Dairy Farmer May 2023

MAY 2023 | $14.55

An Ayrshire affair

Taranaki stud farmer’s love for the red and white cattle

PLUS:

Here to stay

➜ Deer milking industry on the rise

➜ DairyNZ CEO optimistic

➜ Better bulls mean better calves

Moving farm?

We’ll sort the power before the cows come home.

Our Agribusiness team are here to help this Moving Day with $300 credit* for each dairy farm and residential site. Give our Agribusiness team a bell on 0800 496 777.

No resting on low-carbon laurels

By Anne Douglas

Fonterra’s group director Farm Source says New Zealand must do more to reduce emissions and the co-op has plenty on the go to help the dairy industry remain world leading.

One of the great things about my job is the opportunity to meet face to face with our farmer shareholders. One of the topics they are asking me about more and more is what we are doing to reduce our emissions, and how we can help them to do the same. This is a core question for our co-op as we’ve made a strategic choice to lead in sustainability.

Today, New Zealand dairy leads the way in low-carbon agriculture, but we can’t sit still. We need to work together to maintain and strengthen this position as other countries and dairy companies are closing the gap. That’s why last year we signalled to farmers our intent to announce an on-farm emissions reduction target.

On-farm emissions account for 90% of our co-op’s total emissions and there are four key drivers for setting a reduction target:

Our strategic choice to be a leader in sustainability

Retain and support our high-value customers and ensure continued access to markets

• Retain access to funding and capital, for both the co-op and farmers’ businesses.

Increased legal and external reporting obligations – disclosing and responding to climate-related risks, and External Reporting Board standards, will soon be a requirement for all major dairy processors in New Zealand.

Since the start of the year we have been talking to farmers about why we need a target, what a target may look like and how by working together we can achieve it.

These conversations are in addition to tools we already provide at no cost to farmers to boost their environmental performance and reduce their emissions. These include:

• Farm Environment Plans – our Sustainable Dairy Advisers work with farmers to help to deliver tailored

plans that are sector leading and include time-bound actions to improve environmental outcomes.

• Farm Insights Reports – received by every co-op farmer, giving them information on their milk, animal and environmental performance. The reports include farm-specific greenhouse gas data, the first step in building our farmers’ awareness of their emissions profile. Specific optimisation opportunities in animal wellbeing and fertiliser use are also suggested to support the improvement of on-farm efficiencies. We know that to maintain our relative carbon footprint advantage against the northern hemisphere farming system,

we must work with others to solve the methane challenge and are doubling our innovation efforts to look for solutions. These include:

• The Centre for Climate Action on Agricultural Emissions joint venture with the government and other industry bodies. Around $172 million will be invested over the next four years in total, to develop and commercialise practical tools and technologies for farmers.

• The 18 different projects and more than 30 trials we have underway working to solve the biogenic methane challenge. One of the most exciting is the work to test if using asparagopsis seaweed as a supplement feed for dairy cows could reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Partnering with Nestlé to develop a commercially viable net-zero carbon emissions dairy farm, as well as working with them on a greenhouse gas farmer support pilot programme. But the onus isn’t just on farmers – we also have targets to reduce the emissions from our site and transport operations as part of our ambition to be net zero by 2050. One of the most important initiatives to achieve these targets is to stop using coal in our manufacturing operations, and we have a target to do this by 2037.

Most of this work to get out of coal will be done by 2030 and by the end of this year we expect only six out of 29 manufacturing sites will still be using coal. In terms of transport, many of our tankers run on biodiesel and our innovative electric tanker Milk-E completed its first milk run in November last year.

The next step on our farmer engagement journey is to delve deeper with our farmers on the on-farm actions that can be taken today to reduce emissions. This will be supported by a guidance booklet that our farmers can choose to use alongside conversations with our field teams and other experts in the industry.

“New Zealand dairy leads the way in lowcarbon agriculture, but other countries and dairy companies are closing the gap.”

Group director Farm Source Anne Douglas says while New Zealand dairy farming has lower emissions than its international counterparts, Kiwis must do

more to ensure we stay at the top.

and Delwyn Honeyfield are fourth-generation farmers on their Taranaki farm, which is home to their Te Matai pedigree Ayrshire stud.

Pedigreed production

On Te Matai farm, a better-fed, better-bred pedigreed Ayrshire herd is repaying the compliment with better milk production.

Stuart

Photos: Ross Nolly

By Ross Nolly

Having a farm remain in the same family for 100 years is something few farming operations manage as more and more farms are sold and corporations take over. However, it’s a milestone that a Taranaki farming family will reach this year when they attain Century Farm status.

Stuart and Delwyn Honeyfield are the fourth generation to work their Motunui (north Taranaki) dairy farm, which is home to their Te Matai pedigree Ayrshire stud. Stuart’s grandfather settled on the farm in 1923 and his great-grandson Scott is the latest family member to work it.

“I turn up and do as I’m told,” Stuart jokes.

“I’ll speak out if I don’t agree with something, but it’s up to him to make the final call on most decisions.”

Stuart’s parents Barry and Elma left the farm around 18 months ago. Barry was born in a house on the farm and lived there for most of his life.

“My father and Uncle Bob were born in 1932. They worked the farm together, and their hard work put us in a good position when we eventually took over the farm,” Stuart says.

The farm is situated in the heart of oil country and has two oil sites on the property, each taking up half to two thirds of a paddock.

“When the drilling was underway there was a campsite here and people were continually coming and going. Even though everything went relatively smoothly you didn’t realise the pressure until the project was over,” Stuart says.

FARM FACTS

• Farm owners: Stuart and Delwyn Honeyfield

• Farm manager: Scott Honeyfield

• Location: Motunui, Taranaki

• Farm size: 161 hectares, 60ha support block

• Cows: 355 cows including 320-330 pedigree Ayrshires

• Production: 2021-2022: 140,000kg MS

• Production target: 2022-2023: 150,000kg MS

The 161ha coastal dairy farm, with a 60ha runoff nearby, is owned by Stuart and Delwyn. Scott works as their contract milker with the help of farm assistant Charlotte Procter, milking 355 cows, made up of 320-330 pedigree Ayrshires as well as first and second cross Ayrshires and a few Friesians.

Scott now has the greatest input into the dairy farm decision making.

“When the last truck left the property it was like a weight had lifted from your shoulders. The majority of the people we worked with came from a rural background, which made things much easier.”

Apart from doing the usual childhood farm chores, Stuart began working on the farm when he was 17 years old. He’d considered attending university, but wanted to travel to the United States. Travelling was the more exciting option, and in 1986 he spent 10 months working on a Minnesota dairy farm.

He’d always thought of the US as

TRUST SHEDLINE IN

being technologically far ahead of New Zealand. But he quickly discovered that dairying in the US was a vastly different experience. At that time the US dairy industry had been in recession for a number of years and the farm he worked on hadn’t made a substantial income for some time.

“You spent 90-100 hours cutting and carrying feed to the housed cows, and

Continued page 10

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A Taranaki farm is about to join an elite club and celebrate a century of ownership by one family.

“The cows resemble Ayrshires in the old black and white farm photos, but you can tell that there’s a little bit of Jersey in them.”

Stuart Honeyfield

milking the 100 cows took three to four hours, twice daily. The shed had four bails per side. A cow would come in, you’d lock her in and milk each one from a small pit before letting it out to bring another forward to milk,” Stuart says.

“It was hurry up and wait. I found it boring after coming from a 16-a-side herringbone. I probably learnt something, but nothing that was applicable here. But I suppose all of your life experiences make you into what you are today.”

Delwyn was brought up on her parent’s Kaimata (north Taranaki) dairy farm. She initially worked as a word processor for a local law firm before marrying Stuart in 1989 and working on the farm.

The only time she didn’t work on the farm was when their children were young and they employed a farm assistant and International Agricultural Exchange Association (IAEA) trainees.

“One of the IAEA trainees was thrown in the deep end when Scott arrived six weeks premature. Admirably, she rolled up her sleeves and got stuck in, even though she’d probably never laid hands on a cow before,” Stuart says.

“For a number of years we worked the farm on our own, but Dad and Uncle Bob were always around to help out, and the kids helped out when they were old enough.”

When Stuart returned from the US he

took on a role similar to a contract milker and progressed from there.

In 1984 he bought a few pedigree Ayrshire cows and registered some calves. The farm had traditionally run a Jersey to Ayrshire herd and when Stuart took over he transitioned to pure Ayrshires and began appendix registering them. Many of their cows have been bred up from non-pedigree purebreds to pedigree status.

“The cows resemble Ayrshires in the old black and white farm photos, but you can tell that there’s a little bit of Jersey in them. In those days many farmers preferred the Ayrshire to produce a beef calf and they crossed back and forth to create a more robust animal,” Stuart says.

“Dad and Bob had been running pedigree Ayrshire bulls. When I started, I began keeping records and individually hand-mated the bulls to selected cows at the cowshed. I then started using AI on the herd.”

The stigma of a breed’s poor traits will stay with it for years in the same way that bad news travels further and faster than good news. But breeders have spent many years working on the breed’s temperament.

“My parents were very supportive but I had many debates with people telling me that going with Ayrshires was the wrong decision. I guess it was hard at the time. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a good Friesian or Jersey

This year, the farm will achieve century status having been bought in 1923 by Stuart’s grandfather. Three generations of the Honeyfield family at the entrance to the farm. From left, son Scott, Stuart, daughter Rebecca, Elma and Barry Honeyfield (Stuart’s parents), Delwyn, and son Troy.

The farm jobs never end, especially when inclement weather hits. Stuart clears trees felled by Cyclone Gabrielle.

“They’re very quiet, contented animals. There’s still a perception that Ayrshires are bad tempered, but people who milk in our shed comment on how quiet they are.”

Delwyn Honeyfield

cow, it just comes down to your personal preference.”

Stuart believes that, like most dairy

breeds, if you breed good cows they’ll produce for you.

The Ayrshire is a very versatile, easy-

SPECIALISTS IN CUSTOMISABLE FEED SOLUTIONS

care breed that can handle high and low rainfall regions, and the feed shortages that can occur in both regions. They are very good foragers and pasture to milk converters. He believes Ayrshires perform better during lean times and tend to hold their condition.

“We have cows producing over 500kg MS and a few years ago a heifer produced 500kg MS and still got in calf. So I feel we’re breeding the right way,” he says.

“I like their colouration and their temperament,” Delwyn says.

“They’re very quiet, contented animals. There’s still a perception that Ayrshires are bad tempered, but people who milk in our shed comment on how quiet they are.”

Stuart bought into the herd in the late 1980s and they milked 230 cows and steadily increased numbers as further land was acquired.

As the herd increased in size, the old 16-a-side herringbone shed struggled to keep up. By the time they were milking 320 cows it was taking three to

Continued page 12

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Stuart talking to farm assistant Charlotte Procter before she brings the herd in for milking. Charlotte won the Taranaki Dairy Trainee of the Year 2023 Emerging Talent Merit Award.

three-and-a-half hours to milk.

“We were spending most of our day milking and knew that we either had to reduce the herd size, or build a new cowshed. The herd couldn’t fit into the yard and we needed to milk two rows before we could shut the yard gate. So we made the decision to build a 44-bail rotary,” Stuart says.

“The first season was a little tough because we had to train the herd to the new shed. But we went from needing two or three of us to milk 320 cows, to one or one-and-half of us milking 380 cows in an hour.”

Traditionally the herd has produced 120,000kg milk solids on the System 2-3 farm. The herd averages 480-520kg in weight and last year averaged 417kg MS per cow for a total of 140,000kg MS.

This year the herd is on track to produce close to 150,000kg MS milking 20 fewer cows and rearing 180 calves on vat milk. Stuart believes this is due the herd being better fed. He says that by feeding fewer cows and feeding them better, you will at least achieve the same production, but usually more.

“I can only remember one year like this one. This summer has been warm and

we’ve been getting rain which gave us grass all the way through. When I first started here the trend was to have three dry years and one really good year,” he says.

“It then changed to three good years and one really dry year. Recently it’s changed again, where you know that a dry spell’s coming, but you don’t know when or how long it’ll last.”

grass grew right through and we didn’t feed any silage over summer. I can’t remember that ever happening,” Stuart says.

They own all the equipment required to make their 600 bales of wrapped silage and 350 bales of hay, negating the need to use a contractor.

“We usually plant one or two paddocks of turnips in preparation for the regular dry period. This year the forecast was for a dry summer, so we planted 5ha. We didn’t really need them, so held off feeding them for as long as possible. But they did get us through the February hot spell,” he says.

“During hot summer days the cows stand in the shade of the trees instead of eating. They’re given a good feed of turnips first thing in the morning and they can then wander off to the trees. We’ve trialled green feed maize but cutting maize requires more work than break-feeding turnips.”

Two years ago an in-shed feed system was installed; it increased production by 17%. They also dispense zinc and other minerals to the herd through it.

The cows are fed 3kg per day of an Agrifeeds blend of PKE, DDG through the in-shed feed system. During spring some biscuit cereal is used for added energy and during summer some tapioca is added to the mix.

