rural news 01 december 2015
DESCRIPTION
Rural News 01 December 2015TRANSCRIPT
DECEMBER 1, 2015: ISSUE 597 www.ruralnews.co.nz
RURALNEWS
AGRIBUSINESSAdjectives help market NZ meat as a premium. PAGE 20
MACHINERYThe Irish unveil their new hay machines. PAGE 31 NEWS
Government rules bringing agriculture
into the Emissions Trading
Scheme.PAGE 8
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS
On a collision course?FONTERRA LEADERS and proponents of a smaller board could be on a colli-sion course over the proposed gover-nance review process.
Former director Colin Armer wants the review team to be expanded from “a close knit group of directors and councillors to also include indepen-dents”.
Armer also wants a submission process in advance of the board and council coming out with its work-ing paper.
How-ever this is unlikely as Fonterra chairman John Wilson says “a background booklet” will be issued to farmers in late January to kick off consultations.
Wilson told reporters after the co-op’s annual meeting last week that an absolute timeline is in place.
“So we move to a special meeting in the middle of next year but prior to that there will be significant discussion and consultation with farmers.
“We intend to get a background booklet to them in late January with thorough discussions taking place through February and March.
“We will be taking on recommenda-tions and feedback from our farmers to
move forward after a couple of altera-tions to the special meeting.”
However Armer told Rural News that he wants external experts to be part of the review process from the start.
“At the moment a close
knit group of directors and councillors are going to do it, but we want the com-mittee reviewing it to be broadened.
“Independent and external experts should be included in that committee and submissions should be called from farmers before [the directors and coun-cillors] come out to us with a working paper. Because the direction of travel is already set at that point, isn’t it?”
Asked if the board intended to rope in international experts for the review, Wilson says “a big scan was done three years ago”.
“A global scan was done before the
discussion was put on hold. We will have another look around, there’s no doubt about that, and look at what our peers are doing and refresh that work.”
A remit by former directors Greg Gent and Colin Armer to reduce the
Fonterra board from 13 to nine was supported by 54% of shareholders at last week’s annual meeting. This came despite the board and the Shareholders Council asking farmers to vote against the remit.
Armer says he expected the board to oppose the remit, but was surprised by the council’s stance.
“The council simply misread the mood of shareholders,” he says.
• More on page 5
SUDESH KISSUN
Colin Armer with Fonterra director Malcolm Bailey at the Fonterra agm.
Golden fieldsPureOil NZ agronomist Matt Murney checks out the autumn sown Canola crop of Marcus Wilson at Studholme, South Canterbury. Meanwhile, Pureoil NZ managing director Nick Murney says oilseed rape (canola) production in Canterbury is looking encouraging based on last year’s results. He says the crops look to be coping with the dry weather in Canterbury well. Murney puts this down to PureOil NZ using a European variety of GM free seed which has a deeper taproot than the Canadian/Australian Canola varieties which helps these better get to the subsoil moisture and cope with dry conditions.
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
NEWS 3
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NEWS�������������������������������������1-17
MARKETS ������������������������� 18-19
AGRIBUSINESS �������������� 20-21
HOUND, EDNA ����������������������� 22
CONTACTS ������������������������������ 22
OPINION �����������������������������22-24
MANAGEMENT �������������� 25-27
ANIMAL HEALTH ���������� 28-29
MACHINERY AND PRODUCTS ����������������������30-34
RURAL TRADER ������������������� 35
ISSUE 597www.ruralnews.co.nz
STEP CLOSERTHE PROPOSED Hawke’s Bay Ruataniwha irrigation scheme is another step closer following the approval of the design and construction con-tract for its dam at a regional council meeting last week.
The scheme has bred con-troversy at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council meeting table, splitting councillors for and against it. But this new development means the design and construction con-tract is bankable – the pro-Ruataniwha faction is now in the ascendancy.
This has prompted Irri-gation New Zealand – the national body representing irrigators and the irrigation industry – to congratulate the Hawke’s Bay Regional Investment Company.
“It is a key step toward getting the project on its feet,” Irrigation New Zea-land chief executive Andrew Curtis says. “It means fur-ther capital raising can con-tinue in earnest and investor interest from Hawkes Bay and other areas can be pro-gressed.”
And Curtis points to another positive milestone: the amount of water already contracted or in the final stages of being contracted to farmers now exceeds the required 40% threshold.
“This is positive for the-Hawke’s Bay region which suffers annually from extreme dry spells affecting agriculture and impacting local economies and commu-nities. The certainty of water supply from Ruataniwha will put a stop to that insecu-rity and help turn Waipuku-rau into the Ashburton of the north,” Curtis says.
New hope for strong wool?WOOLS OF NZ (WNZ) hopes to deter-mine by March next year the com-mercial viability of new technologies for improved whiteness and dyeing of strong wool, says chief executive Ross-tan Mazey.
They could prove a “significant gamechanger” for wool carpets, claims Mazey.
WNZ has acquired exclusive rights to the technologies through The Merino Company (TMC). The technologies have been used by TMC for their fine wool merino.
WNZ is now looking at applying these to strong wool. They considerably enhance the ‘white and bright’ proper-ties, along with colour fastness enhance-ments that could cause a “paradigm shift” in the demand for end products.
Wools of NZ has reached a ‘proof of concept’ stage on the two technologies for strong wool, Mazey told Rural News.
“The concepts of both technologies look encouraging so now we are going through a due diligence process.”
They plan more testing and signifi-cantly larger scale trials in the first few months of next year.
WNZ’s acquisition of the exclusive global rights provides new opportu-nities for NZ strong wool in what had become the domain of man-made syn-thetic fibres.
The scour process, Glacial XTTM, produces whiter and brighter wool and enhances the properties of the fibre. The wool is then dyed using Kiteq, a process known to improve colourfastness in fin-ished products such as carpets and rugs whilst achieving vibrant, clean colours on a par with synthetics.
Mazey says the processes have been used by TMC for apparel.
“They have been looking at the appli-cation to strong wool and we have come
on board over the last seven months and worked with them looking at the early stage feasibility of it.
“We are encouraged by what we’ve seen and that’s why we have entered into this agreement with them.
“The first technology is the superior scour result and that will deliver whiter wool. That will give a superior start point for whatever it is used for.
“Screen printed carpet has become a growth area in China; enabling them to have the whitest wool as a base for that will be of benefit.
“There is the ability for Kiteq to come over the top of that. Using that very white start point then using this new dye technology will deliver very good pastel, so it will work well with the light colours and with the more intense shades – the blacks and dark shades.
“It will offer a broader spectrum of colours and some colours that we haven’t been able to get with wool.”
With Merino wool, TMC has succeeded in improving the colourfastness of the end product. So that potential can be translated into strong wool which could have an impact on warranties covering fading, etc.
“We have to do a lot of work on this but the early signs are that it can enhance the colourfastness of a carpet or rug,” he says.
“This is now of concern in the market so if we could improve that it would be a significant game-changer for wool car-pets.”
The technologies will have applica-tion to all their markets so regardless of end use it can deliver a white start point, combined with the enhanced dyeing properties “that can go anywhere”.
“We are already working with specific partners in key markets to look at how we can build a strong value chain with this
tech-nol-
ogy,” Mazey says.“We’re not going to push it out to
everyone…. We will be working with our partners in a controlled manner so we make sure the quality is maintained as best it can be.
“It is very encouraging at the moment; we just need to work through that due diligence.”
He says it is a great opportunity for WNZ, aligning with their objectives as an organisation.
“We are trying to find truly unique innovation that will help the company and more so our grower shareholders in trying to increase the demand for their wool.
“It has taken some time to get to this point but we’re excited about the oppor-tunity this presents to our growers.”
PAM TIPA
Wools of NZ chief executive Rosston Mazey.
www.ruralnews.co.nz
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
4 NEWS - FONTERRA AGM
OUSTED FONTERRA director Blue Read says he is disappointed but “fully respects” the decision made by farmers.
“I was pleased to get majority support from farmers but not from the milk solids,” he told Rural News.
Fonterra director votes are based on each kgMS produced by a farmer.
Read was backed by smaller farms but not by corporate farmers with large numbers of votes.
New director Ashley Waugh says he is looking forward to “quickly becoming a productive member of the board”. “I put in a lot of effort in running my campaign and talking and listening to farmers.”
Waugh says his first aim was to get on the board. “I have achieved that and the second aim is to quickly assimilate and become a productive member of the board.
Council directive angers farmers – GentFONTERRA FARMERS were angry with the directive from the Share-holders Council to vote against a remit, says Greg Gent.
He says the 53.8% ‘yes’ vote despite the council directive sends a strong message to councillors.
“As a representative body of shareholders they failed,” Gent told Rural News.
“Farmers were angered by the council directing them how they should vote.”
Council chairman Duncan Coull says it has a constitutional responsibility to review all share-holder proposals, make decisions on them, and “communicate our view of them and the reasons for these decisions to our sharehold-ers”.
“However, this process will never preclude our shareholders’ right to vote in the manner which they deem appropriate,” he says.
Coull says it will take the views of shareholders into on-going discussions with regard to the governance and representation review. “We’re looking forward to this process and to a robust
consultation process with our shareholders from which we will all have the opportunity to decide the best way forward for our co-op.”
Gent says the vote is also a clear sign to Fonterra’s board to act now on governance and review. “But I think it sent a stronger message to the Shareholders Council.”
Gent and remit co-sponsor Colin Armer held seven farmer meetings around the country to promote their remit, calling for a nine-member board.
He says they did not have a full list of Fonterra suppliers and had
to rely on advertisements and media articles.
“We advertised in the local paper; the press was quite gener-ous to us. We also emailed some farmers with our views and were surprised at how viral it went.”
Gent says during the farmer meetings the message was clear: farmers wanted a smaller board.
“Not one person said to us that a smaller board is not a good idea. That was clearly reflected in the vote.”
Gent admitted the remit’s downsizing suggestion was a weak-ness.
Fonterra chairman John Wilson acknowledged farmers want a smaller board. He told the annual meeting that was the message he got from taking part in farmer meetings around the country during the director election cam-paign.
Wilson was re-elected for another three-year term, along with Nicola Shadbolt.
However, Blue Read was ousted after serving three years on the board.
Te Awamutu farmer and former National Foods chief executive and Ashley Waugh is the new director.
SUDESH KISSUN
Former Fonterra directors Greg Gent (left), Harry Bayliss (centre), and Earl Rattray discuss matters at the annual meeting.
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
FONTERRA AGM - NEWS 5
FONTERRA CHAIRMAN John Wilson says the co-op is providing a new level of transparency to shareholders about the business.
He told the annual meeting in Waitoa last week that it was provid-ing clear reporting on each business – ingredients, consumer and food ser-vice and international farming.
Wilson says in any season some parts of the co-op may perform better than others, “just as some farmers are more productive than others on a year-to-year basis”.
“We can see clearly where we are doing well and the steps we are taking where performance needs improve-ments,” he says.
“We are enabling shareholders to better understand the business.”
Wilson says reporting performance quarterly, as has happened this month, added further to this transparency.
Fonterra is now an $18 billion global business.
TAF (trading among farmers) is now part of the business; owner-ship and control by shareholders is as strong as ever, as shown by the record voter turnout last week.
Wilson notes Fonterra has stood its ground in the face of competition.
“We produce 85% of the milk in New Zealand, we have a stable milk supply base and our shareholder num-bers continue to increase.”
During general discussion at the meeting Wilson admitted the co-op had “dropped the ball” in its commu-nications with shareholders. Wilson said that informing farmers earlier this year about new PKE usage limits was one such example.
He says the co-op must get its com-munications better and this is in the front of mind of management.
Former King Country MP Shane Ardern told the meeting that the co-op was unable to take stakehold-ers along on its strategy “in these tur-bulent times”.
“We definitely have communica-tion issues,” Ardern told the meeting. “We have to do better in our public relations department.”
FONTERRA CHAIRMAN John Wilson says there is a lot of passion among shareholders for better gover-nance and representation.
He was speaking after last week’s annual meeting with its fiery debate among shareholders on a remit to
reduce the size of the board. This gained 54% shareholder support but fell well short of the 75% required to change the constitution.
Wilson says it was pleasing to see the enthusiasm of shareholders and hear different points of view.
“The conversation is as important as the outcome; it’s 14 years since we last discussed governance and repre-sentation in the co-op.
“ It faded into the background and we need to bring it to the front and centre.”
Power and passion on display
New level of transparency promised – Wilson
Higher returns demandedFONTERRA FARMERS are looking for-ward to higher returns as a result of the co-op’s capital expenditure.
Shareholders Council chairman Duncan Coull says farmers have con-tributed their capital to support the strategy.
“It is now very important that these strategic initiatives are backed by tangi-ble returns to our farmers on the invest-ments they have made in the co-op,” he told the annual meeting.
He says farmers are backing Fon-terra’s strategy of shifting more milk into higher returning products. “We can already see this working in the first quarter results announced recently.”
He noted the co-op had used its strength to help farmers during a tough year, increasing earnings in the second half and raising advance payments.
“This demonstrated the co-op using its strength to help farmers when they needed it the most,” Coull said.
Chief executive Theo Spierings told shareholders the co-op must “stay the course” despite market uncertainty.
He said the recent events in Europe, including the shooting down of a Rus-sian plane by Turkey, are further com-
pounding the markets. So Fonterra needs to stay the course and stay focussed on strategy.
“We look at things we’re doing well and do them faster; things we’re not doing well we need to improve on,” he says. “These are the things we can con-trol; we can’t control the other things happening around the world.”
SUDESH KISSUN
Under pressure: Fonterra shareholders council chair Duncan Coull; board chair John Wilson and chief executive Theo Spierings face journalists after the annual meeting.
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
6 NEWS
WITH THE country now experiencing an El Nino cycle, farmers are seeking all available information to help them plan ahead.
Blue Skies Weather forecaster Tony Trewin-nard has held six meetings around the South Island with farmers over the last two months to discuss the impact of El Nino and what happens afterwards. His latest meeting last Thursday was with Ash-burton Federated Farmers members.
Speaking from his base in Amberley, Trewinnard, who has forecast weather for the agricultural sector for 40 years, says most
farmers are either curious or nervous but they all want information now so they can get on and plan.
He feels El Nino is peaking now and has two main concerns: “Firstly what will be the impacts of El Nino and secondly what will happen down-stream of the El Nino peak?”
This El Nino is pre-dicted to be among the most significant weather events in recent history, the two closest being the 1982-83 and 1997-98 sum-mers. Trewinnard says while every El Nino is unique, this one is exhib-iting a similar pattern to 2009-10: a cold spring with south-westerly air-flow followed by a warm-
ing summer that will be drier and sunnier than normal.
“While in 2009-10 this didn’t produce an extreme drought, parts of the country are coming into this from a prolonged period of dry weather and so are on the back foot already and this will fur-
ther strain those areas.”Trewinnard says for
farmers this will mean Canterbury will be dry, and the West Coast will be wetter than normal, likely to have mud rather than grass and associated issues with stock standing in muddy ground.
Meanwhile, he predicts Southland and Otago will be colder than normal with westerly airflows that will limit growth. The East Coast of the North Island, like Canterbury, Trewinnard predicting will also be dry.
“The risk to the west coast of the North Island, north of Taupo, is that sometimes in an El Nino cycle it will also be dry; some of the worst
droughts in Waikato have occurred during an El Nino cycle.”
However, Trewinnard says modern technology has allowed forecasters to predict this El Nino cycle at least a year out and many farmers are already prepared. Most farm-ers he has met are look-ing forward and wanting information on what will be coming next.
Trewinnard’s concerns about what will happen downstream of the El Nino peak are that the data is indicating a tran-sition to a significant La Nina pattern about this time in 2016.
“This will likely mean from the El Nino peak we will have a dry summer, a dry autumn and possibly a dry winter through to the La Nina peak.”
While grain and wine producers will be happy with a dry summer and lots of sunshine, fruit growers are counting the cost of the frosts in early November and will likely have much lower yields.
He says dairy farms without irrigation will have a tough time in this period, and for those with irrigation Trewinnard pre-dicts a high usage season.
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Farmers will weather challenges
These Canterbury sheep won’t have green grass for much longer as El Nino bites.
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
NEWS 7
‘Super’ El Nino on the cardsTHE CURRENT El Nino is tracking to the level of the 1997-98 event which was the strongest since 1950, NIWA says.
The current event could reach the ‘super El Nino’ class, Petra Chappell, a climate scientist with NIWA, told the northern Beef + Lamb NZ farmer meeting in Whangarei last month.
“The soils in Northland are dryer than normal for the time of year and rainfall is currently below normal. It is also forecast to be below normal for the coming three months,” she says.
“Past El Nino events have caused low rainfall and drought in Northland; they have quite different patterns, the current event may manifest differently from those events.
“We recommend you keep informed and up-to-date. We have NIWA Hotspot Watch which looks at soil moisture deficits, updated every week. It has information on nationwide soil moisture deficits and a forecast, as well as a seasonal climatic outlook, issued at the beginning of each month. The
monthly and seasonal summaries are retrospective so they look at the recent past.
“We recommend having an action plan specific to your location and if drought is to occur have a plan of what might occur.”
Much of the country was very dry in October including most of the North Island and the east and north-east of the South Island, Chappell said. The west and southwest of the South Island was wet in comparison and that was a product of the south-westerlies typical of an El Nino.
November was much drier than normal in terms of soil moisture. Soils have rapidly dried out in the last couple of months. El Nino is typically dry and cool – November tracked that way.
El Nino events occur every three to seven years on average, she said. Since 1950 the strongest was in 1997-98. The 2015-16 event is tracking at a similar level and at least on the same scale as the top three which also included 1982-83 and 1972-73. The seven strongest El Nino events have been tracked – it looks like this one will reach the ‘super El Nino’ class.
“It could be very significant not just for New Zealand but the Pacific, Australia and for a lot of other regions.”
But Chappell says not all El Nino are the same. They even have rainfall anomalies. In 1972-73 it was very dry everywhere compared to 1982-83 which
was dry in the east and north of both islands but wet in the west. The 1997-98 event was also quite wet on the SI West Coast but dry in the east and the north.
“The El Nino we currently have might behave quite differently from something we’ve had before,” she said.
This event looks likely to strengthen through the summer months then fall away. NIWA uses various models from around the world and all agree the El Nino will persist to January. The modelling is indecisive for early autumn through to early winter, but a lot predict it will start collapsing by then. It will take a few months to wind down.
Chris Brandolino, principal scientist forecasting, for NIWA, said Hawkes Bay has had rain recently but once summer kicks in – in fact over the next couple of weeks – the rainfall will go down. Heading into summer, though El Nino may peak in December or January, a lag effect occurs. More subtropical highs, wind and the lack of rain will lead to “dryness begetting dryness”. The days get longer so there are more sunshine hours.
“The dryness could really accentuate once we get into December and January and even into February with the tropical influence in the north.”
The impacts of El Nino are different in New Zealand from Australia. – Rural trusts gear up for El Nino – page 14
PAM TIPA
Petra Chappell and Chris Brandolino from NIWA.
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
8 NEWS
Agriculture to remain out of ETSTHE GOVERNMENT has begun a review of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) but has ruled out considering bringing agriculture into the scheme.
The ETS is the Gov-ernment’s key mechanism for reducing emissions. It requires all sectors other than agriculture to report
on emissions and sur-render units to the Gov-ernment. The review will look at how the scheme will have to change to help New Zealand meet its new post 2020 target of reducing emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030.
About half of NZ’s emissions are from agri-
culture but the industry is not in the scheme and Climate Change Minister Tim Groser has ruled out reconsidering that despite a Ministry for the Envi-ronment briefing paper saying it expected agricul-ture to be considered.
Before he left for this week’s climate change talks in Paris, Groser
released a discussion paper setting out the issues for consideration.
Although agriculture was initially to have been phased in to the ETS, National put that on ice when it came into govern-ment in 2008.
In the last review in 2011 the Government considered agriculture
but put it on hold indefi-nitely, saying it will not do so until there are econom-ically viable and practi-cal technologies to reduce agricultural emissions.
Groser points out that R&D is underway to find ways to reduce agricul-tural emissions, and the Government will keep working with the farming
sector to “incentivise” it to adopt new technologies as they became available.
“However, the full inclusion of agriculture in the ETS remains off the table at present,” he says.
The MfE briefing paper said research on agri-cultural emissions was unlikely to reduce the problem short term and there were few options to reduce agricultural emis-sions other than reduc-ing the number of stock. It warned that overall the scheme was having little impact on emissions and changes are needed.
Before the Govern-
ment adopted its new target in July the target for emissions reductions was 5% below 1990 emission levels.
In Paris Groser is in cli-mate change talks where NZ will present its new target. The talks are aimed at reaching a new global agreement on climate change and committing to keeping global warming below 2oC.
The discussion doc-ument is at: http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/climate-change/new-zea-land-emissions-trading-scheme-review-2015-16-dis-cussion-document
Climate Change Minister Tim Groser has ruled out including agriculture in ETS, despite a Government paper calling for it.
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
NEWS 9
RAISING AWARENESS of career options in farming and agribusiness sector was the focus of a trip to a Manawatu dairy farm and Massey University last week for 30 careers advisors, science and commerce teachers from the Wel-lington region.Organised by Rural News reporter Peter Burke and DairyNZ’s scholarship manager Susan Stokes it’s the third year the trip has been run, ….The highlight of the day was talks by recent Massey and Lincoln graduates about their making careers in agricul-ture.
They urged teachers to get a better understanding of agriculture and do more to promote its many interesting and well paid jobs.
Kate Downie-Melrose, Christchurch, graduated from Lincoln and now works for FMG. She said her high school teachers had not known what agriculture was all about. But as soon as she got to Lincoln she realised agriculture was for her.
“I wanted to do something different and I’m a sort of practical person so I took the plunge. I’m passionate about sheep milking and I’d like to move into that.
“For NZ agriculture it makes sense because we have huge environmental issues with dairying, and sheep milk has huge market potential. It also fits the clean green image of our country.”
Holly Phillips studied at Samuel Marsden College, Wellington, and was the only one in her class who chose a career in agriculture. Her love of science and animals led her to Massey. Phillips, a DairyNZ scholar, is taking up a science intern position with the industry group and AgResearch; she hopes to study for a PhD and become a dairy scientist.
“I hadn’t considered ag as a career, but I would recom-mend young people look into it for career options. There are many opportunities and career roles, and though I’m not off a farm that hasn’t held me back and it shouldn’t put others off.”
Phillips is now encouraging some younger friends to look at the career opportunities in agriculture.– More on trip page 11
MEANWHILE GRAEME Bretherton, of ANZ, says the banking industry is struggling to attract young graduates despite the career prospects on offer.
He says in global banks such as ANZ there are opportunities for young people to work in Europe, South East Asia, Australia and NZ.
“In our business you need
people who understand agri, and people who understand the commercial aspects of banking as well, because some large farming clients are huge businesses,” Bretherton said. “They have governance issues and boards with proper structure. These are no longer mum-and-dad operations.”
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Holly Phillips
Kate Downie-Melrose
Graeme Bretherton
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10 NEWS
SOE nurturing new talentLANDCORP CHIEF executive Steven Carden says the manager of the SOE’s new sheep milking enterprise Thomas Macdonald (see page 25-26) is a hugely talented young guy and a future leader of the NZ agriculture sector.
Carden says people like Macdonald want to be part of new opportunities and innovations and of new industries that are developing. They will tackle some of the problems NZ farming is facing, such as getting paid more for what we produce.
Carden believes young people are up for the challenge and in the case of Landcorp are well resourced and sup-ported to do so.
He says the sheep milking venture has attracted much interest and many, many people applied to work at the farm.
“There is huge interest in the operation here because it is so innovative and new and our own staff were all keen to be involved where Landcorp is seen to be innovating,” Carden told Rural News. “We had applications for all the roles and it is exciting to have such a new team in place.”
Carden says staff like the working conditions in the sheep milking shed and don’t want to go back to the cow-sheds.
He says while this is in some ways a pilot project, the company aspires to make this project into a substantial business and an industry in its own right. It plans to have another sheep milking operation in the area within three years. – Peter Burke
Farmers need to be heard on environmental plans
ENVIRONMENT IS one of the biggest issues facing sheep and beef farmers, says the northern Beef + Lamb NZ farmer
council chairman Andrew McKenzie.
Regional councils must have a plan in place by 2025 to maintain or improve fresh water in their regions, McKenzie says, in his annual report.
“It is important that sheep and beef farm-ers are heard and under-stood,” he says.
Farmers need to understand the changes and the farmer council needs to advocate on their
behalf.Each region faces its
own complexities. BLNZ has added a fulltime envi-ronment position in both islands. It also has envi-ronment ‘champions’ for each farmer council.
“We work in part-nership with two coun-cils – Auckland Council and Northern Regional Council – to seek a col-laborative approach to land environment plans,” McKenzie says.
Both councils have seen this as a benefit and have agreed to fully fund land and environment plans in both regions.
McKenzie also says another new initiative has been collaborative indus-try-good dinners attended by at least 100 people.
The aim is to encour-
age people in remote dis-tricts to come out and interact with each other. Those who helped organ-ise and donate their time included BLNZ, Dairy Women’s Network, Fon-terra, the Rural Support Trust, Primary ITO, Work-Safe NZ and FMG. More dinners are planned.
PAM TIPA
Landcorp chief Steven Carden (left) and manager of the SOE’s sheep milking enterprise Thomas Macdonald.
Check out our websiteswww.ruralnews.co.nzwww.dairynews.co.nz
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A WELLINGTON high school teacher says a trip for teachers to look at career options in farming and agribusiness has reignited his desire to get city kids knowing more about the primary sector.
Brenten Higson, from St Bernard’s College, Lower Hutt, joined 30 other careers advisors, science and commerce teachers from the Wellington region on a trip to a Manawatu dairy farm and Massey University.
The trip was organised by Rural News reporter Peter Burke and DairyNZ’s scholarship manager Susan Stokes. It is the third year the trip has been run, to raise
teachers’ awareness of career opportunities in farming and agribusiness.
Higson, who teaches science, says the day was a great experience; he had not known there were so many job options in horticulture. Many of his students are Polynesian boys who would naturally be good at horticulture but who would not know of the opportunities, he said.
“I’m going back now to look at my curriculum and consider the need to introduce careers and run career days with emphasis on the primary sector – not just IT, engineering, nursing and med school,” he told Rural News.
“Clearly there are lots of opportunities here for students if they want to take them up.”
The first stop on the
trip was at the Olsen dairy farm and potato growing operation near Shannon. The Olsens run 750 cows and cultivate 80ha of
potatoes. Paul Olsen told the teachers it is difficult to get good staff and that schools must tell students that farming is interesting
and well paid.“A farm assistant
can earn $40,000 a year plus a house, meat and firewood – not bad coin
for an 18-year-old,” he explained.
The teachers agreed.At Massey University,
the teachers were shown the science of new pasture for sheep by Professor Paul Kenyon, head of the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Science. He also talked about career opportunities and the subjects youngsters should take at secondary school to prepare to study and work in agricultural and horticultural science.
Later the teachers were taken to Massey’s Hort Centre where Professor Peter Kemp showed them various trial blocks and spoke about career opportunities.
RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
NEWS 11
Teachers’ trip sparks big interest in Ag careers
Lower Hutt science teacher Brenton Higson, who joined 30 other teachers on the trip, said it has reignited his desire to encourage city kids into knowing more about the primary sector and potential careers.
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FORMER FONTERRA director Mark Townshend says farmers have only themselves to blame for the current makeup of the co-op’s board.
“It’s a bit rich blam-ing the directors when shareholders themselves voted in the board,” he says. “Over the last six years shareholders have
voted in a new direc-tor each year; only one of those had a really good candidate assessment score (under the candi-date assessment panel process).
“If farmers had sup-ported the CAP process recommendation over recent years, only 4 or 5 of the current 9 farmer
shareholder directors would be sitting around the Fonterra board table today.”
This year has seen another Fonterra direc-tor deposed with former Shareholders Coun-cil chair Blue Read voted out and former National Foods managing direc-tor Ashley Waugh coming
on to the board. Current chair John Wilson and sit-ting director Nicola Shad-bolt were both returned.
“We need to look at how we get the right people onto the board; using a beauty contest to reduce the current board from nine to six elected directors is fraught with risk,” Townsend adds.
RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
12 NEWS
Fonterra farmers’ own fault for directors“There is no doubt that
a board of nine in a per-fect world would be better than 13.
“But what will happen if, of the proposed six shareholder directors, one is so inexperienced they add little value, one
is there by past reputa-tion and is just warming a seat, and one is some fire-brand voted in by share-holders who will have zero impact around the table if they cannot work as part of a team?”– Remit risk – page xx
Mark Townshend Lab beef a real threat
CHINESE SCIENTISTS have signed a deal to set up a com-mercial animal cloning centre in the northern port city of Tianjin.
It will produce 100,000 beef cattle embryos initially, increasing to one million.
The plant in the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA), a government-sponsored business development park, will also clone sniffer and pet dogs and racehorses. Its main building is now being built and is due to open in the first half of 2016.
Sinica, a subsidiary of Boyalife Group, which focuses on stem cell and regenerative medicine, signed the agree-ment with the TEDA this month.
Chinese farmers are struggling to produce enough beef cattle to meet market demand, said Xu Xiaochun, board chairman of Boyalife Group.
Scientists have cloned mice, cattle and other animals since the world’s first cloned sheep, Dolly, was born on July 5, 1996 in Britain. Since 2000, Chinese scientists have cloned sheep, cattle and pigs.
China’s first cloning company was set up in Septem-ber 2014 in the eastern Shandong Province, first birthing three pure-blood Tibetan mastiff puppies. The firm is a joint venture between Boyalife and Sooam Biotech.
Until then cloning in China had been limited to scien-tific research.
PAM TIPA
FOUR INTO ONEFOUR FARMER candidates are contesting one vacancy for a seat on meat co-op Silver Fern Farms’ board.
They are David Shaw, Clinton; Oliver Saxton, Huntly; Tony O’Boyle, Wairarapa; and William Oliver, King Country. The vacancy arises from Hawkes Bay farmer director Angus Mabin having retired.
All three North Island candidates say they sup-port the Shanghai Maling deal. Meanwhile, Shaw – the lone South Island contender who has had two previous terms on the board – says he is happy with the deal if appropriate protections are in place to prevent the big shareholder taking over the busi-ness.
O’Boyle, a former Farmlands director and the inaugural chair of the Fonterra Shareholders Coun-cil, says he will focus on robust and transparent supply conditions and payouts. Saxton says he has a record of governance in co-operative businesses and believes in strong balance sheets and reserves.
Oliver believes the Chinese deal will be a game-changer for the company and says if SFF is to con-tinue to grow it needs to grow shareholder returns.
Voting will close at 3pm on Friday December 11. The new director will be announced at SFF’s annual meeting on December 16.
RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
NEWS 13
SHOW US YOUR RURAL SUMMER!SHARE YOUR summer snaps with us and go in the draw to win one of three quality Webber BBQ’s.
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Legal row brewing over Tasmanian farmsA LEGAL row is brewing following the sale of New Plymouth District Council’s corporate dairy farming business in Tasmania.
There is confusion about who has bought the 25 farms.
Two weeks ago listed Australian company OnCard International informed the ASX it had signed a deal to buy Van Diemens Land (VDL) farms.
However, the council two days later said it had received a better offer from an undisclosed party and had sold the property to this company.
New Plymouth council mayor Andrew Judd says its agreement with the buyer “follows the receipt of a significantly superior offer to the one we had previously received”.
“In accepting this offer the council is fulfilling its obligation to make decisions in the best interests of the New Plymouth district community. Comprehensive legal advice has been taken throughout the transaction process.”
OnCard is crying foul and is now seeking legal
advice.Established in 1825,
VDL is located in the picturesque northwest of Tasmania, where it owns and operates 25 dairy farms, a dairy support unit and a standalone heifer rearing operation. Including replacements VDL runs about 30,000 dairy livestock.
VDL is one of Australia’s oldest companies, established in London in 1824 by 11 men closely connected with the English wool trade and textile industry.
VDL became part of the New Zealand publicly listed company Tasman Agriculture Ltd in 1993. This went into voluntary liquidation on October 31, 2001, following a restructuring of its NZ farms, and its
shareholders received one share in Tasman Farms Ltd for every share held in TasAg by way of an in-specie distribution.
In June 2004, VDL bought all the shares in Tasman Farmdale Ltd, which owns land in the Circular Head region of northwest Tasmania.
Tasman Farms Ltd, a NZ company, is the majority shareholder in VDL, owning 98.42% of shares on issue.
In late 2007, the New Plymouth District Council bid to buy Tasman Farms Ltd. In February 2008 this bid was finalised, the NPDC first buying 74.33% of the shares then the remainder.
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NPDC manager Andrew Judd.
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
14 NEWS
HIGH COUNTRY farming identity Ted Phipps has been stricken with a stroke.
Phipps is on the seriously ill list in Christchurch Hospital after being flown there by the WestpacTrust rescue heli-copter on November 14. Paramedics for the rescue helicopter said that given the distance involved and seriousness of his condition a medivac was the appropriate response.
Phipps, respected in the farming com-munity, co-owns the iconic Lakes Station (50km west of Hawarden) in North Can-terbury. He has occasionally been contro-versial during his 38 years tenure there.
He shares ownership of the station with Chief Justice Sian Elias and her husband, former Fletcher chief executive Hugh Fletcher, who built a substantial home there.
The 8000ha property contains five lakes, the largest Lake Sumner. This has often brought Phipps into conflict with the public over access to the lakes for rec-reation. Disputes over the placement of a road on his land led to Phipps locking gates to prevent damage.
The property is surrounded by high mountain peaks, the highest being Terrible Knob (1724m). Lakes Station is reported to run about 12,000 sheep and 800 cattle. It has annual rainfall of 150-200cm.
RICHARD COSGROVE
High Country identity hospitalised
Too much risk in Fonterra board downsize – ex directorA FORMER Fonterra farmer director is warning that moves to downsize the co-op’s board is fraught with risk.
Mark Townshend believes the remit promoted by former directors Colin Armer and Greg Gent could destabilise the co-op.
“It could also reignite the whole political stuff around the co-op,” he told Rural News.
Armer and Gent put a remit to last week’s Fonterra annual meeting in Waitoa, asking shareholders to vote to reduce the size of the board, currently 13 directors – nine elected and four appointed.
Both Fonterra’s board and the Shareholders Council rejected the motion.
Gent, who chaired Kiwi Co-op before it merged with NZ Dairy Group to form Fonterra, served as deputy
chairman for the co-op under Henry van der Heyden. He retired from the board in 2011.
When van der Heyden retired in 2012 John Wilson became chairman, beating Armer in a close contest; Armer subsequently resigned from the board.
Townshend says while the old Kiwi Co-op/Dairy Group politics has “pretty much broken down”, the Armer/Gent resolution could risk re-opening political divides.
Townshend voted against the remit, but is concerned support for it from farmer shareholders will make a board-led governance review proposal over the next months, led by difficult to attract the required 75% support. Townshend believes strong farmer support for the Armer/Gent resolution will make a more thorough governance review proposal a little harder.
“I’m worried they will get more support because people are angry with
the company; they would vote for it because they could put one up the company.”
Armer and Gent are unhappy with the performance of the co-op and want a leaner board to change its fortunes.
Meanwhile, Townshend agrees
Fonterra’s financial performance and shareholder relations leave much to be desired. He also agrees that whatever Fonterra comes back with in its governance review, it is likely to have some elements of overlap with the Armer/Gent proposal.
“Fonterra is actually spending a lot on pie-day Fridays and putting extra people in jobs to try to communicate, rather than solving the core root of the problem of having a real group of people running supplier relations – both governance and management.”
SUDESH KISSUN
Former Fonterra director believes calls to downsize the co-op’s board are too risky!
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
NEWS 15
FARM VISITS are more than ever among the 2500 audits requested annually by customers for Fonter-ra’s facilities, says Mark Leslie, director New Zealand manufacturing.
Some are Ministry for Primary Industries and AsureQuality regulatory audits, but most are custom-ers coming to look at the facilities.
Leslie says they increasingly want to look right through the process starting from the farm. In the next month they have audit sessions with three bigger cus-tomers. They will audit farms, manufacturing facilities and probably one or two distribution centres.
“They are very, very rigorous. They will spend two or three days on a facility and go end to end in the pro-cess.”
He says the focus areas for these audits continue to change.
“The audits have always had a level of rigour but will change with time depending on what the hot topics are. Energy sustainability has probably grown into the pro-cess,” Leslie adds.
“If there is a new emerging issue somewhere in the world they will try to understand that from a New Zea-land supply perspective to make sure they’ve got con-fidence in the process.”
Leslie says more customers are asking about farm-ing practices and want to come and validate what hap-pens in that part of the process.
PAM TIPA
MORE FARM VISITS REQUESTED
Help there if El Nino plays out
THE RURAL Support Trust is getting information out early about help available in case the El Nino brings drought, says Northland Rural Support co-ordinator Julie Jonker.
“If a drought is declared we are the ones who usually help disseminate information on assistance that could be available,” she told the Northland Beef + Lamb NZ farmer council annual meeting in Whangarei.
“We can then access, through the Ministry for Social Development, what they call rural support assistance payments, available to people who are finding it really difficult to cope financially.”
She said if you sell beef stock, for instance, because the animals could not be kept on the farm but the proceeds are needed to restock, that money is ring-fenced. So the money a household needs perhaps to put food
on the table is not drawn from that.
“That is an option available – asset tested but not taking into account capital you have to use for the farm,” Jonker said.
If a “particularly unkind” El Nino develops the trust will increase the number of collaboration dinners, sponsored by various companies, so farmers can network.
A farmer told her during one El Nino that they kept getting south-westerly showers in the north that mitigated the situation somewhat.
“But we don’t know what it will do. So we are trying to get information out early. It is far better to get that information and be able to plan than be taken by surprise.”
On her farm they have destocked by 50% because they don’t want to get caught with animal welfare issues if it does get dry.
Also available through the trust are facilitators – retired farmers, beef or dairy – people who have
been in rural banking.“So if someone is
overwhelmed they sometimes can’t see where they’re going. These guys are really good at having a look at the situation, having a talk to you – pointing you in the right direction, to where to get help, then helping
you to get that. “We’re not aligned
to anybody, we’re not doing something because we’re directed to; this is something put in place to help the rural community.”
It extends not only to beef and lamb farmers but also dairy farmers,
contractors or anybody who makes their living from primary industry.
PAM TIPA
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
16 NEWS
No silver bullet to energy reduction – FonterraNO ONE big silver bullet exists for energy efficiency for Fonterra, says Mark Leslie, director New Zealand manufacturing.
It is an ongoing focus right through, ensuring the co-op takes an end-to-end supply chain perspective, he says.
“When you talk food safety and quality it [matters] how we protect that food right through the supply chain. Similarly with energy… how we make sure we keep doing lots of things efficiently the whole way through the supply chain.”
The South Island has only coal for firing most plants. “We will continue to investigate other options as they come, which are more and viable as we go for-ward,” he says.
Leslie adds that with 90 million litres of milk over the peak the co-op needs security of supply.
“We don’t want plant downtime due to an energy supply issue that then pushes an issue back onfarm.”
However, he says every time you achieve a smaller efficiency it makes it harder for the breakthrough technol-ogy to be viable. The business case gets harder.
Energy manager Linda Thompson says Fonterra has three key objectives in its energy policy: affordability, secu-rity and sustainability.
In trying to reduce costs they look at their energy efficiency to ensure every gigajoule used is used wisely, she says.
A series of projects are undertaken at each site to achieve that energy effi-ciency. This can come down to mainte-nance issues – making sure the boilers operate efficiently as measured annu-ally by boiler tests and inspections.
Reducing energy not only reduces costs but also emissions. “We look at a range of alternative or renewable energy sources.”
The co-op uses two main types of energy – electrical and thermal. The thermal energy is generated using biogas, coal and natural gas. Typically the split is 85% thermal and 15% elec-trical.
A number of sites have ‘cogene-ration’ – an efficient form of energy production generating electricity and steam on site.
“We use coal in the South Island at the majority of those sites as there is no natural gas there,” says Thompson.
Only two sites there do not use coal – Kaikoura and satellite milk production plants at Taumarina and Culverden.
With coal operations they work for best-possible efficiency and participate in the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme. They buy low-sulphur coal and use bag houses to reduce emissions. Typically the ash is returned to the coal source where the land is restored and natives are planted.
Fonterra has identified 900 initiatives for energy efficiency across all its sites; Te Rapa, near Hamilton, was selected as a target plant. A number of projects were undertaken during the winter shutdown.
Several heat recovery steps were introduced and insula-tion and LED lighting were optimised. The energy use is monitored daily at all sites and adjusted if possible.
At Te Rapa the co-op is
investing in dual-fueling, Thomp-son says. In October 2011 there was a disruption to the gas pipelines in the upper North Island during the milk peak, prompting a review that has led to equipping the auxiliary boiler on site capable of switching from gas to diesel.
Similar initiatives are being inves-tigated at all sites to ensure security of energy.
PAM TIPA
COAL MINERGLENCOAL IS a wholly owned subsidiary of Fonterra that runs a mine in northern Waikato.
It shows how coalmines are restored as they are mined, the ash being returned to the ground and trees planted.
Glencoal has been operating since 1922, making it one of the longest running privately owned coal companies in New Zealand.
Fonterra’s director of NZ manufacturing Mark Leslie.
RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
NEWS 17Shanghai Pengxin still keen on Australia’s largest farm
Beef cattle on one of Sikidman’s properties in Australia.
AUSTRALIA’S LARG-EST privately owned farm could still be sold to a for-eign company.
The Australian Government has blocked the sale of S. Kidman & Co Ltd to foreign investors, saying it would be “contrary to national interest”.
However, Treasurer Scott Morrison has not ruled out approving sale of parts of the 101,000 sq km property, which equates to 1.3% of Austra-lia and 2.5% of its agricul-tural land.
Chinese conglomerate Shanghai Pengxin, which owns farms in New Zea-land, was a bidder.
Kidman, one of Austra-lia’s largest beef produc-ers, runs 185,000 cattle on pastoral leases in three states and the Northern Territory. Kidman cattle stations produce grass-fed beef for export to Japan, the US and South East Asia.
Australian media reports that lawyers representing Shanghai Pengxin are now work-ing on a new deal, but not one that includes “buying 2.5% of our agricultural land mass,” says Austra-lian Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce. A new deal is expected by all parties before Christmas.
Joyce, deputy leader
of the junior coalition partner National Party, opposed the sale.
“My preference always is that the Australian asset be owned by the Austra-lian people,” says Joyce, restating his views on the sale of Australia’s largest cotton irrigator Cubbie Station to the Chinese in 2012 under Labor.
In his decision, Mor-rison noted that Kidman has 10 cattle stations in South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, managing a long-term average herd of 185,000 – much larger than the next biggest rural landholding in the country.
One of Kidman’s sta-tions, Anna Creek, is also the largest single prop-erty in Australia. Impor-tantly, around 50% of the Anna Creek pastoral lease is located in the Woomera Prohibited Area (WPA) in South Australia.
“The WPA weapons testing range makes a unique and sensitive con-tribution to Australia’s national defence and it is not unusual for govern-ments to restrict access to sensitive areas on national security grounds.
“Given the size and sig-nificance of the total port-folio of Kidman properties along with the national security issues on access to the WPA, I have deter-mined, after taking advice from FIRB, that it would
SUDESH KISSUN
be contrary to Australia’s national interest for a for-eign person to acquire S. Kidman and Co. in its cur-rent form.”
Morrison, who became treasurer following the ousting of Tony Abbott as prime minister three
months ago, says it is now a matter for the vendor to consider how they wish to proceed with offering the composite interests of S. Kidman for sale.
“I will consider any such alternative proposal or set of proposals on its
merits, consistent with my obligation to ensure that any such sale is on terms not contrary to the national interest.
“Australia welcomes foreign investment where it is consistent with our national interests.”
AUSTRALIAN FARMING lobby National Farmers Federation (NFF) says it respects the Government’s decision but wants clarification of the rules.
NFF chief executive Simon Talbot says it will be seeking clarity on how the national interest test is applied.
“We respect the Federal Government and Foreign Investment Review Board’s right to make decisions concerning matters of national security,” says Talbot.
“We are seeking further detail on the next possible steps with respect to this sale, and understand the Treasurer’s willingness to consider future proposals based on their merits.
“Foreign investment in agriculture is always a sensitive matter because of the need to balance the national interest against the need to attract new capital into the agricultural sector.
“Agriculture is on the cusp of its boom cycle, but the need for capital investment is a significant road-block to growth. To realise its potential the sector needs A$1.2 trillion over the next 40 years, sourced domestically and from overseas.”
CLARIFICATION SOUGHT
MARKET SNAPSHOT LAMB MARKET TRENDSBEEF MARKET TRENDS
RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
18 MARKETS & TRENDS
Beef & venison prices are reported as gross (before normal levies & charges are deducted). Lamb & mutton prices are reported nett (after levies & charges are deducted).
BEEF PRICES
c/kgCWT Change Last Week
2 Wks Ago
Last Year
NI P2 Steer - 300kg n/c 5.50 5.50 6.10M2 Bull - 300kg n/c 5.40 5.40 6.30P2 Cow - 230kg n/c 4.20 4.20 4.95M Cow - 200kg n/c 4.20 4.20 4.95
Local Trade - 230kg -10 5.40 5.50 5.90SI P2 Steer - 300kg -10 5.45 5.55 5.45
M2 Bull - 300kg -10 4.70 4.80 5.45P2 Cow - 230kg -10 3.70 3.80 3.95M Cow - 200kg -10 3.60 3.70 3.95
Local Trade - 230kg -10 5.40 5.50 5.20
Slaughter
Export Market DemandChange Last Week 2 Wks
Ago Last Year 5yr Ave
95CL US$/lb +1 1.96 1.95 2.99 2.21NZ$/kg +1 6.59 6.58 8.38 6.15
Procurement IndicatorChange 2Wks Ago 3 Wks
Ago Last Year 5yr Ave
% Returned NI -1% 81.9% 82.8% 74.57% 76.5%% Returned SI -5% 72.8% 77.5% 64.4% 68.8%
LAMB PRICES
c/kgCWTChange Last
Week2 Wks
AgoLast Year
NI Lamb YM - 13.5kg -10 5.56 5.66 6.61PM - 16.0kg -10 5.58 5.68 6.63PX - 19.0kg -10 5.60 5.70 6.65PH - 22.0kg -10 5.61 5.71 6.66
Mutton MX1 - 21kg n/c 3.10 3.10 3.80SI Lamb YM - 13.5kg -10 5.48 5.58 6.31
PM - 16.0kg -10 5.48 5.58 6.33PX - 19.0kg -10 5.48 5.58 6.35PH - 22.0kg -10 5.48 5.58 6.36
Mutton MX1 - 21kg n/c 2.78 2.78 3.27
Slaughter
Export Market DemandChange Last
Week2 Wks
Ago Last Year 5yr Ave
UK Leg £/lb +2 1.57 1.55 2.08 1.92NZ$/kg n/c 9.10 9.10 8.95 8.63
Procurement IndicatorChange 2Wks
Ago3 Wks
Ago Last Year 5yr Ave
% Returned NI -3% 63.7% 66.5% 75.4% 77.0%% Returned SI -2% 61.5% 63.2% 72.6% 69.9%
Venison PricesChange Last
Week2 Wks
Ago Last Year 5yr Ave
NI Stag - 60kg -25 7.80 8.05 7.45 7.62SI Stag - 60kg -15 7.80 7.95 7.65 7.97
BEEF:. Those wanting to kill prime cattle will have a wait on their hands, as processors are making bulls and cows the main preference. Global markets for prime beef are weak at present, meaning there is little money to be made killing these cattle. As a result, many processors are not operating at full capacity, as they try and manage the amount of beef they have to trade. Fresh pasture growth has meant many finishers in the North Island are choosing to add weight to their bulls before sending them to slaughter. This has seen bull kill numbers slow down in the last two weeks and has resulted in slaughter prices holding steady.
BEEF INTERNATIONAL: The shine has begun to come off the Chinese beef market over the past few weeks. Volumes being pushed into the market have lifted, largely off the back of increased trading with South American exporters. More product has also been entering China through ‘grey channels’ than had been the case earlier in the year. This extra product is struggling to be absorbed by the market, as demand from established buyers is limited. Many of these buyers are holding high levels of inventories, and are taking losses on the stock they are selling.
Though there are still some new buyers emerging from the woodwork.
SHEEP INTERNATIONAL: Global lamb demand continues to be a thorn in the side of NZ exporters. Full inventories continue to plague Middle East and China, with cheap Australian production taking most of the blame for the lack of demand. Forequarters are proving difficult to shift and are coming under pricing pressure. Demand from China should be underpinned by it’s New Year period, however there is concern about what will eventuate post January, particularly around how NZ’s high volumes of production at this period will be absorbed. The UK market continues to battle with higher domestic production, however there are signs of demand picking up, with CKT leg prices, a key market indicator, lifting slightly. The chilled easter supply period looks like it will bring some relief to processors. Early indications are that demand will be solid, with prices expected to be on a similar level to previous years. Production for this trade will run approximately from mid Jan to mid Feb, and farmgate prices should, at the least, hold up during this period.
SHEEP: In general, new season lamb
slaughter has been slow to start this season due to a much colder spring. Lamb slaughter prices are falling rapidly on the back of weak global demand, and are expected to be below $5/kg in both islands in 2016. The weak outlook for schedules has resulted in loss of
confidence in the store lamb market, particularly in the South Island. Store lamb prices in the North Island have been supported by a late spring grass market. However expectations are for these prices to come under pressure the closer we get to Christmas.
WOOL PRICE WATCH Overseas Wool Price Indicators
Indicators in NZ$ Change 19-Nov 12-Nov Last Year Indicators in US$/kg Change 19-Nov 12-Nov Last
YearCoarse Xbred +5 5.98 5.93 5.29 Coarse Xbred -1 3.88 3.89 4.14
Fine Xbred +14 6.42 6.28 5.51 Fine Xbred +5 4.17 4.12 4.31
Lamb - 7.50 - - Lamb - 4.87 - -
Mid Micron - 9.45 - 7.85 Mid Micron - 6.13 - 6.15
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NEWS PRICE WATCH
RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
MARKETS & TRENDS 19
BEEF:. Those wanting to kill prime cattle will have a wait on their hands, as processors are making bulls and cows the main preference. Global markets for prime beef are weak at present, meaning there is little money to be made killing these cattle. As a result, many processors are not operating at full capacity, as they try and manage the amount of beef they have to trade. Fresh pasture growth has meant many finishers in the North Island are choosing to add weight to their bulls before sending them to slaughter. This has seen bull kill numbers slow down in the last two weeks and has resulted in slaughter prices holding steady.
BEEF INTERNATIONAL: The shine has begun to come off the Chinese beef market over the past few weeks. Volumes being pushed into the market have lifted, largely off the back of increased trading with South American exporters. More product has also been entering China through ‘grey channels’ than had been the case earlier in the year. This extra product is struggling to be absorbed by the market, as demand from established buyers is limited. Many of these buyers are holding high levels of inventories, and are taking losses on the stock they are selling.
Though there are still some new buyers emerging from the woodwork.
SHEEP INTERNATIONAL: Global lamb demand continues to be a thorn in the side of NZ exporters. Full inventories continue to plague Middle East and China, with cheap Australian production taking most of the blame for the lack of demand. Forequarters are proving difficult to shift and are coming under pricing pressure. Demand from China should be underpinned by it’s New Year period, however there is concern about what will eventuate post January, particularly around how NZ’s high volumes of production at this period will be absorbed. The UK market continues to battle with higher domestic production, however there are signs of demand picking up, with CKT leg prices, a key market indicator, lifting slightly. The chilled easter supply period looks like it will bring some relief to processors. Early indications are that demand will be solid, with prices expected to be on a similar level to previous years. Production for this trade will run approximately from mid Jan to mid Feb, and farmgate prices should, at the least, hold up during this period.
SHEEP: In general, new season lamb
slaughter has been slow to start this season due to a much colder spring. Lamb slaughter prices are falling rapidly on the back of weak global demand, and are expected to be below $5/kg in both islands in 2016. The weak outlook for schedules has resulted in loss of
confidence in the store lamb market, particularly in the South Island. Store lamb prices in the North Island have been supported by a late spring grass market. However expectations are for these prices to come under pressure the closer we get to Christmas.
WOOL PRICE WATCH Overseas Wool Price Indicators
Indicators in NZ$ Change 19-Nov 12-Nov Last Year Indicators in US$/kg Change 19-Nov 12-Nov Last
YearCoarse Xbred +5 5.98 5.93 5.29 Coarse Xbred -1 3.88 3.89 4.14
Fine Xbred +14 6.42 6.28 5.51 Fine Xbred +5 4.17 4.12 4.31
Lamb - 7.50 - - Lamb - 4.87 - -
Mid Micron - 9.45 - 7.85 Mid Micron - 6.13 - 6.15
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
20 AGRIBUSINESSAdjectives help market NZ meat as premium
WE NEED to start assign-ing qualities to meat we sell overseas – particularly to the wealthier countries within the Trans Pacific Partnership, says food marketing expert Alister King.
They will pay a pre-mium, but only if they see and understand a differ-ence in our foods, he said during his market update at the northern Beef + Lamb NZ farmer council annual meeting in Whan-
garei.When TPP is fully
enacted it will be worth in tariff reductions $50m to our beef industry, $2.6 to sheepmeat and at least $100m to dairy. The offal and associated products from both beef and sheep is currently $54.7m of exports and will gain $5m under TPP.
Processed meat exports could grow quickly in US, Japan and Canada as primary tar-gets.
But King says a prod-uct such as a piece of meat
will have value according to the attributes it is per-ceived to have. He says the UK expert in food mar-keting David Hughes, who came to speak to the beef industry recently, said we now have to start describ-ing that piece of meat.
King outlined a number of labels now appearing on products overseas, particularly in the US. This included non-GMO (genetically modified organisms), but even though NZ has no GMO it is difficult to make that claim once you
PAM TIPA
put a label on it, says King. There’s a need for a paper trail.
