26 minute read
Innovations
From waste to tulip trays
By Samantha Tennent
What would usually end up in a landfill, is now being repurposed in an effort to reduce farm waste.
Farmers bought millions of tubes of Teatseal last season, which is great for reducing the risk of mastitis but it creates a considerable amount of waste. And as council recycling systems are not made to take large volumes of tiny tubes, landfill has been the only option to dispose of it.
But a project between Zoetis and
Plasback NZ has successfully diverted 1.5 million tubes from landfills in the past three months.
“We were thrilled with the amount we got back,” Zoetis veterinary advisor and
New Zealand sustainability lead Kristen
Baxter says.
“Almost all the veterinary clinics who purchase Teatseal through us participated and although there wasn’t any cost to the clinic or farmer to participate, it did involve a bit of time and effort to help with sorting the waste.
“We really appreciated the enthusiasm and support towards the trial.”
The trial is part of their sustainability focus at Zoetis, which has been looking at all parts of the business.
“We’ve been making changes to packaging to decrease the amount of waste produced and we’ve changed the wipes that come with Teatseal to a compostable material, but until now we didn’t have a way to recycle the tubes,” she says.
It took Baxter and the team two years to get the project off the ground. They had to develop a completely new system as the only product stewardship programme that has been available for animal health products is a drench drum recycling programme. “We needed to be able to pick up large volumes of small tubes in a short timeframe because it all happens within a couple of months and then we don’t produce any waste for the rest of the year,” she says. “So we designed a way to collect the plastic tubes and buckets back from the farmers, although we didn’t get many buckets back as farmers find them useful.”
They could only take the plastic in the recycling bags so the waste had to be sorted before it was collected. Which meant either the farmers, vets or technicians needed to separate it, removing any wipes or gloves and take out any antibiotic tubes as there is no way to deal with residues yet.
To let the recycling build a little, Plasback NZ started collecting after about six to eight weeks. They sent it to Comspec in Christchurch, where it was turned into tulip trays that were sent to Holland, as well as FuturePost in Auckland to make the innovative plastic fence post product that has been developed here.
To meet their requirements under the Waste Minimisation Act set out by the Government, Zoetis has been looking at how they can expand their sustainability efforts into other products as well.
Zoetis veterinary advisor and NZ sustainability lead Kirsten Baxter says the teatseal tube recycling trial is part of Zoetis’ sustainability focus.
Millions of tubes of Teatseal are used annually and now an initiative from Zoetis is collecting the used buckets and tubes for recycling.
The Act aims to reduce the amount of rubbish ending up in landfills or polluting the environment and has identified six priority products for regulated product stewardship, including plastic packaging.
“We’ve had great feedback about the trial and already have ideas how we can scale-up and improve it for next season,” she says.
“We are going to use what we are learning from the Teatseal scheme to extend to other products eventually, as we need to have a plan for product stewardship in the next few years.
“But there are challenges for products like antibiotics, as there isn’t any way to deal with residues yet, so there will definitely need to be a lot of research to find suitable solutions.”
The results from the trial prove progress is happening in the right direction and with a few changes based on the learnings from this year they will roll the scheme out on a larger-scale next year.
“The goal is to get better uptake next year by increasing our marketing and continuing to streamline the process to make it easier for everyone to be involved,” she says. n
Recycled Teatseal tubes are being used to make FuturePosts, an innovative plastic fence post product that has been developed in New Zealand.
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A stirring idea
By Samantha Tennent
Keeping colostrum stirred was a challenge for a Southland calf rearer until he came with an innovative idea.
Frustrated after running around with a drill and paint stirrer trying to stop stored colostrum from separating, Rex Affleck was looking for an easier solution. He found a pricey food industry mixer in Europe, but the paddle was tiny and the revs were too quick so he started thinking about what he really needed.
“I found a supplier in China that made engine gearboxes and they agreed to sell me a sample,” Affleck explains.
“Two turned up on my doorstep but I didn’t know what to do next. So, I started thinking and mucking around with bits of cardboard and worked out how it could sit on top of a pod, but the next issue was the paddles.”
Affleck knew he needed a decentsized paddle, but wondered how it could fit through the hole on the top of the colostrum storage tank.
“The paddle was 550 millimetres in diameter but it needed to fit in a 145 or 150mm hole,” he says.
