Category: Radio New Zealand

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Country Life: First stage of Waimate Trail nears completion

Source: Radio New Zealand

A section of the newly surfaced Waimate Trail through DoC land Supplied

The first stage of the 67km Waimate Trail – Te Ara Waimatemate is nearing completion. It will pass through native forest, limestone rock formations, tussock tops, river flats and valleys.

It’s hoped the shared-use trail will be a world-class visitor experience that celebrates heritage and South Canterbury’s varied and spectacular scenery.

The aim is to open the full trail early next year and sponsors are being sought for an accompanying art project.

Cosmo Kentish-Barnes spoke to the trail’s project manager Jo Sutherland.

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Installing the bridge, sponsored by Rotary Supplied

Members of the Waimate Lions Club at work on timber used for construction of the Waimate Trail Supplied

One of the bridges on the Waimate Trail in South Canterbury. The 67 km loop will eventually link Studholme, Kelcey’s, and Gunn’s Bush via the Hunters Hills. Supplied

Learn more:

  • Find out more about the trail.

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Country Life: New book explores rural New Zealand through 100 objects

Source: Radio New Zealand

Stand-up comedians Te Radar and Ruth Spencer have compiled a list of all the things that make up life in the New Zealand countryside. Supplied

Ever wondered about the origins of the ride-on mower or the humble pair of longjohns? Then Te Radar and Ruth Spencer have the book for you.

The couple have partnered with Harper Collins to publish their new book Kiwi Country: Rural New Zealand in 100 Objects.

It tells the stories of the often-overlooked items that make up the rural experience.

Spencer told Country Life she’d gained a new appreciation for such objects after learning more about their stories.

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The book’s 10 chapters explore 10 objects from different aspects of a traditional farm or homestead, including the paddock, orchard, livestock, shed, cowshed, creek, backblocks, smoko and the road.

The homestead covers things used inside the rural home like meat safes, mangles, dunnies and Aunt Daisy’s Book of Handy Hints.

The research was a lot of fun, Spencer said.

“It takes time but it’s wonderful discovering things. It’s kind of like gold mining. You turn up a nugget here or there and it takes you on a journey somewhere else.”

She said the objects chosen – by no means an exhaustive list – reflect changes to rural life and society more generally over time.

“There are some massive changes of course. We brought a lot of amazing innovation in.”

It also highlighted the resilience and adaptability of rural New Zealanders, she said.

The husband and wife duo have recently partnered together on a new book ‘Kiwi Country: Rural New Zealand in 100 Objects’. Supplied

The book is also quite personal, with the couple both weaving in memories and funny anecdotes of their own rural experiences.

Spencer drew heavily on the Blue Mountain sheep station’s shearers’ quarters den in Marlborough where she spent holidays as a child with her family.

“It was just kind of paradise for kids. There’s lots of that place in the book.”

She struggled to choose just one example to exemplify rural experience, emphasising it was not only a book about farms or just for farms.

“This is a book about the rural experience across the board – I mean people who go fishing on a wharf, who have been to a wild hot pool, these are people who have a ride-on mower, have a lifestyle block or just drive in the country and see an honesty box.

“It’s not just for people who have experience on farms. It’s for people who have experience in New Zealand – you’re never very far away from rural life in New Zealand.”

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Unlucky All Blacks wing Caleb Clarke to miss England test

Source: Radio New Zealand

Caleb Clarke and Quinn Tupaea. www.photosport.nz

Caleb Clarke’s frustrating run of injuries has continued with the All Blacks wing ruled out of this weekend’s test against England at Twickenham.

The Blues star suffered a head knock in Sunday’s win over Scotland at Murrayfield and assistant coach Jason Holland confirmed on Monday he would miss next Sunday morning’s test in London.

“He’s got the 12-day stand down, unfortunately,” Ryan said.

“Unlucky for him, but yeah, he’s out for 12 days.”

