Farmgirl

Fonterra forecast extremely troubling for Government trying to go forward...

2009-05-27T12:13:00.003+12:00

Well it couldn't have got worse for the Government, one day out from Bill English's carefully constructed first budget. Fonterra has announced a forecast payout for 2009/10 of $4.55, down from $5.10 per kg for this season.

This is serious, regardless of whether the final pay-out is lifted somewhat. Farmgirl understands that there are already many Canterbury dairy farmers on their knees and has been told that anything $5.00 or under could spell mortgagee sales for many that have expanded in previous seasons.

Retailers in agricultural servicing towns like Ashburton have been reporting a drop off in sales across the board, and this will have many retailers reeling. The affects will be large and long term.

The consumer/producer divide Farmgirl has been blogging on over the past few months is about to be narrowed considerably as the general public begins to understand that dairy farmer fortunes are their own fortunes as well.

Carbon Tax suicide to kiwi farmers...

2009-05-27T10:06:00.006+12:00

Thank God for that queer species from overseas we like to call an 'expert'. It's the only thing that can guarantee the media's interest. Take for instance the Bain trial where UK 'experts' are taking their fair share of column space, because God forbid we should listen to our own.

It's a very Kiwi way of looking at things. So, let's hope the visit last week from the US Hudson Institute of global food issues director Dennis Avery, might wake the Government up to the lunacy that is carbon taxes.

That a National Government is even considering continuing on down that path is a real betrayal to the nation's farmers who have always supported them.

Avery is an expert on global warming and subscribes to the theory that the world is in a perpetual warming, cooling down cycle.

No matter what your own thoughts are on global warming it is important to understand that a consensus has not been reached by the 'experts' on if it is real or not. And if they can't reach an agreement, why the heck are we still jumping on this emission bandwagon that will devastate our economy.

Avery was blunt and he sure needed to be.

"Do not let them send you out of business. Don't go quietly. Not only will [a carbon tax] kill you, it will kill the entire economy of New Zealand," he warned, saying that as the world birth rate rose, so too would demand for products New Zealand specialises in, particularly high-value foods like lamb, beef, cheese and non-fat dried milk.
However, an emissions tax was likely to render New Zealand uncompetitive in the market.
"New Zealand has wonderful grassland, but guess who else has wonderful grassland? Countries like Argentina, who have more grassland than New Zealand and aren't carrying a carbon yoke around their necks, will be the beneficiary. What is New Zealand going to use to buy its imports if it is not selling lamb and beef? You don't make anything else."
Mr Avery went on to say he didn't have a time line for how quickly New Zealand would destroy its economic base through use of a carbon tax, but "things in this world happen a lot faster than they used to".

Principles are all very fine, except for when they might cripple your country. Like Obama's comedown on subsidies to US dairy farmers, sometimes you have to know when to quit having 'fine moral ideals' and have to face up to the hard truth. Now is that time for this Government.

Sight of water going out to sea sickening

2009-05-26T09:37:00.003+12:00

In Canterbury at present you can drive to almost any of the major rivers and weep at the volumes of water cascading its way out to sea - wasted.

On the subject of water storage nothing ever gets past the chit chat and good intentions so Farmgirl is hopeful that Bill English's newly announced National Infrastructure Board might actually cut the bull in favour of getting some powerful teeth into the subject of water storage dams.

Homepaddock is right when she says the line-up on the board is impressive. (See http://homepaddock.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/rod-carr-to-chair-infrastructure-board/)

But will they deliver?

The RMA still seems like a major stumbling block in any new infrastructure issue (Central Water Plains) - a problem this Government promised to sort out but it really is time for there to be more than just promises and fancy titles.

We have the water, just not the nous to use it.

Freedom Farms pork co-founder distasteful in selling his fellow farmers down the road...

2009-05-23T15:58:00.003+12:00

If there is one thing Farmgirl abhors more than any other, it is when a fellow farmer decides to sell the rest down the road to prop up his own business.

Never was this shown as clearly as when Freedom Farms co-founder Gregor Fyfe decided to use the blatant hype surrounding the so called 'sow pig crate cruelty' this last week as fodder to promote himself and his business through letters to the editor that were surprisingly published in a number of newspaper publications.

