Business Rural Winter 2024

Hazlett totally focused on helping farmers to grow the best crops they can economically - Page 81 Deeply rooted in the rural sector www.waterfordpress.co.nz Winter 2024

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Rural South accepts no responsibility for loss of photos or manuscripts. #businessrural #yourstory www.waterfordpress.co.nz   Ardleigh Farm Ltd �� 03 Rata Peaks Station �� 04 Peel Forest Estate �� 05 Seaton Farming �� 07 Chris Dillon �� 10 Appleby Fresh �� 12 Oakleys Premium Fresh Vegetables �� 14 Logan Kelly �� 15 Steve and Andrea Dobson �� 16 Shannon Butler �� 17 Warric and Rachel Johnson �� 18 Armidale Merino Stud �� 19 Ballandean Ltd �� 20 Belinda Colling and Charlie Hore �� 21 Braided Waters Farming �� 22 Cameron Grant - Shearing Record Smashed. �� 23 Coleridge Downs Ltd �� 24 Cosydell Farms �� 25 Craigneuk �� 26 Elgin View Valais Blacknose �� 27 Zac Thomas - Oakridge Farm �� 28 Parawa Station - Maurice King �� 29 Pourakino Downs �� 30 Waipuna - Pamu Farms �� 31 Smallburn Ltd �� 32 Puketapu Farm �� 34 Cloverdowns �� 35 High Peak Station �� 36 Roslyn Downs �� 38 Kelvin Grove �� 41 Tuatara Machinery Ltd �� 42 McLeod Cultivation �� 43 Aros Contracting Ltd �� 44 BA Pumps Sprayers �� 45 Central South Island Helicopters �� 46 Cleland Contracting �� 47 Dan Douglass Fencing �� 48 Darfield Seed �� 49 Doug’s Engineering Woodlands �� 50 FCANZ �� 51 Dynamic Maintenance Ltd �� 52 Gilchrist Brothers �� 54 Haffner Ag Services �� 55 Groundspread NZ �� 56 Robbie McIlraith Stellar Recruitment �� 58 Cranleigh Haulage �� 59 BK Fencing & Excavation �� 59 Hide Spraying Ltd �� 60 Kelso Kontracting �� 61 Mainland Spreading �� 62 Milne Building Contractors Ltd �� 64 PGG Wrightson Ltd �� 66 Jackson Spreading �� 67 Plains Irrigators Ltd H/O �� 68 Molloy Agriculture Ltd �� 70 West Coast Ag Contractors Ltd �� 72 JJ Ltd - Ashburton �� 73 Westland Farm Services Hokitika �� 74 Alex Reid Contracting Ltd �� 76 Wilton Agriculture �� 77 Downlands Deer Ltd �� 78 Alpine Buildings NZ Ltd �� 79 Weston Animal Nutrition �� 80 Hazlett �� 81 Amuri Transport �� 84 Hill Valley Simmentals �� 85 20 | Dohne breed a perfect fit for farm OUR PARTNERS: 17 | Shannon Butler put in the hard yards 66 | Identifying the needs of each animal is key 27 | Hobby Valais flock a labour of love RESEARCH & MARKETING Sam Dart, Adam Feaver, Chris Graves, Megan Hawkins, Lisa Moffat, Annie Patrick, Chris Pearce, Adam Shirra, Leo Smith, Alasdair Thomson sales@waterfordpress.co.nz PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT General Manager Luke Lynch luke@waterfordpress.co.nz Graphic Artists Connor Gosnell, Anton Gray, Francesca Hildawa, Sophie McCleary, Liki Udam. art@waterfordpress.co.nz CONTENT COORDINATORS Ann-Marie Frentz, Alissa Crosby. 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| 3 DEER » Ardleigh Farm Ltd Genetics lift velvet weights, quality Ardleigh Farm is a commercial farm producing venison, velvet, selling velvet stags, trophy stags and in calf hinds. Aimee Wilson Ardleigh Farm near Geraldine has experienced rapid genetic gains with its deer breeding over the past few years, and now all the hard work is paying off. Owners Donald, Kathy, son Ben and wife Anna have been breeding some of the best commercial red deer in the country, and over the past 12 months velvet and venison prices have been strong. Originally starting in 1989 in Mount Somers, Donald and Kathy moved from sheep, beef and crop farming into deer, and then purchased Ardleigh Farm in Geraldine in 2014. They combined their 540ha farm with a separate 260ha block, Rockpool, 20 minutes away and then in 2022 also purchased Netherdale Deer Stud from David and Lynley Stevens in Balfour, Southland. This enabled the family to complement its own herd and achieve faster genetic gain and velvet weights. “It is our intention to continue David’s good work improving velvet weights and quality as we move into the future with the two herds,” Ben said. The industry has progressively changed from the early 1990s when a two-year-old deer weight of 2kg was good – “now we are recording well over 7kg.” Ben puts this down to using artificial insemination to give some good results, and by sourcing stags that were not just on farm. “In the last three years we have moved to include an embryo transfer program further extending the reach of the genetics.” Ardleigh Farm has always been run as a