Dairy Exporter August 2020 by NZ Farmlife Media

Learn, grow, excel

August 2020

A seat at the

Governance table

Broken shoulders in heifers Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Election 2020: Battle for the country 1

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24 HIGH STANDARDS IN A SENSITIVE ENVIRONMENT

CONTENTS MILKING PLATFORM 12 Chloe Davidson shares the joys and challenges of relocating business and family 13 Shiralee Seerden welcomes the extra business of a contract milking position 14 Covid-19 brought a range of challenges for Bridie Virbickas 12 NEW FARM, NEW HOME, TINY CHALLENGES

UPFRONT 16 General election: Battle for the country 21 Global Dairy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Brazil: Dairy farming in a land of contrasts 22 Market View: Dairy stabilises after huge lift

BUSINESS 24 High standards in a sensitive environment 28 Using a Kanban workplace management system to run a Canterbury farm. 35 Redesigning workplaces to make them attractive to new workers. 36 Zanda Award: Winning Coaster champions staff training

SYSTEMS 39 Shining through the drought 42 Cashing-in on the culls 28 MEETING WORKER EXPECTATIONS 4

45 CO Diary: GoDairy - Helping Kiwis get into dairying Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

SPECIAL REPORT:

GOVERNANCE: A SEAT AT THE TABLE 47 Good governance structure benefits farm business 50 Learning to govern effectively 52 Driving the strategy 57 Spreading experience 59 Diversity makes for better decisions 62 “DOING WHAT’S RIGHT” FOR THE WHOLE FARM WINS AWARDS

SPECIAL REPORT

60 Co-operative vs corporate governance

ENVIRONMENT 62 ‘Doing what’s right’ for whole farm wins awards 67 Accessing environmental funding

STOCK 70 Great soil and water management wins awards

Governance A seat at the table 47 Good governance structure benefits farm business 50 Learning to govern effectively 52 Driving the strategy 57 Spreading experience 59 Diversity makes for better decisions 60 Co-operative vs corporate governance

73 Bone injuries: Broken shoulders in heifers 75 DairyNZ: Take care using antibiotics for clinical mastitis 76 Vet Voice: Traffic lights for antibiotics 77 Milk replacers: To curd or not to curd? 78 Mycoplasma bovis: Biosecurity a priority to combat disease

YOUNG COUNTRY 80 Proactive leadership proves a winner 82 National dairy trainee winner ‘loves science’

DAIRY 101 84 The lowdown on good silage 46

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

RESEARCH WRAP 86 The secret of MUNBV

SOLUTIONS 87 Environment and animal welfare spur system change 88 Select Hereford bulls on merit 89 Maize silage, the ideal spring supplement

OUR STORY 82 DAIRY TRAINEE WINNER ‘LOVES SCIENCE’ Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Counting down to NZ Dairy Exporter’s centenary

DAIRY DIARY August 12 – DairyNZ mid-calving catch-ups over breakfast, brunch or lunch are a chance for locals to get together as well as discuss some of those common issues at calving time. Dates/ locations: August 12, Kaikohe; August 18, Opotiki; August 18, Gordonton; August 19, Hinuera; August 19, Puketurua; August 19, Edgecumbe; August 20, Ngatea; August 20, Pongakawa; August 25, Galatea; August 25, Tatuanui; August 26, Reporoa; August 26, Mangapiko; August 27, Kio Kio; August 27, Waihi; August 27, Ngakuru; August 28, Tirohanga; September 1, Wharepapa; September 8, Awhitu;. More? Visit www.dairynz. co.nz

August 27 – Lower North Island rural professional catch up is being held at the Manawatu Golf Club in Palmerston North. For networking opportunities and a regional update, plus sharing ideas to provide better outcomes for farmers. The event runs between 2pm and 5pm. More? Visit https://www.dairynz.co.nz/events/lower-northisland/lower-north-island-rural-professionalcatch-up-august/

September 22 – The launch of Southland’s Biz Start/Grow Progression Groups 2020-21 is being held at the Salvation Army Community Centre in Winton between 7pm and 9pm. Progression groups are designed for those who want to enhance their skills and career options. For further information visit https://www.dairynz. co.nz/events/southlandsouth-otago/southlandbiz-startgrow-progression-groups-2020-21launch/

August 23 – Entries close for the 2021 Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarships. The rural leadership programme has a global focus, designed to fast-track the development of emerging leaders in the agri-food sector. Each year up to five scholarships are awarded to individuals who are expected to assume positions of greater influence in their field in the future. To apply for a scholarship visit www.ruralleaders. co.nz

August 27 – An irrigation operator and manager training workshop is being run by Irrigation New Zealand in Ashburton. A combination of classroom learning and paddock practical application. More? go to https://www.irrigationnz.co.nz/ EventsAndTraining/UpcomingEvents

September 1 - Instead of onfarm focus days during Covid-19, the Lincoln University Dairy Farm hosts a virtual farm visit on Zoom on the first Tuesday of the month. It includes manager Peter Hancox and farm consultant Jeremy Savage. To view visit http://www. siddc.org.nz/lu-dairy-farm/focus-daysand-events/

September 15 – The Lincoln University Dairy Farm hosts a Zoom webinar on the third Tuesday of the month, covering a different Canterbury relevant topic each month. To view, visit http://www.siddc. org.nz/lu-dairy-farm/focus-days-andevents/

September 23 – Owl Farm near Cambridge is planning on holding its September focus day on farm. The demonstration farm is a joint venture between St Peter’s School and Lincoln University. Focus days are an opportunity to meet, network and share ideas while learning how Owl Farm is developing as a workable blueprint of sustainable, profitable dairying. More? Visit www.owlfarm. co.nz

October 4 – Entries close for the Waikato A and P Show which is being held November 1-3. Animals will be judged onfarm on October 30 and 31. For more information and to enter visit www.waikatoaandp.co.nz

October 14 – Preparing your business for Success is a SMASHrun event that aims to help farmers analyse their business so they can maximise their returns, as well as set structures in place to it can adapt to ongoing changes in the dairy industry. Two case studies will be presented with analysis of those businesses. Dates/locations: October 14, Northland; October 15, Bay of Plenty; October 21, Manawatu; October 22, Stratford. More? Visit www. smallerherds.co.nz

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Editor’s note

Smooth sailing through choppy waters

hether you are involved in a small farming operation or a large corporate or co-operative business, the smooth sailing and success of the business depends on good governance. At its heart governance is the process of leading, controlling and directing a business so that it delivers desired outcomes for the owners - so at board level you need to figure out what those desired outcomes are. Then you need to set a strategy for getting there and navigate the way of ensuring you and your team carry out the strategy - within the law, without blowing the budget and while being good employers. In our special report we take a look at governance and profile a couple of experienced farmer directors who say that getting the right people involved in governance of your enterprise is paramount. If you are wanting just one independent director or adviser then their character or personal style in dealing with others is really important as it can be quite divisive if you have the wrong person, says Fonterra director Peter McBride. Character and wisdom is right up there - you want someone with a broad knowledge and experience, but also insightfulness and clarity of thought - the ability to have learned through experience, he told Anne Lee. (pg47). Diversity around the board table is often talked about but Lindy Nelson says diversity goes beyond gender - it’s about ethnicity, experiences, capability and perspectives - and to work it has to be about inclusion. Diverse experience and viewpoints at a board table are of no use if they are not included in the discussion and decision-making (pg59). Early in my governance career I felt like one of the token ‘diverse genders’ around the board table and while we were welcomed, I didn’t really feel included by the old guard - it felt like a masterclass in “a pat on the head, thanks for coming, but you don’t really understand the issues…” I hope times are changing as the old guard shuffles off and boards realise the

importance of a more diverse mix in their governance team. If you think governance might be for you, read about how Bridie Virbickas decided to upskill in the area, by attending the Fonterra Governance Development programme (pg50). Governance training is a great idea and readily accessible including the new governance education offerings from the Co-operative Business NZ group (pg57). With the general election coming up we put our Wellington-based journalist Phil Edmonds on to taking a look at who is up for election or re-election with mud on their boots, and who indeed has boots of any sort at their back door (pg16). With just a matter of weeks to go, it’s important to do your research and make an informed decision on who you want to be steering us through the choppy waters of the Covid-19 pandemic, Good luck,

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SEPTEMBER 2020 ISSUE • SPECIAL REPORT: Pasture and herbs: • What’s hot and what’s not for regrassing this year? • New herbs and forage mixes for winter cropping • Accounting for plantain Our milk is mooving...Bella Vacca Jersey milk

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Congratulations to the winners of our June subscriber giveaway. • Winner of the new subscriber offer - Four Seasons Dung Beetle package, valued at $6900 - Tanya Bell, Shag Valley Station. • Winner of the existing subscriber offer - Single species Dung Beetle package, valued at $2300 - Linda Ellison, Te Puke. Thanks to Dung Beetle Innovations www.dungbeetles.co.nz

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Dairy Exporter Editor Jackie Harrigan P: 06 280 3165, M: 027 359 7781 jackie.harrigan@nzfarmlife.co.nz

New Zealand Dairy Exporter’s online presence is an added dimension to your magazine. Through digital media, we share a selection of stories and photographs from the magazine. Here we share a selection of just some of what you can enjoy. Read more at www.nzfarmlife.co.nz

Deputy editor Sheryl Brown, P: 021 239 1633 sheryl.brown@nzfarmlife.co.nz Lead sub-editor: Andy Maciver, P: 06 280 3166 Reporters Anne Hardie, P: 027 540 3635 verbatim@xtra.co.nz

PODCASTS: For all Dairy Banter Podcasts visit www.nzfarmlife.co.nz/tag/dairy-banter

Anne Lee, P: 021 413 346 anne.lee@nzfarmlife.co.nz Karen Trebilcock, P: 03 489 8083 ak.trebilcock@xtra.co.nz

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EPISODE 5 - HOW BODY CONDITION INFLUENCES REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE The latest episode in the podcast series with CRV Ambreed is up now. Sheryl Haitana chatted to the knowledgeable Jane Kay from DairyNZ in the latest CRV podcast about infertility in the NZ dairy herd and how to manage BCS to achieve better results. www.crv4all.co.nz/podcast/episode-5/ EPISODE 4 - ANGUS HASLETT: TAKING THE REINS AT CRV GLOBAL In this episode, Angus joins Sheryl Haitana from his home office to talk about his tenure with CRV Ambreed, the benefits of the Dutch-Kiwi relationship for NZ farmers, and his views on where the industry is heading in the next 10 years. EPISODE 3 - MAKING GOOD DECISIONS WITH MYHERD Sheryl Haitana talks with CRV IT manager Andrew Singers and the company’s herd testing manager Mark Redgate about the new tool and how herd testing data will be incorporated.

Andrew Swallow, P: 021 745 183 andrew@falveyfarm.co.nz Dairy Womens Network held a very successful virtual conference in May, check out the saved webinars here www.dwn.co.nz/dwn2020/ In June they are hosting online webinars on calf rearing, you can check them out here: www.dwn.co.nz/best-practice-and-vital-newresearch-focus-of-calf-rearing-webinar-series

MILK PAYOUT TRACKER:

2020/2021 Fonterra forecast price 7

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The NZ Dairy Exporter & Country-Wide are proud to support this fantastic initiative to help feed those in need. Dairy Exporter senior journalist Anne Lee talked to the farmers behind Meat the Need, Wayne Langford (Yolo Farmer) and Siobhan O’Malley (PukekoPastures) in our latest podcast - take a listen, visit meattheneed.org and help out if you can. www.soundcloud.com/ user-951516558/meat-the-need

6.50

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THE

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MILKING PLATFORM CANTERBURY

New farm, new home, tiny challenges Chloe Davidson outlines the joys and challenges of relocating business and family.

t’s been an extremely busy time for the Davidson family over the last few months! We’ve left our job behind, said hello to uncertainty, moved to our forever farm, moved our business and moved into a tiny home. When we look back at what we’ve achieved over the last few months we can’t really believe it. We’ve overcome many challenges and have grabbed life by the horns! We’ve never been the ones to do things by halves and this hasn’t been any different. We are now working 100% for ourselves and it feels better than we could’ve ever imagined. Every hour that we put into the day is to make a better life for our family – what could be better? With the support of an amazing farm owner we managed to secure our forever home for Roan and our family, which was extremely exciting and beyond our wildest dreams! It meant that we were able to begin developing a piece of land to suit our needs, knowing that we were still going to be here in the distant future. Working our own piece of land is rosy but it definitely has not come without its challenges. So far to date our biggest challenge has been trying to minimise the effect a terribly dry autumn has had on our business. At our previous farm our girls had been enjoying a delicious variety of grasses, which helped them to produce delicious milk that our customers had become accustomed to. Consistency in our product is our number one priority, so we decided in March to re-grass a number of paddocks in a similar variety of grasses. The next few months brought with it either no rain for weeks or constant rain for days – neither ideal conditions for optimal grass growth. So the plan to use these paddocks in June became July, then August and now the 12

beginning of September. With minimal feed on the ground our only choice has been to buy in high quality feed in the form of lucerne and grass, and a lot of it! While it’s definitely taken its toll on the bank account it has meant we have been able to maintain supply, which is key for us as we’re in such an early phase in our business. Another challenge we’ve faced has been transitioning our family into a 9m by 3m tiny home. I have to say that in hindsight it was very fortunate that I had a positive attitude about the prospect of moving into a tiny home because it’s definitely been tough. Perhaps the biggest challenge of living in a tiny home has been the composting toilet, not helped by the fact that all that separates it from the living areas is two sliding doors that have a shocking success rate of being able to keep bad smells in! It’s fair to say that the composting toilet has definitely been #1 reason for wanting to get a divorce over the last few months, haha. Coming in at a very close #2 though is the gas oven that didn’t work for the first few weeks! I’ve been millimeters away from losing my lashes and brows as well as having to get takeaways after a couple of meals ended up half cooked thanks to my favourite little three-year-old turning the gas off midway through the cooking time! If you asked me if I’d swap this for a comfortable, spacious three bedroom home five minutes down the road, my answer would always be no because there’s nothing better than waking up surrounded by our little slice of imperfect perfection. And let’s be real – living in a tiny home will make the home we eventually build in years to come just that little bit sweeter! Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

MILKING PLATFORM NORTHERN HAWKE’S BAY

The journey, not the destination Shiralee Seerden welcomes the extra business of a contract milking position to run alongside the family sharemilking operation.

hen deja vu comes a knock’in offering a contract milking position to run simultaneous with our 50:50 sharemilking job, we had the advantage of knowing we had successfully accomplished this seven years ago in Norsewood, with practically identical number of cows and the vacancy opening up at the end of April. Once the normal facts and figures were sorted, finding the right employees at this time of year also had to be a high consideration as to whether we signed on the dotted line. In days gone by our two eldest and myself were able to take more active roles if needed to fill in any employment shortfalls. Fortunately this scenario still works for us, however succession has seen children one and two replaced by three and four. We place high value on educating our children in the trade of farming. While we have no expectations for them to remain in the industry, having skills in the backbone of our society is important to us for three reasons; having supporters

in other work sectors who have had grit in their teeth are more likely to share a morsel of veracity if they choose to come back into farming they already have a heads-up; thirdly with debt a huge burden on young people, ours are able to save and take advantage of the bosses and facilities! Ironically it was through the last recession we first ran both farms. The contract milking position and Fonterra’s last Guaranteed Milk Price worked well in our favour, still it took a few years to work back to where we were before the hit. But by then everything had changed, banks with tighter lending, environmental issues escalating and the world looked different. Move forward today with Covid-19 things look more intense and the Guaranteed Milk Price is back! True to form staffing in May was taxing, delivering us a skeleton crew, young and fairly inexperienced. It was risky, but do-able with a guise for me as gap-filler. Murphy’s Law kicked the head off our skeleton with an employee abdicating. Still with two weeks before planned start of calving it was not the time to start panicking!

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Better the loss now when we have time to think rationally, and restructuring is easier when you’re not up to your elbows in membranes. Instantaneously my inconsequential role changed to fulltime manager. With the cobwebs cleared out of my Red Bands I kicked it up a notch, driving the team two hours away to attend DairyNZ CalvingSmart. Participating in training myself seemed the wise thing to do after sitting on the sidelines for so long, besides it’s always helpful to know what our personnel are taught. Getting everyone on the same page from the beginning has been our goal; at the same time having fun along the way is part of our recipe to strengthen relationships. Primary ITO next entered the scene with a house call, offering courses to be run later in the year, succeeded by a vet converging on farm; with Powerpoint in tow parallel to practical hands-on training. Even Rob was illuminated on a couple of facts; who said “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”? Discussion group allowed the staff interaction with agricultural professionals and neighbours, whilst the calibre of dialogue meant they couldn’t digest everything they individually each learnt something new. Rounding up our six weeks of education was DairyNZ Pasture Plus. Did we achieve our objective? I hope so, this is a journey not a destination. 13

MILKING PLATFORM BAY OF PLENTY

Bridie and her dad Bernard celebrating the first day the cows were on the pad.

My beautiful feedpad Like many farmers, Covid-19 brought a range of challenges for Bridie Virbickas.

y wonderful 600-cow feedpad and effluent system were only about two weeks away from being finished when we went into lockdown. It had been in the making for an entire year. Luckily, last season was kind to me and I was able to manage without it. However, as of midApril, with only a week’s notice, I was to be autumn calving 70 carryovers and milking through winter. Usually, the home farm calves the carryovers in the autumn and milks them through with late calving cows and empties. The bull calves are reared and sold as yearlings along with 270 spring-born bull calves. However, the prolonged drought this summer meant the feed position of the home farm was not desirable to be milking through the winter months. My sister and brother-in-law, Heather and Kelvin Langley who contract milk the 900-cow farm, made the decision not to calve the carryovers to set the farm up better for the coming season. The options were: I calve the carryovers and winter milk or send the carryovers to the works. There was no way I was going to let that happen. 14

Two of my favourite cows were in that mob and if I was going to calve two cows, I might as well calve 70. It was also a good year to be stuck on the farm all winter, thanks to Covid, I wasn’t able to travel. The addition of 50 hectares to my milking platform at the beginning of the 19/20 season, and continuing to milk the same number of cows, meant I could stay all grass for longer. With the new feedpad and extra land, the intention was to increase cow numbers for the 20/21 season and the sudden addition of 70 carryovers in April, certainly sped that up. We have increased the herd from 560 to 690, milking through two 22-aside herringbone sheds. Transitioning from ‘thinking of drying off and chipping away at jobs over winter’ to ‘I start calving in a week and I need to build up enough feed to winter more cows than usual AND winter milk’ was a really stressful few days. The use of feed budgets and advice from my consultant Mark Dodd has been priceless and reassuring that I could make it work. It all depended on what the winter would bring. Usually my farm would not be suitable for winter milking as it gets so wet, so if the weather was crap and winter milking was

not a good idea, at least I would have given the carryovers a chance. Luckily, the growing conditions this winter so far have been amazing with growth rates consistently above 30kg DM/ ha/day through July and I have even got a bit of a tan!! This has meant I was able to be all grass until I finally needed to start using the feedpad in mid July. Having the feedpad finished and ready to roll but too much grass to be able to use it was torture.

Transitioning from ‘thinking of drying off and chipping away at jobs over winter’ to ‘I start calving in a week and I need to build up enough feed to winter more cows than usual AND winter milk’ was a really stressful few days.

The reticulated green water floodwash is amazing and keeps it looking brand new. My cows also love it. My two new members of staff, Dani and Dan are absolute troopers and have made this season super fun so far. This year has also been full of change which has made it challenging and exciting.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

KINGST_1084_NZDE_B

Enhance calf immunity. Double survival rates*

/MULTIMINPerformanceReady

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz 2020 *Bates et| al.August (2019) Veterinary Record. Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, No.A9374 Â© Virbac 2020

INSIGHT

UPFRONT ELECTION

Battle for the country heats up... in Eketahuna.

Battle for the country Rural confidence was at a record low before Covid-19 struck. Phil Edmonds talks to current and prospective rural members of parliament about the issues in the upcoming general election.

sk farmers for views on how they’re represented in parliament and there’s a chance, albeit a reasonably good change, the reaction will be unfavourable. Being suspicious of politicians is not a trait unique to farmers of course, but over the past three years there’s been plenty of negative sentiment expressed about the Government failing to listen. This is no better evidenced than in rural confidence survey findings. A Rabobank survey released prior to Covid-19 showed 91% of the farmers who expected the agricultural economy to deteriorate cited Government policy as the key reason for holding this 16

view – the highest proportion in the survey’s history. Some cause for that wallowing sentiment has been attributed to farming and rural community voices not being reasonably considered in Wellington. But is this fair, and what prospects are there for it to change in the next parliament? The accusation of not being listened to is one Masterton-based MP Kieran McAnulty and Labour spokesperson for rural communities, says is not the case. “It’s fair to say that in the past there hasn’t been a strong rural presence in Labour’s caucus, but there is now, which is something the party made sure of when forming its list in 2017. I have no doubt I

was picked in the position I was because I was able to bring a strong connection to rural communities.” McAnulty says Labour has a specific rural caucus, consisting of cabinet ministers Damien O’Connor and Stuart Nash, MPs Kiri Allan from East Coast, Jo Luxton from Rangitata, and others who might be based in an urban area but have rural focuses including Liz Craig in Invercargill and Angie Warren-Clark and Jan Tinetti in Bay of Plenty. The group meets every sitting week and reports to the whole parliamentary party every caucus as a standing agenda item and is able to influence policy positions. On the face of it, this group might

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

‘It is certainly 100% collaborative now that we have National’s TaranakiKing Country MP Barbara Kuriger as chair. When she took over from David Bennett (who has become the opposition agriculture spokesperson), we sat down and said let’s put politics aside and work constructively.’

not appear to be ‘farmer central’ but its significance as an influential voice has been endorsed by PR expert Mark Blackham, who noted last year its members may not have direct farming backgrounds, but they consciously want to engage and represent rural voices and make a mark. On the other side of the house, there’s no sense of a deficit in farmer representation, but there are still challenges. National MPs have always dominated the representation of rural New Zealand in terms of electorates and there is an expectation that National provides the voice of farmers in parliament as a matter of course. Former NZ Young Farmer of the Year and first-term Waikato MP Tim Van de Molen, however, acknowledges farming voices are in a minority. “If you look at parliament, it’s a reflection of broader New Zealand – the numbers of people involved in agriculture are falling and it’s fair to say that in our party we haven’t got the same connection to farming that we might have had 50 years ago.”

Labour’s Kieran McAnulty.

While he doesn’t have cause to educate MPs in his own party, he suggests that as a farming MP he does feel the need to remind those in Wellington that farming is evolving, and methods used now are not the same as those used 10 or 20 years ago. One of parliament’s other first-term farmer MPs, NZ First’s Otago-based Mark Patterson, has a similar sense of that responsibility. “It’s a constant challenge to get farmers' concerns heard because we are a minority, and that leads to a lack of awareness at times about how things wash up onfarm. There’s only Damien O’Connor and myself on the Government benches that have come from a farming background and the Minister for Agriculture has been an MP for 27 years, so it’s been a while since he’s pulled the boots on.” It is difficult to definitely state the number of MPs in parliament that have farming experience, and with it an ability to speak with authority on the community’s concerns. MPs’ biographies can tend to be embellished with wide-ranging life experiences, and they are of course always eager to preface their views on any given issue with a reference to their credibility. Recently, arch-urbanite and National finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith reminded listeners to a rural media programme that he was a townie, ‘but his mother’s family were cockies from Waikato’. In some senses effective politics is not just about advocating for your own constituents but building coalitions of shared voices, and despite the divisiveness of some Government policy proposals during this term, there have been examples where MPs with rural interests have worked together for the national farming community. Of all the select committees that consider proposed legislation the Primary Production Committee has typically

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Agriculture Minister, Labour’s Damien O’Connor.

been one of the more agreeable. Current members Kieran McAnulty and Mark Patterson both believe there have been instances within the last three years where legislation has been improved with rural communities in mind, and that has been a direct result of collaboration across parties. “It is certainly 100% collaborative now that we have National’s TaranakiKing Country MP Barbara Kuriger as chair. When she took over from David Bennett (who has become the opposition agriculture spokesperson), we sat down and said let’s put politics aside and work constructively,” McAnulty says. Among the Committee’s cross-party achievements, McAnulty picks out the way it addressed livestock rustling. “Rangitikei MP Ian McKelvie presented his bill and there was support in the committee for it, but unfortunately the way it was drafted, the outcome couldn’t 17

be achieved, and the Government had to pull its support. But subsequently we worked to incorporate the intent of the bill into the Crimes Act review and get it across the line. It was a good example of collaboration, to the benefit of rural communities and was politics at its best.” Patterson says the committee is incredibly productive and a constructive space for farming issues to be examined. There’s been some excellent recent examples of that including work on the Farm Debt Remediation bill and the Dairy Industry Restructuring Amendment Bill, which was passed into law at the end of July. “Both pieces of legislation have been changed due to constructive discussions where everyone wants the best outcome, and everyone working together to put the best piece of legislation before the parliament.” That said, it wouldn’t be politics if there wasn’t disagreement, and there has been plenty of visible signs of division which reflect a widely held view that some key policy decisions have not been made with farming interests in mind. As a former member of the Primary Production select committee, Van de Molen’s observation is that while MPs may share farming interests, there remain clear lines between parties on how they are best represented. “Most in parliament understand that farming has a key role to play in New

National’s Tim Van de Molen.

