Food production of natural resources is a goal for Papua New Guinea but attracting a mushroom expert to get started is proving a challenge.  

Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) is committed to building sustainable communities across the Pacific but has had one particular vacancy for a mushroom cultivator in Papua New Guinea (PNG) unfilled for 252 days and counting.

This is despite reaching out to mushroom businesses across New Zealand who have not, so far, had the capacity to help. 

“So, we’re widening the net and hoping a story in the media might spur a couple of applications,” VSA country programme adviser Ngaire Tihema said.

Bringing in a Kiwi mushroom cultivator for a four- to six-month assignment means the  Daughters of Mary Immaculate (Filae Maria Immaculata, or FMI) congregation of Vunapope, who run a women’s refuge-style facility in PNG, will be able to produce fresh mushrooms for sale.

This will go some way to becoming self-sustaining financially and will also mean that the community has access to locally grown, nutritional mushrooms. 

“In PNG, there is a significant shortage of trained horticulturists who can provide technical support to locals and instead, most farmers rely on traditional knowledge, which is often insufficient to address the modern challenges such as pest control, disease management and seed quality in agriculture,” Tihema said.

“Food security and nutrition in PNG is a major issue and a lot of processed foods are becoming common because many Papua Guineans are not looking at their own food sources or knowing what to do with it,” Tihema said

“Mushrooms grow in the wild here and no one is cultivating them because they don’t know what to do with them.”

Tihema said farming is not seen as a “particularly noble profession” in PNG and young Papua Guineans are turning away from it. 

“Imagine mushrooms from the paddock to the plate and there are plentiful resources of other fruits and vegetables too. 

“We just need more priority for agriculture and that will hopefully come with the focus on increasing awareness of agriculture, food production and getting young people into agriculture.”

The main aim of the Mushroom Cultivation and Production Trainer assignment is to support the FMI Sisters in generating sustainable income for their vital work, which involves providing safe housing and care for women, young people and children in PNG.

The assignment is also designed to enable the trainer to teach and mentor prospective mushroom farmers in the community, helping them understand costs, market dynamics, and the profitability of mushroom sales. 

“By training and mentoring individuals to grow mushrooms locally, we aim to contribute to poverty reduction, economic empowerment, and greater resilience against food insecurity, ultimately enhancing health outcomes and livelihoods.

“Furthermore, mushroom farming promotes skill development within the community, enabling farmers to adopt sustainable cultivation methods that encourage co-operation, development, and inclusive, shared economic growth.”

In areas where diets are primarily composed of staple crops and ultra-processed foods, mushrooms offer a nutrient-rich alternative that helps diversify local food sources and reduces dependency on imported items. 

Currently, mushrooms are imported and retail between 80 and 100 kina ($32-$40) a kilogram.

If you are an experienced professional in mushroom cultivation, looking for an extraordinary overseas experience in the Pacific to build into your field of expertise then, Tihema said, “we have an exciting opportunity in store for you”.

The FMI Sisters’ tradition of selfless service began more than 100 years ago. Since 1912 the FMI Sisters have demonstrated steadfast resolve to support women and communities in pursuit of a better society.

The VSA assignment is a partnership between VSA and the FMI of Vunapope. 

All volunteers are flown in and out of the country, accommodated, and paid a living allowance.

To change your scene and become a VSA Volunteer and share your experience, knowledge, and skills to transform the lives of many, email volunteer@vsa.org.nz or or visit the website.

In Focus Podcast | Sheep outlook: the future of our flock

Sheep farmers are doing it tough right now, with farmgate returns dropping back after a few good years and input costs rising. Add to that the march of pine trees across the land, and there’s talk of an existential crisis. Bryan asked AgriHQ senior analyst Mel Croad to give him the lay of the land and asked her what the sector needed to do to find prosperity again.

LIC is to collaborate with Scandinavian breeding co-operative VikingGenetics to improve the genetic links between New Zealand and Nordic Jersey cattle populations.  

The two breeding companies will work together on a pilot project that will bridge the genetic strengths of the two regions’ dairy industries. 

