Day 4 - Rotorua activities

Today started out cold. We drove to one of the most popular Agrotourism features in New Zealand called the Agrodome. They got started out by sharing the 19 most popular sheep breeds in New Zealand. These included a wide variety of breeds including Suffolk and Merino. The sheep entered one by one onto varied platform levels creating a mountain. The sheep that represented each breed were prize winning rams. The host of the show introduced a frightened ewe to the crowd. He then calmed the ewe by laying it on her back. This procedure helps when shearing sheep. The host then performed an incredibly fast shearing procedure. He then threw the shorn wool into the crowd for them to investigate. We learned that there is A grade and B grade wool. B grade is stained wool that will never be as clean as A grade wool. The next display was a Kiwi milking cow. A Kiwi milking cow is comprised of a Friesen Holstein crossed with a Jersey. He then went picked several people out of the crowd to come up on stage. Kendall was one of the ones that was picked. She then proceeded to milk the cow. Jennifer, Peter and Jessica volunteered to come up on stage and were told they were going to be doing a New Zealand drinking race while given lamb feeding bottles. After a little joking around, four lambs were released and began sucking the milk from the bottles inevitably declaring a winner of the drinking contest. A German women won the race. He then brought out a Border Collie, which in New Zealand is called an Eye Dog. He showed the crowd how the dogs works on commands and the discipline of the dog using ducks. The last display he brought out a Huntaway dog, which is another herding dog. This dog showed everyone a trick, by jumping from back to back on all the sheep. 

Group at the Agrodome

Sheep breed display at Agrodome

We then left the Agrodome to go to Te Puia, which is a world recognized geothermal geyser.  There are only three countries in the world that have geysers; New Zealand, United States and Iceland. We were further introduced to the Maori culture which included their 12 spiritual gods. We learned about a stone of jade, which is surrounded by a pool of water. This represents the “breath of life.” There is a ritual that Maori’s do and other nationalities do in respect for the land and safe travels. To receive Sky father and Earth mother’s blessing, you had to rub the water into the stone. We then started to walk down to the Geyser and were told that the “Indicator” and a large geyser continually go off for 30 to 40 minutes and rest for the same time. Once the “Indicator” geyser shuts offs, then the “Big Splash” geyser goes off. This is the largest geyser in the southern hemisphere. When the water comes out of the ground it is 95 degrees Celsius. There are thermal vents all over parts of New Zealand where people are allowed to use them as thermal baths and for cooking vegetables and seafood. Meat is not allowed to be cooked due to the discoloration it causes and the build-up of lard. This is the healthiest way of cooking. These mud pits are a natural remedy of arthritis and also used in beauty products. We were unfortunate to not be able to see the Kiwi bird since it was resting. 

    

Pohutu Geyser at the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve

 

We then learned about the Tumunui Maori Lands Trust. The concept of this dairy is the share milker operation. The Tumunui Maori Lands Trust owns the Maori land while the share milker owns the herd of cattle. The profits are split 50/50 between the two partners. They are in the process of building a new rotary barn that holds 60 head. This operation currently milks once a day at 4 a.m. and starting to turn most of their day into twice a day milkers. They have one of the largest spreads in the dairy industry in New Zealand. Due to this, the cattle have a less output of milk solids per cow than the average New Zealand dairy cow of 3 kilograms. We also learned that there is a minimum of 4 weeks of vacation regulated by the national government; however, official holidays it comes to a total of 6 weeks. 

Rotary milking system at the Tumunui Maori Lands Trust

 

Chief at the Maori Hangi

We traveled back again by a bus supported by a Maori tribe. On the way to the Maori Hangi, which is a traditional Maori feast, Austin was selected to be our tribal chief. Once we got there, we were welcomed by a traditional welcoming dance. We visited different stations within the forest each describing a different attribute of Maori culture. For instance, we learned about weaving and war dances. We then all gathered around a thermal vent, which was cooking our dinner for the evening. Then we proceeded inside to watch and hear more tribal dances and music. After that was all done, we had a buffet style meal including lamb, fish, and chicken. At the end of the night we celebrated the meal and listened to a few more songs before we made our trek back to the hotel. Once we got back to the hotel, we celebrate Cady’s birthday with a yummy chocolate cake.

Cady with her birthday cake

 

Good night!

 

Day 3 - Hamilton & Rotorua activities

Today included a number of exciting events, first we went to some farm hardware stores in Morrinsville, visited a 630 cow dairy farm, went to lunch, chased geese, were able to visit the Ministry of Primary Industry, and take an amazing skyline gondola ride.

