HAMILTON FARM VISITS - BACKGROUND
GENERAL (1)
WEDNESDAY
McGrath Nurseries: species developer www.mcgrathnurseries.co.nz
McGrath Nurseries Ltd is a fruit tree nursery established in the Waikato in 1980. It grows
around 350,000 fruit trees and 750,000 rootstocks annually on 109 hectares. The main crop
grown is apple trees, however McGrath Nurseries Ltd supplies 95% of New Zealand’s cherry
trees and 75% of the apricot trees. It is one the biggest, or depending on the year, the
biggest, fruit tree nursery in New Zealand.
McGrath Nurseries is known for introducing new varieties, varietal Intellectual Property
Management and technology innovation. It focuses strongly on the customer and its
business has expanded to vertically integrate the production systems. McGrath controls
who grows the trees, how many are grown, who sells them, who buys them, and at what
price.
Owner Andy McGrath searches the world’s breeding programmes for new fruit varieties
that will enhance the value chain in the New Zealand market. Varieties are then imported,
tested and promoted in New Zealand, and more recently worldwide, for the benefit of
breeders, growers, and the business.
McGrath Nurseries specialise in exclusive license arrangements between owners, growers
and marketers which means varieties are protected for the owners and gives them accurate
royalty payments.
McGrath Nurseries has imported Cornell Geneva rootstocks from Cornell University in the
USA, giving New Zealand growers naturally bred, multi-disease and pest resistant rootstocks
with high yield efficiency. It has imported and developed the Honeycrisp apple from
University of Minnesota in the USA, established a fruit growing region in the Timaru area of
the South Island which exports the fruit to the USA in their off-season resulting in high
returns back to the NZ grower, and it’s developed the KORU® Brand, a chance seedling
discovered on the South Island of New Zealand, into a world variety with production to date
established in New Zealand and USA (www.koruapple.co.nz).
Livestock Improvement Corporation: co-op dairy breeder
LIC is a co-operative of over 10,500 dairy shareholder farmers (the vast majority of the dairy
industry in New Zealand). A specialist in artificial insemination, it is one of the agricultural
sector’s largest investors in R&D and new product development – more than $25m annually,
or 11% of revenue.

Three out of four inseminated cows on New Zealand’s dairy farms are sired by LIC
bulls

Five million straws of fresh semen are despatched for insemination all over New
Zealand during the mating season (135,000 straws on peak day).

827,000 DNA or milk samples are analysed annually for disease identification, gene
testing and parental verification samples

10.7 million milk samples analysed by the herd testing service each year from 8100
herds.
LIC’s goal is to deliver service and solutions that enable it to be a $1 billion revenue cooperative by 2025.
GENERAL (2)
WEDNESDAY
Charlie Lea: rural entrepeneur cambrilea@gmail.com
Charlie and Helen Lea run three rural-based businesses: a sheep and beef farm, contract
weed spraying business and native plant nursery and planting business.
Sheep and beef farm: The couple runs, as far as possible, a sustainable business with a low
carbon footprint. On their 225 hectare sheep and beef property, which is an equal mix of
flat, rolling and steep land, they run a closed flock and herd which means all the sheep and
cattle are born on the farm, grow up on the farm and leave for the meat works. It’s a
property they’ve been on for 11 years. Charlie grew up on a small beef farm and Helen is
from a large sheep and beef farm.
The farm has 2800 stock units, wintering 800 ewes and 250 hoggets. Both ewes and
hoggets are put to the ram, resulting in 1400 lambs. Charlie doesn’t do a lambing beat and
achieves 145% lambing. They run an on-farm hereford yearling bull sale where this year the
average price was $2090. They gross $1400/ha with costs between $500 and $600/ha.
They produce 300 kg carcass weight/ha, 180 kg is sheep meat and wool, the rest is beef. All
stock are strictly grass-fed with no bought in product.
Lambs are sold to Te Kuiti Meats which has a contract supplying the Wholefoods group in
the United States. The wool is sold to Elders Primary Wool because it has a Just Shorn brand
which sells New Zealand crossbred wool to carpet manufacturers in the USA. The name Just
Shorn was developed to help educate overseas people who didn’t realise sheep didn’t need
to be killed in order to provide a wool clip.
The farm has 2.5 km of waterways. They have just put in 2.5 km of 8-wire fencing. 5700
native trees have been planted, with plans to plant a further 5000 every year. Steeper land
has been fenced off for sheep, with easier country available for cattle. An oak tree has been
planted in 30 paddocks giving stock shade and food for bees. Long-term, Charlie wants
similar trees in every paddock. The farm has 17 ha of native busy which is fenced off.
Farm fertility on the easy country is good, so only given maintenance levels of
superphosphate annually.
Charlie and Helen run the farm. They have three young girls, Chelsea (7), Sophie (5) and
Georgia (20 months).
Contract weed spraying: Eighteen years ago, Charlie set up a contract weed spraying
business. Sheep were starting to be replaced by cattle on farms and he could see weeds
would start getting out of control, so formed a company to combat them. He pioneered a
system, which uses hand guns and hoses on 4 x 4 spray rigs. They apply 1.5 million litres of
chemical mix a year and because of their application method which spot sprays, they use
only 20% of the chemical per hectare compared with the more common blanket spraying
approach. This protects waterways and is more environmentally friendly.
His clients include sheep, beef and dairy farmers. A wind farm, Landcorp and utility
companies. Twelve staff work for the business.
Native tree planting and nursery: This business evolved out of the weed spraying business
five years ago after clients asked if they could plant trees as well as spray. Trees were
initially bought in, but because Helen has landscaping and nursery knowledge, so in order to
have a guaranteed supply of tree seedlings, they set up a native tree nursery on their farm
two years ago.
This business keeps the 12 weed spraying staff employed over the three wet winter months
when they plant 80,000 native trees for farmers and other landholders such as Fonterra
which has farms beside its factories. The nursery has 17 species of native trees with over
half being trees for bees to provide nectar and pollen between October and June.
In the future Helen will be doing more riparian planting plans for farmers as these will be
required by regional councils for environmental protection.
Simcro : Global animal health delivery systems http://simcro.com/
Simcro is a Hamilton-based firm, which is a world leader in the design, development and
packaging of devices which deliver animal health products, e.g. oral drench guns,
vaccination guns and chemical pour on equipment.
The products are mainly used in the sheep, beef, poultry and pig industries. Farmers are
the main end users of the application devices, however they are often sold to multinational
animal health companies who supply them along with the animal health product. Simcro
drove the shift from metal application devices to well engineered plastic devices. Hamilton
is ideally set up for this as it has very good plastic injection moulding firms.
The company has a sophisticated engineering department with 12 design engineers.
Something as simple sounding as getting product out of a tube, isn’t. There is a lot of
engineering required to get a product out of a pack, into a device and into an animal. Simcro
custom develops products for specific company’s needs. Plastic application devices can be
made in a company’s colour wave. It has made 49 different coloured devices, with the
colour influencing the lifespan of the product.
Simcro has manufactured devices for 20 years and is now primarily owned by a United
States-run private equity company, Riverside. The firm has sales offices in UK and USA. It is
in the process of expanding its presence in USA, is going into Europe and Latin America, in
particular, Brazil. It has a strong presence in Australia.
Simcro employs 150 people.
RED MEAT:
THURSDAY
Lloyd Watkins: farming without subsidies
Roxborough Farm celebrated 100 years of ownership by the Watkins family in 2011. What
started as an undeveloped farm has been transformed into a stunning sheep and beef
property with family history preserved on the place.
