Ashburton Courier: June 30, 2022
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RURAL<br />
20 <strong>Ashburton</strong> <strong>Courier</strong>, <strong>June</strong> <strong>30</strong>, <strong>2022</strong><br />
Hope remains for wool industry<br />
Stuart Cattoisadyedinthewoolwool<br />
man —literally.<br />
Thismonth Mr Catto (67)<br />
acceptedthe lastwool at his<br />
Oamaru wool business, Catto<br />
Wool, andshutthe doors for<br />
good, after alifetimeinthe<br />
industry.<br />
While he hadnoregrets<br />
about hischosen career, he<br />
did have asmall regret he<br />
had not managedtogeta<br />
buyer to take over the<br />
business, he said.<br />
But retirement was<br />
beckoningand he waslooking<br />
forwardtospending more<br />
time with his wife, trout<br />
fishing andwhitebaiting,<br />
hunting pigs, deer,wallabies<br />
and goats, and drivingdown<br />
somebackroads never<br />
traversed before.<br />
Broughtuponafarm near<br />
Gore, Mr Catto started<br />
rousieing for localshearers<br />
fromwhenhewas about 12<br />
until he left school at 17. He<br />
went to Lincolnfor twoyears,<br />
studying wool.<br />
After Lincoln, he had a<br />
selectionofjobs offered and<br />
he chose to work for Mair<br />
Wool in Christchurch, a<br />
business which was<br />
essentially an auction<br />
appraiser.<br />
Then, in 1986, he bought an<br />
existing woolbuying<br />
business in Oamaru and<br />
moved south.<br />
Hehad spent twoyears<br />
driving heavymachineryin<br />
Twizel, with the hydro<br />
End of an era ...Stuart Catto, awool judge, has closed the<br />
doors of his Oamaru business, Catto Wool.<br />
PHOTO FILE<br />
development, in thelate<br />
1970sand hadgot to know<br />
someNorth Otago folk,soit<br />
wasnot entirely unfamiliar.<br />
At thatstage,the business<br />
wasbasedinTyne St butit<br />
later neededmorespaceand<br />
Catto Woolmovedinto<br />
Harbour St, inthe heartof<br />
the town’s historic precinct,<br />
in 1991.<br />
But back then, it was not<br />
the bustlingattractionthatit<br />
laterbecame —‘‘noone<br />
cared about it back then’’—<br />
andheinitially took half the<br />
building, then threequarters<br />
and then theentire space.<br />
Later, more spacewas<br />
required and premises in<br />
TyneSt werealso leased.<br />
Thelastsix or seven years<br />
hadbeenparticularly tough<br />
and,while Mr Catto said he<br />
always triedtohave a<br />
glasshalffull approach<br />
rather thananegativeone, it<br />
was getting verydifficult to<br />
do that.<br />
But he remained hopeful<br />
that the industry would come<br />
right.<br />
‘‘I’m alwayslooking for<br />
hope at the other end.Surely<br />
there’s light at the endofthe<br />
horizonnow.’’<br />
Knownfor his ownwoollen<br />
attire, Mr Catto said one of<br />
his pet beefs wasfarmers who<br />
did not believeintheir own<br />
industry, whether that was<br />
wearing synthetic orplastic<br />
clothing, or laying synthetic<br />
carpets in their homes.<br />
‘‘When thatstarts<br />
happening, youmay as well<br />
throw in the towel.You have<br />
to believe in your own<br />
products,’’ he said.<br />
Mr Catto’s work covered a<br />
large area,fromthe top of the<br />
StyxtoWaikouaiti, the Lindis<br />
Pass, Twizel, the top of the<br />
HakatarameaValley and<br />
Waimate.During theheyday,<br />
it wasnot unusualtodo<br />
14hour days and he hadthe<br />
same routines;breakfast<br />
used to be amuttonpie at<br />
McGregors tearooms in<br />
Palmerston, latterly it had<br />
beenatVanessa’sCottage<br />
CafeinHampden.<br />
~Central RuralLife<br />
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz<br />
Trials plan<br />
FAR's growersleadingchange<br />
programmeisseeking arable<br />
growers nationwide to take part in<br />
onfarmtrials around alternative<br />
Nproducts.<br />
With the price of synthetic Non<br />
the rise, andthe impending<br />
introductionofpricing for<br />
nitrogen related nitrousoxide<br />
emissions, the programme is<br />
setting up aseries of simple DIY<br />
onfarmtrials looking into arange<br />
of alternative Nproducts.<br />
Trialproject leader Donna Lill<br />
is lookingfor arablegrowers<br />
anywhere in NewZealand who are<br />
keentobe involved.<br />
“We’re looking for growerswho<br />
are either already using<br />
alternativesources of nitrogen in<br />
their crops or who are interested<br />
in tryingout some of theoptions,’’<br />
she said.<br />
‘‘The nitrogen sources we’re<br />
considering maybealternativeN<br />
products, nfixing products,<br />
manures or legumes.<br />
“These onfarm trials, which are<br />
really ‘tryouts’ as they are not<br />
fully replicated, will start in<br />
paddocks sown this spring, and<br />
continue into nextyear’sautumn<br />
and spring sowings.<br />
‘‘Ideally, it will incorporatea<br />
range of arablecrops including<br />
cereals, grassand vegetable seed<br />
crops as well as maize.”<br />
Final tryoutdesign will be<br />
discussed with individual growers<br />
dependingoncroptype,<br />
alternativeN source and paddock<br />
variables.<br />
Anyone interested is asked to<br />
get in touch with Donna Lill by<br />
phoning 027299 6706 or by email<br />
to donna.lill@far.org.nz<br />
NPD Tinwald<br />
NowOpen!<br />
100 Plus Performance Petrol<br />
24/7 Fuel<br />
Self Serve<br />
123 ArchibaldStreet,Tinwald<br />
www.npd.co.nz
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