Dairy News 14 June 2016

Fonterra expands sliced cheese plant. PAGE 5 MOTIVATING FARMERS SIDE 2016 Preview PAGE 40

JUNE 14, 2016 ISSUE 358 // www.dairynews.co.nz

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Fonterra expands sliced cheese plant. PAGE 5 MOTIVATING FARMERS SIDE 2016 Preview PAGE 40

JUNE 14, 2016 ISSUE 358

www.dairynews.co.nz

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Sustainable milk plans help turn regional farmers into environment trendsetters . PAGE 33

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

NEWS // 3

State farmer goes for grass savings PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

Sweet country, top cheese.

PG.19

Hi-tech processes pays off.

PG.34

No need to touch smelly bales.

PG.45

FACING ANOTHER year of low payout, Landcorp says it is shifting to lower intensity systems – reducing supplementary feeding and instead focusing on grass.

Chief executive Steven Carden told Dairy News the change to farming systems will bring about an “appropriate stocking level”.

“We are using this downturn in prices as an opportunity to drive a more cost efficient business.

It is a learning platform for us as for the entire dairy sector. We’ll come out a stronger business financially as a result, but at a $4.45 payout no-one is going to be making much money.”

Carden says the change in farm systems has in the last two years cut Landcorp’s production costs by at least 15%, and savings are continuing.

“We have substantial cost reduction underway with the rollout of an online procurement system that will take about $10m costs out of the business in the next five years.

“We also have our dairy group focused on a LEAN [‘just in time’, minimising waste] manufacturing system developed by Toyota. This is designed to drive efficiencies by developing new

processes to streamline a lot of our dairy operations.” The outcome is shorter milking times and staff finishing work earlier.

Carden says the low payout this season is prompting Landcorp to scrutinise all capital expenditure so that projects achieve cost savings or greater revenue.

As part of Landcorp’s value add strategy under the PAMU brand, it is planning to set up two new organic dairy farms next year – one on the North Island central plateau and the other in Landcorp chief executive Steven Carden.

Manawatu.

“The organic farms are being developed to pro- substantial premiums. Whenever I go into a superduce product mainly for export but we are also market I see organics attracting a significant premium.” exploring local opportunities.

In value add, Carden says Landcorp is produc“There are people sceptical about organics in respect of the science, but you can’t dispute – par- ing winter milk for Miraka and is tied into the A2 ticularly in dairy – that organics seems to attract milk programme with Synlait.

THE CHALLENGE OF A POOR PUNT

NEWS ����������������������������������������������������� 3-22 OPINION �������������������������������������������� 24-25 AGRIBUSINESS ���������������������������� 26-29 MANAGEMENT ������������������������������30-34 ANIMAL HEALTH ��������������������������36-38 SOUTH ISLAND DAIRY EVENT ���39-41 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS ��������������������������������������42-46

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FINANCE MINISTER Bill English told the recent DairyNZ Farmers Forum that Landcorp will not get any new capital to spend on its farms, as the Government imposes on SOEs a more rigorous process for new investment.

English described Landcorp as a poor investment, facing the same problem as

other dairy farmers – low milk payout.

“It is dealing with a significant drop in earnings against a base of debt which will be a stretch to manage,” English told 800 farmers.

“It’s a low returning investment; we have $1 billion dollars tied up in that organisation and it pays taxpayers very little and in some

years nothing, so it’s a poor investment.”

Landcorp is bracing for an $8 – $12m loss this year, largely reflecting recent downward revisions to forecast milk payments.

Despite the loss, the Government is committed to retaining Landcorp on its $270 billion balance sheet.

9/06/16 1:29 pm

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

4 // AUSTRALIAN MILK PRICE CRISIS

Lean times for Kiwi farmers in Oz JEANETTE SEVERS

DENISON, VICTORIA,

farmer Adrian Whitaker and his brother have about $15 million debt on their dairy business Whitaker Farms.

They are New Zealanders -- of about 200 in Victoria – and doubt their eligibility for many of the

Government’s new funding offerings.

“When we applied for assistance after the floods we were ineligible because we’re not Australian citizens,” Whitaker says.

Centrelink confirmed to him that eligible NZ residents owning dairy farms in Australia can only apply for up to six months of farm household allowance,

if they fit other financial criteria. Other financial assistance was unlikely to be accessible.

Whitaker, at a meeting of dairy farmers in Maffra last month, said more help is needed, focussed on farm businesses.

He supports subsidising interest rates on loans, to help all dairy farmers, but is concerned about his

eligibility because he is not an Australian citizen.

“We have an annual $150,000 water bill that has to be paid; it would be good if we could get some assistance subsidising that,” he says.

“We’ve had to put three employees off; some help in securing their employment would make a big difference. We need to

keep a fair workforce because we can’t afford to sell our young stock just to lessen the workload on everyone. If we sell our young stock, what’s that going to do to our genetics and production?

“I spoke to our bank, and with our titles and security we locked a fair bit of debt in a year ago; we probably need to rene-

Denison farmer Adrian Whitaker with his son on his farm.

gotiate it now, to see us through the next year or two.

“As Kiwis, we can’t access subsidies and much in the way of financial assistance. Even if

we could apply for the $1 million maximum concessional loan from the Government, our banks hold the titles to our farms and they aren’t going to want to give them up.”

Interest subsidies better than loans JEANETTE SEVERS

A GROUP of Gippsland, Victoria, dairy farmers are suggesting alternative recovery measures to those announced by the Federal Government, in a bid to better help dairy businesses raise cashflow and keep trading.

They spoke up at a meeting of Macalister Irrigation District (MID) dairyfarmers, United Dairyfarmer of Victoria representatives and government and banking officials. There are 500 dairy farmers in the MID, in Wellington shire.

Their top suggestion was that the government subsidise interest rates on existing mortgages and business loans, rather than expect dairy farmers to swap their debts to a government concessional loan scheme.

They argue that a farmer taking a government concessional loan would jeopardise his business relationship with his existing bank.

Rural Finance, which runs the government concessional loans scheme, would also require the farm’s title as security, but the existing bank would be

unlikely to release title by which they secure current loans.

It worries the farmers that many now in a growth or establishment phase of their business would be unable to access government loans because their bank debt exceeds $1 million.

The farmers’ other concerns are their eligibility for concessional loans based on how long they have been in the dairy industry; the restricting of help to Australian citizens only; and drawing on farm management deposits without incurring tax penalty.

An interest rate subsidy on their existing farm debt would help a lot, say Brett Matthews and Jason and Casey Bermingham, Nambrok dairy farmers with young families.

“We’ve already lost our profit for this year and next, and we’re now facing 18 months of pain knowing we’re running at a loss,” Matthews says. “An interest rate subsidy that you can tie to existing farm and business loans would help a lot.

“And whatever package is offered should be based on the same eligibility criteria for everyone – not just Australians and not only dairy farmers tied to

Murray Goulburn and Fonterra.”

Bermingham says subsidising the interest rate by 2.5% would make a huge difference.

“It would mean we could go back to basics and buy more fertiliser, grow more grass. It would support feed costs and give us much more flexibility in the business.

“We don’t want to move our loans to another bank; we want to retain the existing relationship we have with our current bank; that’s what’s going to help us long term.”

Alistair Clyne, of Tinamba West, says young farmers need the interest rate subsidy. “That will help a lot of people,” he says.

Denison farmer Brad Missen emphasises that industry participants are each other’s strength.

“We are resilient and we can help each other: borrowing dairy platforms and helping each other with harvest and milking,” he says.

“It’s up to us to come up with the solutions that will work for us in the next few seasons. Interest rate subsidies and help in retaining farm workers would free up cashflow and help keep

Brad Missen, Australian dairy farmer with his children, Nicholas and Zara.

a lot of dairyfarmers in the industry.”

Missen and Heyfield dairyfarmer and Genetics Australia (GA) board member Trevor Henry want Dairy Australia to provide levy relief for farmers.

GA has already offered levy relief to farmers, based on a guarantee of 80% of herd size against breeding commitment.

“GA is a farmer cooperative and has a strong asset base so the board decided it was a way we could support

our customers, relieving their AI cost and ensuring they could still get decent replacement heifers,” Henry says.

“While it’s an offer available only to shareholders, it can be taken up by new shareholders.

“Every organisation, if they can afford to, should use their reserves in a similar way: Dairy Australia could provide similar levy relief to dairy farmers and help free up cashflow.

“We want everyone to have a sustainable income.”

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

NEWS // 5

More burgers to experience ‘a little taste of Eltham’ AN EXPANSION of Fonterra’s slice-on-slice cheese plant in Eltham, Taranaki, means it could

now fill three billion burgers annually.

New cheese lines – adding to plant started up

last year – were formally commissioned last week, viewed by farmers, staff, iwi and central

ADDING VALUE TO MILK THEO SPIERINGS says the Eltham expansion furthers Fonterra’s product value add.

Last season its $8 billion food consumer business used 1 billion L more milk than in 2014 – an increase equivalent to Switzerland’s dairy production.

Signs pointing to a better farmgate milk price are positive, though the “hallelujah moment” hasn’t yet arrived.

Having spoken to 2500

farmers in the last few weeks, he says they understand the volatility of the global market and Fonterra’s value-add strategy.

He says their apparent positive mood was helped by good conditions for pasture growth, good cow condition ahead of calving, and a clear understanding of the co-op’s global strategy and its effort to tell the good story of the dairy industry.

and local government representatives.

Officiating were Whanganui MP Chester Borrows, South Taranaki District Council mayor Ross Dunlop, and Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings, director David MacLeod and managing director global operations Robert Spurway.

The 10-month expansion job has doubled the site’s sliced cheese production.

Spurway says the new line will help the co-op respond better to customers’ requirements.

“Each customer has slightly different needs

From left, Fonterra managing director global operations Rob Spurway, chief executive Theo Spierings, Mayor Ross Dunlop, Chester Burrows, MP and Fonterra director David MacLeod at the opening.

and uses for the cheese we make for them. This extra capacity will allow us to meet 350 different product specifications.

“For example, McDonald’s tests us on how quickly its workers can peel cheese off the block. Our ability to consistently exceed their brand standard of quality makes us a preferred supplier.”

He says the expansion supports the co-op’s

growth in foodservice and is helping drive its V3 strategy.

“We are using more of our farmers’ milk in higher value products, and cheese production of 3.5t/hour shows how fast our new plant enables us to do this.

The site has world-wide reach, Spurway says. “Pick up a burger in China, the Middle East or Africa and you could experience a little taste of Eltham.”

Fonterra director global foodservice Grant Watson says this expansion and others at Waitoa UHT, Te Rapa Cream Cheese and Clandeboye Mozzarella keep the co-op up with growing global demand.

“As tastes become more westernised, particularly in Asia, we are seeing a big increase in ingredients for burgers, pizza and pasta. Globally, foodservice is growing at 6% annually.”

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9/06/16 1:26 pm

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

6 // NEWS

Ready for a smashing conference?

THE SMALL Milk and Supply Herds (SMASH) conferences are back in ‘town’ again next week, in Waikato, Manawatu and on the West Coast.

They offer the usual mix of practicality, motivation and inspiration, the organisers say.

The theme is ‘Finding the Silver Lining’, with programme offerings having elements of difference at each venue.

“Our speakers are excellent as always, and chosen to challenge and

inspire,” says Noldy Rust, SMASH national chairman. “We’re looking forward to an interesting day with great opportunities to learn.”

The Fielding event (June 22) opens with former Fonterra director Mark Townshend talking about the importance of smaller herd farming to the industry and how wealth can be created in small-medium size farming businesses.

Townshend, a dairy farmer, has 40 years experience of dairy

SMASH EVENTS ❱❱ Manfeild, Feilding, June 22 ❱❱ Don Rowlands Centre, Karapiro, June 24 ❱❱ Solid Energy Centre, Westport, June 27. ❱❱ For details or to register: www.smallerherds.co.nz.

industry price volatility, and of dairying in New Zealand, Chile and the US. Alongside Townshend will be Ian Williams, Pioneer Brand Products, to speak about how to use supplementary feeds profitably at a $4.50/kgMS payout. The day will be capped by Kevin Biggar, of TVNZ adventure documentary First Crossings fame, to speak about overcoming fear of challenges and creating momentum for success.

The Waikato conference is next , on June 24 at Cambridge.

Again, Townshend will open the day, supported

by Murray Lane, Ballance Agri-Nutrients, on how to produce and manage pastures that last the distance, and Steve Cranefield, PureMilk, discussing the causes of mastitis and practical

ways of reducing it.

The Waikato line-up will also have local, young, up-and-coming farmers Dave Swney, Mike O’Connor and James Courtman talking about career paths, lessons and progress through the industry.

At Westport (June 27), well-known farm accountant and raconteur Pita Alexander will open on where the industry is going. Then will come local vet Phillipa Hodges, Buller Vets, on how to get the best value from your vet. Allie Mooney, an award winning speaker, will close the day with her insightful and entertaining take on personality types.

SMASH supports dairy farmers under the guidance of farmer volunteers. It was started in 2010 by farmers who saw a need to inform

SMASH chairman Noldy Rust.

and support specifically smaller herd farmers. But all farmers are welcome at the events, Rust says.

“They’ve been winners

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in the past few years, bringing together likeminded farmers to learn, share, network and socialise. They’re a

bit different from other industry gatherings, with a wide range of interesting topics and a friendly ‘family’ feel.”

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9/06/16 1:18 pm

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

NEWS // 7

LIC scores well in sires listing LIC REPORTS it has scored well in the latest Ranking of Active Sires (RAS) list.

The co-op says 26 of the top 30 bulls of all breeds in New Zealand are LIC’s; and the top 12 bulls across all breeds are LIC’s. ”These are our farmers’ bulls, developed by LIC on behalf of farmers for farmers,” LIC’s general manager biological systems Geoff Corbett says.

“We want to acknowledge the hard work of breeders... who have contributed to these results.”

The bull acquisition team includes Simon Worth, Casey Inverarity and Taylor Connell (Holstein Friesian & KiwiCross), and Malcolm Ellis (Jersey & SGL).

RAS list-topping bulls still must measure up on other traits to make it into LIC’s top bull teams, Premier Sires, Corbett says.

Not all high-BW bulls that graduate through LIC are eventually marketed.

Top results from the latest RAS list (May 28) for LIC include: HOLSTEIN FRIESIAN ■■ 43 of the top 50 Holstein Friesian bulls are LIC’s; and the top 10, and 19 of the top 20, Holstein Friesian bulls are LIC’s.

■■ The No. 1 Holstein

■■

Friesian bull (also No. 1 across all breeds) is LIC’s 112035 Carsons Mecca Pulse, the only current bull to beat the 300 BW barrier.

Three full brothers are performing well: 111037 San Ray FM Beamer (3 on the Holstein Friesian list), 111036 Arkan FM Buster (5 on the same list) and Arkan FM Brilliant (10 on the

Jersey bull in NZ. CROSSBRED ■■ 21 of the top 25 crossbred bulls in NZ are LIC’s.