Calving starts around July 10 and finishes around September 20. This year calving was brought forward to utilise the winter grass.

“The idea is to get them calved and we always have silage on hand to get them over any feed gap. Most of the herd has calved when the grass comes,” Stuart says.

About 80 replacement calves, 80-100 beef bull calves and 10-15 beef heifer calves are raised. The remaining beef heifer calves are sold to a beef rearer.

“The beef calves diversify the operation and help with cash flow. I like the fact that I can see them from the day they’re born until they’re sent to the processors two-and-a-half years later. It’s very satisfying seeing a line of well-grown animals at the end of all the work,” Stuart says.

No nitrogen is used on the farm. Because of the farm’s coastal situation it’s an “early farm” and spring grass begins growing 10 days before it does just across the road.

“I figure that if the grass is going to grow, then it will. If not, we have plenty of hay and silage on hand. This year the

“Raising beef calves mean that we don’t have all our eggs in one basket and that income certainly helps out when the payout is down. We sell some animals during winter to help with cash flow.”

As soon as a cow has calved it goes onto fresh grass. The calves are collected every afternoon.

“I rear the calves and the Ayrshire

The Te Matai pedigree Ayrshire stud at Motunui runs 355 milking cows, which include 320-330 pedigree Ayrshires. The remainder are first and second cross Ayrshires and a few Friesians. The herd is on track to produce 150,000kg of milksolids this season.

“This year the grass grew right through and we didn’t feed any silage over summer. I can’t remember that ever happening.”

Stuart Honeyfield

calves are very robust. I have my favourites and they have their pet names,” Delwyn says.

“We feed colostrum until it runs out

before using vat milk and milk powder. The milk powder is mostly used in the big calfateria for the beef calves.

“We recently bought a milk wagon,

which eliminates the chore of lugging heavy buckets of milk. It’s great, you just throw the milk powder in, flick the switch and it mixes it for you.”

The calves are fed hay and meal from day one.

The new shed enables the calves to move in and out of the shed onto the pasture. They can be shut in at night or during inclement weather. All of the calves can be housed in the two sheds.

“The new calf shed is the best thing we’ve ever built. It has better airflow and bigger pens so the calves can spread out. We haven’t had any sickness issues since we’ve been using the new shed,” Delwyn says.

“The calves are usually weaned when they’re around 10-12 weeks old, but I tend to go more by their look than their weight. When I have to fill their meal troughs up daily, I know they’re heading in the right direction.”

Mating begins between October 1 and 5, and heifer mating begins five days before that. Mating usually lasts until the middle of December but this year it was

Continued page 14

Son Scott is the farm manager and has the greatest input into the management of the farm, supported by his parents. Delwyn, Stuart and Scott Honeyfield with their herd.

extended to just before Christmas.

Spring’s inclement weather made mating this season tough, so the herd AI was extended for six weeks before running Hereford bulls for four weeks, and then tailing with short gestation Kiwi cross AI.

“Our in-calf rate is usually been around 88%, but this year it was down to 83-84%, which I think was mostly due to the poor spring. The first three weeks of mating were slow, but they came right after that,” Stuart says.

“This year there’ve been many tales of poor in-calf rates. I think we’re probably about average, and considering the spring conditions, I’m pretty comfortable where it is. We didn’t intervene with CIDRs, we just tried to feed them better. I think a great deal of cow fertility comes down to feeding.”

This year AI was used on 22 of the best heifers and purebred low-birthweight Hereford bulls were used over the remainder.

They have been concentrating on selecting bulls for their production BVs. The bulls must have sound conformation and a good temperament. Stuart primarily uses Semayr’s (Ayrshire New Zealand’s breeding arm) top bulls and Finnish genetics as an outcross.

Stuart is Ayrshire New Zealand’s board director and is on the national Semayr committee. Semayr focusses on providing bulls that aren’t readily

available to NZ Ayrshire farmers. Semayr is aligned with LIC and uses science to pick, prove and progeny test bulls.

“We’ve been utilising genomic testing for the last two years and it’s been an interesting process. For example, we tested three ET brothers that you couldn’t visually tell apart. We only chose one because the other two were so genetically different. So rather than proving all three, we only needed to prove one,” he says.

The NZ Ayrshire’s smaller genetic pool does limit choice, and it’s one reason Semayr also imports Scandinavian genetics. It’s an outcross from a very good Ayrshire population, where genomics and ET have been utilised for a number of years.

Ayrshire breed development has come a long way in recent years. This was dramatically illustrated to Stuart when he used two 20-year-old AI straws that he’d stored in the bank.

“We ended up with a heifer calf from one of my own bulls that’d been in the catalogue. I can remember looking at it and thinking that I couldn’t remember his offspring looking that poor.

“It really demonstrated how far Ayrshire genetics have come over the last 20 years. It just didn’t perform compared to modern genetics. We used to do 250300kg MS per cow and now we’re doing over 400kgs MS.”

He says that there is a future for the

Delwyn was brought up on her parents’ Kaimata (north Taranaki) dairy farm. She initially worked as a word processor for a local law firm before marrying Stuart in 1989 and working on the farm. Delwyn in the shed.

Farm assistant Charlotte Procter and Po head off to bring in the herd for afternoon milking.

“I like the fact that I can see the beef calves from the day they’re born until they’re sent to the processors two-anda-half years later. It’s very satisfying seeing a line of well-grown animals at the end of all the work.”

Stuart Honeyfield

Ayrshire in the NZ dairy herd and he would like to see more farmers using Ayrshire sires.

“Using Ayrshires as a three-way cross is an area where the breed would really shine. It would be an alternative to using Friesians and Jerseys to gain hybrid vigour and breed a hardy cow.”

They say dairy farming is a tie, and you’ve got to enjoy the life.

“You work hard, but once you get through that period and the weather’s right, I can go fishing.

“I’ve spent 18 years trying to catch a marlin and this year it happened. My Ayrshire NZ work also gets me off the farm,” Stuart says.

He would like to keep working on the farm as long as possible. His father was still going to the runoff to shift cattle when he was in his early eighties.

Delwyn also enjoys the lifestyle and feels that the farm was a great place to raise kids.

“They were brought up knowing that they had to help out when needed, which imparted a good work ethic. I love my garden and it’s good therapy. We’d both like to stay on the farm as long as

The cows are fed 3kg per day of an Agrifeeds blend of PKE, DDG through the inshed feed system along with zinc and other minerals. During spring some biscuit cereal is for added energy and during summer some tapioca is added to the mix.

we’re physically able to,” Delwyn says. “I have my garden here and we‘re close to the coast for Stuart’s fishing,

everything we want is here. We’d just dial back the milkings and help Scott out when needed.” n

Dairy’s top women named

By Sonita Chandar

Adiverse group of women from all over the New Zealand have been named as the four finalists for the Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year award.

The celebration of women who make outstanding contributions to the dairy industry is in its 11th year of recognising an outstanding woman who has contributed to the dairy sector with passion, drive, innovation and leadership.

The four finalists are Donna Cram, Kimberly Crewther, Rebecca Miller and Sheena Penwarden.

“This is one of the most diverse groups

we’ve ever had as finalists, each bringing incredible passion, knowledge, leadership and mana to the sector,” DWN trustee Donna Smit says.

“Donna Cram influences locally and nationally through a large range of positions. Kimberly is our first ever off-farm finalist and plays a key role for our sector nationally and internationally. Sheena is driven by Māori values and is passionate about educating her community on dairy and the environment, and Rebecca has a passion and vision for influencing through a heart-centred drive. They are

all inspirational in their commitment and passion for dairying.”

Each of the nominees is a DWN member and the five judges include representatives from DWN, Fonterra, Ballance Agri-Nutrients and a previous Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year recipient.

Judges will assess the finalists on a range of factors, including commitment, drive and passion for the dairy sector, and being a positive role model for women in dairying.

“Each finalist is living the DWN values and offers a huge amount to our sector, epitomising the ‘bigger, brighter, bolder’ mantra shared through the DWN Conference,” Smit says.

The 2023 finalists for the Dairy Women’s Network Regional Leader award have also been announced. They are Emily Williams, Rachel Usmar and Roseanne Megaw. This award, sponsored by FMG, showcases inspirational women who demonstrate excellence at grassroots level and leadership in their local community, and encompass DWN values.

DWN chief executive Jules Benton says, “It’s always so exciting and inspiring to see the calibre of woman nominated for this award. And this year is no exception and each of these incredible women truly live the DWN values.

“Our regional leaders, across New Zealand, are women who believe in helping their communities, connecting their rural networks, and in supporting individuals. They often juggle running a farm and families and are heavily involved in their communities – and then are our volunteer regional leaders as well, organising, attending and often inspiring events in their communities.

The 2023 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year will receive a scholarship of up to $20,000 to undertake a development programme, professional and business coaching, a learning experience.

The Regional Leader of the Year recipient will receive a registration to the Dare to Lead programme and associated costs.

Both recipients will be announced at a gala dinner on May 3 at the DWN Brighter, Braver, Bolder conference in Invercargill.

Is that a blip or a bellwether?

By Gerald Piddock

Each month the Milk Monitor delves into the dairy industry and gives us the lowdown on the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between.

The dairy market surprised everyone when it jumped 3.2% on April 18 after previously limping along to the end of the season with four consecutive downward auctions.

Prior to this result, WMP prices fell 5.2% at the April 4 auction, and at a weighted average of US$3053/MT, WMP prices are now at their lowest point since the eye of the pandemic in 2020, ASB said in its Rural Economic Note in early April.

It also pointed out that all major GDT products are now down 30-45% on an annual basis.

So is it a blip?

Westpac senior agri economist Nathan Penny says it was well above his expectations; he had anticipated a 1% fall in WMP prices.

He cautions that overall prices are still 6.1% down for the year.

The result re-affirms the bank’s $8.30/ kg MS forecast for this season – the same as Fonterra’s after it lowered its forecast midpoint range by 20 cents in late March in response to the auction declines.

ASB economist Nat Keall says while the result is pleasing, it has removed some but not all of the risk of that forecast falling below $8.30.

While Fonterra’s new midpoint will sit below the break-even milk price on some farms, the only – if very mild – consolation is that the fall has come at the end of the season and not at peak milk.

So what does the new season hold? With a $3 difference between the highest and lowest forecast by the banks, the figure Fonterra will arrive at in May is anyone’s guess.

At the high end, Penny has maintained a $10/kg MS forecast, saying the latest result bodes well, despite it being early days.

Penny says increasing Chinese demand and the relatively low New Zealand dollar will deliver this high payout.

“As the Chinese economy gains

momentum over the course of the year, following its reopening, we expect improved Chinese demand will lift global dairy prices.

“And very subdued global milk supply will improve additional support for prices.”

At the opposite end is ASB, which has stuck with its $7/kg MS forecast for some time now. Keall says the low forecast “raised eyebrows” when it was launched because futures pricing was as high as $8.85/kg MS at the time.

“Over the past couple of months, prices have moved much closer to our view as auction prices have underperformed. It’s a long time until the thick of the season and Fonterra’s opening guidance range will be very wide, but we expect a substantially lower midpoint than the last two seasons have opened with.”

Keall says improving Chinese demand is being offset by weaker dairy consumption elsewhere. And the Chinese economy will only provide partial relief for global commodity prices, he says, pointing to International Monetary Fund global growth forecasting where China was an exception because so much of the country was in covid-19 lockdown.

The IMF and the broader consensus view see Chinese growth rebounding from circa 3-5.2%. Keall says this is a modest number compared to a 9% lift in 2021 and the 7-14% annual expansion seen from 2008-2018.

“Barring a surprise elsewhere, a figure in that 5% ballpark would see the global economy growing at its second-most sluggish rate since the Global Financial Crisis,” he says.

For dairy, he expects demand to stay sluggish. China accumulated substantial whole milk powder stocks during 2022 amid strong local dairy production and covid-driven disruption to usual consumption patterns.

Growth among the world’s major dairy importers is also set to soften when

weighted by their share of global whole milk powder imports – down from about 3.7% in 2022 to closer to somewhere in the 3-3.5% range this year, he says.

ANZ agricultural economist Susan Kilsby sits in the middle at $8.50, having just trimmed both the current season prediction and 2023-24 by 25c because dairy commodities have not rebounded as she hoped.

Speaking to Farmers Weekly, Kilsby says she is cautious concerning next season’s milk price, saying the decline in dairy commodity prices of the past few months is unlikely to abate due to expanding world milk supplies.

The futures market and the forward sales on GDT point to a flattening line a little above an $8 milk price.

The NZD is expected to firm over the medium term but that influence will be muted by the foreign exchange hedging policies of the dairy companies.

“Global dairy markets are not quite as robust as we hoped, which will put downward pressure on prices,” Kilsby says.

“But as demand from China improves this will help to soak up the surplus dairy products currently available.” n

Westpac senior agri economist Nathan Penny says the April 18 GDT bodes well for the $10/kg MS forecast for the new season.

Moving into the mainstream

Milking deer is no longer a fad, as one Pāmu farm is proving with a growing and successful venture producing high-value products.