“So I mucked around a bit more and found a way to make it really simple with one paddle folding so you can put it in the hole, then prop up the motor and push a rod to drop the paddle into place and away you go.”
He crafted a cover for the motor to protect it from the elements, added a handle on top for easy fitting and changeover and made it all out of stainless steel for longevity.
His neighbour who is handy with sheet metal and had a water jet cutter, which they used to profile the metal pieces before they shaped them and assembled the unit. And it was the solution he had been looking for, simple to use and effective for preventing separation in the tank.
“It can be run continuously too and the motor only draws 0.6amps, so I’ve worked out it only costs 75 cents in power per day,” he says.
Pleased with his design he figured others would benefit from the concept too, so he got back in touch with the supplier in China and talked them into sending 50 more motors, as opposed to their usual 100 minimum order.
He named the product Podstir and started marketing on Trade Me and Facebook. He sold a few units before deciding to have a crack at the Fieldays Innovations Awards.
“Before Fieldays I hadn’t sold 25 but I took the punt and ordered another 50 engines before we went in case there was a flood of orders,” he says.
Fieldays was a success and he recently placed his third engine order. He sources all the other bits and pieces, including suitcase handles, from various sources and assembles the units at home in Gore.
The product has been benefiting more than dairy farmers and calf rearers too.
“I’ve sold units to a range of industries, including a pavlova company and a beekeeper, but ultimately, the concept started to help others like me rearing calves and storing large quantities of milk and colostrum,” he says.
Affleck fell into rearing calves. He had a motorcycle dealership for almost 37 years and had worked in research and development for both Yamaha and Honda in Japan before doing a range of roles across Australia and New Zealand. But once he settled on his four-hectare block in Gore, he took over the calf rearing from his children.
“The kids started rearing calves nearly 30 years ago and one thing led to another and now we’re rearing four times as many as when we started and I’m hoping to do 60 this year,” he says.
“I secured a good supply of colostrum and milk and that’s where Podstir evolved from. “It really is a great solution and I’m happy to be helping others overcome the challenges like we had.” n
Rex Allflex rears about 60 calves on his small block in Gore and found stirring the colostrum a challenge, so he created an innovative product called Podstir.
Considering applying for SFF funds?
Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures (SFF) supports problemsolving and innovation in New Zealand’s food and fibre sectors by co-investing in initiatives that make a positive and lasting difference.
Projects can range from small grassroots community projects to largescale industry development.
These can include: • The development of a new product or service, or a better way of doing something. • Feasibility studies, such as exploring the development of a solution to an industry issue, or the viability of a new product. • Applied research, which has a practical application and addresses a real issue in the industry or helps pursue an opportunity. • Projects can be from businesses, nongovernment organisations, researchers, training institutions, Māori landowners,
community groups and industry bodies. • Proposals are assessed against nine criteria to decide whether applicants qualify for funding and how much they may receive.
The SFF Futures assessment criteria are: • Sustainable benefits to New Zealand • Innovation • Beyond business as usual • Fit with relevant strategies • Adoption and extension/path to market • Ability to deliver • Governance • Risk identification and mitigation • Budget • Proposals should be solution-focused:
They should find a new approach to an issue that NZ’s primary sector needs to address, whether it’s national in scale or related to just one local community, it should be aimed at positive, longlasting change.
This may be an incremental change that builds on other work or it could be disruptive in nature. It could be as big as an idea for a brand new product or a smaller-scale solution such as a new way of tackling a pest, improving animal welfare, or cleaning up your local waterway. • If a project involves research and development it must have a practical application. The people who will put the research into practice must be actively involved in the project.
Current dairying projects being funded by the SFF are early life application of methane inhibitor BOVAER 10 in dairy calves, development of a multiplex immunoassay for detection of various bovine diseases and pregnancy diagnosis, future-ready farms and future-ready farms. n
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Applications are open year-round. Info at www.mpi.govt.nz
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Intelligent teat tech
By Samantha Tennent
New smart technology is on the market to help farmers by teat-spraying their cows more accurately and efficiently.
The challenge with in-race or walkover automatic teat sprayers is accurately predicting when the udder will be in the correct position. And to mitigate the risk of missing the teats, these systems are often designed to discharge high volumes of teat spray product.
But new, intelligent technology developed by Onfarm Solutions will help combat auto-spraying challenges.
