Agriculture

AIMI Survey: Cereal areas and volumes: October 10, 2021

Key Points at 10 October 2021 For the 2020/2021 season, cereal grain production (wheat, barley and oats) in NZ totaled an estimated 761,300 tonnes (down 7% on last year). Maize grain production was estimated at 214,900 tonnes. Total production of grain in NZ was therefore estimated to be 976,200 tonnes. Unsold stocks of cereal grain, summed over all six crops, are estimated to have reduced by 62% between 1 July 2021 and 10 October 2021. When compared to the same time last year, unsold stocks of cereal grain, summed over all six crops, are estimated to be 54% lower, mainly because of much lower unsold stocks of feed wheat and feed barley. As at 10 October 2021, unsold stocks of feed wheat and feed barley were estimated at 18,300 tonnes (down 37,200 tonnes on last year) and 19,300 tonnes (down 17,900 tonnes), respectively. On-farm storage of sold grain is down 20% (down 43,900 tonnes) on this time last year. Total on-farm storage, including both sold and unsold grain, summed over all six crops, is down 31% (down 101,200 tonnes) compared to the same time last year. The total area sown or intended to be sown in cereals is estimated to be 98,300 hectares, which is up 7% (up 6,600 ha) on last season. Roughly 87% of this total area had been sown, with 13% still left to sow. Crops are generally growing well, despite a slow start for spring crops as a result of cold and wet weather across NZ. Read full report here

DairyNZ acknowledges passing of John Luxton

DairyNZ chairman Jim van der Poel and chief executive Dr Tim Mackle have today expressed their sadness at the passing of former DairyNZ chairman, the Hon John Luxton. Hon John Luxton stepped down from the role of chairman in November 2015 after more than a decade of service to DairyNZ, and a lifetime of service to the dairy industry. Mr van der Poel and Dr Mackle say he will be remembered for his longstanding, unfaltering contribution to the rural sector, particularly dairy. “John has had a major role in the success of New Zealand’s dairy industry. John has always demonstrated strong leadership and longstanding commitment to the sector,” says Mr van der Poel. “John was instrumental in a number of significant policy and legislative changes in New Zealand, including the foundation policy work that led to the formation of Fonterra and the deregulation of producer boards. “One of his major achievements was shaping the development of DairyNZ – the first industry-good body of its kind and the largest in Australasia.” Hon John Luxton played a major role in helping guide the dairy industry through a significant period of change, which would soon become New Zealand’s number one export industry. He was instrumental in supporting a successful, viable, competitive dairy industry in New Zealand, with the sector employing 42,240 people and contributing $13.2 billion to New Zealand’s export revenue during his time as chair of DairyNZ. Dr Mackle says he will remember Mr Luxton for always being very supportive and being a statesman and diplomat who could bring people together. “John was an influential leader who unified the dairy sector from dairy companies through to local and central government departments,” he says. “He led by values, had enormous integrity, and always put the best interests of those in the rural sector […]

Tourism reset would hurt agricultural exporters

The Government’s proposal to reduce future international tourism visitor numbers post-COVID to concentrate on higher spending visitors may solve one problem but create others. Research by Lincoln University’s Dr Rob Radics, Dr Muhammad Umar, and Associate Professor Anthony Brien, highlighted that most of our agricultural products delivered fresh to market are transported on passenger planes, and tourists contribute to the cost. The drop in tourism numbers could push up transport costs to the point some businesses do not export at all and are put out of business. Their work showed that before COVID-19 hit, there were 550 international flights into and out of New Zealand each week, which carried 80% of New Zealand’s overall export airfreight in their belly-holds, and that it was worth $10.8 billion in December 2019. Only 20% of New Zealand’s airfreight was carried by dedicated air cargo-only freighters. Before COVID-19, air freight was less than 1% of New Zealand’s total trade by volume, but about 16% in terms of dollar value. The report raised that the decision may show a lack of understanding of the inter-relatedness of industries. “What COVID-19 has highlighted is the not previously considered symbiotic relationship of some sectors of the New Zealand agriculture industry and tourism.” Transport costs have already gone up because of reduced flights, as In March 2020, COVID-19 bought tourism to a halt and reduced airfreight capacity. This resulted in an immediate increase in competition for freight space and the Government stepped in to fund additional dedicated airfreight cargo flights to ensure the export of perishable products. It initially funded 53 weekly flights to key export markets. By November 2020, airfreight flights (dedicated cargo and empty-of-passenger flights) had increased to 120 per week; however, export freight costs also increased as producers competed for space on flights. The top product […]

