Well after 2020 and the extraordinary events that rocked the world with COVID, not many would’ve thought 2021 would follow suit. Sitting here writing this email late in December it does feel like 2021 was a flash, albeit parts felt like a complete drag.
Well after 2020 and the extraordinary events that rocked the world with COVID, not many would’ve thought 2021 would follow suit. Sitting here writing this email late in December it does feel like 2021 was a flash, albeit parts felt like a complete drag.
As an industry we’ve been tested once again with slow international markets and a government that quite clearly lacks a fundamental understanding of the grass roots of farming. I’m sure you’ve read, or at least seen a few emails from us with respect to some of the policies that are really challenging farmers, most of which causing wide spread outrage, but ultimately unifying farmers nationally to fight back to find a middle ground. Let’s hope the hard work over the past few Groundswell protests will force the government to reconsider their approach!
For Onefarm, we’ve had a busy year navigating through countless lockdowns and trying to keep our supply chain operating off the back of another year of extreme congestion within global shipping lanes. The latest I’ve heard from my Maersk rep (last week) is that they’re expecting things to calm down after the Chinese New Year (mid Feb 2022). It would be nice, but I’m not holding my breath.
A key focus for Onefarm over the last 12 months has been the redesigning of our cattle yard offering with a key focus on commercial spec yards and also lifestyle spec yards. As a result of this work, we are excited to announce that in 2022 we’ll be rolling out two new ranges; our Maxis Range (designed for lifestyle farmers) and our Commercial Range (designed for commercial beef farmers).
The key areas of focus here have been; yard designs, cattle rail strength and size, a newly designed slam latch system, non-rattle connection points, amoung other things.
We’ve been busy through December getting our first Commercial yards up for farmers in the Waikato and the Wairarapa.
154 Head Yard
Andy from the Wairarapa
Firstly, in the Wairarapa we’ve installed our 154 head design for Andy who runs several farms in the Wairarapa region. Andy recently picked up a new lease block that had no yards. Andy’s running bulls in mobs of 40 and required a solid set of yards for one person to safely and efficiently operate. After a few site visits, we landed on the 154 head yard.
154 Head Yard
Bill from the Waikato
Secondly, in the Waikato we’ve installed another 154 head yard for Bill. Bill recently took over an ex. Dairy farm and has converted it into a kiwifruit operation, growing for Zespri. To make the most of the farm, he has some hill country where he’s running a few hundred cattle. Without adequate yards to manage his cattle, Bill got in touch in the middle of the year. Fast forward 5 months and we were pleased to hand over the keys to Bill early in December.
We’re pleased to get a few of our new Commercial yards onto farms to wrap up the year, and we’re really looking forward to getting more out in 2022.
I’m sure Andy and Bill would accommodate any requests to visit their yards in the New Year. Please get in touch if you’d like to go and see any of these.
From myself and the team behind Onefarm, thank you for your support through 2021. I hope you manage to find some time off across Xmas and January to recharge for what 2022 has in store.