commercial farm producing venison, velvet, selling velvet stags, trophy stags and in calf hinds. This winter they’ll be selling Netherdale genetics for the first time with the in-calf hinds sale and next January marketing its yearling hinds, two and three year old stags, as well as continuing to produce trophy stags for the hunting market – as it has done for the past 25 years. “We have always enjoyed doing what we’re doing, you always have to farm to your passion,” Ben said. While the industry was strong, it was important to keep moving on with genetics to make it pay, he said. “We have some very good deer to offer the industry.” In January 2026 Ardleigh Farm will look at also providing some stud options and incorporate stud sales into their programme as well – to continue what David and Lynley have done down south. Donald said Geraldine is a real hub for deer farming with quite a few farms all within half an hour of each other. “We’re a major velvet producing area and with the grass growing well we can winter our animals easily and grow reliable winter crops,” he said. The deer industry was important to the New Zealand economy and Asian countries in particular had continued to support velvet for use in many health products, particularly South Korea and China. The future looks bright for the deer industry, after tough times during Covid-19 when venison prices were low and the market for trophy stags came to a halt. Four years on the niche farming market is back on track. “It is our intention to continue David’s good work improving velvet weights and quality as we move into the future with the two herds.” For all fencing requirements, both urban & rural • Sheep/Cattle/Deer Fencing • Stock Yards • Pole Sheds • 3.5 Digger with Augers & Truck Contact Jamie: 021 493 377 wrattfencing@outlook.com

4 | DEER » Rata Peaks Station Succession planning a ‘positive experience’ Green Tag R1 stags, hinds. Ratapeaks sire, Columbo. Sue Russell At 1835ha, Rata Peaks Station, in the Rangitata Gorge inland from Ashburton, is an impressive property which was originally part of Mt Peel Station. Under the Land for Settlement Act of 1908, a portion of Mt Peel was separated out, with the purpose of providing a livelihood for soldiers returning from WW1. These days Sam and Jane Taylor and their one year old daughter Sophie call the original homestead ‘home’. Surrounded by beautiful English gardens it was, until recently, where Sam’s Mum, Jan Taylor, and her partner Craig Feaver lived. They have now moved into a new home further up the farm. A succession programme is underway as Sam steps into eventual ownership. He takes care of the sheep and beef leaving Craig to concentrate on the deer, grown out for venison, and velvet. The Dohne merino sheep are a dual-purpose breed well suited to the conditions. Rata Peaks Station currently carries 1800 Dohne ewes and 100 straight Angus breeding cows. “Dohne are a bigger meat yielding sheep and have very good fertility, with a lambing percentage, depending on the season of 120-130%,” Sam says. While producing great meat, Dohne are a lot plainer in their wool. Rata Peaks Station is one of only a handful of farms where Dohne are the breed of choice. Asked how the farm is standing up these days, he says its in good condition, though affected a while back by flooding that caused some damage. Sam says depending on the season between a quarter and half of the Dohne lamb stores bottom end are sold between March and May. “We try to finish as many of our terminal lambs as we can but otherwise the bulk of them will go at weaning. Between 1000 to 1400 are wintered and finished off depending on the season as well.” The area Rata Peaks Station is in is mainly deer. There’s quite a heavy reliance on growing kale and swedes to supplement feed and 30ha is put into lucerne, which takes care of the balage needs for the deer farm. Before returning to Rata Peaks Station to take over its running, Sam did stints of several years on other properties at Rakaia and near Wanaka. The family received great support from Andy Macfarlane [Macfarlane Rural Business] on how to initiate a succession plan and Craig says, a clear willingness by all parties to find the best process, has stood everyone in good stead. “Succession is such a big deal but for us its been a positive experience and is working well,” Craig says. This is not the first time Rural South has