Dairy Farmer September 2019

Cropping & Pasture Renewal

n

Better Bulls Better Calves

September 2019

Incl $8.95 GST

Forward thinking a winning formula

Lights, camera, action

Stepping up for the industry Dairy farming in the US

Farming videos make Southland farmer a social media star DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

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Cropping & Pasture Renewal n Better Bulls Better Calves September 2019

Incl $8.95 GST

COVER Southland contract milker Tangaroa Walker makes funny yet informative farming videos that have a huge following on social media.photo credit Natasha Chadwick.

Forward thinking a winning formula

Lights, camera, action

Stepping up for the industry Dairy farming in the US

Farming videos make Southland farmer a social media star DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

22

1

www.farmersweekly.co.nz ISSN 2624-0939 (Print) ISSN 2624-0947 (Online)

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DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Contents NEWS 17 Market Outlook Which way will Fonterra turn next?

20 Educational Learning ABCs on the farm

ON FARM STORY

8 Creating a stir Southland farmer Tangaroa Walker has big social media following

22 Love of the land Success for Waikato farmers Richard and Nadine McCullough

FARMING CHAMPIONS

7 Guest column Stephen Jacobi

32 Dairy champion Victoria Trayner

THEME 52 Cropping and pasture renewal

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FEATURE 38 International news – special report Dairy farming in the US 60 Better bulls better calves

REGULAR FEATURES 30 At the Grassroots

GlobalHQ is a farming family owned business that donates 1% of advertising revenue to the Rural Support Trust. Need help now? You can talk to someone who understands the pressures of farming by phoning your local Rural Support Trust on 0800 787 254.

36 Industry Good 46 Research 48 Technology

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MINERAL MANAGEMENT

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GUEST COLUMN

Chinese investment is low

I

New Zealand China Council executive director Stephen Jacobi says there is a great deal of misconception about China’s investor role in New Zealand.

NVESTMENT from overseas can sometimes be controversial but it has since the earliest times been integral to ensuring New Zealand’s productivity and competitiveness.

As China has emerged in recent years as one of our most important sources of foreign direct investment the need to better understand China’s investor role in NZ has also grown.

There’s a disjunct between perceptions and reality about the scale and direction of Chinese investment. Most New Zealanders believe incorrectly that China is NZ’s largest investor and that hotels, commercial property and residential housing are the top areas in which China invests in NZ. For these reasons the NZ China Council has commissioned new research to clarify the picture on Chinese investment and address some of the gaps in understanding. We need a good, factual base if we are going to build resilience and momentum into this critically important relationship.

In terms of overall ranking, the research shows China, including Hong Kong, is now NZ’s second biggest source of foreign investment, providing just over 7.6% of total foreign direct investment in 2017 but a long way behind Australia, which provides over 55%.

When you consider that China is the world’s second largest economy and our largest trading partner, the investment relationship appears to be underweight.

As for the perception that Chinese investment is focused on a narrow range of sectors, in reality there is quite a diversified range of Chinese investment with a strong interest in agri-food but in a good number of other areas including infrastructure, utilities, commercial buildings and hotels.

What’s more, investment from China is spread evenly between the main

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Stephen Jacobi from the New Zealand China Council says though China has a strong interest in the NZ agrifood sector the range of Chinese investment is diverse. centres and in the regions. According to our analysis about 50% of Chinese investment is directed to the regions.

Otago and Southland, for example, have the second highest equal concentration of investment after Auckland and Waikato.

Investment from China is spread evenly between the main centres and in the regions.

As far as the dairy industry is concerned there is no shortage of stories about investment from China bringing high-value job creation, innovation and increased exports of key products through improved access to markets and distribution.

Take the example of the old cheese

factory at Kerepehi on the Hauraki Plains, which had been derelict for years. Thanks to Allied Faxi the factory now exports ice cream direct to China, sourcing milk locally from nearby farms. In 2018 more than 3000 tonnes were exported and the company aims to increase that by 50% this year.

The former Crafar Farms in the central and upper North Island are another proof point. It was clear whoever took over the properties would need to invest heavily and the successful bidder. Shanghai Pengxin, injected $27 million into capital projects including new staff housing, regrassing, upgraded effluent ponds and irrigation.

Through its NZ entity, Milk NZ, connections are being built into China’s booming e-commerce market with Alibaba now a strategic investor in the company’s dairy export business unit.

Yili’s recent purchase of Westland Dairy, finalised after our report was prepared, is the latest example.

Though the sale has attracted criticism from some quarters it was backed by the vast majority of farmer shareholders.

The challenge we face as a country is both to tell the story of what has happened following the investment and to find ways to keep the momentum going in the investment relationship.

While China’s outward investment has been strong in NZ in recent years, that trend is changing as China adjusts its outward investment policies.

Whatever views we as individual Kiwis have about foreign investment we know the success of the dairy industry is pivotal to the wider economic success of NZ. With better understanding of how investment partners like China can contribute to this success we can look forward to working to continue to build these relationships in ways that can lead to improved outcomes and value generation for our communities. n

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ON FARM STORY

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Tangaroa Walker might be a social media sensation but he says he couldn’t do it without his fiancee Courtney HekeMcColgan.

Photo supplied

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Chasing the rainbow He can play it for laughs and he can play it serious. There’s a discerning side to social media star farmer Tangaroa Walker. Tim Fulton reports.

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EDIA sensation Tangaroa Walker has X-factor in spades and he wants to use it to lift other farmers

out of the mire.

Walker has a virtual arena for the job, his vividly upbeat and out-there Facebook page, Farm 4 Life.

He is a contract milker on a 550-cow farm at Invercargill.

The page is a funny but sometimes poignant look at the industry’s challenges.

It’s full of piece-to-camera videos with Walker riffing on issues of the day.

Sometimes he strings together interviews with farming professionals but mostly it’s just him, with yarns and banter.

On his LinkedIn page Walker says Farm 4 Life is a social media channel aimed at educating and inspiring youth into the dairy sector.

“Farm 4 Life has also helped current employees and employers manage their farms along with goal-setting and advice around new technologies and opportunities that are now flooding the market, helping us run more user-friendly operations and systems,” he says.

He describes Farm 4 Life as a documentary of the life as a farmer in New Zealand, sharing not only the good and the bad but also the ugly. page has a xhard-core DairyThe Farmer Ad_86mm 210mm +5mmfollowing. copy.pdf 1 When he posted plans to take a holiday

to Ireland he was bombarded with invites from Irish fans wanting to meet him and have him stay a night or two.

His style verges on anarchic, loaded with verbal twinkle that makes viewers dissolve with laughter.

He has been known to keep a noteboard handy behind the camera to maintain a train of thought but the commentary rolls out naturally.

“I didn’t mind climbing the rainbow, as long as I got there,” he quipped in a recent monologue.

In some of the more telling moments he revels in the memory of discovering self-employment.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school but what I did know was I wanted to be successful. I had quite a few mates around me whose parents owned their own businesses and they seemed to be having fun … they had nice cars and ate bloody good food, phwoah.

“I remember getting first introduced to cheese and grapes and salami. I thought far out, what’s this concoction? I want to be able to hoard this stuff.”

Walker says he won’t be changing his style no matter how much he’s asked to be an educator or role model. The whole idea is that he’s putting a real person out there for all to see.

Farm 4 Life is like his functional fitness gym, he says.

“We run our gym on specific values. We 20/05/2019 11:41 like a really user-friendly environment,

warming to our guests and the people we work out with. Some people come in there and they want to work out for themselves and show people how tough they are. And they end up getting weeded out really quickly. I’ve found that’s exactly what’s happening with the page.”

People do try to hammer him online, perhaps to make a point or just to make heroes of themselves.

He says he doesn’t pretend to be an industry expert but his followers usually jump onto their keyboards to support him if someone tries to have a crack at him.

“I’ll find that within an hour I’m getting comments on their comment and absolutely knocking them down.”

Continued page 10

FARM FACTS n Owners: Mirakanui DLP n Contract milker: Tangaroa Walker n Location: Invercargill, Southland n Farm size: 186ha, 50ha support block n Cows: 550 crossbreed n Production: 2018-19 222,000kg MS n Target: 2019-20 245,000kg

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I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school but what I did know was I wanted to be successful.

Tangaroa Walker

Courtney is a local agribusiness manager for Westpac as well as running the gym in Invercargill so doesn’t get out on the farm often. Courtney and Tangaroa check out the herd on the fodder beet crop.

Photo supplied

He doesn’t believe his video content is anything special, except perhaps for the style of his presentation.

“I’m literally just another farmer, farming, except I’m videoing it and talking about it. That’s the only difference. So I’m no leader in the dairy industry.”

In fact, he’s been doing leadership for quite a while.

In 2011 he was the Southland AgITO student of the year and in 2012 was named the country’s best young Maori farmer in an Ahuwhenua Trophy category.

Tangaroa Walker, originally from Bay of Plenty, began working three days a week on a farm through a work/school programme to transition students into jobs.

Photos: Natasha Chadwick Before long he was speaking at meetings and conferences around the country, all while working, studying and pursuing a promising rugby career.

These days he’s a motivational speaker at schools, colleges and universities and a guest at agri industry events and discussion groups. Rotary has had him along too. He does understand his impact.

On his Farm 4 Life LinkedIn page he acknowledges the responsibility on his shoulders.

“I have become a part of people’s day to day lives. My followers trust me and what I do.

“To the extent that I have helped, many people see the light during dark times within their business, workplace and everyday dramas that come with farm life.”

He has the bearing of a hard case joker – an unaffected bloke who survived a mixed-bag of an unbringing and fell in love with farming.

He’s also no mug and as his fame is growing he is determined to make it pay, to lift him out of a wage-dependent life.

If he manages to keep building his profile it will be fame with a purpose, he says.

Walker had a difficult upbringing at times. He moved into 16 different houses and went to six different schools before the age of six. He was adopted twice but says he always had a loving family. His parents never had much money so he had to be inventive.

“The reason I want to be that person is because I didn’t have it. You want to be that something for someone else. My

parents are wage earners, they don’t own businesses, they don’t have accountants, they don’t have a bank manager that works specifically for them and their business.”

Their farm, he once told his Farm 4 Life audience, is “pretty rough, really run down and my parents didn’t have much money to go and buy new things so we used to have to improvise, to try and put a three-inch hose on to a half inch hose and cut it, with tape and all the rest of it”.

His early ambitions revolved firmly around rugby. As a younger bloke – he’s now in his late 20s – he played for Bay of Plenty and Southland age-group teams.

He’s brutal about his lack of classic

Continued page 12

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ON FARM STORY

Calving begins on July 25 and though the calvers are checked several times a day they are usually left on their mums until the morning. Tangaroa with a new calf ready to be fed. academic credentials. On one of his clips he recalls being “so terrible at English, like I was literally rubbish at English and I’m

still rubbish at it. I can’t spell and I still spell tractor with a k”.

“I’ve never read a full book in my whole

Tangaroa Walker started social media channel Farm 4 Life, which is aimed at educating and inspiring youth into the dairy sector. Tangaroa posts a video to Farm 4 Life from the paddock.

12

life but I don’t think of that as a negative.

“I thought ‘right, I’m never going to be an English teacher’ so I started thinking about what I was going to do.”

When he was 15 Tauranga Boys’ High started a work-school programme to transition students into jobs and Walker began working three days a week on a farm.

Until then his farming experience beyond his parents’ place was limited to a job in a nearby piggery and a spot of relief milking.

He is of Ngati Pukenga and Ngati Ranginui descent, tribes from the Tauranga area. He credits his school adviser for steering him into a full time agriculture career. Walker was in the first XV at the time and short of any idea for work besides perhaps becoming an All Black.

“I said to him ‘I’m not really enjoying school at the moment. I’m just here to play rugby’.”

His adviser had other ideas, asking him what he really loved doing.

He loved building, welding and messing around with cars.

Continued page 14 DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Tangaroa shows the cows his latest posting of them on Farm 4 Life.

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ON FARM STORY

I’m literally just another farmer, farming, except I’m videoing it and talking about it. That’s the only difference. So I’m no leader in the dairy industry.

Tangaroa Walker

Maintenance on the farm is ongoing. Tangaroa scoops up metal for a race.

“I had a car that I had when I was like 14 or 15. It was like rough-as, no warrant, no rego and the seat used to fall through to the ground when you’d sit on it.”

Engineering was mean and so were cooking classes “because you could eat the mean-as food or swap it for other things”.

Despite some classroom struggles he liked the process of studying and enjoyed graphics. Having been brought up on a farm he also had fencing in his repertoire.

As he weighed up options for selfemployment, farming stood out as the most lucrative choice.

“I didn’t want to be rich or successful straight away.

“I just wanted to be there at the end.

I could see this vision at the end of the rainbow.”

AgITO training helped Walker get a start in primary industry and he hasn’t looked back.

When he entered agriculture, starting out in Bay of Plenty, his first employers showed him a different way of doing things.

“I saw what they had, how they carried 14

themselves and how they supported the community.”

He admits to feeling a bit lost in open waters when he left that farm to go dairying in Southland.

“I didn’t have any support or anything in terms of advisers on how to go managing or contract milking.”

Looking back on his own battle he warns new farmers against jumping headlong into a job without thinking about the social side of life.

“They go out and they end up in the middle of nowhere, they milk the cows and they come home and don’t think about the future or why they’re there.

They just get so pugged down in mud they just keep smashing their head against the wall.”

He says he broke that rut by marketing himself to the max.

“I wanted to be an All Black, just like any other kid and the way you do that is to put a big hit in, or make a breakaway try and be seen.

“I mean, if I just end up with my head in the back of a ruck every day I’m not going to get seen.”

Walker figured he wouldn’t get far in dairy if he did what everybody else did, plugging away, biding his time.

So he entered competitions, went to farm discussion groups and made a point of getting in front of people. He always felt opportunities would come his way if he went looking.

Now he’s firmly ensconced in Southland, contract milking at Woodlands for an equity partnership. It’s his fifth season on the 186ha unit.

Last season the herd produced 222,000 kilograms of milksolids and this season it is targeting 245,000kg MS. The farm is a System 3 and grows all feed on farm including 25 hectares of fodder beet and 5ha of kale, which is fed from May 20 to September. They lift 130 tonnes of fodder beet, which is fed during the milking season.

They also make about 500 bales of balage and buy in 70 tonnes of palm kernel.

Before calving they bring in the heifers and run them through the shed a few times to get them used to the shed and all the noises. That makes it easier and quicker during calving because they don’t have to train them to enter the rotary and go a bit nuts at all the strange noises.

Calving begins on July 25 and this season they are calving 550 cows. Though they check the herd about eight times a day the calves are left with their mothers until morning unless the weather is bad, then they will bring them in at night as well.

They rear about 130 replacements.

Calves are fed twice a day and weaned at 100kg then sent to graze with New Zealand Grazers.

His fiancee Courtney Heke-McColgan

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

does not come from a farming background. She grew up in Southland then studied finance and economics at Otago University.

“When I returned home from university I met Tangaroa and sort of fell into contract milking with him,” she says.

After a stint with Craigs Investment Partners she applied her rural business knowledge to a banking career. She’s now a local agribusiness manager for Westpac and runs a gym with Walker in Invercargill, using Farm 4 Life to promote it.

One of his big goals is to help farming women carve out their own identity and purpose.

He is determined to encourage women to define themselves by their own skills and ambitions – and a mental blueprint for that is Courtney.

“This is something I’m real passionate about. I see farming wives who are very intelligent, who are very driven and their own set of goals, their own mission in life but they tend to meet a farmer and fold in behind the farmer or next to them,” he says.

“Yes, many love the job of supporting their partner in the running of a shared

business but I see many who fall into the shadow of their husband.

“And I could never do that to Courtney.

I could never see her at home, just being my accountant or my calf rearer.”

He says while he loves his work things might unravel if he and Courtney were stuck together 24/7.

“She’s got her own goals and it’s awesome to come home at the end of the

day and ask how her day was. And she can blah on about her crappy day and then all of a sudden I don’t feel all that bad about my crappy day.”

With Courtney beside him, he does some more thinking out loud.

“When you’re working with people, you rub off.

Continued page 16

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Tangaroa Walker, with dogs Waha, Manawa and Chase, is the contract milker on a 550-cow farm in Southland. He is in his fifth season.

“If you’re at the top you rub off on everybody that works below you and beside you so you want to have a really good work environment that makes it easier for me. If I’m stuck on farm all the time ... you lose perspective of what you’re here to achieve.”

As for other ventures, he says he is just waiting for a commercial proposition to come along, backed by a cornerstone sponsor.

“I would like to do this full time. I would like to educate people about what I do on my farm. But it’s very time-consuming.

“As soon as it comes along I really want to jump on it because every minute that I’m not on the farm I’m paying someone else, out of my own pocket, to do the job that I’m not doing.”

A 30-minute Farm 4 Life video can take two hours to produce – and that’s all time he could spend on the farm.

“I’d put $500 on every video. If a company came along and said, can you endorse this product it’s going to cost a lot of money but it’s not just paying for that specific video, it’s paying for all those other videos.”

He says he is ever-evolving and Facebook often changes settings on the content and how it is displayed to his viewers. And it costs.

16

After considering that sting in the back pocket Walker decided it would be more cost-effective to change the content.

“I was putting calving videos out, of me pulling out breech calves and stuff like that. People started asking me questions … and I realised that was better pulling power than paying $30 to get the shares, the likes and the following.”

Walker gives the appearance of being continuously on … of being up for any farming challenge.

But he says there was a time – once – when he thought about packing it in.

“I was managing and we were flat out, really busy pulling out calves, big Herefords from our heifers, and we were just really having a tough time.”

The stress ramped up.

“That pressure of being under stress from animal health issues really got to me and this was ongoing for six weeks, up till about 1am and having to be up again at 4am just because you’re the manager.”

Feeling near the end of his tether he talked to his dad.

“I said ‘I don’t know if I want to do this any more, eh’. He said ‘oh crap, that’s bloody weird. That’s not like you’.”

But the moment passed. He doesn’t

blame anyone and puts it down to not having a break.

He says he strongly supports mental health and fitness and he understands Farm 4 Life has helped put things into perspective for those going through tough times, allowing them to see that they are not the only ones dealing with day-to-day challenges.

His immediate farming ambition is to lift the in-calf rate. While he’s aware of the increasing constraints on-farm, like nutrient restrictions and emissions targets, he doesn’t claim expert status in those areas.

“I’ve just been the average Joe farmer but I’m going to start videoing our environmental impact and how we can minimise it. “ Likely topics are advice on reducing runoff and nitrogen leaching, including a look into the link between bacteria spread on pastures and the build-up of nitrogen and urine.

“I really want to video those sorts of things over the next year.

“Again, it’s happening to everyone and we’re so uneducated around it, even myself. So it’s going to be good. I’m excited.” n Video link: bit.ly/OFSwalker

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

MARKET OUTLOOK

Prisoners of their own device Which way will Fonterra turn next?

STEPHEN BELL

F

ONTERRA farmers are trapped.

They are being held hostage by their own cooperative.

The only saving grace is the milk price is still good but that’s also problematic. More on that later.

There’s been no end of speculation on what the latest drip-feed of information from Fonterra will mean for the firm’s future.

That might be part of the problem.

Fonterra seems to have been releasing information through gritted teeth only when it has to.

It made it quite clear the public admission it couldn’t sell its Beingmate stake and would flog it off bit by bit on the Shenzen stock exchange was made only because the rules required it to do so.

Farmers could well be forgiven for thinking the board and management have a policy of telling people as little as possible for as long as possible in the hope all their troubles will magically disappear or someone will come up with a miracle solution.

But it ain’t happening.

Now, understandably jumpy farmers, having watch Westland being hocked off, are holding their breath waiting for the big reveal next month when Fonterra outlines it’s strategy.

It better be something with a lot of meat on the bones and contain detailed specifics rather than the generalised platitudes about being strong at heart and having confidence in the future that have been the fare so far. Anything else might bring lynching back into fashion.

But what can it do.

What it has signalled so far is that its overseas adventures have been less than delightful. Now pretty much all the overseas investments are on the block at marked down prices but, as Beingmate shows, finding takers might not be that easy.

And it can go only so far in flogging

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

off assets before it impairs its earning capacity. It also needs assets against which to borrow desperately needed capital.

The logical progression is that if its overseas assets go and it pulls back from value-add products then it will turn itself back into what the Dairy Board used to be. That’s not what farmers were promised when Fonterra was set up.

Another option, which could follow on from the above, is that it splits in two.

The co-operative is owned by farmers and supplies the milk to the other half, a company it wholly or partly owns. If it does that it would be sensible to get the non-farmer unit investors out of the coop and into the second company.

That would be easier than buying back shares from unit holders if it simply wanted to return to being a true cooperative where only the suppliers are shareholders. But it is unlikely to have the money to buy back all those shares, even if they are worth only a fraction of what they should be.

