Plan 365 May 2018 by Farmlands

MAY 2018

RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

NUTRITION

FORAGE AND ARABLE

HORTICULTURE

ANIMAL MANAGEMENT

DAIRY MANAGEMENT

Plan 365 is a technical guide aimed at helping shareholders learn about best practice and the latest advancements in rural technology.

NUTRITION

Alpaca – unique animals with unique requirements Alpaca are interesting animals that are popular on small blocks in New Zealand. Alpaca are domesticated animals from South America and belong to the group ‘camelids’ along with camels and llamas. Their high quality fibre is renowned for its softness and lustre, which is used to make luxury clothing items. They also make great pets with friendly personalities. Interestingly enough, they are used as herd protectors for grazing animals in some countries around lambing or kidding time, as they protect the newly born animals from predators such as foxes, eagles and canines, attacking them with their front feet. Alpaca have even been used in New Zealand to protect chickens on free range farms from hawks.

Alpaca are unique in terms of their digestive system and they are classed as ‘pseudo-ruminants’, as they have a similar digestive system to traditional ruminants like cows or sheep – however they have three stomach compartments rather than four. Alpaca do have some specific nutritional requirements that need to be taken into consideration when keeping them, as they are particularly prone to several nutrient deficiencies here in New Zealand. Vitamin D deficiency Vitamin D (the ‘sunshine vitamin’) deficiency is common in alpaca. This deficiency is exasperated in the winter months due to decreased sunshine hours and the thick fleece of alpaca. Vitamin D plays an important role in bone development and deficiency during pregnancy and lactation can cause rickets in young cria, due to low vitamin D in colostrum and milk. Symptoms of rickets include bowed legs, shifting leg lameness, joint inflammation, a humpback appearance and a slowed growth rate. Supplementing pregnant and lactating alpaca with vitamin D is a necessity, however non-pregnant and male alpaca will also benefit from vitamin D supplementation year-round too. Thiamine deficiency Polioencephalomalacia (PEM), inflammation of the brain due to a thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency, is a condition more commonly seen in alpaca compared to other animals. The gut flora of ruminants and pseudoruminants usually produce enough thiamine to satisfy animal requirements,

however thiamine production can be reduced in certain circumstances – for example when there is too much sulphur in the diet, or if the rumen is not functioning optimally. Some weeds are also suspected to play a role in thiamine deficiency, due to the presence of an enzyme that breaks down thiamine. Alpaca also seem to deplete their body’s supply of thiamine much more rapidly than cattle, sheep or goats, so show signs of the disease much more rapidly compared to their ruminant cousins. Stress and poor weather are also thought to play a part. Symptoms of PEM include lethargy, low appetite and/or neurological impairment (head and ear twitching, drooling and staggering). Once an animal is showing signs of neurological impairment, injected thiamine is required quickly to avoid death. Regular supplementation of thiamine for alpaca is the best way to prevent PEM cases arising. Opting for an alpaca specific feed such as Reliance Alpaca Pellets or Reliance Alpaca Conditioning Mix, which both include nutrients such as vitamin D and thiamine, can help to keep your alpaca as healthy and productive as possible – providing vitamin D and thiamine every day, along with a vast profile of other nutrients essential for optimum alpaca health. Note: during the year, additional vitamin D and thiamine may need to be administered to alpaca as per vet recommendations particularly for pregnant alpaca and young cria. For more information, contact your local Nutrition Specialist. Article supplied by Stacey Cosnett, Nutritionist, Farmlands.

| Alpaca are domesticated animals from South America.

