Business

Solar innovation a relief for drought-stricken farmers

A solar water pump system is helping get much needed water to stock on remote hill country farms and has captured international interest from water-stressed countries. Central Hawke’s Bay electrical and pumping business Isaacs Pumping & Electrical has been developing the technology over the last two years with support from Callaghan Innovation. Isaacs Electrical directors Gavin Streeter and Shane Heaton were continually being asked by farmers what options were available to reliably get water to stock without electricity, especially in remote hill country properties. “Solar was the ideal alternative but we needed to ensure we had a motor and pump that farmers could rely on to keep stock troughs full. “We didn’t need to look too far and we selected a pump with a proven track record and has been servicing farms for over 50 years,” Mr Streeter said. The Callaghan Innovation funding helped developed the controller or the “brain”, which is a circuit board that optimises the use of solar power and monitors water pressure, run times and faults logs. “The system is fully automatic, it operates like a standard pumping system and we have just design some clever features to maximise the pumping time and protect the motor,” he said. The development of the epump has been a mix of international and Hawke’s Bay suppliers providing equipment and componentry. An Italian company developed the industrial continuous rated motor, Hawke’s Bay engineering firm McLaren Stainless designed and manufactured the outer protective shell and another local firm, some of the Intellectually Protected circuitry. The epump can pump up to 120 metres of head and up to 20 litres per minute in daylight hours and can withstand the harshest environments. It can fill stock troughs on hillsides up to 120 metres on hill country and unlike other options it can draw both […]

Thirsty cows pump their own water

Cows grazing on remote New Zealand farms can now pump their own drinking water and be fully fenced off from precious waterways thanks to a Kiwi company’s newest product. Shoof International, a veterinary equipment company which specialises in farm innovations, have just launched their new Grazing Pump. It allows cattle to drink from a trough and pump water at the same time without the need for power or water reticulation systems to be installed. The Grazing Pump would prevent controversial situations where cattle stray into lakes and waterways, as occurred when cattle belonging to Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias and her husband, Hugh Fletcher, were photographed wading in a North Canterbury lake. Shoof International’s group sales manager, John Stubbs, says when cattle drink from the portable trough, they push a lever arm with their nose which draws more water from the source supply. “Water can be drawn 70m across or 7m upwards from any water source such as streams, ponds, bores, dams, wetlands or troughs,” Stubbs says. “Animals learn very quickly how to operate the pump, as there is always a small amount of water lying in the bottom of the bowl which they try to drink, activating the pump in the process. “There’s even a model that allows a calf to drink at the same time as its mother pumps the water. It’s the perfect solution for remote farming areas.” The pumps supplies enough water for up to 50 dry stock, giving farmers the ability to fence off waterways completely, knowing their stock will always have enough water to drink. “The stock will remain hydrated and healthy, and New Zealand’s environment will be protected as there’s no longer any need for cows to walk in, and pollute, our waterways.” Shoof International has been in business since the 1970s and […]

Seeka Kiwifruit lifts annual profit 35% on increased volumes, insurance payout

Seeka Kiwifruit Industries, the largest kiwifruit grower in Australia and New Zealand, increased annual profit 35 percent as volumes recover from the impact of the Psa-V vine disease and it received insurance money from a fire at its largest packhouse facility. Profit rose to $4.3 million, or 27 cents per share, in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, from $3.2 million, or 22 cents, the year earlier, the Te Puke-based company said in a statement. That’s ahead of its forecast of between $2.96 million and $3.53 million, which reflected uncertainty around insurance claims related to the fire. It received $5.46 million in insurance proceeds from the fire, although not all claims were finalised or accepted by the insurers at year end. Revenue rose 23 percent to $142.1 million. Seeka is growing profits as its orchards recover from the vine-killing Psa-V disease, lifting its volumes in the past year to 27.8 million trays from 21.4 million trays the year earlier. It’s expanding its Australian operations, with its purchase in August last year of the remaining half share in Pollen Australia and its acquisition of the orcharding and business assets of Bunbartha Fruit Packers. “Seeka has significantly increased its profit and size during the year,” chair Fred Hutchings and chief executive Michael Franks said in the 2015 annual report. “The immediate outlook for growth remains positive as Seeka concentrates on expanding New Zealand facilities to handle higher kiwifruit volumes, completes the integration of Seeka Australia and improves orchard productivity in Australia.” The company said the benefits of its Australian expansion are expected to show in this year’s result. In New Zealand, the company provides orcharding, post-harvest and retail services to kiwifruit, avocado and kiwiberry industries, retail and ripening services for imported tropical produce, and operates a wholesale market. Earnings before interest and tax at its post-harvest operations increased 37 percent to $8 million, […]

