Dairy Exporter October 2021 by NZ Farmlife Media

Learn, grow, excel

October 2021

ways to keep your staff THE RISE AND FALL OF A2 MILK

Cow health

BOVINE ‘ALL SYSTEMS GO’ $12

OCTOBER 2021

$12 incl GST

AHUWHENUA 2021 WINNERS: Tataiwhetu Trust from Ruatoki

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

MILK FACTORY IN A BOX: Happy Cow Milk 1

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Treading lightly for Miraka Award

CONTENTS MILKING PLATFORM 10 Niall McKenzie goes for expansion and signs off 11 Anne-Marie Wells looks back on 10 years on the farm

Ahuwhenua Award winner makes the organic switch

12 Suzanne Hanning reflects on the realities of wintering 13 Carla Staples looks forward to the sun shining again

UPFRONT 14 Phil Edmonds lifts the lid on a2 Milk’s market wobbles 18 Global Dairy: In Shanghai, Hunter McGregor tries room temperature yogurt 20 Market View: The cream of global milk supply

BUSINESS 22 Ahuwhenua Award winner makes the organic switch 28 Happy Cow: Milk factory in a box 32 Happy Cow: Sharing milk with the calves

Happy Cow: Sharing milk with the calves

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

34 Kellogg Report: When old dogs don’t learn new tricks 37 Milking sheep adapting to Kiwi ways

SYSTEMS 38 Competing for soil health 41 Staffing: 10 ways to keep your staff 44 Research: Low nitrogen loss under maize

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SPECIAL REPORT

Bovine ‘all systems go’

Proving people can change

BVD: DISREGARDED DISEASE COULD BE ELIMINATED

A HELL OF A YEAR TO CATCH TB

M. BOVIS: FALSE POSITIVES FRUSTRATE FARMERS

THEILERIA: TICK-BORNE DISEASE DRAWS BLOOD

LEPTOSPIROSIS: INFECTION TAKES TOLL ON DAIRY WORKERS

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

80 47

Driving for the red team

SPECIAL REPORT:

YOUNG COUNTRY

48 BVD: Disregarded disease could be eliminated

78 Proving people can change

51 M. Bovis: False positives frustrate farmers

80 Driving for the red team

52 Leptospirosis: Infection takes toll on dairy workers 56 A hell of a year to catch TB

WELLNESS

60 Theileria: Tick-borne disease draws blood

84 Trauma: You’re allowed to feel the pain

ENVIRONMENT

DAIRY 101

65 Treading lightly for Miraka Award

86 Dairy breeds: From Marsden’s Shorthorns to Abondance

67 Tauranga: Aiming for a healthy harbour 69 Ballance Awards: Recognition for hard work 70 DairyNZ: Preparation for next winter starts now

SOLUTIONS 88 Animal Health: More coverage, less effort 89 Animal Health: Right pump for dosing

STOCK 72 Body Condition Score driving results

OUR STORY

74 Taking the sting out of spring eczema

90 The Dairy Exporter in October 1971

76 Slick gene for cool cows 77 Managing FE - It’s not just about zinc

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

DAIRY DIARY Please check websites to see if events are going ahead at changing Covid Alert Levels.

October 15 – Entries close for the 20212022 Ballance Farm Environment Awards. To enter the awards visit nzfeawards.org.nz. October 19 – Voting closes for DairyNZ elections. Two elections will take place including one for a farmer-elected director for the board and a second election for one member of DairyNZ’s Directors Remuneration Committee. For details about the election visit www.dairynz.co.nz/ about-us/how-we-operate/dairynz-directorselection. October 20 – DairyNZ annual general meeting is planned to be held in Hawera. Election results will be announced at the meeting. Visit www.dairynz.co.nz. October 20 – Make Time for your People is a Dairy Women’s Network workshop in North Otago aimed at attracting and retaining great people in the dairy industry. The workshop will only go ahead in level 1 and will be followed by webinars that look more in depth at the topics covered. It covers contracts and rosters, salary packages, accommodation requirements, as well as growth opportunities, wellbeing and building strong team relationships. For more information and to register for each location visit www.dwn.co.nz.

Other dates/locations: November 9, Bay of Plenty; November 10, South Waikato; November 11, Hauraki; November 16, Central Plateau; November 18, Otago.

November 23 – The Challenge of Change is being held in Kaitaia in the Far North. Visit www.dwn.co.nz/events/the-challenge-ofchange-far-north.

October 27 – Take time before you sign is a seminar being held in Gore that discusses what is required to make a new business partnership work for everyone, including the skill requirements and mitigating possible risks. The seminar is run by DairyNZ in conjunction with AgriFocus and FMG and is aimed at anyone considering going into a contract milking or VOSM position for the first time, or those looking at putting those contracts into the farm. For more information and to register for the seminar which runs between 10am and 1pm, visit www.dairynz.co.nz/events/southlandsouthotago/southland-south-otago-take-timebefore-you-sign-event.

November 23 – Smaller Herds of New Zealand (SMASH) is holding an event in East Waikato - Streamline Your Business with Lean. Lean is a way of cutting out waste and streamlining systems. Dairy farmer and Lean consultant, Jana Hocken, will talk about how to free up time, save money, eliminate waste, reduce workload and help build a good team culture. The event runs between 10.15 and 1pm. For more information and to register visit www.smallerherds.co.nz/smashevents/seminar-streamline-your-businesswith-lean-waikato-east-23rd-november.

November 10 – Owl Farm focus day at the Cambridge demonstration farm. Visit owlfarm.nz. November 18 – The Challenge of Change in Ashburton is a Dairy Women’s Networkrun workshop about building resilience and managing yourself in stressful situations. Psychology master trainer, Cynthia Johnson, teaches four proven steps to help achieve that. For more information and to register visit www.dwn.co.nz/events/the-challengeof-change-canterbury.

HFS ad - OctNov2020 - Dairy Exporter - 230mmWx80mmH - 5mm bleed.pdf

25/09/20

November 30 – The first of two Pasture Summit field days, with one in each island. The first is in Taranaki at Nathan and Courtney Joyce’s farm on Manaia Road near Hawera. The second is on December 7 in Southland on Daniel and Emily Woolsey’s farm near Wyndham. The field days are hosted by farmers with technical input from dairy sector specialists, sharing ideas and developments on achieving profitable food production from grass. To find out more go to Pasture Summit | Growing Dairy’s Future.

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November 24 – SMASH holds the Streamline Your Business with Lean event in West Waikato. For more visit www. smallerherds.co.nz/smash-events/seminarstreamline-your-business-with-lean-waikatowest-24th-november.

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w farmservices.nz Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Editor’s note

TAKE A WALK

- for yourself Connect, Give, Take notice, Keep learning and Be active

hese are the Farmstrong five ways to wellbeing and I’m am writing this in the middle of Mental Health Week, so it’s a good time to refocus on keeping yourself mentally well. Whether you are locked up in the Auckland Level 3 bubble or head down, bum up on the farm, it’s important to fit some of the above into your life. I remember reading how Barack Obama always worked an hour’s exercise into his day when he was the POTUS. I reckon if he could find the time, most of us should be able to. With that in mind, I have just signed up for the Wilderness magazine Walk1200km campaign where you commit to trying to walk 1200km over a year - just 100km each month and 3.3km a day. (Check it out at wildernessmag.co.nz or on Facebook, search walk1200km) That will tick a few boxes - Take notice (get outside in the fresh air and walk in nature) and Be active - and I figure even if I don’t quite make it to 1200km, I will be getting fitter, sleeping better and feeling happier from all those walkinginduced endorphins flooding my brain, supposedly stimulating relaxation and improving the mood. Hopefully the dog will thank me for it too! Jordyn Crouch’s Kellogg study identified a great suite of ideas for leading and retaining staff and a couple of them resonate with the Connect and Take notice pillars for keeping people healthy as well. She suggests holding ‘Getting to know you’ workshops at the start of the season and ‘Digging deep’ to

When life gives you flat sponge cakes - make trifle!

really get to know new staff so that conversations can be more than just about work (page 41). Glen Herud has spent the last few years developing the Happy Cow milk factory in a box, and Chris Falconer is one of his first farmers to sign up to supply locally produced milk, without the plastic. Glen says local consumers are hanging out to Connect with local dairy farmers who can keep more of the profit from selling their milk by using the Happy Cow system automating compliance, processing and e-commerce (pages 28 & 31). Keep learning is a life-long journey, I’ve mastered a pretty decent sourdough bread loaf in the latest Lockdown Level 4 and now I am working on a decent sponge cake to rival Google’s from the Never-Fail Sponge cake recipe from the October 1971 Dairy Exporter magazine (page 90). My first one resembles a flying saucer...and might be best repurposed as trifle, but hey, if I Give it to my family for dessert I don’t think they will complain!

NZ Dairy Exporter @YoungDairyED @DairyExporterNZ @nzdairyexporter

WINNER ANNOUNCED FOR BIG SAVE’S WEBER CHAISE LOUNGE Retailer Big Save Furniture is proud to have been working with New Zealand local farmers to produce this fantastic New Zealand wool sofa range. The wool in these sofas is collected from local farms and is put into the back, seat or used in the fabric that covers the sofa. Dairy Exporter teamed up with Big Save to celebrate their move by giving away a new Weber chaise lounge valued at $3,499 to one lucky new subscriber: S AND P ATKINSON FARMS located in the Waikato, are the winners. I hope they will send us a photo of them lounging on their new wool sofa.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

NEW ZEALAND NEW ZEALAND

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. Read more at www.nzfarmlife.co.nz PODCASTS:

REGEN VS. CONVENTIONAL FERTILISER

STAYING STRONG ONFARM Sheryl Haitana chats to Sarah Martelli about her Strong Woman programme.

We are tracking the comparative trials at Align Farms in Canterbury, this month taking a look at the fertiliser programmes. www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zoenATHDmyk Story page 38

Emma Taylor Interview with Emma Taylor, general manager of Vineyard Plants in the Hawke’s Bay about viticulture. The company supplies vines, predominantly sauvignon blanc, to the New Zealand wine industry. Fiona Bush Interview with North Canterbury sheep and beef farmer, Fiona Bush. Fiona is giving her perspective on MPI’s Primary Industry Advisory Services available to the rural sector as well as the key issues farmers face today such as the environment and the rural/urban divide. Find these episodes and more at: buzzsprout.com/956197

Sub-editor: Andy Maciver, P: 06 280 3166 andy.maciver@nzfarmlife.co.nz Reporters Anne Hardie, P: 027 540 3635 verbatim@xtra.co.nz

MAATUA HOU

Karen Trebilcock, P: 03 489 8083 ak.trebilcock@xtra.co.nz Delwyn Dickey, P: 022 572 5270 delwyn.d@xtra.co.nz

Maatua Hou. A bobby calf rearing venture with a twist - four young couples have set up an equity partnership, bought a 34ha block and created a venture where the farmers supplying the calves also pay. The farmers are guaranteed to get their money back when the calf is sold along with a share in any profit. Could this be a way to help reduce bobbies? Is there another way we could be rearing beef in this country?

Phil Edmonds phil.edmonds@gmail.com Elaine Fisher, P: 021 061 0847 elainefisher@xtra.co.nz Design and production: Lead designer: Jo Hannam P: 06 280 3168 jo.hannam@nzfarmlife.co.nz Emily Rees emily.rees@nzfarmlife.co.nz

Take a look at our story: ww.youtube.com/ watch?v=yLxdY5mkH8Y

MILK PAYOUT TRACKER:

Average $8.00/kg MS

2021/2022 Fonterra forecast price 9 8

7.70

$/kg MS

Sinead Lehy Interview with Sinead Lehy, principal agricultural science adviser at the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre.

Deputy Editor Sheryl Haitana M: 021 239 1633 sheryl.haitana@nzfarmlife.co.nz

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

nzfarmlife. co.nz/stayingstrong-onfarm

Factum Agri is dedicated to New Zealand’s primary industry, working with the Rural Support Trust. Each week Angus Kebbell talks with farmers, industry professionals and policy makers to hear their stories and expert opinions on matters relevant to both our rural and urban communities.

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

7.90

8.30

8.75

8.50 8.04

7.80

Mid 7.99

7.75

7.25

Partnerships Managers: Janine Aish Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty P: 027 890 0015 janine.aish@nzfarmlife.co.nz Tony Leggett, International P: 027 474 6093 tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz Angus Kebbell, South Island, Lower North Island, Livestock P: 022 052 3268 angus.kebbell@nzfarmlife.co.nz Subscriptions: www.nzfarmlife.co.nz subs@nzfarmlife.co.nz P: 0800 2AG SUB (224 782)

6 5 4

Fonterra forecast

CONNECT WITH US ONLINE:

Printing & Distribution: Printers: Ovato New Zealand Single issue purchases: www.nzfarmlife.co.nz/shop ISSN 2230-2697 (Print) ISSN 2230-3057 (Online)

www.nzfarmlife.co.nz @DairyExporterNZ

NZ Dairy Exporter

@nzdairyexporter

NZ Dairy Exporter

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

MILKING PLATFORM Northland

Looking forward Niall McKenzie signs off, having gone for expansion in his sharemilking operations.

n many of my columns I always try to include honesty and hope. Often we need people to tell us “No” and question us. This makes us better and it’s always available in 2021, as everyone has thoughts on what you do and how you do it these days. Plus all the regulations and rules we have to abide by. Use these as your strength and not a weakness - otherwise, it will do your head in. Two and half years ago we approached our bank at the time about the possibility of expansion. The idea was going from our 300-cow sharemilking job to the 500-cow sharemilking position next door. He said we couldn’t do it. The cash flow wouldn’t support it, although the equity was there. Nothing like being told you can’t do something. We worked on cash flows, approached the banks and kept the small job and acquired the big position a year earlier than planned. As well as big achievements you have to reflect on personal highlights or your days when you are busy don’t seem to count. By September 15 we had done half of last year’s total milk production from the old farm, Mahi (which we still have, plus the new one called Mana). Last year we got to 96,000kg milksolids (MS) to the factory so if we have a half-decent summer and some autumn growth the season could be great. We probably need a good year to help pay for the tax - sad but true. By the way, Jacinda, what do I get for our $62,000 of tax? Del and I both have recently just had four milkings of work, which is incredibly good although I am writing this at 4am and wide awake. It’s a staycation at our place as we live in the Auckland region. One of the local vets is married to a Russian and he said she had more freedom there growing up than we have in New Zealand now. Scary but true. A recent highlight was the following: We recently pregnancy tested the last 51 spring cows that were not springing up yesterday. With very pleasing results there were only 17 not in calf, which is a fantastic result as 10

we wintered 811 cows and bought them in from eight different places. Shine baby shine. Our farm team is reasonable out on the farm. We haven’t employed staff in the last 10 years so this takes some getting used too. Basically means not sweating the small stuff, but still checking up on everything. At last week’s staff meeting the focus was on accountability and what it means to them. A lot of the time I like them, sometimes not so much. In the last three months a lot of things have happened down on the farm. I am trying hard not to be a drama queen as I type this. We have had the fire brigade out for a circuit board fire on a Saturday night, during which thankfully Delwyn was scrubbing buckets and I was out on the farm hunting turkeys with our nephew. We got the fire out eventually. This took our Mahi cowshed out for 10 days, so all the cows got moved over to the other farm, same owner. These are just moments in life but at the time they seem a lot more important.

Nothing like being told you can’t do something. We worked on cash flows, approached the banks and kept the small job and acquired the big position a year earlier than planned. As this is my last column in NZ Dairy Exporter I would like to say thankyou to the team there, for making my stories look great. Considering I only got 52 in School C English and left school at 16 I think it’s pretty amazing. To the NZ dairy industry thank you for all the opportunities you have given Delwyn and me. And my last thank you is to our friends and family who are always there when we need them. Nialtor, Gone Baby Gone. Thanks Niall, it’s been fun reading of your adventures, Ed. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

MILKING PLATFORM South Otago

Lockdown: MILK WAS STILL COLLECTED From her farm near Outram, Anne-Marie Wells looks back on 10 years at the property.

s we come to the end of another spring, I have found myself thinking back to our first spring on this farm and how it compares 10 years on. In August 2011, we were still getting used to the farm, it was snowing, and our new cowshed was not quite finished. The old herringbone was functional if not frustrating – one set of pulsators kept failing and after a couple of weeks, the steps from the pit to the yard collapsed. It was quite demoralising milking in that shed when even from the pit, we could see the new 54-bale rotary so close to complete, but not quite ready. Then we had a big dump of snow, and while that meant work on the new shed came to a halt, stopping on the farm wasn’t an option. A bit like August 2021, although this year it was lockdown, not snow, that forced things around us to stop while life on the farm carried on. Normally during calving we feel we are missing out on all the off-farm fun, but that wasn’t the case this year.

Normally during calving we feel we are missing out on all the off-farm fun, but that wasn’t the case this year. In fact, we were grateful to be kept busy and took a lot of comfort in the fact that as an essential business we all kept our jobs, houses, and income.

In fact, we were grateful to be kept busy and took a lot of comfort in the fact that as an essential business we all kept our jobs, houses, and income. For us to be able to carry on through lockdown, we needed all the other businesses that keep us running to carry on as well. Our experience was as if there was no Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

difference – the milk was collected, vets were available, supplies were delivered, bobbies got away and machinery was repaired. We are very grateful for the effort from these companies to make this the case. Another advantage this August, was that the 2¼ children who were under 3 in 2011 are now three children over 9, who as it turns out, are quite good extra helpers on the farm when it’s a choice between home school or farming. I like to think we still covered a selection of subjects; PE, biology, maths … Back in 2011, our extra helpers were the amazing friends who came each milking of the first week in the new shed to help push very reluctant cows on to the new rotary platform. I remember thinking the cows would never walk on by themselves and then one day, it happened. Now it is a distant memory that it was ever like that. The end of each 2011 August day involved a late-night walk to match up cows and calves. After introducing whole-herd DNA testing a year after moving here, the end of an August day now comprises a Milo and an early night. A lot of memories have been made over the last 10 years, and things which were a big deal at the time (like the shed not being finished, cows needing pushing into the shed or spending a fortune on whole-herd DNA testing) don’t seem to matter much now. For those of you who have moved farms this season, I hope you have settled in well and that it isn’t long before you have forgotten any frustrations and are building good memories. 11

MILKING PLATFORM Southland

The evolution OF WINTERING Social media has been rife with emotive pictures of cows in mud accompanied by a eulogy toned narrative and a mournful, dramatic soundtrack. Suzanne Hanning writes about the realities.

talk, a lot. I’m well aware of that and have tried to restrain myself, but it’s just no good. I think the problem is that I have a busy brain. I love to read, learn and listen to people more clever than me. Then I get thinking about what I’ve read, learned and heard and try to think of ways to apply it to what we’re doing on the farm, or if someone else could benefit. Those of you who know me, know I like nothing better than to share ideas with anyone who will listen, especially if it will make life easier or even better, solve a problem. It is with this in mind, that I got awfully excited last year while talking to Dawn Dalley, senior scientist for DairyNZ. She wanted to do a pilot study on our farm comparing two or more cultivation methods when planting our winter crops to try to start to develop some sort of baseline around wintering cows in Southland. Me being me, I said “But there are hundreds of different soils types in Southland. Why don’t we try to do this on as many farms across Southland as we can? I’m sure there are heaps of farmers doing cool stuff all over the place.” With funding from Thriving Southland and in cooperation with the Southern Dairy Hub, the Hedgehope Makerewa Catchment Group organised the commercial farm aspect of the Winter Cultivation Pilot Study. This pilot study looked at 10 farms across Southland that were either comparing different cultivation methods in the same paddocks or using other interesting management or crop types. Wintering livestock in Southland has become really contentious. We have little to no grass growth during the winter and even less drying. Southland soils can be heavy and with artificial drainage, result in paddocks needing to be very carefully managed to prevent not only nitrate leaching, but pugging damage, phosphorus and sediment loss. The use of crops to feed stock over the winter period helps limit any damage to a much smaller area. It also protects the pasture in preparation for calving in spring. But, the flip side of wintering on crops is that it creates 12

mud. This can be visually confronting. The uninformed will assume the animals have nothing to eat and are wallowing in deep, exhausting slop. Social media has been rife with emotive pictures accompanied by a eulogy toned narrative and a mournful, dramatic soundtrack. The true motive of these posts are often to garner donations, little of which actually benefits anything with four legs. The reality is, no one really knows what good looks like

If anything, this pilot study has shown us so far that any attempt at legislating how farmers manage their winter grazing will need to be carefully thought out and be drafted through close collaboration with the rural sector. when it comes to wintering stock on crops. Some KPIs that farmers use include stock in good body condition, general contentedness, and evidence of animals being able to lay down. However, to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever actually studied this enough to put some numbers around it. In fact, when we started into this pilot study, we couldn’t even define what pugging actually is or how to measure it. Even now, the jury is still out on that one. If anything, this pilot study has shown us so far that any attempt at legislating how farmers manage their winter grazing will need to be carefully thought out and be drafted through close collaboration with the rural sector. It has also shown us that the animals’ behaviour is not necessarily dictated by the cultivation method or even crop type, but what they feel like day by day, even hour by hour. Southland farmers have made huge changes in the last couple of years to improve wintering practices and our local council has acknowledged this. Where we will end up in the next few years is anyone’s guess but the direction of travel is pretty clear. We will keep moving and improving and eventually, come up with something good enough to just get on with it. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

MILKING PLATFORM West Coast

NO HUNGRY CALVES this spring After a challenging, wet spring the sun has shone on Carla and Chris Staples’ West Coast farm.

t’s mid-September and we have fewer than 30 cows left to calve. Spring has certainly been challenging as the rain and westerly winds seemed to be very consistent and relentless. The sun has been shining over the last week and what a difference that makes. All our replacements were born in the first half of calving, something that hasn’t happened before and lots of heifers there are, more than needed but this will help in the future meaning no carry overs will need to be kept. We tried something different this season with ad lib feeding of the calves, this made a huge difference in the calf sheds with no hungry calves as they could drink to their hearts’ content 24 hours a day. We certainly used a lot more milk, and the calves were averaging about 18 litres each in the 24-hour period! But you can see the difference, their weights are up on previous seasons which will mean a lot earlier weaning and has been a lot less stressful.

Another nationwide lockdown has been happening around us, which made no major impact here to us as we were busy onfarm, although it seems very strange to make visits to town and to be required to wear masks everywhere.

They are all outside now on the calfeteria and drinking about 7 litres OAD and should be all weaned by late October early November. With mating just around the corner, we will be putting our heifers up to sexed semen to increase heifer numbers - this will be another first and it will be interesting to see the results next spring. Throughout winter Chris has been tearing up the winter crop paddocks as we finished them to prepare them to be sown back into pasture as soon as the weather allows and so far two of the three have been sown back into Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Lots of young heifers among the Staples’ new calves.

permanent pasture. Hopefully they grow as it has been quite wet and cold since he got the first one in. Fingers crossed it gets out of the ground before any weeds take hold although it will get a weed spray once the pasture is established. We are using a mix of Shogun, Platform and two different types of white clover. This is a mix we used last autumn, and those paddocks have been growing strongly over winter and early spring so it will be interesting to see if they carry on this way right throughout the season. In total we’ll try to get another three paddocks regrassed this season on top of the three crop paddocks, adding these to what we have already done over the last three seasons we will have renewed almost 50% of the farm, which is a great achievement. Another nationwide lockdown has been happening around us, which made no major impact here to us as we were busy onfarm, although it seems very strange to make visits to town and to be required to wear masks everywhere. These lockdowns now seem to be our new normal, we feel extremely sorry for all those businesses whose livelihoods are severely impacted financially, and many will more than likely close their doors for good. This will be our last article and we would like to thank everyone for reading over the last four years. It’s been awesome to get lots of positive feedback from farmers all over New Zealand and has also been great to introduce farmers from around the country into some of our practices and strategies we use here on the Coast to get around some of the challenges we face, and we look forward to reading someone else’s stories. We hope everyone has a great season, the payout stays where it is, and we don’t have to face another lockdown before Christmas. - Thanks for your contributions, Chris and Carla. Ed. 13

Market wobbles and A2 milk While A2 milk is ‘on trend’ in many markets, the a2 Milk Company’s recent troubles has had a knock-on effect on that sector of the New Zealand dairy industry. Phil Edmonds reports.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

INSIGHT

UPFRONT A2 MILK

he a2 Milk Company’s very public undoing has naturally generated extensive interest given its extraordinary rise in double-quick time to the top echelons of New Zealand’s most valuable traded businesses. Much of the conjecture has focused on whether the company itself was a house of cards waiting for a breeze to blow it down. The dramatic 30.3% fall in revenue for the year to June might suggest so, but the jury remains out on whether it’s a blip or the result of a fundamental misreading of the market. To a large extent though, that is all ‘over there’ and not ‘here’. While The a2 Milk Company was founded in NZ and is listed on the NZX, its corporate headquarters is in Australia and most of its ownership is concentrated offshore. Little has been said in the commentary to date about any implications for the NZ dairy industry, and if The a2 Milk Company’s fall from grace justifies farmers rethinking the value of committing their herds to an a2 future.

