Dairy News 25 April 2017

Green light for new OCD plant. PAGE 3

FLYING NOWHERE

WATER QUALITY

Keeping loads under cover PAGE 24

No quick fixes PAGE 12

APRIL 25, 2017 ISSUE 377 // www.dairynews.co.nz

FLOODS FORCE EARLY DRY-OFF

Fonterra director Donna Smit’s Tawa Road farm in Edgecumbe under water; 600 cows trucked out in 12 hours .

PAGE 4-5

PHOTO: LOUIS KLAASSEN, WHAKATANE BEACON

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

NEWS // 3

New plant to allow flexible product mix SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

THE COUNTRY’S second-largest dairy procesBook your dairy career. PG.13

Shelter trees yield much ‘fruit’. PG.20

Give roots room to move. PG.23

NEWS ������������������������������������������������������3-13 OPINION ���������������������������������������������� 14-15 AGRIBUSINESS ������������������������������ 16-17 MANAGEMENT �������������������������������18-20 ANIMAL HEALTH ����������������������������21-22 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS �������������������������������������� 23-25 FARM BIKES & ATVs ������������������������� 26

sor is to build a new plant in Waikato.

Open Country Dairy’s board has given the green light for the project at Horotiu; OCD is majority-owned by Talley’s Group, which also owns Affco Meat, headquartered in Horotiu.

OCD suppliers learned of the expansion during a round of supplier meetings this month.

In the monthly newsletter to farmer suppliers, OCD chief executive Steve Koekemoer told suppliers that groundwork on site will start shortly.

“This expansion will provide more capacity for us in Waikato and more options for the milk we process,” he says.

The new plant is expected to give OCD more flexibility in its product mix. Primarily a cheese producer, OCD also makes whole milk powder, whey protein concentrate and anhydrous milk fat for export.

Koekemoer told suppliers that while cheese has been its priority product, there are signs the EU is getting more aggressive on cheese prices.

“We are also aware of US cheese stocks building, which may put pressure on prices over the following months,” he says.

“We stand behind the superior quality of our award winning cheese and drive the premiums wherever possible.”

Prices for fat products such as AMF have continued at record levels, but to make these products OCD needs to produce skim milk powder (SMP). On the GDT Event SMP is currently trading US$1000/tonne lower than WMP, which negates the high AMF pricing.

Also, there is still at least 350,000t of skim milk powder in the EU intervention stock from the previous season and 472t of new stock has

Open Country Dairy will build a new plant at Horotiu.

just been added for this coming season.

Koekemoer says this indicates there will be no short-term recovery for SMP and that the differential for WMP and fat prices will remain for a while.

“Open Country Dairy’s future will rely on the ability to have more flexibility on product mix, to remain competitive and move with the market.”

OCD chairman Laurie Margrain was busy last week and will talk to Dairy News this week about the project.

OCD has three plants -- in Waharoa, Awarua and Wanganui. Talleys owns 75% of OCD, Singapore-based Olam International owns 15.19% and Dairy Investment Fund Ltd is the third largest shareholder owning 6.7%.

MILK SUPPLY RECOVERS OPEN COUNTRY Dairy says milk supply has recovered extremely well over the past couple of months across all three sites.

OCD chief executive Steve Koekemoer says this has brought the overall season back on budgeted volumes after the massive drop over the peak.

“It must be a relief for many to see the season end with good milk volumes and at current price levels,’ he told suppliers in the monthly newsletter, TalkMilk.

Commenting on dairy prices, he said while prices recovered some lost ground, it wasn’t enough for OCD to achieve the cur-

rent Settlement Period 3 forecast. OCD hopes to pay its suppliers $5.75 to $5.95/ kgMS for this season.

The company is the process of finalising its opening forecast for next season.

Koekemoer says its analysis still indicates a trend of the supply and demand gap closing- a positive sign.

“This analysis assumes no further considerable increase in global supply above what we have forecasted at this point. A stable FX rate around US70c since our last update is another positive indicator for next season.”

DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

4 // NEWS

Dramatic 12-hour push saves cows SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

FONTERRA DIRECTOR and Edgecumbe farmer Donna Smit was at a Dairy Women’s Network meeting in Auckland on April 6 when she heard of the state of emergency back home.

“I found out the Rangitaiki River stopbank had burst and there was a state of emergency in Edgecumbe; immediately I drove home,” she told Dairy News.

“Corrie, my husband, had been helping families in Edgecumbe escape the floodwaters with our tractor and hay trailer. He had checked the Omeheu Canal with Bay of Plenty Regional Council; at that time the water was moving towards the sea away from our farm. He checked the canal an hour later and there was a torrent filling our farm.”

The 160ha farm remained off-limits for a week; last week the Smits were clearing fallen trees there. Flood waters have receded and builders were carrying out repairs to a farm worker’s house.

Smit says the damage is the worst they have encountered on the farm in 28 years.

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“There is not a lot of silt but the paddocks with higher covers now have rotting grass and the farm looks brown with little snippets of green. Our focus is on undersowing pastures so we are set up for next season.”

The Smits milk 520 cows on the Tawa Street farm, 2km from Edgecumbe town.

The cows were shipped out in a dramatic operation. As floodwaters rose, the Smits had to quickly decide the fate of the 600 animals, including yearlings, on the farm.

“Corrie rang me to say he needed to get our cows off the farm but he didn’t know where to take them. I made a few phone calls; it was great, our friends jumped in and helped Donna Smit and we found places for our stock to go,’ says Donna.

He then rang saying he needed trucks -- lots of them -- 12 truck-andtrailers units to be precise.

Donna contacted their local trucking firm Heikell Transport. It took almost 12 hours to get the 600 stock off the farm; the last truck drove out in water 400mm deep.

Donna and Corrie Smit’s farm under water earlier this month.

PHOTO: LOUIS KLAASSEN, WHAKATANE BEACON

“They were fantastic; they worked with other trucking companies and we had a truck-and-trailer unit arriving every hour as fast as we could load. [We finished] in the nick of time.

“The amazing thing was people just came to our farm and helped; it really was heart warming, they just kept coming, some with lunch; others came and helped until the job was done.”

Donna says she is proud of Corrie making the right decision early, despite being under huge pressure.

“We had to get the stock off; the water just kept rising until the breach was closed two days later. We were lucky our house was not flooded, although one of our farmhouses was flooded and a lot of our neighbours had extensive flooding damage.

“There was a bit of trouble getting the stock trucks into the Edgecumbe cordon, but common sense prevailed and the police let them in, for which we are grateful.”

She says the level of support from businesses, the community and other farmers helped them get through.

“We had excellent support from Fonterra Farm Source’s team, with Lisa Payne working tirelessly at the command centre at Wilson James’ house.

“Lisa and her team helped us find dry cow grazing for our cows; we have also had lots of support from our suppliers Ballance and FMG, and lots of friends texting to make sure we are okay.”

The yearlings are back onfarm and this week they hope to bring back some of the now dried-off cows. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

Silt the problem PRIMARY INDUSTRIES Minister Nathan Guy says dealing with silt on dairy farms around Edgecumbe is going to be a big problem.

Guy visited the region recently and flew over some of the worst hit areas.

He says while pastures near Edgecumbe itself appeared to be under water, further out at places such as Taneatua silting is a problem.

“We need to get some experts into the region who have been through floods before and know how to handle re-grassing on silt because there are all sorts of different theories out there as to what is the best way to deal with this. These include ploughing it back in, waiting for it to dry, direct drilling, and roller drilling -- putting on fertiliser with grass seed.

All need to be considered.”

The Government classified the

flooding from ex-Cyclone Debbie as a medium-scale adverse event.

This declaration provides for extra recovery assistance including recovery coordination, increased support through Enhanced Task Force Green teams and the Bay of Plenty Rural Support Trust, and tax flexibility Guy says he’s impressed with how farmers and rural organisations have worked together to deal with the problems of the flooding.

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

NEWS // 5

Thousands of cows shifted, dried off PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

AT LEAST 7000 dairy livestock have

been affected in the recent storms in Waikato and Bay of Plenty alone and hundreds of hectares of pasture and maize crops have been damaged, DairyNZ reports.

In Bay of Plenty about 50 dairy farms flooded in the first storm/ex-cyclone, and the ex-Cyclone Cook second storm re-flooded several thousand hectares, says DairyNZ Bay of Plenty regional manager Sharon Morrell.

About 5000 dairy animals were moved from Bay of Plenty and 500ha of maize was impacted. Some may be used for silage but the quality is reduced.

After the first meeting since the Cyclone Cook event the Waikato Rural Emergency Cluster group reported that 2000-plus cows had had to be dried off and new temporary homes found for them.

DairyNZ North Waikato regional manager Phil Irvine says hundreds of hectares of maize crops may never be

able to be harvested as the ground will remain too wet for machinery. These are mostly poorly drained peat soils.

“The longer term issues are pastures damaged through silting or being under water so long that they will have to be re-grassed and, as we are going into winter, the recovery will not be until well into next spring,” he says.

If flood water has only covered pastures for two-three days and there is no silting the impact is minimal, but this is the second or third flood in the last month. The Federated Farmers feed line is up and running and balage is going into the area by the truckload.

“This is an expensive form of supplementary feed but it’s needed to provide a balanced diet for the cows,” says Irvine. “For the worst hit farmers, getting cows off the milking platform is key. This can be a relatively cost-effective form of ‘supplementary feed’.”

In the lower North Island, DairyNZ regional manager James Muwunganirwa says the biggest challenge is saturated soils and their impact on maize silage harvesting, re-grassing and pasture management.

Maize crop, like this one on a Hauraki Plains farm, may not be harvested due to water-logged farms.

“These conditions are bringing a lot of stress on already challenged farmers so farmer wellness and wellbeing should be a focus.”

In South Waikato, regional manager Wade Bell says the main feed concern is late harvesting of maize silage and returning those paddocks to new grass.

“Quite a bit of maize silage is still standing so there is a risk that by the time these paddocks are in new grass they might not get their first grazing until spring.”

