ANIMAL HEALTH
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
Keeping cows comfortable off paddock. PAGE 28
John Deere 8 Series offers greater choice. PAGE 30
AGRIBUSINESS Making it okay to ask for help. PAGE 18
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS NOVEMBER 19, 2019: ISSUE 689
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Uncertainty causing angst PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
THE CULMINATION of some poorly thought-out government policies is to blame for the low morale in the agri sector. That’s the view of National’s spokesperson on agriculture Todd Muller who says in his 20 years in the sector he’s never seen things as bad as they are now. Muller says farmers have a high
level of anxiety about the future because they don’t know where things are at. “In my previous roles at Zespri and Fonterra, I’ve been to hundreds of farmer meetings and right now I am going around the country talking to farmers,” he told Rural News. “Usually when you go to meetings there are some anger and grumbles about performance or financial matters, but this is different. What is occurring is a consistent, persistent
National’s agriculture spokesman Todd Muller.
assault on farming and people’s ability to farm.” Muller says when farmers are told they have to reduce the N loading on their farms by up to 80% they are perplexed and stressed and realise that they just can’t farm. He says as well as the environmental reforms farmers are facing they also have to deal with M. bovis, changes to the gun laws and myriad other issues. He says it’s the cumulative effect of a lot of things.
“The net effect of that is a sector that is feeling very much under pressure in the sense that the Government doesn’t understand what it’s like to farm and to produce food. “It feels like you are in the middle and that the people who are making the rules in this country don’t get what it’s like to farm and don’t understand the day-to-day variables. They don’t understand how emotionally farmers have invested in the businesses. Their confidence has been eroded and needs to be addressed,” Muller said. He adds the other pressure coming on farmers is from the banks. Muller says there are increasing demands for farmers to pay down the principle on their loans and not just pay interest only. He says all the banks have made it clear they want to reduce their exposure to the rural sector.
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RURAL NEWS GROUP
Alastair Robertson, sales and import brand manager for Canterbury farm machinery dealer Cochranes, combines work with family time on the first day of the 2019 NZ Agricultural Show, last week. Robertson is showing his daughter Evelyn (2) the controls of a new Case Maxxum 110 tractor. Based at Cochrane’s Leeston branch, Robertson has regularly manned the company’s Canterbury Show stand for about four years. He says it’s not just a day for the family, but also a great way to catch up and meet clients. – More on the Show next issue.
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
NEWS 3 ISSUE 689 www.ruralnews.co.nz
Government can’t see the wood for the trees PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
NEWS ��������������������������������������1-16 AGRIBUSINESS ����������������18-19 MARKETS �������������������������� 20-21 HOUND, EDNA ���������������������� 22 CONTACTS ����������������������������� 22 OPINION ����������������������������22-25 MANAGEMENT ���������������26-27 ANIMAL HEALTH ����������� 28-29 MACHINERY AND PRODUCTS ���������������������� 30-34 RURAL TRADER ������������� 34-35
HEAD OFFICE Top Floor, 29 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622 Phone: 09-307 0399 Fax: 09-307 0122 POSTAL ADDRESS PO Box 331100, Takapuna, Auckland 0740 Published by: Rural News Group Printed by: Ovato Print CONTACTS Editorial: editor@ruralnews.co.nz Advertising material: davef@ruralnews.co.nz Rural News online: www.ruralnews.co.nz Subscriptions: subsrndn@ruralnews.co.nz ABC audited circulation 79,553 as at 31.03.2019
ABOUT 1000 people from around rural New Zealand marched on Parliament last week to protest the Government’s policies on planting trees. The protest was organised by 50 Shades of Green, a group set up to oppose the Government’s policies. According to one of the organisers, Andy Scott, a real estate agent from Masterton, busloads of people from around the North Island came to Wellington especially to show their opposition to Government policies. The protestors assembled in Civic Square in the centre of the city and made their way down to Parliament Building. Scott says the Government is not listening to the provincial sector. He says the blanket planting of forests with huge subsidies is taking out good, productive land from farming. “It’s devastating... Pongaroa has just lost its school. The way it is happening is quite unbelievable,” Scott told Rural News. “Small, rural heartland towns are going because of the trees and, with that, jobs from shearers, fencers and a
About 1000 farmers and rural people assemble in Wellington’s civic square before marching to parliament.
range of small rural support businesses right up to professional people in the bigger towns such as accountants and lawyers.” Scott says larger towns such as Wairoa and Masterton are also being hit. He says the problem is not confined to the North Island. He says a lot of good, productive land in Southland and North Canterbury is also going into forest. Scott told Rural News one of the aims of the protest was to make poli-
ticians and decisionmakers in Wellington aware of rural NZ’s concerns. However, the Farm Forestry Association was not happy with the protest, claiming it highlights “deliberately created confusion” about the true nature and recent scope of forestry expansion. President Hamish Levack says 50 Shades of Green’s demands that the Government restrict forest planting would not be supported by many farmers he knows. “There’s at least 10,000 owners of farm woodlots in New Zealand. If
No threat to farming – O’Connor AGRICULTURE MINISTER Damien O’Connor has rejected the concerns expressed by the 50 Shades of Green lobby and others about farming being under threat from forestry. “Much of what’s circulating is based on misinformation,” he said in a prepared statement. “There is no
Government policy that encourages high-value pastoral land to be planted in pine trees and there is no evidence of this happening.” O’Connor referred critics to the latest Overseas Investment Office statistics which claim that only about 8800ha of farmland had been
converted to forestry under the new ‘special benefits’ test. “That’s one thousandth of New Zealand’s total sheep and beef land,” he said. “The Government is not subsidising whole farm conversions or allowing foreign carbon speculators to buy
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they want to retire some more of their farms to earn some more income by expanding their woodlots then that should be their right. “And if they want to plant out the whole farm that should be their right as well, and shouldn’t be stopped by some misinformed fringes of the farming community.” Levack says the 50 Shades of Green petition demanding the Government prevent farmers planting trees to offset carbon emissions sounds to him like “climate change denial”.
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up farms and plant permanent forests for carbon credits.” O’Connor also claimed the ‘streamlined’ rules for offshore investors only apply to production forests. “So talk that the rules are being gamed by offshore carbon speculators is wrong.”
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FRUSTRATED FONTERRA farmers called for chairman John Monaghan to take responsibility for the co-op’s financial debacle and step down. At its annual general meeting in Invercargill this month, Monaghan stared down calls to resign from several shareholders. However, some shareholders backed the Wairarapa farmer to continue as chairman. In outbursts unseen at previous Fonterra annual meetings, several farmers blasted the chairman for Fonterra’s poor performance and called for accountability. Shareholder Pete Moynihan told the meeting that as a Fonterra shareholder he hasn’t been able to walk around with pride. “We have all become a laughing joke.” Moynihan urged board members to appoint a new chairman at their next meeting. “From my personal perspective, the chair must change.” He told the meeting if there was another processor ready to take Fonterra’s milk the co-op would lose about 30% of its Southland suppliers. Another shareholder, Jan Marten Kingma, told the meeting the directors are acting as if they weren’t involved in bad decisions. “We are still living on
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Fonterra chairman John Monaghan (right), former director Simon Israel (centre) and director Peter McBride at the co-op’s AGM.
the same planet: the same staff and board are still there. Kingma said shareholders are now watching the same board and staff implement the strategic change. He called for accountability for the loss, incompetence and failure by Fonterra leadership. “We want someone to take responsibility -- take ownership and simply apologise.” He also warned that Fonterra’s share of milk supply out of Southland is eroding thanks to its disastrous performance and lack of accountability. He also urged the directors to take his comments into account when appointing the
“We want someone to take responsibility – take ownership and simply apologise.” chairman after the AGM. Monaghan responded by saying that everyone must take responsibility for the co-op’s shortcomings in the past. So rather than cut and run he has decided to stay on to do something about them. Monaghan says the board is now “totally rejuvenated”, assisted by a new chief executive and chief financial officer. He later told Rural News that he wasn’t surprised by calls to resign.
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“We are a broad church,” he said. Monaghan got support from some farmers. One shareholder thanked him for “putting on crash helmets” and making some courageous decisions. “You knew that mud was going to be thrown at you; some mud should rightly be thrown. But my view is that the best person to lead you in tough times is the person who has lived through those tough times. You are the best person in my
view.” He praised Monaghan’s leadership in the redevelopment of the co-op strategy. One farmer shareholder congratulated Fonterra on making difficult decisions. “The decision not to pay bonuses and a pay freeze for salaries over $100,000, that would not have been an easy decision to make and I think we need to acknowledge it,” he said. “The decision demonstrates some ownership of Fonterra’s issues and would also have had an impact on our own staff’s personal cashflows.” @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
NEWS 5
Next cab off the rank – RMA PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
NEW ZEALAND’S natural environment is now much more degraded than when the Resource Management Act was developed in 1991. That’s the view of a Government panel appointed by Environment Minister David Parker to comprehensively review the RMA. In a new ‘options and issues’ paper, the panel chair, retired Appeal Court judge Tony Randerson, says the aim is to prompt discussion of the issues the
panel plans to address in its review. And it will promote options designed to assist people making submissions to the panel in the coming months. Before going into what possible changes may be considered, the report gives an insight into how it sees the RMA is working. For a start, it notes that NZ’s natural environment is under significant pressures. “Climate change is occurring at an unprecedented rate, our native plants and ecosystems are under threat with land changes degrading soil and water.” It says urban areas are struggling
to keep pace with population growth and rapid changes in rural land use have increased Environment Minister pressure on David Parker. ecosystems. In farming areas, water pollution affects almost all rivers and many aquifers, the paper notes. And the RMA has not sufficiently
protected the natural environment. Decisions made through the RMA system have favoured existing users and, in effect, a bias towards the status quo. The report sets out 14 areas which the panel believes could be addressed and in a sense there are no surprises. These include how Maori values might be better integrated into a future RMA, how to get consistency and better quality planning processes and plans, and seeing whether some incentive system could be devised to get local authorities to collaborate more effectively.
It also asks whether the RMA should have a role in climate change and if so what that might that look like. For the rural community, the contentious issue of the allocation of resources is noted and the report says in the past this has been run on a ‘first come first served’ basis. It asks whether the role of allocating water should remain within the RMA or be put under another Act similar to fisheries and minerals. Submissions on the issues and options paper close at the beginning of February.
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Fonterra’s outgoing Shareholders Council chairman Duncan Coull and Fonterra chairman John Monaghan at this month’s AGM.
INCOMING FONTERRA shareholders council chairman James Barron says he’ll be an open and inclusive leader. Barron was appointed last week, replacing Duncan Coull who stepped down after four years in the role.
