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CONTENTS NEWS 7
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Honours Several leaders in agriculture feature in the New Year Honours list
17 Milk Monitor Record milk price is on the cards
ON FARM STORY 8
From one generation to the next Waikato farmer leaves his mark on the family farm
20 A climate change journey Whakatāne farmers lead by example
FARMING CHAMPIONS 28 Dairy champion – Tim Carter 32 Women in agribusiness – Tania Burrows
FEATURES 42 Training and education 52 Autumn calving
REGULAR FEATURES 46 Industry good - DairyNZ
20 Editor
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8
From one generation to the next
Waikato farmer’s vision is now the legacy he left behind.
7
28
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Honours for ag contributors By Sonita Chandar
T
he agriculture sector has been honoured, with several recipients being named in the New Year’s Honours list. Rakaia dairy farmer Jessie Chan was named as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to dairy and agriculture. She has been contributing to the dairy and agricultural industry through her management and governance roles for 20 years. “While I am very grateful to be acknowledged, it feels surreal, as I know there are so many deserving people in the industry that have put in decades of hard mahi,” Chan says. “I would like to dedicate the award to my father who passed away last year. He was a pivotal influence in my life and laid the foundations for everything I have learnt so far.” Chan was the first provincial president of the Wellington Young Farmers’ Club, served on the Federated Farmers Dairy Section National Executive and was vice president and chairperson of the Dairy Section of Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers. She has been a Fonterra Shareholders’ Councillor, an associate director of DairyNZ and on the Land Use Futures board. She is also a member of NZ Asian Leaders and Super Diverse Women. In 2017 she was awarded Fonterra’s Dairy Woman of the Year, and is a current director of Ngāi Tahu Farming Limited, Alpine Energy Limited and Bioprotection Aotearoa. Well-known and respected in agrimedia circles is Sue Miller from Wellington, who became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her 40 years of service to agricultural journalism. Miller became Greymouth Evening Star’s first female journalist in 1971 and went on to work with the Bay of Plenty Times and Northern Advocate before moving to Wellington in 1977. She held several press and public affairs roles before beginning her involvement with the NZ Guild
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
Rakaia farmer Jessie Chan has been named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to dairy and agriculture.
of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators (NZGAJC). She was national secretary and awards administrator of NZGAJC from 2003 until her retirement in 2020. She carried out the guild’s administration, liaised with the National Executive, managed events, produced a newsletter and maintained relationships with sponsors. Her key contribution was the development of the guild’s journalism awards, presented annually. Miller also organised conferences for the guild’s 50th and 60th anniversaries and spearheaded the guild’s hosting of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) World Congress in 2015, which attracted 150 journalists from 30 countries. Other recipients include Dr Michael William Dunbier of Ilam, made Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to agricultural science. He has been a leading figure in plant breeding and agricultural science in NZ. Past roles include director of DSIR Crop Research, chief executive of the NZ Institute for Crop and Food Research Ltd. Dr Peter Francis Fennessy of Roslyn
received the Officer of the NZ Order of Merit for services to agricultural science and business. He has had a broad and distinguished career as a scientist, mentor, consultant and entrepreneur over 45 years, with a key focus on bridging science and business in the NZ agricultural and biotechnology sectors, to provide better outcomes for the public, enterprise and the environment. Dianne Mary Milne of Dobson was made Officer of the NZ Order of Merit for services to the rural community. Milne has made significant contributions to the West Coast rural community since 1981 and has been a pioneer for women in the rural community, as the first woman to be elected as chairperson of Rotomanu Federated Farmers, chairperson of Provincial Meat and Wool, provincial president of the West Coast Federated Farmers, chairperson of Rural Support Trust and director of Phoenix Meat Company Limited. She was also a member of the West Coast Regional Animal Health Committee, where she mentored farmers impacted by bovine tuberculosis. Ian McKenzie Jordan, of Blenheim, was honoured as Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to the livestock industry. He has contributed to sheep and cattle breeding in Marlborough, nationally and internationally. While Shane Patrick McManaway, of Carterton, was honoured as Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to agriculture and the communitY. He has been regarded as a leader in NZ’s agricultural industry for more than 30 years. He formed and has been chairperson of Platinum Primary Producers Group (PPP) since 2005, a collective of 120 primary producers across Australasia and Asia. He also founded the Zanda McDonald Award in 2015, to recognise young people in primary industry sectors and support their career development with access to the expertise of PPP members. n
7
Arjun Singh manages the 250ha Holstein Friesian stud farm at Gordonton, Waikato for his grandparents, milking 1000 cows. Photos: Stephen Barker
A father’s vision for his family farm is finally bearing fruit.
From one generation to the next
By Gerald Piddock
After losing the head of their family, the Singhs are doing everything to honour his farming vision.
D
airy farming and family are intertwined for Arjun Singh and his siblings, mother and grandparents. For five generations they have farmed dairy cows, turning pasture into milk on their land east of Gordonton. Increasingly frustrated by the seasonal extremities, the Singhs built a barn to house their cows and switched to a Northern Hemisphere-style indoor farming system to better protect and feed their animals. The decision was initiated by the late Aman Singh and his wife Daljit, together with their son Arjun. It became a reality in 2018, when building company Calder Stewart completed the imposing 250m x 40m barn (9625m2) structure. Aman did not get a chance to see the best of it. In March 2020, the 49-yearold farmer suffered a fatal heart attack, leaving his family to continue what he had started. Arjun says that his father’s vision was to showcase an example of “farming for the future” within a sustainable operation at Lawwal – the name of the Singh’s Holstein Friesian stud.
“He wanted an operation that would be compliant, without compromising cow comfort or great working facilities for our staff,” Arjun says. “While he worked hard, he never underestimated the importance of having a healthy lifestyle and he encouraged everyone around him to do the same.” To honour Aman’s memory, the Singhs are holding an open day on April 22 and stock sale where 5% of the sale price will each be donated to the Heart Foundation and the Rural Support Trust. “The day’s dedicated to Dad,” he says. “He built the legacy here at our farm and laid the platform for us. We wanted to raise funds for two charities that are close to our hearts. The success of this sale for us will be measured through helping others.” ‘The Legacy’ sale will see around 5060 of the Singh’s cattle being sold, ranging from in-milk cows, yearlings, calves and the pick of the flush lots. There will be a mix of high production New Zealand-bred animals, which carry LIC interest.
FARM FACTS
• Farm owners: Karamjit and Mindho Singh • Farm manager: Arjun Singh • Location: Gordonton, Waikato • Farm size: 250ha • Herd size: 1000 Holstein Friesian cows • Production 2020-21: 700,000kg MS • Production target 2021-22: 700,000kg MS
Continued page 10
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Arjun’s sister Anjena says raising money for those two charities was the day’s main goal. “We have had a lot of interest over the years of people wanting to come and look at the farm, so we decided to have a bit of an open day and let them look around and have a look at what we do,” Anjena says. All of the contractors and other services the Singhs use will also be there to explain their role in the farm business. This is an event that has been planned to be all about family, showcasing improved technology for the future, great cows and living a healthy and balanced lifestyle. It is deliberately slated during the school holidays to reflect the emphasis on family. Arjun now manages the farm with assistance from Anjena and his younger sister Amreeta. They also employ six full-time staff, including a farm manager, two tractor operators and three staff who work in the dairy shed and barn. It remains very much a family-driven business. As well as assistance from his sisters, his mother Daljit rears all the
calves and grandfather Karamjit manages the younger stock. “It’s more like 10 staff. It’s a big operation and while the staff are really important, without our family, the place wouldn’t run,” Arjun says. “And it will always be that way. It will always be a family-driven farm.” He cannot put into words the influence
his father has had on the farm. Aman’s mum Mindho Singh says her son loved the cows. “Ever since he was a toddler, he wanted to farm,” Mindho says. He was also a humble leader among his family, Anjena adds. “Our family is quite big and he was always helping everybody out. He was an
The family farm is owned by Karamjit and Mindho Singh, who say their son loved the cows and had wanted to go farming from the time he was a toddler.
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“While he worked hard, he never underestimated the importance of having a healthy lifestyle and he encouraged everyone around him to do the same.” Arjun Singh innovator and found new ways of doing things. “He was never scared of trying out new things.” Arjun says the barn system exemplifies that innovative mindset and was in response to the seasonal extremities they were experiencing. “We were getting really wet winters and really dry summers. We like fully feeding our cows so it made sense to grow feed. We grow maize every summer and it made sense to bring that to the cows rather than growing grass for them in the paddock,” Arjun says. “He wanted to grow the business and was looking at either more land or putting up something like this and utilising more of the land we have to a higher standard.”
The incremental Waikato weather was the catalyst for the cow barn, which was initiated by the late Aman Singh who did not get to see the best of it. It protected the animals from those extremities and put them in a better position to front foot new environmental regulations. “This system here we think is built for the future. It’s controlled, it’s sustainable and we have gone to using very little fertiliser now. Most of our nutrients are now all sourced through the effluent, both liquid and solids are all put onto the farm all year round,” he says. Prior to the barn being built, Arjun and
his father had many conversations around how they could feed their cows better after struggling to fully feed the cows enough on grass all year round, especially in the summer. “We started looking around and we liked the look of the free stall barns. So, Dad went to the US and saw some really good barns – and some really bad barns,” he says.
Continued page 12
The family will be holding a legacy sale to sell top animals from their stud in honour of Arjun’s father, Aman, who died in 2020. Part of the sale proceeds will be donated to the Heart Foundation and Rural Support Trust. Daljit Kaur Singh, Anjena Singh, Arjun Singh, Mindho Singh and Karamjit Singh with the former No. 2 conformation heifer in the world, Busybrook Skick Bella-ET. Photo by Dean Malcolm
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
11
The imposing 250m x 40m barn [9625m2] structure was built in 2018 and can house their 1000-cow herd. The barn allowed them to increase stock numbers from 600 to 1000 and they have seen a 30% increase in production. “He came back and sent me down to the South Island to look at barns down there, and when we came back together, we knew this was what we wanted to do. It was definitely the right call.” The open day will also showcase their total mixed ration (TMR) feed system. The system has worked well for the Singhs, allowing them to feed the required level of nutrition for each cow. The Singhs grow 70-80% of the ration on-farm via maize silage and grass silage. “This system has allowed us to increase production, take better care of our environment and increase the amount of feed we can grow. I definitely wouldn’t go back to pasture farming,” he says. “So, hopefully if someone is thinking about doing it, we can help them along just as others helped us when we were making our own decisions.” The barn is divided into four sections, with cows split into four herds designated by calving times. The barn’s floor is fitted with rubber matting to protect the herd’s feet and scrapers attached to steel cables fitted into grooves on the floor are used to collect up effluent. Under the TMR system, each herd is fed a different diet depending on their lactation stage. For example, those cows who have just calved and are at their peak lactation are fed a higher level of minerals compared to the herd at their latter stage of lactation. When a herd is close to calving, it shifts to the front of the barn and opens up so
12
that herd has access to a neighbouring paddock so the cow can calve in peace, away from the barn. There is also a designated area for dry cows, where they are fed a different diet. The system also means the cows avoid having to walk long distances from the paddock to the milking shed that can take place on an outdoor system. The farm’s Lawwal Holstein-Friesian stud sources 90% of its genetics from
North America, with the remaining 10% from LIC. We have always gone down that [North American] route. Dad always used those overseas bulls and we have always liked Holstein-Friesian cows,” he says. The barn held 1000 stalls – one for each cow – and he feels that they might as well put the best cow they can in each stall. Constructing the barn also enabled them to increase their cow numbers from 600 to 1000 and lift the herd’s overall production by 30%. Arjun says the key to getting the best out of these cows is feeding them properly. If this is done, they are capable of great production up until the point where they are dried off. “Whereas Kiwi cows we feel are more seasonal orientated. While they get in calf a lot easier, they only milk for a certain amount of days and then they start drying off,” he says. “They can produce great volumes and they can hold their type better, whereas other cows can break down after a few lactations.” The cows produce an average of 700kg MS across their lactation on the System 5 farm. Having an indoor system means they can avoid the steep seasonal production peaks typically seen on an outdoor farm. Their flatter but more consistent curve means they can hold their herd at peak production longer because the cows are
The farm is very much a family business and Arjun says his father had an enormous influence on the farm system and was not afraid to try new things. The barn is a testament to his father’s innovative mindset. Arjun with some of the herd.
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
As well as the family, the farm employs six full-time staff, including a farm manager, two tractor operators and three staff who work in the dairy shed and barn. Team members David Maartens, Jim McConaughey, Chris McConaughey, Michael Carter, Olexsandr (Alex) Stryzhak and Nuwan Rathnayaka. Photo: Dean Malcolm
“We’re really liking the umbilical injecting system. The barn produces a slurry that is too thick to irrigate, therefore, we had to look at other options. One of the many things we have learnt since having the barn.” Arjun Singh not as affected by the heat of the summer as they do in a more traditional system. Their highest producing cow for last season milked 1043kg MS and 14,350 litres as a six-year-old. Their top two-yearold produced 943kg MS (11,990 litres). Switching to a barn system has made a big difference for their animal health,
with lameness levels falling rapidly because the cows no longer have to walk from the paddock to the milking shed to be milked. All the cows’ hooves are trimmed yearly. It also led to a 50% fall in the herd’s somatic cell count and mastitis, which Arjun believes is a result of the cows being more comfortable in the barn. He says the perception that the system is poor on animal welfare or is not the ‘New Zealand way’ of farming is wrong. “If we let the cows out of the barn, they’ll do a few laps [in the paddock] and they’ll go back in. If you give the cows the option, they’ll stay in there every day of the week. When it’s really hot, the cows will break fences to get inside,” he says. The milking shed is a 50-bail rotary shed with automatic cup removers. Eventually Arjun says he wants to invest in more technology in the shed and
incorporate that into how the cows’ performance is measured. “It’s on the radar,” he says. For now, the cows are manually drafted with all of the cows’ details recorded on MINDA. The farm operates as a closed system, with all of the young stock born and raised on the farm. The farm has a 20% replacement rate, with calves reared in a shed before being raised outdoors. They stay on the paddocks once they have transitioned to grass and are also fed maize and silage on the feedpad once a day. In-calf heifers join the cows in the barn eight weeks prior to calving so they can become familiar with it. Arjun runs a split-calving system, with 60% of the cows calving in FebruaryMarch in early autumn and the rest in
Continued page 14
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DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
13
Team member Michael Carter feeds out maize and grass silage to the herd. September. They 100% AI the herd and also use sexed semen. The split-calving system ensures they get a winter milk premium. The September calving only lasts four weeks, then starting in October, their cropping programme gets underway. This plays a huge factor in the success or failure of the season, he says. That feed – mostly grass and maize silage – is grown on their 250ha and harvested and stored on their feed bunkers. Around 170ha of maize is grown every year and that is rotated with an annual grass. They cut the grass all year round, including winter. Arjun says they are careful over those months not to leave too much mess in the paddock from tyre tracks. “It’s not easy and we’ve made some messy silage stacks before but with this system, we don’t have too many other options,” he says. In spring, they cut their grass paddocks for silage once it hits the residual target. Effluent is then applied after cutting to help it grow again until it gets cut again. He can usually get at least two cuts off those paddocks over the spring flush. “Feed quality is really important in our system so we’re always speaking to the contractors and keeping an eye on the weather,” he says. “I feel like a weatherman sometimes, looking for good windows to get the work done.” The maize crops are left to grow until
14
early autumn when it is harvested. The farm’s peat soils are excellent for growing maize because of their high levels of water retention, Arjun says. About a quarter of the feed is brought in supplementary feed, which is mostly soya bean, palm kernel and corn gluten. It is fed out to the cows in the barn once a day in the mixer wagon. The Singhs use a farm advisor and a nutritionist to monitor the cows and recommend the feed ratios to be given to the cows. Nothing is wasted, with any feed not eaten by the herd collected and given to
the heifers on the nearby feedpad. That ratio changes over the course of the season depending on the requirements of the cow for optimum milk efficiency. “Most systems like these use more concentrated and hard feeds. Here in New Zealand, we have to pay a lot for soy and gluten. We have to grow most of the feed ourselves – maize and grass silage and we grow that well – but we have to balance that out with the soya and gluten.” Skyrocketing input prices have pushed Arjun to look at ways of growing more feed to lower their costs. They grow around 75% of the cow’s diet and increasing that percentage will help reduce their costs. Their staff complete the cropping groundwork and they use contractors to harvest their maize. The Singhs have also taken a novel approach to effluent management by investing in an umbilical system. From there, it is injected underground straight into the soil at around 300cm deep on their effluent paddocks. Their effluent pond also has six months of storage, giving them plenty of options if they have to store the effluent due to wet weather. “It’s new to New Zealand, there’s a few doing it down south but I don’t think there’s many dairy farmers doing it,” he says. “We’re really liking the umbilical injecting system. The barn produces a slurry that is too thick to irrigate, therefore, we had to look at other options. One of the many things we have learnt
Arjun runs a split-calving system, with 60% of the cows calving in February-March in early autumn and the rest in September. The splitcalving system ensures they get a winter milk premium.