Issuing them was a case of Fonterra and farmers, they voted for it, remember, wanting to have their cake and eat it. It was designed to remove the redemption risk and free up capital and make Fonterra more attractive to lenders. It would also allow farmers to access cash.

Those same farmers who voted for it are now bemoaning what the market has done to the value of their shares, which many of them will have borrowed money against.

But Fonterra has, to put it mildly, treated those investors shabbily. It is not paying a dividend this year and has

demonstrated it will readily rob them to prop up the milk price. That has, quite rightly, devalued the share value and now farmers are stuck with shares they can’t afford to sell at such a low price because they owe the banks $42 billion.

In other words they are trapped in the co-op.

There’s another option of holding back money from the milk price to give the coop the cash it needs but Fonterra has said it is not considering that.

And farmers have made it quite clear they won’t wear it. They have good reason for taking that attitude with more regulatory costs on the horizon and pressure from banks to repay capital but it doesn’ send a good signal to outside investors or lenders who will see farmers unwilling to support their own co-op.

They could also fully corporatise Fonterra and list it on the NZX. And there’s always the option of selling the whole thing. But that’s not an option farmers or the country want to contemplate so let’s hope the directors and managers come up with a sound plan to deal with the issues rather than just writing down assets and selling anything they can find buyers for.

We also shouldn’t forget many of those now claiming to have seen all this coming are in some cases those who held Fonterra up as a model for the meat industry to follow during the Meat Industry Excellence reform campaign.

Ironically, Fonterra has the same issue that faced the meat industry of suppliers demanding high procurement prices leaving it little capital to reinvest or pay dividends. n

17

NEWS

The Simpsons were big winners, taking out the top award. Murray Simpson on their Te Raparahi Trust farm at Waotu, south Waikato.

Miraka leads clean, green dairy

C

ENTRAL North Island dairy company Miraka’s focus on sustainable farming practices is showing results after a record number of farms received honours in the recent Te Ara Miraka farming excellence awards.

“Since establishing the awards over four years ago we’ve started to see significant change in on-farm practices,” Miraka’s milk supply general manager Grant Jackson says.

“It’s not just about meeting the regulations – that’s a mandatory for us.

“It’s all about how to go over and above, to achieve absolute excellence in areas like animal welfare, sustainable land management, looking after employees and premium quality milk.”

Of the 104 participating farms, 17 achieved a score of 90% or more, and Te Raparahi Lands Trust took out the top prize with a score of 100%.

Just 10 farms scored over 90% when

the awards began four years ago. The excellence standards include a mix of mandatory and optional criteria.

Optional criteria are allocated points and results are financially incentivised over and above a market competitive base milk price.

“When Miraka first bought the standards out I thought they looked pretty challenging,” top award winner Tracey Simpson of Te Raparahi Lands Trust says.

“I was worried it was too much pressure for farmers and that we would never be able to meet all of them.

“But there has been a real change in the farming community recently.

“We know that strong environmental practices are good for the land and they also make financial sense.”

Te Raparahi Lands Trust chairman Phillip Samuels says the team at Te Raparahi Lands Trust has been working on a holistic farming approach for over 10 years.

“For us it’s about having shared goals and pushing ourselves to do more.

“Last year we used our incentive payment to purchase a new Halo monitoring system for our farms, which has been a great investment.

“Miraka’s approach is helping create a paradigm shift within New Zealand farming, to encourage farmers to start making positive changes,” Samuels says.

Each year Miraka is seeing more farmers grow and accelerate change within the programme.

“At Miraka we value kaitiakitanga , we support decisions with a long-term view,” Miraka’s kaitiaki and environmental leadership general manager Murray Hemi says.

“It’s about building resilience into our business and living our values while creating top quality dairy products.

“Our farmers are really starting to see the value in our approach. It’s pretty exceptional to have so many of our farms hitting really high targets.” n

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DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

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NEWS

Farm cards teach children JENNY LING

W

HAT started out as a hobby making children’s hair accessories has turned into a thriving side business for south Waikato dairy farmer Michele Petersen.

Four years ago the first-time mum began creating hair accessories like bows, scrunchies, headbands, hair clips and hair ties for babies and girls and selling them online.

By 2017 when it came time to teach her daughter the alphabet she decided to use words relevant to the family’s dairy farm, which her husband Michael runs at Lichfield.

She began making educational, learnto-write ABC cards to teach farm children the alphabet with letters they could relate to.

“I wanted to help my children learn their ABCs but I was over the whole O for Octopus thing. I wanted to make it relatable to our life,” Petersen says.

“I made them into cards like B for bull, V for vat, W for water trough and L for lamb.”

She came up with a bunch of new letter and word ideas then posted them on the Farming Mums NZ Facebook page to help fill in any gaps.

There she was approached by artist Sally Evans from Sally E Art who offered to do the illustrations.

Petersen had the cards printed and laminated so they could be traced over with a white-board pen.

The rest is history. She sold more than 200 sets of cards over the next two years and her business Mummy+Moo was well and truly established.

The 26-year-old has since expanded the business to include ABC playing cards and ABC posters, also illustrated by Evans.

The cards 20

Waikato dairy farmer Michele Petersen, with children George, 3, Lauren, 5, wanted something relevant to farming when teaching her children the alphabet so created flash cards, an idea that has since developed into a thriving business. cover all areas of farming and are sold via the Mummy+Moo Facebook page and other farming pages on social media along with a couple of markets in Matamata.

“The children learn different things around the farm. It’s really cool when you take them out and they can identify things that they’ve picked up,” she says.

“My intention was to make it not just about dairy farming, but there’s dairy in there and beef farming as well.”

The Petersens live on his parents’ dairy farm, where they milk 320 cows.

The couple now have four children – Lauren, 5, George, 3, Amelia, 2, and sixmonth-old Maeve.

She fits her business in around the children, usually putting in about 15 hours a week. Though she also helps with calf rearing during winter and spring she’s a one-woman band running the business and trying to balance everything.

Her cards and posters have been snapped up by farmers all over the country.

“I have people buying them to send overseas.

“It makes me really happy to know they’re going abroad.

“We’re sending a little piece of New Zealand out there. It’s cool to see they are selling and people want to teach their children about NZ farming.”

In August she helped raise funds for Kids in Need Waikato, a charity founded in 2017 by Linda Roil who collects donations of quality clothes and toys and gives them to children in need in Waikato.

Petersen donated $2 from every purchase, more than $120 in total, to the charity.

She also recently started making ouchie packs, rice packs designed to be stored in the freezer and brought out to soothe children’s bumps and bruises.

Despite having to juggle children and farm work, she says she’ll keep making her children’s products.

She thanked the NZ farming community for supporting her business along with Michael who “probably thinks I should be doing more housework”.

“It’s not a huge income but it’s a little bit extra that helps buy things for the kids like clothes and birthdays.

“It’s testing at times when you have a lot on your plate but it’s really satisfying knowing there are children all over NZ enjoying what you’ve created,” she says. n

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

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ON FARM

Waikato farmers Richard and Nadine McCullough with daughter Ellah, 5, are the Dairy Business of the Year joint runners-up in the supreme award and also won the best Waikato farm performance and the lowest environmental impact awards.

Photos: Stephen Barker

22

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

They’re not afraid of change

A

A Waikato farming couple who are taking a forward-thinking approach to their farming business are reaping the rewards of doing things a bit differently. Jenny Ling reports.

GENUINE love of the land, forward-thinking farming practices and a willingness to learn and develop have helped Richard and Nadine McCullough make their Waikato dairy farm an award-winning success.

The couple milk 650 mainly Friesian cows on their 383ha property at Karapiro, 10km south of Cambridge, in partnership with Richard’s parents Bruce and Wyn McCullough.

The McCullough Farm Partnership has grown in leaps and bounds since they bought the property during one of the toughest times in New Zealand’s economic history.

Richard and Nadine were young farmers with big dreams but buying at the end of 2008 during the global financial crisis really tested their mettle.

Coming from an all grass, seasonal farm straight into a split-calving operation triple the size of what they were used to was no easy feat.

“It was a scary time to buy,” Nadine says.

“We had the highest prices and the biggest crash. They were tough times but we’re still here, still farming. We made it through.”

They now supply Open Country Dairy, NZ’s second largest dairy manufacturer, specialising in quality milk supply that is processed into milk powders, proteins, fats and cheeses for global consumers.

Richard, 46, says he and Nadine, 42, are proud of how far they’ve come in the last 11 years.

“We’re in a situation now where we’re paying off quite a bit of principal each year and making a good return on the farm,” he says.

“We’re also very happy with Open

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Country. They’ve always been good to us and we’ve always got a fair milk price.”

Though he comes from a dairying background, Richard was not initially convinced about following in his parents’ footsteps into a dairy farming career.

His parents are now retired and his grandfather on his dad’s side, along with two uncles, were dairy farmers in Waikato and Southland.

“When I left school, I didn’t want to be a farmer, I wasn’t sure it was for me,” Richard says.

“So I went to Waikato University and started a degree in economics but after two years knew I didn’t want to work in an office so I came back to the farm and worked for mum and dad for a year. Then I went to Massey University and did a diploma of agriculture.”

He then spent three and a half years working on farms in Canada and

Denmark, learning different farming methods and soaking up new information.

Nadine was living in Hamilton teaching tourism and marketing at Waikato Institute of Technology, also known as Wintec, when she met Richard on a blind date set up through friends in 2008.

Though not directly from a farming background Nadine had lived and worked on dairy farms and had a good understanding of it.

While she was doing management studies at Waikato University she was able to milk cows on weekends, which she loved.

When Richard and Nadine met they quickly found they had a topic in common.

“It was quite funny really, Richard’s friend and my friend are brother and

Continued page 24

The McCulloughs’ heifers are mated to Scottish Highland, of which they have 14 cows and bulls. They find the breed is popular with lifestyle block owners.

23

Richard and Nadine have been doing things are bit differently on the farm and are full autumn calving, which suits the farm system and their lifestyle.

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Team member Todd McLean takes balage to the Scottish Highland stock for breakfast.

sister. It was them who set us up,” Nadine says.

“They talked about how these two people would be a good match. He (Richard) rang me and we went out on a date. With no idea of who I was meeting it was nice that we instantly had something in common.

“With our love of travel, mutual friends and because we could both talk farm we had lots to chat about. The rest is history, I guess.”

They married in 2012 and now have a five-year-old daughter named Ellah.

After buying their farm they set about upgrading the cow shed and effluent system and putting in more automation to make the milking shed a one-man operation.

Automatic cup removers, an automatic teat sprayer, Protrack Vantage system and Cellsense cell count readers were installed along with automatic drafting gates.

The changes eliminated the cost of herd testing and reduced labour units.

They have since added an Ezi Heat camera system to identify cows in heat for mating, which also helped make the farm more manageable and less labour intensive.

They ran a split-calving system for seven years before going full autumn calving to get a better work-life balance.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

“The main reason was lifestyle,” Richard says.

“We had been doing six years of split calving and we just had enough. It was milking twice a day, 365 days a year and you never got a break from it.”

The couple, who employ two full-time staff, now enjoy more time off and take holidays. The extra time also allows them to catch up with maintenance and other work.

They also try to give their workers lots of time off.

“Staff are without a doubt the building blocks of a successful farming operation and we’re extremely lucky to have a great team on board with us,” Nadine says.

During calving they have a seven days on, two days off roster, which switches to a 10-on four-off roster once calving is over.

The staff have their four days off when the farm can be run by one person if necessary so Richard and Nadine aren’t tied to it every weekend.

“We put the cows on once-a-day in November and we have a nice, cruisy summer,” Richard says.

“It’s nice having our quiet time when lots of other people are having their holidays too, rather than the normal spring calving system when you’re having your holidays and other people aren’t.

With the hills and longer walks to the

FARM FACTS n Owner: Richard and Nadine McCullough n Location: Karapiro, Waikato n Farm size: 383ha n Cows: 650 mainly Friesian cows and 14 Scottish Highland cows and bulls n Production: 2018-19 279,000kg MS n Target: 300,000kg MS n Operating profit: 2017-18 $3708

shed not having to milk in the afternoon in summer is a good break for the cows as well as the staff.”

Their first full autumn-calving season was 2015-16, which produced about 262,000kg MS. The next season produced 250,000kg MS and last season was their best yet, producing 279,000kg MS. Richard says their target is around 300,000kg MS without having to spend more on feed and increasing costs.

“It’s about improving the efficiency of how we run the system and the quality of the herd.”

Continued page 26 25

The Scottish Highland cattle just love fruit, which Nadine feeds them every day.

MCCULLOUGH FARM PARTNERSHIP KPIs n Cows: 670 n Effective area: 240.1ha n Milk: 377kg MS/cow, 1052kg MS/ha n Return on capital: 6.9% n Operating profit margin: 44% n Operating profit: $3708/ha n Cost of production: $3.95/kg MS n Operating expenses: $4.48/kg MS n Pasture harvest: 11.6t DM/ha n Pasture % of feed: 69 n Core cost/cow: $556 n Labour efficiency: 223 cows/FTE n Environ score* (out of 15): 11.5 n HR score* (out of 15): 10.4 The 2019 awards used data from the 201718 season

The farm suits winter milking because it can handle a lot of rain and doesn’t get too many frosts though it is prone to dry out in summer.

“We don’t have a lot of flat areas and it’s not prone to flooding, the water runs off the hills well. We tend to grow more grass in winter than summer.”

They run the farm on a high-input System 5 over winter, with maize silage forming a large part of their livestock’s diet along with grass and palm kernel mixed with 20% molasses.

The couple grow all their own maize, 38ha of it, and use a pioneer Aquamax hybrid to help deal with dry summers.

From mid-September to the end of the season they switch to a low-input system, where the herd is fed only pasture. Over

Richard McCullough and team member Todd McLean feed out ready for the herd.the 26

the course of the season the cows’ total diet is about 70% pasture, 15% maize silage and 15% bought-in concentrates.

They rear an average of 20% replacements, which are all kept on the property.

Mating is done over a 10 and a half weeks starting on May 23, with the plan to start calving around March 1.

They typically do about a month of AI then tail off the rest of the herd using Hereford bulls bought from spring calving farmers in February and sold on again in November.

The 15-month Friesian heifers are all mated with the farm’s Scottish Highland bulls with the aim of selling the calves, popular with lifestyle block owners who often keep them as pets or for beef.

The Highland bulls are bred and raised

by Nadine.

The Scottish Highlanders usually weigh no more than 30kg when born, making calving easy for the young heifers, Richard says.

“We decided we had enough Scottish Highland bulls and we could use them for mating. Rather than use Jersey bulls where you get a bobby calf you can’t sell, with the Highlanders we’re getting calves that are salable so we send them to the sales.”

For the last two years they have been using A2 semen as their AI. Their aim is to breed the entire herd for A2 milk, which is free of A1 beta-casein and has been designed to be easier to digest than regular cow’s milk.

While some cows naturally produce A2 milk, others produce A1 so it’s a matter of using A2 bulls and breeding from the

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

The McCulloughs milk 650 Friesian cows, which produced 279,000kg MS last season. They target 300,000kg MS.

cows that have the A2 gene in them, Richard says.

“It’s really just about trying to futureproof the herd,” he says.

“It’s another opportunity we’re taking though it will take seven to eight years for the herd to be all A2.”

Richard says a trip to Canada and Denmark in his 20s inspired him to try new methods and look ahead to maximise the value they get off the farm.

The trip was part of an AgriVenture international exchange programme where Richard worked on dairy farms overseas to see the world and see different ways of doing things.

He was impressed with the farmers he stayed with in Denmark, who were very forward thinking and did things a little differently to other farmers in the Scandinavian country.

“The main example was they brought back the NZ style of block calving,” Richard says.

®

It was a scary time to buy. We had the highest prices and the biggest crash. They were tough times but we’re still here, still farming. We made it through.

Nadine McCullough

“Traditionally, what is done in Denmark and most of Europe and America is they calve their cows all year round. There are advantages of both systems but NZ has bigger advantages for labour efficiency.”

Danish farmers took that and made it work for them.

“Seeing what they’d done was inspiring to me, that you can try something different from the way it’s normally done in your country and make it successful.

“Just because it isn’t the normal way to

do things in NZ doesn’t mean you can’t make it work. As a farm you’ve got to look at these extra ideas with the overall aim of getting better value for your milk.”

This year the McCulloughs are introducing dung beetles to help reduce the environmental impacts of farming, an innovation they saw at Fieldays last year.

Because the beetles feed on faeces, tunnelling through soil and burying and

Continued page 28

Richard McCullough grew up on a dairy farm but wasn’t sure if he wanted to go farming so chose to study economics but decided an office life wasn’t for him so returned to the family farm.

28

The McCulloughs also won the lowest environmental impact award and have planted 1ha of swamp with native trees and plan to plant other areas as their budget allows.

breaking up livestock dung, they’ve been found to have multiple ecosystem benefits including improved water quality, more available grazing pasture, decreased maintenance time, improved soil health and parasite and pest reduction.

The McCulloughs have bought eight beetle colonies from NZ company Dung Beetle Innovations, with the first lot arriving on-farm in December. They have bought several different species of beetle to maximise coverage all year round.

It seems their hard work and willingness to take calculated risks is paying off.

They were joint runners-up in this year’s Dairy Business of the Year Supreme Award alongside Brent and Rebecca Miller, and Andrew and Rachele Morris from River Terrace Dairy in Ashburton.

Though the judges said it was unusual for two runner-up farms to be chosen – it was the first time in DBOY’s 12-year history – the metrics were such they could not be separated.

The McCullough Farm Partnership also won the best Waikato farm performance and the lowest environmental impact awards and was a finalist in the 2018 awards.

Judges said their strong performance around people and the environment won them the regional award.

Richard says the main difference from the last year’s competition was their winter milk premium.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Just because it isn’t the normal way to do things in NZ doesn’t mean you can’t make it work. As a farm you’ve got to look at these extra ideas with the overall aim of getting better value for your milk.

Richard McCullough

important to see how we’re tracking and “The winter milk premium for this it confirmed what we’re doing is the right year’s awards data was a lot better than thing. We’ll always continue to do it. the previous.

Getting the awards is the cherry on the top “Winning gives us reassurance that we really.” are on the right track and what we are Looking to the future, the McCullough’s doing is working. It is great to have all our are intent on reducing environmental hard work recognised.” impacts.

Nadine says they first entered the Dairy They have just planted a 1ha swamp Business of the Year competition in 2016 with native trees and plan to plant other to help identify strengths and weaknesses areas as their budget allows. in the system and areas that could be Though they use fertiliser as needed, improved. about 90kg nitrogen a hectrare on the “We wanted to collect all the data to milking area, they want to improve the see for our own benefit how we were efficiency of their fertiliser use with a performing and what our weaknesses HFS ad 210mmWx156mmH-FINAL.pdf 1 17/05/19 2:33 change PM in soil testing. were,” she says.

Instead of soil testing only seven or “To have that data collection is most

eight paddocks a year, this year they will test all 80 paddocks.

That will give them a targeted approach, allowing them to fertilise only those paddocks that need it.

“We’ll test every paddock on the farm to try and get better utilisation from fertiliser,” Richard says.

“If an individual paddock has high levels of fertiliser then we won’t put any more on.

“We have to be as efficient as possible when it comes to fertiliser use. Our aim is to use less nitrogen but still get a good response from what we’re using.”

Nadine and Richard agree it’s important to keep looking forward and trying new things to get the best out of their farm while protecting the environment.

“We can see there have been issues with water quality and it can have a negative impact on the environment if you don’t do it properly,” Richard says.

“The farming industry gets negative publicity in relation to water quality and the best way to try and prevent that is to actually make a difference and get the best results possible. It’s not just about following rules and regulations, it’s about making a real difference.” n

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AT THE GRASSROOTS

A better story now Veterinarian Claire Hunter recently returned from visiting her sister and her family in Ireland. On her first visit, nearly 10 years ago, she was proud to see an advert for a progressive farming scholarship to New Zealand in the national Irish Farmers Journal. Things have changed.

O

N ONE visit to Ireland I was quickly embarrassed to read in the editorial in the Irish Farmers Journal that farmers have taken the time to write to the journal in response to a scholarship to study farming in New Zealand.

They generally wondered why anyone would want to attend a NZ scholarship when NZ’s animal welfare standards are so poor.

Initially, as well as embarrassed, I was shocked that is how we are perceived and disappointed we can’t really stand up for ourselves.

To be fair, at that point we were still inducing cows, euthanising calves with blunt trauma and docking tails.

During my other visits since I’ve been keeping an eye out to see how we stand with our farming colleagues in Ireland and the views are still divided.

Some are positive about our progressiveness and see an opportunity in learning from NZ farming systems but others still talk down about our welfare standards.