In them Fyfe said:

"Mike King's expose of intensive pig farming in New Zealand on Sunday (TV One) last night was sickening, but brilliant.
It must've taken a huge amount of courage for Mike to admit that he was wrong to put his name to the NZ Pork Industry Board without first investigating the way the majority of pigs are reared in this country.
Thanks to the efforts of Safe to enlighten him, Mike has now seen the extent of the suffering that many of the pigs living here endure on a daily basis.
And, to his credit, he was so appalled by the conditions (in particular the use of sow stalls), that he felt compelled to tell the rest of the country about it.
Happily for Mike and the rest of us pork lovers, there is an alternative. Many pigs are now being farmed without those crates and fattening pens and there are a growing number of free-range pork products available in specialty stores and supermarkets nationwide.
If you want your pork to come from happy pigs, the answer is simple. Check the label. If it doesn't say free range or free farmed then chances are it's not."

Firstly Farmgirl questions why newspapers would run such a blatant commercial advertisement disguised as a letter in the first place? Fyfe must have been rubbing his hands together gleefully at the free publicity he received.

Again and again in the farming community we see industries diluted by the lack of combined strength among farmers. It happens in the arable industry when farmers succumb to ridiculous wheat contract prices like they are at present and Fyfe has shown when the going gets tough in the pork industry, he bails and promotes himself which in Farmgirl's opinion is the lowest a man can go.

Okay, if he had advised that his product was free range and that consumers had a choice, that would have been alright, but to boot the poor pig farmers in the North Island while they're down by commenting sarcastically on their practices is just unacceptable.

But you know what - this money grabbing betrayer won the week. In supermarkets Farmgirl viewed this very morning in Canterbury, shelves that were normally full of expensive Freedom Farm bacon are near empty.

Farmgirl even bought some bacon from them today as well as many others to test whether their product is worth it's hefty $10.00 for 300grams.

In another irony Farmgirl questioned her local butcher this morning who informed her that they had sold 'astronomical' amounts of pork this week but that people still hadn't asked where it had come from, they just assumed that if it came from the butcher it wouldn't have been in a sow crate.

He thought the issue was crazy and said that most pork farmers have to separate out their sows in stalls for short periods of time to protect them even on so called 'free range farms'.

One thing is certain, there are three identities that benefited from this last week financially, Mike King, S.A.F.E and of course Freedom Farms.

Hope the bacon doesn't taste too bitter in your mouth Gregor...

SFF boss smart in getting PGG to help pay for Rissington...

2009-05-20T10:42:00.008+12:00

It's just a little too much of a co-incidence...Keith Cooper and Silver Fern Farms takes PGG Wrightson to the cleaners after Norgate reneged on a merger deal but says the livestock company are still the preferred option for an integrated supply chain partnership option.

Now SFF has cosied up to Rissington in a new deal by merging livestock and marketing staff from the North Island genetics company into SFF, to provide advice and knowledge to lamb suppliers wanting to produce lamb to SFF's contract specifications. In short Rissington will take the place of PGG Wrightson.

The two companies have had a working relationship for several years, with SFF processing lambs for Rissington Marks and Spencer contracts so you have to wonder if SFF was really interested in seeing through a deal with PGG in the first place.

And the $25 million pay-out settlement from PGG would come as a handy deposit on the new acquisition wouldn't it?

As Farmgirl has said before, Keith Cooper is one of the shrewdest CEO's in the country. Perhaps the Pork Board should entice him to jump ship...

Ode to Mike King - This little piggy went to market

2009-05-20T10:21:00.003+12:00

This little piggy went to market,

This little piggy took his cash home,

This little piggy ate roast pork,

Then full of tucker -

This little piggy started to roam,

Then this little piggy went...

"Wee wee wee" all the way home

And dipped his snout into S.A.F.E's cashbox...

Give the money back Mike.

Who are the real villans - sorting out the porkers

2009-05-20T10:08:00.004+12:00

This from the Dominion Post this morning:

Consumers angry at the way pigs are farmed can force changes to the industry but they had better be prepared to pay more for their pork.
Alan Pearson, owner of Harringtons Small Goods, said many consumers did not put their money where their mouths were when they bought their meat.
"If giving animals a more natural way of life is really important to people, then they need to be prepared to pay for it and not just pay lip service.
"There is no doubt that farmers are commercial they respond to the market. If the market turns around, the industry will change."
Mr Pearson, who also runs an agri-business consultancy and exports free-range pork to Singapore, said free-range could cost more than $3 a kilogram more than pork raised in a more intensive operation.
Raising free-range pigs was more expensive because of several factors, including higher piglet mortality rates from exposure to the elements.
"There is absolutely no doubt that free-range pork is a wonderful product but it's a lot more costly to produce.
"The price resistance is still a factor. [Consumers] get to the supermarket and they buy the cheapest bacon they can find."
He said most farmers were responsible and put the welfare of their animals ahead of profit.
"Farmers are human beings, they like to do the best job they can. Most farmers have an empathy with animals, or they wouldn't be farming."