“The (Teatwand Stepover) system has two sensors that measure where and when the cow is passing through the lane and they provide data to the controller,” Warwick Cross from Onfarm Solutions says.
“From there, the controller automatically selects the appropriate spray sequence which provides full coverage of all four teats.”
The system has four spray nozzles that operate in independently controlled pairs. If the cow walks at a slow speed, two nozzles will be used in the spray sequence and if the cow walks at a fast speed, all four nozzles will deploy for a shorter period of time to ensure full coverage of all the teats.
And if the cow stops walking, the walkover teat spray system will spray the teats once the cow walks through. It is designed so it won’t spray the same cow twice and there is also an automatic function where the spray nozzles get washed after every 10 cows to prevent any blockage from dirt or manure.
“The sophisticated technology in the control system guarantees the accuracy and reliability of the spray covering the teats,” he says.
“The concept isn’t anything new, but it’s the technology in the brain of the system that refines the process and helps overcome the challenges inherent with walkover sprayers before.”
When covid-19 hit, the Onfarm Solutions development team found their diaries wide open after putting a large project on hold, so turned their attention to the Teatwand.
“We had been thinking about a solution for years, but I guess we’d focused on the low-hanging fruit with the rotary sheds,” he says.
“We had put it off and put it off, but we had a bunch of engineers and developers sitting around, looking for something to do, so we decided it was time to throw ourselves at this.”
They set up the trial on Greg and Barbara Morriss’ farm at Rangiora and recorded hours and hours of footage of cows walking over the prototype. As well as a raft of data from the sensors while they were developing the programme. There were a few ideas that got chucked out because they failed in action, but they were pleased with the results of the final product.
The Morriss’ peak milk 390 cows and run a split calving system, milking 150 cows through winter.
“Udder health is really important to us and we’ve always teat-sprayed in the shed,” Morriss says.
“I was sceptical about relying on an automatic sprayer at first, but being involved in the development and seeing the results first-hand boosted my
The Teatwand Stepover system developed by Christchurch-based Onfarm Solutions, is intelligent technology to refine the teat-spraying process.
The Teatwand Stepover was installed and trialed on Greg and Barbara Morriss’ Rangiora farm. They say the system has streamlined their milking process by eliminating the task of spraying.
confidence and it’s paying off dividends in labour and stress saving.”
They have two people in the shed during milking and utilise relief milkers regularly.
“It makes it easier for the team and the teat spraying is more uniform. Sometimes people forget or they’re in a rush and miss the odd cow. It helps streamline our milking process by eliminating the task of spraying.
“And originally we thought we may need to spray in the shed when the weather is really bad, but we just added some glycerine to the spray over winter.
“We haven’t had any more mastitis cases than usual or any notable differences in somatic cell counts, so I’m fully convinced it’s doing a great job.”
The farm sits below 100,000 year-round and Morriss appreciated the opportunity to be involved in the development of the Teatwand Stepover.
“It can be daunting trying something new when you know you get good results from your current system, but the Onfarm Solutions team were great at taking our suggestions on board and making adjustments.
“We are all really pleased with the outcome and I definitely recommend it to other farmers.”
The product was launched at the South Island Agricultural Field Days earlier this year and had great exposure through the Fieldays Innovations Awards at Mystery Creek.
They have sold units all around New Zealand and sent many to farms in the US and Australia.
“There is an online monitoring option too and the units in the US are all connected to it. It involves connecting the system to a modem in the dairy,” Cross says.
“And a flow meter is connected in the system which monitors the teat spray usage and sends information to an online dashboard.”
The units are easy to install on-farm and are manufactured in their workshop in Christchurch. Most of the components are made in NZ with the sensors and valves sourced mostly from German manufacturers.
“Even though there is some complicated software involved, the overall product is simple. Once installed its plug and play for the farmer and it works with any teat spray product,” he says. n
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Tail scoring the herd can help farmers identify mishandling issues and help reduce the incidence of tail damage on-farm.
The value of tail scoring
By Samantha Tennent
Tail breaking is one of the most common cattle-related welfare complaints that go through courts in New Zealand. It is a breach of the Animal Welfare Act and likely constitutes serious misconduct.