Pāmu’s Aratiatia Farm near Taupō is the second deer-milking farm the stateowned enterprise is involved in. Pāmu business manager Jason Halford and farm manager Robert Smith out on the farm. Photos: Stephen Barker

By Gerald Piddock

Milking deer to create highvalue dairy products is no longer just an experimental industry for Pāmu.

The state-owned farmer is creating the cornerstone of a new industry, having established a specialist deer-milking farm north of Taupō, where it turns the product into high-value dairy products for the export market.

Aratiatia Farm, which has 175 hinds, is in its third season of deer milking, with herd numbers and production steadily improving.

The farm is the second deer-milking farm Pāmu is involved with, having worked alongside the McIntyre family on their Benio Farm in Southland since 2016, milking red deer with some success.

Herd numbers have lifted from 100 to 130 hinds to milking 175 this season. The herd are all red deer, with no Wapiti genetics in them.

Red deer are chosen because they are more user-friendly for the staff and are slightly smaller than the Wapiti breed, farm manager Robert Smith says.

“Our staff are handling these things daily and we can’t have these big Wapiti hinds looking down at them as it’s intimidating.”

The farm’s production rate cannot be revealed because of the variability within the herd on a yearly basis and for commercial sensitivity reasons.

“All we can say is that production is increasing year on year. It is hard to give an indicative range of what they are producing,” Halford says.

Smith is relatively new to the job, having started in October last year, replacing former Aratiatia manager Mason Jones.

Aratiatia Farm is run by a staff of four and one casual employee.

Recruiting staff for deer milking was an obvious challenge given it is such a niche industry, and Smith says they are lucky to have such good staff.

FARM FACTS

• Farm owners: Pāmu, Aratiatia Farm

• Business manager: Jason Halford

• Location: Taupō, Waikato

• Farm size:

200ha effective

• Herd numbers:

170-175 milking hinds and nine sire stags

they applied.

“They panned out to be exactly who we were after.

“We wouldn’t be where we are today without them making things happen,” Smith says.

He also recruited Karina Linesey, who has a background in sheep milking and deer farming.

Pāmu business manager Jason Halford says the McIntyres offered a huge amount of support and advice in those first two years of operation.

“Peter and Sharon were pivotal in helping us get this off the ground –learning how to do it, learning how to milk them and when to be patient.”

“We had to think outside the square and take a punt as well.”

That punt saw them hire two Welsh men, Aled Phillips and Harry Lloyd. Both had rural backgrounds in their home country. They were both working at well-known restaurant Fergburger in Queenstown and on one-year working visas when the jobs were advertised and

“She was happy to join our team and she brings the dairy experience while the two Welsh boys bring the muscle and energy.”

Linesey’s experience and knowledge have been crucial, with Smith’s own background being in deer farming rather than dairy. He was previously employed

Continued page 20

Lessons are being learnt as deer-milking takes off, from the optimal size of the deer to the optimal temperament – you don’t want them too docile.

“Our staff are handling these things daily and we can’t have these big Wapiti hinds looking down at them as it’s intimidating.”

Robert Smith

Aratiatia Farm milks 170-175 red deer hinds and is in its third season with herd numbers and production steadily improving.

at Pāmu’s Rangitikei Station.

“Deer are my passion. I love deer and that’s what drew me to this. I brought the deer experience and I then had to outsource for the deer-milking experience.”

For Smith, the biggest learning curve was understanding how farming the deer impacted the herd’s milk quality and understanding somatic cell counts, bacteria, and dairy hygiene.

He lent heavily on Linesey and previous manager Jones for advice and to upskill himself.

The farm is now in its third season of milking deer. Prior to this land use change it operated as a support block for Pāmu’s organic dairy farms in the district.

The majority of the farm is hills with around 10% as flats. Adjacent to the farm is 600ha of Radiata pines, which are run as a separate standalone forestry block. Halford says the conversion was constructed during the covid-19 lockdown. Given the movement restrictions and issues so many businesses had with sourcing materials, getting it finished over that period was a huge

achievement. The deer are milked once a day, in the morning, through a seven-aside, 14-bail herringbone shed, custombuilt for milking deer.

The parlour was installed in the farm’s existing 25- to 30-year-old converted deer shed, formerly used for finishing deer.

The hinds come out of the paddock in the morning around 7am and drift into the shed for milking.

“They’re actually a dream and easier in my experience to yard than sheep or cattle,” Smith says.

From the yards, the deer are brought

We were introduced to Animate at the beginning of the season and what a game changer it has been for us. We had a total of six down cows for the entire calving, something we can only put down to Animate.

It was easy to use, the cows loved it, was a massive time saver and there is nothing better than seeing your cows happy and healthy.

Sarah Woodley, 420 cows, Clandeboye, South Canterbury.

I honestly couldn’t rate this product high enough, both dad and I would recommend it to anyone!

in for milking seven at a time. Deer nuts are used as an enticer to get the hinds into the bail and once they enter, a gate is used to keep them there.

“It’s far less stressful than I thought it was going to be,” Smith says.

The milking is completed by late morning-midday and the deer return to the paddock.

As for its taste, Halford describes the milk as “like eating an ice cream”.

“It’s that good. I milked cows for 25 years and would not drink from a vat but I would drink this stuff.”

Because the milk is not collected as frequently as in a bovine or ovine operation, it is stored in a 20-foot freezing container to maintain its quality. Once collected it is then processed at the Waikato Innovation Park’s spray dryer in Ruakura, Hamilton.

The hinds are also RFID tagged and are monitored for production via a Gallagher wand every 10 days.

One of the biggest challenges has been to lift the performance of the milking herd and make sure that suitable deer are being milked.

The hinds are 100% naturally mated with the nine stags kept on farm. These stags are let out in early March in three mating groups and mating occurs over six weeks.

The stags often accompany the hinds to the shed every morning for milking so temperament is a significant trait that the stags are chosen for.

Red deer bred specifically for their milking abilities do not exist and as

a result, the farm’s milking herd are standard commercial red deer originally bred for venison.

Over the past three seasons Smith has been selecting the herd primarily on temperament, but he found by trial and error that it’s a fine balancing act.

Initially, he assumed the more docile animals would be better milkers but discovered these animals started acting more like pets than farmed animals and were too domesticated.

The deer need to be quiet and easy to handle but not too quiet, he says.

“If they’re too quiet, they’re no good to us but on the other end of the scale, they’re no good either.

“They have to have a bit of movement about them – not from a nasty point of view but flowing – they have to be able to flow.”

This is especially critical when shifting the stock, when, if they are too friendly, the herd can jam up and refuse to move.

“They created inefficiencies. One hind would stop, and the rest would follow it.”

Hinds exhibiting that behaviour do not make the grade for milking.

Smith says people assume that deer still behave like they did when the wider industry was being established. The flighty, feral behaviour seen in the past has been largely bred out of them.

“They’re a totally different animal to 50 years ago.”

Deer temperament is also an incredibly heritable trait. Deer size is also important as a deer cannot be too large and intimidate staff or too small so it cannot perform.

Other traits that are more specific around milk volumes and quality will be looked at further into the future.

Halford says the genetics programme around deer miking was basically started from scratch a few years back.

“It’s a really exciting growth industry because what Robert’s doing here is just about pioneering.

“Where are the genetics going to go in deer? It’s pretty exciting.”

Deer milk is higher in proteins and fats than basically the milk of all other species and is used in various health and beauty products as well as milk powder.

The Aratiatia Farm team consists of four team members and one casual worker.

From left, Aled Phillips, Harry Lloyd, Robert Smith, Karina Linesey and Jason Halford. Continued page 22

Smith adds: “Phase one was to see if we can milk deer on this property. It’s been proven and now our focus is on genetics and finding the right ones to milk.”

The hinds are sourced from different Pāmu farms – from the existing deer herd being farmed for venison at Aratiatia prior to the conversion, but also Rangitikei Station, and Pāmu’s farms in the South Island and the National Park.

In early March, Smith brought in a mob of yearling hinds, with 93% of this mob happy to be milked the day after arriving.

“These were run-of-the-mill venison hinds that had never been milked before.”

The hinds are pregnancy-tested in May with the goal of fawning to begin in early November.

The hinds are run in long grazing rotations over the winter on the farm’s hill paddocks and fawn in that country where there is plenty of shelter for them to give birth.

Once they are on those paddocks, they are largely left alone to prevent mismothering.

After fawning, the only way a hind recognises its fawn is via its scent from where it gave birth. Having the staff keep their distance helps facilitate this.

Feed quantity and quality is no issue because the hinds are set stocked through the spring flush at a low stocking rate on a 20-day round.

The low stocking rate policy is done for social reasons, Smith says.

“If you have the hinds at more than eight a hectare, there’s too much competition for fawning spots.”

The farm also uses Farmax and creates

a feed budget to help guide decision making.

Between Christmas and New Year, the hinds are mustered down to the flat country where they are transitioned onto lucerne as the feed quality starts to drop off.

Because the hinds cannot keep on top of the pasture growth, Smith runs empty, carry-over dairy cows after the hinds have been shifted. The cows are used to clean up the pasture in the same way a sheep and beef farmer would use beef cattle. This policy is carried out throughout winter and spring.

The fawns stay on their mother until January 10 or roughly nine weeks of

age, when they are weaned onto fresh pasture and deer nuts.

From there, they are transitioned onto lucerne over the summer and run in a separate paddock away from the hinds. This season that mob numbers 220 and includes both male and female replacements.

The male fawns are finished on the property at 10 months for venison and the replacement hind fawns are mated as yearlings.

Smith says this year’s yearling fawns are in great condition and have just been mated, having hit their pre-mating target weights.

The hinds start lactating when fawning starts and keep producing milk up until early May, but that milk is not collected until weaning in January.

The farm has 40ha of lucerne crop that is used as the farm’s main summer feed crop. It is generally cut and baled in spring, providing another supplementary feed source if required.

Tall fescue grown in some of the more moderately hilly paddocks is also cut and baled.

The hinds and fawns typically graze these paddocks over summer, but this season the pasture growth has been exceptional at the farm. The late summer dry that generally occurs throughout much of Waikato post-Christmas was kept away by periodic rain.

The hinds are pampered as much as possible through feeding with pastures kept high to reduce the risks of parasites. The animals are vaccinated and given

Team members Harry Lloyd and Aled Phillips discuss feeding out deer nuts with farm manager Robert Smith.

Pāmu business manager Jason Halford and farm manager Robert Smith check the quality of the deer nuts.

a copper boost twice a year.

The hinds are also condition scored by a veterinarian throughout the year. This process follows similar principles to condition scoring for dairy cows. Monitoring the hinds this way ensures they have plenty of fat on their backs at key times such as mating.

“The hinds are then more likely to get in fawn on the first cycle, and we end up with a better and healthier fawn,” Smith says.

This in turn also ensures the hind produces plenty of milk.

The farm is largely organic and uses no synthetic nitrogen or urea, instead using organic fertilisers.

Looking ahead, Halford says Pāmu’s plan is to keep growing the genetics base for deer milking and keep improving the animal’s performance around milking volumes and maintain conception rates.

Eventually, it is hoped to double the size of the milking herd, but that will require expanding the size of the shed.

Halford says deer milking has the potential to grow into something massive and sees parallels with its back story and how sheep milking started and

has taken off in the region.

Demand for the powders that are created from the milk far exceeds supply.

“It’s exciting how quickly this is going

to grow. The dairy industry took off and grew from that.

“Moving forward, the world’s our oyster.”

The deer are milked once a day, in the morning, through a seven-a-side, 14-bail herringbone shed. An aerial view of the milking shed that was installed in an existing shed that was formerly used for finishing deer.

A passion for dairy

By Gerald Piddock

The outgoing chief executive of DairyNZ says many challenges and opportunities lie ahead for the industry but work is ongoing.

Outgoing DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle says he is optimistic about what lies ahead for the dairy industry despite the wide array of challenges it faces.

To succeed, it will take an industrywide effort as well as cross-sector collaboration with wider farming sector groups, he says. But whatever challenges are thrown at the dairy industry, keeping farmers front and centre of DairyNZ’s response must be front of mind.

This has been the cornerstone of his approach in 15 years of leading the industry-good organisation.

The dairy sector has grown and evolved massively during that time and with it, challenges and changes to DairyNZ.

The organisation has had to grapple with the implications of industry expansion, payout volatility, Mycoplasma bovis, central and local government regulations around freshwater and emissions, animal welfare issues around non-replacement calves and ongoing issues from covid-19.

Mackle says that strong empathy for farmers and how these issues impacted them meant the decision to step down was a difficult one.

“I care deeply and passionately not only about the organisation but also about the people who we’re serving, which are the farmers. That’s what made it difficult and it wasn’t an easy thing to walk away from.”

His advice for the new chief executive is to remember that the job is all about

the people – farmers, the staff, board and wider industry partners – and being able to navigate those different interactions.

“But most critically, establishing that relationship with farmers, really understanding farmers and having that strong empathy for the issues that they deal with.”