Caleb Clarke attempts to evade Darcy Graham of Scotland. ActionPress

It’s a shame for Clarke who has looked good in his limited opportunities in a season hampered by injury, including against Scotland. Clarke missed two of the three July series tests against France with an ankle injury which resurfaced during the Rugby Championship ruling him out of more games.

“He’s come back in the second half of this year really fit and strong and enjoying his footy. He’s playing, he’s having a crack, he’s offloading, he’s loving the contests in the air,” Holland said.

“It’s (the concussion) just one of those footy things. It’s unfortunate, he’s been building really nicely.”

Wing Sevu Reece will rejoin the All Blacks squad from the All Blacks VX and is an option to replace Clarke.

There are no other injury concerns for New Zealand from the Scotland match, though captain Scott Barrett remains in doubt after suffering a laceration to his leg in the win over Ireland earlier this month.

It had been hoped he would be ready for the England test and Holland said they’ll make a call soon.

“He’s tracking reasonably well. I just came out of a lineout meeting with him, actually, so he’s all go. We’ll just see what happens with that. But he’s tracking nicely, so a decision will be made on that in the middle part of the week.”

The England test shapes as possibly the most difficult assignment on the All Blacks end of year tour, in which they’re hoping to achieve a Grand Slam by beating all four home nations.

The All Blacks’ discipline against Scotland left a lot to be desired with the visitors copping three yellow cards. Holland said they can’t afford to do the same against England.

“Yeah, obviously it is frustrating. It puts you under pressure, there’s no doubt about it. So there’s a personal responsibility around that,” Holland said.

“The guys are trying really hard but they’ve just got to be smart in those moments when you’re fatigued and you’re under pressure. If we can put those pressure moments away as much as possible with our rugby and our skills and our game management it will put us under less pressure there. We can’t have three yellow cards in a game.”

Fabian Holland looks to offload the ball whilst under pressure during the Scotland v All Blacks match. ActionPress

The All Blacks’ first half at Murrayfield was superb as they raced out to a 17-nil lead, but they stumbled in the second half again as Scotland stormed back to level the score, before Damian McKenzie’s brilliance nailed the win.

A poor second half has been a bit of a hallmark of the All Blacks this year and Holland knows they’ll need to change that pattern against England.

“I personally saw a lot of good stuff in that first half. We’ve been really looking to use the ball and hold on to the ball and put teams under pressure. And I think we did that really well in the first half and with some good discipline around it and the boys got to play a bit of footy.

“Second half, obviously, we’re under a bit of pressure. A couple of little mistakes, a couple of individual errors. Firstly, we didn’t catch the first kickoff after halftime, gave the ball straight to Scotland and they were ready to have a good crack at us from there and we found it hard to turn it around. The little skill set errors give Scotland the ball and then a couple of little individual errors from trying too hard got us the yellow cards and it sort of was a rolling effect.

“So a couple of things about skill errors first, really. Simple things, you know, a kick-off, a catch pass on an edge, a forward pass, just little things where we took the foot off the throat and Scotland were, you know, they were a good side and they were able to punish us.”

England have won their last nine games in a row and are ranked higher than Scotland.

Holland said the All Blacks will have to be better if they want to beat England at Twickenham, but he’s confident they can address any issues that stemmed from the Scotland match.

“We’ve just got to do what we did for long periods for a bit longer. We don’t want any freebies for England because we know they’ll hurt us. We know what sort of game they’ll play. We know the areas. It’ll be no secret they’ll go after us in the air. They’ve done that against most opposition and it’ll be a great challenge for us around where they go there.”

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F1: Liam Lawson survives clash with team-mate to grab valuable points

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson. FLORENT GOODEN / PHOTOSPORT

Liam Lawson showed some racing maturity and survived a clash with his team-mate to pick up valuable points at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil.

Lawson finished seventh after starting in the same position, but avoided some carnage on the track and for once came out on the right side of a Racing Bulls change of strategy.

Two safety cars in the first ten laps ended Ferrari’s race, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri copped a 10 second penalty for causing a collision, ending any hope he had of challenging team-mate and championship leader Lando Norris.

