Dairy Focus September 2011

Page 1

An Ashburton Guardian Supplement

FOCUS Issue 40 - September 20, 2011

Awards a winning environment P3

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2

Contents A

pologies in advance for not bringing a farming brain to these pages.

among the cows on their way to the who are challenging others in the shed – I’m not sure if it was so the cows industry to enter the 2012 Dairy could see me or mum could see me. Industry Awards. They say the networking, new contacts and sound Dairy farms have come a long way advice they have received as award since then. participants over the past seven years have really put their business on a road I am grateful to the regular to success. contributors who will bring their

Lance has left the building, though he has a few piles of reports and information he was reluctant to part with. They’re still on his desk in tidy stacks, along with his after-socks which expertise to these columns. I hope to he left behind after farewell drinks. play my part by bringing you stories We will miss his inimitable style about dairy farmers and those who around the office. work on dairy farms, their special projects and successes, their hobbies While my father was raised on a and hopes for the future. dairy farm and I lived on one until I was two, it is fair to say I have a limited In the past couple of weeks I have knowledge of life on dairy farm. I was met Rob and Debbie Mackle, awarddressed in purple and allowed walk winning dairy farmers at Lauriston

Water and irrigation, a subject I am more familiar with, is also in the news. The hard-working Ashburton Zone Water Management committee has put out a draft ZIP (zone implementation programme) outlining its priorities for the district. Having enough secure water to irrigate all the Plains is on its worklist, along with revitalising the

An advertising supplement of the Ashburton Guardian

FOCUS

The committee says it won’t claw back the Linda Clarke abstraction Ashburton Guardian rights of existing rural reporter irrigators, but minimum flows in the river need to rise to protect and improve its ecosystems. How water is used in this region is critical, everyone needs to have a say. Dairy Focus welcomes your ideas for stories, contributions and letters for publication. I look forward to hearing from you.

We welcome any correspondence to either:

Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Ashburton Guardian Publication date: Next issue:

Ashburton River.

September 20, 2011 October 18, 2011

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3

Awards a winning environment Linda Clarke ke n Rural Reporter, Ashburton Guardian

airy farmers should use the lull between calving and mating to seriously consider entering next year’s Dairy Industry Awards, say regional sharemilkers of the year Rob and Debbie Mackle.

D

improve and what you could highlight. Be honest with yourself.”

The Lauriston couple went on to finish third in the national competition. They say the contacts and knowledge gained along the way have been invaluable.

The judging panel consists of dairy consultants, rural bankers and past winners, all willing to pass on advice that could boost production and profit.

The Mackles are now helping to organise the 2012 Canterbury/North Otago dairy awards and say all those working in the industry should think about entering if they wanted to improve and show their skills.

Rob and Debbie have entered the awards five times in the past seven years, and say feedback from the judges has helped lift their business.

Entries will open on November 1 and close December 20. Rob said the busy time before Christmas meant the dairy awards fell off farmers’ radar. He said the quiet time between the end of calving and the start of mating was ideal for farmers to think about entering and commit. The awards have categories for sharemilker/equity farmer of the year, farm manager of the year, and dairy trainee of the year. Entering is not difficult, but does require farmers to make an honest appraisal of their environment, work habits, successes and areas needing improvement. Debbie said the process should start with a close look at the dairy operations. “Start at the gate of your farm and walk from one end to the other and look at what you do differently to the guy down the road. Look at what you can

She said entrants had two hours to “sell themselves” to the award judges.

“We used the feedback to pick our business up. It is not to be taken as criticism, and it is damned good advice. You get it from the best in the industry,” Rob said. He said Canterbury and North Otago dairy farmers were some of the best in the country, and helping farmers improve raised the performance bar across the region. There were also great prizes up for grabs from sponsors for the top performers. The couple said dairy farming was a rewarding career financially and afforded a great family lifestyle. But it did take commitment and hard work. They hope dairy farmers and workers around the region are keen to put their best foot forward for the 2012 industry awards. Watch for details of the awards launch in October’s Dairy Focus. For more information go to www. dairyindustryawards.co.nz

PHOTO KIRSTY GRAHAM 130911-KG-003

Debbie and Rob Mackle, with four-month-old Honey the retriever, are making the most of spring weather on their award-winning dairy farm. The couple will host 70 Christchurch primary schoolchildren later this month as part of a rural educational experience.

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4

Soulful singer heads our way T

he winner of a national television singing competition, ‘singing cow girl’ Tammy D’Ath, is moving from north to south.

