North Canterbury News: December 19, 2019

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RuralLife Jimmy Leigh Sales 027 405 6941 oro 03 349 5975 Rolleston 1George Holmes Rd Amberley 90 Carters Rd Power Farming Canterbury Built to your budget! Strawberries and peas achallenge By DAVID HILL -All types of fencing including: -deer,sheep and cattle yards -Retaining walls –Timber gates -Full range of specialised equipment for farm fencing and lifestyle blocks, offers you the complete land package. Ashley: 0274 364 776 ah: 314 8541 e: A.Duckworth@xtra.co.nz www.duckworthfencing.co.nz Post &Rail Fencing -Looks great & makes life easy for the Rural Lifestyler! Spreading Christmas Cheer to all our Clients throughout North Canterbury Stir it! Suck it! Spread it! Get the most from your effluent! 18,000 litre Tanker for your liquids &a6metre Stirrer to mix ponds &enableeffective emptying. 14.5 tonne solids spreader handles all solid effluent from separator solids to pond crusts. Based inCulverden & offering 24hr emergency call out. Contact Paul 0220 417 340 Email -paul@craig-keen.com 2002804 2105203 Locallygrownstrawberriesand peas couldbemissing from theChristmas dinner menu. NorthCanterbury growerCam Booker, who is preparing for the7th annualSefton Christmas Harvest Marketonhis farm near Rangiora,said Christmas strawberries, raspberries andpeas were in shortsupply. He says therewill be no homegrown strawberriesonthe Booker family Christmas dinner tablethis year. “It was coldand slow growing in the spring andnow it's hot anddry all of a sudden, but we were lucky to havemissed the hail,” he says. “We've gotnostrawberriesatthe moment. ‘‘Thewarmweather broughtthem on earlyand then the birds have eaten them all.” The Bookers grow strawberriesall year roundand have wonrecognition in past Farmers'Market Awards. “Wedon't usuallyhave aheap of strawberriesatthistimeofthe year anyway, as we are generally at the low end of the production curve,but normally once we havestrawberries, we usually have themuntilJune or July.” His next crop of strawberriesisnotdue to ripen untillate January or early February. Mr Booker sayspeasripeningearly appear to be acommon problem for growers in North Canterbury. “Onlyamonth ago we were thinking they weregoingtobelate,sothat'show quickly it's changed.” But thereare plenty of freshpotatoes and the early birds whoarrive at the harvestmarket between 8am and 9amwill get to dig theirown Christmasspuds fora $5 donationentryfee, whichgoes to the Sefton School PTA. Entry is agold coin donation after 9am. “We havequite afew (Sefton School) parents giving us ahandonthe daywith traffic coordinationand parking.” Mr Booker says, despite the challenges, just about everythingelsefor the Christmas dinner tablewillbeonsaleat themarket,witharound 40 stalls lined up. Therewill be anythingfrom turkeys, ducks, hams,wine,cherries, freshbread, fruitand vegetables, “exceptstrawberries andI'm hopingthere willbesomepeas”. Aftersix yearsofrunning themarket on Christmas Eve, Mr Bookersaid he learnedrecently he neededaresource consent,but theWaimakaririDistrict Council got into the Christmasspiritby waiving the consentfee. “The good newsisit's justaoneoff. “The harvest marketisagoodday out Early birds ... Early risers will get the chance to dig their own Christmas spuds at the Sefton Christmas Harvest Market. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED Fruitless ... Warm weather and birds mean no strawberries at the Christmas Harvest Market. beforeChristmas and it's fastbecoming a family tradition in Canterbury.” He saysaround 3000people take the drive outeach year. Christchurch entertainer Willie McArthur willonceagainbeoffering familyentertainmentatthe event. The 7thannual SeftonChristmas Harvest Marketwillonce again be held on Christmas Evefrom 8amto1pm at 783 MarshmansRoad,Sefton, near Rangiora. Theeventwillbeheld rainorshine. THE ORIGINAL NOT THE 35 IMITATOR YEARS EXPERIENCE EARTHWORKS LTD TheLocalEarthworkingSpecialists General Earthmoving •Subdivisionroading •Entranceways •Driveways •Excavations •Horse Arenas •Country Lanes •Hot bitumenChipSealing •HoleDrilling (200mm to 600mm Augers) Bulk Shingle Supplies •AP65 •River Shingle •Screened Soil •AP40/AP20 Guaranteed Workmanship&CouncilCompliance Phone RobertMcAlister 0274 340 315 03 313 2276 Rangiora or 03 3149633 Amberley Email:darwin99@xtra.co.nz 2088396-25/10-b