However, Lawson managed to avoid the crashes and complete his third best finish of the season (fifth in Azerbaijan and sixth in Austria).

“We made the one stop work…. just,” the 23-year-old Kiwi said afterwards.

The soft compound tyres proved ineffective on the Interlagos circuit and so Racing Bulls pitted both cars early to change to mediums.

New Zealand driver Liam Lawson. ALBERTO VIMERCATI / PHOTOSPORT

Lawson then raced the remaining 50 laps on the same set of tyres and managed to hold off Nico Hulkenberg and team-mate Isack Hadjar.

“It was very tough towards the end, the tyres were in good shape at that point, but it’s super sensitive around here,” he said.

“If you push too much in one corner, you pay the price in the next one, therefore tyre management was key.

“On top of that, I was trying to manage energy to make sure I had power down the straights. The strategy worked well for us, so a big congratulations to the team – it’s been a massive effort to have both cars in the points today.”

With Hadjar making a second pit stop, he was on fresher soft tyres at the end and he and Lawson came together at a corner on the final lap. Fortunately both still managed to finish with the Frenchman eighth.

“It’s the last lap of a race, I don’t think anyone can expect, as much as it’s the ideal thing to do, there is no way that we weren’t going to race for a position like that,” Lawson said.

“I respect it, we’re lucky that we came out of it, but it’s been a great weekend for the team.”

The result moves Lawson up one spot to 14th in the Drivers’ Championship and he is now just seven points behind ninth placed Nico Hulkenberg.

Top ten finishes for both cars also meant Racing Bulls ended a streak of three Grands Prix without points.

“It’s been a barren spell for us, so to come back here and qualify so well, to then having both cars in the points is a superb effort,” said team principal Alan Permane.

“We outscore all our rivals in the Championship and give ourselves a healthier gap to 7th in the constructors championship.

“It was very close between both Liam and Isack; we split the strategies, and they ended up racing each other, which we trusted them to do, and Liam came out on top with an excellently managed one-stop strategy.”

Norris won the race to extend his championship lead to 24 points over McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri who finished fifth.

Kimi Antonelli was second, while Max Verstappen was third after starting the race from pit lane.

The next round is in Las Vegas in a fortnight with the final two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

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Te Pāti Māori expels Tākuta Ferris and Mariameno Kapa-Kingi

Source: Radio New Zealand

Te Pāti Māori’s national council has voted to expel MPs Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris, after a period of internal conflict.

The National Iwi Chairs Forum had been hopeful the party’s two factions could patch things up at a hui at a Wellington marae this week.

That plan has been scuppered, after the co-leaders on Monday announced the party’s council – made up of electorate representatives – met on Sunday night and voted “without opposition” to expel Kapa-Kingi and Ferris, with immediate effect.

In response to news of his expulsion, Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris has issued a statement, saying the decision “is plainly unconstitutional”.

A composite image of Tākuta Ferris and Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. RNZ/Liam K. Swiggs

“I do not acknowledge the decisions and illegal resolutions made through unilateral measures.”

In a statement posted on social media, Kapa-Kingi also called the decision unconstitutional and said she intended to appeal it “in all respects”.

“In the meantime, I remain the duly elected Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau and will continue to stand for, and show up for the people of Te Tai Tokerau to do the job I was elected to do.”

The MPs’ statements confirmed Te Tai Tokerau had been excluded from the votes, and Te Tai Tonga abstained.

Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

The affiliation of Ferris and Kapa-Kingi – whose son Eru has also been scathing of party president John Tamihere – has been in question as the stoush in the party escalated.

Co-leader Rawiri Waititi confirmed last Tuesday the party was considering explusion.

Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said it was the result of “serious breaches” of the party’s consistution, and followed six weeks of rigourous debate across electorates and branches – and hui with external groups including the Iwi Chairs Forum.

“Irreconcilable differences remained. The resolution takes effect today.