In any given week Mackle says he could be meeting with local or central government, groups like Federated Farmers or being asked to speak to the media.

DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle, who is stepping down from the industrygood body after 15 years in the job, is optimistic about what lies ahead for the industry.

Whoever the audience, He says it is important for him to always be guided by the principles of why he was there, so that even if he is not with farmers, they are always at the front of his mind.

He says he regrets not being able to spend more time with farmers, but the nature of the role meant it often took

him away from those interactions.

Farming is very much in Mackle’s blood. Born in Kaikōura, he is the son of fourth-generation farmers Ron and Margaret Mackle.

“I do get their challenges and frustrations and I really value that. I like working with farmers and that means the good times and the times when you get a bit of a rev-up.

“Their expectations quite rightly are always high.”

While at school, he fully intended to go farming and planned to run the family farm with his brother. His intention was to do a diploma in agriculture, but his mother convinced him to study towards a degree instead.

In 1989, he went to Lincoln University, where he studied towards a Bachelor of Ag Science and graduated in 1992 with first-class honours.

Prior to DairyNZ, he worked for the Dairying Research Corporation and the Dairy Board, which later became part of Fonterra. In 2001, he was appointed as an executive assistant to then chief executive Craig Norgate, working on special projects. Next he ran a standalone business within Fonterra called Anchor Ethanol.

He then spent two years at Dexcel, with much of his time spent assisting with its merger with Dairy Insight –which became DairyNZ.

Mackle says the Dexcel chief executive role came about following a conversation

“I care deeply and passionately not only about the organisation but also about the people who we’re serving, which are the farmers ... it wasn’t an easy thing to walk away from.”

Tim Mackle

he had with then Dexcel chair (and now DairyNZ chair) Jim van der Poel in an elevator at Fonterra’s headquarters in Auckland.

“He said, ‘We have a really important job going, would you consider applying’?”

Mackle put his name forward and succeeded in getting the job in late 2005.

The two years of Dexcel included clearing up lingering issues with funder/ provider internal debates over how and where farmer money should be spent.

“The bottom line is that the merger in late 2007 to create DairyNZ was one of the best things that happened because it removed that friction.”

Stakeholder engagement was not a huge priority in DairyNZ’s early days – a legacy of the priorities of Dexcel and Dairy Insight.

He credits DairyNZ’s first chair John Luxton with changing that mindset.

“He had the foresight to say to me and the board that we are going to have to get more involved in this policy game.”

Mackle’s challenge was working out what that looked like, and complementing the existing advocacy

Moving farm?

work of groups such as Federated Farmers rather than duplicating it.

That came in the form of evidencebased policies, using the scientists and economists on staff.

“We built that and that’s something

that changed with the advent of DairyNZ.”

Luxton saw what was coming as more policy work at local and central

Farming is in his blood and as a fourth-generation farmer, Tim Mackle enjoys working with farmers and understands the challenges and frustrations they face. Mackle engaging with farmers at National Fieldays in 2021.

government level was formulated and the sector had to be at the table when those policies were formulated.

The dairy industry’s growth has been one of the sector’s biggest changes over the past 15 years and the industry had to work out how it could resolve the challenges this expansion has caused.

“We have always had the philosophy that we need to be there to help solve these problems but in the smartest way.”

That means identifying the problem, being clear at a community, catchment or national level what they are trying to solve and then working out a solution.

Discussions around sustainability were still in their early days when Mackle started as chief executive, although the industry had already established the Clean Streams Accord in 2002.

“Even before I arrived, there was research going on about nitrogen. We have been doing N research at DairyNZ for 20 years. But in saying that – how do you engage with communities and stakeholders – that was all new to us.”

It’s meant that to a large degree, Mackle has been the public face of the organisation as it navigated all of these issues both good and bad.

He saw that as a no-brainer.

“That’s part and parcel of the job and I’ve always been happy to do it because I believe in dairy and I believe that farmers want to make progress and are making progress.”

Fronting the industry in the public space was always underpinned by a great team behind the scenes supporting him and knowing that progress was being made at a farm level, he says.

“That’s a journey and it goes up and down but generally we’re making progress.”

Grappling with those challenges has helped keep him motivated, he says.

“I’ve stayed so long for a bunch of reasons, but it’s mainly about people, the great people at DairyNZ come to work every day to help farmers and indirectly help the country. They are motivated by that purpose and I am too.

“I haven’t had a day where I haven’t wanted to get out of bed for this job. I reflect on that and think I’m lucky.

“I feel incredibly privileged to have a great team of people. I might have a big title but I don’t have all of the big ideas.

We deal with so many different issues at DairyNZ that you couldn’t even attempt to have all of the ideas and it’s really critical that you have a great team of people across the board who can think really deeply and get on and deliver stuff.”

Mackle sees the industry’s role in mitigating climate change remaining high on the agenda because the industry cannot afford to sit back and rely on its carbon efficiency.

If there are ways to further reduce its emissions through technology and science, then it should.

That does not include calls from environmental activists for the industry to cut its herd size, which Mackle calls “soundbites with no science”.

“The answer to concerns about unsustainable dairying is sustainable dairy. We need to work harder on solving the problems we have got. We need to be able to have our cake and eat it and enjoy the benefits of this great sector but at the same time solve the challenges that we have got.”

Looking back, he is proud of what DairyNZ’s science programme has achieved and points to the work around researching forage plants that reduce nitrate leaching as an example of where it has been successful.

“Multi-organisational programmes that are well funded, well resourced, with the best people on them – and I’m really proud of that evolution.”

That research has shifted from freshwater to more of a focus around climate change in recent years.

The role of chief executive is varied, and includes engaging with farmers and stakeholders, making submissions on policy, giving speeches, attending conferences and more. Mackle talking with DairyNZ staff members at staff conference.

Getting involved in farming and charity events is par for the course for Tim Mackle. Mackle at the Luxton Memorial Match with MP Mark Mitchell, John Luxton’s son Richard Luxton, MP Greg O’Connor and dairy farmer Quinn Morgan.

Mackle says sourcing and retaining people within the industry will also remain a challenge, affecting farmers on multiple levels. The covid-19 border lockdowns really exposed this issue for the industry, he says.

“We still think we’re several thousand people down and it’s not just a numbers game, it’s a capability game.”

One of the sector’s biggest strengths is its collective co-operative spirit, which he believes stems from its early days of

hardship. He questions what role that will play in the future.

“I worry that if we lose that collective spirit and support for the idea of industry good, that it may undermine our future success.”

Mackle says he is also grateful for the help he has had on the way from key staff, his family, former chairs including Luxton and Michael Spaans and former Fonterra chair John Wilson – all of who are now deceased.

“Three of them have passed on, and Jim – he was there at the start and now he’s there at the end.

“I feel really privileged to be able to serve farmers in this way.”

He also acknowledges that the organisation has not always got everything right. But when mistakes were made, they are analysed to find ways to do it better and move ahead.

“Learn from – that’s been a real philosophy for me.”

As for where to next, Mackle will not say, though he says he is committed to staying in the primary sector.

“For me, the next chapter has got to have real strong purpose.”

Tim Mackle says he is proud of what DairyNZ’s science programme has achieved and points to the work around researching forage plants that reduce nitrate leaching as an example of where it has been successful. Mackle doing an interview at a plantain media event.

A farm that grows wellbeing

By Tony Benny

Lincoln University researchers are trialling a new way of dairy farming, one that makes the health of the cows, environment, staff and the milk the farm produces more important than production rates –and addresses many of the issues dairy farming faces.

The Integral Health Dairy Farm has been set up with 100 cows on 43ha of Lincoln’s Ashley Dene research property and at a recent open day, farmers and rural professionals were given a taste of the work going on there.

“Something has to change in our pastoral livestock production system,” research manager Dr Anita Fleming told visitors.

“We know the climate is changing and things are becoming more and more variable, so it’s really exciting to be part of this project, looking at some possible answers to how do we cope with some of these really big challenges that we’re facing.”

The trial farm has been designed by a multidisciplinary team using systems and design theories, the effectiveness of which will be rigorously tested by Lincoln scientists. Among the components are adjacent multiple swards and

multifunctional browsing sites.

Fleming says while New Zealand’s predominant perennial ryegrass and white clover pastures is good for milk production, it’s not necessarily the healthiest diet for cows. However, just adding other species to pastures mixes doesn’t always address that.

pastures and makes decisions around, ‘I’ll graze this now and have a little bit of this later’.”

Not only will the effectiveness of mixed pastures on cow health be studied, but also what changes the mixed diet has on the profile of the milk produced. Humans have used medicinal plants for thousands of years and the research will build on that knowledge.

“We know there are a lot of really cool compounds in plants that can do some really cool things but we haven’t really thought about how we integrate that into agriculture effectively in a way that not only benefits us a consumer of those products, but also can benefit the animals that eat those products.”

“When we make mixed pastures, it’s really hard for cows to selectively graze the things they want to, so we’ve developed the concept of adjacent pastures, putting together a mixture of key plants we know grow well together or function well from a seasonal perspective.

“By putting them next to each other, the animal is able to distinguish those

The “striped” pastures consist of ryegrass and white clover with alternative mixes alongside, including plants such as chicory, plantain, lucerne, vetch and a variety of annual clovers.

Multi-functional browsing sites have also been planted with shrubs and low-growing trees that provide not only shelter but are also a source of forage.

“That will actually provide some of those biochemicals we’re really interested in using to change our milk

The Integral Health Dairy Farm has been set up with 100 cows on 43ha of Lincoln’s Ashley Dene research property. Project leader Professor Pablo Gregorini on the farm.

“This farm is not aimed to produce milk, it is aimed to produce health, the health of the whole system.”

Professor Pablo Gregorini

Lincoln University researchers are looking at a new way of farming where the health of all aspects is considered first.

profile,” Fleming says.

“We’re also looking at plants that are a little bit more potent and will have a bigger effect in terms of the potential for anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatories and that sort of thing.”

Project leader Professor Pablo Gregorini says the World Health Organisation’s definition of health is one of the guiding principles of the research project.

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

“We have designed and are implementing a new dairy system at Lincoln University. This farm is not aimed to produce milk, it is aimed to produce health, the health of the whole system. We will look through many lenses at soil health, vegetation health, animal health, which includes us, and only when we overlap those lenses can we really see the multidimensionality of health.

“We cannot talk about one without thinking about others. We need to talk about the whole holistically.”

Gregorini says one of the aims of the project is to re-engage with

consumers who view modern farming as environmentally unsustainable and bad for animal welfare.

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“Obviously something is going on in society. Maybe we need to start thinking about how we can re-engage with people.

“We want to change how our farm looks, feels, smells and tastes.

“It aims to be visually different and utilise aesthetics as an antidote to notions of alienation generated by conventional dairying.”

In 2016 the Ashley Dean research farm was depopulated because of Mycoplasma bovis and since then a new research programme has been developed. Lincoln University ViceChancellor Grant Edwards says the integral health project is a good representation of what the university is trying to do.

“It brings together the key aspects of soils, forages, animals, production systems and farm management to address some of those big challenges that we have, health and wellbeing, not only of our livestock but through to our people, the health and wellbeing of our land and water as a consequence of that and really striving towards some of the key issues around climate change and climate change adaptation.”

THREE WAY CROSS

Lincoln University Vice-Chancellor Grant Edwards says the integral health project is a good representation of what the university is trying to do.

health

Sound recordings of livestock doing (or not doing) their usual activities could provide valuable insights into their health, welfare and environmental impact, research shows.

Scientists at Crown Research Institute AgResearch have been investigating the potential of compact, non-invasive acoustic sensors as a tool to monitor the animals’ behaviour and assist farmers. These sensors are composed of a digital voice recorder, placed in a custom-made housing and strapped to the cow’s rear leg or collar.

“What we’ve found is that use of these sensors is potentially a very accurate way of automatically differentiating between the activities of the cows, such as grazing, breathing, walking, lying down, vocalization (mooing) and `dung events’,” says AgResearch senior scientist Dr Paul Shorten.

“For example, the respiration rate of cows can be accurately determined by automatically identifying periods of inhalation and exhalation from the acoustic recordings. This provides a non-invasive automated alternative to methods that require sensors to be inserted in or near the nostril or require labour-intensive identification of respiration rate from visual observation or video recording of animals.

“The pattern of breathing is a key predictor of heat stress, and this acoustic technology provides an opportunity to identify animals that are heat stressed.”

Researchers drew on recordings obtained from sensors attached to more than 150 dairy cows at multiple locations and times of the year. Hundreds of representative “acoustic signals” were obtained, representing different classes of activity, along with background events that included the sound of birds, insects,

weather, traffic and passing aircraft to broaden the data set.

“When we analysed the recordings to check their accuracy against the actual behaviours we are trying to detect, we found a very high level of accuracy in the classification model,” Shorten says.

sensors as a tool to monitor the urination patterns of cattle, to provide insight into nitrogen loss through urine and assist farmers in managing it. That research found that while the total amount of nitrogen excreted in urine per day can be similar between individual cows, there is large natural variation between cows in urination frequency and volume per “urination event”. This provides an opportunity to identify cows that excrete lower amounts of nitrogen per urination event and therefore present a lower risk to the environment.

