Dairy News Australia April 2021

Dairy farms flooded PAGE 5 PROCESSORS POSITIVE Improved conditions are driving positivity.

PAGE 8

INBREEDING CONCERN

A desire for top genetics is leading to less genetic diversity.

PAGE 16

APRIL, 2021 ISSUE 126 // www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au

FRESH START A 1700km move has brought new beginnings for Terry and Shannon Blasche. PAGE 12

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

NEWS // 3

Milk volume defies season IMPROVED IRRIGATION

prices and increased feed availability have softened costs for dairy farmers, resulting in one of the best seasons in recent years, according to Dairy Australia.

But despite all expectations for a massive season, milk volumes have risen only slightly.

This has prompted Dairy Australia to revise its milk production forecast, projecting instead a -1 per cent to +1 per cent change in the milk pool this season.

In DA’s latest quarterly Situation and Outlook report, a switch back to grazing, high heifer prices and workforce shortages were blamed for the missed targets.

DA senior industry analyst Sofia Omstedt said despite the favourable conditions on farms, milk production growth is failing to materialise due to a smaller national herd.

“There are also continued farm exits as a result of strong land and beef prices,” Ms Omstedt said.

DA unveils climate strategy. PG.8

Tasmania’s best celebrated. PG.19

“The distinction between profit and production in debating the performance of the industry is vital this season.”

This confirmation of there being less milk than predicted is sure to frustrate many farmers who’ve been battling for healthy milk price step-ups this autumn.

So far Norco, Bega, Burra, Saputo and Fonterra have announced step-ups.

In terms of labour, the report said farmers Australia-wide were coming up short without access to international workers.

“In all dairy regions in Australia, labour is highlighted as the most significant challenge,” the report said.

“As a result, many dairy herds are seeing cuts of varying degrees.”

It was also noted wet weather during late spring and summer had promoted pasture growth, leading to farmers switching away from feeding and back to grazing.

Volume growth by state: January

YTD

QLD

+3.6%

-2.6%

NSW

+4.5%

+1.7%

VIC

+3.2%

+0.8%

SA

0.0%

+2.6%

WA

-4.3%

-0.8%

TAS

+5.9%

+2.6%

Gippsland

+0.4%

-0.2%

Northern

+3.5%

+1.2%

Western

+6.5%

+1.6%

By VIC regions:

Milk volumes are on the rise in most dairy regions.

This switch to the cheaper grazing method has lowered per-cow yields, particularly in Gippsland and northern Victoria, with the report saying the wet spring actually slowed production during the shoulder period.

In addition to farmers lowering the productivity of their cows, high cattle prices have slowed the rebuild of the national herd.

This is because culling decisions are making financial sense and the purchasing of heifers is uneconomical — leaving farmers to rely on replacement calves to come through the herds.

In January 2021 milk production increased by 3.3 per cent, most of that carried by Tasmania, NSW and Victoria’s Western District.

FONTERRA TAKES LEAD WITH MILK PRICE STEP-UP

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NEWS .......................................................3 – 32 OPINION ......................................................... 6 MARKETS .....................................................10 ANIMAL HEALTH ............................33 – 34

Fonterra is leading the way on milk prices off the back of a 13¢ step-up.

Bega Cheese, Burra Foods, Saputo and Norco have also all announced step-ups for the 2020–21 season.

Hard on the heels of a profit announcement for the New Zealand parent company, Fonterra lifted its 2020–21 farm gate milk price,

taking its average farm gate milk price to $6.53/kg of milk solids.

Chief competitor Saputo lifted its milk price to an average of about $6.50/kg MS on March 5.

In late-February Bega announced it would increase its milk price by 10¢/kg MS for its Victorian, south-east South Australian and Bega

Valley central suppliers.

The increase takes the announced prices for FY2021 to $6.50/kg MS in southern Victoria and south-east South Australia, $6.65/kg MS in northern Victoria and $7.60/ kg MS in the Bega Valley.

Burra Foods has announced an increase in the milk price for Milk Supply Partners equivalent to $0.10/

kg MS across the full FY2021 year, bringing its average price to $6.50/kg MS. In February, Norco stepped-up its farm gate price by an average of 2¢/litre.

The step-up takes Norco’s farm gate price for this financial year to just above 70¢ for its north-east NSW and south-east Queensland suppliers.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

4 // NEWS

Call to change dairy industry A REPORT into the de-regulation of the dairy

industry is calling for a suite of changes to the industry, including considering amending the Dairy Code of Conduct, establishing a minimum farm gate price for milk in each region and investigating price discrepancies in milk supply contracts.

Released in late March by the Senate Standing Committees on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, the report examined the profitability of the industry since it was deregulated in 2000.

The report made 14 recommendations including Dairy Australia increase its research, development and extension activities into tropical and subtropical dairy regions, require processors to pay a levy to fund Dairy Australia and that the Federal Government make the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct a mandatory code.

The report called on the government to investigate price discrepancies between exclusive and non-exclusive milk supply contracts, processors circumventing collective bargaining groups, and the fairness of pricing for multi-year contracts.

The committee also recommended the ACCC be tasked with investigating a mandatory minimum farm gate price for milk in each dairy region and the government consult with industry stakeholders to investigate a retail sales levy that would increase returns to farmers.

The report has been welcomed by Dairy Connect, who said dairy value-chain initiatives must underpin the future of the industry.

Dairy Connect Farmers Group president Graham Forbes said the report featured “substantive” recommendations.

“Future generations of dairy farmers will depend upon the actions taken in the coming months and years; as well as to ensure the future security of food/dairy production within Australia,” Mr Forbes said.

Dairy Connect chief executive Shaughn Morgan said that the Senate committee indicated it was sympathetic to the proposal for a royal commission into the dairy industry.

“However, the committee did not believe that a royal commission should be held at this time given recent ACCC inquiries into a mandatory industry code and perishable foods,” Mr Morgan said.

“While Dairy Connect is disappointed at this and we do not agree with this view, we will continue to advocate for an outcome that ensures that the appropriate recommendations put forward by the majority of the Senate committee are implemented.

“The recommendations, and the suggested amendments by the government Senators, have been put forward to provide a platform to continue to grow the national dairy industry.

“Dairy Connect hopes that the majority of the recommendations will attract bipartisan support within Federal Parliament after considered discussion and debate.

“After 10 major reports into the dairy industry since 2010, the national dairy industry remains at a crossroads and we must ensure that the dairy value-chain works cohesively to act in the best interests of the entire Australian dairy industry.”

AGILITY NEEDED IN GLOBAL TRADE Dairy processors need to be flexible in a challenging international environment, Fonterra managing director René Dedoncker told a dairy processors forum recently.

He was speaking at an online forum organised by the Australian Dairy Conference, in lieu of the cancelled ADCevent.

Dairy processors were questioned about how they were responding to China’s posture on trade with Australia.

“We have discovered the value of Oceania-sourced dairy during COVID,” Mr Dedoncker said.

“Unlike the Northern Hemisphere, which have a bias to cheese and foodservice, we found our North Asian export markets have recovered fast and our ability to service that in the last 12 months (which took a dip) came back strongly.

“China clearly has been a hiccup for some, particularly if you have a nutritional bias.

“The informal Daigou channel (Chinese nationals wrapping up product in suitcases and sending them home) dried up completely into China.

“Having a diversified business and one that can pivot quickly is critical.”

Mr Dedoncker said the challenges in China were forcing producers to reassess their reliance on a small number of markets.

“If you are building a business on the basis that we will have a predictable relationship, you need to revisit that.”

He noted that China’s appetite recently on the Global Dairy Trade has been “pretty ferocious”.

Mr Dedoncker acknowledged there had been some international trade tensions, which producers need to think about, particularly from China.

“Now is time to create stability and to leverage the diversity we have in this country.”

Australian Dairy Productions Federation chief executive officer Grant Crothers said there was a real risk in China.

“China is a valuable market and it is becoming a politicised market,” Mr Crothers said.

“Our members have seen headwinds since 2018 when the first round of nutritional regulation came in.”

A new report is recommending big changes for the dairy industry.

Fonterra managing director René Dedoncker.

Exports of infant formula have plummeted, down about 60 per cent over the past two years.

“Australia holds only about four per cent market share of all infant formula,” Mr Crothers said.

“It is an example of exclusion from a valuable market … that regulation is preventing.

“It’s a market, not the only market.”

Bega Cheese executive chairman Barry Irvin also acknowledged the geo-political tensions, but he said Japan remained the biggest market.

“There is a consumer trend change in China around nutritionals and infant formula,” Mr Irvin said.

He said the trend towards favouring Australian product was occurring in China as well as other parts of the world.

“Apart from infant formula, our business into China has grown.

“The thing I fear is not so much geo-political tension between China and Australia, it is that tension expanded to Europe, to the US and other places.

“We experienced the worst of that when sanctions were introduced against Russia and the second biggest market closed down for much of the world.”

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

NEWS // 5

Trapped in terrifying flood SOPHIE BALDWIN

WHEN TAREE dairy farmer Doug Johnston went to bed on the night of Friday, March 19, he was expecting to get up and milk his cows as normal despite the SES issuing a ‘minor flood warning’.

And if it wasn’t for a phone call at 1 am by one of Doug’s children, who happened to be watching a weather app, Doug’s entire herd and generations of his carefully bred genetics would have been lost in what is now being described as a one-in-100-year flood.

Doug is grateful to have survived the ordeal with his herd intact.

However it hasn’t been without enormous personal and financial cost including the loss of nine heifers, pastures, silage and hay stocks, a quadbike, a tractor and mulcher, fencing and all the other incidentals that will pop up over the next few months.

What makes this flood even more heartbreaking is the family was only just starting to financially recover from the impacts of a drought that had almost brought the business to its knees.

“We only just survived the drought and had just got to the point where we had paid most of our debts off and then the flood hit,” Doug said.

“I was just beaten and I wondered how we could possibly survive again.”

Born and bred in the Taree region, Doug and his brother Milton have been dealing with floods all their lives and have always operated their two Ingalalal Jersey herds with this in mind.

But this flood was something the brothers had never seen.

Doug said he was woken by a phone call from his son concerned about a heavy rain front looming over the property.

“We had already had days and days of heavy rain and it was about 1 am and I decided to put the milking herd on the dairy yard,” Doug said.

“My farm was an old beef property, and the dairy was built on a mound above the 1978 flood level, so I knew it was the highest point.”

Once the milking herd was safely on the dairy yard, Doug drove through floodwater that reached halfway up the quadbike to find his dry cows along the riverbank.

“I was just praying the whole way the quad bike wouldn’t stall and I could get the dry cows to safety,” he said.

Doug also found the time to quickly warn his neighbours of the rising floodwater levels and one resident firmly believes he and his daughter owe their life to Doug, after their house was inundated.

“I realised the water was rising so quickly and soon there would be no way out,” Doug said.

“I went home, grabbed a couple of thermos of hot water and a few biscuits and decided to camp with my cows.

“If I had of been five minutes later, I would have been cut off from the dairy entirely.”

Doug spent the next day-and-a-half camped with his cows as the floodwater continued to rise and got to within a couple of feet of the dairy.

“There was a point there where I was considering getting up on the roof and I really thought my cows were going to drown, it was terrifying.”

Doug also ended up with some unexpected guests, when 28 Holsteins on the point of drowning with water up to their noses swam across to his dairy and joined his herd.

“The cows were all jammed in and I ended up sleeping on a bucket leaning my head against the vat while my poor cows spent all that time with no food or water.”

Within a couple of days the water had receded enough for Doug to walk his herd up to his brother’s place and the cows have been milked in a neighbour’s dairy ever since.

But they are out of pasture, hay and silage and are relying on the donations of kind strangers to feed their cows, but they really need quality milking hay to keep the herd going.

The brothers have been able to relocate 160 cows to other farms, dried-off 65 and are milking 150 cows between them.

They are now battling a costly mastitis outbreak and the last time they sent milk to their dairy supplier Saputo was March 19.

Doug said disappointingly, they had not been contacted by any Saputo hierarchy to see how they are going.

Doug said the days since the flood have been consumed with cows and management, and it has become a nightmare as they struggle to keep track of records, who has what cows, monitoring cow health and wondering what to feed them.

He said the support and kindness of the community had inspired him to keep going, but he is worried about the financial cost.

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The dairy farmers have lost infrastructure, heifers and feed, and are now battling a costly mastitis outbreak.

“There is a flood grant of $75,000 available but because we run both farms separately, but through the one ABN, I am expecting we will only be able to access one lot of funding and it will have to be shared between both farms and that certainly won’t go anywhere near covering costs.

“It is going to take months just to clear all the debris away from Milton’s farm alone.

“We have lost all the pasture we had oversown, not to mention the loss of financial income on top of everything else.”

To help the family get back on their feet, a GoFundMe page has been set up and donations can be made at: www.gofundme.com/f/helpdouglas-johnston-dairy-farmer Doug said while he may not be able to thank people personally for their generosity, he was extremely grateful and humbled by the kindness shown to his family.

Doug Johnston spent a day-and-a-half camped with his cows at his dairy as floodwater rose and cut them off.

A drought relief fund has been launched

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

6 // OPINION

EDITORIAL

No royal commission, but inquiry wants changes Those calling for a royal commission into the dairy industry will be disappointed by a recent Senate inquiry.

After 17 months, five public hearings, six extensions to the report deadline and 36 submissions looking at more than 20 years of history in the dairy industry, the final report wouldn’t make the endorsement.

