Dairy News 6 July 2021

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JULY 6, 2021 ISSUE 474 // www.dairynews.co.nz

PAYOUT GAME CHANGER Open Country Dairy chief executive Steve Koekemoer says the processor sees a time when farmers will be paid in full monthly for their milk.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

NEWS // 3

OCD eyes full monthly milk payments SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

OPEN COUNTRY Dairy (OCD) Game changer for Jersey breed. PG.15

On-farm oasis for visitors. PG.20

Pondstir causes a stir. PG.31

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says it sees a time when farmers will be paid in full monthly for milk supplied.

While no introduction date has been set, OCD chief executive Steve Koekemoer says this will be “a game changer” for the industry.

Open Country, the country’s second largest processor, receives about 10% of the country’s milk. Its 1,000 farmer suppliers get monthly advance payments for milk and paid in full on a quarterly basis.

Koekemoer says OCD’s quarterly payments provide their farmers a significant cash flow benefit when compared to the traditional payment system used in NZ, where farmers wait until the end of the season before being settled for all their milk supplied.

“Our business model allows us to be very competitive on payout and pay quicker. We have always committed to return farmers’ money to them faster and we will continue to innovate in that space. We see no reason to hold onto farmers’ money when they can make better use of it,” he told Dairy News.

The market price changes throughout the season and depends on the global supply and demand matrix for milk supply. “We cannot control the market price,” Koekemoer says.

“What our payment system deliv-

OCD chief executive Steve Koekemoer.

ers is the fair value of milk at any point in time during the season.”

OCD takes great pride in its relationship with farmer suppliers.

Koekemoer, board chair Laurie Margrain and milk supply managers hold three rounds of 15 farmer meetings every year.

Koekemoer says the personal connection is critical.

“We are not a co-operative but treat every farmer as a key stakeholder. We know that without farmers we don’t have a business, it’s as simple as that. OCD markets itself to farmers as ‘a partnership by choice’ and has never wavered from that position.

“We tend to work on the relationship quite strongly.”

PROVEN TRACK RECORD OPEN COUNTRY chief executive Steve Koekemoer says the company has an efficient business model with a proven track record. The business started 15 years ago and has never paid a dividend since inception.

“Every single dollar we’ve earned has been retained in the business over the last 15 years and this has allowed us to grow.

“We haven’t had to pay our shareholders any dividend and our farmers are aware of that.”

Open Country is 100% NZ-owned, owned by the Talleys family.

Koekemoer points out that all its assets and staff are in New Zealand.

“We fly into overseas markets to do business. We may have some agents that work for us in markets but we’ve been very focused on keeping a NZ business and farmers enjoy that.

“A fully NZ-owned business that has grown rapidly into the country’s second largest processor is nothing to be sniffed at.”

DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

4 // NEWS

Fonterra milking it in China SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

FONTERRA IS enjoy-

ing solid returns from its China business as the country pushes the benefits of dairy during the Covid pandemic.

Sales of probiotics, priced at $3 million/tonne in China, rose six-fold last year. Fonterra sends onethird of its milk solids to China as ingredients, food service and consumer products.

Speaking at a recent Smaller Milk and Supply Herds (SMASH) conference in Cambridge, Fonterra chief operating officer Fraser Whineray said the Chinese economy had bounced back strongly, helped by the Government’s ability “to lock things down pretty hard and open them up quickly”.

Fonterra chief operating officer Fraser Whineray.

“And the Chinese Government has really been pushing the benefits of dairy through Covid,” Whineray says.

During the pandemic, people in certain Chinese demographics – children, pregnant women and the elderly – were urged to lift their daily dairy intake from 300 to 500 grams.

“Of course that’s only 200 grams but there are just lots of people and

when that happens, that can put quite a surge on,” Whineray says.

“But largely it was leaning in to the notion of the nutrition that dairy is actually capable of doing.”

Whineray says yoghurt was a key part of the growth, backed by cultures like probiotics that go into the product.

“We lifted our probiotcs sales about six fold into China over the last

year… This might only have been another 3.5 tonnes but when those things fetch for itself $3m/ tonne, that actually does make a difference.”

Fonterra probiotics in China are sold in pottles and made at its Palmerston North plant.

Whinersay says there was a lot of positive referencing of the nutritional benefits of dairy during Covid.

“That’s ultimately what we are here for – to deliver dairy’s health benefits globally.”

He noted that on average the global economy is strongly rebounding.

“There are some pockets that are well behind, some bits are very strong… the bits we are attached to tend to be doing very well economically.

“One economy going very well is China and it is about one-third of the milk solids.

“If you divide the world up and you look at the bits where we don’t have massive trade barriers, and we can’t get in easy behind the border, and the population of the remaining world that can actually afford NZ milk solids, then it’s not out of proportion to have onethird going to China,” says Whineray.

DOING THE ‘MAHI’ FONTERRA’S CHIEF operating officer Fraser Whineray has paid tribute to the co-operative’s 6,500 overseas workers for their efforts during the Covid pandemic.

Despite some not having access to good health systems, having to pay for vaccinations and not living normal lives, they have kept “doing the mahi”, says Whineray.

Fonterra’s team in Saudi Arabia stayed in the factory for two weeks during the country’s lockdown to ensure the plant kept running.

In Chile, Covid was so rife that every member of Fonterra’s team would have known someone who either died or was seriously ill from the virus.

In Sri Lanka, staff set up distribution centres at their homes to ensure they could get Fonterra products to their communities and neighbourhoods since traditional distribution channels were jamming up.

Fonterra’s US staff have been working from home for nearly a year, says Whineray.

“I mean we’ve had our challenges here and still do getting labour in… they’ve had some pretty interesting experiences.”

While most Fonterra staff in New Zealand have had minimal disruption, Whineray, who joined the co-operative in March last year, hasn’t met two members of the executive team in person.

SHIPPING VENTURE PAYING OFF SUPPLY CHAINS throughout the world are under pressure but Fonterra is managing its logistics well, says chief operating officer Fraser Whineray.

He says joint shipping venture Kotahi – a collaboration between Fonterra and meat processor Silver Fern Farms formed after the 2007-8 global financial crisis – is helping New Zealand exporters continue sending food to overseas customers.

Kotahi now has over 50 customers and exports one-third of New Zealand’s container traffic.

Whineray told the Smaller Milk and Supply Herds (SMASH) con-

ference in Cambridge recently that Kotahi has a partnership with Maersk, the biggest container shipper globally.

Kotahi is one of the shipping company’s top three customers.

It has helped Fonterra and other NZ exporters move products and empty containers around the world and avoid storage-related costs.

“And when you are in trouble, because we don’t swing $50 million across the rail of a ship every day, you don’t invoice it, and you can build up a working capital and storage [at] a heck of a rate of knots, you need partners that you can trust. Maersk is absolutely that,” says Whineray.

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“It’s been very important for NZ to get imports in, empty containers in, so that we can ship stuff out. It’s tight but it’s going well for us.”

Fonterra’s half-year results in May showed that the co-op was eight days behind on shipping, an equivalent of $400m working capital.

So, getting products off rail is as important for the co-operative as picking milk up from farms.

Whineray says shipping routes can get jammed up pretty quickly.

He doesn’t expect the current global shipping woes to go away soon.

“The supply chain won’t relieve for a while: what it needs people to stop

spending as much money on goods.

“They should only spend a little or they should spend on services or something made in their own countries or in Europe and America.

Whineray explained that it wasn’t the Covid bug that was impacting global shipping.

“It’s not because ships can’t sail.

Everything that floats is trying to work the Pacific pretty hard,” he says.

Stimulus packages by the US and European governments mean people in these countries are staying at home with lots of money to spend.

And because they can’t attend sporting events, festivals or do tour-

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ism, they are spending it on household items like TVs and upgrading homes on “a global simultaneous splurge”. And this, Whineray says, is putting global shipping well beyond its maximum capacity.

“And when that happens, you get two weeks wait off Port Long Beach in California (US’s second busiest cargo port),” says Whineray.

“At one point there it was faster to go through Panama Canal and offload on the East Coast, because it’s a bit going from China to the US and China to Europe, which now has shipping rates on a spot basis six times higher than what they were.”

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

NEWS // 5

Health dominates innovation PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

THE CHANGING per-

sonal circumstances of consumers, largely driven

by Covid-19, is shaping some of the innovation at Fonterra’s R&D centre in Palmerston North.

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell says many consumers worldwide are going though significant changes in their lives and there is now a strong demand for health and wellness products. He says Fonterra is having to use new digital technologies to communicate with overseas business partners and consumers to develop new products.

He says trials and product sampling is now done online.

