1 Captions by Faith Hamblyn. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016. Hello, and welcome to Rural Delivery. It's often been said that good information is critical in order to make better business decisions. This week we learn about a business that grew out of the demand from dairy, and increasingly, sheep farmers for regular information about pasture cover. We visit David and Sarah Marshall's property on the Rangitikei River. They're managing the environmental impact of their operation under Horizons Regional Council's One Plan. Then we find out about the good-for-business approach of providing subsidised healthy meals for staff at Bostock's Organic Kitchen. Southland company GrassCo is an agricultural business measuring dry-matter production on both dairy, and increasingly, sheep and beef farms. The company grew from the demand from dairy farmers who rely on regular information about their pasture cover and a breakdown of that information to help them maximise production. GrassCo's in the business of measuring grass, dry matter off pastures. And that's basically what it does. We pride ourselves on quality data, which generally has been in the dairy industry, but is increasing in its presence within the sheep industry. I actually fell into it literally. I had quite a serious quad-bike accident, and out of that, um, GrassCo was a, uh, idea that I'd been trying to develop for some time. And, uh, it basically grew from necessity, really. The underlying issue that they have is time management and being able to keep up the pasture runs, and this is where GrassCo has really filled that vacuum of requirement and service, and we're able to turn up every week and supply them with quality data. We're gathering data off 1000 hectares a day, and the logistics of doing that with another system is very difficult. And in a sheep situation, where you can have, you know, 500-plus hectares to do on one particular farm, uh, those other types of systems just cannot beat that time frame to work in. I'm personally doing about 25 dairy farms a week, and we have three regular sheep clients,... but, uh, it's a growing area that we're, sort of, working on. Sheep clients generally want it on a casual-type basis. And as they get their, um, confidence in the data and in the process of, um, using it, that I'm sure this'll grow quite substantially really. This is our custom-built sledge, and, um, under here is the, um, C-Dax pasture reader. And it has been set up in a sort of custom-built way, but that's basically the technology under there. And that's protected by the wind protector there. So, um, we've got here a mechanism for lifting the unit up and down. This is about the model six that we've developed over the years. And this will be the model I think that will take us into the future, really. This is C-Dax's original headset console. We get on very well with that in our system and the way we operate downloading the data. And, uh, our point of difference is our track map,... um, guidance transit line. And that is very much part of data accuracy, and it plays a big role in keeping our data consistent every week. It also gives me the ability to work late into the night if I have to. If you, you know, have a good run collecting the data, we download it and edit it on the computer and email it away to the office. And it can actually be back in the client's app on his phone within half an hour. (YODELS) (WHISTLES) We've got 520 acres or that's about 180 hectares, all sheep, rolling country. And we'd been away from farming, Robyn and I, since the mid-80's, and we've been back here now about six years. And in our retirement years, we're just enjoying our farm and all the new technology. I was at a Field Day three years ago, and, uh, I was introduced to Donald Martin, this, uh, chap who ran this GrassCo operation, and I said, 'Oh, yes, it was interesting.' And, uh, I sort of got quite interested in the measurement of grass and how it, you know, could make life easier for us, especially as we like spending quite a bit of time away from the farm. And I thought perhaps we could use this information in a more useful way. In our operation, it, uh, gives us accuracy. We know what we've got. We can plan in advance, uh, and make any corrections if necessary. It was interesting last year, when we looked at the covers, how they'd actually dropped through the winter. And I thought grass doesn't really disappear, but it did. We fed the stock according to the information we had, and we had the best stock coming out of the winter that I can ever remember here. This is the pasture run that we've just done, Neil, so it's all relevant, and, um, there's paddocks in here that you're gonna have to take out for baleage. So, um, that'll be, uh, you know, starting to pop up here. 'With using GrassCo, not only have we got the weekly covers, but also you've got your projections, uh, 'based on the graph on where it's going.' And based on Donald's extensive knowledge, he, uh, can, you know, advise one. And in my case, he said, 'Look, Neil, you need to look at this baleage. The covers are really rocketing. 