“This decision was not taken lightly. Many hoped the end would be reconciliation – it could not be achieved. We acknowledge the mamae our people have felt.

“This internal matter should never have played out in public. It has been an unnecessary distraction at a dark time for our country as this government continues its relentless attacks on our people.”

Waititi said they would continue to refocus the party.

Co-leader Rawiri Waititi. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

“Our job is to make this a one-term government. That will require structure, fortitude and unity.”

He said the party had begun “serious conversations” with Labour and the Greens and the party would not comment further on “this internal matter” from today.

“I have absolute confidence in the forefathers who wrote that constitution to bring us to, I think, the right decision made by the council last night.

“This is difficult and this was always going to be a difficult pathway, but as the leaders of this party it is our job to ensure that we bring stability back to the waka and we step up where we need to step up.”

He said the relationships that led to the stoush “extend long before Parliament”.

Whether to entirely expel the MPs from Parliament using the waka-jumping provisions had not yet been a consideration, the leaders said.

RNZ/Samuel Rillstone

Ngarewa-Packer said Tamihere had not been present at the previous night’s vote.

She said there were disciplinary processes being undertaken in relation to leaking of information about the stoush to the media.

Waititi said they would have preferred to deal with the matter inside of the caucus.

“That was out of our control. It was taken to the media before we even had an opportunity to speak about that and I must say that the media have enjoyed it over the last six weeks.

“It had to come to an end, and so we’ve brought it to an end, we must move on. And I wish both Mariameno and Tākuta all the best of luck as we head forward but we had to bring this to a close.”

He said the MPs could legally challenge their explusion through an appeal process.

Ngarewa-Packer said the dispute had damaged the party and those who believed in it.

Tamihere last week urged the MPs to quit after the National Council voted to suspend Kapa-Kingi over office overspending accusations.

That followed a vote of no confidence in Tamihere from Ferris’ Te Tai Tonga electorate branch, which also called for his immediate resignation.

Tamihere accused them of plotting a coup against the co-leaders and said their behaviour was based on “greed, avarice and entitlement”.

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Medafe begins testing Estradot oestrogen patches

Source: Radio New Zealand

Garo Phanie / AFP

A group of women who have had ongoing issues with Estradot patches says they feel like they’ve been heard after Medsafe told them it was initiating independent testing.

A number of women have reported problems with the oestrogen patches not adhering or working properly, which has caused some of their perimenopause symptoms to return.

Manufacturer Sandoz told RNZ it had received about 50 complaints from New Zealand, while Medsafe said it had received 149 complaints.

On Friday, Medsafe officials met with met some of the women to better understand what issues were being experienced.

Bronda Smith, who is the administrator for an online menopause support group, told Morning Report the meeting was encouraging.

“We really felt heard, which was great.”

She said one of the biggest wins of the meeting was Medsafe initiating independent testing.

Smith said Manufacturer Sandoz has done some testing of stock in the US.

“So, they didn’t test the actual batches that were delivered to New Zealand.”

She said the group was also concerned the issue was wider than first thought after finding a Menopause Support Group in the UK had also raised concerns about Estradot last year.

“It’s starting to feel like we’re being a little bit being told porkies by Sandoz,” she said.

In a statement, Sandoz said it had conducted a thorough investigation following the recent complaints and have completed retesting of retained samples of batches distributed in New Zealand.

“We are in discussion with Medsafe and have provided a detailed rationale explaining why local testing in New Zealand is not feasible. This is due to the unavailability of validated laboratories to conduct the tests, the complexity of the product, the nature of the adhesive technology, and the validated processes in place at the manufacturing site.”

It said it fully supported Medsafe conducting its own independent testing and would continue to work closely with them to ensure all regulatory expectations are consistently met.

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said Medsafe took all complaints seriously and started investigating as soon as the first complaints were received.

“This included getting information from the company, their test results for the batches concerned, and assurance of quality from the manufacturing site,” they said.