This involves exchanging sexed semen, which allows LIC and VikingGenetics to identify new bloodlines that perform well in their own dairy farming environments.  

LIC chief scientist Richard Spelman said they are deeply committed to safeguarding the future of the Jersey breed in New Zealand and worldwide.

“This forward-thinking solution will create stronger genetic connections between the Nordic and New Zealand Jersey populations and reduce the risk of inbreeding. 

“We look forward to being able to offer more genetic diversity to our New Zealand Jersey herds in the coming years.”   

 VikingGenetics is owned by more than 16,000 dairy and beef farmers in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. They focus on animal welfare, food security and reducing climate impact in the entire production chain.

VikingJersey product manager and VikingGenetics senior breeding manager Peter Larson said the collaboration is a step forward in the overall genetic landscape of the Jersey breed, offering breeders a sustainable way to enhance herd health and profitability.

The collaboration will help address concerns over inbreeding within the two populations. 

Selected cows will be inseminated with sexed semen from top genomic sires, using stringent selection criteria to achieve the best genetic results. 

All progeny will undergo comprehensive testing, verifying their parentage, data from milk recording, health registration and classification, and more. 

Between 10 and 20 bulls from each company will be enrolled in the project annually. The ultimate goal is to have the best sires forming part of future breeding schemes.

The current law regarding firearms isn’t working. I’m aware of many firearm owners who don’t have a current arms licence for a variety of reasons. Discussing this with a Police friend, he made the comment that they were breaking the law, which is correct – they are. My response to that was to ask what the Police are going to do about it and the answer was “not much we can”.

We do need credible, workable and respected firearms laws in New Zealand and that must involve change. The current system isn’t working.

The minister responsible, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee, has grasped the nettle and is proceeding to reform the legislation. She’s paying a heavy price for that.

The current Act goes back to1983. That’s over 40 years ago. Life has changed and the introduction of 3D printers capable of manufacturing firearms would be one example.

Minister McKee has four phases with her reform process.

The first was to go after criminals and their guns and that’s been completed. Kiwis are safer now as a result of that process.

Phase Two was to reform the law involving the excessive and pointless bureaucracy over clubs and ranges. It had no impact on public safety.

Phase Three is the Registry review, which is underway. I’m pleased the Ministry of Justice is conducting the review and not the Police.

I’m cynical of the Registry for several reasons. For a start, the Police told me they needed a Register to be able to monitor those firearms stolen from legitimate owners. The reality is that of the 6500 firearms seized over the past three years, only 123 were legally imported or manufactured in NZ. A Register is a complete waste of time on that front alone.

The second is to ask if we need such an expensive and elaborate process when, as I’ve stated, a large number of firearm owners don’t even trust the current licensing system.

Finally, friends who do have a licence don’t want to be part of the Register. They just don’t trust the security of the Police system.

Phase Four is to rewrite the Arms Act and the minister is hoping for a draft by the end of the year. At this point she hasn’t received any advice on the Arms Act rewrite despite all the hysteria over the reforms.

Gun licensing will be going from Police, but no final details have been decided.

I support that. While I have considerable respect for the Police, gun licensing isn’t their stock in trade and as the awarding of a licence to a terrorist showed, they weren’t infallible.

In addition, their current system is farcical. It takes a one-page questionnaire to renew a driver’s licence and four to renew a liquor licence. Why then do you need 39 pages to renew a gun licence? It is a huge disincentive and just another reason why people don’t get licences.

For all those reasons I totally support Minister McKee’s reform process. If it gets cabinet approval we’ll have for the first time in decades a process that firearm owners will support as being workable and credible.

Her aim is to “develop good firearms legislation that will last for decades and keep the public safe”. 

What has disappointed me most is the inaccurate portrayal of the McKee position combined with the personal attacks she has suffered. 

For a start the only thing the opposition politicians, the Police Association and sections of the media have concentrated on is semi-automatics. Semi-automatics that our criminal elements are importing with impunity, a fact known to both the minister of police and the Police Association.