Federated Farmers says a call is out around the central North Island for more grazing and supplementary feed.

Since the Rangitaiki River burst the stopbank at Edgecumbe on April 6, and the township and farms around

the district were inundated, the Federated Farmers support line 0800 FARMING (0800 327 646) has fielded nearly 150 calls.

General manager membership Lyndel Stone says most have been about grazing or feed, with requests for help outnumbering offers of help two to one; other calls have been about pumps, manpower and the like.

Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers president Darryl Jensen also estimates at least 5000 animals have been plucked from flooded paddocks in the district and transported to less affected properties. As many as 40 portable pumps have been in action.

Federated Farmers, Rural Support Trust, Dairy NZ, ANZ Bank,

Mixed blessings in soggy autumn NIGEL MALTHUS

SOME CANTERBURY dairy farmers are

moving to once-a-day (OAD) milking after the tail end of Cyclone Cook capped off an already wet autumn.

While the province has escaped the devastation of the flooding which hit parts of the North Island, enough rain has fallen to make pastures soggy and bring the rare sight of water flowing in the Selwyn River.

DairyNZ consulting officer and regional leader for Canterbury/North

Otago, Virginia Serra, says while some farmers in North Canterbury are saying the autumn rains still weren’t enough to end three years of drought, other areas are “really, really wet,” particularly in South Canterbury and North Otago.

Too much rain at the tail end of the season could be a big challenge, she says.

While it is common to hear of a few lame cows at this time of year, lameness is a bigger issue this season.

More farmers than usual were putting whole herds on OAD milking

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in Canterbury to reduce walking to the shed in the wet conditions, when hoofs are softer and more prone to damage.

“Any issue that may have been latent anyway becomes worse when cows have wet feet for longer,” says Serra.

Farmers hoping to feed fodder beet in situ are also challenged by the conditions. Serra says she is hearing of farmers waiting for fields to dry, to

avoid putting cows onto the crop in wet conditions.

Meanwhile, Environment Canterbury report the Selwyn River was flowing across the plains for the first time in years, recharged by ex-cyclone Debbie in early April and ex-cyclone Cook a week later.

ECan chief scientist Dr Tim Davie says that with Debbie the river had recorded 75 cumecs

at Whitecliffs, where the headwaters leave the foothills and meet the plains.

“That’s a big flood.

That’s more than the Waimakariri flows at for most of the year. But it wasn’t enough to get it all the way across the plains.”

He says it then took a lot more rain for the gravel river bed to be full and the river to flow right across the plains. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

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Zespri, Young Farmers, Bay of Plenty Regional Council staff and others have all pitched in.

“It’s so important now to get grass seed and fertiliser onto the paddocks in preparation for winter,” Jensen says.

“When farmers can see grass germinating rather than an ugly brown mess, the knowledge that feed is growing for their animals is a massive psychological boost.”

Federated Farmers has also sprung into action on the Hauraki Plains, where dozens of farms have been affected by the Piako River overtopping flood defences.

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

6 // NEWS

Emissions down 20% in 27 years NIGEL MALTHUS

NEW ZEALAND dairy

farming has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 20% since 1990, measured as carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram of milk solids produced.

But with dairying responsible for half of NZ’s agricultural emissions and a quarter of the country’s emissions as a whole, dairying still has a

big role to play in reducing the footprint, says Fonterra’s group environment manager, Francesca Eggleton. “It’s an issue we take very seriously.”

Eggleton detailed Fonterra’s continuing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in a presentation to the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Conference, which attracted 150 scientists, policy makers and industry representa-

Francesca Eggleton, Fonterra.

tives to Palmerston North in late March.

While different reporting standards makes

direct comparison difficult, NZ is the world’s most efficient producer of milk on the basis of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram of fat protein corrected milk (FPCM) produced, with a score of only 0.89 CO2e per kg FPCM, versus a global average of 2.4 and a global high of more than 7.

Eggleton told the conference the lower footprint is likely to be associated with yearround grazing on pastures, high pasture production per hectare, low cow replacement rate and relatively low use of supplement feed.

She says Fonterra has spent at least $8 million through the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research

Consortium for mitigation technologies research, including methane inhibitors, methane vaccines, low-emission feeds and low-emissions animal breeds. It is also working with the wider industry, with DairyNZ and others, to develop a greenhouse gas emission advisor qualification, to assess onfarm reporting models and research farm practices for greenhouse gas mitigation.

Fonterra is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in all its business operations, and to moving towards cleaner technologies and energy sources.

It has partnered with Z Energy to use biodiesel in its North Island tankers, for a potential decrease of

emissions of 4% for each vehicle, and is converting a third of its urban fleet to electric.

She says Fonterra will work with its farmers to improve profitability, environmental efficiency and resilience to climate change and climate variability, and will advocate for appropriate policy.

“We believe... we can continue to use land productively and protect the environment. We have for generations, and our farmers care about the environment,” said Eggleton.

88% of Fonterra’s farmers have completed nitrogen reports under its nitrogen management programme.

She says farmers are already doing “great

work” through riparian planting and fencing and effluent management.

“In areas... of intensification... our farmers, and councils and communities, have recognised this and are working to address it.”

Eggleton also told the conference the dairy industry was a key contributor to economies worldwide, employing 240 million people directly or indirectly. She presented figures showing dairy products generally were on the right side of the graph when compared with other foods, in terms of the ratio of nutrient density (protein, calcium, magnesium, riboflavin, selenium and vitamins B5 and B12) to greenhouse gas emissions.

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ing off a new livery.

Thirty-eight tankers and truck units are getting a new Milk for Schools look as the scheme heads for its fourth anniversary in May. Basketballs, books and backpacks are among items appearing in the new branding.

“Our tanker team daily transports milk to our Waitoa UHT site to be packed and sent to 70% of primary schools,” says Fonterra’s general manager community programmes Chris Ward. [The scheme] provides dairy nutrition to 140,000 kids every school day, yet many Kiwis don’t know that it’s social giving... by the co-op’s farmers.”

Fonterra’s general manager of national transport and logistics Barry McColl says Fonterra’s tankers are among the most recognisable vehicles on NZ roads, so they have an important role.

“Fonterra’s tankers drive 95 million kilometres a year.... What’s on them reflects what we stand for as a cooperative and what’s important to our farmers.

“Milk for Schools represents our commitment to the health and wellbeing of the next generation, while the new branding helps our tanker team understand the critical part they play in the process.”

The Te Awamutu tanker drivers will be the first to take the rebranded tankers out.

DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

NEWS // 7

GDT lift raises hope for payout PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

THERE’S SCOPE for a small lift this season in Fonterra’s farmgate milk price after the GDT Event price index rose 3.1% last week, says BNZ senior economist Doug Steel.

BNZ is keeping its forecast at $6.10/kgMS – 10c above the current

on a year ago.

“For the RBNZ, through the recent wiggles, dairy prices are likely little different from what the bank had factored into its projections in February. That suggests the NZ$, which has been tracking lower than the bank anticipated, is a genuine addition to inflationary pressure relative to the bank’s previous fore-

ing into intervention.

“Since the last GDT note the Lithuanians and Germans have entered small volumes of SMP into intervention.

“Despite this, market

Skim milk powder prices rose 7% but commentators are ruling out further increases.

prices generally seem to be steering clear of breaking below the intervention price threshold for now, but we shall see if that holds true in the coming weeks.”

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“But, really, it is getting to margin-of-error stuff with more focus now on next season.”

– Doug Steel Fonterra forecast.

“But, really, it is getting to margin-of-error stuff with more focus now on next season,” Steel told Dairy News.

“The recent dairy price and currency movements have not changed our thinking on that season; our forecast is still $6/ kgMS. Fonterra is due to make its first forecast for the next season before the end of May.” The GDT price index rise of 3.1% was generally in line with expectations, Steel says. However, there were a few surprises in the detail.

“Skim milk powder (+7.1%) and butter (+2.9%) prices both rose despite flat-to-negative expectations. It is difficult to see SMP pushing much higher, given that product is again flowing into intervention warehouses in Europe. Despite the rise, SMP prices remain low at US$2044/t.

“Wholemilk powder (WMP) rose 3.5%, with an average price of US$2998/t, a solid gain, but we suspect a mild disappointment to a market probably looking for more.

“This would fit with the idea that the damage from recent NZ storms was not as bad as it could have been overall, although still significant in some areas.”

Overall, Steel says this is the third consecutive gain in the GDT price index following the dip in late February/early March.

GDT prices are down 5.5% year-to-date but up 52.8%

casts.”

Rabobank dairy analyst Emma Higgins says the GDT Event was good news all round – almost.

The average price was US$3139/t with the vast majority of products showing a lift in pricing.

“The fat complex continues to perform strongly.

“Despite a softening in anhydrous milk fat (AMF) prices by a modest 0.5%, the average price still stands at a strong US$5930/t and butter was up almost 3% to US$4892/t. Pleasingly, cheddar lifted 6% to US$3462/t, breaking its downward trend since the beginning of the year.

“Powders also showed signs of life. Skim milk powder (SMP) jumped a healthy 7.1% and is now back above the US$2000 mark again (at US$2044/t). NZ product is back to achieving a price premium over European product.”

Shortness in fresh product following the abysmal weather in parts of the north will be helping this, says Higgins.

“Furthermore, we had some positive WMP activity overnight with prices just shy of the $3000 mark (+ 3.5% to US$2998/t). With the northern hemisphere heading toward its seasonal peak (May) we can expect to see the gap in SMP prices (in NZ and elsewhere) compared to other commodity products continue, and also expect to see the potential for product to start delv-

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

8 // NEWS

Pile of awards for long-term sustainability SOUTH TARANAKI

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farmers Peter and Nicola Carver’s eye for longterm sustainability has won them top placing in the Taranaki Ballance Farm Environment Awards contest – and five other awards.

The Carvers farm Holmleigh, a 515ha family property at Ohangai, east of Hawera. They combine dairy and drystock farming on the flat-to-steep property.