NZ First’s Mark Patterson.

Zealand, but there are varying views on how it should be managed. There are plenty of different perspectives by party on environmental issues and who should be taking responsibility for that. “I don’t think rural voices are being heard well enough by the Government, which is primarily representing an urban constituency, and this has an impact on policy decisions. We’ve seen that from the start, with biodiversity and freshwater.” Clearly the Government’s moves to address freshwater quality has been a key dividing line among parties. “The environmental issue is the big one and front of mind for most in farming. We have got to make sure from a legislative perspective, we are providing the scope for our farmers to adapt. Not just waving a big stick,” Van de Molen says. In contrast, McAnulty (predictably) believes the Government’s freshwater approach has landed in a place that has taken account of farmers' concerns. “We were obviously wanting to find a way to achieve what everyone wants. Right throughout we had opponents who said Labour hates farmers. The initial reaction was hostile but by the end of the process we were talking about nuts and bolts. In some instances, the direct feedback from farmers contributed

towards the proposals being modified. “We have listened to farmers, taken their concerns on board, put requirements on urban authorities to improve as well, and found a middle ground.” Looking to the election and beyond, Patterson and Van de Molen agree water quality and water storage will be top of mind for farmers considering their vote and what the years ahead might look like under the next Government. Van de Molen says water storage will be something National will be looking closely at. In addition he says National will be looking at workforce issues, and whether we have the right mix of migrant workers coming in to support the industry. He notes the Government has done some good work around making apprenticeships free, and the work to improve the attractiveness of dairy jobs with DairyNZ is a good step. But National will be wanting to look again at the move to centralise vocational training and take away regional knowledge. Patterson says water storage will be a key one. “There has been a perception that irrigation just results in mass dairy conversions when that is not necessarily the case at all. We are now looking at a much more diverse use, so that many more options and payoffs for the wider community are significant – not just onfarm but into the wider community.” In terms of policy, Patterson is also firmly behind the direction presented in the Government’s primary industries ‘Fit for a Better World’ strategy, which focuses on boosting exports by raising the value of the food and fibre NZ produces. A further key focus is improving pathways to farm ownership. “It is the absolute cornerstone of rural communities and we need to re-create that pathway so people can come in without having a family background and own their own piece of dirt. Rural communities are much stronger when they see regeneration in farm ownership, and it’s primarily young people who drive the innovation onfarm and are open to changes that we need to make.” Labour’s McAnulty is excited by the prospect of being able to address one of the other key concerns raised by farmers during this term of Government – the increasing incidence of full farm

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Pasture & Forage News

August 2020

Get back in clover Oversowing clover seed this spring can provide significant benefits in two situations. The first is where only ryegrass was sown in new pastures in autumn, with no clover seed in the mix. This practice is becoming more popular as it is useful for weed control. The key to success with this method is adding clover seed in spring.

Take a walk: time to find out exactly what’s growing (or not) on farm at the moment No matter how busy you are this month, there’s one job your future self will thank you for doing as soon as you can. It doesn’t cost anything but time, and it could make the difference between growing enough feed for the months ahead, or not. The job is this: Walk the farm and check all your pastures. Take note of weeds, bare ground, low clover content, and reduced ryegrass populations. Build a clear picture of how much DM you won’t grow this season after a dry summer/autumn, a wet winter, or both. Particularly in the North Island, few paddocks have escaped the past 6-8 months without loss of long-term productivity. If you don’t check them now, the true extent of the problem may not become clear until spring growth doesn’t take off like usual. Some paddocks may still have good ryegrass, but little to no clover. You can fix this by first understanding what is causing the low clover content, e.g soil compaction, soil nutrition, over-grazing. If it’s not soil related, then from August to October, oversow coated

Kotoku clover seed (4-5 kg/ha), either 1-3 days before, or 3 days after grazing. Some paddocks may be so full of weeds or thinned out they need to be fully renewed through springsown crop. Others may be weedy, thin or damaged to the extent they need under or oversowing. In summer wet and irrigated areas, ryegrass seed works very well in these situations – include clover seed if needed. In summer dry areas, where ryegrass isn’t the best choice, oversowing Captain plantain with clover can work very well. In all cases, failing to plan is planning to fail. You need to organise seed and contractors early, so you can start restoring your feed platform as soon as soils warm up. If you leave it until you have a noticeable shortage of growth, weeds will take over and paddocks keep going backwards. Visit our website for more.

facebook.com/BarenbrugNZ barenbrug.co.nz 449 955 Dairy Exporter0800 | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

@BarenbrugNZ

The second situation is where paddocks or parts of the farm don’t contain the desired level of clover in existing pastures. Early spring is the ideal time to oversow clover in both instances, with multiple benefits. White clover enhances animal production. Feed quality is high and it is an important source of protein and ME in summer. Research has shown that given a choice, cows will eat more legume and each kg DM gives 30% more milk than grass. Clover can also fix 25-30 units of N for every t DM/ha grown, improving total pasture production. In pastures with 10% clover content, growing 15t DM/ha, that equates to 37.5kg N/year. If you have 30% clover content in the same pasture, it is 112.5kg N/year.

‘If I get in, I will not go with the intention of sitting at the back of the room. I am going to stand up for the people that have surrounded me my whole life. We have absolutely got to make sure we are heard and that the policies decisions aren’t detrimental to us.’ SPOTLIGHT ON THE WAIRARAPA ELECTORATE

The Wairarapa electorate is the fourth-largest in the North Island. In addition to the communities from Featherston to Masterton, it incorporates the Tararua towns of Pahiatua, Woodville, Dannevirke, and Norsewood, and the Central Hawke's Bay towns of Waipawa, and Waipukurau. In the 2017 election, retiring National candidate Alastair Scott attracted 16,500 votes, ahead of Labour’s McAnulty with 13,600. This time, the seat promises to be one to watch with the new National candidate Butterick facing McAnulty and current Minister of Defence and NZ First MP Ron Mark. The Greens will be represented by former Wellington City mayor Celia WadeBrown. McAnulty says: “Essentially it is still a two-horse race. The Wairarapa seat has not always been National, and Labour has typically done well in second terms of Government and when there have been surges in party support. The Wairarapa electorate is a good place for Labour to promote its commitment to rural communities. “Taratahi is a key issue in the electorate, and it has meant so much to the region. The process to re-establish it as a training centre following its closure has been frustrating but short-term courses have started, since Covid-19. I am pleased that it will be up and running again soon.” Butterick says: “Post-Covid-19, the Wairarapa electorate is all about businesses and jobs, and water is absolutely critical. In the Wairarapa seat, water equals jobs. It’s an enduring spend and an enduring investment.

conversions to forestry. Labour has a policy it is promoting, one developed 14 months ago, but was unable to progress without the support of NZ First. Labour says it will revise the National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry to require forestry blocks larger than 50 hectares on ‘elite soils’ to get resource consent, a move that Federated Farmers say is a step in the right direction. “If we are successful at the election, we will have a process of consultation like with any other issue. While people might not whole-heartedly agree with what we are proposing there will be an opportunity to listen to those views, and if we can make it more workable we will do that, but the point is we don’t want highly valuable pasture land converted to forestry.” As to the prospect of a stronger farming voice in the next parliament to carry on the work done by those there at the moment, NZ First’s Patterson has some concerns. “It does concern me that safe rural seats are increasingly taken up by people without hands-on farming experience. And we’re about to lose more with the retirements of National MPs Nathan Guy, David Carter and Amy Adams. People that are actually coming off or living onfarm being replaced by people with more tenuous links. Not that they are bad MPs but farming is still a huge part of our future, particularly now when it is the only part of the economy that has really got the wind in its sails. Those voices need to be heard, particularly when we are coming up against new challenges.” Among those mindful of Patterson’s concern, and hoping to do something about it is the Wairarapa electorate’s new National candidate Mike Butterick, who has been the Meat and Wool Chair of Wairarapa Federated Farmers and was the original spokesperson for the provincial lobby group ‘Fifty Shades of Green’. Butterick is full of purpose in wanting to speak up for rural communities, who he feels have been let down in parliament. “A disappointing outcome over the past

National’s Wairarapa electorate candidate Mike Butterick.

three years is that farmers have become a bit bewildered. Despite being world class in what we do, farming communities feel like they have been unfairly picked on. And as a farmer, I don’t think our story has been heard, and possibly been hijacked by a small minority. As farmers we’ve made significant investment in terms of environmental initiatives, but it seems to be ignored. We are very good custodians of our land and we need a bit of balance back on that. “If I get in, I will not go with the intention of sitting at the back of the room. I am going to stand up for the people that have surrounded me my whole life. We have absolutely got to make sure we are heard and that the policies decisions aren’t detrimental to us. “I like to think I’ll be able to bring a grassroots approach. I know there will be surprises and frustrations but politics is about relationships, just as running a business is. It’s about being able to get on with people and changing the conversation if your message is sensible and based on reality. My sole motivation is to get good outcomes for the electorate, and by default all of provincial New Zealand.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

GLOBAL DAIRY BRAZIL

Brazilian cows: Cow breeds vary as the country spans tropical (in the central) and temperate (southern) regions.

Dairy farming in a land of contrasts Words by: Wagner Beskow

razil is a huge dairy products market with 212 million people consuming the equivalent of 35.2 billion litres of milk per year from a variety of dairy products, 97% of which are supplied domestically and exports seldom reach 1% of national production. So how competitive are these farmers and how do they produce milk? Approximately 80% of the farms rely on an extent of grazing that can be compared to New Zealand systems 3 to 5, milked twice a day. Concentrate options abound, similar to those found in the USA, ranging from $204 to $526/t. Milk has always been paid for by volume so milk solids content is low, averaging 3.8% fat and 3.2% crude protein, and valued at $0.42/l in the last 12 months – equivalent to $6/kg MS. Some companies do pay a bonus for milk solids content (percentage, not weight) but the main factor determining farm gate

Transpondo, senior researcher and consultant Wagner Bestow.

price is volume. Thus, larger producers do get higher prices, a politically hot subject justified only by precarious municipal roads and long distances that hugely affect pickup costs. The other 20% of the farms run on semiconfined and confined systems (free stall and composting barns with cows milked three times a day), where concentrate reliance can be as high as 50% of the cows’ diet on a DM basis. The reasons include heat stress, topography, lameness, mud, wide grass growth variations within and

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

between years, but are given mainly by those who, for cultural reasons, do not master or like grazing. Typically milk is produced by small family units on 20 to 40 ha of land, rarely above 100 ha. Production ranges from 0.1 to 1.2 million litres per year from machine milking 12 to 40 cows per labour unit, this at 1.5 to 4 per farm. In contrast, the 100 largest farms produce an average of 7.6 million litres, the largest of them reaching 27.4 million litres per year on a free-stall system connected to a rotary shed milking 320 cows/hour. Notwithstanding that, labour efficiency is low even on large farms, requiring one labour unit to only 40-70 cows. Most milk originates from the Southeast, South and Central regions, in decreasing order of volume. Production is year round with the odd seasonal farms by choice. The South is predominantly subtropical and temperate in places so has no dry season, but the rest of Brazil is tropical and dry between April and September. Annual rainfall ranges from 800 to 2,000mm and temperature from -7°C (South) to 42°C (everywhere except above 700m). A typical tropical farm milks Girolando cows (Gir x Holstein) yielding 2,400 l/305 day lactation or 3,000 l/ha/year (dry stock land and milking platform included): in the South, cows are typically Holstein (10% Jersey) yielding 3,700 l/305 day lactation and 5,500 l/ha/year. With negative to 3% return on equity, these families barely make a living. Some are adopting changes but many are quitting dairy, so a significant free-market selection is taking place with all the pain and arguments it can bring but is widely accepted as necessary. “Dairy farming is not for everyone”. In the next article we will address those who changed their management and views and are now producing from 15,000 to 30,000 l/ha/year, reaping benefits such as 10 to 35% return on equity. How is that being achieved, what did they change, and how far can these farmers get? 21

INSIGHT

UPFRONT MARKET VIEW

Dairy stabilises after huge lift Words by: Amy Castleton

Dairy commodity prices 7000

US$/tonne

fter a shock lift in dairy commodity prices early in July the market has now moderated to some degree and feels reasonably stable, at least in Oceania. At the July 7 Global Dairy Trade (GDT) event prices jumped 8.3%, driven by a 14% soar in the price of whole milk powder (WMP). At the July 21 event prices eased 0.7% overall. WMP was up slightly more (+0.6%) but most other commodities lost value. Looking forward, most in the market expect prices to flatten or decline through the remainder of the calendar year. Demand for milk powders is variable depending on the buying region. Those that are coming out of lockdown have reasonable demand, while demand is less steady from those that are either still in lockdown or going back into one. Demand from China has been good. Data out at the end of July did show that China’s WMP imports were down 5.5% year on year in

6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 Jun 18

Dec 18 WMP

Jun 19 SMP

Dec 19 AMF

Jun 20

Butter

June. However, there have been to be directed more towards some delays in shipments, the food service industry. which may be the cause of Prices for both butter and the decline as buying has anhydrous milkfat are now been good according to at their lowest levels since market participants. New mid-2016. Zealand’s June WMP exports The supply side of the jumped 21%, including a market is reasonably stable. 3.8% increase in volume sent The Northern Hemisphere is Amy Castleton. now past its peak and the Southern to China, so we would expect to see an increase in China’s import Hemisphere is just starting to volumes in coming months. come out of the trough of its season. US Skim milk powder (SMP) demand is production was up just 0.5% year on year more variable than that for WMP. Demand in June. European production was flat in from South East Asia in particular has May, up just 0.03% year on year. Australian started to drop as several countries have production was up 6% year on year in gone back into lockdown and economies May, with production now having grown struggle. Buyers are starting to look to every month since December. However, purchase the cheapest product available, it will take much longer for Australian which is more likely to be SMP from the production to recover back to where US or the EU because Oceania products they were a few seasons ago as the dairy usually attract a premium. industry has fallen quite far in that time. The fat side of the market continues to In NZ, June production was up just 2% be more heavily affected as food service year on year. While a reasonable result, continues to either operate at a reduced this figure is a much smaller growth capacity or not at all. Butter is certainly rate for June than we have seen for the heavily affected, though in some instances past several seasons. There have been processors have been able to move to more a reasonable number of winter milk retail sized product than bulk product. contracts picked up but it seems that Cream, cream cheese and mozzarella are June still saw some hangover from the also impacted as these products also tend drought. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

BUSINESS SENSITIVE AREAS

“I’m pretty proud of my cows. From the time we bought our first 30 cows and all these years of breeding and culling, it’s good to see them milking well now and to have the potential to do more,” says Carlos.

High standards in a sensitive environment Careful management of hygiene, effluent, water and stock are keys to success for a sharemilking couple, as Elaine Fisher explains. Photos by Alan Gibson.

he dairy is a food factory and, as such, hygiene should be of the highest standards, according to Rerewhakaaitu dairy farmers Carlos and Bernice Delos Santos. “I tell our staff that you should be able to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner off the concrete floor in the dairy and not feel disgusted about it,” says Carlos – and he’s not joking. The couple’s commitment to cleanliness 24

and hygiene has seen them win major regional and national awards. In 2017 when they won the Central Plateau Share Farmer of the year award and went on to be runners-up in the New Zealand Share Farmer of the Year, Bernice and Carlos took the Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene merit awards in both. It was the Delos Santos’ high standards that so impressed the judges in the awards, with Share Farmer head judge Neil Gray

saying in 2017: "We walked into their cowshed and couldn't believe it was over 30 years old, it looked fantastic. They lived and breathed their philosophy that the cowshed was the place where they produce the finest quality milk that goes onto supply food for the rest of the world". Today the same detailed procedures the couple applied to that dairy, to ensure it operated safely and to the highest hygiene standards, are followed in the 54-bail

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Top: General view of the dairy sheds. Above: Carlos (right) pictured with his family in the milking shed. From left; Cara (3), Bernice, Claire (7) and Carl (10). Above, right: Carlos sets up the battery operated latch to let the cows walk themselves to the farm dairy - he has minimised lameness by letting the cows take their own time.

FARM FACTS:

• Farm name: Dairy no. 1 • Owners: Onuku Maori Lands Trust • Location: Rerewhakaaitu – south east of Rotorua • Area: 230ha: 205ha effective • Topography: Gently rolling • Herd: 630 peak milked (3.07 cows per ha) • Production: 1146kg MS/ha and 401kg MS/cow (585 cows peak last year) • BW: 130: PW: 160 • System 2 – 12% imported feed

herringbone dairy on the Rerewhakaaitu farm. Last season they moved from the 140ha Ngakuru property, where they were sharemilking 350 cows, to the 230ha (205 effective) Onuku Maori Lands Trust owned farm at Rerewhakaaitu, south east of Rotorua. There they are 50:50 sharemilking a crossbred herd of 630 cows, producing 235,000 MS from 585 cows last season. “I’m pretty proud of my cows. From the time we bought our first 30 cows and all these years of breeding and culling, it’s good to see them milking well now and to have the potential to do more,” says Carlos. “We were milking twice a day for most parts of this season and were not too affected by the drought. Our cows came from a farm which was steep where they had to do a lot of walking up and down hills. Here it is gently rolling country and the walking is easier, so they are producing

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

more milk. The cows shifted and adopted well to their new home.” The dairy is also a step up from the smaller, older shed on their previous farm. It has Protrack automated drafting gates, automatic cup removers and teat sprayers, meaning it can be operated by two staff. “We milk in two herds and have battery operated latches on the gates so cows walk themselves to and from the dairy. It took a week or so to train the cows but once they got used to it, it worked well, and we have a lot less lameness.” Hot wash water in the dairy is recycled where possible, particularly during calving when it is used to wash calf feeders and trailers. There is a rainwater diversion system to ensure excess fresh water doesn’t end up in the 1million m3 lined effluent pond. Effluent is irrigated onto around 40ha using a two-pod irrigation system. “It’s low volume and we shift them quite regularly and use timers to minimise 25

over-application and to spread on as much ground as possible.” The farm operates as System 2 with palm kernel brought in during spring and autumn. Summer and winter crops are grown as supplements too. “This year we grew 9ha of turnips and 6ha of kale and swedes. The animals love the turnips, they hold their production really well.” The soil is the fertile Rotomahana mud, a material discharged during the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera. Today they are what are termed as rudimentary humus soils, which have developed since the eruption, and produce good pastures of ryegrass and white clover. “These soils are very fertile but need careful management as they can get muddy during rain and cows can cause damage due to pugging,” says Carlos. “The problem is the mud dries hard and if you don’t get the timing right it’s difficult to fix the damage. We send about 200-400 cows a year to a nearby runoff that the Trust co-owns, to lessen the number of cows between June-July. It allows us to build up grass for calving as well.” The farm is in an ecologically sensitive area, close to Lake Rerewhakaaitu. “The Trust has fenced out all the waterways and in terms of nitrogen we only used 51 units of N/ha last year, which is quite low compared with many farms. “We have our own spreader and we try and follow the cows so we don’t do the whole farm at once. We also don’t apply when we know there’s heavy rain to avoid

Carlos walks through a paddock of happy cows feeding on a crop of kale and turnips.

nitrogen leaching. Another thing the Trust has done to reduce its environmental footprint was to convert one of its former dairy farms to sheep milking.” The farm’s water comes from a bore, and water meters have recently been installed to ensure the allocated water take is not exceeded. The drought that hit farmers in the Waikato, Hawke’s Bay and Northland so hard was not as serious on their farm. “We did get a dry spring and it’s been dry through summer, but these soils hold moisture well and the grass kept growing. We made silage early on, which helps with feed.” Pasture quality is important to Carlos who uses LIC SPACE for pasture

monitoring. “It saves me a lot of time particularly during calving when there is a lot going on.” He also has his own seed drill to re-sow paddocks with perennial ryegrass, particularly those used for crops. “The challenge is to get the job done on time. When the cows finish a crop paddock I try to follow with the roller tiller and then get the seed on so we have new grass within a couple of weeks.” Carlos and Bernice operated their previous farm with the help of casual staff. Today they have two full-time staff, and Bernice, as well as looking after their growing family, takes care of the calves and the administration of their business. The Covid-19 lockdown, which saw schools close in March, meant the Delos

A rainwater diversion keeps excess fresh water out of the new effluent pond.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

When the cows finish a crop paddock I try to follow with the roller tiller and then get the seed on so we have new grass within a couple of weeks Santos children Carl, 10, Claire, 7, and Cara 3 were home full-time. “It was a change for our family, and in some ways quite nice as we didn’t have to worry about dropping the children to the bus or going anywhere. We did try to teach them a little during that time but didn’t stress too much about it,” says Carlos. The two staff, Malcom Padilla and John Nistal, who share accommodation, formed a “bubble” and the Delos Santos a second one, keeping their distance and everyone paying increased attention to hygiene. However, overall, lockdown made little difference to life and work on the farm. Like the couple, their current staff are Filipino but Carlos says nationality was not a factor in the decision to hire them. “We are happy to give the opportunity to enter the dairy industry and enjoy the benefits we have to anyone who is willing to work hard and learn.” Bernice and Carlos are ideal role models for what can be achieved in the dairy industry. In 2001 Carlos, newly arrived from the Philippines and short of cash, borrowed $140 to buy a pushbike so he could get to a relief milking job at Mangakino. “I came to New Zealand as a mechanical engineering student and got into farming almost accidentally because I needed work.” Through that initial relief milking role Carlos discovered an aptitude for farming and progressed to farm assistant and then herd manager for 1000 cows. From 2006 to 2007 he was assistant manager on a 750-cow property. Bernice, who was a registered nurse in the Philippines, came to New Zealand in 2007 and by 2008 the couple were married and variable-order sharemilking a 300-cow herd. “I was a city girl who didn’t know anything about cows, so it was a big learning curve for me,” says Bernice who has a Certificate in Agriculture Level 4 and an on-farm milk quality qualification. Carlos has gained a Diploma in Agribusiness Management. He has now taken on a role with the national executive for the Dairy Industry Awards, seeing that as an opportunity to give back to the awards and also enhance his governance skills. The couple’s aim of owning their own farm hasn’t changed from the early days of their involvement in the industry. “It’s still our long-term goal, something to aim for within the next five years. “We are committed to the dairy industry. I don’t see myself doing anything else. This industry has given me so much and now it’s time for me to give back.” Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Top: The herd enjoying a crop of kale and turnips. Middle: Carlos (right) pictured with farmworkers Malcom-John Padilla (left) and John Leee Nistal (centre). Above: Carlos and Bernice Delos Santos are not joking when they tell staff that the dairy shed floor needs to be clean enough for them to eat their lunch and dinner off. 27

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Empowering their people with choice - Jared and Victoria Clarke and daughter Isabel.

