Rural GPs are already facing challenges because of [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/591089/fuel-cost-jumps-40-in-a-week-who-s-feeling-it-most rising fuel prices and some are stocking up on extra medical supplies.

Ōpōtiki-based GP and clinical director of Pinnacle Midlands Health Network, Dr Jo Scott-Jones, has spoken to rural GPs about how fuel increases are affecting them.

He said doctors going out on prime calls – when GPs escort the ambulance service during emergency callouts – were already facing added costs.

“They’re already seeing the impact of the fuel prices on filling up the prime car, and they’re reflecting that there have been no increasing prime payments to help them with additional cost.

And Scott-Jones said GPs were preparing in other ways as well.

“People are looking ahead at potential stock issues and starting to order stock and medical supplies over and above what they would normally carry this time of year.

“They’re worried about suppliers and potentially cost of deliveries into the rural communities into the future as well.”

Scott-Jones said he knew of patients reluctant to drive to Waikato Hospital, and at his own practice more people were asking to speak to a doctor through their digital services.

He added that some practices were starting to ramp up their telehealth services, similar to what happened during the Covid pandemic, to minimise travel costs for patients.

“It would be great to see the hospital services thinking about this as well, for those patients who are coming in for a follow-up for outpatients as well.

“The Midlands region where I do most of my work, it can be several hours of driv[ing] to get to the hospital and then several hours to get back. Those additional costs are really significant.”

He supported the government’s $50 payment to help families with additional fuel costs.

However, he also wanted an urgent review of the current transport arrangements and support for patients who need to go into hospital.

“If we can help target really necessary medically important travel through a transport scheme, that would be really useful.”

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

At a time when both Wattie’s and McCain have announced factory closures, supermarket retailer Woolworths says sales of frozen vegetables have been declining.

Process Vegetables New Zealand chairman David Hadfield said there has been a significant drop in the demand for frozen vegetables, noting that diets and demographics are changing in Aotearoa.

“With Uber Eats etc, there’s not a lot of vegetables in the package that you get to eat. You know there will be a piece of meat, potentially some rice, or you might have potato and a sprinkling of vegetables on top – not the amount that you would have if you cooked the meal at home.”

Hadfield added that they were pushing through programmes in schools to teach year seven and eight children how to cook vegetables, but despite this “consumption seems to be dropping”.

He said with the current cost-of-living pressures they expect demand for cheaper frozen vegetables will increase, but added supermarket profit margins were not helping the situation.

According to Woolworths, 62 cents of every dollar spent in stores went to suppliers, describing their business as “low-margin, high-volume”.

“We keep about 2.3 cents and the remainder goes to paying wages and other operational costs, and investing in our store network,” a spokesperson said.

According to Stats NZ, the cost of fruit and vegetables combined [https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/selected-price-indexes-february-2026/

increased by 9.4 percent between February 2026 and the same time last year].

Meanwhile,Ministry of Health figures for the 2024-2025 year showed just 6.8 percent of adults on average were eating the recommended portions of vegetables.

President of United Fresh New Zealand Incorporated and 5+ A Day, Jerry Prendergast, said he had not seen a drop in demand for fresh vegetables, but he echoed Hadfield’s comments about having to compete with more processed fast food options.

Prendergast said he felt for families under pressure and there was a place for the likes of Uber Eats, but said fresh produce from supermarkets or other retailers remained a cheaper and healthier alternative to takeaways.

“There’s some exceptionally good value out there. Right now you’re into the change of seasons with your autumn crops, so we’re seeing more of the celery, silver beets, spinach being available [and] cabbages and cauliflower and even broccoli at this time of year.

“So, utilising what’s in season is the ideal for consumers to reduce their cost of living.”

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

The Prime Minister says there will be “some form of disruption to fuel at some point in time”, but for now it’s “business as usual”.

Speaking to Morning Report on the unfolding fuel crisis, Christopher Luxon said as long as phases one and two of the national fuel plan are effective, people won’t have to worry about phases three and four.

“At this point in time we’ve had no indication that our fuel importers who we talk to daily, multiple times a day, have had any cancellation of their forward orders.

“Keep working, keep the kids in school, doing all that stuff. Please don’t think ‘it’s Covid 2.0, I’m making sourdough at home again’.”

Luxon said he had received assurances from Korean President Lee Jae Myung that New Zealand will receive all of the fuel it ordered last year.

“All of the refineries in the different countries which we source our oil from are hussling in the world looking for alternatives. Some are getting some success, some are not.”

The government’s utmost priority was ensuring that the country had fuel – even if that meant fuel suppliers paying additional Iranian tolls, he said.

“We are as well prepared as any country that I’ve talked to, but … we’re thinking about days ahead.”