Commission releases final report on dairy sector competition in NZ

The Commerce Commission has today released its final report on the state of competition in New Zealand’s dairy industry. The review began in June last year at the request of the Minister for Primary Industries as required under the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001 (DIRA). Having considered submissions on the draft report released in November, the Commission’s view remains that there is not sufficient competition at the farm gate and factory gate to consider full deregulation at this time. Deputy Chair Sue Begg said that while the costs and benefits of the DIRA Regulation are more or less balanced, the risks of removing it too soon outweigh the risks of it remaining longer than it should. “As it stands, without regulation Fonterra would be able to increase the price of raw milk it sells to other domestic processors and this would likely flow through to higher retail prices of dairy products for New Zealand consumers. Increased competition is needed, particularly at the factory gate, and our view is it is better to err on the side of caution before embarking on full deregulation,” Ms Begg said. The final report recommends that a pathway to deregulation would be smoothed by facilitating the development of a factory gate market for non-DIRA milk. Options the Minister could consider include: reducing DIRA milk entitlements; investigating if and when the DIRA milk price covers Fonterra’s opportunity costs; and tightening the terms and conditions for DIRA milk supply. “Keeping the open entry and exit provisions in place during any reforms would help with the transition by aiding the growth in competition at the farm gate by suppliers that could then enter the factory gate market,” Ms Begg said. “However, we think it is worth exploring whether open entry for new dairy farm conversions should be removed. […]

OVERSEER’s significant contribution to New Zealand agriculture

“OVERSEER is a tool that has given a great deal to the agriculture sector and will keep giving for the foreseeable future,” says Caroline Read the General Manager of OVERSEER. “It’s a gift that keeps giving,” she says. This follows the release of an independent valuation report prepared by Hamilton-based agricultural economist Phil Journeaux entitled “Valuation of the Benefits of the OVERSEER® Nutrient Budget Model”. In his report, Journeaux points out that OVERSEER has become a vital tool for managing nutrient use by providing a picture of nutrient movement on a farm, including estimating nutrient leaching. To derive similar information to that provided by OVERSEER would involve significant costs to users, especially farmers and regional councils, and may not be as accurate or effective in predicting nutrient use for individual farms. “The already sunk cost of the agricultural sector into OVERSEER is estimated at around $12m over its 16 year history. Journeaux’s estimates of the benefit to the sector far exceed this cost,” says Read. With or without-OVERSEER scenarios were considered by a range of experts interviewed by Journeaux during the three months of field research he undertook. He focused on three areas: fertiliser application, nutrient management on-farm and research, to arrive at an average benefit of $271m per year. This value projected over a 50 year lifetime is calculated as $3.3b. “This is a very large figure. It is useful to have specified this figure using recognised valuation criteria as it confirms that there is real and solid value in OVERSEER. It demonstrates that the investment of the OVERSEER owners has been more than justified and has created substantial value for the sector,” she says. The report notes that without OVERSEER, nutrient budget assessments would be more manual, taking more time and requiring more information and calculations. Soil testing […]

NZ small dairy farmers content with their lot

New Lincoln University research has found many small dairy farmers are content with the size of their operation, despite the constant calls for economic growth. Dr Victoria Westbrooke and Dr Peter Nuthall, from the Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce, surveyed 330 randomly selected farmers running small dairy farms for the small farmers’ organisation (SMASH). The project was funded by DairyNZ via OneFarm. “It was clear from this research, and similar previous work, that the farmers were content to simply carry on working their current farm,” Dr Westbrooke says. “They did not want to buy more land, or sell and buy bigger, or use other expansion possibilities.” She says small farmers were shown to be more family and friends oriented than their larger farm colleagues and to have a laid back attitude. They were getting on with enjoying life even if not having a lot of spare cash, she says, and take a balanced view. While they scored ‘making maximum sustainable cash returns’ at 4.4 out of a maximum of 5 they also scored ‘having reasonable time off and holidays’ at 4.3 out of 5. “Clearly life has other objectives than just profit for these farmers,” Dr Westbrooke concludes. They rated ‘I don’t sleep at night worrying about decisions’ a low 2.1 out of 5 as a score on the truth of the assertion. Succession was not an issue either. “Overall, many of the small dairy farmers were not interested in having their children take over from them”, Dr Westbrooke says. “Perhaps they believed their farm was too small and the children would be better off in another profession”. However, a sub group of younger farmers were interested in expanding. They tended to be looking for extra land such as a bigger farm on which to expand their share milking business. […]

New law for businesses that sell food

A new law for all businesses that sell food comes into effect today. “The Food Act 2014 is designed to modernise food safety in New Zealand. It will make it easier for businesses to make sure their food is safe,” says Scott Gallacher, Deputy Director-General Regulation and Assurance, at the Ministry for Primary Industries. From today, anyone who starts a business that involves food must follow the new law. This includes anything from restaurants, to corner dairies, market stalls, or internet cake sellers. Existing businesses also need to make changes, although they have longer to do so. “The new law applies to a wide range of businesses, and includes any which make, sell, grow or transport food commercially. This includes those who serve food as part of their business, like education providers or care homes for example. “We’ve made it easy for businesses to see how the new law applies to them with an online tool. Businesses should visit the MPI website and use ‘Where do I fit?’ “The new law is designed to help businesses and consumers. It moves from a one-size-fits-all approach, to one that regulates businesses according to risk. This will help keep regulation and costs down for many businesses, especially lower risk businesses, like those who grow fruit and vegetables or sell only pre-packed food. “It also offers businesses greater flexibility. People can sell food they have made at home, for example, but must meet the same food safety standards as other businesses. “By focusing on what’s most important to food safety, the law will help ensure safer food for consumers. At the same time, keeping costs down for businesses will also keep costs down for consumers. “The new law also introduces other measures to help businesses keep time and costs down. For example, those who […]

