Dairy Farmer February 4 2019

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February 2019

Scientific research is challenging Reducing N-losses The fight against FE DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

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Autumn calving

Ultimate goal Taranaki farmers dream of one day owning their own farm

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Autumn calving

Glen and Trish Rankin from Taranaki are working hard to achieve their goals.

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Fewer cows

Cow numbers have dropped for the second year

Hot and dry

Fire risk around the country is high

Market outlook

What factors will influence farm incomes and decisions this year

ON FARM STORY

Scientific research is challenging Reducing N-losses The fight against FE DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

Ultimate goal Taranaki farmers dream of one day owning their own farm

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

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NEWS

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Goals achievable

Taranaki farmers Glen and Trish Rankin work towards farm ownership

Environment focus

Canterbury farmer Leo Donkers and his team are hitting environmental targets

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

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THEME

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Autumn calving

REGULAR FEATURES

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FARMING CHAMPIONS

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Dairy champion Rich McDowell

Guest column – Tim Mackle At the grassroots – Farmer opinion – Andrew Cryer

Industry-good – News from DairyNZ International news Technology Research

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Fast Five

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February 2019

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GUEST COLUMN

Dairy farmers do more with less

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With the New Year well under way DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle reflects on the year that’s been and the one ahead.

AVING been involved in the dairy sector my whole life it’s clear it’s changed significantly since I was a kid.

And in the past year there have been a number of key challenges, whether it’s the talk about nitrogen, both from effluent or the manufactured variety to help our grass or vegetables grow, our impacts and work to improve water quality or the growing conversation around climate change.

And let’s not forget the emergence of new threats like Mycoplasma bovis.

Here’s the thing about farming, the fundamentals are still the same – looking after cows, grass and people.

But when I think back to the challenges my parents faced the big issues for them seemed to be getting their cows in-calf, fluctuating prices, managing debt and high interest rates.

Fast forward to today and dairy farmers have shown they’re committed to looking after the land and waterways through their work in the Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord.

Ninety-seven per cent of farmers have fenced off their waterways, thousands have carried out riparian planting and many have protected or restored wetlands, invested in efficient irrigation systems and improved their fertiliser practices.

And that’s just the start of the work.

As an industry good body DairyNZ supports farmers on this journey by investing their levy into researching innovative ways they can reduce their environmental footprint while remaining profitable.

Thanks to research, such as the Forages for Reduced Nitrogen Leaching programme, some farmers are already achieving that. ‘ Three of the five dairy monitor farms involved in the project have reduced

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle says while there have been many changes in the dairy industry the fundamentals remain the same.

nitrate leaching by 12% to 31% in the first three years of the programme by cutting nitrogen fertiliser use and using plantain in pasture and crops such as fodder beet and oats. And others are following suit.

Many dairy farmers are adapting their farm systems to manage their fertiliser use and make the most of all nutrients in their pastures.

A lot of farmers target fertiliser application to help manage seasonal pasture shortfalls.

Fertiliser is important to keep pasture growing, just like it is for growing the vegetables we eat, but research and changes being made by farmers are managing its application.

Then there’s the work we’ve been doing to help improve cow genetics.

We’re focused on helping farmers breed better, more productive cows.

By improving the genetics of their herd many farmers are producing more milk with fewer cows.

We continue to build on this work to provide farmers with new solutions and help them continue to be the best and most sustainable in the world.

DairyNZ has a vision for the future, outlined in our shared sector strategy Dairy Tomorrow.

The first of six commitments is protecting and nurturing the environment for future generations.

In 2018-19 DairyNZ is investing many millions of dollars in this commitment alone.

And our vision is clear.

We want all farmers to do their bit to look after waterways and by doing so we start a movement in NZ to encourage all kiwis to get on board and help look after their local waterways too.

And we absolutely know there is a significant place in NZ’s future for the dairy sector and the wholesome food we produce.

For the passionate people who work with animals and the land every day and for those who are just starting their careers with dairy – just think what dairy will be like in 20 years.

We believe we have something special here in NZ – something every Kiwi can be proud of when they drink that glass of milk or enjoy an ice cream on the beach.

I’m a firm believer in the saying that to understand where we’re going, we need to know where we’ve come from.

When I look back, even to when I first joined DairyNZ in 2007, I’m proud of how far the sector has come in a relatively short time and look forward to seeing what we achieve in the near future – and believe me, it’s going to be impressive. n

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ON FARM STORY

The Rankin family, Trish and Harry at rear, with, from left, Tom, Patrick, Glen and Charlie, has set a goal of farm ownership and is working hard to achieve it.

Photos: Ross Nolly 6

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

Eye on the prize A Taranaki family has its eye set firmly on farm ownership. Ross Nolly reports

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HEN Glen and Trish Rankin entered the Dairy Industry Awards one of the things they looked forward to was the feedback from judges.

However, when it came, it was unexpected and set them aback, especially when they were told farm ownership might not be achievable.

“Feedback from the second time we entered was that we were pulling in different directions and that they couldn’t ever see us owning a farm. It felt blunt at the time but was spot on,” Trish says.

“They suggested we pool our skills and focus on driving our farm business.

We’d just had baby number four, we were frantically busy but still not getting ahead.

We decided to search for a 50-50 job.”

That tactic paid off when they won the 2016 Northland Share Farmer of the Year title.

Having entered three previous times they weren’t sure about entering again but decided it would help them build on what they had achieved.

“As soon as you mention the Dairy Awards everyone wants to help you. The first time we entered we were surprised that they often seemed more excited than us. We didn’t really know what we were getting into,” Glen says.

“By opening our door to seek advice we allowed all of these enthusiastic people to come in. We didn’t win it in the three years leading up to 2016 but it put us in the best possible position to win later on.”

Since then they have knuckled down, organised themselves and their business

and are on their way to achieving their dream.

Their four boys, Charlie, 13, Harry, 12, Tom, 8, and Patrick, 5, are even helping in their own way.

“We want our kids to know that you can set a goal and reach it. They know we want to own a farm. They understand it is

Continued page 8

This season Trish and Glen Ranking are targeting 430kg of milksolids per cow.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

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ON FARM STORY

Trish and Glen Rankin were the 2016 Northland Share Farmers of the Year and say the feedback from the judge helped them focus on their business.

FARM FACTS n Owners: Parininihi ki Waitotara n Sharemilkers: Glen and Trish Rankin n Location: Taranaki Size: 154ha, 143ha eff n Cows: 440 crossbred n Production: 201718: 161000kg MS n Target 2018-19: 183,000kg MS n Farm working expenses: $1.95/kg MS

about watching what we spend. This year the tent went up on the lawn and most days were spent at the local beach.”

“They are doing it the Kiwi way with good old-fashioned summer fun on the farm,” Glen says.

Paramount to building their successful business is their herd, which is their single biggest asset.

The herd is crossbred but for the last four-years they have solely used Jersey bulls with the eventual aim of owning a Jersey herd. They want an efficient, versatile, strong cow that produces 100% or more of live weight in milksolids.

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Instead of solely relying on production figures to select their AI bulls they take a holistic approach to breeding their vision of the perfect Jersey dairy cow that suits their farming methods.

Last year their herd was assessed by Tracey Zimmerman, their local aAa and Weeks approved analyser. AAa Animal Analysis is a dairy cattle breeding guide created in 1950 by Vermont Holstein breeder and classifier William A Weeks, based on his detailed study of the form and function of dairy cows and bulls.

It predates AI and lists six functions of the cow and matches stronger typed bulls with the weaker components in cows.

Glen says it is all about form and function, not just production so the result will be a more balanced cow.

“And the production will take care of itself.

“We select bulls first on aAa number then positive fertility and high components,” he says.

“This year we’ve mostly used bulls from international genetics because we feel that the NZ Jersey breed genetics are becoming quite restrictive. We used four main bulls and two or three others, plus a number of different beef breed straws. We selected bulls to correct each trait.”

By and large they no longer look at just the BW figures. Their herd’s BW matches

the national average and is slightly above the average PW but it wasn’t getting them the herd they desired.

“We won’t lose our BW as such as most of the bulls used have a BW against them” Glen says.

They aspire to breed cows that will live and successfully milk for over 10 years.

Their herd is young but as they age they are displaying udder and feet issues. That could mean potentially good cows might have limited longevity.

By using the Animal Analysis method they feel certain that they will be able to breed cows that will survive in the herd for a longer time.

As a DairyNZ climate change ambassador Trish believes their breeding approach fits into the climate change work she is taking part in.

“It’s a simple fact that fewer animals equal less methane,” Trish says.

“Dropping their stocking rate isn’t something a sharemilker wants to do because that’s their asset. We want to focus on achieving a much better performing animal to help achieve environmental goals.”

They have learnt a lot along the way considering neither came from a farming background. They met in Greymouth when Glen worked for Agri Quality after finishing a Taratahi dairy farming course.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

They couldn’t ever see us owning a farm. It felt blunt at the time but was spot on.

Trish Rankin

Trish was teaching in Greymouth.

In 2001, Glen decided to go dairy farming and moved to Canterbury where he was the herd manager on an 800cow farm and Trish got a teaching job in Ashburton. Following a stint overseas, Glen went to work as the herd manager then lower-order sharemilker on a 500cow Ashburton farm. A job in Wairarapa followed before the shift to Northland.

The couple ended up on a property in the back blocks near Kohukohu on the Hokianga Harbour where they ran a 260ha self-contained System 1 farm.

That is where Trish learnt to milk, do a shed wash and put up a fence in what she calls her farm assistant job. She also did a diploma in agribusiness management through NorthTec. “Because I lived two-hours away I didn’t always have to attend class but could log-in to complete my diploma. I enjoyed the figures and discovering what was happening in the environmental area of

Continued page 10

really dry. The cows never really got going,” Glen says.

The System 3 farm uses 13ha of turnips, 7.5ha of lucerne, 100 tonnes of straw and 90t of grass silage. Lucerne is a five-year crop and once established, they should be able to take a cut on a 20-25 day rotation. They are focusing on increasing the amount of dry matter per hectare and increasing the amount of ME they can grow.

“The idea of lucerne had been at the back of our minds for quite some time but the opportunity to grow it had never arisen,” Glen says.

“It’s a reliable, high-value, summer crop with good protein. We had a 100t hole that needed filling. Lucerne should fill that gap. We don’t want to rely on bought-in feed and are looking at ways to reduce that reliance.”

Growing their own feed supplements will let them control their costs and not be dependent on a fluctuating market.

“If you can control pasture quality through November and December it gives you a great deal of extra production.

But you get to a certain point where you begin to lose that battle. That’s where the turnips come in,” Glen says.

“We’d be one of the earliest in our district to begin grazing the turnips.

Ours go in earlier because we want them available by the end of December when the grass quality declines. As the production began to drop we introduced the turnips and the production returned to pre-Christmas levels.

“Turnips this year have cost 7.75 cents a kg of DM, palm kernel 27 cents and the lucerne should fit somewhere in between

The Rankin boys, from top, Charlie, Harry, Tom and Patrick know mum and dad are chasing their goal of farm ownership so are happy to pitch a tent on the back lawn and create their own holiday fun.

farming.”

Then came the win in the Dairy Industry Awards and the shift to Taranaki.

They are now in their second season as 45:55 herd-owning sharemilkers on a 154 hectare Parininihi ki Waitotara (PKW) farm in South Taranaki milking 440 cows.

They wanted to work for PKW because of the company’s values. One of the things they’ve identified along their journey is that you can choose a farm on its figures but it’s equally important to choose farm owners with matching values.

“PKW have kaitiakitanga, which is the guardianship of the land and whanaungatanga, the importance of whanau/family. We have monthly kaitiaki hui where we all discuss what we’re doing,” Trish says.

“A quarterly whanau hui is held at a local marae where we learn about that marae’s history and practise our powhiri and mihi. Those things were important to us after building that momentum in the Far North.”

This season they are targeting about 430 kilograms of milksolids a cow. They budgeted on reaching 183,000kg MS but are on target to reach 195,000kg.

“In some ways this year is like year one for us.

“Last season it got really wet and then

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Trish and Glen Rankin in their cowshed on the South Taranaki farm where they are 45:55 sharemilkers.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

ON FARM STORY

Trish and Glen Rankin with some of their friendly herd.

so we are trying to use low-cost feed to get days in milk without hitting our bottom line with home-grown feed,” Trish says.

The turnip crop helped the Rankins meet last year’s production target, which demonstrated what the farm was capable of producing in a good year. As a result they have added an extra 30,000kg MS to this year’s target.

They are firm believers in measuring and recording as much information as possible to facilitate decision-making.

They measure their grass weekly and decide the length of their rounds by the amount of available grass.

To help make more informed decisions the Rankins bought a tow-behind

pasture meter and can now complete the measuring task in under an hour.

One of Glen’s mottos is “Timing beats talent”.

Measuring everything, whether it be grass or finances ensures they don’t make off-the-cuff decisions.

They noticed how hard the drought hit the surrounding farmers when some dried-off or went once-a-day in December.

“You could see the stress in the community.

“We’d regularly had to farm with those conditions so appreciated how everyone was feeling. We were reasonably upbeat until we went to discussion groups and

saw how hard people were being hit,” Trish says.

“Our first year sharemilking had a $3.90 payout, the second was in the $4 region then we moved here, which was a huge cost, and into the toughest season Taranaki had since the 1970s,” Glen says.

“But we could see why the locals love Taranaki. It’s much easier than the farms we’d come from.

“I’ve taken on farms before that from day one have had no grass so I’ve had to learn to be creative. Being in a tight spot is not as uncomfortable to me anymore.”

Continued page 12

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ON FARM STORY Glen Rankin checks the levels and mix in the Dosatron water-powered proportional dosing pump.

Everything we ever wanted in a farm has come together here.

Glen Rankin

When they bought their herd in 2015 they had a 15-week calving spread. It was pretty tough going because they had replacements coming in through to week eight.

One of their goals was to shorten the overall calving spread as well as the replacements. Last year they did sixweeks of AI using a number of breeds before putting their bulls out.

That paid off because their replacements started on July 20 and finished by the end of August. This year they have tightened it up even more with only four weeks of AI for replacements though they did all AI this season, tailing off with beef or short gestation semen.

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This season the Rankins raised 124 calves and kept them on the farm to eat the abundance of grass. They have 107 R2s out grazing.

Trish combines her part time teaching job at Opunake Primary School with the farm. During term three of the school year she is full time on the farm to help with calving.

Last year they did a trial and fed one group of calves on ad-lib milk and the other group on twice-a-day feeds. The ad-lib pens went through more milk and the calves grew faster but the twice-a-day calves caught up.

Trish found the ad-lib feeding to be advantageous in the busy early spring.

As the new calves arrived she knew those from the day before were drinking unsupervised and she had to concentrate only on teaching the new ones to drink.

“We tube-feed all of our calves with gold colostrum; which we measure with a brix refractometer. We put milk straight from the teat of the cow onto the refractometer and have found that there’s a big difference between the cows. The gold colostrum can all look gold but vastly differ in quality,” Trish says.

“Even though 20 new cows may have come in I only need to keep the colostrum from three cows that have colostrum with a brix reading of 22 or above.”

Trish is positive that tube-feeding every new calf with warm gold colostrum within an hour or two of arrival has really made a difference. The end result was incredibly healthy calves and no illnesses.

They used beef breeds over some of their cows and the calves were sold at four-days along with more than 50 Jersey bulls. It is an area of their business they feel they will be able to grow.

This year the herd has been vaccinated for bovine viral diarrhoea for the first time. After having an outbreak on a farm they previously managed, they felt the $9000 cost was a worthwhile investment.

Away from the farm they are busy with their children, the Dairy Industry Awards and various other programmes.

Glen is judging this year’s awards and Trish is on the national executive.

“The journey really begins once you’ve won the award.

“Sometimes people drop out because they didn’t win on their first attempt. They don’t realise that you must keep coming back. The moment you enter the awards you demonstrate that you’re willing to receive feedback and are receptive to change,” Trish says.