Meeting worker expectations A Canterbury sharemilking couple have adopted the Kanban workplace management system to run their farms. Anne Lee reports. Photos by Redbox Photography

rganisation is a colourful affair at Jared and Victoria Clarke’s 2000-cow Canterbury sharemilking job. That’s because the couple have embraced a Kanban system to manage a lot of the non-routine tasks on the two-farm, two 50-aside herringbone dairy operation. It allows team members to choose what jobs they do and when they do them – all within reason of course. The system is more typically used in tech-style corporate businesses and fits into what’s called an Agile management system. The concept is one of a number to 28

come from a DairyNZ initiative called New Workplace Designs which has looked at ideas that will help dairying meet workforce expectations as we head towards 2030. (see page 35) Jared was one of nine South Island dairy farmers to join the initiative last year and says he got on board because creating better workplaces is vital to the success of the sector and dairying. “Dairying is actually a great job with amazing opportunities but somewhere along the line we’re mucking something up as an industry because often dairying isn’t seen as a workplace of choice.” Jared and Victoria have seen the

positives for themselves and seized all the opportunities they could in their dairying career so far. Having met at Lincoln University they worked for 2007 New Zealand Sharemilkers of the Year Matt and Julie Ross for eight years, working their way up the ranks, buying cows and leasing them back to the farm until they took the leap to large-scale sharemilkers themselves. The pair are in their fourth season sharemilking for Richard and Chrissie Wright, also award-winning farmers, on their two adjacent farms near Mt Somers. As well as stepping up to take on the

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Together the Proven performers Tharanga Senavirathna and Jared Clarke sort out a nozzle issue.

cows when they took on the job, Jared and Victoria were also able to employ some of the existing team members. They have nine full-timers in their farm team with some of the employee’s partners working casually on the farms too. “We’ve got an absolutely amazing team here, they’re just lethal at getting these cows milked and we know anything we can do to keep them here and engaged has to be good,” Jared says. As part of the New Workplace Designs initiative, DairyNZ introduced the farmer group to other businesses to see the kinds of systems they ran and if any of the ideas could be relevant on farm. They travelled to Auckland and saw first-hand how Agile management systems were operating. One example was at the telecommunications company Spark. “That’s where we saw these Kanban boards and the way the teams were able to choose what task they’d take on – even the senior leadership team was using it. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

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“It gave people some autonomy and it also made the jobs or projects people were working on very visible to everyone in that team.” Jared says the farmer group also had some great practical advice from Seamus Barden from consultancy firm Fr@nk on how to use the Kanban system. “Because it’s often been used in those corporate-style settings it was good to get some really practical, real life type advice on how to use it – the type of jobs to use it for, how to make sure jobs were ready to go, what to do if they weren’t, how to make sure things are ticked off when they’re done.” Jared was keen to give it a go back on the farm because not only would it empower people by enabling them to make their own decisions on what task they’d take on, it could also bring major efficiencies for both them, their managers and Jared. “Historically I’d see things that I wanted done differently or things not getting done and I’d end up getting involved. “We’d have a big push and a lot of energy and focus would go on that particular thing for a while. “But really I was interfering in the guys’ day - I’d end up just getting too involved in something I didn’t need to be – for their sake and mine. “The Kanban board gave us a new way to communicate and a way to make sure everyone knows what has to be done, who’s doing it and then that it is actually done.” They don’t use it for the jobs that happen everyday such as milking or setting up paddocks. Instead it’s for the other, non-routine tasks such as fixing a fence fault, weed control, replacing a tape gate, trimming tails, replacing a hose nozzle, checking inventory and ordering supplies or cleaning. Over the peak of calving there’s not much time for anything except the routine, must-do everyday jobs but outside of that time the Kanban board has been adopted pretty enthusiastically. Jared says they’ll talk about tasks that need to be done at regular meetings with their senior people and agree which jobs should go up on the board. Ismael Mansilla is the manager on one of the units, Strathclyde farm, and says usually either he or his 2IC will write the 30

Above: The Kanban board in the Strathclyde dairy farm office.

KANBAN IN A NUTSHELL

Tasks are written on Post-it notes and placed on a board in a “ready to do column”, team members select a task to do and move it to the “doing” column. When the task is completed, they move the Post-it note to the “done” column. Any tasks that aren’t ready to be done or hit a snag are placed in the “backlog” column. • The team with managers decide what tasks should be on the board. • The Post-it notes are dated. • Team members put their names on the Post-it note when they choose a task. • Visual and easy to see at a glance who is doing what.

YOUTUBE KANBAN Seamus Barden from Fr@nk on how to set up and use the Kanban board www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v= DTK4CXBlpxI&feature=emb_logo

Getting tasks sorted for the team - farm managers Ismael Mansilla (left) and Tharanga Senavirathna. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Tharanga chooses his job from the board.

jobs on Post-it notes and put them in the “Full to do list” column of the large whiteboard. They’re put up with the highest priority at the top. At the team meeting they might quickly run over the jobs to make sure people understand what they entail but because they’ve all been working with each other for numerous seasons now, they usually know what’s expected of them, what the job involves and what standard it should be completed to. Both he and farm manager of the Wightmans unit Tharanga Senavirathna will move the Post-it note from the full to do list column to the next column – “the next two activities.”

KNOWBY

Jared and Victoria’s farm teams are using Knowby – an app that allows them to use a photo or video they make to show how to do a task. It’s specific to their situation and a great way of training or refreshing on a “how to” situation and can include written word instructions to go with the visual prompts.

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Staff are expected to take on those jobs first but can also take one from the full list as well. Once they’ve taken responsibility for a job they move the note to the ‘in progress” column and can put their name on it. Ismael says the guys can quickly see what needs to be done and don’t need to be asking what they should do next. “It saves time for them and us. If we think the job should be done by a set person, we write their name on it,” he says. Tharanga says it makes work on the busy farm more efficient because straight away it’s apparent if something is stuck in the backlog section so the issue is dealt with quickly.

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“Efficiency to me means knowing when my cows need attention and acting quickly.” Bruce McLaren - WAIKATO

Tharanga Senavirathna changes the height of a fence line - an quick fix developed by Rudnei Souza Silva in his ‘You Choose” time that has saved lots of broken insulators and hours of work.

He and Ismael can see who is doing what at a glance too. The team likes it because they are getting more of a say in their daily activities, Ismael says.

YOU CHOOSE

Another innovation aimed at empowering the team and creating innovation is “you choose afternoons” where people have time off farm work to give them time to think about or create an idea that will help with how the farm operates. It’s similar to an idea to come out of an Australian-based software company which was dubbed a FedEx day because it delivers overnight. People get time during their work day to come up with their innovation and the next day they deliver their pitch to the rest of the team. “There are just three rules for our ‘you choose’ afternoons – it has to be 100% their choice, their idea, it has to be of value to the farm operation and you

have to tell the rest of the team how it works. “It’s just for a few hours in the afternoon but people have come up with some great ideas.” One was a simple fix that has saved hours of time and money. When the farm was converted some of the fencelines were left with some of the original posts. It’s meant that in a few spots, when the pivot rolls over the two-wire fence, the wire pulls out the insulators. Wightmans’ 2IC Rudnei Souza Silva came up with a quick fix to simply move the insulator down further on the post next to where the pivot rolls through. “It worked and we’ve saved a lot of insulators and probably 20 hours of work since he changed it last year, Jared says. It takes a bit of time for people to get into the mode of coming up with ideas but Jared’s found they’re now thinking about improvements and innovations more and more as they go about their daily job.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

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Email: subs@nzfarmlife.co.nz Phone: 0800 224 782 or 06 280 3161 www.nzfarmlife.co.nz Subscription terms and conditions: This offer is valid for new subscriptions to Country-Wide or NZ Dairy Exporter ordered by phone or from nzfarmlife.co.nz/shop and quoting HONESTBAG for a Casual Shopper bag or HONESTCAP for a Classic Cap; between August 3, 2020 and September 14th, 2020. Gifted item may take up to 30 days to arrive from the date of purchase, while stocks last. This offer is for New Zealand subscription recipients only and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. For full terms, conditions and overseas subscription rates, please visit our website. Honest Wolf terms and conditions: Existing Country-Wide or NZ Dairy Exporter subscribers can use promo code FARMLIFE to receive a $5.00 voucher to use towards any purchase from honestwolf.co.nz. Promo code is valid for New Zealand based deliveries and not to be used in conjunction with any other offer. Offer expires on September 14, 2020.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

BUSINESS DESIGN THINKING

Redesigning workplaces Words by: Anne Lee

icro-learning, less hierarchical team structures, video training apps, leadership training and visual ways of communicating are just some of the ideas to come out of DairyNZ’s new workplace design project that’s already seeing farmers trial innovative ways of working. DairyNZ’s Callum Eastwood is leading the project and says the aim is to find ways of operating that will help meet the expectations of the workforce over the coming 10 years and make dairying a more attractive option for people. Nine South Island farmers have been involved in the project that’s been underway since early last year. They’ve contributed to DairyNZ lead research and design thinking workshops into how farming workplaces could improve and travelled to Auckland to look first hand at other business sectors to see what could be relevant back on farm. The Kanban method of organising and managing tasks is one idea that’s been

successfully piloted. (story page 28) Callum says farmers identified the need for leadership training in staff development as well as the use of technology in all aspects of training. “A lot of leadership training is focused at the owner or manager but farmers saw benefits in targeting people at the 2IC level or staff at an earlier stage in their careers.” He says the project ran a pilot leadership and EQ (emotional intelligence) training course, “leading change” but combined the use of new technologies and approaches to learning. “Eight early career farmers were part of the pilot but the group never actually met in person, partly because of Covid-19, but also because we wanted to use tools such as zoom and WhatsApp to communicate and on-line micro learning where farmers used an app to carry out five-minute lessons through the week. “The online lessons were followed up by a zoom meeting to cement the learning and let them discuss amongst themselves.” Farmers had also identified the need for training technology for use during day-today farming activities.

‘A lot of leadership training is focused at the owner or manager but farmers saw benefits in targeting people at the 2IC level or staff at an earlier stage in their careers.’

Callum Eastwood, DairyNZ.

Callum says DairyNZ found an app called Knowby, which is already available and provides a platform for farmers to simply create their own “how to” type videos, pictures and written instructions. Because they’re personalised, they’re

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Knowby is a platform for farmers to simply create their own “how to” type videos, pictures and written instructions.

specific to the farm’s situation and can be used by staff to reinforce or refresh instruction they’ve already had or help show them something new. “They can be like mini, individual SOPs (standard operating procedures). “They’re ideal for jobs where people might not be proficient yet or those jobs you only do once in a while.” Staff can also make them themselves and they can be easily searched, shared and printed. People are more frequently using “point-in-time” learning rather than learning a whole lot of information ahead of time. Googling a how to or using YouTube to teach yourself when and where you actually need the information can make it more relevant and backs up those who prefer to learn by doing and watching. Callum says the overall new workplace design project is continuing. More of the workplace design project farms will be covered in coming issues of the NZ Dairy Exporter.

BUSINESS ZANDA MCDONALD AWARD WINNER

Now coach and mentor, Jack Raharuhi talks with Matt Cunneen (left) and Brodie Powell.

Winning Coaster champions staff training

From rebellious 15 year old to Operations Manager for three large dairies – Anne Hardie outlines the recruitment and training philosophy of a highly motivated young West Coaster.

t would have been very easy for Jack Raharuhi to have followed a path that led to a life behind bars. Instead he has become a coach and mentor for the 21 staff he manages on Pamu Farm’s Buller dairy units as well as getting involved in the community to challenge the public perception of farming. At just 28 he has an impressive resumé considering that he was pulled out of school as a troublesome 15 year old and thrown into a job on a dairy farm. With the official title of Buller Dairy Group Operations Manager he oversees three dairy farms milking a combined 3,500 cows, the machinery business associated 36

with the dairy, sheep, beef and deer units at Cape Foulwind, plus the health and safety for all 10 Pamu West Coast dairy farms. He works with the local high school to coordinate the Gateway Programme to bring students on to the farm for work experience, plus the wider community to bring at-risk teenagers onto the farms. He’s also back at school talking with students about the agriculture industry, while in the wider industry he’s chairman of the West Coast Focus Farm Trust and a dairy IPG member with Primary ITO. Along the way he has entered awards to benchmark himself against others in the industry and fine tune his goals, winning

the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer of the Year in 2016, the DIA Dairy Manager of the year for the West Coast-Top of the South in 2017, and the Zanda McDonald Award this year. The latter is awarded to a young Kiwi or Australian making a difference in agriculture. One of his latest projects has been talking with a sustainability class at the school where he has given them a virtual tour of the farms. That has led to plans to get them on to the Cape Foulwind farms to show them what has been done, from retiring steep terrain and planting unproductive land to fencing the 95km of waterways.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

“How you react to life experiences either propels you forward or back. You will always be dealt a shit hand now and again, but it’s about finding the best card in the shit hand.”

“It’s really good to be able to paint a practical picture for the students about what sustainable agriculture looks like and iron out a few misconceptions. It’s a farming responsibility for everyone in the agriculture industry to change the public perception by showcasing what you are doing and also to encourage those career pathways into the agriculture sector.” He says it’s not just about attracting people into a career in dairying but making it their first choice of career. They need to know that dairying is “not just about pulling tits”, but also about robotics, team management and business analysis. To get that message out there, he says, there needs to be more collaboration across the entire agriculture industry to interact with schools throughout the country to change the image of farming.

UPSKILLING SECOND-IN-COMMAND TEAM MEMBERS

For those who do choose dairying as a career he wants to improve onfarm training, especially for 2IC (second in command) staff who are often promoted without the necessary skills to assist farm managers. He says the 2IC skill set has deteriorated around the country in the past few years, leaving farm managers overworked with little time to work with staff to improve their skills. It has prompted him to initiate a discussion group for 2ICs and also apprentice workshops for staff on Pamu Farm’s 10 West Coast dairy farms. The discussion groups rotate monthly around the 10 farms where they can analyse each farm on its targets, issues and general performance. The apprenticeship workshops involve 26 apprentices on Pamu’s West Coast farms, who are studying

Jack Raharuhi won this year’s Zanda McDonald Award.

levels three and four through the Primary ITO. “I feel we’ve fallen into a cycle where we put our most experienced assistant into the 2IC role based on trust and just time in their role rather than the skill set competency of that individual. And they’re not ready for that. They can steer the team around in the day but they can’t go and feed cows X Y Z of grass and be on a 30-day round and know what needs to be done next week. “That skill set is not there. I want to get them to know their KPIs and understand them. Just getting them to know their farm numbers is really important.” When that is done in conjunction with Primary ITO studies and internal training, he says, they begin to join the dots around what good milksolids per cow per day looks like at any time of the year, what good quality pasture looks like, when they should be topping, how to make a feed wedge, and all those necessary skills for making decisions on a dairy farm. “You see farm managers absolutely blown out and the driving factor is they can’t delegate that workload because no one in that team has the skill set to take on some of that work.” He’s been the farm manager that struggled with work/life balance and was threatened by fatigue so he recognises it now in other farm managers who are trying to do too much. He tells them to work smarter rather than harder and says they don’t have to work seven days a week

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

to be successful, which brings him back to upskilling the 2ICs. As part of the 2IC discussion group he has created a vision-and-objectives one pager that looks at the environment, people, finance, farm and animals, expertise and relationships. It encapsulates what a 2IC should be doing in each area to support the farm manager. Because the skill set between 2ICs varies so much, individuals can identify which areas they need to develop, and work on them with their farm manager. At the end of the discussion groups he puts together a comprehensive report for the farm managers so they know what their 2ICs are working on and how they can help them improve their skills. As a farm manager, Jack says, their greatest skill is being a team leader. When he asked the 2IC discussion group what a good farm manager looks like, their answers all pointed to leader qualities such as respect, trust and approachability rather than farm knowledge. “People have the same wants and needs for a good farm manager as they would right across any workforce.” Apart from learning more skills, the discussion groups and apprenticeship workshops enable the team to network with each other, and encourage healthy competition and business engagement, which Jack says all help to lower staff turnover and lift productivity. “We pump a lot of training and time into these guys and what I’m finding is the 37

Left: Improving the skill set of 2ICs and apprentices.

more I’m engaging with these apprentice workshops and discussion groups the more they want to stay here. If we can link it up with the Gateway students coming in, we can get the flow locally. We could create a pipeline through to farm manager.” When it comes to employing staff all bar three of the 21 staff employed on Pamu Farm’s Cape Foulwind farms are locals, and Jack is hoping that will lead to better retention of staff and more experience to deal with the high rainfall and relative isolation of the West Coast. “I’ve been trying to work really hard on building local culture because we’re finding locals are staying in their roles, they have good relationships with contractors and suppliers and they attract more good

people into the business. And because some have farm experience they know how to farm in this area and that helps with productivity. We will take the best candidate, but we’ve found that skill set in the region.” His passion for West Coast farming has led him to chair the West Coast Focus Farm Trust, which is involved with three monitor farms, and he says governance roles enable him to give something back to the industry. “I look back and farming has changed my life from what I was growing up. And it’s also about sharing the knowledge.” Entering awards has helped his knowledge and road to success so he encourages others to have a go, especially

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those who are ambitious and progressive. “It’s really important you set your goals and benchmark yourself against others. And awards show your strengths and weaknesses so you know what you need to work on. By being involved in the awards you meet so many like-minded people and being around a group of people who want the same thing drives more success. You get a true gauge of whether your goal setting is true and when you are around those people you lift your game.” Success is also about attitude, he says. Back in his rebellious teenage years he was given an opportunity in dairying, but meeting his wife, Charlotte, and beginning a family also helped him make better decisions. “How you react to life experiences either propels you forward or back. You will always be dealt a shit hand now and again, but it’s about finding the best card in the shit hand.” Jack may have dropped out of school at 15 but he is now studying for his Diploma in Agricultural Business Management and, when that is completed, he plans to begin a Bachelor of Agricultural Science. Ultimately, he would like to add a teaching diploma to add another skill for more leadership roles.

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SYSTEMS ONFARM

Dave Swney - there is always things to improve on in your operation.

Shining through the drought A lot of little tweaks have helped the Waikato Swney family reduce lameness and run an improved operation for both cows and staff. Sheryl Haitana reports. Photos by Emma McCarthy.

fter a harsh 2019/20 drought, the Swney cows were still looking “magnificent” heading into winter, nutritionist Sue Macky told me on a recent phone call. That’s a pretty good compliment coming from one of New Zealand’s most highly regarded dairy cow nutritionist specialists, after a drought that lasted through autumn this year, so I thought it was worth a farm visit. The Swney farm is five minutes south of Te Awamutu. Owned by Phil and Deb Swney, their son Dave is now contract milking for them. Dave is a former DairyNZ consulting officer, but he returned to farming seven years ago. Recently Dave has also taken on an operation manager’s role overseeing three other dairy operations in the Waikato region. “Working for DairyNZ was a great job, I learnt a lot, but it was always the plan to give farming a crack.”

Phil and Deb have owned the farm for 30 years, having sharemilked on the original milking platform almost 40 years ago. They bought neighbouring blocks over the years and the now 124-hectare effective milking platform is rolling with ash soils. They lease 28ha across the road off local maize contractor John Austin where they winter graze annual grass. “That lease is key to our system, 280 cows go there for five weeks. It gives us the ability to have that buffer up our sleeves,” Dave says. “One of the greatest lessons I’ve learnt from dad is how important it is to keep good relationships and a good reputation in the district.” Phil started farming a high-input system on just 40ha when he bought the farm 30 years ago. He had attended a large herds conference and heard about overseas farms producing the same production as the cow’s body weight. “I thought we could do half way between

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

what they were doing overseas and what we were doing here.” They still run a DairyNZ System 5 operation, feeding predominantly maize silage, palm kernel and straw, using their 280-cow feed pad, averaging about 500kg MS/cow. As the farm intensified over the last few years they started having major lameness problems. “I was looking at 20% of the herd regularly, I’m really particular and try to be proactive. If she had a slight limp I would look at her. It was doing my head in. We were spending a lot of money. “It was getting frustrating, we knew we didn’t follow cows hard in the races or push cows too hard in the yard and the races were always well maintained.” The family called in Sue to get a fresh perspective on their system to try and pinpoint the issue. She looked at the cows and their diet over the season. She highlighted a few key 39

Top: The Swnes farm is 5 minutes south of Te Awamutu. Above left: Tweaking the cows’ diet has helped reduce lameness. Above right: Dave Swney, a former DairyNZ consulting officer, returned to the farm seven years ago.

FARM FACTS

• Owners: Phil and Deb Swney

• Contract milker: Dave Swney • Location: Te Awamutu

• Area: 124ha effective, 28ha lease block over winter • Farm dairy: 40-aside herringbone, ACRs, automatic drafting and teat sprayer, Protrack • Cows: 440 peak crossbreds

• BW/PW: BW 122/51 PW 174/57

• Target production: 220,000kg MS (1800kg MS/ha, 495kg MS/cow) • Pasture and Crop harvested: 14t DM/ha • Crop: 5ha maize on milking platform; 13ha chicory • Supplement: 2.2-2.5t/cow/year (Palm kernel, maize silage, Procow 30, straw, soy) • Effluent irrigation: 30ha (solids spread on maize block)

issues with their diet, in particular over the winter period. They swapped maize out for straw. The straw is fed along with the annual grass during winter and has worked very well. Other changes include putting rubber matting down at the front of the yard and in the bails and for the last four seasons they have milked the heifers and light cows once a day (OAD) all season. “We’ve managed to produce the same amount of milk,” Dave says. “We might lose a little production in that first one or two lactations by milking OAD, but it’s made up with less wastage and we get more cows back in calf.” They’ve had multiple improvements in the herd, from reduced lameness to improved reproduction results. “The hardest thing is to pinpoint what has been the main improvement, it’s a combo of things,” Dave says. Bringing Sue in as a consultant has challenged their entire operation. “It’s pretty hard mentally to deal with lameness, so we got Sue onboard for that

reason, but we’ve picked up a lot more along the way,” Phil says. “Sue has taught us a lot about cow behavior and understanding what the cows need.” Even after farming for 40 years, it’s important to constantly challenge yourself because you can always learn, he says. A lot of the minor tweaks they have made has not only been good for the cows, but also good for staff, Dave says. For example, feeding straw a few days in advance is easier than feeding out maize during winter, so it’s made the operation more efficient and labour friendly. Milking the younger and lighter cows on OAD year round, means less time in the farm dairy. The OAD herd is sent on the furthest walks, while the ‘work horses’ are kept closer to the shed and fed twice a day on the pad. Both herds are on a bat-latch with nobody following them so they can take their time. At calving, every cow is kept on OAD for

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

the first two weeks of their lactation. “It really helps us with our workload, I don’t think we’ve lost any production and there has been no impact on mastitis.” In the summer months they do their afternoon milkings at 1pm, giving the cows more access to shade and putting them under the sprinklers. This gives the cows an opportunity to cool down before their body temperatures get too hot later in the day. Sue pointed out that the coolest place on the farm during the hottest part of the day is the cowshed. They put in sprinklers and misters in the farm dairy and the cows now fight to get under them and their tails are not moving because the misters stop the flies coming in. This year they held production through the hottest of days rather than dropping. They also have a shade paddock where cows can go to and from the feed pad. The farm has switched to having no bulls on the property and using Artificial Insemination (AI) for the full 10-week mating. Their reproduction figures have improved over the last few years, their 6-week in-calf rate has gone up to 74% after slumping to 65%, and their empty rate has dropped from 17% to 9-11%. Phil has been nominating for 30 years, having worked for Ambreed as an AI technician for 10 years. He still does the farm’s AI. “It’s a big passion of dads, he’s bred a pretty amazing herd.” It was a big leap to go without bulls, but it also coincided with Mycoplasma bovis so it worked well. The bottom 5-10% of the

18/19

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herd are mated to Angus and Hereford. “It makes mating a long grind for staff, but you weigh that workload up with not having to have bulls onfarm wrecking fences and the health and safety factor. We’re pretty lucky we have a good team.” They have decreased the number of CIDRs to about 15 and track pre-mating heats using tail paint and scratchies. For the last four seasons they’ve opted to keep their calves at home, and just send their yearlings out grazing down to Piopio in the King Country. They’ve reduced cow numbers from 450-500 down to 440 to accommodate the calves, but it works well, Phil says. The calves graze 4ha of chicory and also get a bit of palm kernel and straw. “We really enjoy having them home. The calves are kept in one mob and have about a 25-day round on the chicory. “It’s the worst drought I can probably remember this year, lasting over summer and autumn. The chicory worked well.” They also grew another 9ha of chicory for the cows this summer. They’ve switched from turnips because they have a use-by date, and they are finding the chicory is growing well, even in the toughest of summers. “Summer is our biggest risk period. We tried chicory this year, we really like it. We want to be able to grow as much feed as we can ourselves,” Dave says.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Left: Happy cows = happy staff. From left, Udayveer Singh, Manny Singh, Dave and Phil Swney. Keeping staff happy means they stay around, Dave says. “Manny has been with us for five years, we have given him progression opportunities and he’s grown to be an important part of our operation.”