The a2 Milk Company’s erstwhile success needs to be acknowledged – due in large part to world-class marketing of a product without conclusively proven health claims. Before mulling over any glaring missteps taken, The a2 Milk Company’s erstwhile success needs to be acknowledged – due in large part to world-class marketing of a product without conclusively proven health claims. While the product has a unique attribute (the betacasein component of the protein in the milk) it is not one the consumer can immediately recognise through the most fundamental senses of taste or texture. Nor is the argument made for consuming it clear. The subtag used to promote the company’s fresh milk is not exactly an unambiguous proof point - ‘Many people who drink a2 milk say they feel the difference’. The opaque seal of approval is not surprising. Last year Consumer NZ looked at the evidence for claims made and cited a systemic review published in Nutrition Reviews, which contemplated 25 studies involving a2 milk, which found only moderate support for claims made on digestive symptoms, and low to very low certainty for all other outcomes. But that hasn’t mattered a jot to consumers, even if it has bamboozled the purists, of which there have been plenty sitting on the side-lines, waiting for the www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

lack of robust science to catch up with a2 milk. In May this year NZTE published comprehensive consumer insight research on dairy in NZ’s key markets. It found that for infant formula (which is a2 Milk’s hero product), sustainability focused segments of ‘ethical’ and ‘on trend’ were most important. Of eight attributes analysed, ‘on trend’ was the most important factor in the United Kingdom and United States and equally as important as ‘healthy’ (and more significant than ‘safe’) in China. This research goes a considerable way towards supporting a2 Milk’s strategic focus on marketing over science. This strategy has been endorsed by some analysts of the China market, who believe Chinese consumers have little concern for science claims and attribute primary importance to whether the product is trendy or not. Where a2 Milk has dramatically fallen down is now well-documented – principally due to Covid-19 abruptly curtailing the daigou/reseller and e-commence trade channels which provide market access into China for the company’s English label infant formula products. As a result of this unexpected event, a2 Milk ended up with ‘excess inventory issues’ (stockpiles of product losing freshness), which in its own words caused a ‘dramatic change in circumstances’. By the end of its financial year in June, The a2 Milk Company’s stockpile of product had been written down $108.6 million including disposal costs. Cauterising the inventory hasn’t stopped the bleeding, however. The company says its outlook remains uncertain and that it will take time to recover – beyond the 2022 year. All the a2 Milk Company’s woes can’t be blamed on Covid-19. Earlier in the year it noted the China infant nutrition market structure was changing rapidly, with volumes down driven by a significant reduction in the birth-rate. This development naturally led to more intense competition among leading multinational brands, and the pressure was exacerbated by the emerging strength of local brands in domestic channels. The obvious questions that emerge from the company’s recent struggles are whether it factored in the potential for softening demand in China from the falling birth rate, whether it foresaw Chinese consumers becoming more willing to support local brands, and whether there was an appropriate level of risk management associated with its reliance on daigou/e-commerce as a means to reach its customers. On the latter, it’s hard not to imagine the company got caught up in a ‘make hay while the sun shines’ approach. And why not. The cost of servicing the channel compared with the outlay required to maintain a supply chain within China is more or less 15

Left: Off the shelf: A2 milk.

negligible. It is paying for that now but realistically, it’s being funded by the huge gains it has made to date. In the long run the daigou stoppage may be considered a temporary nuisance. For the drop in births, The a2 Milk Company may well have just backed the brand to increase its reach within China and extend its market share. Based on the brand’s success in the years leading up to Covid-19, there’s probably no reason to think this wasn’t possible. On the appeal of local alternative products, a2 Milk won’t be the only company to have mis-read this – if they did. Arguably all multinational companies selling products and services in China are dealing with this development, which seems to be the manifestation of a politically driven project to reignite nationalism. None of these failings, it should be noted, can be blamed on a2 Milk failing to invest in more science. So, what does this mean for the producers of a2 Milk’s products – who have been largely ignored in the analysis so far? It’s fair to say The a2 Milk Company’s slide has created collateral damage in NZ. For a start, Synlait’s reliance on a2 Milk’s market performance has had a direct impact on its own financial position. Synlait has an exclusive contract to supply a2’s infant formula for Australia, New Zealand and China, which expires in 2025, and will have built up its production to service the contract. In an earnings guidance update earlier in the year Synlait said the impact of the ongoing uncertainty in the expected demand from its largest customer in the foreseeable future meant it could not be 16

confident about its infant base powder production and asset use. That confidence has clearly weakened. Ahead of its full year earnings announcement at the end of September, Synlait revealed it was selling an Auckland manufacturing property to pay down debt and was cutting 150 jobs to reduce costs. More interest has focused on the fortunes of the fledgling Mataura Valley Milk, which a2 Milk took a controlling (75%) stake in this year. The wheels of this deal were set in motion ahead of a2 Milk’s recent adversity, based on a strategic decision to diversify its supply base, gain access to manufacturing margins, and enable it to pursue product innovation opportunities in the future. But since coming off the rails, the acquisition might now be something a2 Milk could have done without. In August, a month after the acquisition was completed, the company said it had revised down its volume assumptions for product to be transferred to Mataura Valley Milk over the next three years and a2 Milk is not expecting positive earnings from its venture until the 2025 year. Those farmers supplying both Synlait and Mataura Valley Milk might not be bearing the brunt of a2’s misfortunes competitive milk price agreements mean the shareholders of these companies rather than farmers will be shedding the sweat. But there will be some concern in the short-medium term as to whether the demand for their milk will be maintained, if not grow. As for the majority of NZ dairy farmers not exposed by these contractual arrangements, there might be some reflecting on any opportunity cost incurred

by investing in A2 genetics - which many have done. In its latest financial report, LIC noted its premium genetics range (including A2/A2 bull teams) accounted for almost half its AB inseminations, double that of three years ago. Despite the joint venture with a2 Milk announced in 2018 to create a new milk pool, Fonterra has not outwardly promoted or supported genetic transition. In 2019 it revealed it was signing up farms in the Waikato to supply A2 Milk to its Hautapu base but there has been no official communication since. One Waitako Fonterra supplier spoken to said they had seen no direction at all from Fonterra on building A2 herds, and Fonterra had done nothing to project a future where A2 milk would be in greater demand. “Fonterra would have to give farmers a long time of notice if they expected greater supply of A2 milk, and they have never done that. Given that, you have to wonder if it’s worth forgoing genetic gains in other areas by narrowing yourself down to using just A2/A2 bulls.” It’s difficult to know right now where the popularity of A2 might end up. Outside of China and infant formula it might continue to sit on the premium shelf and compete with alternative milks for attention. Right now, it’s not doing a bad job. In its earnings announcement in August a2 Milk noted its revenue from fresh milk sales in Australia had increased by 10.8% to $169 million and had 12.2% market value at the end of June this year. The a2 Milk Company’s recent floundering is not, however, likely to influence the category’s future in China. Various commentators have pointed to the opportunities that will exist to develop innovative A2 products beyond infant formula, and looking forward, Chinese government initiatives to address the declining birth rate are expected to have a ‘positive and stabilising impact’ on the market. Perhaps most of all, The a2 Milk Company shareholders and the farmers supplying (and preparing to supply) A2 milk will be hoping the category just remains trendy.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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GLOBAL DAIRY CHINA

Room temperature yogurt Words by: Hunter McGregor

n August I attended the monthly Kiwi Drinks in Shanghai. This event is organised by a group of volunteers and it’s a social get-together for Kiwis and friends of New Zealand. There is a charity raffle with prizes donated by NZ companies, and in August I won a prize for the first time. I thought at the time it included some UHT milk from Fonterra (including a bottle of wine and whipping cream from Tatua). To my family’s surprise and mine, it was UHT drinking yoghurt, made and packed in NZ by Fonterra. My family is now hooked on this product and I hope it is popular in China, as it will be a major challenge to wean my kids off it. UHT (ultra-high temperature) is a food processing technology that almost sterilises liquid food by heating it above 135C (the temperature required to kill many bacterial endospores) for two to five seconds. The result means that liquid milk (or yoghurt) can be safely stored at room temperature. UHT dairy products are big business in China and in 2014 they accounted for 60% of dairy sales. Those numbers will have adjusted now, but judging by the amount of UHT milk products available in all supermarkets around China, the sales will still be very significant. To understand why a room temperature dairy product dominates the market is to understand Chinese culture. Most Chinese people, especially the older generation and traditional thinkers (i.e: people outside the bigger cities) do not like to drink anything cold. This includes beer and dairy products. I have a running joke with many of my foreign friends that have been in China for many years, that 18

To understand why a room temperature dairy product dominates the market is to understand Chinese culture. McGregor picks up a goodie bag at the Kiwi Drinks event in Shanghai.

Dairy treats for the family.

drinking hot water will solve everything!! A UHT dairy product that does not need refrigeration fits this thinking very well. In modern China this thinking is changing and you see a lot more chilled dairy

products, including local and imported fresh milk. Another advantage for UHT milk is that it is easy to ship and store, which was a big plus traditionally in China with underdeveloped cool chain distribution. In many parts of China this is not an issue anymore, but people would still consume UHT dairy products. It is often packaged in a nice box (with an easy-carry handle.) This is great for gifts, which also fits well into Chinese culture of giving a healthy gift. Dairy products are seen very much as a healthy product, especially for children and older people. So in the future if you are passing through Shanghai while Kiwi Drinks are in progress, let me know! I will more than likely be at the back propping up the bar and trying to win another raffle. It has only taken me 11 years to win my first raffle prize, so good things take time.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Pasture & Forage News

October 2021

Captain wins in winter If you want a plantain that grows well during the cool months of the year (when the risk of N leaching is greatest), get your hands on some seed for Captain CSP this season.

The science behind 4front’s environmental benefits – how does it work? One of the most exciting things about our new tetraploid perennial ryegrass 4front is that it can improve environmental outcomes on your farm. It does this in four ways. Better outcome #1 – 1.2t DM/ha more feed (for nothing!) Tetraploid ryegrasses can grow more DM/ ha than diploids because you can run higher covers before grazing, and they’re still very palatable. This means each plant has more leaf for photosynthesis, so we can harness more of the sun’s energy. Pasture growth accelerates over time. If we graze around 2-2.5 leaves/tiller, as is typical with diploids, we lose the fastest growth that comes with the third leaf, which is 40-45% of the total growth available. Grazing later 2.5-3 leaves/tiller (+0.5 leaf/tiller) captures that extra growth potential. It doesn’t take a lot of extra DM per ha to add up to a significant total gain over 12 months. Better outcome #2 – better balanced grass. As ryegrass regrows after grazing, the crude protein (CP) or N content of the plant drops. Lactating cows in spring need around

18% CP in their diet, so a pasture with 22% protein at that time supplies 4% too much. This excess protein, excreted as urine and dung, is what causes problems with N loading of soils. Grazing 0.5 leaf/tiller later may reduce CP by 1.5%, dropping excess protein by over 30%. Better outcome #3 – fewer grazings, higher N use efficiency. Higher pre-grazing covers mean a longer grazing round, more time for the plant to respond to N fertiliser, and a proportionately higher N response. Grazing management is easier, too!

CSP stands for ‘cool season plantain’ and we called it that because it keeps growing when traditional plantains become dormant. The more DM a plantain grows in winter, the more soil nitrogen it utilises, reducing N loss to waterways. It also provides extra feed when it is most needed on farm. Combined with low DM content this increases urination volume and frequency, reducing the amount of N in the urine, hence reducing the risk of N leaching. Not only does Captain CSP have a cool season advantage over other commercially available plantains, it grows strongly in other seasons too. Animals like it, too. It’s palatable, easily digested and rich in essential minerals and trace elements. Captain has shown good persistence in mixed-sward trials.

Better outcome #4 – higher cow intakes. Tetraploid ryegrass can increase cow production by around 10%. A key reason is that the basal leaves and leaf sheaths of tetraploids remain softer and lower in fibre than diploids at the same growth stage. If you’d like the full story, jump on our website and download your free copy of our new technical brief The 4front System – environmental benefits.

facebook.com/BarenbrugNZ barenbrug.co.nz 0800 955 Dairy Exporter | 449 www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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INSIGHT

UPFRONT MARKET VIEW

The cream of global milk supply Words by: Stuart Davison

pring time. What a time to be a farmer! Grass is growing, mating is all go, silage and summer crops could be on the cards. And on top of all those exciting factors, New Zealand milk production is peaking, making for a very exciting month for NZ dairy. As one of the key dairy export regions, we often have the world’s eyes at this time of the year as the world asks “how much will NZ produce this year?” This year is even more important to the global dairy industry. The balance of global milk supply has been upset over the last month, and a market out of kilter creates volatility. I’m sure you are well aware of the sharp increase in demand from China over the last 18 months. It’s the reason the milk price is looking so dashing, but the supply side has also been running red hot as a result. European dairy farmers have from last year or lower. Considering been steadily growing milk production population growth in the EU, which was over the last few years, keeping up with 0.4% in 2020, milk production looks growing demand. The European unlikely to be able to keep up with Union has also benefited from growth in both domestic demand China’s massive draw of dairy, and exports. Simply, EU dairy with exports to China also exports will be in short growing substantially over the supply for the remainder of last 18 months. Similarly, the 2021, and most likely won’t United States has spent the last catch up until their next milk three years growing their own production peak in mid-2022. milk production, most noticeably The US dairy industry is finally Stuart Davison. over the last 18 months also. This tripping itself up. The boom in constantly increasing supply might have milk production over the last two years peaked already, and now looks set to has created a massive amount of milk, regulate a little lower. spilling over to the export market. US EU milk production in July undershot farmers have grown milk production July 2020’s production figure, with big every month for the last two years, but producers, France and Germany, both that is set to stop. Weekly numbers of seeing milk production fall sharply. Only cull cows are increasing above rates seen Spain, Italy and Ireland managed to grow over the last two years, which will reduce their milk production in July. the national herd. The US herd is now At the end of July, the EU’s total milk pegged to stop growing at some point production for the 2021 season, year to over the coming months. Yield per cow is date, was 0.5% ahead of the same period being punished by higher feed costs, and in 2020. Total milk production growth drought in parts of the West Coast. This all will most likely finish the year unchanged means milk flows should slow, with some

A positive outlook for Kiwi dairy farmers.

The US herd is now pegged to stop growing at some point over the coming months. Yield per cow is being punished by higher feed costs, and drought in parts of the West Coast.

commentators expecting a negative growth figure sometime in the coming months. What does this mean for little old NZ? A positive outlook. If the EU and the US look to taper off, and China’s demand continues to tick along, global balance will tip towards low supply, and will be price supportive. But what does the market think currently? At the time of writing, which is between Global Dairy Trade (GDT) events in September, the market is very bullish, expecting good prices for all commodities for the rest of the season. The futures market has been running red hot, as both buyers and sellers look to hedge prices before they move higher or lower again (depends which side of the hedge you’re on…). A few people are starting to question if China can keep up their levels of demand, while others are seeing a population that can’t get their hands on proteins fast enough! At this point of the year, it’s hard to be a pessimist, and milk prices should remain supported for this season at least! • Stuart Davison is an NZX Dairy Analyst.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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Organic switch S E TS T HE STA NDAR D

Conversion to organic dairying has seen Tataiwhetu Trust win awards across the industry. By Elaine Fisher.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

BUSINESS AHUWHENUA AWARD

Left: A busy day at the marae when the Ahuwhenua Trophy comes to town. Above: Documenting the smiles on the faces of the Tataiwhetu Trust farm team.

inning the 2021 Ahuwhenua Trophy for excellence in Maori farming did not just set a standard for Tataiwhetu Trust but for Maoridom, trust chairman Paki Nikora says. “The win is not just for ourselves, but also for Maoridom as it helps set a platform for others to strive to achieve.” The trust, which milks 432 Kiwicross cows on an organic dairy farm in the Ruatoki Valley, south of Whakatane, received the supreme award at an event in New Plymouth in June. “We are still trying to fathom out for ourselves how we won it,” Paki says, in September. “It’s still sinking in. We were like stunned mullets when we were announced the winner. Winning has been an uplifting experience for everyone involved including our beneficiaries.” However, the trust almost didn’t enter the awards. “When we were asked to consider it, we felt we were not good enough; there was still so much to do.” Tataiwhetu Trust proved to be much more than “good enough” across all aspects against which the trophy is judged. Criteria include: knowledge of the industry; contribution to and participation with the community/ngā tikanga Māori and a commitment to Māoritanga; goals and plans for the future; learning and development; awareness of health and safety practices; understanding of management

practices and goals and knowledge of environmental factors that impact the business. Even before putting itself under the judges’ scrutiny, the trust had identified that the environment and its people were to be the priority, alongside financial returns. The move to organics, which began with transition in 2015, was driven by a strong desire to minimise the impact of the farm on the wider environment and improve overall animal and human wellbeing. While the conversion from conventional to fully certified organic and reducing stocking rates has impacted on dairy operating profit, the net return of $1946 per hectare for the 2019/20 season is closer to the Bay of Plenty (owner operator) benchmark of $2215/hectare. This is driven, in the main, by the high payment received - $9.09/kg milksolids (MS). “We are farming in a fragile environment and our farm is subject to flooding. We lost 22 hectares as a result of floods and the 2017 flood alone cost us $1,700,000. “I believe it is possible to tame the river to meander through its bed without causing big floods. I don’t agree with the regional council’s management of the rivers and the Resource Management Act and the need to consult iwi impacts on what we can do.” The 184ha effective milking platform borders

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Farm facts: • Organic certified • Stock: 432 Kiwicross cows, 100 R1yrs at 50ha support block, 88 R2yrs at 50ha support block • System: seasonal milking and once-a-day since 2009 • Stocking rate: 2.5 cows/ha • Production:129,140kg MS • Per cow production: 273kg MS • Production per ha: 694kg MS • Imported supplementary feed per cow: 0.8t/cow • Purchased nitrogen surplus: 12kg N/ha • Greenhouse gas emissions: 7736kg CO2e/ha

Minister Willie Jackson, trust chairman Paki Nikora, Minister Meka Whaitiri and Ponty Hauwaho (Ringatu Tohunga).

the Ōhinemataroa (Whakatane) river and a more recently purchased 50ha support block borders the Tauranga (Waimana) river. This property is certified organic and is used to raise R1 and R2 heifers. The climate varies from 2C in winter to 38C in summer and annual rainfall is 1629mm. One of the trust’s biggest strengths is its freehold land, left by ancestors and parents of current beneficiaries. The initial development was guided by kaumātua Frank Vercoe 23 years ago, who left today’s beneficiaries a virtually debt-free base farm. This has become a significant launching platform for trustees to grow the business. In addition to the sense of pride the win has brought the trust, other benefits include wider collaboration with others from all sectors of the dairy industry as well as local bodies and government agencies. “I have always been an advocate for collaboration as you can’t work successfully in isolation, and I would like others in Maoridom to realise that too. The awards have opened doors for us including from the government which I sense wants Maori to excel in all areas so we can stand on our own two feet.”

Collaboration is clearly set out in the trust’s goals which include: “to work with all associated companies, training establishments, land trusts and local schools, to upskill our younger generations into areas of agriculture, horticulture, apiculture, aquaculture and biodiversity management. To be leaders in these fields for the betterment of our current and future generations while creating future employment for whānau on their ancestral lands”.

Conversion to organic supply The trust spent the seasons from 2016 to 2019 working through the process of converting to organic supply. This required accepting lower returns for three seasons as the number of stock units per hectare decreased. Fonterra’s payment of an extra 45c per kg of milksolids above the conventional milk price helped through the transition phase. The stocking rate has decreased from 3.2 cows/ha (pre-organic) to 2.4 to align the farm with the Organic Industry Standards and traditional fertilisers previously used

to stimulate pasture growth to sustain higher cow numbers are no longer used. Organic management also excludes the use of herbicides. “We are fine with that. We did not see the sense in applying more poisons to Papatūānuku, and wish to remain true to the belief that if we care for Papatūānuku, she will care for us.” Now in its second season of receiving the full organic premium, the Tataiwhetu Trust has been recognised by Fonterra as one of the quickest to complete the conversion process and received the Fonterra Organic Award for the 2018-19 season. The farm is now 100% pasture-based since organic conversion in 2017 and all supplements are made onfarm and on the farm’s organic support blocks. Natural pasture growth is boosted with strategic applications of BioSea fish fertiliser. To maximise the potential plant growth from the fish fertiliser, applications are timed to coincide with when the natural conversion of soil ammonia to nitrate is occurring. All stock are wintered on support blocks for six weeks which allows the farm’s

Tataiwhetu Farms Limited vision: Manaakitia te Taiao –Toitu te whenua – Toitu te tangata. Care for the environment – Retain the land – Promote the health and wellbeing of all mankind. 24

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Paki Nikora, Hiria Wallace (trustee), Ngatai Hurkmans (trustee), Desma Feakins and Whareauahi Teepa (husband and wife farm managers).

soils and pastures to recover. A four year re-grassing programme is in place, which started last season. This season a 5ha crop cover trial will also be added. The main goal is to diversify pasture species to fit the Organic Management Plan. Pasture cover is monitored by staff with pasture walks, plate measuring, and use of pasture satellite information. Soil type is fine sandy loam. The parent material is alluvium derived from greywacke and rhyolitic tephra. These soils are welldrained and subject to infrequent flooding. The farm undertakes total soil carbon monitoring, soil mineral testing, milk urea nitrogen monitoring, forage mineral testing and farm water runoff testing. This data is used in a farm environment report to show the influence farming activities have on the environment. Soil tests are now on an annual basis and samples are tested at Brookside laboratories. “They were chosen because they have tailored the laboratory extractions to match the characteristics of typical New Zealand soils and they have no affiliation to any fertiliser supplier.” Nutrient loss to the environment is monitored and mitigated by utilising the

information contained in the Fonterrasupplied daily milk urea nitrogen (MUN) report, and the monitoring for freshwater contamination is based on this data. The trust is implementing the Dung Beetles Innovations Ltd release programme with colonies of four species released so far. “We consider the decision to transition from conventional farming to organic farming as being bold and innovative, and the environmental and financial benefits are now becoming apparent. Downsizing stock units per hectare by 22%, once-a-day milking and back to seasonal milking have all had positive outcomes for our land, stock, staff and shareholders.” Energy efficiency in the dairy shed has been a focus too, with the addition of upgraded milk cooling and heat pump technology to cut energy use and cost. Pre-chilling milk using a three-stage process cuts energy and peak power draw further, while increasing milk quality compliance. Other technologies include a LIC Protrack® three-way drafting system and LIC satellite technology SPACE™ for pasture monitoring and management. Staff also use the phone apps: Fonterra, MINDA, Levno milk and fuel monitoring and

security cameras have been installed. The trust’s focus is on far more than farming. It fosters an excellent connection with both the local and wider community, particularly through grants and scholarships and involvement with local schools. This includes using the farm to support training of school students. There is a strong commitment to employ local people highlighted by both the farm staff and managers being tāngata whenua. “We have a policy of offering opportunities to shareholders first and we support and encourage their industry training.” The farm’s four staff are iwi beneficiaries who connect to the land and form part of the trust succession plan. One of the objectives of transitioning to once-a-day milking was because the trust realised that happy cows and happy staff coincided. “We therefore ensure that management and staff get a living wage or better, plus get quality time with their families. The reward to the trust is that we have never had any staffing issues.” Paki’s goal is to see more people return to the land. “Maori have a spiritual connection to the

Tataiwhetu Farms Limited mission: Create pride, passion and performance embraced through whānaungatanga and active kaitiakitanga. Educate our current and future generations of their cultural and spiritual connection to the land. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Aggregated land supports tangata whenua

Tataiwhetu Farm is in the Rūātoki Valley, south of Whakatane in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

land and for many that has been lost when they have left because there was no work.” Tataiwhetu Trust forms part of a local cluster group called Rūātoki Farm and Land Trusts Group (RF&LT) for which Paki is the chairman. This cluster is a collective of four dairy farms, one dry stock unit, an exotic forestry trust and an indigenous forestry trust forming a total land area of 19,000ha. “The intention has always been to create economic benefit for our local whānau and hapū, plus research alternative diversification and land use options. “The long-term goal is to create local employment, create papakāinga housing around each of our 12 marae and permit our youth to grow within their tikanga, kawa and hapūtanga, fostered by their families and kaumātua, plus respect our spiritual, cultural, historical, genealogical and environmental values. “We recognise that succession has been a problem regarding governance and operations. RF&LT offered our farm to MPI and PrimaryITO for practical training and has coordinated meetings with the Rūātoki Secondary School, plus PrimaryITO

officials, to facilitate the technical training programme. “After four years of perseverance this was agreed to and commenced in February 2021. Of the first 15 young people to take part in the scheme, 12 are still actively involved.” Active involvement with the land, the farms and the wider community extends to members of the trust’s board too. Originally known as Ngatirongo Trust, Tataiwhetu Trust has one trustee each representing the six original ancestral landowners who aggregated their lands to form the trust. “As well as governance roles, several of us are also hands-on on the farms. The trustees have also been attending rural governance training workshops facilitated by DairyNZ,” Paki says. It is more than fitting that Tataiwhetu Trust should be holders of the Ahuwhenua Trophy because visionary Māori leader Sir Apirana Ngata and the Governor General at the time Lord Bledisloe, who originally launched the prestigious award for Māori agriculture in 1933, both played significant roles in the trust’s own history.