“Medsafe has initiated independent testing (with PHF here in New Zealand) of batches that have arrived in New Zealand, on top of what the company has done. This may take some time but helps us to work out why we might be receiving complaints when other countries (such as Australia) are not. We are also checking in with our counterparts internationally, where the patches are also supplied.”

The spokesperson said Medsafe would continue to publish updated information on its website.

“We acknowledge that earlier communication about Medsafe’s role may have been helpful for those affected and we will continue to keep the support group and other interested stakeholders updated as the investigation continues.”

The spokesperson said the product did appear to still be working for the majority of women.

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ANZ posts record $2.53 billion profit

Source: Radio New Zealand

ANZ used economic hedges to manage interest rate and foreign exchange risks. RNZ / Marika Khabazi

The country’s biggest bank has reported a record full-year profit largely driven by gains from economic hedges, while lending and margins also increased.

Key numbers for the 12 months ended September compared with a year ago:

  • Net profit $2.53b vs $2.09b
  • Revenue $5.15b vs $5.05b
  • Cash profit $2.37b vs $2.29b (excluding one-offs)
  • Expenses $1.81b vs $1.76b
  • Net interest margin 2.60% vs 2.57%
  • Economic hedges $163m gain vs $195m loss.

ANZ also gained $25 million from money previously set aside for bad debts.

ANZ used economic hedges to manage interest rate and foreign exchange risks, with gains and losses from the hedges reversing over time.

Leaving aside one-offs, ANZ’s cash profit rose 4 percent, with its net interest margin rising by 3 basis points and net interest income rising 4 percent to $4.47 billion.

The bank said customer deposits rose 5 percent, while gross loans and advances increased 4 percent, contributing to overall revenue growth.

Expenses rose 3 percent driven by inflationary pressures.

ANZ NZ chief executive Antonia Watson said banks were a reflection of the economies they operated in, and the result showed New Zealand was turning a corner.

“It has taken New Zealand longer than hoped to recover from the post-Covid rebalancing, but there are now signs the nation’s economy is finally picking up,” Watson said.

ANZ said personal banking income increased 10 percent to $1.24b, while business and agri income was flat at $528m.

Lending to small to medium business (excluding commercial property) rose 4 percent.

“Global uncertainty hasn’t helped but we expect lower inflation and falling interest rates to flow through and boost the recovery as we head into the new year,” Watson said.

She said confidence was returning in regional areas, but Auckland and Wellington, due to the nature of their economies, would take longer to recover.

ANZ’s Australian parent reported a 10 percent drop in profit to A$5.89b, as the group was hit by fines across the Tasman and redundancy costs as it underwent a major restructure.

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Fonterra CEO says Lactalis deal will allow it to grow

Source: Radio New Zealand

123rf / Supplied images

The head of Fonterra says it has been difficult for its brands to compete in global markets after shareholders voted in support of the the sale of its major brands, including Mainland and Anchor, to French dairy giant Lactalis.

More than 88 percent of the votes cast at a special meeting backed the $4.2 billion sale to French dairy giant Lactalis.

The deal includes multi year contracts for Fonterra to supply Lactalis raw ingredients.

It is estimated farmer shareholders will get an average tax free payout of about $392,000.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters’ has strongly criticised the decision and threatened more regulation for Fonterra.

The sale to Lactalis is the final step in Fonterra’s transition to a slimmed-down New Zealand-based supplier of raw ingredients and high-value products to other manufacturers.

Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell told Morning Report they were up against multinationals in large countries that have greater populations and can get products out to markets quicker.

“We are sub-scale down here in the south Pacific and as a result [of] our small population, you’re always going to be hand-strung by what you can grow at.”

Hurrell said the consumer business is about seven percent of Fonterra’s total milk. He said the sale gives Fonterra the ability to put more of its milk into high-value ingredients.

“When you deal with multinationals that have very deep pockets and a global reach far beyond ours, and at the same time as they’re growing in certain markets, you grow with them,” he said.