In the US they will also pay a premium for anti-biotic free product. NZ farming systems are much more antibiotic-free than the US. “So we need to tell them that. But you need to be able to do it as well and label it accordingly,” he says.
The label “raised with-out hormones and ste-roids” is not an issue for sheepmeat but it is for beef, he says.
“100% organic is not easy to do but when you get there, there are premi-ums,” he says.
Sustainability is a minefield: you start talk-ing about water, air qual-ity and animal welfare issues.
Grass-fed we take for granted but that and free range – not having been raised indoors – can attract a premium in the US.
King was asked whether these types of labels will just become part of doing business instead of attracting a pre-mium.
Those countries now in TPP – those with better incomes – can afford to pay a premium if they see a difference in our foods, he says.
“People with money ask hard questions such as ‘what is your story? and why do I want to buy your product?’ ”
King says in NZ we think it’s great having free trade agreements but it doesn’t actually make the job easier. It makes our job as marketers more dif-ficult: we have to think what our story is, while still basing it on truth.
“Our game is diffi-cult from now on… but whether we are part of TPP or not, the game was getting harder.”
He says there is huge value in NZ Inc taking up the challenge.
“Individual companies find it difficult to exploit the measures that exist in these marketplaces.”
A member of the audi-ence commented that there was therefore an argument for a generic marketing campaign. “But we just had that argument with the companies and they don’t want a bar of it,” he said.
King answered that he does not think that dis-cussion will go away in the next five-six years. “Com-panies will find them-selves in this boat of ‘how do we find these niches?’ ” King answered.
“It’s not only about
price, it’s about pro-motions, ethics, sus-tainability, pack size, performance, providence and the heritage of your story.”
King says Hughes said we have to get away from nouns – beef, chicken and steak – and start using adjectival words. We need to tell stories with free-range, grass-fed, non-GMO, environmentally friendly, etc.
“Traditionally adjec-tives have been seen as a bit girlie – we haven’t gone there because they’re seen as a bit ‘woosy’.”
But he says consumTO PAGE 21
Food marketing expert Alister King says markets will pay a premium for NZ meat if they see a difference for our produce.
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2016 Notice of Directors Election & Annual Meeting Remits
For the first time this year nominations for the 2016 Board of Directors election and annual meeting remits are being called for at the same time.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd (B+LNZ) give notice that nominations for director elections and written remits are now open.
Under section 42 of the Beef + Lamb New Zealand constitution, two electoral district directors will retire by rotation at the annual meeting. This year, Anne Munro (Central South Island) and Kirsten Bryant (Western North Island) must retire by rotation, but may stand for re-election.
Anne Munro will not be seeking re-election and Kirsten Bryant has advised that she will be seeking re-election in 2016.
Nominations are being called to fill two Board of Director vacancies, one for each of the following electoral districts:
Western North Island (WNI)Central South Island (CSI)
Written remits for the 2016 Annual Meeting are now being accepted.
Remits that, if passed at B+LNZ’s annual meeting would not be binding on the organisation, require the signatures of 10 farmers who are registered on the B+LNZ electoral roll.
Remits that, if passed at the annual meeting, would be binding on B+LNZ, require the signatures of at least 1,000 registered farmers or five percent of the total number of registered farmers, whichever is the lesser.
All nominations and written remits must be made on the official forms. The official forms and other useful information regarding the elections are available by;
•www.electionz.com/blnz2016•[email protected]•phoning0800666030
All nominations and written remits must be received by the Returning Officer by 5 pm on Friday 18 December 2015.
Board of Directors and Annual Meeting Resolutions and Remits
Voting for the Board of Directors and annual meeting resolutions and remits (if any) will all be conducted at the same time.
Voting will be conducted by postal and internet voting, with voting papers being posted to all farmers who appear on the B+LNZ electoral roll on Monday8February2016.BoardofDirectorselectionswillcloseonelectionday and postal and electronic voting for company resolution and remits will close on the same date, Friday 18 March 2016 at 2pm.
Farmers can vote in person on company resolutions and remits only, at the Annual Meeting on 23 March 2016.
To be eligible to vote in the Board of Directors election and for annual meeting Remits(ifany),alivestockfarmermust,on30June2015,haveownedatleast250sheep,or50beefcattle,or100dairycattle.Votersmustfarmwithintherespective electorate to be eligible to vote for the Board of Directors.
To be eligible to vote for the annual meeting resolutions, farmers must be on the B+LNZ electoral roll and are not required to meet the minimum stock numbers stated above.
Livestockfarmersshouldcontacttheelectionhelplineon0800666030tocheck if they are on the electoral roll or to get a voter registration form. The electoralrollwillcloseat5pmonWednesday3February2016.
A copy of the roll for is also available for inspection at the office of Beef + LambNewZealandLtd,level4,WellingtonChambers,154FeatherstonStreet,Wellington 6011.
All queries regarding Board of Directors election should be directed to the ReturningOfficeron0800666030.
All queries regarding annual meeting remits should be directed to B+LNZ generalcounsel,MarkDunlopon0800233352.
Warwick Lampp Returning Officer – Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd 0800666030POBox3138,[email protected]
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2016 Notice of Directors Election & Annual Meeting Remits
For the first time this year nominations for the 2016 Board of Directors election and annual meeting remits are being called for at the same time.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd (B+LNZ) give notice that nominations for director elections and written remits are now open.
Under section 42 of the Beef + Lamb New Zealand constitution, two electoral district directors will retire by rotation at the annual meeting. This year, Anne Munro (Central South Island) and Kirsten Bryant (Western North Island) must retire by rotation, but may stand for re-election.
Anne Munro will not be seeking re-election and Kirsten Bryant has advised that she will be seeking re-election in 2016.
Nominations are being called to fill two Board of Director vacancies, one for each of the following electoral districts:
Western North Island (WNI)Central South Island (CSI)
Written remits for the 2016 Annual Meeting are now being accepted.
Remits that, if passed at B+LNZ’s annual meeting would not be binding on the organisation, require the signatures of 10 farmers who are registered on the B+LNZ electoral roll.
Remits that, if passed at the annual meeting, would be binding on B+LNZ, require the signatures of at least 1,000 registered farmers or five percent of the total number of registered farmers, whichever is the lesser.
All nominations and written remits must be made on the official forms. The official forms and other useful information regarding the elections are available by;
•www.electionz.com/blnz2016•[email protected]•phoning0800666030
All nominations and written remits must be received by the Returning Officer by 5 pm on Friday 18 December 2015.
Board of Directors and Annual Meeting Resolutions and Remits
Voting for the Board of Directors and annual meeting resolutions and remits (if any) will all be conducted at the same time.
Voting will be conducted by postal and internet voting, with voting papers being postedtoallfarmerswhoappearontheB+LNZelectoralrollonMonday8February2016. Board of Directors elections will close on election day and postal and electronic voting for company resolution and remits will close on the same date, Friday 18 March 2016 at 2pm.
Farmers can vote in person on company resolutions and remits only, at the Annual Meeting on 23 March 2016.
To be eligible to vote in the Board of Directors election and for annual meeting Remits (ifany),alivestockfarmermust,on30June2015,haveownedatleast250sheep,or50beef cattle, or 100 dairy cattle. Voters must farm within the respective electorate to be eligible to vote for the Board of Directors.
To be eligible to vote for the annual meeting resolutions, farmers must be on the B+LNZ electoral roll and are not required to meet the minimum stock numbers stated above.
Livestockfarmersshouldcontacttheelectionhelplineon0800666030tocheckifthey are on the electoral roll or to get a voter registration form. The electoral roll will closeat5pmonWednesday3February2016.
A copy of the roll for is also available for inspection at the office of Beef + Lamb NewZealandLtd,level4,WellingtonChambers,154FeatherstonStreet,Wellington6011.
All queries regarding Board of Directors election should be directed to the Returning Officeron0800666030.
All queries regarding annual meeting remits should be directed to B+LNZ general counsel,MarkDunlopon0800233352.
Warwick Lampp Returning Officer – Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd 0800666030POBox3138,[email protected]
RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
AGRIBUSINESS 21
ers now want to close the loop right back to the pro-ducer.
McDonalds, Wendys, KFC and other fast food chains are now finding it tough so they are finding ways to re-invent them-selves. They are shifting to suppliers offering free-range eggs or antibiotic-free.
US consumers have also become cynical about pictures of barns on pack-ets, he says. “If we think we will add value with traceability, that is already a given for lots of products overseas,” King says.
There should be no complacency in our indus-
try. “Consumers are always, always looking for lower priced options. We can’t just sit here in NZ and assume we have a nat-ural product and people are going to buy it without us telling a story.
“We need to be con-sumer focused, we need to read widely – farmers are some of the best read-ers of magazines and what is happening globally – we need to start thinking about partners and align-ing ourselves in terms of philosophy.
“What you do onfarm – is it aligned with the pro-cessor and what they are trying to do in the market-place as well?”
FROM PAGE 20
PREMIUM MEAT
Meat and mussel producers share top South Island farmer title
A NORTH Otago red meat producer and a Marlborough green-lipped mussel grower have both won Lincoln University Foundation’s South Island Farmer of the Year competition.It’s the first time the top prize has been shared.
The two winners – Richard and Annabelle Subtil of Omarama Station and Marlborough’s Clearwater Mussels managing director John Young – were named at a ceremony last week.
Clearwater Mussels is a greenshell mussel producer with 90 farms from 2.5-80ha supplying a variety of food and pharmaceutical markets.
Omarama Station is a sheep and beef property with small scale hydro and tourism operations. It also has scientific reserves and has Department of Conservation and QEII Trust covenants on the property.
“Both finalists exhibited above industry standards in their respective fields,” said chief judge, Nicky Hyslop.
“They exhibit leadership in innovation, technology, human resource management,
marketing and entrepreneurship and, crucially, very strong relationships with their customers.”
Lincoln University Foundation chairman Ben Todhunter said the shared top prize produced a unique challenge for the foundation with two winners’ field days to organise for Omarama Station and Clearwater Mussels.
“We will be promoting these field days in the new year,” he said. “They are an excellent opportunity for farmers and others in agribusiness to learn what makes these two businesses worthy of their shared title.”
Clearwater and the Subtils shared the $20,000 business travel grant for research, education or marketing purposes.
Both also featured as competition category winners. The Subtils won the Silver Fern Farms $5000 red meat producer Plate to Pasture award for best consumer awareness.
Young won the Farmlands $5000 award for best resource management. South Islanders also won the Agstaff award for human resource
GREG FORDmanagement (Tony and Pam Plunkett) and the Lincoln University award for innovation and technology (Paul and Tracey Ruddenklau).
Joint winners of the South Island Farmer of the Year:
Richard and Annabelle Subtil (L) from Omarama
Station and John Young with Lyn Godsiff of
Clearwater Mussels.
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22 OPINION
EDITORIAL
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EDNA
RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
SFA anti-TPPAYOUR OLD mate was intrigued to see the lazy mainstream media and anti-TPP opponents trum-peting the ‘massive’ turnout of people marching against the proposed trade deal last month. However, the reality was some-what different. While anti-TPP activists like former failed Green MP ‘Red’ Russel Norman and current failed Auckland Univer-sity lecturer ‘Hanoi’ Jane Kelsey were quick to claim to an unques-tioning media a ‘huge surge of public support’ for their commu-nistic anti-TPP views, the actual figures are somewhat less impressive. Apparently there were 17 different marches around the country on November 14, to which about 1000 people turned out; the Hound calculates an average of 58 people at each march. Hardly a huge endorsement!
Ego-maniaA MATE of yours truly reckons that those past-their-use-by-date has-beens Winston Peters and John McCarthy have been teaming up together in opposing the Silver Fern Farms/ Shanghai Maling deal. The Hound’s confi-dante says their double act was confirmed when McCarthy recently issued a media release – under the guise of MIE – backing everything the frequently absent MP for Northland has outlandishly claimed (under parliamentary privilege) about the SFF merger deal. But this mate also reckons the chances of McCarthy and Peters ever formally teaming up is zero – each of their egos is so big they couldn’t fit in the same room at the same time.
They would say thatTHE BODY representing land sharks (real estate agents) is claiming the public perception of people working in real estate is on the rise. The Real Estate Insti-tute of New Zealand (REINZ) reckons, “home owners and agents can take satisfaction from a survey showing improvements in the population’s rating of real estate agents, and an even better rating by those who’ve dealt with agents in the past 12 months”. This comes care of a Nielsen survey done by the Real Estate Agent Authority. A mate of the Hound rather facetiously reckons a similar claim would be made by ISIS if it commissioned a survey on its own behalf to ask about public perceptions of the terrorist group.
Group action?THE HOUND hears that a Christ-church ambulance chaser (lawyer) is trying to put together a group action against the live-stock firms tied up in a Commerce Commission case over the NAIT scheme. Your old mate understands the said lawyer is interested in bringing a group representative action to recover a proportion of the fees over-charged to farmers as a result of the unlawful agreements between the firms and parties involved. The case relates to complaints about livestock firms over-charging for ear tags and collec-tion of fees for entry into the NAIT system. The Hound understands an application has already been made to the High Court at Auck-land for access to the court’s file on the case. Watch this space.
“I suppose it’s too late to get it on the voting paper?”
THE WRITING is on the wall for Fonterra’s chair-man John Wilson, his board and management; fed-up farmer shareholders are demanding changes.
The co-op’s board and management have again been caught out of step with the owners of the busi-ness; it seems the TAF debacle five years ago has been forgotten.
Last week nearly 54% of Fonterra shareholders voted to reduce a bloated board from the current 13 to nine. Voter turnout was higher than in previous polls: 65% of farmer shareholders representing 73% of the co-op’s total milksolids had their say.