In 1921 Sir Apirana Ngata held a land consolidation meeting on Tauarau Marae for over a month, with the view of subdividing the land into productive units to sustain the living requirements of Tūhoe families. Nine years later Lord Bledisloe visited Rūātoki to monitor the progress of this scheme. In the mid-1950s it was recognised that the land blocks owned by the families were too small, plus locals were starting with cull cows from European farmers and couldn’t meet production expectations. “Tūhoe families walked off the land to seek more constructive employment and income from the Tasman Mill in Kawerau. Between 1960 and 1980 the land was left desolate and our ancestors and parents strived to find the answers to fully utilise the land again.” Finally in 1986 six Ngatirongo families agreed to combine their lands to form the Ngatirongo Trust Farm. Nine blocks were aggregated giving a total start-up area of 98ha with a usable dairy platform of 80ha. Successive adjoining land blocks were then leased to give a total dairy platform of 184ha. “Because our name was Ngatirongo Trust Farm, there was a perception that all of Ngatirongo hapū were beneficiaries in our lands, but they were not. So, in 2014 the name was changed to Tataiwhetu Trust, which means that the original six families are the only descendants of our ancestral lands.” Tataiwhetu Trust has two sites of cultural significance within its land blocks, both of which are protected from disturbance. Te Taumata Pā was one of the pā where eponymous ancestor Tūhoe Pōtiki resided. Puketi Pā, which was known as ‘Te Heteri o te Urewera’, has been restored by the Trust in conjunction with Tūhoe Pūtaiao Trust, supported by Ngā Whenua Rāhui. The purpose of these restorations is to build an appreciation and spiritual connection by local people for the beauty of the land, and to be active kaitiaki of the land and taonga.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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BUSINESS HAPPY COW MILK COMPANY

Milk factory in a box Glen Herud wants to connect consumers directly with dairy farmers, give farmers a bigger share of the retail milk price and win some hearts and minds but he’s also thinking global and wants to take his concept and the milk factory in a box technology to the world. Anne Lee talks to Glen and a farmer taking on the idea, Chris Falconer.

t’s no secret that Glen Herud has raised the hackles of some dairy farmers. The corollary of promoting his Happy Cow Milk company as a more caring, kinder, fairer dairy could be seen to suggest the rest are less so. He gets that and can see why someone who “failed so spectacularly”, his words, at the first iteration of his business might not get a good hearing from farmers when he derides debt levels in the sector, difficulty in getting a foothold on the farm ownership ladder and dairying’s image. Demonising traditional and large-scale dairying isn’t his aim, though, he says. In fact, dairying in general could benefit from Happy Cow Milk’s promotional methods as it seeks to connect consumers directly with the farmers they buy their milk from. Happy Cow Milk farmers’ point of 28

‘We want to be a global dairy company that takes a cut of locally sold milk all around the world.’ difference is that they keep calves with their mothers until they’re old enough to be weaned. Farmers are also expected to be able to supply milk year-round so calving won’t be a spring or autumn-only event. Removing calves from cows is something that tugs at the heartstrings of many consumers and that’s what Happy Cow Milk has homed-in on. “As a farmer you can have all the data or research in the world to back your system, but people don’t hear that. “It’s not enough to tell those detailed farming stories – the only people listening to them are other farmers. “You can tell people you’ve spent

$300,000 on an effluent system, tell them the data from the scientific studies, show them you’ve got Overseer, but they don’t really engage with that. “People aren’t going to stop scrolling unless there’s something in it for them. “What we’re doing is making the public the heroes of the Happy Cow Milk story. “We want the public to feel like they’re their local food heroes.” People want to feel they’re making a difference, that they’re doing something towards creating a better world and Happy Cow Milk wants to show them they can drink cow’s milk without consumer guilt. Apart from keeping calves with cows and calving more frequently there aren’t any

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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Left: Milk factory in a box – an automated digital system manages the pasteurisation and collection and monitoring of temperature and location data. Above: Glen Herud – creating the 2.0 version of the Happy Cow Milk system with the help of software and design engineers he met at the collaborative working space in Christchurch.

other specific requirements on farmers. Glen doesn’t envisage a raft of audited farming standards – there are plenty of those from other regulatory bodies. He also expects the consumers will be the regulators to a degree. Farmers will communicate directly with consumers via the company app and their own social media or media channels. “People want that kind of connection. They want to develop those kinds of relationships and what you find is that once they’re invested in that relationship, they’re going to defend their purchasing decision.” Consumers, the public, will be going into bat for “their” dairy farmer, he says.

Milk to market

For the last two years Glen’s been working on his 2.0 version and freely admits he’s had to rely on the generosity of his supporters just to survive. Now, with a prototype pretty much ready to go, he’s recently held a successful capital-raising that brought in $560,000. The investment from the public has

been in exchange for shares totalling about 25% of Happy Herd Milk Company. The 2.0 version has addressed the issues behind the demise of the company’s first outing. “It didn’t work basically because it was inefficient. It took three people to do the work, but there was only enough income to pay two. “The processing was hard – bottling milk at that small scale, managing the regulatory requirements and bookwork – that was hard and then there was the distribution – that was hard. They took up a lot of time. “What we didn’t have a problem with was selling the milk – there was plenty of demand and a very willing market. “So what we’ve been focusing on for the last two years is removing the inefficiencies and making it easier. “Things like the regulatory burden digitising that so the information (such as real-time milk temperature) can be stored in the cloud and audited. “We’ve created the software and

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Left: Glen with his milk factory in a box system – milk is pasteurised in the vats it then heads to market in. Above: The smart dispensing system measures what’s dispensed and manages the financials making sure the customer gets charged and farmers and retailers get their payments on the spot.

hardware that can do the milk processing and meet all the regulatory requirements. “We’ve created a milk factory in a box, basically, and created this streamlined system so a farmer can just pump milk into the tanks, the system pasteurises the milk in each tank and then it cools it. “We’ve done away with bottles. “The farmers can then take those tanks, put them on to any truck and take them to the retailer, a school, a café – anywhere they want to. “The vats are cooled by an icebank at the site where the milk is sold and they plug into our dispensing systems.”

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Glen has developed the software and the hardware for both the processing and dispensing using the technical know-how of people he’s met while working at a coworking office space in Christchurch, [Salt] Works. People using the facility include entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, creatives – just about anyone who needs working space, and it was at a chance meeting over the coffee machine that Glen got to talking to a software engineer. “I told him what I was working on and

my ideas and he said yea, he could build that. “So we found a rice cooker in the cupboard and got to work on measuring temperatures, collecting the data and storing it. “Then I met another guy who’s ended up coming on board as our lead designer who could do the engineering and design work and bring it all together.” The automated system uses hot water to heat the vats to the correct temperature for pasteurisation with real-time monitoring and GPS-tracking installed on the tanks so that at any time from when the milk first comes into the vat to the time it’s dispensed it’s possible to see what the milk temperature is and where the vat is. If anything goes wrong alerts are sent to the farmer immediately. “So we’ve streamlined the processing and regulatory side hugely – instead of lots of bottles going to a customer, like a retailer or a café three or four times a week we can take a vat once or twice a week and all the bookwork is being done automatically.” Another big innovation has been at the point of sale with the dispensing equipment. It’s been set up so a café can dispense

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

a pre-set amount for it’s milk jugs for steaming but its also capable of having a customer fill their own container with a totally different amount. The smart system can dispense just what’s asked for within the 2% margin required under New Zealand Weights and Measures regulations, can identify who has dispensed it and then charge or debit their account. At the same time the customer is charged and pays, the retailer’s account is credited with their cut and the farmer’s account is credited with theirs – there is no waiting for the 20th of the month for payment. Glen says the milk will retail for $2.80/ litre with whoever has the dispenser system installed receiving 50c/litre, Happy Cow Milk receiving 50c/litre and the farmer receiving $1.80/litre. If the farmer has the dispenser on their farm they’d receive $2.30/litre. While there’s no shortage of interest from NZ dairy farmers Glen says he’s already been fielding enquiries from California, Sweden and Australia. “We want to be a global dairy company that takes a cut of locally sold milk all around the world.” 31

BUSINESS HAPPY COW MILK

Sharing milk with the calves Words by: Anne Lee Pictures: Emma McCarthy

hris Falconer has been talking to potential customers for his farm’s milk and looking at how to practically operate with calves at foot for almost a year. He will be one of the first farmers to adopt the Happy Cow Milk system over coming months and plans to “feel his way” into the system on the 350-cow, once-aday milking, Waerenga farm where he and his wife Sheila have already gone bobbyfree and moved away from synthetic fertiliser. “I’ve been following Glen from when he began with Happy Cow Milk - I’ve always been interested in people doing things differently and how we can be paid for that, how we can capture extra value. “The way we do milk in New Zealand – it’s so homogenous. “The big companies take it and literally homogenise it but it’s also homogenous in the sense that they take milk from everyone’s systems and put it together. “That’s not to say any one system is better than the other, but if you want to do something different – it’s been very difficult to get rewarded for that,” he says. Glen’s new “milk factory in a box”

processing system has overcome a lot of the issues commonly seen in getting your own milk to market and allows the farmer to get on with farming, albeit with some marketing and building relationships with consumers and retailers. Chris has already been getting alongside cafés, retailers and schools to find out what their needs are and how delivering his pasteurised, whole milk to them could solve problems for them. He says he’s spent a lot of time in cafés in Auckland - not an unpleasant way to do market research – and found the system using stainless steel vats coupled with the smart dispensing system will solve a big headache in terms of dealing with hundreds of plastic milk containers. “That’s not to be under-estimated, they have crates and crates of them and there’s a growing move against plastic and a few concerns over recycling.” He’d found cafés using as much plantbased milk as cows’ milk and based on discussions with baristas and café owners found it was often because of a “feel-good” Below: Chris Falconer and a happy cow – selling direct will give Chris a chance to tell a positive story and get rewarded for that.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

‘If we can offer them solutions to their concerns, answer those concerns honestly, be transparent and authentic with the way we’re farming then why wouldn’t they go with this wholly natural product – with nothing added, not homogenised – just pasteurised.’ Calves will get to stay with their mums until they’re weaned under the Happy Cow Milk system.

factor in terms of addressing environmental or animal welfare concerns. “If we can offer them solutions to their concerns, answer those concerns honestly, be transparent and authentic with the way we’re farming then why wouldn’t they go with this wholly natural product – with nothing added, not homogenised – just pasteurised.” The key is communicating what’s going on at the farm level and in Chris and Sheila’s case if the concern is about bobby calves, they don’t have them. All their calves are reared as beef animals with all replacement cows bought in. If the concern is artificial fertiliser, they don’t use any. “If the concern is palm kernel, we don’t use any of that either. If they want to talk about soil health or water quality, we can have a conversation with them on that too and talk about all the things we’re doing on the farm.” In response to farmers feeling put down by Happy Cow Milk’s promotion of itself as being a more caring, kinder and fairer dairy, Chris says that when you look at the proportion of NZ’s milk production sold on the domestic market there shouldn’t be an issue. “With so much of it exported you’re not standing on anyone else’s toes - you’re probably standing on a few egos, though.

“If you’re so confident and happy with your system, why are you worried about what someone else is doing?” He’s quite open with the fact he’s always looking at “how to do things better” and says he’s been researching and trialing keeping calves on cows. He’s spoken to animal behaviourists and systems designers and he’s concluded that giving calves choices at various points as cows are coming in for and during milking is the way to go. He’s looked at setting up gates so they’re split horizontally, allowing calves to duck under the upper part while keeping cows where you want them. “I think what we’ll see is some calves will come right in and some will choose to wait outside the yard, some might move right through and wait for their mums on the other side. “As long as they feel they have a choice and we’re not forcing them to do something they’ll be calmer.” He milks OAD at 6am and says he’ll start milking cows as usual on day one after calving but the colostrum cows will be close to the farm dairy to make sure the walk isn’t too much for the newborns. By day five he expects calves will cope easily with the OAD walk from other paddocks across the farm. He already uses split calving but will

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

shift to calving three times a year to give a more even milk flow and to ensure moreconsistent properties in the milk itself. “It’s all been very informal research so far into how we’ll do this – it’s not something you can look up in the DairyNZ Facts and Figures book – there’s no handbook. “We’ll feel our way along with it and get started using the smaller vats Glen’s been using to develop the system and then we’ll move into the 200-litre vats. “I’m really confident that based on the research I’ve done out there with possible customers the milk we’re going to be producing is going to be highly valued and highly sought-after so we’re not obsessing about getting big volumes.” His annual milk production under his current system is 320-330kg milksolids (MS)/cow. He’s been talking with schools, cafés and supermarkets and says the feedback has been very positive. The way the dispensing system works makes it simple for him and customers to use. “The way Glen’s got it working now, it’s very straight forward and something we’re looking forward to getting set up.” Chris says he and Sheila are about to start selling beef and veal under their own, soon to be revealed brand and it’s likely the milk will be sold under the same brand with Happy Cow Milk brand underpinning it. 33

BUSINESS KELLOGG REPORT

When old dogs don’t learn new tricks Words by: Elaine Fisher

ecording farm injuries and deaths are unfortunately a part of Nicky Barton’s working life. “These figures aren’t just data – every single number represents a person who has died, leaving massive holes in the lives of their families and loved ones,” she says. Nicky is talking about fatalities on New Zealand’s farms, and most recently the 23 people who died between January 2020 and August 2021. She is marketing and communications media manager for Worksafe and Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme 2019 graduate. Her work is the subject of the Kellogg Rural Leadership report she completed in November 2019 titled; “Old dogs, new tricks - An exploration of age and its influence on health and safety in New Zealand’s primary sector”. The study turned up some unexpected results. “I was surprised at the weighting of older farmers in the fatality statistics. I had not expected half of the fatalities to be those aged 60 and older. 34

“And that hasn’t changed since I did the research for the report. Of the 23 most recent fatalities, 11 or nearly half were 60 and over.” It’s the human tragedy behind the statistics which upsets Nicky. “When reading the reports of the deaths it’s clear that in some cases those closest to the deceased may have had a role to play in the fatality through something they have failed to do, or by doing something they should not have done. “In other cases, especially on sheep and beef farms, a report may record that a wife or partner was waiting for someone to come in for a cuppa. When they failed to do so, she (and it is usually a woman) has gone outside to find that the dogs are back but not their owner. “It’s then that she will go to find him, only to discover her loved one dead or dying.” That’s why, for Nicky, workplace health and safety isn’t about the need to comply because it’s the law. It’s about the need to comply to keep people safe. “It is all about people and protecting them from dying and from serious injury.” And “common sense and experience”,

WorkSafe is among the sponsors of the Young Farmer of the Year competition. Pictured is 2018 Grand Finalist Will Taylor.

often quoted by farmers as what’s required, won’t do that. “The problem is that common sense is not really all that common. What makes sense to one person, may not make sense to another and relies on consistency of experience, knowledge and practicality which may not exist in the same manner from person to person.” The aim of the research was to explore the relationship between age and influence in health and safety on NZ farms and to understand at what age people are being fatally injured, how they are fatally injured

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

‘When reading the reports of the deaths it’s clear that in some cases those closest to the deceased may have had a role to play in the fatality through something they have failed to do, or by doing something they should not have done.’

Nicky Barton, marketing and communications media manager for Worksafe and Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme 2019 graduate.

and if attitude towards health and safety is varied across age groups. The report considered the 154 deaths on NZ farms between 2011 and 2018, and the views of five WorkSafe inspectors and 76 farmers aged between 19 and 73. Almost a quarter of these deaths were those aged in their 60s and when combined with the number of workers over 70, the group makes up almost half of all fatalities onfarm. Nicky found that when

farmers are at their most experienced and perceived to be most adept at assessing risk they are also being fatally injured in the highest numbers. “While experience reigns high at this age, so does a decrease in cognitive ability, physical limitations, overestimation of ability and a decrease in responsibility as farmers face mortality. “Leadership, education and a sense of responsibility should be encouraged from a young age in order to create sustained generational change. And by looking at the gaps in knowledge and approach; and focusing on motivating factors in certain age groups we can improve health and safety behaviour and outcomes on New Zealand farms.” WorkSafe has a vital role to play but battles at times with what one inspector observed as a real “leave us alone” mentality at the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act, 2015. As socialisation of the Act and familiarity with the requirements has increased, WorkSafe saw some self-regulation in the sector. Usually that took the shape of younger to middle-aged farmers calling

out older farmers and asking them to come into line, especially in public forums. “Messages rolled out by WorkSafe and HSWA also appear to be having an impact with some farmers talking about the need to focus on the big risks onfarm, the increased need to look at health, creating a positive culture onfarm and the need to get everyone home safely at the end of the day.” Having responsibility for others has a powerful influence on health and safety, says Nicky, quoting a 62-year-old Wairarapa sheep and beef farmer: “As an employer, the worst possible eventuality is to have to ring a person’s parents or partner to inform them that there has been a serious accident. I think about that a lot. What would I say? It’s a powerful incentive to being proactive in terms of accident and injury prevention and taking the responsibility seriously.” The fact that farmers are dying in the highest numbers at the age they should be most adept at managing risks appears counterintuitive, as Nicky says her research suggested that experience was a key contributor to risk awareness and aversion.

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“Respondents felt that with age they learnt new skills, built confidence and competence in tasks and were also taught what not to do through past experiences, frights and uncomfortable moments onfarm.” However, older farmers continue to figure far too highly in injury and fatality statistics. Taking into account previous literature and her own survey responses Nicky identified four possible contributing factors she believes warrant further discovery.

Slower cognition and decision-making ability: Does a farmer’s ability to accurately assess risk slow as they age? When they find themselves in danger, is the brain’s ability to react too slow in the older farmer? Physical limitations: Can the body not react quickly enough when presented with danger? Can an older farmer not move quickly enough to escape danger, or physically manoeuvre a vehicle from a precarious situation? Overestimating ability: With increased years of experience, does a farmer overestimate their ability to assess risk, manoeuvre vehicles and complete tasks? Pending mortality: Does proximity to death actually increase risk-taking behaviours? If one’s responsibilities have decreased (eg: grown up children), does this relax a farmer’s need to ensure they are safe? If we use the example of a quad bike or tractor, by the time a farmer is reaching 60 or 70+ his experience on the machine and potentially the land should be at its peak. Yet they still find themselves suffering the highest amount of fatal harm at this stage in their careers.

Ensuring new staff know how to operate a quad / motorbike safely, Carlos Munoz instructs Kate Doherty on the finer points of safe handling of her bike.

Nicky was instrumental in WorkSafe’s sponsorship of the Young Farmer of the Year competition. “As an industry, we now need to engage with those in their early career years to create sustained generational change, utilise the theme of responsibility in working to engage all farmers in health and safety and alert industry to the four factors this research considers contributing to older farmer fatalities.” WorkSafe inspectors report younger farmers are incorporating health and safety as part of their business. “Between the ages of 25-40 farmers still had a long working life ahead of them so were more accepting of making changes onfarm. Those under the age of 40 were considered more risk-averse, and interestingly an inspector noted a much higher standard of

‘housekeeping’, tidier workplaces and less hoarding of old machinery in younger farmers and their businesses.” Many farmers indicated the introduction of HSWA had been a key contributor to their improved behaviour. Others felt the culture in NZ at large had changed and was no longer accepting of injury and death as just part of the business. Nicky says NZ farmers are in fact lucky to be regulated, even though some may not see it that way. “There is a strong need to change that attitude and for farmers to see WorkSafe as a partner in keeping themselves, their families, and their employees safe.” • To read Nicky’s full report go to: ruralleaders.co.nz/nicky-barton-olddogs-new-tricks

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

BUSINESS SPRING SHEEP

Milking sheep adapting well to Kiwi systems Words by: Sheryl Haitana

hile other industries have been struggling with infant formula markets in recent times, Spring Sheep has managed to grow significantly in the last 12 months, new chief executive Nick Hammond says. Nick, a co-founder and former chief operating officer for Spring Sheep, took over the role of chief executive during the recent Covid 19 lockdown. “Our mantra has always been to have multiple channels, multiple products, multiple markets. “What we’ve seen in the last year is where there has been an over-exposure to a specific channel product to market, if that’s been disrupted, there has been a major impact. “By contrast, we have a whole lot of product lines, different markets, channels, customers, so we actually went through a 60% growth rate last year while everyone else was falling backwards.” The growth through the pandemic has given him even more confidence in the sheep industry and the growth capability over the next few years.