The classification of allowable firearms is recommended by the minister of police under section 74A of the Arms Act. In addition, any change of classification needs cabinet approval, not that of individual ministers as claimed by the hysterical. When in government, Labour used that section with impunity.

I’ve also been disgusted by the personal attacks on Minister McKee and am reminded of the old adage which suggests that if you can’t win an argument by using fact and reason, your only remaining option is to get personal.

The accusation that Minister McKee is an arms industry lobbyist is farcical. Yes, she was spokesperson for the Coalition of Licensed Firearm Owners over the previous government’s rushed and botched legislation. No one has added that the minister has spent a lifetime teaching firearms safety, is a NZ shooting champion and a communicator of the year in 2019. She knows what she is talking about, which is refreshing in a politician.

The anti-McKee cacophony coming from Labour’s Ginny Andersen and the Police Association’s Chris Cahill is just that, meaningless noise from Police lobbyists who should know better.

They would be better working with the coalition government to get workable, credible and respected firearms legislation instead of merely sitting in the wings throwing bricks.

Dutch dairy farmers will from next spring have access to the first of possibly two new tools that could potentially reduce methane emissions from cows by around 30%.

Next breeding season they can access semen from low methane emitting bulls, the result of an eight-year programme run by Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands.

For the past four years researchers have collaborated with Dutch dairy company FrieslandCampina and genetics company CRV to establish breeding values for methane.

This measure alone is estimated to reduce average emissions by 1%  each year, accumulating to more than 25% by 2050.

University scientists are also working on a project to utilise rumen fluid from cows that are naturally low enteric methane producers.

This rumen fluid is fed as a probiotic to newborn calves in a five-dose course.

It has been found to permanently adjust the recipient’s microbiome, providing a further 10% reduction in methane emissions.

Scientists are by nature conservative, but the team at Wageningen are encouraged their work could make a tangible reduction in livestock methane emissions.

“I am quite optimistic,” said senior researcher Léon Šebek.

“It is quite difficult, if not impossible, to reach methane reduction goals that have been pledged without any interventions other than feeding strategies.

“It shows the need for extra interventions.

“What we have shown here is that additional interventions through breeding values and steering microbiome will become available.

“If so, most Dutch dairy farms will have a suitable intervention meaning that we can achieve an average reduction of around 30% in methane by 2050.

“If we only used feed strategies and relied on the efficiency of the herd, we will only get a 15-20% reduction.”

Significantly, these one-off interventions provide permanent gains.

The project team, led by Professor Roel Veerkamp, focused on breeding values in Holsteins, which make up 92% of the 1.6 million-cow Dutch dairy population. 

They measured emissions from 9000 cows on 100 Dutch farms and linked their methane emissions to their DNA, which confirmed heritability of the trait of around 25%.

Correlations with other desired breeding values were found to be maintained.

From this reference population they were able to estimate the first genomic breeding values for methane emissions, which will be rolled out next year.

The project will be extended and international collaboration will enable the reference population to be enlarged to increase the reliability of the breeding values.

This is at least a year ahead of New Zealand, where LIC expects to have a methane-emitting breeding value in the market by 2026.

In parallel to the genetics research, work has been underway since 2017 looking at the whether the natural development of a cow’s rumen microbiome can be manipulated to reduce enteric methane production.

Šebek said initial work established that while feed and feed efficiency are influential factors in emissions, there was still a 20-24% variation between cows when feed was accounted for.

This indicated other factors were in play.

For two years they worked with dairy farmers studying gut microbiome fluid samples, which related back to feeding and management.

From that analysis they established the role of the microbiome.

Šebek said they also established there was no link between the microbiome of a cow and her calf – in other words the environmental factors were dominant over possible genetic transfer.

They introduced to calves microbiome from low enteric methane producing cows and found five doses sufficient to permanently alter the production of methane in the gut of recipient calves.

To prove their encouraging hypothesis, they analysed 60 calves – 20 given microbiome from low methane producing cows, 20 from high producing cows and 20 as a control.

