Dairy News 9 July 2013

thumbs up for milkWaikato joins schemepage 19

PM to launch industry strategy. page 3

july 9, 2013 issue 294 // www.dairynews.co.nz

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new chair for dairy awards25th anniversary planning underway page 18

Dai ry News july 9, 2013

news // 3

news ��3-21

opinion ��22-23

agribusiness �� 24-25

management �� 28-32

animal health �� 34-37

calving ��38-43

machinery & products �� 44-50

Weeping wall brings joy. pg.28-29

Dispensing made easy. pg.44

Production tracker to follow the curve. pg.30

Raw milk sales growth prompts safety code

a code of practice for farmgate sale of raw drinking milk is on the cards as sales soar nationwide.

Farmers, consumer groups and MPI officials will meet next week in Wellington at the first annual meeting of the Raw Milk Producers Association of New Zealand.

Spokesman Ray Ridings says a code of practice for members will be a priority, and the group will provide a collective voice and support network for raw milk producers.

MPI allows producers to sell up to 5L of raw milk daily from the farm gate. Meanwhile MPI is doing scientific and policy work with a view to increasing the quantities consumers may be sold. They are also looking at off-farm raw milk sales in which a balance is struck between public health risks and consumer choice.

Ridings says there is fast-growing interest in the availability of raw milk. “Milk is a food and just like all other foods it needs to be produced and handled with care to ensure safety,” he told Dairy News.

In 2011, an MPI discussion document attracted 1685 submissions, 1561 supporting sales of raw milk at the farmgate.

Ridings says MPI and the industry were blown away by the consumer interest in raw milk. “It

proved greater than most thought and since then demand has continued to increase to a level where we now have raw milk dispensers being imported into New Zealand.”

Dispensers are operating in the South Island and Ridings says there are plans to introduce them in the North Island.

Ridings says food safety remains the main priority of farmers and a code of practice is essential. He’s confident the industry can deliver safe and quality product to consumers.

“With the advent of stainless steel, refrigeration, better detergents and good testing methods, combined with sound farming methods, it is possible to manage any risks.”

The association will work with MPI and consumer groups in the coming months.

“Most producers accept there needs to some form of guidelines or code of practice, and most consumers expect their food to be produced to at least a basic level,” says Ridings. “All farmers and consumers must

understand milk produced for further processing is different from milk produced for direct consumption.

“The trick will be to find a cost effective balance for big and

small producers along with the consumers.”

Ridings doesn’t believe raw milk sales are a threat to milk processors like Fonterra and other independent processors.

He says most of New Zealand’s milk is exported and food safety is paramount.

“This is another reason for raw milk producers to pull together and draw up some guidelines or code of practice to manage risk in a controlled fashion rather than ad hoc.

“A health scare from any milk product in a country

like New Zealand could affect exports. It is important for all food

producers these days to show how they manage their processes.”

sudesh kissunsudeshk@ruralnews�co�nz

RAW MILK

dairynZ will today (July 9) release its first new strategy for four years. Prime Minister John Key and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy will attend the Wellington event.

Headed ‘Making dairy farming work for every-one’, the document has been a year in the making, DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle told Dairy News.

Farmer, industry, government and other stake-

holders have contributed and it has been fine-tuned following feedback from presentations at various forums over recent months.

The strategy contains a new sustainable dairying; water accord as “the first cab off the rank towards achieving the [industry’s] objectives,” Mackle told the Federated Farm-ers Dairy conference in Ashburton last week. But he urged delegates to “make sure we don’t over-

play it. It’s not going to fix everything. It’s to get us all to a good base level of tidy farms… recognising in some places we will need to go a little further.”

Feds Dairy chairman Willy Leferink welcomed the strategy. “We can tell the rest of New Zealand this is what we’ve done to get where we want to go. To be able to say that is very powerful.”

PM to launch national dairying strategy

@dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews



4 // news

Farmer to face court over farm condition

Global dairy prices tipped to stay highglobal dairy prices will remain elevated, but keep drifting down slowly from April highs, say two major bank economists.

World prices posted a small rise in last Tuesday’s GlobalDairy-Trade, consolidating the 1.1% rise in the previous auction, says West-pac economist Nathan Penny.

“On a trade-weighted basis, dairy prices rose 0.7%. Prices rose in five out of seven of the main products, although the bench-mark WMP series was effectively flat (up 0.1%). Prices are now 13% below the record level reached in April,” he says.

But overall prices 69% are higher than the same time last year, he says.

“Over 2013, as New Zea-land production recov-ers from drought we expect world dairy prices to descend further from their April record peak, but to remain at elevated levels by historical standards. Overall world dairy supply remains relatively tight. Coupled with strong Asian demand, par-ticularly from China, these fac-tors should see dairy prices higher on average over 2013 compared to 2012.”

However Penny says the bank’s forecast of $6.50/kgMS is under review because of the downward movement of the US exchange rate and this effect on world dairy

prices and wider dairy market trends.

Rabobank’s Australian-based senior dairy ana-lyst Michael Harvey, who has been tour-ing the North Island, says milk production

will return to growth in key export regions in late 2013, as farmers in the Southern Hemisphere get a crack at farm gate milk prices 20-33% higher than 12 months prior.

“Prices are likely to drift down, as some demand is ‘choked off ’ in emerging markets and buyers at least see a new season commenc-ing in the Southern Hemisphere,

but the shift will be limited.” Harvey says weather condi-

tions have improved markedly through March and April with vir-tually all key dairying regions in New Zealand experiencing good rainfall and mild temperatures.

“Production will edge margin-ally above prior year levels as the season builds, with the benefits of a slightly larger herd and the ability to buy feed offsetting mixed cow conditions and low feed reserves,” he says.

“Looking at the global situa-tion, from early 2014 we should see a stronger supply response from most major dairy exporters, and this will create bounce in export product availability.”

Nathan Penny

a marlborough dairy farmer is facing an Environ-ment Court hearing over the state of his farm.

Marlborough District Council (MDC) has lodged a series of enforcement orders relating to a farm owned by Philip Woolley and his company Awarua Farms.

The enforcement orders require him to make changes to his dairy shed, tanker turnaround, sump, storage pond, travelling irrigator, raceways, offal pit and stock road crossings. The enforcement orders are a formal request by the council for the farmer to correct the problems; they are not a prosecution.

Woolley has objected to the council enforcement orders, requiring an Environment Court judge to decide whether or not he must comply.

Marlborough District Council annually inspects the region’s dairy farm and it’s understood the problems that resulted in the enforcement orders were noted during an inspection.

Council chief executive Andrew Besley said the situ-ation is serious and that dairying would need to stop at Awarua Farm unless Woolley met the standards of the RMA.

This is not the first time Woolley’s farm has been scru-tinised by the council.

The Environment Court hearing will take place late July.

in brief

knowles joins synlait boardSyNlAIT MIlK has appointed former Kiwibank chief executive Sam Knowles as a director.

He becomes an independent director on the planned listing of the company later this month. Knowles completes the requirement of the company’s constitution for three independent directors on the board upon listing.

Welcoming the appointment, Synlait Milk chairman Graeme Milne says Knowles’ experi-ence in establishing and growing Kiwibank into a significant New Zealand-owned and operated bank will be valuable to the company as it imple-ments growth initiatives expected to cost $183 million.

“Sam’s knowledge of the processes and capability building required to complete a suc-cessful growth programme will be particularly beneficial for the board, senior management and the company’s future.”

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if fonterra isn’t concerned about the amount of milk it’s losing in Canterbury, it should be, dairy del-egates at last week’s Federated Farm-ers annual conference heard.

Feds Dairy South Canterbury chairman Ryan O’Sullivan warned that the temptation TAF creates in farmers to redeem shares could “in the extreme” see Fonterra with “empty milk plants” in five years.

He was echoed by newly elected Otago dairy chairman Stephen Craw-ford. “Is the supplier redemption risk we have now greater than the capital redemption risk TAF was put in place to fix?” he asked, adding that his com-ment was “just a thought.”

O’Sullivan and Crawford’s com-ments came either side of presen-tations on TAF by Fonterra director David McLeod and TAF general man-ager Aaron Jenkins.

McLeod was elected late 2011 “in the middle of the TAF debate,” a debate which was “well worthwhile,” he said.

“I think we cemented in our con-stitution some sensible protections to ensure that the cooperative retains 100% controlled by supplying share-holders.”

McLeod added that since its launch TAF has operated “as we expected.”

Jenkins endorsed that, showing how the valuation the stock market-

traded units put on the company are monitored, and have, to date, kept in line with various market benchmarks.

The volume of the shareholders fund is also approaching its target range of 7-12% of shares on issue, at 6.5% as of early last week: “7% being big enough to provide liquidity… 12% being, we don’t want it to be any bigger than it needs to be.”

Of that 6.5%, 87% of the units are held in New Zealand or Australia, 6% in the UK, and 7% elsewhere. “Fon-terra farmers own 4% themselves.”

During June, Fonterra units were the fourth highest-traded stock on the NZX, behind Telecom, Fletcher Build-ing and SkyTV, he noted. “That gives us confidence liquidity is present.”

The current price, at $7.30, is also in line with what independent ana-lysts such as Deutsche Bank, Gold-man Sachs and Credit Suisse, predict. “Their target price range for Fonterra in 12 months is $6.75-$8.50.”

Co-ops in other countries are look-ing at TAF as a possible template for adapting their own capital structures,

said Jenkins, and TAF is “a wonderful artefact of the innovation of both Fon-terra and New Zealand agriculture.”

When O’Sullivan raised the spec-tre of surplus stainless in Fonterra as a result of TAF, Jenkins acknowl-edged the risk, but pointed out as soon as farmers started redeeming shares in June, the price fell 20-30c. He also flagged the contract options offered to allow new suppliers up to seven years to buy shares to encour-age “milk retention”.

McLeod added a strong milk price “would go a long way to ensur-ing retention” and that TAF hasn’t even had a year’s cycle yet so there’s “still a fair bit of education to occur” on how it works, among farmers and investors. “They’ve got to understand that we, as a company, are not going to have a volatile yield on the share, as such.”

He also said media pick up on those leaving, but not that TAF is helping first farm buyers because farm sellers are retaining shares and the new farm-ers have time to buy into Fonterra.


federated farmers annual conference // 5

Fonterra plays down claims TAF tempts share redemption

REPORTS FROM Feds’ dairy chairmen from around the regions were “taken as read” at the national conference but most said a few words.

Tight feed supplies were highlighted by some, notably those in the south, while in the north comments about the kind autumn helping drought recovery were more common.

Updates on regional environmental regulations were front of mind for others, as was Trading Among Farmers.

andrew swallowandrews@ruralnews�co�nz

feed tight, weather kindFonterra director David McLeod spoke at the conference.

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Co-ops could be more aligned – Quinif you’re not committed to a cooperative culture, don’t look to join Westland, chief executive Rod Quin told Feds Dairy annual conference.

The Hokitika based cooperative is “effectively full with all the milk we want” unless it builds new processing capacity, either at Hokitika or at Rolleston where it has consents for a new plant.

With 24 farms supplying 137m L of milk from Canterbury last season, intake grew 10% despite drought affecting most of the 394 West Coast suppliers.

He pointed out the cooperative has a five year capital retention option, so it could be some time before suppliers could get their money out if they leave, and increasing that to a 10-year retention option is part of a shareholder review of share structure, he added.

Intake for the coming season is expected up 16%, despite cutting its DIRA intake to 36m L.

Westland’s move to take DIRA milk for the first time in 2011/12

was a deliberate ploy to persuade Government the act needed reforming. “It was Westland that said ‘end this thing in three years’.”

Quin called for more collaboration within the New Zealand dairy industry, and a greater role for DCANZ. “I’d like think the cooperatives could get more aligned.”

Fonterra director David Mcleod, who’d spoken earlier in the day, said Quin had “hit the nail on the head” with that suggestion. “The competition is global… we need to work as New Zealand Inc to compete on the global stage.”

Westland’s strategy is to gradually move from commodity to value add products, as demonstrated by its recent move into infant formulas.

While much has been and is being made of that market, Quin highlighted what he believes is another massive opportunity for New Zealand dairy: the aging population in Asia. “Nobody owns this space at the moment,” he says.

‘Get policies right’

the government’s goal of doubling primary exports by 2025 is “our economic shot at the moon,” says Federated Farmers Dairy presi-dent, Willy Leferink.

Speaking to the section annual meeting, held in Ashburton last week, Leferink compared the $64bn target to US president John Kennedy’s 1960s man-on-the-moon target.

“Can we do it?” Leferink asked delegates. “Yes we can. Can we do it on current policy sideshows and in the current policy turmoil? No we cannot.”

Food is the new gold, but like a goldrush, the gold must be dug before the wealth is created. The fundamen-tal question governments must ask is whether we have the policy settings to achieve the export goal.

“My message to politicians who believe the world’s gaze is on our every move is that it isn’t,” Leferink said, alluding to calls by some to include biological farm emissions in the ETS.

“Slapping our biological emis-

sions into the ETS is like putting ice water onto the economy. It won’t do a jot to save the planet but it will cause carbon-leakage to less efficient sys-tems somewhere else in the world, who will be all too pleased to pick up the slack.”

Leferink lauded New Zealand’s agricultural greenhouse gas research as world leading “because it is about finding solutions and not problems.”

However, competition for fund-ing from the likes of the Auckland rail loop threatened such research, just as it threatens rural infrastructure such as water storage and rural commu-nications, essential for primary gen-erating exports. “I can’t see [many exports] going by the Auckland inner rail loop.”

If Government can find billions for that, “then surely a few hundred mil-lion more to align the rural and urban broadband initiatives is in order,” he added.

Media came under fire for latching onto any pollution incident to do with dairy while urban incidents pass with barely a whisper.

“When it isn’t cows, sheep, goats or farm animals, but a council, who is

held accountable?“How can councils daily breach

their resource consent conditions and get away with it, if justice is meant to be even handed? Farmers cannot use ‘systems failure’ as a get-out-of-jail card but councils do, with almost no critical comment from the media or high profile academics.”

He called on reporters to “lift their game”, asking where, what, why, when and how questions not just of farming, but all those who throw the stones too. “The public deserve facts, not spin.”

Councils are “rushing to control” dairying in response to the national policy statement on freshwater man-agement, but have “somehow missed” the doubling export goal.

“Doubling our exports would give these roosters heaps of money to work on decent outcomes for freshwater management.”

He called on delegates to get dairy’s “great story… out there and say it loud and proud” and, in concluding, “to get involved in our industry as a leader.”

“When a vacuum is created by lack of leadership it will be filled by bureau-crats and government officials who will tell you how to farm.”


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federated farmers annual conference // 7

Feds compiling immigration packthe lack of local labour in dairying and the complexity of visa systems have prompted Federated Farmers to compile an immigration package for members.

Already 20% of the 26,000 workers on dairy farms nationwide are migrants and with dire shortages of suitable staff in some areas, that seems certain to grow.

“The dairy industry desperately needs migrants,” policy Advisor Kara Lok noted in her outline of the package. Obviously there isn’t enough skilled local labour to meet

your needs.”Unless the job category is

on Immigration New Zealand’s immediate shortage list, the position must be listed with Work and Income New Zealand, with evidence it was adequately advertised locally on websites and/or newspapers.

However, assistant herd manager, herd manager and farm manager are on the immediate shortage list, so at present farm assistant positions are

the only ones requiring such evidence.

Lok warned not to “inflate” job titles to get into those listed categories. “[Immigration New Zealand] will turn down the visa.”

Salaries must be market rate, as per Feds’ remuneration survey, and visa applicants must meet qualification/experience requirements set by Immigration New Zealand

for each job category.Having gone to the trouble of

seeing through a visa application, which typically takes 25 working days to process, Lok warned employers of migrants to be mindful of the typical mood cycle of the new employee, from excited and enthusiastic on

arrival, to “fright” a month or two into the job, which if not managed correctly can lead to “flight” after six to eighteen months. Beyond that, hopefully, migrants start to “fit”.

Once they reach that stage, most will want

to go for permanent residency, but farm assistants are not eligible, only assistant herd managers or above, pointed out Lok.

One of the conference delegates commented it’s at that residency application stage that “a lot of issues” arise as staff on work visas turn out not to be eligible for residency.

“You need to be aware of that and take steps [to ensure eligibility] right from the beginning,” he suggested.

Another delegate said paying an agent or consultant to handle

the hassle of visa applications is money well spent and can expedite the process, the caveat being that the consultant is one with a good reputation and record in the field. “As an employer I reckon it’s easier to just suck it up and pay the $1000.”

