Dairy News 4 October 2022

Rural internet snag

JESSICA MARSHALL jessica@ruralnews

DESPITE ITS importance to the sector, many farmers and rural customers are still managing with subpar internet and mobile phone service.

That’s according to the recent 2022 Federated Farmer Rural Con nectivity Survey.

The survey found that more than half of the approximately 1,200 farm ers who responded had reported download speeds at or less than 20 megabytes per second.

Federated Farmers national board member and telecommunications spokesman Richard McIntyre says broadband and mobile are vital to farming businesses.

“With the industry becom ing increasingly technologically advanced… that requires good con nectivity in order to make it all work,” McIntyre told Dairy News

“It’s vital that we make those advancements because we’ve got a fair few challenges coming our way in terms of climate change, nutri ent management and we need to be more productive and efficient in order to remain profitable and effi cient as we meet those challenges.”

He says another issue is that a lack of internet connectivity has been linked to an increased sense of isolation.

“It is an issue around mental wellness, but also it’s a barrier to getting the young people out on the farms, because if they don’t have the connectivity, they don’t have the ability to connect to… various social media and remain connected with their friends and family in the way

that they should expect.”

He adds that increasingly good internet connection is required for compliance tools, like farm plans and NAIT.

“The level of auditing, etc., that’s required for the likes of meat proces sors, milk protein, that’s basically all done digitally these days and so, we will need to run computer programs that download a track map where fertiliser has been placed onto that program so that we can then use it for reporting.”

He says that while government funding to improve rural connec tivity has been generous in the past, things have moved on from when funding was announced back in 2014.

“Certainly, more is required in

that space from government in terms of funding, but also the pro viders have a lot of work to do in the rural space.”

McIntyre says that he recognises that for many internet providers the most profitable investment to be made is in urban areas, but those same providers need to invest in rural areas as well.

“We’ve got to make sure that we get a good and reliable standard of quality, both in terms of internet and cellular service.”

He says the infrastructure itself doesn’t seem to be designed to cope with what it is currently used for.

“Previously there was just some phone calls with a little bit of data for checking your emails… whereas

now you have heaps of people streaming Netflix, etc. but using the same towers so they need to be upgraded.

“Something’s got to change in that respect because that’s how we do business these days, because there is an expectation that we need to be contactable during business hours and that’s just not the case for many people, when it really should.”

He says the level of service can differ between providers and areas so it’s important to find out if cus tomers can get better service with a different provider.

“I’d really encourage everyone to have a look around, see if someone else can offer you a better service or a better deal.”

Electric Kubota tractors. PG.24

Staff safety during calving. PG.17

Federated Farmers telecommunications spokesman Richard McIntyre.

Co-op on cusp of ‘new and exciting chapter’

SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

FONTERRA’S OUTGOING chief financial officer Marc

Rivers believes the co-operative is starting a new and exciting chapter.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” is what Rivers told Dairy News when asked for his final

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message to the co-op’s 9,000 farming families.

“This is just the start of a new chapter for Fonterra and one that is really exciting,” says Rivers, who stepped down from the role on September 30. He will attend Fonterra’s annual meeting next month before leaving the co-op.

Rivers joined Fonterra in 2018, the year in which the co-op posted its first financial loss.

With Rivers at his side, then interim chief executive Miles Hurrell announced a major review of overseas assets and partnerships.

The co-op decided to focus on extracting value rather than pursue volume and put the focus back on its New Zealand milk pool. Two years

later the co-op was back in the black. Last month the co-op announced a net profit of $583 million for last financial year on the back of revenues totalling $23.4 billion.

Rivers says, after the 2018 results, it was clear that Fonterra had to change and everyone could see that.

“We’ve come a long way since then and credit to Miles and the team, we’ve worked really hard to get the co-op to where it is now.

“It’s not only been about turning the co-op around from a financial point of view but also about creating a positive atmosphere where people feel comfortable to share ideas and communicate openly.”

Fonterra farmer

shareholders also wanted changes.

“Nothing is lost on New Zealand dairy farmers, who are some of the most financially literate people on earth,” Rivers says.

“It was obvious that we needed to change.”

The changes required some tough decisions, including realising the co-op’s purpose.

“The biggest challenge was the breakthrough in realising what Fonterra’s purpose was: collecting milk and transforming it and bringing the cash back home,” says Rivers.

“Our previous strategy didn’t reflect what our owners wanted.”

Rivers says plenty of decisions needed to be made and required a lot of thought.

“We’ve been able to pull together as a team and get things sorted.

“We’re on the right track as a result and everyone is highly motivated to keep improving and to never stop learning.”

Rivers has enjoyed his

TOP RESULT

time at Fonterra.

For him it’s been rewarding and also a learning curve.

“The co-op is incredibly resilient. The path we’re on now, of focusing on getting the most out of New Zealand milk through nutrition science and innovation and by continuing to improve our sustainability story, makes total sense and resonates well with our farmer owners.

“It’s great that things are moving in the right direction with the DIRA amendment to enable a flexible shareholding structure.

“It gives farmers more choice about where they put their capital, driving clear structural tension for the co-op to deliver both a competitive return on invested capital and a sustainable milk price.”

MARC RIVERS says Fonterra is going from strength to strength.

He says the 2022 financial results mean the co-op has been able to deliver both a strong milk price and robust financial performance in a tough global operating environment.

“The co-op paid a total dividend of 20 cents per share for our farmer owners and unit holders.

“And this year’s Farmgate Milk Price is the strongest it has ever been, which is great news for our farmers.

“New Zealand also benefits from this, with $13.7 billion returned into the economy in milk price payments alone this year.”

Departing Fonterra chief financial officer Marc Rivers.

to power Fonterra

be restarted.

MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

FOLLOWING A 10-month trial on its Te Rapa Smart Farm, Fonterra has given a big tick to a new organic, low-cost, safe, sustainable and longlife battery that could deliver greater energy security and distributed electricity generation for New Zealand.

Partnering with PolyJoule, a manufacturer under the umbrella of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the high tech battery is made from electrically conductive polymers, an organic based compound with the ability to act like metal.

Installed on the Te Rapa farm in August 2021, the battery was cycled daily, supporting dairy shed operations, using a variety on inputs and discharge rates, before being recently moved to the co-op’s Waitoa UHT site, which can be impacted by power disturbances leading to downtime and waste.

Fonterra chief operating officer Fraser Whineray says, as a significant electricity user at about 2.5% of

the national grid, a sustainable and secure electricity supply is vital to the co-operative’s local sales and exports.

“At Fonterra we have a strategy to lead in sustainability, and innovation partnerships are a critical ingredient to achieving this. The PolyJoule battery has a remarkable discharge rate, which may ultimately link with ultra-fast charging our fleet, including Milk-E, our

electric milk tanker,” says Whineray. He went on to note that the battery, the first commercially available in the world, will help will help buffer and stabilise the energy feed into the plant that typically deals with up to 4 million litres of milk daily, noting that even a short-term outage can result in a complete shutdown and a thorough cleaning regime, before the plant can

PolyJoule chief executive Eli Paster says he’s excited to partner with Fonterra and sees great opportunity for growth in New Zealand, both in terms of supporting energy security and job creation in the manufacturing and technology sectors.

Paster explained that PolyJoule’s journey started as a search for a better battery, given the belief that storage of electricity was the future. With cost being the king, conductive polymer batteries were cheaper to produce than lithiumion examples, which also had issues with environmental impact given the amount of soil needed to be moved to “harvest” small amounts of lithium and the fact that the resource was also concentrated in only three countries. “Lithium is likely to be the new oil problem going forwards,” he says.

