Revisiting my blog!

It is about sixteen months since I last updated my blog! Sixteen months where my Nuffield experience culminated in a presentation at the Nuffield conference last November in Edinburgh and my report submitted and accepted by December 31st 2010. Phew! You can have a read by clicking on the following http://www.nuffieldinternational.org/rep_pdf/1293742223Huw_Davies_edited.pdf

I am yet to decide whether I will get into the discipline of writing a daily blog again.

Home!!

Monday December 7th. I am writing my final blog of my New Zealand/Australia experience as we fly from Dubai to London. We have been away from home for six weeks (rain everyday in Wales from what we understand) and are eager to be reunited with family and friends. It has been an incredible journey that I have been fortunate enough to share with Sheila, which will enable us to recount our experiences in the years to come. We have enjoyed generous hospitality, openness with regard to farming practices and an appreciation of the differing challenges and opportunities that face farmers on the other side of the world.

I have approached this journey, and ‘study’, with a commitment to learning best practice in an animal welfare context, within the pastoral systems of Australasia. I now have the challenge of deciphering and trawling through the notes, recorded interviews, and literature collected along the way. Animal welfare throughout the world is a continual journey of incremental improvement, and I have come across some great navigators during the last few weeks.

I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog as much as I have enjoyed writing and reflecting on each day. I am aware that my mother has been an avid reader (as you would expect) and also Moss Jones of FAWL, who sent me a rather derogatory e mail regarding my white and spindly legs! Other than that, well who knows……

I have numerous meetings this week associated with some of my off farm commitments. I hope that the expected ‘jet lag’ will not limit my reintroduction into the interesting, but sometimes robust world of Welsh agri politics!

Diolch yn fawr.
Huw.

Nearly at journey's end

Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th December. In 1901 the six colonies of Australia decided to form a nation, and after much bickering Canberra was built between Sydney and Melbourne, 2000 feet above sea level and surrounded by mountains. An American architect, called Walter Burley Griffin was hired to design the new city which today is home to 300,000 people, mainly diplomats, politicians, and civil servants. (Those people that ‘are far removed from the soil’ as the farmers in Dubbo and Greenethorpe noted with some feeling!)

We made the most of our day and a half in the city visiting the Australian War Memorial which was built between 1925 and 1941 as a tribute to those who died in World War 1. It also houses Australia’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Australia has always supported Britain during time of conflict, even though they have only been directly attacked once when the Japanese bombed Darwin during the WW2. We found the whole visit moving especially the hall which individually described the courage and sacrifice of the Victoria Cross recipients. An Australian SAS soldier was the last to receive that ultimate recognition of courage during the recent and ongoing conflict in Afghanistan.

We also spent some time in the National Portrait Gallery, and also the National Gallery which had a comprehensive collection of Aboriginal Art. The Aborigines fate is of grave concern to modern Australia, and the Government is still striving to find the best way to involve and preserve an ancient culture which has been severely victimised in the past.

We flew from a quiet sedate Canberra, to a vibrant and busy Sydney for our final flight home to London via Dubai.

Final meetings in Canberra

3rd and 4th December. After the few days of relaxation in Port Douglas it was challenging to re engage in a program of meetings set up by the Australian Goverment with senior agricultural and welfare practitioners in Canberra. We are indepted to Dr. Peter Thornber for facilitating the meetings over these two days, and taking time out from his busy schedule to host our visit. We found the one to one dialogues valuable and engaging with again valuable material gathered for my Nuffield report.

We were also fortunate to be in Canberra for the launch of Sam Archer's (Australian Nuffield Scholar 2008) seminar on Market Based Ecosystem Services - A proposed National Model. We had a great Chinese meal on Thursday night in the company of Jim Geltch, Nuffield CEO and Sam and his wife Sabrina.

Meeting details 3rd December
Meeting Objectives:
Exchange information on current UK Farm Animal Welfare priorities.
Explain Australia’s policy approach for improving animal welfare outcomes through the AAWS and its implementation.
Discuss current and emerging global issues.
Discuss opportunities for Australia and UK to work together to improve capacity building in animal welfare.
Meeting Outcomes:
A shared understanding of welfare issues and approaches in Australia and of UK’s animal welfare agenda.
Participants List:
Australian Government
Peter Thornber, Manager Australian Animal Welfare Strategy (AAWS) & Communications Animal Welfare Unit (DAFF)
Jim Paradice, Manager International and Live Exports, Animal Welfare Unit
Tim Lester, Senior Policy Officer, Australian Animal Welfare Strategy & Communications Animal Welfare Unit
Dr Kevin Doyle, National Veterinary Director, Australian Veterinary Association

