rural news 5 mar 2013

64
RURAL NEWS AGRIBUSINESS A compliance loan is being offered to help the balance of productivity and the environment . PAGE 23 MANAGEMENT A ‘Ewe 2’ strategy appears to be working in for a Wairarapa couple. PAGE 27 OPINION Dairy industry feels stuck between a rock and a hard place. PAGE 27 TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS MARCH 5, 2013: ISSUE 533 www.ruralnews.co.nz Dry till mid-March? REPOROA FARMER Kelvin Thomas was starting to feel the effects of the dry weather when Rural News visited him last week. “It’s the worst dry spell I’ve ever had in 25 years.” Thomas farms 176ha and is currently milking 500 cows – down from a peak of 550. He has been once-a-day milking for the last 10 days, when only two weeks prior he was milking every 16 hours. “The last few weeks there has been a dramatic change,” he says. “Eight weeks ago we were 35% above last season on a daily basis. Currently we are 5% behind.” More coverage on the growing drought around the country, pages 5-7. Tensions over soaring Fonterra share price FONTERRA IS confident a raft of mea- sures announced last week will ease farmer tensions over the soaring share price. The co-op has been under fire from some shareholders after its share price rose from a launch price of $5.50/share in November to $7.25/share. Young farmers planning to enter the indus- try and existing farmers wanting to lift their milk supply say they will strug- gle to stump up cash to buy additional shares and meet their share standard requirements. At last month’s Federated Farm- ers Dairy council meeting in North- land, delegates said some farmers were switching supply from Fonterra to other processors. Delegates described the high share price as untenable. Fonterra suppliers must own one share for every kgMS supplied to the co-op. Fonterra chairman John Wilson says this remains the co-op’s guiding principle. Wilson says he has empathy with farmers planning to grow milk supply. But he points out the share price is set by the market. He agrees for Fonterra to grow, it needs farmers to grow. But the share price is creating problems for young farmers; so is high price for cows and land, he says. “Milk is the lifeblood of our coop- erative and the five-point plan we have announced offers farmers more flexibil- ity to buy shares to match production,” he told Rural News. The co-op last week announced a bonus issue of one additional share or unit for every 40 held in April this year. It will also offer flexible contracts to give new and growing farmers more time and options to fully back their milk production with Fonterra shares. Wilson points out that under recent DIRA changes, independent proces- sors can no longer get 250 million litres of milk from the co-op. So they will look elsewhere, he says. “There will be lot of competition at the farmgate,” he says. Fonterra Shareholders Coun- cil chairman Ian Brown says the new measures will go “quite a long way” in addressing concerns about the share price. SUDESH KISSUN [email protected] DON’T EXPECT much rain until mid-March says Phillip Duncan of weatherwatch.co.nz. Duncan, who supplies specialist forecasts to a number of major cli- ents, including Fonterra, believes droughts will be declared in many parts of the country, but thinks they will be relatively brief. “Our take on the weather hasn’t changed since the end of spring. We are still predicting March will be dry to start with but we’ll gradually see rainmakers coming into the fore- cast. “One thing farmers can be posi- tive about is we don’t have anything driving this dry weather in particu- lar. We’ve had a series of big highs over us. It’s not like we’ve got El Nino which is forcing this weather on us - we are just stuck in a rut and eventually it’ll give way and the rain- makers will come back.” Duncan says it would be right to declare droughts given the condi- tions that have prevailed for several months. “It has been a dry summer for the upper North Island. Decem- ber might have been fairly cloudy and we certainly had a lot of drizzle around Christmas, but there wasn’t a lot of rain then. Some places such as Horowhenua and Kapiti have caught some rain, but the rain has missed the rest of us.” According to Duncan, the most likely date for the country to get rain is March 11 or 12. PETER BURKE [email protected] TO PAGE 3 WHAT EXACTLY IS IN YOUR BLEND? IF YOU’RE GUESSING, IT’S HARMING YOUR PRODUCTIVITY. Not all blends are created equal. Even the same blends can vary in their nutrients from one delivery to the next. And that spells disaster for a modern, high performance cow that needs consistency to achieve maximum productivity. Call us now to find out exactly what’s in your current blend and to discover how the affordable new AcuBlend range of feed supplements from Ingham deliver consistently better productivity … week after week, month after month, year after year. Take the guesswork out of blends. Call 0800 650 505 now! Talk to your Ingham rep or visit inghamfeeds.co.nz TRACTA40426-A PHOTO: TONY HOPKINSON

Upload: rural-newsgroup

Post on 22-Feb-2016

260 views

Category:

Documents


6 download

DESCRIPTION

Rural News 5 Mar 2013

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRalNEWS

agribusinessA compliance loan is being offered to help the balance of productivity and the environment . page 23

managementA ‘Ewe 2’ strategy appears to be working in for a Wairarapa couple. page 27 opinion

Dairy industry feels stuck

between a rock and

a hard place.page 27

to all farmers, for all farmers

mArch 5, 2013: IssuE 533 www.ruralnews.co.nz

Dry till mid-March?

rEPOrOA FArmEr Kelvin Thomas was starting to feel the effects of the dry weather when Rural News visited him last week. “It’s the worst dry spell I’ve ever had in 25 years.” Thomas farms 176ha and is currently milking 500 cows – down from a peak of 550. he has been once-a-day milking for the last 10 days, when only two weeks prior he was milking every 16 hours. “The last few weeks there has been a dramatic change,” he says. “Eight weeks ago we were 35% above last season on a daily basis. currently we are 5% behind.”more coverage on the growing drought around the country, pages 5-7.

Tensions over soaring Fonterra share priceFONTERRA IS confident a raft of mea-sures announced last week will ease farmer tensions over the soaring share price.

The co-op has been under fire from some shareholders after its share price rose from a launch price of $5.50/share in November to $7.25/share. Young farmers planning to enter the indus-try and existing farmers wanting to lift their milk supply say they will strug-gle to stump up cash to buy additional shares and meet their share standard requirements.

At last month’s Federated Farm-ers Dairy council meeting in North-land, delegates said some farmers were switching supply from Fonterra to other processors. Delegates described the high share price as untenable.

Fonterra suppliers must own one share for every kgMS supplied to the co-op. Fonterra chairman John Wilson says this remains the co-op’s guiding principle.

Wilson says he has empathy with farmers planning to grow milk supply. But he points out the share price is set by the market.

He agrees for Fonterra to grow, it needs farmers to grow. But the share price is creating problems for young farmers; so is high price for cows and land, he says.

“Milk is the lifeblood of our coop-erative and the five-point plan we have announced offers farmers more flexibil-ity to buy shares to match production,” he told Rural News.

The co-op last week announced a bonus issue of one additional share or unit for every 40 held in April this year.

It will also offer flexible contracts to give new and growing farmers more time and options to fully back their milk production with Fonterra shares.

Wilson points out that under recent DIRA changes, independent proces-sors can no longer get 250 million litres of milk from the co-op. So they will look

elsewhere, he says. “There will be lot of competition at the farmgate,” he says.

Fonterra Shareholders Coun-cil chairman Ian Brown says the new measures will go “quite a long way” in addressing concerns about the share price.

sudesh kissun

[email protected]

DON’T EXPECT much rain until mid-March says Phillip Duncan of weatherwatch.co.nz.

Duncan, who supplies specialist forecasts to a number of major cli-ents, including Fonterra, believes droughts will be declared in many parts of the country, but thinks they will be relatively brief.

“Our take on the weather hasn’t changed since the end of spring. We are still predicting March will be dry to start with but we’ll gradually see rainmakers coming into the fore-cast.

“One thing farmers can be posi-tive about is we don’t have anything driving this dry weather in particu-lar. We’ve had a series of big highs over us. It’s not like we’ve got El Nino which is forcing this weather on us - we are just stuck in a rut and eventually it’ll give way and the rain-makers will come back.”

Duncan says it would be right to declare droughts given the condi-tions that have prevailed for several months. “It has been a dry summer for the upper North Island. Decem-ber might have been fairly cloudy and we certainly had a lot of drizzle around Christmas, but there wasn’t a lot of rain then. Some places such as Horowhenua and Kapiti have caught some rain, but the rain has missed the rest of us.”

According to Duncan, the most likely date for the country to get rain is March 11 or 12.

peTer burke

[email protected]

To page 3

WHAT EXACTLY IS IN YOUR BLEND?IF YOU’RE GUESSING, IT’S HARMING YOUR PRODUCTIVITY.

Not all blends are created equal. Even the same blends can vary in their nutrients from one delivery to the next. And that spells disaster for a modern, high performance cow that needs consistency to achieve maximum productivity.

Call us now to find out exactly what’s in your current blend and to discover how the affordable new AcuBlend range of feed supplements from Ingham deliver consistently better productivity … week after week, month after month, year after year.

Take the guesswork out of blends.Call 0800 650 505 now!Talk to your Ingham rep or visit inghamfeeds.co.nz

TRAC

TA40

426-

A

Photo: tony hoPkinson

Page 2: Rural News 5 Mar 2013
Page 3: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

news 3

head office Top Floor, 29 Northcroft street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622

Phone: 09-307 0399 fax: 09-307 0122

Postal addressPO Box 3855, shortland street, Auckland 1140

Published by: rural News Group

Printed by: PmP Print

contacts

editorial: [email protected]

advertising material: [email protected]

rural news online: www.ruralnews.co.nz

subscriptions: [email protected]

ABc audited circulation 80,767 as at 30.06.2012

News�.............................. 1-19

Markets�.................... 20-21

agribusiNess�............22-24

HouNd, edNa�................... 26

CoNtaCts�......................... 26

opiNioN�....................... 26-29

MaNageMeNt�........... 30-34

aNiMal HealtH�........ 36-39

MaCHiNery aNd produCts�..................40-45

rural trader�.......... 46-47

issue 533www.ruralnews.co.nz

Brown is happy with the way TAF (trading among farmers) is unfold-ing. But he’s aware of concerns about the high share price and risk of cessa-tions. He points out the TAF market is one-sided as only investors are trading units.

Brown says things should improve when farmers start trading shares later this year. “We need share trading among farmers to kick in; it will happen, we need to give it time,” he told Rural News.

Brown believes the new contract options will bring some relief for new and existing suppliers. “The proposals go a long way to ensur-ing enduring farmer ownership and control of Fonterra. The revised con-tracts will enable farmers to come into the co-op without the issue of share price acting as a hindrance and ease the path to farmers becoming fully share-backed suppliers.”

From page 1

share tension

fonterra's 5-point plan• A bonus issue of one additional share or unit for

every 40 held on April 12, 2013.• A further supply offer enabling Fonterra

shareholders to sell the economic rights to some of their shares into the Fonterra shareholders’ Fund.

• A dividend reinvestment plan enabling shareholders and unit holders to elect to receive dividends in the form of shares or units.

• Flexible contracts to give new and growing farmers more time and options to fully back their milk production with Fonterra shares.

• New opportunities for winter milk supply contracts in the upper North Island to fuel Fonterra’s new uhT plant at Waitoa.

Join the information age and get a big return to harnessing with

Much more than a mark on the

sheep’s back

Join the Information Age with a Big Return to Harnessing. Reveal All with

EC

0055

195©

Talk to your vet today about ELEMENTAL Glass Boluses. They give up to six months release of elemental selenium and cobalt (for vitamin B12) in addition to elemental copper to overcome thiomolybdate right where its formed, in the rumen. Thiomolybdate results when molybdenum and sulphur combine and it is the greatest cause of copper related problems in cattle. Iron in the diet just adds to the problem. Treating late autumn/early winter is the best time to ensure young stock are well covered during their development and the fertility of cows is not compromised in the coming breeding season.ELEMENTAL users come back year after year. Following a huge increase in usage last season, talk of the benefits is spreading quickly.

Act now to secure your requirements!

Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, No. A9059. Restricted Veterinary Medicine. This product is available for purchase and use only under and in compliance with a veterinary authorisation.

For more information call

0800

Much morethan a mark on a

sheep’s back

Mixed response to plan from farmers

FONTERRA’S CAPITAL giveaway has left some shareholders furious and came too late to stop others signing with competitors for next season.

Claims by shareholders council chair Ian Brown that the five-point plan would be “welcomed by all Fon-terra shareholder farmers,” further inflamed feelings.

However others spoken to by Rural News were ambivalent about the move, or welcomed the attempt to ease the constraint on supply growth.

North Canterbury shareholder, Peter Schouten, reckons it’s “a nil sum”.

“It’s only 2.5% [of share capital]: I don’t think it will have a big impact on anything, including the share price.”

With shares at over $7 the cost of increasing supply “would be a bit of a turnoff for some,” while others might be tempted to cash in and supply competi-tors, as would new conversions, he adds.

TAF critic Leonie Guiney says farm-ers need to think through the long-term implications of the latest move, espe-

andreW sWaLLoW

[email protected]

cially the parallel issue of units to off-shore investors such CBA bank which holds 7% of the unit fund.

“If we can’t stop our board doing reg-ular share issues, it is simply a death by a thousand cuts of our co-operative.”

She questions whether sharehold-ers voting for TAF understood it would lead to unit traders effectively setting

the co-operative share price – “even though our board said it wouldn’t” – and the implications of a high share price on milk supply growth.

“Fonterra’s intrinsic value is depen-dent on having access to most of the milk, and sensible allocation of our capi-tal. This board is destroying farmer cap-ital and claiming the opposite.”

Happy harvest!

WHILE THE high pressure system dominating New Zealand’s weather in recent weeks is giving livestock farmers drought-induced headaches, for cropping farmers it’s a welcome contrast to last season’s stop-start harvest campaign. Here, Neil Barton takes Raffles wheat in his Massey Ferguson 865 just south of Timaru. “It’s running pretty well, in excess of 10t.” Onshore breezes were necessi-tating some drying, but with half his wheat still in the paddock as of late last week he wasn’t waiting for the weather. “When we get to the end of Feb we start to panic a bit!”

Wool offer finally gets over the line

pam Tipa

[email protected]

WOOLS OF New Zealand will now launch an international search for a chief executive having reached its required minimum target to kick off its strong-wool marketing initiative.

The capital raising closed last Monday bringing in 700 applications for shares totalling $6 million – well above the minimum $5 million required but short of the $10 million they hoped for.

“We are still pleased with the result. What this has allowed us to do is get started with a committed group of grow-ers with a pool of capital – the volume of

wool is very important at that 14.5 mil-lion kilos,” Wools of NZ chairman Mark Shadbolt told Rural News.

“The significance of that is that’s in excess of double that assumed in the prospectus so it’s a pleasing platform to start with.

“The first two jobs of the board are the appointment process of the chief executive and, secondly, at the same time to revise our financials that fit with the size of the company now we know the volume of wool and amount of capital.”

Shadbolt says it’s a great day for the industry and Wools of NZ. “It has pro-tected Wools of NZ and grower owner-

ship for the long term. And that will give our customers in the marketplace a lot of confidence that finally the ownership of Wools of NZ has been sorted out into a capital structure.”

The chief executive appointment could take three to five months, but they hope to do it in a shorter time. “We need to cast the net far and wide – not only in New Zealand but internationally because it’s an international person that will be needed to run this company.” They will ideally be based in Christchurch.

Shadbolt said it was nice “to move on from prospectuses and capital rais-ing and get on with a significant oppor-tunity for growers”.

Page 4: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

4 news

Rural mergers prove popularTWO MAJOR developments in New Zealand’s farmer-owned co-opera-tives went through last week.

In Invercargill, shareholders of CRT and Farmlands rubber-stamped the merger of the two rural supplies co-operatives at a comfir-matory special meeting.

Meanwhile, Ballance Agri-nutri-ents announced it’s taken full own-ership of feed firm Seales Winslow and farm technology business Farm-works.

The CRT/Farmlands merger means shareholders collectively will get a bonus share issue of $32 million from distribution of retained earn-

ings and unallocated reserves in the two co-operatives prior to merging.

A further $8 million of interim bonus rebates relating to trading July– December 2012 will be paid in a 60/40 share/cash split.

The nationwide farm supplies co-op will be called Farmlands and brings together 54,000 members, at least 1000 staff, and 47 North Island and 31 South Island stores. Com-bined historic sales were $2 billion/year.

Farmlands chairman and chair of the establishment board over-seeing the merger, Lachie Johnston, says the board and management will

move quickly to ensure that merger gains, forecast at $18m/year by 2015, will be captured on behalf of share-holders. The merger took effect March 1.

Ballance Agri-nutrients’ move steps up its shareholding from 51% in Seales Winslow and Farmworks to 100%. “Farm nutrients and technol-ogy are clearly two growing areas of the market and a natural fit with our core business,” says Ballance chief executive Larry Bilodeau.

Seales Winslow will continue to operate as an independent com-pany under the direction of Graeme Smith.

SUGGESTIONS THAT GPS-guided fertiliser

spreading will deliver “major savings” miss a swathe of more funda-mental problems with nutrient application

in New Zealand, says a farmer with much exper-tise in the area.

Professor Ian Yule’s comments in Rural News

Throwing fertiliser down the drain?

andreW sWaLLoW

[email protected]

even the best fertiliser spreaders can’t cope with some of the poor quality product supplied, says Jeremy talbot, who’s researched the issue more than most.

(Feb 19) prompted South Canterbury grower Jeremy Talbot to fire off a list of more urgent matters to attend to. First is fertiliser spreadability, for which there’s no standard in New Zealand.

“I tested samples of superphosphate from the two big players over a year and in my machine, which is one of the best available, the spreading capability varied from 15m to 44m for product of supposedly the same class,” Talbot told Rural News.

In the past two years any farmer who has used Ammo 31 will have seen serious stripping in pad-docks, he adds.

“Even urea, from both companies, has had issues. Some samples have had up to 30% fines in them.”

While he acknowl-edges Yule’s assertion that capability of some spread-ers is part of the problem, such product variability

makes a mockery of calls for more sophisticated machinery testing and reg-ulations.

The variability isn’t just between batches: it’s also between truckloads as more fines come from the centre of heaps in stores.

“We haven’t got a hope in hell of being able to con-form to all the looming environmental regulatory requirements if we don’t know how products will spread and/or how the rate will vary.”

While the problems relate to both main sup-pliers’ products, for years he’s tried to get his co-operative, Ravensdown,

to address his quality con-cerns, going so far as to research the issues here and overseas, and provide solutions “on a plate.”

“We even had 22t of New Zealand fert shipped to Denmark for official spreadability testing. They found our superphosphate was so weak in the granule and caused so much dust, it clogged the test centre’s air filters in one run!”

He also helped develop a spiral drop system into stores so fines were more evenly spread, but Ravens-down abandoned its use six or seven years ago.

Supplying the co-op with European spread-

ability test kits consisting of a sieve box and gran-ule strength tester hasn’t helped either.

“ The European stan-dard is for granules to withstand a 6-8kg crush-ing force. Tests on Ravens-down super from Hornby and Ravensbourne found one to have a crush strength of 3kg, the other under 1kg. They’d said they were identical.”

Talbot believes both co-operatives need to refocus on their core func-tion of providing New Zealand farmers’ nutri-ent needs. “Not feed, drenches, agchems or Aus-tralia.”

testing tightened - ravensdownrAVENsDOWN GENErAL manager supply, shane harold, says physical specifications, testing programmes and supplier arrangements have been tightened over the past year.

“As part of this process, we conduct tests on all mainline products before they are shipped and after delivery for both physical and chemical quality.”

however, there are many aspects affecting fertilisers’ physical proper-ties – hydroscopicity, handling, storage, etc – not to mention conditions when

spreading such as wind and humidity, he points out.

“That’s why we have an established complaints procedure where investi-gations are carried out and root cause analysis conducted and recommenda-tions followed…

“We are always evaluating prod-ucts, new technology and changes to our systems to improve the efficiency of fertiliser for farmers who continue to need access to fertiliser at lowest sustainable cost.”

AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL FARM OR IRRIGATION STOCKIST PHONE 06 357 8562

WILSONwww.wilsonplastics.co.nz

POLYETHYLENE LIQUID STORAGE TANKS

The Wilson Tank range was originally designed to replace galvanised Tanks and has now expanded to include eleven tanks. Ideal for bach’s, houses, implement and bore water. They catch the water which would otherwise be down the drain. They come with leafstrainer, 20mm outlet and 50mm overflow seal. The standard colour is Mist Green other colours are available at an extra cost.

The height of the TT 1200 makes it ideally suited for gravity fed soaker hose.

ALL NEW

We have produced a new TS260 (260L) tank to our range. Basically a squat T450 which is ideal for transport-ing water and also as an emergency water supply.

Page 5: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

news: the big dry 5

drought – it’s official!NORTHLAND WAS declared officially in drought last week and declarations for Waikato and Hawke’s Bay were pending as Rural News went to press.

The Minister for Primary Industry Nathan Guy announced a “medium-scale event” in Northland as MetSer-vice said another anticyclone was due to settle across the country this week with “no significant rain on the horizon”.

DairyNZ predicts milk production will be down 15% in the North Island for February accounting for $64 mil-lion less milk revenue to North Island farmers for the month – on top of $50 million less through lower milk prices.

Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills says with widespread adverse con-ditions for agriculture there’s no justifi-cation for the high New Zealand dollar.

Guy said the drought declarations were “recognition that we are now beyond what is a normal dry summer, and into an extreme climatic event”.

“The declaration of a medium-scale event means that extra Government funding will now be available to coor-dinate support through local organisa-tions like the Rural Support Trusts. In extreme cases there will also be Rural Assistance Payments (RAPs) available to farmers in severe hardship.”

Head of the Waikato drought com-mittee Peter Buckley, a farmer himself, confirmed to Rural News late last week they were on the verge of declaring a drought.

Feedback from farmers is that they are getting desperate. The Waikato had been well set up for feed but that will run out on average in the next four weeks. Some farmers have dried off and are looking for support.

Buckley says farmers are worried about price spikes for hay, silage and other feed. He has been told orders of palm kernel for March have not come in and there will not be much palm kernel until April.

Many farmers were caught out by

pam Tipa

[email protected]

FONTERRA CHAIRMAN John Wilson says farmers are facing challenging con-ditions from the prolonged dry weather.

He says not many farmers are think-ing about increasing production or the share price; they are directing all efforts to getting through the big dry.

“We are aware of the challenging conditions in some parts of the coun-try,” he told Rural News.

Until two months ago, milk produc-tion for 2012-13 season was 6% ahead of last season. But Wilson says lack of rain has affected milk production, now expected to be only 1% higher than the 2011-12 record season.

He says milk production is growing in Southland and Canterbury where irrigation is common. But production is down in the North Island.

The co-op has not changed its 2012-13 forecast payout range of $5.90 - $6.00/kgMS before retentions for a fully shared-up farmer.

Shareholders Council chairman Ian Brown says given the negative effect the weather has had on production over the past few months the council is com-fortable with the announced forecast payout.

Milk flows run dry

how quickly the drought had come on, Buckley says. Good rain had fallen in December and some in January but air and soil temperatures were warmer. Drains on his farm are dry that had never been dry before and others were reporting the same about their own ponds. “Water is becom-ing crucial in areas that rely on ponds,” he says.

Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills says dairy production is not just fall-ing in some key areas but starting to crash.

“When you put this effect on dairy together with the way meat and fibre farm-ers have rapidly destocked over summer, New Zealand’s two leading exports are under the gun,” he says.

“It needs to be remembered that the North Island is now where most of New Zealand’s sheep and beef cattle are located.”

He says very dry areas include North Island’s East Coast, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and the top of the South Island. Taranaki, West Coast and even Southland were also of concern. Horticulture was also starting to find things tough.

Pictured, late last week, a murchison transport rig heading to rangipo Prison farm – just south of turangi – collecting lambs to take back to the south island. mark coles of ray coles transport – based in mangaweka, south of taihape – says he is currently “giving away” up to 10 unit loads of stock a day that he can’t handle – all out of the taihape region. Photo – Bernard lilBurn

sow SF Finesse Q , the tall fescue that performs where ryegrass struggles SF Finesse Q is available from leading seed retailers nationwide

Where ryegrass is strugglingsow SF Finesse Q tall fescue

www.seedforce.co.nz

Talk to your vet today about ELEMENTAL Glass Boluses. They give up to six months release of elemental selenium and cobalt (for vitamin B12) in addition to elemental copper to overcome thiomolybdate right where its formed, in the rumen. Thiomolybdate results when molybdenum and sulphur combine and it is the greatest cause of copper related problems in cattle. Iron in the diet just adds to the problem. Treating late autumn/early winter is the best time to ensure young stock are well covered during their development and the fertility of cows is not compromised in the coming breeding season.ELEMENTAL users come back year after year. Following a huge increase in usage last season, talk of the benefits is spreading quickly.

Act now to secure your requirements!

Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, No. A9059. Restricted Veterinary Medicine. This product is available for purchase and use only under and in compliance with a veterinary authorisation.

For more information call

0800

Much more than a mark on the

sheep’s back

Join the Information Age with a Big Return to Harnessing. Reveal All with

EC

0055

196©

"I used the double tag system with FDX tags for lambs last year and was impressed. Infection around the tags was not an issue, and retention was excellent with no tags

lost. The tags read well and in my experience TagFaster offers the most." Hamish Bielski, Sheep Genetics Manager, Mount Linton Station, Southland

No more loading individual tags Easy feed 20-tag strips. Next tag auto loads when tagger is fired. Fast and simple to reload with next tag strip Visual, electronic (HDX or FDX) or alternating for double tagging

Earfully Amazing!

0800

World Leading Automation of Tagging

* Tags available in Orange, Yellow, Blue, Purple, Green, Red, Pink, Black & White.

• Laser printing on both sides available.

Available from all leading vet/farm supply stores

[email protected]

TM

Small piercing “cut” hole leaves little chance for infection. The fine pin and auto release on tagger to avoid ripping the ear make TagFaster "animal friendly” and great for lambs. The smaller tag size means less to get caught and better retention.

Fast and fun - tag over 400 animals per hour per operator!

Available as HDX, FDX, visual or double tags

Page 6: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

6 news: the big dry

Those who can hold lambs will do well

THOUGH THERE’S a rush for process-ing now, there’s a ‘big hole’ coming in the sheep meat market for farmers who can hang on until rain comes, says Beef + Lamb NZ director James Parsons.

A meat company has told Parsons that there soon won’t be lambs left in the North Island. “So if you have stock and can keep feeding them, you are in the box seat. As soon as we get some decent rain across the North Island, things are going to turn around rapidly. But it will be too late for a lot of farmers unfortunately.”

Parsons says some sheep farmers are accepting very little liveweight going on right now, knowing that if they’ve got stock on hand when it does rain “they will actually be in a good position because people will be wanting them. It’s just who can hold on the longest really.”

Broadly speaking, the South Island has grass, the North Island is doing it tough. “That is affecting farmers in all the usual ways of dry weather conditions in the North Island: lack of feed which in turn drives a lot of things. There is a struggle

to get space at meat processors so they’ve dropped their prices.”

Processors are booked up and it’s a challenge to get stock in. “A lot of guys have been caught out wanting to move stock but having to wait for space so that has been an even greater frustration.

“The ones who acted early are in a stronger position because they have got in quickly but they got stock killed at lighter weights so it has been an unusual season.

“A lot of farmers on the sheep side are killing lambs at lighter weight and get-ting caught out on a few that are under-weight; some of them drop under that 14kg or 13.6kg depending on what com-pany they supply.

“Then you end up just about giving them away. That’s the end product of trying to get as many off the farm as pos-sible. The problem is the store market is just terrible on lamb at the moment.”

Parsons says farmers are doing a few things – a lot of them shipping to the South Island where there is grass. Dairy farmers have also started drying off and culling and that also affects the slaugh-ter capacity and feed pricing – “the usual story of supply and demand”.

pam Tipa

[email protected]

Landcorp feels the burn

Landcorp says it’s been badly hit by the drought in the central North Island – on farms north-east of Taupo near Reporoa.

Chief executive Chris Kelly told Rural News he expects dairy production to be down by as much as 60% in April and that milking may cease in that month.

Kelly says he’s never seen the soil moisture so low. “We keep track of soil moisture conditions and I saw some figures the other day showing it’s really dry…. The miti-gating circumstances are that the cows are gener-ally in good order, because things were good until Christmas and we’ve got a bit of spare feed. But the soil moisture is as low as we’ve known it for many many years…. We’re start-ing to milk once a day we

are drying off some of our cows early.”

No cows are being moved out of the region but they are shifting cows around their farms, Kelly says. “I was on one of the farms the other day and we‘ve got one not too badly affected so we are shifting some cows there. We have a lot of supple-mentary feed which is good because we had a lot of conserved feed going into the season and that has helped,” he says.

Despite the extreme dry Kelly is confident they can manage their way through though produc-tion will be down on last year. Landcorp has a con-tract price for PKE, but Kelly says he wouldn’t be surprised if the spot market price was up given the present situation.

Landcorp also has sheep farming operations in the area where the stock are affected as badly, if not

worse, as the cows. “The advantage with sheep is we just de-stock them. We’ve shipped eight or nine semi-trailer loads of lambs from the north to the South Island in the last month or six weeks and that will continue.”

The interesting thing about the current drought is the “suddenness and the extreme nature of it,” Kelly says. “We’ve just not had any rain to speak of for… nine weeks or more. We’re at the stage now where it’s as bad as I’ve ever known it. We had a good start to the season which helped and cow condition is good and that helps. But right now soil moistures are as low as I’ve ever seen since we began farming in

the area.”Kelly says Landcorp’s

strategy is to keep the cows in good condition, with the objective of making sure they maintain a condition score of 4.5 or greater going into drying off. “The main thing is to protect those cows going into winter.”

peTer burke

[email protected]

@rural_news

facebook.com/ruralnews

chris kelly

Promotional off er runs from 1 February until 31 March 2013 at participating Suzuki dealers or while current stocks last.

Advertised prices are exclusive of GST. Cash back amount includes GST.

KingQuad LT-F400/LT-A400 2X4

$8,696 EX GST

KingQuad LT-F400F 4X4 Manual

$10,870 EX GST

Suzuki’s famous Cashback

promotion is back and

your dealer is standing

by to give you some hard

cash back on these great

Suzuki farm bikes! So get

down to your dealer, get

a new Suzuki and a back

pocket full of cash!

200DOLLARS

TF125 Mudbug

$3,387 EX GST

300DOLLARS

DR200SE Trojan

$5,039 EX GST

KingQuad LT-A750XPW 4X4 Auto

$15,213 EX GST FITTED WITH WARN

WINCH

0800 SUZUKI | WWW.SUZUKI.CO.NZ

promotus 4807

Page 7: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

news: the big dry 7

hawke’s bay empty as the dry bites

HAWKE’S BAY is empty of stock says Bruce Wills, a local and the national president of Federated Farmers.

He told Rural News con-voys of semi-trailers and trucks have been taking stock out of the district, many to greener pastures in the South Island, some to meat processing plants down south because local ones can’t keep up with demand.

Both the lamb and ewe kills in the North Island are 40% ahead of the same period last year, Wills says.

“When you drive around parts of Hawke’s Bay you can go some dis-tance and see no sheep and no cattle. Everything’s gone. It’s a bit heartbreak-ing in many respects, but what’s that’s telling me is that farmers are practising good management.

