Sarah's Country

In this week’s “Change Maker” show of Sarah’s Country:

Lasers in vineyards? Viticultura owner Timbo Deaker shares his nifty idea to keep the pesky birds away.

A rare investment opportunity has seen dairy farmer Charlie Adair expand from milking cows to goats.

New Zealand’s rural broadband market is likely to ramp up. Connected Farms Chief Executive, Tom Andrews, explains how his technology works.

Industry growers are about to get underway with their first arable growth groups. Coordinator for the FAR MPI-funded project, Erica Callaghan, shares how to get involved.

To watch to the full-length show and to contact the show, visit www.sarahscountry.com

Subscribe to Sarah’s Country on the podcast and if you love us, please leave a review!

Sarah’s Country is produced in a strategic alliance with Farmers Weekly - New Zealand’s most trusted source of agri-journalism - www.farmersweekly.co.nz

Contact the show: [email protected]

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As part of this week’s “Change Maker” show of Sarah’s Country, Erica Callaghan from Growers Leading Change discusses setting up the first arable growth groups.

She says decisions about the first set of arable growth groups (AGG) funding will be made shortly and at this stage, some of the potential groups can accommodate a few more growers.

Growers in Northland and Manawatu are top of the list and growers around the country with arable-based retail business are also invited to join one of the early start-up groups.

To read more, visit the article on Farmers Weekly: https://farmersweekly.co.nz/section/arable/view/call-for-more-growers-as-arable-groups-kick-off

For more information on the Growers Leading Change programme, visit: https://www.far.org.nz/

To watch the interview, visit www.sarahscountry.com

Subscribe to Sarah’s Country on the podcast and if you love us, please leave a review!

Sarah’s Country is produced in a strategic alliance with Farmers Weekly - New Zealand’s most trusted source of agri-journalism - www.farmersweekly.co.nz

Contact the show: [email protected]

Follow Sarah’s Country on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahperriam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahscountry

As part of this week’s “Change Maker” show of Sarah’s Country, Tom Andrews from Connected Farms explains how their new broadband technology works.

Competitiveness in New Zealand’s rural broadband market is likely to ramp up in coming months, with the arrival of new providers and expanded satellite capacity in the country.

Kacific, Connected Farms and Elon Musk’s Starlink network are building their rural customer base within NZ, either as satellite sources or internet providers.

To read more, visit the article on Farmers Weekly: https://farmersweekly.co.nz/section/agribusiness/view/rural-internet-competition-heats-up

To watch the interview, visit www.sarahscountry.com

Subscribe to Sarah’s Country on the podcast and if you love us, please leave a review!

Sarah’s Country is produced in a strategic alliance with Farmers Weekly - New Zealand’s most trusted source of agri-journalism - www.farmersweekly.co.nz

Contact the show: [email protected]

Follow Sarah’s Country on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahperriam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahscountry

As part of this week’s “Change Maker” show of Sarah’s Country, dairy farmer Charlie Adair discusses how he has expanded from dairy cows into the dairy goat industry.

Charlie and wife, Emma, are seeking investments of $5 million or more from high-net-worth and experienced investors for one of New Zealand’s largest dairy goat enterprises based out of Whangarei, Northland.

The Adairs were announced 2020 Northland Share Farmers of the Year in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards, only four years after emigrating from Britain and beginning at the bottom of the NZ dairy industry.

To read more, visit the article on Farmers Weekly: https://farmersweekly.co.nz/section/dairy/view/rare-investment-opportunity-in-dairy-goats

To watch the interview, visit www.sarahscountry.com

Subscribe to Sarah’s Country on the podcast and if you love us, please leave a review!

Sarah’s Country is produced in a strategic alliance with Farmers Weekly - New Zealand’s most trusted source of agri-journalism - www.farmersweekly.co.nz

Contact the show: [email protected]

Follow Sarah’s Country on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahperriam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahscountry

As part of this week’s “Change Maker” show of Sarah’s Country, Timbo Deaker from Viticultura shares his nifty idea to keep the pesky birds away from vineyards.

One of the major time-consuming tasks on vineyards is protecting vines as grapes ripen from birds, usually for about eight weeks prior to harvest.

Like most of the primary sector, the viticulture industry has had to grapple with labour shortages and rising costs in the past year, resulting in what Timbo calls a “forced innovation” period.

Using lasers to deter birds draws on images of deadly ray guns shooting the flying targets down in a smoking pile of feathers. The reality is somewhat less spectacular, but proving equally effective in Otago this summer.

To read more, visit the article on Farmers Weekly: https://farmersweekly.co.nz/section/horticulture/view/lasers-target-pesky-birds

To watch the interview, visit www.sarahscountry.com

Subscribe to Sarah’s Country on the podcast and if you love us, please leave a review!

Sarah’s Country is produced in a strategic alliance with Farmers Weekly - New Zealand’s most trusted source of agri-journalism - www.farmersweekly.co.nz

Contact the show: [email protected]

Follow Sarah’s Country on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahperriam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahscountry

In this week’s “Opinion Maker” show of Sarah’s Country:

In 2014, the Government estimated the primary sector would need to employ another 50,000 people by 2030. With the labour shortages we are currently experiencing, how broken is the education system that we still haven’t attracted and retained the skills we need?

