Rival benefits from TAF scrap. Page 5
lifting herd performance Prizes for winners Page 38
ditch the notebook
From paddock to phone Page 40
august 28, 2012 Issue 275 // www.dairynews.co.nz
fonterra vote Director election. Who’s in, who’s not . PAGE 6
? ?? ? ?
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Dairy News august 28, 2012
news // 3
Season’s flying start off good runways pam tipa
Migrant workers fill staff shortage. PG.09
GPS provides proof of placement. PG.30
No manure clean-ups in shelters. PG.32
News �����������������������������������������������������3-23 Opinion �������������������������������������������� 24-25 Agribusiness ���������������������������� 26-28 Management ������������������������������30-33 Animal Health �������������������������� 34-37 mating Management ��������� 38-44 Machinery & Products ������������������������������������� 46-50
THE 2012-13 milk season is off to a flying start. Fonterra’s director milk supply Steve Murphy says near the end of the first quarter the season looks as good as, or even slightly better than, last year’s record season. But it’s early days, he points out. “We have to be careful [making predictions] because it is very early in the season still and we are talking of a very, very small base,” he says. But “18 months of good dairying weather has the national herd in great shape. Calving probably started a bit earlier than normal after a very strong mating in 2011. “Last year was a great season and even though we’ve had the wet weather, we could expect just normal genetic gain a year on year will give us an increase. You take that, plus the cows’ good condition, and the calving pattern would appear to be a bit tighter this year because of how good the cows were when we went into mating; so all those things are contributing.” Latest forecasts put the production peak at mid October. “Things are tracking well…. At this stage we would expect even a small increase on last year.” As of last week the North Island herd was half-way through calving and the South Island was starting to ramp up. Two weeks of wet weather had made farmers’ lives difficult. “But prior to that things were tracking very well for the season,
The 2012-13 season is off to a great start, says Fonterra director milk supply, Steve Murphy.
with cows in great shape and feed stocks good. We wait to see what the effect of the last two weeks will be on production but at this stage we are
not seeing a marked effect. “We’re still very early in the season and it is hard to separate the effect of the weather burst versus the
increased number of cows coming to the sheds.” Murphy says they won’t have figures on the herd increase until later in the season. “But the flow of milk is not just about numbers of cows but conversions, the condition of cows and what each cow is milking, which probably is the biggest effect and certainly was… last year.” Despite the rain, some areas such as Hawke’s Bay were reaching 17C “so they are expecting some early spring lifts in pasture growth”. “North Otago and South Canterbury have hit some big issues with the weather but most of our farmers understand we get weather bombs and are very capable of handling those. Hat’s off to the farmers, they tend to handle it pretty well.” He says there may be some extra calf deaths compared to normal “but I don’t think it is significant”.
Another boomer spring? PRODUCTION APPEARS good but bad weather has caused the toughest first-quarter start in a “long, long time,” says Federated Farmers Hawke’s Bay dairy chairman David Hunt. His comments are echoed by other farmer representatives who agree it could be a boomer spring, but only if August’s endless rain does not carry over into September. “Production is probably on a par or slightly ahead of last year but the weather is having an enormous impact. We are just
a bloody bog down here,” Hunt said last week. He says this had been the most trying run-up to spring in a long, long time. “We’ve got short memories but it’s a long time since it’s been this bad. “We think spring will come early but we’re just waiting for it…, it’s just sheer wet. It’s making everything we do three times as hard.” Feds’ Waikato president James Houghton says “we’ve had an excessive amount of rain
in the last six weeks and we just need to dry out. “We’ve had good pasture growth and the cows came through the autumn well last year; all the indications are we should have another good spring.” Northland Federated Farmers dairy chairman Ashley Cullen says his Maungaturoto farm has a few more cows than last year and production per cow is ahead. But rain will impact what could happen from now.
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
4 // news
China’s huge plant order lights up Waikato firm WAIKATO MILKING Systems NZ Ltd has won a multi-million dollar bid to supply Chinese dairy giant Mengnui with 13 rotary milking platforms – a big thumbs up for Kiwi agricultural technology, says Waikato’s chief executive Dean Bell. In partnership with Afimilk, an Israeli dairy management systems company, Waikato Milking Systems was competing against big names such as De Laval, GEA/Westfalia and BouMatic. The purchase is said to be one of the largest in China’s agricultural history and Mengnui is the one of the largest dairy companies in that country. Waikato Milking Systems will supply the rotary platforms and a key part of the milking structure, with Afimilk sup-
plying the computerised dairy management systems. “It is a real feather in our cap,” Bell says of the tender worth $4.5m to $5m to Waikato Milking Systems. “Because it has been fought so aggressively by the major players, it gets recognised that New Zealand companies are at the forefront and it will be a significant boost for us. “As New Zealand gains more and more recognition for being able to milk large numbers of cows and do that profitably, there’s been some good spin-offs for New Zealand companies abroad.” Bell believes it will boost sales around the world. “I think the partnership between ourselves and Afimilk will be a key building block into a much more significant and faster growing international presence.” Bell says the contracts will be rolled
Platforms span the globe WAIKATO MILKING Systems has installed milking platforms around the world and has just completed a 70-bail rotary for another company in China. It has also recently installed rotaries in Italy and Australia, one in Venezuela with another to come, and has installations in the UK and its own branch in the US. For the 70-bail rotary, two teams have already been in China, one to do the initial set-up and one to build. “Some of our technicians have installed the milking
machine components onto the rotary for Afimilk to fit all their automation,” says Bell. “It’s a finely engineered bit of scheduling and it’s come together very well.” Waikato has four factories in New Zealand and can schedule staff in China when they are needed. Afimilk develops, manufactures and markets computerised dairy management systems with milk meters, individual cow identification, pedometers and management and analysis software.
Waikato Milking Systems has won a bid to supply China dairy giant Mengnui with 13 rotary platforms, similar to this 70-bail installation for another company in China. Inset: Dean Bell.
out farm-by-farm so, collectively, by the time all 13 are finished, it will be the biggest single project by the company. The partnership of Afimilk’s specialisation in dairy herd management systems and Waikato offering the key part of the infrastructure provided the solution Mengniu wanted and was what the competitors couldn’t offer, Bell says. Waikato Milking Systems hosted an 18-strong Chinese delegation, including Mengnui representatives and others at the end of March. “They toured our facilities and some of our big rotary installations throughout New Zealand and I think that was instrumental in giving them the confidence our company here in New Zealand could provide the optimal solution that they were after. “So that visit really cemented things in their minds. I think they were already comfortable that Afimilk had the right sort of herd management system. But they needed to be confident we could deliver rotary platforms in the robust format that could stand up in the China conditions.” The purchase is part of Mengnui’s decision to gain greater control of milk quality by operating its own farms
rather than buying milk from other dairies. Their farms will be intensive operations such as are commonly seen in the US and Europe, milking large numbers of cows 24/7. “They will only shut the machine down for about an hour three times a day to clean…. The specification of the equipment needs to be able to handle that sort of use.” Bell says winning the tender is big recognition for New Zealand agricultural technology. “One of the things we are good at is providing a good solution that is robust. Some of our systems are at the absolute pinnacle of what’s available around the world.” Bell says Mengnui did not have to pay for technology it did not need. “Our New Zealand methods are very focused
on performance and value and they saw they weren’t going to get that combination anywhere else.” Waikato will supply Mengnui with two sizes of rotary – 40 and 80 bails – depending on which farm they go to. The most common will be 80 bails, among the biggest Waikato Milking manufactures. Ease of maintenance was pivotal in winning the tender, Bell says. “I think the design of our rotary does not have unnecessary complexity or unnecessary weight. Physical weight of the platform is important when they are rotating 24 hours a day.” Bell will himself head to China in October. He expects the first two platforms to be supplied by the end of the year.
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Dairy News august 28, 2012
news // 5
Rival benefits from TAF scrap THE COUNTRY’S second-biggest milk processor says some disgruntled Fonterra farmers have approached it to switch their milk supply. Open Country Dairy Ltd chairman Laurie Margrain believes the recent TAF (trading among farmers) vote has triggered the move. He told Dairy News last week that the divisiveness in the dairy industry caused by TAF has brought his company an “unprecedented” volume of inquiry from farmers wishing to change. But Open Country “doesn’t have a lot of spare capacity,” Margrain says. “Already we have as many suppliers as
we could take in the Waikato this year, and on top of that we have had a high level of inquiry which would be for next year. “Our ability to accommodate that would depend on our ability to tweak our capacity. While TAF has no direct impact on us, it has changed the dynamics of the industry because some people are not as committed to the cooperative concept under TAF as they were beforehand.” Margrain says the season has started well for Open Country with the milk flow well above their projections for this time of the year. He puts this down partly to their payment programme which provides incentives for farmers to flatten out their milk curve. Many
in brief New GM for Liberty LIBERTY GENETICS has appointed Craig Hemmings general manager. From Matamata, Hemmings has worked in various primary industries since completing a BAgSc at Massey University in the 1980s. Hemmings and his team will work to ensure the highest standards in dairy genetics are made available to New Zealand dairy farmers, the company says. “These include standards that reflect the values and rationale that formed the core reasons why Liberty genetics was founded in the first place.” Liberty Genetics has a working relationship with CRV Ambreed on developing its genetic business.
NZDL decision delayed THE COMMERCE Commission has again delayed a decision on Fonterra’s application to buy former Russian-owned processor New Zealand Dairies. The business, at Studholme, 40km south of Timaru, was put into receivership in May by secured creditor VTB Capital after 18 months negotiations between various prospective buyers and agents for parent company Nutritek. Receivers BDO in June wrote to the Commerce Commission saying a sale-and-purchase agreement had been reached with Fonterra and requesting Fonterra be allowed to operate the business pending a commission decision.
farmers milked on into May to take advantage of last season’s higher payout and the good weather. Margrain says its payout system, whereby farmers don’t have to be ‘shared up’ to produce extra milk, was also a factor. Cow condition on Open Country farms appears good and Margrain adds the quality of milk produced so far is excellent. He notes the wet winter has not been easy for farmers – especially having to calve in the mud, but overall things are positive. But that’s the end of the good news. Open Country’s payout forecast for this season is between $5.30/kgMS and $5.50/kgMS – much lower than last season.
There will be considerable downward pressure with market pricing and the high exchange rate, Margrain says. “Although some of the downward pressure has been alleviated a bit in the last few weeks with a lift in prices, we are advising farmers to be very prudent, very cautious and very pragmatic about how they manage cash flow and what they spend,” he says. He says while the “demand matrix” is fine, the high exchange rate is an issue.
Laurie Margrain
MP proposes hedge around fund LABOUR PRIMARY
Industries spokesman Damien O’Connor has lodged a private members bill in Parliament in a last-ditch attempt to limit public ownership of Fonterra. The bill is essentially the same as a last-minute amendment to the Government’s TAF legislation rejected several weeks ago. But O’Connor’s bill still has several hurdles to clear. Firstly it has to be drawn by ballot from among dozens of other members’ bills. Only if drawn can it be debated by Parliament, and the chances of the Government supporting it are about zero. But this doesn’t deter O’Connor.
Damien O’Connor
“The purpose is to put in legislative protection for Fonterra, a company set up by Parliament to give it special strengths and advantages to take on the world,” he
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says. “Recent legislative changes have opened the way for the purchase of investor units with rights to dividends and share value appreciation. “Unfortunately attempts by Labour to safeguard the company by capping the size of the investor fund were blocked by the Government, despite having the support of many farmer shareholders.” O’Connor says his bill seeks to rectify that by limiting the total amount of tradeable shares to 20%, the level the Fonterra board claims is criti-
cal to farmer control and ownership of the co-operative. “This bill is exactly what we proposed by supplementary order paper to the TAF Bill. It would have put in legislative protection in TAF but the National Government chose to vote that down. What I am proposing is a necessary piece of legislation because without it we will quickly see the fund size expand and while
there is a constitutional limit of 25% by Fonterra, this can be amended by shareholders.” O’Connor says he remains opposed to TAF as it stands and fears there is a risk of overseas investors influencing Fonterra’s activities. He says his Labour parliamentary colleagues support his proposed bill and the need for legislative protection of the Fonterra Shareholders Fund.
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
6 // news
Former chair eyes board seat sudesh kissun
FORMER FONTERRA
Shareholders Council chairman Blue Read is considering a tilt at a co-op directorship. The Taranaki farmer says he has been approached by Fonterra
farmers to contest the election. Nominations for the Fonterra board election are normally called in early September. This year’s election last month took a new twist with the resignation of Colin Armer, one of three board members retiring by rotation. The other two
– chairman-elect John Wilson and agribusiness academic Nicola Shadbolt – are seeking re-election. Read says there’s a vacancy on the board and there are “a lot of capable people” who could do the job. “I’ve been approached by some farmers to contest and for
Blue Read
me it’s all about how can I add value to the co-op,” he told Dairy News. Read chaired the council when farmers in July 2010 approved TAF (trading among farmers) in principle. He supports TAF but wants safeguards including tighter limits on the size of the Fon-
terra shareholders fund. A motion to curb the fund size failed just short of the 75% majority required at the co-op’s special meeting in June. Read wants the motion voted on again at Fonterra’s annual meeting in December. “I think TAF is essential for Fonterra but it must come with safeguards to ensure 100% ownership and control by farmers.” Read says he will take part in the candidate assessment panel (CAP) process that assesses the capabilities, experience and qualifications of director candidates and provides shareholders with more information on which to make informed votes. While the CAP process is open to all director candidates, it is not compulsory. Fonterra farmer groups which opposed TAF are also considering putting up candidates. Waikatobased Our Co-op member and former Federated
Farmers Dairy chairman Lachlan MacKenzie says he hasn’t considered standing but has been approached. “Then again, a hundred people have been approached to stand on for Fonterra election this year,” he says. “We want some someone with a good understanding of the co-op principles to serve on the board. I may or may not have those skills. We will go through a process to find suitable candidates.” Last year the Fonterra board election attracted nine candidates. Northland farmer Ken Hames, who last year stood unsuccessfully, says he hasn’t made up his mind whether to stand again. Another unsuccessful candidate Maurice Hardie, Southland, has confirmed he’s not standing. “Farmers have indicated they don’t want me so I don’t intend to stand again,” Hardie says.
Nutrient limits threaten farmer, community andrew swallow
FARMERS IN Otago were last week awaiting a council report for more detail on implementation of nutrient discharge limits aimed at meeting the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPSFM). As Plan Change 6A stands, it will put some dairy farms in the region out of business, including three of North Otago Feds Dairy chair Robert Borst’s. “At 10kg/ha [annual nitrate loss to groundwater] it’s impossible to operate a viable dairy farm. Our preliminary work shows we’d have to have just 0.8 cows/ha on the stonier soils. That’s not going to pay the bills.” With 28 families employed across his three farms, the loss of those businesses would rip a chunk out of the local economy and community organisations including schools, he notes. The 10kg/ha limit, as calculated by Overseer, applies to several catchments in the region deemed to be particularly sensitive to groundwater discharges. Borst says hundreds of farms of all types will be affected. The rest of the region has a 30kg/ha limit which he says should be achievable by most dairy farms. Meanwhile in Canterbury, where a land and water regional plan aiming to meet the NPSFM was notified August 11, a default limit of 20kg/ha nitrate loss will apply from 2017. Variations on that may be granted depending on the content of best practice “look-up tables” to be formulated in the run-up to that deadline. Industry leaders from all sectors are urging farmers to engage with their regional authorities on implementation of the NPSFM to ensure their interests are heard, and that the process isn’t dominated by unbalanced environmental goals.