Nick Hammond is the new chief executive of sheep milking company Spring Sheep (right), taking over the role from Scottie Chapman, who is stepping back into an advisory role.

lot faster to a NZ pastoral system than they expected, the farming models are thus different, but a lot better than what they thought, and the potential markets have grown. Spring Sheep has two pilot farms in the Waikato, one is full pastoral, with the other operation a hybrid system with the mix of pastoral grazing and feeding in a covered barn. The full pastoral model is really stacking up on the numbers, Nick says. “We thought we would get stuck on replicating more of a European model, in fact what we’ve done is created a NZ

‘By contrast, we have a whole lot of product lines, different markets, channels, customers, so we actually went through a 60% growth rate last year while everyone else was falling backwards.’ “Looking ahead there is just a huge opportunity in this industry for New Zealand. “The opportunity is a lot bigger than what we probably realised when we started this journey.” The imported genetics have adapted a

version of sheep milking that uses our advantages.” The genetics were coming from indoor systems so there was a risk with how they would cope in a NZ pastoral context. “We have found that those genetic breedlines have adapted very quickly to a

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

NZ pastoral environment, far faster than we thought they would, and unless you’re in a specific environment, you just don’t need that infrastructure.” In terms of growth in markets, clinical trial results proving sheep milk is more digestible is a great match to current global health trends and is opening more doors. Spring Sheep Milk has also just won best infant nutrition at the World Dairy Innovation Awards, beating two of the largest global competitors Nestle and China Feihe and putting themselves in front of more customers. There are 16 Spring Sheep farms, including the company’s three farms, milking a total of 12,700 sheep in the central North Island. The company plans to take on another five suppliers next season. Other groups are showing interest in the sheep milking industry and are looking to set up in other regions, which Spring Sheep is supportive of. “We have got global aspirations with Spring Sheep, so seeing a stronger sheep milk industry is a really good thing.” Already some great products are being produced, from ice cream to cheese, which makes it more appealing to consumers, which strengthens the industry as a whole, Hammond says. 37

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4.0 cows/ha

4500-5000 kgDM/ha

3000 kgDM/ha

2000-2500 kgDM/ha

1500 kgDM/ha

Stocking rate:

Target pre grazing:

Target residuals:

Supplements:

Competing for soil health Anne Lee checks in on progress with Align Farms’ comparative testing of regenerative and conventional practices.

wo years ago, Rhys Roberts would have told you cutting out synthetic nitrogen (N) altogether was one of the biggest concerns he had about the fertiliser aspect of Align Farms’ regenerative study. “I wasn’t worried about the P (phosphorus) and K (potassium) but I was really, really worried about dropping out the N,” the farms’ chief executive says. “But now I’ve done a complete 180 on that. I’m not worried about dropping the N out on the regen side of the farm but I’m a bit dubious about the P and K.” Align Farms has embarked on a side-byside study, running 148-hectares or half of its 296ha Clareview farm at Westfield in Canterbury using regenerative practices and the other half more conventionally. The major differences are: • the pastures cows are grazing with diverse multi-species growing on the regenerative areas, • the grazing management of those pastures with longer pre and post-grazing covers on the regenerative side, • the fertiliser regimes with no synthetic 38

300kgDM/ha N Fertiliser:

20kg N/ha

fertiliser going on the regenerative paddocks and crop stimulants such as fish fertiliser and humates applied used on those paddocks. They’ve also retained a higher stocking rate of 4 cows/ha on the conventional area with 3.3 cows/ha on the regenerative side. “We were putting 280-300kg N/ha on in days gone by and now we’ve even got our conventionally run farms down to 150kg N/ha in some cases. “The diverse paddocks here are just about infested with legumes so they’re fixing a lot of N. “They’ve had no synthetic N now for more than two years and we’re just not seeing a problem.” Clare Buchanan is Align Farms’ head of environment and innovation and says the fertiliser regime on the regenerative side of the farm is aimed at feeding the soil biology – specifically the bacteria and fungi which are then a food source for other microbes such as nematodes, protozoa and micro-arthropods. Soil biologists recommend a 1:1 bacteria:fungi ratio for grassland

700kgDM/ha

190kg N/ha

ecosystems to function optimally, but agricultural soils tend to be bacterial dominated, she says. “Fungi are the micro-organisms with enzymes that can mobilise minerals from the crystalline structure of soil and transport them to roots in plant available form, so increasing the ratio is a priority.’’ Some nutrients that aren’t plantavailable in the soil can be released and made available by the actions of fungi, she says. The soil biome and what’s really going on down there could be seen as the last frontier with new organisms and processes being identified all the time. “There’s so much yet to be learned – we just don’t know what’s happening - no one does. It’s been in the too-hard basket along with soil carbon but the world is reaching crisis point and scientists are seeing the need to study it more urgently now. “We’ve got scientists on one hand who just dismiss regenerative agriculture practices and say they don’t work. They say managing soil fertility is simply about putting back what you take out and it doesn’t matter if that’s a synthetic fertiliser.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

‘The diverse paddocks here are just about infested with legumes so they’re fixing a lot of N. They’ve had no synthetic N now for more than two years and we’re just not seeing a problem.’

Emily House from 5th Business Agri, right and Clare Buchanan – herbage samples help inform cow mineral needs.

“Then on the other hand we’ve got scientists who say there are 100,000 years’ worth of nutrients in every soil on the globe. “If we can get the micro-organisms and plants interacting correctly and not being impeded by inorganic inputs we may get totally different outcomes that the conventional farming world has never seen because of the management practices they’ve been implementing. “Just because someone is an expert in soil chemistry doesn’t mean they understand every aspect of soil and how it lives and functions. “There’s a whole lot of unknowns down there and we need to have an open mind about what will work and try these

different practices especially when they could help farmers comply with increasing environmental regulations that are proving challenging,” she says. “What we want to find out in the fertiliser space by doing this study is to: one - find out if we can cut out the conventional inputs and still get the production outputs and what that does to our soil fertility over time,” Rhys says. “Secondly, we want to know what is an adequate amount of inputs to keep the balance and can those inputs be things like compost and more natural forms. “What I’m really interested in are the trends – I just want to see them heading in the right direction over time,” he says. He admits to feeling a bit dubious about the effects some natural soil additions could have on making P and K available, but he’s keeping an open mind. “I’d be lying if I said I thought some of these things will be game-changers but I fully support checking them out and I’ll be happy to be proved wrong,” he says. They’re using guano, sulphate of potash and elemental sulphur to bring in their P, sulphur (S) and potassium (K). They’ll also put on a crop stimulant brew that includes fish hydrolysate, seaweed extract and worm juice and another brew that contains humates, trace elements cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo) and boron

(Bo), and essential microbes (EM). The two brews will be alternated and in total the diverse regenerative pastures will get seven applications as liquid dressings applied by contractors Fert Solutions using a Tow and Fert spray system. All up, fertiliser costs on the regenerative area will be $79,000 or $533/ha with the crop stimulants making up $357/ha of that. Recommendations for both sides of the farm are carried out by Canaan Ahu of Agrownomics. He’s been the company’s soil consultant for several years and arguably the conventional recommendations aren’t always what you might see from your typical fertiliser rep. The farms have moved away from superphosphate and have been putting on guano. They’re still using fertilisers such as serpentine super and sulphate of potash along with urea and Ammo 36, a combination of ammonium sulphate and urea. There will be one annual dressing of guano, two applications of serpentine super and three applications of sulphate of potash. The Ammo 36 will go on in the spring and the urea will be spread using the Tow and Fert in liquid form over the season. Rhys says Canaan acts in a thirdparty capacity and bases recommendations on soil test results from Brookside Laboratories based in the United States and is now also using Eurofins in New Zealand.

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Rhys says the soil testing is carried out at 10cm depth rather than 7.5cm so that does impact the ideal ranges. “We want the study to be robust and we don’t want it to get hijacked by people focusing on side issues so we have to explain some of those differences but again it’s about watching trends over time,” Rhys says. The study will be monitoring what’s happening in the soil to microbial populations to see what effects if any the different fertiliser regimes might be contributing to. There won’t necessarily be any conclusive cause and effect answers because the change in plant diversity between the regenerative and conventional areas may also contribute to changes. Clare says they will use several tools to look at the differences. The effect on soil biology is being assessed using both Soil Foodweb New Zealand analysis and AgResearch. The Soil Foodweb analysis will give counts of bacteria and fungi, ratios and the percentage of the microbes that are actively working in the soil. It also assesses whether they’re sufficient and looks at mycorrhizal colonisation in the roots and anaerobic and aerobic microbe numbers to make soil health assessments. AgResearch is carrying out nematode assessments and looking at what the population of fungi-eating nematodes is compared with those that eat bacteria. Monitoring plant and animal production will also give an indication of how the two fertiliser approaches compare. Clare has been working with 5th Business Agri carrying out plant assessments for a DietDecoder report. Herbage samples are taken and analysed for nutrient levels including trace elements and nutritional supplement advice provided. Results from testing the diverse and conventional wintering crops is on Align Farms’ website along with weekly monitoring reports of milk production, pasture covers, round lengths, supplements, nitrogen applications, somatic cell counts and percentage of the herd treated for animal health issues. Milk foaming has been an issue for the regeneratively run herd through spring and early indications are that it could be related to proteins in the milk. “It’s something other regenerative farmers have seen before so we’re looking into it more. 40

Fertiliser treatments Conventional August September September September October November November November December January February February February March April Total

Ammo 30 Ammo 36 Viafos - V10 Guano SOP Urea Urea Serpentine Super SOP urea urea urea SOP Serpentine Super Ammo 36 Urea

kg/ha

50 60 80 20 40 50 100 20 40 30 50 20 80 50 35

15 22 0 0 18 18 0 0 18 14 23 0 0 18 23 169

0 0 8 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 20

0 0 0 8 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 34 0 0 0 50

7 6 0 3 0 0 8 3 0 0 0 14 6 5 0 52

Regen kg/ha August Sept

Brew 1

0.11

Sept

Brew 2 Viafos - V10 Guano

150

Sept

SOP

Sept

Sulphur

October

0.11

November

Brew 1 Brew 2

December

Brew 1

0.11

January

Brew 2

March

Brew 1 Brew 2

April Total

0.11 0.33

“There are some differences in milk composition we can see from the basic milk test information but we’re not sure that’s the answer,” Rhys says. The farm team has a science advisory board to help ensure robustness of the study so that all farmers can relate to it and it answers the typical questions farmers have. “We have started to get quite a bit of interest from some top conventional farmers who just want to understand more about what we’re doing here,” Rhys says. “We may not answer every question using this study and I think we’ll probably find there are more profitable farming systems but when you take the whole gambit of factors into account – and let’s face it we’re going to have to – like environment and people and wellbeing this may come out on top.”

* Humate applied with all fertiliser applications to support soil biology

Brew 1 • Fish hydrolysate 5L/ha • Seaweed extract powder - 0.4kg/ha • EM - 5L /ha

Brew 2 • Sodium humate 5kg/ha • Cobalt - 0.2kg/ha • Molybdenum 50g/ha • Boron - 1kg/ha • Salt - 5kg/ha • EM - 5L/ha * We will alternate between brew 1 and brew 2, following the cows. We are expecting 7-8 applications depending on round length. Sources Biomarinus Fish EMNZ EM Agvance Humates and trace elements NPKS of fish hydrolysate 2.2 : 1.5 : 0.25 : 0.18

• The Dairy Exporter has been following Align’s transition into regenerative agriculture since last year and we’ll be continuing to keep you updated through the coming season on their findings. Take a look back at our December 2020, March 2021 and June 2021 editions for our previous stories.

REGEN VS. CONVENTIONAL FERTILISER We are tracking the comparative trials at Align Farms in Canterbury, this month taking a look at the fertiliser programmes. www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zoenATHDmyk

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

SYSTEMS STAFFING

10 ways

to keep your staff

As part of her studies contract milker, Jordyn Crouch has come up with a range of ideas to attract and keep workers in the industry. By Anne Lee.

iving team members the chance to choose when they work each day, what they do and paying them more for a specific task that requires specialist skills are just some of the 10 ideas contract milker Jordyn Crouch has to attract the best of the next generation into the dairying workforce. Jordyn, previously a DairyNZ consulting officer, is now contract-milking 1100 cows with her partner Isaac in Bay of Plenty. Her ideas for workplace design are the result of her Kellogg Rural Leaders’ study which she completed earlier this year. Jordyn looked to other farmers and those outside the industry for examples of innovative and successful workplace systems and ways of working. She combined those insights with research from a range of sources. The outcomes suggested a focus on four main areas: • Encouraging flexible rosters and pay scales

• Fostering leaders not managers • Developing safe workplace cultures that allow autonomy and innovation • Having a shared purpose onfarm. Jordyn interview eight dairy farmers and four employers who run businesses with similar challenges to dairy farming such as seven-day-a-week enterprises. “Throughout all of my interviews one thing was clear – these employers are all leaders. “They are all interested in their people, enjoy managing people and they are all interested in developing themselves as a leader. “The unfortunate part of this reflection, is that they are not the norm. “Like almost every industry, if you’re good at your job, you progress and eventually you will probably find yourself in a position of managing people, even if it’s not what you enjoy. “So how do we help farmers enjoy

Isaac Algar and Jordyn Crouch are dairy farming in the Bay of Plenty.

and progress their people management as fast as they do with animal and grass management?”

Feedback on the boss

That’s where her first idea comes into play but it’s one that needs some careful management - feedback on the boss. Her suggestion is to include a short survey submitted anonymously with the timesheet each fortnight. It would have five key happiness indicators with a sliding scale to show

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the rating. The indicators could include enjoyment of work, rate workload, support given to complete jobs, tank level – which shows energy level. The questions could vary from week to week and change depending on the season. There are a range of survey apps that could be adapted and Jordyn also points farmers to DairyNZ’s self evaluation tool, “Rate yourself as a good boss.” Having a level of autonomy - the ability to manage your own day- rates highly among employees across a multitude of sectors.

KanBan boards

Jordyn says KanBan boards are one way of achieving this adopted by some farmers. Originating from Lean Management it’s a way of visualising the jobs or actions that need to be done. The team can contribute to the jobs listed and help post them under the headings, To do, Doing and Done with another heading Backlog for a task where something is missing or an action needs to happen before that job can be completed. People can choose which job they

‘How do we help farmers enjoy and progress their people management as fast as they do with animal and grass management?’ will do and then move the task across the board as they work on it. Jordyn says the most common use for it she’s seen on dairy farms is for maintenance type tasks rather than jobs that happen every day.

Regular catchup – two to three times a year

Getting feedback and getting to know the team members well are common themes and incorporating these questions into a regular catch-up two to three times a year will show you value team member’s ideas and give insight into how they’re going. • What do you enjoy? • What three things are important to you in the next six months? • How can the farm be improved? • How can your management team be improved? • How can you do a better job? Don’t spring the questions on them – give each person a week to think about it and sit down with each of them for an hour to discuss the answers properly.

‘You choose’ afternoons

Jordyn says this concept originates from Google and gives a team member an afternoon off to do what they like providing what they do or learn results in a benefit to the business and providing they can report back on it the next day. The afternoon off enables freedom of thought and shows the employer trusts in the employee and believes in their ideas. Farmers using the concept have found team members have come up with great practical ideas.

Reduce the hierarchy

Jordyn says the employers interviewed who had flatter management structures had greater diversity of skills, spread of responsibility and saw greater autonomy. “For flat management structures to work in a team, training must be given and the team must all have trust in each other’s ability and values.” Figure Seven: Pulse

r to yees to fill out prio scorecard for emplo

‘Get to know you’ workshops

Hold a half-day workshop at the start of each season to get to know team members. Jordyn says an easy-to-use template for this kind of workshop or activity would be an excellent resource for farmers. “The objective of this workshop is to learn more about new teammates, set clear values and behaviours behind each value for the team.” An activity off farm or away from work would help build initial relationships and the team could then agree a purpose, values and associated behaviours which would set the scene for the season from the outset.

Digging deep

Fully flexible roster and Choice app

Some employers may find it difficult to have the conversations that allow them to get to know their team members better so Jordyn has a suggested list of questions or conversation-starters they can bring out on a regular basis. They’re simple and designed to get the other party talking while showing an interest. • How’s your partner going? • What did you have for dinner? • What have you been watching on TV, what music do you like or read any good books lately? • What did you get up to on your days off? She suggests putting some regular questions on to your phone and putting in a reminder alert to make sure there’s some regular conversation that isn’t about work.

This idea has come from Align Farms with chief executive Rhys Roberts one of Jordyn’s interview subjects. The system works better for larger farms and those in proximity to a town but the idea is to split the day into three shifts, depending on the workload. The shifts for the week get released at the beginning of the week and staff fill in their designated shifts to bring their total hours worked up to the agreed level – for instance 45 hours a week.

esheet submitting their tim

iewees were:

dback from interv

ces to gather fee Other idea’s on pla

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Each week the person who picks first is rotated but the aim is for the whole team to get a fair pick of the shifts that suit them and their situation best while being fair to the others.

Increased pay for work outside standard time and on-call days off

Jordyn looked to other business sectors where hourly rates can fluctuate depending on the time of the shift. Increased rates for work done at unfavourable times of the day may also incentivise farmers to look for ways to move jobs into hours more people will find acceptable. She found “on call” days off were common in other sectors. Onfarm that could allow more people to be on days off at a time but have someone who knows they’re on call if needed.

Team time fishing: Jordyn’s Kellogg study highlighted the importance of team time.

10.

Different pay rates for different jobs

Training team members in roles that may have been carried out by contractors could serve as a win:win with team members excited and engaged by learning new skills that they can be rewarded for.

Communication Farmers interviewed for the study are using multiple ways to communicate. They include: • The use of WhatsApp as a tool for written communication. Especially useful for teams who didn’t all have the same first language. • Being present – this doesn’t mean being onfarm but always having a point of contact available • Acting consistently • Weekly meetings • Sending out a weekly email on Sunday night including key targets, plan for the week • Kanban boards – whole team contributes and is actively involved in a task-orientated whiteboard • Farm management calendars displayed for whole team • “Going deep” – expect all managers to know deeper details of their teams. For example, what do they do for fun? What’s their favourite food? • Formal reviews annually and three monthly

For example, someone trained in welding could earn $35/hour for the time spent doing that work onfarm as could someone trained in artificial insemination. Jordyn encourages farmers to first look within when they’re thinking about how they make their workplaces better and places that will attract the best of the next generation. Be prepared to ask your people how they find your leadership style and how you could improve, she says. But importantly, try something. Look at some of the ideas and have a go at even one of them, she says.

Extra reading • Read Jordyn’s full Kellogg Rural Leadership report here: https://bit.ly/3ijobsg • Check out our story on KanBan and You choose afternoons in our August 2020 issue.

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Internal and external parasite control

SYSTEMS NITROGEN RESEARCH

n increasing focus on the environmental sustainability of farming led a maize seed company to embark on a comprehensive research programme. “We started off with four key questions and then we set out trials and demonstrations to help answer them,” says Dr Rowland Tsimba, National Research and Agronomy Manager for Pioneerbrand seeds. The questions were how deep maize roots grow, can they extract nitrogen from depth, what are the nitrogen leaching losses under maize and what is the impact of a winter catch crop (vs a winter fallow period) on reducing nitrogen leaching losses? To quantify how far maize could root in unimpeded soils, the research team built a rhizotron - a soil-filled box with doors which could be opened to reveal a transparent perspex window. Maize seeds were planted at the top and their roots could be viewed as they grew down through the soil profile. The first rhizotron was around 2.5 metres deep but within 10 weeks of planting the roots had reached the bottom so the next season a larger, 3.8m deep rhizotron was constructed. “We used a fork-lift to plant the maize seeds in the top and we monitored the root depth on a weekly basis,” Rowland says. “At 70 days post-planting the maize plants were about 95cm high, but the roots were almost double that and within a week of the maize plant tasseling, the roots had reached the bottom of the rhizotron.” “We all knew maize roots went deep, but we were all surprised just how fast they grew and what the potential rooting depth was in an unimpeded soil. The next question was whether those deep roots were actually capable of taking up nitrogen.”

N-15 TRIAL WORK

Rhizotron showing the rooting depth of maize.

Low nitrogen loss under maize Researchers have gone to great depths to see how deep maize roots will grow to reduce nitrogen loss. Raewyn Densley reports. 44

Naturally occurring nitrogen is a mix of two stable isotopes: the vast majority (99.6%) is N-14 with the remainder being N-15. In the 1930s researchers developed a method of concentrating N-15 and today N15-enriched nitrogen can be purchased, at high cost, for research purposes. N-15 has been used extensively in nitrogen uptake studies across a range of agricultural and horticultural crops. Maize was planted using a conventional planter and a starter fertiliser of DAP was applied at 40kg N/ha. When the maize was about shin height (V6) urea was broadcast at 75kg N/ha across the trial area. “Within a week of applying the urea, we injected 30kgN/ha of N-15-enriched nitrogen to a depth of 60, 90 or 120cm under each plant within the centre row of each treatment plant,” Rowland says. “An equivalent amount of standard urea was broadcast on the centre row of the control plants at the same time.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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FIGURE 1: Percentage of N-15 recovered in the grain when applied at 60, 90 and 120 cm depth.

0.37%

Control

1.07%

Soil depth (cm)

60cm

90cm

1.31%

1.21%

120cm

0.00%

0.20%

0.40%

0.60%

0.80%

1.00%

b 1.20%

1.40%

% of N-15 in maize grain *Means with the same letter are not statistically different

Ten consecutive plants were marked, and ears, leaves and husks were dried and finely ground. A representative sample was collected and sent to the University of California Davis Stable Isotope Facility for analysis. The results showed uptake of N-15 into the grain was the same regardless of whether it was inserted at 60, 90 or 120cm depth. This research showed that roots not only grow to 120cm or beyond, but that they are also capable of extracting N at depth. “This was an exciting result because it shows that maize is a great option for removing nitrogen which has dropped below the rooting depth of shallowrooted pasture species like ryegrass and clover,” Ian Williams, Farm Systems and Environment Specialist for Pioneer says. “It is further evidence of the value of maize to mop up surplus nitrogen in

Dr Rowland Tsimba, Pioneer agronomy manager.

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grazed winter crop and effluent paddocks. “We also know that regardless as to whether you direct drill or cultivate, when you take out a permanent pasture to regrass it there is a nitrogen loss associated with the mineralisation of root material. Spraying out the paddock you want to

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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Left: Maize growing above the lysimeters at Ashley Dene in Canterbury. Above: Maize leaf showing the punch holes for sampling for N-15 analysis.

regrass and planting it in maize in the spring could be a better option than going directly from grass-to-grass in the autumn.”

NITROGEN LEACHING UNDER MAIZE

In last month’s Dairy Exporter, we reported on a nitrogen leaching trial which has been conducted in the Waikato for the past three seasons. It has demonstrated very low (6-7kg N/ha) annual leaching losses from maize and a winter crop system but higher losses (around 64 kg N/ha) when the ground was left fallow after maize silage harvest. “An annual N-loss of less than 10kg/ ha is extremely low,” Ian says. “While some historic trials and modelling may have suggested that maize contributed to N-leaching, we now have hard data to show that it can be part of the solution for local dairy farmers. “The Waikato N-leaching trial was replicated at Ashley Dene in Canterbury where an existing infrastructure with suction cups inserted at 70cm was used. During the 2019/20 season, 26kg N/ha was recorded at 70cm under the catch crop. Based on our research in the Waikato, we know that measurements conducted at 70cm will overestimate loss by about 350% for a deep-rooted crop like maize. This means the actual N-loss from the South Island maize plus catch crop trial are likely to be less than 10kg N/ha. 46

‘At 70 days post-planting the maize plants were about 95cm high, but the roots were almost double that and within a week of the maize plant tasseling, the roots had reached the bottom of the rhizotron.’ WINTER COVER CROPS

One of the key take-home messages of the nitrogen leaching trial work was the importance of having something in the ground and growing over the winter months. “Whether you are growing maize for silage or grain, it is really important to get a crop or pasture established and keep it growing over the winter,” Ian says. “Any crop will require nitrogen and water and therefore it will reduce both the amount of nitrogen in the soil and the drainage volume.” In the period October 22, 2020, to August 31, 2021, the Waikato trial site had a rainfall volume of 1021mm. A drainage volume equivalent of 265mm rainfall was collected from under the maize-fallow plots while just 90mm was collected from under the maize-ryegrass plots.