Delivering calm in the kitchen

Fonterra’s Foodservice business, Anchor Food Professionals (AFP), has reached a milestone to become a $3 billion NZD annual revenue business. Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell says the success is down to the Co-op’s strong connection to customers who value our sustainably produced, high-quality, nutritious milk and innovative products. “It’s really pleasing to see this milestone be reached despite the impact of COVID-19 on restaurants and other out-of-home eating. Our people have worked hard to find new ways of working with customers and new product applications to suit the pandemic environment, and we can see this has been a success. “Foodservice is a high value channel for our farmers’ milk and a key part of our long-term strategy. This is why we’re aiming to increase our milk solids into Foodservice by approximately 50% by 2030 and grow our presence across further markets including Greater China, South East Asia and the USA. “To support our Co-op’s growth to 2030, we intend to invest about $1 billion in moving milk into higher value products and increase our R&D budget by 50%. These investments will enable further product innovation in the Foodservice channel, among other things, and help put us on track to meet our next Foodservice target of becoming a $5 billion annual revenue business,” says Mr Hurrell. Fonterra’s Director Global Foodservice Paul Harvey says Anchor Food Professionals chefs works alongside customers in their kitchens to match their needs with our Co-op’s dairy innovation expertise. “To offer solutions we need to know what the problem is, and in many cases the issues are in the kitchen, and that’s where we are spending much more time with our customers who want our help. “We now have 55 chefs around the world who go into kitchens like this where […]

Honing management skills while working on the farm

Farmers can now improve their decision-making skills without having to stop milking – they can just put in some earbuds. Lincoln University Honorary Associate Professor Peter Nuthall’s audiobook “The Intuitive Farmer” is written in an innovative novel-style. A managerial ability researcher, he tells the fictional story of group of farmers meeting to improve their intuitive decision-making skills. It is based on actual data collected from hundreds of farmers. Each chapter addresses a different issue affecting farmers, such as risk management, benchmarking, budgeting, and planning, negotiation skills, active listening, and farm ownership. By the end of the novel, the listener will have absorbed important farm management principles and practices through the activities and findings of the group. Dr Nuthall said improved intuitive skill requires farmers to constantly and objectively self-critique their decisions so that slowly, the appropriate approach becomes second nature as part of their kit of intuitive tools. The book is described as the first of its kind to be applied to agricultural management practices, providing a dependable source for farmers, agricultural and farm management students, and people involved in agricultural industries. An Amazon review described “The Intuitive Farmer” as an innovative and useful resource for farmers. “Having the author appear as a character in the book is a nice bonus, as it gives the reader a rare chance to get an insider’s view on the personal and professional life of a researcher,” the reviewer wrote. His next book in the farm management series is called “The Decisive Farmer” and will be published before Christmas this year by the Commonwealth Bureau of Information (CABI). Listen to a sample of the audio book on the Google Play app here https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Peter_L_Nuthall_The_Intuitive_Farmer?id=AQAAAEA8AW1BQM