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
since having the barn.” That slurry is spread out onto their maize crops and even onto the pasture as fertiliser. Looking ahead, the Singhs want to make the farm as self-sufficient as possible across all facets of the farm, from cropping and feed production through to cow maintenance. “We’re very fortunate to have a very reliable, experienced team; our manager has been with us for 15 seasons,” he says. For their herd, he wants to keep focusing on hitting his production targets
“This system has allowed us to increase production, take better care of our environment and increase the amount of feed we can grow. I definitely wouldn’t go back to pasture farming.” Arjun Singh
with the goal of reaching 800kg MS per cow in the next three to four seasons. “That comes down to breeding and feeding. If you get that right, it can be done,” he says. He also wants to increase their homegrown feed levels so they are less reliant on imported feed, which he thinks will help keep costs down. This will also help create a financial buffer when dairy prices eventually fall off their historic highs, he says. He is constantly reviewing and finetuning the system, having learned a lot since the barn was installed four years ago. “We have made a lot of mistakes and we have learned, but now we’re definitely starting to see the benefits,” he says. “One of the key drivers for our open day and fundraiser was not only to help raise funds for these important charities, but also to give farmers an insight to what we’re doing here and how it’s benefiting us for the future and be a sustainable farming system. “If someone’s thinking of going down the track with this system, we’re happy to help them.” n
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The farm is run as a System 5 and the herd fed a total mixed ration diet. Between 70-80% of the maize and grass silage that is fed is grown on the farm.
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MILK MONITOR
Record milk price likely By Gerald Piddock
Each month the milk monitor delves into the dairy industry and gives us the low-down on the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between.
A
lopsided supply-demand equation looks to be the defining feature for the 2022 dairy market, with a lowerthan-expected production coming out of New Zealand and other dairy exporters over the short-term. It’s seen Fonterra react by lifting its payout to a record $8.90-$9.50/kg MS, with a $9.20/kg MS midpoint. Chief executive Miles Hurrell says the increase is the result of consistent demand for dairy at a time of constrained global milk supply. “In general, demand globally remains strong, although we are seeing this vary across our geographic spread,” he says. “Overall, global milk supply growth is forecast to track below average levels, with European milk production growth down on last year and US milk growth slowing due to high feed costs. “It’s a similar supply picture in New Zealand. Earlier this month we reduced our forecast milk collections for 2021-22 from 1525 million kg MS to 1500m kg MS due to varied weather and challenging growing conditions,” he says. Those conditions have seen a cold, wet spring give way to a hot, dry summer across many parts of the region, keeping a lid on milk production. It all contributed to the big jump in values at the January 18 GDT, which saw prices lift 4.6%. WMP was the biggest mover, up 5.6% to $4082 a tonne. NZX analyst Stu Davison says it was a staggering result, calling it a market reset. “It seems the physical market is finally agreeing somewhat with the derivatives market, as we see both milk powder products fall roughly into step with the price range that the derivatives market has been setting for some time,” Davison says. He says buyers turned up to the auction with a willingness to secure the product at any cost. “It seems the market has also taken
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
The dry conditions will mean most farmers will now be using more supplementary feed as paddock rounds lengthen as they try to capitalise as best they can on the high milk price.
full stock of the tightness of milk supply globally and are now increasingly willing to pay the price to secure product,” he says. He concluded by saying it “will also push the global dairy market into a renewed frenzy; what a great way to start the new year off”. The high level of demand and the willingness of buyers to pay premiums for it saw ASB revise its forecast to $9.10/ kg MS. “With all contracts trading north of USD$4000/t at present and longer-dated contracts trading at a premium, prices should keep up the momentum over the near-term. We think that’ll be enough to push this season’s farm gate price north of the $9 mark,” economist Nat Keall wrote in its Weekly Commodities publication. Westpac has maintained its $9/kg MS forecast, with senior agri-economist
Nathan Penny saying the auction result backed up that price. “The strong result cements our 2021-22 farm gate milk price forecast at $9/kg. In the short-term, the risks to our forecast are mostly on the upside. For example, ongoing dry weather could put additional dents in New Zealand production and push prices higher again. Meanwhile, Omicron-related supply chain issues could also lead prices higher,” Penny says. Prices are now at their highest level since March 2014, with both cheddar and butter prices set record highs overnight, and Penny says the jump in prices also erases the ground lost in the second December auction. Back inside the farm gate, farmers are facing similar challenges to last season. Labour shortages continue to be a problem. In November, the industry asked for an additional 1500 workers while a month later, the Government amended its class exemptions to allow more dairy assistants into the country. Likewise, the contracting industry’s well-documented labour struggles with finding staff could affect what has been an outstanding season for growing maize. There is also no sign of the rise in input prices easing. Globally, urea prices have almost quadrupled since 2020, from an average US$229 to $828 last year. The latest agrichemical to see a lift is glyphosate, up 100% in some countries. Exactly how much this will erode farmers’ margins won’t be known until autumn when the season starts to wind down. So how long will the high prices last? It looks like it’s here to stay for now. Prices for the new season should start high but could lose steam as the season commences. Penny says prices are likely to eventually ease off as supply inevitably starts to balance out demand once again. In the meantime, this new record milk price will be the bright spot in a challenging season. n
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NEWS
Will a2 Milk have an A+ year? By BusinessDesk
A
2 Milk investors have been hit by another annus horribilis. Will 2022 be better and should bargain hunters be snapping up the shares? The price certainly looks attractive. At $5.93, the shares are now worth less than half of what they were at the beginning of the year and that’s after tanking 20% in 2020. The dual-listed company now has a market capitalisation of $4.4 billion versus $10b in 2020. So far, buyers aren’t out in droves. In fact, some continue to vote with their feet, with institutional investors like Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and UBS Group selling down their stakes in early December alone. It’s been a rough ride and a fall from a significant height. At the end of 2019, Bloomberg said a2 Milk was the best performing stock of the decade with a return of 16,150%. Then covid-19 hit. While the company initially benefited from massive stockpiling in its key market of China, it didn’t last. In the end, there was far too much aging inventory and the closed borders severely hampered its daigou or reseller channel. The result was four consecutive earning downgrades. Shareholders aren’t impressed and the dairy company is now facing two separate class action suits in Australia, both alleging they were misled by the company’s inflated forecast of baby formula sales. The company, meanwhile, is promising a turnaround, targeting sales of $2b over the next five years and improving margins. Revenue hit $1.2b, down 30%, in the 12 months to June 30. Everything, however, hinges on China, which drives more than half of its sales. A2 says “while we would, of course, like to have greater diversification in our markets over time, the reality is that the size of the opportunity we have in China is substantially greater than other options”.
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Covid 19 and closed borders have contributed to the drop in the value of shares in a2 Milk, which are now worth less than half they were in 2020. Its revamped strategy is aimed at capturing that opportunity and includes increased brand investment and a reorganised Asia-Pac division. Øyvinn Rimer, director, senior research analyst, says that while China is “magnificently important” there are many challenges. Among other things, he pointed to a falling birth rate in China, down 15% in 2020. “When the birth rates were growing as nicely as it was, it was much easier for all the brands to take market share and they didn’t have to step so much on each other’s toes. Whereas now, the battle is intensifying,” Rimer says. The result is pricing tensions, with a squeeze on margins and pressure to spend more on advertising and distributing. He says the company is also working hard to take steps like addressing excess inventory, but it doesn’t know yet how it is going to look in six to 12 months. As investors, he says, “it’s about watching the data from here on in and see if they are starting to improve”. The market may be expecting a bit of improvement this year, but he says they’d only believe that once they saw data. He said a2 Milk is definitely giving it the best shot they can and from “now on, it’s about putting runs on the board”. Bell Potter analyst Jonathan Snape was
more upbeat. He rates the stock at a ‘buy’ and he’s on board with a2 Milk’s targets. He has a 12-month target price of A$7.70, some 41% higher than the closing price on December 31. “We see the scope for the earnings per share to double by FY26 if a2 Milk can execute on the China offline expansion strategy, while recovering 50% of the lost sales (from FY20-21) in the English label IMF,” Snape says. “We do not see the current share price as reflecting this potential.” China infant formula market expert Jane Li isn’t convinced. “I do not know quite where their optimism comes from, when generally no one is optimistic about the infant formula industry in China anymore,” Li says. She says with an increased marketing budget they might see an uptick in sales of their China label formula, “but remember that is off a fairly low base”. “Overall, I think a2 Milk will struggle to achieve a positive return on investment from increased sales and marketing budget against aggressive competitors with deeper pockets in China,” she says. She also noted that the company’s proposition is based solely on the idea of the alternative A2 milk. “For Chinese consumers, this trend is also past its peak. And one feature of the China market is that once a trend has moved on, it never comes back.” n
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
A milk test can tell you more than pregnancy status. A milk test is a convenient way to double check for any empties before sending off for grazing – without them knowing. But a combination of tests can reveal a lot more. A drop of milk from a herd test sample can uncover subclinical Staph aureus, Johne’s disease, those who produce A2/A2 milk, as well as your herd’s production worth (PW) to help you make better calls.
Drop a call to your local LIC Agri Manager to book your combination of milk tests. lic.co.nz/dropofmilk
KINGST_1634_DF_B
There's always room for improvement
ON FARM
A climate change journey A Whakatāne dairying couple believes pasture and soil care is the foundation of a sustainable farm.
Whakatāne farmer Fraser McGougan is the chairperson of the DairyNZ Climate Change Ambassadors, a group formed to lead climate change actions on dairy farms and leads by example.
By Anne Boswell
Curiosity about extreme weather events has put reducing methane and nitrous oxide emissions at the forefront of a Whakatāne dairy farm’s ethos.
W
hen you consider the amount of times Whakatāne dairy farmers Fraser and Katherine McGougan have featured in rural media in recent years, you’d be justified in wondering whether they’re getting a little weary of telling their story. But that’s not the case because dairy farming is not just their story, it’s many others’ too, and their contribution to the dairy industry is having an impact far beyond their own farm gates. In February 2021, Fraser was appointed chair of the DairyNZ Climate Change Ambassadors, a group formed to lead climate change actions on dairy farms. He has been serving as a Climate Change Ambassador since 2018. And you couldn’t find a more qualified man for the job. He and Katherine have a collection of awards and acknowledgements celebrating their farming efforts, including the 2019 Bay
of Plenty Ballance Farm Environment Awards Supreme award. He says it’s not farmers’ unwillingness to reduce emissions that needs to be addressed, but rather the sense of overwhelm that stems from a barrage of information. “A lot of farmers acknowledge global warming is happening and want to do their bit to decrease their footprint, but it’s the ‘how’ that is tripping them up,” Fraser says. “Farmers are being given too much information, as well as being exposed to people trying to push particular agendas, but the clarity around climate change action is actually quite simple. “As Climate Change Ambassadors, we’re all interested in climate change and also what we can do about it, and how we can help other farmers adapt to it.”
FARM FACTS
• Farm owners: Fraser and Katherine McGougan • Location: Tāneatua, Whakatāne • Farm size: 132ha milking platform (148ha total) • Herd size: 431 Crossbred cows • Production 2020-21: 158,400kg MS
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The 413 cows on the McGougan farm produced 158,400 kilograms of milksolids last season.
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
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The McGougan family measure their success through profitability and sustainability and sit in the top 20% of farm owners in DairyBase for profitability. Fraser and Katherine with their children, Isaac, Liam and Emily.
They certainly walk the talk around climate change action on their own farm. Fraser is a fourth-generation farmer on Willowvale Farm, which is located on the Whakatāne River flats at Tāneatua. The farm has been in his family since 1898 – an extraordinary 123 years. He attended Massey University and studied Agriculture and after a few years travelling, he returned to the farm with a clear perspective that farming was, in fact, the right career choice for him. He entered into an equity partnership as part of a succession plan with his
The family farm, which is located on the Whakatāne River flats at Taneatua, has been in the McGougan family since 1898.
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parents, Gavin and Charlotte McGougan; during this time he met Katherine. Katherine, who was born and raised in Tokoroa, studied a Bachelor of Health Science at Otago University to become a radiation therapist. After they met, Katherine commuted to Hamilton for five years to work as a radiation therapist, later studying mammography before their first child Emily was born. Katherine worked as a part-time mammographer in Whakatāne before turning her focus to her family and
looking after the financial side of the farm business. In 2011 they purchased the farm and in 2017 purchased an additional 50ha block they had been leasing. Today they milk 431 crossbred cows on a 132ha milking platform. “We are almost self-contained,” he says. “We lease a runoff from my parents and we have a completely closed herd to ensure biosecurity risks are minimal.” Young stock are grazed on the runoff and as a System 2 farm, all feed is grown on-farm, with the exception of a little hay or silage. “We removed PK and all imported feed from the system as it posed a risk that it may be decreased in future by supply companies,” he says. “We aim to use the resources we actually have and use our pasture to its full capability, which is the most efficient production system.” They grow between 5-7ha of maize for silage annually; the area depends on what stage their pasture renovation is at. “We use maize silage as a tool to extend pasture rotation and as we don’t have a feedpad, we need to be strategic about how we feed out in winter before ground conditions become too wet,” he explains.
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
Planned start of calving is July 25; the date is matched to pasture demand, aligning the system to the capability of the land. Their stocking rate, 3.1 cows/ha, also reflects their wish to only farm what the land can carry comfortably. “If you look after your pasture and soil, you look after your cows,” he says. Efficiency is the name of the game when it comes to genetics and breeding. They look to breed a very high genetic merit herd, mating crossbreed over crossbreed to create an animal that will convert less feed to more milksolids. They use an LIC geneticist to select their semen and undertake four weeks of AI starting October 13. “We have a high fertility herd and are able to generate around 22% replacement heifers,” he says. “In the future, we may reduce that number to 18% replacements.” After AI is finished, the herd completes six weeks of natural mating. “Our mating philosophy is to keep it simple and do it well,” he says. “We are really looking forward to the day where we can select for lowmethane emitting traits.” Reducing methane and nitrous oxide emissions is at the forefront of their farming ethos. By targeting the timing, rate and depth of their nitrogen (N) application, they have been able to reduce their fertiliser use to a mere 50 units of N/ha for the season, while still achieving good production of around 1200kg MS/ha. An overhaul of their effluent and irrigation system in 2020 means they can now store 140 days of dairy shed effluent, which is applied at a 5mm pass. “The very low application depths
Fraser says a lot of farmers acknowledge global warming is happening and want to do their bit to decrease their footprint, but it’s the ‘how’ that is tripping them up. Fraser checks the milking plant ahead of milking.
contribute to a more sustainable system, and when you’re putting nutrients on at the right place and time you grow more grass, decreasing fertiliser costs and increasing production at the same time,” he says. “We also use GPS tracking on vehicles to increase application accuracy.”
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Currently, the farm has 40ha under effluent irrigation. “It was a big investment, but an investment that increases profitability on-farm and contributes to environmental sustainability,” he says.
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Fraser makes some adjustments to a new wagon, which they use to feed out maize silage.
Technology has also increased efficiency in the 34-bail rotary dairy shed, improving milking efficiency and saving water and power use. Automatic cup removers, bail restraints, automated teat spray and compressed air to purge milk lines have all been installed to increase the efficiency of milking times. A heat recovery unit is used on the refrigeration unit, providing free hot water to 52 degrees, and fresh water is reused up to three times in the shed before entering the effluent pond, precooling milk and washing down the plant. As much as technology is welcomed at Willowvale, they have revisited fundamentals with the fencing of all waterways and small areas of native bush, including a stand of Kahikatea trees, which was first fenced-off by Fraser’s father. “The kids (Emily, 10, Isaac, eight, and Liam, five) are helping us to rejuvenate these bush areas by helping us with additional planting,” he says. “We are also undertaking a regenerative process controlling weeds and pests using biological means. “And the 50ha we bought in 2017 has trees so we’ve retired that land, fenced it and are replanting natives.”
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Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS). Agricultural sector leaders and organisations did not accept this and proposed that an alternative pricing framework be developed and implemented in 2025. The Government Climate Change Authority has sought advice from farmers as to where they should be heading with climate change legislation, and Fraser says He Waka Eke Noa is a critical part of creating a fair and equitable solution for the agricultural sector. “It simply has to work,” he says. “The NZ ETS cannot be an option. “We have been asked to come up with some workable solutions for climate change, and we believe we have two really good ones.” Option 1 is the Farm-Level Levy, under which farmers would face the cost of reported emissions from livestock and fertiliser, and offsets, to a third party organisation or new government department.