Hurrell says, because

of Covid, consumers are purchasing products in stores and taking them home; Fonterra is adapting product lines in conjunction with their overseas partners to meet this demand. He says convenience is a factor too, but with an emphasis on health and wellness.

“Convenience has always been there, but it’s overlaid now with more of a health conscious aspect and some the products we are developing at our R&D Centre is really tapping into that sort of health and wellness sector. It’s about healthy aging, sports and active lifestyle,” he says.

According to Hurrell the elderly market can be divided into two parts. He says there is the ‘healthy aging’ who want to lead a more active life-

ROLE OF FARMERS IN ORDER to be able to produce high value products, getting high quality milk in a sustainable way is vital.

Miles Hurrell says when we talk about sustainability in the wider sense, a lot of farmers see that as a legislative or regulatory change.

But he says this move is actually being driven in a large part by customers and consumers.

“Customers are discerning and they want to know where the products come from; they want to know the story and provenance. We have wonderful story to tell here in NZ. It’s not about the Government wanting to change, it’s about our customers demanding this and we need to be at the forefront,” he says.

Hurrell believes that in general farmers do understand that 95% of their milk is consumed overseas and consumers want a high quality product. He says it is frustrating when occasionally a farmer will let the side down by breaking rules that could damage the reputation of the industry. He says the whole industry has to continually lift its game.

A tea macchiato which consists of freshly made iced tea, topped with a mixture of NZ cream cheese, whipping cream, and sometimes milk, is extremely popular with young and educated consumers in China.

style and to see their days out in a better state, then there is the medical foods for those who are having to consume foods to get themselves in a better state.

“So we are seeing medical foods pick up as well,” he says.

A major challenge for Fonterra as well as other producers of consumer food products is second guessing what might emerge as the next trendy food. Hurrell says that is why the experts at the Fonterra R&D Centre are given the runway and time to think about what things might be like in, say, 10 years time.

He says while much

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Miles Hurrell

of the research is done in their facility in Palmerston North, the company has research facilities in China, Malaysia, the USA and Europe where they can get much closer insights into consumer preferences.

“These facilities are critical and some of our

most important products made there, you’d never see in an NZ context. For example, a tea macchiato which consists of freshly made iced tea, topped with a mixture of NZ cream cheese, whipping cream, and sometimes milk, is extremely popular with young and educated consumers in China. Some of them are willing to queue for hours just to take a sip of this drink. But it’s not a product that would necessarily take hold in NZ. That’s why we have people on the ground in places like China to help develop new uses for our milk products,” he says.

Hurrell says criti-

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

6 // NEWS

First look at RMA’s replacement PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

THE FIRST draft of the

proposed law that will

replace the controversial Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) was released by the Government last week.

Environment Minis-

ter David Parker says the draft outlines key aspects of the Natural and Built Environments Act (NBA) that will be presented to Parliament and then

referred to a select committee inquiry.

The NBA covers land use and environmental regulation and is the primary replacement for

the RMA which the Government has promised to repeal and replace.

The ‘old’ RMA has drawn much criticism over the years from both rural and

David Parker

urban communities and there is hope the new law will speed up and improve the resource consenting process.

Parker says the document just is released is known as an ‘exposure draft’ meaning that stakeholders and the public can give feedback to the Government on the actual bill before it is formally introduced into Parliament. When it is introduced, there will be a second chance for the public to air their views on the bill through the parliamentary select committee process.

Parker says this unique process is intended to test and improve the contents of the bill before it goes into the formal parliamentary process.

“The initial select committee inquiry is a novel way to provide an open and transparent platform for the public to have an early say on this key legislation. A second select committee process will be held when the full

3 YR

bill is introduced to Parliament in early in 2022,” he says.

Parker this is a once in a generation opportunity to get this right, so we want to make sure we do get it right. The select committee inquiry is expected to run for around three months and the public will be invited to make submissions on the exposure draft of the new bill during this time.

Parker says the NBA is one of a set of new laws the Government intends to enact in order to create a resource management system that is fit for the future.

“The RMA takes too long, costs too much and hasn’t protected the environment. The proposed NBA sets out how we can better protect and enhance our natural and built environments, ensuring that the way people and communities use the environment supports the well-being of current and future generations,” he says.

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Pasture summit DAIRY FARMERS are encouraged to attend the upcoming joint New Zealand and Ireland Pasture Summit forum, which will address whether pasture is still the way forward.

The forum is held across two days this week, with sessions on Wednesday, July 7, and Thursday, July 8. These sessions will be live linked to the Irish venue, to enable international conversation and presentations.

Farmers are able to attend the event in person at Claudelands Event Centre, Hamilton, or farmers nationwide can tune in online to the discussion. Pasture Summit chairman Colin Armer says the forum’s theme ‘Pasture Fed Dairy & Water Quality – is pasture still the way forward?’ promises to be exciting, with interesting discussions for farmers.

DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

NEWS // 7

$4m state aid for farmers Canterbury farmers are dealing with a massiver recovery effort after the recent floods.

JESSICA MARSHALL jessica@ruralnews.co.nz

THE GOVERNMENT has announced it

will commit $4 million into relief funding for flood-affected Canterbury farmers.

“Our Canterbury farmers are dealing with a massive recovery effort following the recent floods and facing significant costs that aren’t covered by insurance,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

“The flooding has caused widespread and significant damage across a number of districts and recovery efforts are ongoing and considerable.

“It’s clear that extra funding is needed to relieve pressure on farmers who have also been battling drought.”

Associate Agriculture Minister Meka Whaitiri said the region’s farmers and their communities have a large task ahead of them.

“The new funding we’ve announced today should help towards paving the way for ongoing recovery efforts in Canterbury. The Government remains committed to helping them get through,” she said.

DairyNZ says it is reassured to see additional funding delivered.

DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle said the government funding will deliver greater support for farmers who have been significantly impacted by last month’s flood event.

“Farmers in Canterbury have had a huge job on their hands cleaning up after the floods earlier this month – many have

had paddocks and infrastructure with significant flood damage,” Mackle said.

“This has left farmers with parts of their businesses unable to function or with huge, manual and costly work to be done to clean up and get back to productive capacity.

“Additional funding to support the clean-up is very welcome and we encourage farmers to seek it out. We value the Government’s assistance to the sector.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) says it is working to help drought and flood-affected farmers in Canterbury to find alternative grazing for their livestock.

“I have visited farms where pasture and winter fodder crops have been buried under flood debris,” says MPI’s director of Rural Communities and Farming Support Nick Story.

“This event has been an extremely challenging situation for farmers. The worst affected farms have a need for alternative grazing for their sheep, beef cattle and dairy cows.”

MPI’s Feed Coordination Service has been expanded to help find grazing, distribute donated feed, and connect people with surplus feed to farmers who need it.

“Our feed coordinators had more than 35 additional requests from flood-affected farmers in the first half of June who need grazing and feed,” says Story.

“It’s likely the worst flood-affected paddocks will be unusable for some time, so we expect demand will increase further as we move through the winter.”

BETTER WAY...

TAKE TIME OUT WORKING IN the

agri-nutrient sector, Calvin Ball says he has seen a significant change in farmers’ attitudes to health and safety in recent years.

Calvin, the Northern 2021 FMG Young Farmer of the Year, grew up on a Northland dairy farm, studied agriscience at Massey and began his career with an agri-nutrient company in 2013.

After his OE in London, he returned to the company and is now Northern North Island regional sales manager, heading a team of nutrient specialists.

“Going out on farms, I have seen farmers’ attitudes change significantly since 2013,” he says.

“Back then, many could be pretty dismissive in their response to conversations about health and safety, but now they are much more on board with the requirements and attitudes are very different.”

For Calvin, a strong awareness around farmers managing fatigue and

the importance of looking after their mental health and wellbeing and that of their people is a critical part of any health and safety plan.

“I’m a strong advocate of being aware and noticing if someone doesn’t seem well. I try to encourage them to talk and to seek help.”

Calvin is also a volunteer with ‘Surfing for Farmers’ in Whangarei. The voluntary organisation started in Gisborne and has spread countrywide.

“We help organise it. All the gear is provided, and farmers come along and get free lessons. It gets them off farm and provides the opportunity to learn something new and to catch up with other farmers. We’ve had 100-150 farmers in the water – and we have a barbecue afterwards.”

Calvin grew up as one of five children. Like many farm kids, they worked alongside their parents on the farm, learning how to do jobs safely.

g n i x i M y a r p S t a e dT e t a m o t u A Daniel Place, Te Rapa, Hamilton 0508.732.733

DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

8 // NEWS

Fonterra 2020-21 milk collection 1.5% up on previous season SUDESH KISSUN

OZ COLLECTIONS STEADY

sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

FONTERRA SAYS its milk collection for the season just ended almost hit 1,540 million kgMS, 1.5% ahead of the previous season.