Toilet train cows to combat climate change

Can we toilet train cattle? Would we want to? The answer to both of these questions is yes — and doing so could help us address issues of water contamination and climate change. Cattle urine is high in nitrogen, and this contributes to a range of environmental problems. When cows are kept mainly outdoors, as they are in New Zealand and Australia, the nitrogen from their urine breaks down in the soil. This produces two problematic substances: nitrate and nitrous oxide. Nitrate from urine patches leaches into lakes, rivers and aquifers (underground pools of water contained by rock) where it pollutes the water and contributes to the excessive growth of weeds and algae. Nitrous oxide is a long-lasting greenhouse gas which is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It accounts for about 12% of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, and much of this comes from the agricultural sector. When cows are kept mainly in barns, as is the case in Europe and North America, another polluting gas — ammonia — is produced when the nitrogen from urine mixes with faeces on the barn floor. However, if some of the urine produced by cattle could be captured and treated, the nitrogen it contains could be diverted, and the environmental impacts reduced. But how might urine capture be achieved? We worked on this problem with collaborators from Germany’s Federal Research Institute for Animal Health and Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology. Our research is published today in the journal Current Biology. It forms part of our colleague Neele Dirksen’s PhD thesis. Toilet training (but without the nappies) In our research project, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, we applied principles from behavioural psychology to train young cattle to urinate in a particular place — that is, to use the “toilet” Behavioural psychology tells us a behaviour is […]

Research highlights dairy cows can be part of the solution to nitrogen leaching

New Lincoln University Pastoral Livestock Production Lab research is defining how to get the maximum benefit from cows predisposed to urinate nitrogen (N), resulting in less leaching to waterways. PhD student Cameron Marshall, has just published two new articles in top scientific journals as part of his doctoral thesis, showing what cows with phenotypically lower milk urea N eat, and how they eat, is important to reduce their environmental impact. He said inefficient N use from pastoral dairy production systems has resulted in concern regarding environmental degradation “and cows are demonised for it”. “This is a result of excessive urinary N leaching into waterways and nitrous oxide emissions from urination patches into the atmosphere” “Dairy cows are demonised for it, but can be part of the solution too,” he said. His first paper* reports that cows with low milk urea N concentrations eating plantain rather than a ryegrass diet, urinate significantly less N excretion per urination event, thus reducing the potential N leaching to waterways. The second paper** found that the grazing and ruminating behaviour of cows selected for divergent milk urea N, masticate, and ruminate the pasture they eat differently, which determines their rumen function and the efficiency of N digestion and use in the rumen. This alters the N excretion patters to the environment. Cameron’s previous research has already shown that cows selected for low milk urea N had a 28% reduction in the urinary urea N loading rate per urine patch than cows with higher milk urea N breeding values. Those ‘better cows’ also yielded an increase in milk protein percentage. “The results of this new research indicate two promising tools that temperate pastoral dairy production systems can use to reduce N losses and ameliorate the negative impact on the environment.” Cameron’s research is showing promising results of using […]

DairyNZ: winter grazing rules must be practical on-farm

Proposed changes to winter grazing regulations released by Government today appear to be a sensible step forward, but DairyNZ will review the fine print to help deliver rules that work on-farm. DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle said when these regulations were introduced last year, DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb and Federated Farmers made it clear they were impractical for farmers. Recommended changes were made together, as part of the Southland Advisory Group. “We are pleased the Government heard us and will be consulting on significant changes as a result. From what we’ve seen, the confirmation of certified freshwater farm plans as an alternative regulatory pathway to meet the intensive winter grazing rules is good news,” said Dr Mackle. “This will see better outcomes for the environment and farmers. “There also appears to be positive changes to pugging, resowing and critical source area rules, based on primary sector feedback, but we need more detail to understand how these changes might work in practice. “It’s also good to see the proposed resowing date shift to ‘as soon as practicable’. This makes it possible for farmers to establish their crops well, in line with weather and managing environmental risk. “Farmers are proactively putting in place good practice for winter grazing and it’s vital the new regulations are practical, so good work continues.” Under the proposal, farmers will have three regulatory pathways – including a permitted activity via a freshwater farm plan. “Ultimate success here does depend on a robust certified freshwater farm plan process; this is yet to be landed,” said Dr Mackle. “The phasing in of freshwater farm plans will lead to a delay in this pathway being available for farmers – this is a concern for practical and flexible implementation of the regulations and we need this remedied.” The potential deferral of […]