'And, uh, you have sufficient grass to take out X number of paddocks,' um, which is certainly what's going to happen. Um, it's never, ever happened on this place that I can ever remember, to do baleage this time of year. One of the biggest things I learned out of all this is not all paddocks are equal. And, uh, we certainly quickly identified paddocks that weren't producing, and I've already implemented a programme of regrassing. In fact, we're going to do around 60 hectares over this summer/autumn. I just wanna get rid of those very performing paddocks. We done the trial last year in a couple of paddocks, and the results were outstanding. I did not believe what happened, in fact. The kind of grass we have in those paddocks is full on. It's actually very cost effective. It cost me around $180 a measure plus GST. It's relatively inexpensive when you look at the whole operation of farming in an overall picture, but for me, since we spend so much time away in the winter, that we can set the place up, uh, starting in the, uh, end of summer, autumn, and then grow into the winter and leave somebody else in control, and we know that what is happening ` the stock are being fed properly. And with, of course, the weekly updates, we can monitor from anywhere around the world now with the use of a computer or cell phone. We'll be back soon in the Rangitikei District to meet some operators who are taking very seriously their responsibility to manage the environmental impact of their dairy farm. 1 Welcome back. Tutu Totara owners David and Sarah Marshall are running their dairy farm under Horizon Regional Council's One Plan. Richard Ash is equity manager at Tutu Totara Dairy, running around 1400 cows. He was awarded the Manawatu Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year award in 2015. The environment issues are becoming more and more prominent, and now we're probably starting to think about environmental implications before we do something. Historically, you'd probably just... You know, if something was a good idea, we'd just charge on and do it, whereas now one of the considerations is what environmental impacts it will have, especially nitrogen leaching and things like that. Our stocking rate's reasonably low, and we do have large areas of bush, which, um, helps to spread our nitrogen leaching over the farm. Having the spring and autumn calving does help a little bit as well. It helps to spread the load throughout the year. This is our effluent-storage pond here, so all the effluent from both sheds and the feed pad comes into here, so it's nice to have it all in the one location. So we've got our weeping wall set up here, so there's the two holding ponds that we alternate. So we fill one pond for a month or two, and then that one's full, we can flick over and use the other pond, and it just gives one pond some time to dry out, the solids to dry out a bit more, and then we spread it with a muck spreader. So, it's roughly 10 million or 11 million litres, which gives us about 3.5 months' storage, depending on the time of the year. And then it's pumped from here out through our two pivots. But it's all clay-lined, and I think our consent is 90 days' storage, so we've got additional storage. And in terms of the area, I think we need to have around 90 hectares, and we've got 135, so we've got a bit of extra scope. Because we're spreading it over a reasonable area already, um, it's a good chunk of the farm that gets little or no fertiliser now, and the solids, we're able to take that to the cropped areas of the farm, so when we're working paddocks up and things like that, we can, you know, take a reasonable of solid there. We do do a nutrient analysis of it as well, so we know roughly speaking what... you know, how much nutrient we're putting on those areas. So, yeah, it's quite a saving in terms of nutrients. This river-terrace area is almost like a run-off. We bring milking cows down at times of the year when we need it, but really useful for silage. We do have it irrigated down here, so we can grow good grass through the winter. It's almost a little bit of a microclimate. It's usually a couple of degrees warmer down here and, yeah, useful for replacement stock and wintering cows and things like that. So, this is a paddock of sugar beet that was planted about six weeks ago. So this is getting, you know, to the far reaches of the farm. I think it's a bit over 2.5 K's from here to the shed. These further-away areas we are using as support, and so these beets will be harvested and stored in the shed. This is the first time we've grown it on farms specifically for harvesting. So, these were harvested in July and August, um, and yeah, we're just feeding them out now, straight in the paddock to the cows. The main driving reason behind it is just really really focusing on trying to get our farm working expenses down, and, you know, we can grow these for about 10c per kilo, compared to growing it at 40c or 50c a kilo; high energy, grown on farms, so we've got, you know, better control of costs. One problem we have had is acidosis, so just need to be very careful in that early stage transitioning the cows on to them. But once they do get used to them, they seem to be working really well. 