Dairy News 13 March 2012

Theo Spierings outlines his vision for Fonterra’s future. Page 3

a trail of destruction Naki’s weather bomb Pages 7 & 8

On trial

Search for super cows Pages 27 & 30

March 13, 2012 Issue 264 // www.dairynews.co.nz

farmers face new take on water “In the past farmers have thought it was just their right to put down a bore and pump water out of creeks. But this has changed.”

– James Houghton, Federated Farmers.

Page 10

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

news // 3

Milk volume, growth value to drive strategy SUDESH KISSUN

Regular pasture renewal pays off. PG 29

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News ������������������������������������������������������ 3-21 Opinion ���������������������������������������������22-24 Agribusiness ����������������������������������� 25 Management ������������������������������26-30 Animal Health ��������������������������� 31-35 Machinery & Products ��������������������������������������36-38 tractors & machinery ����39-42

FONTERRA CAN generate cash from within its business to finance growth but needs a stable capital base to do this, says chief executive Theo Spierings. He says TAF (trading among farmers) will ensure a strong capital base for Fonterra.

Briefing farmers on the co-op’s strategy refresh last week, he made it clear Fonterra will not be asking farmers for cash to fuel growth. Instead he wants the co-op’s New Zealand, Australia and Middle East businesses to generate more cash.

Spierings also hinted at downsizing Fonterra’s US and Europe business saying their relevance had “gone down”.

“We’re not saying we won’t be in the US and Europe but will look at the cost and cash delivery of business units,” he says.

The co-op’s growth strategy will target China, south-east Asia (ASEAN) and Latin America.

Spierings will later this month present his growth strategy to Fonterra’s board for approval.

The co-op is expected to release more details at its half-year results announcement on March 29.

Last week Spierings, co-op chairman Henry van der Heyden and Fonterra Shareholders Council chairman Simon Couper briefed farmers on the strategy refresh in Christchurch, New Plymouth

and Hamilton. The Hamilton meeting was live on a Sky TV channel and farmers were allowed to phone in with questions.

Spierings explained the global dairy outlook and opportunities for Fonterra. For Fonterra, milk volume and growth in value are crucial. The longterm outlook for dairy product demand is bullish.

Global demand is forecast to grow by 160 billion litres by 2020 while New Zealand’s production is expected to grow by 5b L. Spierings says the question for Fonterra is whether it will only focus on New Zealand milk or look at overseas milk pools. He warns Fonterra’s market power in dairy will diminish if it’s unable to obtain more milk to meet global demand.

The strongest demand growth is being recorded in emerging markets like India and China. Demand is flattening out in the US and Europe. Fonterra, which sends 40% of its milk to Asia, is well placed to capitalise on growth opportunities, he says.

Spierings wants Fonterra to use both its brands and ingredients businesses to target four key platforms; nutrition for mother and child as Asia’s population grows, ageing population in Japan and China, tackling obesity and convenience foods.

At the same time Fonterra needs to protect its

Theo Spierings

market share in China, south-east Asia and Latin America, regions that take 50% of its milk.

“If we don’t protect our market share, we might lose our position. If that happens 50% of our milk that goes to this region will end up on GDT and that will make a huge impact on the milk price,” he told farmers.

Meetings provide few answers Andrew swallow

FONTERRA’S THREE strategy presentation meetings last week were “inquisitorial” but presented “nothing new” with regards to the TAF (trading among farmers) proposal.

“It’s still a work in progress,” former shareholders council chair

Blue Read told Dairy News.

He attended the New Plymouth meeting and described it as “inquisitorial.”

“People want assurances and to understand the issue and get explanations. There were a couple of quite negative comments but it wasn’t extreme and all quite mature.

“There were issues raised that still need more information [such

as] where’s the value in it for farmers, and what’s the degree of risk.”

As one of the instigators of the capital restructure process, including TAF, Read says he wants to be sure it delivers as originally intended.

“We want to strengthen the balance sheet and leave redemption risk behind and have Fonterra operating on as commercial a base

as it possibly can.”

TAF opponent Eddie Glass says the Christchurch meeting presented “absolutely nothing new.”

“There was no animosity. Two people were pro-TAF. Others asked questions. Overall it was very low key, as expected given the [Christchurch] venue. It would have been a different story all together had it been in Ashburton.”

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

4 // news

‘TAF politics putting co-op growth at risk’ SUDESH KISSUN

INDECISION AND pol-

itics are threatening Fonterra’s growth prospects, says former director Mark Townshend.

He believes TAF (trading among farmers) has been dragging on for too long and is distracting the co-op from increasing the value of milk and creating shareholder wealth. The Ngatea farmer, who served on the co-op board since its inception in 2001 to 2008, wants TAF resolved without delay.

And he says Fonterra farmers should be prepared to give a little to ensure “a win-win” outcome for all stakeholders.

“The TAF issue has gone on too long and needs to be resolved to let the company get on and do what it was set up to do,” he told Dairy News.

“If the board has to make a couple of minor changes, then do so quickly and get on with it.”

Townshend points out this should be the “dream time” for Fonterra; an established board, a new CEO, a strong balance sheet and a world that currently presents once-ina- decade opportunities.

“My fear is that Fonterra’s shareholders and the New Zealand economy may miss the lining up of the stars because of indecisiveness, politicians and personal agendas.

and management are not going to pursue a growth strategy without a remedy for redemption risk.

Townshend wants the Fonterra Shareholders Council to be decisive. Its

returning the dairy industry back to a battle at farm gate milk price akin to the meat industry.

“The dairy industry has moved well past that model and sees more value

“My fear is that Fonterra’s shareholders and the New Zealand economy may miss the lining up of the stars because of indecisiveness, politicians and personal agendas.”

“There is an urgent need for the silent majority of Fonterra shareholders to get off their backsides and support the board and management to action required changes, to get TAF and Raw Milk Regulations off the agenda and get on with the real business of increasing the value of milk and creating shareholder wealth.”

A supporter of TAF, Townshend says most shareholders want the share value and associated dividends to grow. But at the same time there are other shareholders who genuinely cannot pay a high share price when rapidly growing their own milk supply. This is why we need a mechanism to cater for both sets of shareholders, he says.

And the Fonterra board

history has been “schizophrenic”, he says.

“At best and when under strong leadership, it has been a real asset to Fonterra and its shareholders. At other times is has been indecisive,” he says.

“Indecision is not an option on hard issues, nor is defaulting back to the shareholder populous as that is retreating to leadership at the lowest common denominator.

The council is needed most on the hard issues.”

He wants “young and promising” council chairman Simon Couper “to get a lasso around his council and reach a decisive position”.

Townshend also has a swing at politicians. He warns some government ministers lean towards

in taking on the global opportunities than feral and short-sighted farm gate pricing.”

He also questions whether Federated Farmers understands the issues facing the industry. The farmer lobby is backing the call for another vote and a letter from Feds Dairy chairman Willy Leferink to Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden on TAF was leaked to the media last month.

“If Federated Farmers wants to be involved in the TAF debate, there should be two prerequisites… they must understand the issues and not just respond to the squeaky wheel. And, if they choose to get involved then at least have the internal disciplines to control leaks.”

On a group of vocal Fonterra farmers opposed to TAF, Townshend says they don’t understand “that win-win means giving away a little in order to still have most of a much bigger pie”.

“The TAF proposal ensures supplying farmers control Fonterra and own most of it. They would in fact own all of it indirectly.

If this is 95% good for Fonterra shareholders and leaves a little on the table for others that is just as good as it gets.

“To get 100% in favour of Fonterra and nothing left on the table for the populous destroys

Former Fonterra director Mark Townshend.

land populous also locks Fonterra into the distracting debates around such issues as licence to operate, water quality and domestic milk price.

“Solving these issue will be less complex if it can be a ‘New Zealand – we’ approach rather than ‘10,000 Fonterra shareholders vs the rest of New Zealand’.

the win-win concept and leaves Fonterra with no solution to redemption risk while at the same time catering for shareholders who either want share value growth or do not want to commit to share purchase simultaneously with their own milk growth.

“To leave nothing on the table for the New Zea-

learning from history FONTERRA IS entering a “big prize period” and must get on with the act, says Townshend.

He says Fonterra is moving into its third stage since formation in 2001.

Stage one was the establishment years that were somewhat chaotic, plenty of skeletons to remove and leaving some “fur left on the floor”,

he says.

“This was a necessary phase because of legacy issues and what the new company inherited,” says Townshend.

He describes the second stage as the “solid platform years”.

A strong board, led by Henry van der Heyden and a solid management team led by Andrew Ferrier were ideal after the turmoil of the establishment phase.

“Exactly what was required for a tidy up and to set a platform,” he says.

Townshend says the co-op is now set

for big rewards. Most of the founding directors have gone and van der Heyden is to step down in November.

With a fired up and capable new chief executive in Theo Spierings and a strong balance sheet, opportunities await Fonterra, he says.

“The world is awash with problems, particularly in Europe ­- just the opportunity a well organised, well run, financially loaded company like Fonterra should exploit for both its shareholders and the New Zealand economy.”

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

news // 5

Shareholders Council urged to get on with TAF FONTERRA FARMERS are frustrated with

the delay in TAF (trading among farmers), says a former shareholders councillor David Gasquoine He wants the Fonterra Shareholders Council to “stop sitting on the fence and get on with it”.

The Hinuera farmer, who served on the council for six years, believes farmers want TAF. He shrugs off concerns by some farmers who claim TAF would open the door to Fonterra’s demutualisation.

“It’s not the role of shareholders to get involved in finer details of such issues,” he told Dairy News. “We delegate that role to the Shareholders Council and they represent our interests.”

Farmers unhappy with TAF argue it would erode 100% ownership and control. But Gasquoine rejects the argument.

“Ownership and control is something that can

only be decided by shareholders. It’s not a personal thing but I don’t believe this group represented the wider shareholder base.

They are a group of well organised vocal minority.

“People involved in this group have never stood in a council or board election to test their views with the shareholder base.”

Gasquoine says media commentary has been lopsided and he has written to council chairman Simon Couper to express his dismay.

He wants the council to take a leadership role in TAF. “Right now I feel they are sitting on the fence.”

The council’s role is to consult, listen and lead, he says. “They have consulted and listened to us, it’s time for them to show some leadership.”

Gasquoine rejects the call for a second vote on TAF. Fonterra farmers voted overwhelmingly to launch TAF two years ago. Last month Federated Farmers Dairy section called for a second vote saying its members have

about gasquoine David Gasquoine farms on 130ha with 350 cows at Hinuera, 40km southeast of Hamilton.

He supplied New Zealand Dairy Group before its merger with Kiwi Dairies Co-op. He served for six years on the Fonterra Shareholders Council as Matamata Ward councillor. He retired from the council in 2006.

David Gasquoine

concerns about possible consequences of TAF. But Gasquoine, a Federated Farmers member, is upset with the Feds’ position.

He is also angry at the leaking of a letter from Feds’ dairy chairman Willy Leferink to Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden on TAF concerns.

holders Council.”

Gasquoine believes TAF isn’t complicated.

It’s all about reducing redemption risk, he adds.

“In a good season when farmers buy extra shares, redemption risk falls off the radar. But falling prices, drought and the recurring economic crisis can line up again.”

“It’s in their interests to have good relations with the chairman and the board of Fonterra and if that’s how they will behave, the Fonterra board should ignore them.

“Federated Farmers represents the interests of all farmers. Our interests in Fonterra are represented by the Share-

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NORTH CANTERBURY farmer Shaun Lissington is adding his voice of support to TAF (trading among farmers). He says not all Canterbury farmers oppose TAF as media reports make out.

“I am sick and tired of reading headlines saying Canterbury farmers oppose to TAF,” he told Dairy News.

“I was one of the 90% who voted for TAF to proceed.

Let the due diligence process take its course.”

Canterbury has been portrayed in the media as a hotbed of opposition to TAF. A group, led by Ashburton farmer Eddie Glass and South Canterbury farmer Leonie Guiney, have been vocal in their opposition.

But Lissington is angry “a minority view is getting all the media attention”.

“From the formation of Fonterra, to the set up of the Global Dairy Trade platform, we have always had our knockers and stirrers, who come up with all sorts of conspiracy theories that have had no basis at all.

“I worry about the impact this media attention is having on some of our global trading partners and customers given that we are a leading player in the market.

“I also wonder about the cost of not evolving as a co-op. Given our size and desire to remain 100% farmer owned and controlled we will have to think outside the square occasionally and become innovative to ensure our ongoing success.”

Lissington is putting faith in the due diligence committee to ensure TAF “ticks all the boxes”.

A due diligence board committee, chaired by John Waller, is reviewing TAF to ensure preconditions voted by shareholders two years ago are met.

The committee is advised by a group including leading world renowned co-op expert Professor Michael Cook, Missouri University, Alan Galbraith QC and former Dairy Board chief executive Murray Gough.

Lissington is confident the committee and its advisors will get it right.

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

news // 7

A trail of destruction The winds that hit South Taranaki earlier this month were ferocious, devastating and all over in a matter of hours. But it’ll take several weeks, possibly months to clean up the mess as Dairy News reporter Peter Burke found out when he toured the worst-hit areas last week. cows graze quietly and patiently waiting to be milked and oblivious to the linesman desperately trying to restore power and farmers firing up or trying to buy or hire generators to run the sheds and pump out stock water.

David Werder has lived in the district for 35 years and like others have never witnessed anything like the ferocity of the winds that hit that fateful Saturday morning. Winds started to get up about 4.30am just as he was about start milking and by 6.30am it was all over and the damage done.

The power was out at 5.40am “then action plans swung into place to try and get generators sorted to get everything moving,” he says. “We have ended up milking four sheds using one generator, so we have been going from three in the morning to midnight.”