Tail damage is painful for cows and research shows an average of 20% of dairy cattle in New Zealand, approximately one million cows, have abnormal tails. Some of these have been shortened for medical reasons or it was performed before it became illegal, some have been damaged and some have a dislocation or break.
Currently, there is limited data on the causes of damaged tails, but it has been suggested that they may be caused by mechanical damage or inappropriate handling. In pasture-based cattle when
there is a high prevalence of damaged tails, a potential cause that has been highlighted is staff impatience.
When there are suspicious cases that get investigated in NZ it is difficult to determine when the damage has occurred, how it occurred and whether it was malicious or accidental. Most prosecutions occur if there is serious tail damage, which is presumed to be malicious.
The force required to break a tail at a high point is significant and unlikely to be applied by accident, but most tail damage recorded generally falls into minor categories, such as deviations lower down the tail or on the switch and may be from machinery or yarding.
If there is a dislocation from applying any excessive force to a tail, research shows it would make a detectable noise and there would be a change in resistance. In a milking shed the noise might be more difficult to hear because of the increased background noise, but in other circumstances it is more likely that the sound will be heard and could be reported to a veterinarian. Unfortunately, very few broken tails are promptly reported to veterinarians, meaning treatment won’t improve cow welfare.
Comments made by farm teams suggest they watch and follow what they see veterinarians and managers doing, which includes lifting tails. Although they may not have the skills to do so without causing damage. And a farm manager may twist tails as a way of moving or restraining cows, believing it is standard practice, but tails should only be handled as a last resort and in a way that does not cause pain or damage to the cow.
In NZ we can be apprehensive to talk about tail damage, with the heightened awareness of public perception and the social licence to farm and cases of prosecutions. There can be concerns around drawing attention to the farm.
But we cannot ignore it and just like other monitoring systems we have in place, for example herd testing and BVD bulk tank monitoring, tail auditing provides farms with valuable information. Monitoring allows farms to create a benchmark and identify any handling issues. It also allows us to track whether tail damage occurs on-farm or off-farm at grazing, for example.
If you don’t record and benchmark, how can you know you have a problem or work to fix it? And although it can seem like a confronting step, demonstrating you value animal welfare by monitoring tail damage shows you care about your animals and protects your reputation – and it is the right thing to do for your herd and the sector as a whole.
Some tail damage, especially around the switch, can be hard to see and may go unnoticed unless a tail audit is carried out. A tail audit is a good start to reducing the incidence of tail damage on-farm and should be carried out at least annually. If we aim to score the herd as soon as the heifers enter or after changes in the farm team we can establish a timeline of when tail damage may be occurring and identify if there are any handling issues, or if there could be issues with machinery in the milking shed.
Tail auditing involves visually inspecting and palpating the tail following the NZ Veterinary Association (NZVA) Standardised Tail Scoring System. It is carried out by a veterinarian or technician who will record any visual tail deviations, palpable traumas or swellings and any shortening, amputations or dockings in separate categories. You will get a report detailing the results alongside the cow IDs.
And after a tail score if you have any concerns, your veterinarian can help you put a plan in place to reduce any damage or injuries that may be occurring whether they are from the infrastructure or the handling techniques. The farm team is the best to identify where the challenges are and can work with your veterinarian to find solutions to avoid more injuries.
Tail scoring information can be captured within the WelFarm programme, which provides a benchmark to allow farmers to assess any new damage occurring and have assurance they have detailed records should any issues arise in the future. It will also benchmark regionally and nationally to give farmers an idea of how they are tracking. Talk to your veterinarian about incorporating tail auditing within your annual animal wellbeing plans. n
Who am I?
Samantha Tennent is the general manager of WelFarm Ltd.
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Caring for your calf
By Anne Boswell
With winter calving coming to a close, New Zealand’s favourite rural kid’s event is just getting started.
Registrations for 2021 Calf Club NZ are flooding in, with 164 children already registered this season.
“We expect more registrations will come in as children get their calves,” Calf Club marketing manager Josh Herbes says.
With registrations closing on September 1, head to the Calf Club NZ website to fill out a registration form online.
Calf Club NZ consists of two main categories – formal on-farm judging and social online judging – in three age groups; pre-school, primary/intermediate and high school. Animals are also split into dairy and beef categories.
Submissions are open from September 1-15, where children submit an image of their animal, with or without themselves in the photo; a 100-word story about their experience with their calf; and the calf’s details, including date of birth, breed, whether it’s a dairy or beef-type animal, and whether it was early or late.