■■ The top 9 out of 10, and 15 out of 16, crossbred bulls are LIC’s.

■■

511011 Priests Sierra remains at No. 1 on the crossbred list, moving up 3 BW to 289 BW. This also makes him the highest BW MintEdition son in the country.

No. 1 Holstein Friesian bull Carsons Mecca Pulse.

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Holstein Friesian list).

Currently a few BW shy of the RAS list is 112080 Fire-Up, who has moved up 6 BW. JERSEY ■■ LIC’s Jersey bulls continue to affirm the resurgence of this breed.

■■ 8 of the top 10 Jersey bulls are LIC’s, including the top 6, and all 6 of those are new graduates.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

NEWS // 9

Aquifer recharge is believing, not barking NIGEL MALTHUS

IN A province where much

of the water comes from bores into the underlying aquifers, a pilot project is now testing the idea of putting water back in -- which even its proponents admit sounds “absolutely barking”.

The Hinds/Hekeao Managed Aquifer Recharge project consists essentially of a purpose-built “leaky pond” about 10km inland of State Highway 1 south of Ashburton, and a network of ground water and surface water monitoring sites fanning out across the plains almost to the coast.

With just a few finishing touches to be done, the project was officially opened early this month.

It is an area where, especially downstream on the coastal side of the highway, aquifer levels are low, springs and streams are drying up, and nitrate levels in the water from farm leaching are high.

The project aims to reverse that by recharging the aquifers with clean water from the Rangitata River via the Rangitata diversion race and the Valetta irrigation scheme, the water being an unused

Ashburton District Council allocation.

The pond site includes a small sediment settling pond which overflows though a channel into the main recharge pond. The upper soil layers have been lifted away to expose the porous alluvial gravels and 27 clamshells; 6-7m deep holes backfilled with coarse stones will aid the drainage.

Leading the project, hydrologist Bob Bower has been involved in similar aquifer recharge schemes in his native US. He refers to limited trials here as early as the 1970s but believes the present trial is the first on this scale, “looking at a catchment scale issue, coming up with a pilot to test the concept, bringing the community along and helping to educate them about groundwater usage and water quality”.

Bower says a similar project is at the consent stage in the Gisborne area.

There, as in Canterbury, it is seen as important to bring together key partners iwi, councils and irrigators. “If you have all those people at the table the balance is there and you can achieve good things.”

The Hinds/Hekeao pilot

scheme has a goal of 15.8 million cubic metres of water – the equivalent of the 500L/second for which the scheme has consent – in the first year.

Bower says the plan is to get that amount of water through the system and see how the groundwater responds, take that information back to the governance groups and share it with the community.

“From then on it has a five-year consent and the idea is to keep running it, and raise groundwater levels and ideally help all the drains along the coast.

Some of them were the best in Canterbury not long ago. The Parakanoi drain was fantastic for eel fishery and mahika kai gathering; it’s now bone dry.”

Bower says it is important to think of aquifers as reservoirs rather than rivers, holding huge volumes of water. “It’s just very slowly moving towards the coast. So, when the water goes in, when it’s used, how it affects the drains – that balance is what we’re trying to do here with managed timing and approach.”

ECan commissioner David Caygill told the official opening he vividly remembered the first time

An aerial photo of the Hinds/Hekeao Managed Aquifer Recharge project.

Hydrologist Bob Bower

he heard about managed aquifer recharge, at a presentation that left ECan “shaking their heads” and thinking someone “had been smoking stuff”. “We were a long, long way away from being persuaded that this made any sense whatsoever.”

But he acknowledged the enthusiasm of Bob Bower and the support of the Ashburton zone committee in recognising the worth of the idea.

“It’s a trial designed to find out what happens rather than to prove particular preconceptions. [The] trial will help address some nitrate issues and some other issues.”

Peter Lowe, who farms

in a downstream area classified as a nutrient red zone but is now likely to benefit from the trial, says local farmers welcome the plan.

“Two years ago, the common reaction you’d get was, ‘you’re going to do what?’ But in the last six months the reaction has been, ‘when are you going to start?’.”

Replenishment of groundwater has become contentious recently with the news that the Ashburton District Council is selling a section in its business estate, complete with the right to take 45L of bore water/second, to a company planning to bottle it for export.

District mayor Angus McKay, who also attended

the Hinds/Hekeao MAR opening, says the two schemes are separate, since the bottling site is north of the Ashburton River.

However, the consents will require the council to replenish that area also, at a rate of 60L/second. A shingle pit has been chosen which would be landscaped with native plants as the insertion point and fed by an existing race taking water from the Ashburton River.

McKay emphasises that replenishment – unmanaged – has gone on in Canterbury for decades.

He says the Rangitata diversion race commissioned in the 1940s, and its associated Mayfield/Hinds and Valetta schemes, all

originally used border dyke systems.

“They found, particularly around Hinds, that within six weeks of the water starting to flow down the dykes in the summer season, the shallow wells rose to above ground level.

That was recharge, way back, years ago.”

More efficient and less wasteful irrigation systems have since caused wells and streams to dry up, says McKay. “The Ashburton zone committee of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy wants to reinvigorate the environment of the drains and this is one way they think they can do it, because it used to happen years ago.”

Are you ready for calf rearing?

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008-009.indd 9

Helping grow the country

9/06/16 1:25 pm

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

10 // NEWS

More co-op farmers going digital MORE FONTERRA

farmers are using cellphones to keep track of their businesses, the co-op reports.

Farmer use of information from their co-op smartphone apps has doubled in the past year.

While its Farm Source website remains popular for reporting and comparisons at month end, Fonterra mobile apps are now used more often for checking key day-to-day data.

Farmer mobile apps have made 13,000 unique user downloads.

General manager operations and farmer services Evelyn Seewald says getting information to farmers faster is a priority.

“Farmers are rapid adopters of digital technology onfarm and have

led the design of our apps with their feedback....

Farmers who previously swore they’d never need a smartphone now tell us they can’t imagine life without it.

The apps enable farmers to access key milk production and quality information and receive business updates. And they deliver quality assurance and service data.

“Having quality and production information at their fingertips allows farmers to make timely onfarm decisions and get alerts to potential quality issues any time, anywhere.”

Fonterra has three apps available for download for its farmers or users nominated by farmers: a milk production and quality

APPS – THE DETAILS THREE APPS are available to co-op farmers or their nominees: ■■ The On Farm app provides farmers with key milk production and quality information and allows them to update their milk collection times ■■

The My Co-op app gives co-op news and financial information, and Farm Source Store rewards and offers

■■

The Monthly Plant Check app, being piloted this season, will transform a task previously done using a paper manual.

app (2014), a news app (2015) and a monthly plant check app now being piloted.

Jersey’s future looks brighter TWO GROUPS committed to the Jersey breed are joining forces and expertise to breed even better cows.

Jersey New Zealand and LIC have formally agreed to ‘Jersey Future -- to jointly select and prove the genetic merit of additional top young Jersey bulls.

This will add eight extra bulls to LIC’s current Jersey breeding programme, and will statistically lift the rate of genetic and productive gain for the breed.

The agreement is initially for three years but both organisations are looking and planning further ahead.

LIC chief executive Wayne McNee says LIC is committed to the Jersey breed and looks forward to working with Jersey NZ under the agreement.

“Jersey is a very important breed in NZ. It is important in its own right, it’s an important part of KiwiCross, and we need to make sure the breed remains strong.

“We now have momentum: LIC has eight of the top 10 bulls on the Jersey ranking of active sires (RAS) list, includ-

ing the top six, and all six are new graduates. That’s testimony to the quality of the young Jersey bulls coming through now.

“We believe that together with Jersey NZ we can achieve more.”

Jersey NZ outgoing president Ross Riddell says there is a generation of farmers in NZ who haven’t had the benefit or pleasure of milking Jerseys. “And that’s what we would like to see in the future.

“Many stars are aligning for Jerseys at the moment. We hear daily and read in the papers that we should get back to basics, that we need to keep costs down and make the best use of resources to convert pasture to milk.

“With Jersey, we have a breed with efficiency. Add to this the Jersey performance on the RAS list (11 of the top 30 on the All Breeds RAS list are Jersey – the most of any breed), the rising price comparatively of fat which we are pleased to see, protein production efficiency and Jersey’s lower environmental footprint. All these things steer to a better and brighter future for Jerseys.”

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

12 // NEWS

Young journos get an insight into agribusiness sector Massey University journalism lecturer Dr Cathy Strong with Rural News Group journalist Peter Burke.

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A GROUP of journalism students from Massey University’s Wellington campus last week visited the university’s Palmerston North campus and a dairy farm near Levin to get an insight into the agribusiness sector.

Organised by Rural News Group reporter Peter Burke and Massey journalism lecturer Dr Cathy Strong, the day long tour included Massey’s Number One Dairy Unit which has a special emphasis on environmental management and is on once-a-day milking. Here the students met Federated Farmers Dairy chair Andrew Hoggard.

They also visited Horticultural Research Centre Kebble Farm, hearing about new pastures and other aspects of sheep and beef farming.

They also met Westpac agribusiness manager Dave Hutchison. They visited a dairy farm near Levin and held a press conference with the Minister for Primary Industries, Nathan Guy. Burke says he helped organise this day and a similar one for teachers to help bridge the gap between rural and urban communities. This is the second year he has helped run the journalism day out; he has run three similar events for careers advisors at secondary schools in the North Island, with the same goal in mind.

“It is just one event and I acknowledge that other people are working hard to achieve a similar goal,” he says. “I have been an agricultural journalist for much of my career and I believe it is important that journalists entering the media industry have a basic grasp of the size and scope

The young journalists also visited Massey University’s No 1 dairy farm.

of agribusiness, not to mention the abundance of great stories about the sector.”

Burke’s comments are echoed

by Strong, who says the initiative by Rural News Group, DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb NZ, HortNZ, Federated Farmers, Westpac and Massey University will give journalists a fundamental understanding and hopefully a positive perspective of agriculture journalism.

“This is an opportunity to take our students out into the real world to [preview working] in the media. This day was a serious exercise for them and they all produced video news stories about what they observed. It was also a great opportunity for them to meet key people they are likely to deal with.”

Strong says trips such as this one are a great way for people to learn; nothing beats getting out in the field and seeing and experiencing things.

This trip was like last year’s exercise, popular with students and resulting in excellent stories.

“Our journalism school being in mid Wellington means students are

well versed in finding stories in Parliament and corporate offices, but opportunities to get out to the rural sector are fewer. Everyone involved in organising this event has helped towards better understanding by these future media content producers.”

Rural News Group general manager Adam Fricker says the company is proud to support the journalists’ and teachers’ trips as events that help build understanding between town and country. The trips also help break down misconceptions about farming, notably that it is a career for dummies.

“The reality is that the agribusiness sector is probably the greatest user of technology in the country.

Few people can imagine, for example, some of the technology in the typical dairy shed.

“Those of us in the industry tend to take this for granted, but city folk are often completely surprised at what they see,” he says.

Fricker says Rural News Group is an example of an organisation that relies on good journalists and that is why they support this initiative.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

NEWS // 13

Talks on raising NZChina food integrity A CONFERENCE in

Auckland next month is aimed at closing gaps in food integrity in New Zealand-China trade.

The inaugural Food Integrity Conference, on July 13-14, will have overseas and local speakers addressing food integrity and safety in food exporting and producing industries.

The conference organiser, Dr Helen Darling, who directs the Asia Pacific Centre for Food Integrity, says NZ can have a global role in leading food safety and security.

telling our story and do better than some of our competitors in China,” says Darling.

Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew will open the event. Topics for discussion will include food fraud and food terrorism.

Rachael Speedy, managing director of NZ Premium Foods, will speak on ‘Building reputation: building brand across borders’, with Brendan Hoare of Organics NZ. Says Speedy, “The conference [will draw] like minded people to

programme; Professor Wu, chief scientist, China National Centre of Food Risk Assessment, Beijing; and Kevin Wang, editorin-chief, China Food Safety

magazine.

Karl Ye, managing director, GMP Pharmaceuticals; Catherine Beard, executive director Export

NZ; and Hamish Findlay, general manager, ESR Ltd, will discuss export opportunities. www.food-integrityconference.com

Dr Helen Darling

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“NZ is a small country and to be competitive in the international marketplace we need to share knowledge and leadership.”

“We need to avoid everyone reinventing the wheel. NZ is a small country and to be competitive in the international marketplace we need to share knowledge and leadership.”

She says though NZ does a great job in food safety and food traceability, gaps exist in the total supply chain.

The conference will also tell the NZ story to Chinese consumers, who hold NZ dairy products in high regard.

“We are proactive in

discuss the issues facing the food and beverage industry locally and globally. There are many opportunities for developing food and beverage export markets, particularly in China and with online platforms.”

Overseas speakers will include Col. John Hoffman, US, retired from a 31 year military career, and now with the Food Protection and Defence Institute at Minnesota University.

Others will include: Sonia Bradley, World Bank global food safety

GET SOCIAL Keep up with the latest stories from Dairy News by following us on:

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

14 // NEWS

Northland research lifts returns by $162/ha The recently completed kikuyu trial was one of the six projects assessed by analysts.

AT LEAST $300 million in benefits have accrued to the Northland economy from a dairy development trust and associated research farm, a study has found.

Northland dairy farmers have benefited from the Northland

Dairy Development Trust (NDDT), a joint project

by Fonterra and the Northland Agricultural Research Farm (NARF).

The findings are said to have relevance for other regions.

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analyst Nimmo-Bell and Company, estimates the NDDT and the Northland Agricultural Research Farm have contributed at least $300 million to the Northland economy.

It assessed six projects, including a split calving trial in the late 1990s, endophyte, mastitis, nitrogen and stand-off pad trials and a recently completed kikuyu trial.

The total net benefit from increased productivity after allowing for the costs of the research is said to be $315.1 million; this represents a net benefit ratio of $76 per $1 spent – an average return of $162/ha/year for Northland dairy farms.

NDDT was formed in 2006 to help Northland farmers get funding for research. The farm can run trials on up to three farmlets with up to 80 cows each. This gives enough scale for robust comparisons, the analyst says.

Founding NDDT trustee Kim Robinson says the trust knew the work was “immensely valuable to the industry, so it’s nice to get that validated independently”. “[Importantly], the research projects we take on are all farmer driven; they are in response to real onfarm challenges that farmers face.”

Nimmo Bell principal Brian Bell says the study was intended to show Northland farmers how much the research has added to their incomes, using specific examples.

The benefits were assessed only north of Auckland; the impact of the split calving and kikuyu work in particular, further south, has also been significant but is not

included in these figures.

“There are wider benefits to farmers nationwide. Certainly, with the steady march of kikuyu south, managing that is going to be an increasing task for farmers,” Bell says.

Robinson says the four largest projects on the research farm – split calving, endophytes, kikuyu management and farming without inputs in variable climates – have addressed issues originating in Northland, “but these are spreading down the country as climate change occurs”.

Fonterra’s head of cooperative affairs for Northland, Eric Morrison, says dairy farming in Northland brings unique challenges. “So, having research specific to Northland supports our local farmers to make better informed decisions on their own farms,” he says.

Bell says the NARF farm closely resembles a commercial farm so farmers can see how it could apply to their farm.

“When putting sciencebased research together you’re trying to look at the challenges facing farmers generally and to undertake research which will give farmers the greatest dollar return at the lowest cost,” says Bell.

“These benefits have been distributed over time and that gives confidence that the NARF farm is still relevant to farmers in Northland.”

NDDT relies on sponsors and funders.

Its new website allows farmers and industry professionals nationwide to stay up-to-date with historic and the latest onfarm trial results. www.nddt.nz

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All the latest stories and more at www.dairynews.co.nz

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

NEWS // 15

Good yarn worth spreading DAIRYNZ RECKONS

mental wellness is a good yarn worth spreading.

So it’s working with other organisations and rural networks to improve the health and mental wellbeing of New Zealand farming families.

DairyNZ launched GoodYarn in February and has run 30 workshops

since, helping 600 farmers and rural professionals.

Now businesses and rural networks are stepping in to spread the message of good health, training their own people to support dairy farmers and families.

Seven organisations, including Farmlands and

several rural support trusts, are licensed to run the workshops for their people. DairyNZ is working with another five organisations keen to join up.

The four-hour workshops help farmers learn how to stay resilient and strong, deal with mental illness, recognise

signs of stress in others and refer people on for more help. The work is funded by commercial organisations including DairyNZ and Fonterra, and partnered by MPI. Farmlands spokesman Grigor McDonald says the cooperative saw a need to give its rural professionals more means

Synlait opens with $4.50kgMS SYNLAIT MILK’S forecast milk price for the 2016-17 season is $4.50/ kgMS. Synlait chairman Graeme Milne says another “tough” season will be slightly offset for Synlait suppliers as they’ll start the season in a stronger cashflow position than they were expecting.

“Cashflow is really important at this time of year and we’ve prioritised a significantly higher advance rate for our milk suppliers’ benefit,” says Milne.

He says low global commodity values continue to drive low milk prices, and milk production in New Zealand has started to ease in response.

“Unfortunately, increasing milk production in Europe, soft demand from China and trade sanctions in place with Russia [maintain a greater effect] than reduced milk production in NZ,” says Milne.

“We expect our milk suppliers will continue to reduce production next season, however we’ve planned for this by increasing the number of farmer suppliers and are confident we have sufficient milk supply to

keep meeting strong demand from our customers.”

Synlait’s forecast milk price for the current 2015-16 season has been revised to $3.90/kgMS. Managing director and chief executive John Penno says Synlait has also adjusted payments for the current season to give suppliers better cashflow through the winter.

“This announcement won’t be a surprise to our farmers. Every month we provide detailed market information to our milk suppliers, showing where our milk price is likely to land for the current season,” says Penno.

“Information like this is critical for good business planning and we’re encouraging our suppliers to keep using this information to plan their way through this difficult period of low milk prices.

“We remain committed to helping our milk suppliers where we can. This includes premium payments, which we expect to be around $6 million this season, for creating value on their farm through Lead With Pride and our Special Milk programmes.

of supporting farmers.

“Every day, our people travel to properties and talk about selling rural supplies and services, but we knew we wanted to do more than that,” he said.

Farmlands thought the GoodYarn initiative suited, and started working with DairyNZ and WellSouth Primary Health Network to make it happen.

“Farmlands has now run the workshop for 100 [of our]people and will shortly have four trained facilitators,” he said.

“Participants endorse the approach and say people leave the workshops more confident to talk with shareholders and their families who may be facing challenges.”

McDonald aims to have every Farmlands representative attend a GoodYarn workshop.

Dana Carver, DairyNZ’s wellness and wellbeing programme leader, says enlisting the help of other organisations and networks was “the only way to create culture change”. DairyNZ could not do that by itself.

“Organisations [licensed] and with their own people trained creates ownership [to] reach more people.”

The workshops are having an “immediate and lasting” effect on those attending.

GoodYarn was developed by WellSouth, a primary health organisation in Otago and

Southland. Help and cash from the ‘Transforming the Dairy Value Chain’ PGP further enabled it.

Health promotion manager Louise Thompson says WellSouth consulted with rural communities and organisations and “the issue of supporting rural mental health kept coming through”.

WellSouth looked at strategies and programmes used nationand worldwide. It looked at what worked and what didn’t.

“From there, with the input of [people including] farmers and public health experts, we developed GoodYarn,” she said. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

FLOOR REPAIRS MADE SIMPLE Synlait chairman Graeme Milne.

“We estimate these premiums will add, on average, $0.10/kgMS to our forecast milk price for 2015-16.”

Synlait will announce the final milk price for the 2015-16 season in late September, plus any revision to the 2016-17 forecast milk price.

Fonterra opened with a forecast farmgate milk price of $4.25/kgMS for the 2016-17 season, plus earnings per share to be announced in July.

Westland Milk Products released a budget for the 2016-17 dairy season of $4.55 - $4.95/kgMS.

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Helping grow the country

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

16 // NEWS

Gentleman professor was a friend to many TRIBUTES HAVE flowed for emeritus professor Colin Holmes following his death last week.

Holmes’ career spanned at least 50 years in the agricultural sector, and notably in education. Since 1966 he had lectured in animal science at Massey University and in 1999 became the inaugural professor of dairy production systems at the university.

His many awards included the McMeekan Memorial Award, the Sir Arthur Ward award and a lifetime achievement award at the National Dairy Excellence Awards in 2009. He also received the NZ Order of Merit for services to agriculture DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle described Holmes as one of NZ’s greatest agricultural scientists.

He had a passion for the dairy industry and recently for the concept of once-aday milking.

“His passion... never waned, especially for OAD milking. He was one of the greatest scientists and sits alongside McMeekan in that regard. He will

be remembered by all the people he has trained and brought through the industry. Holmes has made a tremendous contribution to our industry.”

Mackle says Holmes was a gentleman with a special ability to give honest, direct feedback without offending.

“People deferred to him. I think Colin tried to look at the challenges though a farmer’s eyes, like McMeekan.

His legacy will influence farmers and rural professionals who learned from him.”

Leo Vollebregt, an OAD farmer in Wairarapa, says he was saddened by the news of Holmes’ death. He made a huge contribution to farming in general, he says, not just for the OAD milking he was known for in recent years.

“He encouraged an intelligent discussion, and OAD and TAD farmers all learned a lot about the efficient conversion of grass to milk and low cost dairying. We also learned a lot from the way Colin conducted himself. He was a true gentleman and gave anyone the time of day and made them feel impor-

tant; that defines greatness. He is going to be missed by a great many people because he had such a profound effect on so many.”

Vollebregt, milking OAD for nine years, says Holmes brought together many people who were doing the same thing. “He discussed issues that affected us in particular, but also helped clarify our thinking on how we should go forward and what improvements we should make.”

Vollebregt says Holmes encouraged the OAD field days, including rigorous analysis of what they were doing.

He was a lovely individual to have a conversation with. “There will be thousands of people around the country who are feeling the same way, including the people who studied under him at Massey.”

Long time associate and DairyNZ consulting officer Leo Hendrikse, who worked with Holmes on OAD issues, says the dairy industry has lost a dear friend and a gentleman. Holmes was a man with a passion for pastoral dairy

The late Colin Holmes at a once-aday milking field day.

farming in NZ and a great champion for OAD milking, he says.

“We will miss his clear insights and his knowledge of anything to do with managing dairy cows and pastures.

We’ll miss his quick wit and sense of humour. OAD discussion groups and conferences will be different without him and he will be sorely missed,” Hendrikse says.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

18 // NEWS

Grass management a forgotten skill PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

Chris Kelly, officer of the NZ Order of Merit.

MANY NZ farmers have lost the art of all-grass farming and rely too heavily on supplements.

That’s the view of Chris

Kelly, made an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit in the Queen’s Birthday honours.

He says the dairy sector as a whole has taken on too much debt and become far too reliant on supplements such as

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PKE. He says many farmers do not see the advantages of all-grass farming developed by great scientists such as Dr Campbell McMeekan in the 1970s.

“The reliance on supplements is fine in years of high payouts, but it becomes a major challenge when the payout is low as it is now,” he says.

Kelly has spent his whole working life in the agricultural sector. His father was a vet and he followed in his footsteps, graduating from Massey in 1969. He then practiced as a vet in Bay of Plenty before being appointed a lecturer at Melbourne University; then he returned to Massey University to study for his masters degree in veterinary science.

In the 1990’s he worked for the then Dairy Board as general manager of strategy and strategic planning.

“Those were the days the Dairy Board controlled the exports out of NZ for all dairy products.

We developed some techniques whereby we could work out the profitability of those products, and shipped them to various parts of the world -- a very exciting time.

“Even in those days we were beset by low payouts and high payouts but I think the extremes of volatility we are seeing in the dairy industry today are greater than we saw in those days,” he says.

While at the Dairy Board Kelly helped form Fonterra and was involved in the setting up of Dexel and Dairy Insight. But when the new Fonterra moved to Auckland, Kelly decided to stay in Wellington and soon took on the role for which he is best noted – chief executive of Landcorp.

Now retired from Landcorp, Kelly is still involved in the ag sector.

His roles include chancellor of Massey University, chair of Beef + Lamb NZ Genetics and other roles in ag science.

ROSY VIEW OF THE FUTURE CHRIS KELLY sees many great things happening in agriculture such as productivity in the sheep and beef sector and new software devised to enhance farm management and productivity.

But he notes the problem of the gap between urban and rural.

“In my youth my fellow townies and I had aunts, uncles or cousins on farms and the vast majority of New Zealanders spent their holidays helping people with lambing beats and rearing calves. But this doesn’t happen nowadays and this is having significant reverberations through the whole country because people are not aware of what agriculture is and how exciting it is,” he says.

Kelly says he likes to see more money spent on promoting agriculture as a career for young people.

“As farming gets more sophisticated there is no doubt there will be fewer but larger farms. We have environmental and animal welfare challenges which can be overcome but you need science to do that and you need to bring young people into the sector to undertake that science.”

Kelly says he’s pleased to see the Government putting more money into science, especially Primary Growth Partnerships, and he says that will have a positive impact.

He says the project that has reduced the maturation time for mozzarella cheese from seven months to a matter of hours is exciting. Kelly also notes the science being done to develop new dairy proteins for use in paediatrics.

Kelly says he’s humbled by the award he’s received and notes that like most others he could not have achieved what he did without help. But he says it’s good to see agriculture recognised.

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

NEWS // 19

Sweet country makes for top quality milk, cheese NIGEL MALTHUS

THE FOUNDER of Oamaru’s Whitestone Cheese Company has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen’s Birthday honours.

Bob Berry calls the honour “truly a reflection on my wife Sue, son Simon and all our Whitestone Cheese team; they’re the ones who made it all possible. It’s very much a team effort.”

Whitestone was founded in 1987 by the Berrys, then farming at Maheno, as a response to a farming downturn. They started in a garage but now operate in a factory in Oamaru employing 60 people and exporting to Australia, America and the Pacific. The company stays true to its artisan roots by selling through farmers’ markets and the factory shop.

Simon Berry now runs the factory day-to-day while the elder Berry lives in semi-retirement at Lake Hayes, Central Otago, keeping his hand in as a director and assisting with

Bob Berry, Whitestone Cheese, has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to the cheese industry.

PHOTO; DAVID WILLIAMS, OTAGO DAILY TIMES

marketing.

Bob Berry says Whitestone’s niche is specialty cheeses. “We only produce high-quality premium cheese; we’re not in the commodity market at all.”

Even so, Whitestone produces at least 1 tonne of cheese a day, the bulk of it from cows milk, along with some goats milk cheese and a little from sheep.

The key to Whitestone’s success has been local milk produced on “sweet” limestone country. Berry says it is

vital, when producing a quality product, to start with quality raw materials.

“It’s the key to it. We wouldn’t be here but for the quality of our milk.”

In cheesemaking, as in wine, there are regional differences. “Pastures, climate, soil type, water: if you have all those basics right you’re going to have good quality milk and you’ll make good quality cheeses.”

Whitestone receives most of its cows milk from a single farm in the Lower Waitaki region, via Fonterra under the

DIRA (Dairy Industry Restructuring Act) regulations. The DIRA rules are now under review, but Berry says Whitestone is comfortable with the current arrangements.

The DIRA rules were set up to protect milk supply to niche manufacturers, at prices set at only a small premium above what Fonterra pays farmers.

“That levels the playing field,” says Berry. “For small customers like us it’s very important that

we can source our milk at a reasonable price. When we first started there were probably three companies we could have gone to for milk. Of course all that disappeared when Fonterra was formed, so we can only really go to Fonterra.”

Their goats milk comes from a Timaru supplier.

Berry says the sheep milk suppliers have changed over the years – especially as farms have converted to cows – but they currently source it from the Southland sheep milk specialist Blue River.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

20 // WORLD

Changes needed i

Milk price slashed by processors in recent months don’t augur well to grow Australia’s milk output.

CHRIS SCRALETT

I HAVE argued for many

years to those who would listen, (and to many more who would not!) that the milk pricing system in Australia, with its lack of transparency and risk mitigation tools across the

industry, is holding back expansion of dairying in Australia and needs to be improved.

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listed during the largest capital raising in Australian dairy industry history shedding 60% (MG Unit Trust), does not auger well to grow Australia’s milk output, which has been in decline.

At Ausfine, I have been fortunate to gain a global dairy perspective - we deal with suppliers of product from every main producing region, and export to every major market.

The stand-out to me is the lack of transparency and lack of risk mitigation “end to end” in the Australian dairy industry.

The Australian industry is competing for a dwindling pool of milk and seems reluctant to change.

Is the industry simply shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic? Or should it change the tune the band is playing, and change course now?

The out-dated milk pricing model which exists in Australia needs to become progressive and attractive for investment.

Currently, given the opening price and forecasted price are calculated based on forecasts of volatile commodity prices and foreign exchange rates, they are basically out of date as soon as the ink is dry.

Step-ups or step-downs are usually retrospective and can get back calculated on all milk supplied since the start of the financial year.

This means farmers are either receiving cash flow well after they needed it to grow production during the year when prices were high and supply was needed; or, they are left with the potential for clawbacks, which in the current scenario will be paid back over the next three years.

The inflexibility of the above system poses as many issues for buyers of milk (processors /manufacturers) as it does for the sellers (dairy farmers).

In the past we have seen some manufacturers borrow to either prop up milk prices to farmers when the prevailing market cannot support it, or invest in new production capacity to chase higher returning markets.