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NUTRITION

Annual cleaning of silos a must do Storage of animal feed in vertical silos or bins is the most common form of dry feed storage on New Zealand farms. Silos can be a great way to store feed, as they reduce wastage and protect feed from climatic events and from pests such as birds and vermin. Silos also allow farmers to reap the financial benefits of purchasing feed in bulk and feeding it easily through in-shed feeding systems or into troughs and feed-out bins. Silos do however need to be cleaned thoroughly at least once a year, to ensure that the feed stored inside them is kept as fresh as possible. A great time to do this is just before the start of a new season. The storage of feed in silos is subject to large fluctuations in both temperature and humidity within the silo, which can lead to condensation forming on the inside of the silo from time to time. Both feed and feed dust will stick to the side of the bin, absorb the moisture and build up over time. This feed will deteriorate with mould developing and subsequent mycotoxin

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production. When this spoiled feed falls off into good feed, consequences for the animal range from decreased feed intake and feed refusal due to the presence of mould (which animals can be very sensitive to the smell and taste of), right through to mycotoxicosis. This can occur when poisonous toxins produced by moulds are consumed at high enough levels to cause animal health issues. To avoid these problems occurring, silos need to be cleaned at least once a year and preferably every 6 months, to ensure that excessive mould does not build up on the inside of the silo and that feed delivered to the animal is as fresh and palatable as possible. Farmlands has developed silo cleaning procedure that describes the best practices for cleaning animal feed silos. There are two methods to use, either a wet method or a dry method. The wet method is the most effective and preferable method for cleaning a silo, however dry cleaning is a better option when the silo boot

cannot be removed easily or it is too dangerous to attempt wet cleaning. When using the wet method, using a suitable disinfectant such as VirkonÂŽ during the clean is worthwhile. Both methods benefit from dusting the inside of the silo with a liquid or powder mould inhibitor after cleaning to hamper future mould growth. Safety is the most important consideration and any attempt to climb up any silo requires suitable safety equipment. Suitable protective clothing including gloves, eye protection and masks should be worn at all times. A safety harness with suitable anchor points is also essential equipment. The Farmlands Nutrition team has created a factsheet that explains the steps for both the wet and dry methods of cleaning silos. Visit the Nutrition section of the Farmlands website to view the fact sheet, or contact your local Nutrition Specialist or Technical Field Officer for a copy. Article supplied by Stacey Cosnett, Nutritionist, Farmlands.

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Magnesium supplementation for dairy cows Magnesium (Mg) is an important macromineral that has many functions within the body including nerve and muscle function, immune system function and bone health.

fall quickly, leading to the typical

As magnesium relaxes nerve

rest of the season or in worst cases

impulses after transmission, a more minor deficiency can manifest itself as excitability and nervousness in cows, whereas excessive intakes can cause sedation, with cows becoming more lethargic and non-responsive. Ruminants have no readily available pool of magnesium in their body, so a fall in magnesium content of

signs of hypomagnesaemia. If cows do succumb to metabolic issues such as hypomagnesaemia, it can jeopardise their milk production for cause cow deaths. Sub-clinical magnesium issues may also put a handbrake on milk production. Calculating how much supplementary magnesium should be fed can be difficult because the amount that is in the pasture depends on soil type, types of forages, weather and speed of growth. Availability is also reduced

the diet and/or increased need of

by high potassium and nitrogen levels.

magnesium for milk production can

Supplementation options

cause blood magnesium levels to

Being a reactive mineral, magnesium

is normally found in association with other elements as compounds, so it is important to know the percentage of the compound that is elemental (pure) magnesium. Magnesium oxide (MgO) is the most common magnesium supplementation product. The level of elemental magnesium is high at approximately 54 percent. Attention to sourcing high quality, reliable MgO is important. MgO is suitable for pasture dusting, drenching and in feeds such as compound feed and blends but is not soluble, so cannot be used for water treatment. Magnesium chloride and Magnesium sulphate are both readily soluble in water, which lends them towards use in animal troughs. However, the level of elemental

| Magnesium (Mg) is an important macromineral that has many functions within the body.

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NUTRITION

magnesium is significantly lower than Magnesium requirements and supplementation recommendations magnesium oxide and they should be As you can see in the table, the magnesium level in pasture generally does not meet carefully used due to their bitter nature the requirements of lactating cows, so supplementation is important. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ensuring the water they are dissolved in does not become so unpalatable that animals abstain from drinking it is extremely important. A multiple route to magnesium 0.1-0.20% (not able to meet Supplementary Mg recommended % Mg pasture requirements) (g/cow/day of elemental Mg) supplementation seems to be the most effective strategy, especially during the risky spring period. Use of MgO in feed and/or via pasture dusting, along with suitable Mg Mg Required (% of diet) Jersey Crossbred Friesian sources added to drinking water, will ensure that requirements are successfully met. For more information, contact your local Nutrition Specialist.

Dry

35%

Lactating

0.28% can differ depending of level of production of animal

Article supplied by Stacey Cosnett, Nutritionist, Farmlands.

| Table adapted from Dairy NZ.

A table showing the most common magnesium oxide supplementation options

Mg Source

% Elemental Mg (approx. can different between suppliers)

Mg Oxide

Features

Limitations

Dosage

High in Mg content compared to other sources. Very easy to supplement with low wastage if included in dairy feeds. Can be dusted on pasture.

Not soluble, so cannot be used in water troughs. 50% field loss if used for paddock dusting. Dusting can be labour intensive.

50-80g if dusting/cow/day. Higher levels may be required in adverse conditions to offset in-field losses. Very good utilisation if included in dairy compound feed and blends feed in-shed.

Mg Chloride

11.7

Soluble, so can be added to water. Palatability issues if included in the water at too high rate.

60-100g/cow/day (levels over this limit decreases palatability of water).

Mg Sulphate

9.8

Soluble, so can be added to water. Can have a laxative effect when used in high concentrations. Palatability issues if included in the water at too high rate.

75-100g/cow/day (over this limit increases risk of laxative effect and can decrease palatability of water).

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NUTRITION

Forage fibre the key to winter feeding Whether you’re feeding an eventer or showjumper turned out for a winter rest, woolly pony club ponies, super-fit and clipped hunters or a dressage horse focussed on the local winter series, the principles of winter feeding remains the same. It’s all about quality forage fibre!

in the feed bowl to boost protein and

The lower limit of daily forage intake for any horse is 1.5 percent of the horse’s body weight in forage dry matter (Harris et al., 2017). This equates to 7.5kg dry matter for a 500kg horse, e.g. nearly half a bale of meadow hay. When winter bites, 2-3 percent of body weight in forage dry matter should be fed. Horses should have free access to forage fibre for an absolute minimum of 8, ideally 10 or more hours per day but in winter this may need to be doubled.

growing horses it is important to

Low pasture growth limits supply in winter and combined with the low fibre, energy, mineral and often protein content of winter pasture, conserved forages are required to fill the pasture deficit. Hay is most commonly used for winter feeding of horses but the huge range in quality of hay or baleage leaves many horse owners guessing whether their forage is providing enough energy or protein unless it has been tested. By the time you notice that your horse has lost weight in winter, it’s too late to recover that lost muscle in under 6 weeks.

based feed such as FiberBoost, or

So it’s best to plan your forage supplies well in advance. Purchase and know the nutrient content of your bulk forage, e.g. hay, well before winter starts as well as feeding highly digestible forage fibre like FiberProtect, FiberEzy or FiberMix

digestion in the hind gut is what keeps

For further information, talk to your local Nutrition Specialist.

horses warm. Rugging, shelter or

Article supplied by Fiber Fresh.

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slow-release energy as required by the demands of each individual horse. Forage protein requires special consideration for the equine athletes taking a break, to ensure muscle built up during the season can be maintained during a spell. For young, prevent a growth check during winter and maintaining muscle mass is the key to longevity and soundness for old horses. The supply of amino acids (building blocks of protein) is critical for maintenance or growth of muscle mass and topline and to support the immune system challenged by winter ills. If your horse requires additional energy added to the feed bowl, it’s easy to utilise a complete balanced forageadd to the quality fibre already in the feed bowl some highly digestible concentrate (e.g. cooked formulated feed) at a ratio of 2:1 (forage fibre:concentrate) by weight and only add a small amount of fat/oil – as using this energy source in winter can reduce the heat of digestion and if horses are not well adapted to fat/ oil this can reduce fibre digestion. So why is forage digestion and metabolism even more important in winter than at other times of the year? Because the process of forage fibre

