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IrrigationNZ is calling for a dramatic escalation in irrigation, saying New Zealand could bring water to an additional 350,000 hectares by 2025, boosting agricultural production and providing a buffer against weather events such as El Nino-induced drought. The lobby group wants a 50 percent increase in irrigated land in the next 10 years, according to its industry snapshot released today. New Zealand currently has approximately 720,000 hectares of irrigated land, and IrrigationNZ has produced a map showing where irrigation could be expanded, pushing total watered land to more than 1 million hectares. Chief executive Andrew Curtis said New Zealand’s primary production growth is being hampered by a lack of a reliable water supply, which ultimately holds back economic growth. “Much of regional New Zealand’s future success is reliant on community water infrastructure developments that create wins for both the economy and environment,” Curtis said. New Zealand currently extracts around 2 percent of available water, excluding the 3 percent used for hydro-power, and taking another 1 percent “would significantly grow the wider economy,” he said. Irrigated farm land generated an estimated $2.7 billion to the New Zealand economy, the lobby group said in 2012. New Zealand is “a water-rich country” and water extraction “is extremely low” compared to other countries, where irrigation can account for 50-70 percent of water use, Curtis said. Irrigation for agriculture and horticulture currently uses around 60 per cent of New Zealand’s extracted water, according to IrrigationNZ. Half of New Zealand’s irrigated land is used for dairy farming, a quarter is taken up by sheep and beef finishing, and the remaining quarter is made up by vegetable and arable crops, along with fruit and wine growing. IrrigationNZ’s map of future irrigation adds a potential 200,000 ha to the existing 444,777 ha of irrigated land in Canterbury. In […]
North Island farmers are being invited to update their cropping knowledge at a new one-day field event on Thursday 10 December. The field day, run by FAR, is being held at FAR’s Northern Crop Research Site at Tamahere, near Hamilton. CEO Nick Pyke says FAR, which carries out levy funded research and extension for the cropping industry, holds similar events in the South Island, but has not attempted an outdoor event of this scale in the North Island before. “Generally, our Northern Crop Research Site hosts a series of smaller, subject specific, field days, but this year we have responded to the interests of our farmers and increased the scale and information to be presented at the event. The event will run to a similar schedule as our South Island Arable Research in Action event (ARIA), which is held at our mid-Canterbury research site every second year. “Visitors on the day will have the opportunity to hear up to 12 presentations on subjects ranging from Overseer® and forage rotations, to slug control and precision agriculture. Each session will run twice, once in the morning and again after lunch, to allow those who are short on time to attend for only half a day and still have access to a range of topical speakers. “The day will also provide a great opportunity to tour the Northern Crop Research Site, meet FAR staff and learn more about FAR’s crop research strategy.” Mr Pyke says he hopes to see farmers and industry personnel from across the Waikato and beyond at the event. “While this event is being held in the Waikato, the topics being discussed on the day will be of relevance to farmers from across the North Island. Around 400 people attended our last ARIA event in the South Island, and we […]
“You wouldn’t fly a plane without instruments these days would you?” questions Craig Sanders, an agribusiness and cloud accounting specialist at Crowe Horwath. However, when it comes to farming, that’s exactly what he believes is happening too often on New Zealand farms. “There are too many farmers effectively flying blind without the right kind of financial information to make sound farm management decisions,” says Sanders. Many farmers only get a fully detailed account of their financial position following a review of their end-of-year accounts with their accountant, which is often too late to make adjustments for a better financial outcome. Given the current market situation Sanders stressed that this is no longer good enough, and now more than ever farmers need accurate real-time financial information. “While volatility is nothing new for New Zealand agribusinesses, large increases in farm debt over the past decade, particularly in the dairy sector, have put pressure on the industry during the recent fall in milk prices.” Sanders explained that while all farming operations face pressure when aspects such as prices fluctuate rapidly, highly leveraged operations often have less room to move. “Rapid or unforseen changes in circumstances such as a major climatic event or a fall in the payout can lead to severe outcomes for under-prepared farmers, especially those with highly leveraged operations.” Sanders continued, “This means those farming businesses need to be fully aware of their current financial position, know what drives their costs, be prepared to review budgets regularly as things change, and be able to make decisions based on the best possible financial information.” Sanders noted that farmers are often very good at tracking cash, but when it comes to the true impact of decisions on their bottom line, things are often a little murky. He points to selling stock as a […]