“Yes, you’re not talking directly to the consumer on the supermarket shelf, but you are talking to multinationals that have a range of products in a range of categories, far beyond what we ever would have. It gives you better insight, I’d argue, in growing with companies that are growing faster then what we would ever grow at.

“For us, it’s about getting closer to those multinationals.”

Addressing concerns that Lactalis could cut Fonterra out of the deal in 10 years time for cheaper milk, Hurrell said it’s “simply not going to happen”.

“They’re not spending $4 billion on these brands to try and dumb them down, remove the good quality milk that we make in New Zealand and put some inferior pricing. You wouldn’t spend this kind of cash on these brands to do that to it.”

It is estimated the sale proceeds would be worth about $4.5b to the economy, with farmer shareholders receiving an average tax-free payout of about $392,000 if the sale went ahead.

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Country Life: LIC’s quest to breed low methane emitting bulls

Source: Radio New Zealand

At 106 metres long and 30 metres wide and with room for up to 120 cows, the multi-million dollar build is the largest research facility of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. Supplied

At 106 metres long and 30 metres wide and with room for up to 120 cows, the Livestock Improvement Corporation’s new methane research barn is the largest facility of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

The multi-million dollar build is the latest in several programmes the farmer co-operative is leading to help reduce methane emissions.

Lactating dairy cows emissions could be cut by up to 5% of the government’s reset 2050 biogenic methane target of 14 – 24 percent below 2017 levels as a result of the research, according to estimates.

What is methane and why is it such a challenge for agriculture?

Country Life spoke to LIC’s senior scientist Dr Lorna McNaughton to learn more.

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Methane is produced by bugs in the rumen digesting plant matter. The rumen is the largest of the four-chambered stomach in ruminant animals like cows and sheep.

“Contrary to popular belief most of the methane is in the cows’ breath,” Dr McNaughton explained.

Though it has a shorter life than carbon dioxide, methane is “more potent”.

The greenhouse gas accounts for more than 70 percent of New Zealand’s agriculture emissions and 43 percent of New Zealand’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

LIC senior scientist Dr Lorna McNaughton. Stephen Barker / Supplied

Since 2020, Dr McNaughton has been working to see if there is genetic variation in how much methane an animal produces, and if so, how that can be exploited to create “more climate-friendly cattle”.

The work to date has largely focused on methane traits in bulls – all of LIC’s Jersey, Holstein-Friesian and Holstein-Friesian-Jersey-cross bulls get measured.

“There’s usually as much variation within a breed as between breeds.”

The “early stage research” focused on measuring how much methane they emit.

“We have a nifty little machine called the green feed. It’s like a giant fan on wheels and it’s also got a big treat box on top of it.”

Animals put their head in and their EID (Electronic Identification) tag is read – if they haven’t eaten in a while, it will drop feed for them to eat and measure the amount of methane in their breath over a three to five minute period.

Animals are allowed to visit five times a day and the data is then collated and averaged.

“It’s really important we measure the feed intake alongside methane because a lot of the variation in methane is just how much they eat. We want to make sure that by selecting for lower methane we’re not selecting for animals that just don’t eat very much and therefore could have negative impacts on productivity.”

They’ve developed a “daughter population” of 400 heifers from these bulls, and have seen a difference in those from high- versus low-emitting bulls.

The Livestock Improvement Corporation, or LIC, opened its new Methane Research Barn in October. Supplied

Dr McNaughton said they hope to know by late 2026 if they can release a methane breeding value.

“It’s looking very promising at this stage,” she said.

The research is now shifting to see if a low emitting animal is also a highly productive animal and if it impacts fertility.

The new barn will help by allowing the team to measure methane emissions from milking cows.

“Genetics is a big numbers game so we need to start investigating how we can get cow measurements.”

“Contrary to popular belief most of the methane is in the cows’ breath,” says senior scientist Dr Lorna McNaughton. Supplied

Earlier this month the government announced new, lower methane reduction targets of between 14 to 24 percent below the 2017 levels by 2050 – and dropped plans for a farmer emissions tax.

