AS many as half of the Australia’s sheep producers are playing with danger, researchers now say – and the results could well prove tough to swallow reports The Land. They claim that in the pursuit of lean lamb, many stud breeders have inadvertently culled intramuscular fat – the key trait for tenderness – raising the risk of a consumer backlash. Stud breeders and commercial producers were taken aback by this revelation, announced at the final Sheep Co-operative Research Centre grower update in Glen Innes last Wednesday.

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) sheep geneticist, Dr Alex Ball, Armidale, told the gathering the correlation between fat covering (PFAT) and intramuscular fat (IMF) was far greater than anybody had imagined – in fact, three times greater than the link in beef.“Up until three months ago we (the industry) didn’t know what it was doing (to tenderness),” he said. The data had come straight out of the sire nucleus (comprising every bloodline available to commercial producers), half of which fell within the dry-eating-to-tough territory.

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Police and the Southland District Council will take a hard line against farmers whose stock are found wandering on roads after a reported 13 crashes this year reports The Southland Times.Three drivers were injured in the crashes, seven of which involved cattle. Horse, sheep and deer were also involved.Senior Sergeant Kerrin Price, of the strategic traffic unit, said in the latest serious incident, officers were on Saturday called to deal with a “stroppy and aggressive” bull wandering in Oporo Flat Rd, near Wallacetown, that had tried to attack a cyclist.

Stock control officers were called and they recognised the bull as one they had been called out to twice four days earlier. The owner could not be found so the bull was shot because of public safety fears. A Dacre woman who narrowly escaped serious injury after hitting a cow near Woodlands last month said she wanted farmers to take more care with fences. The woman said she had little time to react when the black cow loomed up in her headlights while travelling home one night.”It’s not good enough – the farmer should have the boundary fence hotwired. Cattle have no respect for ordinary fences.” Mr Price said officers were amazed she had walked away without injury. The next motorist hitting wandering stock might not be so lucky, he said.

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Marlborough farmer Doug Avery has a revealing story about commercial greed and the perception that farmers are made of money. Don’t pay what you don’t owe. In his case, it is the way the Government will run the emissions trading scheme reports Stuff. In its efforts to keep administration costs down, the Government is proposing to take farmers’ share of the scheme from the companies that process a farmer’s produce.

In the case of Mr Avery, and all other sheep and beef farmers, it will be based on the weight of meat from their slaughtered animals. He thinks that is unfair. It makes no allowance for the way he, and many others like him, farm, which he maintains emits less greenhouse gases than others and stores more carbon. There is another reason why it is unfair. It punishes innovation. Mr Avery has worked out an innovative way to keep farming on drought-prone land.

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Waiting three to five years for the cash will be too long for many struggling woolgrowers, says Federated Farmers Meat and Fibre chairman Bruce Wills, commenting on Wool Partners International’s recent roadshow. Farmers heard from WPI’s US and European marketing managers on efforts to grow demand for strong wools and the direction of international markets reports Rural News.

Wills says he “supports the WPI concept and many other farmers left the meetings with more confidence and optimism. But appalling wool prices now are forcing many growers towards deciding to move out,” he says. “Farmers were saying ‘It sounds good, but how long to the money?’ Eyes were rolling at the answer ‘three-five years’. Many can’t wait that long despite their goodwill towards WPI chief executive Iain Abercrombie and his team.“We understand you can’t create a brand overnight but some growers are desperate… three-five years seems half a lifetime. And if prices don’t pick up soon, when WPI says ‘Now where’s your wool?’ they’ll hear only… silence.”

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Feed shortages and a surplus of in-calf heifers in Taranaki are affecting the market, but buyers may face higher prices in the spring.Farmers with feed and good cash flow may be able to buy stock at favourable prices now reports The Taranaki Daily. The current market for in-calf heifers was not good, longtime stock dealer Eric Sole, of Stratford, said at Tuesday’s Stratford stock sale.Some farmers were having to sell their animals because they were short of grass, and those who had money and grass were likely to pick up bargains, he said.

A Rahotu sharemilker, who identified himself only as Ross and who was selling his budget cows, said animals were not making what they should, considering the payout and the money spent on grazing.”Sellers are not making much. It’s because there’s not the movement in farm sales. Sharemilkers are not moving, so stock are not moving,” he said.PGG Wrightson regional manager Don Newland, of New Plymouth, said dairy heifer buyers were being cautious and selective on quality.He believed some buyers were reluctant because they were struggling to feed existing stock.

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Outstanding financial results alongside progressive development of the farm business gave Motu farmers Hamish and Paula Newman the edge to take out the Federated Farmers’ Gisborne-Wairoa Farmer of the Year 2010 title. At the field day celebrating their win, AgFirst farm consultant Rob Hayes said while the competition was judged only on the the past three years, the Newmans had been performing better, or at the level of the top 10 farms in the district for the past decade reports The Gisborne Herald.

Cattle had been a real strength and seven out of the past 10 years the Newman’s performance has put them higher than the top 10. Chief judge, Whangara farmer Charlie Seymour said a major factor for the Newman’s was their consistent financial performance. “It is very pleasing to see such strong results. They are clearly ahead with their EFS- (economic farm surplus) per-hectare as well as per-stock-unit.”Productivity was high and they had the strongest return on capital out of all the entrants.

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The global outlook for dairy demand is strong but NZ dairy farmers must shore up their businesses against likely future volatility in returns, says Fonterra Chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden.“Our future as dairy farmers in NZ, our international competitiveness and this country’s future – it all depends on how we respond to the more volatile markets and ensure we make the most of our unique advantage in pastoral dairy farming.”

Speaking at DairyNZ’s Towards 2020 farmers’ forum today, Sir Henry said “Our farmers need tools in their businesses to manage this risk and to focus on our strength – growing grass and turning it into milk. This is where we lead the world. Our ability to grow grass and turn it into milk more efficiently than anyone else is our point of difference. We simply cannot afford to lose our edge or the control of our productive resources. This is where we need to focus. Then we will have a strong dairy farming legacy to pass on to our children and grandchildren – future generations of NZ dairy farmers.”

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Dairy prices have remained steady overnight on Fonterra’s monthly online-dairy auction. Fonterra is now publishing a dairy price index, which shows the percentage change in the average price of a “basket of products’ traded on its internet auction platform. This was down 0.8 per cent after last night’s trading reports The NZ Herald.

The new index, known as the “gDT-TWI” (globalDairyTrade Trade Weighted Index) takes changes in the online auction price and weights them based on total international dairy product trade flows. Paul Grave, globalDairyTrade Manager said the index was a good headline number for the state of the market.

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Seven recipients of $35,000 Nuffield farming scholarships will present their findings at a four-day conference to be staged in Gisborne from May 13 reports The ODT. Nuffield trust chairman Stuart Wright said the biennial conference will mark the 60th year of the scholarships. “A thirst for knowledge and absolute enthusiasm for the agricultural industry are … driving NZ’s Nuffield scholars,” he said.

The research papers will be delivered for the first time at a marae, Rukupo, the Maori Battalion marae at Manutuke, on the outskirts of Gisborne. The marae is in the home town of one of the scholars, Gregg Pardoe, operations manager for Maori farming incorporation Arai Matawai in Gisborne, who studied how indigenous peoples in the United States have adapted to modern farming practices.

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Banks are being accused of profiteering from cash-strapped farmers stricken by the drought reports the Waikato Times. But one rural banker says people need to talk to them first about their problems. Hauraki Mayor John Tregidga, whose district has had no significant rain since January, said he knew of three or four farms that were under threat because of the drought.

Mr Tregidga said BNZ had told one unnamed couple, whose farm had lost $80,000 last year and had been hit by the drought, to prepare to sell in December. “The bank is willing to continue the finance while they receive a rate of 9.2 per cent,” Mr Tregidga said, reading from a statement supplied by the couple’s accountant. “Current floating BNZ rates were at around 5.35 per cent with capped fixed rates for two years at 7.545 per cent. These levels of interest would save between $80,850 and $34,650 in annual interest at these prevailing rates, enough to at least make it a viable farm in this last season, even with the drought.”

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