Children competing in the Formal On-Farm category are judged in regional on-farm visits during the spring school holidays (October 2-17).
During the on-farm visit, child and calf will be assessed in three events: leading, rearing and conformation.
“The Leading category assesses the ability of the child to lead the calf around the edge of a ring, how well the child handles the calf, and how well they work together and communicate with each other,” Calf Club lead judging coordinator Michelle Burgess says.
“The Rearing category assesses the appearance and health of the calf, including grooming, cleanliness and general health.
“And the Conformation category looks at animal traits, dependent on whether they are a dairy type or a beef type; it is a more traditional class.”
Volunteer judges complete a scoring metric, which is then assessed at a nationwide level to determine overall champions.
But currently, children will be in the process of choosing, naming, caring for and training their calf club calf.
With the help of sponsors, we have come up with some tips on how to care for your new calf: • Your calf will need a pen or a wellfenced paddock with shelter to protect it from cold wind and rain, especially when it is very young. For the first few days as you become friends, it will help if this is a small area so, wherever you are in the pen, you are close to the calf – it can hear your voice and will soon begin to trust you. • If your calf is housed in a pen, make sure that its bedding is always clean – rake any soiling out of the bed regularly so your calf has a nice clean, dry place to rest. • Right from the start, your calf will need feeding twice-a-day, in the morning (before you leave for school) and the
afternoon (when you get home). • Calves need lots of milk. You will need a special feeder bottle to feed your calf.
To avoid your calf getting scours, make sure everything it eats and drinks out of is spotlessly clean. • Feeding your calf is the important first step to getting it to trust you – and that’s the beginning of your friendship. • Your calf will need good quality, fresh, long grass and clean water in a low trough they can easily reach. n
Calf Club judges will be assessing the children and calves on leading, rearing and conformation.
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Rural market update
Dairy farm sales across the country over the last 12 months have shown the biggest rebound in a decade.
Annualised NZ dairy farm sales to the end of June 2021 equalled 249 sales, up 233% on the same time last year, with total sales by value equalling $1.1b to 30 June, again 247% up on last year. The rebound over the last 12 months has been faster than any other time over the last decade. This time last year, the dairy real estate market was at a very low ebb, despite year-on-year gains in the dairy commodity cycle. In fact, it equalled the period immediately post GFC (June 2010) with only 104 sales for the entire season (12 months to June 2020) and a median sale price of $3.2m. This June, the median sale price is now $3.7m up, 16% on the previous 12 months on 2.3x the value of annual dairy sales ($1.1b) on the prior year. We ran an investment seminar in Auckland last November, encouraging those considering a dairy investment opportunity to weigh it up sooner rather than later. Our view was that the market offered exceptional value against proven returns. We still hold this view, particularly if the investment horizon is ten years plus. Despite significant swings in the commodity cycle post–GFC rural land values, and notably dairy, have stood up to the volatility well. In tough times farmers dig in. While external pressures may lead to farmers’ contemplating a sale, their ability to shut the farm gate, keep costs down and repay debt whilst absorbing compliance costs, has been a real feature of the last decade. Our view is that this season 21/22, will be stronger again for dairy farm sales, as supply better matches demand, particularly as investor appetite favours dependable investment returns that can beat the cost of capital over the longer term.
We also expect to see greater numbers of dairy farmers buying and selling dairy farms, given the billions of dollars of repaid rural debt over the last three seasons. Property Brokers’ leadership position in the NZ dairy real estate market has been built around trusted advice and our True Team approach up and down the country. Our success in connecting vendors with purchasers through disciplined marketing campaigns is something we take considerable pride in. For rural and lifestyle property advice from a national team of committed salespeople, supported by our expert marketing team, right across New Zealand, call 0800 367 5263 or visit pb.co.nz.
Conrad Wilkshire, GM Rural for Property Brokers Ltd conrad@pb.co.nz
National Dairy Sales 20 ha+ rolling 12 months to June 2021
Jul 2020 Aug 2020 No of Sales Total Sales Value
Sep 2020 Oct 2020 Nov 2020 Dec 2020 Jan 2021 Feb 2021 Mar 2021 Apr 2021 May 2021 Jun 2021 300
250
200
150
100
50
0