“Conductive polymer batteries are lower cost, have up to three times the life of lithium-ion, alongside offering a greater number of cycles, and need less maintenance. From a sustainability perspective they don’t need to be made in sterile manufacturing environments, where

HVAC power consumption during manufacture can be up to 40% of the cost of a lithium-ion battery.

“Since PolyJoule batteries do not rely on lithium, nickel, or lead, the materials are easier to source and the batteries are safer and easier to manufacture anywhere in the world, including New Zealand.”

Whineray commented that PolyJoule was a great fit to the co-operatives existing moves to sustainability and decarbonisation, which at the Waitoa site included a biomass boiler and the recently announced Milk-E tanker. He also noted that of the company’s 30 operating sites, currently nine were coal-fired, dropping to six in the New Year.

“Currently we output around 800,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum –around 20% of that of Air New Zealand – so although we are in the early days, this new battery technology will help us lead the way in sustainability and be open and creative in an area that is likely to be a global solution in energy management.”

PolyJoule chief executive Eli Paster says he’s excited to partner with Fonterra.

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There's always room for

Everyone a winner at John Luxton Memorial Match

DAIRY FARMERS and sector leaders tested their mettle against MPs and parliamentary staff in a light-hearted yet highly competitive rugby and netball match last month.

The John Luxton Memorial Match at Camp bell Park in Morrinsville was hosted by DairyNZ in honour of the industry good organisation’s inau gural chair and former Agriculture Minister.

DairyNZ chief execu tive Tim Mackle says the match was a great way to honour Luxton’s tremen dous contribution to the sector and New Zealand.

“The day was a fan tastic celebration of dairy farming and our rural communities and helped

foster strong relationships between the dairy sector and parliamentary teams.”

The hard-fought rugby game was a draw at full time and the netball was a battle till the end with a 27 to 24 win for the par liamentary team. But everyone was a winner on the day in camaraderie and positivity.

Luxton’s son Richard said his father would have loved the day. Richard played rugby, alongside Luxton’s grandsons Kian and Jack. Luxton’s grand daughter Ariana Mellor played in the dairy net ball team.

Richard said it was humbling to see so many people coming together to honour his father. The

Farmers representing the sector included lead ing young Māori farmers Quinn Morgan, Tangaroa Walker and Ben Purua.

Dairy Environment Lead ers chair Melissa Slattery, Climate Change Ambassa dors chair Fraser McGou gan and radio personality Rowena Duncum stepped up for the sector. Feder ated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard and Mackle also donned rugby jerseys for the farmers’ team.

From left: Tim Mackle, Mark Mitchell, MP, Richard Luxton, Greg O’Connor MP, Quinn Morgan at the rugby match.

day also raised money for the John Luxton Trust – designed to support young Māori from the

local area into agricultural careers. Richard said his father was committed to helping

young Māori progress in dairying.

Ministers and MPs displaying their sport

ing prowess in the rugby were: Defence Min ister Peeni Henare, Michael Woodhouse,

Greg O’Connor and Mark Mitchell. Ministers and MPs on the netball court were: Associate Agri culture Minister Meka Whaitiri, Barbara Kuriger, Louise Upston and Nicole McKee.

Flood-hit Aussie co-op shuts plant, sheds staff

SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

ONE OF Australia’s last remaining dairy co-oper atives has closed its ice cream factory and sent staff home eight months after devastating floods ripped through its opera tions.

Norco Co-operative, based at Lismore in north east NSW, suffered $142 million in damages during the floods.

While the company received an Australian government grant and continued paying workers for 30 weeks, it decided to stand them down after the funding expired.

Australian media

reports say 170 workers were sent home. A Norco spokesperson told Dairy News that 16 maintenance employees were retained to continue works on the facility.

They said, while the layoffs represent a sad day for Norco and the Lis more community, the cooperative is proud that, with the government’s assistance, its entire workforce has remained employed and has been paid for 30 consecutive weeks since the floods occurred.

“This was something they are incredibly grate ful for, as it has offered both financial and emo tional peace of mind to employees during espe

cially difficult times.

“During this time, Norco staff have made a significant contribution to the Lismore commu nity clean-up and rebuild efforts, with teams dis persed across the ice cream factory, local farms and the wider community.

“Since the floods

occurred, Norco has been extremely transparent with its workforce around the uncertain future of the ice cream facility.”

The spokesperson says employees were also fully aware that the recent bespoke funding package from the Federal Govern ment was for 10 weeks

only, with funding to expire on Friday, Septem ber 23.

The government had also made it clear that there will be no further funding packages to sup port the ongoing employ ment of the Lismore ice cream factory workforce.

Norco says it remains

committed to doing everything within its means to safeguard the future of the ice cream facility, for its 170-strong workforce, 290 farmer members and the Lismore community.

“Should it be rebuilt, Norco looks forward to the day it can welcome back its hardworking and valued workforce.”

According to Noroco’s website it is 100% Austra lian farmer owned with annual milk production of 226 million litres. Norco’s turnover reached A$658m in 2021.

The company’s prod uct mix includes fresh and flavoured milk, cheese, butter and ice cream.

The spokesperson says

the ice cream facility has been out of commission since the floods occurred.

“This has meant that once the post-flood cleanup efforts at the facil ity had been completed, there were sadly no oper ations and therefore no jobs for people to fulfill.

“Norco takes its role as a major employer in region very seriously.

“However, it is also a 100% farmer owned cooperative, with many farmers heavily impacted by the floods.

“Unfortunately, despite the best of intentions, the farmers simply cannot continue to pay the wages of employees while there is no commercial output from the facility.”

Norco is shutting its ice cream plant that was damaged by floods earlier this year.

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Where’s the investment?

THE GOVERNMENT can crow about its ‘major effort’ to upgrade capacity on congested rural broadband networks but the reality on the ground is different.

Coverage, reliability and speed of mobile and internet services for many farming families and businesses are treading water, if not going backwards, the 2022 Federated Farmers Rural Connectivity Survey shows.

More than half of the nearly 1,200 farmers who responded to the survey report internet download speeds at or less than what could be considered a bare minimum (20 megabytes per second/ Mbps) and those who said their mobile phone service had declined in the last 12 months jumped from 20% to 32%.

Is the Government really serious about helping the sector that underpins the lion’s share of New Zealand’s export earnings?

Farcical campaign

ANIMAL RIGHTS group

SAFE has launched a new campaign attacking what it calls agriculture’s dirty secret, the production of foetal bovine serum (FBS).

It claims this involves killing cows during pregnancy and draining blood from unborn calves and wants the Government and the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) “to remove suffering from the supply chain”.

As usual, this campaign is based on disinformation, trying to provoke an emotional response.

In reality, farms in New Zealand can legally send cows to slaughter up until their final month of pregnancy and the usual standards of humane killing apply.

Another farcical campaign from SAFE!

Fake milk bid

PRODUCERS OF ‘fake milk’ now want a slice of the action at the World Coffee Championships (WCC).

The body, which promotes and showcases excellence in the global coffee industry, holds competitions such as the World Barista Championships (WBC) and World Latte Art Championships (WLAC) allow professional baristas to demonstrate their high-level skills and coffee expertise. However, the organisation has come under fire for ‘banning’ plant-based milks. The rules are very clear.

The 2021 WBC Official Rules and Regulations state that competitors must produce a “milk beverage” containing “one single shot of espresso… [and] steamed cow’s milk”.

The rules also state that competitors can be provided with only “whole milk”.

Similarly, the 2021 WLAC Official Rules and Regulations state competitors “are required to use the milk provided by the WLAC”. This is also exclusively cow’s milk.

Vegan activists slammed

VEGAN ACTIVISTS in the UK who recently held sit-ins in supermarket dairy sections across the country have been copping it from consumers.