Werder and another farmer bought a generator which is powered by the power take off (PTO)

of a tractor. They have been sharing it with two other farmers in the area. All have been milking twice a day but not at the normal scheduled times.

Werder was number two on the list and was milking at 5am.

This disaster and the resulting power outage looked like continuing for almost a week, again highlighted the need for dairy farmers to have a generator or, at worst, be

Another haybarn wrecked by the storm.

David Werder, Kakaramea with what is left of his haybarn.

a part of a group that shared one.

Dairy News spoke to one farmer who’d only managed to get a generator on Monday afternoon and that evening would be his first milking since the power went out.

In the case of Werder and his fellow farmers, they took the generator from farm to farm to get the job done as quickly as possible.

Community spirit in Kakaramea is strong and supportive.

Werder milks 340 cows on his property and says the damage to his farm has meant production will fall as he is unable to feed out as much supplement as he should because of a water shortage.

He has been so busy he hasn’t even bothered to look at production. to page 8

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The epicenter of the storm appeared to be the tiny township of Kakaramea, just north of Patea.

It’s a significant dairy farming area and the worst-hit.

Driving down Wilson Rd just a few kilometres from Kakaramea, the massive trees that have been cut to clear the road, the tangled power lines and broken power poles are a stark testament to the incredible strength of the gale force winds. It’ll be several days before the power is back on here.

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

8 // news

Autumn arrives early THE RECENT destructive winds which caused major damage to farms and infrastructure in South Taranaki are classic end of a La Nina weather system, says DairyNZ’s climate scientist, Dr Anthony Clark.

At this time of the year it is not uncommon to have unstable and strange

An irrigator overturned by the storm.

weather events, he told Dairy News.

“It’s a very interesting time of the year because it’s actually when the climate systems start to reset itself. We, in fact, start a new climate season in the Southern Hemisphere’s autumn so there’s quite often a lot of change in the weather systems,’ he says.

Clark says this year has seen very quick change from summer to autumn which he says is unusual but not unprecedented in historical records.

This change is not necessarily a disaster for dairy production. This has brought a little relief in some areas that had seasonal dries in summer such as Southland.

“Looking at the data coming through from MetService and Niwa, although temperatures have been cooler than we expect for time of the year, by and large they are

not those threshold that would really restrict pasture growth,” he says.

“In terms of the environment for pasture growth we may end up getting a kick along and a little bit of slow steady growth out of this type of weather.”

But Clark says what happens over the transition period in March will bear no relationship to what might happen in winter. It’s one of the hardest climate transitions to predict.

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A trail of destruction from page 7

Getting sufficient water is a huge problem for dairy farmers. Werder and his fellow farmers were sharing a generator for milking, but all still needed power to pump water for stock. While I was on his farm, Werder managed to get a Fonterra tanker to deliver water. He had also just bought a new generator which was turning up on the Monday night and this would probably see him through until the power was restored later in the week.

“It’s only a small single-phase generator so I can run the water pump,” he says.

Water is a big issue for Waverley dairy farmer Warwick Lupton. He says if cows can’t get water they’ll “go mad” and run through fences to get it.

But Lupton has other issues as well. He’s busy supervising repairs to a dairy shed on one his farms. He wasn’t there when the storm hit. He was racing boats on Lake Karapiro when he got the call at 5.30am on Saturday.

“It actually got that dangerous that we couldn’t even send the staff outside because they physically couldn’t stand up in the yard,” he says. “It was hard to believe but one female staff member got pinned down on the concrete and they had to drag her in – that’s how vicious the winds were. I’ve been here all my life and I’ve never heard or seen anything like this. It was lucky that no one was hurt.”

The damage to his dairy shed was substantial. “It took the whole side of the shed out. It took all our chiller units and our gas out and took the electricity out as well. It’s built out of freezer panel and just took a whole panel out and tossed it out across the farm.”

Loss of power for Lupton meant no milking and no water for the cows. Lupton was quick off the mark hiring generators and bringing them in from as far away as Wellington and Wanganui.

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

10 // news Federated Farmers Waikato president James Houghton.

New take on water PETER BURKE

THE WAIKATO

Regional Council (WRC), Fonterra, DairyNZ and Federated Farmers are working closely together to make it easier for about 3500 dairy farmers in the Waikato to comply with new rules around water

takes for shed wash down and milk cooling.

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As part of Variation 6, farmers will automatically get a consent for as much water as they were taking in 2008 – the date the plan was notified, he says.

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this if they want to come under what is known as the “grandparenting” provision.

Under Variation 6, farmers are guaranteed to get their water consent subject to certain conditions which may include fencing streams and planting along stream banks.

Further conditions which will depend on the catchment the farmers are in.

But Sinclair says once consent is granted, farmers will have three years to complete the fencing and the duration of the consent, in most cases 15 years, to complete the riparian planting. (In comparison Fonterra has given its farmer shareholders nationwide until June 2013 to comply with fencing waterways on their farms) James Houghton, Feds Waikato president, says farmers in the Waikato now need to seriously understand and think about how they are allocated and use water and how to get through the processes with the regional council.

“In the past farmers have thought it was just their right to put down a bore and pump water out of creek. But this has changed,” he says.

While Houghton concedes fencing, riparian planting and the consent

process will be a cost he believes it’ll be worth it.

“It will help farmers’ standing in the community by showing they care about the environment. It’s a win-win situation because farmers will get the benefit of having a secure supply of water for up to 15 years and the environment will be enhanced in many areas,” he says.

Under Variation 6, farmers using less than 15 cubic metres of water a day do not need a consent.

In most cases this will be farmers with 200 cows or less. But Houghton is urging these farmers to get a consent anyway.

“Further down the track those catchments may become fully allocated and having a consent will be another asset if they come to sell the farm,” he says.

Houghton says all parties are now working together to devise a system to make implementation of the Variation 6 provisions easy and as inexpensive as possible.

Sinclair agrees and says they also want a simple cost effective system.

But Sinclair says the process being worked on only relates to shed wash down and milk cooling and not to other consents relating to water use such as irrigation.

Feds back DIRA changes FEDERATED FARMERS has conditionally backed

changes proposed by MAF to the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act (DIRA) and its raw milk regulations. However, any DIRA changes for Fonterra’s TAF (trading among farmers) must be endorsed by shareholders.

Federated Farmers Dairy chairperson Willy Leferink says in its submission to MAF, Feds has also made suggestions that will substantially improve DIRA. It says independent processors who have their own supply need to be weaned off regulated milk.

It’s perverse they’ll be allowed to take the full quantity of regulated milk for three seasons, even after new regulations take effect, says Leferink.

“Independent processors with their own supply and formed before June 2008, should instead have their 50 million litre allocation ramped down in thirds. If that started in the 2013-14 season for instance, it would transition to zero by the 2015-16 season.

“We also believe MaF has made a big mistake with independent processors who have no own supply base.

With guaranteed raw milk there’s no incentive but a big disincentive against developing their own supply base.

“What MAF proposes with those new entrants who do not pick up milk at the farmgate, flies in the face of the competitive aspects envisaged by the DIRA. If all they have to do is to dial a tanker then there’s no ‘competitive tension’ at the farm gate and no benefit to consumers.”

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

12 // news

Is TAF good for Fonterra?

Debate about TAF (trading among farmers) continues to simmer. Andrew Swallow looks at the arguments.

IS TAF (trading among

farmers) the beginning of the end for Fonterra as a farmer owned and controlled cooperative or the gateway to a new era of growth with more secure capital but greater flexibility for shareholders?

The scheme’s protagonists argue the latter while its opponents believe the former. What the split is among the cooperative’s

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it administers that split, however those opposing TAF say they’ve had legal advice that if unit trust buyers do not believe the company or custodian of the fund into which shares are placed are acting in investors’ best interests, then they could challenge that in the courts.

MAF’s draft Regulatory Impact Statement on Fonterra’s Milk Price Setting, Capital Restructure and Share Valuation also touches on “investor protections”. MAF’s preference is units be listed on a registered exchange, “ensuring that minimum

shareholders is impossible to say without a second shareholder-wide vote, but what is clear is that there is a widespread desire for more information, and some concern.

Why? The fear is investors in units yielding Fonterra dividend payments, but not voting rights, will still be able to influence the cooperative’s management, seeking to maximise dividend at the expense of milk price.

Fonterra maintains it will not be swayed in how

Chris Murdoch

investor protections are in place.”

As MAF points out, that should give outside investors confidence, and help the fund reach a scale – MAF suggests $500 million should be the minimum and envisages it making the NZX 50 – that will be “sufficiently liquid to provide for farmers to buy and sell shares in a timely manner and at efficient prices”.

This is where those with concerns about TAF raise another red flag. If the price of units, and hence shares, tumble in the market created such that they fail to reflect Fonterra’s true value, those looking to leave

Fonterra, be that to retire or supply another processor, will pressure the board to take steps to raise that share value.

Increasing dividend at the expense of milk price would do this. So would a partial float of Fonterra shares.

Even suppliers with no plans to redeem Fonterra shares would wish to see unit prices maximised, especially as shares are an asset they may have borrowed against, or have had to borrow to fund.

One of the arguments for TAF is that it will give those seeking to release capital tied up in shares the opportunity to do that, without leaving Fonterra as a supplier, hence

reducing redemption risk.

Opponents argue redemption risk is what keeps the cooperative sharp. Weather induced redemption risk, such as the 2008 Waikato drought, has also been addressed by stages one and two of the capital restructure, and the flexibility to hold dry shares, they say.

Meanwhile, retentions have bolstered the balance sheet, reining in gearing from 61% in early 2009 to under 50% by the end of the last financial year.

The cooperative’s management and board have offered repeated assurances that if they have any doubt about TAF retaining farm

shareholders’ 100% ownership and control, it won’t proceed.

They’ve also stressed unit buyers would represent a small part of the cooperative’s capital, and in return farmer shareholders would have much more flexibility in when they redeem or acquire shares.

Will last week’s meetings have changed any of these arguments?

Unlikely.

If you’re a Fonterra shareholder, the debate boils down to whether you want to retain 100% ownership and control of your cooperative, and whether you trust your board and management to safeguard that.

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Last week’s announcement followed another slight slip in values at the latest auction, September-November sales being the most discounted, down 3.1% averaged across all products.

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AMF bucked the trend, gaining 3.7% to average US$3,631/t across all positions. WMP was down 0.3% at an average of US$3,409/t, and SMP down 1.9% at US$3,194/t.

The change in contract periods is to remove the overlap that occurs with the current system which complicates bidding strategies and, for sellers, offer profiles.

The three-month contracts are also inefficient as sellers have to make manual interventions to meet winning bidders’ requests as to exactly when shipments are made within the contract period.

Fonterra milk powder will now be available only on monthly contracts on GDT.

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

news // 13

New Lincoln boss aims to build on strengths Andrew Swallow

REINFORCING NEW

Zealand’s strength and reputation in land management is the opportunity for Lincoln University, says former AgResearch chief executive Dr Andrew West who was last week announced as the university’s new vice-chancellor.

“Be that in farming, forestry, tourism or landscape design,” he told Dairy News. “And the second issue is to take some of that global.”

While West wouldn’t comment on current student numbers in the quake-hit region, he acknowledges there’s always a need to increase intake at institutions such as Lincoln.

“Firstly, because it’s good for the institution itself and secondly, because New Zealand needs more people educated and trained in the disciplines Lincoln specialises in.”

West says it’s a privilege to be asked to lead “such a venerated institution, one with a genuinely global and well-earned reputation”.

“Lincoln University is claimed to be the longest established agricultural education institute in the Southern Hemisphere and is one of the older organisations in New Zealand society.

“The excellence of teaching and research, and the quality of staff and students at Lincoln University very much

attracted me to this role....

Lincoln University is New Zealand’s only specialist university and the only university to be located in the countryside, true to the spirit of its land-based specialisation. Long may that continue.”

West was chief executive of AgResearch in 2009 when it and Lincoln investigated merging. He told Dairy News similar moves were not part of his agenda in taking up the vice-chancellor’s role.

“But I see close working relationships with not just AgResearch, but the likes of Plant and Food, Scion, and the various other universities and polytechnics, as fundamental.”

Incumbent vice-chancellor Roger Field last August said he would retire this April and West takes up the role on April 16.

Lincoln University chancellor Tom Lambie says there were a number of very high calibre applicants.

“The selection process has been rigorous and closely fought. As a result we now have the right person to lead this university into the future.”

West is currently Adjunct Professor of AgriBusiness at the University of Waikato. His career since graduating with a BSc in ecology from University of Westminster, London, and gaining a doctorate at the UK’s Council for National Academic Awards, has spanned education, science and

innovation, agriculture, process manufacturing and tourism.

He headed the Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences (GNS) prior to his AgResearch

role and was instrumental in establishing the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and running the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA).

West’s also had numerous directorships, predominantly in primary industry but also in bodies with a strong emphasis on innovation and commercialisation.

Lincoln University’s vicechancellor-elect Dr Andrew West.

in brief Landcare Trust awards Two dairy farmers and a DairyNZ consulting officer have been recognised for their outstanding commitment to sustainable land management. They were recently named as inaugural Landcare Ambassadors by the New Zealand Landcare Trust.

The awards were made by Environment Minister Nick Smith following the trust’s conference in Hamilton.

DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle says it is extremely gratifying to see the work of people in the dairy industry recognised with these awards.

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29/02/12 1:36 PM

Dairy News march 13, 2012

14 // news

Govt funding for stream fencing GOVERNMENT

FUNDING

announced recently to clean up polluted rivers will be used for stream fencing on Manawatu’s dairy farms. It will also fund land use initiatives for dairy farmers.