While various other sensor technologies have been trialled on cows, acoustic sensors offer unique advantages. For example, the acoustic technology provides the ability to detect the vocalisation of cows, which provides information on the welfare and state of the animal.

“What it means is this technology could eventually be used as a noninvasive method of monitoring cows to detect any abnormal behaviours or change in behaviours that could indicate a problem, such as the animal being unwell or heat stressed. This could potentially then alert farmers to do some further investigation, adjust management practices or seek further advice.”

Research by AgResearch scientists has previously looked at use of these acoustic

“There is more work to do to refine these acoustic models we are using, and in particular to investigate the role of the environment on animal behaviour,” Shorten says.

“But we’re making progress towards proving this is a viable technology that could be available to use on-farm and could contribute to tools available to farmers.” n

MORE:

The published research can be viewed at www.sciencedirect.com

Recordings of cows going about their daily life are proving to be a valuable source of data when it comes to monitoring their wellbeing.

Researchers have been studying behaviour in cows through the use of acoustic sensors strapped to the legs of the animals.

“The pattern of breathing is a key predictor of heat stress, and this acoustic technology provides an opportunity to identify animals that are heat stressed.”

Dr Paul Shorten

Milk that delivers density

By Gerald Piddock

A new study has found a range of benefits to women from drinking deer milk.

Anew clinical trial testing the nutritional benefits of deer milk has found it improves the muscle mass and physical performance of women over the age of 65.

The study recruited 120 women in that age cohort with a lower to normal Body Mass Index to consume either 200ml of deer milk sourced by Pāmu or a market leading commercial oral nutritional supplement daily for 10 weeks.

The trial was carried out by Pāmu New Zealand in conjunction with Massey University, and with support from the High-Value Nutrition Ko Ngā Kai Whai Painga National Science Challenge.

Massey University’s lead researchers, professors Marlena Kruger and Pamela von Hurst, say the study showed that deer milk improved nutritional status, muscle mass and physical performance in women aged 65 and above.

“Further observations were that Pāmu deer milk may support bone health in postmenopausal women, by reducing bone breakdown and bone loss over time,” they say.

Pāmu deer milk business lead Hamish Glendinning described deer milk as “concentrated natural nutrition”.

“Deer don’t produce a lot of milk, but

DISCOVER YOUR TRUE NATURE

what they do produce is really nutritious,” Glendinning says.

The improved muscle strength and bone health from those in the experiment who consumed the deer milk was because of the milk’s protein and its high levels of calcium.

“It’s those two properties – the protein and the calcium – that we believe drove the benefits,” he said.

Pāmu deer milk is sourced through a partnership with Peter and Sharon McIntyre, who run a deer farm near Gore, and through the company’s own farm Aratiatia, north of Taupō.

It has been developing the deer milk business for over five years, selling domestically as well as exporting to several markets across Asia-Pacific.

The study will assist Pāmu in the market as it tries to capitalise on two growing trends: aging populations and people increasingly viewing food as medicine.

“We identified these synergies of where deer milk can play a role in supporting the nutritional status and physical function of aging adults,” Glendinning says.

He sees enormous potential for the product to carve out a defendable position in the aged nutrition space with a natural and unique product

offering, at the same time offering increased returns to deer farming in New Zealand.

“With a rapidly ageing population and the health challenges which come with this, we are confident there will be increased demand for clinically proven, natural product solutions.

“This is an exciting innovation, a natural product with concentrated nutrition that we believe will make a difference to those who are wanting to restore mobility and strength as they get older.”

Glendinning said consumers are buying deer milk beyond healthy ageing. Mothers are buying it for their children to help with their physical growth and women buy it for skin and nail health, too.

“There’s benefits outside of this [aged care]. But how big are those markets, how competitive are they, and over the long term, how sustainable are they because we need to ensure that we’re building an industry off a really solid foundation of science.”

Deer milking expansion beyond Pāmu’s two existing farms will be demand led, meaning it grows slowly, over time, rather than converting more farms and then finding a place in the market for the product, he says.

At Pāmu, we’ve spent over 130 years getting to know New Zealand dairy farms. We’re natural innovators who apply fresh thinking from the paddock to the milk bottle and every step in between. Pāmu is looking to employ grounded, motivated dairy staff and develop their knowledge and capabilities. With a range of dairying opportunities available, our career pathways are defined so that you can learn, develop, and advance. We lookout for the health, safety, and well-being of all our staff with modern, well-maintained facilities and farm equipment. No matter which path you want to take with your dairy career, there’s a place for you at Pāmu.

Interested in being a part of the new future of dairy farming?

Visit: pamunewzealand.com/jobs

Second nature

By Samantha Tennent

Joel Peterson was born to make his living outdoors –and found a job with Pāmu that allows him to do so while giving back to the environment.

Twelve months in a dark stuffy building was enough for a Manawatū storeman who longed for the great outdoors and fresh air. Working in a warehouse was not spinning his wheels, so when he got wind of a farm assistant role on a local dairy farm through his wife Latoya, Joel Peterson thought it was worth a shot.

He jumped at the opportunity to take on a role that would see him working in the place he longed to be – outdoors. He is now the manager on Pāmu’s 510-cow Egmont Dairy Unit situated between Foxton and Shannon in the Moutoa area.

“It was the partner of a lady that Latoya worked with, he was dairy farming and needed a new team member,” Peterson says.

“It sparked my interest. I knew the lifestyle would be better for me and I wanted my kids to experience growing up in the country.”

The role was with Brad White, who was

a low-order sharemilker in Tokomaru, near Palmerston North. Peterson left the warehouse and started on the farm after mating at the end of 2012.

“I highly recommend working for a low-order sharemilker running a lowintensive system when you’re first starting out,” Peterson says.

“There are plenty of opportunities to learn because they have a lot of time.

“Brad was really good and his dad owned the farm so I got to spend heaps of time with both of them.”

After two and a half years on that System 2 farm, he moved to a 450-cow farm in Shannon. This time he was 2IC and it was a shock to his system as it was operating a System 5 with a 40-bail rotary.

“It was a major eye-opener going to

the total other end of the scale. I got chucked in the deep end and had no choice but to learn.”

During that season on the Shannon farm, Peterson entered the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards and got third place in the trainee category for the Manawatū region. That exposure led to some job offers and one in particular tickled his fancy.

“It was with Pāmu and I was already intrigued by their system as I had been on their farms for discussion groups.

“They farmed at such a high level and with such a broad scope.”

So he moved into a 3IC role on an 850-cow farm, and the following season moved up to a 2IC role on another Pāmu farm, Egmont, milking 650 cows. Eighteen months later he became the

Manawatū farmer Joel Peterson was working in a warehouse but longed for the great outdoors so took up dairy farming when the opportunity came along. He is the manager on Pāmu’s 510-cow Egmont Dairy Unit near Foxton.

manager of Egmont, which is now into its second year transitioning to organics.

It has been a journey with a lot of learning but Peterson says he has a solid team who had already been together for two years before the change so they were keen for the challenge to try something different.

“I enjoy hunting and the outdoors, so farming organically makes me feel like I’m doing my part to give back to the environment.

“And Pāmu is striving to reduce its environmental footprint, ensure good animal health and that we are farming sustainably, and organic farming aligns all of that for us.”

They had a six-month preparation period where they spent time sorting fencing and getting weeds under control. And in that time they started applying some organic principles to how they managed the herd, reducing antibiotic and synthetic fertiliser use.

Since switching to organic they have reduced their stocking rate from 3.2 to 2.7, dropping to 510 cows through the peak with the aim to become more selfsustainable and rely less on imported feed since organic feed can be difficult

to source and expensive to buy. They are growing maize and turnips, and harvesting silage off the farm.

Peterson says the biggest part of the transition is the mindset shift.

“We’ve got to be so much more proactive to be ahead of what’s next.

“Cropping especially can be tricky but we just need to plan well because we don’t have the same tools available.”

He has three full-time staff members and a casual who does about 60 hours a fortnight, covering weekends and rostered days off.

“Pāmu is incredibly supportive of everyone maintaining a good work-life balance and they offer a lot of training and development to support their people.

“I did level 3 and 4 through Primary ITO early in my farming career and now we get a lot of consistent training internally, it’s great.”

He scratches his head to think what he would do if he was not on a farm but knows it would have to be something in the sector.

Looking back on his journey, he can see it took a good two to three seasons before he started truly appreciating and understanding the dairy sector, and he encourages others to have patience while they build their experience and knowledge.

“I reckon you don’t find your real enjoyment till your second or third year because you’re starting to know what to expect.

“The first season is hard, particularly because it starts at calving and it’s such an intense period through calving and mating.

“The majority of learning comes after that period in your first couple of years and I encourage others to stick it out and it will start getting easier.” n

for Get Milking.

Pāmu’s Egmont Dairy Unit is currently transitioning to organic and as a result, cow numbers have been able to be reduced from 650 to 510 cows.

“I highly recommend working for a loworder sharemilker running a lowintensive system when you’re first starting out. There are plenty of opportunities to learn because they have a lot of time.”

Joel Peterson

Bay of Plenty farmer Thomas Lundman was working in tourism in the South Island when covid hit so he applied for Police College but while waiting, took on a dairy farming role. He is now a share manager on a 140 hectare farm milking 550 crossbreed cows.

By Samantha Tennent

The covid pandemic has seen many people change career direction – among them a Bay of Plenty farmer who had been heading for Police College when dairy called.

After the tourism sector was wiped out during the pandemic, a tour guide decided to go into the police force instead. But in the meantime, while waiting for a Police College intake, he took on a dairy assistant role as a “halfway job”.

But not even six months into the farm role, Thomas Lundman was on the phone with the police recruiter to withdraw his application. He said he would call back if he changed his mind but three years later he is still content in the dairy industry and has no plans of making that call.

Pre-covid he was deep in the tourism sector, as a glow-worm cave tour guide in

Te Anau, Southland. When the business had to make cuts during the pandemic, he and his wife Alice packed their bags to move closer to family in Whakatane. It was his mother-in-law, Cheryl Brogdan, who found him his farm assistant role.

“Alice’s parents are agricultural contractors so that was how they had the connections,” Lundman says.

“It was just supposed to be a fill-in but I landed the most incredible employers and love the lifestyle so I decided to stay.”

He is working for Chris and Rosie Mexted, who are sharemilking on a family farm in Matata. Lundman has progressed from his assistant role to a shared manager position where he and another

team member, Patrick McCullough, take turns managing the farm.

“I managed for the first three months over calving, then we switched and Patrick managed for three months over mating before we switched again and then he finished the final three months of the season.

“It worked really well. We are both capable but chose to manage the periods where we wanted to develop our knowledge further.”

He appreciates being supported by the Mexteds, who let them make their own decisions but keep the train on the tracks when they need to. Chris is returning to the farm full-time next season and Lundman thinks it will be a

good change of pace for him and Alice.

“We’ve worked our butts off for the past three years to get where we are. I’m actually looking forward to taking a step back again and catching my breath.”

They did consider leaving the Mexteds to progress their dairying career further but realised it suited them better to stay put for now as being happy is their measure of success.

The farm is 140ha and they are milking 550 crossbreed cows through a 48-bail rotary shed. The farm operates as a System 5 but the primary focus is pasture management. They use maize, palm kernel, soy hull and a bit of kiwifruit since it is easy to get hold of.

Lundman claims he is not a practical farmer since he has a lovehate relationship with machinery, but he enjoys spraying weeds, keeping paddocks tidy, managing pasture and making sure the cows are well fed.

He says if he could go back to the start of his farming journey to change anything it would be getting involved with Primary ITO sooner. He has nearly finished his Level 3, covering topics like milk harvesting, effluent management, calving and mating and he is about to work through grazing before he moves on to level 4.

“Primary ITO has been great, it’s allowed me to find and fill gaps in my knowledge and build a solid foundation.

“I appreciate the tutors answering my in-depth questions and I am lucky to have an engaged boss to help me too.”

He discovered Primary ITO through some feedback during his first attempt at the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA).

“I got into the awards after heading along to Pie Day Friday at the local Farm Source and was approached by someone recommending I come along to a night at the local brewery to learn about NZDIA.

“It sounded great to me, free beer, free pizza and a night out, and it did convince me to enter, which has been amazing.”

In that first year, he placed runner-up in the trainee category and last year he scooped up a couple of merit awards and went on to win the regional title.

“I wasn’t expecting any placings but when they called my name as the winner I sat there a bit stunned as I wasn’t sure they meant me,” he laughs.

He placed runner-up at the national final and is planning to enter the manager category next year.

“I feel like I’ve landed on my feet. Dairy farming is such a great lifestyle, it is hard work, you work long hours and it’s busy, but it’s flexible as well.

“As long as the cows are fed and milked and you’ve got a good team, it doesn’t really stop you from doing anything I reckon.”

He believes having a great boss has made all the difference and encourages others to get involved in the community.