The North Island fared better in the 202021 season with full season collection of 908 million kgMS, 3.9% ahead of last season. The South Island’s full season collection dropped 1.8% to 630 million kgMS. Full season New Zealand milk production for the 12 months to May was 2.6% higher than last year.

May was a bumper months for milk production in the North Island.

Fonterra’s New Zea-

May was a bumper month for milk collection in the North Island.

land collection for May was 75.3 million kgMS, 7.7% higher than May last season. North Island collection reached 38.6 million kgMS, a whopping 28.6% improvement.

May collections continued the strength seen in April, benefiting from warm and sunny weather with useful rainfall in

many areas giving favourable growing conditions, the co-operative says.

However, it was a different story for the South Island: May collection was 36.7 million kgMS, behind 8%. Fonterra says collections for South Island began to drop off more quickly during the second half of May than in recent

seasons.

“The heavy rain in the last weekend of the month caused flooding in some areas, with disruption to collections as a result.”

Fonterra says overall May started with settled weather across the country before rain arrived for western areas towards

the middle of the month.

Warmer and drier conditions returned in the second half of the month, with already dry regions of both islands missing out on meaningful rainfall. Temperatures were above May average across the country, and sunshine hours higher than average for most regions.

FONTERRA COLLECTED 7.7 million kgMS from its Australian suppliers in May, a 0.2% increase on May last season.

However, season-to-date collection was 1% down on last season, with favourable on-farm conditions throughout the season stabilising milk production.

The co-op says favourable autumn conditions across Victoria and Tasmania has meant stable milk production in May. Total Australian milk production was flat in April compared to April last year.

Fonterra says despite favourable seasonal conditions and increased farmer confidence, reduced herd numbers, farm exits, and labour shortages are constraining milk production growth across Australia.

Dairy Australia is forecasting milk production to be -1% to +1% for the 2020/21 season.

Australia milk production for the 12 months to April was 1.3% higher than last year.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

10 // NEWS

Confidence up despite policy fears JESSICA MARSHALL jessica@ruralnews.co.nz

RABOBANK’S LATEST rural confidence

survey has revealed a 13% rise in farmer confidence despite concerns about government policy.

Completed in June, the survey found the number of farmers expecting the rural economy to improve in the next 12 months had increased to 32%, marking a 3% rise from last quarter.

Rabobank New Zealand chief executive Todd Charteris says the improvements in farmer sentiment were fuelled by a strong commodity pric-

ing outlook.

This is despite increasing concerns regarding government policy and the impact of labour shortages, he says.

“Farmers are now more positive about the prospects for the agricultural economy in the coming 12 months. And the key reason for this is rising commodity prices, with this cited by well over half of those holding an optimistic view of the year ahead,” Charteris says.

He adds that pricing for New Zealand’s key agricultural exports, like dairy, has held up well over recent months, with prices expected to remain

Rabobank New Zealand chief executive Todd Charteris says the improvements in farmer sentiment were fuelled by a strong commodity pricing outlook.

strong moving into the second half of 2021.

“Since the last survey in March, dairy farmers

have been buoyed by continuing strong Chinese demand for Oceania-origin dairy imports which

helped maintain pricing at elevated levels. In addition, we’ve seen Fonterra announce a strong

opening season forecast for the 2021/22 season of $7.25 to $8.75/kgMS, with a mid-point of $8,” Charteris says.

The increase in farmer sentiment comes despite rising concerns regarding government policy.

“Of the one in five farmers with a pessimistic view of the agricultural economy, 82% cited government policy as a key reason for concern. And while we’ve seen government policy feature as the major concern for farmers across recent surveys, this percentage is an increase on recent quarters,” Charteris says.

He says several policies

could be causing unease among farmers but the spike is something likely caused by the recently finalised advice from the Climate Change Commission.

Charteris says farmers indicated labour shortages are a significantly larger issue than a year ago.

He says 43% of farmers say the issue has worsened.

“The responses to these questions reflect the conversations we’re having with our clients on this topic, and it’s clear industry leaders and government still have plenty of work to do to mitigate the strain of worker shortages.”

Agmardt gets new chairman, GM FARM SALES RISING BEEF AND Lamb New Zealand

SALES FIGURES for farm sales

(B+LNZ) executive Lee-Ann Marsh has been appointed the new general manager of innovation funder AGMARDT. Specialising in innovation and consumer insights, March began her career in Toronto before moving to London in 2006 where she worked with blue chip clients across fast moving consumer packaged goods (FMCG), healthcare, and technology.

She moved to New Zealand at the end of 2010, working for Fonterra and Nestlé prior to joining B+LNZ as global market innovation manager in 2017.

She replaces Malcolm Nitschke, who steps down in August after nine years in the role.

“AGMARDT has a unique place in the food and fibre innovation ecosystem,” says Marsh.

“It enables innovative individuals and groups to access funding to support the development of early transformative ideas. We want to encourage those who may not view themselves as innovators or leaders

reveal an increasing confidence in the rural sector, says a spokesman for the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).

Data released by REINZ shows there were 193 more farm sales for the three months ending in May 2021 than for the three months ending in May 2020.

A total of 1,716 farms have been sold in the year to May 2021, 52% more than in the year to May 2020.

In the year to May 2021, 124.3% more dairy farms and 77.8% more dairy support properties were sold.

Brian Peacocke, rural spokesman for REINZ, says these sales figures confirm an emerging trend for the latter part of the season, “whereby an increasing degree of confidence is emerging from within the rural sector.”

“Driven by an optimistic outlook for the full range of product, the dairy sector is the major beneficiary of the upswing with sales volumes well ahead of those relating to the equivalent periods in 2019 and 2020,” he says.

For the three months ending May

Lee-Ann Marsh

that in new ways.”

Meanwhile, former Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) Nick Pyke will be taking over as chair of AGMARDT from September, replacing Richard Green.

to step forward and give things a go.

“AGMARDT is also a fantastic connector, and as someone who loves to see the big picture and connect the dots, I’m looking forward to stepping into a role that will enable me to do

2021, the median sales price per hectare for dairy farms was $32,170.

This marks a $7,350 rise from the same period in 2020.

On a price per kgMS basis, the median sales price equates to $33.22 / kgMS for the three months ending May 2021, compared to $32.50 /kgMS for the same period in 2020.

Dairy farms also accounted for 20% of all farm sales.

All 13 regions of New Zealand recorded an increase in the number of farm sales with the most notable being in the Waikato, and Northland.

“From a climatic perspective, significant parts of the country have swung from one extreme to another, with drought ending deluges and significant damage in parts of Canterbury to much needed rain across the easter regions of the North Island,” says Peacocke.

“The more fortunate provinces of Waikato, Taranaki and Southland in particular have experienced one of the best autumns and early winter grass growing periods for many years.” – Jessica Marshall

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

12 // NEWS

Content but cautious SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

“CONTENT WITHOUT being confident”

is how ASB rural general manager Ben Speedy described the mood among dairy farmers at this month’s National Fieldays.

Speedy told Dairy News that most farmers are happy with how the dairy industry is faring.

“They are enjoying high commodity prices and are using fair returns to pay down debt,” he says. “But there are definitely concerns around looming environmental regulations and labour shortages on the farm.”

Speedy says most farmers understand the impact of climate change.

They acknowledge the

need to invest and make farming more efficient.

“There were a lot of conversations around learning and investing in farming to make it lot simpler. They only want to invest once.”

Speedy says farmers also understand that shoppers are increasingly choosing products which meet their personal and environmental values.

“Farmers know they have to make investments to improve their environmental footprint.”

During Fieldays, ASB announced a new rural sustainability loan offering a 2.25% p.a. variable rate for sustainable farming improvements.

Speedy says ASB rural customers can now tap into discounted lending to take their farm sustainability to the next

ASB rural general manager Ben Speedy says most farmers are happy with how the dairy industry is faring.

level, with funding available for conservation and biodiversity restoration, and projects to drive the switch to renewable energy, prevent pollution and waste, cut emissions, and promote healthy soil, ecosystems, waterways and animal welfare.

ASB executive gen-

eral manager for business banking Tim Deane says the rural sustainability loan will help future-proof two of New Zealand’s greatest assets – our farmers and our land.

“Farmers tell us climate change and regulatory pressure are big issues keeping them up

at night. That’s why we’re digging in and doing more for Kiwis who want to go beyond compliance basics and drive change that makes a deeper difference for their farm and ultimately the environment.