But Lok countered: “the hope is this pack will save you having to go to a consultant.”

Feds Dairy executive member Andrew Hoggard suggested Feds should perhaps consider going a step further, handling applications for members employing migrants, given the trust concerns with some immigration consultants.

recruitment woesFeds’ Farm Employee Remuneration Report 2013 shows 40% of dairy farmer respondents said they’d experienced recruitment difficulties, with problems more widespread in higher category roles.

Only 33% reported problems finding farm assistants but 49% reported dif-ficulties recruiting farm managers, 50% seeking herd managers, 54% wanting assistant herd managers, and 61% look-ing for operations managers.

“The dairy industry desperately needs migrants.”

Kara Lok

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news // 9

Chinese farm owners reject Maori bid

Hardie Pene

an attempt by a cen-tral North Island Maori trust to buy two dairy farms owned by the Chi-nese company Shanghai Pengxin has been rejected, despite the Chinese com-pany having asked the trust to put in a bid.

The chairman of the Te Hape B Trust, Hardie Pene, told Dairy News the response from the Chi-nese is “a kick in the guts” for his people.

Te Hape B Trust, located near Bennydale, King Country, has made several bids to buy the farms, originally owned by Allan Crafar. The trust was in a Sir Michael Fay-led consortium which pre-viously sought to buy the farms.

Pene says although the farms have been in private ownership for many years

they have been sought by his people because their ancestor Rereahu had a pa site there. He says the lands were origi-nally owned by his people but lost during the 1800s through land acquisition.

Pene says on the basis of what’s happened he concludes Shanghai Pengxin “did not act in good faith”.

“They invited us to put in an offer. They emailed us saying there had to be one offer, and one offer only, and it was not open to negotiation. So we then undertook valuations they and Landcorp were well aware of. We also went onto the farms to do due diligence in January and February and we incurred quite a lot of expense which they were well aware of.”

Pene says he now thinks it was an academic exercise by Shanghai Pengxin to say they had

peter burkepeterb@ruralnews�co�nz

invited Te Hape to make a bid. He says this is not a good look. “To me when you look back at Sir Henry van der Hayden’s com-ments ‘don’t trust them’ (the Chinese), he hit the

nail on the head,” he says.Pene says their offer for

the two farms was based on an independent val-uation and they did not undercut this in any way in their bid. He says all

he’s had from Shanghai Pengxin is an email saying basically “no deal”.

Attempts last week to get a comment from Shanghai Pengxin proved unsuccessful.

in briefsnait meetingsIN RESPONSE to many inquiries, Dairy Women’s Network will hold meetings this month on the Na-tional Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) scheme.

“A number of changes to the NAIT process came into effect at the end of 2012. The DWN has received an overwhelming number of enquiries for a workshop that explains the changes for dairy farmers in a lot more detail,” says the network’s executive chairwoman Michelle Wilson.

Managing calving is an exceptionally busy time, she reflects. “Alongside birthing and car-ing for animals, it also requires new stock to be tagged, birth details entered into herd manage-ment software and often involves selling stock to other parties.”

Farmers who don’t comply with NAIT regula-tions risk being penalised with infringement fees.

NAIT representatives and network partners, CRV Ambreed and Tru-Test will host the half-day workshop along with representatives from lIC’s Minda programme.

The day will cover the NAIT process from start to finish.

All dairy farmers can attend the meetings to be held in five regions from today (july 8) in North-land and finishing on july 30 in Southland. Visit www.dwn.co.nz or telephone 0800 396 748.

induction reminderIF yOu’RE planning to induce cows this spring, they need to be booked with your vet ASAP, if they haven’t been already to meet the cross-industry agreement that all inductions must be planned 60 days in advance.

“The 60-day period is viewed as the minimum time required to develop an induction manage-ment plan and to ensure good welfare outcomes for cows,” Dairy NZ sustainability strategy leader, Rick Pridmore, told Dairy News.

The limit for number of inductions in any single herd is 4%.

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Increased options with mixed pasturemore diversity of pasture spe-cies diversity could give dairy farmers more options for managing environ-mental impacts and improving pas-ture resilience during drought, says Dr Sharon Woodward, DairyNZ senior sci-entist.

Woodward presented the results of a

three year mixed pasture trial at an open day at DairyNZ’s Lye Farm. The trial was done at DairyNZ’s Scott Research Farm in Waikato to determine whether mixed pasture could increase milk solids pro-duction and improve nitrogen effi-ciency.

“Cows fed on mixed pasture excreted half the amount of nitrogen (N) in their urine compared to cows on standard pasture”, says Woodward. “Reducing N losses has implications for greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leaching.”

In the trial, standard and mixed pas-

tures were sown with perennial ryegrass and white clover. The mixed pastures were also sown with lucerne, chicory, plantain and prairie grass although the prairie grass was quickly ruled out as it didn’t perform.

The cows on the mixed pasture ate less than those on the standard pasture.

“Although the cows on the mixed pasture ate less they were more effi-cient as they produced at least as much milk and sometimes more milk. This of course means more milk solids, not only because of the increase in volume but because we sometimes got an increase in milk protein concentration as well,” says Woodward..

Total cumulative dry matter yields were similar for both pasture types although the pattern of growth was dif-ferent.

There were advantages in feed avail-ability in summer and autumn from

the mixed pastures however this yield advantage did not persist in winter, says Sharon.

Pasture performance has been inter-esting especially during the drought.

“At the height of the drought the lucerne with its deep root system had no problem surviving the dry and acted as a shade, protecting the ryegrass. Rye-grass in the mixed pasture remained at a reasonable length and was a lush green whereas in the standard pasture the ryegrass was stunted and brown”, says Woodward.

“We were achieving significant dif-ferences in dry matter production with the mixed pastures and still achieving pasture covers close to 2000 kg DM/ha.”

Although species like lucerne, chic-ory and plantain in the mixed pasture do not grow as well during the winter, they have bounced back by summer during the first three years of the trial.

Hopefully measurements will con-tinue for another couple of years, so we can see if this high level of species diver-sity in the mixed pasture is maintained, says Woodward.

The performance of the mixed pas-ture during the drought highlights the potential of increased pasture diversity providing other options for farmers in meeting the challenges of adverse cli-matic conditions, she says.

The biggest finding from the study was that feeding mixed pastures had a major impact on reducing urinary N losses and this was achieved with no loss in milk production.

The study was funded by DairyNZ and the Ministry of Business, Innova-tion and Employment.

“Although the cow on the mixed pasture ate less they were more efficient as they produced at least as much milk and sometimes more milk.”

– Sharon Woodward, DairyNZ Cows fed on mixed pasture excreted half the amount of N in their urine compared to cows on standard pasture, according to a DairyNZ trial.


news // 11

Dairy pasture renewal stats

inaugural national statistics on pasture renewal sug-gest 8% of dairy pasture is revamped annually.

Statistics NZ’s agricultural census for the 2011/12 production year found dairy farmers renewed 175,700ha out of 370,000ha done that year. Based on 8 m ha of pasture nationally, that’s an overall renewal rate of 4.7%. Rate of renewal on sheep and beef farms was 2.3% on average.

The reseed questions were in the five-yearly census for the first time, initiated by the Pasture Renewal Charitable Trust (PRCT) with support from the Ministry of Primary Industries. Trust chairman Murray Willocks says having the census as a tool to determine investment in New Zealand’s most valuable crop “is a real boost and provides the big picture of pasture renewal activity nationally.”

Renewal rates were highest in Canterbury, Otago and South-land, and Manawatu/Wanganui, Hawke’s Bay and Waikato.

Questions on method of pasture renewal found 54% by area was cultivated, 46% direct drilled.

The trust advocates annual renewal of 10% to build pasture production, liveweight gains, milk production, and stocking rates.

“There is a real opportunity for farmers to increase their prof-its by boosting annual pasture renewal rates,” says Willocks. “The return on investment from pasture renewal is sound if establish-ment is done well followed by careful pasture management.”

The full national agricultural census is done every five years and the trust is looking forward to an increased rate of pasture renewal from the 2016-17 census. Data from that census will be available in mid-2018.

Maori milk processor eyes value chain gains

a large Maori dairy farm-ing enterprise in the central North Island has become the first Maori organisation to sign a Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) deal with the govern-ment.

The PGP is worth $3.5 mil-lion of which $1.75 million will come from the government.

Whai Hua partnership, undertaking the project, includes the Maori dairy com-pany Miraka and Wairarapa Moana Incorporation which farms 10,000 cows in the cen-tral North Island and is also a partner in Miraka. Also involved is AgResearch which will do the scientific work.

Whai Hua chairman, Kingi Smiler told Dairy News the PGP venture is part of a long-term

strategy by Wairarapa Moana and Miraka to move their prod-ucts higher up the value chain and so increase the return to shareholders. He says the PGP involves extracting high value proteins from milk which can be used as ingredients in health products.

Smiler says Wairarapa Moana have been working on this idea since 2006 but

the PGP will now see the idea through to market.

“What’s unusual about this PGP is that it will take just three years to get it to commerciali-sation. Normally PGPs take about seven years from startup to market. We are expecting to develop and take these prod-ucts to market within three years and they will be pro-duced at the Miraka plant near

Taupo, as a powder and used as an ingredient in other peo-ple’s products for nutritional and health.”

The Whai Hua programme expects to contribute $8.6 mil-lion a year to the New Zealand economy by 2021. Smiler says the venture will also enhance the experience and skill base of Maori agribusiness making higher valued foods and dif-ferentiated products for Asian markets. Miraka will operate with ‘in market’ partners to ensure a strong consumer con-nection.

Miraka is already doing this with a joint venture partner, the giant Vietnamese dairy com-pany Vinamilk that buys large quantities of its milk powder. Recently Miraka signed a deal with the Chinese company Shanghai Pengxin to produce UHT milk to sell as a branded product in China.


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12 // news

Northland farmer and LIC director Murray Jagger (right) addresses the SMASH conference while farmer Bruce Cutforth looks on. Careers advisers still

biased against farming

school careers advisors’ bias against farming, and high-schoolers’ ignorance of farming career oppor-tunities, are barriers to the youngest and brightest thinking about working in the industry, says Northland farmer and LIC director Murray Jagger.

He shared his concerns about the shortage of talent from schools when he spoke at the Northland SMASH conference, Whangarei, in June.

In 2011 only 68 agricultural science and 90 farm and agribusiness under-graduate degrees were awarded – 0.68% of the 22,820 undergraduate degrees awarded that year. But per-forming arts and philosophy gained 650 and 424 graduates respectively.

Youngsters’ ignorance of opportunities in the primary sector is a big problem; even bigger is school career advisors’ misconceptions

about farming, Jagger says.“It’s a major stumbling block,

when kids are thinking about which career pathway to take and what sub-jects they will need to take for that pathway. I’m not sure the primary sector is being laid on the table as something to strive towards.”

Northland farmer and Okura Jersey stud co-owner Lyna Beehre says she was actively discouraged at high school from pursuing a career in farming. “When I was a sixteen year old struggling with School Cert, I approached the careers advisor about the possibility of going farming. She said there was no way a girl of my cal-ibre should go dairy farming. If that perception hasn’t changed it needs to.”

Jagger says this is a real problem when the industry needs the best and brightest to continually grow – not just those with no other options. “Agriculture is a science- and tech-

nology-based industry and we are not getting more of that calibre of people from school leavers. There are still good numbers of vets but we need science minded individuals in other areas as well.

Farming is not at the forefront of career choices. Jagger says. It should have the same exposure as medicine, law, accountancy and opthalmology.

Jagger is one of a group address-ing this issue in Northland, working with the Whangarei A&P society to get a teaching farm, and with North-land College to set up an agricultural college hub in Kaikohe. “It’s no good farmers sitting back talking about not capturing the bright kids.”

Jagger applauds moves by the NZQA to implement farming national standards, and he acknowledges there are farming courses in some schools, but these are not widespread.

gareth gillatt


View environmental rules as an opportunity, not burden

farmers should look on environmental regulations as an opportu-nity rather than a burden, two prominent Northland farmers told the Northland Smaller Milk and Supply Herds conference last month.

Farmer and LIC direc-tor Murray Jagger, and Okura Jersey Stud co-owner Lyna Beehre, both of Whangarei, play down the chore aspect of environ-mental tasks.

Beehre says farmers are under more pressure from the likes of regional coun-cils, Fonterra and pressure groups such as RSPCA. “When we started farm-ing 12 years ago it was a nice to know how much nitrogen was being used on the farm; now it’s a need to know and be responsi-ble for.”

Jagger says farm-ers need to embrace the opportunities regulations provide. “We’ve got to stop treating this as compliance. Sustainability is about the succession of the industry

and the right to farm. We need to take sustainability and capture value from it.”

Jagger said it was a case of moving forward.”You can’t make decisions by the seat of your pants any more, you need a lot more

details to make decision.“My generation’s deci-

sion making process is dif-ferent from the way my father’s generation made decisions and the next gen-eration will be different again.”

gareth gillatt

Lyna Beehre

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14 // news - side

in the opening keynote of the SIDE conference, Rick Pridmore, DairyNZ, warned the industry could “rot from the bottom” as environmental policies hit home.

“Most places I go to I see farmers doing a good job and we’ve still got a problem…. It’s called bad planning. You [current dairy farmers] are having to wear the [environ-mental] cost of every new conversion.”

In many areas of New Zealand the number of dairy farms exceeds what is environmentally sustainable under historic practice. Now the brakes are going on, but too hard or inappropriately in some cases. “We’re over-correcting for something that should have been stopped.”

Pridmore urged farmers to get involved “boots and all” and warned good practice alone will not fix water quality issues. “What we have to do is control the conversion of low-loss land [eg forest] to high-loss land. If we don’t do that our industry will rot from the bottom.”

He also warned against investing in costly mitigation measures until regional or catchment policies are fixed. “All you will end up doing is adding a lot of cost to your business and you don’t fix anything.”

Bad planning still a worry

Director pitches for co-op

the growing com-petition for milk supply must be hitting home within Fonterra, if direc-tor John Monaghan’s pre-sentation to the South Island Dairy Event is any-thing to go by.

In the closing key-note address of the three day event, the Wairarapa farmer gave a blatant promo for the nationwide co-op.

“You need to know we’re good to grow, and you’re good to grow with us, because we’re the best home for your milk,” Monaghan told the 580-

strong sellout crowd, which certainly included Synlait, Westland, and former New Zealand Dair-ies suppliers, and probably an Open Country supplier or two as well.

He went on to plug Fonterra’s international market penetration, and that as a Fonterra share-holder, it does “all start”

at the farm gate, as the cooperative’s supply signs say, whereas for the non-Fonterra supplier, “that’s where the buck stops.”

“If you’ve got one of these [signs] at your farm gate you can expect to see value returns increase as we grow. That’s the advan-tage of being a Fonterra shareholder.”

Last year’s reform of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act so com-petitors must take peak milk from Fonterra if they also want shoulder season supply, was welcomed. With that taking effect this season “we’ll see if the grass is really greener on the other side of the fence or just Astroturf,” he said.

Supplying DIRA milk to competitors during the autumn drought, while having to shut its own plants early, cost Fonterra $23m or nearly 3c/kgMS off payout, he added.

The significance of suppliers moving to com-petitors was played down, as was a high share price being a barrier to joining Fonterra.

Fonterra shares are the most flexible of the criti-cal investments needed in dairying: land, plant, herd and shares, he maintained.

“Every year we gain and lose shareholders and this year is no exception but what really matters is total milk volume because this is where our world class game comes from.”

A high share price

should be viewed as “the positive barometer that it is,” he added.

Monaghan said Fon-terra is confident of demand and pricing for the coming season, and equally confident in its ability to generate “both volume and value.” “We want you to share in that confidence, grow milk supply, and back us as a winner,” he concluded.

Having stressed the positives, Monaghan was questioned from the floor on the risks farmers should be looking out for and protecting themselves from.

Top of Fonterra’s agenda is sustainabil-ity, but with milk growth, which is in line with Gov-ernment and opposition party policy, he answered.

“My own farm is in the Horizons area and if some of those [One Plan] rules were applied as they sit today we’d see a 10-30% drop in milk production in that area.” The same rules applied in Waikato would see a 27% drop in produc-tion and plant closures, he added. “We also need to focus on social well-being and economic growth.”

Keeping the gover-nance pipeline primed with high calibre farmer directors is another chal-lenge. “If we don’t get that right suddenly you won’t get the right level of chief executive as we grow our strategy.”

John Monaghan address SIDE delegates.



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side - news // 15

David Chapman at SIDE last month.

System change can meet enviro goalsbe confident: freshwater nutrient limits can be met without crippling farm profitability, a SIDE paper presented by DairyNZ’s David Chapman concludes.

The paper relays the high stocking-rate equivalent (HSE) and low stocking-rate equivalent (LSE) systems trial underway on the Lincoln University Dairy Research Farm.

While actual nutrient losses for the Pas-toral 21-funded work are yet to be released, Overseer modelling of the systems predicts 35kgN/ha lost under the 5-cow/ha HSE system, and 19kgN/ha under the 3.5-cow/ha LSE approach.

Averaged over the trial’s two seasons completed to date, operating profit of

the LSE was $201/ha behind the HSE, a 4% reduction from $5061/ha to $4860/ha from production of 2290kgMS/ha and 1789kgMS/ha respectively.

Chapman suggests the low nutrient loss per hectare may allow extra hectares to be farmed, so regionally or nationally produc-tion needn’t necessarily fall.

Equally, in some catchments, HSE may still be the way forward.

“The HSE is a classic way of driving pro-duction and this is what we’ve done for the last eight to ten years,” Chapman told del-egates. “It may be in some situations this will still be viable if the catchment can absorb more nitrogen and society says we can still do that.”

Soil science explained, myths bustedsome freQuently heard but fun-damentally flawed marketing mantras on soil fertility were shot down by Ravens-down’s Ants Roberts at SIDE.

Having run through the basics of soil science, his “Don’t treat your soils like dirt” workshop moved on to some of the myths circulating. “There’s a lot of mis-direction out there,” he warned.

For example, those who compare potash fertiliser to the chlorine used to clean swimming pools and keep drinking water clean “don’t understand the chem-istry,” he said.

“Potash, potassium chloride, is not the same as the chlorine in our water, or the swimming pool. That’s hypochlorite and that’s what kills the algae and micro-organisms.”

Potassium chloride in soil behaves similarly to common salt, sodium chlo-ride, as found in seawater at about a 6% concentration, the ions disassociat-ing in soil to become plant available, he explained.

As for spreading or spraying on humate, yes, humate is beneficial, but to suggest applications of 30kg/ha could make a difference when even low organic matter brown-grey soils such as those in central Otago have 30-60t/ha of humate-laden organic matter already is mislead-ing. “For the most part, at the rates they recommend, it’s going to do no good at all,” said Roberts.

Fine particle fertiliser proponents also came under fire, as Roberts said the only fully replicated research done with fine particle DAP or brews such as urea and lime, had found no difference in response to conventional prills or granules.

Another marketing trick deployed to convince farmers their soils are in poor health is to dig some up and bemoan the lack of earthworms, he noted. “In places like the Central Plateau they’ll say ‘see, no earthworms,’ and tell you they’ve been killed by super or urea, but the reality is they were probably never there in the first place.”


16 // news

when cows hit the sack in a free-stall barn, they’d rather be on sand than a waterbed, a team of researchers at Massey University has found.

“In fact, they were happy to use any type of bed with the exception of the dual chamber waterbeds,” correspond-ing author for the Pastoral 21-funded research programme, Jean Margerison, told Dairy News.

Margerison presented a short paper at last week’s New Zealand Society of Animal Production conference in Ham-ilton detailing the behaviour of three mobs of cows in the project: one at pas-ture 24/7, and two grazed for four hours/day, then housed in free-stall barns with access to either sand or waterbeds.

The pasture mob and the sand mob spent just over 11 hours/day lying down, but the waterbed mob reclined for just 9.6 hours/day. What’s more, that 9.6

hours/day included 1.7 hours of the 4 hours/day grazing period.

Cows in the sand mob spent less time, 1.2 hours of the four hours/day, at pasture lying down while the 24/7 pas-ture mob spent just 45 minutes lying down in the same period.

“Cows at pasture need to graze for longer than cows offered silage in a shed and so the housed cows can spend more time lying at pasture,” says Margerison

She says a different result might be seen if cows were fed less than the 10kgDM/cow as silage offered in the shed in the trial.

All the cows were given a three day acclimatisation period to their bedding, before a three day monitoring period.

Heeding the waterbed manufac-turer’s advice that animals may take a fortnight to acclimatise to the product, some cows were kept on the beds for an extra 14 days but lie time declined even further.

“The problem with more standing and less lying down is, as other research-ers have shown, reduced productivity and more animal health issues, most notably lameness.”

Margerison notes several overseas studies have found cows to be uncom-fortable on waterbeds. Some of find-ings point to the temperature of the bed being a problem, but the Massey work was done mid summer so beds were unlikely to be too cold, or too hot, she says.

The behavioural differences observed in the Massey work couldn’t be assessed with respect to animal produc-tivity as the cows in the trial were dry at the time. In the trial, all mobs were stood on concrete for two hours/twice a day to simulate milking during the research. Margerison notes that of all the beddings used the cows kept clean-est on sand.

Cows prefer sand, shun waterbeds

Bed type Lie Time* (hrs)

Pasture 10.4

Sand 10.4

Water 7.3

*Of 16-hour overnight housed period

andrew swallow

Jean Margerison


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news // 17

One Plan changes ‘step in the right direction’

horiZons regional Council’s plan for implementing its controversial One Plan is a “step in the right direc-tion’, says a Federated Farmers leader.

Andrew Hoggard, a Horizons regional dairy farmer and Feds Dairy national vice-president, says the council’s changes to the plan make it “livable with”. But he’d prefer the plan was changed to some-thing more acceptable to dairy farmers.

The present plan was imposed on the coun-cil by the Environment Court after a series of appeals. Dairy farmers and commercial grow-ers are unhappy with this. Appeals by Federated Farmers and Horticul-ture New Zealand against points of law in the One Plan are due to be heard soon in the High Court.

The council’s proposal allows a controlled activ-ity consent to farm for up to 25 years for farm-ers who meet required N leaching targets for their farms. Farmers with a plan to reduce their N leach-ing will get a 20-year restricted discretionary consent. But those who refuse to reduce their N

leaching will get only a 5-year restricted discre-tionary consent and will be referred to ‘industry’ to get help.

A big change in the pro-cess is that the council will develop ‘memoranda of understanding’ on N leaching mitigation strat-egies, rather than impos-ing them on farmers. They seem to be aiming to work with all stakeholders. But though the dairy industry has been involved in these new protocols, Horticul-ture New Zealand, a major stakeholder, has not yet been approached about them.

Hoggard, still study-ing details of the Hori-zons proposal, says he sees need for change.

The council’s imple-mentation proposal is an interim solution pending its application for a plan change.

“I’ve heard different stories about this. Some say we will have to wait two years before anything can happen; other people say it can be done straight away. I’m not a legal expert and can’t say when it might happen, except that it must happen, because the plan effec-tively recognises that the leaching tables we’ve been given are unachievable. It seems a bit silly to leave in rules unachievable by

the vast majority of farm-ers. Common sense would suggest you have rules most people can achieve

and then you set up the exceptions for the minor-ity, not the other way around,” he says.


fish and game not happy

FISH AND Game is unhappy with the council’s implementation programme, saying there is “no justification for such a flimsy approach”.

It doesn’t support granting short term consents to farmers doing nothing to mitigate nitrogen leaching, saying such a move could result in further decline of water quality in some of the region’s rivers.

Fish and Game says the One Plan as ap-proved by the court clearly expects appli-cants for restricted discretionary consents to commit to practical improvement of farm management and to reducing nutrient leach-ing. Horizon is proposing is a consent category not consistent with the court ruling, Fish and Game says.

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18 // news

Gavin Roden

Awards leaders planning special events for 2014the dairy industry awards organisers intend holding special events next year to mark the 25th anniversary of the New Zealand Sharemilker of the Year contest. The committee met recently in

Manawatu to begin plan-ning.

New to the chair of the NZ Dairy Industry Awards is South Auckland share-milker Gavin Roden. He joined the committee in 2011, after learning of the

benefits from participat-ing.

“I became keen on the awards when I witnessed the impact they had on those successful. They got a good name and a good reputation, and were able

to grow a successful busi-ness from entering the awards and being pushed in the right direction.”

Roden and wife Sally won the Auckland Hauraki Sharemilker of the Year title in 2009 and are now 50% sharemilking 440 cows at Waiuku. As awards chairman, he says he aims

to increase participation – particularly the numbers of repeat entrants – by better supporting entrants to progress in the industry.

“We have a lot of fan-tastic farmers out there and our awards pro-gramme enables them to analyse where they are at and where they are going. As an awards programme, we can point them in the right direction and help them achieve their goals and bring them up to a higher level.

“This guidance and feedback will help them progress in the dairy industry and ultimately

they will do well in the competition and the industry if they continue to enter.”

Roden takes over from Southland sharemilker and farm owner Matthew Richards.

At least 550 people entered the 2013 awards programme. Entrants

first compete in one of 12 regional competitions, with regional winners progressing to a national final. The competition attracts entrants for the New Zealand Sharemilker of the Year, New Zealand Farm Manager of the Year and New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year com-petitions.

The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are sup-ported by national spon-sors Westpac, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farm-ers, Fonterra, Honda Motorcycles NZ, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravens-down, RD1 and AgITO.

Irrigation kick-start eyes $4b export increasepotential eXists for 420,000ha more irrigated land, resulting in $4 billion more exports by 2026.

So says MPI minister Nathan Guy of the Crown Irri-gation Investments company launched last Tuesday to manage the Crown’s investments in irrigation schemes.

The SOE will work with backers of new regional irri-gation schemes, says chairwoman Alison Paterson. It will support well-designed projects on the Government’s behalf, particularly with community engagement and planning for good environmental outcomes.

Guy says the company will act as a bridging investor for regional water infrastructure projects, to help kick-start projects otherwise unlikely to go ahead. The Government has budgeted $80 million for this.

Other directors of the company are Don Huse (deputy chair), Debbie Birch, Lindsay Crossen, Chris Kelly, Graeme Sutton and Michael Webb. All were establishment board members.

“Crown Irrigation will invest where it is considered necessary to get a project underway. It will be a minority and targeted investor,” says Guy. “This is another impor-tant step towards unlocking the massive opportunities water storage and irrigation can create for New Zealand.”

There is potential for another 420,000ha of irri-gated land. Research by NZIER suggests exports could be boosted by $4 billion a year by 2026.

More consistent river flows in summer will benefit the environment, improving habitats for fish and birdlife.

“I became keen on the awards when I witnessed the impact they had on those successful. They got a good name and a good reputation.”

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news // 19

Mooloo country gets school milk

fonterra’s recognition that Milk for Schools should be offered to all schools rather than just those in lower socio-economic areas was a good move, says principal of Leamington School in Cambridge, Mike Malcolm.

“Everyone needs milk,” Malcolm told Dairy News. “Even though we are a high-decile school, the kids win… if the kids win, we all win.”

Fonterra launched its Milk for Schools North Island regional (excluding the earlier pilot scheme in Northland) at the school in the heart of dairy country in late June, the first of 130 Waikato schools to sign up. The South Island is now fully on board.

Malcolm says within two days of it starting at his school it was operating “like a well-oiled machine” because the teachers were on board. And the children had more energy and focus.

Earlier Malcolm said told several hundred at the official opening that Fonterra is the biggest contributor to our economy. “However there is also no doubt that some time in the future our biggest export item will be the brain power of our people,” he said.

As educators they would do any-

thing to enhance the education expe-rience of their children and raise achievement.

“Why are schools so eager to be involved in the Milk for Schools pro-gramme? It is simple, healthy food equals healthy kids. Healthy kids equal better outcomes. Better learn-ing outcomes mean a brighter educa-tional future for our children which leads to a brighter future for our country.

“The Milk for Schools pro-gramme is an investment into our children and into the future of coun-try that every New Zealand should feel extremely proud of. This ini-tiative will be the envy of countries around the world and held up as an

example of a company which genu-inely believes in social and environ-mental responsibility.”

Waipa district mayor Alan Liv-ingston said Fonterra was contribut-ing to the health of the children. “It is not just providing milk and leaving it up to the schools to work out how to deliver it and other logistical aspects. Refrigeration, recycling… makes it an efficient programme.”

Fonterra general manager coop-erative social responsibility Carly Robinson says it takes a big team to make something like Milk for Schools to happen. “We have partnered with some great organizations” including Fisher and Paykel, Tetra Pak, Main-freight and Ebbett Holden.

pam tipapamelat@ruralnews�co�nz

Milk for Schools launches in the heart of dairy country with a parade through Cambridge.Below: Waipa Mayor Alan Livingstone salutes the Waikato launch with a pupil from Goodwood School.

Leamington School pupils give Milk for Schools the thumbs up.

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20 // news/opinion

A ReCenT article in Dairy News (June 25) posed the question, “can we breed better cows?” This is a reasonable ques-tion on an important topic, but the article con-tained errors.

It said we are breed-ing genetics in Waikato

for Waikato conditions when many progeny end up in different conditions down south. This is incor-rect. The location of bulls is irrelevant because the 200 Sire Proving Scheme herds contracted to LIC are spread nationwide. Bulls are ranked on the performance of their daughters in herds repre-sentative of the national

herd (44,000 South Island cows are included in this year’s SPS quota, compris-ing 42% of the total).

It must be noted also, that many of the bulls themselves are bred in South Island herds by top performing South Island cows.

At least 4 million cows nationwide are scruti-nised to identify 4000 for

contract mating. Many more bull calves are con-sidered for purchase ‘off shed records’ (these calves resulted from mat-ings organised by the farmer without any prior contract). After detailed pedigree examinations, DNA parentage testing, genotyping and physical inspection of both dam and calf, 200 bulls will

peTeR GATLeY

Lifting the rate of genetic gainenter the SPS. As year-lings, each bull will sire 70-80 daughters spread over 50+ herds to ensure that management effects are stripped out to expose genetic merit. Record-ing accuracy is ensured because SPS daughters are all parentage-verified via DNA testing at LIC’s expense as part of the package.

Three years after the elite yearling bulls supply their SPS insemi-nations their daughters enter milking herds and are tested in purely com-mercial farming environ-ments representative of the full range of farm sys-tems from 1 to 5 (exclu-sively pasture-based to high input).

On graduation, only about 20 bulls will be widely used as progeny tested sires. Selection intensity is enormous. Of at least 2 million bull calves born from recorded cows, just 20 make the grade. That is 1 in 100,000.

The national breed-ing objective is Breed-ing Worth (BW) which is constructed by NZ Animal Evaluation Ltd, a pan-industry group inde-pendent of any breed-ing company. The BW currently includes seven traits for good reason. They are the traits with the greatest impact on farm profit. Having said that, any breeding com-pany knows that without good udders, capacity and temperament, you will not sell much semen.

The Dairy News arti-cle interviewee referred to dominance by Hol-stein Friesian genetics in New Zealand. It is correct that more of our genes have been contributed by the black & whites than by Jersey, but our farm-ers have long since shown a preference for the best of both worlds with some hybrid vigour for good measure. Two thirds of the nation’s calves last year were crossbred, and in the South Island 73%. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, hence the growth in demand for KiwiCross bulls, already twice the size of the Jersey category and still growing.

The Dairy News correspondent wonders if our industry would be better to look to other breeds. The Guernsey is

mentioned, along with its yellow milkfat. If this is ever sought after by our dairy companies, LIC will happily oblige by breeding for that trait. If anything, there seems to be a preference for whiter milk. At this stage, despite a long established joint venture with Fonterra looking for unique, high value milk components to exploit via breeding, the goal remains high quality commodity milk, efficiently and sustainably produced.

Genetic gain is widely recognised as the great-est contributor to farm productivity improve-ment. Independent sci-entist Dr Peter Amer did the calculation for NZAEL and valued this at $300m annually, and it is cumula-tive ($600m in the follow-ing year, $900m the year after, etc).

We must bear in mind that driving genetic gain is like steering an oil tanker. Today’s decisions impact directly, many, many years into the future. For example, this year’s con-tract matings will put bull calves on the ground in 2014. They’ll be prog-eny tested in 2015 but not graduate the Sire Prov-ing Scheme and achieve widespread use until 2019. Their daughters will hit the ground in big num-bers in 2020 but not be milked until 2022. They’ll last on average for five lac-tations, taking us to 2026, but many will milk beyond 2030.

Here we can clearly see the potential benefit of genomics. Rather than wait until 2019 to get new bulls onto the market, we can screen thousands of calves born this year, and supply the market in 2014.

The importance of genetic gain was recently recognised by the direc-tors in approving the expansion of the Sire Proving Scheme from 160 bulls to 200 annu-ally, while continuing to fully support the ongoing development of genomics, the only technology with so much to offer genetic improvement.