The average methane emissions of the selected microbiome donor groups was 17.2 and 24 grams methane/kg/DM for low and high methane producing cows respectively.

Satisfied the process will provide tangible benefits, Šebek said work is now focused on how to source the targeted microbiome and how and in what format to deliver it.

There is also the issue of securing public support or a social licence given the nature of the product.

Adopting the technology also has to be cost effective and provide sufficient benefits or incentives for farmers.

Programme manager Elian Verscheijden said recent meetings with some of the Netherlands’ most progressive dairy farmers who have used mainly feed and management measurements, showed they were able to achieve methane reductions of 10-15% but could not improve beyond that.

She said this research sends a message to the Netherlands government and the public that the sector is taking the issue seriously and it is making progress. 

Both research initiatives are part of an integrated approach programme launched in 2018 to address methane emissions from livestock farming.

The program is funded by the Netherlands’ Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature with a budget of least NZ$16 million a year.

Besides research to enteric methane, the programme also includes finding solutions to reduce methane emissions from manure, a significant issue for Dutch farmers.

The first goal of the programme is to comply with the government’s 2030 goal to reduce methane by 30% compared to 2020.

Ultimately the government has a goal of close to carbon neutrality by 2050.

More: Wallace is visiting seven countries in six weeks to report on market sentiment, a trip made possible with grants from Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, Alliance, Beef + Lamb NZ, NZ Meat Industry Association and Rabobank.  Read more about his findings here. 

In Focus Podcast | Selling lamb to a new generation of Brits

Reporter Neal Wallace checks in from London, where he’s spent time with the Alliance Group’s UK team. They’ve hired a chef to come up with new recipes for those consumers who don’t want the traditional lamb roast and learns that a football stadium is a key part of the strategy.

Access to water remains one of the most crucial issues facing the horticulture sector.

That is according to Michelle Sands, Horticulture NZ’s policy and strategy manager, who said while the issue can create tension, she believes the sector is well placed having demonstrated it is an efficient user of water and adopts best management practices.

“Access to reliable water is so important to production but needs to be managed so waterways are healthy,” she said.

The sector body is watching closely changes the government is making to freshwater policy settings.

“It’s about efficient use of water, how it is efficiently allocated and, in some places maybe aspirations to have less water taken in the future, but how that will be designed over time.”

Sands said there also needs to be recognition that grower farms cover a small area that is intensively farmed.

In some regions, such as Pukekohe, farms straddle several councils, which have their own rules and regulations that can differ depending on the jurisdiction.

The sector is currently in the Environment Court with the Horizons Regional Council over water quality controls, and it is working with the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council over issues of water extraction, minimum flows and storage conditions on the Heretaunga Plains.

She said they generally have good relationships with regional councils.

HortNZ has asked the government to establish a national direction for vegetable production to manage the sector’s effects and to standardise rules.

Sands has worked for HortNZ for six years following a career in freshwater science and environmental engineering.

That background gave her a grasp of the issues facing HortNZ.

“Within that freshwater experience, I did a lot of work on resource management mostly for resource users.”

Her role has extended to other issues facing growers, such as policies impacting regional and district planning that impact amenities such as crop protection structures and discharges to air, land and water.

The National Policy Statement on highly productive land is potentially another contentious issue, but Sands said HortNZ’s stance is not about locking this land away, but ensuring some is prioritised for primary production.

“Our focus is not about obstructing urban development by using the highly productive land provisions but using it to prioritise some areas for primary production.”

The coalition government’s policy priorities have certainly upped the workload for grower bodies like HortNZ.

Genetic engineering, the Resource Management Act, freshwater and labour are all under review, alongside industry staples food safety, biosecurity and agrichemicals.

“They are very broad ranging and wide topics.”

Sands is under no illusion that horticulture ticks the boxes of being low emitting and efficient users of water and a low environmental impact.

“We have no problem with the horticulture sector operating within environmental inputs but it’s a matter of making sure the policy settings make sense.”