That can only work if the debt can be paid back

on the next “bounce” in commodity prices – or if “value-add” efforts are fully realised.

If prices and returns don’t rebound quick enough, and the banks aren’t willing to keep on lending, then the music stops.

This pricing system harks back to the days when majority of milk was supplied to cooperatives who owned the processing assets, and the attitude was “we’re all in, no matter what, so let’s do the best we can, keep a bit up the sleeve, and, announce step-ups after we see how things pan out”.

However, the Australian dairy industry has changed considerably in the past decade or so.

The historical model where the co-op also owns all the processing assets is no longer the majority.

Coupled with this are unique and complex milk pricing models offered by co-ops and processors, based on geographical location, seasonality, milk composition, etc.

There are also other incentives and deterrents for farmers to stay, or switch, unique to the current party they contract their milk to.

It would take a panel of advisors (knowledgeable in milk composition, contract law, cost accounting and dairy seasonality) weeks just decide what is the best deal for each unique farmer - let alone a farmer milking the cows twice a day and running a dairy farm.

Due to this lack of transparency on milk pricing and its retrospective nature, the ability for the industry to hedge price risk “end to end” is largely lacking.

Dairy farmers therefore remain the “risk mitigants” for the Australian Industry.

There is both a lack of transparency and no efficient way for a farmer to hedge against this risk.

The milk price is always “subject to final confirmation”.

The industry needs to be developed where companies and new entrants can grow new milk, as opposed to try and attract from the existing pool.

To do this, Australian

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

WORLD // 21

d in Oz pricing system dairy segment needs to attract investment, which can be partly achieved by promoting transparency and developing some real risk management tools such as exchange traded futures contracts, which all participants can use; farmers, processors, investors and buyers of Australian dairy products and ingredients.

Many of our competitors have more transparent milk pricing models, as well as commodity futures exchanges trading dairy, where market participants can efficiently hedge their risk and take signals from futures to make more informed decisions of future market trends.

Futures signals are a collective and somewhat unbiased view of the total market, (all collective participating buyers and sellers).

This view of the market can be used by participants (farmers / processors / manufactures / investors / buyers), coupled with their own views and other views from management, to make informed decisions.

The USA has the most liquid and sophisticated dairy futures market, based around national milk price transpar-

ency and a suite of CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) dairy futures.

Many “Dairymen” in the US use futures, often via the manufacturer or co-op who contracts their milk, in order to protect their margin and provide banks and lenders with comfort over their capital.

Processors in the US largely remove price risk from their “things to worry about” and focus on improvements in efficiencies, scale, technology and product development to gain an edge in the market and achieve success.

Buyers of US finished product can also use CME tools to hedge out price fluctuations and provide their customers or consumers with long term flat pricing which is particularly important when dealing with retailers or food service customers.

This can often provide an advantage for US producers when negotiating longer term deals with retail and food service buyers who need fixed long term pricing.

New Zealand launched Dairy Futures on the NZX a number of years ago.

Europe is also active in developing dairy risk management across the value chain – there are dairy

Making more value added products, like infant formula, for China, has its own risks.

product futures on the EEX (European Energy Exchange) which are being used by manufacturers to give fixed milk prices to their farmers.

Liquidity on the exchange and risk management will become more sophisticated and continue to grow.

Cooperatives and processors in Australia which I have raised my views with have countered that they can mitigate the risk for their farmer suppliers through value-add and product mix.

But value-adding ultimately does not remove one from the global supply and demand trends in milk pricing.

It is not a short term

solution, it is not without its own risks, and it is not a risk mitigation for pricing volatility.

Providing true risk mitigation tools to manufacturers means they can maintain focus on a smaller area of expertise through periods of volatility, and, to create value can become leaders in that segment through innovation, or, scale up production to run more efficiency, or ideally both.

Rather than lagging the rest of the world with regards to transparency surrounding milk pricing, Australia has the opportunity to turn the negative course of recent events into a positive and become one of the more progres-

sive global dairy suppliers.

Sure, open transparent markets with futures exchanges do not stop the inevitable supply/demand boom/bust commodity cycles, but they do allow the risk to be spread from solely farmers, to other market participants.

If Australian dairy farmers could access that information and see the forward view, even better; take commercial advantage to lock in a premium price in the future if it suited their circumstance.

It may assist them through this tough period.

• Chris Scarlett is managing director of Ausfine Foods, a supplier of Australian and Oceania dairy and meat products

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

22 // WORLD

Cold pressed technology delivers raw Oz milk to shelves straight into our bottles and then we put those bottles under our cold high water pressure system to eliminate any harmful bacteria or pathogens.

“It’s a three-part system – in addition to the technology we rely on careful herd management and hygienic milking practices because we need a very high quality milk to use our process.”

Joye says Made By Cow had looked at several dairies and chose the Menzies’s farm because of its milk quality and hygienic milking practices.

“They monitor every cow to check how they are performing and get an enormous amount of data,” he said.

“They know every one of their cows by name. The cows are all well fed on pasture. Jersey milk works beautifully with the technology.”

Hayley Menzies says they “didn’t have to jump through hoops” to make changes to meet the quality demanded.

RICK BAYNE

IT’S BUSINESS as usual for New South Wales farmers Stuart and Hayley Menzies even though they’re now the sole suppliers of a product touted as the world’s first safe-todrink raw milk.

Made By Cow Cold Pressed Raw Milk uses a cold-pressed process to ensure the milk is safe and approved for consumption but requires high quality source material.

However, the suppliers haven’t had to change much because Made By Cow founder Saxon Joye says the Menzies’s farm at Numbaa south of Berry already produced exceptionally high quality milk.

The process is an alternative to conventional heat pasteurisation and designed to retain the taste of raw milk.

“The cold-pressed technology is fairly simple,” Joye says.

“We milk our Jersey herd – the milk goes

“We haven’t changed too much,” she says. “We always insist on clean cups, a clean platform, clean teats, and clean people with gloves and aprons.

“We use a pre and post teat spray to help keep the cows’ udder health in good condition and we use heat-time monitors.

“The whole herd’s sematic cell count is fairly low anyway.”

The only structural changes needed were the addition of a second vat and second wash system.

While the bulk of the farm’s milk continues to supply Parmalat, Menzies says it was hoped the raw milk produce would provide a solid alternative.

“We’re hoping it will pay for itself quite quickly,” she said.

“They’ve taken two lots so far and predict the volumes will increase. There has been a general shift in the public to buying branded milk so I think this sort of product with take-off.”

Stuart and Hayley Menzies provide their Jersey milk to a milk processor marketing raw milk.

“They wanted a nice thick layer of cream on top.

“Because the milk is not homogenised, the Jersey milk being a bit higher in fat and protein is a good mix for them.”

At this stage the farm is sticking to its existing herd of just under 300.

Joye has been in food

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manufacturing for about 20 years and migrated to the cold process technology for the benefits it brings to many different foods.

“The Holy Grail for us was could we take raw milk and keep all the good stuff but make it safe to drink,” he said.

Joye said the coldpressed raw milk and passed through a rigorous review and was approved by the NSW

Water Flow Indicator

Food Authority.

“There is a lot of scientific rigour behind it,” he says.

“We had to find the right time and cold pressure recipe to bring to the market something equivalent to the safety of heat pasteurisation.”

The launch has created enormous interest and Mr Joye expected the first stocks to sell out within two days.

“We’ve done a small batch at this stage to see if the market is interested in another option,” he says.

“We can’t predict how much production we will need. Time will tell if people

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embrace the less-messedwith product but so far the response has been very positive.”

Initially launched in NSW, Joye says Made By Cow would consider interstate opportunities.

“We pay a premium but have an expectation we get a really high quality milk; we’re really happy and so are our farmers. If the market is there we’d consider interstate options.”

The milk has longer shelf life which could lead to easier distribution around the country.

Joye says the cold pressure system had very little effect on original colour and flavour.

“It tastes the same as raw milk but we have all the safety steps in there.”

Hayley Menzies says Stuart supported that claim.

“He says it tastes like it’s just out of the vat”, says Hayley Menzies.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

24 // OPINION RUMINATING

EDITORIAL

Professor Holmes’ big legacy

MILKING IT...

Retro Kiwi milkbars storming China

A STRING of 1950s-style milkbars serving Kiwi dairy milkshakes, smoothies and yogurt is reckoned a smash hit in China.

The New Zealand Milk Bar brand is unknown in its home country, but its owner Biopure Health, Auckland, opened its 50th China store in Shanghai last month and plans to have 1000 outlets up and running by late 2017.

The two-level, 330m flagship store has a retro milkbar counter, and a retail department selling milk products from New Zealand companies, including infant formula and milk powder.

The business started five years ago, following the 2008 incident in which thousands of Chinese were hospitalised after drinking melamine-tainted milk.

Disgusting dairying deserves death

YORKSHIRE’S AUSTRALIAN cricket coach Jason Gillespie (41) is risking the wrath of his county club’s sponsors by saying the “disgusting” dairy industry should be shut down.

Yorkshire is sponsored

by Wensleydale Creamery, but this isn’t deterring Gillespie – a vegan– from coming out punching against the business.

The pace bowler, who has led Yorkshire to two county championship titles, stood by his opinions in an interview with the Yorkshire Post.

Asked about conflict with the company whose logo appears on Yorkshire’s shirts, he said, “Yes, they’re a sponsor, but it doesn’t mean I agree with what they do.

“It’s cruel ‘speciesism’ at its very worst and I don’t want to be part of it. I hope one day the dairy industry can be shut down. It’s disgusting and wrong on many levels.”

Cows happier not to see you

COWS AND robots go together: throw in face recognition software (FRS) and it’s perfect for their happiness.

Why? Cows are happier when humans aren’t around: they see us as predators.

“No prey animal ever wants to see a predator,” says David Hunt, co-founder of Cainthus, a company digitising agricultural practices. “The less cows see the happier they are. A cow doesn’t know what a robot is, so isn’t scared of it.”

Digital farms can include robots, but Cainthus has also created FRS that identifies cows so that farmers can identify potential problems early.

With 1.4 billion cows on the planet, this technology can help on many farms – the ‘digital dairy’ concept.

Cainthus’ FRS will be for sale this August or September, aimed at dairies with 2000 or more cows; it is not for small dairy famers. The 4K camera can identify any cow, solid colored or spotted, since even a solid black cow has variations in its coat.

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It’s all bunk!

ISSN 1175-463X

IDYLLIC SCENES of cows grazing on lush grass in patchwork meadows amidst rolling hills recalls British dairy farming in the 1800s. Fast-forward to 2016 and it’s all different – and the old imagery might not be good for cows.

The animal welfare charity World Animal Protection (WAP) last month claimed the UK has 97 “confirmed intensive indoor dairy farms, and 43 suspected farms permanently housing cows all year round”. The cows are “denied access to pasture,” says WAP. Indoor housing jeopardises cattle welfare, “pushing cows to their physical limits because of the demands placed upon them to produce more milk. Research shows higher risk of cows suffering lameness and udder infections.”

FEW AGRICULTURAL scientists in the history of New Zealand have left a greater legacy than the late emeritus professor Colin Holmes who passed away last week.

He was regarded as the pioneer of once-a-day milking in New Zealand.

Holmes was up with the great Campbell McMeekan who rocked whatever boat it took to get the best deal from science for farmers, developing unique rapport with farmers and rural professionals.

So did Colin Holmes, the true gentleman in every way. His colleagues describe him as unafraid to speak his mind and to challenge, but without causing any offence.

Holmes was highly intelligent, a greater thinker and innovator and above all a brilliant scientist whose contribution to our nation has been huge.

His passion for the dairy sector came through in all his teachings, papers and presentations. That enthusiasm and passion never waned, earning him the respect of students, colleagues and rural professionals during a career spanning at least five decades.

Despite his vast knowledge and scientific brilliance, Holmes never set himself as the centre of attention. Like the Nobel Prize winner Professor Alan McDiarmid, Holmes made anyone who spoke to him feel valued and he showed an interest in what they were doing. This is the epitome of greatness.

In recent years Holmes advocated for once-a-day milking and with it a return to the proven concept of low cost, all-grass systems. At the numerous OAD field days he would offer insightful comments and promote science as the means of testing theories.

He was a great believer in robust, analytical, evidence based discussion, but did not dismiss out-of-hand ideas that some day might point to a solution.

Holmes’ contribution to the dairy industry has been recognised over many years by many awards, the science community’s way of honouring its own.

But there are honours more concrete, reflecting Holmes’ true legacy: they can be seen every day on farms around New Zealand and beyond our shores. The farm systems he devised and the people he taught are the real legacy to his greatness.

The dairy industry will miss him.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

OPINION // 25

Oz consumers weigh in on dairy crisis JOANNE BILLS

THE MONTH has been

challenging for Australian dairying, the two largest companies’ milk price revisions having hit many southern producers in the short term.

The sudden realignment of local farmgate prices with the realities of a depressed global commodity market will cause low milk prices to affect many more dairy producers in the new season.

The news stories almost seamlessly and inevitably moved from Murray Goulburn, Fonterra and commodity markets to evil supermarkets and A$1/L milk.

For those of us called on as ‘experts’ to shed light on the hardships facing dairy farmers there was an awkward moment when two barely related issues were collapsed into one.

In the monologues and sound bites that followed in the ensuing weeks, as the search for ‘the villain’ has moved from dairy companies to retailers, these nuances have become lost and the community has become more interested in ‘what we can do to help’. This has been encouraged by grassroots social media efforts by dairy farmers themselves.

The message has gone out to consumers: buy branded products, pay a little extra and you can do your bit. In the age of the quick grab, it’s pretty tough to say much more.

Perhaps a silver lining to this dairy crisis is the groundswell of consumer support for farmers doing it tough. It has been heartening to see images of supermarket fridges emptied of branded product, while store-brand products were left on the shelf.

A widely reported, though small, survey of 260 people by market researcher IMI International found 78% believed selling A$1/L milk at Coles and Woolworths had played a role in the current dairy pricing crisis.

Further, 74% said they

were aware dairy farmers were facing a crisis after large manufacturers reduced the price they were willing to pay their milk suppliers.

The survey found 66% of people are “prepared to pay more for their milk if it helps our local dairy farmers”.

For the major supermarket chains, caught in a downward price spiral of intense competition, it has been a strong message from shoppers. People were not simply choosing the cheapest, they were choosing products they believe will put more dollars in dairy farmers’ pockets.

Could this force a rethink and a backing away from a strategy that has been entrenched and successful for Coles for five years? Time will tell. Certainly Coles badly misjudged the situation with their announcement of a new brand to yield an extra 20c/L for an industry support fund.

The move has been condemned as a cynical PR stunt, although similar initiatives were sought and welcomed in South Australia and Western Australia.

On this occasion, apparently without any industry collaboration, it was a definite fail.