Fraser says his journey to climate change awareness started with simple curiosity. “Our farm, located on the Whakatāne River flats, is prone to flooding and I often questioned why extreme weather events were happening more frequently,” he says. “That was the big driver in starting my climate change journey.” The DairyNZ Climate Change Ambassadors group was created in 2018 under the Dairy Action for Climate Change. Fifteen ambassadors, representing diversity in location, farm systems and experience, were appointed to help farmers understand the changes they can make on their farm to reduce emissions and improve water quality, while maintaining or even increasing profitability. In addition to being appointed chairperson of this group last year, Fraser was also selected to be part of the Farmer Reference Group for the Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership – He Waka Eke Noa. The partnership, made up of 13 primary industry groups and a steering committee, was formed in 2019 as a response to the Government proposal to price agricultural greenhouse gas emissions through the New Zealand
“We aim to use the resources we actually have and use our pasture to its full capability, which is the most efficient production system.” Option 2 is the Processor-Level Hybrid Levy, under which processors would pay for emissions based on the emissions charge applied to products supplied or bought by farmers or growers. If the primary sector does not come up with a viable alternative to the ETS via He Waka Eke Noa, the Government reserves the right to price agriculture emissions in the ETS earlier than 2025 as legislated. DairyNZ says this decision would strip farmers of control and they would be faced with a broad-based tax via reduced payout. In February, DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb and Federated Farmers will be running a nationwide engagement roadshow that will present the He Waka Eke Noa partnership options to farmers in a number of locations around the country. “I’ll be attending the Rotorua and Whakatāne regional events to show my support for farmers, and I strongly encourage all farmers to attend,” he says. “There is no use putting your head in the sand about climate change
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
legislation; it’s happening and it’s happening now.” Fraser says fundamental to He Waka Eke Noa partnership options is the ability to reinvest the levies collected into agriculture through research and development (such as methane vaccinations and low methane forages and breeding), and incentivising actions on-farm that reduce emissions. “We have a target of reducing emissions by 10% by 2030 and we can achieve that, but we need to accelerate the research and development of new technology to meet our climate change requirements,” he says. Making small changes on farm is not only more manageable for farmers, but reduces overwhelm. “There are many simple ways to make a positive impact: timing and strategic use of nitrogen applications and technology are some ways to make positive changes today,” he says. “A lot of farmers spend all day making themselves busy – they increase their stocking rate and grow and harvest more feed to meet the demand. “They need to stand back and say,
Katherine and Fraser McGougan milk 431 cows on their 148-hectare farm at Tāneatua, which they purchased in 2011. ‘What am I actually here for?’ For most, the answer is to build a profitable and sustainable business. There’s a lot to be said for simplicity – looking at fertiliser and timing, stocking rate, and growing more pasture and less supplementary feed. “Know your numbers, critically analyse your business and get used to the idea of consistently evolving your farm practices to stay ahead of the game.”
Katherine says the greater understanding you have of your farm’s financial position, the less daunting this aspect of your business becomes. “For the majority of those involved in the financial side of farming, it is not their primary skill set, so making sure that you utilise the skills of those around you, including your accountant and your
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Continued page 26
bank manager, helps you in areas that you may struggle with,” Katherine says. “Fraser and I feel it is crucial that both partners have at least some understanding of where the farm is sitting financially – even if one is more involved in this component of the business than the other – so you can work together towards your common goal.” With profitability in mind, one mental hurdle farmers need to overcome is the idea that production is king. “Farmers can get hung up on production figures to their detriment,” Fraser says. “Production means nothing to us; profitability and sustainability are the measures of our success. “We sit in the top 20% of farm owners in DairyBase for profitability, which really reconfirms to us that what we are doing is right.” He says at the end of the day, positive change can be narrowed down to one aspect: people. “People override everything,” he laughs. “If you can upskill, teach, learn and listen, you can achieve small gains very quickly.” They have adopted this philosophy so well they have been recognised for their work on a number of occasions. In addition to the 2019 Ballance Farm Environment Awards Bay of Plenty Regional Supreme Award, they have accepted a Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Management Award, DairyNZ Sustainability and Stewardship Award, Norwood Agri-Business Management Award, and Bay of Plenty Regional Council Environmental Award Two.
Fraser is a fourth-generation farmer on Willowvale Farm. He studied agriculture at Massey University then travelled for a few years before deciding dairy farming was the right career path for him. They were also recognised in the 2016 Dairy Business of the Year, winning the Best People Performance Leadership award, Low Input with Best Financial Performance award, and the Best Bay of Plenty/Central Plateau Performance award. Fraser says it is important for farmers to remember there are a number of organisations backing farmers via direct support, advocacy and lobbying. “Farmers needn’t think they are alone in this,” he says. “There is so much good work going on behind the scenes, through lobbying and supporting positive change. “There are 15 Climate Change Ambassadors that want nothing more
Fraser checks out the flow meter on the effluent pump. 26
than to help farmers understand how to decrease their footprint. “They are more than happy to answer questions and give advice to help the dairy industry progress in the right direction.” He says the idea that climate change legislation is the ‘end’ is a falsehood. “Really, it’s just the beginning. We are only scratching the surface of what’s possible,” he says. “There is so much science and technology on its way, and with He Waka Eke Noa there will be the ability to reinvest money into science and technology.” Fraser says with two full-time staff on farm, he is now able to take on more governance roles and seize opportunities as they arise, if they resonate with him. In addition to his climate change roles, he is on the Whakatāne River Advisory Board, which manages the Whakatāne River and how it fits into the whenua (land), and is the chair of the Apanui School PTA, the school his children attend. Katherine says during the first few years after purchasing the farm, where it was simply “head-down and allconsuming” work, Fraser was working on the farm while she was working on the business. “At that stage, there was simply no room for overlap in our respective tasks, especially when you add a young family to the mix,” she says. “There is now some space for Fraser to be involved in the business as well, he can take an overarching view of where
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
we are currently, and where we may possibly progress to … and I tell him if we can afford it. “Also, appreciating his desire to become involved in governance and external discussion groups means that for that to happen, the other partner has to be prepared for some sacrifices.” Fraser says he wants to do more for others. “It can sound wishy-washy, but it’s true,” he says. “At the end of the day this isn’t just for me and my family, but for others as well. “It’s almost the multiplier effect: I can reduce emissions by 10% on my own farm, but if I help 10 people do the same, that’s a 100% reduction.” He says he loves the constantly evolving challenges that dairy farming offers. “There are so many aspects to the job: working with staff and council, and every day is a new challenge that is constantly new and evolving,” he says. “And during my time off I’ve taken up trail running, which is more of a personal challenge, whereas farming is more of a team sport.”
Katherine says the space a farming lifestyle offers is second to none, especially with young children. “The physical space that the kids are fortunate to enjoy means there are endless opportunities to create, explore and understand the environment around them,” she says. “And the space within a farming lifestyle means during certain times of the year there is the opportunity to get to the kids’ sports, events and performances that other jobs may not allow.” They have accomplished the goals they set for themselves in recent years – the effluent and irrigation system upgrade, and ‘sharper’ nutrient management – but they’re not stopping there – it’s now time to share their knowledge and experience with others. “As efficient producers of milk, New Zealand needs to stay at the forefront of the climate change issue; we are an export nation and we need to strive to be better,” Fraser says. “And once you start delving in, with the help of others, you’ll find it’s not daunting at all.” n
The farm is a System 2 and almost all feed is grown on-farm, including 5-7ha of maize silage. Fraser covers the stack.
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DAIRY CHAMPION
Small, agile and innovative Dairyworks was established in 2001 and the factory in Christchurch employs 230 staff and operates 24 hours, five days a week.
By Tony Benny
From small beginnings, a company has been rapidly expanding and now has a global market.
D
airyworks chief executive Tim Carter is on target to double the fast-moving consumer goods business over three years, by expanding product lines and building export markets to add value to the milk supplied by dairy farmers. Formed about the same time as Fonterra, by Peter and Margaret Cross, Dairyworks’ business model was simple and successful. They bought 20kg blocks of cheese and repackaged them in 1kg blocks and sold those to supermarkets. “The Cross’ literally went round to supermarket stores and started selling blocks of cheese and just got traction, and it just got bigger and bigger,” Carter says. Dairyworks invested in its own brand, as well as exclusive brands with the supermarket chains, Rolling Meadow in Pak n Save and New World, and Alpine in Countdown. The Dairyworks role is a dream job for Te Awamutu-born Carter, who has spent almost his whole career in the dairy sector. His mum was a teacher but most
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of his friends came from farms and that was where he got his first taste of dairy farming. “I’ve milked a few cows in my time, more because I helped my friends out from time to time but by no means am I farmer,” Carter laughs.
“A lot of factories want to just make one product 24 hours a day with no changeovers, but we’re a consumer business meeting consumer needs.” Tim Carter
“I’m a townie boy who spent a little bit of time on farms through friends.” He graduated with a Bachelor of Management Studies, majoring in marketing, from Waikato University and
after a brief stint with Coca Cola moved to Auckland and a job with New Zealand Dairy Foods, which was part of the New Zealand Dairy Group, one of the co-ops later merged into Fonterra. He stayed with NZ Dairy Foods when it was sold to businessman Graham Hart and when Hart later sold the business to Fonterra, Carter went with it. “In all honesty once you get dairy in your blood, it’s pretty hard to get away. It’s so dynamic and fast paced and changing,” he says. “It just becomes almost an addiction and let’s be fair, dairy is great. It’s good for people and so you’re not working in categories that are bad for people.” After 18 years with Fonterra, starting as a rep and moving into the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector mostly in New Zealand but also in Australia, he moved south to Christchurch as chief executive of Dairywork “It was a liberating change, moving to work for a small, agile and innovative FMCG company like Dairyworks,” he says. Shortly after he started at Dairyworks,
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
and obviously for the manufacturer. We’re working hard to change those buying behaviours that have been entrenched for decades,” he says. The strategy has four strategic pillars: to drive the core business; to be lowcost and agile; to double exports; and to extend the product portfolio. “The core funds everything. Our core was very much ‘New Zealand cheese grocery’. We have to keep that and that is the engine of the P&L that funds everything else,” he says. Being low-cost and agile has always been an essential part of Dairyworks and he says that’s still the case. “We want to be low-cost, but we don’t want it to be at the expense of agility and speed. A lot of factories want to just make one product 24 hours a day with no changeovers, but we’re a consumer business meeting consumer needs,” he says. “We have multiple products, we have a lot of changeovers and have to meet all the demands on those products, so there’s this real tension – low cost, but
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Accuracy. No Less.
Synlait Milk purchased it as part of its strategy to diversify away from infant formula and its largest customer The a2 Milk Company. “The sale process has been an amazing 18 months and for a new CEO that’s great experience. I created a strategy early on and then we delivered to that three-year plan,” he says. While the ownership has changed, he’s commitment to doubling the business in three years has not. His strategy is on target. At the heart of the strategy is Dairyworks’ “purpose”, which is to make life easier for consumers. That’s as simple as offering customers easily used products like grated or sliced cheese instead of blocks, a reflection of overseas trends, where the blocks that make up 75% of cheese sales in New Zealand, are for the most part replaced by time-saving products. “In Australia slices and grated cheese are dominant. The question then becomes how do we migrate people here in New Zealand to these products? That’s all about creating value for consumers like you, for our customer i.e. the retailer,
Tim Carter says their ultimate goal, as part of Synlait, is to be the No.2 dairy supplier in New Zealand by 2025.
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also agile.” Dairyworks is committed to growing exports and is now well-established in Australia, with an exclusive brand agreement with Woolworths supermarket chain. “Woolworths like us because we’re a challenger, another player up against your Begas and Aussie suppliers. We’re quick, we’re nimble and we can turn product around quickly,” he says. Another export focus is China. “Natural cheese is growing there with consumers, probably on the back of Westernised quick-serve restaurants serving mozzarella cheeses and the like. We have got a big focus on China and South-East Asia, but predominantly China to drive new growth,” he says. The fourth pillar, portfolio extension, is on target too, with yoghurt and fresh milk added to the mix. “We launched a Protein Fit yoghurt brand last year, which is low sugar and high protein. The product is going really well,” he says. Dairyworks also owns South Canterbury specialty cheese maker Talbot Forest Cheese and is relaunching the brand. “We’re dominant in cheddars, goudas, but in time we plan to move into the camemberts, bries, blues and feta,” he says. Dairyworks’ ultimate goal, as part of
Synlait, is to be the No.2 dairy supplier in NZ by 2025. He says the two businesses fit well together. “There are strong parallels between Dairyworks and Synlait journeys. Synlait was started by John Penno round about the same time Fonterra was formed, as an alternative, a challenger, and Dairyworks’ story is similar. Bringing them together has been quite an easy cultural fit,” he says. The two companies are run separately, but where there are synergies to leverage, they will be. For example, Dairyworks fresh milk, which is now sold in South Island supermarkets, comes from Synlait’s big factory in Dunsandel, south of Christchurch. While Carter has focused on expanding Dairyworks product lines and seeking out new markets, there have been challenges mostly resulting from the covid-19 pandemic. That has meant changes in the processing plant where 230 staff work 24 hours, five days a week. Perspex screens have been installed to keep workers in their own bubbles and shifts are staggered to minimise the risk of a covid outbreak spreading. The disruption to freight wrought by covid has also hit hard. “There’s been some months where you can’t get containers or you get a container but can’t get a ship, so
continuity of supply is hard but even more so the cost of freight is through the roof, sometimes multiplying as much as eight times. It’s phenomenal,” he says. And like other NZ businesses with close to full employment, it’s getting more difficult to recruit new staff. “Twelve months ago we could always get people, now it’s getting harder and harder,” he says. While great news for farmers, the
“We have got a big focus on China and South-East Asia, but predominantly China to drive new growth.” Tim Carter
increase in milk prices adds pressure to businesses like Dairyworks, which is already coping with cost increases of around 15%, part of what will make 2022 an “interesting year”, he says. “Manufacturers like us can’t keep cost increases away from consumers. We’ll try to take costs out to offset inflationary pressure, but we’re at a point where that will eventually have to be passed on. There will be some big challenges to navigate in a post-covid world,” he says.
The production line team carries out quality control on blocks of cheese before it is packaged.
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DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
Despite the many challenges – or perhaps because of them – he is thriving in his role. “The job is great, it’s enjoyable, it’s dynamic and fast. You’ve got the primary side in terms of farming and the operation piece which is technical, and you’ve got the FMCG side, so you’re bringing these things together all the time to create value,” he says. The move south has been great for Carter’s wife Katie and two sons, 7 and 9, too. “We have one or two activities a night during summer with the kids and you just wouldn’t be able to do that in Auckland. With the hustle and bustle, you just wouldn’t be able to get there. “We’ve really enjoyed the … I wouldn’t say it’s slower necessarily but without the traffic you just get access to do a lot more things down here. I really love that.” He also loves sport. “I’m a big Chiefs fan which doesn’t go down all that well in Crusader country,” he laughs. Carter doesn’t sit in his office making plans and sending instructions, but prefers to work closely with his team. “I’m pretty big on performance mindset; that we deliver, we execute what we do. I say leadership is a contact sport. You can’t lead from your email, you can’t lead through Zoom calls, you have to be in person,” he says. “Visible leadership is an overused expression in corporate, but it’s true. You have to be real, and you have to be engaging. I always say I’m relaxed, I’m casual, challenge me, I love being challenged but don’t mistake that for what’s underpinned by delivery.” And he always keeps in mind the farmers who supply the product he’s marketing to the world. “Our job is to get the most value out of the milk that farmers are providing. I feel privileged in lots of ways that you’re taking something from core New Zealand, these farmers that work so blimmin’ tirelessly to create that value,” he says. “I’m pretty passionate about it, adding value for farmers but also, ideally adding value to consumers every day. We’re not solving world peace or anything like that but hopefully we’re putting good nutritional products into Kiwi households every day - it’s not hard to go through a fridge and see the Dairyworks, Rolling Meadow or Alpine brand.” n
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
A team member prepares finishing butters for wrapping.
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WOMEN IN AGRIBUSINESS
Lessons in leadership By Cheyenne Nicholson
A Canterbury dairy farmer found her natural calling for leadership through teaching. Now, she’s on a mission to help farmers around the country tap into their leadership potential by focusing on wellness and communication.