of heat even when well rugged. By utilising the natural central-heating power of the heat of fibre digestion and metabolism, you can keep your horses and ponies toasty warm on the inside using continuous slow-release energy. Cereal grains or oils might be a more energy dense feed than forages but they do not warm your horse. Cereals and concentrates have a reputation for being ‘heating’ but this is in reference to horse behaviour, not their body temperature. When bad weather suddenly increases energy demands for body warmth, to reduce risk of digestive upsets and colic, this should be supplied by increasing the highest quality forage fibre in the diet to which the horse is already adapted. Even if your horse is a ‘good doer’ and keeps condition on in winter with almost no pasture and just plenty of mature meadow hay, a small feed of high quality forage fibre protein like FiberProtect with mineral/vitamin balancer will be required daily to meet nutrient requirements. Even just 1-2kg of highly digestible fresh forage fibre like FiberProtect, FiberEzy or FiberMix will nourish the beneficial bacteria supporting gut microflora balance, where it has been recently discovered that 70-80 percent of the immune system resides.

stabling can help keep horses warmer and reduce their energy requirements but horses with wet heads and legs standing in mud can still lose a lot

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HORTICULTURE

Winter bee nutrition important for spring success As winter approaches, beekeepers nationwide are now well into their feeding programmes and carefully monitoring their hives. The health of our bees going into winter gives a reasonably fair and early indication of how well we will be looking going into the new season this spring. The feeding season varies around the country, depending when the plants in each region stop flowering. In general, the southern regions down into the South Island started in February, while many in the northern regions have only just started their feeding programmes. Sugar syrup is considered the industry standard bee feed. However, as the complex nutrients that bees source from pollen become less readily available, more beekeepers look to add the vital amino acids, minerals and trace elements that bees need to survive through tonics, patties or other bee feed supplements. One of the newest supplements now being used by many beekeepers throughout the country, K BEE Bee Nutrition, is a unique formulation of mixed seaweeds processed into a liquid concentrate tonic for adding to the sugar syrup feed in hives. Hein Watt, National Beekeeping Manager for New Zealand Manuka Group, says that many regions have required extra supplementation this year as part of their feeding programmes. “The season in Wairarapa is now well over. Some land blocks now don’t have anything for the bees to forage, so we are supporting them with K BEE Bee Nutrition tonic,

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| Many regions have required extra supplementation this year as part of their feeding programmes.

which kept them strong and healthy between seasons last year,” he says. Based in Waihau Bay, Cape Runaway, Mark O’Brien manages 1,050 hives, which are located on land from Te Kaha through to Omau and out to Te Araroa on the East Cape. Using K BEE Bee Nutrition for the first time in late 2016, Mark is still impressed with the results he is achieving today.

and the hive is more active.” K BEE is the only bee nutrition tonic in the world to incorporate mixed seaweeds delivering the highest value of essential amino acids, minerals and trace elements for optimum bee and hive health.

“The hives are a lot stronger and the bees are lasting a lot longer – they are just in better condition,” Mark says.

“We are in a unique position to be able to choose the seaweed species and combination of seaweeds closest to that of the bee’s natural pollen and food needs,” NZ Seaweeds Technical Manager, Kath Coopey says.

Incorporating K BEE into his regular feeding programme, Mark mixes 20ml of K BEE per litre of sugar syrup before placing it into the feeders. He credits using K BEE for making his bees healthier than he has ever seen them before.

“The main question beekeepers ask is how often they should be use K BEE,” Kath says. “Our recommendation is that they should use it every time they feed sugar syrup. Just keep a drum on the back of the truck and add it in to every feed.”