Horizons Regional Council chief executive Michael McCartney says it is teaming up with the industry to deliver a whole-farm approach to farm management.

“A programme tailored to the

requirements and characteristics of individual farms, we’ll be working closely with dairy farmers to support best practice,” he says.

The Manawatu River Leaders’ Forum will receive $5.2 million from the Government’s Fresh Start for Freshwater Clean-up fund to aid efforts they are making to clean up the river. Earlier this month Prime Minister John Key announced $8m in funding to clean up polluted rivers.

The Manawatu Leaders’ Forum, brought together by Horizons, applied for Government assistance for five projects totalling over $30m. The projects involve upgrading sewage treatment plants, land-based disposal, environmental farm plans, stream fencing, habitat restoration and supporting community-based initiatives.

Horizons Regional Council chairman Bruce Gordon is rapt with the news central Government is joining the col-

laborative effort already underway.

“The members of the forum have demonstrated their commitment to cleaning up the river as seen through the signing of an accord and the development of an action plan. With the support of central Government I hope we will realise our goal of a cleaner and healthy river in a shorter time than we could have achieved ourselves,” says Gordon.

Environment Minister Nick Smith

says New Zealand generally has clean rivers and lakes, but poor management over many years in a number of lowland catchments needs to be addressed. The Manawatu is New Zealand’s most polluted river, and the Wairarapa lakes, Waituna and Wainono Lagoons are among our most contaminated from excessive nutrients, he notes.

The Government contribution of nearly $8m represents 21% of the total $38m being invested in the clean-up.

New CEO for SealesWinslow ANIMAL NUTRIENT provider, SealesWinslow has appointed Graeme Smith as chief executive, effective May 1.

He succeeds Ross Hyland who will continue as a director of SealesWinslow and also lead growth projects to leverage the company’s position as the only national provider of animal nutrition.

Smith is currently general manager, sales and marketing for Ballance Agri-Nutrients which holds a 51% shareholding in SealesWinslow. He has been with Ballance since 2000 and has a long track record in the pastoral sector.

Announcing the appointment, Neil Richardson, chairman of SealesWinslow, said Smith was selected after an extensive executive search.

Graeme Smith “Graeme has a wealth of knowledge right across the whole agricultural industry which will be invaluable,” Richardson says.

“He is also well connected with merchant networks and industry groups throughout the country. He originally hails from Mosgiel in the Deep South, a key region for SealesWinslow with ever growing demand and expectations from farmers.

“He also joins us at a pivotal time in the business, with more and more farmers recognising the strategic value of animal nutrients to their operations.

“Farmers are increasingly focused on their animals’ complete nutrient needs, from pasture to supplements, rather than simply being reactive with supplementary feeding as a decision or consequence when climate’s working against them. We are very well positioned to meet these needs.”

Smith says he is looking forward to taking up his new role.

“We have a very positive rural economy, driven by farmers who get out of bed every morning thinking about how to increase productivity and profitability.

“Having spent most of my professional career working alongside them, I see this new role as a great opportunity to build SealesWinslow into the best nationwide nutrition company in New Zealand.”

Richardson says the industry is highly competitive and volatile, but also offered good growth opportunities, with his company averaging growth rates of 25-30% in recent years, with the exception of the global financial crisis in 2008.

Smith joined Ballance in 2000 and has been responsible for overseeing Ballance’s sales managers, technical sales representatives and the company’s marketing and commercial business teams. Previously he worked for electric fence manufacturer Gallagher for 12 years, including five years as national sales manager.

Smith holds a post-graduate diploma in management studies from Waikato University and completed the senior executive programme at the London Business School.

Dairy News march 13, 2012

news // 15

Farmers get option of financing livestock andrew swallow

ANZ doubles start-up support

COULD LEASING your herd rather

ANZ BANK has doubled the amount allocated to its start-up package aimed at helping young farmers get a foot in the industry.

“The response has been extraordinary, with packed halls at our seminars and demand now expected to exceed the initial $60 million,” says ANZ commercial and agri managing director Graham Turley.

In response ANZ’s now earmarked $120m over five years to its start-up loan scheme.

“Some 55 packages are already approved or in process, meaning new farming careers are already underway... It’s fantastic to see enterprising young farmers stepping up to help bridge the generation gap emerging in New Zealand agriculture.”

than owning it be financially more efficient?

Finance company Heartland and its recently acquired subsidiary PGG Wrightson Finance are encouraging farmers to consider that question.

The firms have just launched Heartland Stock Lease, a new tool for financing livestock which will release capital for other purposes and help cashflow planning, says the firms’ head of rural, Will Purvis.

For dairy farms, lease payments are scheduled for January to June to match cashflow and while comparisons with interest payments on borrowing and owning cattle are “a bit meaningless unless you work out the cashflow benefit,” the leases equate to borrowing at an interest rate of well under 10%, he says.

“The key is it’s costed and priced at a point that’s more attractive than the historic providers. And the other point

is we provide that cashflow certainty.”

Once leases are signed, payments are fixed for the term agreed, which for dairy cows can be anything from two to five years.

However, there’s an option for the farmer to reduce or extend terms during the course of the contract.

Heartland may provide the cows, or buy existing stock and lease them back.

A first payment of 20-40% of the value

is due immediately, then it’s onto the agreed January-June payment schedule.

Leases are structured on cows depreciating to $800 at the end of the lease period.

“If they’re worth more than that we’ll pass that benefit onto the farmer.

If they’re worth less, then the farmer owes the difference,” explains Purvis.

While Heartland will have the option of going to the open market with the

Leasing stock will help farmers with cashflow planning, says Will Purvis.

cattle at the end of the contract period, in practice it’s envisaged the farmer will be given first refusal.

Throughout the lease period Heartland owns the cows, and may audit stock. There’s an undertaking on the farmer to replace deaths or repay accordingly.

“It is a complex concept. We like to sit down with the farmer and their accountant to see if it’s going to be right for them. There are many potential benefits for many farmers.”

Those include releasing capital to

pay down debt or grow the business, cheaper financing, and probable tax advantages.

“We believe this qualifies as an operating lease, as per vehicle leases, so there are potential advantages from a tax perspective.”

Purvis says nationally about $20 billion of farmer funds are tied up in livestock.

“While it’s one of their most important assets, it’s also the biggest drain on their working capital.” Purvis told Dairy News.

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

16 // news

Keep effluent pond level low, DairyNZ.

‘Keep it low’ campaign hits the spot – DairyNZ WHILE WEATHER

forecasting is improving all the time, there is still uncertainty to understanding what weather you’ll get when.

This summer’s DairyNZ “Keep it low” call

to farmers to be prepared and have their dairy effluent storage ponds empty by the end of summer, is being well received.

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says the campaign seems to be hitting the spot.

“At the expos we’ve attended in the last few weeks the reaction from farmers is positive. They all know it’s an important issue, and they are appreciating the friendly approach of reminders, backed by cartoons, a few giveaways and a competition,” she says.

“The ones who have approached us have also said they think handy hints are a welcome relief to dire warnings. We choose this approach because we think it will get a better result by not being threatening, and it recognises that dairy farmers are professionals and deserve credit for knowing their business.

“We’re also pleased the message Keep it Low, backed by Richard Loe and the Prize Pond competition, is quite different; simple and easy for anyone on the farm to use as a jog to the memory.

“Of course we’re hoping this will assist the current fall in non-compliance rates, as that will be the test.”

The call to dairy farmers is timely as the MetService predicts weather patterns for autumn and winter can go either way.

It is picking a slight cooling of the water around New Zealand and interprets global models to pick La Nina relaxing over the next few weeks.

While the current pre-

dictions are the south will have a dry start to autumn, and the Far North a more damp start with the chance of a cyclone in late March, autumn is expected to see typical seasonal conditions.

“The importance of getting good information has meant that DairyNZ will put a small advert on the MetService homepage to remind dairy farmers to empty their effluent storage pond while the weather is fine,” says Wilson.

“The issue we always come up against is that effluent storage ponds won’t cope if they are full and then a weather bomb or bad front hits the area, once autumn has started.”

DairyNZ is reporting a good response to the giveaway of a magnetic pond level indicator and the Prize Pond photo competition. Photos of farmer dairy effluent storage ponds are being sent to keepitlow@dairynz.co.nz and can still be sent till March 25. The same email address can be used to request a magnetic pond marker.

Farmers are sending in photographs of their ponds to see if they can win the catered barbecue hosted by former All Black prop, TV sport commentator, radio personality and farmer, Richard Loe. “Richard Loe is getting a great response and we’re pleased to have his assistance.”

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A TOTAL of 112 schools out of 133 in the Northland area have signed up for the Fonterra Milk for Schools pilot scheme, with 10,000 students receiving their first milk on March 19.

“We’ve been absolutely overwhelmed by the support shown by the Northland community and we can’t wait to start filling the school fridges,” says Fonterra chief executive, Theo Spierings.

“It’s great to know that we’ll be providing a dose of dairy nutrition to more than 10,000 Kiwi kids every school day.”

The New Zealand dietary guidelines recommend school children consume at least two to three servings of milk every day.

“Dairy is fundamental for good nutrition, especially in growing bodies. We want to do what we can to ensure New Zealand children grow up drinking milk because it is good for them.”

To find out more please visit www.fonterramilkforschools.com

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

news // 19

Bio milk demand up HAWKE’S BAY farmer Kevin Davidson believes the region is leading New Zealand in biological farming with the number of farms and the amount of milk produced.

Another biological farmer remarked he was producing this top quality milk but it was just being treated like everyone else’s and it deserved a better fate.

Someone who heard this remark was Joanie Williams of Hastings who, with husband Richard, formed company Origin Earth and is now selling this milk in liquid form as well as yoghurts and a range of cheeses.

specially-built, insulated tanker which is towed by her 4WD. “I collect the milk at the same time so, knowing cows as I do, the milk will be coming from the same group each time. It is important to note that I am collecting the milk within parameters set by Fonterra and we were happy to do this.”

A round collection trip takes 80 minutes. On arrival at the plant, part of the tanker load of milk is pasteurised whilst the remainder of the tanker’s laod is chilled via built in glycol jacket. “The quality of the milk is set inside the farm gate. Our aim is to take high quality milk and with, the minimum of legal treatments, to convert it to high

“Origin Earth is about sustainable farm practices and full traceability.”

“We decided to do something about it and liquid sales are now increasing exponentially with enquiries coming into the Hastings factory from as far afield as Auckland,” says Joanie, a partner and factory manager.

They first approached Davidson, who has a fully biological farm, and was following the programme supplied by Outgro Bio Agricultural. Kevin agreed to supply and after negotiations involving Fonterra, an amount was agreed to. Any farmer can legally supply up to 10% of the farm’s production to anyone else.

The first plan was to put the milk into a separate vat for collection but this would have needed another pumping process for Origin Earth’s portable tank. A “T” junction was put into the line between the heat exchanger and the main vat delivery line and the milk was gravity fed direct to Origin Earth’s tanker.

“This avoided another pumping process further reducing the chance of damage to the milk.”

The factory was set up in September 2010 and the first batch trials were started in November with the official opening in December 2010.

Williams collects the milk “45 seconds from the cow” twice a week in her

quality liquid milk, cheeses and yoghurts.”

At present the milk is sold in one and two litre containers and processed to three sizes of plain yoghurts and five types of cheeses.

The milk is not homogenised so the traditional cream at the top can be seen in the containers and it is not standardised, so the composition changes through the season.

As well as collecting, processing and packaging Joanie is also the sales and promotion manager, which in the beginning was very hard work.

“At the start my husband Richard, who is a cameraman doing programmes for Country Calendar and Rural Delivery, kept the wolf from the door while I went out and did the selling.”

Her first call for liquid milk was to the Hastings and Napier farmers markets which she says was “vital to our success”. It gave them a chance to talk to potential customers and end users to help drive sales to the retail sector, cafes and restaurants.

In the early days, if Williams had not sold all the milk at the market, she would drop off containers free of charge to cafes and restaurants.

Within a short time they were back to buy after customers commented on the

taste of their coffees.

All products that leave the plant have complete traceability on the label, enabling date and time of collection, the cows and the pastures they grazed to be traced.

This combined with Davidson’s Outgro program and GPS tracking, the nutrient management

of each paddock can also be traced.

“Origin Earth is about sustainable farm practices and full traceability.”

Williams’ next challenge is to develop the sales of product from a biologically manged sheep milking operation in the district, in conjunction with the present operation.

Joanie and Richard Williams

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

20 // world

Outlook strong but volatile GORDON COLLIE

DAIRY FARMERS

around the globe will ride a wave of strong but volatile prices for the next five years with markets driven by steady annual growth in demand around 2.5%.

Despite apparent sustained high prices, farm margins are set to remain under pressure with most farmers earning only a modest return on assets at best.

This was the big picture presented at one of the major dairy farm shows in the US last month at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California.

The massive dairy trade show drew farmers from across North America and around the world to assess the latest and greatest in technology and attend a range of specialist seminars.

A senior agribusiness

analyst with Rabobank, James De Jong, says strong demand growth had seen a convergence of prices with US farmer returns now effectively permanently above support levels and closely aligned with markets in Oceania.

Demand growth for

petitive, with the result that US dairy exports had risen sharply, to above 8% of production.

While US milk powders had traditionally traded at a discount, farmers were exporting more to cash in on unfilled demand. The major export products,

consumption is declining. The cheese market will underperform with uneven prices and only modest demand growth in Asia,” he says.

In the US, farmer returns were under pressure, particularly in highcost intensive dairy

Global cheese consumption is declining.

milk powders in Asia was now the key dairy market driver and would continue to be the dominant influence in the medium turn as populations and incomes grew.

The sinking US dollar was making American dairy farmers more com-

whey and milk powder, were now both now running above 450,000 tonnes a year.

