Sarah's Country

NZ farmers’ simplified focus on protein & energy in pastures needs to move to understanding mineral compounds impact on animal health.

For more information on 5th Business Agri visit, https://www.5thbusinessagri.nz/home

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From making an award winning documentary they discovered that the method of councils collecting on freshwater quality is flawed.

For information on Riverwatch visit, https://riverwatch.nz/ to watch the documentary

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Our consumers are concerned about bobby calves, so how do New Zealand dairy farmers work to practically reduce this and economically?  

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Evolving their farming around deer's natural browsing patterns and building shared values for the environment and financial sustainability.

For information www.deernz.org

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How we consume to alleviate the guilt of our individual impact on the planet is now a fixture of daily life for many conscious consumers. Whether it's calling out companies on the use of packaging for its single-use or the source of the product’s ingredients, it's each now etched into our psyche. 

But what about sustainability claims of sourcing 85% organic from overseas and planting native trees to offset carbon, means NZ growers are missing out on access to our premium consumers?

“If we had regular communication with the NZ grower connecting feedback on what we want, we won’t necessarily purchase organic from overseas if it fits our quality standards & consumers values,” explains James Denton, co-founder GoodFor.

One of this week’s Sarah’s Country’s Change Maker is James Denton, co-founder of GoodFor, a wholefood refillery chain growing in New Zealand who explains:

• GoodFor is a New Zealand owned, 100% plastic free pantry refillery in stores across the country and online.
• Less food waste and less packaging lead him and his partner, Georgie, to start their first store in Ponsonby and following a multi-million capital raise in June 2021 they are set to leverage their 14,000 customers to ripple their business ethos wider.
• They have a strict procurement process that starts with the quality of product first and foremost and then organic certification and welcomes the discussion with NZ growers as they ultimately influence up to 50 stores.
• They have been planting 87 native trees per week here in NZ through their own tree-planting platform as opposed to off-setting programmes overseas.

For information on GoodFor visit, https://goodfor.co.nz/

Chronic disease globally is linked to the gut microbiome, so what if the food New Zealand produces could be sold at a premium if we move towards farming for nutrient density rather than per kilo of a product?

“The microbiome is so important to human, animal and soil health, so let’s reward forward-thinking farmers for producing nutrient-dense food,” explains the Vicker sisters.

Our Sarah’s Country Sister this week are actually sisters, twin sisters in fact!

Sarah Perriam discusses with Katie Vickers, Head of Sustainability at Farmlands Co-Operative and Sarah Vickers, holistic health coach at BePure Clinic:

• Their farming upbringing with an alternative view of soil health from their farming father growing up in Marlborough after emigrating from the UK.
• Functional food is a growth area for both industries, as Katie explains, even more so now since she did her Kellogg’s in nutrient-dense food as a market opportunity for New Zealand farmers.
• As a registered nurse, Sarah has seen first-hand how today's stressful lifestyles can lead to poor health outcomes and can’t understand how we have lost touch from our ancestral knowledge.
• Katie explains the disruptive technology coming at farming food with consumers armed with spectrometers to select food based on its nutrient density and our need to get ahead of the curve.

To read Katie’s Kellogg report, https://ruralleaders.co.nz/putting-the-food-back-into-food-what-will-it-take-for-our-primary-industry-to-produce-nutrient-dense-food/

To learn more about Sarah Vickers holistic approach to wellbeing, visit https://www.svholistic.com/

What started in a search to make ‘bioplastic’ with a scoby that is used in making Kombucha, AgResearch scientists found it could help kill E. coli. in dairy effluent ponds.

“The scoby decreased the water to a very low pH so then we hypothesised you could potentially use it as an anti-microbal mechanism in effluent,” explains Seth Laurenson, AgResearch

One of this week’s Sarah’s Country’s Change Maker is Seth Laurenson, senior scientist at AgResearch who explains:

• Seth’s scientific research has been in effluent and wastewater and says that effluent, when applied in perfect conditions, is fine, but that’s not always the case with weather and can leach and affect the water quality of aquifers and streams so by lowering the E. Coli levels can provide farmers with more flexibility.
• After discovering they could drop the pH of dairy effluent making it more acidic, the next challenge is to drop the alcohol with bio-engineers to make it safe for distribution on the soil.
• AgResearch’s 'Curiosity Fund' supports proving concepts quickly and delivering early to see innovations work with people that can add to the progress of the technology.

Learn more about AgResearch's effluent research in this Farmer's Weekly article

It used to be worth $10/kg to farmers in the 80’s, now farmers are throwing it into gullies to dispose of the waste product. The world’s natural and renewable fibre needs a desperate lifeline, but our guests in this week’s Opinion Maker can see the light on the horizon of consumer change & urge farmers to hold on. 

To watch the show, visit www.sarahscountry.com

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

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There is a gaping hole of farmers coming into the sheep & beef sector but there may be a shining light with the new farmer-led Growing Future Farmers programme launching in Winter 2021.

“You can’t teach farming in the classroom. We provide the training, liaison and pastoral care for our registered farm workplaces to give our young people the start they need, including a 6-week-old pup!” explains Cyn Smith, GM, Growing Future Farmers.

As a Change Maker this week on Sarah’s Country learns more about Growing Future Farmers with general manager, Cyn Smith who outlines the new programme:

• The idea came from Tam & Dan Jex-Blake and grew with a passionate board of farmers from large hill country properties across New Zealand with 50 accredited farm trainers across the country.
• The learning is outside of the classroom structured as a two-year programme where students learn in the paddock with qualifications and liaison managers in support with Eastern Institute of Technology in Hawkes Bay.
• This is a chance for farmers to give back to the sector by training young people as a trainee as they build their capability alongside the everyday running of the farm over two years.
• The farmer provides the student with a heading & huntaway pup so they should eventually have three working dogs for our young shepherds to get employment. 

For information on the Open Days around NZ in July & August 2021, visit https://growingfuturefarmers.co.nz/

Selling pasteurized milk direct from the farm to the customer has a lot of regulatory barriers around it but people are demanding it and want to celebrate our local food heroes - our farmers.

A new innovative “milk factory in a box” can allow any farmer to sell safe, pasteurised milk to their local community and cafes with a secure payment system and food regulations ticked.

“10 cows would supply 5-6 cafes with the milk they need and a milk refillery station which is equivalent to $14/kg/ms redistributing the wealth to the farmer and the community,” explains Glen Herud, Happy Cow Milk 

As one of this week’s Sarah’s Country’s Change Maker's we highlight Glen Herud from Happy Cow Milk Company:

• They have created a system where farmers attach the mini milk factory to your current milking plant into 100L keg, plug it into the internet and you become a fully compliant milk processor.
• The farmer gets paid upfront then delivers the milk to a cafe for them to use and sell to customers as a refillery.
• Customers fill their reusable containers with fresh, local milk and the local farmer keeps your dispenser full and the Happy Cow system takes care of all payments, sending everyone their share of each purchase to your bank account – instantly!
• Happy Cow Milk Co. recently won at the 2021 ChristchurchNZ Supernode Food, Fibre & AgriTech Challenge
• You can invest in Happy Cow Milk Co through their crowd-equity funding campaign on PledgeMe

Learn how it works here, https://happycowmilk.co.nz/sell-milk/

To watch the show, visit www.sarahscountry.com

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

Contact the show: [email protected]

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