“The reduction in water drainage through the soil profile really surprised us,” Rowland says. “We knew plants used water through the transpiration process but before we did this trial, we did not have a good grasp of the magnitude, especially during the winter period.” Over the past decade maize breeders have made significant advances in the grain and silage yield potential of short maturity maize hybrids. “Grain growers throughout the country, and maize silage growers in cooler districts used to view maize silage as a 12-month crop because it was harvested too late to allow the establishment of a winter crop,” says Ian. “That has changed, and shorter maturity hybrids can now offer growers from Canterbury north the ability to get an economic yield and still get the crop off in time to plant something else.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

SPECIAL REPORT

COW HEALTH: Bovine ‘all systems go’

BVD: DISREGARDED DISEASE COULD BE ELIMINATED

A HELL OF A YEAR TO CATCH TB

M. BOVIS: FALSE POSITIVES FRUSTRATE FARMERS

THEILERIA: TICK-BORNE DISEASE DRAWS BLOOD

LEPTOSPIROSIS: INFECTION TAKES TOLL ON DAIRY WORKERS

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

SPECIAL REPORT - BOVINE VIRAL DIARRHOEA

Disregarded disease

COULD BE ELIMINATED

By Karen Trebilcock BVD Free New Zealand is frustrated there is still no nationwide BVD (bovine viral diarrhoea) eradication programme. “BVD control has been put on the backburner over the past few years while farmers and industry have had to respond to other high priority issues like M. Bovis and Covid,” Massey University associate professor of veterinary epidemiology Carolyn Gates says. “Because there are no human health risks from BVD and currently no international trade restrictions, it has been very difficult to get engagement around national BVD control.” BVD Free, a group of mostly vets and university researchers, finished modelling last year a cost analysis and road map which showed the disease could be eliminated in New Zealand within seven years. It’s estimated BVD costs the country $150 million each year in losses and another $42m for finding animals with the disease and vaccinations. For infected dairy herds the cost is about $22 per cow per year on average over the five years of an outbreak and $44 per cow in beef herds. With testing data still low in NZ, it’s thought between 15% and 25% of dairy herds and about half of beef herds are infected and there will be between 5% and 10% of new herds infected this year. “The modelling we’ve done shows that if all dairy herds tested their keeper calves to get rid of persistently infected animals and all beef herds vaccinated their mixed aged cows and replacement heifers to prevent the creation of new persistently infected animals, national eradication could be achieved at a cost $350 million over the seven years with a total benefit of $645 million back to industry. “Any additional measures that farmers take to improve onfarm biosecurity could make

‘Any additional measures that farmers take to improve onfarm biosecurity could make eradication even more financially attractive.’

Carolyn Gates, associate professor of veterinary epidemiology, Massey University.

eradication even more financially attractive,” Carolyn says. In comparison, the government, DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ are spending $870m over 10 years to eliminate Mycoplasma Bovis. “We are hoping BVD will eventually be added to the list of eradicated cattle diseases in New Zealand such as Brucellosis, Hydatid disease and EBL as well as M. bovis. “However, in the last few years, whenever we have tried to get government or industry engagement in progressing the infrastructure development to support national control, there have always been other issues higher on the agenda. First it was M. bovis and now it’s also Covid. “I think the drive to achieve national control really should come from farmers and veterinarians, but these groups have also been under significant stress from recent events,” she says. “Having BVD certainly doesn’t help any farmer’s situation and some of our most-committed supporters are unfortunately folks who have witnessed the devastating effects of a BVD outbreak first-hand. These are the guys picking up the phone to ask us why we aren’t doing more as a nation to control BVD.” Carolyn says simple and effective tools to support national control such as getting an animal’s BVD status integrated into NAIT has also not gained traction. “In the UK, farmers can register their herds and when a calf is tested, its status is recorded on a national database automatically by the diagnostic lab. “It means future purchasers of the animal can access that database and see it verified that the animal is not a carrier of the disease. “In New Zealand, purchasers have to rely on vet certificates or more often just the other farmers’ word, but the BVD status could easily be an extra column on NAIT records.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

serum antibody testing for beef herds during the past 10 years ago, the disease has become more discoverable and traceable. The virus attacks cells in the intestines, immune system and reproductive organs with cattle usually recovering in two to three weeks. Symptoms include diarrhoea and animals are more susceptible to other diseases including high worm burdens in calves. It can affect the fertility of bulls.

Calves highest risk

“A lot of the infrastructure to support this is already in place from the M. bovis response, but we have run into challenges with getting key stakeholders from DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb, Deer New Zealand, OSPRI, and MPI to make a formal decision.” Dairy farmers are doing better than beef herds controlling BVD, although dairy has an unfair advantage as only about 25% of dairy calves born each year are kept within the industry as the rest are either bobbied or sold to beef rearers. About 70% of dairy herds now do bulk milk testing and positive results have dropped from 15% to 5% in the past 10 years. BVD was found in cattle in New Zealand in the 1960s after reports of it overseas. Although cases were affecting herds, farmers had little information on how to diagnose or treat it until the first vaccine became available in the late 1990s. In 2005, vets held a symposium on the disease and formed a steering committee, launching roadshows and information packs to educate farmers. With the introduction of NAIT, a bulk milk test for dairy herds and pooled Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

A persistently infected animal, (PI), like this calf on the right that survived infection in utero will then shed BVD all its life and infect others in the herd.

However, it’s unborn calves that are most at risk depending on what stage of development they are when the cow has the disease. In the first 120 days of pregnancy, foetuses are usually lost and cows will show as having long returns, mummified calves, or abortions. Infection from day 120 to 280 often causes birth defects with the calf being carried to full term. Calves that survive infection between days 40 and 120 of pregnancy are born with a persistent infection and are known as PIs. Their immune system does not recognise the disease as abnormal so they have no immune response to it and shed the virus through their bodily fluids throughout their lives. They often have compromised growth rates and fertility but some can appear visually normal and have productive lives but every calf they have will be a PI and the virus will continue to be shed and cattle in the herd will be continually infected because of them. Unfortunately, having a PI in a herd does not give the cattle immunity due to them being exposed constantly to the virus as the rate of spread is too low, Carolyn says. “If the ‘do nothing’ approach of leaving PIs in a herd worked to control BVD, we wouldn’t be in the situation we are in now in New Zealand. “BVD spreads just enough to cause significant health and welfare impacts, but not enough to get rid of itself by natural immunity.” In NZ, there is a very short gap between calving and mating so any PI calves born into the herd 49

have a high chance of infecting at least one susceptible cow during the early stages of pregnancy leading to the birth of more PIs the following season. The financial impact of the disease is seen onfarm as higher empty rates, longer calving patterns, higher calf mortality, lower milk yields, higher incidences of respiratory diseases and scouring and lower growth rates.

Bulk milk testing game changer

Accuracy. No Less.

Bulk milk PCR testing is described by Carolyn as a “game changer” for dairy herds because it allows farmers to screen their milking herd for PIs with a single bulk milk sample. The test is sensitive enough to detect a single PI contributing to a bulk milk tank with more than 1000 other animals. While it is also useful to measure antibody levels as an indicator of exposure to BVD, high antibody levels could be from a previous BVD outbreak that has since been cleared or from vaccinated cows. “What we’re looking for in bulk milk antibody testing is often trends. If there is a sudden spike that is not from vaccination,

then it could mean BVD is getting back in somewhere. “One of the diagnostic challenges with eliminating BVD is that cows may be carrying PI foetuses, but we have no way of testing for this until the calf is born. That’s why purchasing pregnant replacement cattle is a big risk for BVD introductions.” On the plus side, animals that test negative for BVD can be certified as non-PI for life since PI animals can only be created from infections during pregnancy. “The tests are very accurate at detecting PI animals since these animals are constantly shedding large amounts of virus throughout their whole lives, unlike animals with TB or M. Bovis.” Testing of calves using an ear notch sample while DNA testing for parentage is an easy and accurate way of making sure no PI animals were entering the herd. Risk times for infection in dairy herds are when using bought-in bulls for mating which are not vaccinated, buying pregnant cattle and not testing the calf at birth and across-the-fence transmission from neighbours, during transport or grazing.

•

• •

Test replacement heifer calves for BVD virus as soon as possible after birth and cull positive animals Confirm all cattle brought onto the farm have been individually tested for BVD virus Vaccinate all bulls before the start of the breeding season Prevent cows from coming in contact with other cattle (over the fence or during transport).

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

SPECIAL REPORT - MYCOPLASMA BOVIS

FALSE POSITIVES

frustrate farmers By Karen Trebilcock Farmers who have closed herds are frustrated as they come under scrutiny for Mycoplasma bovis a second season in a row with their bulk tank milk (BTM) sampling returning positive which is then cleared. Positive BTMs, also known as a detect, in spring affect calves leaving the farm including bobbies and having multiple herds at the time (milkers, colostrum and late calvers) compounds the problem. M. bovis programme director Stuart Anderson says they do not know what causes false positive BTM tests. “Generally, over 95% of BTM detects reported confirm no infection is present after onfarm investigations are completed. “Similar to human health screening tests, false positives are to be expected for screening tests, and confirmatory testing needs to take place onfarm.” The BTM remains an important tool to eradicate M. bovis from the country. “To date we have been able to find 17 infected dairy farms through BTM, three of these in August last year which led us to find what we now refer to as the Canterbury cluster. “It is essential that bulk tank milk screening continues to help find those few remaining infected farms we’ve been unable to track from infected properties, due to incomplete NAIT records and other unrecorded or unidentified risk events. “The other significant role the BTM surveillance currently plays is providing confidence that M. bovis is not widespread in the dairy sector and this surveillance will play a key part in providing confidence that the disease is absent from New Zealand.” There were 61 August detects through BTM and he says MPI expects most will be ruled out, “however it should not be unexpected to find truly infected farms”. “We have managed to move most of those farms very rapidly through the onfarm testing process, within two weeks or in some cases even more swiftly, which is a significant improvement from earlier stages of the programme.” First detected on a South Canterbury dairy farm in July 2017, MPI is still investigating how M. bovis Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Mycoplasma bovis programme director Stuart Anderson.

‘It is essential that bulk tank milk screening continues to help find those few remaining infected farms we’ve been unable to track from infected properties, due to incomplete NAIT records and other unrecorded or unidentified risk events.’

entered NZ. “Genomic analyses along with tracing information and the absence of widespread infection found via background surveillance are crucial pieces of evidence that support a recent introduction. “While we have yet to confirm the source for the outbreak beyond doubt, we continue to investigate a number of potential risk pathways.” Legal action by MPI against Southland dairy farmer Alfons Zeestraten, from the Netherlands, whose four farms milking 2500 cows were believed to be the source of the infection, ended last year. The charges related to a container of farm machinery imported in 2018, after M. bovis was already in the country. The 1200 hectares, farmed as Southern Centre Dairies, was sold in late 2019 after they were destocked and cleaned by MPI. “Genomics continue to tell us the infections we have found are all from a single strain and no new strain has been identified that would suggest M. bovis has been unable to get in since,” he says. Spread within NZ has been from movement of infected animals, mainly calves, between farms and the use of infected milk for calf rearing. “Most importantly, not knowing the source does not prevent us from being able to eradicate the disease,” he says. MPI is confident border biosecurity measures are now robust enough to stop it getting in again. Cattle imports, which had been occurring from Australia, were suspended in 2017 after the outbreak and with no suitable testing options for M. bovis for individual cattle, new risk analysis work would need to be undertaken and is yet to be prioritised, he says. A new import health standard was issued on August 25 for importing bovine semen and embryos which requires both to be tested for M. bovis before being brought into the country. “The eradication of M. bovis has been one of the most significant biosecurity challenges we have faced in New Zealand. “Allowing the disease to spread would have caused an estimated $1.3 billion in lost productivity in our vital cattle sectors in the first 10 years alone. • At mid-September: 268 cleared properties and two remaining classed as active infections. 51

SPECIAL REPORT - LEPTOSPIROSIS

INFECTION TAKES toll on dairy workers Increasing numbers of farm and dairy workers are being infected by leptospirosis, Elaine Fisher reports.

Leptospirosis infections in New Zealand are on the increase and those most affected are dairy workers, other farmers and farm workers, a leading researcher in the field, Dr Julie Collins-Emerson says. “From 2017-2019 there has been an approximate 60% increase in the numbers of human-notified cases compared to the previous five-year period with nearly half of those hospitalised,” she says. Julie is EpiLab Laboratory Manager and Senior Research Officer, Hopkirk Research Institute School of Veterinary Science at Massey University. Disturbingly, she says analysis suggests there could be 22 times the number of lepto cases as those reported. 52

Leading leptospirosis researcher Dr Julie Collins-Emerson of Massey University.

“Nearly half of those who are diagnosed with lepto are still unwell nine months later and experiencing symptoms like chronic fatigue (not unlike the long-haul Covid-type syndrome). “This can take a huge personal toll on people, impacting their ability to work/earn an income, affecting their mental health and indirectly affecting their families/whanau and communities.” The reason infections are on the rise may not be complacency but more a case of people not appreciating that the disease profile can change and therefore not being up-to-date with the latest information. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Public Health Surveillance data (ESR):

OCCUPATION OF 1556 HUMAN CASES 1999-2016

Ballum

Occupation Dairy farmers Dry stock farmer Farmer not specified Meatworker Other

Hardjobovis

Pomona

Tarassovi

Salient points: • Meat workers with lepto will tend to either have Hardjo or Pomona • One third of dairy farmers with lepto will have Tarassovi • 60% of ‘others’ will have Ballum

“I was interviewing a sheep and dairy farmer the other day who had contracted lepto. He knew about lepto in dairy and vaccinated his cows but was unaware that it was also in sheep and therefore a risk to him. “It is also a challenge for researchers to get the messages out there. It is understanding that the methods of information we as researchers tend to use, is not the same as many farmers favour. “For example, the farmer said he rarely looked at the computer and relied on talking to other farmers, stock and station agents, his veterinarian and rural media sources of information. “That was really useful for our team as it helps us to find better ways of providing access to relevant information about lepto for the rural community.” Crucial steps to reducing the risk of infection include; • Avoid getting urine on yourself and be careful of urine contaminated surfaces or environments and that includes animal hides, yard fencing, mud, wash-down water/aerosol sprays from milking sheds and stock trucks. • Cover any wounds/cuts with waterproof bandaging and wear suitable protective clothing, eg: aprons, boots, visors, gloves. • Always wash and dry your hands before eating. • Remember children on the farm, e.g: kids in the milking shed, and make sure they have covered footwear as well. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

‘Nearly half of those who are diagnosed with lepto are still unwell nine months later and experiencing symptoms like chronic fatigue (not unlike the long-haul Covid-type syndrome).’

Early intervention important Early intervention with antibiotics can help reduce the severity and long-term effects of lepto. “If you have symptoms, that can include: fever, headache, nausea, muscle aches/weakness and fatigue, see your GP and inform them that you may have been exposed to leptospirosis,” Julie says. “The disease can range from a mild, flu-like illness to something that is deadly. Fortunately, not too many people in NZ have died from it. However, because the symptoms can be mistaken as flu and, due to complexities associated with diagnostics or even a lack of suspicion of the disease, many cases of lepto go undiagnosed.” • Wild animals including pigs, possums, rats, mice and hedgehogs carry lepto to one degree or another and shed it in their urine. • People should be careful when handling these animals, especially if emptying traps or coming into contact with their urine directly or indirectly. • Stockfeed can be contaminated with rodent urine and people can pick up lepto through open cuts or wounds. • Lepto can also survive for varying amounts of time in the soil, particularly moist soil. Research by the team found pathogenic lepto in many environmental samples e.g: soil/water puddles on a dairy farm.”

Dairy cattle (pilot) study:

PROBABILITY OF SHEDDING VS. AGE OF FIRST VACCINATION 0.10 0.09

DISEASE CHANGES COURSE

0.08

Prob (shedding)

A variant of leptospirosis is providing challenges for Massey University Researchers, says Dr Julie CollinsEmerson. In recent years there has been a change in the occupations most closely associated with leptospirosis. It is now more commonly notified in people who are dairy workers and other farmers/farm workers. “In dairy workers, it seems to be linked to a novel variant of the serovar Tarassovi. Ballum, another serovar increasingly affecting humans, has been found with a high prevalence in mice in a study done by the Massey University Leptospirosis Research Group. “To enable a greater understanding of novel variant of the Tarassovi serovar researchers at Massey have been trying to isolate the bacterium from cow urine by culturing it with the aim of doing further studies on it. “We would like to do whole genome sequencing of the bacterium, not unlike what they are doing with the various Covid-19 strains, so that we can better understand the nature of the organism. At this stage, the small fragments of bacterial DNA that we have been able to sequence suggest it is unlike other lepto species we have in New Zealand. “However, we need live organisms to grow in the lab so that we have enough quality DNA to do that work. Unfortunately, it is a particularly recalcitrant organism and so far we have not been able to successfully grow it. “Colleagues in New Caledonia are having the same issue. However, we have identified herds with a high prevalence and are focusing on these to both try and isolate and also look at production data to see how the bacterium may affect the cows. Another reason for trying to isolate this variant is for use in future vaccine development.”

0.07 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.00 0

Age at 1st vaccination (weeks) Salient points: • The graph demonstrates that the longer the delay till the first lepto vaccination of dairy calves, the increased risk of calves shedding lepto ie, after 3 months of age, the risk increases steeply.

Vaccination best form of defence There is no vaccine for humans but all the livestock vaccines, irrespective of brand are effective. “Where there does seem to be breakdowns in protection is when calves are vaccinated too late and already have the disease, and when other animals are brought on to the farm and their vaccination status has not been checked. It used to be suggested that calves be vaccinated around six months of age as there was concern that maternal antibodies may interfere with vaccination effectiveness. “It has more recently been demonstrated that calves as young as six weeks can safely start the vaccination programme. I think that is the key as well, trying to fit the lepto vaccination programme in with what else is happening on the farm and I know calving is a busy time. Then it is a case of maintaining that annual booster for the adult animals.” Currently there is no vaccine for the novel variant of the serovar Tarassovi or Ballum, another serovar increasingly affecting humans. Nationally, vaccination rates for sheep, beef cattle, and deer are low. The leptospires can cycle through different stock classes on a farm so these animals are a risk if not vaccinated. “You can talk to your vet if you are interested in exploring vaccination of other animals including farm dogs.” Lepto was known as “Dairy Farm Fever” or “Swineherd’s Disease” as it was associated mainly with the dairy and pig industries. In early 1980 the introduction of vaccination against the dominant strains in those animals at the time, which were serovars Hardjo and Pomona, corresponded with a huge Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

reduction in human cases in NZ. “For a long time afterwards, leptospirosis cases were strongly linked to exposure in the meatworks. Changes in processing and increased use of personal protective equipment has been linked to a significant decrease in the incidence of

leptospirosis in meat workers – but it has not gone away.” Julie began leptospirosis research in 1991 as a postdoctoral fellow with Associate Professor Roger Marshall who was one of the pioneers in NZ lepto research in the 1970s and 80s. “What has kept me in the research area is that leptospirosis is a dynamic disease. The epidemiological landscape shifts including changes in dominant types of lepto (serovars) and the host animals they are associated with. It is influenced by climate change, human activities such as altered farming systems and the pressure human population growth places at the urban/rural boundaries and how that can affect wildlife and the environment. “Also, the bacterium itself evolves and leptospirosis is classified as both an emerging and re-emerging disease. This is intellectually of interest, but what keeps myself and many colleagues engaged is that leptospirosis has a huge impact around the world on people’s livelihoods

and health, particularly in low-income countries. “Additionally, New Zealand is unusual – it has an island biogeography – the lepto we have here includes a limited number of serovars and they have all arrived in mammals imported from overseas. Leptospirosis therefore has a very different profile here. “This gives NZ an insight into, and the ability to do leptospirosis research here that proves more difficult and confounded than overseas due to the increased types of Leptospira circulating, particularly in the wildlife. “The real difference this research can make to so many people’s lives is what is so rewarding,” Julie says. Also contributing to the lepto in dairy cattle research are: Prof. Jackie Benschop, Dr Shahista Nisa, Dr Supatsak Subharat, Maryna Sokolova and Stuart Littlejohn. More information can be found on the group’s website: leptospirosis.org.nz

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

SPECIAL REPORT - TUBERCULOSIS

A hell of a year

TO CATCH TB

The last two years have been stressful on Hawke’s Bay farmers, with a tuberculosis outbreak, Covid-19 lockdowns and severe droughts. Tutira farmer Campbell Prendergast had one R2 test positive for TB in 2019 and has since changed his entire operation. He talked to Sheryl Haitana about the realities and frustrations. Campbell Prendergast has been left questioning where his levy money has gone and whether Ospri has enough funding to do the job properly. He has been disappointed with the followthrough from Ospri on pest control since the TB outbreak in 2019. He says they haven’t done as much pest control as they said they would. “I think multiple things have fallen over. There should be more intensive pest control and more testing.” Campbell also feels let down by the organisations he pays levies to, DairyNZ and Beef & Lamb NZ, who are shareholders in Ospri, and should be accountable for ensuring good pest control and testing is taking place, he says. “I shouldn’t have to be at these meetings beating the table, they should be doing it. It’s been two and a half years and we still have infected herds, and all they keep saying is we are on track to be TB-free by 2026. “I feel like farmers have been doing everything they can do, with Nait recordings and testing. “But it feels like the wheels are turning, it’s costing money, but the job is still not being done.” Ospri were too slow on implementing pest control after the first lot of infections, Campbell says. Ospri are only just gaining access to two new blocks - one in the Waipunga area and the other in Esk Valley, which haven’t had pest control for more than 10 years. Ospri just keeps changing personnel and hiring new communications people that just don’t communicate well enough with farmers, he says. The Prendergast farm at Tutira, 50km north of Napier, has been in the family since Campbell’s 56

Above: Campbell is frustrated by the slow movement from Ospri to get on top of pest control in the area.

grandfather received it through a ballot after the Second World War. The farm switched from dairy to sheep and beef when the wool prices were good, fully converting back to dairy in 2008. Campbell moved back to the family farm when his parents converted after working in forestry management for 15 years. He has a 20-hectare runoff which borders Lake Tutira, surrounded by forestry which has been getting harvested. That is where his rising two year heifers were grazing when one was infected with TB. The herd has always had a C10 status (clear of TB) Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Cows have to be tested 60 days before any movement.

‘I wanted to keep our neighbouring farms safe. I also had heifers to sell, I wasn’t technically infected in March and April, but morally I felt I couldn’t sell any animals to other farmers.’ until their first-ever positive skin test in February 2019. “We’ve had neighbours have a case of TB over the past 20 or 30 years, but we had never got it.” He was one of the first farmers picked up in the area in the recent outbreak. A standard TB skin test found one rising two year old in-calf heifer. She was blood tested in March and slaughtered on site. The blood test was a low reading. “The lesion was so tiny, she wouldn’t have been found if she had gone to the works.” In April the herd was suspended and on May 17 it was classed as an infected herd. The herd then had a clear skin test on May 21 and another in November, and after a clear blood test in December the suspension order was lifted and the herd were reclassified as C1. Campbell kept the rest of his heifers at the runoff until he had a clear test in May before bringing them back to the milking platform. “I wanted to keep our neighbouring farms safe. I also had heifers to sell, I wasn’t technically infected in March and April, but morally I felt I couldn’t sell any animals to other farmers.”

FARM FACTS Farm owner: Campbell Prendergast Location: Tutira, Hawkes Bay Area: 120ha (90ha effective) Runoff: 20ha Cows: 210 Kiwicross Production: 70,000kg MS Supplements: DairyNZ System 2, 60 tonnes palm kernel, vegetable waste Farm dairy: 27-aside herringbone

Campbell used to winter some of his herd on the runoff and others on neighbouring farms, but he was no longer able to do that and had to buy extra winter feed. His herd has since dropped from 250 cows to 210 to manage the extra cows at home during the winter months and his production has subsequently dropped. He has stopped doing winter and summer crops and has instead sowed 10ha of lucerne, which is great feed from late September though to May while the cows

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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Above: Campbell is working with Ospri to improve its TB response so other farmers don’t have to go through the stress of what he has been through.

are milking, and still offers a little bit of winter feed for the dry cows. “It changed my whole system over a couple of years. It would have cost us between $200,000 and $300,000.” Compensation has been limited for farmers and it doesn’t take into account all of the other losses farmers endure, Campbell says. For example, he hasn’t been able to continue selling surplus colostrum to other farmers for calf rearing. He also shot surplus calves on site that year because getting bobby calves picked up was an extra rigmarole. The farm remains in the livestock movement control area, which puts extra restrictions on farmers and limits their options. To sell any stock, Campbell has to arrange a pre-movement test 60 days beforehand, unless they are going to the works. It means any stock sales have to be planned in advance, and it’s harder to react quickly in situations like the recent droughts. “It takes a couple of weeks to book a test, so you have to anticipate when you want to sell them.” Once you’ve had an infected status and have had to start again at C1 status, the selling market is limited anyway, Campbell says. 58

The price offered for animals within the restricted movement area is usually less as well. “Nobody wants to touch you with a barge pole. We wanted to export heifers, but it’s only now we are almost C3 that they’ll take them.” Campbell has been working with Ospri and going to meetings to try and ensure other farmers don’t have to go through the stress of finding a positive TB result. “If there is something I can do to prevent another farmer going through this I’ll do it.”