Speaking at Fonterra’s AGM last week, Barron said he is passionate about the co-op. “I see this opportunity as the ultimate way I can contribute to our co-op’s success. I will work with Fonterra’s board constructively and will represent the view
of our shareholders.” Barron says priorities include the review of the council’s functions and discussions on Fonterra’s capital structure review. He praised Coull for his contribution. @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
6 NEWS
A lesson in political science PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
THE ZERO Carbon Bill has just been passed into law, but not without significant misgivings from across the farming sector. Most of these concerns centre on the target for methane, with one farming leader describing it as ‘political science’. Federated Farmers vice president Andrew Hoggard described the passing of the Bill as “a sad day for common sense” by failing to take on board suggestions for its improvement. He said the Government had a golden opportunity to pass a Bill that was fit for purpose which could have taken a bipartisan approach to climate change and taken farmers along as well. “The coalition Government not only walked away from an important part of our commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement, which requires all its signatories not to forsake food production for climate goals, but also relinquished the opportunity to be true leaders and adopt targets for methane
which truly reflect its actual warming impact,” Hoggard said. “The 2050 24-47% reduction target for biogenic methane remains eyewateringly hard for farmers to achieve and correspondingly dire for our economy to withstand.” Hoggard was also “deeply worried” by a comment made during the debate on the Bill by Labour MP and former head of the environment select committee, Deborah Russell, who questioned the usefulness of New Zealand’s ability to produce food. He says the Paris Agreement specifically recognises the “fundamental priority of safeguarding food security” and policies to address climate change should “not threaten food production”. “Cutting food production in New Zealand does not stop people eating, it merely hands production and jobs to international competitors, such as the heavily subsidised European Union’s farmers, who will produce the same amount of product, only less efficiently and with higher greenhouse gas emissions.” Hoggard says with the current tools farmers have, the only way to meet the
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Beef + Lamb NZ’s chief executive Sam McIvor.
top end of the target (47%) is to halve the size of our livestock sector. Even if some of those tools become available they are not universally going to fit into all farming systems.
“Forcing NZ farmers to reduce production is not only going to make NZ poorer, but will likely increase global emissions, so we will effectively be shooting ourselves in both feet.”
Beef + Lamb NZ’s chief executive Sam McIvor says his organisation will continue to push for science-based methane targets. He says while the Bill provides certainty for farmers about the framework for emissions, sheep and beef farmers are disappointed the methane targets remain unchanged. “We support many elements of the Zero Carbon Bill, however we remain unhappy with the 24-47% methane target range as this is based on an international report that clearly stated it should not be used on an individual country basis.” He claims this range will mean that methane will be used to “cool” the planet while other gases are just being expected to provide no additional warming. That’s not fair or equitable, he says. McIvor welcomes Climate Change Minister James Shaw’s indications that as part of the legislation, the Independent Climate Change Commission has the power to review the range as part of its process. “Beef + Lamb NZ will continue to press for this to happen as soon as possible,” he said.
RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
NEWS 7 POLITICS WINS THE DAY DAIRYNZ CHIEF executive Dr Tim Mackle says bipartisan support of the Zero Carbon Bill is a positive step forward for NZ farmers, which will give some certainty into the future. He says the establishment of a climate change commission, a split gas approach for methane, and the creation of carbon budgets have strong bipartisan support and the support of the agricultural sector. “Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the methane reduction targets. DairyNZ remain firmly opposed to the Government’s methane reduction range of 24 – 47% as we believe it is out of step with what science requires and rural economies can sustain. “This is not a scientific target, but a political one.” Mackle hopes that an independent climate change commission will urgently review this target. National’s spokesperson on Agriculture, Todd Muller says while his party supported the Bill, in particular the setting of an institutional framework, he’s not completely happy with the final outcome. He points to the methane target for 2050 and says this needs to be
Open Gate days to swing wider next year SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
National agriculture spokesman Todd Muller.
anchored in science. “There is a significant scientific view that says methane should be looked at via a lens which would perhaps only see reductions of 10 to 20% as opposed to 24 to 47%,” Muller told Rural News. “We have an expectation that the independent climate change commission will look at that quickly and form a view on what they think the target should be. We have signalled that if [National] gets back into [government] we will direct them to do that,” he said.
FONTERRA CHIEF executive Miles Hurrell says the popular Open Gates initiative is likely to go bigger next year. On Sunday, November 10 about 7000 people flocked to 13 farms NZwide to see how a typical dairy farm operates. Hurrell, who spent over two hours at Brad and Ellie Cockrell’s farm at Mercer, says he was a bit surprised by the uptake. He told Rural News that all farms except one were sold out days before the event. “It’s a bit hard to get more farms come on in the last minute. Given the overwhelming support, early indications are that
we’re going to go bigger next year.” Hurrell says it was great to see people given the opportunity to look at all aspects of dairy farming, to live and breathe the rural sector for a few hours. While mingling with visitors at the Stewarts’ farm, Hurrell picked up questions on water quality and animal welfare. He praised Brad Cockrell, a second generation farmer, for doing a great job on the farm. The Cockerill’s milk 920 cows and are both passionate about caring for their animals and looking after the land. Brad says they see themselves as the custodians of the land, rather than the owners. “As a New Zealander
Miles Hurrell
and father of four, I’m committed to looking after the land and waterways on their farm.” The Cockerill’s have planted several thousand natives across the farm in addition to a protected original bush block, next to the farm dairy. A Fonterra spokesman says it planned for 14 farms to open, but poor weather forced cancellation of the Tauranga event.
“We know the wet weather across New Zealand would’ve put off a few people, but in the end we still had a good turnout with around 7000 people attending the 13 farms,” he told Rural News. “The whole country cares about what’s happening with our environment, including us. Fonterra says Open Gates is showing communities what its farmers are doing to help look after the land, waterways and their animals, while also providing a fun family day out on farm. “Visitors got to see where their milk comes from, chat to our farmers about work being done on farm and sample some of our delicious products.”
8/11/19 3:02 PM
RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
8 NEWS
US milk giant goes bung SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
AMERICA’S BIGGEST milk producer, Dean Foods, has filed for bankruptcy and is planning to sell assets. The Dallas listed processor is blaming declining milk sales triggered by increased competition from dairy alternatives such as oat and almond milk. The company says it
plans to use Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code which allows a debtor to reorganise assets -- keeping the business alive and paying creditors over time. The company will continue to process milk and supply dairy products to retailers. Customers are expected to receive their dairy products without any interruptions. Dean Foods is the largest processor and direct-
America’s biggest milk producer Dean Foods, has filed for bankruptcy.
2020 Notice of Elections and Call for Remits for Annual Meeting Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd (B+LNZ) give notice that nominations are now open for: • B+LNZ Board of Directors • B+LNZ’s Directors Independent Remuneration Committee (DIRC) Written remits for the 2020 Annual Meeting are now being accepted.
employees. to-store Rural distributor of News version New chief executive fresh fluid milk and other dairy and dairy case prod- Eric Beringause says the Chapter 11 bankruptcy ucts in the US. It has 50 protection will allow the national, regional and company to “continue local dairy brands as well as private labels. It makes serving our customers and operating as normal ice cream, cultured prodas we work toward the ucts, juices, teas and botsale of our business”. tled water. It has 15,000
He claimed the company had a strong operational footprint and distribution network, a robust range of leading national brands and extensive private label capabilities. “Despite our best efforts to make our busi-
ness more agile and costefficient, we continue to be impacted by a challenging operating environment marked by continuing declines in consumer milk consumption. “Importantly, we are continuing to provide customers with an uninterrupted supply of highquality dairy products, as well as supporting our dairy suppliers and other partners.” Beringause, who joined Dean Foods three months ago, says he took a hard look at its challenges. He said that in recent months the company put in place a new senior management team with a track record of turning around businesses.
Under section 42 of the B+LNZ constitution, two electoral district directors will retire by rotation at the annual meeting. This year, George Tatham (Eastern North Island) and Andrew Morrison (Southern South Island) must retire by rotation, but may stand for re-election. George Tatham and Andrew Morrison have both advised that they will be seeking re-election in 2020. Nominations are being called to fill two Board of Director vacancies, one for each of the following electoral districts: Eastern North Island (ENI) Southern South Island (SSI) Nominations are also being called to fill one vacancy on the Directors Independent Remuneration Committee (DIRC). Bruce Wills, an existing member of the DIRC, will retire by rotation and has indicated that he will seek re-election. Remits that, if passed at B+LNZ’s annual meeting would not be binding on the organisation, require the signatures of 10 farmers who are registered on the B+LNZ electoral roll. Remits that, if passed at the annual meeting, would be binding on B+LNZ, require the signatures of at least 1,000 registered farmers or five percent of the total number of registered farmers, whichever is the lesser. All nominations and written remits must be made on the official forms. The official forms and other useful information regarding the elections are available by: • visit www.electionz.com/blnz2020 • emailing iro@electionz.com • phoning 0800 666 040 All nominations and written remits must be received by the Returning Officer by 5pm on Friday 13 December 2019.
Board of Directors, Directors Independent Remuneration Committee and Annual Meeting Resolutions and Remits Voting for the B+LNZ and DIRC elections and annual meeting resolutions and remits (if any) will all be conducted at the same time. Voting will be conducted by postal and internet voting, with voting papers being posted to all farmers who appear on the B+LNZ electoral roll on Friday 24 January 2020. B+LNZ and DIRC elections will close on election day and postal and electronic voting for company resolution and remits will close on the same date, Friday 20 March 2020 at 2pm. Livestock owners can vote in person on company resolutions and remits only, at the Annual Meeting, which will be held in the week commencing 23 March 2020 in the Western North Island region. To be eligible to vote in the B+LNZ director and DIRC elections and for annual meeting remits (if any), a livestock farmer must, on 30 June 2019, have owned at least 250 sheep, or 50 beef cattle, or 100 dairy cattle. Voters must farm within the respective electorate to be eligible to vote for the Board of Directors but the DIRC is a national vote open to all livestock farmers on the B+LNZ electoral roll and meeting the minimum livestock threshold. To be eligible to vote for the annual meeting resolutions, farmers must be on the B+LNZ electoral roll. To check if you are on the electoral roll please contact B+LNZ on 0800 233 352. The electoral roll will close at 5pm on Friday 24 January 2020. Farmers can also check their personal details on the roll at the office of Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd, Level 4, Wellington Chambers, 154 Featherston Street, Wellington 6011. All queries regarding B+LNZ elections should be directed to the Returning Officer on 0800 666 040. All queries regarding annual meeting remits should be directed to B+LNZ Chief Operating Officer, Cros Spooner on 0800 233 352. Warwick Lampp Returning Officer – Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd PO Box 3138, Christchurch 8140 iro@electionz.com, 0800 666 040
NZ Merino team celebrate taking the Supreme Award. PHOTOS BY FIONA GOODALL GETTY IMAGES FOR NZTE.
A FINE WIN FOR NZ MERINO PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
NZ MERINO took out the Supreme Award at the 2019 New Zealand International Business Awards. The annual awards celebrate the success of businesses on the world stage. NZ Merino chief executive John Brakenridge says these awards go to their team and board, and the 500 high country farmers, strong wool farmers, Māori agribusinesses and Pamu farms who dare to be different. “They are leaning into regenerative agriculture and embracing the notion of wellbeing, not just of people but also of the planet,” he said. “We’d also like to acknowledge our innovative brand partners who are taking our special fibre to the world and the Te Hono network who continue to lead the way for agribusiness in New Zealand.” The awards are run by New Zea-
land Trade and Enterprise (NZTE). The judges were impressed with how NZ Merino had worked to help shift the entire local Merino industry from volume to value, investing in a design-led approach over multiple years. Their helping many of their partner brands and suppliers to adopt design thinking approaches also impressed the judges. The company aims to help transform Merino wool from a commodity into a high-value fibre, working with brands to create unique design-led and R&D-based products that incorporate Merino wool and in turn helping growers to get better returns. Its partnerships include local and global brands Icebreaker, Allbirds, Mons Royale, Rodd & Gunn, Untouched World, Hugo Boss, Fjallraven and Helly Hansen. As well as apparel, they have also teamed up for novel products such as US boardmaker Firewire’s
Woolight composite surfboard. The company also won the ‘Excellence in Design’ category, and achieved highly commended both in the ‘Excellence in Innovation’ and ‘Best Large Business’ categories. NZ Merino was included in the awards process after winning a Westpac Champion Canterbury Award – one of six regional export award programmes that feed through to the New Zealand International Business Awards via a partnership with ExportNZ. Thirty-nine of New Zealand’s top export companies and business leaders made it through to the final stage of the awards, a record number. This followed a nine-month application and judging process. Now in their 52nd year, the New Zealand International Business Awards are run by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and supported by Strategic Partner and ANZ.
RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
NEWS 9
Sour taste for NZ dairy in Chinese FTA upgrade PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
AGREEMENT BY 15 of the 16 participants in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade negotiations is an important milestone, says New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF) executive director Stephen Jacobi. The text has been agreed by all but India which reportedly has sought to have New Zealand dairy excluded and is also concerned about a flood of cheap goods from China. Jacobi says he’s naturally disappointed that India is not yet ready to sign on and more work is needed on market access in order to secure the final deal. And the failure of the RECP summit to get India to sign up to a deal once again sees the door shut on NZ which is keen to export dairy products to India. But the Indian government is holding out to protect the local dairy industry. “The strategic and commercial benefits of RCEP will be increased should India ultimately join, but the agreement as it stands is of significance in a world where such agreements are becoming rare,” Jacobi said. Once fully implemented, the RCEP will be the world’s largest trading bloc representing 39% of global GDP, a significant share of global trade and nearly half the world’s population. Beef + Lamb NZ chief executive Sam McIvor says BLNZ is also disappointed that India has not yet signed. – Pam Tipa
“It’s no surprise,” he said. “Everyone knew agriculture would be a tough issue in the negotiations.” Bailey says agriculture will likely be one of the last issues to be negotiated in the FTA.
Prime Minister Jacinda Adern and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
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guards’ inserted into the agreement meant that if NZ dairy exports to China went over a certain level, tariffs would be applied to them. At the time, exports to China were relatively small, but in recent years their growth has caused the safeguards – designed to protect China’s dairy industry – to kick in. “At the moment that is costing us about $100 million a year. In the negotiations, the NZ Government put the case for the removal of the safeguards, but we met a very unwilling partner on the other side,” said Bailey. “The point we were making was that the subsequent FTA that China concluded with Australia gives [the Aussies] an advantage and we felt that an upgrade of the safeguards [would be] in order to level the playing field, but the Chinese didn’t see it that way.” While unhappy that the dairy industry has to wait four more years to see the safeguard tariffs removed, Bailey says the good news is that it is written into the present FTA that these will automatically be removed by
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
NEWS 11
Government’s proposed water reforms blasted DAVID ANDERSON
A TOP performing regional council – in terms of managing water quality – has blasted the Government’s proposed water reforms. In a stinging review of the reforms, the Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) says it has significant concerns about aspects of specific policies and regulations proposed as part of the Essential Freshwater package. TRC joins Federated Farmers, Irrigation NZ, DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb NZ, Fonterra and the Meat Industry Association in criticising the proposals. Key among TRC’s concerns is the ‘one size fits all’ approach of the proposed water reforms. “Much of the new package would have unpredictable and likely only marginal environmental benefits, but would bring substantial adverse outcomes for community wellbeing,” it said. “The focus should be on improving trends rather than setting limits. This would allow for natural differences regionally and nationally while halting the decline of water degradation.” TRC believes regulation should only be used where there is a proven cause and effect and demonstrable benefit where it is applied. It has joined other critics in lambasting the lack of cost-benefit justification for the policy and regulation changes proposed by the Government. “The Taranaki community has collectively demonstrated strong commitment to improving freshwater health, taking carefully considered long-term action and spending millions of dollars on measures that have proven to be effective,” TRC said. It claims the Government’s proposals raise many issues, notably the proposed nutrient limits.
“The scientific evidence suggests the ecological health of waterways is driven by a range of factors including nutrient levels, flow characteristics and physical habitat. “These factors interact differently catchment by catchment, so national limits make little sense.” It also claims the Government’s proposed nutrient limits would substantially restrict farm output for no clear benefit. “This would threaten community wellbeing for uncertain and at best marginal environmental gains,” TRC warned. It also adds to the growing chorus of concerns about the reliance on Overseer for the water reforms and how this is a role it’s not suitable for. “The council shares the view of many experts and authorities – including the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment – that Overseer is unfit for use as a regulatory tool, is highly inaccurate, remains unproven in many landscapes and cannot reflect actual environmental impacts.” TRC also criticises the proposed national ‘one size fits all’ stock-exclusion rules, saying these would override Taranaki’s proven, successful and much more comprehensive Riparian Management Programme, adding substantial cost for no obvious benefits. It adds that farm and community viability and wellbeing would be at risk in Taranaki if the reforms were adopted as proposed. “Council has found that very adverse impacts on the viability of many farms is likely because of imposed reductions in fertiliser use and soil fertility, and stock numbers, even with a compliance timeframe of ‘a generation’, and on the wellbeing of both rural and urban communities. “The evidence is clear
to the council: the proposed national interventions are neither credible nor necessary for this region.”
TRC says the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach of the water reforms are a major fault.
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
12 NEWS
‘Useful’ recruitment tool PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
EMPLOYERS SAY a Government-backed free website, Work the Seasons, is becoming a useful part of their seasonal recruitment toolbox. But they say getting seasonal labour is always
a battle and they need a number of strings to their bow. The Ministry for Social Development’s Work the Seasons online platform has seen a big jump in both job listings and seekers as summer fruit and meat processing activity picks up. Horticulture jobs
posted by employers rose 169% from 271 in September to 728 in October. In total there are 1064 live job vacancies on the website. A 25% increase in new jobseeker registrations from 875 to 1097 occurred over the same period. The free website
launched in 2016, aimed at making it easier for people aged over 15 years to find a job and for employers to find the right person. Almost 87% of the new jobs listed in October were in horticulture and meat processing in nine regions. Silver Fern Farms
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employed 1200 new processing staff and national recruitment and retention manager Allan Poy told Rural News the Work the Seasons is becoming a useful tool in a wider recruitment campaign. Last year they had real difficulties finding enough workers, but they are well ahead this year so far. Silver Fern recruits through October and November for the real peak which starts in December and runs through to the end of February. Work the Seasons is now one recruitment channel they use. They now have seven plant listings on there and are getting a supply of people through that. “It is easy to do and easy to set up. It is not onerous at all. “It doesn’t take much to post a job on there, see the applicants and you can use their chat function to get in touch with the applicants if you need any more information. It is worth using because it’s quite easy to use and it doesn’t take up much of your time.” But better alignment of all their recruitment tools across the whole business is likely the reason they are in a better position this year, he says. Processing plants had previously tended to do their own recruitment campaigns. “This year we are more systematic and more uniform across all of the plants. We are more in control of our reach and trying to get out to people.” They are much more organised in social media such as Facebook and Snapchat this year. “We are definitely better off the there. It is always hard to know
whether that pulls in more punters or not of course. You can certainly get the statistics around how many people are looking at your ads and that sort of thing.” Work the Seasons definitely seems to attract backpacker applications which are useful, he says. Most of their seasonal workers are inexperienced, so they are trained and start in the more basic jobs. Foy says all the primary sector is fighting for labour at the same time because “things grow in summer”. “It is always a battle and it seems to be getting harder each year but you’ve just got to get out there and do your best. “But we’ve been a bit more organised this year and, touch wood, so far things are going well.” Nelson-based Hoddy’s Fruit Company used Work the Seasons last season and compliance and logistics manager Mel Ewers says they found it a better option than the previous website they used. However some people applying from outside New Zealand did not have work visas and other immigration requirements in place. “I have put some ideas to Work the Seasons to make sure that the people who use the website have got all their documentation in order first up,” she says. However the ‘hits’ from people in New Zealand were useful. Many travellers now use the various seasonal websites and that can also spark off word of mouth interest. Hoddy’s recruits about 100 seasonal workers for a February start, mainly for the packhouse. Online recruitment will start in earnest in January.
RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
NEWS 13
Johnstone bows out on top NIGEL MALTHUS
WHEN LACHIE Johnstone first started on the board of Farmlands 19 years ago the rural services cooperative ran 32 stores with a turnover of $280 million. When he formally stands down as chairman at this year’s annual meeting, later this month, it will be from an organisation with 83 stores and $2.5 billion in turnover. “So it’s been a big change and the organisation has become a lot more sophisticated over all that time,” Johnstone told Rural News. “But in the end the thing that actually matters is the quality of your people and it’s been a privilege to work with so many great people in what is a fantastic industry. We’ll never get everything right but one thing I’m pleased about is we’ve always tried.” Johnstone said the last year had been challenging in its market uncertainty, with farmers managing “to keep their wallets reasonably firmly closed”. He says farmers, particularly sheep and beef farmers but dairy farmers also, when there’s uncer-
Outgoing Farmlands chair Lachie Johnstone.
tainty are very cautious about how they spend their money. However, he is now confident Farmlands is in good order with commodity prices high and the industry tracking well this season. Johnstone joined the board of the then North Island-based Farmlands Trading Society in 2000. As chairman, he steered its merger with South Island-based CRT Cooperative in 2013 to form Farmlands Co-operative. Johnstone says the merger was “a real positive” and the highlight of his time with the organisa-
tion, as it provided a geographical spread from Cape Reinga to Bluff which helped significantly and bought some “scale”. Reflecting on the fact that many of the large players in the industry of 30 years ago had either been rolled into others or no longer existed, Johnstone said the merger was a pre-emptive move. “While there was nothing worse than two organisations having to merge when both were under pressure, Farmlands and CRT were both in good shape at the time.
“We were two like-minded organisations both in good health and basically forward thinking enough to get on with it.” However, he concedes that the nuts and bolts of seeing the merger through was also the negative of his time at the helm. Despite there being no geographical duplication and no need to sell down doubled-up locations or rationalise staff, it was still a tough process. “It’s been harder and slower than we anticipated but still definitely worthwhile.” Johnstone, who says he is still passionate about governance, remains as chairman of the Wellington port operator Centreport, recently steering that to a $650 million settlement with its insurers following the 2016 earthquake. He will also continue his interests in a variety of educational and agricultural concerns. Johnstone’s Waikato farm is in the hands of a manager, but he says he’s excited about the future of the sector and has just purchased more land in the last three months.
$1B REVENUE, BUT NO BONUS IN ITS annual results, Farmlands has reported net profit before tax and rebates of $8.4 million, on revenue of $1.1 billion for the year ended June 30. Total revenue has increased by 3.2% percent on the previous year. Johnstone called it another positive result, against the backdrop of a subdued marketplace and challenging on-farm conditions, particularly in spring 2018. “Farming uncertainty has dominated short-term decision-making on farms across the country. “This has inevitably had an influence on our performance. However, our 2019 result represents a further step along the path of building resilience in our business.” However, the board decided not to distribute an additional bonus rebate to shareholders. “We came to this decision extremely reluctantly. However, Farmlands is navigating its way through a big and very demanding change programme, Braveheart. “The board believes the decision not to pay a bonus rebate this year is prudent in light of the significant cash commitment to the Braveheart project and its ongoing impact on the business’ balance sheet and cash flow, compounded by sector uncertainty.” Rob Hewett will be replacing Johnstone as the new chair. “I’m handing over to Rob Hewett confident that Farmlands is in good heart,” said Johnstone.
