Category: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The New Zealand economy is set to benefit from an estimated $4.5 billion increase in spending, should the sale of Fonterra’s consumer businesses go ahead.

ASB economists said the proposed sale of Fonterra’s Anchor and Mainland brands to France’s Lactalis was expected to deliver a tax-free capital return of about $3.2b to 8000 shareholding farms throughout New Zealand.

“The average return (to shareholders) would be around $392,000 if the sale goes ahead, and we estimate around 60 percent of shareholding farms could receive at least $200,000,” ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said.

“Some of that money will flow out into broader communities. It will help support on farm investment and all the contractors who are involved in that.”

However, there would also be a trickle-down effect of an estimated $4.5b of direct and indirect spending, once farmers set aside money to pay down debt and for long-term savings.

“This capital return would be a welcome tailwind for farmers, offering a timely boost to confidence and investment.

While it may not single-handedly drive a broader economic recovery, it strengthens the foundation for growth in key sectors.”

Rural communities as well as manufacturing, retail, accommodation, and real estate sectors were likely to directly benefit.

“While many farmers are likely to save or pay down debt to some extent, their investment in cost-saving upgrades and equipment is expected to indirectly lift demand in these sectors,” Tuffley said.

However, the sale was not a done deal, and had been strongly criticised by New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters.

The sale was still subject to shareholder farmer approval in a vote to be held later this month, as well as regulatory approval.

Tuffley said the sale offered opportunities and risks, including greater vulnerability to global trade shifts and changing consumer preferences, particularly in developed markets.

However, he said the timing of the sale coincided with a strong dairy sector with robust incomes.

Strong global demand and resilient commodity prices were expected to keep dairy farm profitability high in the year ahead, with rural areas generally outperforming urban centres.

The proposed sale also aligned with Fonterra’s strategy to shift back to a commodity focus.

“One key thing for everybody to bear in mind is we rely quite heavily on our export incomes,” Tuffley said adding the $4.22b sale price reflected the value of the consumer business built up over time.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Storm-hit farmers are tired, cold and cut off from communications
• More support hubs are being set up
• Rural Support Trust says focus is moving to human welfare

More than 200 dairy farms across Southland are still relying on generators to keep their cows milked, sometimes borrowing them from neighbours or moving them between sheds.

Rural Support Trust spokesperson Katrina Thomas said the immediate focus after the storm was on animal welfare: ensuring there were enough generators to get cows milked.

“But now we’ve actually moved to concentrating more on the humans. That’s due to the fatigue of the ongoing situation because there’s a minimum of 200 cowsheds out there that don’t have direct power.

“So you’ve got farmers fatigued because it’s been going on for a few days, they may not have had showers, proper meals or be looking themselves properly.”

Rural Support was working with the Emergency Management Southland welfare team to set up more support hubs.

“So they can at least go and have a shower, have some kai, connect with others and just do the laundry.”

Uncertainty causing stress

Trust deputy chair Georgette Wouda, who was also at the Emergency Management command centre today, said on top of the four or five welfare hubs already set up, they had identified about a dozen more locations across Southland, which needed help.

“Some houses have got fireplaces, so that’s fine. But a lot of the newer places have only got heatpumps, so they’re sitting in the dark, they’re cold, they need to charge up things,” she said.

“Within a 20km radius, you can have communities that are okay, they’ve got power back, and you can have another 5km down the road that haven’t got anything yet.

“They’re dotted all over the place, often on little side roads, right across the district.”

In addition to struggling with exhaustion, many farmers were also anxious about the health of their animals and about not knowing when they would have power again, Wouda said.

“It’s the uncertainty that’s so stressful.”

Communication ‘dead spots’

Thomas said the lines company PowerNet continued to do “an amazing job” in reconnecting properties, but some people faced an uncertain wait, complicated by communication problems.

“It’s not like a flood because at least people can drive around – in the urban areas, things are up and running – but we’ve still got these communication dead spots.”

Generators dropped off by Hercules had got many cellphone towers powered up, but lots were still down.