The dairy industry has changed significantly since it was deregulated in 2000.

Halloumi gets EU protection HALLOUMI IS the latest cheese to receive special European Union protection.

From now on, traditional makers in Cyprus will be able to market their age-old recipe with a protection designation of origin (PDO) stamp to signal authenticity.

The ruling also gives Cyprus added legal rights to stop other cheesemakers from selling traditional-recipe halloumi in the EU and United Kingdom.

The Australian Dairy Industry Council said it was ready to fight over the halloumi name if the EU demanded halloumi monopoly in future trade deals.

“Claiming there is a special knowledge that only producers in Cyprus possess is absurd and will lead to an unfair and anti-competitive outcome,” ADIC chair Terry Richardson said.

National Farmers’ Federation chief executive Tony Mahar said the EU’s geographic indications “regime” is “a Trojan horse for European protectionism”.

The PDO status also means Cypriot cheesemakers who wish to use the EU stamp will be held to a standard of high quality — something a few have taken issue with.

Turkish-Cypriot hellim (halloumi) factory owner Mahmut Erden said the EU’s definition of halloumi as 51 per cent goat or sheep’s milk would make the product more expensive.

“This is very bad for north and south producers,” Mr Erden said.

On the whole, the Mediterranean island locals have hailed the decision.

But, the report has pushed for a suite of changes.

One of the biggest recommendations? Establishing a minimum farm gate price for milk in each region.

Five years on from the milk price clawback and after nine years of $1-a-litre milk (which has now graciously been raised to $1.10-a-litre by the big two supermarkets), the production cost of milk is never far from the top of the issues list.

And the report recommends taking a closer look at contracts, with price discrepancies between exclusive and non-exclusive milk supply contracts, processors circumventing collective bargaining groups, and the fairness of pricing for multi-year contracts all recommended starting points.

This Protected Designation of Origin symbol will now grace Cyprus-made halloumi cheese, assuring European customers they are buying a traditionally made, historical product.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades welcomed the move, calling it “a milestone day for halloumi/hellim and our country”.

Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis said the decision protected halloumi against imitators.

Halloumi is Cyprus’s largest export, earning AUD$385 million last year — 40 per cent of that going to the UK. Cyprus has a history of taking legal action against companies making alternative halloumi and failing to win the cases, including Sweden’s Grilloumi, a Greek halloumi/vermion grill cheese and a Bulgarian BBQloumi.

Advertising Max Hyde 0408 558 938 max.hyde@dairynewsaustralia.com.au Editor Alana Christensen (03) 5820 3237 editor@dairynewsaustralia.com.au Dairy News Australia is published by Shepparton Newspapers Pty Ltd. All editorial copy and photographs are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions or comments expressed within this publication are not necessarily those of the staff, management or directors of Shepparton Newspapers Pty Ltd.

Calls for a royal commission have been growing, with rising water prices and a number of tough seasons causing an exodus of dairy farmers from northern Victoria, while fire, flood and drought across NSW and Queensland is making the future of many family farms untenable.

Regional editor news@dairynewsaustralia.com.au

The report comes at a time when some dairy farmers are experiencing the best season in recent memories.

And when others are recovering from yet another natural disaster after the flooding in NSW and Queensland.

With confidence growing this season, it’s an ideal time to take stock.

These issues may feel further away when the rain is falling, the pastures green and producers are happy with their milk price.

But, as everyone knows, you can’t count on the weather to remain good, the prices high and the bank balance healthy.

What significant steps will come out of this report remain to be seen — it may just be another to add to an increasing pile.

But, while a royal commission might not be on the horizon just yet, many in the industry aren’t giving up the fight and will continue to push for positive change to grow a more sustainable industry.

Publisher Shepparton Newspapers Pty Ltd Printed by Newsprinters Pty Ltd Head Office 7940 Goulburn Valley Highway Shepparton, VIC 3630 Phone (03) 5831 2312 Postal addressPO Box 204 Shepparton, Victoria 3632 Australia

WWW.DAIRYNEWSAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

Dairy News Australia welcomes contributions from stakeholders in the dairy industry, and particularly from organisations wishing to advance the industry.

Contributions and photos can be sent to: editor@dairynewsaustralia.com.au Letters to the editor on topical issues are also welcome.

Letters should be concise and carry the name and town address of the author, as well as a contact phone number, not for publication.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

NEWS // 7

Confidence is surging THEY SAY confidence is key — and in farming

it’s also at the centre of a rolling survey.

The latest Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey is reporting “historically high” levels of confidence among Australian farmers, thanks to good weather and great profits.

While the March survey had nothing on the happiness-feast that was the December survey, farmer sentiment was still one of the best seen in 20 years.

Rabobank found 39 per cent of farmers nationally expect conditions in the agricultural economy to improve in the coming year, while 51 per cent expect conditions to remain stable.

Only seven per cent of farmers had a pessimistic outlook on 2021 — most coming out of Western Australia and Queensland.

More than half of Victorian farmers are expecting very good conditions to continue, while one third anticipate their incomes will increase.

This surety is fuelling strong investment plans, especially among dairy farmers, and all sectors keen to modernise water infrastructure.

The survey found expectations of improved incomes where highest among NSW producers — who also were the most confident overall.

Meanwhile, so positive are business conditions in Australian agriculture the survey’s farm viability index — where farmers assess their own business’ viability — has eclipsed the highest level ever set (December 2020), establishing a new record.

Rabobank Australia chief executive Peter Knoblanche said one of the greatest indicators of confidence was on-farm investment.

“New dairy barns, new wool sheds and modernising water infrastructure remain popular business investments for our farmers,” Mr Knoblanche said.

“Farmers are making the most of the good seasonal conditions, commodity prices strength and favourable business incentives to help strengthen and grow their businesses.”

Combined with low interest rates and a number of government incentives, the misery of Chinese trade tensions and lockdown-created dips in consumer purchasing are long forgotten by many primary producers.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

8 // NEWS

Dairy processors optimistic GEOFF ADAMS

LEADING PROCESSORS were optimistic

about improving conditions for dairying, but cautious about predicting future farm gate milk prices, at a milk processors forum organised by the Australian Dairy Conference.

On the back of strong global dairy trade sales and strengthening demand from Asia, the processors acknowledged there were improving signs.

Bega Cheese executive chair Barry Irvin said he was in a much happier position now than he was last March, but he remained cautious.

He said suppliers were insulated from the worst of drops in commodity prices at opening time last year, but commodity prices did improve, while currency rises had an impact.

“We’re relieved to see the recovery,” Mr Irvin said.

“Demand is coming strong out of Asia and China.

“But commodity prices are a bit lumpy and so I am always a bit cautious.

“But I much prefer to be in a position to see prices rising rather than dropping.”

Mr Irvin said they were in a better position now than in March last year.

“I feel optimistic and more comfortable but I temper my enthusiasm.”

Fonterra managing director René Dedoncker said the domestic scene was strong with solid retail business, and exports were consistent because Australia had been a good supply partner to countries in South-East Asia with a trusted product.

“Those fundamentals are in good shape,” Mr Dedoncker said.

“Demand is going to stay fairly stable.

We have good on-farm conditions, notwithstanding the issues in recent weeks (flooding).

“China’s appetite on GDT has been pretty ferocious.

“Across Asia it has been very consistent.

“Now more than ever is our time to create stability and to leverage that diversity we have in this country.

“We are optimistic about the season ahead.”

Australian Dairy Products Federation president Grant Crothers said milk prices were complex but something that was inherited.

“Under the Dairy Plan, as part of our commitment, we introduced the Milk Value Pool to better explain the value of milk,” Mr Crothers said.

“It’s getting quite a few hits per day and becoming a reliable source of information.

“A tool for analysts and observers as well as farmers and their advisers.”

The speakers at the Australian Dairy Conference forum included René Dedoncker, Barry Irvin, Norco chief executive officer Michael Hampson and Grant Crothers.

The hour-long, online forum was organised due to the annual conference not being held this year.

Fonterra Australia managing director René Dedoncker said he was feeling optimistic about this year.

DA UNVEILS CLIMATE STRATEGY Research and development will be prioritised as part of Dairy Australia’s Climate Change Strategy.

Unveiled last month, the strategy lays out a range of actions over the next five years to help dairy farmers adapt and build their resilience to climate change impacts on profitability, while contributing to industry-wide sustainability targets.

Dairy Australia managing director David Nation said the strategy was an important step for the future of the industry.

“It recognises that responding to climate change is one of our highest priorities, that farmers are experiencing impacts of climate now and that experts are saying these challenges will only increase,” Dr Nation said.

“The strategy is about enabling a climate-committed Australian dairy industry with cost-effective and achievable actions.

“It provides a clear vision and pathway towards realising our climate goals and includes success measures for farmers to gauge how they are tracking.

“Dairy Australia’s role is critical in supporting the dairy industry to respond to the challenges and opportunities of climate change.

“RD&E investment and programs that help farmers adapt to climate risk and farm profitably and sustainably are integrated across our organisation.

“We’re focused on helping farm businesses become more resilient and thrive in a changing environment.”

Dr Nation said consumers and trading partners also want to know milk is produced with a low carbon footprint.

Climate and energy lead Alison Kelly said the strategy had been developed with input from internal and external experts, including dairy farmers and industry bodies who are already seeing and responding to the pressures of climate change.

“The strategy prioritises our RD&E efforts across climate change adaptation, linking climate action with environmental stewardship and solutions for addressing emissions,” she said.

Dairy Australia has released a climate change strategy.

“It aligns with the goals of the Australian Dairy Industry Sustainability Framework, including a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions intensity across the dairy industry by 30 per cent by 2030.

“This target has the support of the whole dairy supply chain, who will be critical partners investing in solutions for dairy farmers.”

The Climate Change Strategy goals

include: helping farmers adapt to thrive in a warmer and more unpredictable climate, maintain Australia’s position in the top 10 globally for low emissions intensity, embed climate action in the industry’s approach to looking after the environment and invest and actively contribute to keep global warming to below 1.5 degrees.

For more information, visit: www.dairyaustralia.com.au/climate

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

10 // MARKETS

Fertiliser prices stay high ELIZA REDFERN INDUSTRY ANALYST

IN THE commodities family, the fertiliser

market is often like the middle child — generally even-tempered and constantly overlooked.

However, attention can’t help but be drawn to this market as its outcries can currently be heard from almost every corner of the globe.

A myriad of international factors have tipped the fertiliser scales out of balance, and despite steadily increasing values, it seems no price is too high to impact current global demand.

In October, the World Bank’s commodity markets outlook projected global diammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea prices would increase by three per cent in 2021.

Growing global demand supported by favourable weather conditions in Australia, India and North America, higher energy costs and increased prices for raw materials such as sulfur, laid the foundations for moderate price increases.

India’s appetite was strong throughout 2020, as the country began to stockpile fertiliser while weather conditions were favourable.

Later in the year, a depreciating Brazilian real increased crop prices and boosted fertiliser demand in that major market.

Since the start of this year, DAP and urea prices have both surged 26 per cent.

Compared to last year, DAP and urea prices have soared above normal levels, up 89 per cent and 56 per cent respectively, with the February average for DAP sitting at US$529/mt.

The last time phosphate prices were this high was back in 2012, close to 10 years ago.

In January, demand from the European Union for Egyptian urea, supported by relatively small but regular purchases, caused prices to steadily increase, yet EU buyers remained undeterred.

These many small price gains set the stage for prices to boom. The arctic chill that breezed its way through the Northern Hemisphere, served as the main catalyst for the surge in prices this year.

In China, cold temperatures forced the reallocation of resources to focus energy on heating homes.

As one of the world’s largest fertiliser producers, China’s consequential withdrawal from the fertiliser export market has severely dented global supply.

Demand remains strong in the United States, as the country moves into a key fertiliser application season.

Local fertiliser production took a hit recently as cold weather led to surging natural gas prices, prompting fertiliser production facilities to temporarily shut down.

With much of their normal gas requirements pre-contracted, it became more economically justifiable to sell that gas back to the market at high spot prices, than to use it continuing production.

While some facilities are trying to get up and running again, this momentary slowdown has come at a time when imports are well below what is needed for this time of year.

With so many factors in play influencing the fertiliser supply and demand relationship, the market is expected to remain volatile for some time.

Global prices are yet to materially impact demand, and with strong buying looming from

the US and Brazil, concerns are circling around whether their requirements will need to be filled at the same time, or if they can be handled sequentially.

At the time of writing, India is yet to approach the market for imports, with analysts suspecting this may happen around the end of March.

As temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere warm up, China may soon offer fertiliser to the market once again, helping to rebuild supply and work towards easing prices.

However, leading into spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn south of the equator, it doesn’t appear global demand will be reducing anytime soon.

Back home, conditions in Australia have been favourable with benign weather conditions, reasonable input costs and strong feed availability.

It seemed likely that something would throw a spanner in the works, and a year on from unfounded concerns about COVID-related

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fertiliser shortages, we may see sourcing issues emerge.

Uncertainty is already causing challenges for croppers; to date the pain seems to be manifesting as higher prices more than lack of physical supply.

If issues worsen and growers are unable to get their hands on the fertiliser they need, winter crop yields could also be impacted — potentially reducing the availability of supplementary feed post-harvest.

Furthermore, if distributor stocks run low the ability of dairy farmers to boost pasture growth rates and nutritional value during a key grazing period will also suffer.

At this stage, there is a good chance Australia will again dodge the issue of physical shortages, albeit at the cost of higher delivered prices.