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
14 NEWS
Investors dump Fonterra shares SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
FONTERRA’S POOR performance is driving institutional investors away from the co-op. And Fonterra Shareholders Fund chairman John Sherwin says the co-op needs to meet key milestones to regain investors’ confidence in it as an investment proposition. The FSF annual meeting in Auckland last week heard that institution and private wealth holdings reduced over the 2019 financial year as the co-op struggled with some poor performing assets. Institutional shareholding declined from 25% to 15% and private wealth declined from 14% to 7%, compared to the previous year. Sherwin says these investors were also waiting for greater clarity on Fonterra’s strategy and earnings outlook. “While we have seen improved sentiment, Fonterra now needs to meet, and continue to meet, key milestones to regain confidence in
A lot of work to do: Fonterra chairman John Monaghan flanked by re-elected directors Donna Smit and Andy Macfarlane following the co-op’s annual meeting earlier this month.
it as an investment proposition,” Sherwin told about 100 unit and shareholders. The drop in institutional investors, however, had little effect on the number of units issued by FSF: 102 million units were issued -- 0.6 million less than the previous year This was mostly due to Fonterra farmers buying more shares for two reasons; a situation described by Sherwin as “somewhat of a dichotomy”. Fonterra farmers need one share for every kgMS they supply the co-op. Farmers who have reached the upper limit of non-
supply backed Fonterra shares they can hold are purchasing shares and converting them to FSF units for future share compliance requirements. “It appears that due to the historically low unit price, a number of these farmers have proactively acquired units which they will be able to transfer to shares when required,” said Sherwin. Also, farmers who have ceased to supply Fonterra are converting their shares to units. Sherwin says these farmers are in varying stages of the mandatory three-year sell down period of their
Fonterra shares. “However, not wanting to exit the co-op at the current price, they have opted to convert their shares to units. “Some of these farmers would have only been required to sell the first third or second third of their shares.” Sherwin says this is likely to be the primary driver of the increase in units issued to 111 million in late January. Also, some farmers may simply be choosing to hold units as they want to remain connected to the co-op. The share price hit a 12-month low of $3.15 in late August, but it rebounded to about $4.16 last week. Sherwin says while market sentiment has improved slightly, investors are keen to see how Fonterra’s new strategy will work. “There are still many questions on what the business will look like in the future. And receiving greater detail on the strategy in FY20 will be instrumental in helping unit holders and farmers looking for more accountabilit..”
UNIT HOLDERS UNHAPPY TOO UNHAPPY FONTERRA unit holders fired questions to Fonterra management on A2 milk, Australian business and milk price paid to farmer shareholders. One shareholder, Robert Gray, noted that A2 Milk used to be “a penny dreadful” but now Fonterra exists in its shadow. He questioned why Fonterra has not taken the initiatives A2 Milk has taken. Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell acknowledged the great work A2 has done. “They have found themselves a fantastic position in the Chinese market and done pretty well as a result. There’s no point in looking back over that other than taking some learnings.” He said Fonterra was now part of the A2 milk market. Another unit holder asked why Tip Top was sold by Fonterra, and whether it was incurring a loss. Hurrell says Tip Top was making a decent return on the investment, but it was “by and large a confectionary company”. Shareholder Philip van der Waal questioned why the asset sale review did not include Australian assets. Hurrell said the Australian business is very important and a lot of milk from NZ ends up there. “A lot of milk is sent across to the Australian market. They produce a lot of our nutritional powders.” Van der Waal called for a review of the milk price so that it’s fair to both farmer suppliers and unit holders.
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
NEWS 15
Accelerator programme sprouting agritech investment PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
THE SPROUT Accelerator programme is amazing, says Powerplant founder Kevin D’AmbrosSmith. Sprout provides mentoring, coaching, backup and possible access to investment loans for agritech and food focused entrepreneurs and startups. D’Ambros-Smith says it transformed his business and the Sprout team challenged his assumptions and industry knowledge. “It introduced us to people. It challenged us on things we hadn’t considered or thought about, it opened our minds,” he told Rural News. Powerplant is in the development stages of a hydroponics growing system aimed at small to medium commercial growers. It plans to target overseas markets. The system’s point of difference is its scalability and adaptability to different growing spaces. “The Sprout Accelerator programme totally pulled apart everything we had assumed, which was great,” D’AmbrosSmith said. “We walked in there thinking we had something really good and they challenged us and made us realise we didn’t know this or that. Or that we
should talk to this person. “It gave us opportunities we would have taken a lot longer to find ourselves.” He says he can’t speak highly enough of the course. “It made us pull back. We would have rushed off and done stuff and wasted a lot more money. From a growing point of view, from a customer point of view, it has just been outstanding.” D’Ambros-Smith has much experience in successful business startup, mainly in online retail, and he is from a top Auckland advertising agency background. But he says there was much more to learn. A newcomer to agri, he has now become fascinated with the horticulture and agritech sector. He says Sprout has been excellent in assisting with both local and international contacts. D’Ambros-Smith says as a result of the learnings gained in the Sprout Accelerator they have pivoted the business and now have two clear business opportunities they are actively pursuing. “One of these opportunities came about as a direct result of our Sprout advisor recommending we talk to a specific company as he saw an opportunity for us to work together and made an introduction for us.
APPLICATIONS CLOSING START-UPS WANTING to register for Sprout Accelerator need to hurry. Registrations for the Accelerator close on Friday (November 22). Apply for the 2020 Sprout Accelerator at www.sproutaccelerator.com Sprout Accelerator is looking for registrations from both traditional agritech and future-food focussed start-ups from New Zealand and abroad. Innovations at all stages of development are encouraged to come forward and work with the Sprout Accelerator. Eight New Zealand start-ups will be selected to join the six-month accelerator starting in January 2020. The Accelerator offers $75,000 worth of business coaching, mentoring, network access and MBA style block courses held around New Zealand.
This led to a totally new business opportunity for our company. “The team at Sprout
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capital raising,” he said. “I learnt so much, absorbed so much, it was sensational.”
Powerplant founder Kevin D’Ambros-Smith.
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
16 NEWS
New approach called for on lending NIGEL MALTHUS
BANKS NEED to take a different approach to lending to farmers, according to new Lincoln University research. Banks usually look at historic business statistics and equity levels, but the research suggests that a better indicator of a farm-
er’s credit worthiness is his or her skills, attitudes and knowledge in running a farm. Honorary Associate Professor Peter Nuthall said the study emphasised the fact that the world runs on individuals and their skills. While a lender might form a subjective impres-
sion about a would-be borrower…“they rely on those records, credit ratings and so on to make those decisions rather than their personal feelings,” he said. “I think that in cases where the lending levels are high, they [lenders] should be looking at not only the history but also
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the personal characteristics of the people concerned. “And if you’ve got a new person coming in wanting to borrow to put up a new farming venture of some kind or other, there isn’t a great history to work on so they should be looking more formally at their personal characteristics. “It’s all common sense really. We’ve put together some figures that show that common sense is quite good sense.” In the recently published study, Nuthall and his colleagues Bruce Greig and Dr Kevin Old used data from a representative sample of New Zealand farm owner/operators to come up with a model which they then tested with data from a postal survey. “The results make it clear a manager’s per-
Peter Nuthall
sonal characteristics are highly correlated with debt payback and, logically, are very likely to be the drivers,” Nuthall told Rural News. Under personal characteristics, the team considered such factors as age and experience, objectives, management style, relationships with friends and colleagues, spousal influence and even the number of children. “A farm manager’s personal characteristics
are likely to be a better predictor of future debt payback performance,” he said. “They have a lifetime of education and experience. A farmer’s objectives, and that of their associated household, can be considered part of the human capital which should be considered including attitudes to risky situations and their originating factors.” Nuthall said it was also important to note that the human characteristics related to payback can potentially be modified and improved. “Counselling and psychotherapy can have very positive impacts and are likely to change a manager’s basic characteristics. “This is a positive approach which might be used when difficulties first surface, preventing further problems. How-
ever, the manager must be prepared to cooperate in positive action which will then have lasting impacts. “This is in contrast to short-term fire sale action.” Nuthall and his colleagues have previously done research on factors such as farmers’ use of intuition in decisionmaking, and on farms’ financial sustainability. While there was currently widespread concern about banks’ potentially tightening up on farm lending, Nuthall said people tended to hear only about the cases of extreme debt. He added that, on average, most farms are not at their lending limit at all. “There’s a goodly proportion of farms that have no debt. People seem to forget that.”
ALLIANCE PAYS OUT $15.2M ALLIANCE GROUP says it has paid farmer shareholders a further $1.67 million in loyalty payments. This brings the total bonuses it has distributed for the season to $15.2m. The latest quarterly payments were made to the co-operative’s ‘platinum’ and ‘gold’ shareholders who supply 100% of their livestock to Alliance. The latest payments cover the July to September period. Last season, Alliance paid out $14.6m in loyalty payments to shareholders. Chief executive David Surveyor said the increase on last season is good news for farmer shareholders. “Our loyalty payments programme rewards our farmers for committed and consistent supply. As a co-operative, we are focused
on ensuring the interests of our shareholders are at the heart of every decision we make. “Farmer shareholders also benefit in other ways including yield contracts, priority processing, an opportunity to participate in premium portfolio opportunities and free store stock facilitation.” Platinum and gold shareholders are paid an additional 10 cents per kilogram for each lamb, 6 cents/kg for a sheep, 8.5 cents/kg for cattle and 10 cents/kg for deer. Alliance will hold its annual meeting in Palmerston North on December 18.
David Surveryor
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
18 AGRIBUSINESS
Making it OK to ask for help DAVID ANDERSON
MEAT PROCESSING company Alliance has started an employee support programme aimed at
getting colleagues to look after each other and keep an eye out for possible mental health issues. Its ‘Mates at the Gate’ programme encourages
staff to ask for support at an early stage and also educates employees on the signs their colleagues might be depressed or distressed.
The programme, which is specifically tailored to Alliance’s workforce, was launched across the company’s processing plants
Alliance Group’s Chris Selbie.
and corporate offices in November 2018. General manager people and safety at Alliance, Chris Selbie, told Rural News that since
HOW IT WORKS DAVE ARMSTRONG says the ‘Mates at the Gate’ programme is helping Alliance’s workforce people spot the signs of stress among colleagues and ensure they know what they can do to help. Volunteers from every site are trained as ‘connectors’, whose role is to link colleagues experiencing problems to the best source of help. The training introduces staff to the nature of mental health and provides practical advice about how they can assist and support their workmates. “We can offer confidential professional help to support people who need it and fund that through our EAP. But it’s also about mates helping mates and giving our people the tools to intervene early and link people to help.”
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its launch a year ago the company had seen an encouraging increase in the use of its Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). He says there has been a significant uplift in people right across the company accessing the EAP since the introduction of ‘Mates at the Gate’. “This suggests that a number of our people probably would not have self-referred to EAP. It really is about mates helping mates.” Selbie says mental health is an issue that affects all New Zealanders and the Alliance Group wanted to do something meaningful to ensure its workforce had access to the right support if and when it was required. “Mates at the Gate is raising awareness and encouraging people to seek help early.” Selbie says the idea was based on and adapted for the meat sector from a similar programme in the construction sector in NZ and Australia. Mates at the Gate was developed and delivered by Dave Armstrong, health and safety manager at Alliance’s Smithfield plant in Timaru along with Professor Annette Beautrais of the University of Canterbury,
who has worked internationally developing suicide prevention programmes. “We have a lot of men working for us, many in physically demanding jobs, and some men are not so good at asking for help around mental health,” Armstrong said. “This is getting the message out that help is available through our EAP and that the earlier you get help the better.” Selbie says suicide is a real problem especially in rural and regional NZ. “Most of our employees will have known someone who has experienced mental health issues. There is a lot of buy-in from them for this and we are seeing a significant uplift in people seeking help.” He says the company’s EAP covers a wide range of mental health and wellbeing issues including anxiety and depression, personal relationships and family, financial and children concerns, stress management, alcohol and drugs, and grief and trauma. Selbie says the programme is confidential and allows workmates to ensure anyone who needs help can get it. “It’s about making it ok to ask if people are ok,” he said.
RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
AGRIBUSINESS 19
NZ needs a better story PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
NEW ZEALAND needs to do a better job of telling its story in India, said a speaker at a New Zealand India Business Council summit. But this country’s brand in India has a huge advantage in that it has no negative associations whatsoever, other panel speakers told the Auckland conference. The panel discussion was led by Beef + Lamb NZ international trade manager Esther Guy-Meakin. Ravi Mehta, a partner in PwC NZ, said many conversations with bigger clients in India, in an inbound context, always stopped at Queenstown, Pinot and cricket. “What surprises me each time in those conversations is that we just don’t get to the level of sophistication that we probably need to,” he told Rural News. “We probably need to move a little bit beyond Fonterra.” He didn’t expect a free trade agreement to be reached by the two countries in his lifetime and the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) is a completely different concept, he said. “If we tell the New Zealand story a little bit better in India for the
bigger corporates it may pave the path for New Zealand, the smaller end of town, and emerging private companies to go and tell their story and sell their products.” We have a tendency in marketing “to do stuff on the smell of an oily rag,” he said. In India everyone is talking about scaleability and US dollars. In New Zealand we are not necessarily geared towards that. But we are able to show that once we get into the market and build relationships we can be really successful, he says. New Zealand needs to show the mutual benefit in partnerships. “We have Indian business that says ‘come and help us and we will help you’, and then New Zealand says ‘we will do the same thing’. I think somewhere along the way the conversation needs to be ‘we will both grow together’.” Bharat Joshi, chief executive of J Curve Ventures, Delhi, says the brand New Zealand is a strong brand and a benign brand in India. “There is something to be said for a brand that has a complete absence of any negative association. That in itself is a big deal. How does one leverage this brand? It is like an asset from a business perspective that is not
The panel discussion at the India Business Summit discussed the need for NZ to tell a better story to India.
monetised. How wasteful is that? There’s so much more to be done. Just look at your external
engagements. How much resource do you put into India?” He said the conver-
sation needs to move beyond agri and dairy. But the Ministry for Foreign Affairs
and Trade’s principal policy advisor Grahame Morton said the New Zealand brand in India
isn’t related to dairy. It is more related to images of our country. “But the people who are successful are excellent at telling the story in a much more human and different way.” But he agreed there is a huge opportunity to build on a brand that is not a negative brand at all. “That may sound like a low bar to start off with but when you look at country brands around the world there are lots that are not neutral brands, not positive brands.”
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
global agribusiness research analysts sharing market outlooks
20 MARKETS & TRENDS
Rabobank supports clients from farm to fork in
40
COUNTRIES
100 000
12630
farmers to connect Content supplied by Rabobank – Grow with the bank farmers for farmers with by worldwide , founded
Market prices cooking with gas Farm emissions THE GOVERNMENT has agreed to enter into a formal agreement with the agricultural sector to develop and implement farm-level pricing of livestock emissions by 2025. Emissions will not be priced through the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), but instead the sector and government will work together to develop an alternative pricing mechanism that is fit for purpose for agriculture. A governance group including sector representatives, government officials and Iwi representatives will be established and made responsible for building the systems and capability for a workable and farm-level scheme by 2025. Pricing emissions at the farm level allows for the development of
a scheme that recognises different individual circumstances, including on-farm sequestration, and therefore can be designed to incentivise behaviours that will reduce net farm emissions. As part of the agreement, there are a number of milestones that must be achieved between now and 2025. Key milestones include that, by 2022, all New Zealand farmers will know their individual farm emissions profile and are reporting on those emissions from 2024.
Dairy The global balance in commodity markets remains due to relatively positive fundamentals. Milk prices continue to increase across the key exporting regions.
• A tru-blue RPR. 12.7% P, all of which becomes available over time. Highest liming value of any RPR (58%).
However, dairy farmers in most export regions have struggled to convert improving market conditions into production growth. Rabobank expects milk production growth across the major exporting regions to gather pace as the market
• Maintains vigorous grass clover production - just blend in some highanalysis P in low rainfall and high pH situations.
moves through 2020. New Zealand milk production has posted its first decline for the 2019/20 season. Tonnage volumes for the month of September were lower, by 0.7%, reflecting the inclement spring weather compared to last season
• Only 18 ppm cadmium (140 mg Cd/ kgP). Sechura RPR has 40-60 ppm (310465 mg Cd/kg P), so often gets diluted with unspecified non-RPR.
– particularly in the lower South Island. With temperatures for October remaining firmly in the cooler category, collections for the peak month are also likely to trail behind last season’s spring flush. Across the ditch, milk production continues to tumble in Australia – but the rate of decline is starting to moderate. Australia lost a further 137m litres in the first quarter of the new season. Rabobank is still forecasting national milk production to decline by 3% in the 2019/20 season.
prices. Weaker demand for prime beef is likely to limit any price lifts for steers and heifers over the coming month. Farmgate prices strengthened throughout October, due to a combination of high demand from key markets, and favourable exchange rate movements. Farmgate prices in both islands are now sitting well-ahead of pricing levels at this stage last year. As at the start of November, the
North Island bull price is 5% higher MOM, averaging NZ$6/kg cwt, with the South Island bull price moving up a healthy 6% MOM to NZ$5.85/kg cwt. Farmgate bull prices are currently up 19% YOY in the North Island, and up 16% YOY in the South Island. China’s new-found interest in manufacturing beef shows no sign of waning, as they continue to compete with US importers to source
Beef Rabobank expects demand for manufacturing beef from both China and the US to put further upward pressure on already strong bull
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
MARKETS & TRENDS 21
COUNTRIES
prices are also at record levels, with the current slaughter price for both islands sitting around NZ$6/kg cwt (23% higher YOY). The demand outlook across New Zealand’s key export markets remains positive, as China continues to set the tone for global sheepmeat pricing. Spring weather conditions have generally been cooler than normal across New Zealand, which has impacted lamb growth
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currently, that is counterseasonal to New Zealand in that market. The story is similar in Thailand, a market dominated by New Zealand fruit, albeit with the entrance of Australia recently. Recent visits to Central Otago orchards highlight continued enthusiasm for ongoing development in fresh cherries. The current early stages of the season are showing promising signs of an improved crop volume for the 2019-20 season, but there is still some way to go to harvest. We also see con-
R
ingful increase in supply numbers. Farmgate prices continued to nudge higher through October as procurement pressure saw processors willing to pay more in order to secure desired levels of supply. As of the start of November, the slaughter price in the North Island averaged NZ$8.80/kg cwt (2% higher MOM), while South Island lamb averaged NZ$8.65/kg cwt (3% higher MOM). Mutton
Competition in export markets continues to rise for New Zealand horticultural exporters, as global supply continues to grow across key permanent crops such as fresh avocados and fresh cherries. With Australia remaining the staple market for New Zealand fresh avocado exports, Taiwan, Thailand and Hong Kong have all shown strong percentage increases for imports of New Zealand avocados in the export year-to-date. New Zealand faces little competition in Taiwan which grew its avocado imports by around 20% YOY to June 2019. The US is the only other key supplier
ROOD
Rabobank expects prices to hold at record levels out to at least the end of November. Demand from key international markets remains strong, and with supplies of new season lambs tight, processors will be prepared to leave prices at these elevated levels until there is a mean-
Horticulture
RELLO
Sheepmeat
rates. Rabobank expects this to result in tighter than normal supplies of new season lambs through November, but could see supply numbers jump in December, putting downward pressure on farmgate prices.
GN I R EPI PN ETTUG WOD &
supplies of this product out of New Zealand. The decreased availability of New Zealand supplies put further upward pressure on US imported beef prices over the last month, with pricing levels now 37%-39% up on where they were 12 months ago. In addition, the weakening of the NZ$ against the US$ over that period means the returns currently available for New Zealand exporters from the US market are significantly higher than they were a year ago. This bodes well for farmgate prices out to at least the end of 2019.
W
Content supplied by Rabobank – Grow with the bank founded by farmers for farmers
E NG R I I W NC E
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EGA N IA LIOC RD
usiness ysts et outlooks
tinued development in Tasmania of fresh cherry production, creating future competition in the premium segment for New Zealand in some of our key export markets for fresh cherries.
Foreign exchange We forecast the NZ$ to reach USc 60 within 12 months. The NZ dollar gained almost USc 1.4 during October – and was trading at USc 64.6 on 4 November: its highest level in three months. The appreciation in the NZ dollar occurredYalong-
LL A
side that of many emerging market currencies and reflected common drivers. Progress was made during the month to avoid the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal, while the market appeared to believe talk that an interim trade deal between the US and China was coming. We hold our view that the NZ$ will depreciate against the US$ over the next 12 months, as the global economy slows, US/China trade talks fail (renewing a sense of heightened global risks) and NZ rates are cut.
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
22 OPINION EDITORIAL Take us with you ACCORDING TO a newly released Rabobank report, New Zealand farm businesses need to get ready for the full cost of environmental policies coming down the track as they make future investment decisions. The report says with the country’s agricultural sector facing increasingly tougher environmental constraints, its decisions on investment and land use will need to take account of how these constraints impact on their farming businesses. Rabobank says that despite the significant investments made by many New Zealand farmers over the past decade to improve performance of their farming operations, the increasingly tougher environmental reforms relating to water quality and climate change will progressively require farmers to account for a greater range of environmental impacts resulting from their farming operations. The report says this will create a “new economic cost for farming systems that are unable to operate within those constraints”. This latest Rabobank study, along with the raft of changes proposed by the Government – to carbon, water and environmental regulations – is no doubt behind the low morale now seen in farming. Last week’s rally in Wellington, organised by lobby group 50 Shades of Green, can be viewed as a culmination of rural sector uncertainty and an opportunity for the sector to clearly voice its concerns. It seems incredible that in times when – on the whole – commodity prices are strong, interest rates low and even climatic conditions favourable there should be so much angst and concern in rural NZ. However, that is the current reality and it can be fairly and squarely sheeted home to policy changes being proposed by the Government and policymakers. The policy-change pattern to date appears to be for the Government to propose radical and unworkable reforms which scare the bejesus out of the sector, then to refuse or seriously limit any proper engagement, to shout down any criticism and to stay quiet for months then suddenly release seriously dialled-backed proposals. This is hardly the model for quality policymaking and getting sector buy-in. History has shown that NZ’s rural sector is excellent at adapting to change and excelling. As the Rabobank report says: “New Zealand farmers are used to, and adept at, adjusting to changes outside their control....” But for farmers to be able to do this, politicians and policymakers have to be far more transparent, honest and open with the farming sector on what is proposed and when. Like farmers, they also need to be prepared to listen, change and adapt to ensure the best outcome for everyone.
RURALNEWS TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS
HEAD OFFICE POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 331100, Takapuna, Auckland 0740 PUBLISHER: Brian Hight ......................................... Ph 09 307 0399 GENERAL MANAGER: Adam Fricker ....................................... Ph 09 913 9632 CONSULTING EDITOR: David Anderson .................................. Ph 09 307 0399 davida@ruralnews.co.nz
“I bet they’ll blame farmers!”