Dairy News august 28, 2012
news // 7
Break-bulk cargo first for Fonterra LAST
SEASON’S stupendous production, in particular autumn’s awesome output, saw Fonterra ship a record 620,000t of product in the fourth quarter, 36% more than last year. “We traditionally ship just over 450,000 mt at this time of the year, but we’ve had a lot more product to move, and this has meant some creative planning across the wider supply chain to manage and store the additional volumes,” says Gary Romano, Fonterra’s managing director of New Zealand Milk Products. Such was the volume that for the first time since Fonterra was formed, a break-bulk vessel was chartered to take 7500t of milk powder to the Middle East. Romano says while demand is usually up ahead of Ramadan, this year’s spike was more than anyone expected and there wasn’t enough container capacity available. The cargo, like all Fonterra’s exports, was handled by Kotahi, the Fonterra/Silver Fern Farms joint venture formed just over a year ago to try to safeguard the efficiency of shipping services to New Zealand. “It was formed in the recognition we need the shippers’ ocean freight services far more than they need us,” chief executive Chris Greenough told Dairy News. Greenough says the break-bulk cargo was loaded at Auckland and Timaru, with 6500t of palletised 25kg bags of milk powder going in the hold, and 1000t of containerised product on deck. “It could definitely be repeated. The operation worked very well. I wouldn’t say it will become a mainstay but for particular constrained markets, or to deliver particularly
Kotahi chief executive Chris Greenough.
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with limited size vessels. With our containerised exports being just 0.2% of the world trade, and our location on a limb from main shipping routes, that’s a big ask. Meanwhile European exporters of goods to Asia enjoy much lower freight rates, as their goods are effectively backloads for the shippers, he notes. “The box has to get back to China anyway.” Greenough reckons Kotahi has cut the number of containers in New Zealand at any one time – a major cost to the shipper – by 20-30%, and similarly slashed the time the containers are dockside. “We’re achieving significantly higher slot utilisation with the carriers we’re using too. “Slot utilisation [for the carrier to profit] needs to be over 90%. We’d be within that for all the vessels we’re using…. If you go back four or five years it was probably about 70%, so it’s a big change.” Partnering with different exporters smooths the lumpiness of export volumes, and Greenough envisages more companies joining the initiative which already handles about a third of New Zealand’s container exports.
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large cargoes in a tight timeframe, then there’s a niche.” Despite containers, not ships, being container-shipping companies’ biggest capital asset, break-bulk shipping isn’t necessarily much – if at all – cheaper, says Greenough. “If you’re exporting a lot the costs are probably similar, or slightly cheaper, but if you’re shipping a little, it’s more expensive. It really comes down to the cost of running the vessel.” In the short-term Kotahi, which now includes New Zealand Wool Services International and a pharmaceutical lactose exporter, has probably averted the threat of New Zealand losing direct-to-market container services, says Greenough. However, trans-shipment via Australia, with consequently higher costs and longer delivery times, remains a threat if the drive for efficiencies in New Zealand’s export infrastructure wanes, he warns. “New Zealand has 10 container terminals (including soon-to-close Timaru); Australia effectively has five, and it’s a significantly bigger country.” Fragmentation of our exports remains a problem, with shipping lines expected to call at lots of ports
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Dairy News august 28, 2012
news // 9
Overseas hands helping milk Kiwi cows PETER BURKE
MIGRANT WORKERS
are the saviour of the dairy industry, says a Lincoln University social scientist, Dr Rupert Tipples. Last year 1894 visas were issued to overseas migrants coming to work in the dairy industry, but Federated Farmers Dairy chairman Willy Leferink claims at least 33% of dairy cows are milked by migrants. Most migrants who come to work in dairying enter New Zealand under the ‘immediate skills shortage’ provisions. This covers ‘assistant herd
managers’ and is generally the entry-level category. Most go to dairy farms in Southland and Canterbury, some to Waikato and smaller numbers to other provinces. Their wages and conditions are the same as New Zealanders’. Tipples says dairy shed work is rated worldwide as ‘3D’ – dirty, difficult and demeaning. Hence many young Kiwis don’t want to work in dairying or move from the cities where unemployment is high. The result is migrant workers are welcomed with open arms by dairy farmers, Tipples says. About 50% of the migrants come from the
Website, booklets explain IMMIGRATION NEW Zealand effectively runs the migrant-worker scheme. Migrants apply for short-term work visas and when their time is up they frequently apply to stay or go home and reapply. If they work at the ‘manager’ level they may gain permanent residency and many have. The Immigration Service website and two new booklets explain; one is for would-be migrants, the other for would-be employers. These detail what both parties can expect. For example, would-be workers are warned about the long hours, rural life and the skills they may need to learn. Farmers are told what to expect from workers and how they need to integrate them, including orientation and training. No stone is left unturned and expectations are clearly and simply stated.
Philippines. Many have worked in dairying in the Middle East and are regarded as very good workers. “A kiwi job, even at minimum rates, is still far higher than they would ever earn in the Philippines, so the jobs in New Zealand are attractive.” Tipples hopes to do more research on the impact of migrant workers on communities, dependant on his bid for funding by the new Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment. Gathering more data will benefit the dairy industry and rural communities, he says. A company called FRENZ has recruited dairy migrants for at least ten years. Managing director Christiaan Arns agrees on the importance of migrant workers. “The rapid growth of the industry has far exceeded the availability of local workers.” He says conversions in Southland and Canterbury have been the big demand drivers for overseas workers but nationwide expansion has grown the demand for staff. FRENZ recruits from the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, Uruguay, France, Holland and Ireland. Many recruits have degrees; some work as herd managers, some at lower levels.
Federated Farmers says at least 33% of dairy cows in New Zealand are being milked by immigrants.
Farmers give very positive feedback on the migrant workers, Arns says. “They see them as skilled, educated and committed to a career in farming and they love being in New Zealand.” New Zealanders shun dairy work for many reasons, says Arns. Some are simply not cut out for it: early mornings, long hours and a rural setting are not everyone’s idea of paradise. Unemployed people sent to work on dairy farmers frequently don’t last and lack the commitment of migrant workers.
locals wanted – Dairynz WILLY LEFERINK has employed about 50 migrant workers since 2001 and is impressed by their calibre. He has some still, including a South African sharemilker. “Migrants are great workers. But remember, we are all imports.” Leferink prefers to see more New Zealanders in the dairy industry, but concedes it’s hard and there are social issues to overcome. DairyNZ says though it accepts the need for migrant workers, its objective is for local people to be trained as the “next generation of farmers”.
Dr Mark Paine says New Zealand has impressive young people with a good work ethic who should be directed into the dairy industry. “We have programmes in secondary schools so that careers advisors are better informed about the options for young people in the industry. It is different from 25 years ago; there are more career options now for young people.” Paine says DairyNZ works with Immigration New Zealand and the AgITO to ensure migrant workers have training and support while working on farms.
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
10 // news
Livestock shipments lift returns PAM TIPA
George Gould
LIVE COW exports to Vietnam and new business in the lower North Island helped boost PGG Wrightson’s dairy livestock business by 38% in the past year. The company sent 12 shipments of rising-two
year Fresian heifers to Vietnam plus two shipments of Taurindicus heifers to the Philippines and Malaysia, Nigel Thorpe, general manager livestock, told Dairy News. “We have further scheduled shipments to Vietnam this financial year as well as shipments of Taurindicus to the Philip-
pines. Further opportunities exist in China which are being explored currently.” Thorpe says during the early part of last season PGG Wrightson also acquired the services of 12 additional ex-Allied Farmers dairy agents in Taranaki, Wairarapa and Manawatu.
“This has strengthened our overall dairy representation in the lower North Island. Together with an outstanding result from our Waikato dairy livestock team, this helped cement what was a major boost to our overall dairy livestock volumes handled and revenue during the season.”
Thorpe says they handled increased numbers of cattle over the past year – an increase from about 100,000 to 138,000. “Coupled with a lift in values of dairy cattle this has materially increased our dairy revenue year on year. “PGG Wrightson Livestock dairy representation throughout the country will continue to expand as dairy conversions and expansion takes place. Currently in 2012 there are over six million dairy cows in New Zealand while 20 years ago there were only three million. “This trend and expansion is cannibalising existing sheep and beef customer farms that we have been servicing for generations. Our strategy is to continue to service these customers following their farm conversions.” Managing director
George Gould told Dairy News dairy is a small but growing part of PGG Wrightson’s business. The increase in dairy livestock business this year was off a low base but he says “it is fundamental to our business to see dairy do well”. The boost came from the live exports, but also a focus on herd deals “particularly in Taranaki where we had a very small presence”. Gould says the retail side of the business has “absolutely” been helped by the dairy boom. “Something that is good news for all dairy farmers is that there’s plenty of competition in the sector with RD1, Nationwide and ourselves; it’s a competitive space. But when Fonterra comes grazing, the prosperity of the whole rural scene is assisted in a good year for dairy.”
pgw’s $55m turnaround PGG WRIGHTSON Ltd returned a profit of $24.5 million in the 2012 financial year, a $55.2m turnaround from its 2011 loss of $30.7m. A substantial turnaround in net operating cashflow to $58.6m (2011: $4.9m) reflected a strong focus on working capital and particularly debtor management, the company says. The company had also successfully exited most of loans held by PGW Rural Capital, a business formed to hoold loans transferred from PGG Wrightson Finance Limited as part of the finance company transaction. With the exception of the Crafar farms assets, residual loans valued at about $4m now remain, some already subject to sale contracts. The Crafar farms assets are subject to a sale contract approved by the Overseas Investment Office. The company would not disclose the value of the Crafar assets.
Rain takes toll in Taranaki THE LONG spells of wet weather are testing the patience of dairy farmers in Taranaki, says DairyNZ consulting officer Katrina Knowles. She told farmers last week it would be fine for a couple of days and they were happy. But when she told them 10 more days of rain was on the way, their faces dropped and they observed “there’s nowhere for the rain to go.” But things could be worse, despite the rain, she says. A year ago the region was blanketed in snow, stressing farmers and stock. “At least the rain keeps the feed growing, so for people able to minimise pugging damage things are looking quite good.” Knowles says grass growth in the province is better than last year, but cow condition is quite varied. “Some people have cows in really good condition… others very poor.... It reflects people milking on too long last season. • More on the big wet – page 14.
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Dairy News august 28, 2012
news // 13
Rage over road user charges PETER BURKE
RURAL CONTRACTORS are not
impressed by Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee saying they must pay road user charges (RUCs) on tractors capable of exceeding 40km/h on public roads. Rural Contractors New Zealand president John Hughes labels as impractical Brownlee’s advice to equip tractors with GPS or similar to track liability for farmers RUCs. Hughes told Dairy News, “For a start there are no speed recording devices on tractors and you can’t put hubometers on tractors simply because the nature of the work means that they would get wiped off. New Zealand is such a small tractor market that the tractor manufacturers aren’t going to make tractors just for [our] conditions.” The cost of installing electronic equipment to record mileage is prohibitive given the duration of farm tractors’ road travel at over 40km/h, Hughes says. But he personally does not object to a tractor owner being charged RUCs if
its prime role is cartage or haulage. “If you are a farmer or a contractor just moving from point A to point B to another job, what’s the difference between a tractor that goes over 40km/h or under?” He says the 40km/h proposal has come out of ‘left field’ and the contractors find it baffling, especially considering the excellent decisions made by MOT on work time rules. MOT’s concerns in trying to enforce the 40km/h rule baffle, he says. “If they want us to pay a fee why can’t it be built into the licence, not dissimilar to the abolished time licence. There
is a quantifiable amount of time you can work out… when tractors are on the road going from job to job. If it’s a matter of paying RUCs, build it into the fees.” Hughes concedes the simple way around the issue is for contractors and farmers to drive slower than 40km/h. Meanwhile Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean believes farmers will welcome the new rules on agricultural vehicles because they take into account the farm sector’s special needs. The Government listened to farmers’ concerns and tailored changes to their needs and to safety on roads.
Rural contractors are unhappy with proposed road user charges.
“Farmers and contractors sometimes work long and irregular hours, usually when the weather is good and
crops needs to be harvested. Agricultural vehicle rules should meet those needs and these changes do just that.”
Shareholder vote on database LIC DIRECTORS WILL in November ask shareholders to approve the transfer of the co-op’s ‘core database’ to DairyNZ. LIC developed the database in the 1980s. Under the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001 part of the database was defined as the core
database (containing 46 fields of raw data on herd testing and cow mating records), the remainder being the LIC database (containing at least 18,500 fields of data developed and paid for by LIC shareholders). An independent review in 2009 (the Anderson Review) recommended the
core catabase be run by an independent dairy industry-good organisation. Earlier this year, LIC and DairyNZ formally agreed to the transfer provided LIC shareholders endorse the required change to the co-op’s constitution. LIC chairman Murray King says
the transfer is good for the industry and for LIC. “We’re proud of our history in the development and independent management of the core database over the years, but it’s come at a cost to the cooperative in financial terms and staff time defending the impartiality of that management.”
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
14 // news
Calving’s finish promises easier life on farm PAM TIPA
LOW MORALE, dam-
aged pastures and a battle to maintain cow condition are legacies of one of the wettest calving seasons for years, say DairyNZ. But regional teams manager Craig McBeth says, to keep things in perspective, it’s been a good start to the production season – “well ahead of last year”. Lack of sunshine and rain causes physical problems on farms but can also be “quite depressing for people in a real sense,” McBeth says. “If there’s one message I want to get out it is to make sure human beings look after themselves, as well as their cows and farms. They need to seek help when they need it, sharing their problems and giving their mates a call or their DairyNZ consulting officer.” A good autumn and early winter had cows in good condition “but when
calving really started to get underway it started to rain and it kept raining.” Some areas were hit harder than others. In Waikato the rain started early, Manawatu had a good start to calving before the wet weather hit. As McBeth spoke to Dairy News he was visiting Christchurch where the sun had finally come out and was travelling on to Invercargill which had a good start to the season. “So it’s been quite varied but where it is wet it has been very wet and that’s caused challenges for farmers trying to juggle multiple mobs and stock. They’ve got their milk cows, their colostrums cows, the ones about to calve and others a few weeks off. Trying to juggle those with wet soils is demanding.” But farmers should seek advice on how to manage pasture damage on their particular farm. “It depends a lot on their infrastructure, their farm-
ing system, how they are set up, and how much feed they have on hand as to what the best decisions are for them individually,” says McBeth. Some may need to feed more supplement and leave the cows on the paddocks. Others may need to wait for the paddocks to dry before they feed supplement, because if they haven’t got feedpads, trac-
tors and feedout wagons will damage wet pastures. Other may need to leave the cows on bigger breaks, leaving the grass to grow back behind the cows. They can then feed more supplement when it’s drier. “It is very much an individual farmer and farm approach that needs to be taken.” Farmers with damaged pasture need to take
Recent wet weather around the country has raised feed challenges.
remedial action, sowing new seed such as chicory or plantain. (See www. dairynz.co.nz) As calving comes to an end the complexity of running farms will ease. “The farmers next focus will
be on getting cows back in calf. All the best practices need to be applied to achieve that ... making sure they pick those cows are ready to be artificially inseminated and having good mating practices in
their farming systems.” McBeth says the next few months are predicted to remain quite wet. But longer days, warmer soil temperatures and fastergrowing grass will dry out pasture more quickly.
Feed challenge looms large SOUTH WAIKATO DairyNZ regional leader Wade Bell says a number of farmers in his area have been unable to use feed available because of sodden paddocks. Pasture cover is also lower than they would like. “The challenge now is farmers not being able to feed their cows as well as they would, so cows are losing more condition than they normally would at this time of year.” Bell says a few farmers have inaccessible flooded areas, which increases stock intensity on the rest of the farm. With calving now 75% complete in his area, most farmers coped well with the
wet because the cows were in good condition and plenty of feed was available after a good summer and autumn. The looming issue is pasture damage and farmers need to get new seed onto those badly damaged pastures. Taranaki DairyNZ regional leader (acting) Katrina Knowles also says pugging and pasture damage are the biggest problems in her area. “Even if you are the most vigilant person and take the cows off you are going to get damage as a result of that also.” There’s been no increase in calf losses to her knowledge, as farmers have been more vigilant about collecting
their calves. “Morale of people has been reasonably good but when you spend day-onday in raincoats and leggings, it’s twice as hard as on a fine day”. People are starting to get tired now, and the job becomes harder. Farmers must make sure they look after their staff and themselves. “We get towards September and it’s when everyone starts to hit the brick wall because they’re tired.” However calving in Taranaki was earlier and quicker, which means they are now in the last stages.