One Twitter user wrote, “Animal Rebellion really are a bunch of w***ers. Do you know who benefits most from the milk supply? Children. Children benefit. The reason you’re as tall as you are is because they gave you milk as a child.”

Another wrote, “Now the lunatics from Animal Rebellion are blocking milk aisles in supermarkets. When will these crazed woke shenanigans stop!”

And a third said, “All these protesters will be doing is giving genuine vegans a bad name [and] may end up pushing the price of milk even further.”

Members of Animal Rebellion staged the protests at high-end grocery stores in four English cities as they called for the British Government to make an “urgent and immediate transition to a plant-based food system”.

EDITORIAL

Govt’s own goal on winter grazing

WHEN IT comes to own goals, this latest gaffe by the Gov ernment tops the list.

Thousands of farmers have less than a month to apply for resource consent for winter grazing on their farms next season.

With councils underequipped to process these resource consent applications, farmers are at risk of breaking the law as planting for winter crops needs to take place in late spring; all because the Government has failed to develop Freshwater Farm Plans on time.

Federated Farmers says now farmers are being told by the Ministry for the Environment, Ministry for Primary Industries and various regional councils that ‘it’s okay’ and nothing will happen if farmers get planting, even though they’d be at risk of breaking the law.

This is yet another sad example of an overzealous Labour Government getting the process wrong. Farm environment plans should been rolled out well in advance of the rules around winter grazing.

Federated Farmers, B+LNZ and DairyNZ say they antici pated this potential outcome and even warned the Govern ment.

They wrote to Minister David Parker in August calling for winter grazing rules to be put on hold until November 2023, as the Government has not yet implemented crucial elements of the new framework. There has been no response. A second letter sent to Parker last month was also copied to Prime Min ister Jacinda Ardern.

For a government that seems hell bent on piling regulations on the agriculture sector, the lack of response from Labour leaders is puzzling.

Some regional councils are even advising farmers not to apply for a resource consent, even if the law requires it.

In the view of Federated Farmers, this is placing a lot of risk on farmers.

The farmer lobby rightly point out, if things go wrong on the farm and council action is taken, a farmer will be in a far worse position than if they had a resource consent.

So they rightly asked Parker and the Government to delay the regulations and to allow for the development of a practi cal alternative until the freshwater farm plan pathway is fully available.

The Government doesn’t seem to be listening. They seem happy to see thousands of farmers breach the law thanks to the incompetence of some government department.

AUCKLAND SALES REPRESENTATIVE

Stephen Pollard

stephenp@ruralnews.co.nz

WAIKATO SALES REPRESENTATIVE

Lisa

021-963

027-369 9218 lisaw@ruralnews.co.nz

WELLINGTON SALES REPRESENTATIVE

Ron Mackay

021-453 914 ronm@ruralnews.co.nz

SOUTH ISLAND SALES REPRESENTATIVE Kaye Sutherland

kayes@ruralnews.co.nz

021-221

Soil health – back to basics

ENVIRONMENTAL AND economic perfor mance and sustainability of our agriculture, includ ing forestry, can be greatly influenced by soil quality.

Soil physical condi tion – commonly referred to as ‘soil structure’ – has an important influence on farm economics and envi ronment.

Soil structure deter mines the porosity, strength and stability of a soil.

For all practical purposes, these are the most important soil physical properties because they influence the movement and storage of water in the soil, the ability of roots to penetrate and grow in the soil and withdraw water and nutrients, and finally the ability of a soil to resist erosion.

A well-structured soil has many stable aggre gates with a wide range of sizes. It contains a large number of pores, both within and between those aggregates, which main tain the correct balance of air and water in the soil and also allows easy emergence of seedlings and growth of plant roots.

Poorly structured soil either does not have aggregates of many dif ferent sizes or the aggre gates are packed tightly together with few pores.  Poor structure in a light textured soil results in unstable aggregates and the soil appears fine

and powdery. Poor soil structure can markedly increase the risk of wind erosion.

Soil porosity and water holding capacity

Over half the total soil volume consists of pores in a well-structured soil and about 40% of these pores are very small and nearly always filled with water held so tightly that plant roots cannot with draw it.

The proportions of sand, silt, clay and organic matter determine vol umes of these small pores.

Medium size pores retain water, which can be taken up by the roots. The volume of these pores determines the water holding capacity of a soil and therefore its suscepti bility to drought.

Large pores (macro pores) are the structural soil pores, and are impor tant for infiltration of water into the soil, drain age of excess water from the soil, aeration of the root zone, and as pas sages for root growth in the soil.

Damage to soil structure

The two main forms of soil structural damage are aggregate breakdown and soil compaction.

Aggregate is caused by some natural pro cesses, such as wet/dry and freeze/thaw cycles.

Soils comprising mostly of silt and sand, with only a small proportion of clay, are most suscepti ble because these soils are only loosely bound.

Soil compaction is the compression or squeez

tant for the movement of water and gases in the soil. Small pores are responsible for water and mineral storage.

A soil health and bio diversity field day is being held at Paterangi, near Te Awamutu, on Wednesday, 19 October.

Please visit waika

toregion.govt.nz/publicevents for the details and to RSVP.

• This article is part one of a two-part series by Bala Tikkisetty, a sustainable agriculture advisor techni cal with Waikato Regional Council.

@dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

BALA TIKKISETTY

ing of a soil. Soil compac tion reduces the number and volume of large soil pores (macropores) and increases soil density. Large pores are impor

Soil structure determines the porosity, strength and stability of a soil.

Home-grown leaders vital

NEW ZEALAND’S

wider agriculture sector is full of smart, diverse leaders who, with more formal governance train ing, can go toe-to-toe with the independent directors of the country’s major agri businesses.

That’s according to Richard McIntyre, a recent graduate of Fonter ra’s Governance Develop ment Programme (GDP).

McIntyre is no stranger to rural leadership roles. He is currently the Feder ated Farmers dairy chair man, a councillor for Wellington Region and New Zealand Fish and Game, a New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Trustee, and has chaired the Federated Farmers Sharemilkers Section for five years.

“Governors that have come up from within the industry are critical for the Boards of agri busi nesses. You need skilled farmer directors that relate to farmers and

deeply understand the industry – you can’t just bring in people from out side all the time,” says McIntyre.

He also sees merit in courses aimed at bringing such farmers up to code.

“Professional develop ment courses like Fonter ra’s GDP can help narrow the gap to the indepen dent directors and raise the overall standard of governance on rural and agri business boards.”

Now in its 17th year, Fonterra’s Governance Development programme is custom-designed in conjunction with Massey Business School.

The programme exists to help iden tify and develop gover nance acumen in current and future rural leaders.

Attended primarily by Fonterra supplying farm ers, members of Livestock Improvement Corpora tion (LIC), Silver Fern Farms and Foodstuffs, the course includes a co-oper

ative specific element that is unique to New Zealand.

McIntyre says the programme is “about developing skills rather than just book learning” and is supported by access to an impressive list of New Zealand governors who add real world examples to the

theory-based work.

“We got to meet a huge range of governors; people highly respected in their industry. They shared their candid expe riences very openly and it was fascinating to hear from them.

“To hear about past issues you read about in

the papers, but through a governance lens and from people that were on the ground at the time – it’s totally different.

“Having access to that level of skill and experi ence is awesome. Along with the tutors, they were genuinely interested in imparting knowledge, not

just presenting course material,” he says.

Diversity of thought, recognised as a critical element of any success ful board, is something rural communities have in spades.

McIntyre says his 14 peers from the pro gramme were all differ ent ages, and at different stages and levels of expe rience across industries and not-for-profits.

“Everyone brought dif ferent experiences and perspectives to the pro gramme, which was really powerful. We formed a really tight group, based on trust.

“We could challenge each other from the point of view that we were trying to make each other better, as opposed to just being critical. If you can get to that point, you get some great outcomes.”

Applications for the 2023 Fonterra Governance Development Programme open on 19 September. It

is a competitive selection process, open to all Fon terra shareholders and herd-owning sharemilkers supplying Fonterra.

A limited number of places are also avail able for members of LIC, Foodstuffs, and Silver Fern Farms.

For anyone consider ing whether to apply for the GDP, McIntyre says making sure you have the time and mental space is key.

“The hours you put in are not excessive, but it’s not just about turning up and checking off the course material,” he says.

“You get out what you put in and you want to really have the head space to reflect as you go, on what you’ve learned and how to apply it.”

Applications for the Fonterra Governance Development Programme close on 24 October 2022. For more information contact governancedevelop ment@fonterra.com

ORGANISERS EYE RECORD ENTRIES

ORGANISERS OF the 2023 Ballance Farm Environment Awards are hoping for a record number of entries.

Run by the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust, the awards celebrate farmer and grower achievement, and showcase good practice on farm and highlight positive farming stories.

Trust chair Joanne van Polanen says the response from farmers, spon sors, and supporters to the recently held regional award events indicate

there will be a strong number of entries to the 2023 event.

“The overwhelming consensus was that not only did the entrants really value the attention and positive feed back throughout, but those attending the awards functions and the result ing winners’ field days were grateful for the chance to connect with their peers and to be able to hear others’ stories,” van Polanen says.

“It isn’t until you can’t, that you realise how important it is to connect with industry peers in a supportive

and positive setting.”

Entries are open until October 15. Assessment considers the farm system including animal and plant care, bio diversity, business health, climate, people and wellbeing, soil, water and waste management.

Over the past two years Covid posed a major challenge for those involved with the awards.

The regional awards programme was adjusted to fit lockdown and level parameters, and ultimately able to be completed. Covid not only affected

the number of entries but judging visits and the awards events.

“We have weathered the storm that has been Covid-19, and early indica tions hint that conditions are now ripe for a bumper crop of award entries,” says van Polanen.

The 2023 categories are:

• Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Man agement Award

• Bayleys People in Primary Sector Award

• Beef + Lamb New Zealand Livestock Award

• DairyNZ Sustainability and Steward ship Award

• Hill Laboratories Agri-Science Award

• Norwood Agri-Business Manage ment Award

• NZ Farm Environment Trust Biodi versity Award

• NZ Landcare Trust Catchment Group Award

The 2022 national sustainability show case will be held in Christchurch on November 24.

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Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre is a recent graduate of Fonterra’s Governance Development Programme (GDP).

Being forewarned helps to be prepared

MY WIFE and I recently travelled to England to attend a family wed ding in rural Kent. It was impossible not to notice the major impact the weather was having on pastures and crops.

We travelled by train through France and Ger many to visit friends in Switzerland where, kilo metre after kilometre, we saw brown fields and crops that were struggling under extreme moisture stress.

This morning I read an article quoting Tristan Meyers, a meteorologist from NIWA. It stated that one of the biggest marine heatwaves ever is on its way. The article predicted this could result in other long, hot summer, simi lar to the one New Zea land experienced last summer and a replica of what my wife and I saw in Europe. While this may be hard to believe given just how wet the soil is currently, it would make sense to prepare for a hot, dry summer just in case. Steps that can be taken now are as follows: Aim to produce as much milk as possible before the end of December I started my career as a consultant in Northland where the climate was extremely variable. The higher producing farm ers I worked with aimed to have 70% of their bud geted milk in the vat by the end of Decem ber. Maintaining pasture quality and keeping cows well fed over the next few months will be vital to maximising produc tion prior to the end of

the year. If you can make pasture silage, do so. Har vest it prior to 10% seed head and use a high qual ity inoculant to keep the quality up. Consider crop ping an extra paddock which will help keep the pressure on the remaining grazing area maintaining feed quality.

Identify paddocks that need renewal because of pugging

As I move around the country, I note that the wet winter/early spring has resulted in a lot of pugging. Depending on soil type, that damage can have a major impact on subsequent pasture pro duction. Many pugged paddocks are unlikely to recover by summer, iden tify these now and work out a summer cropping program. To maximise yield plant your crop as soon as the soil condi tions allow.

Grow maize for silage

Of course, I am going to say this! However, the data is clear. Maize is a deep rooting, C4 plant, that has greater drought tolerance and better water use efficiency than pas ture and many other crops. The wide range of maturities available allow farmers to plant maize from mid-September right

through to late Novem ber or early December in many areas. Local mer chant representatives work alongside Pioneer® brand maize area manag

ers to help farmers select the right hybrids for their farms. They also provide great advice to ensure the crop grows well. Order your bought in

maize now

With the cost of imported feed signifi cantly higher than it was 12 months ago, there is a increased demand for

cost-effective locallygrown supplements.

Making sure you have enough feed to cover the coming summer requires good planning. As you

read this article, maize silage contract growers are planting their crops. To order maize silage or increase your order volume, contact your supplier as soon as pos sible.

While the milk price is high, the combina tion of high supplement prices and the threat of a hot, dry summer could challenge pro duction and profitabil ity. Maximise spring and early summer milk pro duction and do some planning now to avoid an expensive, last minute scramble for feed.

• Ian Williams is a Pioneer forage specialist. Contact him at iwilliams@genetic.

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Study grants recognise students’ aspiration

JOHN PERRIN Scholar ship recipients Ashleigh van Uffelen, Palmerston North and Abbey Dowd, South Waikato are proof you don’t need to be born and bred on a farm to have a passion for the industry and dreams of shaping its future.

Both are in their final year of a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Lincoln University, com pleting their honours projects. They have each received $2,000 from Perrin Ag to put towards the final year of studies.

Van Uffelen grew up in urban Palmerston North but worked on nearby farms during her high school years. During this time, she discovered a passion for support ing farmers to navigate environmental changes and help bridge the gap between rural and urban New Zealand.

“As I approached the end of high school, I became aware of the sig nificant future challenges farmers were expected to face, particularly in the area of environmental management, public per ception and changing con sumer demands.

“This inspired me to study a combination of agricultural science and environmental manage ment at Lincoln Univer sity.”

Her project is researching how environ

mental policy and reg ulation affects farmer land-use change decisions in the Selwyn District.

She hopes her find ings will help inform poli cymakers when directing land-use decisions with an understanding of how environmental regulation interacts with factors in a farm system.

“I want to help provide pathways for increased farmer buy-in by better understanding the inter action between farmers and regulation, thereby improving environmental outcomes while maintain ing farmer passion and farm profitability,” says Ashleigh.

“I’ve always been inter ested in bridging that gap between rural and urban communities and this project is also part of facilitating that conversa tion.”

Abbey Dowd grew up surrounded by dairy farms in a close-knit commu nity in the South Waikato. She saw first-hand how local farmers supported her community, which is

THE SCHOLARSHIP

THE JOHN Perrin Scholarship is one of two awards Perrin Ag offers each year to promising individuals to continue (second year or later) agriculture and horticulture science studies at undergraduate, postgraduate diploma or honours level at either Lincoln, Massey or Waikato Universities.

Perrin Ag directors John Perrin and Trudy Laan were impressed by van Uffelen and Dowd’s passion for New Zealand’s primary indus

what inspired her to study at Lincoln.

“Growing up in a rural community I have always been impressed by how much local farmers con tribute to the commu nity,” she says.

“They were always there to lend a hand, whether it be coach ing the local rugby team or organising commu nity fundraisers. I wanted to help give back to the industry and play my part in helping our primary sector continue to pro duce quality food in a sus tainable way.”

Dowd spent last summer as an intern on New Zealand’s first com mercial deer milking operation. Her project is researching deer milk alongside other more tra ditional milking opera tions and assessing the deer milking industry’s future production possi bilities.

“Growing up I didn’t live on a farm, but I always knew I wanted to work in the farming sector,” says Dowd.

tries and their drive to support its farmers. “It’s exciting to see young people coming into the industry with real enthusiasm for supporting our primary sector, particularly young women who were not born and bred on a farm,” says Laan.

“As well as demonstrating excep tional academic performance, both Ashleigh and Abbey model the very values our firm embodies and are heavily involved in sports, commu nity groups and clubs.”

Abbey Dowd Ashleigh van Uffelen

Research set to improve staff safety during calving season

CAMBRIDGE

FARMER Ashlea Kowal ski believes strategies that reduce farmer injuries during the calving season are low cost and easily adopted.

Kowalski and husband Andy contract milk 245 cows and are using many of the strategies farmers recommended during a DairyNZ study that iden tified some simple ways farmers can reduce inju ries on dairy farms.

“I work full-time and we don’t have any staff, so it’s really important we both stay well to keep the farm running,” says Kow alski.

“By piping milk to calves we can avoid lifting buckets and we’re able to feed 160 calves within 15 minutes. It’s a really effi cient way of feeding. Our calf trailer is also a good height for us, and we have trolley jacks on our calfe teria to avoid heavy lift ing.”

The couple have the milking area well-lit and keep hoses out of the way when not in use.

“It’s a good idea for farmers to get together with their farm team and assess what the risks are from calving and how to reduce these next season. Many safety strategies farmers can adopt are low cost, are easily adopted and are good for business as well,” she says.

The three-year DairyNZ project, funded

in partnership with ACC’s Workplace Injury Pre vention programme, is researching the causes of sprains and strains on dairy farms – and devel oping practical solutions to reduce injuries.

“Around 40% of inju ries on dairy farms are sprains and strains, with the highest risk from August to October,” says DairyNZ senior scien tist and research lead, Dr Callum Eastwood.

“As calving progresses, fatigue can set in and increase injuries,”

As part of the Reduc ing Sprains and Strains project, 370 farmers were surveyed on how they managed health and

safety, and whether inju ries had occurred.

“We know farm teams are working outdoors, in milking sheds, with ani mals and vehicles. The nature of their work means there is a risk of injury, particularly in busy times. Farmers reported injuries from lifting calves or buckets, from uneven ground and getting off motorbikes. In the milk ing shed, slippery surfaces and tripping on hoses are hazards,” says Eastwood.

Farmers surveyed used a range of strate gies to avoid injury. These included sharing calf col lection duties across the team, using a special ist trailer to transport

calves, and piping milk into calf feeders rather than using buckets. Other tips included tucking hoses away in the shed and using footwear with a greater grip.

Virginia Burton-Konia, ACC manager - work place safety, says farmers believe many injuries are avoidable.

“On average, the survey showed people who were injured needed 12 days off work, but took around 27 days to fully recover,” says BurtonKonia.

“With farms often short-staffed, new ideas to avoid injuries and make the job easier will ensure everyone can help out at

the busiest time of year.”

The next stage of the project involves devel oping prototype options farmers can use to reduce injuries.

A calf pick-up trailer

work underway through a dairy sector strategy called Great Futures in Dairying to attract, retain and grow the dairy farm workforce over the next decade by developing great jobs, great people and great workplaces.

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Farmers reported injuries from lifting calves or buckets, from uneven ground and getting off motorbikes. In the milking shed, slippery surfaces and tripping on hoses are hazards.”

“We know farm teams are working outdoors, in milking sheds, with animals and vehicles. The nature of their work means there is a risk of injury, particularly in busy times.

Cambridge farmer Ashlea Kowalski believes strategies that reduce farmer injuries during the calving season are low cost and easily adopted.

Success with breeding strategy

GORE DAIRY farm ers Doug and Josephine Dodds are leading their 111-year-old family farm into the future by com bining established genet ics with more efficient farming infrastructure.

The 200ha farm, on which the Dodds’ milk 450 Holstein Friesian cows producing 400 kgMS/cow, was estab lished by Doug’s grand father in 1911 under the name Middlevale Stud; Doug is the third genera tion to farm the property.

After high school, Doug spent four years at Lincoln University com pleting an agricultural degree before returning to the home farm and going into partnership with his father, Ian Dodds, milking year-round to supply town milk for “So Fresh” based in Invercargill. Doug eventually took over the

farm, and in 1992 married Josephine and together carried on the partner ship. They have since moved to seasonal supply with Fonterra.

Josephine also comes from a dairy farming background, but from near Dargaville, North land, where her parents farmed Ayrshire cattle.

Today, the farm is a pasture-based system with some pasture silage fed as well. Further supplements are used sparingly when required. Cows are win tered inside throughout the cold Southland winter.

The herd calves at the end of July, finishing in the first week of Octo ber, with mating start ing shortly after. The herd completes 10-11 weeks of AI undertaken by Doug himself, an AI techni cian. They also artificially inseminate the heifers for

one round.

When selecting bulls, Doug sets some minimum requirements.

“We look closely at fer tility and Somatic Cell Count (SCC), ‘red card ing’ any bulls that are low in these traits,” Doug says.

“If they are high in these traits, it’s a bonus. Our current focus is total capacity, udder over

all and protein BV. We may change our focus in the future, depending on what’s required.”

The most heavily used bull in the herd is San Ray FM  Beamer-ET S2F, who is producing good, allround milking cows.

“Beamer daughters are quick to come in and milk, and they mature young,” Doug says. “Their

udders are more on the average side, but they are willing workers and very capacious.”

Other bulls selected for this season’s mating include Lightburn Blade Gusto, Riven dell MFU Scotch, Mean der Shot Alibi-ET S3F, No-Fla  Dijon 42649-ET, Busy Brook Overdraft S2F and Aprilday 602  Riptide ET.

The Dodds’ ‘B’ cow family stand outs in the herd, descending from a cow born in 1912 that Doug’s grandfather owned.

“A few decades ago, we were also quite heavily influenced by the Puker

Farm facts

oro Stud in the Waikato,” Doug says.

“We got a few cow families from that stud.”

Middlevale has a long association with CRV, with Middlevale cows and heifers selected annually for planned matings over the years. In the 2022-23 season, four females have been selected.

Middlevale Baron Pablo, breeder proven son of Wenron Baron, entered CRV’s Sire Team in its early years and was used extensively in the late 1970s. Other bulls cata logued include Middlevale TEF Zulu S3F, Middlevale MOF Mohican, and Mid dlevale Minte Brave, who was selected as part of the Genetic Leaders joint ven ture programme.

Doug and Josephine are regular classifiers of

their cattle, which Doug says is useful for provid ing information when sell ing or purchasing stock.

“The change to linear assessment has made the process more objective,” he says. “Conformation is an important feature in improving dairy cows.”

Doug says he has only ever worked with the Hol stein Friesian breed, but from what he has been told by other farmers he believes they are easier to rear, easier to manage, and have the highest pro duction of all breeds on an individual basis.

“With labour costs rising, a cow that pro duces well becomes more profitable,” Doug says.

“Holstein Friesian cattle are very versatile; they are also a good fit for dairy beef.”

Farmers Doug and Josephine Dodds are combining established genetics with more efficient farming infrastructure.

Doug

Josephine Dodds

Agritech firm secures capital to grow mastitis diagnostic tool

A NEW Zealand company providing mastitis diagnostic tools for dairy farmers has announced an over-subscribed capital round to support the continued development and international growth of the business.

Mastatest is a patented technology said to allow farmers to rapidly pinpoint the bacterial strains causing mastitis, understand whether an antibiotic is necessary, and which antibiotic is likely to be most effective.