Diana Mathers from FAR is the recipient of the 2015 New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science AGMARDT Technology Transfer Award. The award was made in recognition of the significant impact of her work around environmental and economic sustainability on cropping farms. Diana is FAR’s Cropping Systems Research Manager, a role she has held for the last six years. In that time has worked hard to support cropping farmers in the areas of economic and environmental sustainability. The Technology Transfer Award recognised the significant impact of her work in both these areas, especially with regard to effective on-farm environmental management. The testimonial highlighted her work developing and delivering nutrient management plans, and more recently, a Farm Environment Plan template, for cropping farmers. Also mentioned was her work investigating cropping options and opportunities in relation to the proposed Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme, on-farm biodiversity projects and looking into the impacts of winter grazing on cropping farms. Diana’s extension work is backed up by her involvement in a number of national and regional research projects, which focus on ensuring high quality information is made available to farmers in a format that is easy to understand and apply. As well as the dairy grazing and biodiversity projects, Diana is involved in a national project assessing drainage and N loss from crop systems, national projects on Overseer evaluation and regional projects such as those assessing crop options for the Ruataniwha, and the Matrix for Good Management in Canterbury. In all these projects she focuses on using data collected on farm and farmers’ own records to inform improved on-farm decision making. Diana is also a representative on a number of regional council groups throughout New Zealand where she helps to ensure policy is practically aligned with farm practices, particularly in relation to nutrient management, […]
Reports that more than 1000 Filipinos working on New Zealand dairy farms may be caught up in a document scam further highlights the inadequacies of the Government’s Essential Skills work visa regulations, according to the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association, Australia and New Zealand (RCSA). RCSA is the leading industry and professional body for the private employment services sector in New Zealand. John Harland, Chair of the RCSA New Zealand Region Council, said that his organisation has been lobbying unsuccessfully the Government, and in particular Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse, about the narrow focus of an accreditation scheme that is now required only of labour hire companies. “We are very supportive of any moves to help and protect the rights of migrant workers. The Government is introducing a new Labour Hire Accreditation Scheme on January 1, 2016, and all it will do is police the law abiders and let the law breakers roam free. “They have the chance now to crack down right across a number of industries to protect migrant workers, yet all they are doing is policing labour hire companies and not focusing on the poor practices of employers and other parties across all of the different strands that make up the migrant worker hire industry,” he said. The Government’s new immigration policy was developed in response to migrant workers in the Christchurch rebuild being exploited by unethical employers. “RCSA believes that this visa scam is a perfect example of the illegal and unethical practices that occur mainly outside the labour hire industry, perfectly illustrating how the new legislation’s focus on making labour hire companies become accredited misses the point. “Under the new Essential Skills visa scheme an accredited company can bring a worker into the country and that worker can leave that company the day after they arrive […]
The Shanghai Pengxin Group (SPG) and Landcorp Farming Limited (Landcorp) joint venture has established a new training facility to contribute to the development of future dairy farm leaders in New Zealand. The brand new training facility will be known as the Central North Island Dairy Academy and training will be delivered by Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre. Terry Lee, President of Overseas Investment, Pengxin Group, recognises that while the current climate for New Zealand’s dairy producers is challenging, market demand for skilled people in mid-management level roles (eg. herd or production manager) in the dairy industry is not satisfied by the current supply, and this has been a bottleneck for dairy farming for years. “The Dairy Academy’s programme has been designed to meet current and future needs of the industry by providing mid-level leadership development for ambitious people who already have some level of technical skill or knowledge of dairying,” he said. Selected students may also gain employment as Herd Manager/ Dairy Production Managers on Landcorp or Shanghai Pengxin dairy farms after completion of the programme. A scholarship of $10,000 is also planned to be awarded annually by Shanghai Pengxin each year. Landcorp chief executive Steven Carden says the Dairy Academy will take 10 students a year, selected through an application process. “The programme is fully funded by the Shanghai Pengxin/Landcorp joint venture and will be at no cost to the student. Landcorp is committed to the development of young talent in New Zealand’s agriculture sector and the Dairy Academy will sit beside Landcorp’s other investments in training programmes across the country,” he said. The Academy will operate on the Ariki Dairy Unit, currently owned by Pengxin, in the Wairakei District, near Taupo. Students will live in housing on nearby Landcorp or Shanghai Pengxin farms and combine classroom study with practical […]
Hawke’s Bay’s apple orchards are experiencing some of the best blossoms on record setting New Zealand up for a bumper apple crop. Bostock New Zealand Orchard Manager, Fulton Gillies (pictured) says the hot, sunny weather this season has provided the perfect conditions for pollination. “We have been averaging over 20 degrees each day, so the bees have been out working hard, pollinating our orchards. It’s been perfect to set us up for both a high quality and high yielding crop.” A cold, dry winter has also been good for the apple orchards. “We had a lot of winter chilling which means we have a tighter bloom and strong bud breaks which is ideal for the fruit coming on.” The 2016 season was forecast to be an off season with less apples predicted, but the favourable winter and spring conditions have set the Hawke’s Bay orchards up for another boomer season. The New Zealand 2014 national apple crop was just over 17 million cartons (17,270, 729) and the 2015 season saw over 18 million cartons. “In the off season we are usually hoping for the fruit to stick and keep some consistency, but this year is looking very strong too,” says Mr Gillies. However weather forecasters are predicting one of the driest summers on record so Bostock New Zealand Orchard Managers are already starting to plan for the “big dry”. “We are ensuring we have all our irrigation systems in place and working well to manage water.” Mr Gillies says a hot, dry summer will also bring many benefits, reducing the risk of disease and improving the quality of the fruit. “When its hot and dry we expect good sugar, colour and storage. Bright red, sweet juicy apples that store well are exactly what our markets are looking for so the […]
New Zealand’s largest industry training organisation will now offer business management qualifications online to help develop future leaders across all primary industries. The Primary Industry Training Organisation (Primary ITO) has announced five new NZQA qualifications which can be completed entirely online, including several national certificates and national diplomas in business plus a Bachelor of Applied Management. Primary ITO is partnering with the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) to provide the e-learning platform, giving greater study options to those who are working in New Zealand’s agriculture, horticulture, food processing, seafood, equine and sports turf industries. Primary ITO Product Manager, Sue Masson, says Primary ITO has been keen to provide online qualifications for quite some time, and more programmes will be available in the next 12 months. “Strategically we’re trying to expand the range of options that are available for our clients so we can better meet their different learning needs,” Sue says. “We are investigating more short courses, more online learning and are also looking to re-launch some of our core training programmes as we move towards the revised New Zealand Certificate Qualifications framework.” CPIT’s online delivery platform is innovative, easy to use, and has a proven track record, Sue says. “We’re excited to partner with them and leverage our joint educational IP to help Primary ITO clients embrace the flexibility that e-learning offers.” The five new business management qualifications will teach key skills that are transferrable across all primary industry sectors within New Zealand and OECD countries. “They’re ideal for someone who is a 2IC manager, supervisor, team leader, lead hand, PA, EA or already working in some type of leadership or office management position,” she explains. “It gives people who are aspiring to become a leader the opportunity to learn about issues such as performance management, conflict management, […]
FMG and New Zealand Young Farmers is pleased to announce the country’s leading rural insurer as the new principal sponsor of the Young Farmer of the Year contest. The competition will now be known as FMG Young Farmer of the Year. The contest is the country’s preeminent rural challenge, pitting contestants in battles around agricultural knowledge, people and practical skills and mental fortitude. All qualities and attributes needed to be successful in farming today. “For us Young Farmers embraces so much of what’s great about farming in this country. It promotes taking calculated risks, innovation, competition, collaboration and idea-sharing, leadership and achievement” says FMG Chief Executive, Chris Black. “Young Farmers has a wonderful tradition, dating back to the mid-1930’s – and interestingly FMG has been there from the outset, supporting Young Farmers get established in various ways in the early days – so it’s fitting to be rekindling the relationship” says Mr Black. “FMG’s roots are firmly grounded across the rural sector and to have them on board is a perfect match for us” says Terry Copeland, Chief Executive New Zealand Young Farmers. “FMG is a well-respected rural organisation and is genuinely passionate about not only supporting us to enhance the competition but to also support young men and women to achieve great things in agriculture. “This passion is referenced by the fact they want to be a hands-on sponsor. They’ve already rolled up their sleeves and sat around the table with us to start building on the great work that has gone on previously. I think this attitude says it all about their spirit and commitment to fostering achievement and leadership within the sector.” says Mr Copeland. “Supporting Young Farmers fits with a wider programme FMG has on backing young people in the primary sector. We have an intake […]