“But as some of the herds I can expect to be working with in the South Island are 1200 to 1500 cows, it is possible I will find more like 60 cows waiting for me some mornings.”

The winner of last year’s Good Morning television show’s New Zealand-wide Find a Star contest will soon be sharing her talents with a bovine audience and quite possibly be singing in a number of Mid Canterbury cow sheds.

While in the South Island Tammy is hoping to once again get some “gigs” during October, November and December as in 2009 she was able to “jam” in Christchurch during her October 2009 stay.

In her role as an artificial breeding (AB) technician for Livestock Improvement (LIC), Tammy has been asked to work on dairy farms in the Ashburton area over the coming spring mating season.

In March Tammy joined the Mermaid Dance Band - Joe Cotton (from the band True Bliss) and Pauline Berry - so is currently enjoying visiting venues around the country performing at different corporate functions.

The 25-year-old Ruakaka (Northland) farm worker hit the headlines in July last year when she won the talent quest with her heart and soul rendition of PHOTOS SUPPLIED Billie Holiday’s God Bless The Child but The Mermaid Dance Band (from left) Tammy D’Ath, Joe Cotton and Pauline Berry. says she has been milking cows almost as long as she has been singing. Tammy is now going into her eighth cool experience. “I love cows and love music, and both season as an LIC AB technician. She is one of the shortest AB techs in the “In comparison, I normally make me happy.” country but is ranked among the top inseminate approximately 3000 cows 10 per cent in New Zealand, and said in Northland, and did approximately Tammy has done most of her AB she was really looking forward to 7000 in the South Island. work in Northland, however she has also worked in the Waikato and in 2009 doing AB in the South Island again. “In Northland when you arrive on a travelled to the South Island during “The herds are bigger in the South farm to do AI (artificial insemination) mating season. Island compared to Northland, so for you can expect to find about 15 cows me working on the farms on my AB in the shed waiting for you, and that is According to feedback received by a big day. LIC, the farmers there wanted her back. run in the South Island was a really

She is also doing gigs as a solo performer. She is also working on her first album, due for release early 2012.

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“I am hard out recording vocals in Auckland once a week while the rest of the time I am still milking cows in Northland. I’m trying to get as much work done on the album as possible before I head south, so hopefully it will finished and available early next year.” For the coming mating season – October to December - Tammy has arranged to take time off from the band - to do what is arguably the most important job on a dairy farm each year - get cows in calf, this year on dairy farms in the Ashburton area.

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Tammy on the farm in Ruakaka.

“I love being an AB technician, I love singing and love the cows. But doing AB is something more, it is also a job which I can get a lot of satisfaction from - by seeing the results, travelling and meeting lots of new people. “As an AB tech I feel like a professional, and I am proud to represent LIC in this very important role on farms – getting cows in calf.

“If I can continue with the artificial breeding work, it will also allow me to save some money for that three months, which means I will be able to concentrate on my music and enjoy the experience, without having to worry too much about finances. “But I’m just so excited about this big road trip to the South Island.�

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6

Time to do some planning Ian Hodge, BVSc. MACVSc. c. Riverside Veterinary Services Ltd td

A

s calving winds down for many farmers, lactation will get into full swing and the planned start of mating will be looming on the horizon.

pregnancy does not survive. These cows have a delayed return to oestrus, have abnormal interoestrus intervals and require multiple inseminations, remain empty or they become pregnant very late.

Uterine infections cost money

It is clear to see that uterine disease can be very costly through lost days in milk from late calving cows or from empty cows that require culling and subsequent replacement.

After calving, many cows are left with uterine infections. Some of these will have been treated but many will have gone un-noticed. Some of the treated infections will not have been treated successfully. Infections of the lining of the uterus (endometritis) can have a significant eect on the cow’s ability to have a calf every 12 calendar months, otherwise known as her fertility. Cows with endometritis can fail to cycle, fail to conceive, conceive and lose the pregnancy and take many services to become pregnant. Aected cows will become pregnant later and then calve outside an eight-week calving period. Often cows with endometritis will cycle once, be mated and then fail to become pregnant and fail to return to oestrus. The cycle these cows have has very poor fertility. We often refer to this group of cows as “phantom cowsâ€? because we see them for one mating, but then because they fail to return to oestrus we are unlikely to see them again. These are the problem cows that surprise us at pregnancy testing time because they are not pregnant. Endometritis can also result in the repeat breeder syndrome. These cows conceive a pregnancy but because the lining of the uterus is inflamed, the

Your vet is the best person to assist with diagnosing and treating endometritis in your herd.

Good planning is essential Planning for good feeding, mastitis control, lameness prevention and mating is critical at this time of year. Cows need to be at condition score 5 at the planned start of mating and they need to be gaining condition through optimal nutrition.

of mating, plan to tail paint early and have excellent heat detection. Plan to synchronise cycling cows and heifers and plan to start pregnancy testing cows early in order to detect non returning empty cows and to get good information regarding six week in-calf rate, eight week in-calf rate and whole herd empty percentage. With a little planning, event scheduling, vet booking and sta education you can achieve great things. And conversely if you fail to plan for these important events you may find yourself well and truly on the back foot. Your vet practice will be only too happy to help plan for a successful dairy season.

They should not be aected by any nutritional or metabolic diseases at that time or between now and the planned start of mating. Mastitis control is critical because cows that have mastitis can have reduced fertility. Cows that become lame can also have reduced fertility. Lame cows often fail to show any sort of oestrus at all. Mating is critical in the dairy calendar. You should be planning now to reduce the number of cows that are not cycling prior to the planned start

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Antibiotics a last resort Fred Hoekstra ra es Veehof Dairy Services

A

re you a druggy? I mean are you using too many antibiotics on your cows.

Cows that just have a superficial infection just need a proper trim. The idea is to remove as much weight as possible from that claw so as to allow the air to dry the wound out; if it is not possible to create enough height difference naturally then you can glue a claw block to the healthy claw to remove all the weight off the sore one.

It is not a good idea to reach out for drugs as soon as you see a lame cow. I know that some of you do that. Lame cows hardly ever need antibiotics. Even when you trim a cow and you see some pus coming out of the wound you often don’t need penicillin.

In these cases penicillin won’t help, potentially making things worse and even put you at risk.

On the other hand there are cases that only antibiotics can fix. So what is the difference?

Let me explain. If penicillin is used a lot then the bacteria begins to build up a resistance to it, especially when the course isn’t finished and cows are getting only half the doses that they need.

Let’s have another look at the anatomy of the foot. Around all the live tissue inside a body grows the skin. The function of the skin is to be a barrier between the outside world and the live tissue inside the body. Most of the skin grows hair but at the bottom of the feet this skin grows the horny tissue that we call “claw”.

Basic structure of hoof showing skin and corium.

When we trim a cow’s foot and we see some pus coming out it is more likely that it comes from the outside of the skin (corium). In this case it is still a superficial infection and the corium is still doing that part of its job properly. It just isn’t growing horn. However, if the bacteria manage to get through the corium then you have an issue that requires antibiotics. In these cases the foot would be swollen up and warm. Your veterinarian can advise you which antibiotics to use.

Example of foot rot where penicillin would be required.

There is a big difference between an infection in the inter-digital space (foot rot) and an infection in just one claw, which often enter into the claw at the white line in the heel area. Different types of antibiotics should be used.

With these new immune bacteria we now have a super bug. People can get infected by these bacteria and if that happens what are the doctors going to use to get rid of it? The usual antibiotics don’t work any more. You may think that this is a bit far-fetched. Well, it is already happening. You would have heard of the super bug in the hospitals. Scientists believe that the MRSA (staphylococcal aureus) bacterium is being spread by farm staff as well as in hospitals. This just shows that we need to be much more careful with the use of antibiotics and we do have a huge responsibility to the public. Only use it when you really need it.

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Quad bike warning Linda Clarke ke Rural Reporter, Ashburton Guardian n

M

id Canterbury dairy farmers can expect surprise visits from Department of Labour officers this spring to make sure quad bikes are being ridden safely.

It is equally important children did not ride adult quad bikes. Young people do not have the strength, body weight or mental ability to master safe riding techniques.

Every year 850 people are injured while riding quad bikes on farms and five die. The department has key safety messages it is determined to get through – by education and/or legal enforcement.

Mrs Radford said the farm visits in October and November would gauge how much of the safety campaign farmers had taken on board. She said experience in other parts of the country showed the majority of farmers were compliant and the department was pleased the message was getting through.

Service manager for the department’s Canterbury and West Coast region Margaret Radford said the quad bike safety campaign began two years ago, but officers had held o visiting Canterbury properties while farmers repaired earthquake damage. “Sta had been out and about prior to the earthquakes handing out information and talking to groups, and now we are ready for the enforcement stage.â€? Between April and June this year, some 376 farms were visited in other parts of the country - 117 received written warnings or improvement notices requiring them to improve the way quad bikes were being used on their farm. Mrs Radford said the figures suggested a third of farms needed help. The harm reduction campaign involves four key messages:

“That is what we want. We need farmers to see themselves as employers, abiding by health and safety regulations.�

Staff need to be properly trained in how to operate a quad bike. • Always wear a helmet • Ensure riders are trained and experienced enough to do the job

walking away from an accident and suering a permanent life-changing brain injury.

• Choose the right vehicle for the job

Farmers must also ensure their workers had some sort of training on quad bikes. “That does not mean having a ride around the yard once and saying they can ride them.�

Mrs Radford said helmets were important because many injuries and deaths involved serious head injuries. A helmet made the dierence between

AgITO oers training courses and many motorcycle shops selling quad bikes also oer some sort of training or advice.

• Never let a child ride an adult quad bike

Department officers have a range of warnings and penalties if they find farmers wanting. They can issue a negotiated agreement to make changes, or for more serious cases issue a prohibition notice, forbidding the quad bike to be used until a helmet is supplied or training provided. “We really want to raise awareness and so if you do get an improvement notice that you have to make changes or get a prohibition notice, that serves as a previous warning. If that employer was in breach of the (health and safety) act again, they could get an automatic fine.�

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Where’s Poppy? P

oppy, as Eric Diamond’s grandchildren affectionately call him, has packed up his house and will be carrying it on his back for the next 12 months as he embarks on an adventure that he has been dreaming of for 25 years - to walk the New Zealand coastline from the Bluff to Cape Reinga. The Livestock Improvement (LIC) Waikato weigh station manager has decided to put away the pottles (milk sample flasks), swap his gum boots for hiking boots and walk from end one end of Aotearoa to the other, starting in November.

“I have sold my house and for the first time in 40 years have no commitments so have the chance to do something that has always been at the back of my mind – walk the length of New Zealand.” Eric has set up a blog: wherespoppy.blogspot.com as a way for his grandchildren – and their Rotorua and Whangamata classmates – along with friends and family to track his progress as he travels alone, by foot, to some of the more remote parts of the east coast, a journey he expects to take about 12 months. Eric came to New Zealand from England in 1969 – one of the ‘£10 Pomms’ who came to the country as a herd tester – and over the past four decades has “had three tours of duty with LIC” and a number of different herd test related roles, including meter officer (herd test technician) and various regional herd test and weigh station management roles. “I am hoping that all the people I have worked with over the years will log in as followers on the blog – the more support I have the better and it’s the only way I will have to stay in touch with people. “I am planning to take some quite remote paths and where at all possible will walk along the beach, where I can’t I’ll take tracks and will try to avoid main roads as much as possible. “When I get to towns I will use internet cafes to log on to my blog and will also be staying at people’s places along the way - I have already had 16 offers of accommodation from LIC staff members and friends around the country.

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Eric Diamond (Poppy) is ready to have his own big adventure.

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that will take him from “the bottom to the top,” so when winter comes around he’ll be closer to the more temperate north. “In April I did the Oxfam 100 km walk in Taupo in 24 hours, I walk each weekend and regularly walk from home to work and back which is 10 km each way. “I have also been doing five and a half hour walks with a pack full of bricks along the Waikato River bank, covering about 30 km – so I’m feeling pretty fit.” Eric says for him one of the biggest challenges will be missing his grandchildren Zephan (6) who attends Westbrook Primary School in Rotorua and Kaylah (9), who attends Opotere Primary School in Whangamata. “That’s one of the initial reasons for setting up the blog and the naming of it – my grandchildren call me Poppy – and my journey has become a classroom project for both of them. “The children and their classmates will follow my progress and the teachers are going to incorporate geographical lessons around ‘where poppy is’ – and I would be happy to stop and visit any schools or service clubs along my route.” Eric says he hopes to average 25 km a day and all going well reach Christchurch by mid-January. “However I am not setting myself any strict goals, as I want to do and see things on my way, like the Otago rail trail on a bike and whale watching in Kaikoura. “I’ve always read books or watched documentaries about other people’s travel adventures walking or biking – now it’s time to have my own adventure.”

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Irrigation feature

An Ashburton Guardian advertising feature

Mayfield-Hinds Irrigation Scheme update By Linda Clarke

E

arthworks on three huge water storage ponds at Carew have begun, giving 140 farmers on the Mayfield Hinds Irrigation Scheme a buffer against restrictions in summer.

Environment Canterbury has just issued variations to consents for the $12 million project on 174 ha beside the Rangitata River. The three ponds - each approximately 50ha, or the size of 125 football fields – will hold a total of 4.8 million cubic metres of water. Scheme chairman David Keeley said the storage would help the irrigation company better manage its allocation of water from the Rangitata Diversion Race. The ponds improve reliability of water to the scheme’s farmershareholders; 116 also have smaller onfarm irrigation ponds to further manage their allocation.

PHOTO KIRSTY GRAHAM 241110-KG-008

Mr Keeley said storage, on a large and small scale, was critical in Mid Canterbury.

General manager of the Mayfield Hinds Irrigation Scheme Hamish Tait on farmland that is being stripped to make way for the construction of three huge storage ponds.

On-farm ponds meant farmers could irrigate only when they needed to, saving water that could be used later or to grow the area of irrigated farmland in

Reliable water is essential for the scheme’s farmers, with 75 per cent converting from border-dyke to spray irrigation in recent years. Nearly half

the district.

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the 32,000 hectares under irrigation is in dairying, with the remainder dairy support and cropping.

water lost through evaporation and seepage thus increasing the amount of water available for irrigation.

The scheme also has plans to pipe some of its open channels, reducing

Mr Keeley said the changes were all about using water efficiently.

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11

Irrigation feature

An Ashburton Guardian advertising feature

Storage ponds crucial for irrigation reliability

W

ater storage ponds for irrigation have changed Mid Canterbury’s rural landscape dramatically over the past decade.

Small or large, serving one farmer or hundreds on a joint scheme, the ponds store water crucial for crops and grass for stock to grow to their potential. Hundreds of irrigations ponds dot the district, and the pressure to use water for irrigation shows no signs of abating with agriculture underpinning the district’s economy - 37 per cent of GDP came from agriculture, meat and vegetable processing industries in 2007. Many of those ponds have been built by Mid Canterbury earthmoving company BMW. Managing director Kerry (Jacko) Bartlett said the company’s first on-farm water storage project was eight years ago and the ponds were key to farmers better managing their water allocations. An average sized pond in this district contains around 60,000 cubic metres of water and has a surface area of around three hectares. Most ponds are 2 to 3 metres deep. Construction can be achieved in three weeks. With much of the Plains gently sloping down from the mountains to the sea, earthmovers simply dig one half of the pond and move the dirt to the other. The ponds are lined with top soil and clay, and specialist irrigation companies install pumps and pipes to supply the water to spray irrigators.

PHOTO SARAH CHAMBERLAIN 120911-SC-142

Water storage ponds are used by farmers to manage their water allocation and irrigate efficiently.

Mr Bartlett said the ponds were a good option for water storage. They were cheap to construct and run, compared to pumping water from a deep well. The cost works out at about $1.80 a cubic metre – or about $108,000 for an average pond. Mr Bartlett said the largest pond built by BMW,

for a North Canterbury client, was one million cubic metres. He said while large scale storage ponds helped irrigation schemes manage their large volumes, on-farm ponds allowed farmers to manage their individual takes and remained essential tools in the quest to use the precious resource more efficiently.

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12

Irrigation feature

An Ashburton Guardian advertising feature

Have your say on water management airy farmers are among those Mid Canterbury people being asked to have a say on water management in their area.

D

Mr Hall said how water is allocated and used is crucial to the future of the region so people should feel compelled to have their say.

The Ashburton zone water management committee has released a draft zone implement plan (ZIP) outlining how it will tackle some of the district’s big water issues, including the demand for irrigation and improving the health of the Ashburton River.

“The underlying philosophy of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy is that local communities should be making decisions on local water management. The Ashburton Draft ZIP is the mechanism for delivering these goals so it’s important people have their say.

The ZIP recommends actions, responsibilities and time-frames for activities to help achieve the principles, targets and goals set out in the Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS).

The ZIP contains more than 70 recommendations to the Asburton District Council, Environment Canterbury and other stakeholders. PHOTO CARMEN ROONEY 130910-CR-087

Mid Canterbury’s agricultural economy is reliant on access to reliable irrigation water. The Ashburton zone water management committee wants feedback on its overarching water plan for the district.

Committee chair Matthew Hall says the completion of the draft ZIP is the culmination of months of hard work by the zone committee.

recommendations people like, what they don’t like, and whether there are things they think should be included.”

“We have worked hard to begin establishing a programme that integrates the water management issues identified by the community into a process that will deliver acceptable solutions.

The Ashburton draft ZIP was developed following numerous committee meetings and extensive stakeholder and community engagement to gather information about the region’s water resource. In late July more than 100 people

“And now we need to hear what local people think of the recommendations. We are particularly interested to hear what

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attended public meetings in the Ashburton district to discuss the water management priorities. The feedback from the meetings helped guide the committee’s Draft ZIP for water management.

The Ashburton committee is hosting community meetings on September 28, 29, and 30 to introduce people to the ZIP.

rrigationNZ welcomes government’s “open for business” status of the Irrigation Acceleration Fund (IAF), marking a new era of community irrigation infrastructure development in New Zealand. The future is based around collaborative development through a multi stakeholder approach to ensure tangible benefit is realised by all. The IAF recognises the importance of the future upgrade and development of irrigation in New Zealand. “The new future is about three key principles ensuring new schemes are economically viable, environmentally sound and supported by the community,” IrrigationNZ chairman Graeme Sutton said. The fund will allow greater engagement with the community ensuring those three principle pathways can be taken alongside the industry guidelines for rural infrastructure good management practice. Sound governance and overall project management, stemming from collaborative community engagement around the ‘good practice’ guidelines, is critical to future infrastructure development meeting environmental, community and economic expectation. Infrastructure development taking in affordability, hydro/ecological/ environmental, cultural and social benefit – all committed to good industry practice, including best practice environmental management while promoting efficient water use, will ensure smart irrigation development will contribute to New Zealand’s future economic growth, Sutton said.

IrrigationNZ is working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) through its Capability Building Project that includes facilitating workshops to bring together directories of information, experts and capabilities. The irrigator workshops have provided IrrigationNZ and MAF with valuable information about where the capability and resource gaps exist when community groups try to develop rural water infrastructure. It has become clear through the workshops that strategic planning alongside analysing and understanding risk are both key elements to successfully developing infrastructure. The Irrigation Acceleration Fund was announced in this year’s Budget and provides $35 million over five years to support the development of proposals to the ‘investment ready’ prospectus stage. NZIER research suggests the fund could support 340,000ha of new irrigation, which could boost exports by $1.4 billion a year by 2018, rising to $4 billion a year by 2026. The fund will support regional scale rural water infrastructure proposals that address regional rural water infrastructure, community irrigation schemes and strategic water management studies. The government will contribute up to 50 per cent through the fund to successful proposals. Applications will be assessed by MAF, with input from a panel of independent experts. The final decision will be made by the Director General of MAF.

13

Awards an effective learning tool C

anterbury dairy farmers Alan and Sharron Davie-Martin didn’t enter the Ballance Farm Environment Awards for the prizes; they entered to learn how to improve the sustainability of their farming business.

the LIC Dairy Farm award.

The former Northlanders shifted to Canterbury six years ago and now farm a 141ha (effective) dairy unit west of Culverden.

“For us it was about trying to enhance our knowledge and find out how we could do things better in future.”

Alan says they came out of the competition feeling reassured they were heading in the right direction as far as sustainability goes.

He says he and Sharron also enjoyed the way the competition brought them into contact with similarly enthusiastic and like-minded farmers.

Alan says they have always tried to farm in an environmentally-friendly manner. Like the majority of dairy farmers, he is very aware of the need to promote a good image of New Zealand dairying to urban New Zealanders and overseas consumers.

“It’s a great competition because it’s not just dairy farmer against dairy farmer. There were a whole lot of other farming types involved and it was great to chew the fat with other sectors of the rural community.”

“I don’t think we are doing anything special,” he says, “but wherever possible we’ve tried to reinvest in improving the farm and making it more sustainable”.

PHOTO SUPPLIED

Alan and Sharron Davie-Martin entered the Ballance Farm Environment Awards to

Some of the original trees on the improve the sustainability of their farming business. farm were removed to accommodate irrigation systems, but Alan and Sharron fertiliser savings.” expect,” says Alan. have planted new trees to provide shade and shelter for livestock and to improve The Davie-Martins entered the But the judging process was a the aesthetic appeal of the farm. Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment relatively relaxed “two-way dialogue”. Awards in 2010 because they wanted to They have also invested heavily in an get an outside view of their operation “We were able to learn a lot from the efficient farm effluent disposal system. and see how it compared with other judges. They had some good ideas to farms. share with us.” “Farm effluent is a major resource, and the interest cost of the capital “It was our first time in the awards, The judges were clearly impressed used for this system has been met by so we didn’t really know what to with the Davie-Martin farm, awarding it

Local dairy farmers to contest Canty seat

M

id Canterbury dairy farmers Frank Peters and Charles Whitehead are contesting the Central Canterbury seat on Fonterra’s shareholder council. Fonterra farmer-shareholders will vote for their preferred candidate in elections next month, with successful candidates in the 13 wards taking office at the close of Fonterra’s AGM on November 17.

Alan says he and Sharron would like to enter the awards again in future. “I think it’s definitely something you have to get into to.” Entries for the 2012 Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Awards close on October 17, 2011. For more information on the Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Awards, contact Nicola Hunt, Regional Co-ordinator, ph (03) 314 9586 or email Nicola.Hunt@ecan.govt.nz

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Panel (CAP) process. Fonterra elections returning officer Warwick Lampp also confirmed there will not be an election for the Directors’ Remuneration Committee, as shareholders Murray Holdaway and Philip Wilson have been elected unopposed. Voter packs, containing candidate profiles, will be mailed to eligible shareholders on October 20.

Candidates for the dairy co-operative’s board of directors’ election will be The voting period ends on November announced on October 3 following the 15 with the results announced later that completion of the Candidate Assessment day.

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From a dairying perspective F

or those who wish to ‘save our farms’ from foreign hands, I’m an immigrant. For others who view the cow as an environmental devil, I am a dairy farmer. To those who accuse corporate farmers of avarice, my family and I have interests in six farms. I just hope they’ll note ‘family’ in the last sentence. To those who accuse dairy farmers of tax evasion, I pay my taxes and employ people who do the same. While I could recite economic numbers showing over a quarter of all exports are dairy, this tends to fly over the heads of many. Listening to the Herald’s Fran O’Sullivan on the radio recently, I was struck by her saying “people want a slice of the dairy actionâ€?. This was about ‘mum and dad’ investors getting their share in our biggest export industry. The argument is attractive, if somewhat idealised. There’s an assumption retail investors will collect dividends rather than selling their shares at the best possible price. This confounds my idea of what capitalism is. From Europe to the United States to right down here in New Zealand, the dominant model for agricultural ownership is something called a cooperative. We’re not alone either; the three Foodstus combined would easily be New Zealand’s number two company. We believe in the collective ownership of processing and marketing because it gives farmers control. It means farmers are not another input to be squeezed like a lemon. Let’s assume, hypothetically, that Fonterra’s farmer-shareholders decided to ‘stag’ Fonterra. Given this motivation is driven by maximum return, would

farmers seriously consider an initial public oering here? With all due respect to the NZX, it is a small financial fish whereas Fonterra swims in a much larger sea. Put another way, Fonterra would comfortably sit within the top half of the USA’s Fortune 500. So you need to ask where the greater listing premium would come from; the NZX or say, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange? For political reasons it would be a dual listing – but the main investment action wouldn’t be here. It doesn’t take a fortune teller to see the future. Surging milk production from Asia with most investors based there would pull operations, ideas and people from New Zealand. It’s a well-trod path with Nufarm and Lion Nathan. Most recently, Independent Liquor and Charles have joined 42 Below in foreign ownership. Perhaps Exhibit A is GlaxoSmithKlein; the Glaxo starting in Bunnythorpe. The big growth in the world’s liquid milk supply will come from Argentina, Brazil, India and China. Fonterra already has beachheads in place or in the pipeline with three of them. What’s more, Fonterra’s dependence upon New Zealand’s liquid milk reduces each year and is currently below twothirds. Federated Farmers will lobby for whatever our members want and currently, they overwhelmingly back co-operative ownership. It’s to the credit of Kiwi farmers that they’ve seen through the temptation of a quick buck. Then again, they only have to look across the Tasman to see what a nonco-operative future would be like.

In Australia, Japanese and Italian companies dominate fresh milk processing and farmers aren’t happy with their lot. I would wager Fonterra’s incoming chief executive, Theo Spierings, understands co-operative benefits. It’s little known here but the Friesland in what is now RoyalFrieslandCampina started down the demutualisation road before it reversed course. Why? It was the growing dominance of non-farming ‘dry’ shareholders over those actively farming as ‘wet’ shareholders.

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Willy Leferink k n Chairperson Federated Farmers’ Dairy Section

My extended family in Holland were part of this counter revolution; all that is listed is not gold. My vision for a globalised Fonterra isn’t much different from what you’ll hear from those who back a listing. The exception in my vision is that Fonterra’s head office is still in New Zealand, it’s still owned by dairy farmers and these farmers still get up at 4am to milk. Having skin in the game keeps you grounded and farmer ownership has aided rather than impeded innovation. Look at the way Federated Farmers pushed for Fonterra to retain more in order to grow and how these retentions helped Fonterra develop a joint venture with another dairy co-operative to get into pharmaceutical grade lactose and non-lactoseexcipients. In the next four decades I believe Fonterra has the ability to triple its $16 billion turnover. The global population trend is our friend, as are the assortment of free trade agreements formed or forming. These are not merely means to grow trade, but give New Zealanders access to tomorrow’s countries. From the cynics, I can hear a lament of what this means for the environment. Environment Southland has gone as far to say the region cannot take one more cow but that has shades of US patent office commissioner Charles Duell’s infamous utterance 113 years ago that “everything that can be invented has been invented”. Contrary to popular perception, farms are heavily audited by councils and dairy companies for compliance. A prosecution under the Resource Management Act is no slap with a wet bus ticket because the RMA is a criminal prosecution. Another