Better forecast to bring some relief ANDREW SWALLOW
SOUTH ISLAND dairy farmers in the north and east hope a better forecast for this week will bring relief from a very trying start to the season. In some parts of South Canterbury and North Otago nearly half a year of rain fell in the first couple of weeks of calving, hiking losses and mastitis rates. Now pugged pasture and boggy ground seem set to cause a feed pinch down the track.
But for their counterparts in the far south and on the West Coast it’s been a dream start. “We’ve had marvellous weather,” Feds Southland Dairy chair, Russell MacPherson told Dairy News. “I just hope it holds on for the sheep farmers. The majority haven’t started lambing yet and they’ve had two terrible springs in a row.” It’s a similar story on the West Coast. “It’s been exceptionally good,” says Feds’ regional dairy chair Richard Reynolds. “I’m a bit apprehensive about saying that but it’s been dry and we’ve
had very good growth.” Mastitis is down about a third and production up. Unusually, the entire length of the coast has fared well. “Normally there’s quite a north/south split in the weather, one way or the other.” At the top of the south is where the wet begins. “Golden Bay has been particularly wet,” says Sue Brown. “It’s been boggy, rather than floods, but we’ve just had too many grey days. We’re all lacking sunshine and struggling to get fertiliser on.” Consequently a feed pinch looms
as herds approach the second round. “We’ve just bought in some extra supplement.” Mid Canterbury vet Rob Dunbar, of Vet Ent’s Ashburton clinic, says the persistent wet along the east coast has hampered calving and they’ve received more callouts than normal. “There have been a lot of big calves and difficult calvings.” The big calves reflect a mild winter and good feed supply, and the wet weather during calving exacerbated problems because herds bunch up,
making it hard to spot cows about to calve. Meanwhile the cows themselves are reluctant to lie down in the mud and get on with the job. “I hear they’re milking well because they’ve come through the winter in good condition. It’s just that they don’t need this sort of weather.” Feds Dairy North Otago chair Robert Borst says calf losses on his farms have been near twice the norm. “The problem is it’s been wet for such a prolonged period. Three weeks makes the numbers of losses increase dramatically.”
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With COOPERS Vet Hannah Field BVSc Q: When do calves get worms? A:
Worms are picked up from pasture once calves are grazing. Therefore, a significant amount of the calves’ diet must be grass before calves are going to have worms. A three-week-old calf on twice-daily milk but kept in a paddock is not likely to have worms!
Q: How do I know what my calves weigh? A:
Weigh them. It is almost impossible to guess calf weights accurately, so use scales to get live weights. If you don’t have scales, use a weigh band/tape; these are quite accurate, especially for younger calves.
People often get away with this practice using the white or clear drenches, but with the ML/mectin drenches this puts calves at high risk of death – these drenches are designed to sit in the mature rumen and be absorbed slowly. As well as the risks associated with rapid absorption, drenching calves while they are suckling from milk-feeders (i.e. pulling them off the teat one at a time and drenching orally) risks dosing some calves twice and missing others. This has obvious concerns – over-dosing some and leaving others undrenched.
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The ‘eye-ometer’ is not a reliable gauge. Use a weigh tape or scales.
Q: What’s wrong with drenching while calves are suckling milk? A:
Firstly, milk-fed calves generally won’t have worms, so do they really need drenching?
Q: When should I start drenching calves? A:
Calves do not need to be drenched until they are likely to have a worm burden. That is not likely to happen until they have been eating pasture as their main feed source for at least three weeks. • Before then you are likely to be wasting drench on calves with no worms.
Secondly, this practice is high risk for absorbing the drench far faster than intended.
As a rule of thumb, start drenching once calves have been weaned off milk and on pasture for at least three weeks. WE RECOMMEND NOT DRENCHING CALVES THAT WEIGH LESS THAN 100kg.
Recently I heard of a farmer pouring drench directly into the milk-feeder with the milk, so that calves suckle the milk-drench mix. This meant that his calves were getting an unknown dose of drench. Mixing drench with milk puts calves at high risk of toxicity due to rumen bypass as well as over-dosing, and almost certainly under-doses some calves which is a risk practice for the development of drench resistance.
• Oral drench is designed to be absorbed slowly from the rumen. Drenching calves that are still on milk puts them at risk of toxicity, as drench can be rapidly absorbed from an immature rumen or due to ‘rumen bypass’.
Mixing drench with milk is risking killing your calves
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Dairy News august 28, 2012
news // 17
Polled HF bull joins team FOR THE first time New
Zealand dairy farmers have the option to breed a polled Holstein Friesian without overly compromising on breeding worth, says LIC. The cooperative is offering farmers interested in breeding for the polled gene a high genetic merit New Zealand progeny tested Holstein Friesian polled sire: Costers
Poll Axe. LIC breeding manager Allan McPherson says Poll Axe’s daughter proof is showing positive fertility, shorter gestation length, easier calving and good somatic cell score BVs (breeding values), along with the polled gene and a BW of 171. Farmer reaction to Poll Axe has been positive. “Feedback from
Bull proof ows; daughter proof sh Costers Poll Axe’s ty ■■ positive fer tili n length tio sta ■■ shorter ge ■■ easier calving tic cell score BVs ■■ very good soma (breeding values) BW of 171 polled gene and a ■■ along with the
was incorrectly stated as Editor’s note; Poll Axe’s BW is 171. 17 in our last issue. His BW
farmers I have spoken to is that Poll Axe is creating a lot of interest, as he adds variation to individual herd’s breeding programmes, particularly for those farmers who want polled animals in the future. The combination of polled, fertility, easy calving and SCC mean Poll Axe daughters are an easy care, robust type of cow. Poll Axe is also fully registered with Holstein Friesian New Zealand.” McPherson says most of the New Zealand dairy herd is horned, however, the polled gene is dominant over the horned gene. “Poll Axe was bred by the Coster family of Kaimai, and inherited a polled gene from his dam. As he carries one copy of the polled gene, 50% of Poll Axe progeny from horned cows will be polled.
Costers Poll Axe
“But if mated to polled cows 75-100% of the progeny will be polled depending upon the cow’s genotype.” McPherson says though Poll Axe was just below the selection threshold for the 2012 Premier Sires Daughter Proven Team, he was available through Alpha
ing on pursuing the polled gene for a decade and has had some partial success in the past. But this is its first Holstein Friesian polled bull to successfully graduate and represents an important milestone in developing polled animals, he says. “Historically in New
Nominated. “Where Poll Axe is used to mate cows, either horned or not, LIC would potentially be interested in screening resulting bull calves of significant BW, and high BW polled heifers could potentially become dams for future breeding.” LIC has been work-
Zealand farmers interested in breeding polled Holstein Friesian cattle had to compromise with a lower BW. “With Poll Axe these farmers can now have the best of both – as now it’s possible to breed higher BW polled Holstein Friesian animals.”
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
18 // news
Misadventure in milking shed PETER BURKE
RURAL INSURER FMG
says it pays out at least $2 million annually on about 800 accidents in dairy sheds. Foremost is contamination of milk by antibiotics or other foreign matter. FMG’s rural manager for Manawatu/Horowhenua/Kapiti, Jason Rolfe, told Dairy News that, for example, a cow treated with antibiotics may be milked with the main herd, her milk contaminating that whole milking. “This is avoidable by having the right procedures in place in an individual milking shed. Every shed is different, so some farmers may decide to mark the cow with red paint over her udder.
“But obviously distractions can occur in the dairy shed and she can still be milked, even with the red paint. It might just be a case of a tired worker in the busy spring time.”
Jason Rolfe
FMG recommends farmers draft ‘contaminated’ cows out of the herd for milking after the main herd, their milk then
being kept out of the main vat. “But sometimes a cow might break a fence and get into the main milking herd and no one realises until later that she’s been milked,” Rolfe says. “In these cases we recommend the milk be dumped and that’s what farmers can insure for.” Rolfe says the problem of contamination can occur year-round when antibiotics are used against mastitis and foot rot. “Farmers need to ensure they have procedures to deal with such events and are aware of the withholding periods on the drugs used.” Other dairy shed problems include pipes breaking and power outages caused by storms.
Accidents in the milking shed can be costly.
in brief New board member
FMG encourages risk management plans. For example, buying a generator can reduce insurance claims and cut premiums. These may affect the shed’s cooling system or prevent milking. Farmers in Taranaki are much
more aware of this since the Patea storm earlier this year. “Before that there
weren’t a lot of contingency plans in place…. Now many farmers have bought or agreed to share generators.” FMG encourages risk management plans. For example, buying a generator can reduce insurance claims and cut premiums.
NEW ZEALAND Young Farmer member Mark Lambert has been elected to the board of the Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ). FCANZ is an industry organisation that supports and benefits the fencing industry of New Zealand. At FCANZ’s annual meeting in Auckland last month, Lambert was elected for a oneyear term. Lambert works as a fencing contractor and is an active Young Farmer member of the Marton Young Farmers Club and immediate past Taranaki/ Manawatu Regional chair. Lambert’s involvement with the Young Farmers organisation has put him in good stead for his role on the Board.
Beat bloat this spring Spring is the most common time for bloat to occur. There are many factors that influence the onset of bloat but typically, bloat is associated with lush, rapidly growing clover. However bloat is also prevalent in pasture with high moisture and low fibre content.
There are a number of ways to reduce or prevent the occurrence of bloat. > Ensure cows are introduced to lush pasture slowly and not given the opportunity to gorge on pasture known to produce bloat. Feed supplements such as hay or silage alongside or prior to pasture grazing. > The use of rumensin can also reduce the incidence of bloat.
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> Bloat oils or detergents are useful when known high risk pastures are being grazed or in the case of a bloat outbreak. > Bloat detergents can be dispensed via water. This can be unreliable as cows consume less water in wet weather and may not receive adequate detergent to prevent bloat. > The most effective way of ensuring bloat is controlled is via drenching. Depending on the bloat risk, this may be once or twice daily following the dose rates.
For all your dairy needs, contact your PGG Wrightson Technical Field Representative or call into your local PGG Wrightson store.
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Dairy News august 28, 2012
news // 19
‘Overseas buyers lining up for a piece of NZ’ PETER BURKE
GREEN PARTY leader
Russell Norman says New Zealand is a target country for a worldwide land grab by countries concerned about food security. He told Dairy News the purchase of the Crafar farms by the Chinese company Shanghai Pengxin is an example of that. Overseas companies and governments are buying food-producing land whose value is climbing with rising food prices. “New Zealand will be a target of that… we’re seeing a little bit of it already. If we allow that to happen we’ll lose the goose that laid the golden egg. Our food producing land is like the goose, and the Green Party believes we should sell the eggs, not the goose.” The Greens and Labour tried recently, unsuccessfully, to pass
a bill in Parliament to prevent land sales to overseas buyers. Norman says if New Zealand has an openslather policy on overseas persons and companies buying New Zealand, farmland then it will drive prices of such land beyond the reach of ordinary family farmers. The price of farmland has already risen and he fears further rises. “Recently Sir Michael Fay was essentially outbid by the Chinese Government which backed the Shanghai Pengxin bid. There is no way ordinary New Zealanders can compete with an organisation like the Chinese government. We don’t have that kind of money.” Norman points to already-significant sales of land to overseas buyers under National and Labour governments. But vast tracts are still held by New Zealanders and
Biosecurity war of words THE BATTLE over biosecurity issues between Horticulture New Zealand and Primary Industries Minister David Carter has escalated and neither side seems in any mood to compromise. “We make no apology,” is the message from HortNZ and neither is Carter backing down. Speaking recently at HortNZ’s annual conference, Carter took to task HortNZ’s magazines The Orchardist and NZ Grower, accusing them of “unbalanced reporting of the worst kind” on biosecurity issues. He said biosecurity was too important to be treated as ill-informed, emotional, cannon fodder promoted to the public domain. But HortNZ president Andrew Fenton, whose relationship with Carter is described as ‘testy’ over the biosecurity issues, has hit back in the latest editions of both magazines, saying it’s clear HortNZ has upset the minister. “But it means the minister is listening and we have got growers’ views heard…. [Carter’s] attitude has not only drawn growers to close ranks but has infuriated many…. Growers are extremely concerned and worried about the biosecurity system that is operating…. We’re carrying out the role we were elected to do and we have unanimous support to continue to do that. We make no apology for our concern and stance on this issue.” In addition to Fenton’s comments The Orchardist carries a letter criticising Carter and his response. Again Carter hits back at HortNZ:… “HortNZ’s magazines belittle the excellent work undertaken by MPI frontline staff in protecting our borders, undermines our robust border procedures and raises unnecessary fears for primary producers.”
opportunity exists to stop more land being sold to overseas buyers. “The Shanghai Pengxin bid particularly raised people’s eyebrows because of the size of it and because
it was dairy land…. The Chinese Government has a food-security problem and there’s perfect sense in what they’re trying to do: secure their supply lines using the big bundle
of cash they’ve got. We’d be stupid if we went along with that.” Norman says what’s right for the Chinese is not necessarily right for New Zealand to go along with.
Russell Norman
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
20 // world
Oz bureaucracy slimmed down AUSTRALIAN DAIRY
farmers have given the green light for an overhaul of their national body. State farmer groups voted to restructure Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) and a new constitution has been approved. The ‘yes’ vote opens the way for a slimmeddown ADF board to focus on strategy and a new national council to recommend policy. Individual farmers can for the first time be members of ADF. “It is a very exciting development for dairy farmer representation in Australia,” said ADF president Chris Griffin. “A more financially efficient and better structured ADF will improve value to farmers and state organ-
isations.” Griffin says changes in the dairy industry have harmed the financial viability of ADF. For 30 years milk production has doubled but the number of dairy farmers has dropped 65%, depressing member numbers and the incomes of state dairy farmer organisations and ADF. Now ADF is running at a loss and without big change could not continue to function or offer quality policy and advocacy services to dairy farmers. ADF’s new constitution includes a smaller board focussed on strategy and oversight of operations. A new national council will direct strategy and policy. ADF’s policy advisory groups are now
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open to grass-roots farmers selected for expertise and interest. Any dairyfarmer member of his/ her state dairy body may join ADF directly for no extra charge, says Griffin. “The farmer can be confident [of getting] state and national representation as well as a strong dairy voice at the NFF.” The move improves farmers’ direct access to ADF: they will now be able to communicate directly with ADF on national issues. State and individ-
ual farmer members can attend ADF annual meetings and any farmer can stand for the ADF board provided they belong to both their state dairy body and ADF. All ADF farmer mem-
THE NATIONAL Farmers Federation (NFF) has welcomed a new constitution for ADF as allowing greater representation of dairy farmers at a national level. “Australian Dairy Farmers already has a seat at the national policy decision-making table of the NFF; the
decision to streamline the constitution simply allows this seat to be even stronger,” says NFF chief executive Matt Linnegar. “The ability for Australian agriculture to speak with one voice is crucial for us to be heard, be it on a commodity, state or national level.
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“In making this change, ADF will become a stronger voice for the dairy sector at a time when dairy farmers are facing major challenges. “Unsustainable pricing practices and the impact on farm gate milk prices continues to be one of the most prominent and sustained issues the dairy sector has had to face in recent years and it shows no sign of abating. “Ensuring the collective voice of the dairy sector is heard in this debate – and the many policy decisions that impact the dairy sector – is critical.”
AUSTRALIAN DAIRY processor Lion Dairy’s revenue declined 9% during the half year ended March 2012. Lion’s dairy and drinks division earned $1.3b lower revenue. Volumes were hit by a loss of private-label contracts, fresh dairy range deletions and a category decline in juice, but the biggest hit on profit was from lower branded white milk sales and a shift of volume from non-grocery to grocery channels because of retailers’ A$1/L private milk label pricing. This aggressive pricing bothers Lion, but it keeps working on new and different products with great potential, it says. These include permeate-free white milk branded Dairy Farmers and Pura, in response to consumers wanting less-processed foods. New Yoplait products and fresh marketing are said to have lifted sales.