While a stubbornly higher dollar helps alleviate some of the pain, it looks like the fertiliser market is at least going to get the attention it often misses.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

NEWS // 11

Freedom Foods shares plummet THE FREEDOM Foods Group Ltd share

price suffered a collapse when trading resumed last month.

The price fell from $3 to about 55¢ on Thursday, March 25, with a large number of shares changing hands.

The shares had been in a trading halt since June last year.

The company, which owns a UHT plant in Shepparton and has factories in Ingleburn, Dandenong and Darlington Point, has been under pressure since accounting irregularities were discovered last year.

ASIC is conducting an investigation and there has been an exodus of senior staff and directors.

The company recently reported a first half-year loss of $23.9 million, after tax. Net sales increased to $317 million.

Export sales of UHT milk to China rose by 38 per cent to $43 million.

On Friday, March 19, the company announced a $265 million capital raising program, with about $200 million to be

applied to repay debt and the remainder to apply to the company’s recovery strategy.

Interim chief executive Michael Perich has been appointed to the permanent position and a new chief operations officer, Stuart Muir, will join the company in April. Mr Muir has worked at Unilever and Lion Food & Drinks.

New director Stuart Black, who is a chartered accountant with experience in agribusiness, also joined the board.

Freedom Foods chair Genevieve McGregor said the capital raising program was an important step in the financial turnaround for the group.

She said they had adopted a simplified business strategy, sold some noncore assets and was now focusing on dairy and nutritionals and plant-based beverages.

“Our first-half financial results, released last month, demonstrate that we are making good early progress on the turnaround,” Ms McGregor said.

The Freedom Foods share price suffered a dramatic plunge.

“While there is more work to do, the successful completion of the recapitalisation will enable the company to continue that progress and restore Freedom Foods Group to sustainable and long-term profitable growth.”

The company intends to call a general meeting in May.

REPORT TIPS HISTORIC RESULTS Another report has come out of the gates swinging for Australian dairy.

Rabobank’s annual dairy seasonal outlook has boldly predicted good things for the industry while talking up profits.

In the outlook, titled In Pursuit of History, the agribusiness banking body said dairy was now “staring down history” as expectations for a highly profitable 2020-21 season continue to ramp up.

These expectations are largely contained to the southern export region.

The report predicts Victorian farmer margins will exceed industry targets in 2019–20 and again in 2020–21.

There is even talk of the 2021–22 season being “on track” for similarly strong results.

Rabobank senior dairy analyst Michael Harvey said if these expectations were realised, it would be the first time since benchmarking began 15 years ago that three

consecutive seasons have exceeded industry targets.

“The elevated outlook for the milk price is key to profitability,” Mr Harvey said, confirming the fate of the industry remains in the processors’ hands.

Mr Harvey said the return to profitability was “remarkable” after an extended period of low margins.

Rabobank is expecting a 2021–22 milk price of $6.65/kg MS in the southern export region.

“Price signals ahead of the 2021–22 season remain favourable, with the upside and downside risks to the global outlook more balanced then they were this time last year,” Mr Harvey said.

“That said, while the pandemic-related uncertainty has subsided, it has certainly not disappeared.”

Mr Harvey said global freight and logistical challenges, which were complicating the outlook and market dynamics, were set to recede by mid-2021.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

12 // MANAGEMENT

Fresh start 1700 km from home RICK BAYNE

LAND-LOCKED AND hurting from years of

After experiencing a prolonged drought and a lack of irrigation water, Terry is looking forward to greener pastures.

Their new farm is two-and-a-half times the size of their old Casino property.

The property is an amalgamation of two farms and the second property in particular needs a lot of work on pasture fertility.

drought, Terry and Shannon Blasche knew the writing was on the wall at their far north coast NSW farm.

But how do you pick up and move from an area that you love?

For Terry and Shannon and their three children, selling their Casino farm wasn’t an easy decision but six months after moving to Jancourt East in south-west Victoria they’re confident they’ve made the right choice.

As far as relocations go, this was a big one — with more than 1700 kilometres separating the two farms.

Taking over the new property on September 1 last year in the midst of Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown added to the difficulties.

For Terry, it was an emotional move and naturally all family members found it difficult to say goodbye to family and friends.

“I’d been 35 years on the family farm; I grew up there,” Terry said.

“But it was too small. The main farm was 194 acres (78 ha). We had a run-off block but we couldn’t milk any more cows, and we’d had twoand-a-half years of very severe drought, probably the worst we’d ever seen.

“We were tossing it around on and off for a few years, should we or shouldn’t we go. It’s a fairly big decision when all your family and friends are still up there.”

They calved year-round to fit with the needs of their factory to service the fresh milk market, but peaked around 210 and averaged about 180 milkers.

“We bought the farm off my parents five years ago but we needed to expand the business,” Terry said.

“We started looking around the area but there was nothing suitable and then we kept getting further away.

“There was nothing in NSW and we didn’t really want to go to Queensland because it’s even worse than NSW, so we decided to look at Victoria — and for value-for-money, the southwest was the best place to go.”

The move south has coincided with a mild and wet summer — conditions most in the region describe as the best in memory, although Terry

is well aware that not every season will be this helpful.

Still, it won’t be like Casino where it usually hits 30 degrees in September and doesn’t often dip any lower and the humidity remains much higher.

The new farm is 216 ha and this year the Aussie Reds herd peaked at 260 with hopes of reaching 300.

“We’ve got a lot of heifers coming through and a mate in Nowra let us have some cows for now to pay back at a later date, which has been a massive help to our big move,” Terry said.

“I like the Aussie Reds for their ease of management and they’ve got good protein and fat with reasonable milk volume.”

Terry and Shannon also run Fairy Vale Aussie Red stud, running the farm together with the help of a casual worker.

The big shift south wasn’t easy, with the cows in for a long-haul in B-double trucks.

“The cows were knocked around a bit,” Terry said.

“We didn’t peak like we were in NSW. We probably lost five litres per cow off their peak.

We had expected some impact but not that much.”

After being forced to buy a lot of feed during the prolonged drought, Terry was looking forward to greener pastures.

“Up north we ran out of irrigation water lots of times. We had irrigation from the river but we ran out of water a lot over the period of the drought.”

Adapting to non-tropical pastures has been challenging for Terry and the cows.

The new farm had perennials, native grasses and Italians but, for the first time, Terry got to plant summer crops with turnips, rape and millet.

“That was something new because we never did summer corps up north,” he said.

“They weren’t too bad, but it took the cows a little while to get on to the turnips.”

The property is an amalgamation of two farms and the second property in particular needs a lot of work on pasture fertility.

“We’ve done soil tests and put out 240 tonnes of lime because the other farm was quite low on pH,” Terry said.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

MANAGEMENT // 13

The move led to a drop in production from the herd, but things are back on the up.

After dealing with tropical grasses in northern NSW, Terry has also had to adjust to a rye-grassbased system in Victoria.

“We would plant rye-grass in the winter through the tropicals but it’s different here and I think it will be better for the cows.

“The plan is to buy-in grain and make everything else ourselves.”

While the cows had to recover from a long journey and adjust to new feeding options, they were also challenged by a new type of dairy — a 40-stand rotary replacing a 16 double-up.

“The first two days it was really tough to get them to come on to it, we’d have to push them on,” Terry said.

“After a week they’d sit back in the yard but we’d move batches down and lock them in. They got used to it.”

After the initial loss of milk, things are picking up and Terry is confident the better home-grown feed options will lead to improved production.

“A lot of cows were getting dry so they were always going to tail off. Hopefully we’ll pick up 1000 litres per cow once we get it all up and running.”

Now supplying Bulla, they are converting from year-round calving to seasonal.

“We’re changing to autumn calving. We’ve started that with two calvings for the next few years until we get them all back to autumn,” Terry said.

While enjoying the new adventure and at the same time missing family and friends, Terry said he had no regrets.

“COVID has made it tough to get out and meet people.

“When we arrived, Victoria was in the harshest lockdown but now I’ve joined some farmer discussion groups and look forward to that.”

Now supplying Bulla, the Blasches will shift from year-round calving to seasonal.

A 1700 km move has opened up more possibilities for Terry and Shannon Blasche.

Their Aussie Reds herd has peaked at 260 milkers, but there’s hopes of reaching 300.

The cows were loaded onto B-doubles for the long trip south.

At their previous farm, Terry and Sharon Blasche calved all year round to fit with the needs of the factory.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

14 // NEWS

Demand to drive markets as global dairy markets look towards a “palpable return to familiar consumer patterns” by midyear, the latest Rabobank global Dairy Quarterly report has found.

The report said while the outlook was “clearer and more hopeful than it has been for months”, it would not be immediate or without some bumps, but on balance it should be supportive of dairy prices.

Throughout the pandemic, the report said global milk supply had been much less impacted than demand, with Rabobank forecasting a “modest tightening of supply” in 2021 — in the vicinity of 1.1 per cent across the Big-7 dairy-producing regions — providing an opportunity for demand to adjust to heightened post-vaccine levels.

Most of the supply growth is set to come from the United States, although high feed costs will

slow the rate of growth during the second half of 2021 and beyond.

Meanwhile milk supply is tightening in the European Union and South America, with flat production forecast for Australia and only a marginal lift anticipated in New Zealand.

While supply growth will be modest, demand will be underpinned by economic growth, with Rabobank forecasting a 4.5 per cent year-on-year increase in global GDP for 2021 after last year’s 3.8 per cent contraction.

“The impact of widespread vaccination should be felt by mid-year, which will be positive for economic activity,” the report said.

While there will still be a “long tail to some aspects of the recovery”, the report cites easing of restrictions on restaurants and holiday gatherings as a positive driver of dairy consumption, particularly in the US foodservice sector.

Meanwhile China’s near-term import demand is expected to remain elevated over the shortterm, but there are signs it could slow in the second half of the year.

“High domestic milk prices are driving interest in expanding domestic milk production, which could reduce import needs in the future,” the report said.

“The high milk prices favoured imported WMP early in the year, but that demand could see a pause following a recent spike in Oceania prices.”

Meanwhile “shipping woes are causing headaches for exporters trying to move commodities”, which the report said was leading to a disconnect in global commodity prices as exporters in some regions were forced to discount products to absorb elevated shipping costs and remain competitive.

Australian milk production is up one per cent, year-on-year, in the season to date (July 2020 to January 2021) on the back of output growth in NSW and Tasmania.

As the season winds down, Rabobank senior dairy analyst Michael Harvey says while “there are signs of a turnaround”, production growth will be modest as the national herd takes time to rebuild after several years of drought.

Mr Harvey said Rabobank had lowered its milk production forecast for 2020–21 and expects output to be flat with the previous season at 8.7 billion litres.

In terms of the price outlook, Mr Harvey said the bank had lifted its commodity milk price forecast for 2020–21 to $6.60/kg MS. “Healthy farm profitability is forecast to continue through 2021,” he said.

“Many key dairy farm regions are enjoying very favourable seasonal conditions, a plentiful supply of feed, and an improved water market outlook for irrigators.”

A return to normal after COVID-19 is driving an increase in dairy consumption.

Mr Harvey said while rising purchased feed costs were a key risk to farmer margins, a healthy local winter crop is keeping feed bills in check for now.

He said dairy exports had proved resilient in the 2020–21 season, lifting by eight per cent through the first half of the season, with milk solids favoured for packaged milk and SMP/ butter for exports.

Cheese exports, however, were down by five per cent in the first half of the season.

Mr Harvey said while “this will remain the trend while the foodservice sector recovers”, demand in the domestic dairy market was set to remain buoyant as retail food sales remain elevated.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

NEWS // 15

Green light for Fair Go Dairy THE AUSTRALIAN Competition and Consumer Commission has authorised the Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation to implement its proposed Fair Go Dairy licensing scheme for five years.

Under the scheme, QDO will grant processors a licence to use the Fair Go Dairy logo on qualifying dairy products.

These products must contain at least 80 per cent unprocessed milk that was

produced by Queensland dairy cows and purchased from a Queensland dairy farmer for more than or at a price QDO considers as ‘fair’.

“We consider the Fair Go Dairy scheme will likely result in a small degree of public benefit,” ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said.

“The scheme is likely to give consumers more information about the price paid

to the farmers supplying the milk for participating products.

“It may also be a useful tool for dairy processors to signal to consumers what they are paying Queensland farmers.”

A number of smaller processors in Queensland are likely to qualify for the scheme and have expressed an interest in participating.

So far, no major milk processors in Queensland have indicated they will participate in the scheme.

In 2021–22, QDO has calculated a minimum price of 73.8¢/litre processors have to pay farmers in order to participate in the scheme.

The ACCC’s authorisation is granted until 2026.

The Fair Go Dairy Logo created by the Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation.

REVENUE DROPS FOR A2 MILK The a2 Milk Company has suffered a revenue decline and a 32 per cent profit decline for the first half of the financial year.

But the company still recorded a NZ$178 million profit before tax for the first half, and the company is assuring investors its fundamentals remain strong.

The company’s performance was influenced by COVID-19 disruption to the informal sales channels into China.

But sales into China of labelled infant nutrition products increased by 45 per cent to NZ$213 million.

The company reported no debt and a closing cash position of NZ$774 million, slightly lower than June 2020, affected by a capital raising move and the acquisition of the Kyvalley milk processing factory.

The a2 Milk Company acquired the Kyabram factory in northern Victoria for a total cost of NZ$16.3 million, including the land and buildings.

Under the agreement, the Kyvalley company will continue to operate the leased facility, with a long-term supply agreement, and the The a2 Milk Company will also undertake a future expansion and upgrade of the facility, subsidised by increased rent.

The a2 Milk Company is forecasting NZ$1.4 billion revenue for the full financial year.

The company’s new managing director, David Bortolussi, started in the role in February and will be based in Sydney. He starts with a base salary of NZ$1.75 million.

Mr Bortolussi succeeds Geoffrey Babidge, who has been in the CEO role on an interim basis since December 2019.

The company processes a range of fresh and powdered milk from cows which only produce the A2 protein.

In just 3 years the Salters have taken out Tasmanian Dairy Business of the Year.

This is just the beginning of their story.

When Tim and Fiona Salter converted a Tasmanian beef, sheep and cropping farm to dairy, they brought with them a wealth of knowledge and willingness to try something new.

A high standard of animal, pasture and financial management has allowed them to rapidly grow their milking herd from 380 to 1180 cows, while steadily increasing per cow production. Cow numbers are now where they need to be so Tim and Fiona are working with LIC to improve the genetics in the herd.

“We want cows that sit around the 480kg and can produce their weight or better in milk solids year upon year. We don’t want to ask too much but they also need to hold their condition and weight in tougher times and be easily managed when dry,” says Tim. On the back of three stellar seasons, the Salters are raising the bar higher for 2019-2020, aiming for around 500KgMS per cow.

These figures don’t just impress judges, they show that with the right mix of genetics and management, it’s possible to run a sustainable dairy farming business over the long haul.

Contact us to learn more about how LIC can help with improvement on your farm.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

16 // NEWS

Inbreeding is growing concern GEOFF ADAMS

SELECTIVE BREEDING of dairy cattle has led to genetic gains in the national herd, but also escalated the level of inbreeding, according to a report delivered to a herd improvement conference on March 10.

Close attention to the genetic performance of cattle has led to a concentration on the most popular bulls.

PhD student Beth Scott, who is working on a thesis on dairy genetics through La Trobe University, told the Herd’21 conference in Bendigo that genetic testing had increased attractive traits in cattle, particularly Holsteins, but genomic selection had also led to an increase in inbreeding.

Ms Scott described the increased rate of genetic gain in recent years, which was accompanied by a more narrow selection of top performing bulls.

More desirable traits were being selected but this was accompanied by an increase in inbreeding.

The rate of genetic gain has dramatically increased in Holstein bulls and to a lesser extent in Jersey bulls.

Ms Scott pointed out that tracing inbreeding was difficult in Australia because there were very few animals with complete pedigrees going back nine generations.

So instead she drew on information drawn from genomics.

Ms Scott described the impacts of what is termed “inbreeding depression”.

For example, in milk production, a one per cent increase in inbreeding results in a 0.63 decrease in protein.

Ms Scott studied the phenomenon in the Australian Ginfo herds.

Ginfo is Australia’s national reference for genetic information. It is a large-scale genotyping project to provide genetic and performance

Débora Santschi’s graphic illustrates the range of issues competing for attention on dairy farms.

information to increase the reliability of Australian Breeding Values and indices.

The reference population includes more than 100 commercial dairy herds with excellent records. They are located across Australia’s eight dairying regions and include Holstein and Jersey herds.

“We can see that over genomic selection from 2013 to 2017 they have been able to increase genetic gain by 4.4 kg for protein, but also seen an increase in 1.5 per cent in breeding which results in a loss of 0.72 kg of protein,” Ms Scott said.

“So net gain in Ginfo cows was 3.7 kg.

“Inbreeding depression is worse with traits affecting fertility and survival, and it is hard to measure it in the Australian system due to data.”

One Spanish study has found inbred cows showed impaired fertility and tended to have more difficulty calving than low or non-inbred cows.

PhD student Beth Scott presented a report on inbreeding to the Herd’21 conference.

Farmer Trevor Saunders, from Shady Creek near Warragul, told the Herd’21 conference it was in the mind of every farmer who was interested in breeding cows.

He said the reports were timely and worthy of further investigation. He said he was not surprised to hear the report.

Débora Santschi on a video link from Canada. “They don’t want to have to go to six different software programs, 22 PDFs and two websites to get access to the data they need to manage their herd.”

Data drama for dairy farmers DAIRY FARMERS are enjoying access to more data about their farm than ever before, but a lack of compatibility is frustrating many of them.

Compatibility of on-farm data programs was raised by several speakers at the Herd’21 conference in Bendigo last month.

The conference, which had a data theme, heard the dairy industry had an increasing number of data collection points and sensors, but managing the increasing amount of information had become an issue.

Former not-for-profit chief executive officer and current farmer from Colac, Jacqui Suares, said it would be advisable when investing in technologies to find out how integrated the systems you are using can be with new ones.

“For example our software for herd recording and our animal tracking-monitoring system are not integrated,” she said.

“So things like calving a cow needs to be across two systems to keep their lactation length accurate.

“Had I thought about it more I may have chosen a different system or talked to technicians about how they may be integrated.

“All data systems are valuable in terms of information they can generate, but also the sorts of reports and management tools, but if you have

to enter the data into more than one system to get a thorough report, that becomes tedious.”

Former Numurkah farmer and now operating in Mt Gambier, James Mann, said his business collected information on genomics, herd testing, water monitoring and pasture performance.

“It becomes an issue of how do we get better value out of it, given that we are human and have a limited capacity,” he said.

“How do we get it to be more useful in decision making every day.

“We are wrestling with that.”

Mr Mann said it was good to have so many data points generated, but the challenge was to bring it all together.

He agreed the programs should ‘talk’ to each other.

“It’s like a conversation, with one bloke talking French and the other talking English.”

Guest speaker at Herd’21, Débora Santschi, explored the topic in some detail and her remarks resonated with the Australian audience.

She is the innovation and development manager at Lactanet Canada and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science, a Master’s degree in Dairy Cattle Nutrition from McGill University and a PhD in Animal Science from Laval University,

She said farmers were grappling with a range of issues including milk composition, quality, forage quality, genetic influence on herds, reproduction health, calving, animal health, human resource management, the weather, transitions, fertility and keeping up with government legal requirements.

“Producers have so many things to look at once, and sometimes they don’t know where to go first or which one will have the biggest impact,” Dr Santschi said.

“There are so many things they need to monitor at the same time. There’s a whole bunch of stuff coming out to them.”

Two years ago her organisation, Lactanet, asked producers what they wanted and needed and at the top of the list was centralised data.

“They don’t want to have to go to six different software programs, 22 PDFs and two websites to get access to the data they need to manage their herd.

“They would like everything to be in one single spot.

“Easy to do when the data comes from a single source; a bit more complicated when it comes from different sources.

“Like an iPhone in my private life, I don’t want to have all different devices to have to go to.”

Dr Santschi said there was a huge amount of data available to producers.

“Even more data will be coming in future years.”

She said farmers told them they wanted to have custom key indicators.

“They want to be able to select which one is the most important for them and which one they want to be monitored on.

“They also asked for custom benchmarks.

They don’t want to be compared against the average. They want to be compared against the high producing herds. They want to be compared with others who are in the same situation.

“They also want to see the dollar signs linked to the management decisions they make. They want to be economic focused.

“They want alerts that will pop up and tell them what to do.

“While they want diagnostics they also want solutions. They want to be told: here is the issue; but they also want to know what they can do to solve it and here’s what you should do.”

Herd’21 was held at Bendigo on March 10 and 11, and the 150 people attending heard presentations from scientists, academics, farmers and genetics companies from the United States, Canada and Ireland.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

NEWS // 17

Leslie praises herd testing GEOFF ADAMS

INTERNATIONAL DAIRY judge and

prominent dairy auctioneer Brian Leslie gave numerous examples of high production cows attracting big dollars, when he spoke at the Herd’21 conference.

He reinforced the value of herd recording and better returns from proven performance, even during tough times in the industry.

The noted auctioneer, famous for his encyclopedic knowledge of cow histories, joked with the Herd’21 crowd in Bendigo last month that he might have to slow his presentation down as he was more accustomed to selling from the podium, than giving an address.

Mr Leslie related stories from his early days on the family farm demonstrating the impact of herd recording.

“Dad started herd testing in 1962. We never stopped and I was testing until we stopped dairying in 2018.

“We did it every month and never missed and believe it was a major part of progressing our operation.

“In the mid-70s, you might remember cattle only making $10.

“The place next door became available and Dad was in his 30s and had no money. Because of

the herd recording he had cattle that had information behind them.

“Dad sold a line of heifers for $300 and got us the deposit on that place.

“He always told us: no matter how bad things got you could never give away herd testing and you could never give away AI. “If we never herd tested it would not have given us the cattle we had.

“Lots of herds didn’t test.

“Dad and my brother went off to a sale and they bought two. A bloke said one was no good.

“The cow that was supposed to be no good, she did over 300 kilograms, which was a fair bit back then.

“Herd testing tells you.”

Mr Leslie said they did not take enough notice of cell counts when they first came in, because factories were not paying more or less for it then.

“We had some old cows that we thought were great to have around and they were high cell count cows.

“We didn’t cull them until we realised, gee we have a cell count that is too high.

“My brother said we’d better take notice of what we’re herd testing for.

“We were culling cows that were classified Excellent because they had high cell counts and I can still see them going up the race.

Dairy judge, breeder and auctioneer Brian Leslie gave the Herd’21 conference real life examples of herd testing paying off.

“High production cows but notoriously high cell count and until we got rid of them, we didn’t fix it.”

Mr Leslie told a story about a farm neighbour in the 1970s who was offered $10,000 by a group of New Zealanders for a high production cow, solely because of the production figures.

“That was an enormous amount of money then, equivalent to $86,000.

“Don’t underestimate the value of herd recording.

“It’s all right to say a cow is good, but if they have the production data behind them, it is valuable to you.”

Mr Leslie is a co-founder of International Dairy Week and has judged in numerous other countries.

He now lives in Kialla, near Shepparton.

Seen and heard at Herd’21 THE LATEST genetics and herd improvement news was discussed at the recent Herd’21 conference in Bendigo.

Nu-gene representatives at the Herd’21 conference (from left) Josh Richardson from Terang, Ken Lenehan from Maffra, Sharyn Collins from Numurkah and Adam Hickey from Numurkah.

Catching up at the Herd’21 conference were (from left) Neel Ganesan from ST Genetics, Neil Jolliffe from Currajugle Holsteins and Phil McKenna from St Genetics, Nathalia.

Speaking at the discussion on broadening genetics to small breeds were (from left) Paul Cocksedge (red breeds), Trevor Parrish (Holsteins), Sandra Bacon (Jersey) and Lyndon Cleggett (Guernsey).

Snapped during a break at Herd’21 were (from left) Sara Merckel from NHIA, Carmel Clarke from St Genetics and Cathy Bourke from St Genetics.

Discussing inbreeding (from left) PhD student Beth Scott, Christian Hickey, Trevor Saunders from Shady Creek and Bruce Ronalds from Gippsland.

Attendees listen to speakers at Herd’21.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

18 // NEWS

Milk price forecast to rise

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price is forecast to increase by two per cent to 48.8¢/litre in 2021–22, according to Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences.

A new report from the body shows imports of dairy products are returning to pre-pandemic levels for Australia’s major trading partners while global supply growth is forecast to decline slightly in 2020–21 following strong growth in 2019–20.

ABARES says competition among domestic milk processors for supply will continue to ease as production recovers from historically low levels, with international demand playing a bigger role in determining farm gate prices.

Australian milk production is forecast to increase by one per cent in 2020–21.

Milking cow numbers are forecast to rise by 2.7 per cent but average yield is expected to fall after three years of strong growth.

The expected yield decline is the result of forecast restocking, which involves retaining older cows and a higher proportion of young heifers as replacements.

Wetter than average conditions in 2020 led to increased pasture production, lower grain and hay prices and increased on-farm feed reserves.

An upward revision of prices from the Agricultural commodities: December quarter 2020 report reflects stronger than expected international demand for dairy products.

Butter, cheese and whole milk powder prices are forecast to remain relatively unchanged in 2020–21.

The skim milk powder price is expected to rise by 10 per cent due to a combination of a strong rebound in demand from China and lower than expected spring milk production in New Zealand.

Medium-term forecasts from 2022–23 to 2025–26 for Australian dairy are based on the average outcomes of four possible seasonal climate scenarios.

A very dry season in the wheat-sheep zone is likely to occur in one of the four years.

The upside scenario combines a faster economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic with another high rainfall year in 2021–22.

A very dry year is still assumed in 2022–23.

Because it follows an assumed wetter year, negative effects on production are reduced.

The downside scenario combines a slower than expected economic recovery with very dry years in 2021–22 and 2025–26.

Over the medium-term, the farm gate milk price is projected to remain relatively steady at around 49¢/litre in 2025–26.

It is expected to range between 48.9 and 51.3¢/litre under the forecast scenarios.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

NEWS // 19

Tasmania’s best celebrated CRESSY BUSINESS Rosemount Agriculture has been named winner of the 2021 ANZ Dairy Business of the Year Award, at the Tasmanian Dairy Awards dinner following the Tasmanian Dairy Conference in Devonport.

Rosemount Agriculture Pty Ltd is an equity partnership between Rob and Jo Bradley and James and Sophie Greenacre, and is managed

by James Greenacre.

The Tasmanian Dairy Business of the Year Award is awarded to the business that records the highest number of points in the judging process, with benchmarking data considering financial performance, management, pasture, herd size and environment.