“So you can’t just pick up the phone and have a yarn. That’s why we’re encouraging people to check on their cousins, their neighbours.”

Those with generators had been able to plug in Starlinks and use apps like WhatsApp to communicate, she said.

“We were doing a lot of that on farm and with neighbours in the beginning.

“I was wondering if we could send a Facebook message or something to Elon Musk and ask him to move them over the bottom of New Zealand, please!”

According to a briefing this morning from Fonterra, about 30 percent of suppliers in Otago and Southland were still without mains power.

Thomas said some milk was still being dumped, but very little compared with straight after the storm.

“Three days ago, the tanker turned up to 42 sheds with milk; it was 32 yesterday and five this morning.

“Those that skipped a pick-up [because the milk did not meet the grade or for some other reason] was 150 three days ago, 86 yesterday and 39 today.”

Generators deployed across Southland

Emergency Management Southland is moving 31 generators around to support critical infrastructure, dairy sheds and community hubs.

Controller Vibhuti Chopra said power restoration was “progressing well”, with many rural properties reconnected and dairy operations returning to normal.

“Farmers across Southland have rallied together – sharing generators, opening their dairy sheds to neighbours, and ensuring animals are milked and watered through challenging conditions,” she said.

Most of the 31 generators being deployed by Emergency Management Southland in key locations had come from outside the region, but some had been shared locally, including one from Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

“In addition, there are many generators that were already here and are now in use by Southland District Council at their wastewater and drinking water plants and the milking companies to support their dairy farmers.”

Chopra said the authorities were grateful to those “communities who are supporting each other to get through”.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Conservationist Ben Banks spends a lot of his spare time trying to protect the Okorero -Thornton Lagoon wildlife reserve but it seems joyriders are just as much of a threat as the pests he’s trapping.

The lagoon and its surrounding sand dunes lie by the mouth of the Rangitāiki River in eastern Bay of Plenty and are home to some threatened species and rare vegetation.

The seven hectare reserve provides a protected breeding and feeding area for native birds, fish and invertebrates and is the only remaining wetland on the lower Rangitāiki River providing habitat for culturally and ecologically important whitebait species, according to Jesse Burt, the Department of Conservation’s Operations Advisor in the Whakatāne District.

DOC administers the reserve alongside Fish and Game.

Standing on a ridge above the lagoon, Banks explained how he had been setting traps in the area for more than a year and had caught 200 or so rats and mustelids.

“The apex numbers are kind of dropping off.

“We’re seeing little skinks appear, and their size has gone from being quite small and getting bigger really quickly, because there’s no mustelids predating them.”

But the unfettered access for vehicles was proving to be a huge challenge, he told Country Life.

On cue, a vehicle appeared revving as it gathered speed to climb the nearby dune, its occupants cheering on the driver.

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“I think this is conservation East Coast style at its best. Sometimes we find a few cars ending up here that get burnt out at the end of the weekend.”

He pointed to tracks crisscrossing the reserve. There were also evidence of people doing ‘doughnuts’ in the sand.

Banks would like to see a designated track for off-roaders.

“The coastal areas are so fragile, it’s pretty much like running a bulldozer through some of these areas.

“They’re just not getting a chance to recover at all so without any intervention or management, it’s likely to get worse over time.”

DOC said vehicle access within the reserve causing damage to dunes or flora and fauna is prohibited and enforceable by DOC.

In the past, it has tried to reduce off-roading damage by erecting fencing to block certain sections of the dunes from public access. However, it has been torn down by members of the public.

While the visitors have fun on the tracks, Banks points out the vegetation. He said a rare variety of kānuka is found here.

Volunteers have put in more native grasses and plants to help restore the area and protect the dunes.

“They’re just trying to get a hold in amongst all the tracks.”

He said recovery is difficult for the low dunes with young vegetation if they are being driven on.

The dunes are also a nesting spot for birds.

“[Driving is] currently being done all over the frontal dunes, and people are just going wherever they want.”

As the population increased along the coast, he was noticing more and more vehicles using it as a playground.