Ravensdown’s South Island shareholders have voted Kate Faulks to the Ravensdown board for a three-year term.

Ravensdown chair Bruce Wills said voting shareholders have made a prudent choice.

“The combination of Kate’s farming experience, foundational governance experience and her passion for our co-operative and the wider sector, means she is an ideal addition to the Ravensdown board. I am very much looking forward to her contribution.”

Faulks is an active farmer and director of Altavady Farm and Glenkerry Farm (part of a six-farm beef, dairy and forestry family farming group) and a member of the North Otago Sustainable Land Management Group Steering Board.

Since 2022,  Faulks has been the board intern of Port Otago and its subsidiary Chalmers Properties. She has developed insight into scale commercial governance, strategy development, working with senior management, engaging with regulatory shareholders (Otago Regional Council), and staffing and Health and Safety matters.

Faulks has a Master of Business Administration (First Class) and a Bachelor of Chemical and Process Engineering (Honours).

Wills thanked outgoing South Island director, Pete Moynihan, for his long service and commitment to the board.

Wills was the only candidate nominated for the North Island Director Area. As a result, there was no election for the North Island and Wills remains a director for a further three-year term.

In Focus Podcast | Sheep outlook: the future of our flock

Sheep farmers are doing it tough right now, with farmgate returns dropping back after a few good years and input costs rising. Add to that the march of pine trees across the land, and there’s talk of an existential crisis. Bryan asked AgriHQ senior analyst Mel Croad to give him the lay of the land and asked her what the sector needed to do to find prosperity again.

Carla Muller is a career woman and has a pedal-to-the-metal personality.

From 2014 to 2018, when New Zealand’s freshwater reforms were at the front of the government’s and farmers’ minds, she was knocking on doors as a consultant for DairyNZ.

While the job had its challenges, she enjoyed interacting with the farming community, the Hamilton city life and the freedom of a childless woman in her 20s.

She met her partner Sam, a shepherd at the time, in her second year at Massey University in Palmerston North.

Fast-forward 10 years, and Sam had the opportunity to manage a sheep station in a small town with a population of 207 – Tikitiki.

The closest supermarket is more than two hours’ drive away and same with the nearest hospital in Gisborne.  

“You start thinking of the ramifications of getting pregnant there,” Muller said.

In 2019, while working in her dream job for Perrin Ag, she fell pregnant. In July 2020 baby Maddie was born in Tauranga Hospital. It was a six-hour drive away, but the safer option with Muller’s parents living nearby.

The young couple travelled back to the farm within a week and the cracks in their new lifestyle started to show.

At the time Sam’s job on the 2000 hectare station was at its most demanding. He would often leave the house at 7am on horseback and return in the evenings. Long days for him, but arguably longer for her and their newborn.

According to the Mental Health Foundation, postnatal depression affects 10-20% of women who have recently given birth. Living through postnatal depression can be overwhelming, with feelings of great sadness and pain.

“I hadn’t realised that once you have had a baby you are fundamentally changed and it is very hard to explain how big that change is.”

Having worked 10 years in corporate roles predominantly in a city, she struggled with the remote life. 

“And all of a sudden you spend 24 hours a day in a house by yourself with a baby that doesn’t sleep … It was very lonely.”

Muller isn’t alone in the fact she gave up her world to become a mother with a farming partner. 

“We are the mothers. It might mean losing a job, leaving your friends. Losing what you have spent 10-15 years building up, a life of your own.

“To change that and realise it is not going back to where it was before, we need to be able to mourn that. It’s not that it is worse, but it won’t look the same.”

Rock-bottom was where Muller sat mentally. Having never suffered from depression, she struggled with opening up to friends, family or professionals.

“Every time you would go in you would see a different doctor so you never formed that relationship where you felt you could let that stuff out.”

Muller struggled with being vulnerable and felt she could get out of the hole alone. In hindsight she couldn’t and needed help.