De Jong was more pessimistic about the global cheese market, still dominated by Western culture.

“Markets for cheese in the West are mature and

regions such as California.

Farmers were also facing increasing regulatory and environmental compliance costs.

Corn prices were at historic highs and there was no prospect of the cost of milk production coming down.

“The price of milk will have to stay at a relatively high level if production is to match growing global demand,” De Jong says.

“There is no going back to levels where market intervention prices kick in. But farmers will have to learn to live with price volatility and develop a strategy to cope.

“High production costs will keep margins under pressure.”

China will continue to be a major driver of world demand, even though there has been a slowing in demand.

Attempts to ramp up domestic production in China, including the construction of large intensive dairies, have met with mixed success.

Demand growth in India will continue to be restrained by high tariffs and does not present a huge growth opportunity in the short term.

Forget brands, concentrate on ingredients AUSTRALIAN DAIRY exporters shouldn’t waste

time marketing to consumers, says an international expert in food marketing.

David Hughes is Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing at London’s Imperial College and a regular visitor to Australia, most recently at the Australian Dairy Conference.

Hughes says Australian exporters should instead market themselves as David Huges producers of world class ingredients.

“You can sell these ingredients into high value world markets, where you get your premium from the investment that you’ve made over time in research and development rather than consumer marketing,” he said.

“I don’t think you can make it in consumer marketing, you haven’t got the culture, you haven’t got the history and you haven’t got the track record.”

Hughes says heading down the path of branded products was both costly and potentially risky. Successful brands were often older, with 60% of the world’s brands developed more than 50 years ago.

He points out Danone’s yoghurt brand, Activia, is the single most successful dairy brand but they had spent $27 million each year in marketing.

“If you are into big brands, you have to think deep pockets and long-term.”

Dairy News march 13, 2012

world // 21

Oz dairy eyes energy savings STEPHEN COOKE

LOBBYING IS under-

way to gain Australian Government funding for a national programme to conduct energy assessments in dairies.

Agriculture scientist Gabriel Hakim told the Australian Dairy Conference last month he was hopeful the Dairy Unplugged project, developed by his company, AgVet Projects, would receive funding for a July start.

AgVet, Dairy Australia and other major dairy companies are working together to secure the funding.

“Finding energy savings in the dairy is not rocket science, but it does take a methodical approach and a good understanding of the way each individual farm is set up and operated,” Hakim says.

AgVet has launched a national dairy energy assessment tool which Hakim says provides a standardised way to approach and record the information required to deliver a dairy energy assessment according to the Australian Standard.

The national tool is a further development of the tool developed in NSW and accommodates many of the differences in dairy set-ups (calving patterns, dairy types, electricity tariffs) found across Australia’s dairy regions.

“The way water is heated nowadays is quite varied and the tool can account for the various ways this job is performed,” Hakim says.

“It also incorporates additional checking calculators and help to ensure assessors make reasonable assumptions. Greenhouse gas emissions are also calculated.

“Validation work over the past month gives us good confidence that dairy energy assessors using the tool will provide a report that sits well within the Australian Standard as far as accuracy goes.”

Hakim gave the audi-

ence his top five tips to reduce energy use and costs.

“What has been striking about the farm assessments over the last two years is the differences between farms,” he says.

Hakim offers some tips as general principles on reducing energy use and costs and notes they may not be applicable in every circumstance; Reducing energy use and costs ■■ Water heating For many farms this represents over 30% of electricity use. The opportunities to reduce the energy used for this purposes are significant – from reviewing clean programmes and improving insulation properties to installing re-use systems.

■■ Savings in energy: 5%-90% Milk cooling This can represent up to 40% of electricity use.

Improving plate cooler performance is undoubtedly the easiest way to reduce the cost of cooling.

The performance of the vat’s refrigeration system is another area often overlooked.

In many dairies, the milk vat (and the refrigeration system) was installed to meet operating conditions quite different to those of today. Herd size, daily milk production, and milking throughput have all increased.

This has probably challenged the performance and efficiency of the vat’s cooling system. Reviewing the performance and taking corrective action will reduce energy use.

■■ Savings in energy: 5-25% (savings can be substantially more when the plate cooler performance is poor).

■■ Get a full dairy energy assessment done periodically If you have not already done so it is time to organise an energy assessment.

Knowing where the energy is being used and how much it is costing puts you in the driver’s seat about whether spending time

and resources on improving energy efficiency is worthwhile for your business.

■■ On-going monitoring

Power prices are trending upwards rapidly. Waiting for the next monthly/ quarterly bill is too long.

And often, the bill won’t

provide the detail or the analysis required to know if something’s not right.

Automated monitoring systems are now available.

It’s actually pretty easy to make the girls come running. And when your stock finds your pasture irresistible, greater productivity is only one of the rewards. Find out what the power of new pasture can do for you.

Get the FREE eBook that every farmer needs at www.pasturerenewal.org.nz

Gabriel Hakim

Dairy News march 13, 2012

22 // opinion OPINION Ruminating

EDITORIAL

All eyes on Variation 6

milking it...

TAF unease

From what we hear, not all is well within the Fonterra Shareholders Council as far as TAF (trading among farmers) is concerned. Chairman Simon Couper is finding it hard to mobilise his troops to support TAF. Not surprising as Couper narrowly won the chairmanship vote two years ago. His opponent, we’re told, campaigned against TAF in that vote.

There is unease among some Fonterra farmers on this issue.

The war on TB is Making friends not over with media

The Animal Health Board reckons more than 1850 cattle and deer herds have benefited from a reduction in bovine tuberculosis (TB) testing in Waikato and King Country.

The AHB’s focus now is on eradicating TB from wildlife to prevent reinfection of cattle and deer, “leading to even less testing for farmers in the future”.

Over the next 15 years, the revised national TB control strategy aims to eradicate the disease from wildlife in a quarter of the 10 million ha of New Zealand known to contain infected wild animals.

This is a great success, protecting farmers’ incomes and the national economy. The anti-1080 nutters (we’re looking at you Coromandel) will refuse to accept this and no doubt the protests and threats of violence will continue to come from this fringe element.

The fight to eradicate TB is not over yet. Keep those helicopters flying!

Voting in the Australian Dairy Poll closes on March 16, after which Dairy Australia (DA) will know if it can continue to collect a levy from farmers or not.

The general consensus is that while the vote will be close, DA should scrape through.

Back home, DairyNZ seems to be earning its keep in the ‘industry good’ space and you don’t hear too many complaints from farmers about paying the levy. Over in the meat industry, Beef + Lamb NZ are not having such an easy ride, with PPCS CEO Keith Cooper recently quitting its board and pronouncing it a pointless waste of money.

Part of DairyNZ’s success may be its good engagement with rural media. The team at Dairy News’ sister publication Rural News tell us Beef + Lamb NZ are not so good, and that its ‘communications manager’ is a virtual mute when it comes to media engagement – an odd strategy when your very existence is being questioned.

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ISSN 1175-463X

One Plan twoface

THE HORIZONS REGIONAL Council has never been the farmers’ favourite council (remember One Plan).

But its decision not to appeal parts of its One Plan is now raising eyebrows among other industry stakeholders.

Publicly the parties involved with One Plan are trying to put a brave face on the situation saying it’s ‘frustrating’ and that they are ‘disappointed’ at the approach of HRC. However some have expressed frustration at not knowing what HRC is doing and say its decision not to defend the One Plan is ‘unusual’ and will be costly. Federated Farmers have set up a fighting fund to help finance its appeal.

The parties note that the One Plan is complex but say the decision by HRC to back-track on the plan as produced by the commissioners at great cost is difficult to understand and is prolonging the process.

ALL EYES are on farmers, the Waikato Regional Council and DairyNZ as they work out water take consents under the new Variation 6 policy.

Quite rightly, farmers want answers as soon as possible on the key details around Variation 6. How much the resource consents will cost, how much the monitoring will cost and who will do the monitoring?

The regional council is contacting more than 3000 dairy farmers who need resource consents under the amendment to the regional plan, which was given the nod late last year after 37 appeals to the Environment Court.

The variation allows dairy farms to take 15 cubic metres of water a day for use in the dairy shed, anything above that will require resource consent.

What farmers fear is that it will cost thousands of dollars to achieve those consents depending on the type of consent and the water source.

Some believe it’s an adversarial process which is costly and very difficult to work through. One farmer describes it as an attack on agriculture.

The WRC has signalled that Variation 6 is not anywhere near as onerous as it sounds.

As part of Variation 6, farmers will automatically get consent for as much water as they were taking in 2008 – the date the Plan was notified. They have until 2015 to lodge an application for this.

However, farmers are guaranteed to get their water consent subject to certain conditions which may include fencing streams and planting along stream banks. They have three years to complete the fencing and the duration of the consent – in most cases 15 years to complete the riparian planting.

These may sound reasonable timeframes but farmers are rightly nervous. The onus is on WRC to reassure farmers Variation 6 is a win-win outcome. The council is working closely with Fonterra, Federated Farmers and DairyNZ on this. It’s essential that farmers are given full support and information as Variation 6 is implemented.

How Variation 6 works out will have wider implications for other regions also struggling with competing users for water resources. Therefore, WRC must get it right.

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

opinion // 23

Fonterra reaches a crossroad As my extended family is in Holland, their experience is relevant; the old Friesland/Coberco FONTERRA’S PROin what is now RoyalPOSED ‘shareholders FrieslandCampina started fund’ will control up to down a similar path 8% of Fonterra worth up to $500 million. The fund but stopped. It stopped because ex-farming ‘dry’ is a solution to a hole in shareholders started to Fonterra’s balance sheet caused by redemption risk. dominate decision-making.

When a farmer leaves It seems the investFonterra, they redeem ment outlook of ex-farmtheir equity in the cooperative and that sum must ers changes when they exchange the farm for a follow within 30 workdividend. ing days of the season As proposed, the ending. This hole is why unit holders in Fontertwo years ago, some 90% of Fonterra’s shareholder- ra’s shareholder fund won’t get a say in Fonsuppliers voted to change terra in exchange for their the cooperative’s capital cash. However, it’s a brave structure. While the properson who’ll place hand posed shareholders fund on heart and say the fund was light on detail at the will only ever be 8% of time, it was proposed as Fonterra. For two seasons a balance sheet ‘shock in the past decade, dairy absorber’. The idea is the farmers have done it tough fund will buy shares off farmers, with the dividend financially.

Imagine during a tough income enticing ‘mum season, like 2008-9 and and dad’ investors to buy with creditors knocking at ‘units’ in the fund. Fontheir door, a ‘white knight’ terra gets a $500m buffer and unit holders get a safe fund offered to buy shares from farmers. It would investment. be hard to resist. When Two years on and Fedtimes are tough, constierated Farmers Dairy tutional blockages can council has asked Fonterbe overcome even if the ra’s board to consider a fund’s expansion came second vote. This request wasn’t made lightly, but if, with strings attached. as we’re told, there’s over- While Fonterra can promise safeguards to protect whelming shareholder support for the proposal, a its ‘wet’ farmer-shareholders, time and ecosecond vote will deliver a nomic circumstance could strong endorsement. erode that. Then of course, Two-years after the someone may take a legal 2010 vote, farmers contacting me are uneasy that challenge throwing everything up in the air. details about the fund Some say the shareremain sketchy. Comholders fund will help turn ments from the Prime urban investors into farmMinister on how he’d ing cheerleaders. Pragmalike to see our cooperative on the stock exchange tists argue the number of individual investors in the doesn’t help things. This fund will be tiny. Those is our company and Foninvestment types in print terra’s future must only and on radio after all say be decided by those who the fund would be good own it.

WILLY LEFERINK

in brief Poll backs co-op board THE FONTERRA board is not stifling debate on TAF (trading among farmers), according to an online poll run by Dairy News.

Of the total votes cast on www.dairynews. co.nz, 80% disagree with critics who are accusing the Fonterra board of trying to ram through TAF without proper shareholder debate.

A group of Fonterra shareholders want a second vote claiming TAF will put the co-op on the road to demutualisation.

To vote in this week’s poll, visit www. dairynews.co.nz.

news for KiwiSaver and the New Zealand Super Fund.

Compared to the number of corporate train wrecks littering New Zealand’s history, Fonterra hasn’t done too bad being owned by farmers. That’s why we want the proposed shareholders fund put

to farmers.

Much in TAF makes sense, but the fund stands out like the proverbial on a bull. The current review of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act actually hangs on Fonterra having a shareholders fund. The best course is to decouple the proposed fund from

TAF and have an open discussion with farmershareholders. Relying on a 2010 vote for what was conceptual at best, belies the fact Fonterra is in good financial health. Time is on our side and we advise Fonterra’s board to take it.

• Willy Leferink is Federated Farmers Dairy chairman.

Willy Leferink

“We’ve learned more about mastitis in the past two springs than in the previous ten years.”

When James Machin took over as herd manager on a South Otago property in March 2010, he knew his work was cut out for him. The previous sharemilker hadn’t been aggressive enough with early detection and treatment of mastitis cases, and the BTSCC’s were up around 380,000.

James attacked the problem in the spring of 2010, but the bulk tank cell count was 800,000 at the first pick-up. Challenges with the treatment used and environmental conditions just weren’t bringing the problem under control.

At a dry period seminar hosted by Clutha Vets, James heard about whole-herd treatment with Cepravin®. The turnaround has been stunning. By late October 2011 the cell counts were around 100,000. Milk production was up 23 per cent on last season.

Says James,”I’ve learned more about mastitis in the past two springs than in the previous ten years! We’ll definitely be sticking with the Cepravin – there’s no question about it.”

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

agribusiness // 25

Sharemilker award boosts couple’s farm ownership goal MANAWATU Rangitikei Horow- have to present every aspect to judges.”