There was plenty of room for everyone to come and have fun and enjoy what the coastal reserve had to offer, but access needed to be managed, Banks said.

“It’s just a high ecological area, so it’s almost like everyone’s competing for the same space, which makes sense. It’s a beautiful spot.

“I don’t think it’s anything tricky or hard.”

DOC said anyone observing vehicles damaging dunes or disturbing wildlife in Okorero should call 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468) to report the incident in confidence.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

For many rural children, spring means calf club time – a much loved tradition where children raise a young farm animal and show them off for ribbons and prizes.

In the Waikato community of Pāterangi, Janet Macky’s calf club has been going for almost four decades.

The 67-year-old still remembers every child who had joined her club, and many stayed in touch.

She spoke to a photo taken almost 30 years ago.

“This young fella is [now working] on a big, big farm, absolutely awesome with stock, bloody hopeless with machinery. This lady, she is an architect over Tauranga way. She’s a nurse, married and got one child. And it’s really nice when the kids keep in touch, even if they call in out of the blue.”

Macky also remembers her first calf, when she was just five-years-old.

“I had this black woolly calf (crossbred). I called it woolly aphis. I won fifth for leading, which was a white velvet cloth ribbon. Calf chewed the end on it. And I can remember that clear as.”

It’s a common experience for country kids to raise their own calf, but Macky’s club means “townie” children from places like Te Awamutu can also join in.

Staci Wilson was one of them, and she still helps at the farm today. She said before joining the calf club, she had barely stepped foot on a farm.

“When I was a child and had a calf out here, every kid came lived in town, Janet opened it up for the kids at Pātarangi School to be able to have a calf. I moved back to the area as a mum, and we send our kids here because Janet gets them in line and they listen to her.”

“Because imagine trying to do this at home with your kid by themself, after a couple of weeks they get sick of it. But here it’s social, but it’s also they get to work really hard and it’s a bit more of a competition because they sort of look at their mate’s calf and go, Oh s**t, is mine a bit dirtier than theirs?”

The club is free to join, Macky said it’s a “social but serious” activity and it requires children to commit everyday after school and some weekends, for a few months.

The commitment is one that many children are happy to make.

Twelve-year-old Hamish Sexton has been coming to the club for six years.

He said his mother is allergic to animal fur so they cannot have pets, and he’s grateful for the opportunity Macky’s club provided him.

“It gives me responsibility and something else to love and an opportunity to have a pet.”

He’s starting the club by brushing his calf, Phoneix.

“So, I’m just brushing really hard to get all the hair out to come off because when the judges come down here (behind the forearms) and like push up, all the loose hair will come out.”

Staci Wilson’s son Loki Hanley is raising his fourth calf at Janet’s club and he still gets to see some of the bovines he helped raise.

“I’ve always just liked the Herefords and the different types of beef breeds. Last year, I had a calf called Danger Zone. She was a Jersey calf and she got a very bad infected ear. So I had to get a boy Hereford, Janet’s leftover calf. I ended up getting some pretty good ribbons. It’s name was Lasagna.”

At the club, the children learn about every aspect of their animal’s life.

Twelve-year-old Jade Guise told me everything about her calf, Toblerone.

“She was born on the 13th of July, and she is a Friesian Jersey crossbreed. And she drinks 4.5 litres of milk a day with water, grass, and hay. She’s had 5-in-1 vaccine, pour on for worms, and vex for Lepto. She can’t eat the whole avocado tree, rhododendron, and tutu trees.”

After about 40 years running her calf club, Macky is planning to retire and she hopes someone will take up the baton.

She’s loved seeing kids and calves growing up together.

“If a child’s got a little bit of a learning disability, especially those children, to see them grow with their calf it’s amazing. It changes them. The parents and the teachers have noticed the change in them.

“By doing something that they wouldn’t usually have the chance to do, they pick the calf, they name it, they teach it to lead, they groom it, we wash it before the group days. So they get really involved, and at the end when we let them go, there’s tears.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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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Learn more:

• Find out more about the trail.

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