“They have learned from previous droughts in 2008/09 when we had these sort of conditions. You don’t hang about and hope - you plan forward and are constantly match-ing feed supply to feed demand. If feed supply is not keeping up then in most cases what farmers have chosen to do this year is to de-stock or in the case of dairy, they are bringing in feed.”

Wills says he hasn’t had a single call from a farmer complaining about the weather. “Sure it’s hurt-ing and it’ll have an impact on balance sheets, but farmers have got on and done what they need to do. It’s very heartening for me that people have responded really early. They have been de-stock-ing for months and have been planning forward,” he says.

Wills says he talked to one farmer who’s been in the Waipukurau area for 60 years and he says he has to go back in his records to 1982/83 to find a time when there has been as little rainfall as there is now.

“Some of the guys in Central Hawkes Bay haven’t had a decent rain since October 2012 and that’s what caught out some of those people. They didn’t have a very good spring and so they came into the summer period with low covers with the hope that it might be a decent summer, but of course it hasn’t been.”

Wills is aware of the problems all around the country including, sur-prisingly, the West Coast of the South Island which hasn’t had rain for some time. He says one chal-lenge of the drought is its patchiness. The odd rogue shower has given a percep-

peTer burke

[email protected]

ThE DrOuGhT is starting to bite in many parts of manawatu and horowhenua says Federated Farmers manawatu/rangitikei provincial president and dairy farmer Andrew hoggard.

The situation is approaching that of 2008/09 and is especially bad in the rangitikei district. In some parts of horowhenua, close to the hills, the situation is not as bad as on the manawatu plains.

hoggard says if it doesn’t rain in the next two weeks it will have quite an impact and he’s having to dry cows off.

“I have got a plan and I am not at the stage where I am pulling my hair out. The challenge is if it goes longer because it will impact production. Even at this stage I am supposedly ahead for the season, just 1% ahead for the month but it’s all going to come crashing down and we’ll end being behind for the season.”

hoggard says the drought will have an economic impact on rural towns as some farmers close their cheque books.

“The only good news is that central Districts field days is a week earlier and that might mean it will rain.”

manawatu too!

tion of green to some areas and Wills thinks it could be another week or two before any drought is offi-cially declared.

The drought will have

a significant economic effect, he says. And adding to those woes, sheep prices are about a third less than one year ago. Many lamb weights are also lower. “A

good number of farms are down in income 20-30% from a year ago. As anyone knows, if you take a 20% hit in your income it takes a bit of adjusting to.”

That’s what works out here.

Another suit from the big smoke is the last thing you need.

Farming’s a serious business, so you’ve probably already got a

handful of advisers from the city. But when it comes to insurance,

the city is the last place you’ll want to look. You need someone

who understands life on the land like we do, someone who can

give you the benefi t of advice learnt from over 100 years.

Ask around about us, or for some advice call 0800 366 466.

FMG

0213

Page 8: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

8 news

dCd scare blows over

Feds pressured over view on swaps

A PREDICTION made in Rural News on February 5 that the DCD issue will blow over in two weeks appears to have been correct. Tests in late February found no traces of DCD in milk collected from New Zealand farms after mid Novem-ber 2012.

The Ministry for Primary Indus-tries says no traces of DCD were found in New Zealand milk after mid-Novem-ber last year; about 2000 samples had been collected since June.

“MPI and the New Zealand dairy industry have conducted voluntary testing of New Zealand dairy products to build a comprehensive picture of the presence of DCD in New Zealand’s milk supply,” MPI director-general Wayne McNee says.

McNee says they released the core findings to be as open as they could with markets and customers, “despite

the fact the quantities of DCD found in our dairy products create absolutely no food safety risk”.

Nearly 2000 samples of dairy prod-ucts have been tested from all the major dairy companies. Testing has specif-ically targeted dairy products using milk collected during the New Zealand spring last year from the 5% of dairy farmers who used DCD on pastures.

As expected, minute traces of DCD have been found in various dairy prod-ucts already in the supply chain from a variety of companies. However, there remains no food safety risk; all traces have been well below the European Commission’s daily intake level for DCD.

“Importantly, tests on products made from milk collected from farms after mid-November show no traces of DCD at all, ”McNee says.

FEDERATED FARMERS is facing calls to do more for farmers affected by inter-est rate swaps.

Rural News under-stands that some Fed-erated Farmers dairy executives are unhappy with the board’s stance on the issue. Feds presi-dent Bruce Wills has come under fire for saying farm-ers should take respon-sibility for their own actions.

Delegates at the Feds Dairy Council meet-ing, late last month in the Bay of Islands, called

sudesh kissun

[email protected]

for greater support for affected farmers. Some described Wills’ com-ments as negative.

A remit moved by West Coast dairy presi-dent Richard Reynolds saying the council did not support the board’s posi-tion on swaps, was passed at the council meeting. It urged the board to push for an inquiry.

Reynolds says though farmers were responsi-ble for signing swap agree-ments with banks, he wants a Commerce Com-mission inquiry into the way the product was sold. “Any inquiry should look at the pressure placed on farmers to accept swaps. Back then banks were coming to farmers telling them they had high equity and should borrow more.”

Taranaki dairy presi-dent Derek Gibson says one farmer in his region was paying $7000 extra interest every month under the swap agree-ment. “The issue is caus-ing concern among members and we are get-

ting calls from farmers. While we are not seek-ing financial help, we want an inquiry to look at the way banks were signing on farmers for swaps. Farmers believe they were duped.”

Feds dairy chair Willy Leferink believes about 50% of dairy farmers have signed up for swaps.

Wills said, in Novem-ber last year, Fed’s had asked the Commerce Commission to look into swaps and how they were sold. “It is fair to say we have received a number of inquiries from members and even non-members regarding swaps.

“Speaking as a former banker [I can say] swaps are incredibly compli-cated instruments. Cer-tainly you only go into them after independent advice to ensure they are appropriate to your needs. The issue is less the prod-uct and more the way they were sold, hence [our request to] the Commerce

Commission.”The swaps were sold

in 2006-07 by some banks to farmers as insurance against interest rates – and hence floating-rate farm mortgages – rising rapidly, farmers say. But when interest rates dropped, the farmers who had bought the swaps were left locked in to high interest rates they could not escape without paying hefty break fees. Already heav-ily indebted, some farmers lost their farms because of the swaps.

A Commerce Com-mission spokeswoman told Rural News it had received complaints. “We are making an assess-ment of the information received. No decision has been made regarding a full investigation.”

“it is fair to say we have received a number of inquiries from members and even non-members regarding swaps.”

– Bruce Wills

fed’s president Bruce Wills.

ALPINE CLEARSPAN SHEDS™

BUY ALPINE, BUY PEACE OF MINDPhone now for your FREE Brochure pack

✓ Bird proof

✓ Free delivery nationwide

✓ Best value

✓ Best service

✓ Galvanized box section rafters

0800 428 453www.alpinebuildings.co.nz

Page 9: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

GUESS WHO’S TURNING 75?

www.75thbirthday.co.nz

ww

w.75thbirthday.co.nz

Page 10: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

10 news

almost everybody happyPrImArY INDusTrIEs minister Nathan Guy has welcomed the new accord saying it’s a step forward and shows the dairy industry is serious about improving its practices.

“Annual reporting on progress and independent auditing will give this accord more transparency and accountability. It’s pleasing to see the dairy industry taking leadership on this important issue.”

Federated Farmers has committed to the accord as a ‘supporting partner’. Dairy chair Willy Leferink says the new accord is different because there are commitments right across the industry to ensure improvements happen on farm. “Farmers are not only going to be involved in supporting change but will deliver it by meeting these targets.”

Fonterra shareholders council chairman Ian Brown says the accord is a fantastic result and tangible conformation of the hard work done by farmers.

But Forest and Bird says it’s disappointed at the number of farmers still mistreating waterways after a decade of the clean streams Accord. spokesperson Kevin hackwell says he hopes the lessons from that accord will be carried over to the new accord.

Fonterra fronts up to farmers

FONTERRA WILL this week hold the first of 50 meetings with farmer sup-pliers on the new Sus-tainable Dairying Water Accord.

This partnership between the Dairy Com-panies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ) and DairyNZ replaces the Clean Streams Accord which expired last year.

Federated Farmers fully supports the new accord and has signed on as ‘friends’. Regional coun-cils, government agencies, fertiliser and irrigation industries and iwi are likely to do the same.

The new agreement

covers riparian planting, nutrient management, effluent management, water use management and conversions. One of the specific promises in the new accord is that 90% of all dairy cattle on the milking platform will be excluded from water-ways by 31 May 2014 and 100% by May 2017.

The new accord will require farmers to better manage nitrogen and phosphorous though an industry wide monitor-ing and support system. They’ll also have to comply with regional council effluent rules and improve water efficiency in irrigation systems and around their cow sheds. Farmers doing conver-

sions will have to meet ‘good practice standards’.

The chairman of DCANZ and Fonterra director Malcolm Bailey told Rural News the big dif-ference is that all dairy companies are involved, whereas the old Clean Streams Accord was a Fon-terra initiative supported by a number of other agen-cies – a critical point,

Bailey says.“Farmers have done a

good job in raising their game. Maybe that wasn’t a perception shared by some but I certainly think it is, because over the life of the accord the rules farmers have had to work against changed signifi-cantly in becoming a lot tougher.”

Bailey says all the com-panies agree on the direc-tion of the new accord and the desired outcomes. Though each company

peTer burke

[email protected]

may handle things slightly differently the result will be the same.

Fonterra and DairyNZ managers will front the Fonterra consulta-tion meetings. The sub-stance of the accord is not expected to change, but individuals’ ideas may improve the way it is man-aged, Bailey says.

DairyNZ chairman John Luxton says the new accord will take effect from the start of this year’s dairy season and is

malcolm Bailey

Work Smarter

www.kawasaki.co.nz 0800 4 Kawasaki (0800 452 9272)

IDE

ATIO

N-K

MD

0027

-A

4 piece tool pack free with models Stockman or KVF300 2x4.

Buy a Kawasaki today

W

wwwww kaawaasaaki coo nz 008800 44 Kaawwasa

and we’ll tool you

up with this 4 pce

Kawasaki package

»Includes

: 185mm

Circular Saw,

Cordless Drill

&

Impact Driver

Kit,

125mm Disc G

rinder.

Retail value $4

89.

Offer available

from 4th Fe

b ends 31st M

arch 2013.

ABSOLUTELY

FREE

broader and more com-prehensive than its prede-cessor.

“All dairy compa-nies and DairyNZ will be accountable for [the new accord’s] commitments and farmer uptake will be supported through supply contracts and support pro-grammes,” Luxton says.

The new accord refers to the need for farmers grazing dairy cows away from the milking plat-form to ensure they don’t get into streams. Luxton believes councils will before long require this as

a matter of course, posing problems to farmers, given that cows grazing off-farm in winter can be doing so on hilly country difficult to fence.

The new accord is based on some proposals thrashed out by the Land and Water Forum (LAWF) as a ‘collaborative model’. Environmental groups have been consulted as part of the process.

The accord will not replace rules set in place by councils, but in some cases it will be identical to such rules.

“farmers have done a good job in raising their game. maybe that wasn’t a perception shared by some but i certainly think it is.” – Malcolm Bailey

Page 11: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

PERFORMANCEUNDER

PRESSURE.

PW

S 1

103Need more feed? Contact your local seed retailer,

go to www.pggwrightsonseeds.com or Freephone 0800 805 505.

Grasslands Kamo perennial ryegrass is a diploid perennial ryegrass containing AR37 novel endophyte suitable for

environments with high insect pressure. Grasslands Kamo perennial ryegrass will perform well under a variety of

grazing management systems.

PWS 1103 Kamo Press Rural News 390x265_ƒ.indd 1 2/21/13 3:32 PM

@rural_newsfacebook.com/ruralnews

Page 12: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

12 newsMissed the boat? Aussie dairy farmers

told not to blame supermarkets

AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST dairy processor says farmers must stop blaming the supermarkets for poor farmgate returns.

Murray Goulburn chief executive Gary Helou says processors must take the blame; they are guilty of failing to effectively market milk.

He told the Australian Dairy Farmers Conference in Queensland last week that milk is being over-taken by water due to better mar-keting.

“Just take a look at the level of innovation; water bottles are coming in all shapes, with handles and sprayers.

“What have we done? When did you last see a sexy looking bottle of milk on the supermarket shelf? Let’s not blame Woolworths and Coles. It’s our fault.”

Queensland dairy farmers are blaming the supermarket milk price war for lower farmgate returns. Coles upped the stakes in January 2011 when it cut the price of house-brand milk to $2 for two litres. Woolworths matched the move immediately.

But speaking from Dubai via a video link, Helou told farmers the supermarket giants are important to the dairy industry and it’s wrong to have a go at them. “They are impor-tant to us and we must look after them; you can bash me and other processors.”

It’s up to processors to imagine a better product to excite consumers to buy more milk, boosting returns to farmers. Murray Goulburn plans to introduce multipacks of long life

milk, similar to slabs of Coke and liquor available at retailers.

According to Helou, Murray Goulburn, as the biggest processor in the country, is taking the lead in lifting the image of milk among con-sumers. But he warned the indus-try against focussing only on the domestic market and exporting sur-plus products.

The days of exporting surplus after meeting the demand from Coles and Woolworths are over, he says. “Today’s consumers in emerg-ing markets don’t want surplus.”

He says Australian dairy proces-sors have been to slow in overseas markets compared to major global players like FrieslandCampina and Arla who have established brands. Both FrieslandCampina and Arla have 20-30 staff working in Dubai, a hub in the growing Middle Eastern market. Murray Goulburn opened its Dubai office last week and has two staff there.

To meet the grow-ing demand from emerging markets in Asia and Middle East, MG also needs to invest in new technology or risk being side-lined by the likes of Fonterra.

MG is spend-ing A$200m to upgrade its manu-facturing technol-ogy. “If we don’t do this, we might as well give the game away,” says Helou.

THE AUSTRALIAN dairy industry missed the boat to revamp its dairy industry like New Zealand did 10 years ago, says Murray Goulburn chief execu-tive Gary Helou.

Helou says the New Zealand Government’s decision to force the formation of Fonterra and follow it up with free trade deals has paid handsome dividends.

But while New Zealand’s dairy

industry flourished, the Australian industry has struggled through a lack of ambition, he says.

“In the last 1o years as a country, our milk production slipped from 11bL to 9bL. At the same time New Zealand lifted its production from 12bL to 19bL,” he says

“Something happened in New Zealand but not here. I can only applaud what they did.”

SUDESH KISSUN

[email protected]

Gary Helou

www.nait.co.nz | 0800 NAIT ID (0800 624 843)

Find us at site 31-32

• Register for NAIT

• Learn your obligations

• Find out how to use the NAIT system

Visit us at the South Island Agricultural Field Days for all your NAIT enquiries:

“Five years on, the heifers are now a much bigger size – as a result of rearing them in the FlexiTunnel... easy to work with and the calves seem to be very comfortable in them... putting their energy into growth and development. No disease during the past five years... appreciate how easy the tunnels make the job. I would not go back to the old way – this is so easy and they do so much better.”– Iain McGillivray, Reporoa

FlexiTunnel

FlexiTunnelNew Zealand’s best known and most successful Calf Rearing Concept in use since 2001

www.flexitunnel.co.nz

See us at the South Island Field Days20-22 March 2013

Site 829-830

Page 13: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

“We have recently seen some conversions com-pleted and a few more new conversions have started – a bit of action and con-tinuation of that growth in the dairy sector.”

ASB’s rural market share is 14.3%, has increased by 1% in last 12 months and “we would

like to see that continue to grow”.

On the issue of the dry weather, Heer, origi-nally from Otago, says at least Southland is having a favourable year, but there have been a few challeng-ing seasons when the boot has been on the other foot – when Southland

has struggled while the weather was favourable to the rest of the country.

“But certainly it is a bit of a crunch time over the next few weeks,” he says. “The pressure is starting to build a bit more on feed and managing stock con-dition and keeping an eye towards feed levels and

animal condition going into winter and then thinking about next season.”

news 13

NAIT levy cutTAG AND slaughter levies that fund NAIT will fall 18% and 25% on March 8 subject to a consultation which closes March 1.

NAIT chief executive Russell Burnard told Rural News the ahead-of-schedule cuts are possible because of a better than expected financial position.

“The costs are slightly lower than budgeted but mainly it’s been a faster purchase rate of tags by farm-ers than anticipated.”

Feds Dairy chair Willy Leferink says any cut is “very good news” but that dairy remains “hard done by” under the scheme given dairy farmers contribute 53.5% of the industry cost of the scheme, to beef ’s 44.5%, and deer’s 2%, yet get less value from it, given traceability is less important for grinding beef.

Burnard says the short consultation period and implementation date is to get cuts included in tag prices before farmers start ordering for calving.

“We’ve made it clear we expect [the 20c/tag cut] to be passed on and not just pocketed by the middle-man or tag manufacturer.”

ASB’s rural head ‘Heer’ to help

ASB general manager rural Mark Heer says global trends are favourable.

GLOBAL GROWTH opportunities for New Zealand agriculture will continue, says ASB’s gen-eral manager rural Mark Heer.

This is one of his obser-vations after five months in the top rural job at ASB. Heer has 25 years experi-ence in the rural industry following graduating from Massey in 1984 with an agricultural degree.

He then worked for the Rural Bank for 8-9 years in Whangarei and Dune-din, worked in rural valua-tion and was involved with the processing industry, an experience outside the farmgate but still in the rural sector.

Prior to becoming gen-eral manager he was ASB’s national manager rural corporate, dealing with farm customers across the country and leading a rural team.

“I see a lot of oppor-tunity; global trends are positive for us because of increasing population and urbanisation partic-ularly in Asia. The loca-

tion of that market to New Zealand is favourable geo-graphically,” he told Rural News.

“My observation is that growth opportunities will continue. I think the rural community has switched on to the fact that in to maximise those opportu-nities – getting that bal-ance between productivity and environmental sus-tainability – is going to be important, and there are a lot of evolving regula-tory requirements affect-ing that.

“There are also great opportunities with irriga-tion; Otago, Canterbury, Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay have some interest-ing initiatives in irrigation. Some of those initiatives open up great opportuni-ties for increasing produc-tivity in those areas.”

Heer says before the global recession there was a significant swing towards dairy with a lot of land use change from sheep and beef. “That activity quietened down immediately post-GFC but we have seen some strength return to that market.

pAm tIpA

[email protected]

@rural_newsfacebook.com/ruralnews

• Side, Bottom, Top Mounting• Adjustable Float Levels• Inbuilt Check Valve• 0 - 150 psi (0 - 10 Bar)

jobevalves.com/rojo

Need a Reliable Float Valve?

To ensure your new pasture gets the best possible start what would you do?

When it comes to new pasture there’s a lot at stake. Reduce the risk and protect your seed with Superstrike Grass – New Zealand’s leading grass seed treatment.

For over 20 years Superstrike Grass has protected new pastures against insects and diseases, creating an environment that optimises establishment and early plant growth.

Superstrike Grass now comes in a new formulation that offers even more protection for establishing pastures.

For a little extra cost, you get a whole lot more peace of mind – protect your seed and safeguard your investment.

Talk to your local seed supplier about Superstrike Grass or visit seedtreatment.co.nz

Protect your seed, protect your future.

PW

S 1

119

PWS 1119_Superstrike_Grass ad_280x186_ƒ.indd 1 12/17/12 4:35 PM

Page 14: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

14 news

Ravensdown’s new boss keen to refresh strategyRAVENSDOWN’S NEW chief executive Greg Campbell says he’s looking

forward to refreshing the farmer-owned coopera-tive’s strategy.

Talking to Rural News – a month after taking up the reins from predecessor

Rodney Green, who had been in the role 17 years – Campbell said he wants to start with a clean sheet of paper.

“Looking internally

as a company we have a very strong foundation: an experienced management team and a very motivated board of directors who in turn are driven by our

farmer members.… The staff are highly intelligent, a committed bunch of people looking to improve the productivity and livelihood of our farmer

ANDREW SWALLOW

[email protected]

members.”Campbell says he’s

“been all over” visiting Ravensdown sites and shareholders on both sides of the Tasman, and a number of key suppliers. “And I’ve been to Welling-ton a couple of times on top of that.”

As a result, he says he sees Ravensdown’s tech-nical capability, member loyalty and longevity as an organisation as its core strengths. The contro-versial expansion into Queensland, South Aus-tralia and Western Austra-lia, has “been tough; there is no secret about that,” he adds. “We’ve got a wee way to go before we can say we’ve succeeded in Australia.” The coopera-tive’s operations there are “a key focus” and he says he “needs to do some work about our future there. All options are on the table.”

The strategy review will look at how and where Ravensdown’s capital is employed, and what returns those businesses and assets generate. “The main one I’m talking about is Australia. There has to be an improvement there, there’s no denying it.”

With the ever grow-

ing focus on environmen-tal issues here, Campbell says helping members gain or retain a licence to farm will be crucial.

As yet there are no plans to follow Ballance down the animal nutrition path, though it’s an area Ravensdown is “keeping a close eye on”, and the firm does have a toehold in that market in the North Island.

“Fertilisers are our core products…. supply-ing good quality product at the best possible price and at the right time,” he stresses. The coop-erative’s research and development spend and expertise reflect that, he adds.

Further mergers and acquisitions will be “looked at on a case by case basis” but nothing immediate is in the pipe-line.

Campbell says he aims to be “as accessible as pos-sible” to staff and mem-bers and since taking on the role he says he’s been “really encouraged by some of the emails and written correspondence from shareholders. I’ve been hearing from farmers that we need to get back to the basics.”

Greg Campbell

Call us. 0508 43 27 85www.heartland.co.nz

Imagine turning this feed into cash.(THAT’S WHAT WE DO)

With roots going back over 130 years, we’ve learned a lot about helping New Zealand farmers do business. That’s why, when you want to buy livestock to take advantage of seasonal opportunities, you should talk to us. Our livestock finance packages* offer:

• No repayments for up to 18 months • Up to 100% of the capital outlay • Finance secured on the stock you buy, not your farm assets.

If you like that kind of fresh thinking, talk to us. We’re Heartland: New Zealand’s newest bank.

BUFF

ALO/

HB43

26

*Lending criteria, fees and charges apply.

CAMBRIDGE FARM ROLLERS

Vee Ring Roller Seeder Drill with Vee bottom seed box, hydraulic clutch, ext. drawbar, ...................... $18,500 Special rollers made to order, Spare parts, Rings and Bearings. 26"dia rings ................... $85.0024"dia rings ................... $80.00 Ph: 0800-838 963

• All prices ex-Factory, Excl GST •Competitive freight rates to the North Island

NEW 10ft Roller with Extension Drawbar & Screw Jack $6700

AUSTINS FOUNDRY LTD 131 King Street, Timaru www.austinsfoundry.co.nz

Page 15: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

$10,999TRX420 4WDRideaway while stocks last

+GST FROM

Year Anniversary

BLUE WING HONDA SINCE 1972

TRX420FM $10,999+GST TRX420FPM $12,599+GST

Working with NZ farmers for 40 years

www.honda-motorcycles.co.nz

TRX420FM-Rideaway-Final.indd 1 25/2/2013 9:56:47 AM

Page 16: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

Animal Health Board Movement Control Areas

Biosecurity Act 1993Notice of Movement Controls for Bovine Tuberculosis (TB)

Topographical information derived from LINZ and NZTA Crown Copyright Reserved.

Detailed maps and information on Control Areas are available from the Animal Health Board.

The Animal Health Board (AHB) has built on previous gains with further boundary reductions of its Movement Control Areas (MCAs).

As of 1 March, some cattle and deer herds in parts of Tasman and Marlborough will see a reduction in the frequency, and age groups, of animals that require bovine tuberculosis (TB) testing.

Nationally, more than 3750 herds will have their testing reduced, covering just under 1.3 million hectares.

Pursuant to section 131(2) of the Biosecurity Act 1993, the Animal Health Board Incorporated declares those parts of New Zealand described in the Schedule to this notice to be Controlled Areas for the purpose of enabling the limitation of the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

Pursuant to section 131(3)(a) of the Biosecurity Act 1993, the Animal Health Board Incorporated gives notice that the movement of cattle and deer within the Controlled Areas is restricted and regulated to the extent of and subject to the conditions specifi ed below.

Notice1. Defi nitions

In this notice, unless the context otherwise requires:

“Herd” means:

(a) a group of cattle, or deer, or cattle and deer, that is managed as one unit; or

(b) a group of cattle, or deer, or cattle and deer, that is kept within the same enclosure or behind the same fence.

“Herd of origin” means the herd with which a cattle beast or a deer is, for the time being, grazing.

“Order” means the Biosecurity (National Bovine Tuberculosis Pest Management Plan Order) 1998.

“Controlled Area” means an area specifi ed in the Schedule to this notice.

2. Testing Prior to Movement From or Within Controlled Areas

2.1 No cattle beast or deer aged 90 days or more may be moved:

(a) from any Controlled Area to a place outside that Controlled Area; or

(b) within any Controlled Area from its herd of origin, or the place or establishment at which the animal is being kept to a place other than a place occupied by the owner or person in charge of the cattle beast or deer

unless it has undergone, within 60 days prior to the date of movement, a negative test for bovine tuberculosis in accordance with the Order.

2.2 The restriction on movement in 2.1 does not apply where an animal is being moved directly to a place of slaughter.

2.3 Notwithstanding 2.1, an animal may be exempted from the requirement for a test in accordance with the Animal Health Board Operational Plan.

2.4 Where a herd is managed or kept on a property, or group of properties, divided by a boundary described in the Schedule, then the requirements to test cattle or deer described in 2.1 above apply to the whole herd.

This declaration takes eff ect from 1 March 2013.

Dated at Wellington this fi rst day of March 2013 by Dr Stu Hutchings, Acting Chief Executive, Animal Health Board Incorporated.

ScheduleControl Areas are listed below:

Central North Island

Southern North Island

West Coast/Tasman

North Canterbury/ Marlborough

Coastal and Central Otago

Pisa

Catlins

Hokonui

Detailed maps and information on the location of properties within Controlled Areas are available from the Animal Health Board, freephone 0800 482 4636 or visit www.tbfree.org.nz/dcamap

General information Any animal moved in contravention of this notice may be seized by an inspector or authorised person and destroyed, treated or otherwise dealt with, if it is reasonable in the circumstances to do so. The Animal Health Board Incorporated may also recover the cost of testing for bovine tuberculosis pursuant to the Biosecurity Act 1993 and the Biosecurity (Deer and Other Testing Costs) Regulations 1998.

Failure to comply with the requirements of this notice may result in prosecution under the Biosecurity Act 1993.

If convicted, an individual will be liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding fi ve years, or a fi ne not exceeding $100,000.00, or both. A corporation convicted of an off ence is liable to a fi ne not exceeding $200,000.00.

Revocation The declaration issued on the 1st day of March 2012 in regard to movement controls for bovine tuberculosis and published in the New Zealand Gazette, 1 March 2012, No. 26, page 779, and in Rural News on 6 March 2012 is hereby revoked, with eff ect from 1 March 2013.

Summary of changes This declaration has the eff ect of revoking part of the West Coast/Tasman Movement Control Area and part of the North Canterbury/Marlborough Movement Control Area.

For more information visitTo view our interactive map that shows whether you are in a Movement Control Area, Special Testing Area or Surveillance Area, simply enter any New Zealand address into the search bar.www.tbfree.org.nz/dcamap

0800 482 4636

TB Disease Control Areas Movement Control Area – annual TB testing – and pre-movement TB testing

Special Testing Area Annual – annual TB testing – no pre-movement testing

Special Testing Area Biennial – biennial TB testing – no pre-movement testing

Special Testing Area Dairy – biennial TB testing – no pre-movement testing

Surveillance Area Triennial– triennial TB testing – no pre-movement testing

MCAs were introduced to manage the risk of TB spreading through the uncontrolled movement of infected cattle or deer into areas clear of the disease.

See the accompanying map for MCA details. Herdowners located within these control zones must ensure all cattle or deer over three months pass a pre-movement test within 60 days prior to any movement.

Tasman and MarlboroughMovement Control Area reduction

Movement Control Area reduction

Movement Control Area

Special Testing Area Annual

Special Testing Area Biennial

Surveillance Area Triennial

Page 17: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

Animal Health Board Movement Control Areas

Biosecurity Act 1993Notice of Movement Controls for Bovine Tuberculosis (TB)

Topographical information derived from LINZ and NZTA Crown Copyright Reserved.

Detailed maps and information on Control Areas are available from the Animal Health Board.

The Animal Health Board (AHB) has built on previous gains with further boundary reductions of its Movement Control Areas (MCAs).

As of 1 March, some cattle and deer herds in parts of Tasman and Marlborough will see a reduction in the frequency, and age groups, of animals that require bovine tuberculosis (TB) testing.

Nationally, more than 3750 herds will have their testing reduced, covering just under 1.3 million hectares.

Pursuant to section 131(2) of the Biosecurity Act 1993, the Animal Health Board Incorporated declares those parts of New Zealand described in the Schedule to this notice to be Controlled Areas for the purpose of enabling the limitation of the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

Pursuant to section 131(3)(a) of the Biosecurity Act 1993, the Animal Health Board Incorporated gives notice that the movement of cattle and deer within the Controlled Areas is restricted and regulated to the extent of and subject to the conditions specifi ed below.

Notice1. Defi nitions

In this notice, unless the context otherwise requires:

“Herd” means:

(a) a group of cattle, or deer, or cattle and deer, that is managed as one unit; or

(b) a group of cattle, or deer, or cattle and deer, that is kept within the same enclosure or behind the same fence.

“Herd of origin” means the herd with which a cattle beast or a deer is, for the time being, grazing.

“Order” means the Biosecurity (National Bovine Tuberculosis Pest Management Plan Order) 1998.

“Controlled Area” means an area specifi ed in the Schedule to this notice.

2. Testing Prior to Movement From or Within Controlled Areas

2.1 No cattle beast or deer aged 90 days or more may be moved:

(a) from any Controlled Area to a place outside that Controlled Area; or

(b) within any Controlled Area from its herd of origin, or the place or establishment at which the animal is being kept to a place other than a place occupied by the owner or person in charge of the cattle beast or deer

unless it has undergone, within 60 days prior to the date of movement, a negative test for bovine tuberculosis in accordance with the Order.

2.2 The restriction on movement in 2.1 does not apply where an animal is being moved directly to a place of slaughter.

2.3 Notwithstanding 2.1, an animal may be exempted from the requirement for a test in accordance with the Animal Health Board Operational Plan.

2.4 Where a herd is managed or kept on a property, or group of properties, divided by a boundary described in the Schedule, then the requirements to test cattle or deer described in 2.1 above apply to the whole herd.

This declaration takes eff ect from 1 March 2013.

Dated at Wellington this fi rst day of March 2013 by Dr Stu Hutchings, Acting Chief Executive, Animal Health Board Incorporated.

ScheduleControl Areas are listed below:

Central North Island

Southern North Island

West Coast/Tasman

North Canterbury/ Marlborough

Coastal and Central Otago

Pisa

Catlins

Hokonui

Detailed maps and information on the location of properties within Controlled Areas are available from the Animal Health Board, freephone 0800 482 4636 or visit www.tbfree.org.nz/dcamap

General information Any animal moved in contravention of this notice may be seized by an inspector or authorised person and destroyed, treated or otherwise dealt with, if it is reasonable in the circumstances to do so. The Animal Health Board Incorporated may also recover the cost of testing for bovine tuberculosis pursuant to the Biosecurity Act 1993 and the Biosecurity (Deer and Other Testing Costs) Regulations 1998.