They believe their grass-fed meat and milk is something superior to ours and they’ve been very busy with their Origin Green and other campaigns trying to convince consumers that is the case.

Ireland’s national food board, Bord Bia, is campaigning to get the beef industry out of the Brexit doldrums by marketing what it believes are two of its best attributes – quality, grass-produced beef and high standards of welfare.

McDonald’s is sourcing sustainable Irish beef and animal welfare is a major factor in its sustainability criteria.

In the past decade the NZ farming industry has made huge improvements to calf and dairy cow standards of care, including national regulations around bobby calf treatment though in Ireland’s eyes the fact we still have bobby calves is a negative, husbandry issues like eliminating tail docking and including local anaesthetic for disbudding,

30

Claire Hunter of VetSouth says some farmers in Ireland still see New Zealand animal welfare standards as lacking.

transportation requirements and, of course, stopping inductions.

We have also now developed a unique animal welfare programme WelFarm, which is available nationwide from all vets and endorsed by the Veterinary Association.

This simple programme is designed to provide animal welfare assurances by measuring meaningful animal health and welfare parameters.

WelFarm also assesses and benchmarks other farm practices that help satisfy wider industry issues such as antimicrobial use and disease incidence.

Your farm is measured and benchmarked against farms regionally and nationally.

In general, we can be proud of our high animal welfare standards but it’s essential that we measure and record what we are doing.

We have a long way to go to not only prove ourselves to consumers, industry stakeholders and food retailers.

We also have international farming communities that we need to gain credibility with so they change their strong opinions of us.

We can’t afford to wait until we hit our

We can be proud of our high animal welfare standards.

next round of rock-bottom prices, like Ireland’s beef industry is experiencing now, to realise how important animal welfare is to our markets or competition to our markets.

WelFarm is a great opportunity to get ahead of the game across the country.

It’s a low-cost option to measure and benchmark a number of things you’re probably already doing so we can begin to front-foot a lot of the concerns consumers have about dairy farming.

WelFarm fully covers the areas Fonterra has highlighted in its new animal welfare push with the Co-operative Difference.

Have a chat to your vet about WelFarm.

You might be surprised by how simple and cost-effective it is. n Claire Hunter BVSc is a veterinarian at VetSouth, Gore.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

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DAIRY CHAMPION

A full dance card Canterbury farmer Victoria Trayner is a founding trustee of the farmer-led Next Generation Farmers Trust in Waimakariri.

Photo Tim Fulton

A Canterbury farmer who wears many hats including that of dance teacher, agribusiness lecturer, company director and rural advocacy group trustee is always up for a challenge. Tim Fulton reports.

C

ANTERBURY farmer Victoria Trayner’s dance card was already fairly full, so to speak, but she was ready and willing to step up and advocate for

the industry.

Trayner and husband Glen and their daughters Lacey, 5, and Maella, 2, milk 630 cows on the 219 hectare family farm at Oxford.

She is one of seven founding trustees of a new Waimakariri-based farming advocacy group, Next Generation Farmers Trust and a director of the farmer-owned irrigation scheme, Waimakariri Irrigation.

The farmer-led trust was established to raise awareness of nutrient policy changes and support farmers as they implement new and improved farm management practices.

Over the years her roles, which include

a string of volunteer positions, have given her an insight into rural and social challenges in Waimakariri.

The district is a narrow strip of towns, farms and lifestyle blocks within sight of Christchurch and the Port Hills.

Geographically and socially it’s a melting pot of interests. For every big, pivotirrigated farm there’s just as likely to be a long driveway beside it with a dozen mailboxes.

THE DESTINATION FOR RURAL REAL ESTATE Land is the biggest asset to any farming business – so it pays to stay up-to-date with the market.

Connect with the right audience at farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate

What one farmer does might not suit another but it might highlight something that suits someone else.

Victoria Trayner

Farming is arguably just as diverse, including dairy, sheep and beef, cropping, deer, pigs, forestry and a salmon hatchery.

Through the trust she is trying to unite those interests as the district grapples with new nutrient management regulations, in particular the Waimakariri Zone Committee’s draft zone implementation addendum (ZIPA).

The ZIPA, released by Environment Canterbury last December, features a set of recommendations to address water quality and management issues.

She was drawn into the fledgling group after getting to know Oxford farmer Scott Evans, whose daughter was taking dance lessons with Trayner at the dance school she runs.

Neither farmer agreed with details in the proposed plan but nor did they think it was best to fight the principle tooth and nail.

“We were like we want to accept that it needs a changed perspective. And we want to accept that we value the land, to look after it so the next generation can farm.

“So, we stood away and said well, we actually want a different story.”

The first trust meeting attracted a

Victoria and husband Glen with Maella, 2, milk 630 cows on the 219 hectare family farm at Oxford and are Waimakariri Irrigation shareholders.

Photo Tim Fulton

strong turnout of youngish farmers and a commitment to evolve with the times under an achievable timeframe.

Trayner says right from the start the trust was optimistic about farmers’ ability to embrace, unite and move forward together. Led by Evans as chairman it has promised to work with industry groups including DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb, Fonterra, Federated Farmers and Horticulture New Zealand to show what farmers can do to comply and thrive under the new plan regulations.

The trustees felt comfortable about being a new entrant to agri advocacy, even though it has long been dominated

by Federated Farmers and the levyfunded industry groups.

“Federated Farmers are spread quite thinly on the ground so we feel that we can work with Federated Farmers, with DairyNZ or with Fonterra or whoever. Our aim is basically to keep the communication and industry bodies open and work together so our goals are all the same at the end of it. We do think

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communication and education is the key.”

That means getting all perspectives, including stories from leading farmers and sharing best-practice use of farm environment plans.

“It’s creating a network for farmers to communicate with other farmers as well.

What one farmer does might not suit another but it might highlight something that suits someone else.”

And having grown up on the family farm and teaching agriculture she knows only too well just how diverse farming practices can be and how important it is to share information.

She is the fifth generation of Timperleys to farm in the Oxford area. Her parents Clarence and Linda are successful dairy, beef and pig and cropping farmers while one of her sisters, Hazel, and her husband Matt manage a dairy farm in rural-residential Swannanoa, near Christchurch.

After growing up on a 219ha farm near

Continued page 34

DAIRY CHAMPION

How it works THE Canterbury Regional Council’s plan change 5 was split into two parts.

Part A set region-wide rules for good management practice (GMP).

Part B has sub-regional catchment provisions for the Waitaki to deliver the outcomes in the Zone Implementation Programme – it used the Part A provisions to ensure all farmers in Waitaki were at GMP. Plan change 5 is now operative and forms part of the Land and Water Regional Plan.

Proposed Plan Change 7 is in three parts.

Part A is a region-wide omnibus.

Part B has ub-regional catchment provisions for Orari, Temuka, Opihi and Pareora.

Part C has sub-regional catchment provisions for Waimakariri.

Parts B and C use the region-wide provisions in plan change 5 to require farmers to achieve GMP. They then go further than the region-wide provisions to ensure GMP.

Victoria Trayner has a deep connection to dairy farming and is a fifth generation farmer.

Oxford she has come full circle in farming and agribusiness after setting out for an education away from the land.

Trayner did a double degree in fine arts and history before teaching at Christchurch Boys High School.

Her connection with farming runs deep and it wasn’t long before the school recognised that. Even as she taught social studies, history, photography and art she also ran the agriculture programme.

While she initially pursued an education and career outside agriculture, rural life was never far away.

Living at home on the farm she was also teaching calf rearing before and after school as well as milking.

As a teacher she found the arts-toagriculture curriculum crossed the so-called urban rural divide, appealing 34

to country boys and city kids alike. The school is built on the original bush-clad farm of the Deans family, some of the first European settlers on the Canterbury Plains.

For some of the country boys in the boarding hostel the blend of agriculture and history felt familiar – relevant to their own family farming stories.

“I actually ended up with the same students because the majority of the subjects I was teaching inter-linked through arts practical. It’s hands-on and farm boys like that. They think with that side of their brain. It’s problem solving.”

The can-do element of the curriculum appealed to the city kids too, inspiring careers in primary industries.

“I’ve had kids who struggled at school and they found agriculture.

“They were brought up in Merivale or Fendalton and they’ve gone on and had successful careers as farmers or livestock agents and the like.”

Then and now she is determined students and a next generation of farmers have a chance to go farming.

Alongside farm and family commitments she lectures in agribusiness and production management for Primary ITO. “I value the importance of nurturing agriculture in education so students have the choice of farming as a viable career.”

With her teaching background, one of her initial goals for the trust is to introduce agricultural education into local schools, like biodiversity projects.

“I guess that’s my passion, with my background, working in that space and also trying to promote the good in the industry.”

Above all, she hopes farmers can keep their agriculture options open, whether they are old hands on the land or just starting out.

“I think we have to respect our heritage and what our whakapapa or our grandfathers did before us, whether we have that personal connection to the land or not,” she says.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

“The next generation is going to farm completely differently because of environment rules.

“We can’t go independent. We’ve got to rely on industry, rely on our neighbours’ support and rely on working together to allow that generation to have the choice to farm.”

But change starts now.

As Waimakariri Irrigation shareholders the Trayners are implementing a farm environment plan, using technology such as moisture meters, Tracmap and GPS on K-Line, fertiliser and effluent application.

The farm Tracmap is being used for anything from identifying no-go areas for spraying to riparian buffer zones and health and safety risk areas.

The system has made a huge difference to on-farm practice and efficiency, she says.

Just over 180ha effective of the Trayner farm is irrigated but the lay of the land is variable.

“We end up getting a lot of that run-off from the hill and the back of the farm, which gets quite wet, whereas the other side of the farm is totally different. It gets really dry.”

The property is also a little bit different for having a combination of K-Line, pivots Rotorainer and guns.

“We’d love to have the simplicity of pivots,” she says, adding that she’s looking on the bright side.

“I always tell my staff, if you can farm here you’ll be able to shift irrigation anywhere.”

As well as the many hats she now wears Trayner sat on numerous educational boards while teaching, served as chairwoman and secretary for the Waimakariri Young Farmers Club, organised three regional Young Farmers contests and introduced TeenAg into secondary schools. She also led the Christchurch earthquake art auction for the rebuild and is a member of the Oxford A&P Association. n

Victoria Trayner says future generations of farmers such as her daughters Lacey, 5, and Maella, 2, are going to farm completely differently because of environment rules.

Next Generation Farmers trustees, from left, Victoria Trayner, Sam Spencer-Bower, Andrew Olorenshaw, Sarah Gard and Scott Evans are raising awareness of nutrient policy changes and supporting farmers as they implement new and improved farm management practices.

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September 2019

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35

INDUSTRY GOOD

Basic stuff such as ensuring the heat detection kit is well stocked with tail paint and heat detection aids will make a difference come mating time.

Hot on heat detection Samantha Tennent DairyNZ InCalf developer

D

ETERMINING which cows to submit for insemination might be one person’s responsibility but the entire team can contribute to successful heat detection.

I like to think about heat detection in three parts: plan, observe and monitor.

My advice is to start by reviewing last season’s performance to determine this season’s approach and to identify opportunities for improvement.

It really helps to use your vet, breeding companies or advisers to formulate a plan that works for you.

Never underestimate the benefit of talking the plan through with your farm team to ensure everyone understands who does what, when and what to look for.

36

It helps to agree on a system to record numbers of cows spotted on heat.

Sometimes it’s the basic stuff that can make all the difference, such as ensuring your heat detection kit is well stocked with tail paint and heat detection aids.

DairyNZ’s InCalf programme recommends a combination of paddock observation, tail paint and heat mount detectors to cover all bases and remove any guesswork.

Sometimes just watching your cows can pay dividends.

And even better is if your whole team knows what to look for, how often and where to monitor the cows.

The best opportunity to identify cycling cows is to spend time watching the herd’s behaviour after they’ve had a good feed.

If a cow is standing to be ridden, she’s on heat.

If she’s doing the riding or hanging out in a sexually active group she’s likely to be coming on heat.

Knowing your cows is key and when you spot they’re not in their normal routine, for example, in a different milking order it’s a good sign they might be cycling.

with DairyNZ When deciding whether to submit a cow in the case that her tail paint or aid is unclear my advice is to refer to any recorded cycling behaviour for more confidence in your cow selection.

If a cow’s heat status is questionable it helps to mark it on the records in case she’s detected again within a short time.

Check her last recorded heat and interval between heats.

If not in the normal range check if the previous recorded heat had a question mark or if the new one is questionable.

If there are an increasing number of cows you aren’t sure about you might need to review your methods.

Monitoring heat detection performance during mating means you can quickly make adjustments.

And remember, you’re not alone. There are plenty of people to offer you advice if you have any concerns. n

MORE:

dairynz.co.nz/heat-detection

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

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Keeping it in the family Combining four red-head daughters and 200 dairy cows gives the potential for a really cool business name. That is exactly what Redhead Creamery has done. Samantha Tennent toured the farm during a trip to Minnesota.

I

N A region that has lost 75% of its dairy farms in the past four decades one small operation has not only survived but is thriving through the family’s creativity.

Redhead Creamery is a working dairy farm, creamery and tourist attraction.

Based in Brooten, Minnesota, JerLindy Farm is owned by Jerry and Linda Jennissen, who began their business in 1979 with just 32 cows.

Over time they have expanded to 200 cows and raised a family of four daughters – all redheads.

At the age of 16 daughter Alise Sjostrom announced she was going to stay on the farm and expand the business to include cheese making.

She crafted her course at Minnesota University around cheese and dairy quality and trained at the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese.

Returning home in 2013 she designed her own cheese making plant and started making cheese on farm the following year.

Redhead Creamery was establiled.

Jer-Lindy Farm provides fresh milk

The cheese making business was the idea of daughter Alise Sjostrom who trained at the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese.

Redhead Creamery was established in 2014 and today people from all over the United States and the world visit the farm.

Photos: Samantha Tennent

through a tunnel from the milking parlour direct to the creamery. Sjostrom has a waiver from the American Food and Drug Administration to take warm milk directly from the shed. The milk is pasteurised before being turned into cheese.

The farm operates year-round and 7% of the annual production goes to the creamery, which pays 20 cents per pound of milk solid (about 31 New Zealand cents per 0.45kg). The rest of the milk goes to Bongards Co-operative at 18 cents a pound.

They enjoy sharing their slice of paradise with the world and on Fridays and Saturdays Jerry Jennissen hosts farm tours.

Sjostrom says “When we first opened Redhead Creamery our cheese vat was broken for three months so we started to give farm tours and we’ve been doing them ever since.”

About1800 people now visit each year paying $10 a head.

“Most visitors are local but we also get visitors from all over the country and international tourists.

“People are attracted to the

opportunity to walk through a working dairy farm, connect with the owners and try the finished product, which in our case is cheese. It’s all in the experience.”

Jennissen enjoys dispelling myths and takes pride in teaching people about dairy farming. Two common misconceptions he encounters are that all dairy products contain antibiotics and farmers do not take good care of their animals.

“Perception is huge but it’s easy to change their mind when they see it themselves.”

The tours start with a talk about the history of the property and the Jennissen family. He explains how he has watched the number of local dairy farms decline since 1976 when there were 1600 farms.

This year it will drop below 400.

He takes visitors to see the calves and explains the different stages of a dairy cow’s life.

The calf hutches are strategically placed away from effluent run-off. The biggest health concern for the herd is Johne’s disease. It can be carried in effluent.

Any milk the calves get is pasteurised first and they will not use colostrum from any cows that have been identified with Johne’s.

Calves are kept in their hutches for seven weeks and cereal is introduced early. By the time they go to the heifer pen they are eating 2.3kg daily and weaned from milk.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

SPECIAL REPORT

Jerry Jennissen hosts farm tours every Friday and Saturday and takes visitors on a journey of a dairy cow’s life.

There they begin socialising and are fed an ab lib ration of balage, alfalfa, soybean meal, salt and minerals.

The vet visits once a month for health checks and calves are vaccinated and disbudded. Jennissen has an interesting perspective regarding pain relief.

“Three vets and I agree administering the pain medication is more painful than the procedure.”

All the calves have their picture taken and are given a tattoo and a tag. There are no tracing laws in the US but Jer-Lindy’s cows are registered with the US Holstein Association and their family lines can be traced back to the 1800s.

Pregnant heifers and cows are run together in another yard and are also fed ad lib, largely grass hay, minerals and anything the herd has refused.

Jennissen works with a nutritionist who

visits every fortnight to monitor body condition and take samples of feed. He creates plans to maximise production.

The milking cows are fed 46kg of supplement made up of corn silage, balage, grain and minerals. They produce 11,340kg of milksolids annually.

Jennisen believes the production is competitive with bigger operations and wants to drive it further.

There is no market for replacement calves in Minnesota but bull calves are sold to the beef market. Breed is important and the cows are all Holstein Friesian, which allows a second source of income through beef. A quarter of all beef in the US is from the dairy sector.

They use beef semen on any cow they do not want a replacement from and the heifers are inseminated with sexed semen.

America measures reproductive success by a pregnancy rate, which is how many eligible cows conceive during a 60-day period. On Jer-Lindy they achieve 18-20% (Minnesota University extension targets at least 20%).

Calving year-round means mating yearround. Heat detection is by observation and Jennissen does the artificial insemination. A CDIR is put in noncycling cows after 90 days. Some cows get up to eight chances to conceive to AI. Several factors are taken into account when deciding if a cow will be given another chance including age, udder health, overall health and pedigree value.

But the difference in cost of continuing to feed a cow for nine months versus raising a calf as a replacement for two years is most important.

Finding labour used to be challenging but in the past year there has been an increase in the number of people who have expressed an interest in working on the farm.

The creamery appears to be a drawcard

The shed is an eight-a-side herringbone and has automatic cup removers. It takes three hours for two people to milk.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

but there are still problems finding the right people.

“We need people who enjoy interacting with others and helping but they also need to understand food safety. There are lots of people with retail and food experience but not as many with animal handling experience,” Jennissen says.

Jer-Lindy runs at a high labour cost in relation to the herd size and production but Jennissen says the tourist venture is time-consuming.

Perception is huge but it’s easy to change their mind when they see it themselves.

Typically, a worker is paid US$12-$16 an hour (about NZ$18-$24).

A government insurance scheme protects the milk price. Jennissen acknowledges it must be a balancing act between the government support and driving production.

“The new Farm Bill is generous compared to the previous one.”

“I am excited for the subsidies and have locked in 40% of 2020’s milk.”

The family is enthusiastic about what lies ahead for Jer-Lindy and Redhead Creamery.

Their cheeses have won many awards and sales are growing 20% annually.

Sjostrom says they are shifting their focus more to agritourism, which they never anticipated.

“Demand and interest will continue to evolve our business and we will do our best to remain flexible in response to the market while continuing to follow our life goals and values.” n

Calves are kept separately in their hutches for seven weeks then progress to the heifer pen where they socialise with other calves.

39

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SPECIAL REPORT

Gene edits save time Plant pathologists at Minnesota University are on the front lines of developing new techniques for early detection of plant diseases. Samantha Tennent visited the university and heard first-hand about their work.

N

INE million people die annually from starvation and malnutrition and it is estimated the annual mortality rate will reach 12.5m people by 2050.

Growing productive, profitable food while using less chemicals motivates scientists as much farmers and consumers.

Professor Jim Bradeen and his colleagues at Minnesota University are researching gene editing and how it might help feed the world sustainably.

Gene editing is a group of technologies that lets scientists change an organism’s DNA. The technologies allow genetic material to be added, removed or altered.

Gene editing is different from genetic modification because no foreign DNA is inserted into a gene-edited organism.

Disease resistance is present in the genetic make-up of all plants. Scientists have developed a technology known as the resistance gene enrichment and sequencing method (RenSeq). RenSeq enables sequencing of the portion of plant genomes that contain the diseaseresistant genes.

This technology has sped up the cloning process.

“In six months we’ve been able to map and clone four disease resistant genes from wheat,” Bradeen said.

“With traditional methodology we estimate it would take about a decade for

Cultivated potato with (green) and without (dead) gene from a wild potato species, all challenged with the late blight pathogen.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Professor Jim Bradeen says gene editing could help feed the world sustainably. each of those genes to be mapped and cloned.”

Gene banks are scattered all over the world. They preserve thousands of genetic samples from organisms and plants and store them in frozen vaults. By mining gene banks scientists can leverage the evolutionary history of resistant genes.

The rate of discovery has sped up as more plant genomes are sequenced.

“We know what a disease-resistant gene looks like.

“Through computer algorithms we can survey a DNA sequence and identify particular regions that have hallmarks that tell us how this gene allows the plant

to interact with microbes, to detect a pathogen or respond to a pathogen.

“The challenge is to understand what pathogens the plants interact with.”

Scientists are pursuing research to let them set the strength of the disease resistance gene.