The company claims using Mastatest has been shown to reduce antibiotic use by 24% on average in New Zealand conditions, and says farmers report improved treatment effectiveness, milk quality, and productivity.

Mastaplex closed the capital round with $700,000 of new equity, well over the target of $500,000.  The company says the capital raise had broad support from existing shareholders, and also introduced new shareholders to the company.

Company founder Dr Olaf Bork says the funds will be used to support continued growth in New Zealand and Australia, and the launch of Mastatest into further major international dairy markets including the UK, EU and US through

ABOUT MASTAPLEX

Their first product, Mastatest, is a patentprotected solution said to provide dairy farmers and vets with easy, accurate, and rapid bovine mastitis diagnosis and antibiotic sensitivity data.

It is said to be the only on-farm diagnostic that can deliver antibiotic sensitivity data –something only previously possible by sending samples to a laboratory.

2022 and 2023.

More announcements will follow in the coming months with regard to these launch plans.

“Mastatest has given dairy farmers and veterinarians critical,

timely data and greater precision in diagnosing and treating the specific bacteria causing mastitis,” Bork says.  “This allows farmers and vets to eliminate ‘guessing’ the right mastitis treatment and get cows back into production more quickly.”

Bork says 2021 saw Mastaplex hit some major milestones, with over 1,000 dairy farms now using Mastatest and over 70% of New Zealand

vet clinics now offering Mastatest to their clients.

Mastaplex doubled sales in 2021, he says.

“We have strong momentum in our home markets of New Zealand and Australia, where we have two excellent distributor partners and great support from among the veterinary community.

“We greatly appreciate the continued support of our shareholders in fuelling the company to take Mastatest to dairy farmers around the world,” says Bork.

Mastaplex has also announced two new appointments to its board, effective from 1 June 2022.  Dr Ben Russell, formerly chief executive officer of animal health specialist Argenta and Rabobank New Zealand joins as chair while investment banking professional and financial consultant Matt Comer also joins the board.  The new directors join Bork and Karl Gradon, chief executive of Miraka, on the Mastaplex board who have steered the company since the passing of director Colin Harvey at the beginning of 2022.

“Colin played an enormous role in getting Mastaplex off the ground and we are profoundly indebted to him for his leadership and inspiration during the foundation of the company,” says Bork.

MASTAPLEX WAS founded in 2018 in Dunedin by Dr Olaf Bork based on initial research carried out at the University of Otago.

It is part of a thriving agritech sector in New Zealand that leads the world in developing and launching innova tive solutions to major agricultural challenges. Mastaplex is on a mission to revolutionise veterinary point-of-care diagnostics.

Draw the line with selective dry cow

milk at the last herd test were twice as likely to develop clinical mastitis during the dry period.

ANTIBIOTIC USE is under increased pressure because any time we use antibiotics there is an increased risk of bacteria developing resistance.

As we move away from blanket or whole herd treatment and towards more targeted approaches to sup port reducing antimicrobial resis tance (AMR), what methods should we be using to determine which cows should receive what?

Identifying offenders

DCT should be reserved for cows with evidence of infection or if they fall into a high risk category. Evi dence includes cows:

■ That have been treated for clini cal mastitis

■ Produced a positive bacterial cul ture

■ Have a high somatic cell count (SCC)

■ Or if they are an older cow pro ducing high volumes

The latest research found that animals over four years old who were producing more than ten litres of

Use the maximum SCC value from herd testing. If a farm doesn’t herd test regularly, a herd test within the last 80 days of lactation can be sufficient to determine if cows are infected or not. But if there isn’t any herd testing information, a Rapid Mastitis Test (RMT) performed immediately before drying off is a viable option.

SCC cut-points

The aim is to target as many cows as possible that are infected with a major bug. Use a threshold that will minimise how many infected cows could be missed, as well as avoid giving antibiotics to uninfected cows. But there is no magic number for where the line should be drawn.

For example, research from DairyNZ and Cognosco showed, when using greater than 150,000 as the SCC threshold, approximately 85 percent of the truly infected cows were identified and only 15 percent were missed.

If we increase the threshold, we reduce the total amount of antibiotic

required but we also risk missing a larger proportion of infected cows. And vice versa, when a lower thresh old is used, more infected cows are captured but we also treat a larger number of uninfected cows.

The research also demonstrates, as long as the cows below the thresh old are treated with internal teat seal ants (ITS) there can still be good outcomes if they are infected cows. With less than two percent of cows developing clinical mastitis over the dry period and a bacterial cure rate of over 90 percent, these outcomes were equivalent to cows that had received DCT.

The rest of the herd

Unprotected cows have a high chance of developing an infection during the dry period with 9-13% new infection rates during studies. ITS provides an effective barrier to protect the udder against new infec tions over the dry period. And the data shows that, compared to glands that received no treatment or DCT alone, there can be a lower clinical mastitis incidence in the next lacta tion if they receive ITS.

There are no hard and fast rules

Samantha Tennent

What is mastitis?

MASTITIS IS the inflammation of the mam mary gland which gener ally occurs as a result of white blood cells being released – the body’s response to invasion by bacteria, usually via the teat canal.

Over 200 different micro-organisms have

bag of milk and mastitis a problem when the milk goes bad, but that is only part of the story.

The udder is in fact a very fleshy tissue, and while it has tiny milk pro ducing pockets (alve oli) and milk ducts, the vast majority if it is cells and blood vessels. There

The udder is in fact a very fleshy tissue, and while it has tiny milk producing pockets (alveoli) and milk ducts, the vast majority if it is cells and blood vessels. Therefore when the udder gets inflamed we have an inflamed tissue, or an inflamed organ.

been shown to cause intramammary infections, but most of the economic losses are associated with staphylococci, strepto cocci and coliform bac teria.

The microorganisms that most frequently cause mastitis are often categorised as either environmental or conta gious pathogens, although organisms can show char acteristics of both groups.

The root words con tributing to the term mas titis are mast (udder/ breast) and itis (inflam mation). Some people think of the udder as a

fore when the udder gets inflamed we have an inflamed tissue, or an inflamed organ (which, believe it or not, is clas sified as a skin gland by those in the know).

Being a skin gland, the only way infection can reach the udder is from the outside.

The teat end is designed to keep bacteria and other nasties (such as yeasts, e.g. thrush) on the outside.

It has a tight circu lar ring (sphincter) and sticky layers of keratin to stop would be intruders in their tracks. Infection

ENVIRONMENTAL

EXPOSURE OF the teat surface to environmental bacteria occurs mainly between milking times.

Sources of environmental bacteria like Strep. uberis include faeces, genital discharges, bed ding material, feedstuffs, soil and water.

These bacteria cannot practically be eliminat ed from the cow’s environment, and the teat-end in particular is often in prolonged and close con tact with some of these materials. Once udder infections with these environmental bacteria are established within the herd, transmission from infected quarters to other quarters and cows can occur at milking time.

CONTAGIOUS MASTITIS

CONTAGIOUS BACTERIA often stem from an in fected udder. However, bacteria such as Staph. aureus also readily colonises the teat canal and chapped or sore teat skin and may survive at other sites on the cow.

Contagious bacteria are primarily spread at milking time, when bacteria from infected quar ters is spread to other quarters by splashes of milk during stripping, or by the hands of opera tor’s and milking machines.

only occurs when the teat canal is open/damaged and there is significant challenge (numbers of bacteria) on the outside.

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Being a skin gland, the only way infection can reach the udder is from the outside.

Keeping bacteria at bay during lactation

THE LACTATION period runs from two weeks after calving until drying off.

Cows are at risk of new infections from contagious or environmental bacteria at every milking during this time.

An effective mastitis prevention programme will ensure more milk in the vat, less risk of milk penalties, less use of antibiotics and more time saved.

Bacteria in milk from infected quarters may contaminate the skin of many other teats during milking.

For example, after a liner has milked an infected quarter, bacteria may be transferred to the next 5-6 cows milked with that cup. After milking, bacteria multiply on the teat skin and may extend into the teat canal.

If the whole surface of each teat is disinfected immediately after milking, this spread can be minimised. Teat disinfection also helps to

keep teat skin supple and healthy. Teat disinfection after milking reduces new infections due to cowassociated bacteria such as Staph. aureus by 50% and is also important in reducing Strep. uberis infections. It is one of the most effective cell count and mastitis control measures available, but it only works if it is done thoroughly.

Teat disinfectants must be diluted to the correct concentration for use. The active ingredients often lose their disinfectant ability with time after mixing, and if you include additives to improve skin condition (emollients) these may reduce disinfectant activity.

Any contamination with milk and other organic material also reduces activity. Correct mixing each day is best to get maximum performance. Some emollients are not suitable for use with particular disinfectants. Failure to cover the whole

WEARING GLOVES

GLOVES SHOULD always be used, especially when searching for or dealing with clinical cases of mastitis.

A bare hand is more difficult to clean and disinfect during milking, than a gloved hand. Gloves also

teat of every cow at every milking and poorly diluted teat sprays are the most common errors in teat disinfection

Milking machines

Milking machine equipment has been designed to harvest milk efficiently and maintain healthy teats. Teats are attached to milking machines for 50-100 hours per lactation. Machines that are not functioning correctly can

contribute to new mastitis infections by:

■ Spreading bacteria from teat to teat and from cow to cow

■ Damaging the teat ends and natural defence mechanisms of the teat canal

■ Causing impact of bacteria-laden droplets into the teat canal, especially towards the end of milking

■ Reducing the degree or frequency of full udder milk-out

During lactation, cows can become infected with contagious or environmental mastitis bacteria.

The most common reason for milking machine problems is inadequate routine maintenance of mechanical components and rubberware.

A series of regular, systematic checks gives a simple method of finding problems and guiding preventative maintenance. If more than one person milks in your dairy, it is important to assign these checks to particular people, and ensure that

the right person is alerted to any problems that are found or suspected.

Daily and weekly checks should be conducted by milking staff as part of their regular list of responsibilities.

Monthly checks should be done by the herd owner or manager or other skilled observer. Recording the results of monthly checks enables subtle changes due to wear and age to be detected more easily.

Bacteria are present in milk from all infected quarters.

They are spread to other quarters and cows by splashes or aerosols of milk that occur during stripping, by milkers’ hands, teatcup liners and by cross flow of milk between teatcups. Keeping hands and the milking area under the cows as free as possible from dirt and contaminated milk will help to reduce the risk of transferring bacteria from cow to cow.

Low pressure, high volume washing water should be used to sluice away manure. High pressure hoses should not be used directly beneath or around cows, as these can create aerosols of bacteria-laden droplets to form and settle onto cows. Clinical cases and chronically infected cows are a source of infection for healthy, young cows. If these mastitis cows are milked last, the risk of spreading infection is markedly reduced.

protect hands from the drying effects of dirt, water and manure.

Try to keep gloves clean during milking - rinse off dirt regularly and disinfect after stripping a clinical case. Change them if they become torn, and replace gloves after

each milking.

Gloves, liners and equipment used to milk clinical cases will become contaminated with bacteria. Rinsing with running water for about 30 seconds provides a physical wash.

Dipping in a disinfectant solution, such as 1% iodophor or 0.02% available chlorine, provides a sanitising effect. Any physical rubbing or drying with a paper towel can speed up the rinsing/disinfectant process. Teat

disinfectants are not generally recommended to disinfect hands or equipment, as they are formulated for a prolonged contact time.

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Detecting mastitis

PROPERLY DETECTING mastitis is a very important part of both control and treatment.

Infected cows pose a risk to other cows in the herd, as their infection can be spread quickly to other cows via the milking machines and udder han dling by staff.

Infected cows left untreated produce less and less milk, and if the infection gets into the deeper tissues there is long term damage to the udder. Not only this, but the infection gets pro gressively harder to treat. If the cow develops a chronic (long term) infec tion, her somatic cell count may rise, increas ing the risk of culling and decreasing her value for sale.

Most mastitis is mod erate. There is some clot ting or discolouration of the milk, but the rest of the body is unaffected. All mastitis enters via teat, and can only be passed between quarters via the milking machine or the hands of the assistant.

Lumps appear in the milk due to pH change, tissue debris and inflam matory fluid. The milk may become watery, bloody and even smelly. The changes can range from severe to mild, but is considered clinical if vis ible or subclinical if invisi ble but smouldering away.

TYPES OF MASTITIS

MASTITIS IS also classified as clinical mastitis (disease with visible changes in the milk) and subclinical mastitis (disease that is not visibly apparent).

The great majority of cases are subclinical. Because it is not obvious, dairy producers may not be aware of subclinical mastitis and the extent of lost milk production that results. Undetected subclinical mastitis can also be a source of infection to other cows, will elevate Somatic Cell Count (SCC) and decrease production.

Clinical mastitis is characterised by the following:

■ Rapid onset, heat, swelling, reddening, or hardening of infected quar ters. This is painful.

■ Visible abnormalities in milk, including clots, flakes, or discolouration.

■ In acute cases systemic signs, including fever, anorexia and reduced ru mination, dehydration, weakness, depression, and noticeable decline in milk production.

■ The cow may be lame due to swelling of the udder.

■ Subclinical mastitis is characterised by the following:

■ No visible change in the udder or in appearance of the cow.

■ No visible abnormalities in milk

■ Reduced milk yield in the affected quarter(s).

■ In some cases, periodic episodes of clinical mastitis in affected cows.

■ Elevated SCC and BTSCC.

Further milk tests may be required to clarify infec tion status. These may be the likes of a Rapid Mas titis Test (RMT) which breaks up the DNA of bacterial and pus cells and makes it clot, giving a thick gel when infection is present.

Mastitis can be found at any stage of lactation, including the dry period.

Swollen quarters or hind leg lameness can be a giveaway. In these cases, only strip the quarter if it is hot and painful, oth erwise you may be losing the keratin plug for no

good cause.

As most mastitis occurs around calving, good colostrum mob mas titis detection can nip problems in the bud. This mob can become a quar antine mechanism, with only clean cows enter ing the main milking herd.

Stripping daily to exam ine the milk and a further close examination (possi bly including RMT or con ductivity) as cows exit the colostrum mob should be done, and affected cows either monitored or treated.

If cows are to be

treated, a milk sample can be taken prior and frozen. This can be cul tured if necessary down the track for useful infor mation. Strip treated cows just after the end of treat ment and again at the end of the drug withholding period.

For the first 6-8 weeks, a weekly strip is advised or strip targeted cows after herd test or when ever the filter sock gets clots. If things are going well after that, milking staff remaining vigilant for swollen or sore quar ters may be all you need.

Stay chilled thiS Summer.

Ensure your milk is snap chilled coming into the warmer summer months, with GEA’s aquaCHILL.

Enhance the quality of your milk and reduce the risk of costly Thermoduric grades.

Contact your local GEA Service Partner or call us on 0800 GEA FARM to ensure your milk stays chilled this summer.

Scan the QR code to learn more about GEA’s aquaCHILL or visit gea.com

Electric Kubota tractors nearly ready for EU

MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

WITH MORE and more European markets tighten ing regulations or imple menting bans on diesel powered vehicles, many local authorities are actively seeking alternatives to decarbonise power sources and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Japanese manufacturer Kubota will launch its elec trically powered compact tractor at several major European events over the coming months, including EIMA in Italy.

