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Noticeboard & Events | Issue 202

Aug 15, 2024

Noticeboard

- Roger Blackwood Obituary 
- Farm Advertisement - The Downs, Mt Somers 
- DINZ to partner with Ballance & Rabobank to provide workshops
- 2024/25 NZDFA subscriptions update
- MetService outlook August 2024
- Joke of the Month

Events

- 2024 National Velvet and Hard Antler Competition, Awards night - 14 December, Invercargill
- 2025 CK Import Export National Rising Stars Hard Antler and Velvet Competition - 8 March, Te Awamutu
- 2025 Deer Industry conference 2025 - 14 May, Queenstown

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Roger Blackwood Obituary

Rodger Blackwood   July 2024.

Rodger was a well-liked and respected person who, with his wife Francie, owned Rotorua Deer Transport for 16 years. People will remember them as a hard-working nice couple who went out of their way to help others.

After farming in the South Island for 11 years and Rodger driving for Tulloch Transport he and Francie came to the North Island where Rodger then drove for Rotorua Forest Haulage (RFH). In 1999 they bought Rotorua Deer Transport, transporting deer mainly around the North Island. From his first encounter with an orphaned fawn in Southland, more than 5 years before they moved to the North Island he developed a love and respect for deer with an ability to read and manage them well. Rodger was always reliable – “an all-round good guy”.

 

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Farm Advertisement - The Downs, Mt Somers 

Experienced Deer Handler Required

The Downs is a 411ha property, located 5 minutes from Mt Somers and 30 minutes from Ashburton

  • Wintering 2250 Red Deer
  • Wintering 150 Cattle

Key responsibilities:

  • Velveting 1250 Mixed Age Stags (Chemical Restraint with Local Anaesthetic)
  • Velveting 250 Spikers (Chemical Restraint with Local Anaesthetic)
  • General Farm Work with Cattle and Deer
  • All velveting undertaken in pens by chemical restraint with local anaesthetic
  • Fencing Maintenance

 Applicant must have:

  • Be NVSB Certified in Chemical Restraint or be Prepared for us to enable you to undertake this prior October
  • Strong work ethic
  • A positive can-do attitude and be able work alongside the farm owner and the two long standing permanent staff
  • NZ Residency

 We can offer:

  • A 4 bedroom home furnished 5 minutes from Mt Somers
  • Competitive remuneration package based on experience

Please apply by calling Ray Kane 0274364462 or Dinah Osborne 0273232563,  Email rjkane@xtra.co.nz

 

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DINZ to partner with Ballance & Robobank to provide workshops

In partnership with Deer Industry NZ and Rabobank the Ballance Farm Sustainability team in Southland has recently finished facilitating their pilot integrated farm planning workshop cohort in the Upper Aparima catchment.

The workshop was well received by farmers in the region, and it now puts them in a strong position to work towards industry-driven assurance programmes, such as NZFAP Plus, along with covering local and national farm planning requirements.  

The farmers were provided support to develop an online integrated farm plan with topics including (Land and water, greenhouse gas management, biodiversity, and biosecurity).

Farmers who attended the pilot workshop commented that it was great to have local knowledgeable support particularly for a non tech person and that leaving the workshop they felt a lot more confident. There was also a strong sentiment about the importance of working towards industry driven schemes such as NZFAP Plus.

The first workshop is being planned for October in the Waikaka Catchment, if you are interested, please contact the Ballance Farm Sustainability team . We are still to determine the locations of all future Southland workshops, so we are looking for expressions of interest from deer farmers who are interested in attending to help us determine future locations. This is open to all farmers in Southland. ​

Please contact farm.sustainability@ballance.co.nz if you’re interested in being involved.

 

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2024/25 NZDFA subscriptions 

Over the last few months, we have experienced several technical issues when producing and sending out the invoices for the 2024/25 membership renewal. We made our members aware of this problem in the June Stagline and again in the July Stagline.

29.07.24 saw another batch of invoices were sent from Xero.

We understand this has caused frustration and confusion by the ongoing issues. We apologise for this and assure you that we are working to rectify these.
 