If genes are turned up it will induce greater resistance. Whether a gene is turned on or off is regulated by a DNA sequence known as a promoter.

“If we modify that promoter region using gene editing we have the potential to turn genes up and potentially enhance disease resistance.”

It has been successful in studies of late blight disease in potatoes. Bradeen has built his career around late blight research.

There are several technologies available to researchers involved in gene editing. One technique, known as Crispr (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) allows scientists to make precision edits to any DNA. Crispr presents a lot of potential for use with gene editing but there are challenges too.

“While we can modify many regions of plant genomes there are still technical constraints that limit where we can modify and there seems to be a lot of variance in their tolerance for sequence mismatch.

“Something else we need to understand are the off-target effects from gene editing, which is when genes somewhere else in the plant genome are impacted.”

Bradeen says they need to work through the challenges to gain better understanding before gene editing can be used on a large scale.

There is also a question mark around regulation of gene edited crops.

Europe classes them as GMO while the United States doesn’t regulate them if the edited crop is indistinguishable from the unedited crop.

The regulatory landscape needs to be fully navigated but gene editing is one technology offering promise of feeding the world sustainably. n

41

SPECIAL REPORT

Plenty of food Samantha Tennent attended the 2019 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where various speakers talked about what lies ahead in the agri world.

T

HE demand for food is increasing exponentially as the world’s population reaches nine billion while incomes are also increasing.

Now people want more protein, better nutrition and better products, Futurity chief executive Jack Bobo says.

“All of that means we’re not just going to need 30% more food but we’ll need 60% to as much as 100% more food in many places.”

He is optimistic scientific and technological advances in agriculture can cut the industry’s negative impacts.

Futurity consults food developers with insights in food technology, consumer attitudes and consumer trends.

The businesses it works with are enhancing the healthiness and sustainability of the global food system, supporting the future of food.

“We need to produce all of that new food using the same amount of land or less, the same amount of water or less. We need to do everything better tomorrow than we’re doing it today. But our rivers and lakes are already running dry and so it’s a huge challenge.

“The only way we will ever be able to do it is to have science and technology help us to solve these problems. We need to get to 2050 without screwing up the planet

To create a more abundant world we must collaborate across industries and geographies and discover, test and apply new ideas.

Dr Mark Lyons

and sustainably feed those nine billion people.”

Though, as Bobo points out, as food shoppers and consumers we have become disconnected from the origins of what we are eating and feeding our families.

“If you go back 200 years pretty much everybody was a farmer or engaged in farming or knew a farmer and today it’s only 1% of the population involved in farming and for most of us, it’s a very distant activity.”

“It’s not really surprising that people are less aware of what goes into our food system today.”

Futurity chief executive Jack Bobo presenting at the One Ideas, Alltech conference in Kentucky in 2018 says science and technology will be needed to feed the world’s growing population.

In Kentucky in May 2018 Bobo presented his ideas at Alltech’s One Ideas conference. The following year at One, Alltech launched a new concept, the Planet of Plenty.

President and chief executive Dr Mark Lyons says “A Planet of Plenty in which there is enough nutritious food for all, the world’s resources are responsibly managed for future generations and the

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students, entrepreneurs, businesses, nonprofits and communities putting the power of agriculture to work to create a Planet of Plenty.

Lyons is excited for what lies ahead.

“To create a more abundant world we must collaborate across industries and geographies and discover, test and apply new ideas,” Lyons said.

“Our personal journeys will be unique and diverse but if we work together our destination can be the same: a Planet of Plenty in which there is enough nutritious food for all, the world’s resources are responsibly managed for future generations and the environment is safe for people, animals and plants to thrive in harmony.” n

Alltech president and chief executive Dr Mark Lyons says a Planet of Plenty is one in which there is enough nutritious food for all.

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environment is safe for people, animals and plants to thrive in harmony.

“A Planet of Plenty propels us into a new world of possibility where anyone and everyone can make a positive impact on the planet.”

This will be the focus of Alltech’s sustainability efforts and agriculture technology advancements.

Alltech is developing a website that will host stories about farmers, companies and organisations around the world that are already putting those efforts into action.

Stories can be shared on the Planet of Plenty website or on social media with the hashtag #PlanetofPlenty.

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SPECIAL REPORT

The same, but different Dairy farming in the United States differs from New Zealand but the challenges the sector faces are very similar. Samantha Tennent visited Kieffer Farm during her trip to the US.

D

AIRY farms in the United States and New Zealand are worlds apart in the methods and systems each uses but both face similar

challenges.

Kevin Kieffer runs the family dairy farm at Hastings, Minnesota, with his father Wayne and brother Tim. The farm was originally 202 hectares with 40 cows in permanent housing. After Kieffer returned home from studying dairy science at college they expanded to 400 housed cows supported by 324ha of cropping land.

The challenges they face will resound with many Kiwi farmers.

“Our biggest challenge is trying to find good, consistent labour,” Kieffer says.

“A few years ago people would stop by almost once a week looking for work. Now it doesn’t happen.”

Ideally, he would have eight full time staff but struggles to find suitable people.

America has a low unemployment rate of 3.8% and Minnesota is below the national average.

The team is generally made up from the Hispanic community with some school students helping over summer but it is hard to attract staff when competing with higher-paying industries like construction.

Farm nutritionist Dwayne Fowler, who

American farmer Kevin Kieffer runs the family farm at Hastings, Minnesota, where they face similar challenges to Kiwi dairy farmers. Photo: Angus Verley

works closely with the Kieffers to balance the feed rations, says there are concerns over importing labour.

“It will come down to whether we want to import labour or import food. It will be the same skilled people producing the food, it’s just whether they do it here.”

Fowler says other challenges they face include trade, markets, broadband connectivity, water quality and low milk price.

American dairy farmers are paid on weight of milk. For every 45kg of milksolids they get about US$19.

They then get bonuses for low somatic cell count, butter fat, protein and volume.

Price fluctuations occur monthly and the cheese factory squares up the difference from their advance payment monthly.

The US Department of Agriculture runs a dairy margin coverage (DMC)

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DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

It will come down to whether we want to import labour or import food. It will be the same skilled people producing the food, it’s just whether they do it here.

Dwayne Fowler

Farm nutritionist

The herd is run in four mobs based on production level and stage of lactation.

They are fed a mixed ration, most of which is grown on-farm.

Photo: Marzell Buffler

programme. It works like an insurance scheme. Farmers can sign up to the programme and at the end of the year they confirm their milk production.

Eligible farmers receive a top-up payment.

The Kieffers are covered for up to 2.3 million kilos of milk for the year.

“It’s a nice bonus but we don’t want to depend on the correction,” Kieffer says.

Depending on the cow, Kevin usually gives cows four or five chances and in some cases eight chances to get in-calf. On average one calf is born each day.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

The shed is a double eight, with eight cups on each side. When it was built they left enough room to extend to 12 cups.

They have automatic cup removers and manual drafting.

Milking happens three times a day at 4am, noon and 7.30pm. Each shift requires three people, two milking and one cow pusher who brings the herds in and scrapes down the yards.

The vat holds 22,680 litres of milk, which equates to five milkings or not quite two days. They do not belong to a co-operative and instead send their milk to Agropur, a private company.

“We used to belong to a co-op but the private company pays better than most co-ops.”

The herd produces an average of 45kg of milksolids a cow a day and the lactation lasts 45 weeks. The farm produces about 13,000kg MS a year. The average farm in Minnesota produces 10-11,000kg MS a year.

The herd is run in four mobs, based on production level and stage of lactation.

They are fed a mix of ground corn, corn silage, cotton seed, dry hay, ryegrass silage, haylage and a custom protein mix.

All the feed is grown on-farm except the protein mix and cotton seed.

The different mobs are fed the same mix but in differing amounts, from 24kg

DM/cow for the low producers to 29.5kg DM/cow for the high producers.

There is a range of heifers from newborn to milking age in the facility at any time. Heifers used to be sent off farm but for the past few years they have been raised at home. On average they will collect one calf a day.

The cow and calf spend time in the maternity pen while the cow cleans the calf. Calves are vaccinated and given colostrum before going to the calf facility.

“We are still learning about heifer management and it takes another person to manage, which doesn’t help the labour problem,” Kieffer says.

“But I do enjoy having more connection with the animals and seeing them enter the herd.”

Mating happens year-round. Kieffer and the herdsman are responsible for heat detection, which involves tail paint and observation. The cows also have activity monitors to help determine if they are on heat. One of the farm team does the AI. Empty cows are the predominant reason for culling but it depends on their production. The average cow will be given four or five chances to get in-calf but Kieffer has given some cows eight or nine chances.

“If I think she is worthwhile I will give her every chance possible to get back in calf.”

There is an abundance of replacement heifers on farm. Kieffer is keen to start selectively mating cows and using beef semen on the lower producers. n

45

RESEARCH

Clever clover decoded

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HEN AgResearch senior scientist Andrew Griffiths considered a title for a paper he co-authored, recently published in the prestigious science journal, The Plant Cell, he chose Love in a Cold Climate.

Why? Because the paper reveals how two genomes, one a beach bunny and the other a snow bunny, got together during the last European glaciation 15-28,000 years ago then took over the world.

But the more science and sobersounding Breaking Free: The Genomics of Allopolyploidy-facilitated Niche Expansion in White Clover was deemed more appropriate.

But, as he explains, the story of white clover (Trifolium repens) is no less compelling.

“This humble little clover is found in grasslands around the globe and it’s a powerhouse in agriculture where it provides quality forage and fixes nitrogen, which reduces the need for chemical fertilisers. But it also has a fascinating back story.” Griffiths said.

It’s a back story he wrote with Danish researchers Roger Moraga and Stig Uggerhoj Andersen and colleagues at AgResearch and Massey University.

“What we’ve done, by sequencing white clover and its ancestors, is enhance our understanding of not only how and when the clover’s ancestors merged but why this versatile and successful legume behaves and responds the way it does.

“And in doing so it feels like the team is standing on the shoulders of giants because what we have done, through very recent advances in technology, confirms a lot of the thinking and theories pioneered

by AgResearch’s Warren Williams and his team, who were the leading force in clover research.”

The paper details when and how white clover maintained the genetic diversity it inherited from its European parent species, one found in high alpine screes, the other on the coast within 100 metres of the shore.

“In this sense white clover is a bit like Frankenstein’s child.

“Two species from very different environments got together in a glacial 46

White clover is found in grasslands around the globe and it’s a powerhouse in agriculture where it provides quality forage and fixes nitrogen.

refuge, joined genomes to create a successful monster child that outcompeted its parents and went global.

And the start of white clover wasn’t from a single event but likely occurred many times during this cohabitation time.

“Usually, when genomes combine they rapidly throw out all the material they don’t need as it’s a biological cost to retain all this genetic information but white clover kept it all. This provides a large genomic toolkit that it can use.

“Stig and his team in Denmark found that for 70% of the genes, white clover preferentially uses a version from one genome rather than the other and sticks to this across a range of tissues. For the remaining 30% of genes, white clover switched between genomes depending on the tissue and many of these genes were enriched for pathways that drive interactions with the environment.”

It appears that by making use of both genomes white clover can fine-tune those paths, which might be a secret to its ecological success.

“These findings helped lift the profile

of the paper and will be a key part of our research. We want to learn more about how white clover can leverage off this adaptability. We will seek to gain a better understanding of how these genomes talk to each other and respond to environmental challenges.

“Using this information we might be able to make more accurate predictions of plant performance that could be incorporated into breeding programmes for drought tolerance or nitrogen fixation, for example.”

Griffiths said having the paper published was the culmination of a great team effort and was a career highlight.

“The Plant Cell showcases quality, specialist plant science that is widely cited so it’s a nice reward for the team who set out in 2012 to sequence the white clover genome and ended up sequencing the ancestors as well and it’s a great outcome for our collaborators and co-authors in Denmark who we have been having weekly Skype meetings with for the past four years. It’s a truly international effort.” n

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Goat industry leads world-first research

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EW Zealand’s dairy goat industry is initiating worldleading research to generate scientific evidence about consumption of goat milk infant formula from sustainable farm systems.

The research is one outcome of Caprine Innovations NZ (Caprinz), a five-year, $29.65 million partnership between the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Dairy Goat Co-operative, launched in August last year.

Caprinz, through clinical trials and onfarm research, aims to build a portfolio of reliable science-based information about goat milk infant formula products for health professionals advising clients or patients on feeding options when exclusive breast-feeding is not feasible.

Co-op chief executive David Hemara said achieving these outcomes will be a result of intensive international consumer research, on-farm studies to better understand the environmental footprint and clinical research to a level that has never been done on goat milk products before.

“End goals include providing information based on sound science around goat milk formula, growing research and farming capability and increasing export revenue across the NZ

dairy goat milk industry to $400m per annum by 2023,” Hemara said.

“In concert with the economic benefits Caprinz also aims to create more than 400 new jobs on-farm, double the size of the country’s milking goat herd to around 100,000 while improving dairy goat farming practice and sustainable production and boosting capability across the industry.”

The clinical research work will complement multi-year focus groups the co-op has held around the world canvassing the views and concerns of parents, caregivers, paediatricians and health practitioners.

The co-op is working with an international board of paediatricians who provide invaluable insight into the type of research their members and audiences need to validate perceptions about goat milk infant formula.

“At home the Caprinz programme has been a catalyst for extending our science capabilities with the creation of new positions.

“We have always been strong in research to understand the unique properties of goat milk and had previously conducted clinical trials to research the functional differences of goat milk for infants and young children.

“However, until this partnership we had not been able to combine both fields

Dairy Goat Co-operative chief executive David Hemara says new research will be of great benefit to the goat milk industry.

of study. The Caprinz partnership has enabled us to expand our capacity so we can undertake more pre-clinical and clinical research, which we hope will add valuable data to the body of scientific knowledge and deliver benefits to the industry and the economy.

“Our on-farm research will focus on the development of practical tools to build capability and support the sustainable and environmentally balanced growth of the industry.”

“The Caprinz partnership has enabled a unique research programme, which will deliver knowledge and confidence to health professionals around the world, growing demand for NZ-produced goat milk infant formula.

“The programme will also have a practical and valuable impact on-farm with new knowledge, competencies and consistency in an industry which is in growth mode.” n

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TECHNOLOGY

Kiwi farmers slow on the uptake

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GEORGE WILSON ECHNOLOGY is high on the Government’s agenda and the agricultural industry is changing rapidly as a result.

Earlier this year the Government announced the launch of its first Internet of Things (IoT) farming trial in collaboration with the New Zealand IoT Alliance.

The trial demonstrates how digital technologies can improve NZ agriculture, making it more productive and competitive.

Today, NZ farmers supply 3% of the world’s dairy making $16 billion in exports.

The challenge for the dairy industry is identifying ways to meet growing consumer demand while being cost-effective and environmentally sustainable.

Between today’s labour shortage and the rising demand for dairy, farmers across the globe are turning to technology in an effort to increase efficiency, operate sustainably and stay competitive in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

While NZ is structurally ready for IoT deployment the uptake is moving at a slower pace for many dairy farmers.

NZ has a low understanding of how the IoT can assist with farm management and low adoption of precision farming practices.

Though the IoT is in its infancy the agriculture industry can use it to improve productivity and efficiency.

Data analytics can provide farmers with actionable insights to better understand and manage their operations. From connected farms and soil-moisture sensors to autonomous tractors and livestock wearables, technology is changing industry practices at scale.

Farmers are continually looking for ways to streamline processes and reduce extra costs without affecting the welfare of their livestock. To help farmers navigate sustainable farming practices, real-time data can help guide best practices.

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Dairy farmers can use sensor technology to collect environmental data and provide detailed information on their livestock activity.

Dairy farmers can use sensor technology to collect environmental data and provide detailed information on livestock activity. Not only can farmers use the technology to maximise their return on investment but it can also provide visibility to keep herds safe and protected.

IoT can improve farming practices in a variety of ways.

Product quality – The faster milk is cooled the better its quality. IoT sensors can feed back temperature at each stage of milk flow to ensure the best possible product. And real-time alerts enable farmers to resolve problems quickly and minimise milk loss, which ultimately affects the bottom line.

Herd movements –The use of wearable sensor technology like solar-powered neck bands lets farmers manage herds remotely from their chosen mobile device.

By monitoring locations and activity in real-time farmers can prevent problems caused by theft and missing livestock.

Health and wellbeing – IoT tagging can monitor a variety of factors that affect an animal’s overall health, including areas like individual weight, heat cycles and feeding patterns. Through real-time monitoring, active measures can be taken to prevent diseases that can negatively affect operation and livestock.

Sustainable practices – Real-time data can inform more sustainable farming practices, which is high on the industry agenda. For example, data collected from nitrate sensors in groundwater can monitor the collective levels of nitrates and can further support collaborative field management decisions.

There is an incredible amount of untapped potential for emerging technologies to solve wider agricultural challenges. Simply put, the IoT can help streamline processes and improve efficiencies, allowing farmers to make informed decisions that positively affect their bottom line.

Better use of IoT could create $446m in economic benefit for the farmers over the next 10 years.

However, to profit from these technologies the industry must create awareness and improve knowledge among the farming community.

NZ’s legacy in agriculture, combined with emerging technology presents an exciting opportunity for the sector.

Smart farming enables improved food traceability, safety and optimisation – allowing for unprecedented industry growth for years to come. n George Wilson is Paessler’s Asia Pacific director.

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September 2019

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CALF CLUB

From city to calf club kids

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Until a few months ago they were city kids but now Blayke and Lily Markham are living the rural life on a dairy farm and getting involved with the tradition of Calf Club. Cheyenne Nicholson caught up with the youngsters.

INCE moving from bustling Pukekohe south of Auckland to the quiet farming town of Tokoroa Blayke, 13, and Lily, 10, Markham have embraced their new lives on the farm – so much so they even entered this year’s Calf Club New Zealand competition and are proving it is for all kids, even if they’ve never been near a calf before.

Their mum Andrea Murray says both kids have adapted to farm life extremely well and can often be found in the milking shed with their stepfather Leon, who is 2IC on the 167ha farm milking 400 cows.

“My husband used to work on a farm and he was keen to get back to it after a stint in the city. We picked Tokoroa because my parents are here so it’s familiar and we liked the community,” she says.

Lily learned about the Calf Club NZ competition through farm managers Vince and Sheridan Steiner’s daughter Gabrielle and promptly asked if she could take part too. Andrea was hesitant but soon came around to the idea.

“They’re city kids and this is their first time on a farm and I thought Calf Club NZ looked a bit too professional for us first-timers.

“But we ended up signing Lily up and then we had Blayke asking what his sister was doing so we figured it was something he could get involved with as well.”

Entering the competition has given Blayke and Lily a sense of responsibility and helped teach them more about life on the farm and caring for animals. They were spoiled for choice when it came to picking their calves. The farm is home to four breeds of dairy cows – Holstein, Brown Swiss, Jersey and Ayrshire.

“We were wanting one of the kids to use a bull calf that arrived through Cesarean.

He was too big to come out naturally and I had to work him a bit when he came out 50

The Markham children Lily and Blayke moved to the farm after living in the big city and have embraced rural life and entered Calf Club New Zealand’s online calf competition with Pretzel and Cashew.

to get him going. We couldn’t bobby him because his mum was on antibiotics but he’s just a bit big for the kids. He’s a big ball of love and very friendly. We called him Jumpstart for obvious reasons,” Andrea says.

Both Blayke and Lily picked Ayrshire calves for the cute factor.

Lily has learned a lot in her first few months on the farm and quickly learned though calves are cute they aren’t always biddable and willing partners.

“Calves don’t just stay standing still when you want them too. And they don’t stay clean. They get rather dirty, especially when they lie in the mud just after you’ve spent hours brushing them,” Lily says.

Her calf, Pretzel, often gives her a run for her money and getting Pretzel to walk on a lead has often resulted in Lily being deposited in a pool of mud as Pretzel runs around with the other calves but Lily takes is all in her stride and says she actually quite enjoys it.

“It’s a new experience and I really like it. The best bit is when the calf takes off,” Lily says.

Pretzel is one of a set of twins, the other is affectionately called Twisted Sister, and wasn’t Lily’s original choice. Milkshake, a

mainly white calf, was Lily’s first pick and the calf she did the most work with. When twin heifer calves Pretzel and Twisted Sister came along she fell in love with them and decided to swap despite having put so much work into Milkshake.

For Blayke, entering the competition has encouraged him to try new things, something that doesn’t come easily to him. Blayke has autism, along with eight other diagnoses including a processing disorder and cognitive insensitivity to pain so while a lot of things about him are different to his peers, Andrea says he’s pretty much just a normal kid.

What’s it for?

CALF Club NZ was established last year for Kiwi kids to continue the tradition of calf club amid the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak.

The online competition was so popular it is back again this year.