DairyTas executive officer Jonathan Price said it was heartening to see such high performance in the industry, despite recent challenges.

“It has been fantastic to recognise those businesses and individuals throughout the industry that have performed across these key areas in 2021,” Mr Price said.

“Despite the challenges of COVID-19, the Tasmanian Dairy Industry has continued to perform well with record milk production and increased business confidence.”

Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture dairy extension team leader and award judge Lesley Irvine said it was “really exciting” to see the focus each of the finalists had on pasture management, with each business regularly measuring their pas-

“It has been fantastic to recognise those businesses and individuals throughout the industry that have performed across these key areas in 2021,” Mr Price said. ture and using that data to help make decisions on their farm.

The 2021 Fonterra Share Dairy Farmer Award was won by Jeffrey Gijsbers and Monique Mulder, while Rory Wellwood received the 2021 Cadbury Young Farmer Encouragement Award.

Luke and Tammy Tuxworth won the 2021 Rex James Stockfeed Dairy Farm Safety Award and Clovelly Tasmania was announced the 2021 Aurora Energy Dairy Farm Employer of Choice Award winner.

The 2021 Fonterra Dairy Employee of the Year was Michael Thomas, and the 2021 Veolia Dairy Farm Environmental Award went to Norm, Lesley and Rob Frampton.

The Dairy Business of the Year Award is supported by funding through the Dairy HIGH project, which is a partnership between Dairy Australia and TIA.

Rosemount Agriculture Pty Ltd business owners Jo and Rob Bradley and James and Sophie Greenacre. They won the 2021 ANZ Dairy Business of the Year Award.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

20 // MANAGEMENT

Helping a herd beat the heat SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S Clare Valley is known for a lot of things.

Wineries and cellar doors are often the first that spring to mind.

Others might know the region for its growing reputation as a hub for quality export hay.

That’s without mentioning its longstanding and significant grains industry.

Take a drive north from Adelaide and there’s a fair chance of encountering many of the livestock or crops which underpin some of Australia’s largest agricultural industries.

But there is one you are unlikely to see — dairy cows.

And there’s no-one more aware of this than Blyth dairy farmer Gary Zweck, the most northern milk producer in South Australia.

For starters if anything breaks down in his dairy, the closest technician is three hours away.

He doesn’t see this changing either.

So, when it came to investing in his business, Gary had to think strategically.

“I’ve got a fairly old dairy, but where I am, I don’t believe putting a rotary dairy in is a viable option because there aren’t many dairies around here,” he said.

“So, when we were choosing to build a shelter, the choice was to have a shed full of free-stalls or just a compost shed.

“At the end of the day, if we stop milking cows, a compost shed becomes a great big hayshed.”

But this realistic approach hasn’t just applied to their new Entegra shed.

Gary, wife Ros and son Justin have kept all their options open for the future by ensuring they build a structure that is not only flexible but will also last for a long time.

“Obviously if we put four robots in, they can be unbolted and resold,” Gary said.

“It is not like having a million-dollar rotary there that no-one wants to buy into.

“The area we live in is not really a dairy area, it is not recognised as such, and probably never will be, so I’m sort of hedging my bets.”

Replacing their aged herringbone dairy with four milking robots at the end of the new shed is a “no brainer” but this won’t happen for at least five years.

As part of the planning for the shed, Gary left space at the end of the installation for the robots.

Planning ahead The Entegra shed is 100 metres long by 41 metres wide and sits just to the north of the current dairy between two feedpads.

The heifers have traditionally had one feedpad, while the milkers shared the other.

When the 240-head Holstein milking herd goes under the shed permanently in autumn, the heifers will move across to the former milker feedpad.

Cows will continue to calve under an old hayshed, ensuring they are protected from the elements.

Moving across to a shelter-style dairy farming system won’t be much of a change for the Zwecks.

Unlike other dairy farmers making the move to provide permanent shelter for their herd, Gary, Ros and Justin have been operating a total mixed ration feeding system since 2001.

Blyth dairy farmer Gary Zweck (right) and his son Justin.

It’s the best match for the farm’s 350 mm annual rainfall and enables them to produce their own feed.

The farm is mostly self-sufficient, with 771 hectares producing the dairy’s wheat and barley as well as oaten and vetch silage.

“It is basically what we are doing now, out in the open, all we are doing is going to try and do it under a roof,” Gary said.

“The pens the cows loaf in now, we harrow every day and try to maintain it, so it is dry on top.

“That’s what we anticipate doing in the shed as well. The same sort of process, just under a roof.”

Gary doesn’t anticipate the shed saving them time — the jobs of bringing the cows into milk, harrowing the bedding and feeding won’t change.

But the Zwecks have budgeted for the shed to deliver a better return on their investment of time and money.

Reducing feed wastage and increasing dry matter intake will be the first gains from sheltering the milking herd. “(With the feedpad) we had a few losses,” Gary said.

“For example, when we have rain here, I have to scrape up feed off the pad that didn’t get eaten.

“With less waste we anticipate better feed conversion and because of the shade,

better fertility rates. Just generally more comfortable cows.”

Making life easier Hills Farm Supplies managing partner Anthony Pearce has worked with the Zwecks for almost 20 years, helping to manage their herd’s nutrition.

Fully housed dairy systems are not common within his client base, but for the Zwecks he thinks it’s the ideal fit to help them manage the hot weather.

Summer temperatures at Blyth are consistently more than 30ºC, with consecutive days of 45ºC not uncommon.

Anthony’s anticipating an improvement in feed conversion and conception rates due to reduced heat stress, the latter helping to cap the herd’s average number of days in-milk to drive efficiencies.

“If we can keep the days in-milk down, we can improve milk production per cow and feed conversion,” he said.

“We won’t get the dips in milk production and we won’t get those drops in production with the heat and the variation in feed intake.

“I still believe that with a cow, getting her back in calf, and going around again, is better rather than extending her lactation.”

Thanks to the shade of the shelter, the herd’s diet will require less tweaks to account for fluctuations in weather conditions.

“Where we were reducing their fibre on hot days, we won’t be changing rations,” Anthony said.

“It allows for more consistency and continuity in feeding programs. Cows are creatures of habit and respond to the same things.”

According to Dairy Australia heat stress research, a cow’s feed intake can reduce by 10 to 20 per cent when the air temperature is more than 26ºC. Other physiological changes include blood hormone concentrations, core body temperature increase and altered blood flow distribution, including changes to the blood flow to the gut, uterus and other internal organs.

The Zwecks’ herd averages 2.4 kg of milk solids/day/cow or close to 10,500 litres/cow/ lactation, from twice-a-day milking.

The 650 kg animals’ individual daily feed intake includes about 23 kg of dry matter, including about 3 kg of grain per cow/day in the dairy.

Milking three times a day is on the cards for the coming year as Gary, Ros and Justin move to “capitalise on the fact they will produce more” due to the shelter.

While Gary “won’t hazard a guess” at the potential increase in production from the additional milking, he anticipates it would play a key role — along with improved fertility and

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

MANAGEMENT // 21

The Zweck family milks 240 Holsteins on the Clare Valley farm, north of Adelaide. Pictured are Justin (left) and Gary.

better feed utilisation — in paying back the barn across five years.

Breeding focus The Zwecks have been breeding cows to suit their farming system and the weather conditions for many years.

Productivity and fertility have been their main breeding priorities but in recent years they have chosen bulls for their herd which have the ‘feed saved’ genetic trait.

This Australian Breeding Value trait identifies animals that produce the same amount of milk with reduced feed maintenance requirements — in short, more efficient cows.

“We have always been looking at targeting high levels of production per cow mainly because we grow all our own feed and we can make a fairly balanced ration in a wagon,” Gary said.

“If you are going to do all that work, you may as well get the most out of it. It’s high inputs in and high inputs out.

“The cows seem to be able to handle it and I’ve been pretty impressed with the young heifers coming through, those that are two years old, they seem to adapt to the system fairly quickly and crank it out pretty well.”

The Zwecks’ heifers achieve about 80 per cent of a mature cow’s average production in their first-year milking.

Calving has traditionally been three times a year to maintain flat milk production.

For the past four years the family has supplied supermarket giant Woolworths for its Farmers Own milk brand.

Woolworths pays the same price for milk all year, unlike some other milk processors, so this also suits the Zwecks’ sheltered and TMR farming system.

Long-term goal The idea of building a shelter has been at the back of Gary’s mind for the past 10 to 15 years, primarily as a better way to manage the heat.

But it was a trip to California in the United States in 2008, with their previous milk processor, that cemented the concept and its potential to increase efficiencies.

“To me, it was a bit of an eye opener at the time, those types of systems where they are getting the milking herd in for three times a day, that was standard,” he said.

“At one, I was at the end of a shed and the bus was waiting for me. I was watching the farm’s labour unit, which was only costing them the minimum wage, walk the cows into be milked.

“While that was going on, another bloke — also on the minimum wage — jumped on a little tractor and he went through and had a little thing on the side of the tractor that sucked up the sand to make the beds and

pushed the manure out to the centre of the feed alley.

“Then someone else triggered the flood wash and then that tractor turned around at the other end and pushed the feed back to the cows so that when the cows walked out of the shed their bed was made and their floor was washed, and they had feed presented to them.”

Five years ago, a bulldozer created a shed site at the Zwecks’ farm, but that sat idle for a few years while the final decisions about the type of shed were made.

In the end, the family chose a compost-style shelter for its simplicity and versatility.

Less infrastructure underneath the 22-degree pitch roof, compared to a free-stall barn, helps ensure it could be taken apart easily, if required.

The design, including a vented ridge running along the middle of the roof with a cap over it to stop rain, would also stand the test of time for Justin as he progressively takes over the family farm.

Gary said the shed was also wide enough to be converted into a free-stall barn, if the farm plan changed.

Helping with the heat Prior to building the shed, the Zwecks’ herd would gather underneath a strip of river gum trees for shade in the summer or under old haysheds.

Often, the milkers would also return to the dairy earlier to spend a hot day under sprinklers.

Other routine farm tasks such as joining were timed around hot weather, if possible, with the conditions often dictating the type of semen used.

“We had an artificial insemination program when we saw those two 45-degree days (in early summer) coming up and I thought, ‘What do I do? Do I keep going?’,” Gary said.

“And I did, but wondered whether it was the smart thing to do. I tried to put them under shade to make them more comfortable.”

In another case, Gary chose to use a Speckle Park bull with a group of about 20 Holstein heifers, during a hot period, rather than spending money on an estrous synchronisation program using CIDRs and more expensive sexed semen.

Thanks to the shed, these “hard” economic decisions driven by the weather will be a thing of the past.

“We won’t have to change our plans for weather,” Gary said.

“There won’t be concerns about them getting in-calf or if we should be saving our synch programs and semen. Or we won’t be putting sexed semen into cows that won’t hold due to the hot weather.

“It will just be less stress, I would hope.”

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

22 // NEWS

$16 m plan backs NSW dairy AFTER A series of challenging seasons, NSW’s

dairy industry has begun to navigate its way out of the impacts of drought and bushfires, with new figures from the NSW Government revealing an up to threefold increase in profitability for farmers.

To further secure the promising upswing, a $6 million grant scheme has been launched to help boost resilience and profitability.

The funding will contribute to a project total of $16 million, with significant co-contributions from Dairy Australia, the University of Sydney, the private sector, NSW dairy industry organisations and the broader national dairy industry.

Federal Agriculture and Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud said the funding and collaboration would deliver a multi-year program to accelerate recovery and build business resilience and growth in the dairy industry, following the significant impacts of the 2019–20 bushfires.

“Our dairy industry has faced multiple challenges recently and we welcome this announcement of return to profitability as they emerge from this difficult period,” Mr Littleproud said.

“The federal and NSW governments have both kicked the tin to make this possible.

“Agriculture is the cornerstone of the economic recovery and the dairy industry is embracing innovations to keep the sector growing.”

NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall said NSW farmers were a “tough bunch” who

had shown an impressive amount of resilience over the past few years.

“But they’re not in this alone — this government continues to stand shoulder to shoulder with them to help prepare for the future,” Mr Marshall said.

“Industry asked for more investment in research and development, and our initial response is this $6 million investment toward a $16 million collaborative research, development and extension program that will create new jobs, boost investment and diversification, increase productivity, while also making farming businesses more resilient.”

The NSW Department of Primary Industries’ Dairy Farm Monitor Project monitors 35 farms across the state, covering a range of farm sizes and farm systems.

Figures for 2019–20 revealed that average farm business profit for these farms increased from $0.38/kg MS to $1.05/kg MS. Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture Michael Johnsen said the NSW Government had partnered with the University of Sydney’s Dairy Research Foundation to deliver the collaborative program.

“The combined effect of bushfires, drought and the COVID-19 pandemic reduced milk output and disrupted the supply chain, which has impacted everyone, from farmers to processors, right down to consumers,” Mr Johnsen said.

“But pleasingly, we are now seeing industry turn around and return to the productivity that made it a world-leader in the dairy space.

A multi-million grant scheme has been announced to support resilience in the NSW dairy industry.

“NSW DPI data has shown profitability for 2019–20 was at the third highest level in the nine years in which farms have been monitored across.

“The dairy industry is worth more than $600 million to the state’s economy each year, so it’s vital we fast-track recovery, especially from last summer’s bushfires.”

University of Sydney’s Dairy Research Foundation director Sergio Garcia is the project’s lead, and said the collaborative program would accelerate the recovery of the drought and fireaffected NSW dairy industry, and improve farm business resilience and preparedness.