Second place in the Manawatu Ranhenua Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year for 2012, Shaun and Liza Connor, gitikei Horowhenua Sharemilker/Equity are going up in the dairy industry and Farmer of the Year contest went to Feilding lower order sharereducing their herd size at milkers Duncan and Kim the same time.

Fraser. They won $4900 in The Connors won the prizes. premier title and $14,800 The Dairy Industry in cash and prizes at the Awards are supported by region’s Dairy Industry national sponsors Westpac, Awards held at the TravDairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated elodge in Palmerston North Farmers, Fonterra, Honda this month. The region’s Motorcycles NZ, LIC, MeridFarm Manager of the Year Matt Johnson ian Energy, Ravensdown and title was won by Matt Johnson, and Shane True won the Dairy RD1, along with industry partner AgITO. The winner of the region’s Farm Trainee of the Year contest.

The Connors are 50% sharemilking Manager of the Year title, Matt Johnson, 242 cows for the Wyke Partnership at has plenty of praise for his farm owners – Landcorp.

Shannon.

“Landcorp’s a well “It’s the smallest herd I’ve ever milked,” says Shaun, 32, who started in structured corporate comthe industry when he was 16. The Con- pany with fantastic sysnors took on the position after manag- tems in place and top class facilities. It’s achieving ing a 1300-cow farm in Canterbury.

“We take pride in our livestock and above average results and believe they perform at their best when is focused on the people it Shane True their needs are met as fully as possible.” employs and helping them They also enjoy the dairy industry grow within the industry and have a goal of farm ownership that by supplying training and support, as allows them to step away from the day- well as providing a safe work environment.” to-day running of the operation.

Johnson manages Landcorp’s “There is nowhere else where an industry cooperates and pulls together Tutoko Dairy Unit milking 222 cows near Foxton. He won $8150 in cash and in the same way.”

It was the second time they had prizes. Aged 25, he entered the indusentered the awards, saying the analysis try after school and wants to manage and judgment is invaluable to the future larger operations to gain staff management experience before progressing of their farm business.

“You can’t help but become more into sharemilking.

He says the awards are motivational aware of your farm business when you

and forced him to consider his farm and personal goals.

Feilding farm managers Michael and Raewyn Hills were second in the farm manager contest, winning $4250 in prizes, and Foxton farm manager Justin Todd was third, winning $2250 in prizes.

The 2012 Manawatu Rangitikei Horowhenua Dairy Trainee of the Year, Shane True, says he entered the awards for a second time as he enjoyed the fun and interactive events.

“I also enjoyed meeting new people that are passionate about the industry, and it was good to get a measure of where my skills and knowledge is at.”

True, aged 21, has been in the dairy industry three years and is currently assisting on a 570-cow Kiwitea farm owned by Andrew Hoggard.

His goal is to continue progressing in the industry, taking the traditional pathway. He won $5000 in prizes.

Twenty-two-year-old Levin farm assistant Dale Pratt was placed second in the dairy trainee award and Bulls assistant Tara Miller, aged 23, was third.

They won $500 and $250 respectively.

All three winners will now compete for the New Zealand Sharemilker/ Equity Farmer of the Year, New Zealand Farm Manager of the Year and New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year titles witha prize pool of nearly $140,000 in Auckland on May 12.

Shaun and Liza Connor host a field day on March 22, and Johnson on March 29.

Shaun and Liza Connor.

Cream of the crop Sharemilker/Equity Farmer Merit Awards: ■■ Naylor Lawrence and Associates Best Financial and Farm Records Award – Shaun & Liza Connor ■■

DairyNZ Human Resources Award – Hamish & Devon Easton

■■

Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award – Kim & Duncan Fraser

■■

Federated Farmers of New Zealand Leadership Award – Lisa Hicks

■■

Honda Farm Safety and Health Award – Lisa Hicks

■■

LIC Recording and Productivity Award – Shaun & Liza Connor

■■

Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award – Hamish & Devon Easton

■■

Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award – Hamish & Devon Easton

■■

Westpac Business Performance Award – Shaun & Liza Connor

Farm Manager Merit Awards: ■■ Hobson & Associates Pride and Property Award – Justin Todd ■■

MacDougalls Aims & Attitudes Award – Michael & Raewyn Hills

■■

Bell-Booth Grass Roots Award – Matt Johnson

■■

DairyNZ Human Resource Management Award – Dion Nicholls

■■

RD1 Farm Management Award – Michael & Raewyn Hills

■■

Westpac Financial Planning and Management Award – Matt Johnson

Dairy Trainee Merit Award: AgITO Farming Knowledge Merit Award – Sam Ebett

■■

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

26 // management

Split herd lifts milk yield and BCS andrew swallow

SPLITTING Lincoln

University Dairy Farm’s herd appears to be helping improve body condition and production but reproductive performance gains remain to be seen.

The herd, now just 642 cows where up to 700 have been milked in the past, has been split roughly onethird, two-thirds.

All 140 heifers went into the small mob from calving, topped up to 230 with low-condition score, mixed-age cows.

Where there’s been a choice of paddocks ready for grazing, the small mob gets the best and closest to the shed.

“Milking takes about

one hour for them from paddock to paddock,” says farm manager Peter Hancox.

“They’re at the cowshed for just 40 minutes.

That’s huge for their well being.”

If they struggle to get to target residual, they’re moved on and the larger mob comes in on clean up duties.

The policy appears to be closing the gap between heifer production and the herd average (see table) and while heifers started the season with higher body condition scores than last year, they’ve held onto that advantage.

There’s a hint reproductive performance will be improved, with 10.8% not pregnant versus 13.8%

Dawn Dalley

last year, however the six week in-calf rate is back from 84% to 80%.

As the season draws to a close half the heifers have been moved out of the small mob, and more low condition score – below 4.0 – mixed aged cows moved in to maintain the mob at about 200 cows.

“So already we’re thinking of next season,”

says Hancox.

DairyNZ body condition scores the herd fortnightly, rounding down rather than up, so an animal scored just under four is called a 3.5 rather than 4.0.

“We’ve no vested interest whether a cow’s a four or a five,” DairyNZ’s Dawn Dalley told the focus day.

“We call it as we see it.

Sometimes the management team aren’t particularly happy with that but Peter is able to use the information to flick lighter cows into the smaller mob and vice versa.”

Dalley says in general farms should aim to condition score at four key times: late February; drying off; calving; premating.

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Any cow below condition score 4.0 goes into the small herd for preferential feeding.

Split herd impact on heifer performance

“That [pre-mating] is a busy time but it’s an absolutely critical one... For the investment of two people for one afternoon you can get all that information. It’s a little bit more difficult in a herringbone [shed] but we’ve got some ways of doing it.”

If one condition score timing has to fall by the wayside, then the calving one is probably the one to let slip, she adds. The others are crucial to adjust management to help cows reach the target BCS for calving of 5.0 or preferably 5.5 DairyNZ’s new feed allocation tool can help with that, by calculating the energy intake required per day to reach the target.

Dalley says one farm it was piloted on last year had 110 cows at BCS 3.5 at the beginning of May, but by allocating them the 17kgDM/head/day of feed the tool showed they needed, they still reached their target by calving.

Measure

2010-11

Sept liveweight

2011-12

377kg

402kg

Mid Nov ave BCS

4.2

4.2

% <BCS mid Nov

16

6

Feb ave BCS

4.0

4.2

% <BCS 4 in Feb

22

7

1.32kgMS

1.97kgMS

-28%

-8%

Production on Nov 20 Difference with herd average

“It shows if you don’t quite get it right through the autumn there are some options in terms of still salvaging things through the winter.”

However, with feed being more expensive in winter, taking action to build condition score sooner rather than later is likely to be more profitable.

Hancox says the success of splitting the herd this year means the same

will be done next year, and even earlier.

“This year we didn’t split the herd until September. Next year we’re looking at August 20. It will be a hassle with all the colostrums cows and reds, but we think it’s worth it.”

For all the tweaks to Lincoln’s system – mowing, split herd, more nitrogen, slightly higher residuals – Hancox stresses the farm’s main focus is unchanged.

More from mowing TARGETED USE of the mower on Lin-

coln University’s Dairy Farm looks to be a key reason why it’s managed to maintain its milk production through the season better than ever before.

Monthly rate of decline since October’s peak is just 4.4%, compared to 9-11% in most years.

“In past seasons we’ve been hell bent on (making cows eat to) residuals,” says farm manager Peter Hancox.

“This season we’ve got slightly more of a cow focus, to try to increase their intake.”

The mower has come out mostly pregrazing, usually on paddocks where cows struggled to eat down to target residuals in the previous round, with just occasional use post-grazing.

As of late Feb the mower had done about 100 hours this season, at least once on every paddock. Typically one in five, to one in seven paddocks get cut each round.

“So we’ve gone from very low (diesel use) to not very much,” notes farm management consultant George Reveley.

Cut height, and more importantly,

target residual, has been lifted this season, but again it’s a case of going from very low to not very much: 7-8 clicks on the platemeter to 8-9 clicks.

“We still want to graze paddocks down so they’re very tidy, grazing the clumps out to 70-80%,” stresses Reveley.

Where that’s not possible, for example due to wet weather, rather than keep putting the cows back to do the job as has been done in the past, the mower has come in.

DairyNZ developer Steve Lee notes mowing was regarded as “a sin” by the management team. Now, “it’s a penance.”

“We’ve not got metal disease. It’s a grazing management tool. In the past we used the cows to do this but in order to take the next step we needed to do some things differently... We’ve learnt a lot about mowing and if anything we were a bit shy with it at the start of the season.

“Looking back we should have been more proactive. You need to leap in and manage the cover.”

But discipline in its use and timing are vital, he stresses.

Dairy News march 13, 2012

management // 27

Hunt on for super cows PETER BURKE

AN EXTENSIVE trial

run by DairyNZ to find the dairy cows which are the most efficient converters of feed to milk is progressing well.

Scientists say within a year they should be able to confirm a genetic marker can clearly identify such high performing animals.

The trial is being carried out at the Westpac Taranaki Agricultural Research Station (WTARS) at Hawera in conjunction with LIC and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise with funding from the Ministry of Science and Innovation and DairyNZ. It is being replicated in Australia under the auspices of the Department of Primary Industry in Victoria. The results of both trials will be combined to ensure sufficient scale to confirm the validity of results.

identified a likely set of gene markers for feed conversion efficiency (FCE).

The markers were used to screen 3700 cows from commercial herds and 214 cows were bought as either efficient or inefficient.

Macdonald says they are now feeding the cows in the pens with the objective of validating the marker genes by conducting the same test. The feed intake, live weight and milk production are measured for 35 days.

The feeding regime is strictly controlled. Each cow or calf carries an electric collar or ear tag so it is recorded when it puts its head into one of the feeding stations. It instantly records how much an animal has eaten.

The animals are fed special lucerne pasture cubes imported from Australia. The cubes enable intake to be measured accurately and are closer to replicating pasture.

The feeding regime is strictly controlled. Each cow or calf carries an electric collar or ear tag so it is recorded when it puts its head into one of the feeding stations.

The trial started in 2008 with a special facility built at the research station. This consisted of 28 pens and feed stations for the 224 calves on the facility at any one time.

Kevin Macdonald, DairyNZ’s senior scientist, has been supervising the trial.

“Initially we put calves that were between six and eight months of age through the pens for 60 days. We measured their live weight and their intake for 46 days and identified which were the most efficient and which were the least efficient. All told we put through about 1050 calves, and we’ve kept the 10% most efficient and the 10% that are least efficient,” he says.

From the differences found between calves, LIC

Unfortunately no factory in New Zealand can produce them. Another DairyNZ senior scientist, Dr Garry Waghorn says the choice of the cubes over pellets is critical to the whole trial.

“You cannot measure feed intakes from pasture because it’s about 85% moisture… so we have to have dry feed,” he says.

“The cubes are good because we can easily weigh and measure them.

Although pellets are more readily available they are not really an option because of the very screwy results they would be likely to deliver.

“We must have a trial where the evaluation is roughly the same as in the real pasture world, the only difference is that we have to give a dry feed.”

Waghorn says typically a cow eats about 17 kg/DM per day of pasture which equates to about 120kg of “wet feed”.

The essence of the trial is based on the biochemistry of the cow and inheritability of genes that set to page 30

Kevin Macdonald, one of DairyNZ scientists involved in the trial.

Dairy News march 13, 2012

28 // management

Taking the fight to CRW benedict collins

Mark McNeill establishing a colony of parasitic wasps, ready to follow the clover root weevil south, on a dairy farm near Ashburton.

THE CLOVER root weevil (CRW) is hitting Cantabrian pastures hard this year and it is rapidly building up larger populations further south.

While the CRW and its ability to kill-off nitrogen fixing clover is well known in the North Island, it has been busy establishing itself on the Mainland after arriving in Canterbury and Nelson in 2006. AgResearch bio-control officer Mark McNeill believes the CRW has now reached a threshold in Canterbury where it can thrive and says he has been receiving reports from concerned farmers from north of the Waimakariri River, to south of Ashburton.

“The weevil at the moment is really taking off,

it’s becoming a real issue for farmers at this time of the year,” he says. McNeill says the dairy farm at Lincoln University has experienced a classic example of CRW infestation.

“We actually had a weevil larvae population up to around 250 larvae per metre squared, which is not a huge population, but it’s an indication of what’s happening under the ground.

“As a consequence of that predation and that level of damage we did start to see a decline in the clover content in the pastures.”

While the CRW larvae feed on the roots of the clover the adult weevils feed on the leaf – leaving distinctive notches and killing it off.