The Dairy Farmer team is thrilled to be the media partner again and we look forward to sharing more stories with our readers.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

“He’s at a higher functioning level and is now in mainstream school, which has been really great for him and he loves it.

The special school he was at we felt was limiting him a bit. He was doing a lot of things the other kids weren’t, like talking,” Andrea says.

Blayke is very time and place orientated and likes a certain structure so the daily duties of calf care and training can sometimes be challenging for him to focus on but Andrea has been impressed at the small milestones he’s making and his willingness to give it a go.

“He gets a bit bored of brushing his calf Cashew all the time and will say can we put them away now when he’s over it but he’s been good at going down the shed and doing something with her every day. The calves are still newish to halter training so it can difficult at times for them to keep hold of the rope.”

Blayke often won’t interact with people he doesn’t know and though he’s still hesitant with most of the other animals on the farm he’s completely fine with the calves.

“We do have to watch him a little bit because his sense of self-safety isn’t that

Blayke Markham’s calf Cashew likes to give him kisses by licking him.

good so he’ll often just walk behind a tractor or something. We think that’s partly due to his processing disorder.”

Despite all aspects of the experience

being completely new Andrea has been impressed with their willingness to get stuck in and loves that it has given the kids something fun to do that’s also helping them acclimatise to life on the farm.

“It’s given them both some responsibility and a chance to have a bit of fun and learn. This is all entirely new to them. We have chickens and cats but the calves are their own to look after and we try to encourage them to do the lion’s share of the care and training.”

The competition has bought out a competitive streak in both Lily and Blayke with each keen on beating the other.

Rivalry aside, they’re both keen to learn as much as they can and enjoy their new best friends.

“I want to learn more above calves and how to groom them ready for the club and gain their trust so it’s my friend,” Lily says.

“I enjoy looking after Cashew and brushing her. She kisses me by licking my face, it feels like sandpaper,” Blayke says.

With a fantastic induction into their new way of life Lily, Blayke and Andrea are looking forward to what the future holds on the farm. n

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BURGESS FARM

Improving pastures, lifting performance

The Lahmert’s farm at Tokomaru was once overrun with Yorkshire grass and has challenging soils but is now lush, high-quality ryegrass and white clover pastures and produces bumper crops.

In the 20 years Craig and Louise Lahmert have farmed their Horowhenua farm a lot has changed except their motto of keeping things simple. Cheyenne Nicholson looks at how they are using autumn fodder beet to improve pastures.

O

NCE overrun with Yorkshire fog grass and still battling some challenging soil types Craig and Louise Lahmerts’ 100ha farm at Tokomaru near Palmerston North is now home to lush, high-quality ryegrass and white clover pastures and producing bumper crops.

In the last few years with the help of farm consultant Fraser Abernethy of The Dairy Vet they have lifted cow numbers and overall production by fine-tuning their pasture and how they feed the cows by sticking to one key principle: keep it simple.

About 15% of the farm is put in crops each year as part of the ongoing pasture renewal programme. Of that, 12% is put into chicory for a summer crop that yields 15 tonnes of drymatter a hectare. It will be grazed three to four times before it

52

is sprayed and direct drilled back into permanent pasture or short rotation grasses depending on how far into autumn they are.

They have been reaping the rewards of feeding fodder beet as a late summer/ autumn crop for the milkers over the past few seasons.

The Tokomaru silt loam and clay soils mean pasture growth slows to a snail’s pace in summer and early autumn, which chicory alone can’t cover.

“The chicory runs out around February/March and then we were ending up with this gap where it was still dry and we needed feed. The fodder beet has helped bridge that gap and has extended the days in milk,” Lahmert says.

Fodder beet is more commonly used for winter grazing but because Lahmert uses it in autumn the paddocks aren’t turning into mud after the beets are eaten down.

The yield is about 22-25t DM/ha and

I’m growing more grass and the cows are always fully fed from drying right through.

Craig Lahmert

he gets more days in milk and maintains good cow condition.

Two to three paddocks will be put into fodder beet each year with a generous dumping of pond effluent to help optimise soil fertility. Annual soil tests are done so appropriate fertiliser applications are made to ensure the

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

CROPPING & PASTURE RENEWAL success of the crop and the following pasture.

Because fodder beet makes up only 5-15% of the diet alongside pasture, silage and meal via the in-shed feed system he has found the common issues with managing and feeding beet don’t occur.

Weekly pasture walks are a key management practice that helped him become a good grass farmer. He’s spent many hours walking around with a plate meter then graduated to a ride-along feed reader but more recently he began using LIC Space, which takes pasture walks to a whole new level. Detailed pasture data is produced from images taken by satellites.

“The information I get enables me to figure out what order to graze paddocks in and determine my round lengths. It’s of massive importance over the summer period so I can calculate how much supplement I need to offer to ensure the cows are always fully fed and to fill any feed gap,” he says.

Combined with the autumn crops and pasture renewal, the farm has boosted production from 75,000kg MS a year from 220 cows to 127,000kg MS from 240 cows for the 2018-19 season and is targeting 135,000kg MS from 250 cows for the 201920 season.

“I’m growing more grass and the cows are always fully fed from drying right through.

“We’re not finding ourselves in a feed pinch any more because we’ve just got better at managing the grass and preplanning for the times we don’t have grass.

“Last season we were doing 530kg MS per cow where normally I used to sit around 380kg and I think a lot of that is just from having fully fed cows all the time.

Craig Lahmert invested in the equipment to do all his own contracting work, which saves him time and money when cultivating crops and new grass.

“The last two seasons I’ve come out of winter with a fair bit of grass, which enabled me to up my cow numbers. We don’t do a lot of grass renewal with about 15% going into new grass each year so we’re getting that flow through from previous regrassing efforts.”

He keeps it basic with a ryegrass and white clover mix. He doesn’t cut corners when it comes to pasture so he works closely with his agronomist to select the most appropriate cultivars and types for his property.

“You have to do it right because it’s your investment for the next 10 or so seasons.

“You have to protect the quality and longevity of your pasture otherwise it will end up costing you down the line.”

Dealing with pugging SOIL types on the property mean pasture management has to be front of mind at all times.

Craig Lahmert is now well set up to cope with the intensely dry season and says in many respects it’s an easier time than the wet bog of winter.

“Pugging is just something that happens and can’t really be avoided. All of the paddocks are set up where they have to come in and out the same gate so they do get a bit of a thrashing.”

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

For many years Lahmert used the standoff to ease pugging damage but he’s now given up using it because of the ongoing costs.

“Every year I was spending around $8000 to get sawdust and bark and whatnot put back onto it and the cost just wasn’t worth it. With the cropping and pasture renewal cycle we have, we can deal with pugging and I can put that money into other parts of the farm.”

Tetraploids are the cultivar of choice because of their palatability, which enables higher pasture utilisation and encourages good rates of clover.

“The grass that grows in the late spring is a huge advantage here so we always take advantage of being able to take off silage at that time to use later in the season.”

Until a few years ago he was doing everything on his own. A shoulder injury laid him off work for five months so he had to enlist help for milking.

“I needed someone to come in and help me while my shoulder got sorted so we got Jo Moxham in and she never left.

She milks and helps out with other things around the farm, which has made things easier.

“My best year on my own was 90,000kg MS and now I’m into the six figures. I just wasn’t on top of things and was always chasing my tail.”

In the early years when they were looking at getting someone in to over sow the Yorkshire fog grass Lahmert wasn’t impressed at the cost and figured he’d be better off getting his own equipment and doing it himself.

“It adds a bit to my workload but I don’t have to rely on contractors being available when I need them. I just go and do it, which is important with things like the fodder beet because we need to get that in on time in order for it to do its intended job.” n

53

CROPPING & PASTURE RENEWAL

Leafy turnip is a hybrid multi-grazing brassica that has become a popular summer crop.

Growing great heifers CHEYENNE NICHOLSON

T

HE future of any milking herd relies on growing good dairy heifers that will go on to have good reproductive performance and milk production.

It has been well documented that about two thirds of 12-month dairy heifers don’t meet live weight targets and much of that is because of poor growth rates in their first summer.

Growth rates are a key component in heifer rearing.

Low growth rates might delay puberty and decrease days in milk, ultimately reducing their longevity in the herd and their overall profitability in the farm system.

In New Zealand’s pastoral dairyfarming system growth rates of heifers tend to be restricted in late summer/early autumn by decreased pasture production and quality while increasing temperatures stimulate reproductive grass growth, which leads to an increase in fibre content.

High fibre content means low digestibility, which limits voluntary intake, meaning heifers physically can’t eat enough grass to meet their growth requirements.

Previous research assessed the impact of different forages on heifer growth rates 54

in their first summer. Trials with heifers on lucerne and herb mixes showed encouraging growth rates compared to pasture-fed heifers.

In a continuing effort to figure out which forage options are best for young, growing heifers in summer a more recent study, presented at this year’s Society of Animal Production conference, looked into leafy turnips as a summer crop option to bridge the feed gap.

Leafy turnip is a hybrid, multi-grazing brassica that has become a popular summer crop. Studies show lambs grazing on leafy turnip have greater average daily gain than lambs grazing solely on ryegrass and white clover pastures.

With no published information available on feeding leafy turnips to growing heifers Massey University looked to determine the effect of feeding leafy turnip as an alternative forage to ryegrass pasture on the growth of heifer calves during summer and early autumn.

It split 45 six-month old heifers into two treatment groups – one on ryegrass pasture and the other with leafy turnips in the mix.

Results showed incorporating leafy turnips into heifer grazing in summer and early autumn maintained growth rates of 0.7kg/day in a period that pasture feeding alone often can’t support.

Leafy turnips provided greater pregrazing drymatter than pasture. Leafy

turnips also have a higher nutritive value than ryegrass and white clover, which is likely to also have contributed to the greater growth rates.

After feeding leafy turnips over summer and early autumn, the heifers grazing leafy turnips were 17kg heavier than the pasture-fed heifers. The greater live weight advantage from feeding leafy turnips was sustained for two months after the experiment.

By 12 months (three months after the experiment) the pasture-fed heifers reached the same live weight as the leafy turnip heifers and no further differences were seen. That could be caused by compensatory growth, which can occur in heifers that have previously received a restricted diet then go on to display greater growth later, when pasture availability is sufficient to supporting it.

It is commonly seen in young animals in spring when increased amounts of good quality pasture are available for grazing.

While the study demonstrated leafy turnips can achieve good growth rates in heifers during a key time in their development when pasture availability is typically low, further research is needed to evaluate how leafy turnips can be incorporated into heifer grazing in an economically feasible manner and to better understand any other benefits from feeding leafy turnips. n

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

CROPPING & PASTURE RENEWAL

Successful wintering Nick Tait

DairyNZ developer

I

T’S one of the things every farmer knows but in the rush of life can be easy to forget.

The key to successful wintering is planning.

Having good winter management in place begins now with the right paddock selection and crop establishment as the foundation for a better winter season next year.

To prepare now for next winter, irrespective of the different farm conditions throughout New Zealand and range of possible management options, there are a few key things we can all do.

I’ve seen many farmers doing excellent planning for wintering and when I ask them what they would recommend to other farmers their first advice is to make the right paddock selection.

That includes factoring in how much area you need to plant, which depends on expected crop yield, cow intake, number of days on crop and supplement available for wintering.

The presence of slope, critical source areas (CSAs) and waterways needs to be considered as a priority. Without full consideration there could be a risk of sediment, E coli and phosphorous loss to waterways.

If you can, then make your life that much easier and use a paddock with less of the risks and develop a cultivation and grazing management plan to minimise runoff.

Now is also a good time to look into options for cow shelter, such as shelter

belts or trees, to provide protection from prevailing winter wind.

Water access can be either permanent or portable water troughs.

Many farmers have great success using portable troughs, which they place at the front of the feeding face, then roll out through the crop to avoid rolling it up in mud. Or they put it under the side fence.

A bit of advice, though, do regular checks, because they can get damaged from heavy frosts.

Regular shifting of a portable water trough in conjunction with back fencing reduces soil damage through reduced cow treading.

After choosing whether you have permanent or portable water troughs, lay water lines early and set up connections to the existing infrastructure. Doing it now means you can be fully prepared for next winter.

Draw up individual paddock grazing plans to identify risk areas and paddock features.

Many farmers find checking fertility levels through soil testing is useful soon after the winter cropping paddocks have been selected. It gives the best insight and the chance to talk to your fertiliser representative about crop fertiliser requirements.

Once paddocks have been selected for winter grazing I recommend you draw up individual paddock grazing plans to identify risk areas and paddock features. Many farmers find developing

with DairyNZ a plan with their farm team also helps everyone understand all aspects of winter crop feeding, including the direction of cultivation and grazing and the options to minimise contaminant loss to the environment.

Cultivating across slopes helps minimise overland flow in rain. Grass strips can also be left across slopes of cultivated paddocks to trap sediment running off cultivated areas.

We all know the value of buffer zones for protecting waterways and a 5m buffer in flat paddocks and an increased buffer distance is needed for steeper ground.

Check your regional council rules for details on buffer zone requirements in your area.

Cultivation methods such as direct drilling can be a good way to minimise soil loss, maintain soil structure when grazing and prevent overland flow. I don’t suggest cultivating CSAs, though, to make your job easier, when fencing them off before cows graze the crop and provide an extra filter for any runoff.

Some soils are susceptible to getting particularly muddy and therefore difficult to walk through so farmers will often fence off an access strip along the length of the paddock to allow staff easy access to gates and break fences.

Graze toward CSAs or water bodies to protect them from any overland flow. If that is not possible, leave a larger buffer strip to capture the overland flow and graze it last, in fine weather. Grazing from the top of the slope to the bottom will also reduce any overland flow by maintaining soil structure and allowing water to soak into the undamaged soil. n

MORE:

dairynz.co.nz/wintering.

CROPPING & PASTURE RENEWAL

Having a plan that contractors are privy to makes getting the timing right much easier when it comes to mowing and harvesting.

Good plan a key to crop success Getting the basics right and having a plan will ensure a good cropping outcome a Canterbury contractor says. Tony Benny reports.

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AKING a plan is the most important thing farmers can do to successfully grow crops or pasture, experienced Canterbury contractor Tim Ridgen says.

“It may only be for yourself or for staff members but, really, drawing up a plan – and that means looking closely at all the issues that may surround the job that you’re trying to do – is important to get a successful outcome,” Ridgen says.

Having previously farmed with his father as well as working as a grain agent, Ridgen formed Ellesmere Agricultural Services (EAL) in 2002 in an equity partnership with David and Doug Turner of Rakaia Island Dairies. Soon after that he and the Turner family bought Millbrook, a 100ha cropping farm at Southbridge. Millbrook was expanded in 2009 with another 73ha.

EAL provides cultivation, drilling, mowing, baling and carting services.

Ridgen says whether farmers are regrassing or growing crop, attention to planning is important.

“A soil test is fundamental to any 56

successful outcome but I think you’ve got to establish in your own mind, on your plan, what your desired outcome is.

Is it a 30-tonne crop of fodder beet and putting all the inputs in or are you trying to establish something not quite as high yielding as that?

“It’s basic business principals – picture

what the success is going to look like then work towards that picture.”

One of the ways to achieve that, Ridgen believes, is including outside contractors in the plan so they know what is required and when, for example giving them plenty of warning when herbicide is required or letting them know

Tim Ridgen formed Ellesmere Agricultural Services in 2002 in an equity partnership with David and Doug Turner of Rakaia Island Dairies.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

It’s basic business principals – picture what the success is going to look like then work towards that picture. if two passes of glysophate will be needed.

“If the contractors are within the plan they’ll do whatever they can to make sure those inputs are added at the right time but if they’re not on the plan it’s very difficult for the farmer to get the desired outcome if he makes a phone call and he wants something within 24 hours. You’re not the only client that we’re dealing with most of the time.”

Ridgen believes the most important thing to get right in farming is timing, especially in Canterbury where irrigation has made it harder to blame the weather for poor crops.

“It’s all about timing of the inputs at the right growth stages,” he says.

“A lot of this country we’re dealing with is irrigated so moisture is not really a limiting factor and we’re blessed with plenty of sunshine. It’s a wonderful environment to grow stuff but the planning has got to be up to speed to have the desired outcome.”

Having a plan contractors are privy to makes getting the timing right much easier, he says.

“Don’t do it at the last minute with a cell phone from the paddock.”

Ridgen recommends working out what success looks like then working back from there to come up with a plan to achieve that. But he argues getting the highest yield possible might not always be the best outcome.

“For example, grazing a 28t to 30t crop of fodder beet with a herd of cows can be trickier than grazing a 23t or 24t crop. You’ve got less area for the cow to be contained in. For the cow to have her allocation that day of, say, 10kg, the square metres of her footprint is a lot smaller than with a lighter crop.”

Concentrating cows in smaller areas is possible with higher-yielding crops but that can be harder on soils and affect feed utilisation, Ridgen says.

“I’ve fed a lot of cows over the last 20odd years and sometimes utilisation by

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Ellesmere Agricultural Services provides cultivation, drilling, mowing, baling and carting services.

Farmers are now under intense public scrutiny so part of their planning consider how they are perceived.

all the cows in those herds could be far greater on a lower-yielding crop than a higher-yielding crop so sometimes the numbers don’t tell a true story.

“The other thing with these massive crops that we’re growing, are we doing the right thing for the environment, for the animal, for the whole package by what we’re doing?”

Ridgen says farmers are now under intense public scrutiny so part of their planning should be about how their activity will be perceived from outside.

“In this day and age where we are now with environmental issues, perception of how we go about things is actually very

important so drawing up a plan is very important from the outset.”

While in the past farmers might not have had to worry about public perception of farming practices, those days are gone.

“We cannot as farmers or contractors shove our nose in the air and just do what we want to because it’s not going to work,” Ridgen says.

“If you look at any other business in the world, that’s the same whether it be retail, a butcher’s shop or Kathmandu. It’s how the public perceives your business is generally how successful the outcome is going to be.” n 57

CROPPING & PASTURE RENEWAL

Kale, a dependable winter feed MATTHEW CRAMPTON

S

TOCK need large banks of feed that can withstand the tough winter conditions and provide a high-quality input.

Kale is used on many farms as a dependable source of quality feed with desirable agronomic characteristics.

Aiming to grow a great kale crop rather than just a good one requires some planning and attention to detail.

The great kale crops I saw last season had some things in common.

They focused on planning, fertility, paddock preparation, cultivar selection, sowing and weed and pest control.

It is good to make a plan, calculate how much feed you will require and fine tune the estimate closer to the time.

This is also a good time to sit around the table and decide where crops will go and what actions might be required.

This planning process has the added bonus of allowing you to identify where you will get the best return.

Some jobs are urgent but sometimes others can wait till the following year.

If you have a starting point then these decisions become easier.

The largest investment on the farm is the soil so it should be a priority to have a regular fertility testing plan. Do a soil test early then you can make informed decisions about what fertiliser is required to grow the feed you require. Doing this allows you to get consistent performance with kale each year.

Preparing the seedbed or direct drilling both benefit from a walk of the paddock and digging a few holes to see what’s happening below ground.

58

If the soil is in good condition then fantastic but if there is compaction or something limiting plant growth such as pests, digging a hole will highlight these factors so good decisions can be made. A great example of this is when a paddock that is not performing can be remediated to open up the soil and allow better root growth. These crops always grow the best compared to crops trying to perform in compacted soils.

Choosing the right cultivar for your stock class with the latest plant breeding can be daunting but there is a huge amount of information on the seed company websites. Take a look online then have a chat to your local rep who will point you in the right direction.

Once selected, we are back to the field and setting up the drill.

Weed and pest control in kale has become a lot easier in recent years with newer, pre-emergent herbicides that can be applied after sowing and hi-tech integrated pest management (IPM) compliant insecticides that allow beneficial insects to help control the pests.

The key feature of the pre-emergent herbicides is that if the paddock conditions are good enough to sow the crop then they are also good enough to spray. Many of the problem weeds can be dealt to at this early stage but if it’s a high-pressure paddock there is always the option to come back.

Some real problem weeds such as shepherds purse and spurry (yarr) have been controlled using these newer products.

Rotation is a key tool to minimise buildup of pests and disease and maximise yields.

The idea is to not sow the same crop in

PGG Wrightson’s South Island technical agronomy specialist Matthew Crampton inspects a crop of Firefly kale with a PGW team member.

a paddock continuously, instead moving from one plant family to another.

That gives the ability to control weeds that are difficult to control in one crop but can be easy in another. An example of this is sowing kale after beet then moving into an Italian ryegrass. The Italian ryegrass can help use the fertility of the paddock while allowing use of a wide range of herbicides not possible in brassica or mixed pastures.

Using rotation where you can will help keep your yields up on your farm.

Getting the best out of your kale crop will require some planning as with all crops.