Huw Davies, Chair, Ruminants Standing Committee, Farm Animal Welfare Council

Meeting details Friday 4th December
National Farmers’ Federation Building
14-16 Brisbane Avenue, Barton, Canberra
Meeting Objectives:
Exchange information on current UK Farm Animal Welfare priorities.
Industry perspective on animal welfare.
Discuss current and emerging global issues.
Discuss opportunities for Australia and UK to work together.
Meeting Outcomes:
A shared understanding of welfare issues and approaches in Australia and of UK’s animal welfare agenda.
Participant’s List
Peter Thornber, DAFF
Huw Davies
Ron Cullen, Executive Director, SheepMeat Council of Australia
Greg Weller, Executive Director, WoolProducers Australia
Ben Fargher, CEO, National Farmers’ Federation

Great Barrier Reef

Friday 27th November – Wednesday 2nd December. We had a 12 p.m. flight to catch from Canberra to Cairns via Brisbane. I am ultra cautious with timings and therefore I was rather concerned when Julie coolly told us that she had an appointment with her bank manager at 8 a.m. and that we would be leaving Greenethrope at 9 a.m. That would be fine if the journey did not normally take 2½ hours (if you have no hold ups)!! It was the most stressful few hours of my trip with us eventually arriving at the terminal with 10 minutes to spare. The laid back Julie and amused Sheila seemed to revel in my obvious discomfort!

Our ultimate destination was Port Douglas, 80 km north of Cairns on the Queensland coast. We were moving from the dry heat of Dubbo/Greenethorpe to the humid heat of tropical Australia. Queensland is known as the place where Australia goes on holiday and has the incredible natural wonder of the Great Barrier Reef on its coast line. During the 1800’s the area would not be your favoured destination as it was home to some of the worst convicts in Australia’s penal system.
I did not take much convincing to include these few days of leisure in our itinerary. Sheila’s argument of “when we are older and greyer, we will not want to reflect on another abattoir visit, but rather the experience of seeing the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef” was a fairly easy one to agree with whole heartedly!

The Great Barrier Reef is often described as Australia’s crowning glory and stretches 1300 miles in a mosaic of more than 2900 distinct reefs covering 90,000 square miles. We experienced the reef in all its wonder by taking a 35 minute helicopter flight 55 km offshore to a diving platform. The flight took us over the Daintree tropical forest, a home for crocodiles, hence the ‘flight over’, rather than the ‘walk through’.

The experience on the reef, like many things on this trip is difficult to describe in words. We had the chance to snorkel in clear blue sea with the incredible coral formations just below the surface, and a colourful spectrum of fish swimming within touching distance. Sheila had the fortunate experience of stroking a two foot long fish which came close to her with the encouragement of a diver swimming below where we were snorkeling. A memorable few hours, with the long boat ride back to port in a catamaran giving us time to collect our thoughts and savour one of the most beautiful parts of the world.

We left Port Douglas, refreshed, and having enjoyed the laid back approach to life of this sleepy tourist destination.

Greenethorpe and a fellow Nuffield

Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th November. We started our three hour journey south to Greenethorpe by stopping for a coffee/drinking chocolate/smoothie at a drive in at Dubbo. I hoped that Lyn could drink coffee and drive at the same time…she reassured me by saying that she could eat cereal and drive at the same time. It wasn’t long until I managed to take over the wheel!

The drive took us through some incredibly dry countryside, and we were reminded that this area has, and is suffering from a severe drought. The temperature was consistently above 30˚C with reports of 43˚C in Greenethorpe the week before. It was very surreal to stop at a little coffee shop for a break and experience a Christmas tree in the corner, and ‘I am dreaming of a White Christmas’ being the background music! Lyn was a great companion during our journey and we were very appreciative of her six hour taxi service!

We arrived with Julie in the afternoon and it was a happy reunion as she had stayed in Wales with us during the Royal Welsh and the UK part of her Nuffield study. We had also travelled together with all the 2009 Nuffield scholars from all over the world in early spring from London, through France to Brussels. Julie manages 2100 acres jointly with her brother David and parents. The farm consists of 1000 acres of cropping and 1100 acres of pasture which stocks 1000 ewes with a lamb weaning percentage of 148%. Lambs are weaned at 12 weeks onto lucerne, followed by wheat stubble and eventually supplemented by grain and silage as the summer heat takes all the green cover and turns the area into a yellow flat plain.

Julie has overall responsibility for the ewe flock and aims to sell all the male lambs at an average carcass weight of 23kg. All the ewe lambs that reach a target live weight of 45kg are put to the ram with the empty lambs at scanning often being sold at a carcass weight of 30kg. Julie sells these lambs to an abattoir that does not penalize on fat but just pays on weight!! Julie has experimented with a number of breeds including Coopworth, Corriedale, Finn and East Friesland. She covers the ewes with a Dorset Ram. Footrot has been eradicated in the area, and is a notifiable disease. With around 20 inches of rain annually, there is at least one advantage to the dry conditions.