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rowing up on her parents’ dairy goat farm on the Hauraki Plains, Tania Burrows always wanted to be a teacher. She wanted to make an impact on the world and help grow the next generation, a sentiment that would follow her into her career as a farmer and now leadership coach. “I have a real passion for helping people grow, and that began back when I decided I wanted to be a teacher. Looking back now, I wish I had had more of an interest in farming because, through my dairying career, I’ve come to see how amazing it is. But I loved being a teacher and it’s put me on the path I’m on now,” Burrows says. After completing her early childhood qualifications, she took up teaching positions in Rotorua and Tauranga and during her career, she quickly discovered her natural ability as a leader. She worked her way into management roles,
Tania Burrows says leadership coaching is relatively new, so she is still working on what will add value for farmers. at one point being responsible for up to 150 children, their families and a team of seven teaching staff. “I got the opportunity to do various leadership courses as part of professional development, and I found myself really enjoying it. It’s not something I thought I would enjoy, but I began to realise that I could have a bigger impact on the children and their families by being in those leadership roles,” she says. During her teaching years, she met her now-husband Johno, who also came from a dairy farming background. The couple made the big move from North Island to South Island and officially
started their dairying careers together in 2011. Today they have three children and are lower order sharemilkers farming 1000 head of stock between their dairy farm in Mid Canterbury and runoff block and employ up to seven staff each season. In the early days of their farming careers, she continued teaching and juggled farming, new babies, and teaching positions for a few years. After their third daughter was born, the couple decided it was more beneficial for her to transition to working on the farm fulltime. “It was tough driving backwards and
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DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
“Some of what I do is about building that perception of farmers being a leader and figuring out what that means for them, not just in the traditional sense.” Tania Burrows
forwards, getting the kids where they needed to be and looking after the business administration and recruitment part of our farm business. I had to be realistic about my time,” she says. “Johno and I have complementary skills, which means we work really well together. He’s more of the grassroots farming side of things while I look after the human resources side of things as that’s where my passion lies – working with people and bringing teams together.” She continued to help out with early childhood teaching in her local community, supporting a small preschool in Waitaki Valley and home-based care network to put her skills to good use. During this time, she joined the Dairy Women’s Network (DWN). She was a regular attendee at learning modules and wasn’t afraid to get stuck in and help run several events like Gumboots to Glamour evening and the ‘There’s more to life than ice cream’ event. In 2020, she won the inaugural Regional Leader of the Year award, recognising grassroots dairy farming leadership efforts from throughout the country. She received many glowing recommendations for the award from fellow DWN members, with
her commitment to supporting her local community and the wider dairy community highlighted. Amongst the whirlwind of winning the Regional Leader of the Year award and the daily ups and downs of farming, she also completed her certification to be a wellness and leadership coach through the International Coaching Federation, which helped her start her business. “I had already studied a lot of psychology when I was learning to teach and had done leadership development through my teaching roles, so I felt like I had good foundations for the course. I had a real interest in the leadership space and saw some opportunity to put this training to good use within the primary sector,” she says. Since completing her certification, she has dabbled in leadership coaching, helping farmers in particular to put
together the foundations they need to become impactful leaders at a grassroots farming level. While most farmers don’t think of themselves as leaders and often didn’t start a farming career to be a leader, she says that increasingly they are and have to be. “Some of what I do is about building that perception of farmers being a leader and figuring out what that means for them, not just in the traditional sense. A lot of professions get exposure to leadership development programmes or mentoring as they progress in their profession. But with farming, the focus is on livestock and pasture,” she says. “It is more collaborative than it used to be, and even if you only have a few staff on the farm, you’re still a leader and need
Continued page 34
Tania and husband Johno run Alpine dairies and are sharemilkers on a 1000-cow farm at Valetta in Mid Canterbury. Tania and Johno walking the Queen Charlotte track.
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Tania balances the farm, family and her role at the Dairy Women’s Network with her new leadership coaching business. Tania out on the farm feeding this season’s calves.
to be able to lead effectively to keep your business thriving and growing.” With an increasing demand for workers in the primary sector, it’s never been more important for farmers to excel in this area if they are to attract and retain good staff. It’s something she and Johno have seen first-hand on their own farm.
Tania has a passion for helping people learn and says her teaching background has put her on the path she is now on.
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She has decided to put a more focused effort into her leadership coaching business and has been hard at work to put everything together, from websites, marketing and resources. “Leadership coaching, certainly for farmers, is pretty new, and I’m still in that process of figuring out what is going to add value and what they actually need out of coaching. It feels like quite a big challenge right now, so I’m feeling my way through it and figuring out the right approach to take,” she says. For 2022 she is looking to bring together a small group of farmers for focused leadership coaching that will support them as they grow through or begin their leadership as assistant managers through to contract milkers or sharemilkers. “My starting point is focusing on wellness as that is the basis of everything. From there, it’s based on a lot of positive psychology and emotional intelligence. Through our conversations, they will build or grow a level of self-awareness and emotional intelligence that allows them to make better leadership decisions about how they approach situations, the language they use to communicate and so on, ” she says. In these early stages of her business, she’s utilising the networks she’s created through DWN and her farming community to help her along the way. Like many fellow business owners, she is doing plenty of learning along the way.
“Through our conversations, they will build or grow a level of self-awareness and emotional intelligence that allows them to make better leadership decisions about how they approach situations, the language they use to communicate and so on.” Tania Burrows
With an exciting new business just starting to get its legs, a busy farm business and three children, life can at times be hectic in the Burrows household. Still, she says she’s lucky and grateful for the support of her husband and the wider community. “Like everyone, we have our challenges. It’s about prioritising things. For me, I like to prioritise my own wellness because for me, that is the foundation that enables everything else in life to work,” she says. “I have an amazing family and have a great support network around me who are helping me in my goal to help other farmers.” n
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
NEWS
NZDIA rework pays off By Gerald Piddock
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ntry numbers for the Dairy Trainee category at the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA) have jumped for 2022, up 60% from the previous year. The category received 170 entries, including 27 in the Canterbury region, 22 in Waikato and 21 in Southland/ Otago. Nationally, 112 entries were received in the Dairy Manager category and 82 entered Share Farmer of the Year. NZDIA general manager Robin
Congdon says a total of 364 entries were received for the awards. “It’s a great result, considering the impact covid lockdown had on entry events, and we are really thrilled with the response,” Congdon says. “Refreshing the Dairy Trainee and Dairy Manager entry criteria and judging process was definitely the right move as we have seen an increase overall in entry numbers, with entrants excited about the changes.” The numbers ensure strong categories
will run in each of the 11 regions, which he says was great for the entrants and the programme. Waikato region received the highest number of entries, with 60 in total. Canterbury followed closely with 51 entries, while Central Plateau, Southland/ Otago, Bay of Plenty and Manawatū received 38, 37, 36 and 30 entries respectively. “Previous Dairy Industry Award winners continue to make an impact within the dairy industry and many are today’s leaders,” he says. “All entrants can give themselves a
“It’s a great result, considering the impact covid lockdown had on entry events, and we are really thrilled with the response.” Robin Congdon
Entries for the 2022 Dairy Trainee of the Year award have increased by 60%. The 2021 Dairy Trainee of the Year was won by Ruth Connolly from Waikato, who judges described as a polished and engaging person.
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huge pat on the back as they’ve taken an important step in enhancing their career and farm business just by entering the awards.” Judging (is underway) for the 11 regional categories, with winners announced at dinners throughout the country in March,” he says. The 33 winners of those categories will then progress through to the national finals in Christchurch in May. n
TECHNOLOGY
Big guns collab for greater good By Tony Benny
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he $14 million project to transform New Zealand’s agritech sector into a globally competitive ecosystem is on track, Callaghan Innovation group manager of agrifood Simon Yarrow, who’s leading the initiative, says. The Government is committed to growing the agritech sector, which already earns around $1.4m in exports annually, and Callaghan Innovation, AgriTech New Zealand and a variety of government agencies are collaborating on the project. “It’s all about commercial outcomes. Primary sector manufacturing, biotech and digital-based technology companies are trying to deliver things like yield efficiency, profitability and increasing sustainability and quality,” Yarrow said during a recent online seminar. “The tagline, ‘New Zealand agritech, good for New Zealand and great for the world’, really captures what we’re trying to achieve, which is both to help New Zealand agriculture and grow the sector globally for New Zealand.” Callaghan has broken NZ agritech down into six different segments: three “foundation” sectors – farm and pasture,
The multi-million dollar project to transform the agritech sector into a global competitor is on track.
horticulture and forestry; and three emerging areas – “cleantech” (around climate change and carbon technology management), hemp and medicinal cannabis, and aquaculture. “We’re interacting with tech companies, producer companies, R&D organisations, investors, government agencies and industry organisations so we can develop better technology
and services for those customers and stakeholders,” he says. Over the past six months, a range of services have been developed to address specific needs, such as how to find the right funding and advice, finding the right partners to test new technology, how to scale-up from a local marketfocused business to a global player and how to be “future-ready”.
“Successfully preparing for the future actually happens by identifying and having the discipline of looking for signals, being able to pick them out from what you see and essentially accepting that anything can be different in the future.” Shane Dooley “We’ve observed the level of future insight skills over five years, interacting and trialling different initiatives, and it’s fair to say we believe New Zealand agritech sector is not future-focused enough,” Callaghan agritech innovation advisor Shane Dooley says. “We know future-prepared firms outperform the average by a considerable amount,” he says, citing a European longitudinal study that shows that conclusively. He says, particularly since 2020, that following trends is a very poor way to predict the future and that the trick is to spot signals instead. “Successfully preparing for the future actually happens by identifying and having the discipline of looking for signals, being able to pick them out from what you see and essentially accepting that anything can be different in the future,” he says. As an example, he tells the story of American agritech company Greentech Robotics. “The chief executive knew the market for lettuce growing in California really well and he picked up on what is now not such a subtle signal of a labour shortage for weeding lettuce, and picked up on the experience of growers with rising labour
costs and falling labour supply to pick and weed lettuce all year round,” he explains. The chief executive also picked up on consumers’ changing attitudes to sprays and herbicides. “They’ve now developed a really cool weeding robot that they deploy in the US. It’s a great example of really scanning the horizon for signals,” he says. AgriTech NZ chief executive Brendan O’Connell says the Agritech Industry Transformation Plan is different in that it’s a “whole of government” project with multiple agencies, including MPI, MBIE, Callaghan Innovation and the Ministry for the Environment, working together. “I think it’s fair to say that different agencies have different parameters at different times and different reporting structures, so to actually have a conscious effort to bring them together is really quite unique,” O’Connell says. One of the key areas being focused on is data interoperability and O’Connell believes the voice of the agritech sector is now being heard on this and other topics of importance to primary industry. “Farmer groups like Federated Farmers, levy groups, DairyNZ and others have been involved in those conversations. It’s through the role of AgriTech New Zealand, but also the ITP as an initiative, that the voice of agritech is now being heard when it comes to digital foundations and role of data with agritech, regulations and innovations,” he says. And, he is sure that NZ is well placed to be a significant player globally in agritech. “Agritech is a sector that is thriving globally, a sector for which New Zealand has a good set of capabilities, a reputation that is known in some quarters and is well-received. We know the level of investment in agritech around the world is growing significantly and continues to be a significant investment class for reasons of feeding and protecting our planet.” n
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The project will deliver numerous benefits to the primary sector.
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
Drive dairy efficiencies? We can help.
TECHNOLOGY
Turn digi-ag into profit Farmers are using digital tools, which are helping them to make management decisions.
“Setting up boundaries, guidance lines, chemicals, varieties and any other key inputs before heading into the paddock, will save time and enable more accurate data collection, which in turn means it’s usable and actionable.” Benji Blevin
By Samantha Tennent
More and more technology is being developed to help farmers change the way they produce food.
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he rapid pace of the digital revolution can be daunting. Concerns over data security and the endless options available can be overwhelming for many farmers and they end up putting it in the ‘too hard’ basket. But digital developments create extensive opportunities for agriculture and as the wide-reaching benefits are being recognised across a growing number of farm businesses, the New Zealand agricultural sector sits on the cusp of an era-defining change in the way food and fibre is produced. “There’s no doubt digital agriculture has made the transition from a future concept to being effectively used by producers to make management decisions that are yielding real economic and sustainability outcomes,” John Deere Australia and NZ precision agriculture manager Benji Blevin says. “But it’s important we deliver simpleto-use packages of technology to help farmers to adopt ag tech in a time and resource-effective way. “So we have created easy-to-use and relevant resources for farmers that enable them to either begin their digital ag journey or develop knowledge to extract even more value and performance from digital technology.” The company has invested in robust data systems with cybersecurity protocols, which are underpinned by data privacy policies about how they collect and use data in their user agreements.
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“To us, it is critical that customers control their own data and make the decisions about who can access it,” Blevin says. For farmers who are keen to harness the digital ecosystem, he has a few key tips to help turn on-farm data into a powerful decision-making tool. Know what you want to achieve Data collection can be overwhelming, so he urges farmers not to “collect data for data’s sake”. “Instead, ask yourself: ‘What do I want to get out of collecting this information? What do I need to put in place to get those results?’” he says. “Once you’ve identified your goals, take a structured approach to digital agriculture so it is possible to measure and strive for improvement.” Get the set up right Just as you would not take your machine into the field without it being set up correctly, it is worth investing time in properly setting up your digital ecosystem. “It is important to take the time to set up your digital assets, so you are collecting the right information for your needs,” he says. “Setting up boundaries, guidance lines, chemicals, varieties and any other key inputs before heading into the paddock, will save time and enable more accurate data collection, which in turn means it’s usable and actionable.”
Automate your data collection Once data collection has been robustly set up, this process can be automated so that information is consistently gathered and is ready for analysis. “With automation, you remove and simplify the touchpoints required to collect and transfer data from the machine to the operations centre,” he says. “Your data is updated to the cloud every 30 seconds, while you focus on the work in the paddock.” Understand your data Now that you know what you want to achieve and have the right digital setup, which is automatically collected and synced to your account. The next step is understanding that data, using it to drive decisions and applying them on-farm to achieve efficiency and profitability gains. “If you can identify that a field has 20% yield variability, you know that there’s money to be made there, and you can focus on it,” he says. “Another way to extract even more value is to bring in a specialised skillset, such as your agronomist, farm advisor or financial advisor, and allow them to access and analyse information such as crop records to make strategic recommendations. “This can further support growers in taking full advantage of the decisionmaking opportunities of digital agriculture.” n
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
Strategic agtech partnerships By Sonita Chandar
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gritech leaders from New Zealand and Israel will come together to share insights and innovations at a joint online summit this month. Both countries are renowned for their inventiveness and tenacity when it comes to developing solutions for food production systems. Yet each country possesses its own distinct agritechecosystem that’s shaped through unique environmental and economic challenges and knowledge frameworks. Agritech leaders and stakeholders in both countries have a lot to learn from each other; the potential to find common ground in supporting rising global market demand is huge. The summit will feature several keynote speakers and panel discussions over two days. Aligned for international timezones, the NZ-Israel AgriTech Summit will explore opportunities for future cooperation and collaboration, while showcasing technologies, applications and test cases from both countries for a mutually beneficial partnership. Keynote speaker John Roche, the Ministry for Primary Industries chief science advisor, says this partnership could open up opportunities for counter-seasonal experiments in areas of common interest, collaboration on global challenges, shared expertise and resources to develop our innovation and commercialisation and additional funding avenues. “Both NZ and Israel are recognised innovators in agriculture – what we call in New Zealand the No 8 wire mentality,” Roche says. “For nearly 100 years, farmers and scientists have worked closely together to develop some of the most biophysically efficient agricultural and horticultural systems in the world. “Israel, similarly, is a world-renowned hub of innovation, developing highly efficient food production systems through engineering, agronomy and animal production. “Innovation in
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
Ministry for Primary Industries chief science advisor John Roche says the New Zealand-Israel AgriTech Summit is a great opportunity for us to collaborate with and learn from a global leader in this space.
agricultural technology is of significant interest in NZ as we challenge ourselves to meet the environmental sustainability and productivity challenges of the 21st Century. “The New Zealand-Israel AgriTech Summit is a great opportunity for us to collaborate with and learn from a global leader in this space. Israel has extensive expertise in dryland farming and horticultural crops and, as a country, is a pioneer in water efficient irrigation systems and has developed state-ofthe-art desalination technologies and efficient greenhouse technologies.” Other keynote speakers include, among others, Australia-based Israel trade commissioner Shai Zarivatch; Israeli ambassador to NZ Ran Yaakoby; Kenneth Irons from Precision Farming; and head of AgriFood Tech and circular economy advisory at KPMG, Ben van Delden. n
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The summit on February 15-16 is free and Zoom event tickets will be provided on registration. Register at agritechnz.org.nz
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TECHNOLOGY
Tech brings farmers closer to cows Ian Wanted His Pond Swirling
Manawatū dairy farmer Jared Whittfield says one of the main benefits of cow wearables is early detection of problems.