Failure to comply with the requirements of this notice may result in prosecution under the Biosecurity Act 1993.

If convicted, an individual will be liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding fi ve years, or a fi ne not exceeding $100,000.00, or both. A corporation convicted of an off ence is liable to a fi ne not exceeding $200,000.00.

Revocation The declaration issued on the 1st day of March 2012 in regard to movement controls for bovine tuberculosis and published in the New Zealand Gazette, 1 March 2012, No. 26, page 779, and in Rural News on 6 March 2012 is hereby revoked, with eff ect from 1 March 2013.

Summary of changes This declaration has the eff ect of revoking part of the West Coast/Tasman Movement Control Area and part of the North Canterbury/Marlborough Movement Control Area.

For more information visitTo view our interactive map that shows whether you are in a Movement Control Area, Special Testing Area or Surveillance Area, simply enter any New Zealand address into the search bar.www.tbfree.org.nz/dcamap

0800 482 4636

TB Disease Control Areas Movement Control Area – annual TB testing – and pre-movement TB testing

Special Testing Area Annual – annual TB testing – no pre-movement testing

Special Testing Area Biennial – biennial TB testing – no pre-movement testing

Special Testing Area Dairy – biennial TB testing – no pre-movement testing

Surveillance Area Triennial– triennial TB testing – no pre-movement testing

MCAs were introduced to manage the risk of TB spreading through the uncontrolled movement of infected cattle or deer into areas clear of the disease.

See the accompanying map for MCA details. Herdowners located within these control zones must ensure all cattle or deer over three months pass a pre-movement test within 60 days prior to any movement.

Tasman and MarlboroughMovement Control Area reduction

Movement Control Area reduction

Movement Control Area

Special Testing Area Annual

Special Testing Area Biennial

Surveillance Area Triennial

Page 18: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

18 newsSheep conference gains good feedback

THE CHIEF organiser of the 8th International Sheep Veterinarian Con-gress, held in Rotorua last month, says he has had nothing but positive com-ment about the four-day conference.

And despite having to completely reorga-nise the major interna-tional event following the Christchurch earth-quake, congress organisa-tion committee chairman John Smart says they got more than expected. They estimated 300-450 would attend, but final numbers were 475 including about 250 overseas visitors. The congress is held every fourth year.

He attributes some of that to a marketing push in South America which had always had low attendance to the congress despite there being “an awful lot of sheep in some South American countries”.

“This time 10 vets came from Brazil – the eighth biggest overseas group by country – and there were delegates from Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile.”

All the feedback from the February 19-22 con-gress was “totally posi-tive”, everyone saying it was one of the best organ-ised congresses they had been to, says Smart. One sponsor, the Swiss com-pany Novartis, emailed saying they found the con-ference brilliant from a sponsor point of view.

With a packed timeta-ble over four days, Smart says they had almost 200 papers. “We had four ple-nary speakers. Each of the four days started with a plenary where they spoke to the whole congress – then it was split into three parallel streams apart from the last day Friday

when there were four par-allel streams.” That fourth stream was working dogs.

More than 300 papers were submitted by the sci-entific community to be considered for a session – some that didn’t make it were presented as poster displays.

From the scientific per-

pAm tIpA

[email protected]

spective, Smart says there was a major internal para-site section on Wednesday with AgResearch parasitol-ogist David Leathwick as the plenary speaker on the topic ‘Sustainable Control of nematode parasite’. “He was excellent. Most of the world – certainly UK and Europe – need to catch up with New Zealand on this – their authorities over there do not even allow the registration of com-bination amthelmintics

(drugs that expel parasite worms),” says Smart.

“I was quite deter-mined the conference attendees should be exposed to Leathwick who presented the latest New Zealand research showing combinations provided by far the best results in counteracting resistance.” Leathwick received the award for best plenary paper.

Also of interest from the science viewpoint were several speakers on the new viral disease that’s emerged in Europe and UK in the last year called Schmallenberg virus. Smart says although it is highly unlikely it will come to New Zealand, it was interesting to hear from vets who have first-hand experience. “It keeps you slightly better informed, the odd farmer has asked me about it,” he says.

Originally the con-

gress was scheduled for the convention centre in Christchurch. But with uncertainty over the build-ing’s future – it has now been demolished – Smart had to make an early call to shift it to Rotorua and reorganise.

Part of the experience planned were pre-con-gress tours, one for the South Island and another for the North Island. With 40 delegates on each, the North Island conference was shortened to four days to end in Rotorua. Smart and his wife lead the 12-day South Island tour which started and ended in Christchurch.

The congress was held once before in New Zea-land, in 1989. The next one will be held in four years in Harrogate, Yorkshire.More from the conference pages 38-39

An international congress for sheep vets attracted 475 attendees – more than half from overseas.

@rural_news

facebook.com/ruralnews

Th

e g

en

u i ne w e e d w

i pe

r -

s

ince 1987

JFM

See us at site 960

South IslandField Days

Soil Aeration Specialists

Maitland RD5, GorePh/Fax: 03-207 1837Mobile: 027-628 5695www.jamesengineering.co.nz

Contact us for your local dealer...

Are you suffering from:• Hay and silage being trampled into pasture and wasted?• Surface ponding of pastures?

PUGGED PADDOCKS CAN REDUCE PASTURE GROWTH UP TO 60%!

DON’T PUT GOOD FERTILISERS ON COMPACTED SOIL WHICH CAN’T ABSORB ITIf your soil can’t support 15cm root growth and good worm population check for compaction, you could need aeration.

In dollar terms, what would 20% production increase mean to your yearly turnover?YOUR GREATEST ASSET IS THE SOIL YOU FARM - DON’T DESTROY IT!

Pre-Rippers

Heavy Duty Auto Reset

Transports and stands wrapped round bales on end for storage

• Suitable for medium HP tractors

• 3PL mounted (no front axle stress)

• Bale tipped in one easy movement

• No need to reposition bale before tipping

BALEAGE TIPPER

Aerators

Moleplough

Now available as a single or dual unit

For ripping deep pans and laying alkathene pipe up to 50mm• Optional chute• Standard & heavy models

SUBSOILER

SEE US ATCENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS

• SITE I33A •

See us at the South Island Field Days

• Site 426 •

Page 19: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

news 19

they came, they saw, they listened, and they learnedmarie Noel, Quebec, Canada FRENCH-SPEAKING NOEL said sheep num-bers were much lower in Canada – “at my place I have just 3000 – it’s few compared to this place (New Zealand)”.

“It is interesting to see what happens with a large population in this coun-try because it’s a sheep country. It is very interesting to see the research and results – it will be helpful. But a lot of the time a product is available here but not in Canada. We dream about that.”

She said New Zealand systems are what they aspire to. “We can’t do exactly the same because we have small pasture, and in winter sometimes our sheep are inside. But we can see what happens outside and it is very inter-esting for us.”

mary Bowron, Blenheim BOWRON SAID there was such a huge range of topics, from sheep production to clinical studies, it was dif-ficult to decide which ses-sions to go to. Attending her first international con-ference, Bowron said she had met other vets from Germany, England and around the world. She

found meeting them and sharing information a major plus of the conference.

John Southworth, Hamilton SOUTHWORTH SAID it was an extraordinary con-ference, and organisers had done a wonderful job.” It was fantastic to have so many overseas visitors,” he said. The conference high-lighted just how developed the research is in New Zea-land compared to other sheep producing countries.

philip tegtmeyer, Germany TEGTMEYER SAID the conference was wonder-ful in bringing together so many vets from around the world and the research that was presented.

“I have to come half way around the world to get find out these things,” he joked. The networking with

other sheep veterinarians was also extremely valuable. Tegtmeyer, a vet who works mainly with sheep but

also dairy, said he spent time in New Zealand 10 years ago while training and would also be taking some time after the conference to look at dairy here.

What they thought of the conference:

To help maximise clover establishment in a new pasture farmers have been sowing Superstrike treated clover seed for over 20 years.

As we all know a high clover content in pasture is one of the keys to increasing livestock production. Protecting your clover seed with Superstrike is one of the first steps required to achieve this goal.

Superstrike Clover seed treatment through its’ pesticide and nutrient additives enhances establishment and early plant growth.

For a little extra cost, you get a whole lot more peace of mind – protect your seed and safeguard your investment.

PW

S 1

120

Talk to your local seed supplier about Superstrike Clover or visit seedtreatment.co.nz

Protect your seed, protect your future.

To make sure clover is abundant in your pasture what would you do?

PWS 1120_Superstrike_Clover ad_280x186_ƒ.indd 1 12/21/12 10:42 AM

Page 20: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

Market snapshot laMb Market trends beef Market trends

RuRAl NewS // MARcH 5, 2013

Beef & venison prices are reported as gross (before normal levies & charges are deducted). Lamb & mutton prices are reported nett (after levies & charges are deducted). Note: Freight is paid in the North Island but not by all companies in the South Island.

MeatMeatMeatMeat North IslandNorth IslandNorth IslandNorth Island South IslandSouth IslandSouth IslandSouth Island

c/kgCWTChangeChangeChangeChange

c/kgLast Last Last Last WeekWeekWeekWeek

ChangeChangeChangeChangec/kg

Last Last Last Last WeekWeekWeekWeek

LambLambLambLamb - PM 16.0kg n/c 4.404.404.404.40 n/c 4.384.384.384.38

SteerSteerSteerSteer - P2 300kg -2-2-2-2 3.863.863.863.86 -3-3-3-3 3.773.773.773.77

BullBullBullBull - M2 300kg -2-2-2-2 3.903.903.903.90 n/c 3.903.903.903.90

VenisonVenisonVenisonVenison - AP 60kg n/c 6.306.306.306.30 n/c 6.426.426.426.42

North Island 16.0kg M Lamb PriceNorth Island 16.0kg M Lamb PriceNorth Island 16.0kg M Lamb PriceNorth Island 16.0kg M Lamb Price

$3.5

$4.5

$5.5

$6.5

$7.5

$8.5

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

5yr AveLast YearThis Year

South Island 16.0kg M Lamb PriceSouth Island 16.0kg M Lamb PriceSouth Island 16.0kg M Lamb PriceSouth Island 16.0kg M Lamb Price

$3.5

$4.5

$5.5

$6.5

$7.5

$8.5

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

North Island 300kg Bull PriceNorth Island 300kg Bull PriceNorth Island 300kg Bull PriceNorth Island 300kg Bull Price

$3.0

$3.5

$4.0

$4.5

$5.0

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

South Island 300kg Steer PriceSouth Island 300kg Steer PriceSouth Island 300kg Steer PriceSouth Island 300kg Steer Price

$3.0

$3.5

$4.0

$4.5

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

North Island 60kg Stag PriceNorth Island 60kg Stag PriceNorth Island 60kg Stag PriceNorth Island 60kg Stag Price

$6.0

$6.5

$7.0

$7.5

$8.0

$8.5

$9.0

$9.5

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

South Island 60kg Stag PriceSouth Island 60kg Stag PriceSouth Island 60kg Stag PriceSouth Island 60kg Stag Price

$6.0

$6.5

$7.0

$7.5

$8.0

$8.5

$9.0

$9.5

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

BEEF PRICES

c/kgCWT Change Last Week

2 Wks Ago

Last Year

NI P2 Steer - 300kg -2 3.86 3.88 4.03

M2 Bull - 300kg -2 3.90 3.92 4.10

P2 Cow - 230kg -10 3.05 3.15 3.20

M Cow - 200kg -10 2.85 2.95 3.10

Local Trade - 230kg -2 3.90 3.92 4.07

SI P2 Steer - 300kg -3 3.77 3.80 4.00

M2 Bull - 300kg n/c 3.90 3.90 3.97

P2 Cow - 230kg -3 2.97 3.00 3.20

M Cow - 200kg -3 2.77 2.80 3.10

Local Trade - 230kg n/c 4.00 4.00 4.10

NZ Slaughter Estimated Weekly Kill

1000s Change 2Wks Ago

3 Wks Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

Cattle NI +29% 54.4 42.2 41.7 42.3

Cattle SI +18% 16.1 13.6 15.7 13.3

Cattle NZ +26% 70.5 55.8 57.4 55.6

Bull NI +8% 13.5 12.5 14.1 14.2

Bull SI +12% 5.7 5.1 5.8 4.3

Str & Hfr NI +20% 19.3 16.1 17.9 16.8

Str & Hfr SI +11% 6.1 5.5 6.8 6.2

Cows NI +59% 21.6 13.6 9.7 11.3

Cows SI +43% 4.3 3.0 3.1 2.7

Export Market Demand

Change LastWeek

2 Wks Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

95CL US$/lb -3 2.18 2.21 2.20 1.70

NZ$/kg +3 5.75 5.72 5.79 5.23

Procurement IndicatorChange 2Wks

Ago3 Wks

Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

% Returned NI -2% 68.2% 69.9% 70.81% 69.6%

% Returned SI -1% 67.8% 68.7% 68.6% 66.4%

NZ Weekly Beef KillNZ Weekly Beef KillNZ Weekly Beef KillNZ Weekly Beef Kill

0

20

40

60

80

Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

Last Year

This Year

Demand Indicator - US 95CL BeefDemand Indicator - US 95CL BeefDemand Indicator - US 95CL BeefDemand Indicator - US 95CL Beef

$1.80

$2.00

$2.20

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - South I.Procurement Indicator - South I.Procurement Indicator - South I.Procurement Indicator - South I.

60%

70%

80%

90%

Dec Feb Apr

Last YearThis Year

Procurement Indicator - North I.Procurement Indicator - North I.Procurement Indicator - North I.Procurement Indicator - North I.

60%

70%

80%

90%

Dec Feb Apr

Last Year

This Year

LAMB PRICES

c/kgCWTChange Last

Week2 Wks

AgoLast Year

NI Lamb YM - 13.5kg n/c 4.38 4.38 6.16

PM - 16.0kg n/c 4.40 4.40 6.18

PX - 19.0kg n/c 4.42 4.42 6.20

PH - 22.0kg n/c 4.43 4.43 6.21

Mutton MX1 - 21kg n/c 2.50 2.50 3.40

SI Lamb YM - 13.5kg n/c 4.38 4.38 5.71

PM - 16.0kg n/c 4.38 4.38 5.73

PX - 19.0kg n/c 4.38 4.38 5.75

PH - 22.0kg n/c 4.38 4.38 5.76

Mutton MX1 - 21kg n/c 2.48 2.48 3.50

NZ Slaughter Estimated Weekly Kill

1000s Change 2Wks Ago

3 Wks Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

Lamb NI -4% 307 320 325 274

Lamb SI +5% 375 358 360 429

Lamb NZ +1% 682 678 685 703

Mutton NZ +131% 177 77 131 145

Export Market DemandChange Last

Week2 Wks

Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

UK Leg £/lb n/c 1.50 1.50 1.80 1.75

NZ$/kg +2 6.04 6.02 7.46 8.73

Procurement IndicatorChange 2Wks

Ago3 Wks

Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

% Returned NI -2% 74.8% 76.7% 87.1% 60.1%

% Returned SI -3% 72.8% 75.6% 80.4% 57.5%

Venison Prices

Change LastWeek

2 Wks Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

NI Stag - 60kg n/c 6.30 6.30 7.22 6.99

SI Stag - 60kg n/c 6.42 6.42 7.27 7.31

NZ Weekly Lamb KillNZ Weekly Lamb KillNZ Weekly Lamb KillNZ Weekly Lamb Kill

0150300450600750900

Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

Last Year

This Year

Demand Indicator - Demand Indicator - Demand Indicator - Demand Indicator - UK Leg PriceUK Leg PriceUK Leg PriceUK Leg Price

£1.00

£1.50

£2.00

£2.50

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - South I.Procurement Indicator - South I.Procurement Indicator - South I.Procurement Indicator - South I.

45%

55%

65%

75%

85%

95%

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - North I.Procurement Indicator - North I.Procurement Indicator - North I.Procurement Indicator - North I.

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Last Year

This Year

M re people on the ground, here and overseas.

Page 21: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

news price watch

BEEF

Dairy cows coming out in big numbers

Farmgate prices for works cattle were still under some downward pressure last week with big numbers of dairy cows coming forward for slaughter. Dry conditions, particularly in the North Island, saw dairy farmers start to quit cows early. North Island kill rates are now 125% above last years levels and 90% above 5 year average levels for this time. Declining US imported beef prices are also pressuring prices here lower. On the positive side, the margin between US imported beef prices and the farmgate price is currently 15% above 5-yr average levels. This indicates meat companies have created some buffer in their margins which could start to help underpin prices at the farmgate. Last week larger meat companies in both islands held their schedules for bull and steer, while manufacturing cow prices continued to move lower.

Aussies firing beef into export markets

Dry conditions across the ditch mean many farmers there are also pushing the offload button. As a result beef exports hit a record high in January. Over 55,000 tonnes of beef were exported - a 20% jump on historical Jan volumes. In comparison NZ exported 35,000t. Japan was the main receiver with the US, Korea and China rounding out the top four export destinations for Aussie beef in January. Prices will remain under pressure in key export markets with supplies running high.

LAMB

Farmgate lamb prices finally stabilise

Last week farmgate prices for works lambs held firm with major meat companies holding their schedules for the first time since late January. The most recent lamb kill estimates show numbers beginning to decline as the lamb kill runs out of steam after running at above average levels for the season to date. Meat companies have begun to concentrate of clearing the backlog of ewes. The mutton kill has taken off and is 20-25% above 5 year average levels for this time. Unfortunately the NZ dollar remains strong against the pound in particular. This, combined with the fact that meat company margins on lamb remain lower than typical, means there is a chance lamb prices could still go lower.

Store lamb market struggling

Most North Island regions are desperate for some real rain so there has been little demand for store lambs recently – other than from South Island buyers. This has seen North Island paddock prices take a dive with most 26-32kg lambs selling at $1.70-1.75/kg last week although $1.60-1.65/kg is not unheard of either. Prices in the South Island have also been easing with plenty of North Island lambs boosting supplies. South Island prices have now dropped below $2/kg for the first time this season. The saleyards are also noting some pretty miserable results with store lambs averaging around $32/hd at Te Kuiti last week. Prices would have been worse at Stortford without a South Island buyer to underpin returns with most males (28-34kg) going for $1.65-1.80/kg. Feilding also followed the easing trend with 28-34kg males going for $1.65-1.80/kg although the heavier end were steady.

WOOL

Wool market finds some stability

Pricing at recent wool sales have been mixed but overall the market has managed to remain generally steady. The combined North and South Island sale on Feb 21 saw a good clearance rate of around 90%. Although some types of wool did soften, the bulk of the offering was firm or slightly higher in price. First lambs wool in the North Island comprised a third of the offering there. Prices were 5% higher for the 31-33.5 micron lamb wool, while the 27 to 30.5 micron wool was between 2% lower and 2% dearer compared to the previous sale. There was been good competition lead by Chinese, Australasian and Indian buyers.

WOOL PRICE WATCH DAIRY PRICE WATCH

Indicators in NZ$ Change 08-Nov 01-Nov Last Year Indicators in NZ$/T Change Last 2

WksPrev. 2

WksLast Year

Coarse Xbred Indic. -4 3.90 3.94 6.36 Butter +58 4110 4051 4681

Fine Xbred Indicator +1 4.72 4.71 6.61 Skim Milk Powder +87 4198 4111 4021

Lamb Indicator - - - - Whole Milk Powder

+59 4081 4022 4261

Mid Micron Indic. - 8.57 - 9.21 Cheddar -69 4697 4766 4966

Overseas Price Indicators Overseas Price Indicators

Indicators in US$/kg Change 08-Nov 01-Nov Last Year Indicators in US$/T Change Last 2

WksPrev. 2

WksLast Year

Coarse Xbred Indicator -4 3.20 3.24 4.85 Butter +100 3500 3400 3900Fine Xbred Indicator -1 3.87 3.87 5.04 Skim Milk Powder +125 3575 3450 3350Lamb Indicator - - - - Whole Milk

Powder+100 3475 3375 3550

Mid Micron Indicator - 7.02 - 7.02 Cheddar n/c 4000 4000 4138

Wool Indicator TrendsWool Indicator TrendsWool Indicator TrendsWool Indicator Trends

300350400450500550600650

Feb Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec

CXI FXI LI

Coarse Xbred Indictor in US$Coarse Xbred Indictor in US$Coarse Xbred Indictor in US$Coarse Xbred Indictor in US$

250

300

350

400

450

500

550

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Last YearThis Year

Coarse Xbred IndicatorCoarse Xbred IndicatorCoarse Xbred IndicatorCoarse Xbred Indicator

300

400

500

600

700

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Last YearThis Year

Dairy Prices TrendsDairy Prices TrendsDairy Prices TrendsDairy Prices Trends

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan

SMP WMPBut. Ched.

Whole Milk Powder Price in US$/TWhole Milk Powder Price in US$/TWhole Milk Powder Price in US$/TWhole Milk Powder Price in US$/T

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Last Year

This Year

Whole Milk Powder Price (NZ$)Whole Milk Powder Price (NZ$)Whole Milk Powder Price (NZ$)Whole Milk Powder Price (NZ$)

3,500

4,500

5,500

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Last Year

This Year

Wool Indicator in US$Wool Indicator in US$Wool Indicator in US$Wool Indicator in US$

250

300

350

400

450

500

550

Feb Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec

CXI FXI LI

Dairy Prices in US$/TonneDairy Prices in US$/TonneDairy Prices in US$/TonneDairy Prices in US$/Tonne

2,500

3,500

4,500

Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan

SMP WMP.But .Ched

CURRENCY WATCH

vs. NZ Dollar Last Week 2 Wks Ago 4 Wks Ago Last Year

US dollar 0.835 0.852 0.837 0.838

Euro 0.633 0.637 0.626 0.627

UK pound 0.548 0.550 0.530 0.532

Aus dollar 0.812 0.822 0.801 0.780

Japan yen 77.30 79.11 75.66 67.08

Euro

0.52

0.56

0.60

0.64

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Last Year

This Year

UK Pound

0.46

0.48

0.50

0.52

0.54

0.56

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Last Year

This Year

US Dollar

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

0.90

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Last Year

This Year

RuRAl NewS // MARcH 5, 2013

M re people on the ground, here and overseas.

Page 22: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

22 agribusinessMilk production overall is trending slightly higher this season as Fonterra’s New Zealand milk collection is up 6.7% on last milk season. However, the dry weather is taking its toll especially in the North Island where production is now falling. Production growth has dropped significantly globally recently as well. This reduc-tion in supply is starting to show through in global dairy prices including the local Fonterra Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction. The GDT Trade Weighted Index (GDT – TWI) for February 19 auction, which takes in all dairy products, was up 3.1% with a strong rise in the benchmark whole milk powder (WMP) price of 5.4% from the previous auction on February 5. This has seen a rise in the last three auction events for WMP of 15.6% for 2013. The skim milk price (SMP) only shows a rise of 1% from the previous auction, with a 5.9% rise since the start of 2013. The butter milk powder (BMP) price rose 4.1%, BMP is up 2.3% for 2013 despite a large price drop of -6.5% from the January 6 auction. Cheese was up 1.8% and is up 0.7% for 2013.

Product Last GDT Auction 1 Mth Ago 3 Mths Ago

NZD/Tonne

Whole Milk Powder (WMP)

$4,329 $3,895 $3,880

Skim Milk Powder (SMP)

$4,254 $4,208 $4,030

Butter Milk Powder (BMP)

$3,930 $4,033 $4,282

CHEESE $4,209 $4,142 $4,070

NZ Dairy Market

New ZealaND agri shares

NZX Code Company

Prices as at

25/2/2013

Divdend Yield

LIC Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NS) $5.60 9.71%

SAN Sanford Limited $4.30 7.64%

SKL Skellerup Holdings $1.52 7.38%

DGL Delegat’s Group Limited $3.31 3.90%

FSF Fonterra Units $7.27 4.40%

HBY Hellaby Holdings $3.18 5.80%

HNZ Heartland New Zealand $0.72 2.85%

Us agricUltUral coMMoDity Prices

Commodity Units Price This Issue

Price Last Issue Change

Live Cattle USD/Kg $2.903 $2.881 -$0.082

Feeder Cattle USD/Kg $3.252 $3.235 -$0.144

Lean Hogs USD/Kg $1.908 $1.880 -$0.112

Greasy Wool USD/Kg $12.450 $12.000 -$0.070

Corn USD/Bushel $7.107 $7.570 -$0.265

Wheat USD/Bushel $7.560 $8.620 -$0.373

Livestock Improvement Corp’s (LIC) share price remains steady at $5.60, after a favourable half year profit result on February 13. Sanford Limited has no major news to report, but has come off recent price highs. Skellerup Holdings price has slipped lately, half year result announced on February 21 came in mixed, net profit was down but a dividend of 3 cents a share was announced. Delegat’s Group is going strong this month backed up by solid half year results announced on Feb 26 with net profit up 31%. Fonterra Units have been holding steady, interim results will be posted on March 27 – which will be the next big date to look out for. Hellaby Holdings issued half year results on February 19 which were mixed, but a dividend of 5 cents per share was announced. Heartland New Zealand has had a good run recently, with a net profit of $10.7m for the half year – this is up $0.9m from $9.8m in the previous half year. This table and information is in no way a recommendation to buy or sell any share but a list of New Zealand agrishares that have the highest dividends. Please consult your financial advisor before entering into any sharemarket investment.

US agricultural commodities, as a whole, slipped back during most of February. Wheat dropped to an eight-month low on speculation a snow-storm in the U.S. Great Plains will help ease drought conditions before crops emerge from winter dormancy. Hog prices are hovering near a three-month low, weighed down by sluggish U.S. consumer appetite for pork and fears that U.S. export sales are slowing. When restaurants and supermarkets expe-rience weaker consumer demand, they typically seek lower prices for hams, pork chops and other cuts from pork processors. US corn inventories will rebound from their lowest levels and “strong foreign competition” limits exports in turn hurting demand for US corn. The weakness in placement demand from feedlots in the past three months has left the available supply of feeder cattle for the first half of 2013 up year on year for the first time in three years, the increased supply has driven down prices. Most cattle in the U.S. are sent to feedlots for final fattening before slaughter. Live cattle and feeder cattle prices however, have risen in the past few days due to supply chain issues created by the winter storms and the inability of transport to deliver beef to various parts of the US disrupting beef supply.

francis wolfgramfinance matters

This table and information is in no way a recommendation to buy or sell any share but a list of New Zealand agrishares that have the highest dividends. Please consult your financial advisor before entering into any sharemarket investment.

sow SF Stellar, the ryegrass that performs and persistsevery 25kg can get you in the draw for an Apple® iPadSF Stellar is available from leading seed retailers nationwide

Persistent RyegrassSF Stellar, a true perennial

www.seedforce.co.nz

Page 23: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

agribusiness 23

Loans offered to meet compliance

ASB is showing “corpo-rate responsibility” by offering a rural environ-mental compliance loan at low cost, says ASB general manager rural Mark Heer.

ASB believes it is the first loan offer in New Zealand with a low cost funding option to assist farmers “get the balance right between productiv-ity and environmental sus-tainability”.

Offered for on-farm investment to upgrade environmental compliance systems, it is priced at ASB’s cost of funding with no additional customer margin applied. Loans are available to farmers for environmental compliance purposes up to $200,000 and over a maximum five-year term.

Heer told Rural News he was “not aware of any other specific offerings to funds the effort towards getting the balance right between productivity and environment and certainly at a low-cost discounted rate”.

It is at the bank’s float-ing bank rate, which at the time of talking to Rural News last week was 3.8%. While that changes daily it is “reasonably flat”.

“There’s obviously a lot of positive global trends which would indi-cate there’s a great oppor-tunity for New Zealand to increase the volume and the value of our exports in the agricultural area,” Heer says.

“The increase in pro-ductivity potentially puts some strain on the envi-ronment and our view is there has to be a good bal-ance between maximising productivity and balancing

that against sustainability of the environment.

“This is an important issue for all New Zealand because it talks to the eco-nomic well-being of the country from an export volume and value point of view and also from the environmental point of view. All New Zealanders are stakeholders both from an economic and environ-mental point of view.

“That’s the challenge; in the media, among industry groups and in the industry, there is a lot of conversation at the moment about getting that balance right.

“The environmen-tal regulatory environ-ment is evolving, we see new requirements, differ-ent types of requirements coming in for the farming industry. It’s not just about what are the requirements of today, but what are the changing requirements going forward.

“We’ve seen DairyNZ, Fonterra, Federated Farm-ers, Beef + Lamb in this conversation, be it efflu-ent for the dairy industry or fencing of waterways. We want to be part of the solution. We feel a funding package at cost – there’s no profit in it for us – is just really about pitch-ing in and helping pro-vide a solution so farmers can meet and adapt to the requirements for environ-mental sustainability while maximising productivity.”

Heer says it is an evolv-ing space and ASB wanted to show some “corporate responsibility and get in behind it and look to pro-vide an important part of the solution”.

“The farming commu-nity is engaged with pro-tecting the environment and making sure they pass

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

it on in good health; the will is there on behalf of farmers.

“A lot of these initiatives do cost money so they need to be funded by trading income or by debt. And it is evolving; meeting the requirements in 2012 may be a bit different from 2013 and there may be different

requirements in 2014. It is an evolving element in running a sustainable farming business.

“All farmers I talk to are engaged in getting this right so we want to get in and help in the most appropriate way we can which is to provide some low cost funding to help them with it.”

ASB is providing low cost loans

for on-farm environmental

compliance investments.

Crop of the future?EVER HEARD of quinoa? (pron. keen-wah)

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisa-tion (FAO) has nominated 2013 as international year of the Andean origin cereal in recognition of its role in better nutrition, particularly in regions where food security’s a problem.

It is the only plant food with all essential amino acids, trace elements and vitamins. It’s also resistant to drought, poor soils and high salinity, and grows from sea level to 4000m altitude withstanding temperatures from -8oC to 38oC, says the FAO.

“This extraordinary grain has been a cultural anchor and a staple in the diet of millions of people throughout the Andes for thousands of years,” says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Quinoa is now poised for global recognition.”

Only with SlugOut do you get more baits per square meter, increasing your chances of getting the slugs and snails before they get your winter crop or new grass. It’s easy to spread and holds together in the wet weather. SlugOut causes irreversible damage to the mucous cells of slugs and snails so you know it’ll do the job.

For more information phone 0800 683 276 or visit www.nufarm.co.nz

Better Solutions. Better Farming.

Unlike cellphone calls, you get excellent coverage on the farm with SlugOut®

®SlugOut is a registered trademark of Nufarm Technologies USA Pty Ltd.

Page 24: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

24 agribusiness

Sustainability – but what does it actually mean?“SUSTAINABILITY’ IS the dairy industry’s buzzword for 2013.