Dr McNaughton pointed to other tools being developed to help address methane emissions, including different feed types and commercial methane inhibitors.

“If genetics is an option it’s nice for the farmers in that they’re not having to make on-farm management changes. They’re probably going to be enough of them coming down the pipeline for other challenges.”

LIC has also been involved in work around breeding more heat-tolerant cows, after the “slick” mutation was discovered in a Caribbean-based beef breed named Senepol.

It gives cattle a short, sleek hair coat which significantly improves their heat tolerance.

“We know they’re more heat tolerant. On hot days they’re about half a degree to a degree cooler in terms of rumen temperature.”

Dr McNaughton said the challenge was trying to bring in the Senepol’s slick genes without bringing in the beef characteristics.

They hope to have slick genetics available for farmers in 2029.

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Country Life: Waikato farmer using genetics to ‘solve problems’

Source: Radio New Zealand

Set on 800-hectares in the Waimai Valley, north of Raglan, four generations of the Reeves family have farmed this land. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

Alastair Reeves’ father taught him that farmers can use genetics to solve problems.

The Waimai Valley farmer is carrying on the line of Romney sheep his father started breeding in the 1950s.

“They’re still here probably because they are fit for purpose. They suit our environment, they’re hardy, they produce meat, they produce wool and that’s essentially what’s paid the bills over the last six years so that’s a testament to the breeders that have gone before us,” he told Country Life.

But Reeves has also turned his eye to new sheep traits sought after by the modern farmer.

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He and his wife Ann run the 800-hectare farm, finishing bull beef and running a sheep genetics business. Their children are the fourth generation on this bit of whenua, north of Raglan.

“Dad had a huge focus on ezcema tolerance. He was one of the first breeders to start doing that.

“That was just an issue within Waikato and the Upper North Island, that’s just spreading down the country now.

“What we learned with the whole eczema trait is that genetics can actually solve problems.”

Alastair Reeves, of Waimai Romney. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

Another trait he’s begun breeding for is low methane – a greenhouse gas produced in the rumen, part of the four-chambered stomach of ruminant animals like sheep and cattle.

Reeves said methane emissions are a complex issue facing the sector.

“All I know as a geneticist is I’m here to produce the best genetics for my clients. I want those genetics to make them as profitable as they can receive.”

While methane reduction boluses and vaccines are in development, Reeves sees these as another ongoing expense for farmers.

Alastair and his wife Ann breed two types of sheep – the classic New Zealand Romney, and another breed they developed themselves in 2016, the Waimai CharaBlack. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

Genetics is a “green way” of mitigating the impacts of methane, but one that he says takes time.

“If we can reduce the methane and at the same time improve the productivity of our livestock, that would be a really positive thing and so that’s what we’re trying to do.”

In 2020, Waimai Romney became one of the first flocks in New Zealand to methane test its rams, running 192 rams through AgResearch’s Portable Accumulation Chamber (PAC) trailer.

Since then, they’ve cut methane emissions by 3.2 percent while improving productivity.

Last year the farm was named Waikato’s Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

Over the past 10 years, they’ve also been developing their own breed – the Waimai Charablack. It’s a mix of the French Charolais – which has good marbling and makes “lovely” eating – and the Hampshire, an “old traditional breed”.

They’ve focused on good growth as well as a good “marbled lamb product” equivalent to the “wagyu of lamb”. Alastair said this meant farmers could get premium prices, adding value to the same quantity of lambs.

Reeves said there had been a lot of changes on farm since his father and grandfather’s day.

It had been a tough couple of years for the sector, with farmland being converted to forestry putting pressure on rural communities, especially hill country and sheep farmers.

But there were positive signs too, with wool prices improving and strong global demand for protein, and in spite of the challenges, Reeves still loves what he does.

“It’s a phenomenal product. It’s grass-fed and the world wants it.”

Learn more:

  • You can learn more about the farm here.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand