Business Rural Autumn 2021

| 55 Pandemic improves urban-rural divide John Douglas with Adelaide (2), Liam (4) and sharemilker Jason Checketts. The Southland farmer and district councillor says the Covid lockdown pressed home the importance of this country’s food producing sector. DAIRY » John Douglas Karen Phelps L ast year’s Covid-19 lockdown highlighted con- sumers’ true priorities and the importance of New Zealand’s food producing sector, Northern Southland farmer John Douglas says. A Southland District Council councillor for Mara- roa Waimea ward, John’s 390 hectare farm milks 1000 cows, supported by a 135 hectare run-off. The farm supplies Open Country and has a lower order 24% sharemilker, Jason Checketts, who employs four staff. John believes the pandemic brought something of a correction to the urban-rural divide when consumers saw the importance of food supply and the shortages created by panic buying. “The first thing people did was rush to the super- market and stock up and I believe that mindset has carried on globally.” “To have access to quality food that is sustain- ably grown is extremely important to people world wide.” While some in the urban community have had a wake-up call, John’s concern about the perception of farming led him to co-found Ag Proud charitable trust in August 2019. The group aims to promote mental wellness within the agricultural sector and its allied families, highlighting positive stories and good practice and to foster improved relationships and awareness between urban and rural people. The group was established partly as a response to social media posts that created a distorted perception of the dairy industry, especially around winter grazing, John says. “This rift was largely generated by the media which was in contrast to the feedback we received from the public that attended the barbecues and A&P shows, where Ag Proud had a presence. “They were keen to show their support and appreciation for farmers that produced quality food, not only for New Zealand, but also the world.” International demand for dairy products was highlighted by early March’s meteoric rise in the Global Dairy Trade index which gained 15%, driven primarily by stronger whole milk powder prices which were up 21%. The index has risen 31% since December. John says he heard the results with disbelief. “I thought it was 1.5%, or I thought there would be a correction coming through. I’m truly heartened by that 15% response. I think there’s been 11 rises out of the last 12 auctions and there’s two auctions per month so over the last six months there’s been 11 rises which is great news for the dairy industry.” The increase would equate to a farm gate payout of about $8 per kilograms of milk solids, but will have a lesser impact late in the season, he says. “I would like to think that we would finish up the season in the mid $7 (kgMS) range, but I really don’t want to speculate too much about what could happen in the future.” The news of the spectacular rise comes on the back of a good season for the Douglas farm and with production up 9.5% season to date and somatic cell counts of 150,000 cells per millilitre of milk, John is pleased with what Jason and his team have achieved John believes a contributor to the production increase has been instituting a grazing system in which cows are allocated one paddock over 24 hours. The result is they cows can graze more se- lectively, while residual grass is maintained at a higher level than 12 hour grazing, with the residual controlled by mowing. “As a result of that the cows are more content and produce more.” Proud to support Douglas Farming Contact us to take advantage of our modern approach to accounting and business expertise. At McCulloch + Partners we are a local business run by local people. We pride ourselves on being friendly, accessible and experienced accounting specialists no matter the industry you’re in. Keith Brown of Cruickshank Pryde Lawyers is proud to work with Douglas Farming Visit our website for more information and contact details: cplaw.co.nz Proud to support Douglas Farming Here for Good is the compass that guides us towards the creation of a better now and a better future.