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Young Country Plus - June 2013

Welcome to Young Country’s inaugural e-zine - Young Country Plus.

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  • Fieldays: Washer cleans up

    Taranaki dairy farmer Simon Washer made a clean sweep of the Fieldays Rural Bachelor of the Year Competition for 2013.

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  • My time in Sweden

    Kirsty Dickins grew up in the Manawatu. After completing a B Agri Science Degree at Massey Uni she worked for Landcorp as a business manager supervising three sheep and beef farms and managing a capital development programme on Cheltenham Downs. Kirsty was the winner of Agriventures $7000 travel scholarship, embarking on her Ag OE in August 2012, spending 2½ months travelling through Africa before moving to Sweden then Canada.

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  • Who ate all the pies?

    I love pies – meat pies especially. I always have and always will. And I think it’s a real shame that too often pies get a bad rap in today’s health-crazed society.

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  • Canada calling...

    I’m 20 years old and come off a 405ha sheep and beef ranch about 30 minutes north of the Motherland, Taihape, along with my two sisters Emma and Laura and my parents Manson and Celia.

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Easy rider

We’ve all heard of Buffalo Bill, but now another horse-riding Bill from America has hit the South Island, and picked up the nickname Wandering Bill.

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  • Fieldays video: Young Farmer of the Year

    Rural TV’s Tim Black caught up with 2013 ANZ New Zealand Young Farmer of the Year winner Tim Van de Molen at the Mystery Creek Fieldays last week to discuss what life has been like after winning the competition.

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  • Fieldays: Washer cleans up

    Taranaki dairy farmer Simon Washer made a clean sweep of the Fieldays Rural Bachelor of the Year Competition for 2013.

    Read more…

  • Young Maori Sheep and Beef Farmer crowned

    Te Kuiti shepherd Jordan Smith was named the inaugural winner of the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Sheep and Beef Farmer of the Year award in Hawke’s Bay on Friday night.

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  • App chap or tri guy?

    The name App Chap suits Hamish Hammond, working as he does as a research assistant studying mobile phone apps for farmers, but he is equally at home with Tri Guy.

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Dairy dreams

The dream of farm ownership is a steep mountain to climb but Rebecca Harper met two motivated young couples with their sights set on the ultimate prize, working their way up through managing dairy farms and equity partnerships for MyFarm.  

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  • Handle with care

    Speed is not of the essence when moving hundreds of thousands of stock units around New Zealand – but efficiency, safety, experience and an affinity for animals are essential. Jackie Harrigan talks to one man who keeps a fleet moving and another who drives one of the trucks.

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  • Tim’s Time

    A major in psychology, an officer in the New Zealand Army Territorials and a suited-up city banker is not necessarily the tried and true recipe for a Young Farmer champion. Yet an understanding of how people think, discipline, and having an insight into how to run a successful business are all vital skills in the agriculture industry. It certainly works for Tim van de Molen. The ANZ agri-manager took on five farmers and one other agri-professional in a close battle at the Young Farmer Contest Grand Final in Auckland and came away with the title. Sheryl Brown caught up with him on his new farm at Matangi in Waikato.

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  • Wonderful journey just the beginning

    The 2013 ANZ Bank Young Farmer Grand Final followed the form book, with winner Tim van de Molen, from Waikato-Bay of Plenty, and second-placed Cam Brown, from Taranaki-Manawatu, being previous grand finalists in a contest where experience and endurance mean a great deal. Hugh Stringleman puts van de Molen’s win in context.

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  • Lochinver legacy

    Big stations attract people who like big country and sometimes those who like to work alone – huge open spaces, few people. But big stations with lots of stock and complex systems need to attract workers who like to work hard and be part of a team. The two personality types could be very different. Jackie Harrigan looks at what makes the team at Lochinver tick.

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Shooting for the top

More and more outdoor-loving Kiwis are slinging a bow and arrow over their shoulder and discovering for themselves the joys of bow hunting. This sport requires patience, skill and dedication, and promises satisfaction, a challenge and a great adventure.