Our visit was enhanced by some fellow lodgers during our stay. Darren who drove a combine, and was coming to the end of his harvesting travels from Queensland down to New South Wales, and Glen and Nicole who were a young couple who had finished their grain harvest at home and were hoping to make some extra cash picking cherries on the local fruit farms. Julie and her brother operated a big baling operation and I came across one of the biggest John Deere tractors I had ever seen, making the one at home seem a bit of a toy.

We followed Julie to one of her baling jobs which was to bale some of the straw behind Darren’s 36 foot header. The job was rather dubious because the harvest was poor yielding under 1t/Ha of grain and 0.8 bales per Ha of straw. Julie’s crop had been a much more respectable 2t/ha of grain. Many of the fields were in excess of 50 Ha.

We also had the pleasure of meeting two of Julie’s neighbours, Rodney Watt and Ian McColl who coincidentally both sat on the Sheep Council for Australia. They had me at a disadvantage during our lengthy discussions in that they were used to the 30˚C+ heat while I was wilting by the minute under the glaring sun and the persistent flies. Rodney is a recognized breeder of rams (Poll Dorset and White Suffolk) while Ian is currently Sheepmeat Committee Chairman for NSW Farmers Association. I was given a great insight into an Australian sheep farmer’s perspective on farming in a dry, arid climate where water shortage is common, government legislation, farm assurance, and lamb marketing.

We must have brought some luck to the area because at tea time the heavens opened and an inch of rain fell in a few hours. This had the effect of everyone (farmers, combine drivers, lorry drivers etc) all retiring to the local pub for some great food and the inevitable ‘stubbies’. (bottled beer)

We had a great time with Julie and her family, and wish her well with her Nuffield study which will take her to New Zealand next week.

Dubbo, Roger Fletcher and Lyn Sykes

Tuesday 24th November. Dubbo is a town that lies 406km NE of Sydney and is often referred to as the crossroads of New South Wales – Brisbane to the North, Melbourne to the South, Sydney to the East and Adelaide to the West. The town is home to many truck drivers as the long journeys are broken by a change of driver or a stopover before getting back on the road again.

We were flying to Dubbo to meet with an iconic Australian called Roger Fletcher who started life as a sheep shearer, drover and is now the owner of Fletcher International Exports. The company is a sheep and lamb processor, and through the plant in Dubbo, and a sister plant in Western Australia, has a combined processing capacity of 4.5 million head per year. The company specialises in utilising all the sheep and lamb processed, including the wool which is cleaned and treated to the stage where it can be directly exported to China amongst other places, to be manufactured into the clothes we buy in our high streets! The company has customers in 90 countries.

Our visit started with an introduction to the plant by Colin Plant, the production manager who was originally from Northern Ireland and Adam Hughes, the Quality Assurance Manager. The plant could process 8500 sheep and lambs per day using one chain but running two shifts. In addition to the cold boning rooms which I was used to seeing in the other plants that we had visited, a hot boning room was used, and a proportion of the sheep could be slaughtered and processed within two hours!

The plant lairage was covered and held 4000 head at one time. Muzzled dogs were used in the pens, and also to unload the lorries as they arrived. The lorry drivers had their own dogs which travelled in compartments underneath the trailers. All the sheep were tagged, identifying the farm of origin, and arrived clean. (No rain and scorching conditions. 30˚C+.) Due to the large distances involved in any travel in Australia, the sheep could be transported for 48 hours without unloading, and there was no requirement for water or fans to be installed on the trucks.

The tour of the wool processing factory was fascinating. The wool is first removed from the pelt by a chemical process, and by scouring, (washing) combing and sorting the long fibres are isolated and ready for spinning. The mechanisation and sheer distance involved from start to finish with this process needs to be seen to be appreciated. As with the other plants that we had visited we were given a very informative and lengthy tour with permission to take pictures which is not always the case…

Our conversation with Roger Fletcher was entertaining, informative, challenging, and totally absorbing, as you would expect with a man of his stature within the Australian sheep farming and processing industry. I felt very privileged that he was so generous with his time during our meeting, and I can still see the glint in his eye as he recounted driving 5000 sheep, around 900 miles on foot across the outback. I asked him how many sheep he had lost on that journey, and the immediate answer was that you usually finished off with more than you had started with!

Roger was very concerned about the declining sheep numbers in Australia, which made procurement increasingly difficult. The key policy within his business was to seek efficiencies, and utilise and add value to every part of the carcass. It was mentioned that he even tried to market the ‘Bah’ in sheep!! The issue of live exports was discussed at length and in no uncertain terms.

He is also a farmer in his own right, owning 204,000 acres including 100,000 acres cropping, 8000 acres of irrigation, and 96,000 acres of grassland for natural pasture production. Within sight of the abattoir we could also see brand new grain stores, which have been built to accommodate Roger’s new grain business. When the Australian Government refused to extend the railway to service his new stores, he went ahead and built 5km of track himself. An extraordinary man, and a conversation to be valued and reflected upon over time.

The world is a small place, because we had been picked up that morning at Dubbo Airport by Lyn Sykes. I met Lyn in Ireland last year, when I was one of the students on her facilitation and family succession course. Lyn is respected throughout the world within the field of family succession, and I was amazed to find that she lived close to the Fletcher plant. After all, Australia is a fairly big place!

We spent a great evening in the company of Lyn and her husband John, at their newly renovated home. We were also joined for dinner by two of Lyn’s five boys. Lyn had insisted that we should not hire a car during our time in the area, and that she would drive us to our next stop at Greenthorpe, some three hours south of Dubbo the next day.

MLA and LiveCorp

Monday 23rd November. The first of our three days of meetings during our stay in Australia. The other two would be held in Canberra towards the end of our trip. Australian lamb tends to be imported into the UK as a catering product and is often what you might be offered in some of our restaurants. My key areas of interest were the issues of mulesing, (the removal of strips of wool bearing skin from around the breech of a lamb to prevent fly strike) and the live export trade of sheep to countries such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Welfare standards in general and the role of Government and stakeholders in the development of a national animal health and welfare strategy were also areas for discussion.

We met in the Meat and Livestock Australia offices in north Sydney and engaged in dialogue with:
Dr. Keith Walker, Program Manager, Biosecurity, Animal Health and Welfare, Livestock Production and Innovation
Cameron Hall, CEO, LiveCorp
Dr. Sandra Welshman, Frontiers Insight.

Sydney, Australia.

Saturday evening 21st and Sunday 22nd November. We flew into Sydney and the start of our Australian leg of our travels after a 3½ hour flight from Christchurch. We had heard on the news that Sydney was suffering a heat wave, but the 30˚C+ heat was still a shock after the relative coolness of New Zealand’s South Island. The flight into the airport was a great introduction to the city as we could quite clearly see the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from our aircraft window.

Sydney is the largest city in Australia and the capital city of New South Wales. Australia comprises of a number of states and each state has certain autonomy with regards to laws etc (very similar to devolution!) The city has a population of 4.3 million and is considered to be among the most multi cultural in the world. We were staying near the harbour and we spent Saturday evening walking around the Opera House and taking in the vibrancy of the city and the teeming night life. We even experienced the rehearsals of Australian Idol, which was to be filmed in front of the Opera House.

Sunday was spent walking a wonder of British engineering – the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The steel arch bridge is 504m long and 134m high, weighs 39,000 tonnes, and is held together by six million rivets. We were driven across the bridge, walked across the pedestrian walkway, and climbed over the bridge and stood on the highest point and experienced an incredible view of the Opera House and one of the most beautiful harbours in the world. The climb was done in 30˚C heat and I was not sure if that was what made me feel faint or the six lane traffic traveling below me as I clambered along the steel framework!

A ferry ride out to Manley beach gave us another perspective of Sydney and the waves that can be a surfers paradise. Time did not allow us to visit the famous Bondi beach further up the coast, but we soon realized why Sydney is a magnet for visitors and sun seekers.

Moving on

Saturday 21st November. We left New Zealand having experienced an incredible three weeks of hospitality at the behest of farmers, farming representatives, Government officials, lamb processors, scientists, and research bodies. Without exception, everyone was keen to be involved in an exchange of knowledge, and the common goal of making beef and sheep farming in New Zealand (and Wales) more profitable and sustainable for the foreseeable future.

I learnt a great deal about the challenges and opportunities facing an unsupported agricultural industry, which has the pressure of exporting the majority of its pastoral products. The complexity of comparing beef and sheep welfare within a totally different environment of production with regard to climate, topography and economic conditions became very evident during our travels from Auckland to Invercargill. (3600 km) That will be the challenge of writing my Nuffield report during the coming months!

The importance of the UK market to the future of New Zealand lamb production was very obvious, as is the influence of UK retailers on the ongoing development of farm assurance schemes within the country, as they procure their lambs seasonally from New Zealand.