had the opportunity to talk with Craig. Asked how things have been going, he says recently the building of a new home for him and Jan has occupied their time and attention. “The timing wasn’t the best as things were delayed when COVID arrived and we were just about to put the roof on when we had the major flood. It took the builders four months to clean up the house site.” Some of the materials damaged in the flood were subsequently used to build flood protection into the landscaping. Craig says the silver-lining was the site actually ended up being better than it originally was. The farm itself also experienced damage, with a large number of sheep and deer fences impacted as well as destruction of all the access tracks, with more work needed to attend to reinstating these in the future. Craig concentrates on the deer activity at Rata Peaks Station, with 230 commercial hinds, 150 velvet hinds and 450 velvet stags. “Velvet prices are holding reasonably well and venison prices have stabilised and are reasonable. I do think the deer organisations could communicate more readily with us on issues impacting the sector. Right now if you were to ask me what kind of return we’re expecting from velvet next season I wouldn’t know,” says Craig. At the last velvet cut one head weighed in at 20.7kg. Craig says a concern he has relates to the size some velvet heads are grown out to. “There’s an animal welfare question and sometimes the stag can look quite uncomfortable.” Craig is still velvetting some stags that are 12 or 13 years old. Sometimes a stag can present with On Farm Ram Sale December 2024 OFF-ROAD LIVIN’ ashburtoncanam.co.nz 445 West Street, Ashburton, 7700 zach@ecptimaru.co.nz 64 3-307 4846 temperament issues and he’s continually assessing their situation. Animals are scanned when velvet is collected. This gives Craig all the history on the animal and assists him to make deer selection decisions. “I write down comments on every stag regarding their behaviour, velvet quality, weight to ensure they are still in great condition.”

| 5 DEER » Peel Forest Estate An unwavering quest for excellence Solomon. Kim Newth Peel Forest Estate in South Canterbury is one of the world’s leading producers of red deer genetics, achieving consistent excellence in every aspect of the deer industry, including velvet production, trophy genetics and venison breeding and production. As well, the iconic property has earned a leading global reputation through its export of genetics (semen and embryos), backed with the latest technology, a purpose-built facility, and an expert advisory teamled by renowned deer veterinarian Dr Mike Bringans. “We are flushing upwards of 450 embryos a year,” says second-generation owner Mark Tapley, who is Peel Forest Estate’s Managing Director and Stud Manager. “It’s an important way to fast track your genetics. As well as exporting embryos and semen, we also do a large domestic programme as well.” • to page 6 Mark is a genuine homegrown innovator in the deer industry, whose favourites on the farm are the Forresters, bred for hardiness, solid body conformation, fertility, pass-on-growth to offspring, and impressive velvet attributes. Maternal ‘Forresters’ are used to create the ideal replacement hind that can then be crossed with a powerful terminal, such as their B11, to create hardy, fast-growing deer, producing some of the world’s finest venison. This line of deer is proving to be so important to the industry’s success. “Having hardy, resilient breeding hinds with all the important venison attributes makes such a difference to anyone’s operation.” Maintaining the purity of their bloodlines has kept Peel Forest Estate at the forefront of the velvet genetics market, with the operation also being one of the world’s largest producers of velvet. PROUDLY SUPPORTING PEEL FOREST ESTATE 39 George Street, Timaru 7910 | PO Box 125, Timaru 7940 | Email: hcmail@hcpartners.co.nz Phone: 03 687 9222 | Website: www.hcpartners.co.nz Partners: Paul Wolffenbu�el | Jasveen Singh | Nick Krivan | Kalpesh Hari |Mark Evans Consultants: Craig Copland | Duncan Brand Are proud to provide accountancy, tax and business advice services for Peel Forest Estate MAYFIELD SPRAYING LTD Family owned & operated For all your agricultural spraying and liquid fertiliser needs with competitive rates phone Tony today. SPRAYING LTD Tony 027 248 7045 may eldspraying@gmail.com Archer.