Lloyd’s grandfather didn’t like sheep so used cattle to develop the land. He milked cows in
the 1930s. The following generation expanded into sheep and purchased the neighbouring
farms, converting from dairy to sheep and cattle.
Roxborough is 210 hectares with 1770 Romney ewes, and up to 180 cattle. The angus cross
cattle are all bought for beef production.
There is a flurry of activity in early spring when 2600 lambs are docked all in one go. It
requires the labour of family and friends and is quite a social event on the farming calendar
with picnics carted up to the back of the property. The oldest lambs are about a month old
when docked, some will only be days old. This practice is needed for animal welfare as it
helps prevent fly strike because poo (dags) aren’t stuck to long tails. Research shows there is
no growth check for the animals and the discomfort lasts for half an hour or so.
The lambs are sold to meat company AFFCO and exported. Most lambs leave the farm at a
weight ready for slaughter. The cattle go to Silver Fern Farms.
Fertiliser in the form of super phosphate is applied annually. Some lime is applied,
depending on soil test results. Tests are done every two years.
Lloyd has farmed through the change to no-subsidy farming. He believes food miles are
often used as possible trade barriers, but in fact, New Zealand farmers have a low carbon
footprint because most lambs and sheep are grass-fed, and even with the transportation
overseas, the footprint can be lower than US and European produce. He says the issue isn’t
as clear-cut as one thinks.
He is currently building a pond at the bottom of a valley. This is for aesthetic reasons but
also for environmental protection as he has sheep yards in the bottom of a valley, which
drains into a water course. The pond will collect that water and filter is before going off
farm. There are no rules around water discharge from sheep farms in Waikato at present,
but Lloyd believes this is the way of the future and he’s consciously doing the mitigation
work now.
With the incidence of droughts increasing, he’s now running fewer stock than in the past
which means his environmental impact from them is less. He farms more conservatively he
says in order to cope, but as sheep numbers have decreased, his lamb production’s
increased. The ewe fertility is better and they are better fed, sometimes with silage during
mating. His docking is 146% to ewes mated I.e. The number of ewes that went to the ram,
to the number of lambs docked.
Cattle are drenched arriving on the farm and all ewes are drenched pre lambing. Lambs go
onto a drenching programme from late October until they are slaughtered.
Lloyd says as he’s aging, his farming philosophy is changing. In the past he was keen to
‘push’ things because he could; now he’s going back to older fashioned methods and doing
what suits him and the farm. He’s rolling with the punches he says and is prepared to
change as needed, rather than saying “this is what I’ve always done.”
Ian Scott: Oraka Deer Park. http://www.oraka-deer.co.nz/
Scott farms is a mixed enterprise of dairy, deer and maize growing. The farm has high value
ash soils and is situated between Tirau and Matamata. Ian Scott is a large animal
veterinarian primarily working for dairy farmers, but also handling animal welfare issues in
the deer industry.
He has four farming properties: a home block of 108 ha (58 ha milking platform, 8 ha
forestry block, 42 ha deer), Lake Road block of 50 ha support (8 ha bulls and calves, 42 ha
maize), Oliver Farm block of 70 ha running deer, and an Off-Farm block for replacement
stock and heifers which he sells.
The main farm produces 138,000 kg of milk solids off 58 ha, running 5.2 cows to the hectare.
Ian runs his cows and deer under an integrated grazing regime. The deer maintain pasture
quality in spring allowing for increased cow productivity and improved mating performance.
The deer are exceptionally good at removing weeds and improving pasture density. Parasite
challenge is the biggest problem for young deer, so using parasite free dairy pastures
enhances deer performance and sustainability by reducing dependence on chemical
endectocides.
The deer operation produces 1.5 tonnes of velvet, 400 deer carcasses and 8 to 10 trophy
deer a year. He recently exported New Zealand’s first ever air shipment of deer to Europe.
He also has exported deer to China. The exports to Europe are to improve the trophy
potential of European estates.
The farms are complex to run and Ian finds, like many New Zealand farmers, that people
arriving from overseas, particularly Asian countries, have the attitude, the work ethic and
sheer mental agility and skills needed. He believes the shortage of skilled New Zealand
workers has developed because local schools are telling children that agriculture has a
limited future and to look for careers in other areas.
He says sustainability and environmental protection are the new tomorrow and a lot of
work needs to be done. However, he sees it very much as not just the farmers’ problem. He
questions if he should be penalised for leaching a little too much nitrogen because he
produces over twice the national average/ha for milk solids, when New Zealand needs
export products to sell to increase the country’s prosperity.
He improves his farms’ sustainability by running the two stock types in an integrated way.
Fewer chemicals are needed for worm control and cows graze on maize ground over the
major leaching period of winter and early spring where deeper maize roots will soon recover
the lost N from deep in the soil profile. Nutrients from feed pad waste are recycled back
into the maize paddocks which reduces the amount of bought in fertiliser needed. Effluent
is irrigated on to the deer farm where N losses are low. He protects and enhances the
physical environment by totally excluding stock from waterways and supporting the Lake
Okoroire restoration project. This is a $120,000 project to restore the South Waikato’s only
peat lake.
As to the future, Ian Scott say, sadly, his farming venture is partly reliant on New Zealand’s
red meat processing industry, and despite years of pressure to change, it has doggedly
resisted farming attempts at reform and continues to under deliver financially. The current
moves to try to reform the industry don’t appear to be working. He says the world needs
red meat and there have been huge investments in genetics, smart farming systems, better
feeding but it still doesn’t make money. He cannot counter the pressure that so many
sheep, beef and now cropping farmers have faced before him, he either continues to
expand his dairy operation or be reduced to a peasant on his own high quality asset.
DAIRY
THURSDAY
John Fisher: adapting robot technology to a New Zealand pastoral-based
setting
John Fisher farms 320 cows on an 80 hectare flat farm just south of Hamilton. He produces
150,000 kgs milk solids. The young stock are grazed off-farm from four months old until they
are 22 months. One hundred cows are grazed off-farm for 10 weeks over winter.
He became interested in robotic milking when DairyNZ set up a green fields research robotic
farm in 2001, and got serious about it when he was looking at re-fencing the farm. John
thought about whether he should fence to suit robot milking for several years, finally
concluding it was the future and he was keen to do it. He started robot milking with DeLaval
equipment in March 2011.
It has gone relatively well, the main issues in the first six months were around software
settings and learning how it all worked. John calves all his herd in spring, which was an
added pressure with all the usual calving issues, and training heifers to robots is more
challenging than conventional systems. He is currently transitioning to a split autumn/spring
calving. John also had to make changes to raceways to make the robot grazing system work,
but the paddock layout remained the same.
He runs a pasture-based, low-cost, high-stocking rate system to get the best utilisation of
the pasture by the cow, however with higher genetic cows and dry summers and robots, he
has drifted to a higher input system.
His pasture management philosophy is to grow as much high quality pasture as possible,
mowing it prior to grazing if required to get the correct residuals and increase cow intake.
Purchased feed is a mix of palm kernel, dried distillers grain and wheat bran pellet to feed in
the robots – he uses 65 ton per year , as well as straight palm kernel mixed with Nutriliq , a
liquid dairy factory waste. He also uses maize silage and grass silage.
Two years ago he stared making maize silage off two hectares, using shed effluent as the
fertiliser. This is becoming a very popular way to recycle waste nutrients. He applies 250 kg
nitrogen per ha, 75 kgs potassium per ha, 13 kgs sulphur per ha, per year.