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Ian Bell wanted his effluent pond swirling. So when his first stirrer wasn’t getting the job done he went on the hunt for something better… Ian and his son Andrew run a 660-700 cow dairy farm in Reperoa, Waikato. At first glance, everything was operating smoothly with the original effluent system that had only recently been installed. Effluent processed through a separation system before flowing into a large 1,000,000 litre lined storage pond, there was an electric stirrer and pump, which pushed effluent out to travelling irrigators…but Ian felt something wasn’t quite right… ‘The stirrer was just inadequate. It only just dipped into the pond!’
Ian could see the original stirrer wasn’t able to get the whole pond swirling, and he asked for it to be removed while he went on the hunt for something better. After doing some research he gave Nevada a call. ‘You were the only ones who had one that looked like it would get the whole pond swirling.’ Mike took a trip out to visit Ian and have a look at the current setup. There was more than enough storage capacity, and the concrete pad was in a good location for the stirrer, he just needed a stirrer that would get the job done!
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DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
By Gerald Piddock
LIC has developed an ear sensor to monitor animal health and performance, which delivers crucial information to help farmers manage their herds.
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itbits and other health monitoring devices have been used by people for years. Now similar technology is being used in dairy herds across the country. Cow wearables, such as ear sensors and collars, are increasingly being used on New Zealand dairy farms to help monitor and manage animal performance, health and fertility. Manawatū dairy farmer Jared Whittfield has been using CowManager’s ear sensor technology since the start of May to monitor his herd. Although the technology looks like a standard ear tag, it delivers key insights to farmers 24/7 to bring them one step closer to their cows. “One of the main benefits of these ear tags is early detection of problems. You receive a health alert when a cow isn’t her usual self, and from there you can quickly diagnose the problem,” Whittfield says. “It’s great from a herd productivity perspective because it means you’re picking up issues much earlier, or even identifying issues that might never have been picked up.” Whittfield, who milks 1000 cows on his 250ha farm in Moutoa in the Manawatū region, says the technology helps him maintain a level of connection to his cows despite his large herd size.
“Not only can you monitor individual cows, but you can also get a sense of how your herd is performing overall by looking at cows at different ages and stages of lactation and identifying whether there are any trends,” he says. LIC has recently upgraded its cloudbased herd management system, MINDA, to help farmers unlock more value from cow wearable devices and further support the ‘connected cow’ future of the NZ dairy industry. The new application will enable valuable data captured from cow wearable devices to join the rest of the animal’s records in MINDA to provide farmers with a one-stop-shop for their animal data. Before the application was available, Whittfield was having to do a daily transfer of data. “The fact that these tags are now able to link up with MINDA means there’s no double handling of data, which saves time on farm and ensures that you have access to all the data you need in one centralised place,” he says. Enabling data flow between MINDA, which is used by 10,500 dairy farmers, and third-party cow wearable devices has been hotly requested by farmers, LIC’s general manager of NZ markets Malcolm Ellis said. “We are seeing an increased uptake in cow wearable technology from our
Jared Whittfield milks 1000 cows on his 250ha farm in Moutoa and says the technology helps him maintain a level of connection to his cows despite his large herd size.
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
Cow wearable devices – like the orange CowManager ear tags – are deepening the connection between farmers and their cows.
farmers so it’s great to now be able to offer them more value from their investment with improved access to data and insights,” Ellis says. Cow wearable devices from CowManager, Datamars and Allflex (via Protrack) can now integrate with MINDA, with more expected to get on board soon, including Afimilk and GEA Cow Scout. He says data is key to driving the next wave of productivity and sustainability improvements for the industry. “In this era of a stabilising cow population and increased environmental and regulatory considerations, there has never been a more important time for farmers to be focused on improving the quality of cows in their herd. Knowing more about your cows and having access to these insights to make informed herd management decisions is a key driver,” he says. Ellis says everything LIC is doing in the technology space is focused on deepening farmers’ connection to their cows. “Tech is the future for many industries, but much of the value lies in integration. We’ll continue to investigate opportunities where we can partner with others in the tech sector to deliver to farmers’ needs and unlock more value for our farmers.” n
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TRAINING & EDUCATION
Global exchanges
Caitlyn Poole and other Fonterra staff planting trees at Fonterra’s Brightwater site.
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rowing up on a dairy farm, Caitlyn Poole always knew she wanted to work in the agriculture industry. The 28-year-old holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science and a Master of Science (Animal Science) from Massey University’s Manawatū campus. Throughout her studies she was awarded multiple scholarships, which took her to China and Brazil before she returned home and began working for Fonterra. “I was lucky enough to receive two DairyNZ scholarships during my studies. The support was amazing, especially from my master’s supervisor and mentor Dr John Roche,” Poole says. Massey, with its good reputation for all things agriculture, was a natural choice for Caitlyn, and three of her siblings had studied there. She’s now studying via distance toward a Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Management and is employed as an environmental manager based at Fonterra’s Te Awamutu site. She took a break from her studies last semester to focus on her management role, but is looking to pick it up again this year. “My team manages the Biological Wastewater Treatment System for the site and ensures our final discharge is within our resource consent limits before it is discharged to the environment,” she says. “Unlike many Fonterra sites, we don’t
42
irrigate our treated wastewater. We have a major multimillion-dollar upgrade to our plant happening at the moment, so in a year our discharge will be even more pristine than it currently is – it’s an exciting time for us. “The upgrade will ensure we meet our new, tighter resource consent limits.” Poole manages the environmental
management system at the site, to ensure it meets international standards. “This involves identifying and reviewing environmental aspects and impacts and ensuring the implementation of suitable operational controls. I’m a member of the Te Awamutu site leadership team and drive sustainability improvements on site,” she says.
Caitlyn moved to Chengdu in China after completing her masters and interned for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the New Zealand Consulate for six months. She and partner Ben also studied Mandarin at Chengdu University during this time.
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
“We aim to make year-on-year reductions in water, energy use and our carbon footprint, as well as reduce the waste we send to landfill and are working to build our relationships with iwi. “It’s been great to get experience from a manufacturing perspective – a change from the on-farm focus I studied. It’s pretty cool how under the right conditions bacteria are able to break down the contaminants in our wastewater – a natural process can make it so clean. And it’s amazing to see how my team – Sinkie, Graeme and Sam – manage to keep these bacteria healthy on a daily basis.” During her second year at Massey, she took part in a student exchange, which saw her move to the island of Florianópolis, in southern Brazil. “It was the best year. I lived with a really amazing Brazilian family who had kids my age. Many of the papers I studied were cross credited to my AgriScience degree, so if I had come back as planned, I would have finished uni at the same time as everyone else,” she says. “I stayed on a while longer and moved to Rio de Janeiro where I focused on Portuguese language studies for four months, graduating about six months after my peers.” But the travelling, and love of learning new languages, didn’t stop there. “I moved to Chengdu in China after completing my masters and interned for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the New Zealand Consulate for six months,” she says. This was made possible by an Asia
Caitlyn Poole and Fonterra senior environmental operator Graeme Jacobsen on the top of the clarifiers. Wastewater Treatment Ponds can be seen in the back.
NZ Foundation Business Internship Scholarship. “After that I joined my partner Ben at Chengdu University and we studied Mandarin for six months. We were both fortunate to receive the Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia which funded this study,” she says. A key aim of the Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia is to strengthen NZ’s ability to engage with key Asian trading partners. Her interest in China and learning Mandarin was sparked by many discussions about China as an export market for NZ dairy products. On her return to NZ, her first role with Fonterra was South Island based, and while it was an “awesome experience”, she’s enjoying being back on the family farm in Pirongia in the Waikato with Ben, and their pets – dog Lincoln and cat Steve.
“We love travelling around New Zealand – but during these lockdowns I’ve gotten into cycling around the Pirongia Mountain hills,” she says. She is looking forward to learning more at Fonterra. “We’ve got lots going on with the upgrade, and that will keep me challenged for the next few years. I’m really fortunate to work with a really cool team at the Te Awamutu site who have supported me so much already in the short time that I’ve been here,” she says. “I’ve been able to learn from a few wastewater legends namely Ron Hamilton and Marc Carney and the Plant Operators Sinclair Watson and Graeme Jacobsen who are always there when we need them and keep things in control on a day-to-day basis.” n
TRAINING & EDUCATION
Growing demand for ag studies
M
assey University has the highest number of undergraduate students in more than a decade enrolled across its agriculture-related programs, with more than 350 people studying agricultural science, agribusiness, horticultural science and animal science, and are hoping for similar numbers in 2022, with early enrolments at record levels. DairyNZ Professor of Dairy Production Systems Danny Donaghy, from the School of Agriculture and Environment, says the increase is probably due to a combination of factors, including targeted recruitment in schools and a huge joint effort from industry and the university to change the perception of careers in agriculture. He says covid-19 and its impact on industries like tourism and hospitality has also led people to look for careers in sectors which are not as greatly impacted by the pandemic. “The student make-up is very interesting, with a mix of school-leavers as well as mature students choosing to change careers, or looking to upskill,” Donaghy says. “An increasing number of students are choosing to study online or a mixture of online and in-person. By increasing our online offering we are providing an opportunity for people who may not live near our campuses, or who want to upskill while working.” He says the increase in school-leavers shows speaking to secondary schools is working. “The School of Agriculture and Environment ran a lot of activities with high schools in 2021. We have been to schools, hosted multiple groups at Massey, and have spoken to students, teachers and parents explaining that a career in agriculture is not just behind the farm gate growing animals or crops,” he says. “Roles are needed across the spectrum, and along with farmers and farm managers, we need experts in
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The number of students enrolled in agricultural programmes at Massey University is at an all-time high.
technology, engineering, environmental management, human resources, marketing and more. These are highlyskilled and technical jobs and can be well paid. When students and others learn this they are quite surprised and you can see their interest grows.” The increased use of technology, regulatory requirements and compliance means farmers are now looking for experts in these fields to support their businesses. As a result, this has created greater demand for businesses to upskill their employees. Massey has worked in partnership with industry and government for more than 10 years to create professional development courses to meet this growing demand. More than 4300 people in total have graduated from these courses, which are run through the Farmed Landscapes Research Centre (FLRC), part of the School of Agriculture and Environment. The courses are tailored to the needs of science, industry, policy and regulatory bodies concerned with primary production.
“We hear people saying they do not want to necessarily do a full undergraduate degree, so these professional development courses allow them to upskill and are mostly available online so can be completed from anywhere. Many people do these while working full-time,” he says. He says farming has naturally become more complex in terms of what farmers need to do on a day-to-day basis. “We have always needed clever people on farms and more and more we are needing skilled people to navigate different farming practices, as well as regulation and technology,” he says. “Most farmers can’t be across all of this, and so they need to work with teams of people who can be.” Donaghy says the industry’s demand for more workers is not going away any time soon. “Massey, along with other universities, is supplying hundreds of graduates but what we are hearing from government, industry bodies and businesses is that they need thousands.” n
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
Upskilling vital for farmers
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airy Training manager Cath Blake understands the demands of farming having owned a farm business and tutored farmers. Her dairy farming background and experience means she knows what skills farmers need and at which stages of their dairy farming journey. “Learning needs to be at the right times so knowledge is fresh and able to be used practically in the farm business,” Blake says. One course which provides the right skills at the right time is Progression Management. “We’ve identified that assistant managers, and managers sometimes lack the basic skills that, on a busy farm, some bosses simply don’t have time to teach,” she says. Progression Management course is about upskilling managers in their current roles, getting up to speed with computers, tools and technologies and kickstarting financial management skills. Blake also understands that to get some farmers to engage in courses, you need short courses held at suitable times (like between milkings) and they must be practical and enjoyable. “Many of our short courses are three part-days and about enabling farmers to make good decisions. For some courses we offer both an online and in-person option,” she says. Business by the Numbers is one short course for both new and experienced financial planners. Farmers learn about farm budgets and can look at their own
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
numbers to investigate future options for big-picture goals, like self-employment, or growing their sharemilking or farming business. If farmers understand their numbers, they can have confident conversations with their bank or accountant and business partners too. “It’s also important that we offer practical tools and techniques, and that we keep class sizes small so farmers are comfortable,” she says. Writing a business plan might sound daunting, but Dairy Training’s short course Write a Business Plan steps farmers through the process. At the end of the short course farmers walk away with a five-year Business Plan having clarified what they want to get out of farming and what they need to do to get there. Dairy Training specialises in short courses, workshops and full programmes for formal qualifications like the Diploma in Agribusiness Management. February and March 2022 courses: Business by the Numbers: In-person (three part-days) or online (7x two-hour sessions) Write a Business Plan: Inperson (3 part-days) or online (7x two-hour sessions) Progression Management: South Waikato, 9x four-hour workshops between March 1 to June 28. Visit dairytraining.co.nz for more information and register now. DairyNZ offers a range of events for farmers, including discussion groups, field days, business progression courses and other training events. You can keep up-to-date with the latest events online at dairynz.co.nz/events n
INDUSTRY GOOD
Having a covid-19 management plan will help keep your staff safe and your farm running if covid affects your team.
Reducing covid risks on-farm Hamish Hodgson
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DairyNZ covid response manager
ovid-19, or indeed any illness on-farm, could affect your health and disrupt how your team can carry out your daily
routines. There are a few things you and your farm team can do to reduce the risk of covid-19, help stop its spread and minimise disruption on your farm. Protecting yourself and others from covid-19 Getting vaccinated is the best way to reduce the risk of covid-19 on-farm. It helps protect you, your team, your family and the wider community. If you or another farm team member gets sick, stay home and if you have covid-like symptoms, get tested. Staying away from work helps stop the spread not only of covid, but of other common illnesses like the flu, which can leave your team sick and understaffed. Your farm team should also be following good hygiene practices, maintaining physical distancing and wearing face coverings where appropriate, keeping track of where
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they’ve been and have cleaning processes in place. What happens if I get covid-19 on-farm? If your farm doesn’t have a plan for how covid could be managed if one of your team tests positive, now is a good time to raise this at your next staff meeting. Planning ahead will mean that everyone understands what to do and feels protected. There are also a range of other situations your plan might be helpful in, for example, if a staff member has an accident, or if a local disaster strikes and some staff can’t get to work. If someone on the farm does test positive for covid-19, the Medical Officer of Health from your local District Health Board will decide whether they can selfisolate on farm, or if they need to go to hospital or into quarantine somewhere else. Your farm will also need to notify your milk processor promptly if there is a covid-19 case, so they can put precautions in place for their drivers. Your milk processor will work with you to establish a plan for milk collection. If the covid-19 positive person can be removed from the milking shed, normal processes can be followed. You’ll also need to thoroughly clean and sanitise surfaces where the covid-19 positive person may have been, and which a tanker driver has contact with. What to include in a covid-19 management plan
Your farm plan for managing covid-19 should include: • How you would cover for anyone who is unable to work – we know covid-19 can have significant health effects even for vaccinated people. • High-risk areas where the chances of transmission between staff could occur (for example morning tea or toilet areas). • How you can reduce the risk of transmission, particularly in high-risk areas. • How you can manage staff to reduce the risk of transmission, for example, through rostering. • What farm tasks are vital and what can be dropped. • Key contact information in case your farm owner, manager or a key team member can’t work. Once you have a plan, make sure everyone understands how it works in case your farm owner or manager becomes sick, and let any new staff know about it. n
MORE:
DairyNZ has a sample template you can use to develop your farm’s plan and advice on managing and avoiding covid online at dairynz.co.nz/covid
with DairyNZ DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
CALF CLUB
Another great Calf Club year
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hank you to all the children and their calves who took part in the Calf Club NZ 2021 competition, you have done a great job and congratulations to our regional and national winners. Thanks to the wonderful organisers of Calf Club NZ, sponsors and judges and everyone else that pitched in. You have once again stepped up to help keep this grassroots annual tradition alive and given children the experience and opportunity to compete on a regional and national level. The team at Dairy Farmer has been proud to be a part of this initiative and we hope to see you all again this year.
Sonita
Melissa Jensen and Willow from Mokoia Primary School, South Taranaki placed second in the Social League.
Nine-year-old Amber Turnbull from Tirohanga School, South Waikato, and her calf Zazu are the winners of the 2021 Calf Club Social League, with the pair receiving the most votes during online voting.
Lily Murray, 12, and Luna from Mangakino, South Waikato, placed third.
Congratulations to all the participants in last year’s Calf Club DeLaval are proud supporters of Calf Club
delaval.com | 0800 222 228
Kalani Thompson-Ashford, 13, from Oroua Downs, Manawatu placed fourth.