While the proponents of change – former direc-tors Greg Gent and Colin Armer – fell short of the 75% support needed to force amendments to the constitution, the result is sending shockwaves through Fonterra.
A majority of farmers defied a directive from the board and the Shareholders Council that they vote against the Gent/Armer resolution – a slap in the face for Wilson, the board and the council.
It poses bigger questions for the council, which represents grassroots Fonterra farmers; did they blindly follow the board in urging farmers to vote against the resolution?
And how can they now claim to represent the views of all shareholders when 54% disagree with them on the crucial issue of governance and repre-sentation?
For some Fonterra farmers the council has been guilty in the past of acting as a mere puppet of the board. Last week’s vote shows farmers no longer condone such behaviour.
The board and council are promising to embark on a consultation process; their problem is the groundwork has been done. To their credit Gent and Armer mounted a clever campaign, taking only a few weeks to announce their resolution and visit farm-ers around the country to garner majority support.
A majority of farmers have made up their minds; they believe Fonterra’s future lies in a smaller, leaner and fitter board.
The board and council have two choices: either convince shareholders that Gent and Armer are wrong or recommend a nine-member board as agreed by a majority of farmers.
A smaller board will mean new director elections, possibly in the second half of next year.
With the Gent and Armer camp already com-manding 54% support they are strongly positioned to grab control of the board, surely signalling the end of Wilson and his faction’s reign. And the new board will be keen for a clean start; chief executive Theo Spierings’ tenure may also be under threat.
Fonterra is at crossroads and the next few months will decide where the co-op will head; what’s cer-tain is that a majority of farmers have made up their minds.
2016 is shaping up as a year of change for Fon-terra.
At the crossroads
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
OPINION 23
Keeping farmers well and strong
Farmstrong advocate Dr Tom Mullholland.
FARMSTRONG IS a fresh initiative to promote the wellbeing of all farmers and growers in New Zea-land.
Launched earlier this year, the programme is a joint initiative between rural insurer FMG and the Mental Health Foundation (MHF).
Farmstrong wants to help shift the focus of mental health from depression and illness to wellbeing. In its first year, Farmstrong will aim to make a positive differ-ence to the lives of 1000 farmers.
“Farmstrong will help to highlight that farmers are the most important asset on the farm and that by taking proactive steps to look after their mental and physical heath, they’re better prepared to run their business and support their family, staff and com-munity” says Chris Black chief executive FMG.
Research shows that farmers are great at looking after stock and equipment but often neglect their own needs. In a recent online survey farmers identified wellbeing and quality of life as top-of-mind and said they wanted more information on how to look after themselves.
Through www.farm-strong.co.nz farmers can access practical tools and resources to help them take care of them-selves, with information on topics such as nutri-tion, managing fatigue, exercise, the importance of getting off the farm and coping with pressure.
Farmstrong will also help farmers connect with each other and share expe-riences via its social media channels, through regional farmer ambassadors and by attending local events such as Dr Tom Mulhol-land’s ‘Healthy Thinking’ workshops and the Farm-strong Fit4Farming Cycle Tour.
“In the same way that farmers have a system for milking cows or shearing sheep, for example, they need a practical system to keep themselves in good shape too. By having this they’ll likely feel better,
improve productivity and be better prepared to handle the ups and downs of farming,” says Black.
“Just making small behaviour changes over a period of time can help support big improvements in our mental and physical wellbeing” says Judi Clements, chief executive Mental Health Foundation. “Every farmer’s performance is affected by their level of health, fitness and happiness. We’re not born knowing how to maintain these; we need to actively practise strategies that will improve our mental health. Farmstrong will help show farmers how they can do this.”
Farmstrong is funded by FMG and the charity Movember via the Mental Health Foundation.
Key points of Farm-strong:
■ Farmstrong is a non-commercial give-back initiative founded by rural insurer FMG and the Mental Health Foundation of NZ with funding support from the Movember Foun-dation.
■ Farmstrong will help shift the focus of mental health in rural communities from depression and illness to wellbeing.
■ Farmstrong will help highlight that farmers are the most important asset on the farm and that by taking proac-tive steps to look after their mental and physi-cal heath, they’re better prepared to run their business and support their family, staff and community.
■ Farmstrong is to main-tain wellness rather than focus on illness and depression and in that respect it’s differ-ent from other support programmes for farm-ers.
■ Farmstrong will give farmers access to advice on topics such as nutrition, fitness, sleep, managing fatigue, building mental and physical resilience, strengthening links with family and com-munity and scheduling
time off-farm. ■ Farmers will also be
encouraged to con-nect face-to-face through Dr Tom Mul-holland Healthy Think-ing Workshops and the
Farmstrong Fit4Farm-ing Cycle TourMore details of the
cycle tour including the tour dates and locations can be found at www.farm-strong.co.nz
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
24 OPINION
Building NZ’s reputation in China needs robust systems in place
ALL AGRICULTURAL producing nations have an interest in a strong China.
As China looks to move away from a solely manu-facturing-driven economy to one propelled jointly by agriculture, manufac-turing and services, New Zealand can be a practi-cal partner to support this change.
NZ is a natural cooper-ation partner for China in the provision of safe, qual-ity food and as a leading provider of agricultural technology.
We already have strong ties at many levels: NZ was the first OECD nation to sign a free trade agree-ment with China in 2008
and it has been a major success, benefiting both nations.
There is no doubt the world needs to produce more food sustainably and safely. The growth in the world’s population is straining global supply chains. World popula-tion is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, and some forecasts predict global food demand may increase 40-45% in the next 10 years.
Consumers are also demanding more of their food – how it is produced and the businesses that produce it. This is com-pounded by new tech-nologies, multinational
Ministry of Primary Industries Nathan Guy last month addressed the DRC Food Security and Food Safety Strategy Summit in Beijing. This is an edited version of his speech.
investment and more complicated logistics and transport systems, and globally sourced food ingredients.
These challenges are not the problem of just one country alone; these are global challenges that demand global solutions.
At the heart of an importing country’s sus-tainable food security policy is the need to know that the food supply chain is secure and safe for its nation’s consumers. A complete food security policy goes far beyond the food we can pro-duce within our borders. To ensure a secure food supply and to offer the food options globalised consumers demand, local production must be sup-ported by imported food from trusted global part-ners.
To assure consum-ers that their food is safe, both the exporting and importing countries must show that food safety can be achieved and that sys-tems are comparable. They must rely on assur-ances from each other that their food is safe and this requires regular com-munication, transparency and trust between the two countries.
Security should extend from ‘farm to fork’. Con-sumers pay closer atten-
tion to food production now than ever before. They expect more of pro-ducers – in environment sustainability, animal wel-fare, biosecurity, trace-ability and product stewardship.
NZ has built a robust and effective food export system through decades of investment in systems that deliver quality out-comes. Our regulatory system works to imple-ment best practice and globally accepted stan-dards throughout the supply chain.
As an exporting nation – we export 80% of the
food we produce and feed 40 million people – our reputation must be main-tained throughout the supply chain. Protect-ing the integrity of food and our brand reputation throughout the process is now the central discus-sion amongst regulators and industry in NZ.
A good proportion of these exports are now dairy – 20% of NZ exports. Our market reach isn’t an accident, it is the result of years of effort and inno-vation.
Food safety, qual-ity systems and innova-tion drive the NZ dairy
industry, which has led to a dramatic increase in productivity over the past decade. This increase is largely the result of genetic gains and improved farm manage-ment practices, including improvements in live-stock health and welfare.
NZ cannot focus on simply developing its own robust food safety system in isolation. There is interdependency between China’s and NZ’s indus-tries in matters of food security and food safety. NZ is committed to strengthening relation-ships in China. That’s
why I’m here to represent the NZ Government, and build on the strong work-ing relationship we have built between our govern-ments over many decades.
I understand there is a Chinese proverb, “when you drink the water, remember with thanks the man who dug the well”. We all need to ‘dig the well’ now and create the environment and infrastructure now, so our future generations can benefit from a secure and safe food supply as we do today.
“To assure consumers that their food is safe countries must show that the food safety systems are in place to achieve this”, Nathan Guy.
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
MANAGEMENT 25
SOE looks to milk sheep as future
THOMAS MACDON-ALD was top student at Waikato University in 2013 and quickly snapped up by Landcorp’s new chief executive Steven Carden.
Macdonald was imme-diately appointed the business manager of the four Crafar farms, now managed by Landcorp on behalf of Shanghai Pengxin.
Behind the scenes Landcorp had been inves-tigating sheep milking as part of a strategy to pro-duce high-value prod-ucts and to diversify away from traditional farm-ing. As a result the state farmer entered a joint venture with the agribusi-ness investment company SLC Group to produce high-quality sheep milk products, mostly for Asian markets.
The St Kilda block is one of many farms Land-corp has developed in the Broadlands area north east of Taupo. Until Jan-uary it was likely to be another dairy conversion, but as the sheep milking venture gained momen-tum it was earmarked as the farm for this opera-tion.
Macdonald was then assigned a budget of $3.9 million and the task of turning St Kilda into a state-of-the-art sheep dairy unit – including hiring staff, buying stock and supervising the build of the shed and other infrastructure.
“On February 20 the Landcorp board approved
the sheep milking venture so between then and Sep-tember we constructed the parlour,” Macdon-ald told Rural News. “It was 131 days from when we first poured the con-crete to the day we started milking.
“We didn’t have much sheep milking expertise in the company – or even in NZ – so we had to rely a lot on international con-sultants and international companies drawing on their experiences.”
The shed was a unique design and Macdonald worked with dairy con-struction company DeLa-val to produce a milking parlour what would meet Spring Sheep Dairy’s immediate need to milk about 3000 ewes, but able to expand to 4000 ewes. DeLaval has international expertise in sheep milk-ing in the Middle East and Europe and this expertise was applied to the shed at the St Kilda farm.
Macdonald says this shed can milk 1000 ewes an hour, a deliberate development as he doesn’t believe staff should be in the shed for more than four hours.
“This parlour was built from the ground up with technology in mind. We have individual metering of animals per day and we are the first in the world to measure fat protein per animal per day,” he says.
The data gathered in the shed will later to be used to select the best animals to breed. About half the flock now being
One year ago Thomas Macdonald (22) was completing his master’s degree in agribusiness management at the University of Waikato. Today, as a Landcorp business manager, he oversees the world’s most high-tech sheep milking plant, newly finished on a farm near Taupo. He’s achieved all this in nine months. Reporter Peter Burke reports on this talented farming leader.
milked are pure East Frie-sian, the remainder are crosses.
Milk production varies between these, the pure-
breds producing about 2L each milking and some of the crosses about 500ml. The aim is to produce a much higher yielding
flock and to rear sur-plus lambs for the meat industry. In future sexed semen may be used to build up the ewe flock and
to improve the genetic worth of the flock. The company may also look at importing semen.
Currently 2700 ewes
are being milked on the 342ha St Kilda block. Rams and around 4500 lambs are being reared, of
Thomas Macdonald is leading Landcorp’s move into sheep milking.
TO PAGE 26
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
26 MANAGEMENTYoung farm manager outstanding in his fieldwhich some will be kept for replacements and others sent to the works.
With Macdonald, who is the farm business manager, are the farm manager John Ryrie, five full-time staff and up to 20 casual staff.
In just nine months St Kilda farm has been transformed from an ordinary block of land with no buildings to a modern sheep dairying unit. Unlike a typical cowshed the sheep milking shed is quiet and clean. Water consumption is relatively low because effluent quantities are small and each sheep is milked in just a couple of minutes.
Technology is everywhere and the general flow of animals is excellent. Milking is twice a day and every three days a tanker takes the milk to the Waikato Innovation Centre in Hamilton for processing.
For Macdonald this
is a great achievement. He recalls times when contractors were working by the lights of their vehicles to get certain jobs done.
“I didn’t sleep very much from March till September. Everything you see here has basically been thought of, designed to the very last detail and put into a project timeline and run to a very tight budget because this is an entrepreneurial company,” he says.
“Everything had to be timed and some stuff was air freighted, including the robotic machine feeders from Sweden. Getting everything here on time was a nightmare and I spent many hours on the phone getting it here.”
The challenges of the sheep milking project are far from Macdonald’s days of finishing assignments at Waikato University. He is full of praise for his lecturer Jacqueline Rowarth and for Landcorp
in backing him. “As for the future, I’d
love to continue to do what I am doing which is large scale management of corporate agribusiness; but governance of NZ agribusiness is quite high for me. Then I’d like skin in the game and some personal investment in it,” Macdonald adds.
“My passion is for NZ agriculture and Landcorp’s equipping me for that. Who knows what the future will hold?”
FROM PAGE 25
1000 ewes per hour are able to be milked at the St Kilda’s dairy sheep parlour.
FROM CAITHNESS TO BROADLANDSIN FEBRUARY John Ryrie was the guest speaker at New Zealand’s first sheep milking conference, organised by Massey University.
Ryrie is a world authority on sheep milking, having managed farms in the UK, Europe and Canada. When he came to NZ in February, Ryrie was chairman of the British sheep dairy association.
Now he is back in NZ as the farm man-ager at St Kilda.
“After the conference, I was invited to Landcorp’s office and I was taken to this site and all I could see was green pad-docks,” he told Rural News.
“The Landcorp guys told me that in seven months there would be a sheep dairy here and I said, ‘oh yeah, good idea’. Then I came back in August and it was all up and ready to go and I was amazed to see what had been done in such a short time. I’ve never seen that before and I’ve done a few developments in the UK. I’m particularly impressed with the data cap-ture, which is world leading.”
Ryrie brings invaluable knowledge and experience to Landcorp and says while it’s a long way from home the actual farming operation is similar.