6 | DEER » Peel Forest Estate “Having the wintering shed has allowed us to massively reduce our cropping area, while also boosting animal welfare and improving the farm environment.” Innovation is a hallmark of Peel Forest Estate’s ongoing pursuit of excellence. • from page 5 Wintering barn successful With their annual velvet harvest now more than 30 tonnes, Mark is currently exploring options to add value to this quality product by partnering with a brand in the Asian market. Blending traditional aesthetics with high scores, Peel Forest Estate has developed their own unique style of antler, known as the Peel Forest Trophy with long, clean tynes and a wide, sweeping structure. “We’re selling more trophies domestically than we ever have.” Innovation is a hallmark of Peel Forest Estate’s ongoing pursuit of excellence. Last year, Mark’s new 6000sqm wintering barn was trialled for the first time. To Mark’s knowledge, this is by far the largest deer wintering barn in New Zealand. In total, around 9500 deer are wintered at Peel Forest Estate. Last winter, the majority of stock was wintered on grass and strategic crops while older stags – 1350 in total – went into the shed. “It just took so much pressure off and has allowed us to change our strategy to have less winter cropping and more grass. It was very successful in its first year and we continue building on and improving how we do that system. “Previously, we were doing all our wintering on winter crops, but it can get very wet here and it’s not ideal having animals standing in mud, not to mention the damage that does to soil structures. Having the wintering shed has allowed us to massively reduce our cropping area, while also boosting animal welfare and improving the farm environment.” Mark notes that stags wintered inside last year cut the same in terms of velvet weight as stags outside. “I think there’s an opportunity to improve that this winter by upping the type of feed we’re giving them as well.” Effluent is effectively managed via 300mm deep woodchip bedding. It is all trapped in the top 100mm that can be subsequently worked into cropping paddocks as fertiliser. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! TOBY HOW FENCING Covering all aspects and types of rural fencing, aswell as residential. centrally located in Geraldine to service the wider Canterbury region. Give Toby a call 0273031033 Proud to be part of the Peel Forest estate story For all your fencing requirements, from rural to residential, give Toby a call today on 027 303 1033. Proudly supporting Peel Forest Estate and the local Geraldine community. YOU NEED THE BEST. TO LOOK AFTER THE BEST. When it comes to the transport of stud livestock you can’t go past Downlands Deer and Studstock. During the past 40 years, we have pioneered the way in studstock transportation with purpose built trucks, calm expert livestock handlers, efficient nationwide transport routing and now with visual tracking from pick up to delivery. Talk to Downlands Deer and Studstock today to ensure your livestock arrives in the best condition possible.

| 7 ARABLE » Seaton Farming Century Farm award a ‘special moment’ Harvesting. Randall Johnston Ash Seaton, of Seaton Farming in Canterbury, says it will be a special moment for him and his family when they receive their Century Farm Award in Lawrence, Otago this year. “There will be about 10 of us at the event, including my wife and kids and my brother and his family. We’re all really looking forward to it, it’s a nice thing for our kids to witness,” Ash said of the occasion. “I started working on the farm when I left school in the early 2000’s, my brother Warwick and I leased a bit of land off my uncle in 2003. Unfortunately my dad passed away in 2007 and that’s when we took over his half of the farm (400ha), got rid of most of the breeding ewes and started growing a few vegetable seeds. My uncle passed away in 2012 and since then we’ve been running the whole place with assistance in book work from my mother Leslie (an additional 360ha).” Two thirds of this land is irrigated now and cropped in peas (mostly for seed and exported to Europe and Asia), vegetable seeds, cereals, grass seed, clover seed, quinoa and buckwheat, while the rest is in pasture and used to fatten lambs and cattle. “The irrigation helps give you a bit of certainty that you’re going to get a crop at the end of it. This is the driest autumn we’ve had in a long time too, so I’m glad we’ve put that in. We’ve planted more quinoa and buckwheat this time around and that’s