IDB cheese acquisition THE IRISH Dairy Board (IDB) has bought The Cheese Warehouse, a UK cheese ingredients company. This will strengthen IDB’s UK food ingredients and food service business, a key market for Irish dairy exports. Opened in 2004, The Cheese Warehouse has a factory in North Shropshire processing cheese for food service and food manufacturing customers. It had sales of $58 million in the year ended February 2012. IDB chief executive Kevin Lane says the takeover fits its strategy of exporting value-added Irish dairy products. “The Cheese Warehouse complements our existing cheese ingredients business located close by in the UK and will [raise] our presence in the UK cheese ingredients and food service sectors, [presenting] opportunities to grow our existing and new customer [base for] new products, technologies and processes. “We view in-market collaboration as a key growth driver for Irish dairy products as milk volumes expand ahead of the abolition of milk quotas in 2015.”
Mengniu in talks CHINA’S LARGEST dairy producer Mengniu is in talks to buy raw milk supplier China Modern Dairy Holdings Ltd. The companies’ largest shareholders, COFCO Corp and KKR & Co., are involved. State-owned COFCO holds 20% of Mengniu; New York private-equity firm KKR owns 24% of Modern Dairy. According to Bloomberg, buying Modern Dairy – China’s largest raw milk producer – would give Mengniu more control over its milk supply, important because of lingering concerns about safety in the nation’s dairy industry.
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Dairy News august 28, 2012
world // 23
Earnings drop as weather, costs bite the average return on assets for Gippsland earnings dropped $A60,000 in 2011-12 as farms to fall from 6.1% in 2010-11 to 4.4% a result of soaring costs and mixed weather. in 2011-12. The top 25% of farmers recorded earnAn annual survey by Dairy Australia and the Department of Primary Indus- ings before interest and tax of $1.90/kgMS tries shows Victorian dairy farmers and $1845/ha and average return on assets earned before interest and tax an average of 10%. The reduced returns and lower farm$A228,305 for the past season compared to gate milk price for this season $A290,456 in 2010-11, despite a solid has prompted Dairy Australia closing milk price of $A5.52/kgMS. to develop ‘Tactics for Tight The survey also showed their Times’, a campaign to help average return on assets was 5% farmers achieve more costin 2011-12, compared to 6.2% preeffective production. viously – still a better result than Despite lower income Victo2.2% in 2009-10. Average feed, herd rian dairy businesses were and shed costs for those surveyed better able to face chalincreased about $A62,000, with lenges than in recent years, feed the biggest impost for farm- Ian Halliday Halliday says. ers in each region. “The milk price drop for this season has The sixth annual Farm Monitor Project collected data from 74 farms in Victoria’s not been a surprise for Victorian farmers, north, south west and Gippsland. A vari- but we understand the coming 12 months ety of farm and herd sizes were chosen in will be a challenge so we want to help farmvarious districts in each region. The profit ers be on the front foot to tackle the finanand production data identify key drivers of cially tough season ahead. “Analysis indicates that for 2012-13 farm performance. Dairy Australia managing director Ian many dairy farmers will be under pressure Halliday says the profitability of the sur- over cashflow and profitability. Levels of long- and short-term debt have increased veyed farms varied with weather. “In the North the good rainfall and over the past few years, and will also water allocations helped farmers to impact cashflow.” ‘Tactics for Tight Times’ is being coincrease milk solids production by 192kg/ ha and reduce their cost of production by ordinated by Murray Dairy, GippsDairy 10%, while in the South West the dry spell and WestVic Dairy. “There will be a focus caused costs to rise by 12% as farmers spent on maximising home grown feed, considered concentrate feeding levels, smarter more on purchased feed and labour.” Surveyed Gippsland farmers had 9% nitrogen use, strategic fertiliser decisions higher overhead costs mainly due to and implementing ways to reduce energy increased imputed labour costs. This led costs,” Halliday says.
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US cheese business rethink ARLA FOODS will close one of its two cheese plants in the US and move production to Denmark. The Danish co-op says production in Denmark will be more efficient as part of total production for global markets. Arla’s Muskegon Dairy, Michigan, will close in December. Built in 1986, it makes Blue brie, Castello soft blue, brie and camembert for the US market, employing 20 people.
Arla says it will stop processing blue cheese in the US. Head of Arla Foods US, Susie Møller Hjorth, says the co-op will focus on premium speciality cheese under the Castello brand and on developing the US market for high quality cheese. “We have some fantastic cheeses from our dairies in Europe and will have a unique role in the American speciality cheese market. [But]
to focus our resources… [we must] withdraw our locally produced blue range under the Saga brand.” Arla Foods US plans to focus on Castello with an expanded range which includes Havarti cheese and cheese from Allgaüland in the German Alps. Saga Blue Brie, sold in the US for 30 years, will continue under the Castello brand. Castello Soft Blue will also continue.
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
24 // OPINION Ruminating
EDITORIAL
Thanks for coming
milking it... With friends like these…
THERE’S JUST no pleasing the Greens. The Green Parties of New Zealand, Australia and Canada have joined forces to collectively whinge about the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) – a trade agreement being negotiated among 11 countries. The Greens are concerned that the heavily protected Canadian dairy industry might be deregulated under the TPP. It is hard to see where the Greens are coming from; it is well known that production subsidies such as those enjoyed by Canadian dairy farmers distort markets and encourage wasteful over-production. That’s hardly green, now is it? Worse still, the Greens are effectively campaigning against the interests of our dairy farmers.
E for effort
NEW ZEALAND’S unemployment rate rose 0.1% in the June 2012 quarter to 6.8%. Employment growth slowed, with 2000 fewer people in work. There were 5000 fewer men jobs. With this in mind, Milking It struggles to understand why the dairy industry, and other primary industries, are forced to lean so heavily on hard-working immigrant labour to keep farms running. The answer might be hinted at by headline news from Gisborne last week: it seems a high number of locals can’t be bothered even changing out of their pyjamas before heading into town to spend their benefits.
Feed them beans
WITH MOST Americans preoccupied by the impending presidential elections, some health advocates are turning their eyes in another direction – on school lunches. The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) – a non-profit group in Washington, D.C. – advocates vegan diets and is out to bring dairy down, and hard. Where are they aiming their message? At kids, naturally, because they want to abolish milk from school lunches. In place of dairy, they want to see other calcium sources on kids’ plates – beans, sweet potatoes and figs.
No link from milk to puberty
POPULAR BELIEF aside, drinking cow’s milk does not increase the likelihood of early onset of puberty, according to a new study from China. The study found no link between the amount of cow’s milk children in Hong Kong drank between ages 6 months and 5 years and the onset of puberty. Neither was the start of puberty affected by whether or not the children were breastfed, the researchers said. “These findings suggest breastfeeding or cow’s milk consumption does not play a major role in pubertal timing,” among children in non-Western countries.
IT SEEMS astounding that for all the gains made by the New Zealand dairy industry over recent years it now relies heavily on migrant workers to do much of the ‘hard yards’. Sure, most dairy workers are Kiwis, but there’s a continuing skill shortage in the basic job of milking cows. This task is said to be dirty, difficult and demeaning. But is it really? Yes the hours are sometimes long and it’s hard working in a milking pit when the weather isn’t great. But is it so bad as to deter New Zealanders supposedly looking for a job and a career? That’s how it looks: the message about the benefits of country living is not getting through to many New Zealanders. One could argue it’s much harder for Filipino workers from a tropical climate to tolerate a winter in Southland or Canterbury. But they are proving keen, motivated and happy to work in this environment for the long-term benefit of themselves and their families. Not only the dairy sector relies on migrant workers. You wouldn’t be picking up a cabbage in a supermarket but for the large number of Pacific Islanders who come to New Zealand to work in vegetable growing. In common with dairy workers they work long hours in all weathers to plant and pick the vegetables that seem miraculously to appear on supermarket shelves. How strange that New Zealand imports workers while people here are unemployed. What’s happened to the work ethic that helped build this nation? Our iconic native kiwi lost the use of its wings apparently because it had no need to fly. Have Kiwis similarly gone soft, losing the will to work? Migrant workers are in a sense modern-day pioneers. New Zealand is lucky to have them and they deserve to be welcomed and treated well. They are allowing our dairy industry to expand, generating wealth for the nation while others are happy to do nothing. – Peter Burke
Got something on your mind? GOT SOMETHING on your mind about the latest issues affecting our dairy industry? Put your pen to paper or your fingers to your keyboard, and let our readers know what you think. Contact us by either post or email. Don’t forget to put your name and address. Note: Letters may be edited. post to: Letter to the Editor PO Box 3855, Auckland 1140. or Email: dairynews@ruralnews.co.nz
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Dairy News august 28, 2012
opinion // 25
Dairy co-ops prove business model can be a success blue read
WHILE BIG business is considered synonymous with the multinational corporation, some of the world’s largest, most influential businesses are owned and operated as cooperatives. One market in which the cooperative model has a significant presence is global milk production.
Blue Read
According to a July 2012 Rabobank survey, two of the world’s five largest dairy companies are cooperatives – Fonterra and FrieslandCampina – with combined 2011 sales of US$29.1 billion. As a commodity, milk lends itself especially well to the cooperative model. Milk is homogeneous and highly perishable. Storing and processing it into products with stable shelf life, such as milk powder, require expensive plant and technology that benefit from economies of scale. We have a saying in dairy: sell it or smell it; the need to process and sell our product is a great discipline. The world’s largest dairy cooperatives have thrived in different markets by taking different paths. India’s Amul, the largest dairy company in the world’s largest milkproducing country, was founded about 65 years ago when Gujarat dairy farmers staged a ‘milk strike’ against exploitative trade practices by
middlemen. Producing only about 250 L between them, the farmers formed a co-op that now has three million farmer members. On average each milks only 3L/day from the one or two cows, and each travels no more than 10 miles to a milk collection centre. How can a dairy farmer in Gujarat, India, who milks 3L/day, market his meagre collection 700km away in Mumbai? There lies a key to Amul’s success: its diffuse network means it can meet demands even if a number of its farmers individually cannot. In turn, these farmers have their own willing buyers near home who will process, transport and market their milk under one of India’s most recognisable household brands. While Amul has for decades dominated the milk and dairy market in India, the trend among agricultural co-ops, especially in developed countries, is to merge until a largeenough cooperative forms to achieve the sought-after scale and market share. The growth of Fonterra into the world’s largest trader of dairy products is one example. Still a rarity in the cooperative world, some milk and dairy co-ops look across national borders for merger partners. In 2000, the largest dairy co-ops in Denmark and Sweden merged to become Arla Foods, and in June 2012, Arla Foods merged with Britain’s Milk Link to form a co-op with 9000 Danish, Swedish and British farmer members. And in 2008, two dairy co-ops in the Netherlands and Germany merged to form FrieslandCampina. With transnational merger partners and brands among the most recognisable in their home countries, the largest milk and dairy co-ops worldwide are proving that the cooperative business
model can be a success in which the benefits return to the producers that own
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
26 // agribusiness
Succession planning no one-off event SUCCESSION PLANNING by farm-
ers has been thrust into the spotlight recently by bank research showing a large majority of New Zealand farming businesses have no plan for succession. It is an important aspect of strategy, so here are some principles and tactics enabling tangible progress by businesses I’m working with. Some of the industry sentiment on this topic is flawed. Firstly, succession planning is often referred to as if it is a one-off event – something on a ‘bucket list’ to be addressed when a farming family or enterprise reaches a certain age or stage. Secondly, there is frequent comment about the challenges of attracting new participants to farming businesses – either family or investors. This is simply a reflection of the profitability and asset values driving farming businesses. Managing succession is much more than a short-term project to be completed as the succeeding generation eyes retirement. Rather than an isolated process, it is one dimension of a robust business plan. Succession should be integrated into the overall strategy of any business so it can be groomed along with the people affected to achieve pos-
itive ownership transition outcomes. It is not a given that this will only involve family. Yes, succession is most often about transfer of family assets between generations, however strategies can also involve options for external sale, lease or share farming. There are some important contributors to developing and ‘stress testing’ an enterprise to enable it to thrive through transition years. The first requirement is to capture the full potential profitability of the business. Some farming businesses are not sustainable simply because of the disconnection between asset values and the returns they generate. The current economic environment is tending to drive more realistic investment decisions and asset pricing. The days of relying on capital gain are being replaced by a healthy drive for genuine profits, managed risk and competitive return on capital. Achieving returns that will attract new participants is not just about more realistic asset values. It is dependent on embracing best practice to drive busi-
ness performance and secure greater profits. This means all involved must recognise that modern ways, meaningful business size and smarter business thinking will enable succession within families to occur. Working relationships must be proven before any transfer of assets or sharing of business control occurs. Getting these steps in the wrong order can result in real challenges -- unwinding working relationships is much easier than dismantling ownership structures and banking arrangements as a result of premature asset transfer. Expectations of the succeeding generation also need to be realistic. A clear understanding of business outlook as well as commitment to plans, budgets and strategy are vital. There is no room for inexperienced free spirits who demand autonomy or bring management styles based on an impulsive approach to strategy selection. There must be full appreciation of business management disciplines, accountabil-
Recent research shows many farming businesses have no plan for succession.
ity and teamwork. Perhaps the most important step in all of this is getting capable and pragmatic professional advisors involved early. This enables the succeeding generation to avoid having to make immediate decisions. Participants in the plan should recognise they need to present a ‘business case’ that first wins the support of professional advisors. Without this support, parents can find themselves forced into making reactionary decisions to deal with family aspirations or left-field ideas. This also gives those
entering the business access to a sounding board of professionals who can critique their ideas and assess investment decisions against overall goals. Devising strategies that protect the future for the founding generation while offering opportunities for those talented and trained family members who follow can be a source of satisfaction. • Kerry Ryan is a Tauranga agribusiness consultant available for face-to-face or online advice and ideas. Contact him at www.kerryryan.co.nz
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Dairy News august 28, 2012
agribusiness // 27
Co-op’s first new site in 14 years FONTERRA’S FIRST
new site in 14 years has begun producing whole milk powder for export to South East Asia, China and the Middle East. Production began this month at the $200 million factory near Darfield, Canterbury. Fonterra director of operations NZ milk products Brent Taylor says the plant is running smoothly. It produced 40 t in its first full day of operations. “It has taken two years to bring the project together and it is a significant achievement for the co-op and good news for Canterbury and the wider Christchurch rebuild,” involving at least 1500
people. “With annual growth of 5-6%, Canterbury is New Zealand’s fastest growing dairy region,” Taylor says. Darfield stages one and two are costing Fonterra $500 million and promise the co-op “a strong future in Central Canterbury,” says Taylor. The new factory is important in the coop’s optimising of its New Zealand milk business. World-leading innovation and technology are represented at the factory. “The drier has been built by GEA Process Engineering to produce 15 m t/hour but, once installed, we add our own intellectual property rights… call it our x-factor.
“This helps keep our farmer-shareholders internationally competitive and is aimed at driving more value their way.” At peak capacity, Darfield drier 1 will con-
vert about 2.2 million L/ day into 370 m t of whole milk powder. Stage two includes extending the dry store and commissioning a second 30 m t/hour drier which will triple capacity.
Fonterra’s $200m Darfield plant.
Hard facts ■■
About 7700m3 of concrete and 1200 m t of steel to complete the first stage.
■■
About 85km of stainless steel tubing – equal to three times across Cook Strait.
■■
One million man hours to complete, equal to 10 people working full time for 50 years.
■■
Producing instant and regular whole milk powder for Asia and the Middle East, in 25kg bags.
■■
Reducing Fonterra milk tanker travel by 20,000km/day.