Hear hear!

And so say all of us...

Farmgirl on Radio New Zealand talking about pork...

2009-05-19T18:01:00.003+12:00

Farmgirl had the chance to speak about the current furore on the pork industry this afternoon on Radio New Zealand. To hear her comments go to: http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/aft/2009/05/19/the_panel_part_2 and go to about half way through to hear her interview.

Federated Farmers versus Sex Pistol rocker

2009-05-19T12:09:00.005+12:00

Who would have thought it gov? Johnny Rotten, the teeth gnashing, spitting, torn punk rocker who hailed anarchy in the UK has a softer side - in fact the gnarled grizzled face Sex Pistol front man likes his butter - British only apparently.

It's a bit of a comedown for his fans though ain't it? God save the Queen and her fascist regime has now become God save our cows and the products of their bowels.

You see Rotten has become the face of a new British butter advertising campaign that extols the virtue of butter made from only British milk - not like that Kiwi stuff, he reckons.

But he didn't count on Federated Farmers Dairy Vice President Willy Leferink wading into battle.

According to Farmers Weekly UK Leferink has invited Rotten see for himself the way cows are kept down under.

“Never mind the butter, it’s the quality of the milk what counts,” Willy says. “While all milk may contain the same basic properties, Kiwi cows are in a league of their own.
“Grazing outdoors on GM-free grass and natural winter feed makes for happy cows and fantastic-quality milk.”
European Union tariffs were the only barriers holding back sales of New Zealand’s Anchor butter in the UK, he said.
“While I’d like to think of dairy farmers as being the rock stars of the New Zealand economy, I’d be pleased to host that old punk rocker, John Lydon, on my farm.
“Perhaps Mr Lydon could use some of the money he got paid for endorsing the British brand to pay for his flight down under.”
Only hand-crafted but expensive British butter matched New Zealand butter for quality, Mr Leferink claimed.
“New Zealand’s climate and quality pasture means we are in an agricultural sweet spot. British consumers literally taste freedom when they eat New Zealand butter.”
Dairy Crest’s butter advertising campaign featuring Mr Lydon sent sales of English Country Life soaring when it aired on TV screens across Britain.
The commercial reminded shoppers that the butter was made with 100% British milk unlike other brands from New Zealand and Denmark.
It was being supported by a website encouraging people to sign a pledge that they were "proud to buy British".

You can watch one of the ads here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mSE-Iy_tFY

King should give money back

2009-05-19T10:43:00.007+12:00

It's laughable how devoutly Mike King denied having any knowledge of the pig industry and its practices on Close Up last night but may-be it's a sign of the times and something that Farmgirl has been blogging over for some time - the growing gap between producers and consumers.

In this case however, the wounded pork industry has never attempted to hide that there are still sow stalls in this country. Pork Industry Board chairman Chris Trengrove should be applauded not vilified by two henchmen as he was last night. What they don't tell you on that current affairs programme is that Chris has been advocating for change for some years and has steadfastly stuck to the cause of helping the industry get past these practices and has been succeeding.

Farmgirl feels the need to explain the financial difficulties the pork industry has faced over the past decade once again. To be frank the industry nearly went belly up because Canadian pork in particular was being imported into our supermarkets at cut down prices. How were they able to get the pork so cheap when you take into account transport costs? - by producing the pork in far more intensive and disgusting systems then this country has ever had.

This has nearly forced all our pork farmers out of business as consumers have been only too happy to buy cheaper pork, no matter the animal welfare standards and no matter the level of hormones etc in the meat.

To expect that all pork farmers will now release their piggy wiggies onto some hallowed green paddock is ridiculous and hypocritical for the following reasons:

1 The price of imported pork means free range operations are not viable unless the consumer

pays a heck of a lot more as they can not produce as many pigs or fatten as quickly.