In Europe the sheep are housed indoors for part of the year because of the climate, he says. But the drier weather in NZ will suit sheep milking here. Ryrie notes that in Europe the cold and damp tend to lead to pneumonia in lambs, which he believes won’t occur in NZ.
However, Ryrie says the pasture qual-ity in Europe is better than the simple ryegrass clover pastures of St Kilda. Landcorp has recognised this and already lucerne and other herb mixes are being planted to boost lamb weights.
While St Kilda is there to produce
sheep milk, any lambs produced in the process of getting the ewes to lactate are seen as good money earners. Ryrie sees no reason why a good, fat lamb cannot be produced from the East Friesians. These are reared in specially built sheds and the lambs are kept in small pens with easy access to ad-lib milk feeders.
“We rear about 2200 lambs in the shed and we have now reared over 4500 lambs,” he explains. “We take them off their mothers after two days and they’re kept in the shed for 30 days and then let outside where we feed them milk, plus concentrate pellets and then grass. What we’re trying to do is develop their rumen faster than normal.”
As with any lambs, the aim is to try to get them weaned quickly so that surplus stock can be taken off-farm.
Ryrie is enjoying the challenge of St Kilda and looking forward to eventually developing an elite flock of milking ewes. He’s most impressed with the research money invested in farming in NZ and says it will make a difference.
In the meantime, Landcorp is making sure its production keeps pace with market demand. Chief executive Steven Carden is adamant sheep milk should be a high-value niche product, not a com-modity.
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
MANAGEMENT 27
Careful scrutiny yields bigger heifers
Northland farmer Dave Gray’s heifers are calving 50kg heaiver.
WITH A carefully con-ceived programme includ-ing feeding young stock well and monthly weigh-ing, Dave and Heather Gray’s Northland farm is calving heifers about 50kg heavier than they were previously.
The Jersey-cross cows at the Awanui farm aver-age 430-440kg, says Gray. But the Jersey-cross heif-ers born in 2012 and raised under the farm’s new heifer raising regime calved at nearly 450kg and should average 480-500kg when fully grown.
Tracked using Minda Weights from when they were weaned to planned start of calving, still around a third of those 2012 born heifers are under target – but 70% are ideal or above.
Gray says they are still learning and improving. He spoke at a DairyNZ heifer raising project field day in Northland this month. The project is part of a national ini-tiative to improve the way dairy heifers are grown. LIC research indi-cates only 23% of heifers achieve industry targets by 22 months. This under-growth impacts milk pro-duction, reproduction and lifetime contribution to herds.
A dairy farmer for 34 years, Gray farms 240ha of flat land at Awanui, milk-ing 730 Jersey and Jer-sey-cross spring calving cows producing almost 300,000kgMS. They run a system 3 farm with PKE supplement and chic-ory grown on 10% of the farm. Soil types are heavy clay through to light sandy peat.
Gray says it is a big challenge is to grow bigger heifers to improve herd fertility and performance – and to milk fewer cows. The 730 cows are milked through a 40-a-side her-ringbone shed. Nine-teen rows are a lot of rows to milk, says Gray. If the cows were grown to their potential 480-500kg they could cut the herd to 650 cows which equates to two rows less in the shed.
“Rearing bigger heif-ers and improved herd reproduction will allow us to rear more AB calves and select the best genet-ics to drive our breeding objectives,” he says. “Our breeding objectives are to improve our herd to be in the top 10% for BW.”
Northland has big chal-lenges, Gray says. Wet winters, dry summers, low energy grass, kikuyu, facial eczema, copper and selenium deficiency and calves weaned too small are just some of them.
Four years ago he was disappointed with the size of the dairy heifers coming into the herd. He sat down with the team and looked at the land, the kikuyu based pasture and the facilities.
“We also looked at our grazing and management and worked with the vet on a health plan,” he says. “Out of this we came up with our farm policy and a procedure to achieve this.”
They wanted good healthy, well-reared calves weaned at their target weights by 10 weeks, with well-developed rumen function. “Be wary of rear-ing small or sickly calves, they are much harder to rear and often are a real challenge to get to target weights,” he says.
“We want our calves shifted daily on good qual-ity pasture. Residuals are maintained with empty cows or the mower. These are young animals – they need to choose what they eat and not be left to clean up pasture. Good subdivi-sion with day-sized pad-docks is ideal.
“Calves grow better on daily shift; it encourages intake.”
The young stock are weighed every month and entered into Minda Weights.
“Handling your calves every month and knowing their growth rates makes you aware of any prob-lems early,” he says.
“Our cows mark us out of 10 each day in the vat as to how they have been fed. We don’t have that luxury with our young stock.
“That’s why it’s impor-tant we weigh them each
PAM TIPA
month and get our mark out of 10 on how the young stock have been fed. The Minda Weights program allows the calves that are below target or at risk to be identified.
“Under-target replace-ments need to be pref-erentially fed. Run them ahead of the main mob.”
Calves were fall-ing behind their growth rate targets in their first
summer. They decided to use PKE and silage through the summer for our calves. This worked well. The changes they have made on the farm have been valuable.
0025 OPS Disease_John-Dairy (280x187)_FAmm.indd 1 30/09/15 2:27 pm
RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
28 ANIMAL HEALTH
A MANAWATU farmer got an expensive reminder about managing intestinal parasites in stock when he was sentenced for animal welfare offences in the Palmerston North District Court last month,
Paul Ross Henson, 48, of Rongotea, had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of reckless ill-treatment of animals and failing to ensure the needs of his animals were met, laid by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
He was fined $33,000 and ordered to pay $4200 in veterinary costs.
MPI received a complaint on its animal welfare line in June 2015 about dead sheep at Henson’s 300ha lease block at Peep O Day, 60km from his home farm at Rongotea.
An MPI animal welfare inspector found dead and variously rotting hoggets, showing that the animals had been suffering and dying for some time.
In total, 111 of the 600 hoggets on the property were dead. A further 10 sheep were euthanised as they were unable to stand, were distressed and unlikely to recover. The remaining hoggets were in very poor condition.
An independent veterinarian put the deaths and poor state of the live hoggets down to severe gastro-intestinal worm burdens, meaning they could not get enough nourishment from their food.
MPI manager animal welfare compliance Peter Hyde said the hoggets would have died slow miserable deaths from a cause that was entirely preventable.
“Regularly observing the stock and drenching when required would have prevented this. It is the responsibility of anyone who owns or manages stock to ensure any signs of
ill-health or injury are dealt with quickly to prevent suffering.”
The remaining hoggets were able to be returned to good health by drenching and being moved to another block where their health could be better supervised.
In a written statement, Henson said he was working long hours on re-developing his home farm and this contributed to the issue at Peep O Day property.
$33K FINE FOR SHEEP DEATHS
REPORT ANIMAL WELFARE ISSUESMPI encourages anyone who suspects cases of animal ill-treatment to call its animal health number – 0800 00 83 33. Calls will be kept confidential if necessary.
Growing antibiotic resistance an opportunitySCIENTIFIC INNOVA-TION and using fewer antibiotics in farm-ing could increase the value of New Zealand’s exports — given the right approach, according to a study recently released by the New Zealand Veteri-nary Association.
The vets say there are gains to be made from addressing antibiotic resistance, and they show how this work would sup-port three of the Gov-ernment’s six Business Growth Agenda (BGA) goals: export markets for higher-valued products; innovation in agriculture and related sciences; and natural resources used in smart ways to support economic growth.
The NZVA recently said NZ should aim for 2030 as the year by which it ceases using antibiotics to keep production live-stock healthy. The vets asked PwC to assess the challenges and opportuni-ties in achieving this goal.
Steve Merchant, chair of the NZVA’s antimicro-bial resistance strategy group, says innovation in
developing alternatives to antibiotics could foster world-leading capability in upstream and down-stream industries.
“The most fundamen-tal gain could be in future-proofing the supply chain to overseas markets. Con-cern about antibiotics and resistance is an emerging consumer issue that could affect market access and overseas regulation.”
Merchant says the threats of antibiotic resis-tance have been well pub-licised several times in the last few years, but less has been investigated about the opportunities for a country like NZ if it approached the challenge creatively.
The report points out that NZ is in a good posi-tion to address antibiotic resistance, as one of the
lowest users of antibiotics in the OECD. The key to this has been regulation, control by veterinarians of antibiotic prescriptions and dispensing, and the use of extensive agricul-tural systems.
“Antibiotics were a defining 20th century achievement and replac-ing them will be an impor-tant achievement of the 21st,” says Merchant.
NZVA chair Stephen Merchant.
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ANIMAL HEALTH 29RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
Preparing the flock for a dry summer
Massey’s Prof Paul Kenyon says with the likelihood of a dry summer, sheep farmers need to prepare now!
WITH THE likelihood of a dry summer for many parts of New Zealand sheep farmers need to prepare now, says Professor Paul Kenyon, Massey University.
Two things stand out: first, act quickly; secondly, think long term.
“When thinking long term they need to remember that nutrition of the ewe and replacement ewe lambs/hoggets this summer will affect next year’s lamb crop and the longevity of these animals within the flock.
“At weaning, mature ewes should be condition scored and ewes in poor condition (BCS 2.5 or less) put in a priority mob and offered enough feed over summer to gain condition (it takes 7-8kg to gain one unit on body condition for most breeds).”
These sheep could be managed in front of the remainder of a ewe flock, which can be held at maintenance, Kenyon says. This split flock approach saves feed.
“Farmers should weigh a sample of replacement ewe lambs at weaning. Using this data they should map out monthly liveweight targets for the next five months at least.
“Monthly, a sub sample should then be reweighed and their performance compared with target. If they are falling behind, action plans should be put in place to remedy the situation.”
Meanwhile, Kenyon stresses that regardless of whether or not they are to be bred as a hogget, ewe lamb replacements need to be a priority stock class over summer.
“Ideally, if fed on pasture only they should be offered grazing in which pasture covers do not fall below 1200kg DM/ha – that is, high in green content (i.e. no reproductive material or dead plant matter) and as much clover as possible. If summer crops are available, permanent or annual, these should be the class of stock that
utilise these.” Kenyon says that
by acting early farmers should be able to save feed for priority stock classes and sell livestock prior to the drop in prices or prior to when it becomes difficult to get cull ewes and lambs into the abattoir. A number of options present.
“Skim weaning can be used to remove heavy lambs then sell them directly for slaughter prior to the normal weaning date. This will allow these lambs to be sold at a premium, and it saves feed for other lambs.
“If pasture covers are decreasing farmers should reconsider weaning date. In late lactation if the ewe is not gaining liveweight herself she can stop lactating. Further, under poor feeding conditions the ewe and her lamb(s) can become grazing competitors.”
Ewes that could be weaned early are the older ones destined to be culled, based on age or singleton bearing, whose lambs tend to be heavier and best able to cope with early weaning.
“Weaning culled-for-age ewes early should help ensure these can be sold before it gets difficult to gain access to the abattoir, and it will save precious feed.
“If weaning is done early, lambs should be a minimum of 20kg and should be offered a high quality feed. This could include pasture with a high percentage of clover, herb-clover mixes, lucerne or a quality annual crop.”
Sheep researchers at Massey, with funding from Beef + and Lamb NZ, are examining early- and post weaning options using alternative herbages.
In dry years farmers should reconsider their finishing policy, Kenyon says. While it might be tempting to finish extra lambs, it may be more sensible to sell these store lambs at weaning, saving excess feed for
replacements, or to have a clear minimum weight and sell all lambs below this store at weaning.
“Under dry conditions too many months can have negative
consequences – for these lambs and for future lamb crops – if replacements are not well grown or mature ewes fail to regain body condition by mating.”
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
30 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
Less hassle with set-up, but still a straight furrowWITH THE biennial Agri-technica show in Ger-many just finished, a number of manufacturers launched new products.
Kverneland Group appears to be on a roll with new products and upgrades to existing lines likely to keep them on the wish lists of many farmers and contractors. It’s now three years since they were acquired by the Japanese giant Kubota and industry sources say the result is improved manufacturing facilities and processes, better quality and – not least – the acceleration of R&D projects.
One such project is the 2500 series i-Plough, which will banish the black art of plough set-up to old fellas in pubs. Avail-able in four to six fur-rows, the series will use ISOBUS compatibility to allow complete set-up from the tractor seat. After inputting all the key dimensions of the trac-tor – such as wheel track, inside tyre measurements and tyre sizes – the system will automatically set the front furrow width.
The system also uses completely automated control of the plough’s vari-width system – via GPS – to self-steer and maintain a straight furrow across a paddock. Though this is easy to do during
on-land ploughing, if a tractor is equipped with autonomous steering, good in-furrow results have been harder to achieve because the trac-tor is at the mercy of the last furrow and can’t intervene to straighten the work.
From a practical perspective, i-plough is operated through an ISOBUS compatible terminal or Kverneland’s own Tellus system. The ISOBUS control allows four different modes – transport, work, park and mark. When switching between modes the plough configures itself automatically for the task in hand, saving time and increasing convenience.
In the transport mode, the hydraulically split headstock allows the plough to be towed like a semi-mounted unit and allows up to 35 degrees of steering angle.
Other new features include a round profile leg assembly that resists trash build-up and a centralised skimmer set-up mechanism that reduces adjustment time by 50%. For plough protection, a choice of shear-bolt or mechanical auto reset is offered, the latter having a teardrop-shaped leaf spring assembly and 800mm under-beam clearance.
At the rear end of the plough, the long estab-lished depth wheel can
MARK DANIEL
THE NEW 2500 series plough will be manufactured at Kverneland Group’s flagship plant in Klepp, Norway.
Kubota has spent €30m ($50m) to increase the number of processes handled by robots and has brought all
operations onto one site to increase capacity.