“Already our farming customers have invested more than $120 million to

plant native trees, install environmentally-friendly effluent systems and fence off waterways – and we know many want to do more. Our goal is for our new sustainability loans to back $100 million in green upgrades over the next five years, so New Zealand can continue to lead the world in efficient and profitable farming and command a premium for Kiwi products.”

Applications for ASB’s rural sustainability loan are now open and the variable rate will be available for up to five years from when the customer makes their first draw down. The variable rate means customers are free to make lump sum payments or fix their rate at any time.

“Climate change is a critical issue for New Zea-

land. And whether it’s navigating shifting consumer expectations, or the reality of changing weather conditions on their farm, we know ASB has an opportunity to help our customers get ahead of their sustainability challenges.

“We’re proud of the work many farmers have already done and are excited to be offering this sharp rate to encourage more to get stuck into meaningful environmental improvements. From solar power for the milk shed, precision fertilisation or changing pasture or herd genetics to reduce methane emissions, there’s so much we can do to make a real difference for farmers while supporting a more sustainable rural sector in the longer term,” says Deane.

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NEWS // 13

Evolve to meet red tape challenges SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

THE DAIRY sector can

no longer ignore the growing trend of compliance and regulations and must evolve to meet the challenges.

That was the message from South Island Dairy Event chairman Andrew Slater at the two-day conference in Ashburton last week.

Slater says the conference theme, Evolve, was born from the current situation facing the dairy sector.

“We felt we had hit the nail on the head pretty well and the last two years has cemented that even further,” he says.

“The agricultural industry is constantly facing multi-faceted challenge and change.

“We have regulators throwing curve balls at us, those entrusted to police these new regulations unsure of what they are policing or how to police them, and ever increasing compliance coming left, right and centre from regulators, suppliers and customers along with a bad case of the squeaky wheel getting heard far too much.

“The Covid pandemic, while we are extremely fortunate down in our part of the world, has thrown huge challenges our way, getting product to its intended markets, market dynamics changing, the availability and cost of inputs, transport logistics challenges and a massive effect on the

labour market.

“On top of this, mother nature as joined the party, not wanting to miss out, and replenished soil moisture levels in a rather unfriendly way.”

Slater says farmers have survived these challenges to date relying on resilience, foresight and doing what they do best, getting on with it.

“With the continued environmental challenges, changes in the finance sector, and increasing demands from the end users of our products to name a few, our farming systems need to evolve to not only survive but to prosper and grow sustainably and continue to be the backbone of the economy.”

Last year’s SIDE was cancelled due to Covid.

Slater says when the event committee first sat down nearly two years ago and started making plans for the 2020 conference, they had no idea what lay ahead.

The decision to postpone was incredibly disappointing, however, with the entire event committee agreed to stay on to put this year’s event together.

About 400 farmers attended the event.

In his speech, DairyNZ chairman Jim van der Poel touched on the recent devastating Ashburton floods.

He noted that some farmers are still struggling with the aftermath, “which continues long after flood waters have passed and media have left town”.

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“I’m not sure anyone was expecting three months of rain in three days: that’s a lot of water for anyone to deal with,” he says.

The floods left a big mess for farmers. Van der Poel says dairy farmers are getting on with cleaning homes and repairing fences.

“It’s not easy but rural communities are pretty good and help each other in difficult times. I’m sure this community is doing exactly this.”

SIDE 2021 organising committee chair Andrew Slater.

DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

14 // NEWS

Seeking future trading partners PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

THE NEW Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF) has started the search for the next tranche of countries that we could negotiate a free trade agreement (FTA) with.

The organisation has produced a report, which its executive director Stephen Jacobi says is designed to stimulate discussion on who might be future trading partners.

He says the reason for promoting this discussion is that the great wave of trade liberalisation with the partners we started off with 20 to 30 years ago is coming to an end.

Jacobi says NZ has done some regional agreements and have got some significant partners like

the UK and the EU but says others like the US and India are really hard, if not impossible to conclude a deal with.

“The next question is when we look around and see what the future options are, we find that the pickings are rather slim,” he told Dairy News.

“We commissioned some research based on a number of economic indicators around possible trade partners. Things like the ability to do trade agreements with, or if they would be interested in buying the things we sell. What that has done is give us a list of twenty two countries whom we don’t have FTA’s with but might be willing to talk to us,” he says.

According to Jacobi, NZ still lacks formal connections with around 40% of the world’s consumers.

ones in line, which happens to be those two. But it won’t be easy,” he says.

Jacobi says in terms of dairy, many countries in the list of 22 have potential for further trade and he singles out Sri Lanka

as one of those. Turkey, Ghana, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Algeria and the Dominican Republic could also be interested, he says.

“What we think is important is to start the process of discussions as

to whether these are the markets for the future. At the same time we should be considering whether FTA’s are the best way of developing trade with some countries in the future,” he says.

SAME OLD ROADBLOCKS Stephen Jacobi

But he concedes that this could be quickly rectified if we could get a special arrangement with the US. He says of the 22 countries identified in the research, most have the potential to take various NZ primary exports. He concedes that not all will be easy to negotiate with or may have problems meeting certain bottom lines which NZ is likely to hang out for, especially

in relation to agricultural trade.

“For example, Switzerland and Norway have generally protective policies for their agriculture, but they are members of the European Free Trade Area. That means they are totally aligned with the EU and we are negotiating with the EU. So assuming we have an FTA with the EU at some point, we normally look at the next

STEPHEN JACOBI says in the present FTA negotiations with the UK the situation is depressing, with the same old roadblocks being put up against NZ as they were some 40 years ago.

He says their agricultural sector has been mollycoddled by the EU’s Common Agriculture Policy. “The situation is ridiculous.”

However, Jacobi says Britain is slightly different now because of Brexit and they. But he adds they need to walk the talk about agriculture and trade liberalisation. He says the fact that Britain has negotiated an FTA with Australia is an encouraging sign that they may break out

of the protectionist mould.

As for Europe, Jacobi says it’s a case of the same old same as, the only difference being they have moved away from direct support for production.

“But they haven’t got a marketoriented system for agriculture and it’s still a highly regulated system where the market signals are all obscured,” he says.

Jacobi reiterates that the discussion paper is just that and he hopes that issues raised will stimulate conversations in the business community and government to find new ways to gain improved access for NZ products to overseas markets.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

AGRIBUSINESS // 15

A game-changer for the Jersey breed TWO JERSEY cows-

linked organisations have invested in a 215ha Southland farm with a view to raise funds for breed promotion.

Farmer advocacy group Jersey Advantage and breed society, Jersey NZ have entered into the joint venture, Jerseyland Farms, each holding a 25% share, along with five commercial investors who each hold a 10% share.

The 600-cow farm at Makarewa runs Friesiancross cows but will transition to Jersey cows over the next three seasons.

Jerseyland Farms chair and Ngatea farmer Julie Pirie says the farm purchase is a “game-changer” for the Jersey breed.

“Jerseyland Farms will be run as a commercial operation, providing a sustainable funding source for both organisations,” says Pirie.

“Revenue from the joint venture will be used to enable increased breed promotion and industry representation across key farmer issues.”

Pirie, a director of Jersey NZ and a member of Jersey Advantage, says funding will enable them to deliver commercial advantages for the Jersey breed.

“Namely ensuring a fair payment for Jersey milk, ensuring BW and PW accurately reflect the advantages of Jersey cattle, ensuring emissions

modelling captures Jersey efficiency, and supporting industry planning around bobby calf management and pathways for Jersey beef.”

The 600 cow farm will be run by a contract milker, targeting around 250,000 kgMS this season from a low-cost, grassbased system.

A board comprising representatives from both organisations and the group of commercial investors will provide governance for the joint venture, with the assistance of an external contractor to support the day-to-day operations of the farm venture.

The organisations first announced their intention to enter into a partnership back in April at the Jersey NZ conference.

“Following the announcement we had huge support for the initiative from members and Jersey farmers,” says Jersey NZ president Alison Gibb.

“The venture consolidates the relationship Jersey NZ and Jersey Advantage have built over the past two years and will help secure a positive long-term financial future for both parties.”

Jersey Advantage chair Mark Townshend was also positive about the venture.

“We have carried out extensive due diligence involving both parties and

an external consultant and we believe this venture has the potential to be highly profitable and generate a strong return on equity.”

“The intention is that this investment is part of

a 10-15 year plan to build a farm portfolio delivering 500,000 kgMS plus,” says Townshend.

Jersey Advantage and Jersey NZ will be seeking farmer support to further fund the initiative.

Jerseyland Farms chair Julie Pirie.

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Fonterra China farms sold FONTERRA WILL pocket $88 million following the sale of its two joint venture farms in China.

The farms in Shandong province were sold to Singapore-based AustAsia Investment Holdings for US$115.5 million.