His on-farm environmental efforts are irrigating effluent on to 30 hectares rather than it
eventually going from effluent ponds into waterways. He has the ability to store the
effluent if the soil conditions are too wet to allow application, and he’s about to construct a
roof over the feed area to reduce rain water in effluent and help cow comfort.
Tracy and Wynn Brown: sustainable farming with a view to the future
Farm size & contour
320ha (total area) less 10ha (retired from grazing) leaves 310ha (effective area)
less 80ha (drystock & cropping) equates to a 230ha (milking platform)
The farm is rolling contour and prone to summer drys. Milking platform is Kereone silt loam
soil while drystock support area is Peria hill soil. Average rainfall is 1200mm/year.
Herd details
700 to 720 cows (plus 180 heifer replacements) crossbred (12:4) herd producing around
260,000kgMS/yr. Fully internal (on-farm) system. AI runs for four weeks with a target of
95% submission rate at 3 weeks and 98% at four weeks. The bull goes out on 12 th
November for six weeks, and the empty rate is 9%. Calving is compact with mean calving
around 1st August (within 12 days of the start date).
Farming philosophy
Farm name is ‘Tiroroa’ meaning ‘extensive view’ or ‘view to the future’. Our aim is to run an
economically and environmentally sustainable dairy farming business, maximizing
production while minimising footprint. There are five keys areas that are important to us
and our business:.
1. Environment – wise use of natural resources & proactive environmental stewardship.
2. People – encourage values of communication, contribution, development, wellness &
balance.
2. Animal Welfare – high standards of animal welfare health & well-being.
3. Community –enhance, contribute and give back to our community.
5. Economics– drive to increase profit through increased efficiency & decreased waste.
Pasture management
System 3, a predominantly pasture-based system producing around 12.5 tonne DM/ha/yr
plus 18ha maize silage grown on-farm (@ yield of 25 tonne DM/ha). The maize is fed in
autumn and an additional 260 tonne of feed is bought in and fed through an in shed feeding
system (fed to yield depending on age, production etc).
Fertiliser policy
The property is soil tested bi-annually. Soils are naturally high in potash and we have a
philosophy of only applying what is needed to maintain Olsen P levels (approx 35 units P per
annum). Around 100 units N are applied strategically to enhance our pasture-based system.
Environmental work
Trees have been planted and waterways fenced off on this property for over 20 years.
There are approximately 13 wetlands and 12-14km of waterways in total. Around 90% of
these were already fenced prior to the Clean Streams Accord introduction in 1990 as it
simply ‘seemed the right thing to do’. There is also a reserve of native New Zealand bush
which includes some rare native species. In 2014 a $250,000 effluent system with dual
drying beds, a lined pond and sprinkler system with a pump and flow metre were installed
to ‘future-proof’ the dairying operation. The aim is to gain maximum nutrient value from
recycling effluent to grow pasture.
Environmental awards & programmes
2001 Waikato Farm Environment Trust: Habitat Enhancement Award
2010 Waikato Ballance Farm Environment Awards Supreme Award
2010 PGG Wrightson Land & Life Award,
2010 Hill Laboratories Harvest Award
Following on from our attendance at the Dairy Environment Leaders Forum in 2010, Tracy
joined the organising committee and has been the Programme Manager for this event for
three years. In August she was appointed Chair of the DairyNZ Dairy Environment Leaders
Forum. The Browns are also members of the NZ Farm Environment Trust Alumni (Tracy is
Secretary) and founding members of the Mangagpapa Catchment Care Group.
Our background
Wynn has a Bachelor of Agriculture degree from Massey University. He grew up on this
property as the son of a sheep and beef farming family. After finishing at Massey he worked
for JD & RD Wallace specialising in conversion work. He came home in 1994 to convert the
home farm from sheep and beef to dairy. In 2004 the family purchased the neighbouring
sheep and beef property and Wynn undertook what was effectively a second conversion.
Wynn is passionate about education and the ‘co-operative spirit’ having given significant
time to several industry and community groups. He is a Fonterra networker, LIC
Shareholder Councillor, has taken part in several DairyNZ on-farm trials, is in his third term
(9th year) as a Hinuera BOT member (including the last 2 years as Chair) and has coached
rugby in the community for 10 years. Wynn has also been a judge in the Ballance Farm
Environment Awards for the last 4 years, including being a Finalist Waikato Judge in 2014
and a Finalist Northland Judge in 2015.
Tracy has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from Massey University, a Postgraduate
Diploma from the University of Waikato and is a Lincoln University Kelloggs Scholar. She
grew up in town and then a lifestyle block in Northland. She worked in Wellington as an
economist for the NZ Meat and Wool Boards Economic Service as a new graduate, but has
also held positions in the field for Agriculture ITO, ASB Bank Ltd, DairyNZ and the NZ Farm
Environment Trust. She is a BOT member for Matamata Intermediate, has held several roles
in community organisations and coached hockey in Matamata for the last five years. In
addition to her contracted role for DairyNZ and the Dairy Environment Leaders Forum, she is
also taking part in the Agri-Womens Development Trust ‘Escalator’ 10-month leadership and
governance programme for women in the agri-sector.
They have four children aged 10 to 15 years. As a family they enjoy mountain biking, the
bush and time relaxing in Northand where they can fish and enjoy all things to do with the
sea!
Other relevant information
In 2009 a new 54 bale GEA Westfalia cowshed with electronic ID and walk over weighing
was commissioned. The new cowshed significantly reduced milking times and increased
labour efficiency.
HORTICULTURE
THURSDAY
Sunfruit Orchards (Pick Mee): apples, pears and stonefruit.
John Altham owns Sunfruit Orchards and is a second generation orchardist; his son is the
third.
Sunfruit is a grower, packer, shipper of primarily apples but also pears and stonefruit. They
do all their own export including contracting shipping etc. Sunfruit focuses on direct supply
to supermarkets around the world, preferring not to work with wholesalers. It’s main export
markets are in the UK, Europe, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, China, and to Tahiti
in the Pacific Islands. Some fruit is packed for USA as well.
Fruit is unique in that further processing usually destroys value and the best value is to be
sold fresh from the supermarket shelf. Domestically, Sunfruit sells apples directly to the
supermarket chain Countdown.
The block you are seeing is one part of their operation. A third of their production comes
from Waikato, the rest from Hawkes Bay. In total Sunfruit has 330 ha of orchard: 80%
apples, 10% pears and 10% stonefruit.
This particular orchard is on Hamilton clay and was originally planted in 1962. Some of the
blocks are in their third cycle.
Sunfruit grows Royal Gala, Braeburn and Pink Lady on the block we are visiting, with the
other blocks in Waikato growing also growing Granny Smith. They grow Purple Majesty
plums and Scarlet O’ Hara peaches
At present the pipfruit industry is strong and expanding at quite a rate. There are many
different varieties being bred these days which overcomes the previous issues of only
having one or two varieties.
All Sunfruit orchards are certified to Global GAP (Good Agricultural Practice). They use IFP
(integrated fruit production), which is a philosophy of spraying chemicals only when
required. They only use insect growth regulators, rather than poison insecticides. Organic’
practices are incorporated in spray programmes where ever possible with their main
philosophy to eliminate any harsh chemicals. They use the softest products available.
New Zealand’s apple growers get strong R & D support through Plant & Food Research, and
John uses th Crown Research Institute extensively. There is also a strong new variety
breeding programme with both Plant & Food and some private programmes both in New
Zealand and overseas. At present Sunfruit is trying to increase productivity using different
orchard structures and utilising growth differently.