Can we breed better cows? The answer is yes, and we do, every year. The better question is, just how far can we lift the rate of genetic gain?• Peter Gatley is general manager genetics at LIC.

Peter Gatley

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woRLd // 21

Oz visa changes irk farmersToUGHeR LAws restricting the use of skilled migrant workers on Australian dairy farms may leave many farmers unable to fill vacancies.

The new rules are forc-ing more regulations, paperwork and costs on farmers, prompting fears they will abandon the scheme as being too hard.

The National Farm-ers Federation and Aus-tralian Dairy Farmers have slammed the changes, saying they will make it harder for farmers to find properly skilled people.

The industry groups say an already arduous task has been made more of a burden for an industry struggling to find suitable staff in the local market.

Concerns centre on the increased onus on employ-ers to prove they can’t find Australian staff, includ-ing new advertising and market testing require-ments before sponsoring an overseas worker on a 457 visa, and more strin-gent training guidelines.

Farmers and indus-try leaders say the use of skilled migrants is a vital part of the dairy industry and needs to be protected, not hindered.

The new laws are intended to crackdown on rorting, protect Australian jobs and ensure overseas workers are not exploited. But dairy leaders say the skilled migrants are not being used as a cheap option and are only employed when needed.

Dairy farmers want-ing to nominate a for-eign worker under the 457 visa will now have to pay A$330, up from A$85. Can-didates for 457 and perma-nent resident visas are also facing huge fee increases.

Those aged 18-30 on 417 working holiday visas can work for up to six months each with two dif-ferent employers and can extend their stay for a fur-ther 12 months if working in a regional area.

Farmers and foreign workers who want to extend their arrangements to a 457 work visa already face an arduous process and expect it to be worse

RiCK BAYne

after the passing of the Migration Amendment (Temporary Sponsored Visas) Bill through Parlia-ment in late June.

ADF president Noel Campbell says the amend-ment would disadvantage farmers who have a genu-ine need to seek overseas workers due to the lack of available local labour.

“At a time when there is a critical shortage of skilled dairy workers, the dairy industry relies on skilled migration to bol-ster its workforce and help our farmers fill labour shortages,” Campbell says.

He says while the per-centage of dairy farms using staff on 457 visas was relatively low, more were turning to the overseas market for help.

“We’re hearing from more farmers all the time that they need to go down this route, especially those on bigger and more remote properties.”

Campbell described the current application process as complex and laborious which prolonged the length of on-farm vacancies.

“Instead of addressing farmers’ concerns

and streamlining the application process, the Government’s changes will make an already challenging situation even more complex, placing an even greater workload on farmers and affecting health and wellbeing. It’s becoming too hard. Already some farmers have to use a third party at a substantial cost to do the forms.”

Campbell says under the new legislation Aus-tralian farmers need to advertise positions and go through a formal market testing process.

Irish nationals Gerard Conway and Siobhan Clavin work on a dairy farm in western Victoria.

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22 // opinionDai ry News july 9, 2013

HORIZONS REGIONAL Council deserves credit for its attempt to minimise the fallout on dairy farmers caused by the worrisome One Plan.

A cynic would say that with local government elections loom-ing the council had to try to clean up the mess caused by the plan – the work of councillors and others. Otherwise the political fall-out could have been interesting, to say the least.

The council’s temporary solution will allow all dairy farmers the right to farm for varying lengths of time depending on their proposals for mitigating nitrogen leaching on their farms.

Here lies a problem: some of the N leaching targets set out in the Environment Court-approved plan are basically unachiev-able by some farmers. As Andrew Hoggard, of Federated Farm-ers, rightly asks, “why have rules if people can’t meet them – it’s plain silly”. Unless the objective is to put them out of business.

The council seems to be implementing its One Plan in a way that will give them time – who knows when – to go for a ‘plan change’. Essentially this means re-litigating some controversial aspects of the plan to try to get it right. For a few weeks the coun-cil had it right – then Fish and Game, DOC and the council itself attacked, or failed to support, the decisions made by the council’s own commissioners and the result is a plan from hell.

One Plan is a lawyers’ gravy train. Cost estimates vary, but by the time this is settled in, say, five years, it will have cost ratepay-ers and interested parties about $20 million. Then the implemen-tation costs hit the council and farmers.

The council keeps insisting it is blameless for the mess-up. That notion is delusional. While bureaucrats and councillors bungle their way through, ratepayer farmers are being stung twice and the economy of the region placed in jeopardy.

To be fair, the council after hefty persuasion by DairyNZ, has come up with a temporary sort-of livable implementation pro-gramme. It’s the least the council could have done given the angst it has caused to farmers and the rural community.

A rumour surfaced that One Plan was to be entered in some award contest – presumably for the cock-up of the decade.

Common sense prevails

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Hands off councilsENVIRONMENT MINIS-TER Amy Adams wants to clarify the respective roles of the EPA and local government and says councils should not “set up their own independent states where they write their own rules and ignore the national framework”.

A key culprit is a North-land inter-council working party recommending ‘local regulation’ to restrict genetically modified or-ganisms, based largely on ‘evidence’ from anti-GMO propagandists. The efforts of this Northland group seem to be driven largely by known anti-GMO activ-ist Linda Grammer.

The Feds have rightly said GMO regulation re-quires scientific rigour and should sit with the EPA, not councils.

sustainability no laughing matterIS DAIRYNZ’S strategy and investment leader for sustainability, Rick Pridmore, moonlighting as a comedian? TV3 Seven Days host Jeremy Corbett bears an uncanny likeness to DairyNZ’s man who gave the opening keynote address at the recent South Island Dairy Event. Only difference is, what Pridmore’s talking about is no laughing matter.

elephant in the room

‘MILKING IT’ was left won-dering which country it had woken up in last week when a media release about elephants and alligators landed in the inbox. The source? None other than Waikato Regional Council. It claims circus elephants are believed indirectly respon-sible for a large outbreak of the notorious pest plant alligator weed near Hamil-ton recently. Alligator weed started sprouting after a load of elephant dung was bought as a fertiliser from a circus visiting Hamilton in 2007.

step in the right direction?THE TAIWAN Council of Agriculture’s (COA) Live-stock Research Institute has developed an estrus cycle detection system to ascertain when dairy cows are most receptive to mating, allowing farmers to improve breeding manage-ment on their farms.

The institute says dairy farmers must often deal with the problem of cows’ estrus periods becoming shorter or more unpre-dictable due to the hot weather in summer. The system works primarily by picking up the frequency of the bovines’ steps, which usually increase during their estrus period.

The system allows dairy farmers to receive informa-tion about their cattle’ s estrus status while away from their farms and also helps them better under-stand the estrus periods of their herds through the collated data.


opinion // 23

China: getting down to business at the highest levelPRIMARY INDUSTRIES Minister Nathan Guy last week made his first visit to China since he took the portfolio. His comments below were addressed to an animal husbandry seminar he attended with agribusiness leaders.

THis is my first visit to China as Minister for Primary Industries, and my second visit as a minister. I visited here in April 2012 as the Minister of Immigration and Associate Minister for Primary Industries.

New Zealand and China signed a free trade agreement in 2008. When this agreement was signed, both nations hoped it would bring increased trade. We have surpassed the expectations of even the most positive analysts. Not only have we increased two way trade, China is now New Zealand’s largest trading partner, even surpassing Australia. And the relationship between the two coun-tries has grown stronger.

The Prime Minister’s trade delega-tion in April showed that at the high-est level New Zealand is committed to furthering our relationship.

China has shown itself to be a land of opportunity in terms of agricultural production. The statistics are amaz-ing, and almost speak for themselves. With one fifth of the world’s popula-tion, China has become a dairy con-suming country.

Ten years ago the Chinese popula-tion consumed an average 8kg of dairy product per person per year. Today the figure is closer to 30kg.

I understand that by 2020, 60 billion litres of milk will be needed to meet local demand. The market potential is astonishing, and New Zea-land wants to be involved. It is in both of our interests if we work together to help China meet this goal. There is no way New Zealand can supply 60 bil-lion litres alone.

For context, Fonterra, New Zea-

land’s largest dairy company, aims to increase produc-tion on its farms in China to 1 billion litres by 2020 – only 2% of what is required to feed the Chinese domestic population.

New Zealand (4.5 million pop.) feeds 40 million and exports to 200 countries. For 100 years we have made our way in the world by selling what the rest of the world wants and needs – high quality primary produce. Our repu-tation is as a trusted trading partner with integrity. We are proud of our reputation, and committed to uphold-ing it. This is why we have developed world leading food safety, biosecurity, and animal welfare systems.

We are always working to improve the productivity of our pastoral land, but we acknowledge we do not have an endless supply of land to continue growing our food production base.

So we are looking to international partners to work with, and have a gen-uine interest in working with China to develop your agricultural industry, and the systems such as food safety that support these industries. Work-ing together we can have a win-win situation, good for New Zealand and good for China.

In April this year Minister Han and I signed the ‘Strategic Plan on Pro-moting Agricultural Cooperation’ that underpins our working relation-ship; that’s why I am here now with

this delegation. We want to build on this solid foun-

dation of coopera-tion between our two countries.

I have brought with me to China a high quality dele-

gation representing agricultural busi-

nesses and research institutes. The

expertise and experience of the people with me today is amazing. I

encourage you all to engage as much as possible here today. People-to-people relationships are at the heart of any partnership, and something New Zealand and China need to con-tinually work at.

Again I acknowledge the impor-tance to New Zealand of the rela-tionship with China. While this relationship has grown strongly espe-cially during the last few years, it is important to note that China has a strong place in New Zealand’s his-tory. From mining for gold nearly 150 years ago to working in market gar-dens in my home town today, China has always had a strong place and a strong reputation in New Zealand’s primary industries.

This is acknowledged in my home-town of Levin, where in the main street there is a bronze statue of a market gardener holding a hoe. China is firmly a part of my local community and New Zealand as a whole. Let’s get down to business.

Nathan Guy

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24 // AGRiBUsiness

Dairy co-ops first choice of farmers – USDAin HeR report for the US Depart-ment of Agriculture’s Rural Business and Cooperative Service, ‘Dairy Coop-eratives in the 21st Century – The First Decade’, Carolyn B Liebrand examines cooperatives in the US dairy industry. What her research reveals will be no surprise to New Zealander dairy farm-ers who clearly understand the cooper-ative business model.

As the volatility of milk prices expe-rienced in the 1990s increased in the first decade of the 21st century, “the first decade of the 21st century was tumul-tuous for both the dairy industry and the United States economy generally,” Liebrand reports. Average monthly milk price peaked in November 2007 at arecord $21.90 per hundredweight (cwt) and then fell to less than $11.50 per cwt in June and July 2009. Month to month fluctuations in average milk

prices were more than $2 per cwt eight times during the decade, badly affecting many dairy farmers.

In the regulatory arena, the milk price support programme was changed to support dairy product prices rather than milk prices. While the support purchase price for nonfat dry milk was lowered, the purchase price for butter support was raised. An income support program was instituted so that under certain conditions the US Govern-ment made monthly payments directly to qualifying dairy producers.

In the first decade of the 21st cen-tury, the number of US dairy coopera-tives dropped from 211 to 151, with 23 new ones being formed and 83 ceas-ing to exist. Comparing 2000 to 2010, of those no longer trading 49 had been sold or gone out of business, while 30 had merged with another cooperative, and four no longer handled member-producer milk.

So while some co-ops altered the

way they operate to meet changes in the marketplace and some went out of busi-ness, a major share of US milk produc-tion was going through farmer-owned dairy cooperatives in 2010.

While three out of four of those operating in 2010 had been in opera-tion prior to 1992 and fewer than one in seven had been formed since 2000, at least a dozen had been in business for more than 75 years. So while almost two out of every five dairy co-ops that existed in 2000 had gone out of busi-ness by 2010, averaging 7.5 cooperative exits a year, on average two new dairy co-ops had been formed each year.

Although the economic environ-ment is common to all dairy co-ops, the performance of each co-op has been impacted differently. During the global financial crisis, some cooper-atives made additional payments to their members to help them through the difficulties of record low milk pay-ment prices and the record high cost of

inputs. This type of assis-tance will have boosted the bottom lines of members’ dairy farm businesses, but reduced the cooperatives’ own net income before tax.

“While the dairy coop-erative sector is buffeted by the same economic storms as the broader economy and impacted by changes in milk production, the financial perfor-mance data suggests that dairy cooperatives on average are able to use member capi-tal effec-tively,” Liebrand writes.

Her conclusion is clear: “The fact that dairy cooperatives have been able to thrive using a variety of operating modes and under a broad range of eco-nomic conditions indicates that dairy

cooperatives are likely to continue as the marketing organisations of choice for many dairy farmers in the years to come.”• Ramsey Margolis is executive director of Cooperative Business New Zealand.

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AGRiBUsiness // 25

Winter spruce-up in full swing

RABoBAnK HAs announced two senior appointments to regional posi-tions.

Bruce Weir is now regional man-ager northern North Island, succeed-ing Paul Rogers. And David Clarke is now regional manager northern South Island, succeeding Don Kennedy.

Both men are proven leaders and high performers, says chief executive New Zealand Ben Russell. “They will… play an important role in supporting clients and developing the business in [their] areas.”

Weir, branch manager at Rotorua since he joined Rabobank in October 2010, has overseen this becoming a leading branch.

He has been in agri-banking for at least 12 years. “Raised on a dry stock farm in northern Hawkes Bay, Bruce has an agricultural background and understands the industry and the needs of farmers,” Russell says.

The northern North Island region includes Whangarei, Pukekohe, Thames, Te Puke, Whakatane and Rotorua.

Clarke joined Rabobank in March 2009 as branch manager, Invercargill. The branch has grown and the bank

has expanded its business in the local farming area. Before then he worked 15 years in banking.

Now he will work in Rabobank’s Christchurch branch, the region cov-ering Nelson, Blenheim, Christchurch, Ashburton and Timaru.

Clarke is passionate about agricul-tural banking and expects “to support clients to continue to be successful and grow in their market. We have an experienced and stable team across the northern South Island and I am looking forward to learning about the region, with the support of a high cal-ibre team.”

Raised in northern Southland on a family sheep and cropping farm, Clarke has a strong affinity with agri-culture and the people in the industry.

“I still have an interest in some dairy farms – my wife and I are share-holders in three dairy farms in South-land.

“Because of my background and farming partnerships today, I know and understand what clients are going through, and I have also developed a good understanding of what kind of ownerships structures and options are available too.”

Bank names regional heads

FonTeRRA HAs 900 factory staff working on New Zealand’s biggest annual winter maintenance project.

Many of Fonterra’s 27 sites are being ‘scrubbed up’ over 10 weeks, as milk flows have dropped off, allowing maintenance.

Brent Taylor, director of New Zealand operations, says the co-op each year sees to its sites being “match-fit to process at least 17 billion litres of milk.”

“Typically we produce about 2.4 mil-lion metric tonnes of product a season, running our driers at times at full capac-ity…. We have to maintain our equipment to the highest standards.

“Winter maintenance gets us off to a good start for the next season… to meet the demand from customers and deliver our products on time.”

Trevor Bell, maintenance coordinator at Te Rapa, says this work sets the tone for the following season, “setting up the plant for the season ahead so it can run at maxi-mum efficiency without unforeseen down-time which can cost us in lost production. [And it] allows us to extend the life of our equipment.”

The work is costing $70 million, mostly at the high capacity sites Whareroa (Taranaki), Edendale (Southland), Clande-boye (Southland) and Te Rapa (Waikato).

About 170 companies, big and small, will work together, employing 620 con-tract staff.

The work will range from major capi-tal works to minor valve and floor repairs.

All staff or contractors get safety train-ing, Fonterra says.

Fonterra maintenance fitter Greg Benfell carries out maintenance on Drier 1’s atomiser at the Te Rapa site.

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28 // mAnAGemenT

Weeping wall effective, lightGood FARmeRs and custodians of their land Craig and Kathy Harris recently built a ‘weeping wall’ system to process dairy shed and feed pad effluent.

“We had experience of them in our farming oper-ations in the South Island and they worked well so to keep up with regulations we installed one at our home farm and with our contour I knew it would be ideal for us,” said Craig.

La Vista Farms Ltd is at Otamarakau 27km south of Te Puke on High-way 2 and is 1km from the Pacific Ocean. The farm is 177eff/ha, and 625 Friesian and Friesian crossbred cows are contract milked by daughter and son-in-law Renee and Richard Boyden.

It is 66% river flats which are wet in the winter but hang on well into the summer, and the balance is easy rolling to steep. Rainfall is 1100mm with the area being prone to summer dries and they have free draining pumice soils. They have owned it for 28 years.

They have feed pads that will hold 300 head and are used for on/off grazing to protect pas-ture in bad weather. The farm is centrally raced to 97 paddocks and they use 12hr grazing running two herds. They have a 40-aside herring bone dairy shed with a Westfalia milking plant and they are Fonterra suppliers. Young stock are grazed off from May to May.

They irrigate 37ha, drawing water from a local stream through a Vanden Bussche irrigator.

Best production from the farm was in the 2011-2012 season and was 223000kgMS. “We were

heading for another record in the 2012-2013 season but because of the drought we had to bring all our

heifers home from grazing requiring us to dry a lot of our cows off early.”

Harriss have been

involved with vari-ous farming operations in Southland but have recently downsized and

now are only involved in a partnership with Chris and Gail McKenzie with two farms in Southland

TonY HopKinson

Craig Harris says the ‘weeping wall’ is ideal for his farm.

Queen of Calves. Bigger calves, better cows, more milk……. believe the science.

Did you know…? Up to 75% of New Zealand’s cows entering the milking herd1 are under their target weights.

Calves reared on the Queen of Calves Nutrition Programme grow significantly faster and produce significantly more milk.

The Queen of Calves Nutrition Programme is a revolutionary concept in calf nutrition. By adding it to the calf milk, it changes the way milk behaves in the digestive system so the calf can extract more of the goodness from the milk, not just some of it. It’s a completely natural, powerful nutrition programme that gives calves higher growth rates, greater body stature and earlier weaning.2

In fact it’s the first & only New Zealand-designed calf nutrition programme to have its research peer-reviewed by the world’s most prestigious dairy publication, the US Journal of Dairy Science.

This independent review of Massey University’s research verifies that calves reared on a Queen of Calves Nutrition Programme grow significantly faster and produce significantly more milk compared to age and breed-matched animals not reared on the programme.

It means you’re putting your calves to work earlier, producing more milk and making more money from them. Another $19,000 for a 384 cow dairy farm in the first lactation3, it’s definitely worth treating your calves like royalty.

1 National dairy statistics, 2 Margerison et al, Massey 2011, 3 Peter Fraser, Economist, Ropare Consulting, based on a $7 payout

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mAnAGemenT // 29

on energy

Craig Harris says he has control of the disposal of both liquids and solids with the weeping wall.

one of 330ha milking1200 cows and the second 188ha milking 600 cows. The partnership also has a 540ha run off.

“We decided to consolidate to the home farm and another 177ha at Gor-donton with equity partners our daughter Emma and her hus-band Finlay Maclen-nan milking 600 cows.

With a weep-ing wall Craig says the process solves all the problems by contain-ing all effluent from the dairy shed and the feed pad and he has control of the disposal of liquid and solids and is not subject to weather. The spreading of the liquid is done through the Vanden Bussche irri-gator.

Weeping walls are a low energy system which sep-

arate liquid from solids with the advantages of fewer blockages in irri-gators and full use of the remaining solids.

All material from the shed and pads flow into one of the twin bunkers which are 40 x 8 x 2m deep with no fall. Two metres from the outlet end is the weeping wall consist-ing of 50mm plastic slats with 6mm gaps which hold back the solids but let the liquid through. The liquid falls to a sump with a pump operated on a float

switch that pumps the liquid to a 4500m3 lined holding pond from where it is pumped to the irriga-tor. This liquid is spread

twice a week and continuously when combined with irrigation water.

The bunkers/sludge beds are 50m from the dairy shed and are almost odourless in operation. At the inlet there is a simple two way

gate to direct effluent to the left or right bunker. There is also a large diam-eter pipe to bring effluent direct from the feed pads.

The pads are used to feed about 700kg/cow of PKE and maize silage during the season and there is calving pad 30 x 30m adjacent.

The left hand bunker has taken all the mate-

rial for five months with no labour input before the gate was changed to fill the second bunker. The first bunker will not be emp-tied until bunker two is almost full in another 5-6 months.

“This allows as much liquid as possible to pass through the wall and fur-ther consolidate the mate-rial.”

All rainwater from the dairy shed can be diverted between milkings and a

contractor will empty the bunker and spread the material.

The installation was designed by Agfirst Engi-neering, Te Puke and built by Archway Construction Ltd, another local firm.

“Because the system works so well with low labour input, full utilisa-tion of the liquid and the solids being such a great fertiliser we can’t get enough of the stuff,” con-cluded Craig.

“Because the system works so well with low labour input, full utilisation of the liquid and the solids being such a great fertiliser we can’t get enough of the stuff,”

Queen of Calves. Bigger calves, better cows, more milk……. believe the science.

Did you know…? Up to 75% of New Zealand’s cows entering the milking herd1 are under their target weights.

Calves reared on the Queen of Calves Nutrition Programme grow significantly faster and produce significantly more milk.

The Queen of Calves Nutrition Programme is a revolutionary concept in calf nutrition. By adding it to the calf milk, it changes the way milk behaves in the digestive system so the calf can extract more of the goodness from the milk, not just some of it. It’s a completely natural, powerful nutrition programme that gives calves higher growth rates, greater body stature and earlier weaning.2

In fact it’s the first & only New Zealand-designed calf nutrition programme to have its research peer-reviewed by the world’s most prestigious dairy publication, the US Journal of Dairy Science.

This independent review of Massey University’s research verifies that calves reared on a Queen of Calves Nutrition Programme grow significantly faster and produce significantly more milk compared to age and breed-matched animals not reared on the programme.

It means you’re putting your calves to work earlier, producing more milk and making more money from them. Another $19,000 for a 384 cow dairy farm in the first lactation3, it’s definitely worth treating your calves like royalty.

1 National dairy statistics, 2 Margerison et al, Massey 2011, 3 Peter Fraser, Economist, Ropare Consulting, based on a $7 payout

0800 80 90 91 | [email protected] | www.queenofcalves.com

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30 // mAnAGemenT

Online production tracker lets you follow the curvedAiRY FARmeRs looking to max-imise production and minimise feed costs may now do this with a production tracking tool launched at National Fiel-days by feed specialist SealesWinslow.

Technical manager James Hague says it will enable farmers to project a production ‘curve’ then check their farm’s adherence to it as the season progresses.

When signing on, farmers work with SealesWinslow staff to enter basic infor-mation about the farm or do it them-selves online. Essential parameters are a target production for the season, average milk fat and milk protein per-centages and the number of predicted weekly calvings of cows and heifers. Others may be included. Actual milk data is provided directly from Fence-post or the other milk buyers.

Using these predictions SealesWin-

slow staff can design a feed budget to allow farmers to meet their production goals while maintaining a healthy, prof-itable operation, Hague says. Feeds may include SealesWinslow products, grass silage or maize silage.

Hague says the system isn’t intended as ‘set-and-forget’. If SealesWinslow nutritionists spot a deviation from predicted curves they will look into it to see what needs changing. “Devia-tions from the prediction can indicate a large amount about the nutrition of the herd, so that decisions can be made about changes to the diet.”

Being part of the Ballance Agri-Nutrients group means that Seales-Winslow are looking at a total solution including maximising the production

off the farm before purchased feeds are used. The company seeks to offer farmers a comprehensive tool rather than just trying to sell them feed. “We’ll look at complementing the diet with a range of our feeds to make the whole diet work.”

Big-picture considerations include impact on pastures when feed is put into the system. Bringing feed onto the farm has the effect of lowering the effective stocking rate, so some changes in grassland are needed. Hague says options include making more silage, planting crops or putting extra grazing pressure on pastures through break fencing to bring pasture covers down to desired residual levels.

Hague says the profitability of the

system is an essential consideration for nutritionists. “What we’ve got to be very conscious of is whether the farmer is making the margin. So if a farmer spends X dollars on feed, how much is he or she getting out? Some farms in the past have put a dollar in, but have strug-gled to get a dollar back out.”

A module on the tracker called ‘dairy costings’ tracks the amount of feed used on the farm and its cost, and cal-culates the feed conversion efficiency and margin over feed and forage costs. Tel. SI: 0800 007 766, NI: 0800 287 325www.sealeswinslow.co.nz

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James Hague, Seales Winslow, says it offers farmers a comprehensive tool rather than just sell them feed.

“Deviations from the prediction can indicate a large amount about the nutrition of the herd, so that decisions can be made about changes to the diet.”

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Mitigate stress levels of stock in transitHiGH sTRess levels affect cows being trucked from farm to farm, a senior MPI vet is warning.

Richard Wild last week presented a paper to the New Zealand Veterinary Association on this sub-ject. He told Dairy News that farmers need to be aware of this stress and

take steps to mitigate it.The paper, co-authored

by Wayne Ricketts, also from NZVA, appears as many dairy cows pre-pare to come back to their home farms after autumn

and winter grazing.Wild urges farmers to

read the transport code on animal welfare. For those not inclined to read such documents, a ‘farmer friendly’ version is on the DairyNZ website and the full document is on the MPI site.

“Farmers need to be thinking about where ani-mals are going, the dis-tance travelled, how to best select animals fit to take the intended journey and get to the other end of the journey in the same state in which they left the farm. That’s about prepar-ing them – making sure they are adequately rested fed and all those sort of things.”

Transporting dairy cows is a bit more com-plicated than other cat-egories of livestock and special attention needs to be paid to their needs.

“The difference between transporting a robust beef steer and transporting an older dairy cow is quite differ-ent. Dairy cows are more vulnerable particularly if they are pregnant; guid-ance and rules cover trans-porting late-pregnant animals. Stress can bring on early calving, and calv-ing on a truck is not a good look. Farmers need to be thinking about the stage of pregnancy those ani-mals are in, and the jour-ney, and whether or not it’s going to create a wel-

fare issue.”A tough question

when transporting stock is ‘who is responsible for the animals and when?’ The Animal Welfare Act talks about the ‘person in charge’ (PIC) of animals – variously the person grazing the animals, the transport operator and the stock owner. Also, are stock in ‘decrepit’ condition, meaning diseased or injured? These cannot be transported without a veterinary certificate. Wild says MPI and the NZVA now have an agreement on what this standard is – a positive outcome.

Irrespective of what the law says, Wild says farm-ers need to be aware of what the general public’s perception is on animal welfare because the public here and overseas is more interested in animal wel-fare issues.

“It’s important that the rural community is aware of what issues drive people living in central Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch in relation to animal welfare matters. They are essentially con-sumers of these animal products and don’t under-stand farming systems. They have their own per-spectives on what good welfare looks like; urban people drive the animals welfare standards and we’ve got to bear that in mind,” he says.

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in brief

ospRi launchedA NEW organisation formed by the merger of the Animal Health Board and NAIT started work last week.

OSPRI, the national animal identification and tracing scheme, brings together existing expertise, “developing creative operational solu-tions for the sector,” says chief executive William McCook.

“We will continue the NAIT and TBfree New Zealand programmes for farmers, but our broader mandate presents opportunities to add value for primary industries.”

OSPRI’s work includes biosecurity and pest management strategies, use of data and further development of government/industry collabo-ration, McCook says.

“Both organisations have a proven track record… and there are likely to be opportunities to enhance the sector in areas such as risk man-agement and information technology systems.”

The TBfree New Zealand and NAIT customer call centre facilities have been merged.

Special attention needs to be paid to cows being transported from farm to farm.

The science of genomics has faced some big challenges since inception, but we believe that the industry has already benefi ted from the availability of elite young sires and that this technology has a lot more to offer.

We recognise that evaluations have not always met expectations and we believe there is a better way to utilise the new technology. We have combined the “young and the old” or the “big and the small” to deliver only the highest ranked LIC bulls, bringing together the top Daughter Proven bulls and the cream of the young sire crop. These youngsters have exceptional genomic evaluations, but also solid pedigrees, strong cow families and outstanding ancestry evaluations.

Traditional Premier Sires Daughter Proven continues to offer the ultimate in team reliability. Premier Sires Forward Pack delivers the offspring of young Genomically Selected sires years earlier.

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34 // AnimAL HeALTH

Lame cows not inevitabledon’T ACCepT a high level of lameness, even if a farm has a history of the problem, delegates at the South Island Dairy Event heard last month.

Southland share-milker Kevin Louw relayed how, with the help of DairyNZ’s Healthy Hoof pro-gramme and some investment from his farm’s owner, he and his staff have slashed foot prob-lems from 5-10 new cases/day, to one or two a week.

What’s more, those cases are now caught early and cows generally recover in a few days, whereas previously it was weeks, or in the worst cases, not at all.

“It got incred-ibly bad: at one point during calving we had more cows in the lame mob than we had

in the colostrum mob,” he told Dairy News after the conference. “A good 20% of the herd was lame and it was all imploding upon us. Healthy Hoof was something we could hook onto

and follow and it started to work.”That was at the start of the 2011-12

season, his first on the 440-cow farm near Edendale. After an assessment visit (see sidebar) Louw’s Healthy Hoof provider Kristen Willis, of VetCo, highlighted a shortage of

yard space, misuse of the backing gate, a

track bottleneck at the shed, and dis-

rupted cow flow due to using a chain behind the cow in the end bail.

Poor vis-ibility into the shed for cows coming in during day-

light hours fur-ther hampered

cow flow, as did slippery concrete at

the entrance and exits. “It was dark in our

shed so we water-

blasted the windows and the owner put in rubber matting at the entrance and exits,” Louw told the SIDE audi-ence.

But while the infrastructure changes help, big improve-ments from better staff training and stockmanship alone can be made, he stresses. “I grew up on a farm and you tend to assume people know what to do, but they don’t and you’re not there all the time so you’ve really got to have buy-in by your staff so

they think the same way as you.”Louw says they now have a “no

heads-up” rule when moving stock, as a head up indicates a cow being pushed too hard.

Paddock gates are opened 20 min-utes earlier to allow cows to make their own way to the shed and the backing gate’s been slowed down and is only used to take up space, not push cows.

They don’t worry about cram-ming every last cow onto the yard at the start of milking anymore, and all lame cases are recorded in detail: type, date, treatment, hoof affected, recovery, etc.

A wall chart plotting the reduc-tion in lame cow cases proved a great motivator for the team, showing their efforts yielding results. When there was a slight increase, a meet-ing revealed some old habits coming back in and a training refresher soon got things back on track.

As a sharemilker, implement-ing management changes makes it easier when sitting down with the farm owner to discuss infrastructure improvements, he points out. “Imme-diately it’s not a them-and-us situa-tion: we’re in this together.”

While there will be other manage-ment factors involved, he believes Healthy Hoof played a key role in lift-ing production from 168,000kgMS in 2011/12, to 186,000kgMS last year. Empties were also down from 9% to 7%.

AndRew swALLow

Southland sharemilker Kevin Louw.

“It got incredibly bad: at one point during calving we had more cows in the lame mob than we had in the colostrum mob.”

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AnimAL HeALTH // 35

Lame cows not inevitable

dAiRY nZ Healthy Hoof pro-gramme manager Anna Irwin, who presented the lameness workshop at SIDE, stressed the importance of early identification and intervention with lame cows. “Early detection is crucial to a fast recovery.”

Since the programme’s launch five years ago 80 vets, technicians, consul-tants and extension staff have trained as healthy hoof providers and at least 400 farms have registered.

Registering means a provider will be allocated to your farm to identify and suggest solutions to factors likely to be causing lameness. While the Dairy NZ tools to tackle the problem are free, the provider’s fees are paid by the farm.

The provider works out an action plan with the farmer, helps develop staff skills relating to lameness, and assists the farmer in monitoring results and reaching goals set in the action plan.

The action plan is revised at least annually to refresh knowledge and

introduce new staff to it.“While all farmers gain some

insight into lameness on their farm, it is the farmers that have integrated the entire programme into their farming busi-ness that have seen the most improvement,” says Irwin.

Besides reduced lameness, improve-ments in milking effi-ciency, staff morale and job satisfaction are also seen. Production, reproduction and other animal health benefits also accrue, though quantifying them is tricky.

During the SIDE workshop Irwin was asked whether nutrition is a factor. She pointed to a previous SIDE paper, presented by Lincoln Univer-sity nutritionist Jim Gibbs, that shows acidosis and associated laminitis is not a problem in New Zealand’s pas-ture-based systems.

“We’re pretty confident that unless you’re feeding over 6kgDM/day of a high starch feed such as grain we don’t have sub clinical acidosis.”

Another question was on large herds. “If cows are walking over 1.5km/day you can expect it to have an impact on lameness, but it’s not the walk-ing that’s the prob-lem: it’s the wear on the soles of the hoof so they become suscep-tible to bruising,” she explained. “There’s

only 3mm of sole there, which is why I don’t like angle-grinders being used [for hoof trimming],” she added.