2 Free range pork is still a niche market - for the wealthy.

3 Some breeds of pigs are particularly aggressive towards one another. Why didn't King show

the results of sows attacking one another? - it's far more gruesome then the footage shown the

other night.

So it seems the NZ consumer has to make their minds up. And herein lies the problem. Our generation more than any other lives in a world where meat is relatively cheap. Where once, having a roast chicken was a looked forward delicacy, it has now become a cheap commodity on the family plate that can be served up every night.

As New Zealanders we expect meat on our plate but once upon a time pork used to be a treat, as was bacon, to be savoured and enjoyed. Now we expect to have it whenever we get the craving.

May-be we need to change our habits?

Farmgirl has recently changed her chicken consumption and now orders $32 fully free ranged chicken from Southland. It is expensive especially with households living on an ever decreasing budget these days, but chicken in Farmgirl's household has now become a rarity and a tasty one at that. It is eaten once every fortnight and every part of the chicken is used for stocks, soups etc. This is one way we can support our pork farmers. Another is by refusing to buy imported pork.

King's hypocrisy won't help the industry - in fact a negative reaction could send our pork farmers under and then we would have to rely on the rubbish that is imported from overseas.

It's up to us.

And if King truly believes in what he's saying and is not trying to pull some publicity stunt to help his career, he should donate all his previous earnings from the Pork Board to S.A.F.E but as the saying goes, pigs might fly...

Mike King as guilty as all consumers for sow crates in pork industry and should share in responsibility

2009-05-17T19:58:00.004+12:00

It was hard core stuff on Sunday tonight. Mike King, a former advocate for New Zealand pork and mouthpiece for industry ads has jumped ship and attacked farmers for the use of sow stalls. Emotive footage and unbalanced reporting followed and not one pork farmer who uses the stalls was allowed to give a reason as to why the practice occurs.

In her agricultural journalism career Farmgirl has followed intensely the plight of the nation's pig farmers and has some sympathy for their situation. To portray the farmers as the common enemy is an injustice that ignorant mouthpieces like King would never understand.

If he did his background research he might understand that he and every other consumer of bacon or pork in this country are just as culpable for sow crate farming as the farmer themselves.

Farmgirl would like to know if these 'het up' consumers check their overseas pork that has flooded our supermarkets. If they did they might realise that the bacon they purchase is also farmed in the same way - through crates. If you ban them in New Zealand you have to ban all imports from overseas - a situation most pig farmers in NZ would rejoice about.

Let's get one thing straight right now - pig farmers don't like the practice, they want to change but there is no economically viable way forward for them to do so as long as cheap imported pork continues to flood in.

There will be a huge public outcry over the footage shot on Sunday, but Farmgirl wonders how many will change their spending habits and instead buy free range NZ pork to support the industry. If everyone did change the pork farmers would have the support to do the same.

Farmgirl is sick and tired of celebrities jumping on the bandwagon of something they do not really understand, and something they themselves have forced farmers to do. And it's laughable that King says he didn't know this was going on when he signed his contract with the Pork Board - what rot - this issue has been around for a long time.

The pleasing aspects to the situation is that most pig farmers are trying to break free of the system - and Farmgirl has seen some stunning results in the form of Eco Sheds etc, but it takes cashflow. If King and his cronies are so upset why don't they get on the box and encourage people to buy the more expensive option as Jamie Oliver did successfully with his recent chicken campaign.

Unlike King, Jamie took the time to explain why farmers do what they do and put much of the onus back on consumers.

Farmgirl back next week with a few juicy posts

2009-05-13T09:29:00.002+12:00

Farmgirl wants to apologise for lack of blogging recently. The set up of a new business has enforced a silent blog for two weeks but she will be back next week from Monday and is pleased to say that she has HEAPS of juicy posts to write about.

See you back here on Monday!

Obama teaching us all something in his restraint

2009-04-28T16:53:00.003+12:00

Time correspondent Joe Klein is right on the mark when he says Obama's first 100 days have been the most impressive of any president since the mighty F.D.R.

Too often politicians world-wide have been guilty of vote hunting and over-reacting in order to keep the masses happy. How wonderful is it then to see a President prepared to talk about patience and common sense.

"There's an impatience," Obama says, "that characterises Washington, that insists on instant gratification in the form of immediate results or higher poll numbers. When a crisis hits there is all too often a lurch from shock to trance, with everyone responding to the tempest of the moment until the furor has died down...instead of confronting major challenges that will shape our future in a sustained and focused way."