On the flipside, a concerted effort to buy branded milk, even over a long time, is unlikely to have a material impact on the financial situation now faced by dairy farmers – mostly in southern regions – affected by the farmgate price cut.

Will realising this cause observers and consumers to question what they have been told?

Consumers are responding to attributes of farmers they admire and value: authenticity, dignity, salt of the Earth.

Care is needed to acknowledge and encourage consumers choosing to spend more on milk, but not mislead them as to the cause of or cure for the hardship dairy farmers are feeling. While retailers and A$1/L milk have not

been part of the ‘solution’, neither are they the whole problem.

This current situation highlights that this industry is part of a global

market for dairy products, with a limited ability to insulate itself from the realities of demand and supply.

Volatility in farmgate

prices is nothing new for dairy or any other exporting sector.

• Joanne Bills is a director of Australian food consulting firm FreshAgenda.

Oz consumers believe the A$1L milk at major supermarkets has played a role in the milk price crisis.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

26 // AGRIBUSINESS

Review livestock valuation, improve tax efficiency CONTINUING CONVERGING of in value are non-taxable, whereas aged cows peaked in 2012 at $2155 the livestock values in respect of Herd movements in value under the NSC corresponding NSC value was around Scheme Value (HS) and National method are always taxable, either as $488 – a difference of $1667.

In general, most farmers use HS, Standard Cost (NSC) for dairy cattle income or a deduction.”

The HS value of a mixed aged dairy NSC, or a combination of the two presents farmers with an opportunity to review their livestock valuation cow has fallen to $1356, and the NSC methods to value their livestock for tax purposes. methods and optimise their However, switching the operations for tax efficiency, a As most dairy farmers are likely valuation method isn’t a tax specialist says. decision to take lightly, says Tony Marshall, agri tax to incur a loss for the 2016 year, Marshall, as it has further specialist at Crowe Horwath, there is unlikely to be any implications. points out that the IRD’s 2016 “Generally, changing Herd Scheme (HS) values have cash cost associated with the from NSC to HS will incur drawn to a point closest to the change in method. a tax cost, as the difference National Standard Cost (NSC) between the values under in some time.

“Valuation choice is important due for a home bred cow now stands at each method would be taxable income. to the tax treatment of livestock under around $900. At $456, the difference However, with the closing of the gap each scheme,” he says. “Once livestock is the smallest for many years. By between the methods, there is now an are valued under HS, movements contrast, when the HS value for mixed opportunity to make the change with

Cow values have tumbled as farm gate milk prices remain low.

the smallest amount of taxable income arising.”

As most dairy farmers are likely to incur a loss for the 2016 year, there is unlikely to be any cash cost associated with the change in method.

And whether or not it is appropriate to change methods depends on various factors which should be assessed on an individual basis. But there are some rules of thumb.

“Generally, if HS values are expected to increase, that signals a good time to enter this scheme. Once

a farmer is in the HS, any increases in value each income year are tax free.

“Secondly, if the farmer is expecting to sell the herd in the near future, switching to HS could protect part of the purchase price from tax. Finally, if the farmer is undertaking succession planning in the future, election into the HS method could be beneficial.”

Specialist advice should be taken before any decision is made as moving to the HS method is irrevocable. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

28 // AGRIBUSINESS

Oz milk production dips AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL milk pro-

duction could drop as much as 5% next season taking the national output to levels not seen since the drought, according to Dairy Australia’s June ‘Situation and Outlook’.

A dry season and the recent drop in farmgate milk price has also

smashed farmer confidence, a recent survey suggesting only 50%, or fewer, farmers feel positive about the industry.

The survey finds farmer sentiment was already in decline prior to the April cuts (from 74% positive in 2015 to 67% in 2016).

The report says farmers can expect the impacts

of the deep and persistent trough in international dairy markets and the low farmgate price to persist until at least the start of 2017 when it is hoped the global supply glut will start to ease.

Despite more stable operating conditions and farmer sentiment, producers in northern NSW,

Queensland and Western Australia are on high alert for flow-on impacts of the late season farmgate price cuts in southern Australia.

Dairy Australia senior analyst John Droppert says the impact of domestic and international events on many farm businesses could not be downplayed.

“Managing short term pressures to achieve longer term business plans will prove a greater challenge than usual in the months ahead,” Droppert says.

The report predicts lower fertiliser costs and high cull cow prices could provide some relief.

However lower inter-

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John Droppert, Dairy Australia.

national grain prices have taken some time to flow through to the Australian market and hay stocks remained tight.

Droppert says national milk production is expected to be down about 2% for the 2015-16 season to between 9.55 and 9.65 billion litres.

The outlook for 201617 is heavily dependent on seasonal conditions, but with the pricing environment looking tough a further 2-5% fall in production is anticipated.

“1-2% is a conservative estimate, but 5% is a pretty substantial drop in production so it’s at the negative end of the spectrum,” he said.

Droppert did not rule out a worse scenario but said, “We are looking at a season that by all accounts should be more favourable in terms of rainfall.”

He says the reduced production would not impact domestic supply, but would be taken off export markets.

Despite the gloom,

dairy demand has recovered in most importing regions over the past 12 months, with the overall volume of dairy trade up nearly 6%.

China has been responsible for much of this growth, with total exports to the country up 16% in volume.

Exports to Southeast Asian markets have continued to grow, with strong expansion in milk powder categories, while export volumes to the Middle East and Japan have eased slightly.

However, Droppert says supply continued to outpace demand, with inventories in many parts of the world building as production in Europe and the US continues to expand.

“Despite early signs, a global market turnaround remains unlikely until 2017,” he says.

To read the report visit www.dairyaustralia. com.au/Markets-and-statistics/Market-situationand-outlook.aspx

Co-op appoints people, culture boss FONTERRA HAS appointed Joanne Fair its new

managing director people and culture, starting next month.

She is currently Fonterra’s regional director ingredients, South East Asia.

Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings says Fair is ideal for the role.

“She has a strong background and expertise in human resources and has held global and regional commercial leadership roles, having worked with Fonterra across New Zealand, Latin America, Europe and South East Asia.

“With a decade of experience in the dairy industry, Jo is an experienced senior human resources and commercial leader, with a strong understanding of how Fonterra operates.

“She has shown agility in working with diverse cultures and customers, and her human resources and commercial experience positions her well.”

The co-op has also appointed Mike Cronin to the newly created role of managing director corporate affairs, effective immediately.

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

AGRIBUSINESS // 29

Sale-hungry processors eye Iran LAURIE WALKER

THE SUCCESSFUL conclusion of negotiations and the lifting of nuclearrelated sanctions on Iran are welcome news for major dairy exporters, many hoping that the return of Iran to the global stage will bring new opportunity.

Iran is a large, middle income country with an overwhelmingly young (median age 25) population of about 80 million.

Importantly, it has a well established tradition of dairy, which is about 40% of average Iranians’ daily protein intake.

Cheese, yoghurt and sour milk products are popular traditional products.

Hopes are high that Iran will mature into a large, high-value market for dairy exports. Until recently, Iran was a sizeable dairy importer, particularly of butter and skim milk powder (SMP).

Although the imposition of sanctions by the US and EU did not target food trade, Iran’s export earnings and local exchange rate tumbled, reducing its ability to pay for imports. Also, financial restrictions limited access to short term debt, trade credit financing, and shipping insurance for companies wish-

ing to trade with Iran. Consequently Iranian imports of consumer goods fell.

Following negotiations and the conclusion of the Iran deal in October 2015, sanctions were lifted; Australia removed all unilateral trade restrictions against Iran in January 2016.

However, optimism must be tempered by a realistic appraisal of the challenges of doing business with Iran.

Some US financial sanctions remain, and many financial institutions are wary of falling foul of these by doing business in Iran.

Further, the reimposition of sanctions removed following the nuclear deal, or new possible sanctions such as those imposed after Iran’s ballistic missile tests in October 2015, remain a real possibility.

Wider regional instability is also a problem, and will likely make Western firms cautious about engaging with Iran, at least in the short term.

Despite efforts to improve the foreign investment climate in Iran, the regulatory environment and tax treatment facing foreign companies remain unpredictable and subject to political interference.

Iran is ranked 118th in the World

Bank ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report.

Iran also maintains high tariffs and restrictions on foreign trade, with a range of quotas and approval systems in place. The oil revenues that represent about 80% of Iran’s export income are depressed due to low global prices.

So it appears affordability may be an immediate issue for many of Iran’s consumers.

Looking to the future, the Iranian market offers potential for SMP exports and butter.

Liquid milk consumption has grown 2.7% on average, albeit from a relatively low base, due in part to nation-wide school milk schemes and growing awareness of the benefits of commercial milk. However, local dairies have struggled to meet demand, and incomplete cold chains and distribution problems have caused the volume growth of long-life milk to outpace that of fresh milk. This represents an opportunity to supply ingredients for reconstituted products for population centres without local dairy production.

Given the difficulties of doing business with Iran, it is unclear how quickly Western dairy companies will be able to exploit opportunities there. However,

Iranians have a well established tradition of dairy,

there is some foreign presence in Iran, most significantly New Zealand, which has averaged 55% of imports by volume, 90% of which was butter.

Fonterra has publicly welcomed Iran’s opening, and expressed confidence in its ability to navigate the complex business environment of postsanctions Iran. The co-op’s managing director of global ingredients, Kelvin Wickham, says, “We know how to do business in Iran.”

Danone also has a presence in Iran, through a collection of subsidiaries and local partnerships.

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For new entrants into the Iranian market, re-exports via intermediaries in the United Arab Emirates – Iran’s largest source of imports – may represent the most straightforward way to gain exposure in the Iranian market without some of the attendant risks.

Though Iran’s re-joining the global community is welcome news, significant challenges remain. Its importance may have been over-hyped by a dairy industry eager for any good news in the face of an otherwise depressing outlook.

• Laurie Walker is an analyst with Dairy Australia.

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

30 // MANAGEMENT

Pasture-only farm most profitable in first year of trial A GRASS-ONLY farm

system showed the highest operating profit – slightly above PKE – in the first year of a three year trial at the Northland Agricultural Research Farm.

The Reduced Reliance on Imported Feed Trial is testing how two dairy production systems using all home grown feed (grass-only farm and cropping farm) compare to a system using palm kernel expeller (PKE farm).

In the first year milk production was highest on the cropping farm at 1049kgMS/ha compared with 870kgMS/ha on the grass-only and 1028kgMS/ ha on the PKE farm.

However, at a $3.90/ kgMS payout, the grassonly farm had the highest operating profit at $821/ ha, slightly above the PKE

farm at $788/ha.

The cropping farm was less profitable than the other two at $446/ha.

Allowing for the cost of capital on each system, the grass-only farm was still the most profitable at $789/ha, followed by the PKE farm at $626/ha and the cropping farm at $300/ha.

The Northland Agricultural Research

Farm near Dargaville is run with the Northland Dairy Development Trust; sponsors include DairyNZ, the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Hine Rangi Trust.

A recent briefing on the first year of the trial which started on June 2, 2015, said the kind weather and low milk price favoured the grass-only farm, where the lower production was

compensated by the lower farm working expenses.

“These results may vary in a more challenging season,” says a summary report on the work. “Based on this year’s trial results, if the milk price had increased to $5.50 or $7/ kgMS, the PKE farm would have been slightly more profitable than the other two farms.”

Good weather

TRIAL STRUCTURE The trial compares three farmlets: ■■ Grass-only farm - No imported supplement, home grown grass silage may be used. Stocking rate of 2.5 cows/ha (71 cows calving on 28ha) ■■

Cropping farm - No imported supplement, crops grown on farm (about 2ha turnips, 2ha

fodder beet and 2.5ha maize silage). Stocking rate of 2.7 cows/ha (78 cows calving on 28ha) ■■

PKE farm - Importing PKE as required to optimise profit from pasture. Stocking rate of 2.7 cows/ha (78 cows calving on 28ha).

A grass-only farm system has shown top results in a Northland trial.

throughout the 2015-16 season resulted in good pasture growth and covers on all farmlets for most of the season. As a result, supplement use was significantly lower than expected on the PKE farm at 469kg/cow. Crops were grown on the cropping farmlet: 23% of the farm area was in turnips, fodder beet and maize (silage).

Crop establishment was excellent but some yields were disappointing.

Turnip yield was estimated at 9.0 tonnes DM/ha, fodder beet 15.5t/ ha and maize silage 22.0t/ ha.

The background to the trial is that New Zealand dairy farms have come to rely heavily on importing feed.

“There is widespread concern in the farming community about what could happen if this feed became unavailable due to lack of supply, market pressures or food safety concerns. Increased levels of imported feed have driven up farm working expenses, making farm systems vulnerable during seasons with lower payout,” the summary says.

Loss of imported feed

would hit the productivity of NZ dairy farms in the short-medium term.

The research questions being addressed are: ■■ How can Northland dairy farms best maintain production and profit with reduced imported feed?

■■ How do we replace imported feed with extra forage grown on farm?

■■ How do we manage the effects of climatic variation with reduced reliance on imported feed? @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

MANAGEMENT // 31

Move slow, steady to fodder beet – DairyNZ SOUTHLAND DAIRY

farmers are urged to take it slow and steady when transitioning dairy cows onto fodder beet crops this season.

DairyNZ’s regional leader for Southland, Richard Kyte, says cows must be very slowly introduced to fodder beet by gradually decreasing pasture/silage allocation and increasing the crop over 14-21 days.

“Pay attention to every detail all the way through the transition process.

We can see issues after the first eight to 10 days, when people think they are through the process,” says Kyte.

Even for cows eating fodder beet during late lactation, careful transition up to their winter feed allocation is required.

“We’ve had cases recently of acidosis in cows, related to fodder beet. Acidosis can cause rumen damage or death and will reduce a cow’s food consumption.

“People must be vigilant; if you think cows aren’t looking well, call a vet to check them out.

The feed regime can then be adjusted to keep cows healthy.”

Too much of the high sugar crop in a cow’s daily feed intake or not having sufficient time to adapt to fodder beet as part of the winter diet can lead to

lactic acid production in the cow’s rumen, causing acidosis.

Farmers need to look for cows that seperate themselves from the mob, are not eating, are dehydrated, scouring, bloating, have milk feverlike symptoms, are down or die suddenly; then they should contact their vet immediately.

DairyNZ senior scientist Dawn Dalley says cows vary in how quickly they adapt to a new feed and the amount they can eat.

“We recommend farmers start mature cows with 1-2kgDM fodder beet/cow/day and only increase by 1kgDM every second day to the required allocation,” says Dalley.

“During transition do not increase the allocation if all cows are not eating beet or if bulbs are being left on previous days’ breaks.”

Heifers and rising yearlings should be started on 1kgDM fodder beet/ cow/day and only increase by 0.5kgDM every second or third day, once all animals are eating.

Dalley says cows should also be offered silage, hay or straw at least three hours before feeding fodder beet, to slow their crop intake.