Trish has been inspired to take on challenges such as the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, focusing on waste minimisation on farms. She is interested in researching circular

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

The 13ha turnip crop has cost 7.5 cents a kilogram of dry matter and helped the Rankins, from left, Harry, Tom, Charlie, Patrick, Glen and Trish, increase production after Christmas. economies and applying them to agriculture and dairy farming and ways to solve the problem of dairy farm nonbiological waste.

Trish was on the technical user committee doing the NAIT review and is one of the 19 people in the region who have completed the Dairy Environment Leaders programme.

The Rankins do not believe in the onesize-fits-all solution for farming dairy cows and say each farmer has a different approach that fits their own particular farming operation and environmental conditions.

Using this philosophy and techniques

gleaned from their previous farming jobs they are continuing to work towards their ultimate goal – hopefully in Taranaki.

“This is the best, most well-rounded region we’ve been in. The kid’s school and sports activities are close by and the school bus stops at the gate. In Northland; the kid’s rugby was often a two-hour drive away over rough roads.

“Everything we ever wanted in a farm has come together here,” Glen says.

“Our focus is to try and get rid of our debt as quickly as possible so if an opportunity arises we can grab it.

“Once we’ve achieved farm ownership

Proven Product. Best Spread.

we’ll look for another challenge. Farm ownership isn’t the end. It’s just part of the journey.” n

>> Video link: bit.ly/OFSrankin

AT THE GRASSROOTS

My answer to facial eczema South Auckland farmer Andrew Cryer is concerned farmers might not be aware there is another way when dealing with facial eczema.

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an getting on top of facial eczema be done? Yes, because I have done it.

One year, like many other farmers in the district, I lost nearly half my herd to facial eczema (FE) despite zinc treatment.

That was repeated several years later.

The financial and emotional costs of cows not making it to the shed, dying in the paddocks, under hedges, the stench of eczema urine in the shed was extremely difficult.

Despite zinc dispensers, overdosed troughs, dehydrated milking cows and administering multiple zinc bullets per animal the milkers were still dying, not to mention the utter disaster with young stock.

The situation was so depressing I will never forget it.

Very simply, eczema in cattle results from toxins produced by the fungal decomposition of dead plant matter when eaten by cattle. Generally, it appears in warm, humid conditions and young stock seem more susceptible.

I suspect with increasing global temperatures and changing weather patterns we can only expect to see eczema issues increase.

After yet another bad eczema season my fertiliser spreading contractor gently mentioned how some of his other clients spread lime with their annual dressing for the sole purpose of reducing eczema and with some success.

I dismissed that because, to me, it was obviously yet more unproven snake oil.

After many discussions my Ballance representative at the time was able to come up with some supportive evidence of the concept but it sadly lacked the required element of having a control.

For the previous 14 seasons, on Ballance’s pH recommendation, we applied no lime.

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Facial eczema is particularly difficult to manage in a System 1 dairy farming operation because there are no alternative feed sources. Since lime is cheap and eczema extremely costly, we gave it a shot at 300-350kg/ha in our annual dressing.

The following year CRV introduced its facial eczema-tolerant team of bulls, which I have used exclusively ever since.

Breeding indexes are irrelevant as dead or sick cows and young stock produce no milk.

For me this has been a great success, subject to the necessary, ongoing culling of the odd remaining genetically susceptible throwback calf that still pops up.

From the very first year a marked absence of clinical eczema was observed over all age groups.

It was simply too straightforward, inexpensive, effective and involved no extra work.

This is not an advert but the result has to be recognised. Susceptibility to eczema is genetic.

As CRV is the only supplier of eczematolerant sires I have used it since their inception.

As no facial eczema-tolerant tailing off bulls are available I bred my own. I simply retained AB eczema-tolerant bull calves from the best cows calving in the first cycle because they are my most fertile cows.

I also used the bulls over the heifers.

That is not easy on the heifers but nowhere as tough as eczema.

Andrew Cryer hopes sharing his experience will help other farmers in their fight against facial eczema.

Throwbacks to facial eczema intolerance still crop up and are culled as weaners or at the first sign of the disease.

The dairy industry has been introducing eczema-intolerant genetics into New Zealand herds since the inception of imported semen.

Lime is included in the annual dressing at 300-350kg/ha early January.

The application date is critical, being immediately before the autumn eczema period.

To my surprise I saw the presence of lime (calcium) in the grass sward base at the above rate/ha – nothing to do with soils or soil pH – resulted in a massive reduction in fungal activity, disturbingly the exact opposite finding to DairyNZ Myth Busters, whose methodology I challenged, suggesting they come and replicate their findings in Karaka. They have been conspicuous by their absence.

From the very first year a marked absence of clinical eczema was observed over all age groups along with the absence of mushrooms and the red/orange rust plague in autumn-saved pasture. My autumn-saved pasture now holds for up to three months, rust free, at which time the lower leaves are yellowing but still no rust.

It seems our use of zinc simply masks the ailments of eczema without addressing the cause, all the while filling the pockets of animal health companies and running already overloaded farmers ragged bulleting and dispensing.

Contrary to common belief, I understand zinc assists with the recovery

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

FACIAL ECZEMA RISK – TRENDS IN SPORE COUNT LEVELS

% elevated spore counts (<30,000/g)

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10

2016

2017

2018

Week 21

Week 20

Week 19

Week 18

Week 17

Week 16

Week 15

Week 14

Week 13

Week 12

Week 11

Week 10

Week 9

Week 8

Week 7

Week 6

Week 5

Week 4

Week 3

Week 2

Week 1

0

2019

Source: Gribbles Veterinary, AsureQuality, Beef and Lamb NZ, Agritrade and Dairy NZ

from and not the prevention of facial eczema.

As I said above, I have bulleted milkers with up to three bullets at once and dosed troughs to the max manually and with

in-line dispensers and they still died from eczema. Zinc made not a blind bit of difference for me. Broken contour precluded effective spraying of fungicides.

My suggestion to other farmers is be

proactive – even if you live in an area where FE isn’t present or hasn’t been yet.

You never know when it might appear so don’t think you are safe.

Take the case in Blenheim, for example.

The 84 year old farmer whose herd was hit with FE in recent years had not seen FE in the entire district in living memory.

Having your herd hit with FE is downright heart-breaking.

Watching your young stock is even worse.

You feel so helpless.

But with a few changes you can get on top of it and protect your business and asset against yet another curve ball nature might have for you just around the corner. n

Andrew Cryer is 62 years old, owned his herd for 37 seasons and has a System 1 dairy farm in the notorious eczema district of Karaka, South Auckland.

MORE:

If you have a burning issue you want to discuss or draw attention to or would like to share your experience on a subject and would like to contribute to this page, drop us a line at sonita.chandar@globalhq.co.nz

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16

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

®

NEWS

The number of dairy cattle has fallen for a second year but they still make up half the country’s stock units.

Dairy cows down again

T

HE number of dairy cattle has dipped for the second year while beef cattle numbers increased strongly in 2018, Stats NZ says.

Provisional figures from the 2018 agricultural production census show dairy cattle numbers fell 1%, to 6.4 million in June 2018.

“This followed a similar small dip in 2017 though overall dairy cattle numbers have been relatively steady since 2012,” agricultural production statistics manager Stuart Pitts said.

Total dairy cattle were at their highest level in 2014 at 6.7m.

“Dairy products are a huge export for New Zealand.

“The value of milk powder, butter and cheese exports for the year ended June 2018 was $14.1 billion.”

Beef cattle numbers rose for the second year in a row, up 5% to 3.8m in 2018.

Total sheep numbers eased again in 2018, down 1% to 27.3m.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

“Sheep numbers have fallen in 10 of the past 12 years, in total down about 12.8m from about 40.1m in 2006,” Pitts said.

“NZ now has 5.6 sheep for every person after peaking at 22 sheep for every person in 1982.”

The value of milk powder, butter and cheese exports for the year ended June 2018 was $14.1 billion.

A large fall in sheep and beef cattle numbers since 1990 means overall stock units have fallen in the past 28 years, despite a rise in dairy cattle numbers.

A stock unit means different types of animals can be compared, based on the food they eat and how much they weigh.

The stock unit is based on the annual feed needed for a 55kg ewe rearing a single lamb.

A dairy cow is the equivalent of about seven ewes, so is counted as seven stock units, compared with just one stock unit for a ewe.

In 1990 there were 100m stock units in total, more than half of them sheep, with most of the rest in beef and dairy cattle.

Deer make up a small part of the total.

By 2004 total stock unit numbers fell to 94m and in 2018 that was down to 86m.

“The large drop in stock units since 1990 mainly reflects a halving in sheep numbers, down from 53m stock units to 25m,” Pitts said.

“In the same period dairy stock units almost doubled to 41m.

“By 2018 dairy cattle made up almost half of all livestock units.”

The Ministry for Primary Industries’ latest report, updated on January 11, said about 52,000 dairy cattle have been culled as part of the response to Mycoplasma bovis. n 17

NEWS

Authorities are warning farmers not to burn rubbish as the country continues to dry out.

Fire risk high

F

IRE and Emergency NZ is urging farmers to put paddock burn-offs and vegetation fires on hold as scorching weather continues to dry out

Northland.

Deputy principal fire officer Wayne Martin says using fire as a land clearing tool for paddock burn-offs should be restricted at this time of year.

“We understand they’ve got to burn the grasses like kikuyu but when it comes to doing big burns like downed trees, do those around winter or late autumn when temperatures drop and we get the heavy dews in the morning.”

Farmers are encouraged to burn rubbish and vegetation during an open fire season, when there is less risk, Martin says.

Northland now has a restricted fire season, which means residents wanting to light an outdoor fire must get a permit.

Restricted fire seasons are also in place in other regions.

Permits are free and can be obtained online at www.checkitsalright.nz or by phoning 0800 658 628.

“With the conditions at the moment, particularly since Christmas, we haven’t had any rain and we’ve had high

18

temperatures and afternoon winds.

Northland is drying out.

“People need to start being more vigilant around getting permits and question whether they really need to be burning rubbish at this time of year.”

In the Far North, a scrub fire at Taipa recently burned through one hectare of land and a huge fire at Matawai, south of Kaikohe, burned through 60 hectares of bush and took four days to extinguish.

Deputy principal rural fire officer Clinton Lyall says its important people check their fire status to see if they need a permit to light an outdoor fire.

“It’s indicative of how dry things are and how quickly things can get out of control.

“Even though the grass seems to be fairly green … it’s deceptive.

“It’s the hot temperatures and the low humidity in the later parts of the day driven by wind.”

MetService predicts the weather will continue to be hot and dry and Martin says the conditions are a concern.

A wet spring in Northland caused lots of vegetation growth and the long grass is now starting to dry out and become a fire hazard.

He encourages farmers to keep their paddocks mowed.

People need to start being more vigilant around getting permits and question whether they really need to be burning rubbish at this time of year.

Wayne Martin Fire and Emergency

“The grass is starting to dry and the chances of a fast-moving fire in grass and scrub is starting to rise.” n

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February 2019

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ON FARM STORY

Many small changes add up

Camden Group operations manager Terry Kilday, left, and general manager Leo Donkers changed their management practices to enable the group to continue farming.

Photos: Tony Benny 20

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

A Canterbury family is hitting its environmental goals ahead of schedule. Tony Benny reports.

C

HANGING the regrassing programme along with tweaks to fertiliser and irrigation practices has allowed Canterbury family-corporate farmer the Camden Group to achieve the 30% reduction in nitrogen losses demanded by the Canterbury Regional Council, ECan, well before the 2022 deadline.

Brothers Leo and John Donkers started Camden Group 25 years ago and now own four dairy farms and two support farms as well as being involved in share-milking businesses on three other farms. Their business growth has coincided with the development of dairying in Canterbury over that time.

“There wasn’t a cow milked west of the main road (SH1) when we bought our first farm and that land use change has been quite phenomenal,” Leo says.

The rapid expansion of dairy farming in the region has put pressure on the environment and farmers now have to comply with increasingly strict regulations to reduce that impact, particularly the loss of nitrogen into groundwater.

“We have to change our management practices to enable us to continue farming

in this environment,” he says.

“The consent to farm will be mandatory for many farmers, ensuring that we all meet and better the agreed environmental, animal welfare and social standards that are put in place to allow us to continue to farm.

“Consumers, both local and around the world, want to know the products they buy are being produced along certain standards and being dependent on exporting, this is doubly important.”

When the Selwyn Waihora zone committee, which, under the Canterbury Water Management Strategy, set nutrient loss limits and environmental targets for the catchment and signaled five years ago that tighter controls were coming the Camden Group took a hard look at its operation, encouraged by the success Lincoln University Dairy Farm had achieving the targets while remaining profitable.

One of the first things tackled was the pasture, which, despite being resown in high performing species, wasn’t consistently delivering the pasture production gains hoped for. Part of the problem was the persistence of the lowperforming native pasture species.

“Our expectation was we would

continue to grow more grass but we just didn’t and that’s when alarm bells started ringing. We did a lot more research and found these species we planted were not persisting and we had high levels of browntop and poa re-establishing in our new pastures.”

On the advice of seed company Agriseeds pasture systems manager Graham Kerr it adopted a two-year, double-spray strategy along with a change in species and sowing method.

“The programme was we sprayed with glyphosate, direct-drilled an annual and sustained that for a year,” Leo says.

“Then, at the same time the following year we re-sprayed, cultivated and drilled permanent pasture.

Continued page 22

Farm manager Robin Hornblow in the cowshed during afternoon milking.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

21

ON FARM STORY

FARM FACTS n Owners: Camden Group – Willsden Farm n General manager: Leo Donkers n Operations manager: Terry Kilday n Farm manager: Robin Hornblow n Location: Te Pirita, Canterbury n Farm size: 306ha effective n Cows wintered: 1080 Kiwicross n Production: 2017- 2018 488,815kg MS n Target: 2018-2019 486,000kg MS n Farm working expenses: $4.25

“This one-pass drilling process involved drilling perennial ryegrass in normal rows then broadcast a tetraploid and white clover mix between the perennial rows to get full coverage.”

Previously browntop would come up between the rows after direct drilling but under the new system the inter-row space is now filled by tetraploid grass species and clover.

With the new system in place Camden’s 22

farms started getting the hoped-for production increases from their pasture.

“It was very beneficial and the benefit we got out of the annuals and tetraploids was phenomenal pasture growth,” Leo says.

“We grow a lot more grass than we ever have done in the past.”

The new pastures grew more in the shoulder periods of the season, being cool-season active, so used more nitrogen, reducing the amount in the soil that could leach into groundwater.

“We had to put the best species in that would grow us the most grass to use the nitrogen and the effluent that we’ve been putting on.”

The tetraploid grasses are coolseason active, which means they soak up nitrogen, even when other species’ growth has slowed, along with their nitrogen demand.

The success of the programme attracted the attention of DairyNZ’s Virginia Serra, who is in charge of the Meeting a Sustainable Future project, which aims to foster changes in farm systems to reduce nitrogen losses in the Hinds and Selwyn Waihora zones.

Serra says the limits are challenging but the sector is committed to helping farmers achieve them while maintaining resilient businesses.

“This project builds on previous nitrogen loss research. It aims to give farmers confidence the limits are achievable,” Serra says.

“Many farmers have been making changes to reduce nitrogen loss for some time and this will continue to build on that.”

Camden Holdings’ Willsden Farm at Te Pirita is now one of two partner farms in the project.

Farmright consultant Matt Benton took a close look at Willsden and recommended that pH and phosphorus levels in the soil needed to be addressed.

“At that time we weren’t individually soil testing every paddock so three years ago we started that process and that highlighted that we were not consistent in maintaining the required fertility and pH levels in every paddock. And if you didn’t test every paddock you’d never see that,” Leo says.

Paddocks below pH5.7 now get lime to lift levels and an Olsen P requirement has been set in the high 20s.

“After our individual paddocks soil test, every paddock is treated differently. The next step, which is now common practice with cropping farmers, is to test parts of the paddock so in a 7ha paddock you might do seven tests, one test/ha, and you would treat those areas separately.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

The herd comes in for milking.

That’s something for us in the future.”

As part of Good Management Practice (GMP), it no longer applies nitrogen in May because as soils get cooler and pasture plant growth slows the demand for nitrogen decreases.

“The worst time for any leaching is in autumn and winter. The unused nitrogen from the summer has accumulated in the soil and it gets lost with the winter rain.”

Leo has resisted putting in an expensive feed pad to help reduce nitrogen losses.

“That would require a significant system change and be a significant capital cost,” he says.

“So the most efficient thing we can do first is obviously spread our effluent on a bigger area and that’s something that’s in the pipeline now.”

Most effluent is applied over about 90ha of pasture using a small spreader but this year that area is being doubled.

Plans are also afoot to modify the centre pivot so effluent can be spread from that too, adding another 140ha.

“We should be to be able to do the whole farm over the next two or three years and then we’d have extremely good spread,” group operations manager Terry Kilday says.

When the farm was converted it had only five days effluent storage but now a

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

significantly larger pond has been put in, increasing storage to between 10 and 15 days.

While other farmers have sown plantain, a pasture plant showing promise in reducing nitrogen loss, both by reducing the amount contained in cows’ urine and by taking it up from the soil, Leo is holding off on that for now.

“We’re not trying it at the moment because of the inherent weed species in the soil. We spray our new grass with an MCPA/MCPB mix to control nodding thistle and fathen.”

But the selective spray would also kill plantain.

Continued page 24

Leo Donkers began the Camden Group with his brother and they now own four farms, two support block and is involved in various sharemilking businesses.

23

Willsden Farm at Te Pirita uses water from the huge Central Plains scheme to supply one centre pivot that, with set sprinklers, covers 140ha. The farm also has three Roto Rainers.

“It’s a real challenge for us to establish something properly so our choice is do we want plantain, which has environmental benefit, or do we want the most efficient grass that grows the most that has longevity.

“We are not going to get both.”

Another area getting close attention is irrigation.

Three Roto Rainers have been replaced by centre pivots and set sprinklers to allow for greater efficiency and a shorter return, down from 10 days to a two to three day return. Three Roto Rainers are

Staff member Reynaldo Diaz brings the herd in for milking.

24

still used on 140ha, on a seven, seven and six-day return.

“The pivot has benefits to us in irrigation efficiency, no labour requirement for moving irrigation, no machinery requirement and more efficient use of water.

“We can get rainfall and then know that you can get around quite quickly whereas if you’re on a longer return you’ve got to start on day one because you don’t want to be under more stress on day 10.”

The completion of Central Plains Water irrigation project, that replaces water from deep wells with pressurised water drawn from the Rakaia River, backed up by storage in Lake Coleridge, has added to the need for efficiency. Water has to be ordered the previous day and if not used still has to be paid for.

“We never realised how efficient that would make us because instead of having a push button system where we are pumping from deep wells and we have all the control, now we have to order water once a day.

“So at three o’clock we’ve got to make an order for tomorrow which means we need to know where the water is going and how much we need.”

In the past farmers were reluctant to

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

ON FARM STORY

We have to change our management practices to enable us to continue farming in this environment.

Leo Donkers

turn their irrigators off, even when rain was forecast.

“When we had a rainfall event coming, historically we’ve been, ‘Let’s turn the irrigators off once we tip the water out of the rain gauge because then we know’ but now we’re far more proactive.”

When the Rakaia is low and supplies have to be supplemented with water from Lake Coleridge farmers pay more so efficiency pays dividends.

Soil moisture probes are also used as a tool to make the correct decision about

when to irrigate.

“Monitoring the soil refill and wilting points and applying water between these parameters to make sure that none of that water goes through that profile is the best environmental option,” Leo says.

“It’s just common sense but people still don’t use it and that’s why it’s become a necessity to have that moisture monitoring equipment in to help efficient irrigation use and reduce nitrate leaching.

“Under the old system if you’re on a 10-day return and you’re at 22% moisture and you get six days of northwest your pasture production stops. But then if you get rainfall you’re going to leach – managing that is a balancing act.”

Leo says they used to think they were efficient in their water use but now realise that with having to physically order water every day and now seeing exactly what volumes are being applied they can do much better.

Adding variable rate technology to centre pivots could add another saving and help efficient water use but with having a consistent soil type under a pasture-based system and an $80,000

capital cost to retrofit each irrigator, the cost/benefit would need to be assessed.

Achieving a 30% reduction in nitrate leaching has been achieved without big changes to Willsden’s farming system but Leo wouldn’t be surprised if, in future, a target of 50 % was set by regulators, which would be much harder but not impossible to achieve.

Last season the herd averaged 465kg milksolids/cow milked to produce 488,815kg MS. The target this season has been cut to 486,000kg MS. Barley and grass is grown as a whole crop for winter silage and kale and grass are grown for winter feed on the 250ha run-off for the group’s cows.

Milking cow balage is bought from the 250ha run-off block, shared between four group dairy farms.

“By supplying feed in-house we have better control over what we feed and the quality of it.”

Staff do weekly pasture walks and usually start regrassing at the end of September and aim to do 15% annually.

Continued page 26

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The Group runs mostly Kiwicross cows, aiming for 480-490kg animals that can produce the same weight in milksolids.

Manager Robin Hornblow says hello to a friendly cow.

26

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

ON FARM STORY

I think we look back now and think what on earth were they doing 20 years ago and I think the general public still think that’s what farming is doing.

Terry Kilday Camden Group

The herd is wintered on the shared runoff, which is home to about 3800 cows from the four farms. Animals from each farm are kept separate and identified by their eartag colours.

In late May, before drying off, the herd is sorted into mobs of early and late calvers. The heifers are kept separate from the main herd during winter and calving.

Before calving starts on August 1 springing cows are drafted and brought home in mobs.

They do night checks of the herd and this season were bringing in calves every few hours because of the bad weather.

“Some days we can easily get 50 calves on the ground,” Kilday says.

They rear 250 replacements, which are kept indoors for about a week then shifted to another shed where they have access to pasture. Calves are moved onto the paddocks at 3-4 weeks.

Their weaning target is 70-80kg and the goal is for all calves to be at 100kg before they are sent to the drystock unit in December.

Kilday is optimistic and proud of what they’ve achieved so far.

“I think we look back now and think what on earth were they doing 20 years ago and I think the general public still think that’s what farming is doing.

“We are doing really good things and

we are looking at new technologies and better ways of doing things and we don’t get it right every time but we’re getting better and are fast followers of new research and technology changes, which are starting to show real benefits.”

Leo believes environmental targets can be met by dairy farmers without needing to make radical changes to the way they farm, focusing instead on the changes that have small effects but making many of them.

“Spreading out your effluent, sowing cool season-active pastures, soil moisture monitoring, don’t put on nitrogen, even in April and May, along with good management practice and sowing plantain, those things that are really easy.

“Building sheds and laying concrete to house cows is a huge system change and locks us into a higher cost model, which dilutes our clean and green image as an export nation,” Leo says.

“We’ve got a lot of aspects to try to change and be sustainable in what we’re doing but make sure that we’re meeting every target that’s being set and meet the expectations of all our stakeholders.” n

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February 2019

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MARKET OUTLOOK

Good start for year STEPHEN BELL

T

HE year has started with positive news with increases in Global Dairy Trade returns and the introduction of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership.

However, dairy farmers will have to contend with a lot more than those two bright points this year and some of those things will have long-term consequences for the industry and the economy.

The good start has been reflected by dairy commentators holding or even increasing their farmgate milk price predictions. They had predicted dairy commodity prices to start improving this year but the pace and angle of the rise are better than expected.

On top of that feed is generally plentiful, setting up farmers well for autumn and winter, and letting them keep the milk flowing as we approach the tail end of the season.

Fuel prices have come down, inflation is low at just under 2% a year and interest rates are also low and likely to stay that way this year. The Reserve Bank is likely to hold the official cash rate all year.

However, there is some upward pressure on inputs, notably on wages.

And with a labour shortage farmers will have to respond if they want to attract and keep staff.

CHANGE IN GDT PRICE INDEX 6% 4% 2% 0% -2% -4%

7 Aug 21 Aug 4 Sep 18 Sep 2 Oct 16 Oct 6 Nov 20 Nov 4 Dec 18 Dec 2 Jan 15 Jan 2018 2019 Summary of results Number of Winning Bidders

123

Number of Bidding Rounds

13

Duration of Trading Event (hours:mins)

1:57

Minimum Supply (MT)

25,845

Maximum Supply (MT)

30,863

Number of Registered Bidders

Many dairy farmers will have ample feed stored going into winter meaning there should be plenty on the market for those who need to buy, making prices attractive – good for the buyers but not so good for the arable farmers selling it.

Domestic demand is predicted to pick up this year after softening last year.

Household spending is likely to grow at 5% for the next two years.

Business confidence is a tricky one to decipher. It’s a case of picking which of the many surveys you like.

Many businesses seem to be doing one and saying another. While expressing a

The signs are for the farmgate milk price to stay well clear of the $6 mark this season.

28

524

Number participating bidders

191

Quantity sold (MT)

27,909 lack of confidence they are investing and hiring more staff.

It looks very much like a case of expressing the party line of pessimism because we have a Labour-led government while acting optimistically when making business decisions.

Farmers will also be worrying about the consequences for them of political moves on water quality, the environment generally and climate change.

There will be much jockeying for position this year as various interested groups try to influence Government thinking on all these issues so farmers need to make sure they are heard and can quantify their claims about what they are doing for the environment.

While there are likely to be some decisions made this year there are unlikely to be major financial impacts from them. Politicians don’t generally move that fast unless they are claiming credit for something everyone likes.

Overseas influences are likely to have a big effect on farm incomes this year but the exchange rate, barring dramatic events causing a sharp rise, is expected to be reasonably stable.

The big unknowns of the year are international events.

We don’t even know what Brexit will look like so trying to predict how it will affect us is fraught with difficulty.

In the past few years New Zealand

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t filled its European import quotas for lamb or dairy products at zero tariffs, indicating we have more important markets.

However, there is some upward pressure on inputs, notably on wages.

One of those important markets is China. Its trade war with the United States could be quickly resolved or escalate. Either way is not good news for New Zealand exporters.

A resolution will likely involve China taking more

goods from America and an escalation could further depress domestic spending in China.

Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s downturn in domestic spending is allied with big cuts in both its imports and exports and though it has been more actively buying dairy products recently some commentators say it has now filled its immediate needs.

A bright spot on the international scene is that the European Union has managed to sell all but a small amount of its stockpiled skim milk powder without causing chaos in the market.

The net result of the domestic and overseas factors this year could be a squeeze on margins as costs at home push up and international uncertainty and tensions coupled with the Chinese downturn put downward pressure on prices. n

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SERVICE - RE PAIRS - MAINTENANCE The shaded dials indicate the proportion of each product group sold versus total quantity sold during the previous 12 months, with a 3 month lag. Figures within the dials represent the percentage change in GDT Price Index and the weighted average price.

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February 2019

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29

DAIRY CHAMPION

Science omnivore takes Professor Rich McDowell has a lot of high-stakes science on his plate. Tim Fulton reports.

A

Professor Rich McDowell is responsible for managing science programmes on behalf of many staff and organisations, based at Lincoln and elsewhere.

30

S CHIEF scientist for the Land and Water National Science Challenge Rich McDowell leads about 150 researchers working on the country’s biggest land and freshwater questions.

The land and water challenge is one of 11 research areas the Government is funding to the tune of $680m over 10 years.

Our Land and Water’s pot for the next six years is about $69m.

The science challenges have generated more than 400 publications across more than 150 projects since the programme started in 2014.

McDowell’s job, leading a multidisciplinary team from at least 16 organisations, is delivering land and water research that can be taken onto farms and into New Zealand’s worldwide agricultural markets.

A web page for the land and water portfolio says “because of the research the way we use and manage our land and water will be transformed by deriving greater value in global markets, using land and water in innovative and resilient ways and by building collaborative capacity.”

Under McDowell’s watch researchers are working on projects of vital importance for farmers’ ability to farm, like identifying sources of phosphorus and sediment loss from farms or catchments and pinpointing the most suitable land uses on farms and across catchments.

The challenge projects cover anything from microbes to how much overseas consumers are willing to pay for on-farm environmental management. Finance ranges from $50,000 for a contaminant loading study to more than $3m for an investigation of nutrient sources and flows.

Among the projects researchers have determined the load (kg/yr) of water contaminants in big and small streams, including whether excluding livestock from large streams (more than 1m wide and 30cm deep) in flat catchments used for pastoral grazing will substantially

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

on the tough questions decrease contaminants in a catchment.

The work used a decade (1998-2009) of data to calculate catchment load of nitrogen and phosphorus, suspended sediment and E coli at 728 water quality monitoring sites around the country.

The data was combined with catchment characteristics such as climate, topography, geology and land cover and stream size to predict loads for all streams and rivers in NZ. The data found in catchments dominated by agriculture 77% of the load came from small streams. That suggests fencing larger streams will affect, on average, only 23% of the national contaminant load. The findings suggest more should be done to reduce the amount of contaminants entering small streams.

McDowell says the research is being used by local and central government to set policy for improving freshwater.

Taranaki Regional Council, for example, committed to fencing more streams than those covered by central government’s proposed stock exclusion regulations.

There is also evidence to suggest real progress is being made at a large catchment to regional scale for sustained efforts to reduce contaminant losses, McDowell says.

Citing colleagues’ work in the region, he said a decrease in sediment and

Rich McDowell is the chief scientist for the Land and Water National Science Challenge and leads a team of 150 researchers.

phosphorus loads and increase in water clarity was entirely consistent with the predictions in the efficacy of the implementation of farm plans in the Manawatu River catchment.

The Manawatu-Wanganui (Horizons) Regional Council recently said its Sustainable Land Use Initiative has completed 683 farm plans, with 14 million trees planted covering 500,000

hectares and more than 570,000 metres of waterways fenced.

Overall stream and river sediment loads are expected to decrease and cause a concurrent reduction of the phosphorus load carried by the river.

The Environment Ministry recently reported that at 159 sites dominated by

Continued page 32

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DAIRY CHAMPION intensively grazed pasture monitored between 1994-2013, 41% are improving and 21% are worsening while for the 304 sites monitored between 2004-2013, 65% are improving.

This improvement in water quality occurred despite an increase in national dairy cow numbers by 26% and the continued expansion of dairying into new areas commonly used for sheep farming.

Sheep numbers decreased by 22% over the same period.

In examining nine potential causes for the decrease in phosphorus losses there is little evidence it was caused by factors such as a decrease in soil Olsen phosphorus concentrations or using less phosphorus fertiliser.

However, probable causes are that onfarm strategies are stopping phosphorus loss from land and that together with policy, the actions are being directed to areas on-farm or in the catchment where phosphorus losses are most concentrated.

We can no longer massage or force our land to our land uses. We must put the right land use to what the land can suitably do with it.

They are called critical source areas and farm environment plans are a way to find and manage them.

McDowell has a particular interest in the practical communication of this sort of research, asking the hard questions.

“I’ve heard people say ‘if we put the right mitigation in the right space we can optimise our property’ but what happens if they do that and the existing operations still do not meet the domestic or international aspirations of water quality or indeed profitability?

At an agricultural science conference at Lincoln last October McDowell argued NZ farming might need iterative design to match production to the most suitable land use and to help farmers meet community aspirations for water quality.

That moves beyond farm environment plans and the isolation of critical source areas to examine a potential system re-set by considering land use suitability. The suitability concept provides indicators on what a parcel of land can produce, the potential of the land parcels to lose contaminants and the effect of the contaminants on water according to a water quality objective.

Rich McDowell tests the waters at Coes Ford, one of the best-known lowland recreational waterways in Christchurch.

32

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

“We can no longer massage or force our land to our land uses. We must put the right land use to what the land can suitably do with it.” A land-use suitability study in the Rangitikei River catchment showed what is possible, he said.

Quoting work done by Massey University, he said if there is a move to intensify more than 83,000ha of the catchment, the nitrate loss from the root zone would increase by 55%.

But because the leached-nitrogen flowed through aquifers where a lot of denitrification occurred most of the leached-nitrogen was converted to gaseous forms and lost to air. The result was that the load in the river would have likely decreased by 6%.

A key to implementing land-use suitability and other novel research is a strong working relationship between farmers and scientists, McDowell said.

Researchers will get best results by asking farmers what work matters to them then gathering the data on farms so farmers see the value in what scientists are doing and, therefore, can extend it among their networks much more efficiently.

Agriculture-oriented scientists should have no pretenses about their ability to promote their work without farmers’ help, he said.

“I’d be the first person to say that I may not be the right person to stand up at a farmer field day and say that our results apply everywhere without considering how they apply locally. I may not have either the relevance or the mana to do so.”

McDowell is well placed to comment.

Something of a scientific omnivore, he’s

Rich McDowell checks out riparian planting on an AgResearch farm at Lincoln.

appointed Science Board running the wider National Science Challenges programme.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment recently completed its mid-way review of the 11 National Science Challenges.

The Science Board agreed to fund all challenges at the maximum funding amount set by Cabinet in 2013 for July 2019 1 – June 30 2024. Funding for the challenges has been allocated for 10 years in two five-year periods, the first of which is until June 30 2019. n

equally at home in farm science, soil science and freshwater studies.

Born in Southland, he studied at Lincoln University and went on to win a Benefactor’s Scholarship to Cambridge, one of only six the British university awards annually worldwide.

McDowell then joined the United States Agriculture Research Service before coming home in 2001 and carving out his varied career. He has three masters: his employer Lincoln University, AgResearch as administrative host for the land and water challenge and the government-

JANUARY 21, 2019

LIVESTOCKEYE TEMUKA SHEEP

LAMB PRICE

LAMB INDICATORS

ARE YOU IN THE GAME OF TRADING LIVESTOCK? Get the break down and keep an eye on the outlook with our insights

AVE

LAMB WEIGHT

MIXED SEX LAMB

AVE

MIXED SEX LAMB

32-34KG

PRIME MA EWE

28-29KG

MEDIAN

$/KG

KG

$/KG

$/KG

$/HD

3.81

30.5

3.73

4.02

155.00

VIEWPOINT

Store lamb throughput already 8000 head behind 2018

NORTH ISLAND Store lamb values continued to soar, JANUARY 18,with 2019 a gaping hole between last year and

halfbred mixed sex made a premium Sheep sale tallies over similar weighted lines with 36kg Store Lamb 1670 even more so with the five-year average. earning $3.69/kg, and 33kg, $3.82/kg.

Ewes with LAF 2 Key Points The supply-demand equation is well out Prime ewes also continued to sell Suz Bremner of whack this season as any softening in on a very competitive market with Prime Lamb 625 Store markets still schedule strong prices is counterbalanced by schedule prices, which have remained Prime Hogget 192 grass growth that brings steady for another week with most Brexit and Federalphenomenal shutdown cause Prime Ewe 1095 new buyers to the market each week. sitting around $4.90/kgCW. Just over concern Prime Male Sheep 109 That grass growth is responsible for 1000 ewes were easily absorbed by more lambs at home though, the regular buyers and was basically a NZ punches abovekeeping its weight with Total 3693 and throughput for 2019 is already 8000 repeat of the previous week. Top cuts beef exports to china head behind 2018. sold for $180-$210, and second cuts, Store lamb tallies Australia in the heat A draw-card was a big consignment $132-$178. Only a handful sold below 8.0k of Romney-cross mixed sex lambs and that level at $90-$128.

6.0k without these numbers the store pens The prime lamb section is a bit LAMB US IMP. 95CL NZD:USD would have been very dismal indeed. like Ground-Hog Day, with no extra 4.0k $/KG US$/LB The average lamb weight was much competition to shake things up. The 7.05 2.10 0.68this week as it tipped just over market reflected easing schedules and 2.0k heavier 30kg compared to 24.3kg last Monday, softened to $120-$138 for the bulk, with 0.0k 31-Dec 14-Jan 28-Jan 11-Feb and 30-34kg mixed sex were very top cuts at $140-$170, and a small tail 5-yr ave Last year This year consistently priced at $114-$120, $3.73- end earning $110-$119. This time last $3.74/kg, which lifted the 32-34kg graph year most prime lambs were making Store lambs statistics by 30c/kg. Those at the lower end of that $110-$157.

This sale Last sale Last year range were This Wednesday Temuka will play Ave. $/hd 115.97 104.06 76.02 such as processed meats. In reality, very the 2013 federal shutdown when thesteady, NZD/ along with 28-29kg which averaged $4.02/kg. That covered host to a Two-Tooth & Ewe Lamb Fair, Ave. $/kg 3.81 4.28 2.83 few inspections would have been carried USA exchange rate rose to 0.85. the bulk of the store lambs and again a with approximately 7000 head on the out over the holiday period anyway, but 30.5 24.3 26.9 Ave. weight Weather number of those that registered a desire books. consumer sentiment it not always fact based.

The generous summer continues with to buy left empty-handed.

Two lines of Store lambs 32-34kg ($/kg) This is a concern for our lean beef exports 4.5 pastures receiving a nice watering this which are mixed with US domestic beef to 4.0 week. Some parts of the east coast received STORE LAMBS (MEAT) create the American’s beloved hamburger.

3.5 100mm or so of rain. While rain is a blessing It seems that US cow slaughter has slowed Age/ Sex Weight Tally $/hd $/kg Trend Range 3.0 for maintaining pasture quality (especially down in recent weeks, but this is difficult 2.5 Mixed Sex 38-40kg 77 121.00 3.01 to confirm since the USDA who reports on the juicy clover), when it is mixed in with Sex 35-37kg 144 130.22 3.59 123.00 - 133.00 2.0 hot days it isn’t troubleMixed free. Flystrike is these things is also running on fumes.

1.5 Hawke’s Bay. Mixed Sex 32-34kg 482 3.73 118.50 - 120.00 119.83 The federal shutdown means that US becoming an issue around 22-Oct 22-Dec 22-Feb 22-Apr plentySex of pasture 5-yr ave Last year This year importers are forced to rely on reports from Warm, humid weather and Mixed 30-31kg 135 114.93 3.74 STEADY 114.00 - 117.50 up nicely for Australia and New Zealand to estimate the litter will also be setting things Mixed Sex 28-29kg 389 113.58 4.02 STEADY 111.00 - 114.00 Store lambs 28-29kg ($/kg) amount of beef coming into the country. Facial Eczema spore growth.

4.5 Mixed Sexthe22-23kg 50 95.00 4.32 Northland is drying faster than rest At this time of the year, the US is usually 4.0 Mixed 20-21kg 121 98.00 4.67 in theSex Far North attempting to offset their seasonal lull in of the island with a hotspot 3.5 cattle slaughter with NZ imported bull beef. expanding this week. The farmers of the 3.0 too concerned LAMBS (WOOL) That is a tricky task without any information. north don’t appear to beSTORE 2.5 Unsurprisingly, the currency rate is yet with stock selling to local buyers at the Breed Sex Weight Tally $/hd $/kg 2.0 trending in an unfavourable direction sitting Wellsford sales.

1.5 Mixed Sex 36kg 42 Halfbred 133.00 3.69 at 0.68. If that seems bad, then compare it to 22-Oct 22-Dec 22-Feb 22-Apr

P2 STEER

$/KG

$/KG

5.00

5.45

SOUTH ISLAND VIEWPOINT JANUARY 2019

Thousands

LIVESTOCK INSIGHT M2 BULL

NZ weathers the US political storm

Key Points

In case you haven’t noticed, the US government has ground to a halt over a $5 Rain holds back beef billion fencing dispute. The partial federal production shutdown over “Trumps Wall” is now in

LIVESTOCK OUTLOOK BULL -JAN

STEER - JAN

M COW - JAN

($/KG)

($/KG)

($/KG)

4.95

5.20

3.90

LAMB - JAN ( $/KG CW 17KG)

7.05

Nicola Dennis its 3rd week and is the longest in history.

Stable start for prime This means that US meat inspectors, FDA Average export value and countless other government positions weakens in the meat supply chain are not receiving Currencies remain volatile remuneration.

For now, things seem to still be ticking along as usual and orders remain steady.

But, should these poor people run out NZD:USDof patience, then we can expect to see a Mel Croad 0.68 decrease in meat imports for the USA. Meanwhile, there are fears that the quality of inspections carried out under these conditions will not be as stringent as usual.

The FDA, which monitors food recalls, is also starved for funding. Conditions are looking good for a food safety scare in the USA and there is a smattering of unofficial advice for consumers to avoid high risk foods

Halfbred

WEATHER & CURRENCY Weather

Brought to you by our dedicated team of agri-analysts.

LM vs ave

TW

LM

Trend

73

High

18.9

17.7

Up

36

81

High

17.7

16.7

Up

Bay Of Plenty

58

98

High

16.0

15.6

-

King Country

56

90

Ave

17.4

16.9

Up

Taranaki

26

79

Ave

15.2

14.3

Up

Gisb./Wairoa Hawke's Bay

Mel Croad

After fairly average spring conditions for most, very few are complaining about the current feed situation. After what felt like six weeks of rain, 2019 kicked off with some much-needed heat and sunshine. With less pressure to offload stock pre-Christmas, many farms are carrying more stock into the new year than in previous summers. Slaughter rates at processing plants back this up with the lamb and beef kill heading into Christmas at much lower levels than normal.

Warmer, windier conditions have no doubt stalled grass growth in some regions into January, with some noting a slight browning off. However there remains little pressure to offload.

Farmgate lamb prices have suffered the largest downside over the Christmas break. However, as expected, they are still starting January above the $7/kg mark, something that has only happened once before. Feed crops, for those that have them, will play their part in controlling the flow of lambs into plants whilst also continuing to underpin the store market for those that require more mouths.

Farmgate beef prices have enjoyed a smoother ride over the

78

72

107

High

18.6

V.High

17.2

16.2

TW

LW

LM

LY

0.677

0.679

0.678

0.730

-2.1%

0.521

0.533

0.536

0.525

0.594

0.590

0.592

0.596

0.940

0.945

0.953

NZD:AUD

-0.5%

63

126.00

3.82

17.4

V.High

15.3

16.6 14.9

ph +64 6 323 6393

5-yr ave

Last year

email info@agrihq.co.nz

This year

web agrihq.co.nz

This report is not to be redistributed. We welcome new subscription referrals.

Up

138

-0.4%

festive break. Bull prices have recovered some of the ground they lost through December, while its status quo for prime and cow prices. Again there is little pressure to offload cattle, however when they do flow there may be some pressure to ease prices.

On the international scene, markets are still coming to life

33kg

Up

67

78

+0.7%

NZD:EURO

Ave

18.0

41

Change

Mana./Wang.

Comfortable start to pricing levels

35

Wairarapa Currency

NZD:GBP

Mixed Sex

Soil Temp

LM

34

Waikato

NZD:USD

VIEWPOINT

Rainfall (MM)

TW Northland

Up -

0.911

ph +64 6 323 6393

email info@agrihq.co.nz

web agrihq.co.nz

This report is not to be redistributed. We welcome new subscription referrals.

Farmgate lamb prices have suffered the largest downside over the Christmas break. with very little trading over the break. In general lamb markets are showing a steady to slightly easier pricing level. Easter chilled production is next on the radar with early indications pointing to some slightly weaker pricing levels compared to last year.

Beef prices are enjoying a period of stability, supported by a tighter production out of NZ. While the US has floated lower import prices in the opening weeks of the year, other markets are generally stable on the back of steady demand. ph +64 6 323 6393

email info@agrihq.co.nz

web agrihq.co.nz

Mel Croad

DAIRY FARMER

Reece Brick

February 2019

Suz Bremner

Nicola Dennis

Caitlin Pemberton

agriHQ.co.nz

2497HQ

This report is not to be redistributed. We welcome new subscription referrals.

33

Advertisement The 1080m2 composting barn on Tony and Fran Allcock’s dairy farm in Ngahinpouri.

Composting barn pays off.

An investment in the future returns dividends today.

I

f you ask Fran and Tony Allcock if they’d invest in an Aztech Dairy Barn again, they would answer “heck yes!”

“Building a composting cow barn has allowed us to better feed the herd, control our environmental footprint and look after our pastures,” says Tony Shifting to a composting barn has required a fundamental shift of farming system for the Allcock’s. They moved from a typical grazing system to one where the cows spend part of every day in the barn and part grazing outside, weather dependent of course. Tony tells us the girls are pretty choosy about how they spend their days now. On a particularly rainy day, “I had a bugger of a job trying to get them out of the barn!”

Under the old system, production varied between 88,000 and 99,000kg milksolids per year.

Since making the change, production was 128,000kg in the first year, 134,000kg in the second year and 147,000kg in the third year. The target is 180,000kg.

“We haven’t increased our cow numbers,” says Fran, “we’ve just taken advantage of the gains a system like ours provides us.”

Tony says they approached several design and build companies, but Aztech Buildings were the clear market leader. Construction began in early December and was completed by late January.

Dr Sue Macky from Dairy Production Systems says that properly designed and managed covered cow management facilities and cow housing can have a significantly positive effect on dairy farm profitability.

barn. Aztech have to ensure temperature reduction in the summer, and consistent temperature control in winter to maintain an even temperature barn all year round. Cows can’t stand the heat nor extreme cold and will drop production in tough conditions. Often not picking up production to the same levels before the inclement weather or hot conditions.

Aztech delivered the solution with a combination of clever design and product innovation.

A composted floor coupled with a precisely calculated roof pitch and a well thought out roof ridge ventilation system means that Tony and Fran can trust that a consistent year round temperature can be achieved.

“The only drawback being a poorly designed or ill managed system negates any advantages, and in fact can cause more harm than good.

Good design and management requires knowledge of dairy cows that is too often lacking in New Zealand,” she says.

Air in the barn, without any ventilation, will accumulate gases like ammonia, carbon dioxide/monoxide, hydrogen sulfide. Moisture can be retained and will reduce the life span of the bedding material.

Aztech Buildings has grown up with the Dairy Housing industry in New Zealand, innovating as the industry has matured. It is this developed knowledge of the sector that enables them to solve the complex design challenges, as well as the simple ones, new entrants to the industry might not even consider.

Simon Clare, one of Aztech’s dairy specialists says what you don’t want is a badly designed barn that retains moisture. “Cows can breathe out 15 to 30 litres of water per day, that has to go somewhere. Bedding material, regardless of what you use, needs to be long lasting and hygienic.”

A major challenge to overcome in a composting barn design is the need for a ‘four seasons’

Once the bedding has seen out it’s life, Tony says they use it as a commercial fertiliser sub-

stitute. “We experimented initially, but now, other than a little P and N on our maize, we use our compost exclusively on our pastures.”

He also explains that while the cost of spreading the compost is higher, it’s still offset in the savings of not buying fertiliser at the same levels pre barn.

The Allcock’s barn uses a combination roof overhang and roof pitch which contribute to maintaining a sustainable moisture level.

One of the key product innovations comes from Futura Steel Systems. They have developed a steel box beam bird proof roofing system. Bird proofing is essential for helping to reduce contact with disease as the birds aren’t roosting and messing everywhere. This also reduces feed loss to hungry birds.

Fast Facts

Tony says that at the end of the day, if the cows are losing less energy to heat stress, eating more and converting it efficiently, then they’re onto a winner.

Location: Allcock’s Farm, West of Ohaupo

“We find our day to day farming more enjoyable, and less stressful not having to be held hostage by the weather.

Would we do it all over again? Heck yes!”

haven’t “We increased our

“We didn’t just design the barn for the cows, we also had the staff in mind. Using our experience across the many barns we’ve built in the past, we know what helps with workflow and efficiencies. We also know that no-one wants to work in a dingy, smelly environment,” says Simon.

The bedding area and feed face have been carefully calculated to ensure Industry Best Practice and to maintain cow comfort. By providing adequate space for each cow to move

around, drink, feed, and most critically to lie down without threat, means lower dominance cows suffer less stress and therefore feed conversion is increased.

Herd: 280 Freisian X Structure: 60m x 18m, steel members with timber purlins.

Feeding: The five metre race is wide enough for a tractor and feed wagon to be driven down to fill up the feed troughs.

Cow comfort: The housing area for the cows is open with no cubicals and uses wood chips to cover the floor 500mm deep. 7.7m2 of space for every cow in the herd.

Design and Build: Aztech Buildings - Using more than 20 years of experience in building dairy housing.

cow numbers, we’ve just taken advantage of the gains a system like ours provides us.

Steel supplier: Futura - www.futura.nz

To find out more about how Aztech Buildings can deliver a profitable dairy structure for your farming business, get in touch.

0800 114 116 www.aztechbuildings.co.nz/dairy

Cows munching down on a mixture of maize and grass silage.

Tony and Fran with their ‘Big-Az Mootel’ signage.

CALF CLUB

Congratulations to our Calf Club NZ winners. Well done.

Regional Results Waikato

Beef type

3rd Jasmine Sawford, 4th Rochelle Lind,

Primary/Intermediate

1st Summa Roskam, 2nd Jezabelle Boyt,

5th Jacoba Gread

Rearing and handling (dairy)

3rd Tayla Hansen

Dairy late 1st Nikki Baker, 2nd Reema Arsilan, 3rd

1st Molly Fletcher, 2nd Thomas Jeyes, 3rd Jacoba Gread, 4th Indianna Richards, 5th

Otago/Southland

Angel Somerville, 4th Hollie Radford, 5th

Charlie Scherer

Primary/Intermediate

Monique Radford

Dairy Type

Rearing and handling (dairy)

Beef early

1st Ella Little, 2nd Ella Pirie, 3rd Indianna

1st Mania Tiller, 2nd Cerys Evans, 3rd

1st Jezabelle Boyt, 2nd Summa Roskam,

Richards, 4th Pippa Earwaker, 5th Henry

Dustin Young, 4th Annika Buhre, 5th Luke

3rd Hannah White

Scherer

Raynbird

Beef late

Rearing & Handling (Beef)

Dairy type

1st Oliver Selby, 2nd Tayla Hansen

1st Abi Boyt, 2nd Shaye Roskam, 3rd

1st Wade Mclvor, 2nd Mania Tiller, 3rd

Primary/Intermediate

Alexis Hansen, 4th Cooper Hansen, 5th

Gethyn Evans, 4th Annika Buhre, 5th

Dairy early

Mitchell Hansen

Dustin Young

1st Summer Warmington, 2nd Fergus

Beef Type

Rearing and handling (beef)

Fulton, 3rd Ben Little, 4th Gabrielle

1st Shaye Roskam, 2nd Abi Boyt, 3rd

1st Hunter Tisdall, 2nd Bob Tisdall, 3rd

Scherer, 5th Zuri Richards

Mitchell Hansen, 4th Cooper Hansen, 5th

Charlotte Hunt

Dairy late

Alexis Hansen

Beef type

1st Trinity Wright, 2nd Hunter O’Donell, 3rd

High-School

1st Charlotte Hunt, 2nd Hunter Tisdall, 3rd

Caitlin Walters, 4th Ethan Perrett, 5th Ella

Rearing and handling (dairy) round one

Bob Tisdall

Bashford

1st Zoe Botha, 2nd Thomas Young

High school

Beef early

Dairy type round one

Rearing and handling (dairy)

1st Abi Boyt, 2nd Charlotte Lovelock, 3rd

1st Zoe Botha, 2nd Thomas Young

1st Lina Buhre

Blake Williams, 4th Jethro Imeson, 5th

Rearing and handling (dairy) round two

Dairy type

Josh Brunce

1st Bradley Sawford, 2nd Jasmine Sawford

1st Lina Buhre

Beef late 1st Hollie Tiller, 2nd Katie Templeman, 3rd

Dairy type round two 1st Jasmine Sawford, 2nd Bradley Sawford

Nationwide social results

Issac Templeman, 4th Matty Templeman,

Rearing and handling (beef)

High school

5th Shay Roskam

1st Jezabelle Boyt, 2nd Summa Roskam,

Dairy early

3rd Tayla Hansen

1st Bradley Sawford, 2nd Zoe Botha,

MORE: Check out the December/January issue of Dairy Farmer for more photos of our regional winners.

Abi Boyt’s calf Teddy

36

Charlotte Hunt and Buddy

lf Elsa

Ella Little’s ca

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

Summer Warmington

Molly Fletcher’s calf Sophia

by ford’s calf Ru

Bradley Saw

and Lucy

Mania Tiller and Missy

Jezabelle Boyt’s calf Jack

Lina Buhre’s calf Taki Event Raine

Oliver Selby and Tiny Bel

Jasmine Sawford’s calf Tilly

Shaye Roskam and Acey Man

Wade McIvor and Ricky Barker

Zoe Botha’s calf

Kaylani

l and Leila

Hunter Tisdal

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

37

FAST FIVE The Dairy Farmer team is always out and about looking for dairy industry workers going about their business. Keep an eye out, you just never know when one of our team might tap you on the shoulder.

This month we catch up with Bob Searle, a contractor from Canterbury.

1. What motivates or drives you?

Success without becoming the biggest in the world, doing the job right and leaving the customers happy.

2. What annoys you most about contracting, what do you enjoy the most and why?

Contractors from other areas trying to extend themselves into my area.

How big do they really need to be?

I enjoy all parts of the business but these days I’m more into being the front man, trouble shooter and organiser. I like to get some time driving a baler but ever year it gets harder to convince people to let me drive their machines.

3. Why contracting - was there ever a time you wanted to do something else?

I trained as a chef but working nights and weekends all year wasn’t for me so then I became a contractor and worked nights and weekends. At least it’s only for the summer months.

4. What are some of the biggest challenges you face this season as a contractor?

The biggest challenges this season has been mainly the weather, it’s a tricky business trying to make even balage when it rains every second or third day. The days that are fine are so busy because you are trying to squeeze in a couple of extra jobs and keep the list of future jobs within an achievable amount. We like to have no longer than seven days wait from booking to getting the job done.

5. If you weren’t contracting, what would you be doing?

Bob Searle

Retired and travelling the world. I’d love to just turn up at the airport and take the first flight to wherever it’s going. Or realistically, semi-retired and travelling.

Bob Searle was born and bred in Hororata on the Canterbury Plains. He originally trained as a chef but made the move to contracting 26 years ago and is now in partnership with his brother Mike.

Their business grew and they were often operating four tube wrappers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He says back then it was nothing to work two days or more straight and go home for only a couple of hours sleep, a feed and to charge the cell phone.

Several years later they opted to buy balers as contractors were buying their own wrappers and if they hadn’t moved with the times eventually they would have run out of work.

He believes that to operate a successful contracting business you need to be able to operate every piece of gear to a high standard otherwise it’s very hard to tell one of the guys working it how to correct anything that is going wrong.

He also believes you shouldn’t expect anyone to do something that you wouldn’t do yourself. And you should always work hard but remember there is more to life than work so be sure that your team gets some time off when possible and treat them how you would want them to treat you if the boot was on the other foot.

Thank you to all our farmers who took the time to enter our Autumn Calving v Spring Calving debate.

Congratulations to Taranaki farm owner Craig Lynskey and contract milker Vijay Patil from Ngatea who have each won a $250 pressie card from Property Brokers.

vs

Craig Lynskey – Split calving We do split calving – six weeks of spring mating and three weeks of winter mating.

There are three reasons why we do split calving: matching the grass growth curve, capitalising on the winter milk premium and not wasting good cows if they are empty. If they are empty in spring we carry them over for autumn calving so that way we are not getting rid of good cows.

Therefore, the girls get two cracks at getting in calf and if after the second mating they are still empty then they get cut but at least they’re given a second chance.

All autumn-calving cows are mated to beef breeds so they are sold as four-day-olds and at that time of the year the market is good.

SPRING CALVING

Vijay Patil – Spring calving We prefer spring calving because half of the farm is clay and the other half is pit soil. Both soil types are helpful to grow more grass, especially up until early summer when we make silage to use over times when feed is short.

I do regular weekly farm walks to find the average cover as well as the growth rate that are helpful in making decisions on feeding, round length and surpluses.

We focus on six-week calving to synchronise calving and early calving means more milk production that helps us achieve our production target.

And who wants to milk in winter when it is cold and dark and the grass growth is low? That would mean feeding more supplement and it is harder to find staff when you are winter milking because there is no rest for them.

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AUTUMN CALVING

INDUSTRY GOOD

News from DairyNZ

with DairyNZ

Keep cows cool in summer heat Jacqueline McGowan Developer

N

O ONE likes being too hot and cows are no exception.

But when temperatures start to feel nice and pleasant for people it’s actually already too hot for cows.

Research shows cows are most comfortable in temperatures of 4C to 20C so their comfort zone is 10C to 15C less than for people. That means when temperatures start to get in the mid 20s, let alone near the 30s, cows are increasingly at risk of heat stress.

Cows affected by heat stress can be irritable and lethargic and produce less milk because they consume less feed so it’s important to keep them cool when the mercury starts to rise.

While people can easily grab an ice cream, icy cold beverage, slap on a hat and avoid the sun it can be more challenging to keep cows cool.

Trees are obviously a great long-term option and some farmers have begun planting for shade and shelter or are thinking about it but they can take a long time to grow.

In the meantime, if farmers don’t have any or have limited trees on the farm there are a few simple, practical things they can do to help alleviate the effects of heat on cows that don’t require a huge investment or time.

Consider changing milking time to earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon so cows don’t have to walk to and from the milking shed during the

40

Lactating cows need more than 100 litres of water a day.

heat of the day. They might even like to consider going to once-a-day milking.

If possible, try putting cows in paddocks closer to the milking shed during the day so they have less distance to walk and allow them to take their time. No one likes exercising in the heat. I know I don’t.

Installing a temporary shade cloth at the milking shed or over off-paddock facilities can also provide much-needed relief for your cows from the sun’s rays. Sprinklers over the dairy yard to wet the cows’ coats and fans are other options.

Cows will drink more water to keep cool so extra troughs in paddocks, at the milking shed and along races won’t go amiss.

And, it should go without saying, remember to check troughs regularly to ensure they’re clean and check flow rates are high enough that there isn’t a risk of them ever running low because lactating

cows need more than 100 litres of water a day.

Feed with a high fibre content can increase the heat of fermentation in the rumen, increasing the heat load on a cow.

If high-fibre supplements feature in the cows’ diet farmers might like to consider feeding them at night when it’s cooler.

These are just a few short-term options but I encourage farmers to also start exploring long-term options, especially given climate change forecasts suggest summers are to become longer, hotter and drier.

Trees are an obvious choice and the Trees for Shade guide the DairyNZ website is a great starting point for coming up with a plan. n

MORE:

Jacqueline McGowan is a DairyNZ developer in the animal care team.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Consumers should pay

B

RITAIN’S dairy industry should concentrate on growing the income from its products, not squabbling over the way it is sliced in the Government’s review of dairy contracts.

Speaking at the Semex Conference in Glasgow dairy analyst Chris Walkland called on farmers to resist the urge to scrap discretionary pricing.

He was critical of the farming unions’ position on contract regulation, accusing them of focusing too much on the relationship between processors and farmers rather than the bigger picture.

“Getting consumers to pay more is the only way to grow incomes,” he said.

But National Farmers Union president Minette Batters said the union is taking a whole supply chain approach.

“We have had the voluntary code. It does not work and will not work. We have an opportunity where we can look at our own legislation.

“Farmers have been price takers.

“The rise of the discounters is only going to get more and more challenging.”

Walkland criticised those who said the market lacks transparency, adding it is transparent if you know what to look for.

The industry should resist calls to scrap discretionary pricing, claiming his own

The voluntary code for paying dairy farmers doesn’t work and won’t work, National Farmers Union president Minette Batters says.

The rise of the discounters is only going to get more and more challenging. analysis shows farmgate prices between January 2015 and December 2017 had almost always been within 2% of where they should be.

“There are terms and conditions that need addressing,” he said.

“But you might end up exchanging

something that is not broken with something that does not work.”

Bad contracts for a minority are not the enemy of the majority.

The future is in innovation, such as futures contracts and fixed price contracts, not in legislation, he said.

Farming Minister George Eustice disagreed with Walkland.

“At the moment retailers can decide they are going to offer milk at four pints for £1, which then puts pressure on sellers.

“It is too easy for processors to say we need to keep up our relationship with the supermarket so we are going to drop on the producers,” he said. n UK Farmers Weekly

Dairy needs unity to face challenges THE dairy industry must unite to tackle the major challenges it faces today, Arla Foods British managing director Ash Amirahmadi says.

Commoditisation and the increase in critics of dairy are a result of the industry not doing as good a job as it should to protect and promote itself.

He called on the industry to create a campaign everybody could get behind.

“I do not think our mindset should be about expecting someone else to do it for us. It is not the retailers’ job to do this for us.”

And the industry needs to be adaptable and appeal to consumers, he said, giving the example of how bread had created products that are relevant to people.

42

So the whole industry needs to innovate with products people want to pay more for.

Amirahmadi is sure farmers are sick and tired of hearing about anti-dairy campaigns.

But the campaigns are really clever and backed by financial muscle, including celebrities and big companies.

“Firstly, they have normalised veganism,” he said.

“The second thing is they have cast doubt on our industry.”

Their campaigns are backed by millions of US dollars compared to the singlefigure million-pound campaigns by the United Kingdom industry, he said. n UK Farmers Guardian

Arla’s British managing director Ash Amirahmadi is calling for dairy industry unity to head off campaigns by its critics.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Milk drinks to be taxed have warned.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) hit back at government plans to refresh the 2016 Commons Health Committee Childhood Obesity Plan and extend the tax as a matter of urgency.

It said such products are incomparable, suggesting the move will only lead to detrimental and far-reaching implications for the Welsh dairy sector.

FUW milk and dairy produce chairman Dai Miles said “Milk and dairy products contain vitamins and minerals essential for health and well-being, including calcium, iodine, riboflavin and vitamin B12.

“It is the belief of the FUW the nutrient profiling modelling undertaken has done a tremendous disservice to nutritional milk products and could detrimentally affect the ways in which such products are viewed by the consumer.”

Dairy UK chief executive Dr Judith Bryans agreed it is unfortunate dairy products have been penalised alongside junk foods and called for the exemption of milk-based drinks from the committee recommendations.

If the extension was to go ahead it

would have a detrimental impact on the marketing of high-quality, safe and nutritious dairy products.

“Dairy UK will be engaging with Public Health England, the United Kingdom government and other relevant stakeholders to explain why the new nutrient profile modelling should exclude any product containing more than 75% milk, cheese or yoghurt on the basis of the contributions they make to children’s nutrient intakes and the benefits they provide,” Bryans said.

Livestock sustainability consultant Dr Jude Capper said enforcing the tax extension could push consumers to buy cheaper drinks, increasing already negative consequences for the industry.

Previous research from the United States has proved drinking full fat milk reduces the risk of obesity in pre-school children, she said.

“It is increasingly important for everyone involved in dairy production to promote the many advantages of milk and dairy products for nutrition and health.

“We cannot simply sit back and hope somebody else will do it,” Capper said.

And Rabobank has told farmers it is about time they started taking lessons from their dairy-free counterparts.

The industry should connect emotionally and reflect the success of alternative milk products in their own

The beneficial properties of milk should exempt it from being hit by the sugar tax, Dairy UK says. produce, following hints nutrition, price and flavour tend to favour the sector.

Changing consumer perceptions around health, lifestyle choices and perceived sustainability is also persuading more consumers to choose dairy-free, it added.

It followed a 3.5% drop in global sales of liquid milk in the five years to 2017 compared to a 4% jump in sales of dairy alternatives in the same period.

RaboResearch senior dairy analyst Tom Bailey said “While it is not essential to diversify into dairy alternatives, it would be wise for the dairy industry to at least learn one thing from the success of dairy alternatives, which may be putting the consumer first and trading in the old grass-to-glass model for glass-to-grass.” n UK Farmers Guardian

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XTENDING the tax levied on sugary soft drinks to all milk-based drinks could negatively affect the way consumers perceive dairy, British industry chiefs

Software gives farmers edge

K

EY performance indicators are a valuable tool to evaluate the health of a farming business and whether you are on track to achieve your goals.

Important indicators for a dairy farm could include gross farm revenue (GFR), standard farm expenses (SFE), economic farm surplus (EFS) and milksolids production.

Using a programme like Cash Manager Focus, the KPIs are easily identified and analysed using the reports available with the click of a button, particularly the economic farm surplus performance summary report.

It gives a snapshot of the overall performance of the business as well

44

as allowing you to identify trends and benchmark your business.

In the EFS report the performance indicators are broken down into total, amount/milking cow, amount/kg MS, amount/ha and represented as a percentage of GFR. Expenses are also separated into individual categories like animal health or wages, making it easy to analyse specific areas of a business.

For South Wairarapa dairy farmers Crystal and Jon Cranshaw the biggest benefit of using Cash Manager is the ability to see where they are going.

They contract milk on a 1000-cow farm and Crystal says the product gives them the power to look forward and see what their position will be in six or 12 months.

“The greatest benefit, to me, is to see

where we are heading, whether it’s the opportunity or re-evaluating in a difficult season,” Crystal says.

“It gives us full power to make day-today decisions about the farm and the business.”

The Cranshaws find Cash Manager particularly critical in drought years, enabling them to take immediate action and ensure they end the season in a financial position they are comfortable with.

“Decisions we make now affect the bottom line later.”

As a contract milker Crystal is conscious of working within industry standard values from Dairybase for their costs/ha or cost/milking cow to make sure their business performance is in line with other businesses.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

TECHNOLOGY

Wairarapa dairy farmers Jon and Crystal Cranshaw use the cash manager programme to see where their business is heading.

“I have used that to renegotiate our personal contracts with our farm owner previously. I determine if our costs are on

track with industry standards and that the contract rate is in line with that. The EFS report in Cash Manager will do all that for me, instantaneously, which is amazing,” she says.

“I feel like this is our business and now we really own our business. That makes you feel so much more in control.”

CRS Software has also created a suite of resources to help farmers get the most out of their business, including a benchmarking guide, focusing on KPIs. The guides explore core business areas of budgeting, farm succession, benchmarking and working with your accountant.

Budgeting guide Farm budgeting made easy is designed to give farmers a better understanding of what is needed for a farm budgeting system. The resource explores how to set up, manage and gain the most from a farm budget, including: • Where to start; • A spending plan; • A checklist for getting started and; • How to revise in 20 minutes.

Keeping the farm in the family is an important issue for many farmers and succession can be a smooth process if tackled early and communication lines are open between all family members.

Farm succession – getting started is designed to give farmers a better understanding of why succession is important, the process involved and how to get started, including: • Where to start; • When to start; • The principles of farm succession; • The process and; • How often to review your plan.

Benchmarking is a great way to identify

what a business is doing well and where there are opportunities to improve performance because 80% of farmers believe they’re in the top 10% It lets farmers compare their results with others in a similar category.

Benchmarking can show historical trends, provide information and establish a basis for identifying realistic targets for future policy-setting and decisionmaking.

This guide explains how to use Cash Manager’s EFS report or annual endof-year accounts to identify KPIs and benchmark a business.

Accountancy guide An accountant can be a key member of a farm business’s trusted team and help farmers grow their business.

Building a better relationship with your accountant explores: • What your accountant does for you; • What you can expect from your accountant and; • How to build a better relationship with your accountant for the benefit of your business.

The guides are all available for free download on the CRS Software website.

Cash Manager Focus is modern, new, farm financial software providing the link between what’s happening on-farm and your financial position.

Created by CRS Software, it is the next generation of Cashmanager RURAL. The programme was built from the ground up with farmers in mind.

Focus enables farmers to use management information and make smarter, faster decisions as well as making it easy to meet compliance obligations.

The strong reporting function also makes it easy to identify and analyse KPIs in a farming business. n

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TECHNOLOGY

Wairarapa farmer Brian Bosch uses Precision VRI to help him farm more productively and ensures he isn’t wasting water.

I

Kiwi innovation a global success

T’S a classic story of Kiwi innovation and invention.

One summer evening in late 2004 two Massey University engineering graduates, Stu Bradbury and George Ricketts, were sitting around chewing the fat.

They were staying on the South Wairarapa farm of Brian and Jo Bosch, living on-site while they worked a summer job assembling irrigators in the area.

Over a cuppa Stu, George and Brian talked about irrigation and some of the challenges on the Boschs’ farm – the existing pivot irrigation system was causing problems.

“Where the pivot went over the races was wet and mucky and when the cows walked along it to get to the cow shed it damaged the race,” Bosch says.

46

“We were also getting a number of lame cows, who got wet feet and bruising on the muddy race.”

Blanket irrigation was the problem, Bosch says.

There had to be a way of irrigating parts of the farm that needed it while keeping vulnerable areas, such as the race, dry.

Bradbury and Ricketts, both bright minds with mechanical engineering backgrounds, began thinking about how to solve the problem.

At the time there was nothing on the market that could deliver precision irrigation, managing the water flow in targeted and controlled quantities, to specific parts of a paddock or farm depending on topography and soil type.

“When we went out on the farm we saw wet areas where crops weren’t growing

and dry areas where there wasn’t much water.

“So, there was an obvious need to have a system to specify where you needed water and how much,” Bradbury says.

With his Kiwi DIY No 8 wire mentality it wasn’t long before Ricketts came up with a solution using technology to solve the problem.

In 2006 and 2007 they began developing the programming and prototype that would become the Precision VRI. VRI stands for variable rate irrigation, ensuring exactly the right amounts of water or nutrients are delivered over multiple crops, soil types and terrains.

It would involve GPS technology, farm mapping and innovation that would revolutionise the irrigation industry.

The technology involves first making an electromagnetic map of the land,

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

measuring soil conductivity (soil type and the amount of water it holds) then developing a programmable irrigation system where every nozzle can be individually controlled, allowing customised irrigation within a field.

Farmers can simply drive across their land with an electro-magnetic sensor and a Real-Time Kenematic GPS, accurate to within 2cm, to map their land and use that information to programme the Precision VRI system.

The Bosch farm at Kahutara became the first in the world to install the Precision VRI system, in November 2008.

“It’s still going strong today,” Bosch says.

Bosch milks 1000 cows achieving 400,000 kilograms of milksolids annually over the 320ha milking platform.

The Precision VRI helps him farm more productively and ensures he isn’t wasting water – a precious resource, he says.

Muddy areas around troughs and races are no longer a problem and the lame cow problem is gone.

Land is more productive and areas that were previously muddy can now be used for growing grass or crops. Places where tractors and heavy farm vehicles used to get stuck have been dried out and are traversable.

Irrigation and growing good pasture for his herd to ensure productivity are vital to his farm.

“We’re huge fans of the Precision VRI,” Bosch says.

The system enables farmers to control water use in a sustainable, smart way.

It ensures only the areas that need water get water and at the right levels.

Individual nodes across the system can be programmed to specific levels, meaning areas of a paddock just metres apart receive different amounts of water.

It also ensures nutrients applied to

grass and crops penetrate at the right levels and are not washed down into the soil where they are wasted or washed away as run-off, causing damage to the environment if nutrients enter waterways.

Precision irrigation also helps conserve water, preventing excessive waste on areas where it is not needed – up to 30% across a farm in some cases.

Over the past decade Prevision VRI has enabled farmers, food producers and agricultural contractors to achieve better results, driving efficiencies and saving money – to the benefit of agribusiness not only in dairying but also in sheep, beef, horticulture and arable farming.

The system has also been used in Australia and the United States, attracting the attention of agribusiness leader Lindsay Corporation.

The global company bought Precision VRI in 2011, attracted by the success and potential of the system. n

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47

Project shows up tough nutrient loss challenges

W

ORK by farmers on a Hawke’s Bay project aiming to cut nitrogen losses has provided valuable lessons and highlighted the challenges ahead.

The Greening Tukituki project that included two dairy farmers and two drystock farmers from the Tukituki catchment aimed to help them meet their nutrient loss obligations under the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council plan change 6.

The project closed amid growing disquiet about the shortcomings in nutrient software system Overseer as a regulatory tool.

A report by Parliamentary 48

Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton found gaps and shortcomings in Overseer that undermine confidence in its suitability as a regulatory tool to be used on farms.

The Hawke’s Bay plan change requires farmers to match their nitrogen losses to their land use capability (LUC) classification, spanning eight different classes based on a property’s physical characteristics and attributes.

The results from two farms highlighted the successes and challenges facing many farmers in the catchment and throughout New Zealand as every region starts to grapple with managing nutrient losses.

Takapau feedlot farmer Rob Foley found the project invaluable in presenting him with some options when the data gathered identified the 1100 dairy cows he

grazed over winter as being a key source of nitrogen losses.

His options were to either do expensive bore testing to determine how much nitrogen was being leached from cow urine or consider a farming type with a lower nitrogen loss.

He opted for the latter, dropping the cows for half the number of bulls, reducing his LUC loss from 41kg nitrogen a hectare a year to 36kg.

“While the cashflow is definitely reduced by not having the dairy grazers, financially it is still profitable running the bulls instead,” he says.

Other areas being examined through the project have included losses from winter wheat and examining different grass species including plantain to absorb nitrogen.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

RESEARCH Hawke’s Bay farmer Andy Hunt and MyFarm consultant Rachel Baker discuss nitrogen options.

It has been good to be part of a project focused on how to become more compliant and to also demonstrate to the council just how hard it is to not only do these things but to still make a profit.

Rob Foley

“For us the project was definitely worthwhile. It has been good to be part of a project focused on how to become more compliant and to also demonstrate to the council just how hard it is to not only do these things but to still make a profit,” Foley said.

Ashley Clinton dairy farmer Andy Hunt has not solved all his nitrogen issues but the work has lifted the hood on some of his options and highlighted to the council how challenging meeting the targets can be. The council was one of the supporters of the Tukituki project.

Significant time and energy was invested in working out options for the 360-cow operation to get it within 30% of its LUC nitrogen leaching limit of 21kg a hectare a year. It is about 40% over its limit.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

The Hunts accept there is no silver bullet solution to getting the farm within that limit but one tool presenting itself has been to put more plantain in the farm pasture mix. That has been shown to help reduce nitrogen losses.

“But the project has also highlighted that plantain is not included in the Overseer model and until it is this possible tool is out of our hands to some extent,” Hunt says.

He was, however, encouraged by the council’s positive attitude to incorporating plantain.

Another option could be to construct a compostable barn but the $500,000plus price tag means he needs more assurance from the council the operation will be compliant if he goes ahead with it. An alternative is to further reduce the stocking rate of the already low-stocked farm but that affects profitability and long-term viability.

“You could say the project has not solved our problems but it has certainly raised the profile of them and has also highlighted these challenges to the council that we face to meet these standards,” Hunt said.

Project manager and MyFarm agribusiness consultant Rachel Baker said there is considerable uncertainty about how farms in the catchment are going to meet the new standards.

“And this is from farms that at face value are picture perfect – well run, with

healthy stock and owners who really care about the environment.

“Plantain looks like it could prove a game-changer in helping reduce nitrogen losses and that is supported by peerreviewed science.

“It’s something many farmers including Andy Hunt have also been sowing in their swards for a few years now.

“And in the case of Rob, he took some steps very quickly by stopping dairy cow grazing and replacing them with bulls and immediately reducing the magnitude of nutrient loss. ‘“However, this, in turn, presents a challenge for where dairy cows will be wintered in future,” Baker said.

The project has also been instrumental in putting the practical realities of the plan change in front of those who implement it and helped build greater understanding between council staff and farmers about the plan’s impact.

The Greening Tukituki project was sponsored by Agmardt, the council, Beef + Lamb NZ, Ballance Agri Nutrients, DairyNZ and ANZ. n

MORE:

Read the full report: www.myfarm.co.nz/tukituki

Takapau feedlot farmer Rob Foley found the project invaluable and gave him several options to choose from.

49

RESEARCH

Meeting biological emissions targets

M

ANY farmers want to act to reduce emissions but need more information about what steps they can take, a new report shows.

It also found if all farmers use today’s best practice they might be able to cut emissions by up to 10%.

So continued funding for research into novel technologies will be important for reducing emissions further, the Biological Emissions Reference Group Report, the culmination of two years of research into the opportunities, costs and barriers to reducing biological emissions in New Zealand’s primary industries, said.

The group is a joint agriculture industry-Government working group of Beef + Lamb NZ, DairyNZ, Deer Industry NZ, Federated Farmers, the Fertiliser Association, Fonterra, HortNZ, the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Ministry for the Environment.

It saw the need for a good evidence base to support the sector to address some key climate challenges, MPI general policy and trade deputy director Penny Nelson said.

“Farmers were asking what practical things they can do to reduce their emissions.

“We needed to improve our shared understanding of the possible innovation and solutions and the barriers standing in farmers’ way,” Nelson said.

“The findings highlight the need for good information and tailored advice for farmers,” DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle said.

“There is no single answer to reducing emissions. We’ll need a combination of solutions tailored to land and farm types.

“The primary sectors will face a lot of change over the next few decades as they have the last few.

“This evidence will help farmers, government and advisers to steer the right path and understand the possible costs,” he said.

50

Primary Industries Ministry policy and trade deputy directorgeneral Penny Nelson is part of the Biological Emissions Reference Group that recently reported its findings on how to reduce emissions in New Zealand’s primary industries.

There is no single answer to reducing emissions. We’ll need a combination of solutions tailored to land and farm types.

Dr Tim Mackle DairyNZ

Environment Ministry water and climate change deputy secretary Cheryl Barnes said “It’s great that the agricultural sectors and Government are working in partnership to provide information to

inform discussion on these important issues.”

B+LNZ chief executive Sam McIvor said “An additional benefit from establishing BERG has been strengthening the relationships between its members.

“Our farmers have already made progress in reducing emissions and improving productivity and are committed to continuing on this journey.”

The group has commissioned nine new research projects.

The work has already informed advice to the Government on options for the 2050 emissions target and will feed into future planning and policy. It has also been used by the Productivity Commission, the Interim Climate Change Committee and the industry.

The BERG plans to host an event early this year to discuss the analysis and findings in more depth. n

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

AUTUMN CALVING

Autumn calving readiness

P

LANNING and preparation contribute to a successful calving season.

Help farm staff get set up early for a smoother

Keep a wellstocked calving kit ready to go.

calving season.

Pre-calving checklist: • Have supplies of metabolics, electrolytes, navel spray etc on hand or ordered; • Update new team members on farm policies and what to expect during calving; • Keep calf trailer and feeding equipment clean and disinfected; • Keep calf shed clean and disinfected and do all repairs and maintenance; • Designate a sick calf area; • Lay fresh bedding in calf shed and; • Prepare calving kit.

Calving kit A well-stocked calving kit will save you making trips between the paddock and the shed.

Keep the calving kit at the gate of the springer paddock. Have a team member in charge of making sure it is restocked regularly.

A bucket with a lid should contain the kit. Tape a checklist of contents inside the lid.

Calving kit contents • Metabolics (clearly labelled milk fever treatments and starter drench); • 3 calving ropes or chains (strong, supple and cleaned after each use);

• 2 litre container of lube (a plunger pump is an easy way to dispense lube if hands are busy); • Towel and soap for cleaning hands; • Notebook and pencil (A pencil, unlike a pen, will work in wet conditions); • Ear tags or other calf identification system (pre-numbered tags with corresponding numbers on a record sheet will save time and reduce the chance of recording mistakes); • Spray paint - red plus another colour (red can be used as a warning, eg withhold milk. Communicate that to staff); • Gloves – for rectal or other exams; • Head torch and spare batteries; • Iodine spray - pre-mixed with water (do not use teat dip as an alternative); • Key contact numbers (vet, manager) on laminated sheet. Save numbers in phone); • Calving intervention guide and; • Food/energy bars.

Look after the team Planning and preparing for calving with the farm team will reduce stress when calving is in full swing and help it run smoothly.

Hold a team meeting before calving and decide who will do what and when.

Record the plan where everyone can see it.

Introduce new staff to systems and processes so everyone is on the same page when calving starts.

Establish a roster and make sure staff know how to fill out time sheets.

Eating well is important and some owners provide staff with crock pots, keep healthy snacks at the shed or have a cooked breakfast together after milking.

Watch for signs of stress – meet regularly and talk often. n

MORE:

Find out more on rosters and wellbeing in the People section of the DairyNZ website

The NZAgbiz business model received a commendation at the NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards. Brian Funnell, Frank Chen and Greg Cate, NZAgbiz with Penny Hulse of Auckland Council at the Awards.

NZAgbiz gears up

L

AST year was a successful one for NZAgbiz with the launch of an innovative livestock nutrition product, Novolyte, and a commendation at the 2018 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards.

NZAgbiz is a Fonterra business unit making livestock nutrition products using primarily Fonterra ingredients.

From the firm’s start in 2008 its aim was to better use Fonterra’s loss streams for the benefit of farmers and the co-op and avoid contributing to landfills, general manager Greg Cate says.

Loss streams include materials such as oversized sifter particles, fine powder particles and cheese trims. Because the material is not suitable for human

52

consumption it would end up as landfill waste.

“We take this material from Fonterra and other dairy manufacturing plants and rework it into useful, high-quality animal nutrition products that help livestock thrive, such as calf milk replacers (CMRs), pig products and specialist animal health supplements such as probiotics, colostrum powder and electrolyte replacements,” Cate says.

Any products NZAgbiz cannot use are sold as ingredients for stock feeds, soaps and biofuels.

The progressive NZAgbiz business model was recognised in November at the NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards, receiving a commendation in the Going Circular category.

Traditional businesses have been built

on a linear take-make-waste model, growing pressure on resources means there is a need to shift to a more circular economy. The circular model seeks to maximise the life cycle of materials, optimise use and re-use materials.

“By recycling dairy industry products we not only reduce the amount of material going to landfill but maximise and extend the life of the dairy industry’s downgrade product and loss streams to create useful, quality products that benefit New Zealand farmers,” Cate says.

Novolyte was one such product that hit the shelves last year. Developed by NZAgbiz in conjunction with leading veterinary scientists, Novolyte has been formulated to replace fluids lost by scouring, treat dehydration and exhaustion and help calves recover from

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

AUTUMN CALVING

We take this material from Fonterra and other dairy manufacturing plants and rework it into useful, high-quality animal nutrition products.

NZAgbiz general manager Greg Cate says by recycling dairy industry products the amount of material going to landfills is reduced.

Greg Cate NZAgbiz

stress such as transportation.

It was the logical next step in the NZAgbiz range of scientificallyformulated animal health supplements.

“All NZAgbiz products are based on solid scientific evidence and we saw the need for a high-quality electrolyte replacement to help farmers raise calves that thrive,” Cate said.

With a million dairy heifers reared on NZ farms each year, raising healthy and productive animals is a process that begins as soon as calves arrive on the farm.

Unfortunately, diarrhoea (scours) is common in new-born animals. It has a variety of causes and leads to progressive dehydration, electrolyte loss and metabolic acidosis, which are potentially fatal.

And despite significant progress in understanding it, scours continues to be a major cause of economic loss to the industry.

The World Health Organisation says the development of oral rehydration therapy was one of the most significant advances in human medicine of the 20th century. Oral rehydration also continues to serve as the backbone of treatment protocols for diarrhoea in neonatal calves.

DairyNZ recommends oral electrolytes as an easy and successful method for treating diarrhoea in calves.

Novolyte contains key alkalising agents to address severe metabolic acidosis as well as essential ingredients to aid the rehydration of calves with neonatal diarrhoea while providing energy to help restore the function of damaged gut cells. It has the right concentrations of sodium required to correct dehydration and includes the recommended plasma volume of glucose-to-sodium levels.

Practical considerations have been

carefully thought through as well and Novolyte is readily dissolved, comes with an easy-to-use scoop and a reusable zip tie to keep the product in optimum condition once opened. It contains high-grade ingredients in a dry powder with good mixability. Like all NZAgbiz products, it contains high-grade ingredients and its formulation is based on solid scientific evidence and expert input.

Sustainability is a driving force behind the NZAgbiz model while another key driver has been the need to produce quality CMRs farmers can feed their calves instead of using the more valuable milk from their vats. To date, about two million calves have been raised on NZAgbiz CMRs in New Zealand. n

MORE:

http://www.nzagbiz.co.nz/

Why should you be worried about monitoring your spores this summer?

Only 5% of animals will show physical symptoms of Facial Eczema.

It could be costing your farm, and you may never know it.

It’s more important than you think. Call your local VetEnt or visit www.vetent.co.nz/sporemap.

VetEnt Te Awamutu 07 872 0240 | VetEnt Otorohanga 07 873 8275 |

VetEnt Te Kuiti 07 878 0020 | VetEnt King Country 07 895 7585

AUTUMN CALVING

Winter milking – a perfect fit SAMANTHA TENNENT

I

T HAS been non-stop milking for 900 days on Kauri Moor but Rhys Darby and his team are drying off this month after a transition from spring to autumn calving.

Their last exclusively spring calving was in 2016.

The farm has two milking platforms – 230 hectares and 150ha effective with 250ha of support blocks nearby.

Darby manages the larger farm milking 650 cows and his brother Phillip manages the 420-cow herd next door.

The brothers are equity partners with their parents Bruce and Kay on their farm Kauri Moor, west of Huntly at Ruawaro.

When the Darbys bought the 150ha unit six years ago, it was already a winter milking herd.

When they added the 230ha spring calving farm, they decided to make the switch to autumn calving.

“We meandered around the idea of transitioning to autumn calving for a

couple of years before biting the bullet,” Darby says.

“There were a number of factors which helped us decide to make the change.”

The family had been looking to put in new infrastructure and wanted something that would give them the best feed utilisation.

They built a covered feed pad capable of housing 700 cows, feed bins, feed bunkers and bought a mixer wagon.

They also added a flood wash system on the feed pad and capture rain water for washdown. Greenwater is also recycled to use for flood washing.

“Having a covered feed pad for the cows has a lot of benefits for the welfare of the herd and the environment.

“We are able to take the herd off paddocks in wet conditions so pugging damage is minimised and on hot, summer days they can stay cool in the shade of the feed pad.”

Darby says an added benefit is being able to capture the nutrients off the floor and store them.

The farm runs a system 5 with a big

focus on cow condition.

“Autumn calving allows us to match the seasonal growth on our farm. This will help with feed utilisation and cow condition.”

Palm kernel and protein such as corn dried distiller’s grain is fed on the feed pad where wastage is vastly reduced.

“We feed about two tonnes of supplement per cow throughout the season.”

Peak growth is in spring and any excess is harvested from the platform and support block.

“Switching to autumn calving won’t reduce the amount of feed we buy in but we find it is cheaper as we are buying

Rhys Darby and dad Bruce on the covered feed pad they built as part of the conversion to winter milking.

54

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

The team at Kauri Moor has been converting to winter milking for the past three years and is about to dry off for the first time in 900 days.

when the market demand is low,” Darby says.

Reduced costs allows them to be more consistent with their feed budgeting and more grass is being harvested with better utilisation. As a result, the cows are in better condition than before they transitioned.

“I believe to get the full benefit of the winter system you need to keep putting in feed but we keep an eye on budgets and operate below a $4/kg MS farm working expense.”

They hope with the new system the herd will produce more and have a longer lactation.

“Our production line is flatter. We aren’t peaking like spring calving herds do but they seem to hold for a long time.”

Production this season will be 320,000kg MS and they’re aiming for 330,000kg MS next season. Before the transition in their final spring calving the farm produced 276,000kg MS with 800 cows.

“The goal is for cows to do their weight in production while still maintaining low farm working expenses.

“Changing our system gives us flexibility. We are operating out of peak times and can respond to changing conditions easily.

“If we have surplus grass we can make grass silage or buy in some beef animals to keep on top of it.”

Darby says autumn calving aligns with the pasture growth curve as well as Fonterra’s payout structure.

“We’re not producing a lot in the months when the milk cheques are lower but we have a lot of production and

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

income coming in when the cheques are strong.”

Darby believes the autumn-born calves grow better than those born in spring and because they already have had time to grow they handle the winter and summer conditions better.

Calves are weighed regularly and weaned at 100kg. In autumn the market for four-day-old weaner calves is strong.

Switching to autumn calving won’t reduce the amount of feed we buy in but we find it is cheaper as we are buying when the market demand is low.

Their replacement rate has been 25% but Darby is looking at options and might reduce how many heifers they rear for the herd.

Once calves hit the 10-day mark they move outside and Bruce and Kay take over calf-rearing duties.

“Dad enjoys moving the animals so it’s great to have him helping out. This time of year he’s quite often at the beach house but with good communication we keep on top of everything. It works well.”

This season they’re trialling using Angus bulls over their heifers, avoiding Jerseys and hopefully creating another market by adding value to the calves.

“We have been buying really good bulls from Shrimptons Hill in the South Island and we use short gestation Hereford semen on our lower BW cows.”

They use Friesian semen and do AI for five weeks, run the bulls for three weeks then do a further 10 days of AI with short gestation semen.

Darby says the three most important things to do when transitioning a herd are: Planning – Have a good long term plan and stick to it. “Whether you are transitioning over one, two or three years make sure you have a plan.”

Infrastructure –Make sure your infrastructure is solid and sound and works with the system. “If you have good infrastructure, the process is not a tedious chore.

Good people –Having a good team is really important and makes a big difference. He has two full-time staff and a third who is typically a British gap-year student. “Some of our staff have been here since the first day of transition and are still going strong even after 900 days straight. Having a good team has made the transition to autumn calving a lot easier than it could’ve been. We will have to do something for them when we finally dry off.”

With many obstacles navigated Darby is pleased with the transition and he’s looking forward to settling into the new system and achieving the production targets. n

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AUTUMN CALVING

New Fertility Focus report helps achieve farm targets SAMANTHA TENNENT

A

LOT has changed in the sector since the InCalf programme, designed to help dairy farmers improve their herd reproductive performance, was launched in New Zealand.

These days there is a far better understanding of reproduction and we are excited to put these lessons into practice.

That’s why we have the new and improved DairyNZ InCalf Fertility Focus Report.

When the report was first produced in 2007 there were less than 500 herds producing high-quality detailed reports.

Now there are more than 4000 herds. The information is invaluable, giving a more accurate picture of herd reproductive performance.

The data has highlighted that average mating lengths have shortened and more 15-month heifers are being mated ahead of the herd as well as giving insight into reproduction performance after six weeks of mating.

It’s exciting exploring the changing way we’re farming. We’ve been able to look at the trends and adjust the targets and triggers to more accurately reflect what’s achievable on-farm.

56

Triggers are the range a herd’s test results sit in and determine which star rating will be awarded – one, three or five stars from lowest to highest. The stars allow anyone glancing over the report to get an idea of how a herd is performing.

Making decisions on farm can be tricky sometimes but having these tools available can only help make the job a little easier.

Katrina Roberts Anexa

So, what’s changed?

The red target line for percentage of herd in-calf graph on detailed reports has been lowered slightly after week six of mating.

Calving pattern targets and triggers have been updated based on calving pattern data since 2014.

The expected not-in-calf rate figure has been updated to better reflect what is achievable based on the herd’s six-week in-calf rate and length of mating.

Anexa veterinarian and InCalf trainer Katrina Roberts uses Fertility Focus reports extensively when working with clients.

She says the report allows her to analyse a herd’s reproductive performance, giving a good picture of what’s going well and where the opportunities lie.

She says she’s excited about the updates and having more confidence in the report results.

“I believe that great data collected from across the country can really help us understand what’s going on with reproductive trends and I love the fact it’s available to all our farmers.

“Making decisions on farm can be tricky sometimes but having these tools available can only help make the job a little easier.

Farmers can access their reports through MINDA Live, CRV Insight and through their vets with access to Infovet.

MORE:

You can find the Fertility Focus Report at dairynz.co.nz/reproduction Samantha Tennent is a DairyNZ developer.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

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AUTUMN CALVING

Contract milker Kieran McDonald and wife Annika are in their first season on Waipapa in Canterbury.

Milking year-round TIM FULTON

T

HE farm the Schouten family bought at Swannanoa was a relic of a time when farming livestock near Christchurch was normal,

not a novelty.

Peter and Kirsty Schouten knew their planned conversion of the 190ha property, originally a sheep farm, was a risk, requiring irrigation, nutrient consents and a degree of support from surrounding lifestyle landowners.

Now, Waipapa, about 25km northwest of Christchurch, runs spring and autumn calvers supplying year-round milk to Fonterra.

Waipapa started milking cows in October 2016 and until now it has shuttled stock back and forth between another Schouten farm, an older 382ha conversion on nearby South Eyre Rd. Peter’s family has bought and leased several farms in the area since his parents Aad and Marja Schouten emigrated from the Netherlands 19 years ago. The family’s leased land helps to make the milking platforms self-sufficient though Waipapa

58

is becoming less reliant on the other units.

This autumn will be the first time Waipapa feeds its own full autumn calving – a landmark for a property that had to be run as part of the bigger family group to get consent for a conversion. Next season the farm will milk up to 800 cows across the two herds.

When we’re picking up calves day and night, checking every four hours, we just don’t lose cows over calving.

Similar to Peter and Kristy’s South Eyre Rd operation, split calving allows the farm to roll over empty cows from a spring herd into mating for an autumn herd or vice versa.

Contract milker Kieran McDonald,

who started at Waipapa in June, says Peter takes pride in his Holstein Friesian genetics, insists on using top bulls and made it clear every calf is important.

To minimise stress at calving the farm mates its spring herd for only seven weeks and the autumn herd for five.

It means the seasonal round of calf pick-ups is relatively short though still intense with four-hourly round-the-clock shifts.

McDonald says staff appreciate being able to pick up autumn calves while it is still light and the weather is good.

“It’s more of a people thing.

“When we’re picking up calves day and night, checking every four hours, we just don’t lose cows over calving.”

In last year’s last spring calving the farm lost only one cow, to milk fever during a southerly storm. Other stock have gone down before and since for other reasons but the numbers are minimal.

McDonald started at Waipapa with a 2IC and dairy assistant and will employ another dairy assistant in February to cope with the increasing workload from rising cow numbers. His team includes partner Annika who does office administration, herd records, buys farm

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

supplies and helps with on-farm work.

The new farm assistant will add to the cover for autumn calving, including calf rearing, while the farm continues to improve its irrigation and feed systems.

McDonald says the priority is grass-fed grazing but over winter they also feed a 50:50 mix of maize and pea silage, dried distillers grain and some corn gluten meal. A mixer wagon on the feed pad churns out a combination of 15kg of drymatter supplement and 5kg of grass while 1kg of grain is fed out in the milking shed.

The autumn calvers have now done two winters on the platform.

McDonald says it was really wet the first season and they had trouble with lameness because of the new, sharp concrete. The surface was smoother the next time round when they milked 350 cows instead of the initial 500.

From his perspective it was good having a winter milk payment on July 20 for the previous month’s supply.