We were left in no doubt that rugby is a religion in New Zealand, and as a coincidence had to suffer the indignity of a Welsh defeat at the hands of the All Blacks during our stay! We also jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet which is pretty incredible when I cannot even climb a ladder to change a light bulb in the sheep shed at home. We were involved in a very intensive program of meetings and visits during our stay, which did not allow much time to dwell on the non agricultural attractions of New Zealand, and it would be fanatastic to revisit with a tourist hat in place. (Queenstown being an exception!)

Our thanks to all our hosts, and we look forward to welcoming some you in Cymru over the years to come. Diolch yn fawr!

High country and family reunion

Friday 20th and Saturday 21st November. We left the adrenaline capital of the world and headed north east for our final visit in New Zealand, and one which would be very special for Sheila, as she would be once again reunited with her cousin Janet who we had met by chance at the Christchurch Show. Janet and her husband David, farm near Pleasant Point, South Canterbury, and our inland scenic journey took us through Wanaka, Lindis Pass, Lake Tekapo, and Burkes Pass. These passes took us through some incredible tussock covered mountains and the remoteness of the area was reinforced by the absence of man and animal for large distances.

Lake Tekapo is 2300 feet above sea level and is an important source of electricity through hydro electric technology. (New Zealand has no nuclear power stations, and a huge controversy and public debate ensued when an American Warship wanted to dock in their territorial waters) We could not get over the cleanliness and the blue colour of the water in the lake. The answer could lie in the fact that the lake is fed from the Southern Alps which are untouched by pollution. We could see those snow capped mountains in the distance during most of the four hour journey. We hardly saw any sheep, except for the occasional Merino which is probably the only breed that could survive in these conditions.

The first thing that strikes you when you drive up to the large house at Raincliff Station is the oversized Welsh flag in one of the windows and the CYMRU number on the plate of the family vehicle. David and Janet purchased the station a few years ago after originally managing the station since 2002 for a large international cooperation. David was well known in Wales for his expertise in deer management and supply chain integration, and he has certainly needed these skills in addition to incredible vision, strong work ethic, and sheer bloody mindedness to make a success of a very challenging undertaking.

Raincliff Station comprises of:
Breeding block – 1850 acres, Finishing block – 1750 acres (1000 irrigated)
Rockpool unit (separate block for stags and bulls) – 670acres
A further 1250 acres is leased.

Wintered stock numbers – 2500 breeding ewes with all lambs finished. 400 – 500 hoggets that are put to the ram. 2000 breeding hinds and 800 – 1000 stags. 800 - I year old bull beef, 300 - 2 year old bull beef, 1250 dairy heifers on tack.
500 acres of winter feed. (Fodder beet, Kale or Swedes) 50 acres of potatoes, and 100 acres of barley.
The labour on the farm consists of David and six other members of staff, with help from Janet and the three children Eleanor, Brychan and Amelia.

While Sheila and Janet had a chance to catch upon family news, David took me on a tour of the farm and what I experienced in terms of financial investment in fencing, tracks, grassland quality and irrigation capability, left me in no doubt as to the commitment and long term plan the family have for the station. Once again I was reminded of the opportunities afforded within New Zealand for farming entrepreneurs but with the associated risks of an unsupported industry that often is affected by the ‘goings on’ in the financial markets of the world.

We left the Morgan family enthused and wishing them well and the success that they fully deserve for the efforts they have made to create a new life in New Zealand.

Next stop – Christchurch Airport and the flight to Sydney Australia!

Sheila being a bit silly - Huw being a chicken!

Sky diving from 15,000 feet!

Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th November.

The pictures tell it all. We made the most of our two days in Queenstown!

Mt Linton and Ceri Lewis

Tuesday 17th November. Ceri Lewis and Mt Linton Sheep Station. Where do start? I thought that I had a good insight into the scale of the farming operation and Ceri’s achievement, from Dai Jones’s S4C televisionprogram last year. However,what we experienced during our extensive tour of the farm, which is braided by 300km of gradable road, and covers in excess of 32,000 acres, (13,000 Ha+) was difficult to comprehend.

Over a period of four hours we drove continually around different areas of the farm taking in the scale of the operation. Ceri has split the station into separate blocks and delegated responsibility to various managers. This of course encourages competition and allows benchmarking of progress. Each block might hold 6000 ewes with their lambs at foot and one person was expected to be in sole charge of the work for most of the year, but getting collective assistance at dosing, tailing etc. Contractors are also used to shear, and we experienced a gang of men tail docking, orff vaccinating, dosing and ear marking while we were on one of the outlying hills. The speed of the operation was impressive, but some of the techniques used might be called into question under our welfare guidelines in Wales.

An aggressive program of land improvement is carried out on the natural hill country with about 1200 Ha being tackled every year. This involves a two year program of spraying, burning and planting roots undersown with short term grasses before the ground settles down into long term leys. Nearly all the work is done by helicopter. The significant investment allowes around 6000 extra ewes to be kept every 24 months!