The farm hardware stores were fun to look through and allowed us to get a feel for what types of equipment would be used here for farming. Also this gave us time to get to meet some of the local hardware store owners and see their kind and caring personalities. It was neat to compare some of New Zealand’s farm and vet stores to those of the United States. There were multiple similarities such as the use of Dectomax pour-on wormer for cattle. If the beauty of the New Zealand landscape isn’t enough to bring more tourism the great people here sure are. Peter was even lucky enough to walk into a “Tool Shed” store and be given a free shirt. This definitely made Peter feel good. Although this is an agriculture trip, Kennedy has a cosmetology license and felt it would be neat to compare salons here to ours back home. While most stores had some type of significant difference, the salons in New Zealand were almost identical to those of the United States. Most of the experiences with the local people in the area was very positive. Interactions with our group members was also fun as we had time to eat brunch together and try each other’s food. Food here is definitely a slightly different flavor, but still good to eat. It was nice to get to enjoy something different yet tasty and similar. The best part of downtown was visiting the Bakery’s and enjoying their flavors and specialties.

Next we were able to visit an average sized dairy farm in the area. At the farm we met Jan and Chad Winke and they gave us a tour of their facility. Jan and Chad are originally from the United States and moved here seven years ago. They do not actually own the farm they are on but are on a contract for three years, or three seasons, to take care of the farm. Doing so, they pay 21% on many different areas and in return receive 21% of every milk check per month. The farm is very beautiful and well managed. Things are managed a lot differently than in the United States due to the size of the farms, feeding of animals, cheap facility design, manure handling systems, and different techniques/requirements for farm equipment. Their farm is ran very efficiently in multiple ways. One way that stood out to me was their herd houses where the cows ate their silage. The floor of the barns were slated just big enough for the cow’s manure to fall through. Doing so, they are able to collect the manure every so often and use this to go back into their fertilizer. We were given an overview of calf raising and feeding procedures which involved a short explanation of their AI procedures. Next, we were able to see the buildings, feed area and silage, and get a feel for what paddocks look like. We also learned about how important it is to sample the soil to make sure it has the right mineral consistency to keep the grass growing as quickly and high quality as possible. The paddocks are constantly being grazed to ensure that they are getting all the use out of the grass that is possible. Chad mentioned that in the next year they will run up to 700 head of cows in order to utilize all of the grass. It was said that if they had more cows last season then they could have avoided mowing some of the paddocks for seed head and grazed it instead. Chad also mentioned how important it was to add fertilizer in different quantities and areas to get the most results for the least amount of money. Next, we looked at the milking systems, which are totally different than those in the US. They are totally outside and have a 44 cow per side size and milks 22 cows at a time. We then looked at the milk tanks and saw how milk gets picked up, which is also different than the US because of the milk trucks. All together it was very interesting to see the difference in how they run their dairy compared to those in the United States.

Kubota lawnmower

Herd Home for Dairy cows at Grant Wills’ operation

Austin listening to Chad Winke

OSU group with the Winkes

Group with the Winkes

Milking shed (parlor) at Wills’ operation

Inside of milking shed

Friesian Holstein cow



Michaela & Kennedy at Rotorua Lake

Part of the group at Rotorua Lake

Statue in our hotel in Rotorua

Gondola car, ride to supper at Skyline Restaurant

After leaving the dairy farm we visited a forestry business which is a part of the Ministry for Primary Industry. There they spoke to us about how forests in the country have been moved from different cultures and ownership. They described how their specific business maintains forests as well as preventing bugs and diseases from coming into their country or how they will control them if it does occur. Leaving here we were driven to our hotel. However, on the drive there we saw many thermal reserves. For dinner, we were taken to a skyline restaurant. As soon as we arrived we were put on gondolas and taken up to the restaurant which was on top of a mountain. The dinner was buffet style and very impressive! I felt everyone thought it was our best New Zealand meal yet. The day was very busy and filled with new and interesting stuff to all of us.  

 

Days 1 and 2 - Auckland & Hamilton activities

Group at Balle Brothers Vegetable operation

SDSU group 

View of Auckland from Skytower

Our trip started off with a slight hiccup, and by slight we mean half of the group did not make it to New Zealand until day two of the trip (May 12th). Half of the SDSU group was stuck in Minneapolis with flight delays from foul weather, and Dr. Rusk & one of the OSU students, Kendall, also had weather issues. So ten students made the journey across the Pacific to New Zealand. We were all pretty worried about making it through customs, especially since NZ has very strict biosecurity protocols. Austin was the only one who had any issues. His boots needed to be sterilized as he had worn them on a farm back home. We then met up with Ron McPhail, our tour guide, and Reese, our bus driver for the day. They loaded us up in a large traveler’s bus and took us to Mount Eden, which was a vantage point high above the city of Auckland created thousands of years ago by a volcano. Breakfast treats were then had on a beach along the Auckland Harbor, where the sands are black, not white. It continually rained on and off that first day, so we spent a couple of hours in the Auckland Museum of Natural History. The museum had dinosaur, Maori, and early NZ displays as well as a tribute to all of NZ’s fallen soldiers from wars of the past. Jet lag was starting to affect all of us, so we checked into the hotel for a couple hours of R&R. Around six o’clock, the ten of us headed to the tallest building in the southern hemisphere, the Sky Tower. Being fifty stories high above the largest city in NZ provided a breath-taking view of the city and harbor. People could pay money to bungy jump off the building, which was something that terrified most of us. Supper was a seafood buffet on the third floor of the Sky Tower. Many of us tried sushi for the first time, some liking it more than others. After supper, nine of us fought back the temptation to sleep so we could experience the night-life of a large foreign city. We found an Irish pub called Father Teds which had a trivia night going on. Number one thing learned from Day 1, none of us are good at trivia.