CALF CLUB
Calf Club NZ 2021 Results Champion National Champion (Leading, Rearing & Conformation) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Eva Muir Danielle Giles (Patches) Isabelle Bishell Lochlan Wood Lina Buhre
Social League 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Amber turnbull Melissa Jensen Lily Murray Kalani Thompson-Ashford Cady-maree Barriball
NORTH ISLAND Northland Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Charlie Williams George Williams Erin Bartz Oscar Peake Ruby Williams
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
George Williams Charlie Williams Ruby Williams Oscar Peake Erin Bartz
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
George Williams Charlie Williams Ruby Williams Oscar Peake Erin Bartz
High School Leading
1. Aimee Crowson 2. Alyssa Bishop
Rearing
1. Aimee Crowson 2. Alyssa Bishop
Beef Type
1. Alyssa Bishop
Dairy Type
1. Aimee Crowson
Auckland Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
James Kier Eva Muir Nadia Hedis AJ Riley Zoe Irwin Parsons
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Eva Muir James Kier AJ Riley Taylor Webb Nadia Hedis
Beef Type
1. Eva Muir 2. Zoe Irwin Parsons 3. Taylor Webb
Dairy Type
1. AJ Riley 2. James Kier 3. Nadia Hedis
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4. Olivia Grant
High School Leading
1. Charlise Benson
Rearing
1. Charlise Benson
Dairy Type
1. Charlise Benson
North Waikato Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Fergus Fulton Hollie Fulton Fletcher Fulton Alexis Hansen Elijah Gread
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Hollie Fulton Alexis Hansen Mitchell Hansen Xavier Gread Hunter Fulton
Beef Type
1. Hunter Fulton 2. Alexis Hansen 3. Mitchell Hansen
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Xavier Gread Hollie Fulton Fletcher Fulton Elijah Gread Charlie McGill
High School Leading
1. Jacoba Gread 2. Tayla Hansen with Pumpkin 3. Tayla Hansen with Bubbles
Rearing
1. Tayla Hansen with Bubbles 2. Jacoba Gread 3. Tayla Hansen with Pumpkin
Beef Type
1. Tayla Hansen with Bubbles
Dairy Type
1. Jacoba Gread 2. Tayla Hansen with Pumpkin
Hauraki Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Emma Wiggins Noah Gibbs Tayler Gibbs Bella Walmsley Ruby Gibbs
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Bella Walmsley Emma Wiggins Tayer Gibbs Noah Gibbs Ruby Gibbs
Beef Type
1. Noah Gibbs 2. Bella Walmsley
Dairy Type
1. Tayler Gibbs 2. Ruby Gibbs 3. Emma Wiggins
High School Leading
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Summer Gibbs Poppie Balm Ella Wiggins Ella Wallace Celena Earl with Bella
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Summer Gibbs Poppie Balm Ella Wiggins Celena Earl with Liam Monica Earl with Maggie
Beef Type
1. Ella Wallace 2. Monica Earl with Rickee 3. Celena Earl with Liam
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Summer Gibbs Ella Wiggins Poppie Balm Celena Earl with Bella Monica Earl with Maggie
Morrinsville Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Rylee Davies Brooke Shultz Finn Goudswaard Addison Davies Natalie Keen
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Brooke Shultz Finn Goudswaard Rylee Davies Addison Davies Greer Gemmell
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Greer Gemmell Addison Davies Brooke Shultz Finn Goudswaard Rylee Davies
East Waikato Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Marcus Lind Katy-Rose Anderton Summer Olding Lucy O’Reilly Ava Fowlie
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Lucy O’Reilly Summer Olding Michael Edwards Marcus Lind Sophie Burgess
Beef Type
1. Michael Edwards 2. Marcus Lind
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Summer Olding Lucy O’Reilly Sophie Burgess Alex Burgess Katy-Rose Anderton
Waipa Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4.
Adam Watson Ashynne Wise Phillippa McEwan Carolyn McEwan
5. Cassandra Wise
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Ashlynne Wise Cassandra Wise Jamie Spiers with Wendy Jamie Spiers with Candy Alexi Buchanan
Beef Type 1. 2. 3. 4.
Cassandry Wise Alexi Buchanan Ashlynne Wise Jamie Spiers with Wendy
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Adam Watson Autumn Hawkings Jamie Spiers with Candy Phillipa McEwan Carolyn McEwan
Otorohanga Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Aviva Mudge Zachary Mudge Jade McTamney Pippa Earwaker Laura Connolly
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Zachary Mudge Aviva Mudge Jade McTamney Laura Connolly Vanessa Connolly
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Amelia Brewster Caleb Mudge Jade McTamney Zachary Mudge Aviva Mudge
High School Leading
1. Ellie-May Riddell
Rearing
1. Ellie-May Riddell
Dairy Type
1. Ellie-May Riddell
South Waikato Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
George Coker Amber Turnbull Sarah Milne Lilly Murray Aria Abrams
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
George Coker Amber Turnbull Aria Abrams Annabelle Milne Maddison Swan
Beef Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Sarah Milne Annabelle Milne Maddison Swan Dennis Swan Levi Church
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4.
George Coker Lilly Murray Amber Turnbull Sabian Abrams
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
5. Aria Abrams
3. Kaylee Taylor 4. Cady-Maree Barriball 5. Cayna Wood
High School Leading
1. Grace Thomas-Humphrey 2. Blayke Murray
Rearing
1. Grace Thomas-Humphrey 2. Blayke Murray
Dairy Type
1. Grace Thomas-Humphrey 2. Blayke Murray
Bay of Plenty Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Alexia Gordon Alexander Macdonald Bella Walker Conrad Gordon Isla Macdonald
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Alexia Gordon Alexander Macdonald Bella Walker Lucy Wattam Amber Cleaver Conrad Gordon Wilson Carter Madeleine Carter Amber Cleaver
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Isla Macdonald Alexia Gordon Alexander Macdonald Bella Walker Alexis Ogle
North Taranaki Primary/Intermediate Leading
1. Shani McClutchie 2. Boston Joblin 3. Sienna Joblin 4. Annabella Aldridge with Tigger 5. Sinea Aldridge
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Sienna Joblin Boston Joblin Kaylee Lepper Shani McClutchie Rosie Mehring
Beef Type
1. Annabella Aldridge with Tigger 2. Boston Joblin
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Kaitlin Mehring Shani McClutchie Sienna Joblin Kaylee Lepper Giah Mehring
Mid Taranaki Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Cady-Maree Barriball Estelle Croot Kaylee Taylor Jaxson Wood Kate Schrader
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Kaylee Taylor Jaxson Wood Cady-Maree Barriball Chloe Muggeridge Dayna Wood
Dairy Type
1. Chloe Muggeridge 2. Jaxson Wood
DAIRY FARMER
1. Riley Taylor
Rearing
1. Riley Taylor
Dairy Type
1. Riley Taylor
South Taranaki Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Violet Simons Melissa Jensen Ella Clarkson Kelsey Perrett Emily Cleaver
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Violet Simons Melissa Jensen Kelsey Perrett Emily Cleaver Guy Perrett
Beef Type
1. Ella Clarkson
Beef Type 1. 2. 3. 4.
High School Leading
February 2022
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Kelsey Perrett Violet Simons Melissa Jensen Emily Cleaver Guy Perrett
East Manawatu Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Kody Wood Ruby Trubshaw Lochlan Wood Logan Baker Ruby Parker-Munn
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Ruby Moore Hollie Giddens Bradley Ireland Allegra Ditchfield Maddie Giddens
Beef Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Lochlan Wood Logan Baker Charlotte Fouhy Amelia Fouhy Samantha Fawcett
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Kody Wood Ruby Moore Hollie Giddens Ellen Ireland Ruby Trubshaw
High School Leading
1. Nikki Baker 2. Haylee Baker
Rearing
1. Nikki Baker 2. Haylee Baker
Dairy Type
1. Nikki Baker 2. Haylee Baker
West Manawatu Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Paige True Pippa True Jack Pedersen Cameron Pedersen Charlotte Pedersen
Rearing
1. Sophie Dickson
2. 3. 4. 5.
Paige True Jack Pedersen Pippa True Charlotte Pedersen
Beef Type 1. 2. 3. 4.
Jack Pedersen Cameron Pedersen Maddox Heron Malachi Heron
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Pippa True Paige True Alistair Pedersen Charlotte Pedersen Amos Heron
High School Leading 1. Ben Lawrie
Rearing
1. Ben Lawrie
Dairy Type
1. Ben Lawrie
SOUTH ISLAND Marlborough Primary/Intermediate Leading
1. Hunter O’Donnell 2. Katie Templeman with Evanlyn 3. Lorna O’Donnell 4. Issac Templeman with Cecelia 5. Katie Templeman with Henrietta
Rearing
1. Hunter O’Donnell 2. Katie Templeman with Evanlyn 3. Katie Templeman with Henrietta 4. Matty Templeman with Lola 5. Issac Templeman with Halt
Beef Type
1. Katie Templeman with Henrietta 2. Issac Templeman with Halt 3. Max Templeman with Erak 4. Matty Templeman with Scout
Dairy Type
1. Katie Templeman with Evanlyn 2. Hunter O’Donnell 3. Issac Templeman with Cecelia 4. Matty Templeman with Lola 5. Max Templeman with Cassandra
Westland Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Levi Gardiner Ashlee Gregge Jack Gregge Kobe Gardiner Chloe Gregge
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Kobe Gardiner Jack Gregge Ashlee Gregge Chloe Gregge Levi Gardiner
Beef Type
1. Levi Gardiner 2. Jack Gregge
Dairy Type
1. Chloe Gregge 2. Kobe Gardiner 3. Ashlee Gregge
North Canterbury Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4.
Dianica Minson Thomas Henderson Lily Pearse Taylor Rutherford
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4.
Taylor Rutherford Dianica Minson Lily Pearse Thomas Henderson
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4.
Thomas Henderson Dianica Minson Lily Pearse Taylor Rutherford
South Canterbury Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Margratt Russell Paige Stewart Hunter Illingworth Oliva Stewart Skye Crossen
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Hunter Illingworth Margratt Russell Paige Stewart Skye Crossen Oliva Stewart
Beef Type
1. Hunter Illingworth
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4.
Paige Stewart Margratt Russell Oliva Russell Skye Crossen
Southland Primary/Intermediate Leading 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Annika Buhre Dannielle Giles with Evie Dannielle Giles with Patches Tamara Treymane Kayla Anderton-Swindells
Rearing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Annika Buhre Anna Janssen Andrew Giles Dannielle Giles with Patches Dannielle Giles with Evie
Beef Type
1. Anna Janssen 2. Dannielle Giles with Patches 3. Chris Janssen
Dairy Type 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Annika Buhre Tamara Treymane Dannielle Giles with Evie Andrew Giles Kayla Anderton-Swindells
High School Leading
1. Kimberley Simmons 2. Lina Buhre
Rearing
1. Lina Buhre 2. Kimberley Simmons
Dairy Type
1. Lina Buhre 2. Kimberley Simmons
MORE:
All results, including national winners, for Calf Club NZ 2021 are available on the Calf Club website.
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FARMSTRONG
Todd and Anneke Reeves with their children Connor, Sophie and Jemma. The pair manage 480 cows on the 250ha family farm at Pukekohe, South Auckland.
No need to do it alone Todd and Anneke Reeves manage 480 cows on a 250ha family farm in Pukekohe, South Auckland. Todd recently shared his thoughts with Farmstrong on how to live well to farm well.
H
ow’s the season going? We’re having a really good season this year, especially with the payout. We also run a small beef block and the beef prices are high too. So all is good. It sounds busy. How do you manage time off? We’re very lucky we’ve got great staff and good systems. We make sure the boys get every second weekend off and
Pukekohe farmer Todd Reeves says farmers should have a strategy in place so they don’t overdo things and can take some time off away from the farm. 50
we make sure we take breaks when we can too. Over lockdown we weren’t able to get away of course, but we took a good break over Christmas. We had it all rostered out, so everyone got a couple of weeks off. There’s always another job to do in farming, isn’t there? It can be tempting to just keep going. Yes, exactly. You can certainly get yourself into a situation where you’re just working all the time. You’re going to take a day off and then something breaks in the cowshed or there’s a water leak and you think you’d better fix it yourself. You need strategies to make sure you don’t overdo things. What are your go-tos? I’m heavily involved in our local rugby club, Patumahoe, coaching junior boys. I became a life member there last year. I coached my son all the way through and he’s now 17. Looking back, it was a great way to just get off-farm and talk to other people who weren’t in your industry. You soon realise everyone faces the same pressures – work, kids, owning a business – and that’s why we all need downtime. Rugby’s great for that. You just have to be at the game or training at certain times because people are relying on you. So, you haven’t got time to hang around and fix a gate. You’re also both heavily involved in the school, aren’t you? Yes, we really love helping out there. Our kids [Connor (17), Sophie (15) and
Jemma (11)] have all been through the school, so we’ve always been involved in the calf club and Anneke’s been chair of the board. I used to go and spray the weeds, join in with the working bees. And when the school cancelled calf club in 2020, we held it here on our farm with 20 kids. We had lambs and calves and organised judges. We didn’t want the kids who are passionate about animals to miss out on that. It was a great day. How do these activities help you farm better? Farming can be an isolated occupation. I think if you spend too much time alone, it’s not healthy. It’s good to make time for other people and activities in your community. I’m also lucky Anneke and I work well together. Our beef block is half an hour away, so she often comes with me in the ute and we talk over things and plan our weeks. Talk about how life is. That’s important too. Anneke also helps out with the paperwork, which I find the hardest part of farming. I love being outside, looking after cows and making the farm look nice, rather than sitting in an office. So that’s a huge help. It’s been a real partnership. Lack of sleep is an issue for many farmers. How do you make sure you get enough? We run a 3-in-2 System (three milkings, two days). We start at 4.30am one morning and seven o’clock the next,
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
so every second morning the boys don’t have to turn up till 7 o’clock. That works really well, not only for your sleep, but also your lifestyle. Once-a-day milking also means you get a bit more of a break in the afternoons. So, if you want to shoot off and go fishing in summer, you can. What about managing stress? What works for me is picturing how the next day’s going to roll before I go to bed. Mentally I’ll go, ‘okay I’ll milk in the morning, then I’ll check the calves at the runoff, then I’ll come in for breakfast, then I’ll feed out before lunch.’ Planning out my day like that, including my breaks, gives me a real sense of control, so I don’t get stressed.
Jemma and Sophie help their dad Todd Reeves drench the youngstock.
“There’s no need to do it alone in farming. People are happy to share what they know and help.” Todd Reeves What about dealing with unforeseen setbacks? Learning to handle things flipping on you during the day is a big part of farming. If there’s a water leak you need to tend to and your plans go out the window, you just have to learn to let go and not panic over what you didn’t get to. Just tell yourself it’s not your fault and get on with it. I always think as long as I’ve got food and water for the animals and food and water for my family, we’ll all survive another day. Do you have good support networks? I’ve got a few groups actually. Old school mates I catch up with regularly for a beer and a group of local farmer mates too. We catch up at discussion groups and if someone’s doing silage we’ll all go and do it together and have a beer after and see how everyone’s going on their farms.” Have you heard of Farmstrong? I think Farmstrong’s awesome. It’s important to discuss these issues. Let’s face it, there are certainly times of the year in farming when people can get very down, like during calving when it’s been raining constantly for a month and a half and you’ve got the wet weather gear on constantly. Life can feel pretty miserable. That’s why having good people to talk to and other things happening in your life is essential. What advice would you give to someone starting out? You’ve got to enjoy what you’re doing in farming. Find your thing. What are the parts of the job you like? I love seeing happy, healthy animals. When I put them in the paddock and their heads are down eating quality feed, then I know I’m doing something right.
The children enjoy getting out and helping their parents on the farm. Jemma and Todd Reeves take feed out to the herd.
The other thing is don’t be afraid to ask for help. I’ve been farming for 22 years, so I realise when there’s too much rain or a drought that we’ve all been there before and got through. But if it’s your first time, it can feel stressful. That’s why it’s good to keep talking to other farmers. There’s no need to do it alone in farming. People are happy to share what they know and help. n
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DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
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AUTUMN CALVING
Making the switch The 390 cows on the Booth’s farm are producing slightly more milk in the autumn calving system.
By Cheyenne Nicholson
A Northland farmer reckons making the switch to autumn calving has been the perfect choice for the farm.