Fonterra owns the farms with a joint venture partner and had a 51% stake.

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell says the sale is another important milestone for the co-operative and aligns to its strategy of prioritising New Zealand milk.

“The sale of the JV farms allows us to focus even more on our farmer owners’ milk and follows the sale of our two wholly owned China farming hubs earlier this year.

Fonterra sold its two wholly owned China farming hubs in Shanxi and Hebei provinces to Inner Mongolia Youran Dairy in April for $552 million.”

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

18 // OPINION RUMINATING

EDITORIAL

Capital structure review under threat?

MILKING IT...

More migrants? Smart move?

LATEST DATA on immigration from Statistics New Zealand shows migrant arrival numbers plummeted early last year and we all know the reason – Covid.

But what it also shows is that immigration was well controlled during the years National was in power. After Labour came into power towards the end of 2017, migrant arrivals shot up.

National has been accused of “rampant immigration”. But the Stats NZ graph shows this isn’t true.

This is of interest to primary industries that are short of workers.

With Labour allowing record number of migrants in, Milking It wonders why are they so reluctant to let in sufficient numbers of skilled RSE workers for our ag sector which is crying out for additional help?

IF YOU are involved in the dairy sector and don’t access MediaWorks platforms, then good luck finding out anything about the Dairy Women’s Network.

The Dairy Women’s Network last week announced a new partnership with the national media company – a deal described by some as short-sighted.

The partnership will see MediaWorks become the first to release information from the network, in a series of exclusive news breaks – thus limiting the networks reach dramatically.

This deal cuts out all other media outlets – including established rural media, which is surely the network’s core audience – in favour of one media organisation more associated with urban brands such as Mai FM and George FM .

Not a smart move at all.

Cow sleep science AGRESEARCH SCIENTISTS are pushing boundaries to see how much quality sleep cows are getting.

Joining forces with Scotland’s Rural College in Edinburgh, including joint PhD student Laura Hunter, AgResearch used sensor devices placed on the cows to take measurements during their sleep, monitoring things such as their neck muscle activity and heart rates, to compare with the gold standard EEG (electroencephalogram) for brain activity.

They took this muscle and heart rate data from six cows in both housed and pasture systems, and applied machine learning (a branch of Artificial Intelligence) models to make predictions about what the muscle and heart rate data means for the cows’ different sleep stages.

The hope is that the insights from this trial could potentially tell them more about overall animal welfare.

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Milk on tap

ISSN 1175-463X

WAIKATO FARMER John Heskett is putting milk on tap in Waikato cafes.

Stuff reports that after buying Kaipaki Dairies earlier this year, Heskett’s first addition to his dairy business was to develop a milk dispenser for cafes to have sitting next to their coffee machines or on the counter.

He realised there were a lot of milk bottles being used: many cafes were using more than fifty 2-litre bottles a week. That’s a lot of plastic waste.

Heskett’s 10-litre insulated milk dispenser is fitted with a tap to ensure it has easy flow for making drinks.

He says the company already had reusable containers to transport milk, which could be used to replenish supply to the dispensers.“The milk stays cold in the dispenser for 10 hours and we believe this is a much more sustainable way of delivering and using milk.”

HAS FONTERRA’S capital structure review hit a snag?

If the volatile share price is anything to go by, then everything isn’t hunky dory within the co-operative.

When Fonterra released its proposals on May 6, chairman Peter McBride had a word of caution for farmer shareholders.

He expected moving to a farmer-only market, where only Fonterra farmers can trade shares among themselves, would impact the price at which co-op shares are traded.

He also cautioned that there may not be as much liquidity in the market.

Both the traded price of shares in Fonterra and traded price of units in the Fonterra Shareholders Fund (FSF) have collapsed since Fonterra started consulting its farmer shareholders.

Trading continues to be volatile. On May 6, Fonterra shares were trading at $4.56/share. By June 18, it had dropped to $2.80, wiping millions of dollars off farm balance sheets. Last week the price recovered a little and hovered around $3.60.

On May 6, FSF shares were trading at $4.60. Within six weeks it had shed almost a dollar.

A farmer-only market raises the question: who would be able to buy and hold shares? And what about sharemilkers and contract milkers supplying Fonterra?

Fonterra farmers also need to decide whether to keep the FSF. Again, there are mixed views among farmers.

Some farmers are questioning whether buying it back would be the best use of capital.

Removing the fund would involve an offer by Fonterra to unit holders to buy back their units at a fixed price. The approval of at least 75% of unit holders entitled to vote would be needed for the offer to be accepted. Fonterra’s consultation documents say that any fund buyback offer amount “would need to be acceptable to unit holders, fair to farmers and would need to make more sense to the co-op than the Capped Fund alternative.”

Another challenge is how to make any transition to a new capital structure as fair as possible for farmers.

With share prices nosediving, the co-op is looking at extending the timeframe in which current farmers can hold onto their shares once they retire or cease supply.

To get things moving in the right direction the chairman has been embarking on another round of farmer meetings throughout the country.

Whether he’s able to calm fears among shareholders and get them onside remains to be seen.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

OPINION // 19

Govt response to staff woes ‘totally underwhelming’ lies of migrant workers already here to join them in New Zealand. There are valued staff who have FARM STAFF shortages not seen their partners in Southland and around and children for more the country are getting than two years and they worse. are getting extremely While the Governfrustrated. If they try to ment finally bowed to go home to see them, the dairy industry pleas and possibility of not being announced border exempable to return is extremely tions for 150 management high so they look for and 50 farm assistant other options, which is positions, the sector was what Australia is offeralready under severe ing with their new farm workforce gap pressure. worker visas.

The super-busy calving It seems the Governseason begins mid-July, ment’s intention is to and it’s unlikely many force employers to of the 200 extra migrant staff will be Burnout at calving and take on Kiwi staff instead of migrant out of managed isomating time will be workers. That’s very lation by then. the major factor but clear when they By most indusset the minimum try estimates, the animal welfare will wider dairy sector also be badly affected. wage requirements so high it becomes is short of about uneconomical to 2,000 staff – some enough, they have families employ migrant staff. have said up to 4,000. to look after, just like farm The approach might be The consequences of the owners and contract milk- okay if there were sufstaff shortages on those ficient New Zealanders – are chasing higher farms where teams have already been stretched are remuneration. Employers, ers willing – and with the skills (or at least the some of them desperate about to become much, about workforce gaps, feel right attitude to learn the much worse in terms of skills) – to do the work they’ve been forced into the mental wellbeing of needed. In many rural headhunting from other farmers and farm workdistricts, with relatively farms’ teams, or entering ers as the stress of long into an auction for limited low unemployment, they hours and work backlogs simply aren’t there. workers available as they mount up.

From where I’m sitBurnout at calving and play employers off against each other and sometimes ting, and from discussions mating time will be the with plenty of farmer colbreak commitments or major factor but animal undertakings over offered leagues, the Government welfare will also be badly seems disconnected from contracts as they find a affected. reality, and hell bent on better offer.

It’s a bitter irony an ideological agenda.

I thank Agriculthat the Government I’ve said it before, ture Minister Damien on the one hand is tellO’Connor for his work on when the brown stuff ing us to up our game on hits the fan in the coming agricultural sector workthe winter grazing front, months, blame from force issues, but implore including making sure our sector is going to him to keep it going. calves are not born into swing on Prime MinisThere’s a long way to go muddy and pugged pasbefore the primary indus- ter Jacinda Ardern, Agriture, yet on the other culture Minister Damien tries, which are recoghand, responded way too nised as underpinning the O’Connor, Immigration late – and too little – to Minister Kris Faafoi and nation’s economic recovthe strong case to make ery from Covid-19, are out the rest of Cabinet. The use of under-utilised case put to them for more MIQ facilities for migrant of the woods. migrant dairy staff in With a lot of migrant workers. particular, but also vets What’s more, I believe staff leaving for better and agricultural contracopportunities being the remuneration and tors, was compelling. Yet financial commitment cri- offered in Australia or their response was underCanada, our immigrateria set around the 200 whelming, to say the least. staff that are allowed in is tion policies need major I don’t think it’s exagchange to keep the curjust another instance of gerating to say that on rent staff already here. setting farmers up to fail. some farms, the GovernTo me, this is really Why do I say this? Most ment’s failure to respond simple: we have the of the businesses that could be catastrophic for means and the space in desperately require the human and animal welstaff are sharemilkers and MIQ to allow the fami-

JASON HERRICK

contract milkers and they cannot afford the extra cost associated with the exemptions.