They also won the Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Management Award, Beef + Lamb New Zealand Livestock Award, Waterforce Integrated Management Award, Taranaki Regional Council Sustainability Award and the Hill Laboratories Harvest Award.

With an eye on the long-term viability of their farming business and the environment, Carvers have a sheep and beef breeding and finishing unit and the 95ha dairy platform they developed to start milking in the 2014-15 season.

They milked 260 cows at the peak of this season.

About 4500 drystock units are wintered -- 50:50 sheep and beef.

The award judges describe Holmleigh as a tidy, functional farm based on well-designed and executed environmental planning for longterm sustainability of the land. Carvers’ impressive system gives huge flexibility while helping to

Peter and Nicola Carver.

ensure a sustainable business, the judges say.

Carvers are proud of the farm’s progress.

“The farm has been regrassed extensively, there is new water reticulation to most paddocks, access tracks and laneways have been created, fences have been improved and some areas vulnerable to erosion and weed infestation have been retired and planted.”

Tyler Judd has been dairy manager since 2014, starting in the spring in a new 40-bail rotary cowshed. Next season Judd and his wife Rachel will start contract milking on the property. From the outset Peter Carver has worked as an extra labour unit and regularly milks to cover Judd’s time off.

Production has risen steadily on the system 1-2 dairy unit. This year they are on track for 125,000kgMS (480kg/ cow). There is 8ha of chicory and 2ha of turnip

plus grass cut for silage on the milking platform.

Also, 5.5ha of maize is grown on the drystock area of the farm. The cows are all wintered on the dairy platform.

During the conversion the Carvers installed larger-than-required infrastructure such as effluent and milk storage.

“The land in dairy is a good size. We could convert more but don’t plan to in the near future as we still want to be able to finish the stock we breed.”

Romney ewes are run in two mobs. Early weaning ensures ewes retain condition and can go on their own pasture rotation for the summer and into tupping. Finishing weight for the lambs averages 18.5kg. There are 50 Angus breeding cows with Angus bulls used for both the beef and young- and latecycling dairy cows.

All progeny are finished and some bulls are

CATEGORY WINNERS FIVE OTHER category awards were announced at the dinner.

The LIC Dairy Farm Award and CB Norwood Distributors AgriBusiness Award were won by John and Roslyn Weir. Their Springmount Farms is 200ha with 520 cows peak milked this season on the 150ha milking platform at Toko, east of Stratford.

The Massey University Innovation Award went to Layne and Helen Greensill with contract milkers William Candy and Rebecca Coleman from Okato. The Greensills are milking 250 cows in a year-round

operation based on their West Taranaki 82ha milking platform. Two thirds of the herd are spring calving and the balance autumn.

The Farm Stewardship Award with the QEII National Trust in partnership with the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust was won

by Damian and Jane Roper, who have a 440-cow dairy farm at Alton in South Taranaki.

The local BFEA Taranaki Committee Award for Commitment to the Environment went to Chris Jury and Daniela Krumm, Green Acres, at Waitara.

sold for dairy service. All dairy calves are reared.

Peter Carver graduated with a Diploma in Farm Management from Lincoln University. He tracks his environmental and soil awareness back to that study time. Carvers are strong advocates for no tillage and use a Cross Slot drill for most of their cropping.

“The one pass system is efficient and we see it as important to keep the soil structure intact,” Carver says.

Soil is tested before crops go in and nutrients are broadcast and direct drilled at planting. Soil protection is a primary consideration for them in grazing management. “We have a high rainfall so we have to be careful, especially with cattle on the hills in winter.”

The Carvers are progressively retiring erosion prone land. Working with the Taranaki Regional Council Waitotara Stress Scheme they have planted 25ha of pines and 5ha of redwood in woodlots. The planting of poplar for erosion mitigation and stock shelter is ongoing.

There are many natural springs in the farm’s hills. The largest one has been fenced and runs two water rams that form part of the reticulated stock water system with troughs in every paddock.

Peter’s parents Gerald and Faye bought the original 390ha of Holmleigh – including 142ha of West Coast lease – in 1990.

Peter and Nicola returned from managing a bull and dairy grazing unit in Waikato in 2002 and the Carver family partnership added a 125ha farm adjoining Holmleigh in 2004.

Peter and Nicola have three daughters: Emma (15), Abby (13) and Jodi (11). Nicola manages the farm books and teaches at a high school in Stratford.

Gerald is still active on the farm and shares his passion for horses with his three granddaughters.

DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

NEWS // 9

Engineer’s effluent pond work catches council eyes CIVIL ENGINEER Rex Corlett has won a prestigious engineering award for his work on effluent pond design and construction, reports IPENZ–Engineers New Zealand.

Corlett’s work has influenced regional council rules on dairy farm effluent storage, IPENZ says. It won him the Angus Award which recognises engineering excellence in waste, water and amenities.

A chance visit to a dairy farm 10 years ago sparked his interest in effluent ponds.

“I was horrified,” he says. “There were damp patches around the outside of the pond and its downstream slope was leaking into a nearby creek.”

Given the farmer had used his own excavator for the works and only track-rolled the surface, Corlett says the leakage wasn’t surprising. But he was surprised to discover this kind of practice was commonplace.

The key to improving farm systems, he says, is talking to farmers, build-

ing respect and trust, and convincing them that good design isn’t overkill but sound, sensible practice.

“Farmers naturally want to do as much work onfarm as they can and choosing to employ an engineering consultant often doesn’t come easily.”

But producing a lowmaintenance, long-term solution makes their lives easier, he says.

Doing it once and doing it right means no costly fix-ups of mistakes, or replacement two years down the track.

“It’s actually just good asset management principles.”

Currently principal engineer (rural) in Opus’ Christchurch office, Corlett is drafting the third revision of IPENZ Practice Note 21, and continues to work with DairyNZ and regional councils.

He has recently been seconded to the North Canterbury transport infrastructure recovery team to manage reconstruction and upgrading of the PictonChristchurch rural

Upton gets nod for PCE role PARLIAMENT HAS voted to appoint former National Party cabinet minister Simon Upton as the next parliamentary commissioner for the environment.

Upton will replace Jan Wright when her five-year term ends in October. He now heads the OECD environment division.

He was an MP from 1981 until 2001, health minister Simon Upton from 1990 to 1993, and the environment minister from 1990 to 1999.

In a statement from Paris, where has lived since leaving parliament in 2001 after 19 years, Upton said he is “acutely conscious that the office requires a scrupulously independent treatment of environmental issues and must be able to command the confidence of the House and the wider public”.

“Politicians confront difficult choices and tradeoffs. While it is not the job of the commissioner to campaign for particular policy options, he or she can definitely assist the decisionmaking and legislative process by ensuring that it is well-informed.”

highway following the Kaikoura earthquakes.

The Angus Award was one of two supreme tech-

nical awards presented at the IPENZ Fellows and Achievers Awards on April 7 in Wellington.

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

10 // NEWS CRV Ambreed scientist Phil Beatson says cows bred for lower levels of MUN are expected to excrete less nitrogen in their urine.

Scientist finds genetic link for N leaching CRV AMBREED scientist Phil Beatson is being credited for the genetic discovery that could help reduce nitrogen leaching on New Zealand farms by 20% within 20 years.

For five years CRV

Ambreed has investigated what could be done with genetics to reduce the amount of nitrogen excreted as urine.

Nitrogen taken in by cows in their diet is converted into milk protein

(+ urea), growth (muscle is protein), dung, gases and urine.

“From an environmental perspective, we saw urine as being the big issue because of its impact on water quality,”

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Beatson says.

Now the company says it will market semen from 20 high-performing bulls under the LowN Sires brand. These bulls are said to be desirable for traditional traits, and genetically superior in their ability to reduce concentration of milk urea nitrogen (MUN) in their daughters. (MUN is a measure of the amount of nitrogen contained as milk urea.)

Beatson says there’s strong international evidence of a direct connection between MUN and the amount of nitrogen excreted in urine when cows are fed varying diets.

Cows with low MUN excrete less nitrogen as urine.

Beatson and colleagues have investigated the genetics of MUN, theorising that if it’s possible to reduce MUN through traditional genetic selection means, and providing the relationship between MUN and the amount of nitrogen excreted in urine holds, then the genetically improved animals for MUN will excrete less urinary nitrogen and hence leaching per animal and per hectare can be reduced.

“Cows bred for lower levels of MUN are expected to excrete less nitrogen in their urine which will, in turn, reduce the amount of nitrogen leached from grazed pasture,” he says.

“It could save NZ 10 million kilograms in nitrogen leaching a year within 10 years, based on the national herd number of

6.5 million dairy cattle.

Modelling suggests that farmers who start a breeding programme for low-MUN now could reduce nitrogen leaching by 10-12% by 2025.”

The primary cause of nitrogen leached into the ground and waterways comes from the cow’s urine being concentrated in relatively small patches.

Some of the nitrogen excreted is converted to gas, some is taken up by plants and a substantial amount is leached, with soil type affecting the proportion that is leached.

CRV Ambreed says international research shows the link between MUN and lower nitrogen output in urine. And other genetic studies have found that MUN is a heritable trait and have even stated that it is possible to reduce MUN through genetic selection. But that avenue has not been pursued overseas, where alternative farming systems mean cows are not on pasture as much as they are in NZ and nitrogen leaching is possibly not as important an issue as it is here.

Beatson’s research was designed to identify superior bulls for MUN with the specific aim being to provide low-MUN bulls to breed cows that excreted less nitrogen in their urine; in line with overseas studies he has identified some bulls that will breed daughters that have desired low levels of MUN, while at the other end of the scale some bulls will breed daughters with high levels of MUN.

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CRV AMBREED’S managing director Angus Haslett says farmers can “start the journey to greener cows” now, and see improved offspring born in 2018.

Along with the research now being done in NZ to mitigate nitrogen leaching, it makes sense to breed cows with lower MUN for economic and environmental reasons, he says.

