Helping grow
the country

Peter Moore, PGG Wrightson Livestock GM talks to Mark Leishman on the Country TV’s Round Up (Friday, July 12^th).

In this interview Peter provides an update on the following:

• Weather conditions - farmers will be pleased that the wet conditions around the country will be helping to raise soil moisture levels.
• Breeders have been happy with the clearance rates and pricing achieved through the PGG Wrightson Bull Sales held across the country throughout May and June
• PGW’s Defer-A-Bull product is available for Dairy Farmers looking to buy bulls.  Defer-A-Bull is a simple to use and a great product to assist with cashflow during spring – because farmers can buy bulls now and pay later. 

With 76 individual vineyards dotted across a 2,362 ha property at the eastern end of Waiheke Island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, Man O’ War has a unique and special viticultural operation.

Starting as a small, experimental planting of Bordeaux wine grapes in 1993, Man O’ War vineyard is now a complex, quality-driven and uniquely beautiful enterprise. Its 76 vineyard blocks spread  from east towest, north to south, on slopes across the Waiheke property, plus 7 ha on neighbouring Ponui Island, to create a breath-taking patchwork of vineyards of around 60 ha in production. The biggest single vineyard is just 3 ha.
 
Vineyard Manager Matt Allen has been here since the beginning, working with the property’s owners, the Spencer family, to fulfill their vision to produce quality wines and improve profitability of this land which is challenging to farm due to location and drought.

“We couldn’t look over the fence to see what others were doing because no one had planted grapes out here before!” says Matt. “It’s always been a team effort between myself, the owners, our winemakers and various consultants.“It’s not traditional grape country, compared to the Poverty Bay flats where I come from. We don’t have any flat ground on Waiheke, so it’s a European style vineyard. The whole property was mapped for soil, slope and aspect, and with weather station data, we put together the patchwork of vineyards we have today. We targeted north-facing slopes for the reds. On the lower parts of the property, soils are more clay-based which gives us weight and structure for these wines. Higher up, it’s more of a free- raining,volcanic soil, and a little cooler, so we planted Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc which helps retain freshness and acidity.

We didn’t get it all perfect and have made some changes by grafting.” Specialised equipment like a small Niko tracked viticultural machine enables trimming, mowing and spraying on the steep slopes. A tracked tractor by Antonio Carraro has also been a great tool. “We work vine by vine, row by row; no multi-row equipment for us given the limitations of topography, and all pruning and  harvesting is done by hand.”Matt acknowledges the support of his Fruitfed Supplies Technical Horticultural Representative Steve Sherson who travels to Waiheke weekly or fortnightly from the Helensville branch.

“My relationship with Fruitfed goes back to the early ‘90s when I worked for Montana. Ross MacDiarmid was my first rep, having taken the initiative to come to Waiheke and provide service for vineyards here. Steve now provides that regular service. Others have come and gone, but we are very grateful to Fruitfed for sticking to the service and they’ve built a relationship with many growers on the island.” 

Steve explains that “Fruitfed’s relationship with Waiheke wineries dates back 30 years or so. Starting out monthly when there were only a couple of vineyards, now I make  weekly trips over on the ferry during spring and summer, and fortnightly trips in winter. To help growers between visits, commonly-used crop protection products are made available at a secure storage site for them to access.” Man O’ War’s location, 40 twisty minutes’ drive from the Oneroa ferry, has seen investment in backpacker-style accommodation for like-minded wine people from all over the world who come for pruning and harvest.

“The recently opened tasting room was an important evolution for the brand,” says Matt. A function pavilion and beachfront chapel is now complemented by a brand-new wedding pavilion. “We have a tight crew here and these facilities combine to make a fantastic offering.”

Matt says they broke all kinds of records  with this year’s harvest. “We’ve got close to 400 tonnes before, but this year we picked 620 tonnes with some vineyards coming in to full production after grafting. We hada great run with weather, great flowering and an amazing growing season. It’s brutal on everybody – not too  many people in the country hand-harvested 600 tonnes! Throw a few boat trips in there as well, but it’s been really rewarding. Quantity will be up there with some of the best years Waiheke has ever seen.”

Mark Leishman talks to PGW Livestock GM, Peter Moore in the latest Livestock Update.  This week’s interview focuses on general conditions, the successful launch of bidr® at Fieldays and an update on the market. 

General Conditions
Fresh mornings and beautiful days are giving good feed utilization for farmers giving we have had a dry summer with sporadic rain. There is a worry of not having enough water to see farmers through to summer, but over the last 2 weeks there has been enough rain to get things growing and moving along and hopes are that late winter and early spring will see adequate rain to lead into summer. 

bidr® Launch
This launch exceeded expectations with high interest from clients, farmers and other agencies. There was a lot of discussion around utilizing bidr® coming into the slower parts of the season. Peter also gives a brief explanation of what bidr® is and how it works. 

General Market Update
A quiet period for the markets currently. The sheep market continues to remain strong, with high international demand for beef and lamb and a $7 pay out for dairy next year. The commodities are looking good across the board. 

New Zealand’s hard-working farm dogs are one of the biggest assets to a sheep and beef farmer, provide them with the right nutrients to help them perform.

Working dog’s muster thousands of sheep and cattle across hill and high country, a tough job that cannot be done any other way. These ‘rural athletes’ regularly cover 60 to 100 kilometers a day on big hill-country musters, much of it at 20 to 30 kilometers per hour. Understanding this has led to important improvements in their diets.

TUX Energy Extra Kibble is a high protein, high fat formulation designed to fuel high performing dogs. TUX Energy Extra provides 100 percent complete and balanced nutrition and the baked kibble format helps maintain dental health and is convenient and easy to feed. TUX Energy Extra uses only locally sourced meat and animal fats and is made up of 25 percent protein and 20 percent fat for body maintenance and better digestibility. It has a good balance of high fat and carbohydrates for energy and speed, plus it contains fibre for good gut health. 

TUX Energy Extra is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) Dog Nutrient Profile for Adult Maintenance.

Visit your local PGG Wrightson store to view the range of working dog feed.

Supplied by Nestle Purina Petcare