It’s great to see the Feds, Fonterra and DairyNZ each acknowl-edging that sustainabil-ity is an important issue and developing strategies appropriate to their organ-isations. These three, together with other dairy companies and the Dairy Women’s Network, will launch a new Strategy for Sustainable Dairy Farm-ing in a few months, which they say will guide the investment and activities

of the industry.These priorities,

reviews and strategies are to be welcomed – as long as they ultimately bene-fit farmers. My question is what will the farmers’ strategy have to be?

Will they have to go cap-in-hand to the bank manager for a larger over-draft to achieve the sorts of sustainability these organisations have in mind? Just what extra research will be needed, and can most of that research be done in a real on-farm situation?

One of the problems is that sustainability means different things to dif-ferent people. To Fon-terra it means, amongst other things, more milk and consistent supply. To DairyNZ it might mean

higher and consistent funding. To many farmers it probably involves higher and more consistent pro-duction.

Given these different expectations and interpre-tations it isn’t surprising there is confusion about how farmers are actually going to achieve sustain-ability.

For some it may mean a high stocking rate with feed supplies propped up by maize, PKE and lots of nitrogen. For others – in sensitive catchments – it probably means optimis-

ing Olsen P, low solubility phosphate, limited N and tight management of efflu-ent treatment and disposal.

The wise ones will be asking: what is the most profitable approach?

There is a real danger that the true intent of words like sustainability and profit will be lost in the jargon and different interpre-

tations. There are wide variations in what people understand by them and

how they mea-sure them.

This is significant because, for farmers, sus-tainability and profit should be intimately linked. In fact, I am convinced sustainable options have

to be measured in profit terms and then man-aged to achieve maximum

returns to farmers. Why make any change unless it is going to be profitable?

The key to all this is how you measure profit. The best I have found – in over 50 years of search-ing – is: cents per kilo of dry matter eaten daily by stock. This may sound complicated, but it is actu-ally straightforward and certainly the most accu-rate way of comparing management options.

A simple example: you might be wonder-ing whether to put on more stock and therefore using more fertiliser and/or supplementary feeds, or less stock and doing them better with existing resources.

Using your own farm data in new, innovative on-line software you can determine which option will be the more prof-itable. Not just today, but also next week, next month, next year, and forecast for several years after that. The more sus-tainable option becomes obvious when profit is the measure.

I hope the new Strat-egy for Sustainable Dairy Farming takes this mea-sure of farm profitability into account, rather than just tinkering with generic industry figures or indirect estimates like EFS. • Peter Floyd is the manag-ing director of Cogent Farm-ing Business Systems Ltd www.profitfocusedfarm-ing.com Tel. 0800433376 or 0275968796

The more sustainable option becomes obvious when profit is the measure.

AUTOMATED DAIRY FEED SYSTEMS

FARM FEED MILLSSKIOLD DISC MILLS

THE WORLD’S BEST DAIRY SOLID EFFLUENT

SEPARATOR

Latest breakthrough

in milling!

See us at the South Island Field Days

See us at Lincoln Field Days SITE 425 & 426

STRENGTH / QUALITY / PERFORMANCEwww.mcintosh.net.nz 0800 622 276

■ Single & Trough Bale Feeders

■ Forage Wagons

■ Tip Trailers

■ Manure Spreaders

■ Beater Wagons

■ Chaser Wagons

Products

Page 25: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

south island field days 25

Exhibitor numbers swell for final Lincoln Field DaysWITH AT least 400 exhibitors signed up so far, the 2013 South Island Agricultural Field Days, Lincoln University Farm March 20-22, promises to be one of the most successful in the 60 year history of the event, organisers claim.

Notably this event will be the last to be staged on the present Lincoln site.

The event on the 35ha farm shows new machines working, to reinforce the relationship between farmers, service provid-ers, scientists and techni-cal experts.

It is the only agricul-tural show in New Zealand to feature side-by-side demonstrations, with 80 - 100 tractors, headers, mowers, seed drills and

other machines being put through their paces each day.

“A point of difference for us is that our focus on demonstrations provides the opportunity for our sector to show New Zea-land’s agricultural innova-tion in action,” chairman of the SIAFD organising committee Richard West-away says.

“However, space is now at a premium and we’re investigating the move to a larger site that allows us

to maintain our empha-sis on demonstrations,” Richard says. A decision on the new location will be announced next month.

Organisers report increased interest from the North Island and from other parts of the South Island,including Otago/Southland and the Top of the South. There will also be two exhibitors from Australia.

The theme for the 2013 field days is ‘Ag-Technol-ogy’, highlighting the fact

that farming now sustains a world population of 6.5 billion people.

Lincoln University Farm is at the corner of Shands Rd and Elles-mere Junction Rd, 20km from Christchurch. Public opening hours are 8am - 5pm.

The theme for the 2013 field days is ‘Ag-Technology’, highlighting the fact that farming now sustains a world population of 6.5 billion people.

When South Island Agricultural Field Days (SIAFD), held every second year, was first held in Motukarara in 1951it was a one-day wonder that attracted about 1000 people.

Now the event, held ever since on the Lin-coln University farm, has grown into a three-

day event attended by at least 25,000 South Island farmers.

SIAFD is one of the oldest and largest agri-cultural events in the South Island; going back 61 years, and focusing on opportunities to view machines in their work-ing state and to rein-force the relationship

between farmers, ser-vice providers, scientists and technical experts. This year’s field days will the 61st and last time it is held at Lincoln Uni-versity – as it has now outgrown the site – an announcement on a new venue will be made soon. The SIAFD will be held

at the Lincoln Univer-sity Farm, corner of Shands Rd and Elles-mere Junction Rd, 20km away from Christchurch City on the 20-22nd March 2013. It is expected that about 400 exhibitors will attend, attracting 20,000-25,000 visitors over three days.

NZ’s oldest field days

Tunnelhouses

• 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

See us atSouth Island Field Days SITE 425See us

at site 362

Ph: 03 348 7124 Fax: 03 348 7142 37 Lunns Road Middleton, Christchurch

QUADCHILLAR fun

For all your Trailer needs Visit the friendly trailer company at the South Island Field Days SITE 126Ride On Mower TrailersSingle Axle TrailersTandem TrailersLivestock options available10x7 Flat Deck Trailers & Plant TrailersHorse Floats Straight Load and Angle Load Options

www.elitetrailer.co.nz/www.elite�oats.co.nz

Page 26: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

26 opinion

editorial

the houndWant to share your opinion or

gossip with the Hound? Send your emails to:

[email protected]

edna

Change of heart?THE HOUND had a bit of a giggle at Fed Farmers’ meat and wool chair Janet Maxwell comments, in a radio interview with News-talk ZB’s Mike Hosking, on the horse meat scandal in the UK. The Feds meat and wool chair was ebul-lient in her praise of the NAIT scheme. What made your old mate snigger about this comment was his memory of how the Feds have fought the NAIT scheme tooth-and-nail from the get-go. Oh well, now it looks like the farmer lobby may have had a change of heart over the merits of NAIT.

Fun policeYOUR OLD mate is constantly amazed at what terribly dour and sad lives some people lead, especially those of the do-gooder persuasion. An excellent example was the recent wailing and gnashing of teeth by the SPCA at news that sheep piggyback races for children were making a welcome return to this month’s Gore A&P Show after a 30-year absence. This news sparked the clichéd howls of concern from animal welfare types who claimed it was ‘sending the wrong message’ to children. The Hound suggests the SPCA fun-police seriously need to get a life.

Empire building?THE HOUND wonders what the brains trust at Fonterra must be thinking with reports it is plan-ning to build a new $100 million headquarters on Auckland’s swanky water-front. The dairy giant has sought expressions of interest from developers and property owners, saying it wants to move into the country’s best new building in about four years. The Hound can imagine just how happy dairy farmers will be to know the 900 suits they employ at Fonterra HQ are living in luxury while they milk up to their ankles in water and cow muck all day long!

Some accidents do happenEVER BEEN to a confer-ence where a speaker goes on and on and on and won’t stop? The Hound has learned a way of cutting that person off on cue. Unfortunately, this happened quite by acci-dent at the recent Massey Fertiliser and Lime work-shop. A keynote speaker was given a two-minute call to finish when suddenly the lecture theatre lights came on, the computer died and the screen behind him just rolled up. It was an ‘IT misadventure’ but it did serve as a warning to others about what could happen if they overran time.

Too little, too late!DURING THE last week of February Fonterra and RD1 ran “the biggest fencing promo-tion RD1 has ever run,” according to its joint PR-blurb. Not only was the Feb 21 announce-ment of this promotion too late for many farmers to take advantage of it, but the date after which Fonterra suppliers were contractually obliged to ensure stock could not access waterways was December 1, 2012. Is this yet another case of the great co-op doing too little, too late, on a crucial environmental and industry public image issue.

HEAD OFFICE POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 3855, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140

PUBLISHER:Brian Hight .............................................. Ph 09 307 0399

GENERAL MANAGER:Adam Fricker ........................................... Ph 09 913 9632

CONSULTING EDITOR:David Anderson .......................................Ph 09 307 [email protected]

NATIONAL SALES MANAGER:Ted Darley .......... Ph 07 854 6292/021 832 [email protected]

AUCKLAND SALES REPRESENTATIVE:Stephen Pollard ....Ph 09 913 9637/021 963 [email protected]

TAURANGA SALES REPRESENTATIVE:Tony Hopkinson .. Ph 07 579 1010/021 949 [email protected]

WELLINGTON SALES REPRESENTATIVE:Mark Macfarlane .Ph 04 234 6239/021 453 [email protected]

SOUTH ISLAND SALES REPRESENTATIVE:Kaye Sutherland Ph 03 337 3828/021 221 [email protected]

RURALNEWS

ABC audited circulation 80,767 as at 30.06.2012

Rural News is published by Rural News Group Ltd. All editorial copy and photographs are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions or comments expressed within this publication are not necessarily those of staff, management or directors of Rural News Group Ltd.

TECHNICAL EDITOR:Andrew Swallow ................... Ph 03 688 2080

PRODUCTION:Dave Ferguson ........................Ph 09 913 9633Becky Williams ........................Ph 09 913 9634

REPORTERS:Sudesh Kissun ....................... Ph 09 913 9627Pamela Tipa ............................ Ph 09 913 9630Peter Burke .............................Ph 06 362 6319

SUB-EDITOR:Neil Keating ............................Ph 09 913 9628

WEBSITE PRODUCER:James Anderson .................... Ph 09 913 9621

“Maybe we could get Peter Jackson to tell the government he needs it to rain!”

LIKE HANNIBAL getting 30-odd elephants across the Italian Alps (218BC), the dairy indus-try, plus ‘friends’, has succeeded in drafting a new agreement on how to prevent dairying from dirty-ing our fresh water resources.

The new ‘Sustainable Dairying Water Accord’ has been a mammoth job, demanding the best technical, managerial and political skills. Huge credit to those who’ve brought it to birth after “a long time in gestation”, as Dairy Companies Asso-ciation chief executive Simon Tucker put it. They worked with DairyNZ in this two-way partner-ship and Federated Farmers has signed to it as a friend. Councils are also part of the caravan – it’s ‘collaborative’, in the best spirit of the Land and Water Forum. Even the Greens and Forest and Bird haven’t been as churlish about it as they might have been.

Now to keep this expedition on track. Since every party to the accord will have its own agenda – notwithstanding agreement on the common cause – there will need to be some prodding to keep the ‘herd’ in line.

Several renegade beasts could cause panic at a bluff, putting at risk the whole: first, the few chain-dragging dairymen who just will not clean up; second, the empire-builder who bites off more than he can chew, intending to chew like mad, but choking -- he borrows too much, overstocks his land and pushes his staff to the edge; third, the lunatic on the ‘greenies’ fringe who won’t be sat-isfied until all the humans have been flushed out of New Zealand and the countryside returned to its primeval state. This latter character seems harmless, if nutty, but if he gets loose with a video camera when either a chain-dragger or an empire-builder has a meltdown with his effluent system, the dairy industry could face a major irritant.

What sort of irritant? A demand – which the likes of the Green Party and Forest and Bird would have to support – for compulsory sanctions against dairy farmers whose systems don’t meet the stan-dards of the new accord. And there’s another ele-phant in the room, albeit still a calf: somewhere, somebody will be plotting to require dairy farm-ers to be licensed to farm.

So the onus is on the dairy industry’s regulars to keep the renegades in check, reminding them they too are responsible for helping New Zealand’s dairy industry to be as good as it deserves to be, albeit a little less demanding of finite resources – including people.

Getting elephants across mountains

Page 27: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

opinion 27

You can’t please the people all the time!AMERICAN BASEBALL coach John Wooden, a man full of quotes, once said: “You can’t let praise or criticisms get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.”

Those words are ringing in my ears after fronting – as a farmer and the chairman of industry body DairyNZ – the recent release of the new Sustain-able Dairying: Water Accord. This new accord will replace the previous Clean Streams Accord that ended in 2012. We are now discussing the new accord with farmers before finalising for sign-ing about mid-May.

There was praise and criticism in the media of our new accord – and I got caught up in both.Commitment across the industry

Dairy farmers are already doing a great deal to protect the environment. We plant trees, fence streams and pro-tect wetlands. Plus we spend about $24m a year on ridding our forests and native bush of pests through the TB-Free programme.

The QEII National Trust, which helps private landowners protect areas with high conservation values, is under

pressure because so many farmers are seeking to protect land. About one in ten farming businesses is now pro-tecting land under QEII covenants, as a way of preserving special areas with-out losing ownership. The trust is strug-gling to keep up with demand.

Here was the dairy industry step-ping up for the first time with an agree-ment that covered all dairy companies and had the support of the industry and central and regional government.

Every dairy company has committed to sign the new accord. Together with DairyNZ and Federated Farmers we are now united as an industry on a compre-hensive common set of industry good-practice environmental standards that will apply to farms across the country. There are new areas covered like ripar-ian management and new dairy farms, and new, tougher targets in some areas.

We got support from the Minister for Primary Industries, regional coun-cils and others including Ngai Tahu Farming.Predictable critics

And the criticism came from pre-dictable quarters. The Green Party and Forest and Bird focused on the lack of teeth as they saw it. We should have had

all companies sign up to compulsory sanctions for farmers who didn’t meet these standards, they said. We should have learnt the lessons of the previous Clean Streams Accord.

But Fonterra, with 89% of suppliers, and other companies, have already sig-nalled that the accord’s requirements will be reflected in current and future supply agreements. Fonterra’s expe-rience has shown that sanctions are generally only needed as a last resort. A strong letter of warning is usually enough to prompt action.

Company supply agreements are already an integral part of our dairy industry – but they alone are not the answer. From DairyNZ’s experience, concentrated support to farmers is also needed to bring about change.Doing it on a big scale

DairyNZ has a programme of work planned including a 700-farm three-year research project underway in the Upper Waikato Karapiro catchment to test the support approach on a large scale. There, with funding from the Waikato River Authority, we will provide one-on-one support to farmers to develop their own Sustainable Milk Plans. Dairy com-panies are partners in that too.

I am quite happy to be held account-able by the public for whether we meet our targets in this new accord. But how we get there should be our decision. The Accord does not have to specify detailed sanc-tions. But what it does do is set out transparent and robust reporting on our progress and whether we meet our targets. That’s what matters to the public.Our reputation

But as the quote goes, it is best not to get caught up in praise or criti-cism. Let’s just focus on what we have to do with this new accord and do it well.

As another quote from John Wooden goes, “Be more concerned with your character than your repu-tation, because your charac-ter is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what

others think you are.” And I think the indus-

try has shown great character with this

latest accord. Ulti-mately that will also be reflected in our reputation.• John Luxton is chairman of

DairyNZ.

john LuxTon

John Luxton

For more information contact PGG Wrightson Seeds on 0800 566 698

Need to lift your selenium levels?Apply Selenium Chip to pasture and forage crops and help protect your stock against selenium de� ciency.

- Increase selenium levels for up to 12 months - Fast uptake by plants - Easy to apply - No animal handling required

Selenium Chip is a fertiliser granule that should be applied annually at 1 kg/ha to selenium de� cient soils. Selenium Chip is available from your local PGG Wrightson Rural Supplies Store and selected fertiliser outlets.

Organic Selenium Chip also available

Page 28: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

28 opinionag twitsRural News’ irreverent and hypothetical look at what’s happening in the farming world

Top Bleats view all

wleferinkfedfarmers: Fed Farms is pleased to support this new dairying water accord and to all the ‘doubting Thomas’s who have piped up again – go jump in the 90% clean lakes! #upyoursgreenies

jluxtondairynz: I don’t know why we bother. The dairy industry announces a significantly improved clean-up of waterways and the naysayers can’t wait to put the boot in. #hip-piesdonotwash

tmuellerfonterra.com: Yah for once we have a really good story to tell about dairy farmers cleaning up waterways. Now watch my highly paid PR team cock it up! #stilluseless

nathguyminister: Look at me; only a few weeks into my new job and already I’ve broken droughts and cleaned up our dirty rivers! #amanofaction

@Forest and Bird: After a decade in which dairy farmers have made major improvements to NZ’s water quality we can only moan about rivers not been 100% clean. #wehatefarmers

esagegreenmp: The Greens love taking cheap shots at NZ’s dairy sector hence us calling the latest water quality plan the ‘Dirty Dairy Accord’! #wehatefarmersmore

dshearerlabour: A large number of NZ dairy farms were recently sold to Swedish interests. However Sweden is close to Finland, my favour-ite country, so I’ll not make any protests about this like I did over Crafar farms being sold to the Chinese. #lovescandinavianotchina

winstonfirstandlast: I’ve no problem with NZ dairy farms being sold to the Swedes. Bet-ter than it going to those slanty-eyed Chinese taking over our farmland! Those who don’t like this message can bugger off back to Wogistan! #itsbecausetheylooklikeus

damienoconnormp: You may well scoff, but the cover-up over DCD and banks screw-ing farmers with dodgy swap deals is a direct result of Fonterra’s decision to implement TAF! #likeastuckrecord

jwilsonfonterra: Where am I? Where have I gone? Why has Henry put me in this closet and locked the door? Henry? Henry? #missinginac-tion

fonterrapr: I recently resigned from PR compa-ny BBG, so I can be ‘embedded’ full time at the soon-to-be-built Fonterra $100M HQ, yet we still employ BBG for our PR work. Now watch our PR performance improve. What do you mean DCD issue? #asbadasever

mshadboltwoolsofnz: Bugger me, I didn’t expect that to happen! Woolgrowers have actu-ally coughed up the money so now we’ve got to come up with a magic plan to lift wool prices as we promised in our prospectus. #startpraying

It’s a conspIracyANOTHER RURAL publication recently ran a superbly presented two-page article on international ‘free’ trade agreements.

Obviously, a promotion for the Trans-Pacific Partnership proposal. Also designed obviously to bring Kiwi farmers on side with it.

What a wonderful buzz word is ‘free trade’. What journalistic genius to write knowl-edgeably about something being negotiated entirely in secret. This, almost certainly, would be modelled on the disastrous North American Free Trade Agreement.

What would it take to get a farmer to purchase a breeding bull from a diseased herd managed by plausible owners, whose only aim was to make as much money as possible in every deal, with no regard for consequences?

A catchy phrase wouldn’t work in that case. So why risk the whole nation, and particularly the rural sector, on similar shaky reasoning?john G RawsonWhangerei

should somebody drop out of meat sector?I AM watching with interest as numerous stock trucks cross the weighbridge at our Mainland Minerals fertiliser plant near Marton, lower North Island. On February 25, before midday, 10 units weighed in, all loaded for the South Island. Drivers tell me up to 26 units a day cross Cook Strait, mostly loaded with lambs. I’m told many of these lambs are returning to the North Island to be killed. This confuses me and gives rise to questions.

There is a cost (up to $30 I’m told) to transport these lambs… but if there is such a huge margin in this stock, is something going awry in the meat industry?

The meat operators moving this stock will still have a margin I’ll bet. It has been well documented that shareholders et al are disgruntled with the direc-tors of the co-operative meat company Silver Fern Farms.

If it were a publicly

listed company, it would be gone…. Questions have to be asked.

1: Is one company setting the schedule price and others are following suit? Full-page adverts placed in rural newspapers by Silver Fern Farms talk of taking initiatives and giving explanations on various issues. Agreed, a merger would need to command 80% of the kill to create an effective co-operative, but… the same company saddled with its huge debt is the biggest draw-back to New Zealand farmer suppliers. Until this industry debt is sorted by all companies, will we continue to see the wild fluctuations in seasonal stock prices?

2: How much of every animal killed by SFF goes to debt servicing? Would this money not be better being in the suppliers’ pockets so they can reduce their debt, which in turn would increase efficiencies on their farms? It may also

JOHN MCCARTHY is quite right (Rural News , Feb 19): it is quite pointless for New Zealand farmers to invest money to increase efficiency yet again, when the dysfunctional structure of two competing cooperatives is going to give any potential profits away.

One only has to investigate last year’s debacle when Cooperative A under mined Cooperative B in lamb and collectively gave away NZ$160 million of value and our potential profitability.

Sure meat companies blame the market, recession in Europe, the dollar and competing meats in an attempt to

lay the blame somewhere else. But it’s getting harder for companies to pull the wool over sheep farmers’ eyes. If there’s 11,500 commercial sheep farmers left who haven’t yet converted to dairy farming, that $NZ160m represents $14,000 net profit per farm. The result will be “the most efficient and most unprofitable” producers in the world giving our meat away at cost, while the supermarkets bank our profits. Dave Stanton Farmers for better meat marketing RD21 hilton Geraldine

help guarantee sought-after loyalty of supply.

3: And would the

industry be better off without SFF?Bernard Lilburn

R D 6Palmerston north(Shortened – editor)

gIvIng meat away

If you have diabetes – this is information for you.

Make sure you have your new CareSens blood glucose testing meters and strips which are now

subsidised by PHARMAC. Most people who use blood glucose meters will need to change to these new

meters if they haven’t already.

You can get information from your pharmacist or doctor, or you can call 0800 GLUCOSE (458 2673)

or go to www. pharmac.govt.nz/diabetes

Special information events are also being held around New Zealand – check out the events in your

area at www.pharmac.govt.nz/diabetes or by phoning 0800 344 899.

LOW PRESSURE GUN• Rugged construction • Ability to do 700m runs • Stable on undulating ground • Easily moved through obstacles • Works in treed areas • One man operation • Variable ground speeds

New Zealand’s Leading Boom Irrigator BRIGGS ROTO RAINER & LINEAR – Eight Models

Importer and distributor of Zimmatic Pivots & Laterals. Full variety of options offered.

10 Robinson Street, AshburtonPh 03 307 9049 - Fax 03 307 9047

Email: [email protected]: www.rainer.co.nz

Superior product design feature and strength. Computer Irrigation Design. Full Installation complete with Back-up Service & Parts.

Model PW100

SUPPLIERS OF: Zimmatic Parts • Valley Parts • PVC Pipe • Angus Layflat Hose • Stock Water Systems • Effluent Irrigators & Systems

• Pumps • Hard Hose Irrigators • K Line SystemsNZ Importer of Trailco

TracMap is NZ's leadingagricultural GPS provider.

Our systems are futureproofed with freeongoing softwareupdates and easy upgradability meansyou get to benefit fromour ongoingdevelopment.

Supported by our teamof local Area Managers.

GPS MADE EASY

Fertiliser Spreading

Screen View

TracMap Provides:• 15 - 20% Savings on

fertiliser and spray• Farm Map Displayed

on screen• • A system that can be used

for many different tasks.• Free software upgrades

• Systems that are easily transferable between vehicles.

• An easy to use system.

Phone: +64 3 489 2952www.tracmap.co.nz

TracMap - Accurate spreading and spraying Made Easy.

Do you want to save 20% off your fert bill?

Easy upgrade options

Page 29: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

Lake Rotorua, pictured, has just seen an agreement negotiated between farmers and the BoP regional council to ensure its water quality.

opinion 29We are all responsible for water qualityI GOT a chance to look through the Great New Zealand Science Project website the other night.

Plenty was being said about what farmers should be doing about water quality. Much of it was the usual ‘blame-farm-ing-not-cities’ comment, although there were also some interesting sugges-tions about getting people from towns and cities out to farms to contrib-ute towards the funding and labour of fencing off streams.

Until I added my two cents, nothing was being discussed about the need for urban areas to take responsibility for their share of waterway pollu-tion. It would be great if more farmers could take a few minutes to go online and help dispel some of the myths about water quality.

This website has been created to get feedback from the general popu-lation about what they would value in respect of government spending on scientific research over the next few years. I have asked for more research to understand nutrient pathways and more educa-tion for the general popu-lation on what everyone, rural and urban, can do to reduce pollutants reaching our waterways.

We need to have a greater understanding of what is polluting all our rivers and I am inter-ested in discovering more about the effects of urban sewage treatment on them. It would be good to have some definitive answers about what sew-age-treatment processes

remove and what they do not and also look at where this treated waste ends up, which all too often is in rivers or in the sea.

Perhaps part of the reason so few comments are being made in online forums by farming organ-isations is because of the huge amount of work being done to actually find solutions for our industry.

One example is DairyNZ’s work on the Strategy for Sustainable Dairy Farming. This strat-egy for the industry is undergoing a complete refresh and overhaul, with some help from Federated Farmers Dairy, the Dairy Women’s Network and the Dairy Companies Associa-tion of New Zealand.

One of the main points to come from the review has been to reiterate that sustainability means get-ting all aspects of the industry working well. This ranges from the eco-nomic side of things, to the social and cultural aspects, as well as looking at how to minimise and mitigate environmental impacts.

It is vital dairy farm-ing’s first priority is to remain competitive on a world stage by produc-ing safe, high-quality dairy products at a good, com-petitive cost. It is equally vital the industry is responsible for the wider environmental, animal welfare and people-related outcomes of dairy farming. Dairy farming must work for all New Zealanders.

The strategy review is ongoing and those who are interested can have a look at dairynz.co.nz • James Houghton is Federated Farmers Waikato president.

jAMES houGhTon

jobevalves.com/topaz

Top, Side & Bottom EntryAdjustable FloatDetach to access

valve seal

•••

Need a Detachable Valve?

Page 30: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

30 management

Pasture renewal promises profitVenison finishing figures

Old pasture New pastureAnnual growth 8000kgDM/ha 12000kgDM/haDays to gain 44kg lwt* 349 292Ave kill date Mar 3 Jan 5Ave price $/kgcwt $6.80 $7.80Gross venison income $1449/ha $2213/haLambs finished/ha - 58Lamb income @ $15/hd margin - $866/haGross income/ha $1449 $3079Farm working expenses/ha $725 $1385EBIT/ha $724 $1693Return on $1000/ha to regrass 96.6%

* Winter lwt gain 80g/day; spring, summer & autumn lwt gain 150g/day on old, 200g/day on new.

AN AGGRESSIVE regrassing programme could raise EBIT/ha from venison finishing nearly $1000/ha, judging by figures presented to a Deer Industry New Zealand focus farm field day last week.

Even at a conservative 50g lwt/day better weaner growth

through spring, summer and autumn, the South Canterbury/North Otago farmers heard how the resulting earlier finishing and consequently better prices promised a 96.9% return on capital deployed in regrassing (see table).

“If these guys can shift that average growth rate up by 50g/day they will bring forward average kill date by a month and

AnDREW SWALLoW

[email protected]

a half,” explained Mac-farlane Rural Business consultant and field day facilitator, Nicky Hyslop.

Electronic Identifica-tion of weaners and conse-quent closer monitoring of weight gain has shown the field day property, Down-lands Deer near Geral-dine, that weaners on new pasture last month gained over 250g/day, while those on old did 120g/day.

“That’s the sort of thing you need to see to give you the confidence to go out and spend on new grass.”

But Hyslop also stressed: “it’s not just about chucking new grass at the system”; soil fer-tility, fencing, and water supply need to be in place to ensure extra growth potential is realised and harvested.

“You need to make those investments ahead of your regrassing pro-gramme… there’s no point growing a truckload more feed if you’re going to let it get away on you.”

Downlands is using a one year annual grass break to clean out old browntop and rush infested paddocks before going back into a mix of perennial ryegrass, clo-vers, chicory and plantain.

Once established, pas-ture management should follow the dairy devel-oped principle of the feed wedge, keeping a range of covers on paddocks from

1500kgDM/ha on those just grazed – “the resid-ual” – to 2,800kgDM/ha at point of grazing.

“That will a) maximise grazing quality and b) maximise regrowth.”

Analysing Downlands’ operation – 260ha of 80% heavy, rolling paddocks in a reliable 1000mm/year rainfall area – Hyslop acknowledged the relative risk of the venison sched-ule in finishing 1800 wean-ers/year, and rhetorically asked why not simply run more dairy heifers, given the farm already has 320 in the system.

“You couldn’t take on more than 500: they just don’t have the same sea-sonal fit that venison does.”

And if deer farmers focus on productivity, ensuring paddocks and livestock grow drymat-ter and liveweight to their potential, they would “be up there and out compete other options,” she main-tained.

DINZ venison mar-keting services manager Innes Moffat wrapped up the field day with a presen-tation on “surviving post crash Europe”, but for farmers, as Hyslop pointed out early in the day, pro-ductivity has to the focus.

“Why do I keep going on about productivity? Because it’s the one thing you can really control.”

Before and after: old pasture in the foreground and a broadcast reseed with an annual behind.

Inset: Nicky Hyslop

@rural_news

facebook.com/ruralnews

200

180

220

Dyna-VT

Dyna-4

Dyna-6

Efficient

Essential

Exclusive

TransmissionHorsepower Comfort Level

140 – 235 hp

www.masseyferguson.co.nz | Freecall: 0800 825 872is a worldwide brand of AGCO Corporation.

Contact your local Massey Ferguson dealer and experience the new MF7600 Series

• Choose your horsepower• Select your transmission

• Decide on your comfort level

Build your MF7600 for unrivalled performance and efficiency.

CUSTOMISE THE MF7600 TO SUIT YOUUNLOCK YOUR PERFECT TRACTOR

Page 31: Rural News 5 Mar 2013
Page 32: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

32 management

‘Ewe 2’ a hit in

Trial yields tips aplenty

ANDREW AND Gretchen Freeman aim to get every ewe to rear two lambs, every year, regardless of whether they drop one, two or three. It’s their Ewe 2 strategy, and it’s work-ing.

Their system is ‘trip-let transfer’: a simple term that captures a major and complex management regime.

It started in 2011 when the Freeman’s were invited by Beef + Lamb NZ to become one of twelve demonstration farms around the coun-try. The farms take on new approaches, aiming to break ground for the industry in terms of pro-duction and profit. They must be prepared to share results with other farmers

but for their trouble get some funding from BLNZ to support the areas of innovation.

The Freeman’s 733ha farm, Ngahere, is 650ha effective. It’s typical Wair-arapa hill country except not all their hillsides are brown at present, thanks to a regrassing programme they began about seven years ago. Mixes of chic-

Triplet transfer: it’s a concept that attracted about 100 people and raised a few eyebrows on a Beef + Lamb field day 20km east of Masterton recently. Peter Burke reports.

ory, plantain, red and white clover, Italian rye-grass and fescue stand out like oasis in the otherwise parched landscape.

They run about 2500 ewes, buying in replace-ments and finishing about 8000 lambs. They also run circa 250 cattle, mostly bulls. Looking to do something different to grow their farm busi-ness and improve lamb survival rates they hit on a ‘triplet transfer’ system where triplets are reduced to twins, with the lamb removed transferred to a large-scale mothering-on house of single-bear-ing ewes.

Freeman says the idea was born out of the frus-tration of high loss rates in triplets no matter how he managed them.

“I began by re-looking at the situation. I thought if people all around the country with better sys-tems than us are not managing to succeed by making that third lamb stay on its mother, how could we do it differently? I started thinking ‘what if we grafted them onto the single mums en mass’.”

While many top farms are trying to reduce trip-let births and shying away from use of Androvax, the Freeman’s are embrac-ing tripleting: they see it as the key to producing more liveweight per ewe at weaning.

Ewes are mated to Poll-Dorset/Texel cross rams or straight Texel.

“The Texel has a strong link to survivability and we are wanting fast-growing

ThErE WErE some good learning’s from the triplet transfer trial (see main story), says Freeman. For example, it was important to have plenty of water and dry matter in the shed for the ewes, but ‘smellies’, scents, sweats and swearing were of little help in bonding ewes and lambs.

Good hygiene was critical, as was providing extra colostrum for triplet lambs before going to their new mums. high quality ewe-feed pre- and post-lambing was needed for ex-single ewes to milk-up rapidly: going onto plan-tain/clover there were some impres-sive weaning weights for both lambs and ewes. Next spring ewes will be offered pure red and white clover stands to try to push the boundaries further.

While the operation is labour inten-sive, Freeman believes it’s worth it and there are plenty of suitable staff avail-able in spring to do such a job.

“There is not much happening on farms at this time of the year. Not many people are fencing, or shearing etc so there should be plenty of good quality casual labour. Finding profitable oppor-tunities to utilise existing farm labour in September was a key industry-level plus for this project,” he notes.

“The key step to encourage other farms to take this on would be us producing a really strong blueprint with a clear set of protocols of what the system and key labour units need to do and what needs to happen at certain

times – to take a lot of the guessing out of it and help deliver success.”

as for the forty or more lambs that did not bond with their new mums during the project, the Free-mans found there

was a ready market for pet lambs.“Our children kept three or four and

they were employed to help strengthen the lambs as they came through and facilitate sales through Trademe and on our farm website. There was a really good up-take with people from as far away as Wanganui and even Levin buying our lambs.”

If a lamb they sold as a pet died they offered a replacement. There was also the option to sell lambs back to the Free-man’s once weaned, though only one person chose to do that.

“We’d like to see that side scale-up because there’s huge potential for more pet lambs to be reared. It is also a small step in bridging the divide between town and country. I can see us selling well over 100 pet lambs in the future.”

Result: well grown mothered-on lambs in October.

Certainty from a proven supplier.Only Hatuma has spent 50 years re� ning and perfecting the art of dicalcic phosphate manufacture.

Every order of Hatuma Dicalcic Phosphate® despatched, big or small, has been made to the highest

quality standards to ensure you’re getting the very best dicalcic phosphate available.

So if you want to deal with someone as committed to the quality of their product leaving the

gate as you are, call 0800 80 65 65. Alternatively contact your local Ballance Technical Sales

Representative or Altum Field Consultant.

‘WE’VE USED IT HERE FOR 38 YEARS, IT GETS THE RESULTS.’Barry Stoddart – Sheep and Beef Farmer, Central Hawke’s BayTR

ACTA

4052

3-RN

Have you herd about our

dairy sheds?TECHNOLOGIES

We specialise in dairy shed design and construction including rotary and herringbone dairy sheds

www.formsteel.co.nz CALL US TODAY 0800 800 003

YEARS

OF BUIL

DING

TECHNOLO

GY

Formsteel Technologies, the expert manufacturer of precision, high strength steel building systems

Call us today for a free trial0800 888 080www.cashmanagerRURAL.co.nz

Financial software that helps farmers plan

Livestock information at your fi ngertips whenever you need it!Simplify your livestock management with Cashmanager RURAL’s livestock upgrade - the month by month ‘stockfl ow’ view makes it easy to keep your stock fi gures up to date, gives you access to ‘today’s’ farm information, simplifi es reporting and keeps your Accountant happy with a detailed livestock reconciliation.

The farm management software of choice for Farmers, Accountants, Rural Managers and Consultants all over New Zealand - Cashmanager RURAL enables you to: • Create a fi nancial plan for the future and review your

plans against actual activity• Manage your commitments and control your costs• Keep everyone in your business up-to-date and

connected with multi-site access through the ‘cloud’

OR VISIT US AT SOUTH ISLAND FIELD DAYS SITE C58

YEARS30 Cashmanager RURAL has been assisting

New Zealand Farmers to improve farm performance for over 30 years’.

CRS Software Ltd, PO Box 692, Masterton, 5840 NZ.www.cashmanagerRURAL.co.nz

Page 33: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013RuRal News // march 5, 2013

management 33

Wairarapashed set-up: field day visitors see inside the Freeman’s shed.

prime lambs at all weights. The key thing in our system is to make sure we have lambs that are ready to go off mum prime. We often do a lot of lamb trad-ing after Christmas and through the year so they need to be able to prime up rapidly.”

The starting point to the triplet “trial” was injecting the entire ewe flock with Androvax. Scan-ning revealed 664 of 2500 ewes carrying triplets. Triplet-bearing ewes were split into three mobs, plus

a mob of single-bearing ewes – ironically a key part of the system – drafted off.

As no one had done this on such a scale in New Zealand, Freeman was, to some extent, ‘winging it’, he admits. However, they received good advice from Hunterville vet Marty Walshe who’s been work-ing with a similar idea on a smaller scale and pro-vided useful basic data and ideas.

The woolshed and cov-ered yards were set up as the transfer station, with large pens for single-bear-ing ewes and 16-20 small pens. All lambs waiting to be mothered on were kept out of the shed to keep them out of ear shot of ewes.

“So the ewe drops three lambs out in the paddock and elsewhere a single mum has lambed as well

on the same day,” explains Freeman.

“We bring the single ewes and lambs into the shed in batches of 10 – 20 (shed out daily) and put them in groups. The trip-let ewe meanwhile has had her lambs and tried to look after all three in the pad-dock for the first 24 hours. Ideally on day two we go out there and retrieve the weakest one, bring that back to the shed and feed it cow colostrum for one or two feeds.

“Meanwhile the single

mum has already arrived at the shed and her lamb has been taken away from her for a short period and she’s waiting with no lamb. Then six hours later or the next morning, every single mum is presented with a new set of twins, and none of them are her own lamb. She may get a set of singles from other single mums or she may get two new triplets. The fact that she doesn’t get her own lamb back mas-sively increases the accep-tance rate of these foreign lambs. She can’t pick favourites: that’s the key.”

It’s an approach similar to the nurse-cow system used by some calf rearers, he notes.

Keeping removed single lambs out of earshot is crucial, says Freeman. They’re only brought back into the main shed when

they are ready to be paired with a ewe.

Ewes are fitted with ram harnesses and teth-ered in pens so they can’t lie down making it easy for the lambs to drink. As soon as they’re drink-ing, there’s no bleating, and both single and triplet lambs proved very quick to accept new mothers. And while it took ewes 6-12 hours to accept the lambs, as soon as the ewe’s milk had passed through the lambs the ewes could smell this and in most cases lamb were accepted, he says.

In this past season’s trial, the Freeman’s reared about 200 triplets and over 80% of the lambs given new mothers sur-vived. The cost of rearing each lamb was $21, includ-ing labour (30%) animal health (23%) and feed and shed costs (47%).

Another benefit was faster and greater weight-gain by the two lambs left on the original triplet ewe.

Next spring Freeman plans to rear 400 lambs on the transfer system, refin-ing it further. It should return $23,000 profit, he calculates. But for both he and Gretchen, the system goes beyond profit.

“I think we are doing something making sure the extra lambs we pro-duce have a genuine chance of being saved and utilised. This is really important and is a key issue for us and in par-ticular where the indus-try is going in terms of its genetic gain. A lot of ram breeders are getting feed-back from their clients that they don’t want trip-lets and have reverted back to systems that really only focus on two lambs being born per ewe.

Flashback to lambing: a ewe adopting her new “twins”.

Certainty from a proven supplier.Only Hatuma has spent 50 years re� ning and perfecting the art of dicalcic phosphate manufacture.

Every order of Hatuma Dicalcic Phosphate® despatched, big or small, has been made to the highest

quality standards to ensure you’re getting the very best dicalcic phosphate available.

So if you want to deal with someone as committed to the quality of their product leaving the

gate as you are, call 0800 80 65 65. Alternatively contact your local Ballance Technical Sales

Representative or Altum Field Consultant.

‘WE’VE USED IT HERE FOR 38 YEARS, IT GETS THE RESULTS.’Barry Stoddart – Sheep and Beef Farmer, Central Hawke’s BayTR

ACTA

4052

3-RN

EZIWEIGH7 WEIGH SCALE + SRS STICK READER

Offer and prices valid from 1 February to 31 March 2013. Pricing is GST inclusive, subject to change and includes delivery to the retail stores. Savings are based on Tru-Test RRP’s and are based on purchasing products individually. The free Zee Tags & Z2 no tear tagger™ offer applies to RFID Cattle and Deer tags only, and can be either HDX or FDX and Birth ID or Traka Tags. Note: Male tags must be white for Cattle and orange for Deer. All applicable fees and levies plus GST will be billed to the customers rural retailer account. The offer includes one free Z2 no tear tagger™ per qualifying order and freight will be free of charge to the rural retailer. Zee Tags general terms and conditions apply.

Lets taLk. CALL 0800 2 MEASURE (0800 263 278) OR VISIT WWW.TRU-TEST.COM/MADE2MEASURE

eID WeIGHING sYsteMs

eID taG ReaDeRs

ID3000 WEIGH SCALE + XRS STICK READER OR XRP PANEL READER

IN

CL G

ST

$2395save $321

$3795save $560 I

NC

L G

ST

IN

CL G

ST

$4795save $853

XR3000 WEIGH SCALE + XRS STICK READER OR XRP PANEL READER

XRS STICK READER

$2295 IN

CL G

ST

XRP PANEL READER

$2295 IN

CL G

ST

DUAL ANTENNA XRP PANEL READER

$2995 IN

CL G

ST

SRS STICK READER

$1295 IN

CL G

ST

25 FREE

eID taGs + taGGeR

75 FREE

eID taGs + taGGeR

50 FREE

eID taGs + taGGeR

50 FREE

eID taGs + taGGeR

100 FREE

eID taGs + taGGeR

150 FREE

eID taGs + taGGeR

GET TAGGED wiTh TRU-TEST

FREE& Z2 NO TEAR TAGGER™

with selected Tru-Test purchases*

(Customer responsible for payment of tag levies)

50 FREE

eID taGs + taGGeR

Page 34: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

34 management

pam tipa

[email protected]

Ewe condition score key tool

CONDITION SCORING tops a list of key actions to get the best from your flock, says a leading sheep consultant and vet.

“At the end of the day you will be sick of hear-ing me talk about condi-tion scoring,” Trevor Cook told a Beef+Lamb NZ

sheep production field day at Ahuroa, Northland. “It is the best tool you have to lift the performance of your flock.”

Recognising the bar-rage of flock management advice farmers often face, he ran through key actions for coming weeks at the field day which was held on Daniel and Nicola Berg-er’s farm.

The difference between farms making $48 per ewe per year and those making $189 is not because of where they live, or the type of farm, “it is just those guys that do a whole lot of stuff better – the basics better,” he stressed.

There’s a “clear set of things” that most affect the income, and it’s not a big list. In a breeding flock,

number of lambs docked/tailed is key.

“I like to focus on get-ting as many lambs as pos-sible at docking because that is how you make money.”

Lifting scanning per-centage 11% can give a huge lift in profitability and eliminating low con-dition score ewes is often the key to that, he says.

“In my experience of North Island hill country flocks at any stage of the production cycle at least 15% of ewes are below [target] condition score.”

Eye-metering isn’t good enough, he adds.

“All of you will be miss-ing at least 25% to 50% of low condition scores if you are using your eye….

“We have got some very good research data that shows us there’s a major production response from just focusing on condition score and lowering that

below condition score to about 5% from about 15% (pre-mating)… I believe that should be the number one focus on every flock.”

The return on allocat-ing feed to lift light ewes is massive, “way more than anything else you can do on the farm,” he stresses.

“The number of ewes below condition score 3 will put the ceiling on what your scanning per-

centage is.”While no-one likes

conditions scoring and it is time consuming, it can often be done with other operations, such as at scanning where the person pushing ewes into the scanning crate can be trained to condition score them in doing so, he sug-gests.

A key date is 35 days before start of lambing. From that date the aim is to ensure ewes carry-ing multiple lambs do not lose any more condition. If they don’t get enough feed, not only do ewes go “sleepy” but lambs will be born dopey and the single biggest influence on sur-vival from birth to docking is how quickly the lambs stand up.

“A lamb which is born and suckles within 20 min-utes has a 90% chance of being alive 90 days later.”

While that’s a concern for the coming winter, if

there’s still an opportunity to lift light ewes to condi-tion score 3 or better for mating, the return on that is about 45%, he says.

In the run-up to mating, it’s important to remember the rams. “We know that whole production cycle of sperm starts eight weeks before that sperm is mature. Anything we do to put stress on that ram in that eight week window will put a block in the production cycle.”

That eight weeks before mating are so important they should be highlighted on the calen-dar - “that calendaring is essential” – and be on the alert for any health issues, including pasture endo-phytes.

For ewes, assuming they’re in adequate condi-tion, the “20 golden days” are the 10 days before start of mating and first 10 days of mating itself.

cook points to the 2010 experience of the manawatu BLNZ monitor farm as an example of the benefit of condition scoring, particularly in a summer/autumn dry such as now. Following a dry autumn, in what was a wet spring, many flocks that normally did 130% docked, did under 100%.

“at the monitor farm we had an intense condition score programme and robust feed programme, and we had a record lambing at 132% - it had never done over 125%...

“When I look back… we were very aggressive in setting up the winter and we used nitrogen to do that, the payback was just massive.”

Manawatu example

The number of ewes below condition score 3 at mating puts a ceiling on your scanning percentage, says consultant vet Trevor Cook.

SOUTH AMERICA AWAITS!Chile, Argentina & Brazil – May 2013

FARM TO FARMNEW ZEALAND TOURS

For more information email or phone us

0800 38 38 747

CHINA – May: Vibrant Beijing & Shanghai, a range of enterprises, Great Wall, Buried Warriors and Silk Road plus Yangtze River cruise and Inner Mongolia.AFRICA – May: A wonderful array of farms, safaris, sights plus scenic garden route to Cape Town and Nampo field days. Stunning Victoria Falls/Botswana extension - amazing wildlife!EUROPE – May/June: A grand farming, food and wine tour! Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France.CANADA & ALASKA – June: Ever popular tour taking in Victoria, Vancouver, the Rockies, Calgary, Niagara Falls and Quebec - magnificent scenery, wonderful farms plus an optional 8 day Alaskan CruiseQUEENSLAND – June: “Winter in the Sun” Brisbane to Cairns, outback stations, farm stay, Darling Downs, Barrier Reef and more.UK & IRELAND – June/July: Enjoy the best of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland – Highland Show, farms, gardens, villages, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and more. USA – June/July: Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Mid West heartland and more – farms, sights and rural hospitality second to none. SCANDINAVIA – July: Farms, fiords, and sights in Sweden, Denmark and Norway plus beautiful Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo. Fantastic extension to Finland and St Petersburg, Russia.

Explore this diverse continent offering superb visits, food and wine with Latin flare and charm!

From beef, dairy, sheep, cropping, forestry. Falls and exciting

Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and more!

Don’t miss one of our most popular tours!

Farm To Farm ToursBox 239, 77-83 High Street, RangioraPH 03 313 5855 FAX 03 313 5596 EMAIL [email protected]

www.farmtofarm.co.nz

Work Smarter

www.kawasaki.co.nz 0800 4 Kawasaki (0800 452 9272)

IDE

ATIO

N-K

MD

0027

-B

6 piece tool pack free with models: KVF650 4x4, KVF750 4x4, Mule 600, Mule 610, Mule 4010, Mule 4010 Diesel, Mule 4010 Trans, Teryx.

Buy a Kawasaki today

W

wwwww kaawaasaaki coo nz 008800 44 Kaawwasa

and we’ll tool you

up with this 6 pce

Kawasaki package»

Includes: 185mm

Circular

Saw, Cordless

Drill

and Impact D

river Kit,

125mm Disc G

rinder, 4volt

Cordless Scre

w Driver,

150mm Bench

Grinder, .

Retail value $6

69.

Offer available

from 4th Fe

b ends 31st M

arch 2013.

ABSOLUTELY

FREE

Page 35: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

• Participating products are ALLIANCE 5L & 10L, CONVERGE 5L and 10L, SCANDA Plain 10L, SCANDA Selenised 10L and 20L, MAGNUM 20L, BLAZE 5L, ZENITH Concentrate 5L and 10L, VANQUISH 10L and WIPE-OUT 11L. • Receive one entry per participating product purchased during promotion period. • COOPERS will donate $3 to Federated Farmers for every drum of participating product sold into COOPERS reseller during the promotion period.• Go to www.bumperseason.co.nz for full terms and conditions. • ®Registered trademarks. COOPERS is a divison of MSD Animal Health. BUMPER-349-2012.

ELE-

0052

9-RN

a GALLAGHER Weigh Scale and Data Collector – TSi with 600mm Loadbars and SmartReader Electronic Tag Reader

www.bumperseason.co.nz

PLUS in all three draws between November and February you could win:

a HONDA WB20 Water Pump

Bump up productivity and WIN!

Buy COOPERS this summer and be in to win hardworking farm gear from Honda, Gallagher, STiHL and COOPERS. Every eligible purchase gives you multiple chances to win. So get started today – with over $75,000 worth of prizes, it’s going to be a bumper season.

1 of 30 COOPERS Drench Promo Packs

$3 from every drum sold goes to supporting the Federated Farmers Adverse Events Network.

ChoiCe!WIN our

ultimate draw in March and choose the

ultimate prize for your farm

ThiS oR ThiSHonda Big Red® MUV700

GALLAGHER® Sheep Auto Drafter with TSi Weigh Scale

and Electronic Tag Reader

a STiHL MS391 Chainsaw with safety chaps

a HONDA XR125 Duster® Farm Bike

Page 36: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

36 animal health

Dairying dog training a big askSHOULD DAIRY farm-ers and workers get pups to train? Through no fault of their own many haven’t had much to do with work-ing dogs, or at least well trained ones, and they haven’t experienced first-hand a capable person and dog at work. They get a pup, usually poorly bred, and expect it to know what

to do. No one has ever shown them how to train a dog.

Dog training isn’t easy, particularly if you don’t have sheep or good facili-ties, and most dairy farms have everything stacked against them to begin with. It is very hard train-ing enthusiastic young dogs when there are only

cattle, and harder still when the fences just have a couple of wires and dogs can easily go wherever they want.

I honestly feel most dairy farmers are better off buying, at the very least, partly trained dogs, but here lies a problem – a lot of doggy people won’t sell to dairy farmers. Why? Because they have a rep-

utation of treating dogs poorly, due to ignorance. Don’t shoot the messen-ger, I’m just telling you how a lot of people see it. Some dogs on dairy farms lead good lives, the aver-age don’t.

Occasionally I get dairy farmers coming to my training days, and it is great that they want to

learn, although a lot of what I teach is irrelevant to their requirements; however, they can go away with a simple method for teaching the basic com-mands to cover their needs – it is just a matter of sifting through the information.

I’m often asked how to train a dog to follow cows down laneways. Dogs need to follow rather than push, and to not leave any strag-glers behind; so firstly, every dog needs a stop command – ‘sit’ or ‘stand still’. After it has learnt the word and obeys the com-mand, I suggest that each morning and afternoon, when you get the cows, give the dog a lesson. Put it on about a 10m length of thin rope attached to its collar; that way the dog can potter along behind the cows but if it tries to push them too hard or go up the side you can check it; you have control with the rope. Naturally you can’t do this if the dog isn’t interested in them. The ultimate would be if you were walking, but who does that nowadays? It will be tricky with a bike but if you do this, drive slowly, hold the end of the rope and let the dog wander along behind the cows. If the dog gets too keen,

stop it with ‘sit’. Give it a moment to settle before asking it to ‘walk’, allowing it to continue – steadily. The dog will eventually learn what to do and what not to do.

When that is working well, I would introduce ‘careful’; this is allow-ing the dog to walk but if it gets carried away, give a gentle tug on the rope without actually stopping the dog, and say ‘careful’ instead of ‘sit’.

That way ‘sit’ means stop still, ‘careful’ means slow.

Don’t expect miracles; it takes time, consistency and patience on your part, and repetition for the dog to learn. When you think the dog has grasped the concept, drop the rope and allow the dog freedom to work but still dragging the rope, which will make it easy for you to gain con-trol if he doesn’t obey a command. If that happens, act immediately: get off the bike, pick up the rope and give a quick jerk as you say either ‘sit’ or ‘careful’, whichever you originally asked for.• Anna Holland is teaching people dog training. For more information www.annaholland.co.nz or Ph 07 217 0101 or [email protected]

training daysanna holland will be holding training days in the Taupo, Feilding and masterton areas during march and april. For details call 07 217 0101 or [email protected]

a long line helps consolidate commands.

PROUDLY AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL VET CLINICMerial is a Sanofi company. MERIAL NEW ZEALAND, LEVEL 3, MERIAL BUILDING, OSTERLEY WAY, MANUKAU, NEW ZEALAND. WWW.MERIALANCARE.CO.NZ. ®MATRIX, ®ARREST, ®SWITCH, ®EXODUS, ®FIRST AND ®GENESIS ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF MERIAL LIMITED. REGISTERED PURSUANT TO THE ACVM ACT 1997 NO’S. A7353, A9270, A7191, A9222, A6481, A7456, A9888, A10222, A10131 & A10640. SEE WWW.FOODSAFETY.GOVT.NZ FOR REGISTRATION CONDITIONS. ©COPYRIGHT 2012 MERIAL LIMITED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NZ-12-MAL-167 *WHILE STOCKS LAST

VISIT YOUR LOCAL VET CLINIC TO GET THE REAL DEAL ON GETTING BETTER RESULTS USING MERIAL ANCARE CATTLE pRODUCTS AND YOU COULD HOOK YOURSELF ONE OF THESE SHIMANO ROD AND REEL DEALS FOR BETTER RESULTS ON THE WATER TOO. *Shimano fishing rod and reel or Rapala knife yours with qualifying purchases.

Sedona 4000Fd SoFt bait Set or tLd15 Set quaLiFying packS: 1 x EPRINEX® 20L, 1 x ECLIPSE® 10L, 1 x GENESIS® Pour-On 10L, 1 x MATRIX®C Hi-min 20L, 1 x EXODUS® Pour-on 20L, 3 x ECLIPSE®E Bulk pack (4x500mL), 2 x IVOMEC®PLUS Herd Pack (6x500mL). aLivio Set or tr200g Set quaLiFying packS: 1 x EPRINEX® 5L, 1 x ECLIPSE® 2.5L, 1 x ECLIPSE® 5L, 1 x GENESIS® Pour-On 5L, 1 x GENESIS® Ultra Pour On 5L, 1 x SWITCH®C Hi-Mineral 20L, 1 x EXODUS® Pour-on 5L, 1 x MATRIX®C Hi-min 10L. FiLLeting kniFe quaLiFying packS: 1 x GENESIS® Pour-On 2.5L, 2 x GENESIS® Injection 500mL, 2 x GENESIS® Inj B12 500mL plus SE, 2 x ECLIPSE®E inj 500mL, 2 x IVOMEC®PLUS - 500mL, 1 x SWITCH®C Hi-Mineral 10L.

MAL-Reel Deal Cattle 2013-280x187mm.indd 1 31/01/13 11:29 AM

Page 37: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

animal health 37

NZ-owned newcomer in drench marketTWO YEARS into establishing Alleva Animal Health Ltd, Robert Holmes and Blair Loveridge see the business gaining traction with New Zealand veterinarians.

The pair are pursuing what they see as a need for more local owner-ship of biotech businesses, including in animal health.

“In animal health the number of locally owned companies has been dwindling – at least three of the major supply companies taken over in five years – Ancare, Bomac and Stock-guard,” Holmes told Rural News.

He and Loveridge left Ancare in the summer of 2011. That company had been sold to Merial and both men saw a more interesting and challeng-ing future working their own patch.

Holmes (B Econ., MBA, Masssey) had been 13 years at Ancare, three of them as chief executive of Ancare Sci-entific. He had previously worked six

years for MSD Agvet. Loveridge (MSc, Massey) had imbibed at least some of the animal health ethos from his father, a veterinarian.

So far Alleva has filed ten patent applications, its directors buoyed by the knowledge they could not only take overseas formulations and tailor them to New Zealand needs, but also develop formulations here for sale overseas.

“There are market needs and emerging animal threats not being well addressed – here and in other countries,” says Holmes. “We see these as opportunities. Antiparasit-ics, vaccines and antibiotics are stand-outs. And vets want best-in-class products. That puts us on our mettle.

“Of course, you can plough a lot of time into identifying problems… underlying it all is the need to gener-ate and sustain cashflow.”

Now comes volume distribu-tion and the company’s first product advertising campaign – “Something

we’ve been look-ing forward to,” Holmes says. “New Zea-land farmers are well-educated and they’re smart in adopting new technology. That fact encourages us to keep pushing ahead with our own systems for bringing out more products, chiefly for cattle and sheep, but also for the ‘cat-and-dog’ sector.”

The company’s dual-active pour-on, Boss, has been two years in devel-opment and available through vets for three months. Holmes is an advocate of vet-only distribution.

“The best on-farm solutions aren’t just delivered in a box. Veterinarians bring local knowledge and skills that other channels just can’t provide. I am not sure farmers always appreci-ate that.”

NEiL KEatiNG

Robert Holmes

FE bolus for big cattleDOSING BIG cattle against facial eczema (FE) can now be done in one hit, says Agri-feeds, thanks to a new larger dose version of its Time Capsule bolus.

“In the past farmers have had to dose larger cows with a combination of smaller Time Capsules and other zinc products to get full protection,” says Agri-feeds Market-ing Manager, Debbie Schrader.

The new Time Capsule is designed for 400-600kg live-weight animals and provides four weeks’ protection during high FE risk periods, and five weeks at other times.

Facial eczema causes liver damage which can lead to serious health and production losses including reduced fertility and milk production.

Schrader says don’t be fooled into thinking the hot dry conditions mean low FE risk.

“Dead and dying pasture litter combined with heavy dews is a haven for the fungus which causes Facial Eczema.

“Not all animals show physical signs and farmers may not be aware stock have a problem until it is too late,” she says.

As of Feb 22, Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s monitoring report showed most sites as low risk.

in brief

FOuR MORe farmers have landed major prizes in what is the third draw in Coopers’ Bumper season promotion: Jason McKenzie, Geraldine gets a Gallagher weigh scale and data collector; Ian woodhouse, eketahuna, a Honda XR125 farm bike; Jennifer sanders, alexandra, a stihl Ms391 chainsaw and Brad Hazeldine, Cheviot, a Honda wB20 water pump. Coopers says the next draw, March 15, is “the big one”. while only one name will come out of the hat, that person gets to choose between a Gallagher sheep auto Drafter with weigh scale and tag reader and a Honda Big Red MuV four-wheeler for their prize.

More winners with Coopers

Check out the latest market data atwww.ruralnewsgroup.co.nz/markets

Market Data Every Week

caTTLE VETS have been getting the alleva product message for three months. Now it’s farmers’ turn. Three products are especially in view.

Boss Pour-on (abamectin + levamisole) is a newly developed combination that, notably, uses a “novel” primary solvent system. Three things result, says holmes: the active ingredients are more effectively transported

to skin level; reduced tendency to run off the back of the animal; enhanced dermal penetration.

Efficacy levels are >99.9% against all worm species, as shown in worm count studies. The product kills endecto-cide-resistant cooperia species and species resistant to benzimid-azole drenches. It is also effective against biting lice, sucking lice and lungworm.

Boss Injection combi-nation for cattle contains levamisole phos-phate and a “co-mectin blend” of eprinomectin and ivermectin. The product has very high potency at reasonable cost, alleva says. It is a world first macrocy-clic lactone/levamisole product offering both internal worm control as well as control of lice. The chosen combina-tion helps address two critical issues: stability is

assured over its intended shelf-life when correctly stored under refrigera-tion; and injection site reactions are minimised by ensuring the active ingredients are quickly cleared from the injec-tion site.

reflex Pour-on (abamectin) is a rapidly absorbed nil-milk withholding period formulation that exposes parasites to a pronounced plasma peak of abamectin.

Hat-trick of cattle products

YOU’VE GOT LICE

NAILED!Expo PourOn and Extinosad Dip deliver dead fast and targeted lice control on all breeds of sheep. They share a unique active ingredient called spinosad that is chemically different to any other product and provides a deadly alternative to IGR products; and to SP products to which resistance has been identifi ed. With a safety profi le second to none, Extinosad andExpo will nail lice regardless of your application method.

Expo for pour-on application offshears on all breeds; up to 3 months on coarse wool breeds. Extinosad for saturation use through automatic jetting races, conveyor, shower and plunge systems on all breeds. For more information go to www.elanco.co.nz or call the Elanco helpline on 0800 352626. Elanco Animal Health, A division of Eli Lilly and Co (NZ) Ltd, 123 Ormiston Rd, Botany Junction, Auckland. Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997. Nos A10205 and A8206.

E Nailed 39x3 02/13

Page 38: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

38 animal health

Vets get hogget lambing message

OVER HALF New Zea-land’s ewe lambs could go to the ram every year, earning more for farmers and country alike, says one of the country’s leading

animal scientists.Massey University’s

Professor Paul Kenyon told the recent Inter-national Sheep Veteri-narian Conference in

Rotorua 50-60% of ewe lambs could be mated and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t wean at 90%. Indeed, some farms are already achieving up to

120% lambing from ewe hoggets.

“The farms that are achieving the high per-centages are in good envi-ronments with good

topography and feeding.”While not everyone is

going to achieve that, a heap of research in recent years has produced robust guidelines on how to go

The International Sheep Veterinarian Congress was held in Rotorua last month with papers presented from around the world. Peter Burke caught up with a couple of New Zealand’s speakers and asked what they’d be talking about.

about it even in more chal-lenging environments, he says.

“The information is out there should farmers chose to use it.”

With some farms reaching a ceiling in how many lambs mature ewes can successfully rear, Kenyon argues more lamb crops from hoggets is a more likely way to increase individual farm and sector come.

“We have to think smarter about how farmers can pro-duce more lambs each year…We know that the average mature ewe lamb-ing percentage has increased from approximately 103% in 1990 to about 120%. We also know that while this increase has been significant, current modeling suggests that the rate of fur-ther increases in lambing percentage is not going to be as great. This rate of gain will start to be limited by environment, topogra-phy and nutritional con-straints.”

In contrast, only about 35% of ewe lambs/year are mated and they average 55-70% lambing. Conse-quently they only account for 4-5% of the lamb crop.

“So there is huge potential to increase our productivity in our ewe lambs.”

Ways to avoid the tra-ditional pitfalls of running rams with ewe lambs – variation in performance; ensuing problems as two-tooths; reduced longev-ity – have now been well researched, he adds.

For example, it’s been shown ewe lambs must be at least 40kgs before mating and, to get best results, should be teased before being put to the ram.

“We also know that they should be gaining at least 130 to 150g/day during pregnancy and in that way they will produce a lamb at a good weight at birth and with good milk for lamb growth.

“At the same time she herself will have grown through that pregnancy period so that she achieves a suitable 18-month breed-ing weight and you don’t get the dip in [two-tooth]

performance. You also don’t get the stunting effect and you don’t get a reduction in longevity.”

Needless to say, scales are a key tool, but not every ewe lamb earmarked for mating must be weighed: a representative subset of say 50 should suffice.

As for additional feed demand of pregnant ewe lambs/hoggets, it has to be allowed for but in practice there’s a cost benefit in

doing so compared to run-ning dry hoggets, he says.

“For every seven preg-nant ewe hoggets you have, in comparison to seven non pregnant ewe hoggets, the extra feed that you need through the winter through to early lactation is roughly equiv-alent to one mature ewe. I would argue that you need to look at your mature ewe numbers and drop them slightly if you have preg-nant hoggets.”

The practice won’t suit every farm and even where it does suit, Kenyon says not necessarily every hogget should be mated. But there’s no doubt ewe lambs are generally better grown today and achieve autumn liveweights well above the norm of 20 years ago, so there’s an opportu-nity for far more farms to give it a go.

Overall, the aim is better productivity from a given level of feed.

“We don’t want to get into the situation that many dairy farmers are in, and have been in the past, where they achieve higher production by chucking in more inputs. By chuck-ing in more inputs you can achieve higher per-formance, but you have a greater risk if the value of your product comes down.”

Paul Kenyon

@rural_newsfacebook.com/ruralnews

I WANT TO MAKE SURE NONE OF OUR HARD WORK IS WASTED

To get better lamb numbers, focus on the factors you can easily control – the diseases that can cause major losses like toxoplasma, campylobacter, and salmonella. Vaccination helps you to both protect your ewes and increase the number of lambs born.A sheep performance vaccine plan for your farm will ensure you get the most benefi t and most peace of mind.

AVAILABLE ONLY UNDER VETERINARY AUTHORISATION. ®Registered trademark. MSD Animal Health Phone: 0800 800 543. SPV-414-2012.

Talk to your vet now about a sheep performance vaccination plan for your farm. For more information visit www.sheepvax.co.nz

A sheep performance vaccine plan for your farm will ensure

ELE-

0056

2-RN

b

SECURE LAMB NUMBERS. SECURE YOUR GAINS.

Page 39: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

animal health 39

trials of sheep breedsA PERENNIAL challenge for sheep breeders is knowing what market they are breeding for, a leading New Zea-land sheep geneticist says.

Professor Hugh Blair of Massey University told delegates to the Inter-national Sheep Veterinarian Confer-ence in Rotorua that the turnaround time from making selection decisions in ram breeding flocks to realising gains from those deci-sions on commercial farms is about seven years. The problem is, no one really knows what consumers of meat and wool will want seven years out.

While that’s the chal-lenge facing ram breeders, he says no farmer should be suffering from a lack of lambs from their flock. He says if they are they should change their breed or their breeder.

In his paper to the conference, Blair talked about the history of sheep breeding in New Zealand and the progress and research made by scientists over the past 100 or more years. He says the objective all along has been to improve farm profitabil-ity, but that’s not always happened.

“If we take the Romney sheep from what was delivered to New Zealand in the 1880’s to what we had by the 1940s, it was quite a different beast. Wool was king and so wool was on every part of the animal - it was almost on its nose and its hooves. The price of wool was a pound a pound so it was thought that by making these changes to the sheep that the farmer would be producing a whole lot more wool. In fact they weren’t,” he explains.

The amount of extra wool from the ‘wooled up Romney’ compared with open faced lines was negligible and the extra wool created problems.

“The big sticking point was that by putting wool everywhere we actu-ally affected the temperature con-trol of the ewes, which meant their reproductive rate was not as good as those animals that were open faced. Research by AL Rae, T S Chang, Morrie McDonald George Wick-ham and others at Massey in the late 1950s and ‘60s showed that those ani-

mals with wool on the face and points had poorer control over blood vessel constriction and dilation so when an animal had to lose body heat it couldn’t do so efficiently. So what Morrie in particular showed was that if there was a small increase in ewe body temperature, you decreased the proportion of fertilised eggs that would implant.”

It’s a nice example of an unin-tended outcome of selective breed-ing, says Blair. In that case, the advent of weighing wool clips in the 1950s turned things around, scientists advo-cating that to increase fleece weights farmers must measure and record the performance of their flocks.

“Then came such things as breed-ing values and away we went – the rest is history. We didn’t start that well, but where we are now is that New Zealand makes very effective use of the principles of genetics in our pro-duction systems.”

While New Zealand has devel-oped new breeds of sheep such as the Coopworth and Perendale, it’s also applied genetics to develop ‘strains of breeds’, for example with facial eczema tolerance.

Changes to the research struc-tures in the 1980s and 1990s created some issues in the breeding field as the consolidation of MAF and DSIR

into AgResearch coincided with the introduction of breeds such as the Finn-ish Landrace, Texel and Oxford Down. A change to research funding channels also made it difficult for scientists to get backing for the long-term work needed for breed comparisons. The result was farmers started their own on-farm experi-ments.

“Farmers would take two Texels, or three Finnish Land-race rams and they would cross them over groups of animals on their prop-erty and measure them, against in their terms, the other purebreds they had on their property. And they would say – wow - the introduction of a half Texel was great, or that it wasn’t. The problem was we didn’t have con-trolled experiments… Farmers were left doing it on their own and we had a very mixed up phase though the ‘90s.”

But by 2000, things were starting to settle down.

“You had some major breed-ers through Hawkes Bay, Wair-arapa, Manawatu and quite a number down in the South Island who had all infused a portion of genes from a vari-ety of those exotics into their lines of sheep.

“They’re now marketing them under their particular brands. They are not being marketed [as] Romneys or Merinos or any other breed.”

Massey’s professor Hugh Blair

“Then came such things as breeding values and away we went – the rest is history. we didn’t start that well, but where we are now is that New Zealand makes very effective use of the principles of genetics in our production systems.”

Lambing percentage is the most important driver of sheep farm profi tability. With little or no control over market prices, you need as many tools to infl uence lambing percentage as possible.

Androvax®plus is a vaccine that stimulates antibodies to temporarily block the release of eggs, meaning more eggs mature which are then released at the same time. The result is an instant increase in twinning percentages. For fl ocks with lambing percentages of between 100% and 145% the increase in lambs born is largely associated with increased twin lambs.

Management strategies must be in place to ensure the farm can provide enough feed to grow the increased number of lambs at optimum rates, and for the extra ewes rearing twins to regain their liveweight before the next mating.

Androvaxplus could help your farm.Ask your vet for more information.

WHEN YOU NEED A QUICK, FLEXIBLE METHOD FOR IMPROVING FLOCK PERFORMANCE.

SECURE YOUR LAMB NUMBERS. SECURE YOUR GAINS.How to plan for a successful season.

AVA

ILA

BLE

ON

LY U

ND

ER V

ETER

INA

RY A

UTH

ORI

SATI

ON

. ®Re

gist

ered

tra

dem

ark.

MSD

Ani

mal

Hea

lth. P

hone

080

0 80

0 54

3. S

PV-4

18-2

012

BOOST LAMB NUMBERS QUICKLY BY A PROVEN AVERAGE OF 20%

PLAN FOR SUCCESS: GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR INVESTMENT WITH ANDROVOX®plus!

Increase lambing percentage by an average of 20%.

Effects last only one season, allowing you to tailor your management plan each year.

A return of $3 for every $1 spent on Androvaxplus in the 1st season of use.

BOOST LAMB NUMBERS QUICKLY

ELE-

0054

7-RN

a

Page 40: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

40 machinery & products

MASSEY FERGUSON has expanded its current MF7600 series tractors by adding four new models ranging from 140–175hp. Features include award-winning technology and the latest fuel-efficient engines, the company says.

The MF7600 can be specified with either the Dyna-4 and Dyna-6 Eco semi-powershift trans-mission or the Dyna-VT continuously variable transmission. All are equipped with the latest AGCO Power e3 engines with Generation 2 selec-tive catalytic reduction (SCR).

Across the range, the cab is said to provide great visibility, more interior space and greater comfort. Users can choose from three specification levels and new control options to match their require-ments.

Highlights are as fol-lows:

• These four new models expand the range to eight models from 140—235hp, offering light-weight and versatile trac-tors ideal, typically, for cultivation, crop establish-ment, top work and haul-age.

• Choice of either Dyna-4 and Dyna-6 semi-powershift or Dyna-VT continuously variable transmission allows users to select the most appro-priate driveline for their applications.

• Choice of Essen-tial, Efficient and Exclu-sive specifications allow owners to choose the most suitable transmission and features for their needs.

• Latest technology AGCO Power e3 engines with Generation 2 selec-tive catalytic reduction reduce fuel consumption and exhaust gas emissions.

• Power management on Dyna-6 models boosts engine power by up to 25hp for field and road operations.

• Enhanced cab com-fort and visibility from new windscreen, slim bonnet and compact cool-ing package.

• Multi-function com-mand control armrests and options of new Mul-tipad joystick and Multi-function Joystick.

• Cab suspension choices of mechanical or the maker’s hydraulic OptiRide Plus.

AGCO says Massey Ferguson pioneered the use of SCR systems in agri-culture, and now the new MF7600 series tractors benefit from the latest Generation 2 e3 technol-ogy known to cut fuel consumption. The Gen-eration 2 SCR system uses a diesel oxidation cataly-ser (DOC), which includes

the AdBlue dosing injector nozzle and fits under the bonnet.

On Dyna-6 models, power management now automatically boosts power by up to 25hp for field and transport work. This provides higher output for a range of appli-cations when conditions allow, taking account of PTO operation, travel speed and load.

The MF7600 series can be equipped with either the Dyna-4, Dyna-6 semi-powershift or the Dyna-VT continuously variable transmissions. Dyna-VT provides precise control of the forward speed, while minimising engine revs, which ensures the trac-tor always operates with optimum economy and efficiency. This is further enhanced by the dynamic tractor management (DTM) system, which automatically adjusts the

massey adds four new models to range

engine speed according to load.

AGCO says Dyna-6 ECO is a “well proven, rugged and refined trans-mission” that offers completely clutch-less operation via the left-hand power control or right-hand command control armrest levers. This pro-vides a total of 24 speeds with six Dynashift (power-shift) steps in four gears.

The ECO feature allows the top speed to be achieved at lower revs, which also reduces engine noise and fuel consump-tion. ‘AutoDrive’ is an output-boosting stan-dard feature that pro-vides greater levels of gear changing automation to increase work rates and cut fuel consumption.

A new cab structure has a curved front wind-screen, increased visibil-ity plus a new roof with two adjustable lights on

each corner. Inside, a slim dash and instrument panel improves forward visi-bility, the company says. This also moves with the steering wheel as it tilts and telescopes in and out to match driver require-ments. Cab suspension choices are a straight-forward mechanical system with coil springs and dampers, or AGCO’s hydraulic OptiRide Plus, which enables the opera-tor to adjust the ride com-fort level.

New command con-trol armrests are available with different multi-func-tion joysticks, to match the model specifications. The new multipad joy-stick is standard on top specification tractors. This mounts at the front of the command control armrest and has a thumb button shuttle control as well as operating a range of other functions. Also new on

the top two models is the option of a multi-function joystick, which includes forward/reverse shuttle and gear shift buttons, and also provides hydraulic controls.

A high level of automa-tion is standard, includ-ing the integrated tractor control system (ITCS) with electronic spool valve management and wheelslip control.

The maker’s Datatronic control centre display is standard on the Exclusive models and is an option on the Efficient range. All MF7600 tractors come ready to be fitted with the AGCOMMAND telemetry-based machine manage-ment system. In addition, AutoGuide offers integral full auto-steering capa-bility and this can be sup-plied either as a factory-fit option or retro-fitted.www.masseyferguson.com.au

The new MF7600 series.

MS1391

PHONE 0800 476 868 or visit www.kinghitter.com

UNLIKE MIKE, A KINGHITTER POSTDRIVER IS A CHAMPION WITH A GOOD RECORDWhen you need a hard hitting world ranking postdriver choose one that won’t get turned away!

Working closely with contractors and farmers world-wide for over 35 years, we have revolutionised postdriving technology to produce the champion of champion postdrivers. We have models to suit all requirements and have a broad range of accessories. Why support the amateurs when you can beat the odds with the KINGHITTER.

THE HEAVYWEIGHT IN POSTDRIVERS

Page 41: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

machinery & products 41

Combination baler is two- in-oneA SOUTHLAND farmer/contractor, Darrin Day, jokingly says his Lely Welger RPC 445 Tornado combination baler/wrapper is smarter than he is, says distributor Lely New Zealand. But he likes its operating simplicity and says it has helped improve his baling business.

Day is coming into his third season with the Welger RPC 445 Tornado. He uses it in all his farm-ing and contracting oper-ations.

He and his wife Robyn run their operation from home at Five Rivers, northern Southland. The business involves farm-ing, part-time contracting, a retail store at Lumsden and a chaffing business.

The days live on a 270ha dairy grazing and deer fattening farm at Five Rivers. Robyn runs the rural supplies/hard-ware retail business called Hank’s Place. Day uses the Welger RPC 445 Tornado on his own property and for contracting. He has been contracting for nine years.

The RPC 445 Tornado was new on the market when he started looking for a new baler two years ago and Day liked its fea-tures. “It has functions that in the dairy grazing and in the chaff business, I would’ve had to get two balers to do. This baler can do them in one.

“It can do hard-cen-tre any size baleage, and soft-centre any size straw. You’d normally need two balers for that but the Welger Tornado is really

two balers in one. That was the big selling point for me.

“I do the soft-cen-tre bales of straw for the chaffing business. The centre has to be able to breathe so I needed to make a big bale but with a soft centre. It’s easy to switch from one type of bale to the other. You do it all from the cab.”

With a pickup width of 2.25m, the Tornado has variable baling and auto-matic wrapping. Bale diameter is 0.9 to 1.6m.

The RPC 455 Tornado is designed to cut the time of baling and wrapping, Lely says, by cycling quickly.

Day has made about 18,000 bales with his baler – a one-man opera-tion. “It’s made the job faster and one person can do it on his or her own. When you’re finished baling, you’re finished. You don’t have to rush out and grab the wrapper and wrap them. It doesn’t block often, but if you get a blockage you can clear it from the cab.”

Day says he appreciates the service by Lely New Zealand and his Inver-cargill dealer, JJ Limited. Alterations were made to adapt the baler to New Zealand conditions.

“There were a few teething problems at the start, but JJ and Lely got behind it and sorted them out quickly. Some modi-fications have been done each season and last season they upgraded it to new specifications, free of charge.tel. 07 850 4050www.lely.com

Darrin Day says his welger Tornado hard-centred grass bales and soft-

centred straw bales.

Need a Detachable Valve?

High FlowCompactDetach to access

valve seal

•••

jobevalves.com/Megaflow www.powerfarming.co.nz

WHANGAREI Power Farming Northland 09 438 9163PUKEKOHE The Tractor Centre 09 238 7179MORRINSVILLE Maber Motors 07 889 5059TE AWAMUTU Power Farming Te Awamutu 07 870 2411PUTARURU Maber Motors 07 882 1310TAURANGA Capital Tractors 07 543 0021WHAKATANE Jacks Machinery 07 308 7299ROTORUA AREA Maber Motors 07 882 1310

GISBORNE Power Farming Gisborne 06 868 8908HASTINGS Power Farming Hawke’s Bay 06 879 9998HAWERA Power Farming Taranaki 06 278 0240FEILDING Power Farming Manawatu 06 323 8182MASTERTON Wairarapa Machinery 06 377 3009NELSON Brian Miller Truck & Tractor 03 544 5723 BLENHEIM Tractor Repairs & Spares 03 572 5173WEST COAST Power Farming West Coast 029 200 1202

CHRISTCHURCH Power Farming Canterbury 03 349 5975ASHBURTON Power Farming Ashburton 03 307 7153 TIMARU Power Farming Timaru 03 687 4127 ALEXANDRA Peter Watt Machinery 03 448 8490DUNEDIN Power Farming Otago 03 489 3489 GORE Power Farming Gore 03 208 9395 INVERCARGILL Power Farming Invercargill 03 215 9039

• Maximumstrengthandhardwearingcomponentry

• Thediscdiameterof510mmprovidesanefficientmixingactionincorporatingstubble

• Workingdepthsbetween150-250mm

• ‘Pro-active’autoresettines

• Transportwidthof2.7m

• 4&5metremachinesavailable

Featuring6inchrowspacingandanadjustablesowingdepthdownto70mm–theGigante400E-DriveandPronta300offerexcellentgroundcontouring.

•Newelectronicallydrivenmeteringunitwithinterchangeabledosingrollersforgreateraccuracyandrangeofseeds

•Hoppersizes:815litrefertiliserand1575litreseedhopper

•Fertiliserandseedasstandard

•Prontafeaturesthemechanicaldrivesystem.Gigantecomesstandardwithe-drivesystem.(Mechanicalavailable-indentonly)

DIRECT DRILLING ON UNTILLED GROUND

SEED & FERTILISER AS STANDARD

PRONTA&GIGANTEPNEUMATIC SEED DRILL

Featuring the Genius E-Drive system -MAKINGCALIBRATIONSIMPLE.

FOR‘DIRECTPLANTING’OFCEREALS,SOYABEANS,LUCERNEANDOTHERFODDERCROPS.

1.95%*

FINAN

CE FR

OM

* NORMAL LENDING CRITERIA& CONDITIONS APPLY

Page 42: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

42 machinery & products

Low rates, less leaching

FARMERS COULD slash fertiliser bills if they chose

to use a suspended fertiliser application method

rather than a straight solid method, says Gareth

Copsey, of Copsey Contracting.

Copsey mixes fertilisers with water before

applying and says the results are a better take-up by

the plant and almost no nitrogen leaching. “In liquid

form 95-98% of the fertiliser is absorbed by a plant

in 24 hours. Compare that with powder where there

is a 40% loss.”

At $700 per tonne Copsey says farmers are

saving $350 just by spraying it on. If you normally

put on urea at 60-80kg/ha then you only really

need 25-30kg/ha to get the same or a better

result.”

Copsey has seen the same results with

numerous other fertilisers including Ammo,

sulphur, DAP, lime, magnesium and Gibberellic Acid.

“It’s usually pretty straightforward and gives good

cover.”

Tel: 07 333 1822

www.copseycontracting.co.nz

Customising makes job easierCUSTOM SERVICE by sprayer/spreader firm Silvan is helping a Waikato/Bay of Plenty spraying contractor to pioneer a new way of fertiliser delivery.

Gareth Copsey owns Copsey Con-tracting, an agricultural spraying busi-ness which four years ago began diluting and spraying urea – the first in his region to do this and one of the first in the country.

“It was pretty slow at the start; it took a lot of convincing people to see the benefits but it has taken off in the last year.”

When spraying suspended fertilis-ers he uses a purpose built truck along with a crane trailer; this eliminates the need to use the farmer’s tractor to lift the bags which is inconvenient to the farmer. Urea or other solid fertiliser is loaded straight into the tank by the crane trailer while filling with water. The solution is mixed by the time the driver gets to the paddock to be sprayed. Machines are washed out at the end of every job.

Copsey now runs an Isuzu with a 1200L tank for general herbicide and pesticide spraying and a Mitsubishi Canter with a 2000L tank.

With his engineering background, Copsey converted the Isuzu truck into a spray unit himself. Silvan supplied nearly all of the spray equipment, he says. “Most other companies want you to deal with resellers, but Silvan does everything.” The result is faster answers and better customer service, says Copsey. For example, when in 2010 he bought one of only two Arag Bravo 400 GPS units in New Zealand, and struck a problem with it, “Hayden Mills came to fix it at 8pm on a Sunday; you can’t get

better service than that.”Copsey says the unit is first-rate

and allows for smart spraying, saving money for operator and farmer. “It will show you if you’re going over an area you’ve gone over before and will switch the sprayer on and off if [you do], to ensure everything is covered but not done more than once.”

This is of extra benefit to customer with liquefying fertilisers already saving farmers money. “If you normally put on urea at 60-80kg/ha then you only need

25-30kg/ha to get the same or a better result.”

Copsey says it is also possible to mix in other fertilisers or minerals to the mixture.

The firm covers as far as the Cor-omandel with its suspended fertil-iser operation and business is going so well that he is pricing a 4000L kit from Silvan which will be placed on a new Mercedes.Tel: 0508 745 826www.silvan.co.nz

gareTh gillaTT

Remember when washing machines and refrigerators lasted a generation? And tyres

used to last for years too? Things were made to last back then. Now it seems things are made to wear out. The reason for this is original tyres fitted to new vehicles are made to the vehicle manufacturer’s price. The result may compromise on the tyres’ performance and life.

Cooper Tires are better value.Tyre companies making aftermarket tyres exclusively for vehicle owners like you are still providing performance and longer life. Drivers choosing quality American made aftermarket tyres are finding they are getting a lot more mileage

and better value for money than original tyres.

Guaranteed to last up to 80,000km*For example, Terry Smith of Exclusive Tyre Distributors explains,

“When compared to the original tyres (Dunlop AT22) fitted to the Ford Ranger, the Cooper A/T3 has 12.7mm of tread depth - that’s over 29% more than Dunlop’s 9.0mm tread depth.”

That’s why Cooper are the only 4WD tyres in New Zealand with a mileage guarantee in writing that ranges from 50,000 to 80,000 km, depending on size and tread pattern.

Cooper tyres are only available at selected Cooper Tires dealers.

For your FREE Info Pack visit www.coopertires.co.nz or call 0800 MILEAGE (645 3243)

Advertisement

American made Cooper Tires guaranteed to last.

*Conditions Apply.

1920Cooper Tires - making tyres that last since 1920. While other 4WD tyres are being made lighter and cheaper, Cooper Tires are still being made strong with deeper tread. This means peace of mind, whilst giving more mileage and saving you money.

2012Cooper’s A/T3 utilises a balanced combination of technology, design and compounding to produce a tyre that will perform in nearly all types of terrain.

Comparison of Tread Depths.Dunlop AT22 (9.0mm), Cooper A/T3 (12.7mm)

MS1353

Page 43: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

machinery & products 43

New holland opens up to visitorsNEW HOLLAND has extended the cus-tomer centre at its Centre of Harvest-ing Excellence in Zedelgem, Belgium, a place for European and overseas cus-tomers to see a “distillation of the com-pany’s illustrious harvesting heritage whilst celebrating cutting-edge tech-nology”.

New Holland employs 2500 people in Zedelgem, making it one of the region’s key employers.

Zedelgem is the home of New Hol-

land harvesting products, boasting a century of harvesting milestones that have changed the way farmers bring in their harvests.

The centre, sited beside the fac-tory, is now enlarged to 3000m2 and is expected to welcome 5000 visitors annually.

These typically include school par-ties keen to find out more about engi-neering right through to VIP customers and corporate clients.

New Holland says the centre “rep-resents the final link in a 360° harvest-ing chain, with product development, engineering, testing, parts manufac-turing and final assembly. This is complemented by a training centre, the commercial team for the Benelux market and now an industry leading customer facility.”

Visitors can see the first European self-propelled combine harvester and world-record breaking machines. There

to see are multimedia presentations and a showroom containing 17 products.

Key customers get to meet with New Holland brand experts or talk business in dedicated areas. They also can tour the factory.

“This investment is testament to New Holland’s commitment to agri-culture both in Europe and across the globe,” says Franco Fusignani, head of New Holland Agriculture.

“We continually strive to improve

not only our machines, but also our relationship with current and future customers through an extensive con-tact programme of visits and targeted initiatives with farmers and contrac-tors from all over the world.”

Plant manager Niek Vanwynghene says, “Zedelgem is much more than a manufacturing facility; it is a concen-tration of expertise in the design, devel-opment and manufacture of harvesting equipment.”

Faster alerts to disasters and emergenciesALERTS TO such as floods, fires and livestock emergen-cies have stepped up a notch with Lert Info, says direc-tor Stuart Gunn.

The service – free if you want only email alerts – was launched last November and is proving it’s worth in many situations, Gunn says.

SMS and email alerts “take account of situations or events that could impact anyone,” Gunn says. Key fea-tures are speed and ability to target geographically down to suburb or small town size. They can send to 1600 spe-cific locations individually.

Anyone can register free and get emails only or pay a small annual fee to receive txt as well.

Alerts are for tsunami, weather warnings (real time notifications also), Civil Defence messages, council mes-sages, state highway closures, public health, police, power, rural fire and river flash floods. Members automatically receive alerts that match their location preferences when they occur. There are no additional txt charges.

All messages are verified, factual and are from credible sources such as NZ Police, Civil Defence, Geonet, Weath-erwatch, NZ Met Service, councils, public health authori-ties, etc. Lert Info also monitors other sources.

To maintain high reliability, the moment Lert Info learns of a situation, it validates it and sends out an alert. Where possible a short URL to detailed information is also included. People can also go to the “info sources” link on the Lert Info site.

Most members will get their texts within five minutes once sent, assuming the mobile networks are operating. Even when voice and PXT messages can’t get through, texts often can as happened in Christchurch in February 2011, Gunn says.

Lert Info use dual SMS providers, one in New Zealand and the other in Australia (used by the Australian govern-ment and military) and the service can be run from com-puter, cell phone or tablet so is highly mobile.

Key benefits of this service are that everyone with access to a cell phone, but no other source of immediate information, such as radio or TV, can now be advised far sooner. In some situations Lert Info could be the first and only source of initial information.

The service is said to complement and improve on cur-rent communication methods. People can now make deci-sions earlier, possibly reducing damage to property, loss of livestock or even loss of life. www.lert.info

Check out our new websiteswww.ruralnews.co.nzwww.dairynews.co.nz

$7000*

ADD A SELF LEVEL LOADER FOR ONLY $7000*

ADD A SELF LEVEL LOADER FOR ONLY

$6500*

ADD A SELF LEVEL LOADER FOR ONLY$3000*

ADD A SELF LEVEL LOADER FOR ONLY

Page 44: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

44 machinery & products

Contact your local rural supplies merchant or phone 0800 266 258

Serious about Fencing!More electric fence options, it just gets easier!

Multi WireTread-In Posts* Unique angled clip prevents

unintentional tape detachment

* Unique foot wedge design provides superior holding performance

* Heavy duty, UV resistant polymerMS1399

Takapau vintage expo – March 23-24ALL THE hard work and planning is coming together for the Junction Vintage Machinery Expo organised by the Hawke’s Bay Vintage Machinery Club. It will be held at Takapau on March 23-24.

“The venue is the property of Junction Winery owned by former All Black John Ashworth and wife Jo, at the junc-tion of Byrne Road and SH2, 2km south of Takapau,” said organising committee chairman Neil Harrington.

Ashworth has set aside 9ha for displays and an area for a parade ring.

A different method of displaying the tractors and machinery will be used. Local tractor dealers will have two of their latest models, big and small, as a centrepiece and will be surrounded by a range of previous models.

“I see it as a ‘then and now’ theme with visitors being able to compare and contrast where the latest model has originated.”

A committee of eight has been working for 12 months. There are already entries from all around the North Island and some from the South Island.

Displays will include stationary engines, at least six steam traction engines, vintage lawnmowers, shearing plants and chaff cutters. On an adjacent airstrip will be Tiger Moths and helicopter rides.

Ploughing will be demonstrated using vintage tractors and implements and Clydesdale horses.

Harrington says the committee recognises women are less interested than men in machinery, so there will be arts and crafts displays, tasting of Junction wines and boutique displays of local food and beverages.

“Master Chef 2010, Brett McGregor, has agreed to come and will give cooking displays,” [email protected] 475 710. 06 855 8501

HOW MANY articulated tractors are there in New Zealand?

Nobody really knows, but Mid Can-terbury Vintage Machinery Club aims to get as many of them as possible into one paddock next month.

“We’ve identified 26 in Ashburton District and we reckon we’ll get 20 to 25 of them,” says club president John Stewart.

A few more will come from outside the district, he hopes, but the legalities

and logistics of bringing such monsters over the long, narrow SH1 bridges of the Rakaia to the north, and Rangitata to the south will likely limit their number.

Fellow organiser John Hall notes recent fine weather has been in their favour. “We’re hoping everyone will be pretty much up to date.”

The pivot machines will be part of the club’s annual Wheat and Wheels rally but this one’s special, hence the decision to do something a bit different,

says Stewart.“It’s the club’s 30th anniversary.

That’s the excuse. We’re hoping it will be the largest display of pivot tractors ever seen.”

They’re pulling out the stops with

other attractions too: vintage and classic tractors, trucks and cars; trac-tion engines; chaff cutting; craft stalls. With areas for working displays as well as parades, the site stretches to 40ha.

Among the vintage line-up will be host farmer Peter Butterick’s 1931 comb-fronted Sunshine header which he’ll have dusted down for the occasion.

“It was the first header in Ashburton County with a motor,” says Butterick, whose grandfather bought the Sunshine

and used the horse-drawn machine – the Morris Commercial petrol motor only powers the cutter and threshing works – until about 50 years ago.

“Last time we used it, it was going good,” recalls Butterick.

The machine is in stark contrast to the brand new Case IH 9230 with 35-foot belt feed front he used to reel in his harvest this summer.

Wheat and Wheels will be on Chris-tys Road, Wakanui, April 13-14.

Pivot pulling-power proponents

Page 45: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

machinery & products 45

THE SUBARU Forester is so well suited to rural use, it is astounding Subaru spend so little promoting it to the rural market.

The new version was launched recently in Queenstown and we were sent over some secondary roads that would have stopped lesser cars in their tracks. With 220mm of ground clearance and a suite of electronic traction aids, the Forester has genuine off-road ability, the limiting factors being tyre choice and driver courage.

A one-button ‘X-Mode’ feature fitted to the auto-matic Foresters helps. It

centralises control of the engine, all-wheel drive, brakes and other criti-cal components to main-tain progress in sticky conditions. Hill Descent Control helps maintain a constant speed when the vehicle is travelling down-hill. In bone-dry Central Otago, X-Mode was rarely needed, but it worked well.

The new car has a more purposeful look than its bland predecessor, and makes much better prog-ress, even with a CVT transmission – one of the better examples of the technology. Boxer engines are, of course, used across the range: auto-matic normally aspirated 2.5L Foresters produce 126 kW/5800 rpm and 235

Nm/4100 rpm. Quoted fuel consumption is 8.1 L/100 km – 12.9% more efficient than the old car.

This is the engine most buyers will get (Subaru expects the $47,990 2.5i-Sport model to be the volume seller). It is smooth and willing and makes effortless prog-ress in the low to mid-rev range. Push too hard and in true CVT fashion you’ll generate more noise than speed. Drive sensi-bly, keeping the revs in the sweet spot and you’ll be rewarded with acceptable speed and better economy.