When CRW first arrived in the North Island in the mid-1990s, it was estimated that the cost to dairy farmers of doing nothing about it would

be between $250 and $560 per hectare.

However, farmers apply extra nitrogen to compensate for the clover loss.

But that’s not the only weapon at farmers’ disposal and in February McNeill was hot on the weevils’ trail near Ashburton releasing a bio-control agent, the Irish parasitic wasp, which loves nothing more than laying its eggs inside the CRW, killing them in the process.

“We’ve been doing releases throughout the South Island from Nelson, Marlborough right through to Otago, Southland and this work is ongoing.”

Dairy NZ’s investment leader for productivity Dr Bruce Thorrold told Dairy News the programme has been very successful at limiting the damage done by CRW.

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A BOOK launching this week will honour the five people behind LIC’s successful sire proving scheme.

Among the five is Olive Castle, a mathematician who joined the New Zealand Dairy Board in the 1940s. She worked largely behind the scenes but her work enabled a scheme which has generated billions of dollars to the New Zealand dairy industry and the country’s economy.

The book, The Billion Dollar Scheme, will be launched at LIC on Wednesday. Author and LIC communications manager, Clare Bayly says acknowledging Olive’s contribution was a very important component of the book. Olive Castle died in 1988.

“We had to make this happen. Olive was a ‘creature of the times’, a woman working in a male environment, a conceptual thinker who worked behind the scenes and solved a dilemma which enabled dairy sires to be accurately evaluated.

“Colleagues recall that she never sought the limelight however and, whereas today she would seek to have her work published, in those days she ‘just got on’ with the next task at hand.

Bayly says The Billion Dollar Scheme is dedicated to “five very special people” who devoted their

Extract Olive Castle is best known, perhaps, for her challenge to the way bulls were evaluated in the 1940s.

Known as the daughter dam comparison, a bull’s daughters were compared with its mother.

However, this did not provide enough data and Olive suggested that a more reliable method would be achieved by comparing a bull’s daughters in the herd with the average of all other animals in that herd milked in the same season.

The New Zealand Dairy Board duly accepted Olive’s solution and, over time, contemporary comparison became the norm for progeny test programmes across the world.

lives to improving the profitability and sustainability of dairy farming and whose work enabled the LIC sire proving scheme. They are Olive Castle, Sir Arthur Ward OBE, Dr Patrick Shannon QSO, Jeff Stichbury and Harvey Tempero.

Dairy News march 13, 2012

management // 29 DairyNZ’s Steve Leigh.

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Not just down to the season DAIRYNZ developer suggests LUDF’s step-change in production this season isn’t just down to the weather.

Analysis of soil temperature and pasture growth show they are strongly correlated, and this season’s soil temperatures were below average in spring, then about normal over summer, so if anything, production should be back.

But while it’s “really difficult to measure” because the difference in pasture production is quite small, he says they know LUDF has grown more “because the cows have put more in the vat and we’re 18,000kg of milk solids ahead of last year”.

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MONITORING PASTURE production and regrassing paddocks performing below par helps Lincoln University Dairy Farm grow 640t more drymatter than the typical South Island dairy farm.

Now, tweaks to established grazing management principles are helping it push output even higher, in the paddock and in the vat.

“Has the LUDF grown more? Yes we have,” DairyNZ production developer Steve Leigh told a recent Focus Day on the now 640-cow, fully irrigated farm.

“It’s really difficult to measure how much more because the difference is quite small but we know we have because the cows have put more in the vat and we’re 18,000kgMS ahead of last year.”

But while the tweaks appear to be taking LUDF to a new level, the long-term policy of regular pasture renewal was the point Lee stressed to the focus day.

“Historically we’ve done 10%. This year we’ve lifted that to 15%. It’s enabled us to grab a paddock producing 18t/ha and push that to 22t/ha.”

That range between the best and the worst performing paddocks on LUDF is just 20-30%, he adds, whereas the average range between the best and worst performing paddocks on New Zealand dairy farms

is about 10t, with the best 100% better than the worst.

Consequently there are some big gains to be made by identifying the poor performers, working out why, correcting any underlying problems where practical, and regrassing them.

LUDF’s strong soils, irrigation, nitrogen and grazing management help, he acknowledges, but pasture monitoring and renewal “is a big part” of that 640t drymatter advantage LUDF achieves over the South Island norm.

Historical data supports that. From 2003-4 to 2009-10 LUDF lifted annual pasture production 380kgDM/ha on the lighter free draining soils of its north block, 460kg DM/ha on the less well-drained middle block, and 400kg DM/ha on the very heavy, poorly drained south block.

In the early years there was also a quality leap with the mean metabolisable energy content of pre-graze pasture going from 11.1 MJME/kg DM in 2002-3, to 12.1 in 2003-4, then edging up to 12.6 by 2006-7.

However, since 2009-10, quality and quantity appeared to have plateaued, hence LUDF’s renewed approach to growing, and getting cows to eat, more energy.

For LUDF that extra 640t equates to an extra 50,000kgMS in the vat, or an extra 300kgMS/ha, he calculates.

“So there’s a lot of money in it.”

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

30 // management Garry Waghorn at the research station in Hawera.

Trials to identify our super cows from page 27

apart the more efficient converters of feed from others.

The attributes sought in the cows and calves in this trial are similar to

those in others carried out with other animals such as poultry, pigs and beef cattle. To ensure accurate results, Waghorn says a large number of cows have to be screened.

“We have found that some are more efficient than others and the differences are big between the least and most efficient – in some cases it’s 20%.

That means that some will need 10kgDM per day while another will require only 8kgDM for the same growth. So it’s worth chasing,” he says.

As well as the Hawera trial, the cows are being put on pasture on farms in the Waikato and Taranaki for further validation of results. Some of the cows have been sent to the AgResearch facility in Palmerston North for methane production tests.

Macdonald is conducting further trials on some farmlets on the WTARS.

This trial is another example of the efficiency gains the primary sector is able to make thanks to some excellent and dedicated scientists. The idea of producing as much milk for less feed could lead to lower stocking rates and improved environmental outcomes.

It could mean more production from the same number of cows. It’s a winwin outcome and a project Waghorn is very happy about working on.

“What’s really good about this is that there’s no genetic modification,” he says.

“All we are doing is identifying cows that are actually out there and we are selecting the efficient

This trial is another example of the efficiency gains the primary sector is able to make thanks to some excellent and dedicated scientists.

“We have 126 cows on these 11ha farmlets and while they are not exactly representative of what happens on farm, they do enable us to look at different stocking rates,” Waghorn says.

“Stocking rates are not critical but it gives us an indication of whether the more efficient animals do need less feed and if are they more or less competitive than the least efficient cows in the herd.”

and identifying inefficient ones. Even if you measure breeding worth you still don’t know how much they ate to get there.

“This is about selecting cows from our national herd and picking out the ones that use feed the most efficiently.

“At the same time we’re going to put a lot of effort to make sure they are robust, have good calves and don’t have health or reproductive issues.”

On trial: one of the cows at the WTARS.

Dairy News march 13, 2012

animal health // 31

Changing how we use antibiotics The discovery of antibiotics, and their application to human and animal health, rates for many as the single most important scientific advance of the 20th century.

Now, we are facing some challenges in our use of this important management tool.

DairyNZ chief scientist Dr Eric Hillerton explains;

ally becoming prohibited.

It’s likely to become more restricted in New Zealand, eventually, as well.

ANTIBIOTICS ARE

used in production animals to treat disease, as a preventive of future infection and for performance enhancement (to increase yield or speed growth).

Despite huge successes, antibiotic use in food production animals is increasingly problematic. Drug residues can enter the human food chain, mainly affecting production of processed foods e.g. yoghurt, and occasionally results in allergic responses in consumers.

However, these issues can be managed by strict adherence to drug withholding periods.

More important now is the growing consumer concern about antibiotic use and the resulting political pressure to restrict the use of antibiotics in food animals.

Internationally, use of antibiotics in food production animals is gradu-

Eric Hillerton

Some advocates even call for antibiotics to be banned because of fears their use leads to faster emergence of bacteria carrying genes for antibiotic resistance. As a result, a number of antibiotics, such as chloramphenicol and nitrofurazone, have been reserved for human and companion animals (pets) for some years already.

Regulatory bodies

worldwide are now moving to increase this list to include, in particular, the most modern generation of a group of antibiotics known as cephalosporins.

The lack of good scientific evidence that antibiotics have positive “growth promotion” benefits, and the increasing incidence of bacteria with resistance to antibiotics, has already led to “growth promoting” products being banned in many countries.

This process started in Sweden in 1986 and in 2006 the EU placed a total ban on the use of a number of antibiotics for performance enhancement, with no obvious adverse effects on production resulting. Dairying has always been sparing in such use and in New Zealand their selective application can be easily classified as disease prevention e.g. treatment of

weaner calves with a coccidiostat in late spring.

In adult cows the predominant use of antibiotics is the treatment and prevention of mastitis, for which penicillin-type products and cephalosporins are primarily used. It is virtually impossible to argue against treating acute clinical mastitis.

The “Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare” include Freedom from Pain, Injury or Disease – by prevention or rapid diagnosis of disease and suitable treatment. In 1997, the International Dairy Federation

In cows antibiotics are commonly used to treat mastitis.

adopted a resolution that “mastitis therapy is necessary for animal welfare”.

New Zealand dairy farmers are pragmatic in their approach to treatment and do not use therapeutic antibiotics unnecessarily.

Considerable evidence exists that many mild cases of mastitis will selfcure and treatments are reserved more for acute cases where there is associated pain and inflammation.

Dry cow treatments Much more contentious is the use of prophylactic antibiotics.

For dairy farming, this includes dry cow treatments (DCT). DCT was to page 32

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

32 // animal health

Changing how we use antibiotics from page 31

partly developed to cure subclinical infections present at the end of lactation.

It has never proven worthwhile to try and cure them during lactation. It has consistently been found to be up to 80% effective in achieving cure during the dry period, one of the highest performance rates for any form of antibiotic treatment.

However, a blanket treatment approach means that antibiotics are administered to many animals that have no intramammary infection.

Use of antiboiotics in food producing animals could become more restricted in New Zealand, says DairyNZ.

Automatic dipping & flushing…in Reduce Mastitis

The other motive in development of DCT was to prevent up to 80% of new infections that may occur in the dry period

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It is not difficult to find cows with clinical mastitis

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and their treatment can be easily justified.

But it is very difficult to predict which 10-20% of animals are likely to

develop a totally new infection during the dry period, so many animals receive antibiotic treatment simply as insurance.

This has been shown to be practical and economically worthwhile. As pressures increase to reduce antibiotic use in animals, DCTs have become a primary target for change, because uninfected animals are treated.

Antibiotics ban By 2009, the Dutch found that banning of antibiotic growth promoters had not reduced the total tonnage of antibiotics used in food animals.

They then mandated for a 50% reduction in treatment use of antibiotics in food animals over three years.

On January 6, 2012, the US Food & Drug Administration issued an order that prohibits certain uses of cephalosporin drugs in food-producing animals.

This ban includes unapproved doses, frequencies and durations, i.e. off-label use.

The order also prohibits using cephalosporin drugs for disease preven-

tion, but whether or not this will include the use of cephalosporin DCT remains uncertain.

Then on January 12 the German authorities published draft legislation to “reduce to an absolute minimum” use of antibiotics in animals heading for slaughter into the food chain.

The momentum to change the way that animal farming uses antibiotics is clearly gaining pace and scale.

This is happening in our international marketplaces and for our international competitors.

The need for, and extent of, regulatory change in New Zealand is the responsibility of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, but it generally follows international trends.

It seems inevitable that antibiotic use in foodproducing animals will become more restricted here as well. Dairy farmers will need to review their use of DCT as part of their annual animal health plan prepared with their veterinarian.

Fortunately, New Zealand research studies have allowed us to understand the value, limitations and alternatives to antibiotic DCT. These learnings, along with significant international work, are being incorporated into the new DairyNZ SmartSAMM mastitis control programme being progressively released.

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

animal health /feed // 33

Possum focus for TB eradication A TB-FREE New Zea-

land is the ultimate vision for the Animal Health Board as it implements the new National Bovine Tuberculosis National Pest Management Strategy (TB NPMS).

The 15-year strategy has been operational since July 2011 and sets out to test the viability of TB eradication from wild animals over at least 2.5 million ha of “vector risk areas”.

The strategy also aims to maintain areas where TB eradication in carrier animals has been achieved.

The strategy represents a shift in approach for the AHB, as it seeks to consolidate the gains it has made in reducing the numbers of TB infected herds and move toward dealing with the underlying source of TB infection – the remaining “vectors” (largely possums). These live in about

40% of New Zealand’s countryside, including in more challenging terrain.

DairyNZ invests about $15 million of levy payer funds annually into the TB NPMS, and through the slaughter levy, dairy farmers contribute even more.

Along with funding from other livestock industries and MAF, this commitment by dairy farmers has enabled the AHB to reduce infected herd numbers to 81 (at mid-2011), down from 1700 in the mid-1990s.

Such gains will be protected under the new strategy, while the AHB will also continue to use the latest technology and innovation to control vectors and interact with farms in the most efficient way possible.

DairyNZ works closely with the AHB to ensure it continues to provide value for money for dairy farmers. DairyNZ will be part

Fertiliser vital for nutrients THE FAVOURABLE summer growth conditions in many parts of the country have set farmers up well for excellent summer and autumn production, says fertiliser company Ballance.

However, with some farmers enjoying pasture surplus, the company says there are reports some farmers are withholding their normal maintenance fertiliser inputs for fear of making this feed surplus worse.

Ballance science extension manager Aaron Stafford says farmers need to remind themselves of the reason they are applying maintenance fertiliser.