Ceri and his genetics manager Hamish Bielski also form a formidable team with regard to the cattle and sheep genetic programs. Mount Linton is increasingly being seen as a key source of quality rams and bulls with clients throughout New Zealand returning on a regular basis. Three ‘Gogs’ were looking around the station with us, and I would not be surprised to see some Mt Linton sheep genetics in North Wales in the near future.

We left Ceri and his family late in the afternoon having had a fantastic insight into a large scale farming operation being run with vision, hard work and top level management.

Just some facts:

Area: 3850Ha Downs, 2450Ha Developed Hill Country, 4715Ha Oversown tussock country, 2050Ha Native Tussok Country, 300 Ha Radiata pine plantations.

Stock numbers wintered 2009: 43,000 Romney, Texel, and Perendale –cross ewes, 11,000 ewe lambs, 1900 Angus cows, and various other calves, bulls, finishing heofers which come to a grand total of 84,340 stock units. (A further 1200 recorded ewes make up the sheep genetics unit which is riun as atotally separate unit)

Sales in2009: 253,000kg of greasy wool, 59,000 finished lambs, 1680 head of cattle, 300 Texel and Suftex rams, and 300 Angus bulls.

Winter feed: 450Ha swedes, 360 Ha turnips as part of the 1st year development on reclaimed hill, and 300 Ha Moata on the second year of development. 1200t silage and 950 big bales of hay.

Dogs: 120 Huntaway and heading dogs requiring 40 carcasses/week as feed

Fencing: 1000km of fencing

Shelterbelts: 60km of planting

Annual Fertiliser: 2750t + lime.

The bottom of new Zealand!

Monday 16th November. A plant that can slaughter up to 28,000 lambs per day, and further process 85% of those carcases!! This is the reason we travelled to the Lorneville processing plant at Invercargill. (via the Presidential Route, Clinton – Gore) The plant is part of the Alliance Group, a large farmer owned, and operated co-operative which processes lamb, beef and venison. The plant’s throughput is impressive by any standards: Two shifts/24 hours, 4 chains/shift, up to 4000 carcases/chain. (varies according to the season)

We were met by the Plant Manager, Mr David Kean, who very kindly took it upon himself to dedicate the day to show us around the plant and introduce us to his various managers along the slaughtering and processing chain. David is a production guy who has moved progressively up the ladder at the plant over a number of years, and it was very noticeable the quiet respect he received from his colleagues as we toured the plant.

Ceri Lewis, the manager of Mount Linton station had driven up from Ohai to join us for the day. Ceri was one of my fellow students at the Welsh Agricultural College in the 80’s, but on finishing his education, very quickly moved to New Zealand, and is now the successful General Manager of Mount Linton. Ceri supplies around 4000 lambs per week into Lorneville at the height of the season. Many will have watched Dai Jones’s excellent program from the station last year on S4C, and we were looking forward to moving onto the farm after the abattoir visit.

I knew that Alliance supplied many of the leading retailers in the UK with lamb, and I was given a briefing by Gary Maclennan, Development Services Manager, who is responsible for farm assurance and supply chain development. It became very clear that foreign importers drive the agenda with regard to many of the aspects related to transparency and accountability within the supply chain. Gary’s role is to manage these demands, educate and enlighten foreign buyers on the farming systems within New Zealand, and encourage his lamb suppliers to embrace change when necessary to protect market access. A challenging role! I found the conversation transparent, and supported by documentation which I could take away and study at my leisure. I will need another suitcase to carry all the paper work I have collected home to Wales!

Only chain No1 was working on the day due to the early season, and it was noticeable that this senior chain had an equally ‘senior’ average age. I was told that some of the workers were in their late sixties and promotion to this line was nearly a case of ‘filling dead men’s shoes’ The development of robotic pullers at various stages of the carcass dressing had alleviated some of the hard work on the line, and allowed the senior workers to carry on into old age!

We were given a tour around the boning and processing halls, with each department manager taking their turn in briefing us about what was going on at each stage, as the carcass was turned into shoulder rolls for Japan, or racks of lamb for the European market. I am a great believer that every sheep farmer should visit his local processor to follow the lamb through from slaughter to the final cuts and packaging. It is a complex operation.