Time to enter the Calf Club IT’S CALVING time again and children nationwide are
Ballance Agri-Nutrients and Farmlands. That’s because you’ll benefit from fertiliser products proven to work on New Zealand farms, plus be dealing with the people you know and trust at your local Farmlands store. What’s more, your fertiliser purchases will count towards your annual Farmlands Loyalty Rebate. In the last three years Farmlands has paid out more than $1.5m in Loyalty Rebates on fertiliser purchases alone.* Farmlands Trading Society Limited JOFTS/HC/DN
deciding which animal to take to Calf Club. LIC communications manager Clare Bayly says among the many points to consider when choosing a calf, the animals’ friendly nature and size are paramount. “If a calf takes a special shine to the child that’s always a good start; but probably the most important consideration is its size – to ensure the calf won’t get too big to handle.” Other traits include colour, body shape, skin and hair, and health: these are all outlined on LIC’s special website www.calfclub.co.nz “Many young farmers work hard each year to select, prepare and show an animal at their local event. www.calfclub.co.nz provides them with a simple guide for this, and although the parents or farmer will have the final say in which animal is best, it’s good for the child to learn about what makes a good calf, and how they can choose the right one for them. “The website explains it all, and it may just encourage a first step into a successful farming career.” LIC has also written to about 1000 schools encouraging them to use the website with their pupils, and to add their events to the website calendar so local co-op staff can attend. Registrations are pouring in from all over the country, says Bayly.
To benefit from the combination of New Zealand’s fastest growing farming cooperatives, call 0800 327 652 now or talk to your local Farmlands team. It makes perfect sense.
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16/07/12 10:16 AM
Dairy News August 28, 2012
28 // agribusiness
Cheaper hot water at the dairy shed Lynette and Jim Galloway.
Scientific nod to nutrients pays off FORMER
FERTILISER consultant Jim Galloway takes a scientific approach to applying nutrients on his Nireaha dairy farm, west of Eketahuna. He and his wife Lynette bought the farm in 2006 and this season are milking about 170 cows on 70ha (effective). They also own a nearby run-off, supplementing milk income by rearing extra dairy replacements and farming carryover cows. Both are Massey University graduates and Jim was for nine years a fertiliser consultant before going farming, an aid to deciding the farm’s fertiliser policy. “I look at fertiliser from a scientific point of view, always questioning if and why we need a certain nutrient input.” Measuring is crucial in the nutrient budgeting process. He carefully monitors soil nutrient status tests the nutrient value of their dairy effluent, applied to about 20% of the farm. Such knowledge impressed the judges of the 2012 Horizons Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA), who awarded Galloways the Ballance Agri-Nutrients Nutrient Management Award, which promotes “wise use of nutrients for productivity while demonstrating excellent care for the envi-
ronment.” They also won the Margaret Matthews Cup for Commitment to Sustainability. Lynette says with their son’s help they have achieved a lot in their six years on the farm, notably protecting the Mangaroa Stream running through the farm. Fed by water from the Tararua Ranges, this stream can become “a raging monster at times,” often eroding river banks. But fencing and planting the stream cut the erosion risk and raised water quality. They have also planted other areas of the farm with shelter trees with help from Horizons Regional Council and the Tararua District Council. Lynette says they are happy with their achievements. Entering the Awards was a good opportunity for them to show their work to others. “We’ve done a lot of work on the farm and we are very proud of that. So we thought we would enter the awards because we had nothing to lose and a lot to gain.” Jim agrees, saying entering the competition encouraged them to reflect on what they’d done over the years and what they wanted the business to achieve next. www.nzfeatrust.org.nz
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HEAT RECOVERY offers dairy farmers a notable way to improve energy efficiency, says the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), trying to encourage more farmers into its heat-recovery scheme. Transferring waste heat from one part of a production process to another reduces energy consumption and costs, so improving productivity, EECA says. The authority has selected four energy-efficiency firms to sell its Dairy Shed Heat Recovery scheme: Climatemaster (servicing the whole country), Maverick Energy (North Island), and Dairycool and Waitaki Refrigeration (South Island). The four were chosen via a competitive tender process. Heat recovery is the biggest and most cost-effective opportunity for improving dairy farm energy efficiency, says EECA Business spokesman Rod Treder. “In many instances, the pay-back period is under two years. “Heat removed during the milk chilling process is often wasted. It makes sense for dairy farmers to use this resource to heat water stored for cleaning; dairy farms could cut their milking shed electricity bill by up to 30%.”
Heat removed during the milk chilling process is often wasted.
EECA is working to promote heat recovery technology, and will help pay for heat recovery systems in about 40 dairy sheds during the next two years. It offers cash and technical expertise, through the providers, to help dairy farmers buy and install milking shed heat recovery systems, Treder says. “Our intention is give the market a boost and reduce some of the information and awareness barriers behind current low levels of uptake. The providers will [explain] the benefits… to dairy farmers. We hope heat recovery will become a standard feature of
dairy shed hot water systems.” EECA Business will pay up to 33% of the cost of buying and installing heat recovery technology, Treder says. “The providers are experts in heat recovery and will work with farmers to find the best system for farms. They will apply to EECA Business for funding on the farmer’s behalf, manage system installation and commissioning, and measure electricity savings.” EECA Business aims to help various businesses improve energy efficiency. www.eecabusiness.govt.nz/ dairy-shed-heat-recovery
Science adviser for MPI DR IAN Ferguson has been appointed to the new position of departmental science adviser to MPI. Deputy director-general policy Paul Stocks says Ferguson will provide strong science leadership to ensure MPI is well connected in government and with the science community. The role concerns quality assurance of science inputs in regulatory
decision making; strategic direction for science investment; and ensuring MPI is able to effectively deal with emerging risks and opportunities. Ferguson is well known in the science community nationally and internationally. He has been chief scientist at the CRI Plant and Food Research (and formerly HortResearch) since 2003. His work has been in plant and fruit physiology, postharvest and hor-
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
30 // management
GPS provides proof of placement WITH REGULATION on nutrient use looming, and market demand for traceability of other inputs growing, a Fairlie contractor reckons he’s found a solution. Mike Prosser runs six wheeled sprayers and a helicopter – the latter is operated under the name Ellesmere Helicopters. About 30% of his business is dairy or dairy support work, including liquid fertiliser applications, and all his machines are fitted with TracLink systems. The systems allow him – and more importantly his wife and business partner Kate, back at the office – to know exactly where each machine is, where it has been and where it is going. “We can send a machine to a paddock in the way your GPS gives you directions in the car, and through TracMap we have proof of placement when it’s there.” Clients can log on to the TracMap website, through Prosser’s account, and order the paddock or area of country they want sprayed or fertilised, out-
Order system THE TRACLINK system allows farm contractors’ customers to log on to the TracLink website, see their farm maps and create orders by clicking on the particular paddocks where they want product applied. This creates an order which is sent to the contractor, who then sends instructions wirelessly to the head unit in the vehicle or aircraft. The vehicle receives the information which is displayed on the screen. The pilot or driver completes the task and resends the information back to the TracLink website, which records the application for the client’s records.
lining it on a Google Earth map. If a job is urgent Kate can see where all their machines are and what work they have ahead of them, and decide which is best placed to tackle the urgent request. If for some reason a job is interrupted halfway through – for example the wind gets up – the system allows them to come back and pick up exactly where they left off without so much as a peg, drum or other such marker left behind. It makes no difference whether the same operator or machine
goes back, or a different one: TracLink guides the operator to where the application needs to start. Another benefit is a wheeled sprayer might do all it is capable of, then the helicopter can come in to spray the country too steep to tackle on the ground. When in work, a GPS-driven lightbar guides operators. While more accurate positioning systems are available than the one TracMap uses, they are much more expensive and the limiting factor in
Contractors Kate and Mike Prosser check progress with a dairy customer’s spray order.
dairy work isn’t the accuracy of the positioning system – it’s the ability of the driver to keep the sprayer or spreader on the GPS-determined track, says Prosser. “They’re only as good as the brain and coordination of the driver. You could spend tens of thousands and still only be as accurate as with a $2000 one.” Having been operating sprayers and spreaders since the early 1990s – as his own business since 2000 – Prosser’s
TM
watched GPS agricultural applications evolve, buying his first in 2002. “From then on, I’ve always thought I wish they could do this or that. With TracLink I think we’re 95% of the way there.” TracLink supplier TracMap was established in 2005 and has grown to be New Zealand’s largest agricultural GPS guidance and mapping provider. Managing director Colin Brown says uptake of the latest system, launched at Fieldays, has been phenomenal.
Dairy News august 28, 2012
management // 31
Dispose of wrappers with care BALA TIKKISETTY
AS WE approach the end
of winter, farmers who’ve been feeding silage or bailage will usually have silage wrap to dispose of. Silage wrap is made of low density polyethylene, readily recyclable. Two other options – burn or bury, often used before the advent of recycling – may now be avoided. Recycling silage wrap means conserving the energy for-
merly used to create it. It can be recycled into new products such as Tuff Board for use elsewhere on the farm. Reycling also helps avoid environmental and stock health risks. Plasback and Agrecovery silage wrap recycling schemes responsibly dispose of used silage wrap. Both will collect from farms and will also take agrichemical containers (rinsed), bale net, pit covers and feed bags. While we gener-
if you must burn... IF YOUR only option is to burn silage wrap: Burn only with dry vegetation to speed the burning. Don’t burn on frosty mornings, foggy days or at night. Burn as far away as possible from boundaries. Burn in small amounts. Burn only when wind will quickly clear the smoke – but watch the wind direction. Take care the fire doesn’t spread. When burning wrap, keep the fire very hot to reduce airborne emissions. Any residue remaining after a fire should be buried as it is likely to be contaminated and could pose a risk to stock or waterways. While on-farm burial of silage wrap is also allowed under the regional plan, animals have been known to die after eating uncovered wrap. Disposal at an authorised landfill has less potential to harm stock and the environment, and will not restrict land use. Before burying or dumping at a public landfill, first compress the wrap as small as possible to help it stay in place.
in brief 1080 campaign PEST NUMBERS are down and native birds are beginning to bounce back in the Tararua Forest Park north of Wellington 18 months after a joint aerial 1080 pest kill in late 2010. The operation, coordinated by DOC and the Animal Health Board (AHB), aimed to restore forest health and boost native bird populations, and protect Wairarapa cattle herds from bovine TB. Monitoring by DOC, AHB, Landcare Research and Greater Wellington Regional Council before and after the operation shows significant drops in pest numbers and more of some native bird species. Although still early days, James Griffiths, DOC, says signs for some bird species are promising. A decrease in possum and rat numbers, which have stayed low since the operation, is also encouraging, says Griffiths. “Stoat numbers are also at low levels, but we haven’t detected a significant change as they were low prior to the operation. If stoat numbers had been high prior to the operation we would have expected to see a significant drop now.” The operation was part of Project Kaka, a 10year DOC scheme aimed at restoring the health of 22,000ha of the Tararuas from Otaki Forks to Holdsworth in Wairarapa.
ally prefer recycling, we acknowledge that burning and burying of silage are not prohibited under the regional plan. Burning is allowed because non-halogenated plastics such as silage wrap do not, during burning, pose the same health risk as other types of plas-
tic. But note that burning large quantities of wrap can make lots of smoke – not good for health. If burning is the only option, burn only small quantities of wrap with dry green waste well away from neighbours. For more information, and to see which option
suits:
www.plasback.co.nz or tel. 0508 338 240. www.agrecovery.co.nz or tel. 0800 AGRECOVERY.
• Bala Tikkisetty is a sustainable agriculture co-ordinator at Waikato Regional Council. Contact him on 0800 800 401 or bala.tikkisetty@ waikatoregion.govt.nz
Recycling silage wrappers helps avoid stock health risks.
Dairy News August 28, 2012
32 // management
Feeders dovetail farming and electronic skills ANDREW SWALLOW
FEW DAIRY farmers
would take on the task of building their own automated calf feeder, but Alvin Reid, Temuka, is one. Combining a passion for dairying and electronics, and helped by his software-engineer brother, two years ago he built a prototype for a fellow farmer. Last year he finetuned the design in a couple of his own rearing sheds and this year he’s sold a few commercially, as well as kitting out another shed on his home farm. While some calf-rearing specialists say don’t automate because staff won’t give calves the same attention, Reid says that’s exactly the reason to automate. “The key is that they pay attention to the calves they need to be paying attention to.” The base-unit display facilitates that, putting calves with the longest interval since their last feed at the top of a table showing calf number, when it last fed, times fed that day and feeds the previous day. “So when the staff come in every morning all they need do is look for
“We imported the pumps those calves that haven’t ourselves from China.” fed.” Each calf’s milk pours Also at the top of the screen is the ‘recipe’ show- into a small Stallion trough with a Peach teat. ing how the feeders are Should a calf set up: come off number the teat for of calves “The key is more than allocated; that they pay seconds, how many attention to the 10 the pump feeds/day; calves they need stops and amount to be paying feed is canof milk/ celled. feed; and attention to.” Calves minimum are identiinterval fied, and the pump trigbetween feeds. gered, by their NAIT tags In the first week, while and an antenna built into calves are learning to use the front wall of the bail, the feeders, Reid reckons staffing needs to be on par connected to a standard Gallagher reader. “We with a conventional manbuilt the antenna ourual-feed shed, but once selves, with some help the calves are on to the feeders, the labour input’s from Gallagher.” The reader feeds into about a third the norm. Unlike some systems, he has not tried to automate the meal part of the diet yet, sticking with troughs and monitoring intake manually to determine when to start reining in the milk ration. “Any that aren’t doing so well we’ll put back a group so they get a bit longer [on full milk].” Milk is delivered to the feeders by a peristaltic pump – a bit like those used on dialysis machines – which delivers the predetermined amount per feed.
the software Reid and his brother Dave wrote to provide the display and control the other components. On his own farm he has feeders in two sheds about 400m apart, linked by wireless, so one control unit serves both sheds. The bail itself is engineered in Christchurch. Offset uprights on either side prevent other calves muscling in on another’s feed. Reid reckons each feeder will serve 35 to 40 calves. “You could put more on but you’d have to spend more time monitoring them because some of the shy calves might not get in.”
Alvin Reid with his own automated calf feeder.
And while the pricing isn’t yet engraved on tablets of stone, he’s “hoping
we can keep it under $7000 per bail.” A control unit, includ-
ing display, should come in at a similar figure and can run at least 16 bails.
Automated calf feeders point staff towards calves that need attention, says Alvin Reid .
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Dairy News august 28, 2012
management // 33
Ken Murch
Big rise in silage-wrap collection SILAGE WRAP recycler Plasback back and making sure the filled liners are reports a 30% rise last year in its collec- collected from farms as quickly as possible. As more and more farmers come on the tions. Manager Chris Hartshorne says in the scheme the quicker the liners are collected. “We can also attribute the Southland year to June 2012 Plasback collected 677 tonnes of waste plastic (including chemi- operation to our association with Southcal containers) from farms, up 30% on the land disAbilities Enterprises, Invercargill. They take care of the baling for us, so we previous 12 months.. “This includes 630 t of waste silage film, only have to move the filled liners we colbringing to 1600 t the total plastic collected lect from farms a short distance.” Murch has collected silage wrap for since we launched the scheme in 2005.” The increasing volumes have prompted Plasback for five years, last year doubling the volume of the two of the scheme’s previous year. “We collection contrac“Recycling waste recently added 35 tors to fit cranes to more clients, bringtheir trucks. These are plastic from ing our total to 240, Ken Murch Contract- agriculture will so we will probably ing, Southland, and continue to grow.” gather an additional Slattery Contracting, 80 tonnes next year.” Waikato. Murch recently fitted a bigger crane to Hartshorne says Southland’s farm plastics recycling grew most 2011-2012, but his truck. “We had a Hiab crane in back of every part of New Zealand recorded an the cab before but now I am using an exincrease last year. “Southland led… with forestry crane. It is bigger and has grabs so 168 tonnes… from farms... a 93% increase we don’t have to muck around with ropes.” Matamata-based Slattery has also over… the previous year.” Environment Southland pollution pre- added a hiab-equipped truck to his operavention officer Leonie Grace says Plasback tion. “We used to rely on the farmer loadis important to the recycling effort in the ing the bags of recycled wrap onto our trailer. province. “Now they can leave it on a track or “Recycling waste plastic from agriculture will continue to grow in Southland. tanker loop where it is accessible and we Environment Southland educates and can just pick it up ourselves.” Slattery Contracting also runs the advises farmers about the need to recycle but we do not collect plastic ourselves. It North Island baler that compacts the bags is up to companies like Plasback to do this, of wrap collected from farms and readies them for shipping. Slattery says volumes and they are doing a good job.” Hartshorne says contractor Ken Murch continue growing from Waikato, Bay of “has done a terrific job in promoting Plas- Plenty, Manawatu and Pukekohe.