Some large herds also have inad-equate infrastructure, typically because it was built for a smaller operation and the herd’s expanded, and more farm staff, not all of whom may be trained in limiting lameness, can add to problems.

Move early to help recovery

Anna Irwin

Shortage of yard space at the milking shed contributes to lameness.

NZVA’s new presidentTHe new Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) has a new pres-ident.

Dr Steve Merchant, a founding director of the Pet Doctors Group, has been a com-panion animal and mixed practice vet in Auckland and Bay of Plenty since graduating from Massey University in 1982.

He has chaired the NZVA’s Com-panion Animal Society and the veterinary business group. He joined the NZVA board in 2005, working on developing best

practice accreditation for veteri-nary practices.

He says the importance of the veterinary profession in support-

ing export primary industries, partic-ularly in animal welfare, biosecu-rity, antibiotic and other residues, and increasingly in agribusiness needs to be promoted to ”city dwellers”, and by implica-tion many decision makers.

“There is a huge challenge to ensure

we further cement the position of veterinary practice as an exciting

career option for school leavers and undergraduates. There is a lot of work to be done to continue to attract and retain young people in rural practice, even given the great results arising from the rural veter-inary bonding scheme.”

The benefits to farmers of “animal wellness” also needs for emphasis, Merchant says. This involves more consultancy and advice based on wider agribusiness expertise than has been expected from the veterinary profession.

“And, veterinarians are partner-ing with industry stakeholders in the development of the dairy and red meat strategies resulting from the government’s support via pri-mary growth partnerships in the last two years.”

Steve Merchant

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36 // AnimAL HeALTH/Feed

THe dAiRYnZ Eco-nomic Farm Survey shows that in the 2011-12 season ‘feed’ including; stock grazing, regrassing, weed and pest, run-off lease, feed inventory adjust-ment and owned run-off adjustment accounted for 29.5% of total operat-ing expenses for an aver-age owner-operator farm1.

The big ticket items were supplementary feed made, purchased or cropped ($0.80/kgMS) and stock grazing ($0.38/kgMS).

Are New Zealand farm-ers spending too much on supplementary feed?

In my opinion the answer varies from farm to farm. I have met some farmers who

could get more milk, and a greater return from their supplementary feed investment. I also have the privilege of regularly visiting some of the country’s most profitable farmers who are producing impressive returns through the strategic use of maize silage and grain. There are

some key management principles that set these

operators ahead of their peers. These farmers:

1. Maximise pasture harvested. Pasture is the lowest cost feed for most New Zealand farmers. Most of the costs associ-ated with growing pasture are fixed. This means it costs you about the same amount for kgDM wasted as it does for every kgDM

Getting the most from supplementsharvested. It will never be economic to feed supple-ments to waste pasture.

2. Feed the most cost-effective supplements. The majority of New Zea-land dairy cows are lacking one thing – energy. While fancy supplements and complex rations may pro-duce more milk, there is a high chance they will not generate as much profit as you would get by feed-ing the cheapest form of energy. The relative eco-nomics of supplements change between seasons. For example; increasing global demand for PKE and a falling exchange rate means in most regions contract grown maize silage is currently more competitive than PKE on a c/MJME basis.

Choose supplements which give them farm systems benefits. These farmers integrate the cost-effective supplement they choose into their farm systems. They strategi-cally use maize silage to increase cow condition, get more days in milk, renew pastures, reduce nitrogen leaching, etc.

Minimise storage and feed-out losses. If you buy a supplement for 30.0c/kgDM and waste 10%, the cost is now 33.3c/kgDM eaten; if you waste 30% it rises to 42.9c/kgDM.

Often infrastructure such as a feed pad can pay for itself in the medium term by reducing feed-out losses and minimising pugging.

5. Invest wisely in grazing-off. This can be ‘cheap’ feed if your live-

stock are well fed and achieve growth targets but it can be very costly if your heifers fail to, or are late getting in calf because they do not meet live-weight targets.

6. Grow their own feed. There are many ben-efits from growing high yielding crops such as maize silage on the home farm or run-off. Gener-ally the cost per kgDM is lower; cropping enhances the pasture renewal pro-cess and gives more con-trol over crop harvest time.

To learn more about how some leading farm-ers in your area are feed-ing maize silage visit www.pioneer.co.nz and click on ‘videos’.

1DairyNZ Economic Survey 2011-12.

2Assumes an average storage loss of 10% and a 5% loss for feeding out in bins under very good management (DairyNZ feed information poster). Average maize silage energy content is assumed to be 10.8 MJME/kgDM.

3Assumes an average storage loss of 10% and a 10% loss for feeding out in bins under very good man-agement (DairyNZ feed information poster). Aver-age PKE energy content is assumed to be 11.0 MJME/kgDM.

4See Pioneer brand Maize for Silage 2013-14 catalogue, page 38 for a list of assump-tions.

• Ian Williams is a Pioneer forage specialist. Contact him at [email protected]

Bought in maize silage (c/kgDM in the stack)

31.0 32.0 33.0 34.0 35.0

Cost per kgDM fed 36.3 37.4 38.6 39.8 40.0Cost per MJME fed 3.36 3.47 3.57 3.68 3.79

Price per tonne ($) 290 300 310 320 330

Cost per kgDM fed 39.8 41.2 42.5 43.9 45.3Cost per MJME fed 3.62 3.74 3.87 3.99 4.12

Table 2: Cost of palm kernel extract3

Check out our new websiteswww.ruralnews.co.nzwww.dairynews.co.nz

Note: Many NZ farmers are growing maize on their effluent paddocks for 11.6 – 15.5c/kgDM4.

Table 1: Cost of bought in maize silage2

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AnimAL HeALTH // 37

Research shows feeding strategies can assist in reducing N output.

Nutrition’s role in controlling N pollution

mUCH HAs been made in the media of the costs associated with implementing the new environmen-tal laws and, whilst there are advice sheets online regarding the planning and permit processes, little or nothing has been discussed about the role of nutrition in controlling nitrogen pol-lution from the dairy industry. How-ever, there is research to show that feeding strategies and rumen stabilis-ing supplements can assist in reduc-ing nitrogen output and also improve productivity of the herd.

As in all livestock farming, correct nutrition is essential for the animal to grow, reproduce and maintain health. Protein is a nitrogen-based nutri-ent required by animals for building muscle, organs, hooves, hair and con-nective tissue, immune function and milk protein from lactating females. However, up to 60% of consumed protein in cows can be lost in urine due to unbalanced feeding and poor rumen efficiency.

To nutritionists, protein is an expensive commodity, whether it is bought in as a feedstuff or from pas-ture, which has fertiliser and labour costs associated with good produc-tion.

In New Zealand, cows are mainly fed rye-clover pastures, which are high in sugar and protein and poor in fibre, relative to other grassland species. This can adversely affect the function of the rumen and protein availability. Rumen micro-organisms are primarily present to convert the fibrous materials into energy-rich vol-atile fatty acids (VFAs), which provide some 70% of the cow’s energy. They need a stable, near neutral pH to do

this efficiently. Rumen microbial activity allows the cow to live on fibre-rich feedstuffs, as the host animal lacks the enzymes needed to do this.

Sugars from lush, low fibre pasture are rapidly broken down in the rumen and can result in low pH conditions from the acids produced by the active bacteria. Such rumen conditions are manifested as acido-sis and diarrhoea as well as the inhibi-tion of the fibre-lov-ing fermentation micro-organisms, which limits VFA production.

This situation has an impact on the digestion of protein, as these unsuit-able conditions result in ammonia production from protein material, which is then taken up into the blood and excreted, meaning that useful nitrogenous compounds are not avail-able for the animal to use. This can impact milk nitrogen levels as well as reducing basic components needed to sustain the cow’s body and for repro-duction.

Research has shown that levels of excreted nitrogen, especially from urine, can be predicted from protein intake. As protein intake increases, so does urinary nitrogen output, espe-cially once the intake level exceeds 400g of nitrogen/cow/day, or 15% pro-tein in the feed.

As many New Zealand pastures can reach 26% protein (depending on the season and weather), this is the basis of many of the problems of nitrogen pollution from cow urine. Taking the example of a rye-clover based dairy system, a 450kg cow with

11 kg dry matter intake will consume 458g of protein per day from pasture. This gives a predicted 173g of nitro-

gen being excreted in urine every day. However, if the same cow is supple-mented with 1.6kg/day of lower-pro-tein palm kernel meal or maize silage, the dilution of the total protein intake and increase in fibre reduces the urine nitrogen to 143g (17% less). If 3.2kg of palm kernel

meal or maize silage is fed, this drops further to 118g nitrogen – a saving of 32% in excretion.

Multiply these numbers by your herd size, and the environmental sav-ings soon stack up.

Although these are simple exam-ples, and do not offer fully balanced diets, the point is that nitrogen output can be reduced, and the increase in fibre in the rumen will help make more nitrogenous compounds avail-able to the cow, rather than being lost immediately as urine. In addition, such changes can stabilise rumen function by the introduction of fibre, and hence improve energy produc-tion.

Essentially, optimising feeding of dairy cows can not only limit nitro-gen pollution, but can also increase the cow’s productivity.• Dr Lucy Waldron runs independent nutrition consultancy and research business, LWT Animal Nutrition, Feild-ing, which caters for all species domesti-cally and internationally. Prior to 2005 she worked for various specialist feed companies worldwide

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38 // calving

Too costly to get wrongcalving iS one of bus-iest times of the year on farm, and one of the most crucial to get right as it sets the scene for the fol-lowing season and any replacements kept have a huge impact on productiv-ity and profitability.

A successful calving is tight, with the majority of the herd calved within four weeks, but that brings a challenge each morn-ing to match calves born

overnight to their correct mother – who may or may not be with their calf.

It can be a costly mis-take if done wrong, says Geoff Corbett, LIC’s diag-nostics manager. Corbett manages the dairy farmer cooperative’s GeneMark division, which provides farmers with the most accurate way of confirm-ing and recording an ani-mal’s ancestry through DNA analysis.

In New Zealand, the rate of mis-mothering calves is around 25-30%, and often more, a large cost to the farmer over time, Geoff says.

“GeneMark reduces the hassle and stress during calving, saving the farmer time and money, and allowing them to focus on all the other jobs that need doing at this busy time. With DNA parentage, it’s as simple as taking a

small tissue sample (with a sample-punch provided) from an ear of each calf, and GeneMark will do the rest.

“With this sample we can accurately identify the calf ’s dam and sire, and the farmer can have con-fidence in that result for their records and ensuring they only keep the high-est BW animals,” Corbett says.

The DNA samples are

collected at the end of calving, which some farm-ers choose to do while the calves are anaesthetised for de-horning.

During his time at Gen-eMark, Corbett has seen results from farmers who

had originally thought their parent matching sys-tems worked well, but were proved wrong by the DNA analysis.

“If more farmers knew the figures on mis-moth-ering calves in New Zea-land they’d realise they can’t afford to be making this mistake. It is the basic of farming. But as farms

and herds grow so do costs and the need to ensure maximum profit from every cow and every hect-are.

“GeneMark makes it much easier, allowing the farmer to reduce reli-ance on extra labour and providing accurate herd records to enable the right decisions every time to maximise their herd’s future genetic gain and profitability.

“It ensures farmers get their payback from the money they have spent on AB, and they consistently tell us how much they love it because it makes every-

thing so much easier.”DNA parentage ver-

ification of calves was launched by LIC in 2003, and moved to new G3 technology in 2009.

G3 uses much more advanced technology and provides more precise results.

“G3 only has about a 1:330,000 chance of pro-

viding an incorrect dam or sire match purely by chance and this allows us to provide exceptional matching power in some of the largest NZ dairy herds,” Corbett says. “I would welcome any farmer keen to learn more about the science to tour the GeneMark laboratory in Hamilton.”

Find out more about GeneMark and DNA par-entage verification, and hear from other farmers who use this service. www.lic.co.nz.

• This article first appeared in Getting the Basics Right 2011 issue.

Waikato sharemilker, Gordon Thomson, takes DNA samples from his calves while they are anaesthetised.

“GeneMark makes it much easier, allowing the farmer to reduce reliance on extra labour.”

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Careful rearing should attract buyers next yearnEWBORn calvES are vulnerable. Giving them a good start ensures they quickly grow strong and are robust, wherever they end up, says DairyNZ.

Good care of replace-ment heifer calves is a good investment: ensuring the strength of the calves you sell to rearers should bring them back as buyers next year.

Bobby calves for veal require equal care; although their lives are brief, unless they are well cared for they will not withstand the stress of transport to the process-ing plant. Calf pick-up practices

Good husbandry starts the moment the calf is picked up from the pad-dock. Observe carefully that you have the right cow and calf; as many as 15% of cows and calves get mixed up.

Older cows steal calves from heifers, so you may think she has had twins while in fact the newly-calved cow is missed, and you don’t know until you find a group of empty dry cows still in the paddock at the end of calving.

Spray the calf ’s navel at pick-up and again when you weigh it at the calf shed. This is especially important when calving conditions are muddy, or contaminated with dung, such as when calving on stand-off or housing facil-ities.

The navel is the rem-nant of the large blood vessels that connected calf and cow, and it can take several days for it to seal fully. Spraying the navel provides a barrier to bac-teria that could get in and cause navel ill (hard swol-len navel, abscess forma-tion and fever with loss of appetite) or joint ill (blood-borne bacteria invade the joints causing crippling arthritis).

A general purpose iodine spray such as teat spray is fine; keep a hand-pump spray bottle in the tool-box of the quad during calving as well as at the calf shed.

ColostrumColostrum protects

calves against common diseases early in life until their own immune system starts to operate effec-tively. Calves that do not get enough colostrum are ill-thrifty and do not grow well.

While some eventually catch up, any early disease is a serious knockback to development. Ideally calves must receive fresh colostrum within the first six hours of life to be sure of protection.

They should also be fed colostrum for at least the first four days because it has higher energy content and is more digestible. For most calves this means 1.5-2L twice daily for up to four days.

Even though you might think calves left with their dams would get enough colostrum, in one New Zealand study where calves were left on cows for 24 hours, about a third did not get enough colos-trum.

The best insurance against poor colostrum absorption is to pick up calves twice a day and, if they do not look well-fed or if conditions are cold and wet (hypothermic), give them 1.5-2L of warm colostrum, by stomach tube if necessary.Weather protection and housing

Calves not with their dams must be given shel-ter to stay warm and dry. In dry conditions Jersey calves can main-tain body heat at tem-peratures around 10°C while Holstein-Friesian calves can tolerate tem-peratures down to 5°C; but if it is windy or raining then wind chill will lead to hypothermia even at warmer temperatures.

For most of New Zea-land during spring, this means providing housing for calves for at least the first 2-4 weeks of life after which they can be kept in sheltered paddocks, but might still be suscepti-ble to hypothermia during storms.

Housing areas need to be well maintained with no leaks in the roof and

no cold draughts. Calves should have

To pAGe 41

Good husbandry starts the moment the calf is picked up from the paddock.


40 // calving

MEETING THE needs of bobby calves is underpinned by an Animal Welfare Act 1999 ‘duty of care’ on persons managing livestock – farmers, truckers and processors. At least, calves need a warm, sheltered environment and regular feeding to meet their

welfare needs while in your care.Once they leave the farm,

though every effort will be made to transport and process them quickly, bobby calves may sometimes be on the truck for 12 hours or more. Or the nearest processing plant may be full and

animals diverted to other sites, further increasing the time spent in transit.

Although many processing plants give priority to ‘at risk’ stock, such as those transported long distances, there are times where calves are held overnight.

duty Of caRE Caring about bobby calvesit iS important all calves are treated well, not just the calves you are planning to keep as replacements, says DairyNZ.

Bobby calves need equal care even though their lives are short and their value often small. It is important all animals are well cared for so our industry maintains its reputation for working at the highest standards of animal husbandry and welfare.

Selecting bobby calves for transport

■ Bobby calves going to slaughter must:

■ Be at least four days old

■ Be healthy, with no visible disease (e.g. scours), deformity, injury, blindness or disability

■ Have bright eyes and upright ears

■ Be strong, able to rise from a lying position unassisted, move freely around the pen and bear weight on all four limbs

■ Have firm hooves on which the soles show wear (indicating that they have been mobile)

■ Have a dry and withered navel.

Make it easy for the truck driver ■ Calves should be individually assessed

for fitness to transport. Unfit animals must be withheld until fit or humanely destroyed

■ A raised pen (70-100cm off the ground) should be used to hold calves before transport

■ Where possible help the truck driver load the animals. This makes the job easier and enables you to ensure the animals are loaded correctly

■ Calves should be fed as close to transport as possible and no more than two hours before pick-up.