“We termed the program ‘4Hs’ — healthy milk, cows, systems and people,” Professor Garcia said.

“The program looks to unlock the potential of milk, cow and water to address farm underperformance, de-risk the dairy industry and develop new markets.

“We hope to accelerate the sector’s recovery and contribute to its future successes and profitability.”

Dairy Australia managing director David Nation said the five-year initiative would support priority areas identified by the NSW dairy industry.

“The program is very well supported by a range of NSW organisations and dairy businesses, and Dairy Australia welcomes the opportunity to participate,” Dr Nation said.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

NEWS // 23

SA event a sellout success A SELLOUT crowd celebrated the first faceto-face gathering for the South Australian dairy industry in more than a year with the annual DairySA Central Conference.

It attracted 156 dairy farmers, service providers and other industry representatives to McCracken Country Club in Victor Harbor on March 18.

The popularity of the conference saw the day’s proceedings live-streamed for the first time, allowing people from across the country to tune in.

The conference dinner was the ideal setting for attendees to discuss the day’s events, with speakers, friends and colleagues, providing a fitting end to the day.

Delegates heard from a range of speakers, including Compass Agribusiness managing director Nigel Pannett who detailed the options available to farms for attracting investment for those farmers keen to exit or enter the industry.

Tom Cosentino from SADA’s Dairy Industry Fund also outlined the funding available for relevant projects that directly benefit dairy farmers and their communities.

A panel representing both large and niche milk processors, a farmer and industry analyst examined the sometimes tricky question of what a sustainable dairy industry really looks like, particularly in regard to the ‘sweet spot’ for pricing.

Dairy Australia industry analyst Sofia Omstedt highlighted that for trust to occur in the supply chain, three criteria needed to be met: clear market signals, being able to manage risk based on markets and providing good corporate governance across the industry.

NSW DPI Automatic Milking Systems project lead Nicolas Lyons looked at the role of technology in dairying, explaining that with the plethora of technology on offer to farmers it was important to sift out the useful data that will help with operational and business decisions.

He said there was enough technology at our fingertips for each cow that comes into the dairy to have more than 120 measurements taken.

Lorraine Gordon from the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance unravelled the range of current on-farm practices that comprise ‘regenerative agriculture’, and how they fit with the dairy industry.

Otway Milk farmer Matt Reid and his adviser Paul Groves gave a ‘warts and all’ insight into their business operation.

They detailed how Matt, together with his wife Alli, have created a workplace culture that empowers, supports and engages their most important asset — their people.

He said their inherent belief that people were everything has seen their team realise an average of six years employment and having never missed a shift.

The conference even went across the Tasman, with a virtual cross to New Zealand’s Farm4Life founder Tangaroa Walker, a dairy farmer whose mission is to educate dairy workers on all aspects of dairy tasks through online access to a daily raft of tutorials and information videos.

If you’re keen to revisit the day — or if you couldn’t make it — head to: bit.ly/21DSACentral_ recording

The DairySA Central Conference was the first in-person dairy conference in the state for more than a year.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

24 // NEWS

Heat detection made easier WHEN YOU are doing heat detection on more than 1000 cows with up to a six full-time and part-time staff, the chances of missing a few are very high.

Missed and false heats have been part of dairy life at joining time.

But with margins in dairy farming getting tighter, poor heat detection comes at a cost.

Brett Membrey, a fifth-generation dairy farmer who farms with his parents and brother at Naringal near Warrnambool in southwest Victoria, has been using CowManager for five years and knows they are getting more cows in-calf and earlier with accurate heat detection.

Brett says he chose the CowManager system because it is simple to use, very accurate, a one-person job to attach and detach the tag, and is less likely to be lost or damaged than a collar.

The CowManager ear tag clips over the NLIS tag on the cow’s ear.

It is scanned on a mobile phone and the cow number is recorded.

Data is then continually sent back to the computer via mobile routers that are spread across the farm.

Either the computer program or mobile app then displays the cows on heat, days since last heat and the beginning time of the heat.

From here it’s a two-minute job to put those cows on draft for insemination.

“Ease of use is the key,” Brett said.

“We’re definitely inseminating cows that are in heat, and at the correct stage of heat, and saving semen on not inseminating those cows that might be on. We are not missing those cows with short heats either.

“I liken the accuracy of the system to having new Kamars or scratchies applied each day.

“We were spending six to seven hours a day heat detecting while milking, instead of 10 minutes a day with CowManager — and now we’re getting it Fifth-generation dairy farmer Brett Membrey, who farms with his parents and brother at Naringal near Warrnambool. right.”

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

NEWS // 25

Engagement is key to profits AUSTRALIA’S DAIRY farmers must embrace

educational opportunities to better adapt to industry challenges and drive future growth and profitability.

That’s according to 2018 Nuffield Scholar and Victorian dairy farmer, Shannon Notter, who with support from the Gardiner Foundation investigated global measures to increase adoption of research and development and identify what high performing dairy farm businesses are doing to maintain consistently profitable businesses.

Travelling in the United States, Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Kenya, New Zealand, Europe and South Africa, Ms Notter visited successful dairy businesses across various operating environments and talked to industry leaders to identify methods and tools that are driving farmer engagement.

“Business operating environments are constantly changing, which is creating a number of challenges for the global and Australian dairy industry,” Ms Notter said.

“To improve and maintain profitability, it’s imperative that the Australian dairy industry is proactively engaging with and adopting the latest research and development.

“The Australian dairy industry is well supplied in research and development, but the level of farmer engagement and uptake of key research outcomes that would drive business and industry growth is low.

“This is in stark contrast with what I saw in Ireland and New Zealand, where there were high levels of farmer engagement, uptake of research and development, and greater interaction with industry bodies.”

Ms Notter said encouraging farmers to better utilise research and development outcomes would not only create more sustainable businesses but enhance on-farm operations by maximising management potential.

Travelling in Somerset in the UK, she met dairy farmer Neil Baker, who has been able to experience successful business growth through a focus on production.

“Through greater education, the business has been able to increase productivity and profitability by focusing on genetics and improvements in scale and process efficiencies,” Ms Notter said.

“Aiming to grow the dairy business to run 2500 head, cows are milked three times a day through one 80-bail rotary in a high input, high output system.

“By engaging with educational opportunities and research and development progress, the Baker business has been able to grow by 100 cows per year since implementing change in 2008.

“Benchmarking against regional and national groups has been a pivotal tactic the business has implemented to maximise the potential of his operation.”

In her report, Ms Notter said it was critical that the level of farmer engagement increases, so businesses and industry can experience a greater return on investment for the money and levies contributed to research and development activities.

“Australian dairy businesses need to place a greater priority on setting clear business goals and targets, including benchmarking business performance.

“Implementing a clear industry-focused strategy will facilitate greater profitability, sustainability, and drive confidence for further investment, growth and continual industry-improvement.

“The dairy industry is facing many challenges including changing consumer trends, increasing government regulations and increased volatility in both markets and climate, which is altering the skillset required by farmers to operate sustainable, profitable businesses.”

Ms Notter said the Australian dairy industry was in decline and enhancing business profitability was central to creating sustainable dairy farm businesses and better utilising growth opportunities in domestic and international export markets.

“The global demand for dairy products is increasing and the Australian dairy industry is well placed to take advantage of the growth in population and demand.

2018 Nuffield Scholar and Carlisle River dairy farmer, Shannon Notter.

“Australia’s close proximity to Asia, which is the largest consumer growth region, and Australia’s reputation for producing safe, high quality products, should put it at the forefront of growth and opportunity.”

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

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ACCC watching farm issues

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Consumer Commission has unveiled 12 core priorities for 2021 — and two of them are in the agriculture sector.

The 12 ‘2021 priorities’ represent issues the ACCC will be dedicating a lot of time and scrutiny to this year.

One of these priorities is Dairy Code and Horticulture Code compliance, while another was the follow through of mandatory crush protection devices (CPDs) on quad bikes.

In an annual address last month, ACCC chair Rod Sims outlined the watchdog’s desire to focus on supply chain relationships in agriculture.

“While it is too early to assess (the Dairy Code’s) full impact, we have observed that the code has brought some significant positive changes,” Mr Sims said.

Mr Sims completely backed the move to make CPDs mandatory on farm-purpose quad bikes last year.

“In 2020, 23 people died in quad bike accidents,” he said.

From October 2021, all new quad bikes are required to display a tilt tag and be fitted with a CPD. The ACCC will be making sure manufacturers are compliant.

“We are working closely with the states and territories to conduct surveillance of compliance of Stage 1 obligations.”

Stage 1 refers to the time between October 2020 and October 2021.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

NEWS // 27

Dairy holidays on itinerary TOURISTS ARE being encouraged to stay

on a dairy farm and nibble their way through cheese and yoghurt while international travel remains grounded.

The push is a collaboration between online vacation site Airbnb and industry body Dairy Australia, who intend to publish 12 self-guided driving tours through major dairying regions.

These tours are being promoted as ‘Dairy

Destinations’ and stretch from Margaret River in Western Australia to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and southern Tasmania.

South Australian farmer Sheree Sullivan runs Udder Delights, a cheese cellar door.

“Udder Delights is thrilled to be just one of the many stops along the Adelaide Hills Dairy Destinations itinerary,” Ms Sullivan said.

“We welcome guests from around the country

to visit our beautiful cellar door to enjoy our blues and our bries, our chevres, camemberts and more.”

Dairy Australia spokesperson Emily Coulson said the body was excited to be showcasing Australia’s world-class dairy industry.

“You don’t have to go far for great dairy,” Ms Coulson said.

“Dairy Destinations takes the guess work out of planning memorable road trips throughout

our incredible dairy regions.”

Airbnb Australia and New Zealand country manager Susan Wheeldon said the company was thrilled to welcome dairy farmers as Airbnb hosts.

“Whether it’s a spare room, converted barn or entire farm, hosting allows people to take typically their most significant asset and turn it into an income engine that can help with living costs,” Ms Wheeldon said.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

28 // NEWS

Classic joins MaxCare range WITH THE latest addition to its family, Max-

Care looks to solidify its place as a leading calf milk replacer following the release of the new MaxCare Classic.

Rounding out the MaxCare range, the new Classic features Bovatec and a carefully balanced amino acid profile, with the cost-conscious calf rearer in mind.

MaxCare’s business manager Tom Newton said it was an exciting development for the brand.

“Our initial range of milk replacers has served our customers well over the years. However, as time goes on, the needs of the market can shift,” Mr Newton said.

“Welcoming MaxCare Classic as the newest member of our family will allow us to offer our distribution partners and farmers a greater choice to achieve their desired results.

“This will open up a whole segment of the market that we have not traditionally serviced and we are really looking forward to the opportunity.

“We understand that each rearer in our community has individual objectives, benchmarks and budgets, which is why we’re rounding out our range with the new MaxCare Classic to fill that gap.”

VIKINGRED LEADING THE GREEN PATH

Steve and Danielle from the MaxCare team with the first pallet of Classic calf milk replacer.

MaxCare is owned by Maxum Foods, a supplier and manufacturer of dairy ingredients to the food, health and animal nutrition industries in Australia and New Zealand since 2003.

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A four-year strategy approved by the VikingRed committee is putting a focus on sustainability and efficiency.

The VikingRed strategy has been fine-tuned to increase benefits for dairy farmers while achieving more genetic progress in their herds.

A more efficient and sustainable cow is at the heart of the new VikingRed strategy 2021–2024.

“We have a solid focus on animal welfare, food security, and reducing climate impact in our entire production plan,” VikingRed product manager Jakob Lykke Voergaard said.

“VikingRed is a naturally healthy cow with the highest production of milk and solids for the red cows in the world.

“With the new strategy, we want to address more specific goals to develop the genetic capital of each cow.”

Health and survival indexes will continue to be an essential part of the new strategy, including a reduced treatment frequency for udder health, general health and hoof health, increasing the survival rate for stillbirth, young stock and cows.

One of the changes in the new strategy is the inclusion of the term ‘Beef on Dairy’.

“We want to combine dairy and beef production to make a more climate-friendly solution by making more crosses between VikingRed and beef,” Mr Lykke Voergaard said.

“When you are using the same cow to produce milk but also a beef calf, you are optimising the resources accordingly with the climate.”

This initiative means the replacement of 33 per cent of purebred VikingRed bulls with ‘Beef on Dairy’, a process that will occur smoothly along with the four-year strategy.

“At the same time, this initiative is more profitable for the farmer because the value of slaughter animals will increase, and in combination with sexed semen it is possible for the farmer to increase the genetic gain and profitability of his dairy business,” Mr Lykke Voergaard said.

He said another important angle of the new strategy would be the relevance of the female animals when it comes to complementing the genetic progress of VikingRed. The goal is to have half of the born females genomically tested by 2024.

Mr Lykke Voergaard said in connection with the strength and vitality VikingRed transmits when used in crosses, the new strategy had included some specific targets to have a wider offer for crossbreeding profiles for the needs of specific markets.

“As such, we are preparing to select animals that will fit the specific conditions for different markets and different crossbreeding programs.

“The VikingRed cow is a leading breed for crossing and will naturally boost the health, fertility and efficiency of the herd.”

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

NEWS // 29

ACCC wants a water trade cop THE SOUTHERN Murray-Darling Basin water trading market could be facing a shake-up after a new report found widespread deficiencies in the way it works, and that many participants don’t trust the system.