“I have never seen them this strong at this time year. Even after a bad year, they are looking good. I’m utilising more sugar syrup because the bees are hungrier and stronger

For further information, talk to your Farmlands Technical Advisor or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Article supplied by NZ Seaweeds.

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HORTICULTURE

Farmlands adds further sugar syrup refill stations Farmlands has the largest beekeeping retail footprint in New Zealand – with more than 30 beekeeping stocking branches from Invercargill through to Kaitaia. Last year we launched our pilot sugar syrup fill station at our Waipapa, Kerikeri store. This was our response to our shareholders asking us for convenient access to a highquality bulk sugar syrup supply. We were overwhelmed with the support of this initiative as our beekeeping shareholders immediately recognised the convenience of being able to fill their own vessels with sugar syrup. The pilot fill station at Waipapa was

so successful that we immediately added fill stations to three more North Island Farmlands sites at Te Puna, Greytown, and Hautapu.

Island by adding them to Farmlands

These 20,000 litre fill stations allow our shareholders to simply call in to their Farmlands store when it suits them to have their ute or trailer mounted vessels filled with any quantity they require and charged by the litre.

branches in Alexandra, Rangiora,

This initiative actively addresses many health and safety, logistics, economic and timing concerns that our shareholders face in regional New Zealand related to bulk sugar syrup supply.

our beekeeping offering. Watch

We have just further expanded our network of refill stations in the North

at Whakatu (Hastings) and Feilding. Furthermore, we have just added refill stations at Farmlands South Island Greymouth and Richmond. These new refill station sites are already proving very popular with our beekeeping shareholders. We are actively improving and expanding this space for further details. For further information, talk to your Farmlands Technical Advisor or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store. Article supplied by Mark Daniels, General Manager – Farmlands Horticulture.

| Grant Engel from Revolutionary Beekeeping fills up a 1,000 litre tank with sugar syrup at Farmlands Waipapa, under the watchful eye of staff member Peter Kriz and store manager Rob Webb.

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FORAGE AND ARABLE

Get ready for winter Is your farm well placed to endure the winter wet? Avoiding soil damage

levels. Reduced pasture growth makes paddocks vulnerable to ingression of weeds and less desirable grasses.

Wet soil is susceptible to pugging and

Minimise soil damage by:

compaction, which can have a long-

• Building pasture cover leading into winter. Autumn N can help.

term impact on production. Pugging and compaction reduce the number and size of pores in the soil, restricting the movement of water, air and nutrients. For maximum production, the macro-porosity of the top 5 centimetres of soil should be 16-20 percent but this is rarely seen. Below 10 percent, management changes are advisable. Every one percent increase in macro-porosity will increase relative pasture production by 1.8 percent1. Researchers found that after a single, moderate treading event (leaving 40 percent of the ground bare) pasture took 2 months to recover reducing production by 600kgDM/ ha (52 percent)2. In another study, clover N fixation was reduced by 60 percent 1 month after moderate

• Grazing wetter paddocks with lighter stock before the wetter parts of the season. • Limiting grazing time/ increasing time between grazings in wet conditions. • Wintering stock off-farm or use stand-off pads when soils are wet. As a last resort, use a sacrifice paddock to contain pugging. • Feeding out before letting stock in, so they don’t follow the farm vehicle. • Keeping heavy machinery off paddocks when wet. • Avoiding cultivating when regrassing. Cultivated soil pugs easily as there is no structure. • Direct drilling instead of cultivating.

treading and by 80 percent after

Managing effluent

severe treading . Even 2 years later,

Emptying effluent ponds is likely to be on the dairy farmer’s autumn task list. When applying farm dairy effluent

total DM production can be 15 to 20 percent lower than pre-damage

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(FDE), soil must not be too wet to avoid ponding, leaching and runoff. Ideally, soil temperatures should be high enough so that pasture is growing and plants can better utilise nutrients in the FDE. Testing FDE nutrient levels is recommended. When using FDE boost covers before winter, be aware that 50 to 70 percent of the nitrogen in FDE is organic N. This takes time to convert into plantavailable N. The delay is masked when effluent is applied to the same area for a number of years but is relevant where you are using FDE for the first time. Keep stock off pasture after effluent application for at least 10 days and monitor potassium levels, as they can be high on effluent blocks. For more information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store. 1,2,3 Betteridge, K, Drewry, J, Mackay, A, Singleton, P. 2003. Managing Treading Damage on Dairy and Beef Farms in New Zealand. AgResearch.

