Agsafe Weekly Rural Report

Finance: The NZ exchange rates were steady over the week finishing at the 60 cent mark again against US dollar. Brent Crude rose to $78.85/barrel up from the lower range of recent weeks that were between $60 & $65/barrel. Watch your fuel prices!!

Wool: Wool prices are steady but at a low unsustainable level. We look forward to the Governments announcement taking effect.

Beef, Sheep & Venison schedules: Meat schedules are mostly steady across the board as demand for red meats increases internationally. The interest in manufacturing beef is pushing feeder and weaner calf prices up.

Dairy Prices. The g/DT dropped 1% with WMP down 2.1% to $US4048. SMP dropped 1.3% while cheddar lifted 5.1%. In general terms the prices are strong and the index is 12.27% above the same period last year.

It’s the shortest day and mid-winter has finally arrived, so it is now a steady move towards the spring and summer. June has been extremely wet. Soil temperatures are good and it is the lack of sunlight hours that is the limiting factor for grass growth.


Jim’s Weekly Rant:

Another week and another holiday. It is tough on employers and we were all hopeful that PM Luxon was going to return the sick days back from 10 to 5, but alas it appears as though they are only going to pro rata them based on days or hours worked per week for part-timers. I was going through some staff schedules and new employment agreements the other day and this is what shows up: There are 12 statutory days, 10 sick days, either 20 or 28 days of annual leave depending on how your boss works it out plus some bereavement leave and family protection leave. Most staff get either 3 or 4 days off per fortnight. All of this totals up to around 150 plus days per annum leaving only 212 days of work. Employers are finding employees are now expecting to use their 10 days sick leave as an entitlement, and that is wrong. Sick leave is more difficult to monitor as a doctors appointment for a medical certificate can go well past the 2- days of illness that is often the trigger time required for a medical certificate. We need more workdays and less holidays especially when they are scheduled so close together. This weekend is a long weekend forced on the workforce to celebrate a nonsensical event. The rising of the star group known internationally as Pleiades or in Japan as Subaru with a recently developed Maori narrative that is unnecessary. I have been trying to envision the local Maori astronomer in 1760 sitting on a hill with frost all around dressed in flax skirt waiting to Pleiades star group to arrive and to tell his fellow tribalists that the new year party should being and it is time to go to the village next door and capture some “mates” to eat and have a feast, a New Year celebration, it sounds fanciful to me. The celebration of Matariki is based around the worship of the god Tawhirimatea with special spiritual powers being personified in the stars Puanga and Rehua. It all sounds a bit like some mystical mythology and we are all being asked to celebrate. I do accept that the ancient Maori “astronomers” were able to work out when mid-winter occurred and then knew that the growing season was not far away but I have not read any NZ history about their farming ability other than a nomadic movement around regions to gather food. The holiday schedule needs an overhaul and my changes to the holiday schedule would be: Matariki is the first holiday I do away with then shift the regional anniversary days to late August or early September to spread them out across the year and we could do away with the day after New Years Day. Four weeks holiday is 20 days off work and with the associated weekends is 4-weeks and sick leave needs to be returned to 5 days. Holidays are massive cost on business and when combined with the “work to rule” and employees entitlements we then often wonder why people bother to employ staff. Employees must become a willing and vibrant part of a workforce and not be just waiting for the next “day-off” or their holiday entitlement to come around. Being an important part of a business will increase productivity and help grow our country.