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calving // 41

comfortable bedding that is clean and dry. Ventilation is impor-tant because as urine and dung accumulate, ammo-nia is released. This causes coughing and runny noses and eyes.

Fortunately people and calves are similarly sensitive to the effects of ammonia. If you can smell it and find it burning your nose or eyes, you can be sure the calves are also having problems.

There is one small trick – ammonia is heavier than air so it accumulates close to the ground. Get down on your hands and knees at calf level to do the ‘sniff test’.Provide clean drinking water at all times

Many people think calves get enough water from milk; not so. Water is especially important when rearing systems use concentrated milk; but all calves fed meal and straw need water over and above the liquid they get from milk. Growth rates will be higher when good water is available.Health care

Young calves are affected by various dis-eases; most common are navel-ill and scours.

Use an identification system such as a colour-coded neck band to iden-tify any calf you suspect may be getting sick. Even if you don’t immediately treat the calf, it will be easier to find your poten-tial problem at your next inspection. Use a note-book to record all treat-ments.

Calves are affected rap-idly by sickness so check them twice daily for signs of ill-health. This is easi-est done at feeding time because appetite loss is an early sign that a calf is becoming sick. If you only feed once a day you will need to spend time observing what is going on in the calf pens. A healthy calf has:

■ Good appetite; ■ Normal posture

and behaviour: look

for calves that are depressed or lethargic, with less movement

■ A moist cool nose with-out discharge

■ Alert and responsive ears – watch for droopy ears

■ Shiny supple coat ■ Steady respiration rate:

about 50 breaths/min in the first 2 weeks, reduc-ing to about 40 breaths/min by 5 weeks old

■ Normal temperature: about 38°C; above 39.5°C is likely to be a fever and indicates infection

■ A small dry navel: be suspicious of any calf with a navel thicker than your finger, or if it reacts when you feel the area because it is painful. Use your eyes, ears and

nose to look for scours. Watch calves from behind as they feed – often while they are drinking, they ‘let go’.

Tails should be dry and swinging from side to side as they drink and the backs of their hocks should be clean.

Identify any calf you are suspicious of, and check it again at your next visit.

Scours may be a sign of digestive upset from over-feeding or poor quality milk replacer. If a large number of calves are affected suddenly, then the problem is most likely related to feed-ing. Infectious causes of scours usually build up more gradually over sev-eral days.

Scouring calves should be put into quarantine to reduce the likelihood of disease spreading to other calves.

But remember you can carry the infection on your hands, boots and overalls. So in a disease outbreak you need good biosecurity measures: change clothes, wash hands and disinfect or change your boots as you move between differ-ent groups.

If scouring becomes severe, calves will dehy-drate rapidly. To assess

Careful rearing should attract buyers next year

hydration, pinch up the skin on the neck, and if it is slow to return to posi-tion the calf is likely to be dehydrated.

Any scouring calf, espe-cially if dehydrated, needs frequent feeding with an

electrolyte solution. Dehydration in itself is

debilitating and can lead to bacteria leaking through the gut wall and into the bloodstream resulting in blood poisoning and severe disease.

from pAGe 39

Calves must be fed well.

www.blmfeeds.co.nz


42 // calving

Are your heifers on target?HEifERS tHat reach target weight by calving will produce more milk, are more likely to get-in-calf, and so are more likely to have a longer, more productive life in the milking herd.

At a cost of A$1300-$1500 (excluding labour) to rear a heifer to point-of-calving, a ‘typical’ loss

of 30% of heifers from the herd before their second lactation is very expensive to a business.

To assist farmers in assessing their heifer management program, Dairy Australia has developed the Heifers on Target campaign.Benefits of achieving target weights:

■ Improved heifer fertility – the InCalf project determined the

percentage of heifers calving in the first six weeks with a pre-calving liveweight of less than 400 kg was 79% compared to those heifers which calved at over 440kg in which about 90% calved in the first six weeks.

■ First calver fertility – heifer pre-calving liveweight also has a flow-on effect to the next calving. A third

of heifers with a pre-calving liveweight of less than 400kg were late calvers at their second calving.

■ Production – an extra 1.6 kg/MS is produced for each extra kg of liveweight achieved by the first calving (this is over the first three lactations). While this may not appear to be a lot, if you rear 100 heifers each year

lESlEy iRvinE

and they average 30kg below target weight, this is 4800kg milk solids.

■ Longevity – heifers that reach target liveweights are more likely to get back in-calf earlier in the mating period and will have higher milk production making them less likely to be culled.

What is the target weight?

The target is for heifers to be at 85% of the mature cow liveweight by point-of-calving. For example, at the TIA Dairy Research Facility the majority of the young stock are Friesian Jersey-cross with a mature cow liveweight target of 500kg.

This means that by point-of-calving, the cross-bred heifers should weigh 425kg. There are still some straight Friesians within the herd and these have a mature cow liveweight target of 600kg which means that Friesian heifers will have a target of 510kg by point-of calving.

Dairy Australia has produced a number of calculators as part of the Heifers on Target program and one of these will produce a monthly target liveweight graph so, if

heifers are weighed, their growth can be monitored against targets as they grow.What if heifers are not weighed?

Monitoring heifer weights on a regular basis is the ‘gold

standard’ within a heifer program as it allows you to be proactive with management – if they are under target at weighing, the feed program can be adjusted to increase growth rates.

However, there are a number of other benchmarks that can be used to assess a heifer rearing

system: ■ Age at first calving –

target 24 months, if it takes longer than 27 months to get a heifer to target weight it is an additional cost to the business and indicates that there is room for improvement.

■ Heifer fertility – 70% of heifers should be calved within three weeks of the planned start of calving and 95% should be calved within six weeks.

■ First lactation heifer fertility – target is a 6-week in-calf rate of 60% and a 21-week not in-calf rate of 6%.

■ Production – first lactation heifers’ production should be at least 85% of that of the mature cows.

■ Longevity – the percentage of second calvers to first calvers should be greater than 85% and the percentage of the herd that is in the age range of 4-8 years old should be greater than 50%.

Where to startMost farmers

are aware of the benefits, and recognise the importance, of achieving target liveweights with heifers but there are still many that don’t assess how well they

are doing in this area. Dairy Australia have

put together a number of calculators, in addition to the one previously mentioned, to help you assess and manage your heifers.

These are all available on the Dairy Australia website (www.dairyaustralia.com.au).

This next season, make heifers a priority in your business, and start now by benchmarking your heifers’ performance using one or more of the measures listed above.

There isn’t only a financial benefit to your business in achieving heifer target liveweights, there is also a really big ‘feel-good’ factor when you see a well-grown group of heifers join the milking herd, produce well and get back in-calf.

Visit http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/heifersontarget to book your place in a free two-hour interactive session, or to access the Heifers on Target calculators.• Lesley Irvine is a dairy advisor at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture Dairy Centre.

There isn’t only a financial benefit to your business in achieving heifer target liveweights, there is also a really big ‘feel-good’ factor when you see a well-grown group of heifers.

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calving // 43

New gadget links Peach Teats to feedersfaRMERS WHO want to use Peach Teats in an existing pull-through calf feeder are getting good news from Skellerup.

They now come with the usual features and advantages and no com-promise on cleaning or need to cut the teats off for replacement.

This is because of the teats’ EasyFit adaptors, launched this month by Skellerup. These allow Peach Teats to be fitted to all feeders with 20 mm holes.

Made of tough nylon

for durability, the adap-tors have a self-locking nut which secures to the inside of the feeder auto-matically, and they can be easily fitted.

That means rear-ers can now screw Peach Teats onto their existing feeders, remove them for cleaning and make them last longer.

Skellerup national manager Perry Davis says it was a case of listening to what farmers wanted and coming up with a solution.

“Over the years we have had a lot of enqui-

ries from people who want to fit Peach Teats to calf feeders with holes, but no threads.

“Peach Teats can be pulled through these holes, but once in place they have to be cut off like

the original teats to be replaced, and they are dif-ficult to clean thoroughly while still fitted to the feeder.

“Our challenge was to find a simple, practical cost-effective solution to

this problem, and we think farmers will be happy with the outcome.”

Peach Teat EasyFit adaptors are available in boxes of 50 (teats are sold separately).

Get calves off to a good starttO SEt a dairy cow up for a long, productive life you must give her the best possible start, says DairyNZ.

Extra effort now will pay dividends throughout her milking life. Well grown heifers make more successful milking cows, and growing them well starts from the day they are born.

Checking the cow rumen function is essential. Make sure calves are digesting solid feed before removing liquid feed from their diet. Calves also need to be weaned onto pasture.Wean calves at target weight

■ Achieving a measured target weight is more effective than using age or guesswork.

■ Weaning weight will depend on the rearing system used. Friesian calves reared on restricted milk and ad lib meal system can be weaned at a minimum of 63kg. Calves reared on a high milk system can be weaned at a minimum of 75-80kg.

Keep feeding meal ■ Once on pasture, provide them with up to 2kg/head of

meal daily. Reduce this over the next few months. ■ Check weights after a few weeks ■ Occasionally weaners will not thrive on the new feed-

ing regime and will need continued access to meal.Weaned calf feeding

■ Need 15-16% crude protein (CP); ideally 20% CP. ■ Most if not all commercial supplements should

supply 18-20% CP. ■ Alternative mixes (plus fresh pasture and minerals

and vitamins (bovatec). Soya is the best source of protein, due to the amino acid profile. Other protein resources can be used:

■ 80% kibbled maize; 20% soybean ■ 60% barley or maize; 30% PKE; 10% soybean.

Check out our new websiteswww.ruralnews.co.nzwww.dairynews.co.nz

Fiber Fresh feeds are about practicality and the simple premise that you cannot prepare a calf for grass, which after all is fi bre, by feeding a non-fi bre product. Scientifi c research and the culmination of years of trials have shown HNF Fiber® is essential to allow a calf to go from milk reliance to thriving and growing on pasture.

Five reasons why you should use FiberGain®:

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Stage TwoStage One

Stage Two


44 // MacHinERy & pROductS

Dispenser expert offers lightning turnaround

SingH’S EnginEERing Services, manufacturers of the Se-Tech line of inline dispensers, had two new prod-ucts on display at the National Fiel-days. These were the transport case and a manifold/sub-frame assembly, simpli-fying installation of the dispenser.

Se-Tech inline dispensers are used to dose water soluble chemicals, minerals and nutrients into water lines, reduc-ing or eliminating the requirement to drench whilst ensuring stock health is maintained. The dispensers use no elec-tricity and are powered by water flow at pressures of between 10 and 210psi. They can be mounted wherever con-venient, generally on the walls of farm dairies or pump sheds, where chemicals are readily to hand for the dispenser.

Annual servicing is recommended to

maintain accuracy. “We service dispensers from all

over New Zealand and offer a same-day and even while-you-wait turn-around (if booked ahead). Our focus is on maximising availability of the unit to the farmer,” says general manager of Singh’s Engineering Services, Hurb Singh.

Farmers have traditionally used a variety of materials to pack and send the dispensers to the Hamilton fac-tory for servicing. To simplify ship-ping, Singh’s Engineering have released a lightweight, rigid, reusable transport case, which accommodates all sizes of Se-Tech dispensers. Units are pinned into it and lock firmly into place.

“The cases save a lot of transit damage, time wasting and due to their light weight and rigidity, are cheaper to ship than most other packaging options.”

Singh’s Engineering Services offer a 20% discount on the cases when ordered with a service.

Meanwhile, available for the first time at the National Fieldays, was Singh’s latest development for mount-ing and alignment of the dispenser and manifold assembly.

The manifold with integral align-

ment bracket simplifies installation as it allows the dis-penser and manifold to be ini-tially hung from a single pivot. This ensures levelling, mount-ing and then connection of

the installation to the water supply is achieved quickly and efficiently.

As the manifold is a structural member of the sub-frame, rigid joints to existing pipework can be made without concern for movement or flexing.

“Removal of the dispenser for ser-vicing is simplified – just undo the

mounting screws and manifold clamps to remove the dispenser. When replac-ing, reverse this procedure and the sub-frame locates the dispenser and the manifold even before bolting into place. Everything maintains alignment, ensur-ing sealing and maximum dispenser life” says Hurb.

The pictured model is for the 50mm (2” B.S.P.) dispenser and manifold: a 32mm version is under development at present.Tel. 07 849 3108www.setech.co.nz

tOny HOpkinSOn

Singh’s engineering Service salesman richard Suhr with the transport base (above) at the National fieldays. The new manifold (left) for mounting dispensers.

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MacHinERy & pROductS // 45

Swivel option adds flexibility to loader bucket

Wanting tO avoid driving on hill-sides while clearing surface drains, Kaiawa dairy farmer Paul Toft hit on an idea for an attachment to swivel his front loader bucket 23.5 degrees to left or right in the vertical plane.

The Swivel Tach, as called in its commercial guise, was launched by Fieldmaster at National Fieldays.

Two hydraulic rams driven by an extra hydraulic system enable the movement while keeping the bucket steady under pressure.

Toft says he was doing the job with a shovel and wondered if there was a way to do it with the loader. “Initially I just welded a couple of attachments to the side of the bucket but then I wanted to do the other side so it went from there.”

Once he had the concept worked out in his head he advanced by trial and error to put together something

that worked. An offer of $4000 worth of steel for $200 made the project possible. “I’d have never made it if it wasn’t for that.”

At first he had no plans to com-mercialise the product – it was just a useful attachment for on-farm use. Then Fieldmaster spoke to him about commercialising it.

Fieldmaster marketing manager Rachel Stock says the company’s chief engineer, Rudolf Vorschezang, told them about the loader. “We are always open to looking at new inno-vations.”

The Swivel Tach is a face plate which mounts between the loader and the attachment and Toft says it works with all his existing implements.

He has since found a wide range of uses for a tilting front-end loader bucket, including picking up hay bales on an incline and pouring precise amounts of meal and feed into bins and feed trailers.

With a load capacity of 1 ton the

unit is incredibly sturdy, he says. And he and Fieldmaster engineers have tested it extensively. “I’ve had it on my tractor constantly for several years and I have done almost every-thing with it.

“I can put a ton weight on and twist it easily, so if I’m driving along and I come to a slope I can just twist it to keep the load level.”

Though sturdy the mount doesn’t add a lot of weight to the loader. “Four men can lift it easily. We had to carry it into the innovation tent [at Fieldays] because they couldn’t let machinery in there.”

Because of the huge variety of front end loader widths and attach-ment mounts the Swivel Tach is built to customer’s order.

“There are different loader widths so when dealers take an order they will take details and we will engineer the product to that.”Tel. 0800 500 275www.fieldmaster.co.nz

gaREtH gillatt

Step-by-step automation

daiRy faRMERS looking to future-proof their milking systems will be able to do it in instal-ments using new products from GEA Farm Technol-ogies, says area sales man-ager Mike Prendergast.

The global dairy spe-cialist at National Fiel-days launched its new Milfos iCORE automatic cup remover, which com-plements its iCR auto-mated cup remover system.

The new system is said to be as affordable and easy to install and use as the iCR cup removal system, and it offers upgrades to grow a milk-ing system as required, says Prendergast. “Basi-cally it is the first step toward having a fully auto-mated milking point man-agement system. It’s the first building block in a modular system that you can add any number of tools to.”

Added functions include integrated on-platform teat spray

control, optional flow con-trolled variable pulsation with stimulation and a new ‘heads down’ display upgrade for the compa-ny’s iPUD, a multifunction device positioned between the cows legs which acts

as a leg separator, clus-ter alignment tool and a post milking teat spraying device.

Prendergast says the recently added HDD has integrated spotlights which make it easy for operators to check teat condition or identify abnormalities in the milk.

The HDD also dis-plays alerts to the operator depending on the status of the milking point. Alerts are given for kick offs and

also to alert the operators of an upcoming event at the milking point. In the future it will display red

or green light to indicate whether or not a cow is ready to be milked or not.www.milfos.com

mike prendergast

gaREtH gillatt

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Productive season for baler/wrappertHE HEEnan family in Mossburn, Southland have several dairy farms that total 1600ha and support 1800 cows. Denis Heenan does the baling for the operation.

The farms use a lot of pit silage but also need 7000 bales each season. That’s where the McHale Fusion II baler/wrapper comes in. “It’s a good, reliable bit of gear. My wife calls it ‘the mistress’ as I’m

always with it and never home on a sunny day.”

Baleage gives the family the flexibility to ensile the grass or crop when it’s at the highest quality. They also grow special-ised crops such as lucerne, a red clover mix and whole crop barley, which all go through the McHale. Barley straw is also baled later in the season.