Klein says Obama's combination of candour and vision and his patient explanation of complex issues shows Obama at his best and signals a change from his predecessors and from the way society is at the moment - away from the kind of quick fix, sugar rush , attention deficit society that marks the postmodern age.

New rules for Wall Street so that in any one year of the economy 40% of US corporate profits don't come from lending as has previously happened and initiatives in education, energy and health care mean Obama is making his mark in a resilient manner.

There won't be a fix for today's problems by tomorrow morning. Everything has to be worked for, to be gained and then rewards will come, he seems to be telling us over and over again.

If only John Key's first hundred days were just as impressive....

Swines I have met...

2009-04-27T09:45:00.005+12:00

The theme of the week is undoubtedly swines...Farmgirl has met a few on her travels of late, most notably ones with the big green R emblazoned on their jackets who send junk mail through the letterbox full of self praise for their services, but short on realities, lulling the arable farmer into thinking that some great bright shining new wheat market is going to open up all because they click their fingers and wish it so...

A bright side to the hype surrounding swine fever?

2009-04-27T09:27:00.004+12:00

You would have thought that this morning's news regarding swine fever and its possible importation into New Zealand via Rangitoto College students was enough to put a damper on anybodies week.

Not so for all farmers, with one beaming cocky telling Farmgirl this morning that there could be an immeasurable bright side to the flu hysteria - increased lamb sales around the world as people baulk at buying pork meat.

He has a point. The poor old pig farmer is on a hiding to nothing when the media get involved and hysteria reaches historic proportions.

Yes swine fever is generally contracted from direct contact with pigs but in these circumstances the UN have been careful to publicise the fact that none of those infected have had direct contact. Alas this gets lost in the publicity siege.

The strain, H1N1, is the same strain that causes seasonal flu outbreaks in humans, but the detected version contains genetic material from versions of flu which usually affect pigs and birds.

Regardless of the facts Farmers Weekly UK report that Governments across the world are considering tightening rules on pork imports while Russia and Serbia have already banned any pork products from entering their country.

You have to feel sorry for pig farmers who will once again be the focus of a panic backlash but as the farmer told Farmgirl this morning, 'always look on the bright side of life'.

Can't you just see wonderful advertisements on television and in the newspapers around the world now: "Eat Kiwi lamb and stay indoors this year if you want to avoid the flu." Mmmm....the bank account is increasing already...

Norgate hospitable in defeat

2009-04-27T09:17:00.002+12:00

Praise is due for PGG Wrightson head Craig Norgate over his handling of the Silver Fern Farm fiasco and their particularly prickly CEO Keith Cooper.

Not only has he survived the failed merger attempt with a relatively small settlement payment of $40 million, he's also managed to retain a working relationship with Cooper and his company.

This is no mean feat when you consider the tough talking Cooper was engaging in, even up until last week on Farmgate on the Country Channel.

Norgate said charitably that there was no question that PGG Wrightson had breached the terms of the contract and all that was to be settled was the amount to be forked over.

However he is still holding hope of integrating the supply chain with SFF and this is interesting because on many levels farmers don't appear to see any advantage in this happening.

Sure if the deal had been settled Cooper could have had a better balance sheet and PGG Wrightson would have captured some extra revenue - but it is still a relative mystery as to what benefits there would have been on farm.

Kiwifruit dumping sad but a bold necessity

2009-04-24T09:43:00.005+12:00

The so called 'dumping' of 60 000 trays of top quality Kiwifruit by Zespri shows they don't let emotion get in the way of business and good on them.

By keeping back the Kiwifruit Zespri is protecting its reputation as the finest Kiwifruit producer in the world and growers' export margins.

While it seems a travesty, unduly heralded by the likes of the Nelson Mail, that the fruit is not sold or distributed freely on the domestic market, it shows good business nous and you have to say that some of our meat companies could learn from this stance, particularly from when Farmgirl was last in the UK and saw NZ lamb sliding off the shelf for a pittance because the meat companies (one in particular) flooded the market.

The result of that debacle was that NZ lamb slid from being a high quality meat product British housewives were prepared to pay good money for, to a budget tray that seemed to signal the meat was just as poor in quality as the rubbish coming in from the EU.