going well for us, as a fairly new crop. It’s changed a bit from the early days here, where they were just growing oats for the horses, wheat and peas. • to page 9 Proven results Better soil, better plants, better stock Proudly supporting Seaton Farming 0800 222 203 www.mainfert.co.nz 03 308 6022 30 JB Cullen Drive Ashburton Business Estate RIÀFH#UD\PD\QH FR Q] ZZZ UD\PD\QH FR Q] Ray Mayne Hose and Fittings, in the irrigation business for 32 years, has sold Reinke Manufacturing products since 2000. Providing Seaton Farming with Reinke Center pivots and CropX technology. Reinke pivots, known for durability and performance, feature high-strength steel and innovative design elements like the Hook & Receiver Joint. With a weather-resistant control panel, Reinke systems set the industry standard for quality and longevity. We’re also the CropX distributor for the South Island, offering cutting-edge technology WR RXU FXVWRPHUV &URS; LV D OHDGHU LQ WKLV ÀHOG DQG ZH·UH SURXG WR VXSSRUW WKHLU PLVVLRQ to stay at the forefront of innovation. :H DUH SURXG VXSSRUWHUV RI WKH 6HDWRQ )DPLO\ UHSUHVHQWHG E\ /HVOLH $VKOH\ DQG :DUULFN DW 6HDWRQ )DUPLQJ 5D\ 0D\QH +RVH )LWWLQJV 5HLQNH ([SHUWV &URS; 'LVWULEXWRUV 6HDWRQ )DUPLQJ 6XSSRUWHUV

8 | ARABLE » Seaton Farming Ash looks after the cropping and pasture management side of the business. P SRS 03 302 8115 email: nzoffice@spsnz.co.nz Proud to be working with Seaton Farming SOUTH PACIFIC SEEDS (NZ) LTD Specialists in Hybrid Vegetable Seed Production DRIVING LOCAL FARMERS SINCE 1958 JJ's and Massey Ferguson are proud to have been associated with Seaton farming over the generations. Congratulations on being so successful. We are looking forward to working alongside the next generation and continuing a strong relationship with JJ's and the Massy Ferguson brand. JJ'S SALESMAN | Clint Jordan 027 260 7821 | clint.jordan@jj.co.nz JJ'S SALESMAN | Mike Bone 027 498 7044 | mike.bone@jj.co.nz www.jj.co.nz FERTILISER SPREADING | FARM MAPPING GPS TRACKING | VARIABLE RATE SPREADING LIVESTOCK CARTAGE | DAILY FREIGHT CONCRETE SUPPLIES | GRAIN CARTAGE SHINGLE SUPPLIES | FERTILISER SUPPLIES Leeston: 03 3248 070 | Dunsandel: 03 3254 039 reception@ellesmere.co.nz

| 9 ARABLE » Seaton Farming Quinoa. • from page 7 Ash looks after the cropping and pasture management side of the business, while Warwick looks after the stock side of things but they ‘both do a bit of everything really’. The beginning When George Seaton arrived in New Zealand at Lyttleton from Co Tyrone in Ireland on board the Mermaid in 1864, he worked hard to save up and purchase 20 acres of land in Courtenay, Canterbury, just south of the Waimakariri River just two years later. In 1867 he married Mary Rodgers and they had three children. George farmed all kinds of livestock and grew chaff for the horses. He continued to farm until his death in 1899, when his son, George, took over the farm; increasing the area to 119 acres. It’s hard to know if George Senior would have envisioned his descendant Ash still tending the land nearby at Courtenay well over 100 years later – but that’s what came to be. In 1903 George married Charlotte McLaughlin and they had four children. George continued to farm livestock and grow wheat and oats. In 1936 George’s son, George married Edith Sewell and they had four children. In 1938 he purchased 85 acres of land which included the Desert Run homestead. George Robert raised livestock and grew grain crops. A traditionalist through and through, he was the last farmer in the district to change over to tractors from horses. George Robert’s father passed away in 1948 and he took over the whole farm, also purchasing another 140 acres in 1951. George Robert passed away in 1992. George Robert’s sons, George (Gerrard), Malcolm (Mal) and Robert (Bob) began farming as soon as they left school. In the 1960s they added another 600 acres to farm. They grew oats for chaff, wheat, peas and potatoes. Sheep and cattle were also farmed and they did some baling and harvesting contracting. Bob started up a Suffolk sheep stud with which he had much success with. Gerrard and Mal were bachelors, while Bob married Leslie Cooper in 1983. While all three brothers have since passed away; Bob and Leslie’s two sons, Ashley and Warwick and their families continue to run the farm today. Warwick married Amanda Gilmore in 2016 and they have two children, while Ashley married Anna Boleyn in 2009 and they have three children. The current farm area is 760ha growing a variety of crops and fattening sheep and cattle. Irrigation