Day two went far more according to plan than day one. The other members of our group arrived early on the morning of the 13^th. They met us at our hotel and we all left as a whole group for the first time. Our destination, Hamilton, with plenty of stops along the way. The first stop was Balle Brothers, which was a vegetable industry company who gave us a tour of their company. They produce mainly potatoes, carrots and onions, onions being their top export of 200,000 tons processed per day. Fortunately, our tour guide was kind enough to give us enough carrots to last us the whole trip. After visiting Balle Brothers we toured Fresh Vegetable Product Group and then made a stop for lunch. After a bad sushi experience the first day, the majority of us played it safe for lunch and had McDonald’s or Subway. After lunch we made a stopped at the supermarket to stock up on supplies, and continued on our way to visit two of New Zealand’s leading Agritech companies. Gallagher Animal Management Systems was the first agritech tour. They are a top producer of electric fence and weighing EID systems. They are a family owned company and they sponsor a New Zealand rugby team. A fun fact about Gallagher is that they also supply the security systems for Buckingham Palace. GEA was the final stop of the day. It is formerly a privately owned New Zealand company which offers complete milking and herd management solutions for Rotary and Herringbone dairy systems. Finally, we were on our way to our hotel and finished the night off with supper in our hotel and a night out exploring Hamilton.

Safely Arrived

Everyone has arrived safely in New Zealand.

Travel Day - San Francisco delayed group

05/10/15 – 05/11/15 New Zealand

On the morning of May 10th, eight of us met with Julie (our instructor) at the Animal Science Building in Brookings, SD. We then met up with four of our class smates at the Minneapolis airport to start our long awaited journey to New Zealand. The other 10 students departed earlier on a different flight, and we were extremely excited to join them! However, upon checking in, we were informed that our flight had been delayed one hour due to

snowstorms and tornados. Thanks, Mother Nature! That was fine because we would still be able to make our connecting flight in San Francisco, CA. Then it was delayed again, and again, and again... we figured out that we would not be able to catch our flight to NZ after all. We would have to spend the night in San Francisco and fly out the next day at 9:45 pm. 

After seven hours of trying to entertain ourselves in the airport, we finally boarded our plane. The flight was pretty smooth despite the occasional thunder head and lightning strike. Crystal survived her first flight! When we landed we were more than ready to bed down, which we did after waiting about an hour for the hotel shuttle. 

The next day we helped ourselves to a hearty breakfast at a diner connected to our hotel while we tried to figure out what we would do until it was time to check in. We decided to do a cable car ride and a hop-on-hop-off tour of the city. During the cable car ride we had so much fun sharing our knowledge of agriculture with the trolley conductor that another worker had to remind us the ride was over. He said, “Why are you guys still here?!” The conductor we were talking with then said, “Because we’re talking about cows!” Good times. The hop-on-hop-off tour was also a lot of fun. We rode on the upper level of a double decker bus that resulted in a cold and windy

ride. The highlight of the tour was being able to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, and see Alcatraz from a distance. The tour also involved seeing the scenery of the city. 

After the tour we caught the BART (subway) back to the airport. In order to exit the station and enter the airport, we had to present the tickets that we had purchased earlier. Unsurprisingly, Peter lost his

ticket. It was okay though; we got him back! We then entered the airport, waited for the ticket counter to open, and successfully made it through security without any trouble. We are now sitting at our gate waiting to depart. Our flight is currently scheduled to depart on time. Fingers crossed! 