“The support is amazing, people are always keen to help and there are a lot of field days and events to learn as much as you can.

“I’m always asking questions and listening to podcasts all day long.

“I loved tourism but I can’t imagine doing anything else now.” n

Thomas Lundman had to learn on the job and is currently completing his Primary Ito Level 3, covering topics like milk harvesting, effluent management, calving and mating and grazing. Thomas checks the milking machines.

“It was just supposed to be a fill-in but I landed the most incredible employers and love the lifestyle so I decided to stay.” Thomas Lundman

Enjoying the here and now

A sense of purpose and having a positive impact on the people around them has been the key to farming fulfilment for Dylan and Sheree Ditchfield.

Dylan Ditchfield can look back and see the very different stages he has gone through in his farming life. He and his wife Sheree milk 400 cows on about 64ha in Wendonside, Southland.

“When I was coming through the industry, I had a real focus on financial gain and growing the asset. I had an amazing upbringing as a child, but we weren’t always flush with money so it was very important for me to be financially independent,” Dylan says.

“That drove me to be successful in farming and then it became an addiction.

“Subconsciously I just wanted to grow and grow and what happened was that I left my family behind. I fell on my face and had a big wake-up call. Now I am very happy in my own skin doing what we do.”

Today, the Ditchfields work with three other team members to run the dairy farm. It’s a flat structure with no hierarchy and they all have their own responsibilities, Dylan says. This approach provides time for the couple, who were among Farmstrong’s earliest supporters,

to be involved in their wider farming community.

A number of years ago they set up a Farming to Freedom leadership course to help other couples build resilience and be the best they can be as people, leaders and farmers. The course brings couples together and provides a comfortable place for people to talk about things and support one another, Dylan says.

The course aligns well with Farmstrong’s Five Ways to Wellbeing – staying connected, keeping active, enjoying simple pleasures, learning, and giving back to friends and community. It was through one of the couples on the course that they were introduced to regenerative farming, which uses a variety of sustainable practices to improve the health and vitality of the farm soil.

“The hardest thing to change in moving to a regenerative system is the farmer’s mindset. Once you change that, things start to flow. It’s not easy. We are learning off each other as we go.”

One of the things he likes about the regenerative community is an openness

to listen to one another and learn. He and Sheree helped to establish a discussion group for Otago Southland, which began with about 10 people and has now grown to about 50-60 people.

“People love it. It’s about farmers getting together and sharing their knowledge and experience. They’re open and accepting of different points of view.”

Dylan says his mindset in regard to wellbeing has also changed slightly over the years.

“Probably back then it was more about getting time out, looking after yourself, and getting time away with family. All those key ideas Farmstrong promotes, which are still really important to manage workload and prevent burnout.

“But now our kids have left home and we have more flexibility. We have come to realise that wellbeing is about being happy where you’re at. We are not chasing growth like we were. It was an ingrained mindset.

“For us now, it’s about giving something back to our community and positively impacting other people. It doesn’t matter what we do – whether it’s farming or coaching or mentoring or

Dylan and Sheree Ditchfield milk 400 cows on 64ha at Wendonside, Southland. They run a system in where there is no hierarchy but everyone has their own responsibilities.

being with our family and friends, as long as we are doing that, we feel fulfilled. You don’t have to take a holiday to feel that way.

“We still need time out – we regularly look at our yearly planner and block out times in advance. But it’s that overall sense of purpose which makes the difference.”

For Dylan, wellbeing is about having a positive orientation towards everything, even during challenging times.

“With the environment and culture we have created, it’s not a chore anymore. It’s a pleasure to be out there amongst it. We feel better connected with our farm, our animals and our people and we could do it every day.

“This attitude doesn’t mean that you don’t have hard days when you think you are letting people down or your mind is spinning like crazy when things get a little chaotic.”

The thing to remember is you can change your mindset, says Dylan.

“What you are feeling does not necessarily reflect what the outcome is going to be.

“There’s a lot of anxiety out there and

it’s often because of people’s mindset. Take the drought, for example.

“Yes, there’s a drought and yes, it’s hard, but if you have a plan, you follow it through with constant monitoring and you get through that way. You can only do what you can control and what you have influence over.

“One of the things we teach in our course is being mindful. Look around and be grateful for what you have and what’s going to happen is going to happen. We do the best we can to mitigate threats. And if we can’t, that’s just the way it is and we’re okay with that.”

For Sheree, a key strategy when she is feeling under the pump is to focus on the present.

“Over the years we have got better at focusing on what we can do right here right now, in this moment, rather than losing ourselves in the future or the past. It’s the future or the past that builds anxiety and you ruminate on it.

“Being in the moment just releases you.”

The rural sector is currently under a lot of pressure, Dylan says. The pandemic, and weather events like droughts and floods, bring great uncertainties and on top of that he believes communities have become more polarised on issues.

“We are noticing that there are more extreme views on different issues, bringing divisions within communities and industries. People are hooked on social media and living in a kind of false world. It isn’t like that, but we perceive it to be.”

“We need to get people on different sides to see their commonalities and try and find a pathway forward together, rather than looking at people that disagree as a lost cause resulting in further division.

“And it’s not just the vocal people saying stuff, its people in the middle listening to it. That itself creates stress and anxiety because all of a sudden you are expected to take a side and you don’t want to take a side.”

As part of its You Matter, Let’s Natter initiative, Farmstrong has been encouraging farmers to stay connected during challenging times and has created resources to pass on the skills of being a good listener. Dylan acknowledges respectful listening is critical to people’s wellbeing and building a positive, rural community.

“Being a good listener is something which Farmstrong promotes and it’s something we need more of in the community, especially now.” n

MORE:

Farmstrong is a nationwide, rural wellbeing programme that helps farmers to deal with the ups and downs of the industry. To find out what works for you and lock it in, visit www.farmstrong.co.nz

For tips and ideas, visit farmstrong.co.nz

Sam Whitelock Farmstrong Ambassador

Dylan and Sheree Ditchfield set up the Farming to Freedom leadership course to help other couples build resilience and be the best they can be as people, leaders and farmers.

“We do the best we can to mitigate threats. And if we can’t, that’s just the way it is and we’re okay with that.”

Dylan Ditchfield

Improving breeding data

When it comes to agricultural genetics and how they can benefit New Zealand dairy farmers and the wider sector, few people know more than Dorian Garrick.

The world-leading agricultural geneticist has an impressive work history in the animal breeding and genetics field. His role with New Zealand Animal Evaluation Ltd (NZAEL) involves ensuring data quality and evaluation systems are best practice so the dairy sector can achieve globally competitive rates of genetic gain.

As Garrick puts it, he fills in the technical activities behind NZAEL’s Breeding Worth (BW) index, which is used to rank cows and bulls on their expected ability to breed replacements that are more efficient and more profitable in NZ systems. Garrick’s overseas experience reinforces the need for a NZ index.

He was one of the developers of BW in 1996, when LIC ran animal evaluation for the sector. Now he’s using his passion and experience in animal evaluation science to help NZAEL further improve the system, to collectively deliver faster genetic gains.

Genetic gains in BW result in cows that are more efficient feeders, meaning they need less feed for each kilogram of milk they produce.

and productive, and that the country’s rates of genetic gain are internationally competitive. It works closely with the dairy sector to inform farmers’ breeding decisions based on strong data, to increase genetic gain of their herds and farm profit.

“NZAEL’s role is to give dairy farmers confidence BW is accurate and reliable, so successive calf crops are always better than the last,” he says.

“A big part of that is ensuring accurate data, facilitating two-way communication with farmers and paying attention to the record-keeping that drives the science and technology behind producing better bulls and improving profitability for farmers.”

with DairyNZ

Together they bred and finished cattle, deer and sheep while they brought up their three children. Karen also reared calves.

The farm was leased out in 2002 when the family moved to the United States for what would be 15 years, but the experience has helped him with his genetics work.

“Understanding farmers’ needs and challenges is key to NZAEL’s work,” Garrick says.

Those gains help New Zealand dairy farmers be more successful and profitable. “Farmers have to breed their cows to get in calf and produce milk. If above-average sires are used, the daughters born each year will be better than those born the year before,” he says.

NZAEL is the industry-good organisation for genetic evaluation. A subsidiary of DairyNZ, it aims to ensure New Zealand’s dairy herd is resilient

His animal genetics career started in 1982 when, armed with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree with firstclass honours from Massey University, he stayed on to work in research. In 1985 he won a Fulbright scholarship and other fellowships to undertake a PhD at Cornell University in New York, where he spent three years.

He always wanted to be a farmer so, when he finished his PhD and came back to New Zealand, he and his wife Karen bought an 80ha Manawatū farm.

He enjoys addressing those challenges, and he’s good at it. He’s also passionate about NZAEL’s work to enhance New Zealand’s genetic gain.

“I am driven by thinking we can always do things better and finding solutions to problems that can be implemented,” he says. “We should be doing everything we can to make the sector better, and we should do it together. We don’t have to compete or work in isolation.” n

MORE:

For more information on NZAEL and its work, visit dairynz.co.nz/animalevaluation

“We should be doing everything we can to make the sector better, and we should do it together. We don’t have to compete or work in isolation.”

Dorian Garrick is a world-leading agricultural geneticist was one of the developers of Breeding Worth index in 1996. Now he is helping to further improve the system.

No blanket, no problem

By Samantha Tennent

A ban on blanket-use dry cow therapy in the Netherlands has seen a wide range of benefits as New Zealand works towards reducing antibiotic use.

Every year at dry-off more and more farmers are opting to use selective antibiotic dry cow therapy and there is a big push to reduce the numbers of cows receiving DCT for several reasons. The big ticket is antibiotic resistance.

Overuse of antibiotics can lead to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making it harder to treat infections in both animals and humans.

In 2012 the Netherlands government placed a ban on preventative use of antibiotics, which meant blanket DCT could no longer be used and farmers were given parameters around DCT use. The decision to switch to selective DCT was driven in part by consumer demand for less antibiotic use in food and to lessen the risk of antibiotic resistance.

Since the ban, the country’s antibiotic use in dairy has dropped 63%, which was the aim of the government regulation. The Dutch have also seen fewer health issues presenting to hospitals linked to antibiotic-resistant bacteria because, as the use of antibiotics decreased, there was less pressure on bacteria to develop resistance.

Over the three-year period after the ban, there was a 50% reduction in use of dry cow antibiotics and there was a 25% drop in clinical mastitis cases over the

same time frame. The bulk milk somatic cell count (SCC) was above 200,000 cell/ mL at the time of the ban and by 2018 it had reduced to about 170,000.

With restrictions on antibiotic usage, farmers were better able to target cows that need antibiotic treatment for udder infections, which led to better treatment outcomes and improved overall cow health.

These examples from the Netherlands offer an excellent case study of a country that has worked through the implementation pains of transitioning to a selective DCT protocol. Seeing the financial, cow health, milk quality and sustainability benefits as well as a reduction in antibiotic resistance has highlighted the value of reducing DCT use.

Here in New Zealand there is heightened expectation that antibiotic DCT will only be used to treat existing intramammary infections. This means that, before deciding if a cow is eligible for DCT, there will need to be evidence of an intramammary infection.

The usual “gold standard” for indicating the presence of bacteria is bacterial culture, carried out in a laboratory. In countries such as Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, evidence of bacterial infection based on culture or

DNA analysis is required before DCT is prescribed. The practicalities of bacterial culture under the seasonal system in NZ is difficult but there are other acceptable methods such as SCC and supporting farm information.

For herds with a low bulk milk SCC, a low incidence rate of clinical mastitis and low culling percentage for mastitisrelated problems, it is unlikely there are many cows truly infected at drying-off. For these herds, routine use of antibiotics in every quarter of every cow at the end of lactation is not justified and veterinarians will be reluctant to prescribe DCT for large numbers of the herd.

The most appropriate strategy must be planned with a veterinarian and the industry-agreed recommendation in DairyNZ’s SmartSAMM is to ensure that all cows are protected by some form of treatment during the dry period. In most herds it is appropriate to use a targeted or selective approach, so that cows considered “at risk” of being infected are treated with antibiotic DCT, and all cows receive an internal teat sealant.

The goal posed by the New Zealand Veterinary Association is that by 2030, NZ Inc will not need antibiotics for the maintenance of the health and welfare of animals. This doesn’t mean we cannot use antibiotics, it just means we need to use them wisely and when they are actually required.

Antimicrobial use for treatment and control of mastitis is the major indicator for antibiotic use in NZ dairy cows. The use of selective DCT based on infection status is encouraged to reduce the use of antibiotics and minimise the development of antibiotic resistance. Sort your plan with your veterinarian for drying-off as well as ways to minimise antibiotic use and mastitis levels throughout the season. Monitor your progress and benchmark against others using WelFarm with your vet team.

Who am I?

Samantha Tennent is the general manager of WelFarm Ltd

There is a growing expectation that antibiotic dry cow therapy will only be used selectively to treat existing intramammary infections.

Dream team genes

By Tony Benny

One of New Zealand’s oldest stations keeps a lookout for dispersal sales at prime studs, ready to buy in the country’s top genetics.

