No.8 Wire: Kiwi team win cup back from Aussies

Murray Child led the winning team. Photo / Michael Cunningham

The five-man New Zealand dog trial team led by Murray Child, of Maungakaramea in Northland, has regained the Wayleggo Cup by winning both tests against Australia during the Transtasman Challenge at Strathalbyn in South Australia.

Child, who was in the New Zealand team that lost to Australia in Queensland in 2012 and again at Ashburton last year, was elated when he called from Australia to confirm the test wins.

SYNDICATE CONFIDENT

One of MyFarm's newest farming syndicates, Hokonui Pastoral Limited Partnership, expects to remain well in the black at Fonterra's forecast for a 2014/2015 farm-gate milk price of $5.30/kg of milksolids.

The syndicate -- launched in late September -- forecasts it will generate positive returns even if the milk price falls as low as $4.20/kg milksolids, says Andrew Watters, executive director at MyFarm, New Zealand's largest dairy farm manager.

"Milk prices have risen 4.3 per cent since Fonterra's inception but in the current season that trend appears to have reversed," Watters says.

"MyFarm recognises this volatility is a fact of life.

"We expect milk prices to return to the long-term average of around $7/kg of milksolids, possibly as soon as the 2015/16 season. However, we understand we need to operate farming systems that give our syndicates the flexibility to respond to these short-term milk price changes as well as fluctuations in on-farm costs.

"Hokonui's ability to graze its entire stock on-farm sets it apart from many of its neighbours in Southland and further afield.

Notably, it protects the syndicate from volatility in grazing costs, which have been rising at an annual rate of 6 per cent to 7 per cent in many areas.

"Farms in good locations, and where all stock remain on-farm, are becoming increasingly rare; this represents a significant shift in MyFarm's experience buying farms over the past 20 years."

LAND LESSONS

The Fertiliser Quality Council (FQC) is developing a tablet-based learning tool called "Plants, Soil and Society" which has been piloted in urban and rural schools.

Youngsters grow strawberry plants and eat the fruit, helping them learn where food comes from before it reaches supermarket shelves.

The programme is designed to encourage pupils into careers in science and the FQC aims to roll it out next year.