“Maintenance fertiliser is applied to maintain good levels of soil fertility – that is, at a level where pasture growth is not limited by nutrient availability. So, applying maintenance fertiliser will not generate a larger feed surplus. Conversely, choosing to withhold this fertiliser could have implications on pasture production over the longerterm, since soil fertility levels will be gradually mined.

“Farmers should consider their needs for phosphate, potassium, sulphur and magnesium to replace the nutrients lost from the soil each year in production. This is what maintenance fertiliser application is required for - not to boost pasture growth.”

Stafford says farmers need to know what is in the fertiliser mix they are applying. If there is a surplus of feed already evident, the one nutrient they do not want to apply is nitrogen, which should not be part of the maintenance fertiliser mix in this case.

“Farmers are well aware that more nitrogen applied now will just increase the surplus of feed unnecessarily.

Our focus with maintenance fertiliser is about maintaining soil nutrition for the future rather than generating a boost to pasture growth now.”

Farmers wanting advice should contact their local Ballance technical sales representative on 0800 222 090.

of a technical reference group advising the AHB on its eradication “proof of concept” and will be better placed to judge whether complete eradica-

tion of TB is feasible and affordable.

DairyNZ is also working with the AHB and National Animal Identification and Tracing

Ltd (NAIT) to see those organisations merged into one entity by July 2013, bringing these two functions together will create greater efficiency.

DairyNZ invests $15 million annually into TB management.

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

34 // animal health

Let’s get real about BCS industry understands the benefits of reaching body condition score (BCS) targets of 5.0 for mixed age cows and 5.5 for heifers – they lead to greater reproductive efficiency, milk production and healthier cows.

Despite this, each spring we see many herds with too many cows calving below target condition and consequently achieving below optimum production and profit.

Why is there this apparent disconnect?

It is difficult for farmers to assess changes in

cow condition of their own herds. Assessing BCS of your own herd is like watching your own children grow. Logic tells you they must have grown but you can’t see it on a dayto-day basis and it is only when a visitor or relative comments on the change, that you take stock yourself.

Changes in cow condition are similarly difficult to detect when you are living with the cows every day. Adding to this difficulty, the process of BCS assessment is open to “user interpretation” if not done thoroughly with the desired result influencing assessment, i.e. these cows need to be BCS 5.0, there-

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Table 1. Number of days to achieve BCS targets after cows have been dried off.

Body condition score Mixed age cows

R 3 yr heifers

3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5

3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0

Days from calving date* Autumn High quality pasture supplement 160 120 130 100 100 80 70 60

* includes 10 days when cows are being dried off and not gaining wait and 30 days when cows do not gain weight before calving.

fore they are 5.0.

Farmers tend to err on the optimistic. Farmers are often overly optimistic about, firstly, the condition of their own cows (and tend to over-assess BCS) and, secondly, how quickly they can get them back up to target cow condition.

Realism is required.

Table 1 sets out how long it takes to restore cow condition to target BCS. Dealing with shortterm priorities versus medium term reward is key. Sacrificing income for greater return in future is challenging when farmers are facing other short-term priorities.

Often achieving autumn drying off BCS targets requires a compromise with milk production and profit in the current season. This has obvious implications for cash flow and creates more uncertainty for the future.

The benefits of improved cow condition

in the autumn will only be captured the following spring in milk production, and any reproduction benefits only come to fruition the following calving – 18 months after the decision was made to address cow condition issues.

Some farmers don’t believe the value proposition. There is a feeling among some farmers that the importance of cow condition is over emphasised and it is a lower priority than autumn milk and feed on-hand targets.

Farmers who have made the decision to change their priorities and put cow condition ahead of autumn milk and equal to feed targets have no regrets.

Given that it is difficult for farmers to assess their own cows, how do farmers know they have a cow condition problem?

Some farmers are employing consultants or vets to carry out BCS and

provide more accountability to act on issues. Involving someone trained in BCS assessment, who does not view the cows on a day-to-day basis, is likely to provide a more reliable objective assessment of cow condition.

For those farmers

assessing their own herds, being calibrated against a standard is important.

DairyNZ is planning a series of farmer workshops to provide training in BCS assessment. For more information on these events visit dairynz.co.nz/ events.

Recognising that addressing cow condition is not an easy issue for farmers, DairyNZ is taking a new approach to an old problem.

This autumn in the south Waikato and Manawatu, DairyNZ is employing a group of

trained advisors to help farmers tackle their cow condition issues.

If you would like to find out more contact your local DairyNZ consulting officer or phone the DairyNZ Farmer Information Service on 0800 4 DairyNZ (0800 4 324 7969).

If you would like to register, do so online at dairynz.co.nz/bcsinitiative or by phoning the DairyNZ Farmer Information Service.

• Rob Brazendale is DairyNZ development team leader, productivity

Consider the risk factors Test yourself with this self-assessment. If you have ticked a number of these descriptions you probably have an issue with cow condition and might like to consider getting some help.

Table 2: Self-assessment: risk indicators of cow condition issues

Milk production

✔

Achieving below district average milksolids per cow Cows don’t peak well compared with district average in the spring Below target three-week submission rate

Reproduction

Low proportion of cows pregnant in the first three weeks Conception rate below 55 per cent

Cow health People

High number of dirty cows High incidence of metabolic disease Uncalibrated assessment No one from off-farm view the cows

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

animal health // 35

How well do you grow your heifers?

Philipa Hedley

HOW WELL you grow

your heifers and their condition score at first calving has a big impact on both their reproductive performance and milksolids production in their first season.

Ensure your in-calf heifers achieve their target liveweights (Lwt) and are at body condition score 5.5 by 22 months of age.

Achieving these targets should result in more than 86% of your heifers being in-calf and retained on the farm to calve for a second lactation.

Heifers are often neglected once the bulls are removed.

In some cases, they may not even be seen again until they arrive back on the farm at the start of winter. This is too late to address any issues of poor growth and/or body condition score.

Many InCalf Fertility Focus reports show first calvers with good calving patterns (five-star) followed by poor three-week submission rates (one-

star). This suggests they probably calved too light and were not well grown.

To achieve the targets requires a plan, discipline to monitor and early attention to issues that arise. Key actions include: Replacement stock need to be checked monthly and weighed every 2-3 months.

Address nutritional issues if your heifers do not meet the average liveweight target based on the average BV for liveweight for the line of heifers.

For example: Mature liveweight (kg) = 500kg + (BV liveweight kg) If the BV Lwt for the line of heifers is 20 Mature Lwt = 500 + 20 = 520kg Lwt At 15 months of age, the line of heifers need to average 60% of their mature Lwt. Average Lwt at 15 months: 60% of 520kg = 312kg Lwt Have a drench programme.

■■ To prevent problems with anthelmintic resistance, monitor faecal egg counts and drench strategically.

FE warning in Victoria AUSTRALIAN DAIRY farmers, particularly those in

West Gippsland and Yarram in Victoria, are being urged to feed their herds supplementary zinc immediately, if they are not already doing so, with current conditions posing a very high risk of facial eczema.

Dr Jakob Malmo, Maffra Veterinary Centre, who is coordinating Dairy Australia’s spore monitoring program, says spore counts had risen recently, particularly in West Gippsland.

While counts in the Macalister Irrigation District have not risen dramatically, the current climatic conditions – rain and warm nights – could encourage further multiplication of facial eczema spores so farmers needed to be prepared.

Now is the time for urgent action if you haven’t already started feeding a preventative zinc supplement, he says.

The overall average spore count for Gippsland is now more than 80,000 spores per gram of pasture, well above the level likely to cause liver damage with prolonged exposure (which is 20,000 spores per gram).

In West Gippsland, many of the farms monitored have spore counts above 100,000. Cattle grazing pastures with this spore load are more likely to develop acute liver damage and photosensitisation.

“We are starting to get reports of cases of facial eczema across Gippsland. By the time this happens, the liver damage has already occurred,” Malmo says.

■■

■■

In a wet summer/ autumn heifers may need to be drenched more regularly.

If in doubt, consult your vet.

Check mineral status

late summer/early autumn.

The mineral status of the herd is no indication of mineral status of the heifers, unless grazed on the dairy farm. Heifers can

be short of selenium and copper.

• Phillipa Hedley is DairyNZ’s productivity developer. Article Inside Dairy March issue.

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

36 // machinery & products

Jumbo self loading wagon stands tall TONY HOPKINSON

ONE OF the bigger bits of kit at South Island Field Days was the Pottinger Jumbo 6010 self loading wagon on the Origin Agroup stand and owned

by McStay Contracting of Woodlands.

Gary and Wendy McStay have been at Woodlands, 15km from Invercargill, for nine years and have a full contracting service including cultivation, silage and hay.

“We travel up to one hour, probably 40-50km, from our base and most of the time we are working on flat to rolling country,” says Gary.

Cultivation gear includes a Kuhn and Lemken reversible

ploughs, Dalbo maxi-discs, Dalbo Roller Drill with a Hatzenbichler air seeder and a direct drill.

“I also do a lot of ridging of Southlands favourite crop, swedes.”

They have a James Aerator and McStay believes a lot more Southland soils would benefit from being aerated. He also uses an Alpego Cracker after winter crops to open the soil and let it dry out.

With their McHale Fusion Baler last season they harvested 12000 bales of baleage which is down because of the season. Bale collection is done with a JCB Tele-Handler.

They have two full-time staff plus Gary and five to six casuals when needed.

“April till August is our quieter time and from

August onwards its sheer hell.”

Tractors are two Massey Ferguson 120 and 160hp with four Fendts 160-200hp. They have just finished their first season with the Pottinger Wagon with a 60cu/m capacity using a 200hp Fendt.

McStays bought the Pottinger for two reasons the suspension system and the weigh scales.

A new innovation from Pottinger is the tandem axle with hydropneumatic suspension to give maximum stability and comfort on-and-off-road.

The suspension has a built-in hydraulic sensing system to each of the wheels. If it senses that one wheel is down on the others e.g. soft ground, it can shift the weight to the

other wheels. This helps stability as well as reducing compaction.

The constant sensing also helps the stability of the wagon especially when full and when travelling on hilly ground, and the large axle has extra clearance for demanding tracks and

poor road conditions.

This system also allows for attachment to weigh scales, he says.

of the crop and with the ISOBUS control each load is weighed and recorded and a printout is available.”

“More and more farmers buying or selling crops by the kg/DM want an accurate figure of the yield

Excavators do battle ONCE again the Cable Price

national excavator operator competition will return to the Central Districts Field Days at Manfeild Park in Feilding, this week.

Delicate, finesse or agile might not be words you normally associate with 12 tonne excavators, but you may change your mind after visiting the National Excavator Operator Competition being run by the New Zea-

land Contractors’ Federation.

In a display of skill, these giant Hitachi machines demonstrate a level of prowess rarely seen as they execute the extraordinary.

With two joysticks, two levers and four pedals, these steel giants can gracefully pour a cup of tea or open a bottle of champagne.

In fact, it needs to be seen to be believed, but if you really fancy

yourself as an operator, “Doug the Digger” invites all children to try out a real 1.7-tonne machine themselves for a gold coin donation.

It’s not all fun though. As the national final, this competition sees the country’s best machine operators coming from all corners to compete for the title of “Best Multi-Skilled Excavator Operator” over two days of competitive action (Friday and Saturday).

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

machinery & products // 37

Case for energy efficiency THE CASE IH tractor plant in Racine Wisconsin, US, home to the Magnum Series tractor, is now accredited with ISO 50001 certification for energy management.

It has joined an elite group of companies worldwide with the ISO 50001 certification.

“This accreditation for ISO 50001 recognises the Racine plant’s continuous improvement in energy efficiency and Case IH’s long-term commitment to reducing its environmental impact,” says Steve Tyler, Racine plant manager.

“This certification is another testament to this world-class manufacturing facility and can be a source of pride for our employees and the community.”

Because energy is one of the most critical challenges facing the international community, the ISO 50001 certification

is intended to provide organisations with the framework for integrating energy practices into their management procedures. To achieve the ISO 50001 certification, the Racine tractor plant was audited by a third-party firm, UL-DQS, which recommended the plant to the American National Accreditation Board (ANAB).

Under its current energy management system, the plant will continue to improve its energy efficiency and has formalised its process, tools, roles and responsibilities to ensure the system’s sustainability.

The ISO 50001 certification for energy management is the Racine plant’s fourth certification. It also has been certified ISO 9001 for quality management systems, ISO 14001 for environmental efficiency and OHSAS 18001

for health and safety. The plant was also named a “Plant of Excellence” by Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), a leading company in inspection, verification, testing and certification.

The Racine plant is home to the Case IH Magnum Series tractors, which are in demand worldwide. In 2011, 40%

of the Magnums produced at the plant were destined for export. The Racine plant also produces transmissions and final drives for Axial-Flow combines and Module Express Cotton Pickers, cabs for the Patriot sprayers, and axles and valves for Steiger Series tractors.

“Producers have a big job ahead of them, from

feeding an expanding global population while meeting strict emissions regulations, to producing more food on less acreage, all while minimising their environmental impact,” says Tyler. “This accreditation is part of Case IH’s commitment to helping agricultural producers meet these challenges.”

Visit: www.caseih.co.nz

The Case IH Racine plant, which is home to Magnum Series tractors, recently received the ISO 50001 certification for energy management.

Cleaner for both shed and environment

MS1324

DAIRY HYGIENE company Ecolab has launched Ecolab Concentrated Acids, meeting the challenge of handling large detergent volumes: handling and environmentally ‘friendliness’. Three concentrates are offered: Optimum2 Concentrate combines sanitising (free of quaternary ammonium compounds), with a mix of organic and inorganic acids that enhance detergency. It works over a wide range of water conditions.