Leefield Station in Marlborough is already home to some of New Zealand’s top genetics, thanks to its policy of buying high quality cows at the dispersal sales of longestablished studs that are being wound down.

“I liken our Angus registered cows to a Super Rugby team,” stud manager Greg Crombie says.

“They buy players from other regions to field a superior team. We have bought some amazingly good cattle and that has leapfrogged us decades.”

Crombie has overseen the stud’s growth from 30 registered cows to 100, with the aim of selling 20 two-yearold bulls a year. With about 30 years’ experience breeding hill country cattle up and down the country, including the East Coast, Hawke’s Bay and Southland, he reasoned the best way to accelerate genetic improvement in the herd was buying the best available cows.

Some of the oldest Angus studs in the country, including Mātauri, Rangatira, Te Whanga and Oakview, have closed in the past few years – bringing to market the cows they had spent decades breeding.

“Good dispersals don’t come up every year, so we were just absolutely lucky. We’re not buying registered cows that

are other studs’ culls, we’re buying the best of the best and we’re fronting up at auction and paying what we have to on the day to buy those cattle.”

The 2300ha Leefield Station is located in Waihōpai valley and all of the property’s 650ha of flat land is devoted to winemaking. Alongside the

grapes, 1000ha of hill country is farmed, carrying 270 Angus cows, both stud and commercial animals, and 2100 Romney ewes. The remainder is mostly bush and includes some QEll covenants.

“When I started five years ago [owners] Brent and Rosemary Marris wanted a genuine integrated livestock and

Greg Crombie has been the stud manager for five years on Leefield Station, a 2300 hectare property that carries 270 Angus cows, 2100 Romney ewes and includes a 17ha bull finishing unit.

viticulture business so we’ve definitely done that,” Crombie says.

The 17ha bull finishing unit, placed in gullies that couldn’t be planted, is surrounded by grapes, and they also run Berkshire pigs, an old breed with marbled meat, which run inside the vineyards too. In winter lambs are finished among the vines.

But while it’s the perfect place to grow grapes and make wine, Marlborough is a challenging place to farm, Crombie says.

“I’ve managed businesses all over New Zealand and without doubt, this would be the most uncompromising place to farm livestock. You get 600mm of rain a year, you’ve got light soils that don’t hold on to moisture and you just get the blazing heat.”

But despite that, Crombie’s proud of the bulls they’re breeding.

“We don’t chase fads, we don’t want the highest or lowest of anything, we want good, structurally sound, quiet cattle that have above average EBVs and we know that our people who’re buying our bulls are gaining from that.”

And while the bulls might not be the fattest around on sale day, they have

something Crombie reckons is more important – they thrive on steep hill country like Leefield Station.

“They just bowl up and down hills like there’s no tomorrow, they’re just so surefooted. We have clients put them out and they say, ‘They just go straight up the hill and out with the cows, they don’t wait at the gate at the bottom,’ and it’s just because they’re used to it.”

The only time the cattle aren’t on the hill is when the stud cows come in for calving for a week.

“I bring them off the hill, calve them and tag them at birth and they’re put straight back on the hill. The paddocks the bulls are in are all hill paddocks too, there’s nothing that’s flat. To survive at Leefield Station, unless you walk up the hill, you’re out the gate, you end up getting sold, and it’s as simple as that.

“They’re genuine cattle even for the dairy guys; everything’s pre-tested here. If it’s not up to speed, it goes. We steer bull calves at weaning if we don’t like them, so it’s a pretty brutal set-up.”

Leefield Station is among NZ’s oldest stations, having been purchased in 1840 by Constantine Dillon, who served as

military and civil secretary to Governor George Grey and later as commissioner of Crown Lands and Land Claims in Nelson. In those days the station covered 20,200ha and it stayed in the Dillon family, albeit gradually getting smaller, until 1988 when it was purchased by Danish couple Pier and Linda Rold.

They sold it to Auckland businessman Greg Oliver in 2006 and in 2013 the Marrises of Marisco Wines bought the station.

“It’s been mainly sheep and cattle over the years and that didn’t change until the conversion of 650ha into grapes,” Crombie says.

“Anything that can possibly be suitable for grapes gets planted.

“I look after the livestock part of the business and that certainly keeps us busy and we also have a vineyard manager and there are two wineries on the property as well.”

MORE:

Leefield Station held its first on-farm bull sale last year and will do the same again this year on June 19, with another Angus breeder, Ben Maisey of Blacknight Stud.

Helping dairy farmers breed the world’s best cows in NZ

NEW ZEALAND ANIMAL EVALUATION LIMITED (NZAEL) IS YOUR LEVY FUNDED INDUSTRY GOOD ORGANISATION WORKING TO INCREASE GENETIC GAIN IN THE NATIONAL DAIRY HERD, IN ORDER TO HELP KIWI FARMERS BREED BETTER COWS AND MAKE BIGGER PROFITS.

Dairy is an international game, and our rates of genetic gain must be internationally competitive. As a subsidiary of DairyNZ, NZAEL leads the cooperation of farmers, AI companies, and bull breeders to optimise the national dairy herd through ongoing improvement in genetic evaluation.

Breeding Worth (BW) is the independent, industry good index available to all. It sets the standard of what a good cow looks like for our farmers. NZAEL keeps BW relevant and world-leading by bringing in new traits and improving data quality, and annually updating the economic value of each trait (e.g. fat, protein, fertility, etc.).

NZAEL evaluates all animals in the national herd using the BW index. This information provides confidence to farmers in the decisions they make to improve their herd through breeding, buying, and culling.

NZAEL is at the forefront of farm systems and genetic science, and works with local and international experts to create the most profitable herds possible. They follow a rigorous testing process that includes farmers and experts for all improvements to BW. Every improvement is tested with these groups before sign-off from the NZAEL board and we communicate everything we do with farmers and the sector.

Limousin ticks all the boxes

By Anne Boswell

A Northland dairy farmer who uses Limousin genetics over his jersey herd says the match of the two breeds is perfect.

Northland dairy farmer Ben

Berridge has been using Limousin genetics over his Kiwicross herd for the past eight years and, like a fine wine, they are only improving with time.

Milking 300 Kiwicross cattle on 95ha, Berridge’s business overlaps with his parents’ beef farm, requiring outstanding genetics from which to breed excellent beef calves.

“On my parents’ farm we rear bull calves and take them through to two years old, so we needed an animal that

bred an excellent beef calf,” Berridge says.

“After some mixed results using more standard breeds, we decided the exotics would be the best option.”

The Berridge family have known Natalie and David Roberts of Snake Gully Limousin for many years, so it made sense to buy genetics from a stud they had an established relationship with.

“The breed sort of fell into our lap a bit,” Berridge says.

“Because we knew Natalie and David, it was the logical choice. But that’s not to take

anything away from the excellence of the breed, and the hard work and passion Natalie and David have contributed to the Snake Gully stud.”

With Berridge’s Kiwicross herd heavy on Jersey breeding, he has found that the Limousin/Jersey combination is a match made in heaven.

“The Jersey/Limousin mix has had no trouble calving at all, which from a dairy farmer’s point of view is very important,” he says.

“The combination also produces a calf that grows ... not so much in the structural sense, but it stacks on muscle like you wouldn’t believe, leaving us with a big, compact, well-built animal. It works well for our system.”

He has also been impressed with the quality of the resulting meat.

“For me, a Jersey/Limousin cross animal is my favourite to eat,” he says.

“You get the Jersey fat and the Limousin muscle.”

He says that although the breed is given a hard time for its wild temperament, the work David and Natalie have done behind the scenes at Snake Gully, breeding a genetically quiet animal, has been incredible.

“In the paddock, they are all my mates,” he says.

“I can pat all the bulls; their temperament is brilliant. It shows in the calves, too.”

He says his established relationship with Natalie and David creates a good foundation for genetics that speak for themselves.

“They are amazing people who are so passionate about the industry and breeding excellent cattle,” he says. “I’ve worked for them as well, and they are brilliant people to work with. They want the best for their cattle, and their buyers.”

MORE:

Snake Gully is holding an onfarm sale at 1pm on June 13 of both polled and horned, apricot and black cattle.

Northland farmer Ben Berridge uses Limousin genetics from Snake Gully Limousin over his Jersey herd and says his cows produce well-growing calves that stack on muscle, giving him a compact but well-built animal.

Beef’s bestkept secret

By Anne Boswell

Limousin cattle once had a reputation for being a bit on the disorderly side, but that’s certainly no longer the case, say Mangatara Limousin owners Erik and Lyn van der Velden.

“The Limousin breed has a quiet temperament, which is quite the turnaround as they used to be known as the ‘wild breed’,” Erik says.

“But in 1995 an EBV for docility was developed and now the problem has been addressed. Through careful breeding, they are now some of the quietest cattle around.”

The Van der Veldens calve down the largest registered Limousin herd in New Zealand – about 250 Limousin cows – on their 500ha Dannevirke property. All young stock and up to 90 Limousin bulls are raised on farm. Six hundred ewes and 800 Cashmere goats complete their diverse farm business.

They started breeding Limousin cattle in 1985, which they did for five or six years.

After taking a break they got back into breeding the cattle in earnest in 2008 and have invested in diverse genetics through AI and ET programs.

“Our aim is to breed quality stock for farmers using Limousin genetics in the dairy industry,” Erik says.

“The breed offers low birth

weight calves for easy calving, and fast growth. We have plenty of clients looking for them and they pay top prices for quality Limousin cattle.”

Farmers who use Limousin genetics over their dairy herd choose to either finish them or sell them as weaners.

“Those choosing to finish them do so because the meat yield from a Limousin is outstanding, with carcases hanging at 60%+ of liveweight,” Erik says.

“Limousin is one of the most efficient breeds in converting grass to red meat, making it a lower carbon footprint per kilogram of red meat.”

In the United Kingdom, Limousin is the No 1 beef breed used in the dairy industry for AI, and Erik is hoping that more Kiwi farmers will see the benefits to be had from using this breed.

“The weight gain and yield from Limousin cattle is exceptional,” he says. “In the UK, farmers are paid on yield grading, which is the meat on the animal.

“Limousin is one of the highest in the world for yield grading, and the meat is tender and lean.”

Erik says around 30 years ago there was some research done in NZ around crossing Jersey and Kiwicross cows with beef, and the data found that Limousin tended to be one of the best to use.

Limousin is one of the highest in the world for yield grading, and the meat is tender and lean. Twenty-five of Mangatara Stud’s Limousin bulls will go under the hammer this month.

The Van der Veldens are passionate about the Limousin breed and are proud to be breeding quality carcase animals for today’s farmers. n

MORE:

Mangatara Limousin is having an open day on May 15, with 25 polled bulls (both apricot and black in colour) up for sale, as well as a selection of females. There will also be semen available for AI.

The Limousin breed is not what it used to be and is now a good option for dairy farmers looking to increase the value of their dairybeef cross calves.

Doing more with less

As dry summers persist in the South Island, genetics could hold the answer to helping dairy farmers breed healthy cows that produce more milk from less feed.

New CRV sales consultant for West Otago, Northern and Eastern Southland Carol Booth is encouraging dairy farmers in her region to use strategic breeding to safeguard milk production, preserve their bottom lines and ease the effect of heat stress on their animals.

Born and bred in the United Kingdom, Booth grew up on a dairy farm in Yorkshire and bred pedigree Holsteins with her father. She has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from SRUC (Scotland’s Rural University College) and almost a decade of hands-on dairy farming experience in Otago.

“With the likelihood of more dry summers in the south, dairy farmers are facing unprecedented challenges,” Booth says.

“Sustained periods of heat will not only reduce the quality and quantity of grass, but also cause heat stress in the herd, which can affect cow condition, production and in-calf rate.”

She says the key is strategically breeding healthy cows, and animals that are efficient producers, by milking more on less feed.

“That could involve a combination of traits. For example, when conditions get dry, farmers often move to milking once a day. To do that well, you need animals that have strong udders to carry milk for 24 hours.”

Another desirable trait would be cows with a lower somatic cell count (SCC).

“Milking once a day can increase the risk of mastitis. Animals with genetically lower SCC are likely to be healthier and handle variable milkings better.

“Better health traits combined with an animal that will last longer in the herd, and produce more from less, will inevitably save time and money. I enjoy helping farmers build a herd they love to milk, that will ultimately help them achieve their goals.”

Cows are her passion.

“I love cows, I really do. Growing up, there was nothing better than developing the herd with Dad, then entering A&P shows to test our skills

or a Young Farmer’s stock-judging competition. It’s so satisfying seeing the evidence of your breeding decisions.

“That’s why I went on to study agricultural science. It seemed like the obvious next step for me, a way of adding deeper understanding to my practical knowledge.”

In 2014, Booth arrived in New Zealand for her OE. She’d organised to work on a farm in West Otago. Though she’d planned a six-month stint, an opportunity opened to stay longer.

