Dairy Exporter April 2017 by NZ Farmlife Media

Learn, grow, excel

of the crop

APRIL 2017

Regional Dairy Award winners

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CONTENTS

TWO-YEAR RISE TO THE TOP 61 Special11report

MILKING PLATFORM

10 The Staples family have a wet Coast summer 11 Kate Robinson finds rewards in being a mentor

crop of the

UPFRONT 12 LowN Sires set to cut nitrogen leaching 14 NZ not following the Trump water trail 16 TPP ‘broke trade consensus’

BUSINESS 22 Consents – Bring on the consultants 25 Consents – ‘It’s our ability to farm’ 27 Obeying EU rules earns subsidies 30 Research on show at forums 33 A decade to get in behind rivers plan

SYSTEMS

DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS SPE CIAL REPOR T Welcome to our celebration of the Cream of the Crop – regional Dairy Industry Award winners for 2017. All of the regional share farmers and dairy managers are profiled and the dairy trainee results are noted on the Roll of Honour on P 75. All the regional dairy trainee winners will be profiled over the next few issues of the Young Country section in Dairy Exporter.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

38 Tillers: Look after the daughters 39 Pasture: Many costs in producing more milk 40 Doing the bucket test with effluent 44 Vet’s Voice: In-calf rates fall 45 CO Diary: Dare to compare with DairyBase

SPECIAL REPORT | DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS 48 Northland 50 Auckland-Hauraki 52 Waikato 54 Bay of Plenty 56 Central Plateau 58 Hawke’s Bay-Wairarapa 60 Taranaki 62 Manawatu 4

SWIFT PROGRESS TO SECURE AND HAPPY LIFE 53 Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

64 West Coast-Top of the South 66 Canterbury 68 Southland

ENVIRONMENT 70 Bringing back the snapper to Kaipara Harbour

YOUNG COUNTRY 75 Dairy trainees – The roll of honour 76 Busy background to farm life 78 Training switch leads to awards 79 On a fast learning curve 80 Off to Harrie’s wedding

VIEW FROM THE TOP 81 Richard Wyeth on Miraka’s vision

A KICK START WITH CALF CLUB 81

FARM GEAR 82 Tim McVeagh surveys the range of bobby calf collection pens

DAIRY 101 84 Karen Trebilcock looks at mating plans

RESEARCH WRAP 87 Pasture proves a trial winner

COLUMNS 20 Market View: Another downturn, or just a bump 88 Property

ENGINEERING A FARM PURCHASE 49

OFF TO HARRIE’S WEDDING 80

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DAIRY DIARY

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MAY May 4 – Lincoln University Dairy Farm (LUDF) will hold a focus day at the farm from 10.15am to 1pm. For more information about the farm visit www.siddc.org.nz May 4-25 – DairyNZ’s Farmers’ Forum teaches farmers about new technologies and tools available to help improve farm business and performance. The forums are free to levy-paying farmers and their staff and take place between 9.30am and 3pm. Locations/dates include Southland, May 4; Palmerston North, May 11; Lincoln, May 16; Stratford, May 19 and Hamilton, May 25. The Southland event offers an optional visit to the Southern Dairy Hub. To register, visit www.dairynz.co.nz May 6 – The 2017 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards will announce the 2017 winners at an awards dinner held at Sky City in Auckland. Tickets for the dinner are available online at a cost of $195 per person. For tickets and to view the regional winners for the New Zealand Share Farmer of the Year, New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year and New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the year, visit www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz May 11-12 – The Dairy Women’s Network 2017 conference is being held at Rydges Lakeland Resort in Queenstown. Dubbed DWN17, the theme of this year’s conference is Connect for two days of highprofile keynote speakers, plus workshops on and off site. The annual

conference is aimed at learning new skills, expanding your toolkit and taking the opportunity to connect with like-minded dairy women. For further information visit www.dwn.co.nz and for queries phone 0800 396 748 or 07 974 4850. May 17 – Owl Farm near Cambridge holds a focus day between 10.15am and 1pm. Owl Farm is demonstration dairy farm partnership between St Peter’s School and Lincoln University. For details about the farm visit www.owlfarm.nz May 23-25 – Jersey NZ annual conference and AGM is being held at Rydges Hotel in Wellington. For information and registration visit www.jerseynz.co.nz May 24-25 – LandWISE 2017 focuses on automated tools for data collection, decision-making and doing actual tasks on the farm – and beyond. It will be held at the Havelock North Function Centre in Hawke’s Bay. To view the programme and bookings visit www.landwise.org.nz May 26 – Last day for early bird registration for the 2017 South Island Dairy Event (SIDE) which will be held at Lincoln University in Canterbury. The conference is run by farmers for farmers and includes a lineup of speakers and more than 30 practical workshops. For further information on SIDE visit www.side.org.nz

JUNE June 1 – Applications open for Nuffield Scholarships to provide farmers an opportunity to gain global perspectives and insights to bring back to New Zealand. Five $40,000 scholarships are awarded each year. For full details about the scholarships and to apply, visit www.nuffield.org.nz

June 14-17 – The National Agricultural Fieldays showcases cutting edge agricultural technology and innovation with more than 1000 exhibitors and 130,000 visitors. The four-day event is held at Mystery Creek near Hamilton and details can be found at www.fieldays.co.nz

June 6-8 – The annual Ayrshire New Zealand conference is being hosted by the Canterbury club. To view the itinerary and register visit www.ayrshire.org.nz

June 19-22 – Holstein Friesian New Zealand annual conference takes place in Cromwell. To view the draft itinerary and register visit www.nzholstein.org.nz

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EDITORIAL

A solution with the bulls B NEXT ISSUE having on our shoulders is reflected in our special feature this month. Cream of the Crop is our annual wrap-up of all regional Dairy Industry Award winners, on pages 47-69. The winning dairy managers and share farmers we interviewed all share a common concern about the environmental restrictions being placed on the industry. In order to keep attracting these successful, motivated and talented people to our industry we need to provide security. So it’s positive news for the future for the industry that science is starting to come up with environmental solutions. Like all our DIA winners, Bay of Plenty dairy trainee of the Year Hayden Goodall – page 79 – still sees a positive future in dairying for him and his family. Watch out for more stories on the other dairy trainee winners in our Young Country section over coming months. Our new column View from the Top from Miraka chief executive Richard Wyeth explains what the country’s only Maori-owned dairy company is doing in the environment space and how that’s reflected in its new products, page 81.

ritish entrepreneur Richard Branson while visiting our shores last month suggested Kiwi dairy farmers grow cannabis as an alternative option on their land as a way to reduce the impact dairying is having on our waterways. He suggested it could not only be more environmentally friendly, but also a more profitable business venture. We farmers are always open to diversity, however, we might not have to sell some cows and grow an alternative green crop just yet. CRV Ambreed may just have found a scientific solution to reduce nitrogen leaching on dairy farms by 20% in the next 20 years – page 12-13. A new breeding value for milk urea nitrogen has identified bulls that could breed progeny to excrete less nitrogen in their urine. Less nitrogen in urine means less is leached through the soils into waterways. This is potentially a game-changer for the New Zealand dairy industry. Farmers in some catchments are already being asked to reduce their leaching by 20% plus and grappling with how that is going to be achieved and how their dairy operations will look in 10 or 20 years time. Some Canterbury farmers are being asked to reduce nutrient losses by 30% within a certain timeframe and are submitting consents to Environment Canterbury, see pages 22-23. The heavy weight the environment is

Q: Need help

SNEAK PREVIEW

NEW STAFF PROCESSES We will have tips on good induction routines for new staff starting next season. From putting them into housing, to building rosters and managing work expectations going forward. WRAPPING UP THE SEASON What has impacted onfarm performance this season, what’s the financial health of your business and what lessons to take into next season.

Sheryl Brown Deputy Editor

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Learn, grow, excel

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1 of 40 to be WON

PALM KERNEL Update on palm kernel and supplement use on farms.

NEW ZEALAND

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NZ Dairy Exporter is published by NZ Farm Life Media PO Box 218, Feilding 4740, Toll free 0800 85 25 80, www.nzfarmlife.co.nz Dairy Exporter/Young Country editor Jackie Harrigan, ph 06 280 3165, M 027 359 7781 jackie.harrigan@nzfarmlife.co.nz Lead sub-editor: Andy Maciver, ph 06 280 3166 Reporters Hugh Stringleman ph 09 432 8594; Glenys Christian

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Word in your ear Milk cooling regulation confusion potentially costing farmers Te Awamutu dairy farmer, Brian Chick, thought the new regulations were based on the milk temperature going into the vat, and so doubted his compliance. He contacted his local supplier whose assessment indicated he needed to install one of 2 options, ranging in cost from $25k - $40k. Seeking another quote, Brian contacted Tru-Test whose assessment showed he was already compliant. Brian now can’t stress enough that “it really pays to understand what the regulations actually require and talk to a number of suppliers.” Examples like this has made dairy milk cooling specialist, Tru-Test, realise there’s potentially widespread confusion over what the new milk cooling regulations actually require. “This confusion is resulting in some farmers spending unnecessarily or over spending to upgrade their milk cooling equipment. Given the current economic climate, it’s more important than ever farmers are only investing where they need to and in ways that will give them the best return.” Says Tru-Test’s New Zealand General Manager, Verne Atmore. To assist with this, Tru-Test has sought technical clarification on the incoming regulations.

3165TTDA01

Upon enquiry Tru-Test was advised the regulations are very outcome based. Compliance is determined by the tank milk temperature at the end of the stated timeframes. Not the temperature of milk going into the vat. Compliance is meeting the stated temperatures at the end of your milking cycle whether that’s single or blended. Farmers need to first ask themselves am I milking under or over 4 hours. For those

Weighing & EID

Tru-Test offers a full range of milk cooling solutions to help your farming operation be compliant with the new regulations.

under four, there are only two things you need to worry about; that your milk is down to 6°C within 2 hours of completing milking, and that your blended temperature is no more than 10°C at the end of any additional milkings.

Compliance is determined by the tank milk temperature at the end of the stated timeframes. Not the temperature of milk going into the vat. For those milking for over 4 hours, it’s a little more complicated. You need to have your milk down to 10°C within four hours of the commencement of milking and then must have it down to 6°C within 6 hours. It’s important to note there are only two areas where farmers must snap chill their milk; if they are milking for longer than 6 hours or if they have a robotic milking system milker. If you’re not one of these farmers, then there are no specific rules as to the refrigeration you need to put in. As long as you’re meeting the outcomes required for your milking timeframes,

Dairy Automation

how you do it should be determined by what’s best for your business, budget and infrastructure. That’s where a good milk cooling supplier should be earning their keep. Tru-Test offers a full range of Milk Cooling solutions including icebank, water & glycol pre-cooling options along with refrigeration units, new and second hand vats and vat insulation wraps. We can assess your compliance and then tailor a solution once your level of compliance has been determined. We’re also serious about on-farm support, operating a 7-day Call Centre, providing a nationwide service to our customers. “Farmers have so many more cooling options now. We have moved beyond the one size fits all approach with a range of solutions that will meet considerations like size of the shed, milking frequency and water use. As well as future proofing against further regulation changes and herd expansion”, Verne explains. “It really pays, with all of the developments in this area, to talk to a range of suppliers to make sure you firstly have to make changes to your operation to be compliant, and secondly, that any investment best suits your operation.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Milk Cooling & Tanks

Mihub & Data Services

Making decisions easy for drying off Dean and Suzanne Alexander who farm in Winton, Southland started with 600 cows, a 20-yearold 36-a-side herringbone and no dairy automation, but have grown their operation to now be milking 1100 cows across two farms both with Tru-Test Dairy Automation. Dean and Suzanne are no strangers to dairy automation having had Tru-Test Dairy Automation in their 36-a-side herringbone shed for a couple of seasons and more recently added it to their other 36-bale rotary shed. However they still feel they are continually extracting more value each year from their dairy automation systems, particularly during key periods of the dairy season.

Dean in the shed operating his dairy automation system.

“How I’m using it is getting better each year and in particular with our drying off period which we’re starting to head into” says Dean.

“From our point of view one of the biggest benefits the system delivers is around drying off” Being a modular system allows farmers like the Alexanders to increase their dairy automation tools when they’re ready. Each module delivers valuable on-farm support throughout the dairy calendar year. “From our point of view one of the biggest benefits the system delivers is around drying off” says Dean. “I used to sort my cows up into mobs on condition score but it was condition score alone. “But now I can also add in the calving dates as an additional factor

Dean drafting cows from his smartphone.

of whose going into that lighter mob. This allows us to concentrate on preferentially feeding through our grazing and in-shed systems.” “It enables us to better look after those cows that need it and manage our inputs more efficiently. Better for them and us.” “It’s just a click of a button. Basically, I can sit at home in the office and in 20 minutes or less create drafts at night and know that tomorrow morning I’m going to have say all the 3 years olds drafted into a mob, then we might be drying them off, dry cowing them, teat sealing them and then they’re on the truck and gone to grazing.”

“Overall the biggest benefit to us from our Tru-Test dairy automation system has been that it makes the whole management and labour side of the business so much easier. With all these easy to use systems in place, we are saving staff time to the extent that we have saved a labour unit in the cow shed.” You can’t beat that really.

“Whereas in the past, doing it manually, I could achieve

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

www.tru-test.com

the same thing but I had to be at the shed myself doing this with the sole purpose of just identifying and drafting the cows. Whereas now I do it with the push of a button and I can be milking the cows.”

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MILKING PLATFORM │ WEST COAST A wet and challenging season dropped our production but the cows have recovered.

Wet summer sets a Coast record

Carla and Chris Staples

s we wind down on season 2016/17 and summer has come and gone literally within a week, we now focus on moving forward to next season, with this season’s rainfall on the West Coast one of its best ever. For those who were around farming in 1998 we beat the record. There certainly has been some challenging times. With little-to-no sunshine before February production was tracking well behind last season and our focus has now moved on to cow condition rather than production with the addition of some palm kernel. Our production got down to 1.3kg milksolids (MS)/cow in the worst of the wet spell but now we’re up to 1.6kg MS/cow. On the upside, autumn arrived and the cows have a new lease on life, producing more than 1000l a day on average more than this time last season. Slowly we claw back some lost production. OAD was alluring a few months back, but with the hiring of a new full-time staff member and a few sunshine rays we are still twice-a-day. Pregnancy testing went slightly better than expected, with 13% empty rate and 2% empty heifers, not quite on target but under the circumstances a lot better than we had been predicting. We also condition-scored our cows at this time to make drying off and feeding-

level decisions sooner rather than later for some of the girls. Winter crops went in really late due to the weather and being unable to get on paddocks without making a big mess. We usually grow swedes for the winter but only one of our swede paddocks survived the wet so we now have two paddocks of rape and one of swedes instead of originally three of swedes. Now that the weather has sorted itself out the crops seem to be going great guns and we hope this continues till the end of the season. We have been flat out heavy-rolling the farm now things have dried out as well as getting the spring super and lime on. This has made a huge difference to how the farm looks. It has finally gone from the yellow with stalky-looking grass it has been all season to green and lush, which is the one of the main reasons for the big increase we’ve had in production in the last month.

It’s understandable that some farmers are under pressure and some even exiting the industry. Sharemilkers, lower-order sharemilkers and contract milkers do have this option, (it’s a lot easier to sell cows than a farm) and I’m sure it’s one not taken lightly. Near the end of March we will host our region’s round of DairyNZ’s farm systems group which will focus on setting the farm up for the rest of autumn and through to balance date next season. It has been very timely to work through

the feed budgets associated with this topic as after the season we’ve had there’s a real need to know where we are and where we need to be to set up for a great start to next season and to “hit the ground running”. It’s great to have all this information along with our pregnancy testing results to plan the winter feeding regime and who will stay home for winter and who will be away “on holiday”. With Global Dairy Trade results yo-yoing we are now back to where we were in November. It’s understandable that some farmers are under pressure and some even exiting the industry. Sharemilkers, lowerorder sharemilkers and contract milkers do have this option, (it’s a lot easier to sell cows than a farm) and I’m sure it’s one not taken lightly. But with many of us trying to reduce farm working expenses and staff wages it leaves a lot of farmers increasing their own hours to save costs and at what cost? This will eventually come to their own fatigue, health issues and family troubles, and for what? To break even? I’m sure most will say they are passionate about their jobs and the industry but, let’s face it, we all need a wage to live on. Nine-to-five, five days a week, four weeks’ holiday a year and stats sounds bloody great. In saying all this I do believe there are finally some very realistic farm prices out there. Although there have been some movements in farms lately not too many have sold on the Coast, why you may wonder? Maybe it has something to do with Westland Milk Products’ pay-out falling so far behind Fonterra’s and the uncertainty of where its future lies. But with a new chief executive and chairman they seem to be getting the company back on track. As Chris says every year: we’ll give it hell next season. Hopefully you’ll all enjoy some well-deserved time off-farm this winter, a break away with family and friends and a few ales.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

MILKING PLATFORM │ MENTORING

Rewards of mentoring a young farmer Kate Robinson

hen I was first approached to write these columns, the brief was to focus on progression pathways in dairying. What better example of dairy farmers striving to better themselves and get ahead in our industry than the Dairy Industry Awards. My husband Chris and I, together with my brother and sister-in-law, attended the Central Plateau regional awards in Rotorua in March with our staff. We were proud to be supporting our farm assistant, Donna McKinley, who was announced runner-up on the night in the Dairy Trainee of the Year category and won the T H Enterprises Ltd Farming Knowledge Merit Award. It was rewarding to see someone we have mentored, encouraged and taught, benchmark herself against other young farmers in the region and do so well. As an employer, it is a proud moment when one of your team is recognised for their efforts in such a public forum. Congratulations Donna. Three years ago Chris put himself out there and entered the 2015 Central Plateau Awards in the Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year category, with my help and support from our staff and family. We knew it would be hard work, but I don’t think we were truly prepared for the hours and effort required, especially with two pre-schoolers running around. We spent days and nights in front of the computer preparing Chris’s presentation and talking points. For weeks Chris and our staff worked to make sure every aspect of our farming operation was clean, green, pristine and running like clockwork. The upside was that Parkhill Farms was looking a million bucks (hopefully a little more than that) and we were proud to welcome the judges on to our property. What better opportunity to peel back the layers of our business and analyse every nook and cranny. What are we doing, what processes do we have in place, why do we do it that way and how could we improve?

For most farmers who enter, the DIA provides an opportunity to improve their career prospects, fast-track their learning, showcase their skills and get industry exposure. A common theme I’m sure you’ll find in many of their stories in this issue. As equity partners and already partowners in a farming enterprise, our focus wasn’t so much on improving our future career prospects. Rather, it was a chance for us to challenge ourselves, take a good hard look at our business and decide if we were satisfied with where we were at.

It was a chance for us to challenge ourselves, take a good hard look at our business and decide if we were satisfied with where we were at. On the flip side, perhaps our exposure through the competition has given our business credibility and made us a more attractive employer. Who knows? Are the job applicants of today checking our credentials as much as we’re checking

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

theirs? That’s a discussion for another time. I cannot overlook the networking and social opportunities the DIA offered us. Not only as an entrant, but over the last two years we have attended the awards dinners. It is a chance to catch up with old friends, make new ones, develop contacts and be part of an awesome display of industry strength and togetherness. Chris placed a very respectable third in the 2015 competition and won the Meridan Energy Farm Environment Award. For us, the rewards were both personal and material and we are pleased to have had the experience. But as life gets busier with the farm business and the kids, we have decided not to re-enter. Instead, our efforts will be focused on encouraging others and our own staff to take on the challenge and be part of the experience. I found this quote on my travels and thought it would be a fitting last statement to leave you with: Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character. – T. Alan Armstrong

Chris Robinson, right, and brotherin-law Richard Webber are equity partners at Parkhill Farms.

UPFRONT │ BREEDING

LowN Sires set to cut nitrogen leaching Sheryl Brown sheryl.brown@nzfarmlife.co.nz @sherylbrownnz

electing dairy sires with breeding values for lower milk urea nitrogen concentration (MUN) will potentially produce progeny that excrete 3.2kg less nitrogen/cow/year in their urine. That reduction in one generation would equate to about an 8-10% reduction in nitrogen leaching per hectare in the average New Zealand dairy herd, research and development manager Phil Beatson says. “It’s potentially very exciting. If we reduce the amount of nitrogen being excreted, we reduce leaching.” CRV Ambreed has developed a breeding value for sires for MUN, which is known to have a relationship with urine nitrogen output.

‘We predict, with all other things staying the same, that genetics could lead to 20% less leaching in 20 years – 20% is a massive figure. This genetic approach is expected to be additive to other actions a farmer may take to reduce nitrogen leaching.’

The relationship between MUN concentration and nitrogen in the urine has been researched overseas in trials where cows are fed different diets. These studies show that for a one-unit increase in MUN the increase in the amount of nitrogen excreted in urine a day is about 15 grams. The graph in this article illustrates this relationship. Genetic studies including those of CRV Ambreed have found MUN to have a heritability of 0.16-0.30. “The genetics around MUN was done 10 years ago primarily to investigate whether lower MUN levels were linked to higher efficiency of nitrogen use. “What is different is the way that we are

thinking about MUN. Essentially we are asking whether, if we reduce MUN through genetics as opposed to diet as done in the nutrition studies, cows urinate less nitrogen and therefore nitrogen leaching is reduced. “We are confident that the sires we are marketing in 2017 will reduce MUN in their daughters. “In essence what we are proposing is if we come down the line in the graph due to genetics, do we reduce urinary nitrogen?” MUN is the nitrogen content of milk urea: MUN is 46% of the milk urea. CRV has tested 650,000 milk samples for MUN concentration over the last five years, completed a genetic analysis and has estimated breeding values for the sires of those cows. A team of 25 bulls has been identified with lower MUN breeding values than average unselected bulls and these will be marketed this year as LowN Sires. “What we can guarantee with these bulls is that they will reduce the concentration of MUN in their progeny. “We are confident that reducing MUN through genetics will reduce the nitrogen excreted in urine. There is no reason why it won’t, but it’s desirable to prove that,” Beatson says.

LowN Sire team 2017 Friesian Maelstrom Shadow Neptune Idaho Dunstan Brave Glowing Wynstar Standout Ivanhoe Whaka

CRV is launching the LowN Sire team this year without that scientific proof of principle because the industry needs Jersey to act now to meet Triplestar its environmental Maxwell responsibilities. Superstition “We believe it would Ozlo be irresponsible if we Degree didn’t give farmers Excell this opportunity now. Elicit The choice is theirs. Sentinel We could do the Iceberg science to the nth Titan degree but that will take Hosea another four to seven years. By the Crossbred time we do the work, Senna those farmers who Mendelssohn come on the LowN Selwyn journey with us will have herds potentially leaching 10-12% less.” This year’s bull team has an average breeding value of -1.2 for MUN. The breeding values for all bulls including many that are now unavailable range from -2.6 to +2.4. “We are aiming to produce better bulls for MUN each year. From our calculations

Phil Beatson has identified a breeding value for milk urea nitrogen which he believes will result in a reduction of nitrogen in urine.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Genetic relationship between milk urea nitrogen and nitrogen in urine 400 350 300 UN (gN/day)

it’s perfectly possible in eight years time for a herd to be -1 for MUN,” Beatson says. The progeny from this year’s LowN sires compared to the progeny of the average bull will be -0.6 MUN units. The average NZ dairy cow has a MUN value of 14 MUN so the average progeny from a bull with MUN breeding value -1.2 would be 13.4 MUN units. Several studies show a cow excretes 15g urine N/day for every unit of MUN. So if a cow has a reduced MUN level of 0.6 units that would mean a reduction of 9g/day of nitrogen excreted. Over 360 days that equated to 3.2kg/ cow/year less nitrogen in the urine. Whole farm models predict that herds which excrete 3.2kg urinary nitrogen/ cow/year less, will result in a reduction of 8-10% in nitrogen leached per year, Beatson says. “We predict, with all other things staying the same, that genetics could lead to 20% less leaching in 20 years – 20% is a massive figure. This genetic approach is expected to be additive to other actions a farmer may take to reduce nitrogen leaching.” Farmers who herd-tested with CRV Ambreed would be able to get a breeding value for their cows from July, which was another step on top of sire selection to breed a herd with a lower nitrogen leaching figure. “That’s the second edge of the genetics sword – but sire selection is the most important.” Some of the top bulls in the country have desirable genetics for MUN, which meant farmers could still select bulls with all their required traits, with the added bonus of low nitrogen leaching. “The beauty of the genetics approach is that this has no impact on the farming system. Farmers can simply use a straw from a LowN bull rather than another

250 200 150 100 50 0 0

MUN (mgN/dLitre) CRV Ambreed believe the relationship between milk urea nitrogen and nitrogen in urine should result in a reduction in nitrogen leaching by breeding NZ dairy cows to sires with a lower milk urea nitrogen trait.

straw and potentially they’re going to reduce leaching significantly. “This is a powerful tool in the farmer’s tool box to mitigate environmental impact.” The next stage of research is to prove animals that are genetically different for MUN do in fact excrete different amounts of nitrogen when fed the same diet. This involves bringing high-MUN and low-MUN animals to the same location and feeding them the same diets. Urine nitrogen and MUN will be measured to investigate the MUN-urine nitrogen relationship. It is possible the phase-two research will investigate where dietary nitrogen is going if it’s not going into urine. Cows will be studied in metabolism

crates as part of the research to measure all of their nitrogen outputs, Beatson says. More nitrogen going into milk, growth or dung would be a good outcome. Nitrogen contained in dung takes longer to break down which gives plants the ability to utilise it. More nitrogen into gases would be less desirable, but in NZ’s situation it was still a positive result because of the intense focus on improving water quality. “We can now identify animals that are genetically different for MUN and use those diverse animals to work out whether there are differences in the way they partition their dietary nitrogen. “That creates world-first opportunities.”

Science provides answers CRV Ambreed is in the business of improving farming systems and at the moment helping farmers to reduce their environmental impact is a significant focus, managing director Angus Haslett says. It meant a lot to be able to give farmers a genetic tool to use in the environmental challenge that the industry is facing. “It’s such a great story for our industry. Science has stepped up to provide an answer. “This can really make a difference in our industry.” Several hundreds of thousands of semen straws are available to meet the demand this year for its team of LowN bulls. The team of 25 bulls across the three dairy breeds includes some top bulls including Superstition and Maelstrom, CRV Ambreed sales and marketing manager Matt Macfie says. “Our sales team is so excited to be able to bring this to customers, they are at the coal face seeing the challenges our farmers are facing. This is a great way to help farmers achieve their environmental goals.” Farmers can expect to pay the normal rate for the LowN straws.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Angus Haslett. There will be no premium for it, Macfie says. The next step would be to work with key industry groups to create a national breeding value for MUN.

UPFRONT │ WATER

NZ not following the Trump trail Bob Edlin bob.edlin@xtra.co.nz While New Zealand policymakers were setting a freshwater target under a programme that heaps more obligations and costs on dairy farmers, United States President Donald Trump was signing an executive order to roll back the US Clean Water Rule. Introduced by the Obama administration and opposed by the farm lobby, the rule gives the federal government broad authority to limit pollution in major bodies of water and in streams and wetlands that drain into them. Whether this will sharpen the trade competitiveness of US dairy exports by lowering compliance costs is open to question, however, and the New Zealand Government won’t be revising its stance. Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said his Government’s freshwater policies would have long-term benefits for the economy, environment and reputation. “We can’t control what other countries do and we need to do what’s best for New Zealand,” he said. Trump has also proposed a budget that would end programmes to lower domestic greenhouse gas emissions, slash diplomatic efforts to slow climate change and cut scientific missions to study the climate. The competitiveness of NZ farmers was among several factors that decided the Key Government to exclude agriculture from the Emissions Trading Scheme in 2009 and to extend the exclusion in 2014 if major trading partners such as the US and Australia did not implement similar schemes. Environment Minister Nick Smith in 2011 said National would include

agriculture only if new technologies were available “and more progress is made internationally on reducing greenhouse gas emissions”. Dairy Exporter last month put three questions to him: • Had he taken note of the Trump administration’s approach to environmental regulation and the science underpinning it and what did he make of it? • Should NZ farmers be spared the cost of fencing and other measures to protect our waterways if US farmers had a competitive advantage by operating under a less-stringent regulatory regime? • Would a change of approach by the Trump administration to international emission targets and obligations cause our Government to review its position on climate change policies? Smith’s staff referred the second question to Guy and the first and third questions to Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett. Guy acknowledged the new freshwater reforms – aimed at making 90% of rivers and lakes swimmable by 2040 – call for 56,000km more fences protecting waterways from stock. “There are long-term benefits for the primary industries and wider economy from these reforms,” he said. “Overseas markets and consumers increasingly demand a strong environmental performance over and above regulatory requirements. In this context, protecting NZ’s natural advantage has never been more important.” Any changes the US made to environmental regulations therefore were not directly relevant to the Government’s policy. But to ensure the changes were practical

Bigly changes: Clean water rules are among policies being rolled back by US president Donald Trump’s slew of executive orders.

for farmers, the exclusions were being staged through to 2030, starting this year, depending on the stock type and land slope. Guy acknowledged the dairy industry had voluntarily fenced 26,000km to exclude dairy cows over the last decade because it realised this was the right thing to do. He drew attention to a $100 million clean-up fund which was open for applications. Bennett said she disagreed with Scott Pruitt, the Trump-appointed head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, who does not believe carbon dioxide has proved to be “the primary control knob” for climate change and has described the Paris climate accord as “a bad deal”. “US policy is up to the US, but NZ is playing its part in the global effort to combat climate change and we believe our 2030 target is a fair and ambitious contribution,” Bennett said. The Government remained committed to the Paris Agreement and on meeting NZ’s climate change obligations. Federated Farmers vice-president Anders Crofoot said

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Keeping stock out of the water

On NZ dairy farms 95% have already excluded stock from waterways over a certain size in line with the Sustainable Dairying Water Accord. Trump’s “novel approach” made it difficult to determine where his personal beliefs end and US policy begins. But water quality was “very much a local issue” and NZ farmers’ ongoing efforts to improve water quality was a domestic issue, not driven by overseas trade implications. “Improvements are demanded by our local population and may well also improve our story for exported products,” he said. “Given that impressions for food safety are often intertwined with impressions about the environment, rolling back environmental regulation in America, may make their products less desirable. Greenhouse gases, on the other hand, were an international issue because they

Stock exclusion rules under the Government’s proposed freshwater plans will cost dairy farmers an estimated $32 million whereas beef, deer and pig farmers will pay $335m. The dairy sector will pay less because 95% of farms have already excluded stock from waterways over a certain size. About $200m of the cost is for reticulated stock water required after stock have been fenced out of waterways. New Zealand has no national regulation requiring the exclusion of stock from waterways but stock must be excluded under some council plans and under primary-sector industry agreements such as the Sustainable Dairying Water Accord, which applies to more than 90% of dairy farms. The Government consulted last year on a proposal for a regulation. It is now aiming to consult on a more detailed proposal, starting with excluding dairy cattle and pigs from most lakes, rivers and streams from July 1 this year. Compulsory stock exclusion would be phased in to cover beef and deer through to 2030, depending on land gradients. The date for stock exclusion requirements on dairy support land – where dairy stock are grazed off season and are not being milked – has been tightened from July 1 2025 to July 1 2022. An infringement penalty of up to $2000 for each instance of non-compliance is proposed. Submissions close on April 28. did not respect national borders. The federation was more concerned with US subsidies to agriculture than with its domestic environmental policies. After Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and expressed his dislike for international trade conventions and multilateral trade agreements in favour

of bilateral agreements, Feds president William Rolleston said small countries like NZ could not afford to let those conventions be side-lined or for a trade war to break out. “This thinking will take global trade backwards and will ultimately be as damaging for the US as anywhere else,” he said.