“We know farmers are doing everything they can to mitigate nitrogen leaching and meet environmental compliance levels…. The genetic approach has an additive effect to other strategies a farmer might be taking to reduce nitrogen leaching. CRV Ambreed [offers] a long-term solution that fits within the standard AI mating programme.”

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

12 // NEWS

Farmers cheer water report DAIRY FARMERS are applauding the clear message in Sir Peter Gluckman’s freshwater report that everyone has a role to play in ensuring freshwater quality.

“Our farmers are pleased the report points out impacts come from all sectors of society, and addresses the complexity surrounding the protection and improvement of waterways,”

says DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle.

“Dairy farmers have copped too much of the blame for the decline in water quality, and it is a vindication for them to see that Sir Peter and his scientist colleagues make it clear urbanisation, industrialisation and climate change, as well as the agricultural sector, impact waterways.”

The report, ‘New Zealand’s fresh waters: Values, state, trends and human impacts’ points out there are trade-offs that need to be faced between conserving ecosystems and reducing the effects of economic and urban development.

Mackle says the fresh water debate needs to be in the context of 80% of NZ waterways having stable or improving quality.

NO QUICK FIXES FEDERATED FARMERS says Gluckman’s water quality report confirms there are no easy, quick fixes NZ’s water quality challenges and all sectors contribute to water degradation.

Feds says 80% of NZ waterways have stable or improving water quality.

Environment spokesperson and national board member Chris Allen says all sectors of society, including farmers, are culpable and all need to contribute to solving the problem.

Farmers are by no means the

whole problem, Allen says.

“The farming sector has made significant improvements in recent years to the way we manage our land. I am convinced we can continue to produce food and agricultural exports while reducing our environmental footprint.

“All sectors, including urban communities with sewage and stormwater challenges, need to be given time to implement changes that are sensible, practical and affordable.

“Improving trends in phosphate and ammonia levels show

that farmers good management over the last decade is showing results. Dairy farmers alone have [spent at least] $1 billion dollars in the last five years on environmental improvements on farm.”

The conservation vs economic development dilemma also applies to the introduction of “predatory trout”, with the report noting “many threatened populations of the endemic non-migratory galaxiid fish populations in NZ only exist upstream of natural barriers that exclude predatory trout”.

“Dairy farmers quite rightly stake a claim in this stabilisation and improvement. Over the last five years in particular – even longer in Taranaki – they have gone to considerable effort and expense to clean up and protect waterways on their farms.

“Some of the critics of dairy question whether farmers have spent $1 billion on this work.

I say to them, ‘visit a few dairy farms to see what our farmers are doing for the environment. They have fenced waterways on farms, bridged stock crossings, planted native species that filter and protect waterways and installed effluent management systems’.

“Of course there’s still a way to go in some areas. We acknowledge that improving NZ waterways

is a long journey, as Sir Peter’s report points out. The good news is dairy farmers are leading the way in protecting freshwater on their farms.”

Peter Gluckman

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

NEWS // 13

Book offers career options in farming PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

A NEW booklet aimed at inspiring young people to make a career in the dairy industry is newly published by DairyNZ. The 32 page booklet looks at dairy farming, agriscience and agribusiness.

Opening with the value of dairying to New Zealand, it poses questions to help young people decide if the dairy sector is for them. The questions are on the themes of farming, science and business.

It lists specific job options in these areas and the training courses that can lead to a qualification for a job the reader favours. Especially helpful are interviews with young people enjoying working in the dairy industry, why they chose it and what

they like about it.

The booklet’s creator is DairyNZ’s education facilitator and former teacher, Susan Stokes. She says the booklet replaces older careers publications and examines the many new opportunities in the sector.

“The aim is to show students and parents the wide range of opportunities with good progression in farm jobs, in agribusiness and in agriscience. We have promoted the booklet to careers advisors and teachers, on social media and at careers expos in Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland, Hamilton and National Fieldays.”

Stokes says few young people choose dairying because they don’t believe it offers a progressive career and don’t know about the huge array of

jobs beyond the farmgate.

The sector needs more people on farms and in supporting roles, she says.

“We want to make more people aware of the career opportunities and to stress that people

don’t have to come from a farming background to be successful in the dairy industry. We have great, talented people working in all roles who have come from urban backgrounds.”

The new booklet lists specific job options in the dairy industry.

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back to scratch and create a new One Plan, says the head of Federated Farmers dairy section.

Hoggard, a dairy farmer in Manawatu, has been closely involved in One Plan since its inception more than a decade ago.

His comments follow a recent Environment Court decision that Horizons’ implementation of the plan so far has been unlawful. The court is highly critical of some council actions.

The case against the council was brought and won by Fish and Game (FAG) and the Environmental Defence Society (EDS).

Hoggard says it would be foolish for Horizons to proceed with an implementation plan that is subject to the latest court ruling, so everything is up in the air.

He says the council will have to initiate a ‘plan change’ which means in effect that all the environmental arguments, including how to deal with such issues as N leaching, will have to be re-litigated.

“We’re going to be funding holiday homes for lawyers… chewing up a huge amount of money in the process if we do this whole thing again.”

Some estimates put the cost of One Plan so far at about $10 million and Hoggard believes a plan change would spark a huge scrap as Forest and Bird, FAG and EDS argue to retain the status quo as per the Environment Court’s decision.

He says much of the problem relates to N levels being regulated by Overseer version 5.4, as opposed to the updated version 6 and table 14 in the present plan.

Another problem, says Hoggard, is that the Horizons region is vastly different in soil types and rainfall, so a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work.

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

14 // OPINION RUMINATING

EDITORIAL

Water requires attention

MILKING IT...

Telling it like it isn’t

A RECENT Sunday television story has highlighted the media bias against dairying.

Using footage shot several months ago, the story tried, unfairly, to compare a conventional farm with a bio farmer who doesn’t use fertiliser.

The documentary pitted one farming style against another, airing confronting imagery (e.g. the home-kill exercise, the stillbirth, the hip clamps) and claiming they came from the more conventional farmer’s property.

Not screened was other footage the Sunday crew had filmed with other farmers and industry leaders, who would have been able to say that the conventional farm shown was not typical of a modern New Zealand dairy farm.

The farmers were also falsely told the story would include comments from many farmers. None of this has done any good to the programme’s reputation.

He’s a worry, this boy

IF YOU are a Canadian dairy farmer you should be worried.

President Donald Trump has set his sights on the Canadian dairy industry, blaming Canada for unfair practices that hurt American dairy producers.

Trump targeted Canada’s dairy industry last week during a trade speech he made in Wisconsin, the heart of America’s dairy industry.”In Canada, some very unfair things have happened to our dairy farmers,” Trump said. He specifically mentioned Canada’s dairy supply management system, which he called a “onesided deal” that doesn’t let US farmers compete fairly.

Canadian farmers believe Trump will make a move soon.

A cow of an idea Taking it easy

GDP PER capita in Zimbabwe (in constant dollars) is about where it was in 1960, and markedly lower than it was in the mid 1970s. But a useful measure of how far the country has fallen is a new law which states that banks should take cattle and the like as security for loans.

Zimbabwe’s bank managers, already strapped for cash for their customers, may soon have to worry about where to put cattle if the new law takes effect.

It’s nothing new, of course; cattle ranchers all over the world use the value of their stock as collateral with the bank.

But Zimbabwe is different; this would not be a loan to a man with a dairy cow to take it to the bull for example, because it’s having that next calf that is going to keep the milk coming and the milk is the income stream to repay the loan. Instead, cows would be accepted as security for credit in a country where most land confiscated from white farmers still carry old titles and cannot be used to secure credit by the unlawful new black owners.

COWS IN Germany are being given three-month maternity leave to take care of their offspring.

Hand Moeller, the head of De Oeko Melkburen, a dairy that produces organic milk and yoghurts, says “every calf needs its mother,” so he allowed his cows the maternity leave.

Calves and cows have an intimate relationship, he said, and as farmed animals they had stopped experiencing that.

But Moeller’s concept is drastically different from the way most calves are reared in Germany, whose 4.3 million dairy cows make it the biggest milk producer in the European Union. The German news agency points out that, while farmers feed most calves with buckets, Moeller’s calves are allowed to remain with their mothers and drink whenever and how long they like. Their mothers are milked regularly but the farmer only takes the leftovers.

SIR PETER Gluckman’s report on the state of our fresh water hits the nail on the head.

Contamination from pastoral farming and urbanisation is impacting our water quality; farmers are part of the problem, but by no means the whole problem.

The report confirms there are no easy, quick fixes to New Zealand’s water quality challenges and that in water degradation all sectors are culpable. The publicly campaigning greenies and the ‘Mike Joys’ must accept this.

Farmers have in recent years made significant improvements in land management, proving they can continue to produce food and agricultural exports while reducing their environmental footprint. Phosphate and ammonia levels are improving, reflecting the results of farmers’ investments in good management practice over the last decade.

Dairy farmers alone have spent at least $1 billion dollars in the last five years on environmental improvements onfarm.

Federated Farmers is right: all sectors, including urban communities with sewage and stormwater challenges, need to be given time to implement changes that are sensible, practical and affordable.

Gluckman’s report says water monitoring in NZ is imperfect, with sampling site distribution not fully representative of the environmental variation that occurs, sub-optimal site density in places, and variable quality of sampling and analysis protocols. Despite these challenges, the data clearly shows that water quality and quantity is being adversely affected primarily by changes in land use and the diffuse contamination arising from pastoral farming and urbanisation.

While the public understandably might hope for rapid restoration of water quality in all rivers and lakes, this is unrealistic and scientifically impossible.

In some cases we are dealing with contamination that occurred decades ago, and the legacy effects may take a similar time to flush from the system. Moreover there are no silver bullets in water restoration: all sorts of actions are needed, requiring partnerships between central and local authorities, iwi, citizens and businesses including farmers.

To point the finger solely at dairy farmers and cows isn’t the way to go. Farmers are not sitting on their laurels.