The main threat to New Zealand’s apple industry is labour. New Zealanders are not keen to
carry out some of the seasonal jobs – but the Government thinks we should solve the
unemployment problem within New Zealand, says John. New Zealand does have a guest
worker programme from the Pacific Islands, which is an excellent programme, but is
restricted.
As new varieties are developed, they will be targeted at certain niches in different countries.
There is a strong swing to the Asian tastes of big, red and sweet. Having these innovative
new varieties has, and will, continue to strengthen New Zealand’s marketing edge versus
other Southern Hemisphere competitors.
John Altham says they operate all their businesses on the basis that the customer is the
consumer and they want to be as close to them as possible to ensure they are satisfying
their needs as to nutrition, taste, crispness and value.
PickMee is the marketing arm of the company.
Balle Brothers - large market gardeners http://www.ballebros.co.nz/
Balle Bros is a leading grower, packer and processor of New Zealand produce, with eight
major properties across the country. Its reputation has been built over 65 years supplying
both domestic and international markets with vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower,
carrots, potatoes and onions. Growing began in Waharoa in 1995 and last year the company
began developing a state-of-the-art potato store. A key feature of the store is its
underground ventilation, assisting in maintaining the quality of the crop during storage.
Once completed, the store will have the capacity to store 30,000 tonnes of potatoes.
Balle Bros was incorporated in 1991 but the family has been growing potatoes since early
last century. The Balle brothers’ great grandfather started growing potatoes after WW1.
The business is a large operation, farming with 2400 hectares of potatoes and onions in
Pukekohe, Onewhero, Pukekawa, Te Kauwhata, Matamata, Heretaunga, Ohakune, and
Canterbury. Their potatoes are used for French fries, crisps and the fresh market. The
onions are mainly exported.
Balle Bros employ 400 staff with most of the crop being mechanically harvested these days.
Very little is done by hand. On a seasonal cycle they plant early potatoes in April/May and
they’re harvested in October. The main crop spuds are planted in September/October and
harvested in March, April and May. The seed potatoes mainly come from the South Island.
SCIENCE
THURSDAY
Gallagher https://am.gallagher.com/nz
When Joe the horse decided to use the family car as a scratching post, it inspired Bill
Gallagher (senior) to solve the problem by electrifying the car. Joe got the message and the
concept for the world’s first ever electric fence system was born. That innovative drive
remains at the heart of Gallagher today.
Now an international company operating in over 130 countries, it is still pushing the
boundaries every day. It works alongside customers to find the ground-breaking solutions
that make farming lives easier and more enjoyable and their operations more efficient and
profitable.
With over 1000 people worldwide and centuries of combined in-market experience, we’re
proud to be the global leader in animal management.
Ligar Polymers: http://www.ligarpolymers.com/
Ligar makes materials (polymers) that remove specific contaminants and extract valuable
materials from fluids such as water, oil, wine and juices. For example, in wine there are
many unwanted flavour taints, such as cork taint (from yeast infections), smoke taint (from
bush fires) or bitterness (many possible causes). They make a specific polymer that removes
the molecule that causes the taint, which means the polymer will only bind and capture that
molecule and leave the positive flavours untouched. It is like making a puzzle piece that fits
only one piece of the puzzle, in this case the molecule which causes the taint in wine. They
can then filter wine past the polymer. As the taint molecule passes by the polymer, it gets
locked into the polymer and stops flowing through with the wine. The filtered wine at the
end will have no taint.
Another example is removing pesticides from foods. They develop materials to capture the
specific pesticides, then filtering the fluid food past the materials which will bind with the
pesticide and therefore remove it from the food.
Looking at extraction, Ligar can also extract very high value materials from fluids. For
example, it is developing polymers that extract materials from plants that can then be used
in medicines.
The material they use is a polymer which is coated onto tiny beads or bind into nanofibers
for ease of use as a filtering media. The polymer is imprinted with a particular molecule (the
target) so that the polymer, when it comes into contact with the target will bind to it. There
is a different polymer for every target. Imprinted polymers have been made for many years
at small scale. Ligar has developed a method which lets them make them on a large scale.
They can be used to target many different types of organic molecules and metals.
They are currently working with the tanning industry (capturing and recycling chromium),
the wine industry (capturing and removing various taints and agro chemicals), mining
companies (extracting and separating valuable rare earth elements), and many other
industries removing pesticides, smells, flavours, etc, some of which are valuable and some
contaminants.
GENERAL
THURSDAY
Fonterra Te Rapa
www.fonterra.com/nz/en/about/our%2Blocations/newzealand/te%2Brapa/te
%2Brapa
Fonterra’s Te Rapa manufacturing site, in north Hamilton, has long been a showcase for the
New Zealand dairy industry. Established in 1967, Te Rapa produces more than 325,000
tonnes of milk powders and cream products for export every year. Located in the Waikato,
one of New Zealand’s strongest dairying regions, the site processes more than eight million
litres per day at peak – around 300 tanker loads – and accounts for about 20% of the cooperatives’s annual milk powder production.
Cambridge Stud: www.cambridgestud.co.nz
Cambridge Stud is New Zealand’s finest thoroughbred nursery. Owned by Sir Patrick and
Justine, Lady Hogan, Cambridge Stud has been responsible for standing the greatest
stallions to have ever stood in New Zealand, Sir Tristram and Zabeel (still active).
Cambridge Stud has also been New Zealand’s leading vendor at the National Yearling Sales
for the past 31 years and is internationally recognised for its excellence in breeding top
animals.
Cambridge Stud was established in 1975 and during the nearly four decades since has been
progressively developed into a showpiece property, spreading over 1000 acres of the finest
horse country New Zealand has to offer.
Sir Tristram arrived at Cambridge Stud in 1976; it was the beginning of a stud career which
at one time saw him as the world’s leading sire for individual Group One winners. When the
curtain came down on his long and illustrious career, Sir Tristram left a record of 45
individual Group One winners.
One of Sir Tristram’s 45 Group One winners was his son from Lady Giselle, Zabeel. Zabeel
followed on in Sir Tristram’s footsteps as a world-class sire and to this day remains
Australasia’s greatest active stallion. Zabeel has sired 41 Group One winners (to date); has
been Australia’s Champion Sire twice. In the current season Zabeel is the leading
Broodmare Sire in both Australia and New Zealand. (Zabell died on September 26)
Sir Patrick Hogan gained his knighthood in 1999. Eight years earlier he was awarded the
Companion of the Order of the British Empire. He was inducted into the Australian Racing
Hall of Fame in 2005 and the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame in 2006.
Sir Patrick and Justine, Lady Hogan have been voted New Zealand Breeder of the Year on
four occasions and in 2004 were voted New Zealand Owners of the Year.
Other special achievements include the US Thoroughbred Times naming Cambridge Stud as
the world’s leading stud in 2005 for percentage of stakes winners to runners for stallions
standing at stud. In 2008, Sir Tristram was inducted in the NZ Racing Hall of Fame.
DAIRY
FRIDAY
Fonterra Te Rapa
Fonterra’s Te Rapa manufacturing site, in north Hamilton, has long been a showcase for the
New Zealand dairy industry. Established in 1967, Te Rapa produces more than 325,000
tonnes of milk powders and cream products for export every year. Located in the Waikato,
one of New Zealand’s strongest dairying regions, the site processes more than eight million
litres per day at peak – around 300 tanker loads – and accounts for about 20% of the cooperatives’s annual milk powder production.
Sue and David Fish: balancing multi-farm ownership fishsd@farmside.co.nz
Sue and David Fish run three dairy farms in Eastern Waikato, near Morrinsville. Sue is a dairy
farmer from Britain, David grew up on a family dairy farm in Waikato. They both love the
challenge of rearing stock from birth, taking them through to full production. They enjoy
the seasons, there’s always another one to plan for.
