season, which is currently under way in many parts of the country.
“There’s a lot of information out there about things like getting meals and the kids ready for calving season but not a lot about getting your body ready,” says Nicole, a mother of two young boys. . .
New Zealand researchers are curbing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions one sheep fart at a time.
Scientists at Invermay Agricultural Centre in Mosgiel, about 360km south-west of Christchurch, have bred climate-friendly sheep that produce 10 per cent less methane than their gassy counterparts.
Livestock emissions are the biggest contributor to New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions and make up about 10 per cent of Australia’s total greenhouse emissions. . .
It is not surprising that Graham Hay gets a little choked up as he describes the devastating impact of Mycoplasma bovis on his farming business.
The Hakataramea Valley property has been in the family since his grandfather took over in 1921 and Mr Hay has lived there all his life.
He and his wife, Sonja, have invested in it for their children to carry on and he was one of the drivers of Haka Valley Irrigation Ltd, a small group of farmers who brought water to the traditionally dry valley.
But the cattle disease has ”destroyed” their business. . .
No country has ever eradicated Mycoplasma bovis, but they have never really tried, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says.
The Government is widely expected to opt for an eradication approach to tackle the cattle disease which has shaken the rural sector since being detected last year.
Despite the lack of precedent for ridding any country of the disease before now, “members of the technical advisory group regard it as feasible,” O’Connor said. . .
Farmers are predicting the end of sharemilking as the country moves to control the outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis.
Share-milkers own their own cows – but not the land– so move them from farm to farm. Some use the income to save for their own farm.
But Primary Industries Minister Damien O’Connor said farming practices must change, with less movement of stock, as officials battle the infection. . .
Farmstrong is asking farming women to complete a survey about their health and social connections to identify key wellbeing issues and provide information for research into possible tools and solutions to issues.
Farmstrong is a non-commercial initiative founded by rural insurer FMG and the Mental Health Foundation and provides programmes, advice and events that focus on farmers’ health and wellbeing.
Project manager Gerard Vaughan said the survey had had more than 820 responses so far and would close in early June. . .
A new block of apples at Moteo is the way of the future, according to its developers.
The 47ha leased block being developed by T and G is planted to be two-dimensional rather than the usual three.
This is done by training growth along wires so the fruit is easily visible and easily picked. It also simplifies thinning and pruning.
T and G national growing manager Lachlan McKay says the Moteo block is the biggest 2D planting in New Zealand. He was reluctant to give an exact cost for the development. It was clearly not cheap. . . .
Kiwifruit exports rose $197 million (82 percent) in April 2018 compared with April 2017, to reach $438 million, Stats NZ said. This is a new high for any month.
The rise in kiwifruit exports was the leading contributor to a $345 million rise (7.3 percent) in overall goods exports, which reached $5.1 billion. This is the second-highest for any month – the highest level was $5.5 billion in December 2017.
“Kiwifruit exports were up for all New Zealand’s principal kiwifruit markets – China, the European Union, and Japan,” international statistics manager Tehseen Islam said. . .
The East Otago region has been at the forefront of agricultural advancement in New Zealand with key people leading the way in creating a culture of innovation. Rural technology developments are traced back from the emerging new biotechnology industries, through animal genetics research, improvements in hill country and pasture production, soil and fertiliser research, the introduction of deer farming and sheep breeding, to the frozen meat shipments, agricultural organisation restructuring and land reforms of the early settlers. . .
The human behaviour and leadership expert took out the 2018 title from an impressive line-up which included Tararua district mayor Tracey Collis and Hawke’s Bay dairy consultant Rachel Baker. The awards ceremony was held last night in Rotorua as part of a gala dinner at the Dairy Women’s Network’s annual conference, which also marked the Network’s 20th year.
Manikam, originally from South Africa, milks 600 cows with her husband and three children in Winton, Southland. In 2007 they were named Southland Sharemilker of the Year, before progressing to their current equity partnership.
A former lawyer, Manikam transitioned from dairy farming to leadership coaching after receiving her coach certification in 2012. She is the founding director of Iceberg Coaching and a strategic consultant for Farmstrong, working to support the wellbeing of farming communities.
She is a trustee of the Southern Dairy Development Trust, a coach and facilitator of the Agri-Women’s Development Trust’s Escalator Programme, and a Federated Farmers Southland executive member.
And the 2018 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year is… Loshni Manikam! Thank you to our amazing nominees Loshni Manikam, Rachel Baker, & Tracey Collis, everyone who nominated a fantastic leading woman, and our DWOTY sponsor @Fonterra#DWN18pic.twitter.com/DquD63HnOv
Dairy Women’s Network CEO Zelda de Villiers says Manikam has a unique ability to engage with communities and stakeholders at a range of levels.
“What stood out to us was Loshni’s dedication to growing leadership among farming communities, and her determination to change the headspace in which farmers operate – that they are more than what they do, they are not just their farms and their bottom lines,” says de Villiers.
“Loshni strives to be part of change in the industry, and she combines her grassroots experience and enthusiasm with her ability to engage at the highest levels. She is well-deserving of the Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year title.”
Manikam says receiving the title is proof positive that the success of “an ordinary dairy farming woman” can translate far and wide. “It shows you can raise a family and still progress through the industry, reach the top, and have a say at industry level,” she says.
She says it’s an honour to be recognised for her work. “I am most passionate about people and their untapped potential. It really excites me how growing people’s awareness of their own strengths has such a positive and far-reaching impact on everyone around them.
“I see a real need in our industry to better understand the importance and benefits – both financial and non-financial – of prioritising and developing people.
“I’m passionate about effecting change by working alongside industry leaders and farming communities. I think it’s important to first build relationships and understand each group’s drivers before collaborating for change, and I hope the Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year title will allow a few more doors to open to allow that to keep happening.”
As Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year, Manikam receives a scholarship prize of up to $20,000 to undertake a professional/business development programme, sponsored by Fonterra.
The award was presented by Miles Hurrell, Chief Operating Officer at Fonterra. He says the award, and associated scholarship, is an investment in the future of New Zealand dairy farming.
“We are proud to support, celebrate and help develop the women in dairying who, like Fonterra, set high standards for themselves and for our industry,” says Mr Hurrell.
“Loshni is another outstanding dairy woman to add to the ranks of previous recipients of the Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year award. On behalf of Fonterra I wish her all the best and I have no doubt we will see more great things from her in the near future. I would also like to congratulate the other finalists Tracey and Rachel and acknowledge the contribution they have made, and continue to make, to our industry.”
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
RT @DrDreHistorian: I don't know how you can grow up in New Zealand and be unfamiliar with the mighty cheese roll, but evidently some Kiwi… 10 hours ago
Posted by homepaddock 
The council has lost the second largest area of rural land in New Zealand in that time, coming after Auckland lost 4200ha. 