The ACCC report recommended more regulation and a new independent water markets agency to ensure the markets operate fairly and with integrity.

The creation of the new agency is among 29 recommendations in the final report of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Murray-Darling Basin water markets inquiry.

ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said with an annual average value of more than $1.8 billion per year, water markets in the Murray-Darling Basin were now of a scale that warranted serious and focused attention.

“What started as an informal system for transferring water rights between neighbours has grown into a complex set of markets, but unfortunately the normal regulatory framework that would be expected for a market of this scale has not been developed,” he said.

“A new independent water markets agency, backed by appropriate legislation, should prioritise making markets work for water users, traders and the economy to deliver the benefits of water trade.”

Mr Keogh also said many water users did not trust that water markets were fair.

“Inevitably this lack of trust will inhibit efficient investment in agricultural production in the basin, to the detriment of all Australians.

“The ACCC’s recommendations will help to build trust and market efficiency by strengthening market integrity, improving transparency and information, improving trade services and better aligning market rules and arrangements with the physical characteristics of the river system.”

The report recommends new basin-wide laws to be enforced by the proposed water markets agency that would deal with harmful market conduct and practices, including bans on market manipulation, stronger insider trading rules, and a mandatory code of conduct to apply to water market intermediaries such as brokers.

A new requirement would see all market participants providing a single identifier on trade forms, to allow the new regulator to trace and follow transactions and enforce rules against misbehaviour.

“The ACCC report also recommends that Australian and basin state governments work with market service providers to establish and implement new digital technologies to improve the quality and flow of water market data, and provide a hub for water trade applications, data storage and access to information,” Mr Keogh said.

“Problems with the design and operation of the basin’s ‘market architecture’ should also be addressed to make sure market settings and trade impacts relate more closely to the river system’s physical characteristics.”

ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh.

The ACCC will conduct public forums at five locations across the Murray-Darling Basin, including Deniliquin and Shepparton, next month, where stakeholders can hear

directly about the findings and recommendations in the report.

For more information, visit: www.accc.gov. au/waterinquiry

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

30 // NEWS

GA sets up its new facility AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST bull and semen facil-

ity is being established in south-west Victoria after Genetics Australia Co-operative’s acquisition of Total Livestock Genetics.

Genetics Australia is in the process of relocating its bulls and semen units to TLG’s Gnotuk and Glenormiston farms, bringing new jobs and development to the region.

Following the acquisition earlier this year, Genetics Australia has taken over the TLG trading name and is transferring its bull management, semen management and semen collection and production services to the TLG site near Camperdown, Victoria.

Two of TLG’s services, equine and live cattle export, remain with the current owners.

GA chief executive Anthony Shelly said the relocation was on target to be completed by the end of March.

“We have 100 bulls to transition from Bacchus Marsh to the two properties at Gnotuk and Glenormiston. We’ve already moved 40 and plan to have the balance relocated before the end of March,” Mr Shelly said.

About 20 per cent of the semen units have been moved and this process is also on track to be completed in late March.

TLG had been storing 1.5 million units and GA one million; the new combined 2.5 million units will be the largest semen storage facility in Australia.

The move has required a significant redevelopment with about $300,000 being spent on upgrades to the semen storage area, semen processing laboratory and additional bull housing.

The new expanded GA will collect about 1.4 million semen units annually.

GA’s 100 bulls are joining 90 managed by TLG, but the total number is expected to grow to close to 230 by May. “There is increasing demand from people wanting to place bulls with us to capitalise on the prosperity in the industry, particularly in the beef sector,” Mr Shelly said.

“This reflects the continued demand for Australian genetics, whether it be for dairy or beef.”

The vast majority of the beef bulls coming to the facility are for semen exports.

“The export market, including Asia, remains very strong at this stage and hasn’t been significantly impacted by COVID,” Mr Shelly said.

The influx of bulls has led Genetics Australia to develop an additional 100 paddocks to manage numbers, with most growth at the Glenormiston farm.

GA also expects to employ about five new staff, particularly in bull and animal health management and general farm workers.

GA is selling its Parwan Park farm and office complex at Bacchus Marsh but will be maintaining an office in the area.

Genetics Australia chief executive Anthony Shelly and facility manager Ruth Barker.

Mr Shelly said the $5.8 million purchase of TLG was a perfect platform for sustainability and growth while creating efficiencies.

GA will continue to market products nationally and internationally under its own name while TLG’s portfolio of genetic products will stay within the new Total Livestock Genetics

Victoria (TLGV) entity as a separate channel of products.

The TLG acquisition will also provide a platform for potential new international and domestic alliances and partnerships and create easier access to sexed semen services.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

NEWS // 31

Fresh look at future planning FORWARD PLANNING and long-term pros-

pects have become easier to explore at Julia and Derek Gale’s Timboon farm in Victoria’s Western District, thanks to the ‘Our Farm, Our Plan’ initiative.

“When WestVic Dairy told us about ‘Our Farm, Our Plan’ we were very interested,” Julia said.

“We have three young boys who are very interested in farming so being able to plan for ours and their future provided a clear pathway in planning for eventual succession.

“We’ve started saving money better, and it let me see there was more than just ‘plan A and B’.

“It’s not just about planning for tomorrow, but planning for next month, next year and even the next decade.”

The program is not just about planning the business side of things, Julia said, with ‘Our Farm, Our Plan’ also enabling them to balance their work and home lives.

“Derek now takes some days off to work on his car, and it allows him to step back and look at the bigger picture more often rather than just the day-to-day.”

While it’s easy to put off some of the larger jobs, ‘Our Farm, Our Plan’ helped the Gales find focus and progress some long-term achievements.

“Sitting down and actually working out what we want to achieve this year was important,” Julia said.

Timboon dairy farmers Julia and Derek Gale.

“We kept putting off installing new water pipes on the farm but having it all written down really pushed us to get it sorted.

“Our Farm, Our Plan saved us time and money in the long run and allowed us to focus on the jobs that just needed to get over the line.”

By involving all key decision makers in a farm business ‘Our Farm, Our Plan’ is designed to

equip farmers to prioritise where they will put their effort, clarify their long-term business and personal goals, identify actions needed to achieve goals, and to better manage uncertainty and risk.

For more information on how to get started, visit Our Farm, Our Plan on the Dairy Australia website, or contact your regional team.

WATTLE HEALTH RECORDS LOSS Infant formula company Wattle Health has recorded a $16.78 million after tax loss, half-yearly results reveal.

The loss comes despite the $13.5 million sale of the Corio Bay Dairy Group and a 54.2 per cent jump in revenue to $463,000 driven by growth in sales from the company’s Uganic and Little Innoscents range.

Wattle Health completed its purchase of Little Innoscents, an organic skincare brand, in February.

Released on March 24, the results reveal a loss of net cashflow from operations.

Executive director George Karafotias said the management and board had responded to challenges throughout 2020, including COVID-19 and changing trade relations with China.

“We have sold CBDB recovering $13.5 million, significantly reduced ongoing operating costs and refocused the business on core competencies of product development, market and distribution,” he said.

“Our success in growing sales of the Uganic and Little Innoscents product ranges, during the extremely difficult conditions in 2020, is a testament to the team’s ability.

“The company is now able to pursue a capital efficient growth strategy, that will see it build a diversified portfolio of brands in the growing global health and wellness sector.”

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

32 // MANAGEMENT

Good design key for feedpads FEEDPADS ARE used in dairying as an impor-

tant management system to aid supplementary feeding by reducing waste.

Feedpads are also used to hold herds during periods of adverse weather, especially wet conditions.

Dairy farmers are entitled to use feedpads and calving pads as part of their farming system, but they should also be aware of community expectations and potential negative attention if not managed properly.

A poorly designed and/or managed feedpad or calving pad may result in potential issues such as: Run-off from the site, which can lead to surface or subsurface water contamination.

Muddy surfaces, especially in wet conditions, which can lead to increased incidence of mastitis.

Dust, especially in dry conditions.

Excessive odour and/or noise.

Spilt feed can result in increased bird numbers and unwanted defecation by the birds on nearby residences.

Increased animal health issues such as pinkeye.

Top tips on feedpad and calving pad construction, cleaning and maintenance are: Regularly monitor stock for animal health concerns, such as pink eye and mastitis.

Ensure safe and easy access for animals, vehicles and farm workers around the pad

to meet with occupational health and safety needs.

Provide adequate spacing for loafing. The recommendation is 9 square metres/cow for short-term durations or 15 square metres/ cow long-term.

When constructing, use appropriate surface and subsurface materials, which will increase the longevity of the pad and allow for effective drainage.

Check the availability of bedding material for use in calving areas. Having a ready supply of materials is needed to keep and maintain a clean calving pad. Ideally the pad surface should be evenly graded and compacted to form a smooth, impervious surface. The most common pad surfaces are earth and stabilised earth; gravel and coarse sand; bitumen; concrete; and rubberised mats. Calving pads are covered with a softer layer such as: rice hulls; straw; sawdust; sand; almond husks; and fruit pips.

Effective drainage is important to deal with wet conditions plus allow all-weather access.

Dairy feedpad surfaces should provide sufficient slope for effective drainage.

A compacted earthen surface needs a gradient of at least 1:500 (0.2 per cent), but a concrete surface can drain at a slope of 1:2000 (0.5 per cent) or even shallower if smooth. However, operating experience

ARE YOU STRUGGLING TO DEFINE A…

GENETIC STRATEGY?

Agriculture Victoria has released tips for feedpads and calving pads.

shows it is better to aim for slopes in the two to four per cent range.

Good collection and harvesting of manure and spilt feed is important and should be scraped or removed from the pad, stockpiled and stored on an impervious surface and well-bunded structure, for example, concrete or a compacted earthen pad with drainage to the effluent system. It can then be applied appropriately to paddocks as a source of fertiliser.

Use harvested manure and effluent on crops and pastures.

The right design and proper maintenance will help to protect ground water from contamination from leaching down the soil profile, and from run-off of effluent.

There are helpful resources available to assist farmers who are developing a new feedpad or calving pad or looking to improve their existing feedpad or calving pad.

For more information, see the guidelines for Victorian dairy feedpads and free-stalls at: www. dairyingfortomorrow.com.au/wp-content/ uploads/Victorian-Guidelines-feedpads-andfreestalls.pdf For more information, see the effluent and manure management database for the Australian Dairy Industry at: www.dairyingfortomorrow. com.au/tools-and-guidelines/effluent-andmanure-management-database-for-the-australian-dairy-industry/ Agriculture Victoria dairy extension officer Ashley Michael.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

ANIMAL HEALTH // 33

Transition needs extra care LUCY COLLINS

THE THREE weeks preceding calving and the first four weeks of lactation post-calving is arguably the most important time in an adult cow’s annual calendar.

Known as the transition period, it is during this time that cows undergo many physical and metabolic changes in preparation for calving, lactation and re-breeding.

Reduced dry matter intake, rumen adaptation and higher nutrient demands are all challenges to establishing a successfully transitioned cow.

About 80 per cent of cow health and welfare issues (ketosis, retained membranes, displaced abomasum, mastitis to name a few) occur within four weeks of calving.

This makes it the prime time for incurring health-associated costs, and involuntary deaths or culls.

Feed intake during the transition period can also have production and fertility impacts for the following season.

There are five key objectives for a cow’s precalving transition diet: Meet increased energy and protein requirements.

Maintain dry matter intake.

Introduce rumen to the post-calving diet and encourage adaptation.

Minimise transition period health risks (such as milk fever — a gateway disease for so many other health issues).

Minimise loss of body condition.

Dairy Australia estimates that implementing an appropriate transition feeding program can return net benefits of up to $200 per cow, depending on the approach.

Existing strategy, goals, feeding infrastructure and available labour will all influence an individual farm’s transition feeding strategy.

Many farms utilise a specific lead feed (usually grain-based) containing additional supplements such as protein, anionic salts, micro-minerals, rumen modifiers and other additives.

Designing a nutritionally sound, low milk fever risk transition diet should incorporate a specific wet chemistry transition feed analysis on forages where required and be done in consultation with your herd health and nutrition advisory team.

Ensuring energy, protein, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and Dietary Cation Anion Difference (DCAD) levels are appropriate for your herd is essential for success.

Specific nutrient recommendations for transition cows at varying stages can be found in Dairy Australia’s Introduction to transition cow management book.

Dairy Australia also offers a transition diet milk fever risk calculator on its website, which may assist with planning and feed budgeting.

The table below outlines the levels of various transition-associated cow health problems that are achievable on Australian dairy farms when an integrated nutritional approach to transition feeding is employed.

Levels are expressed as a percentage of cases of cows within 14 days of calving.

Examine the data and if you feel there are any health problems where you may be at risk of reaching unacceptable levels, consult your herd health advisory team.

Unacceptable levels require action as they will adversely impact your herd productivity and can be of significant animal welfare concern.

Although milk fever is unlikely to be an issue, there are still rumen adaptation and socialisation benefits to be gained from including heifers in a transition feeding program.

Industry research suggests 80 per cent of farmers who have a transition feeding program are now including heifers.

To maximise results from any transition cow feeding program, good record keeping and accurate due calving dates from early pregnancy testing is essential.

After planning and implementing a transition program, don’t forget to monitor and review progress with your farm team to identify both strengths and weaknesses.

For further information and to access Dairy Australia’s Transition Cow resources mentioned above, visit: www.dairyaustralia.com.au/ animal-management-and-milk-quality/fertility/ transition-cow-management Lucy Collins is completing her Dairy Residency with The University of Melbourne. She works as an on-farm veterinarian with Apiam Animal Health, and alongside her partner on his family’s 650-cow dairy farm in Dixie. She is a 2021 Nuffield Scholar supported by Gardiner Dairy Foundation.