Take an early soil test so you know you can make informed decisions around fertiliser.

Communicate early with your contractor if that is required so you can sow the crop to maximise yield based on feed requirement timings and keep in touch with your local field representative who can give you good agronomy advice to manage your crop. n

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

BETTER BULLS BETTER CALVES

Simmental and commercial cows and calves on the Hammond farm on the Herekino Harbour.

Get smart

B

Farming smarter rather than harder is paying dividends for Herekino Harbour beef farmers. Jenny Ling reports.

EEF farmers John and Sarah Hammond were working a bit too hard on their Far North property and their chances for family and leisure time were being eroded.

Though they enjoyed their work, during busy periods their farming decisions were reactive instead of proactive, and though they had some visions for the future were not sure where to start.

Quite simply, their labour-intensive operation on the isolated shores of the Herekino Harbour didn’t allow for a good work-life balance or give them time to focus on farm growth.

But with guidance and support from Extension 350 the long-term, farmer-tofarmer learning programme that aims to lift farm profitability, environmental sustainability and farmer wellbeing the couple have made significant steps toward achieving their goals.

They are now farming smarter rather than harder.

They increased stock numbers from 740 to 800 over 12 months on their 903ha steer finishing and breeding operation since they started working with the programme in 2017.

They have also improved their water and fencing infrastructure, made better 60

use of their pasture and identified ways to maintain their environmental sustainability while increasing production.

“It has been great to have our mentors and adviser to help develop ideas,” Sarah says.

“John has found it useful to have people looking from the outside in at what you do, to get a different perspective. Yes, it’s been hard work but we’re getting to the fun part now because we’re seeing the results of what we’re doing.”

The primary business operation at the Hammonds’ farm is finishing export quality steers.

They also run a mix of stud Simmental cows and predominantly Hereford

commercial cows to keep on top of the kikuyu pasture.

The Hammonds finish all their homebred calves and top up calf numbers buying weaner steer calves at autumn fairs.

Pedigree Simmental service bulls are sold in late autumn through Sloane Livestock.

Meeting with mentors, neighbouring beef farmers Don and Linda Lunjevich, along with E350 agribusiness consultant Gareth Baynham and the Northland Regional Council has been invaluable, the Hammonds say.

They identified important focus areas around productivity but wanted to work within their environmental constraints.

The Hammonds run a mix of 800 stud Simmental cows and Hereford commercial cows.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Extension 350 farmers including, from left, mentor Don Lunjevich, John Hammond, adviser Gareth Baynham, Sarah Hammond and Ken Hames, regularly hold field days on their farms.

Their farm has a diverse mix of fragile soils and a limited water supply and 163ha of the steeper country is native bush and regenerating scrub.

With help from the council they have fenced 800 metres along a stream running through their property and into the Herekino Harbour and are in the process of planting native flaxes and manuka trees along its banks to help improve water quality.

The couple are conscious keeping decent grass cover goes a long way to protecting the fragile soils and takes care of most weed management.

All stud Simmentals are 100% grassfed and the cows run alongside their commercial counterparts, calving on their own on the hills.

One of the E350 developments involved setting up an intensive beef system to increase productivity on one section of the farm and over winter they ran 50 Hereford-Friesian steers.

“This was a new class of cattle for us and they seemed to perform well in this system,” John says.

“We have then used it to push our yearling commercial bulls along over the summer and they have been achieving good weights at slaughter. It has also been interesting watching the pasture quality begin to improve.”

They also built a new dam in 2018 to take pressure off the springs they use.

“The success of this project has allowed us to keep running our finishing steers on 110ha that we would otherwise have had to dramatically destock due to no water reserves,” John says.

Overall, the improvements have allowed the Hammonds to achieve their biggest goal of all – increasing their income to fund a labour unit.

That was possible by E350’s focus on sharing budgeting ideas and advice and seeing how similar scenarios work on different farms.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

“We were working very hard and because of the size of the farm we needed some labour but were not generating enough income to pay for it,” Sarah says.

“The goal we set when we started the programme was to lift productivity in an environmentally sustainable way so we could afford to pay someone so we could have an improved work-life balance.

Eighteen months into it we can now do that.”

E350 kicked off in 2016 with the aim of getting 350 farmers involved across Northland over a five-year programme.

The project is part of the Tai Tokerau Northland Economic Plan and supported

by Northland Inc, the Ministry for Primary Industries, Northland Regional Council, DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ. Project leader Luke Beehre of Northland Inc says E350 is proving a dynamic learning process, not just for farmers but for mentors and the project, too.

“When you’re focused on the day-to-day running of your farming business it can be hard to see the bigger picture, the other approaches but E350 helps farmers by enabling them to look at their businesses through a fresh pair of eyes.

“There are just under 300 farmers involved in the region now and we’re starting to see signs of an increase in profitability, improving environmental sustainability and improving farmer wellbeing – the three main planks of E350,” Beehre says.

“But it is not just about profit.

“To achieve farming success you also have to focus on creating a sustainable environment and a healthier farming community and that is certainly happening.” n

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BETTER BULLS BETTER CALVES

Breeder backs black A former chef has done the full circle of paddock to plate and is now back farming Angus cattle.

Luke Chivers reports.

N

O ONE should be surprised when Marie Timperley sings the praises of Angus cattle.

For a start she is a former captain of New Zealand’s World Angus Team, which competed against international youth in Scotland in 2017, and she breeds and sells Angus cattle at her family farm near Oxford.

Timperley, 27, admires the black-coated cattle for their ability to do well on rough feed and produce great-tasting beef.

“I love the Angus. They’re a quiet breed, reliable, resilient, efficient and adaptable.

“They’re also good mothers and tend to have more intramuscular fat.”

Angus beef consistently achieves top results in carcase quality criteria such as marbling, fat depth, meat colour and pH, assuring a tasty and tender product.

She grew up farming at Coutts Island

Chef turned farmer Marie Timperley, 27, is striving to deliver better steaks from the paddock to the plate.

but on leaving school opted for a food industry career and worked in a restaurant in her school holidays and at weekends. From that she grew a desire to train as a chef.

She was fortunate to land a job straight out of chef school but it wasn’t long before she realised she was a country girl at heart and her place was on the land.

“It just wasn’t for me. And I was drawn back to the joys of farming.”

She returned to the family farm seven years ago but her interest in food hasn’t waned.

“In the whole scheme of things I have done the full nine yards of paddock to plate. That’s what I am passionate about.

“I learnt how to cook meat and now I want to produce it.”

A fifth-generation farmer, Timperley now lives at View Hill managing a 390-hectare property at Eyredale as a support block for three dairy farms. It is home to Timperlea Stud with 120 Angus breeding cows.

Some of the Angus beef genetics originated from her mother’s family’s Lora of George stud in Invercargill. Timperlea was originally the name of her father’s pig operation.

“So, when it all came together we pretty much nicked the Timperlea name from dad’s pigs.”

While her father continues to run pigs,

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DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

she runs the beef cattle stud with the help of her mother Linda. Her two sisters and their husbands sharemilk 650 cows with their father, another part is an 1100-cow dairy unit. They all help each other but her passion lies in the beef industry.

“I’m particularly interested in breeding with the genetics that make the steak taste better on the plate.”

She says the reality is about 70% of NZ’s beef comes from the dairy industry – a lot of beef farmers forget that.

“We used to focus on calving ease, low birth weight and high growth.

“Our motto was ‘without having a live calf on the ground then you’ve got no profit, no money’.

“This still stands true and it’s how we’ve built up our herd but now we’re getting more into intramuscular fat – positive fats – and our carcase data has improved.

“About five years ago, we had an influx of demand for our beef because of that.”

She sells her bulls as yearlings and about 65% go to the beef industry, the rest go to dairy. She runs a closed operation and other than the odd Angus sire does not buy in anything except AI straws.

“It has worked out really well with biosecurity risks.”

The 120-cow Angus herd on Timperlea Stud, near Oxford.

She needs to raise 117 dairy bulls, mostly Jersey, for the neighbouring dairy farms.

The Angus cows have only a twocycle AI system but she is also looking at embryo transfer to increase cattle numbers.

“They get one chance with AI and then one more with the bull.

“We do that because we like to breed good fertility and short gestation so they get back in-calf quicker.”

Most years she keeps 85 yearlings and the same number of rising two-year-olds.

“Black cattle are in demand and that’s good.”

Last year cattle were sold only on-farm.

Prices reflected the market with yearlings fetching $2000-$3000. This year she will hold an on-farm sale on October 11.

“I’m really excited about it but a little bit nervous, too, to be honest.

“Ultimately, it’s the farmers who decide what goes home with them.”

She aims to continue increasing production to 200 head within five years and further improve the quality of the cows she breeds.

“I’d like to know what the consumer wants in a carcase and to meet that client demand.

“Having the training and experience as a chef all helps in that respect as I strive to deliver better steaks from the farm to the plate.

“The best thing about breeding is that with genetics there is so much diversity – it’s exciting striving for that perfect animal. We’re not quite there so I’ll keep at it and give it my 100%.” n

TE WHANGA ANGUS calving ease sires www.borthwick.co.nz

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Ring us for a catalogue Jason Coffey, Manager 691 Te Kopi Rd, RD4, Masterton P. 06 372 77 20 M. 0274 570 526

Why wouldn’t we use Te Whanga Angus, they offer extra value through higher growth rates and angus premiums, plus the calving ease, low birth weight and short gestation that we know is so reliable.

Stu Weatherstone 2800 dairy cow farmer, South Wairarapa

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

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BETTER BULLS BETTER CALVES

Plenty to offer, 30 years on Thirty years ago a Northland farmer got rid of the sheep and Herefords from his farm to breed Angus. Luke Chivers reports.

Beef breeders Karren and Chris Biddles have had repeated success in the annual Steak of Origin awards, including Producer of the Decade.

E Est. 1910

www.motereangus.co.nz

ON FARM

BULL SALE

YEARLING BULL SALE

Thursday 26th Sept, 1pm

Motere Bull Sale Rostrum, 766 Longrange Rd, Omakere

Contact: Isaac Pharazyn 06 857 3828 027 857 3828 64

ASE of calving and heifer mating, good intramuscular fat and top results in carcase quality are key attributes of the Angus cattle that farmers Chris and Karren Biddles, of the Te Ararangi stud, breed for.

They have a 1000-hectare (850ha effective), 204-stock unit beef farm at Te Kopuru on the Pouto Peninsula in Northland.

Biddles, 66, has been farming on the northern Kaipara Harbour since 1972, settling his own farm with wife Karren off his parents Hugh and Betty Biddles. Ten years later he began farming purebred Angus.

“I’ve always loved the land,” he says.

Te Kopuru was originally home to a mix of sheep, Herefords and a handful of Angus-Hereford cows.

But Biddles quickly grew fond of the Angus breed.

“They’re great foragers, a good maternal animal, they milk well and produce a pretty decent calf. They also have a good gestation length, low birth weight and moderate growth.”

He bought his first herd of Angus 31 years ago and hasn’t looked back, ridding his farm of sheep and Hereford purebreds about 15 years later.

Since 2016 their daughter and son-inlaw have leased about 392ha of the farm, breeding and finishing a 200-cow AngusJersey commercial herd.

Their focus is simple.

“To produce bulls suitable for heifer mating and ease of calving, moderate frame with high-yielding carcase and a quiet temperament,” he says.

The couple also aim for fertile, good milking, structurally sound females and for them to be in-calf at two years old.

But it doesn’t make an easy operation.

“We hardly have a slack month,” he admits.

“January used to be a holiday month for us but now it’s big because we pregnancy test, freeze brand and carcase scan all

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

The 204-stock unit beef farm at Te Kopuru on the Pouto Peninsula.

our stud animals over a week-to-10-day period mid way through the month.

“We then wean most of them at the start of February,” he says.

He spends February and March feeding out hay and balage as a result of the region’s typically summer-dry climate.

In April he is assessing his bull calves five months out before the sale. It is the calm before the storm.

“It’s time to get some maintenance done on-farm and pull together our catalogue for the bull sale,” he says.

“Then, bang, we’re right into calving in early July.”

All stud cows are calved behind a hot wire with calves from the Angus tagged and weighed at birth.

This season they had their first calf on July 8 despite their due date 12 days later.

“By then we already had 100 calved,” he says.

“This is due to the short gestation bulls that we have been using for several years.

“We’re not quite six weeks into calving and we only have seven second-calvers to calf. It’s been a positive season so far, touch wood.”

But admittedly grass volume has been low.

“It was dry end of summer, dry autumn and dry early winter and then it’s rained most days in August.”

Meanwhile, AI runs for only two days with 70 animals in October.

“We put a lot of our heifers to the bull over 30 days while we do the same for about 40 days with the cows.”

It appears to be working. Last season, they had 78 out of 108 in-calf.

They have retained 34 Angus-Hereford cows for doubling up in the event of twins.

“They’re good for finishing the prodigy but also if you have a missed mother calf you can put it onto them.”

He says this season more emphasis will be on carcase traits.

“We’re not chasing a high 600-day weight but are trying to lift the 400-day weight. For 600-day we are happy to be just under the breed average.”

He believes for his herd the Australasian average for mature cow weight is far too high.

“We don’t want big cows.

“We are after a mature cow weight considerably below the 600-day weight and around or below the 400-day figure.”

They have long been passionate about beef breeding.

Te Ararangi was the first Angus stud in New Zealand to sell yearling bulls at an annual sale and has hosted the event on-farm for more than three decades. It is scheduled for September 4.

Last year the average price paid was $3400 for a full clearance of 106 bulls, three more than 2017.

Biddles says 2017’s high average of $3700 prompted him to offer more bulls last year so everyone who wanted to buy in the lower price range had a chance and that was accomplished.

A handful sold at the lowest price of $2200 late in the catalogue and the same number at the next-highest price of $2500.

Any bull that failed to meet the reserve would be considerably more expensive if bought privately afterwards. Buyers also get an extra year of service duties because yearling bulls can be used for mating from 14 months.

And, with a bit of luck, he hopes for a similar result this year.

“We’ll probably have 104 Angus cattle in the sale.”

Te Atarangi has had repeated success in the annual Steak of Origin awards – ranked as a finalist and winner of the prestigious title – including Producer of the Decade.

And Biddles has no intent to slow down.

“Sure, I’d like to make things a little easier for us on-farm but I don’t plan on going anywhere – well, not anytime soon.” n

Hillcroft Est. 1960

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September 2019

65

BETTER BULLS BETTER CALVES The Shrimpton’s Hill Herefords stud has 48 of the top 50 placings in the Breedplan Hereford rankings for short gestation sires.

Reason to celebrate

A

A Canterbury Hereford stud has sold a million straws of elite genetics and created greater profits for dairy farmers. Tim Fulton reports.

HEREFORD stud is going to the breed’s outer limits to deliver more milking days.

The genetics behind Shrimpton’s Hill Herefords in South Canterbury have added millions to dairy farmers’ revenue through shorter gestation lengths.

The stud at Cave near Timaru has sold its millionth straw, making the most of elite status as a supplier of short gestation length bulls.

The World Hereford Council wasn’t aware of any Hereford stud that had sold a million straws, co-owner John McKerchar says.

“Certainly, there will be dairy breeders in New Zealand who supply semen to the dairy industry – some of the elite bulls at Newstead would have achieved that – but

as for a beef breeder, for a Hereford, I think we’re probably the first to achieve that.”

The stud’s short gestation programme was established in 2001, selecting for just that single trait, specifically for the dairy bull and semen markets.

Shrimpton’s Hill supplies semen exclusively to LIC’s short gestation domestic and international breeding and marketing programme.

The stud has 48 of the top 50 placings in the Breedplan Hereford rankings for short gestation sires.

McKerchar says the most satisfying part of the short gestation programme was helping other farmers’ profit.

LIC estimated the use of the stud’s short gestation semen last spring generated more than $4m of extra value for farmers through extra days in milk.

“That’s the significant figure, to us anyway.”

Short gestation is the key to the stud’s breeding programme.

“It’s our point of difference with regard to other Hereford breeders. There’s only a couple of others in the country specialising in what we’re doing.”

Shrimpton’s Hill was established in 1969 and today the herd consists of 750 cows and about the same number of support stock.

Up to 25 bulls will be used for the 2019 mating, either naturally or in embryo transfer and artificial insemination programmes.

The Shrimpton’s Hill bull sale will offer 180 bulls at auction this month. Most of them will be sold to the dairy industry.

The business wants to sell 300 bulls in the next three years and the stud is running

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All bulls are: • Performance recorded • Genomics tested to improve accuracy of EBVs

• Polled gene tested • Sire verified

YEARLING BULL SALE Monday 9th September 2019, at 12.30pm Luncheon available On A/C D.B & S.E Henderson At the stud property: 429 Rukuhia Road, RD 2, Ohaupo 101 Registered Well Grown Bulls

66

Craigmore Hereford bulls carry the Hereford Blue tag.

We have bulls that will suit beef and dairy farmers www.craigmoreherefords.co.nz

LK0098622©

All bulls are ready to perform!

For further information or inspection, please contact: Vendors: David 07 825 2677, 021 166 1389 or the selling agents: PGG Wrightson: Vaughan Larsen 027 801 4599, Cam Heggie 027 501 8182

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

about 1500 registered Herefords.

“We’ve scaled up our business and it’s all due to our success out of the dairy industry,” McKerchar said.

In 2012 LIC approached the stud for the short gestation Hereford semen and soon discovered Shrimpton’s Hill Herefords owned most of the elite short gestation animals in Australasia.

“Our genetics are in the top 48 bulls out of 50 in NZ and the top 47 females.

“We do sort of dominate this space but, having said that, we’ve been breeding for short gestation since 2001 and we’ve put a lot into it.”

McKerchar says they went into short gestation because it was clear the dairy industry would need the genetics.

“We were guided, when Fonterra was formed, by the animal welfare accord, which stated that inducing would be phased out by 2010.

“Well, it was pretty simple to us that a bull with a shorter gestation length was going to be easier to market than a bull with a longer gestation period.”

They also considered the fact a dairy cow’s average gestation length is about 278 days compared to 282 for Herefords.

“Currently, Hereford bulls in the top 1% are the only ones that will actually bring a dairy cow forward. But most of the Hereford bulls that aren’t in that top 1% will actually delay calving with that cow on a dairy farm because dairy is biologically shorter.”

McKerchar says the family had pushed the bulls to create shorter gestation lengths for dairy clients.

“You don’t want to be afraid to go to the outer limits and have a go.

“There’s a concentrated breeding programme around those genetics so that when you do put them over dairy cows you actually make a difference.”

He remembers breeders and livestock

Shrimpton’s Hill Herefords stud at Cave near Timaru has reached elite status after selling its millionth straw of Hereford semen. LIC chairman Murray King with John and Liz McKerchar. agents originally suggesting that a singlefocus on short gestation was nuts.

Family members probably shared the feeling, he says.

But the calculated gamble paid off, especially with the abolition of inductions and the subsequent increase in awareness of short gestation in bull breeding.

The partnership with LIC raised the stud’s profile further.

Three years ago LIC put the stud’s fresh semen in its Premier Sires catalogue, making it a lot more convenient for farmers to use short gestation Herefords.

“We sold semen sporadically from 2001 to 2012 to most AI companies but LIC could see the potential of forming a breeding partnership with us.”

The stud has also benefited from increased demand since the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak.

M bovis means a lot more farmers are using AI semen to cover their thirdcycling or poorer genetic cows rather than exposing them to the risk of lease bulls.

The stud’s semen sales rose 13% in the year after the disease was discovered in July 2017. The lift was even bigger in the past 12 months, he says.

“I think a lot of it is people being aware of our product. And LIC have been fantastic at promoting our product. It’s a wonderful business partnership.”

The McKerchar holdings, comprising three farms, total 1412ha, ranging in altitude from 200m to 1100m above sea level. The native tussock block of 900ha is home to the stud cows for six months of the year.

The family also runs a 70-ewe Border Leicester Stud, established in 1869 by John’s great-great grandfather. It is one of the oldest flocks of any breed in the country, still in the same family, he says.

The family are celebrating several milestones this year. The Border Leicester stud will be 150 years old, the Hereford stud will be 50 years old and it is 100 years since the family moved to South Canterbury from Southland. n

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DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

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www.ezicalve.co.nz 67

BETTER BULLS BETTER CALVES

Herefords have X factor POSY MOODY

Q

UIET and easy to handle, instant whiteface recognition and lower birth weights are just some of the traits that define the Hereford X advantage.

Most of you will have heard it before but why spend more money to buy a registered

bull, otherwise known as a pedigree bull?

I had that same question for a progressive dairy farmer during a dinner.

He agreed he likes using Hereford sires to follow up. He enjoys their docility the bulls portray with his staff and the whiteface advantage is a real plus when it comes to calving and prevents him having to verify the sire of all the calves.

However, he questioned the benefits of paying a bit more at an on-farm registered Hereford beef dairy sale.

My question to him was when he enters the casino does he enjoy placing bets before he looks at his cards?

Yes, a commercial Hereford will likely bring docility and will certainly bring the white face but what about calving ease and birth weights? Here he is playing the lottery. Surely these traits are extremely important when he wants to get that cow quickly

68

Using Hereford bulls over dairy herds will give farmers calving ease because of lower birth weights and the whiteface advantage. back into milk and in-calf.

Buying a registered bull and referring to the estimated breeding values (EBVs) he will have some guarantee of good calving ease and lower birth weights. It’s what the registered breeders excel at – they have spent years of performance recording their herd, which enables them to genetically select for specific traits.

Five years of B+L Genetics progeny tests results are a clear message that EBVs work.

Most sires’ EBVs across the traits line up well and predict the performance of their calves. On average they do a good job of improving actual performance, the calving ease traits more so than the early growth traits.

So what are EBVs and how do they work? EBVs produce a range of economically important traits. For the dairy market the ones often considered most important are calving ease (CE), gestation length (GL) and birth weights (BW).

Calving ease (DIR) EBVs are estimates of genetic differences in the ability of a sire’s calves to be born unassisted from twoyear-old heifers. The EBVs are reported as differences in the percentage of unassisted calvings.

Higher, more positive, calving ease (DIR) EBVs are more favourable. For example, a bull with an EBV of +5% will on average, produce 3% more unassisted calvings from two-year-old heifers than a bull with an EBV of –1% (6% difference between the sires, then halved as the bull contributes only half the genetics).

Birth weight EBVs are estimates of genetic differences between animals in-calf birth weight and are expressed in kilograms.

Small or moderate birth weight EBVs are more favourable. For example, a bull with a birth weight EBV of +2kg will be expected to produce lighter calves at birth than a bull with a birth weight EBV of +6kg, with a lower risk of a difficult birth.

GL EBVs are estimates of genetic differences between animals, displayed in days. A lower, more negative GL is a shorter gestation. It is recorded by some breeders, however, it is not as well recorded as it is in the dairy industry because the trait is calculated only from artificial insemination. n

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Waikato farmer James Courtman, a member of Jersey Advantage, says Jersey farmers will make a 67c/kg MS margin over Holstein-Friesians.

Higher margins, better efficiency

D

AIRY farmers will go to great lengths to get small premiums for their milk from incentive programmes but there could be an

easier way.

The average Jersey herd will make a 67c/kg MS margin this season over their Holstein-Friesian counterparts, Jersey Advantage member James Courtman says.

“Some farmers are making significant changes to their business for initiatives such as A2 milk, all to get a small premium of 10-20 cents.

“But for herds with a high percentage of Friesian or crossbred animals they could achieve similar or better increases just by increasing their Jersey content come mating time,” Courtman said.

The 67 cents margin is a combination of higher milk price, lower replacement costs and more milksolids unit of feed.

The average Jersey herd supplying Fonterra will earn 24 cents more than Holstein-Friesian because of the milk’s higher fat content and lower volume charges associated with the Jersey breed.

Another 16 cents comes from lower replacement rates.

Jersey herds, on average, have a 4-5% lower empty rate and that lets farmers

rear fewer young stock or sell more surplus stock each season.

About 20% of the 16 cents advantage comes from fewer discretionary culls or losses from collapsed udders, feet and leg problems, calving difficulties and less mastitis.

The final 27 cents comes from Jersey’s ability to produce 8% more milksolids a unit of feed, a fact well documented in research.

At 8% on a $6.75 payout that’s an extra 54-cents.

Even with a loss of 13 cents from lower meat returns and 14 cents because of extra cow costs it still leaves 27 cents net.

Profit aside, the efficiency benefits of the Jersey breed also make them the ideal cow for the future, Courtman says.

“The best way to reduce our carbon footprint is to improve the efficiency of the animals that we are milking and no other breed can compete with the Jersey cow there.”

So what’s the advice to non-Jersey herds?

“When it comes to thinking about your business and ways to add value or gain a premium for your milk, maybe it’s a lot simpler than you thought.

“Don’t get left behind this breeding season,” Courtman says. n

BETTER BULLS BETTER CALVES

Speckle Park cattle have good temperaments, crossbreed well, are easy to calve and are compact animals that do well on hill country.

Geoff Chitty owns Pokoroa Speckle Park consisting of two Speckle Park breeding cows, four one-year heifers and some yearling bulls.

Dotty about Speckle Park One look was all it took for a Taranaki farmer to become hooked on Speckle Park. Ross Nolly reports.

W

HEN Geoff Chitty went to a Hereford bull sale a few years ago little did he know it would spark his interest in a new breed of beef cattle.

Since 2010 he had run the Sandstone Hereford stud and before that farmed commercial Herefords.

“We travelled to the Maungahina Stud annual bull sale and while we were there we saw their Speckled Park cattle enter the arena, which instantly sparked our attention,” Chitty says.

“I loved their look. We came home and looked at the pros and cons of Speckle Park.”

He went back to Maunghina and bought five Speckle Park embryos, from which they got two heifers and three bulls.

“Our stud breeding started from there and we now operate our own stud called Pokoroa Speckle Park.”

Along with the two Speckled Park breeding cows from that first set of embryos they also have four one-year heifers and some yearling bulls that will be going to auction this year.

Chitty farms his Speckled Park cattle alongside 40 registered Herefords on his 40-ha Awhitu Peninsula farm south of Auckland.

It’s not difficult to see why he and many other farmers are attracted to the Speckle Park’s beautiful, distinctive colour. The 70

breed is black with varying amounts of white in specific patterns. The speckle pattern is preferred and seems to garner the most attention.

“There aren’t many beef farms here so we predominately provide bulls for the dairy industry,” he says.

“Many beef finishers still like whiteheaded calves yet I feel the Speckle Park has great potential for the dairy industry. They’re similar to the Angus and Hereford in that they finish early at about 18-24-months.”

Chitty likes the Speckle Park cattle for their good temperament, they crossbreed well and are easy to calve. They are compact animals that do well on hill country.

Speckle Park cattle grow heavy winter coats but can handle high summer temperatures. Those heavy winter coats also help the Speckle Park make efficient use of feed in extreme weather.

“They are able to adapt to a wide range of conditions. They come from Canada, which is in sub-zero weather conditions for a great deal of the year. In Australia they are now being crossed with their Droughtmaster Brahman-like cattle and achieving a much better beef animal.”

Speckle Park cows rarely experience any calving difficulties and usually produce extremely strong 35kg calves. They cross well and seem to contribute to the much sought-after hybrid vigour.

The Speckle Park Friesian cross usually has its own significant colouring, usually producing blue with a beautiful, mottled colour. The blue is becoming more sought after by bull calf buyers.

They are renowned as a breed with a good grass to meat conversion ratio that

produces well marbled, high-quality meat.

They produce moderate sized carcases 280-320kg.They also tend to finish earlier than many of the Continental breeds.

“A recent Future Beef competition saw a Friesian/Speckle Park yield 68%, which is amazing for any breed, let alone a dairy cross. Pure Speckle Park usually provide yields of up to 70%,” he says.

“Some in the industry call the Speckle Park turbo-charged Wagyu because they also produce marbled beef but finish much faster than the Wagyu. Wagyu usually take 12 months longer to properly finish.”

Chitty sold one of his bulls to a large Waikato dairy unit that has now become a Speckle Park stud. That family runs three 600-cow dairy units and he feels that is validation of the breed for dairy farmers.

They have also bought some of his Hereford bulls and are running both breeds over their animals. For such a big operation to have started its own Speckle Park stud demonstrates its tremendous faith in the breed.

“A breed that regularly yields between 60-65% and sometimes more has got to be a plus for the beef you’re producing from a given area. This year we have four females going to the bull and also have eight embryos being carried. We’re planning to just carry on breeding from the animals we get from them,” he says.

“Sure, there are some beef calf buyers that will staunchly refuse to buy anything without a white face. However, there are now a number of beef finishers who are prepared to look outside the square.

I really do think the Speckle Park’s productive traits will see it continue to grow in popularity.” n

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

BETTER BULLS BETTER CALVES

Beef can solve dairy issue SAMANTHA TENNENT

W

ITH attention firmly on animal welfare the dairy sector is turning to the dairy beef market to

provide solutions.

Rebecca Hickson from Massey University is working on a project funded

by Beef + Lamb Genetics to help lift confidence in using beef bulls over dairy cows.

“Dairy farmers want a calf that is born easily so it does not cause problems for the cow at calving and beef finishers want a calf that will reach maturity quickly,” Hickson says.

“We expect a calf born big will grow big quickly and a calf born small to grow at a slower rate but there are bulls available that are born small and grow quickly.”

Beef bulls have estimated breeding values (eBVs) but they are comparable only within breeds.

It is hard to estimate how a bull will perform across breeds, especially when it is used in dairy herds.

That makes it hard for dairy farmers to have confidence they can use beef genetics safely. However, initial work in the progeny test has demonstrated beef eBVs are applicable in the dairy beef system.

Hickson and the team is using progeny testing to identify bulls that produce offspring that calve easily and grow quickly.

They will rank bulls from the progeny testing results and share the rankings with the sector.

“We want dairy farmers to have

confidence to use beef sires and beef finishers to be comfortable using the calves. We’ve got to satisfy both parties.”

Hickson said.

The team approached bull breeders asking them to highlight their good bulls.

“We preselected based on bulls’ eBVs so we could progeny test them.

“We want to be confident to promote bulls that have small enough calves, have a good gestation length and the calves will grow well.”

The testing has included 86 beef bulls and they were mated over predominantly crossbred dairy cows at Limestone Downs dairy unit and Landcorp Wairakei’s Renown Farm.

The traits measured include gestation length, calving assistance, birthweight and days to weaning at 90kg on the dairy farm. The weaners are moved when they reach 100kg and are grazed in large contemporary groups under commercial farming conditions.

They are weighed throughout their lives and carcase traits are recorded at processing.

The results uncovered bulls that produce calves with shorter gestation than the average dairy bull, birth weights comparable to or lighter than Friesian bulls and above-average growth rates.

That makes them profitable for both dairy farmers and beef finishers.

“What our progeny testing is uncovering reflects nicely on the breeders who have been working in this space.

They have been breeding for these low-birth weight, short-gestation, highgrowth bulls and it’s really nice they’re delivering.”

It provides a good pool of bulls to promote.

THE TOP 5 ALL-ROUND BULLS TO DATE ARE: ABCode

Sire

Breed

n

Birth weight (kg)

Gestation length (d)

Yearling weight (kg)

717054

RISSINGTON C200

Angus

35

32.2

278.7

270

717133

STABILIZER 165303

Stabilizer

33

34.0

278.9

271

717117

GLENSIDE CRUMPY

Simmental

36

35.7

279.3

272

717113

BLUESTONE 160022

Hereford

28

35.7

279.9

266

717121

ARDO AJAX 5014

Hereford

37

32.7

281.3

267

37.1

281.3

263

Mean of progeny tested bulls Range of progeny tested bulls

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

32.2 – 44.1 276.8 – 289.1 237 - 293

Rebecca Hickson from Massey University is researching using beef bulls over dairy cows.

The progeny tests results will also help provide a reference for farmers buying bulls for natural mating because they can compare potential bulls to the performance of progeny-tested bulls from the same breed.

“We will identify the bulls that are suitable for dairy mating but there’s huge variation in how they have performed and that really highlights how important it is to pay attention to your bull choice. It has such an impact on how the calves come out.”

Hickson has worked with corporate farms and identified a big opportunity.

They regularly buy and finish cattle but their dairy herds are producing calves that are not going anywhere.

“If they could source good calves out of those cows it would be an efficient way to use the resources available to them.

“There’s a huge number of calves that come out of the dairy industry for rearing in beef and I think that number will increase.”

Many parts of the sector can get excited about the progeny testing results. They provide a solution to reduce the number of bobbies and give confidence to both dairy farmers and beef finishers to produce a quality product. n

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BETTER BULLS BETTER CALVES

A breed of choice Murray Grey are the first choice for a King Country farmer when it comes to a beef breed. Ross Nolly reports.

B

ROWSING the internet and having a bit of spare cash can be a recipe for disaster but for King Country farmer Mike Phillips it was the beginning of a new phase of his farming career – the establishment of his own Murray Grey stud.

His stud Paradise Valley Murray Greys started from small beginnings nine years ago.

That bit of spare cash bought him three registered cows and a bull. He already farmed some crossbred Murray Grey cows so put the bull to the best of them.

Phillips grew up on his parents’ farm at Honikiwi near Otorohanga and, as he puts it, “As soon as I could walk I was pretty much out there helping dad on the farm.”

He left school at 16 and spent three years working on a Te Kuiti Charolais stud but returned to work on the 243 hectare family farm.

“I was only 19 years old and worked as a stock manager to prove that I could do the job.

“I’ve leased the farm for the last four years and have bought all of the stock. I’m looking to buy the farm in the future,” Phillips says.

He also runs Angus cattle.

The Murray Grey breed has a great deal of Angus genetics in its make-up so it allows him to use the Angus cattle to breed up from.

The Angus also gives an outcross in genetics because New Zealand has a relatively limited Murray Grey gene pool. Some breeders have looked to Australia for genetics but that is an expensive task and he feels NZ has better Angus genetics.

“If I’ve got a bull that I really like then I’ll give him a go. The last three bulls that I’ve bought have been from one of the country’s most experienced breeders, Southland’s Silver Fern Murray Greys.

“It’s incredibly satisfying to use your own bulls.

“I’ve used a few now and they’ve been good.

“I sold a bull, Paradise Valley Jack Frost, a few years back to Silver Fern Murray Greys and he’s doing well down there.”

Phillips was initially drawn to the breed because they are a handsome animal and a little bit different to commonly farmed beef breeds.

Their placid temperament makes them easy to handle and shift. The breed is a medium-framed but solid animal. That equips them well for hill country farms.

“At the moment my cows run in a pretty big mob of 150 and all I need to do is stand at the top of the hill and call them and they’ll come up the hill so I can just stand there and take a count to make sure they’re all there.”

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Murray Grey cows display good mothering abilities and have few calving troubles. The calves are relatively small but quickly get up and go. He finds he has to quickly catch them to tag because they can be difficult to catch.

He feels that they are a great cross for Jersey and the Murray Grey Jersey cross gives some of the best meat you can eat. Many of his dairy clients use his yearling bulls over their Jersey and crossbred heifers, which gives them a beef calf to sell.

The most common feedback he receives is that his bulls are so easy to handle. Like most breeders he is breeding to achieve short gestation periods.

“Most of my dairy clients are getting at least $100 for their calves. You may have to pay a little more to get a high quality Murray Grey bull compared to a Jersey bull but the extra money you receive for the calves quickly makes up for that.

“I’ve never had any complaints and my dairy clients are continually coming back for bulls so they must be happy with the results they’re achieving. Why pay $300 for a whitehead calf when you can get a Murray Grey for $100-150. The farmers have been telling me their buyers want all the Murray Grey crossbred calves they can produce.”

Murray Grey is becoming a popular choice for dairy farmers looking for beef breeds to put over their herds. Mike Phillips with herd sire Paradise Valley Highway Star.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Mike Phillips normally holds a bull sale on farm but is now selling privately to clients including dairy farmers.

This year’s yearling bulls are on the market.

2019 Spring Bull Sale Calendar NZ Farmers Livestock are proud to bring to you the following sales for the upcoming Spring Bull Season.

Manawatu

Contact John Watson - 027 494 1975

19 Sept

Riverton Hereford - Fordell 180 1yr, 30 2yr

30 Sept

Riverlee Hereford - Rangiwahia 60 1+2 yr

23 Sept

Tusons Hereford - Rongotea - 35 2yr

1 Oct

Lower NI all breeds dairy bull - Rongotea

Taranaki

Contact John Watson - 027 494 1975

2 Downs Family Farms Sept - Pukengahu 150 PB Hfd & Ang 2yr owner-bred

The breed seems to hang on during tough years. Last summer was quite dry but the cows held condition.

“As soon as I took their calves away they bounced back quickly.

I noticed the difference within a week. I think their temperament helps too because they aren’t stressing as much as other breeds do. During winter their heavy coats keep them warm so they don’t have to eat as much.”

A Murray Grey Friesian cross will typically finish before their second winter faster than the Angus and Hereford crosses.

“The slogan that I’ve come up with for my advertising is Prime on Time. They’re ready when they’re supposed to be ready.”

Farmers buying Murray Grey calves get them cheaper than standard Hereford or Angus crossbred calves then finish them quicker, which results in dollars in the bank.

“I have 80 Murray Grey dairy bulls and their weight gains are as good as any other breed. They don’t always look as big as the Angus or Hereford crosses but they weigh as well as them. If they are finished properly the purebreds can yield between 56-60% or even better. The breed is renowned for its marbled meat.”

The New Zealand Murray Grey Beef Cattle Society is working on a pink ear tag that will be used for first cross Murray Grey/ dairy calves. The tags will be available from registered breeders and can be used only on calves sired by a registered bull. The society aims to start the project this year.

“Some people have used bulls that aren’t registered purebred Murray Greys and siring calves that aren’t 50% Murray Grey.

Those calves are more dairy-looking and not so attractive to the buyer. The ability to prove a 50-50 cross will give farmers faith in buying their calves.”

This summer he is planning to begin selling his own branded Murray Grey line of beef. He aims to begin selling at farmers markets and develop a website to allow customers to buy online.

He normally holds an annual bull sale on-farm, which has served him well but now buyers are going directly to him so he now sells the stock privately.

“We didn’t really know what to expect from our first sale but it went really well. Last year there was a lot of concern about Mycoplasma bovis but I averaged $2700 on 28 bulls which was fantastic and well over target.”

“I’m seeing more Murray Greys around the country when I’m travelling so I think we’re doing alright. We’ve always sold bulls to dairy farmers but I feel there is potential for much more.” n

17 Sept

9 Burmeister Partnership 23 Sept - Warea Sept 50 Ylg PB Jerseys

Fowler Farms - Patea 300 all-breeds 1,2&3yr KV & SJ Collins & Family - Croyden Road 300 Hfds, Ang & Jsy 2&3 yr

11 D&R + I&N Smith & Sept Families - Waverley -16th Annual Shadow Downs 70 polled 1&2yr

24 Sept

C&C Burkitt - Rahotu 44 Jsy 1+2 yr

12 Hurley Farms Trust Sept - Stratford 150 all-breeds 2&3yr

27 Sept

Bexley Station - Awakino 48 Hfd & 14 Ang ylg

13 WE & JJ Craig & Family Sept - Puketahi Farms - Pukengahu 400 all-breeds 2&3yr

30 Sept

Hurstpier Hereford Stud - Tikorangi R & J Jupp Hereford + Jersey Horizon Pedigree Hereford Stud M & N McLeod 60 1&2yr Hfd

16 H & J Megaw Sept - Waitara 200 all-breeds 2yr

Oct 3

PR & A George - Inglewood 40 2yr PB owner bred Hfd

Waikato

Contact Brent Bougen - 027 210 4698

9 Okupata Herefords Sept - Oparau 115 2yr Hfds, 8 MG

24 Sept

Rapu Hereford - Te Aroha 27 1&2yr Herefords

10 Lynrich Jersey Sept 200 recorded ylgs - Cambridge

25 Sept

Kauri Downs - Waihi 30 ylgs

18 Waitawheta Angus Sept - Paeroa 35 ylgs

26 Sept

Morrinsville All-breeds service bull

19 BullsEye Sept - Huntly 470 all-breeds 2&3yr

2 Oct Momona Herefords - Tirau. 65 ylgs

23 Ratanui Hereford Sept - Cambridge 55 ylgs

Visit mylivestock.co.nz for more details

BETTER BULLS BETTER CALVES

A long history Shorthorn cattle arrived in New Zealand more than 200 years ago and are still going strong.

Ross Nolly reports.

T

HERE isn’t a breed of cattle in New Zealand that has the length of local heritage as the Shorthorn.

It was NZ’s pioneering, dual-purpose animal that started our dairy industry and helped clear the early pioneers’ new farms.

The Shorthorn evolved over the last two centuries from Teeswater and Durham cattle in the northeast of England.

In 1814 the first known Durham breed cattle, a bull and two cows, landed at Russell in Bay of Islands and the Shorthorn began its historic reshaping of the new country.

The Shorthorn is probably the most influential breed of cattle in the global history of agriculture.

It is one of the traditional British breeds and its genetics have been used worldwide in the development of more than 40 different breeds.

Stratford farmer Jack Hann has bred Shorthorns for more than 50 years. His parents’ Stratford dairy herd was made up of Milking Shorthorns and when he left the family farm for Taranaki’s hilly eastern backcountry he continued to farm the breed.

“I’ve been farming all my life. It’s all I ever wanted to do. I lived on the family farm until I was 20 then moved to Tututawa, a 118ha drystock farm in 1957,” Hann said.

“I started the Mangaotuku Shorthorn Stud in 1973. It’s named after the Mangaotuku Stream which bounded the farm.”

He is now on an 18ha Stratford property farming 20 cows, six yearling heifers and seven bulls of varying age.

The Shorthorn’s striking colouring enamours them to many people. They have a heavy coat that comes in red, white and roan.

74

Jack and Sheree Hann run Mangaotuku Shorthorn Stud in Stratford. Sheree say their quiet temperament makes them easy to handle.

Photo: Ross Nolly

“Shorthorns broke in this country and fed the pioneering farmers. The early bullock teams were all Shorthorns. They are an exceptionally safe, quiet breed and the bulls are very easy to handle.

They have character and each animal is a different colour. They also have a good grass to meat conversion rate,” he says.

They are an exceptionally safe, quiet breed and the bulls are very easy to handle.

Their placid temperament makes them a pleasure to handle in the yards. Jack’s wife Sheree feels this characteristic makes them safer for women to handle.

Shorthorn cows are renowned to be very good mothers with easy calving. The calf birth weight is about 39kg.

Calving is always an exciting time because he never knows what colours he’s going to see until each calf arrives.

The breed’s dual-purpose heritage ensures the cows have plenty of milk to feed their calves, more so than most other beef breeds. He feels they often have too much milk for their calves.

They are ideal for crossbreeding and to use as a terminal sire. The crossbred animals over beef breeds always fetch a premium in the sales.

“Shorthorn bulls are too big for some heifers but are fine for Friesians. I know of a dairy farmer who uses Shorthorn bulls to tail end his Jersey herd but has had no problems.”

Hann mostly buys in bulls or uses his own bulls to breed. He also sells bulls and is noticing a growing demand for Shorthorn bulls from dairy farmers.

The crossbred Friesian Shorthorn produces beautiful, blue offspring that certainly stand out and sell well in the sale yards. The only disadvantage is that you don’t know what colour calf you’re going to get. Whereas by using a Hereford bull you’ll get a white headed calf or straight black if you use an Angus bull.

The Shorthorn is one of the leaner beef breeds but produces well marbled meat with good flavour. Or as Sheree simply stated, “They produce beautiful tasty meat and it’s so tender. It’s the nicest beef I’ve ever eaten.”

The breed adapts well to a wide range of climate conditions, is very hardy, does well on hard hill country and has good disease-resistance.

“Shorthorn bulls don’t seem to dig bull holes or put pressure on fences. A twowire electric fence easily keeps them in.

We’ve had heifers in the next paddock and they’ve never broken through.” n

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Jon Knauf

PROFIT-A-BULL EXCELLENCE CONTACT: Jon Knauf 06 838 6793 E: jsknauf@gisborne.net.nz

Phil Transom 0274 420 060 PGG Wrightson

Ross Mitchell 0274 048 965 Fergus Rural

Glenside Crumpy

1447 Hereheretau Rd, RD 6, WAIROA 4196 www.kerrahsimmentals.co.nz

THE

FACTOR

OUTSTANDING SIRE ON THE B +L GENETICS DAIRY BEEF PROGENY TEST SONS AND REGISTERED SEMEN AVAILABLE

Quiet and easy to handle. Instant white face recognition. Lower birth weights.

These are just some of the traits that define the HerefordX advantage.

Registered Herefords have an incredibly quiet nature.

We know a large number of dairy farmers allow their Hereford bulls on and off the milking platform and are confident their staff will be comfortable working with these docile animals. What’s more the highly sought after HerefordX commands a premium at all weight ranges, with 4 day old calves making up to $400.

Use our Dairy Beef Selection Index to calculate all pedigree information, and put it into a dollar value for you. Because the more dollars, the better. Right?

You can’t argue with genetics when it comes to maximising the value of your herd. To find out more about buying a registered Hereford bull, visit herefords.co.nz/bullsales or talk to your stock agent.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

75

No Bulldust

Ruapehu Speckle Park purebred bulls for sale

Stokman Real Deal Just the Real Deal for your Dairy Semen needs With the performance data to back it up Real Deal offers: Real Deal +5.3 -10.1 days +1.5kg +114kg +2.5%

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Real Deal can add real value to your dairy operation with more days in milk and higher value Angus calves.

1-50 Straws $12+GST 51-100 Straws $10+GST 101+ Straws $8+GST Phone Craig Davie-Martin, Puketi Angus today to discuss how Real Deal can maximise the value of your operations – 0274 733 765

All progeny from Canadian blood lines.

Phone: 07 895 4730 Ray 027 365 4641 Email: raynjanbrown@outlook.co.nz

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23rd Beef & Dairy On Farm Bull Sale Thursday Sept 19th 2019, 12 Noon 183 Mangaotea Road, Tariki, Taranaki LK0098664©

180 Registered & Purebred 1 year & 2 year Angus, Hereford, Murray Grey & Jersey Contact Robin Blackwell 06 762 4805

PARADISE VALLEY MURR AY GREYS

Phone Mike Phillips on 0274 045 943 to secure your Murray Grey bull team for this seasons mating.

76

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Hillcroft Est. 1960

TE WHANGA ANGUS calving ease sires www.borthwick.co.nz

SALE DATE 2019

Annual Spring Bull Sale

MONDAY 16 SEPT 10.00

47 stud, plus 26 commercial performance recorded yearling bulls

Ring us for a catalogue Jason Coffey, Manager 691 Te Kopi Rd, RD4, Masterton P. 06 372 77 20 M. 0274 570 526

Rangatira 13-4 Sire of 1 & 2 yr olds

23 ANGUS YEARLINGS • 30 HEREFORD 2 YR OLDS • 97 ANGUS 2 YR OLDS On bull farm: 820 Waiterimu Road, Ohinewai Monday 16th September – 11.30am

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Hillcroft bulls: born and bred on our closed breeding unit. No bulls have been leased.

Enquiries welcome – call for a catalogue or view online www.angusnz.com or hillcroftangus • www.hillcroftangus.co.nz Malcolm & Fraser Crawford: Matahuru Rd, Ohinewai Malcolm Phone 07 828 5709; Fraser Phone 07 828 5755, 0272 85 95 87

Kaha Speckle Park Handling and dispatch costs are the responsibility of the purchaser.

ESKIMO Sire GGG 82U dam GNK 430T

kahaspecklepark.co.nz

POLAR BEAR Sire WAG 15R dam JKH 2M

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Bull Straws for sale $15/straw plus GST

FOR SALE

Cheap White Hereford straws for sale Easy calving, great meat, great colours.

New, rare and exciting

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Phone Brad Devlin 027 498 1203

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

77

Inaugural Yearling Sale

Okupata Herefords

On account of

Pokoroa Speckle Park & Sandstone Downs Herefords

33rd Annual Bull Sale

Under cover on farm sale Monday 9th September 2019, 12 noon

Comprising: 15 yearling Hereford Bulls 4 yearling Purebred Speckle Park Bulls 1 F1 Speckle Park Hereford Bull 8 yearling Hereford Heifers 3 F1 Speckle Park Heifers 4 2-year in-calf F1 Speckle Park Heifers

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C/- GK and AJ Chitty, Waiuku to be held on farm on Friday 13th September, 2019 at 12pm, Douglas Road, Kohekohe

56 - Registered 2yr Hereford Bulls 47 - Commercial 2yr Hereford Bulls 8 - 2yr Murray Grey Bulls

Bulls may be held on farm until 7th October, unless agreed otherwise Enquiries: Vendors Geoff and Alison Chitty 09 235 8527 0274 956 617

Selling agents Carrfields Livestock Brian Pearson 027 603 4477 Bruce Orr - Genetic Specialist 0274 922 122

OKUPATA STUD 860 Okupata Road, RD 1, Oparau 3885 P: (07) 212 2284 • M: 027 711 1291 (Thomas Atkins) E: okupataherefords@farmside.co.nz

DAIRY FARMERS

Like us on Facebook: NZ Murray Grey Breeders

Murray Grey bulls are renowned for their outstanding temperaments!

Don't put your staff at risk during mating, this season use a registered Murray Grey Bull!

Give Mike Phillips a call on 0274045943 & he'll help you find your nearest registered Murray Grey breeder.

78

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

HAVE YOUR BULLS GOT GREAT PACKAGES? Take a look at ours to promote them . . .

Deliver your bull sale messaging to every farm letterbox nationwide with publications that farmers choose first for news, opinion, market updates and even their own advertising.

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Outlook is rosy

$3.95

Luke Chivers and Stephen Bell those commodity prices will continue to stay up unless we coN A global environment ordinate and collaborate our sales characterised by increasing efforts. uncertainty the primary “And farmers must still work sectors are continuing to hard to make sure they get a good deliver, Agriculture Minister profit.”

Damien O’Connor says.

Despite economic and political Joined by 100 farmers and uncertainty affecting world industry leaders at the National markets, New Zealand’s returns Fieldays O’Connor launched have remained solid and though the latest Situation and Outlook there is continuing risk it report for Primary Industries is offset to some extent by the weak (SOPI) produced by MPI. dollar.

“It’s great news across the sector “This export performance with headline figures showing by NZ’s primary sector producers continued growth.” is all the more impressive Agricultural exports have CHALLENGING: Primary industry risen considering the weakening export revenue is expected to $7.5 billion in the last two global jump by more than 7% this year Minister Damien O’Connor told years to $45.6 billion, Agriculture economic environment and industry leaders at the National but returns are expected to Fieldays when he attended with Ardern. soften the high degree of uncertainty Prime Minister Jacinda his year before growing again, creating tensions across O’Connor said. international markets,” MPI Export returns for primary director-general Ray Smith to sustain growth in dairy produce in the year to June export We are moving into revenue global economic growth 30 are said. despite constraints on expected to be $45.7b. expectations, rising protectionist challenging economic However, given the uncertain milk production growth,” The report also predicts a Smith sentiment and uncertainty slight international backdrop caused environments and trade said. fall in the coming year before

by Brexit, United States-China and despite strong export “NZ’s current run of export returns start climbing again, is being kicked around trade tensions and outbreaks to performance the downside success over the past two of reach $48.5b in 2023. risks years African swine fever. like a football. to the forecast are heightened has occurred despite a rising “Horticulture has continued But the bigger concern for over the next few years. sense of uncertainty in global to be the star performer with NZ is their potential impact its Production and returns are markets. on focus on the customer resulting consumer demand in Britain, in expected to fall slightly Damien O’Connor “This is in part because the in the its success,” O’Connor said.

America and China. next year before resuming products we trade in haven’t Agriculture Minister “The meat sector is solid and been “We are moving into is moderate momentum in directly affected so are and likely to continue that way the in part challenging economic given medium term in meat, dairy because the NZ dollar has the challenges in China with and fallen environments and trade is their horticulture. over the past two years. being pork production. continue supporting export kicked around Sustained Chinese and like a football,” “However, these issues do “We’re also seeing aquaculture returns.

O’Connor said. southeast Asian demand is provide an increasingly uncertain grow which is a real positive.

“Strength in prices supported “Our sector shouldn’t assume supporting strong prices and backdrop to the otherwise “But farmers can’t assume by an increasing proportion anything and will need to the weak dollar is expected of positive outlook.” to higher-value products is expected The clouds include slowing Continued page 5

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Wednesday 25th September, 12noon

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Bull Directory publishes August, September and October Terms and conditions apply

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Dairy Farmer spring publications: • October 7

55th Annual Hereford Bull Sale

1

BUCK THE TREND

Try Shorthorn beef over your dairy cows!

KELVIN & CYNTHIA PORT • P: 07 872 2628 • M: 022 648 2417 E: kelvin@bushydowns.co.nz • Web: www.bushydowns.co.nz ROBERT & MARIAN PORT • P: 07 872 2715

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Registered Shorthorn breeding bulls Semen and bulls available

www.shorthorn.co.nz CONTACT: Russell Proffit p 07 877 8977 e rnmwproffit@xtra.co.nz | Fraser Fletcher m 027 4978104 e fraserfletcher@gmail.com

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

79

SUPPLEMENTARY FEED

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• Palm Kernel & Blends • DDG • Tapioca Barley, Wheat, Maize & Soybean Meal (forward contracts available).

To join our Palm Kernel Pricing Text Service.

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WEBSITE

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EMAIL

enquiries@crmcphail.co.nz

DAIRY FARMER

PHONE

(06) 357 1644

September 2019

GIBB-GRO

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THE ORIGINAL MIRACLE BAR® The Miracle Bar® is the optimum cattle restraint system and anti backing bar for Herringbone cowsheds.

For more information visit www.miraclebar.co.nz Or Call 06 758 9909

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

MIRACLEBAR®

29

YEARS

STRONG 1990-2019

81

One last word …

H

ERE is a message for our urban cousins who just love to label our nations farmer’s as dirty dairy farmers.

Your councils are polluting your waterways with untreated wastewater and some are hiding behind the term consented discharge.

They effectively have a Get out of Jail Free Card to discharge raw sewerage when infrastructure cannot handle the overflow during periods of heavy rain.

Don’t believe me? Well, here is prime example of something that is happening right now.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council is asking the Otago Regional Council to legally let it dump sewage, in cases of overflow, into lakes for the next 35 years.

The district council has already been caught and fined several times by the regional council for overflows before and this application would just make it legal.

The powers that be at the district council are bleating about the cost of the fines, $25,000 to $40,000, and argue they should not be held to account for unauthorised discharges because they can’t afford the fines.

It’s an absolute disgrace.

I am certain if a farmer in the district accidentally or even purposely discharged effluent into waterways the council would throw the book at them.

But it wants to be able to get away with it. Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?

It is not okay in any way shape or form.

The same standard should apply to urban polluters as it does for rural folk.

Our farmers would never get away with using the excuse they cannot afford the fine and neither should the council.

And then you get people like ex-NIWA chief scientist Don Robertson who said “We don’t think that a 35-year consent is appropriate but 10 years would be fine.”

Seriously?

That is unbelievably ridiculous.

The council should not be allowed to discharge into the lakes full stop. One day is one day too many.

It’s not just Queenstown Lakes District either. Cast your mind back to December 2018 when 12 Auckland beaches were

82

Queenstown Lakes District Council’s sewage discharges keep breaking the law so it wants them legalised.

contaminated by human and animal faeces.

I never heard a single peep from Aucklanders moaning about that but no doubt they probably did but just didn’t kick up a big enough stink for mainstream media to take note.

At the time Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said aging infrastructure and historical under-investment in storm water infrastructure means their system can’t cope when it rains and overflows into harbours.

What a joke.

They spend millions of dollars on development and regional roads but cannot fix their storm water infrastructure? They should be fining themselves.

And over the last couple of years several councils, corporations and industries around the country have been pinged for illegal discharges.

Poultry farm Le Poulet Fabuleux was fined $57,000 by Horizons Regional Council in relation to the discharge of effluent and wash water into a farm drain going into Lake Koputara.

Horizons also fined the Whanganui District Council for discharging human wastewater from a pump station into the Mowhanau Stream.

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council served the Wairoa District Council with two abatement notices in relation to the unlawful discharge of treated sewage

from an unconsented emergency overflow from the Wairoa sewage treatment plant.

A body corporate for a residential complex in Hamilton was fined $53,550 by the Waikato Regional Council for discharging sewage into the Kirikiriroa Stream.

I could go on and on listing dozens of examples but these give you an idea of what our councils and others are up to, how they are polluting our waterways.

The difference here is our farmers have many rules and regulations they have to comply with and most have spent thousands of dollars fencing and putting in infrastructure so discharges don’t happen. They have done their best but it is a smack in the face when councils such as Queenstown Lakes try to avoid taking responsibility for their actions.

Throw the damn rule book at them, I say. Get a grip and stop trying to avoid paying the fines. Better still, they all need to sort out their issues and infrastructure and stop it from happening. Only then will our waterways be pristine and safe to swim in.

Sonita

Like us: farmersweekly.co.nz Follow us: @DairyFarmer15 Read us anywhere: farmersweekly.co.nz

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

Dairy Diary September 2019 September 3-4 DairyNZ Waimakariri Zone Plan Change 7, writing sessions, Canterbury and north Otago. Environment Canterbury’s Plan Change 7 is open for submissions until September 13. It introduces new nutrient loss requirements for some farms as well as a number of other new requirements. All farmers are required to meet baseline good management practice by July 2020. Register at www.dairyevents.co.nz September 5-November 28 Agri-Women’s Development Trust Understanding Your Farming Business, Canterbury and north Otago.

Programme for farming women consisting of three modules run over three months covering everything from budgeting, benchmarking and key performance indicators to understanding financials, business planning and communication skills. To register contact Keri Holmwood on keri@awdt. org.nz or 06 375 8180.

September 11-12 DairyNZ and B+LNZ Less Staff Stress, Northland. This interactive workshop will cover attracting, retaining and incentivising staff to grow a great farm team.

The day will kick off with ongoing farm conversations that help motivate employees and align their goals and career aspirations with the farm’s goals. In the second session we will delve into what modern day staff want in a job and ways to recruit and interview employees. Info at www. dairyevents.co.nz

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September 19 Pasture Summit Pasture Summit North Island Spring Event, Northland and north Waikato. Field day looking at financials, the role of the cow and pasture management at the farm of one of speaker and dairy farmer Pete Morgan from our November 2018 event.

September 24 DairyNZ Pasture Plus, Taupo. Pasture Driving Profit. Improve the pasture management skills of your farm team and get more milk in the vat this season. New discussion group for farm staff. This is a back-to-basics group focused on core pasture skills ideal for managers, herd managers, 2ICs and farm assistants. Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz September 25 Owl Farm Owl Farm Focus Day, Cambridge. Season update, farm systems update and research review. Info at https://www.owlfarm.nz/

September 11 Dairy Women’s Network Coffee Morning Catch-ups, north Waikato. Join us for a coffee catch up on the second Wednesday of each month. Feel free to join us whenever you can. Come and have some free time for yourself and connect with others. Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events

September 26 SMASH Special Winter Milking Farm Visit, Reporoa. Alastair Neville will take us through the varied aspects of his farming operation with a focus on winter milking and cropping. Winter milk – is it worth the switch? Cropping – fitting the puzzle together. Info at https://www.smallerherds.co.nz/

September 18 DairyNZ Awhitu Discussion Group, brunch on us. DairyNZ and industry supporters are running a free, cooked brunch at the Pollok community hall for Dairy Farmers. This is a chance to get off farm to have a break and to catch up with fellow farmers and with what others are up to. Info at www. dairyevents.co.nz

September 26 Beef + Lamb NZ Women of the Land, Whangarei. Women of the Land is a chance for women to get together and celebrate the role they play in the sheep and beef sector and wider agricultural industry. The evening will focus on celebrating rural women, acknowledging those who work the land or those in the background who help support their business and our industry with their sound knowledge. Networking is vital in rural areas for providing both support and inspiration and allows new connections to be made with other like-minded women across the region. Ticket numbers are limited.

Tickets at Eventbrite.

September 18 Fonterra Waihi Annual Result Farmer Meeting, north Waikato, south Waikato and Bay of Plenty. Fonterra Co-op’s results will be announced on Thursday, September12. The results on Sky channel 950 on the hour, every hour from 9am-10pm on the day. You can also find out more about the results on the My Co-op app or Farm Source website. Fonterra directors and management will be on the road the following week to meet farmers, discuss the results and answer questions. RSVP by September 13 at Events on the Farm Source website, via the My Co-op app or contact the service centre 0800 65 65 68.

DAIRY FARMER

September 2019

DairyNZ ReproSmart, various dates and locations. Come along to this premating workshop that will offer practical and tailored training for the entire farm team. Understand the why? Understand the importance of the Fertility Focus report to help you implement a plan to increase your in-calf rate. Understand the importance of good heat detection and how to implement a plan. Registration essential at www.dairyevents.co.nz.

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Owl Farm improves its six week in-calf rate by 6%.

That's some lesson.

At Owl Farm, one of the country’s leading demonstration farms, improvement is the name of the game.

Owl Farm’s aim is to match the best cows to the best genetics and get the best progeny born on the farm, all the while sharing the results with New Zealand farmers.

Last season the farm had exceptional results using Short Gestation Length semen for the first six weeks on lower producing cows. The farm’s in-calf rate is up by 6% and empties down by 5% as well as achieving an additional 10-14 days of milk in the vat.

The big lesson learnt? You can’t look at one improvement in isolation. Having a tighter calving spread means getting set up to feed cows earlier, having the calf shed space ready, and the manpower ready to help.

LIC_943_DF_OBC

Read the full Owl Farm story and how SGL genetics are creating more days in milk and more profit by visiting lic.co.nz/alwaysimproving

There's always room for improvement