has been added to two thirds of the farm in recent years. Each generation has been involved with exhibiting livestock and grain at the Courtenay A&P Show with George Robert, Bob, Ashley and Warwick all being past presidents of the association. Prices for grain are reduced a bit this year, so Ash says it’s not going to be a huge year for onfarm investment, beyond a bit of fencing and maintenance work, but he is confident that the quinoa and buckwheat harvests will continue to grow in 2024 and beyond. County Tyrone to Courtenay www.accounting.co.nz 6 Show Place, Christchurch 03 343-4448 Business Advisors & Chartered Accountants Congratulations, Seaton Farming, from one 100-year-old business to another! We’re proud to support you. Keen to make your business last the distance? Call us and mention Business Rural to book a complimentary consultation. Power Farming Canterbury Rolleston and Amberley Phone 03 349 5975 | www.powerfarmingcanterbury.co.nz Power Farming Canterbury is pleased to support Seaton Farming

10 | A bit more time for Chris Dillon now Chris now has more time to focus on the family farm at Balfour. Chris and wife Rochelle grow cereal crops – wheat, peas and barley. Karen Phelps ARABLE » Chris Dillon Fert Wholesale Direct Ltd Farmers, are you concerned about improving your fertiliser efficiency and environmental footprint? Then Fert Wholesale Direct Ltd can help, as we have helped Chris Dillon. The ONE System which through independent trials shows a doubling of response to N. And more recently, our Revolutionary Compound Urea/SOA product where every granule contains both forms of N. Contact Shane Harold on 021 0235 6491 or shane@fertwholesale.co.nz Chris Dillon is enjoying a bit of free time now he’s completed his role as provincial president for Southland with Federated Farmers. He’s enjoying spending more time with family and reflecting on his achievements over the past three years. Holding regional council to task on “quite a few things” figures highly. He lists the water directive council instigated during a drought banning all irrigation in 2022 as a triumph. “We came up with a logical more practical solution for farmers going forward so people could use their effluent spreaders and stored water for example. So it was a more targeted approach to saving water. Farmers shouldn’t have been caught up in the ban. That was one of the first wins,” he says. Southland Federated Farmers also highlighted the issue of gravel build up in the rivers, which contributed to the flooding of the region in 2023. “In the past this natural gravel build up was better managed. But in 2023 it caused more flooding with a smaller amount of rainfall, under half of the rainfall that you would expect to result in a flood. We can be more resilient by spending a heap on raising flood banks or just removing the natural gravel build up. It’s a work in progress to find a practical solution going forward.” Other things Chris feels have been “ticked off” for local farmers include winter grazing regulations. “The Southland executive stood strong around this which has seen a set of guidelines and everyone working to best practice rather than overarching regulation, especially around the slope rules,” he says. “We also stood strong against the emissions pricing and refused to join the He Waka Eke Noa - Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership. This is still on-going but we didn’t want to sign up to a bad deal.” Chris now has more time to focus on the family farm at Balfour. It was just over 200ha when he started working on the farm in 2000. Land acquisitions have seen the property expand to 960ha. Chris and wife Rochelle grow cereal crops – wheat, peas and barley – totalling 600ha of their land holding. The remaining 360ha is used as a grazing operation incorporating deer, dairy heifers and lamb grazing which compliments the cereal rotation. Their business also incorporates 170 beef animals and grazing 3500 lambs and 1000 hoggets. Chris says this has given diversity to their business so they spread their risk and use the land in the way it is best suited. “While we were battling against government we are now battling against prices. Cost of inputs has gone up and what we produce has gone down.” Chris remains on the National Arable Executive for Federated Farmers: “Southland is in really good hands with the executive we’ve got going forward, continuing to work hard on behalf of farmers to help facilitate practical solutions that will work for farms, the environment and wider region.”