The Government’s new Clean Water policy sets out the ongoing programme of water reform. The new stock exclusion requirements for dairy cattle is a strong endorsement of the hard work dairy farmers have done on their farms to protect waterways.

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

OPINION // 15

Doing the right thing can save time, costs ANDREW HOGGARD

FOR MANY farmers,

‘compliance’ is a word that evokes images of short-stature, goose-stepping individuals with clipboards and funny moustaches. But we need to take seriously a topical compliance issue coming up: the new bobby calf regulations, in particular to have truck-level loading facilities.

Some farmers will be upset by these changes; others will be questioning why they didn’t happen years ago. Personally, I listen to people who say they can’t build them, and I look at any of the building projects I have done around my house and ask what has happened to the can-do Kiwi farmer.

Some people will question the economics of building a loading facility, based on the return from bobby calves. But it isn’t the value of bobby calves you need to be looking at, it’s the value of your milk.

We can’t seperate anything we do on our farms from the perceived value of that milk.

Newborn calves are the most vulnerable animals on our farms. How we treat them is the litmus test for animal welfare in what we do. If the result isn’t what consumers expect, then your milk will in effect drop in value and unfortunately you take the value of mine with it.

Compliance and doing the right thing don’t have to be costly. With calf loading facilities, for example, when I moved to my current farm in 1998 it was a conversion; I was starting fresh and that blank canvas allowed me to question accepted practices.

Building a bobby pen by the road made little sense to me; it would take me an extra 15-20 minutes a day to take the calves from the rearing shed, put them in a trailer, drive the trailer to the road and lift the calves into the bobby pen. Having the ability to load directly from the shed straight into the

truck saved my time and the truck driver’s back.

Perhaps an even better example is employment compliance. I have moved from doing a half-arsed job on paper which, if done right, would take me a couple of hours a fortnight, but it was likely not very compliant. I then moved to a mix of computer programmes and apps, and the task was reduced to 30 minutes and was slightly more compliant.

Now I have one payroll programme: my staff record their hours on their smartphones; this loads directly into the programme, which calculates correct wages, deductions, pays staff and IRD, and then does all the paperwork for IRD. It now takes me five minutes to check everything and it’s done.

It’s faster, it’s cheaper and it’s vastly more compliant -- a goal for all compliance.

Often doing the right thing isn’t very hard; it’s proving you are doing the right thing. Nutrient management is one area we definitely haven’t got good compliance recording systems for. It is a frustrating exercise for the farmer to bring together all the data they likely have stored in various platforms and with various companies, then reproduce it all for another report.

Industry bodies have been working on systems to improve this with the Farm Data Code of Compliance, Farm Data Standards and the Data Linker.

These projects are an attempt to create a framework where data can be shared with the farmer’s permission between various companies. So instead of going all 19th century and having to pick up a pen and write down what fertiliser you spread and where, you simply click a mouse, all 21st centurylike.

It is incredibly frustrating to me that farmerowned companies get all precious about sharing data. They need to be reminded by farmers that they are owned by

farmers -- it is farmers’ data not their data! Start asking the companies you deal with when they are going to join in this work.

Finally, back to the bobby pens: August 1 is

the date by which you need to be compliant.

Plenty of organisations have details on precisely what you must do, and as Bob the Builder says: “Can we build it? Yes we

can.”

• Andrew Hoggard is Federated Farmers dairy industry chairman The Oroua Bobby Calf loader on display at the Central District Field Days.

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

16 // AGRIBUSINESS

Award salutes unsung heroes COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP, a willingness

to share knowledge and a passion for rural life are common to the three finalists in the Dairy Women’s Network 2017 Dairy Community Leadership Award contest.

The award, a DWN salute to “unsung heroes” of rural communities, will be presented during the DWN conference in Queenstown, May 11-12.

The finalists are Cathy Prendergast, Waikato; Katrina Thomas, Southland; and Alison Ferris, King Country.

Prendergast lives in Arohena district, Waikato, south east of Te Awa-

Cathy Prendergast

Katrina Thomas

mutu. She is a registered nurse who belongs to her community playcentre,

school and church; she has been on the Arohena Rural Women committee

for 30 years. She is one year into a MBA at the University of Waikato.

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Alison Ferris

Thomas worked in tourism for 20 years then returned to her farming roots in Southland. In 2012 she became DWN’s regional convenor for Invercargill and in 2016 became the southern regional hub leader.

She belongs to Takitimu School PTA, Western Southland Tennis, Takitimu District Board pool and edits the Takitumu community newsletter.

Originally from the UK, Ferris lives on a 500 cow dairy farm outside Te Kuiti, and she and her family own farms in Waikato and Southland. She is active on several school and community boards and groups and represents DWN’s

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regional convenors on its board of trustees.

DWN chief executive Zelda de Villiers says in any rural community “you have special people who keep the wheels of groups and initiatives turning, while continuing to milk the cows and raise families”.

“While it may appear effortless from the outside, we know there’s a huge amount of work and dedication that too often goes unrecognised.”

The award, sponsored

by ASB and Tompkins Wake, includes a scholarship to a leadership programme. Selecting the winners were DWN’s chief executive, ASB and Tompkins Wake representatives, and a DWN regional convenor.

Prendergast says the passion she has for her community, and agriculture in general, makes community involvement fun. “It’s not a job for me at all. I genuinely enjoy giving back to my community. I feel like I’ve got so much out of living here; I’ve spent most of my life here and I couldn’t imag-

ine living anywhere else.”

Thomas says she gets a lot of satisfaction from seeing newcomers to the rural community “establish themselves” and find enjoyment in a farming lifestyle.

“I wear many hats in my community and as a result I’m constantly meeting new people arriving to live in our region.

It’s great being able to work with them and help them settle in and see for themselves how great our community is.”

Ferris’ journey to community leadership began at a DWN conference in 2014. “A friend asked me if I wanted to head along, so I went and ended up leaving feeling inspired,” she says. “I’ve found the opportunities as a DWN member have given me fantastic experience and an even bigger love of farming and all things rural.”

Previous award winners were Lisa Hicks, Manawatu (2016); Rachael Nicholson and Jo Sanford, Southland (2015); and Chris Paterson, Rotorua (2014).

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

AGRIBUSINESS // 17

Bank sees early breather for Kiwi farmers PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

NEW ZEALAND dairy

farmers can look forward to a good season in 201718, after having enjoyed the fruits of improved commodity prices much earlier than their global counterparts, says agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank.

But further upside to the current farmgate milk price may be limited, the report says.

In the recently released report New Zealand Dairy Sector – Out of the Woods, Rabobank says global dairy prices are now better balanced than at the start of this season. This balance is likely to flow through to largely stable commodity pricing through the 201718 season, says Rabobank dairy analyst Emma Higgins.

Her report says despite rising farmgate milk prices, the cashflow benefit has only just begun to be realised. Depending on milk processors’ payment systems, the benefits of improved global market dynamics did not materialise in advanced rates until the beginning of 2017.

Rabobank anticipates limited upside to $6/kgMS for the 2016-17 season.

However this milk price will ensure a cash surplus for most NZ farmers.

Based on its current assessment of global fundamentals, Rabobank expects commodity prices to remain steady through 2017-18.

Global milk production will begin to recover but export surpluses are unlikely to increase until the latter half of 2017.

Rabobank expects Chinese dairy imports to increase by 20% year on year, underpinning the whole milk powder (WMP) markets.

Downside risks to the bank’s outlook however, include increased supply out of Europe and political uncertainties influencing economics. With good weather and cash-positive farmgate milk prices, there is a chance that

European milk production growth could bounce higher than anticipated.

Furthermore changes in the political environment in Europe and US could create adverse exchange rate movements for NZ exporters and add to market uncertainty.

However, Higgins says greater market balance is likely to ensure a favourable farmgate milk price for next season.

“Milk output around the globe continues to remain low. While the speed of decline in milk production is slowing, it will take until the latter half of 2017 for volumes available for export to increase. On the demand side, we expect a significant uptick in Chinese dairy import volumes in 2017 and this will help to underpin WMP markets,” she says.

“These dynamics are set to keep global supply and demand largely in balance and, assuming a spot currency rate, we forecast the global market is in line to deliver a farmgate milk price near $6.25/ kgMS.” The report says a milk price in this ‘ballpark’ would finally allow NZ dairy farmers to “emerge from the woods” after two years of depressed commodity pricing.

“Despite recent increases in farmgate milk prices, the cashflow benefit has only just been realised in farmers’ pockets due to lower earlyseason advance payment rates, and another profitable season in 2017-18 is crucial to boost confidence in the sector,” Higgins says.

“Depending on cost structures, a milk price of $6.25kg/MS would be profitable for [most] NZ farmers and would provide a second year of healthy farmer margins.”

The report says a further factor which will support farmgate margins in the 2017-18 season is the affordability of farm inputs, with fertiliser and feed expenses looking set to remain comparatively low.

While a positive season

is looking likely, Higgins urges farmers to proceed cautiously.

“Farmers need to be conscious of the risk that the equation may play out less positively. Keeping cost control front of mind

for the 2017-18 season will help to maintain positive margins at improved milk prices and to maximise business resilience.”

Given the timing of the short-term cycle, NZ farmers should be bud-

geting for slightly higher retail fertiliser prices versus last year.

Higgins says there are several risk factors to consider: increased milk supply out of Europe and currency shifts.

Emma Higgins, Rabobank

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

MANAGEMENT // 19

PKE - friend or foe?

consumer expectations on how their food is produced and change how we farm accordingly.”

As palm kernel usage on farms fall, improved pasture yields coupled with a stack of maize silage can help fill the feed deficits. Maize (a member of the grass family) harvested as silage is a great option because: It can be fed in high amounts. PKE will no longer be the solution for large and unpredicted feed deficits. In contrast, maize silage can safely be fed at high rates in periods of large pasture deficits.

It is locally grown. It is free from the biosecurity risk associated with imported feeds.