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hen it came to switching his Northland farm to autumn calving, Andrew Booth admits his approach was a bit different to most. In their 12th season on the farm and third as 50:50 sharemilkers in Whangarei, Andrew and his wife Vicky started the
switch to autumn calving four years ago. “Summers on this farm are very dry, but we can maintain good growth over winter. Autumn calving lets us utilise that good growth with milking cows rather than dry cows, so it better suits our farms’ capabilities,” he says. The System 3, 390-cow farm utilises maize and silage grown on and off-farm, along with some palm kernel to fill the gaps where needed, but since switching to autumn calving their reliance on supplementary feed had gone down slightly. Historically the farm typically calved on July 1 and relied heavily on supplementary feed throughout the summer. After helping on his sister’s farm, which is full autumn calving, he immediately saw the benefits and how it could work on his farm. “We started to plan how we could make it work here. Because of our summers, extended lactation as a method of transition to autumn calving wasn’t an option. We also knew we wouldn’t be able to calve as early as some farms, because we can stay dry for quite a long time. With that in mind, we aimed for mid-April calving, which was bringing forward calving by 2.5 months,” he explains. “We started gradually bringing the calving date forward by minimising the tail end of calving. We had the ability to cull late calvers, and the fact we had a tight calving pattern to begin with really
The System 3 farm utilises maize and silage grown on and offfarm, along with some palm kernel to fill the gaps where needed, but since switching to autumn calving, their reliance on supplementary feed had gone down slightly.
helped with this. We also started bringing the start of mating forward bit by bit. It took four years to shift the start of calving from July 1 to April 13.” The first year of transition, rather than starting mating earlier and mating while still calving, they opted for a shorter mating window of less than his usual 12 weeks. “That first year, we had two weeks of calving to go when we started mating. I still did pre-mating and didn’t change our practices at all, other than using some short gestation dairy semen to help tighten up the tail a bit,” he says. For the most part, empty rates hovered around the usual 8-12%, except for their second year of transition, when they had to use all AB due to the bulls not being up to scratch, and it blew out to 16%. Once-a-day (OAD) was utilised for noncycling cows and was used again last year to combat some lameness issues. “It was a very wet and horrible start to mating, which we kick-off on July 4. I had lots of lameness issues, so the whole herd went onto OAD, which worked a treat. We lost a bit of milk production, but I’d rather that than unhappy cows. And a poor repro result,” he says. Because of the lengthy transition approach they took, milk production didn’t take a hit and the farms overall efficiency has improved, with cows producing on average 0.5kg mls above what they did before the switch. “It’s been surprising the benefits that
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February 2022
autumn calving has brought that we didn’t even think of. The way we manage pasture has changed. We can now graze grass at the optimum time rather than saving it up. Before autumn calving, we did a lot more summer cropping with chicory, but it put pressure on the system and put holes in the feed wedge by having to take paddocks out of rotation for cropping. Now we’re a lot more flexible and less pressured,” he says. Previously, during summer, they would have to sit on a 30-day round and couldn’t fully feed the cows without a lot of supplements. Now they can push the rounds out to 40-45 days because they don’t have that pressure of a full milking herd. It’s helped with pasture survivability and been a really positive spin-off for the farm and cows. The change has meant his designated calving paddocks have changed. Under a spring calving system, he would save the drier land for calving, which also happened to be his best-producing winter and spring land. “Now we are able to calve on the wetter
land, which means I can utilise the better paddocks. While I haven’t measured it properly, it seems to allow us to grow more feed,” he says. The key to the success of the switch has been in the existing infrastructure. A 300-cow feedpad and large effluent storage capacity meant that milking over the winter was logistically and environmentally doable for them.
“I wouldn’t recommend doing autumn calving without that infrastructure in place.” Person’s Name “I wouldn’t recommend doing autumn calving without that infrastructure in place. The biggest thing was knowing we had the effluent storage capacity to cope with winter milking. The last thing I wanted to do was create adverse
Northland farmer Andrew Booth switched his farming system to autumn calving four years and ago and says it is the best thing he has done.
environmental effects, so that was something I was very mindful of when we first made the decision,” he says. With a small winter milk contract, financially, they get a bit more for their milk, but he says that was never a driving factor for the change. It’s always been about finding a way of working the farm that suited the land and the cows. Angus bulls are being used over the heifers to enable them to sell calves into the beef market and has found a buyer to take all their black AB bulls, a relationship he hopes will continue in future years. A few years into autumn calving, they are thinking about implementing a OAD policy from December 1. With the bulk of the season’s production already in the bag by then, change to any loss of production should be minimal. It gives him and his team flexibility over the holiday period, it also takes the pressure off the cows through the heat of the summer. Booth could talk about the pros of autumn calving for his farm till the cows come home – it’s been a brilliant fit for the farm and the cows – and while his transition was slightly unconventional, it worked in his favour. While the lameness issues from cows walking to shed in winter is an issue that weighs on him a bit, he has plans to revamp the laneways to make it easier on the cows and says that full-season OAD isn’t off the cards either. “There haven’t been a lot of drawbacks to it for us. We have increased farm production with the same inputs and 40 less cows as we did in a spring calving system and have had all these added benefits. The infrastructure piece of the puzzle is huge though, and something I think farmers really need to think about before making the switch,” he says. n
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Jason Turner and a team member take feed out to the calves.
Feeding production By Ross Nolly
A Waikato farmer found many benefits from autumn calving, but had to give it up. Given the chance, he would go back to the split-calving system.
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o achieve optimum cow health and milk production, dairy farmers need to have a solid understanding of dairy cow nutrition, Waikato farmer Jason Turner says. He and wife Rowan operate a 118-hectare family farm near Te Awamutu. He has been working on the farm since 1998 and they purchased it 12 years ago. The farm had been splitcalving but changed to seasonal four years ago after the 52ha support block was sold. “It was nice to be running around your cows and calves in shorts rather than wet weather gear. We stopped winter milking after we sold the support block, but we’re actually doing better production without winter milking,” Jason says. “I’d return to winter milking if I had a support block and was able to winter cows off the farm. The cowshed is still there and we’re here to make milk.” The premium milk cheque provided a cashflow through the winter, but it wasn’t the only benefit. He found that by calving down his cows in autumn, they held onto 1.8-2 kilograms of milksolids
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through to Christmas. “There are far fewer animal health issues too. Winter milking retains your good empty cows and summer calving practically eliminates any downed cows. Calves do better because they aren’t battling the cold environment,” he says. They milk 345 cows and winter 405. For the past two years he has milked some of his good empty cows through winter once-a-day to allow them to get back in-calf. It gives him the opportunity to sell some in-calf and budget cows. “This season we winter milked 30 cows, but we didn’t supply Fonterra, we sold the milk to an autumn bull calf rearer. He pays 15-20 cents per litre, but it’s not about the money, it’s about keeping those good cows,” he says. “We tailed some cows in August and received good money for them in September because farmers weren’t selling cows due to calving.” The herd is crossbred with an emphasis on F12 cows. Last season it produced 177,000kg MS and 198,000 kg MS during the previous season. He expects to achieve 175,000kg MS this season.
They grow 26ha of maize for silage and last season made 600 silage bales. He buys eight tonnes of tapioca bulk per month to go in the mixer wagon with maize silage. The herd is fed a feed blend throughout the season. “We have our own contracting equipment and purchase standing grass from lifestyle blocks and 4ha from a neighbour. If you do a bit here and there you end up with quite a few extra bales. I pay a good rate for the grass because I don’t have to pay a contractor,” he says. Through fewer cows and better feeding, production has increased but it has not been at the expense of animal health. Conversely, they’ve achieved this and improved herd health. Six years ago he began using Ruminate on the farm. Prior to using Ruminate, the herd was averaging 130,000159,000kg MS (winter milking), but after introducing the product, it produced 175,000-179,000 (spring calving). “I like to try something different. If you continue doing what you’ve always done, you always achieve the same result. I tried it because of the aspects they aimed to achieve with their products.
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February 2022
I thought it’d be pretty cool to achieve similar results from my cows,” he says. He immediately noticed that his cows were healthier and there were fewer sick cows and fatalities. The cows seemed happier, more content and more settled. “We run a high starch diet. That’s why we use a lot of carbohydrates – maize silage, tapioca and the kibbled maize – in the silo blend. This gives the cows high energy, keeps their weight on, helps them cycle well and gives us better incalf rates,” he says. They use Ruminate to balance the cows’ diet throughout the year, improve animal health and increase production. The herd now has 25 fewer cows but produces similar quantities of MS to previous seasons. “This season we calved 71% of our herd in three weeks and 82% in six weeks. A couple of years ago we piled the feed into the cows. It wasn’t overly profitable, but we produced 198,00kg MS,” he says.
“I like to try something different. If you continue doing what you’ve always done, you always achieve the same result.” Jason Turner “We fed them whatever we wanted and didn’t really stick to the budget, which the bank wasn’t overly happy about. We still made a profit, but are now making better profits due to that year of feeding. We’ve fine-tuned things over the last two seasons. That year of feeding really compacted our calving period.” The following year they calved 69%
in three weeks. An added bonus was that those cows had extra cycles before mating. The past two seasons have had very similar mating results. The herd has an 89.5% in-calf rate from a nine week mating period. There are 24 days of AI before Hereford bulls are used. “Last year we raised 120 replacements and sold 40 to China. They took some crossbreds but they mostly wanted Friesians. We only sold the low BW calves,” he says. “I’ve reared calves for a long time and I’m a bit over it, but it helped me purchase the farm. I reared calves on leased blocks and also reared a few dairy heifer calves to join the herd.” This season they raised 78 replacements and 100 Friesian and Hereford cross bull and heifer calves. He’s been selling to the same buyer for four years. For the past two years his buyer hasn’t even seen the calves, he’s just sent them off to his Hawke’s Bay farmer who is always happy with them. The calves are fed meal from day one and twice a day until they’re 22 days old before going onto once-a-day feeding. Colostrum and whole milk is fed to the dairy replacements. They use Queen of Calves and they are weaned at 90kg. The feed regime allows him to wean his calves earlier. Target information from vets and MINDA has shown him that at 10-12 weeks old, his calves are approximately 20kg heavier than the average. He says mineral supplements are important no matter what season you calve and feels that the most important requirement is to put the right food into your cows at the correct time. He’s found that it’s not ideal to feed a lot of protein when grass protein is high. “They need the energy from starch. If a
Six years ago the Turners began using Ruminate on the farm and found production increased.
cow’s milk urea is too high it can affect their conception rate. During spring, many feed their cows DDG, molasses and maybe kibbled maize. The high milk urea levels (due to the high protein spring grass) can severely impact in-calf rates,” he says. “It’s taken us a while to get to where we are, but the last two years have been really good. The biggest gain for us from using Ruminate is that it’s increased our profitability and decreased animal losses. A cow can only eat so much. But if they can better digest and utilise their feed, you get more production from the same animal.” n
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AUTUMN CALVING
Winter milk returns boosts interest By Sonita Chandar
There are pros and cons to making the switch to autumn calving from spring and farmers should do their homework to ensure it will be a good fit for their farm.
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he need for autumn calving herds to supply fresh milk for daily consumption has always existed and will always be needed for New Zealand consumers and export markets that require milk “out of season”. Previously called Town Milk, the industry was deregulated in the early 1990s, removing the NZ Milk Board’s control of the milk price setting, and shifted it to individual processors. As a result, winter milk contracts were offered with lower premiums but even today, for those autumn calving farms, the winter milk premium on offer provides a boost to farm revenue to compensate for additional costs. Massey University Masters graduate Jake Jarman studied autumn calving for his thesis and says “recent changes to the winter milk premium payment structure has increased farmer interest in changing to an autumn-calving system”. “Increasing local and international demand for fresh dairy products, like ultra-heat-treated milk and cream in China for example, has led to processors requiring greater quantities of fresh milk during the traditionally minimal winter supply period.” Climate change, the winter milk premium, as well as potentially other factors may be the reason a farmer decides to change spring calving to autumn. For example, matching feed supply to demand can be a challenge for spring calving farmers in some regions where hot dry summer conditions lead to pasture growth stalling and for some regions winter pasture growth becoming more reliable than summer pasture growth. In an autumn calving system, the herd is dry during the hot dry summer months
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Massey University Master graduate Jake Jarman studies autumn calving for his thesis and says there are several factors that influence farmer’s decisions to switch. Jake with Dairy Trust Taranaki operations manager, Debbie McCallum.
and the demand for feed is not as high. However, despite the benefits of calving cows in warm sunshine with less mud, less mastitis and on firmer ground, the quality of autumn pasture is often lower than spring pasture and supplementary feed may need to be used early lactation. “In many cases, autumn-calving systems may require supplementary feed during early lactation to fill feed deficits as a result of declining pasture growth rates,” Jarman says. “In contrast, spring-calving systems may require supplementary feed in late lactation to fill feed deficits. Jarman’s studies found the greater need for supplementary feed can increase the cost of production and the success of changing to autumn calving can be influenced by what existing
supplementary feeding infrastructure the farmer has. For example, feed pads can reduce wastage or in-shed feeding can reduce wastage. If capital has already been invested in this infrastructure it helps with the change. DairyNZ farm systems specialist Chris Glassey says one potential advantage of autumn calving for drier summer areas highlighted by the work at Dairy Trust Taranaki’s Kavanagh farm, is that it means that autumn herds will have better quality pasture to eat in late lactation compared with spring calving herds in dry summers and this leads to better daily milk production and more days in milk. Glassey says there are three common approaches to transitioning to autumn calving we are aware of farmers taking. These are:
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
1. Selling the spring-calving herd and buying an autumn-calving herd 2. Gradually transitioning cows to autumn-calving over a number of seasons. In essence the farm is operated like a split-calving farm for a number of seasons 3. Complete a whole herd transition across two seasons. For options 2 and 3, extended lactations occur. From a farm management perspective, achieving any of the three approaches above requires three main on-farm decisions to be made to initiate the change: 1. Decide to sell the current herd, and decide when to sell them and when to receive the new herd 2. For the replacement heifers decide either mate them earlier than normal or delay their mating 3. For the current milking herd decide either mate them earlier than normal or delay their mating Each farm is different and farmers are choosing to adopt different combinations of the six options above. There also needs to be careful financial
planning and forecasting undertaken as the transition cost to autumn calving can be significant. These costs can include lost income from reduced milk production and increased feed costs and the potential extra cost of purchasing autumn calving cows. There also needs to be a detailed examination of the farm’s suitability to produce winter milk. This includes looking at issues like the local climatic conditions and soil suitability for winter milking. “Changing calving season from spring to autumn represents a significant systems-level change to a farm, which impacts on its’ biophysical and economic performance,” Jarman says. “It also represents an investment that has potential short-term net costs that must be offset by potential long-term net gains. Farmers utilising an extended lactation to change calving season must understand how the transition period will impact on their farm business in both the short and long term, what factors, benefits, and challenges they need to be aware of, and how their unique farm attributes may, or may not, influence these.” n
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AUTUMN CALVING
Split pressure By Samantha Tennent
Switching from a spring calving farm to one that has a splitcalving system, was not a walk in the park for one Waikato farming couple but over time they have come to appreciate what it has to offer.
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hen first-time sharemilkers Glenn and Georgie van Heuven moved onto a splitcalving farm, they did not realise some of the challenges they would have to face calving and mating twice a year. While it was a shock to the system, they have settled into split-calving well and enjoy the perks, and after four seasons they feel they have a better handle on what is going on and they appreciate the challenges that come from having two calving periods. “We definitely underestimated how hard it was going to be when we first started,” Glenn says. “We were sharemilking for the first time on a new farm and went straight into a mating period, we didn’t have time to get our bearings. “But it’s been getting easier every
The farm is growing more grass in winter than in summer and split-calving is helping match feed demand with supply. They are using supplements as winter feed for production.
The van Heuvens have been autumn calving for the past four seasons but when they first moved to a split-calving farm, they had little idea of the challenges they would face. Glenn on the farm at Matamata.
season and we have had great support from the farm owners Sid and Dellas Anderton and we talked to the previous sharemilker a lot in the early days.” The Van Heuvens had been contract milking on Glenn’s family farm near Matamata. The System 3 farm was spring calving, but the new farm was a complete change being split-calving, operating as a System 5 with a feedpad. “As much as we like to keep it simple, there’s no hiding from the intensity of System 5 farming, the cows are on the feedpad every day of the year,” he says. The farm is flat with good soil and highly stocked at 4.2 cows a hectare. They feed maize, palm kernel and silage throughout the season and if the payout drops they will not consider dropping feed out. “We know we can’t stop feeding the cows; we see it pretty quick if we make the wrong decision,” Georgie says. “But we have focused on paying off debt and we know what our big costs
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are so we know we’ve got room if we need help.” They are starting to see a trend with more grass growth in winter than summer, so split calving is helping match feed demand with supply and using winter feed for production additional to dry cow maintenance. And of course, there are profit benefits, having a winter milk premium and strong cash flow throughout the season as their production curve is flatter. The basis of the 420-cow herd came from the previous sharemilkers autumn and early calving cows who already knew the system. They also had 130 cows they had collected while they were contract milking and they topped up numbers from a few clearing sales. Lifting the performance and value of the herd has been a big focus. “As sharemilkers we are trying to improve our herd rapidly and by having the second herd we are able to retain good empty cows that would’ve
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February 2022
otherwise dropped out of the system,” Glenn says. “Split-calving has been allowing us to fast-track our genetic gain. “In spring we run two herds; one is made up of the bottom 20% of the spring cows as well as the autumn cows and we just run beef bulls with them, and the other herd is our best cows that we mate to AI.” They are using Friesian and crossbreed semen and Hereford and Angus for the natural mating bulls.