While the key concerns

for potential operators are range and operational time, Kubota suggests they have tackled the former with a large capacity bat tery offering three to four hours continuous operation. Meanwhile a rapid one-hour charging system can be used over a lunch break, making the tractor ready for a full afternoon’s work.

Described as a major strategic step for Kubota, particularly in the UK and Europe, the LXe-261 should prove suitable for a wide range of applications, including mowing and haul ing, with a specification that includes independent PTO, HST transmission and mul

tiple hydraulic outlets. The battery-powered tractor will be available for rental in the UK from April 2023.

After its release, Kubota will seek feedback to shape future development and expansion of its ecofriendly product line up. For that reason, Kubota has been transitioning to electric, hybrid, and fuelcell drives to decarbo nise power sources and reduce CO2 emissions. It is understood that alterna tive fuel developments will be applied to compact trac tors, utility vehicles and ride-on mowers, particularly for park maintenance and grounds care sectors.

ELECTRONIC AXLE ON OFFER

GERMAN GEARBOX and trans axle manufacturers ZF has developed an electronic axle said to be capable of converting any conventionally pow ered vehicle with a solid axle into a battery electric vehicle.

The ZF eBeam Axle features a cen trally mounted electric motor, trans mission and inverter, located where you would normally find the differen tial casing, essentially turning a solid axle into its own driveline.

Said to be intended for use on light to medium-duty utility vehicles, the axle would appear to offer man ufacturers an off-the-shelf solution to electrifying their current range of pickups and trucks at a fraction of the cost typically needed to develop their own electric powertrain.

Scheduled to enter production in 2025, engines would likely be substi tuted for battery packs, as recently

demonstrated on a production Chev rolet Silverado 2500 pick-up truck in the US. In that case, using the eBeam

axle, the Silverado produced 300kW and 1,020Nm torque, although the company says outputs can be supplied

between 180 and 350kW. Of course, range will be determined by applica tion, says ZF.

Other points for consideration will likely centre around the addition of batteries, meaning tare weight will increase, meaning manufacturers would probably need to introduce suspension component upgrades to deal with the added load.

Looking forwards, it appears that eBeam could solve a problem facing many kiwis with any impending com bustion engine bans, allowing utes to be retrofitted with, or delivered from new, with a viable electric-powered alternative.

Japanese manufacturer Kubota will launch its electrically powered compact tractor at several major European events over the coming months.

ZF

Robotic feeding for 300 cows

MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

DAIRY SPECIALISTS

GEA has announced the arrival of an autono mous robotic feeder to its already extensive range.

Scheduled to appear at the German EuroTier Event in November, the self-driving DairyFeed F4500 is an electrically powered unit with a single vertical mixing auger.

Unlike mixer wagons fitted with milling heads, the machine is designed to be filled from feed bun kers, using a 2.2m³ tub to take care of weigh ing the main ingredients and additives for individ ual groups of animals. The robot mixes the contents

and navigates around the farm using laser scanners and is fitted with obsta cle detection sensors to ensure safety is main tained in all situations.

Configured with four wheels, two rig idly mounted mid-point assemblies carry the machine, while front and rear wheel take care of steering, with the machine capable of travelling up inclines of up to 10%.

Rations can be deliv ered to both the left and right sides of the machine, with any residual feed automatically pushed up to the feed fence by a deflector plate as the machine passes along the feed area. Linked to the company’s DairyNet herd management system, the

robot can be monitored and controlled from a mobile device.

Initially available in key European markets from Q4 2022, Dairy

Feed F4500 will be avail able globally from 2023, with GEA noting that no major on-farm changes will be needed to install the system.

‘Dieci Does It All’

NEW TRAILER COUPLING

KUHN HAS released details of a factory fitted and EU-homologated drawbar for its FB 3100 and VB 3100 model balers, allowing farmers and contractors to use a round baler and wrapper in combination, or separately, depending on individual circumstances.

As an example, combining the baler with a RW 1810 self-loading wrapper, the configuration creates a fully automated combination machine suited for a one-man operation. Switching between a single baler and a bale wrapper combination, even during the day, is fast and easy.

Working with KUHN round balers in combination with KUHN wrappers means taking advantage of the best baling and wrapping solutions available in the market. VB 3100 series variable round balers produce well-formed, high-density bales in various crops, in various bale sizes. FB 3100 series fixed round balers are the ideal choice when baling in the most challeng ing conditions and offer the KUHN TWIN-reel film binding option. Both baler types form an ironclad duo with a RW 1810, featuring the unique INTELLI WRAP and 3D-Wrapping technologies for perfectly wrapped and preserved bales.

“Dieci telehandlers are really operatorfriendly, but one of the most impressive aspects is the great visibility, which makes it really easy to use, as well as being much safer.”

- Bryce Hunger, Dairy Farmer, Taranaki

The self-driving DairyFeed F4500 is an electrically powered unit with a single vertical mixing auger.

New MF 5S series launched

MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

MASSEY FERGUSON

has announced the launch of the new MF 5S Series

in Australia and New Zea land.

Offering five new models, from 105hp to 145hp, the range contin ues the striking new era design introduced on the

new MF 8S Series.

With all round vis ibility and a 4m turn ing radius, combined with a narrow steepnosed bonnet and a 2.55m wheelbase, the

range should make for useful loader tractors. Other plus points include a greater payload and higher rear linkage capac ity.

All models are

FOR ME

Scan the QR code to see Mark’s mixer wagon’s journey from Germany to New Zealand, and why Mark and his family love BvL.

equipped with four-cylin der AGCO Power engines, with a choice of Essen tial and Efficient speci fications, plus a range of options including easy to use Smart Farming tech nology.

For arable and mixed farming operations, MF 5S tractors offer a rear link age capacity of 5,700kg across the range, rising to 6,000kg in some models, while the new front link age capacity rises to 3,000kg and gross vehicle weight climbs to 9,500kg.

transmission control with Speedmatching, which automatically selects the most appropriate power shift ratio for the speed when gears are changed. Dyna-6 models come with AutoDrive.

All models are equipped with a high specification cab, includ ing a new HVAC air system that maintains a constant temperature, while also reducing dem isting and defrosting times.

The AGCO Power 4.4 litre engines meet Stage V emissions regulations with the MF All-in-One technology, containing the SCR system, DOC and soot catalyst in one com pact unit, neatly housed under the cab. Transmis sion choices are MF’s 16x16 speed, Dyna-4 or 24x24 Dyna-6, semi-pow ershift transmissions, both featuring the Braketo-Neutral function. On Efficient models, Auto Drive is standard and pro vides automatic changing of the four or six steps in fieldwork, as well as the ranges when in transport, controlled via the Multi pad joystick.

Essential versions with Dyna-4 have T-Lever

DAIRY NEWS OCTOBER 4, 2022 26 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS North - Gerry Clare 021 245 4471 South - Jethro Boakes 021 513 368 www.webbline.co.nz Datatronic 5 offers intuitive operation and is standard on Exclusive models and an option on others. This ISOBUS compatible touch-screen operator information sta tion monitors all the trac tor functions and controls any ISOBUS compliant implement.

MADE LATEST

Efficient tractors carry over the armrest from the 8S series, allowing con trol of the forward/reverse shuttle, linkage and spool valves. The Multipad can also be equipped with a micro joystick to oper ate two rear spool valves (or any other spool valve when Datatronic 5 is fitted). Loaders are oper ated by a separate joystick that sits alongside the Multipad.

“Hi, I’m Mark Stewart, and my mixer wagon was Made For Me.”

New MF 5S feeder wagon

New MF5S loader

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