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UPFRONT │ TRADE

TPP ‘broke trade consensus’ Bob Edlin bob.edlin@xtra.co.nz The Trans Pacific Partnership would have been good for New Zealand but the country could survive without it in the short term and “it was not particularly good for dairy”, trade policy expert Charles Finny told Federated Farmers Dairy Council in Wellington. “Basically, we were screwed the moment the Japanese and the Americans did their side deal and we should not have allowed that to happen. It was inexcusable,” he said. Fundamentally, he was critical that the negotiations yielded an agreement that was not implementable because of the political risk and which broke the political consensus on trade policy that had been built in NZ over many years.

‘There will be a serious look at the future of the WTO in the Trump White House. And that is very alarming for a small country like New Zealand.’ Finny’s advice now was to pursue bilateral opportunities with Mexico, Sri Lanka and perhaps Pakistan. NZ should put pressure on India, too, look at Africa (where there were “huge opportunities”) and try to achieve as much as possible in Europe Mexico had been an important market for the NZ dairy industry before it entered the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and the United States in 1994. That agreement gave the US free

access to Mexico whereas NZ lost market share because dairy exports were impeded by tariffs. Angry with what is happening in the US following the election of Donald Trump to the presidency, Mexico wanted to send a message to the White House and was pursuing bilateral agreements with several countries, including NZ. Negotiations with Mexico could promote NZ’s relationship with the Pacific Alliance, comprising Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, all bordering the Pacific Ocean. NZ already has a free trade agreement with Chile and would have had a free trade agreement with Mexico and Peru as well through the TPP. Finny said there was a prospect NZ and Australia might be added to the alliance, giving access to Colombia which has 40 million people and a highly protected dairy industry. Sri Lanka was “a growing opportunity” but Finny was not confident of agreements being struck in the foreseeable future with India or the Gulf Co-operation Council. Britain offered another opportunity for securing “a fantastic agreement” in the aftermath of the Brexit vote to withdraw from the European Union. Britain was NZ’s biggest market for dairy products before it joined the European Economic Community in 1973. But it can’t begin bilateral negotiations while it remains in the EU and meat and dairy quotas – which NZ secured as compensation for Britain’s entry into the EEC – would be a complicating issue for the negotiators. How Britain prioritises its negotiations with other countries would be another factor. Similar considerations would constrain negotiations with the EU. Finny also discussed:

Promoting benefits of trade New Zealand must address what went wrong with domestic attitudes to the Trans Pacific Partnership, trade policy expert Charles Finny told Federated Farmers Dairy Council. It must better explain the benefits of free trade “and why it is critical we keep our boundaries open”. The just-published Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand study on the dairy industry’s substantial contribution to the country’s economy would give a fantastic boost to highlighting these benefits “but we need more of it”. Prepared by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, the study updates a 2010 DCANZ report on dairying’s economic significance. Finny also hoped the feds would be more active in promoting the message that NZ has “mainly mom and pop business owners” in dairying and they are dependent on the world for their earnings – “a message that will resonate with society.”

NZ should pursue bilateral opportunities with Mexico, Sri Lanka and perhaps Pakistan, trade policy expert Charles Finny says. Russia: International politics have got in the way of a free trade agreement but Trump had different views on Russia than Europe “so just be patient – a lot depends on how President Putin behaves”. China: It is interested in an upgrade of its free trade agreement with NZ for strategic reasons. Iran: If NZ could work out a way of having exporters paid, it offered big potential. NZ banks, dependent on the American market for borrowing, were not prepared to risk upsetting the US by handling Iranian payments. Fonterra, which already has built a good market, was an exception. NZ has no free trade agreement with Japan, Finny noted. “We should have one.” The snag was that NZ and China probably were the most sensitive countries with which Japan could be negotiating. This led him to argue for NZ to try to keep alive the TPP concept. Japan was one of the members who “could lick their wounds” and think about their options. But Finny worried about what the US might do when Trump found the World Trade Organisation constrained his plans to raise tariffs. “There will be a serious look at the future of the WTO in the Trump White House,” he said. “And that is very alarming for a small country like New Zealand.” As to the prospect of the US negotiating directly with NZ, “we should be very cautious” because of American interests around pharmaceuticals, copyright and agriculture. “The bad bits about the TPP could be much worse.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

UPFRONT │ MILK PRICE

Breaking even Anne Lee anne.lee@nzx.com @Cantabannelee Volatility is still the watchword when it comes to setting budgets for next season along with taking time out to understand your break-even milk price and its implications. DairyNZ senior project manager Paul Bird says farmers generally operate their business based on a mediumterm payout and budget to make a profit in that scenario. Their break-even milk price is likely to sit not too far below that medium-term payout view but the approach also means that when payout dips more than a little

Break-even milk price = (farm working expenses + interest and rent + tax + drawings) – net stock sales Total cash expenses

below their average payout view they’re not going to make money. “For some farmers that may be fine – they may be in a debt position or stage of life where making a profit 80% of the time meets their goals. For others making a profit every year is essential to their

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business survival or their growth goals,” Bird says. “The key thing to start with is knowing what your break-even milk price is and then thinking about what that means for you – are you able to achieve your goals, can your business withstand price shocks like we’ve just had and do you even want to go through that again? “For some farmers their break-even is at a level and their business in a situation where last season’s milk price meant they cut costs and were in a holding pattern. For others it was extremely stressful, it meant they had to take on more debt and put their business at risk.” DairyNZ’s Economic Survey showed last season farmers took action to cut costs and lowered their break-even milk price to $5.25/kg milksolids (MS) down from $6.35/kg MS in the 2014-15 season. For some though, budgets were slashed and inputs taken out that may not be sustainable to the farm system in the longer-term – factors such as capital fertiliser or repairs and maintenance. Re-setting a viable break-even milk price could mean having another look at the farm system or selling some assets to reduce debt. Bird accepts there can be a circular argument with break-even milk price though in that the more profit you make the more tax you’ll pay and that factors such as depreciation aren’t included, But, he says, generally the concept is robust. It’s a concept that should be front of mind particularly when it comes to budgeting. Bird says achieving a very low breakeven milk price requires a strong focus and planning not just a reactionary trimming of costs. A review of past trends shows break-even milk price has been closely connected with milk price, although more so on the upside, just as farm working expenses have been. Bird says farmers can take a look at an online tool on the DairyNZ website www.dairynz.co.nz/farm/tactics/reviewyour-business

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

PASTURE April 2017

Winter crops: how do yields expectations compare with reality?

Check pasture covers too

Weather-wise, 2016/17 has been a tricky growing season for many winter crops. Regardless of your region, checking and measuring winter crops this month is a good way to stay one step ahead of any potential feed challenges during the colder months to come. Due to the mixed conditions, current DM yields for winter crops vary widely between different regions, different farms and even different parts of the same farm. If you haven’t already assessed crop yields, now’s the time to do so, and the more accurate this process is, the more reliable your winter feed budget will be. There is a standard format for objectively measuring DM yield in crops which can be applied to any winter brassica. Essentially it involves collecting and weighing representative samples of crop across the paddock, and using these to calculate how much DM you’re actually growing per ha. The sampling procedure is explained in detail on our website www.agriseeds. co.nz (look under brassica management). Regardless of what you’re growing, or where, however, we

strongly encourage all farmers to get the DM percentage of all winter crops independently lab tested. It’s a relatively easy process, and it can save you a lot of potential stress down the line. On a 15 t DM/ha crop, for example, under-estimating DM content by just 2% equals having 3 t DM/ha less feed than expected. If you don’t have enough feed on hand to ensure you reach calving with the target cow BCS and farm pasture covers, or in fact have extra feed, now is the time to know about it so you can plan accordingly. The key to successful wintering is crop allocation, per cow per day, and the key to crop allocation is knowing exactly how much DM you have available. Getting estimates wrong can throw your feed budget right out, as well as your financial budget.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Late autumn presents an ideal opportunity to review and finalise key decisions on pasture cover, drying off and cow condition as well as winter crops and the amount of supplement on hand. Your goal is to start the next season in the best possible position, with cows at the right BCS and the correct amount and shape of pasture cover on the farm to set up a successful first grazing round. This time of year also brings the chance to get on top of any pasture feed quality issues, using dried off cows to help clean up paddocks which have become overgrown. If pasture covers are not where they should be, N fertiliser can be used to help grow your way out of the situation, typically for less cost than buying imported feed. A mild winter coupled with new ryegrass genetics will mean higher winter growth rates and farms ending up with more feed than expected during winter.

For further information freephone: 0800 449 955, email: mail@agriseeds.co.nz or visit: www.agriseeds.co.nz

MARKET VIEW │ CYYCLES

Another downturn, or just a bump? Susan Kilsby Dairy commodity prices corrected sharply in early March, but is this the beginning of another downturn or a bump in the road to recovery? The dairy markets are well known for over-reacting to market signals. There is no particular reason why – but a lack of clear, accurate and timely data is a contributing factor. At the March 7 Global Dairy Trade event many grades of products failed to get off their starting prices. Starting prices are set by the dairy company supplying the product. Fonterra typically sets its opening prices about 15% below the previous price achieved for a particular grade of product. At a 15% discount you will typically find a buyer for your product and this is what happened at the March 7 event. Virtually all the product offered was sold which is what the auction process aims to achieve. But why did prices fall so far so fast when the outlook had appeared quite stable? The main factor that triggered the price correction was news that milk production in New Zealand was improving. Mother nature may have been cruel during spring but has been kinder in the second half of the season. Most dairying regions received favourable rains during late summer and

More milk means more dairy product to sell like that produced at Fonterra’s recently expanded Pahiatua plant, which can put pressure on prices.

early autumn. This has set farms up well in terms of pasture growth which has resulted in improved milk flows. Unfortunately more milk means more dairy product to sell which can put pressure on prices. What is unclear is just how far NZ’s milk production has recovered. Losses during the first half of the season are unlikely to be clawed back in the second half. But the lack of timely data on NZ’s milk intakes leaves buyers second guessing. In February Fonterra lifted its milk production forecast from -7% to -5%. Immediately after it also lifted its offer volumes for the February 21 GDT event. This announcement and the initial lift in volumes made little impact on the market. But the additional lift in GDT offer volumes made ahead of the March 7 GDT event did impact the market. The lift in GDT offer volumes has left some market participants wondering if milk intakes have improved even further because it was not clear if this extra volume was in response to Fonterra’s previous milk revision (to -5%) or whether this extra volume indicates a further upwards revision to milk production is imminent. We expect Fonterra will collect more milk this season than forecast. The AgriHQ Milk Production Predictor indicates milk intakes for the full season will be 1.5% lower than last season. This figure isn’t directly comparable with Fonterra’s, which is simply for their milk collections whereas ours is for the whole of NZ. But if compared on a like basis then Fonterra’s forecast would still be more conservative. A more favourable summer than the previous year has resulted in intakes being ahead of last season through the early part of 2017. Any indication that milk production is expanding will typically result in buyers sitting back from the market a little. Buyers will buy a little less than usual when prices are falling so they don’t get caught holding

expensive inventories. But as soon as there is a sign prices are likely to lift buying activity will pick up. This type of behaviour from buyers exacerbates the volatility in price cycles. Dairy commodity prices typically run in three-year cycles. Prices peak about every three years or at least have for the past decade or so. If that is the case the 2016-17 season would be the peak in the cycle and prices would track down again in 2017-18. At this stage it would appear that could be the case as the September 18 milk price futures contract which relates to the 2017-18 season is priced below the current season’s future contract. There is an argument to be made that this cycle will extend beyond three years due to the structural change in the market caused by the removal of quotas in Europe in April 2015. The subsequent flood of milk resulted in dairy commodity prices being depressed for an extended period which may extend the overall length of the price cycle. This indicates it is possible the markets will be able to offer some upside next season. Whether any upside can be achieved largely depends on global supply. Milk prices are creeping back up in Europe which could result in another over-supply. Additional supply from Europe is a major risk for NZ farmers as this will put pressure on the farmgate milk price. Global demand for dairy products continues to grow throughout Asia but poor performance from the Middle East means overall demand for protein-based dairy products is steady. Milkfat remains the star of the show with demand for butter and anhydrous milkfat expected to continue to be strong throughout 2017. Strong demand for fat is discouraging whole milk powder (WMP) production which in turn should support the price of this commodity. This is important as WMP has a huge influence on farmgate prices in NZ.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

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BUSINESS │ CONSENTS

Bring on the consultants Anne Lee anne.lee@nzx.com @Cantabannelee

pplications for land use consents or consents to farm are well underway in Canterbury and, while it’s straight forward for some, many dairy farmers are grappling with the process. DairyNZ Canterbury catchment engagement leader Angela Harvey says like many farmers around the region, farmers in the Selwyn/Te Waihora zone are going through the process of lodging their consents with the regional council Environment Canterbury (Ecan). The difference for Selwyn Te Waihora farmers is that they are the first to have an operative sub-regional plan and she estimates that for close to 80% of them it’s not simply a box-ticking exercise. For many that means employing a consultant to prepare the consent. Lodging the application alone with the regional council costs $1725 which is taken as the deposit. Ecan senior manager operational support Nadeine Dommisse says if the consent application is complex or incomplete costs can be higher. If it’s less complex and Ecan has no further inquries about it the application fee may be lower. She says most applications though are coming via consultants. That’s likely to add another $2000$3000 to the cost but Harvey says farmers could pay close to $6000-$8000 or even up to $10,000 in total if they also need a baseline nutrient budget prepared by a consultant and have a more complex situation. Farmers who have bought farms since the baseline period, added to their properties, have numerous lease blocks, want to enterprise their consents by joining two or more properties in the same zone together or have changed their farm system can all find the process less than straight forward. Those in Selwyn Te Waihora are also finding additional challenges with specific zones and sites located within the zone. Selwyn Te Waihora, which extends from Lake Ellesmere, Te Waihora, westward to beyond Hororata and Te Pirita sits between the Waimakariri and Rakaia Rivers. In the lowland areas, closer to the lake, the zone has cultural landscape value management areas and if farmers are within these they would be expected to implement an additional mahinga kai management objective alongside their

The Selwyn/Te Waihora zone, which extends from Lake Ellesmere, Te Waihora, westward to beyond Hororata. farm environment plan, Dommisse says. A cultural land management advisor has recently been appointed to help farmers identify mahinga kai values and risks onfarm and to discuss practices to manage those risks, she says. Ravensdown Environmental principal consultant Arron Hutton says in the Selwyn Te Wahora zone farmers are likely to have a DairyNZ Sustainable Management Plan (SMP) as their farm environment plan. He says farmers happy to complete their consent application on their own should go back to the consultant who helped

prepare the SMP and ask them to now include clauses in their plan, that have been approved by Ecan and Runanga, which outline how they will manage for mahinga kai values. The zone, like others in Canterbury, also includes culturally sensitive sites – Wahi Tapu and Wahi Taonga – some of which are known as silent files. Silent files will often relate to an area where local Maori have elected not to specify exactly what is located at the site, sometimes for security reasons or personal whanau reasons. To find out if a farm has any of these sites within its boundaries

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

farmers need to check online on Canterbury Maps which is on the Ecan website and can also be accessed via www.canterburywater.farm – a site set up to help farmers through the consenting and regulatory process. But it’s not as simple as clicking on the map tab and putting in your address. You need to know which tabs to click to ensure the sensitive sites and zones are highlighted. If farmers have these sites on their properties they should contact their local Runanga. Many Runanga now have advisory services for this purpose, Dommisse says. Hutton says he’s been working with Runanga and Ecan, as have other consultants, in developing a process to streamline consultation for all parties. “Discussions with Rununga have been nothing but positive,” he says. Within the Selwyn Te Waihora zone there are also inanga spawning sites, community drinking water sites and areas designated as phosphorous sediment risk areas. If the farm is in a phosphorussensitive zone, the farm environment plans all dairy farmers must submit to the council need to have indicated how the farmer will mitigate any phosphorus loss to waterways. Fencing, bunding, plantings and wetlands are common steps they may take. If the farm is in a community water drinking zone specific rules will apply

If the farm is in a phosphorus-sensitive zone, the farm environment plans all dairy farmers must submit to the council need to have indicated how the farmer will mitigate any phosphorus loss to waterways. such as not allowing silage pits within a certain area of bores or where water is pumped from. Hutton says many farmers are seeking help from consultants to prepare their consent because they feel like there’s just too much at risk. “It’s important that they seek out a trusted advisor and it’s really very important that they understand and feel comfortable with all the steps involved in gaining the consent rather than just seeing it as a box ticking process because it does have significant outcomes for their business short and

long term. The farm environment plan or SMP replace the assessment of environmental affects statement which usually accompanies any resource consent. But farmers are warned the document, along with other details will be publically available.” Harvey says farmers can opt to redact, or blank out, certain information but they must explain why they wish to do that. For instance, they could opt to redact names and addresses listed in the farm environment plan and costs of particular actions. However, if farmers choose not to use their farm environment plan as their assessment of environmental affects they’ll have to fill in a lot of information separately at various points in the application process and are likely to open themselves up to further queries when the consent is processed. That’s likely to delay the process and increase the cost of the application and may also have an effect on the types of conditions imposed. On the consent application form farmers are asked if they agree to meeting a 30% reduction from baseline losses from 2022. If they don’t they’re unlikely to get a consent duration that goes beyond 2022. Harvey warns farmers to think carefully about how they’re going to achieve such reductions and seek advice before they tick that box. If they can or have met those reductions they will be able to apply for a 15-year consent reduction. In zones, other than Selwyn Te Waihora, Hinds and South Coastal Canterbury, farmers seeking consents are asked to indicate whether they agree to nitrogen loss rates equivalent to if their baseline Overseer files were run based on the farm operating at good management practices (GMP). These numbers are expected to be produced by Ecan’s portal but the final workings behind the portal are yet to be agreed on so the nitrogen loss number is unknown. If farmers do agree the term of the consent can be up to 15 years but if they don’t they can only apply for a duration of up to five years without the risk of having the consent application notified. DairyNZ has example consent applications highlighting areas farmers need to be aware that can be accessed by going to its website www.dairynz. co.nz/environment/in-your-region/ canterbury-environmental-policy/ and then selecting the zone. Ecan estimates about 3000 land use consents are needed in Canterbury and by mid-March it had processed 129, 13 of which were in Selwyn-Te Waihora.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Canterbury’s rules Canterbury has led the way with its Canterbury Water Management Strategy that’s involved an inclusive, collaborative approach to determining what’s important in each of 10 zones and suggestions for what needs to be done to maintain or enhance water quality and quantity. The regional council, Environment Canterbury (Ecan), is taking on board those suggestions but is charged with setting the rules and policies for the region that ensure the government’s fresh water management objectives are also met. In some zones that’s meant rules which will require significant (up to 30%) reductions in nitrogen leaching within the next 5-15 years. On September 1, 2015 the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan (LWRP) became operative, setting out the framework and rules for the whole region. Under the LWRP all of Canterbury has been broken into designated areas and categorised according to its water quality using different colours – red, orange, green and blue zones. Unless farmers are in the Selwyn Te Waihora, Hinds or Hurunui-Waiau zones (which have operative sub-regional plans) or are part of an irrigation scheme which manages consents for farmers, the rules around consents are based on which colour the farm sits in. Farmers in orange zones for instance whose Overseer nitrogen loss rate is greater than 20kg N/ha/year should have started applying for a resource consent to farm by January last year with the aim of having the consent lodged by June last year. They are not permitted to leach more than 5kg N/ha above their average Overseer loss rate for the four seasons from 2009-2013 (nitrogen baseline). Those in red zones leaching more than 20kg N/ha/year are required to have their consent applications in by June this year and must not leach any more than their baseline figure. But as zone or sub-regional plans become operative some of their rules – such as a timeline for nitrogen leaching reductions and how great those reductions should be – will supersede rules in the LWRP so that water quality requirements specific to their zone are met. In the Selwyn Te Waihora zone those LWRP rules have been superseded by the sub-regional plan known as Plan Change 1. The rules under Plan Change 1 are more detailed in that as well as the rules around consent requirements being based on nitrogen loss rates (in this zone 15kg N/ha/year or more) farms may also sit in cultural and landscape values management areas and phosphate sediment risk areas. Each of those areas also has specific rules or requirements pertaining to them that need to be included in the farm environment plan. Nitrogen loss rules in Selwyn Te Waihora relate to the farm’s baseline losses and under Plan Change 1 from 2022, farms leaching more than 15kg N/ha/year will have to reduce their nitrogen loss rates to 30% below their baseline losses.

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BUSINESS │ CONSENTS ECan has indicated consent application deadlines will not be as stringent for farmers who are on waiting lists for nutrient budget work or have the consent application work in progress.

‘It’s our ability to farm’ Anne Lee anne.lee@nzx.com @Cantabannelee James and Sarah McIntosh farm near Springston and are in the Selwyn Te Waihora zone. They have engaged a consultant to prepare their consent because they bought the property just after the baseline period and getting baseline information has been difficult. “We went to a workshop in early December with DairyNZ and ECan and, to be honest, it seemed like the whole consenting process was still being ironed out. “This is a really serious document we’re being asked to apply for – it’s our ability to farm and run our business. “When DairyNZ worked through the paperwork at the workshop it didn’t appear to be that complex but there’s a fear that if you stuff it up you’re jeopardising the farming operation,” Sarah says. James and Sarah milk 450 cows on 150 hectares this season having dropped cow numbers from 500 in their first year partially to simplify the system and to cope with lower milk prices. Over the baseline period of 2009-2013 the farm was winter milking and was run as a higher-input operation but didn’t use conventional fertilisers. The farm’s in a phosphorus sediment risk area but not the culturally sensitive zone. James was involved in early workshops and development of farm environment plans for the Te Waihora zone and the ways they will manage the farm to mitigate any phosphorus losses are now included in their farm environment plan. “We’re all for being accountable and having safe dairy practices – we’re very environmentally focused and genuinely want to do all the right things. “We’re just caretakers of the land for the

next generation so we want to be sure what we’re being asked to do here is practical and real – that it’s actually going to make a real difference,” James says. When they first began working on the consent application process late last year they felt there was a lot of urgency to get it in as soon as possible after January 1. “We were a bit panicky about it really – it seemed so rushed and urgent but when we tried to get on with it there were more questions than answers,” Sarah says.

‘It’s not that we have anything to hide but there are a lot of people who know very little about farming and, after the vandalism where people had pivot tyres slashed, because of the increased interest in irrigation consents, it’s clear that not everyone fully understands what processes we have to go through as farmers. It makes us feel pretty vulnerable.’

Getting the baseline Overseer budget was the priority and having engaged Ravensdown to do that some of the time pressure was off. ECan has indicated consent application deadlines will not be as stringent for farmers who are on waiting lists for nutrient budget work or have the consent application work in progress.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Sarah says engaging Ravensdown Environmental to complete the consent application as well as do the baseline nutrient budgets has eased the pressure. “But that all comes at a cost and when we’re coming out of the lowest payouts and we’ve just bought the farm – well, every cost is significant,” she says. “Some parts of the application seemed a bit intimidating too. For instance when you’re told you have to agree to make most of your information – that includes your farm environment plan – public or you’ll get a shorter consent – well to be honest it seemed a bit bullyish,” she says. The couple say they have no problem with industry groups or councils being able to share or look at their information but outspoken anti-dairying groups or individuals with an anti-dairying agenda will also be able to look into the details of their farming business. “It’s not that we have anything to hide but there are a lot of people who know very little about farming and, after the vandalism where people had pivot tyres slashed, because of the increased interest in irrigation consents, it’s clear that not everyone fully understands what processes we have to go through as farmers. It makes us feel pretty vulnerable,” Sarah says. Fairlie farmers Alastair and Louise Holmes have had a different experience with their consenting process with Louise using DairyNZ’s templates and example consent forms to help guide her application. They were granted what is almost a seven-year farming activity resource consent in February – just a few weeks after they lodged the application. The couple own a 600-cow property which was converted in time for 2013-14. It’s in an orange zone and is part of the Orari, Temuka, Opihi, Pareora (OTOP) zone where the sub-regional plan is soon to be notified.

Louise says they had a four-year farming activity resource consent which had to be applied for with their conversion. It was due to expire part way through this year. “We did get a consultant to prepare that original consent application because there wasn’t really any process for doing that back then that we could follow as farmers. “It was a bit complicated too because the conversion happened part way through the last baseline year. “Having that consent already done meant we had all our baseline information, our nutrient budgets and farm environment plan and that certainly made doing the consent application this time a lot easier. “But I do admit when I first realised we had to reapply for the consent I thought ‘oh no, not that again’. “I don’t know if I would have found it quite as easy this time if I hadn’t gone to the DairyNZ workshop they ran with ECan. I really followed the example consent and when I thought I had it all ready I went and met with an ECan planner to use the free hour with them just to check I had everything right and included all the things we needed to.” Louise and Alastair ticked the option

Alastair and Louise Holmes used DairyNZ’s templates and example consent forms to help guide their application.

not to agree to good management practice nutrient loss rates that will come from the Ecan portal. “We don’t know what those numbers will be yet so we’re more comfortable

to agree to a shorter term consent and a number we know is sustainable under our current management system rather than risk it with a big unknown,” Louise says.

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BUSINESS │ EU COMPLIANCE Chris McCullough

In the UK a farmer has up to 36 hours from birth to tag a dairy calf with the first of two plastic yellow tags bearing a unique number and the farm’s herd number.

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Obeying EU rules earns subsidies

Dairy farmers who operate within the 28 member states of the European Union must abide by a strict set of regulations underwritten by the European Commission. Parameters set by these regulations eventually trickle through to other dairyproducing countries to instil further confidence to consumers that their food is safe and produced to the highest animal welfare standards. Of course, the European dairy farmers who play ball and comply with the extensive set of rules get paid for their efforts in the form of subsidies. Making farmers pay attention to their farming practices is known as cross-compliance, which the EC says is an important tool for integrating environmental requirements into the Common Agricultural Policy. The mechanism of cross-compliance creates synergies between CAP payments and the need to ensure compliance with basic mandatory standards. If farmers default on any of these rules, the relevant subsidy administration can withhold all or part of their EU direct payment until the infringement is dealt with. The bigger controls Europe imposes

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on dairy farms surround three areas; the environment, animal welfare and food safety. Regulations such as the Nitrates Directive have influenced farming systems all over the world but others such as the prohibition of burying dead animals on farms are less-widely known. Looking after the environment for future generations of farmers is a high priority within the EU and thus the Nitrate Directive was born. The directive aims at protecting ground and surface water from the pollution caused by nitrates deriving from agricultural sources. Its implementation takes place through the establishment of nitrate vulnerable zones (NVZs) which ban the application of chemical fertilisers or manure during autumn and winter. Organic manure or N fertilisers cannot be applied where the ground is waterlogged, flooded, frozen or covered with snow. Farms must have adequate slurry storage with sufficient capacity for all slurry produced in the winter closed-spreading period. Farmers must keep farm and field records on cropping, livestock numbers, N fertiliser and manure usage for a minimum of five years after the relevant activity takes place. The Nitrate Directive limits the stocking rate to 170 kg N/ha per year. For example, in England farmers are not permitted to spread slurry, poultry manure or digestate from October 15 to January 1. Farmers must also ensure their farms do not pollute waterways. From January 1, 2017, land parcels of more than two hectares next to watercourses must now protect watercourses against pollution and run-off from agricultural sources, by maintaining buffer strips. This new regulation insists farmers should maintain a green cover for all land within two metres of the centre of a watercourse or field ditch or from the edge of the watercourse or field ditch to one metre on the landward side of the

The Nitrate Directive aims at protecting ground and surface water from the pollution caused by nitrates deriving from agricultural sources. top of the bank. They are also prohibited from cultivating, or applying fertiliser or pesticides in this safe zone. If livestock die on a farm in the EU strict regulations protecting the environment say the fallen stock cannot be buried or burned on farm.

It is illegal to bury fallen stock on a farm to prevent the risk of spreading disease through residues in the soil, groundwater or air pollution. It is illegal to bury fallen stock on a farm to prevent the risk of spreading disease through residues in the soil, groundwater or air pollution. This ban also covers animal by-products, including afterbirth and stillborn animals. Farmers must contact an authorised collection agency to take the dead animals away for certified disposal. If the dead animals are more than 48 months old they must be tested for BSE. United Kingdom farmers, for example, must contact a collector within 24 hours of their animal’s death to have it taken away.

United Kingdom farmers, must contact a collector within 24 hours of their animal’s death to have it taken away.

Another key area where farmers need to be extra vigilant is with regard to animal ear tags and cattle movements. In the UK, a farmer has up to 36 hours from birth to tag a dairy calf with the first of two plastic yellow tags bearing a unique number and the farm’s herd number. They then have a further 20 days to secure the second identical tag on the other ear. These birth details as well as information about sex, breed, sire and dam numbers, must then be entered into an online holding register, also used to register animal deaths. Within 27 days of birth the farmer, by law, must apply for a cattle passport. All cattle movements to shows, livestock markets or to a new owner must be recorded on this register and retained for 10 years. Breaking the law around cattle identification and movements is one of the biggest areas of concern for departments of agriculture and has seen many farmers get huge fines and their EU subsidy withheld. Consuming raw milk is increasingly popular in some countries but there are strict guidelines. Farmers who wish to sell raw milk must be registered with their Food Standards Agency and must ensure raw milk comes from animals that are in a good general state of health. Cows must be free from disease, do not have any udder wounds and have not had any antibiotics administered. Warnings must be clearly visible at the point of sale that the raw milk could contain harmful bacteria. With all these rules, of course, there are 28 member states within the EU (27 when the UK officially leaves) and each country has its own way of administering or interpreting the regulations. Each country will tinker with the rules to make them suit their farming systems, weather and landscapes but in essence the core principle should remain the same. • Chris McCullough is a freelance agricultural contributor based in Northern Ireland.