If you–

  • have received an invoice that you were not expecting to receive (e.g. you have already paid your membership subscription, or are a Branch/National Life Member)
  • require amendments e.g.: no longer have a deer farm
  • have not received an invoice but require one

Please email nzdfa@deernz.org with the invoice number/s and/or details and we will action accordingly.

If you have received more than one invoice and are unsure which invoice to pay, please choose the one that has your account number as shown below:

Our issues appear to arise from transferring membership data from our database into our invoicing software (Xero). We will need to manually check the process for this financial year and then look at how it can be automated in the future with a high degree of accuracy.

Once again, we apologise for the inconvenience caused. We’re committed to improving our processes to prevent similar issues in the future.

Deer Industry New Zealand have received several New Zealand Deer Farmers Association membership subscription payments. These payments have been transferred to NZDFA and allocated correctly to a membership. Payments to DINZ should be for the Velvet Programme only and not NZDFA membership subscriptions. Please ensure you check the bank account details are up to date and correct so your payment reaches us correctly. 

NZDFA BANK DETAILS FOR MEMBERSHIP PAYMENTS ARE AS FOLLOWS - 02-0506-0268055-000

When making payment via bank transfer please make reference to your invoice number.

Be sure to add nzdfa.accounts@deernz.org in your address book to ensure you receive the invoice.

 

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MetService Outlook - August 2024

Issued 04 August 2024 

A Tasman low brings a burst of rain across the upper North Island over the coming days, while the remainder of the country remains notably drier as strong high pressure builds northwards. This low moves away later this weekend, allowing the ridge to spread elsewhere and bring a spell of dry weather most places. Another low-pressure system makes its presence known by the middle of next week across southern South Island, though temperatures may remain too warm for another low-level snow event in the prevailing north-westerly flow. Soils are currently near saturation across most regions but expect to see soil moisture content decrease from central North Island down to eastern South Island over the coming week.

The second week of August sees the ridge weaken and shift over the North Island, while a more active north-westerly pattern emerges over the South Island. A quick-moving front or two is likely to spread across the South Island with near-average rainfall picked, and these may progress further north depending on how quickly the ridge weakens. Temperatures are expected to remain a bit warmer than average, particularly across eastern and southern South Island.

A broad area of low-pressure spreads across New Zealand during the final two weeks of August, bringing with it an increased chance for weather makers to spread over the country. While models are currently picking near-average precipitation country-wide, there is a risk that western and southern regions see increased amounts in a windier westerly pattern. This includes an increased possibility for late winter cold snaps and mobile westerly snow makers as long as New Zealand remains under a cooler Southern Ocean influence.

Bottom Line
While models are picking near-average precipitation for most of the country during August, there is a distinct possibility of seeing an uptick in rainfall about western and southern regions, especially during the back half of the month. The risk for a late season cold snap also increases from mid-month as the Southern Ocean becomes more active.

You can sign up for the MetService's Monthly Outlook right to your inbox - click here to subscribe.

Source: https://www.metservice.com/rural#monthly-outlook

 

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Joke of the Month

"My senior relatives liked to tease me at weddings, saying things like, “You’ll be next!” They stopped once I started doing the same to them at funerals."

 

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Events 

If you have an event that would be of interest to the deer farming industry, please email info@deernz.org with details.

 

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2024 National Velvet & Trophy Competition

The 2024 Awards Night has been confirmed for Saturday 14th of December. Contact southlanddeerbranch@gmail.com for any enquiries. Details will be updated here when available >>

2025 CK Import Export 2025 National Rising Stars Hard Antler and Velvet Competition

Saturday 8th March 2025 will see the return of the National Rising Stars to be held at Waipa Racecourse, Te Awamutu. Please contact Helen Clarke for further information - campbell.clarke@xtra.co.nz

2025 Deer Industry Conference 

SAVE THE DATE! 

2025 will see the 50th anniversary of the Deer Industry conference which will be hosted in Queenstown on the 14th May. For further information contact Rebecca Norling or watch this space here for further details - 2025 conference

 

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