“All of a sudden someone like me who was high achieving, I had to say no to projects … then you are constantly worried that you are not doing enough at work or doing enough for your child and you’re not doing enough for your partner. I felt in all aspects of my life, I was failing.

“And of course none of that was true. I was trying my best.”

The isolation and postnatal depression put strain on the couple’s relationship, when they should have been enjoying life’s blessings of a new child, she said.

The hardest part for her was that feeling she wasn’t even enjoying motherhood.

“I think the big thing with postnatal depression is the idea that if you have chosen to have children and you are struggling, it means that you don’t love your child … and that’s not true. You can love your child and really struggle with being a mum.”

The break for the family came two years later when Sam was offered a job near Ōhope: she could be near town where she could get off the farm every day, and he could keep farming, albeit on a smaller block.

Having been through the worst time in her life and coming out of the other side, and having recently welcomed her second child, Lottie, Muller realised that it wasn’t necessarily the isolation that made her postpartum depression hard, but also not being honest with herself and exploring other options like online support.

Now living in a busier region, she has found the biggest difference has been PlunketLine, medical support and awareness phone line. 

“We communicate better, you are aware of your triggers and that’s where counselling was critical. “

Getting off the farm is hugely important to her, as is having regular contact with friends.

Living in remote Tikitiki has given her respect for the many mothers in the rural back blocks of Aotearoa.

“They are incredibly strong and resilient with the challenges they face, but it is also rewarding. 

Suffering from stress or postnatal depression?

If you want to talk, PlunketLine can help. Call any time, day or night, on 0800 933 922, or call or text 1737 any time to speak with a trained counsellor. 

Suffering from depression or stress, or know someone who is? Where to get help:

Rural Support Trust: 0800 RURAL HELP

Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757

Lifeline: 0800 543 354

Need To Talk? Call or text 1737

Samaritans: 0800 726 666

Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234

Ngāi Tahu Farming and PGG Wrightson saw first-hand the fruits of their continued support for IHC when members of IHC’s South Canterbury Kapa Haka rōpū performed at Kōkōmuka Lodge on Ngāi Tahu Farming’s Te Whenua Hou farm in North Canterbury.

PGW has sponsored IHC’s Calf & Rural Scheme since its inception and Ngāi Tahu Farming is a long-term calf donor. The IHC Calf & Rural Scheme has been raising money to support people with intellectual disabilities and their families in rural areas of New Zealand for 43 years.

The calf donations help IHC fund a number of community initiatives that make a big difference in people’s lives. Kapa Haka is just one of those initiatives, where people with intellectual disability can connect with their respective iwi and enjoy the excitement of being part of a performing group.

Ngāi Tahu Farming welcomed IHC’s South Canterbury Kapa Haka rōpū onto its farm, along with PGW chief executive Stephen Guerin.

“We have a long affiliation with Ngāi Tahu Farming and the IHC Calf & Rural Scheme is a crucial part of our responsibility the community,” Guerin said.

“This occasion was a wonderful way to weave together those threads and see the important impact of our support.”

Ngāi Tahu farming operations manager – dairy and assets Ben Jaunay said being a part of the IHC Calf & Rural scheme is a way for the business to express its manaakitanga values.

“Rearing calves for the scheme is a tangible way for us to give back to the community and directly support the IHC. On a personal level, it is incredibly rewarding mahi to be involved in.”

IHC national fundraising manager Greg Millar said they love having the opportunity to say thank you and to show Ngāi Tahu Farming and PGW along with thousands of dairy farmers around the country what a huge difference their support to the IHC Calf & Rural Scheme makes in rural communities.

If you’d like to make a difference in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and their families in rural New Zealand, you can get involved with the IHC Calf & Rural Scheme. Whether you’re a farmer looking to pledge a calf or someone who wants to donate a virtual calf, your contribution will help fund community initiatives that create meaningful connections and positive change.

Disclaimer: This article discusses suicide.

Monday December 3, 2018. 

That was the day Jason Herrick decided to take his life. 

Months of heavy rain, the pressure of excessive regulation, negative sentiment towards farming, and an inability to share his feelings left him at breaking point.