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  • 8 Second action man

    Lowering himself into the bull riding shute onto half a ton of quivering muscle and meanness Paddy Church does one thing – he empties his mind.

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  • Wet and wild

    As much of the country baked in an unusually hot and dry summer, many farmers would probably have looked to cool down in water troughs, dams and creeks. Trev and Charlotte Rowlands have gone one better on their family’s Hawke’s Bay farm, bringing their passion for water sports to life in the form of a custom built waterpark. Spawned from one man’s dreams and brought to life thanks to the loving support of his family, friends and the local community, Backpaddock Lakes looks set to carve a bright future for Kiwi water sports.

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  • Off the reservation

    State Highway 1 might be a bit of engineering embarrassment in terms of its international counterparts but one asset it does have in spades is stunning scenery. Nowhere is this more strikingly apparent than the long, sometimes lonely, drive through the alpine tussock of the Desert Road in the Central North Island. This barren landscape, home to herds of wild horses and wandering Defence Force personnel, is occasionally opened up to willing off road adventurers. Young Country tagged along this year on the epic Offlimits Quad Bike Safari and was not disappointed with the off-road action.

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  • No Nutts needed

    Never judge a book by its cover. It’s a lesson people still learn every day and one that some men were reminded of when they underestimated four young women with a passion for hunting. No Nutts, the first all-girl team to enter the Polaris Big Four hunting competition at Tauranga in June walked away with an $18,000 prize package including a $16,000 Polaris Ranger 500 for getting the closest to the average weight for their boar, stag, cock pheasant and trout. 

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Dallying with sheep

"Sheep?" they'd say.

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  • Hut etiquette

    Easter. Down on the flatlands it was still an Indian summer. Here in the Ruahine Range, though, the first frost of the winter had already arrived earlier that week. 

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  • Gunning for bear

    I’d felt rather than heard Nick’s low whistle.

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  • Nothing like a Moose

    There aren’t many moose at just over 10,000m, but that’s where I’m penning this story.

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  • Wild Turkey

    It was the best of hunts. It was the worst of hunts.

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Who ate all the pies?

I love pies – meat pies especially. I always have and always will. And I think it’s a real shame that too often pies get a bad rap in today’s health-crazed society.

Read more…

  • Jus the job

    Cook and 2012 Masterchef winner Chelsea Winter believes people should not be afraid of using a little bit of butter and wants Kiwis to become more passionate about cooking with natural New Zealand produce rather than being led into buying low fat or readymade food.

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  • A Spoonful of Country

    Wise words indeed from Abby Shaw’s late grandmother Eula Bush, who knew the comfort to be gained from making and sharing food with friends and loved ones.

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  • Moreish meats

    Free-range, funky looking and fabulous tasting meat and deli products are the messages behind the Fitzsimons family butchery in Palmerston North.

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  • Zany Zeus

    One Wellington food blogger, the Omnivore, has a theory about cheese – there are “staple” cheeses and “recreational” cheeses.

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Get smart – it’s more than a shoephone

I wrote this during the few hours before speaking about Smart Farming with Smartphones at the AgInnovation event in Manawatu.

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  • 2G..3G..4G..O.M. G? – what does it mean?

    The advertising campaigns are rolling out the red carpet for 4G services arriving in New Zealand’s largest cities but rural 4G will be a while coming, says Vodafone’s Tony Baird.

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  • App chat

    Slipping and sliding down a papa track on a cold spring night, I could barely see my hand in front of my face. After one particularly close call and a few expletives, there was something of a eureka moment. Reaching into my belt pouch I pulled out my mobile phone having remembered downloading an app that might just get me home safely. A couple of thumb strokes later and my smart phone had turned from mobile device into a reasonable torch thanks to the Flashlight app. Sure I wasn’t able to spotlight possums on the walk home but I could clearly see the obstacles in front of me and arrived safely home. Such handy apps have sprung up as smart phones sales worldwide have gone through the roof. But what is out there to help farmers toiling away on the land? Young Country had a look around and compiled a list of apps to make your 2013 more productive and more fun.