They’ve bought, developed and sold several farms in the area and find it challenging and
enjoyable developing plans to improve systems, implementing them and getting good
results. Sue has a real strength in recruiting, managing and training staff, teaching them
about all the aspects of dairy farming. The three farms are: Westmorland Estate, 122 ha
milking 470 cows; Somerset Farm, 78 ha milking 300 cows; Longridge, 128 ha milking 500
cows. The cows are crossbred ‘kiwi’ cows, a mix of jersey and friesian.
They also have two ‘support’ farms totalling 130 ha. This is where they carry their own
replacement stock for two years. On these blocks they also grow 44ha of maize for maize
silage which goes back into the home farms when needed to supplement the cows. They
prefer to grow the maize themselves rather than purchasing it on the spot market. These
support blocks are a point of difference for Sue and David Fish. It gives them total control
over how their young stock are grown. Many dairy farmers send calves off-farm where
someone else does the rearing.
The main fertiliser is chicken litter from a boiler chicken operation. They spread it over the
farms every six weeks. They also spray irrigate dairy shed effluent. Half of each farm can be
spray irrigated. Liquid nitrogen and projib is used to boost growth in spring.
Westmorland and Longridge farms both have three permanent staff – Somerset has two
permanent staff and there is a relief milker/general hand who covers all three farms. Sue
and David are also on the farms.
David’s philosophy is TPP: thinking, planning and pricing. He says his TPP is better than the
TPP (International Trade deal) the New Zealand Government is negotiating at present
because his works. He says success comes down to thinking and planning very well, and
working out how to make things work in a low payout environment. He says this can mean
changing crops and feeding regimes a lot.
(There are no specific environmental things being done on farm because it’s flat with no
running waterways. It does have amenity planting of London Plane Trees. )
RED MEAT
FRIDAY
Wayne and Debara Derrick – quality calf rearers
The Derricks’ farm is 26 hectares of mostly flat to rolling country with a couple of steep
gullies. The main emphasis on the farm is calf rearing, although every year they rear 30-40
Angus and Hereford cattle and take them through to export weights.
In spring they rear 850 friesian heifers for export. They rear the calves for a fee and a
contract person buys all the calves, which are exported. This spring they are also running 50
wagyu cattle that belong to Firstlight Foods, a specialist company that exports the product
to high value markets such as Japan. In autumn they will be running between 150 and 300
wagyu cattle for Firstlight Foods. Wagyu is a relatively new breeding option for New
Zealand farmers, it’s a product known for its intra-muscular fat. They look a little smaller
and less beefy than traditional beef breeds, so it has taken New Zealand farmers a while to
get used to them.
Calves arrive between four and 20-days-old. For two weeks they are raised in a barn on
premium milk replacer and museli before being moved outside where they eat grass and are
fed pellets and milk. All the calves are weaned at between 85 to 90 kgs. Friesian heifers
leave at 95kgs and wagyu leave at 90kgs.
Wayne doesn’t employ any staff; the farm is run with help from his wife Debara and oneyear-old Ella. They love working outdoors with animals and really enjoy getting the
satisfaction they get from raising babies into big healthy animals. Wayne and Debara are a
great team with on-farm roles that suit their different strengths. While not one of the
biggest calf rearing operators in Waikato, they are bigger than average, striving for quality,
not quantity. Being big users of milk powder, the ups and downs of the dairy industry
impacts on their business. This season milk powder is a lower price than in recent years,
which helps their finances.
Alexander Farming Genetics: Middle Earth farming
Alexander Farming Genetics is farming 560 ha in the central Waikato. The farm is run as an
intensive breeding and finishing operation, wintering around 9000 su at over 17 su/ha. It
regularly achieves a lambing percentage of around 150%. One of its main objectives is ewe
efficiency, with these results being achieved from high performing medium weight ewes. It
is the ability of the sheep to perform under a high stocking rate, withstand a FE challenge
and recover from tough environmental conditions that is of most importance to the
Alexanders.
“We are currently initiating a lot of work in the area of molecular breeding values (DNA)
with Zoetis and we see this as the next increase in productivity through increased genetic
gain. We have also become leaders in the field of worm resilience, resistance and research,
and with the help of AgResearch have now made a large investment into this area. We feel
that this is one of the more challenging problems that New Zealand sheep farming faces in
the years ahead.”
The Alexanders’ property is the home farm of Hobbition – one of the film sets of The Lord of
the Rings trilogy.
HORTICULTURE
FRIDAY
Vilagrad Winery: old and new world winemaking. www.vilagradwines.co.nz
Vilagrad Winery traces its history in New Zealand back more than 100 years. Its founding
father was Croatian Ivan Milicich snr who arrived in New Zealand in 1893. He left his small
village of Pogora on the Dalmatian coast behind, but he retained a deep abiding love for his
homeland and people. These attributes continue to influence subsequent generations of his
family in New Zealand.
For over a decade Ivan snr worked as a kauri gum-digger and on contract jobs, saving to help
his brothers emigrate, and to buy his own land. In 1906 he began to grow grapes on his
small dairy farm at Ngahinapouri, Waikato, and in 1922 he obtained a license to make and
sell wine. This was the beginning of a Waikato family business which is now in its fifth
generation. The winery is known as Vilagrad, where the great-grand sons of Ivan Milicich snr
make award-winning wines using both modern and traditional techniques.
Each generation has brought changes and extensions to the family business.Current owners,
Ivan's grand-daughter Nelda, and her husband Pieter Nooyen, replanted much of the
vineyard with classic varieties of grape, as well as maintaining some of the traditional
varieties. Vilagrad Winery continues to produce ports and sherries from their almost 100year-old vines planted by Ivan snr. Ivan snr’s three great-grandson's have their own label, '3
Brothers' which specialises in five different varietals, with the grapes being grown in five
well-known regions in New Zealand.
BBC Technologies:
http://www.bbctechnologies.com
BBC Technologies is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of advanced sorting and
packing equipment. The company employs over 120 staff and is headquartered just outside
of Hamilton, New Zealand. BBC Technologies’ heritage runs deep in the horticulture
industry, having been founded in 1999 by the Furniss Family: owner-operators for over 25
years of Blueberry Country, New Zealand’s largest blueberry farm. Working with producers
across the globe and closely with its sister company, BBC Technologies’ research and
development team are able to constantly improve its electronic equipment.
In 2015, BBC Technologies released the CURO-16 filling system, the world’s fastest filling
machine.
Servicing a large global footprint with markets in North and South America, Europe and Asia
Pacific, BBC Technologies’ equipment is operated in more than 25 countries.
SCIENCE
FRIDAY
Plant & Food Research
Dr David Pattemore is a pollination scientist with Plant & Food and will be discussing its
efforts to develop a range of pollination strategies for growers to choose from, including the
most efficient use of honey bees, managed bumble bee colonies and utilising wild
pollinators. Plant & Food Research's Pollination & Apiculture team has worked closely with
beekeeping and horticultural industries for over two decades; optimising crop pollination
and maintaining healthy honey bees. Current projects include developing an integrated
control programme for the Varroa mite and developing techniques to manage bumble bee
colonies for orchard-scale pollination.
Dr Peter Schaare is the science group leader of Plant & Food’s Bioengineering Technologies
Group that develops and applies physical technologies to support the growth of plant-based
food industries and the manufacturing and exporting industries based around them. The
group comprises engineers, physicists, chemists and plant physiologists and interacts
strongly with other research groups both within and outside Plant & Food Research. He will
be discussing new technologies for the assessment and treatment of fresh produce such as
advances in vision grading and the use of volatiles for determining produce condition.