“We are pretty consistent now with pasture and crop harvested, feed cost is our focus.” Pasture is still their biggest focus, so they do regular farm walks through the season. “The relationship between feed costs and payout is always our biggest challenge.” They fix their palm kernel and maize contracts every year to keep control over their costs. They have been feeding up to a tonne of palm kernel/cow/year but that’s getting hard to keep up with the new FEI. “Managing regulation is a big challenge. It makes it harder to do what we have in the past. We are looking at other supplement but also reducing the intensity of the system.” Phil and Deb have always used DairyBase to benchmark themselves against and they aim to be in the top 20% of farms, Dave says. “Some years we do okay, some years we slip. That’s where we want to be, in the top 20% for EFS.” They still have more to work to do; focusing on cost control, chipping away on putting more water troughs in paddocks and planting more trees for shade. The future is easier to manage knowing they have Dave home on the farm, Phil says. “We are really lucky to have Dave here, he puts his heart and soul into it.” 41

SYSTEMS CULL COWS

Cows are holding condition.

Cashing-in on the culls Caught by Covid-19 with a mob of cull cows, Paul Rogers kept on milking them. Photos and story by Karen Trebilcock.

hen Otago farmer Paul Rogers couldn’t get his 135 culls into the works due to the Covid-19 lockdown he started to think of other possibilities. “They were telling me we could get 20 in this week and then another 20 or so and I just didn’t want to be left feeding the rest after we’d dried off,” he said. As well, the beef schedule at the time wasn’t flash and he had 1000 bales of balage he didn’t need. So he decided to keep milking. The herds on the two farms on the Taieri – one (195-hectare milking platform) milking 630 cows, and the other, fiveminutes’ drive away, 550 cows (245ha selfcontained) – were dried off as normal at the end of May with an empty rate of 12%. But the empties, culls and the late calvers were kept milking and put together on one farm making a mob of 200 cows, 42

or four rows in the 50-aside herringbone dairy. During the winter they spent nights in herd homes fed silage and a small amount of palm kernel and their days were on the fodder beet paddock next to the dairy with balage. On the way between the herd home and the beet paddock they passed through the dairy and got milked once a day at a respectable 9am, after everything had thawed a bit and the sun had come up. It only took farm manager Daniel Bellamy with Don Lolo and Nico Caeiro, who has been milking in New Zealand for six years after arriving from Argentina, an hour to milk the cows and move them on to a new break of beet. In late June production was holding at 1.2kg milksolids (MS)/cow/day average which is where they were at in May before the herd was dried off. “They’ve just kind of sat there doing the

same production,” Paul said. Fed 18kg DM/day, body condition was also holding. “It’s not as if the empties are supporting a growing calf.” Fonterra picked up the milk every second day without a winter milk contract in place. “This is just a trial, we’re not locking into winter milk just yet.” Whether it works financially, Paul has no idea. “There are a lot of variables – we were into the next season’s payout from June first and we don’t know what that will be and then there’s the premium for winter milk, the beef schedule would hopefully be going up and there was the cost of balage.” Made onfarm at the cost of about $30 a bale (excluding the grass), in the summer it was worth about $80. With the winter crops in the south not the best after last year’s wet spring

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

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Taieri farmer Paul Rogers.

‘There are a lot of variables – we were into the next season’s payout from June first and we don’t know what that will be and then there’s the premium for winter milk, the beef schedule would hopefully be going up and there was the cost of balage.’ and then the dry, balage was now hard to come by and it had skyrocketed to $130 a bale. “I am tempted to sell it but the main thing is what we’re doing is not impacting on the coming season’s grass and that’s what’s important.” The late calvers are due in October and a few in late September and will be dried off so they have 60 days dry before calving. The rest of the cows Paul is not so sure about. Calving is due to start 29 July and if the empties are still milking okay he might just keep them going. “I don’t like how cows calve later and later each year and eventually are culled because they don’t get back in calf in time. “Their genetics are fine, they shouldn’t be going to the works, but that’s what we do. “If I can keep milking these empties and then get them back in calf this season then why not? “It might mean we can rear less replacements, or sell young stock so that’s another cost saving to factor in. “Also it would give us more culling options and we can get rid of the cows we really don’t want.” However, going to once-a-day milking throughout the season is not an option for him. “It’s not really for us. We’ve also tried 16-hours but the staff don’t like it and I don’t see the benefits. “When it gets tight we usually have one herd on twice-a-day and a smaller herd on once-a-day on each farm and that works best.” Although milking through the winter means more plant costs including electricity, Paul said the cows were only getting fed 4kg drymatter (DM)/day more than they would be on winter rations. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

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Above: Farm staff (from left) Nico Caeiro, Daniel Bellamy (farm manager) and Don Lolo in the 50-aside dairy. Right The three herd homes on the farm near Dunedin.

Although he knows what the cows are producing as an average, without milk meters he was relying on his eye, the eyes of his staff, and the cow’s genetics to make sure it was worth keeping individual cows going. He said the three herd homes on the farm were key to winter milking. Built because of the farm’s vulnerability to flooding, they are across from large

silage bunkers and Paul was impressed how they offer “lots of shoulder room” for cows to feed along both outside walls. “They’re a good, solid Kiwi solution.” Underneath them three million litres of effluent can be stored to be put out on paddocks when weather conditions are right, keeping it out of waterways. “We’re winter milking this year just to see how it goes. We’ve got the feed and

we’ve got the infrastructure and we’ve got the staff. “If we hadn’t been partly forced into it because of Covid-19 we wouldn’t be doing it. “Whether we do it again I don’t know. There’s not a lot of science and financially there are too many unknowns to do budgets. “We’ll just see how it goes.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

SYSTEMS CO DIARY

GoDairy – Helping Kiwis get into dairying

’ve been lucky enough to be involved in delivering GoDairy’s free Farm Ready Training through my role as a trainee consulting officer at DairyNZ. The three-week training programme was launched in June and offers Kiwis who have had their employment affected by Covid-19 the chance to get into a dairy career. I’ve found delivering the training rewarding because I know I’m helping people into a secure career with many opportunities. The first week is delivered online and involves videos, presentations and discussions. People from anywhere in New Zealand can join and get an introduction to see if working on a dairy farm is right for them. We provide an overview of New Zealand’s dairy sector, the technology used on farms, pasture growth, living rurally, and how to find a good job. Many of those on the training are excited about being able to work outside and care for animals, and about the

career opportunities dairy offers. I’ve really enjoyed meeting the wide range of people taking part in GoDairy. Some have grown up on farms: others have worked in sectors like hospitality, tourism, IT and many other fields. We’ve had young Kiwis participate as well as those in their thirties or forties who have families. Through GoDairy we aim to give people a realistic view of what working on a farm is like – that there are a lot of positives but that it’s also hard work at times and it involves getting up early. Some start the training unsure about what work on a farm involves. We get questions about the type of work done on farms, rosters, living rurally and farming terminology. After some good discussions they are ready to move on to practical training. The next two weeks cover working with animals, health and safety, and operating farm vehicles. Some people on the training are already getting interviews and job offers from farmers. It’s great to see that GoDairy will help meet a critical need to fill roles

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

First intake of GoDairy trainees learn about stockmanship.

onfarm for the calving season and beyond. DairyNZ is working with the Government to continue offering the training in the coming months. The two weeks of practical hands-on training are being held in a number of locations to meet local demands. If you know someone who’s keen on working on a dairy farm – or you’ve recently employed a career changer who might qualify for the training – you can visit dairynz.co.nz/godairy • Hugh Jackson is a DairyNZ Trainee Consulting Officer, Southland

Veterinarian Scott McDougall, from Cognosco, the research group at Waikato’s Anexa Farmers Vet Clubs, trialed OxC-beta™ on four NZ commercial farms in Spring 2019.

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Governance Special report

Good governance structure benefits farm business Good governance can get a business humming no matter what it’s size. Anne Lee talked to Fonterra director and chairman elect Peter McBride about what builds good governance and what he’s learned during his governance career that can be applied to farming enterprises.

undamentals such as purpose, values, strategy, holding management to account and managing risk are all keys to good governance, but even with all that in place things could still go pear shaped if you haven’t got the people factor right. Former Zespri chairman now Fonterra director Peter McBride is set to take over as chairman of New Zealand’s largest cooperative company later this year. He’s had close to 20 years’ experience in governance and says getting governance right can really get a business humming not just because of the discipline and direction it brings but through the wealth of experience directors or even a single independent advisor can offer. “Businesses can sometimes think their assets are just their fixed assets and the balance sheet – they can tend to really undervalue human capability and the benefits experienced, capable people can bring at that governance level.” The size and structure of a board will depend on the business, Peter says. “It will depend on the scale – it’s important not to over-engineer it.” At a farm business level bringing in an independent advisor rather than creating a formal board structure could give the

Peter McBride.

operation direction or even be quite transformational. “One of the most important things when you’re looking for an independent director or advisor is their personal style in dealing with others – their character. “In a family business with the different personalities and people involved in that, then that personal style – whether they’re a consensus builder, how they work with others in the business – that’s a top priority. “It could all turn ugly quickly if you have the wrong person – it could actually be quite divisive.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

“In a smaller operation, the character of the independent has to be number one,” Peter says. It might seem an old fashioned kind of word but “wisdom” is also right up there too when it comes to selecting an independent advisor. That’s not just having a broad knowledge but also showing insightfulness and clarity of thought. Often wisdom comes from experience but more importantly from having learned through experience, he says. “You also want to make sure they have business acumen and capability – that they’re respected for what they’ve achieved and have a good standing in business.” Peter’s own governance involvement and CV is impressive. He’s had a seat at several board tables including farming companies and as a director of the New Zealand International Business Forum. Having joined the Zespri board in 2002 he stepped up to be chairman in 2013 taking over the helm to steer the organisation successfully through troubled waters that included working through the devastating Psa disease, a Serious Fraud Office investigation and major troubles in China.

Peter is chief executive of large-scale dairy farming and kiwifruit business Trinity Lands so has walked on both sides of management and governance.

While international marketing waters are never a millpond, under Peter’s chairmanship the kiwifruit marketer successfully emerged in full sail from what could be described as “a tempest”. In 2018, the year he was elected as a farmer director of Fonterra, he was named Deloitte Top 200 New Zealand chairperson of the year. He openly describes himself as a straight-up, forthright, challenging and, even at times, blunt director but says that as a chairman that persona takes a back seat. “As a chairman I have to moderate my views somewhat.” “It’s important to have diversity of thinking and to avoid a ‘group think’ mentality. You need to give people enough time to have the discussion and as chairman there’s a need to understand people’s varying views.” “You may only have one dissenting voice but that voice might be right. “I respect tenacity and if someone is really tenacious about an issue then I want to know why and understand better where they’re coming from.” While he says he’s careful not to force a resolution he also has to balance discussion with a need to get the job done.

His role is also to find consensus, and board time needs to be productive. “So you have to judge when it’s time to reach an agreement.” That’s important because it’s a balance between stifling discussion and allowing one person to hijack the meeting time. In smaller organisations or in family farm businesses it’s important the independent advisor or director isn’t someone who’s brought in expressly to support a particular family member’s views or agenda. “Everyone needs to agree on the character they’re looking for – it’s a judgement call. “But you also have to find someone willing to do it – people might not want to come into a conflict zone,” Peter notes. There’s plenty to be gained from getting governance experience off farm and a lot that can be brought back to the family farming business. Peter says it can be a good idea to find yourself a mentor when you start out so you can watch, follow, learn and ask questions. He was paired up with then director, later Zespri chairman, John Loughlin when he first joined Zespri. Training too is invaluable with industry

and business organisations offering courses. “Many of us as farmers haven’t reported to a board but then find ourselves in governance roles so try and get some training and governance development even if you’re on a board.” Peter says purpose and values are at the heart of good governance and once they’re clearly defined and understood they become the key stone in every decision. Understanding purpose means understanding the very why of the organisation or business’ existence. “Purpose is where it all starts. You must understand why it exists and who it exists for – that then guides your strategy. “The strategy has to be developed and owned by management then tested and agreed to – or otherwise – by the board. “Once it is supported, the strategy for the company is a shared responsibility.” For farmers, who are both managers and governors, having a defined governance structure can help that. By having dedicated governance meetings the roles can be delineated with the board meeting the place to review the strategy with the business’s purpose and values in mind.

BOARDROOM LESSONS Peter says his boardroom experiences have helped him have a much greater appreciation and understanding of risk management in terms of setting up frameworks and processes for assessing and mitigating risks.Learning those skills can be invaluable to the farm business too, he says. Understanding compliance issues, and how to take a governance perspective to managing compliance processes, expectations and obligations from both an oversight and legal standpoint, is valuable. “Obviously you can learn a lot about the financial aspects of business too. “The other big one is leadership and people – you learn a lot about people and about respecting other people’s perspectives when they’re different to your own.” While diversity in thinking may make that a bit challenging sometimes, Peter says it’s important if the business is to move forward and improve.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Farmer leaders sought for DairyNZ board

Peter McBride is former Zespri chairman.

“If the board’s just seven of ‘you’ then you’re going to have problems. “If everyone has exactly the same skills or view of risk you’re going to be hampered – you wouldn’t want seven accountants for instance.” For larger-scale farming businesses, having a board can help put guide rails around managers so they have a clearer understanding of the big picture and what they’re trying to achieve. That’s particularly true of businesses that have their own chief executive or general manager.

Peter is chief executive of largescale dairy farming and kiwifruit business Trinity Lands so has walked on both sides of management and governance. When the governance and management lines are clearly defined and aren’t blurred the chief executive is fully empowered to get on with the job of delivering on the strategy, and accountability is a whole lot easier, he says. That’s when the results really get delivered.

Dairy farmers are encouraged to apply to join DairyNZ’s board. Nominations are open from 10 August until noon, Thursday 3 September, for two farmer-elected director positions on DairyNZ’s Board of Directors and one member of DairyNZ’s Directors Remuneration Committee. Ideally, farmer director candidates would have: • an understanding of farm systems, research and development, policy and advocacy • involvement in setting strategy • governance experience and financial expertise • an interest in progressing the Dairy Tomorrow strategy • good networks and contacts in the sector • strong commercial and strategic thinking skills. Any farmer paying the milk solids levy may stand for the Board of Directors. For information on nominations visit dairynz.co.nz/agm

Where to go for governance training: RURAL DEVELOPMENT GOVERNANCE PROGRAMME Aim: to develop effective governance in boards of rural enterprises. More: https://www.dairynz.co.nz/business/planning/ governance/develop-your-governance-skills/ Businesstorque.co.nz COMPANY DIRECTORS’ COURSE, (INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS) Aim: to develop the director skills of individuals, so that they become more effective at the board table. More: https://www.iod.org.nz/governance-courses/companydirectors-course/# FONTERRA GOVERNANCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME Aim: to create a pool of future farmer leaders by equipping

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

participants with the skills and capabilities required to govern rural organisations and potentially Fonterra. More: https://www.fonterra.com/nz/en/about/governance/ governance-development-programme COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME Aim: To support new and aspiring future governors operating within co-operative and governance environments. More: https://nz.coop/cooperative-governancedevelopment-programme AGRI WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT TRUST Aim: To deliver personal, business, leadership development and governance training through a range of quality programmes held throughout New Zealand. More: https://www.awdt.org.nz/programmes/

Governance Special report

Learning to govern effectively Words by: Bridie Virbickas

have always been drawn to leadership roles and have thought governance would be an interesting pathway that would allow me to continue farming while making my contribution to the wider industry. I felt the Fonterra Governance Development Programme would be a good start for me as I do not have a lot of governance experience and I was delighted to be accepted to do the programme in 2020. The governance development programme is dedicated to growing excellence in governance and encouraging the professional practice of directors. The course focuses on the 70/20/10 approach, where 70% of learning occurs in real life and on the job experiences, 20% from watching and working with role models, and 10% from formal training. The first workshop was an intensive three days of listening to impressive leaders, working in groups in boardroom scenarios and learning about core governance subjects and what it takes to be a critically reflective director. It was also a great opportunity to network with people within Fonterra and the other 20 participants on the course. There is a range of governance experience across the group and different levels of involvement in the dairy industry which

Bridie Virbickas: Seeking a wider contribution to the industry.

makes discussions on different topics diverse and interesting. The first workshop was also a time where we learnt a lot about ourselves as individuals and how we work within groups which gave insight into how we would fit into the dynamics of a board. Covid-19 put the brakes on the course, postponing our second workshop in June to October which means we will now finish the course in February. On the bright side, Covid-19 has provided us with a real-life scenario in which severe demands have been placed on our

boards and management teams to steer their organisations through this global pandemic. We are now focusing our study on how to govern effectively through the crisis and how to develop strategy going forward. The course has certainly opened my eyes to the depth of the responsibilities of governance and what is required to be a successful director. I am looking forward to the remainder of the course and hope that one day I will be in a position to use what I have learnt and to be a positive influence in our industry.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Governance Special report

Driving the strategy The principles of governance are the same whether a company is a multi-national co-operative or a family farm, an experienced director says. Anne Hardie reports.

company or business can have a great strategy worked out and put on paper, but it’s pointless without good governance driving that strategy and making sure it happens. Golden Bay farmer, Tony Reilly, has a long history in governance that stretches back to the Tasman Milk Products’ board which he chaired before it became part of Kiwi Co-operative Dairies. At the same time he was a director of the NZ Dairy Board, representing small dairy co-operatives and part of the McKinsey’s business development group in the formation of Fonterra. Since then he has been a director for Ravensdown, Pamu Farms and Network Tasman. So he has learnt a thing or two over the years about governance. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a multinational dairy co-operative like Fonterra, or the family dairy farm, he says the principles are the same - having a strategy in place and driving that strategy. “For any business, think where you want to be in five years, 10 years time and plan how you are going to get there - how you are going to make it happen. Commit to paper so you can plan and have clear communication with your business partners. That includes your leadership in driving it.” It’s how he and his wife, Kathy, run their own business and the farm succession plan they have in place. At the heart of the business is the family farm near Takaka which has grown from land purchased from Maori in the 1850s and today encompasses 90 effective hectares milking 285 cows. Family farms dominate the Golden Bay productive land, making it hard to expand existing

Tony Reilly: governance is about driving the strategy

farms. Instead, they are equity partners in a 600-cow farm the other side of town with a contract milker in charge of dayto-day management. Plus, they are equity partners in a 700-cow self-contained dairy farm in Southland. Succession planning with three grownup children who have other careers or work elsewhere, needs governance as well, with annual meetings to examine the business. So far, there have been nine meetings involving the family plus partners of their children, which initially began with baby steps and progressed to open-book meetings where everyone knows the budgets and Tony and Kathy are accountable to those budgets. On a larger scale of governance, he points to Fonterra’s leadership during the past two years and says he has been encouraged as the board gains better control of management structures and capital. It’s a good example of leadership

implementing the strategy, he says, with the result it is reducing debt and heading toward a stronger balance sheet, while enforcing more control over costs. “They’ve got a long way to go to get confidence back. We haven’t got the valueadded activities delivering yet, but I’m encouraged by the improved focus.” The most important thing the Fonterra board can do in its governing role, is hold management to account to ensure the strategy is delivered, he says. While he is happy with the direction of Fonterra now, he doesn’t hold back when he says the Fonterra Shareholders’ Council is a waste of time. He says it should be restructured and its role reduced. Simply: “They’re ineffective and not adding value.” Tony says a key strength of Fonterra for its dairy farmers is that it is a co-operative and he has long been a big fan of cooperatives, which led to an eight-year stint

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

GOVERNANCE: The process of leading, controlling and directing a business so that it delivers a desired set of outcomes for the owners. (DairyNZ)

as a director of Co-operative Business NZ. Even Network Tasman where he still sits as a director, works in a similar way to the co-operative model in the way it gives funds back to consumers. “With Fonterra, the method by which we sell products globally means we control the value chain right until we have a sale. All that value add should come back to our farmgate. I think that model and the way it is respected and admired around the world is something to be very proud of. “The co-operative structure works well with farmers – as a partnership.” One area he says dairy companies have yet to show strong leadership is

Plantings along the river began 20 years ago.

‘For any business, think where you want to be in five years, 10 years time and plan how you are going to get there - how you are going to make it happen. Commit to paper so you can plan and have clear communication with your business partners. That includes your leadership in driving it.’

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GOVERNANCE 4 PILLARS AND 7 PRACTICES: 4 Pillars

7 Governance Practices

I Determining purpose

1. Acting with a purpose in mind

Aligning every governance decision and action with the predetermined purpose of the business

2. Holding effective governance meetings

Sustaining a pattern for holding effective governance meetings

3. Working with other people

Thoughtful challenging and non-personal debating in order to get consensus

4. Making right decisions

Exercising discernment through prudent stewardship; creativity; and, a stable but not static system of policies and parameters

5. Maintaining a learning orientation

Assimilating new learning into current governance practices, bring robustness to governance, and new life-giving decisionmaking skills to bear on challenges and opportunities

6. Knowing what’s going on and what to do about it

Taking responsibility for achieving the predetermined purpose of the business by understanding what’s actually going on, and holding those responsible to account appropriately

7. Managing risks effectively

Proactively minimising the likelihood and severity of future events that could negatively affect the business, bringing grounded confidence

II Effective Governance Culture

III Holding to Account IV Effective Compliance A river through the farm surfaces from a spring.

ensuring firm consequences when it comes to farmers letting the industry down, whether it’s milk quality or environmental problems. That means kicking the worst offenders out of the industry. Which brings him to external audits for farm environmental plans; something he wants integrated with other inspections onfarm, including greenhouse gases. “As an industry, for our customers and the communities at large, we need to demonstrate our social licence to farm and that should include an external audit. “We have three reports done with Fonterra, local authorities and AgriQuality and I would prefer one that is either a random audit or three yearly.” The greenhouse gas part of the equation is a moving target which is still being debated, but the way it is recorded and measured means the agriculture industry needs to ensure it is involved in that process rather than have it imposed on it. “It relies on the gases being separated and methane being recorded on what it is. It is the main gas heating the environment,

(Institute of Directors NZ) (Business Torque Systems Ltd)

Tony Reilly says the agriculture industry needs to place more focus on mental health.

but it is a shorter-lasting gas than carbon. That needs to be recognised.” The New Zealand Government works out methane figures based on The Paris Agreement which assumes methane enters

the atmosphere and stays there forever, which he says is simply wrong. Meanwhile, he points out farmers are also disadvantaged when it comes to carbon farming because of the 30ha requirement in each tree block. On the family farm, Tony and Kathy have been planting locally sourced native trees and other plants alongside the river for the past 20 years and many farmers around the country have done the same. Yet it is not recognised for the financial benefits of carbon farming. The river through their farm comes from a spring that surfaces just a couple of kilometres away. The farm also lies in the catchment area for the Te Waikoropupu Springs, the largest freshwater springs in NZ and known for the clarity of the water. Tony is one of 10 parties that have taken a draft conservation order on the springs to the Environment Court because of the impact it will have on the 14 dairy farms in the catchment. His argument is that there was no scientific research to prove that dairy farmers had any impact on the springs,

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yet they would be penalised by the conservation order. “We support the protection of the springs, but just want the facts recognised,” he says. “It’s all just innuendos and modelling work and it’s untenable that we should be expected to change when you don’t know it’s us. It could be just nature.” The springs saga highlights the urbanrural divide which Tony says has become too polarised, with both sides talking past each other. Yet both have similar values and strive for the same things. “The values the urban folk want, we want too. You’d struggle now to find a farmer that didn’t want to care for the environment, didn’t expect high animal welfare standards, or didn’t look after staff how you would want to look after yourself. We seem to be entrenching ourselves way too early in the conversations. “I wonder if it is the RMA (Resource Management Act) because it forces people to be adversaries. In my mind there’s a major need to restructure the RMA because it has had 19 amendments since it has been around and it is not serving the environment well, but not serving the social needs of people well either.” Both major political parties have stated they would restructure the RMA, while bypassing it for housing needs and he says they need to start with blank bits of paper. “I’m quite keen on blank bits of paper!” While talking about the environment, Tony says constraints on nitrogen use will bring about a “readjustment” in

Oats and Italian ryegrass that was planted as a cash crop in early June.

land values in some dairying regions and farmers in those areas need to use good payout years to retire debt as soon as possible to offset a squeeze on their equity. “Dairy farming has relied on capital gain for decades and that’s now gone. Now they’re going to have to farm for farm economic return on capital invested. Longer term it is a workable outcome, but there will be a transition to get to that spot. With good payouts it will be a gradual progression.” Back to strategies and governance, Tony says the agriculture industry needs to place more focus on mental health and

make sure it goes beyond just putting it on paper. As part of Pamu Farm’s board, he chaired the Performance and Safety committee which is an area recognised as the most important factor on its farms, with major changes implemented in recent years. Throughout the industry, the importance of health and safety is widely recognised now and he wants mental health to have an equal focus. “The number of farm accidents is half the number of suicides. In the industry, health and safety has come a long way, but there’s a long tail and it needs to cover the mental health issue.”