It can be stored for long periods without its quality deteriorating. I’ve seen farmers feeding excellent quality maize silage that is three or more seasons old. The key is to ensure it is well compacted, covered with a high quality cover and the edges are sealed.

It is an excellent cow conditioner. DairyNZ research has shown there is no significant difference in the amount of palm kernel or maize silage required to put on cow condition score (DairyNZ Body Condition Scoring p.49).

It drives milk production. A number of the country’s leading dairy farmers are producing at least 500kgMS/cow/year on pasture and maize silage.

It is cost-effective.

Most NZ dairy farmers can grow maize silage crops yielding 18-26 tDM/ ha for 11-16c/kgDM in the stack.

It is environmentally sustainable. Many regional councils are looking to ban winter grazed forage crops because they result in high nitrogen and phosphorus losses.

Maize silage fed on a feed pad is one of the key ways

farmers can reduce nutrient losses.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of maize is that feeding rates can be altered to keep pasture residuals at optimal levels.

Maize plus grass represents a winning system that is profitable and sustainable.

• Ian Williams is a Pioneer

forage specialist. Contact iwilliams@genetic.co.nz

The biggest advantage of feeding maize is that feeding rates can be altered to key pasture residuals at optimum levels.

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IN LITTLE over a decade palm kernel extract (PKE) grew from being a little known by-product, to one of the most commonly used supplements on NZ dairy farms. The expansion and intensification of dairying contributed to an increase in sales but, in my opinion, it was the easy accessibility of a relatively low-priced supplement that fuelled growth the most.

Growing on farm crops like maize is cheaper than buying in palm kernel, but it also requires forward planning. Palm kernel was an easy fix for farmers who fell into feed holes and didn’t have some form of supplementary feed (e.g. a stack of maize) on farm. In my opinion the easy accessibility of PKE helped create sloppy pasture management practices.

Now Fonterra is trying to persuade farmers to use less palm kernel. They have developed a test that measures the fat evaluation index (FEI). The co-op says “A recently completed pilot study with 200 farmers around the country has confirmed the test is accurate and fit for purpose. The study’s findings support our original voluntary guideline of 3kg/cow/day is a good rule of thumb across the lactation season”. From April this year farmers will receive FEI results on their tanker docket and Fonterra will support farmers with test results that indicate their PKE use exceeds the guideline.

Miles Hurrell, group director cooperative affairs, says “In general, we know that in international markets we get a premium for our milk because of our pasturebased system. We see reduced PKE use as a positive step toward protecting that grass-fed reputation and our product integrity.”

Landcorp, the country’s largest farmer, has announced it will transition to alternative feed supplements by June 2017.

Chief executive Steven Carden says “Landcorp wants our partners and customers to know they can trust that we farm sustainably and care for the environment. We need to anticipate shifting

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

20 // MANAGEMENT

Shelter trees yield much ‘fruit’ BALA TIKKISETTY

Shelterbelts protect animals from heat stress during summer and wind, rain and cold during winter.

WITH THE winter treeplanting season just around the corner, it’s timely to look at the many farming ‘fruits’ they can provide -- besides any real ones.

Those benefits include shelter for stock and support for pasture growth.

Clearly animals suffer

in bad weather. Stock farmed in paddocks, in particular, don’t always have access to natural shelter so planting of shelterbelts is a useful way of helping protect them from wind, rain and cold in winter, and heat stress during hot weather.

Besides protecting stock physically, reducing animal stress helps ensure better feed intake and

Gypsum is one of those rare materials that performs in all categories of soil treatment: an amendment, conditioner and fertiliser.

It is useful in the transition period in dairy cows 2 – 4 weeks pre & post calving, and can be used as an anionic salt to counteract the effects that high potassium & sodium concentrations have on increasing hypocalcemia.

Gypsum, a readily available form of calcium, is 100 times more soluble than lime and is more suitable for the digestive system during this period.

Gypsum in fertilising Soil tests for many areas in New Zealand show that sulphur deficiency is wide spread.

Although the importance of this element is often overlooked, sulphur is needed in at least equal quantities to phosphorus. Many responses in crops are sulphur responses arising from the sulphate radical (SO4‑‑), rather than phosphate responses.

• Readily dissociates into free calcium ions (Ca++) and sulphate ions (SO4‑‑), major elements in plant nutrition • Has an approximately neutral pH and can be used in heavy applications without causing undue alkalinity in soils

Gypsum in water savings • Promotes water infiltration, retention and conservation • Allows water to penetrate the soil without forming puddles or water logging • Conserves water by stretching intervals between irrigations • Tests show that farmland treated with gypsum requires up to 33% less water than soils without recent gypsum application

Gypsum in soil conditioning • Breaks up soils compacted by sodium and clay, and compounded by farm animals and machinery • Reduces cracking and compaction following irrigation and retards soil crusting • Allows soil to dry more quickly after rain or irrigation so that it may be worked sooner • Decreases energy requirements for tillage • Binds organic matter to soil and checks soil erosion • Enhances friendly bacterial action and discourages plant diseases related to poor soil aeration • Conditioned soil allows for deeper, healthier root development and water penetration

Gypsum in amendment • Displaces sodium binding clay soils • Reduces high soil aluminium levels • Suppresses the soil acidification effects of growing crops and the prolonged use of acidifying fertilisers

For further information please contact your local farm supplier or Telephone: 0800 100 442 Visit our website at www.gypsum.co.nz

farm production.

Shelterbelts also help reduce evaporation of soil moisture and transpiration from the grass, particularly helpful in protecting grass growth during droughts or prolonged dry spells.

Important in this is the reduction of windinduced agitation of the grass.

Wind can cause physical damage to grasses, leading to stunting or desiccation. The wind speed threshold for physical damage in herbaceous plants in general is often said to be about six metres per second.

At higher wind speeds, grass blades knock and rub together, bend over, and frequently rotate about their longitudinal axes. Such movements may produce permanent lateral fractures, desiccation and wilting of the leaf tips.

Shelterbelts also help in erosion control and soil conservation.

And shelter trees can be a haven for birds, provide shelter for homes, buildings and stock yards, be aesthetically pleasing, and increase the diversity of tree species in an area. They can also screen noise and reduce odours from livestock operations.

Native plants used for shelterbelts, particularly those naturally occurring in a locality, help to preserve local character and provide forage for bees.

Strategic planting is likely better than blanket planting and, because of the long-term commitment, careful decisions should be made.

Certain principles need to be born in mind while planning for shelterbelts.

Shelter is most effec-

tive when sited at right angles to the prevailing wind. The wind barrier should be sited directly across the prevailing wind to give maximum protection. If east-west shelterbelts are required they should include deciduous species to lessen winter shading of pastures.

The density of a shelter belt determines the wind behaviour on the leeward and to some extent on the windward side. Belts of medium porosity produce a much more even wind flow over a much wider area.

Good porosity or permeability of shelterbelts can be achieved by correct species selection and management including pruning and training. When permeability is lower than, say, 50%, the wind profile will be changed and turbulence occurs.

The longer the windbreak, the better the protection: short plantings have a disproportionate edge effect, where wind slips around the ends reducing the area of protection.

Gaps in a shelterbelt cause the wind to funnel through at excessive speed. This can happen where there are missing trees or when there is a draughty space at ground level.

Tall shelter gives the most economic protection as the area protected is directly related to the height of the windbreak.

For further site specific advice, contact Waikato Regional Council on 0800 800 401.

• Bala Tikkisetty is a sustainable agriculture advisor at Waikato Regional Council, available at bala.tikkisetty@waikatoregion.govt.nz

DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

ANIMAL HEALTH // 21

SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS.

Keeping an eye on BCS PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

TREATING SECOND

Jamie Haultain, DairyNZ gives a presentation at Clevedon on setting sensible BSC targets.

With different feed types cows put on condition at different rates. It takes about 130kg of palm kernel above maintenance grass over 80 days to gain one condition score.

It takes about 160kg of maize and 200kg of pasture. Autumn pasture is not good for putting condition on which is why farmers often struggle to meet targets at calving.

If the cows are calving in mid-July they need to be at a body condition score of 5 in mid-June. A cow at 4 now she needs to be dried off.

He heard recently from animal welfare officers that they often get more cases of cows in poor condition in spring following a good autumn than a poor one. Farmers carry on milking them for too long and they don’t reach BCS targets.

The good performing farms get high in-calf rates, good six-week in calf rates (78%) and good

days in milk driven by meeting BCS targets.

A study of profitable farms across the country showed setting sensible targets and achieving them is a key to their success, Haultain says.

“They are making the farm do what it is actually capable of and it sets it up for the next year and for the next stage in the season. They set sensible targets for body condition score and pasture cover.”

Most farmers would have an idea in their head about what their targets should be, but they need to work out if it is sensible for their farm.

They need to have an average pasture target for balance date and a plan for the start of calving from where they are today.

“It gives us an idea of how much supplementary feed we need to have on hand to achieve these targets and what the target actually is,” he says.

Winter brings risk of leptospirosis THE WET of winter is coming and

farmers should be planning annual leptospirosis boosters for herds to protect themselves and animals from contracting the disease, says WorkSafe programme manager agriculture Al McCone.

Leptospirosis can be passed from animals to humans.

Vaccinating animals, killing rodents, practising good hygiene and using protective equipment can help protect you, your family and workers, says McCone.

“At highest risk are farmers, particularly sheep, beef, deer and dairy, their families and anyone living or working onfarm.

“Human cases of leptospirosis infection have declined in recent decades due to greater awareness and robust vaccination programmes, but people still need to take the precautions; there was a spike in Northland last year,” says McCone.

Leptospirosis is transmitted by infected urine, via cuts or cracks in the skin on bare hands or feet or through mucous membranes of the eyes, nose or mouth; even a fine spray of contaminated urine or contact with urine-contaminated water can cause infection Simple things such as licking your lips or eating or smoking without first thoroughly washing and drying your face and hands, can lead to infection.