Without that, as a contract milker he would have to wait until September 20 for supply in August. He is enjoying the step up from farm management, having joined the Schoutens from a 1250-cow Canterbury Grasslands farm at Hororata, central Canterbury. Over the past decade McDonald has also farmed in Germany and a couple of other properties around Swannanoa.

His next goals for Waipapa include fixed-grid irrigation for about 4ha of dryland corners, perhaps starting with a couple of hectares of cover next summer.

The Swannanoa area has blossomed into a rural-residential belt over the past 20 years, especially since the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes displaced redzoners.

Subdivisions crowd a handful of dairy farms and other rural enterprises. Not far away from the Schoutens’ conversion the once-barren Mandeville area now has its first shops.

Waipapa milks about 700 cows and about 220 will begin calving at the end of February.

Kieran McDonald worked in Germany for two years where they milked year-round.

Aware of the mixed farming and semiurban environment, the Schoutens are creating a farm that sustains people and livestock alike.

Their approach includes including being a good neighbour, picking wind direction when spraying effluent through pivots and shutting down the fertigation on public holidays and Sundays.

They’ve also invested in high-end systems including recycling of

The priority at Waipapa is grass-fed grazing but over winter they also feed a mix of maize and pea silage, dried distillers grain and some corn gluten meal.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

effluent water for washing down.

Wash is collected in a sump and stored in a flexible bladder rather than an open pond so there’s less chance of odour being carried on the wind and nitrogen being lost to the environment.

For visual pleasure the farm has also planted attractive hedges and regularly mows its roadsides.

“The last thing we want is to be a scruffy neighbour,” Peter says. n

59

NUTRITION

Winter says spring feed is key to summer output

M

AKING and adhering to a daily feed plan could be the key to getting cows through a hot summer.

Effective nutrition management can be easy and rewarding if dairy farmers focus on a daily plan, GrainCorp Feeds technical support manager Ken Winter says.

A focus on nutrition for cows is essential and a lack of preparation in previous months can affect cattle in summer.

“In summer we find in many cases that the main barriers to getting cows to realise their genetic production potential are underfeeding or poor feed utilisation.

“Often there is a lot of feed in the system but the hot weather reduces cows’ appetites.

“Less feed intake means more waste and less production.”

Another reason for a sharp drop in production in summer could be underperformance in spring. That has typically been from underfeeding and overgrazing.

It can be avoided with feed planning early in the season and matching feed intake with desired output.

“Fundamentally, it is important that stocking rates match predicted growth rates, poor performing paddocks are cropped where possible and farmers have an insurance policy in the form of extra feed on hand to successfully get through the drier months,” Winter says.

Supplementing with specific nutrients and minerals will depend on the individual herd and farming environment but Winter believes protecting the liver and immune system throughout the year should be paramount.

“Zinc supplemented early enough and long enough can protect stock against facial eczema.

“Molasses, salt, Levucell SC and quality concentrates will help reduce heat stress while improving drymatter intake and fibre digestion. Products like Melofeed, selenium and vitamin E will improve the immune function,” he says.

60

Ken Winter and GrainCorp client Shane Swinerd using Tracker.

“The key message is that with a balanced diet cows will convert feed more efficiently while maintaining production, pregnancy, cow health, body condition and, therefore, profitability.”

If heat stress is an issue, making shade available, having a constant supply of good clean water, avoiding milking in the heat of the day, feeding in the cooler

parts of the day and using sprinklers in the shed will all complement a good nutrition programme and maintain good production in summer.

Leading into autumn the focus should be on cows making a healthy gain in body condition.

“They do this very efficiently while in milk,” he says. n

TOP TIPS • Have a robust feed plan. Understand your farm and know how to minimise risk and poor performance.

• Monitor feed conversion efficiency. Know your margins and what gives you the best return on your investment. Tracker is a great tool for this.

• Manage nutrition daily. Good farming comes from a multitude of small things done every day. Each one impacts the next.

• Balance the diet. Grow as much quality grass as possible, harvest any surplus or crop where needed. Then balance the diet with the right supplement to achieve the best results rather than relying on supplement alone.

• A spring-like flush at the end of the year can allow cows to milk well but often they will strip weight in the process. Starch levels generally need to be increased to balance the increased crude protein.

• Drying off according to the calving date and targeting calving condition at dry-off is best practice.

• Winter works with dairy farmers throughout the year to look at their farming practices and pinpoint their herd’s potential through better nutrition and supplementary feed.

• He provides farmers with a feed plan based on a herd’s individual needs to improve overall productivity and profitability. That’s wrapped around with a hands-on, on-farm service, GrainCorp Feeds’ online milk monitoring and forecasting tool Tracker and proactive advice on nutrition, feeding and monitoring.

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

Standards set high

R

OSEY Acres near Norsewood is the culmination of one man’s commitment to years of hard work to create a large dairy farm with outstanding production, infrastructure and scope.

The 188ha Tararua farm produced 220,000kg milksolids (MS) last season with a further 50,000kg MS produced from a longstanding 480ha lease block that is available to a new owner.

Over the years the farm’s owner has invested significant time and money in fencing, gates, tracks, fertiliser and water supply on the lease block and it has been integral to the farm’s progress.

Jim Crispin from Property Brokers says

the development over the years on Rosey Acres has resulted in a series of impressive all-weather access tracks for the ease of stock movement and vehicles, with metal sourced from a pit on the farm and an underpass connecting paddocks on both sides of the road.

Mature shelter belts are spread throughout the farm while a large number of totara trees create a picturesque setting and attract native birds.

The farm milks 900 cows as well as carrying its replacement stock and 48 rising two-year bulls and steers with the latter providing another income stream and enabling the operation to maximise its scope. It also grows regular amounts of supplements on both the home and lease blocks, assisted by the summer-safe

climate of the area that allows farmers to grow an abundance of grass and forage crops.

Combined with the climate is the premium land that is a mix of fertile soil types with largely silty loam and one area of sandy loam.

A good standard of improvements has been established on the farm and most significant is the central, 70-bail rotary dairy with Waikato plant that was built in 2002.

Four homes include a superior fourbedroom house build in 2007 and near the homes is a complex of sheds for calf rearing, implements and workshop. n

MORE:

Contact Jim Crispin on 027 717 8862

Auction

Golden opportunity - 188.2293 ha Situated in the summer safe region of Norsewood, this dairy unit is on premium land with great infrastructure. The dairy shed is a modern 70 bail rotary, situated centrally on farm. With great access tracks including underpass allowing for ease of stock movement. Fencing and subdivision is to an excellent standard. The farm has a sound fertiliser history producing excellent pasture growth. Water is drawn by consent from the Manawatu river. Another feature of the farm is its shedding complex located on a large metalled area allowing parking and storing of implements and large farm vehicles. Two modern large implement sheds with workshop, a large calf rearing shed with four small nearby paddocks with calve shelter sheds. The farm has a modern superior four bedroom main home with an additional three workers homes. The property has a neighbouring lease block of approx 480 ha which is available to potential purchasers.

Auction 2.00pm, Thursday 14 March 2019, Hovding Hall, Lower Norsewood View by appointment Web pb.co.nz/DR65750 Jim Crispin M 027 717 8862 P 06 928 6522 jimc@pb.co.nz

pb.co.nz Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

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2480RE86X210

Size it to fit budget

A

COW barn with 454 stalls makes a Timaru dairy farm bulletproof in wet weather for its winter milk operation while versatile soils provide the chance to add income streams from horticulture and cropping.

Fairview Holsteins is a 417ha farm with multiple titles that lies on Phar Lap Road where the famous horse was bred – a prime location just a few kilometres from Timaru and beside the coast.

On its flat contour the farm is milking 440 Friesian cows year-round through a 36-bail rotary dairy with auto drafting, cup removers and GEA Westfalia Dairy Plant while the cubicle stable barn has auto slurry scrapers and a robot to push feed up.

Ian Moore from Farmlands Real Estate says the well-balanced property has been farmed conservatively, enabling plenty of upside for a new owner.

It’s available as an entire property or in separate titles and the neighbouring

The cow barn is a great asset to this winter milking property.

The Timaru farm milks 440 cows year round.

462ha dairy farm is also for sale so could be combined for a large-scale operation.

The farm has a deadline sale date of March 27. n

Looking for the complete package?

We’ve got you covered with digital and print options.

Contact Shirley Howard phone 06 323 0760, email shirley.howard@globalhq.co.nz

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate

MORE:

Contact: Ian Moore on 027 539 8152 or Eddie Moir on 021 731 199

Grow crops and milk

V

ERSATILE soils could grow a wide range of arable and horticulture crops on a 462ha dairy farm near Timaru that milks 500 Friesian cows, including 450 on a winter milking contract.

Maize, lucerne and kale are grown on the farm and Ian Moore from Farmlands Real Estate says the maize crops from these soils are stunning.

The farm is fully self contained and has consent to irrigate the entire property by pivot and guns from its own wells.

He describes it as a quality property with a great location and multiple titles providing purchase options. The farm has been farmed conservatively so has plenty of upside for a new owner or it could be

The property is in a great location and under multiple titles giving owners flexibility.

combined with a neighbouring 417ha dairy farm that is also for sale to create a large-scale enterprise.

Both of the farms have four good houses plus a wide range of support

buildings, including a 50-bail rotary dairy on this farm. n

MORE:

Contact: Ian Moore on 027 539 8152 or Eddie Moir on 021 731 199

For Sale

South Canterbury | Seadown

South Canterbury | Seadown

Production And Location. A superb dairy, in multiple titles, irrigated by pivots and guns, self-contained with room to grow. 440 cows milking all year round (Holstein Semex bred). 36-bail rotary dairy shed with autodrafting, automatic cup removers and GEA Westfalia DairyPlan plus a 454 stall barn. Could be utilised to grow crops as well as dairy. Neighbouring dairy farm also available. | Property ID TU11140

Quality Opportunity. A quality property with great location, selfcontained, milking 500 Friesian cows (average 450) all year round through a 50-bail rotary dairy shed. 462 hectares in multiple titles with consents to irrigate the entire property. Located approximately 5.5km from Timaru with options to grow horticulture or arable crops as well as dairy. Neighbouring dairy farm also available. | Property ID TU11141

Deadline Sale

Deadline Sale

417 Hectares

Contact

Closing 1pm, Wednesday 27 March 2019 (unless sold prior) Eddie Moir 021 731 199 Ian Moore 027 539 8152

Licensed under REAA 2008

DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

462 Hectares

Contact

Closing 1pm, Wednesday 27 March 2019 (unless sold prior) Eddie Moir 021 731 199 Ian Moore 027 539 8152

0800 200 600 | farmlandsrealestate.co.nz

63

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February 2019

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One last word …

T

HE team at Global HQ was saddened to hear of the death of former Fonterra chairman John Wilson.

He was 54.

The Te Awamutu dairy farmer’s association with Fonterra dates back to the co-op’s inception in 2001 when he was elected to the Shareholders Council.

As well as that role he held several others including chairman of Milktest NZ and sat on the boards of a number of companies.

In 2003 he became a Fonterra director and was elected as chairman in 2012.

He served until his resignation in July because of illness.

When he stood down Fonterra said he had undergone significant surgery and required ongoing treatment. He continued as a Fonterra director until the co-operative’s annual meeting in November, when he retired from the board.

In a message to farmers Wilson said the decision to stand down as chairman was difficult but ultimately in the co-op’s best interests.

“I have made a very good recovery and am well but will need ongoing treatment.

“It has been a privilege to serve you as chairman and give something back to

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this great co-operative that continues to give my family and me so much.

“As many of you will know from experience, governance roles are incredibly rewarding, but equally demanding on the individual and their families.

“Continuing as chairman when I cannot put my full energy and attention into the role is not appropriate.”

Wilson steered the co-operative through several turbulent times and was often in the firing line from shareholders over fluctuating global milk prices, food safety scares, environmental issues and unsuccessful foreign investments.

But under his tenure the co-op also flourished through trade with China, exports and revenue booming. Fonterra’s value-added business is now bigger than the rest of the New Zealand dairy industry combined.

He was succeeded as chairman by John Monaghan who said Wilson was a man whose dedication and commitment to the co-operative ran deep.

“We owe John and his family a debt of gratitude for all the time, energy and sheer hard graft he gave us as a farmer-owner, inaugural chairman of the Fonterra Shareholder’s Council on merger, as a farmer-elected director from 2003 and as our chairman from 2012.

We have lost a friend, colleague, leader and champion for our industry much too soon.

“John always brought dedication, commitment and deep dairy knowledge to each of the representation and governance roles in which he served. On behalf of his fellow farmers he was the ultimate advocate for what we stand for.

“We have lost a friend, colleague, leader and champion for our industry much too soon. Our thoughts and deep gratitude for all that he contributed go to his family and friends,” Monaghan said.

Wilson is survived by his wife Belinda and four daughters, Sophie, Victoria and twins Tessa and Libby. n

Sonita

Like us: farmersweekly.co.nz Follow us: @DairyFarmer15 Read us anywhere: farmersweekly.co.nz DAIRY FARMER

February 2019

Dairy Diary

Proudly brought to you by Farmside

February 2019 Monday

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Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday 1

Saturday 2

Sunday 3

February 7, 8

February 19

Dairy Women’s Network, Farm tools with a difference, Manawatu. A FarmIQ three-in-one workshop to provide knowledge and tools with a difference for busy farm operations. Topics include staff management and planning, health and safety, pasture management. More at www.dwn. co.nz/events

DairyNZ, Pihama re-grassing field day. Focused on regrassing before crops are finished. Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz

February 7

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6

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SMASH, Fresh Farming Tactics, Kawakawa. Visit Bella Vacca Jerseys to see how to make more out of a farm business. www.smallerherds.co.nz February 12 Dairy Women’s Network, gain control of infectious diseases on-farm, West Coast. Future-proof the farm with improved 11understanding and 12control measures13 14 for diseases. Various places and dates. More at www.dwn.co.nz/events February 12, 19 and 26 Dairy Women’s Network, Payroll, all you need to know, Central Otago, North Canterbury and South Canterbury. A refresher on big changes to PAYE filing obligations from April 1. More info at www.dwn.co.nz/events

18February 13, 19,19 21, 27

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Dairy Women’s Network, Farm accommodation, south Waikato, western Bay of Plenty and Wairarapa. Find out the requirements, rights and responsibilities for on-farm accommodation.

February 20 DairyNZ, Southern Dairy Hub field day. DairyNZ and AgResearch senior scientist Dawn Dalley updates farm and science projects. RSVP by February 15. Info at www.

8 9 10 dairyevents.co.nz February 21 Lincoln University farm focus day (LUDF). Topics include attracting and retaining the best people for the dairy industry, passing an environmental audit with flying colours, greenhouse gas emissions and LUDF. Inquiries to 03 423 0022 or office@siddc.org.nz. www.siddc.org.nz February 15 26

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SMASH, Growing great calves and well-designed effluent systems, Taranaki. How well calves are managed from birth to weaning will affect heifer productivity. Logan Bowler, DairyNZ, on designing an effluent system. www. smallerherds.co.nz February 28 to March 2 Northland Agricultural Field Days. Farming innovations and 22 23 24 technology. Demonstrations of skill and expertise.

February 13

DairyNZ Effluent systems open days. Visit three or four farms a day or attend a farm and system of interest. Host farmers will share information about what it cost, how it works, the pros and cons. Various dates and places. Info at www.dairyevents. co.nz

how to make more out of farm business through adding a sideline. www.smallerherds.co.nz

On-farm Skills Day, Taranaki. Upskill the entire farm team.

Experts lead workshops to help planning. Various dates. Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz

February 14 and 21

FMG Young Farmer of the Year regional finals:

DairyNZ, Biosecurity levy consultation meeting, Waikato. Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz

February 16 Otago/Southland at Milton, February 23 Aorangi at Oamaru , March 2 Tasman, North Canterbury.

Various dates and locations. www.dwn.co.nz/events

25SMASH, Creatively 26building business,27Karamea. Investigate 28

DAIRY FARMER

We know rural because we are rural www.farmside.co.nz

February 2019

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