For the border exempted roles, farmers must commit to paying dairy herd managers at least $79,500 a year, assistant managers or 2ICs above $92,000 and dairy farm assistants at or above $27/hour. Not only are these wage levels significantly above industry averages, publicity about it has greatly unsettled existing local dairy workers. Staff – and fair

fare.

• Jason Herrick is a Lumsden dairy farmer

Jason Herrick

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t c a t n Co o r e Z

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Daniel Place, Te Rapa, Hamilton 0508.732.733

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

20 // MANAGEMENT

On-farm oasis for visitors A NORTH Otago dairy farming family have created an on-farm oasis that allows visitors the chance to cool off in the hot summer months.

Lyndon and Jane Strang’s 290-hectare family farm boarders the Kakanui River just outside of Oamaru, where every summer carloads of people arrive trying to access a swimming hole near the bottom of their farm.

Brush, gorse bushes and blackberry had taken over the 50-metre-wide fenced berm between the farm and the river and public access had all but been blocked.

“We wanted to open it up and create a walkway along the entire length,” says Jane.

So, with the help of funding from Otago Regional Council’s Eco Fund and the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) Jobs for Nature Fund, they have.

“We knew we wanted to restore and plant it out, but with a 50 metre buffer it would have taken us years, so we called up the Otago Regional Council and got in touch with the local watercare group (NOSLAM) and they were all really supportive,” says Jane.

The council’s Eco Fund kick started the project with $12,000, allowing them to buy plants and hire a digger, which a neighbour worked on for a week clearing the gorse. Then they called in the local school kids from

Five Forks School to help plant 2,500 plants.

Since then, they have been granted a further $18,000 from MPI’s Jobs for Nature fund to complete the entire length of the project, creating a walkway alongside the river, and allowing public access along the full length.

They will complete the project’s planting this spring.

“It’s really satisfying to go down and see what’s

FARM FACTS ■■

Owners: Lyndon and Jane Strang trading as Stony Creek Ltd

■■

Location: Oamaru

■■

Farm size: 290 hectares

■■

Cows: 420 mostly Holstein Friesian cows

■■

Production: 485kgMS average

■■

Stud name: Ardgowan

there now. Anyone can come out and access the river at any point,” says Jane, who has driven the project.

The couple have been on the farm for 15 years after they moved in 2006, leaving behind their corporate jobs in Christchurch.

At that stage, Jane’s parents Murray and Lynne Isbister were talking about converting the farm at Five Forks, which had been a run-off for their dairy farm at Papakaio. They started out working for Murray and Lynne

and quickly moved to lower order sharemilking, then 50:50, before purchasing the farm within five years.

Jane says they started out with a very small herd made up of Murray’s favourite Holstein Friesians.

“We bought a few pedigree cows that were carry overs and we grew the herd organically milking all year round,” says Lyndon.

Fifteen years later Lyndon says he is now focused on giving back to the community and helping other new farmers

Lyndon and Jane Strang’s 290ha family farm boarders the Kakanui River just outside of Oamaru, where every summer carloads of people arrive trying to access a swimming hole near the bottom of their farm.

find their feet.

The couple milk off 150 hectares of the 290-hectare farm and use the remainder of the land as support.

Now spring calving, the 420-strong herd averages about 485 kgMS/cow but are aiming for 500 kgMS/cow this season.

They will increase cow numbers to 460 for next season, says Lyndon.

Jane says Murray had been a breeder for 50 years and they are proud to carry it on. She selects the bulls and does all the AI for the herd every season.

“With every calf born we want it to have value, so, for that to happen we

want to choose the best genetics we can,” says Jane.

The herd was founded from the Ronnoco and Riverbrae studs in the early 1970s and Jane says they use mainly CRV genetics.

Among their best producers are Muritai Firenze Wynsor daughters with three featuring in their top-10 high producers.

Another line of high producers are daughters of CRV Delta Ireland, with one of his daughters recording 735kg/MS in 250 days. They sell any fourday-old bulls for calf rearing or raise them to 100kg themselves.

“Because we have a Friesian herd the beef buyers like it because they know they get a decent sized animal,” says Lyndon.

He says the couple’s passion and focus is on having a sustainable farming practice for generations.

That is why the couple have also become so involved in the discussion around water quality and the political side of farming, says Lyndon.

He was previously the dairy chairman of North Otago Federated Farmers and helped to resurrect the North Otago Sustainable Land Management Group (NOSLAM).

“We can see dairy farming has a great future but there are a few things that need to be fixed and we’re happy to go out there and poke our heads above the parapet and say we’ll have a go at some of these things.”

They have also taken on sharemilkers on the farm, Craig and Amy Kingan, and the couple say they are keen to help them on the pathway to farm ownership.

“It’s how we’ve been able to move into a lot of the volunteer work we’ve been doing. We’re trying to set ourselves up for a strong future, the whole community and North Otago,” says Jane.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

MANAGEMENT // 21

Methane inhibitor trial showing promise THE DEVELOPMENT

of a methane inhibitor to help reduce livestock methane emissions has real potential, says AgResearch research director Trevor Stuthridge.

AgResearch’s work alongside Fonterra and Royal DSM – a Netherlands-based global health and nutrition company – on a product called Bovaer (otherwise known as 3-NOP) is showing particular promise.

“One formulation for pasture-based farming to date has demonstrated a methane reduction of more than 30% for up to six hours after the additive is fed to cattle.

“Given this progress

towards a product specific to New Zealand’s pasture-based farming, we suggested the Climate Change Commission factor this into its recommendations to the Government.”

The Climate Change Commission was established to provide advice to the Government about the paths to meeting New Zealand’s climate change targets. Having received the advice, including on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions that make up about half of New Zealand’s emissions profile, the Government will now consider the advice and what climate action it will take.

The commission’s

AgResearch research director Trevor Stuthridge.

recent advice to the Government is an endorsement of the research being done to support agriculture’s shift to lower emissions, says Stuth-

ridge.

“The commission has clearly laid out to the Government that a range of measures are needed to move the dial on meth-

ane and nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture, and that research is an important part of that in the short and longer term,” Stuthridge says.

“It is saying that farmers have already made progress on reducing emissions, but more can be done in on-farm management practices in the shorter term. This is an area where the scientists are well-placed to provide advice on these practices.

“In the longer term, the commission says investing in research such as methane inhibitors and vaccines could help New Zealand reach the more ambitious end of the 2050 methane target. This is why we keep working away at these solutions with our partners in government and industry, and we are seeing progress.”

Research is also con-

tinuing into genetically modified ryegrass and white clover, and its potential to reduce methane emissions from livestock. However, technologies such as these come with challenges given current regulations around release of genetically modified organisms in New Zealand.

He is optimistic about the way forward given the efforts going in across the board.

“Based on the record of innovation from Kiwi farmers over the past decades, supported by good science, there is every reason to think that the sector will adjust and adapt to meet the targets required of it.”

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

22 // ANIMAL HEALTH

New tools to tackle facial eczema HERD IMPROVEMENT co-operative LIC

says it is developing new methods to help farmers tackle facial eczema, a disease which is costing the dairy industry around $30 million in lost production each year.

Facial eczema (FE) is caused by a fungal toxin which is mainly found in summer and autumn pastures in the North Island and Upper South Island.

When cattle eat this pasture they ingest the toxin which causes liver damage, lowered production and in some circumstances, skin irritation and peeling.

LIC chief scientist Richard Spelman says the co-operative is leveraging its expertise in genetics and diagnostic testing to help farmers combat the effects of the disease.

“We’re focused on helping our farmers optimise value from their livestock by enabling them to produce the most sustainable and efficient animals,” says Spelman.

“There’s no cure for facial eczema, so we’re working on developing a milk test and a breed-

Emma Cuttance, Veterinarian and Head of VetEnt Research.

ing value to give farmers more effective options to help prevent and detect the disease.”

Head of VetEnt Research and Te Awamutu veterinarian, Emma Cuttance, says the humid and wet weather created the perfect conditions for the fungus and resulted in a lot of facial eczema in the Waikato.

“We had farmers with whole mobs of cattle with clinical symptoms, which is really tough to see. On the whole this shouldn’t be happening but the problem is, 95% of the time there is liver damage but you can’t see it. It’s an iceberg situation.”

DairyNZ estimates that for every clinical case of facial eczema, there will

LIC is developing a milk based diagnostic test to give farmers early insight into the facial eczema status of their herd before clinical signs are apparent.

be 10 cows that are subclinical – they don’t show any physical signs but they have liver damage and milk production can be depressed during the season of damage and the following season as well.

Spelman says LIC is developing a milk based diagnostic test to give farmers early insight into the facial eczema status of their herd before clinical signs are apparent.

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“We’re working on a milk test which detects liver damage when the herd is exposed to a medium to high toxin level.”