“As much as we like to keep it simple, there’s no hiding from the intensity of System 5 farming – the cows are on the feedpad every day of the year.” Glenn van Heuven They are taking advantage of the beef market, trying to reduce bobby calves and using Angus over heifers which typically have higher prices in autumn. They also AI their heifers to help increase their rate of genetic gain. They get about 30 replacements from the autumn herd each season and carry over the best of the empty spring cows to get a bit more production from them. “The meat schedule in the winter months is usually really good and the winter milk premium is a bonus, so we can take full advantage because the autumn herd is still going,” he says. They have worked with their vets around feeding and have been fortunate to have good people in their team. And this year they are investing in a farm
Waikato sharemilkers Glenn and Georgie van Hueven say moving to a split-calving system an eye-opening experience.
consultant to help fine-tune the system. But they cannot emphasise enough the importance of good communication with split-calving. “We need to be clear on the priorities and make sure everyone understands the values and what we’re trying to achieve,” Georgie says. “We are fortunate to have a good combination of experience and young and fresh interest within our team.” They meet regularly and keep the discussion open around what is working well, seeing if there are any niggles and making sure everyone feels involved in the business. “We admit we haven’t nailed the rosters yet, but we do keep across what the team wants and needs, but it does have to be a balance to make it work for everyone,” she says. “We want to make sure we keep our business attractive for future staff.”
They recognise the advice and support they leaned on when they first started out, connecting with other split-calving farmers and they find value in the DairyNZ autumn calving discussion group. “The first year was an eye-opener on how to feed cows, but we look back each season, re-evaluate and do it better the next time,” Glenn says. “We enjoy connecting with the other farmers in the discussion group too; all the farms are different and everyone does things differently, but that gives you good opportunities to learn and get ideas.” They find real value in connecting with experienced people and know they need to keep on their toes with all the challenges split-calving brings. “Time is short, you just finish mating then you’re putting things in place for the next calving, but we enjoy it and can’t wait to own our own farm one day,” he says. n
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ANIMAL HEALTH
Resisting antibiotics By Samantha Tennent
The steady decline in antibiotic sales provides a positive outlook for its future effectiveness and shows farmers are recognising the importance of moving away from treating the whole herd with antibiotics.
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ntibiotic sales have continued to decline following a trend that started in 2017. The declining trend is good news and represents an active effort across the production animal, horticultural and veterinary sectors to reduce antibiotic use. “The trend gives us confidence that people are understanding the importance of reducing the risk of developing antimicrobial resistance,” New Zealand Food Safety deputy-director general Vince Arbuckle says. “Antibiotics are an important tool and we want to ensure they are effective in future.” The 2019 Antibiotic Agricultural Compound Sales Analysis report was released at the end of last year. Declining sales were reported for most classes in the reporting period and generally any increases were minimal and well justified. “Its important antibiotics are only used when they are needed and that it’s the right type for the infection present as developing resistance is a real risk, especially if they are used inappropriately,” he says. “The risk of developing antimicrobial resistance is significant to human and animal health. When resistance develops against antibiotics, bacterial diseases that would otherwise be treatable can result in life-threatening illnesses.” Because of the incidence of antibiotic resistance worldwide and the fact that there is limited development of new antibiotics, it is extremely important to preserve the effectiveness of the antibiotics that are available. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) monitors yearly sales of antibioticbased agricultural compounds. Although it is not a direct measure of antibiotic use, monitoring and analysing sales trends over time gives some insight into when and how antibiotics are being used. “Evaluating sales trends indicates whether antibiotics are being used appropriately and whether the existing
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regulatory controls remain appropriate and any notable changes can be investigated,” he says. The 2019 decline is due to decreases in sales for 11 out of the 16 antibiotic classes and subgroups that are monitored. The remaining four groups either had minor increases or their sales are so consistently small they contribute a negligible amount to the overall sales. The largest percentage of total sales in 2019 was from the class polypeptides, which made up 38.1% of the total. Almost all of these sales were for the compound zinc bacitracin, which is primarily used in pigs and poultry for the management of a gut infection, enteritis. The second-largest volume of antibiotics sold in the reporting year was penicillin. Total sales were 29.3% of overall sales and around half were for the compound penicillin G procaine. Most of the penicillin G procaine sold in 2019 was in multi-species injectable formulations used in dogs, cats, horses, ruminants and pigs, primarily for the treatment of respiratory, gastrointestinal and local infections. Intramammary product sales decreased 3.5% in 2019, which is made up of dry cow therapy (DCT) and lactating cow therapy (LCT) treatments. Although the 2% decline in the total dairy cattle population in the same year may have contributed it is still promising to see the reduction in sales. The numbers suggest 151,000 fewer cows were treated with DCT at the end of lactation. This reflects the efforts from the sector to move away from blanket therapy of treating all cows regardless of whether there is mastitis present. “Farmers are recognising the importance of moving away from treating the whole herd with antibiotics to manage mastitis to selectively using antibiotics with alternatives like teat sealants,” he says. “It’s good news for everyone as it reduces the overall use of antibiotics
New Zealand Food Safety deputydirector general Vince Arbuckle says the declining use of antibiotics in animals is important in the goal to reduce antimicrobial resistance. and will lead to better herd health management.” Monitoring sales trends started in 2004 and has become part of NZ’s Antimicrobial Resistance Action Plan. The plan was jointly developed by the Ministry of Health, MPI and representatives from across the human health, animal health and agriculture sectors in 2017. It delivers on the World Health Organisation requirement for all countries to have an action plan to address the challenges that antimicrobial resistance presents to human health, animal health, welfare and production. The Action Plan has also led to the development of a number of industry initiatives to reduce antibiotic use in the dairy cattle, pig and poultry sectors. As these initiatives gain momentum, they are being reflected in the overall decline of antibiotic sales for use in production animals and can be expected to continue to influence sales declines in future. “It’s promising to see the decline and a clear reflection of the efforts of the New Zealand agricultural sector, which will continue to benefit humans and animals into the future,” he said. n
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
ANIMAL HEALTH
O
Combating heat stress
ver the warmer months, your cows are at a higher risk of heat stress. Cows will generate heat in the process of producing milk, digesting feed, as well as absorbing heat while out in the sun. Heat stress in cows occurs when they are producing more heat than they are able to get rid of through sweating, respiration or air regulation (such as a breeze or wind, or by fans indoors). An overabundance of heat in cows can lead to higher levels of stress, which can affect milk production, fertility, increase the risk of other diseases such as lameness and impaired immune function. Watch for changes in behaviour, such as seeking shade, a decrease in feed consumption, crowding together for increased shade, panting, drooling and standing in water or next to troughs, as signs that your cows may be experiencing heat stress.
“When a cow is suffering from heat stress, one of the major issues is they will generally have a reduced feed intake.” When a cow is suffering from heat stress, one of the major issues is they will generally have a reduced feed intake. With reduced feed intake and an increase in drooling, availability of saliva is reduced, which can disrupt the pH of the rumen and lead to acidosis. The act of digestion in cows creates bodily heat, which peaks a few hours after food has been consumed. Much scientific work has been done around the study of heat stress and how to mitigate the issues it creates. Feed additives shown to work well against
heat stress are those that promote good rumen pH stability and include additives such as rumen buffers and live yeast. Other additives that underpin healthy rumen function and immunity, that have also shown to be essential, are trace minerals such as cobalt, selenium, zinc and chromium, and seaweed extract has also been well-studied to show excellent results. By providing your herd with an easily digestible, nutrient-packed animal tonic that can be blended easily into their feed or added into their water, you ensure that they have the correct balance in place to mitigate the effects of this summer heat stress. n
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Chris Balemi is the managing director of Agvance Nutrition Limited
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ANIMAL HEALTH
Getting the basics right will help with the herd’s in-calf rates leading to better cow performance all round.
By Samantha Tennent
Getting the basics right
A
fter every game the All Blacks play, the coaches and management team analyse their performance. They explore what led to the end result and where the opportunities are to improve next time. They are always striving to achieve better performance, just as we are on-farm. Sometimes scanning feels like Groundhog Day, holding our breath waiting to hear whether she is in-calf or not, and feeling more and more deflated with each ‘empty’ result. Once you have your results, it is the perfect time to do some analysis to uncover what went well and where the opportunities are, to avoid the Groundhog Day feeling next season. But where do we start? There are many elements to dairy herd reproduction, and although we all want a shiny silver bullet, it mostly comes down to getting the basics right. But we don’t want to try to change too much at once, so we need to identify the low hanging
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fruit where we will get the biggest bang for our buck. There are a lot of tools we can use to help us understand what is happening within our herd and the more data we have available, the clearer the picture will become. Assess current performance and compare it to last year. We can start in the WelFarm portal, checking your reproductive metrics on the dashboard. This will show you where you sit in comparison to other farmers in the region and across the country. There is also some comparative reporting that puts seasons side-byside while comparing your numbers to the benchmarks. Benchmarking helps understand how our performance compares to others and we can monitor whether we are progressing in the right direction. Next, grab your DairyNZ InCalf Fertility Focus report from your herd management programme. If you have
entered early-aged pregnancy testing results you will get a detailed report, which gives the best information. But an intermediate report that is generated from non-aged pregnancy testing can still provide good insight. Remember, reports are only as good as the data behind them, so start by checking the season and cow numbers in the top right. Once you are happy you are looking at the right season and understand the type of report you are looking at, it is time to get stuck in. Where did your six-week in-calf rate land? What is your not-in-calf rate like? This is relative to the length of mating, as is the performance after six weeks metric. Yes, your not-in-calf rate percentage is different to the empty rate you were given after scanning, because they are two different measures. Your empty rate is the cows that were confirmed empty at scanning, so a portion of the cows that were scanned – where the not-in-calf rate
DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
ANIMAL HEALTH considers all eligible cows and represents every cow not confirmed as in-calf. Eligible cows calved in the relevant season and were still in the herd at the start of mating, if they have no fate recorded against them (culled, sold, incalf or empty), they are considered not-incalf. On average, 5% of eligible cows have no final outcome recorded against them every season. That’s a lot of unknowns becoming ghost cows on records. And an inefficiency in the system. Now, flip over your report and there is a breakdown explaining what cows in your herd are contributing to your not-in-calf rate. But what about cows you actively chose not to mate since they were going to be culled? How many were there? What does that work out to be as a percentage?
“On average, 5% of eligible cows have no final outcome recorded against them every season. That’s a lot of unknowns becoming ghost cows on records. And an inefficiency in the system.” There aren’t many in most herds so it does not affect it much, but if you are worried, the best bet for the future is either cull them off the records before mating starts or when they cycle record a natural mating against them. And remove cows promptly from your records throughout the season, then the Fertility Focus Report can make an estimation the likelihood they were in-calf or not when they were removed from the herd (these
Working with vets and rural professionals will help farmers understand their herd’s reproductive performance and look for opportunities to improve. are the ranges in brackets next to your sixweek in-calf rate and not-in-calf rate). The graph on detailed reports gives a great overview of how the herd got in-calf during mating. What is the gap from the target line? Are there any dips or sudden drops? What happened there, was someone else managing heat detection? Is it when the bulls went out? These are good questions to ask yourself while working through the report. And look at the submission rate, conception rate and heat detection efficiency together. These can give great clues around heat detection performance; nobody wants to be told they are not good at detecting cows but there is no such thing as perfect. What could you be doing to improve your chances of achieving a good result? Use the report with other tools you have available – MINDA and myHERD
offer great insight. And keep an open mind when having discussions with your support people. It’s also important to gather as much as you can before you start considering solutions. Once you know the current state of affairs and you know what you want to focus on, you can determine what is practical and how your support can help. Reproductive performance makes a sizable difference to a farm’s bottom line and good performance simplifies farm management. Getting an accurate picture of herd reproductive performance offers a starting point for improvements. Utilise your vets and rural professionals to help you understand your performance and look for opportunities to improve. n
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Samantha Tennent is the general manager of WelFarm Ltd.
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February 2022
PROTEIN MANAGEMENT
65
One last word …
I
t has been hot, really hot. Some parts of the country have been sweltering and while many people headed to the beach, farmers have been busy cutting hay and silage. Some decent rain in December has given farmers perfect conditions so they started the new year with plenty of grass. Some farmers are telling me they have and will take more than one cut which bodes well as they will have plenty of reserves up their sleeve. Contractors have been flat-tack with some operating 24 hours a day to keep up with the demand, but that demand has not been helped by the shortage of staff with many still locked out of the country. There have been a large number of tractors, balers and machinery and trucks on the road but it is starting to dry out in parts of the country so it’s beginning to slowing down. Many parts of the country are currently in restricted or prohibited fire seasons so care is needed. Phil Duncan from WeatherWatch has 66
been keeping a close eye on the weather and said “With Cyclone Cody missing NZ (and all the rain it would have brought with it) many North Islanders want to know when they will get rain. While WeatherWatch.co.nz maintains that NZ is halfway between the equator and Antarctica, so therefore we don’t have La Nina weather conditions nonstop, we do have better chances for a rogue rainmaker to drop south. “The long range data we use with IBM still suggests this is likely to happen in February and March, while the South Island’s pattern continues on as it is for now.” In this heat, keep an eye out for heat stress in cows. To help keep them comfortable farmers can: • Ensure ample water is available to cows both day and night by checking flow rates to water troughs are high. Lactating cows need 100 litres per cow per day • Provide ample shade. Many farmers also use sprinklers and fans in dairy sheds to cool cows • avoid giving high fibre feed to cows
during the daytime, as it increases heat load • Change milking times to avoid the heat of the day. Moving to once-a-day milking or three milkings over two days is worth considering as an option However, with the high milk price, farmers may not be too keen to reduce milkings but if the dry hot weather continues, it is an option. Thanks to the AgResearch team who snapped the pic of the Christmas tree bales on a farm in Mid Canterbury and sent it through. Awesome to see farmers spreading some festive cheer especially after another long hard year for many. Let’s hope 2022 is better for everyone.
Sonita Like us: farmersweekly.co.nz Follow us: @DairyFarmer15 Read us anywhere: farmersweekly.co.nz DAIRY FARMER
February 2022
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Dairy Diary February 2022 February 2 and 15 – DairyNZ Body Condition Score workshop, Balfour and East Chatton. Learn the principles of BCS, what points to look for on a cow and how important this tool is at different parts of the year. Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz February 3 – SMASH Field day – Spotlight on the System, Hukerenui. Our hosts, Evan and Sherleen Smeath, and their son and daughter-in-law, Clinton and Pam, milk about 280 Jersey cows on 95ha. At this event we will find out about their system and also discuss lameness and diverse pastures and crops. Info at www.smallerherds.co.nz February 16 – FMG Are you across your dairy business,Te Awamutu? Join us for a workshop focused on dairy progression. Our aim is to provide information and advice to better protect sharemilkers, farm owners and contract milkers. Along with our partners we will be discussing the importance of wellbeing, health and safety and employment law, including how to find good staff. Register at rsvp@fmg.co.nz Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz February 16 – Dairy Women’s Network Managing & Diffusing Conflict, live webinar. Join Sara Keenan online as she explains the science behind trigger points, emotional reactions and resistance –and how to navigate through in our interactions. Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events February 17 – Primary People FarmTune Workshop 1, Southland. Take waste out of your business, empower your
Benchmarking
people and grow your bottom line with FarmTune, the lean management programme for farmers. Info at www.primarypeople.co.nz/ February 17 – Dairy Women’s Network On Farm Technology, Taranaki. Technology is here to ensure that you save time but receive the right tools and knowledge at the right time to make informed decisions. Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events February 24 – Primary People Good to Great Primary Sector People & Team Leadership Programme: Workshop 1, Southland/South Otago. Improve your knowledge, grow your skills and become confident leading your people. Info at www.primarypeople.co.nz/ February 24 – Dairy Women’s Network Getting back on track with NAIT, live webinar. Join dairy farmer Louisa Sahin to understand NAIT’s timeframes for registration and movement recording, and why this is important for biosecurity. Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events SMASH has several fieldays during February, which are yet to be confirmed Info at www.smallerherds.co.nz DairyNZ Ag Emissions Pricing Feedback Roadshow, various dates and locations. We want to hear from you to make sure the Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership – He Waka Eke Noa is developing the best possible emissions pricing framework, before recommendations are taken to the Minister for Climate Change and Minister for Agriculture in April 2022. Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz
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