Article supplied by Ballance Agri-Nutrients.

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FORAGE AND ARABLE

Crop support a phone call away The ability to pick up the phone for instant maize crop support is just one of the reasons Taranaki dairy farmer Wayne Neilson enjoys working with Pioneer and Farmlands so much. Wayne, known affectionately as Willy, farms a 380-cow, split-calving herd on a 110ha dairy platform near Waverley with wife Sarah, daughter Chloe (8) and son Blake (5). “We have been growing maize for silage for around 15 years – 10ha on the dairy platform has been in maize for the last 12 years, with only 1 year off,” Willy says.

| Wayne Neilson with his daughter Chloe (left) and son Blake (right).

“We generally get 20 tonnes/ ha yield, so it takes a bit to beat with the equivalent in grass.”

so Pioneer hybrids P9400 and P9911 are ideal for the environment.

Willy’s parents, Roger and Rosemary, converted the home farm from sheep and beef with Willy in 1994.

“We generally stick the maize seed in the ground, keep an eye on it until it’s about a foot tall, and then forget about it until harvest time,” Willy says.

The farm’s run-off – comprised of 100ha of flats, 150ha native bush and the remainder easy-to-very-steep hills – runs 110 beef breeding cows and 500 romney breeding ewes on the steep areas and dairy support for replacement autumn and spring heifers on the easier country. On the cropable flat country at the support block they grow 6-15ha of maize, 5ha of barley silage and cut 900 bales of grass silage. “This year we’ve also grown 8ha of Pioneer lucerne,” Willy says. “We grazed this with 600 weaned lambs in December and have been able to cut 20 bales per hectare in February.” The farm has no particular challenges when it comes to disease or weather,

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“Even the storm earlier this season had little effect on our crop. Our contractor told us our crop was one of the taller, better crops he had seen.” The maize silage is mixed with grass silage, molasses, minerals and occasionally palm kernel in the mixer wagon and fed onto the farm’s feed pads to minimise wastage. Feeding extends from roughly the end of May until after Christmas, depending on the season’s grass growth. Despite his lengthy experience with maize, Willy works closely with Pioneer Regional Manager for Taranaki and Rangitikei, David McDonald. “Dave is really good,” Willy says. “I just ring him whenever I

like, for support or advice.” Willy also enjoys a good relationship with Farmlands Technical Field Officer, Jason Wing. “We’ve only been with Farmlands Wanganui for around 2 years but it’s been an enjoyable experience,” Willy says. “I have a great relationship with Jason – I can ring him at any time for any information I need about the crop. Having great support is a key factor for me.” Jason says his customers, like Willy, are encouraged to take advantage of Farmlands’ strong customer focus, advice and support. “I hear from Willy probably every second day,” Jason says. “He’s a very good farmer.” For more information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store. Article supplied by Pioneer.

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ANIMAL MANAGEMENT

Combatting selenium and cobalt deficiencies The trace element deficiencies of selenium and cobalt are well recognised in many regions of New Zealand. Deficiencies in these trace elements and the effect on livestock production and health is well documented with supplementation using a long acting source benefitting both the ewe and lambs. Long acting supplementation has been shown to be more beneficial than short acting ‘spike’ treatments. Deciding whether ewes, two-tooths and hoggets require a pre-lamb drench is not a particularly black and white exercise, with adult ewes being

more capable of managing a parasite challenge than ewe hoggets or twotooths. There are strong opinions for all options and in the end, you need to make the decision that is best for your farm. Factors like worm resilience or resistant genetics of your flock, grass covers, BCS twin or single pregnancy and pasture larval challenge all play a part in the decision-making process. There are situations when the use of long acting drenches is high risk (e.g. in situations with low refugia) and there are also management factors that can help to manage some of these risks (e.g. FECRT, primer and exit drenching).