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year heifers like mixed aged cows is one of the main reasons they don’t get in calf again, DairyNZ South Auckland consulting officer Jamie Haultain says.

They need to be dried off early to reach the recommended 5.5 body condition score (BSC) for first and second year calvers, as compared to the 5.0 BSC for mixed age cows, Haultain told a recent discussion group at Clevedon.

As a rule of thumb it takes 30 days for cows to gain 0.5 BCS but, on average, to take a cow from 4 to 5 BCS it takes 80 days, he says. The maths here does not add up but that is because we need to factor in periods of little to no body condition gain.

There is a 10 day period of zero at drying off. “You try to wind the cow down as soon as you dry her off to slow the metabolism down and shut the udder down and as a result feeding levels are insufficient for body condition gain.”

In the last 30 days before calving there is effectively no gain because the energy requirements of the pregnancy are so high it has all gone to the calf.

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

22 // ANIMAL HEALTH

Close the gate to antibiotics THE DAIRY industry’s

“I believed Iodine would dry out teats” “I believed iodine would dry out the teats but FIL broke it down, explaining how iodine would give us better protection and the extra emollient in Teat Conditioner would give us healthier teats.

So, we agreed to trial it.

The results were outstanding.“

attitude towards antibiotics is being challenged, says mastitis management expert Steve Cranefield.

He says farmers will have to focus on prevention of diseases, such as mastitis, rather than treatment.

Speaking at a Smaller Milk and Supply Herds (SMASH) seminar in Clevedon recently, Cranefield, technical manager of AgriHealth, also warned that the industry will need to change targets to include rational use of antibiotics.

According to Cranefield, New Zealand dairy farms should be aiming to achieve: ■■ An average season bulk milk somatic cell count (BMSCC) under 100,000 cells/ml ■■ Less than 10% of the herd treated for mastitis ■■ Less than 10 - 20% of cows treated with antibiotic dry cow therapy.

“There is now both an economic and a moral cost if these targets are not achieved,” he says.

The ultimate aim of mastitis control is to limit the number of bacteria on a cow’s teats and to reduce the risk of bacteria entering the udder through the teat canal.

Cranefield says although this sounds

Steve Cranefield at the SMASH seminar in Clevedon.

simple, mastitis is the end result of complex interactions between cow, bacteria, environment, milking machine and farmer.

“The relative importance of these factors varies from farm to farm so it is important that your plan is specific to your farm.”

He says there are two key elements to reducing mastitis: eliminating existing infections and preventing new infections.

Cull long term infected cows.

Cranefield says farmers must make more use of historic records to identify and cull chronically infected cows.

“Too often clinical mastitis records are incomplete and/or poor

use is made of historic herd test information so it is only the recent high SCC cows that are culled.

Also mandatory culls (e.g. a high empty rate) often take precedence over culling for mastitis.”

Drying off strategies Cranefield believes all farmers should aim to achieve consistently low SCC throughout the season to reduce the need for antibiotic dry cow therapy at dry-off.

Cows with an ISCC of <120,000 cells/ml can be regarded as uninfected. Options for these cows include no treatment or treatment with internal teat sealants.

Best-practice teat disinfection prior to treatment is often poorly done prior

to administration of both milking cow and dry cow intra-mammary tubes.

Cranefield says there are key areas of importance during milking that will reduce the mastitis risk: identify and treat mastitis cows early and reduce the spread of bacteria and improve teat skin condition by effective teat spraying.

Bacteria from milking an infected cow will contaminate the cluster for the next five cows milked by that cluster.

Teat spray trials in NZ and overseas all show a 50% reduction in the new infection rate if teat spray is mixed and applied correctly. Healthy teat skin has a fatty acid layer that slows bacterial growth, reducing the mastitis risk.

If teat skin is dry, the fatty acid layer is lost and bacteria will multiply in the cracked skin.

It is critical to achieve good teat condition in a herd all year round. This requires adding sufficient emollient and ensuring full coverage of all teat surfaces at every milking all season. This should be a key focus and constantly assessed all season.

Cranefield says premilking teat spraying the colostrum cows will help to improve milk let-down, improve teat condition and reduce bacteria on the teats.

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Keeping milk fever in check CANTERBURY FARMER Assaf says. “In August they will go on Sol is combating milk fever in his dusted grass and stay there until the herd by supplementing magnesium end of October. The milkers, colosin various ways, reports the supplier trum, springers -- every head will go on dusted grass. of Country Mile magne“If we have a nice sium oxide dust. day – no wind -- we can “You have to be onto do it up to three days in it with milk fever,” Sol front. The last calving says. “We give them was pretty intense with magnesium in the the wind and rain so we troughs, spread it on ended up dusting every paddocks and make sure Assaf Sol we get some into them, even on wet day before we opened the paddock to the cows.” days.”

If the weather is fine and they Magnesium is a vital means of controlling milk fever on the 400ha can supply the magnesium as farm near Methven; it is applied by needed, the milk fever problem does not arise. spreader onto grass.

“Our main problem is if we get “We start it as soon as the cow goes from the crop to grass,” Sol a few rainy days in a row then we

can’t dust it on the paddock and we can’t put it in the silage. It will melt before we get to the paddock” On rainy or windy days they often add the dust to the silage wagon to give the cows the recommended dose. “That’s the only way to get the magnesium into them.

You have to be on top of it. If over one or two days they don’t get the magnesium they will have milk fever; you will lose a few cows.”

Sol says wet weather and snow is a big issue on the property and they need to be able to supply magnesium in the cow sheds.

One option is Ozmag 523 magnesium oxide, a granulated formulation for adding to silage and other feeds in a controlled way.

DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 23

Give roots room to move MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

WITH AUTUMN having been so wet, the spring might call for a little soil

loosening to drain excess moisture and allow roots to go deeper in search of moisture in the drying summer.

The Erth Engineering PanBuster is a mounted

machine available in 2.5 or 3m working widths and equipped with four or five legs accordingly. The legs are made from Hardox steel for high wear resistance, and fitted with

David McCubrey, Erth Engineering with the PanBuster.

replaceable shins and low disturbance points for grassland work.

In a shear-bolt set-up those legs can operate down to about 500mm, while the more popular hydraulic auto-reset version allows working depths of 350-400mm.

The auto-reset system is designed to protect the machine and the tractor from unseen objects, and to lift if an object is encountered; it can also deflect sideways by up to 150mm to bypass that same object.

The design includes high-specification Nikrom rams which have a small internal volume and large ports to allow quick reaction to objects, and marine-grade plating on the ram spears to resist

pitting. Depth control is via a full-width smooth roller assembly at the rear of the machine which incorporates a hydraulicnitrogen accumulator to allow smooth movement over undulating terrain.

Additionally, the roller can be controlled by the driver to achieve clean ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ to main-

tain a good finish in the paddock. Up front, a disc assembly provides a clean entry for the discs in hard or trashy conditions, and uses a unique geometry to maintain constant but adjustable disc pressure from 150 to 250kg per disc.

David McCubrey, owner of Erth Engineeer-

ing, says using a PanBuster when ground conditions are suitable can have a marked effect on annual production of dry matter “preventing roots from becoming waterlogged in a wet spring, but free to move through the ‘eased’ soil profile in a dry summer”. www.toplink.co.nz

SPECIAL REPORTS

DAIRY GOATS The Dairy Goat industry is a high-value and fastgrowing niche within the dairy scene. Some serious players have entered this industry, producing quality goat’s milk and taking high-end nutritional products to market. With many similarities at the farm end to traditonal dairying, opportunity exists for dairy service and supply businesses to develop new revenue streams.

FEATURE: BOOKING DEADLINE: MATERIAL REQUIRED:

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26 April 2017 2 May 2017

To be in this special report contact your advertising representative now to promote your products and/or service to all NZ dairy farmers and sharemilkers.

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Trailer better in wet EURO STYLE trailers are finding some

favour, particularly in a wet season, in contrast to the truck and trailer combos preferred by most Kiwi contractors for haulage work.

A huge trailer offering sees many designs and specifications to suit a range of markets, and prices to suit all pockets.

Irish manufacturer Smyth Trailers has just completed a special project for a Danish farmer -- a monster trailer that will get the juices flowing for anyone with ‘heavy metal disease’.

It’s a 35m3, four axle unit measuring 9m long and 2.54m wide with a front catwalk for safe access, a hydraulic parking jack and a 360-degree swivel ring hitch.

Running gear comprises four commercial-grade axles rated to 105km/h, with 420 x 180mm brake shoes for increased stopping power.

Shod with 600-55 R22.5 low ground pressure tyres for increased capacity and reduced soil compaction, the front and rear axle group has passive steering to aid manoeuvrability and reduce tyre ‘scrub’.

The axles can be locked in the straight-ahead position for reversing.

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OzMag® 523

A better way to give your cows Magnesium Add OzMag® 523 to your dairy ration to minimise milk fever and grass staggers and improve heard health.

OzMag® 523 can be added directly into cattle feed supplements at the recommended dose to help prevent milk fever and grass staggers.

Adding OzMag® 523 to the feed supplement rather than by pasture dusting helps reduce waste and helps cows receive their supplement in all weather conditions.

OzMag® 523 is a high quality Magnesium oxide manufactured by Sibelco in Australia in accordance with ISO 9001 and FEMAS (Feed Material Assurance Scheme) accreditation. ® OzMag is a registered trademark of the Sibelco Group.

OzMag 523® is available from Fonterra Farm Source Stores.

General information only. You should seek your own independent advice before using any magnesium product.

For more information visit sibelco.co.nz or contact SIBELCO on 09 914 7010

DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

24 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Getting plastic trash away from farms MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

THE ARRIVAL of baled silage brought with it the nuisance of used bale wrap, and the mess it creates in the farm yard and paddock, so any scheme set up to remove the problem must be worth a closer look.

The Plasback scheme has operated in New Zealand for the last eleven years, and is the name given to Tapex Group’s Product Stewardship Scheme which sees the manufacturer and distributor taking some responsibility for the waste its products create.