Novel approach to get farmers to trust their gut

Lincoln University researcher Dr Peter Nuthall has a question for farmers. “How many times do you find yourself thinking about how can you make your farm more successful?” His answer lies in developing your ability to understand or know something based on your well- informed intuition. Dr Nuthall says farms are run on intuition every day: every farmer makes a myriad of decisions based on it. “Successful farm management is totally dependent on the quality of the farmer’s inherent intuition.” He has written The Intuitive Farmer – Inspiring Management Success. It’s not a textbook, but a novel. It tells of Ben, who farms in rolling country in New Zealand, and some of his colleagues. Tom, a management researcher, guides a research programme in which the farmers take part. They face many management dilemmas universal to any farming system in any country. Successes and tragedies emerge from the farmer centred experiment, and a multitude of lessons. Farmers aren’t always the best at formal study, Dr Nuthall says, so the novel is a painless way to embed the lessons into a story about farmers and farming. “It is clear where efforts to improve intuition should be concentrated,” he says. “Self-reflection is critical, and also the critique of decisions and outcomes by friends and colleagues. Careful observation is also important, as is extensive experience and a knowledge of the technology. These three go hand in hand, and can all be improved with concentrated effort.” In conjunction with colleague Dr Kevin Old, he has recently released the results of a study into farmers’ intuition which used information from over 700 farmers of all types. The variation in profit, and other output, was used to isolate key factors in intuition. At least 60 per cent of a farmer’s intuition is due to environmental aspects, in contrast to genetic influences. […]

“Put your hand up and ask for help”

Stay away from negativity and don’t be afraid to ask for help – two tips that farmer Hannah Topless has for her counterparts around New Zealand. Great swathes of Hannah’s 150ha Taranaki dairy and sheep farm in Strathmore, eastern Taranaki, were flooded or cut off in the storms of June 2015. “We had 340ml of rain in one weekend,” said Hannah. “Rivers overflowed, taking out fences and gouging out races; and landslides took out culverts and fences, and cut off access to some of the farm.” Hannah says that they were fortunate to have strong community links, particularly with her local church, as well as their Rural Support Trust, FMG and Federated Farmers. They also had amazing support from the Fonterra emergency response team, who mobilised farmers from around Taranaki to help clear up. “We suddenly had people clearing the debris off the fences which would have taken us forever,” says Hannah. “It was great proof that when times get tough on the farm there are always ways to get through and people who can help, you just have to put your hand up and ask.” Hannah’s story is part of a new radio series in association with the Ministry for Primary Industries, Rural Support Trusts, Horticulture NZ and Beef & Lamb NZ. The series aims to share farmer and grower experiences of getting through adversity, and encourage people to go to the organisations who are set up to help. The full interview can be heard here http://www.farmingshow.co.nz/on-demand/audio/hannah-topless-conquering-adversity-250216/

HB apple exporters partner up to open the region’s largest single rooms coolstore

In the picture: Bostock New Zealand owner John Bostock (left) and Mr Apple CEO Andrew Van Workum. Two of Hawke’s Bay’s biggest apple exporters have teamed up to store apples, today opening the regions largest single rooms coolstore. Bostock New Zealand and Mr Apple have officially opened their new 8600m2 coolstore near Flaxmere, which has the capacity to store 30,000 bins. Bostock New Zealand Owner, John Bostock says it’s very exciting to be opening a state of the art facility, which has the technology and innovation to provide customers with full traceability from the Hawke’s Bay orchards to consumers across the world. “The apple industry is growing to meet international demand and every day we are working to ensure we have cutting edge technology to deliver premium apples to our customers. “We are also happy to be offering more permanent and seasonal jobs, with 9 staff needed to run the new facility,” Mr Bostock said. The new coolstore has a unique, advanced scanning system, which ensures each bin is identified and each apple can be traced back to the orchard where it was grown. This is the first stage of a two-stage development, which will see another coolstore built with a further capacity to store another 13,000 bins. “It’s taken months of planning and project management and we take our hats off to Gordon Kinnear and his team for the wonderful job they’ve done to ensure the coolstore was completed in a short timeframe and in time for the busy apple harvest,” said Mr Bostock. Mr Apple CEO, Andrew Van Workum says it’s positive to be working in partnership with Bostock New Zealand to ensure Hawke’s Bay apples are stored and delivered in top quality. “Both companies, and the NZ industry in general are establishing very strong sales and linkages into […]

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