Tractor and equipment sales continue to grow

The first half of 2021 has got off to a superb start for sales of farm equipment. Tractor and Machinery Association of New Zealand (TAMA) president Kyle Baxter said there had been substantial sales increases across all tractor horsepower segments and equipment compared with the same time last year. Mr Baxter said the big increases reflected a continuing catch up in on-farm vehicle investment as farmers looked again to the future. “It’s fantastic to see the confidence continue across all of the sectors, and in turn this confidence flowing into wider economy. “This significant increase isn’t an accidental one, nor a blip, it requires sustained customer and supplier confidence over a 12-month period in that the required product is ordered and arrives into the country to meet current demand.” The overall increase in actual units delivered across New Zealand was 35%. This represents an additional 450 tractor sales compared to the same period of 2020. Sales in the under lifestyle 50hp sector increased over 40% while sales numbers in the 60-80HP segment, which are predominately delivered into the horticulture sector, increased around 50%. “Not to be left out of the rising market, sales in 100-140HP segment are up more than 30%. Tractor deliveries into the larger end of the market, focused on 180-250HP cropping and contracting tractors, increased by more than 50%.” Whilst the market remained strong and looked set to remain so for the rest of 2021, there were several challenges impacting the market, Mr Baxter said. “We are hearing from our members that ongoing production stoppages in global factories due to Covid lockdowns and community outbreaks continue to affect manufacturing timeframes. Europe continues to be a rapidly changing space by the day, as one country announces a ‘return to normal’ date, another country announces new control measures to help stem the spread of the virus.” Global logistics dominated many of the discussions TAMA members were having with their suppliers and customers. With no relief in the short to medium term horizon, the increased shipping times looked set to continue well into 2022. “Almost every point of the logistics supply chain is affected. Delays of an extra 90 days in receiving a container load of equipment from Europe are not uncommon. Reduced air cargo space, due to fewer flights globally, is also adding to the cost of air freighting spare parts and causing delays in getting urgent spare parts into the country. “The cost of shipping a container here has increased drastically. This, coupled with importers of agricultural equipment generally only able to ship one to four machines per container due to their size, is driving up the freight cost of each item shipped.” Mr Baxter said while strong commodity pricing was fantastic for the New Zealand agriculture industry in terms of the export value of […]

DairyNZ supports next generation Overseer for farms and environment

Industry good organisation DairyNZ endorses further redevelopment of Overseer to continue its role helping optimise farm systems to protect water quality, farm viability and economy. DairyNZ strategy and investment leader Dr David Burger says science-based management and modelling reviews, such as the recent Government report into Overseer, helps improve nutrient management for the environment and farm businesses. “Overseer is vital in helping farmers, the sector and councils understand farm management, particularly nutrient and greenhouse gas losses to the environment. Therefore, we must have a high level of confidence in it as a tool,” says DairyNZ strategy and investment leader Dr David Burger. “It’s pleasing Government is committed to supporting Overseer and a re-development, while looking at other tools to improve nutrient management and on-farm outcomes.” Dr Burger said DairyNZ research shows nitrate leaching measurements from farm system experiments are generally well-aligned with Overseer predictions where actual climate data has been used on dairy land. “Along with this on-farm science, DairyNZ has contributed to improvements to the Overseer model, such as including plantain and updating the wetland and riparian modules. Our research and experience with farmers tells us Overseer is an important tool for helping dairy farmers manage nitrogen and reduce losses from farms. “Falling back on input controls or reliance on risk factors is not an adequate substitute for output modelling, especially when we have an increasingly sophisticated range of nitrogen management options that Overseer enables farmers to model,” says Dr Burger. “Farm systems are complex and there are a range of ways farmers can reduce their footprint. Overseer allows farmers to model different options in the context of their farm system – enabling innovation and flexibility. “Looking ahead, we support the Government’s commitment to examine a wider range of tools to support nutrient and sediment management at farm and […]

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