Dairy Exporter July 2018

Learn, grow, excel

t o p r p O u c i n nities a g Or Growing demand ATTRACTS supply

JULY 2018

How to keep M bovis at bay

$12

$12 incl GST Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

CARE FOR COWS: less mud more shelter

1

Subscribe and receive a free gift valued at $47 Thanks to our partners Gallagher, the first 75 new subscribers in July will receive a Live Fence Indicator when they purchase a 12 month or longer subscription to Dairy Exporter magazine.

CHOOSE THE OPTION FOR YOU

$92

Incl GST

for 12 months (saving 20%)

$184

Incl GST

for 24 months (saving 20%)

$276

Incl GST

for 36 months (saving 20%)

For instant reassurance that your fence is working, place permanently on your fence line and simply look for the flash when you pass. Water and UV resistant for long life, no batteries required.

Quick and easy installation, simply place earth stake in the ground and clip onto fence wire or tape.

www.nzfarmlife.co.nz Email: subs@nzfarmlife.co.nz 2

Phone: 0800 224 782 or 06 280 3161 Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

CONTENTS

THEIR OWN LAND OF MILK AND HONEY 56 ONLINE 10

Dairy Exporter’s online presence

MILKING PLATFORM 11

A new farm owner brings change for Rob and Shiralee Seerden

12

Chris and Carla Staples celebrate moving to their own farm at last

13

Work off-farm allows Kate and Chris Robinson to plan the next step

UPFRONT 14

M bovis: One big biosecurity lesson

18

M bovis: Get set for a long haul

23

M bovis: Acid test for calf milk

24

M bovis: ‘We just tested our way out of it’

26

M bovis: Keep calm and carry on

29

M bovis: Risk of bobby calf bulge

30

M bovis: Slow disease spread offers hope

31

M bovis: Bulk survey set for spring

32

Market view: Focus on Asia

BUSINESS 34

Business equity: Strength in equity

39

CO Diary: Farm ownership – Dream or reality?

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

UP HILL AND DOWN DALE 74

TICKING ALL BOXES AT KARAKA 80 3

It’s Søren’s Milking System Søren has been milking with VMS for 10 years. When he put the new DeLaval VMS™ V300 to work for him, he found that with its 99.8% attachment rate, the new system is about 1 minute faster per cow, allowing him to increase productivity.

Visit DeLaval.com to hear more from Søren about how he made the new VMS V300 his Milking System, and discover why you should make it yours too.

NEW DeLaval VMS™ V300

4

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

STRENGTH IN EQUITY 35

SYSTEMS 40

Hi-tech collars and tags tuned to NZ conditions

45

Cropping falls behind in Northland trial

47

Beef+Lamb consults on levy rise

48

Emissions go hand-in-hand

50

Calving: 1-2-3 of calf rearing

52

DeLaval introduces new robotic system

54

Pasture first: to be sure

SPECIAL REPORT | ORGANICS

Organic OpportunityS 56 62 65 68 70

Their own land of milk and honey Success with the switch A growth industry Converts in the waiting Partners form Kawerau Dairy

56

Their own land of milk and honey

62

Success with the switch

65

A growth industry

68

Converts in the waiting

69

Partners form Kawerau Dairy

72

Pasture management: Help from SPACE

ENVIRONMENT 74

Up hill and down dale

78

Climate ambassador making the change

STOCK 80

Ticking all boxes at Karaka

84

Mud: nuisance and animal welfare issue

85

Time to plant up for summer

86

Risks of wintering on crops

YOUNG COUNTRY Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

SPECIAL REPORT 55

88

Generational switch

90

Genetics: Gathering insights gained

COLUMNS 39

CO Diary

94

Farm Gear: The big Zeddy feeder is here

96

Dairy 101: It’s okay to look over the fence

98

Research Wrap: Future farming for families

DAIRY SOLUTIONS 99

Partnering for Mastatest

100 Allflex and Gallagher: Integrating technology 101 Feed: When the growing gets tough

GENERATIONAL SWITCH 88 Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

102

DIRECTORY

104

PROPERTY 5

DAIRY DIARY

BROUGHT TO YOU BY FONTERRA FARM SOURCE

NZFARMSOURCE.CO.NZ/STORE | 0800 731 266

JULY July 12 – West Coast Farmers’ Conference lines up industry experts, central government and workshops to cover everything from central government and regional government, to global trends and personal wellness. The day runs from 10.30am to 4.45pm. More? Contact DairyNZ consulting officer Angela Leslie on 021 277 2894.

July 12 – A spring first aid seminar is being held in Matamata which is aimed at recognising and taking appropriate action with common spring diseases of cows and conditions, including calving and scours in calves. The seminar is being run

by Matamata Veterinary Services and for more information contact Katherine Mora on 07 888 8197.

July 26 –Southland has the last of the Successful Calf Rearing days, run by Dairy Women’s Network and its partner Seales Winslow in Southern Southland. The session runs between 9.30am and 12.30pm and will be held at the Ascot Park Hotel in Invercargill. More? visit www.dwn.co.nz July 13 – DairyNZ’s Calving Smart workshops continue through the South Island and are aimed at preparing the team for calving. Dates and locations: July 10, Harihari; July 11, Greymouth; July 12, Dunsandel; July 13, Hinds; July 17, Waimate; July 18, Tapanui; July 19, Winton. More? visit wwwdairynz.co.nz

AUGUST August 1 – Entries close for the NZI Rural Women New Zealand Business Awards which have been renamed and had the categories broadened.

They now include Emerging Business for those businesses that have been running from two to five years; Love of the Land is for a successful business that harnesses the potential of New Zealand’s land, environment or products of the land; Creative Arts is for a business specialising in a rural environment with rural materials; Innovation is aimed at an enterprise challenging the status quo and using rural resources in an innovative way; Rural Champion is an award for a person or business championing the rural sector. A supreme winner is chosen from all category finalists. More? About the awards and key dates, visit www. ruralwomen.org.nz

August 1 – Entries for the Ballance Farm Environment Awards open. The awards are run in 11 regions around the country to recognise good farm practices and to promote sustainable land management. To find out more about the awards and to enter, visit www.nzfeatrust.org.nz August 6 – The New Zealand Institute of Primary Industry Management holds its annual conference in Hamilton. This year’s programme includes an overview of policy developments on greenhouse gas emissions and what this looks like on farm. More? visit www.nzipim.co.nz August 12 – Applications close for the next round of Nuffield Farming Scholarships which promote global vision, leadership and innovation. More about the scholarships and to apply, visit www.nuffield.org.nz

SEPTEMBER September 19 – An Owl Farm focus day will provide updates on seasonal performance, research on the farm and plans for the farm’s future. For details about the Waikato demonstration farm visit www.owlfarm.nz

September 30 – Applications close for the Agri-Women’s Development Trust Escalator programme which focuses on leadership and governance for women involved in the primary industry and rural communities. To find out more and to enrol in the 2019 programme, visit www.awdt.org.nz or email contact@awdt.org.nz

ONE SOURCE FOR POWERING THROUGH CALVING. Keeping cows strong and healthy is vital for calving season success. Whether it’s metabolics or calving equipment, we can help. When you need time on your side, we are your one source for trusted advice, expert services and great value supplies.

6

Talk to us today.

NZFARMSOURCE.CO.NZ/STORE

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

0800 731 266

Editor’s note

Outstanding farmers doing great things

I

t’s been a busy month for me with a number of events to attend – from the Ballance Farm Environment Awards showcasing best environmental practice to the Dairy Business of the Year contest highlighting really strong farm financial performance alongside people management and environmental stewardship.

The calibre of the winners of these two awards was very high – with outstanding farmers doing great things with their environmental initiatives, showing excellent people management and achieving high levels of return on capital.

Read more about these Ballance and DBOY winners in the next issues of Dairy Exporter where we drill down into the initiatives you can consider for your farm.

Both things lead to overall sustainability of the business of a dairy farm, if you have the people part right too.

The focus of the South Island Dairy Event was the farmers themselves, with a great theme of ‘It starts with us’. Sustainability of your farming business depends first and foremost on the sustainability of yourself – relying on your physical and mental fitness and resilience. This theme led to an excellent series of workshops on financial sustainability, health of body, mind, and bank balance, people, water, greenhouse gas and nutrient management, biosecurity and the future. We will share lots of great insights over the next few months.

Our special report showcases the growth of the organic sector and how increasing numbers of farmers are transitioning to organic production to add value to their milk and capture premiums from a burgeoning offshore demand. The Williams family from Waikato’s Land of Milk and Honey are balancing organic principles with robotic cow-led milking. (P56).

Biosecurity and Mycoplasma bovis is once again a huge focus. Within a suite of stories, we have profiled the Morven Action Group, farmers surrounding the Farm Biosecurity first South Canterbury incursion who banded together Action almost a year ago to get organised about putting Plan the best farm biosecurity systems in place to keep their farms safe and free from the disease. (P14) The excellent resources they put together with their vets’ advice form the Farm Biosecurity Action Plan which has been reproduced for you to use at your farm and inserted into this magazine. You can also read it online at our website and download it for your own use at nzfarmlife.co.nz. Spread it around your friends and neighbours – it’s really good practical stuff.

Our Facebook competition brought out lots of great advice and top tips for calf-rearing – check out a few of them on P50 and follow us on FB to get all of the wisdom.

Final thought: Sir Graham Henry, Ted, told SIDE delegates that leadership is all about developing people, not telling them what to do – ponder on that when you are gearing up your farm team for the busyness of calving.

1

Jackie

NZ Dairy Exporter

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

@YoungDairyED

Sneak Peek - Next Issue: • Special report: Best breeding – bulls vs semen, what’s happening and what is the M Bovis impact.

• Megatrend report: Branding From cow to cone. Check out the Appleby dairy farmers producing awardwinning ice cream products to add value to their milk.

• Doing the right thing by the land: Waikato Supreme Ballance Farm Environment winners Sandra and Rod McKinnon have invested in their Matamata farm’s environmental attributes since they bought the land 25 years ago.

@DairyExporterNZ

7

Are fridgies ripping me off? What’s behind the rising cost of refrigeration repair?

Beware: when farm refrigeration equipment breaks down, repair or replacement can be very expensive— and is becoming more so.

Local dairy refrigeration companies are not behind sudden rise in costs. Refrigerant is the issue.

Legislative changes are phasing out access to many refrigerants commonly used in on-farm cooling.

Three specific accords are driving this sharp rise: the Montreal Protocol, the Kigali Agreement and the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme.

For farmers, these changes are causing spiking refrigerant prices and discontinuation of some products. Chemical manufacturers are developing new lower GWP refrigerants which will be compatible with global accords and existing farm equipment.

Although newer gases are arriving in the market, no chiller equipment will support a mix of old and new refrigerants. So, when leaks happen, systems run on obsolete refrigerant will need to be totally emptied by professional refrigeration technicians and regassed with new product.

Legislation changes behind sharp rise in cost and product changes: • Original on-farm refrigerants such as R12 were found to damage the ozone layer and have been phased out have been under the Montreal Protocol in the 1990s.

• HFC refrigerants are in the process of being phased out due to their high Global Warming Potential (GWP) under the international Kigali agreement. This will see a falling cap on the import of HFC refrigerants into New Zealand starting in 2019, resulting in greater upward pressure on the price of refrigerants.

8

Find out more at tru-test.com

• The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme puts a cost on HFC refrigerant imports. A New Zealand Carbon Credit must be surrendered for each ton of carbon equivalent in an imported refrigerant. With Carbon credits currently trading at over $20, some refrigerant pricing is now mostly made up of the carbon cost. If the price of carbon rises further the price of high GWP refrigerants will follow.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Three steps to minimise refrigerant costs 1. Know your refrigerant (All units should be labelled with an R rating, e.g. R404a.)

Units running on retired refrigerants R22 or R12.

Units labelled with R22 or R12 are charged with obsolete refrigerants. These are safe and functional if enclosed. If a top-up is required due to a leak in the system, all of the existing refrigerant will need to be evacuated, contained and sent for destruction at an approved facility. New refrigerant will be pumped in.

This process can be very expensive.

primary or secondary cooling, it might be time to review your refrigeration.

Contact your local Tru-Test Dairy Solutions representative to talk about your cooling system and any checks or upgrades you should be considering.

Tru Test Refrigeration Service Plans are available with an added refrigerant cover option in the case of a leak. (This can amount to savings of several thousand dollars.) And if replacing equipment ask about the type and availability of refrigerant.

For more information on dairy refrigeration and milk cooling, call Tru-Test Dairy Solutions on 0800 878 837.

Unit running on HFC refrigerants At present, non-obsolete HFC refrigerants are still available for top-ups but costs will steadily rise due to the cost of carbon credits, and supply will be increasingly limited by import restrictions.

2. Keep your refrigeration system well maintained New, correctly-sized, refrigeration systems are unlikely to cause trouble. Be aware of ageing and damaged equipment. Regular system checks, such as annual servicing, can help keep your gear in good condition and can identify and remedy wear and tear to prevent leaks.

3. Talk to your local Tru-Test Dairy Solutions representative Even with fairly new equipment, if something has changed on your farm in the last five years such as growth in herd size, duration of milking times or

Ageing vat refrigeration unit?

You may be using an environmentally harmful gas which is now obsolete and future repairs could be costly.

Talk to our helpful on-farm refrigeration specialists about your options.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

How are you tracking?

Let’s talk.

9 0800 TRUTEST (878 8378)

NEW ZEALAND

Learn, grow, excel

ONLINE

NZ Dairy Exporter is published

by NZ Farm Life Media PO Box 218, Feilding 4740, Toll free 0800 224 782, www.nzfarmlife.co.nz

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

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

MEET OUR TEAM:

Deputy editor Sheryl Brown, P: 021 239 1633 sheryl.brown@nzfarmlife.co.nz Lead sub-editor: Andy Maciver, P: 06 280 3166 M BOVIS AND CALF-REARING Joanne Leigh of Top Notch Calves talks us through handling calf rearing M Bovis issues and acidification of milk. Check out the video on the Dairy Exporter FB and Youtube channel.

CALF-REARING 101 Calf-rearing expert Joanne Leigh of Top Notch Calves gives the lowdown on calf-rearing in preparation for this season’s calving.

CLEAR, CLEAR WATER Separating dairy yard effluent into clear water and a nutrient-rich fertiliser with an affordable system is achieved in a system pioneered at Lincoln University. Story Pg 40.

Reporters Glenys Christian, P: 027 434 7803 glenys.christian@nzx.com Anne Hardie, P: 027 540 3635 verbatim@xtra.co.nz

Junior designer, Cassandra Cleland

Anne Lee, P: 021 413 346 anne.lee@nzfarmlife.co.nz

It’s been seven months since Cassandra joined the team at NZ Farm life Media. She has gone from photoshopping tinsel on farm animals when she first started to helping with the redesign of both Dairy Exporter and Country-Wide magazines.

“I didn’t want to move far away from the Manawatu to find a job where I was using my design degree, so I was very fortunate to land a job in Feilding.

“Most days we are heads down, bums up but we still manage to get everyone in the office together to participate in morning exercises.

“I think a few people were surprised when I showed up to work in my leathers. They probably weren’t expecting a quiet, petite girl who decorates her work desk with Pokemon toys to spend most of her weekends riding her Suzuki Intruder.

“I have yet to find my bikey crew, then my life will be complete!”

Kate Robinson, P: 021 358531 kate.robinson@farmside.co.nz Senior designer: Joanne Hannam Junior designer: Cassandra Cleland Partnerships Managers: Janine Aish Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty P: 027 890 0015 janine.aish@nzfarmlife.co.nz Tony Leggett Lower North Island P: 027 474 6093 tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz David Paterson South Island, P: 027 289 2326 david.paterson@nzfarmlife.co.nz Subscriptions: www.nzfarmlife.co.nz subs@nzfarmlife.co.nz P: 0800 2AG SUB (224 782)

Email: cassandracleland@nzfarmlife.co.nz Phone: 06 280 3164

Connect with us online:

Printing & Distribution: Printers: PMP, New Zealand Distributors: Gordon & Gotch (NZ)

www.nzfarmlife.co.nz NZ Dairy Exporter

Karen Trebilcock, P: 03 489 8083 ak.trebilcock@xtra.co.nz

Cassandra on her bike.

ISSN 2230-2697 (Print) ISSN 2230-3057 (Online)

@DairyExporterNZ NZ Dairy Exporter Sign up to our monthly newsletter www.nzfarmlife.co.nz/e-newsletter

10

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

New farm owner brings change Norsewood sharemilkers Rob and Shiralee Seerden have a new farm owner and a new contract. Shiralee tells of the changes ahead.

A

snapshot of our autumn diary shows it has been challenging with thunder and lightning storms like we have never experienced, combined with early cold snaps which led to a less-than-enthusiastic autumn.

On the whole this has been minor compared to the farm we work on being sold and the new owner signing us to continue sharemilking; changing from a system 4 to 3 as we will have a summer crop on the home farm for the first time, while 20 hectares has been added to the farm allowing us to milk another 40 cows, sourced from natural increase.

To go along with our new contract we had our herd condition scored in May by an accredited DairyNZ assessor, the herd was 4.7 and R2s 5.7, this should safeguard both parties at the end of the contract with clear targets to be met.

Both Rob and I reluctantly stepped down from serving on our regional Dairy Industry Awards committee to pursue other interests.

At this point we must congratulate our regional winner-come national winner Dairy Manager of the Year Gerard Boerjan.

We attended the DairyNZ Farmers’ Forum and were rewarded with an array of insightful speakers. The most challenging came from future of food specialist Julian Cribb and futurist Roger Dennis, their predictions either brought trepidation to listeners or confidence in opportunities through technological changes.

With food printers and vegan products coming out that match or taste better than the original our future

customers are expected to be those who know the value of a true product.

Take-home message from the futurists – unless there is a global change regarding the wasteful use of food and water there will not be enough of either within our lifetime.

The assurance is, with the speed of innovative ideas through technology it is possible to curb this trend. The question is, will we?

Rob and I saw a new plan of attack put into action to minimise the use of antibiotics when drying the herd off. Now on a precipice of antibiotic resistance we decided to establish alongside our vet what I refer to as a weaning programme.

For many years our policy was to blanket everything with dry cow, as four seasons ago we experienced a drastic increase of mastitis cases throughout the year. After discussions with the vet and owner we aggressively culled our herd of any high somatic cows which meant starting the

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

MILKING PLATFORM NORSEWOOD

next season with a herd made up of 33% heifers.

We put in-line mastitis detectors in and Rob, along with the staff, attended vet seminars while I created written procedures on prevention and treatment. The results of this has seen our yearly somatic count dropping consistently, armed with this and a breeding programme placing our herd into the top 10% of BW/PW we have been able to reduce stock wastage for the last three seasons selling all empties in-milk and surplus animals to be farmed on.

For this drying off period we used Smart SAMM’s target for dry cow therapy of over 120,000SCC. This figure is only suggested for heifers, however we used it for all the milkers. Thus a third of our herd received treatment. It was also decided to teat-seal all the herd; prior to this we only sealed R2s due to six years earlier 25% of heifers came in with calving mastitis.

This has been a successful campaign with no heifers afflicted with this since. The second year of our programme will have SAMM’s targets adhered to which would see all but the heifers receive dry cow over 150,000SCC. Also a decision as to whether to teatseal the whole herd again will be made depending on the outcome of the season and its cost effectiveness.

11

AT LAST – our own farm

MILKING PLATFORM HOKITIKA

After seven years in South Westland, Chris and Carla Staples have moved close to Hokitika with farm ownership.

W

ell we’ve done it!

That’s right as of June 1 we have stepped up the ranks into farm ownership. This has been our goal for the last 11 years and one which many said we would never achieve.

It has been a very busy three months since the purchase.

It’s been seven years since we have had to move on Gypsy day, and over those years we thought we hadn’t accumulated too much more stuff! But we were wrong.

With the help of some great friends with beds on the last few nights and the loading of the cows and cleaning up everything went smoothly as well as help from family unloading at the new farm. It was a great seven years in Whataroa with some fun memories, excellent schooling and a fantastic community.

We wanted a farm where we could keep the milking herd onfarm for the full season, limiting our exposure to animals from other herds.

So after seven years of being away, we are back in the Kowhitirangi valley where it all started. Travel time to town has been slashed. And we can now whip into town for the bread and milk and a few quiet ones in town on Saturday nights.

As we write this we have the hum of builders, diggers and concrete cutters buzzing in the background. Day two of 12

ownership saw diggers turn up and the demolition of two old farm implement sheds, making way for the new workshop. The front half of the old cowshed is gone and is now in full swing to have completed by the end of July to make way for the new season.

Calving here will take place a lot earlier than most of the district, so critical planning is now in place for pasture. With only 220 to calve, calf-rearing will certainly be different with the number of replacements to be kept.

We have our year-on-year contracts still in place for our Friesian bull calves and Herefords, with new bobby calf facilities in the making.

We find ourselves in the situation of having no winter crops this season, after leaving our best crop yields ever down in South Westland. Some extra late winter feed (palm kernel) will be have to be bought with most of the silage on hand being fed out during winter to lengthen the grazing round to as long as possible while maintaining cow condition.

Although we have had cracker weather over the last month, which we were unbelievably thankful for over moving time, another challenge will be dealing with the different soil types where coming from riverbed shallow soils on to heavier deep silt, having fewer stones in the soil will make groundwork a lot easier but it will make handling wet weather more challenging.

We have a concrete feed pad on the

Day two of ownership saw diggers turn up and the demolition of two old farm implement sheds, making way for the new workshop.

new property which has already been well utilised since takeover with silage fed on the pad during any wet periods.

Another major factor for the farm purchase was the Mycoplasma bovis factor.

Our previous sharemilking position saw us graze part of our herd off-farm over winter.

We wanted a farm where we could keep the milking herd onfarm for the full season, limiting our exposure to animals from other herds.

Eleven years ago we decided to move into lower-order share milking. This wasn’t taken lightly and there were definitely pros and cons.

In our first year we had an $8 payout which set us up for this journey with lots of financial planning and strategic purchases along our way. Hopefully we have made another major business decision with a similar payout prediction (fingers crossed). Only time will tell!

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Planning the next step

MILKING PLATFORM SOUTH WAIKATO

Work off-farm has allowed Kate Robinson to prepare for the next step in her and husband Chris’ farming venture.

I

am a farmer’s wife and a mother of two children aged 5 and 7. I am also an equity partner in a multi-million dollar farming business.

Like most dairying women, I wear many hats and my day is spent playing taxi, mediator, counsellor, community volunteer and chief cook and bottle washer. It requires a lot of juggling, prioritising and effort, but it makes me pretty proud and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I look after our staff houses on the farm and help my husband Chris with staff recruitment, but I am not hands-on the farm day-to-day. So with our youngest child at school, I was ready for something new and something to call my own.

Living rurally, it is often challenging to find work within a reasonable travelling distance from home.

Technology has enabled me to keep up my freelance writing and public relations work, but in April last year, I was lucky to be offered a contract role with DairyNZ. I am the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato regional co-ordinator for Dairy Connect, which is a short-term mentoring service, and a wonderful example of farmers supporting farmers.

In January, I also took on a maternity cover role managing Dairy Connect and a fabulous team of four other regional coordinators across the country.

While working from home gives me flexibility, the role involves a lot of travel to attend farmer events and maintain

relationships with the DairyNZ team in Hamilton.

Often, I need to call on friends and family to help with our children when Chris has commitments onfarm. Not an uncommon situation for many other working mums out there, whether you’re employed onfarm or off.

However, during the dry period when I have been away for work, our children have been treated to some quality time with their Dad. They love helping put up crop fences after school, moving stock, and enjoying fish and chips at the Tihoi Tavern! They have also enjoyed play dates down the road with their cousins, and overnight visits from their grandparents.

I must admit, our extra household income has allowed me to indulge in my passion for retail therapy from time to time.

However, more importantly, it also makes buying more equity in our family’s farming business more financially viable.

If you’ve been following our journey, you will remember that Chris and I have talked for some time about whether we should buy more equity in the business.

To us, equity is ownership. We love the property we farm so it’s natural to want more ownership of it.

This would involve buying shares off my parents, who are the major shareholders in the business. The plan in the coming months is to take out a personal loan with

While working from home gives me flexibility, the role involves a lot of travel to attend farmer events and maintain relationships with the DairyNZ team in Hamilton.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Chris, Kate, Harrison, 7, and Greer, 5.

them and put a portion of any dividends received back into servicing the debt.

We all have days when we struggle with the demands of work, family and farm. But Chris and I are confident the sacrifices are worth it and are excited to be planning the next step in our farming venture.

Chris gives his blood, sweat and tears to our farming business, and I’m proud to be playing my part too in securing a future for us and our family.

In saying that, I do not want my worth and my contribution to be measured solely by the dollars and cents I bring in. Being a farmer’s wife and a mother is an honourable job and often incredibly challenging. You cannot put a monetary value on being home to meet your kids off the school bus, watching them play sport, or having a hot meal on the table for dinner.

To all my fellow dairying mums out there, be proud of what you do and what you achieve every day. As calving fast approaches, take time for yourselves before you become a solo parent or start rearing calves. While we are often focused on looking after others, don’t forget your own health and well-being.

You are worth it!

13

One big biosecurity lesson

INSIGHT

UPFRONT M BOVIS

The arrival of Mycoplasma bovis has highlighted the need for good biosecurity measures across the country. Anne Lee reports.

BIO PROTECTION ZONES Designate bio-protection zones on the farm map and display it where visitors would sign in.

Green Zone • Area where no stock can enter.

• Treated as a public zone.

• May include: tanker tracks, tracks to the cattle yards, house driveways.

Blue Zone • Intermediary areas for incoming stock, suspicious animals, placement of foreign animals, cows for pet food pick up, quarantine.

• Does not have to be a large area of land.

Vet Andrew Muir and South Canterbury farmer Hugh Le Fleming – Mycoplasma bovis has driven the onfarm biosecurity message home hard.

B

iosecurity begins at home, right at the farm gate and the boundary fence – it’s not just about security at the country’s

borders.

It’s one of the big lessons farmers around the country are learning quickly following the detection of Mycoplasma bovis and, while nationally many are just coming to grips with what that might mean, South Canterbury farmers and vets have been dealing with it for almost a year now.

Morven dairy farmer Hugh Le Fleming and Oamaru vet Andrew Muir from the Veterinary Centre told a South Island Dairy Event (SIDE) workshop in Dunedin last month that good biosecurity at a farm level can prevent infection entering your farm, help slow the spread of disease, or even 14

increase the likelihood of successful eradication, when diseases or pests find their way into the country.

The recent M bovis incursion has driven that message home hard, they said, and lifting the profile of biosecurity onfarm for many diseases and pests was well overdue.

But it’s also brought home that biosecurity is important to the whole country and that it’s a community responsibility where people, whether in town or the country, all need to support each other.

“The blame game isn’t going to solve this. We are a small population living on islands in the South Pacific and our lifestyles and our families are totally

Red Zone • Areas where stock graze or effluent has been spread.

• No visitor or machinery access, unless they have followed biosecurity procedures (cleaning and disinfection).

Download the Morven Action Group Biosecurity Action Plan www.nzfarmlife.co.nz/home

dependent on one another in this,” Hugh said.

The M bovis experience has been devastating for many and created enormous stress and heartache.

“We can beat this though and we’ve got to put that Kiwi can-do attitude to work,” he said.

It’s essential that farmers take time to assess their own farming operations with a particular eye to biosecurity because every Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

farm has its own quirks in terms of layout and location, every farming system is different and the degree to which animals, people and equipment come and go vary.

“We can give you the main areas to look at and some practical actions to take but to have an effective biosecurity plan for your farm you are going to have to look closely at your particular situation,” Andrew said.

“It’s not something you’ll deal with in one hit, it’s a new way of thinking but when you switch your mindset to it, the solutions you’ll find as farmers will be obvious and are often quite simple.

“Some, though, are more difficult than others and rely on other people carrying out what’s needed, but stand firm and show you’re serious that those actions are followed,” Hugh said.

While they agreed National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) had its issues and it was its own subject in itself they implored farmers to use it every time stock were moved.

To help farmers draw up their own biosecurity action plan Andrew said the Farm Biosecurity Action Plan developed by the Morven Action Group farmers, including Hugh, in conjunction with local

vets from the Veterinary Centre and Vet Life has a range of good practical ideas.

With that as a basis, farmers should consider the three main areas of risk for their individualised plans: Animals, People, Equipment

Animals “Think in, out and over when you’re thinking about animal risks.

“Animals coming into the farm – bulls, any replacement cows or young stock bought in – they pose the greatest risk when it comes to disease.

“Animals going out – young stock or cows going off-farm to grazing or wintering, what do you do while they’re away to make sure they’re not exposed to disease and then bring it back on to your farm?

“Animals going over – that’s about boundary fencing – nose-to-nose contact or animals jumping fences,” Andrew said.

“Having power on both sides of the fence is double protection because if there’s a problem on one side there’s a backup on the other,” Hugh said.

“But make sure staff have guaranteed

‘You’re going to try and avoid animals getting out of course but you need to have that conversation with neighbours – is there a quarantine paddock an animal can be put into it, where should it be, what’s the procedure?’ access to a tester and they’re testing those boundary fences regularly.”

Consider a back-up generator so you can milk through a major power outage – walking cows to other farms and putting them through other people’s dairies poses a disease risk.

Neighbours need to communicate about how they manage boundaries and have a plan for what to do with any animals that did get out onto the road.

“You’re going to try and avoid animals getting out of course but you need to have

FEED SYSTEMS SINCE 1962 FEED SYSTEMS SINCE 1962

Supreme quality stainless steel feed trays / Exceptional back-up support / Easy to use and maintain First class installations construction Skiold Disc Mills Supreme quality stainless steel feed trays/ /Robust Exceptional back-up /support / Easy to use and maintain Grain Holding Silos / Utility Augers / Mobile Auger First class installations / Robust construction / Skiold Disc Mills Grain Holding Silos / Utility Augers / Mobile Auger

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

LK0080053© LK0080053©

DAIRY FEED FEED SYSTEMS SYSTEMS DAIRY

15

Left: Sign in and out and wash your boots at the same time. Hugh has gone for bright pink to draw people’s attention to the biosecurity point at the farm dairy.

Right: Leave a brush in the boot wash so it’s always available. Refresh the wash disinfectant as per instructions.

that conversation with neighbours – is there a quarantine paddock an animal can be put into it, where should it be, what’s the procedure?” Hugh said.

One Morven farm was infected when an animal that had got out on to the roadside was wrongly put into a neighbour’s paddock. The farmer’s herd of extremely well-bred cows has now been destroyed.

Hugh has drawn up a farm map and after considerable effort has managed to get cell phone contact details for each of the properties on his boundary.

“That’s going to be put up in the shed but it’s going to have to be updated regularly.”

Good hygiene when dealing with dead stock, placentas or slipped calves was important.

“Don’t just throw the cleanings over the fence – put it in a drum and then manage the offal hole well. Don’t drag dead animals along the ground. It really is a mind-set thing,” Hugh said.

“Some things we’ve done in the past just shouldn’t be done anymore. If you have a cow slip its calf through the winter don’t milk it on someone else’s property,” Andrew said.

When animals come back on to the farm keep them separated from the rest of the herd for a minimum of seven days and monitor them closely for any signs of disease.

“If you don’t have to introduce another animal into your farming business, then don’t. If that means milking 10 less cows, then milk 10 less cows.

16

“Think about having a no-bull plan but prepare for that now. Let your breeding company area managers know now so they can gear up for that,” Hugh said.

People Staff, contractors, relief staff, calf-rearers and any visitor to the farm can unwittingly bring disease with them.

Andrew said have one point of entry on the farm which you control. Consider locking other gates with a combination lock. Station a boot wash and disinfection point at the gate and again at the farm dairy with clear signage so people can wash boots and personal protection equipment as they enter and leave the property.

“For some diseases the chance of spreading the disease on footwear or vehicles might be low but for others it can be a factor. Having the disinfection points and signage focuses people’s attention and shows you are serious,” he said.