Written By: Crystal Demuth and Wiyaka His Horse Is Thunder 

 

Path of Cable Car

Group delayed in San Francisco with Cable Car operators

Alcatraz Island

Golden Gate Bridge 

 

Pictures of the students

Oklahoma State University Students

South Dakota State University Students
 

Itinerary

SDSU and OSU Agricultural Student Study Tour to

New Zealand

May 2015, Itinerary

Tuesday, May 12th - Arrive Auckland
5:45 am                       Arrive Auckland

                                    Tour of Auckland
                                    Auckland Museum

4:30 pm                       Overview of the upcoming tour

 

5:30 pm                       Sky Tower Observation Deck followed by Buffet dinner

Overnight Scenic Hotel, Auckland

Wednesday, May 13th - Auckland - Hamilton
8:00 am                       Depart hotel for Pukekohe

9:00 - 11:30 am           Fresh Vegetable Product Group

2:00 - 3:00 pm             Gallagher Animal Management Systems

3:30 - 4:30 pm             GEA

                                    Dinner in your hotel

Overnight Kingsgate Hotel, Hamilton

Thursday, May 14th - Hamilton - Rotorua
8:30 am                       Depart Hotel

9:00 - 10:00 am           Morrinsville, Farm Merchandise store

10:30 - 12:30 pm         Grant Wills and Karen Preston dairy farm. Meet with sharemilker Chad Winke.

1:00 - 1:30 pm             Lunch in Matamata

3:00 - 4:30 pm             New Zealand Forest Industry

5:00 pm                       Check in to your hotel

6:30 pm                       Transfer to Skyline Gondola

 

7:00 pm                       Dine in the Skyline Restaurant

 

Overnight Copthorne Hotel, Rotorua

 

Friday, May 15th - Rotorua

An opportunity today to see how important tourism is to the New Zealand economy and to learn about the Maori culture and development.

8:30 am                       Depart Hotel

 

9:30 am                       Agrodome

 

11:30 am                     Te Puia - the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve and the Maori Arts and

                                    Crafts Institute

 

1:30 pm                       Lunch downtown Rotorua

 

2:30 - 4:30 pm             Tumunui Maori Lands Trust

 

6:00 pm                       "Maori Hangi" traditional feast and cultural experience

 

Overnight Copthorne Hotel, Rotorua 

 

Saturday, May 16th - Rotorua - Napier

 

7:30 am                       Depart Hotel

 

8:30 - 10:00 am           Kairuru Polled Hereford Stud. Kevin & Jane McDonald

 

10:30 - 11:30 am         Huka Falls and Raupo

 

12:45 - 2:30 pm           Trelinnoe Farm. Bruce Willis

 

3:30 pm                       Apple, kiwifruit and stonefruit orchards. Win Heuser

 

6:00 pm                       Check into hotel

 

Overnight Te Pania Hotel, Napier

 

Sunday, May 17th - Napier - Marton

 

8:00 am                       Depart Hotel

 

8:30 - 9:30 am             Hastings Farmers Market

 

10:30 - Noon               Visit Maranoa. John Spiers.

 

1:10 - 4:00 pm             Hill Country Property managed by John and Jane Heald

 

5:00 pm                       Meet your Farmstay host

 

Overnight Farmstay

 

Monday, May 18th - Marton - Wellington

 

8:00 am                       Meet bus

 

10:30 - Noon               Beef + Lamb New Zealand

 

2:00 - 3:00 pm             Ministry for Primary Industries

 

3:30 - 5:00 pm             City orientation tour and free time

 

Overnight West Plaza Hotel, Wellington

 

Tuesday, May 19th - Wellington - Christchurch - Ashburton

 

7:15 am                       Transfer to Wellington Airport

 

8:40 am                       Depart Wellington on NZ 335

 

9:25 am                       Arrive Christchurch

 

10:00 - 11:00 am         Nevele R Stud

 

12:00 - 2:00 pm           David & Hillary Ward's mixed cropping farm

 

3:30 - 5:00 pm             Ted & Sue Rollinson's dairy farm. Meet with sharemilker Tom Hannigan.

 

5:30 pm                       Check in Hotel

 

7:00 pm                       Dinner in the Hotel

 

Overnight Hotel Ashburton

 

Wednesday, May 20th - Ashburton - Twizel

 

8:30 am                       Depart Hotel

 

12:30 - 3:30 pm           Haldon Station

 

3:30 - 5:00 pm             Travel to Twizel via Tekapo

 

5:00 pm                       Check in Hotel

 

7:00 pm                       Dinner in Hotel

 

Overnight Mackenzie Country Inn, Twizel

 

Thursday, May 21st - Twizel - Oamaru - Ashburton

 

8:30 am                       Depart Hotel

 

11:00 - 1:00 pm           Oamaru

 

1:30 - 3:30 pm             Ard & Wilma van Leeuwen's dairy farm

 

3:30 - 5:30 pm             Continue to Ashburton

 

7:00 pm                       Dinner in Hotel

 

Overnight Hotel Ashburton

 

Friday, May 22nd - Ashburton - Depart

 

9:00 am                       Depart Hotel

 

10:00 am                     Christchurch

 

1:00 pm                       Christchurch Airport (8 students) flight to Australia

 

4:00 pm                       Christchurch Airport - Air New Zealand 548 departing at 6:55 pm