We finished the visit with a tour of the lairage, where 28,000 lambs could be held at any one time. I was taken through the traceability system that is employed on lamb arrival. Interesting…. The lambs were shampooed as they entered the lairage, and then water sprayed in a large round pen. The plant had done away with the swim bath which I saw in the Silver Fern Farms abattoir earlier on my trip. This washing process is justified on hygiene grounds, and the need to maximise shelf life in some of New Zealand’s far flung markets around the world, but other options are being considered. Some very well trained Huntaway dogs helped move the lambs once they were unloaded from the delivery trucks, and the abattoir staff expressed concern that some retailers had banned the use of dogs in lairage pens, which would cause difficulty in an operation of this magnitude. The dogs seemed to bark on command, shut up on command, and brought home to me how badly trained and controlled my huntaway is at home in Llandre!! Maybe the fault lies with the master.

An interesting day, in the company of some very professional operators . Next stop was Mount Linton, and we followed Ceri through hail, wind and rain to Ohai. Ceri and I were in different years in WAC and had not kept in touch following college but I was convinced that if I ever got to New Zealand, Mount Linton would definitely be one of my destinations. After a hair raising journey back to the station (Ceri cannot be aware of the 100 km speed limit), it was a quick turnaround and another 40km journey to watch Ceri and his much younger station staff take part in a seven a side touch rugby competition. Unfortunately they lost which led to a very quiet journey back to the Lewis home. Rugby is a religion in New Zealand and even the touch rugby competition was laced with quality play. Ceri was a class outside half in college, but when you reach the age where you play in the same team as your son, maybe you should realise your limitations! (Ceri!)

We finished the evening having dinner with Ceri and his family looking out at the famous Mount Linton sheep station stretching before us into the far distance where snowy topped mountains lined the horizon.

Warm welcome, cold mountain!

Sunday 15th November. We continued our journey south along the east coast of South Island to Hillcrest Farm, Wairuna near Clinton. We had met Rae Mitchell at the Christchurch Show where he was showing his Perendale sheep. When Rae realised we were heading south past his place to Invercargill, he warmly extended an invitation for us to visit his farm and stay the night. As we drove south that afternoon the outside temperature dropped considerably to around 7°C, and we got to understand the variance in climate within New Zealand!

Rae and his wife Roslyn run around 6000 ewes with the help of their son on 700Ha (+leased gound) of rolling flats extending to steep tussoky hills. They have about 320 ewes in the stud flock and sell around 130 Perendale rams each year. The farm is run very commercially and I was very struck with the results achieved by Rae in his sales of finished lambs, primarily to Alliance or Canterbury Meat Packers. His finished lamb results in terms of meat yield, cleanliness and hitting other desirable specifications were consistently in the top tier when he showed me his records.

The trip in his pick up around the steep hill side where his ewes lambed was memorable, not just for the quality of the ewes and lambs on show, but also the extreme steepness of the ground we travelled over! I am fairly used to steep ground on Llandre, but when Rae would casually say that the map in his head took him down a slope, you suddenly lost sight of the bonnet in front of you and I was reminded of certain roller coasters at Oakwood. What continues to amaze me on this study tour is the quality, and number of lambs reared by ewes in what are fairly demanding conditions in terms of climate and topography. The wind was so severe on the hillside that Sheila and I had a job of standing up, while a ewe and two lambs just looked on with amusement!

You occasionally come across people in life who fairly quickly impress you with their personal achievements. Rae would certainly be one of these people. He has with Roslyn built up a substantial farming business with careful financial management, prudent purchases of land and living within his means. He manages the farm with his youngest son Scott, while Brendan is involved in the hospitality business in Queenstown. The oldest son Paul, manages a flock of Merino ewes and wethers, on a remote area of land, which is accessed by boat from Queenstown. Merino wool is currently making a comeback due to branded clothes such as ‘Ice Breaker’ which are a big hit all over the world. We saw some incredible pictures of Paul and his dogs being airlifted by helicopter to the top of a steep ridge to start driving the ewes down for shearing. I have asked Roslyn to e mail some of the pictures so that I cam post them on the blog.

South Canterbury

Saturday afternoon 14th and Sunday morning 15th November. We had met Mike and Jan Studholme at the Christchurch Show and they had very kindly invited us to visit their South Canterbury farm and stay overnight. The drive down the Canterbury plains was, to say the least ,spectacular, with again the same story of the coast on our left, a fertile plain in the middle and snow capped mountains to our right. We saw many large dairy herds with extensive irrigation being practiced on most of the farms. The quality of the dairy farming in this region seemed to be generally superior in terms of cow condition and pasture quality in comparison to what we had experienced in the Waikato region of North Island.

After many hours of driving we arrived in Waimate, 50km south of Timaru and the family home of the fourth generation of Studholmes. Mike and his wife Jan were great hosts, entertaining us for supper with a home killed New Zealand wether lamb, and some fine wine to complement. Mike was very much aware of the family history and how the family home had been established by three brothers in 1851. The current farm acreage is 2500 stocking 2000 Perendale ewes and 350 breeding cattle. The annual rainfall is light at 22 inches and much of the lower ground is irrigated.