Resilience amongst it all Hopefully this will be the last year Hawke’s Bay goes backwards in terms of TB infections, but farmers are still facing years of disruption, Kevin Mitchell of Rural Support Trust says. It will likely be another couple of years before the restricted movement area shrinks and even longer for the farms that will be close to the infected area. There has not been enough compensation for farmers who have had to make drastic changes to their operations or stock classes, to cope with the TB restrictions, Kevin says.

“We were trying to bring it in line with compensation for M Bovis, but we met a brick wall in Wellington. The government doesn’t want to go down that rabbit hole.” Ospri has offered business support to farmers and has become more flexible with movement of young stock, however. The slow response from the industry to get on top of the TB infection has been a bitter pill for farmers to swallow, Kevin says. “Ospri has flacked a fair bit of criticism. But we have to move on. The Ospri personnel have all changed, and they are really listening to the farming groups now.” There have also been some big wins in being able to get on to blocks to do pest control, which will hopefully combat where this TB infection has come from. Throughout such a difficult two years, farmers continue to rally and get on with the job. “Between droughts, Covid restrictions and TB restrictions, 2020 was a hell of a year to be caught with TB. But farmers are pretty resilient and we are getting around and helping where we can.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Ospri 10 year plan Ospri has recently completed an aerial bait drop over 10,000ha of private, forestry and public conservation land in the Waikoau area and another operation will commence soon on about 5900ha in the northern Hawke’s Bay, Ospri general manager, North Island service delivery Dan Schmidt says. “In order to achieve sustainable freedom of TB in livestock in Hawke’s Bay we need to be working in the area for the next 10 years, so building constructive longterm relationships with landowners is paramount to that success. “We are confident that the agreed plan for work being undertaken will reach TBfree outcomes for the TB response in the Hawke’s Bay but it takes time.” Ospri is working hard to rid the Hawkes’ Bay region of TB as quickly as possible,

including removal of movement control restrictions, he says. Ospri is investing $20m over five years into pest control, including aerial and ground control work with the aim to still achieve TB-freedom in cattle and deer by 2026. “Although it’s difficult to estimate exactly when Hawke’s Bay will be rid of TB, the combination of planned pest control work and diagnostic testing of herds will ensure that we are moving closer to that goal. “We know that these are very trying times for farmers and we feel for them and the situation in Hawke’s Bay, particularly when it’s looking like there will be another drought this summer. We work alongside farmers and regularly meet with them to gain better insights and learn how we can provide support.”

TB STATUS IN HAWKES BAY • When the NZ Dairy Exporter went to print, there were 19 herds with a TB infected status in the region (1 dairy, 1 deer, 17 beef). Nine of these herds have completed their first clear whole-herd test. Ospri were investigating 7 other herds for TB. A total of 13 herds have been cleared of infection, and are now back to TB-free status. • Ospri announced the TB slaughter levy for beef and dairy farmers is being reduced. “Unreal the levy is dropping. I can’t work that one out,” Campbell says.

PASTURE SUMMIT FIELD DAYS 2021

TARANAKI

NATHAN & COURTNEY JOYCE

SOUTHLAND DANIEL & EMILY WOOLSEY

30th November 7th December 2021 2021 Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

SPECIAL REPORT - THEILERIA

By Anne Hardie

Contract milker Mark Ring has worked on minimising stress in the herd.

TICK-BORNE DISEASE

DRAWS BLOOD 60

Five years after theileria found its way into the Top of the South, cow immunity and management have proven to be the best line of defence. Ali Gray from the Rural Service Centre’s Vet Clinic in Golden Bay says a thriving tick population and the perfect climate meant there was little surprise when theileria found its way to the region. Ticks thrive in moist, warm climates such as Golden Bay and nearby Rai Valley which were hit hard by theileria, a microscopic blood-borne parasite transmitted by the cattle tick. The parasite damages the red blood cells and causes anaemia in cattle which can sometimes be fatal. When theileria first arrived in the region and herds had absolutely no immunity, Ali says there were farmers losing two to three cows a day. Blood transfusions were common, often using carryover cows to source the blood for the affected cow with the aim of replacing the red blood cells destroyed by theileria. At its peak, some farmers were doing blood transfusions on 40 to 50 cows a season. After the initial explosion of theileria, numbers have settled as immunity increases in herds, though Ali says there’s still the problem with naïve animals in the herd including young stock. Ideally, stock are best exposed to theileria at times of least stress, such as autumn, because if they get it in spring when they are calving and the weather turns foul, then the effect is likely to be more severe. Generally, the closer the cow to calving, the more severe the anaemia, she says. When an infestation of theileria attacks red blood cells, the red blood cell count can drop dramatically and fast. “Farmers get good at picking the affected cows because they are at the back and puffing,” she says. “They can open a gate and quietly put them in there.“ The only drug available, Buparvaquone, has a long withholding period, so instead, farmers use supportive treatment for those cows showing signs of anaemia. That includes B12 injections as a ‘pick-me-up’ to encourage the cow to eat and some farmers cover those cows to lessen any extra stress.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

DAIRY & CALF

SHELTERS LOW-STRESS STRATEGY Minimising stress in the herd including running the milking heifers separately is part of the theileria strategy for a contract milking couple in the Rai Valley. Mark Ring and Sarah Hope are milking 600 cows on Malcolm and Caroline Berkett’s farm beside the tiny township, halfway between Nelson and Blenheim. They first discovered theileria in the heifers after more cows entered the herd. A heifer became sick and went downhill fast after calving and then died when a storm added more stress. Another heifer was milking fine one day and dead the next. Others, mainly heifers, were affected by the disease, with 15 going on to slip their calves. But they consider they got off lightly compared to some farmers. Random blood testing showed theileria was widespread in the herd, but many showed no symptoms. They wonder if that was due to a drought the previous season that

paddocks by themselves and given all the feed they wanted, as well as an anti-inflammatory. “We’re just trying to minimise the stress on animals at different times of year,” Mark says. “And keeping the heifers separate through their first season reduces stress.” This season they have had no problems with theileria, despite being a wet season and they aren’t sure how much of that is due to increasing immunity within the herd and how much is due to reduced stress and targeting the ticks. They will continue using a pouron to keep tick numbers down, especially because it is a wet season. It’s an extra animal health cost but may help manage the timing of theileria. “They can then get exposed to it in periods of less stress and when there’s less impact on milk,” Mark suggests. Though they started the heifers on twice-a-day milking this season, they

‘We’re just trying to minimise the stress on animals at different times of year. And keeping the heifers separate through their first season reduces stress.’ prompted them to put the herd on once-a-day (OAD) milking which led to the cows being in better condition and then less stress through the following calving. Once they found theileria in the herd, they attacked the tick population with a pour-on tickicide just after calving, another just before mating and then a third pour-on halfway through mating. They again applied a pour-on across the herd in early autumn to reduce tick numbers. The following season, they put the heifers on to OAD to minimise pressure on them and any affected by theileria were separated into

will drop them to OAD if the season throws weather that adds stress. An additional 30 cows are in the herd this season as a back up to replace any cows that get sick from theileria. They have been able to bring cows with theileria back into the milking herd as long as 10 days after they were removed, but Sarah says they don’t produce as much milk after their illness. In subsequent years they plan to drop cow numbers back to their usual 570 on the 220ha milking platform so they can ensure they have the ability to feed them well and reduce stress.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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Less stress reduces the severity of theileria.

Also to reduce stress, cows are either milked just once a day or left in the paddock and Ali says it is not uncommon for cows to be a week or more without milking while they are recovering from theileria, then brought back into the milking herd. That depends on what stage of the season the cow gets the disease and whether she will continue milk production. One of the best ways to diagnose theileria early so the cow can be looked after for a better outcome, is to check cows’ vulvas at milking time. A pale or yellow vulva, rather than healthy pink, is a sure sign something is wrong and it is an easy check because the cows are being milked every day. Tick control can lessen, though not eradicate, the tick population. Bayticol can be used on lactating cows and when the disease was at its worst in the region, she says farmers were using it across the entire herd to delay theileria onset through calving. As stress increases, so does the severity of the disease, which is why cows in good condition cope better than cows with the added stress of poor condition. “Having cows in good condition means a good immune system so they can cope with it better than an animal that is lighter at calving time and calving in the middle of a storm.” She says farmers talk about closed herds as a means of keeping the disease at bay, but there is still a “stack of stock movement” that goes on and theileria doesn’t spread between animals, but rather via the ticks on the farm. FarmWise consultant Brent Boyce has worked with farmers in the Top of the South who have had to deal with theileria in the herd and he says a tickicide is especially useful through calving and mating to stop the tick spreading the disease through the herd. He says the best time for the herd to get theileria – and then be clear of it – is after Christmas. Hopefully, the young stock also get the disease and become immune before they head into their first mating and then their first calving.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

‘Farmers get good at picking the affected cows because they are at the back and puffing.’

• Signs of anaemia such as pale or yellow mucous membranes on gums, vulva and whites of the eyes, rather than healthy pink • Depression • Lethargy – cows lagging behind the herd • Lack of appetite • Decrease in milk production

MOST LIKELY TO OCCUR • • • •

Around calving time Weaned calves Mating time Animals with other health or stress challenges

TREATMENT • Supportive treatment to limit stress • Once-a-day milking or left in paddock with feed • B12 injections • Some farmers cover cows • Blood transfusions for severe cases

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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TREADING LIGHTLY AND ACHIEVING BALANCE Taupo-based dairy company Miraka continues to lead the way with their Treading Lightly award. Alex Lond talks with two of this year’s winners. Photos: Malcolm Pullman.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

ENVIRONMENT MIRAKA TREADING LIGHTLY

Treading lightly: Kinleith farmers Mark Newton and Sarah Manders.

inners of the new Miraka Award ‘Treading Lightly’ insist they have never done or changed anything about their farming system with the aim of winning awards. Kinleith farmers Mark Newton and Sarah Manders farm the way they believe works best for them and for the land, rather than the way others think it should be done. Miraka is often recognised as a milk company that is always a few steps ahead of others, and Mark says this is more what it has always been about for them. “Miraka want to be leaders and so do we. Our main aims in farming are to look after our soil and our cows, and they are the reasons we have taken the steps to get to where we are today.” Miraka Milk is a small dairy company based in Mokai, near Taupo, who supply to more than 23 countries around the world from their 104 dairy farms, all within an 85km radius. Their Farming Excellence Programme allows farmers to increase their farmgate milk price with an annual assessment that awards points to farms that excel in each of five categories: People, Environment, Prosperity, Cows and Milk, with these points eventually contributing to the final milk price. Each year, the Te Ara Miraka (the Miraka way) Farming Excellence Awards highlights the companies’ top suppliers in areas such as animal welfare, staff management

and sustainable land practices. This year they introduced the ‘Treading Lightly’ award for farms and Warren Landles, Miraka’s Farm Sustainability Manager describes the winners of this new award as achieving a good balance between inputs and outputs. “It’s about focusing on efficiency - making sure that you are using the right amount of nutrients in your system, so they convert into quality milk solids, reducing losses to groundwater and atmosphere. As efficiency increases, the overall farm environmental footprint decreases. This also often leads to increased profitability.” Winners were selected from a range of farm and production sizes, showing that it’s possible to increase efficiencies and reduce environmental impact regardless of production intensity. Mark and Sarah won the category for farms that produce between 801 and 1250kg milksolids (MS) per hectare. “We had no idea that we would even be in the running to win this award. When they announced our name on stage, we were in complete shock,” Mark says. With heads for business, hearts for nature and eyes for the future, Mark and Sarah are trying different farming techniques. It all started with them changing their method of fertiliser application eight years ago, after a bad year for milk prices prompted them to look at more efficient options. At the time, the method 65

‘Farming is changing and so we must be willing to change with it.’

Above: Showing the use of new technology on farm with apps, cow collars and making foliar applications of liquid fertilser themselves after each grazing round.

of foliar application was little known amongst dairy farmers, and Mark admits they took a risk after deciding to convert. “I’d call us early adopters; we try new things out before most people would because we think being mainstream is sometimes too easy. In this case, it was five or six years before we saw a change. It’s a slow process, but the results are worth it.” Their farm in Kinleith runs at a system 2 with 240 spring calving cows over 85 hectares. They won the award on this farm for their efficient conversion of nutrients to milksolids through their use of liquid fertiliser and a ‘little and often’ approach. They believe this tactic allows them to utilise microbes already in the soil, as well as achieving a more efficient cover and leaf absorption while using less kg/ ha fertiliser. As well as better cover, there is less wastage and therefore a lower risk of leaching or any fertiliser finding its way into waterways on the farm. Sometimes confused with organic farming, Mark describes the foliar application method as more biodiverse, with the most noticeable change for him being the frequency of application. Rather than applying in bulk a few times a year like traditional fertiliser, Mark and Sarah can apply the liquid fertiliser themselves after each grazing round. This way they are ensuring elements already in the soil are unlocked and lifted, and 90% of the fertiliser is absorbed through the leaf, as well as maximising clover growth. Describing this as a method of fertigation, Mark explains how the idea came from the centre pivots more commonly seen in the South Island, which were used to

maximise the efficiency of liquid fertiliser or “soil conditioners” as it is more commonly known. “The next three-to-five years is going to be interesting, particularly for dairy farmers. I believe that the nitrogen cap is just the beginning; farming is changing and so we must be willing to change with it.” Mark loves to mix things up and try new things, so naturally using liquid fertiliser isn’t the only unusual thing about his farming practices. While he believes like most farmers that getting your clover to grow is an important aspect of pasture, he also thinks that multi species can make a huge difference to your milk production, and he regularly sows chicory and plantain in with his normal pasture mix. They also own another farm in the area milking 140 autumn calving cows, with both farms supplying Miraka for more than nine years. Both herds support a range of different milking breeds and really stretch the traditional definition of a ‘Kiwicross’. “I like to think of our cows as like a packet of licorice allsorts, we have a bit of everything going on with multiple breeds. Also, by having one farm spring calving and the other autumn, we are able to give the girls a second chance if they don’t get in calf first time round.” While Mark appears as the face on the front of all these extraordinary ideas, he is quick to state how none of it would be possible without his wife, Sarah. “Behind every good man is an even better woman, and I believe in nothing more than I do that.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

ENVIRONMENT TAURANGA HARBOUR

‘Everybody has an impact on the environment, so we need to learn how to do things in ways which are best for our harbour.’

Left: Ropes to provide fish passage or “ladders” have been installed by Project Parore to assist whitebait in their migration upstream.

Aiming for a healthy harbour Words by: Elaine Fisher

eptune’s necklace, seagrass, cockles, pipi, abundant fish, clean clear water and a sandy sea floor easily crossed on foot at low tide – that’s the Northern Tauranga Harbour of Rosalie Smith’s childhood. “The healthy harbour was our playground. The only mangroves were to the south at Matahui and the harbour floor was not muddy like it is today,”

Rosalie says. She grew up at Athenree on the harbour’s northern shores and has been an active and long-time campaigner for the restoration of its environment. Rosalie, 90, was a foundation member of the Uretara Estuary Managers, created in 2004 to address a range of water quality and biodiversity issues associated with the Uretara Stream which flows into the harbour. In 2020 the board agreed to adopt Project Parore as the new name for the activities of the society.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Lawrie Donald, chair of Project Parore says Rosalie’s childhood memories clearly illustrate that Tauranga Harbour was not always muddy. “Just because that’s the way it is now, people think it’s always been like that.” Project Parore is an environmental restoration initiative based in the Katikati area covering eight adjoining catchments: Aongatete, Waitekohe, Te Mania, Te Rereatukahia, Uretara, Tahawai, Tuapiro and Waiau, all of which flow from the Kaimai range into the northern tidal zone of the Tauranga Harbour. In order to restore the harbour to an environment in which the once-abundant parore fish, shellfish and seaweeds can flourish, Project Parore is working with Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, three local hapu and local landowners to create comprehensive catchment management plans to address a range of water quality and biodiversity issues. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with sector groups including Beef + Lamb New Zealand, DairyNZ, Zespri and NZ Avocado, which represent the major commercial land users in the area. Up to July 1 this year, 52,395 plants, 1610 metres of fencing and 8.1 hectares of land have been retired thanks to the work of Project Parore, volunteers and landowners. “Many sites were horticultural land so no 67

need for fencing as there are no livestock. Also we have urban planting around the harbour foreshore and again no fencing required,” says Lawrie. “Now we have extended our area of operation, we will double those numbers and expect to secure funding from the Ministry for the Environment soon to continue that work.” That funding will enable Project Parore to employ people to carry out pest control and planting, assisting the landowners and volunteers already working in the catchments. And Project Parore has the ambitious goal of Northern Tauranga Harbour region eventually becoming predator-free. Predator control operations, largely run by volunteers, are already underway along many of the areas bordering the harbour, including in urban Katikati. Project Parore is also working with landowners to encourage retirement and planting of stream boundaries and the installation of fish ladders to provide access for whitebait to upstream spawning areas. Lawrie says funding is often available

Project Parore members gather near a new wetland created on the farm owned by Brian Gordon (third from left, back row). As part of Project Parore, the area was planted in native trees and shrubs in winter 2020.

for much of the conservation work landowners wish to undertake and he and other members of Project Parore are available to talk with them about their plans and the resources they can tap into. “Our aim is to protect waterways to make the harbour pristine again. It’s not about blaming anyone. It’s about avoiding

the impacts on waterways and the harbour of activities on the land. Everybody has an impact on the environment, so we need to learn how to do things in ways which are best for our harbour.” • To find out more about Project Parore go to: www.projectparore.nz

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

ENVIRONMENT BALLANCE FARM AWARDS

Recognition for hard work Words by: Elaine Fisher

ntering the Ballance Farm Environment Awards opened many doors for Fraser and Katherine McGougan, who say the ongoing benefits to their business are fantastic with community recognition of their hard work making them proud to be dairy farmers. “To all those, from any sector, who are considering entering the awards, we would highly recommend giving it a go with the positives, gained from entering, far exceeding the challenges. As your farming journey is never complete, the knowledge and experience that you gain from these awards and the process involved only serves to continue to propel you forward,” says Fraser who with Katherine was the 2019 Bay of Plenty Ballance Farm Environment Awards Regional Supreme Award winner. The couple, owners of Willowvale Farms Ltd, milk 420 cows on 150 hectares (136ha effective) of mainly flat land in the Opouriao Valley, Taneatua, Eastern Bay of Plenty and Fraser is also a DairyNZ Climate Change Ambassador. The awards are held in regions throughout the country and by entering, farmers and growers have the opportunity for their businesses to be evaluated by a team of highly respected and experienced peers and agribusiness professionals. Constructive advice and feedback is given in an informal setting, with visits followed by a report offering commendations and recommendations. “Katherine and I have found the whole awards process amazing. It’s easy to enter and has a relaxed and informative judging process where we continued to learn as we

progressed through the competition. “We were surrounded by a great group of people from fellow competitors to alumni and industry professionals, and the support and encouragement from all has been second to none. We found likeminded performance and environmentally focused farmers who have helped us to learn more about sustainable farming practices in a positive setting.” The McGougans’ endorsement for entering the awards is echoed by another former winner and current chair of the Bay of Plenty New Zealand Farm Environment Trust which runs the award, Matt Nelson. “I strongly advocate for farmers and growers to consider entering the awards which are not so much a competition but a way to identify what people are doing well on their land and to provide a structured report on where things can be improved,” says Matt, who as Coach Road Orchard manager for BAYGOLD, was part of the team which won the supreme award in 2016 Bay of Plenty Ballance Farm Environment Awards. “Rural life can be very lonely and through the awards and the trust we can surround people with other farmers and growers, including our alumni of previous winners, and rural professionals, to help acknowledge and support the great work they are already doing and support them in their on-going journey. “By showcasing the winners both regionally and nationally, we can demonstrate to urban New Zealand how we are actually taking care of the environment and animals.” The awards celebrate farmer and grower achievement and showcase good practice, enabling the sharing of positive farming

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Fraser and Katherine McGougan and their three children: Proud to be dairy farmers.

NEW AWARDS NZ Farm Environment Trust has announced two new initiatives for the 2021 BFEA programme; a new Catchment Group Award and partnership with Farmax to provide free Farmax analysis for every awards entrant. The Catchment Group Award is supported by a new partnership between the NZ Farm Environment Trust and NZ Landcare Trust and is designed to showcase and celebrate the great work being done by catchment groups from all 11 regions in which the BFEA operate. With Farmax’s support this year, all award entrants will know their greenhouse gas emissions numbers and mitigation options thanks to the GHG and sequestration features in FARMAX 8.1. Farmers, growers and catchment groups are encouraged to visit www. nzfeawards.org.nz to find out more, enter or nominate an entrant into the Ballance Farm Environment Awards. Because of a small number of entries, the awards were not held in the Bay of Plenty last year but entries are now open for the 2021-2022 awards in all regions of New Zealand. To find out more go to: nzfeawards.org.nz

and growing stories with all audiences. The assessment considers the farm system including: animal and plant care, biodiversity, business health, climate, people and wellbeing, soil, water and waste management. 69

ENVIRONMENT DAIRYNZ

Preparation for next winter starts now Words by: Ashley Greenwood

cow intake, the number of days on crop, and supplementary feed requirements. inter this year presented Appropriate paddock selection also its own set of challenges, affects the crop’s yield, as well as the with many farmers establishment and growing costs. throughout the South Look back at previous winters and at Island being affected by flooding, causing the paddock history. pasture damage and loss of supplementary To grow high-yielding winter crops, feed. it’s good to know the paddock’s soil While we can hope next year the fertility, alongside the weed and weather will work in our favour, pest history. Paddocks react we also need to prepare for the differently and finding the worst, and the issues that arise ones that hold up well in rain every winter. is beneficial. This can take extra planning, Taking these points into but spring is a good time to consideration helps paint a consider how to set ourselves clear picture of the paddock, Ashley Greenwood. up. Talking with farmers recently, whether it is good for winter we discussed a few things to start grazing and how to best manage thinking about now to prepare for a it throughout winter. successful winter next year.

PADDOCK SELECTION

One of the first considerations when planning for next winter is to choose the right wintering paddock, as this affects your ability to manage the environment and animals successfully. There are many important factors to consider when deciding which paddocks to graze cows on next winter. This includes looking at what area you need to plant, factoring in expected crop yield, 70

CRITICAL SOURCE AREA MANAGEMENT

Slopes, critical source areas (CSAs) and waterways in paddocks need to be considered. A key step is identifying the CSAs. These are parts of the landscape, such as swales and gullies, where overland flow and seepage converges to form small channels of running water. This creates a risk of potential contaminant loss flowing into streams or rivers.

Identifying CSAs in spring will enable you to manage them well or disregard the paddock as unsuitable for wintering. Identifying these CSAs and managing them using buffer zones can significantly reduce losses to surface and groundwater. Take note of CSAs that appear in winter, to help improve your planning during spring. “Each winter, after some heavy rain, I look at the paddocks I am hoping to crop next year. I mark out the CSAs then with fence standards because sometimes they are harder to see in spring,” one of the farmers I recently talked to said. He has used this to make noticeable improvements on his farm to benefit the environment and his animals.