Want to share your opinion or gossip with the Hound? Send your emails to: hound@ruralnews.co.nz
THE HOUND No entry
Boo-hoo
EU waste
Logging spin
A MATE of the Hound was invited to a lockup at Parliament on last month’s climate change agreement with the ag sector. After going through the rigorous security check, he was directed to an area where the briefing was to take place. However, a security guard wouldn’t let him go through. Calls to the PM’s department and the Minister of Agriculture’s office resulted in the advice “go back to reception”, where he was then told go to the PM’s office with the farming leaders. But when he got there was told: “Sorry this briefing is not for the media”. Finally, an official from the PM’s department took pity on our mate and swiped him through numerous doors and got him to the briefing. Your canine crusader’s advice to anyone invited to a lockup at Parliament is: “Be prepared for a stuff-up or a lockout.”
YOUR OLD mate can’t believe the gall of the NZ big banks crying about their ‘reduced’ profitability this year. First out of the blocks was ANZ, shedding crocodile tears about how “tough things” had been in the past year and how it had only managed to make a profit of $1.825 billion for the year to September 30 on its NZ business -- an 8% drop on 2018. The next big Aussie bank to publish its result was Westpac, with its NZ arm reporting a 3% lift in net profit to $964m, from $936m last year. But this didn’t stop its $2.5m-a-year NZ boss decrying how business conditions had “deteriorated” in the second half of the reporting period, based largely on uncertainty about the outlook for next year. Your canine crusader would be interested to know just how ANZ and Westpac are currently treating their rural/farming clients and how ‘tough’ they are making it for them.
THIS OLD mutt was interested to read a recent New York Times expose of the European Union’s agriculture subsidy programme. The New York Times investigation of nine countries during much of 2019 uncovered a subsidy system that is deliberately opaque, grossly undermines the EU’s environmental goals and is warped by corruption and self-dealing. Every year, the 28-country EU pays out $65 billion in farm subsidies intended to support farmers around Europe and keep rural communities alive. But across Hungary and much of central and eastern Europe the bulk of the cash goes to a connected and powerful few. For example, the prime minister of the Czech Republic collected tens of millions of dollars in subsidies just last year. And we think NZ will get a free trade deal with the EU. Ha ha!
THE HOUND notes that the foreign-owned and controlled NZ forestry industry is starting to feel the pressure of the growing antitree sentiment springing up all around the country. The excellent work done by groups such as 50 Shades of Green is opening the public’s eyes to this Government’s stupid policy settings, which are seeing far too much good farming land being lost to overseas-owned corporations planting trees. Now the paid mouthpieces for the tree sector are trying to justify this loss of good farmland and decimation of rural communities by claiming that any restrictions on conversions of farms to forestry will “dangerously jeopardise the fight against climate change and New Zealand’s hope of achieving its greenhouse gas emission targets”. Let’s hope this desperate spin campaign by the foreign-owned tree speculators does not lessen the drive by the farm sector.
PRODUCTION: Dave Ferguson ........................Ph 09 913 9633 davef@ruralnews.co.nz Becky Williams ........................Ph 09 913 9634 beckyw@ruralnews.co.nz REPORTERS: Sudesh Kissun ....................... Ph 09 913 9627 Pamela Tipa ............................ Ph 021 842 220 Peter Burke .............................Ph 06 362 6319 Nigel Malthus ...................... Ph 021 164 4258 MACHINERY EDITOR: Mark Daniel ............................. Ph 021 906 723 or 07 824 1190 SUB-EDITOR: Neil Keating ............................Ph 09 913 9628
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
OPINION 23
ZCB a missed opportunity! THE GOVERNMENT failed to take on board commonsense suggestions for the improvement of the recently passed Zero Carbon Bill (ZCB). It had a golden opportunity to pass a Bill that was fit for purpose. It could have taken a bipartisan approach to climate change and could have taken farmers along as well. On November 1, the primary sector put a proposal to the Government which would have achieved the Zero Carbon Bill’s aims and built on the good faith established by the industry-Government climate change commitment -- He Waka Eke Noa. That was a sad day for common sense. The Government not only walked away from an important part of our commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement, which requires all its signatories not to forsake food production for climate goals. But it also relinquished the opportunity to be true leaders and adopt targets for methane which truly reflect its actual warming impact. Federated Farmers was also deeply worried by a comment made during
the debate on the ZCB by Labour MP and former head of the environment select committee, Deborah Russel, who questioned the usefulness of New Zealand’s ability to produce food. Russel said: “I’m not sure that we have a responsibility to feed as many people as possible. We certainly want to ensure that we produce food -- it’s one of the things that we export -- but it’s not clear to me that we need to continue producing food at that level.” The Paris Agreement specifically recognises the “fundamental priority of safeguarding food security” and says policies to address climate change should “not threaten food production”. A major focus of the United Nations is its sustainable development goals, and whilst climate change is one of those, so too is zero hunger. Cutting food production in New Zealand does not prevent people eating, it merely hands production and jobs to international competitors such as the heavily subsidised European Union’s farmers. They will just produce the same amount of product, only less efficiently and with higher green-
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house gas emissions. The unfit-for-purpose biogenic methane reduction targets outlined in the Bill remain unchanged. The 2050 24-47% reduction target for biogenic methane remains eye-wateringly hard for farmers to achieve and
correspondingly dire for our economy to withstand. With the current tools in the farmer’s toolbox, the only way to meet the top end of the target (47%) is to halve the size of our livestock sector. Even if some of those tools become available,
Andrew Hoggard
they are not going to universally fit into all farming systems. The primary sector contributes $28 billion in export earnings to our economy. New Zealand farmers are proud to be the most carbon efficient farmers in the world. Forcing
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
24 OPINION
Food bowl or toilet bowl? JOHN JACKSON
John Jackson
the detriment of this nation and the world’s future. Prior to this upheaval this farmland was at its economic, biological and social optimum. Each farm sustained a family (or two or three) which in turn sustained a village or local town, a school, a supermarket etc. Annually, each farm nurtured a crop of livestock to point of sale to their local processor (who sustained several families which in turn sustained regional towns). Once processed, the produce was marketed to families worldwide. Back on the farm, the cattle and sheep were run under an extensive all grass system. The healthy soils under which the pastures grew stored sequestered carbon. These pastures photosynthesised, processing the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the clover amongst the grasses fixed atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. On the steeper faces where stock preferred not to graze, brushwoods and a variety of native trees grew. Biological diversity abounded and
John Jackson believes the Government’s forestry policy risks turning NZ from a food bowl into a toilet bowl.
interacted across pasture and bush. Everything had a natural order and an economic sense and such was the equilibrium that this format had existed for a century and was capable of existing for centuries to come. What’s more it involved no government intervention. But all that was before. Our country has a natural environmental advantage in the growing of pasture. Because we have systems and skilled farmers who use a pasture-based system we are able to produce red meat and dairy product much more efficiently than other countries the world over. This natural advantage is an asset that we, as a country, are expected to utilise as an upstanding global citizen to “end hunger and safeguard food security in a manner that does not
threaten food production”. Unfortunately for ourselves and the world, the food we will no longer produce from that now-forested land will be produced in another country under a less efficient biological system. If this production is not met with an equivalent mitigation it will undoubtedly lead to faster global warming. Even if it is met it will have added another layer of cost and complexity. Compounding the issue is that global population growth is expected to be 82 million this year, adding to a world of seven billion-plus. That means the equivalent of another country the size of New Zealand’s population every three weeks demanding more food, which will be produced increasingly less efficiently. The end result: less chance of lim-
iting the increase in global average temperature, greater food deprivation, poverty and suffering. Global warming is indeed a global problem. Trees can be grown in many parts of the world but few can produce food as we can. It is mindlessly short-sighted to offer up New Zealand land to be the toilet bowl into which outsiders can dump their carbon dioxide commitments at the expense of producing the world’s most sustainable and natural pastoral produce for a growing world population. • John Jackson completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Commerce at Lincoln University and read social studies at Oxford (philosophy, politics and economics). He farms sheep and beef at Te Akau.
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BY THE time this is published, a group representing everything good about provincial NZ will have marched on Parliament under the 50 Shades of Green banner. I’ve never had much interest in trees. I have always enjoyed their ‘fruit’ – whether a physical product I could eat, a picture of might or magnificence in a singular or landscape perspective, or simply shade or shelter. We have been hearing recently of large tracts of NZ pastoral farmland being acquired for conversion into forestry, or as 50 Shades of Green have said: “The blanket planting of good farmland [has] reached crisis proportions’’. More accurately, it is for conversion to forestry to allow national and international corporations to offset their carbon dioxide emissions. I can understand the benefits of planting trees on many tracts of New Zealand’s pastoral land. Many farmers have already done so to stabilise land -- along riparian strips, in gullies and on steep faces. Often farms have a mix of harvestable exotic species or longerterm natives. This is not a model our carbon dioxide offsetting participants have in mind. Their intention is to blanket the landscape in a monoculture of pine plantation. And our Government’s policy is to encourage these large corporate emitters to use our country for waste disposal to meet their their carbon commitments. The cry from the policymakers is that it’s uneconomic farmland and that it’s best use is trees. Of course, anything can become economic if there’s enough Government intervention to make it so, or uneconomic if there’s enough of the opposite. Skewed market forces contribute to the analysis, and in this case are doing so to
RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
OPINION 25
Sensible regulations means making it work for all New Zealanders MIKE CHAPMAN
THE GOVERNMENT’S consultations on land use and freshwater quality have unearthed two questions. They concern how far the regulation should extend into how food is grown, and the extent to which that regulation should impose limitations on how plants are grown. The current debate is not about whether the goals of protecting highly productive land from houses and lifestyle blocks, and achieving better freshwater quality, are the right outcomes. These outcomes are generally accepted. The difficulty lies in how to achieve these goals and how much regulation imposed by the Government and councils should extend into growing operations to achieve these outcomes. This question applies with equal force to farming animals and meeting the new requirements in urban areas. We are all in this together. There are two extremes. At one end of the continuum is a staterun system that prescribes every activity that is to be undertaken. History has shown that such systems stifle innovation, growth and even reasonable levels of production. At the other end of the continuum is a system left solely to competitive forces. The Government’s current proposals clearly do not support a system left to competitive forces. We somehow have to find the middle ground together. Before we can reach that middle ground, we need to acknowledge what the intergenerational stewards of our land have already achieved. Here, we part company with our urban neighbours. The rural sector has been nurturing the environment for generations and has done some amazing projects to
protect the environment. Most of this has been done without the aid of government regulation. The rural sector is well attuned to the environment and the impact of nature on our growing activities. These gains need to be acknowledged and the responsibility of the rural sector appreciated and considered when it comes to imposing regulation to achieve greater water quality. What is needed is more of a partnership approach where all of New Zealand works together to achieve goals set by the Government. Politicians need to have a degree of respect and trust for the people of New Zealand who, with the right encouragement, will get on with making the changes required to achieve these goals -- for the good of the environment and future generations to come. This will not be achieved by complex and tight regulatory controls. In reality, achieving environmental sustainability and dealing with the impact of climate change are issues well beyond any individual government. It is up to the people to respond, and for the Government to aid, guide and facilitate that response. In the detail of what needs to be achieved, I think the role of the Government should be to set goals, provide guidelines and fund research and development that will enable urban and rural New Zealand to undertake the transformation. At farm, orchard and commercial vegetable garden level, detailed rules will not achieve what we all desire. We already have methodology – in Farm Environment Plans – that will achieve the outcomes without detailed regulations. Farm Environment Plans, based on best and good management practice, will progressively achieve the transforma-
tion needed. They will permit farming and growing operations to remain profitable and productive,
so that the changes necessary can be made while we continue to feed New Zealand and our overseas
consumers. • Mike Chapman is chief executive of Horticulture NZ
Mike Chapman
RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
26 MANAGEMENT
Beef + Lamb puts money where its mouth is NIGEL MALTHUS
A ‘MODEL’ sheep and beef farm in North Canterbury is away and running, its founders say. The North Canterbury Future Farm, set up by Beef + Lamb NZ in partnership with local famers, has had an “OK” first full year of operation, said the organisers of its 2019 Open Day. BLNZ’s partner is Lanercost Farming Ltd, formed by the landowner, Julia Whelan, with locals Simon Lee and Carl Forrester. The operation is based on Lanercost Farm, a 1310ha sheep and beef property in the Leader Valley, north of Cheviot. The farm has been set up from scratch, the previous leaseholder having
left nothing behind. Forrester told the Open Day in early November that the farm ran at a loss of $63,000 in its first full year. But that included a large amount of set-up cost, incorporating companies and setting up a limited partnership, a $97,000 purchase of 810 hoggets and a tractor for $50,000, said Forrester. “So when you bear that in mind we actually had an OK year and we spent quite a bit of money on the farm just getting things knocked into shape.” BLNZ’s general manager, farming excellence, Dan Brier, outlined some of the progress made during the year, including a stakeholder advisory panel set up in Novem-
ber, a website created and a five-year stocking plan drawn up with farm consultant Jansen Travis. They have appointed Kirsti Lovie as Future Farm Insights manager. “Kirsti’s role is to look into the business, drag the information out and present it in a way that helps you make decisions on your farm,” Brier told the attendees. Brier said the five-year stock policy aimed to get the farm into the top 20% as measured by the ratio of EBIT to capital. The original plan had been to focus on trading stock, but the board decided to focus more on capital stock by mating hoggets and using summer crops to get them up to weight for mating, rather than fat-
tening lambs for sale. BLNZ chief executive Sam McIvor said that as chairman of the Future Farm board he was driven by the bottom line. “Basically we had to buy everything,from a hammer to nails, to finding a manager, finding stock and getting those enterprises up and going. “At the same time there’s a tension around wanting to throw some new technologies in there and test them.” It just takes time to get the system up and running, he said. “Probably we had a sprint in mind when we first got into it. Probably we’re recognising that it’s not a sprint; it’s probably more a 1500 to a 3000 metre run and this stuff
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Beef+Lamb NZ Future Farm Insights Manager Kirstie Lovie discusses Lanercost Farm’s performance alongside farm manager Digby Heard, during the farm’s second annual Open Day. RURAL NEWS GROUP.