When in the UK in 2001 Farmgirl spent several days talking to supermarket customers as to what they preferred in their sheep meat options. Back then almost every single person you came across said if they had the money they would almost always buy Kiwi lamb even though it was more expensive because they perceived it was the best in the world. Two years ago Farmgirl asked the same questions in Irish and English supermarkets and was greeted by completely different answers and some angry butchers. Kiwi lamb was perceived as cheap and therefore not as good as the British counterpart because it had flooded the market.

The end result was some poor returns, a driving down in the lamb market and some angry New Zealand farmers to boot.

How then is Zespri the villain for doing the right thing and protecting its growers? As Farmgirl hinted above, the reporting on the 'dumping' has been sensationalised. By dumping Zespri doesn't mean destroying altogether. Surely most of it will be used in animal food etc.

And for those humanitarians among us, forget Bob Geldof and his Band Aid cause, the slagging off of the EU for dumping tonnes of butter and other products that he felt could have gone to Africa in the 80s - Kiwifruit is not a suitable option and would cost a lot of money to transport and would be difficult to maintain fresh to reach those parts of the world.

Good on Zespri - it takes guts to maintain a business in this PC world.

SFF backtracking on idiotic ban of dogs in sheep yards

2009-04-23T11:41:00.003+12:00

Since a belated maelstrom has buffeted its way through the nation's media regarding the Silver Fern Farm decision to ban sheepdogs from its sheepyards, SFF have been in damage control.

No, they say loudly. At no time did UK supermarket giant TESCO demand the removal of dogs because of the stress it may cause the sheep before it ends up in a British housewife's roasting dish.

But since SFF had removed dogs from all but three plants this season, management decided to "minimise the use of dogs from all sites".

What balderdash as the shepherds at the Fairton works in Mid Canterbury would tell you. Farmgirl has been told on more than one occasion that it was a word in the ear by the TESCO machine that led to the demise of the poor old dog.

But TESCO's big brother bark has made news worldwide as many overseas identify with the plight of the endangered Kiwi shepherd and the demise of his dog, and is apparently rather sensitive to any criticism.

It was no surprise then that SFF should jump quickly to dispel the story but in their haste they forgot to remember one thing - shepherds talk, they see, they hear what is being said when the big wigs come to visit their yards. They are not blind, deaf and dumb mutes who issue the odd whistle and yell 'Get up there Bob!'. So SFF's claim that they just idly decided to rid their yards of years of Kiwi iconic history, at a time when consumers are becoming so divorced from the reality of food production, just doesn't ring true.

And to add further salt into the wound the Otago Daily Times reported this week that surprise, surprise, Lincoln University bio-chemist Prof Roy Bickerstaffe found the dogs created no adverse affect on PH tender rating levels in sheep.

Farmgirl understands that yard requirements often dictate whether dogs are needed or not and has not problem with that but when it is so clearly being done because of supermarket pressure it is a worrying sign as to what we will have to kowtow to next in order to get out product into the market.

Federated Farmers Meat and Fibre Chairman Bruce Wills is naive to think this is just a 'storm in a teacup'. What it signifies is important.

This could be the beginning of a game of dominoes.

Study shows why ignorant greenies were loonies to destroy valuable GE crop research in NZ

2009-04-23T11:24:00.005+12:00

The latest scientific results coming out of America and England that show that GE crops promote the proliferation of herbicide-resistant weeds which in turn curbs crop production is yet another kick in the backside for the morons who go about destroying GE experiments in our own backyard.

If these greenies had their way world-wide this kind of research would not have been possible. Farmers never asked to plant the crops - they asked to find out about the long term affects of growing them.

The Union of Concerned Scientists have presented a report in which they found that corn and soybean crops that were modified to resist insects and the herbicide glyphosphate did not necessarily produce higher yields.

Hooray for these brave men. In New Zealand those same scientists would have flogged, hung, drawn and quartered because they dared to even analyse the long term affects genetic modification might have on crops.

This is excellent work and gives farmers world-wide a handle on the impact of GE on some crops. Further research is needed of course and here in New Zealand we have plenty of scientists itching to do it.

Let's hope the aggressive antics of these ignorant GE ranters come to a halt when they realise that by allowing research to continue they may very well end up achieving their end goal, as no farmer is going to grow a GE crop if it doesn't give them as much cash in the back pocket as the previously unmodified versions.

