Ashburton Courier: July 11, 2024

18 Ashburton
RURAL LIFE
Courier, July 11, 2024
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Combat veteran’s rural advice
BY TIM CRONSHAW
Acombat veteran sent to four tours offrontlinebattle
in Afghanistan has told dairy
farmerstoshrug off their tough guy image
and take up meditation.
Australian author Dr Dan Pronk served
on more than 100 combat missions as an
army special operations doctor after
passing SAS selection and hit the wall when
he retired from service.
He talked to 400 farmers about stress and
ways to build resilience ­including
meditation and ‘‘combat breathing’’ ­asa
top speaker at the recent South Island Dairy
Event conference at Lincoln University.
‘‘The eyes that are on this industry and
the pictures they create are abnormal. You
don’t get the average accountant going to
work to have some muppet in acow suit
yelling at them. This all adds to the stress
because there is asocial lens your industry
gets viewed through and you’re out there
just trying to do your best to maintain
profitability and feed yourfamily.’’
As afrontline doctor, some of the
casualties he treated included fellow SAS
soldiers, commandos, local civilians, and
the enemy.
Pronk ended up with post­traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) after leaving the
armed forces in 2014 when losing close
mates and being exposed to violence and
the realities of front­line battle came to rest.
Being unable to save his friendsintheir
final moments haunted him.
Reintegrating into civilian life was its
own battle as he took to the bottle and
leaned on sleeping pills.
His anger was at a‘‘hair trigger’’, he was
in astate of high anxiety and strugglingto
cope with bad dreams, flashbacks and just
be able to feel again.
He was feeling worse than ever even
though on paper he was safer and earning
more money than before he clocked out.
Pronk said he had to work out the
resilient factors he lost after discharging
from the army and rebalance the scales for
his mental health to keep functioning.
Hesaid dairy farmers also had to develop
resilience as they were in a‘‘uniquely’’ high
stress environment.
‘‘It was completely normal as adoctor
with those units to be responding to friends
of mine who had been shot or blown up on
the battlefield.
‘‘What this talks to is the human ability to
adapt to high stress environments. You
❛The eyes that are on this
industry and the pictures they
create are abnormal.❜
—DrDan Pronk
spend long periods of time in high­stress
environments and your body adjusts and
adapts to that. It normalises and becomes
your new normal and when we look at
everyone in this room the dairy farming
industry is asuper high­stress environment.
If you spend long periods of time immersed
in that environment you normalise that
stress and it was no different for us in the
military.
‘‘But this comes at acost.’’
The cost was the body had to up­regulate
its chronic response stress system and
higher levels of hormones such as cortisol
ramped people up, but activated too long
and it burned them out, he said.
Pronk said there were key ways to down
regulate the body’sstress response system
and build resistance.
He developed mechanisms such as
practising meditation and mindfulness to
control his thought patterns and others to
wind down his body's stress response.
PTSD BATTLE: Australian army special
operations doctor Dan Pronk advises Kiwi
farmers to do something about their
mental health.
PHOTO TIM CRONSHAW
‘‘I get the impression from my interaction
with the farming industry is that it’s similar
culturally to the military in its response ­a
very stoic mindset, keep your chin up and
oftenthese cultures are very dismissive, but
this is highly relevant.
‘‘And if there is one thing you should take
away from today’s presentation is that all of
you should be practising some sort of
mindfulness and meditation to be able to
wind down your chronic stress response.’’
As little as 10 to 12 minutes started to have
positive effect from two weeks. Apps
guiding box­breathing techniques in four
second intervals ­called combat breathing
in the miliary ­helped people to wind down
stress.
Pronk said alcohol was often wrongly
used as acoping strategy but only helped
people sleep for three to five hours and was
no substitute forgood sleep, diet and
exercise.
The simple act of being grateful and
focusing on positives had benefits.
Socialinteraction to build resilience is
also important.
~ Central Rural Life
Winterfeed option acomfortable fit
BYMARY RALSTON
It’s mid­winter and farmers are well into
the daily routine of shifting breaks.
Kale and fodder beet havebecome the
staples of winter feeding of dairycows –
but some farmers are looking at other
options.
Bale grazing –winteringdairy stock on
permanent pasture with plenty of hay –is
catching on. Bales are placed in agrid
pattern in the paddock; cows are given
three days’ worth of rations in one break.