Luxon said he was leaving it to fuel importers and distributors to organise how to allocate fuel.

“There needs to be a reworking of the allocations which is what the importers and the distributors need to work out this week, and it’s up to them to do so.”

‘A price shock crisis’

Rural fuel distributor Fern Energy says with allocation rules as they are, it is needing to prioritise some of its fuel deliveries based on need.

The most up-to-date figures showed that there was 18.1 days of diesel in the country, with a further 28.3 days worth on ships bound for New Zealand, but an update is due to be released Monday.

Fern Energy chief executive Chris Gourley told Morning Report people were trying to beat the price by filling up early, and in some cases by hoarding, which was creating demand spikes in certain regions that could not be met because of new allocation rules.

“Importers have said to us that in some ports, they are managing that fuel to make sure it lasts until that next boat comes in, and they’re giving us strict … seven-day allocations.”

He emphasised it was not a problem of supply, but increased demand.

These allocation rules meant that sometimes there was not enough fuel where it was needed, and distributors were forced to bring it in from other regions, which slowed it down, he said.

They were also prioritising deliveries based on need, which was especially important at this critical part of the farming season, Gourley said.

“They are harvesting, they are working through that final stages as they work towards winter … so we are trying to prioritise based on that need, and trying to get to those customers before it becomes dire and they lose their crops.”

Federated Farmers spokesperson David Birkett previously told RNZ up to 95 percent of farming machinery used the fuel.

The hops season had just finished, so recently they had been prioritising that industry, Gourley said.

It was also the middle of the grape harvest season, and there was a huge amount of food in the ground that needed to come out, he added.

The forestry industry was also struggling, but that was more about cost and less about fuel demand, he said.

“Some of them are actually saying ‘do you know what? We’re going to just pull up and stop working until this settles down’.”

It would be “useful” for the government to start telling certain ports how to allocate their fuel, he said.

“(In) three or four weeks when the supply issue settles, it could be too late for some farmers … There could be some need immediately, if it’s possible, to improve allocations for distributors like Fern, so we can get on and get fuel to farmers quicker.”

He was confident that there would not be any issues around supply to the country, but reiterated that allocation was a concern

“Supply isn’t going to be an issue for New Zealand. Sustained high prices is what we’ve got to focus on next.

“The crisis is a price shock crisis.”

‘Financial pressure’

Meanwhile, companion driver service Driving Miss Daisy had so far chosen to absorb the rising cost of fuel.

This was because a large number of its customers were elderly or disabled – people on generally on fixed incomes, it said.

General manager Andrew Kirkpatrick told Morning Report over the last four to five weeks, their fuel expenditure was up 30 to 35 percent.

It was getting “harder and harder” to afford this additional cost, he said.

“Transferring our pain to our clients is something we want to avoid if we can.”

It would be helpful for the government to provide financial assistance to those people on fixed incomes, who might not be able to afford their service if they had to increase prices, Kirkpatrick said.

“For many of our clients we are an essential service, not a luxury. And for those clients, they don’t necessarily have practical alternatives.

“For them to be able to continue to remain engaged in the community, to get to their medical appointments, to do their shopping or their rehabilitation, whatever it might be. If they are asked to pay that additional costs it will put financial pressure on them.”

The company hoped it would be an essential service as it was during the pandemic, so that if the country is forced to allocate fuel or subsidies are needed, its clients won’t be disadvantaged.

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

Waikato can lay claim to the development of the electric fence in the 1930s, thanks to inventor and farmer Bill Gallagher.

Now another another start-up from the same region is hoping to take the danger out of weighing cattle.

Scanabull co-founder Dan Bull grew up on a sheep and beef farm near Te Akau northwest of Hamilton.

After spending four years managing stock, he’s working full-time for his company, which has just raised $1.1 million to commercialise its WeighApp.

“Some animals are really easy to weigh, those really passive friendly lifestyle cows,” Bull said.

“When you get a big Friesian bull from 600 to 700 kilos – you can not weigh that if it doesn’t want to be weighed.

“They’re huge, they break posts, they break people, they do all sorts of random stuff, they fight each other.

“If you get in the way of that you’re in trouble, there’s a layer of danger there.”

Bull concedes farmers are used to handling unruly stock, but the new app should make life easier by measuring in a flash.

He said a cell phone can now be used to weigh cattle in the yards, from a range of about 4.5m away.

The technology uses a iPhone’s LiDAR sensor to scan the animal in 3D, sending out pulses and measuring how long they take to bounce back form different points.

Trials are underway with Silver Fern Farms, and the new technology was the talk of a recent Angus breeders tour when farmers visited a range of studs in Northland.

Bull said another handy tool in the pipeline can weigh stock out in the paddock.

“When they go for a drink at the trough, it can take an image of them, reports back and the farmer can see that on his or her computer at night.”

He said access to more accurate data across the supply chain will be an advantage.

“Many animals are bought and sold based on visual estimates rather than objective measurements.

“And processors often have very little reliable data about animals before they arrive at the plant.”

The company’s raise was led by Sprout Agritech, with support from Enterprise Angels and Callaghan Innovation’s Deep Tech Incubator programme.

It’s hoping to get the new app to the market by the middle of the year following trials.

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

Paying dairy farmers a premium for their white gold could come at a cost to Synlait Milk, according to an agribusiness expert.

The Dunsandel-based processor and exporter increased its farmgate milk price this week to up to $9.90 per kilogram of milk solids for the financial year, 20 cents higher than competitor Fonterra’s new current season midpoint.

But it also released what bosses labelled a “frustratingly disappointing” half-year financial result, due to manufacturing challenges and inventory kerfuffles between raw and powdered milk through 2025.

It reported a $80.6 million loss in the six months to late January, while debts soared to $472.1m.

Lincoln University senior lecturer in agribusiness Dr Nic Lees said the company was under significant financial stress, which could affect farmer confidence.

“Farmers do have options. I suspect this result’s not going to add confidence amongst farmers that there isn’t a financial risk for them supplying Synlait.”

Lees said the company’s sales were no longer covering the direct cost of making and processing its products. He said paying farmers the higher milk price added to the pressure, increasing raw material costs, but he could understand the strategy.

“They need to be able to be offering their suppliers something more than what they can get from supplying Fonterra or Open Country,” he said. “They are having to pay a risk premium to their suppliers to try and hold those.”

• Do you supply Synlait? Let us know your thoughts monique.steele@rnz.co.nz

He said Synlait faced fixed retail pricing in “onerous” customer contracts, making it more vulnerable to fluctuating global prices – which differed to how Fonterra could pass on costs.

“In some ways from Fonterra’s point of view, the higher milk price is beneficial to their farmers. Whereas from Synlait’s perspective, higher milk price means higher costs for their raw materials, which potentially is difficult to directly pass on to their customers.”

Lees said Synlait was lucky to have major long-term shareholders like Bright Dairy of China that had significant financial scale, so the losses would not threaten the overall business.

But he said the results showed the challenge of going down the “value-add pathway” into retail, like into its consumer brand Dairyworks.

It came as Fonterra divested its consumer brands business under Mainland Group, for dairy products including ice creams and cheese.

This week, Fonterra announced its net profit for the six months ended January rose 3 percent on last year to $750m.

Poor 2025 results don’t reflect future – company

When publishing the results to the New Zealand Exchange, Synlait Milk chief executive Richard Wyeth and chairman George Adams told investors the financial result did not define the company’s future.

“Many of you, like us, will find today’s numbers frustratingly disappointing – we are all hungry for positive financial performance,” the joint statement read.

“The result reflects a period where Synlait faced multiple headwinds with little choice as to how to deal with them.”

Synlait’s “realistic” roadmap to recovery sought to position it for future growth, grow high-margin products from existing assets and accelerate growth and future growth opportunities.

Last year, the dairy company sold its North Island operations, including its Pōkeno site, for $307m to help the balance sheet.

It said on Monday the sale was on track to be completed from 1 April.

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

Rural schools are feeling the pinch of rising fuel costs, with some struggling to get relievers, and even cancelling trips away.

Association president and Ōropi School principal Andrew King told Checkpoint rural schools were becoming less appealing for relievers.

“Many of these relievers might travel over 100km in both directions to get to the school, which makes costs pretty exorbitant.”

Relievers were entitled to be reimbursed for mileage, but they had to request it, and it put a strain on a school’s operational funding.

In one case, a school had received a $970 bill for a water taxi for a reliever to be able to turn up to school.

Students were also affected, with attendance down as parents opted not to make the trip.

“Many of our rural families also need to drive a number of kilometres to get to a bus stop, not just the school, so that’s affecting attendance,” King said.

Class trips were also under pressure, with fewer parents volunteering to drive school groups to their destination.

On Wednesday, rural teachers met with the Ministry of Education to come up with a game plan.

King said the ministry was looking at attendance data to work out some targeting funding support for schools that needed it most – and those would likely be those that were rural, isolated and small.

That could come in the form of transport provision, or funding for mileage for teachers or families.

“The devil will be in the detail, and we just don’t have the detail yet.”

King said they were not addressing at this stage what would happen if there were fuel shortages on top of the cost pressure.

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

Farmers in the thick of harvest are being reminded there are small changes they can make to save on fuel.

In the regions farmers, growers and rural contractors are feeling the pain of rising fuel prices.

The rising cost of diesel is adding thousands of dollars to the bills of those running trucks, tractors and big machines like combine harvesters.

Chris Smith who is technology manager at the Foundation of Arable Research said there were small changes that could be made to save on fuel, like using auto-steer which is like cruise control.

“Manual driving inevitably means overlaps, often five to ten percent across a typical day’s work.

“Auto steer trims that down dramatically, usually to between one and three percent. This small adjustment in accuracy brings a surprisingly large payoff. Straighter passes don’t just look tidier, they reduce throttle variation, lower operator fatigue, and keep machinery working more efficiently.”

Smith said fertiliser prices were also increasing but there was technology that allowed farmers to put fertiliser only where it was needed which could result in big savings.

Even a basic guidance system typically knocked two to seven percent off chemical or fertiliser use.

“The real step change comes from variable rate application, across a set of typical New Zealand paddocks, nitrogen savings of five to 20 percent aren’t unusual, while phosphate and potash can drop by ten to 25 percent.

“Lime is often the standout, with well mapped paddocks showing reductions of 20 to 50 percent as oversupplied zones are corrected rather than blanket treated.”

Smith said another thing farmers and growers should keep in mind was that sometimes the biggest tractor didn’t need to be used.

“There’s very much a tendency when a job needs doing, people jump in the biggest tractor with the most gadgets. It’s the most comfortable but just remember the bigger tractors cost more to run – there are usually smaller machines that can do the job just as well and save you money.”

Smith said the key message was that small refinements, applied consistently, could deliver significant savings.

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

It’s hoped a new $1.7 million wetland in Mid Canterbury will improve the once-thriving salmon run in the Rakaia River.

For the past 70 years, Glenariffe Stream – considered a key salmon-spawning site in the braided river – has been diverted to drain farmland.

The stream contributed around 18 percent of the wild chinook salmon that returned to spawn in the river.

For the small farming township of Rakaia, south of Christchurch, its river was once internationally-recognised for its abundant sea-run chinook salmon and other aquatic species, but population numbers have since drastically declined.

Now, three large high country farms have retired hundreds of hectares of land to return the river’s eastern branch to its original course, pre-agricultural expansion.

Forty-four hectares of the wetland habitat have also been restored.

With Fish and Game the project lead, its North Canterbury project manager, Steve Terry, said protecting spawning habitat was one of the few levers available to help the fishery recover.

“Salmon numbers are at historic lows not just in Canterbury but across New Zealand’s East Coast rivers, with unfavourable, warmer ocean conditions among the key drivers of decline.”

He said while the ocean and climate could not be controlled, the efforts would ensure that when salmon do return to the Rakaia to spawn, their offspring have the best possible habitat.

“Glenariffe Stream is one of the river’s most significant spawning tributaries, and for 70 years it simply wasn’t functioning as it should. Getting it back to its natural course is a major step forward for the fishery,” Terry said.

The McIntyre wetland project was named after the late James McIntyre, who bequeathed $550,000 to the project.

Meanwhile, taxpayers fronted $784,000 towards the three-year project under the Ministry for the Environment’s freshwater improvement fund.

Double Hill Station retired 77 hectares of wetlands and waterways, Redcliffes Station stopped farming on 59 hectares of wetlands and native scrub, and a 200-hectare QEII covenant protecting the Hydra Waters for Mount Algidus Station.

Distressed anglers were raising the alarm about the Rakaia’s abysmal fish stocks and degraded river quality and flow, and were currently limited to catching just one salmon.

For the first time in 40 years, organisers of the annual Rakaia River Fishing competition did not weigh in any fish to allow the fishery to recover.

But Hunting and Fishing Minister James Meager said a range of options to help restore state of the fishery were being considered with Fish and Game.

“We have had some concerns over the stock of the fishery there in terms of sea-run salmon.”

But he said it was all about balancing the economic drivers with environmental outcomes.

Meager said a water conservation order in place here provided guardrails, so farmers could irrigate within safe environmental limits.

He said irrigators had high standards, and he hoped Resource Management Act reform would see consenting for water storage eased.

“It’s all a balance though, of course, because we have to generate enough economic activity in the region, and we know that water is a big part of that in Mid-Canterbury, while balancing that off against the environmental outcomes that we want to achieve,” Meager said.

“So particularly for this project, it reaches a good balance.”

When asked if the economic drivers versus environmental impacts were unbalanced, he said he did not think so.

“If you look at the progress that’s been made over the past 10, 20, 30 years in terms of farming practice, in terms of the awareness of our activity and the impact on the environment, I actually think we’ve come a long way.”

Meanwhile, environmental critics including fish veterinarian Peter Trolove said salmon returns were excellent before the privatisation of public grazing runs, following the High Country tenure review.

Published back at the turn of the millennium, the Glenariffe stream’s tenure review warned that land‑use changes could worsen river sedimentation, water quality deterioration and habitat loss-issues.

The Salmon Anglers Association will hold a meeting about the future of the fishery in Christchurch on Thursday.

The wetland restoration was a partnership with landowners, the Canterbury regional council, Cawthron Institute, Manawa Energy, Rakaia River Fishing Promptions and QEII Trust.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

It’s hoped a new $1.7 million wetland in Mid Canterbury will improve the once-thriving salmon run in the Rakaia River.

For the past 70 years, Glenariffe Stream – considered a key salmon-spawning site in the braided river – has been diverted to drain farmland.

The stream contributed around 18 percent of the wild chinook salmon that returned to spawn in the river.

For the small farming township of Rakaia, south of Christchurch, its river was once internationally-recognised for its abundant sea-run chinook salmon and other aquatic species, but population numbers have since drastically declined.

Now, three large high country farms have retired hundreds of hectares of land to return the river’s eastern branch to its original course, pre-agricultural expansion.

Forty-four hectares of the wetland habitat have also been restored.

With Fish and Game the project lead, its North Canterbury project manager, Steve Terry, said [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/571617/fish-and-game-family-fishing-licences-to-undergo-changes-to-remove-historic-anomaly

protecting spawning habitat] was one of the few levers available to help the fishery recover.

“Salmon numbers are at historic lows not just in Canterbury but across New Zealand’s East Coast rivers, with unfavourable, warmer ocean conditions among the key drivers of decline.”

He said while the ocean and climate could not be controlled, the efforts would ensure that when salmon do return to the Rakaia to spawn, their offspring have the best possible habitat.

“Glenariffe Stream is one of the river’s most significant spawning tributaries, and for 70 years it simply wasn’t functioning as it should. Getting it back to its natural course is a major step forward for the fishery,” Terry said.

The McIntyre wetland project was named after the late James McIntyre, who bequeathed $550,000 to the project.

Meanwhile, taxpayers fronted $784,000 towards the three-year project under the Ministry for the Environment’s freshwater improvement fund.

Double Hill Station retired 77 hectares of wetlands and waterways, Redcliffes Station stopped farming on 59 hectares of wetlands and native scrub, and a 200-hectare QEII covenant protecting the Hydra Waters for Mount Algidus Station.

Distressed anglers were raising the alarm about the Rakaia’s abysmal fish stocks and degraded river quality and flow, and were currently limited to catching just one salmon.

For the first time in 40 years, organisers of the annual Rakaia River Fishing competition did not weigh in any fish to allow the fishery to recover.

But Hunting and Fishing Minister James Meager said a range of options to help restore state of the fishery were being considered with Fish and Game.

“We have had some concerns over the stock of the fishery there in terms of sea-run salmon.”

But he said it was all about balancing the economic drivers with environmental outcomes.

Meager said a water conservation order in place here provided guardrails, so farmers could irrigate within safe environmental limits.

He said irrigators had high standards, and he hoped Resource Management Act reform would see consenting for water storage eased.

“It’s all a balance though, of course, because we have to generate enough economic activity in the region, and we know that water is a big part of that in Mid-Canterbury, while balancing that off against the environmental outcomes that we want to achieve,” Meager said.

“So particularly for this project, it reaches a good balance.”

When asked if the economic drivers versus environmental impacts were unbalanced, he said he did not think so.

“If you look at the progress that’s been made over the past 10, 20, 30 years in terms of farming practice, in terms of the awareness of our activity and the impact on the environment, I actually think we’ve come a long way.”

Meanwhile, environmental critics including fish veterinarian Peter Trolove said salmon returns were excellent before the privatisation of public grazing runs, following the High Country tenure review.

Published back at the turn of the millennium, the Glenariffe stream’s tenure review warned that land‑use changes could worsen river sedimentation, water quality deterioration and habitat loss-issues.

The Salmon Anglers Association will hold a meeting about the future of the fishery in Christchurch on Thursday.

The wetland restoration was a partnership with landowners, the Canterbury regional council, Cawthron Institute, Manawa Energy, Rakaia River Fishing Promptions and QEII Trust.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Climate change, increasing costs, fussier consumers and changing rules have researchers and breeders working hard to develop a sheep that will not only be economic to farm but good for the planet.

Kapiro Farm in Northland is five years into a seven-year project to breed the sheep of the future.

The Sheep of the Future programme is a $10.5 million collaboration between the Ministry for Primary Industries, Pāmu and its subsidiary Focus Genetics.

How well the sheep grow on the feed they’re given in Northland’s warm and sticky climate, which other regions will likely increasingly experience, is being measured.

The animals that do best are the ones to breed from, and there are other traits to balance too, including the animal’s resilience to disease like facial eczema and the amount of methane it emits.

Reducing costs for the farmer within a struggling wool industry has been a big consideration for the breeders.

“With the way the world’s heading with global warming and whatnot, [we’re also aiming for] an animal that is easy care, that has an element of shedding about it,” Kapiro Farm manager Ian Leaf told Country Life.

“An easy care sheep of the future that can handle what the future has in store for us.”

With wool prices strengthening of late Leaf said there was not as hard a focus on 100 percent shedding ability, ” more like 30 percent.”

Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts.

The fifth generation of ewes culled from the original 2000-strong flock of Romney sheep are being mated now.

Over the programme, at least 12 different breeds have been mated with the Romneys, including Dorper sires, Damaras, Exlanas and Wiltshires. They “basically chucked every shedding or no wool sire into the paddock,” Leaf said.

The Damara from Namibia, known for its hardiness in arid climates and maternal instincts, was the first breed to be culled out, as much for its looks as anything, Leaf said, pointing out the final sheep must be acceptable to the market.

“They resemble a lot a goat. They have a lot of goat traits. They grow horns. They’re a bit bit more slender of a build. They hold their fat stores in their tail.”

“Moving forward, there’s always a visual aspect that you look to adhere to. A lot of people are going to have their own impressions and judgements visually before looking at data. So just cleaning that up and getting a nice uniformed animal that everyone’s used to seeing.”

The main breeds coming through now include the Wiltshire “definitely for the shedding ability,” UltraWhites and Exlanas, low maintenance sheep developed in Australia and the UK respectively.

“We’ve had our struggles with the Wiltshire with their feet. They don’t tend to have very good feet, so just making sure we’re mixing them in the right volumes of Wiltshire.”

They also want to end up with an animal that “gives you a decent lamb at weaning.”

“There’s a little bit of Texel in there … for the meat and carcass production.”

The ram lambs are methane-tested every year.

“That all has a huge impact on the selection process.”

So will there be a perfect sheep of the future at the end of the programme in two years’ time?

Lesf said they were starting to see a “nice, uniformed animal now … that is growing, well, growing at competitive rates to where we were as a Romney-based flock.”

He was interested to find out what the animals could do further south ” in the land of milk and honey”, saying there’s always room for improvement.

“What [the programme] is bringing is insurance on the data. The data is there. We now know exactly how much these guys emit in methane. We know exactly how much feed they take to convert into a kilo of carcass.

“What this Sheep of the Future has done is it’s given you actual facts, ‘what is’ not ‘what ifs’.”

Learn more:

• Learn more about the Sheep of the Future project here

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

A rural transport company carting stock to the meat works couldn’t get the fuel it needed at two North Island commercial truck stops.

Pumps ran dry in Wairoa and Eltham on Thursday when the Stephenson Transport truck and trailer units from Central Hawke’s Bay were on a freezing works run.

Owner Bruce Stephenson said it’s a situation he’s never faced during his seven decades in the business.

“We had stock trucks on the road obviously all over the place. We couldn’t get fuel in Wairoa and we couldn’t get fuel in Eltham,” he said.

“They were loaded with stock heading to the works, so we had to stretch things out a bit – it gets a bit tricky when you’re doing that sort of thing.”

He fielded phone calls from his concerned drivers wondering what to do next.

“I’m talking about truck stops where we fuel up and where we get our contract prices from. That’s where access is relatively easy for a big truck and trailers with crates on.”

“So we had to go to service stations and find one we could get under the canopy of.”

Danniverke Carriers owner Nigel Castles is also coping with the swiftly evolving situation.

His company also carts stock around the country and he’s concerned about the massive spike in prices.

And his family-owned business can’t absorb the soaring fuel prices alone.

He’s reluctantly passing these increases on to farmers and estimates his fuel bill is up 20 percent from the start of the year.

The company filled its tanks last week, and he hopes the next delivery will arrive in a week.

With no signs of tensions easing in the Middle East, he expects further price rises for fuel are inevitable.

“The next lot of fuel supply is actually going to go up again,” he said.

“Definitely out on farm there’s a lot of worry, and as transporters we certainly don’t want to come to a grinding halt either.”

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

The cost of running a farm in New Zealand is more than a quarter higher than it was before the Covid pandemic.

ANZ’s latest Agri Insights report, which analysed financial performance across more than 4000 dairy, red meat, kiwifruit, arable and pipfruit customers over five years, found farm operating costs across the board were 27 percent higher than before Covid.

This was driven largely by increased labour and input costs like fertiliser, and on-farm cost inflation becoming structural.

The gap between average farms and the top performers continued to widen, pointing to significant untapped productivity potential, with leading operators consistently generating materially higher earnings per hectare through system optimisation rather than expansion.

The report’s co-author and ANZ’s head of strategy and execution – business and agri Marcus Bousefield said it showed farms must lift productivity just to stand still.

“Really everything is up on that pre-Covid area in terms of costs. We’ve seen it as a structural shift as opposed to just being inflationary and moving with the inflation cycle.”

Despite having the largest cost increases – which was reflective of their labour-intensive nature and impacts of wage pressures during and after the pandemic – the report found both dairy and kiwifruit had some of the strong returns.

Total kiwifruit farm income rose 59 percent driven by the maturing of post-PSA plantings and higher orchard productivity, while dairy also saw higher earnings per hectare achieved through improved milk production per cow and better herd performance, rather than expansion.

Red meat farms had modest income growth, with a wide gap between top-performing operators who earned about 80 percent more per hectare than poorer-performing counterparts.

Pipfruit faced the most challenges, including labour shortages and multiple weather events.

Bousefield said the report showed the strongest performances were linked to reinvestment and commitment to improving productivity.

“You can look to the singular price in commodity prices being a key leader of performance but that is always outside of farmers’ control.

“It’s really the sum of the parts of all the other components that drive the topline revenue piece that has a bigger bearer on what we saw as performance of the top 25 percent.”

Bousefield said this included factors like the execution of buying and selling, crop management and animal efficiency, particularly in the dairy sector.

He said farming was multi-generational industry where decisions made today would pay off in later years. He said it was at a junction point where stronger markets, coupled with agritech advances provided opportunity to improve efficiencies on farm.

Bousefield cautioned that conflict in the Middle East would continue to create global uncertainty in the shorter term.

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

Shoppers will take another hit when the impact of the Iran war hits the supermarket shelves, a Foodstuffs boss says.

Households have already been feeling the pressure over the last year as shown by the release of new Stats NZ data.

Prices were up 4.5 percent on an annual basis in February, with mince up 23.2 percent, and sirloin steak 21.5 percent.

There have been warnings that the cost of food may rise further as producer and transportation costs increase, due to the Middle East conflict.

Foodstuffs North Island chief executive Chris Quin said before the Middle East war, two factors were driving prices up despite a drop in inflation.

New Zealand lived in a global economy and when export prices were strong, such as for red meat and fish, Kiwis had to pay more for them.

As well, bad weather hit fruit and vegetable growing.

Retail grocery prices went up around 3.7 percent, he said, which was lower than the overall 4.5 percent announced yesterday.

Supermarkets tried not to pass on all their costs and to manage their costs as efficiently as possible.

Asked if supermarkets were taking the same margin as a year ago, he said they were or were taking even less.

Regarding the Iran war, suppliers were talking about the pressure they were were under but it had not impacted on prices so far.

The cost of diesel was of particular concern both for transport and the impact it had on plastic products.

“It is unclear at this point how much of an impact it will have but it’s going to be very hard to suppress that impact depending on how long it lasts as well.”

The impact of the war was still to be felt on supermarket shelves.

“It’s a live conversation now but it’s not showing up on prices so far.”

There was no concern about getting supply as goods didn’t travel through the Strait of Hormuz, Quin said.

“It is unclear at this point how much of an impact it’s going to have.”

Quin expected that if there was fuel rationing the supermarket sector would be a priority.

He was happy with discussions underway with the government.

Domestic food production a priority

The flow-on effects from the conflict in Iran are being felt by farmers.

Fuel prices are up, and the Middle East is also a major player in fertiliser trade, producing about 40 percent of the world’s nitrogen fertilisers.

That’s a double hit for arable farmers, who rely on fertiliser to grow crops and diesel to run their machinery.

Federated Farmers arable chairperson David Birkett said without a doubt food prices would increase due to the conflict’s impact.

Higher costs of processing and transport were the two key factors, he told Morning Report.

If there was to be any rationing of diesel, farmers should be among those on the priority list.

“Domestic food production should be given some level of prioritisation when it comes to fuel.”

The arable sector was the biggest user of diesel, Birkett said. Harvesting was almost finished and crops would then be resown.

“The diesel price has affected us straight away, which is quite interesting given that the government says we have six weeks’ supply on hand.

“Yet the price goes up instantaneous when the war starts so there’s obviously some cost recovery being done there from the fuel companies I’d imagine.”

If diesel was rationed, that would be “a real challenge” for farmers, especially arable farmers who needed to use machinery.

The two main fertiliser cooperatives have indicated they already have supply to last through autumn which meant settled prices for “a little bit”, Birkett said.

However, for the peak demand time of spring, farmers were already concerned about both supply and price.

He did not expect prices to rise as high as the pandemic when prices doubled after all production stopped.

“Time will tell I guess.”

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

A growing middle class enjoying products like cakes and iced-teas in China is seeing demand for New Zealand cream surge.