Equipment levels and fit-and-finish are a big step forward over the old car and with the exception of some hard plastics in

aDaM FriCKer

Forester works well in the bush

places, it feels like a qual-ity product. A Land Rover Freelander is classier, but not worth the huge price premium over the For-ester. Order the Premium model for $54,990 and you’ll get all the leather and equipment you could want or need.

Handling and ride are impressive; it is a very assured car on any road surface.

All models are roomier and more refined, with as much leg room in the back as the previous generation Outback, and boot space is good. Combine this prac-

At 40 km/h or less:• engine Control Unit (eCU) - in low load range, the throttle opens slowly to avoid sudden torque changes and improves drivability.• Traction Control Unit (TCU) - AWD clutch pressure is increased by about 25%, controlling differential rotation between front and rear wheels, improving traction.• Vehicle Dynamics Control (VDC) - enhances limited slip differential (LSD) control. To improve traction on slippery road surfaces, it counteracts differential rotation between left and right wheels by accelerating brake boosting speed and delaying reduction of brake pressure when wheel rotation returns to normal.At 20 km/h or less:VDC also uses hill Descent Control (hDC) to control brakes on steep hills, so vehicle speed can be maintained when neither accelerator nor brake pedals are pressed. Testing by Subaru indicates that with X-Mode, when two diagonally opposed wheels lose traction, the time to restore forward travel is cut by about half.

Key X-Mode Controls

ticality with its compliant ride, smooth power, price and off-road ability, and you have the perfect car for rural families and rural service companies. Yet it will probably be promoted on billboards in Ponsonby, not Putaruru.

At the top of the range sits the $59,990 Forester XT. Its 2L direct fuel injec-tion motor is a develop-ment of the unit first seen in the BRZ and cranks out 177 kW and 350 Nm of torque. Hooked up to the CVT it is fast and effort-

less, but not in the furious way of the boy-racer WRX.

The 2.0L turbocharged diesel wasn’t available at the launch but is expected in May. It will produce 108 kW/3600 rpm and 350 Nm/1600-2400 rpm and burn 5.9 l/100 km.

Evolve.

www.lely.com

...IS HALF DONEThe Lely Calm automatic calf feeder supplies the correct portion and concentration of feed spread over the day, for each calf. It offers the calves an outstanding start while giving labour savings and many economic benefits.

For more information, visit www.lely.com

A good start...

Higher Productivity + Lower Servicing Costs = AES Waterblasters

website: www.aesblasters.co.nzFreephone 0508 78 78 78

~ SALES & SERVICE DEALERS THROUGHOUT NEW ZEALAND ~

TORNADO RANGEUDOR ceramic plunger pump & gear-boxGenuine Honda petrol engine10 models from 1800 to 5000 psi

ELECTROBLAST RANGE230 & 400 Volt 1440 RPM motor8 models from 1600 to 5000 psi ALBERTI HOT

CLEANERSUDOR ceramic plunger pump Heavy duty 1440 RPM motor230 & 400 VoltUser friendly

Page 46: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

46 rural trader

TOP DOG BOX

Phone 0800 625 826www.mckeeplastics.co.nz

❱❱ Accomodates up to 4 dogs❱❱ 6 individual air vents❱❱ Removable centre board❱❱ 2 lockable galvanised gates❱❱ In-house drainage❱❱ Fits all wellside & flatdeck utes

(2 models)❱❱ Raised floor for

insulation❱❱ Tie down lugs on

each side.

$699NORTH ISLAND PRICE ONLY

inclGST

Ph: 09-376 0463Email: [email protected]

www.jder-cintropur.co.nz

THE BEST CHOICE FOR YOUR

WATER

❍ Highest European quality

❍ No expensive cartridges

❍ Dual stage filtration

❍ High flow rates

❍ Economical to maintain

❍ Domestic & industrial

Dirty waterIN

Clean waterOUT

DOLOMITENZ’s fi nest BioGro certifi ed

Mg fertiliserFor a delivered price call...

0800 436 566

For all single, separated,divorced and widowed people.

Over half our membersfind ‘someone special’ or

their lifelong partner.

Join our successful & confidential service

Ph: 03-387 0794or see our website

www.countrycontacts.co.nz

For Information Pack, contact...Country & City Contacts

0800 287 437 or

❤C O U N T R Y & C I T Y

contacts(N.Z. LIMITED)

Advantage Plastics Rangiora

call: 0800 668 534 or (03) 313 5750

• Faster, easier wash up!• Non toxic, Hygenically approved• Long lasting finish• Withstands pressure hosing• Resists deterioration from daily use• Can be applied to walls and floors

DAIRYCOAT

Made in NZ – 10 year guaranteed

FREE DELIVERYwww.enviropaints.co.nz

The ultimate in paint protection

0800 50 ENVIRO (0800 50 368476)14 Riverbank Rd, Otaki

SPECIALACRYLIC

FENCE RAIL BLACK

Amazing cover

$59 PER 10 LITRE• 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

CRAIGCO SENSOR JET

P 06 835 6863 - www.craigcojetters.com

DEAL TO FLY AND LICE

• Cost Effective

• Complete Package

• Unbeatable pricing

• Performance Guaranteed

For details contact: stephen pollard

ph 09-913 9637 021-963 166

[email protected]

Your advert

here

www.ruralnews.co.nz

ONE STOP WATER SHOP

Culvert Pipes Phone 0800 625 826

for your nearest stockistNew Zealand’s CHEAPEST Culvert Pipes!

FREE joiners supplied on request.

• Lightweight, easy to install

• Made from polyethylene

McKee Plastics, Mahinui Street, Feilding Phone 06 323 4181 Fax 06 323 4183

McKee Plastics, 231 Kahikatea Drive, Hamilton. Ph 07 847 [email protected] www.mckeeplastics.co.nz

300mm x 6 metre ................................ $410

400mm x 6 metre ................................ $515

500mm x 6 metre ................................ $690

600mm x 6 metre ................................ $925

800mm x 6 metre .............................. $1399

1000mm x 6 metre ............................ $2175

1200mm x 6 metre ............................ $3475

Joinerssupplied FREE with culvert

pipes

ALL PRICES INCLUDE G.S.T.

Please add $10 Freight per order

$70valued at

$140valued at $190

FLEXISKIN RAINWEAR SALE! 40% OFFOFFER AVAILABLE 2 WEEKS ONLY! NEW! WATERPROOF, BREATHABLE & LIGHTWEIGHT

$80

$80

valued at $200

$60valued at $120

Page 47: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

rural trader 47

Programmed Property Services offer a range of distinct services designed to add value individually or as a packaged approach to your property upkeep needs.

Contact us to find out more about how we can help.T: 0800 620 911E: [email protected]: programmed.co.nz

We have the expertise to look after your farming community.

Corporate Imaging

Signage and signage design

Identification and directional signage

Grounds Services

Gardens and ground services

Arboricultural services

Painting Services

Internal and external painting

Maintenance painting programmes

High pressure cleaning

Access specialists

Heritage work and specialised finishes

FLYSTRIKE AND LICE

❖ Fantastic Penetration❖

NO ONE BEATS OUR PRICE• Make a big job quick and easy• Retire the shower and plunge dip• Quicker and much more effective

than a hand wand!• Deep penetration, total body

coverage, 2.5 litres/sheep • No re-cycling – always fresh clean

dip prolonging residual effect of your dipping product

PPP Super JetterManufacturing Jetters since 1980.

1000’s sold in NZ & overseas.

Freephone 0800 901 902email: [email protected] or

www.pppindustries.co.nz

0800 38 44 50

FARM 4X4

• 22HP 42” / 27HP 48”• USA MADE / LOW NZ PRICE• FULL RANGE AVAILABLE

NEWFROM

$6,590PLUS GST

Zero Turn Mowers

MORE RANGE NEW AC MOTOR• Range up to 70km• Top speed 45kmh• Hi/low ratio• Quiet motion• Plug-in recharge• Low Maintenance Cost

Demo from authorised dealers

Multi-Terrain Vehicle

0612

13C1

825

Phone: 04 384 7683 • Fax: 04 384 7689Email: [email protected]

5 Swan Lane (off Cuba Street)PO Box 9254, Wellington 6141

www.metshop.co.nz

WE’RE ONLINE

The Met Shop

Weatherstations, unusual gifts and science support for over 40 years...

Ph 06 370 1329 | Stuart 0274 387 528124 Lincoln Road | MastertonEmail [email protected]

LEADERS IN FARM MACHINERY DESIGN

BALE FEEDERS

Feeds rounds & square

SHEEP CONVEYORSComplete with spare wheel & jockey wheel

TRAILERS

•PestFreeputs50Hzpulsealongpowercables•Ratsandmicestress,dehydrate,exit•Noharmtohumans,pets,computers,etc.•Modelstosuitbuildings/plant200sq.mto1000sq.m•NSW-made,patented,scienceproven•Usedintencountries•Two-yearwarranty

•100%60-DAYMONEY-BACKGUARANTEE

STOP RATSNESTING IN HOMES, BUILDINGS, MACHINERY

TWO WAYS TO ORDER/PAY: 1) POST: cheque to N. Keating telling us the product(s) you want,

plus your name, address and telephone number. 2) INTERNET: direct credit ASB 12 3039 0893559 00

(your surname as reference) PLUS telephone or email us, saying which product(s) you want.

Pest Free Domesticforhomes,garages,etcto200sq,m–$159.90 incl. GST + post.

Pest Free PROforlargehomes,smalloffices&factories,etcto400sq.m–$399.90 incl. GST and post.Pest Free Commercialfordairysheds,grainmills,factories,etc–$1800 incl. GST + post.

STOP RATS with Pest FreeBuywithconfidencefromauthorisedruralsalesagentN+JKeating,70RimuStreet,NewLynn,Auckland0600.Tel. 09 833 1931(cell 021 230 1863);[email protected]

• The magic eye sheepjetter since 1989• Quality construction and options• Get the contractors choice• Direct from the manufacturer• Efficient application and unequalled cost savings

FLY OR LICE PROBLEM?

Phone 07 573 8512 • www.electrodip.com

Unique self adjusting

sides

Page 48: Rural News 5 Mar 2013
Page 49: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRalNEWSto all farmers, for all farmers

March 5, 2013: Issue 533 www.ruralnews.co.nz

South Island Field Days

March 20-22Lincoln

Final year at LincolnTHIS YEAR’S South Island Agricul-tural Field Days (SIAFD) will be the final year it is held at Lincoln Univer-sity.

Chairman of the SIAFD organis-ing committee Richard Westaway says although a location for the 2015 event has not yet been secured, 2013 will be the final year the field days is held on the Lincoln University Farm site.

“One of the reasons we have to move is we need a larger site to ensure we will always have the capac-ity for comparative demonstrations

as they are a major part of our event. “Each year we have about 80 exhib-itors a day demonstrate machinery and equipment. In fact, we have more demonstrations than any other event in the country.

It is a drawcard for farmers and contractors who get to see machin-ery and equipment in action in a real paddock, as opposed to view-ing it in a sales yard,” says Westaway. SIAFD is held every second year and attracts 20,000-25,000 visi-tors. It has been held at a Lincoln

University Farm site for 32 years. “We are committed to moving loca-tions and are on the lookout for the right site to hold the 2015 SIAFD and for future events,” says Westaway.

He adds that land owners with suitable land options are welcome to approach the SIAFD executive committee. The South Island Agricultural Field Days, which has 400 exhibits spread over seven hectares is the longest run-ning field days in the country, now in its 61st year.

demos on displayThe following live demonstrations will take place during each day of the south Island agricultural Field Days.

10.00am: Mowers 10.30am: Tedders and rakes11.00am: Balers and Wrappers11.30am: Bale and silage Feeders

12.00am Direct Drills2.00pm: Ploughs & Primary cultivators2.30pm: cultivators and seed Drills3.00pm: Miscellaneous items

STREAMLINEOat Roller Crusher

Senior All GrainRoller Crusher

STREAMLINEJunior All Grain Crusher/Roller

STREAMLINEHayway Chaff

Cutter

6 Questions you should ask yourself before choosing your next forestry plant supplier...

1. Will I get exceptional advice on which forestry varieties are suitable to grow on my site? - YES!

2. Will the stock quality be second to none? - OF COURSE!

3. Does the nursery have extensive experience in growing and supplying forestry stock? - ABSOLUTELY!

4. Will I get really great value for money? - YOU BET!

5. Is there a great range of forestry stock to choose from? - ALWAYS!

6. Can the stock be freighted locally and nationwide? - NO PROBLEM!

www. southernwoods.co.nzFax (03) 347 9223

Main South Road, Templeton, Christchurch

See us in the CRT tent at the

South Island Field Days (20th - 22nd March, Lincoln)

CALL NOW

for your free catalogue!0800 800 352

Page 50: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

2 south island field days

Temporary silos a way of handling bumper harvestA NEW way of handling grain could save grain farmers thousands and increase their mobility, says Farmgard marketing

manager Scott Capper.The company recently

launched a temporary silo system called Grainstor, with which grain is blown

into weatherproof bags using the EGS 900 grain bagger. These can then be left where packed, stor-ing the grain safely for sev-eral years

Once the grain is ready to be used, it can be removed ad hoc with a specially made extractor. Capper says the portable bagging system is cost-effective compared to tra-ditional grain silos. The 200 tonne capacity bags cost $1700.

“You don’t have to transport it to a silo; bags can be laid in the paddock, which is fast, cost effective and time saving.”

Capper says the entire system has been set up with ease of use and low capital costs in mind. The bagger only requires 45hp to operate to put 250 tonnes of grain into bags per hour.

He adds that getting it out again is just as easy. The P-Ex Max extrac-tor uses two small augers to draw grain out of the bag and into the main dis-charge auger along with two hydraulically driven rollers, which roll up the bag. The method of extrac-

tion doesn’t put any strain on the tractor, allowing smaller tractors to be used and larger machines to be freed up for other con-tracting jobs, says Capper.

“It is an ideal machine for contractors because they can tow it around dif-ferent farms and store grain wherever they want.”

Bags can be emptied as quickly – at 180 tons/hr with a 75hp tractor, with operators able to seal off bags once grain has been taken out of them.

The polyethylene bags ‘remember’ their original shape, allowing the fabric to draw back on itself, causing any oxygen to be expelled from the bag; the quality of the stored grain is therefore better than in a traditional silo, the com-pany says.

The bags stand up to the elements, Capper adds. “They are UV-pro-tected bags, but tearing can happen if the operator is not careful.”

He says the system is ideal for anybody produc-ing or handling 150 tons of grain a year.Tel. 09 275 5555 www.farmgard.co.nz

Crop Storage Specialists Crop Storage Specialists

Tel: 03 303 7266 Mobile: 0274 151 390Email: [email protected] Web: www.pmr.org.nz

PMR GRAIN SYSTEMS work in the following fields – product storage, handling and drying, timber drive on ventilating floors, seed cleaning industry, milling and mixing equipment,

electronic monitoring equipment including temperature, RH and grain moisture equipment. Dairy Feed Systems now available.

PMR GRAIN SYSTEMS supply a full service from initial contact, site surveying, planning in drawings, machinery selection, supply of machinery, installation and commissioning.

Q-SAGE SEED CLEANING EQUIPMENTQ-Sage air screen cleaners can be supplied in a variety of sizes to suit application. Screendecks can be sized to accept existing sieves.

PMR GRAIN SYSTEMS CROP STORAGE AND HANDLING SYSTEMS

Visit us at the South Island Field Days Site 740-741

GSI SILOSFlat bottomed or hopper. 10 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes. Can be fitted with stirrers and unload systems. Dairy Feed Systems now available.

MASTER DRIERS• Manually or fully automatic systems• Master dust extraction – increased

bushel weight and improved operating environment

• Capacities from 10-40 ton• Mobile or static units• Tractor or electric drive

HARVEST MAXI-STIRRERBy adding a Harvest Maxi-Stirrer to your bulk storage you can have guaranteed drying performance with even airflow.

CHC GAS HEATERSAvailable to match all sizes of fan units. Fully automatic gas fired, with computerised control. Single & double units available.

PERRY GRAIN DRIERS, ELEVATORS & CONVEYORSWhen the pressure is on to get your grain dry and moved, you can rely on PMR equipment to deliver year after year.Suppliers of: Driers, belt & bucket elevators, conveyors and intake conveyors.

WAKELY ROLLER MILLSPMR are pleased to be able to supply the Wakely Roller Mill. Wakely Engineering have been manufacturing Roller Mills for the last 30 years and manufacture mills from 1.5tph through to 30tph plus.Visit our stand to view this prod-uct. Mr Wakely will also be on our stand to answer any questions.

BREAKING NEWS MANAGEMENT STORIES

MARKETS & TRENDS

MACHINERY REVIEWS COMPETITIONS

AND MUCH MORE...

Page 51: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

south island field days 3

the tow & fert made it possible to spread supplements on pasture quicker than a quad and a hopper.

Spreader serves many purposesA METALFORM Tow and Fert proved to be a mul-tipurpose lifesaver for a Northland Dairy Farmer.

Bradley Cranston milks 270 cows off a 270ha dairy and beef property 10 min-utes north of Whangarei.

He found himself with-out several key imple-ments at the start of last season including a caus-mag duster and quad spreader and needed something to replace everything.

Cranston says the Metalform Tow and Fert spreader was a good solu-tion. “I bought it because it’s a bit more versatile than a normal spreader. I use it for a lot more jobs than just spreading fertil-iser.”

The mixer/spreader blends liquids and solids together with a patented system and then sprays them out in a 14-20m spread via a recirculating boom system.

Fine ground lime flour is able to be spread at a mix ratio of 60% lime flour to 40% water and the company says the fertil-iser mixer/spreader has an application rate of 50 L/ha at 25km/h with TF15 noz-zles or 650L/ha at 5km/h with TF50 nozzles.

Some of the tasks Cran-ston uses the spreader for on the 100ha platform include spreading magne-sium ahead of cows, put-ting on seaweed, spreading fertiliser and planting grass seed.

The fertiliser mixer/sprayer has proved more efficient than several of the machines it was replacing, says Cranston. It allowed him to do more in less time.

Cranston dusts pad-docks with magnesium to supplement cow uptake, especially in spring. “With magnesium I could do

three paddocks in a day and not do it for three days. It’s a much bigger spreader – 800L of prod-uct compared to a regular magnesium duster which can hold 100kg or so dust-ing powder.”

While working out the correct combination of liquids to solids can be tricky, says Cranston, tools have been provided by the company to get the job right. “It’s got software to make sure I’m getting the application rates right and the scales are useful for accurately adding the cor-rect amount of product…. You can put on a little less and get a better result. I put on about one third of what I used to apply.”

Because of the Tow and Fert Cranston says he can now put on urea at 3-8kg/

ha on a more frequent basis instead of the bulk load of 30kg/ha that he previously put on.

“I can spread fertil-iser more frequently – twice rather than once. It is more cost effective and matches my way of farm-ing. I try and look after the soil a lot more.”

While most fertiliser goes on between spring and summer when ground conditions are dry, he has been using the Tow and Fert in the wetter months to spread minerals and other fertilisers.

Cranston tows the spreader behind a Suzuki Jimny and says not only is the little utility vehicle able to handle the 1000L device, it doesn’t leave a mess in winter. “There were not many places I wasn’t able to get using the jeep, I thought I was going to have to put it behind the tractor for the hills.”

Cleaning out requires only flushing clean water through the system after the unit had been used and Cranston says any blockage problems were

gareTh gILLaTT

“It’s got software to make sure I’m getting the application rates right and the scales are useful for accurately adding the correct amount of product….”

quickly solved by unclip-ping the pipes. “Block-ages were very simple to deal with. I just unclipped connections, flushed the system out, flushed water back through the machine. Everything has Camlock

fittings, which makes it a tool-less machine to clip and unclip fittings for cleaning and maintenance. It’s really well put together like that.”Tel. 0508 747 040 www.towandfert.com

www.gallagher.co.nz

SITE I CRT Lane

Unwrap a Birthday Offer from Gallagher

It’s our 75th birthday and we’re celebrating!

Visit the Gallagher site at South Island Field Days to see our great birthday product offers and some very exciting NEW products.

Be quick - we have limited stock!

Happy

Birthday

Page 52: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

4 south island field daysTechnology the theme for 2013 event

INNOVaTION Is well-rewarded at the Lincoln field days. agri-Innovation awards include awards of merit for machines, implements or attachments, or for tools useful in farming or other forms of primary production.

The field days organisers say award winners gain a lot of prestige and publicity and may use an award in their marketing.

a prize will be presented to the marketers of the year’s most outstanding products in each of three classes: Kiwi made farm equipment, imported farm equipment, and farm aids/tools and inventions.

an award of $250 for the best-run demonstra-tion and commentary will be made. safety and timing will be taken into account in judging the best performance.

Demonstrations over the three days include trac-tors and implements including ploughs, balers and seed drills.

rural News Group sponsors a prize valued at $250 for the best large site, and a $250 prize will be awarded by the sIaFD committee for the best small site.

These awards are to encourage exhibitors to erect stands that achieve the aims of the sIaFD – the effective promotion and sale of machinery, services and/or products.

The winning sites will be those that attract a large number of genuine enquires, run demonstrations to attract attention, and are tidy and staffed efficiently.

awards aplenty for lincoln exhibitors

FARMING TECH-NOLOGY and its ability to keep feeding the world’s soaring population will be on show at the South Island Agricultural Field Days (SIAFD), March 20-22 at Lincoln, 20km

from Christchurch. Under the banner

‘Ag-Technology’ exhibitors will show the latest technology, equipment, machinery and ideas for nourishing earth’s inhabitants.

‘Home-grown’ technology, machinery and products will take pride of place.

The SIAFD is the only farming show in New Zealand to feature side-by-side demonstrations;

80-100 tractors, headers, mowers, seed drills and other machines will be put through their paces each day. The SIAFD has run every second year since 1951 when it was first held at

Motukarara. Nowadays it attracts 20,000-25,000 visitors over three days.

The SIAFD is a non-profit incorporated society run by volunteers who are all farmers or work in the agriculture industry. Profits are reinvested in the local community through scholarships and grants.

The event is run on the 35ha Lincoln University farm at Lincoln, about

20km from Christchurch. Entry costs adults $10 incl. programme and parking;

children under 15 are free. Gate opening hours 8-5pm each day.

SILAGE SWEEPS & LOADER ATTACHMENTSWe custom-build Silage Sweeps and a wide variety of loader attachments to suit your requirements – from large to small to fit beleboon, front-end and pivot steer loaders.

Innovative design, high quality workmanship and materials add up to hard working, productive assets in your business!

25 Yukon Place, Hornby, Christchurch. • Ph 03-349 5325email: [email protected] • web: www.bobhowden.co.nz

WHERE QUALITY COMES FIRST!

Seed advicefrom forage specialists.

talk to Seed Force at the South Island field days, site number 63

www.seedforce.co.nz

perennial speciesforage cropsfodder beetlegumes and herbs

!

Do you have the gear & training to treat this hoof safely & quickly?

FREE PHONE 0800 833 463

veehof.co.nz

Fred Hoekstra, Qualified Hoof Trimmer & Instructor, offers professional advice on specialised hoof trimming equipment, training and service. You can also register your interest for training courses and sign up for our free monthly newsletter.

FREE Hoof Care DVD & hoof knife sharpen; PLUS great deals on crushes, claw blocks, knives and all the specialist gear. See you at Lincoln, site #623 - 624.

BEST RURAL BUSINESS 2012

Veehof is the exclusive New Zealand distributor of Demotec and WOPA

specialist hoof care equipment.

Optimum clean fuelEasy and safe to fill and dispenseFully CompliantMinimise fuel theftBunded

S m a r t F u e l S t o r a g e

Visit our website for a full list of products and features

0800 473 226 | www.sebco.co.nzProudly made in Ashburton, New Zealand

Also manufacturers of Waste Oil Recovery Containers, SCR Stations for Adblue and Transportable Tanks

Sebco 1300ltrDiesel Station

Announcing the newest addition to the Sebco range . . .

Come and see us at Site 421

Page 53: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

south island field days 5

Portable saw mills on display at LincolnNEED TO recover timber from a remote place?

The latest in portable sawmill technology will inspire you to do it, says Marlborough engineering firm Rimu Engineering, demonstrating its equip-

ment at the Lincoln field days.Managing director Greg Surgenor says Rimu has been in sawmilling since 1963 when the com-pany first developed por-table sawmills – rugged and reliable in remote

locations. The need was for mills easy to transport and set up, and accurate so that the sawn timber was of good quality.

The Rimu mill takes one person 15 minutes to unload and set up, and it

can be operated by one person. Made of hi-ten-sile aluminium, the mills weigh no more than 300kg and can be towed on a trailer behind a car.

Operator safety is assured; the blade guard is used to remove the sawn plank without the opera-tor having to get in front of the blade.

Rimu makes a basic mill suitable for smaller operators, and a contrac-tor’s model to suit profes-sional sawmillers. This is computer controlled with a hydraulic drive for accu-racy and precision, and can be used as a station-ary mill at a central site, or easily transported to remote sites by 4WD, quad bike or by hand.

The sawmills are pow-ered by engines up to 60hp, depending on the setup.

Surgenor says the por-table mills are exported to Australia, Ireland, Eng-land, South Africa, Fiji,

Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Indone-sia, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Mongolia.

COME & SEE US AT THE SHOW!

LOCHIEL Engineering2000 Ltd Southland

L2022821 LOC27JN 03

FREEPHONE 0800 LOCHIEL (562-4435)FAX ORDERS (03) 236-9231, MOBILE (021) 412-675

Lochiel Fully Galvanised 8x5 RibSided Trailer with Collapsable Crate

Lochiel 3mm Fully Galvanised10x5 with Collapsable Crate

Agent for

Heenan

Deck II Crate

Also manufacturer of• Dog motels • Baleage/Hay Feeders• Stock Loading Ramps • Horse Floats

The home of the famous Lochiel Trailers andHarpers Horse Floats - phone us today

www.lochieltrailers.co.nzPh: 03-236 8222 • 021-412 675 • email: [email protected]

See us at Site

800-801

ALSO... COME & SEE US AT THE WANAKA A&P SHOW 7TH & 8TH

Hilux Combo Field Days Special

Terraquip NZ Ltd176 Waterloo Rd, Hornby, Christchurch 8042Tel : 03 349 0037Mob : 027 296 2346Email : [email protected]

AUTHORISED DEALERS LOCATED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.

TOLL FREE - 0508 IRONMAN (0508 476626) www.ironman4x4.co.nz

FOR Field Days ONLY Ironman 4x4 is offering the following

SPECIAL• Ironman 4x4 commerical bar• Ironman 4x4 Airforce snorkel• Ironman 4x4 Hilux suspension

upgrade – 45mm lift• Underbody protection kit• Also available for Ford Ranger,

Nissan, Mitsubishi, Holden and Mazda

Supplied and fitted by authorised Ironman 4x4 dealers for$4800 +GST

Terms and conditions apply – 2005 Hilux models onwards

See us at site 955

Page 54: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

rural News // March 5, 2013

6 south island field days

New Zealand’s oldest eventWHEN SOUTH Island Agricultural Field Days (SIAFD), held every second year, was first held

in Motukarara in 1951it was a one-day wonder that attracted about 1000 people.

Now the event, held ever since on the Lin-coln University farm, has grown into a three-

day event attended by at least 25,000 South Island farmers.

SIAFD is one of the oldest and largest agri-cultural events in the South Island; going back 61 years, and focus-ing on opportunities to view machines in their working state and to reinforce the relation-ship between farmers, service providers, sci-entists and technical experts. This year’s field days will the 61st and last time it is held at Lincoln Uni-

versity – as it has now outgrown the site – an announcement on a new venue will be made soon. The SIAFD will be held at the Lincoln Univer-sity Farm, corner of Shands Rd and Elles-mere Junction Rd, 20km away from Christchurch City on the 20-22nd March 2013. It is expected that about 400 exhibitors will attend, attracting 20,000-25,000 visitors over three days.

Fencing professionals to show off their skillsFENCING INDUSTRY profes-sionals will show products and techniques in a new demonstra-tion event – ‘All about Fencing’ – at Lincoln field days.

The fence types being installed and their demonstrators are: elec-trics, Hugh Morrison; netting, Owen Petersen; post wire and Batten, Paul Van Beers; and rail work, Tony White.

The objective is to bring all aspects of the New Zealand fenc-ing industry together in a common area and demonstrate a combina-tion of products and installation techniques.

Exhibitors in the ‘All about Fencing’ area are restricted to those who supply the fencing industry with designs or manu-

factured products, and who either supply retailers or sell direct to the industry.

Twenty two brands will be represented; a website (address below) lists all exhibitors.

Timetabled demonstrations on technical aspects of fence line installation and product installa-tion will take place over the three days.

The timetable is in the SIAFD Programme or can be downloaded from the All about Fencing web-site.

The Fencing Contractors asso-ciation of NZ will be on site and will offer hospitality packages to members. Tel. 09 2928063www.allaboutfencing.co.nz

FENCING PRODUCTS

TO SEE!

Taragate LtdRD2 Hamilton, New ZealandPhone 07 843 3859Fax 07 843 3952Email [email protected] Web www.taragate.co.nz

SPACE-LINK

CLIP-AWAY Gatebreak

TARAGATE – the ORIGINAL Multi Strand Electric Gate

The preferred choice for over 20 years!– Taragate 4 Strand– Taragate 2 Strand

– Taragate 4 Strand ‘Lifestyler’

– the gold standard in gate handles

– clips away on to the wire with unique second hook

– extra heavy duty

ALL ABOUT FENCING SITE 14

THE ONE FENCING SITE YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS!

– space your wire off the post

– attaches directly to Taragate Doubler Dtm or Tarapin Insulator

– simply the best outrigger on market today

HARROWSHARROWS HARROWS

Full range of harrows available with over 50 types, styles,

combinations and weights to choose from.

FOR GREAT HARROWS GREAT PRICES

03 347 8516Ph 0800 HARROWS

Visit us at Site 660

Call Now (07) 850 40 50 Email [email protected]

HARVEST RESULTS.

www.lely.com

SOUTH ISLAND FIELD DAYS SITE 453

Come see for yourself why the Lely Forage

Solutions range is becoming so popular in the South

Island.

Meet the team

Page 55: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

south island field days 7

hot pink detectors on showBEACON HEAT Detectors will show new fluorescent pink self-adhesive Heat Seeker detectors at Lin-coln, says managing direc-tor Jock Roberts.

It’s easier to spot at mating time, he says. “It’s very bright and easier to see from a distance, down in the pit and in dim light.”

The Heat Seeker requires only a few sec-onds of sustained pres-

sure to activate, and it uses an innovative channel and chamber system, says Roberts, which indicates how much a cow has been ridden, allowing better timing of insemination for improved AI results.

“The channel and chamber system makes the activated detector more visible, and it gives a more accurate indication of the extent of mounting activity.”

Roberts says the com-

gareTh gILLaTTpany’s heat detection aids have sold well in New Zealand. They are now available through RD1, Farmlands, CRT, veter-inary clinics and World Wide Sires. A distribution network in Auckland is speeding distribution.

“These days farmers are demanding self adhe-

sive detectors easier and less messy than the tradi-tional detector.”

Heat Seeker is avail-able in red, pink and blue, ideal for differentiating between pre-heats, mating heats and returns.