takes a bit more time.” McIvor told the gathering that climate and water would bring the biggest challenges to farming since the 1980s. Future Farm would provide the opportunity to put in resources and experts to test ways to handle the changes, and pass the findings back to working farmers who might not have the time and resources to do it themselves, and relate it back to their own operations.
“I see this future farm as a real opportunity to address some of those challenging emerging issues and say, ‘Well guys, we’ve put all these experts around the table; here’s our thoughts about how it will affect our business and our business is a fairly typical hill country farm’.” McIvor said the farm would be absolutely transparent about the decisions made. He acknowledged the tension between keeping
the costs down and the need to try new systems and technologies. The Open Day was told that the Lanercost Farming partners wanted to run the operation without going into debt. “I think we’ll have more discussions about that, actually,” McIvor told Rural News. BLNZ’s perspective was about doing something different “and putting our money where our mouth is,” he said.
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
MANAGEMENT 27
Farming for more and better lambs COLD SPRING weather is keeping a lid on pasture and lamb growth rates, so early weaning some lamb crop may be a good option. Farm systems scientist Tom Fraser says despite plentiful rainfall, cold spring temperatures mean pasture growth rates in most regions are well below normal for this time of year and this is impacting on lactation and pre-weaning lamb growth rates. He says given the time of the year, when ryegrass comes way it will quickly go to seed, as it is day length rather than soil temperatures that determine when it goes reproductive. “So rather than being long and seedy it will be short and seedy.” Farmers are reporting tight feed supplies and this builds a strong case for weaning – at least a proportion of the lamb crop – early so whatever high-quality feed is available can be partitioned into lambs. On a positive note, Fraser says the cold spring will favour clover production as competition from ryegrass is reduced. This should help drive strong post-weaning growth
Different management systems are needed for lambing at 150% compared with 110%.
rates. “Pre-weaning growth rates are back but we should see some good post-weaning lamb growth rates.” While early weaning gives farmers the option of selling annual draft ewes before the end of the year, Fraser says given strong ewe prices, farmers might consider using the ewes to groom pastures and put extra
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weight on them postweaning. Trials at Massey University found lambs over 20kg liveweight (LW) coped best with early weaning (minimum weaning weight was 16kg LW). However, it was the quality of the forages on offer that was the greatest determinant of how well lambs grew post-weaning. Massey University’s
professor Paul Kenyon, who led the earlyweaning trials, says earlyweaned lambs should be given unrestricted access to legume-based forages such as a herb clover mix at a minimum cover of 7cm in height. If lambs are weaned onto the crop, they should be given time to adjust to a change in feed. Running the ewe and lambs onto the
crop a few days before weaning, then running the lambs back onto the crop after weaning, will help minimise the weaning check. Kenyon says in late lactation all lambs -- but especially multiples -are receiving very little nutrition from the ewe. Therefore, when grass growth is limited the ewes are competing with their lambs for feed
system. It means more lambs can be sold prime before the height of summer, making more feed available for capital stock, and ewe lambs can be grown out to heavier weights early. This allows more flexibility to hold them back later when feed resources are more limited. More: beeflambnz.com/ search?term=Early+weaning
and compromising the performance of both. Early weaning can also be particularly useful in hoggets as it will give them more time to recover body condition between lambing and mating again as a twotooth. Partitioning high quality feed into lambs in the late spring/early summer period will benefit the whole farm
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
28 ANIMAL HEALTH
Keeping cows comfortable off-paddock No more hard yards
SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
NEW REGULATIONS on caring for cows while they are off-paddock took effect last week. Developed by the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) after consultations with farmers and others, the new rules address behavioural needs when cows are on hard surfaces, including feed-pads, stand-off pads, wintering pads, and loose-housed and freestall barns. The Government agreed to amend the code of welfare for dairy cattle following a recommendation from NAWAC. Keeping cows offpaddock, especially long
If farmers are wintering cows on hard surfaces such as stones or concrete with no soft lying area they will need to offer a compressible surface for the cows to lie on, eg concrete covered with rubber ●● If farmers are calving cows on a hard surface such as concrete or stones they must provide a dry, non-slip covering such as straw or rubber matting and manage the effluent build-up on the surface ●● If farmers are calving cows on off-paddock facilities cows must have sufficient space to seperate themselves to calve away from the main group. This is a stocking rate consideration and is managed through springer identification ●● If farmers have woodchip pads with no roof that become wet to the point of ponding or wet mud consistency, drainage must minimise the effects of wet weather to allow maximum space and comfort for cows to lie down ●● It will affect farmers who use concrete feedpads during wet weather to avoid pugging and when cows are kept on feedpads for most of the day for several days. In this situation some access to drier paddocks must be achieved during each day, or rubber matting may be considered if pugging management is regular and prolonged. The minimum standards have set a maximum time on hard or unsuitable surfaces as 16 hours a day, so it is possible to operate a 12 hour on 12 hour off, or between, milking strategy and remain within the standards. ●●
New rules around how cows are kept on hard surfaces came into force this month.
term, can present risks to animal welfare and the new standards address this. NAWAC chair Dr Gwyneth Verkerk says dairy cattle kept in offpaddock facilities beyond
three days must now have a well-drained lying area with a compressible soft surface or bedding and shelter. It also wants dairy cattle that are housed long-term to have access to outdoors,
but affected farmers have time to comply. “The minister has agreed to delayed provisions for outdoor access and his officials will be working with us to determine how to implement
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these,” Verkerk said. “The aim of the amendment is to encourage all those responsible for the welfare of dairy cattle to adopt the highest standards of husbandry, care and handling.” DairyNZ says it has worked with the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) on the review. At the heart of New Zealand dairy farming is treating every animal with care and respect, DNZ says. “The freedom cows have to express their natural behaviours in our pasture-based systems is widely recognised as
beneficial for the cow, however we do have challenges associated with keeping our cows outdoors. “These minimum standards help safeguard cows want to express those natural behaviours, such as lying comfortably, and they protect cow health and welfare wherever they are on farm and whatever the weather.”
Off-paddock facilities can in some circumstances be good for the environment and animal health. About 40% of farms have some sort of off-paddock facility but most of these are used for feeding cows when grass is short, and cows spend a couple of hours eating on the pad, usually after milking, to top up their daily requirements.
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ANIMAL HEALTH 29
Scabby mouth a scourge, but treatable SCABBY MOUTH is also called contagious ecthyma, or contagious pustular dermatitis. This highly infectious viral disease affects most hoofed animals and dogs and can be transmitted to humans. The disease is widespread throughout New Zealand and usually occurs in young animals. Adult animals can also be susceptible if they have not been exposed to the virus and therefore do not have immunity. Outbreaks can occur throughout the year but are most prevalent in late spring and early summer. Scabby mouth is common and the infection rate in some sheep flocks can be as high as 90%. It mostly affects lambs and although the lesions are only temporary it can significantly harm the growth potential of lambs and hoggets by reducing their suckling and grazing. Deaths caused by scabby mouth are uncommon although sometimes the lesions can become severely infected. A lactating ewe infected with lesions on the udder may be predisposed to mastitis and consequent starvation of the lamb. Because the disease is readily transmissible to humans, shearers may be reluctant to shear sheep heavily infected with lesions.
The disease is caused by a virus which can remain viable in the scab material for some time, although it is broken down by environmental conditions such as rain or UV light. It survives well in buildings so these are a more likely source of infection than contaminated pasture. Animals which carry a low-grade infection may also be a likely cause of disease spread and reoccurrence. Trauma to the skin aids the establishment of the disease and this is where the scabs or lesions will form. Causes of trauma include grazing around thistles or matagouri, erupting teeth and head butting during fighting. The lesions are commonly found in the following locations: • Surrounding the lip margins, mouth and tongue • Between the hooves and behind the fetlock • Vulva (in ewe hoggets) • Udder (in lactating ewes) It can also become more generalised and cover the animal’s entire head, muzzle and ears. The lesions generally cure by themselves within a few weeks of infection, as long as there is no secondary bacterial infection. After an initial infection, sheep will usually develop immunity lasting several
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than the initial infection and may not last as long. • Information from Beef+Lamb NZ a fact sheet about scabby mouth: https:// beeflambnz.com/knowledgehub/PDF/scabby-mouth
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30 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
JD 8 Series offers greater choice MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz
WITH 2020 just a few weeks away, in addition to the new 6M and 7R Series, John Deere has introduced the new Series 8 tractors lineup. This includes wheel tractors, 8RT two-track tractors and the first fixedframe, four-track tractors – the all-new 8RX. The new 8RX tractors are said to offer all the benefits of tracks, such as traction and flotation, while providing a driving experience more like a wheel tractor, along with a new fully suspended cab that makes them more comfortable to operate. Offering the turning characteristics of wheel tractors, 8RX units deliver greater pulling performance by providing a greater footprint, less ground pressure and less slip than wheeled tractors. They are fully engineered inhouse. A key component is the JD 1700 pivoting beam axle – specifically designed for a four-track tractor to provide strength and adjustability of track spacings. Tread-spacing options include 76, 80, 88, or 120 inches, working in combination with 18 or 24-inch wide front belts and 18, 24 or 30-inch wide rear assemblies. The factory claims the 8RT tractors can deliver unmatched two-track pulling performance from the four models available from 310 to 410 horsepower, with transport speeds up to 26 m/h. They also say the 8RT units are the only two-track tractor using an AirCushion suspension system and fourcorner cab suspension. Like the new 7R series, an all-new, larger cab offers an extra 5cm of headroom and a 24% wider entry/exit path. Customers can also choose from three comfort and convenience cab packages that include Select, Premium or Ultimate. The Ultimate cab includes a new leather seat with electronic adjustment, heating, ventilation and massage features, smartphone integration with
JOHN DEERE 8 FAMILY OF TRACTORS 8R Wheels
8RT Two-Track
8R 230
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16-speed PST E23
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a 16.5 cm (6.5 in.) touchscreen and multi-speaker system. Also included in the top-spec cab are a leather-wrapped steering wheel, footrests and carpeted floor mat. In addition, three Visibility packages dubbed Select, Premium and Ultimate, offer a range of features
that include up to 22 work LED and eight convenience LED lights – twice as many lights as current models. The Ultimate Visibility package also comes with electric, heated, telescopic mirrors; wipers and sunshades on the front, right-hand side and rear; and integrated front and rear cameras.
