Fertiliser in 2007; Setting Up for Spring Fertiliser Work; Another Good Fertiliser Season is Forecast

By EASTON, Barry

TARANAKI’S groundspreaders and aerial applicators are readying themselves for the start of the spring fertiliser season.

For most, this will begin from the middle to the end of this month, and will continue through September, October, and part of November.

Wanganui Aero Works operates two aircraft from its Stratford base, working an area right around Mount Egmont, south to Patea, north to Mount Messenger, and east to the Tangarakau Gorge.

While sheep and beef farms comprise most of the work, wet weather can bring a surge in demand from dairy farmers, says Kevin Brown, one of the company’s two pilots who operate from Stratford.

“This can happen at short notice,” he says.

“If we get a very wet spell, for example, we will be called upon by some of the dairy farmers because they have only a small window of opportunity in which to grow grass. This is especially the case around the mountain, particularly on the Opunake side, where Ian Dingle (the company’s second pilot) does much of his work.

“Our peak period is January, February and March. One of the reasons for this is that particularly on the dry stock farms, we can gain access to the more remote airstrips from a cartage point of view. It is critical to have access for the bulk fertiliser.

“During this period, too, it is generally drier, the weather is more settled and there are longer daylight hours.

“Our concern related to dry stock farming is that the industry, at this point, does not seem to have the same prospects which dairy has. However, I believe that farmers will sort this problem out themselves.”

Maintenance work is being carried out on fertiliser spreaders in preparation for work on farms from the end of this month, says Rod Campbell (New Plymouth) operations manager for FBT.

FBT has eight spreaders -all “Spreadmark” certified – based at strategic locations in New Plymouth, Inglewood and Okato, he says.

While dairy farms comprise the bulk of the company’s groundspread operations, there is also a demand from sheep and beef farms and lifestyle blocks.

Last season was a good one, says Mr Campbell.

“From mid March through to mid May, we were very busy. Everyone wanted fertiliser spread at the same time. This year we will be encouraging farmers on steeper country to apply their fertiliser in February and early March. This not only spreads our work load but also enables us to do a better job.

“A large number of dairy farmers order a 20%-30% super potash mix with urea added. We are expecting lime application to increase this year.”

Dairy farmers provide 80% of the fertiliser application work performed by Beck Helicopters Ltd, says Alan Beck (Eltham).

The company operates four helicopters for its New Zealand operations – three Iroquois and a Jet Ranger. “We are a bit different from most helicopter operators in that we have our own purpose-built trucks,” says Mr Beck. “We can pick up the fertiliser in bulk and when the trucks go to the farm, they become bins. We load directly from the bins into the hopper. If the weather turns foul, the trucks simply become 50-tonne holding bins – each truck can carry 25 tonnes.”

Accuracy and an even spread of fertiliser across the swathe through the use of a spinner, is a key advantage of spreading by helicopter, says Mr Beck.

“Fertilisers like DAP cost $830 a tonne or thereabouts. The client is paying 80 cents per kilogram for the stuff so it is too expensive to waste. With our slower speed and lower height, we can get into very tight corners and still be very accurate.

“Most of our fertiliser work is on dairy farms, especially at this time of the year where it is too wet for trucks and a lot of airstrips are closed.”

The higher dairy payouts will likely be reflected by increased work, but this will probably come from new clientele rather than existing clients, suggests Mr Beck.

“We have been topdressing for 30-odd years, and our traditional clients basically don’t alter their fertiliser (volumes) year by year, because that’s their single biggest input after interest and capital repayments,” he says.

—————————————————————– ——- LAST season was a good one for those in the fertiliser spreading industry, and indications are that the spring of 2007 and autumn of 2008 will match it.

However, despite the recently announced dairy payout of $4.46 for the season ended May 31, 2007 and a forecast of $5.53 for the 2007- 2008 season, this will not necessarily be reflected by farmers buying increased volumes of fertiliser, says Neil Marriner (Stratford) president of the Taranaki branch of the New Zealand Groundspreaders Association.

“We have just had our industry national conference in Christchurch, and the feeling is that most farmers will want to clear their overdrafts and reduce their mortgages before they really start spending,” he says.

“A couple of years ago, a lot of farmers found in doing their nutrient budgeting that they did not need to apply as much fertiliser as they had been doing to get production from their land. I think some of those farmers will be buying in supplementary feed such as palm kernel and maize.

“However, while volumes of superphosphate are expected to be similar this season to last season, the expectation is that more urea and lime will be spread because of the increased payout.”

Mr Marriner, who is in his fourth term as president of the Taranaki branch of the New Zealand Groundspreaders Association says a common complaint among the 18 members of the regional association, is that despite the introduction of “Spreadmark” accreditation a decade ago, farmers rarely demand an operator who can perform to this guaranteed standard.

While not all 18 members of the Taranaki branch are Spreadmark- accredited, says Mr Marriner, all have invested in either trucks or trained drivers, who meet the standard.

“Some have their trucks certified; some have their drivers certified and some companies are certified. The cost of certifying a company is a little bit more, and not all operators have bothered to do this.”

The Taranaki Association, he says, has a good relationship with the Taranaki Regional Council, which is kept well informed on the operations and developments within the groundspread industry.

“They don’t have to tell us what to do – we have always shown them what we are doing and the TRC is happy with this,” he says.

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(c) 2007 Daily News; New Plymouth, New Zealand. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.