Beacon Heat Detec-tors also has a range of scratchie detectors in

red, pink, yellow and lime green.

“Farmers have their reasons for using particu-lar detectors, and Beacon is the only company man-ufacturing three different types of heat detectors,” Roberts says.Tel. 0800 22 33 99www.beaconhd.com.au

Hoof myth busted“STONE BRUISES are the primary cause of lameness in my herd,” dairy farmers may be heard to say.

It’s difficult to challenge the prevailing view, especially when it is so often repeated; but if you think logically about this, you’ll see why it simply cannot be so.

First, an anatomy lesson: the corium is the skin that grows the hoof. When a cow is under stress, the corium, lig-aments and ten-dons weaken which lets the pedal bone rotate in the claw. Viewed from below (photo), the back part of the pedal bone (blue outline) compresses the corium between the pedal bone and the sole of the claw.

This results in a bruising at exactly that spot in the claw. It has nothing to do with standing on a stone. It is weak-ened live tissue, which we call laminitis.

Now, evidence from the field: as a professional, qual-ified hoof trimmer I have viewed tens of thousands of hooves and I can tell you for a fact that there is a pattern of lameness that emerges time and time again. Have a look for yourself the next time you trim cows’ feet. Which claw has the most bruising? Which claw is usually the lame claw? Where on the claw do you find most of the bruis-ing? How do you explain the same pattern coming back over and over again? If the problem was caused by stand-ing on stones would you not expect a much more random pattern? Think about it – myth busted.

Veehof Diary Services is the Ashburton Business Asso-ciation Rural Business of the Year 2012. For hoof care train-ing, equipment and advice, call the expert team free on: Tel. 0800 833 463 www.veehof.co.nz

• Uniquely shaped hydraulic twin spinner

discs provide controlled accurate spread

• Digital tachometer accurately reads

spinner speed from tractor

• Chain feed provides reliable constant

feed to spinners

• Stainless steel Hoppers, single and

tandem wheel options available,

floatation tyres, Hydraulic wheel

drive and 3 speed gearboxes

• Bin extensions & roll top covers

Transpread

Robertson Manufacturing PO Box 6 Hinds, Mid Canterbury Ph 03 303 7228 A/hrs 027 433 2212

For your free catalogue please contact

Don 027 433 2212

FEEDOUT MACHINES

TRAILED SPREADERS

• Feeds pit silage

• Round bales

• Square bales

• Electric Joy-Stick

• Extension Bin

• Flotation tyres 400/60x15.5

• Optional tilting elevator

• Self loading forks

• Extra capacity

• Level capacity 13cu/m

• Loaded capacity 14.5 - 15cu/m

• Extended capacity 15 - 17cu/m

SUPER COMBYEX

SIMPLY SUPERIOR

See our newly

released Mega Comby XL on site 360-361,

356-357

Page 56: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

8 south island field daysCultivators make short work of hefty jobs

HUBBARDS cultivation equipment is extending the reach of Canterbury contractor Chris Swanson, doing earthworks and cultivation.

His gear includes two-wheeled excavators, a Volvo truck and trailer, a grader, two loaders, two shingle crushers, a 140hp John Deere 6830, 160hp Case Puma, 180hp Fendt 718 and farm implements.

He started seven years ago doing cultivation, much of it drilling with a 3.3m Austin roller drill set-up of ‘stump-jump’ harrows, a deep-V roller drill, harrows and a Cam-bridge roller at the back. “It was fan-tastic and ran 24 hours a day planting seed during busy times in spring, but I needed something bigger.”

The bigger machine had to “fill the Austin’s shoes,” he says. “I was looking for something that did a good job, if not better than the Austin,” he adds. “The Hubbards has done that.”

The specially designed roll-seed-roll consists of paddles, leveling tines, a 6.3m roller, an air seeder, another roller and leveling paddles in the rear. Swanson says it halves the time on planting jobs with 6-7ha an hour being seeded. “I don’t have to run the seeder 24 hours a day now because I’m doing 6.3m instead of 3m.”

The roll-seed-roll handles every-thing from lucerne and kale to grass. “The strike rate almost looks like seed was drilled in three ways. I think the coils have the biggest effect.”

And as everything is built on the

same frame, Swanson says the device is surprisingly easy to pull, requiring only a little more power than the 90hp the Austin needed. “Leveling paddles

will pull anything up but I can run the roll-seed-roll behind a 140hp tractor without pulling it up, easy.”

While Swanson is only doing R&D,

gareTh gILLaTT

MANUAL WEIGHT CRATE SINGLE AXLE ATV TRAILER

TANDEM AXLE ATV TRAILER

• PRESTON STREET, INVERCARGILL • PH 03-215 8558 • EMAIL: [email protected]

TWO STAND SHEARING TRAILER

LEAD UP RACE - 3 SHEEP

SHEEP HANDLER 10x5 WELLSIDE TRAILER

SOLE SOUTH ISLAND

DEALER FOR FEEDTECH FEEDING SYSTEMS

3.5 TONNE PER HOUR ROLLER MILL

CRAIGCO JETTER

SEE US AT THE SOUTH ISLAND FIELD DAYS

SITE 427

PENCIL AUGERS

3 WAY AUTO DRAFT

RD1 Christchurch • Ph 03 318 8132 • Mob 0274 802 604

Grain Handling, Drying &Storage Equipment

• Humidity controllers, ventilated drive on flooring• Gas burners, fans, ducting• Consultation and design

• Augers, conveyors, grain vacs.• Hopper bottom and flat bottom silos, unloaders, full drying silos c/w stirrers.• Grain carts/chaser bins – self unloading

NEW PRODUCT RANGEMarston Grain Trailers

www.marstontrailers.co.uk

See us at

Lincoln Field Days

Sites 756-7 781-2

www.flr-cropdrying.com

Page 57: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

south island field days 9Cultivators make short work of hefty jobs

on this device he is so impressed he has ordered one for his business. “The only thing different with the one I ordered was that I got a bigger

seedbox.”Swanson also runs a Hubbards

820-5m chisel plough fully able to stand up to the conditions, he says.

With an adjustable breakout pressure of 350-750 pounds on tines, nylon bushed points and a 100 x100mm frame, Swanson says maintenance costs are low and ground is worked up well.

The strong tines and frame become invaluable in his area which Swanson says contains almost every single soil type. “Where I’m based I can drive one way 10 min and find the best dirt in Canterbury, then drive 10 minutes the other way and find the worst.”

Swanson says the chisel plough can stand up to tough conditions. “It’s well made… built for New Zea-land conditions.”

Hubbards has also helped out Swanson with his excavation busi-ness as well, by importing two Mar-ston trailer frames on which they built forward and rear tipping trail-ers. “It is the ultimate tool for pivot ruts, which requires the operator to see where they are putting material.”

When fixing pivot ruts the trailer tips forward and a hydraulic front gate opens up in one corner of the front deck allowing the operator to gauge exactly how much material they are putting into ruts. “You can see what you’re doing when you’re filling ruts.”

The trailer also tips backward through a wider gate. Swanson says it needs a tractor to run but this works to his favour, especially in winter. “I use it a lot in winter when I’m carting materials with trucks; it gets too wet and they can get stuck.” Tel. 03 308 3539 www.hubbardsmachinery.com

the specially-designed Hubbards roll-seed-roll machine; minus the levelling tines.

MANUAL WEIGHT CRATE SINGLE AXLE ATV TRAILER

TANDEM AXLE ATV TRAILER

• PRESTON STREET, INVERCARGILL • PH 03-215 8558 • EMAIL: [email protected]

TWO STAND SHEARING TRAILER

LEAD UP RACE - 3 SHEEP

SHEEP HANDLER 10x5 WELLSIDE TRAILER

SOLE SOUTH ISLAND

DEALER FOR FEEDTECH FEEDING SYSTEMS

3.5 TONNE PER HOUR ROLLER MILL

CRAIGCO JETTER

SEE US AT THE SOUTH ISLAND FIELD DAYS

SITE 427

PENCIL AUGERS

3 WAY AUTO DRAFT

Page 58: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

10 south island field days

4WD accessories built tougherIRONMAN 4x4, a “global power house” in 4WD accessories, has been 54 years in the business and now exports to at least 120 countries. It has agents across New Zealand.

The Ironman 4x4

range includes bull bars, winches, suspension upgrades, diff locks, snorkels, recovery gear, lighting and camping accessories. They are available for most vehicle models and offer quality,

affordability and are built tough with extensive warranties.

Ironman 4x4 have bull bars available for a range of vehicles from the early 1980s to the very latest 2012 model.

Its replacement winch bull bars are designed, engineered and tested in Australia. Premium grade materials and components are used to deliver com-prehensive frontal protec-tion and styling.

Ironman 4x4 has three bar types available: the Black Commercial bar is in black steel with A frame triple loop design and has LED park and indica-tor lights; the commer-cial deluxe bar is of similar design but has a driving light as well as the park and indicator light incor-porated into the section below the existing vehicle

headlight. These bars are airbag/winch compatible, have an aerial mount and mounting points for addi-tional driving lights, tough polyurethane bumper pads and a tough powder coat finish; the Protector winch bar has a grey finish with polished stainless steel triple loop design and includes the driving and park light.

Suspension kits and components with raised height, long travel and improved performance are available for most makes and models of vehicles. Ironman 4x4 shock absorbers are avail-able in 35mm nitro gas or 41mm foam cell. These have longer travel and are strongly built. Leaf and coil springs are made from high quality SUP9 steel and are available in dif-

ferent load ratings from ‘comfort’ to ‘extra con-stant load’. On average suspension kits give a 45-50mm lift for the range of vehicles giving good ground clearance and increased wheel articula-tion. All suspension car-ries a 2 year/40,000km warranty.

With new age 4WD vehicles there is consider-

able risk of damage to vital components when using them off road. Ironman 4x4 underbody protection kits give enhanced pro-tection from rocks, mud and debris. These kits are made from 3mm pressed steel, have easy bolt on installation with no drill-ing or welding required and are semi gloss powder coated .

To reduce the risk of your engine taking in water and to increase the height of your air intake, Ironman 4x4 sell snor-kel kits. These also give increased airflow, improve performance and are made from high quality poly-ethylene (LLPDE). They are UV resistant for long life and come with a 3 year warranty. Tel. 0508 IrONMaN www.ironman4x4.co.nz

they are uV resistant for long life and come with a 3 year warranty.

P.L. BERRY & ASSOCIATESPATENT ATTORNEYS

• N.Z. &� Overseas Patents • Registered Designs • Searches &� Licensing • Copyright • Trade Marks

T: 03 366 2761 F: 03 379 5744E: [email protected]

1st Floor, 61 Cambridge TerraceP.O. Box 1250 Christchurch

Principal: Elspeth Buchanan B.Met.(Hons), C.Eng, MIMMM, FNZIPA

Registered Patent Attorney, N.Z. &� Australia

P.L.

BE

RRY

&

ASSOCIATES1

95 6 - 2 0 0 6

50YEARS

Call us on 03 366 2761 www.plberry.co.nz

P.L. B

ERRY & ASSOCIATES

1956-2011

55YEARS

SEE US AT SITE C57

T: 03 366 2761 F: 03 379 5744E: [email protected]

15B Byron Street, Sydenham, Christchurchwww.wintonstockfeed.co.nz/conedose

*Design copyright Winton Stock Feed Ltd 2010. **Terms and conditions apply

0800 MOLASSES(0800 66527737)

To learn more phone

Incorporate minerals and supplements into Liquid Feeds •Daily control of

supplements and quantities fed

•Hopper can blend up to one tonne of Liquid Feed at a time

•Works in line with the Dairy Sheds’ existing feed system

•Eliminates waste•Conedose can

add non soluble supplements in suspension using air agitation e.g Mag Oxide, Lime Flour etc

•Replaces Dusting

TM

Lease for $1200 per year! Call now to find out how to get it for even less!**

OR OFFICE: 03-236 6089

For Molasses Pricing and to learn how Conedose can increase productivity visit Site 473.

100% NZ owned importer

Page 59: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

south island field days 11

Pen waterer keeps calves healthyMILKBAR PEN waterers are helping a South Island farmer raise herd replacements.

Reuben Allan milks 1650 Jersey-Friesian cross cows on a 470ha platform at Waimate, South Canterbury. The property is a four-season-old conversion from a drystock farm. Allan started it to generate better and more stable earnings off the family farm.

He rears about 500 heifer replacements each year to improve the herd’s overall performance in an eight bay 360m2 shed and says when looking for water solutions for raising calves he wanted something easy to maintain and keep clean, and something that could provide calves with their water requirements

without overloading them with disease.

He installed eight Milk Bar pen waterer water feeders and will add more when he expands the calf

shed from eight bays to 12.The 8L waterers are

575 x 330 x 275mm partly enclosed containers fitted with a float valve and piping. Milk Bar says the design eliminates most form of contamination and ensures calves can access clean water at all times due to smaller volumes of water in the water feeder.

Large mobs of calves can lead to health problems, but Allan has only seen the odd case of scours in his replacement calves, Milk Bar says. He attributes this to the use

of the covered feeders and riverstone flooring, which Milk Bar staff suggested. “We haven’t had to worry about rotovirus or pneumonia or anything

like that. The calves always seem to be in good health.”

And though the water feeder is covered, Allan says it didn’t take much for calves to find the water. “Calves are naturally inquisitive so they found the water pretty quickly.”

Installing feeders required setting up waterlines and then clamping feeders to partitions with the built-on clamps. Allan says clean-up is also easy. “We just need to clean them at the end of the season. It’s part of the cleaning

gareTh gILLaTT routine and there’s not much we have to do to them.”

Allan is expanding the shed to 12 bays this season and says that he will be adding more Milk Bar pen waterers. Tel. 0800 104 119www.milkbar.co.nz

“Calves are naturally inquisitive so they found the water pretty quickly.”

CONTACT: Steve Waters 027 640 1333 • Russell Crossen 027 445 4199• Office: 03 347 3171 • Email: steve@[email protected] • www.permbrand.co.nz

SPRAYING EQUIPMENT / WATER-BLASTER’S• Pumps • Spray Nozzels • Spray Guns • Hose Reels • Booms plus much more

SPRAYERS & SPREADERS• Sprayers - 12volt, 3p/l, trailed

• Sprayers - Fert & Mag

CATTLE CRUSH• Strong • Sliding gate • Side opening gates • Vet gates • Floor for weighing

PORTABLE YARDS • Holds 5 to 500 • Head bail

• Loading ramp • 7 rail option

MEAL FEEDING• Herringbone • Stainless steel trays • Rotary • Workmanship guaranteed

ROLLERMILL• Grooved Rollers • 5.5 kw

Electric Motor • 5 tonne/ per hour

See us at the Lincoln Field Days Site 419 & 420

Cridge Seeds Ltd “Outstanding in the field”TOP QUALITY RYEGRASS MIXES DELIVERED NATIONWIDE

SEED CLEANING SPECIALISTS – PURITY AND GERMINATION TESTS ON REQUEST

Phone Office: 0800 4 SEEDS or 03-324 3951 or 0274-323 834View 2013 info on our website www.cridgeseeds.co.nz

Page 60: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

12 south island field days

adding fizz to monitoring

KEEPING AN eye on Coca Cola vending machines worldwide made headlines in the 1990s for a company that will exhibit at the South Island Agricul-tural Field Days to pro-mote its farm telemetry systems.

The company, as Harvest Electronics, Masterton, at the time used internet and cell-phone technology – with power from solar panels – to monitor railway level crossings in New Zealand, sewer-age systems in Austra-lia, frost alarm systems in New Zealand, Austra-lia and Italy, and shop-ping carts in North America.

It achieved fame on winning a contract to monitor stock levels in Coca-Cola vending machines. Until 2000 it

developed products for the wireless monitoring of Coca-Cola vending machines and grew to be the largest wireless network of its type in the world with 60,000 vending machines online.

Now it develops remote monitoring equipment, spurred by farmers needing to monitor and con-trol equipment such as pumps, gates and irri-gators.

This automatically measures and trans-mits data from remote sources using GSM cel-lular networks and the Iridium satellite net-work. The wireless sys-tems can be tailored exactly to the farmer’s needs.

Irrigation and soil moisture, effluent use and weather are all able

to be monitored with Harvest Electronics’ products.

At Lincoln, Harvest Electronics will display a travelling irrigator with its attached moni-tor which records GPS location, speed and pressure. If any of the set limits are breached, the pump is shut off and a text message automatically alerts the farmer.

A base station con-figured as a weather station and a long range remote will also feature as part of the Harvest Electronics display.

The compact, solar-powered and weather resistant wireless long range remotes can monitor several irri-gation areas from one system and do not usu-ally require towers or radio repeaters to run.

New Cambridge roller unveiledORIGIN AGROUP will introduce, at this year’s South Island field days, a new range of DAL-BO XL folding Cam-bridge rollers which the company says complements the already proven Max-iroll models.

Origin Agroup’s Dave Donelly says the Maxiroll has been a huge success with larger contractors and cropping farmers, but there has been a demand for a general economic version and the new XL models fit this criterion.

The new XL rollers are fitted with large 55cm Cambridge rings with a narrow breaker ring fitted in between to minimise soil sticking in wet soils. Working widths of 6.0m and 8.3m with a narrow 2.5m transport width are avail-able, priced from $28,900 + GST.

An optional front hydraulic levelling cracker board is available to provide cul-tivation and levelling of the soil in one operation.

Hatzenbichler broadcast seeders can also be fitted to the rear of the roller for a roll seeding operation.Tel. 07 823 7582

The following fencing industry manufacturers & suppliers are exhibiting within the ALL ABOUT FENCING event area

For further information please visit www.allaboutfencing.co.nz or contact

[email protected]

A demonstrative fencing event combining industry best practice installation techniques with the application of machinery, tools and products on 4 fence line types

Demonstrated by | Electrics – Hugh Morrison | Netting – Owen Petersen | Post, Wire & Batten – Paul Van Beers | Rail Work – Tony White

A DEMONSTRATIVE FENCING INDUSTRY EVENT within the

South Island Agricultural Field DaysMarch 20th - 22nd 2013

Page 61: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

south island field days 13

Rear-mounted mowers easy to hitchNOVACAT DISC mowers newly available from Origin Agroup will be on their first public outing at the South Island field days.

The company says the range includes 352, 402 and 442 models with working widths of 3.46m, 3.88 m and 4.3 m respec-tively.

The central element is the hydraulic lower link-age arm that makes it easy to hitch up because the operator need no longer adjust the tractor’s link-age arms and the mower frame is always aligned in the right position.

“In addition, this system optimises weight alleviation as well as pro-

viding excellent ground clearance (50 cm on the inside) for headland turns and transport on the road.”

During transport the mower is pivoted through 90 degrees to the rear. The double-acting cylinder on the rear pivot also serves as collision protection. If the mower impacts an

obstruction it folds to the rear and the release pres-sure is increased. This system ensures that the mower is ideally protected against severe damage.

Both new Novacat mowers feature hydrau-lic weight alleviation. A clearly visible pres-sure gauge is fitted to the mower frame and the

ground pressure can be simply adjusted if needed using a double-acting remote valve.

Ease of maintenance is assured by safety guards designed to fold well clear to provide optimum access to the cutter bar for quick and easy knife changes. www.originagroup.co.nzDipper keeps

on and onELECTRODIP HAS been making and selling its ‘magic eye’ sheep dip for at least 23 years, some owners still using their original machines – some are said to have been in service for 20 years.

“Many changes have been made over the years, mainly due to the feedback we get from our customers, to the point that the current model bears little resemblance to the original model,” explains Electrodip principal Martin Carey. “The main features remain the same, enabling the Electrodip to still provide excellent fly and lice protec-tion.”

But Carey points to new features that are making the job easier and safer: self-adjusting sides, galvanised con-struction, and extra jets and covers. So the unit can handle a greater volume of sheep easily.

The Electrodip has also shown to have great resale value. As holdings increase in size, some owners are sell-ing their old Electrodips and buying new ones for the new features, enabling farmers with smaller holdings to buy a secondhand Electrodip at a lower price.

Owners are also using their machines to do preven-tative maintenance – including a lice-killing chemical in their fly dip.

Piston-diaphragm pumps powered by Honda motors enable chemical to be jetted into a full fleece, the maker says.

Says Carey, “Owning your own machine means there is no reliance or waiting on contractors, saving you time and money. Most owners with an average sized flock achieve a 30-60% return on capital investment when compared to other methods.”Tel. 07 573 8512 [email protected]

TONY hOPKINSON

the crt village is the place to be at the south island agricultural field days

0800 278 583 www.crt.co.nz

We look forward to seeing you at Lincoln for the South Island Agricultural Field Days, 20-22 March.

Look out for the booklet in your mailbox soon,

or ask at the entrance to the CRT marquee

on the day.

in the CRT marquee you’ll also find:

CRT ChoicesRedeem your CRT Choices

Points

ChoiCeYour

Lunch in the hospitality

marquee from $10

PlaceMakers’ 3-bay shed auction

Friday 22 March at 1pm

with

‘n you’ll be in towin one of two

shopping sprees

on offer each day

there’s six shopping sprees up for grabs when you shop with selected suppliersPLus

Talk with more than 50 suppliers to CRT in the laneway and in the marquee

Catch up with representatives from all areas of CRT

Pick your bargains from thousands of products and save heaps!

We’re here

Weedons Rd

Ellesmere Junction Rd

When you’re serious about

SHELTER✓ Clear air movement✓ Even temperatures

– no extremes✓ Post, concrete block,

or container mounted✓ Robust construction✓ Engineered design

✓ 100% clear span✓ Wide range of spans

& lengths✓ Fast install time✓ Customisation available✓ Excellent natural

light conditions✓ High wind & snow

ratings

Certified Design, Relocatable, Healthy Environment, NZ Made & Supported, Fully Installed or Kitset.

Contact us NOW for your free information pack:E: [email protected]: 0508 SHELTER (743 583)Web: www.simpleshelter.co.nz

SEE US AT SOUTH ISLAND FIELD DAYS – SITE 775

Page 62: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

14 south island field days

Specialist pastoral advice on-handPASTURE RENEWAL involves much more than just buying the seed, says Seed Force’s James White. The process is complex and involves a number of important factors.

“Seed Force can help with the decision-making process by providing tech-nical know-how and sup-port, coupled with quality

seed varieties to suit a range of situations.”

White says advice from a specialist proprietary seed company can be a real benefit.

“Once you have deter-mined your long term goals, you can get a range of advice, from what spe-cies will suit your situa-tion through to a complete

management plan to help reach your desired out-come. The tips and advice you receive can help get the best return on your investment.”

R&D is a major part of Seed Force’s business. The company uses the term ‘100% researched’ to describe the impor-tant role that research and

development plays in its business.

“This ensures Seed Force products are thor-oughly tested and trialled prior to release into the market,” White adds. “The Seed Force product port-folio spans a wide range of species – from annual crops, such as forage bras-sicas and cereals, through to perennial species such as lucerne, ryegrasses, cocksfoot and tall fescue.

“In addition to these primary species, the com-pany can provide a range of component variet-ies, such as legumes and herbs, and specialist spe-cies, such as fodder beet.

“Together with our retailer clients, we com-bine products with best practice management advice and on-farm sup-port.”Tel. 0508 7333 36www.seedforce.co.nz

Keeps fuel clean and safe

FUEL STORAGE Systems Ltd, of Ashburton, maker of Sebco tanks for diesel, waste oil and AdBlue, has launched a 1300L diesel station.

The company says this springs from farmers and man-ufacturers saying they want to store smaller volumes of diesel in compliant, safe and secure tanks, with the fea-tures of other Sebco diesel stations.

“We discovered operators with lower diesel usage have also upgraded to vehicles with a common rail engine, such as the farm ute or the family SUV,” says Ed Harri-son, Sebco managing director.

“These require clean fuel and the design of our bund-ing system virtually eliminates condensation; the inner vessel cannot rot or rust, so the fuel dispensed from the Sebco 1300 is as clean as it can be.”

The Sebco 1300 is fitted with the same quality com-ponents as the Sebco 2300 and 4800, such as a choice between the Piusi Cube 56 (240 or 12 volt systems) offer-ing flow of up to 56L/m. It has 4m of delivery hose with auto shut off nozzle – no risk of spilling while you fill. And it comes standard with a 5 micron water-separating clear-captor filter. You can see inside the captor to check for accidental dirt ingress into fuel.

All pumping equipment, hose and nozzle are located behind a lock up door and the whole unit is a neat and tidy way of storing diesel fuel.

Sebco offers a 2-year warranty on pumping equipment, 5-year warranty on the rotomoulded tanks and offer a 25-year design life.

Harrison says Sebco is now into its seventh year of pro-duction and has delivered hundreds of diesel stations to properties in New Zealand and Australia.

“Sebco is committed to providing a smart storage facil-ity for all farmers’ diesel requirements, and to also keep developing award winning tanks to further enhance secu-rity and safety around fuel storage on your property.”Tel. 027 308 2800www.sebco.co.nz

Page 63: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

rural News // March 5, 2013

south island field days 15

Northland research farm manager Jeremy Clark says the fieldmaster mower makes topping a breeze.

Topping made a breezeA FIELDMASTER GMM 230 Mower has made topping a breeze on a Northland research farm, says farmer Jeremy Clark, manager of the North-land Agricultural Research Farm. Its two 40-45ha farmlets near Dargaville are used to compare the economic value of a ryegrass farm against one relying on mulched kikuyu.

The study, which discovered that mulching kikuyu with oversown Italian annuals is as commercially viable, if not more so, in Northland, is in its second phase. Clark says Fieldmaster representative Patrick Murray got in contact with him to offer the 2.3m rotary mulching/topping mower. “We both saw the synergies so we gratefully accepted,” says Clark.

According to Murray, the com-pany was keen to work with the research farm due to its high visibility. “Because the Northland Agricultural Research Station is visited by many Northland farmers and their research and methods are of note to the region, Fieldmaster deemed it worthwhile to offer a loan trial machine – particu-larly to advertise the merits and versa-tility of the Fieldmaster GMM series machines.”

The Fieldmaster 3 tier mulching

system can be fitted with a tungsten-treated blade, which copes with abra-sive conditions and to a high degree self-sharpens.

“This is especially good in kikuyu, which needs cutting back at low height to control it and cattle will eat and do well on the fresh sugar rich regrowth.”

The mower was delivered in Octo-ber, a month when the kikuyu hadn’t started growing, and the farm has used it as a topping mower to main-tain pasture quality over the entire property. “It hasn’t had to cope with the kikuyu stems or clumps yet, but I’m impressed with what I have seen so far.”

The mower doesn’t tax the proper-ty’s 89hp Massey Ferguson 5355 trac-tor while topping and Clark says he is able to get more work out of lower revs. “The tractor doesn’t seem to be working as hard with the gear mower; we’ve been able to get more trips out of the fuel tank.”

Besides being able to top pas-tures in 10-15 minutes less time than the previous mulcher, Clark says the rotary mulcher also does a better job. “The pastures come up better with the mulcher. They came up lush and green; the mower really did an out-standing job.”

The mower’s three blade system

gives a cleaner cut and stays sharper longer, Clark adds. “The alloy means the blades are partially self-sharpen-ing. These blades are awesome.”

Murray says the Multicut rotary mulcher knives have three blades that cut in three heights and in two steps. The blades are designed to pulver-ise plant material with a lower power ratio. This is further assisted by down-ward pointing blades that cut close to ground level while creating a vacuum that mixes soil and plant debris for faster breakdown times.

Northland and Waikato farmers have mentioned the mower’s capa-bility to handle kikuyu, according to Murray, and the company wants to put that performance to the test.

“Many of Fieldmasters’ Gear mower users indicate they can mow faster even double the forward speed, use half the fuel and still achieve a clean cut even spread that is consid-ered the ideal result.”

Clark says rainfall and a cooler start to summer have delayed major kikuyu growth, which would normally be happening around now. “It will be interesting to see how it copes with the big thick kikuyu clumps that are common around Northland farms during summer.” Tel. 0800 500 275 www.fieldmaster.co.nz

gareTh gILLaTT

• The MAGIC EYE SHEEPJETTER since 1989• Quality constructions and options• Get the contractors choice

Featuring...• Incredible chemical economy • Automatically activated• Amazing ease 1500 + per hour • Proven effective on lice as well as fly• No adjustment for large or small • Compatible with all dip chemicals• Minimal labour required • Accurate effective application

FLY AND LICE

PROBLEM?

Ph 07 537 8512 • Mobile 0274 407 242 • [email protected] • www.electrodip.com

SEE US

AT SITE

531

Visit the RX Plastics site 520-521 for more information.

www.rxplastics.co.nz

Page 64: Rural News 5 Mar 2013

RuRal News // march 5, 2013

16 south island field days

Cultivator drill reduces crop establishment costsPOTTINGER TERRASEM cultivator drills, sold throughout Europe and to New Zealand farmers,

will be represented by a 6m model at this year’s South Island field days at Lincoln.

David Donnelly, from Origin Agroup, says high input costs are driving farmers to look at better and smarter ways to help reduce costs, yet at the same time allow the possibility of increasing yields.

Donnelly says a cultivator drill can dramatically reduce the number of passes required to establish a seed bed and can provide better

moisture retention and more even seed placement depth.

This ensures seed is drilled at the critical moment when soil moisture and conditions are optimised and can result in better crop establishment and yields.

To that end, Pottinger has developed its new Terrasem seed drills to deliver tillage, consolidation and seeding stages in a single pass at working widths from 3m to 9m with a 3.0m

transport width.Terrasem drills can

be used for minimum till, mulch drilling and conventional sowing on ploughed land. A key feature is their precise seed placement thanks to the parallelogram-guided double coulters with trailed depth press wheels. Each of the disc coulters is guided by a hydraulic pressure roller to ensure accurate and uniform seed placement depth.

The operator can adjust the depth centrally and can apply pressure from 50 kg to 130 kg per disc coulter with rubber mounting elements to provide optimum freedom of movement for each coulter unit.

The drills are fitted with a front mounted two-gang disc harrow to provide pre-cultivation

to set up a seed bed in front of large diameter packer wheels which are then followed by the double disc seed coulters. The Terrasem is said to perform equally well in heavy or light soils with large quantities of harvest trash.

The maintenance-free, rubber-mounted 510 mm

diameter discs loosen the soil on the surface providing a layer of fine structured earth at the depth where the seed is placed followed by wide consolidation tyres to re-compact the soil after the front disc harrows; each tyre covers four

seed discs. This provides a uniform consolidated seed bed for the seeding discs to accurately sow seed at a precise depth across the full working width of the drill.

Terrasem drills deliver accurate contour tracking due to a three-part design which ensures perfect ground tracking over the

full working width. Unique to Pottinger is the seed rail elements which are mounted on a parallelogram that follow the contours of the ground with unlimited freedom of movement upwards and a downward angle

of up to 4°.The Terrasem drill

is equipped with a cab terminal operating system which operates all the drilling functions and is ISOBUS compatible with a radar sensor-controlled seed flow metering.www.originagroup.co.nz

“a cultivator drill can dramatically reduce the number of passes required to establish a seed bed and can provide better moisture retention and more even seed placement depth.” – David Donnelly

Docking Chute

0800 DOCKER(362 537)

www.vetmarker.co.nz

VETMARKER

See us at Sites 570 & 571