AgResearch
AgResearch is New Zealand’s largest Crown Research Institute (CRI) and partners with the
pastoral sector to identify and deliver the innovation that is needed to create value for the
country. It has approximately 800 staff spread across four campuses and farms in the
Waikato, Manawatu, Canterbury and Otago.
AgResearch plays a key role in delivering new knowledge and technologies which underpin
the pastoral, agri-food and agri-technology value chains. We do this by working closely with
sector partners and our strategy is outlined in our Statement of Corporate Intent.
We are the lead CRI in the following areas:





Pasture-based animal production systems
New pasture plant varieties
Agriculture-derived greenhouse gas mitigation and pastoral climate change adaption
Agri-food and bio-based products and agri-technologies
Integrated social and biophysical research to support pastoral, agri-food and agritechnology sector development.
We work with other research providers and end-users to contribute to the development of
the following areas:

Biosecurity, land, soil and freshwater management

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Climate change adaption and mitigation
Food and beverage sector (including foods for human nutrition and health, food
technologies and food safety).
This afternoon’s visit is to AgResearch’s new dairy goat research facility at its Ruakura
campus. More detail on the facility can be found here
http://www.agresearch.co.nz/news/new-dairy-goat-research-gets-underway-at-ruakura/
GENERAL
FRIDAY
Gallagher https://am.gallagher.com/nz
When Joe the horse decided to use the family car as a scratching post, it inspired Bill
Gallagher (senior) to solve the problem by electrifying the car. Joe got the message and the
concept for the world’s first ever electric fence system was born. That innovative drive
remains at the heart of Gallagher today.
Now an international company operating in over 130 countries, it is still pushing the
boundaries every day. It works alongside customers to find the ground-breaking solutions
that make farming lives easier and more enjoyable and their operations more efficient and
profitable.
With over 1000 people worldwide and centuries of combined in-market experience, we’re
proud to be the global leader in animal management.
Dan Hinton: pushing the traditional NZ seasonal production system
Dan Hinton farms just east of Hamilton in a small settlement called Eureka. He milks 550
friesian cows off 166 effective hectares.
The farm has been in the Hinton family since 1914 when Dan’s great grandfather purchased
it. Initially it was a dairy farm, converted to beef when Dan was very young, and then went
back into dairy land when he left home at 17.
Dan spent time overseas and working on other farms before having a serious accident. He
thought he’d never farm again so started tractor and truck driving, before realising he
wanted to still be involved in dairying, so in his early thirties he completed an agricultural
degree at Lincoln University. He planned to become a farm consultant, which he did for a
couple of years. His parents then gave him the chance to return home.
Upon taking over the home farm as a sharemilker, he increased the stocking rate from 450
cows to 550, and moved production from 900 kg/milk solids /ha, to 1500 kgs/MS/ha.
To cope with the increased cow numbers he buys in supplementary feed, but he keeps the
cost structure low, at around $3.80 a kilo of milksolids. He says the key to a successful farm
is maintaining pasture quality where the grass is well used and imported feed is only used to
fill gaps. He spends a lot of time teaching his farm workers how to observe pasture and
know when it is the best time to graze.
He has converted the farm to be autumn calving because he believes that matches the
cows’ feed demands to grass quality, rather than supply, as happens in spring calving herds.
His motto is “fat cows are calving”, a saying which is even on his fiancee’s car licence plate.
His main environmental project has been putting in a 4 million litre effluent storage facility,
which lets him spray irrigate the effluent when the weather and soils are optimum. Some of
the effluent is sprayed onto his maize or kale growing ground to boost P levels, the rest is
sprayed onto pasture to encourage growth. Dan is working with the regional council to draw
up plans to plant up low-lying, peat/swamp areas of the property. The farm also has many
waterways so he is just beginning riparian planting.
Dan employs a farm manager and one of his goals is to build up a skill base so there are
options for business development, whether that’s finding another large sharemilking job for
himself, or a small operation the farm manager could move onto. His financee also helps
with milking, calving and farm work.
Dan says the best part about farming is being able to disappear any time he wants because
he has skilled, trained staff who cope when he’s not around. He says there’s always work
ahead, every day is fun and enjoyable, and once you decide dairying is not a job, but what
you do, you’re away.
DAIRY
SATURDAY
Meyer Gouda: Champion cheesemaker. www.meyer-cheese.co.nz
The Meyer Gouda Cheese story began in a tiny village in the South of the Netherlands. After
visiting a monastery in Postel where monks were producing hand-made cheese, Ben and
Fieke Meyer were inspired to try cheesemaking themselves. Independence, working close to
nature and producing a good honest product, appealed to the young couple. They lived on
a farm in a converted old chicken shed called Het Hok and at night after work they travelled
to cheese farms to purchase second-hand equipment to carefully restore for the factory. All
the work was done by hand and every cent they earned went into their cheese factory. They
made their first Gouda cheese in 1976.
In 1981, they applied to immigrate to New Zealand and eventually in 1983, they were also
offered permanent residency in New Zealand. In 1984, Ben and Fieke arrived in the land of
the long white cloud with three small children, Geert (4), Fieke (2) and baby Miel.
The Meyers settled in Waikato , quickly setting up their cheesemaking business. Initially they
struggled with the New Zealand milk as Kiwi dairy cows’ milk composition differed
dramatically from milk in The Netherlands. Five years later they purchased their own farm
to control milk supply, a decision paramount to the quality of their cheese production today.
Meyer Gouda Cheese is now a fully-fledged family affair with the next generation at the
helm. Miel took over as general manager of Meyer Gouda Cheese after Ben and Fieke
retired in 2007. In August 2011, eldest son Geert came back from The Netherlands as head
cheesemaker for Meyer Gouda Cheese.
The family has 160 hectares and about 400 mostly Friesian cows, although they cross them
with a Jersey occasionally for milk quality for the cheese. The factory takes up to 5000L of
milk a day and the rest goes to the Fonterra co-operative. This system lets them collect the
best of the season’s milk for cheesemaking.
They make only Dutch Gouda style cheese, which is what the parents started making in the
beginning. Over the years the Meyer cheese has won nearly every award possible and the
family is extremely proud it has produced not only an award-winning product, but one that
performs consistently year in, year out. Thanks to winning so many national awards, larger
supermarket chains are now selling their product, as well as the specialty food stores and
delicatessens that have always been an outlet for them. They also sell direct to people if it is
a whole wheel.
Four staff work fulltime in the business, with more coming on board during the peak
periods. The cheese is mainly sold through distributors, which they like because it lets them
concentrate on quality production, rather than sales. Two of the Meyer siblings work in the
business and their partners work when they can, or when they’re needed, with their parents
still helping out at food-shows and events. The other sister and her husband Bert run the
dairy farm, so it is a true family business.
The main growth market for the cheesemakers has been in the added value market.
Previously their main market was wholesale and whole wheels, but now a lot of the product
it cut into retail ready portions.
Meyer Gouda Cheese has some impressive awards: 1994, Cheese of the Decade, 2012
Cheesemaker of the Year, 2013 Supreme Champion, 2014 Supreme Champion, 2015
Cheesemaker of the year.
Fonterra innovation: session with Dr Jeremy at the Novotel Hotel.