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Governance Special report

Spreading experience Words by: Elaine Fisher

iversity around the board table is vital for modern businesses and that diversity is not only about gender, it’s also about skill sets, Co-operative Business New Zealand chief executive Roz Henry says. “It is about diversity of thought and experience. If those at the board table all come from similar backgrounds, there can be a lack of challenge and forward thinking to ensure the future proofing of their businesses.” Roz says there is an increased awareness of the need for different skills around the board table, and for succession planning, to help equip the next generation for governance roles. That’s why Co-operative Business New Zealand has extended its governance education offerings and launched its first Co-operative Governance Development Programme partnering with Mayfield Group. The programme, open to all members of Co-operative Business New Zealand and their shareholders, is designed specifically for aspiring directors and those that are new to boards. The 2020 programme is due to start in September, (for more information refer to the link at the end of this article). “This comprehensive programme is designed to support developing future governors operating within co-operative governance environments,” Roz says. “With the co-operative sector (memberowned businesses including mutuals and societies) making up a large part of the New Zealand economy, it is hugely important that we equip the next

Jo Guy of Mayfield Group.

generation of leaders to make the right decisions.” Primary industry co-operatives account for 65 to 75% of all co-ops in NZ and are among the best known, but Roz says others including Foodstuffs, ITM, Mitre 10 and NZ Plumbers Merchants are also co-ops. “New Zealand is one of the most co-operative economies in the world with co-operatives generating around 19% of GDP, employing more than 50,000 New Zealanders with 1.5m members.” However, Roz says there is a need for more training to prepare leaders for vital governance skills and give members confidence to take on the roles. “Ensuring good governance is a significant issue for co-operatives, and

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

while there are similarities to corporate boards, there are nuances that present challenges and opportunities. Access to capital and the complexities of shareholder versus stakeholder demands, remain important issues that these boards must address.” Jo Guy of Mayfield Group says participants will undertake a six-month governance programme that includes two residential workshops, remote learning and coaching and mentoring throughout. Facilitators Janine Smith, principal and chair of The Boardroom Practice and Associate Professor David Tweed will anchor the programme, working alongside a wide range of experienced speakers and subject matter experts, Jo says. “Janine, who was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to corporate governance, has been a company director for more than 20 years. Her wide-ranging knowledge and expertise arise from her experience as a CEO, executive director and independent director with companies in the commercial, arts, and education sectors, both in New Zealand and overseas. Janine has also previously served on the board of AssureQuality and was the chair for nine years.” David Tweed is an educator, director and strategist. He has designed, directed, and delivered many governance development programmes over the past decade. He works with many co-operatives to grow their governance capabilities and has designed and delivered governance master classes for the boards of many StateOwned Enterprises. Jo says the timing is right for the

‘With the co-operative sector (member-owned businesses including mutuals and societies) making up a large part of the New Zealand economy, it is hugely important that we equip the next generation of leaders to make the HELPS TREAT HYPOTHERMIA...Due to acute illness or from cold environmental conditions, especially if down right decisions.’

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better to treatment if they are warm ORDER ONLINE • For recumbent cows when conditions are cold especially if they are outdoors, as keeping them warm will help recovery • MIRoTEC Treatment Cow Coat will help improve the welfare Dr. Phil Poulton Gippsland Vet Group, Victoria, Australia of sick cows and recumbent cows under cold conditions circulation. As this is an active process it occurs quicker and more effectively than Directions for use: conventional rugs. The porous construction of the MIRoTEC allows the escape of • Place the appropriate sized coat on the animal Coat: water vapour, but do check to ensure that excessive sweating is not taking place. • Adjust andCalf secure chest and rear strap, Order direct from the supplier at www.mirotec.com.au/cattle • Forforcalves sufferingfitfrom scours, which is often associated as appropriate a comfortable If this occurs the MIRoTEC should only be used for short periods. dehydration low body temperature animal during coldand conditions or until • Leave on thewith Stock available for dispatch in New Zealand For sick as calves under cold conditions, such as pneumonia they have•recovered, required • MIRoTEC Treatment Calfand Coat will help improve the welfare for excessive sweating remove • Check regularly m: 0417388 388 m: (+61) (+61) 0417 008008 of sick calves under cold conditions the coat periodically, if so www.gillgroupinternational.com www.gillgroupinternational.com • Hand wash and hang out to dry (Machine washing sales@gillgroupinternational.com sales@gillgroupinternational.com 58 Dairyprotective Exporter material) | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020 may damage

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Governance Special report

Diversity makes for better decisions Words by: Lindy Nelson

iversity is a most talked about subject, yet arguably the least understood governance concept. What does it mean, why is it important and how do we get it? For the last ten years we have seen diversity as gender – get a few females around the decision-making table and the job’s done. Recently we have begun to mature our view and see it in a new light. Diversity is beyond gender: it is about ethnicity, experiences, capability, perspectives, and to work it must be about inclusion. If we can’t embrace how diversity shows up, nor understand the challenges it brings and our own reactions to that challenge, then diversity looks good from the outside but doesn’t function on the inside. At its heart diversity means “I think differently, my experiences and my perspective are different, I am probably likely to challenge your thinking.” Mostly as humans we like “similar” – “different” can feel we want to debate, deny or dismiss it. Yet in the complex,

GETTING DIVERSITY RIGHT • Create a culture where diversity will thrive • Recognise unconscious bias • Review your current board composition • Cast a wide net to find the best people • Measure what matters.

(NZ Institute of Directors)

disruptive world we find ourselves, our own perspectives and experiences are limited, and only through diverse decision making will we succeed. If I have ever felt tense at the board table it’s because diversity has just shown up and my opinions have been challenged. If I’ve made others tense it’s because I’ve been that diversity. If we can’t recognise our own bias and human responses to diversity and challenge, or if we have diversity but not inclusion or belonging, we can’t embrace the brilliance and value that diversity brings. The Institute of Directors has five suggestions for getting it right: create a culture where diversity will thrive; recognise unconscious bias; review your current board composition; cast a wide net to find the best people; and measure what matters. A board culture where diversity thrives embraces debate and dissent and uses robust decision-making processes. It makes diversity safe and normal. I can disagree; my perspectives are viewed as supporting “us” to get it right and are respected; you include me, not disclude me for my views. We seek to understand and work with bias. While we all have bias and mostly its function is to keep us safe, when we do nothing about exposing our and others’ biases we make poor decisions. A communication tool I have used to support bias is thinking about the ladder of inference – “how I got to this decision/ thinking” – then using advocacy and enquiry. Advocacy is simply “here is what I am thinking and here is why I’ve come to that conclusion”. It is about making your thinking ladder visible to others. Enquiry is similar but used in reverse

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Lindy Nelson

to unpick others thinking and knowledge – “Help me understand how you have formed that perspective and what is the knowledge you have?” Understand why you really want diversity and then get the right mix of attributes, experience, and skills you need to create it. Cast a wide net in recruiting talent. I would love to see boards build better relationships with local iwi to build both depth in the board’s decision making and support different governance experiences and opportunities for Maori. Magic happens through partnerships. Last, decide how you are going to measure diversity in your board and organisation, which will have the greatest impact. Yes, diversity takes effort, but the organisations that will succeed tomorrow will be led by boards where diversity not only belongs but is thriving. • Lindy Nelson is the founder of the Agri Women’s Development Trust, providing leadership training and development opportunities to women in the rural sector.

Governance Special report

Co-operative vs corporate governance Words by: Nicola Shadbolt

overnance of a corporate and a co-operative is very similar in that both involve leadership of a business and must ensure the business works within the laws of the land. The Companies Act dictates many of those rules of behaviour and is quite clear that the board must do what is right for the company, this is not universal as in some countries the equivalent law is quite clear that it is the interests of the shareholders that must be paramount. In many situations what is good for the company is also good for the shareholders, but this is not always the case. There can be differences between time horizons so implementing (or lacking) long-term strategy that restricts (or enhances) short-term returns can cause conflict. In recent times the rise of the activist investors has also seen boards challenged on ethical or environmental grounds. The voice of the owners in both corporates and co-operatives is heard most clearly when they vote, whether it be for board directors or for constitutional change. This tension between shareholders and the company is exacerbated in co-operatives for a number of reasons. The relationship between co-operative members (shareholders) and their company has multiple faces. As with the corporates equity capital is provided through membership fees or shares when they join the co-operative and through the retention of profits each year, but they also make the commitment to sell to or buy from the co-operative, in most cases the amount they pay to join is based on

Nicola Shadbolt

that commitment. The basis on which cooperatives are formed is called mutuality, in other words ‘we are stronger together than apart’. So, for the governors of a co-operative knowing that commitment is critical to the success of the business means that they ignore their shareholders at their peril. If commitment drops not only will they lose suppliers or buyers they will also lose equity funds as the members leave, although most cooperatives delay payment of such funds for some time (Fonterra being the exception under DIRA). In some cases membership fees are the same at entry and exit, they do not take with them any increase in equity value over time, so the impact of their exit is more on the lack of business than the balance sheet. If you unpick some of the poorer performance and, in some cases, the demise of co-operatives in recent times it so often can sheet back to managing this tension. Does the board ‘milk the balance sheet’ to pay the best price to their suppliers

so they do not leave, do they retain less and pay more in dividends or rebates to their members, so they do not leave? Do they invest in new assets and fund it by bringing in new suppliers but at a membership fee that does not cover the cost of the new assets? In all instances the answer from a governance perspective would be no if such actions put the co-operative at risk. In some instances, a co-operative with a strong balance sheet might use that strength to assist their members through a difficult time but as with a corporate the primary focus of the board should be on how to ensure the business is delivering the best earning over time. The Companies Act also addresses imbalance of power by being very specific about how minority shareholders should be treated. Co-operatives are not only bound by this law but also by the principles under which co-operatives exist, democratic member control in particular. Funding options also differ between corporates and co-operatives, both can source equity finance through retentions of profit and debt finance, but the corporates actively issue or absorb shares to manage their cost of funds. This is less possible for co-operatives. Timeframe can also differ between cooperatives and corporates. In both cases the boards should be strategic with a longterm focus, corporates however are noted as being responsive to quarterly reporting, something co-operative board members do not have to contend with. • Nicola Shadbolt is Professor of Farm and Agribusiness Management at Massey University and a former director of Fonterra.

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ENVIRONMENT IMPROVEMENTS

“Doing what’s right” for the whole farm wins awards An holistic approach to dairying that involves the health of soils, waterways, bush, wetlands, stock, staff and themselves has won accolades for Bay of Plenty farmers. Elaine Fisher reports. Photos by Troy Baker.

ffording cows the same respect and consideration they would like to receive themselves is part of Fraser and Katherine McGougan’s animal management policy. It fits exactly with their mission statement; “Do What’s Right”, which the couple applies to all aspects of their farming business. “This year we have introduced a no-dog policy and encourage people not to follow cows or use anything but their voice and 62

presence to move cattle, and as a result we have had very little lameness,” says Fraser, who is the fourth generation of his family to farm Willowvale Farm at Taneatua. “Treating cows as you would like to be treated is not airy fairy. It is about good stockmanship and there are economic benefits. Lameness can affect a cow’s milk production, fertility, and overall health.” Technipharm Batt-Latch timers used to open gates allow cows to walk to the cowshed or between paddocks themselves,

leaving staff to check paddocks, shut gates, and set up the next paddock for grazing. Fraser has also paid attention to the maintenance of and material used on races. “A DairyNZ consultant once told me if I didn’t mind walking on the race in bare feet then the cows won’t either.” An underpass in the road that divides the farm has been installed to improve ease of movement for cows and the local community. “There was no direct financial

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Left: Katherine and Fraser McGougan and their children Emily (8), Isaac (6) and Liam (3) of Willowvale Farm which has been in the McGougan family since 1898.

FARM FACTS:

• Farm name: Willowvale Farms Ltd • Owners: Fraser and Katherine McGougan • Location: Opouriao Valley, Taneatua, Eastern Bay of Plenty • Area: 150ha, 136ha effective • Topography: Flat • Herd: 420 peak milked (3.2 cows per ha) • Production: 1130kg MS/ha and 346kg MS/cow (3 year average) • BW 127 PW 158 • System 2 – 10% imported feed benefit to our farm but it was the right thing to do.” Katherine and Fraser’s approach to dairy farming is holistic. They consider the health of their soils, waterways, native bush, wetlands, stock, staff, and themselves in management plans. Putting that into practice is among the reasons the couple won the Regional Supreme Award in the 2019 Bay of Plenty Ballance Farm Environment Awards, and why Fraser is a DairyNZ Climate Change Ambassador. The farm environment award judges said the couple have “a passion for the future of the dairy industry that motivates Fraser and Katherine to become involved outside the farmgate. “Fraser and Katherine make a great team with complementary skills. They have great understanding of farm financials, key metrics, and cost control; excellent HR practices and policies – evidenced by the ongoing success achieved by their employees. Fraser’s enthusiasm for collecting information and learning more about soils and nutrients is remarkable.” It’s a source of pride for Fraser and Katherine that the family has been on the land since it was settled by Fraser’s great grandfather in 1898. However, says Fraser, “our family history guides us but does not constrain us”. Although he grew up on Willowvale Farm in the Opouriao Valley, five kilometres south of Taneatua, Fraser didn’t go farming immediately after leaving school. He completed an agricultural degree at Massey University then headed overseas “for a few years finding out what I didn’t want to do and came back to

Left: The property has three significant areas of native bush, featuring stands of kahikatea and other native tree species. These have all been fenced off and developed with further plantings. Below: A lined effluent pond with a variable speed drive stirrer is part of the upgraded effluent system on Willowvale Farm.

farming, progressing my way through the industry.” Katherine grew up on a dairy farm at Tokoroa and qualified as a radiation therapist, a career she had to let go when she moved to Taneatua. Katherine is responsible for the financial and administrative functions on the farm and oversees the human resources systems and processes that include recruitment, performance reviews for their two full-time staff, training, and exit interviews, as well as caring for the couple’s three children, Emily (8), Isaac (6) and Liam (3). The couple formed an equity farming partnership with Fraser’s parents in 2004. Remaining shares were acquired in 2011 and, after leasing it for six years, a neighbouring property was purchased in 2017 to add to the home farm. Now Fraser and Katherine have outright ownership of the property that totals

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

150ha hectares (136ha effective), and milk 420 crossbred cows. It is essentially a closed herd, except for breeding bulls, and it is fertile – four weeks of AB ensures an excess of heifer replacement calves. “Our stocking rate pushed up to 440 cows but we tweaked that back a little and actually increased production. Last season’s production was 152,500 kg MS, which is not through the roof but is around our 10year average. We do not winter off or use much bought-in supplementary feed. We are a System 2 farm and grow most of our silage and hay onfarm.” Mob sizes are kept small over winter with around 110 cows in each of four herds. “Cows calve within their own herds. We don’t have springer mobs. Four herds do make more work for us but there is less damage to pasture and the animals are happier.” When necessary in winter, cows can be 63

An underpass in the road which divides Willowvale Farm has been installed to improve ease of movement for cows and the local community.

stood off and fed hay on paddocks with shingle subsoils or moved to the nearby runoff that has free-draining pumice soils. In 2017 the three-year performance average of the dairy farm was 1130kg MS/ ha and 346kg MS/cow. This compares well with the Bay of Plenty average of 968kg MS/ha and 352kg Ms/cow for the 2016-17 season. (Source: DairyNZ Economic Survey 2016-17). Approximately 10% of feed is bought in from off farm. The Whakatane River forms one of Willowvale Farm’s boundaries and in autumn 2017 the property was severely affected by floods, now referred to as the Edgecumbe Floods, which saw that town inundated when a stopbank failed. “We are always more adversely affected by rain than dry, especially a wet spring. The Eastern Bay hills around Taneatua and Opotiki generally get more rain than other areas.” Conscious of the debt they carry, Katherine and Fraser are focused on their breakeven milk price (BEMP) that, alongside debt-to-equity ratio, is used to gauge financial performance and drive financial discipline across the business. BEMP for the 2014-2017 period was within the range of $3.50 -$3.86/kg MS despite the additional expenses imposed by the 2017 floods and modifications to the 64

cowshed and farm cottage. This compares extremely favourably with Bay of Plenty values, which are typically in the $4-$5/kg MS range. Careful management is crucial to the farming operation’s success and also to its long-term environmental sustainability. Up to 30% of the farm is prone to flooding and its overall contour is flat with three distinctly different soil types; Whakatane fine sandy loam, Opouriao fine sandy loam, and Rewatu fine sandy loam. “Each soil type behaves differently. Those on the lower contour have a stony subsoil and drain well while the heavier soils need Novaflo drains. We carry out individual paddock soil samples to find out the specific nutrients needed and that’s beginning to show us trends. Opouriao silt loams hold onto P and it is readily available to plants. K levels are also a lot better than so-called modelling shows.” That information has led to targeted fertiliser application per paddock. “We are not using a lot less fert but are using it a lot smarter and seeing the gains, such as increased yield from maize crops.” Covered fertiliser bins have been constructed and GPS technology is used to guide fertiliser application using the farm’s own tractor, spreader, and staff. “Liming rates unlock a lot of nutrients

from our acid soils so we can enhance the available nutrients simply by putting on lime.” Last year, to increase his understanding of the impacts of fertiliser and soils, Fraser completed an in-house Massey University Sustainable Nutrient Management Course (the same course fertiliser consultants complete). “As a farmer I needed to know I could make the best decisions for our farm and not rely on someone else. I did it to upskill decision making around nutrients and nutrient losses.” The Olsen P phosphate target level for the farm is 33. Soil pH is addressed through a regular liming programme in accordance with soil testing, and shed effluent is used to complement the fertiliser programme across the effluent area, which extends to 48 ha (35% of effective area), where no additional fertiliser is added. From the nutrient budget, 37 kgN/ha/year is lost to groundwater through leaching. Reducing nutrient loss and enhancing the environment are important to Katherine and Fraser who have continued to plant and fence out waterways, change drainage systems where needed, and decrease stocking rates. Willowvale has a 34-bale Waikato Milking Systems rotary plant, set up to be

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

run by just one milker, with automatic cup removers, teat sprayers, and bail restraints. A big focus has been on the reduction in water use resulting in just 7.5 m3 used each day to wash down yards and the plant during summer. (Industry average is around 70l/cow/day, or 29.4m3 for 440 cows). “We invested in a water meter to monitor use, and in storage tanks. Recycled green water is used for flood washing of the yard. We’ve gained big efficiencies but, with the latest upgrade, will push for more.” Upgrades carried out this year included triple sediment traps, a solid storage area, and a lined effluent pond with a variable speed drive stirrer. “It’s been a big cost in time and money but was what was needed to stay ahead, even though the existing system had resource consent until 2025. The new upgrade should give us another 15 years.” The dairy also has an innovative heat recovery unit to improve energy efficiency by using the heat generated from the milk vat chillers to heat plant wash water. Effluent is irrigated onto pasture but Fraser says the amount available is not great. “One of the biggest things often overlooked is that the less water used in cowsheds, the less effluent you have to get rid of. For us, having a low volume of concentrated liquid is easier to distribute and less risk to the environment.” Solids are spread onto paddocks, which are cultivated and sown in maize for onfarm feed. Those paddocks are also part of the annual pasture renovation programme. Willowvale paddocks grow a lot of paspalum and there’s an increasing incidence of kikuyu too, something Fraser expects will only get worse with global warming. “We regrass five to six percent of our pasture every year and our farming system benefits from the new pasture. Undersowing does not work because the paspalum is so dominant.” The property has three significant areas of native bush featuring stands of kahikatea and other native tree species. These have all been fenced off and developed with further plantings done in partnership with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. The bush areas are now under a covenant to protect them into the future. Fraser was already a member of the Whakatane River Advisory group when he volunteered to be a DairyNZ Climate Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Left top: Fraser McGougan takes individual paddock soil samples to find out the specific nutrients needs of each. Left: GPS technology is used to guide fertiliser application, using the farms own tractor, spreader and staff. Below: Cross-bred cows which make up the Willowvale Farm herd. Bottom: Farm’s spreader which enables fertiliser to be applied at the optimum time and rates for the Taneatua farm.

Left: The effluent system at Willowvale Farm has been upgraded this season. Top: No fertiliser, other than cowshed effluent, is spread on this paddock which in late May had an impressive grass sward. Bottom: It’s a source of pride for Fraser and Katherine that the family has been on the land since it was settled by Fraser’s great grandfather in 1898. However, says Fraser, “our family history guides us but does not constrain us”.