There are a number of disinfectants which are effective for varying amounts of time. Read and follow the instructions.

If you have staff moving between blocks or casual staff make sure they clean their boots and clothing and consider providing them with a set that stays on the farm.

Calf pens should be no-go areas for anyone but the calf-rearers also need to take care not to spread disease from one pen to another.

Put calves being sold at four days into a separate area for people to collect.

Equipment Take time to think about all the equipment that comes on to the farm and if it doesn’t need to be coming on, stop it.

Contractor equipment, effluent spreaders, vehicles including fertiliser spreaders, animal equipment such as stomach pumps or calf-pullers can all bring disease and all have a different level of risk.

“Insist that vehicles coming on to the property are cleaned. That’s imperative for any vehicles that must go on to areas where animals also go,” Andrew said.

“You need to provide them with somewhere to wash their vehicle down too. A gorse sprayer can quickly be converted into a washdown unit if a hose can’t be set up but again it’s about communicating that to contractors – make sure they use it,” Hugh said.

Equipment used with stock such as stomach pumps or calving jacks could be purchased so they stay on farm.

Don’t allow effluent or waste milk from other farms to come on to your property at all. Effluent spreaders need to be thoroughly cleaned out between properties. Look at how well equipment can be cleaned and avoid it if you have doubts.

“Be very clear with transport operators and contractors about your expectations.

Don’t be afraid to turn people away,” Hugh said.

Consider disinfecting areas of trucks where nasal and oral secretions from other animals are likely before you put your own stock on. If you share yards or equipment with other farms think about whether you actually need to do that and if you do then have a stand down period of at least 24 hours.

Some diseases such as BVD may require stand down periods of up to seven days.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Have you done the math?

Here’s the difference between taking milk from the vat at $6.70 payout versus feeding Sprayfo calf milk replacers.

The calculation is based on rearing 100 calves for 6 weeks with the same amount of total dry matter (500g/day) and total volume of milk.

Number Calves

100

# Days Feeding CMR or Vat Milk

42

CMR BAG PRICE Sprayfo Blue CMR 20kg $75.00 ex GST Sprayfo Red CMR 20kg $69.00 ex GST

Dairy Payout

$6.70 per kg milk solids

Cost Vat Milk

$2.33

per calf/day

Milk Solids % (FAT/PROTEIN)

8.70%

Cost Sprayfo Blue

$1.88

per calf/day

Feed Rate Vat Milk (usually 5-6L)

4

L per day

Cost Sprayfo Red

$1.73

per calf/day

Total Dry Matter per Calf/Day

500

gms per day

Feed Rate CMR

4

L per day

Concentration CMR (Can be 125-150gms)

125

gms per litre

Total Dry Matter per Calf/Day

500

gms per day

COST PER LITRE MILK Vat Milk

$0.58

Sprayfo Blue CMR

$0.47

Sprayfo Red CMR

$0.43

NOTE that this does not take into account dry matter content or feed rate required. See below for comparison.

# Calves

Cost/Calf/Day

Total Cost per day

Vat Milk

100

$2.33

$233.16

Sprayfo Blue CMR

100

$1.88

$187.50

-$45.66

$7,875.00

-$1,917.72

Sprayfo Red CMR

100

$1.73

$172.50

-$60.66

$7,245.00

-$2,547.72

Sprayfo Blue Premium 20kg Premium quality CMR for optimal calf rearing Can be fed to calves from 4 days’ old Whey protein for faster digestion Hydrolysed wheat protein aids digestibility (no soya) Dissolves easily and won’t drop out of solution Can be mixed with liquid whole milk Available in 20kg bags

Difference per day vs Vat Milk

Total Cost All Days

Difference All Days vs Vat Milk

$9,792.72

Sprayfo Red Finisher 20kg Good quality CMR for economical rearing Can be fed to calves from 14 days’ old Whey protein for faster digestion Hydrolysed wheat protein aids digestibility Contains soya protein (lower cost) Dissolves easily and won’t drop out of solution

Order Sprayfo CMRs from your local retailer Or call AgriVantage on 0800 64 55 76

0800 64 55 76 www.agrivantage.co.nz Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

17

Get set for a long haul

INSIGHT

UPFRONT M BOVIS

The complexity of Mycoplasma bovis means repeated testing will be needed before herds can be declared free of the disease. Anne Lee reports. he Australian dairy sector’s experience of Mycoplasma bovis suggests New Zealand could be in for a long haul when it comes to eradicating the disease.

University of Sydney associate professor and director of bovine clinical services Dr John House says complexity of the disease, animal response to it, difficulties with testing and categorically identifying all infected animals means there will have to be a lot of repeated testing before herds can confidently be declared M bovis-free.

“For New Zealand to say it’s eradicated the disease it’s going to take a lot of testing over a lot of time because you’re working with imperfect tests. But it is possible, diseases have been eradicated before with imperfect tests.”

Eradication has never been an aim for the Australian industry and House is quick to point out that Australia’s experience and management advice are therefore different to that of NZ’s.

In Australia most of the diagnostic value of testing is in identifying M bovis as the cause of disease in clinically infected animals, he says.

They’re then culled and the rest of the herd is managed as if sub-clinically infected with precautions taken to limit the spread.

“If you have one animal that tests positive you have to assume the rest of the herd is infected.”

If eradication is the aim, then culling the whole herd must be the course of action because it’s too difficult to distinguish between sub-clinical animals and animals that haven’t been infected.

House was consulted by NZ’s Ministry for Primary Industry experts last year and has provided technical advisers with research information – both published and about to be published that he and his team have carried out.

He explains the difficulty with testing is multifaceted because of both how the disease behaves and the tests.

“Mycoplasma bovis isn’t as simple as organism – cow – disease. It’s organism – cow – environment – disease.”

Animals infected with the bacteria can have long periods where they show no symptoms of disease, so they’re deemed to be sub-clinically infected.

Dr Alysia Parker and Dr John House – Environmental and physiological stresses on Infected herds could show up as negative. the animal look to be behind the animal then

T

18

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

PASTURE July 2018

Viscount NEA4: the fastest way to turn dairy cows into pigs this season

Early birds get the beet

Viscount NEA4 is proving an absolute hit with the (bovine) girls across New Zealand. In fact, they can’t help but make pigs of themselves on this delicious new tetraploid ryegrass from Agriseeds, even if it means packing on some pounds.

“Palatability is one thing we breed for at Agriseeds - it’s no good having a grass that grows a lot if cows don’t want to eat it. And there’s no doubt stock absolutely love Viscount, which means great utilisation year-round,” says lower North Island area manager Bruce Paterson.

“A palatable grass, can come with some trade-offs however. Farmers need to be a bit more careful when grazing Viscount especially in winter and summer. With it being so tasty, cows can easily graze it to the boards making a muddy mess of it in winter, or over-grazing it in summer.”

A ll tetraploids are more palatable to animals than diploid ryegrasses, and this is one of the reasons tetraploids tend to be less robust. In essence, cows often

naturally overgraze Viscount (or Bealey, its previous sister cultivar).

This high voluntary intake means excellent pasture utilisation, and works well on farms with lower stocking rates and good grazing control. On highly stocked milking platforms, however, repeated overgrazing reduces persistence.

“By ‘overgrazing’ we mean down to post grazing residuals of 1100-1200 kg DM/ha,” Bruce says. “Plants gradually become stressed when this occurs time after time.”

To thicken pasture in these situations, he suggests adding Trojan to Viscount for a diploid/ tetraploid mix. “Post grazing residuals for this combination typically rise to 1400-1500 kg DM/ ha, improving persistence.”

When it comes to locking in your fodder beet for next winter, you cannot order Robbos seed too early this year.

Demand was very strong last spring, and that was before farmers got to see how well Robbos (aka The Boss) handled challenging levels of humidity and disease that affected many other crops over this past season.

Now that word has got around about its excellent disease tolerance and leaf holding ability, on top of good DM yield and high animal acceptance, we expect Robbos to be even more of a favourite for spring sowing.

So if you haven’t already started planning fodder beet crops, now’s the time to have a word with your reseller and get some seed sorted.

By starting early, you’ll also be in the box seat for paddock preparation, which is so important to achieving good establishment and a profitable, high yielding crop.

For more information – including your own free fodder beet technical manual – visit us online at www.agriseeds.co.nz.

further information Dairy Exporter | For www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | freephone: July 2018 0800 449 955, email: mail@agriseeds.co.nz or visit: www.agriseeds.co.nz

19

succumbing and expressing the clinical symptoms.

Clinically infected animals shed the bacteria but even sub-clinically infected animals can shed the bacteria in milk and from mucosal sites such as the nose and vagina.

Shedding, though, can be intermittent.

Some animals may shed more frequently than others so one may shed on two out of 10 days while another sheds seven out of 10 days. When they shed they are shedding the M bovis bacteria itself.

House says a variety of tests can be used to identify M bovis in an animal and at a herd level but each has shortcomings.

PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing uses a technique where a segment of DNA is copied or amplified. When it’s used in diagnosis the amplification of the DNA that’s isolated out of a sample makes it faster and easier to identify the disease organism.

“If you’re doing a culture or a PCR you are looking for evidence of the organism. A PCR is looking for the organism itself and a culture is where you’re trying to grow the organism,” House says.

Both culturing and PCR tests are only useful, though, if the animal is shedding the organism at the time it’s tested and if it’s shedding in the sample being tested.

“If this animal has mycoplasma up the nose, this one has it in the vagina and this one in the udder, you’ll only pick up the one with the disease in the udder if you look at the milk,” he says.

If the animal is sub-clinical it may not be shedding so won’t be picked up.

“So, location of the infection and frequency of shedding create problems.”

BULLS Bulls are a potential source of infection and can be carriers but proving a bull isn’t infected is extremely difficult.

“It comes back to the issues with doing a test on an individual.

There’s potential for false positives and false negatives.

“I’m not aware of any test that would be reliable for bulls.”

In Australia the advice is not to buy or lease bulls from farms that have had any history of M bovis.

If the animal is clinically infected, then it is likely to shed large numbers of the organisms from the site of the problem.

“If you have a clinical animal with mastitis, you’ve probably got a million organisms per millilitre.”

BLOOD TESTS, SEROLOGY AND ELISA (ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY) Serology and Elisa tests on blood measure the presence of antibodies to a disease. If they’re positive the individual will have been exposed to the disease at some time and mounted an immune response to it.

But these tests aren’t fool proof either.

The immune response or antibodies produced by the animal to fight off M bovis can be similar to that produced to fight off similar but different diseases in the Mycoides family.

“You may have results that you’d say are positives while some are negative, but you often have some results that are low-level

or possible positives and some that are inconclusive because it could be positive but is cross reaction with something else.”

The results are often expressed as a percent of a positive control – so the positive control is 100% and the antibody level in the test is 20% or 30% or even 120%.

Based on the MPI Technical Advisory Group report from December the percentage of positive control level over which a herd is deemed infected has been set at 10%.

Initially it had been set at 5%.

“The other important fact with measuring an immune response is the response changes over time.”

It takes some time for the body to produce antibodies so testing too early after exposure to the disease may give a false negative.

The antibody response is represented by a bell-shaped curve so after a longer time the antigen level drops off.

If the Elisa or serology test is carried out too long after the initial exposure, it can also give a false negative.

Individual animals may only have a weak immune response and the test is better carried out at a herd level or with a greater sample size.

But House says they do provide a longer period of detection with animals that are intermittent shedders than a PCR test.

“You’ve probably got several months to pick it up whereas the PCR has to be done on a sample taken at the time the animal was shedding.”

Elisa testing can also be carried out on bulk milk tank samples and milk samples from the hospital mob.

Animals infected with the bacteria can have long periods where they show no symptoms of disease.

20

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Treat pain, fever, inflammation

DIFFICULT CALVING

SCOURS

MASTITIS

DOWN COW

SURGERY

PNEUMONIA

LAMENESS

SICK CALVES

top performing farmers routinely use

for

PRODUCTIVITY WELLBEING SUSTAINABILITY

Restricted Veterinary Medicines, registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, No. A11031, and A11234

Evidence based vet medicines Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

0800 821 421

www.agrihealth.co.nz 21

AHNSAID-DEX06.18

Testing too early after exposure to the disease may give a false negative.

House says antigen levels and immune response can be tested in milk which is an easier way of sampling large numbers of cows.

“If you have an infected herd with a high level of exposure the bulk tank should show you that from a serology or antibody perspective.”

But it’s still possible to get false positives by picking up antibodies to similar organisms to M bovis and if a herd had been infected three to four years ago it was possible antigen levels would be too low to pick up.

Herds may have to be tested multiple times using a mix of testing processes before they can be declared clear or infected.

Studies by Dr Alysia Parker at Sydney University during her PhD research found there were periods when a herd, known to be infected, could have potentially shown up as negative.

“In our longitudinal studies where we were doing a reasonably high level of sampling over a long period there were times where we could go six months without finding it and then it would pop up,” House says.

AUSTRALIAN ADVICE TO LIMIT SPREAD Calf rearing • Never feed milk from the red or hospital mob to calves, infected milk is a sure way to spread the disease.

• Do not pool colostrum. Instead, bag colostrum from each cow and feed it to two calves only. Keep a record of which calves received colostrum from which cow.

• Pick up calves frequently.

• Pasteurise calf milk or use calf milk replacer.

• Don’t rely on acidifying milk to kill the bacteria in milk – preparation has to be exact and mistakes are too easy to make.

• Keep sick cows in a separate pen.

• Watch for respiratory illness in young calves, head tilt, ear infections, weak, floppy animals, swollen joints.

Calving and milk handling • Watch cows closely around calving for swollen joints or hard to treat mastitis.

• During an outbreak use injectable, systemic antibiotics rather than intramammary treatments to limit the chance of cross contamination of cows. Putting tubes into cows increases the risk.

• If stripping cows, use gloves and disinfect hands and equipment between each animal.

• If more than one row or one platform of cows in the hospital mob disinfect cups before second round.

22

VACCINE Technical difficulty and questionable economic returns are likely to be behind the fact no vaccine for Mycoplasma bovis has been developed yet, University of Sydney associate professor John House says.

The nature of the bacterial organism, including its lack of a cell wall which vaccines typically target, have hampered international efforts to develop an effective vaccine. Some iterations have even caused further adverse reactions. A more recent report out of China evaluating an experimental modified live vaccine suggests this approach may work and is bringing some hope.

House says it’s also likely animal health companies question the economics of taking a vaccine to market because they don’t believe there would be enough demand.

“I don’t think a vaccine is necessarily impossible but I’m not aware of any commercial vaccine available on the market that is efficacious at this time.”

The fact that globally farmers have learned to manage with the disease, albeit with the first outbreak on a farm often causing significant disease and financial loss, could also be behind a lack of motivation from pharmaceutical companies to invest.

“If you were a pharmaceutical company in Australia and you developed a vaccine for the dairy industry you’d probably go broke because I don’t think you’d get enough people to use it.

“The prevalence of the disease is relatively low, so most people wouldn’t perceive they have a need for it.

“On farms that have had it but can now manage with it they probably wouldn’t want to spend the money because they’re managing it.”

In New Zealand, if government and industry weren’t trying to eradicate the disease, demand for a vaccine would likely be high but how long that demand would last is unknown, he says.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

INSIGHT

UPFRONT M BOVIS

Acid test for calf milk Large-scale calf-rearer Joanne Leigh finds citric acid is the answer to cutting the risk of the spread of Mycoplasma bovis. Sheryl Brown reports.

dding citric acid to whole milk is a practical and costeffective method to reduce the risk of infecting calves with Mycoplasma bovis-infected milk.

Top-Notch Calves has recently completed milk trials with Fonterra and DairyNZ to lower the pH of whole milk using citric acid and yoghurt.

Joanne Leigh and her husband Jonathan are dairy farmers and owners of Top-Notch Calves, a large-scale Waikato calf-rearing operation. In the past 14 years they have reared 1400-8000 calves each season with no serious disease outbreaks.

Joanne says feeding infected M bovis milk to calves is the second-biggest risk of spreading the disease, behind stock movement. Milk that has the lowest risk of containing M bovis bacteria comes in three forms, feeding calf milk replacement powder, acidified milk or pasteurised milk.

Acidification to a pH of less than 5 for at least eight hours kills M bovis bacteria.

She says feeding acidified milk is a cheaper option than buying pasteurising equipment or calf milk replacement powder, and utilises the whole milk available on farms.

“If this (acidification) is done right you can eliminate the risk of M bovis.

Otherwise you’ll run into issues with (milk powder) supply and there will be a lot of milk sitting around on farms which is often a byproduct.”

Calf rearers need to achieve a pH level below 5 to ensure all the M bovis bacteria is killed. It’s best to aim to get down to a level of 4.5. Anything under 4 pH becomes unpalatable for calves.

The Top-Notch acidification trials added yoghurt and citric acid to vats of 3000l of whole milk and monitored the pH level of the milk which was then fed to three-tofour-week old calves.

The yoghurt took six days to drop the milk pH from 6.7 to 4.8, whereas adding 15kg of citric acid took two hours to drop the pH to 4.5 and adding 16.5kg dropped the pH to 4.3 immediately. The best

MILK ACIDIFICATION TRIAL

A

Vat 1: 2x Easiyo yoghurt sachets added to 10 litres of warm water and added into 3000 litres of whole milk.

Results: No change to pH after 24 hours, took six days to reduce pH from 6.7 to 4.8.

Vat 2: 15.5kg citric acid added to 3000l whole milk. option therefore is to use 5.5g of citric acid per litre of whole milk, or 5.5kg/1000l.

Milk below 5 pH does separate, but with gentle mixing it goes back into a homogenous solution. Continuous mixing causes coagulation as does vigorous mixing. Joanne has found different grades of citric acid online, ranging from $38 to $98 for a 25kg bag. The pH strips can also be bought online or from farm merchant stores. If newborn calves do not drink this milk mixture, it maybe a good idea to start them on a 50/50 mix of milk powder and citric acid treated milk for the first few weeks, she says.

Red milk is the highest-risk milk that can be fed to calves, and should be avoided altogether.

“People need to think about the whole industry and not their own pocket, we have to think about the long term and we have to be in this together.

“We all need to be working toward eradication.”

Joanne is encouraging all calf-rearers to develop a procedure for their staff for treating whole milk and increased biosecurity protocols onfarm.

At Top-Notch staff will be treating the milk with citric acid as soon as it arrives on their calf-rearing block, they will test the milk pH immediately and then test the pH level again before feeding it to the calves.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Results: Within 24 hours pH dropped from 6.7 to 4.5 and stayed there. Milk was stirred once when citric acid was added for one hour.

Milk separated, but reconstituted well after being stirred.

Vat 3: 16.5kg citric acid added to 3000l whole milk.

Results: pH dropped immediately to 4.3 and stayed there.

They have bought a set of kitchen scales to measure the citric acid and will stir the milk twice a week.

All visitors will be required to leave their vehicle at the entrance and clean their boots in a foot bath.

For farmers and calf-rearers alike it’s about finding balance between minimising risk and shutting their business or the industry down, Joanne says.

“It’s about coming up with a plan for your property and then we’ve got to get on with the business of farming. You can only control what you can.”

Every calf-rearer must consider M bovis this season, however, and where possible they should minimise the number of places they buy calves or milk from and know exactly where those calves are coming from, she says. NAIT transfers need to be 100% recorded, even if it’s one calf sold to the small lifestyle block owner down the road.

Check out Joanne’s latest video on calf-rearing M bovis issues on the Dairy Exporter Facebook and youtube channel.

23

INSIGHT

UPFRONT M BOVIS

‘We just tested our way out of it’ A former Wairarapa couple who experienced Mycoplasma bovis while dairy farming in Tasmania learned to live with the disease. Jackie Harrigan reports.

asmanian dairy farmers James and Philippa Langley say Mycoplasma bovis is a horrible disease to deal with, but it is entirely possible to farm your way through it and beat it.

The 800-cow, split-herd farmers had an outbreak in 2010 with a lameness and mastitis issue in their dry cows.

“They were fine when we dried them off, but a cow first blew up with lameness from swollen joints and then it spread to bad mastitis.”

The vet thought it could have been a dry-off problem, but it was eventually identified as M bovis after a positive test came back.

A number of cows were milk tested and culled if the test returned positive. After the diagnosis the authorities were told, but were not keen on doing anything about it, James says.

The Langleys think they tracked the infection to a cow from the neighbour’s that jumped over the fence into their herd and was milked with them for a couple of days before being returned.

“The neighbour had bought cows in from the mainland when he was putting his herd together to go back dairying after beef farming.”

The neighbour subsequently tested all his herd and the offending cow was negative – but, James says, that’s the trouble with M bovis, the cow was under stress at the time and could’ve been shedding bacterium then but not by the time she was tested.

“Our cows had never been exposed to it before and we think there could’ve been something else going on with them that triggered the infection – they were heading into calving and so were getting under stress.”

Philippa did lots of research on the disease, contacting overseas and Australian

T

24

James and Phillipa Langley – M.bovis is a horrible disease.

experts and deciding with their vet on the path to take.

‘She was talking to people in America in the middle of the night – we tried to get as much information as we could.”

First step was starting testing.

“We just tested our way out of it,” James says.

Every cow that came into the herd at calving was tested with a milk sample, which he says was a long and convoluted business.

“The testing took way longer than it does these days – we took a milk sample

from every cow and sent it away for culturing and testing which took 10 days to get a result.”

Cost of the testing over the season was about $10,000 and the Langleys ended up culling 60 cows.

The cost was huge and at a time of the Global Financial Crisis the payout dropped by 30% and times were pretty tough. But after a year, 60 culled cows and two calves lost, the farm had no more problems with M bovis.

Cleanliness was a huge part of the strategy, James said.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

“Our staff were great, they used fresh gloves for every cow with a new case of mastitis coming in to the dairy and changed to clean gloves at the end of each row. Mastitis cows were kept separate from the rest of the herd.”

Every calf was prophylactically treated with an antibiotic called Mycotil to help protect them from respiratory disease.”

A hacking cough and pneumonia is the common manifestation of M bovis in calves.

“We only ever had to destroy two calves with the M bovis.”

The calves were fed colostrum from all fresh cows once the mastitis M.bovis cases had already gone. Only two calves were lost before they started the Mycotil treatment.

The Langleys moved from the Wairarapa to the coastal northwest of Tasmania at Smithton to cheaper dairy country 13 years ago and appreciated the regular rainfall and sandy soils that generated year-round grass growth. Supplemented with cheap grain from the Australian mainland meant Langleys cows were producing 580kg milksolids (MS)/cow/year.

Feeding them well with cheap grain supplement along with stacks of silage

and hay meant the cows were in good condition year-round and James credits this and their rigorous farm hygiene protocols with keeping M bovis away.

PCR testing was not available at the time of their outbreak, but they have used it since.

“We have done a PCR test every year since 2011 and even had to test before we sold the farm earlier this year – and it was clear.”

James wonders at the sense of alerting the whole world to the problem of M bovis in the industry, and while he says they felt a bit isolated and hard-done-by when the Australian authorities were not keen to escalate their problem, he now thinks it was probably a good strategy.

“The authorities didn’t want to alert the world to something they don’t understand.”

On holiday in New Zealand when the NZ government announced their decision to eradicate the disease from Kiwi farms, James is unsure that the strategy will work, but says it is good to try and get rid of it.

“But if it is already too widespread and the eradication fails, you can actually learn to live with the disease and keep it at bay.”

LANGLEYS’ POINTS FOR HYGIENE • Most importantly, the herd must be totally closed.

• Milkers must keep gloves changed to keep clean as possible.

• Using white gloves over milking gloves if teats are stripped one glove per teat.

• Bucket of water with hypochlorite bleach in, used to flush platform if mastitis present.

• Cups dipped in hypo water after mastitis case.

• Dairy sprayed with hypo after each milking and everything kept spotless.

• Milking clothing scrubbed with hypo and put out in sun after each milking. Boots also washed.

• Calf shed sprayed regularly and feeders scrubbed.

• No one goes into calf shed from dairy without foot bath and clothing washed down.

• Calf trailer disinfected after each pick up.

Is your childcare sorted for the busy calving season? Moo-ve it!

Au Pair Link connect loving au pairs from all over the world to provide in-home, quality childcare for your family. The flexibility in hours means no more waking up the children early in the morn’ and you can also see them throughout the day.

Why choose Au Pair Link?

• Flexible hours and affordable quality childcare which works well • • • • •

with farming families Fully screened, experienced au pairs from abroad Access to childcare outings and playgroups Personalised educational resources for your child Access to 20 Hours ECE and WINZ subsidies New cultural experience for the whole family

Be prepared for the calving season and find the perfect au pair for your family now.

Call the friendly team on 0800 AU PAIR (287 247) or visit www.aupairlink.co.nz today!

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

25

INSIGHT

MPI would be tracing all animals from calf-rearers likely to have had infected calves on their properties.

UPFRONT M BOVIS

Keep calm and carry on As Mycoplasma bovis continues to spread across the country what do farmers need to know to protect their farms from the disease? Andrew Swallow reports. he Ministry for Primary Industries says it expects all farmers not under movement control to carry on business as usual in the coming calf sale season.

In answer to questions about M bovis, the ministry says as long as movements are fully recorded in NAIT it would be able to follow any cattle that may be of interest, and any farm that is potentially infected will be under movement control.

However, it seems there have been, and indeed still are, no such restrictions on some farms with calves reared last spring which originally came from what are now known to be infected farms. Only when a positive test result on an animal is received have movement restrictions been put in place.

Stock agents say some potential buyers are contacting them asking about the M bovis status of lines, but they do not necessarily know the answer. One said he’s just been passing on vendors’ contact details so buyers can make their own inquiries.

Asked how it is prioritising testing, and at what point a notice of direction (NOD) is issued, MPI says it assesses risk based on imports from infected or suspected infected properties and lab results that raise questions. Farms are put under NOD if perceived as high risk and prioritised for testing.

T

26

Calves from M bovis-free properties that passed through saleyards last spring or subsequently, on the same day as calves or stock now known to be infected, will not be traced.

“The short time the animals spend in the sales yard and the grouping into sales cohorts means there is minimal risk to other animals in the yards,” MPI says it has been advised.

However, it would be tracing all animals from calf-rearers likely to have had infected calves on their properties. Theses farms had thousands of calves, which have now been sold on to multiple buyers, some of whom may have already on-sold the calves again.

The number of trace farms was nearly 3000. How many of those had been tested, remained to be tested, and how many animals were involved was not answered

by MPI, nor did it give a break down on the type of properties other than to say that, as of the end of May, eight of the then 35 infected properties were calfrearers.

The number of farms being traced due to waste milk connections with infected farms was another figure MPI failed to provide but it says its “in-depth engagement with farmers who bought or sold waste milk” includes onfarm investigations of waste milk sales and bank records.

MPI considers feeding contaminated

VETS’ CONCERNS The New Zealand Veterinary Association is concerned farmers will attempt to treat unidentified M bovis cases with antibiotic, and may only seek veterinary advice when treatment fails.

“During the incursion, it is really important to seek early veterinary intervention for any unusual or non-responsive cases, particularly of pneumonia in calves, mastitis and arthritis,” chief veterinary officer Dr Helen Beattie says.

Testing is only of limited help in preventing introduction of the disease to a herd due to the difficulty of obtaining a sample containing M bovis from an infected animal or, in the case of antibody (serology) tests, the unknown period during which antibodies are present.

Research shows varying periods of antibody persistence - as little as a week, or up to two months, or potentially more.

“Before you hang your hat on a clear result you have to understand what that test result is really telling us… What is useful, is understanding your risks to M bovis infection. A focus on testing as the panacea isn’t helpful.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Calves from M bovis-free properties that passed through saleyards last spring or subsequently, on the same day as calves or stock now known to be infected, will not be traced.

PASTEURISATION OF MILK Pasteurisation: is rapidly heating milk to a temperature of no less than 72C and retaining it at that temperature for no less than 15 seconds; or rapidly heating milk to a temperature of no less than 63C and retaining it at that temperature for no less than 30 minutes. This will kill M bovis if the machine in maintained and instructions followed.

The cost: Pasteurising equipment cost: from $23,000+gst for 250-litre system 1500l system from $45,700+gst.

unpasteurised milk to calves “may be a significant risk,” but a lesser risk than prolonged animal-to-animal contact.

Casual, over-the-fence contamination is not considered high risk.

“We have seen no example of this in NZ.”

Strains, tests and vaccines MPI says the strain of Mycoplasma bovis in New Zealand is most closely related to the strain circulating in Europe and North America, and is not the same strain as in Australia.

MPI ON NZ M BOVIS • One strain, “closely related” to Europe and North America’s.

• Infection risk: prolonged contact > infected milk > casual contact > fomites.

• Minimum two rounds of tests before cleared.

• Tracing all suspect calves and onfarm contacts “to end destination”.

• Saleyard contacts minimal risk so no tracing.

• 3000 traces and rising. Progress on testing not disclosed.

Despite vet Meryln Hay’s report to the NZVA’s Dairy Cattle Vets conference in December that virulence and rate of disease caused by M bovis on the first farm in NZ found infected was unprecedented in global literature, MPI says virulence now appears the same as that for M bovis internationally.

ELISA testing of blood samples for antibodies is the primary surveillance tool being used with PCR (ie DNA) testing of nasal swabs collected at the same time as bloods, and/or milk on dairy farms, used to confirm, if possible, infection.

Neither test is reliable due to a limited and highly variable period when infected animals produce antibodies, and/or shed bacteria to places where infection may easily be detected, such as the nostrils, vagina or milk. Hence MPI’s use of multiple tests, three to four weeks apart, to assess likelihood of infection.

“There’s no maximum number of rounds of testing, only a minimum of two,” MPI says.

“We will continue to test a farm until we are certain of its status. If a farm tests as clear of Mycoplasma bovis - as the majority do - then they will be able to continue farming as they were before.

We encourage farms that have tested

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

clear to maintain scrupulous hygiene and biosecurity standards.”

Cultures grown from milk or swab samples are analysed in more detail to gather more information about an infection’s genetic history if infection is confirmed.

MPI says PCR tests are commercially available and farmers can discuss this with their vet. A commercial ELISA testing service is being worked on.

It appears NZ’s M bovis originates from a single strain imported around December 2015, so could a vaccine specific to that strain - a so-called autogenous vaccine - be useful? MPI says the possibility has been explored.

“All we can say with certainty at this stage is that vaccination is not an adequate option for our aim of eradicating the disease from NZ.”

Sheep restrictions MPI says research shows attempts to infect sheep with M bovis fail and sheep will not pass infection to other animals, including cows.

However, MPI is imposing restrictions on non-bovines on suspect and infected farms to prevent disease spread via mud and muck on hooves or wool.

27

SPONSORED CONTENT

Don’t lose your cool

M

any New Zealand farmers store their vaccines in a fridge on the farm with little knowledge on whether that fridge is storing their vaccine at the correct temperature or not. It is not uncommon for farmers to have expensive, modern refrigerators in their homes containing $200 worth of groceries and retired refrigerators in their sheds containing $3,000 worth of vaccines.

A recent British study recorded the internal temperatures of nineteen farm fridges over a seven month period. The study concluded that each fridge recorded either above or below the recommended temperature of between 2-8°C and in a significant number of fridges, the temperature was outside the required range for long enough to affect the vaccine’s potency.

Poor vaccine storage can cause wastage, reduce effectiveness and even cause harm to animals.

For the 2018 Ultravac® BVD campaign, Zoetis is offering an alarmed fridge thermometer* for every two 250mL packs purchased or for every five packs of Ultravac® BVD 100mL purchased to aid in ensuring that vaccines are stored at the correct temperature.

BVD (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea) is one of the most common and costly diseases in New Zealand cattle. The problem with BVD is that many of the losses it causes are not obvious; your cattle may have this disease and you may not be aware of it.

In New Zealand 15%-20% of dairy herds and 65% of beef herds are infected with BVD, and most beef and dairy herds will be infected at some point in time.