“It’s also valuable to accurately measure the crop yield, which includes knowing the percentage

of dry matter of the crop being offered, and remembering it can vary between paddocks.”

Having good electricity on fences and a very close second fence in case of breakout is also vital.

“Check your cows frequently; individual cows transition differently, so even with well-planned transitioning acidosis can occur.”

More transition and feeding information is

available at dairynz.co.nz/ fodderbeet.

Farmers can also seek further advice from other farmers who’ve used fodder beet through Dairy Connect; visit dairynz. co.nz/dairy-connect.

Richard Kyte, DairyNZ

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

32 // MANAGEMENT

Keep maize plant population up SOME TALK in the

marketplace suggests reducing maize silage growing costs by decreasing planting population. This is being fuelled by seed companies – with limited data to support their low population ideas – trying to make quick seed sales.

Pioneer’s trialling programme includes population trials which evaluate new hybrids in a range of growing environments. This is done to establish the optimum plant population for each hybrid. The optimum seeding rate is not the one that produces the highest yield, but instead the one that produces the most profit after factoring in seed and seed treatment costs.

During the past five decades, New Zealand maize silage hybrids have been increasing at 166kg DM/ha/year. On a per plant basis there is not much yield difference between older and newer hybrids. The big yield gains have been made in the newer hybrids’ ability to perform well under stress conditions.

Improved leaf angles, better root and stalk strength and higher

drought tolerance means newer hybrids can perform better at higher plant densities than older genetics. This is where the yield increase has mainly come from.

NZ research has shown that today’s hybrids (irrespective of brand), perform best when planted at seeding rates which will give higher, rather than lower, established plant populations (figure 1).

While crops which

have lower established plant populations are often more visually appealing (larger plants and bigger cobs), this does not normally translate to higher drymatter yields.

That’s because the higher plant population crops have smaller plants, with smaller cobs, but there are more of them!

Published NZ research1 shows that established plant population has very little impact on maize silage quality. A summary

of 12 maize hybrids grown at 13 locations over two seasons showed there was no statistical difference in starch, soluble sugar, ADF, NDF or in vitro digestibility of maize silage from crops with established populations of 85,000-145,000 plants/ ha. As plant population increased, maize silage crude protein dropped slightly.

Two factors which impact the optimum established population

for a maize silage hybrid are the expected crop yield level and the hybrid maturity.

High yield environments including high fertility dairy farm paddocks with good soil types will deliver the most profit at a higher optimum established plant population than lower fertility, repeat cropping paddocks or crops planted on drought-prone soils.

Recommended NZ planting populations

Figure 1: Silage yield response to population for two Pioneer, and two competitor hybrids.

If you are planting very early into a less-thanideal seed bed or where insect pressure may be high, seeding rate will need to be increased to compensate for early seedling mortality.

Don’t be tempted to cut costs by reducing planting population this season. What you lose in drymatter yield is likely to cost you a lot more than you save in seed cost.

1Densley R.J.; BrentonRule, R. J.; Austin, G.M.; Densley, D.W.; Tsimba, R. 2003. The effect of increasing plant population on maize silage yield and quality. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association 65: 117-121.

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

Set up for a smart calving season DAIRYNZ WILL run CalvingSmart events in June

and July to help farmers approach the calving season with confidence.

This full day programme for the whole farm team offers farmers a choice of sessions to suit different experience levels, enabling them to develop practical skills to help calving go well.

For senior managers there is a session on calf care and farmers’ responsibilities under the new draft animal welfare regulations.

Other sessions include new colostrum research, management approaches to the prevention of lameness and mastitis and how to keep teams healthy and motivated.

For new entrants and farm assistants a junior workshop gives hands-on training. Participants will learn to identify the signs of calving, stages of labour and normal and abnormal calf presentation. They will also get practical tips on how to look after themselves during this hectic time.

DairyNZ’s animal husbandry and welfare team manager, Chris Leach, says everyone in the farm team can benefit from attending a CalvingSmart event.

“Everyone onfarm has a part to play in ensuring all animals are treated with respect and cared for in a healthy, safe environment. Being prepared and staying healthy will make for an easier, stress-free spring,” says Leach.

Events are free for all levy-paying dairy farmers and their staff. Registrations are essential and can be completed online. dairynz.co.nz/calvingsmart

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are often higher than US planting populations because we typically have better growing conditions with less moisture and/ or heat stress during the growing season.

Shorter maturity hybrids are smaller in stature and require higher established plant populations to achieve optimum yield than longer maturity hybrids.

For this reason South Island recommended planting populations are typically higher than those in the North Island.

The Pioneer brand maize for silage catalogue outlines ideal established populations for hybrids planted in high, medium and challenging yield environments. They assume good seed establishment conditions.

9/06/16 7:51 am

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

MANAGEMENT // 33

Kaikoura farmers plan to please RICHARD COSGROVE

A DAIRYING revolution

is underway in Kaikoura, and it’s a positive revolution.

Promptly in early 2016, each of Kaikoura’s 24 dairy farmers joined with DairyNZ and Fonterra to prepare a sustainable milk plan for their farms.

Chris Appleby, the Supply Fonterra programme leader, says the farmers were keen to get on board quickly. A workshop one month later was followed by a visit

by DairyNZ consultants from Christchurch; for two weeks they visited all farms, helping each complete a sustainable milk plan.

Fifth-generation dairy farmer Terry Laugesen says, “we’re not here to

critical ratings in shed assessments in the environmental section for the past two seasons All permanent flowing waterways are stock excluded, which equates to 37km of fencing done in Kaikoura All regular stock crossing points have culverts or bridges to keep stock out of waterways Every farm has completed a sustainable milk plan six months ahead of when regional council rules would require them.

The Laugesen farm runs 850 cows on a 260ha effective milking platform. Laugesen says having a plan has changed his mindset – helpfully.

It wasn’t complicated, he says.

Appleby says

that because farmers are now a small minority in New Zealand (86% of Kiwis live in urban areas) “farmers need to show they care about the envi-

Kaikoura farmer Terry Laugesen.

ronment otherwise we may not be allowed to keep farming”.

• Richard Cosgrove is a communications adviser at Fish and Game.

“Farmers need to show they care about the environment otherwise we may not be allowed to keep farming”. rape the land”.

Knowing things were going to be changing the farmers saw no point in arguing the toss, instead putting their energies into showing they care about the environment.

Fish and Game Nelson-Marlborough manager Rhys Barrier says “these farmers deserve praise and recognition for their efforts and the speed at which they completed their plans”.

The results speak for themselves: 100% of farms were ‘block’ mapped ensuring accurate information for Overseer files, linking land management to soil types for each farm (The only region in New Zealand that has this) 100% of farms submitted data for endof-season nutrient budgeting for the 201415 season (the only large region in NZ to achieve this) No major or

Canterbury farmers were the first to complete the plans. Their efforts were rewarded by Environment Canterbury commissioner David Bedford: he had quipped at a water zone committee meeting that if all the Kaikoura farmers had their plans in place

by May 31 he would shout them wine from his own vineyard.

At a recent dairy farmers’ annual dinner in Kaikoura Bedford gave each farmer a pack of three bottles of wine, honouring his word.

Laugesen says the help from DairyNZ and Fonterra got the task done; all parties had worked together to achieve the goal.

He says his weakness was doing the paperwork, and he cautioned that you need a paper trail – everything recorded because “Environment Canterbury can’t listen to you without proof ”.

Laugesen commented

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

34 // MANAGEMENT

New farmers win with high-tech processes

Joe and Suz Wyborn.

NIGEL MALTHUS

UP TO 200 people recently attended a farm field day to hear the winning ways of South Canterbury sharemilkers Joe and Suz Wyborn.

The Wyborns milk

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to dairying, they have developed the farm to the point of being named this year’s Canterbury supreme winners of the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

They impressed the judges with their embrace of high-tech processes and tight protocols to create an operation which almost runs itself.

The judges cited Wyborns’ industry-leading protocols and systems which staff can effectively duplicate without supervision, outstanding staff management with a priority on health and safety, planting of natives and exotics in unproductive areas of the farm, and excellent milk production based on sound pasture management and efficient water use.

Although the farm has no calves currently, a popular feature of the field

at once, and discovered it could do so by fronting up to a feeder just before midnight to get what was officially its second feed for that day, then immediately get its first for the following day when the system reset at midnight.

Suz, meanwhile, was able to monitor that behaviour from the comfort of home because the controlling software interfaces to any computer or smartphone. Each calf can have its own tailored feeding programme and with the whole operation closely logged any problems are quickly identified.

For his part in the field day, Joe Wyborn presented his system of pervasive checklists and a constantly updated “live document” operating manual which he started when they first arrived and is still evolving.

They impressed the judges with their embrace of high-tech processes and tight protocols to create an operation which almost runs itself. day was Suz Wyborn’s presentation of the highly automated feeding system at the centre of her calfrearing operation.

She has six stainless steel Handy calf feeding stations installed in a north-facing open-front shed. Gates across the front keep calves in, while open doors at the back allow them to wander between the shed and open pasture.

With every calf electronically tagged and tag readers installed on each feeder, each calf automatically gets its assigned daily rations at times to suit itself.

Because each feeder allows only one calf at a time, timid calves cannot be bullied out of their share and greedy ones cannot get more than their share since the flow would stop and they would soon get bored sucking at a dry teat.

Suz said the calves were quick to learn how to use the feeders. One developed a liking for getting both its daily feeds

He said it was invaluable when he hired an English couple with the right attitude but no experience, who with the help of the manual quickly became among his best workers.

“This is us teaching them, and then they can go back and use it as a reference. If they’ve forgotten something, they have one of these in their house. They don’t have to feel embarrassed about having to ask; they can go back and flick through.”

Joe also emphasised health and safety as an integral part of farm management. He said that although staff were salaried, they nevertheless all had to keep timesheets to ensure no-one worked dangerously tiring hours even at busy times such as calving.

Christine Svensson, of WorkSafe, spoke about health and safety.

Other speakers covered shed technology, water management and resource management.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

36 // ANIMAL HEALTH

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rearing with low morbidity (sick calves) and low mortality (dead calves) relies on attention to detail in all aspects of the calf rearing ‘puzzle’.

A shortfall in one area requires that other pieces of the puzzle be optimal to avoid unnecessary disease and losses.

In a season such as this, we need to be mindful of the cost-benefit of management changes.

Decisions should be based on evidence and circumstance, to avoid unnecessary cost without compromising animal welfare.

This article discusses some top priorities in calf rearing to achieve maximum benefit with minimal cost.

Puzzle piece #1: Colostrum This is where it all begins. Tempting though it is to look for other ‘silver bullets’ to add to the feeding system, the most helpful thing is successful colostrum management.

Colostrum is the very first milk produced in the udder. Milk from the second to eighth milking is called transition milk.

Remember the three Qs of colostrum management: quickly, quality and quantity.

Quickly Pick up all calves from the calving twice daily and actively feed first-milking colostrum (by teat or tube) immediately.

If only once daily pickup is possible, store firstmilking colostrum with potassium sorbate in the refrigerator and teat- or tube feed all calves as soon as possible after birth in the calving area.

Keep a simple recording system

B L O AT • M I L K P R O D U C T I O N • K E T O S I S 1 2 COW CONDITION • FEED EFFICIENCY References: 1,2,3,4,5 Elanco data on file. Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, No’s A010731 © 2014 Elanco, a division of Eli Lilly and Company. Elanco, Rumensin and the diagonal colour bar are trade marks owned or licensed by Eli Lilly and Company.

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Calf pens should be separated.

Feed calves the best quality colostrum available.

Gemma Chuck

(spray paint/whiteboard) to ensure all calves are fed their two feeds of first milking colostrum.

Quality Pick up all freshly calved cows from the calving twice daily and milk at both the morning and afternoon milking.

Colostrum quality starts to decline at the point of calving and twice daily pick-up and milking of fresh cows will allow collection of the best possible quality colostrum.

Ensure all cows have a minimum dry period of six weeks. Colostrum production starts about 5-6 weeks prior to calving. Cows with short dry periods will have compromised colos-

trum quality.

Routinely measure all first-milking colostrum with a Brix refractometer (cost A$40).

Separate colostrum into two ‘grades’: good and poor. Brix readings of 22% or greater are considered good quality colostrums; reserve this for the very first feeds to newborn calves.

Brix readings of less than 22% are considered poor quality colostrums; feed this as a second feed where necessary.

Only mix colostrum of the same grade – good with good and poor with poor.

Quantity Actively feed (by teat or tube) all calves a suitable quantity of the best possible colostrum available as soon as possible after birth. The exact quantity to be fed will depend on quality.

If good quality colos-

trum is available, feed 2L in the first 12 hours, then another 2L in the next 12 hours. To large calves 4L can be fed as a single feed in the first 12 hours.

If only poor quality colostrum is available, feed 3L in the first 12 hours, followed by another 3L in the next 12 hours.

Puzzle piece #2: Environment Calf sheds and pens come in all shapes and sizes; some basic rules apply to any set-up.

All-in, all-out system This system allows calves to be reared in batches, as a group of similar age and therefore immunity. There should be no more than seven days between the oldest and youngest calf in the pen.

This system relies on filling a pen sequentially as

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

ANIMAL HEALTH // 37

r calf rearing Clean calf pens reduce the risk of diseases.

ELE-01678-DN

housing or hygiene.

Protect calves from the weather and feed them appropriately for the season.

In cold weather calves use more energy from their food to keep warm.

• Gemma Chuck is a vet with The Vet Group in Victoria, Australia.

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place with bungee cords.

Ad lib calf starter (concentrate) from birth is also optimal to promote earlier consumption and rumen development. A minimum of 18% crude protein calf starter is suitable for pre-weaned calves.

Milk feeding should be consistent with any changes occurring gradually.

Puzzle piece #3: Hygiene All feeding equipment should be washed after each feed to prevent build-up of diseasecausing pathogens.

Collect colostrum in stainless steel buckets with lids. These can be washed more effectively than plastic ones.

Always wear gloves when handling all calves.

This helps prevent disease transfer from calf to calf and from calves to you.

You need to be feeling well to rear calves well.

Puzzle piece #4: Health management Aim to stagger stressful events such as disbudding, weaning, vaccination and turnout. Calves will cope reasonably well with small amounts of stress but one large stressor can predispose them to disease.

Ensure all staff know the early signs of disease so that sick calves can be identified and treated promptly. This will ensure the best outcome for the calf.

Many calf diseases are precipitated by the stress of poor nutrition,

I P IM AP or OW N

calves are born. Once that pen is full, a new pen is started. Calves do not move from pen to pen through the shed as this allows easy transfer of disease.

Calves stay in their pen until they are all moved out, as a batch.

Then clean the pen before using it again. Although it is tempting to re-use the bedding, this can greatly increase the risk of spreading disease from older to younger calves.

