OE refresher course puts life in perspective

08-09-2010 | Not Specified

Much has happened in the past six months and our carbon footprint is immense.

We spent a month on an OE refresher course in Europe. When we left in mid-May it was dry enough; by the time we arrived home nearly a foot of rain had fallen. The weather since hasn't been that flash either ... when it gets to nine degrees it feels positively balmy.

This winter has been hard on livestock. Nevertheless the farm was in good shape when we arrived home; it had been well looked after.

Back in the summer harvest was late but better than average for everything other than the carrot seed crop. Technically the carrots were average because it's the first time we've grown them. The cool January was bad for pollination, a position you can never recover from, though apparently ours had it better than some.

The crop may cover costs. I knew it was risky when we gave it a go, and should have known that after good crops the year before there wouldn't be two in a row.

Constant chemical applications are one of the biggest downsides. Every time another recommendation arrives I blanch and think seriously of joining the Green Party. The paddock now glows in the dark.

In another new venture Helen and I took up competitive walking this year, namely the Miners Trail at Arrowtown. One of our daughters was running the Motutapu at the same time so it was good to see her as well. Hundreds gathered at the start, the hooter sounded and everybody took off at a great rate of knots. This was a little disconcerting since we thought it was a walk. Never mind, we set off at a brisk saunter.

Fifteen kilometres later we arrive back in Arrowtown, our daughter (support crew) sees us and says we are the only ones walking instead of running. Around the next corner there is a huge cheering crowd being whipped into a frenzy by a couple of disc jockeys. They had us monitored with microchips (NAIT) in our shoes and they boomed out: "Here come the Chamberlains". What an adrenalin rush, I thought I was in the Olympics.

Feeling good and thinking I must be pretty fit, reality struck. After they'd undone my shoe to take off the microchip I found I couldn't bend down to do my shoe up again. I gingerly walked around drinking my complimentary Speights as if everything was fine, knowing that if I sat down I wouldn't be able to get up again.

Back to our OE: Most of the time was spent in Italy and France. We were knee-deep in culture a fair portion of the time. Interesting, but I've seen enough cathedrals for the moment. Our New Zealand mayors and councils get a lot of flak for wasteful spending at times but I think they're not too bad compared with some of the emperors of the past 2000 years. The peasants spent their days either in armies fighting whoever was invading or lugging around blocks of marble and rock to build the latest monument or cathedral.

Being in these places puts life in perspective. Nobody really cares if we produce meat, milk or peanuts. NZ doesn't come onto the radar. They relate NZ to the All Blacks.

The only sheep we saw in France was a mob of about 200 being driven around a roundabout on a busy multi-lane highway. No flashing lights, warning signs, police, permits or resource consents. That is just what happens, "C'est la vie". What's more, the sheep appeared to be taking the correct exit off the roundabout.

Back home the common cry about the meat industry is that "it's broken". If it is then the dairy industry is heading down the same path, though from a position of strength - that is, new companies are starting to chip away at Fonterra's dominance. Capital requirements do seem to be hindering progress a little. There is no doubt farmers are getting out of sheep but it is not for $10 or $20 a lamb. It is because there are options like dairy or planting pine trees on hill country.

I actually think we were worse off in the 1980s when lambs were $12-$15, ewes $0-$3. There would be freezing works strikes whenever it got a bit dry or at peak kill and there didn't seem to be any choice but to keep running sheep. It also took a lot more lambs to buy a tonne of fertiliser.

What strategy will change things? I can think of several major strategies in the past 30 years. Firstly when Waitaki NZR threw in the towel, Alliance, PPCS and AFFCO got together and shared the pain a little and closed a few things down. We didn't realise it at the time but we owned a fair chunk of the industry after that.

Then a few years later Fortex and Weddell collapsed and we had another sort out. Some companies took the chance to recapitalise and set targets for the markets then. The best strategy this task force could come up with is to not allow any new processors to start up. Nature will take its course ... we will have fewer processors.

Believe it or not, our products are a lot different to what they used to be. We don't need to be told to improve efficiency behind the farm gate; that is a given - it always has been. We are going flat out to stand still.

Some sunshine would be nice. Bring on climate change.

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