The baler comes out of the shed in mid-October

for the dairy platform. Last season it didn’t go back in again until mid-May. “We wouldn’t normally do that but we had to last year as feed was short. It was wet stuff and the baler did well to bale it.”

Heenan says the Fusion II is easy to operate. “It’s set up pretty simple and it’s a job I enjoy doing. I would definitely get another McHale.”

Heenan pulls the McHale with a 165hp or 185hp tractor. “It’s a lot of weight and you need that power, especially on the hills. The low centre of gravity keeps it stable and it follows the contours well.”

The baler has its own console in the cab, and Heenan has set up cam-eras so he can see what’s happening with the wrap-per.

The Fusion II has a 2.0m pick-up and the driver can choose whether or not to engage the knives. Heenan only uses knives for bales for the dairy platform.

If anything clogs there is a drop floor, operated from the cab. “I always get a few blockages but it is an operator problem, not the machine. The prob-lem is usually the guy on the V-rake, creating lumps and throwing one row into another. The odd rock has got into the baler. It has a slip clutch so if you hit a rock, it starts slipping and you stop it and drop the floor.”

The Fusion II has a fixed chamber that pro-duces bales 1.25m2. The pressure is variable but Heenan always uses high pressure to produce dense bales. “We try to make them as heavy as we can. They’re at least 250kg of dry matter.”

Heenan also likes the Fusion II’s netwrap system. “They’ve put a lot of thought into it and it’s very simple to use and to change rolls. There’s a self-greasing cartridge that takes care of most mainte-nance and the rest is easy to get at.”

He can’t see any dis-advantage in a combined baler/wrapper. “We con-sistently do 50 bales an hour. Some peoples say that’s the downfall of a combi wrapper but to do more than 50, you’d have to be flat out and what’s the life of the machine if you do that? Our priority is the quality of the grass and we don’t see the speed of wrapping as an issue.

“A distinct advantage is having one less labour unit and one less tractor on the job. In addition, once you’ve finished the pad-dock you don’t have to go back.”

The McHale Fusion II arrived last season from Power Farming Southland, who service the machine when needed – that’s not often. “We’ve only seen them for the winter ser-vice. Nothing’s gone wrong and we haven’t needed a call-out.”

mike (left) and Denis Heenan like everything about their fusion II baler, from its stability on slopes to its drop floor and slick netwrap system.

Canterbury A&p Show entriestRadE EXHiBitiOn space for the 2013 Can-terbury A&P Show is now open and bookings are mounting from returning 2012 exhibitors, the organ-isers say.

Income from trade exhibition space is ahead of target for 2013, the confirmed exhibitors already up 6% on last year based on end-June numbers.

“This is an outstanding result considering the bumper year we had in 2012 with the 150th anniver-sary celebrations,” says Canterbury A&P Show event director Geoff Bone.

“Canterbury A&P Show attracts about 100,000 visitors each year… a fantastic opportunity for busi-nesses to promote their brand, generate sales and connect with consumers.”

The event will run November 13-15 at Canterbury Agricultural Park in Christchurch.

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REvOlutiOn pOStdRiv-ERS’ new Swinga, though designed for landscaping and vineyard work, is a durable machine with many more applications, says Tom Dingle, fore-man of T. G. White Fencing.

The company released the Swinga at National Fieldays, promising flex-ibility and movement greater even than achievable with the Telescopic 180 post driver launched in 2003.

Operators can swing the mast in a 220 degree arc and extend the base at least 500mm with 600mm sideshift.

What’s more, Dingle says, this can be done while the operator is still on the tractor – great for safety when working along the sides of hills.

The Revolution team had plenty of opportunity to test it out in the field in their fencing business, says Dingle.

Revolution owners Tony and Debbie White have operated T. G.

White Fencing for 25 years. Tony designed the Telescopic 180 and new Swinga while out on the fence line. Field testing was rigorous, the Swinga being hammered almost every day for four years before man-ufacturing began. It had at least 5000 hours use.

“It’s always on the back of the tractor and either Tony or I are using it,” Dingle says. “It’s done a fair bit of hard work; we’ve given it a bit of abuse and it stood the pressure well.”

The Fieldays site showed the pro-totype Swinga, suitably sandblasted, painted and greased for the occa-sion. “It doesn’t normally need to be regreased, and the plastic doesn’t need to replaced or reshimmed; it’s low maintenance.”

First designed for landscaping and vineyard work, in tight spaces, the Swinga worked out more versa-tile than first thought, Dingle says.

“It’s done a lot of banging strainers through metal pads… in cattleyards, on retaining walls,

everything.”On fencelines along hills they use

the driver for extra balancing weight and set it down in a stable position before getting off the tractor to drive the post.

The machine ‘packs’ down to 3.5m high from a full working height of 4.5m – “quite small and able to sit behind the rear wheels.”

It comes standard with a contrac-tor post cap, post and strainer puller and the option of adding an auger kit. Power requirement is 70hp.Tel. 09 292 8063www.revolutionpostdrivers.co.nz

gaREtH gillatt

postdriver with many uses

Trevor pilton

an in-SHEd feed system is said to have boosted production by 35,000kgMS on Trevor Pil-ton’s Wharepuhunga, King Country, farm.

Trevor and his wife Kristine began feeding meal on their 110ha, 340 cow dairy farm in 2011 because they decided the cows were not performing to their full genetic capa-

bilities. “We were spend-ing enough on AB and stuff like that. I knew the pro-duction [potential] was there, and we needed to get a meal feeder in to unlock it.”

The effects were instant, he says. Produc-tion rose from 97,000kgMS in the 2010-2011 season to 133,000kgMS in 2011-2012. And production rose further this season when Pilton introduced BLM’s Sustain mix to milkers.

In January the farm’s production was 12% ahead of the previous season in January and the herd had produced 121,000kgMS on April 11, 1% more than in the previous season.

Pilton puts this gain down to the blend of ingre-dients in the Sustain mix which includes wheat, oats, pea pollard, DDGS, PKE, calcium and magnesium.

He says this combina-tion of ingredients and adjustments through the

season meant cows were getting exactly what they needed when they needed it. “The benefits were pro-duction, closer calving dates, lots of things.”

All his herd had almost finished calving, seven weeks after they started without the use of CIDRs or inductions.

“Basically there were 10 cows left to calve after seven weeks. I have noticed that meal brought everything closer together.

gaREtH gillatt

In-shed system lifts yieldThat’s the name of the game isn’t it, to get every-thing over and done with.”

Preferential delivery times were adhered to. “Being a BLM Gold Club Member I received prefer-ential delivery. BLM was always able to deliver my custom blend quickly even when some of the ingredi-ents were in short supply.”

Before Pilton installed

the in-shed system cows had access to an in-shed molasses lick balls and maize fed in a paddock.

The system cost of $52,000 is said to have been well covered by almost 40,000kgMS higher production in the first year and 20,000kgMS on top of that this year. Tel. 0800 300 313www.blmfeeds.co.nz

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giltRap annOuncEd the New Zealand launch of two mixer wagons at National Fieldays.

The firm released the NDE 2556, 2656, & 2806 dual vertical mixer wagons, as well as the triple auger 3806 to meet the larger requirements of farmers and cope with changing supplements.

With a capacity of 20.16m3 for the 2556 model, 24.49m3 for the 2656, 27.75m3 for the 2806, & 42.11m3 for the 3806 the new NDE models offer much greater capacity

than the company’s single auger models.

This capacity can be boosted with a 0.3m3 extension which lifts the units capacity by around 4m3.

However, the large capacity doesn’t mean that users will need to wait long before feeds are mixed, says NDE factory representative Ron Weiss. “If you’re mixing hay or silage then its mixed within a few seconds of being put in the machine, if you’re using baleage or uncut hay then it will take longer.”

Weiss says the combi-nation of good design in the tub including auger

and clever use of 24 inch carbide knives makes cut-ting/mixing an easy pro-cess. Engineers have removed as many cor-ners as possible from the sides of the feeder to help improve the flow of the feed with an innovative step floor increasing the efficiency of the mixing process.

The step floor allows augers to work in con-junction with each other to transfer material front to back as well as top to bottom. This has proven so effective that the designers have increased the distance between the floors in the dual auger models allowing for a bit

New products offer easily absorbed minerals

Dual and triple auger feed wagons

gaREtH gillatt

gaREtH gillattmore capacity.

Because of the large door, full feeders can be unloaded in two minutes or less, says Weiss.

The larger capac-ity mixers only require 130 – 200 hp tractors to mix, tow and distribute feed. “That will do the job for just about any type of mixing. These are not power hungry machines; they cut like a saw unlike flails which pound mate-rial.”

With heights of 3m Weiss says most farmers shouldn’t have too many difficulties getting mixer wagons into Herd Homes or feed barns but may need to make some altera-tions to their loading areas to get ingredients into mixer.Tel. 0800 804 458www.giltrapeng.co.nz

ron Weiss at the fieldays.

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faRMERS lOOking for an easily absorbable source of nitro-gen and magnesium that can help reduce leaching problems have two new liquid options, says Nitro-sol marketing manager Aidan Lett.

The company released two new liquid fertiliser products at National Fieldays: a nitrogen prod-uct called Nitrogen Extra and a magnesium fertiliser called Mag-sulphate Extra.

Formulated from a range of natural and synthetic products, the nitrogen supplement has an advantage over solid urea-based products in that part of it is taken up quickly by the foliage of the grass. “With solid-based products they sit on the ground for a while, are slow to be taken up and can leach into the ground.

“With the liquid there’s a great uptake into the foliage and a pretty good uptake into the soil as well.”

While Nitrogen Extra worked out more expensive than traditional urea in the short term, Lett says farmers would be able to apply it at lower rates and get the same effect and potentially even reduce the amount of fertiliser they use over a long period. “When it is used

with a balanced fertiliser programme, the farmer will be able to reduce useage incrementally over time.”

Lett says the product aids growth of mineral rich pasture which can result in healthier stock.

This is especially so when used with the company’s new Magsulphate extra as part of a balanced Nitrosol fertiliser programme. It is designed to increase the presence of dietary cation anion differ-ence in the soil, and can help to reduce the risk of conditions such as facial eczema, Lett says.Tel. 0800 80 30 60www.nitrosol.co.nz

Aidan Lett



Drought triggers closer look at silage feedingdROugHt HaS prompted many more farmers to look hard at how they handle and feed silage, says equip-ment supplier Webbline.

Sales manager Glen Malcolm says good numbers of dairy farmers and sharemilkers looked at BvL mixer wagons and silage block cutters on the company’s National Fieldays site.

“The result of the drought and the New Zealand-wide feed shortage has made farmers take a good look at how they handle their silage, both at the stack face and how its fed out,” says Malcolm. Many farmers looked at the BvL Topstar silage block cutter, said to have sold well in months.

Branxholme dairy farmer Nelson Pyper is one such buyer. He is reported as saying that, whereas a traditional silage cutter grabs, digs in and drags feed away from the stack, the BvL Topstar makes a clean down-ward slice from the top of the stack, preventing air from getting into the remaining silage.

“With this type of action there is no levering action on the loader, resulting in almost zero wastage on the stack face. Plus it’s a lot easier on the loader.”

Central Southland dairy farmer Maurice Dodd agrees, Webbline says.

“The BvL Topstar is a lot easier on the tractor and loader. It causes none of the wear and tear common with the [old] silage grab.

“We used to have to ‘tease’ the silage out of the stack with the loader, moving the loader back and forth to get a decent grab full. Also, now we are getting no re-heating issues at the stack face, which is greatly reducing any losses.”

Malcolm says the BvL brand’s rep-

utation is rising in New Zealand. “BvL was one of the first companies in the mixer market in the 1970s and is now a leading German brand.

“The build quality is exceptional, and more importantly the mixing time is greatly reduced when com-pared to many other machines. This is due to BvL’s auger design which tends to force a portion of the mix to the bottom of the mixer, resulting in less spillage over the top and a fast consistent mix.”

Southland dairy grazier, Greg Drummond says his BvL V-Mix is “much faster mixing than other mixers I have used. Also I am mixing a high straw ratio and it does this quickly without throwing the straw out of the top of the machine.”

Dipton dairy farmer Louis English

took delivery of a new BvL V-Mix 20 at the start of winter.

“Compared to our old method of layering the silage and straw in the feedout wagon, the BvL has improved our operation no-end.”

Malcolm says BvL’s flexible approach allows it to “tailor a mixer to suit any particular farms require-ments.

“And BvL now has a new feed man-agement software package that sends live updates back to a computer on what has been fed into the mixer. This is especially important for farm-ers who have several properties and/or staff, providing them real-time data on what and how much the cows are getting to eat.”Tel. 0800 932 254www.webbline.co.nz

five rivers farmer Greg Drummond checking progress on his V-mix 20.

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Feedpads to Freestalls (and everything in between)

Cover your feedpad—reduce effluent and create a more animal friendly warmer drier surface New stronger industrial roof design—widths of up to 16m in a single span Reduction in effluent volume of greater than 50% due to exclusion of rain and wash down water Simple system with no moving parts or machinery to break down Drier, lighter, warmer environment than a solid roof promoting better animal health Less risk of N leaching with effluent

NZ Patent Numbers: 521150, 544190, 550635, 545042. Further patents pending. International Patent Numbers: 2003267874, 03748807.9. Further patents pending



Tractor powerful, not too technicalauckland faRM manager Luke Hughes didn’t know much about Kubota tractors when the farm bought its first one, a M125X, several years ago but now he is sold on the brand and recently helped buy a new M135GX, reports the New Zealand distributor.

Hughes milks 330 cows on 175ha at Drury. “We trialed quite a few tractors originally. We were after something with a lot of power but not too techni-cal with things that could go wrong.”

“There was so much difference in the power we got out of the M125X, compared to our previous trac-tor. It has so much more torque and grunt. We were really happy with it and we wanted to step up to the new M135GX.” Hughes compared the Kubota M125X with another tractor pulling his chicken manure spreader.

He says the Kubota’s power was far superior.

“After running the M125X I was keen to get another Kubota. We went to the Kubota Roadshow at Norwood Farm Machinery Centre in Pukekohe late last year. We saw the M135GX tractor that we ended up buying. It wasn’t in the field and I couldn’t test it so they flew me to Palmerston North the week after to drive it.”

Hughes likes the front suspen-sion because “it’s smooth in the pad-dock. It gives you a 360° view from the inside of the cabin without the side pillars on the doors, and the lighting is much better,” he says.

“It also has a smoother engine with more torque; it’s like a com-pletely different tractor from the M125X. Kubota has stepped it up and upgraded everything. All the dials on

the dash are user friendly and there’s so much more head room and foot room.

“The power is awesome. It doesn’t struggle with the manure spreader we have on the back. It does everything we want it to do. The Work Cruise button gives it an extra power boost.” Hughes’ M135GX is used for general farm work, feeding out, maize and manure spreading.

“It has the extra hydraulic bank on it, and the hydraulics are supe-rior to other tractors. It’s a nice upgrade going from the M125X to the M135GX,” he says. “But you don’t notice the difference between them until you step in and out of them on a regular basis.”

Kubota tractors are imported to New Zealand by C B Norwood Dis-tributors Ltd.

Luke Hughes with his Kubota m135GX.

Kia’s ranking riseskia MOtORS is now ranked in the world’s top ten automotive brands for quality, the company says.

A JD Power and Associates’ 2013 initial quality study (IQS) shows Kia’s quality gains outpaced the industry average, giving the brand its best-ever score, ahead of some European and Japanese brands.

The IQS is in its 27th year. Every year international auto analyst sur-veys new car buyers on any issues

in the first 90 days of ownership, then ranks the brands and models on problems per 100 vehicles.

The 2013 report analysed 83,442 respondents on 230 vehicle models and attributes in eight catego-ries including driving experience, engine and transmission and prob-lem symptoms.

Kia had its Soul model ranked first in class for the second consec-utive year and the Sportage tied for highest ranking in its class.

“Achieving a top-ten placing against 32 other brands is a reflec-tion of the impressive advances made by Kia Motors in recent years, both as a brand and with individ-ual models,” says Todd McDonald, general manager of Kia Motors New Zealand.

“Kia Motors has an ongoing target of improving the ownership experience and vehicle quality for customers. Each new model arrives and lifts the bar even higher.”

The Kia Sportage was first equal in its class in the latest JD power initial quality study.

Get upto date news at www.ruralnews.co.nzLATEST STORIES EVERY DAY

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Dairy News 9 July 2013

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Transcript of Dairy News 9 July 2013