“It had been building up for quite some time,” says Herrick, who’s now Southland Federated Farmers president.

“It started all the way back with the earthquakes in Canterbury, which were just devastating to live through as a family.

“I lost some good mates to suicide in that time, and then my wife had some serious health challenges, and I never really knew how to deal with any of it. 

“We moved to a sharemilking position in Southland and that’s when I got so overwhelmed by the barrage of new regulations.”

Herrick says constantly reading and hearing negative comments about farming was weighing heavily on him. 
“That public perception against farming – you see it in the news and on social media, farmers getting hammered all the time.

“I just broke because I couldn’t handle people perceiving me in that light.”
Herrick finally snapped on that wet, muddy day in December, driving to cliffs on the southern coast to end his life. 

“I honestly didn’t think there was a way out. I didn’t think there was a way forward. I was ready to end it.” 

Looking back, he’s incredibly grateful a local police officer found him after being alerted by Jason’s worried wife. 

“I don’t remember much from that day, but I know he used GPS tracking on my phone and managed to talk me down off the cliff.” 

Herrick was escorted to a mental health facility, which was the start of a long, hard road ahead.
“My parents did a beautiful job of bringing me up, but I was raised as a southern man, taught to harden up, not show emotions, not show any sign of weakness.

“I slowly had to learn how to talk about what was going on in my head.”

Herrick found a counsellor he connected with, learned strategies to cope with pressure, and gradually rediscovered his love of farming. 

“I identified some triggers for me really early on and started learning how to manage those. 

“For example, watching the news at 6pm every night was so negative and would send me down the wrong path in my head, so I stopped watching TV and haven’t watched it since.” 

He now spends a lot of time listening to motivational podcasts and talks to friends and family about how he’s feeling. 

A turning point was when he and some friends founded the mental health support group Ag Proud NZ, to help other farmers through tough times. 

“Putting myself out there to help other people has given me so many rewards.

“Every time somebody reaches out to me and every time somebody tells me I’ve helped them, it’s a win that makes me feel good.

“It’s hard to describe that feeling, but that’s definitely the reason I talk about my own experience.”

Six years later, Herrick’s mental health is in “A1 condition”, he says.
“Don’t get me wrong: I still have some tough days, but I now have tools to get through them.” 

He says he wants to help bring a shift in rural communities and farming families, making it more acceptable for people to share their mental health battles. 

“It’ll take a long time to change everything, but we need to bring generational change. 

“We need to show our young ones it’s okay to talk, it’s okay to show emotion, and it’s okay to reach out and ask for help.”

As the country marks Mental Health Awareness Week, Herrick has a message to any farmers in a similar place to where he was in 2018. 

“Reach out to somebody, and if you don’t have anyone you think you can trust, dial 1737. There are plenty of people on that phone number who will help you.

“Rural Support Trust is also an absolutely phenomenal organisation. They’ve got access to so many resources.

“And, if all else fails, reach out to me. I’ll have no problem talking to people and I’ll point them in the right direction.

“You’re not the only one in this situation, and that’s sometimes the hardest thing to get over is recognising you’re not the only one.”

Hear Herrick’s story on the Federated Farmers Podcast as part of Mental Health Awareness Week 2024.

Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading independent rural advocacy organisation, has established a news and insights partnership with AgriHQ, the country’s leading rural publisher, to give the farmers of New Zealand a more informed, united and stronger voice. Federated Farmers news and commentary appears each week in its own section of the Farmers Weekly print edition and online.

Suffering from depression or stress, or know someone who is? Where to get help:

Rural Support Trust: 0800 RURAL HELP

Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757

Lifeline: 0800 543 354

Need To Talk? Call or text 1737

Samaritans: 0800 726 666

Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234

In Focus Podcast | Sheep outlook: the future of our flock

Sheep farmers are doing it tough right now, with farmgate returns dropping back after a few good years and input costs rising. Add to that the march of pine trees across the land, and there’s talk of an existential crisis. Bryan asked AgriHQ senior analyst Mel Croad to give him the lay of the land and asked her what the sector needed to do to find prosperity again.