Fonterra is building a new UHT cream factory at its Southland Edendale site – which when complete later this year will produce 50 million litres of cream annually.

The co-ops chief executive of greater China Teh-han Chow has been visiting the plant this week to check on progress.

“It’s looking fabulous, it’s a really important site for us and it’s a really important investment for the food service business.

“We’re investing nearly $150 million in a facility that’s going to create a lot more UHT cream, it complements our existing facility in Waitoa.”

Chow said demand for cream is particularly strong in China but sales are up across the Asia region – so the plant has been designed to increase production if needed.

“Cream is in cakes, that’s very popular and it’s also being used in tea macchiatos a iced tea drink.”

He said demand is up as China’s growing middle class spends more on high quality food products.

“If you look at all the base fundamentals, you’ve got increasing urbanisation, increasing middle class and you’ve got consumers that are waiting higher quality products.

“In western markets we’ve seen a move from animal fat based diets to plant based – in Asia it’s the opposite, people want to move from a plant-based diet to a dairy based one because it’s seen as better, healthier and more nutritious.”

China’s economy has been struggling in recent years and it’s government recently lowered it’s GDP growth target to between 4.5 and 5 percent – the lowest since the 1990s.

But Teh-han Chow is upbeat – he said on the ground the cities are bustling.

“While growth is down, it’s still a good number so I think demand for New Zealand dairy products will continue to grow.”

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

Wattie’s New Zealand’s proposal to stop producing frozen vegetables is expected to impact the country’s already-hurting vegetable growers and seed producers.

The seed industry was taking stock of what last week’s announcement by one of the country’s largest food producers, would mean for growers.

A well-known packet of Wattie’s frozen mixed vegetables of peas, carrots and corn for example, perhaps no more under new proposals.

Phased closures were also being proposed at its food factories in Auckland, Dunedin, Christchurch and its packing facility in Hastings.

Around 350 mostly full-time roles would be impacted, including vegetable growers – around 220 of them in Canterbury alone.

Heinz Wattie’s previously said the decision was not taken lightly, but was a necessary step to position the company for the future.

Industry group Seed and Grain New Zealand chief executive, Sarah Clark said if Wattie’s stopped contracting vegetables from the region, farmers would lose income from both the crop and the seed.

“The Wattie’s proposal is a really big blow for the arable sector as a whole,” she said.

“Several of our members supply pea seeds for sowing to Wattie’s, so the direct impact to our members, the seed companies, of their proposal is that there’ll be less demand for pea seed, and that in turn means fewer contracts for the farmers, the people who are growing those pea seed crops.”

Clark said the decision was “probably a kick in the guts” for growers, after such a tough season marred by wet weather causing root disease.

She said this was worsened by the rapidly increasing cost of fuel and fertiliser, due to the war in the Middle East.

“The sector’s having a tough time anyway.”

Clark said there were other pea varieties farmers could incorporate into their crop rotation to plug the pea gap.

“Farmers will be hit with a difficult decision about how they maintain their other crop rotations, without either the fresh pea crop that they had growing peas for Wattie’s or the crop of peas for seed production.

“So yeah, it’s a bit of a double whammy for the farmers, unfortunately.”

Growers facing uncertainty

Key vegetable growing region Canterbury was also a seed powerhouse, producing more than half the world’s supply of hybrid radish and 40 percent of the global carrot seed supply, exporting to more than 60 countries.

Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Kate Scott said growers supplying Wattie’s now faced a great deal of uncertainty.

“This is tough news for the New Zealand vegetable sector and for the consumers who rely on locally grown and processed food,” she said.

“While we recognise this is a decision made within a global business, the consequences are very real here at home.”

Scott said growers could not keep producing crops without reliable markets for them, which over time would result in fewer vegetables being grown and processed in New Zealand.

“That would be a concerning direction for New Zealand. In a world where supply chains are increasingly disrupted and freight costs fluctuate; it makes sense to maintain strong domestic food production.”

Consultation on Wattie’s proposals will close next Wednesday on March 25th.

New proposals follow earlier cuts to crops

The company owned by American food giant Kraft Heinz decided to slash some of its crop intake following a review last year, impacting canned peach production, and corn, beetroot, tomatoes.

In recent years, the company made complaints about reports of cheaper imports being dumped into the New Zealand market to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

MBIE carried out a number of investigations over the past decade into dumping claims of various products, including peach products from countries like Greece, Spain, South Africa and China, and potato fries.

Investigations could result in duties being applied, which happened for preserved peaches from Spain in 2022 and canned peaches from Greece in 2021, among others.

Owner Kraft Heinz also recently rolled back earlier proposals to split up the business, which it told RNZ in September was unrelated to the decision to reduce peach production.

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