Ashburton Courier: August 13, 2020

12 Ashburton Courier, August 13, 2020
RURAL/LIFESTYLE
Harvest yield up
Fewer hectares planted across six crops
nationwide but still an increase in total
tonnage comparedto last season. The 2019
results were below average but strong yields in
2020and even anew world record with 17.398
tonnes/hectare of Kerrin wheatharvested on
EricWatson’s Ashburton farmatestament to
great management and apretty goodgrowing
season,says Federated Farmers vice chairman
grain Brian Leadley. The yield rises inthe
AIMI surveycompared to 2019were: wheat up
anestimated 26%,feedbarley up 12%, milling
wheat up 11%, malting barley up 1%, milling
oats up 5% and feed oats up 6%.
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Wheat and Wheels plans
TONI.WILLIAMS
@ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Planning is under way for theMid
Canterbury VintageMachinery
Club’s Wheat andWheels Rally.
It is timedtocelebrate 175th
anniversary of Massey.
It may be twoyears away but for
host arablefarmer Anthony
Hampton it’s goingtotake rotation
planning.
Members fromthe club visited the
plannedrally site recently to view its
location and suss outwhat was
neededwith centre ring, static
displayarea, food area,wheat
harvesting paddocks and carparking
afew of the things to be considered.
Mr Hampton, athird generation
farmer, runsacroppingoperation
with wife Julie,ontheir 570 hectare
farmmidway between Lauriston and
Barrhill, at thenorthern sideofMid
Canterbury.
Mr Hampton, whoisthe firstofhis
generationonthe farm;hehas two
sons and adaughter, has been
involved in cropping all his life.
He said before irrigation was
available on the farm,healso hada
crop andsheep operation, now there
were more crops with up to 6500
store lambs.
He is planning his croprotations of
wheatand grass seedontwo 30
hectare paddocks to coincide with
the rally on April 1to3,2022.
It will also mean delayingthe
planting of up to eight hectares of
wheatinapatch that can be
harvested duringthe rally as part of
Members of the Mid Canterbury Vintage Machinery Club at the site of the
Wheat and Wheels rally to be held on April 1­3, 2022.
PHOTO SUPPLIED.
adisplayevent.
MrHampton said thesize of the
wheatfield will depend on the
interest from members who want to
run their headersatthe rally.
Therewere newer headers with
bigger capacity whichwill need
more to harvest, he said.
Mr Hampton offered to hostthe
2022rally to coincidewith 175 years
of Masseyashe hasahandfuloffarm
machines and acollectionof
Massey’s on farm that he will showas
part of the displays.
His Masseycollection will be
joined by othersowned by club
members and ‘‘not just Massey’’ ­
there will be hundreds of machinery
entriesonshow.
The last event, which had atrucks
and tracks theme, washeldin2016
on the farmofPeter Butterick at
Wakanui.
It was the second time theclubhad
run such andevent ­the first was in
2013 ­and saw around 6000 people
visit across twodays with more than
800 machinery entries as well as
steam vehicles, fire engines,military
vehicles, vintageand classic cars,
implements, chainsaws and logging
equipment andstationaryengines.
There were alsoheaders spanning
the ages workinginthe wheat
paddock.
Mr Hampton said there was stilla
lot of work to be done and overthe
nextfew monthsclub members
would work out the conveners of
different areas of the rally.
Rangitata flood protection funds
Rangitata River flood recovery is
one of the six projects in Canterbury
to benefit from $15.5 million in
central government funding for flood
protection measures, keeping
communities safer and boosting the
region’s economy. The funding has a
total combined value of $24.2 million
and forms part of the $210 million for
shovel­ready climate resilience and
flood protection projects being
delivered through $3 billion of
infrastructure contingency set aside
in Budget 2020.
Environment Canterbury river
engineering manager Leigh Griffiths
was delighted by the funding,
expected to help stimulate regional
economies and get people into work.
“Improving flood protection is a
critical ‘first step’ climate change
adaptation action. This is agreat
example of where co­investment can
truly benefit local communities and
provide for current inhabitants and
future generations for years to
come.”
Funding of the projects offers a
raft of benefits including the
creation of jobs, leading to
sustainable economic growth and
recovery from the effects of Covid­
19; encouragement of environmental
sustainability;
helping communities to build
resilience against the effects of
climate change by managing higher
magnitude and more frequent flood
events; and the protection of critical
infrastructure.
ECan councillor John Sunckell
said the funding reflected the
importance of Canterbury’s braided
rivers and the need to protect them,
and those who live near them.
“Five of the projects are on
Canterbury’s braided rivers, which
are ataonga and highly valued by
NgaiTahu. They are stunning
landscape features, with high
natural and cultural values. This
funding allows us to simultaneously
care for braided rivers as the special
places they are, while keeping our
community safe with key
infrastructure projects.”
Other projects to receive funding:
Waiau Township –stopbank repairs
and upgrades, Ashley/Rakahuri ­
river protection and fairway
management, Waimakariri River ­
Kaiapoi community flood protection,
Halswell/Hurutini ­weed barrier
replacement and region­wide
planting and berm management
project.
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20COC002