Paddocks are taken out of the grazing
rotation in March and the ones grazed first
can be back to full pasturecover by
September. This is abig advantage of the
bale grazing system: paddocks are
available for grazing for alot moreofthe
year than is the case with annual crops.
Grass and hay are amorenatural diet
for cows, and even though the feed is lower
in protein,weight gains are similar to
those of cattle grazed on kale. Bale grazed
cowsspend more time lying down and
ruminating,and they stay warmer and
drier. Most of the cows calve on the hay
litter.
There’s less soil damage and pugging
than with annual crops. And there’s lower
rates of nitrogen leaching because there’s
less nitrogen excreted in urine (duetothe
lower nitrogen content of the diet), and
partly because of the grass cover.
Hororata dairy farmersDeane Parker
CONTENTED: Cows on Deane Parker and Melissa Scarlett’s Hororata dairy farm. Bale
grazing is aseen as agood alternative to winter grazing of annual crops. PHOTO MARY RALSTON
and Melissa Scarletthosted abale grazing
field day recently for the farmer network,
QuorumSense, attendedbyover 70
farmersand industry reps.
Parker and Scarlettare using bale
grazing for all their herd this winter.
Parker said it’s agame changer.
“It’s chalk and cheese –winter used to
be the moststressful time of the year, now
it’s the complete opposite,’’ Parker said.
“The cows are content and comfortable,
they haven’thad to use abunch of energy
keeping warm. This has aflow­on effect
for animal health.
“You can stay off the paddocks when it’s
wet. Staff are not constantly under the
pump.
“Imagine awintering system that
regeneratesthe soil, animals and people –
that’s what bale grazing can do,” he said.
IN BRIEF
GENETIC GAIN
DairyNZ, LIC and CRV are
welcoming an Independent Working
Group’s (IWG) final report
supportingimprovements in New
Zealand’s genetic gain system for
the national dairy herd. The IWG
was charged with evaluating the
dairy sector’s genetic improvement
progress. DairyNZ chair Jim van der
Poel said the report was groundbreakingasitcaptured
in one place
the reasons New Zealand has fallen
behind international competitors,
while clearly outlining away forward
that can involve all sector players.
Recommendations included
strengtheningthe role and impact of
the National Breeding Objective
(NBO).
BOARD MEMBER
Heather McKayhas joined the
board of Rural WomenNew
Zealand as an associate member.
She was astandout candidate for
the new role designed to develop
the next generation of members and
leaders, national president Gill
Naylor said. “She brings aunique
combination of professional, not-forprofit
and practical farm business
capability to her work and
leadership.‘‘
The one-year role is appointed,
not elected by RWNZ members,
and does not hold voting rights.
However, McKay will play afull role
in Board and Committeemeetings,
helpingtoshape strategic planning
and decision-makingfor the
organisation.
PORK REP
Jason Palmer and Nigel Young
have been elected to the NZPork
board of directors. Palmer, acurrent
director on the NZPork board,isa
mid-Canterbury pig farmer with
interests in dairy and forestry.
Young has 40 years’ experience in
the sectorinNew Zealand, the
United Kingdom and Australia. He is
general manager for PIC/Sunpork
New Zealand. Palmerand Young
were elected by farmers in the
Region 3area,which covers the
South Island.
$1.7M INVESTMENT
The New Zealand Meat Board
(NZMB) announced a$1.7m
fundingboost for two major red
meat sector projects. Up to
$700,000 is to go to the Informing
New Zealand Beef genetics project
(INZB) and up to $1 million for the
Eliminating FacialEczema Impacts
(EFEI) programme.Itfollows
consultationwith sheep and beef
farmers on the distribution of
interest and dividends generated
from the NZMB’s $79 million
reserves fund towards industry
good projects. NZMB chair Kate
Aclandsaid the two projects will
deliversignificant benefits to red
meat producers.
“This investment comes at a
criticaltime for the sector, which is
facing significant financial
pressures.’’
SELF­SERVICE APP
Farmlands has launched online
app, FarmlandsPRO, allowing
customers to place, track and
manage rural suppliesorders. Chief
executive officer Tanya Houghton
said farming doesn’t line up with
normalbusiness hours and
customers needed to be able to
order rural supplies at atime that
met their business needs. The app
included everything from full order
histories, through to existing
contracts and farmer-specific
discountedrural supplies prices,
and reflected how farmers and
growers were adapting the ways
they did business.