The options that suit you will be unique to your farm – an effective parasite management plan incorporates the use of all the tools available including effective drenches. If there is a significant parasite challenge present mid-winter as indicated by faecal egg counts and BCS then treating earlier than pre-lamb may be more beneficial. Centramax is a production enhancing tool that may be suitable for your farm system, maximising the utilisation of feed offered and countering the effects of sub-clinical parasitism. When used as part of your parasite management plan and in conjunction with adequate nutrition, it can help boost production. In a continuous delivery mechanism, Centramax contains the anthelmintics abamectin and albendazole, along with trace elements selenium and cobalt. A major feature is killing susceptible adult and larval parasites for 100 days. This can improve the appetite of the treated sheep (the major production limiting mechanism seen when parasites are present), aiding with increasing body condition score (BCS) in light ewes and higher milk production, resulting in greater weaning weights of the lambs. A further possible benefit is less pasture contamination with parasite eggs, which can be an aid for sheep subsequently grazing these pastures by reducing their parasite challenge. Talk to your Farmlands Technical Field Officer for strategies to help determine the most productive use of these products in the farm system using the Wormwise® principles. Article supplied by Agritrade.

| Long acting supplementation has been shown to be more beneficial than short acting ‘spike’ treatments.

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DAIRY MANAGEMENT

New design simplifies milking liner choice Replacing liners at recommended intervals is an important job to protect milk quality, cow health and milking efficiency. With more than 100 different variations of liner used on New Zealand farms, it’s not always easy to know the right one for your situation. It’s taken time to get every detail right but as test farmers have already found, the latest dairy release from Skellerup NZ is worth waiting for. It is a new range of unique multi-fit milking liners that can be fitted to either standard (10-12mm) or large (13-14mm) claw milk inlet nipples. In other words, if you or your staff have ever found it time consuming and/or confusing picking the correct liner for your situation, there is now one less thing to have to remember. Multi-fit makes this process more convenient and more accurate, so you don’t waste time that could be put to good use on other farm requirements. When it comes to actually installing them, these liners have another important benefit – they are easier to physically fit to the claw, again saving time and reducing hassle. They also come with a splined bumper for improved resistance to impact damage, so they are more robust and less likely to get punctured if cows kick the claws off and stand on them.

| Replacing liners at recommended intervals is an important job to protect milk quality, cow health and milking efficiency.

National Manager, says the re-design

This was followed by the VacPlus

has allowed Skellerup to downsize its

Square M23 2 years later.

liner range from 14 different options to

Response to both was very positive

nine. These are capable of covering 90 percent of the different milking plant configurations on New Zealand farms. “We’re always looking for ways to simplify liner choice for farmers and their staff, to make it easier and faster without compromising results,” Perry says.

but successfully applying the design across the whole range meant going back to the drawing board more than once to get it right. “These were very small refinements but we had to be 100 percent sure multifit would work in most configurations, so it took time to prototype and

From 1st May 2018, all Skellerup

“We know there can be quite a bit

VacPlus Square and Reflex liners will feature the multi-fit design, with or without vacuum shut-off options.

of confusion around picking the part of smart milking. Multi-fit is

For more information, contact

Farmers who helped Skellerup trial the new concept appreciate both the convenience and the performance of multi-fit. Perry Davis, Skellerup NZ

our answer to this challenge.”

your Farmlands Technical Field

It’s no overnight success, however.

Officer or the friendly team at

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right liner and yet it’s such a key

Skellerup first rolled the concept out in 2011, with the Reflex M22.

test the different sizes for both VacPlus Square and Reflex liners.”

your local Farmlands store. Article supplied by Skellerup NZ.