Dairy News August 28, 2012
34 // animal health / feed
N still the cheapest way to feed The benefit of using N will vary according to specific on-farm conditions, and in particular, the amount of rainfall or irrigation following applicaSUPPLEMENTS SUCH as palm tion. With urea, 10mm of rainfall within kernel extract (PKE) and maize silage 24 hours of application is necessary to are used on many dairy farms to fill feed ensure N losses through ammonia voldeficits and boost milk production. atilisation are minimised, and therefore These are sometimes used in place of the pasture response maximised. nitrogen (N) fertiliser which, generally, If these conditions cannot be guaris a more cost-effective form of feed. To anteed, this is where SustaiN identify the actual cost of addiGreen (urea treated with the tional dry matter (DM) either “Farmers should consider the urease inhibitor Agrotain nitroimported or grown on farm gen stabiliser) can help prousing N we must examine the true cost of supplementary relative costs of each method. feeds when deciding how best tect your nitrogen investment. SustaiN Green is less susceptiWhile PKE, maize and other to boost production.” ble to ammonia volatilisation supplements have a place in if adequate rainfall to prevent dairy farm systems to suppleFor example, taking a conservative ammonia losses is not received folment stock energy intakes or provide a more balanced diet, farmers should 10:1 response rate for N (10kg extra lowing application, offering flexibility consider the true cost of such feeds pasture DM for every kg N applied) – around applications. Comparing N fertiliser to other when deciding how best to boost pro- easily achievable in typical spring growing conditions – and including $120 per feeds, PKE ($360 per tonne) at 90% duction. If we compare fertiliser N (in the tonne for application and cartage, using DM comes in at 40 cents/kg DM. Other form of SustaiN Green) and PKE – SustaiN Green to grow additional pas- alternative supplementary feeds such as based on today’s price of $859 per tonne ture means each kilogram of additional maize or cereal silage present a similar picture, usually costing 30-40 cents/kg of SustaiN Green ($1.87/kg N) and an DM grown costs about 21 cents. aaron stafford
average spot price of $360 a tonne for PKE – SustaiN Green comes out on top as the most cost-effective form of feed. Even with the value of imported nutrients in the alternative supplementary feeds taken into account, N fertiliser is still the cheapest form of feed and, used wisely, is a profitable tool for farmers to increase production that has minimal direct environmental footprint.
Ballance technical extension manager Aaron Stafford (right) and head of research and environment Warwick Catto look at pasture quality on a farm.
DM, often before cartage and feeding out costs have been added on. In addition, without use of a feedpad, high wastage and pasture damage can further reduce the economics of these alternative options. These calculations demonstrate that using N fertiliser is still 10-20 cents/kg DM cheaper than many other supplementary feeds, or roughly half the price. PKE and spring N-boosted pasture have similar metabolisable energy (ME) levels at around 11-12 ME MJ/kg
DM; hence equal amounts of pasture or PKE on a dry matter basis will provide the same amount of energy. However other factors may impact the decision of which supplement to feed. If spring pasture crude protein levels are high, maize silage may be a better option (if available) since it is high in ME, high fibre and low crude protein levels will make for a better complementary feed. It all depends on your circumstances. • Aaron Stafford is Ballance technical extension manager.
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Dairy News august 28, 2012
animal health // 35
Preventing mastitis in early lactation WIND, RAIN and mud affect the ability of a cow’s teat
skin to cope with milking; dry, rough skin or open sores provide ideal places for dirt and bacteria to become lodged. Hiding beneath dirt or in the cracks and crevices helps bacteria avoid being killed by teat spray. As the numbers build, the likelihood greatly increases of bacteria moving through the teat canal and causing mastitis. Teat spraying kills bacteria left on teats after milking and removes places where bacteria can hide by helping keep teat soft and supple. Best results are achieved when teats are sprayed after every milking to remove dirt and mud. The whole teat surface should be sprayed, helping keep the teat skin smooth and supple. Clean teats help prevent mastitis Removing dirt and mud helps reduce bacteria at the teat end which in turn prevents mastitis. Washing and drying dirty teats before milking, trimming tail switches, reducing hair on hairy udders and fixing areas on the farm that make udders and teats dirty, all help keep teats clean and prevent mastitis. Practical solutions Farmers have shared these approaches for supporting teat condition in early lactation: ■■ Trimming tail switches before cows join the milking herd. ■■ Clipping hairy udders or singeing (flaming) the hair before cows calve or join the milking herd. ■■ Fully washing and drying teats before cows join the colostrum herd, and again before they enter the milking herd. ■■ Following these rules before cupping cows: if it’s clean, cup it; if it’s dry/dusty, wipe it; and if it’s wet and dirty, wash and dry it.
fix your problem online Resources online at smartsamm.co.nz Fix my problem Click on ‘teat damage’ to help you: ■■ Understand why it is important. ■■
Work out if you have a problem.
■■
Understand your options.
■■
Know where to get more help.
Healthy Udder This is under the ‘tool’ section and includes: ■■ Tips on checking teat spray coverage. ■■
Tips on making up teat sprays.
■■
Images of good and poor teat condition.
Guidelines These are in the resources section. Look in ‘lactation’ for: ■■ Guideline 5. Use good milking technique and a consistent routine. This provides detail on preparing teats before milking, stripping cows and when to remove cups. ■■
■■
Guideline 7. Use post-milking teat disinfection on every teat after every milking. This has information on selecting teat sprays, adding emollient and checking coverage. Guideline 9. Manage teat sores and cracks. For more on checking teat condition and ways to improve it.
Increasing the emollient content and/or using manual teat spray systems for the first six to eight weeks of lactation. ■■ Using feed pads after milking rather than before milking, so teats are freshly covered in teat spray when exposed to dirty areas. For more information go to smartsamm.co.nz • Jane Lacy-Hulbert is a DairyNZ senior scientist. ■■
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
36 // animal health/feed
Best option for pugged paddocks is springplanted crop THE LAST few weeks
have delivered some of the wettest calving weather for decades. At least 150% of normal July rainfall was recorded in parts of Northland, western Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Gisborne, southern Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, Tasman, south Canterbury and parts of Otago. Other regions with above normal rainfall for July (120-149% of July normal) included Taranaki and Westland. A colleague who flew across the country recently commented on the large number of paddocks in dairy districts that look as though they have been ploughed. For many farms the lasting legacy of the ‘big wet’ is
pugging damage to pastures. Pugging occurs when the soil surface is so soft it cannot support the weight of the grazing animal. Research has shown pugging can cause short-term decreases in pasture production of up to 80%. While short-term damage is very visible there is a less obvious long-term cost to pugging (Table 1). Trials conducted on poor draining soil have measured annual pasture production decreases of 21% for moderate and 45% for severely pugged pasture. Losses will continue over years as pugged areas tend to re-establish in weeds and less productive grasses. Where pugging
has created soil compaction, areas will be prone to drainage problems and further pugging in the future. There is an environmental cost associated with pugging because it destroys soil structure and increases surface and leaching losses of nutrients. If you have large areas or whole paddocks extensively damaged by pugging the best option is
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complete pasture renewal, preferably following a spring-planted crop. A key advantage of cropping is that the paddock is cultivated, providing the opportunity to break soil compaction layers. Maize is an excellent crop option for a number of reasons: Maize is a large seeded crop which can be established slightly later in the spring once paddocks have dried out sufficiently to allow cultivation (and if necessary drainage) without further damaging the soil structure.
Recent wet weather has damaged pastures.
Maize is an ideal breakcrop. It removes the normal feed source for pasture pests such as black beetle, Argentine stem weevil, pasture nematodes and grass grub. This interrupts their breeding cycle and reduces insect pressure on seedling pasture plants during the pasture renewal process.
Maize is a deep-rooting crop with an effective rooting depth of 1.5-1.8m. Maize roots can improve soil structure and aerate the soil. Maize delivers high yields of low-cost drymatter. Most New Zealand farmers can grow maize silage crops that yield 18-26tDM/ha for 14.921.5c/kgDM.
Table 1: Annual drymatter loss and cost associated with pasture pugging.
Moderate pugging Normal average pasture production (tDM/ha) Loss of pasture production due to pugging (%) Loss of pasture as a result of pugging (tDM/ha) Revenue loss at 20c/ kgDM pasture ($/ha)
Severe pugging
14,000
14,000
21%
45%
2.94
6.30
$588
$1,260
While management strategies such as shifting stock before daybreak, block grazing and on-off grazing will reduce pasture pugging, they will never eliminate it especially in wet seasons and/or on heavier soil types. For many farms a stand-off pad with feeding facilities is an excellent long-term investment delivering financial as well as environmental benefits. Your local Pioneer forage specialist can use our feed pad check calculator to determine whether building a feed pad will pay dividends for you. To contact them visit www.pioneer.co.nz or call 0800 PIONEER (0800 746 633)
BCS crucial to mating management NOW, ON the eve of
mating, it is important to get the best results possible in these areas by focusing on body condition and setting up a plan for mating. What should be in place by now? It is important to ensure cows are fed properly and that they meet body condition score (BCS) targets. The average body condition for cows two weeks prior to mating is BCS 4.0 and that of first-calved heifers and rising-three year olds is BCS 4.5. The average BCS loss in the 6-week period after calving should not exceed 1.0 and no more than 15% of cows should be below a score of BCS 4.0. This is similar to the first-calvers group. InCalf’s ‘body condition loss in early lactation tool’ is a gap calculator which measures the difference between the herd’s actual and desired body condition loss in early lactation, and assesses the likely impact of this on
herd reproductive performance. The benefits of losing no more than BCS 0.75 is a 3% improvement on both 6-week in-calf and empty rates. This will improve the operational profit by about $40/cow. At mating, heifer weights should be at 60% of breeding-worth live weight and should reach 90% at calving. A good manager thinks ahead in time and will, therefore, ensure the heifers are tracking along well in relation to their breeding-worth live weight. This can be achieved by periodic weighing. Looking after these animals well in early development will lead to a productive mature animal. Cow health influences the herd conception rate and by having a good health plan, will reduce the negative effect of poor health on reproductive performance. Optimising the mating phase The aim here is to optimise the submission and
conception rates. Submission rates are available from the ‘InCalf Fertility Focus Report’ three weeks after first AB recordings. A good performance in these two areas is dependent on the following management areas. Premating heat detection: an action plan needs to be established to manage non-cycling cows early. Observing early calving cows for heat activity can be a good indicator of non-cycling rate and actions can be implemented early to assist those animals getting in calf. Heat detection: early heat detection efficiency is available three weeks after first artificial insemination (AI). Review the farms heat detection plan well in advance and articulate the accountabilities and importance of this work to staff. Establish the knowledge and confidence levels of staff assigned to do heat detection and implement training where required. Are all the necessary aids
in place to assist with this process? AB mating practices and facilities: an AB mating plan should be in place and AB facilities prepared and ready to go, to optimise the AB practitioner and to help achieve a good non-return rate. Optimise natural mating: have a watertight bull management plan well before the start of bull mating. Ensure heifers are mated one-two weeks before the rest of the herd, as they take longer to recover post-calving. Diagnosing pregnancy in older cows early might still give you a last opportunity to re-plan and execute decisions to rectify poor AB performance by means of natural bull mating. This warrants recalculation of bull numbers to cover for lower AB performance. www.dairynz.co.nz/ incalf
• This article first appeared in DairyNZ’s Inside Dairy, August issue.
Dairy News august 28, 2012
animal health // 37
Animal welfare justified – Feds COMMERCIAL PAYBACK from high stan-
dards of animal welfare justifies good legislation and codes and is another reason to improve them, says Federated Farmers, commenting on a Government review of the Animal Welfare Act. Primary Industries Minister David Carter has proposed a national strategy – the first of its kind – to canvass the views of people with animal welfare interests, identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current system and set a vision for animal welfare in New Zealand. Animal welfare spokeswoman Jeanette Maxwell says Feds supports humane, ethical treatment of animals by pastoral farmers and is behind MPI in promoting the highest practicable rules on animal welfare. “These animals are… why we farm. And farmers right now are working in atrocious conditions to ensure the well-being of their animals. “It is why New Zealand’s animal welfare system is regarded as world-leading but we can’t sit back. “We know that consumers’ views on what is acceptable and what isn’t constantly evolves so [we] support continuing development of the animal welfare system.” Maxwell says the review allows a ‘showcase’ that farmers are informed and led by science, and shows “a dimension of common-sense [by
reminding that] farm animals have evolved to live outdoors, [and are therefore] tougher than us farmers [which] is why we call them livestock.” Stressed or maltreated animals do not produce well or gain condition, so we have to guard against going overboard with compliance when we know good animal welfare has strong commercial drivers, she says. But on enforcement, Feds does not want a militant approach because its experience of working with MPI shows that most animal welfare cases involve farmers overwhelmed by a number of issues. “Often it is not only stock that have been let go, but the farmer themselves. In such cases we work at the grassroots with MPI and other agencies in the interests of the animals involved. It is thankfully uncommon but does demand sensitivity. “There is no place in farming for thugs who deliberately maltreat farm animals. A recent high profile case underscores how abhorrent it is [commercials and ethically] and why we support farm animals having the highest possible standard of care. We hope this review will provide farmers with even more clarity and support.” Carter says proposed changes to animal welfare laws set will improve the way the Animal Welfare Act operates. “Animal welfare matters because how we treat
Why we need an animal welfare strategy? ANIMAL WELFARE is important to New Zealanders and contributes to our reputation as a responsible producer. It is too important to get wrong; New Zealanders care about animals and even isolated cases of poor animal treatment could damage our reputation. Many features of our animal welfare system are not written down; the strategy describes values and strengths, and areas for improvement. The strategy describes roles and sets challenges for government, industry and all New Zealanders. The challenge to industry is to proactively manage animal welfare and measure welfare performance. The strategy would signal New Zealand’s animal welfare commitment to our customers overseas.
animals says something important about us as a society. It also matters for New Zealand’s reputation because our trading partners and international consumers rightly expect us to maintain high standards. “Proposed changes to
the Animal Welfare Act will clarify the way it operates and make it easier to enforce.” A key proposal is to replace codes of welfare (these currently set the standards) with a combination of regulations directly enforceable in law, plus guidelines contain-
ing information and advice but with no legal effect. The closing date for submissions is September 28. Animal welfare prospers farmers and New Zealand’s reputation says Federated Farmers.
Dairy News August 28, 2012
38 // mating management
Workshops target repro numbers WORKSHOPS NEXT
week in Northland will encourage and help farmers to lift herd reproductive performance, says organiser DairyNZ. And prizes will be awarded at the end of the season to farmers with the overall best results and to the farmer showing the most improvement based on fertility focus reports. The five events form part of DairyNZ’s campaign to help boost the region’s reproduction results, a priority for dairy farmers and the regional team. DairyNZ consulting officer James Muwunganirwa says the best indicator of overall herd
The events will cover tools and resources to help lift performance and provide answers to frequently asked questions. Topics will include body condition scoring, treatment of non-cyclers and an overview of the fertility focus report. reproductive performance is the six-week in-calf rate. “The industry target is 78%, however LIC data, representing at least 60% of herds in Northland, shows the six-week in-calf rate is currently at 57%,” says Muwunganirwa. “If Northland farmers achieve the industry target six-week in-calf rate and empty rate, this is worth about $60,000 per farm business. “For dairy farmers
better results mean more cows in calf early, more days in milk, more replacement AB heifers and streamlined calf rearing. This is the basis of genetic gain and herd improvement.” The events will cover tools and resources to help lift performance and provide answers to frequently asked questions. Topics will include body condition scoring, treatment of non-cyclers and an over-
view of the fertility focus report. “A range of factors affect the reproductive performance of a herd and this workshop will act as a bit of a checklist for farmers who will get to hear from a range of experts,” says Muwunganirwa. “Host farmers will be on-hand at each event to share their stories and give an insight into how they have achieved better results by focussing on different areas of their farm business. “The farmers who have improved reproduction
Alister and Lyn Candy will host the first workshop on their focus farm.
performance have done so by gauging their situation, creating a plan to rectify poor performance and taken action. “Dairy farmers attend-
ing the workshops will walk away with their own mating management plan which will include better heat detection and a method to deal with non-
cyclers.” More information from Abbey Cameron, tel. 021 242 5969. www.dairynz.co.nz/ events/northland
who, what and where ■■
August 30, Alister and Lyn Candy (Northland Focus Farm), Signal Rd, Okaihau. SN 10547.