Featuring Federated Farmers skills and training spokesperson William Beetham and Dairy Training manager Cath Blake.

Panel guests include WOMOlife Managing Director, Alister Shennan, and Shearing Contractors Association Chief Executive, Phil Holden.

To watch to the full-length show and to contact the show, visit www.sarahscountry.com

Subscribe to Sarah’s Country on the podcast and if you love us, please leave a review!

Sarah’s Country is produced in a strategic alliance with Farmers Weekly - New Zealand’s most trusted source of agri-journalism - www.farmersweekly.co.nz

Contact the show: [email protected]

Follow Sarah’s Country on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahperriam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahscountry

As part of this week’s “Opinion Maker” show of Sarah’s Country, the panel consists of Alister Shennan from WOMOlife who explains the objectives of the wool harvesting course and what a ‘life in wool’ can look like, and Phil Holden from New Zealand Shearing Contractors’ Association, who is a huge supporter of Agricademy and highlights the importance of getting people involved to develop a skilled workforce.

A group of respected industry trainers from around the country will run the first upskilling courses for young shearers and wool handlers in a pilot programme contracted by the New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association (NZSCA) through Kaiaka Wool Industry Training NZ.

The courses, put together by training provider WOMOlife and set to begin at the end of March, include an online series of videos featuring experts in their fields, in-shed training by highly respected industry trainers, and movement coaching to protect and improve the skills of the group.

To read more, visit the article on Farmers Weekly: https://farmersweekly.co.nz/section/sheep-2/view/trainers-announced-for-wool-harvesting-courses

For more information on Agricademy, contact Alister Shennan on [email protected]

To watch the interview, visit www.sarahscountry.com

Subscribe to Sarah’s Country on the podcast and if you love us, please leave a review!

Sarah’s Country is produced in a strategic alliance with Farmers Weekly - New Zealand’s most trusted source of agri-journalism - www.farmersweekly.co.nz

Contact the show: [email protected]

Follow Sarah’s Country on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahperriam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahscountry

As part of this week’s “Opinion Maker” show of Sarah’s Country, Cath Blake from Dairy Training Limited discusses how the dairy industry had been pushing for a new model of training involving pathways and “credentialisation” that includes both formal and informal training engagement.

She says once everything comes together under RoVE, the food and fibre sector will be the better for it, with the goal being a wider and more accessible range of training and upskilling options for people available across the primary sector throughout their careers.

The idea is to develop a platform that can deliver training throughout a person’s whole career, providing lifelong training options rather than just at the beginning of someone’s working life, with formal training complemented by informal channels like discussion groups and short courses.

To watch the interview, visit www.sarahscountry.com

Subscribe to Sarah’s Country on the podcast and if you love us, please leave a review!

Sarah’s Country is produced in a strategic alliance with Farmers Weekly - New Zealand’s most trusted source of agri-journalism - www.farmersweekly.co.nz

Contact the show: [email protected]

Follow Sarah’s Country on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahperriam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahscountry

As part of this week’s “Opinion Maker” show of Sarah’s Country, William Beetham from Federated Farmers discusses how we need to become better workplaces to retain our employees just as much as collaborate on the existing training.

There’s a lot happening at present in the vocational educational sector as a result of the Government’s Review of Vocational Educational (RoVE), which includes the establishment of industry-based centres of vocational excellence (CoVE), workforce development councils and the establishment of Te Pukenga. On top of that, there’s targeted apprenticeship funding as part of the covid response.

To read more, visit the article on Farmers Weekly: https://farmersweekly.co.nz/section/agribusiness/view/vocational-training-changes-welcomed

To watch the interview, visit www.sarahscountry.com

Subscribe to Sarah’s Country on the podcast and if you love us, please leave a review!

Sarah’s Country is produced in a strategic alliance with Farmers Weekly - New Zealand’s most trusted source of agri-journalism - www.farmersweekly.co.nz

Contact the show: [email protected]

Follow Sarah’s Country on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahperriam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahscountry

In this week’s “News Maker” show of Sarah’s Country:

New Zealand Story’s Director, Rebecca Smith, explains how consumer habits have changed during the pandemic.

How can New Zealand eradicate Mycoplasma Bovis? Independent Chair of the M bovis programme, Kelvan Smith, explains.

RuralWeather’s Phil Duncan has the weekly update with detailed weather forecast.

Ministry for Primary Industries’ principal scientist and Ray Brougham Trophy winner, Gerald Rys, shares his journey of 45 years in the public service.

To watch to the full-length show and to contact the show, visit www.sarahscountry.com

Subscribe to Sarah’s Country on the podcast and if you love us, please leave a review!

Sarah’s Country is produced in a strategic alliance with Farmers Weekly - New Zealand’s most trusted source of agri-journalism - www.farmersweekly.co.nz

Contact the show: [email protected]

Follow Sarah’s Country on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahperriam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahscountry