Dairy News Australia - April 2019 - With Gippsland Region by Dairy News Australia

APRIL, 2019 ISSUE 102

GIPPSLAND REGION

Cutting the cloth

Adapting to a tough climate in Gippsland see page 4

Got a message you want Gippsland dairy farmers to know about?

Advertising manager: James MacGibbon 0409 103 745 james.macgibbon @dairynewsaustralia.com.au

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2019

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Chairman’s message Time to plan for the year ahead WE ALL like to be able to control things in our lives — especially around the farm. That’s why this time of year can be difficult, as we wait for an autumn break that doesn’t always arrive on time and prepare for milk price announcements that dictate so much of our farm business performance. The upside of this quieter post-summer period is that it offers an opportunity to plan for the year (and years!) ahead. It’s a great time to look at everything from tax planning to pasture renovation to reassessing the genetic makeup of the herd. Perhaps the biggest issue facing farmers this

year is getting their feed right in a season where input prices are high and don’t look like dropping anytime soon. Dairy Australia’s Feed Planning webpage feed. dairyaustralia.com.au offers a wealth of information for farmers looking to maximise their homegrown fodder over the next few months. Seasonal outlooks, grain and hay reports, grazing and conserving tips and budgeting tools are all part of the Feed Planning webpage, which I’d encourage everyone to have a look at. The autumn tech notes booklet that was sent to every farm business in February is another great resource that can help farmers take a fresh

look at the way they are currently doing things. Produced by GippsDairy and Dairy Australia, the booklet drills down into strategies and techniques for improving outcomes from autumn through to spring. Of course, one of the best ways to improve your skills and knowledge is through the many workshops and events that GippsDairy offers throughout Gippsland. Whether it’s Cups On Cups Off, Farm Business Fundamentals, Feeding Pastures for Profit or anything else featured on the GippsDairy events page www.gippsdairy.com.au these courses can have a positive long-term impact on the bottom line of your farm business.

Improving your own performance as a farmer is a key to minimising the damage of a poor season and making the most of the situation when conditions and milk price are in your favour. After a tough few years, there are some indications that milk prices could be on the improve. While you can’t plan on getting more money, you can make the most of what’s on offer by planning and preparing for the season ahead. · Grant Williams GippsDairy chair

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2019

GIPPSLAND REGION // 3

Farm set-up key to pasture management JEANETTE SEVERS

SETTING UP farms to make the most of production in a challenging environment is as relevant in Albany, Western Australia and King Island, Tasmania, as it is in the Bega Valley, NSW, and Walpa, Victoria. That was the message from veterinarian and principal of Scibus, Neil Moss, at a pasture management workshop at Walpa recently, sponsored by Agriculture Victoria. Dr Moss focuses on a portfolio approach to whole farm planning, incorporating pasture and crop growth as an adjunct to animal health and milk production on dairy farms. “In Australia, we have periods of good pasture production interspersed with very ordinary. We have a wide range of soil types in any farming district. So how do we set up our farms to make the most of production in a challenging environment,” Dr Moss said. “The majority of nutrition on farm is pasture and crop. The challenge is providing year-round feed. “Aim to try and have some aspect of the pasture system that can respond at any time of year to rain, when it occurs.” He said 60 per cent of his client base was working with kikuyu, oversown through direct drilling with Italian rye-grass, oats, other legumes or grass such as fescue or prairie. What these dairy farmers share is a focus on setting up a pasture system that delivers year-round and can take advantage of moisture, whether that is rainfall or irrigation. “Then any time it rains is treated as a spring break,” Dr Moss said. “Dropping cereal into the mix enables an early spring growth of an extra 2–3 tonnes of dry matter

before the flush of rye-grass comes through. “There’s huge opportunity for return on investment if you can have that pasture growth occurring earlier into the spring flush. We’re buying that extra dry matter at a very low cost.” Dr Moss said how much an individual farmer was prepared to spend on seed each season was up to their risk appetite. He often recommends sowing brands that produce bulk, for that early spring flush; and be flexible about sowing rates to encourage density. Then liberally using gibberellic acid during the cool months to push growth once pasture has germinated (and in accordance with manufacturer’s directions). [According to Western Australia’s agriculture department, gibberellic acid, a naturally occurring growth-promoting hormone in plants, stimulates cell division and elongation and is used to manipulate plant development.] “That outlay is returned with the prices that some processors pay for milk produced on the shoulder seasons,” Dr Moss said. He also recommends direct drilling to one inch or a light cultivation to broadcast seed, rather than heavy cultivation. These methods help retain the soil integrity. What is important is getting the seed into the top of the soil, protecting it from heat and enabling good cover after germination. “If sowing into dry soil, rolling or at least dragging an upside-down set of harrows over the paddock after sowing can help even out germination,” Dr Moss said. In discussing kikuyu, Dr Moss said it could drive milk production during winter, whether used in a dryland system or under irrigation. “Kikuyu responds well to water and gibberellic acid can drive its growth rate in cool months,” he said.

Neil Moss from Gippsland talking about kikuyu grass in pasture.

He encouraged farmers to include kikuyu as part of a whole-of-farm pasture system, sown with annual and irrigated rye-grasses, a cereal crop and, for example, plantain, prairie grass and legumes for winter grazing to offset the slowdown of kikuyu growth; and to intensify kikuyu in the system by applying nitrogen to enjoy grazing benefits on the shoulders of winter. “It should be oversown between mid-March to Anzac Day to boost its value during winter. Sowing herbs in early March takes advantage of warmer soils,” Dr Moss said. Grazing a high-fibre feed can result in an increased production of 2 kg milk solids overnight. He also suggested sowing for a silage crop in March, as part of long-term planning.

With sowing often dependent on a weather break, he recommended considering short and long season pasture options. “A brassica in with an annual rye-grass can be low-cost options to push grazing within six weeks,” Dr Moss said. Part of his presentation dealt with replenishing minerals in the soil. Dr Moss said if grazing mineral-depleted soils — for example, potassium deficiency — it was better management to allow the herd to deposit urine and faeces in that paddock rather than graze them and take them out before they camped. “If they deposit their urine and faeces in another place, you’ve lost that opportunity to naturally replenish the soil,” he said.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2019

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Calving pattern suits business JEANETTE SEVERS

FRANK AND Fiona Mills operate two dairy farms at Kilmany, in central Gippsland, milking 546 predominantly British Friesian cows (70 per cent), the remainder cross-bred with Jersey and Normandy genetics. The farm has been producing milk for Parmalat for 16 years. “Business with Parmalat suits our calving pattern,” Mrs Mills said. The herd is evenly 50:50 split for calving from January 20 and August 10 respectively. The cows receive two cycles of artificial insemination and a stud British Friesian bull is used for mop-up joining for three weeks. Heifers are all joined to bulls, with small heifers joined to Jersey bulls and bigger heifers served by Friesian bulls. The Jersey-cross progeny are sold as poddy calves. The couple’s four children — Xavier, Aden, Rohanna and Logan — take on raising some heifers and sell them on point-of-calving each year.

Some of the remaining Friesian poddy bulls are sold to a regular client, with most retained to grow out for cash flow, grazing on land at Perry Bridge until they are rising-two-year-old. In a normal year, 400 head of mixed-age steers would be grazing on a dryland farm at Perry Bridge. Mrs Mills raises the Friesian heifers for the herd. The farms produced 3.6 million litres in 2017– 18 financial year and this year are on track to drop production by 20 per cent across the board. Drought has hit the central Gippsland region. “We’re servicing a $3 million debt and every month the milk cheque is $10 000 lower because production is down because of the drought,” Mr Mills said. This season they entered the export heifer business for the first time, only raising 20 heifer calves for the herd. With first-calving heifers coming into the herd this year, they also sold old cows. The number of steer calves retained dropped, with only 120 head growing out at Perry Bridge. “As it is, I’m feeding them every second day,”

Fiona and Frank Mills, of Kilmany, Victoria, have been producing milk for Parmalat for 16 years.

Mr Mills said. “They are eating seven-year-old rye-grass silage, mixed with straw bales.” The entire herd of milkers is running through the dairy on the irrigated home farm, with heifers growing out on the dryland second farm and learning to strip-graze. It is a rationalisation move, to better use the workforce and continue to drive productivity. Recently Mr and Mrs Mills reduced staff numbers by two full-time milkers. The couple have also made the decision to

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dry off cows that hit a lower production target of 12 litres/day. “It’s so we’re not feeding grain unnecessarily. If they’re cows not-in-calf, we’re selling them. We’re also selling three-teaters, cows with black feet and those with mastitis,” Mrs Mills said. Normally they would feed out 9–10 kg pellets/ cow/day; that has been reduced to 5 kg/cow/day. The couple drives production by utilising as much water as possible to grow pasture and make silage and hay. Their irrigation water includes

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2019

GIPPSLAND REGION // 5

Hay and silage used for the milking herd and raising self-replacement heifers and steers to rising-two-year-old.

The herd numbers 546, predominantly British Friesian cows.

utilising runoff through a series of drains connected to a 30 Ml lagoon, where the water is reused through the pivot sprayers. The lagoon also holds irrigation water pumped out of the Latrobe River and distributed through the pivots. They have 202 ha of country at Kilmany under irrigation, flood-irrigating 127 ha and three pivots covering 75ha. A 389 Ml water right on the Latrobe River is supplemented by access to drain water of about 300 Ml/year through CG Number 2 Nambrok. Both are year-round water rights.

That has enabled them to keep 86 ha of the farm for cropping country — 25 ha is planted for maize, harvested late March and 61 ha into ryegrass, harvested in October. All crops are harvested and stored as chopped silage; the silage is mixed with straw in the feeder wagon. A contractor is employed to harvest the silage. This year saw them buy extra irrigation water in March, released out of Blue Rock Dam, as the farm business experienced heatwaves in late summer and early autumn on top of the drought.

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Drains across the farm utilise harvested water for re-use. This drain was recently completed.

Frank and Fiona Mills drive pasture production through irrigation.

“We’d used all our entitlement and the drains were dry. We bought 200 Ml for an average $92/ Ml. Normally we pay $26/Ml. But they did waive the transfer fee,” Mr Mills said. “There’s potential for releasing more water from Blue Rock Dam. We’re hopeful the government will agree to releasing more water.” The additional 200 Ml was used in three weeks, to grow pasture for the milkers to graze. The couple recently used a Victorian Government rebate for installing drought infrastructure

to purchase a concrete sump to increase pump efficiency. “Rather than have to pump 24-hours-a-day, it’s now an auto switch on-off for flood irrigating 48 ha of pasture,” Mr Mills said. The farm recently underwent an energy audit through Dairy Australia; installing an automatic pump was a recommendation from that audit.

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Heifers are grown out and become replacements in the herd. Steers are sold as poddy calves or grown out (as these are) to sell at 12 months old.

Negotiating dry conditions in the east BY JEANETTE SEVERS

Mark Laity at Wiseleigh, Victoria, runs a oneperson dairy, milking 160 cows off just a bit more than 160 ha of dryland country. Mark and Susan, with their children Chloe, Nigel, Lauren and Tori, are the second and third generations respectively living on the farm, in East Gippsland. Mr Laity milks 160 cows, a mixed Friesian and Jersey herd, producing 800 000 litres annually, in a 10-a-side herringbone dairy. The self-replacing autumn and spring calving herd receives artificial insemination on one cycle, using semen from top Australian Index bulls. “I focus on keeping straight lines of Jersey and Friesian,” Mr Laity said. Cows are either carried-over or joined to a stud-bred Angus mop-up bull. Steers are sold as poddy calves to an existing client list or grown out and sold as 12-month-old weaners through local saleyards.

Mr Laity sows 6 ha of maize annually, part of the crop to be harvested green as chopped feed and the remainder made into silage and stored in a bunker. “I normally cut all the fodder we need — 300 rolls of silage and 500 rolls of hay,” he said. Grain is bought in, to feed 1.5–2 kg/cow in the bail. The past couple of years of drought have had a significant impact on production and management. Even though the very hilly farm has considerable catchment, poor rainfall has led to failed crops and pasture, dried-up dams and the need to buy in fodder. The usual summer crop of millet and sorghum germinated poorly this year. The maize paddock was sprayed out but not sown in December because no rainfall and a lack of water in the dams meant the intended crop could not be irrigated. “In 2017–2018 we got through because of hay stores from previous years,” Mr Laity said. “In 2017 we harvested 60 bales of silage. In 2018, we harvested 30 bales of silage. I haven’t

made hay for the past two years. “So we’ve had to buy in a lot of extra fodder in the past year.” While Mr Laity has been able to source silage locally, he also received a half-truckload of hay donated by Need for Feed, and a $1500 voucher from Buy a Bale paid for freight on other fodder. A donation from Red Cross has helped pay his rates. He booked a bore to be drilled for stock and domestic water late last year; unfortunately, the drilling was unsuccessful. “At 30 metres down, they struck sand which jammed the drill bit — they were using a rock drill,” Mr Laity said. “The borers need to come back with a mud drill and alternately drill rock then mud to, hopefully, try and get to water under the rock — if it’s there.” Fortunately, he has been able to use an existing 2Ml irrigation licence to pump stock water from what appears to be a spring-fed hole in the otherwise-dry Deep Creek. Mr Laity accessed a Victorian Government

Mark Laity.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2019

GIPPSLAND REGION // 7

Mark Laity spent $10 000 to install this pump and piping, which meant he could access the Victorian Government's $5 000 rebate, as part of drought-marked irrigation infrastructure funding.

drought funding initiative to buy a monoscrew pump and some piping to reticulate this water from Deep Creek into troughs. The funding program allowed for a $5 000 rebate if the farmer spent at least $10 000 on pre-approved irrigation infrastructure. His options for the winter include continuing to buy hay and maintain the reduced daily grain portion for the cows. “Our daily production is down to 10 litres/ cow, because they’re on rations,” Mr Laity said. In the next few weeks, he will sell older cows,

with heifers coming through. “We’ve been using heifers to try and keep milking a young herd,” Mr Laity said. “There’s 10 good cows I can take off straight away. I could reduce the herd by 40-50 cows, because I have young heifers coming through. “I’ve got to milk 160 cows to be viable. “But lightening the herd numbers could be a good thing with the season, to take pressure off the land and grow pasture.” A priority after the drought is oversowing most of the paddocks.

The sorghum crop, which normally grows to 1.5 metres before grazing, is very patchy and has struggled to gain height without rain or irrigation. Sown in early December, seed heads were apparent in mid-March.

“It depends on what the season does. If we get rain soon, I’ll direct drill and oversow with annuals to get quick growth; I’ll sow perennials in spring,” Mr Laity said. The couple applied for Farm Household Allowance in February this year. “The paperchase of all the details they want and supporting documentation is overwhelming – if it wasn’t for the help we’re getting from the rural financial counsellor, we wouldn’t bother applying,” Mr Laity said.

Maize would normally be sown annually in this paddock. A lack of rain and dry dams, out of which he normally irrigates, meant Mark Laity did not sow maize in December.

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Day 1: Thursday, 13 June 2019 Day 2: Thursday, 20 June 2019 Time: 10am to 3pm (all days) Venue: Agriculture Victoria, 1301 Hazeldean Rd, Ellinbank Lunch provided

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Places are limited to a maximum of 18 people per course. Please call GippsDairy on 5624 3900 or email info@gippsdairy.com.au to express your interest

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2019

8 // GIPPSLAND REGION

Reminders for April 2018 Feed planning ■

■

Have a plan to feed all the stock on your farm. If your hay and silage has been feed tested, you will be able to more accurately formulate diets for young stock and the milking herd to meet their feed and nutrient requirements, leading to more efficient use of supplements and more profitable milk production. This is very important for young stock that are often underfed during autumn and winter, particularly in the current challenging seasonal conditions. Due to dry conditions, think about doing an updated stocktake/feed budget of current feed stocks and plan for purchase where there are shortfalls.

■

Plan your grazing rotation without including areas of renovated or oversown pasture as these areas may take some time to become

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Establishing and managing new pastures

Establishing a wedge of pasture after the autumn break ■

available if rainfall comes late in autumn. Have a plan for wet soil conditions should they occur; stand-off paddocks and suitable feed sources may be required this winter. Use nitrogen fertiliser to boost pasture growth if required. Remember some nitrogen will become available after the autumn break through soil mineralisation and so an application of nitrogen may not be profitable until three to four weeks after the break. For more information, see bit. ly/2Y5YZcP or find the Autumn Tech Notes booklet at www.gippsdairy.com.au

■

Check new pastures for pests such as red legged earth mite and lucerne flea; if found they will need to be controlled as soon as possible to reduce damage to the seedlings. Do the ‘pluck test’ to check newly sown pastures are ready for a first grazing. The plants need to be well anchored in the

ground so they will not pull out; sometimes just waiting until a wet soil has dried out is enough for the plants to stay in the ground during grazing. When grazing newly sown pasture for the first time, if possible use a large mob of animals that are light weight (young stock) for short periods of time to lightly graze new pastures to a 4–6 cm residual. Do NOT overgraze these pastures! Follow the first grazing with broadleaf weed spray if it’s required. Consider the use of nitrogen to strengthen the plants and grow more dry matter after the first grazing, if seasonal conditions are favourable.

Drying off ■

When drying off, cows’ hygiene is key. Ideally dry cows when producing between 5–12 litres/day. Do not dry more than 20 cows per hour, and do not dry too many cows off in one day. Speak to your vet

about whether to use blanket dry cow therapy or selective dry cow therapy. Ensure experienced staff are involved in the procedures.

Young stock

Investing in feeding young stock properly provides a return to your business in more than one way: ■

■

Get back in calf more easily as first calvers in the herd. Produce more milk than undergrown heifers. Contribute to a more predictable calving pattern as they are calved down at 24 months old rather than 30 months old. Prepare your calf rearing facilities, consider disease and ease of operating as priorities. For more information, see http:// www.dairyaustralia.com.au/Animalmanagement/Animal-welfare/Calves.aspx

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2019

GIPPSLAND REGION // 9 Water issues ■

■

Business

Make a note in your diary of irrigation trouble spots that need maintenance. Farm channel maintenance, irrigation stop maintenance and pump maintenance need to be planned and ready for the next irrigation season. Assess your current water supply needs and capacities; if upgrades or maintenance of them is required, make plans for development and plans to manage the system as it is for the period before development.

■

Once complete take the time to check your planned cash flow against your GST for the third quarter. Plan your tax with your accountant or make the appointment to do so. Prepare to plan next financial year’s budgets, take into account the current milk price and input costs and consider the things you want to do on the farm in the next 12 months.

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES Stepping Back and Taking Steps will help farmers in all stages of their careers find a path that helps them to achieve their goals. Stepping Back is aimed at helping farmers develop a ‘game plan’ to ease back or transition out of the industry. Taking Steps is all about share farming, leasing and shared equity arrangements that can work for people at all stages of their dairy careers. Both days will be facilitated by John Mulvany.

Stepping Back Where: Traralgon (Venue TBA) When : May 1 (10.30am to 2.30pm)

Taking Steps Where: Traralgon (Venue TBA) When : May 15 (9.45am to 3pm) RSVP to Leah Maslen on 5624 3900 or leah@gippsdairy.com.au

BUSINESS ANALYSIS Dairy Farm Business Analysis workshops hosted by John Mulvany are scheduled for Orbost in April and May. Registration is now open, with expressions of interests also open for other areas of Gippsland. Where: Orbost (Venue TBA)

When : April 24, 30 and May 6 RSVP or EOI: Irene Baker on 0428 889 337 or at irene@gippsdairy.com.au

If enough people register their interest, the courses will be held In Yarram and Wonthaggi later in the year.

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Expression of interest are being sought for Cups On Cups Off courses in Yarram and Wonthaggi. COCO is a two-day training course delivered by GippsDairy and trained experts in mastitis and milk quality. It helps dairy farmers achieve best practice in milk harvesting, with the emphasis on the detection, treatment and prevention of clinical mastitis.

Federation Training has scheduled additional dates to deliver the Ag VET Chemical courses at the following location: Forestec: • Full course delivery – 2, 3 and 9th July • Refresher 3rd July This course can be found at the Federation Training website www.federationtraining.edu.au

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2019

10 // GIPPSLAND REGION

George and Jan Giliam, dairy farmers at Dumbalk, Victoria.

Spot on with grazing management JEANETTE SEVERS

JAN GILIAM focuses on grazing management

and benchmarks profit by how much of that home-grown pasture feeds his milking herd. To do that, he relies on an annual rainfall of about 1000 mm to produce grass and 2000 wrapped bales of pasture silage. He supplements pasture and silage with an annual cow ration of 1400–1800 kg pellets. Mr Giliam works alongside his son, George, on their 240 ha dryland dairy farm at Dumbalk, Victoria, milking a self-replacing 450-cow herd. He developed the three-way-cross herd after much research and discussion, focusing on production and productivity efficiency. Initially Mr Giliam used Holstein semen joined with Friesian cows. Ten years ago, he brought in semen from Swedish Red sires, then introduced Montbeliarde sire genetics. He relies on a three-month artificial insemination program. Mr Giliam looks at genetics as an economical method for turning grass into milk. “Grass is not worth a cent until it makes milk,” he said.

“The three-way-cross is an economical and efficient cow. It produces the same 8000 litres as a Holstein cow, but needs less feed for maintenance. “The herd is currently sitting around 8000 litres, or 600 kg milk solids, per cow, annually. We feed lots and lots of grass. So my grazing management has to be spot on.” He uses strip grazing year-round and moves the cows and tapes on every milking. The spring rotation is 20 days; in autumn that extends out to 90 days. “The herd overnights in sacrifice paddocks and gets silage on a feed pad,” he said. The sacrifice paddocks go into an annual ryegrass, sown with DAP, after use. Fertiliser is applied as a blend to every paddock, after grazing, in a four-to-five-week rotation from late April to December. The pastures are perennial grasses and a long-season summer annual is oversown, with DAP, each year. The country is quite hilly. The annuals are sown into red soils and other paddocks receive a maintenance oversow of perennials as required. Silage is made two-to-three times weekly from September to December, employing contractors.

The 450 milking herd is a three-way-cross of Holstein, Swedish Red and Montbeliarde genetics, artificially inseminated into Friesian cows.

They produce 2000 wrapped silage bales annually from the dryland 240ha farm.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2019

GIPPSLAND REGION // 11 “We make the most of surplus grass in the optimum growth period,” Mr Giliam said. “We make wrapped silage bales whenever there’s a window in the weather. “Our annual rainfall averages around 1000 mm. In 2018, it was 780 mm, but for us it’s about when it falls. We want a dry winter and an autumn break in mid-March. That’s ideal for sowing and oversowing, with follow-up rain in April.” Silage is fed to the milking herd and heifers, at a rate of 20 bales/day, from January 1. Mr Giliam is currently waiting on delivery

and installation of a new 60-bail rotary dairy, to replace the 18-a-side herringbone platform. The area for the new platform has been excavated. “For us, the rotary dairy is about chasing productivity efficiencies. It’ll reduce our milking time by hours each day,” he said. • Jan Giliam hosted a paddock walk for participants at a Viking Genetics field day held in west and south Gippsland in March.

Jan Giliam’s focus is on growing pasture.

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FPFP develops dairy farmers’ skills and decision making with pasture management and supplement use. Program Overview

The program is designed to assist those who are in charge of making feeding and management decisions on the farm. Practical coaching is provided by GippsDairy Regional Extension Officers and a farm management consultant.

The program covers: • grazing management – understanding the science behind good grazing recommendations and introducing a ‘Rotation Right’ system • profitable feeding – the role of supplements and the interaction between grazing, supplement use and cow performance • a practice based ‘individual’ system approach.

Program Delivery Two days ‘up-front’ classroom style delivery plus five on-farm group days over the next 10-12 months. Each participant is entitled to a one off, one-to-one consultation to support pasture rotation decisions utilising the ‘Rotation Right’ Tool.

Program Locations Time: 10.15 am — 2.30 pm (all days) Macalister Irrigation District Venue TBC Day 1: Wednesday, May 8 Day 2: Wednesday, May 15

West Gippsland Venue TBC Day 1: Thursday, May 9 Day 2: Thursday, May 16

South Gippsland Venue TBC Day 1: Friday, May 10 Day 2: Friday, May 17

To register, contact GippsDairy 03 5624 3900 or info@gippsdairy.com.au All farmers welcome — spaces are limited

For more information, please contact:

Wayne Bott Territory Manager for VIC, SA 0429 220 125 Larry Cutler Gippsland 0455 071 711 Argi-Gene P/L: Wangaratta & surrounding districts 03 5722 2666 KOBER: Nth Central Vic & Sth Riverina 03 5480 7087

1300 ANIPRO | www.performancefeeds.com.au

Less worms, more milk.

