The ABC of Agriculture

By CRONSHAW, Tim

TIM CRONSHAW takes a whimsical look at the highs and lows of the farming year.

.

A IS FOR AGRICULTURE. Despite what the techno-geeks and cinematic literati think, agriculture still drives 17% of the New Zealand economy each year. Meat processor Affco floors the dairy industry by setting up a dairy company. B IS FOR BEEF. New Zealand beef continues to be in demand in Japan and Korea, but farmers keep a cautious eye on the United States attempt to re-enter Asia. C IS FOR CONVERSION. Depending on who you speak to, 70, 90 or 100 Southland farms are crossing over to dairying. Another 30 conversions are set for Canterbury as milk prices rise. D IS FOR DAIRYING. Dairying is the success story of the year as the farmer payout hits a high of $6.90/kg/ms. D is also for the drought in Australia and, closer to home, on the East Coast of the North Island. E IS FOR ETHANOL. George Bush decides to tap into the tax coffers to prop up biofuel production in former corn fields and opens up opportunities for Kiwi farmers as grain shortages follow. F IS FOR FONTERRA. Fonterra managers are dancing around a milk can and thanking the commodity gods for their easy ride up juggernaut lane. G IS FOR GRAPES. Growers have more to cheer about as wine exports hit $700m for the first time. Also, the gap between the profitability of dairying/ grain and sheep farming has become a yawning gulf. H IS FOR HIKES. Price hikes for fertiliser, land rates and other on-farm costs erode farm returns. I IS FOR ICY. That’s the response from Australian farmers again when they are asked to overturn an 80-year-old disease- based ban on New Zealand apple imports. J IS FOR JOKE. The cunning Brits try to claim that Kiwi food racks up too many carbon- transport costs in the food-mile joke. They forget that New Zealand’s food production is more energy-efficient than their own. K is for kiss. Kiss goodbye to any hope that the dollar will go down. Analysts say we should abandon this futile dreaming and look for improvements elsewhere for export returns to rise. L IS FOR LAMB. The outlook this season is for a $60 lamb, but drought/dryness, global oversupply and a stubbornly high currency may have the Nostradamuses of this world backpedalling. M IS FOR MERGER. Or rather the lack of one. PPCS agrees on a giant merger, but fellow meat processor Alliance says not yet, thanks. N IS FOR NORGATE. The portly mastermind of PGG-Wrightson, Craig Norgate, must be scheming ntsa at this very minute nte for his next acquisition, takeover or head-hunting proposition. O IS FOR OUCH. Light store lambs are about as desirable as a screen door on a submarine, with fewer finishers on the ground. P IS FOR PARADIGM. Please, please, please can farming leaders stop using ntsa banish nte this word ntsa from the midst of farming nte. While they are at it, let’s dump facilitator, sustainable and slick abbreviations which mean nothing to consumers. Q IS FOR QUEASY. Professor Keith Woodford’s book, Devil in the Milk, points to a rogue molecule in A1 milk that is linked to type 1 diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses. R IS FOR REMUERA. The tale of a city-slicker taking over Castle Hill Station, written by Christine Fernyhough, captures the rural and city readers’ imagination. S IS FOR STOCK EXCHANGE. Fonterra looks to bring in city punters for a slice of a stock exchange listing and expand its overseas divisions. Farmer shareholders will have the final say. T IS FOR TENURE REVIEW. High-country reviews slow to a messy halt and farmers accuse the Government of lifting rents to get them out of leasehold farms. Meanwhile, the ousting of Alliance chairman John Turner turns heads in the lamb trade. U IS FOR URUGUAY. Milk-rich farmers look at the South American nation and other promising destinations as an offshore investment. V IS FOR VELVET AND VENISON. Deer returns are better and Velconz is formed to improve velvet marketing. Value-add becomes the buzz word of yesteryear as commodities take over. W IS FOR WHEAT. Just when arable growers were thinking of pulling out their wheat crops and their hair, international grain prices go berserk. W is also for woeful as strong wool prices continue their hybernation. X IS FOR XMAS. The harsh reality is that Christmas presents will be bigger under the trees of dairying households than other farmers as Fonterra suppliers look to receive an average payout of at least $806,180 this season. Y IS FOR YOU. You would be mad if you didn’t think that farmers will be paying for their share of greenhouse gasses after ntsa post- nte 2013 unless some scientific break through can solve the climate-change dilemma. Z IS FOR … Give us a break. How are we going to fit zebra, zodiac or Zeus into an ABC of farming? Well here goes — will dairying’s zesty zeal reach its zenith next year, or zigzag?

——————–

(c) 2007 Press, The; Christchurch, New Zealand. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.