For the next eight years, she worked on another West Otago dairy farm, the last four managing the entire operation. With her breeding experience and science

CRV sales consultant for West Otago, Northern and Eastern Southland Carol Booth says the key is strategically breeding healthy cows, and animals that are efficient producers by milking more on less feed.

background, she managed the farm’s breeding, which involved calving three times a year.

“Because we had a wintering barn, we were able to control the conditions. This allowed us to bring heifers through into milking at 21-22 months of age, which meant we could milk through the winter,” she says of the intensive approach.

“It was profitable because winter milk prices are typically higher and you’re not grazing them on winter crops. As long as they are well grown, they get less pressure in the herd, while spring calvers are dry and they then get a longer time to recover before spring mating starts.

“The key was herd testing, which gave us objective numbers on our animals and helped us identify the best cows to put into a targeted sexed semen programme. Strategic breeding takes a bit of time, but the gains you get are worth the effort.

As a starting point for me I will look at production, liveweights, cows that get in calf, any health issues and compare

“Strategic breeding takes a bit of time, but the gains you get are worth the effort.”

Carol Booth

that to our breeding goals.”

After nearly a decade of farming, her passion for herd development led her to CRV. By her own admission, she is not a salesperson. It was CRV’s commitment to farmers and its team’s on-farm experience that convinced her this was the company she wanted to work with.

“Some farmers get annoyed by reps and the sales pitch, so I’ll never be someone who pushes product on a farmer that I can see is not going to benefit. That’s what I love about CRV: many of our team are ex-farmers, so they know rural life and understand what farmers need.”

For Booth, listening is the first thing she does when visiting a farmer.

“I always ask about the top five traits they want bred into their animals, and the traits they want bred out. Once I see that list and understand why these attributes are important, we can talk about what genetic solutions can help them achieve their goals.

“No one bull can provide all the genetics they need. It’s about accurately matching the right genetics and the right bulls to the farmer’s best cows.” n

Breeding success with BW

AS A DAIRY FARMER AND BULL BREEDER, STEVE IRELAND RELIES ON BREEDING WORTH (BW) TO MAKE SMARTER MORE PROFITABLE DECISIONS.

Steve Ireland’s dairy farm in Temuka, South Canterbury has always had a strong focus on production, fertility, capacity, udders and genetic diversity. But bull breeding wasn’t originally part of the plan.

“Bull breeding was just a result of our breeding plan for replacements. We bred a top cow in 1996 and in 1999 her son was brought by LIC. We decided to flush that cow and by chance she gave us an incredible number of offspring with a large number of bull calves purchased. That success was the catalyst that got us into flushing females and continue bull breeding.”

Steve places a lot of emphasis on Breeding Worth, with specific selection for traits that are important for his own breeding objectives.

“BW is important to us for breeding suitable, top quality replacements. We utilise the NZAEL Bull Search tool to help select suitable sires. The advanced tool is useful for prioritising

certain breeding values and traits, and it’s also useful for finding potentially suitable outcross and more genetically diverse sires.”

When it comes to NZAEL delvering a BW with genomics in the future, Steve sees a lot of value.

“I think having multiple BWs or animal rankings in NZ is confusing and unhelpful, and is leading to some fragmentation of the AI industry. Herd owners, particularly bull breeders, need to be able to identify and add value to top bull calves by having an independent and industry good genomic BW available.”

Steve is excited about the potential increase in genetic gain from genomic use in the industry and his role in helping other Kiwi dairy farmers.

“It’s very satisfying to know that the genetics that you’re breeding are helping farmers on other farms breed good cattle.”

Genetics can help dairy farmers produce more from less as dry summers persist.

Photo: Eric Elbers

Better data, better bulls

A lack of ancestral data has held back reliable representation for international sires on the NZ Breeding Worth index, but this is beginning to change.

Indexes are designed to rank cows and sires on their ability to breed profitable replacements. New Zealand has the BW (Breeding Worth), Australia has the BPI (Balanced Performance Index), Nordic countries have the NTM (Nordic Total Merit) and the United States uses the NM$ (Net Merit).

Indexes are created with the national herds’ environment, dairy system and herd goals in mind. In NZ a sire’s BW is based solely on ancestral information available in New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited (NZAEL).

For many years international sires have struggled to get reliable representation on the NZ BW index due to the lack of ancestral information in NZ. This is beginning to shift as more farmers take to the benefits of these international sires and more data is introduced into the system.

Accurately predicting the performance of international sires on NZ pasturebased dairy systems is becoming easier with the introduction of Samen NZ’s gNZI (genomic NZ Index), Samen NZ’s Sire analyst Craig Mckimmie says.

“The gNZI is highly correlated to the BW with a few additions based on economic values and farmerneeds surveys,” Mckimmie says.

Samen NZ has been using a formula to compare and select international sires that will perform in the country for many years.

“Now we have international sires originally selected and marketed in 2019 on the New Zealand RAS list with a highly correlated and reliable gNZI figure to match.”

One of these exciting sires is ABS Jeronimo-P-ET, currently featured at No 15 on the Ranking of Active Sires (RAS) list and the highest ranking polled Friesian with a BW of 372 Rel 76% and a gNZI of 362 Rel 82%. Jeronimo P is a high achiever all around the world and first

took the No 1 position on Australia’s BPI in 2017, continuing on to retain the No 1 position until late 2022.

Another exciting sire from Samen NZ currently featured on the Friesian RAS list is DE-SU 13050 Spectra-ET. With a BW of 323 Rel 75% and a gNZI of 337 Rel 90%, and boasting a moderate frame, extreme calving ease and high semen fertility, Spectre ticks a lot of boxes for NZ pasture-based dairy farms.

With the absence of NZAEL genomics, the gNZI is one of the best tools available to dairy farmers to evaluate overseas sires for use here in NZ pasture-based systems.

“What excites me most is the access we now have to incredibly high genetic merit polled sires. The gNZI has enabled us to work closely with a large range of suppliers to identify sires early on, and breed the bulls New Zealand dairy farmers are asking for.

“Leading from strength to strength, we are proud to be able to offer our clients commercial dairy sires that stand strong on both the world stage and here in New Zealand”.

Other notable up and coming sires from Samen NZ often have much higher gNZI figures and lower BWs but the importance comes from the reliability, as the gNZI index does in fact have a high

correlation to the NZ BW.

An outstanding example of this is Bomaz ANZAC-PP-ET. With a gNZI of 525 Rel 68% and a BW of 201 Rel 7%, his gNZI is much higher than that of both Jeronimo P and Spectre, yet he has a lower BW and lower BW Rel%.

As NZ daughters come into profit locally, the system gains access to more data and our learned experiences shows that when this happens we see a rise in the BW and BW Rel% more in line with the gNZI and gNZI Rel%.

Anzac PP is notably the highest gNZI PP sire available and has extremely high components and production. The No 1 gNZI sire available from Samen NZ is Bomaz Perfect Pp-ET with a gNZI of 528 Rel 69% and a BW of 193 Rel 11%. Perfect Pp combines good US fertility data with extreme fat percentage and production figures.

With access to incredible sires like these and an index that fits NZ’s pasturebased systems, farmers can confidently utilise world-leading outcross genetics and build better herds that continue to drive herd longevity and overall profitability.

MORE:

For further information about the gNZI and how Samen NZ’s international line-up of high-genetic-merit sires can benefit your dairy farm in NZ, contact your local Samen NZ representative.

Craig Mckimmie.

A daughter from ABS JeronimoP-ET who is currently No 15 on the Ranking of Active Sires list, and the highest ranking polled Friesian.

One last word …

As we head towards the end of the season, it is all go on farms with lots happening.

The harvesting is done and all stored away, safe and ready to be fed when growth stalls during the colder months. Many farmers have put plans in place or are well into drying off their herds, sending stock to run-offs or graziers over winter, and sharemilkers are well into preparations to move onto new farms.

And even with the season winding down for the majority of farmers, there is still lots to be done – a farmer’s work is never done. But on the other hand, autumn calving farmers are in the thick

of it and gearing up to keep the white gold flowing through the winter.

The period before the start of the new season is a great time to look at maintaining or fixing fences, cleaning the sheds, calf pens and feeders ready for the new season’s arrivals. Check and maintain machines, replenish stocks and order ahead if you can. It is also the time to ensure the calving kit is ready to go so when the time comes, it is available to grab and go.

I know of several farmers who cook up a storm during this time and fill the freezer with delicious and nutritious meals that will keep them going on those days when they are too busy to cook. Cakes, biscuits, soups, casseroles and even full roast meals seem to be popular choices.

It is good to see the GDT finally rise slightly after several consecutive drops. Let’s hope it continues north.

It is also good to see that farmer confidence is slightly up according to Rabobank’s first quarterly Rural Confidence Survey of the year. After dropping to an historic low in late 2022, New Zealand farmer sentiment has now crept to -58%, from -71% previously. Again, hopefully this continues northwards.

May is awards season for our hardworking farmers. This month we see the best of the best honoured at the national finals of the 2023 Dairy Industry Awards.

The finalists will have had their final round of judging. No doubt the nerves, anticipation and excitement are building up.

They will be competing for the honour of winning either the New Zealand Share Farmer of the Year, New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year or the New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year title.

The winners will be announced at a black-tie dinner at Cordis Hotel in Auckland on Saturday May 13. It is the biggest night on the dairy calendar, so hope to see you there.

Finalists for the Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year Award, and the Dairy Women’s Network Regional Leader, have also been named. The recipients will be announced at a gala dinner in Invercargill on May 3.

Good luck to all of you, and to all you hard-working farmers, take a break and put your feet up, you deserve it for a job well done.

Thanks again to Alesha Jane of Maolla Farms in Taranaki for these photos. With a view like this from her office, why would she want to work anywhere else?

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DAIRY DIARY

May 2023

May 2 – DairyNZ

How Plantain Can Help You Meet Your Environmental Goals, Southland

Join the Plantain Potency and Practice Community of Interest to find out. Come hear and discuss the latest exciting plantain research findings (including N leaching and nitrous oxide emission reductions, and profit/production outcomes). Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz

May 3 and 4 – Dairy Women’s Network

Landpro and DWN2023 Brighter. Braver. Bolder. Conference, Invercargill

Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events

May 3 – DairyNZ

North Taranaki High Altitude – Halter on Farm Cam Telfer is hosting us on farm this month. We’ll look into the Halter system and review the season. Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz

May 5 – Federated Farmers

Taranaki Federated Farmers Dairy Section AGM

This is a combined AGM with the Dairy/Sharefarmer/Sharemilker Farm Owners Sections and will be in the morning session of our Provincial AGM. Info at https://www.fedfarm.org.nz/

May 9 – DairyNZ

Farmers’ Forum, Canterbury Research to reality – practical science for dairy farmers

The dairy sector faces many challenges – and opportunities. The DairyNZ Farmers’ Forum will provide updates on the latest dairy sector developments plus opportunities to hear directly from our experts and scientists as they work towards practical, everyday solutions for farming now and in the future. Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz

May 11 – Dairy Women’s Network

Mastitis Pathogens – Know Your Risks, Central Plateau

Join us for an interactive workshop with guest speaker Natasha Maguire from Farm Medix.

During this workshop Natasha will be bringing dissected teats, mock intramammary product and UV light gel to show us how bugs can be transported into the teat during dry-off and why hygiene is so crucial to avoid issues. Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events

May 17 – Balance and DairyNZ

Northland Ballance Farm Environment Award Winners Field Day

Join us on farm with this year’s Ballance Farm Environment Award Winners, Andrew and Vicky Booth. This is dairy farming at its very best – come and see what this family farming business is doing that makes it stand out from the crowd. Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz

May 17 – Dairy Women’s Network

Authentic Networking, live webinar

How can we network authentically and still gain and connect with business?

This practical webinar explores both face-to-face and virtual networking, increasing confidence and offering a toolkit in being ourselves while networking, adding value and gaining business and opportunities naturally, and tips and techniques for networking effectively in person and online

Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events

May 25 – DairyNZ

Gibson Farm Open Day

Dairy Trust Taranaki is opening its farm gates at Gibson Farm for an update on its Step Change Trial

Another awesome opportunity to visit a Dairy Trust Taranaki farm and check out the current trials.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz

DairyNZ

A Kai and a Kōrero, various dates and locations

Kia hiwara! kia hiwara!

DairyNZ is hosting a series of hui to support Māori in the dairy sector to build capability, equip their people and achieve their goals on farm.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz

SMASH

Seminar, Stepping back successfully, various dates and locations

Have you made a plan for transitioning off your farm?

Many people put off succession planning because they think it is too complicated and difficult. This informative and interactive day will start you on the path to creating a succession plan that will work for you and your family.

Info at www.smallerherds.co.nz

OSPRI

NAIT and MyOSPRI support drop-in centre, various dates and locations

This one-on-one session is your chance to ask any questions you have about your NAIT account, TB testing, or getting set up in the new MyOSPRI.

A new and improved NAIT system called MyOSPRI is coming in late 2023. Signing up to MyOSPRI early will have you prepared for when the systems switch over in late 2023.

Info at www.ospri.co.nz/upcoming-events/nait-and-myosprisupport-drop-in-centre-rangiora-may/

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