Zoetis the makers of Ultravac® BVD, have stringent manufacturing, quality control and cold chain shipping protocols in place to make sure their vaccines arrive in our vet clinic ready to protect your animals.

Make sure you get the most out of your vaccines by following these steps to maintaining correct storage temperatures: • Unless otherwise stated, vaccines must be kept at 2-8°C. 28

• The vaccine should be refrigerated via a chilly bag/bin during transportation to the farm. Unpack and refrigerate the vaccine on arrival.

• Place a digital thermometer inside the refrigerator and monitor the temperature regularly.

• Store refrigerated goods so there is space between them to allow the air to circulate and better maintain target temperature.

• Secure the fridges thermostat so it is not accidentally adjusted.

• For further information on best practise vaccine handling and BVD control, talk to your vet today.

Zoetis New Zealand Limited. Tel: 0800 963 847; www.zoetis.co.nz. ULTRAVAC is a registered trade mark of Zoetis Inc. ACVM No. A10730: RVM; Available only under Veterinary Authorisation. *While stocks last

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

INSIGHT

UPFRONT M BOVIS

Risk of bobby calf bulge

Words by: Tim Fulton

S

tronger NAIT enforcement could create a bobby calf bulge on farms and more animal welfare backlash, a Federated Farmers leader says.

Before Mycoplasma bovis the livestock industry was castigated for poor treatment of bobby calves carted for rearing or slaughter.

New NAIT rules and M bovis worries could see farmers play it safe by keeping bobbies onfarm, Federated Farmers meat and wool industry group chairperson Miles Anderson said.

Dairy farmers appeared to be reacting to “a bit of panic around bovis,” he said.

“It would seem there’s a lot of pressure not to send any calves away on a bobby truck.” There were signs South Island calfrearers have fewer calves on their hands this year.

“There may not be anything wrong with (stock); it’s because of the fear associated with a bovis outbreak.”

Farmers were understandably cautious about animal welfare or NAIT breaches, but keeping more bobbies at home could create the “perverse outcome” of more animal welfare problems from over-stocking and the need to cull animals, Anderson said.

A two-year review of NAIT released in March made 38 recommendations for law changes, new policy and operational improvements.

An MPI spokesperson said primary industries minister Damien O’Connor wanted to prioritise the 23 operational recommendations “because implementing these will make a real difference to improving the NAIT scheme and can be achieved without legislative change”.

MPI would also consider recommendations requiring law changes and would incorporate lessons learnt from the M bovis outbreak.

Ospri chief executive Michelle Edge, the lead manager for NAIT, said the system had “functioned really well on reported data” and the problem had been the “regulation of traceability and adherence”.

NAIT recorded an average of about one

A stock-counting exercise is favoured after the release of the NAIT review.

million transactions a month but it was impossible to know how much data had been missed, she said. “Because to do that I’d have to stand at every farm gate and count.”

After the release of the NAIT review Edge said she favoured a stock-counting exercise like a “standstill” simulation in Australia to prove NAIT’s future effectiveness.

“Once changes are made to the (NAIT) system and surrounding supply chain and legislative framework, the next step would be the conduct of a national livestock standstill exercise to see how the system is performing.”

As part of the operational changes NAIT would introduce a new RFID tag standard and requirement of tag manufacturers to only sell tags to a person in charge of animals (PICA) for an approved NAIT location. Tag suppliers would also have to report any tag loss/retention issues to NAIT and the company itself develop a system to record the slips. NAIT was also working with government “to work through which areas would lead to a regulatory amendment process,” Edge said.

Government would need to pass amendments to the NAIT Act “and/or regulation” so that NAIT numbers are assigned to and remain with a specific NAIT location, for example.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

New regulation would also prohibit people formally in charge of livestock movements (PICA) from sending animals to other premises without a NAIT number.

It would become an offence to apply the tags linked to a particular NAIT location to animals residing at a different NAIT location.

In a change to the NAIT Act, processors, sale yards and accredited facilities would be defined as enterprises and “subject to specified standards for accreditation”. They would not be defined as PICAs in the NAIT system.

An animal welfare inspectorate already authorised under the NAIT Act would do “field investigations” on farms, at saleyards and in processing using information from Ospri to check records against NAIT data.

There would be regular inspections of ASD cards to check movements, Edge said soon after the release of the NAIT review.

The livestock industry could also expect “blitz inspections” like a recent Cook Strait operation run by MPI in response

to M bovis. *The recommendations of the NAIT review can be found at: www.ospri. co.nz/.../Uploads/Documents/NAITReview-Final-Report.pdf

29

INSIGHT

UPFRONT M BOVIS

Slow disease spread offers hope

Words by: Tim Fulton

T

he vet who first reported Mycoplasma bovis in New Zealand has offered farmers hope that the disease can be contained and ultimately eradicated. Van Leeuwen Group vet Merlyn Hay had the rare veterinary experience on July 27 last year of finding an exotic disease causing severe infection on a working farm.

Of the 380 dry cows due to start calving on the Van Leeuwen property, more than 200 calved with four-quarter mastitis.

There were 35 cases of Mycoplasma arthritis, all of which were from a lactating cow group in the barn.

There were about 100 cases of

CALF CLUB GUIDELINES During the M bovis eradication programme, DairyNZ recommends schools and those managing calf days, look for alternatives to calf day. A ‘pet day’ with other pets and animals is a much safer option. While these days were a real community activity, no animal which wasn’t well should be brought along.

If they opt to go ahead, all calves should have a NAIT tag, and calves in movement control herds wouldn’t be able to attend. Those children bringing calves should have clean gumboots and clothes and their calves should be kept separate from each other as much as possible.

Calves should have their own feeding bowl and halter and be only fed milk which comes from the farm they’re from and children participating shouldn’t handle calves other than their own. Hand sanitiser should be made available to judges for their use.

More: dairynz.co.nz/media/5789749/ m-bovis-calf-club-day 30

Mycoplasma mastitis from the lactating cows out of the barn and these cows generally had one or more quarters affected. More than 100 calves were euthanised for what appeared to be a congenital infection, she told the Society of Dairy Cattle Veterinarians last year.

Reflecting on a tumultuous 12 months, Hay says the severity of the infection on the Van Leeuwen farms was unprecedented “but I think we’d struggle to see that circumstance repeated given that (nationally) all of our tests since have shown very low levels of infection”.

Testing and tracing around the country appeared to be identifying infected herds to enable culling. “Because it’s a very slowmoving disease and it hasn’t been here (long) we’re not seeing a large build-up of infection.”

Overseas experience suggested that while it could cause severe infection on individual farms, it rarely caused widespread problems on a national herd basis.

‘Because it’s a very slow-moving disease and it hasn’t been been here (long) we’re not seeing a large build-up of infection.’

Hay didn’t believe the risk of the disease spreading would necessarily be higher during calving, provided infected farms had already been identified.

“Certainly it can spread by milk but one thing to keep in mind is that we’re going for eradication and a lot of money has been spent on identifying infected farms. And if that is working as everybody

Professor Cord Heuer believes it would be more productive to eradicate several other diseases before Mycoplasma bovis

hopes, we’re not going to be seeing herds with active infection this calving season.”

Hay says NZ could learn from overseas experience but the disease would probably express differently here because of different grazing and stock-movement systems. NZ would therefore have to “plough its own path.”

“It’s very unique to New Zealand so we can’t expect to see the same patterns of disease and paths of transfer.”

Massey University infectious diseases specialist Cord Heuer says M bovis is probably spreading more slowly in NZ because cows and calves aren’t housed together like in the United States and Europe, for example.

However this calving season will be critical for the eradication push, he says.

Heuer understands from industry contacts that MPI will re-evaluate its eradication policy in October, once calving is over.

“Calving is preceded by huge (stock) movements and lactation stress. It’s the moment when a lot of signs come out that were not visible before. Also, the tests are more likely to be positive.”

Heuer does not support an eradication policy. There is a stronger economic case for eradicating more virulent and fast-spreading diseases like bovine viral diarrhoea, he says.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Bulk survey set for spring Words by: Glenys Christian

A

big milk survey involving a further round of bulk milk testing will be carried out in spring to gain a better feel for Mycoplasma bovis levels, after rising twoyear-olds come into dairy herds.

Dr Eve Pleydell, Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) incident controller, said it would be similar to that which took place earlier this year when tests were carried out on 11,400 farms. But there would be no national testing of discard milk as that would be more difficult to carry out.

“We will be looking at beef cattle as well because we haven’t done much testing so far,” she told more than 100 farmers attending a Pukekohe meeting run by MPI and DairyNZ in mid-June. Testing at a large Ashburton feedlot which drew cattle from 700 farms showed no positive responses.

“We have done some testing at meatworks and will have to do more,” she said.

“The test is in design at present.”

Meatworks were not carrying out testing themselves but it was likely this would take place once the testing method was agreed on.

In Australia M bovis wasn’t seen in beef cattle in a pasture situation, only in feedlots where it was found in about 8% of animals, Pleydell said.

Dave Yard, a senior response manager with Biosecurity, said a pleasing sign was that notices of direction to prevent further spread of the disease were going down with 69 in April this year, 287 on May 17 and 136 on June 6.

On farms where there was a risk of M bovis about 130 animals needed to be sampled and that had to be repeated a number of times as the disease could lay

INSIGHT

UPFRONT M BOVIS

dormant for a long period.

Yard said that while there had been some teething problems with the disinfecting of properties where stock had been culled this process had now been Ministry for Primary well refined to two Industries incident rounds over 60 days. controller, Dr Eve Pleydell.

Flexibility was being allowed so farmers could finish milking or so the culling would fit in with other farming operations.

Stock which had been in contact with infected animals would be culled but if they were kept completely separately on an infected farm they might not be. If farmers kept good records an initial compensation payment would be made within two weeks of a fully completed cull.

The backbone of your business.

Cash Manager Focus Modern, innovative financial software geared for the next generation of farmers.

Start a free demo today at www.focusfarm.nz

0800 888 080

crssoftware.co.nz

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

31

INSIGHT

UPFRONT MARKET VIEW

Focus on Asia The Asian market is more than just China, AgriHQ dairy analyst Susan Kilsby writes.

N

ew Zealand exports more dairy products to other parts of Asia than we do to China.

But as China is by far the largest individual destination these other countries often get overlooked.

Several exciting markets in Asia have the potential to grow rapidly. Markets of particular interest include: Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. These have sizeable populations and feature high economic growth rates.

The 10 largest Asian markets for NZ dairy products are: China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In terms of value Japan jumps up the list to third place, behind China and Malaysia.

These economies all have different levels of wealth and are growing at differing rates as can be seen in the table.

This data clearly shows why so many countries are focusing on selling products to China. China is a massive market that has been growing at an exceptional rate.

The wealth of its consumers is at a level to enable a good portion of its population to be able to afford dairy products.

Aside from China, which other markets have the most potential?

Indonesia will be exciting. The scale of this market is vast and its economy has grown rapidly in the past decade.

Indonesia already imports more dairy products than Malaysia but NZ’s share of this market is lower. NZ supplies about a 32

quarter of the dairy commodities imported

by Indonesia whereas last year European countries supplied more than 40%.

Indonesia’s population is poorer than that of China. About 10% live in poverty – about the proportion of China’s population that was living in poverty just six years ago. China has now decreased its poverty rate to about 3% and aims to lift its entire population out of poverty by 2020.

Despite the lower wealth levels of Indonesia this is an exciting dairy market.

Its population is nearly 10 times greater than Malaysia so has the potential to be a sizeable market for imported dairy products.

By 2050 Indonesia is expected to be the

Country

NZ dairy commodity global export ranking

fourth largest economy, behind China, India, and the United States.

Indonesia, along with Vietnam, has been identified by several economists as an exciting emerging economy. Both countries feature on the “Next 11” or N11 list identified by Jim O’Neil – a Goldman Sachs investment banker – as having a high potential of becoming one of the world’s largest economies this century.

Indonesia and Vietnam are also parts of the CIVETS group – an acronym used

by Robert Ward, global director of the Economist Intelligence Unit, to group six emerging markets having diverse and dynamic economies and young and growing populations.

While it is clear Indonesia has the potential to become a large economic power, Vietnam’s economy is less than a quarter of the size of Indonesia’s. Vietnam also has a much smaller population, but it has boasted some impressive growth in recent years. PWC projects this will propel Vietnam into its list of the Top 20 economies in 2050. The Philippines is also expected to become one of the world’s largest economies. PWC have ranked the Philippines at 19 on its list of the largest economies in 2050.

The Philippines also makes it on to the N11 list. The Philippines sources about a third of its dairy requirements from the US, and about a quarter each from Europe and NZ. SMP is the main product imported.

Given the product make up and it historic ties it is not surprising that the Philippines sources so much from the US. The two main products NZ supplies are SMP and anhydrous milkfat. These two products can be re-combined to produce drinking milk but also have many other industrial uses.

Population 2018

GDP 2017

GDP growth rate

Volume 2017

Value 2017

Million

Per capita

Annual average % 2008-17

China

1

1

1415

16600

8.2

Malaysia

3

5

32

28900

4.6

Indonesia

6

8

267

12400

5.6

Japan

7

6

127

42700

0.5

Sri Lanka

8

13

21

13000

5.7

Thailand

9

11

69

17800

2.9

Singapore

10

15

6

90500

4.0

Philippines

12

9

107

8200

5.6

Vietnam

13

14

96

6900

6.0

Bangladesh

16

17

166

4200

6.3

Sources: World Population Review, Central Intelligence Agency, International Monetary Fund, Statistics NZ

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

EPRINEX MEANS MORE MILK. ®

It’s not a theory. It’s a fact. EPRINEX® has been scientifically engineered to be the fastest acting, most potent broad spectrum pour on available for lactating dairy cows.

Analysis of more than 80 trials shows a consistent increase in milk productivity and improved reproductive performance. +

With over 20 years of trusted performance gains worldwide, choose Eprinex for your herd and expect better returns than any other drench. Backed up by science to deliver an expected 7.41kg MS/cow more.

So for reliable productivity returns on your stock and peace of mind this season, talk to your local vet about the scientific benefits of treating with EPRINEX - NZ’s most trusted pour on.

(McPherson et al (2001) NZVJ 49 (3) 106-110)

+

Proudly available from your local veterinary clinic. Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health New Zealand Limited. Level 3, 2 Osterley Way, Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand. EPRINEX® is a registered trademark of Boehringer Ingelheim Group. Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997 | No. A7191 ©Copyright 2018 Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health New Zealand Limited. All rights reserved. NZ-17-BAH-148.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

33

RAB012945

Grow with the bank founded by farmers for farmers Rabobank - 120 years of global agricultural history We have a unique understanding of agriculture and the importance of taking a longer view. That’s why, through bumper seasons and leaner years, we’ll be here to help you grow.

If you’d like to grow with Rabobank

call340800 722 622 | rabobank.co.nz

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Peter and Jenny Sinclair, Ann Bouma and Pete Morgan, with dogs, Meg, left, and Jake.

Photos: Emma McCarthy.

BUSINESS EQUITY PARTNERSHIPS

Strength in equity Best friends Pete Morgan and Ann Bouma, and Peter and Jenny Sinclair have gone from being sole owner-operators of their own dairy farms to entering an equity partnership. They told Sheryl Brown why they decided to go into business together and how the move has given them more freedom and balance in their lives.

inancial strength from joining equity has been a bonus of a South Waikato equity partnership, but the real measure of success runs a lot deeper.

Pete Morgan and Ann Bouma, together with Peter and Jenny Sinclair, are in their second season farming together in an equity partnership.

The couples met when they were neighbours 20 years ago and have remained strong friends since.

They had often talked about a joint venture and when Peter and Jenny went to sell their 83-hectare farm at Wharepapa South two years ago, Pete and Ann were

F

looking for new staff and the timing was opportune.

Peter and Jenny bought a 25% share of Morlands Ltd, which Pete and Ann already had set up, and own the remaining 75%.

Morlands leases Pete and Ann’s original 154ha milking platform at Pokuru, and owns the remaining 110ha, which includes a 65ha neighbouring block the partnership bought during their first season. Morlands also owns 500 cows, 90 yearlings, the machinery, and 40,000 Fonterra shares.

Although the two couples do not have equal financial shares in the partnership, they have equal say.

Ruling with the fist of a majority share

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

FARM FACTS Equity partnership: Morlands Ltd Equity owners: Pete Morgan and Ann Bouma (75%), Peter and Jenny Sinclair (25%) Location: Pokuru, South Waikato Area: 265ha, 235ha effective milking platform Cows: 660 crossbreds Operation: DairyNZ System 2 Pasture harvested: 12.2t DM/ha Farm Dairies: 28-aside and 34-aside herringbones.

35

‘We knew whatever the percentage split was we would have even say on things, that’s critical because it shapes our whole relationship.’ wasn’t going to work for their situation, Pete says.

“We knew it wouldn’t work if we didn’t.

We knew whatever the percentage split was we would have even say on things, that’s critical because it shapes our whole relationship.”

That showed a huge generosity of spirit from Pete and Ann, which reflects the people they are and their friendship, Peter and Jenny say.

“We could see the benefits for us, but I struggled to see the benefit for Pete and Ann for quite a while,” Jenny says.

“We really respect what Pete and Ann have done for us, as 25% shareholders, they totally respect our opinions and in decision making.”

For Peter and Jenny the joint venture has helped them grow financially, while for Pete and Ann it has given them more stability with staffing.

“It’s got to benefit all of us, we see each other as family. We want to work together and enjoy each other’s company,” Peter says.

When the couples seriously started considering a partnership they put all their values and goals on the table and found they were very similar.

They have always been on the same page when it came to farming values and philosophies and realised their goals were also in sync.

Pete Morgan and Ann Bouma and dog, Jake.

Calcium Bolus

Choose the calcium supplement specifically formulated for transition dairy cows.

Choose TRANSITION™ Calcium Boluses.

36

TRANSITION™ Calcium Boluses feature cutting-edge technology to deliver three proven calcium sources for immediate and sustained release.

TRANSITION™ Calcium Boluses are easy to administer immediately after calving and get your cows back into production quicker.

Available from your vet: Kevin Hinton

Ph: 027 870 4353 E: kevin.hinton@maianimalhealth.com

www.TransitionBolus.com

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Many equity partnerships have failed Jenny and Peter Sinclair, with because the parties were not on the same their dogs, Meg and Shortie. page when it came to the underlying values or plans, Pete says.

There is a lot of negativity surrounding equity partnerships, for good reason, he says. Equity partnerships are easy to set up and investors will flock in, but it’s about doing the hard work up front to prevent fallouts down the track.

Peter and Jenny had previously been in an equity partnership that didn’t work out, so they knew first-hand the importance of laying out expectations at the beginning.

“You really have to do your homework, and ask all the gnarly questions of each other,” Peter says.

“With Pete and Ann we had our courageous conversations at the start, we talked about the hard stuff. If my leg falls off and I can’t work on the farm – what will happen? You’ve got to think of all the scenarios.”

The couples spent a huge amount of time doing due diligence and writing up the agreement. Each couple was assigned an investor in an equity partnership MORLANDS 2018/19 TARGET COSTS to go to speak to Morlands Ltd: and came back to the table with pros Production: 220,000kg MS and cons.

Cows: 650 They picked out FWE: $3.65/kg MS the best bits and Net dairy cash income: $5.23/kg MS came up with their Total operating expenses: $3.82/kgMS own agreement Dairy operating profit: $2624/ha and strategies for managing their Wages: $1.36/kg MS (includes management wage) partnership.

Animal health $0.13/kg MS “We have policy Supplements purchased: $0.17/kg MS for Africa,” Pete Repairs & maintenance $0.23/kg MS says.

A lot of their business and onfarm decisions are driven by their lot of decisions, that’s the trump card.” underlying values and farming ethos.

Those values and principles formed the The couples have a shared farming ethos template of their equity partnership and to ‘keep it simple’. They are a pasture-based they created a strategy and structure to system, with minimum machinery and support that. have strong values when it comes to being If a decision needs to be made, whether proactive on environment and animal it’s to buy a new digger, trial a new crop, welfare. spend money on riparian planting, or buy For example, the farm is part of the in extra supplement, the four of them Waipa and Puniu River catchments so discuss it and make the decision together. investing in fencing and riparian planting The decision must be justified using is important to both couples. science, facts and financial incentive, and “We all acknowledge we are only it must fit their values and ethos for the caretakers of this land while we are here, so business. the desire is to leave this land better than If they can’t agree, the foursome usually we found it,” Peter says. give the overriding decision to the lead “It’s about farming for the greater good person in the subject area. They all have for Morlands and the land – that answers a their own strengths. Ann is the vet and Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

chief financial officer; Pete and Peter are co farm managers and Jenny leads on the environment and compliance such as health and safety.

Ann, who is in charge of the budget, usually has the last word on big purchases.

Pete and Peter joke that they are still trying to convince Ann they should buy a new digger.

They have made an allowance in the agreement to bring in an independent party if the four can’t reach an agreement at any stage.

The most important driver is to protect their friendship along with their business, Pete says.

The key to a successful equity partnership is like a successful marriage, Jenny says.

“You’ve got to choose the right person, but you’ve also got to be willing to compromise.

“We don’t want to compromise our friendship, so you sometimes have to back down for the good of the relationship.”

The key is listening to what everyone has to say and even if you don’t agree with the result, you support the majority.

“It was always going to be a challenge having two different couples who have owned their own farms, being their own bosses, but it’s been refreshing,” Peter says.

37

Peter and Pete have relished being able to work alongside each other and they get excited about farm projects. They’ve remembered why they love dairy farming and farming has become an adventure again.

Pete and Peter as co-managers of the farms have two full-time farm assistants, and one part-time assistant. Ann is the oncall veterinarian and both Ann and Jenny are onhand during spring.

They had weekly meetings during their first six months, but now have director meetings monthly, and take minutes.

They are focused on keeping it professional because their motivation is

holiday, they can. It’s those intangible benefits that far outweigh the financial ones, Pete says.

They can now go on holiday without working twice as hard the week before to get ahead of jobs and they don’t have to stress about staff while they’re away because the other couple are around, Jenny says.

Another perk is the freedom to concentrate on their individual responsibilities, rather than trying to be across the entire business every day. For example, Ann can concentrate on the budgets, and the other three are free to concentrate on their jobs.

When it comes to succession plans, the couples have their own individual family succession plans. Regarding Morlands they are open to other investors buying shares in the future if they fit the Meeting time around the kitchen table. template.

Every three years the trying to maximise profitability, Pete says. land and assets will be valued, and the The four are paid an individual salary shareholding will be discussed, giving Peter and dividends paid proportionally to their and Jenny or future investors the option to shares. purchase more shares.

Being in business with people they Their equity partnership could be a can trust has given the two couples more good model for other Kiwis at the end or freedom to get off-farm and enjoy a better start of their farming careers if people are work/life balance. motivated to make it work the couples say.

Pete and Jenny both teach at Dairy “This could absolutely work for people if Training Ltd and Jenny is part of the they do the hard yards beforehand. Most DairyNZ Environmental Leaders Group. equity partnerships are easy to set up and They don’t have to make as many the hard work comes later,” Pete says. compromises between personal interests, If people compromise, leave their ego family time and the farm. at the door and make sure they’re on If they want to watch their children the same page it can work in everyone’s play sport, they can. If they want to go on favour.

FARM AND FINANCES Pete and Ann have been farming at Pokuru for the last 20 years. Ann’s family farm included 115ha and 10ha lease.

The couple then bought a further 27ha in 2006 and the 45ha block with a second herringbone dairy in 2013. For the last couple of seasons the cows have been blockgrazed and milked in whichever farm dairy was closest.

The 65ha they purchased last season backs onto the 45ha, so this season the cows will be split into two herds across the two milking platforms and the two farm dairies will be running year-round.

38

This season there will be extra costs associated with fencing off the new block’s river banks and riparian planting and constructing 100m of new track to connect the properties.

The paddocks on the new farm need to be redone and an extension of the effluent irrigation will be done this summer.

The wages figure is high because the couples pay themselves a good wage instead of taking drawings, this includes the management wage. This increases the apparent farm working expenses, which they usually aim to keep under $3/kg MS when not taking wages into account.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Land value growth has exceeded wages or profit growth, but it is still possible to own the farm, Michael Booth writes.

I

s farm ownership still achievable?

It’s a common question, particularly among those at my age and stage.

We all know land values have accelerated disproportionately faster than wages and profit growth, so there’s no doubt farm ownership is now harder than ever.

Prior to attending a DairyNZ Mark and Measure course, I would have said it was just a dream for many, but my opinion has since changed.

The three-day course is designed to help farmers understand their personal priorities and how their farming business can help them get the future they want.

The course covered everything from understanding key business principles to developing strategic plans.

A common theme which came up was the idea of financial freedom – the ability to buy that farm, build a new house or go on that overseas trip. We all want it, but how do we achieve it?

DairyNZ project manager Paul Bird breaks it into six simple components: 1. Understanding yourself – are you naturally a saver or spender?

2. Generate money 3. Educate yourself 4. Invest wisely 5. Compounding – earning interest on interest 6. Managing risk The component around compounding is of most interest to me.

Taranaki farmer Donald Anderson understands this concept well.

Donald owns multiple farms in the region and has been able to achieve this by focusing on making little changes that deliver big results.

He has outstanding reproductive performance, rearing 15% heifer replacements compared with the average 25%. This also sees him save costs on animal health. He estimates this saves them $50,000 a year.

I was blown away that through this he was able to buy a farm. But when you crunch the numbers it makes sense.

Saving $50,000 every year and investing that money wisely at a 15% return (achievable with sensible borrowing) will generate just shy of $1.7 million after 12 years – enough for a deposit on a small farm.

Talk to your local consulting officer to see what little changes you can make to achieve your financial freedom, or visit dairynz.co.nz/business for more information.

Michael Booth is a DairyNZ consulting officer in Otorohanga/King Country

Ask your vet about

Year-round mastitis treatment Versatile – can treat cows milked once a day or twice a day

Highly effective – against all important mastitis bacteria in New Zealand

Less milk discarded – cured cows return to the milking herd faster

AHLINC-DEX3.18

Farm ownership – a dream or a reality?

Restricted Veterinary Medicine, ACVM Registration Number, A11242.

Only available under veterinary authoristaion.

Evidence based vet medicines Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

39

SYSTEMS MONITORING

Hi-tech collars and tags tuned to NZ systems The EveryCow package, combining collar and tag technology to monitor individual cows’ condition and movement, is now available. Andrew Swallow reports. anagement by herd average is history: the future is individual.

At the extreme, that’s the future promised by the official launch of a new nationwide technologyplus-service package.

“All you will see are a few cows with collars, and maybe a base unit and a computer in the office, but the reality is this is going to be changing farming for the next couple of decades,” Vetlife managing director Adrian Campbell told a field day of about 90 farmers and consultants in North Otago. He was introducing EveryCow, a package that combines Allflex’s SenseTime collar and tag technology with the consultancy service of Vetlife subsidiary, the Centre for Dairy Excellence (CDE).

Such individual cow monitoring technology has generally been limited to indoor systems but Allflex, through its Israeli subsidiary SCR Dairy, has developed algorithms that now allow it to interpret cow movements in grazing situations too.

Data from the collars or tags is downloaded, and updates to the software inside uploaded, through wireless readers or “black boxes” mounted strategically around a farm. How many are required depends on topography but each reader has a specified range of 500 metres. To get

M

40

Austin Heffernan.

360-degree coverage requires three black boxes and a solar panel mounted on a pole.

Assuming flat land, and working on the specification range of 500m, that’s an area of 79ha, but 100% coverage isn’t essential as the tags or collars store up to 24 hours’ readings if necessary, downloading automatically when they come within range of a reader. Hence, with a single reader at the shed, data from cows in milk grazing distant paddocks could be downloaded as they approach the shed each day, though such an approach wouldn’t always provide the real-time data on cow performance and health which is possible with readers mounted at strategic

points so all paddocks are within reader range. By constantly monitoring a cow’s temperature, rumination and movements, the collars or tags give early warning of many management areas, Allflex’s Austin Heffernan explained.

“The most obvious thing is heat detection.”

AI accuracy is improved, saving time observing cows and reliance on staff skills.

Instead of following the adage of “if in doubt, put her up”, SenseTime allows optimum service time to be pinpointed, he said.

“What we’re saying is, if in doubt, don’t be so quick.”

Anoestrous cows will be detected sooner, allowing more-timely interventions.

In turn, improved heat detection and anoestrous management could remove the need for bulls, improving farm biosecurity and health and safety, he suggested.

By alerting herd managers to reduced rumination and/or abnormal temperatures or movement of an animal the technology allows earlier intervention in illnesses or other problems such as nutritional imbalance or lameness. Often that would be before clinical symptoms develop, reducing production losses, and, potentially, vet bills and animal losses.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

“We know a decent percentage of cow deaths would be preventable if you got some sort of warning or notification of the problem,” Heffernan said.

Transition on to winter feeds is an obvious example of where rumination data could provide early warning of a looming problem, but it could also help fine-tune pasture-based diets.

When action is taken to address the cause of a rumination, temperature or movement abnormality, response and recovery can be monitored much more closely and effectively than with conventional observation. Similarly calving can be monitored much more closely, allowing earlier intervention when problems occur.

Overall, days in milk and season-long production should increase across the herd.

With the technology also helping fine-tune culling decisions, on top of the AI benefits and reduced death rates, long-term a higher value herd should result, he said.

Frost said he envisaged the technology would improve management efficiency too. “It will reduce the number of hours taken making decisions with cows on a daily basis.”

Tags work out more expensive per cow per year than collars (see Costings panel) as they’re expected to last only three years as opposed to seven. Manufacturer’s warranties are 2.5 years and five years respectively.

FARM FACTS • EveryCow • Centre for Dairy Excellence service and Allflex technology package.

• Data from SenseTime collars or tags interpreted to improve individual cow management.

• Grazing specific algorithms developed for New Zealand.

• Heat detection and illness alerts key uses.

“But we don’t warranty loss,” he said.

Neither collars or tags require battery replacement and both are “cow-proof”, Frost said.

Systems can be set up as stand-alone farm units but it is better if they are internet-connected so updates are automatic, readings can be shared with phones and other devices, and, with permission, key off-farm contacts such as vets can also view the data, Frost said.

COSTINGS Scenario A: 550-cow farm, using the eSense ear tags Hardware: $4000. Includes SenseTime Controller, an additional antenna, cabling etc to cover all cows as they come and go from dairy shed and in nearby paddocks.

Ear tags: $89-$115 per cow, depending on application plan choice.

Application plan options: Starter: includes all heat detection and fertility/reproduction monitoring.

Advanced: includes all fertility data of Starter plan, plus health monitoring & distress alerts. Premium: includes all Starter and Advanced applications, plus group nutrition, routine monitoring and group heat stress monitoring.

Total for package: $52,533 to $67,383 for farm, or $31-$40/cow/year assuming three years’ use. NB: Installation cost additional and depends on farm requirements.

Scenario B: 550-cow farm, using the eSense collars Hardware: $4000. Includes SenseTime Controller, an additional antenna, cabling etc to cover all cows as they come and go from dairy shed and in nearby paddocks.

Collars: $152-$193 per cow, depending on application plan choice (see above) Total for package: $83,833 to $106,653 for farm, or $21-$27/cow/year assuming seven years’ use.

NB: Installation cost additional and depends on farm requirements (additional cables, remote antenna stations etc).

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Lewis Frost, Allflex’s NZ and Australia manager.

ONFARM PILOTS POSITIVE In the 18 months before the EveryCow launch, VetLife and Allflex piloted the concept on “ambassador” farms, including two visited on the field day.

Rhys Hamilton, co-owner of one of those, Brookstead Farm near Duntroon, said his motivation to try it was to help ease pressure on staff and make better decisions onfarm, which in turn would help provide the time and capital for the business to meet the environmental challenges the industry faces.

With 970 cows on a 302-hectare hilly irrigated property, the collars had allowed them to pick up milk fever and lame cows sooner and helped pick cows on heat, though that hadn’t yet converted to better in-calf figures due to other weather-related problems last mating.