Change Ambassador. “I am aware of the changing face of agriculture and want to understand better the threats and opportunities and to engage with others and upskill ourselves. “The role is basically about getting information and disseminating it to other farmers, providing feedback around what we are experiencing or seeing other people experience, and asking questions. The role has progressed to providing some feedback to national and local government organisations.” Fraser found the information he needed about the environment and farming hard to access, which prompted him and Katherine to enter the Ballance Farm Environment Awards. “It was a really good experience, which opened our eyes to what other people are doing. There is a lot to be learned from our own and other industries. You can never have all the answers yourself and there’s no point in reinventing the wheel. If you try to do things on your own you may not come up with the best solution. Learning from other farmers and growers is actually more empowering. It strengthens your business and everyone else’s business and the community as well.” Fraser pushed hard to get pan-sector discussion groups going in the Bay of Plenty and the first, the Pan Sector Future Farming Symposium, attracted 350 people from horticulture, dairying, dry stock farming and the community. A second event, planned for May, was cancelled because of Covid-19. “What we are facing from climate change, environmental, and freshwater 66

issues are not just a dairy problem, or agricultural or horticultural problem. They affect us all, including urban populations.” DairyNZ had done a good job on behalf of farmers through some tough negotiations around the government’s national freshwater policy, especially in regard to fencing requirements, he says. The policy sets standards for managing nitrate limits, creating healthy rivers and streams to swim, fencing off stream banks, and riparian planting. “The biggest thing is how regional councils interpret and enforce the rules. Farmers must have ownership of their own farm plans because that way you have engagement. When plans become a compliance issue, they lose value. “I found completing our farm plan

really empowering. It opened our eyes to the opportunities and threats we face and provided a clear pathway forward. Forming a plan is worth the effort. We used the Fonterra Tiaki programme, which is wellresourced and very professional.” Fraser believes climate change offers both challenges and opportunities but says anyone looking for simple solutions will be disappointed. He’s also urging the government to be realistic about what can be achieved through its environmental policies. “It has to be recognised that agriculture is an export earner, which also feeds New Zealanders and provides employment and prosperity. We can’t turn our farms into habitat for all our native flora and fauna and continue to farm economically.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

ENVIRONMENT FUNDING

Accessing environment funding Words by: Bob Edlin

griculture Minister Damien O’Connor, discussing the government’s funding of projects in targeted catchments and regions, credits most of the dairy industry with doing a lot of good work already in fencing waterways and environmental planting. Catchment management groups were extending this work, bolstering plantings and creating new wetlands. “I think the dairy farmers have got right in behind it and where there is good structure, we [the government] are simply giving them the resources to further boost the good work they have been doing,” he said. O’Connor talked with Dairy Exporter in mid-July after announcing more funding for farm environmental clean-up projects

and a $20 million injection into catchment groups across the country to help clean up waterways while delivering hundreds of jobs and training opportunities. Projects in the Bay of Plenty, Rangitikei, Canterbury, and Otago are sharing $10m from the government's Jobs for Nature package to help with land restoration, wetland protection, remediation of waterways, planting, pest control, and the increased uptake of farm environment plans. Catchment group projects in Auckland, King Country, Wairarapa, Tasman, Canterbury, and Otago to enhance water quality, soil conservation and ecological restoration will get $10m (between $1m and $2m each) from the One Billion Trees fund. A further $1.87m was allocated to the Quorum Sense Charitable Trust to help farmers share knowledge about developing

and implementing regenerative agriculture systems. The Government’s 2019 budget established the $229m Sustainable Land Use Package, which invests in projects to protect and restore at-risk waterways and wetlands and provides support for farmers and growers to use their land more sustainably. A $1.1 billion investment to build environmental jobs in this year’s postCovid Budget included the $200m Jobs for Nature Fund, to extend predator control, restore wetlands, regenerate planting and improve tracks, huts and other recreational and visitor assets on public conservation land. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has been encouraging catchment management groups for the past two years to come up with ideas and to apply for funding through such programmes.

Farm Bridges Haybarns SHEDS

Cattle Yards Sheds Calf Sheds

greenwoodinfo.co.nz

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

“I have been absolutely committed to this pathway to improving environmental management with the farmers who understand what we need to do and a little bit of assistance from Government goes a long way to making those changes,” O’Connor said. Anybody can form a catchment group. Funding is decided by teams from the MPI, Ministry for the Environment and Department of Conservation – “there’s a number of astute people who can work out if the structure to control the funding is sound , if there are good skills to provide the coordination, and where there’s genuine enthusiasm to get the job done.”

HOW CAN FARMERS BECOME INVOLVED?

O’Connor’s advice: contact MPI, Federated Farmers, DairyNZ, your local regional council or a neighbour who is already involved. “There is extensive knowledge of the different groups around the country and we want it to be shared.” The Thriving Southland Change and Innovation Project became the first region-wide extension programme to be supported by the Sustainable Land Use package. In December last year a grant of $6-9m was announced to help its 1000 or so farmers and growers make changes to lift their environmental sustainability.

VALUE PROPOSITION – WHY BE INVOLVED IN A RIVER CARE GROUP?

• Realisation that together we can have a greater impact beyond our farm gate • Farmers become more in control of their own future outcomes • Process of building Catchment plan, FEP & Action plans increases understanding & knowledge in supportive, safe learning environment • Farmers learning from farmers • Fun, social, time off-farm • Funding & support is a great motivator for involvement E.g. 1BT “kick start” for FEP Action plan implementation • Influence regional plans and regulation/rules (KCRC).

King Country River Care Catchment community model INPUTS

• KCRC Governance committee • Project planning • Funding – WRC, MPI PSLU, 1BT, other • Research investment – CRIs

• Community resilience • Improved environmental outcomes

Catchment planning Farm Environment Planning

Report and review

• Industry resources support – B+LNZ, DairyNZ • Community, landowners, volunteers and others time

OUTCOMES

ACTIVITIES

Action on farm

• Improved cultural outcomes • Improved social outcomes

FEP Action Plans

RIVER CARE GROUPS: LOCAL SOLUTIONS TO LOCAL PROBLEMS King Country River Care (KCRC), a community catchment group based in the Waitomo district and embracing around 150 farms, in May was granted $844,000 to clean up waterways on its patch. The project, aimed at creating jobs and benefiting agriculture export and tourism, links the group with MPI, the Waikato regional council, industry bodies, and farm consultancies. O’Connor described it as “a great example of the types of great work happening all across the country to improve our waterways”. KCRC – which includes about 20 dairy businesses in a catchment of some 1444 square kilometres - was established five years ago in response to the Waikato Regional Council’s preparing its Plan Change One. It became an incorporated society two years ago and has eight sub-catchment groups, smaller localised groups generally based around a river or tributary. Group co-ordinator Anna Nelson, a farmer at Aria, was at Mystery Creek Fieldays last year, when O’Connor, joined by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, addressed farmers about the focus of the Sustainable Land Use Package. The Minister for Primary Industries highlighted the sum of more than $35m earmarked for providing practical advice, information and tools for farmers and growers to improve their operations. Nelson later met MPI staffers who were promoting their extension services and the funds available to support community catchment projects, help set up workshops to provide advice on farm environment planning, involve

communities in waterways monitoring and testing, and so on. “They were looking for partners and proposals and we put a proposal to them,” Nelson said. “We didn’t get everything on our wish list, but we got a lot of it.” While that money could be used only for group purposes, the KCRS hoped to get funds that could flow through to individuals for use on-farm. In mid-July it was successful. It was among the catchment group projects to benefit from the $10 million invested from the One Billion Trees Fund. Distributions from the $1,991,000 it secured will be tied tightly to the implementation of farm environment plans that reflect the catchment’s needs and challenges. “It’s a carrot – it’s about getting more people to come along and get involved and more people to prepare a farm environment plan and just get started.” The KCRC envisions much of the money will be used to plant native trees on riparian and erodible land “because farmers have done the vast majority of the fencing that’s required”. A series of workshops this month will guide farmers on how the funding can be used. Nelson is a fervent champion of community groups finding local solutions to local challenges. Partnership with central government was important, too, she said. It gives policy-makers a better understanding of local issues while apprising them of a farmer’s perspective of regulatory changes and their onfarm impacts.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Waikato Waikato

Finalist Finalist

GE and KM Coxon GE and KM Gavin & Coxon Karla Coxon Gavin & Karla Coxon

Campbell Farms Ltd Campbell Ltd GeorgeFarms Campbell George Campbell

Ruapuna Farms Ltd Ruapuna Ltd Grant Farms & Jan Early, Grant & Jan Early, Nick & Tina Giera Nick & Tina Giera

For more information please contact For more information please contact 0800 735 588 • team@dboy.co.nz 0800 735 588 • team@dboy.co.nz

*Top HR & Environmental performers were selected from the finalists, further scrutinised to select theselected Best People *Topand HRthen & Environmental performers were fromManagement the finalists, and the Lowest Environmental Impact Winner andWinner then further scrutinised to select the Best People Management Winner and the Lowest Environmental Impact Winner

Hopkins Farming Group, Tokomaru Finalist Hopkins Finalist JavierFarming Pardo Group, Tokomaru Javier Pardo

Waikato Waikato

Finalist Finalist

Greenacres (Kereone) Ltd Greenacres (Kereone) Ltd Brad & Graham Pickett Brad & Graham Pickett

1180 cows 1180318 cows ha 318 ha

Lower Lower North North Island Island

960 cows 960310 cows ha 310 ha

Canterbury 1414 cows Canterbury 1414375 cows ha 375 ha

Waikato Waikato

500 cows 500148 cows ha 148 ha

240 cows 240 58 cows ha 58 ha

391 MS/cow 391 MS/cow 1209 MS/ha 1209 MS/ha

483 MS/cow 483 MS/cow 1821 MS/ha 1821 MS/ha

446 MS/cow 446 MS/cow 1655 MS/ha 1655 MS/ha

453 MS/cow 453 MS/cow 1535 MS/ha 1535 MS/ha

510 MS/cow 510 MS/cow 2110 MS/ha 2110 MS/ha

5.3% 5.3%

4.3% 4.3%

3.6% 3.6%

5.1% 5.1%

5.6% 5.6%

5.2% 5.2%

481 MS/cow Canterbury 2000 cows 481 MS/cow Canterbury 2000548 cows ha 1757 MS/ha 548 ha 1757 MS/ha

Low Input with Best Financials Low Input with Best Financials

Craigellachie Dairy Farms Ltd Craigellachie Dairy Farms Ltd Andy & Alan Grant Andy & Alan Grant

5.3% 5.3%

5.8% 5.8%

7.1% 7.1%

6.2% 6.2%

Return Return Total ononTotal Assets Assets

404 MS/cow 404 MS/cow 1183 MS/ha 1183 MS/ha

Best Lower North Island Farm Best Lower North Island Farm Performance Performance

Hopkins Farming Group, Waihora Hopkins Farming Group, Waihora Shawn Southee Shawn Southee

995 cows 995340 cows ha 340 ha

503 MS/cow 503 MS/cow 1725 MS/ha 1725 MS/ha

Best Canterbury Farm Performance Canterbury 1120 cows Best Canterbury Farm Performance Canterbury 1120 cows Business Resilience Lowest COP 326 ha Business Resilience Lowest COP 326 ha Medium Input with Best Financials Medium Input with Best Financials Best People Leadership Best People Leadership

River Terrace Dairy Ltd River Terrace Dairy Ltd Brent & Rebecca Miller Brent & Rebecca Miller Andrew & Rachele Morris Andrew & Rachele Morris Lower Lower North North Island Island

366 MS/cow 366 MS/cow 950 MS/ha 950 MS/ha

192 cows 192 cows 7474 haha

Northland Northland

RUNNER RUNNER UPUP Best Northland Farm Performance Best Northland Farm Performance High Input with Best Financials High Input with Best Financials

443 MS/cow 443 MS/cow 1140 MS/ha 1140 MS/ha

Imeson Country Imeson Country LtdLtd Greg & Janelle Imeson Greg & Janelle Imeson

630 cows 630 cows 245 245 haha

Milksolids Milksolids Production Production

Waikato Waikato

Location Location

SUPREME WINNER McCullough Farm Partnership McCullough Farm Partnership LtdLtd SUPREME WINNER Richard & Nadine McCullough Best Waikato Farm Performance Richard & Nadine McCullough Best Waikato Farm Performance Lowest Environmental Impact Lowest Environmental Impact

Award Award

Peak Cows Peak Cows Effective Effective Area Area

DBOY2020 2020FINALIST FINALISTKPIS KPIS DBOY

Business Details Business Details

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

39% 39%

37% 37%

29% 29%

33% 33%

49% 49%

41% 41%

36% 36%

38% 38%

39% 39%

44% 44%

Operating Operating Profit Profit Margin Margin

$3,438 $3,438

$4,434 $4,434

$3,577 $3,577

$3,641 $3,641

$9,159 $9,159

$5,151 $5,151

$3,028 $3,028

$4,499 $4,499

$2,676 $2,676

$3,843 $3,843

EBIT EBIT perha ha per

$4.36 $4.36

$4.34 $4.34

$5.09 $5.09

$4.76 $4.76

$4.68 $4.68

$4.36 $4.36

$4.50 $4.50

$3.93 $3.93

$4.14 $4.14

$4.46 $4.46

Costof of Cost Production Production per kg MS per kg MS

$2.84 $2.84

$2.44 $2.44

$2.16 $2.16

$2.37 $2.37

$4.34 $4.34

$2.93 $2.93

$2.56 $2.56

$2.61 $2.61

$2.82 $2.82

$3.36 $3.36

EBIT EBIT perkg kg per MS MS

12.3 12.3

14.9 14.9

10.4 10.4

13.1 13.1

14.7 14.7

15.8 15.8

11.2 11.2

15.0 15.0

10.7 10.7

12.3 12.3

Homegrown Homegrown FeedtDM/ tDM/ Feed milking ha ha milking

67% 67%

78% 78%

58% 58%

70% 70%

68% 68%

85% 85%

62% 62%

81% 81%

73% 73%

65% 65%

Grazed Grazed Feed Feed

160 160

177 177

130 130

114 114

169 169

148 148

191 191

187 187

192 192

203 203

Labour Labour Efficiency Efficiency Cows/FTE Cows/FTE

9.5 9.5

7.9 7.9

9.0 9.0

8.8 8.8

9.2 9.2

8.1 8.1

10.5 10.5

10.1 10.1

10.3 10.3

12.0 12.0

Environ Environ Score* Score* (out (out of of 15) 15)

12.0 12.0

9.1 9.1

6.8 6.8

6.0 6.0

9.8 9.8

10.0 10.0

11.6 11.6

13.5 13.5

8.9 8.9

10.3 10.3

HR HR Score* Score* (out (out of of 15) 15)

Basedon on2018-19 2018-19Production Production Season Season •• Average Average Fonterra Milk Payout Based Payout == $6.35/kg $6.35/kg MS MS

DAIRY BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

enr94030 enr94030

STOCK WINTERING The R1s happy in the Omakau fog.

Great soil and water management wins awards Careful establishment, fertilising, and grazing of crops along with controlled water use helped a Central Otago couple win the Ballance Farm Environment Supreme Award for Otago. Karen Trebilcock reports.

t’s three in the afternoon near the end of May at Omakau in Central Otago, and Anna and Ben Gillespie are outside discussing the temperature. Anna says according to her phone it’s 0.5C. Ben says the dash of his ute is telling him it’s 1C. Not that it matters. The Kiwicross dairy 720 R1s and 700 R2s on the dry stock farm are warm with their bellies full of fodder beet in the thick mist. The couple were announced as the Otago Ballance Farm Environment supreme winners in April and also won the Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Management 70

Award  and the WaterForce Wise with Water Award.  And it’s their wintering of the dairy cattle that stood out for the judges. Not only is there minimal impact to their soils and nearby waterways but the dairy stock they graze are fully fed and up to weight. “We body condition scored them in April this year and the R2s were at 5.5 and were 450kg,” Anna said. “Last year we did it in May and they were at 5.8 so we had to be a bit careful not to put on any more condition over winter.” The young dairy cattle are from two Southland farms – one at Riverton and the

other Otahuti – and come to Anna and Ben’s at weaning. They stay for two winters and go home ready to calve. The dairy grazing brings in monthly cashflow and they buy store beef cattle in the autumn and spring, depending on the season’s growth, aiming to send them to the works six months later. “If the beef side wasn’t so variable we would have more beef cattle but the prices fluctuate too much,” Ben said. As well, they enjoy working with the dairy stock. “We love making them into pets, which

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

FARM FACTS:

• Two Farmers Farming • Location: Omakau, Central Otago • Area: 394ha total, 358ha effective • Overseer: 17kg N/ha/year

is probably not so good for when they go home,” Ben said. Having the R1s arrive on the farm in December helps with wintering. “When they arrive we put them behind wires so at the end of April when they go onto the beet they’re used to the farm, used to the fences, and they’re really settled,” Anna said. In 2011 they first farmed the property, which belonged to Ben’s parents, wintering dairy cows. “They were long winters, very intensive, seven days a week. The young stock are now so much easier.” Heifers are mated to AI on a five-day synchro and then the bulls go out. “As they are two different lines this means we do one mob, finish their programme, and then start the next so we aren’t literally drafting 700 heifers a day.” The couple met at Lincoln University and both have masters degrees in agriculture. They worked on the Landcorp Wairakei Estate at Taupo for several years before moving south again to take over the family farm lease, and in 2017 bought the farm. This summer they grew 42ha of Brigadier fodder beet under irrigation (the area’s rainfall is 450mm per annum) and estimate the crop to be about 25t. “We don’t measure it. It’s about the only thing we don’t measure. We measure the grass weekly during the summer and everything else, but the beet lasts as long as it lasts and that’s it,” Anna said. The only date they have to work to is when the R2s leave the property in July and all the other stock are flexible. At the end of April the cattle are transitioned on to the beet with the fences moving centimetres at first. Grass areas in the paddock that haven’t been planted help with the transitioning. When everything is fine they are ad-lib fed along with lucerne hay made onfarm and, for the R1s, grass because of the extra protein. They use hot standards to stop breakouts

Anna and Ben Gillespie are the Otago Ballance Farm Environment 2020 supreme winners.

and ride the fence lines every afternoon to check them. “Sometimes there will be a leaf hanging over a wire or a bulb up against a standard shorting out the fence. It just pays to check,” Anna said. They don’t use portable water troughs as any pipes above ground freeze, but make sure there are two troughs, one at each end of every 5½ha crop paddock. Anna, who does all the stock work, carries a garden fork with her on the quad bike to break the ice in the troughs every morning. “They don’t drink a lot of water. If they’re eating 10kg DM of fodder beet a day then that’s a 100 litres of water they’re getting from the beet if they’re 10% dry matter,” Ben said. While Anna is shifting about 15 fences a day, Ben does the tractor work filling the feeders with lucerne hay. Fodder beet guru Jim Gibbs, Lincoln University’s senior lecturer in livestock health and production, is a regular visitor to the farm looking over their feeding of fodder beet as well as bringing overseas visitors such as seed reps and agronomists. There are two main soil types on the farm and Anna and Ben no longer grow beet on their heavy clays. “It wouldn’t get really muddy, not what other people call muddy, but it was hard

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

work shifting fences with the clay sticking to your gumboots. By the end of walking a fence line there was so much clay it was hard to walk,” Anna said. “Overseer was also showing it was a hotspot from nitrogen losses. “Now we just crop the gravel silt loams at the top of the farm and it’s a lot better.” The stony ground stays hard through winter so the cattle are happier and it’s easier for Anna to walk around on, although getting fencing standards into the ground can be trying. They back fence to keep the mobs together so they can keep an eye on them, especially when calving looms for the R2s. The rotation is two years in beet and then back into grass. The crop paddocks are always under one of the farm’s two pivots, which cover 145ha and 42ha, or the hard hose guns, which cover another 50ha. Their water take is through the Omakau Irrigation Company. The fodder beet costs them about $2000/ ha to grow although they don’t add up every cent. They soil test every beet paddock prior to sowing and are aiming to raise the pH from 5.8 to 6.2 and get the Olsen Ps into the mid-20s. At sowing, 200kg Crop16N, 100kg ag salt, and 30kg boron per hectare is spread, and when the cotyledons are showing (the 71

Right: The R2s tuck into Lucerne hay. Below, right: Anna’s seedling nursery ready to plant out in the riparian areas.

first leaves before the true leaves) 200kg sulphate of ammonia goes on as well. They use ag salt because it’s more cost effective than using potassium, which fodder beet has a high demand for. The plant is able to substitute the Na+ ion from salt (NaCl) for the K+ ion it would otherwise find in the soil. After that there are two applications of Sustain N at 100kg/ha, each flown on through the season. “We’re really trying to keep the plant growing right through the summer. We want green leaves at winter grazing for the young stock to eat,” Ben said. “A lot of the agronomy of fodder beet is still from the UK and Europe where they don’t want leaves because it’s all lifted. “And with sugar beet they don’t want any nitrogen content in the bulbs because it’s getting made into sugar, but we do, so that’s why the extra nitrogen.” It’s the second time they’ve entered the Ballance Awards after failing to get through to the finals several years ago. “It’s just really good having another set of eyes looking at what you’re doing.” Children Will (9) and Milly (7) enjoy getting out on the farm and help shifting fences. They also own their own beef cattle and go with Anna to sales to buy their own stock. There are no rivers, streams, creeks, or even flowing ditches on the farm although in the gullies there are several springs, some of which dry up in the summer. Ben and Anna pot up the native seedlings they find in the garden and use others for cuttings and plant them out in

the farm’s riparian areas when they’re big enough. “With both our parents farmers who were of the mindset to plant trees, we’ve grown up with it so it's just what we do,” Anna said. She’s chair of the Manuherikia Catchment Group and they’re both on the Lauder water users’ group as well as school and other committees. Anna is also on the executive of the Federated Farmers Otago branch. “When lockdown happened we wiped our diaries clear,” Ben said.

Ben and Anna Gillespie are one of four New Zealand farmers who have been selected as finalists of the inaugural Zimmatic™ Sustainable Irrigation Awards which aim to celebrate excellence in sustainable irrigation and encourage Australian and New Zealand farmers to share ideas for achieving sustainable freshwater management. On-farm judging will take place in the Spring before the supreme winner is announced.

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www.ezicalve.co.nz Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

STOCK BONE INJURIES

Broken shoulders in heifers Words by: Penny Back

esearch at Massey University is investigating heifers who have had broken shoulder bones and need to be put down, with considerable economic and potentially genetic loss. While some farmers may not have seen the condition, many others have or know someone who has encountered it - with losses reported of 2-25% of first-lactation heifers in some herds since it first arose in 2008. A ‘broken shoulder’ is a spontaneous humeral fracture, which occurs with no warning and requires euthanasia of the animal as the fracture can not heal, Massey University senior lecturer in dairy production Penny Back says. The humeral fracture is a complete spiral fracture caused by osteoporosis and a decrease in cortical bone thickness (the wall of the bone) , as shown in post mortem examinations of the broken humerus bone. This means the animal has a similar

bone length to an unaffected animal but the bone has a reduced diameter and mass (density). This reduced diameter and mass results in a weaker bone which is important as the humerus is a bone under huge strain due to muscles in the shoulder. The ‘broken shoulder’ condition is commonly seen in two-year-old, first lactation heifers from later pregnancy to several months after calving but has also been seen in older animals. This indicates that the condition may be caused by multiple factors, which all contribute to weak bones. Preliminary work indicates periods of inadequate calf and heifer nutrition (and in some cases copper deficiency) impacts bone growth and development. Combine this with improving genetics for milk production, which increases the draw of calcium from bone in early lactation, increasing the likelihood of fractures. Preliminary investigations of the project have shown not a lot is known about the effect of some of the factors, like the amount of feed, different feed

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Above: Gross image of an affected humerus. In most cases, a spiral fracture is observed, extending from beneath the humeral head (blue star) to end above the humeral condyles (yellow star).