A central North Island Māori trust is partnering with geothermal experts and New Zealand scientists in a world-first project to develop livestock feed from geothermal gases.

Funding of nearly $5 million from Tauhara North No 2 Trust and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) will support Rotorua-based Upflow and partners to progress laboratory-scale research that has shown how two microorganisms – a bacterium and an algae – can be used together to convert carbon dioxide and methane into a protein-rich biomass.

This biomass is created when microorganisms feed off greenhouse gas emissions captured from geothermal power stations, such as those used to generate electricity in the central North Island. The biomass produced is made up of several potentially commercially valuable components, including protein for animal feed.

The four-year research project will be the first in the world to pioneer biomass feedstock production from gases and robust microorganisms that thrive in the extreme conditions found at geothermal sites.

Tauhara North No 2 Trust has significant investments in geothermal assets at the Rotokawa geothermal reservoir and is seeking more than financial outcomes. 

“Having geothermal assets in our rohe (region) gives us the opportunity to unlock potential new industries and leverage our existing knowledge to create new jobs and revenue for mana whenua and regional communities,” said Trust group chief executive Mana Newton.

Geothermal consultancy Upflow is the delivery partner for the project, providing leadership and expertise, partnering with researchers from Crown Research Institute Scion, the University of Canterbury and algae experts from Cawthron Institute.

Early-stage research looks promising. 

Industrial biotechnology processes were jointly developed by University of Canterbury researchers, Scion’s biotechnology team and Tauhara North No 2 Trust. The technology uses a methane-eating bacterium, and a carbon dioxide-eating microalgae to capture the gases and use them as a food source for growth.

This process generates a biomass rich in protein, which is being explored as an animal feed ingredient, use for human nutrition, or to produce high-value nutraceuticals or pigments. The initial focus is on the protein component to benefit New Zealand’s primary industry, while also investigating the potential for premium products.

The MPI’s investment of $2.49m in the project comes from the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund. 

The MPI’s director of investment programmes Steve Penno said it is an exciting project.

 “If successful, this could be the start of a new biomass feedstock manufacturing industry for New Zealand, worth an estimated $500m per annum by 2045, creating new skilled jobs.

 “It would reduce our reliance on imported livestock feed, and decarbonise these industries, while also reducing the cost of carbon emissions for geothermal companies that adopt the system.”

 According to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, as a nation of 5 million people, New Zealand feeds an estimated 40 million people worldwide.

 “We’re looking to futureproof this legacy by providing a decarbonised food production option using Aotearoa’s abundant geothermal resources. We’re making animal feed from greenhouse gases,” said Andy Blair, director of business and innovation at Upflow.

Over the next four years, Upflow will work with researchers to progress development of the technology from its satellite office on Scion’s campus in Rotorua.

 Only small quantities of the biomass have been cultivated and tested so far from pure gases. In the next step, scientists will support Upflow to plan and build a pilot-scale facility. This will aid the transition of fermentation conditions to real geothermal gases to generate yields at pilot scale (1000 litres). 

 More work will determine markets for the biomass, including agriculture, aquaculture and the potential for human nutrition.

 Inghams Enterprises NZ is a keystone industry partner in the project, bringing insights to navigate its animal feed market spaces.

 Scion’s portfolio leader for distributed and circular manufacturing Marc Gaugler said the groundwork was a collaboration through the cultivation of specific bacterial strains at Scion and algal strains at the University of Canterbury.

 “With our research colleagues and Upflow, we look forward to seeing this novel technology contribute to regional economic development, create new value from waste and benefit the geothermal sector by helping it decarbonise.”

 Blair said the project is an example of visionary individuals and organisations taking a risk and coming together to incubate an emerging New Zealand-led scientific discovery.

 “Many great research ideas struggle to find real-world application, and to bridge the gap between laboratory-scale concept and application at scale. We’re giving this technology the time and support it needs to be shaped for commercial reality.”