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BUSINESS │ RESEARCH

Research on show at forums Chris Burke DairyNZ reproduction team leader The dairy industry could be making an additional $1 billion each year through efficiency gains in herd fertility, cow health and feed conversion. Astonishing, isn’t it? It just goes to show how advances across these areas, let alone others, can generate greater profit for farmers without increasing production. DairyNZ is researching how to make further gains in these areas to help farmers remain competitive for future generations. The industry recognises fertility is a big challenge. When we’ve carried out farm surveys, “trying to get the herd in-calf” comes up as one of farmers’ top five concerns. The average six-week in-calf rate on New Zealand dairy farms is around 65%. The industry target is 78%. This gap is a significant opportunity for many farmers – an estimated $21,000 for a 400-cow dairy farm, without costing in the empties. A few options DairyNZ is looking at to try and bridge the gap includes how to

Be there Each event will run from 9.30am-3pm. May 4: Southland, Wallacetown Community Centre, 57 Dunlop Street, Waikiwi, Wallacetown (followed by the opportunity to visit the Southern Dairy Hub). May 11: Manawatu, Massey University No 4 dairy farm, Tennent Drive, Palmerston North. May 16: Canterbury, Ashley Dene Research & Development Station, 736 Bethels Road, Springston. May 19: Taranaki, Stratford War Memorial Hall, 55 Miranda St, Stratford. May 25: Waikato, Lye Farm, 219 Vaile Road, Newstead, Hamilton.

make cows more genetically fertile, ways farmers can manage their herd to increase fertility, and pinpoint when pregnancies are being lost to try and minimise the risk. Identifying the causes of low fertility and/or pregnancy losses is the first step towards developing solutions to enhance reproductive success. We’ve found the first week after artificial breeding is where most pregnancy losses occur. A third of cows fail to establish a successful pregnancy from that insemination. We’re now investigating what will improve egg quality and early maternal nurturing of the fertilised egg. Research has also found high-fertility heifers reach puberty earlier than their low-fertility counterparts. This trait is heritable and offers the chance to accelerate gain in fertility genetics. The incidence rate of endometritis (uterine inflammation/infection) one month out from mating, which negatively affects herd fertility, is higher than we originally believed. We’re seeking solutions that will reduce the rate and/or improve detection of endometritis for earlier treatment options. I’ll be discussing these research areas at five upcoming Farmers’ Forums being held in Southland, Manawatu, Canterbury, Taranaki, and Waikato this month. The forums will provide a chance to learn what new technologies and tools are coming down the line to help improve farm business and its performance. Other topics that will be discussed at the forum include the value of thermal imaging to predict feed conversion efficiency, which system of farming is most profitable, and exciting new grasses and legumes being developed using novel plant breeding techniques. There will also be a session around how you can avoid sediment, phosphorus and E. coli entering waterways, and what the opportunities are to reduce nitrate

leaching from grazing animals. How nutrient loss impacts farm profit will also be discussed, plus so much more. At the end of each event, regional leaders will present the latest issues and news relevant to the area. So don’t miss your chance to hear expert insight and gain a greater understanding of the latest DairyNZ scientific research. The events are free to levy-paying farmers and their staff. For more information and to register visit www.dairynz.co.nz/farmersforum.

Science sessions • Are you making money from milk or milk from money? • Marginal milk – when is enough too much? • Key lessons of intensification over the last decade. • Herd efficiency • Making it easier for you to get better in-calf rates. • Getting your cows to have healthier, longer productive lives. • Looking for cows that are the most efficient feed convertors. • Saving on nutrients. • Water quality, what is the problem? • Keeping sediment, phosphorus, and E. coli on farm. • Reducing nitrate leaching from grazing animals. • Home-grown feed: now and future. • Today’s pastures tomorrow: What we have learned in the last five years? • Tomorrow’s pastures tomorrow: Exciting new grasses and legumes from novel breeding methods. • Cropping today and tomorrow: Have we reached peak fodder beet?

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BUSINESS │ ONFARM

A decade to get in behind

Alan Wills - farmers need to play their part.

Science and solutions developed over the next decade will have a big impact on the future of dairy farming in the Waikato. Reporoa farmer Alan Wills tells Sheryl Brown why farmers should be doing everything they can now to minimise environmental impacts so they can continue to have choices in the future.

The 10-year grace period in Waikato Regional Council’s Healthy Rivers Plan Change gives dairy farmers the opportunity to first understand and then make changes to minimise the environmental impact from their businesses. Doing this will hopefully make the future less painful, Reporoa farmer Alan Wills says. In the next year the Plan Change 1 aims to reduce discharges of nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment and microbial pathogens to improve water quality by 10% of the change required to meet the 80-year targets. “I’m a really big fan of the 10 years,” the Rotorua/Taupo Federated Farmers chairman says. “It gives us time to understand what it is all about. Farmers need to embrace it and do their farm environment plans. We need to do our bit by getting on with it. If we do it well enough, it should mean less pain later on. “There is a real issue for those farming hill country, but people who are dairying on reasonable-contoured land I’m openly encouraging them to get stuck in and do the things identified in their farm environment plans.” The Waikato Regional Council is

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FARM FACTS Owner: Alan and Alison Wills Location: Reporoa Palm kernel: 0.5t/cow Crops grown on farms: 22ha turnips Runoff: 60ha effective Supplement made on farms: 80t grass silage Supplement made on runoff: 450t grass silage (200t brought home to farms) Finances below for both farm operations: Farm working expenses (2014/15): $3.64/kg milksolid (MS) Operating expenses: $4796/ha Debt to equity rato: 39.7%

empowered by the Government’s National Policy Statement for Fresh Water Management to have a plan in place to at least maintain and where necessary improve water quality, Alan says. Some aspects of the proposed Healthy Rivers Plan Change definitely need to be reconsidered so that is what the submission process will be all about. “All we can expect to do is tweak the plan, not change it significantly. We don’t want fast and hard regulation so we all have to do our bit to make sure that doesn’t happen.” The situation farmers are in is nobody’s fault, Alan says. “The money was in cows. The expansion of the dairy industry and the impact wasn’t understood by farmers or regional council.” It’s now known there are certain catchments that are carrying too many cows at the current levels of mitigation, but land-use change is a difficult process and the community has to have patience. The urban community also has to acknowledge its impact on water quality and address those issues.

“Just like the Auckland housing crisis or traffic congestion issues, clean water is not going to happen overnight, but we are trending in the right direction. “The last thing I want to do is point fingers at urban people, but I want them to understand that clean water is a collective process. We all have a part to play.” Farmers have to be proactive to do their part because what the industry doesn’t want is to be regimented by regional council and the community controlling inputs, he says. “I want a situation where farmers can still farm by choice. The best result would be a future where farmers could still have a choice in how they farm their land and we have water quality trending in the right direction.” The environmental spotlight is evolving and constantly changing as new research comes to light. Tools such as Overseer, for example, will continue to be developed and updated in the next 10 years and there will be more information available to regional councils as well as the dairy industry. The real world will be that some of the

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science could well go against dairy farmers and the industry will have to adjust to come up with more solutions. It is important for dairy farmers to stay involved in policy and ensure the debates will be around the quality of the science, how that science is interpreted and what is fair going forward, he says. Alan, together with his wife Alison, converted his family sheep and beef property to dairy in 1982. The 176-hectare milking platform has 10 crossings across the two streams running through the property.

‘Just like the Auckland housing crisis or traffic congestion issues, clean water is not going to happen overnight, but we are trending in the right direction.’

The pumice country is easily eroded, so fencing off waterways to keep stock out became an early priority. They made a start fencing the streams and drains and began riparian planting on the farm 17 years ago. All of the fencing is done so they now invest $5000-$6000 annually towards riparian planting. “I was aware we needed to keep stock out of waterways. The pumice country is very easily eroded. I also knew that in some form that this whole environment thing was coming.” The plantings have been easy to maintain, they get someone in to release the new plantings once a year. The waterways have never needed to be cleaned out and water continues to flow unobstructed. “I can’t speak for other areas, but the

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

last thing I want in my streams is a digger because of potential erosion.” It wasn’t a great expense, with three-wire fences and the benefits far outweigh the cost, he says. One of the big benefits of fencing all the waterways was onfarm health and safety, Alan says. Years ago before they had everything fenced they had a young veterinarian student working on the farm who drove a quad bike into a drain at 5am. They were all extremely lucky she was not injured or worse, he says. Five years ago they also embarked on establishing a one-hectare wetland on the farm. The area has always been too wet to be grazed and it made sense. The benefit of seeing the plantings grow and bird life come back onfarm is another big benefit, Alan says. When all the wetland and riparian plantings across all the other farms in the Reporoa Valley mature it will create an eco-corridor for bird life between Te Urewera National Park in the east and the Paeroa Range to the west. “It will be great to see the birdlife come into our plantings.” In regards to Alan and Alison’s farm environment plan, the big-ticket item still required is a new effluent storage pond on the home farm. They also need to put power to their underpass and pump effluent from there back to the storage pond – about 300 metres. “We have made a commitment to fix the underpass this autumn and to build the new pond in the next three years.” Alan and Alison bought their other family dairy farm two years ago from Alan’s mother’s estate and installed a new

600,000-litre Tasman Tank along with a new sediment trap and pump system. “We irrigate effluent on about a third of both farms, on the lighter country so we can irrigate at any time of the year if you use your common sense.” The other project they need to complete is building, where necessary ,sediment traps close to the 10 stock crossings on the farms. “We will need to re-contour the approaches to the crossings so the rainwater collected from the races is diverted into the paddocks or to the sediment traps.” The stocking rate is 2.7 cows/ha, Alan says. “I’m comfortable that we are farming sustainably.” They dress both farms with up 120kg N/ ha/year.

Alan Wills – one environmental goal is to build sediment traps over the 10 stream crossings onfarm.

“We put most of it on ourselves at low rates with our own fertiliser spreader.” They’ve also got to update the cooling systems at both farm dairies this year which is an example of how farmers need to plan and budget in their environmental commitments because there is always something else to spend money on. Having a lower debt/equity ratio is important so farmers have the flexibility to make infrastructure upgrades or put environmental mitigations in place when they need to. However Alan is well aware that because of their gearing many farmers don’t have that stretch so for farmers to continue to farm profitably and sustainably in the future, there is going to be even more emphasis on the farm gate returns, he says. “A lot of these things can’t be done at a $5/kg MS payout. We need to be performing as an industry a little bit better payout-wise.” Their son Hamish and partner Tracey have returned to the farm after running their own building business in Rotorua. With Alan spending more time off farm with his role as chairman of Rotorua/ Taupo Federated Farmers and other interests, having Hamish back onfarm will be vital, he says. “Nothing is static these days so a handson driver with skin in the game is so important.” Alan and Alison have started putting together a succession plan with Hamish and their three daughters, Emma, Jessica and Madeline. Emma and Jessica are both involved with their husbands in businesses in Rotorua, while Madeline, whose husband is a boat builder, works for Fonterra in Tauranga. “We have a young fourth generation on this farm now. What we do going forward will be how the family want to approach it.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

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SYSTEMS │ TILLERS

Look after the daughters Anne Hardie verbatim@xtra.co.nz

one-leaf stage of regrowth, energy is being stored again and this triggers root growth, but the young daughter tillers are still getting no support from their mother and are vulnerable to regrazing. At the two-leaf stage, everything is getting back on track with energy and growth, and daughter tillers are being supplied nutrients and energy again from the older mother tillers. “By the two-leaf stage, mum has enough energy and she’s starting to look after the daughter tillers again – this is the minimal grazing interval. “Then pasture reaches the three-leaf stage where root growth and tillering are fully active, overall growth is reaching its peak and energy stores plateau. This is the maximum grazing interval. By the time it gets to the four-leaf stage, the oldest leaf is dying and pasture quality is declining. The leaf stage tells us what the implications are going to be by grazing that paddock now.” A platemeter will help with allocation of pasture, but the leaf stage will indicate when the pasture can and should be grazed, he says. The time it takes for a new leaf to grow depends on temperatures and moisture, while the size of the leaf is determined by a number of factors including nutrition. The ideal post-grazing residuals are 1500 to 1600kg drymatter (DM)/ha. If postgrazing residuals are too low - 1100 to 1300kg DM/ha there will be a longer lag phase to come back up to that maximum canopy again, whereas when residuals are too high – 1900-2100kg DM/ha – the pasture gets to the canopy stage earlier and begins the shading process. “Then tillers panic because they need light coming into their base, so they elevate themselves from the ground and

inter is coming and the colder the winter, the more your pasture will be primed to go to seed next season. Danny Donaghy makes the science of grass growth entertaining, much to the relief of West Coast farmers at a monitor farm field day near Ikamatua recently who have struggled with a wet, cold summer. The Massey University DairyNZ professor of dairy production systems says knowing the effect of a cold winter on seeding gives farmers early warning on farms where seeding is difficult to control and up to several months to plan for it. “And once they go to seed, that’s the end of the life for that older, ‘mother’ tiller. The younger ‘daughter’ tiller born in the spring won’t go to seed because they haven’t been given the cold winter treatment,” he says. “Tillers only live for about a year and with the main periods of tillering being autumn and spring, you have a couple of bites at either being able to thicken up your pasture, or not getting it right, in which case your pasture thins out further.” Autumn-born tillers are the key to providing pasture growth from late autumn through to spring, he says. Then they’re dying off and hopefully being replaced by spring-born tillers. Ryegrass pasture to feed the cows from Christmas onwards depends on spring-born tillers to maintain pasture quality and density, so these need to be encouraged through appropriate pasture management. Throughout the year, farmers need to focus on protecting the bottom 4cm of pasture, where the energy is stored for plant maintenance and growth, including tillering. Three-leaf principle The length of grazing rotation affects how much energy the plant is allowed 1st new leaf to accumulate, while postgrazing residual affects how much of the energy storage Residual leaf is maintained. “When pasture is grazed or cut, the root system stops 2nd new leaf appearing growing, energy stores take a nose dive and the mother tillers automatically forget that they are mothers, and Residual Residual Stubbl e leaf stop supplying daughters (0-5cm ) with energy.” The priority is regrowth 0-leaf stage 1-leaf stage (immediately after of the leaf to re-establish grazing) energy supply. About the

produce stem. When mum gives birth to the next generation of Danny Donaghy daughters, they will be born off the ground and the majority of these aerial tillers don’t survive because eventually the sun comes in and kills off their roots.” Donaghy says the optimal height to top pasture to control seed head or harvest silage and hay is about 5cm. “When seed heads have been allowed to form, or residuals have gotten out of control, no more daughters are born, the base of the tiller moves up off the ground and the pasture thins out. Getting the pasture down to 5cm by grazing or cutting will reset the base of the plant close to the ground again.” When farmers get caught in fast rotations (less than two leaves), one strategy they use is applying nitrogen to increase growth, but this is a waste of time and money, he says. “It’s going to look like you’re fixing the pasture shortage because the pasture is greener, but most of the nitrogen you’ve applied is in a soluble form in the younger leaves and the short rotations mean the cows will eat it. The two-leaf stage is when the nitrogen will start working for you.” A number of West Coast pastures will need to be renovated or even reestablished this autumn, Donaghy says, given the damage they have suffered from the prolonged wet conditions. Grazing management, focusing on the principles of leaf stage and residual, should help the remaining paddocks recover to decent density in autumn. 4th new leaf appearing

2nd new leaf

3rd new leaf 2nd new leaf 1st new leaf

3rd new leaf appearing

1st new leaf Residual leaf starting to die

Residual leaf has died

2-leaf stage

3-leaf stage

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

SYSTEMS │ PASTURE

Many costs in producing more milk Glenys Christian glenys.christian@nzx.com Northland dairy farmers had plenty to think about when DairyNZ’s principal scientist, animal science, Dr John Roche, asked whether they were making money from milk or milk from money? “The average cost of milk production can be a misleading statistic in evaluating the cost/benefit of system change,” he said at a field day at the Northland Agricultural Research Farm (NARF) just north of Dargaville late last year. It was important to focus on the marginal response, but at the same time account for all the costs which would change to achieve extra production because that would determine which scenario applied. He’s been involved with the trial of reducing reliance on imported feed at NARF for the past year and said it was a great opportunity to look at some of the costs associated with changing a farming system to one which relied on more bought-in feed. Talking about margin over feed only accounted for milk production associated with supplementing cows and the cost of feed, but not other costs, Roche said. In the NARF trial time budgets had been kept for people and machinery, but there were further costs that needed to be accounted for. “Between 50-60% of the operating expenses on a dairy farm relate to each individual cow,” he said.

So increasing the stocking rate led to an increase in most expenses such as animal health and needed to be added in for any evaluation of the system change. Irrespective of the chosen farming system it was important to understand the point at which further milk production was costing farmers more than the price they were receiving, he said. When marginal cost was less than marginal revenue profit per hectare increased with greater production. But when marginal cost was greater the increased production eroded profitability. Profit per hectare was maximised when the marginal cost of the additional milk produced equalled the price farmers received for that milk, Roche said. “To be profitable supplements can’t replace pasture,” he said. “They must be used when there’s a genuine feed deficit.” The NARF trial compares grass only, cropping and palm kernel feeding systems on similar farmlets. Based on farm working expenses, but with no allowance for depreciation or debt, the cost of production of 870kg milksolds (MS)/ha on the pasture-only farmlet was $3.59/kg MS. The average cost of production of 1044kg MS/ha for the cropping farmlet was $4.20/ kg MS and for the palm kernel farmlet with 1029kg MS/ha, $4.01 which did not seem to be a large difference. Roche said the trial had shown there could be high responses to supplements when there were strict rules which meant

John Roche – don’t be misled.

there was high pasture utilisation. But even when milksolids responses to palm kernel were high at 120 grams MS/kg palm kernel and the supplement was well-priced at $245 a tonne, the cost of marginal MS was $6.28/kg MS on that farmlet. Unless the milk price was above that level milk from palm kernel cost money to produce. The marginal cost of milk produced from the cropping farmlet in the trial was calculated at $7.22/kg MS, which was again quite significant, meaning feeding crops to boost milk production needed to be carefully considered. More data was needed to understand the cost of producing milk as well as taking into account environmental constraints farmers faced, Roche said. While the NARF trial only had one year of data so far the results were relevant to most of the country. • More on the Northern Research Farm, see Research Wrap p87

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SYSTEMS │ EFFLUENT

Doing the bucket test Karen Trebilcock ak.trebilcock@xtra.co.nz @KT_at_Exporter Farmers wanting to check if their effluent irrigator is compliant with regional council requirements can do a simple test themselves. Donna Corbin, from Southland’s RES Rural Environment Solutions, said it took a couple of hours, a few buckets and a calm, fine day. In the new Southland Water and Land Plan animal effluent disposal systems must be “self-checked annually” but she said farmers anywhere in the country should test their systems regularly to make sure their system, lines and pumps were performing as expected. “Manufacturers’ specifications can’t be relied on as different pressures, flow rates, distances, pipe sizes and other factors mean they are only a guide,” she said. “Farmers are more than capable of undertaking this test themselves, or they can get a consultant in to do it for them.” To do the self-propelled irrigator system test, buckets are placed in a line at two-metre intervals across the entire width of the throw, in front of where the effluent reaches at the top of the thrown circle. After the irrigator has passed completely over the bucket line (so that the entire circle has passed over the buckets), the liquid from each bucket is measured in millilitres and the amounts entered into an Excel spread sheet which can be found on the DairyNZ website to calculate the depth and rate. The spread sheet can also be used for pivots, rain guns, sprinkler systems and most other effluent irrigation systems although the buckets are set up slightly differently for stationary systems.

“Just ask DairyNZ or a consultant if you are not sure,” she said. The test should be done at the point furthest from the effluent pump (or under a heavy load) to measure the system working at its maximum. Scott Bixley of Kowhai Dairies at Limehills, Southland, wanted to find out if the farm’s new King Cobra Rain Gun with an 18mm nozzle was compliant with Environment Southland’s requirements for low rate and low depth. Corbin conducted the test with the irrigator running on its lowest speed. It took 88 minutes from start to finish. Trays instead of buckets were used. When the test was finished the outer trays contained no effluent but some of the inner trays measured up to 1600ml. The empty outer trays were not used for the calculations. “Don’t expect what is in each bucket or tray to be the same as the wind will affect it but also because of the circular motion of the irrigator’s arm as it moves forward,” Corbin said. Using the spread sheet calculator on the DairyNZ website, which adjusts for the diameter of the buckets used, or the tray size, the average depth was found to be 8.38mm and the average rate 5.69mm/ hour. Corbin said it was important to understand the difference between depth and rate and what they meant. “Depth is how much was applied, on average, to the land as the travelling irrigator passed over it. “The DairyNZ definition is the mean depth (mm) of liquid FDE (farm dairy effluent) applied to the soil surface during a single application event. “Rate is the intensity that the effluent is being applied at, on average, across the land as the travelling irrigator passes

Lime Hills farmer Scott Bixley attaches the flow meter to the irrigator.

Donna Corbin lays out the trays for the test using a tape measure.

The test in action as the trays collect the spread of effluent from the irrigator. over. In this case the depth per pass was 8.38mm over 88 minutes which gives us a rate of 5.69mm/hour. “The rate from a low-rate irrigator for an Environment Southland consent has to be under 10mm/hour so this one is fine. And the depth has to be under 10mm per application, which this one also meets.” Although other regional councils had different requirements for farmers spreading effluent, a low-rate system (under 10mm/hour) when used in appropriate soil and weather conditions should ensure effluent did not pond on pasture, she said. The flow rate, measured using a flow meter attached to the Kowhai Dairies irrigator for the test, was found to be 19.8 cubic metres per hour which was above the manufacturer’s specifications for the pump and the irrigator. Corbin said the effluent line’s pipe size, the gradient it travelled over and the distance between the pump and the irrigator all affected the available pressure and flow rate of the Kowhai Dairies irrigator, as well as the depth and rate of application of effluent to land. If an effluent irrigator failed to meet regional council requirements, ways to improve it could be by using a small nozzle, a different nozzle design, increasing the speed of travel (which will only influence the depth and not the rate), increasing the available pressure but not the flow, decreasing the flow but keeping the pressure the same or having larger diameter pipes to the system. For stationary systems, improvements could be made by using smaller nozzles, fewer pods/guns/sprinklers running at the same time, increasing the available pressure but not the flow, decreasing the flow but keeping the same pressure and also by using larger diameter pipes.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

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Making the most of pasture

Thomas Irving inspects the tiller on a ryegrass plant.

ANNE LEE

That’s not the case with more conservative returns and Thomas says he’s dropped bought-in feed from 900kg-1 tonne DM/cow he advent of the long-awaited Central Plains Water closer to 600kg DM/cow and sown 7ha of fodder beet on the (CPW) scheme has meant reliable water for a platform as an autumn supplement to pasture. Hororata dairy conversion but it’s also been the Their 580 cows are on track to produce 276,000kg MS this catalyst for a shift in farm system that has equity season down from 286,000kg MS in 2015-16 but costs have managers Thomas and Sarah Irving seeking ways to make the come down to a greater degree creating a more profitable most from pasture. system. That’s why they’ve joined DairyNZ’s Tiller Talk – a national “I’ve got more confidence in the water now and that means programme aimed at helping farmers improve their pasture use I can probably be a bit more aggressive when it comes to the and profitability, giving them access to agronomist advice and grazing plan because we’re more certain of growing the grass. linking them with other like-minded farmers. “I think I can be a bit more aggressive too with dropping Thomas says when the Canterbury farm was converted it was out paddocks to re-grass – I can take two paddocks out and on the basis it would tap into CPW once it came online in 2015. get on to a faster round and be happier that’s going to go as The farm’s made up of 122ha of owned land and a 56ha planned. block across the road that’s leased for 12 years. “Before I didn’t have that confidence so I’d stagger dropping The lease land was converted and brought into the milking paddocks out and probably pasture platform in time for the 2015-16 quality suffered a bit. season, just before CPW water “CPW’s been a game-changer for began flowing. us.” Before that the original block Thomas has a Diploma in Farm was solely irrigated via deep wells Management from Lincoln University but the consented water takes and says he’s keen to really focus on weren’t enough to fully quench the learning soil moisture requirements through more about the agronomy of his some hot dry periods. pasture plants as part of Thomas says summer crops such Tiller Talk and understand more as turnips followed by short term about how they grow, the conditions annual ryegrass was one tactic that maximise their production and employed to boost drymatter (DM) what he can do to make sure the production but they also leaned farm’s growing and utilising as much heavily on bought-in feed. feed as it can. It went beyond managing Tiller Talk is modelled on feed deficits and he, like many Agriseed’s Grass into Gold others, admits to being guilty of programme and Thomas knows one chasing production by pushing of its original members – Hororata supplement. farmer Dougal King. At the time, with an $8/kg “It sounds like exactly what I’m milksolids (MS) payout looming after – expert advice and plenty of and supposed paradigm shift that Creating a diamond drilling pattern when input and ideas to help me lift our supported a strong long-term milk sowing new grass gives a tighter sward. pasture grown and eaten. price it stacked up.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

SPONSORED CONTENT “We’d become reliant on supplements but we’ve changed that mindset and we want to harvest more grass – it’s the cheapest form of feed we have.” Being one of the 18 key farmers also comes with a level of accountability that can work in his favour too. Knowing that the group of five or six local farmers will be following his progress very closely (and providing feedback) and that others will also be able to watch what he’s doing will add to the discipline around recording and monitoring a number of the factors relating to his pastures and business. “It’s not just about me learning – I want to be able to share the knowledge I get from this with my staff and our grazier – I want to be able to pass it on further,” he says. Fodder beet is now successfully used to boost home-grown feed through autumn, reduce the dependence on bought-in supplements and transition cows for wintering. It’s sown in late October, when the farm’s in surplus in terms of pasture supply and fits nicely into the pasture-renewal programme. Grazing of the crop begins in April and last year its yield was measured at 20t DM/ha on April 1. It’s followed by a crop of oats, sown in early June and harvested at the boot stage in late October as green feed silage yielding about 8t DM/ha. Once it’s cut and baled and the paddock allowed to freshen up for about 10 days it’s then sprayed out and direct-drilled into permanent pasture – sometimes a tetraploid ryegrass and sometimes a diploid with both always sown with white clover. About two thirds of the farm is in tetraploids. New grass is drilled in a diamond pattern – with two passes, the second on an angle to the first to give a good, dense seed coverage. Singular, straight-line drill rows can leave space between plants and allow weed invasion. A post-emergence weed spray is used with timing based on monitoring of the paddock and identification of weeds. “We’ve also used a board put out on the paddock to keep an eye out for any slugs so we can control them if necessary too but we really haven’t seen any.” Thomas has re-sown two paddocks this season – one after the oats and one going from grass to grass. One paddock has been sown in a tetraploid and one with the diploid cultivar selected based on its flowering date which is not as late as others sown over recent years. “It’s to try and get away from having all the farm trying to seed at the same time. “Once it’s established I’ve probably been a bit late going in with the first grazing sometimes – waiting till it gets up to about five inches in height. We really need to get in and nip it off earlier based on the pull-test.” If the plant stays well anchored in the ground when it’s given a firm tug, holding the plant between the thumb and index finger, then it’s ready to be grazed. While they monitor their pastures regularly throughout the season, doing a farm walk and using the information to create a feed wedge, Thomas says there’s more information they could be gathering. “That’s another thing I’m looking forward to about being involved in the programme – making better use of the tools we have that we’re probably not fully utilising now.”

TILLER TALK PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO BOOST PROFIT THROUGH PASTURE Do you want to improve your farm profitability through better pasture use? DairyNZ’s Tiller Talk programme is forming groups of four to six farmers who will benefit from discussing pasture management and sharing tips and experiences. Thie local group, along with an agronomist, will visit local the Tiller Talk Key Farm three times a year where they will learn about the farm’s progress and talk through timely ways to improve farm profit through better pasture use. A closed online forum allows those in Tiller Talk to share ideas and receive timely answers about pasture-based farming from other Tiller Talk farmers and industry experts. Eighteen Key Farms - including Tom Irving featured in this issue - have joined Tiller Talk. Find out who your local farmer is and register your interest to be a participant at: dairynz.co.nz/tillertalk HOW TO MANAGE NEW PASTURES THIS AUTUMN Good management is important to help new pasture reach its potential. SPRAY WEEDS • Closely monitor new pastures for emerging weeds, the type of weeds present influences herbicide choice. • Aim to apply herbicide while weeds are small (either before or immediately after first grazing). For help identifying weeds check: AgPest.co.nz FIRST GRAZINGS IMPORTANT TO PROMOTE TILLERING • Graze as soon as ryegrass plants pass the “pull test”. Check out how at dairynz.co.nz/newpasture.

• First graze should be a quick ‘nip off’ (2-3 cm) with young stock or cows (for an hour or two only) • Early grazing will allow sunlight to reach and improve clover seedling development APPLY NITROGEN FERTILISER: • E.g. 2 small applications (25-30 kg N/ha) over 6 months when soil temperature >7°C.

Grazing cows anticipate fresh grass. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

AND …. KEEP MONITORING PASTURE COVER • Ensure you are on track to meet farm pasture cover target (and cow BCS) at drying off. 43

VET’S VOICE │ REPRODUCTION

In-calf rates fall Katie Denholm

This season has been challenging for farmers in many ways. The latest manifestation of these challenges is a reported lower-than-expected six-week in-calf rates and higher-than-expected empty rates. Early indications, from dated ultrasound pregnancy tests from around 160 herds in the greater Waikato region, suggest on average Six-week in-calf rates are 3-4% lower than the previous seasons. Final empty rates are yet to be analysed, and of course need to be adjusted for mating lengths. The likely reasons for this drop in reproductive performance are multifactorial and particularly farmspecific. What is true for one farm may not be true on another; and so a tailored approach to combatting the problem of slipping reproductive performance is needed. On farms where reproductive performance of the herd has been reviewed

On a farm where there are fewer animals in calf in the first six weeks of mating, more cows will calve later next spring and are less likely to become pregnant early in mating in subsequent seasons. after pregnancy testing several common issues have been identified, which are consistent with InCalf principles. • Body condition score targets of 5 for mature cows and 5.5 for heifers at calving were still something of an enigma for many farmers. Many animals lost more than the target 1 body condition score between calving and mating, which detrimentally affected reproductive performance. • Dairy cows will lose weight for six-eight weeks post-calving and many animals were still struggling in negative energy balance by the time mating started. Feed availability and feed quality are of paramount importance, to ensure cows recover promptly post-calving and conceive early in mating. • Later-calving cows always struggle to conceive early in mating as they do not have enough time to cycle and become

Katie Denholm at work with cows.

pregnant. Conception rates are considerably lower for first heats postcalving and empty rates are typically much higher for late-calving cows. Some farms had large numbers of cows calving late in the season, after week six of calving, which was a direct outcome of a slowing mating in 2015. • Heat detection continues to be an issue on many farms, even for experienced staff. This was a particular issue with long AB mating periods (more than five weeks). Heat detection problems can be difficult to pinpoint and assess, but return interval analysis and non-return rate data is helpful. • Non cycler animals were not identified early nor treated early on some farms, but more importantly strategies were not implemented to reduce their numbers in the herd. • Bull selection, bull numbers and management was problematic on some farms. With fewer cows pregnant when the bulls went in, the performance of the bulls needs to be spot on to lead to target results. Many bulls are still not tested and vaccinated for the BVD virus and many bulls are also not fertility tested prior to work. According to our data this season, 10-15% of bulls failed fertility testing before mating started. • Young cow fertility was a problem for some farmers with many heifers not reaching target genetic liveweight at yearling mating or before entering the herd. Not reaching targets at these two key time points directly influences reproductive performance. Many farmers still did not weigh their heifers regularly to assess weights and intervene if necessary. There are several strategies for combating these problems in future mating seasons, but it is important to realise that plans need to be uniquely tailored to each farm to get results. Identifying an issue which is likely to produce the best return on time or financial investment is important. On a farm where there are fewer animals in calf in the first six weeks of mating, more cows will calve later next spring and are less likely to become pregnant early in mating in subsequent seasons. Over time, calving pattern will become more protracted as it is difficult to transform a late-calving cow to an early-calving cow. Doing nothing different leads to a snowball effect. Where possible, farmers cull late-

calving cows, providing they have enough replacement stock. Rearing extra replacement heifers may also become an important strategy, however these need to be achieving target weights. Other farmers are buying in earlycalving young animals to supplement cow numbers. Simple strategies which are more easily implemented on farms where bull management was a problem include: making fertility testing a condition of sale or lease and sighting BVD testing and vaccination certification. Despite a fall in average six-week in-calf rates this season, there were farmers who managed to improve on last year’s performance or maintain target performance. The national target of 78% six-week incalf rate remains achievable. Planning for a successful mating next season begins now, by identifying the gaps in performance and strategising to improve. • Katie Denhilm is a vet and herd health advisor with Anexa FVC in Waikato.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Dare to compare with DairyBase Want to know if you’re on the right track to reach your farming goals? The first step is being able to measure them. This is where DairyNZ’s DairyBase can help. DairyBase, launched 10 years ago, is a database of standardised financial and physical information from dairy farms across New Zealand, from Northland to Southland. It allows farmers to compare apples with apples, or more specifically, cows with cows. The database, which is updated yearly, provides value on a number of fronts. Not only can it be used for operational decisionmaking but also for longer-term strategic decisions. The system has been getting better year on year. Until recently, benchmarking data for Central Otago was limited. Last year information was only available for a handful of farms in the region. This meant those in Central Otago interested in benchmarking their farm had to compare themselves to farms outside the region. Not ideal.