Massey University heifer broken shoulder research group. L-R: Rebecca Hickson, Keren Dittmer, Alvaro Wehrle Martinez, Michaela Gibson, Penny Back, Chris Rogers.

types and feed restrictions (through droughts and winter scarcity) which can cause growth checks, potentially have on heifer bone growth. “We know that peak bone mass in cattle is influenced by factors prior to puberty and insufficient peak bone mass in the first lactation predisposes heifer to risk of spontaneous humeral fractures,” Back said. Not a lot is known about bone growth in heifers so the project is looking at how normal bone growth occurs, and where disruptions in bone growth and development are occurring in young animals in New Zealand’s seasonal system, which may predispose them to fractures. The first publication of the project can be found at: http://www.nzsap.org/proceedings/ can-bone-measures-bovine-metacarpuspredict-humeral-bone-structure

HOW DO HEIFER BONES GROW? As the bone is growing, the size (length and diameter) of the bone increases. To do this, ‘scaffolding’ is erected and once it reaches a certain size, it stops. Subsequently this ‘scaffolding’ is back filled to increase strength (the density increases). This is an ongoing process. What appears to be happening with animals

Below: Figure shows where the humerus is found.

having fractures is that the bone builds its ‘scaffold’ for size (so they don’t physically look different to unaffected animals) but don’t appear to be able to backfill the ‘scaffold’ so the bone the lacks density and therefore strength. Researchers don’t know what limits the bones’ ability to do this process, particularly at a young age. Given the range of systems used to rear our calves, they need to understand if there is not enough energy or protein available for the bone to be able to develop properly,

resulting in a weak bone that can not withstand the need for bone turnover to provide the calcium required during early lactation. The project members are Chris Rogers, Keren Dittmer, Rebecca Hickson, Penny Back and two PhD students, Michaela Gibson and Alvaro Wehrle Martinez. The project is focusing on growth of young animals (Michaela’s PhD project) and the effect of diet (Alvaro’s PhD project). Follow their FB page: Massey heifer fracture research group.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

STOCK DAIRY NZ

Take care using antibiotics for clinical mastitis DairyNZ’s Jane Lacy-Hulbert explains how farmers can use a “traffic light” approach to manage mastitis and help reduce antibiotic use.

rudent use of antibiotics in animals helps minimise the risk of bacteria developing resistance. There’s also mounting evidence that antibiotic resistance is building in humans, which can be partly attributed to the use of antibiotics in animals. That’s why it’s important for farmers and animal health professionals to work together to ensure antibiotics are not overused on farm. Early identification and treatment of clinical cows can assist with this. Developing a herd health management plan with your vet, alongside your annual RVM (Restricted Veterinary Medicines) review, will help prevent some of the onfarm diseases and health conditions in the first place, which will reduce the need for treatment. It will also minimise the risk of antibiotic resistance in your herd and any flow-on effects into human communities.

GIVE IT THE GREEN LIGHT

category are generally the first choice or first line of treatment, with compounds in the yellow category used as the second line of approach or for certain conditions where the organism is more susceptible to these products. Compounds in the red category are used only as a last resort or where there’s enough diagnostic evidence to indicate its use. For most cases of mastitis, intramammary products will be used as they deliver the smallest amount of antibiotic to where it’s most needed. Sometimes injectable products may be preferred or the use of anti-inflammatories may be required to help make the cow more comfortable, and may lead to better outcomes in the long run.

FIND, RECORD AND TREAT ALL CLINICALS

Rapidly finding and treating clinical mastitis cases in the calving period reduces the risk of affecting milk quality.

New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) guidelines outline a “traffic light” approach when using antibiotics. This system helps you and your vet agree on the treatments to reach for first and identify those requiring more investigation before they can be administered. It’s an easy way to ensure the right cows are targeted with the right treatments, with the right doses and timing of doses, to support cows to return to good health. Compounds in the green

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

It also reduces the likelihood of infection being passed on to other cows and the development of chronic, longer-lasting infections. Look for heat, swelling or signs of pain in the udder and/or changes in the milk (wateriness, clots, discolouration) that persist for more than three squirts of milk. Only these cows should be treated. This helps avoid wasting antibiotics on cases that may otherwise clear up on their own.

MORE INFORMATION

You can get tips on rapidly finding and treating clinical cases online at dairynz. co.nz/clinicals. More information on antibiotic use on dairy farms and the “traffic light” approach is available at dairynz.co.nz/ antibiotics. You can also download a free copy of the NZVA guidelines from this page.

KEY POINTS

Identifying and treating clinical cases of mastitis early will help reduce infection and milk quality issues. Talk to your vet about updating or developing a herd health management plan appropriate for your farm, and the “traffic light” approach. This will ensure there is a: • clear understanding on your farm about how to prevent and treat different conditions • focus on cow comfort and a rapid return to good health • reduction in antibiotic misuse and waste.

STOCK VET VOICE

Traffic lights for antibiotics more than 90% of clinical cases of mastitis line therapies any good? Are we able to here. prudently use a ‘green light’ antibiotic for vast array of products are The following table presents antibiotic the average case of mastitis? available for the treatment products which are available for use in Yes! Thankfully, Streptococci show very of mastitis in dairy cattle. the treatment of mastitis in dairy good susceptibility to treatment with From the red box to the pink cattle in New Zealand. The ‘green’ antibiotics. Staphylococci box, the green box, the blue box to the table classification is organised are slightly more difficult. This black boxes, everyone has their favourite based on guidelines presented group contains both Coagulaseproduct. in “Antibiotic Judicious Use negative Staphylococci (CNS) as There is the box you reach for to cure Guidelines – Dairy” produced well as Staph aureus. those pesky spring clinical cases, the box by the New Zealand Veterinary Clinical cases of CNS you reach for to treat that millionaire from Association, published in are generally well covered the herd test, and the extra strong box to September 2018. Lisa Whitfield. by treatment with ‘green light’ treat those hard to cure cases. The NZVA traffic light antibiotics however some farms have In terms of the agents commonly classification system is based on but Staph aureus strains (~30%) which are causing mastitis in New Zealand, we differs from World Health Organisation resistant to ‘green light’ antibiotics. Staph are relatively unusual in the world. Our guidelines. As discussed in Jane Lacyaureus mastitis, while less commonly pasture-based farming system and islandHulberts’ article this month, the NZVA causing clinical cases, requires a more isolation means that we have a relatively classification system provides advice to broad management plan to be developed. small number of bacterial types causing help us make prudent decisions on the use You can easily find out whether you have the majority of our mastitis problems, with of antimicrobials in veterinary patients. a susceptible strain of Staph aureus on few non-bacterial causes. Streptococci, So bearing in mind the most likely your farm by getting a few milk samples Staphylococci and E.coli bacteria cause bacteria that we are treating – are the first cultured, and asking for the antibiotic sensitivity if a Staph aureus bacteria is grown. Product Name Antibiotic E.coli mastitis is interesting in that Intracillin® 1000 MC 1 Penicillin it can present as a very mild clinical Mamyzin® 2 Penethamate Hydriodide case, through to cases where the cow is Traffic light classification TM 1 extremely sick. The use of antibiotics Masticillin Penicillin of antibiotic-containing to treat E.coli mastitis is controversial. mastitis products Penethaject® 3 Penethamate Hydriodide This table presents antibiotic Mild cases will recover despite antibiotic ®3 Penethaject RTU Penethamate Hydriodide products which are available therapy. In a very sick cow, fluid therapy Albiotic 4 Lincomycin, Neomycin for use in the treatment of and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories are mastitis in dairy cattle in Clavulox LC® 5 Amoxycillin, Clavulanic Acid critical therapies to save the cow – these New Zealand. The table Lactaclox® 6 Cloxacillin cows should usually be assessed by a classification is based on guidelines presented in veterinarian. Mastiplan® LC 7 Cephapirin “Antibiotic Judicious Use So onfarm, while practically speaking Maxalac LC 8 Cefuroxime Guidelines – Dairy” produced you are not going to know the bacterial 1 Nitroclox LATM Cloxacillin by the New Zealand Veterinary agent causing mastitis in the cow in front Association, published in ®5 Orbenin LA Cloxacillin of you when you initially want to treat September 2018. The NZVA Penclox® 1200 1 Penicillin and Cloxacillin traffic light classification her, reaching for a ‘green light’ antibiotic system is based on but differs is a good choice for the majority of clinical Spectrazol® Milking Cow 7 Cefuroxime to World Health Organisation cases, regardless of the time of year, on ® 3 Ultraclox 24 Cloxacillin guidelines. The NZVA most farms. If you have penicillin-resistant ® 7 classification system provides Cobactan Injectable Cefquinome Staph aureus on your farm, you will need advice to veterinarians Cobactan® LC 7 Cefquinome on prudent clinical use of to develop a broader management plan Mastalone® 5 Oleandomycin, Neomycin, antimicrobials in veterinary to control this bacteria. Work with your Oxytetracyline patients. veterinarian to develop a mastitis control TylanTM 9 Tylosin Where a product contains plan, do some milk cultures so you get to more than one antibiotic in Tylo 200 10 Tylosin know the mastitis-causing bacteria on your its formulation, the product Tylofen® 3 Tylosin farm, and have a serious discussion about classification is based on the classification of the which product you are reaching for as your TyloguardTM 1 Tylosin most important antibiotics it first-line therapy. Tylovet 200 Injection4 Tylosin

Words by: Lisa Whitfield

contains.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

STOCK MILK REPLACERS SPECIAL REPORT

To curd or not to curd?

What’s in the bag? Words by: Paul Muir

A response to ‘What’s in the bag?’ article, June 2020.

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calves. Yet, in their comprehensive 1998 review of this topic, Longenbach and Heinrichs concluded that “The complete function and necessity of abomasal coagulation in calves, beyond colostrum feeding, remains questionable with current feed processing technology”. More recently, Japanese researchers (Miyazaki, 2010) used ultrasound to assess curd formation in young pre-ruminant calves. These authors reported that abomasal curd formation was absent in eight out of 29 calves fed a curding milk replacer. These authors also reported no significant difference in appearance, appetite, vigour or blood parameters of the calves. Taking account of this novel and current research and looking back at some of the research published over the last 100 years with a better understanding of the calf development and the digestion of milk, it is becoming increasingly clear that curd formation plays an important physiological role in the success of passive transfer of immunoglobulins in colostrum in the first 24 hours of life, but not in the digestion of milk proteins post colostrum feeding. And, these research findings are supported by practical experience. Many farmers around the world use wheybased milk replacers as the sole source of nutrition for young calves from as young

2278023

armers looking to maximise the profitability of their dairy farm operation understand the importance of high-quality care and nutrition of the young pre-ruminant. Agricultural scientists and nutritionists understand this too and so researchers around the world have invested substantial resources into quantifying the nutrient requirements of calves and understanding the suitability of different raw materials for inclusion in the diets of these rapidly growing, valuable, young animals. Finding a suitable alternative to whole milk has been an important focus for over 100 years. Yet, the factors identified in the 1940s as critical for the successful replacement of whole milk are still relevant today: use of high quality, highly digestible ingredients, careful selection of fat sources and homogenisation of fat, plus the addition of essential vitamins and minerals. While the importance of these factors has not changed, research has proven that the previously “sacred cow” of milk replacers, namely the importance of curding, is not as important as once thought. Understanding the importance of curd formation in the digestibility of milk replacers has been an area of interest for anyone looking to develop alternative feed sources for young

olostrum and whole milk are always the best feeds to offer young calves. However, if milk feeding is not possible there is a large array of substitute powders available to the rearer. They are not dried milk powders, so using “milk powder” as a name would likely contravene the Fair Trading Act. Instead they are called calf milk replacers (CMRs) and are made up of a range of products blended to meet minimum protein and fat specifications. They can contain a wide range of ingredients, and the lack of clear specifications on the bag means it is almost impossible for rearers to make an informed decision. In calves up to three weeks of age the digestive system is poorly developed and the calf can digest only a limited range of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Curding appears to be necessary to enable full utilisation of complex proteins. When calves are fed whole milk, its casein proteins curd in the abomasum where they break down gradually (over eight hours) and the products of digestion are released slowly into the small intestine where absorption occurs.

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STOCK MYCOPLASMA BOVIS

Biosecurity a priority to combat disease

ake biosecurity a top priority during calving this spring, the Mycoplasma bovis (M.bovis) programme partners advise dairy farmers and calf rearers. M. bovis programme director Stuart Anderson said the effort to eradicate M. bovis is making excellent progress, but poor biosecurity practices at calving could result in a long tail of infections, drawing out the eradication process. “There is very little M. bovis infection left in the national herd. Currently, there are just six Active Confirmed Properties, and only two of those have infected cattle still on the farm. “However, if there are just one or two farms that we haven’t found yet they can inadvertently spread the infection around the entire country. Just one untagged or unregistered calf could spread infection to an entire herd, so it’s critical all farmers

Achieving lifetime traceability for our national herd starts at calving. 78

GENERAL BIOSECURITY MEASURES AT CALVING Following these measures will help protect against many diseases including M. bovis.

1. Tag every calf (and put the tag M. bovis Programme director Stuart Anderson.

correctly tag calves, register them in NAIT, and record all movements this spring. “Achieving lifetime traceability for our national herd starts at calving. Accurate NAIT records allow us to quickly track down any calves which have left an infected herd, and to identify all of their close contacts and get them tested to make sure the infection hasn’t spread.” Raw waste milk also creates a high biosecurity risk – and DairyNZ’s advice is that farmers should not feed waste milk to calves. Waste milk can be a source for many diseases and other issues in calves as their systems develop - particularly young calves (up to two-three weeks) who can shed antibiotic-resistant faecal bacteria into the environment. Waste milk should definitely not be fed to bobby calves as the calf’s gut is likely to absorb the antibiotic residues and cause the carcase to be rejected, DairyNZ advises. If you are supplying raw milk to calf rearing operations, the milk should be treated (either pasteurised or treated with citric acid), before it leaves your farm. For advice about how to acidify milk with citric acid, DairyNZ.co.nz You also should keep accurate and up-todate records about what farms you have provided milk to.

in well) that is born on your farm (bobby calves going direct to slaughter are exempt from NAIT requirements, but require a specific tag).

2. Register that calf into the NAIT system against your NAIT number before it is moved off your farm.

3. Record that movement off-farm in the system within 48 hours.

4. Keep groups of calves separate

for 48 hours before mixing them while you observe them for disease.

5. Keep calf rearing facilities and

equipment clean, and limit how many people access calf rearing areas.

6. Get people accessing calf

rearing areas to clean their boots and personal protection equipment (PPE), and any other equipment, and clean them again when they leave.

7. Remove sick calves to a dedicated sick pen.

8. Only buy NAIT-tagged calves

with accurate and up-to-date records, and record their arrival on to your farm.

9. If you sell or give away milk for

feeding calves, keep a record of who the milk went to.

10. Keep accurate records of all

of your financial transactions, including calf sales, just in case you have to make an insurance or biosecurity compensation claim in the future.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

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Go to: www.nzfarmlife.co.nz/shop

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Proactive leadership proves a winner Respect for staff and livestock and proactive leadership are at the heart of Andre Meier’s management style, which are winning formulas not only on-farm, but also at a national industry level too. By Elaine Fisher.

Andre Meier, the 2020 New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year, with partner Natalie Cameron, plan to progress to sharemilking and invest in a farm by 2028.

he Bay of Plenty farmer, who is the 2020 New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year, stood out amongst a strong group of finalists as “a proactive manager and leader who constantly seeks opportunities to grow and learn and help others to do the same,” says Dairy Manager Head Judge Mark Shadwick from DairyNZ. When it comes to the dairy herd, Andre says respect is vital for both animal and human welfare. “Settled, happy cows are easier to handle and there’s much less risk of injury to staff. I won’t tolerate staff yelling at cows or

using anything other than leaning on them to move them in the shed. I don’t care how loud the radio is, as the cows don’t seem to mind, but shouting does upset them.” Andre uses the same calm, considerate approach to working with staff who he encourages to pursue training and their own pathways through the industry. The success of that approach is evident in the loyalty of his herd manager Lindsay Williams who has been with Andre for six years. Lindsay has moved with Andre to a new farm this season and has progressively increased his own industry qualifications and won merits in Dairy Industry

Awards. The plan now is for him to take on increased management roles. Both he and Andre are encouraging new trainee Sam Clark to enter next year’s Dairy Industry Awards. “Sam has just left school, and had only a little experience in farming,” says Andre. “He is keen and a hard worker, with definite personal goals within the industry so I was happy to give him an opportunity, as people did for me in the past.” Andre, who with partner Natalie Cameron, moved to the role of contract milkers on Natalie’s family’s farm at Otumarakau in June,

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Natalie Cameron and Andre Meier, contract milkers at Otumarakau with herd manager Lindsay Williams and dairy trainee Sam Clark and the first of this season’s calves.

is already seeing the results of his management techniques among the 425 Friesians which make up the herd. “Twice a day we walk round the herd in the paddock, getting the cows used to us, and they have calmed down, so we can calve in the paddock, rather than walking the cows to the shed. They are also easier to work with at milking.” Andre has a novel way of helping with staff training. He has made short instructional videos to demonstrate how to set up the dairy and carry out milking, plus other on-farm tasks. “It’s easier for someone to see exactly what’s required and how to operate the equipment, than reading what to do. In an emergency virtually anyone should be able to walk into the shed and carry out milking, after watching the videos.” Two years ago, in his previous role managing an 800-cow Pongakawa farm, Andre achieved the top mating results for the Bay of Plenty with an 86% six-week-in-calf rate and a 7% empty rate. Last season, despite a drought, the figures were 77% six-week-in-calf and 8% empty rate. Careful and focused management of mating to achieve a six-week calving period and once a day milking on the property owned by Will and Ann Nettleingham were factors in the results, which included last season, no cows requiring intervention during mating.

This season, in a new role, he’s not expecting to match that previous record, but will be working towards similar results next year. “I would rather pick up 24 calves a day over a shorter time period, than 8 a day spread out longer,” says Andre. Much as Andre is a fan of the benefits of OAD for both staff and cows, he acknowledges that the Otamarakau farm, which has irrigation and its own unique micro-climate, may not be as suitable for the system as the Pongakawa farm. OAD worked on that property as it was rolling to steep with “some tiger country” out the back. In contrast the Cameron property is virtually flat and lies nestled in a valley. Adjoining the 138ha milking platform, and up on a ridge, is the 300ha drystock block which Natalie and Andre also run. “It’s amazing how different the weather can be between the two blocks, even on the same day. Sometimes Natalie will call me from the drystock block to say it’s raining, while it’s sunny down here.” The flat fertile paddocks which make up the dairy block stay green, thanks to the climate and irrigation, but can also be prone to pugging. One of the first tasks Andre had carried out was cleaning the drains to help remove excess water. “We also have a stand-off pad where we can put cows if required, in order to protect the paddocks.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Natalie’s parents Gill and Bruce have made a succession plan for the couple, who share a love of farming, and animals, and hope to progress to sharemilking and invest in a farm by 2028. Though he is not from a farming background, Andre, who grew up on his parent’s lifestyle block at Te Puna, found an early interest and talent for the industry, working on drystock farms and relief milking before leaving school. After a stint as a herd manager of 180 cows, Andre worked for an agricultural contracting firm before spending six weeks in Europe, including visiting farms in Switzerland where the 70-cow herds were milked by robots. There has never been any doubt for Andre that he would continue a career in farming and his progression through the industry and winning the national Dairy Manager of the Year award has reinforced the wisdom of that decision. Committed to continuing to give back to the industry, Andre recently organised the transport and donation of two truck and trailer loads of feed to drought-affected Hawkes Bay farmers. He is also chair of the Te Puke Young Farmers, helping grow membership from six to 26; is on the Te Puke A&P Show Committee; is a Federated Farmers member and has hosted on-farm days for Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology students. 81

National dairy trainee winner ‘loves science’ Working with scientists has been a great experience for an enthusiastic young agricultural science graduate, as Ann-Marie Case-Miller explains.

Grace puts a cow on the top of the list of things she would want to take to a desert island.

race Gibberd makes an impression from the moment you meet her. She’s warm, friendly and articulate and it’s soon evident she possesses a broad general knowledge as the conversation flows from the Chiefs rugby woes to her thoughts on the future of the dairy industry in New Zealand. It’s nothing less than you’d expect from the Waikato woman who was named 2020 Dairy Trainee of the Year at the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards televised event in July. The 22-year-old grew up on a lifestyle block in Horotiu with “a house cow, some beefies and a few pet sheep.” It was in Year 13 at Hamilton Christian School that her future was determined when she chose ag science over PE. “It felt like a risky decision at the time because I didn’t know if I’d even like ag science. However, I knew I wanted an outdoors job and that a degree would be a good way to give me a 82

crash course on all things farming.” Grace received a DairyNZ undergraduate scholarship and is grateful to her DairyNZ mentor for the support and encouragement during her time of study. “I did have people ask me why I was ‘doing a degree to go farming’ when I could just go farming. I like science and I knew that I could apply that farming knowledge to other careers like soil science or agronomy if dairying didn’t work out.” But it has worked out – and very well. The first-time entrant into the Awards won the Waikato Dairy Trainee title in March and went on to win the national title as well as Federated Farmers Farming Knowledge and DairyNZ Practical Skills merit awards. “I was so excited when it was announced national judging was going ahead. I knew it would be a challenge for the organisers and I really respected their decision to go ahead and make online judging work.”

The national judges said Grace displayed an exceptional overall understanding and general knowledge and was clear, confident and articulate with her answers. They predict Grace will be a great ambassador and role model for the dairy industry. “That was an amazing comment and I felt a bit of pressure, but not in a bad way,” says Grace. “I thought that was so cool that they could see that, and I hope that I can just live up to the expectation and be a good role model for the dairy industry.” Her science degree has stood her in good stead in her role as a farm assistant at DairyNZ’s 115ha research farm in Newstead, on the outskirts of Hamilton. “Being able to understand what scientists are talking about when they’re speaking science language is extremely helpful! I definitely don’t know everything and have to ask a lot of questions, but having that science background helps,” Grace explains.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

FASTFACTS TOP 3 SONGS ON COWSHED SPOTIFY PLAYLIST: Need to Breathe – Brother Six60 – Rolling Stone Joy Invincible – Switchfoot

Above: Working on a farm with seven others where there are 10 research herds of 14 cows each requires lots of team work. Right: “One thing I’m looking forward to is seeing how technology in farming changes as time progresses – there’s heaps of new ideas on the horizon all the time and it’ll be interesting to see what farming looks like 20 years from now.”

“I think it’s helpful to have a bit more knowledge behind the why and knowing what the scientists are actually looking for and understanding the possible benefits of doing a trial.” “Having these trials on a real farm scenario means we have an incredibly detailed picture of what each cow is like, on paper. We herd test weekly and body condition score every fortnight so we know what each cow is producing in terms of solids and protein.” “There is a lot of data that is recorded every day and scientists are able to go into the database and choose cows for their trials based on what characteristics they’re looking for.” The farm employs seven staff managing 360 cows, including 10 herds of 14 cows who are part of a three-year Forage Value Index (FVI) Validation trial looking at pasture production and whether the difference in pasture production actually equates to a difference in milk yield and therefore profit for the farmer. “FVI is a rating system for grass that has been created based on plot trial data, and the trial on our farm is the validation of those trials in a real-life farm situation,” explains Grace. “With ten herds of 14 cows all the on-farm jobs take a lot longer, such as feeding out or even bringing the cows in for milking. It’s extra work but I wouldn’t swap it for the world.” The herds are identified by coloured collars and Grace says communication amongst the team is key, especially in the 44-bail rotary milking shed. “Our systems are pretty thorough and everybody’s got to pull together. We have a lot of herd changes during milking and it helps to have someone there to call out ‘last cow’ and someone else can change the gates.” “We’re a young team and we have a lot of fun.” Living off-farm and flatting with friends who work outside the dairy industry means Grace has

introduced farm life to people from all walks of life. “I think there’s a perception from people who don’t have anything to do with the industry that farming is just farming.” “It’s awesome to show them our community within the industry and that we celebrate success because farming’s not like a normal workplace,” says Grace. “Our community is quite unique to the dairy industry.” Grace balances her time off-farm by pursuing sports and is enjoying playing netball this season. She enjoys watching rugby and is at a loss to explain the Chiefs rugby woes this season. “They have a good coach and a good captain who should be able to get them all on the same page!” She loves music, sings and plays piano. “Over lockdown I tried to teach myself the guitar but I definitely need to practise more than I do!” Grace encourages any young person considering dairying as a career to give it a go. “You don’t know until you try. There are plenty of people in the dairy industry willing to teach young people, and the GoDairy initiative from DairyNZ is a perfect way to get involved.” GoDairy is designed to attract people to work in the dairy sector and offers Farm Ready Training, which is entry-level training to help people find out what it’s like to work on a farm and learn some farming basics. There is a big emphasis on ensuring newcomers understand farm life before they arrive. Anyone interested in taking part can sign up at godairy.co.nz. “As farmers, if we continue to care for our people, animals, and the environment then we should be so proud of the quality dairy products that we help produce,” says Grace. “One thing I’m looking forward to is seeing how technology in farming changes as time progresses – there’s heaps of new ideas on the horizon all the time and it’ll be interesting to see what farming looks like 20 years from now.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

WOULD YOU CHOOSE AN AFTERNOON WITH THE COWS OR A HOT DATE WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND? Can I take my boyfriend on a date to the farm to spend time with the cows? WHAT ARE THREE ITEMS FROM THE FARM YOU’D WANT ON A DESERTED ISLAND? • One of the pet cows from the farm • Tractor to do some digging and build a shelter • Milk BEST SLOW COOKER RECIPE DURING CALVING? I make a really nice slow cooked pork roast, which is a little bit spicy and so yum. Anything in the slow cooker is good though. I love nice tender meat in the slow cooker and it’s great because you can put it on in the morning and not have to think or prepare too much when you get home. TOP TIP FOR SURVIVING CALVING? It can be really hard to do, but make sure you get plenty of sleep! FAVOURITE WAY TO RELAX OFF-FARM? I like being outdoors on a bush walk or, if the weather isn’t so nice, in front of the fire with a good book. LOVE ISLAND OR COUNTRY CALENDAR? Definitely Country Calendar!