Spelman says how this test will be delivered to farmers hasn’t been confirmed but the co-op is collaborating with Fonterra to validate whether the test is effective with a bulk milk sample.

“We’re also looking into the potential for an individual milk test which could be an add-on to

a routine herd test. The individual milk test would provide farmers with a less invasive, more efficient alternative to blood testing.”

Cuttance acknowledges the current options for farmers to prevent facial eczema are falling short.

“Zinc is the most common way to prevent facial eczema but the vast majority of the country don’t give enough for it to be effective.

There’ are lots of dif-

ferent areas to be worked on in terms of providing farmers with alternative ways to mitigate the effects of facial eczema – one of those has to be breeding.”

Spelman agrees and says the co-op’s long-term aim is to develop a facial eczema breeding value, which would allow farmers to breed cows that are more resistant to the disease.

“We know that facial eczema resistance is a heritable trait. If we’re

@dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

Fine for teat amputations A SOUTH Auckland dairy farmer

has been fined $3,250 for unlawfully amputating the teats of seven cows using rubber rings as a tourniquet.

Pieter Nicholaas Smit, 60, was sentenced at the Morrinsville District Court for one representative animal welfare charge, after earlier pleading guilty. The case was brought to court by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

MPI Animal Welfare and National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) regional

compliance manager, Brendon Mikkelsen, says Smit failed to provide appropriate care to the animals.

“Teat removal is a significant surgical procedure. It should be undertaken by a veterinarian using anaesthesia.”

An animal welfare inspector visited Smit’s property at Waiuku on May 20, 2020, after a complaint was made.

He admitted to using the rubber rings on the cows when mastitis did not clear up after treatment with

antibiotics. The offending occurred over a five-year period.

Teat removal is not a treatment for mastitis, and the practice is opposed by experienced veterinarians.

“In New Zealand, everyone must take responsibility for animal welfare. We strongly encourage any member of the public who is aware of ill-treatment or cruelty to report it to the MPI animal welfare complaints freephone 0800 00 83 33”,” says Mikkelsen.

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able to generate a facial eczema breeding value, we could rank our artificial breeding bulls based on their resistance for farmers to select from.”

To gather the data needed to generate a breeding value, the co-op has collected blood and milk samples from 4,000 cows that have been naturally exposed to facial eczema.

“We’re using ground breaking milk testing alongside traditional blood tests to develop a facial eczema breeding value based on genomics.”

The research into a facial eczema milk test and breeding value is being undertaken through the $25 million Resilient Dairy research programme.

The seven-year Sustainable Food and Fibres Futures programme seeks to enhance the health and wellbeing of the national dairy herd.

“The Resilient Dairy programme strengthens our existing research and development work to keep our farmers and New Zealand leading the global pastoral dairy system,” says Spelman.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

24 // CALVING

Have your NAIT account up to date for calving FROM EARLY July, it will be all hands-on deck for award-winning dairy farming brothers Manoj Kumar and Sumit Kamboj as they start welcoming their first winter calves of the season.

The 50/50 sharemilkers, who recently won the national Share Farmer of the Year award, expect around 760 calves on both Eketahuna properties which they manage along with their six-strong team.

Front of mind for both brothers is making sure all new-born animals are traceable and their details recorded in the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) system.

“We use LIC’s dairy

participant code tags as we know these tags numbers are aligned to NAIT and can be matched in the NAIT system. Once we’ve tagged the animals, the tag numbers are recorded in MINDA [livestock management system] and that synchs through to the NAIT account for registration,” says Kumar.

The brothers keep tabs on the NAIT accounts for the three NAIT locations they manage. When they first took over the sharemilking duties, they discovered that the NAIT records needed updating.

“Some of the herd were not registered in NAIT and the movement records were also requiring attention. We

Brothers Manoj Kumar (right) and Sanjay Kamboj on their Eketahuna farm.

called the OSPRI Contact Centre, and they were brilliant and very helpful getting the NAIT accounts

to reconcile so we could become NAIT compliant.”

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sure new-born calves are tagged and registered in NAIT within 180 days of birth (six months) or

before their first movement off-farm, whichever happens first.

Kumar believes NAIT is not difficult to keep on top of and says it is essential for supporting disease management.

“I believe we are all learning from the M. bovis outbreak and how traceability has played a part in managing and containing it. There is also more information available about keeping your animals compliant with NAIT.” This season the plan is to hold on to most calves and to manage them at a recently acquired runoff block near both farms.

Kumar said they wanted to build equity with

their livestock and breed replacement heifers.

“We’ll keep most of our bull and heifer calves and may sell some when they reach 100 kilos or just before finishing.”

When moving animals on and off-farm, both brothers choose to scan the animal tags using a Tru Test scanner. This saves time and is particularly efficient for transporting animals off-farm.

“When we send our animals to AFFCO, they can make the NAIT movement on our behalf as they are an NAIT accredited entry. So we just have to provide an animal status declaration form (ASD) along with the animals being moved.”

DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

CALVING // 25

Checking springers COWS CLOSE to calving, or springers, must be inspected frequently.

Most farms arrange for them to be checked at least every 6 hours and sometimes more often, especially in poor weather.

Check springers for signs of labour regularly, quietly, and thoroughly and record what you observe.

Quietly Walk quietly through the springer mob – when cows are feeding is best.

Don’t walk through the mob when cows are hungry and are waiting to be moved to fresh grass or a new break. Look for cows that are showing signs of labour and try not to disturb them.

Regularly Check cows at least four times a day. Create a routine for springer checks.

Thoroughly Check all areas of the paddock, and depending how good the fencing is, check the paddocks next door as well. Check drains, hollows, long grass, hedges – anywhere a calf could be hiding.

Record Note the number of any cow or heifer that has started to show signs of calving, or has calved, and report to your team so you can keep an eye on her progress.

Early signs of labour ■■ Springing up - swelling of udder ■■ Milk dripping from teats ■■ Mucus string from vulva ■■ Restlessness Stages of labour Calving will progress at different rates for different cows. Some may show many signs whereas others may show very few signs.

Generally, labour can be broken into three stages: preparation for labour, delivery, and cleaning.

Preparation for labour Look for these signs when observing springers: ■■ isolated from herd and reduced appetite ■■ pelvic ligaments relaxed - vulva looks swollen and flabby ■■ dip between tailhead and pin-bones ■■ tummy less full as calf moves into birth canal/ birthing position ■■ mothering other cows’ calves ■■ discomfort – swishing tail, arched back, restless, peeing, kicking and nosing at her side, tail raising ■■ straining/contractions ■■ water bag protruding Delivery Cows should take 30 minutes to one hour to calve – no more than two hours. Heifers should take two to three hours to calve – no more than four hours.

Cleaning The cleaning process is where the cow’s uterus sheds all material related to pregnancy and returns to its normal size.

This process is necessary for the cow to return to normal cycling behaviour and improve her chances of becoming pregnant again in the future. It includes: ■■ The placenta will normally be shed within six hours of birth.

■■ The uterus then begins to shrink back to normal size.

■■ If only a small part of the placenta comes away, record this and let your manager know.

■■ Don’t pull on the placenta- this can damage the uterus and is painful for the cow.

DairyNZ

Check out our websites www.ruralnews.co.nz www.dairynews.co.nz

Cows should take 30 minutes to one hour to calve – no more than two hours.

Heifers should take two to three hours to calve – no more than four hours.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

26 // CALVING

Safe, healthy bedding for calves THE FIRST sixty days of

a calf’s life is crucial.

DairyNZ says that to set a dairy cow up for a long, productive life she must be given the best possible start. Extra effort now will pay div-

idends throughout her milking life.

Mineral company Blue Pacific Minerals says it has identified some challenges farmers may face during this time. At the National Fieldays last

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One of the new products is ZorbiFresh Active, which comes in the form of fine powder and is scattered on calve pen beddings of all kinds.

Blue Pacific agriculture portfolio manager Mike Prendergast says ZorbiFresh Active starts killing bacteria and absorbing moisture in bedding as soon as it’s applied, reducing moisture and bacteria in calf pens.

It reduces odour in pens by absorbing up to 100% of its weight in moisture, soaking up ammonia and nitrates to give calves and farmers a fresher, healthier environment.

Prendergast says it also helps combat challenges of overcrowding, bacteria risks and the threat of airborne ammonia in calving pens “ZorbiFresh Active can be used as part of a regular process to keep calf pens clean and disease free, but is also highly effective in larger doses

Karapiro farmer Rachel Usmar using ZorbiFresh Active in a calf pen.

post a bacterial outbreak,” he says.

Prendergast says successful calf rearing is geared towards a healthy and productive adult, with a well developed and functioning rumen.