The new range comes with a choice of transmissions, which includes the field-proven John Deere 16-Speed PST, e23 PowerShift transmission or optional Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT). When customers equip their tractor with IVT and add optional Command-
PRO, an ergonomic multi-function control lever puts speed, direction and implement control in the palm of the operator’s hand. Any of the 11 reconfigurable buttons can be customised to fit the job and individual settings can be saved for different operators. Each new 8R, 8RT or 8RX tractor comes standard equipped with an integrated Gen 4 4600 CommandCenter display, StarFire 6000 integrated receiver and AutoTrac activation. Additional premium or automation activations are available so customers can upgrade and choose the level of accuracy they prefer. Regardless of the model a customer chooses, each 8 Series tractor is precision-ag equipped to prepare precise seedbeds, handle variable-rate seeding and manage fertiliser prescriptions at speeds up to 16km/h. @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 31
App helps make management of contracting business easier MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz
EVERYDAY MANAGEMENT of contracting businesses – particularly scrutinising job sheets and getting accounts prepared – can takes many hours and is prone to invoicing mistakes. Kalin Contracting services about 50 dairy farms in South Taranaki, all with 250-550 cows and covering a wide area. With staff working at different locations every day, owner Alastair Kalin had been looking for a system that would help make everyday management easier for him and his operators. He recently found the answer in an app called FarmBackup Task, which manages jobs, time registration and billing. “We were looking for a system for two years before we found this app, wanting a system that was easy to use by our staff and our management team. “A crucial point for us was that it could be integrated into our accounting software, and tailor made for our needs,” said Kalin. Besides benefiting the contracting opera-
South Taranaki rural contractor Alistair Kalin says the app makes every day management easier for him and his staff.
tion, it also benefits the company’s customers by eliminating invoicing mistakes to ensure that any charges are correct. The app is the work of the Danish AgTech company FarmBackup, which develops solutions for farmers and agriculture contractors. It takes advantage of the high levels of digitisation already in use in farming and contracting. Typically, everyone carries a
ABOUT FARM BACKUP FARMBACKUP WAS founded by brothers Anders and Søren Knudsen who grew up on a farm on the Danish island of Lolland. FarmBackup is a digital marketplace for agricultural services such as harvesting, baling, planting, etc, targeted at farmers and agricultural contractors and has quickly gained ground in Denmark, New Zealand and the UK. The business received €1 million in seed funding from Danish Tech investor Promentum Equity Partners to develop solutions to the challenges of agriculture in environment and financial sustainability. FarmBackup Task was launched in Denmark during 2018.
smartphone and keeps it close during the day. “My staff are already
on their phones all the time, so it has been easy for them to adapt to the
new system,” Kalin says. “With the contracting team not all based at
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a central location, it can be difficult for the management to keep track of every employee. “The app has solved this problem by allowing staff to take on their own job and management to keep track of what employee is doing what job.” FarmBackup Task app integrates with Xero accounting, a bonus for Kalin Contracting and many other agricultural
businesses. The co-founder of FarmBackup and developer of the app FarmBackup Task for New Zealand, Anders Knudsen, has worked to specifically customise the app to fit the agriculture and contracting industry in New Zealand. “The system is userfriendly and can be customized to each company’s specific needs, while the integration with Xero, makes everyday accounting easy without human errors,” Knudsen said. The development team behind the app use feedback from users in New Zealand to optimise the experience. This is something not lost on Kalin. “The guys from FarmBackup listen to my concerns, so when we have a problem or want something changed they are very quick to implement the changes that we need.” As part of the initial sign-up to use FarmBackup Task the team behind the app contacts the company, sets up a conference call and then agrees the key needs for the company to customize the app.
RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
32 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
Film-on-film for high quality feed MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz
COMBINED CONTRACTORS offers a full range of services including silage, maize, cropping, cultivation and baling within a 30km radius of its Te Aroha base. A key tenet of the business is to provide “quality over quantity” and maintain a personal service. It would be safe to say that manager Jonathan Tesselaar is a confirmed McHale baler man, running two McHale’s each season, the newest being a 2018 McHale Fusion 3+ film on film and the ninth for the business. Unusually, the McHale balers get used year-round, typically averaging 10,000 bales during the winter months for goat farmers. Of the 38,000 bales produced last year, about 30% were film on film, with most going to goat farmers who appreciate the high-quality feed, the lack of waste and the easeof-use. Film on film technology expels the air early in the wrapping process. When net wrapped is put onto a bale it goes on at 3% stretch, compared with film on film stretch at between 10 and
Te Aroha contractor Jono Tesselaar is a confirmed McHale baler man.
30% depending on the film. As the bale is wrapped in the bale chamber, it shrinks down as the air is expelled, meaning that it does not expand like a net wrapped bale as it’s transferred to the wrapping ring. “Due to our extended operating
season the Fusion are put through the wringer: wet silage, dry silage, rain silage, it seems to be able to cope with anything, which suits our winter silage operation perfectly,” Tesselaar said. “In our opinion, they are literally the best on the market because of
the low-cost of maintenance to get to 40,000 bales.” He says the machine’s reliability and ability to produce an extremely high quality product means they change the balers after 40,000 bales. That’s about every three to four years.
“We’ve seen bale weights of up to 1.3 tonnes in the wet, so while it’s not great quality, farmers can feed it out within 12 to 14 days without losing anything. “It suits the goat farmers, particularly during kidding when their cut and carry operation can’t keep up. We do all the work to get feed to the shed; they simply have to feed it out.” The business uses 1.4m wide, Trio Bale Compressor net replacement film as it folds over the edge of the bale, providing an optimum seal with the subsequent exterior bale wrap. “It’s definitely the way to go, being a more rigid film than others and ensures the bale is held tight whilst being wrapped. “It holds the bale in perfect shape making it better to stack, and it’s durable, so unlikely to get damaged on the roll.” Tesselar is relaxed and looking ahead confidently to the 2019 season. “I’m completely happy with our McHale Fusion 3+s. I wouldn’t think of going to anything else. They are definitely the best of the best so we’ll be sticking with our McHale Fusion renewal programme.”
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 33 NEW ANZ BOSS FOR LEMKEN CAMERON WEST was recently appointed managing director and sales manager of Lemken Australia & New Zealand. West, based in Shepperton, Victoria, brings with him a mechanical background gained over 25 years in the agricultural and automotive industries. He has held senior roles in the sales departments of well-known manufacturers, most recently as country manager Australia for the New Zealand manufacturer Hustler, which makes livestock feeders.
Genesis T8 aimed at farmer adaptability
West will be supported by a service manager. Lemken is a leading European manufacturer of soil cultivation, seeding and crop care machinery. The Australia and New Zealand branch is its 27th international subsidiary. The company, now in the seventh generation of the Lemken family, has more than 1600 employees and been designing and producing farm machinery for at least 230 years.
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MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz
NEW HOLLAND Agriculture’s new Genesis T8 Series tractor with Precision Land Management (PLM) Intelligence is designed to adapt to individual farmers’ unique needs. Features available range from advanced connectivity between operators, vehicles, advisors and dealers to improve productivity and reduce downtime, to customisable controls, improved visibility and enhanced comfort. A revamped cabin design is said to offer more comfort, more storage, increased power ports and vents, egress lights and an ergonomic seat. Customisable controls allow operators to adjust to their preferences and requirements using a new SideWinder Ultra armrest and the IntelliView 12 monitor. The in-cab experience has been enhanced by removing obstructions to enhance visibility. The new InfoView monitor is positioned in direct line-of-sight on the dash so the operator can keep his eyes on the horizon ahead. New 360-degree LED work lights deliver up to 25% more light. Beyond the cabin, the company says the integration of its advanced PLM platform and approach to precision farming solutions can be summed up in four words: “Open, connected, smart and supported”. “ISOBUS Class III technology allows users to be connected through MyPLM Connect and APIs to share and analyse data, and to enhance support functionality through a local New Holland dealer,” NH says. “To keep things simple, this is achieved via a tabletbased user interface.”
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Ferist et quati aut pedici te vollab imod quamet atur soleniet quiatibu. PAGE 15
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* Standard CLAAS Financial Services terms, conditions and fees apply. 0% p.a requires 33% deposit followed by 2x6 month repayments in arrears over 12 months. Subject to CLAAS Greenline Category 2 assets only (excludes triple mowers & quad rotor rakes). Offer valid until 30/12/2019.
RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
34 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS / RURAL TRADER
Navara’s mid-life make over ADAM FRICKER
MIDWAY THROUGH its product life cycle the Nissan Navara has had a cosmetic makeover and some upgraded technol-
ogy. A smart blackout trim package includes the headlight and fog light surrounds, door handles, side step, grill and mirrors. Combined with 18” black wheels, new decals
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AVOID ROLL-OVERS Nissan Navara’s 450 Twin Turbo package looks good.
on Duals for more traction, stability, flotation, towing power, versatility.
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and bright orange highlights here and there, the ‘450 Twin Turbo’ package looks good. Inside you get nice half-leather trim on the seats plus Apple and Android smartphone integration – a feature now expected on top trim utes. It also gets a 360 degree camera, heated front seats, satnav, pri-
vacy glass and the handy Utili-Track twin rail system in the tray. Pricing for the 450 Twin Turbo trim package is $64,141 for the 4WD or $54,140 for the 2WD version. The underlying ST-X on which the 450 Twin Turbo is based is otherwise the same ute as before, with a 2.3L tur-
bodiesel 4-cyl with twostage turbocharging and 7-speed automatic – still a great drivetrain with strong torque available from low revs and okay economy. Peak torque is still 450Nm, hence the ‘450’ name, and even though that figure is no longer top of the class it is more than adequate, delivering braked towing
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able ride for the class and handles confidently. The ute category is all-important in the sales wars and Navara sits in fifth place, taking 7% of the market in 2018 and the same YTD ending October. Even with a tart up it isn’t going to topple the Ranger anytime soon, but remains a solid performer for Nissan NZ.
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capacity of 3500kg. Ride and handling have been a strength of the Navara since its 2015 NZ debut. General driving dynamics are good and it’s an effortless everyday drive. In 2018 major changes were made to the coil-sprung rear suspension to improve its towing performance. Overall it is a comfort-
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RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 19, 2019
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