DAIRY 101 SILAGE

The good stuff – a silage stack opened for winter feeding.

The lowdown on good silage Story and photos by: Karen Trebilcock

o it’s spring (almost) and the grass is growing and one morning soon you’ll wake up and there will be so much grass on the farm the cows won’t be able to eat it all. It’s time to make silage. The energy (metabolisable energy ME) in the grass will be high so if you have dry paddocks which the machinery won’t destroy and a genuine surplus then go for it. Any paddocks which will have more than 3000kg DM/ha before they are due to be eaten are likely candidates. If left to be grazed, the energy in the grass will be falling and the fibre content will go up which is not what calving cows with limited rumen space need. Make sure paddocks are free of stumps, tomos and anything that shouldn’t be 84

there. If there are hazards tell the tractor drivers so they know to stay clear. Walk the paddock to check there are no forgotten standards or waratahs. One of those in a mower is not pretty. Hopefully the weather will behave and you can cut after a couple of days of sunshine so energy in the grass will be extra high. Cutting the grass at the right height is essential – you are trying to make the best silage possible, not deck the paddock so leave the dead matter behind and any dirt. Aim to wilt it in less than 24 hours aiming for a dry matter (DM) content of between 25% and 30%. You can tell by squeezing the wilted grass – if it’s right your hand will be wet but there won’t be liquid running out. And it stays in a compacted damp ball afterwards. If it’s less than 25% DM, your chop

length should be about 8cm to 10cm. If higher than 30% it should be a lot shorter – 2.5cm. If it’s in between, where it should be, go for about 5cm. This makes sure you get it can get it compacted correctly in the stack. Once the grass is harvested, it’s all about making sure fermentation happens and your high quality grass turns into high quality silage and not something else. The bacteria in the grass gets busy converting the plant energy (sugars) into acid. Silage is pickled grass – the acid drops the pH of the grass and preserves the silage. The quicker this happens the higher the quality of the silage and the lower the losses. Your cows will also love it and you more. It’s best to give the process a helping hand, instead of leaving it up to nature, by using an inoculant.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Inoculants contain the best bacteria for converting plant sugars into acid. There are two main types of inoculant – one for fermentation (for the start of the process) and one for stabilising silage (the end of the process). Fermentation inoculants mainly contain lactic-acid-producing live bacteria which speed up fermentation. They’re especially useful when the weather hasn’t been great and your grass could be better. They quickly lower the pH level of the silage and help inhibit undesirable fermentation of microorganisms like Clostridia and Enterobacteria. They also help to create a more efficient fermentation to give you high energy silage and they can reduce proteolysis which is the breakdown of proteins. Stabilising inoculants contain such bacteria as L Buchneri which preserves silage, helping to stop mould growths and the stack over-heating when you open it back up to feed it out. Some inoculants are a combination of both. Get the inoculant on the harvested grass evenly (either at the chopper or on the stack).

If applying it at the chopper, check the spray nozzles several times a day to make sure they aren’t blocked and the application rate is correct for the tonnage harvested. If applying it on the stack with a hand sprayer again try to get it as even as possible. Be careful storing the stuff – the bacteria in them is alive so they don’t like getting heated up and the tank should be away from the engine of the chopper. Read the instructions on the packet. The last thing that is left for you to do is to make sure there is the least amount of air in the stack as possible. Oxygen stops the fermentation process as the good bacteria you want in your stack converting the plant sugars to acids are anaerobic which means them and oxygen just don’t get on. Roll the pit to get air out and seal it well with a weather-proof cover but don’t over pack wetter material or it will go to slush. Put enough tyres on the stack so they are touching all over it, not just around the edges. Done. Let those bacteria get to work! But don’t walk away and forget about it. Check often to make sure the stack is not

leaking liquid and if it is, do something about it straight away. Liquid from silage stacks is lethal in waterways so you must contain it somehow. Make sure concrete bunkers are not cracked, tanks are not full and collection channels are running and not blocked. The effluent can be spread on pasture where there is no risk of run off but dilute it 1:1 so you don’t burn your grass. Silage takes a month or so to be ready and when you open your stack it should smell sweet with almost a tobacco smell (cows can smell it kilometres away). It should have lots of leaf, with very little stem and be green, yellow or pale brown. If it’s dark brown or black and smells rancid you’ve produced something more like compost than silage. Check also for moulds and fungi – some of them produce mycotoxins which can reduce feed intake, cause impaired immunity in your cows and disrupt fertility. You can get it tested for energy and protein. Good silage should have about 30%DM, 11MJ/kg DM ME, 70% true protein and a pH of 4.

A well-covered stack.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

RESEARCH WRAP NITROGEN

The secret of MUNBV Words by: Anne Lee

esearchers working on unravelling the reasons cows with low milk urea nitrogen breeding values (MUNBV) excrete less nitrogen in their urine despite eating exactly the same diet have found a clue in their grazing behaviour. Lincoln University PhD student Cameron Marshall has analysed swathes of data from his study on 48 cows at the university’s Ashley Dene Research and Development Station. He used specialised IGER behaviour recorders – a halter like device that can record the animal’s grazing activity and detect the difference between grazing bites and mastication or chewing. “Ultimately, cows with a lower MUNBV had more oral processing of their food. “They had a greater number of mastications, especially when offered their new break. “Additionally, they had more chews per boli, which is the regurgitated food during rumination.

‘A range of factors are known to affect behaviour, both short and long term, internal and external, genetics and epigenetics.’ “All this may indicate that they are more efficiently breaking down the forage,” Cameron says. Total feed intake though was similar between the two breeding value lines, but with the lower MUNBV cows spending more time chewing their food and therefore they had greater grazing times. The initial part of Cameron’s study found cows with lower MUNBVs excrete less nitrogen in their urine. (Dairy Exporter, June, page 32) 86

Cameron Marshal, right and Pablo Gregorini – low MUNBV cows, more chewing.

The MUNBV of cows ranged from -2 to +3 and Cameron found for every unit decrease in MUNBV urinary urea nitrogen excretion dropped by 0.67g/litre. That amounts to a 165.3g difference in urinary urea nitrogen excretion per day between the highest and lowest MUNBV animals. In a win:win milk protein percentages increased as MUNBV declined. Cameron’s supervisor is Lincoln University professor Pablo Gregorini. He says Cameron’s data is the first indicator that a behavioural factor could be the initial driver of the difference in the cows’ variation in urinary nitrogen. “A range of factors are known to affect behaviour, both short and long term, internal and external, genetics and epigenetics.

“They’re eating the same feed under the same conditions, but they’re applying different strategies to grazing,” Pablo says. Cameron’s studies are also looking at what’s going on at a rumen level to see what the differences are in how pasture that’s “chewed more” initially, is processed along the digestive system and how that may result in less nitrogen in urine. “We’re finding differences in the data and that’s raising more and more questions,” Cameron says. But by finding the answers and understanding just what’s going on, it then becomes possible to manage the system, Pablo says. “It may be that we can manage the grazing of these animals differently,” he says.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

SOLUTIONS What’s NEW? SUSTAINABILITY

The Johnston family with their World Wide Sires cows.

Environment and animal welfare spur system change

nsuring the environmental sustainability of their farming business led to a system change on a 1000-cow Southland dairy farm. Mitchell and Kate Johnston have just finished their seventh season on a 613-hectare farm at Hedgehope inland from Invercargill. “My parents originally hailed from Taranaki, moving to Southland in 1990,” Mitchell said. “When they moved here, the farm was 350ha milking 800 cows. Over time two neighbouring properties were added generating the current 614ha property. “Kate and I purchased the farm in 2012 and the additional land has enabled the milking herd to increase to 1000 cows and a move to a self-contained high-input farming system. “Environmental and animal welfare considerations led to the system change. Rather than milking more cows, we wanted to take better care of our stock. As we improved our farming knowledge and developed better systems and understanding of cow nutrition the performance of our stock improved, resulting in significantly better per cow performance. “As the per cow performance increased, it soon become apparent that the genetics of our herd were not keeping pace, with a number of animals needing to be culled with structural issues, mainly poor udders. “We had been considering options of introducing overseas genetics to help fix these issues and were fortunate to come across some surplus stock from a well-established World Wide Sires herd. “Boy did we notice a difference when we introduced and compared the new cows with the herd we’d brought with us from Taranaki. They were like chalk and cheese. The World Wide Sires cows had fantastic udders and milked like trains. We didn’t have a second thought and changed the entire breeding programme that Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

spring to World Wide Sires and haven’t looked back. “The change has paid off. When we took over the herd, they were averaging 400kg per cow. Seven years we hit 645kg for the 2019/20 season. “Moving away from BW didn’t worry us. We need cows which will see us into the future. Our top cow is a case in point. She consistently produces in excess of 1000kg MS yet her BW is -98. By contrast, most of the cows we used to cull for poor udders had very high BW. “For the first few years with World Wide Sires, our sire selection was based on udders. But now we are focusing more on production and other traits. “It’s a tough job now finding a cow to cull – they are so consistently good.”

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SOLUTIONS What’s NEW? CATTLE

Select Hereford bulls on merit

airy farmers all know the convenience of the dominant ‘white face’ in calves sired by Hereford bulls. It is a quick and easy management tool captured in the NZ Hereford Association’s campaign slogan - The White Face Advantage. However, choosing a breed is one thing, but choosing the right bull is another. Selection of the right genetics to suit your business is paramount which is why each year the NZ Hereford Association runs an analysis to assist dairy farmers in identifying suitable bulls for their herds. The criteria to be eligible for the Boehringer Ingelheim Merit Dairy Sire award includes low birth weight, high growth and good maternal index. Using these criteria, the programme identifies sires which will be ideal for use within dairy beef programmes. It is a tool that should be used in conjunction with eye appraisal for structural soundness and smooth shoulders which also positively assist calving ease. To qualify for NZ Herefords Merit

Dairy Sire status, registered Hereford bulls must have a maximum of +1.6kg for birthweight (in top 10% for bull calf drop), top 20% for the dairy maternal index and top 70% for 600-day growth rate. Interestingly when the programme first started in 2013 the maximum birth weight to be eligible for the award was +3.7kg, so breeders have successfully reduced birthweight and retained genetics to grow calves into prime beef. A list of the Boehringer Ingelheim Merit Dairy Sire breeders can be found easily on the NZ Hereford website, by clicking on the red dot on the home page Herefords.co.nz. Alternatively, dairy farmers can look for the brand at Hereford bull spring sales. Herefords are one breed that can deliver in both areas. The association warns farmers not to persist in playing Russian roulette with ‘bush bulls’. The genetic variation within all breeds dictates that now more than ever dairy farmers need to be armed with good bull selection tools. More? herefords.co.nz/ bull-sale-calendar

Dairy farmers are being urged to select Hereford bulls off the Merit Dairy Sires list.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

SOLUTIONS What’s NEW? MAIZE SILAGE

Milk for the young ones

fter more than 30 years working with calf rearers across the country, Ngahiwi Farms owner Bill Coates has seen the industry evolve into an efficient production system to feed New Zealand’s export beef markets. Ngahiwi Farms has been supplying calf and lamb milk powders into the local feed market since 1987, initially supplying downgraded whole milk powders from the Dairy Board directly to farms in Northland and Waikato. The company now sells its Ngahiwi Farms branded products through the major merchant stores nationally. “A lot has changed in the 30 years we have been operating in this industry. We have learnt a lot about the science behind rearing, and the importance of early nutrition for young animals,” he says. Ngahiwi was a sponsor of trials in the early 2000s that pioneered once-a-day feeding and also helped fund research into the issue of bloat in lambs reared on milk replacer. “We place huge emphasis on our additives and premixes, making sure a calf or lamb gets specific vitamins and minerals to aid in growth and development to set them up for a healthy productive life,” Coates says. Ngahiwi Farms operates its own manufacturing facility in Auckland, employing experienced staff who manufacture high quality products using locally sourced casein and whey powder ingredients. “There are a lot of imported options in the NZ market, mostly manufactured in Europe and shipped into NZ. We are proudly locally owned, and our main focus is to use locally sourced raw ingredients and re-purpose downgraded milk powders out of NZ dairy factories,” he says. Ngahiwi manufactures both a casein-based curding product and a whey-based, more affordable option, which can be used to fortify whole milk or fed as a stand-alone powder for colostrum-proven calves from week three. More? ngahiwi.co.nz Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Maize silage is the ideal supplement to carry minerals needed to reduce the incidence of metabolic diseases.

Maize silage, the ideal spring supplement

aize silage has a long history of being recognised by farmers as the premier feed for helping to keep weight on cows regardless of the ups and downs of spring pasture supply. Because maize silage is a digestible (70-74% digestibility), high (3035%) starch forage, it is the ideal farm systems supplement to help farmers feed their cows to prevent excessive loss of body condition and fill feed gaps. Maize silage is also the ideal supplement to carry minerals needed to reduce the incidence of metabolic diseases such as milk fever. It tastes great and at between 30-40% drymatter, there is enough moisture to cause minerals to “stick” to it, meaning cows end up ingesting most of the mineral applied. Because maize silage is a forage, every kilogram of maize silage drymatter fed to grazing cows will result in some pasture being left behind. While this can be a problem if cows are being adequately fed on pasture, when pasture supply is limited due to either a cold wet spring or because autumn/winter growth rates are lower than budgeted for, feeding maize silage and leaving a bit more pasture in the paddock is a good thing. In times like these maize silage will provide energy to keep cows milking, prevent the loss of excessive body weight and reduce the risk of slow pasture recovery associated with overgrazing. Sometimes in spring pasture becomes too wet to safely graze without pugging. Maize silage can be fed on a feed pad before cows are given their pasture break which helps prevent pugging caused by excessive time spent by hungry cows on wet ground. The rules for managing pasture in spring with maize silage are simple. If post-grazing residuals get below 1500-1600kgDM/ha, feed more maize. If the residuals get above 1800 kgDM/ha, feed less. And if you don’t need it, don’t feed it. Simply shut the stack down and leave it for the next time you are short of feed. If you want to find out more about feeding maize silage, head to Pioneer.nz 89

OUR STORY 50 YEARS AGO IN NZ DAIRY EXPORTER

50 years ago in the Dairy Exporter August As NZ Dairy Exporter counts down to its centenary in 2025, we look back at the issues of earlier decades. 50 Years Ago – August 1970.

airy Board records show that many farmers using A.B. get only 60 percent of their cows in calf to first insemination – others consistently get 70 percent or better. We believe that most farmers should be able to get to this figure of 70 percent or better. The main reason restricting the attainment of this objective is a major aspect of mating management – human error!!

BUTTERFAT TESTS – HOW DISCREPANCIES CAN OCCUR

Many dairyfarmers will avow that butterfat tests vary, and have been mystified by discrepancies between their herd test figures and their factory test figures. At the Massey Dairyfarmers’ conference, Professor R.E. Munford, of the Dairy Husbandry Department of Massey, recommended the establishment of independent regional laboratories to carry out all routine milk analysis for factory payout and herd test. The Gerber test is used in New Zealand for herd testing and the Babcock test is used in the dairy factory for determining the butterfat percentage of 10-day composite samples. The two tests should show the same result but rough milk treatment has a serious effect on milk and churning, which occurs when milk is shaken up or otherwise mistreated. The fat separates out as clumps of globules. The combination of high temperatures and shaking is especially conducive to churning so it can be seen that summer 90

weather and bad roads can have a serious effect on milk samples in the back of a milk tanker.

N.Z. DAIRY SALES TREBLE AUSTRALIA’S

New Zealand sales to milk plants in Southeast Asia region in the year ended June, 1970, included 4000 tons of anhydrous milkfat and 60,500 tons of milk powder. Australian sales in the same period, according to Mr E.G. Roberts, Chairman of the Australian Dairy Board, totalled 21,500 tons. Thus New Zealand’s total sales are three times greater than those of Australia and are increasing faster. “New Zealand’s spectacular success in this field can be attributed firstly to the fact that the Board has followed a policy of full co-operation with the large international companies which hold the bulk of the trade,” Dairy Board chairman Mr F.L. Onion, C.M.G., said. “The board has also been through marketing and technical services, to provide specialist assistance to the milk plants and raw materials tailor-made to their needs. “The Board’s sales to South-east Asia are running at an annual total of $15 million f.o.b.”

WANTED IDENTICAL TWIN HEIFER CALVES

Have you a set of twin heifer calves that look alike? Please write or telephone (collect) Ruakura Animal Research Station, Hamilton 69-188 if you are in the South

Miss Jenifer Kay, of Te Awamutu, one of the Dairy Board’s Expo 70 staff, packs a bag of New Zealand dairy produce for a happy Japanese customer at one of the two shops run by the Board at the exposition.

Auckland area, or telephone your nearest Department of Agriculture office if you are in Northland. Animals will be inspected promptly and if identical, purchased at $80 per set for Friesians and $60 per set for Jerseys plus 30 cents per day rearing allowance.

DRIPPING CAKE

¾ lb flour ¼ lb beef dripping 1 tsp baking powder Salt 4 oz sugar 4 oz sultanas 2 oz candied peel 1 tsp lemon essence 1 egg 1 teacup milk Rub the dripping into the flour, baking powder and salt and stir in sugar, sultanas and peel. Beat the egg, add milk and essence and then mix all ingredients together. The mixture makes a rather soft paste. Put into a greased baking tin and bake at 357 degrees for 1 hour. – Kakapeg Thanks to the Hocken Library, Dunedin.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

DairyNZ consulting officers

August Events

Upper North Island – Head: Sharon Morrell 027 492 2907 Northland Regional Leader

Tareen Ellis

027 499 9021

Far North

Amy Weston

027 807 9686

Lower Northland

Hamish Matthews

021 242 5719

Whangarei West

Ryan Baxter

021 809 569

Regional Leader

Wilma Foster

021 246 2147

South Auckland

Mike Bramley

027 486 4344

Hauraki Plains/Coromandel

Michael Booth

021 245 8055

Te Aroha/Waihi

Euan Lock

027 293 4401

Cambridge

Lizzy Moore

021 242 2127

Hamilton

Ashley Smith

027 807 3049

Waikato

Huntly/Tatuanui

Brigitte Ravera

027 288 1244

Matamata/Kereone

Frank Portegys

027 807 9685

Pirongia

Steve Canton

027 475 0918

Get your eye in

Otorohanga/King Country

Denise Knop

027 513 7201

Waipa South

Kirsty Dickens

027 483 2205

A spring series of DairyNZ Body Condition Score events will take place

Bay of Plenty

nationwide from September 2. This is a chance for dairy farmers and

Regional Leader

Andrew Reid

027 292 3682

rural professionals to brush up on their condition scoring skills.

Central Plateau

Colin Grainger-Allen

021 225 8345

South Waikato/Rotorua South

Angela Clarke

027 276 2675

Eastern Bay of Plenty

Andrew Reid

027 292 3682

Central Bay of Plenty

Kevin McKinley

027 288 8238

Visit dairynz.co.nz/bcs.

Lower North Island – Head: Rob Brazendale 021 683 139 Taranaki

Free farm ready training

Discover Dairy

Regional Leader

Mark Laurence

027 704 5562

South Taranaki

Mark Laurence

027 704 5562

Central Taranaki

Emma Hawley

021 276 5832

Coastal Taranaki

Caroline Benson

027 210 2137

North Taranaki

Ian Burmeister

027 593 4122

Horowhenua/Coastal and Southern Manawatu

Kate Stewart

027 702 3760

Wairarapa/Tararua

Rob Brazendale

021 683 139

Eketahuna

Andrew Hull

027 298 7260

Hawke's Bay

Gray Beagley

021 286 4346

Northern Manawatu/Wanganui/Woodville

Rob Brazendale

021 683 139

Central Manawatu/Rangitikei

Charlotte Grayling

027 355 3764

Lower North Island

your future in

Your newest recruits may qualify for two weeks of free practical training. For more information and to find out how to recruit a newly trained career changer visit

South Island – Head: Tony Finch 027 706 6183

dairynz.co.nz/godairy

Top of South Island/West Coast Nelson/Marlborough

Mark Shadwick

021 287 7057

Order your soil guide today

West Coast

Angela Leslie

021 277 2894

DairyNZ has updated its Pocket guide to determine soil risk for farm

Regional Leader

Rachael Russell

027 261 3250

North Canterbury

Amy Chamberlain

027 243 0943

Central Canterbury

Alice Reilly

027 3798 069

the process of understanding the soil risk for your farm.

Mid Canterbury

Stuart Moorhouse

027 513 7200

Order at dairynz.co.nz.

South Canterbury

Heather Donaldson

027 593 4124

North Otago

Alana Hall

027 290 5988

Regional Leader

Ollie Knowles

027 226 4420

West Otago/Gore

Keely Sullivan

027 524 5890

South Otago

Guy Michaels

021 302 034

Northern/Central Southland

Nicole E Hammond

021 240 8529

make sure you’ll still receive your copy of Inside Dairy – visit

Eastern Southland

Nathan Nelson

021 225 6931

dairynz.co.nz/address and let us know your new details.

Western Southland

Leo Pekar

027 211 1389

Canterbury/North Otago

dairy effluent application. This guide takes you step by step through

Southland/South Otago

Change of address If you’ve shifted farm or changed your supply company,

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

0800 4 DairyNZ (0800 4 324 7969) I dairynz.co.nz WITH DAIR

Improve your footprint with HoofPrint®

Selecting bulls for your future progeny has always been about herd efficiency, sustainability and improvement. Now we’re making the sustainability part a little easier. LIC’s new HoofPrint® index assigns bulls a score based on their progeny’s estimated methane and nitrogen efficiency. The higher the score, the more improvement on your farm and the environment. And that could give NZ a greener footprint.

Talk to your Agri Manager about the HoofPrint index today.

KINGST_1259_NZDE_AR

There's always room for improvement

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2020

Dairy Exporter August 2020

Articles inside

Environment and animal welfare spur system change

Maize silage, the ideal spring supplement

Select Hereford bulls on merit

The secret of MUNBV

The lowdown on good silage

National dairy trainee winner ‘loves science

Proactive leadership proves a winner

Bone injuries: Broken shoulders in heifers

DairyNZ: Take care using antibiotics for clinical mastitis

Mycoplasma bovis: Biosecurity a priority to combat disease

Milk replacers: To curd or not to curd?

Great soil and water management wins awards

Doing what’s right’ for whole farm wins awards

CO Diary: GoDairy - Helping Kiwis get into dairying

Co-operative vs corporate governance

Diversity makes for better decisions

Good governance structure benefits farm business

Spreading experience

Learning to govern effectively

Cashing-in on the culls

Shining through the drought

Covid-19 brought a range of challenges for Bridie Virbickas

Zanda Award: Winning Coaster champions staff training

Redesigning workplaces to make them attractive to new workers

Using a Kanban workplace management system to run a Canterbury farm

Global Dairy – Brazil: Dairy farming in a land of contrasts

Chloe Davidson shares the joys and challenges of relocating business and family

High standards in a sensitive environment

Shiralee Seerden welcomes the extra business of a contract milking position