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  • Internet investment

    Maori economic powerhouse Ngai Tahu Property has recently started milking on its three pilot dairy farms at Eyrewell in Canterbury and has embraced technology to drive on farm efficiencies. Chief innovation officer for Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, Tom Fitzpatrick, spoke to Young Country about how they have invested in high speed internet with one eye firmly focused on the present while the other gazes into the possibilities that tomorrow may bring.

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  • Water works

    The summer period is a time of fun, sun and family for many people. But life on the farm does not always stop and allow the farmer to relax at the family bach. Livestock, crops and buildings all still require quality water to thrive, especially during dryer and hotter days. So how does controlling your pump or irrigator from your smartphone or computer while still enjoying some time out with the family sound? WaterForce consultant Greg Lovell spoke to Young Country about what the remote application SCADAfarm could do for farmers, now and in the future.

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Call of the high country

High-country shepherds Natasha and Courtenay Petrie mapped their farming careers from a young age. Brought up on a farm in the foothills of Mt Somers in the Mid Canterbury district, the sisters loved their farming and rural-lifestyle upbringing.

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  • The show must go on

    The local A&P show is a time-honoured tradition when town meets country.

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  • Three of a Kind

    “Woodchopping is like a religion to me. I love it. I love the people, working with wood and axes and all technical aspects of the sport. It’s enabled me to travel the world. I’ve been fortunate to have travelled as far afield as Norway for chopping competitions; which in turn has allowed me to meet and make friends for life,” Shane Jordan tells Ross Nolly.

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  • Stepping Up

    Vanessa Hore recalls the awkward moments when she walked into her first TBFree meeting last year.

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  • Kiwifruit king

    A common term used by businesses today is ‘succession planning’ and that extends to getting some young blood sitting around board tables. At only 35, Nathan Flowerday has been elected as the youngest representative on Zespri’s Board of Directors. He believes there are going to be a lot more opportunities for the younger generation to represent industries at the governance level. Sheryl Brown reports.

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Knocking off goals

Like flicking on a switch, Ngawharau Apaapa went from building labourer to student to being a goal-driven dairy farmer with an aim of eventually working for Fonterra in China.

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  • Living the dream down under

    Working on a dairy farm in the backblocks of Atiamuri on a scorching New Zealand January day is paradise to Kate Wareing and Becki Lindley, when they consider the alternative of being at home in England and milking cows in the snow. Weather aside, the women know the opportunities in New Zealand to make a good living from dairy farming far exceed what is on offer at home, which is why they are here and determined to get out what they put in.

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  • Dairy driven

    Shaun Mitchell is single minded in pursuit of his goals and he’s prepared to work hard to achieve them. But that doesn’t mean excluding all else. He finds time to contribute to the community, is willing to back others who want to follow in his footsteps and always finds time for his family.

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  • From Ponsonby to paddocks

    A farm careers day offered Sally Peel a chance to go on to a farm for the first time in her life.

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  • Down tools and up cups

    A mission to fix his car led Shane Frantzetis into a seven-year career as a mechanic, but downing tools to put on cups has been a revelation to him.

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  • Eve catches on

    Young Huntaway Eve’s training has continued from the last issue where we had her working in the yards, pulling the few quiet sheep towards me.

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  • Training troublesome Eve

    In the last issue I wrote about Eve, a young Huntaway that did everything wrong in her introduction to sheep.

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Winners’ month

What a month! The highlight has to be Young Country magazine winning a Canon Media Award for Best Trade or Professional Magazine - we were absolutely stoked.

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  • How to - Butchers block

    Dale Old from Rural Butchery Services at Kimbolton has been in the trade for 34 years. He trained with a small butchery in Te Puke and managed a large gourmet butchery section in a large supermarket in the Bay of Plenty before going country to the Manawatu and establishing ”the best little homekill outfit this side of the Ruahines”. Dale agreed to get involved in the Young Country butchery videos because he loves teaching butchery skills from the paddock to the plate, saying butchery training has changed over the years and he doesn’t want to see the old skills get lost.

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