Weather achallenge By DAVID HILL Pricesare good, butthe latestseasonhas had its challenges for North Canterbury farmers. Federated FarmersNorth Canterbury president Cameron Henderson says strong prices aregiving farmers plenty of confidence,but achillyspring and adry start to summer have set production back thisseason. “It's had some challenges. ‘‘After awet and coldOctober which slowed growth down, we had anormal November until the wind in the last week of the month whichknocked afew people around. “It'sbeen atough two weeks since then and it willtake acoupleofweekstocatch up, but it couldbeworse.” But Mr Hendersonsays adecentamount of rain before Christmaswill put farmers back on track. Milk productionisdown compared to the same periodlast year, but there is still timetocatch up. And with Fonterra'smidrange farmgate milk priceforecast of $7.05 and low interest rates, it is “hardtocomplain, aside fromafew weather hiccups”. “Theeconomics of farming are pretty goodatthe moment,” he says. New regulations are stillcreating headachesand theclimatechange debate has “only really just started”, but at least Federated Farmersand other organisations are part of the conversation withthe government, Mr Hendersonsays. “We are certainly not going to get the perfect outcome, but hopefully we will get morereason and less politics.” He is optimistic Canterbury's progressin the freshwater space,comparedtoother regions, will mean few changes for local farmerswhennew legislation is introduced. “Thefencing off of waterways and alot of the things thatare in theproposals,we are already doing and probably doing it Season’s Greetings We wish all our clients a very merry Xmas and Prosperous New Year. Noel, Jenny, Angus and Adam. Fencing -Barns -Stockyards Noel 0274 330 980 or (03) 312-8666 preencontractors@gmail.com Proudly servicing the North Canterbury Area 2127991 Cameron Henderson ... ‘‘The economics of farming are pretty good at the moment.’’ better than whatthe nationalstandards are. “The best thing the government coulddo in Canterbury is leave us alone to get on with it. ‘‘Farmers,local councilsand the wider community have put ahuge amount of effort in through the zone committees. “And it's not just councils telling us what to do, it's communities realising whatthey need to do and that includes farmers.” Mr Henderson is also the Waimakariri Zone Committeevicechairman. The zone committee is now turning its attention to local catchment plans, with localpeople collaborating at alocal catchment leveland going beyond the regulations, “andIthinkthere is alot of valuetobehad out of that”. “I can certainly see value in setting a nationalvision and astrategicdirection, but in terms of setting one strictgoal for the whole country, they are quickly learninghow difficultthat can be because of our diverse river systems. “EveninCanterbury there is diversity between the large alpine,braided rivers and the catchmentsinthe lowland, springfed rivers, and we have ahuge diversityof soil types.” MASTER BUILDER LocaltoNorth Canterbury. CALL ARTHUR027 245 1601 arthur@robertsonbuilding.co.nz www.robertsonbuilding.co.nz BARNS/FARM BULDINGS•RIB RAFT FLOOR SYSTEM INSTALLATION PROJECTMANAGEMENT•ADDITIONS•NEW HOMES HOME MAINTENANCE•EQC REPAIRS•ALTERATIONS FREE QUOTES KAIKOURA RESIDENTS –NEED ASURVEYOR? Surveying |Engineering |Planning |Subdivisions Topographical Surveys |Resource Management Land Development |Civil Engineering |Project Management |Building &Construction Setout 2021055 2229428 FROM ONLY $495 $474 RURAL LIFE The North Canterbury News, December 19, 2019 Amuri i Transport r (1989) ( ) Ltd AN AFFORDABLE HEDGETRIMMER THATLETS YOU FOCUS ON CUTTING HEDGES. NOT EXTENSION CORDS. 