Solid partitions If you have gone to the effort of rearing calves in an all-in all-out system, the very next step is to separate pens with solid, non-permeable partitions. This helps prevent transfer of disease from pen to pen. If solid partitions are used and there is a ‘hiccup’ of disease in one pen, it can be contained to that pen.

Mesh and gate partitions allow easy transfer of disease between pens via manure and nose-tonose contact.

Partitions need to be 1.5m high and made of a non-porous waterproof surface, easily cleaned.

Materials include corrugated roofing steel (pictured) or flat steel sheet.

A cheaper, lighter alternative is corflute, the stuff real estate agents use for signs. Buy it in sheets at most large home-garden stores.

Feeding systems All calves should have access to ad lib, clean, fresh water from birth.

Use buckets in car tyres or held in

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

38 // ANIMAL HEALTH

Facial eczema hits Taranaki hard PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

TARANAKI DAIRY Katrina Knowles

farmers are enduring a

terrible facial eczema onslaught.

DairyNZ’s regional leader in the province, Katrina Knowles, says this extraordinary year

has whole herds showing clinical signs of the disease.

FE has occurred in Taranaki before, but never this bad, she says. The

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DAIRYNZ GENERAL manager extension Andrew Reid says facial eczema is also hurting herds in other regions of the North Island.

Waikato, Manawatu and parts of Bay of Plenty are hard-hit.

DairyNZ is concerned about the effect such a high incidence of clinical cases will have on production next season, Reid says.

And lots of clinical cases signal a higher rate of sub-clinical cases -- a real concern.

“If it’s as severe as we’re told, there will be a carryover effect into the spring, impacting production; but at this stage I can’t say exactly what level that might be. A lot depends on how the winter period plays out,” he says.

Reid says farmers need to be vigilant in the coming months to deal with issues possibly arising from cows affected by FE.

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that have been affected clinically and they know how to deal with them and to preferentially feed them. But if they have clinical animals they will have sub-clinical animals showing no outward signs of being affected by FE. The sub-clinical ones also need care – good levels of high energy feed, good quality pasture forages and supplements,” she says.

Knowles says farmers should be trying to raise the condition score of their cows to get them ready for calving. But with calving in many parts of the province only weeks away that will be difficult.

“We all know that animals don’t put on weight in the last three weeks of pregnancy so we have limited time now.

Farmers must manage what they can and not set too high expectations,” she says.

Knowles says farmers should act now, seperating FE cows from the main herd and giving injectible vitamin B12 to stimulate appetite.

Preferential feeding will also improve body condition score, taking them closer to the optimum BCS 5.0 for mature cows or 5.5 for first and second calvers.

Other treatments should continue – magnesium during the dry period and minerals copper, selenium and cobalt.

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disease is spread right across the province.

“The last time we had a real outbreak was in the 1980s,” but never with counts this bad.

“Some of the counts just skyrocketed away. In the past we had a 250,000 count, but this year they are past the million,” she says.

Knowles says the outbreak is due to high temperatures followed by rain which set up the conditions for FE to take hold in the lower base of grass grazed by stock.

Unusually, dairy farms high up near the bushline of Mt Taranaki are as badly affected as those at lower altitudes near the coast.

Sheep and beef farmers are similarly hit.

“The farmers around the mountain never thought they would get it. For years they have probably done nothing to prevent it, but even those people who were treating it by spraying and doing everything right still ended up with FE this year,” she says.

The big thing now is for farmers to make sure their cows are not stressed in any way in the lead up to calving. Any farmer seeking help to deal with FE is getting it from DairyNZ. (A DNZ website section dedicated to FE shows how to detect and treat it.)

“The big thing is that people will feed animals

15/04/16 10:46 AM

9/06/16 1:10 pm

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

SOUTH ISLAND DAIRY EVENT // 39

For hoof health and increased immunity…

Delegates at 2015 SIDE conference.

South Island event to inform, inspire CLAIRE GRANT

THE SOUTH Island Dairy Event (SIDE) programme promises to inform, challenge and inspire ‘mainland’ dairy farmers.

The annual three day conference at the ILT Stadium in Invercargill on June 20-22 is the largest event of its type in New Zealand.

Organised by farmers for farmers, the programme is aimed at inspiring and informing: ‘inspirational’ speakers will line up with practical workshops on dairy farming and business management. Likeminded farmers come to learn, network and be inspired and motivated.

SIDE 2016 Event committee chair Heidi Williams refers to even more value in a tough year. “We’re keen to get many people along; now is a good time to be discussing and learning.”

“We’ve pulled together a lot of good information and an excellent mix of wellknown NZ speakers and technical experts.

And it’s also a great opportunity to meet like-minded farmers and share their stories – for one day or the whole conference.”

The ‘Bounce Forward’ theme acknowledges what dairy farmers are enduring – personally, financially, climatically and environmentally. It seeks to ensure farming businesses exit the downturn in better shape to handle future volatility.

Learning new ideas will be balanced with remembering the systems that have worked well in the past. And the event will encourage confidence in ourselves and what we do, and confidence that we are involved in a great industry.

This year’s SIDE dinner on June 21 will be at the recently opened Bill Richardson Transport World, with the theme of wearable art – farm fusion. Delegates can buy a ticket to the dinner regardless of which day they attend. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

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Ultra-marathon runner Mal Law climbed 50 peaks and ran 50 off-road marathons in 50 days, to raise funds for the Mental Health Foundation. In 2012 and 2016 he received a New Zealander of the Year ‘Local Hero Award’. He will

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Dr Steven Saunders, described as an ‘edutainer’, is the business consultant keynote speaker. He is among Australasia’s foremost speakers and sales trainers. He will speak about leading, managing and motivating teams for success.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

40 // SOUTH ISLAND DAIRY EVENT

Motivation: why farmers do what they do SOUTHLAND FARMER Dylan Ditch-

field is asking the big question of dairy farmers during his workshop at the South Island Dairy Event.

Dylan and Sheree Ditchfield’s workshop is themed, ‘Answering the why for your business: the key to sustaining team engagement and culture.’

It focuses on people as the integral part of the farming business, with the aim of creating a work culture onfarm that captures the staff’s hearts as well as their minds.

He believes an engaged team is one working together with purpose.

A team heading in the same direction develops resilient staff enabled to

grow with a business. That in turn means staff are motivated, staff turnover is low, trust is high and farmers are more in control of productivity and profitability for a sustainable business longterm.

But to engage staff you need to make sure they share your long-term vision, and this requires understanding it clearly yourself, and sharing it with your spouse or partner.

But pinning down the vision can be hard.

Ditchfield says making improvements requires that you start by questioning why you are here.

‘Stepping outside the box’ is a useful way of fine-tun-

ing a business to make it stronger and more sustainable, he says.

“Look beyond the surface of the business to discover what really motivates you to do your best work every day.

“Understanding why you do what you do is a personal question for a business leader. The answer lies beyond making money or acquiring assets; it requires understanding the fundamental beliefs that lie at the heart of the business and the core purpose that gets you out of bed; it is about the legacy you leave.

“Your core purpose will remain part of who you are; it will apply to dairy farming or to any other

Supporting SIDE SIDE examines the big issues with a local focus. It provides a forum that educates, inspires and motivates.

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business you are involved in.”

Ditchfield has developed a process that helps farmers look at their business beyond cows and grass. He and fellow Southland business advisor Brendon Harrex will speak about their experiences of using the process to identify their bigger purpose and transform their businesses. Looking hard at motivation is

Sheree and Dylan Ditchfield.

crucial.

As Simon Sinek, Apple Computers, puts it, “People don’t buy what

you do; they buy why you do it.” For example, people buy Apple computers not just because

they are great products but because the company stands for challenging the status quo.

What makes a resilient farmer?

SCIENCE BACKS what humans need to thrive, and DairyNZ wellness and wellbeing specialist Dana Carver is keen for dairy farmers to benefit from such science to stay strong and healthy.

Wellness is as much a science as the study of grass species or cow conditioning, Carver says.

Her workshop on this topic at last year’s event was highly rated, many people asking for a repeat.

“Most said they knew of someone else who would benefit from coming along, and we’re hoping that will happen. It’s encouraging that so many people in the industry are starting to talk about wellness and resilience.

“We’re keen for farmers to discuss tips from the workshop with family and colleagues in their networks.”

Her talk is themed, ‘The resilient farmer: keeping yourself strong amidst the ever-increasing pressures of farming’. She will talk about what it means to be healthy and how to deal with stress, with practical examples.

“The stressors aren’t going away, but there are things you can do as an individual that will help you; these don’t cost anything and don’t Dana Calver need to take up a lot of time,” she says.

For example, set aside time to turn off the television and play a board game with the family, get off the farm once a fortnight for three hours, or make a simple change to

diet.

Carver will tell stories of changes made by some farmers who attended previous workshops, including one who now jogs the 2km from his home to the milking shed – and back – each morning.

“It’s made all the difference to his stress, and it’s a cool example of what a small change can make.”

She will speak about understanding your personality and values, and how this can help with decisionmaking, handling the unexpected, stress and burnout.

And she will remind farmers that farming should be enjoyable as well as profitable.

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

SOUTH ISLAND DAIRY EVENT // 41

Real pros and cons of wintering infrastructure CLAIRE GRANT

MORE BENEFITS

accrue from having a wintering shed onfarm than may first appear.

So say western Southland farmers Pete and Tanya Copeland, who will speak on ‘Farm infrastructure – the real story behind standoff/ wintering facilities.’ The workshop will run on Monday June 20.

The Copelands will be ‘up-front’ and honest about the positives and negatives of how wintering infrastructure is influencing their farm system.

They built a wintering shed on their Tuatapere farm to address

limitations in their farming system, including dry and over-cropped paddocks at their runoff block.

It was a big decision and they expected productivity improvements. Then came surprise at where the benefits were showing up, and at the difference the shed made in a range of areas in their farm system. This includes reducing silage wastage by 30%, much less pasture damage, and better hoof management and mating results.

Notably they suffer less stress, as do their unit manager and staff during bad weather.

“The shed has removed the worry that comes from

looking at the forecast then having to work out the best option for shifting cows before the bad weather hits. Knowing the cows are warm, dry and fed has taken a lot of stress out of the job.”

Environmental benefits also accrue.

The Copelands recently installed a new effluent system guided by Overseer nutrient management software. It was designed under proposed new environment management rules for their district, and they are expecting strong interest from other farmers in how they have approached it, what benefits it is delivering and tips for making the most of modelling the structure in Overseer.

Copeland says they have simply done what was best for their system and their management style.

“The point is that we haven’t just analysed financial facts and figures in isolation; our experience is based on how the shed affects every part of the management system and how beneficial it is overall.

“We’re looking forward to answering questions at the workshop on what people really want to know about the experience.”

South Island farmer Hennie Amtink will speak about the benefits and pitfalls of his gravel standoff pad and what it has done to his farm system.

Southland farmers Pete and Tanya Copeland.

Grass whisperers point to pastures that perform GOOD GRAZING

management can produce more high quality pasture for cows, but where do you start to make the best of pastures?

Optimum use of pasture is a cornerstone of profitability on farm, and a vital management tool in today’s dairy farming environment.

DairyNZ professor of dairy production systems Danny Donaghy, Massey University, has been developing a means of getting the best out of pasture regardless of system or environment.

He will share practical tips on how farmers can adapt grazing management for their own farm.

Farmers show a lot of interest in Donaghy’s work, and while they are always keen to change, they ask “where do I start in my system?”

There are literally hundreds of different combinations of farm systems and environ-

ments in New Zealand, but he says the key is focusing on the principles of pasture growth and quality, which don’t change. Productivity and profitability increase as a result.

Donaghy suggests 1 tonne of extra dry matter per hectare is fairly easily achievable.

Donaghy and farm consultant Brian Clarke will refer to a case study with the Hopkins Farm Group, Manawatu, which produced much more pasture after implementing the grazing system.

“We will talk about what was learnt from the process, including what to focus on, how to start, and how things like postgrazing residual interacts with rotation length,” Donaghy says.

Good grazing management isn’t a ‘silver bullet’ approach, he says; it is instead a solid, evidence-based understanding of what plants require.

“In terms of cost,

farmers can spend a lot of money on drainage, irrigation, fertiliser and resowing, but then overlook grazing management, where the only cost

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DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

42 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Stone age entry wins ARTIST BEN Pearce, of Napier, has won the big prize in the 2016 Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Awards with his entry Stone Age Eight Gauge at the award ceremony, partnered by Waikato Museum and held at ArtsPost.

The judge, noted New Zealand sculptor Brett Graham, awarded Pearce’s work the $7000 prize, saying the work makes a strong statement, challenging the No.8 wire mentality by saying innovation is a global phenomenon.

Cherise Thomson, of Auckland, came second for her entry Korowai, referencing a Maori cloak; and Jenta Griffin, of Warkworth, won third prize for his sculpted figure Pater Prime.

The President’s Choice Award was won by Auckland artist Becca Bolscher for Tui’s Nest.

“It’s evident many of these artists have referenced their farming backgrounds. They have entered this contest undaunted by this being a national art award and in the true spirit of Kiwi ingenuity taken iconic agricultural materials and turned them into works of art,” says Brett Graham.

Launched by the NZ National Fieldays Society in 1997, the Fieldays No.8 Wire

The winning entry in the 2016 Fieldays No8 Wire National Art Awards.

National Art Award has been shown at various venues in Waikato, including Waikato Museum (1997-1999), Te Awamutu Museum (2003-2004) and Lake Taupo Museum (2005). Since 2006 the award has been administered by Waikato Museum and shown at ArtsPost to coincide with the opening of Fieldays.

Peter Nation, NZ National Fieldays Society chief executive, says the award is a highlight in the buildup to Fieldays and its longevity is testament to the commitment of its partners.

“The 19th year of this event has heralded a record number of entries, and we’re very proud of this. Over the years we’ve seen a huge amount of creativity around the Kiwi stalwart No.8 wire and each year we look forward to the creations we’ll see.

“The longevity of the Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award is a testament to the commitment by the NZ National Fieldays Society, Waikato Museum and the art community to incorporate New Zealand’s rural culture into the urban scene. Congratulations to all entrants, finalists and winners.”

The finalists’ work will be exhibited at ArtsPost Galleries and Shop at 120 Victoria Street, Hamilton June 27. Entry is free.

BCS in a flash DELAVAL IS launching, at National

Fieldays, the world’s first body condition scoring (BCS) camera, to remove the guesswork inherent in visual or tactile scoring.

The DeLaval system works by daily taking an image of the cow’s back, calculating a body condition score using algorithms for NZ cows and sending the result to the De Laval DelProTM Farm Manager, where graphs are created and viewed for individual animals, groups or an entire herd.

The system can be set to alert users to a cow whose BCS drops below a specified target score, or whose condition falls outside a set range. www.delaval.co.nz

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MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 43

Feeding into troughs.

Loading with three point hitch.