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September 6, Andrew and Vicky Booth, Booth Rd, Titoki (off Tokiri Rd). SN 13423.
■■
September 4, Ash Cullen, Bickerstaffe Station Rd, RD 2, Maungaturoto. SN 11203.
■■
September 6, Matt and Cushla Smith, 160 Coal Hill Road, Mangawhai. SN 15570.
■■
September 5, Warren and Gaylene Burke, 358 Tramline Rd, Ruawai. SN 14422.
Effective heat detection GETTING YOUR herd
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back in calf with a tight calving pattern is the key to a profitable dairy operation, says animal husbandry company Rurtec. Effective heat detection is a critical first step and to help with this Rurtec has been supplying a range of heat detectors in New Zealand for at least 10 years. The innovation continues, with the company utilising the more revealing ‘scratch’ technology to indicate mounting. Two Heatmarkbranded options are available: ‘peel and glue’, or a straight self-adhesive product designed to be warmed and peeled off the backing then applied – no gluing required. Self-adhesive technology has been a popular advance on heat detectors for 10 years and many farmers would not go back to gluing after experiencing the convenience of self-adhesive in applica-
tion, the company says. “The success in getting them to stick and stay on, however, does vary between farms. Self-adhesive detectors work well for many farmers, but on other farms it can sometimes be too much of a challenge to get them to stick. “Insufficient preparation of the application site, salty grime on the coat on coastal properties, heavy spring moulting of the
hair, and other factors, can reduce the retention rate.” Self-adhesive detectors rely on the glue binding to the hair for retention. If that hair is falling out then it is a huge challenge for the detector to hold on. Applied glue has the advantage of getting deeper and bonding to the skin – not just the hair – and is recommended when animals are moulting heavily. Rurtec says dye bubble-
type detectors may show full activation as a result of other pressure such as from low branches or head resting by herd mates. Using scratch indicator technology, Heatmark detectors allow better differentiation between activation from a true standing heat and other rubbing. Buy them from leading vet and/or farm supply stores. 0800 RURTEC
Dairy News august 28, 2012
mating management // 39
Technology helps light up heat detection GEA FARM Technologies’ acquisition of FIL has enabled
it to offer New Zealand farmers products for many aspects of dairy farm management, including heat detection, the company says. Heat detection is one area of herd management where good practice, attention to detail and observation can deliver proven returns, it says. Work by DairyNZ scientist Dr Chris Burke shows that a missed heat represents a loss of $150 per cow, and GEA FT can offer technology that delivers rapid returns at this cost level. More farmers are seeking an alternative to traditional tail paint methods. For some it comes as they upgrade their dairy with computer monitoring technology, and for others as they seek to reduce their reliance on staff.
now that more intensive feed and cost systems prevail on many New Zealand dairy farms, the payback time for such technology can be shorter, in respect of heat detection and labour savings. “For smaller farms Rescounters mean you don’t need to employ someone just for that mating period, and on larger ones it frees staff up for other jobs over a busy time,” says Winke.
www.gea.com
GEA Farm Technologies NZ Ltd. Call 0800 657 555 to find your nearest Dealer or Rural Retailer.
“With 20 years of proven use behind them, the Rescounters offer an accurate means of detection.” GEA FT can offer them that alternative, the company’s cow Rescounters measuring individual cow movement and translating it into heat activity. GEA FT DairyPlan support specialist Jan Winke says more farmers are considering the technology with lower set-up costs making it accessible. Linked in to the WestfaliaSurge DairyPlan software, the Rescounters download the cow’s movement activity every time she enters the dairy, and will activate an alert for each cow showing consecutive periods of elevated activity. Intensive movement in short periods has proven to be correlated to heat activity in dairy cows. “With 20 years of proven use behind them, the Rescounters offer an accurate means of detection. Farmers tell us they can replace a staff member and can often be more accurate.” The Rescounters also can detect irregular or low heat activity, which may indicate cows with health problems and give operators time to act before mating season is over. The units are powered by an integral, long-life battery. They are worn around the cow’s neck, avoiding much exposure to muck and moisture compared to leg-mounted equivalents. Winke notes that New Zealand’s pastoral dairying systems focused on low cost production have meant technology such as Rescounters has taken longer to be adopted, in comparison with northern hemisphere farming. But
New manager for NZAEL DAIRYNZ SCIENTIST Dr Jeremy
96% of women will leave you guessing. Not your girls. DNNYG0812
Bryant is the new manager of New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited (NZAEL). Bryant, whose doctorate is in quantitative genetics from Massey University, started work this month, leading NZAEL in the setting and implementation of an improved Breeding Worth Jeremy Bryant Index for dairy farmers. NZAEL is the independent body responsible for setting the direction of dairy cattle breeding to optimise genetic improvement in the national dairy herd. Says Bryant, “Over the next year and beyond, NZAEL will work with stakeholders to ensure the genetic evaluation system – including the Dairy Industry Good Animal Database – is world leading and allows New Zealand dairy farmers to confidently select genetically superior animals that maximise farm profit. Building genetics understanding and capability is a definite focus area.” NZAEL chairman Warren Larsen says Bryant’s appointment is a key milestone for the organisation.
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
40 // mating management
Ditch notebook for cloud DOES THIS sound familiar? You write all your calvings into your notebook or on a scrap of paper, then when you go to enter it in the computer it’s missing – or you’re unsure whether one digit is a 6 or a 0. Problem solved, says CRV Ambreed. The company’s CRV Insight-Mobile herd recording application (app) enables data entry direct to cellphone from
paddock or dairy shed. CRV Insight-Mobile is easy to use for entering calvings, dryoffs, pregnancy tests, sales, culls, matings and treatments. Available for Android and Apple smartphones, the app enables all functions to be done offline and then synched directly to your records in the computing ‘cloud’ using your phone network or home wireless internet.
CRV Insight-Mobile also allows viewing of data about cows – ID, status, sire and dam, herd test information and performance graphs. Says CRV product manager Angela Ryan, “Our farmers like the easy application and that it’s going to save them time entering information once, rather than writing things in notebooks for later entry into a computer.”
Business development manager Steve Forsman says, “We understand first-hand the difficulties in maintaining herd records, and have developed the entire CRV Insight suite… to make it as easy as possible to keep herd records up-to date and easily accessible. “Clients can then turn this information into effective onfarm decisions.”
The cost of getting it wrong chris burke
SURVEY DATA from Australia and New Zealand indi-
GET YOUR COWS IN CALF CRV Ambreed are providing a series of heat detection training days throughout the country as an opportunity for you and your staff to learn more about Cow Health, Heat Detection and Mating Management Strategies.
DATE 4th September 7th September 12th September 19th September 20th September 21st September 21st September 25th September 26th September
LOCATION Whakatane Matamata Te Pahu Opotiki Stratford Putaruru Rahotu Woodville Palmerston North
Check out www.getyourcowsincalf.co.nz for a full list of locations and more information about the roadshow.
cate that oestrus detection performance improves when it is: ■■ The highest-priority job during AB. ■■ Considered so important that it becomes a sole job (i.e. the person doing oestrus detection does not do other jobs while oestrus detection is being performed). ■■ Designated to one or two experienced people, otherwise the situation becomes one of ‘all care and no responsibility’. ■■ Involving observation of cow behaviour, not just a visual assessment of the tail head of an immobilised cow in the milking bail. ■■ Supported with a mix of aids such as tail paint and heat mount detectors. Oestrus detection fatigue – or burnout – is an issue some farmers say they experience. This experience may lead them to forego doing pre-mating heats and making the AB period as short as possible. In addition, fatigue is likely to increase the number of errors they make while detecting cows in oestrus. Poor oestrus detection is a result of two types of errors. The first error relates to the issue of ‘sensitivity’, characterised by missing cows in oestrus during the AB period. The consequences within a seasonal herd manifest in the subsequent season as later calving, lost milk production and fewer AB replacement heifers. A cow whose oestrus goes undetected during the AB mating period will calve at least 21 days later in the subsequent season. Lost revenue and mitigation expenses have been estimated to cost the New Zealand farmer $160 for each missed ‘heat’ during the AB period. On this basis, the cost to the New Zealand dairy industry is calculated to be about $65 million annually. The second error relates to ‘specificity’ of oestrus detection: inseminating cows not in oestrus is problematic. Firstly, it’s a waste of semen and expenses associated with AB. Secondly, submitting non-oestrus cows to AB provides misleading information that may confuse further mating management decisions for that particular cow. Finally, inseminating cows already pregnant substantially increases the risk of pregnancy failure. • Chris Burke is an animal scientist at DairyNZ.
0800 262 733 | www.crv4all.co.nz
BETTER COWS | BETTER LIFE
LATEST STORIES EVERY DAY Get upto date news at www.ruralnews.co.nz
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PUTTING OUR BULLS ON THE LINE
14/07/2012 GENOMIC PREDICTION DATE
M O N I TO R T E A M S — S E L E C T E D F R O M T H E A G E C L A S S T H AT H AV E T H E I R F I R S T D A U G H T E R S I N M I L K T H I S S E A S O N . GENOMIC PROOF
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The 2012 DNA Proven Teams will not receive progeny tests until 2015. This makes it hard to show how accurate their gBWs are. To solve this we’ve used our latest genomic selection technology to calculate the gBWs of three teams due for their first progeny tests later this season. As these teams’ progeny test data becomes available we will publish the results, proving within a matter of months just how accurate genomic evaluation is. For all the details see www.lic.co.nz.
42 // mating management
The science and art of detecting oestrus in cattle CHRIS BURKE
THE SCIENCE of behav-
ioural oestrus in cattle is a fascinating subject, but successfully detecting oestrus is an art that requires skill, commitment and attention to detail. This article will describe the physiology of behavioural oestrus in cattle, the importance of
successfully detecting oestrus on reproductive performance and farm profit, and what successful operators do when it comes to detecting oestrus. The need and challenge of detecting oestrus Breeding high geneticmerit replacements for a dairy herd requires the use of artificial breeding (AB) and, therefore, correct identification of cows
hormonal control AN INCREASE in blood oestradiol, in the absence of progesterone, is obligatory for the onset of behavioural oestrus. In the non-pregnant cow, this situation occurs after the ovarian corpus luteum is eradicated during a process called luteolysis. Progesterone plummets as the corpus luteum dies, and a positive feedback loop between luteinising hormone (LH) and oestradiol is established in the absence of progesterone. The large and maturing preovulatory follicle becomes increasingly sensitive to LH5. Circulating concentrations of LH and oestradiol increase progressively until activation of the neural networks responsible for eliciting behavioural oestrus and the preovulatory LH surge are activated. The signalling system is located in the hypothalamic region at the base of the cow’s brain. Like all neural networks that control behaviour, it is a complex system that includes numerous interconnections allowing other biological systems (e.g. the stress response axis) to modulate the nature of the oestrus signal.
in oestrus. A clear link exists between oestrus detection performance and farm production, profit and sustainability through the impact that oestrus detection performance has on subsequent calving patterns. Calving pattern is essentially determined by pregnancy rates (PR) during the preceding mating, with some modification by cullingreplacement and/or calving-induction policies. The PR is the product of conception rate (CR) and submission rate (SR) (Eq.1): Eq. 1 PR = CR x SR Pregnancy rate reflects ‘herd fertility’ as it describes the ability of the herd to get pregnant within a specified time period (e.g. proportion of the herd pregnant within six weeks) during the mating season. The PR is also known colloquially as the ‘in-calf’ rate. Conception rate reflects ‘cow fertility’ as it describes the proportion of individual cows conceiving to an insemination, e.g. proportion of cows pregnant to first insemination or following an oestrus synchronisation treatment (Eq.2). It is
often confused with PR or ‘in-calf” rate. Eq. 2 CR = No. cows pregnant / No. cows inseminated The PR takes SR into account and, therefore, accounts for cows not inseminated (Eq.3), but does not penalise for cows having taken more than one insemination to get pregnant. Eq. 3 SR = No. cows inseminated / herd size (those to be mated) Since herd size is essentially fixed, SR is driven entirely by the number of cows inseminated. This will depend on (Eq.4): ■■ 1. Number of cows having oestrus (*including anoestrous cows responding positively to anoestrous treatment); and, ■■ 2. The efficiency with which cows in oestrus are being detected, which is oestrus detection efficiency (ODE). Eq. 4 No. cows inseminated = No. cows having oestrus* x ODE The preceding logic demonstrates that expression and detection of oestrus are important determinants of calving pattern and hence influence farm productivity,
profitability and sustainability. Behavioural signs of oestrus About a dozen behavioural characteristics of oestrus in cattle have been described, including interanimal conflict activity, flehmen, vulva sniffing, chin resting, bellowing, attempted mounting activity and congregating in sexually active groups. Various physiological signs may also be associated with oestrus, including a reddening and swelling of the vulva, mucus discharge, increased temperature, reduced milk yield and change in milk-
ing order. These signs are not consistently expressed and should therefore be considered secondary. The primary indication of oestrus is when a cow stands immobile while being mounted from the rear by other cattle. Those not in oestrus will rapidly terminate contact if another attempts to mount. Cows that mount, or attempt to mount, another animal are more likely themselves to be in oestrus or in the pro-oestrus phase of the oestrus cycle than in the anoestrous, luteal and pregnant states of reproduction. Studies indicate that
early morning and late evening are when cows in oestrus are most active. Despite visual confirmation of standing oestrus being the ‘gold standard’, even skilled personnel making visual observations at 4-5 hour intervals from early morning to late evening miss 10% of animals. In practice, the use of aids such as tail paint and heat mount detectors are necessary for oestrus detection. • Chris Burke is a DairyNZ animal scientist. This article first appeared in DairyNZ’s ‘Technical Series’, August issue.
rigidly coordinated THE OESTRUS signal is rigidly coordinated with ovulation. The onset of oestrus and the preovulatory LH surge occur at the same time, and it is the LH surge from the anterior pituitary that initiates the ovulatory process. The LH surge is triggered by a coincident surge of gonadotrophin releasing hormone after activation of the ‘surge centre’ in the hypothalamus. Ovulation occurs about 32 hours after the onset of oestrus
and LH surge, and is characterised by rupture of a large mature follicle on the ovary and release of an egg to be fertilised. The expelled egg passes down the oviduct where fertilisation takes place. Successful fertilisation requires that sperm are ready and waiting for the egg, which illustrates the importance of timing the insemination to a detected oestrus. Cows are only fertile at this particular time.
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
44 // mating management
Don’t miss a heat chris burke
HOW CAN one tell if oestrus detection is being performed at the highest standard? Measuring oestrus detection efficiency is problematic because of the ‘he said, she said’ prob-
lem. How can a farmer be judged to have missed a heat or put a cow up for AB at the wrong time, when there was no ‘expert’ present to make those calls? Oestrus detection efficiency cannot be measured with absolute certainty, but there are some useful indicators to
mature cows as a proxy for measuring the sensitivity of oestrus detection (i.e. what percentage of cows having an oestrus are being submitted to AB?). The big assumption with this indicator is that the early-calved, mature cows are cycling and should be picked-up in
assess if this task is being performed poorly, averagely or very well. There are two reports available to most farmers to assess oestrus detection performance. The first is the ‘InCalf Fertility Focus’ report. This report uses the 3-week submission rate of early-calved,
heat during the first weeks of AB. This assumption may break down when the herd has such a serious non-cycling problem that even this subset of cows has non-cyclers among them. A problem is indicated either way by a poor 3-week submission rate in
early-calved, mature cows – missed heats or a serious non-cycling issue. Another useful report is the ‘return-to-service interval analysis’ available through your herd improvement company. This report presents the distribution of return
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is usually the first insemination that was wrong. Intervals longer than 24 days could be a consequence of detection errors or a result of early embryonic loss. There is no easy way to distinguish between these possibilities.