Kverneland engineers are also using the relationship with Kubota to gain experience of small track assem-blies, such as the novel track system for plough depth control.
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MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 31
IRISH GRASSLAND heavyweight McHale has given visitors to the recent Irish Ploughing Match a preview of new products.
Its Pro-Glide F3100 and R3100, front and rear mounted mower conditioners, in development for four seasons, use a a bought-in cutter-bar assembly but otherwise take their design and manufacturing input from McHale. Both machines cut 3.1m wide and use a full width, gearbox driven conditioner with steel swinging tines.
Out front the F3100 has up to 500mm of ‘in-work’ movement and a newly designed suspension system using a cam lock to maintain the required ground pressure through the travel range.
A double pivot pin at the centre of the machine offers 17 degrees of lateral movement.
In operation the suspension is also configured to adjust the cutter-bar angle as it moves over the ground, by tilting it up as it travels over a bump and down as it moves through a hollow, so maintaining uniform cutting height across the paddock.
At the rear the R3100 rear mo-co has a suspension system positioned above the central pivot point over the cutter-bed. This gives a wide range of movement and uses the Pro-Glide system springs to allow the mower to move back and up in an arc should any obstacles be encountered. This is further supplemented by a separate mechanical break-back unit for
MARK DANIEL
Irish unveil new hay machines
ALSO LAUNCHED at the Irish Ploughing Match was the McHale Orbital twin dispenser trailed wrapper.
While using a film application system similar to the flagship Fusion machine this one has interesting features for loading and accommodating differing bale sizes.
The loading arm swings through 90 degrees to hold the bale before lifting it onto the wrapping table, where a drop-down front roller reduces the required lift height to place the bale. Once loaded the lowered roller moves back into position to allow the wrap cycle to start.
The twin dispenser system can spin at up to 40rpm and apply four or six layers of film in 20 or 30 seconds. Output is maximised by a loading arm carrying a bale and then automatically transferring it to the table as it clears.
Once wrapped unloading is achieved by the rear table roller lowering to place the bale on the ground. The ability to adjust the working height of the table rollers allows the machine to accept bales of 1.00 to 1.45m diameter, while still applying film to the centre of the bale.
Expect to see this machine in NZ for the 2016-17 season.
www.powerfarming.co.nz
TWIN DISPENSER TRAILED WRAPPER
larger obstacles it might encounter.
In work, ground pressure is controlled hydraulically and displayed on a headstock mounted indicator gauge. For transport the rear unit folds vertically over centre to around 110 degrees to minimise transport width.
Graeme Leigh, general
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
32 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
NOT ALL DOOM AND GLOOM IN TRACTOR MARKET
TRACTOR SALES may be down this year but some pri-mary industry sectors offer encouraging opportunities, dealers say.
The tractor market continued to feel the effects of a depressed dairy economy, overall sales declining by around 14% vs the same period last year.
“Certainly dairy payouts have impacted traditional sales,” says Tractor and Machinery Association (TAMA ) president Mark Hamilton-Manns. “However, many customers are now choosing tractors with less expen-sive options to ensure continuing plant replacement.”
Most dairy-dominated markets have seen reduc-tions in sales volumes – Waikato down 19%, Taranaki 36% and Southland 31%.
“Although we expect tractor sales to lag behind last year, we are confident the buoyancy enjoyed in viticul-ture, beef and sheep, and contractors, will ensure we finish the year strongly with around 3200 unit sales,” Hamilton-Manns says.
“Marlborough’s burgeoning viticulture sector alone has created industry growth of around 7% and we expect this will mean increased demand for tractors.”
Hamilton-Manns says despite the reduction in over-all numbers, TAMA’s member companies keep intro-ducing new products and investing in parts support and technician training.
MARK DANIEL
AGCO’s winning trifectaBACK IN the 1970s Meat-loaf sang “two out of three aint bad”, but AGCO has gone one further at the recent Agritech-nica exhibition in Ger-many, winning three out of a possible four Tractor of the Year (TOTY) 2016 titles.
Awarded by a panel of journalists from 23 Euro-
pean countries, the over-all TOTY 2016 title was taken by the Fendt 1050 Vario, TOTY 2016 Best Utility by the new MF 5713 Sl, and the winner and Golden Tractor Design 2016 to the Valtra N174V.
Commenting on the trifecta, Martin Richenha-gen, chairman, president and chief executive of AGCO Corporation, said winning these awards was testament to the compa-
ny’s multi-brand strategy“It shows our depth of
technology in a range of market sectors, and rec-ognises our significant investment in R&D over the last decade.”
The judges noted that the overall winner, the Fendt 1050, is the worlds’ “most powerful trac-tor” with a conventional layout, and its introduc-tion to the market has cre-ated a new power segment for the industry. They also praised the new Vario-Drive system that pro-vides individual hydraulic drive to the front and rear axles, and likened the driving experience to that of a sophisticated saloon car.
The winner of the Best Utility category, the MF 5713 SDL (130hp) won praise for its compact dimensions and the visi-bility-enhancing sloping
hood, achieved by moving the Tier 4 SCR package to behind the cabin steps.
The third award, awarded for the design of the Valtra N174V,
impressed the judges for its “modern, compact and cool look”, which follows Valtra’s design philosophy of form following func-tion.
MARK DANIEL
Golden Tractor design winner Valtra N174V.
Best utility – MF 5713 SDL..
2016 TOTY – Fendt 1050 Vario.
RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 33
Take time to set up rather than fill upWITH THE silly, busy season about to happen – and with margins tighter than ever – it might be worth considering a few salient points to save fuel in the trusty farm tractor.
Here are ten top points to consider:
First, try to match power to the job and if possible shift up a gear while throttling back, thereby increasing the forward speed with less engine revs. Think about using economy PTO settings in light load situations as most tractors generally have more power than a job needs.
Stop picking the ‘favourite’ tractor if you have more than one. If possible use the smallest tractor available to do the job, but don’t go too small and make it work too hard.
Stop leaving tractors idling, as modern engines don’t need to allow the turbo to cool down. Get in the habit of switching
it off. Research has shown that most tractors will consume up to 5.5L/h at idle and fuel used at restart is only equivalent to 10 seconds idling time. Why do you think many modern cars are now automatically stopping and restarting engines in queuing traffic or urban situations?
Keep maintenance up to date and service regularly. For starters, clean oil prolongs engine life. By contrast dirty air filters cause poor airflow and incomplete combustion, hence the black smoke – unburnt fuel going up the exhaust pipe.
Aim to reduce unnecessary wheel slip: though a little is needed for a 4WD tractor to achieve the best traction,
too much is a waste of fuel. Aim for 9-11% on firm ground or 13-16% in soft or sandy situations for optimum grip
Keep tyres properly inflated according to load and speed and think about buying a good quality gauge. This alone will help prolong tyre life and achieve the best fuel economy. In busy periods, check at least once a week and ensure that any duals being used are matched for size, tread pattern and equal pressures. With implements it’s interesting to note that a trailer tyre run at minimum permissible pressure uses 15% more
fuel than one run at the maximum permissible value.
Add ballast to tractors sparingly to achieve traction. If not required remove any weights or water particularly during summer. One extra tonne of ballast consumes around 1L/h fuel to move it around.
Consider low-cost GPS systems to reduce in-field overlaps. Reducing these by 10% will result in 10% savings in fuels, fertiliser and spray and help reduce overall compaction figures in any paddocks.
Take the time to read operating manuals and set implements up accurately. Misaligned ploughs that ‘crab’ behind tractors increase tyre wear and can push fuel consumption up by 20%, and a plough
tilted over too far from vertical can cause increases of a further 10%.
If an implement needs a constant flow of hydraulic oil, spend
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Finally, this harvest be
safe and don’t take risks. Know the capabilities of your tractors and implements, but more importantly – know yourself.
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PUKEKOHE THE TRACTOR CENTRE LTD PH 09 238 7179
ROTORUA PIAKO TRACTORS LIMITED PH 07 345 8560
STRATFORD FIELD TORQUE TARANAKI LIMITED PH 06 765 8643
TAUPO TAUPO TRACTOR & MACHINERY LTD PH 07 378 4533
WHANGAREI BRYANT TRACTORS (1983) LTD PH 09 438 1319
SOUTH ISLANDASHBURTON JJ LIMITED PH 03 307 6031
BLENHEIM TRACTOR REPAIRS & SPARES LTD PH 03 572 5173
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
34 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
THE ANNUAL Canterbury A&P show is seen as the gateway to summer, so it’s good to see there’s still a place for town meets country and this year was no different with 100,000 people passing through the turnstiles over the three day event.
Even the weather couldn’t stop visitors; a bone-chilling 9oC on Wednesday was followed by rain on Thursday, before Friday showed signs of summer and the carparks began looking full.
Given that the region’s north is enduring a drought it
was encouraging to see livestock numbers holding up; cattle entries were up 10%, giving plenty of work for the handlers washing, blow-drying and primping their charges for the show ring.
The heavy metal fans weren’t forgotten either; a multitude of local machinery dealers showed high tech items with a lot of zeros on the price tickets, and low cost items that make life a bit easier onfarm.
General feeling amongst the trade was business had been good so far with tractor sales holding up, though some dairying areas had showed drops as high as 25%. The feeling was that year’s end might be leaner as
the relatively modern machinery fleet precluded any need to change unless
absolutely necessary. On the periphery
of the new technology, the local vintage vehicle societies displayed metal from as far back as the early 1900’s , and as recent as the 1990’s, including the MF135’s and Ford 4000’s many of us cut our teeth on.
There was plenty of equipment for handling cattle or sheep efficiently and safely, automatic tag reading and weighing and even an automated drench gun that adjusted its dose instantaneously depending on the animal’s
weight.Canterbury A&P is
staffed by 550 volunteers who keep people, livestock and exhibitors on track throughout the day.
One such stalwart, president Nicky Hutchinson, scored a double by becoming the show’s first female leader since the show began in 1863, and she was honoured by Christchurch City Council with a civic award for her work over the years in helping to put this event on the to-do list of many people – town or country.
Big machines like this Class tractor turned a few heads.
Farmers were interested in implements on display.
Show still draws a crowdMARK DANIEL
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RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2015
34 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS RURAL TRADER 35
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Phone 0800 625 826www.mckeeplastics.co.nz
❱❱ Accommodates up to 4 dogs❱❱ 6 individual air vents❱❱ Removable centre board❱❱ 2 lockable galvanised gates❱❱ In-house drainage❱❱ Tie down lugs on each side❱❱ Fits all wellside &
flatdeck utes (2 models)❱❱ Raised floor for insulation
$745 inclGST
$525 inclGST
SINGLE DOG BOX
• Ideal addition to your block• Grow vegetables all year round and reduce your grocery bill• Very affordable and easy to install• Totally NZ made by family business making tunnelhouses for 30 years• Range of models from 2m to 8m long
T/F 03 214 4262E [email protected]
www.morrifield.com
Tunnelhouses
Free Range & Barn EggsSUPPLIERS OF:• Nest boxes - manual or
automated• Feed & Drinking• Plastic egg traysQUALITY PRODUCTS MADE
IN EUROPE OR BY PPP❖ A trusted name in Poultry Industry
for over 50 years ❖
SHEEP JETTER
Over 1000 units soldDeep penetrationTotal body coverage2.5 litres per sheep
NO ONE BEATSOUR PRICE!
Manufactured
in NZ since 1980
* Price includes Davey Pump & Honda Motor* Freight free to nearest main centre
$5112.00 + GST
FLY OR LICE PROBLEMS?The magic eye sheepjetter since 1989
Quality construction and options • Get the contractors choice
07 573 8512 | [email protected] – www.electrodip.com
Featuring...• Incredible chemical economy• Amazing ease 1500+ per hour• Unique self adjusting sides• Environmentally and user friendly• Automatically activated• Proven effective on lice as well as fly• Compatible with all dip chemicals• Accurate, effective application
• ATV Carrier Mats • Exit/Entry Areas• Calf Trailers • Horse Floats & Trucks
• Weigh Platforms • Bale Mats • Comfort Mats for Wet & Dry Areas
• Utility Deck Matting
Phone: 0800 80 8570www.burgessmatting.co.nz
Rubber Safety Matting
DIRTY TANK WATER?
PH 0800 86 0016 | www.jder-cintropur.co.nz
• Water Filters• Water
Treatment & UV• Ideal for rainwater
suppliesSHOP
ONLINE
CRAIGCO SENSOR JET
P 06 835 6863 - www.craigcojetters.com
DEAL TO FLY AND LICE
• Cost Effective
• Complete Package
• Unbeatable pricing
• Performance Guaranteed
DOLOMITENZ’s fi nest BioGro certifi ed
Mg fertiliserFor a delivered price call...
0800 436 566
For details contact:
JULIE BEECH Ph 09-307 0399
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Helping grow the countryFreephone 0800 363 363 www.pggwrightson.co.nz
Experience is what really works out there.
Over 100 years of experience working throughout rural New Zealand has told us exactly what services customers need and expect in the rural insurance sector.
When it comes to insurance claim time, our focus is on honouring our commitments and giving you the protection and peace of mind you expect. No surprises, no delays.
Our service and claim history backs this up, as do thousands of satis� ed customers.
We’ll give you insurance that meets your needs.
Call 0800 363 363 for more information or to speak with a local Aon Insurance broker.
INDEPENDENCEWe’re not tied to a speci� c set of products, so we can negotiate the best policies, terms and claims outcomes for you.
SECURITYHaving a secure insurance programme is important. Our ability to access multiple suppliers and markets means we can minimise your exposure to risk.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE, LOCAL ADVICEYour insurance advice and support comes from people you know and trust, who live and work out there in your community.
WE’RE IN IT TOGETHERWe negotiate to get a quick result that works for you.