A business case for drenching dairy cows with Epricare® Pour-On

common challenge for most businesses is finding a balance between reducing inefficiencies and improving productivity. In doing so, successful businesses are persistent in their efforts to continually identify and drive improvements in the current system that reduce costs and increase revenue. This is no different in commercial dairy operations, where producers look to maximise sustainable production and minimise cost, constantly measuring and assessing profitability and return on investment (ROI). Although efficiency and productivity are both important to successful businesses, they commonly compete with each other, as efficiency looks to strip resources out of the system while productivity attempts to increase production. In tough years, the high cost of inputs in relation to farm revenue sees many producers adopt a lean businesses model, as it is less risky to cut spending than it is to increase productivity. As a

result, many farmers focus investment on activities that are perceived to generate the highest ROI, including herd genetics, nutrition and technology while cutting other costs perceived as less important. However, how do you know the value of each input or activity if you don’t measure it? One such input that is commonly overlooked is treating cows with an effective drench to control worm burdens throughout lactation. There is a common misconception that worms don’t have a significant effect on mature cattle. Although gastrointestinal worms rarely cause clinical signs of disease in dairy cattle, with most animals appearing healthy, it has been found that gastrointestinal worms will decrease feed intake and reduce the efficiency of feed utilisation.1 So, not only are the cattle infected with worms eating less, they are less efficient at using what they do eat. A study conducted in Australian dairy cattle showed that effective control of gastrointestinal

worms in early lactation can significantly increase milk volume and the quantity of fat and protein produced. The study, involving more than 2,500 dairy cattle run under commercial pasture-based production systems in Australia, showed that effective worm control in the first 100 days of lactation can increase milk production (47 L), increase milk protein (2.2 kg) and increase milk fat (1.8 kg).2 In milk yield alone, this is estimated to be an increase of 21c/head/day or around $15,750 per year, for a 250 cow dairy herd.*^ Outside of the scheduled dry period, every day that a cow is not producing saleable milk impacts on the profitability of the business. One variable that has a significant impact on the annual production of the herd is the average calving to conception interval. With a shorter calving to conception interval, the herd can start producing milk sooner, increasing the number of days in

production and therefore total herd output. A recent study3 showed that post calving control of gastrointestinal worms with Epricare can reduce first-calving heifers’ average calving to conception interval by 12.9 days, when compared to untreated cattle. If achieved, this can increase saleable milk output by around 250 L#, at a value of $114 per first-calving heifer in the milking herd.* Although efficiency and productivity can compete within a business, it is possible to find the right balance through assessing the ROI of farm inputs and activities, and selecting the ones that bring the highest returns to your business. As you can’t accurately manage something that you can’t measure, talk to your local CRT store or call your Boehringer Ingelheim territory manager about assessing worm challenges in your herd throughout the year, and selecting the most effective drench program for your operation.

Animal Health Solutions exclusive to CRT

Your Eprinomectin pour-on for Beef and Dairy 4 Nil meat, nil milk WHP* and nil ESI 4 Safe and easy to use* 4 Weatherproof

Available from your local CRT store. *See product label for full claim details and directions for use. Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Australia Pty. Ltd. Level 1, 78 Waterloo Road, North Ryde NSW 2113 Australia. ABN 53 071 187 285. ®EPRICARE is a registered trademark of the Boehringer Ingelheim Group. GENS.15.06.0146

*Milk price of 44.2c per L ^300 days of lactation #Milk production of 20 L per day References: 1. Coop. R & Holmes. P., (1996) Nutrition and parasite interaction, International Journal for Parasitology, (26), Issues 8–9, pp 951-962, ISSN 0020-7519, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7519(96)80070-1. 2. Little et al., (2000) Effect of Eprinomectin at Calving on Milk Production of Dairy Herds. Proceedings of 17th Annual Seminar of Society of Dairy Cattle Vets, NZVA. 3. McPherson et al., (1999) The Impact of Eprinomectin Treatment on Dairy Cattle Reproductive Performance. AAVP Proceedings, 44th Annual Meeting, New Orleans 1999; 44th Annual Meeting: 41 See product label for full claim details and directions for use. Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Australia Pty. Ltd., Level 1, 78 Waterloo Road, North Ryde, NSW 2113 Australia. ABN 53 071 187285. Epricare® is a registered trademarks of the Boehringer Ingelheim Group. All rights reserved. AUS-EPRI-191001