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.

Angus cattle, Powell cousin and Christchurch Show

Thursday 12th November. The land surrounding Pat and Virginia’s home is farmed by the Wilding family who run the Te Mania Angus stud. We were up early to be picked up by John Harrington, the farm’s General Manger and driving force behind the continual progression of the Te Mania herd. Te Mania was founded in 1928, and four generations of Wildings later, the stud has grown from four cows to 1070 registered females (cows and heifers). In 1971 a sister stud, Te Mania Australia was established by a close family member, and the Te Mania Angus stud, with 2600 fully performance recorded registered Angus females is probably the largest in Australasia.

The farm has an area of 5000 acres (⅔ owned, ⅓ leased) with land ranging from the wave breaking coast, to the rolling hills behind which went up to 500 feet above sea level. Rainfall is around 1000mm/annum, with irrigation possible on about 600 acres of the bottom ground. Three full time men and a student are employed with Tim Wilding, mainly working away from the farm developing the Te Mania brand and a fully integrated supply chain in conjunction with key processor and retailing partners.

The trip around the farm was inspirational from the quality of the pastures which are soil tested regularly to ensure that the phosphate, sulphur and pH levels are at their optimum, to the consistent quality of the cows and calves which were set stocked around the farm in groups of around 75 cows. John explained that the heifers undergo a synchronised mating program at around 13 to 14 months, and any animal that does not calve down at 2 years old is sent down the road. The same tight breeding policy is adopted for the cows and he currently had a couple of cows left to calve. Five or six had been assisted over the season and they would be culled as a matter of course.

The policy was to achieve a low calf birth weight, with a target weaning weight of 180Kg at four months old for the bull calves. Any male calves not getting near this target are castrated. The four hundred day target weight is 400 kg off grass. Beef genetics is certainly not one of my areas of expertise by any measure, and it was new to me that the scrotal size of a bull has a direct correlation to heifer puberty. The cattle are out all year round, but with a percentage of the farm put down to kale and whole crop silage each year to ensure a buffer feed if needed during a period grass shortage.

Health treatments are kept to a minimum, with drenches used rarely on heifers, (not on cows) and 10 in 1 vaccination with lepto and a lice pour on all the cattle. The farm veterinary surgeon visits the farm on a consultative basis once a month.

The bulls are sold either as yearlings (46 bulls @ 2800NZ$) or later at 22 months in the main stud sale. (113 bulls @ 6250NZ$) The Angus cattle I saw in Te Mania were of smaller stature than the ones I have seen in the UK but were ideally suited to the environment in which they are kept. John’S mission statement is ‘ to breed very sound, high fertile cattle with calving ease and high growth rate, and emphasis on carcass quality to assist our clients in meeting strict market specifications’ He was convinced that his current star bull Te Mania Infinity would do exactly this job and they would all be millionaires next year! John came over like many other beef and sheep breeders I have met, with a passion for his work and the balance of expert stockmanship and scientific knowledge to support his genetic improvement work on the Te Mania Angus breedline.

Next stop was the Christchurch A & P Show, two hours drive away from Conway Flat. We were to meet with Virginia’s sister, Sue Anderson at a petrol station for the entry and parking tickets. As soon as we got into the Show Ground one of the first people we met was David Morgan, husband to Sheila’s first cousin Janet! (Sheila has got 50+ first cousins so we are bound to meet one of them where ever we are in the world) They had emigrated as family a number of years ago to New Zealand and are running a large farming business just north of Christchurch. Arrangements were made to meet up with Janet, and the inevitable family reunion happened between the cousins while David gave me the lowdown on NZ farming from his perspective, having previously farmed in the highly regulated and subsidised UK environment. I soon gathered that New Zealand is not for the faint hearted if you wish to make your way up the farming ladder!

The rest of the day was spent wandering around the Show, talking with various companies and exhibitors. I had never seen a Merino sheep in all his woollen glory before, but what was striking was the number of sheep breeds present at the show in comparison to the Royal Welsh. Mr Gwynfor Richards would have had a much easier task of judging in Christchurch than he did with the 44 breeds present in the ring at Llanelwedd this Summer!!

The day finished with us being guests of the Perendale Sheep Society at an after Show barbecue. It was a great event where we met Tim Anderson, brother to Virginia who is the owner of the Mt Guardian Perendale Sheep Stud. By the end of the evening we had three farm walks sorted, and hosted accommodation all the way down to Invercargill!

Travelling South

Wednesday 11th November. Our time in North Island has come to an end and we caught the 8.30 a.m. ferry from Wellington to Picton, on the South Island. The distance between the two islands on the map is deceiving with regards to crossing time, because the ferry has to navigate south out of Wellington Harbour, before turning north west, and sailing across the Cook Strait towards North Island. A distance of 92Km and 3 hours sailing. The ferry holds about 1600 passengers, many of them young backpackers. We wondered if one of our girls might be doing this crossing in the next few years!