RED MEAT
SATURDAY
Colin Brown: Lake Farm Beef : paddock to plate beef www.lakefarmbeef.co.nz
Lake Farm Beef is an artisan beef breeder with extremely calm cattle enjoying life on a 30
hectare, lakeside property. The operation’s mission is to breed an angus herd as good as
anything in the world, specifically for eating quality, which means 1% marbling, tender, a
large eye muscle and heavy carcass. They are currently recording the cattle so these goals
are objective, and not subjective. Any animal that does not provide these traits after testing,
will not be used for replacement breeding.
Most replacement animals are embryo transfer progeny – using the highest recorded
females mated to the world’s best bulls for these required traits.
Lake Farm Beef sells prime beef cuts directly to consumers on-line. It also produces gourmet
pies with the aim of producing the ‘best pies on the planet’ with large chunks of meat and
chef quality recipes.
The Browns see their operation as so much more than paddock-to-plate; rather conceptionto-consumption. It is very much a providence story – they only supply what they breed and
raise. They do not buy in beef, or cattle to fatten.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Steak of Origin competition is a prestigious annual competition
to find the best steak in the country. Every steak is tested scientifically and taste tested by a
panel of judges. Lake Farm Beef has won both the champion breeding side of the
competition and the champion selling side in recent years.
Regardless of all the awards, Lake Farm Beef is very focused on making sure the animals are
not only ethically raised, but have a great, stress-free life. Every animal is named; there are
no dogs, and when animals go to slaughter, they always go in pairs, or threes, to make that
final journey as stress-free as possible. This is extremely important to Colin and is a central
driver.
Rob Taylor : export lamb finisher
Rob Taylor’s farm is 230 hectares of rolling to steep country. His stocking rate can vary
quickly, but in the 2015 season he has 3000 lambs of mixed breed. He has between 250 and
300 hereford-friesian cross heifers, and steers.
A big part of Rob’s business is lamb finishing, which means he buys in store lambs at 28 to
31 kilos live weight and sells them at 45 plus live weight. Lamb finishing means fattening the
lambs ready for sale. They are usually on the farm for six to eight weeks, depending on
the time of the year and feed levels. The lambs are rotationally grazed on 42 hectares of
Chicory and clover, and rye and clover pastures, and drenched for internal parasites every
four weeks.
This is a very intensive lamb-finishing programme so animal welfare is second nature to Rob.
If he requires extra advice he uses the local vet club. Lambs are docked for animal welfare
purposes, it helps prevent fly strike and dags (dung that sticks to the wool).
The aim of this farming property is to have the lambs on the farm for the shortest possible
time. When they arrive on the farm, they are weighed and split into three groups. The
heaviest ones are given priority feed and may only be on the farm for three weeks. Rob
uses a Gallagher automatic 3-way drafter with computer operation, capable of moving 600
animals an hour. This is an important piece of equipment as it takes the guess-work out of
whether the lambs are at the weight required for him to get a premium price.
The farm’s records and physical structures such as the woolshed and yards are audited
every three years to make sure they are kept up to a required standard. To maintain a high
quality farm, Rob continually maintains and upgrades fences and recently he’s completed
fencing all streams to keep cattle out.
The Taylor farm backs onto the large Maungatautari Ecological Island reserve and some of
his native bush is now in the reserve. He’s changed from using urea, to gribpro. This
encourages grass growth but doesn’t leach N into the waterways the way urea can.
Rob’s early life was spent on a dairy farm in Taranaki. His father bought this current farm
when he was 12, and after attending an agricultural college until he was 17, he returned to
work on the property and has been there ever since. Initially all the stock work was on
horseback, now it’s all on quad bikes. They used to make all the fence batons out of their
own native trees and now they buy them in. The original farm was about 60 hectares of
bush, which they broke in by the back-breaking slog of slashing, chainsawing, burning and
then grassing.
SCIENCE
SATURDAY
CRV Ambreed https://www.crv4all.co.nz/
CRV Ambreed is part of the third largest artificial breeding company in the world with
around 25% market share in New Zealand. It exports semen to South America, South Africa,
Australia, parts of North America, the UK and Ireland. Currently close to 1.8 million straws of
semen are distributed to domestic and export markets from its facilities each year.
CRV Ambreed’s breeding programme focuses on producing long-lasting, productive cows.
Emphasis is placed on increasing genetic gain for protein production while maintaining the
size of the Friesian, emphasising efficiency and sustainability for farmers’ future herds, and
improving shed traits, capacity and udders.
Sires developed by CRV Ambreed breed cows that typically produce on average 450kg of
milk solids each year and last for at least 5.5 lactations.
In December last year, CRV Ambreed officially opened its new, purpose-built, world-class
domestic and export-approved bovine semen production and logistics centre. The centre
ensures CRV Ambreed can continue to meet the changing needs of the dairy industry, both
within New Zealand and around the world.
The centre houses a semen collection facility, a semen processing laboratory, storage space
for export and domestic products, a warehouse with farmer AI banks and 38 hectares of
grazing paddocks.
Pastoral 21
Pastoral 21 Next Generation Dairy Systems is a five-year farm programme that aims to
provide proven, profitable, simple, adoption-ready systems that lift production and reduce
nutrient loss. It is a collaborative venture among DairyNZ, Fonterra, Dairy Companies
Association of New Zealand, Beef + Lamb New Zealand and the Ministry of Business,
Innovation and Employment, and managed by AgResearch. The programme has been set up
in four regions to address issues relevant to that area.
The visit will be to DairyNZ's Scott Farm, Hamilton
Project goal: To show that an average
Waikato farm could increase annual milk production by up to 200kg/ha with increased profit
per hectare, while reducing nitrogen leaded from 35-50+ kg/ha per year down to 2030kg/ha per year.
Project details: Since the start of the 2011/12 season, two 13ha farmlets
have been compared. One represents a typical Waikato farm, with a stocking rate of 3.2
cows/ha. The other with a stocking rate of 2.6 cows/ha, represents a farm managed more
efficiently.
Prior to the visit to Scott Farm, two AgResearch scientists will background pastoral issues.
Dr Stewart Ledgard is a Principal Scientist in the Land and Environment Section at
AgResearch. He is internationally recognised for research in two areas: nitrogen cycling in
pastoral farming systems and the development and evaluation of practical farm mitigation
options to reduce nitrogen losses; and life cycle management, which targets resource use
efficiency and environmental emissions efficiency across the life cycle of agricultural
products. Recent focus has been on environmental footprinting of milk, meat and fibre
products from agriculture in collaboration with primary sector groups. Stewart is also an
adjunct Professor of the New Zealand Life Cycle Management Centre, Massey University. He
will discuss: New Zealand pastoral farms focus on low-cost grazing systems but are also
having to meet constraints on minimising environmental emissions. Major focus is on
reducing nitrogen and phosphorus loss from farms to waterways. In an increasing number
of lake and river catchments, this is associated with limits on per-hectare losses from farms,
particularly for nitrogen. There is also recognition of our need to achieve a low
environmental footprint of our products supplied into overseas markets. Research will be
described on the environmental footprint of products using life cycle assessment, the main
determining factors and effects of mitigation practices.
HORTICULTURE
SATURDAY
McGrath Nurseries: species developer www.mcgrathnurseries.co.nz
McGrath Nurseries Ltd is a fruit tree nursery established in the Waikato in 1980. It grows
around 350,000 fruit trees and 750,000 rootstocks annually on 109 hectares. The main crop
grown is apple trees, however McGrath Nurseries Ltd supplies 95% of New Zealand’s cherry
trees and 75% of the apricot trees. It is one the biggest, or depending on the year, the
biggest, fruit tree nursery in New Zealand.