“Oestrus detection efficiency cannot be measured with absolute certainty, but there are some useful indicators to assess if this task is being performed poorly, averagely or very well.” intervals, which allows the specificity component of oestrus detection efficiency to be explored. A good distribution will reflect the true cycling physiology of cattle. That is, the majority of return intervals should be in the 18- to 24-day range. It is acceptable to have some ‘short cycles’ but these should be in the 8to 12-day return interval range. These could be real returns of cows that have just started cycling. Intervals shorter than the normal 18- to 24-day, and outside the genuine short 8- to 12-day range, are virtually impossible from a physiological perspective. One of the inseminations (first or second) was performed at the wrong time to create 2- to 7-day and 13- to 17-day returns. Studies indicate that it
Lastly, an assessment of the practices used on-farm to detect oestrus should be included in the assessment of oestrus detection performance. Evidence that good practices are being followed, such as those described above, indicates that oestrus detection is being performed diligently. A situation where the person doing detection is also milking, and jumping up from the pit every now and then to inspect poorly maintained tail paint, indicates a high level of risk that deficiencies with oestrus detection are contributing to reduced reproductive performance in the herd. • Chris Burke is a DairyNZ animal scientist. This article first appeared in DairyNZ’s ‘Technical Series’, August issue.
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
46 // machinery & products
Industry benchmarks tell good story INDUSTRY BENCHMARKS set repeatedly by Polaris quads in ride quality show these machines to be “getting better and better,” says maker Polaris Industries. Since the launch of the Sportsman nameplate in 1996, each new model has raised the bar, such as with the new Sportsman XP, the company says. With a 4-stroke, electronic fuel injected engine, and choice of a 550cc or 850cc, the Sportsman XP has been engineered for extreme off-road perfor-
mance. “We took the engineering knowhow of an entire category and turned it upside down,” says Polaris. “Well, technically, sideways, by rotating the engine 90 degrees. This gives the rider superior ergonomics with 33% wider floorboards and a narrower space at the knees and ankles. Besides delivering a sporty, nimble feel, the positioning reduces leg fatigue and increases rider comfort.” Polaris says it offers the best electronic power steering (EPS) on the
market. It has 30% more power assist than the leading competitor, plus variable assist for easier steering effort at lower speeds and more responsiveness at higher speeds, it adds. “EPS delivers a safer and more enjoyable ride, as it minimises the distraction of bumps, letting you focus more on the terrain. Plus our 2011 styling means you get a 16% larger fuel tank capacity on XP
Polaris Sportsman XP.
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capacity at 55kg in the front and 110kg in the rear. And there’s enough power to haul trailers and sprayers with a 680.4 kg pulling and towing capacity. The Sportsman was the world’s first ATV with IRS. Now it leads again with Rolled IRS with 26 cm of travel, which is angled rearward for that legendary Polaris smooth ride and less rear-end squat during acceleration. A common problem for ATV riders is fatigue, says Polaris. “Longer dual A-arm front suspension with 22.9 cm of travel and preload adjustability decreases kickback, reducing rider fatigue. Sportsman XP models have the highest ground clearance at 30.5 cm.” www.polarisindustries.co.nz
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Dairy News august 28, 2012
machinery & products // 47
No manure clean-ups HERDHOMES SYSTEMS says no-mainte-
nance shelters continue to revolutionise animal housing. Whereas bedding in traditional cubicle sheds needs regular maintenance to keep it clean and dry, under a HerdHomesdesigned roof no maintenance is needed, the company says. Proof of this is one of
its sheds – in Waikato, owned by John Pouls – which has functioned for five years without needing cleaning of the floor or bedded area. The patented design of the HerdHomes cubicle shed ensures a clean, dry bedding surface for animals using the cubicles. The key to this, the company says, is the positioning of the cubicles
Clear roofing FURTHER DEVELOPMENT of HerdHomes roof designs now allow the use of commercialgrade, cold-rolled steel trusses spanning up to 16m. Such roofs may be clad either with traditional cladding and/or with transparent plastic. The company says this has led to discussions with robotic milker companies interested in HerdHomes cubicle shed designs’ potential for improving animal health and reducing operating costs. Overseas the benefits of clear roofing are becoming apparent, the company says, with potential to help combat vitamin D deficiency in fully housed animals that lack exposure to sunlight – not an issue under a HerdHomes clear-roof shelter.
down the center of the shed, keeping it much drier and warmer due to natural light and patented airflow design. Also, specially designed slatted floors on the walkways remain clean as manure passes through the slats into under-floor bunkers, preventing effluent being transferred into the cubicles from animals’ feet. The small amount of compressed manure present on the hoof is said to quickly dry and crumble off the matting when cows step in and out. The slats themselves are unusual. Unlike most European-designed slats, said to block when straw or other material is spread, the HerdHomes slats do not, even when covered with slatted rubber such as in place at Pouls’ farm. HerdHomes and Pouls have developed an effective effluent containment system using the bunker storage under his sheds. All dairy waste water now runs into the
bunkers and mixes with effluent already present. This is stirred and then pumped out to his irrigation system, ensuring the nutrients are applied to the paddocks as and when required. Alternatively it can be taken out via a slurry tanker and spread on areas of the farm not irrigated. Tel. 07 857 0528
Waikato farmer John Pouls (left) says there is no need to clean the floor. Below: cows inside the shelter in July.
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Dairy News August 28, 2012
48 // machinery & products
Gear lowers risk of SCC grades DAIRY FARMERS could lower
the risk of mastitis and grades from somatic cell counts and other bacteria with a Dairymaster ClusterCleanse, says company director Craig Burrows. The cleaner sits between the cups and the milk line. It sends a jet of oxidised water through the pipe, cluster and cups immediately after cups are removed, expelling bacteria left in the cup and readying the cup for the next cow. Mastitis-causing bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactia and mycoplasma are washed out. This results in healthier udders, cleaner milk and better milk payouts, Burrows says. “It produces a better product and reduces the amount of drugs that need to be injected into the udder so it’s a win-win.” Staphylococcus aureus is a growing problem for the industry, says Burrows, with current farming conditions making it difficult to manage. “It’s highly contageous, milking machines transfer it nicely and the farmer doesn’t know easily which cow is carrying the bacteria.” New Zealand farmers have been
Power Farming has signed a longterm contract to continue distributing Kverneland and Vicon machinery in New Zealand and Australia.
Big Kiwi group to attend Oz event Craig Burrows
slow to warm to the cluster cleaners but the equipment has been a hit overseas, Burrows says. “We’ve got five installed in New Zealand but thousands in other parts of the world. There are a lot of countries that dip their cups in buckets of water so it’s a labour saving device for them.” The unit can be mounted independently or work in conjunction with the company’s automatic cluster removers or Weighhall milk meters. The cleaners are water resistant
Pumps, Stirrers & Hydrants 0800 686 334 www.numedic.co.nz
but should be put somewhere where they aren’t going to be sprayed with a high pressure hose. The process takes no more than 15-20 seconds to complete, is automatic and, says, Dairymaster national sales executive Darren O Shea, uses 1L of water and 2ml of food quality acid in the process. Installation takes about one day for herringbone sheds and 2-4 days in rotary sheds, done between milkings. Tel. 0800 765 6075 www.dairymaster.com
POWER FARMING is consolidating its brand offerings as it prepares to host at least 80 New Zealanders at Australia’s largest working field days. Power Farming machinery division general manager Graeme Leigh says the company has signed a new longterm contract with the Kverneland Group. “We have been distributing Kverneland products in New Zealand since 1989 and in Australia since 2007, and we look
New Zealand Manufacturers & suppliers of: • Strongest, most durable pumps available • Efficient & robust pond stirrers • Pontoons & Hydrants • Evenspread low application travelling irrigators • Stationary irrigators
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forward to continuing what has been a very successful relationship,” Leigh says. “Kverneland Group’s new owners have announced they intend to double its turnover to 1 billion euros by 2017. This is exciting news for the Power Farming Group. We and our customers will benefit from the investment Kverneland are making in their product portfolio. “Kverneland has been at the forefront of technological developments in disc and drum mowers, rakes and tedders, electronic metering and calibration of fertiliser spreaders, and ISOBUS technology. We expect them to continue their major investments in research and development.” Kverneland, Vicon and Taarup machines will be among those Power Farming’s sister
company PFG Australia will show at the ‘PFG in Action’ demonstration days, on August 29-30 at Shepparton, Victoria. Other brands include McHale, Great Plains, Simba, and Maschio with all machines powered by PFG tractors – DeutzFahr, SAME, Yanmar and Kioti. PFG Australia grass machinery sales manager Tim Lawrence says the demonstrations will take place on a 20ha site which includes paddocks sown in grass. “Those who attend will see some great machines in action and great results. We will also be offering some attractive deals over the two-day period.” A group of at least 80 New Zealand Power Farming dealers and farmers will attend the event, which includes farm visits and entertainment.
PROBLEMS WITH THE WET? Talk with HerdHomes® about our range of roofs, standoffs, shelters and cubicle barns and how they can help transform your farming operation. The future of productive farming www.herdhomes.co.nz M + 64 27 499 0123 P + 64 7 857 0528
NZ Patent Numbers: 521150, 544190, 550635, 545042. Further patents pending. International Patent Numbers: 2003267874, 03748807.9. Further patents pending
Dairy News august 28, 2012
machinery & products // 49
Adding brawn to beauty HYUNDAI MOTORS
New Zealand has launched its new Veloster Turbo in showrooms. Powered by a new 1.6L turbo engine, the Veloster Turbo delivers 262Nm of torque, an increase of 60%, with maximum power increasing nearly 50% to 150kW. The new model has the option of a six-speed manual gearbox or sixspeed automatic transmission with steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. Other enhancements include 300mm ventilated
front disc brakes – 20mm larger than on naturally aspirated models, a recalibrated suspension package, a quicker rack (2.78 turns lock to lock) and revised motor-driven power steering. Hyundai general manager Andy Sinclair says all the extra power “brings brawn to beauty.” The vehicle has an “aggressive” new front grille, round front foglamps, 18” alloy wheels with chrome inserts, side skirts, a rear diffuser, rear spoiler and twin circular
exhaust outlets. Standard features include sports bucket seats fitted with a blend of leather and leatherette, a 7” LCD touch screen,
Hyundai’s new Veloster Turbo is here.
reversing camera and a panoramic glass sunroof. It comes in six colours, as a 6-speed manual or automatic, both priced at $49,990.
About Hyundai HYUNDAI has been in New Zealand 30 years. The company is third in passenger vehicle sales with 9.7% market share, and fourth in total vehicle sales (8.2% market share). Hyundai was the number one-selling passenger diesel vehicle brand in 2011, the Santa Fe model topping sales of passenger diesel vehicles.
cb norwood 28x5
NAIT data transfer made easy A NORTHLAND livestock company is using new Galla-
gher software to make the transfer of NAIT information easier for clients. Sloane Livestock Ltd, serving farmers “from the mid North to the Far North”, is an accredited information provider for NAIT. “Since the NAIT scheme started, we’ve found quite a high proportion of our clients prefer us to do the NAIT transfer work for them,” says senior agent Leo Sloane. “It’s become an important part of the service.” Sloane Livestock collects EID data on a Gallagher HR3 hand-held tag reader and uses Gallagher NAIT Exchange software to transfer information to NAIT. “It’s a very simple process,” says Sloane. After a day of visiting clients he downloads the information collected on the HR3 tag reader into his computer. “You just plug the HR3 into your laptop and all the information is there. Then you select the animal tag details from the session file you want and add in the NAIT number of the seller and purchaser. Then you hit go and it’s gone. It couldn’t be easier. “The first few times I did it I couldn’t believe the information had gone through, so I checked up through the NAIT system and it was all there.” Sloane says Gallagher NAIT Exchange software is an advantage of using Gallagher EID equipment. He recently bought four hand-held tag readers. Sloane says the HR3’s ease of use and Gallagher’s support were the deciding factors. After-sales service by Gallagher territory manager Russell Wilson and technical support manager Geoff Pooch “has been nothing short of brilliant”.
MS1367
Dairy News August 28, 2012
50 // machinery & products
All-alloy body blends luxury, power, economy THE FOURTH generation Range Rover is touted as the most capable and luxurious Land Rover yet. Lighter, stronger and with new levels of refinement, it presents as the world’s finest luxury SUV, says global brand director John Edwards.
It will go on sale in New Zealand in January 2013. “The new Range Rover preserves the essential, unique character of the vehicle – that blend of luxury, performance and unmatched all-terrain capability. However, its clean-sheet design and
revolutionary lightweight construction have enabled us to transform the experience for luxury vehicle customers, with a step change in comfort, refinement and handling.” Says the company, the all-new model has been developed from the
‘Serene isolation’ inside THE RIDE is one of “serene isolation, meeting the highest luxury car standards for refinement,” the maker says. “Rigorously optimised body structure and acoustic lamination of the windscreen and side door glass have reduced noise levels, and the new suspension achieves even more luxurious ride comfort and refinement.” The interior is contemporary – “clean, elegant surfaces flawlessly
presented using the finest leathers and veneers.” Legroom is greater in the rear, “vastly increasing space and comfort.” And the option of a two-seat ‘executive class’ seating package affords the ultimate in rear-seat luxury. Power comes from a V8 supercharged petrol engine (TDV6) or the maker’s SDV8 diesel engines. And, music maestro? Yes, from a Meridian surround-sound system. www.landrovernz.com
New Range Rover
ground up, “capturing the spirit and iconic design of the original model which changed the world of motoring when it was launched 40 years ago.” This is world’s first SUV with a lightweight all-aluminium body structure – lighter than the steel body in the outgoing model and enabling total vehicle weight savings of 250kg. The aluminium body improves performance and agility, and transforms fuel economy and
Fortima
Variable round baler
EasyFlow pickup
CO2 emissions. Also, new aluminium front and rear chassis architecture embodies four-corner air suspension, improving handling and agility – flatter cornering with natural and intuitive steering feel. The model’s clean, elegant shape derives from “a fresh new interpretation of Range Rover design cues.” “While instantly recognisable as a Range Rover, [it is also] a bold evolution of the model’s design.” Land Rover design
director and chief creative officer Gerry McGovern says its design team sought to capture the “elegant proportions and pure surfaces which have been a feature of the best Range Rover designs.” This is the most capable and refined Range Rover ever, he says. Innovations include a new version of Land Rover’s Terrain Response
system, which analyses the current driving conditions and automatically selects the most suitable vehicle settings for the terrain. Testing of the new model involved 18 months driving in 20 countries in extremes of climate and road surfaces.
Kia wins more awards KIA HAS won three more international
design awards, on top of three won earlier in the year. The latest came in the Automotive Brand Contest 2012. The new Kia cee’d, recently launched in Europe, led in the exterior category and gained special mention for innovation in the interior category. The jury, run by the German Design
Council, selected the Kia GT as the winner of the concept award after the rear-wheeldrive sports sedan ‘design study’ created a stir at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. Kia says the award to the cee’d highlights the second-generation design – styling typically found on a sporty coupe, but with the space and functionality of a fivedoor hatch.
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GERMAN QUALITY WITH A NEW EDGE ■ EasyFlow camless pickup: allows quiet running and less wear and tear saving service and maintenance costs. ■ Multicut system: new cutting rotor gives a superior quality cut making bales that are easy to break up and spread. ■ Variable chamber: for higher density silage bales or up to 1.8m bales in hay and straw.
For pricing & brochure call now For technology that works!
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