Agsafe Weekly Rural Report

Finance:. NZ dollar remained steady over the week but remains a very weak currency providing a false sense of security with our
exports. The Brent Crude has eased over the week and is $US83.43 this morning down from last week
Wool:  The crossbred wool prices OK but the auction on 30 th July saw an easing od prices from a month ago.
Beef, Sheep & Venison schedules: The meat schedules remain steady across all categories. Stock have come through the winter in
good condition and should require limited work to finish them for slaughter. The international demand for red meat is very strong.
Dairy Prices The g/DT lifted 0. 1% at this week’s auction which hopefully indicated a steading of the prices. WMP lifted 0.2% to
$US3483/tn SMP was up 1.2% and the volatile cheddar price was up 3.8%.
It is with sadness that we note the death of Dr Clive Dalton. Clive was a senior research scientist at Ruakura & Tutor at the Waikato
Tech. He wrote books and ran lectures for lifestyle block farmers to help them understand a bit about farming & animal welfare in
particular - a great humanitarian & scientist. The death on Friday of Alan Bland is also noted, Alan had massive input into the
development of dairying in the South Waikato as a consultant. RIP Clive and Alan you will both be missed.

Jims Rant
Todays rant is a copy of a paper prepared by Bryan Leyland for the public paper disseminated by Muriel Newman.
Bryan Leyland MSc, DistFEngNZ, FIMechE, FIEE(rtd) is a power systems engineer with more than 60 years
experience in New Zealand and internationally. Bryan would be NZ’s leading independent electrical expert.
BRYAN LEYLAND: A solution to our electricity problems
The proposal to subsidize plug-in solar — small solar panel units that households can hang off the balcony and plug
straight into a wall socket – indicates how far the debate over our power system has drifted from its fundamental objective:
to provide a reliable and economic supply of electricity. A utility-scale solar farm looks cheap only if you ignore what it
costs to keep the lights on when the sun isn't shining and ignore the cost of the batteries, gas peakers, and transmission
capacity needed to keep the lights on every night and on cloudy days. Once backup is priced in, solar turns out to be
expensive. Rooftop solar is worse than solar farms: roughly three times the cost. This is because of the smaller size and
installation costs. Plug-in solar is even more expensive and less efficient. Subsidizing it shows that the politicians
promoting it are badly advised and motivated by futile virtue signaling.