Optimum Concentrate is a high-performance, acidic detergent sanitiser for cleaning milking equipment, especially difficult-to-clean installations.

Klenz All-Temp Concentrate is a high-performance acid detergent QAC sanitiser for routine cleaning of stainless steel milking machines and farm vats.

Ecolab says it has worked to remove water from the formulations. “This has resulted in using less water and energy during manufacturing, and less fuel when you transport the product back to your farm.

“The concentrated formula also means dairy farmers will handle 50% less product when manually dispensing.

For example, 75ml vs 150ml per 100L of wash solution.

This will give greater control when carrying product to the wash tub.”

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

38 // machinery & products

Innovation on show at expo GORDON COLLIE

A RANGE of innovative dairy products from the large multinationals to small specialist players caught the attention of judges at the 2012 World Ag Expo in California.

When it came to selecting the top 10 from the hundreds of new releases across the agricultural market, recognition went to three dairy products – the DeLaval automatic milking rotary, the Hoof-Tec complete footbath solution and Micro Dairy Logic’s electronic rumination tracking technology.

De Laval introduced its new high capacity automatic milking system developed in an international collaborative research effort in Australia.

The company has been a key player in the Future Dairy project at the University of Sydney Camden campus and the robotic system has won numerous international accolades since being launched.

Commercial systems are already operating in Australia, Sweden and Germany, but it is expected to be two years before the first system is installed in the USA. Louisiana company Hoof-Tec was recognised for its integrated footbath system which features a pre-mixed liquid blend of anti-microbial copper, acids and hoof conditioning salts and minerals.

Company director Rosemary Smithyman is a passionate advocate of dairy foot health and offers a complete treatment service with a water-driven micro injection pump ensuring accurate footbath formulation.

A fresh footbath of around 200 litres will treat 350 to 500 cows with a typical regime of one milking three days a week.

Hoof-Tec markets across North America with the company keen to gain international penetration, including Australia and New Zealand.

Texan company Micro Dairy Logic received an Ag Expo award for its ai24 SCR HR-Tag. The electronic neck tag monitors cow rumination patterns – a key indicator of animal health.

It automatically flags cows displaying lower rumination time, particularly important during early lactation.

It picks up animal reactions to any changes in nutrition or outside influences such as heat stress.

The tag also allows producers to determine the optimal time for artificial insemination, improving animal conception rates.

Hoof-Tec’s Rosemary Smithyman at the World Ag Expo.

AMR in top 10 THE WORLD’S first automatic milk-

ing rotary system is featured as a Top-10 New Product at the World Ag Expo 2012 in Tulare, California last month.

The revolutionary solution for highcapacity automatic milking was chosen by a group of judges made up of farmers,

ranchers and industry professionals.

Since its introduction in September 2010, DeLaval AMR has won multiple industry awards including the Gold Medal for innovation at Euro Tier 2010 in Germany, and the Golden Hoof at the Agribex 2011 exhibition in Belgium.

Dairy News march 13, 2012

machinery & tractors // 39

Vintage ride awaits Central Field Days visitors THIS YEAR’S Central

Districts Field Days are brimming with exciting new additions sure to keep people entertained.

Helping visitors to get around the 25ha site this week is David Dench who will be driving one of his vintage McCormick Farmall 300.

The McCormick 6 trailer he will use to cart visitors was bought unrestored.

Now it has new tyres and a new deck he built with his son Travis.

“It can take a maximum of 20 people,” Dench says.

“It can take 15 to 16 adults and then children.

“I will be taking people from the Central Districts Field Days to the carparks from 2.30pm to 5pm.”

Dench says he saw the idea for a tractor and cart in the US while attending international harvester events.

“I’ve done a couple of weddings – my daughter and one other young lady.

I drove the bridal party down the highway to an old wool shed for their

wedding photos,” he says.

“Everything is road registered and I have a substantial safety chain that hooks onto the draw bar.”

Another first timer at the Central Districts Field Days is Thames Valley based Rex Trow who will be revving up his chainsaws to sharpen people’s interest in wooden garden carvings.

Trow says he started chainsaw carving about 20 years ago, following in his father’s footsteps.

“My father did it after he went to the US. From then it just got bigger as we went to different shows. My brothers, father and I did wood chopping events and this was just a natural extension of it.”

At the field days Trow expects to be carving mostly small items for garden displays like mushrooms, seahorses and wishing wells, which will be for sale.

Trow says people watch the process to see items emerge from the wood blocks.

Event organiser Cheryl

Riddell says she is sure everyone will enjoy these new additions.

“It is always great to expand our field days to include new and exciting opportunities for our visitors and for those providing the entertainment or services,” Riddell says.

“We want the Central Districts Field Days to be the best day off the farm all year and we work hard to ensure this happens.

“We want our farmers, their wives and everyone else to know that when they come here, it will be a

day they will remember.”

The main entrance to field days is through the South St at Manfeild Park.

Anyone travelling north is encouraged to use the carpark accessed from Awahuri turn-off into Kawakawa Rd. Gates open at 8.30am until 4.30pm on Thursday and Friday. Gates close at 4pm on Saturday. Admission is $12 per adult. Seniors pay $9 on Thursday and Friday only.

Children under 16 years, accompanied by an adult, have free entry.

Colyton resident and vintage farm machinery collector David Dench, with his McCormick Farmall 300 tractor and his restored McCormick 6 trailer, will transport visitors at this week’s Central Districts Field Days back to their vehicles at the end of each day. Photo: LAURA RICHARDS

Tractors will be a feature at Central Field Days.

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

40 // machinery & tractors

High yield with new Kuhn mower THE KUHN range of GMD vertically folding mowers has

a new three-point mounted model with a working width of 3.1m, the GMD 350.

Its main assets include a high yield owing to its working width, a wide range of adaptation to uneven ground and very large travel angles (35° upwards or 29° downwards for working on the roughest ground).

It is also comfortable to use and a compact transport size, owing to its vertical folding.

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The GMD 350 mower is equipped with the eight disc OPTIDISC disc-holder with many distinctive features: largely dimensioned components for maximum stress resistance, different centre-to-centre distances between divergent and convergent discs for good cutting quality under all conditions, lifetime lubrication, PROTECTADRIVE safety device providing full protection for the cutter bar gearwheels in the event of impact, easy access to disc and intermediate gearwheels.

It also boasts a highly efficient hydro-pneumatic floatation system (residual ground pressure in the mowing unit controlled by a cylinder connected to a nitrogen ball) for accurate mowing, avoiding mixing fodder with impurities or damaging plant cover. It is extremely easy and comfortable to adjust.

During transport, to reduce the GMD 350’s overall dimensions even further, and increase comfort when travelling between fields, the machine can be equipped with a: Simultaneous hydraulic swivel towards the rear (to avoid manually folding the front guard); Hydraulic folding of the end guard (provides transport height below 4m on the road).

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New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays, even though the event is months away.

A total 98% of all sites at Fieldays have been acquired by agricultural related businesses, who understand the significance of exhibiting at the iconic event. Outdoor agricultural sites are 99% occupied and the sought-after indoor Mystery Creek Pavilion is fully subscribed.

With less than 20 sites available across the 40ha of exhibition space, Fieldays organisers expect reach capacity well ahead of previous years.

Vacant sites are mainly concentrated within the Rural Living area, with 13% of these sites still available for companies which complement the farming lifestyle. The popular Kiwi’s Best Marquee is completely sold out with companies showcasing their food and beverage products.

In addition, chefs will demonstrate delicious ways to use exhibitors’ premium products in the Kiwi’s Best Kitchen Theatre.

Other areas of interest include the pioneering Ag Art Wear and Innovation competitions.

The Ag Art Wear wearable arts competition is seeking talented designers to construct creative and unique garments derived from rural products.

The Innovation Competition powered by the University of Waikato is also searching for innovative entries.

The supreme innovation award, the esteemed Golden Standard, recognises backyard agricultural inventions or improvements which have the potential to enhance farming practices.

The New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays will be held June 13-16 at Mystery Creek Events Centre.

Dairy News march 13, 2012

machinery & tractors // 41

Making friend with Fendt SOUTH

AUCKLAND

farmer/contractor Ad Raaymakers is so hooked on the Fendt 714 he recently went out and bought another.

The Raaymakers have two adjacent dairy farms at Glenbrook, just south of the Manukau Harbour.

They grow some maize and also harvest grass silage for their herds and for other dairy farmers in the district.

The contracting operation chalks up about 1000 acres a year.

Raaymakers bought his first Fendt 714 three years ago and has used it for a variety of farm and contract jobs.

They include pulling silage loader wagons, feeding out, carting maize, mowing and some rotary hoe work.

He was so pleased with its performance, he bought his second 714 in August.

Having previously

owned a variety of tractor brands, Raaymakers likes his Fendts for their size, quality, horsepower and low fuel consumption. He also says they retain their value well for resale or trade in.

straight for the 714.

“Our first one has only ever had a service over the years and we’ve had two loaders on it and had no trouble. They mostly do the loader wagon in the spring.

“Fendts are easy to handle and drive once you get the hang of them”.

“We chose the 714 for the size. It’s not too big for farming and it’s not too small for contracting,” he says.

“Fendts are easy to handle and drive once you get the hang of them. I generally only drive them in manual but our drivers use them in automatic for contracting. There are a lot more options than many people realise and work with.”

Raaymakers didn’t even consider another tractor when he wanted to add to his fleet recently, and went

“One Fendt has a 40-cubic-metre wagon on it and the other has a 28-cubic-metre wagon.

They handle them fine. To start off with we thought the tractor would be too small for the large wagon but it’s not. We put goodsized tyres on front and back and it can handle it really well.

“The Fendt 714 is not a huge tractor so it’s nice to drive. For the horsepower it’s still a small-sized tractor. It’s got a good turn and a good lock.

“You really only use

Ad Raaymakers says his Fendt 714s’ power-to-size ratio and ease of use make them the ideal tractor for his dairy and contracting operation.

one lever to go forward and backward. Everything is on it, so it’s quite simple.

“The front suspension and cab suspension are good, so it delivers a comfortable ride on both road and farm. It’s amazing

how smooth it is.”

Raaymakers is happy with his Fendt 714s’ fuel consumption. He says they are stable on undulating ground and have great visibility. Overall, he is more than happy with them.

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Dairy News march 13, 2012

42 // machinery & tractors

New MF 5400’s pulling power Massey Ferguson’s new 5400 series tractor.

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THE MASSEY Ferguson 5400 series tractors released in 2011 have proved to be a popular choice among New Zealand farmers, says New Zealand manager for Massey Ferguson, Peter Scott.

The range has strengthened Massey Ferguson’s position in the livestock and mixed farming tractor sectors with the addition of four, 82hp to 107hp models that join the best-selling MF 5400 Series.

“When we released the range, the inquiry was great with many customers wanting to know more about the new workhorse tractors,” says Scott.

“We have consistently been taking orders for the new models as customers become aware of how well suited the new MF5400 series is to their requirements.”

The four MF 5400 Series tractors have taken successful features, such as the Dyna-4 transmission, and re-engineered them to suit precisely the specific customer requirements for this size and type of tractor.

This means MF 5400 Series models offer the combination of manoeuvrability, stability, visibility and access linked to agile performance in the yard, on the road and in

the field.

The MF 5400 Series has set the benchmark as the best mixed farming, loader and livestock tractors on the market. The four models, build on this success by introducing the highest levels of technology to this important sector, he says.

The new MF 5400 Series features four models from 82hp to 107hp (max. power), compact, versatile with uncompromising features designed specifically for this sector.

It boasts the latest Perkins 4.4 litre, four cylinder 1104D-44T mechanical injection engine with high visibility bonnet with no compromise cooling performance.

New transaxle specifically developed for these tractors offer optimised and flexible Dyna-4 transmission perfected for use in sub 110hp tractors, unique front axle support housing, optional 1.8t integrated front linkage system (IFLS) , rear axle, designed exclusively for these tractors and rear linkage optimised for tractor size with Electronic Linkage Control.

The MF 5400 has high performance front axle, electro-hydraulic PTO speed selection with 540/540E/1,000 speeds and a spacious cab with

suspension option.

The Perkins 4.4 L engines are renowned for their reliability and economy. The modern design allows maximum power at just 2,000rpm, reducing fuel consumption as well as cutting noise and wear.

The punchy engines develop impressive torque figures at just 1,400rpm, which means the tractors can operate at lower engine speeds, which cuts

fuel consumption and lowers noise.

The engines are encased in a sleek, new high visibility bonnet, again designed especially for these tractors. This provides an unrivalled view forward and to the sides and its shape does not compromise the cooling efficiency in any way.

The one piece unit pivots open, providing excellent access for fuss-free servicing.

new transaxle Up front a new front axle casting, which is designed using expertise gained from larger Massey Ferguson tractors, provides a compact mounting for the new axle, ensuring loaders are mounted easily and effectively become part of the tractor.

This axle mounting, unique in this sector, provides enormous benefits for users. The integral design provides an exceptional turning angle, for superb manoeuvrability and offers outstanding ground clearance.

It also allows both the front linkage and loader to be fitted at the same time, which improves performance by reducing downtime. It simply makes it easier to use a loader and front linkage - further increasing the tractor’s versatility.

■■ Visit: www.masseyferguson.com.au.

LATEST STORIES EVERY DAY Get upto date news at www.ruralnews.co.nz

Ground breaking new side engine design gives you more visibility, and the largest cab on the market gives you more space and more comfort.

The smallest turning circle in its class means you travel less distance giving you more time to load or unload.

The proportional servo joystick is a joy to use and Ride Control enhances transport speeds reducing shocks to the machine and operator.

And the more the heat rises on the oustide the cooler you’ll be on the inside thanks to the improved cooling capacity reducing heat transfer to the cab.

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