Dairy News Australia columnist Lucy Collins.

Health problem

Achievable level

Not acceptable. Seek help

Milk fever

1 per cent

>3 per cent

Clinical ketosis

<1 per cent

>2 per cent

Abnomasal displacements (left or right)

<1 per cent

>2 per cent

Clinical mastitis

< 5 cases / 100 cows/ first 30 days

>5 cases / 100 cows / first 30 days

Lameness (Sprecher

<2 per cent

>4 per cent

locomotion scale 1–5)

>Score 2

>Score 2

Hypomagnesaemia (Grass Tetany)

0 per cent

1 case

Retained placenta > 24 hrs after calving

<4 per cent

>6 per cent

Vaginal discharge after 14 days <3 per cent

>10 per cent

Calvings requiring assistance

<2 per cent

>3 per cent

Clinical acidosis

0 per cent

1 per cent

•Based on the following data sets: Morton, Curtis, Beckett, Moss, Stevenson

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

34 // ANIMAL HEALTH

Mobile lab for testing AN INNOVATIVE mobile testing laboratory

designed to provide a quick turnaround in bovine respiratory disease (BRD) diagnosis could help to prevent the most common cause of illness and death in Australian feedlot cattle.

NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall said an ordinary horse float had undergone an ingenious overhaul to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment options at feedlots.

“This is a wonderful innovation which enables us to take our testing facilities on the road and into feedlots,” Mr Marshall said.

“Bovine respiratory disease is the most common cause of death in feedlot cattle, but this rapid diagnosis from inside the mobile testing lab can actually detect illness before stock even show symptoms.

“The disease most commonly occurs in the first four weeks when cattle enter the feedlot, so early intervention will improve productivity, profitability and animal welfare outcomes — making for a healthier herd.

“The innovation of this mobile testing lab is quicker, faster and importantly keeps money in farmers’ pockets.”

The project is part of Meat & Livestock Australia research by Charles Sturt University and NSW Department of Primary Industries, to develop new methods for the early diagnosis of BRD. The mobile laboratory development was supported by the molecular technology company Gene Target Solutions.

(From left) CSU Associate Professor Dr Jane Quinn, NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall, NSW DPI research officer Dr Ian Marsh and Gene Target Solutions director Andrew Szentirmay.

Mr Marshall said the goal was to now further develop deployable molecular testing capabilities that can be set up directly in larger feedlots or properties, or in a mobile laboratory moved between smaller operations.

“It has the potential to be applied in other rural livestock and plant industries where diagnostic results are needed within hours or where sample transport can be detrimental to the test outcome,” he said.

“We believe this approach will introduce quantitative feedback on animal health and welfare to improve consumer supply chain confidence.”

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 35

Quad bikes lead injury statistics

Quad bikes and tractors were reported as the leading causes of injury in 2020.

A FAMILIAR tale sees quad bikes and tractors

continue as the leading cause of death and injury on Australian farms, according to annual statistics released by AgriFutures Australia.

Figures collated by AgHealth Australia’s National Farm Injury Coronial Database revealed 58 on-farm deaths were reported in 2020, the same number of cases reported in 2019.

Quad bikes and tractors were again reported as the leading causes of injury.

Seventy per cent of all reported injuries were via quads, tractors, horses or cattle, with 60 per cent of injuries occurring in Queensland.

AgriFutures Australia funds research to enhance farm health and safety as part of its National Rural Issues Program, working alongside the Rural Safety and Health Alliance.

The 2020 report, Non-intentional Farm Related Incidents in Australia, highlights the total onfarm deaths, causes of injury, fatalities by age and gender, as well as the estimated economic impact of fatal injuries.

AgriFutures Australia’s Rural Futures senior manager Jennifer Medway said while the statistics showed progress was being made in some areas, it was alarming to see the increase in deaths from quad bikes and side-by-sides.

“Side-by-sides have long been considered a safer option to quads, but the numbers don’t back that up,” Ms Medway said.

“They are only now increasing in popularity and are already making a sizeable contribution to the death toll.

“In fact, well over a third of on-farm deaths in 2020 are directly attributable to quad bikes and side-by-sides alone.

“If you add tractors into the mix, these three vehicles shockingly account for over half of all on-farm deaths.”

Rural Safety and Health Alliance executive officer Andrew Barrett said the figures were another sobering reminder that the cost of human life incurred in the production of the country’s food and fibre was still too high.

“As a sector so proud of innovation and progress, we must be equally concerned and focused on why so little has changed in our health and safety record over time,” Mr Barrett said.

“The commitment to change has already begun with leadership from the minister, government, National Farmers’ Federation, RDCs and some of our peak bodies.

“Other non-agricultural industries have accepted that ‘inherently dangerous’ is not a condition of work but a call to action.

“Actions that target known and persistent risks, using risk controls proven to reduce the potential for death and serious injury need to be enforced if we are going to see any noticeable change in these statistics.”

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

PERFORMANCE, SIMPLICITY AND RELIABILITY

36 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

ENGINEERED TO PERFORM MANUFACTURED TO LAST

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Still breaking sales records TRACTOR SALES have recorded a 12th con-

secutive month of record sales to be 34 per cent ahead compared to the same time last year.

In 2020, tractor sales passed the 13,000 unit mark for the first time in about 40 years and Australia is currently tracking above that level at around 14,000 units per year.

February sales were up 74 per cent on the same month last year and this reinforces the extent of the challenges felt by the industry 12 months ago.

“The current level of activity is even more remarkable given the strains with supply being experienced right across the supply chain, although there are early signs that this may be improving,” Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia executive director Gary Northover said.

“Since mid-2020, supply of product from manufacturing facilities in Europe, the US and Asia have been heavily impacted by the COVID19 lockdowns and social distancing requirements,” he said.

“An indicator of this is the amount of shipping activity being seen through Australian ports, which were reported to be around 40 to 50 per cent of normal capacity mid last year.

“This has now improved to around 90 per cent of normal capacity.”

Tractor sales continue to go up and up and up.

Activity in the month was strong in all states, with NSW again the standout up 104 per cent on the same time last year and now 107 per cent for the 2021 YTD. Victoria reported a solid lift up 53 per cent — sitting 43 per cent ahead for the year, meanwhile Queensland was up 61 per cent — to be 62 per cent up YTD. Western Australia sales picked up 92 per cent — to be 72 per cent ahead for the year, sales in South Australia were solid — 83 per cent up, and finally Tasmania finished the month 45 per cent ahead.

The increase in sales numbers is spread evenly across the four reporting categories, supported by the Instant Asset Write-off Scheme.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 37

Big release of new John Deere JOHN DEERE has announced its largest simul-

taneous release in a decade, with the unveiling of a future-focused line-up of new spraying equipment and air seeding tools.

New John Deere 400 and 600 Series sprayers with See and Spray Select advanced spraying technology have been launched and will be available on these machines.

An all-new line-up of Hagie self-propelled sprayers, designed to help manage challenging field conditions, also comes to market and will include three models.

Key updates have also been made to air seeding tools including the addition of the John Deere Relative Flow Blockage detection system, TruSet In-Cab Downforce adjustment and Quick-Change Blades.

John Deere Australia and New Zealand managing director Luke Chandler said the release delivered on-farm results through innovation.

“Our focus has always been, and will continue to be, to lead the development of technology that supports farmers in achieving more with less,” he said.

Three new 400 (408R, 410R and 412R) and two new 600 (612R and 616R) Series sprayers have been introduced to deliver enhanced operator comfort, high-quality application and the most machine uptime possible with tank sizes ranging from 3000 to 6000 litres, depending on model.

Prioritising quality spray application, the new boom recirculation feature ensures liquid solution is kept in suspension, so the boom is always primed and ready to spray. The air purge system enables improved cleanout, to save time and reduce waste.

Factory-installed John Deere AutoTrac keeps the sprayer in the row for precise product placement, while John Deere ExactApply technology means operators can more accurately control droplet size, spray pressure and individual nozzles.

Optional BoomTrac Pro 2 further hones spraying accuracy by maintaining the boom’s position.

John Deere 400 and 600 Series sprayers have the fuel-saving CommandDrive powertrain that reduces engine revolutions to save fuel while maintaining a consistent speed and spray pattern.

To ensure farmers can leverage the power of their data, the sprayers come standard with a JDLink connection, integrated StarFire GPS receiver, Generation 4 CommandCenter display and free access to the John Deere Operations Center, allowing customers to easily view and monitor their equipment and data.

Key updates for the model Year 2022 line-up of air seeding tools will see proven John Deere technology rolled out across more models.

New features include the addition of the John Deere Relative Flow Blockage detection system to help farmers ensure product is being accurately and evenly distributed during seeding.

John Deere will bolster its precision agriculture offering with See and Spray Select technology.

TruSet In-Cab Downforce adjustment allows settings to be changed from the Generation 4 Display and eliminates the need for the operator to make manual downforce adjustments.

It improves seed-to-soil contact, plant emergence and maturity, and helps operators

to maximise uptime in the field compared to manually adjusting downforce at the tool.

John Deere will offer an enhancement to its popular ProSeries Openers with the addition of new Quick-Change Blades which can reduce the time it takes to change opener blades by up to 45 per cent.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

38 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Case IH flagship gets makeover FOLLOWING HOT on the heels of last year’s

launch of the next-generation AFS Connect Magnum comes a similar makeover for the flagship of Case IH’s machinery fleet, the Steiger.

The AFS Connect Steiger is now being introduced to Australian farmers, promising the connectivity potential and technology advancements of the AFS Connect Magnum, but with the additional horsepower for those with big jobs and big hectares to cover.

Available in Quadtrac, Rowtrac and wheeled configurations from 400 to 600 horsepower, the AFS Connect Steiger features a redesigned cab with an all-new armrest with ergonomic controls, automotive-grade design elements and a 12-inch display configurable to each operator’s needs.

There is also a new operating system and receiver.

“Like the AFS Connect Magnum, this new Steiger represents the future direction for the entire Case IH tractor line-up,” Case IH Australia/NZ Steiger product manager Jason Wood said.

“From the design upgrades and enhancements to the suite of new technology driving new levels of efficiency and productivity, the AFS Connect Steiger delivers the connectivity that enables producers to control and oversee their operation from not only the tractor cab,

but from home, in the shed, or wherever they may be.

“The power, durability and efficiency that have been the hallmarks of the Steiger range for more than 60 years remain the same, but these latest technology enhancements only amplify its appeal to the customer looking for a tractor that can tackle the biggest and most demanding of tasks.”

The AFS Connect Steiger is powered by three system components — AFS Pro 1200 Display, AFS Vision Pro operating system and AFS Vector Pro. The cab, like that of the AFS Connect Magnum, has been completely redesigned, blending simplicity, control and comfort, no matter the conditions or crop.

Features include ergonomic MultiControl Armrest with eight control buttons, a MultiFunction Handle with four programmable hot keys, nine power connectors and diagnostic ports to connect all the devices required to monitor and control the operation and telescoping mirrors that are adjustable from the cab.

Industry-leading cab suspension, unmatched visibility and a 40-degree swivel seat come standard.

“The enhanced levels of connectivity in the new Magnum, and now Steiger, sets these tractors apart, providing more support features, reducing downtime and maximising productivity,” Mr Wood said.

CASE IH’s AFS Connect Steiger has been introduced to Australian farmers.

“From the remote service support that allows dealers to remotely identify maintenance and service needs, to the ability for business owners and managers to monitor operations — from

outside the cab — these AFS Connect tractors are game-changers for our industry.”

For more information on the AFS Connect Steiger, contact your nearest Case IH dealer.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2021

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 39

New standard in round baling WITH CONDITIONS in some regions of Australia continuing to improve and dairy farmers preparing for another year ahead, KUHN Australia’s newly released VB 7100 series round balers are ready for the job.

The VB 7100 series round balers debuted in Australia in 2020, and have set a new standard in round baling.

KUHN Australia marketing manager and baler product specialist Michael Murer said the VB 7100 series was built for large farmers and contractors looking for a high-performing baler that creates dense bales.

“Featuring patented i-DENSE technology, the VB 7100 series is about ensuring Australian farmers and contractors have high performing systems that save time and ensure the economical use of your baler without compromising on performance,” Mr Murer said.

The key feature of the new technology is its intelligent twin tension arm system providing bale densities of up to 140 kg m3 in straw.

Utilising the intelligent moisture sensor, it automatically adapts the baling pressure according to the different crops and crop conditions, without intervention from the operator.

“Baling up to 30 tonnes of dry product per hour, with minimum downtime, the machine was designed with extreme durability in mind ensuring robustness and reliability,” Mr Murer said.

The rotor tines are made of Hardox wear plate and 50 mm spherical roller bearings are fitted on the main driven rollers with seals on the idling rollers.

These seals, consisting of a unique combination of two specifically developed rings, ensure contamination is kept away from the bearings.

Essentially, the baler takes control of the baling density and the baler’s power consumption and moisture indication, and many other data points can be monitored on the ISOBUS display terminal.

With technology playing a greater role than ever in helping operators to get maximum performance from their machines, KUHN’s range of balers delivers the benefits of consistent, perfectly shaped bales for efficient, more profitable farms.

To find out more, visit www.kuhn.com.au or contact your local dealer.

A new range of KUHN round balers have hit the market.

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