BUFFERS

Once you’ve identified CSAs, you should create grass buffers around the CSAs and at the bottom of slopes. The grass buffer acts as filtration of the CSA. If your crop is close (within five metres) to a CSA, consider a crop buffer, which is a strip of fenced-off crop, at least 5m wide, that will help filter and slow the run-off from the crop paddock into any CSAs. The size of your buffer will be determined by the slope, the amount and how fast flowing runoff is. This crop buffer can then be grazed last.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

WINTER CROP ESTABLISHMENT • Planning Draw up individual paddock cultivation plans for winter crops which identify the risk areas and paddock features. Developing these plans with your team helps everyone understand the direction of cultivation and grazing, and how you will minimise contaminant losses. • Crop selection There are a range of crops for additional feed, including fodder beet, maize and plantain. These vary in their productive months and have different growth, soil and fertiliser requirements. It is important to select which crops are best suited for your farm’s needs over winter and which paddocks would best grow these. • Cultivation Considering the new winter grazing rules, we need to ensure land is cultivated across

slopes where possible and leave grass strips to trap sediment from the cultivated areas. Cultivating across slopes reduces the risk of overland flow from rain. Having a detailed plan for every paddock will help you meet the proposed new wintering requirements. These plans should include the location of CSAs, waterways, paddock slope and where buffers will go. Grazing direction, where you place bales and portable troughs, are also important. This helps ensure that everyone is on the same page, reducing risk to animals and the environment. • For more information to support winter planning visit dairynz.co.nz/wintering. • Ashley Greenwood is DairyNZ Southland/South Otago regional partner.

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Don’t settle for fly-by-night treatments. Insist on Ripcord. Visit pest-control.basf.co.nz for more details or visit your local distributor.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

STOCK BODY CONDITION SCORE

Body condition score driving results For Ashburton sharemilkers Stuart and Sara Russell, Body Condition Score is critical, Dianna Malcolm writes.

ocusing on Body Condition Score (BCS) has lifted Stuart and Sara Russell’s six week in-calf rate from 75% to 83%, and given them the confidence to use sexed semen. The couple are 50/50 sharemilkers with Sara’s parents, Richard and Diana Bourke, in Ashburton, Canterbury. They are milking 760 cows (including their registered Jerseys, Ngatimaru Jerseys) on 280 hectares (which also carries all the young stock) through a 54-bail rotary. They do most of the work themselves, and have installed technology and use their farm consultant to help stay on top of everything from cow health and compliance right through to putting together their sharemilking agreement. They are part of their processor Synlait’s Lead With Pride™ programme, which recognises and financially rewards suppliers who achieve best practice. It also adds another layer of administration for Sara, on top of the tough environmental compliance rules. Another challenge for Ngatimaru Farming Co. is that it is shaped a bit like

the map of England, which has made the centre pivot irrigation conversations a little more challenging. They have five of them to get around every corner and sharp edge on the property.

Without labour, technology is vital

None of their production and cow-health goals could happen on a busy farm without labour or technology. Stuart, 39, and Sara, 37, have chosen technology, and put their own shoulders to the grindstone. Rumen boluses have been used on the whole herd for heat detection, health and individualised in-shed feeding. The herd is almost 90% Jersey with an average production of 485kg milksolids (MS) per cow, based on 700kg of supplements per cow a year.

Body condition score anchor to performance

BCS anchors everything at this farm. Sara is a credited BCS evaluator and she and MilkMap consultant Andrew Trounce score the herd four times a year. Sara says the BCS results are linked with the herd

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

‘For us, that BCS and production assessments with regard to different feed groups has paid off in terms of our mating results.’ Left: Sara Russell is focused on the complete picture at Ngatimaru Farming Co. Above: Sexed semen has been used and instead of follow-up bulls, Stuart and Sara Russell say it’s been more cost effective and meaningful for their operation to use short gestation semen. Right: Body Condition Score helps determine the different feed groups within the herd.

test results, and a detailed report is then generated to help formulate their different feed groups in the milking herd. Making the connection between production and BCS is important for the bigger picture when it comes to reproduction, Sara says. “Because a cow producing 1.8kg MS at a 4.5 BCS versus a cow producing 1.8kg MS at 3.5 BCS needs different feed input and management,” she says. “For us, that BCS and production assessments with regard to different feed groups has paid off in terms of our mating results,” Sara says. “To have that 83% six week in-calf rate with a 8.5% empty rate for 67 days of mating was important. “It’s about being aware of the condition of the cows and prioritising that.” Sara says BCS is a science which gives them an end-game.

“Because when you’re nailing that September BCS and feeding the lighter cows up selectively, they have a higher chance of supporting that extra will to milk, while giving them every chance to get in-calf earlier,” she says. “You’re not spending more total money on feed – you’re just prioritising the cows that are giving it back to you.” It gave them the confidence to push forward with sexed semen for the first time last mating. They also started twice-a-day (TAD) mating, which they believe also had a significant impact on their in-calf rates. As calving heats up this season, Sara and Stuart are grateful that their farm consultant Andrew has calculated the estimated grass growth, and herd feed supplementary requirements on any given day. “He also calculates how many cows we should have in milk every day. So, no matter how busy we are we have that information to fall back on and refer to,” Sara says. “As the cows calve the average cows come into the dairy getting 1.2kg a day of grain and 800 grams of a hard-feed blend. “But any cow that produced more than 565kg of MS last season immediately starts on 2kg of grain. Because we know she worked hard last year and we know that she is either going to milk it off her back, or she needs the extra feed to start firing. “In another two or three weeks I’ll have a look through and anyone I’m worried about I’ll create a group for, and they will get preferential feeding in the lead-up to mating.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Preferential feeding to build BCS

Sara says she prefers feeding more to build cow condition rather than dropping any lighter cows to once-a-day (OAD) milking, bearing in mind that lighter cows are often milking harder. “We believe that OAD milking is often doing those cows a disservice. “Because there’s no way she’s going to eat the same amount in the shed OAD as she could eat milking TAD. We believe it’s better to be milking her TAD – to get the milk off her – but giving her more hard feed so she’ll gain more total energy than she would being out in the paddock. Grain is the high-energy feed.” BCS has also given them the confidence to trust in AI, which has saved them the cost of buying up to 20 follow-up bulls every season. They do still use bulls over their R2 heifers, but those pregnancies are all aged. “We always had a pretty strong AIgame,” Sara says. “Stu does it all and we realised we were wasting a heap of money buying bulls to get another 40 to 50 cows in-calf to ‘nothing’ bulls. It didn’t pay when you consider a short gestation straw of semen costs $15. Stu was also mating the cows twice each day which helped with reproduction rates. “That gave us a 56-day calving on the short gestation bulls for the last 8.5% after 67 days mating.” “Our cows are in better condition, they’re getting in-calf, and we’ve been able to extend our herd’s days in milk,” Sara says. 73

STOCK SPRING ECZEMA

Taking the sting out of spring eczema Words by: Lisa Whitfield

pring eczema is one of those diseases which rarely makes the list of things to be considered on a seasonal basis. This is probably because of the sporadic nature of cases, the unknown cause, and therefore the inability to prevent it. Spring eczema cases are typically seen between September and November. Cows or calves show signs that their skin is burning, particularly on white patches and the udder, when they are out in daylight. They fluctuate between being depressed, hiding on the ground to being agitated, flicking their tail, legs, head and ears. They often have a high body temperature. At night, or when out of direct UV light, the cows are more relaxed and comfortable, and will generally graze. As a vet, the ongoing days of pain The underlying cause of the these cows suffer is not something disease is not known, however I fully comprehended until I had it is associated with low-grade to care for a case myself. It is not liver inflammation – the acceptable to leave these cows liver enzymes (GGT and somewhere where they cannot GLDH) are often slightly to get out of direct exposure to UV moderately increased in acute light. cases. My role as vet historically ended Lisa Whitfield This week I have been looking after I had given affected cows an after a cow with spring eczema, and I injection or two and I drove out the farm have made some observations which have gate. While I often wondered how the changed what I would recommend as cow was doing, I now know the drugs we acceptable care of cows suffering from this have available are not strong enough to condition, and indeed any animal with stop affected cows from experiencing pain. photosensitivity. Onfarm management of affected cows is where the biggest difference is made to Diseases where their pain levels. photosensitivity is a clinical The conflict of not wanting to create sign are not just painful, they more work for yourself at a busy time are severely painful. of year, versus meeting the needs of the Therefore the best pain relief available animal, make it easy for judgement to be should be provided and all efforts have to clouded. The time and effort to lock a cow go into providing an environment onfarm away in a shed during the day, and to let which minimises pain and suffering while her out for grazing only at night I believe the cow experiences photosensitivity. should not be negotiable.

A weaned calf with skin loss on its back from spring eczema. Cows are smart – given the opportunity they quickly learn where to escape from the pain source (light).

It took 24 hours of observation for me to realise that putting a cow in a paddock with trees is not sufficient care for a photosensitivity case. Shade moves and changes in size and availability. Cows will do their best, but in reality during the day, they should be locked somewhere where they have no choice but to be out of direct UV light. The cow I observed walked determinedly over 1km in the opposite direction to the herd after milking, alone, and put herself into a hayshed on the second day of having use of it. She quickly learned that that was where her pain was lowest. On the third day, she took herself out of her night paddock and went to the hayshed as soon as the sun came out.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Left: Putting the cow in a paddock with trees is not enough to stop her pain.

Forcing a cow to be out of direct sunlight may only be necessary for a few days – you can see when she is comfortable to be outside again from her behaviour. Taking her away from the light as soon as possible will reduce the amount of skin damage, keep her appetite up and help her retain milk production. • Lisa Whitfield is a Manawatu veterinarian with Lisa Whitfield Farm Vet Services, Palmerston North.

Putting a cover on a cow is not sufficient to prevent pain

From what I have seen, putting a cover on a cow can make the pain from photosensitivity worse. I understand why it is done – a cover protects the skin from direct light exposure, right? Yes, but not completely enough to stop burning from

occurring – the udder, legs, tail and head are all still exposed. Cows with photosensitivity often also suffer from a high fever during the acute stages of the disease – over 40 degrees Celsius. The contact pressure from having a cover on a cow with burning skin may make her more agitated and uncomfortable if she has a fever.

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STOCK SLICK GENE

‘The industry is recognising the impact of heat stress on animals and it’s a lot lower than people think. It’s not just when cows are panting that they are under heat stress, that’s when it’s really bad.’

Cow no.5242 has a slick coat shown here in the sunlight, and has produced 950kg milk solids in her last season.

Slick gene for cool cows Words by: Sheryl Haitana

warming climate is a big problem all around the world that’s not going to go away. However, the dairy industry can look to nature to find genetic solutions for a warming climate, such as the Slick gene which gives cows greater heat tolerance. “This gene was in three indigenous breeds that have had natural selection pressure on heat. It’s a good lesson that we can look to nature and find things that we can breed into our dairy herd,” Thermo Regulatory Genetics chief executive Derek Fairweather says. The Slick gene, named because cattle who inherit the gene have very short hair and appear shiny and wet, keeps 76

cows up to 1C cooler than other cattle and is enough to make them perform significantly better in hot and humid temperatures. Slick gene cows milked on DairyNZ System 5 farms could potentially produce up to three litres/day more during the summer months, Derek says. “A lot of System 5 farmers have bred US or Dutch Holstein Friesians, and they’re the cows that are hurting.” Research by the University of Florida has shown United States Holsteins under heat stress with the Slick gene can produce 3-4 litres a day more. There is still work to do around quantifying that in a New Zealand context, but NZ farmers milking big Holsteins in System 5 operations could expect to produce an extra 3l/day from cows with the Slick gene, Fairweather says. Thermo Regulatory Genetics has a team of 70 bulls in NZ and another bull team in the US, and has been selling straws to US farmers and farmers in tropical countries for several years. They are now also turning their attention to the NZ market. The company has started to customise bulls to sell

semen in NZ and is aiming to have 10,000 daughters with the Slick gene on the ground in NZ in the next year or two. Their priority is to gather NZ data from these daughters, which will be easier to collate than from tropical countries. There is growing awareness of the impact of heat stress amongst the industry, Derek says. Fonterra’s new Animal Welfare Code specifically identified heat stress and identified the Slick gene as a potential solution. Research shows cows can be under heat stress from as low as 15C. “I think the industry is recognising the impact of heat stress on animals and it’s a lot lower than people think. It’s not just when cows are panting that they are under heat stress, that’s when it’s really bad.” The main issue they see with Slick animals is looking after young stock in the NZ winter. “When they feel the cold they will grow hair to compensate, but it’s making sure in those first few weeks, calves born in a NZ winter, that you’re feeding calves warm milk.” The Slick gene is dominant, so a homozygous bull will give all daughters one copy of the Slick gene. “We’ve been milking Slick gene animals in NZ since 2010. Some of our cows have exceeded 10,000 litres and just under 1000kg milksolids (MS) in a season, this season we are confident we will break the 1000kg solids mark. Which just proves, these cows have plenty of milk ability. This Slick gene has nothing to do with damping down any other traits.”

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

STOCK FACIAL ECZEMA

Managing FE, it’s not just about zinc Words by: Joe McGrath

acial eczema is chronic toxicity caused by the ingestion of spores from pasture and their conversion into sporidesmin in blood. The disease appears to be spreading into the North Island central highlands and even to the South Island. If summers get warmer, incidence may spread further. However, disease management continues to improve. Progressive farmers no longer count it as a non-manageable problem. Why so? These farmers have learned to complement grass with supplementary feeding through in-shed feed systems and feed pads. This has been targeted at optimising milk yield to body weight in milk solids but it’s also allowed farmers to manage several nutrition parameters that traditional drenching and water dosing cannot. 1. Dosing through feed means more even dosing. 2. It allows use of safer, more effective zinc oxide. 3. Supplementary feed allows optimum pasture use, minimising fungal growth. 4. Supplementary feed intake dilutes spore intake in severe situations.

5. We can add other nutritional components that help maintain optimum immunity and metabolic activity, including calcium, phosphorus, Vitamin E, selenium and Vitamin D metabolites. Since the 1970s, zinc in the diet, as a drench, bolus, in water or feed, has been one of the most effective methods of reducing facial eczema impact. It’s sometimes, however, thought of as the only tool. But when spore numbers are really high, zinc is often not enough to prevent damage. What’s more, like many strong medicines, zinc comes with side effects. For example, it can be antagonistic to other minerals, especially calcium, increasing the likelihood of milk fever. With planning these side effects can be offset. There are other means in the tool kit of bolstering immunity and decreasing exposure to spores. Feeding non-pasture feeds allows spore intake to be reduced through dilution. It’s been demonstrated that the right proportion of micro minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants, in particular vitamin E, can further contribute to the resistance of animals to facial eczema (Munday et. al.). Therapeutic levels of zinc can reduce calcium uptake. However, the

Key points • Zinc inhibits the generation of the superoxide radicals by sporidesmin. • Copper causes the spore to become toxic. • There is no safe copper supplement. • Zinc reduces copper absorption. • Non-pasture feeds during risk periods will help limit spore exposure. • Zinc antagonises calcium absorption, increasing the risk of hypocalcaemia. The use of Hy-D can improve calcium absorption. • Vitamin E has been shown to act differently to zinc, helping to prevent damage by free radicals involved with facial eczema.

vitamin D metabolite, Hy-D, increases active absorption of both calcium and phosphorus, helping offset zinc antagonism and reducing milk fever risk. We also need to watch copper intake while spore levels are high. Free copper is needed to create superoxide radicals. Organic (or chelated) copper in zinc supplements is sometimes offered as safer. There is no safe form of copper. To date no published work demonstrates reduced impact. • Dr. Joe McGrath is head nutritionist for Sollus.

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PROVING PEOPLE CAN CHANGE After a difficult upbringing, Ben Purua speaks to Alex Lond about how farming provided him with opportunities he never believed he would be privy to only a few years ago.

he path to managing a dairy farm has been far from smooth for Ahuwhenua Trophy Young Farmer finalist 26-year-old Ben Purua. After a tough start to life and serving time in prison, farming gave him the opportunity to better himself and he hasn’t looked back. Not a stranger to a challenge, Ben has previously entered the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards three times and his efforts have been recognised with awards for his leadership skills and financial planning achievements. However, the Ahuwhenua Trophy was a contest close to his heart. “I’d never heard of the Ahuwhenua Trophy before it was recommended to me by the Dairy NZ Māori agribusiness specialist Hemi Dawson. “After learning the whakapapa behind the awards, I realised how much I could relate to the purpose: it’s more about who you are and what you want to achieve from farming, rather than just your knowledge and ability to talk numbers.” Ben couldn’t believe how he’d never heard about the competition before entering. Immersed in his own Māori culture, he believes that the Ahuwhenua Trophy needs more advertising as an amazing opportunity for young people to develop and advance their passion for farming, as well as talking to like-minded people about working as a young Māori in the industry.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

‘I’VE BEEN GIVEN SOME AMAZING OPPORTUNITIES BY MY PREVIOUS AND CURRENT EMPLOYERS, AND IT’S CHANGED MY LIFE.’ Farm manager Ben Purua: ‘I enter awards so that people can see that even those with a background like mine can go far.’

Detailing how he has learned from his own children how crucial social media is in terms of interacting with the younger generation, Ben hopes the future of the trophy gets better publicity and engagement through previous finalists like himself. After entering the young farmer area of the competition in his last eligible year, one of his goals is to be able to enter his own Māori trust farm and take home the trophy, something that seems very achievable given how far he has already come since he began farming four years ago. Growing up in town, Ben had to learn everything he knew from scratch. After learning how to fence during his time in Waikeria prison, he tried concreting, building, and even working in a sawmill before realising that his passion lay in dairy. He always had the challenge of his criminal record when it came to applying for jobs, but he never let it hold him back. “I found that lots of people won’t even look at you if you have a criminal record, but it’s the ones who see past that who make a difference. I’ve been given some amazing opportunities by my previous and current employers, and it’s changed my life.” Talking about his time in prison and his difficult upbringing, Ben spoke of how his main mission in life now is to help people like him to improve their life after prison. He and his wife Nikki are involved in numerous organisations helping people coming out of prison to get into farming. As well as working with DairyNZ making monthly visits to prisons with potential

employers in a “return to work” scheme, Nikki and Ben have plans to invest in a farm where prisoners can go to learn the ropes before full time employment. Referring to this as a “transition farm”, Ben explained how providing prisoners with this option rather than putting them straight into full time work with new employers would allow ex-inmates to prove their worth before employers commit. “I am proof that people can change. I enter awards so that people can see that even those with a background like mine can go far. I want others to see how many things you can become in this lifestyle – one day you’re a mechanic, the next you’re a vet. The opportunities are endless.” Ben has hit the ground running this season with his first managing role on a 540-cow dairy farm just outside of Tirau in the South Waikato. A system 5 farm with a high stocking rate of predominantly Friesian cows, Ben is relishing the challenge of a new routine, with just one staff member and the farm owner on hand to help. Moving on to an autumn-calving farm during winter has allowed him to ease into the position, and with sexed semen being used at the last mating he is hoping to reap the rewards come calving. “With the export market on the way out, we will be raising our own Friesian bull calves this coming season. Hopefully the use of sexed semen will provide us with enough replacement heifers while significantly reducing the amount of bobby calves.” Despite having achieved so much already

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

since they started farming, Ben and Nikki have ample goals for themselves. The main one is advancing their social media entity ‘FarmUpNZ’, a Facebook group created by them to give people an insight into the farming lifestyle, the ups and downs and all the reasons why they love it so much. The page includes tips and tricks on all elements of farming, including having a good attitude, dealing with disappointment and how your own reactions reflect on others. It also provides 24-hour support for people from all walks of life, and they’re hoping to be able to aid anyone who feels inspired to get into farming after seeing their content. Other ambitions include liaising with the police for rehabilitation programmes for prisoners, as well as increasing their involvement in areas such as the E Tu Matua Program, which targets men who are involved in or going through domestic violence. Last, but by no means least, their goal is to own a dairy farm and have the ability to employ hard-working people who might be overlooked by other employers because of their difficult past. “People from my sort of background want to see the change, not just hear about it. Farming is the only place I feel good, it feels like home, and I want more people to feel that.”

FOLLOW BEN AND NIKKI ON ‘FARMUPNZ’

DRIVING FOR THE

RED TEAM After a variety of jobs, including three years milking, Richard Lamb decided to take a job driving milk tankers for Fonterra in South Otago. He’s never looked back. Photos and story by Karen Trebilcock.

t’s 6.30am in mid-September and Richard Lumb is listening to the morning briefing with the rest of the red team at Fonterra’s Stirling tanker depot near Balclutha. As the others head off on their runs, it’s his tanker’s turn for a CIP, a clean in place, so he’s driving across the road to the Stirling plant. Each tank has a CIP scheduled every 24 hours and it’s a hot chemical wash inside the tanks and a wash on the outside, not that the outside of the tanker will stay clean. Ahead of it is a day and night of wet roads and tanker tracks and there is a fresh coating of snow on the hills. Richard shares the truck with a member of each of the blue and green teams. “We work three days starting at 6.30 if it’s mornings, then three nights starting at 5pm and then three days off so it’s a nineday roster. “On days you work about nine hours and drive up to 500km and nights are usually about 10 hours or a bit more and you’re driving up to 650km. “The other two guys who I share this truck with are really good. We all keep it clean and look after it.” And his family don’t mind the roster, especially as dad is often around to help

out with sports, cook tea and do some reno on the house. “I can’t be there every Saturday for sport but I can be there for most of them. When I started with Fonterra in 2018 the kids suddenly noticed I was around a lot more.” His kids and wife have all been on a run with him. Fonterra has two days every year when family or friends can ride in the cab. As well there are those long winter breaks. “We work a set amount of hours each year so when our hours run out we stop work. If you do covers for other drivers or call backs then you get your hours done quicker.” As well they get to know the others on their team. “We see each other at the briefing at the start of the day and then all the tankers we see on the road are from red team whether they’re from Edendale or Stirling. “And when we have days off, we’re all having the same days off so you can catch up with your co-workers away from work.” But now, with an empty tanker, he’s heading for his first dairy farm on Webb Road at Waipahi about 50km away. Empty tankers have their own dangers, just the same as full ones and it’s why Fonterra prefer drivers to come to the job with experience of live loads.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Far left: While the tanker is filling, Richard walks around it checking seals, tyres and anything else that might be amiss. Left: Richard prepares the pottles to take samples of the load and the individual pickup. Right: The tanker unloading at Fonterra’s Stirling cheese plant.

“A live load is stock or liquid, something that moves around. It’s easier to tip over with a live load. Driving with an empty tanker is a lot different to driving a full one. When you brake with milk on board you can feel the wave of the milk coming forward. “And when you’re empty you’ve got to watch you don’t lose traction going uphill.” The trucks are replaced about every five years, are automatic and their engines are limited to 90km/h. “Even if I put my foot to the floor it will only go 90 on the flat. If I’m going downhill it’s different of course.” But the trucks are GPS tracked and if he’s going too fast down a hill, or braking heavily or turning too sharply, he gets a call to make sure everything’s okay.