McGrath Nurseries is known for introducing new varieties, varietal Intellectual Property
Management and technology innovation. It focuses strongly on the customer and its
business has expanded to vertically integrate the production systems. McGrath controls
who grows the trees, how many are grown, who sells them, who buys them, and at what
price.
Owner Andy McGrath searches the world’s breeding programmes for new fruit varieties
that will enhance the value chain in the New Zealand market. Varieties are then imported,
tested and promoted in New Zealand, and more recently worldwide, for the benefit of
breeders, growers, and the business.
McGrath Nurseries specialise in exclusive license arrangements between owners, growers
and marketers which means varieties are protected for the owners and gives them accurate
royalty payments.
McGrath Nurseries has imported Cornell Geneva rootstocks from Cornell University in the
USA, giving New Zealand growers naturally bred, multi-disease and pest resistant rootstocks
with high yield efficiency. It has imported and developed the Honeycrisp apple from
University of Minnesota in the USA, established a fruit growing region in the Timaru area of
the South Island which exports the fruit to the USA in their off-season resulting in high
returns back to the NZ grower, and it’s developed the KORU® Brand, a chance seedling
discovered on the South Island of New Zealand, into a world variety with production to date
established in New Zealand and USA (www.koruapple.co.nz).
A passion for improvement through innovation, along with finding out what’s best for the
customer, continue to be the driving force at McGrath Nurseries.
Whitehall Fruitpackers: kiwifruit growers
Mark and Robyn Gardiner of Whitehall Fruitpackers are among the earliest kiwifruit growers
in the Waikato, a region that grows around 4% of Zespri’s fruit. The cold winters the region
is known for produces high taste fruit, while the frost, fog and hail have also provided
challenging conditions for growers.
Mark and Robyn are the largest single organic growers in the country. Zespri is on track to
sell around 3.9 million trays of New Zealand Zespri organic kiwifruit this season, which
makes up around 3% of the total 119 million trays sold in 2015/16.
Their production figures are:
Organic:
SunGold
Green
16 hectares
2015 Production: 97,180 trays
110 hectares 2015 Production: 623,136 trays
Conventional:
SunGold
50 hectares
2015 Production: 86,378 trays
Hayward
10 hectares
2015 Production: 31,651 trays
Mark has been heavily involved in grower groups like New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers
Association and industry committees.
GENERAL
SATURDAY
Maungatautari Ecological Reserve
http://www.maungatrust.org/
Maungatautari is an outstanding conservation initiative, surrounded by farmland,
undertaken by forward-looking environmentalists, farmers and locals. It has seen 3363
hectares of native bush on a Waikato landmark, entirely fenced with a New Zealand
designed pest-proof fence. 833 hectares of the area is privately owned or in Maori
ownership.
Within the enclosure are two smaller double-fenced areas, which has let the Trust running
the venture, release endangered bird species and allow easy access for the public. These
two smaller enclosures were completed by December 2004, with the full 47 km length fence
around the entire area completed in 2006.
The aim of the project is to remove for ever, or control, introduced mammalian pests and
predators from the mountain and restore to the forest a healthy diversity of indigenous
plants and animals not seen in our lifetime.
Ten fulltime equivalent staff, and six contractors run the reserve with the help of 450
registered volunteers. Around 150 volunteers are active throughout the year. The work
carried out by volunteers is valued at $350,000 year. The reserve is visited by 15,000 to
20,000 people a year, including 3000 children who come for educational programmes.
A large number of endangered birds have been transferred to Maungatautari, including the
North Island robin, North Island saddleback, stitchbirds, whiteheads, kiwi, yellow crowned
parakeets, takahe, North Island kaka, Mahoenui giant weta, tuatara, and kokako. Some
species have gone so well in this reserve that they have been able to relocate them to other
areas in New Zealand. This includes takahe and kiwi.
In order to reduce pests in the early days, aerial drops of 1080 (sodium monofluoroacetate)
and two of an anticoagulant called Brodifacoum, were completed between 2003 and 2008.
This was mainly to reduce possums and rats to levels where they could be managed using
ground-baiting methods. All pest control since 2009 has been done using ground-based
methods. Though possums, mustelids and rats are now largely excluded from the scenic
reserve, mice still remain within the fence. These do not cause significant problems for our
birds, but they may do in future for reptiles and invertebrates such as native snails and
weta.
Bill Garland: farming in harmony with the bush
Rahiri Farm, translated means “to welcome”. It’s a 430Ha hill country property on the
western slopes of Maungatautiri, directly south of Lake Karapiro. Altitude is 150 meters to
460 meters. 360 Ha is grazable land, 20 ha production forestry, and 40 ha native bush and
natural wetlands. The farm runs 1950 breeding ewes, 350 replacement sheep and 400 - 450
mixed age cattle. Half the ewes are composite, or mixed breeds, and their progeny are used
solely for meat production. Romney bred sheep make up the rest of the flock, these are
mated to a composite sire, and ewe lambs are used as replacements for the composite
flock. Romney ewe replacements are brought in from a flock that has been breed for
tolerance to animal health problems, such as facial eczema and internal parasites. They dock
3000 - 3300 lambs from the 1950 ewes and ewe hoggets.
All cattle are sourced from the dairy industry at 100 kg liveweight, and are slaughtered at
two-years-of-age. Most of the meat is destined for the American grinder beef market.
Approximately 90% of the 2600 - 2700 lambs finished for slaughter are sold to Wholefoods
supermarket chain in America. The Garlands have to meet certain specifications for this
market, seven months of the year. They have to meet stringent food safety standards, and
the lambs are all grass fed. The conditions are that there are no antibiotics, GMO, and no
hormones in the lifetime of the animal. Most of the 1500 kg of crossbred wool produced is
sold to a local carpet manufacturer.
Their goals are to farm the land as sustainably as possible, at the same time as making the
most income posssible out of all classes of livestock and land. “We also strive to take care of
the welfare of our animals, and maintain the farm in a way that makes it a pleasant place to
work and share with others.”
Their biggest input cost is fertiliser and lime. They apply up to 200 tonnes of fertiliser
annually, using fixed wing aircraft, trucks and helicopters. The additional cost of using a
helicopter can be justified where accuracy is important, and to avoid contamination of
waterways and sensitive areas.
Every year the Garlands budget a certain amount for environmental enhancement and
restoration work. Over 25 ha of steeper land which should not have been developed, has
been retired. 40 ha of native bush and wetlands, have been protected with perpetual
covenants, registered on the title. About 25 km of fencing has been erected to protect these
areas. The property is adjacent to the 3500 ha Maungatautiri restoration project. 8 km of
the pest proof fence is on the property, and 25 ha of their private land is part of the
restoration project.
The farm features in New Zealand's National Museum, Te Papa, as an example of balancing
commercial land use, with environmental sustainability. Maungatautiri and the surrounding
districts have a rich Maori history, particularly during the period from the early 1800's
through to the colonisation by European settlers. The property is regularly used for a range
of activities, including education, promotion, recreation and field days.
Bill has been involved in a number of off-farm activities, including regional and national
farming politics, and been a board member of Q.E.2 National Trust, Waikato Conservation
Board, Ballance Farm Environment Awards, and Animal Health Board. Ten years ago he
received an ONZM for services to conservation and farming. Sue and Bill both grew up on
farms in the Cambridge district, and started on their own accord as 20 and 21-year-olds.
They are now close to 50 years on the property – the next challenge is where to from here.
There is still probably 10 – 15 years of environmental work left to be done, and fixing the
mistakes they claim they’ve made in getting to where they are.
http://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/Environment/Natural-resources/Biodiversity/Forestfragments/Forest-fragment-ca.