Trevor Gee

02038 MSD DE

CO DIARY

SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS.

It’s useful when showing banks or accountants that what we’re doing is sustainable over a long time. Now, with support from Central Otago farmers, from Maniototo to Omakau, the database has grown – and it’s fantastic. There is now enough information for physical customised benchmarks within the region to allow farmers to compare key performance indicators (KPIs) such as pasture and crop eaten. I spoke to Omakau dairy farmer Hamish Stratford who said the information in DairyBase has assisted him with so much more than just benchmarking their farm. Not only has it helped him see if he’s on the right track but it has the potential to help farmers wanting to do a conversion or further development take credible, independent information to the banks. It’s useful when showing banks or accountants that what we’re doing is sustainable over a long time. The more people who join DairyBase the better it is for everyone, as it makes the comparisons targeted and relevant to your region. More than 2500 farms currently participate and this gives strong benchmarking information for farmers across the country. In Central Otago, the majority of farms have joined the database. DairyNZ will be contacting the remaining farms in Central Otago over the next few months to complete the database. We hope that farms remain in the database for as long as possible making the information more valuable for identifying trends and assisting farmers making onfarm decisions. For more information on DairyBase or to join visit dairynz.co.nz/dairybase • Trevor Gee is a consulting officer for North Otago and Central Otago

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Cepravin – NZ’s No. 1 Dry Cow Therapy for over 30 years. We asked farmers why they choose Cepravin® year after year. They tell us that getting dry off right is crucial to setting them up for the next season. Cepravin dry cow therapy is proven to cure existing infections, prevent new infections through the dry period, protect against mastitis around calving and reduce somatic cell counts and mastitis into the subsequent lactation. But more than that – Cepravin is number one because it provides peace of mind. Ask your vet for Cepravin. It’s New Zealand’s No. 1 Dry Cow Therapy. For the best information on Dry Cow Therapy visit www.cepravin.co.nz

AVAILABLE ONLY UNDER VETERINARY AUTHORISATION. ACVM No: A3322. ® Registered trademarks. Schering-Plough Animal Health Ltd. Phone: 0800 800 543. www.msd-animal-health.co.nz NZ/CEP/0217/0006

Make reducing your break-even milk price a priority this autumn In only two seasons the average dairy farm has managed to reduce their break-even milk price by more than $1.20 – with average savings of over $180,000 p/a.

A FRESH LOOK Do you wonder how you compare with some of our industry’s top operators? Or how they removed waste from their business to ensure long-term success?

TIME TO RESET Autumn is the perfect opportunity to take the time to really understand your business, and set up your farm and goals for the coming season.

So join us, and learn more from your peers by attending a DairyNZ Autumn Reset event or visit dairynz.co.nz/tactics for live case studies and practical tips.

Let’s take a fresh look DairyNZ.co.nz/tactics

7 1 0

p o r c e of th DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS SPE CIAL REPO R T Welcome to our celebration of the Cream of the Crop â&#x20AC;&#x201C; regional Dairy Industry Award winners for 2017. All of the regional share farmers and dairy managers are profiled and the dairy trainee results are noted on the Roll of Honour on P 75. All the regional dairy trainee winners will be profiled over the next few issues of the Young Country section in Dairy Exporter.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

NORTHLAND SHARE FARMER Niall and Delwyn McKenzie see themselves as caretakers of the land.

How did you get to where you are? “By having a strong partnership, experiencing various systems and finding out what suits us best. We also took on feedback from last year’s awards and implemented that this time around.” What is most challenging about the dairy industry and what’s your coping strategy? “In Northland it is the weather conditions and having contingency plans in place. The things we can’t control, such as factors outside the farm gate.” What is the one most important thing that will help you in your journey? “We must keep hold of the passion of loving what we do in dairy farming.”

Coming home to winning ways Niall and Delwyn McKenzie, winners of the 2017 Northland Share Farmer of the Year, returned home to Kaiwaka for the simple life after farming in Australia and the South Island. Northlanders appreciate the Keep it Simple Systems (KISS) the McKenzies run on a 100-hectare farm just down the road from where Delwyn was born. The McKenzies won the 2013 Northland Farm Manager of Year and received three merit awards that year also, placing third in the national competition. The McKenzies are 50:50 sharemilkers for Rodger and Jan Comrie, milking 230 cows. Both Niall, 38, and Delwyn, 36, have one paper left to complete a Diploma in Agribusiness. When not working on the farm, Delwyn is a relief primary school teacher. “The Dairy Industry Awards have given us the information and skills to become better farmers,” the couple say. They believe their strengths lie in low-cost milk production with a focus on sustainability. “We see ourselves as caretakers of the land. We are very lucky to be able to make the most of opportunities that are given to us by our awesome farm owners, who encourage us to strive for success and profitability,” they say.

What’s next for progression for you? And what is the timeline? “Completing an agribusiness diploma this semester and then working towards farm ownership by 2025, with a 50-80% deposit and a freehold herd.”

What do you see as the most pressing issue for the future? “In our part of NZ it is urban drift and the rising land values that will impact on our ambition to buy land around here.” Hardest part to prepare for the DIA competition? “Balancing the extra workload over a summer fun period.”

What two pieces of advice would you have for someone starting out in the dairy industry who wants to progress? “Find supportive farm owners and peers that encourage you to grow together, and love what you do.”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA Milking platform area

100ha effective

Cows

230 crossbred

Production

336kg MS/cow – 705kg MS/ha

Pasture eaten

9.8t DM/ha

Milking supplement

None

Nitrogen

36kg N/ha/yr

FINANCIAL FACTS (FROM DAIRYBASE)

Cows/labour unit

115 (this season). 105 (last season)

Farm dairy

22-bail rotary

Sharemilking

50:50 sharemilking,leased herd

Dairy automation

None

Gross farm income ($/kg MS)

$2.38/kg MS

Six-week in-calf rate

68%

Operating expenses ($/kg MS)

$2.76/kg MS (labour adjusted)

Empty rate

8% (last season). 12.2% (this season)

Operating profit ($/ha)

($263/ha) – negative

Weeks of mating

10.5

Farm working expenses ($/kg MS)

$1.21/kg MS (nil labour)

Wintering

Breakdown of costs

$20/cow animal health, $48/cow supplement expenses.

All onfarm all-pasture. R2s and R1s grazed off-farm

Runoff leased or owned

None

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

NORTHLAND FARM MANAGER

Engineering a farm purchase Structural engineer Greg Imeson and his wife Janelle have jumped into dairy farm ownership after only three years in the industry, purchasing a 200-cow farm at Poroti, near Whangarei. Greg has worked and managed the much bigger family farm at Hukerunui after working around the world for a decade since graduation. What do you find the most challenging? “The large scale of the family dairy farm means delegation is key to being successful, and assigning staff members tasks based on their individual strengths can be a challenge. The split-calving system means we are always on the go so managing staff burnout and keeping them motivated is key. We celebrate the milestones like end of calving, mating, cropping, with a barbecue, beers and the occasional massive bonfire.”

What is your progression plan? “Warren Buffett’s quote of ‘buy it when its ugly’ is something my wife and I live by. We purchased cows in the $4.40 payout and again in the $3.90 payout, we also put all our savings into Fonterra units at a low point based on advice that they were a long-term $6 share, something that at the time was very nerve-racking but has paid off very well. “We used this equity of increased cow and share price to convince the bank to lend us the funds required to purchase our own 200-cow dairy farm. We take over on June 1. We’re all on track and excited for this next step.” How have you trained in the industry? “I’m a latecomer to the dairy industry, having studied as a structural engineer first, then moving back to the home farm to learn under my brother Todd for the first few months, as a herd manager, progressing through the ranks to 2IC under a new manager, then becoming the manager after 16 months, taking on every opportunity I was given. I was also proactive with my own study and not afraid to ask questions of industry reps and other farmers.”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA

What aspects of farm management do you need to be successful? “Planning. Not to over-complicate things too much. “Don’t be too positive, don’t be too negative, just have clear thinking. “Good staff management. “But at the end of the day to be a successful manager you have to enjoy what you do, so that you can have fun while getting results.”

Milking platform area

310ha

Cows

835 (330 autumn, 505 spring)

Production

823kg MS/ha

Pasture eaten

14t DM/ha

Milking supplement

150t palm/kernel, 15ha maize, 22ha chicory

Nitrogen

30t urea

Cows/labour unit

167

Farm dairy

40-aside HB

Dairy automation

none

Six-week in-calf rate

Springs 77%, autumns 80%

Empty rate

Springs 12%, autumns 9%

FINANCIAL FACTS

Weeks of mating

9 weeks

Wintering

Yes, winter milking

Gross farm income

$1.337m, $4313/ha

Runoff leased or owned

Owned 150ha

Farm working expenses

$2.92/kg MS

Animal health

$56/cow

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

What’s your top job? “Seeing my plans come to fruition, whether it be autumn regrassing, watching the maize being harvested and seeing all the high-quality feed filling up the bunker, or the daily milk docket beating last year’s for less cost. “I love cutting quality silage, I find it really satisfying. It’s the culmination of managing the spring surplus and knowing it’s a great bit of insurance feed over summer. “I also enjoy the financials and always challenge the status quo of the expenses. Dropping the FWE considerably but maintaining high production was a really rewarding feeling. This was done during a dream season, backing this up the following year with the wet Northland spring, and dry summer was also a great challenge.”

Merit Awards:

• Northland Regional Council Most Promising Entrant Award, North Tec Leadership Award:– Balkaran Singh Sran. • IC Motor Group Engagement Award, DeLaval Livestock Management Award: Cassandra Campbell and Troy Thomson. • Fonterra Farm Source Dairy Management Award, PrimaryITO Power Play Award, Westpac Financial Management and Planning Award: Greg Imeson. • Fonterra Farm Source Feed Management Award: Martyn Davies. 49

AUCKLAND-HAURAKI SHARE FARMER What is most challenging about the dairy industry? “Payout volatility. We budget for the worst and hope for the best. “Amber’s experience in working out monthly budgets helps a great deal. As a farmer you wear a lot of hats but you can use their expertise,” Fraser says.

What do you see as the most pressing issue? “Education and understanding of the dairy industry. People don’t understand what goes into getting a carton of milk into their fridge. We’re proud of our industry and are absolutely stoked to be part of it.”

What will help you most in your journey? “Goal-setting because we are both aligned. We have progressed a lot faster since we said we wanted to own a farm.” They also keep an eye on the necessity of lifestyle balance, and so have added in the goal of owning a boat. “If we’re realistic we’ll get there.”

What is the next progression for you? “We plan to move to a larger sharemilking job with 300400 cows in 2018 but are open to any opportunities that come our way. “We would like to own our own farm in 10 years’ time but it would be amazing if we got there before that.”

What was the hardest part of preparing for the awards? “Juggling jobs and finding the time to do things. “But we put our hearts into it and when we do something we do it 120%.”

What two things do you focus on onfarm? “Farm Working Expenses and breeding results. This year our six-week in-calf rate has gone from 75 to 61% which has been a big learning experience. But 100% of our heifers got in-calf and calved in six weeks.”

On target with goals For Auckland-Hauraki Share Farmers of the Year, Fraser and Amber Carpenter, goal-setting is an all important and very regular part of running their business. In the first week of January every year the couple who 50:50 sharemilk at Karaka, revisit their written goals and work out where they’ve come from before plotting where they’re going. “Your goals can shift and change and we’re good at making sure we adapt and change too,” Fraser, 32, says. They try to control the things they can and manage the things they can’t and make sure there’s constant communication between them. “You’ve got to be proactive, not reactive,” Amber, 33, says. Fraser grew up on his parents’ 180-cow farm nearby and completed a mechanic’s 50

apprenticeship before travelling to Canada for six months, skiing and hotel cleaning. He spent three years as 2IC on a 500-cow Clevedon farm owned by Dave and Lisa Ritchie then managed his parents’ farm for two years. During this time he completed a number of PrimaryITO courses. He met Amber 10 years ago, who grew up in Auckland’s Bucklands Beach and had completed a Bachelor of Fashion Design before working for Karen Walker. She’s now merchandise manager for Cotton On NZ, commuting into the central city every day. It’s their second season on Fraser Mansell’s farm.

FINANCIAL FACTS Sharemilking

Herd owning

Gross farm income

$1.93/kg MS

Farm working expenses

$1.80/kg MS

Animal health

$88/cow

Which merit award are you most proud of? “The Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award because the farm is set up to manage the environment really well. We’ve had some school visits and we hope that’s closing the rural/urban divide a bit.”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA Milking platform area

66.5ha effective

Cows

180 crossbred

Production

386kg MS/cow 1045kg MS/ha

Pasture and crop eaten

12.3t DM/ha

Milking supplement

453kg DM/cow

Nitrogen

213kg/ha/year

Cows/labour unit

129

Farm Dairy

15-aside herringbone

Dairy Automation

none

Six-week in-calf rate

75% 2015/16 season

Empty rate

8.5% 2015/16 season

Weeks of mating

11 weeks

Runoff leased or owned 12.5ha

Merit awards:

• Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award, LIC Recording and Productivity Award, Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award: Fraser and Amber Carpenter • DairyNZ Human Resources Award, Honda Farm Safety and Health Award: Vijay and Dipika Patil • Federated Farmers Leadership Award: Raelene Williams

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

AUCKLAND/HAURAKI FARM MANAGER What is your progression plan? “I hope to move into a contract milking job and be sharemilking 400 cows by 2020. I’d like to stay in the area if possible.”

‘I like being able to make the day-to-day management decisions,’ Rachael Foy says.

What is the thing most holding up your plan? “Milk price volatility going forward, but I just want to keep building my skill level.”

What’s the most enjoyable part of being the manager? What’s your top job? “I like being able to make the day-to-day management decisions and having responsibility for overseeing staff.” As assistant manager on Bert and Merle Costar’s Te Kauwhata farm, there are two farm assistants answering to her and 50:50 sharemilker Matt Young.

What do you find the most challenging? “The weather because you can’t control it” In early March the property received 240mm of rain in a week with 120mm falling in two days and 86mm of that in just one night on March 8. The home farm fared reasonably well but there was flooding on the runoff.

Are there any great ideas you have to build equity and get on the ownership ladder? “I have seven cows and 15 in-calf heifers and will buy in 60 weaners to run on my parents’ 24ha farm at subsidised grazing rates.”

Who is the person who has had the most influence on your career? “Matt as he’s good at confidence building and encouraging me to get to where I want to be. We share the same goals and objectives and he gives me a push along in the right direction.”

How have you trained in the industry? “I completed a Bachelor of Agriculture at Lincoln University in 2013 then worked as 2IC on a 700cow farm before coming to this job. I’ve done some leadership courses and I’m the immediate past chair of North Waikato Young Farmers.”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA

A kick start with calf club Auckland/Hauraki farm manager of the year, Rachael Foy, 24, looked after her share of calf club calves while growing up on her parents’ small block at Huntly.

Now as a calf judge with the Waikato A and P Society she has started taking farm animals to schools where pupils might not have had much contact with them before.

Merit Awards

• Rachael also won the Blackman Spargo Rural Law Employee Engagement Award, the de Laval Livestock Management Award and the Westpac Financial Management and Planning Award. • Second: Ashley des Landes, 23, Thames. • Fonterra Farm Source Dairy Management Award and Feed Management Award: Ashley des Landes. • Franklin Vets Rural Leadership Award and Primary ITO Power Play Award: David Rawnsley. • Campbell Tyson Most Promising New Entrant Award: Jacqui Rutherfurd and Robbie Morritt.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Milking platform

178ha

Cows

500 crossbred

Production

927kg/ha

Pasture eaten

10t/ha

Milking supplement

240t maize, 140t palm kernel,160t grass silage,100t turnips

Nitrogen

4 applications at 80kg/ha

Cows/labour unit

167

Farm dairy

36-aside HB

Six-week in-calf rate

60% (8% improvement from last year)

Empty rate

14% (shortened mating by 10 days and other reasons)

Weeks of mating

Wintering

All wintered on

Runoff leased or owned

Leased

WAIKATO SHARE FARMER

Support pays off

What is the most important thing that will help you in your journey? “Every farmer would like a stable payout. If you knew what you were getting at the end of the season it’s easier to make decisions about what inputs you can put in or whether you can afford a piece of machinery. “I will need good communication with my bank manager, accountant and technical reps going forward. It’s important to keep reflecting on my financial position and be able to plan ahead for tax payments as well as growing my equity. Talking to technical representatives is also key to good performance.”

Phillip van Heuven had a rough start to sharemilking when the payout dropped significantly in his first two seasons. Good communication with family, friends, the bank manager and industry experts have helped him ride the wave of the downturn to become Waikato Share Farmer of the Year for 2017 and he is positive about his future. How did you get to where you are? “Support, encouragement and help mainly from my partner Erin Brown, my family and friends. I’m off a 500-cow dairy farm at Matamata. After school I became a qualified joiner which I did for several years, relief milking on the weekends. I went travelling on my OE and when I came home there was a recession and I ended up finding a job on a dairy farm. I then went back and worked on the home farm. “I built cow numbers by buying in-milk cows into mum and dads herd and keeping the replacements - I had 90 - half a sharemilking herd to borrow against by the time I left.”

What’s next for progression for you? “I’m looking for a larger sharemilking position in the Waikato. Erin is a primary school teacher at Hinuera so we would like to stay within an hour’s drive of there. Hopefully she will step in financially for the next sharemilking job to be able to grow. “I would like to be in a position to buy a farm within 10 years.”

What do you see as the most pressing issue for the future? “The environmental regulations, activists, and health and safety guidelines all add extra pressure. “The new environmental rules are already affecting the way you farm every day. As a sharemilker you have to work with the system you have onfarm to make sure you are meeting all the environmental regulations. The last thing you want is people with clipboards turning up at your door.”

Phillip van Heuven with his dog JoJo.

What is the most challenging thing about the dairy industry? The biggest challenge has been the poor payout in my first two years sharemilking. It was an $8.40 milk price and dropped to $4.40 and $3.90 in my first two seasons. I’m in the same financial position I was when I started sharemilking. But you can never put a price on what you’ve learnt. “I’ve tried to reduce expenses by getting quotes for expensive items related to the farm. I plan for the worst and always do feed budgeting. “To cope you’ve got to get out off the farm, socialise and have a laugh.”

FINANCIAL FACTS Sharemilking:

50%, Costs shared 50%

Gross farm income ($/kg MS)

15/16 $2187/ha – 14/15 $2970/ha

Operating expenses ($/kg MS)

15/16 $2.67/kg MS – 14/15 $2.73/ kg MS

Operating profit ($/ha)

2015/16 – $510/ha. 2014/15 – $164/ ha

Farm working expenses ($/ kg MS)

15/16 $1.55/kg MS – 14/15 $1.84/ kg MS

Breakdown of costs that are of interest

Phillip worked off-farm for two months during dry period to help cash flow

PHYSICAL FARM DATA

Looking after your animal needs, large and small. On farm, small block, home visits and clinic services.

4 Tainui Street. 07 888 5555 Clinics also in Te Aroha and Tauranga 52

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Proud sponsors of the Waikato Dairy Industry awards Congratulations to all Winners

Merit Awards:

Farm owner

Brett Coubrough, Joke Streuken

Milking platform area

71ha

Cows

225 crossbreds

Production

316kg MS/cow –1009 MS/ha

Pasture eaten (t DM/ha)

13.9t DM/ha

Milking supplement

28t palm kernel. 80 hay bales

Nitrogen (kg N/ha/year)

97kg N/ha/year

Cows/labour unit

160

Farm dairy

19-aside HB

Six-week in-calf rate

87%

Empty rate

7.5% – 3% heifers

Weeks of mating

• DairyNZ Human Resources Award, Federated Farmers Leadership Award: Glenn van Heuven and Georgie Cameron. • Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award, Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award, Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award, Westpac Business Performance Award: Phillip van Heuven. • Honda Farm Safety and Health Award: Eoin O’Mahony and Sian Cecil • LIC Recording and Productivity Award: John and Kathryn Blythe.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

WAIKATO FARM MANAGER What is your progression plan? “Mikki and I are contract milking for Murray and Janet next season. We would love to stay here, we have a fantastic relationship with Murray and Janet and we feel we have started something here and we would like to see it through. An equity partnership could be a solution. Herd-owning sharemilking on this farm wouldn’t probably be an option. Murray’s pedigree cows are his life’s work and even if he did sell them to us – bugger paying for them.” What do you find the most challenging? “The weather. This year it has been challenging, you have no control over it. You can plan as much as you want, but sometimes it just beats you. “I’m really grateful to Murray, he’s got so much experience and he could see I was doing everything I could do – he said ‘that is just farming’.”

Euan and Mikki McLeod with their daughter, Iona, 4, and son Archie, 2.

Who has had the most influence on your career? “I’ve learnt from every person I’ve worked for. I’ve been fortunate in that all the people I’ve worked for have been really good farmers. Malcolm and Jodie Ellis were great. You could take your ideas to them and they would give you their thoughts on it. Having people like that to bounce ideas off is so important.” What’s your top job? “I love pasture management. Having a plan at the start, going out and collecting the information and putting it all together to maximise utilisation. I get great job satisfaction from cows coming out of a paddock having had a good feed and leaving behind a good residual. Off the back of that you see the difference in the vat. Every day I like to see how I’ve done compared to the day before or the month before or last season. You can always improve and set a new target to strive for.”

Swift progress to secure and happy life

Scotsman Euan McLeod has progressed swiftly in the dairy industry in the last four years to win the Waikato Dairy Manager of the Year. Euan and his Kiwi wife Mikki, on Murray and Janet Gibb’s Taupiri farm, see dairy as a career that can build their equity and provide a PHYSICAL FARM DATA secure and happy life – their number-one priority. Farm Murray and Janet Gibbs,

Merit Awards:

• Wanna Internet Employee Engagement Award, DeLaval Livestock Management Award: Euan McLeod. • Ultra-Scan Most Promising Entrant Award: Storm Burrows. • Blackman Spargo Rural Law Ltd Leadership Award: Scotty Davison. • Fonterra Farm Source Dairy Management Award, Primary ITO Power Play Award: Josh Monks. • Westpac Financial Management and Planning Award: Josh Monks. • Fonterra Farm Source Farm Management Award: Greg Silvester.

What is the thing most holding up your plan? “Time and experience would be the one thing holding us up. In two years we will be in a good position to take the next step. But I do think we’ve done well, I only started farming in 2013. “I’m pretty positive where we are at the moment. We have the opportunity to go contract milking here with a farmer we get on with really well. “We want to continue to grow and we know 50% sharemilking is the way to do it, but we want to stay here, our eldest Iona is starting school this year and we don’t want to move around. “There is a balance between trying to grow and keeping that stability. That’s every farmer’s dilemma. We are not opposed to shifting the kids, but not every couple of years,” Mikki says.

What aspects of farm management do you need to have nailed to be successful? “For my family to be happy and healthy is my number one priority. We think we can achieve that through farming, that’s why we are doing it. If I have nailed that I consider myself successful. “Secondly success to me comes from having the right attitude. You need to have a positive attitude and have a willingness to learn and grow. If that’s your outlook, then you have a chance of being successful. “More specifically, as a farm manger, you have to operate profitability for your farm owner to be successful.”

Taupiri

Milking platform area 122ha Cows

375 Jerseys

Production

376kg MS/cow – 1155kg MS/ ha

Milking supplement

200t meal

Nitrogen

260kg N/ha/year

Cows/labour unit

150

Farm dairy

36-aside HB

Dairy automation

In-shed feeding

Six-week in-calf rate

59%

Empty rate

12%

Weeks of mating

13 (8 weeks AB, 2 weeks bulls, 3 weeks short gestation AB)

Wintering

All cows wintered onfarm

Runoff leased or owned

Owned

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

CONGRATS TO ALL DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS RECIPIENTS

CAMBRIDGE 183 Victoria Road 07 827 7159

OTOROHANGA 1 Progress Drive 07 873 4004

ROTORUA 22 Fairy Springs Road 07 343 1915

BAY OF PLENTY SHARE FARMER How did you get to where you are? “My first job after university was working for a fertiliser sales representative in the Central Plateau,” Cam says. “I progressed from there to DairyNZ where I learnt a huge amount about farm systems and drivers of profitably through Phillipa Headly and the DairyNZ team. “I’ve always had the goal of working onfarm and wrote some clear goals around this. We wanted a farm with good scale and scope to be able to stamp our mark by increasing productivity and where Marg could continue to pursue her career in the kiwifruit industry”. “Scottie and Jill McLeod gave us a great opportunity. We had the academic knowledge but not a heap of onfarm experience at scale. I managed for one year on a bonus contract where the salary was performance-based – which took the risk away for him. This is our fourth season variable-order sharemilking, with Marg still working for EastPack. Marg rears all the replacements and is involved with all the HR and major decisions on the farm.”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA Farm Owners

Scottie and Jill McLeod

Milking platform area

261ha

Cows

800

Production

1191kg MS/ha 390 kg MS/cow

Pasture eaten

15.4t DM/ha

Milking supplement

140 Kg DM/cow

Nitrogen

110 kg N/ha

Cows/labour unit

200

Farm dairy

50 bale rotary

Dairy automation

Auto drafting, Mi hub

Six-week in-calf rate

78%

Empty rate

10.5%

Weeks of mating

11 weeks

Wintering

Winter on farm. Except 250cows

What do you see as the most pressing issue? “Compliance,” Marg says.“We see what compliance looks like at a corporate level and the demand in the market place for more information. We feel the dairy industry is progressing rapidly but still has a long way to go. That’s going to be a huge challenge in the next 5-10 years.” “Maintaining profit within the bounds of tightening compliance and consumer expectations will be a challenge,” Cam says. What is most challenging about the dairy industry? “Perception. We have friends who are outside the industry and know little about dairying but they are quick to pick up what’s in the media, which is sadly often negative. Farming can still even be thought of as a ‘cop-out’ job. We talk to them about our business, invite to the farm and they’re really surprised how complex farming is and the opportunities in the industry.”

What advice would you have for someone starting out? “When I decided to go farming I went and visited a lot of top operators and they all told me to try and see it through the owners’ eyes. If the shed is not operating well, what’s the best solution, make sure it’s justified before approaching the owner. “Get in early. The earlier you start out in the industry the more time you have to build your equity.”

What will help you most in your journey? “Our relationship. Part of being successful is being a solid couple – when things aren’t going well you get through it together. “We complement each other to build a tight team,” Marg says. Cam’s strength is “crunching the numbers, he also loves business and is very practical on farm.” “Marg has an amazing work ethic having brought in critical off-farm income in these low-payout years while still supporting me on farm,” Cam says.

What’s next for progression for you? “We want to remain sharemilking in a resilient business with a high operating profit margin. Our main goal has been saving with the intention of investing in dairy. We have grown our equity in other ways with investment in property and Fonterra shares but are now wanting to invest in a 500-800 50:50 job or equivalent equity partnership in the next 12 months.

Shared goals to farm ownership

Cam and Marg Bierre met while studying at Massey University and have always had a shared goal to own their own farm. Relying on each other’s strengths and having a strong relationship has been a key to successfully getting into the dairy industry.

FINANCIAL FACTS

Proud to be sponsors of the Bay Of Plenty NZDIA

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Sharemilking

24% variable order share milker

Costs shared

24% of supplement, contracting, cropping, feed and fert costs. 100% staff, electricity, bikes admin.

Gross farm income

$1.07/kg MS

Operating expenses

$0.96/kg MS

Operating profit)

$0.11/ha

Farm working expenses ($/kg MS)

$0.67

Merit Awards: • DairyNZ Human Resources Award, Honda Farm Safety and Health Award, LIC Recording and Productivity Award, Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award, Westpac Business Performance Award: Cameron and Marg Bierre. • Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award, Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award: Andrew Strawbridge. • Federated Farmers Leadership Award: Josh Cozens.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

BAY OF PLENTY FARM MANAGER

Building a good team Successful farm managers on large scale operations need a good team of people. Whakatane farm managers Hayden and Linda McCartie put a lot of time into creating a unified team environment and encourage staff to upskill which in turn benefits the farm business. What do you find the most challenging? “The biggest challenge as a farm manager is definitely staff. If you don’t have the right team it’s hard to manage on bigger farms. We have got a really good team at the moment, but we’ve had people in the past that don’t want to do the work. I end up picking up the slack and Linda has to deal with the HR issues, which is not ideal. With the right team it just flows.” “We have three full-time staff, plus a calf rearer, a relief milker, mechanic and a maintenance person,” Linda says. “We have weekly meetings and barbeques and if it’s somebody’s birthday we try and do something special. We have good communication so they feel comfortable coming to us and we know them well enough that we can pick up if something isn’t right and talk to them about it. “We want everyone to have a similar work ethic and have each other’s back. Personalities play a big part. It’s putting people together that fit in with each other.”

What is your progression plan? “In the short-term we want to buy a rental investment property or rear calves to build equity. We would like to stay here as we have really good employers. There is an opportunity to go contract milking here, but the low payout has made it difficult over the past couple of seasons. “We are also looking at leasing some land nearby if it’s the right price to rear stock. “Long-term Hayden would like to own his own fence contracting business and I would like to rear beefies. Dairy farming is definitely more physically challenging to keep doing when we’re older but we want to stay farming.”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA Farm

Gow Family Trust, Whakatane

Milking platform area

215ha 65ha

Cows

920 crossbred cows milked over the two farms

Production

375kg MS/cow STD on target to produce 424kg MS/Cow 1232kg MS/ha STD on target to produce 1393kg MS/ha

Pasture eaten

16.6t DM/ha

Milking supplement

350kg maize per lactating cow

Nitrogen

150kg N/ha/year

Cows/labour unit

1FWE/178 cows

Farm dairy

50-bail internal rotary

Dairy automation

ACRs, protrack drafting, automatic plant and vat wash

Six-week in-calf rate

93%

Empty rate

9.5%

Weeks of mating

10 weeks

Wintering

100-150 runoff, 100-200 contract grazing, 180 Gowlands (home farm), remainder wintered on farm

Runoff leased or owned

160ha owned 26ha leased

How have you trained in the industry? “I’ve just graduated with an Agribusiness Diploma through the Primary ITO. I also studied Level 4 while I was pregnant with the twins. Hayden and I have done a lot of short-term courses through DairyNZ and Hayden has done WorkSafe training.”

What’s your top job? “For me, setting a target and exceeding it, that’s a fantastic feeling. It’s also great being able to see your staff progress in their roles,” Linda says. “We like to bring people into the dairy industry and support them through to managers’ positions,” Hayden says. “When you’ve taught them something and you see it click into place, it’s a pretty good feeling,” Linda says. “Hayden excels at teaching them hands-on skills. We are really lucky here, our farm owners are supportive of off-farm training staff and you do see the benefits of it. “It’s also good for us, when you’ve done something one way for years it’s great to be open to new ways and if staff have an idea and it works better then that’s a positive win.”

FINANCIAL FACTS 2015/16 Gross farm income

$5.01/kgMS

Farm working expenses

$3.58/kgMS

Animal health

$0.2/kgMS

Merit Awards: • BOP Regional Council Most Promising Entrant Award: Joe Kehely. • Business Results Group Employee Engagement Award, Fonterra Farm Source Dairy Management Award, Fonterra Farm Source Feed Management Award: Hayden and Linda McCartie. • BlackmanSpargo Rural Law Ltd Leadership Award: Andre Meier. • DeLaval Livestock Management Award: Jessica Judd. • Primary ITO Power Play Award: Bridie Virbickas. • Westpac Financial Management and Planning Award: Andre Meier. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

CENTRAL PLATEAU SHARE FARMER

Door-knocking pays off

How did you get to where you are? “I came out from the Philippines in 2001 when I was 18,” Carlos says. “I was a mechanical engineering student, but farming was the obvious thing to do here. I didn’t have any experience and went around Mangakino knocking on doors for a job. I got a job relief milking and had to bike 40 minutes out to work for the first week until I could afford to buy a cheap car. “The farmer later hired me as a farm assistant where I stayed for four years, becoming a herd manager in my third season. “I worked as a 2IC milking 750 cows then got a 300-cow lower-order sharemilking job where we stayed for three years. Bernice worked on that farm with me. I threw her in the deep end into quite a senior position. “When Bernice fell pregnant we moved to a 650-cow variable-order job where we stayed for four years then went lowerorder sharemilking for the same farmer milking 1400 cows. The payout dropped during that year which didn’t work out well for us, so we found this herd-owning sharemilking job.”

Filipino couple Carlos and Bernice Delos Santos have made a career in the dairy industry. They say sometimes it’s better not to follow the crowd to find where the best jobs and opportunities are. What is the most pressing issue for the future? “Compliance will be the big one. There has been a lot, from Healthy Rivers, Variation 6, health and safety and animal welfare. On this farm we have to have a top health and safety plan because of the type of farm it is. It’s only about 20% mowable. “We will need to learn to cope and adjust our systems. We have to look after our environment if we want our kids to be able to farm in the future.”

What’s next for progression for you? “The logical goal is to get a larger sharemilking position to be able to milk more cows and have more staff again so we can have more family time. We hope to own our own farm within the next 13 years.”

What will help you most in your journey? “That we continue to work hard,” Bernice says. “What’s propelled us to get to where we are is to be able to put our heads down and just do the hard work, just get on with it,” Carlos says. “Attitude is a big thing in this industry.” What is most challenging about the dairy industry? “Uncertainty of the payout. It’s difficult to run a business not knowing what your income will be. There are so many fluctuations in the payout. How we cope is by monitoring – that’s the big thing for us. “At the start of the year we will set up an annual budget with a monthly cashflow budget and keep a blank space to track our actuals.”

What advice would you have for someone starting out? “The best piece of advice I got when I was starting out was to go to the places where people don’t want to go – that’s where the opportunities are and how you are going to prove yourself. Don’t follow everyone else,” Carlos says. “Save money, avoid hire purchases. Most of the things we own are second hand,” Bernice says. “Don’t have the urge to have the flashest car or latest phone, those things will come in time – you’ve got to do the hard work first.”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA

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• DairyNZ Human Resources Award, Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award, Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award, Westpac Business Performance Award: Carlos and Bernice Delos Santos. • Federated Farmers Leadership Award, LIC Recording and Productivity Award, Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award: Mark and Adelle Pacey. • Honda Farm Safety and Health Award: Reece Wine and Amy Seymour.

Farm owner

Andrew and Dorothy McPherson, Ngakuru

Milking platform area

90ha + 50ha runoff Increasing to 130ha milking platform

Cows

295 crossbreds. Increasing to 360 cows next season

Production

1147kg MS/ha – 390kg MS/cow

Pasture/crop eaten

10.5t DM/ha

Milking supplement

1.1t DM/cow

Farm dairy

40-aside HB

Six-week in-calf rate

68%

Empty rate

17%

Weeks of mating

10 weeks

Wintering

Winter on farm.

FINANCIAL FACTS Sharemilking

Herd owning 50%

Gross farm income ($/ kg MS)

2016/17 Target $3.85. 2015/16 $2.62

Operating expenses

$2.23/kg MS.

Operating profit ($/ha) (GFI – op expenses)

$1196/ha

Farm working expenses

$1.68/kg MS

$3.29/kg MS -$475/ha $2.07/kg MS

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

CENTRAL PLATEAU FARM MANAGER What’s your top job? “I enjoy growing my team, training up young staff and progressing them in the dairy industry. When staff are growing, the farm is not stagnant, there are no lulls. I set a culture with my team and get them to make a set of rules and expectations. I encourage a culture for people to speak up – you’re better to speak up whether you are right or wrong, instead of bottling something up. I want my staff to have a voice, I tell them there are no dumb questions, better to ask the question than to make a mistake. “I’ve been there. I started at the bottom of the industry and I know what it’s like. “My top job is running a profitable and safe business. I’m all about pre-empting risk rather than dealing with accidents or mistakes.”

Keeping staff involved

What do you find the most challenging? “Staff engagement, communication and motivation. Having a large team, if one member is not fully engaged it can have a roll-on effect through the whole operation. This means a big part of my job is keeping all staff fully involved so they take ownership. “I could have the best farm, the best stock, but without the right people with a positive attitude supporting me it would be impossible to grow any business.” What is your progression plan? “My short-term goals are to be a professional farm manager to create a productive business for the farm owners and to give me a good work/life balance to support and watch my young family grow. “Being in a corporate farm management position enables me to gather the technology, resources and education to manage my own herd at a later date. “I’m open to anything, but my medium-term goal is to be contract milking and long-term goal is to be 50/50. “I would like to be able to pursue that on this farm. I’ve put a lot of effort into this property. I took it on after the receivers and have done 55 capital projects in the last three years. My dairy shed was the first one to get fixed by Shanghai Pengxin because it was the worst.”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA Anthony Kiff farm manager of Pineview Dairy Unit is in the unique position of managing the budgets of both farm owner Shanghai Pengxin and sharemilkers Landcorp Farming for his dairy unit in Reporoa.

FINANCIAL FACTS Personnel cost

$0.78c/kgMS

Gross farm income

$2597 /ha

Farm working expenses

$4/kgMS

Animal health

$80/cow

Farm owner

Shanghai Pengxin

Sharemilker

Landcorp Farming

Milking platform area

385ha

Cows

1180 Friesian cross

Production

424kg MS/cow. 1302kg MS/ha

Pasture/crop grown Pasture/crop eaten

16.7t DM/ha 13.3t DM/ha

Milking supplement

650t brought-in feed. 550kg/cow

Nitrogen

150kg N/ha/year

Cows/labour unit

200

Farm dairy

60-bail rotary Milfos

Six-week in-calf rate

69.5%

Empty rate

14%

Weeks of mating

10 weeks (6 weeks AI, 4 weeks bulls)

Wintering

600 cows to support block

Runoff leased or owned

Owned

The thing most holding up your plan? “Since joining the dairy industry 10 years ago I feel that I haven’t been held back. I have had supportive farm owners and sharemilkers who have given me their knowledge and given me the resources to get me where I am today.

Any great ideas to build equity and get on the ownership ladder? “I am in the early stages of developing a tool that will help farmers with the dayto-day running of their business. When this is successful and profitable it will help me achieve my goal of herd ownership sooner.”

• BlackmanSpargo Rural and Commercial Law Ltd Most Promising Entrant Award – Colin Tremain. • Strettons Employee Engagement Award, Westpac Financial Management and Planning Award – Ryan Orchard • I.S. Dam Lining Ltd Leadership Award, Fonterra Farm Source Dairy Management Award, Fonterra Farm Source Feed Management Award – Anthony Kiff. • DeLaval Livestock Management Award – Dylan Hilhorst. • Primary ITO Power Play Award – Cliff Ballinger

Specialists in: • Milking shed installations • Machine/pump repairs & servicing • Dairy consumables & deterents • Water pumps & fittings

To read about Anthony’s first farm owners Alan and Alison Wills read more on page 33. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

• • • •

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Authorised Dealer 57

HAWKE’S BAY/WAIARAPA SHARE FARMER

Sights set on an A2/A2 herd

PHYSICAL FARM DATA

Rob and Shiralee Seerden, sharemilking at Norsewood, are futureproofing their business by building their A2/A2 herd. They say the Dairy Industry awards are a crucial part of ensuring they have a robust business. What’s next for progression for you? “We are in the early stages of building an A2/A2 herd and working on increasing our breeding worth as high as we can.” Shiralee says. “People are becoming more health conscious and it looks to us like there will be an industry change towards A2 and we want to be ahead of the pack when it does. “This farm is going to be sold after this next season and we want to move on to the next step to a larger-herd farm. “We have set our timeline to 13 years to get to farm ownership. Our whole business and philosophy is family and we want to give our kids the chance to work, earn and learn whether they stay in the industry or not.”

How did you get to where you are? “I grew up in Tokoroa and my parents owned a shoe store and one of my grandfathers repaired the shoes,” Rob says. “My other grandfather ran a dairy farm after the Second World War. I would go and work on that farm after school and that’s where my interest in farming came from. When I left school in fifth form I started as a farm worker and worked my way up to contract milker. When I met Shiralee we went lower-order sharemilking. We are now in our eighth season 50:50 sharemilking on this farm.”

230 Friesian cross

Production

488 MS/cow 1375 MS/ha

Pasture eaten

11.8t DM/ha

Milking supplement (t DM/cow)

60t PKE, 20t Molasses 300t grass silage from runoff

Nitrogen

225 kg N/ha/year

Cows/labour unit

112/2

Farm Dairy

25-aside herringbone

Six-week in-calf rate

68%

Empty rate

15%

Wintering

Runoff: kale, pasture and hay

Runoff leased or owned

60ha (comes with the job)

Sharemilking

50/50

Gross farm income ($/kg MS)

$2.17

Operating expenses ($/kg MS)

$2.25

Operating profit

-$85/ha

Farm working expenses

$1.82kg MS

Animal health

$50/cow

What will help you on your journey? “We need to step out the box and stand out from others and the dairy industry awards is a big thing to help get our name out there,” Shiralee says. “The dairy industry awards have been great. We have always had the plan in our heads but actually having it written down is helping to move us faster and helping us stand out from the crowd.”

What’s most challenging about the dairy industry? “Volatility for sure,” Rob says. “We still continue to do the things we love to do but when we don’t have the money to do it, we find another way. We love camping, but when it’s a low payout and things are tough, we will go camping to a spot five minutes down the road. We camped there for a week and we had a great time,” Shiralee says.

80ha

Cows

FINANCIAL FACTS

Rob and Shiralee have seven children who they home-school. From left: Rob, Daisy 5, Samuel 16, Peter 8, Jorden 17, Shiralee, Bob 3, Suzannah 13. Absent: Ashton, 19.

What is the most pressing issue for the future? “Environmental. It’s learning to be sustainable and use your resources wisely. We had already started that even before having a consent in place for this farm,” Rob says. “There were minor things we needed to do, we did lots of fencing-off waterways previously and were conscious of things that needed addressing and continue to be,” Shiralee says.

Milking platform area

What was hardest part of preparing for the DIA competition? “It’s hard to prepare for something you don’t know. Studying and learning and seeing that there’s a lot we don’t know we had to go and talk to a lot of people to learn more. The hardest thing was not having enough time to learn more. Once the awards are finished we will continue to learn. It’s not just a competition. It’s about continually improving ourselves based on what we have learnt and feedback.

Merit awards:

• DairyNZ Human Resources Award; Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award; Federated Farmers Leadership Award; Meridian Energy Farm Envir onment Award: Adam and Becs Giddens. • Honda Farm Safety and Health Award; LIC Recording and Productivity Award; Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award: Westpac Business Performance Award: Rob and Shiralee Seerden.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

HAWKES BAY/ WAIRARAPA FARM MANAGER Most enjoyable part of being the manager? “I have really enjoyed the challenge of taking on and training a green staff member. Charlotte is 21 and was brand new to farming when I took her on. The reward of that is that we have a really enthusiastic person in the industry now. “The flexibility that’s been given to me on this farm to alter my work schedule around family has been really great. It means I can devote time to my family and still manage the farm.”

What do you find most challenging? “The need to become more flexible. In my previous jobs I have always been quite procedures and policy-based because that’s how it was in the freight industry. That doesn’t transfer to farming at all. “In the past if things got changed on me I’d get quite flustered, so I have had to change my thought process around that a bit to be more flexible. I’m getting there.”

What is your progression plan? “This is a tough one. Family stability for me is really important. I want to stay in the area we are now so the kids have stability in their schooling. “We want to progress in the industry and start our own business and be self-employed but we won’t do it at the detriment of our family. We want to progress but on our own terms and within the confines of our non-negotiable points. We are ready to go contract milking now if the right opportunity arose. “We won’t go chasing jobs and move all around the country to progress. We want to settle in an area and make it our home for us and our kids.”

Who has had the most influence on your career? “The first ones that come to mind are my first employers in the industry Andrew and Monika Arbuthnott. They gave me a chance and really helped set up the foundation of my knowledge. “Then coming to this farm, Ben has really allowed me to use that base knowledge and work the farm in my own way and help build on my knowledge. He’s really given me the scope to expand on that and create my own methods and finding out what works and what doesn’t. “My wife Caroline is another integral person. Without her there is now way I could be where I am today. It’s a team effort to make it all work.”

How have you trained in the industry? “To get a job in our area so we can have stability, I have to make myself as employable as possible. A lot of that comes down to up-skilling and learning all the time. “I am about to start working on my Level 5 course through Primary ITO as well having done Biz Start through DairyNZ and various chemical handling courses.”

How did you get into farming? “I was 32 when I started farming. At 21 I started working at a freight company because my family was involved in that industry. I then started working at BigSave as the 2IC of import and distribution. There were limited progression opportunities doing what I was doing. I came to dairying because I heard there were lots of progression opportunities. I applied for a job I found on TradeMe and here I am.”

What aspects of farm management do you need to be successful? “Making sure you do all the basics right. You can’t do the bigger picture stuff or be an efficient farmer if you aren’t getting the basics like pasture management right. Having a functioning and happy work team helps as well.”

Progression on own terms As a late starter in the industry Kenny Henderson is quickly making a name for himself at Kumeroa, east of Woodville. He plans to progress further in the industry while maintaining a stable home environment for his family.

PHYSICAL FARM DATA Milking platform area

125ha effective. Currently 111ha in grass

Cows

340 peak, currently 330

Production

7.42kg MS/ha

Pasture eaten

13.20t DM/ha

Milking supplement

2.57t/ha

Cows/labour unit

151

Farm Dairy

36 aside Waikato Herringbone

Dairy Automation

Delaval swingarm ACRs

Six-week in-calf rate

63%

Empty rate

13%

Weeks of mating

11 weeks

Wintering

130 cows

Runoff leased or owned

leased

Merit awards:

• Hawke’s Bay Wairarapa DIA Most Promising Entrant Award: David Pinfold. • I.S. Dam Lining Ltd Leadership Award: Damon Ashworth. • Moore Stephens Markhams Ltd Employee Engagement Award: Craig Pennell. • Fonterra Farm Source Dairy Management Award: Kenny Henderson. • DeLaval Livestock Management Award: Craig Pennell. • PrimaryITO Power Play Award: Craig Pennell. • Fonterra Farm Source Feed Management Award: Kenny Henderson. • Westpac Financial Management and Planning Award: Damon Ashworth. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Specialist Farm Accountants; helping farmers make sense of the numbers Strettons are proud to sponsor the Central Plateau Dairy Industry Awards

TARANAKI SHARE FARMER

Surviving drought and low payout

Jo and Dion Bishell have survived the dairy downturn and the wicked dry summer/autumn of 2016 on their Manaia sharemilking farm, saying they have learnt the importance of knowing what your situation is in order to see a way forward. Onwards and upwards, they have won the 2017 Taranaki share farmer of the year award and are working towards a second sharemilking job south of Hawera for next season, along with a new baby and a new season on the 470-cow Kalin/Drought farm. What’s next for progression for you? We are taking a big step next season into a second 50:50 sharemilking job for Shanghai Pengxin Tawhiti farm milking 370 cows. We had a strategy to find a second job or a lease farm and were looking on Fencepost just before Christmas and this one popped up. Second jobs are hard to find, but we thought we were more likely to land one for a corporate and we thought about what our strengths were that would appeal to them. “We needed to show our professional side and our excellent reporting systems that we have built up with this job – corporates are more about achieving goals and performance, and less worried about you living on the farm.” “It’s cool to see your plan going somewhere – nice that the hard yards are coming to fruition. “Now we are busy finding a contract milker, so that we won’t be having to rush to the other farm – we will set up the processes and reporting – and we are also having baby number three in September, along with Jo’s consultancy role and two children.”

Jo and Dion Bishell and family.

PHYSICAL FARM DATA Farm owner

Paul Kalin and Carol Drought

Milking platform area

150ha

Cows

470 peak, Friesian

Production

(2015/16) 363kg MS/cow – 1140kg MS/ha Target (2016/17) 404kg MS/cow – 1267kg/ha

Pasture eaten

13t DM/ha

Milking supplement

1.3t DM/cow

Nitrogen

130-150kg N/ha/year

Cows/labour unit

156

Farm dairy

37-aside HB

Dairy automation

Protrack

Six-week in-calf rate

72%

Empty rate

14.5%

Weeks of mating

10 weeks

Wintering

All cows wintered on

Runoff leased or owned

none

FINANCIAL FACTS Sharemilking

50 % milkprice, no dividend

Gross farm income

$2.35 /kg MS GFI very dry 2016 summer culls winter milked in Waikato, sold autumn calving 2017.

Operating profit ($/ha)

$0.69/kg MS

Farm working expenses ($/kg MS)

$2.38/kg MS

Two top things you focus on onfarm? “Monitoring – finances, pastures, and cow health. “Building strong relationships – with the owner, the bank and accountant, neighbours, rural professionals and staff.

Two pieces of advice for someone starting out: “Work hard – you will never get anywhere in the dairy industry without working hard,” Dion says. “Get to grips with learning how to budget and how to have good pasture management – if you become good at these two things you will create yourself a good reputation and people will want to employ you,” Jo says.

What’s been the most help in your journey? “The importance of reporting and monitoring – we have been through some rough times but if you know what your situation is and what your business is doing then you can see a way forward and you can be in a position to take up opportunities, because sometimes opportunities do pop up in tough times.” “We know where we were financially so we could borrow money for a second herd – probably not all of what we need but enough to grab the opportunity. “The volatility of the milk price has been the biggest challenge but our coping strategy has been to know your business, monitor it and change your strategy if needed to get through.”

Share Farmer Merit Awards:

• DairyNZ Human Resources Award – Ian and Natalie Butler. • Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award – Matt Gugi. • Federated Farmers Leadership Award, Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award – Andrew and Tanya Dobbin. • Honda Farm Safety and Health Award, Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award, Westpac Business Performance Award, – Dion and Johanna Bishell. • LIC Recording and Productivity Award – Conna Smith. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

TARANAKI FARM MANAGER What’s your top job? “Feeding the cows well is my top job – I am very pasture-first focused, all year round. I enjoy hitting good residuals and use MINDA Land and Feed with weekly pasture walks – along with using 12-hour grazing to make sure the cows have cleaned up right. Simon O’Connell, my farm owner has always had this grass-first farming policy and as he’s my half a labour unit, so he’s available for help and advice. I have learnt a lot from him. We use mainly shoulder feeding of supplement to top up the cows – as long as the grass is eaten first, then put in whatever is needed if it’s at the right price.” Critical aspects of farm management to nail to be successful? “Feed management and herd management and understanding the impact of those two on the farm financials. We have Farm Working Expenses of $2.80/kg milksolids (MS) and just use the grass, and the cropping programme over the last 10 years means we have lots of new grass to use. With a top-1% herd and low labour costs, animal health is one of our higher costs.” “Mating for 11 weeks of all AI with six weeks of daughter-proven semen and then short gestation semen will help tighten up our calving. “I am just trying to nail everything – getting as much right as we can. “I am really passionate and run a good routine – this farm is really well set up for that. It has good subdivision and is easy to run.”

Biggest challenge? “Feeding the cows right – we have 4ha of turnips and 3.5ha of fodder beet for the first time, mainly to take out 50-80 tonnes of palm kernel and get more days in milk. I did the costings and we can grow fodder beet (at a yield of 30t/ha) for 15c/kg drymatter including the opportunity cost of the grass, which is a lot cheaper than the alternatives.”

What’s your progression plan? “Next season I am lucky to be moving up to contract milking on my parents’ farm at Opunake. With 320 cows, it’s a good contract and I hope it works for both of us. In three years I am aiming to have a 250/300-cow sharemilking position and within six years a 500/600-cow position. Longterm goal is equity in a dairy farm and ownership, hopefully in Taranaki. The lack of sharemilking jobs could slow me down, but hopefully the more flexible contracts being developed might free them up a bit. “In the meantime I am trying to grow equity through stock. I have some yearling heifers and some MA cows leased out. I also have some yearling heifers in my contract, to be leased or sold in-calf. “An investment in rental housing could be a good diversification as well.” Are you doing training? When I was at school I tossed up doing a plumbing apprenticeship but decided to go to Massey and do a B Ag Com degree – and by the time I hit second year I knew I wanted to be farming. I am enrolled in an effective staff supervision course through Primary ITO and thinking of doing Level 5 Production Management. It would be good to touch up on that theory. I am really active attending discussion groups and LIC field days – they are great for learning.”

Two-year rise to the top

Joining the industry as assistant farm manager on Simon and Gillian O’Connell’s Auroa dairy farm, Shaun Neal has been in the industry just two years since finishing University, rising to the top with the Taranaki Dairy Manager title.

Merit Awards:

• NZME – The Country Most Promising Entrant – Kyran Muller • Bayleys Real Estate Taranaki Engagement Award, Westpac Financial Management and Planning Award – Sam Hughson • I.S. Dam Lining Ltd Leadership Award – Matt Kelbrick • Fonterra Farm Source Dairy Management Award, DeLaval Livestock Management Award, Primary ITO Power Play Award, Fonterra Farm Source Feed Management Award – Shaun Neal

“making milking easier and faster”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA Farm owner

Simon and Gillian O’Connell

Milking platform area

97ha

Cows

325

Production/cow/ha

(2015/16) 480kg MS/cow (‘16/17 target) – 500kg MS/cow (2015/16) 1640kg MS/ha (‘16/17 target) – 1700kg MS/ha

Pasture eaten

16.8t

Milking supplement

18% total feed, 900kg/cow. Palme kernel, kibbled maize, DD grain

Nitrogen

22kg/ha

Cows/labour unit

215

Farm dairy

24-aside HB

Dairy automation

ACRs, in-shed feeding, auto teat spray

Six-week in-calf rate

82%

Empty rate

Weeks of mating

11 weeks

Wintering

All on platform

Runoff leased or owned

34ha owned, all young stock, 18t silage brought to platform.

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Phone: +64 7 849 2122 Fax: +64 7 849 2128 Email: sales@mcconnel.co.nz 61

MANAWATU SHARE FARMER How did you get to where you are? “I fell for farming as a kid when I visited my farming cousins in the Wairarapa and loved the lifestyle – eeling at night, milking in the morning – so as soon as I was able I started milking cows. I used to bike out to milk as a farm cadet and once I had trained through Land Based Training (LBT) I left home at 16 with my mattress and moved into the farm house and a farm assistant’s job at Thornton Park Jersey stud. Fast forward a few years, after managing a farm in Pahiatua we went back to Emmett McConnell’s at Thornton Park – he was a great mentor.” What’s next for progression? “We have worked hard to move up to our present five-year contract milking job with Ian and Steph Strahan at Opiki. Now at 33 and 31 we have four children and have one more year here then want to move to a 400-cow sharemilking job. Next season Nikki, who along with rearing calves and doing the number crunching has been at home with the children Jesse,11, twins Danielle and Caitlin, 8, and Connor, 2 years old, is moving into fulltime employment on the farm as our 2IC is moving on.” What will help you on your journey? “It will be quicker to grow our equity and get to our goals faster if I am working fulltime on the farm. We are getting an au pair to help with Connor. Jarrod is finishing off the level 5 Production management course and I have completed some papers towards the Primary ITO Diploma in Agribusiness Management which have helped us grow our business,” Nikki says. “Jarrod has been the hands-on farmer and I have been the financial driver – now I am going to join him and see how far we can go – it would be great to maybe have two sharemilking positions in the future and look after one each.”

Jarrod and Nikki with Connor triumphant in their fodder beet crop.

What is challenging about the dairy industry? “The gap between the town and country is a challenge – we need to bridge that gap and tell wider NZ that we are all Kiwis and we all need to work together to improve water quality.” “It’s an area we take a lot of pride in – we’ve got kids and we want them to be able to swim in the river too. We won the Farm Environment award for our awareness of the environment, with all the waterways fenced, low leaching levels of 19 kgN/ha, keeping cows away from the stop banks and being aware of our soil types,” Nikki says.

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Jarrod Greenwood admits learning was not his forte at school, but that getting involved in the dairy industry was the best thing he did, and with the drive and financial direction of wife Nikki, the couple and their four children have a secure future and direction mapped out.

PHYSICAL FARM DATA

FINANCIAL FACTS Sharemilking

Contract milking $1.10/kg MS

Costs shared

Shared staff, insurance, power, shed costs

Operating profit ($/ha)

2015/16 $463/ha 2016/17 $2921.74/ha

Farm working 2015/16 $4.36/kg MS expenses ($/kg MS) 2016/17 $4.25/kg MS

Merit Awards:

• DairyNZ Human Resources Award, LIC Recording and Productivity Award, Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award: Raewyn and Michael Hills. • Federated Farmers Leadership Award, Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award, Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award: Jarrod and Nikki Greenwood. • Honda Farm Safety and Health Award: Lisa Hicks. • Westpac Business Performance Award: Brian Underwood.

Farm owners

Ian Strahan

Milking platform area

109ha

Cows

320 crossbreed

Production/cow/ha

500kg MS/cow – 1468kg MS/ha

Pasture eaten

12.7t DM/ha (pasture and crop)

Milking supplement

1.5t DM/cow

Nitrogen

150kg N/ha/year

Cows/labour unit

160

Farm dairy

36-aside HB

Dairy automation

None

Six-week in-calf rate

63%

Empty rate

15%

Weeks of mating

9 weeks

Wintering

200 cows off farm to owners’ farm. Fed fodder beet and hay

Runoff leased or owned

Owned by sheep and beef farmer owner

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

MANAWATU FARM MANAGER

A focus on staff development In the course of Hayley Hoogendyk’s dairy farming career she has discovered a passion for cows and dairy farming as a farm assistant followed by a love of helping staff. The 28-year-old farm manager has thrown herself into the industry both onfarm and taking on numerous Young Farmer club and regional roles and recently won the Manawatu DIA Dairy Manager award.

What’s your top job? “Having staff and watching them grow and learn and success is my top part of the job. “I focus on them a lot – ask what their goals and motivations are and find out what they want to learn each season. Once we add in what they need to learn we can make a plan for each one of them. “Some staff are happy not progressing and moving on – but the ones that want to learn and grow, I really enjoy encouraging and helping them.”

Who has had the most influence in your career? My second manager Sam Ebbett has had the most influence on my career – he probably gave me opportunities more than anything. He was pushy and wanted things done right the first time, he had high expectations – but that was good for me to learn the right way. “He also introduced me to the DIA competition which has been great for making contacts with industry professionals and making me think about how I do things and why. “Sam cared about me and my development – which I took a lot from when I started managing staff – it’s not just about doing your best for the owner – it’s about encouraging and growing your staff too.” What’s the most challenging? “The weather is really challenging with the heavy clay soils on this farm in the Manawatu, as grass growth is hard to control. With winter milkers it’s hard to protect the soils in the winter and going into the spring.” “We use the stand-off areas a lot – but it caught me off-guard with six herds, including two milking herds, all with different feed mixes – the logistics are huge of having all those herds needing feeding on the feedpad each day.”

What is your progression plan? “I am actually moving to another manager’s job next season, which will be more of a pasture management role rather than so much tractor and supplement feeding – it will be great to really focus on per-cow production and there is an opportunity to go lower-order sharemilking there in the future. After that I would love to get an operations management type role where I can oversee other farm managers – where I can support the staff into new roles, and help them take opportunities to grow and progress. ” “I have done heaps of training courses and next plan to tackle a Dairy Production Systems course with Sue Macky and Brian McKay. I am also planning to use my Kiwisaver to buy a house so I can get the equity available to go sharemilking with.”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA Te Paratai Farms 220ha 600 449kg MS/cow – 1222kg MS/ha 9.4t DM/ha 1.5t/cow 120kgN/ha 150 52-aside HB

Dairy automation Six-week in-calf rate Empty rate Weeks of mating Wintering

Protrack, teat spray 63% 17% 10 Four runoffs, all cows wintered off fed fodder beet, grass, silage except winter milkers Leased and owned

Runoff leased or owned

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Merit Awards:

• Naylor Lawrence and Associates Most Promising Entrant: Mel Higgens. • Fitzherbert Rowe Employee Engagement Award, Tailorednz Ltd Leadership Award, PrimaryITO Power Play Award: Hayley Hoogendyk. • Fonterra Farm Source Dairy Management Award, DeLaval Livestock Management Award, Fonterra Farm Source Feed Management Award: Paul Mercer. • Westpac Financial Management and Planning Award: Renee Washington.

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WEST COAST-TOP OF THE SOUTH SHARE FARMER

How did you get to where you are? “I was a Farmwise dairy consultant and Vicki was the farmer, working in Galatea. I wanted to be a farmer rather than advise farmers. We had three young children, Vicki’s father, George, had reached 65 and was wishing to step back from the management of his dairy farm, so we headed to Murchison four years ago and moved into herd ownership for the commencement of our second season.”

What is most challenging about the dairy industry? “Getting through the last 18 months when financially it has been a lot tighter has been challenging. You attempt to do more yourself and employ less staff, but the work doesn’t go away and you have to ensure you look after yourself and try to maintain some type of balance. And perhaps going forwards the challenge will be keeping a fair balance between work, family and social.”

What’s next for progression for you? “Our plan is to investigate how we might be able to activate a succession plan in the farm and if that isn’t going to happen the plan will be to expand our own business. Land ownership has to be the end goal and it would be quite neat to keep this farm in the family, but it has to work financially and everyone’s goals have to all line up.”

Jon and Vicki Nicholls with their three daughters.

Which merit award are you most proud of? “We’d won the leadership award in the past, so it was very pleasing to win the environment and the human resources awards as well this time. We’ve employed one staff member for four years – with one year off on sabbatical – so we’ve never needed to advertise for staff. On the environment side, one thing we focus on is reducing the erosion on the farm. We have 3km of river frontage and numerous creeks so we’ve been quite strong on planting poplar and willow poles to reduce erosion and everything is fenced.”

What are the two top things you focus on onfarm? “If you focus on job satisfaction, you ensure that when you are given a task, you can be satisfied and proud of it when you’re finished. That could be anything from milking to installing a new fence line. Job satisfaction is something we focus on for staff and ourselves. “The other important focus is pasture and making sure we protect it and look after it well. Ensuring it is never damaged so we don’t reduce the amount of pasture and ensuring it is grazed down to the right residuals so we can produce quality pasture for the next grazing. If you don’t have good pasture, then all the economics of the business falls apart completely.”

Challenge on road to farm ownership

Persistence paid off for West Coast-Top of the South Share Farmer of the Year winners, Jon and Vicki Nicholls who used the awards to fine tune their business in the past three years as they aim toward the ultimate goal of land ownership. What advice would you have for someone starting out? “Only one piece of advice – find a good employer. I’ve always tried to spend time with the employer and figure whether you will click together. You need to have the confidence to say no if it doesn’t feel right – don’t be too desperate and be prepared to say no to a job offer. Every employer I’ve worked for has been excellent in the majority of aspects and I’ve always managed to learn from each of them.” 64

PHYSICAL FARM DATA

Hardest part to prepare for the DIA competition? “Getting started, because it seems such a mammoth task talking about your business in two hours. And then knowing when to stop. You can complicate and over analyse and add in more and more detail. It’s important to know when you’ve done enough.” What is the most pressing issue for the future? “Probably the urban-rural divide and bridging that. And that’s not just New Zealand because it reflects on tourism as well. There’s a lot of ignorance both ways and ignorance leads to people filling in the gaps. As you look at more developed economies, urban development does increase and there’s a big gap between urban and rural. That does affect the way we do things and we have to change things around so they’re perceived to be better. I think that if you explain what you do, people don’t look over the fence and guess.”

FINANCIAL FACTS

Milking platform area

180ha

Cows

490 Freisan

Sharemilking

Production

205,000kg MS, 420kg MS/cow 1150kg MS/ha

Gross farm income

$2.40/kg MS

Operating expenses

$2.33/kg MS

Pasture eaten

13.5t DM/ha

Operating profit

$85/ha

Milking supplement

120kg DM/cow PK in shed

Nitrogen

170kg N/ha/year

Cows/labour unit

326 cows

Farm Dairy

44-bail rotary

Dairy Automation

Protrack Vantage, auto teat sprayer, ACR’s and auto wash

Six-week in-calf rate

58%

Empty rate

15%

Weeks of mating

10 weeks

Wintering

200 cows off for 8 weeks, R3’s at home on crop with lighter cows and R2’s at home on pasture

Merit Awards

• DairyNZ Human Resources Award, Federated Farmers Leadership Award, Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award: Jon and Vicki Nicholls • Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award, Honda Farm Safety and Health Award, Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award: Craig and Jackie Brake • LIC Recording and Productivity Award: Andrew Wiffen • Westpac Business Performance Award: Carl Wilmshurst and Anna Boulton

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

WEST COAST-TOP OF THE SOUTH FARM MANAGER

Wayward ways to a winner

Jack Raharuhi epitomises the opportunities within the dairy industry, rising from a wayward teenager to managing a large-scale operation and winning West Coast-Top of the South Dairy Manager of the Year. He has a target of managing between 5000 and 15,000 cows over a number of farms and training staff to succeed.

Who has had the most influence on your career? “My kids. I was a bit of a shit and didn’t have very good teenage years. Then Charlotte got me in line and I wanted to do the best by my family. And that responsibility was the turning point in my life.”

How have you trained in the industry? “I completed up to level 5 in production management with Primary ITO and now I’ve signed up- for a Diploma in Agriculture level 5.”

The thing most holding up your plan? “Nothing holds me back. A lot of people say the dairy industry is in a bad place, but I think the drop in milk price has made us better farmers and tightened up our daily operational costs. It’s about staying positive, working hard and helping other people out and seeing a smile on their faces.”

What is your progression plan? “I want to continue to grow my equity and buy into my own herd with someone managing it while continuing with a management role for a larger business.”

Any great ideas to build equity and get on the ownership ladder? “Charlotte and I are saving to buy a house that we will rent out while we continue living on the farm and we will later use that as a deposit on a herd.”

What’s your top job? “Seeing my peers succeed. I’m mentoring them through their Primary ITOs and it’s a real privilege being able to mentor and teach them. I’ve got a six-man team and I believe that if you look after your staff, you get good quality work back. My wife, Charlotte, cooks them breakfast through the busiest part of the season and we have them on a roster of six days on and two off – you get good quality work back and respect from your staff. My future job would be overseeing 5000 to 10,000 cows with 25 to 30 staff and taking them through a training camp system and using mentors.”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA Milking platform area

482ha

Cows

1080 Kiwi cross

Production

367kg MS/cow – 823kg MS/ha

Pasture eaten

10.5t DM/ha

Milking supplement

0.2 t DM/cow

Nitrogen

275kg/N/ha/year

Cows/labour unit

180

Farm dairy

60-bail rotary

Dairy automation

ACRs, auto drafting, milk hub

Six-week in-calf rate

70%

Empty rate

10%

Weeks of mating

Wintering

All cows wintered on, young stock grazed off once all calves at 100kgs

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

What do you find most challenging? “It would have to be spring when it’s the highest stress level time because I have 1080 cows and heavy rain on the coast and big hours. Some days it can really take it out of you.”

Merit Awards

• Landcorp Farming Ltd Employee Engagement Award, Gordon Handy Machinery Ltd Leadership Award, Fonterra Farm Source Dairy Management Award, Primary ITO Power Play Award: Jack Raharuhi. • DeLaval Livestock Management Award: Anthony Lamborn. • Westpac Financial Management and Planning Award: Alice Reilly.

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What aspects of farm management did you need to be successful? “Critical management here on the coast is feeding the cows enough. We have high rainfall – 2.1 metres usually and more this year – and that washes the energy out of the grass. So feed management is critical and also people skills.”

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CANTERBURY-NORTH OTAGO SHARE FARMER

There had to be a better way...

What’s next for progression for you? “Next season we’re leasing additional land from the neighbours and going up to 630 cows from 515. We’ve already bought the stock – last year we bought heifers at $1000 and leased them out. We do quite a bit of stock trading,” Siobhan says. “We’d look at taking on an additional job in the area too. But we’re open to equity partnerships and bigger 50-50 jobs,” Christopher says. “Ultimately we want our own farm – we’re like everyone I guess in that we want our own bit of dirt – just like people want a house in Auckland, we want a farm and we’d like to do that within 10 years.” What will help you in your journey? “We are a team and we have complementary strengths so that as a unit we’ve got most things covered. I’m strong on the admin side, reading information and summarising it. I love a good form filling out – they can be tedious but I’m happy to do that sort of thing and I’m strong on the strategy side of the business. We are very focussed on cashflow and cashflow budgets. We send detailed reports that are more like a short novel to our bank and accountant every couple of months. It keeps them informed and they know exactly where we’re at and so do we. “We fought tooth and nail not to go backwards last season and we managed to do that. We ran the farm, paid interest and some drawings and still a little money left over,” Siobhan says. What is most challenging about the dairy industry? “ We were latecomers to the industry – I was 28 (six years ago) so the learning curve was massive. When I went lower order sharemilking I had to ring my brother up and ask him what metrichecking was. But there’s a lot you can learn, a lot of technical information, there’s so much information freely available and you just have to ask but you have to understand the art of farming too – you have to be able to feel what’s happening,” Christopher says.

Canterbury- North Otago share farmers of the Year, Christopher and Siobhan O’Malley with their children, Ruairi, eight months, Aisling 31/2 and Finnian, five.

What is the most pressing issue for the future? “The biggest challenge is public perception. Most of our friends we’ve grown up with are urban people and we like to be the rural voice in their Facebook feed showing them the good things we’re doing. There’s always going to be something whether it’s water, environment, antibiotics – you have to be open to information coming out and you have to be ahead of those things,” Siobhan says.

Canterbury- North Otago Share Farmers of the Year, Christopher and Siobhan O’Malley, relish what the dairy industry has to offer when you’re prepared to go hard and put in the effort. They’re determined to get to farm ownership and have combined strong financial planning and monitoring with a “just do it” attitude to make big strides towards their goal. “We managed a tourism company in Ireland but then the global financial crisis hit and we thought it was going to get pretty bad so we shot home. We took on mundane jobs and bought a house but we only lasted doing that for a couple of months before we decided there had to be a better way. My brother was dairy farming near Darfield so I went to work for him while Siobhan carried on studying her post-grad teaching diploma,” Christopher says. “We took up a job lower-order sharemilking 500 cows for a year (201166

PHYSICAL FARM DATA

12) in North Otago and then went to the Grey Valley for a season. “After that we moved back to North Otago to a job with 800 cows and enjoyed the big payout that year. We were on that farm for two seasons – 2013-2015 and then that farm was sold. “We’d applied for and were offered two or three 50-50 jobs but we just couldn’t make them stack up so we turned them down. Then we were offered this job at Lauriston for Graham Brookers and went out and bought 550 cows in one month all from the West Coast.”

Milking platform area

138ha

Cows

515 Friesian-crossbred

Production per cow per ha

466kgMS/cow (2015-16 season) 1689kgMS/ha (2015-16 season)

Pasture eaten

14.5t DM/ha

Milking supplement

About 600kg DM/cow

Nitrogen

306kg N/ha/year

Cows/labour unit

257 (excluding sharemilkers)

Farm Dairy

54 bail rotary, De Laval plant

Dairy Automation

ACRs

Six-week in-calf rate

62%

Empty rate

20%

Weeks of mating

11 weeks (all AI)

Wintering

Winter on fodder beet at a neighbouring grazier

Runoff leased or owned

No run off leased or owned, youngstock all grazed off farm from 15 December until into milking herd

Merit awards

• DairyNZ Human Resources Award: James Bawden. • Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award, Westpac Business Performance Award: Christopher and Siobhan O’Malley. • Federated Farmers Leadership Award: Simon Clisby and Nadia Trowland. • Honda Farm Safety and Health Award, LIC Recording and Productivity Award, Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award: Tania Riddington. • Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award: Kieran and Erin McCall.

FINANCIAL FACTS Sharemilking

Herd owning 50%

Costs shared

Includes 50% all irrigation charges and pay a lease to farm owner for ACRs

Gross farm income ($/kg MS)

2.29 (all 2015-16)

Operating expenses ($/kg MS) 2.74 Operating profit ($/ha)

-755

Farm working expenses ($/ kg MS)

2.14

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

CANTERBURY-NORTH OTAGO FARM MANAGER

Seeking a new security

Kerry Higgins, of Dunsandel, is 2017 Canterbury -North Otago Farm Manager of the Year and he and wife Anita are always analysing opportunities to protect and boost their progression progress. It’s a far cry from Kerry’s previous career protecting the Prime Minister and parliamentarians but dairying is getting them where they want to go – owning their own farm. What do you find most challenging? “Probably not being involved in nitty gritty – when you have to step back and leave others to make decisions. We’ve built a second shed and I’ve had to step back from the day-to-day management a little bit to oversee both so I’ve had to let others step up but still keep oversight. “It comes back to training of the team and making sure everyone involved has the knowledge. Knowledge is power and I don’t hold anything back from the staff.”

What’s your top job? “Team management. Making sure everyone has their own goals and can progress through the industry. I get a big kick out of people moving ahead and learning. “We have six-monthly performance reviews and three-monthly training reviews where we go through what they’re currently capable of, what they’d like to do and we set up a performance and learning agreement where we work out their training programme. We might use outside training like PrimaryITO or the vet or it might be working with me on the farm.”

Any great ideas to build equity and get on the ownership ladder? “Anita was an assistant accountant and when she didn’t go back to work after maternity leave she set up a company with her father doing accounts for other businesses. It’s another income but she can work from home. “We’re always looking at opportunities though to grow and progress – every season we look at new things and other opportunities. We’ve looked at buying farms on the West Coast with other family members, we looked at a mushroom farm – businesses that are ag-related.”

Who has most influenced your career? “I focus a lot of how I run the farm on Sam (O’Reilly). He’s a very efficient farmer so I do model the way I manage things on him and how he did it, particularly how he manages staff.” How have you trained in the industry? “When I started out I did level 3 PrimaryITO and moved through level 4 and level 5 production management. I’ve done milk quality courses and learned on the job, gone to farm discussion groups. Talking with other farmers and learning from each other is important – it’s why I targeted the good operators when I was looking for the next step.”

What is your progression plan? “I’m from a high-country station near Lake Benmore and I’ve always wanted to go back to farming but I just didn’t know how to get in. I was working in the security industry, working as the senior Parliamentary security officer and Dad said there’s only one way to get into farming and that’s to just jump – so we did. We chose the dairy industry and haven’t looked back.” “I started out with Sam and Anna O’Reilly and had two seasons with them and then I got a list of good operators in the region and cold-called them explaining who I was and what I was looking for. “That’s how I got a job with Leon and Bronwyn McKavanagh as 2IC. I moved up to the manager’s role in 2014 and next season Anita and I are going contract-milking 715 cows at Culverden. “Our goal is farm ownership on our own or in an equity partnership by the time I’m 40 (seven years away). There are so many ways to get there these days and we have an open mind so that we can be open to any opportunity but in 2018-19 we’re planning to rear young stock. In the past we’ve reared them and sold in-calf rising two-year-olds.

Merit Awards

• NZ Funds Private Wealth Most Promising Entrant Award: Sheridan Beams. • ScanSouth Employee Engagement Award, DeLaval Livestock Management Award, Westpac Financial Management and Planning Award: Kerry Higgins. • TH Enterprises Ltd Leadership Award,Primary ITO Power Play Award: Russ Young. • Fonterra Farm Source Dairy Management Award: Emma Gibb. • Fonterra Farm Source Feed Management Award: Paul Clement. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

What’s most holding up your plan? “Probably finding the right opportunities. I’ve always been told don’t rush but at the same time you’ve got to be self-driven because it doesn’t just come to you – you’ve got to be pro-active.”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA Milking platform area

433ha

Cows

1340 Mix of Friesian, Friesian cross and Jersey

Production per cow per ha

433kg MS/cow 1339kg MS/ha

Pasture eaten (t DM/ha) 14t DM/ha Milking supplement (t DM/cow)

0.5t DM/cow Barley (only through one farm dairy) 0.19t DM/cow PKE

Nitrogen (kg N/ha/year) 265kg N/ha/year Cows/labour unit

222

Farm Dairy

54 bail Read rotary, 60 bail Westfalia rotary

Dairy Automation

Basic Protrack drafting System in Read farm dairy; Dairyplan, milk meters, Autodrafting, In-shed feeding and walk over weighing in Westfalia dairy. ACR’s in both sheds

Six-week in-calf rate

65.4% across both sheds

Empty rate

15% across both sheds

Weeks of mating

11 weeks

Wintering

All cows wintered on farm on 51ha of fodderbeet with silage and straw

Runoff leased or owned 174ha owned partially irrigated run-off for young stock and silage

SOUTHLAND-OTAGO SHARE FARMER What is most challenging about the dairy industry? “Milk price volatility,” Russell says. “To cope with it we’ve made our own milk price calculator so when we wake up in the morning and hear the payout has changed we can put the new figure into the excel spreadsheet and we know immediately the impact on our business and know what needs to be done.”

What do you see as the most pressing issue? “Keeping good, young people in the industry and the only way to do that is to keep those progression paths open from management to farm ownership,” Tracy says.

How did you get to where you are? “We started at the bottom and worked our way up from managers to contract milkers to sharemilkers and with each step we made sure we were challenging ourselves and always asking questions,” Tracy says.

Sharemilking

50:50

Gross farm income ($/kg MS)

$3.05

Operating expenses ($/kg MS)

$3.30

Operating profit ($/ha)

-.25c

Farm working expenses ($/kg MS) $2.78

Which awards are you the most proud of? “We won four but the livestock one was pretty special. Livestock drives profitability so the fact that we are doing that well meant a lot to us,” Russell says.

What are the top things you focus on onfarm? “Cows, pasture and profitability,” Russell says. “And they all go together. If you have good cows they will produce milk if you have good pastures which will give you profitability.”

Hardest part to prepare for the DIA competition? “Making sure you allocate enough time to each area of your business in your presentation and being able to have indepth discussions with the judges about each aspect. You don’t have to be right, but you have to be able to say how you see it,” Russell says.

PHYSICAL FARM DATA Milking platform area

270ha

Cows

760 Fresian cross & Jersy cross

Production

285,760kg/MS 376kg MS/cow 1058kg MS/ha

Pasture eaten

11,691t DM/ha

Milking supplement

482t DM/cow

Nitrogen (kg N/ha/year) 186 Cows/labour unit

217

Farm Dairy

50-bail roatary

Dairy Automation

ACR’s

Six-week in-calf rate

75%

Empty rate

Weeks of mating

12 weeks

Wintering

Fodder Beet 11kg/cow Silage 2kg/cow

Runoff leased or owned Owners have a runoff but they charge us grazing

What’s next for progression for you? “We want to grow our equity base to $1 million in the next five years so we can take that next step. Whether that will be taking on another sharemilking position or buying into an equity or buying land we don’t know. We haven’t set it in concrete. We will look at all the options then and make a decision,” Russell says.

What has helped you in your journey? “Whenever we make a business decision we always keep our goals in mind. We do review our goals but when we look at opportunities we are always asking ourselves, will this get us to our goals?” Tracy says.

What advice would you have for someone starting out? “It’s really important to not only challenge yourselves but also to back yourselves. Don’t listen to the people who tell you you’re not going to make it,” Tracy says. “Also setting achievable goals and timelines is really important,” Russell says. “And always ask questions. Never be afraid to ask questions,” Tracy says.

FINANCIAL FACTS

Progress through challenges Russell and Tracy Bouma, aged 40 and 37, sharemilk 762 cows on Andrew, Owen and Barbra Johnston’s 270-hectare farm in Clydevale, south Otago. They’ve been sharemilking since 2002 and it’s the fourth time they have entered the competition.

Merit awards

• DairyNZ Human Resources Award, Federated Farmers Leadership Award: Jared and Sara Crawford. • Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award, Honda Farm Safety and Health Award, LIC Recording and Productivity Award, Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award: Russell and Tracy Bouma. • Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award: Matthew van Hout. • Westpac Business Performance Award: Jeremy Smith and Michelle Oldham-Smith. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

SOUTHLAND-OTAGO FARM MANAGER

From Edinburgh to Gore

Assistant manager Ann Linton works for 50/50 sharemilkers Nathan and Debs Erskine and farm owners John and Helen Kerse on a 265-hectare, 800-cow farm near Gore. From Scotland, she has been working in the New Zealand dairy industry for five years after three years milking cows near Edinburgh. How have you trained in the industry? “I’ve done Primary ITO courses as well as several others such as first aid and other training that I know is going to help me progress. I ask lots of questions to make sure I have a good understanding of things. I use my employers and more recently other rural professionals to help my growth in certain areas. I’m always trying to upskill myself in any way I can.”

What do you find the most challenging? “Keeping up with change. The dairy industry is moving so fast, especially with changes to health and safety and environmental management, so keeping up to date is really important and really challenging. And then there is the weather. It would be nice to know what the payout is going to do too.”

What is your progression plan? “I came to New Zealand because so many of my friends and family had visited and I loved it and now I have a Kiwi partner so I’m here to stay. We’re moving to Clinton at the end of this season to manage a 485-cow farm and the following year we’re going to contract milk on the same property. After that hopefully we’ll be able to go 50:50 sharemilking. Farm ownership in 15 years.”

The most risk to your plan? “There might be times when I have to go back home because of family. We will just have to deal with it if it happens and we are aware of the risk management strategies we need in place especially when we go contract milking.”

PHYSICAL FARM DATA

What’s your top job? “I love being outside. I love working with the cows and I love how every day is different. I love that I can have a laugh but also work in an industry that I’m so passionate about.”

Who has influenced you most in your career? “I’ve been really lucky to have a lot of mentors and excellent employers. There are a lot of people we use to help us along and we’re very grateful to them. My advice to anyone out there is just ask – you’ll be surprised how many people want to help.”

Which awards are you the most proud of? “I was really excited to win the feed management merit award because in the UK we have a lot of our cows inside, but the Kiwi system is pasture-based so to win that one was really exciting. My passion is also animal health and welfare, making sure the livestock are the best they can be.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Merit awards

• Claude Wuest Memorial Trophy Encouragement Award: Fraser Anderson. • McIntyre Dick & Partners Employee Engagement Award: Angela Nicholson. • Malloch McClean Leadership Award, Westpac Financial Management and Planning Award: Randy Saldana. • Fonterra Farm Source Dairy Management Award, DeLaval Livestock Management Award, Fonterra Farm Source Feed Management Award: Ann Linton. • Primary ITO Power Play Award: Matt McKenzie.

Milking platform area

265ha effective

Cows number plus breed

800 cows, 50% Friesian 40% Kiwi Cross,10% Jersey

Production

451kg MS/cow 1350kg MS/ha

Pasture eaten

14.8t DM/ha

Milking supplement (t DM/cow)

220kg/cow/season 60:40% barley/PKE 4kgs DM/day summer turnips 5kg DM/day fodder beet

Nitrogen

130-150kg N/ha/year

Cows/labour unit

4 full time staff, 1 seasonal over calving time

Farm Dairy

50 bail roatary

Dairy Automation

ACRs , Protrac vantage drafting system, Auto teat sprayer

Six-week in-calf rate

70%

Empty rate

16%

Weeks of mating

5.5 weeks AI. Bulls out 9th January

Wintering

350 cows winter barn, 10kg DM silage and hay 450 cows wintered on fodderbeet, silage and straw

Runoff leased or owned 80ha owned by farm ownerfor young stock, supplements and grain. 80ha and 11ha blocks leased – for young stock, supplements and wintering block

ENVIRONMENT │ KAIPARA Earle Wright by some plantings carried out on his Tapora dairy farm.

KEY POINTS

Location: Tapora, lower Northland Area: 120ha, 110ha mp Owners: Earle and Gaeline Wright Herd: 300 Friesians 2.7 cows/ha, Breeding worth (BW) 87/45 (in the top 5% in the country), Production Worth (PW), 108/63, 96% recorded ancestry Production: Target for 2016/17, 115,000kg milksolids (MS)/ha Supplements: DairyNZ System 2-3 with 10ha maize grown onfarm producing 30t drymatter (DM), 180t palm kernel, 30t of silage and 500 bales of hay made on nearby 60ha runoff where young stock are grazed.

Bringing back the snapper Glenys Christian glenys.christian@nzx.com

arle Wright believes that one value of an area of land can be calculated by the food it produces. “How you measure is the kai you get out of it,” the Tapora dairy farmer says. Back in 1967 his uncle caught a 30 pound snapper in part of the estuary that borders his 160-hectare farm which sometimes now dries out. But after decades of declining water health in the Kaipara Harbour due to sediment increase he’s delighted that both snapper and whitebait are coming further up estuary bordering on his farm as the result of extensive Waikato sponsors

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planting he’s carried out. “The water temperature has dropped and the clarity has improved” he says. “It hasn’t taken long, which is encouraging for other farmers to also test their own water and then monitor it.”

‘How you measure (the worth of an area) is the kai you get out of it.’ His parents, Ross and Wikitoria, came to what was then a 45ha returned servicemen’s block in 1953.

“There was no power and driving between Tapora and the nearest town Wellsford, 33km away, meant opening and closing 27 gates,” he says. They gradually improved the property, lifting herd numbers up to 70 and taking out the Ahuwhenua Trophy for Excellence in Maori Dairy Farming in 1964. Earle, the youngest of their seven children, worked locally planting trees for forestry companies earning good money. “But the work was spasmodic and dairying was more certain,” he says. So after meeting and marrying wife Gaeline the decision was made to work for wages for his parents which led to them becoming lower-order, then 50:50 sharemilkers before leasing the farm for five years. They bought a 16ha block of land over the road which had been in dairying and learned to farm better when times were tough with low payouts. “We picked other people’s brains to help become more efficient,” he says. They looked at making a move to Southland in the 1990s but decided against it. Instead they purchased the home farm and then in 1997 were able to buy a neighbouring 45ha block as well

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Extensive planting has been carried out on the Wright farm.

as a 60ha runoff just 3km away on hill country. They also extended what had originally since 1974 been a 10-aside walkthrough dairy shed up to 30-aside, then in 2012 spent $60,000 on upgrading their effluent system. They now have two ponds lined with clay and fitted with a stirrer so effluent can be pumped out on to 15ha through buried lines. “We also put in a new water line as well so killed two birds with one stone,” Earle says. In 1999 the couple was named Northland Dairy Supplier of the Year. Last winter they built an uncovered feedpad by the dairy which can hold all of their herd. “It means we can use our maize system better and there’s a big benefit if we have a wet winter.” They usually grow 10ha of the crop every year on ground which has had effluent applied before planting. Next year’s crop site will also have effluent applied. They soil test every two years and will apply diamonium phosphate (DAP) with the seed as well as giving the maize a dressing of nitrogen when it’s knee-high. With no other fertiliser going on the crop areas, Earle estimates the effluent system upgrade is delivering a $15,000 a year saving. “It’s paying for itself.” The farm’s nitrogen losses are calculated at 27kg N/ha/year from inputs of 162kg. Phosphate losses are 1.5kg P/ha/year with their Olsen P level sitting at 38. Palm kernel is fed out in trolleys in the paddock with past use of up to 200t a year now being cut back to 90t with the aim of

eventually removing their reliance on it. They’ve calculated that the cost of growing maize from grass to grass is just 12 cents a kilogram. For the last five years they’ve used Scott Tapp from Ag Monitoring in Warkworth to come and measure their pasture drymatter (DM) levels every two weeks. He will then email them a report that night so they can make decisions about the amount of grass and supplement they feed. “Previously, we used to platemeter but it was a job we would put off,” Earle says.

‘I want to see it beautiful before I die. Environmental health is not just trees, but birds and the whole community.’ They have a regular regrassing programme on paddocks coming out of maize to reduce the amount of kikuyu on the farm, using the Green Pack seed mix. For the last six years they’ve increased the amount of feed grown towards their feed efficiency target of .77kg liveweight/kg DM fed. They’ve built the herd up to around 300 “smallish” Friesians using LIC daughterproven Premier Sires then putting them

straight to the bull. Last year they had just 6% empties with their replacement rate usually around 22% as they will keep anything with higher BW or PW. Calving date is June 25, but with the new feedpad this date may be moved forward five days a year due to the improved ability to feed cows more easily in winter than in late summer. Calves are fed from calfeterias and transferred to a calf rearing shed where they walk in and out to the paddock. They’ll stay there until they’re six weeks old when they move to another barn. After weaning they go to the runoff where regular weighing at their yards determines their progress. The herd is milked twice-a-day for five months then once-a-day for the same period through to drying off. They employ a husband-and-wife team who have been with them for the last four years. WATERWAYS FENCED FROM ‘DAY DOT’ Earle Wright remembers a lot of gorse growing on the farm when he was young, which he spent his holidays spraying. A block of pine trees was planted 21 years ago, “but when they come down they’ll be replaced by natives”, he says. “We’ve fenced off waterways from day dot not only for the environment but to reduce gorse and minimise stock losses by keeping them out of the estuary.”

Working around the environment is very much Earle Wright’s philosophy.

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This is still very much now their focus as one of the Kaipara Harbour Integrated Management Group’s flagship sites. Earle joined up to the cause seven years ago, happy to hoId open days for fellow farmers once a year to show off planting that has been carried out. “But I’ve taken that to another level,” he says. “I didn’t like what people were saying about dairy farmers and I wanted to see where we were.” So he regularly attends A & P shows, telling farmers what he’s doing and about the help available from councils, Landcare groups, DairyNZ and Fonterra, should they wish to get involved in similar initiatives. In 2013 the local Tapora School’s pupils came and planted 500 seedlings in a wetland area, spurring Earle on to complete three years’ worth of fencing in one hit. The following year he had soil mapping carried out on the farm, which he says is one of the best things he ever did, as it showed bands of different soil types just 50 metres wide in some places. This year around 3500 natives have gone in with planting under the pine trees and he’s in the process of moving fences back five metres to plant up the main drain through the farm. “It’s my passion now,” he says. “My goal is to make the farm beautiful. Environmental health is about trees, birds and the whole community.” He’s also been involved in planting 4000 trees on a Department of Conservation block near the beach and on a dam site on his farm’s boundary, for which Auckland Council has sourced the seedlings. He pays tribute to its WaiCare programme headed by Rachael Griffin, for encouraging him to do more and providing the information required. “Most farmers don’t want the council looking at their property,” he says.

Earle Wright is very involved in a number of local environmental initiatives.

“But in reality they are very helpful and encouraging.” Pittosporums, flaxes, kanuka and manuka have all gone in with his emphasis now on planting up the sides of drains on the sand country with grasses to provide shade and filter water leaving the farm. “Once the drains are sorted we can concentrate on birdlife.” One of the big hopes is that more endangered fairy terns will be encouraged to the Tapora area as well as their other nesting site at Mangawhai, on the east coast. Recently Earle has been very involved in restoration of the Manukapua or Big Sand Island, just offshore from Tapora. Much of the vegetation on its 350ha was destroyed by a fire three years ago. “It was utter devastation,” he says. “But we said, ‘Let’s do this as a community and take an approach where all the people are involved’.” Two community meetings were held, then an open day earlier this year, attended by more than 100 people. “We want people to keep having

access to the Island but to also have an understanding on how to help look after the area,” he says. “For example, the fire risk is extremely high, so we all need to be very careful.” Along with legalising access to the conservation area on the island, the group is working towards gaining acknowledgement of the island’s historic significance and gaining community backing to engage with other interested parties. Earle is also restoring a pa site on his farm which he hopes will be able to be used as an education tool. “We want to bring it back to life and share it,” he says. “As you get older different things become more important. “Rural and urban people want the same thing and there’s no community without farmers,” he says. Farmers, he believes, are not telling their story. “Every batten on this property was put in by me or my father and I’m really committed to maintaining and preserving this farm”.

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Dairy Industry Awards 2017 – Dairy Trainee Roll of Honour NORTHLAND

1. Blake Anderson 2. Sarah Powell 3. Erin Mitchell Merit Awards: • Bryant Tractors 1983 Ltd Most Promising Entrant Award: Ange Cook • Carrfields Livestock Farming Knowledge Award, Whitelaw Weber Communication and Engagement Award: Sarah Powell. • Ray White Rural Community and Industry Involvement Award: Erin Mitchell. • DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Blake Anderson.

WAIKATO

1. Kobus Liebenberg 2. Mikayla Welsh 3. Hamish McDonald Merit Awards: • Farm Right Most Promising Entrant Award: Kerren Straker. • Bayleys Real Estate Farming Knowledge Award: Tom Kirkbride. • Waikato Federated Farmers Charitable Trust Community and Industry Involvement Award: Sandra Sturgess. • Blue Grass Contracting Communication and Engagement Award: Mikayla Welsh. • DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Hamish McDonald.

HAWKE’S BAY/WAIRARAPA

1. Brandyn Beale 2. Aaron Courage 3. Barnabas Ben-canaan Merit Awards: • Hawke’s Bay Wairarapa NZDIA Most Promising Entrant: Charlotte Oram. • TFM Tractors Farming Knowledge Award: Aaron Courage. • Watson and Son Communication & Engagement Award, Property Brokers Community and Industry Involvement Award: Aimee France. • DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Barnabas Ben-Canaan.

AUCKLAND/HAURAKI

1. Alexander Voysey 2. Tracey Johnston 3. Luan Ford Merit Awards: • NRM Most Promising Entrant Award, Nutrient Management Services Communication and Engagement Award: Hayden Pearson. • Silver Fern Farms Farming Knowledge Award, Keeper Life Community and Industry Involvement Award, DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Alex Voysey

TARANAKI

1. Tim Bonner 2. Marshall Jane 3. Jerome Grey Merit Awards: • Risk Management Taranaki Ltd Most Promising Entrant Award: Neil Hunter. • Figured Farming Knowledge Award: Tim Bonner. • OnFarmSafety New Zealand Communication and Engagement Award: Jerome Grey. • Primo Wireless Community and Industry Involvement Award, DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Benjamin Phillips.

MANAWATU

1. Stephanie Walker 2. Emma Kearins 3. Joel Peterson Merit Awards: • Totally Vets Ltd Most Promising Entrant Award: Matthew McDougall. • I.S Dam Lining Ltd Farming Knowledge Award, Cervus Equipment Feilding Communication and Engagement Award, Institute of Agriculture and Environment and Institute of Veterinary, Animals and Biomedical Sciences Community and Industry Involvement Award, DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Stephanie Walker.

OTAGO/ SOUTHLAND

1. Ben Mclean, 2. Tane Boyce 3. Brooke Buchanan Merit Awards • Vetsouth Most Promising Entrant Award: Tegan McLaughlan. • FarmRight Farming Knowledge Award: Jase McNaught. • Silver Fern Farms Communication and Engagement Award, Shand Thomson Community Industry Involvement Award: Tane Boyce. • DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Ben McLean. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

BAY OF PLENTY

1. Hayden Goodall 2. Joseph Braybrook 3. Nicholas Body Merit Awards: • Waiotahi Contractors Ltd Most Promising Entrant Award: Rich Pulman. • Gallagher Group Farming Knowledge Award: Mason Moij. • Pacific Toyota Communication and Engagement Award: Cameron Law. • Haddock Spraypainters and Panelbeaters Community and Industry Involvement Award, DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Joe Braybrook.

CENTRAL PLATEAU

1. Taylor Macdonald 2. Donna McKinley 3. Damon Harris Merit Awards: • B.O.P. Regional Council Most Promising Entrant Award: Scott Johnson. • T H Enterprises Ltd Farming Knowledge Award: Donna McKinley. • Bayleys Real Estate Communication and Engagement Award: Toni Schnuriger. • Rotorua Lakes Council Community and Industry Involvement Award: Daniel Smith. • DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Damon Harris.

WEST COAST/TOP OF THE SOUTH

1. Clay Paton 2. Salem Christian 3. Sam Goffriller Merit Awards • West Coast Top of the South DIA Most Promising Entrant: Tim Green. • Jeff Evans Ltd Farming Knowledge Award: Clay Paton. • Crombie Lockwood New Zealand Ltd Communication and Engagement Award: Philippa Beaumont. • Essential Nutrition Ltd Community and Industry Involvement Award, DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Sam Goffriller.

CANTERBURY /NORTH OTAGO

1. Ben Haley 2. Cheyenne Wilson 3. Luke Roberts Merit Awards: • Environment Canterbury DIA Most Promising Entrant: Cam Monk. • Ngai Tahu Farming Farming Knowledge Award, FarmRight Community and Industry Involvement Award: Cheyenne Wilson. • Alexanders Communication and Engagement Award, DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Ben Haley.

DIA DAIRY TRAINEE Words by Jackie Harrigan

Busy d n u o r g k c a b e f i l m r a f to

im Bonner has a busy and exciting year ahead of him and winning the Taranaki Dairy Industry Awards dairy trainee of the year award has just stepped things up another notch. Shortly after the DIA national competition in May he shifts to Lepperton in June to take up a contract milking role on his parents’ 200-cow farm. The 23-year-old assistant farm manager is taking it all in his stride – and has just the background not to let a little busyness faze him. He grew up as one of triplet boys and has an older brother and sister who are twins. To add to the melee, his father has spent Tim’s entire life in a wheelchair – after breaking his back in a farm tractor accident. “Dad’s accident has given us a great appreciation for health and safety,” Tim says wryly. Tim’s dad Danny is still active in the farming industry, although sharemilkers take care of the day-to-day work and Danny runs his own separate beef block in north Taranaki. “The accident hasn’t really slowed him down, he still gets out and about in his offroad wheelchair,” Tim says. While Tim has been involved in milking cows and helping out with odd jobs since he was a young boy, he wasn’t always sure about a career in the industry. In his first job after leaving New Plymouth Boys High School, he worked in the Waikato for DairyNZ as a dairy farm assistant before they encouraged him to go to Massey and study B Ag Com. But uni wasn’t really the place he wanted to be, saying it was really hard being inside

Taranaki dairy trainee of the year for 2017 Tim Bonner.

learning the theory when you couldn’t be outside putting it into practice. “I learn by doing things really.” He made a fairly quick decision to leave after two years and get a job in the industry knowing his parents’ sharemilkers were moving on in June 2017 – which created an opening for him. After varsity Tim worked first as a farm assistant for John and Wendy Allen in the Manawatu for eight months, during which time he first entered the Dairy Industry Awards, with the Allens’ encouragement and took out third place. The placing and the experience drove him to re-enter in Taranaki when he had secured the role as assistant farm manager for Steven and Maria Poole at Kapuni. Working under manager Sam Hughson

has been a huge help in learning things as well as preparing for the dairy trainee competition – as Sam was the 2016 Taranaki dairy trainee winner. The 800-cow peak milking platform at Kapuni is on track to produce 450,000 kg milksolids (MS) and winter-milk 100 cows. Plus Steven Poole, his boss, is his uncle and has been a great mentor, as Tim says Steven is very keen on getting young people motivated and keen to learn. “I owe him a lot already – and his advice will be very helpful next season on the Lepperton farm and will help me and Dad get it all going well.” “Dad has been off the farm for most of his life and so he has older ways of doing things – but we want to farm using all the new technologies.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Tim Bonner with his award.

‘ We ar e d e f init e ly int o m e as u r ing t he g r as s – D ad w a s n’ t r e ally int o t hat b ack in t he d ay b u t we wi l l be w a l k ing t he f ar m e v e r y 1 0 d ay s t o ke e p a t r ack o f wh er e t h e f e e d is g r owing and how m u ch we hav e on h and.’ and he thinks they are amazing creatures. and a tedder so we can make our own hay and “I really love being out there doing it and do a bit contracting.” if I get to bed around 9 or 10 I don’t have any The $7000 prize pool from the Dairy trouble with the early mornings.” Industry Award will certainly help and Tim “But it was a bit of a struggle at first after I says he is glad he has always been a saver and was a student – in bed till 11am some days.” “pretty cheap with my money” – even though The only downside of dairy farming can be he has come in for a fair bit of stick about his the lack of social life – especially when many car – the 1996 Corolla he has had since school of his school mates have dispersed and uni days. mates gone on to careers around the country. “While all my mates were buying flash utes Joining a Young Farmers club in North I have stuck with the old Corolla.” Taranaki should help when he moves to his Talking to his accountant has been really new job and will give him a whole new circle helpful too, and Tim has some clear goals like working his way into sharemilking in five years of friends to join him indulging his other interests of hunting and fishing. and five years after that being able to look for “I might even look at getting on to the an ownership stake, or maybe in an equity committee to help out with the club.” partnership. The cows have always drawn Tim to farming, saying he EFF loves being outside IRY LUEN Dairy Effluent DA working with them T

Aiming for production of 75,000 kg MS for his first season, Tim plans to lift production to 80,000kg MS after that. The dairy has in-shed feeding which will be handy to fill any feed gaps and get the minerals into the cows, but he would like to farm a simple system with the emphasis on good pasture utilisation – “like Steven does it”. “But we are definitely into measuring the grass – Dad wasn’t really into that back in the day but we will be walking the farm every 10 days to keep a track of where the feed is growing and how much we have on hand.” Pasture renovation is on the cards through a summer chicory crop and maize silage will probably be brought on to the platform as supplement. While Tim hasn’t enrolled in any training yet, he spends a lot of time on the DairyNZ website and appreciates the resources available there and the knowledge he has gained through attending discussion groups and courses. “It there’s something I don’t know when I am out farming, I come home and get on the internet and see what I can learn.” Recognising he needs to upskill on the financial side of his business, he is considering enrolling in the Primary ITO diploma course and will be looking for Dairy NZ business skills courses to attend. “Mum and dad are really good at the financial side and will help me out, but I realise I will have to upskill there.” He has been enjoying helping his dad buy cows for the new herd and they have sourced a good line of second calvers. “It’s been a real learning curve and very interesting talking to the stock agents about the cows we want to buy. “Now we are looking for some older cows to bring down the average cost.” He is also in the market for a tractor (“which is pretty expensive”) and a quadbike and already has bits and pieces of gear including a bale feeder. “In the future I would like to get a mower

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Voluntary, independent assessment of a farms effluent infrastructure and practices. Tim says he has learn lots from his manager Sam Hughson, who won the Taranaki Dairy trainee award in 2016 and and now manages the Poole’s Kapuni farm.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

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DIA DAIRY TRAINEE Words by Jackie Harrigan

Stephanie Walker, 2017 Manawatu dairy trainee award winner.

Training switch

leads to award

change of focus from being a large-animal vet student to working as a dairy trainee paid off for Stephanie Walker when she won the 2017 Manawatu dairy trainee award. Steph has always liked cows and wanted to be a large-animal vet but once she started on the training she realised seven years of study and $17,000 of student debt each year was not where she wanted to be, so she chucked it in. While she had some relief milking and calf-rearing experience from growing up in the Bay of Plenty, it wasn’t until she took a six-month stop-gap milking contract that she fell in love with dairying and now says she wouldn’t do anything else. After dairying around Paeroa for 18 months she relocated to Aspiring, a 840-cow 281-hectare-effective Landcorp Farm in the Moutua group, south of Foxton and loves the vibe of working in a cluster of farms. “It’s a like a big community here, with constant support of the other workers.” Steph says the group is very conscious of health and safety and everybody wears hi-viz everyday, along with using helmets, gloves, radios and locator beacons. “We are trying to lead the dairy industry with health and safety.” Steph is fascinated by the numbers around dairy farming – and says part of the constant challenge is that whenever things change in terms of feed and cow management, production changes as well.

‘ We h av e e le ct e d not t o g o hom e f or a b r e ak f as t b r eak – w e w o uld r at he r hav e a t wo- hou r b r e ak f or lu nch s o we c a n p o p int o t own if we ne e d s om e t hing or hav e a sl eep.’ “It is really interesting watching the production numbers go up and down – whenever we have a pasture change or a weather change – it never stands still.” Along with the Landcorp onfarm training on health and safety, first aid, pasture and a Landcorp Moutua progression group facilitated by DairyNZ, Steph has completed Level 3 Animal Health and Husbandry and starts level 4 shortly. She is also keen to carry on with her Massey studies and turn her introductory vet papers into an animal science degree. The 22-year-old would like to step up to 2IC next season, either for Landcorp or outside of the group. In five years she aims to be managing a property and by 35 to own her own cows, working up though the ranks to eventual farm ownership. The DIA awards process has already helped, she says, along with joining the Fitzherbert Young Farmers club. “It’s been amazing – absolutely fantastic how people have rung and said congratulations and offered advice and help.” Steph says the pay rate in dairy farming is fair and the benefits many. “I get a fair wage and a house and I can go home at lunchtime – plus there is a suitable uniform including shirts and jerseys, overalls,

gumboots and wet weather gear.” But one of the best things is the roster – working eight days on two off over calving and five on two off through the rest of the season, Steph says. “It’s a great roster, just like a bloody town job!” The staff also have the ability to decide some of their working conditions as a team. “For example we have elected not to go home for a breakfast break – we would rather have a two-hour break for lunch so we can pop into town if we need something or have a sleep.” The only downside of dairy farming is the problem of socialising – having lots of invites to 21st birthday parties this year she has had to learn how to say no – saying that it’s too hard to be partying and getting up early to milk. Other off-farm activities include helping out at Riding for the Disabled, where she learnt how to ride, because she wants to give back to the organisation. Horses are one of Steph’s passions – she left hers behind in the Bay of Plenty but shares one with a friend in the Manawatu. Past involvement in a volunteer fire brigade has also spurred her into applying to join the Shannon Brigade in the future.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

DIA DAIRY TRAINEE Words by Sheryl Brown

Hayden Goodall – setting achievable goals to progress.

On a fast learning curve

he prospects of a career in the dairy industry are what appealed to Hayden Goodall when he set about getting his first job on a farm. The 24-year-old says winning the Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee Award was part of his long-term plan for farm ownership. Yet when he got his first job on a dairy farm as a farm assistant he didn’t even know they had to wash the machines after they milked the cows. It’s been a fast learning curve ever since. During the last three years he has progressed to herd manager for the Gow Family Trust at Whakatane and is ready to look for a farm manager role. Hayden grew up in Tauranga and after school he worked as a labourer insulating houses for several years. “I knew it was time to pursue a career. I’ve always liked the idea of farming. I like the outdoors, like motorbikes, I like animals and learning new things.” He’s a keen fisherman so it was either commercial fishing or dairy farming. “With a three-year-old daughter and a wife, farming was the better choice.” Farm owner Matt Gow helped him get his foot in the door, taking him on without any farm experience. “I looked around for jobs, but they all wanted experience. I applied anyway and Matt called me for an interview. I told him I had no

experience, but I was a hard worker and a fast learner and I was lucky that he along with my farm mangers Hayden and Linda McCartie, was willing to put in the time to teach me the ropes.” Hayden has studied Primary ITO Level 3 Livestock and Husbandry, and Feeding and Pastures. This year he has started his Level 4 Dairy Farming and next year he and wife, Chelsea, are planning to both do the Level 5 Agribusiness Diploma. “For us both to be able to get a hold on the business side of farming will help us when we want to be self-employed. “Chelsea’s really good at the bookwork, and I have the farm knowledge, so we make a good team.” The progression opportunities are what drive Hayden every day working in the dairy industry. “The future prospects, for me coming out of school I had no NZQA certificate, I had nothing. The dairy industry really provides a variety of paths of how you can progress – from farm assistant through to farm ownership.” Dairy farming provides a great lifestyle for Hayden and Chelsea and their two daughters, Amelia, 5, and Lilla, 2. “Our farm managers are really supportive and encourage time off and quality family time. They make it easier to spend time with your family.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

“As future employers, Chelsea and I want to reflect these principles while providing a fun, family-friendly work environment.” Growing up in the city, Hayden didn’t think there was much more to it than putting cows in a paddock and milking them whenever you wanted. “It’s been a big learning experience for me and you never know it all in the dairy industry. There is always something new to learn, or a different or better way of doing something.” Entering the awards was a great insight to how things are done differently on other farms. He got to speak to other entrants and farm owners about their systems and it was great to hear about how they do things, he says. His manager Matt Gow encouraged him to enter the Dairy Industry Awards in his first season, when he had only been farming for six month. The first year, he didn’t make the finals, but he got feedback from the judges and he was keen to have another go the following year. Last year he placed third and won two merit awards. This year was his last chance to enter. “I wanted to improve more and I set a goal to take it out and go to nationals.” Hayden sets goals every year, making them achievable, then sets new goals. “This year my career goals and personal development was what I focused on, and I’ve noticed a huge change, to my self-confidence. For me that’s made a big difference in decision-making.” Being more confident with decisionmaking has allowed him to step up as herd manager of 300 cows onfarm. His responsibilities include pasture allocation, farm walks, feed budgeting and calculating supplement use. He also steps up when his managers are away. Runner-up in the dairy trainee competition was 19-year-old Kaimai herd manager Joseph Braybrook, Third place went to 25-year-old farm assistant Nicholas Body, who works on the Kaimai farm.

Me r it Awar d s :

• Waiotahi Contractors Ltd Most Promising Entrant Award: Rich Pulman. • Gallagher Group Farming Knowledge Award: Mason Moij. • Pacific Toyota Communication & Engagement Award: Cameron Law. • Haddock Spraypainters & Panelbeaters Community and Industry Involvement Award: Joe Braybrook. • DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Joe Braybrook.

WEDDING DAY Words by Karen Trebilcock Harjinder Singh Chander, known as Harrie, with the cows on the Taieri.

lia Kalan. The wedding in Pa

Off to Harrie’s wedding

Wedding ph oto – (from left) Mark A (12), Lilly (1 dam, his child 4) and Kryst ren Isaac al (9) and w Singh Chan ife Tracey w der and Paw ith Harjinde andeep Kau r r.

aieri dairy farmers celebrated a wedding of one of their own in late December, but it was a world away in Palia Kalan, India. Harjinder Singh Chander, 26, known as Harrie in New Zealand, married Pawandeep Kaur, 23. Harrie is a Sikh and, as is tradition, his bride was decided for him. “My mum chose her. She did well,” he said. The couple were engaged for a year and got to know each other talking on the phone and Skype most days. When Harrie went to India for the wedding, she picked him up from the airport. A nurse, she hopes to get a job at Dunedin Hospital in a few months when she has a visa to come and work in NZ. Harrie’s employer Mark Adam, his wife Tracey and their three children Lilly, 14, Isaac, 12, and Krystal, 9, were among the 15 mostly dairy farmers from the Taieri who travelled to Harrie’s home town on the border with Nepal for the wedding. Harrie has worked for Mark since spring 2012. He has a diploma in computer programming from India but worked mostly on kiwifruit orchards after he came to Auckland in October 2010. Wanting to try dairying, he answered an ad and arrived in typical Otago spring weather just as calving was starting. His parents farm 10 hectares in Palia Kalan, growing mostly sugar cane and his mum hand-milks three cows and a buffalo so he thought he knew a little about farming.

But milking Mark’s 320 crossbred cows in a herringbone dairy with automatic drafting proved very different. “Mark has taught me everything,” he said. The high rate of unemployment in India made him decide to leave and he’s still happy with the decision. As well as tramping the Milford Track and playing cricket for Taieri (he now supports the Black Caps when they play India), he ran the Queenstown Marathon last year and is off soon to run the Hawke’s Bay half marathon in May, his travel sponsored by the Sikh community in Hastings. Although a Sikh, Harrie has left some of his religion’s traditions behind. He doesn’t drink alcohol but now eats meat and he cut his hair the day he arrived in Auckland in 2010, something that caused a problem when coming back to NZ after the wedding. “In my passport photo I’m wearing a turban and in Hong Kong they said that wasn’t my photo because my hair was cut so I couldn’t keep flying to New Zealand. “I had to go home, get a new passport and then a new visa. I was meant to back in late January after the wedding but it was early March when I finally got here again. And I’d been using that passport for years.” He prays weekly in the Sikh temple in Dunedin but also goes to the East Taieri Church with Mark and his family and helps out at the Henley Youth Group. “It’s okay. Sikhs believe there is just one God.” The wedding took three days, although

some Sikh weddings can take up to six days, and ended with 800 people attending on the last day. “We’re both from big families so there were a lot of people.” It was the first time in seven years all of his family were together as Harrie has a cousin working in England and all of one of his uncles’ family lives in Italy. Mark and the other guests from the Taieri dressed in traditional clothes for the ceremony after they decided on a quick shopping trip to the closest mall to Palia Kalan in Bareilly, 150km away. They were taken there by Harrie’s cousin and sister. “Harrie’s family really looked after us well,” Mark said. “We did a lot of sightseeing as well and even played cricket with the locals. We managed to bring home some cheap cricket bats.” Harrie hopes Pawandeep will enjoy living in New Zealand. “She left home several years ago so she is used to living away from her parents and she has met lots of people from here now so that has been really good. “And they have seen our culture as well so it all helps.” He has returned to India every couple of years since shifting to NZ and hopes to keep it up so both he and Pawandeep can stay in touch with their families. However at the moment, he is more interested in planning a honeymoon for when the cows are dried off and Pawandeep is living in NZ.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

VIEW FROM THE TOP │ MIRAKA

Nurturing our world Richard Wyeth Miraka chief executive

ince Miraka commenced production on August 1, 2011, the strategy has always been to develop consumer products and brands. Why? Well to deliver on our vision of nurturing our world and the kaupapa (underlying philosophy) of the founding shareholders to build relationships with our end consumers. Miraka will introduce two new consumer brands in 2017 to achieve this vision. To get to this point has required some key building blocks. We completed the powder dryer in 2011 under budget and on time. We then filled the plant to capacity in year two and have been profitable every operational year. We built the UHT plant in 2013 and it will run close to capacity this season. This success led to Miraka being the inaugural winner of the He kai kei aku ringa award for Maori Excellence in Export and we have won several business awards since 2011. Strategic partnerships have been important in developing the business. Being a single-site operation it has been important for us to build relationships with the other dairy companies. We work closely with Tatua and have worked with Open Country Dairy, Goodman Fielder, Green Valley Dairy and Fonterra from time to time. One area that has been great to see is the pride Miraka has created in our region. Not long after we built the factory at Mokai I was at the local petrol station wearing my Miraka high viz vest. The attendant behind the counter looked at me and with a big smile said: “I am an owner in Miraka and I am immensely proud and every time I see a tanker on the road it makes me feel fantastic.” Furthermore, Miraka has been able to capture community spirit as many of our suppliers will happily stop me in the street or see me at the tennis courts and ask me how the markets are going and the normal question of where the milk price will end up. I think that’s great and provides a more informal network in which to interact with our farming community. The challenge when traversing the commodity business and a consumer strategy where we sell fast-moving consumer goods is that they are not always complimentary. However, given our size

Miraka chief executive Richard Wyeth with company chairman Kingi Smiler at the Mokai factory.

relative to the other players in the sector we believe we are well-placed to deliver. Miraka is unique in that we are the only predominately Maori-owned dairy company, not only that but use renewable geothermal energy to drive the processing and we have a closed-loop recycling system for all by-product from the factory, utilising spray irrigation and the neighbouring worm farm. TE ARA MIRAKA This year, to extend our search for excellence, we launched Te Ara Miraka – farm excellence programme which has five key pillars that support excellence in farming. They are Nga Tangata (people), Te Taiao (environment), Nga Kau (cows and animal welfare), Miraka (milk quality) and Taurikura (prosperity). Being excellent in these areas will make our farmers world class and be prepared to take on the challenges of a changing regulatory climate and also changing consumer trends. Te Ara Miraka will also support our brand story. WHAI ORA AND TAUPO PURE The first brand we will launch this year is Whai Ora. Whai Ora is the pursuit of wellbeing, and is about providing natural goodness made easy to add balance to the busy lives of lifestyle consumers. The initial product range is a natural smoothie blend using the finest ingredients throughout Aotearoa. We’ve been on a quest in search of the finest New

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Zealand-grown produce: fruits, vegetables, oats, milk and honey. That’s all that goes into Whai Ora. There are no preservatives, no added flavours or colours, and no refined sugars – it’s just good stuff, gifted from nature, and made easy to mix and drink. Our second brand, Taupo Pure is a premium dairy brand which provides a closer connection for consumers to their dairy provider. Our milk is sourced from the beautiful region of Taupo and our close connection with local suppliers allows us to ensure they share the same values as ourselves. We will be sharing the story of the lushness of the pasture and the pureness of the air, soil and water which come together to create the goodness within each drop of Taupo Pure, milk which is specially sourced from our region. The close connection with the local suppliers and special provenance story will allow Taupo Pure to provide a greater connection for consumers to engage with their dairy brand, as well as providing a greater level of assurance for consumers in foreign markets. THE JOURNEY CONTINUES A significant amount of work has gone in from day one to develop a clear strategy, make sure it is sufficiently well funded, with the best people so we can execute well. There will always be challenges and we are well placed to take them on to achieve our vision of nurturing our world. 81

DAIRY 101 │ MATING PLANS

The most common type of cow in New Zealand is now the crossbred.

Choosing a mate Karen Trebilcock ak.trebilcock@xtra.co.nz @KT_at_Exporter

o there are black and white cows and brown cows and red and white cows and it seems everything in between, but when the rep from the genetics company comes down your driveway in the next few weeks what are you going to choose for this year’s mating? People will always have their favourite breed and some will never change but make sure your choice of bulls is backed up with lots of reasons why. Jerseys can be best on wet soils as they are lighter so are more likely to be found on the West Coast while over the hill on the dry Canterbury plains Friesians and crossbreds are almost the only cows to be seen.

A cow that breaks your production record as a two-year-old might have an udder dragging on the ground as a five-year-old, so has to be culled, or has a leg structure that can’t carry that huge udder so it’s constantly in the sore feet mob by the dairy.

response to Friesian cows getting too tall. With the expansion of dairying at the time they also had been forced to put together herds with both breeds and now they wanted an average cow, one that had the best of both breeds. In some ways it was a good thing to do. The first cross of two breeds gives the progeny what is known as hybrid vigour, which means the calf should be genetically superior compared to its parents as it has a greater diversity amongst its genes. So any cow looking like a Friesian got inseminated with a Jersey straw and vice versa. The result is we now have lots of crossbred cows in the national herd – so many that they are now offered by some genetics companies as a breed on their own – and why waste such good genetics? But it does cause problems. There are lots of Friesians on farms, lots of crossbreds, fewer Jerseys and not many Ayrshires. Which means if you are a Jersey farmer or, even a worse, an Ayrshire farmer, the number of bulls to select from in the catalogues is not as many as those wanting Friesians. It’s just the way it is. But beside breeds, there are other factors

to consider when choosing what straws you will be inseminating your cows with. The big one is breeding worth, known simply as BW. It’s the New Zealand ranking system done by DairyNZ’s subsidiary New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited (NZAEL) which puts bulls with daughters with all the best qualities at the top of the list. It looks at the economic worth of a bull’s daughters to the farmer so takes into account not only milk production but how much the cow has to eat to maintain its bodyweight and produce that milk, how long it is likely to live for, the somatic cell score, its ability to get in calf and a whole list of other things. Most of that list of other things is known as TOPs (pronounced T, O, P and not the word) which stands for traits other than production. Some TOPs are included in BW and some are not. Daughters of potential breeding bulls are looked at every year and ranked on them. Why? Because a cow that breaks your production record as a two-year-old might have an udder dragging on the ground as a five-year-old, so has to be culled, or has a leg structure that can’t carry that huge Simply irresistible are Jersey calves.

Ayrshires have a reputation of being hardy and able to handle whatever you and nature throw at them. Then there are crossbreds. Farmers have been crossing cow breeds forever but more started the practice in the 1990s, some in

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

udder so it’s constantly in the sore feet mob by the dairy. Some farmers do identify that their herd overall has a problem with poor udders or feet or their cows are too big or too small and will try to choose bulls that will overcome these problems. There are computer programmes that will even identify particular bulls for individual cows using TOPs. However, care has to be taken that milk production is not put too far to one side when doing it. There’s also another trap. A decade or so ago straws were for sale from an amazing bull. All of its figures were incredible. It was the best thing the industry had ever seen. Lots of farmers used it. But at the time the bull had fewer than 20 daughters milking so all of those records were based on less than 20 animals. Two years later, when the progeny from all those matings entered NZ herds, they weren’t that flash. Also bulls with only a few daughters can be carriers of genetic defects which have not yet been picked up. So as with all facts and figures, take care. The more daughters a bull has that are milking, the more accurate its rankings will be and the safer you will be. It’s the law of averages. And it’s why bulls’ rankings change all the time. Production figures from the daughters come from herd testing so as herd testing figures from farms are put through the database the rankings change. Farmers in Southland win here as by the time they start mating their cows in late October, Northland and Waikato farmers have already done their first herd test and the figures have come through updating the bulls’ BWs. Some bulls will only have rankings based on their parents’ genetic merit as they are too young to have daughters in milk. Using genomic testing means we don’t have to wait three or four years to see if a bull is good enough after it is born but the science is still young so perhaps use with caution. One genetics company offers a “bull of the day” service called Premier Sires which means whatever is the bull that day that is in the team you have chosen then that is what you get. All of the bulls are topranked but because their BWs will go up and down, as with all bulls as herd testing results come in, the law of averages means you should still get, on average, high BW progeny. Some of the best herds in the country have been bred this way. But there is nothing wrong with picking your own bulls, both those bred here and overseas but again take care. The progeny of overseas bulls may be outstanding on farms in Wisconsin where they are grainfed and kept inside most of the year but will they handle a Southland grass-only

Friesian cows, the black and whites, are favoured by many. diet in summer and swedes and mud in winter? Choosing a range of bulls, at the very least six, is also important especially to lessen inbreeding problems now and in the future. If that bull that you mated more than 40% of your herd to has great daughters and its amazing sons are offered in a few years’ time, you may not be able to use them at all.

Some genetic companies offer short-gestation bulls which bring calving forward up to two weeks which is an ideal product for latecycling cows now that inductions are no longer able to be done.

But by all means, if you want to, give something a go. But also do the maths. For every five straws you buy of a bull, you will probably get only one cow into your herd from it. That’s because, at best, only 70% of inseminations hold, then there are abortions and calf deaths and of the resulting live animals, half will be the wrong sex. That brings another consideration. What are you going to do with all those bull calves and unwanted heifer calves? Getting your replacements is top priority but after that having something worth more than bobby price is not a bad idea. Maybe order Hereford straws, or another beef breed (ever heard of Speckle Park?) for use once you have all your replacements sorted. Some farmers mate all of their low BW cows to beef breeds giving them a saleable calf, but the downside is it takes longer

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

then to get their replacements. Instead of the replacement dairy heifer calves being born in the first month of calving, it could take two months or longer for them all to be in the calf pens which means the younger ones have a tougher road getting up to weight and reaching puberty as yearlings. If you have a few Jersey cows and like to use the breed for naturally mating your yearlings, think about buying some Jersey straws for them. Breeding your own bulls can be cheaper than leasing or buying them, plus you have none of the health risks of bought-in bulls. Some genetic companies offer shortgestation bulls which bring calving forward up to two weeks which is an ideal product for late-cycling cows now that inductions are no longer able to be done. Short-gestation crossbred straws at the moment have the shortest gestation period and although you may lose money as the calf is worth less than a beef cross, the gain in days in milk should more than make up for it. But as with everything with dairying, management is key. You may choose the best bulls available but if you don’t correctly identify which calf belongs to which cow at calving, all that dreaming while looking at glossy sales catalogues six months earlier will be wasted. You can DNA-test calves but by the time the results will have come back that calf that was actually by that gorgeous looking Italian bull with the ring through its nose could be long gone on the bobby truck. And don’t stress that you should be doing what everyone else does, or choosing only NZ-bred bulls. If you enjoy the breeding side, go for it. The more genetically diverse our national herd is, the better it is for the industry and there will be more choices for genetics companies for the next generation of breeding bulls. Happy choosing. For more information on breeding refer to: www.dairynz.co.nz/steps 83

Bobby calf collection pens Tim McVeagh

equirements for shelter and loading facilities for calves come into effect on August 1, 2017. These apply to any calf less than 14 days of age, separated from its mother and being transported for sale or slaughter, or after its sale. In lay terms: • The calf must be able to walk on to or off the stock truck, with minimal risk of slipping or falling off the facilities, or becoming injured or distressed. • It is the farmers’ responsibility to provide a facility or make available other means, to allow the calf to walk onto the stock truck. • It is the responsibility of both the farmer and transporter to ensure facilities or other means are used for loading and unloading. • Calf holding pens and all vehicles and trailers used to transport calves must be adequately ventilated, provide protection from adverse weather, and allow the calves to stand up and lie down naturally. • Faeces and urine must not accumulate in the holding pen or vehicle to an extent that they may pose a threat to the health or welfare of calves. • If the calves are being loaded using a ramp rather than a raised platform, the ramp does not need to be covered, provided the calves are only on the ramp during loading, and not while they are waiting to be collected. Recommendations: DairyNZ is supporting farmers with information on the regulations through a good practice guideline for all aspects of calf holding and loading facilities on farm, including siting, access, design, construction, building consent, and health and safety. See https://www.dairynz.co.nz/ animal/calves/bobby-calves/loadingfacilities/. This bobby calf facility by Leask Engineering

Farmers should consider all available options to meet the requirements of the regulation in a way that best suits their particular situation. For a raised loading platform, the guidelines suggest: • The platform level should have a loading height of 1200mm. • The loading gate way should be 800 to 900mm wide. • The height of the pen side should be 900 to 1100mm. The sides should be either solid or rails spaced to provide shelter. Rail spacing should ensure heads or legs do not get trapped between them. • Flooring should be of solid construction, free draining and non-slip. Gaps in flooring should not exceed 20mm. The use of non-slip rubber matting or chicken wire stretched and secured over a timber slated floor can add grip and prevent hooves from being caught in floor slats. For any holding pen, whether raised, or on the ground: • Pens must be large enough to allow all calves to lie down comfortably. Farmers should ensure that the space provided works for their calves, but a starting guide is 0.35m2 per Jersey or cross bred calf; and 0.4m2 for Friesians. • Shelter should be provided by a roof and solid pen walls, or by siting an uncovered pen in an existing shed. Uncovered pens on skids or wheels can be moved into the calf collection position immediately before the truck arrives. If a ramp is used to load calves on to a stock truck or into a raised pen, the guidelines suggest: • Ramps should be non-slip and have a slope of about 1 in 5. Cleats and / or geogrid mesh securely fastened to the slope are effective ways of adding grip. • Where the ramp is used to load on to a truck, a level platform about 1.5m long at the top of the ramp will assist in loading. Farmers should talk with their transport company before finalising the design and location to ensure facilities are fit for purpose, accessible and safe for people and calves. At www.mpi.govt.nz/calves, a guidance document contains frequently asked questions. Farmers can email animalwelfare@mpi.govt.nz or phone 0800 00 83 33.

A perfectly adequate bobby calf pen from Turton Farm Supplies.

Assess the situation: Before committing to a new bobby calf pen, check if facilities already in place may be modified to make a compliant and functional loading out area. Access to the calf sheds and for trucks must be considered first for existing facilities. Consulting the transport operator with proposals is recommended. Some common scenarios: • If you have a covered bobby calf pen as part of the calf-rearing facilities and truck access meets requirements, then building an uncovered loading ramp from the bobby calf pen is a cheap alternative. Because calves can be reluctant to walk up steep ramps, the gradient should be about 1 in 5, making the length close to 6m. A level section at the top will make loading easier. • If you already have an elevated pen, perhaps it can be modified to make it compliant. This may mean relocation, adding a roof and maybe walls, modifying parts of its structure like flooring. If it needs most of these, perhaps a new pen is a better alternative. An uncovered pen which is dragged out of a shed before collection means another task and will not work if collection times vary from day to day. If a loading ramp for cows is suitably placed with respect to the calf shed, perhaps it can be modified for calves. The slope on these is generally steeper than is suitable for calves and the gaps between rails too wide. But for smaller farms with fewer calves, the inconvenience of helping calves up the ramp may not be too daunting.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Table 1: Summary of features of bobby calf pens as provided by suppliers. Supplier

Model

Kitset / Assembled

Materials

Roof

Walls

L x W; (m)

Transp ortable?

Gates

Availability

$ excl GST

Corohawk

ASBCP-Roof Kitset

Kitset

Timber

Corr Iron

None

3 x 2.7

on skids

2; galv, sliding. *1

Direct & NZF

4420; *5

Corohawk

ASBCP20-Roof Assembled

Assembled

Timber

Corr Iron

None

3 x 2.7

on skids

2; galv, sliding. *1

Direct & NZF

6130; *5

Corohawk

ASBCP20-No Roof Kitset

Kitset

Timber

None

3 x 2.7

on skids

2; galv, sliding. *1

Direct & NZF

4012.5; *5

Corohawk

ASBCP20-No Roof Assembled

Assembled

Timber

None

3 x 2.7

on skids

2; galv, sliding. *1

Direct & NZF

5550; *5

Corohawk

ASBCP10-Roof Kitset

Kitset

Corr Iron

None

1.5 x 2.7

on skids

2; galv, sliding. *1

Direct & NZF

3480; *5

Corohawk

ASBCP10-Roof assembled

Assembled

Corr Iron

None

1.5 x 2.7

on skids

2; galv, sliding. *1

Direct & NZF

5050; *5

Corohawk

ASBCP10-No Roof Kitset

Kitset

Timber

None

1.5 x 2.7

on skids

2; galv, sliding. *1

Direct & NZF

3000; *5

Corohawk

ASBCP10-No Roof Assembled

Assembled

Timber

None

1.5 x 2.7

on skids

2; galv, sliding. *1

Direct & NZF

4800; *5

Timber Timber

Farmquip

Custom made to order.

Great Southern *4

Invercargill version

Assembled

Timber

Optional extra

Great Southern *4

Waimate version

Assembled

Timber

Optional extra

Greenwood

Load-Out Platform & Ramp

Kitset

Timber

Greenwood

Load-Out Platform & Ramp

Kitset

Timber

Leask Engineering

3.2 x 2.7 Calf Platform & Sides

Leask Engineering

2.4 x 2.4 Calf Platform & Sides

Leask Engineering

1.6 x 2.4 Calf Platform & Sides

Long Building Solutions

Bobby Calf Shelter; Roofed

Built on site

Timber

Corr Iron

Long Building Solutions

Bobby Calf Shelter; Open

Built on site

Timber

Oroua

Oroua Bobby Loader

Assembled

Outpost

Bobby Calf Pen

Outpost

POA

3 x 2.4

on skids

2x Netting; sliding

Southland

POA

None

3 x 2.4

no skids

2x Netting; hinges

N Otago; S, mid Canty

POA

None

2.7 x 2.4

on skids

Timber, sliding

PGW & Direct

3050; * 2

Corr Iron

None

2.7 x 2.4

on skids

Timber, sliding

PGW & Direct

3600; *2

3.2 x 2.7

on skids

Nation wide

From $5300

2.4 x 2.4

on skids

1.6 x 2.4

on skids

None

2.9 x 2.28

on skids

2 galv gates

Nation wide

4399

None

2.9 x 2.28

on skids

2 galv gates

Nation wide

4099

Timber

Corr Iron

2, Corr Iron

3 x 2.4

on skids

2P&N hinged

NZF, FL

4899

Kitset

Timber

None

3 x 2.4

on skids

2 galv gates

Outpost, NZF, FL, RC

2139

BCP Roof Only

Kitset

Timber, Corr Iron

Outpost, NZF, FL, RC

750

Turton Farm Supplies *4

BCP with Roof

Assembled

Treated timber

Corr Iron

none

2.4 x 2.4

on skids

2 ply gates

Southern North Island

2900

Turton Farm Supplies *4

BCP with Roof and 2 Walls

Assembled

Treated timber

Corr Iron

2, Corr Iron

2.4 x 2.4

on skids

2 ply gates

Southern North Island

3250

Value Building Supplies

SKU Bobby Calf Pen and ramp

Assembled

Timber

Corr Iron

3, Corr Iron

3.6 x 2.4

set on piles

2, timber; hinged

Taranaki

4900

Kitset / Assembled *3

Galv steel frame, timber rails & floor

Corrugate Cladding - Optional

From $4820

Sliding steel / timber

From $4095

Notes: Costs are those provided by suppliers March 2017, and may vary. Availability: NZF = NZFarmsource; FL = Farmlands; RC = Ruralco; PGW = PGG Wrightons. There will be freight charges for some products and areas, and this can be as much as $800. Dairytech and Northern Metal industries have bobby calf pens on the drawing board and should be available later this year. *1: * A third (biosecurity) gate with ladder for the truck driver for Corohawk pens, is available at an extra $673.91 + GST. *2: Greenwood prices are â&#x20AC;&#x153;early bird specialsâ&#x20AC;?, until 30 April 2017. * 3: Leask Calf Loading Platforms are partially assembled. Smaller platforms can also be supplied fully assembled. *4: Great Southern and Turton Farm Supplies will also custom build bobby calf pens. *5: Corohawk prices are for North Island.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Bobby calf load out pens were items being checked out by dairy farmers at the Central Districts Field Days. This is the Oroua Bobby Loader.

• Where elevation can be achieved by a natural feature like a slope which can be excavated, this can provide the truck height on one side, and ground level or calf trailer level on the other side for loading calves into the pen. • An old vat stand or shed landing, if sited suitably can provide the height for truck loading. • Where there are no suitable existing facilities or features which can be used, the Dairy NZ website provides excellent good-practice guidelines. The choice is then whether to build your own, or buy a kit set or assembled model. Buy or build? A range of perfectly adequate bobby calf pens are available. Like implement sheds, the materials buying powers, facilities and experienced staff mean its probably hard to compete with them. A basic shed for 15 calves takes three to four man days for the pros to build. Farmers buying a kit set or assembled bobby calf pen have a few things to consider: • The obvious – calf capacity, construction, quality of building materials, kit set or assembled, portability, shelter provided by roof and walls, non-slip flooring and price. • MPI compliance. • Local building code, if applicable. • Cost of freight, building, and/or assembly. • A producer statement which will give some assurance of the materials, building and compliance.

Where an existing bobby calf pen is suitably sited for truck access, building a loading ramp adjacent to it is a cheap and easy means of meeting compliancy.

Table 2: Summary of features of calf loading ramps as provided by suppliers. Supplier

Model

Kitset / Assembled

Materials

Length, (m)

Availability

$ excl GST

Corohawk

ASBCP-Ramp

Kitset

Timber

Direct & NZF

2500

Corohawk

ASBCP-Ramp

Assembled

Timber

Direct & NZF

3250

Great Southern

Calf Loading Ramp

Kiwi Cattle Yards

Calf Loading Ramp

Kitset

Leask Engineering

Calf loading Ramp & Sides

Kitset / Assembled *1

Leask Engineering

Driver Access Platform

Assembled

Galv steel and timber (+ gates)

Outpost

BCP Ramp

Kitset

Timber

Prattley

3.6m Single Lane Ramp

Assembled

Alloy and ply

Stronghold Trading * 2

Calf Loading Ramp

Hot Dip Galv Steel

Timber Galv steel and timber

POA 3

Nationwide; Direct

1500

Nation wide

2300

1.86 x 1.03

1425 Outpost, NZF, FL, RC

1443

3.6

Thru retail merchants.

1350

Nation wide. PGW, NZF, FL

649

Notes: Costs are those provided by suppliers March 2017, and may vary. Availability: NZF = NZFarmsource; FL = Farmlands; RC = Ruralco; PGW = PGG Wrightons. There will be freight charges for some products and areas.* 1: Leask Calf Loading Platforms and Ramps are partially assembled. * 2: Stronghold Trading also make modular pen panels and gates which can be fitted together to form bobby calf pens at ground level.

Business opportunity

Ivan Wildbore of Feilding saw the opportunity for making a compliant bobby calf pen last year and spent six months developing one, consulting with MPI, DairyNZ, local farmers, transport operators and Worksafe. The end result is a fully assembled unit which he personally delivers to clients as far as the Waikato. “Being fully assembled, I know that it will be properly put together, something that cannot be guaranteed with a kit set,” former dairy farmer Wildbore said. “And with Health and Safety concerns these days, it’s important for me and farm staff that assembly is correct.” Even the aluminium ladder must meet safety standards.

SUPPLEMENTARY FEED Maxammon Maize and Maxammon Maize blends • Palm Kernel & blends

FARM NUTRITION SOLUTIONS

Barley, Wheat, Maize & Soybean Meal (forward contracts available).

Custom made Dairy Mineral Pellets To join our Palm Kernel Pricing Text Service. Please text your name and area to 027 214 9761 Palm Kernel Pricing Text Service

0800 SEAWEED

Intergrain NZ LTD 86

LK0085221©

Call Susanna at Intergrain NZ 0800 244 744

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

RESEARCH WRAP │ NORTHLAND Cropping cows on fodder beet.

Pasture proves a winner in trial Chris Boom and Kim Robinson Trustees, BNZ Northland Dairy Development Trust

pasture-only farmlet with no imported feed is likely to be the most profitable system for a second year in a row at the Northland Dairy Development Trust (NDDT) research farm. A trial comparing two farm systems that have no imported feed against a system using palm kernel is approaching the end of its second season. The trial is run by the BNZ-sponsored trust with funding from DairyNZ, MPI Sustainable Farming Fund and Hine Rangi Trust. The trial has three farmlets of 70-80 cows on 28 hectares each. The grass-only farmlet uses only pasture silage made onfarm. The cropping farmlet does not import feed but grows a range of crops onfarm – maize silage, turnips and fodder beet. The PKE farmlet uses palm kernel as needed to fill feed gaps and optimise production from pasture. Stocking rate is 7% lower on the grassonly farm compared to the other two farmlets.

The trial is based at the Northland Agricultural Research Farm (NARF) near Dargaville and run by a group of committed farmers and rural Kim Robinson. professionals. Until spring 2016, Northland had favourable climatic conditions resulting in pasture covers above average throughout most of the 2015/16 season and the start of 2016/17. However, a wet spring and dry summer this season has been challenging. During 2015/16 the PKE farm used less palm kernel than expected (469kg/cow). Crops were established on the cropping farm with a total of 23% of the farm in turnips, fodder beet and maize (silage). Turnip yield was estimated at 9.0 tonnes drymatter m(DM)/ha, fodder beet 15.5 t/ ha and maize silage 22.0 t/ha. For the 2015/16 season, milk production was highest on the cropping farm at 1049kg milksolids (MS)/ha compared with 870kg MS/ha on the grass-only farmlet and 1028kg MS/ha on the PKE farm. These

Field day at BNZ Northland Dairy Development Trust. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

results were reversed when looking at profitability, however. Costs were calculated for each of the farmlets, including differential labour requirements. Farm working expenses/ kg MS were $3.59, $4.20 and $4.01 for the grass-only, cropping and PKE farms respectively. At a $3.90/kg MS pay-out, the grass-only farm had the highest operating profit at $975/ha followed by the PKE farm at $480/ha and the cropping farm at $298/ ha. Milk payout would have needed to be >$6/kg MS before the PKE farm was the most profitable. This trial provides an opportunity to calculate the cost of the extra milk produced by the cropping and PKE farmlets compared to the grass-only farmlet. The analysis considers the costs associated with the higher stocking rate, machinery costs, labour requirements etc, and results will be published after this season. Production to the end of February 2017 has been 824kg MS/ha on the grass-only farmlet, 845kg MS/ha on the cropping farmlet and 910 kg MS/ha on the PKE farm. Compared to last season the grassonly farmlet is 8% ahead, cropping 5% behind and PKE 3% ahead. The grass-only farmlet has had a great run to date. At present it seems that it will be challenging for the other farms to match it financially, despite the anticipated higher milk price this season and long dry period over summer. Wet conditions during spring 2016 resulted in high levels of pugging damage on former crop paddocks due to poorer soil structure following cultivation. This had a significant impact on the productivity of the cropping farm. Getting cows back in calf has always been an argument for supplements. In 2015/16 the grass-only farmlet had the lowest empty rate at 6% compared to 13% for the cropping and 9% for PKE. This season the grass-only had 10% empty compared to 7% on cropping and only 1% on the PKE farmlet. Results are too variable on the small herds to draw conclusions. The 2015/16 results of this study have shown how a pasture-only farm system can be more profitable than alternative systems. However, this study has had relatively good pasture growing conditions most of the time. The project team hope to extend the trial into a fourth season to get a range of climatic conditions to test these treatments. For more information and regular updates see www.nddt.nz or contact kim.robinson@agfirst.co.nz Kim Robinson is an AgFirst farm consultant and a NDDT trustee. Chris Boom is also with AgFirst Northland and is the NDDT science manager.

PROPERTY │ SOUTHLAND The farm has a modern effluent system including a 90-day storage pond which supplies irrigated pasture via eight K-line pods.

Self-contained farming at Waikaka A

n affordable Waikaka dairy farm for sale in Southland at $4.985 million has scope and size for its value and is reaping the benefits from consistent regrassing following winter crops. The 170.9-hectare farm lies less than 5km from Waikaka and 30km from Gore on easy-to-rolling contour that milked up to 380 cows last season to produce 144,437kg milksolids as well as wintering the herd. Historically, the farm has had a selfcontained policy which included once-aday or 16-hour milkings from Christmas, though this year it will winter some of the cows off the farm and that will allow it to milk twice a day through to March. Mark Wilson from Southern Wide Real Estate says its self-contained policy and hence winter and supplement crops have resulted in continual pasture renewal over

the years. In late summer 9.3ha of green feed oats and moata were harvested, while 5.4ha of turnips was regrassed in autumn and 7.5ha is planted in fodder beet. The farm has consent to carry 450 cows and a new effluent consent will be in place for a new owner. The system takes effluent through a screw press to a 90-day storage pond before being irrigated on to pasture via eight K-line pods. “It’s a very modern, efficient effluent system that is in good order, reflecting all the other improvements on the farm. “The farm has been sensibly priced and represents good buying in terms of what is selling and where it fits in the market place.” Over the years the farm has been consistently farmed, with nitrogen applied on a “when needed” basis, pit silage made for supplement and crops grown for summer and winter.

Water is supplied to stock from a stream, with a consent to take 30,000 litres a day, while eight units from the Otama Water Scheme supplies houses, plant and the dairy. That dairy is a 30-aside herringbone with a meal-feeding system recently installed and 15 sets of cup removers. Large covered yards have been converted for calf rearing as well as a workshop and a three-bay implement shed completes the farm buildings. Accommodation on the farm ranges from a large three-bedroom weatherboard home that has been extensively modernised to a three-bedroom home and self-contained quarters. To view the farm visit www. southernwide.co.nz ref SWG1744 and for further information contact Mark Wilson on 03 208 9283 or 0274 917 078.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

PROPERTY │ MID CANTERBURY A well-formed capped central lane leads to 34 main paddocks.

Productive dairy on Flemington loam For the past 20 years a Canterbury family has operated a 159-hectare dairy farm southeast of Ashburton that has proven to be a reliable farm in a tightly held location. The productive dairy farm that consistently produces about 1600kg milksolids (MS) per hectare and is milking 550 cows this year is now for sale at $8.45 million. Paul Cunneen from Property Brokers says the farm has a good production history right back to the mid-1990s in an area that is now home to a mix of dairy farms, arable cropping and stock finishing. “It’s such a reliable property due to good water consents, soils and the climate. And some of the nearby farms are cropping properties which creates opportunities for off-farm grazing as well as feed supplies,” he says. The farm is 12km from Ashburton and just 3km from the coast at Flemington ensuring a temperate climate which combines with flat contour on silty loam soils well-suited to dairying. An Overseer nutrient budget completed in 2015 showed nitrogen loss to water of 18kg/ha which Cunneen says is a very good result while retaining high productivity and underlines the better quality soils. Five soil moisture probes enable accurate application of irrigation water and maximise nutrient usage while minimising nutrient leaching and avoiding overwatering costs. The farm is fully irrigated using three Rotorainers over 132ha and K-line with sprinklers on 23ha and generally operates a nine-day rotation. Two reliable bores yield 71l/sec and 55l/sec and Cunneen says they have proven reliability over many years. The bore at the dairy is an Environment Canterbury monitoring bore for water Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz

quality and tests rate it excellent which means it is drinking water quality. A reticulated water scheme supplies two troughs in each of the 34 main paddocks for stock and these paddocks connect to a well-formed capped central lane that leads to the 42-aside herringbone dairy. Inside is a meal-feeding system and outside is the 10-tonne mixing and 30t storage silos, plus a 600-cow yard leading into the dairy, with a standoff pad adjacent to it. Dairy effluent is pumped to a three million litre rubber-lined pond developed in 2012 that enables the farm 60-day storage before irrigating on to pasture covering 48ha and it has consents through to 2042. The dairy is a 42-aside herringbone.

Dairy effluent is pumped to a three million litre rubber-lined pond.

The farm operates a system where supplements such as silage are made on a support block and equate to an average 260kg DM/cow, while barley adds another 50kg to 100kg DM/cow, generally through spring. Cows are wintered off the farm and through the season have consistently been stocked between 3.56su/ha (this season) and 3.87 for many years. Last season its total production was 262,855kg MS which worked out as 1696kg MS/ha and 469kg/ cow from 560 cows. At the same time it had favourable overall farm working expenses at $3.57/kg MS. “High levels of production can be attributed to effective development driving efficiencies and ease of management.” Infrastructure on the farm beyond the dairy is all good quality and covers its needs, from a former woolshed converted to a workshop to two six-bay hay sheds plus another with two bays and a twobay implement shed. Four good homes complete the farm including a 1973 Summerhill stone home that has been substantially modernised, two threebedroom homes and a two-bedroom brick home. “It has well-above average accommodation in terms of both the number of houses and quality so attracting staff given the housing and location should not be an issue.” Added to its productive capability is aesthetic appeal and Cunneen says its clean pastures and tree-lined paddocks have immediate appeal. The farm can be viewed at www. propertybrokers.co.nz ID 52072 and for further information contact Paul Cunneen on 027 432 3382.

PROPERTY │ WHANGANUI

Diversity on a temperate coast A Whanganui dairy unit for sale with 83 hectare freehold and another 92ha leasehold creates a great opportunity to progress to farm ownership. The farm sits in the coastal strip between Whanganui and Turakina so it benefits from a temperate climate with good winter pasture production. Most of the freehold part of the farm flows over flat to rolling contour and along with the leasehold block is run as a dairy, beef and cropping unit. About 200 cows are milked and produce some 85,000kgs milksolids, while the property also rears most of the calves and carries them through to finishing or until they enter the herd. In addition, the farm regularly grows 25-30ha of maize that is either cut as maize silage or taken through for the sale of seed. Les Cain from Sallan Realty says the good climate combines with very good soil fertility that has Olsen P levels on the dairy platform averaging more than 40. The farm is well subdivided and well raced to the modern 20-aside herringbone

The herd is split-calved and supplies milk to Open Country. dairy that has a 300-cow yard along with an adjacent feedpad. The herd is splitcalved and supplies milk to Open Country Cheese. Stock water is sourced from a good bore that supplies quality water to all stock troughs, the dairy and houses. Added to good water are a range of farm support buildings including a large six-bay machinery shed that doubles as a calf shed, a large silage bunker and stock loafing area. The main house is a three-bedroom-plusoffice renovated family home that sits on a rise to capture great views over farmland.

The second house is a three-bedroom family home that could cater for staff. “This property offers a diverse income stream from dairy, beef and cropping and this is due to its coastal climate along with the luxuries of living a short distance from the city of Whanganui which offers a great lifestyle for the whole family.” Cain says the vendors have decided it is time to sell, creating an opportunity to purchase the property for the coming season. It is available for sale by negotiation. For further information contact Les Cain on 0274 420 582.

farmersweekly.co.nz

HAS A FRESH NEW LOOK Farmers Weekly has launched a new look website aimed at improving your online experience. You will find it has a fresh new layout, including greater emphasis on photography, clearer industry sections and AgriHQ data at a glance. Our new website makes accessing our award-winning news content that much easier, ensuring you get your daily dose of up-to-date agricultural news.

2342-1/2

Head over to farmersweekly.co.nz and take a look for yourself.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

April Events Take a fresh look … This autumn, take the time to really understand your business, and set up your farm and goals to ensure long-term success. A series of events in the next few months will help you review your business and set a plan. Visit dairynz.co.nz/tactics.

DairyNZ Farmers’ Forum – coming to a region near you! Get up to speed with the latest science and innovation in dairy at the Farmers’ Forum event in your region. You’ll learn what new technologies and tools are available to help improve your farm business and its performance. The forums are free to levy-paying farmers and their staff. Save the date for the workshop in your area, taking place between 9.30am-3pm: May May May May May

4 11 16 19 25

– Southland – Palmerston North – Lincoln – Stratford – Hamilton

Find out more and register now at dairynz.co.nz/farmersforum

Discussion Groups Interested in farm systems, reproduction, progression, pasture management, budgeting, people management, or milking smarter? We hold a range of different discussion groups on specialist areas of interest as well as other topical field days and road shows around the country. Find out what’s on near you at dairynz.co.nz/events or phone your local consulting officer.

Consulting Officers – Contact Details Northland Regional Leader

Chris Neill

027 499 9021

Far North

Chris Neill

027 499 9021

Lower Northland

Mark Forsyth

021 242 5719

Whangarei West

Corey Thorn

027 886 0221

Regional Leader

Phil Irvine

027 483 9820

South Auckland

Jamie Haultain

027 486 4344

Hamilton North

Phil Irvine

027 483 9820

Matamata/Kereone

Frank Portegys

027 807 9685

Morrinsville/Paeroa

Euan Lock

027 293 4401

Hauraki Plains/Coromandel

Annabelle Smart

021 242 2127

Regional Leader

Wade Bell

027 285 9273

Te Awamutu

Stephen Canton

027 475 0918

Otorohanga

Michael Booth

027 513 7201

South Waikato

Kirsty Dickins

027 483 2205

Regional Leader

Sharon Morrell

0274 922 907

Western Bay of Plenty

Colin Grainger-Allen

021 225 8345

Central Bay of Plenty

Kevin McKinley

027 288 8238

Central Plateau

Wilma Foster

021 246 2147

Whakatane

Sharon Morrell

0274 922 907

Regional Leader

Katrina Knowles

021 831 944

South Taranaki

Erin Hutchinson

021 246 5663

Central Taranaki

Sarah Payne

027 704 5562

Coastal Taranaki

Michelle Taylor

021 276 5832

North Taranaki

Lauren McEldowney

027 593 4122

North Waikato

South Waikato

Bay of Plenty

Taranaki

Lower North Island Regional Leader

James Muwunganirwa

027 499 9020

What dairy industry events are happening near you?

Horowhenua/Wanganui/South Taranaki/Southern and Coastal Manawatu

Scott Cameron

027 702 3760

Now there is one place where you can find out what’s on near you! Explore upcoming dairy industry events in your area and keep up to date with the latest learning and networking opportunities. Visit Dairyevents.co.nz

Wairarapa/Tararua

Tim Ferguson

021 244 3428

Hawkes Bay

Gray Beagley

021 286 4346

Central/Northern Manawatu/Rangitikei

Jo Back

021 222 9023

Top of South Island/Westland

Change of Address If you’ve shifted farm or changed your supply company, make sure you’ll still receive your copy of Inside Dairy – visit dairynz.co.nz/address and let us know your new details.

Farmer Information Service – 0800 4 DairyNZ (0800 4 324 7969) Answers to your dairy farming questions are just a phone call away. We can also help you with: • Event information • Industry contacts • Ordering publications and resources.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017

Regional Leader

Wade Bell

027 285 9273

Nelson/Marlborough

Mark Shadwick

021 287 7057

West Coast

Ross Bishop

021 277 2894

Regional Leader

Virginia Serra

021 932 515

Hurunui

Virginia Serra

021 932 515

North Canterbury

Virginia Serra

021 932 515

Mid Canterbury

Stuart Moorhouse

027 513 7200

Central Canterbury

Natalia Benquet

021 287 7059

South Canterbury

Teaghan Lourie

021 243 7337

North Otago

Trevor Gee

021 227 6476

Regional Leader

Richard Kyte

021 246 3166

South/West Otago

Guy Michaels

021 615 051

North West/Central Southland

Nicole E Hammond

021 240 8529

North East/Eastern Southland

Liam Carey

027 474 3258

Western Southland

Teresa Anderson

027 702 2219

Southern/Coastal Southland

Nathan Nelson

021 225 6931

Canterbury/North Otago

Southland/South Otago

02033 LICGMPPDE

Are the animals you’re getting on paper, the ones you’re getting in the paddock?

If you’re buying stock this season, make sure you’re getting what you pay for. With an estimated 25%* of calves mis-mothered, mis-tagged or mis-recorded, buying GeneMark® parentage verified stock can give you the peace of mind that what you’re getting on paper is what you’re getting in the paddock. To find out more talk to your LIC rep or visit lic.co.nz/genemark 92

*Based on five case studies conducted by LIC from 2010-2012

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2017