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Olam Food Ingredients Construction on track
from Dairy Farmer February 2023
by AgriHQ
Going nuts for OFI
By Gerald Piddock
Olam Food Ingredients is signing up suppliers for new factory, with plans to trial an almond farming byproduct in their feed mix.
Olam Food Ingredients’ construction of a new dairy factory is on track, with the facility’s roof now attached. Speaking at Fieldays, OFI New Zealand general manager of milk supply Paul Johnson said it is an exciting milestone with construction on the site at Tokoroa now entering its latter stages.
“We’re on track and scheduled to start July 1,” Johnson said.
“We’re building a team. There’s nine of us at the moment and we’re looking to be 50-60 by July 2023.”
OFI was taking farmers’ names at Fieldays to supply the company.
Johnson said OFI plans to offer farmers a minimum milk price guarantee as well as the opportunity to lock in premiums up front.
“If the milk price is $9/kg MS, for example, that’s great, but if the milk price drops below that floor, we’ll hold it at that floor.”
The offer of premiums will be based on meeting sustainability, animal health and milk quality targets.
“We’re trying to provide confidence, certainty and cashflow,” he said.
The feedback from farmers has been supportive. OFI’s Open Country Dairy investment means the company has been in the New Zealand market for 10 years and has a proven track record.
OFI’s broader business also gives it the opportunity to add value to the dairy product, he said.
“Farmers are pretty confident in our ability to deliver,” he said.
Many of the suppliers who had signed up were from farms who had gone through succession. OFI’s pricing and premiums system resonates with this new generation of farmers, who are often taking on debt and capital when taking over a farm, he said.
The company is also trialling almond hulls and shells as possible animal feed for dairy cattle.
OFI operates large-scale almond orchards in Australia. The trial will see the almond hulls and shells that are currently a byproduct of almond processing repurposed into a feed source for dairy cows.
“Almond hulls are a proven source of nutrition for dairy cows. As part of our research for the trial we met with
Australian dairy farmers successfully using almond hulls as a source of fibre in a pasture-based system. That gives us confidence the model will work well here,” Johnson said.
The feed will be supplemented with agolin ruminant (Agolin) which has the potential benefit of reducing methane emissions and increasing the feed conversion rate, which in turn will support milk yields.
Johnson said the trial will explore ways to efficiently and effectively package and transport the feed and assess if the feed can be manufactured and used in New Zealand at scale.
“Another part of our assessments will be how to blend this feed source in an optimum way with existing feed used in New Zealand dairy farming blends or supplied in bulk on farm.
“We know animal feed is a significant input cost on a dairy farm and believe this trial will make a real difference to our farmers’ bottom lines,” he said.
Duncan Smith, OFI country head for Australia and New Zealand, said the trial
will also bring benefits to OFI’s Australian operation.
“Finding a consistent way to repurpose almond hulls and shells, which are a nutritious byproduct of our almond processing, has been a priority for us as it will contribute to a more efficient and sustainable way of operating on our orchards.”
Access to the trial is open only to OFI dairy farm partners in New Zealand. n
OFI New Zealand general manager of milk supply Paul Johnson says construction of the company’s Tokoroa factory is on schedule for completion in the middle of this year.