Coming down south like heading into a different land

2009-04-16T10:18:00.004+12:00

I am fortunate enough to be in Southland for two days and can't help being fascinated by the woolly little furry white animals I see on the roadsides looking nourished, healthy and anything but under threat.
Sheep were part of my upbringing but living in Canterbury and growing crops and being surrounded by dairy farmers makes you forget about that Southern part of your life but it was reassuring to see the quality and quantity of stock coming down yesterday.
A friend asked me last night if I thought that sheep would ever return to some of these dairy farms in the province and honestly I think this is an improbability.
However, on many South Otago farms there lies a history that may prove otherwise. Dairying and sheep farming have always been cyclical in the area with many farms still housing derelict milk factories to prove that.
So never say never. It has been dairying land before and it has been sheep farming land before. Undoubtedly though moving back to the strong sheep farming history would be highly unlikely when you take into account the on farm investment on dairy farms these days and the high capital costs.
But if sheep farming does become a marginal commodity it could lead to an increase in demand particularly if wool was to come in fashion again. One can only wonder at those heyday years of the 50s my father in law talks about when the wool cheque more than balanced the books.
In any case it was somehow reassuring to see that not all sheep farmers are bowing out. It just wouldn't seem right if we didn't have that scenery anymore.

Woman eats 51 of world's hottest chillies in one sitting!

2009-04-11T13:37:00.004+12:00

As a chilli farmer I couldn't help but include this story in my blog. I grow around 17 different varieties including the hottest habaneros - and can vouch that even though I like chillies I would struggle through one mouthful of a little chocolate habanero - so this story from the Daily Mail is truly incredible:

They're likely to leave you gasping for water - and have even been known to kill people who eat too many.
For this woman, however, the world's hottest chilli pepper proved nothing more than a simple snack as she chomped her way through 51 of them to claim a place in the Guinness Book of Records yesterday.
Anandita Dutta Tamuly completed her eye-watering feat in two minutes, to the astonishment of Gordon Ramsay, who was monitoring her record attempt.

And for some inexplicable reason, 26-year-old Mrs Tamuly then went on to smear handfuls of seeds from the fiery bhut jolokia chillies into her eyes as the crowds gasped in horror.
In 2007 Guinness acknowledged the bhut jolokia as the hottest chilli in the world, measuring more than 1million units on the Scoville Heat Rating chart, the method of classifying heat in peppers. A standard New Mexican green chilli has just 1,500 units.
A single seed from a bhut jolokia will cause watering eyes and a runny nose as well as a burning sensation in the mouth that can last up to five hours.

But Mrs Tamuly said coolly: 'I have been eating bhut jolokia since my childhood and never felt the hotness in my mouth.
'When I was five I had a sore tongue and my mother applied a chilli paste to cure the infection. Since then I developed a penchant for chillies.
After that I found eating chillies was a great way to stay healthy. Every time I have a cold or flu I just munch on some chillies and I feel better. To be honest, I barely notice them now.'
She said she was disappointed not to have managed even more, having swallowed 60 chillies in practice runs. Mrs Tamuly's record-breaking munch took place in the Assam region of India where she lives and where the chilli grows in hilly areas.
Ramsay, who was in India filming for a Channel 4 programme, could manage only one before screaming for water, yelling: 'It's too much!'
The previous record was held by a South African woman who ate eight jalapenos in one minute in 2002.
In September last year an aspiring chef died after eating a chilli sauce as part of an endurance competition with a friend.
Andrew Lee, 33, from Edlington, West Yorkshire, challenged his girlfriend's brother to a contest to see who could eat the spiciest sauce that he could create.
Mr Lee prepared a tomato sauce made with red chillies grown on his father's allotment. But after eating it he suffered intense discomfort and itching. The following morning he was found dead, possibly after having a heart attack.

Sad decline in Kiwi Country Women's Institute

2009-04-09T16:05:00.004+12:00

The closing of the Methven branch of CWI after a long proud history is disturbing, even to a younger generation of women.

Laugh or mock as you may when you think of the CWI you can't help feeling that somehow the dissipation of the group signals a far more significant change in the rural landscape.

I've seen first hand from my mother in law how important 'institute' can be. It really does provide solid friendships and support in rural areas and a camaraderie that doesn't really exist between women past Young Farmers.

But why is it failing?

Yes there is certainly an older generation holding the fort at present and that may be enough for some young women to stay away, thinking, misguidedly, that it isn't for them and that their generation of farming women is not really understood. But that's too generalised and simplistic in my view. Generally the CWI branches try very hard to recruit new members.