Hustler 360 takes feed in its stride MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

A NEW three point linkage bale

feeder that looks to upturn traditional design thinking has been launched by feeding specialist Hustler.

The SL360X has a rated capacity of 1.25 tonnes, and is said to be 8% heavier and 30% stronger than previous models.

Described as multi-purpose, and capable of feeding pit, loose and

maize silage, plus fodder beet and cut grass, the machine has an extra fence that gives it a capacity of 1 cu.m.

Improvements to the auto connect and release system, using a patented Snaplock coupler, ensure accurate connect and disconnect every time; this has a double-latching set-up.

Its bale spears have forged points for easier penetration -- averting pushing bales along the ground, risking soil contamination, a risk with blunt tines.

A new floor design gives an

increase in height around the feed platform, and encloses the machine driveshafts to prevent crop build-up and reduce maintenance downtime.

A headstock redesign enables easy adaptation to fit high capacity frontloaders or telehandlers, opening up the possibility of feeding over barriers or into mixer/feeder wagons.

And an optional side-shift system allows up to 180mm of offset to the left or right, helping ensure accurate placement of feed in all situations. www.hustlerequipment.co.nz

Ground breakng ceremony for Pottinger’s new headquarters.

Machinery maker invests for the future AUSTRIAN FARM machinery maker Pöttinger last month broke ground at its headquarters in Grieskirchen, planning to spend euro 25 million (NZ$4.4 million) to reorganise its production layout, add 12,000 sq.m of manufacturing and logistics space, and lay foundations for growth.

Pöttinger has in the past few years spent heavily on its factories: a seed

drill plant in Bernburg, Germany, a machinery plant in Vodnany, Czech Republic, and offices at its headquarters.

“The successful Pöttinger PlantWorld expansions sees us enter a new era with extra manufacturing space at our headquarters and reorganisation of the whole production process”, say managing directors Heinz and Klaus Pöttinger.

“With these investments we can support future growth to remain competitive and successful in international markets.”

The building work is to include 40% more space for the manufacturing of the company’s entire grassland product range, scheduled for completion for summer 2017.

– Mark Daniel

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

44 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Two-bale feeder suits tough conditions MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

YOU DON’T have to travel far to

find a farm using McIntosh feeding equipment, and users report robust construction, clever engineering and a long working life.

The newly introduced double bale feeder (pictured) builds on this reputation and offers a useful machine for feeding out round bales.

The chassis consists of two box sections running through the cradle to increase overall strength, and the layout lowers the overall loading height and centre of gravity, promoting safe use on hillsides or sloping ground.

A 315mm conveyor overhang and tyres kept close to the chassis mean that dispensed feed is not run over and contaminated, while a choice of wheel settings allows safer operation on difficult terrain or to accommodate larger tyre fitments.

Standard machines are supplied with 11.5 x 15.3 tyres to reduce rolling resistance and make towing easier in poor conditions.

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Farm safety gets a whole lot easier THE HEALTH and Safety at Work

An over-dimensioned lifting arm, said to be strong and suited to carrying a second bale to the feeding area, has twin lift rams which gently lower the bale onto the unrolling cradle and help prevent damage to the feeder bars.

The unrolling cradle uses a 12,000 lb rated zinc plated chain, and slow running shafts are fitted with bronze bushes for resistance to contamination by silage juice, for a much greater service life.

Unloading slats are made from

8mm steel with integral teeth to promote bale rotation by increasing the contact area; and in the cradle, aggression pins restrict bale movement to encourage the teeth to pull the bale apart.

From a practical point of view the machine includes a rubbish bin, and a checker-plated platform on the drawbar a-frame to allow the user to safely remove film and net wrap. www.mcintoshfarmmachinery. co.nz

MOLASSES NATIONWIDE Visit us in the pavilion at

Put the minerals they need in the molasses they love!

any risks and asked to acknowledge them.

New risks identified can be updated by the user in real time and visitors can report such via their smartphones. All information is cloud-stored, eliminating the need for paperwork. Offline capability serves when cell coverage is poor.

The technology allows users to map boundaries of the enterprise and uses photos rather than written descriptions to show known risks; and it allows users to access instructions for emergencies in real time.

The app developed from discussions with farmers and industry experts in health and safety, then technology partner Jade Software wrote it.

This potential new addition to a farmer’s smartphone looks to have huge potential in this complex but necessary aspect of a modern farm business.

Clarification

FIELDAYS

AN ARTICLE in Dairy News May 31

Find out how at www.wintonstockfeed.co.nz/conedose Site PD21 NATIONWIDE IMPORTERS OF MOLASSES – PKE – CONEDOSE – FEED TRAILERS

FEED IMPORTERS 0800 665 277 37 www.wintonstockfeed.co.nz

Act puts the onus on employers or organisations to ensure employees are safe by identifying any risks they are likely to come across during their working day.

A new online app called Onside allows users to develop their own health and safety plan by working through prepopulated lists of potential risks which are overlaid on a satellite map of the property.

The system saves time and tells farm staff or visitors about risks and how to manage them, reducing incidents and improving farm safety overall.

Visitors to a property will need to be encouraged to ‘sign in’ on a smartphone as they cross a virtual ‘geo-fence’, which might be the farm’s boundaries, and in doing so will be advised by the app of

or 03 236 6089

issue incorrectly stated that CB Norwood has been appointed the exclusive distributor of Croplands Equipment in New Zealand. Croplands Equipment says it has many other well established dealers who continue to provide a high level of service and support.

Croplands Equipment has entered into a partnership with CB Norwood to build the profile and sales for both companies in the agricultural spraying sector.

PGG Wrightson (incorporating Fruitfed Supplies) remains Croplands Equipment’s national distributor of its horticultural range.

“Help keep our milk clean this season!

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Silclear meets all EC and international hygiene standards.

The smooth internal and external surfaces are easy to clean and sterilise, helping to reduce your Thermodurics.

QUALITY SILICONE FOR LONG LIFE Silclear blend and process specially formulated high grade medical silicones optimised for maximum strength, tear resistance and optical clarity. Different formulations are used for different Silclear products, which means that each product has the best possible material properties for the job.

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Rubber tubing after 12 months use

Call Free: 0800 92 92 98

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 45

Manually removing smelly bale wraps a thing of the past MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

ANYONE WHO’S fed round bales to cattle on a cold, wet winter morning would revel in a device that removes the need to manually remove smelly bale wrap plastic and netting.

No surprise to see manufacturers developing grabs to do this, usually with a slicer to split the bale in two.

The Goweil RBS bale slicer from Webbline handles bales 0.9-1.6m in diameter.

It comprises a lower frame with five tines (42mm dia. x 1000mm long) which lift the bale.

An upper frame has the bale slicing attachment, powered by twin HD double acting rams, which splits the bale in half, allowing easier feeding by stock, and better incorporation and lower power

consumption in case the bales are used in feed trailers or mixer wagons.

Beneath the slicing frame, a secondary system uses a bank of eight hooks which sink into the bale across the full width, to firmly hold the film and net wrap in place while the bale is handled.

The debris can then be placed on a rubbish pile without the operator having to leave the tractor seat. This improves operator safety by removing the need for climbing up and down from the tractor as with a manual removal system – tricky in bad weather.

Feedback from the McGuire family, who milk 600 cows on 250ha near Ashburton, is that “the Goweil RBS saves us around 45 minutes every day when feeding out, and sees us loading our feedout wagon with six bales in around 15 minutes, all without leaving the trac-

tor seat”.

They also mention that the design of the film and net capture system means

the unit always works, even handling badly misshapen bales. www.webbline.co.nz

The Goweil bale slicer does the job for you.

Multitasking made easy

AGROFARM 100 GS (100HP) ROPS

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ALPINE BUILDINGS, Timaru, claims to be New

Zealand’s first company to make complete kitset buildings, and is well known for developing a birdproof rafter called Zero-Bird-Perch.

Its latest advance, to be launched at National Fieldays, is the Hot-Box Rafter, said to be NZ’s first completely hot dip-galvanised, bird-proof rafter; it is expected to last at least 2.5 times longer than anything else available.

Molten zinc, in which the steel is immersed, coats the surfaces inside and out, unlike sprayed zinc ‘galv’ which largely only protects outer surfaces.

Preventing birds perching, with their resultant mess, will keep buildings looking smarter for much longer.

POW0600

www.alpinebuildings.co.nz

With 5 models available from 85-115hp, the Agrofarm series from Deutz-Fahr offers a range of multi-purpose tractors with the perfect balance of power and weight.

The series includes cab and ROPS models with 100% locking front diff, true four-wheel braking, a flat platform and a super-smooth power-shuttle 40x40 transmission**. The Agrofarm is the ultimate general-purpose tractor, ideally suited to New Zealand farming.

Contact your local Power Farming dealer today for all the details on the Agrofarm series from Deutz-Fahr.

* Conditions apply. Contact your local Power Farming dealer. ** Applicable to all models other than the 100DT.

DAIRY NEWS JUNE 14, 2016

46 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Fortuner joins growing SUV range MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

IN DAYS gone by the humble ute was the go-to vehicle for all kinds of motoring. But modern families now want a vehicle that works on the farm, then scrubs up for a weekend away or a night on the town. So the SUV was born.

With sales of SUVs climbing year after year it’s no surprise to see Toyota NZ increase its choice to seven ranges with the recently released Fortuner.

Aimed at the uppermiddle end of the choices, the Fortuner is Toyota’s ‘medium-rugged’ SUV costing less than the Land Cruiser Prado, and more hard-core than the ‘medium-soft’ Highlander.

Offered in three grades – the GX, GXL and Limited – all models use the new 1GD-FTV engine already seen in the 2016 Prado and the new Hi-Lux. With 134kW on tap and up to 450 Nm torque at 16002400rpm these motors burn diesel at around 8.6L/100km.

All ranges are available with a super-smooth six-speed automatic transmission, or for those with a twitchy left leg the GX model can be sourced with a six speed manual and the ‘intelligent’ manual transmission

(i-MT) that matches engine revs to gear shifts.

Three selectable drive strategies offer eco, normal and power settings, and combine with easy-to-select 2WD high, 4WD and 4WD low range, for those in search of off-road adventure.

Indeed, with a separate chassis, double wishbone front suspension and a four link rear set-up, the vehicles showed optimum handling, great stability and good road handling during our first limited test drive.

In common with all ute-derived SUVs the ride could be described as being on the ‘firm’ side, but not uncomfortably so.

A raft of safety features such as reversing camera, vehicle stability control, hill-start assist and

downhill assist will give novices the confidence to take this vehicle off-road and return safely; its work capabilities include 2.8 tonnes of braked towing capacity and trailer sway control to keep things on the straight and narrow in difficult situations.

Cabin fit and finish are high level, and thoughtful storage areas and cubbyholes ensure a place for all the ephemera we carry in our cars. Three rows of adult size seats give seven perches in total, although the vertical storage of the third row, when not in use, cuts into the load space and could do with a re-think.

As one would expect of this type of vehicle, electronics play their part, and the steering wheel console has a 4.2 inch

The Fortuner is Toyota’s medium-wagon SUV.

screen for trip information with a centre consolepositioned 7 inch touch screen doing audio, Bluetooth and satnav

functions.

GX and GXL is offered with cloth trim over large comfortable seats; the top-end Limited gets the ‘bling’ – full leather trim,

larger alloy wheels and powered seat adjustment.

A neat touch on the GL and Limited is a powered rear door which can be opened without leaving

All ranges comes with super smooth six-speed transmission.

the driver’s seat; and a memory function allows set-and-forget for lift height for opening in areas with limited headroom. www.toyota.co.nz

Third row seats, when not in use, allow more storage space.

REDUCE COSTS– INCREASE PROFITS!!

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• Dairy detergents • Teat sprays • Emollients • Bloat control

WHY? • No middle-man margin • Quality registered products • Free on-farm delivery (conditions apply) • Individual customer support

WHO? • Agmax Industries Limited, 27 years commitment and reliable supply to the New Zealand dairy industry • 100% New Zealand owned and operated

WHEN? 0508 524 824

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FEED THE GUT BUGS TO GIVE YOUR CALVES THE BEST START Calflyx aids rumen development and immune function Helps develop and optimise the natural immune defence system

To find out more, ask in-store, call 0800 287 325 or see www.crystalyx.co.nz

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order early and enjoy the benefits Order your pioneer® brand hybrid maize seed from a participating merchant and register before 4pm on the 30th of June 2016 and receive the following benefits:

100% seed REPLANT RISk cover & $100 per bag replant contribution* PREFERENTIAL HYBRID SUPPLY* 10 chances to WIN-BACK YOUR pioneer SEED ORDER* *TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY. VISIT WWW.PIONEER.NZ FOR FULL DETAILS.

0800 PIONEER (746 633) www.PIONEER.nz Pioneer® brand products are provided subject to the terms and conditions of purchase, which are part of the labelling and purchase documents. ®, TM, SM, Trademarks and service marks of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.

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OUTLANDER 570

$1000 FACTORY REBATE FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL

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WWW.CANAMOFFROAD.COM ©2016 Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP). All rights reserved. ™, ® and the BRP logo are registered trademarks of BRP or its affiliates. Products are distributed in Australia. by BRP AU. Make sure that all laws and regulations, are respected. Ride responsibly. *Can-Am Open-House ends June 30, 2016 or until stock runs out. Only 2014, 2015, 2016 Commander 800cc, Outlander 450, 500 and 650 cc models eligible. Commander 800cc models receive $1500 rebate. Outlander 450cc models receive $500 rebate. Outlander 500 and 650cc models receive $1000 rebate. Only 2015 and 2016 Maverick X DS Turbo models eligible and receive $3800 worth of accessories that must be ordered from the same BRP approved dealership as the unit is purchased. Only 2016 Defender HD8 models eligible and receive $2000 worth of genuine Can-Am parts and accessories that must be ordered from the same BRP approved dealership as the unit was purchased. ^3 year warranty covers MY13/14/15/16 Can-Am Outlander and Renegade, and MY16 Can-Am Defender models only. 2 year warranty covers MY13/14/15/16 Commander and Maverick models only. Always ride responsibly and safely. Always wear protective gear & approved helmet. Only available at participating BRP approved Can-Am dealerships. †Money back guarantee applies to Defender HD8 and HD8 DPS and Outlander 570 DPS models only.

Money back guarantee only available on units purchased before June 30th. Full details available at www.canamoffroad.com.

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UNTIL JUNE 30TH WWW.CANAMOFFROAD.COM

0800 020 074

©2016 Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP). All rights reserved. ™, ® and the BRP logo are registered trademarks of BRP or its affiliates. Products are distributed in Australia. by BRP AU. Make sure that all laws and regulations, are respected. Ride responsibly. †Money back guarantee applies to Defender HD8 and HD8 DPS and Outlander 570 DPS models only. Money back guarantee only available on units purchased before June 30th. Full details available at www.canamoffroad.com.