“The system will pick the cows on heat but we still need cows cycling for it to work,” Rhys said.

With milk fever cows, they’d been able to see from the office if a cow wasn’t getting up and grazing normally after calving and hence check her sooner than would have been the case without the collars.

Rhys said he believed the system had saved cows, but it was hard to quantify how many more than normal.

Sudden drops in rumination had alerted them to mastitis and other illnesses

41

sooner, allowing more-timely intervention, and although that resulted in increased antibiotic use, the EveryCow system gave effective feedback that the treatment was working or needed changing.

When cows were made to clean up a paddock after milking before allocating a new one, or had a particularly long walk to grass after a short one, Rhys said the software didn’t perform as well due to anomalies in rumination and movement patterns, prompting false alerts for 8-10% of the herd on those days.

“This is something the developers are working with us to sort before next mating.”

Hamilton’s cousin, Brock, who milks 815 cows off a nearby 380ha property with wife Gemma, was another EveryCow ambassador visited on launch day.

He started using it at calving, distress alerts helping identify milk fever cows and, by monitoring rumination time, any postcalving problems. For example, all cows were milked once-a-day post calving for four days in the colostrum mob, at which point they would normally be put out with the main herd. However, if rumination/day wasn’t above 380 minutes by day four they were kept back and checked for possible causes, such as retained membranes or infection.

Similarly, if ruminations dropped below the 380 minutes/day threshold in the first 11 days in the milking herd they took a closer look.

“We’re trying to minimise cow wastage.

You don’t normally see these cows until they turn up skinny and dirty.”

The system also alerted them to a cow that hadn’t calved that turned out to have a dead calf inside.

“In the past we wouldn’t have found out until the cow was smelly or losing weight.

I’m not saying she would have died but

42

she’d certainly have been sick before we got on to it.”

Mating was run purely on SenseTime, taking one person just five minutes per milking to set up the system to draft off cows signalled as on heat, compared to three hours of Gemma or their top worker standing checking cows throughout the milking.

In particular, it helped identify weak heats, which typically were the early heats, and make decisions on use of CIDRs or other interventions.

The result was 68% in-calf at six weeks and final empty rate of 15%. Brock noted they’d “had better and worse” than that, pointing out SenseTime wouldn’t improve mating results unless farm systems improved too.

“The cows have to cycle and then this will pick up the heats 100%.”

A point they picked up during the rest of the season thanks to the collars was that regardless of when cows went on to a fresh break – immediately after milking, or at 6pm or at 8pm – they still settled down for the night at the same time.

“We used to make them clean up hard at night but then we noticed that whether we did that or not, they still all sat down at about 10pm at night.”

Now, to ensure cows settled with a full rumen at night, they give a full break no later than 6pm, rather than pushing them to clean up to 8pm and then moving them.

Brock said he thought there was much more they’d be able to do with the technology in future but during the pilot period he’d been limited in the time he’d been able to put into it owing to having to focus on improving irrigation efficiency as that was his “next limiting factor”.

He said he couldn’t give a return on investment figure because it was hard to attribute and quantify benefits resulting,

BIG PICTURE Allflex’s NZ and Australia manager, Lewis Frost, told visitors he believed technology adoption in livestock industries, rather than a global reversion to eating more crop-based foods, would be among the solutions to the challenge of feeding the world’s largest ever population over the next 30 years.

It was highly unlikely extra land or fresh water would be available to grow more crops, and those resources were dwindling in many areas, so increased efficiency in farming to produce more food from less land and water would be essential, he said.

“Efficiency is going to have to come from technology; a range of technologies, but technology none-the-less.” In the dairy industry, individual animal monitoring would be one of those technologies, he said.

Vetlife managing director Adrian Campbell echoed that, saying EveryCow would “take the New Zealand dairy industry a stepchange farther than ever before” and “change farming for the next couple of decades.”

but he would invest in it again if he had another farm. Indeed, he’d already done that.

“It will help you get on to health issues sooner. It does make you respond to every cow, every day.”

Such individual attention could prove important with the increasing focus coming on animal welfare from MPI and others, he said.

“That’s hugely powerful: to be able to say I’m doing all I can as a farmer.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

43

Healthy cows Healthy calves

RAVJULY18-DX

Magnesium Oxide (MgO)

Pre-calving to post mating, nurture the health of your cows with Ravensdown’s quality magnesium oxide.

Now is the time to order your magnesium oxide.

We’re your one-stop solution for delivery on farm - when and where you need it.

44

Don’t delay, order today and guarantee you’re set for the season ahead.

0800 100 123 ravensdown.co.nz Smarter farming for a better New Zealand® Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Cropping falls behind in Northland trial A three-way trial of systems in Northland saw the cropping farmlet trail in the wake of grass only and palm kernel competitors. Glenys Christian reports.

SYSTEMS NARF

Above: The NARF team which ran the trial; from left, back row, Chris Boom, Peter Flood, John Roche, Northland Dairy Development Trust coordinator, Kim Robinson, Kerry Chestnut, Sean Bradbury, Allister McCahon, vet Brian Lowe. Front row; Michael Rope and farm manager, Kate Reed.

C

ropping has come a cropper in the last year of a Northland trial comparing this option with pasture only and palm kernel.

The Northland Agricultural Research Farm’s (NARF) cropping farmlet showed an operating profit of just $1928 per hectare at a milk price of $6.55/kg of milksolids used for last season. This reduced further to $1783 when adjusted for the cost of additional capital required at an interest rate of 6.5%. And the cropping farmlet would have been $352/ha in the red had there been a $4/kg MS milk price, the only negative figure recorded in the three systems over three years.

Dr John Roche, who was DairyNZ’s principal scientist, animal science, and was closely involved with the trial says the cropping farmlet failed to reach the

same level of productivity as the other two because the cost of the marginal milk produced in the first two years was greater than the milk price. And milk production per hectare was marginally less than the pasture-only farmlet in the third year.

Roche, now science adviser at the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) says there were poorer than anticipated crop yields and difficulty in managing resown pastures during winter and spring. There was also reduced pasture growth during summer in the new ryegrass pastures compared with kikuyu-dominant pastures.

From 21 to 25% of the cropping farmlet was used to grow crops with from seven to 10% in maize and nine to 15% in turnips.

Some fodder beet was also grown in the first two seasons before it was decided the farm’s marine clays were too wet for the crop to be successful. It cost 26 cents/

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

kg drymatter (DM) to grow in both years compared with turnips at from eight to 12c/kg DM and maize at from 13-30c/kg DM. Pasture silage made and fed to cows on the grass-only farmlet when there was a surplus cost between nine and 14c/kg DM. Pasture silage was only made on the cropping farm in the second autumn from kikuyu pasture, but was described as being of debatable quality.

In the NARF trial the milk production response to feeding palm kernel was very high at an average of 126 grams MS/kg DM compared with an average DairyBase response of around 80g. That saw the palm kernel farmlet top the operating profit per hectare table at $3224 last season or $3063 when the cost of additional capital was included. At a $4/kg MS payout there would still have been a $150/ha operating 45

The grass-only farmlet was the most profitable in the first year of the trial while the palm kernel farmlet took that title in the last two years. profit rising to $4687/ha at an $8/kg MS payout.

The first year of the trial at the farm outside Dargaville saw a very low milk price, which meant the grass-only farmlet stocked at 2.6 cows/ha turned in a higher operating profit before and after the cost of additional capital was considered. In the second year, with a higher milk price, it fell slightly behind the palm kernel farmlet, stocked at 2.8 cows/ha but overtook it when the extra capital cost required was added in.

Last season the grass-only and cropping farmlet herds had to be milked once-a-day during the difficult spring and 25% of the cropping farmlet herd had to be grazed off due to agreed animal welfare protocols. But the palm kernel farmlet maintained milk production and was able to capitalise on excellent autumn pasture growth.

Roche says the grass-only farmlet could have benefitted from buying in a small amount of supplement to get it through had this been possible. Its operating profit was $2470/ha or $2438 when the cost of capital was added in. At a $4/kg MS payout a $139/ha operating profit would have been the result or $3714/ha at an $8/kg MS payout.

Roche says good management of palm kernel saw this supplement limited to 1450kg DM/ha or 500kg/cow to produce 1000kg MS/ha. Over the previous three years almost four tonnes of palm kernel was used to produce 1154kg MS/ha. The response needed to be greater than 110g MS/kg DM palm kernel and the cost less than $270/t delivered to ensure the cost of marginal milk produced was less than

$6/kg MS or $6.50/kg MS when the extra investment and time of adopting this farming system was added in.

Averaging the three years of results the palm kernel farmlet came out on top at $2120/ha, followed by grass-only at $1974 then the cropping farmlet at $1408. The

Northland Agriculture Research Farm (NARF) manager, Kate Reed, on a kikuyu paddock in the palm kernel farmlet, undersown with Italian ryegrass and ready for grazing.

grass-only farmlet was the most profitable in the first year of the trial while the palm kernel farmlet took that title in the last two years. The highest milk production per ha of 1128kg MS or 401kg/cow was achieved by the palm kernel herd last season. The lowest was the grass-only farm in the first

season, coming in at 870kg MS/ha but the lowest per cow was 340kg MS on the cropping farmlet last season.

Chris Boom, Northland Dairy Development Trust science manager, says there were no issues for the grassonly and cropping farmlets when it came to Fonterra’s fat evaluation index (FEI) coming into force from September 1, which stayed in the green or low band.

Levels on the palm kernel farmlet went into the orange band in spring then again in January and March with the management team agreeing it would swap the supplement for grass silage if there was any risk of levels reaching the high FEI or red band.

Body condition score (BCS) for all the cows was similar, and farm manager Kate Reed says there was “no trend or rhythm” with empty rates of the three herds over the three years of the trial. Boom says “worry scores” were attributed to each farmlet every week. The cropping farm had the highest, especially when its supplement supply ran out. Nitrogen use was similar between the farmlets with 143kg N applied in the first season, 154 in the second and 224 in the third due to additional applications last spring and autumn.

Farm working expenses (FWE) were lowest on the pasture-only farmlet in the second season at $3.65/kg MS and the highest on the cropping farmlet last season at $5.03/kg MS. NARF is now embarking on a new three-year project studying dairying in a variable climate which will look at managing highly stocked farm systems within Fonterra’s FEI constraints. There will be three farmlets involved, one grass-only, one using palm kernel only as a supplement and the third using other supplements alongside palm kernel.

• Braked Rear Hoof Winch • Positionable Back Leg Support Bar  Made in NZ • Braked Belly Winch with 2 Girths  5yr Warranty • Winched double-lock front supports Patented Design • Removable Sides  Multi Award Winner • Walk Thru Headbail • Solid construction • Affordable - Fast - Safe

Race Wrangler $4,275 + GST*

from

46

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Beef + Lamb consults on levy rise eef + Lamb New Zealand has begun consulting with farmers about a proposal to increase sheep and beef levies to accelerate investment in a range of programmes.

The proposal is to increase the sheepmeat levy by 10 cents to 70c/head and the beef levy by 80c to $5.20/head. If adopted, the rise would mean an average dairy farm would pay an extra $55 a year and the average sheep and beef farm $260.

While Mycoplasma bovis is consuming the thoughts of many in the dairy industry there are other challenges facing our industries, such as the rise of alternative proteins, the need to extract greater value for beef exports, environmental regulations and the need to tell the farmer story, B+LNZ chairman Andrew Morrison says.

The emergence of alternative proteins is certainly a threat. Earlier this year, B+LNZ released an Alternative Proteins report which indicated that alternative protein burgers were likely to reach large-scale manufacturing production in three to five years.

This would particularly impact on beef exports from cull dairy cows which predominantly go to the United States. A window of opportunity exists to betterposition NZ grass-fed beef in the market to combat this potential competition and we

B

need to take it, Morrison says.

As an organisation representing dairy farmers, B+LNZ sees a real need to better engage with our politicians and our public to highlight the work that is underway to protect and enhance our environments.

All are affected by the negative perceptions around agriculture and B+LNZ being more engaged in telling a positive farmer story will benefit all farmers.

B+LNZ works closely with DairyNZ on a range of environmental and biosecurity issues – as has been highlighted in the past year in the response to M bovis. But the industry needs to lift capability in both of these areas, to protect farm businesses now

SYSTEMS BEEF + LAMB LEVIES

and for future generations, he says.

B+LNZ advocates strongly for tariff elimination on beef exports and has achieved some good results in the last few years through FTA negotiations with China, Indonesia and Japan – markets which all create enhanced opportunities for dairy farmers’ beef.

While the NZ public is demanding greater accountability around environmental performance, so too are consumers in export markets, who also want assurances around the safety of the food NZ produces and our animal welfare standards.

B+LNZ is also working alongside DairyNZ in a number of areas including the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium, Pastoral Genomics and policy and regulation on biosecurity.

In an effort to create greater value from cattle from dairy herds, B+LNZ Genetics launched its Dairy-Beef Progeny test I 2015. This provides genetic linkages between stud herds and has demonstrated that additional value can be added by using high genetic merit beef bulls. This includes looking at opportunities for bobby calves.

Consultations on this levy are underway and farmers have until July 13 to have their say. See the B+LNZ website for more details.

DOES YOUR FARM HAVE A MOOPOO PROBLEM?

New Zealand Wide Dealer Network Travelling & Raingun Irrigators

In-Line Effluent Filters

www.williamsirrigation.com Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Pontoons

Pumps & Stirrers

Riser & Zero-0-Loss Hydrants

0800 4 EFFLUENT (0800 4 33358) 47

Emissions go hand-in-hand s farmers work their way through how they can limit nutrient losses to water they’re now having to come to grips with limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to air.

The good news is though – in many cases the two can go hand-in-hand and there need be no major impact on profitability.

DairyNZ senior scientist Dr Dawn Dalley and AgResearch farm systems and environment scientist Dr Robyn Dynes told the South Island Dairy Event (SIDE) that while GHG reduction targets haven’t yet been set for farmers they need to start understanding what drives their emissions and what they can realistically do to lower them.

The Government has signed up to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change committing to 30% reductions on 2005 levels by 2030 and 50% reductions on 1990 levels by 2050.

It is possible to reduce nutrient losses and GHG emissions and be highly profitable but they warned farmers to work through the effects of any system changes carefully to ensure they achieved the outcomes they wanted without creating unexpected consequences.

Cutting nutrient losses by building stand-off pads, for instance, could help reduce nitrate losses but if that meant a significant increase in the amount of stored effluent, methane emissions could go up.

“Pollution swapping is a risk so it’s important to take both the losses to water and air into account when you’re thinking about how you’re going to achieve loss limits,” Robyn said.

Having a good understanding of loss limits and timelines was essential as was having an understanding of the options available, Dawn said.

“Those options have to

A

48

Dr Dawn Dalley, left and Dr Robyn Dynes – achieving nutrient and GHG loss restriction targets is possible while maintaining profitability.

SYSTEMS SIDE

be assessed against the overall farm performance and efficiency and have to be tailored to meet the goals of continued business viability as well as meeting nutrient and GHG loss expectations,” Dawn said.

Farmers can see their farm’s estimated emissions in their Overseer files, represented as tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2) per hectare. The average New Zealand dairy farm emits 11.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalents/ha with fertiliser and transport included in that figure.

About 80% comes from methane.

Methane emission reduction options centre on reducing total feed inputs, adjusting stocking rates and reducing replacement rates.

To reduce nitrate leaching farmers should look first at how they could lower their nitrogen surplus.

Farm gate nitrogen surplus is the difference between nitrogen inputs (mostly

fertiliser nitrogen and nitrogen brought in as supplementary feed) and nitrogen outputs (mostly milk or exported feed).

Lowering nitrogen fertiliser use, improving the timing of application to when plants can take it up most efficiently and reducing the amount of brought-in feed can reduce nitrogen surplus.

Nitrogen use efficiency is the ratio of nitrogen exported from the farm per unit of nitrogen inputs.

Improving it through higher genetic merit cows, for instance, can help but on its own better nitrogen use efficiency may not always lead to less nitrogen leached.

Other ways to improve nitrogen use efficiency include cutting back replacement rates, better timing of nitrogen fertiliser and better pasture and feed utilisation.

Figure 1 shows the top left triangle as the optimum or target zone – high nitrogen output and a moderate nitrogen surplus.

If the farm is operating at high nitrogen

• Farm gate N surplus is a good indicator of risk • Improve the efficiency of converting N to product • Reduce N inputs • Reduce milking cow numbers in autumn • Capture surplus N and redistribute

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

surplus and high nitrogen output increasing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) alone (1) won’t move it into the target zone.

Reducing nitrogen inputs by cutting fertiliser and/or cutting the amount of brought-in feed without any increase in nitrogen use efficiency would take it in direction two.

It’s only through a combination of options one and two that the farm moves into the target zone. In practice achieving such a big increase in nitrogen use efficiency would be hard to achieve and the trajectory is more likely to be four – with some loss of production. But lower costs of production may hold profitability.

Profitability analysis from the Pastoral 21 studies found profitability could be maintained with system changes to reduce nitrogen leaching and that in most cases

GHG emissions also dropped. (Figure 2) The off-paddock system had an increase in GHG emissions due to increased effluent volumes stored.

Go to www.dairynz.co.nz/ media/5787573/otago-site-summary.pdf to see a summary of the Otago system differences.

The Canterbury high stocking rate efficient system had a stocking rate of five cows/ha, used 350kg N/ha

fertiliser and fed 700kg drymatter (DM)/cow of brought-in supplement.

The Canterbury alternative system ran 3.5cows/ha, used 150kg N/ha fertiliser and fed 50kg DM/cow supplement.

Dawn suggested farmers began looking at additional metrics to assess their profitability in light of nutrient and potential emissions restrictions, particularly when they were assessing systems changes.

Ketosis and reproduction Subclinical ketosis is a silent energy robbing disease in dairy cows.

A recent New Zealand analysis showed 65-80% of cows are affected in the spring.

Subclinical ketosis has been widely shown to increase the risk of endometritis and reduce six week in-calf rates.

Rumenox provides cows with extra energy and significantly reduces subclinical ketosis, which will help improve reproductive performance. There is a wealth of local and international research supporting the effectiveness of Rumenox.

Reduced ketosis Increased milk protein Cow condition Bloat control

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

49

SYSTEMS CALVING

1-2-3 of calf rearing

From mid-June, Dairy Exporter readers who follow our Facebook page had the chance to win our Winter Essentials prize pack.

Entrants were asked to: Like our page Share the post, and Comment with their top three tips for calving or calf-rearing.

Here is a selection of your top tips:

The competition ended on July 11 and the winner was be drawn on July 13.

1.

Provide a dry, clean shed with water, meal and hay/silage.

Keep clean every day with envirosan spray.

THE PRIZE PACK INCLUDE:

2.

Provide clean calf feeders (wash after every feed) and give calves warm colostrum and later on milk (feed twice a day).

• 1 bag Queen of Calves Starter, 2 bags Queen of Calves Finisher • 1x Antahi Innovations calf feeder

3.

Take time with the calves and do it properly. Get to know each calf so she/he can be in the right mob.

4.

Enjoy it :) and get your kids involved. Time, effort and love.

• 1x Farming Mums NZ Cookbook • 2x DeLaval calf covers • 2x $100 Norsewear vouchers • 1x 12 month Dairy Exporter subscription.

• Five runner up prizes of a DeLaval calf cover.

1.

Listen to your wife.

3.

2.

Leave your wife to it.

Lift anything your wife tells you to.

1.

Four Cs – Colostrum, Cleanliness, Care (preferably by the same person so problems are noticed quickly) and Comfort (as warm as possible, clean, dry and draught-free).

2.

Bucket of warm water handy to put those frozen fingies in on frosty mornings.

3.

Have loads of freezer meals ready and if you are really lucky, hire a cleaner.

1. Patience.

1.

50

Rest up before calving madness happens. 2 . Prep all evening meals in advance. Have frozen meals. 3 . Have shed and feeding equipment prepped.

2 . Wine in the fridge, always.

3 . Trust your gut instincts.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

1.

Go with your gut. If you feel something is wrong with a calf, act upon it. Don’t wait until it’s really bad.

2.

Always bring a sense of humour to the calf pens. On some of the toughest days a little bit of laughter can make it so much better. Sometimes we forget how unique each calf’s personality is.

3.

Don’t change something that is working well. Every year different research comes out to show different methods are better than others. Sure, listen and research but if your calves are thriving with the routine you have don’t throw it all away, maybe just focus on areas that could be improved (i.e: testing if gold colostrum, pros and cons of tubing).

1 . Remember to look after your own health first, sleeping, eating correctly and fuelling up with the right foods. 2 . Hygiene! Personal and sheds is a must.

3 . Manage Time efficiently, e.g: calving kits in Quad toolbox.

1. Keeping hydrated and well-fed

2 . Getting warm colostrum into

calves asap. 3 . Having a good staff kit in the shed that includes food, water and essential calving gear like gloves, a warm jacket, lube, etc.

1. Spray navels with iodine twice! Once when collecting from the

paddock and again when removing from the trailer into the calf sheds. 2 . Ensure all calves receive warm gold colostrum. 3 . Hygiene.

Regularly clean feeders, troughs, buckets, etc, as well as spraying pens and boots with disinfectant.

1. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

2 . As long as everybody gets fed

at night, go to bed, get lots of sleep, the house will still be there tomorrow. 3 . Meal plan – put lots of freezer meals already cooked in the freezer for those extra-long days.

1. Lime flour pens before putting bedding down.

2 . Always carry insulation tape. You never know when something needs a quick repair. 3 . Have healthy snacks available, home-made preferably, and don’t run out of coffee.

1.

Clean pastures for calving, shifting springers twice a day if needed on rainy days. 2 . Warm and no draft for the calves. 3 . Saying good morning to the calves every morning! They give you a moo no matter what mood you are in, always brings a smile to me.

1. Fill up the freezer with muffins and soup.

2 . Dust off

the crockpot and DARE your husband to complain.

3 . If you can, hire a calf-rearer.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

51

SYSTEMS ROBOTIC

DeLaval introduces new robotic system

D

eLaval has launched its new VMS milking system V300 across key global markets including New Zealand and Australia last month.

The VMS V300 incorporates sophisticated next generation robotic technology that allows each quarter of a cow to be milked individually. The system has a 99.8% attachment rate and capacity to milk 3500kg per day per robot, meaning even less farmer interaction required in the shed.

‘You can have a normal family life, and you can have normal working hours. Your employees can have normal working hours as well.’

“This is real quarter milking, which we just haven’t seen before to this level,” DeLaval’s Oceania sales manager Justin Thompson said. “The level of data that can be retrieved for each teat and then automated to ensure complete milking every time is remarkable.”

The system has been extensively tested on farms in Europe and is also highly

adaptable to NZ’s grass-based system.

“You can have a normal family life, and you can have normal working hours. Your employees can have normal working hours as well.

It will be easy to be a farmer in the future,” one of the DeLaval VMS V300 test farmers based in Denmark Søren Højgaard Andersen said.

The VMS V300 is geared toward farmers working in markets with labour uncertainties and shortages, as well as evermore rigorous animal welfare and food safety requirements.

The VMS V300 has a 99% teat spray hit rate, 10% higher capacity, up to 50% faster attachment time, and lower running costs.

The system comes with DeLaval InControl, a user interface allowing access to information and control of the system remotely. DeLaval PureFlow, is a new transparent teat preparation cup, and DeLaval InSight provides the latest vision technology for a smooth, fast and accurate attachment.

In addition, the DeLaval InService All-Inclusive customer programme is a solution where service, consumables, and maintenance services are available for a fixed price. DeLaval InService provides

farmers with time to focus on the business of dairy farming with the assurance that every time they milk, the system’s performance is optimised.

Now available in Liquid & Solid form, talk to one of our team to discuss a programme to suit your Farm & Budget

52

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

0800 SMART FARM (762 783) www.agrisea.co.nz

November

27 & 28 Talk directly to NZ’s industry experts See effluent management gear in action Topical seminars run by industry professionals Up to 100 exhibitors on site to discuss your requirements

8:30am 4pm

Food and coffee available Optional Social function Tuesday night from 4:30pm

FREE Visit: www.effluentexpo.co.nz Entry for more information Gold Partners

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Mystery Creek Events Centre

53

SYSTEMS PASTURE SUMMIT

Pasture first: to be sure

A

group of progressive dairy farmers and dairy sector experts from New Zealand and Ireland have joined together to form the Pasture Summit with the aim of spreading positivity, imparting great science and securing a profitable future for this and the next generation of dairy farmers.

A two-day Pasture Summit conference will be held in both Hamilton and Ashburton in November and its programme is already attracting registrations from Ireland, Australia, South Africa, the United States and NZ. One of the conference organisers and member of the Pasture Summit group is Canterbury dairy farmer Alistair Rayne.

The group of about 30 committee members also includes farmers Olin Greenan, Leonie Guiney, Michael Murphy, Murray King, Daniel Woolsey, Arthur Bryan, Greg Roadley, John Gregan, Robert Ferris, Will Grayling, Ryan O’Sullivan, Donald and Maree Anderson, Corrigan Sowman, Andrew Myers, Colin Armer, Colin Glass and Jim van der Poel.

They came together, motivated by the desire to bring vitality and positivity to the sector so the current and next generation of dairy farmers see a bright, positive future.

The conference will highlight the link between financially robust farm businesses and very well managed pasture farming.

Colin Armer: Pasture Summit Chairman

“We want to really focus on how you use pasture systems to drive business performance,” he says.

“And show that it can meet the challenges required for good environmental stewardship at the same time.”

“Farmers are aware of the need for change – we’re about putting the solutions out there, having robust research and data that we can all learn something from.”

As well as being driven by onfarm cows and grass, farm business and financial information, success for the sector can come from promotion of the natural health and wellness benefits of dairy products produced from pasture-fed cows.

“That’s a story really worth telling – to the world but also to our own farmers.”

Alistair says the first day of each conference will include successful young farmers sharing their stories of progression, analysis of farm financial data, the latest

research on resilient, sustainable and profitable farm systems and a look at consumer expectations and future trends.

While day one is indoors, day two will be held at Lye Farm, in Waikato and Ashley Dene in Canterbury and will focus on research results and what they mean for farm systems.

The conference will be held on November 26 -27 in Hamilton and November 29 – 30 in Ashburton. Check out www.pasturesummit.co.nz for registrations and more information.

Alistair Rayne: Pasture Summit organising member

54

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Organic OpportunitIES 56 62 65 68 70

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Their own land of milk and honey Success with the switch A growth industry Converts in the waiting Partners form Kawerau Dairy

SPECIAL REPORT 55

The benefits of organic dairy farming outweigh the challenges.

Sheryl Brown reports.

Their own land of milk and honey The benefits of organic dairy farming outweigh the challenges.

Sheryl Brown reports. Photos: Emma McCarthy. eville and Louise Williams have done it all, throughout their 35 years farming. They have milked cows in a high-input, high-stocking-rate system, they have milked once-a-day, and now they are certified organic farmers with 2.5 cows to the hectare and have installed robotic milkers.

The couple like to take on new challenges and aren’t afraid to try new approaches, that may not be part of the status quo of the time, Neville says.

“The whole thing about the job is to keep it interesting and remain open to trying new things. When it comes to farming systems, there is no right or wrong one – it’s how well you do what you do. We choose to farm using a ‘best tools for the job’ approach.”

N

56

The couple have been farming on the Williams’ family farm at Horahora, near Cambridge, for 35 years. They bought the original block in 1989 and ran a conventional farm system (for the time), until they upped the ante in 1995 with 4.5 cows/ha.

In 2001 they bought a neighbouring block of 38ha and rather than buy more cows and upgrade the cowshed, they cut back the stocking rate and reverted to a lowinput biological system. This then led to milking the cows once-a-day for the next 10 years. During this time the benefits for cow and farm health became obvious.

Having farmed biologically for several years, it felt like the natural step to go organic, Louise says.

They became certified in 2009 and the more they

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

travelled along the road, they knew organics was where they should be.

“Our experience has shown us that the organic model has people, land and animals at the heart. To have things in balance is important,” Louise says.

Neville also saw it as another challenge and wanted to see if they could farm organically and do it well.

Neville set out to plant more diverse pastures, which have thrived on the Tirau Ash soils.

“A diverse pasture benefits cow health and milk production, improves the soil and decreases nitrate leaching – which improves water quality, as plants with deeper roots capture more carbon and nitrogen,” he says.

He oversows with 2kg/ha chicory, 1kg/ha plantain and .5kg/ha lucerne every few years and undersows a diploid ryegrass to improve pasture density.

“When we started oversowing chicory over 25 years ago we were told it wouldn’t work but wanted to try it as an alternative to growing turnips. The strategy has proven to be very successful over the years and has taught us the benefits of diverse pasture in terms of cow health, pasture persistence and soil health.

“I’m not saying what we are doing is the right thing, but it makes sense to us and it’s what works for this farm.”

One of Neville’s ace cards is pre-graze mowing. The farm is about 70% mowable and he mows every paddock possible ahead of the cows from about September until December.

“I’m a big fan of pre-graze mowing. The cows eat 20% more so we’re utilising what’s in the paddocks, including any weeds. The cows store this extra energy and the pasture quality is improved. Our empty rate is around 6% with no veterinary intervention due to the cows being well fed.”

Neville does all their oversowing/undersowing and fertiliser application. For fertiliser they use a combination of certified RPR, SOP and Guano plus minor elements to keep balanced soil fertility. They also apply Agrisea pasture seaweed in spring and autumn.

“I like to put my own fertiliser on, so I can put it on when

and where it is needed.”

Being in control of pasture management is vital because sourcing quality organic feed is difficult. You can’t as easily just pick up the phone and order a truck of more feed, when there is a deficit, he says.

They make 300-500 bales of grass silage onfarm depending on the season and buy in certified lucerne as a quality protein source.

They were growing organic Neville Williams. Photo: Lewis Mulatero. maize onfarm until two years ago and were achieving yields up to 20 tonnes/ha.

However, growing organic maize is all about the timing of cultivation and planting as the paddock must be ploughed and left to fallow for six weeks – which is a loss of about 4.5t drymatter. If they got the timing wrong they could suffer with low yields. In the Waikato with maize paddocks also comes yellow bristle grass (YBG), Louise Williams. which is one of the reasons they’ve stopped growing it, Neville says.

They harvest their silage before the end of November to limit the chance of contractors bringing YBG seeds on farm.

Louise picks YBG out by hand and after a couple of years without growing maize is starting to make good progress on removing it from the farm.

Key facts uu Owners: Neville and Louise Williams uu Location: Horahora, Waikato uu Area: 158 ha, 112ha effective milking platform, 31ha effective for young stock uu Cows: 300 crossbreeds uu Production: 950kg MS/ha uu Operation: Organic, DairyNZ System 2 uu Farm Dairy: Four Lely Robotic automatic milking systems uu Pasture: 11.1t DM/ha harvested, nil urea, pasture as percentage of feed consumed: 88% uu Supplement: 450 bales lucerne brought in, 350 bales silage made onfarm. uu Farm working expenses: $4.03/kg MS uu www.ourlandofmilkandhoney.com

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

57

LEFT: Cows love a good sratch. ABOVE: A cow emerges from one of the robotic milkers after milking. BELOW: The William’s farm dairy is a hub with kitchen, dining area and farm office, catering for onfarm visitors.

Robots and organics Since Neville first set eyes on robotic milking machines more than 25 years ago, he was intrigued and three years ago they decided to buy four Lely units. The flexibility of automatic milking machines fitted with the philosophy of organic dairy cows because the whole system puts less stress on the animals, Neville says.

“Even though cows have a herd mentality, the cows aren’t herded. They come to the shed when they want to, which, depending on their stage of lactation, is anywhere from one to three times a day.”

Some naysayers said the robots wouldn’t work on their farm because they thought the cows wouldn’t walk back to the farm dairy. The farm is rolling-to-steep, sitting 150 metres above sea level.

However, the cows’ milking frequency is the same whether they’re in the paddock closest to the farm dairy, or the furthest 2km away, Neville says.

The cows are willing to walk the distance and they have minimal lameness issues because they walk at their own speed. It took them about two weeks of intensive training to transition their herd through the robots.

“The first few months with the robots were hard, but we knew they would be. We were lucky to get help from friends, as well as other local farmers who had robots and Lely. Once we got over the settling-in stage and learned how the system worked, it really freed us up to focus on other things, for 58

example pasture management, keeping a close check on animal health, and carrying out restoration work, fencing and general farm maintenance.”

Now the heifers join the autumn milkers to get used to coming into the farm dairy and walking through the Texas gates and robots. Like training heifers in any farm dairy, it requires patience, but with this system you don’t get kicked trying to put the cups on, Neville says.

The cows are very quiet in the dairy and as they move about the farm. Allowing them to choose when they’re milked helps both milk production and overall animal health.

“They’re very relaxed and if there’s a line for a robot, they’re often just chewing their cud and waiting for their turn,” Neville says.

“They get to spend time with the cows they like spending time with and they express their natural personalities, because they’re free to come and go as they please. They’re relaxed and happy. On the way out, they get to enjoy a good scratch with a mechanised brush.”

The radio is normally going and the Williams’ son Trent who is a sound editor has created a playlist which they are doing an informal experiment on looking at the cows’ milk production in reaction to the music.

Having the robots onfarm also helps attract good-quality staff like their farm manager Vaughn Davys, Neville says.

“You don’t have to be a computer expert to work with the system, but you still have to be a good all-round farmer.”

The data gathered at every milking also supports their organic operation because the cows are monitored so closely and proactive decisions can be made.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Like a herd test every milking When it comes to managing mastitis the robots are a great help. Neville says.

It’s like having a herd test at every milking. When a cow has a somatic cell count alert she is drafted to the treatment shed.

Her quarters are assessed and treated appropriately, using a combination of stripping, Shoof Udder Comfort which helps improve udder health, and homeopathy.

“It’s surprising how many cows self-cure,” Neville says.

In an organic system, being proactive with animal health is vital because you cannot use the ‘ambulance at the bottom of the cliff’.

The cows are given AgriSea Animal Health Tonic, cider vinegar and minerals through the dosatron as required to maintain general health and to reduce somatic cell count.

The cows also have access to Himalayan salt rocks and a small amount of organic molasses while they’re being milked.

They use an approved iodine-based teat spray year-round.

If a cow needs to be treated with antibiotics she is treated appropriately, immediately removed from the herd to a quarantine area to recover and then sent off-farm.

They generally have less than 1% of cows that need to be treated with antibiotics, about three a year, Neville says.

Sunlight and having a well-balanced consistent diet every day is a big contributor to good animal health, he says.

“We try and feed our cows really well all year.”

They have also culled strictly for mastitis and udder conformation since installing the robots and choose genetics accordingly.

Louise chooses the LIC bulls every year and the traits she focuses on are udder conformation, size, fertility and SCC. She’s also been selecting A2 bulls for the last decade and most of their herd is now A2.

They do three to four weeks of artificial breeding followed by crossbred bulls. They have been split-calving for the past few seasons, but have gone back to spring calving with an extended calving period of 12 weeks.

“We are doing the opposite of everyone else and we are

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Marginal land has been retired and planted in manuka and kanuka, creating a perfect environment for bees, who pay back by pollinating trees and pasture.

trying to elongate our calving. This will mean we can still milk all year round to utilise the robots and capitalise on the winter milk price but without having to calve twice a year. The farm optimisation programme shows no loss in profitability from this approach. It will be interesting to see how it goes.” Neville says.

They have been 80% Fonterra organic suppliers until this season and have now gone 100% to the Organic Dairy Hub Co-operative.

The Hub is open and transparent, and they wanted to support it, Neville says.

Neville and Louise are not purely financially driven and it’s not the reason they’re in organics, but it’s nice to see the value of organic milk being recognised.

“Money is not the most important thing, it isn’t the motivation, but the farm still has to pay its way,” Neville says.

59

At Skellerup, we believe that simple is good.

So when dairy farmers told us that choosing the right milking liners was too complicated, we agreed. Drawing on our history as industryleading innovators we refined our range, simplifying the decision-making process by cutting the selection in half.

With our new multi-fit liners you no longer need to know what size milking claw you have.

Plus, they’ve got a ‘splined’ bumper section on the tailpiece that resists impact damage.

So the next time you’re buying liners, look for Skellerup multi-fits – the choice is simple.

HC SKP1323

Find out more at skellerup.co.nz 60

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Gina Williams. Photo: Lewis Mulatero.

The next generation Gina and Trent are the fourth generation to be raised on the Waikato farm. Gina is an advertising strategist and writer by trade and Trent is a sound editor and musician working in Wellington.

Gina took a year off work in 2015 to help Neville and Louise on the farm and while she was there she established a website for the farm and began writing a farm journal.

The farm journal is a way to connect, share and learn with likeminded people, interested in the future of farming, or food production. This could be a chef in South America, a blogger from Wellington who’s interested in sustainability, or a farmer in the district we’ve known for years, Gina says.

“Solutions can come from anywhere and it’s crucial to keep an open mind for new ideas. The only rule we work to is one around ‘positivity’. We don’t believe constructive conversations start with finger-pointing, or preaching. You have to start from a place of empathy and respect.”

She encouraged her parents to build a hub when they built the new farm dairy for the robots, which includes a kitchen, dining area and office with windows to view the cows coming in to be milked. The shed is adjacent to Maungatautari Road which is a popular thoroughfare and they now have a setup which will be attractive for onfarm visitors.

They have also planted a native shelter belt, a selection

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018 Photo: Lewis Mulatero.

of fruit trees and edible hedgerows around the tanker track to enhance the surroundings.

With part-funding from the Waikato River Authority and support from the local school and Iwi, they have retired 10ha of marginal land and planted more than 30,000 plants including manuka and kanuka, as well as building three treatment weirs, with generous ‘buffer zones’.

Three tributaries spring out of the ground on their farm, Gina says.

“We have a rare opportunity to make sure the water in these streams starts off life as it should go on.”

Within the extensive native planting and abundance of clover, Gina and her partner Richard, saw an opportunity to introduce bees to the operation.

“Planting the marginal land doesn’t just help with biodiversity, it helps with economic diversity, by creating the perfect environment for bees. The honey is just one of the benefits of beekeeping; the bees also help to pollinate our trees and our pasture, creating a richer, more abundant and productive farm for all that live their lives on it,” Gina says.

“Introducing the bees has made our marginal land more meaningful. It’s also given us a very hands-on way to learn a new craft, and the capacity to care for colonies as well as cows.

“It’s not a huge leap to say there’s a co-dependence and correspondence between the bees, the pasture, the cows, the wetlands and their fauna, and us – all relying on one another to thrive.”

Gina and Richard were travelling down every fortnight to tend to their beehives but have now moved down to the farm.

The couple have set up two apiaries on the farm, with 20 beehives, as well as a market garden and will expand now they’re on the farm full-time.

“The garden and in particular, the bees made good environmental sense, and their additional economic value gave the project the green light,” Gina says.

“For dairy farming to be good for all of us, we need good farmers who have their eyes on tomorrow and acknowledge their place as brief custodians. Good farmers are across the economics, as well as doing right by the community and the environment. We need to take care of this land. It’s home. This land is everything.”

61

Success with the switch A German-owned farming operation has become New Zealand’s biggest organic dairy operation, following EU certification. Karen Trebilcock reports. everal thousand German mum and dad investors are changing dairying in Southland.

In November, Aquila Sustainable Farming’s six farms, milking 5500 cows, will start supplying European Union-certified organic milk to Open Country’s powder plant at Awarua Bay. The Hamburg-based investment fund’s Southland general manager Shaun Neeley says in the two years since shareholders voted for the change, the farming operation has proven organics is a profitable model in Southland.

“With the premium Open Country is paying, we’re making money and we know if the payout drops again to $4 we’ll still be in the black.

“It takes two years to become accredited with the EU organic standards and in that two years we’ve shown it works.”

And he believes other farmers in the region will soon be turning to organics as well.

“I’d say in five years’ time we’ll see a big shift.

“In a volatile market, we are producing a niche product which is attracting a premium price.

Commercially it stacks up.

“When we started this process there were a lot of unknowns but now we know it works.

“And it’s a very sustainable model. It ticks a lot of boxes including animal welfare, social responsibility and the environment.

“For our German shareholders, who have seen organic produce on their supermarket shelves since the 1990s, it was simply a no-brainer.”

Combined, the Aquila operation will be the largest organic dairy farming business in New Zealand.

The farms are run with closed herds with all young stock grazed together. They are spread across Southland, from Kaiwera to Otautau and include irrigated and non-irrigated propeties and a wide variety of soil types, topography and climate zones.

“Basically, with organics, we’ve gone back to farming the way it was in the 1980s,” Shaun says.

“They didn’t use urea then because it was too expensive.

“And if they could do it, then we, with the technology we have today, should be able to.”

Monitoring and recording is part of the organic

S

Aquila Sustainable Farming’s general manager Shaun Neeley.

certification which has annual and spot audits. Aquila is using FarmIQ software to meet the requirements with farm staff recording day-to-day activities on the app on their phones.

“It’s saving us time as well as improving the accuracy of information. There are no more monthly reports that the farm managers have to do.

“Everything is stored in the cloud and we have the information in real time instead of after it has happened.”

He says the range of organic fertilisers from fertiliser companies had given them options but in the first year grass growth took a hit dropping 20% when the use of urea was stopped.

“We think we will eventually end up at about 12% less pasture yield than when the farms were run under conventional systems.”

New grass paddocks are planted with mixed swards including plantain and chicory. Fescue is used instead of ryegrass in some paddocks.

“We’re using lots of different types of clover too, reds and whites. The chicory proved its worth in the drought.”

This year the cows are wintering on a kale and clover

(Representative products only)

62

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

A sign beside the Riversdale farm asks for no roadside spraying. Aquila’s farms try to maintain their roadsides to stop potential spray drift.

mix at 15 tonnes drymatter (DM)/ha and fodder beet at 22t to 28t DM/ha.

“And we’re getting those tonnages with no weed or insect spraying. No slug bait at sowing.

“There was a lot of white butterfly around in Southland this year but we didn’t seem to be affected. When you looked at the kale there were a lot of parasitic wasps on them so maybe that’s the reason.

“We do have crop failures but we’re on to them pretty quickly.

We had a fodder beet paddock fail this season and we were in straight away with kale.”

Weed control is now about man-hours with thistles grubbed and paddocks with annual weeds topped.

“We are looking at some organic weed sprays to see how effective they are. Some of them seem to desiccate the plant but not get rid of it.”

Stocking rates used to be 2.7 to more than three cows per hectare, which is near the Southland norm, but have been lowered to 2.3 to 2.4.

Although they now produce less milk per hectare, the per-cow hasn’t changed and is sitting about 400-420kg milksolids (MS)/ cow.

“There is no reason why a cow in an organic system should produce less,” Shaun says.

Although the herds are still predominantly Friesian, they’re working with LIC using KiwiCross genetics focusing on bulls with daughters who have good conformation and longevity.

“We’re wanting cows which are less-prone to lameness, lessprone to getting sick.”

They’re also looking at the market for organic dairy beef instead of bobbying calves, and possibly organic veal at six months of age.

Finding suppliers of organic feed and grazing has been problematic, especially because of the scale required.

“We’ve partnered with some farmers to supply us with organic balage and we’re talking to some grain growers as well.

“The drought this year was a really good test for us. It showed that we could get through. Having the longer rounds with the lower stocking rate certainly helped.”

Animal health on the farms also had to change.

“With the EU standard we can use antibiotics but only to treat a cow. We can’t use them as a preventative.

“The withholding periods are also twice as long and there are also limits on how many times a cow can be treated per year so using alternative preventative methods is a far better way for us to manage animal health.”

HOMEOPATHY The complementary system of health for all your farming livestock

TALK DIRECTLY TO THE EXPERTS

HOMEOPATHIC FARM SUPPORT e info@farmsupport.co.nz Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

p 07 858 4233

f 0800 367 437

w farmsupport.co.nz 63

Young stock can be drenched with conventional drenches but only after worm burden has been proven.

Calves are debudded as it is a health and safety issue. Cows are also vaccinated for leptospirosis for the same reason.

As they know the farms have historically had problems with rotavirus and BVD, all animals are vaccinated for both.

“There’s a very strong focus on animal welfare and also on people with the EU standards which is why we can do this,” Shaun says.

Reducing stock numbers has allowed them to cull mastitis cows but fixing dairy plant problems and improved staff training has also had a big impact, he says.

Somatic cell counts on most of the farms are about 150,000 with some below that which then attract the Open Country premium for low-SCC milk.

Each farm has a Mastaplex onfarm Lapbox for mastitis diagnosis.

“The results take 22 hours to come back and during that time we’re stripping the cow. Often the cow will be self-healing before the results come back and if antibiotics are needed the test shows which one to use so having that tool onfarm has really helped.

“And again, with the organic standard requirements, it is allowing us to explain our antibiotic use.

“With problem cows we still use Dry Cow Therapy at drying off.”

Also on the “can’t use list” are CIDRs and any drugs used for synchronising or treating anoestrus cows.

“We really concentrate on body condition scores all the way through the year and we’ll put cows on once-aday milking after calving if we have to so they cycle.

“Our reproduction rates are now better than they were before going organic.”

Vets body condition score four times a year but Shaun and the farm managers are also actively seeking out lighter cows continuously.

All cows are dried off in the autumn at a BCS of 4.8 or better, higher than the industry standard of 4.5.

The organic model is also meeting Environment Southland requirements and, with some of the farms having major rivers on their boundaries, Shaun says he would be interested to see the results of ongoing water testing.

“Hopefully what we are doing will help but equally we need to know if it is not.

“At the end of it all, these farms have to be saleable. Aquila’s investment is a term investment so there is the need for these farms to one day come on to the market.

“I believe, especially since we’ve gone through the two-year accreditation, we’ve increased their value per hectare.”

Staff had engaged in the process of changing to organics, he says.

“The farms were previously managed by contract

64

Aquila Sustainable Farming’s general manager Shaun Neeley holds up one of the fodder beet grown this season.

milkers, but are now staffed with farm managers which has allowed us to make quick decisions regarding the operation of the farms without having to impact on someone else’s business.

“Changes that could impact milk flows would be difficult to implement through a contract milking agreement and wouldn’t really be fair to the contractor.

“This year we’ve been bringing our 2ICs up into management positions and we really try to keep our staff as much as possible by giving them new opportunities.

“I’ve been really impressed with their willingness to learn about organics and it’s them that have made this work.”

Also, in Aquila’s Winton office, is the farm’s operations manager Luke Futter and Jessica Fraser is the policy and planning manager.

“MPI take the EU standards and make them into policies but we then had to turn them into a farm management plan which is where Jessica has come in. It’s been a huge job.”

Having scale and a variety of soils and systems, although at times challenging, has also allowed the farms to trial new methods.

“We’ve talked to lots of people as part of this process and we’re still working to find methods that improve what we do.”

However, Shaun’s sticking with the science.

“There will be no dancing in the moonlight. At least not from me.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

A growth industry Despite a long history, and recent growth in the sector, organic dairy farming has seen swings and roundabouts. Bob Edlin reports. he New Zealand organic sector has grown 30% since 2015 to be worth $600 million a year, buoyed by consumer demand in this country and globally, the recently released 2018 OANZ Organic Market Report says. Retail sales of organic products grew twice as fast as conventional products, up 8.8% to $245 million.

Exports were “booming”, up 42% to $355m, including dairy, meat and wool (lumped together), up 45% to $99.5m.

Organic land area in NZ increased to 88,871 hectares, up 17%, organic livestock area had increased to 64,278ha, up 50%, and the number of organic dairy farms was up by 10%.

Organic farming has come a long way since starting in NZ about the 1940s as an activity mostly confined to small gardens and orchards. But it still accounts for a small portion of the dairy industry.

Commercial organic farming and growing was given a fillip in the 1960s when public concerns were raised about harmful agricultural chemicals such as DDT (and it was given another boost 30 years later as growers and consumers promoted its virtues in response to growing alarmism about genetically modified foods).

Even so, commercial organic farming developed slowly, initially embraced by only a few small growers supplying local markets. Its expansion was helped

T

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

by consumers persuaded to favour organic products for health or environmental reasons, but they sought assurances the produce met organic standards.

The industry’s response was the formation of the NZ Biological Producers and Consumers Council (BioGro) in 1983 to support producers and certify produce to BioGro standards and international regulations.

Fonterra first offered organic milk contracts in 2002 but organic milk supply in NZ peaked in 2010 when 127 farmers signed contracts with the cooperative.

The organic side of the business faltered because the Global Financial Crisis had adversely affected consumer buying behaviour, slowing the demand internationally for premium products. In 2011 Fonterra renewed contracts only in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty and its processing of organic milk dropped from 10 million kg milksolids (MS)/year to 6m.

Just a few years later, Fonterra was reported to be “desperate for high-value organic milk” and it launched a revival of its organic programme in 2015 on the Flipp farm in Manawatu.

Bill Quinn, of the Organic Dairy Hub Co-operative of New Zealand, told rural media at that time there was a “crying demand” for organic milk but not enough cows to meet it and he noted that 65

Beat the seasons!

Loafing barns …

Cover your feedpad …

te i s n o t l i Bu 0 from $55 * ! w o c r e p 60,000 cows enjoy their free range clear-roofed Redpath shelter N Effective off-pasture management system N Superior feed utilisation N Control effluent within your standoff/feed areas N Clear-roof for superior floor condition and natural environment for the herd N Peace of mind farming N Cover your existing concrete pad and eliminate rainfall washing N Buy direct – we install nationwide Free phone or email for a no obligation free quote

FREE PH 0508 733 728 www.redpath.co.nz Email: sales@redpath.co.nz 66

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

* GST & conditions apply

NZ’s 17,000-strong organic cow herd had shrunk significantly from 29,000 at its 2010 peak.

Early in 2016 organic milk powder was selling for more than $14,000 a tonne compared with a price for conventional whole milk powder of $3158 and for the 2016-17 season, Fonterra was paying organic farmers $9.20/kg MS, compared to its forecast of $6 kg/MS for conventional farmers (not including the dividend).

More than 50 farmers then were supplying Fonterra with organic milk.

The new price followed a change in the way Fonterra pays organic farmers. It began paying them either through an independent organic milk price linked to market returns, or through a top-up system in response to a market-linked change sought by the farmers.

The Organic Dairy Hub, set up by disaffected Fonterra suppliers or farmers unwilling to deal with the dairy giant, provides milk for several liquid organic brands, including Lewis Rd, Kapiti (a Fonterra brand), Puhoi and Meadow Fresh (both Goodman Fielder), and Zany Zeus.

Quinn says the hub took some credit for the premium Fonterra began paying organic farmers. Its establishment and the higher prices it offers had been a spur.

The launch of Anchor Organic milk in May 2015 was another development. Fonterra Brands New Zealand managing director Tim Deane then said that with other organic milk brands were available only in certain regions or at high prices, “Anchor is on a mission to make organic milk more widely available at a fair price”.

It had suppliers across the North Island, from Whangarei to Martinborough, and was focused on driving the advantage of New Zealand’s grass-fed way of farming to create a premium over other organic producers in the world.

Organics, nevertheless, are a niche market, representing less than 1% of Fonterra’s production.

It exports 94% of all its organic milk products to markets in the United States, Korea, China, Asia and Australia. Its range of organic products includes whole milk powder, skim milk powder, milk protein

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

concentrate, whey protein concentrate, cheese, butter, UHT milk, and fresh milk. Organic products are sold to customers as both ingredients and consumer goods.

Farmers are paid a conversion premium of 45c over the standard milk price for converting contracted farmers for up to three years (covering a three-year conversion process).

Once a farm has reached the US organic standard, it is paid the organic milk price which reflects the global market premium.

The forecast this season is $8.10/kg MS. Westland Milk Products does not process organic milk, but a spokesperson says it is “exploring options for bringing in segregated milk collection and processing for the likes of grass-fed milk, A2 and so on…”

Organic milk might be part of that but “we are not likely to see anything in place for a while yet”.

The economics of processing organic milk are a significant factor for companies like Fonterra which overwhelmingly process conventional milk. It must pay the premium to secure the organic milk but also must deal with the complexity of keeping the milk separate through the collection and bottling processes.

Agricultural scientist and former agribusiness professor Jacqueline Rowarth looked at the economics through a different prism in an article in 2016, when conventional farmers were musing on whether they should make the switch.

Two years earlier, she observed, organic dairy production had been identified as an opportunity, but the reason the demand was growing was based on perceptions of high use of chemicals.

NZ dairy production systems did not involve excessive use of pesticides, fertilisers, ionising radiation, and sewer sludge, nor animal hormones and antibiotics, she pointed out..

“Marketing those attributes of the New Zealand dairy industry, rather than taking a punt on ‘organic’, might be more valuable and less risky for everybody,” she contended.

67

Converts in the waiting The outlook for organic dairy is strong around the world, an organic farming leader says. Glenys Christian reports. rganic Ag founder Bill Quinn has a waiting list of farmers wanting his help in converting to organic milk production or becoming fully certified producers.

Already more than 60,000 cows are in full organic milk production and a further 30,000 animals part way through the conversion process around the country, he estimates.

“And there were only 16,000 cows in organic production just two years ago,” he says.

“We’ve been inundated by drystock, dairy and sheep and beef farmers wanting to convert to organic production.”

While some had registered their intention to produce organic milk and now wanted to start the conversion process, they might have concerns about issues such as who they could certify with, he says.

Others are well along the way to making the change and just need a hand with a few final details. Quinn’s role is to put them in touch with the expertise they require whether it be onfarm or at the processing end of their operation. He doesn’t direct them but leaves it up to the individual farmers to make the decision as to which way they will go.

The outlook for the organic dairy sector around the world is “extremely exciting and positive”, he says.

“While people in New Zealand might say certified organic milk production is a niche market, in the United States it’s 6% of milk production. We need to do a relativity check on what that means for NZ because that’s more than our total milk supply and we’re a small dot.

“And the target for all of US agricultural production is 15% of the market in the next few years.”

O

68

Bill Quinn – organic products are niche no longer.

But Quinn says NZ needs to be certain that it is able to meet certification standards demanded by overseas consumers for organic products.

“We are well past being told we have a nice story,” he says.

“We have to tell the story better and that means the story behind the story. We’re fooling ourselves if we think our clean, green image will do it. The world is waking up.”

Quinn says a good number of NZ dairy farmers have, over the last 20 years, shown it was possible to farm organically in both a sustainable and profitable way.

“They’re proving the mantra that production is vanity and profit is sanity,” he says.

And they had the lead of US farmers to follow who had shown that it was possible to farm to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) NOP standards for organic production without using antibiotics on their stock.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

While there had been an initial reluctance among New Zealand milk processors to get involved in organic milk processing, with Fonterra running just a small organic programme, a lot had changed over the last few years, Bill Quinn says.

The Organic Dairy Hub was set up in 2015, taking on the role as a broker between producers and manufacturing companies and domestic brands like Lewis Road Creamery and Puhoi Valley who switched some of their production to organic.

Then Open Country Cheese set up its South Island programme which will expand over time and two or three companies like Kawerau Dairy Group were being established. They were able to attract international investors because organic products were in demand from those countries’ consumers, and to access the milk volumes required they needed to look offshore.

At an onfarm level there were also good synergies for organic dairy producers with the emerging hemp industry in this country.

“It ties in well in pasture renovation and gives us a better story to tell,” he says.

OrganicAg and Hemp Farm New Zealand can help farmers make the connections required.

Hemp needs no fertiliser and adds nitrogen to the soil improving it for future crops, making it a useful alternative which might be grown as part of a pasture renovation programme on dairy farms.

“It gives income security because there’s a good return from the crop,” he says.

“And there’s a good marketing story for consumers who not only want to know where their food is coming from but that the farmers producing it are looking after the environment as well.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

certified protection:

farming

construction

arboriculture forestry Certified Product

New opportunities

Organic Dairy Hub Co-operative of New Zealand’s first milk collection from Les Kenworthy-Thompson, with co-op chairman Bill Quinn in 2015.

NZS 8600:2002 License SMKH20471 aS/NZS 1801:1997 Type 1 License SMK40755 Certified by SaI Global

AvAilAble from:

Motorcycle / ATV Dealers & leading farm supply & safety equipment stores.

www.forbesanddavies.co.nz

69

Partners form Kawerau Dairy A group of Iwi entities and a Japanese company have formed a partnership to process organic milk at Kawerau using geothermal steam in its dryers. Glenys Christian reports. awerau Dairy Group is set to start handling organic milk from 15 to 20 farms early next year with expectations this will double as production ramps up.

Corie den Haring who has been contracted by the company since the beginning of this year is helping organise milk supply. He was formerly manager of Green Valley Dairies, south of Auckland and in that role is dealing with the Organic Dairy Hub and its supplying farmers from around the North Island. He’s charged with finding from 200,000 to 400,000 litres of organic milk a week which the plant aims to process.

“Organic milk isn’t spilling out of everyone’s farms, but we hope we can expand.”

Multi-year agreements are being signed with members of the Organic Hub and iwi who have been involved in setting up the plant are also looking at converting some of their dairy farms. It’s likely that most of the milk supply will come from around the Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Taupo areas. And there’s an agreement in place with the Organic Hub that if farmers are looking to convert to organic production their milk can be processed while they work towards certification, obtaining reduced premiums along the way.

“Kawerau Dairy Group is a partnership as opposed to a co-operative with the aim of adding value to its owners by taking a regional focus,” den Haring says.

Eleven Maori entities are involved:Te Manawa o Tuhoe, Maori Investments, Putauaki Trust, Ngati Makino, Rotoiti 15, Tataiwhetu Lands Trust, Tapuika Holdings, Rotoma No.1 Inc, Wharepi Whanau Trust, Omataroa Rangitaiki No.2 Trust and Poutama. They have a 66.66% shareholding in Kawerau Dairy with the other 33.33% shareholder a 137-year-old family-owned Japanese business, represented by Cedenco Dairy.

“It’s fundamentally looking at export markets particularly in specialised milk powder products,” he says.

These were likely to be primarily in the United States and Japan, its cornerstone shareholder’s base.

“It’s not a business that’s China-focused,” he says.

High value conventional and organic milk products, primarily milk protein concentrate (MPC), organic milk powders and organic MPC will be produced in phase

K

70

one of its development, costing about $30 million. It could consider production of milk protein isolates (MPI) in the future. The plant will also be certified organic to United States Department of Agricuture (USDA) NOP standards.

In comparison with other New Zealand milkpowder plants it will have a relatively small dryer using geothermal power in the same way the Miraka plant at Mokai, north of Taupo does. There will be the potential to add on to the dryer to produce more organic and conventional high-end milk powders and milk protein concentrate products. Later it may expand into tollprocessing of sheep and goat milk or plant-based dairy products from oats or hemp. This would come about with the addition of a second dryer, like the first able to produce 750 to 1000 kilograms of powder an hour.

Its plans for further expansion could include cream processing and butter production. The plant, although it could handle conventional products, will also be certified organic to USDA NOP standards.

Kawerau Dairy Group is not specifically planning to enter the domestic organic dairy market with den Haring describing its size as “not very much of not very much”.

“But there’s very much an open mind as to what other products it might produce.”

It believes this flexibility and adaptability will allow it to be more innovative and respond better to disruption than larger commodity producers.The site just outside of Kawerau has ready access to the rail link to the Port of Tauranga, and will provide work for from 25 to 30 people. Den Haring says the organic market is still growing strongly internationally.

“In the United States it’s a multi-billion dollar a year industry and we don’t see it buttoning off any time soon,” he says.

Asian markets are also strong.

“Consumers are wanting to have more trust, confidence and understanding about what they buy,” he says.

“And they feel better about organics.”

Asked whether the group would look at moving into the fresh organic milk category he says there are logistical issues.

“And Fonterra is doing a wonderful job with its organic UHT milk.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

EXTENDED EARLY OFFER SO YOU GET THE BENEFITS OF ORDERING YOUR SEED EARLIER FOR LONGER

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

71

SYSTEMS PASTURE MEASUREMENT

A big help from SPACE Satellite measurement of pasture – and in future other crops – is being rolled out across the country. Sheryl Brown reports.

L

IC’s new satellite pasture measurement service has the potential to measure other crop yields in the future, such as chicory and plantain.

Satellite Pasture and Cover Evaluation (SPACE) has been developed predominately to measure rye-grassmixed species, but the opportunity is available to measure other species in future, LIC’s business advisor Simon Parry says.

“We have no algorithms at our disposal at the moment to be able to do that, but early data shows support for measuring these other species.”

“We would be very interested in that (measuring other species), and adding value to the product,” emerging markets and innovation general manager, Simon O’Connor says.

The priority for now is rolling SPACE out across New Zealand and ensuring the product is delivering what it’s supposed to do, he says.

The satellites were only launched last October, so it’s been an impressive turn around to get the product on the market so quickly, O’Connor says.

Ease of Use Convenience

Great for trimming cows’ tails Powered by rechargable lithium ba+ery Light weight and comfortable to use 18 month warranty Includes a full accessory kit

Available from all leading farm/vet supply stores

72

Rec Retail

$595 incl GST

0800

More than 1000 dairy farmers have now signed up to use the service since it was launched in December.

The Waikato and Canterbury regions have been the first launch areas, with Bay of Plenty and Southland next on the list.

In each new area launched farmers are able to sign up for a free six-week trial before choosing to buy an annual subscription, which starts at $1000 for LIC Emerging Markets and Innovation GM, Simon O’Connor.

50ha up to $3000 for 301-400ha.

The price is a competitive substitute to the labour saved from having to do manual farm walks. The data integrates automatically with MINDA Land & Feed and farmers are able to then create a feed wedge.

However, the technology is restricted by cloud cover. If there is significant cloud cover when the satellite passes over NZ farmers are unable to get a report. Canterbury had had consistent reports, while lately parts of the Waikato has had less-regular reports due to bad weather heading into winter.

“Some regions will get excellent coverage, but if you live in a cloudy area at the base of a mountain, it will probably not work for you,” O’Connor says.

Farmers are so in tune with weather forecasts they can predict if they will receive a report or if they need to get out and measure the grass manually, he says.

Farmers have also found the reports to be inaccurate from paddocks with grass cover above 3000kg drymatter (DM)/ha.

The reason for that is potentially the NDVI sensors are being saturated, but they are working on improving the technology to counter this issue, Parry says.

Like any new technology product to the market LIC is continually working to improve it and it will become even more accurate and have extra potential down the road, he says.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

CAT – TRUSTED FOR GENERATIONS

VIS IT U SIT S A ED TF 39 IEL & D DA 41 YS

For decades, Kiwis have trusted Cat® to generate their power when all else fails.

Designed and manufactured to the most exacting standards, Cat generators from Gough Power Systems are made to work first time, every time. That means, when the unforeseen occurs, you’ve got the backup you need to keep working, and keep safe.

Cat generators are backed by a nationwide network of Gough branches and dealer experts located from one end of the country to the other, ready to back-up your back-up. If you ever need it.

For more information, visit www.catpower.co.nz or contact the sales team.

CONTACT GOUGHS FOR MORE DETAILS | Branches nationwide from Whangarei to Invercargill | 0800 CAT POWER Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

73

ENVIRONMENT ONFARM

Up hill and down dale A Southland farm was turned around during conversion to dairy, and it’s won the region’s Ballance Farm Environment Award’s supreme award for 2018. Karen Trebilcock reports. hen Ryan and Abby Moseby decided to convert Ryan’s parents’ sheep and beef farm near Mataura in Southland, they decided to put the dairy at the bottom of the farm.

Both the top and bottom boundaries have good road access for the tanker, but the decision had to be made whether to make the cows walk uphill or downhill to the dairy. It’s a 200-metre lift.