All the information, including the route, is on the Incab display mounted on the cab’s floor to his left. “I just follow the blue line on it.” The Incab also shows his fuel consumption and Fonterra aims to reduce fuel burn every season. Richard is at his first pickup. There’s no one around and he drives up to the vat, gets out, hooks up the hose to the vat and starts the process, getting three pottles ready for sampling. As the engine revs increase the milk flow, Richard walks around the truck making sure everything is as it should be and giving the tyres a thump with a hammer. After about 10 minutes, at 1000 litres to go, he opens the door of the vat to make sure the agitator is going round. Then all

“making milking easier and faster”

finished, he unhooks, makes sure the filter in the pickup hose is clean, sets the vat rinse going and takes the docket printed at the tanker and leaves it by the vat controls. This is where the dogs on farms, and the odd cat, show up, especially at night. “They want a pat usually. The odd dog turns up, especially the old ones. I’ll think, where did it go and I’ll check under the tanker before I drive off. “The kids on the farms are great. They love seeing the tanker. I’ve never had any problems. If they are around the tanker, they’re always holding on to mum.” When leaving each farm he can add a note on the Incab about potholes needing to be filled, if there is a dead cow by the dairy or anything else not as it should be. “I don’t do the pothole one a lot,

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‘MAKING SURE EVERYTHING IS OKAY ON THE FARM IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR FONTERRA AND IF WE CAN HELP, OR GET HELP TO SOMEONE, WE DO IT.’ “I started green and ended up as herd manager but to take that next step, it was the $8 payout year, we just didn’t feel comfortable with the debt we would need.” Instead he went back to his first love – driving. Fonterra red team tanker driver Richard Lumb inside the truck with the Incab display beside him. “I had someone ask me when I was younger what I especially during calving and mating wanted to do and I said I’ve because I know everyone is really busy but always wanted to drive milk tankers and he if you spend 10 hours a day or more getting said only dropouts became truck drivers so I shaken around because of potholes you didn’t do it. really feel it afterwards.” “I shouldn’t have listened to him.” And if there is something seriously wrong He worked doing forestry roading and he can ring Hamilton. other trucking jobs then decided a move “Making sure everything is okay on the south, to Balclutha at the other end of the farm is really important for Fonterra and if country, might work and his family haven’t we can help, or get help to someone, we do looked back. it.” “It’s hard on my wife being away from With the truck GPS-tracked, he just has to her family but the kids love it down here. hit a button and emergency services can be The weather is so much better. No humidity. called to the co-ordinates of the truck. When we have a nice day here it is a nice As well, drivers are trained in first aid and day. No wind.” using a fire extinguisher. And today there are thousands of lambs “I haven’t come across a car accident yet being born all along his route. while working for Fonterra. Seen lots of “Sheep on the road is the worst hazard. wrecks but never come across one that’s just There are crazy drivers and in lockdown it’s happened.” been great to have the roads empty. But the He’s off to Kaihiku Church Road, 35km sheep. They’ll be sitting by a fence and you away near Waiwera. think they’re going to stay put and then at With volumes changing day to day, the last minute...” especially in the spring, the route is always On the way to this farm is a narrow gravel different, determined by Fonterra in road. Hamilton and their computer algorithms. “This is the worst sort of weather, when “No two days are ever the same. You go it’s wet. When it’s dry you can see the dust places you would never go otherwise. It’s of oncoming vehicles for miles sitting up so been an awesome way to see the South high. Island.” “And at night you can see the headlights From Northland, Richard trained as a coming towards you. On a day like today cabinet maker and then went building but, you just go slow and make sure you are as after the Global Financial Crisis, decided to far left as you can be on the crest of the listen to his wife who had grown up on a hills.” dairy farm, and the couple and their young He pulls into the roundabout by the dairy, family went milking near Waipu for three stops and climbs down. years. The second farm’s information comes 82

up on the truck’s exterior display panel, collecting data from the vat’s Halo system, showing the temperature of the milk and the expected volume. With the truck’s tank filled, the milk is automatically diverted into the trailer, the valves at the top of each opening and closing. All finished, it’s mid-morning and time to head the remaining 25km to Stirling with a full load. Breaking up the day-to-day routine of collecting milk from farms are commodity runs to either Edendale or Clandeboye. Stirling produces cheese so the parts of the milk that are not used in the process, such as lactose or cream, head to other manufacturing sites. Richard believes he’s found the job for the rest of his life and if he can’t drive anymore for whatever reason, he would consider a job in the dairy factory. “Fonterra is really good to work for. Great super scheme, medical, everything. Great people you’re working with.” The systems in place make it easy as well. Each run makes sure the driver has their minimum 30-minute break after every five and a half hours driving and doesn’t go over the legal limit of 14 hours of driving per day. As well there are no worries of the truck being overweight. Every year an assessor sits in the cab with each driver to make sure they’re doing everything right – their driving and pickups. Pulling into Stirling the tanker goes through an outside wash then Richard parks up by the vats. He takes what’s known as the charm strip, which contains a sample of the load, in for testing for penicillin and other inhibitors. It takes seconds and he’s good to go. Test pottles collected at each farm go in the fridge and then it’s back outside to hook up to two vats, one for the truck and the other for the trailer. In eight to 12 minutes he’s empty again and back on the road.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

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WELLBEING TRAUMA

You’re allowed

to feel the pain

If you do anything for yourself this week, take five and meditate. Your mind will thank you for it, Harriet Bremner writes.

E Harriet Bremner and Poppy.

mergency departments, emergency vet departments and a dead cat. Life can be smooth sailing then suddenly a whole lot of stuff just happens. My theory since James died has been that, as long as no one died today, it’s a good day! I still believe that but those little life niggles can creep up on you and make you feel you are walking through mud just to try and get through each day. I have been in the hospital emergency department twice in the last month for two different reasons and different people plus the emergency vet clinic on a Saturday night for Poppy (my sausage dog) who nearly died and then my cat got run over and died. So much for things happening in threes! How do we continue to function when things are all up the whop in our daily lives? It is stressful waiting for results to come back, not knowing whether this is going to be the day you find out someone you love has cancer or something else really bad is wrong. It can trigger old traumas and make just tackling the normal things you have to do in your day hard. I had to remind myself it was okay to feel all those feelings and let them out. I have mentioned in the past how I had learnt to shut down how I was feeling and put on a brave face and, initially, my mind wanted to take me straight back there – to the ‘I’m okay’ box. I didn’t let myself, instead I let it all out. I have found myself in a really good and safe space in life which made this so much easier to do.

The relief of actually allowing myself to feel exactly how I have been feeling in the past month has been incredibly refreshing. Sometimes we worry that if we start crying we will never stop, but we do. It runs its course and after a good cry, good sleep and good food I feel so refreshed and more able to tackle what life is going to throw at me next. I have made a real effort to appreciate all the positive and wonderful things I have in my life. There will most likely always be something going on that affects you in one way or another so it’s so important to see what’s amazing right in front of you as well. Sometimes it’s the things we think we will cope with well, that we don’t – when I found myself in a hospital bed recently during lockdown having surgery, I really struggled. I had no one by my bedside as they weren’t allowed in and I just battled

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

The relief of actually allowing myself to feel exactly how I have been feeling in the past month has been incredibly refreshing.

the whole scenario. I knew others around me were in far worse situations, but I still struggled. It really reminded me that your thing is yours and yours alone. There will always be someone better or worse off than you in a single moment but you are allowed to be scared, lonely, in pain and feeling shitty about what you personally are going through. We are all human after all. I told myself it was nothing like I have been through in the past, but it actually didn’t help this time. This time I felt confronted and really battled initially to get through. You may be going through something within your family or on the farm and wondering when it will ever end, why me, this is unfair, it sucks and more. It does. That’s the truth. It does suck, no matter what it is, it will feel never-ending for a time. So, feel it. Let it out. Find the thing that helps you release whatever you are feeling about whatever it is that you are dealing with. It is such a full-on time of year and it’s easy to push things aside and think you can keep on going, but the trouble with feelings is that they stay buried until eventually you have no choice but to deal with them.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Meditation

One thing I have resumed in the last month that has helped me immensely is meditation. I used to think this was the biggest crock on the planet. Excuse the French, but I seriously thought it a waste of time. I mean, who has time to lie on the floor and breathe! This changed when I was pushed into meditation to be a tool to help me deal with the side effects of severe grief and trauma and I cannot stress enough how truly incredible it is when you get the hang of it. You have to be prepared to truly let go with no distractions around you – even just for five minutes. After I do a 10-minute meditation I feel more invigorated and able to tackle whatever the day has to throw at me because I have truly rested and let my mind stop – it is more restful than sleep even. I don’t get that tired slump at 2pm any more and have more energy than ever. I have made a goal to do three/four each week so that I know I can achieve it. You might start doing two a week or whatever works for you. The hardest part is starting. You could be parked in the paddock in the middle of the farm or at home or outside on the lawn. As long as you feel able to stop, you will not regret it. I use the meditation on my Kate Ivey Fitness login and my partner does it with me too. There are plenty of free apps available as well that friends of mine use. If you do anything for yourself this week, take five minutes and try one out. Your mind will thank you for it. It is something I have found you have to do a few times to get into the swing. When I first started my mind wanted to wander. However, when you bring yourself back into the moment and appreciate you have dedicated this small amount of time just to you, the benefits are incredible.

DAIRY 101 DAIRY CATTLE BREEDS

From Marsden’s Shorthorns to Abondance Story and photos by: Karen Trebilcock

f nothing else, you should know your dairy breeds, but do you know where they all come from and why we have them? In 1814, Samuel Marsden imported the first dairy cows to New Zealand. They were Shorthorns, a bull and two cows and came from the New South Wales crown herd, a gift from Governor Lachlan Macquarie. By the 1840s, most European settlements throughout the country had them for their milk, meat and their ability to pull heavy loads. The breed comes from northeast England where the Durham and Teeswater cattle were crossed in the late 1700s. By 1880 there were some 500,000 cattle in NZ and most of them were shorthorns. But the Scots wanted their own cattle and in 1848, the first Ayrshires arrived on the Philip Laing at Port Chalmers near Dunedin. An Ayrshire cow, also on the ship, had died on the way. Ayrshires were first known as Cunninghams, then Dunlops and finally the Ayrshire name was adopted from their home, the County of Ayr in Scotland. They were bred during the 1700s from native cattle which were crossed with other breeds including the Teeswater. Most of these first cattle were black, but the browns and mottled colours the breed is known for started to appear by 1775. In Taranaki, however, they wanted the Jersey cow. NZ’s first pedigree Jerseys were two cows and a bull brought to Whangauni by Thomas Syers in 1862. From Jersey, one of the British Channel Islands, the breed probably came from nearby France and it was first recorded in 1700. Canterbury breeder JCH Grigg was the first to import

By 1880 there were some 500,000 cattle in NZ and most of them were Shorthorns. But the Scots wanted their own cattle and in 1848, the first Ayrshires arrived.

Dutch Friesian cattle into NZ in 1884. Named after the Western Friesland region in the Netherlands, they were bred using black cattle from Batavians (Germany) and white animals from Friesland. They are also known as Holstein Friesian with the name Holstein more used in North America. The early NZ herd was bolstered with American Holstein bloodlines in 1902. Soon farmers supplying fresh milk sought out the Friesian breed wanting their ability to produce large volumes while those supplying milk for butter and cheese favoured Jerseys. Breed societies were set up and winning ribbons and cups at shows became important. Selling pedigree cattle supplemented farm incomes and maintained the individual breeds. It was often done by what is called line breeding which is the breeding of close relatives (half-brother to half-sister) to lock in desirable traits. All these breeds were developed using it. On the island of Jersey, from 1789 to 2008, it was forbidden by law to import foreign cattle just so the purity of the Jersey breed could be assured. However, in NZ in the 1990s, we started doing things a little differently. Friesian cattle were getting bigger, Jerseys were getting smaller and were not handling our winters and the flurry of conversions brought new people and new ideas into the industry. We started crossing the two breeds. The reasoning farmers gave, if they were asked, was hybrid vigour. It’s the opposite to line breeding and the idea is, by crossing

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

two unrelated breeds, we will get the best of both and a little bit more. A breed loses genetic diversity over time, known as inbreeding depression. It’s probably why those Durham and Teeswater cattle were first crossed in Northeast England in the 1700s. Last decade, genetics companies started offering the cross, especially as the daughters were outperforming many of the daughters of their best Friesian and Jersey bulls. The black cow became popular. So much so, crossbred cows now make up the largest portion of the national dairy herd at 49.1% (NZ Dairy Statistics 2019-2020) and, according to LIC, about 80% of the calves born this year will be crossbred, either from matings using crossbred semen or from Jersey semen used over Friesians or vice versa. However, the cross is not stabilised. The desired all-black F10 J6 cow cannot be reproduced every mating, meaning farmers are switching between crossbred, Jersey and Friesian as their herds become too Friesian or too Jersey. LIC, suppliers of the trademarked Kiwicross genetics, don’t even intend to stabilise it – instead continually using the two parent breeds for their bulls to make sure hybrid vigour is maintained. But for some farmers, two crosses are not enough and a third is the way to go. Bring in the Viking Red, the Fleckvieh, Norwegian Red, Montbéliarde, Normande and Abondance. While there was no one controlling what cattle breeds came into the country in the 1800s, the government soon put a stop to such farmer meddling. Fifty years ago, the Department of Agriculture’s breeding and genetics experts decided what breeds were required. The “wholesale importation of exotic breeds merely because some other country has found them useful is not necessarily the way to go to progressively improve New Zealand’s animals,” the Minister of Agriculture said at the time. Back then breed importers had to use the government’s maximum-security animal quarantine complex on Somes Island in Wellington harbour. Now, using MPI standards, we fly in frozen straws of semen. As well as providing more hybrid vigour, European breeds such as Viking Reds also have the benefit of decades of breeding in countries unable to use hormone interventions to cycle cows or the blanket use of antibiotics to control mastitis. Because of this, they can claim their genetics have higher fertility and a proven greater resistance to disease.

By 1880 there were some 500,000 cattle in NZ and most of them were Shorthorns. But the Scots wanted their own cattle and in 1848, the first Ayrshires arrived. Many also have connections to beef breeds so are sought after by Kiwi farmers because they produce a more versatile calf than a Jersey or Jersey cross. Fleckvieh comes from the yellow-coloured bulls of the Swiss Simmental region and the red-and-white-spotted Austrian cattle. The Normande comes from Normandy in northern France but date back to the cattle brought there from Scandinavia by the Vikings in the ninth century. Today they are farmed for cheese making and beef. Until the early 1990s they were ranked second in the French national dairy herd (Holstein is number one) until they were overtaken by the Montbéliarde which used to be known as Alsatian cattle due to their connection to the German and Dutchspeaking parts of Europe. Modern Montbéliarde are a composite of the breeds Tourache, Bernoise and Red Holstein. Viking Reds are a cross of the Swedish Red, Finnish Ayrshire and Danish Red dairy breeds. Lastly, Abondance were bred by the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Maurice d’Agaune in Switzerland in the 12th century. They were originally known as Chablaisienne cattle. But if NZ farmers want to stray further, there are Asian and African regions that have also developed their own dairy breeds such as the Sahiwal which has been used for dairy production in tropical parts of Australia. Just a thought as you start mating this season.

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SOLUTIONS What’s NEW? ANIMAL HEALTH

More coverage, less effort

or many farmers, protecting calves against coccidiosis involves giving a separate treatment at weaning. Or it can mean the hassle of selectively dosing animals and leaving an opportunity for the infection to cause harm in those that have not been treated. Both options can be a significant cost in time or money. Now New Zealand-owned Alleva Animal Health has created Turbo® Initial, an all-in-one world-first oral drench which provides weaned calves with broadspectrum worm parasite coverage as well as helping to protect against coccidiosis. It is specifically designed to bridge the “immunity gap” after calves come off coccidiostat-treated meal and before their natural coccidiosis immunity has developed. This is when they are particularly vulnerable to infection.

Pahiatua farmer Richard Murfitt trialled the product last season and believes the switch is a ‘bit of a no brainer’ considering how well it works. It’s also cut the administration time by half as a separate treatment for coccidiosis isn’t required. “I see it as good insurance really. It’s very easy, works well and we are happy with the transition.” Turbo® Initial is the first product in the 3-stage Turbo® parasite control programme for growing cattle and is developed using the most effective ingredients for higher potency, better safety and coverage of key parasites at

the right times – including resistant strains. The second product, Turbo® Advance, is an oral drench targeting cattle in their second stage of growth after coccidiosis immunity has emerged. It is also suitable to use on cattle under 120kg. Stage three then provides two treatment options depending on preference. Turbo® Pour-on uses the DMI-Sorb™ rain resistant technology created by Alleva to meet NZ’s unruly weather conditions, while Turbo® Injection uses the Alleva Co-mectin™ formula of Eprinomectin and Ivermectin combined with Levamisole. More? See www.alleva.co.nz

Not all trace minerals are created equal

race mineral absorption is highly regulated by the body. For trace minerals to be utilised by an animal, they have to reach the small intestine, be absorbed by the intestinal cells or enterocytes and pass into the blood. Zinpro utilises a patented process to create performance trace minerals. Zinpro bonds the metal to the amino acid, such as methionine, in a 1:1 metal to amino acid ratio. This allows the mineral to be absorbed through the amino acid transporter. Performance trace minerals are able to avoid the various antagonistic interactions to which other trace mineral sources are subject and, therefore, reach the intestinal lining and be absorbed in the intestinal cells or enterocytes and pass into the blood. Once in the blood (circulation), Zinpro Performance Minerals are excreted in the urine at a much slower rate than inorganic or low-quality organic trace minerals. This means minerals remain in circulation longer, allowing time for the tissues and cells to utilise the trace minerals more effectively hence improving metabolic availability to the animal which inevitably leads to improved animal performance. Inorganic trace minerals, on the other hand, are metal ions and must 88

utilise the metal ion transporter for absorption into the enterocytes. Only so much of an inorganic trace mineral can be absorbed through this transporter pathway while the rest is excreted. Additionally, when metal ions travel through the gastrointestinal tract, some are captured by antagonists, which are agents that can bind or block an inorganic in its pathway, making the mineral unavailable to the animal. This ultimately limits the animal’s ability to absorb the essential trace minerals and reach its full genetic potential. More? See Zinpro.com Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

SOLUTIONS What’s NEW? PUMPS AND FEEDERS

The right pump for dosing

rustration with poor performance led Southland dairy farmer John Titter to replace the existing automatic dosing units used on his properties near Winton. “We milk 1400 cows through two herringbone sheds so we need reliable gear that doesn’t break down and need to be sent away for repairs all the time,” he says. “The maintenance costs on our old dosing pumps were very high and we just had to find a better option for dosing our cows with minerals,” he says. When an old friend from his university

days in the 1980s mentioned the success he was having with a Mixrite dosing pump on his own run-off block, John decided to buy one himself and see how it coped. Mixrite pumps were developed in Israel and are sold in New Zealand through a local agent, with service and sales agents around most of the country. “The issue for us is that our water has quite high levels of manganese and iron in it. Even with a pre-filter, the wear and tear on the old units was a massive challenge once we pumped in other minerals for the cows like magnesium.”

The replacement Mixrite unit was such a revelation when it came to reduced maintenance costs and performance. Aside from keeping the unit’s O-ring clean and lubricated, John says maintenance required is almost zero. “We were spending between $500 and $1000 a year on maintaining each one of the old pumps. Now we’re able to handle most of the maintenance of the Mixrite units ourselves.” More? visit mixrite.co.nz

Finally, an easy way to grow great replacements

rowing a quality heifer will lead to increased conception rates, easier calving, longer time in the milking herd and higher production outputs, however getting the right nutrition into calves can be difficult. Feeding challenges often include labour shortages, wasted feed from the elements, higher feed prices for feed in 25kg bags, lack of control over intake, bossy stock consuming more than they should, and when the calves grow out, they can start making the task risky to your health. Advantage Feeders have been helping farmers around the world overcome these challenges for almost 15 years and have developed a model for the New Zealand dairy farmer. The three-way feed restriction system controls the height, width, and depth of how much feed flows from the hopper, restricting the amount of feed that enters the feed access area and controls how much can be consumed by calves and heifers. The animal soon learns how to lick in and out of the “feed access area”, getting only a tiny amount of feed with each lick. The three adjusters can be set for any ration but in the most restricted setting, stock receive about 0.33% of their bodyweight per day. This is about 350g/day for a 100kg calf or 1kg/day for a 300kg heifer. Once feed control is achieved, many of the challenges of providing ideal nutrition to replacements is easily overcome. The practical benefits of Advantage Feeders newly released M1000HD only scratches the surface with the main benefit of the increased production being realised out of sight in the animal’s rumen. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Using the three-way restriction system supplements animals with small amounts, often. This ensures the pH of the rumen stays in a zone that allows pasture digesting microflora to work efficiently leading to a reduction in supplementation and reduced feed expenses. More? Call Advantage Feeders on 027 353 7274 or visit the website, www.advantagefeeders.co.nz

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OUR STORY 50 YEARS AGO IN NZ DAIRY EXPORTER

50 years ago in the Dairy Exporter October As NZ Dairy Exporter counts down to its centenary in 2025, we look back at the issues of earlier decades. 50 Years Ago – October 1971. MAIZE TO COMBAT DROUGHT

Green feed maize as a counter to drought conditions is being increasingly considered by dairy farmers. In parts of New Zealand that have been regularly stricken by severe droughts, many herds prematurely dry off and production falls far short of the herd’s potential. Droughts usually start in December and last until March-April. Generally production is really suffering by mid-January. Among many methods of overcoming these droughts are irrigation, silage, hay, turnips and short season. Each has its shortcomings. Maize also has its shortcomings but in my opinion is a better proposition than any of the methods mentioned. I will use a 100-cow herd as an example to illustrate the value of maize. Assuming that in a good season or under irrigation conditions the herd could average 300 lb fat, in a drought it would do 240 lb fat, and in a drought with a crop of maize it would average 270 lb of fat per cow.

GOUDA CHEESE FOR JAPAN

New Zealand has begun factory production of a traditional-type Gouda cheese for Japan. The Wairarapa Dairy Company’s factory at Greytown has been converted for exclusive manufacture of Gouda in a project regarded as a “breakthrough” for the industry. Gouda is an important ingredient in Japanese processed cheese. Japan draws heavily at present on several European countries for its supply of Gouda, and there must be hope that the Greytown production signals a switch in interest that will become more pronounced over the years. It could take on special significance if Britain enters the EEC and our cheese market there has to be run down.

DAIRY BOARD TO OPEN U.S. OFFICE

The Dairy Board is to establish a wholly owned subsidiary company in the United States. Announcing the decision, the Chairman, Mr F. L. Onion, said that the new company would be an agent of the Board, but not to the exclusion of the present United States agents, Western Dairy Products Ltd and A. J. Mills and Co. Ltd. “The new company, which will be based in Chicago, will provide a channel of direct association and technical liaison with the United States dairy processing industry,” said Mr Onion. “With the likelihood of marked changes in the pattern of the international dairy trade, irrespective of whether Britain enters the Common Market, the Board

Cover photo: The spirit of Spring on dairyfarms throughout New Zealand is captured in this attractive study from the National Publicity Studios of Jersey calves with a “playmate”.

is convinced that this development is necessary, extending an arm of the Board’s direct operations into the American scene.”

CAKES FOR OCCASIONS

Never Fail Sponge 3 eggs 1 small cup flour ½ cup sugar ¼ cup hot water 1 tablespoon butter 1 teaspoon baking powder Beat egg whites until stiff, add yolks and beat again, adding the sugar also. Sift in the flour and baking powder and add gradually the butter, which has been dissolved in hot water. Stir only sufficiently to blend the ingredients. Use two 7 inch tins and bake 15 minutes at 350 – 400 degrees – Nelly Kelly. • Thanks to the Hocken Library, Dunedin.

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

BRAIN

FOOD Nourish your brain with our fat-free, zero-carb, fact-packed podcast.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Go to dairynz.co.nz/podcast or your favourite podcast platforms.

Talking dairy

TAKE CONTROL

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FRONT HOOF BLOCKS AND BELLY STRAP Front hoof blocks with a locking safety winch allows a front leg to be pulled up for safe and easy handling. The Wopa block is an optional upgrade for on the front. The front winch with belly strap provides support to cow when front hooves are being examined.

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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021

Dairy Exporter October 2021

Articles inside

Animal Health: Right pump for dosing

Animal Health: More coverage, less effort

Dairy breeds: From Marsden’s Shorthorns to Abondance

Trauma: You’re allowed to feel the pain

The Dairy Exporter in October 1971

Proving people can change

Managing FE - It’s not just about zinc

Slick gene for cool cows

Body Condition Score driving results

Taking the sting out of spring eczema

DairyNZ: Preparation for next winter starts now

Ballance Awards: Recognition for hard work

Competing for soil health

Tauranga: Aiming for a healthy harbour

A hell of a year to catch TB

Treading lightly for Miraka Award

Leptospirosis: Infection takes toll on dairy workers

Research: Low nitrogen loss under maize

BVD: Disregarded disease could be eliminated

Milking sheep adapting to Kiwi ways

Happy Cow: Sharing milk with the calves

Kellogg Report: When old dogs don’t learn new tricks

Market View: The cream of global milk supply

Suzanne Hanning reflects on the realities of wintering

Niall McKenzie goes for expansion and signs off

Anne-Marie Wells looks back on 10 years on the farm

Global Dairy: In Shanghai, Hunter McGregor tries room temperature yogurt

Carla Staples looks forward to the sun shining again