Our time in North Island has been short but we have made many new friends, seen some great sights and learnt a great deal about the opportunities and challenges of pastoral farming in the northern region of New Zealand.

Just after getting under way the ferry sails past Matiu/Somes Island, which we were told was used until fairly recently as an animal quarantine station. I have not come across any bio security measures or regulation on any dairy, beef and sheep farms that I visited in North Island, but once again I was reminded of the New Zealand Governments past, present and future policy on strict border controls to avoid the introduction of any disease that will threaten their agricultural industry. An interesting point is that nearly all of the mammals on New Zealand were introduced by man, even the rats came off the docking ships. Like Ireland, they do not have any moles, which made Sheila extremely envious, as she has been unsuccessfully been trying to catch moles on Llandre with traps for the past eighteen months without any success!
After sailing through various ‘sounds’ and ‘channels’ we arrived at Picton, picked up the hire car, (another Falcon) and started our drive towards Virginia’s home in Conway Flat on the North East Coast of South Island.

Our journey took us past a number of vineyards, which stretched out before us on the rolling plains. There were a number of windmill type structures in the middle of the vine fields, there to prevent any frost damage by creating air movement above the crop. Helicopters creating a downdraft were also used in some cases to create the same effect! We saw some famous brand names in Hawke’s Bay, and the same was the case (no pun intended) in this region, and we were tempted to stop at the Montana winery for some lunch. Being the driver, I could not join in with the wine tasting, but I think my passengers took full advantage of the situation!

As we travelled down the coast, stopping to take some pictures of the seals basking on rocks, we realised that the weather was deteriorating. We were planning to stop at the seaside town of Kaikoura, and take a three hour boat ride out to see the whales that are swimming in that area. Unfortunately with the temperature dropping to about 9° C, the wind chill making it feel even colder, and the waves looking pretty fierce we were disappointingly informed that all trips were cancelled. We had been told by many people back in Wales that this was to be a great experience, but we couldn’t do much about the weather.

We finished our first day in South Island being hosted by Virginia and her husband Pat. They have built a lovely wooden house in the middle of a beef and sheep farming plain, with snow capped mountains on one side and the sea on the other. Pat has the most difficult job of travelling the world and writing about his stays at some of the most luxurious hotels available to the discerning and well heeled traveller!

Meetings, meetings and even more meetings!

Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th November.
Meetings, meetings and even more meetings! The New Zealand Government, and the MAF Department specifically, had worked very diligently to put together a comprehensive program of meetings on my behalf. I was also looking forward to meeting Kirsty Grant, and Paula Lemow who had done most of the hard graft on the ground and to convey my appreciation in person. The highlight of the two days would be a conversation with Minister for Agriculture, The Honourable David Carter. I am not going to expand on these meetings, partly because there would be too much detail, but also because I am desperately trying to bring my blog up to date. I seem to be falling further behind all the time! So just a list, but suffice to say that the conversations with the various organisations and the Minister were amicable, informative, and illuminating. No one went to sleep during my presentation, not even Sheila which was also good for ones self esteem!

Monday:

Seminar and Presentation – FAWC, Past Present and Future

Meetings with:
· MAF Animal Welfare Team
· Tim Richie, CEO, Meat Industry Association
· Kevin Cresswell, Technical Executive, Meat Industry Association
· Ben O’Brian, General Manager, Meat and Wool NZ
· Jacinta Gould, Policy Officer, Economic Division, Foreign Affairs and Trade
· Richard Ivess, Senior Specialist, Trade Negotiations Division, Foreign Affairs and Trade
· The Honourable Minister David Carter, Minister of Agriculture.

Tuesday:

· Barry O’Neill, Deputy Director General MAFBNZ and Immediate Past President of the OIE
· Cheryl O’Connor, Programme Manager, Animal Welfare, MAF
· Interview with Neal Keating of Rural News
· Don Nicolson, President of Federated Farmers
· Tony Friedlander, CEO, Road Transport Forum NZ
· Richard Wild, President NZ Veterinary Association and Animal Welfare Specialist NZ Food Authority Verification Agency
· Julie Hood, CEO, NZ Veterinary Association

Two intensive days, with many questions answered, but with others appearing in my mind after the meetings, which now can be followed up by e mail due to the excellent contacts made over the two days.

All Blacks, Fire Alarms and Presenation

Sunday 8th November. We lost! We lost!! I had been imagining all week how I would deal with a Welsh win, which would seriously shock, devastate, and put my host nation on the back foot. Now I would have to take a dreadful ribbing at every turn especially as I was to enter a series of meetings in Wellington over the next two days. I think we played very well, but there is always that sense of inevitability that the All Blacks are going to triumph in the end. I missed my post match analysis with Nigel Dolaucothi, which usually happens on a Sunday morning following a game. At least the Australians beat our old friends the English!