The farm was organic until recently, and Mike commented that going organic had greatly improved his awareness of the soil and general pasture management. He attributed flock and herd health to the diverse varieties of grasses present in his sward and good trace element management. The inability to control weeds under an organic system partly influenced the departure from that mode of farming. Mike had also been offered 1200 NZ$/hectare/year to lease his lower ground to some expanding dairy farmers, but enjoyed farming too much to take up the offer!!

We thoroughly enjoyed our brief stay at Te Waimate, and with Mike and Jan possibly travelling to the UK next year we might be able to feed them some good Welsh Lamb.

Mt Guardian Perendale Stud

Saturday morning 14th. Our first stop on our way south only took us a couple of miles down the road to the Mt Guardian Perendale Stud which is owned and run by Tim Anderson and his wife Sue. (Virginia’s sister) Tim is vice president of the Perendale Sheep Society and one of the leading lights of the Society in terms of stock and activity. The Perendale ewe is a medium sized sheep able to survive in a relatively harsh environment with minimum attention, but still produce lambs in excess of 16 kg deadweight and a lambing percentage of 150% +. The breed was developed by Geoffrey Sylvester Peren, from his work on the Cheviot-Romney Cross.

Tim and Sue run around 922 Ha of land with some additional leased ground. We found on our journey around the farm that the land extends from some rolling pastures overlooking the sea, to some extremely steep hillside, which certainly had us hanging onto our seats! The farm holds around 5000 ewes with approx 1200 within the DNA recorded stud flock. Tim sells around 500 yearling rams each year, and was in Sue’s bad books because he had been offered a substantial sum of money for his best ram at the Show the previous day, and turned the offer down! The same client had paid 22,000 NZ $ for a ram a few years ago.

Tim and Sue manage a very tight ship with the help of Henry, a young lad gaining experience on the farm, and the son of the farm which would be our next stop. The flock was lambed extensively with the minimum of fuss, and I was amazed to only see one lame ewe during our visit. What was also unusual to a Welsh farmer, was the amount of land reclamation that went on in areas that would be seen as environmentally sensitive in Wales. The challenge in New Zealand is to maximise the return from every acre and every stock unit with the minimum of input.

Sheila could not get over the grapefruit and lemon trees growing in Sue’s garden.

Goodbye to a friend (for now)

Saturday morning 14th November.We were ready to head south, and to some extent be left to our own devices. We could not have wished for a better host/minder/place name pronouncer, than Virginia Williams during our stay in New Zealand. She had been a key person in setting up our itinerary, and arranging all the meetings with industry, Government, and research institutions.

Virginia is highly respected within the animal welfare theatre in New Zealand and we wish her well with her many official roles. She and her husband Pat welcomed us warmly into their home and we very much hope to have the opportunity to return the hospitality in the near future.

Tourist driver!

Friday 13th November. A morning spent in Christchurch, where the wind created such a chill that it seemed that we were back in Wales going into winter rather than New Zealand going into Summer. Christchurch is New Zealand’s third largest city, and the capital of the Canterbury region, South Island. We were glad that we did not revisit the Show that morning as we heard that many people went home at 10 a.m. due to the strong and cold wind!

We were to head back north that afternoon as Virgina Wiliams had arranged a barbecue so that we could meet her farming neighbours. Passing a sign for Leithfield Beach I though it would be good to do try and get into the tourist mode and take a closer look at the coast line. Friday 13th , I am not superstitious, I even turn our rams out on October 13th , but it did not take me long to find out that a Ford falcon Automatic does not do well on sand!! Sheila swears to this day that there was a sign…DO NOT DRIVE ON THE SAND DUNES. Feeling a total idiot, I walked the long embarrassing track back to the local village for some help, and hopefully a rope and a 4 by 4 driven by an understanding Kiwi. I found not one, but three highly amused Kiwis who were quite used to helping what they called stupid townies off the beach. It took around an hour to get us out, two 4 by 4’s, with a lot of flying sand and picture taking by a ‘I told you so’ Sheila. I think the three Kiwis, who did not ask for any financial recompense got a good night out on the beer money I gladly gave them for their efforts. A very embarrassed Welsh man got on his way……………….

The evening was spent in the company of the local farmers and their families who lived around Pat and Virginia’s home. It was a great evening, with wonderful food and interesting company. Much of the talk was about lamb prices, the weather, rugby, the same things are a topic of conversation for farmers all over the world!

One interesting fact was that when the the local farmers were having trouble with wild pigs, they hired a helicopter with a marksman on board and shot 140 in one day.