In its first year the scheme collected a lowly 9 tonnes of waste, which over the subsequent years hit a total of 1822 tonnes in 2016, about 25% of the national problem, and resulted in a running total of about 7500 tonnes over the 11-year period.

A relatively simple system sees the farmer buying a recycling bag

for $17.00, which he fills as bales are fed out; when full this is collected and taken to a recycling centre for $40.00, with about 200kg on board.

As an alternative, large operators can purchase a recycling bin that holds the bag, making it easier to fill for $560.00 and the benefit of getting more weight in each bag and reduced transport costs.

After collection the filled bags are taken to nationwide baling centres where one of six company-owned baling

No more blizzards in April Plasback baler

units consolidates the bags into bales to reduce

transport costs and ships them to recyclers

worldwide. www.plasback.co.nz

WRAP MADE INTO BOARD A NEW plant in Auckland is turning waste silage wrap into a UV-resistant panel product called Tuffboard.

Astron Plastics shreds, drycleans and pelletises the waste, from where extrusion machines turn the pellets into Tuffboard.

The initial set-up cost of about $1 million, centred on dry cleaning the waste, has attracted grants from the Ministry for the Environment’s waste minimisation fund.

The plant is dedicated to waste silage wrap recycling and

has a capacity to deal with up to 2000 tonnes annually, although in its early stages it will only deal with about 200 tonnes, with the balance made up of hard-torecycle plastics like shopping bags.

The product is then likely to find its way back onto farms, such as the pig unit operated by Canterbury farmer Simon Oxby who uses Tuffboard to build sow stalls and fences on his property. He says the product is easy to clean and is ignored by pigs that would normally chew

traditional plywood.

Chris Hartshorne comments, “we will supply the initial requirements from our Northland collection scheme, and are pleased to see the problem being dealt with locally, rather being shipped overseas”. Astron Plastics business manager Steve Mead says the company is pleased to be working with Plasback on the new venture, and believes the partnership “has the potential to grow significantly in the years to come”.

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DEALERS NATIONWIDE

WITH THE Waikato maize harvest in full swing and load covers few and far between, there’s hardly a day when you don’t see a blizzard of chopped material coming off the top of a load.

Not so in Europe, where contractors are getting ready for a new road rule that requires loads to be covered.

A system sold by Dutch firm Krampe allows drivers to cover the load within 15 seconds, all from the comfort of their seat.

The system has two full length screens that are laid on top of the load after filling, and folded flat against the outside of the trailer body when not in use, with only a minimal increase in overall width.

Made by the Dutch company VKB Covering, the screens are activated by two electro-hydraulic motors mounted on the front headboard of the trailer.

A safety cut-out switch prevents the rear tailgate from being opened if the covers are still in place.

The mesh screens are mounted in frames flexible enough to cover a heaped load; they overlap by 200mm with a rubber edging strip to ensure a good seal.

– Mark Daniel

Focus on safety WITH HEALTH

and safety now more stringent than ever, the new Narva Blue Spot LED safety light meets the need for more visibility in workplaces.

Warehouses and loading docks often resound to the shrill tones of reversing alarms and the noise of trucks. A safety light adds to the warnings of approaching forklifts for pedestrians and other vehicle drivers.

The light suits forklifts, mobile equipment or trucks used in materials handling. It can be easily attached to a vehicle’s protective roof frame, casting a strong blue beam about 500mm wide 5m onto

the floor ahead, warning others of the intended path.

The light is from two XP-E 3W LED’s, programmed for a constant beam.

It is compact -100mm h x 122mm w x 82mm d – and uses the latest LED technology with very low current draw (0.4A at 12V and 0.2A at 24V), and it has long service life.

Stainless steel mounting hardware is also included as standard. It carries a fiveyear warranty. www.narva.co.nz

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 25

Halfback or fullback with little ego MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

FIRST IT was quads,

but now it appears sideby-sides are taking over as the preferred off-road vehicle for farmers.

This is helped by their larger carrying and towing capacities, greater user comfort and weather protection, and the perceived safety benefits of a substantial roll-cage.

Unfortunately, high specs normally results in high prices: some side-bysides bust the $25k mark and more.

Enter the Suzuki Jimny Halfback and Fullback models cleverly converted by established dealers Cowpar Trucks at Whanganui. These start life as a standard Suzuki Jimny SUV, sold for 40 years and

now enjoying an enviable reputation.

A ladder chassis combines with 4WD, a hi-lo transfer case and a 4-cylinder 1300cc engine which produces a modest 62hp at 6000rpm. In use the truck bats above its position, where its light weight and off-road ability allow it to tackle places where the more obese, bling-laden trucks fear to tread.

In the Halfback and Fullback conversions, the former maintains the original wheelbase and the latter has a chassis extension of 200mm to allow for a larger tray.

They are offered in three specification levels: JX Manual or Sierra Manual or Auto.

The long wheelbase JX Manual costs $24,990+GST, similar to

a side-by-side but with the creature comforts of a mainstream road vehicle. www.suzuki.co.nz

Suzuki Jimny

TRACTOR TRADER

CLEAR OUT THE SHED / FIND YOUR DREAM MACHINE / GET THE JOB DONE RIGHT

GENUINE REASON FOR SALE

GENUINE REASON FOR SALE

GENUINE REASON FOR SALE

Still in good condition, but isn’t nimble enough for my shed and all the loading I do. Genuine reason for sale, buying the new John Deere 5R with a 3.75m turning circle.

Only 6 years old, goes well, a little bumpy though.

Selling to buy the new John Deere 5R with mechanically suspended cab.

Time for an upgrade. Selling cheap. Suit owner who doesn’t need to carry too much. Upgrading to the new John Deere 5R with 5,394kg rear lift hitch capacity.

GENUINE REASON FOR SALE

GENUINE REASON FOR SALE

GENUINE REASON FOR SALE

Urgent sale. I’ve got a whole load of loading to do so getting a new John Deere 5R with electric joystick and clutch-less auto-shifting. Can deliver.

Selling old trusty. I’m over having to lean out the cab to see what I’m doing. Will trade with cash for new John Deere 5R with low hood, panorama front windshield and roof.

Upgrading to a 93kW John Deere 5R so not needed any more. Looking for a quick sale.

GENUINE REASON FOR SALE

GENUINE REASON FOR SALE

GENUINE REASON FOR SALE

Only selling as I need something more narrow and can handle heavy work. Like the new John Deere 5R.

Clearing out shed to make room for the new John Deere 5R so has to go. All offers considered.

Great condition, but no automatic mast latch like the John Deere 5R I’m upgrading to. Which means I only need to leave the seat once to attach or detach the loader.

ID:311

ID:323

ID:303

ID:301

ID:125

ID:524

Plug in for feed bikes and buses, so it’s no real surprise to see it in agriculture -- first the John Deere SESAM electric tractor and now a self-propelled diet feeder from Italy.

The Supertino Electra 21 (above), now in the final stages of testing, is a twin-auger, 21m3 mixer wagon/diet feeder that is 100% electric, powered by a 100Kw motor.

The machine is remarkably like its diesel-engine sibling -- same chassis, hydrostatic transmission and mixer and loader arm gearboxes.

The manufacturer claims that a diet feeder is the ideal machine to lend itself to electrification, because most machines of this type are usually based at one location, so are relatively easy to keep charged if a socket is handy.

The company cites several benefits in the concept, including zero emissions, reduced maintenance due to fewer moving parts and much cheaper running – electricity costs less than the diesel used by conventional machines.

And it says an often-overlooked advantage is that an electric machine’s much quieter running keeps livestock calmer and less stressed, and improves conditions for farm workers. – Mark Daniel

ID:332

ID:021

ID:721

*Tractor listings are fictionalised. The tractors depicted are not for sale as part of this advertisement.

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DAIRY NEWS APRIL 25, 2017

26 // FARM BIKES & ATVs

Better know your quad than fall off WORKSAFE NZ is urging farmers to get more familiar with their quads.

Offering tips to farmers on quad safety, the agency urges farmers to take more care, especially with a new machine -perhaps a different make or model.

Know where the cutoff switch is, know where the brakes are, know how to get in and out of reverse – before you need to, the agency advises.

It urges farmers to read the manual and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.

“The manual will tell you how to ride safely and

what loads the machine can carry. Take them seriously; they don’t write these things for the hell of it.”

Check your bike regularly; check the brakes and tyres, the steering and throttle control. Are they working properly?

If they’re not, get them seen to.

The seat is not big so that you can carry passengers, but because you need to be able to move about on it to control it.

If you’ve got somebody sitting behind or in front of you, you’ll be unable to move to control the machine properly.

Farmers are urged to familiarise themselves with their quad bikes to avoid accidents.

The agency says quads are fast and versatile and tend to be the easiest thing to jump on to get to a job.

“But that doesn’t mean they’re always right for the job; think about the load you’re carrying and the terrain you’re carrying it over. Would you be better using a ute or a tractor?”

Be extra careful with spray tanks. “Each litre of liquid weighs a kilo and when liquid sloshes about when you’re cornering, going up or down hills or across a slope, that’s a fair amount of moving weight that you have to correct for.

Basic rules ■■

■■

“Consider putting baffles in your tanks. Remember quads are not designed to be used in this way….

Just because you’ve got carriers doesn’t mean you should overload them.”

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■■

■■

■■

When you’re riding a quad, concentrate on the riding, as when on a two-wheeler. Look where you’re going, not where the stock are going.

Wear a helmet. Other protective gear, such as goggles and gloves, are good depending on the type of work you’re doing, but a helmet is a must.

Learn to ride a quad properly. Take a quad skills course.

Avoid rushes of blood to the head, particularly when you’re mustering.

Think, think, think – about what you’re carrying, where you’re going, the angle of the slope you’re about to tackle.

Remember the 4 x 2 rule: if you have the slightest doubt about what you’re doing, take four steps back and think about it for a couple of minutes.

Let people know where you’re going and when you think you’ll be back. Carry a cellphone if you’ve got coverage.

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