We were staying at the Wellesley Hotel in Wellington, and as the game finished the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the hotel in rather a hurry, and not one but four fire engines turned up at the scene. An early morning evacuation is never welcomed by hotel guests, but on a Sunday…..I shall expand on that story after we have left New Zealand!
Unfortunately I spent most of the morning finalising my presentation to MAF officials, which I was to deliver on Monday morning. My subject would be Animal Welfare in Great Britain, Past, Present and Future. FAWC have just published a comprehensive report reflecting on the progress of animal welfare in GB post Brambell, and recommending the following conditions to be necessary to satisfy ethical consumers and also further improve farm animal welfare.

· The Government to act as the guardian of farm animal welfare
· Standards for a ‘good life’ defined by an independent body
· Minimum welfare standard defined by quality of life
· Stockmen to be educated and trained to a high standard about welfare
· Welfare assessment to be valid, feasible and rigorous with independent audit
· Due diligence in the food chain with marketing claims verified
· Citizens educated about food and farming from childhood
· Animal products to be labelled according to welfare provenance to provide consumer choice

I finally accepted after much thought that the best way to get over the All Black win against Wales was to put a big CONGRATULATIONS message into my second slide!

After lunch we had a lovely walk along the Wellington harbour front, taking in the freshness of the place with the sea on one side and the steep surrounding hills dotted with houses on the other. Entrepreneurship was in the air with the local fishermen selling their fish to the local consumer directly off their boats on the jetties. A bustling local market was the place to buy all your fruit and vegetables with the diverse growing capabilities of New Zealand coming to the fore. Sheep and dairy production is certainly not the only way forward for New Zealand agriculture.

God's Waiting Room

Saturday 7th November. In the morning we were given a tour of Waikanae, or as Leishcen called the town, "God’s waiting room", due to it being a place where people relocated to retire (very similar to Lampeter!) The town was saturated with a thriving cottage industry, of people selling home made crafts and art from their family homes. We called in at a few of these galleries and I had to constantly remind Sheila that our cases were already above the 30 kg weight limit. The town is on the south west coast of North Island, but the constant wind did not seem to deter the white bait fishermen we had a chat with on the beach, and were waiting for their catch to be brought in on the tide.

Wellington, the capital of New Zealand was our next stop. Wellington has a population of 400,000 (10% of the total) and is only second to Auckland in density. It is known also as NZ’s windiest city – explained by the wind being funnelled up through the Cook Strait, into the harbour, and then exaggerated by the multi storey buildings. We parted company with our V6 Ford Falcon hire car which had carried us comfortably down through North Island. I was not able to use the power that was obviously available, because of the strictly enforced 100km speed limit, and the tourist mode that you tend to adopt when travelling through beautiful countryside full of cows and sheep. It was even tooted a few times by impatient drivers and called a ‘nana driver’ by Mandi McCleod on Facebook. Who ever suggested that I was a fast driver back in Wales!

We arrived at the hotel in mid afternoon and after a walk around the harbour which was full of backpackers and sightseers, we gave in to the exhaustion after a pretty hectic week. We did of course remember to set the alarm clock for six next morning, and the big game to be held at the Millennium Stadium!

Film stars!

Friday 6th November. Up early to meet with the New Zealand film crew contracted by Ffermio (Welsh rural affairs program) to capture some video of our visit to Alistair Poulson’s farm. Ffermio had provided me with a script, which had been faxed to our Hotel in Dubai and the remit was to basically get six minutes of footage, which included conversation between myself and Alistair contrasting our farming systems, with some welfare pointers and backdrop shots of his sheep and the dramatic scenery.

Sounds simple! But, with no director present, the need to film for around four hours to get the required six minutes, a film crew made up of a camera man who had just survived three open heart surgery operations, but still felt that he should take some action shots from the open sun roof of his people carrier, and a soundman who epitomised the stereotypical, ageing, drum playing, but still cool surfing dude, who worked occasionally to finance his trips to the beach with his board. Get the picture! We had a lot of fun, Alistair and his sheep were very patient throughout and I think we landed up with something that the Ffermio editing team can work with…maybe. Sorry about the 17 takes of my closing piece to camera Mererid!

We left the farm in the early afternoon, having had a great time, made some new friends who we shall definitely keep in touch with, and a greater understanding of sheep farming in the North Island of New Zealand.

Our next stop was with Dr David Bayvel and his wife Leischen at Waikanae, just north of Wellington. David is Director of Animal Welfare within the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and has been the key facilitator with regard to organising the study tour. David also holds a key position within the OIE in Paris and is very prominent within the animal welfare world. A veterinarian by profession and originally from Scotland, but some body who seems to have no problem in supporting the very successful All Black rugby team in his adopted country.

I made sure that we arrived at the agreed time because I had been told that one of David’s favourite sayings is "courteous with people, ruthless with time"Dinner was at a local restaurant, and we reflected with David and Leischen on the events of our first week in new Zealand. A week that had flown by due to the intensity of the program, but we had met some great people, had some great insights and collected through note taking, literature and digitally recorded interviews, valuable material for that report which shall have to be written at some stage!!