12 | restaurant trade, and during the summer season, corn, melons, pumpkin, zucchini, eggplant, and peppers are also grown. Diversification is an essential aspect of the business, with the O’Connors spreading the financial risk of things like adverse weather events or national overproduction by not just relying on one crop. Also essential to the business are the local Thai and Myanmar communities who make up a large proportion of the Appleby Fresh workforce. “This business would struggle without our Asian communities,” Mark says. “While the Government wants to import people for highly paid roles, what we really need is people at ground level who are prepared to show up to work every day and work hard.” While this situation might still be under development, another essential part of Appleby Fresh and all the other farmers and growers on the Waimea Plains is now partly operational and an absolute lifeline for production. The recently commissioned Waimea Community Dam started releasing water in February and is set to keep growers growing during this, one of the driest years in history on the Waimea Plains. “I’m not saying there will be more production on the plains, but the dam gives us security in the dry periods,” Mark says. “I talk to a lot of growers outside our area and the one thing they always say is they wish they had certainty of water. This dam is a game changer, and there needs to be more dams built and more water augmentation across the country. Guaranteed water means guaranteed jobs.” While Appleby Fresh pays an expensive per hectare rate to take water from the dam, other locals who aren’t growers continue to benefit with the ability to water their gardens and wash their cars with no water restrictions, all because of the Waimea Community Dam. As vegetable growers across the South Island contribute fresh and healthy produce and create employment opportunities at all levels and across all businesses that support the sector, their margins are under threat from rising costs and low price points. “One of our biggest challenges at the moment is to get the price of vegetables up, and its going to be difficult,” Mark says. “We’ve had a good year down south because of the weather events in the North Island. We’ve had good growing conditions and everybody has planted more to catch up from last year, so we have an oversupply situation. We are sending a lot of items out below the cost of production.” Interest rates hikes have taken a fair chunk out of people’s wage packets and consumers are out there looking for specials. “We get it,” Mark says. “Inflation stops the merry-go-round. We’ve stopped a lot of our spending and it means some of our suppliers won’t get anything this year. We need to get inflation down and interest rates down.” Waimea Dam gamechanger for grower On 180ha, Appleby Fresh produces more than 30 different types of vegetables. Kelly Deeks At Appleby near Richmond on the Waimea Plains, Appleby Fresh is a large market gardening company growing, harvesting, packing, and dispatching a wide range of nutritious vegetables all over New Zealand, all year round. The home farm has been in the family for five generations and was converted from a sheep farm by its current owners’ grandparents. The business is now owned by three brothers, Michael, Mark, and Brendan O’Connor. Both Michael and Mark are actively involved in the daily management of the business, and Mark’s two sons also hold leadership roles. On 180ha, Appleby Fresh produces more than 30 different types of vegetables, specialising in green crops including cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, leeks, and spinach. A few niche crops such as kale, celeriac, and fennel are grown, mainly to supply the Email: alastair@cooltranz.co.nz | Phone: 021 826 384 | Web: www.CoolTranz.co.nz Proud to support Appleby Fresh We specialise in the temperature controlled transportation of produce and food grade products around New Zealand. HORTICULTURE » Appleby Fresh

| 13 Diversification is an essential aspect of the business. HORTICULTURE » Appleby Fresh CAR, 4WD, TRUCK, TRACTOR & AGRICULTURAL TYRES EASY ACCESS WITH OFF STREET PARKING Proudly Supporting Appleby Fresh Scan here to contact one of our local Technical Field Advisors! “You cannot beat NZ Wool it is naturally grown from grass” Main West Coast Road, Yaldhurst, RD 6, Christchurch 7676, New Zealand Phone: +64 3 342 6223 Email: ywlwool@nzwool.com Web: www.nzwool.com

