We all know July 4th is a special day in the USA however this year I have an even greater appreciation of living in NZ rather than the USA. 2020 is certainly a year that will not be forgotten for so many reasons and yet we are only halfway through the year.

I got prepared to do my annual visits nice and early and have numerous vests sitting in boxes waiting to be delivered, however COVID stopped me getting on the road and since coming out of lockdown time has just disappeared unbelievably quick.

Last year we got the main shed built for the new feedmill and before lockdown we got some of the plant installed and the main silos built. Since lockdown we have started the mill shed and had more plant installed. However, it isn’t a fast process as most of the plant has to be custom designed and built. Hopefully, it will be finished by mid-September though luckily, we decided to leave the old feedmill intact (except for shifting 2 silos) so production can carry on.

Our bags were normally made in China however this year we have switched to Vietnam and in doing so we have taken the opportunity to make a few changes. The bags are now outside laminated rather than inside laminated. While the bags will now be more slippery, it will remove that problem that we sometimes had of a strip of lamination coming off on the inside of the bag and ending up in the meal. We have also added an easy opening strip to the bottom of the bag. We still have a few of the old styled bags to use for about another month.

We have a reasonable amount of our grain contracted already however the one ingredient I haven’t got contracted is soy meal. At the start of COVID soy went up in price and peaked at about $850 per tonne. It has since dropped to below $700, however I have still held off as I think the NZ dollar might rise against the USA and relationships between the USA and China don’t appear that good which might also cause the price to drop (China is USA’s biggest soy customer).

We will have a floating price again this year however we don’t anticipate it changing too much.

Spring Prices 2020 effective from July 1st

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal        40 x 25kg              $748 + GST ex our yard

Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal        40 x 25kg               $718 + GST ex our yard

Kind Regards

Ken