“We decided to walk them downhill to milking and pump the water and the effluent uphill,” Ryan says. “It seems to have worked.”

The 2018 Southland Ballance Farm Environment Award supreme winners are finishing their fourth season milking and getting everything uphill and downhill has been just one of the challenges of the conversion.

W

74

They also had no stock water scheme as every paddock had a creek running through it which was fine for the sheep and the beef cattle but with dairy it wasn’t.

And all those creeks are tributaries of the world-famous brown trout fishing river – the Mataura.

The farm has been in the family since 1874 and was a dairy unit until the wool boom in the 1950s.

At the time Ryan and Abby converted it back to dairy it was running 4000 stock units but when they transferred those numbers into cows they were told their production budgets were optimistic.

However, they’ve proved their critics wrong producing almost 300,000kg milksolids (MS) from 685 cows in the 2016/2017 season and will do close to that again this season even after the Southland drought.

FARM FACTS • Kanadale Farm • Location: Mataura, Southland • Area: 335ha (233ha effective – 27ha farm forestry) • Dairy: 54-bail rotary • Herd: 685 crossbred cows (peak) • Production: 300,000kg MS 2016 – 2017 season

During the conversion they knew the steepness would be an issue although one of their neighbours was already dairying on a similar lift. They just had to do it right.

Fences had to be spun around so cow flow was downhill, the 10km of waterways fenced off, bore water at the dairy pumped

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

we got it right or we would have been paying for it every day.”

They bought a 400-cow herd locally and added carryovers, heifers and a few North Island cows to make up numbers to just upwards to new troughs, 100 hectares over 600 and have slowly built numbers regrassed and about 8km of lanes built. from there.

They reckon “The herd they’ve done at is mainly least 35km of crossbred but ‘Our contractor made sure the fencing. there is a bit of camber and materials used “Because of the everything in were good. The cows don’t 200m lift, our lane there. We AI placement and for six weeks go single file, they’re spread gradient had to be and bulls out right across the tracks so that really good,” Ryan for four weeks shows he got it right.’ says. using mostly “They start at LIC KiwiCross. eight metres wide We want a at the dairy and then go to seven metres medium frame on this country.” wide and at the top are six metres wide.

Their 120 to 140-day storage effluent “Our contractor made sure the camber pond has a stirrer which keeps solids and materials used were good. The cows suspended to be pumped 80 to 90m uphill don’t go single file, they’re spread right to low-application maxi pods which cover across the tracks so that shows he got it more than 90ha. right.”

“We didn’t want to use a muck spreader Rotten rock from the farm saved them on this farm. It’s one less expense plus it significant dollars and they had a bulldozer means we don’t have heavy machinery on on site for a month making cuttings and the steep country.” smoothing out the gradient where the A green-water wash system on the cows would walk. backing gate is used to clean the yard after “It was a big cost, but it was important milking.

LEFT: As big as me! Harriet Moseby (18 months) and parents Ryan and Abby with a fodder beet grown on the farm for wintering.

BELOW: Ryan and daughter Harriet with one of their dogs in the furthest paddock from the dairy.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

“It goes twice around and that’s it. The yard has never been washed yet with a hose.”

The cows were wintered on fodder beet on the lower paddocks and kale grown on the rougher country at the tops but this year, with all the top paddocks now developed, it’s just fodder beet at the bottom.

“With fodder beet we’ve never grown less than 25 tonnes/ha and we’re yet to pay $2000/ha to grow it so it’s working well for us.”

Some of the wintering is on two neighbours’ land and another neighbour grazes the yearlings.

When his parents were sheep farming they had kept up the fertiliser programme so Ryan and Abby knew they had the soil fertility for dairying.

Soil testing every paddock recently, instead of whole farm testing, has shown the Olsen Ps to be anywhere between the mid-40s to single figures.

“Now we’re targeting where we’re putting on fertiliser.”

To maintain cow condition, with the challenge of the contour, once production drops to 1.8kg milksolids (MS)/cow/day, milkings go to 16 hours.

“That usually happens around December or January. By going 16-hour milkings

75

Ryan, Abby and Harriet (18 months) catch up with staff member Nick Henderson above the dairy.

we know we can hold production at 1.8kg MS, reduce any lameness problems and everyone can enjoy the summer.”

Once-a-day milking starts in early May, just in time for the start of the duck hunting season.

Although Ryan and Abby have never been in a position to enter the Dairy Industry Awards, they have both been judges so know what it means to be part of a competition and were at first wary of entering the Ballance Awards, especially as they don’t liking putting themselves in the spotlight.

“There had been a bit of pressure from a few people for a couple of years to enter so we thought we would get them off our back by having a crack at it,” Ryan says.

“It’s called the farm environment awards but every aspect of our business – production, our finances, the cows – is looked at.

“After three and a half years of dairying we thought now was a good time and opportunity to let independent eyes have a look at what we were doing and provide feedback and opportunities on our business which was the main motive for entering.

“We never thought we would win.”

The couple met at Lincoln University (Abby is from the Wairarapa) and both worked in banking after they graduated – Ryan with SBS and Abby with Westpac.

It was during a six-month world holiday that their thoughts turned to Ryan’s parents’ farm and succession.

Neither Ryan’s sister or brother were interested and the sheep farm would struggle to support two incomes so if Ryan and Abby wanted to take it on, conversion was the best option. Although neither had milked a cow, they had been through plenty of conversions as rural lenders and knew what they were up for.

“There was never any expectation from Mum and Dad for any of us to take over the farm, but it was there if we wanted to.

“They were really supportive and let us do the conversion how we wanted it. Dad is now our tractor driver and gets the cows in occasionally which for us is a huge help. And he still gets to go fishing when he wants to.”

Before the conversion the farm had a little debt but that has grown now to twice what the farm was worth before it switched to dairy.

“We do miss some aspects of sheep farming, dairy is a very different game but it is still growing grass and working with animals.”

“But everything is measurable,” Abby says. “We’ve got all the technology such as DeLaval’s ALPRO which drafts and records everything. There are milk meters and automatic teat spraying.”

The technology helps make the 54-bail rotary a one-person dairy keeping extra labour units needed on the farm down to two full-time staff and relief staff when needed throughout the season.

LEFT: Ryan and Abby discuss the plans for the farm forestry.

76

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

“We had a saying throughout the conversion of ‘do it once and do it right’,” Abby says.

Their planning was when the payout was at the highest it’s ever been, but they say they weren’t chasing the dollars.

“It was about succession and the drop in payout the following year just made us have to justify every dollar we spent,” she says.

“We were looking at this as a long-term farming option for the next 25-plus years, not for one year of a high payout,” Ryan says.

Abby continued to work at Westpac until their first child Harriet was born in spring 2016 which helped the budget.

Their second child is due this year, again around calving time.

The 27ha of farm forestry, planted by Ryan’s dad and his uncle, is almost ready for harvesting and will help the finances some more. Planting of riparian strips and gullies is continuing.

“We’ve previously wintered carryover cows in the gullies at a low stocking rate which we’ve used to help build the herd as we expanded but we’ve always wanted long term to plant them in forestry.

“The Environment Southland Land and Water Plan around stock exclusion from waterways along with gaining MPI’s Afforestation Grant Scheme funding has fast-tracked that with about 35ha being planted this year.”

The waterways are important to the family – Ryan can remember as a kid catching eels and freshwater lobsters in them.

“That’s what the farm is named after – the kanakana is the name of the eels found in the Mataura at the falls.”

Lincoln University

FARM MANUALS Lincoln University is New Zealand’s specialist land-based University. Lincoln draws its students from throughout New Zealand and over 60 countries around the world.

For more information: see us at Mystery Creek or visit aginfo.lincoln.ac.nz

Since the 1960s, the Farm Technical and Financial Manuals have been assisting University students, farmers, agribusiness firms and consultants to make informed, confident decisions.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

LIN2438 MAR 2018

The Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce aims to be the leading provider of agribusiness education and research in Australasia.

77

ENVIRONMENT CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate ambassador making the change Northland’s recently appointed climate change ambassador is walking the talk on his farm, Glenys Christian reports.

Northland dairy farms can’t rest easy when it comes to meeting zero-carbon goals just because they are stocked at a lower rate and produce fewer milksolids per cow on average so are produce less methane than other herds, industry climate change ambassador, Earle Wright says.

“We’ve all got a footprint,” the Tapora farmer says.

“You’ve got to be a walker not a talker.”

While the national carbon footprint is calculated as 10.2 tonnes per hectare Northland’s is just 6.2t. But he believes there are many ways the region’s dairy

N

farmers can learn from each other as well as farmers elsewhere. And he put that sentiment into song when he sang to Climate Change Minister, James Shaw, the chorus of Michael Jackson’s song The Man in the Mirror at a May workshop in Wellington.

“I don’t know what he made of it,” he says.

“But we’ve got to get the message out to farmers that we need an open conversation, and that means dialogue both ways. Every area has different issues.”

The Dairy Environment Leaders (DEL) programme named 15 ambassadors

“making milking easier and faster”

recently as part of the sector’s plan to create a culture of climate-conscious agribusiness among farmers and the broader dairy industry. They are spread through every region, and each represent good environmental farming practice for their farm system, running their farms profitably and sustainably and being serious about reducing onfarm greenhouse gas emissions.

In the north it’s not nutrient leaching that’s the main problem as is the case in many other dairying regions, but sediment runoff.

It’s estimated that the Kaipara Harbour

See our website or phone for more info.

for circular and s te ga g in ck ba e iv ct fe ef About rectangular dairy yards

K. H. McConnel Ltd. Hamilton, New Zealand 78

www.mcconnel.co.nz

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

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Left: Earle Wright on his Tapora farm.

Right: Earle with some of his extensive plantings.

Mineral Deciencies Solved the Easy Way With a PETA Multi-Purpose Dispenser A PETA dispenser is the simplest way to dispense magnesium, trace elements and salts to treat grass staggers or trace element deciencies. Developed by agricultural scientists at Ruakura

has 2000 tonnes of sediment a day deposited in it or 730,000t a year.

“There’s only one scallop bed now but when I was young we used to cut our feet on their shells,” Earle says.

“Our food shelf is being emptied.”

He believes the best thing dairy farmers can do is look at their farm’s efficiency and what they’re feeding their cows.

“Information is powerful and if they end up milking less cows and making more profit and that helps the environment and climate change that’s a win-win.”

Earle and his wife Gaeline milk 300 cows on their 110-hectare effective farm producing 120,000kg of milksolids.

They’ve established 4ha of wetlands and planted up to 10,000 trees over the last decade. One project has seen a drain fenced and planting carried out on both sides of it over the last seven years.

“It’s now riddled with whitebait and eels,” he says.

A feedpad was built to reduce damage caused by feeding supplements in the paddocks meaning they grow more grass; 11ha of maize is grown onfarm where an investigation of no-till cultivation to reduce carbon losses and costs is underway.

The property is one of the flagship sites for the Integrated Kaipara Harbour Management Group which aims to showcase good practice throughout Northland’s west coast to all the region’s farmers.

Earle’s been closely involved with plans to restore Manukapua (Cloud of Birds) 350ha sand island just off the coast. The foreshore, the Okahukura Conservation Area, owned by the Conservation

Department, was devastated by a fire in 2013, which took out most trees. Winstone Aggregates and Golden Bay Cement are now sponsoring a 100-year environmental plan drawn up by consultant, Leanne Macky which should be finalised by the end of the year.

And Earle’s conservation efforts haven’t stopped there as for the last eight years he’s found land where children attending the nearby Tapora School can plant native trees. For two years they worked on land owned by the local water board and this year they have moved on to Auckland Council land next to his wetlands.

“There was grand-daddy gorse there that I’ve sprayed over the last seven years,” he says.

But now the land has been put under regional parks management so more planting to be carried out over the next few years will be protected. Plants are sourced from Te Arai Nurseries at no cost as part of the 360,000 seedlings it supplies every year throughout Northland under the Integrated Kaipara Harbour Management Group.

Earle’s also set up environmental speech and research project competitions at Tapora School to encourage its pupils to think more widely about environmental issues.

“It’s nice to have young people on board,” he says.

“And their parents pick up on it. It gives me a good feeling that the community is taking care of itself. As Michael Jackson sang, ‘If you want the world to be a better place take a look at yourself and make that change’.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Research Centre, the correct amount of treatment is dispensed per-animal per-day.

Available in 24 hr and 48 hr models. Simply place in the trough and the job is done.

Purchase a PETA Dispenser from your local rural supplies store or veterinarian.

The efficient, economical way to healthy animals.

www.peta.co.nz Other dispensers in the range: 79 • Zinc: 24hr & 48hr • Bloat: 12hr & 24hr

STOCK ONFARM

Ticking all boxes at Karaka A former National Farm Manager of the Year is turning up production in their first sharemilking position. Glenys Christian reports. im and Louise Foote count themselves very lucky in their first sharemilking position. Not only did they move straight to a 50:50 job from contract milking they have just signed up for a further eight years going into their third season on the 175-hectare effective Karaka farm.

And they’re quickly making progress on three fronts – boosting milk production, moving towards 70% autumn calving and rearing all the beef calves they can to run on two blocks they’ve leased.

Jim, originally from a sheep and beef farming background, took out the national Farm Manager of the Year title in 2015 while they were on a 160ha Hauraki Plains farm milking 480 cows. When it came to stepping up to the next level they said they cast their net widely but ended up moving close to where they were brought up, Jim in Pukekawa and Louise in Pukekohe.

“The farm ticked a lot of boxes,” Jim says.

J

80

“It was our ideal job.”

They were very happy to be able to go sharemilking after a short time in the dairy industry, realising it could take people much longer to get to where they now are.

They bought a Friesian autumn-calving herd already on the farm, joining 150 of their own crossbred cows which they had

been able to rear from calves.

“Our ideal cow is a black Kiwi Cross cow,” Jim says.

“I like the good mix because you can increase the stocking rate per hectare but not the liveweight.”

Friesians are out of favour with him.

“They’re too big and it takes too much to start their engines, while the KiwiCross is a good nuggety little cow.”

They’re paying more attention to detail now in the move to KiwiCross but are continuing to use Liberty Genetics.

“I like the flexibility as you’re not tied into anything,” he says.

“The semen’s reasonably priced and when you’re starting out that’s important.

And then if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

Jim carries out AI himself having completed an LIC DIY technician course last year.

“I thought about it for a while because I can do that job whenever I want and that’s morning and night at the moment.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Left: Making progress: Jim and Louise Foote on the Karaka farm where they have just signed up for a further eight years at a 50:50 job.

FARM FACTS • Location: Karaka, south Auckland • Owners: Airlie Lodge Farms • 50:50 sharemilkers: Jim and Louise Foote • Area: 175ha effective • Herd: 500 mainly KiwiCross, Breeding Worth 56, Production Worth 81, recorded ancestry 83% • Production: 2017/18 – 204,000kg milksolids, target 2018/19 – 215,000kg • Supplements: DairyNZ System 3 “touching 4” with 15ha of maize silage grown on the farm and runoff, 20ha of chicory with a move to more turnips and rape • Dairy: 32-bail rotary with automatic cup removers and teat spray • Runoff: 65ha close by where young stock are reared • Lease land: 24ha at the rear of the farm, 72ha 15 minutes’ drive away.

While the farm, which was an old townsupply property, had been split calving a decision was made to get their first season under their belts then look at changes aimed a cranking production up. The result was 205,000kg of milksolids (MS) in 2016/17, a farm record.

“The previous best had been 192,000kg MS and in 2015/16 was 172,000kg,” Jim says.

He puts this down to pasture management but says there’s still a lot of work to do, despite supplements use

reducing from 1.9 tonnes to just 1.1t per cow over two seasons.

“We were utilising summer crops better and feeding less palm kernel, maize and grass silage,” he says.

About 20 hectares of chicory was grown for the first time which fitted in with a regrassing programme he started on.

“We’ve done 120ha so far in two seasons and it’s really paying dividends,” he says.

While there isn’t anything wrong with the fertiliser inputs the farm had been receiving the presence of a lot of weeds

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

had lowered pasture production.

Jim admits he has a lot of pride in his role in producing good quality grass.

“That’s my baby,” he says.

“We laid out a four-year plan and broke it down into what we could do and when.”

Their first concentration was on chicory which has produced about 12t/ha.

“We’re happy with that and it’s got us through,” he says.

“But now we’ve started to get on top of that we’ve tried out turnips and rape.”

While only a few hectares of both crops have been grown so far there are plans to increase that with the big advantage over chicory being the condensed area needed to grow the same amount of feed. Then the paddocks go into permanent pasture with Jim aiming for a good mix of diploids and tetraploids to establish well, which so far have included Base, One50 and a mix of the two.

Maize is also grown for silage with an early-maturing crop going in on the farm and a later-maturing species on the 65ha runoff two kilometres away. While 11ha was grown in their first season, this was boosted to 13ha last year and now 15ha.

With autumn calving starting on March 10 the early maturing crop is a big bonus.

“We’re growing more grass and of better quality, but we’ll probably keep 81

feeding around one tonne per cow of Fertiliser inputs were upped in their first supplements,” he says. year to make sure they were well insured “Our first two autumns have been kind for where they wanted to be when it came to us but there is going to come a time to increased grass growth. Another change when we need to have them to push us has been moving from spring to autumn through.” application for the 350kg superphosphateWhile they targeted production of based products 210,000kg MS last season and were “In spring it’s often wet and hard to get tracking well to achieve the fertiliser truck over the that, dry early summer farm,” he says.

‘We were conditions in November “But in autumn it’s dry and December meant and it can go anywhere. utilising summer they had to dry off And the nutrients are crops better and autumn cows earlier released more over winter feeding less palm and put the spring herd when they’re needed.” kernel, maize and on once-a-day (OAD) at Urea also goes on behind grass silage’ Christmas. the cows right through the “That lost us 11,000kg season if weather allows Jim MS,” Jim says. to do so.

Their target this season is 215,000kg “If there’s moisture I’ll grow grass but MS as part of what they admit is a “pretty when the tap turns off I can’t.” ambitous” plan to reach 220,000kg after When they got together with consultant, four seasons on the farm.

Stacey Belton from AgFirst, at the end of “Mother Nature will determine whether their first season on the farm they really we get there or not,” he says. started crunching the numbers at calving.

“But if all our ducks line up we will She ran a series of scenarios including achieve it. We’ve aimed high because we looking at 50:50, 60:40 and 70:30 autumn/ don’t want to be average.” spring calving splits as well as moving Jim does a farm walk with his platemeter totally to winter milking. every 10 days taking the same route which “I had an inkling that 70:30 would be he finds a good way to monitor paddocks the better one,” Jim says. and work out which ones next need to go “But Stacey thought all autumn might into crop. be better even though we would have had “It was pretty obvious what needed to to drop stock numbers.” come out of grass to start with,” he says.

After a lot of thinking and going over “But in our third year we’re at the stage the different scenarios they decided on of taking out paddocks which just need a a final plan before spring mating. Going bit of work done.” for the 70:30 split meant they were able

82

to bring in more young stock which also freed them up to sell 100 cows which they won’t have to carry over.

“Carrying over cows doesn’t spin my wheels,” he says.

“But we found a way of being able to get all we were wanting with heifers with good genetics and 100 cows to sell.”

There was also the bonus of being able to do more production in their transition year as they moved from 250 autumncalving cows and an equal number of spring-calvers to 350 autumn-calving and just 150 calving in spring.

Last year they mated their herd as normal but their 80 spring-calving heifers were synchronised resulting in half of them getting in-calf. The remainder were carried over to be mated in June along with 80 autumn-calving heifers.

“We had some extras of those as well,” Jim says.

Their herd’s empty rate was 12% in their first season but moved up to 14% last year, “The weather played its part,” he says.

“The spring was horrible and we were trying new things all the time. We want to be down to single digits.”

Ten weeks of mating is carried out in autumn and eight in spring with a 72% six-week in-calf rate. They tail with bulls using Herefords in autumn and Hereford and Angus bulls in spring. Last spring they were used as well as AI from day one of mating as they didn’t need all the calves produced coming into the herd.

Below: Louise is in charge of calf-rearing.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

No-bobby policy

Moving away from bobby calves means there’s more mouths to feed for Louise.

Louise is in charge of calf-rearing, moving them from calf sheds on the farm to more on the runoff where they first go outside as they have a rule of no calf touching the ground on the dairy farm. They’re offered meal from a week old which continues until after they’re weaned off milk at 85kg, then totally weaned at 100kg.

Her workload has just got much larger with their decision to move away from bobby calves.

“We wanted to utilise what we had as well as diversifying a little,” Jim says.

“The payout is high at the moment but it won’t stay that way forever.”

So this autumn they’ve started rearing all their bull and beef calves, leasing land to do so.

“It doesn’t encroach on our sharemilking job and we’ve reached an agreement with the farm owner that we can use the calf rearing sheds once the replacements move out.”

“It’s rewarding seeing them in the paddock,” Louise says.

And their children, Cooper, 7, and Emerson, 4, are happy to help out as well.

While replacements are fed colostrum taken daily to the runoff, beef calves get milk powder at home then at the 24ha at the back of the farm which was a support and drystock block.

They then move on to 72ha block 15 minutes away.

Dry cows will also go there giving the Footes complete control of their stock.

“We have sent them away to grazing before and it’s not worked,” Jim says.

“This way we’re more in control. It will be a little bit more work but we’ll be in control of our cows and with M bovis it’s good to keep everything in-house.”

They’re aiming to get beef calf numbers up to 300 over a couple of seasons with weighing every couple of weeks.

“If we can make a margin it’s worth doing,” Jim says.

“It’s equity and producing 300 extra head a year is gold to us.”

For two years there’s been a 2IC living on the farm but this season there’s been a change with a new worker taking over the position and a farm assistant being employed.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

“With me not being here so much that’s justified,” Jim says.

They milk through a 32-bail rotary with automatic cup removers and teat spray. The milking roster varies through the season with the flexibility to take the load off each other when necessary.

The effluent pond has 90 days’ storage and effluent is spread by a travelling irrigator to 42ha of the farm, all controlled by a Tracmap system linked to Jim’s mobile phone.

“If the irrigator doesn’t move for two minutes it will switch off automatically and sends me a txt message.”

GIVE YOUR CALVES A GREAT START IN LIFE. RXP COLOSTRUM TANKS, PERFECT FOR STORING THE SUPERFOOD THAT NURTURES AND PROTECTS YOUR NEWBORN CALVES.

STRONG

DURABLE ONE-PIECE CONSTRUCTION.

SIMPLE

CLEAR VOLUME IDENTIFICATION.

SAFE

TRANSLUCENT FOOD-GRADE UNITS.

Contact your Rural Merchant for more information.

RX PLASTICS rxplastics.co.nz

83

MUD

– nuisance and possible animal welfare issue

STOCK MUD

Livestock exposed to a sea of mud are neither a good look, nor good for production, Mark Fisher writes. ud is the inevitable outcome of slow pasture growth in winter, rain, and intensive land use. It might be glorious if you are a hippopotamus, but most of the rest of us find it uncomfortable, cold and wet.

For farming, it’s not just an uncomfortable nuisance. Reducing your stock’s exposure to mud does bring health and production gains.

In poor weather, animals need more energy, especially if they’re not sheltered from the wind, and their health and production may suffer if they are wet and muddy for long. On United States feedlots, beef cattle production is seriously affected by mud – liveweight gains can be reduced by 35% in dirt pens in muddy conditions, and cattle need about 25% more feed to produce the same gains.

Winter brings many challenges, most notably meeting animals’ nutritional needs. If animals are well fed, often with the addition of supplements and crops, they can usually tolerate variations in the weather.

However, storms, stocking densities, animal preferences, pastures, aspect, soil types, management needs and all the other things that make farming both rewarding and challenging, mean that mud is sometimes inevitable. It’s a nuisance but it also has an impact on animal comfort and health. On preferred surfaces, such as pasture, woodchips, or sawdust, New Zealand dairy cows will lie down for 12 hours a day. However, this is reduced to as little as two hours a day if they are standing on concrete or gravel. And wet soil is even more aversive than concrete.

The photos at left are from research done in a US feedlot, showing five days exposure to dry conditions (10% moisture), muddy conditions (26% moisture) and very muddy conditions (33% moisture). The muddier the conditions, the less time dairy cows spent lying (Chen et al., Journal of Dairy Science).

M

84

NZ’s codes of animal welfare generally state that livestock should have access to areas free of surface water and mud. This is because rest, including lying down, is so important.

If faced with choosing between feeding and lying, dairy cows prioritise lying. If unable to rest, they will show signs of

stress and immunosuppression, which makes them more susceptible to infection.

Well-drained and comfortable surfaces are required.

Farm assurance programmes are increasingly grading animals on their cleanliness. And those being developed in Europe, for instance, are expected to use animal cleanliness not only as a measure of hygiene, but also as an indicator of animal welfare.

Animal welfare standards are increasingly being questioned by society. Contentious issues are publicly raised and discussed.

Not surprisingly, different people have different ideas on how animals should be treated. Even if wellfed with regular access to shelter and veterinary attention, animals in deep mud for extended periods are unlikely to be seen as examples of good husbandry.

All stock owners should be familiar with the codes of welfare, developed by the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) with extensive input from farming industry bodies. You can find them on MPI’s website: www.mpi.govt.nz/protectionand-response/animal-welfare/codesof-welfare Mark Fisher is Principal Adviser Animal Welfare, MPI, Wellington.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Now’s the time to plant up for summer

STOCK DAIRY NZ

Trees offer shelter from the sun, wind and rain, DairyNZ’s animal care team manager Helen Thoday writes.

A

s we head further into winter, it’s easy to forget the sweltering heat we all experienced last summer.

With climate change forecasts suggesting summers are to become longer, hotter and drier in some parts of the country, the challenge of keeping our cows cool is only likely to increase.

The dairy sector is developing a reputation for planting waterways. And while we dig in those riparian strips, it’s worth considering planting for shade and shelter too. As the Chinese proverb goes: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.”

Providing shade for grazing livestock is one obvious way to prevent heat stress and to contribute positively to animal welfare.

After all, who doesn’t appreciate the shade of a tree on a hot day?

And as the mercury drops, trees also offer cows shelter from the cold wind and rain. Many farmers, like Matthew and Trudy Holmes based in Canterbury, have been quietly planting trees to provide stock with shade and shelter.

Their 650-cow farm in Rakaia is surrounded by a fortress of trees. They’ve spent the last 20 years building up the number of trees on their property, and prove irrigation is no barrier.

“Having farmed in the Waikato, we saw the value in having trees not only for shade and shelter but aesthetics too,” Matthew says.

“We have trees around the perimeter of the property and trees for shelter in every third or fourth paddock.

“They’re trimmed off at three metres so the pivot irrigation (set at 3.8m) can go over them.”

PLANTING FOR SHADE AND SHELTER • Around paddock boundaries • Single-row spaced poplars (one tree every 10-15m) or a dual-purpose shade/ shelter belt (one tree every 2-5m).

• Around paddock boundaries, corners outside irrigator pivots.

• Wider plantings of spaced poplars or eucalypts interspersed with small-stature natives (flax, cabbage trees, pittosporums).

• Irregular and sharp paddock corners or riparian strips.

• A few large-stature natives (totara, kahikatea, rimu) interspersed with smaller natives (flax, cabbage trees, pittosporums).

• Hard-to-farm, ungrazed dry/steep sidings and embankments.

• Ground-durable eucalypts or other high-value fast-growing timber species.

• Steep grazed areas (“too steep for the fert truck”).

• Wide-spaced poplars and willows (50-150 trees/ha).

• In paddocks near homestead or paddock edges beside farm and public roads.

• Large specimen trees (chestnuts, oaks, elms, lime, cedar) and fruit or nut trees (preferably deciduous to encourage grass growth and cover year-round).

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Give them shelter: Matthew and Trudy Holmes..

‘Our cows like to have somewhere to hide when the cold winds are blowing and on hot days it’s not unusual to see a huge percentage of the herd standing up against the shelterbelt to get some shade.’

Matthew and Trudy say their cows seek the trees out on hot and cold days.

“Our cows like to have somewhere to hide when the cold winds are blowing and on hot days it’s not unusual to see a huge percentage of the herd standing up against the shelterbelt to get some shade,” Trudy says.

85

For the pair, the plantings have been a labour of love and, fortunately for Matthew, Trudy enjoys gardening.

They say the shelterbelts also act as a good biosecurity measure, providing a buffer between properties.

Trudy advises farmers looking at investing in shelterbelts to talk to their local nursery to find out which trees would work best for their farm and how to look after them to help them get established.

They’re also glad to see research into other shelter options for farmers to use asides from trees, such as miscanthus, a tall grass that grows 2-4m high and doesn’t pose a risk of damaging irrigators.

NOT SURE WHERE TO START? It’s a good idea to take a wholefarm approach before you begin planting your trees.

Think about how you would like your farm to look in future, and any other benefits you might like the trees to provide, such as soil stability and biodiversity.

To help you come up with a plan, DairyNZ (in conjunction with Landcare Research and regional councils) has produced 13 regional guides that provide information about set-back distances, planting density, plant species best-suited to the region and when to plant. The guides are available at dairynz.co.nz/ planting-guides.

For more information about planting trees and the benefits, visit dairynz.co.nz/trees.

COMMUNITY PLANTING DAY DairyNZ staff are also doing their bit to plant more trees.

Two teams from the Hamilton office recently volunteered to plant trees at Lake Ngaroto, near Te Awamutu, to give back to the community.

Together the two groups planted about 3500 manuka and cabbage trees in an area of the wetlands that had previously been extensively damaged by flooding.

86

Risks of winter

STOCK WINTERING ON CROPS

W

intering cows on crops the dry period, in mild environmental is a common strategy to conditions a 500 kg cow needs to eat about help keep cows in good 124 MJ ME/day. Typical diets to provide condition, however there this include: is also a risk that cows could become sick • 9.5kg kale and 4kg average quality as a result. Farmers do a number of things pasture baleage (assuming 80% to reduce this risk. utilisation of the crop and 85% Monitoring the herd carefully and utilisation of baleage). keeping an eye out for sick cows, or those • 9.8kg DM swede and 4kg average that are not keen to feed when the rest of quality pasture baleage (assuming the herd are feeding, is one of these.

80% utilisation of the crop and 85% Treat sick cows quickly, especially in utilisation of baleage). poor weather conditions, and call your vet • 8.3kg fodder beet and 3.5kg average as soon as possible. quality pasture baleage (assuming Providing a suitable recovery site, such 90% utilisation of the crop and 85% as a grass paddock with good shelter and a utilisation of baleage). low stocking rate, with additional highly If this same cow is exposed to prolonged palatable feed and water, will speed up cold and wet conditions, then her energy recovery for the cow. Your vet will advise requirement increases to at least 136 MJ you on the best recovery plan for your ME/day. To achieve this increased energy stock. requirement, assuming the same feed Weather is a significant factor to consider utilisation, either provide more crop or when wintering cows on more supplement. crop. Cattle are tolerant For a herd of 160 You can also find more of cold conditions and cows this extra energy information on wintering they can make physical could be provide by cows on crop and wintering changes by thickening an extra bale/day of systems: their skin and coats and average quality pasture • Winter crop calculator drawing on their fat silage (220kg DM • Acidosis information reserves. equivalent, 10 ME) or • Transitioning cows on to Fodder beet If a cow is clean and additional crop: Go to www.dairynz.co.nz dry and there is little Kale: 160 square wind or rain, cold stress metres for 160 cows is rare until ambient grazing a 12-tonne temperatures fall below -10C. crop (1.2kg DM/cow) The factors that increase the risk of cold Swedes: 120 sq m for 160 cows grazing stress are extremely low temperatures, a 16t crop (1.2kg DM swedes) wind, rain, and mud, low condition scores Fodder beet: not recommended and low feeding levels. because it requires at least an additional During periods of cold and wet, the 1kg DM/cow/day which could result in energy required by cows can increase by at digestive upsets of some animals even least 12 megajoules (MJ) of metabolisable when fully transitioned. energy (ME)/day depending on the severity Depending on the BCS of the herd, and of the conditions. Added to this increased the weather situation, wet and windy requirement is often a decline in feed conditions require an additional 0.5-3kg utilisation, increasing the gap between DM/cow/day. For more information visit energy intake and requirement. To keep www.dairynz.co.nz cattle in the right condition during periods of extreme winter weather offer additional Helen Thoday is animal care team feed. For a typical crop-based wintering manager at DairyNZ diet aiming to gain 0.5 BCS units during Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

JOIN JAMIE MACKAY EVERY WEEKDAY FROM 12 – 1PM for an informative and entertaining agri-business hour, with a generous side-serving of news, sport and politics.

THECOUNTRY.CO.NZ

FIND YOUR LOCAL FREQUENCY AT THECOUNTRY.CO.NZ/FREQUENCIES

FUTURE FOCUS

Generational switch Taking over the family farm as a sharemilker sees Rachael Macdonald (nee Phillips) making the most of technology. Glenys Christian reports.

W

aikato 50:50 sharemilker, Rachael Phillips believes that in the future cellphones are going to be just as important as machinery on dairy farms, yet her father, Colin, who owns the farm, doesn’t have one.

However, she has a very clear idea where new technology fits into her farming future.

“It’s all about efficiency to maximise profitability and reduce labour,” she told the MobileTech Conference in Rotorua in March.

The 28-year-old is the fourth generation of her family to farm the 70-hectare property on the road from Te Awamutu to Pirongia which runs 240 cows, sharemilking for Colin and her mother, Karen.

She says her father hates technology.

“But he can see the difference it can make in efficiency especially with us being a small-scale farm,” she says.

“He just doesn’t want the hassle. If I can tell him this will be able to save this much time for this much money, he’ll buy into it. Putting figures on paper is really important.”

88

As a teenager she says she always planned to study to be a vet.

“But in the seventh form I decided to do agriculture at Massey,” she says.

“But I didn’t know then that I would come back to the farm. There were so many different directions that I could go. When you’re 18 who knows what they want to do?”

After completing her Bachelor of Applied Science, majoring in agriculture she did come back to her parents’ farm but only for eight months before setting off on her OE in 2012.

Initially she worked in a job which came her way through Agriventure on a sheep-milking farm in Warwickshire, England.

“It ran 600 sheep, peak-milking 440,” she says. There was also an onfarm cheese-making operation employing five full-time workers with some of the cheese produced sold at upmarket London retailer, Harrods.

After another stint working in a pub she started planning to come back to the farm on her return to New Zealand.

“My parents weren’t holding expectations,” she says.

“They were supporting my goals.”

She spent her first year back as farm manager and her willingness to move up and run her own business saw her start lower-order sharemilking the following season. She built herd numbers to increase her equity over the next three years allowing her to buy the herd and go 50:50 sharemilking. The next step will be to buy into the farm itself and eventually transfer ownership.

“We haven’t worked out how we will do that yet,” she says.

“Maybe it will be through an equity partnership or a lease.”

The crossbred herd has been milked once-aday (OAD) for the last seven years.

“The initial reasoning was that it would keep Dad in farming longer,” she says.

“But then there was no reason to go back to twice-a-day.”

While there was no initial increase in mastitis some of the herd simply didn’t adapt to the new milking regime and had to be dried off before the end of the season and culled.

Now the replacement rate is around 18%

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

with udders targeted first, mastitis, then production. With the lowered empty rate of just 7% this season she can afford to be more fussy about those that have to leave the herd.

There’s four and a half weeks of AI with LIC’s OAD bull team used for the last two years.

This is followed by a similar period running with Jersey bulls. As they don’t want to increase the farm’s stocking rate they’re only breeding from their best cows. The herd has a Breeding Worth of 62/41, Production Worth of 86/49 and a recorded ancestry of 90%.

Calves are moved to calf sheds where they’re fed from calfeterias and get ad lib meal from the start, heading off to a grazier at Pirongia after weaning.

“It’s mostly me doing the calf-rearing but Dad helps,” Rachael says.

“He’s not ready to retire yet and it’s hugely beneficial for me. He enjoys being out and about and I get free labour.”

The farm runs a DairyNZ System 2 operation and has been feeding around half a tonne of palm kernel per cow per year. But with an in-dairy feeding system having just been added the plan is to move to a soya-hull blend in the coming season.

“We knew we had to do something as we were feeding palm kernel on trailers in the paddock,” Rachael says.

Not only will the new system save them time they’ll be able to add minerals in spring. The cows adapted well to their new feeding regime taking just a couple of milkings to get used to it, she says.

No crops are grown on the farm now, but turnips were used in the past. Around 75% of the farm is under-sown every year in Shogun ryegrass.

“We have our own drill and we use undersowing like a supplement as it pushes more grass into the winter,” Rachael says.

“It’s a simple and efficient system.”

About 174kg nitrogen per hectare is applied each year going on in small doses behind the herd. Rachael’s been a member of Young Farmers for the last nine years, starting off in the Massey University club before transferring to the local Te Kawa West branch.

“It has around 30 members and is very social,” she says.

She was chair last year and is now vicepresident of the Waikato-Bay of Plenty region.

This year was the first time she’d entered the young Farmer of the Year competition, getting as far as the regional finals.

“I had a good time and it definitely encouraged me to have another crack,” she says.

But her most recent focus has been her wedding to fiancée Kieran Macdonald, an ambulance officer, attended by 75 guests in Vanuatu.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Tech generation The use of technology in day-to-day operations captures opportunities to further-improve the family business, Rachael Phillps told MobileTech.

“It creates valuable information to further enhance management decisions, saves time and resources and creates transperancy for all those involved in the business,” she said.

One of the most useful pieces of new technology she has introduced to the farm is LIC’s SPACE service which she’s been using for the last two months. It gives her pasture cover information for the farm relayed by satellite to her computer or mobile phone.

“Dad used to do it by eyeometer and I used a platemeter,” she says.

“But this is much more efficient.”

She estimates the time saving is around three hours a week through not having to carry out pasture walks and added to this is the convenience of looking at the data and seeing immediately the drymatter residuals on freshly grazed paddocks.

She then knows exactly how much the herd is eating and can fill in any feed gaps.

“It’s consistent and repeatable because there’s no chance of human error,” she says.

Asked to outline her vision for new technology use on the farm she says she is definitely ready to make more progress. Every generation had made growth in farming but now the emphasis is on the value of the product created. The previous generation had progressed the farm business through physical and mechanical advances.

“Our generation will advance the farm using technology,” she says.

While the younger generation is ready to embrace technology the older generation needed technology which is easy to use and with the data produced is put in a simple-to-decipher format. Farming is being increasingly scrutinised in the areas of environmental management, people, animal welfare and traceability demanded by consumers, which is where new technology can help a great deal.

“Young people are more open to it, but you shouldn’t bring in all technology for the sake of it,” she says.

“You’ve got to know the benefits. You don’t want to be solving a problem you didn’t have in the first place.”

Rachael says she would love to next add LIC’s Protrack to the farm’s 28-aside dairy.

“I wouldn’t say it was too expensive,” she says. “It depends on the return from it.”

When she’s looking at new technology she makes decisions based on the time saved by its introduction.

“And there needs to be something financially tangible.”

Turn-offs are technology which is complicated and not simple to use, and a big price tag without matching benefits.

Over the next 10 years she can see there will be big gains in being able to track environmental impacts onfarm.

“People are shifting their mindset,” she says.

“Farmers understand the importance of being able to keep farming in 30 or 40 years time. They’ve always been caretakers of the land, but maybe before they didn’t have to write the things they were doing down while now they do.”

GENETICS

GeneTICS gathering insights gained Earlier this year the World Congress for Genetics Applied to Livestock Production conference was held at the Aotea centre in Auckland. The conference hosted 1400 delegates from 70 countries. PhD students Lucy Coleman, Rhiannon Handcock and Megan Scholtens attended and wrote about some of the sessions pertaining to dairy cattle.

Gene-edits way forward Horns in livestock was a topic of interest for New Zealand dairy farmers and the focus of six papers at the conference. Two were dairy-focused – on the performance of (Germany) and possibilities of breeding for (United States) polled Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle.

Polled cattle are becoming more appealing in both dairy and beef cattle production internationally as cattle with horns are a risk to both animal and handler safety.

Dehorning protects both animals and humans from injury, but faces public scrutiny as an animal welfare issue. Dehorning is expensive and recognised as a painful procedure, in NZ, MPI has new regulations coming on October 1, 2019, about mandatory use of pain relief for disbudding or dehorning. The American Veterinary Medical Association (2010) proposed using polled genetics as an alternative to dehorning.

Horns are inherited as a recessive trait in cattle, and the horn/ polled condition is controlled by a single gene with the polled form being dominant. Using a polled bull (that does not carry the horned form of the gene) over horned dairy cows will result in all the calves being polled but carrying the horn allele. Using a carrier

90

bull over a dairy herd will result in ~50% of the progeny being polled and carrying the horn gene and the rest horned.

Breeding for polled cattle is becoming of greater interest, the recessive nature of the horned trait and the availability of a gene test mean there is great potential for a rapid spread of the polled trait.

Commercially available DNA tests for the polled gene are used by the Australian beef industry. Holstein-Friesian cattle are not naturally polled, however. Polled Holstein-Friesian cattle are only a small proportion of the breed (0.0071%). Due to the small number of these animals, polled bulls are unlikely to be top ranked bulls, and increasing use of polled dairy sires is limited by their unavailability and likely lower genetic merit.

Researchers in the US are investigating using gene editing to increase the number of polled Holstein-Friesian cattle.

Conventional breeding methods can decrease the number of polled cattle carrying the horn allele, but will also increase inbreeding and loss of genetic gain.

Gene editing gives the possibility of decreasing the number of polled cattle carrying the horn allele while lowering the rates of

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

HEIFER SIZE AND MILKING FREQUENCY In an Australian study on calf size at birth; calves were categorised as tiny, small, average, big or huge at birth. Those calves that were tiny and small produced significantly less milk than calves scored as big and huge.

In addition, cows that had calves that were tiny at birth produced 806 litres less milk in a 305-day lactation compared with cows that had an average sized calf.

As well as milk production effects, there were also survival effects.

Survival from first to second lactation was reduced by 8% and 7% for cows that gave birth to tiny or huge calves compared to cows that gave birth to average-sized calves.

The authors postulated that a reason for the low milk yield seen in cows that produced tiny calves may have been due to a stressful environment such as sub-optimal nutrition the cow may have experienced during pregnancy which could result in reduced milk production and survival following calving.

The results from this study could impact how replacement heifers are selected, with “average” sized heifers appearing to be the best choice.

Replacement heifers inbreeding and increasing the rate of genetic gain compared to conventional breeding. The paper concluded that breeding for polled cattle without the use of gene editing could be detrimental to genetic improvement.

Lucy Coleman is a full-time student in the third and final year of her PhD in Animal Science at Massey University.

She grew up in southern Hawkes Bay on a Sheep and Beef farm. Although helping on the farm throughout school, Lucy’s interest in agriculture wasn’t triggered until university, where she studied a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science and Physiology. Her interest in animal science research particularly in cattle was furthered through the completion of a Masters of Science in Animal Science. Lucy’s masters was and her PhD is related to the production of beef-cross-dairy cattle for meat production and utilising the surplus calves created by the dairy industry.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

A positive relationship between liveweight at 21 months of age and milk production within each of the five breed groups formed a New Zealand study. The breeds were Holstein-Friesian (F), HolsteinFriesian crossbred (FX), Holstein-Friesian-Jersey crossbred (FJ), Jersey crossbred (JX), and Jersey (J).

Heavier FJ heifers produced more milk than lighter FJ heifers.

For lighter heifers the response to a one kg increase in liveweight was greater compared with heavier heifers, indicating there could be greater benefits of preferentially feeding lighter heifers to attain heavier pre-calving live weights.

Within the liveweight range included in the study (260–600kg), there was no liveweight at which maximum milk yields was achieved. An increase in liveweight was also associated with an increase in milk yields for all breed groups. These results show that there is the potential to increase first lactation milk production of NZ dairy heifers by increasing pre-calving live weight.

TAD bulls for OAD systems

A third study, also from NZ, showed that the genetic evaluation made in twice-a-day systems would be reliable predictors of genetic merit in once-a-day systems for milk production traits in NZ dairy cattle.

91

The genetic evaluation system (Breeding Worth; BW) is based on TAD milking systems, however milking OAD for the entire lactation has become increasingly popular. But can bulls be accurately selected for OAD herds based on the genetic evaluation from TAD systems?

The study found yes, that across breeds, genetic correlations between milk yields in TAD and OAD systems were between 1 and 0.80, indicating there was not a strong genotype-byenvironmental interaction. So a bull that was determined to be superior based on his TAD daughters, was also superior based on his OAD daughters.

Dairy beef progeny test trip

On a field trip to Limestone Downs at Port Waikato delegates heard from the operations manager, sheep and beef manager and the three Massey University researchers involved with the Beef + Lamb Genetics Dairy Beef progeny test.

The Dairy Beef Progeny test involved mating the entire dairy herd AI to Angus or Hereford bulls for two consecutive years. In both years, the heifers were naturally mated to Angus, Hereford or Jersey bulls, and replacements were bought in.

The takeaway message from the presentation given by the Massey researchers running the project was that estimated breeding values (EBVs) do work. The bulls used for AI were selected on birth weight, gestation length, 600-day weight and intramuscular fat.

Results from the progeny test show there is a strong relationship between EBV and trait for birth weight and gestation length.

The natural mating bulls used over the heifers were selected on birth weight, the outcomes from calving indicated that the heifers need to be well-grown and bulls in the top 5% of the breed for birth weight EBV to minimise calving difficulty.

The researchers also presented results from an experiment investigating a novel way of identifying between new-born Angus-cross-dairy calves from Friesian-Jersey crossbred dairy calves. This technique used presence of horns and the colour of the calves’ tongue to identify the breed.

Rhiannon Handcock is a full-time student completing her PhD in Animal Science, currently in her third year enrolled at Massey University. Even though she is enrolled at Massey, she is based primarily at Lincoln University with supervisors at Massey, Lincoln and LIC. She grew up in central Auckland until aged 11 when her family moved to a lifestyle block in South Auckland. During high school she bred a small herd of Jersey cows which ignited her passion for the dairy industry and prompted her decision to study a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Animal Science at Massey University. Her honours was, and PhD is related to improving the management of dairy heifers in New Zealand as she sees it is an important issue in the dairy industry.

92

technology and history showcased At LIC, delegates participated in an interactive session on NZ farming systems, the proportion of Jersey, Friesian and KiwiCross animals, as well as a brief history lesson of dairy cattle breeding in NZ. The main point of discussion was the New Zealand KiwiCross dairy cow.

A lot of confusion came about with the delegates getting their minds around the fact that the KiwiCross is not a breed, but a cross between a Holstein-Friesian and a Jersey.

Delegates were very interested in the success of the KiwiCross, however, LIC pointed out that due to farmers preferring a KiwiCross animal, the number of Jersey replacements is decreasing. Delegates were shown the latest onfarm technology such as MINDA and YieldSense, specifically designed for efficiently and effectively managing the herd

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Limestone Downs, Port Waikato.

and measuring yields of milk, fat, protein and lactose as well as milk conductivity, respectively.

Delegates were treated to a BBQ lunch put on by Jersey NZ, and shared their knowledge on animal genetics and dairy farming. Paterangi Jerseys is owned and operated by Wayne Shaw and wife Kate. This farm was founded by Wayne’s grandfather in 1910 and is the oldest registered Jersey Stud in NZ. Wayne said they prioritise data quality across herd records and, as a result, 0have comprehensive information to support onfarm decision-making.

Accurate and consistent data collection has led to Paterangi Jerseys achieving significant genetic improvement within their herd.

Paterangi Jerseys have bred top-producing cows with a number of cows contracted out to LIC, CRV and Liberty Genetics. Wayne strongly advised collecting performance data of the animals and performs five herd tests a year.

The average milk production of a Paterangi Jersey is 434kg milksolids (MS)/year over a lactation of 176 days, far greater than the average NZ cow which produces 372kg MS/year over 225 days, or the average NZ Jersey, which produces 311kg MS/year over 214 days.

The main traits Wayne selects for are overall udder conformation and fertility. The breeding worth of the herd is ranked in the Top 25% of

NZ at 83/46 and increases by $11/year.

After lunch, the delegates were escorted on a tour of CRV’s collection facility and met some of the top breeding bulls during a bull parade. CRV have a range of breeding programmes under way and are continually changing to meet issues in NZ. Issues include how they can adapt their breeding programmes to help with climate change, improving animal welfare and lowering environmental impact.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Despite the obvious aim to increase productivity, research at CRV is also progressing towards the opportunity of breeding animals with a tolerance to facial eczema, heat and ectoparasite tolerance, polled and non-polled animals and reducing urinary nitrogen leaching on pasture.

The latter is already in action with CRV promoting a new team of LowN Sires. The idea behind this is that breeding for low milk urea will reduce urinary N leaching.

Megan Scholtens is a full-time student in her second year of her PhD at Massey University.

She has a Bachelors in Agricultural Science, majoring in Equine and a Masters in animal science, which involved the genetic analysis of a commercial flock of dairy sheep in New Zealand. Megan grew up on a dairy farm in the Bay of Plenty and it was only natural that she developed a passion for the agricultural industry. Animal breeding was her favourite topic during undergraduate studies and the reason she wanted to undertake further studies in animal genetics. Improving animal production via genetic selection is something that Megan is both excited and intrigued to learn which has led her to undertaking a PhD focused on genomic selection in New Zealand dairy goats.

93

FARM GEAR MEAL FEEDER

The big Zeddy feeder is here

Zeddy’s trailer-mounted automatic feeder has evolved from feeding calves to dispensing meal to everything from new-born calves and sheep to adult cattle.

Tim McVeagh reports on the Kiwi development.

T

he Zeddy Dry 500 automatic meal feeder for calves was launched at Fieldays 2017. This year the bigger, more versatile Zeddy Dry 1250 was on show at National Fieldays, Mystery Creek. It was launched at the Southern Field Days where it took out the Southern Rural Life Innovation Award.

While the smaller unit was designed principally for calves, it has also been successful in feeding sheep, goats, and younger deer. Dairy farmers will like the bigger unit as it will cater for everything from new-born calves to adult cattle, as well as having a bigger hopper. But the Zeddy does more than just get feed into cattle, and I like that it’s all New Zealandmade with export potential.

“After the success of the Zeddy 500 feeding calves, we thought ‘We’re on to something great here, imagine if we could feed cows’. And with Fonterra’s Fat Evaluation Index (FEI) grading system coming into effect in September this year, farmers will want to restrict PKE intake to 94

about 3kg a head,” Kate Gwilliam of the Zeddy says.

days of operation. Battery charging should only be needed when the feeder has been in storage. Maintenance is limited to regular cleaning of the solar panel, and the feeding bowls.

Zeddy mechanics Like the 500, the Zeddy 1250 is a trailermounted automatic meal feeder. The hopper’s capacity is 1.25 cubic metres, so it holds a tonne bag of meal. The hopper mouth is wide enough to allow loading from most tractor buckets. And with a lid, meal is not exposed to the elements. A vibrator helps to prevent bridging of feed which can occur with less-grainy feeds like palm kernel.

Augers deliver meal to the four feeding stations from the hopper. Each feeding station has an RFID reader which will read HDX or FDX tags. A swinging bollard fitted at each feeding station can be set for younger stock, so that only one head can get into the feeding station at a time.

Power is provided by a solar panel on the hopper lid charging a 12-volt, 120 amp/ hour battery; or by indoor mains power.

A fully charged battery should allow four

Zeddy function Both the 500 and 1250 feeders are designed to feed 250 head, based on the time animals take to feed. When an animal enters the feeding station, it is identified and a pre-set ration (from 15g to 3kg) is dispensed. For calves, ration sizes of about 100g are recommended as being better for their developing digestive system.

This also means there is usually no meal left uneaten. If the calf stays in the feeder after eating this, further 100g rations will be dispensed until its daily allocation is reached. The amount of feed consumed is recorded.

The dashboard shows live data on which ration each animal is on, its consumption for the previous and current week, percentage change; and time of the last

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

feed. Calves with reduced consumption are alerted as anomalies. The total feed consumed by the mob each week is also shown for purchase and budgeting. Alerts are sent when the hopper is getting low, when the first feeding station runs out of meal, and when all feeding stations have run out.

Weaning of calves from hard feed is programmed, with rations typically being reduced over a three-week period to weaning.

The Zeddy developers have found that animals on different farms behave differently, and a training period of about a fortnight is needed. There is variation too within a herd, with some animals once-aday feeders, while others might feed eight or so times a day. The feeding behaviour of cows is quite different to that of calves, as they have a pecking order, and issues like dominant cows blocking the feeder needed consideration.

The smaller feeders have found favour with goat farmers as goats are quite picky eaters, and don’t like eating out of troughs that contain dirt or a lot of slobber from previous goats. So young kids especially are consuming more feed from the Zeddy.

Lease, not buy; for now The Zeddys are leased on an annual basis at this stage, as development is continuing.

“We see our early adopters as the most important customers we’ll ever have. So we don’t want them left with a model which is superseded soon after they’ve bought it.

Product development is never plain sailing, and the early adopters are the ones who give us the feedback to allow us to make a better product.

“On our own farms we have bought gear which has developed problems, and the suppliers’ response is that the gear can be upgraded to the latest version at our expense. We are avoiding this. I think many companies do not look after their early adopters enough,” Gwilliams says.

Once they see product enhancements coming to an end, the Zeddys will be sold or leased.

‘We see our early adopters as the most important customers we’ll ever have. So we don’t want them left with a model which is superseded soon after they’ve bought it.’ pre-set period. They also plan to have userdefined reports at the click of a button.

And they plan to factor in feed cost so each animal can be attributed a feed cost to rear.

This means that cost per calf for different feeds can be calculated, and growth rates associated with different feeds.

Also on the wish list is incorporating the calf weighing system of the Calfsmart milk feeders. Analysis of feeding patterns shows animals don’t favour particular feeding stations, so a weigh station at one of the four feeding stations should provide meaningful weight tracking.

The Zeddy people were taken to the World Dairy Expo last year by the Callahan Institute and NZTE, and found it reassuring to see no-one else has a product like this.

Gwilliam experience: Kate Gwilliam and her husband Tom have interests in a Manawatu and a Horowhenua dairy farm. Tom manages the Rongotea farm, where all the calves from both farms and extras bought in are reared, and where a lot of the Zeddy development has taken place.

After two weeks in pens, calves join the main mob which will grow to 900 calves. All calves are fed on demand from Calfsmart milk stations and Zeddy feeders.

A full-time calf-rearer is employed for the first four to six weeks, with their labour requirement then dropping to a couple of hours a day, cleaning and refilling machines. Friesian bull and beef cross

calves are sold as weaners.

“We have four ration groups; early calves on 1kg of meal; middle age calves up to 2kg; later calves on 2.5kg; and the strugglers up to 4kg. It’s really easy to change rations for individual calves on the dashboard. We weaned 80% of the 900 calves in a three-week period.

“In traditional systems, the earlier bigger calves get more than their share, and the strugglers, who need the extra miss out.

We have saved significantly on meal costs as we no longer have bigger calves eating up to 9kg a day.”

The strugglers were the ones who got sick, or for some reason weren’t feeding.

They were detected by their lower consumption and presented as anomalies on the dashboard. Reduced consumption would often be followed a day later by the calf standing cowering in a corner not looking well, so could be picked up and acted on earlier.

The challenge is to find the calf that is not doing well in a mob of 900! Some method of finding specific calves before they are seen cowering in the corner should be among the next challenges for the Zeddy R&D team.

The Gwilliams ran a milk automation feed trial in conjunction with AgResearch last year. The group of ad lib-fed calves were eating an average of 5kg a day, with the top 15% probably eating at least 50% of the meal. And those who really need it, aren’t getting enough.

Future developments Feedback from the early adopters is a source of further refinement. Under consideration is allowing different criteria for the anomaly list. So the manager will be able to set anomaly triggers on the amount of meal consumed in a set time, or when a calf has not fed at all within a Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

The new Zeddy 1250 feeder will be the model of choice for most dairy farmers as it caters for all ages of cattle from young calves to mixed age cows, and has a bigger hopper than the earlier, smaller 500.

95

DAIRY 101 NETWORKING

It’s okay to look over the fence Getting out and talking with neighbours and others in the community is not just good for business, it’s also good for you. Karen Trebilcock reports.

I

t’s cold and dark. You can hear the rain on the roof of the dairy. You are on your own and you have hundreds of cows still to cup.

You can see the lights on at the neighbour’s dairy and know they are doing the same hard yards, but they are paddocks away.

The cows don’t get your jokes.

At times dairy farming is a very lonely business.

But it doesn’t need to be. Dairying is one of the few industries in New Zealand where it doesn’t matter how your competitors are doing – because you have no competitors.

If your neighbour increases production it won’t affect your business. So there is no reason not to share knowledge, not to help each other. It’s okay to look over the farm fence and ask questions and most people in the industry are glad to help.

At the very least, go to your local discussion group. These are run by DairyNZ and you can find out about them on their website.

Go along, take part in the discussion, and say hello to the people you don’t know.

Don’t be intimidated by what is being said – you don’t have to contribute if you don’t want to and everyone knows there 96

is a fair bit of upping production figures at these things. Just play along.

And if you are one of the regulars, make sure you’re supportive of newcomers so they come back a second time.

Whatever you choose to do, getting off farm is what is important, and talking to other people. If you are not doing that at least once a week, even if it’s just a catch up at a local café with a few friends, you might need to make a few changes.

Discussion groups work best when there is a mix of new blood along with the seasoned experts who have seen it all before.

The new guys ask the questions and challenge the old thinking. Those who have been there and done that can argue it doesn’t work. And anyway, who knows what the weather will do? Or the pay-out, or feed prices?

You can learn a lot and, when times are tough, you will realise you’re not the only one under pressure. Which is probably the most important part of these days off farm – realising you are not the only one suffering in the rain, the unseasonal cold, or with the bank on your back.

You’re not doing it tough because you are a bad farmer. Everyone else is doing it tough too.

Discussion groups are also the place where dinners are organised, pub visits, duck hunting. Just do it quietly so the person trying to speak up the front doesn’t get grumpy.

If you are a woman and especially if you find your local discussion group dominated by men, Dairy Women’s Network offers get-togethers and information days throughout the year.

Again, check out their website, get on their emailing list.

Men are welcome at these events (the food is usually brilliant), but they are mostly women sharing information.

Their calf rearing days are especially recommended.

Why not go to both – discussion groups and Dairy Women’s Network days? There is nothing stopping you.

And don’t forget Federated Farmers. They also have regular meetings and you get to

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Farmers walk to look at the cows at a field day.

WEBSITES www.dairynz.co.nz/events www.dwn.co.nz www.fedfarm.org.nz www.youngfarmers.co.nz Farmers listen to a speaker at a DairyNZ discussion group on a dairy farm.

talk to sheep, beef and cropping farmers as well as dairy at them. Meetings are usually more formal but there is still time to chat over a cuppa afterwards. Check out their website.

For those who are still young enough, Young Farmers is also there and again you get to mix with people who aren’t just dairy farmers.

Local clubs come and go, depending on the amount of young people in the area at the time, and if there isn’t one where you live maybe you need to start one.

Most rural couples can usually say they first met at Young Farmers.

Whatever you choose to do, getting off farm is what is important, and talking to other people. If you are not doing that at least once a week, even if it’s just a catch up at a local café with a few friends, you might need to make a few changes.

Social sports such as rugby, netball, tennis, squash and golf are usually played in most rural areas plus there are church groups and charities to get involved with.

Those with kids will know standing on the side lines of their sports games is an ideal way to meet people and there is also Plunket, Parents Centre, Play Centre, play groups and school committees who are always looking for members.

You may feel you don’t have the skills to help out with these but everyone is the same – you learn at them.

It’s the social connections that matter, both for you and the community.

A few tips for these – remember no one really has to be there so keeping it positive, welcoming, and fun will make sure people keep returning.

Don’t pre-judge people by what they wear or their accent or their skin colour.

Under it all, we’re still people with the same needs and wants. We just all do things a bit differently. Making the effort with someone who is new to the area, or the country, is good for everyone.

Remember when you move into an area and go to your first few events there is the possibility that many people in the room are related to each other. Be careful what you say so no one is offended.

And the people you meet, you might bump into them again years later. So don’t hold grudges, get on with people as best as you can and learn from each other. Have fun.

Learn to listen to others, ask questions, instead of just talking about yourself or your family. Everyone has a story to tell and most will tell it if there is someone ready to listen.

It is at these events you pick up skills such as meeting procedures, ways to fundraise as well as understanding how other people think.

You may also get to know who the best accountant is, or who to use as a lawyer or a farm consultant which are all important

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

for running your own business.

When someone needs a new staff member in a hurry often your social group will provide knowledge of who is looking for work and what they are like far quicker and more reliably than web job sites.

Friendships can lead to business opportunities and always keep this in the back of your mind when you meet someone new – you never know where the connection will lead to.

But what is important is meeting people, networking – getting off farm and being part of the community.

You might come back from an event grumpy at what someone has said, or done, but at least you have something to think about instead of just what you are doing on farm. And that is what is important.

Remember too, especially at this time of year, if you are moving farms, to update your address and contacts with the rural groups you belong to.

Or send an email to head office to find out who the contact is in your new area.

Don’t let a move cause you to lose touch with organisations that are there to help.

Shifting farms is a busy time and you may feel there are more important things to be doing but an email takes minutes.

An email back notifying you of an event in your area could make your day a couple of weeks later when things are sorting themselves out.

97

Future farming for families Climate, staffing, stress and their solutions are among the concerns targeted by the Dairy Trust Taranaki.

Brian Hockings reports.

W

ith the Dairy Trust Taranaki (DTT) now fully established and operational, it is appropriate to look beyond the research work, which is largely a continuation of that previously being carried out on the parent farms at Stratford, Manaia, and Hawera.

The idea is to identify future problems and roadblocks that could be researched for the ongoing benefit of Taranaki, and New Zealand dairy farming. In brainstorming on this a key reference was the findings of a strategic planning workshop with Taranaki Farmers held in 2016. This came up with three significant areas of concern: 1. Climate change in the North Island – giving increasingly dry summers.

2. A lack of ability to attract and retain good, reliable and competent staff. The hours and commitment involved in milking was considered a primary cause.

3. Unsustainable levels of stress on farmers and their families.

In addition, farm systems strategy meetings held in Hamilton in 2017, and attended by DTT personnel identified goals of: 4. Growing more digestible pasture, able to be directly harvested by the cow.

5. Establishing a cow that, in one season, produces her own liveweight in milksolids, while only being milked once-a-day (OAD).

The problem of dryer summers is already receiving attention at DTT. At Hawera a trial has been set up to give a direct comparison between autumn and 98

In clover: seeking the ideal cow.

RESEARCH WRAP DAIRY TRUST TARANAKI

spring calving. This will run for at least three years. Complementing it a trial has been set up at the Waimate West Unit at Manaia, with two herds, both calving March/April, one using brought-in feed to fill the deficit from low growth periods, the other a self-contained unit, with crops being grown to fill feed deficits.

Results from these trials will undoubtedly be of benefit in developing onfarm strategies in combating increasingly dry summers. However, to use the vernacular, this is really missing seeing the elephant in the room – the problem of attracting and retaining good staff.

There can be no doubt the generally relentless and monotonous grind of milking twice daily, every day, at unattractive hours, for 10 or more months of the year is a massive turnoff – particularly for younger people.

This also relates closely to the factor of farmer and family stress. The farmer can not only have the stress of the daily milking commitment, but also, with ever increasing herd sizes, the stress of having to attract, train, and retain good staff – and this stress can be considerable, unexpected, and ongoing. The often-quoted high suicide rate in the farming community is certainly not the only downside.

There is no doubt OAD milking could play a big part in helping reduce stress levels and make dairy farming more attractive. As a simple example of the benefits to family, I have more than once heard farmers greatly regret the simple fact that they cannot enjoy an afternoon at the beach with the

family as they must go home and milk.

Continuing with stress – I have often heard it suggested that OAD would put more stress on the cows. The opposite is true. Eliminating one daily walk to the milking shed will save energy, give more grazing time, reduce foot problems – and quite a few other side benefits by way of diminished nutrient loss, effluent disposal, shed costs and so on.

The late Colin Holmes was a great advocate for OAD and supported earlier work at the old Taranaki Research Station. I would agree with him that the widespread adoption of OAD could be one of the major breakthroughs for the NZ dairy industry. LIC data shows it is quite possible. This shows the top 5, 10, and 15% of existing OAD herds produced per cow seasonal average productions of, 479, 429, and 405kg milksolids respectively.

The reluctance to move to OAD is undoubtedly due largely to an unwillingness to move out of the comfort zone with a radical shift to a perceived relatively untested regime. Hence it has been suggested that DTT establish an elite herd of proven OAD cows to facilitate the adoption of the system – and this is getting serious attention.

OAD is of course not the only avenue for reducing stress levels in farming families and DTT plans to be active in exploring ways of obtaining accurate data on the problem, and pathways to reduce it. Watch this space.

Brian Hockings is a trustee of the Dairy Trust Taranaki.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

PARTNERING FOR MASTATEST AgriHealth will distribute all Mastatest mastitis diagnostic products to New Zealand rural veterinarians and their dairy farmer clients under a distribution partnership with Mastaplex.

Mastatest provides an onfarm or vet clinic-based bovine mastitis test within 24 hours. This enables dairy farmers to select specific antibiotic treatments recommended by their veterinarian, once target bacteria are identified.

Mastaplex managing director Dr Olaf Bork, says the company sees huge benefits in working closely with AgriHealth.

“AgriHealth has an excellent reputation for new product innovation, and rapid penetration of products in the NZ veterinary market. Partnering with AgriHeath’s technical and marketing expertise and local sales focus will support rapid Mastatest uptake in NZ. This will enable more NZ veterinarians and farmers to use Mastatest frequently, and manage mastitis more effectively, to reduce the financial burden of this disease for dairy farmers.”

Mastatest is the first technology globally available to determine both the type of bacteria causing the mastitis and the antibiotic sensitivities against that bacteria

What’s

NEW? SOLUTIONS MASTITIS

in raw milk, using advanced ‘cloud’ diagnostics.

It delivers four key advantages over traditional diagnostic mastitis testing: • Faster – reliable result provided digitally within 24 hours • Simple – Easy to use; set and forget, with no tricky test interpretation required • Comprehensive – Three answers in one Mastatest (bacterial infection confirmation, bacteria typing, and antibiotic sensitivity of each bacteria identified) • Accurate – Clinically proven mastitis diagnosis available onfarm.

Mastatest test results are supplied electronically to veterinarians, so antibiotic recommendations can be tailored for dairy herds and cows. Antibiotic sensitivities are monitored in NZ, with data collected from individual cow and herd level, to enable the responsible use of antibiotics in local herds.

AgriHealth will distribute Mastatest products exclusively via veterinarians, to allow the greatest impact in the prudent use of antibiotics in the NZ dairy industry.

AgriHealth chief executive, Ed Catherwood says Mastatest is very exciting.

“No other mastitis test compares in

FUNDAMENTALS OF SPREADING An online course, designed for farmers who spread their own fertiliser, provides instruction on the important areas of: how fertiliser can be best applied; how farm productivity can be maximised and what health and safety requirements must be met.

The web-based programme, initiated by the Fertiliser Quality Council (FQC) in partnership with Federated Farmers, also includes guidance on good farm practice around minimising the environmental impacts when spreading fertiliser – for example, keeping the spreader hopper covered when moving fertiliser, avoiding waterways and

not spreading in windy conditions.

The training tool, the Fertiliser Spreading Training Course, is split into six interactive modules – Introduction, Environmental Impact I, Environmental Impact II, Agronomy, Wash-down and Records, and Spreader Calibration. Each module must be completed before a course certificate is issued. This can be printed and displayed, and added to the farm’s audit file.

Commenting on the development of the training tool, Anders Crofoot (FQC Chairman), says the programme is for the farmer who doesn’t use a spreading company accredited to the industry’s Spreadmark scheme and who wishes

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

terms of simplicity and ease of use. Our team were extremely impressed that within 24 hours Mastatest could identify bacteria and antibiotic sensitivity to lab standard, to allow vets to provide antibiotic treatment recommendations based on individual mastitis cases. Use of Mastatest improves mastitis cure rates in a given herd, and enables more targeted use of antibiotics to combat the most prevalent disease in dairying.”

Mastaplex is in negotiation with a European distributor and is seeking alliances for the United States.

ABOUT MASTAPLEX Founded in 2013, Mastaplex’s innovation process started within the University of Otago before inventor and founder Bork invested into the Mastatest technology.

Mastaplex received the tech incubator award through WNT Ventures and Callaghan Innovation in 2015. In 2017 Mastaplex received growth funding and support from the NZ Angel Investor Network, led

by Enterprise Angels.

AgriHealth is NZ’s fastest growing supplier of vet medicines to the livestock and poultry sector.

More? www.mastaplex.com and www.agrihealth.co.nz

to improve their knowledge of good spreading practice or comply with industry schemes.

“As consumer demand for traceability, transparency and provenance continues to rise around the world, more and more food processors from the milk, meat and cropping industries will adopt GMP incentive schemes, such as Synlait’s Lead with Pride programme – which rewards suppliers who meet a set of stewardship standards,” he says.

The Fertiliser Spreading Training Course was devised by Quality Consultants of New Zealand (QCONZ) and supported by Beef + Lamb, the Waikato Regional Council and Environment Canterbury.

It costs $55 and can be accessed at www. qconz.co.nz/spreadmarktrainingcourse.

99

Shane McManaway

What’s

NEW? SOLUTIONS TECHNOLOGY

INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY

Two global giants in agricultural technology, both with origins in New Zealand – Allflex and Gallagher – have joined forces to integrate solutions for farmers.

Allflex Asia-Pacific chief executive, Shane McManaway, said the collaboration is a response to farmer frustration at the growing array of farming technology which isn’t integrated between manufacturers.

“Farmers are significant users of technology and as the range grows, so too does their enthusiasm, but the abundance of individual items presents them with a dilemma of purchasing unique pieces of technology which don’t always integrate.”

Exciting technologies are emerging, such as animal monitoring, which offer farmers drastically higher levels of insight into fertility and animal health. These highlight the need to collaborate and integrate.

“Allflex and Gallagher have an impressive array of existing and potential technologies that when integrated, will deliver value and satisfaction on farm.”

“In addition to cutting edge animal monitoring devices, Allflex has been the industry leader offering NAIT-approved electronic ear tags. The partners can offer a range of technology solutions that utilise NAIT ear tag devices to obtain additional management information about animals, enabling even greater productivity and profitability on farm.”

The suite of products converts data into information to help farmers make decisions about their animals, herd, pasture and feed, to aid increased production and profitability. This partnership also offers onfarm technical support to ensure farmers have the training and knowledge to extract the maximum value from their investment in Allflex and Gallagher products.

WHAT MAKES A PREMIUM MILK REPLACER? Different brands of milk replacer are not simply exchangeable. Essential differences in, digestibility (making use of nutrients), solubility, ease of mixing and consistency of quality have a major impact on the health and growth of young calves.

“Successful calf-rearing depends on many factors including good nutrition – one should choose a milk replacer based on quality, not price,” calf-rearing expert Dr Bas Schouten says.

“A good quality whey-based milk replacer is a solid starting point for the young calf because it is easily digested, causes less nutritional scours, is easily mixed, is consistently good quality from batch to batch. And, critically, meets the energy requirements of the calf.”

Quality whey-based formulas like 100

Allflex has played and will continue to play, a major role in ensuring customers are offered the correct selection of high quality RFID official tagging options.

Together with up to date information the tagging packs have provided future-proofed cost-effective compliance for the NAIT scheme. As they have done in the animal ID field, Allflex is now leading the world in animal monitoring devices and software, linking animals to their owners through intelligent systems.

Gallagher brings its range of RFID reading and weighing technology to the partnership. This range has been designed to work seamlessly with Allflex NAITapproved RFID tags. In addition, Gallagher offers a cloud-based data storage and recording platform, which allows farm and livestock information to be available from all devices including smartphones, to ensure informed decisions can be made on the run.

Sprayfo Blue Premium calf milk replacer can be fed to calves from 4 days’ old and is recommended for optimal calf rearing.

AgriVantage’s Sprayfo Premium Blue and Sprayfo Red Finisher are combinations of vegetable-based fat blends and dairy ingredients that undergo homogenisation and spray drying. The resulting micronised fat globules are encapsulated with protein on the outside – so the most important ingredient for the animal’s growth is available first and absorbed faster.

Sprayfo whey milk replacers are easily digested in the gut, moving through a calf in only two or three hours, compared with five to eight hours for traditional curding (casein) formulas. This is because whey doesn’t form a curd in the abomasum.

Rapid digestion means the animals are hungrier quicker and seek feed, concentrates, which aids in faster rumen development.

Finally, the spray dry process ensures solubility is optimal at 40C. Sprayfo mixes without forming any small lumps.

More? see www.agrivantage.co.nz or call AgriVantage Business Manager Warren Tanner on 021 370 222.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

What’s

BOLUSES GIVE PEACE OF MIND

NEW? SOLUTIONS FEED

Calves fed FiberGain from day one are grass-ready in seven weeks.

WHEN THE GROWING GETS TOUGH...

Diet can be the deciding factor in the health and wellbeing of your calves – so what’s the secret to getting them grass-ready earlier? Giving them specific solid feed from day one.

When calves have access to highly digestible solid feed, while milk is controlled, the rumen develops rapidly. The walls thicken and muscle up, the epithelium becomes highly papillated and rumen volume increases.

Calf nutrition has progressed from the least cost system of restricted levels of milk, 20% crude protein (CP) meal and ad-libitum straw. The straw in this system bulked the rumen and prevented rumen-acidosis.

The 20% CP meal was to balance the indigestible straw containing only 4% CP and insufficient milk protein. This system does not programme the rumen for a future on NZ pasture.

When calves are fed FiberGain from day one, they are grass-ready in seven weeks – with no weaning check.

FiberGain® is a high-energy, high-fibre meal which has been scientifically formulated to meet the solid feed requirement of your calves. Made from fresh-cut lucerne and kibbled barley, captured fresh from the field, this is the perfect balance of highly digestible forage and cereal starch, providing the ideal ratio of protein-to-energy for all calves.

Leafy pasture is highly digestible, however its high water content limits the calf’s nutrient intake, causing slow rumen development. That’s why FiberGain is pre-digested by a unique fermentation process and is a highly digestible rumen-degradable protein, providing the essential amino acids for growth of rumen microbes and the calf itself.

The fresh-captured barley starch is rumen digestible and when combined with high nutritional forage, provides balanced fast, slowrelease energy and protein to maximise microbial growth, rumen growth and liveweight gain. FiberGain also contains a coccidiostat (Rumensin) for the control of coccidiosis – so it’s an all-in-one combo.

Programming the rumen to get calves onto pasture early can be simple.

It’s about meeting the calf’s nutrient requirements with a balanced, highly digestible forage and energy solid feed to be ready for a future on pasture.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

A new range of cattle trace element boluses provides cost-effective avoidance of deficiencies in both growing and adult cattle in a single easy application.

Agrimin 24·7 Smartrace Adult Cattle and Smartrace Growing Cattle are intraruminal eroding boluses for the treatment of clinical and subclinical trace element deficiencies. The boluses have been evaluated at Te Kauwhata on the North Island under practical farm conditions and are widely used in the United Kingdom and globally.

UK based Agrimin is a world-leading manufacturer of specialist trace element boluses for cattle and sheep. Through its wholly owned subsidiary Agrimin New Zealand, it has recently launched Smartrace Adult Cattle and Growing Cattle bolus products to the market. As with All-Trace Cattle, they are both fully registered as veterinary medicine products with ACVM. “Trace elements deficiencies are a significant, but treatable drain on performance and profitability with Selenium, Iodine and Cobalt being particularly influential,” Agrimin animal scientist Annie Williams says. “They play important roles in promoting growth, fertility and a healthy immune system. Providing a balanced supply of trace elements on a constant supply allows animals to perform to their potential with more costeffective growth.”

Agrimin’s sustained release eroding bolus delivers a constant supply of the key trace elements at a controlled dose rate. Administered using a specially designed applicator, the bolus moves quickly to the rumen and, due to its high density, lodges safely in the reticulum.

The 24·7 Smartrace Adult Cattle bolus is for the treatment of selenium, iodine and cobalt deficiencies that can occur during critical stages of the production or breeding cycle. It should be used during the winter period and at drying off.

The iodine content makes it ideal for brassica fed animals which are particular susceptible to iodine deficiency.

101

To advertise contact:

FARM LIFE Directory

Janine Aish 027 890 0015 janine.aish@nzfarmlife.co.nz Tony Leggett 027 474 6093 tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz

SUPPLEMENTARY FEED Maxammon Maize and Maxammon Maize blends • Palm Kernel & blends Barley, Wheat, Maize & Soybean Meal (forward contracts available).

Custom made Dairy Mineral Pellets Local Agen t

Nind D Serv airy ices South land & Otag o

To join our Palm Kernel Pricing Text Service.

Please text your name and area to 027 214 9761 Palm Kernel Pricing Text Service

Call Susanna at Intergrain NZ 0800 244 744

Just $185

plus GST per month when you book for three months Call Janine now on 07 823 5883

■ Ideal for shearing sheep, alpacas, goats and cow tails ■ Variable speed from 2400-3500 rpm ■ Latest brushless motor technology means minimal heat build up ■ 1400gms means 100-200gms lighter than standard handpiece ■ At 2700 rpm the 12-volt lithium battery will crutch up to 300-400 sheep, 400-500 cow tails ■ Tough alloy switch box with auto reset fuse for overload or lockup – clips to belt

Prepare yourself for the new season

View in action go to www.handypiece.co.nz

Free call 0800 474 327

102

t os le re m iab he s ar s ld v r i or ul e W rf pp we cli po ed e sp

Want to fill this gap?

handypiece

JH00917218©

Intergrain NZ LTD

Email: dave@handypiece.co.nz

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

2.5% COMMISSION

FOR ALL STOCK CLASSES SOLD ON STORE

Take advantage of payment security, livestock quality assurances and a national marketplace. No registration or listing fees and no buyer commission.

NEW ZEALAND’S LIVESTOCK MARKETPLACE

stockx.co.nz

NZ Farmer Tips App

NEED A CONTRACT?

by AgriHealth

Progressive dairy farmers use progressive contracts. Federated Farmers has a full suite of Employment and Sharemilking Agreements (all updated with the new Insulation Rules), to suit your needs.

Call 0800 to talk to our friendly member services team about these and other services or visit www.fedfarm.org.nz to see the full range of contracts.

0800

FED

327 FARM 646 .ORG.NZ

TRIED AND TRUSTED Safer than a handshake!

NZ developed App containing videos which provide tips on ways to increase productivity on NZ dairy farms www.agrihealth.co.nz

SKIOLD

DISC MILL

UPGRADE NOW!

Save Money Maximise Production FEATURES Ability to handle stones Easy to adjust Perfect milling for dairy grains Low maintenance Unbeatable prices Farmer references available Local installers

www.ccrecruitment.co.nz

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Serving NZ Farmers since 1962

103

PROPERTY SOUTH CANTERBURY

Production on Waimate coast A

quality 287-hectare South Canterbury dairy farm for sale, Morven Park, milks 1100 cows with a 50:50 sharemilker at the helm who has achieved 500,000kg milksolids.

Quality soils, reliable irrigation supply and system, plus a 40ha lease block included in the milking platform has helped achieve its production figures.

Morven is a coastal district southeast of Waimate and in the early 2000s the rectangular property was converted to dairying, with the neigbouring lease block added to the milking platform.

Borderdyke irrigation from the Morven Glenavy Ikawai Irrigation Company flows over 100-metre-wide borders and Dave Finlay from PGG Wrightson says the paddocks have been designed around this.

Combined with good improvements, this has enabled easy management and good cow flow on the farm.

“Paddocks represent a strip of irrigation of 100m, so it’s quite regular and the tracks are built with the head races. It’s been very well planned.”

Finlay says it’s a low-cost irrigation scheme at about $64.80/ha and though the flat farm could be entirely converted to pivot irrigation, the borderdyke system works well at a low cost.

Irrigation is also fed to the 40ha lease

block which adjoins the borderdyke system.

Effluent from the dairy is irrigated on to about 160ha of the farm through the irrigation system and it’s an effective way of distributing it over a large area.

An effluent pond has storage for 30 days to allow it to be fed into the system at a diluted rate, with consent approving this method.

The effluent pond and dairy sit right at the centre of the farm, with good cow lane configuation and multi-yard access for the herds to the dairy. This is a 70-bail rotary with in-shed meal feeding and a 25-tonne grain silo feeding into it. The split rectangular yard has capacity for 800 cows. Other facilities cater for calf-rearing, implements and workshop.

The sharemilker has been milking cows on the farm for eight years now and Finlay says she has done a very good job with production, which includes winter milking 300 cows to supply nearby Oceania Dairy for a payout that is $3.59/kg MS more than the seasonal payout.

Whether a new owner continues with winter milk is optional, though Finlay says the extra work is offset by its profitability and it provides cash flow. Fodder beet is used to assist winter milking on the milking platform. Most of the herd

‘The sharemilker has a further year with her contract and is very keen to stay on or be involved in a shared ownership structure or equity partnership with a suitable partner.’ winters off the farm at Studholme and young stock are also grazed elsewhere.

“The sharemilker has a further year with her contract and is very keen to stay on or be involved in a shared ownership structure or equity partnership with a suitable partner. She’s an important part of the farming structure and owns all the cows. There’s certainly good investment options. It’s about buyers being prepared to negotiate.

“Dairy farmers have been reconsolidating from the low-payout years and that has eliminated a lot of potential purchasers.

There’s not a lot of sales at the moment, but payout is higher, interest rates are low and farming returns are good, so it’s a better time to be looking to buy than when there’s a bullish market.”

Like the price, settlement and possession are negotiable. The farm’s 2016 rateable valuation was $12.6 million.

To view the farm visit www.pggwre.co.nz ID OAM28430 and for further information contact Dave Finlay on 027 4335210.

104

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

The good life at Little Wanganui

A

can do a round and the farm will grow enough grass again for the new season kicking off on August 15.

“It’s very much a low-cost farm at the moment. The cows get hay and silage through winter and all they usually buy in is a little palm kernel to help through spring.

“There’s room to grow production if someone wanted to push it a bit harder.

The big thing is it’s priced to sell - I don’t think there’s a cheaper farm around and it’s totally self contained. There’s no Mycoplasma bovis around the Coast, so being able to buy the farm as a going concern means people can buy with certainty. It’s a mainly Friesian and Friesian-cross herd that is all recorded and has a history in the area.”

In total, the farm has 210 mixed-age cows for sale and 80 R1 heifers. Artificial breeding ran for five weeks, with Jersey bulls following until January 1.

The lease block has been run in conjunction with the farm for some time and both are well-laned to connect with other paddocks on the 114ha milking platform and the 28-aside dairy. Outside

TOP QUALITY

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

To view the farm visit www.gregdalyrealestate.co.nz and for further information contact Greg Daly on 0274 783 594.

GREAT ONE PERSON UNIT

• Situated in Konini, Pahiatua is this quality 74 hectare dairy farm with excellent soils.

• Excellent Kairanga and Manawatu silt loam soils that have been regularly fertilised.

• Features a very nice four bedroom family home set in lovely grounds and handy to the dairy.

• Current dairy infrastructure includes a modern herringbone dairy with a 300 cow yard.

• Currently supplies Open Country, has produced up to 1220 kgs/ms/ha consented for dairy farming.

• Good range of shedding includes machinery shed and calf rearing facilities.

• Your opportunity to own this outstanding dairy farm in some of Northern Wairarapa’s best river silt soils.

• Call Les to inspect

Sallan Realty

is a yard for 360 cows and inside is Reid plant, automatic cup removers and teat sprayer, molasses feeding and air drafting.

Effluent is captured in a 90-day storage pond before being irrigated on to 50ha via K-line, with the capacity to irrigate another 40ha. Water can be taken from the river to provide further irrigation.

Farm support buildings and facilities are numerous, from the five-bay implement/ calf shed with a two-bay workshop attached, to another five-bay implement shed, a three-bay hay barn, storage shed and covered fertiliser bin.

Once the fish and crayfish are brought back home, there’s a large wooden patio with seating attached to the house which creates an ideal entertaining area to serve up the catch. Attached to the fourbedroom home is a one-bedroom flat, all set in attractive and well-maintained grounds.

Google ‘Sallan Realty’ Your Farm Sales Specialist

• Well laid out 185 acre dairy farm situated in the heart of the Manawatu.

• There is a lovely art deco homestead with great views over the property.

• Modern 18 aside herringbone dairy with in bale feed system.

• Great feed pad plus good calf and milking sheds.

• Effluent and water systems have been upgraded and are consented for intensive agriculture.

• Our Vendors have been in retirement mode for the last few seasons and currently milk up to 160 cows and carry all replacements on farm.

• Your chance to fire up this self contained unit and take it to the next level. Priced to sell at $2,200,000 plus GST. Call Les to inspect.

• • LES CAIN 0274 420 582

CC0087840©

long sandy beach, crayfish, whitebait and blue cod are the icing on the cake for a Karamea dairy farm that combines 122 freehold hectares with a 48ha leased block to create a self-contained unit.

Keen vendors means the farm is priced to sell at $1.75 million and can be sold as a going concern with immediate possession, in time to start the new season.

Located at Little Wanganui beside the river with the same name provides the ideal boat launch to head out the river mouth to check the cray pots or hook a feed of fish after the milking is done.

The long-term lease block stretches along the beachfront from the river mouth and connects to the dairy farm which continues to border the beach as well as flowing inland on its four different titles. On the combined blocks, the dairy operation is milking 240 cows which produced 86,000kg milksolids last season, wintered the herd, ran the young stock and produced supplements for winter feed.

Greg Daly from Greg Daly Real Estate says the warm climate of Karamea fosters grass growth through winter so the cows

PROPERTY KARAMEA

Licensed Agent REAA 2008

105

PROPERTY HAURAKI

Support potential in subdivision

dairy farm in northern Waikato has being subdivided into a number of blocks including some that would make ideal support units for other dairy farms.

Within the Plains View Farms’ subdivision of eight blocks of land is 79 hectares for sale at $1.13 million, which has been used as part of the dairy farm’s milking platform. Nestled at the base of the Coromandel Ranges with panoramic views over the Hauraki Plains and around to the Coromandel Peninsula provides a wonderful working environment, while still just 10km from Paeroa.

A

Fertile Waihi ash soils cover a mixture of rolling to steeper contour and because it has been part of a milking platform, it is well-laned and set up for easy stock management of cattle.

Lee Carter from Bayleys says the property benefits from a northern aspect and has lifestyle appeal with lush native bush, bird song, plus the peace and quiet of being at the end of a no-exit road.

“The elevated position affords panoramic vistas that swoop across the Hauraki District. Living onsite is definitely an appealing option if you are after that rural feel with town convenience.”

Within a short distance from the property are beautiful Coromandel beaches, cycling the popular Hauraki Rail Trail and tramping around the Karangahake Gorge, plus the city options of Hamilton and Auckland.

Also available now is a 4.7ha block with a tidy three-bedroom home and expansive views, for sale at $825,000 plus a 51ha bush block bordering the Coromandel Forest Park for sale at $685,000.

To view the properties visit www.bayleys. co.nz/814427 and for further information contact Lee Carter on 027 696 5781 or Karl Davis on 027 496 4633.

Lifestyle overlooking Manukau Harbour An idyllic location and lifestyle sets the scene for a 60-hectare dairy farm overlooking the Manukau Harbour and beyond to Auckland city.

The local boat ramp nearby creates numerous possibilities for water sports and other outdoor adventures, while the West Coast with black-sand beaches such as Karioitahi is the place to go for blo-karting, surfing, four-wheel driving or even hang gliding.

On its gently rolling contour overlooking the harbour, the farm, for sale by negotiation, has been milking 220 cows, partly in conjunction with a nearby runoff, and produced about 60,000kg milksolids this past season for Fonterra.

A wide central race system provides good access to the 30 paddocks and the 18-aside herringbone dairy which is part of a good range of quality infrastructure that includes a calf-rearing shed, haybarn and workshop.

106

Water for the farm is sourced from a spring and pumped to a tank before being reticulated to paddocks which sit on fertile Karaka loam soils.

Home base is a three-bedroom house which is located on one of the many

commanding building sites available, with impressive views over the surrounding countryside to the Manukau Harbour and the lights of Auckland with the Sky Tower at its centre.

Peter Kelly from Bayleys says the farm operates a low-cost, simple system and priced under $2.4 million makes it an ideal first farm for someone to put their own stamp on it, while enjoying everything the location has to offer.

“There’s plenty of scope for combining lifestyle and dairy farming – it has location, income and lifestyle all wrapped into one.”

The Awhitu Peninsula has so much to explore and 15 minutes south is the lively township of Waiuku with schooling through to college. Yet it’s all just an hour from Auckland city.

To view the farm visit www.bayleys. co.nz/813426 and for further information contact Peter Kelly on 027 432 4278 or Rebecca McEntee on 021 722 436.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

DairyNZ Consulting Officers

July Events

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

Calving info at your fingertips

New budgets online New farmers from Waikato, Lower North Island and Canterbury have joined existing top performers to share their 2018/19 forecast budgets online as part of DairyNZ’s Budget Case Study project. Visit dairynz.co.nz/budgetcasestudies.

Find out what’s on near you

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.

Protect your farm There are some simple steps you can take to reduce the risk of diseases, weeds or pests entering, spreading, or leaving your farm. Check out dairynz.co.nz/biosecurity for more information.

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.

027 492 2907

Denise Knop

027 807 9686

Lower Northland

Mark Forsyth

021 242 5719

Whangarei West

Sharon Morrell

027 492 2907

Regional Leader

Wade Bell

027 285 9273

Senior Consulting Officer

Phil Irvine

027 483 9820

South Auckland

Mike Bramley

027 486 4344

Hamilton North

Aaron Traynor

021 809 569

Matamata/Kereone

Frank Portegys

027 807 9685

Morrinsville/Paeroa

Euan Lock

027 293 4401

Hauraki Plains/Coromandel

Annabelle Smart

021 242 2127

Te Awamutu

Stephen Canton

027 475 0918

Otorohanga

Michael Booth

027 513 7201

South Waikato

Kirsty Dickins

027 483 2205

027 292 3682

Bay of Plenty

For information on all the dairy industry events happening in your area, visit dairyevents.co.nz

Uncover the opportunities in your business using DairyNZ’s new Farm Gauge tool. Visit dairynz.co.nz/farmgauge.

Sharon Morrell

Far North

Waikato

For a variety of information to help you this calving season, including videos on how to check springers and collecting new-born calves, visit dairynz.co.nz/calving.

Try DairyNZ’s new Farm Gauge tool

Regional Leader

Farm Gauge

Regional Leader

Andrew Reid

Consulting Officer, Special Projects

Wilma Foster

021 246 2147

Central BOP (Te Puke, Rotorua)

Kevin McKinley

027 288 8238

Eastern BOP (Whakatane, Opotiki)

Ross Bishop

027 563 1785

Central Plateau (Reporoa, Taupo) Katikati, Galatea, Waikite/Ngakuru

Colin Grainger-Allen Jordyn Crouch

021 225 8345 021 619 071

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

Sarah Dirks

South Taranaki

Ryan Orchard

027 513 7202 021 246 5663

Central Taranaki

Sarah Payne

027 704 5562

Coastal Taranaki

Anna Arends

021 276 5832

North Taranaki

Lauren McEldowney

027 593 4122

Rob Brazendale

021 683 139

Lower North Island Horowhenua/Wanganui/South Taranaki/Southern and Coastal Manawatu Wairarapa/Tararua

Abby Scott

021 244 3428

Hawke's Bay Central/Northern Manawatu/Rangitikei

Gray Beagley

021 286 4346

Jo Back

021 222 9023

South Island – Head: Tony Finch 027 706 6183 Top of South Island/West Coast Nelson/Marlborough

Mark Shadwick

021 287 7057

West Coast

Angela Leslie

021 277 2894

Canterbury/North Otago Regional Leader

Virginia Serra

021 932 515

North Canterbury

Virginia Serra

021 932 515

Central Canterbury

Natalia Benquet

021 287 7059

Mid Canterbury

Stuart Moorhouse

027 513 7200

South Canterbury

Heather Donaldson

027 593 4124

North Otago

Trevor Gee

021 227 6476

Southland/South Otago Regional Leader

Richard Kyte

021 246 3166

South Otago

Mark Olsen-Vetland

021 615 051

Central/North Western Southland

Nicole E Hammond

021 240 8529

West Otago/North Eastern Southland Liam Carey

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2018

Nathan Nelson

021 225 6931

Western Southland

Teresa Anderson

027 702 2219

Z

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

027 474 3258

Eastern Southland

WIT

H DAI

RY

N

107

Getting the mineral balance right to improve your mating If you are serious about addressing metabolic issues, poor milk production and a reduction in the involuntary culling of cows, it’s time to give serious consideration to the use of Bell-Booth’s intensive course of minerals and trace elements, the IntenSE range.

IntenSE240 delivering big results on a big Canterbury dairy holding When you milk 6,200 cows and your goal is to produce three million milksolids in a season, getting your trace element program right the first time, is critical.

With a farm policy of: 1. no CIDRs; 2. five weeks AI; 3. five weeks of the bull; 4. operating costs at $3.39/cow; the animal health program of choice on this corporate needs to be formulated with the right ingredients, at the right levels, to get the right outcomes.

For the last two seasons the contract milker and farm managers on this large, family-owned corporate have implemented an IntenSE240 program. The easily-dissolved, IntenSE-powder product is dosed-daily via waterlines during the lactation period. The staff on this farming group love simple & easy systems; they find no bother adding IntenSE240 to the waterline, it’s just part of the daily routine. The farm’s owner has a straightforward policy when it comes to expected outcomes: “If you expect cows to perform close to 500kg milksolids, you need the support of a good trace element and mineral program and IntenSE is formulated to support these goals. The results speak for themselves”:

Farm 1

Farm 2

Farm 3

Farm manager Barry recognises the value of a cow in good condition and is confident that the IntenSE program has contributed towards this objective.

Barry says “The staff and I strive to do the best and the IntenSE program is part of the strategy. Our blood test results come back great and we know going into mating the cows are primed and ready. We only have the odd case of metabolic issues and somatic cell counts sit below 200,000 all season”.

Farm manager Mark is pleased with the outcomes from his IntenSE240 program.

“Large herds have some additional challenges when it comes to getting cows in-calf and with Canterbury average empty rate for spring 2016 mating around 18-20%, for us to secure a 72% 6-week in-calf rate and a 12% empty-rate we’re really pleased with the results”.

Contract milker Chris says “Blood test levels are never low and thanks to excellent mineral levels from IntenSE240 I don’t need to boost animals with injections which saves so much time, energy and money. I don’t use many metabolic recovery treatments and I didn’t even need to call the vet in. I have even had the opportunity to do some voluntary culling so I can sell any late-calvers.

I believe if I do the little things right, the big things look after themselves”.

1,850 cows 6 week in-calf rate: 77% Empty rate: 9.5%

Start the programme before drying off to get the results.

2,600 cows 6-week in-calf rate: 72% Empty rate: 12%

1,750 cows 6-week in-calf rate: 80% Empty rate: 6%

Phone 0800 80 90 92 www.bell-booth.co.nz