fact often overlooked is that farmers live where they farm. Farmers swim and fish just like every other Kiwi, so we have a stake in water quality, as do our stock who need plentiful access to good quality water. It’s in our interests not to abuse what we’ve got because farmers aren’t dumb. From the perspective of someone not born here, New Zealanders have a tendency to catastrophise. This country is either the best at something or the worst, so Kiwis don’t do things by halves. When my extended family and friends come over for a visit, they see New Zealand for what it is and they like our natural environment, every bit as much as the farming environment. They’re not alone; Columbia and Yale Universities rank New Zealand number two in the world for water. It was discovered, only very recently, that one hectare of gorse leaches as much nitrogen as one hectare on an intensive dairy farm. If the link between livestock and water was as simple as fewer cattle improve water, then it hasn’t worked in Auckland. Cattle numbers there have fallen 18 per cent since 1999 and it’s not a small number either; it translates into 69,000 fewer cattle today. Most non-farmers are struck by the technology on offer when they go to a fielday. Farmers readily adopt technology when it aids farming and there’s a mass of it emerging with nitrification inhibitors, fertilisers, grasses and feed. Sophisticated sensors on my farms detect soil loading as dairy wash-down is recycled back to pasture as liquid fertiliser.

cartoons and politicians suggest. Instead, recycling waste saves an average dairy farm up to $20,000 each year in fertiliser. Since arriving in New Zealand as a farm worker, I’ve seen farm management practices like this leap ahead. You can’t judge a farm today from the viewpoint of the past. As a farmer, I also directly contribute to research and development with every kilogram of milksolids I produce. There are few industries outside of farming who do this but it shows a willingness to seek a better way. Joseph Bazalgette built London’s sewers to remove the foul smells thought to carry typhoid. Only later did they discover typhus was waterborne – but the sewers had inadvertently created a solution. This happy accident is why we support investment in primary greenhouse gas research. These are all reasons why Sir Paul Callaghan sees dairy in terms of productivity per employee and in this respect, pastoral agriculture stands out. This is perhaps the best answer to Fran O’Sullivan’s desire to see more people get a slice of dairy action; they already do. Dairy provides more jobs than each of the finance and accommodation sectors combined. When you consider half of what we earn as farmers is spent in our local communities, the Fonterra supplier sign outside my home farm really says it all: it starts right here.

Farmers don’t flush waste into rivers or streams as

Willy Leferink is the chairperson of Federated Farmers Dairy. This editorial opinion was published in blog form at www.Idealog.co.nz

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16

Algae and Kieren a winning pair Fertiliser and its effects on algae investigated

A

lgae growing in the Rangitata lagoon helped Ashburton Intermediate School student Kieren Bell scoop a big prize at the Sanford Science and Technology Fair in Timaru recently.

amounts of synthetic plant fertiliser.

Kieren’s family live on an 8-acre block near Ashburton, and spend holidays at their bach at the Rangitata River mouth. It was there Kieren, 12, noticed algae growing on top of the water near their bach.

The container of algae with fertiliser added at three times the recommended amount grew the most, while the control container grew only a small amount.

She said she knew agricultural runoff into water-ways was an issue for the district, so decided to base her science investigation around what effect fertiliser concentration in water had on the growth of fresh water algae. “Farming practices have huge demands on fertilisers for production in the area, which must gradually have an effect on our water ecosystems.” Kieren collected four litres of water from the lagoon and divided it into four containers, to which she added different PHOTO KIRSTY GRAHAM 150911-KG-064

LEFT: Kieren Bell won gold for her science investigation into algae.

She then added 15g of algae to each container, then measured each algae mass every two days over a period of a fortnight.

She concluded the concentration of fertiliser definitely had an effect on the algae, which used up oxygen in the water as it grew. Kieren said the investigation had been interesting, but she was not sure if her future lay in science or agriculture. She said some effects from fertiliser were inevitable, because of the number of farms in the district. Kieren’s science teacher Karin Farrell said students had been encouraged to investigate issues that were relevant to their district and Kieren’s investigation was worthy of her gold award and special prize from DairyNZ.

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