14 | Spiralling costs put squeeze on growers A bumper onion crop ready to be lifted. Sue Russell It’s been a good 18 months since Rural South last spoke with fifth generation horticulturalist Robin Oakley, of Oakleys Premium Vegetables, based in Southbridge and Amberley, central Canterbury. Back then, issues flowing on from difficulty accessing traditional RSE workers from Vanuatu were uppermost in Robin’s thinking and since then, with a more positive uptake of local holiday workers of late, the business has moved away from engaging in the RSE scheme. Across land it owns and leases, in total 450ha is planted in an array of vegetables; potatoes, pumpkin, broccoli, beetroot and latterly onion. “We’ve been pretty happy with our crop yields as well with the exception of pumpkin, which got slammed with hail with a third of the crop having to be down-graded last season,” Robin explains. When Rural South caught up with Robin late March the second onion crop was being lifted. Learnings from last year, he says, were invaluable and this season’s crop has proved a success. Rising costs are the biggest single business stress Robin says. When there was a shortage of vegetables to market during the covid times and weather events in the North Island, with consequent increases in market value, this off-set the impact of cost increases to a degree. Now the national yield is returning to pre-covid levels and vegetables are reducing in price, the burden of these operational costs is being felt more keenly. “Wages have increased, along with fuel, land rentals and other production costs, so it is really important to keep the business model as simple and efficient as possible. Margins are very, very tight with a swing of 5% - 10% making a huge difference to our bottom-line.” Oakley’s branded products are available at all Foodstuffs retailers in the South Island – Four Square, New World and Pak’n Save outlets, while in the North Island Baby and Classic Golden Gourmet Potatoes are also sold at these supermarkets. In the Upper North Island, outlets such as Farro HORTICULTURE » Oakleys Premium Fresh Vegetables and Fruit World stores sell Oakley Golden Gourmet Duets, Trios and Petites. “We’re experiencing good growth in the North Island as people discover how delicious and nutritious our specialist potatoes are.” The Amberley property is due for resource consent renewal, another cost bearing down on the operation. The frustration, Robin explains, is that the resource consent process has not brought about any change in production methodologies. “All the consent has done was confirm that what we are doing is best practice and meets industry standards. I understand they need to know what people are doing and that some industries need to reduce their footprint, however we are compliant on all environmental fronts, hence the frustration in these costs.” Improvements, Robin says, that are occurring in operation practice are not coming about through the compliance systems, they are coming about because he and the team are constantly looking at ways to improve outcomes environmentally, for their staff and for their customers. Quietest time of the year is June and July but only from a production stand-point. Post-harvest processes are busy all year through. “Once we get into August and September, the spring growing cycle begins all over again.” Oakley’s Premium Vegetables employs a team of 50 full-time staff with seasonal staff coming on at picking and post-harvest. Asked whether, at this time, he was looking for staff, Robin says, he’s struggling to fill the maintenance engineer role. “We would definitely be interested in hearing from anyone with experience and qualifications in this area.” A future additional cost will come about as the whole sector in Canterbury grapples with water issues. “I can see we will need to prepare for developing more water-storage dams, to further enhance reliance on water accessed from rivers.” A significant investment has already been made in supplying solar power generation across the company’s Southbridge site, where produce is processed and refrigerated. At Amberley, research has been undertaken to identify the best sequestering crop to grow on marginal land. FERTILISER SPREADING | FARM MAPPING GPS TRACKING | VARIABLE RATE SPREADING LIVESTOCK CARTAGE | DAILY FREIGHT CONCRETE SUPPLIES | GRAIN CARTAGE SHINGLE SUPPLIES | FERTILISER SUPPLIES Leeston: 03 3248 070 | Dunsandel: 03 3254 039 reception@ellesmere.co.nz A member of the Horizon Energy Group 0800 772 077 For all your Industrial Refrigeration and Automation Solutions. Proud to support and work with Oakleys Premium Fresh Vegetables. 393 Frasers Rd, Dunsandel 7682 03 325 4170 www.edswain.co.nz Transport Enquiries Contact Eddie 0274 328 429 • Brad 027 250 1166 i Contracting Enquiries Contact Eddie 0274 328 429 • Stephen 027 325 8344 i CONTRACTORS CARTAGE | BALING

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