33 Sheep industry in good heart Recent ram fair pricesmight not reflect it, but the sheep industry is in agood space. Livestock industryrepresentatives spoken to by the North Canterbury News say the industry is strong on the back of healthy lamb and mutton prices. RuralLivestock Canterburylivestock manager DonaldCooke says, aside from the woolprice,the industry is “in the best placeit's beeninalong time”. This season’s ram sales producedsome mixedresults, with goodrams sellingfor as little as $1000and several “beingpassed on”. “Whenyou considerfarmersare getting $150 to $180 for aprime lamb, the rams are pretty cheap,”MrCooke says. “Theold rule of thumb was 10 lambstoaram, but youcan pick up agoodram for $1000.” Several ramsfetched at least $2500at salesthroughout the region,while the Stevensonfamily, of Cheviot, paid arecord $17,500 “for atruly exceptional” Dorset Down ram, he says. Two rams sold for morethan $10,000 at last month'sCanterbury A&P Association Staff and Management would like to wish you avery Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. ram fair, but onethird of the 200 rams put up for sale wereleft unsold. PGG Wrightson upperSouth Island genetics representative Simon Eddington attributed it to relatively low ewe numbers on farms followinglandusechanges over the last20years. Onfarm store lambsales are also producing mixed results, with the farmers who hostedsales earlyon“being wellrewarded”, Mr Cooke says. “The prime stock is sellingvery well, but we've seen abit of acorrection in the store lamb sales, with the dry conditions and the high river levels impactingonprices over the last couple of weeks.” Hazlett Rurallivestockgeneral manager Ed Marfell saysthe primelamb market is “riding abit of awave fromthe demandfor protein in Asia”. “Nothing lasts forever, so we have to make the most of it while we can andput abit away. And justenjoythe ride.” Mr Cookeanticipates the region's ewe fairs,beginning at Hawarden nextmonth, will be strong. 56 St Leonards Rd, Culverden Fences For • Sheep • Cattle • Lifestyle Blocks 2166308 • Deer • Horses • Post Driving Based in Loburn 17 years experience Phone Mark Sampson 03 312 8335 or 027 777 2882 mrsampson@xtra.co.nz Mark O’Connor is available for free, no obligation consultations at the PGG Wrightson Kaikoura office Wednesday fortnightly. Appointments required. PHONE MARK 021 558 100 0800 802 4546 | Email: mark@bonisch.nz 2111416 STIHL SHOP Northwood 554 Main North Road, Belfast, Christchurch Ph: 03-974-2469 STIHL SHOP Rangiora Corner Linesideand Station Road,Rangiora Ph: 03-313-3398 STIHL SHOP Fosters 559 Blenheim Road, Sockburn, Christchurch Ph: 03-343-6339 www.stihlshopchristchurch.co.nz LOVE YOUR LAND
Page 1 and 2: Merry Christmas Happy New Year z I
Page 3 and 4: Milestone marks Waiau’srebirth By
Page 5 and 6: Top roles for Emily and Hugh By RAC
Page 7 and 8: www. .co.nz 636 Lineside Road, Rang
Page 9 and 10: NICOL’S BISSELLCLEANVIEW BAGLESSV
Page 12: • Beckenham Lotto and News Agency
Page 16 and 17: OXFORD SANTA PARADE 14 The North Ca
Page 18 and 19: Fishing Fun Play Centre Usually $11
Page 20 and 21: TEACH METOFLY Interactive Flying Pe
Page 22 and 23: NEWS 20 The North Canterbury News,
Page 24 and 25: PAMS FRESH CREAM 300ML $2.39 PAMS B
Page 26 and 27: HOLIDAY GUIDE 24 The North Canterbu
Page 28 and 29: HOLIDAY GUIDE 26 North Canterbury N
Page 30: 2 WEEKS OF SPECIALS NEWS 28 North C
Page 33: FINAL SALE OF THE YEAR! BOXING DAY
Page 37 and 38: Season’s Greetings Prosser Quirke
Page 41 and 42: LASTSUMMER, SPARKS FROM MACHINERY A
Page 43 and 44: Four Seasons Realty Merry Christmas
Page 45 and 46: Property Brokers Limited Licensed u
Page 47 and 48: Property Brokers Limited Licensed u
Page 49 and 50: NEWS AND CLASSIFIED North Canterbur
Page 51 and 52: TRUSTED TRADES &PROFESSIONAL SERVIC

North Canterbury News: December 19, 2019

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