Locally I know that many branch meetings are held during the day and that doesn't suit many. However with such busy lifestyles these days night-time meetings often don't suit either.

But I believe something else is going on here entirely. Growing up, our generation of gals were taught the feminist ideologies. The idea of being a good wife, a good business partner and supporting one another in isolated areas just didn't cut the mustard - we were the future leaders!

This is truly sad. If we could only get over ourselves and come together we could perhaps offer something to CWI and adapt its functions to our needs. In rural areas we need each other to survive. Our experience is unique to us.

Young Farmers had to change radically in the past five years to survive and it has done so successfully. Let's hope CWI can do the same.

Catch up with Farmgirl on Farming Show

2009-04-09T15:59:00.002+12:00

You can catch up with Farmgirl on the Farming Show this week by clicking on this link: http://www.farmingshow.com

If the interview marked Nadine Porter doesn't show up, go to Wednesday April 8 in the archives and it should pop up!

Tah tah tah tah...and the Smooth Operator of the Week Award must go to....Ravensdown CEO Rodney Green

2009-04-07T11:01:00.005+12:00

Hark the herald angels sing...no it's not a Christmas angel...it's Rodders in all his preened public relations finery in Ashburton this morning keen to unsoap his mouth from the recent gaffes he made in the media when he ignored the existence of the New Zealand arable industry and it's importance to the Ravensdown coffers. (see post further down)

Alas Farmgirl hears there was no mention of that...he'd cleaned up his act and polished his lingo to perfection particularly when it came to the point of the meeting - why Ravensdown continues to be in the PKE market when it disadvantages the arable shareholders he hadn't realised existed until lately.

Ravensdown imported 90 000 tonnes of PKE this year and have sold around 50 000 and apparently on this basis cropping clients should be relishing the opportunity to add a meagre 5500 tonnes to the mix.

5500 tonnes? In arable lingo that's about five small farms that might benefit from the market but hey Mr Green and his cohorts reckon this could be a fantastic opportunity for us poor dumb cereal farmers. Apparently in this recession Ravensdown alone will convince the cash strapped North Island dairy farmers of the poor nutritional content of PKE when they sell it to them and then these same dairy farmers will come back, singing hallelujah you were right Rodney, and purchase bucket loads of the PKE barley mix while we celebrate by emptying our silos down here.

Yeah right!

And then of course Farmgirl understands there were the veiled threats that the Australian Barley Board (ABB) who has recently purchased plant in Hornby would get in on the act and might not put New Zealand barley in their mix. We should fear the Australians and trust Ravensdown was the message. But hold on...up until last week Rodney said it was the Australians that were adding a third commodity group to the Ravensdown market in arable farming, so who should we fear here?

In reality Ravensdown is all PR fluff. Nothing has changed. If the PKE barley market is a goer what's to stop RD1 getting on board anyway? The fact that they're not doing the same thing proves that there is room for doubt as to whether dairy farmers will really buy the more expensive supplement.

Yet again Ravensdown have misjudged the feeling in the arable sector. They should not be in the PKE market at all and no amount of wing preening by Rodney Green will change that.

And the tension grows between English and Key...

2009-04-06T15:35:00.004+12:00

You could just about taste the tension emanating from Bill English's mouth on Q and A yesterday and it wasn't sweet.

The two have disagreed publicly on when New Zealand will emerge from the recession and on the face of it that's not a big deal...except when you hear Bill English's very courteous and contained comments when asked why they aren't towing the same line on the economy.

Asked about the difference, Mr English said Mr Key "has always had a very positive view about New Zealand. I certainly wouldn't want to say he is wrong but he is setting a high hurdle here and it's our job as a Government to meet those expectations - that's a feature of John Key's leadership."

The body language says it all and so it should. Bill English is probably a very frustrated man right now. He's the one who has to deal with the sops while Key gets to meet, greet and shear the sheep.

Key is politically naive whereas English has suffered from his previous leadership of the party. How disappointing it must be then for him to have run the country behind the scenes, sort the rubbish and wonder what could have been had he only waited his turn for the leadership.

Me thinks the National party decry to much that there is not a rift growing between these two. Whenever a party feels forced to defend a situation you can bet that there's something that's caught fire in the background.

Although these two do not represent in any way the philosophy of the Lange/Douglas era, they do share something else in common...a cooling off of their friendship that could be disastrous for the party as a whole.