'I think One Plan was always about water quality. 'And we've always kept that at the front of our mind, that what we're doing here is about water quality.' When we first evaluated expanding the dairy business, we actually went through a process with Horizons to evaluate, uh, the impact on our nutrient loss. Having been through that process, we were a lot less scared about what the outcome of that was. And so, yeah, we had a lot of confidence that... that we wouldn't be constrained as a business if we expanded our dairy business. We've set out to have a relatively low stocking rate, and that wasn't really as a result of One Plan. We set an objective ` we still have that objective today of a $4 cost structure or sub-$4 cost structure, so that remains in place today. That initial planning was done around, I guess, a resilient dairy system and just a view that commodities would go up and down. And I think we learned that after GFC. So, yeah, I mean, it just happened that having set that objective for our business, the next question was, was that view compromised by constraints on environment? And I think the answer to that by and large is no, but that's not to say it's without its challenges. We still have to think a lot, plan a lot, look at different options. We're still very reliant, looking forward, on technology. And we believe that that's crucial if we're gonna achieve those medium-term objectives and long-term objectives without compromising profitability, and without the fact that, you know, as businesses, we do all have to grow over time. We're very reliant on the people that advise us, and we used Lachie Grant and Susie Le Cren at LandVision. And also had input, um, for a person that challenge us in Greg Carlyon, so we've used those people. Look, it's a big job. It took us a lot of energy, working with Richard closely on it. Um, yeah, we worked through, you know, dozens and dozens of scenarios. The good thing about that is I think you actually learn more about your own land resource. You learn about wastage, about opportunities. Our current nitrogen leaching is around 25 units of N,... and the 20-year objective is 21. So we've got to take some mitigating approaches to get to that 21, but I'm also hopeful that technology's gonna fill part of that hole. There's tools being talked about. I mean, we hope that our research capability in NZ is working through those. Um, because, you know, again, they're profitable for our farming system, but they're also positive for the environment. We'll return soon to visit John Bostock at Bostock NZ. It's a diverse, vertically integrated group of companies in Hawke's Bay extending its organic philosophy beyond the food of producers to the people who are helping produce that food. 1 Hello again. John Bostock was a pioneer in organic apple growing on a large scale in this country. His latest move is the result of a desire to attract and retain quality staff. Recently, a modern kitchen and cafeteria has been built on the company site, offering low-cost, healthy lunches made largely from organic ingredients grown on the site. John explains. My wife and I for years have dreamed about doing something like this, cos we've been very conscious of food our team have been eating. And I've looked at some of their lunches in horror ` chippies and pies and Mello Yello and Fanta and Coca-Cola ` and realised that their lunches are absolutely terrible and actually not good for their own productivity, let alone their health or their learning ability and whatever. And over the last five years, we've been planning it, and in the last 12 months, we've been able to put it into effect. It was just a standard staff cafeteria, so we've redesigned it, spruced it up, made it friendly and enjoyable, so make lunch, uh, a company occasion for people to sit down and talk and exchange ideas and make it a company meeting place, not only for the white-collar workers, but, uh, for blue-collar workers and casual workers and anybody who wants. We try and use our own organic products, and we buy in organic products. And the aim is to have 100% organic and try and balance the food with protein, vegetables and salad and introduce people to a really healthy sustaining diet, so at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, they're not starving after they come down from their sugar high. Arnault, our chef, is really important to us. He's a trained French chef, who understands what we're driving at in trying to produce balance and healthy meals for our team. We've had a few teething issues, as with all new enterprises, but it's been unbelievably positive, not only from our staff, but we are allowing the public to come in, they're coming and enjoying it, and it's growing in popularity day by day. In fact, some days it's hard to get a meal here. Well, I came to NZ about 15 years ago. Um, I lived in London and in France before that. I worked in lots of different restaurants. I've worked at big hotels, The Ritz and so forth. I worked for the Roux Brothers. I also worked for Sam Orton, which is really quite famous in the bay. My job is to feed,... um, not only the packhouse workers and the orchard people, but also the office staff, so we've gotta come up with ideas that is gonna please everyone,... that is gonna be attractive to everyone and nutritious for you, so that's why we've got two sizes. You can have large and small ` the big boys will have a large one; the office lady will have a small one. Every day is different. There's no choices, so it's pretty simple. You know, uh, we offer a salad if you don't want, uh, the main meal, which quite a lot of people take. Uh, in the winter, we do a soup as well as an extra. So basically, organic, fresh, local ` uh, those are the main drawings, and healthy. Luckily, we produce quite a bit, so all the chickens, the pumpkin, the onions come from us already. Um, yeah, in the... I mean, by the end of winter, you really... as a chef, you really get excited when spring is coming and you're gonna get lots of new vegetables and so forth, because in the winter, you know, um, trying to create five menus every day with just pumpkin and beetroot can be a bit of a challenge. But, you know, I think we're doing quite well. And, you know, we get lots of dried beans and so forth, which are organic as well. So, um, yeah, that's the challenge ` to make it not only for the people, but for us as well. We're lucky enough that, you know, uh, we're not really limited on really what we can do. So, you know, we do lots of traditional dishes, you know, things that can be done in bulk, but, you know, I think we still offer good quality and nutritious and flavoursome food as well. Today we've got a rolled chicken, uh, which is... uh, we've stuffed with millet, which is a grain, and we've put some herbs and dried fruits through it. And the wilted greens are just a mixed chard sauteed off, and that's pretty much it. The food bar's been great. I mean, you know, the staff never seems, you know, I mean... You know, we chat to them, you know, we serve them, so, you know, there's always good communication, and, um, yeah, everybody seems very happy with what we've got. John is happy, so that's, uh, one of the main things. And we're building up with the public as well, so... We used to go down to the local just down the road, all the greasies, all the greasy food, and you'd spend a lot of money down there. I was spending, eh, around $140 a week, and, yeah, that was a big whack out of my pay. We'd get pies, chips, uh, you name it. (CHUCKLES) You name it, yeah. And my kids at home, you know, kids don't really like greens, but, uh, yeah, well, they're eating the greens now, slowly, eating the greens. And, um, our cook, you know, he gives us different ways of making it, making it nice for the kids. Oh, it's real healthy and, um, yeah, real filling. You can eat heaps and still with energy. At the start of the season, I lost, you know, like, a few kgs. I'm still losing it. I've worked around a lot of companies, and John's the only one that has did this for us. So it's real good. Cheap as ` $9 for a large,... $7 for small. But I only get large. (CHUCKLES) Our company's goal was to make the lunches accessible to all. And we deduct directly from their wages, so no money has to change hands, so it's relatively seamless and easy. Philosophically, we're totally committed to doing it. It's not a new idea ` in Europe, a lot of companies feed their staff and give them a subsidised meal, so I've basically copied a European idea. We are planning on expanding it and, um, making more lunches available, uh, making, uh, takeaway lunches possible so, uh, lunches can go out into the fields as much as possible. That's already happening, but, uh, try and increase that and, uh, build up the lunch business. At the moment, it is costing us a bit of money to subsidise it, but the hope is in the future, we won't have to subsidise it if we can build up the numbers. For more information on these and other stories as well as other useful primary sector information, visit our website. Get there via tvnz.co.nz You can also watch this and previous episodes on TVNZ On Demand. Next week ` we find out about a Beef + Lamb NZ and Massey University funded research programme on a number or projects around beef cow production efficiencies at Massey's Tuapaka Farm. We meet father and son Alastair and Daniel Ormond, whose farming operation in central Hawke's Bay one of NZ's biggest Greenshell mussel producers. Thanks for watching. We hope you'll join us again next time. Bye for now. Captions by Faith Hamblyn. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016.