He says DairyNZ states that calf pens must be fit for purpose and well maintained. Bedding areas must be comfortable, clean and dry.

“As calving season approaches, we want to help alleviate challenges

faced by farmers.”

Karapiro farmer Rachel Usmar uses the product and says “it is great to be proactive around damp bedding, especially around that second half of calving as that is when the problems generally arise”.

The company says ZorbiFresh Active has been tested using the industry standard laboratory efficacy evaluation test and is 100% effective against Staph aureus and E. coli after one hour exposure.

Between 250 grams to 500 grams of the product is applied per square meter of animal bedding.

For housed dairy cows it can be applied once a day during bacterial challenge: for other applications, one to two times depending on stocking rate, moisture, ammonium and bacteria levels.

Prendergast says the product shouldn’t be fed to animals but adds that it is non-toxic if accidentally ingested.

Heat detection made easier FIRST SHOWN on the

Virtual Fieldays 2020 platform, the Tailpainter heat detection tool is

now complemented by the Daisy Paint tailpaint range, which made its debut at the 2021 physi-

cal event.

A vibrant, water based and non-toxic paint available in four colours, the paint is formulated for ease of use and with a bright pigment for easy reading of silent heats.

“We are delighted to offer New Zealand farmers a complete heat detection solution,” says co-founder Liam O’Keeffe.

“Covid has left farmers with less available labour so an easy-to-use tool that cuts down labour time and maximises herd production is more necessary now than ever”.

The Tailpainter also helps farmers by supporting block breeding and increasing herd productivity, by consolidating the calving season into a period of as close as possible to six weeks. This helps maximise the production of milk and calves from their herd, with each cow producing a calf and maximising milking production pretty much on a cycle of exactly every 12 months.

Key to achieving this 12-month cycle is effective heat detection practice, with every cycle missed extending the 365-day

target. Closing this gap with effective heat detection, together with the correct timing of AI using top genetics, the elimination of stock bulls and ensuring best practice in nutrition management, represents a significant increased profit opportunity for the New Zealand farmer.

“We are delighted with the feedback from our existing customers who are realising real benefits including ease and speed of tail paint application. The difference is the farmer now spends his time observing cows and not on strenuous tail painting, resulting in improved heat detection and more compact calving,” adds Liam O’Keeffe.

“The real trick here is to ensure that the paint quality is always in good condition before the cow leaves the parlour, topping up the paint regularly.

This routine removes any guessing from heat detection; the paint has to be in good condition at all times during the breeding season and therefore also allows for detection for so called non-cyclers.”

– Mark Daniel

DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

CALVING // 27

BVD tests for newborns THIS CALVING season,

LIC is offering a BVD test for newborn calves to provide farmers with an early indication on the health status of their valuable replacement stock.

Previously, farmers who were testing their calves for BVD through LIC were required to wait until calves were at least 35-days-old before being able to confirm the BVD status of the newborns.

BVD is a common, highly infectious disease that reduces milk production and causes health and fertility problems.

Estimates put the annual losses for dairy farmers at around $127 million a year.

The disease is spread by carriers, also known as persistently infected (PI) animals, who are born with the virus in their body.

Malcolm Ellis, LIC general manager New Zealand markets, says eliminating the 35 day delay before being able

to test a calf for BVD will significantly improve a farmer’s ability to manage the disease as well as add a layer of convenience onfarm as a result of conducting the test at such a young age.

“PI animals can cause havoc on the health status of the wider herd. Knowing the BVD status of your calves as early as possible will significantly reduce the risk of them passing the virus on to the rest of the herd.”

Ellis highlights an additional benefit of the new test is the ability to couple it with other tasks happening on-farm at the same time.

“For the sake of convenience and efficiency, tissue sampling calves for the BVD test can be combined with tagging or disbudding.”

The new BVD test for calves was successfully piloted last year with the product offered to a limited number of customers.

Ellis says the co-op is

committed to using its capabilities to develop new products and services that drive long term customer value on-farm.

“Value for our farmer

shareholders is at the heart of what we do. Our diagnostics product suite supports farmers to produce the most sustainable and efficient animals.”

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For the sake of convenience and efficiency, tissue sampling calves for the BVD test can be combined with tagging or disbudding.

DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

28 // CALVING

Prepare your team well for the upcoming calving season PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

SPEND TIME with staff

and set clear expectations for the upcoming calving season.

That’s the message to dairy farm managers from DairyNZ’s Helen Thoday who says that this coming season will be particularly challenging on dairy farms due to a series of effects caused by Covid-19.

She says it’s probably more important than ever for managers to gather their team together before

calving and spend some time with them to explain what they want their spring to look like. She says once calving starts it’s too late to do this because the pressure is on and long and busy days are the norm.

Thoday says there are likely to be people in teams who are new to the industry, others new to that farm, and require careful instruction. She says it’s possible, due to restrictions on migrant workers not being able to come to NZ, that some farms may be short

staffed.

“Things like the care of expensive equipment, care of animals, what a good working day might look like, and also setting out what communication systems will be put in place such as daily or weekly meetings,” she says.

An issue on some farms says Thoday will be dealing with workers from different cultures and for whom English is a second language. Some farm teams rely heavily on standard operating procedures, but this is not enough, she says.

Gather your staff before calving to explain what they want their spring to look like. Inset: DairyNZ’s Helen Thoday.

“Managers can get uncomfortable about how to show and train people in a practical format.

An important phrase to remember is, ‘I show you, you show me, you do it without me and I check after’. And don’t move from two to three until they can do two,” she says.

Thoday says people from some cultures are people pleasers and are often not keen to report bad news or to say they understand something when they clearly don’t.

Managers need to be aware of this and ensure staff feel free to talk openly with them. Using white boards in the dairy

shed is one way of clarifying tasks and expectations.

“I think farm managers are becoming more experienced at taking team members that haven’t had dairy experience on a paced-learning basis. When I started on a dairy farm everything was taught on the RT radio at 100 miles an hour and it was pretty immersive in your first spring. And I had the benefit of being able to speak English. But today I sense that farmers are shifting away from telling staff what to do and explaining why a task needs to be done a certain way, and are also delegating more,” she says

LOOK AFTER YOUR STAFF HELEN THODAY says with new people coming into the dairy industry, managers should try and “suss out” the skills these people may have, and how these could be applied to their operations to breathe new life into the way they run their businesses.

She says, for example, a chef may have good time management skills which could be applied in a dairy shed. She says giving people responsibility, albeit small, right at the start is another way making people feel respected and acknowledged.

Thoday says managers should also look beyond the staff they employ and also take an interest in their families. She says in the past it was expected that people left their personal problems at home, but nowadays there has been a change in thinking.

“It’s widely accepted that if there are challenges outside of work they will impact on how you are feeling at work, so taking time to listen and to understand these issues is important.

Some workers families are not able to return to NZ and so we have quite a few stories that people are quite saddened that their families are not with them. In other cases it may be about just dealing with modern life,” she says.

Avoid the knock-on effect

Mismatched calves can lead to a whole herd of problems. You increase the chances of inbreeding, there’s more risk of spending resources on stock that should have been weeded out. Your breeding worth gets muddled and your records go up the spout.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

30 // CALVING

Minda has you sorted this calving season FARMER OWNED co-

operative LIC says its herd management system Minda Live and its corresponding app has evolved over the past year with more than 60 improvements added based on farmer feedback.

As a result, use of Minda Live and the Minda app has increased significantly, says the co-op.

More than 8,500 farmers are now using Minda Live, and 10,000 farmers and their staff are using the Minda app to record animal events and access their data to make informed decision onfarm.

Kelsey Thompson, a Stratford-based farmer and Minda user, says the power of the system is all she needs on-farm in terms of information requirements to manage

her herd of 170 Holstein-Friesians and make recording simple this calving.

“It’s so easy because you can do what you need to on-the-spot, on the farm, in the cow shed; it’s all done in one go – and that includes your matings, your calvings, and any health treatments.

Last spring I recorded all my matings, every day, straight into my phone, and then it was updated in Minda Live when I got home every day. It’s very simple.

“During calving I still use the yellow notebook a bit, but I transfer the information straight to the app in my phone, then it automatically goes through to Minda Live.”

Kelsey believed it was a matter of diving-in and getting used to the soft-

Stratford farmer, Kelsey Thompson, says the power of Minda Live and the app is all she needs on-farm in terms of information requirements to manage her herd.

ware, most of which was intuitive.

“It’s one of those things that as you get used to things it just gets easier and easier. This season I got my Mum into

it – she was a huge user of Mindapro – and now she pretty much only uses Live.

“LIC keeps updating the software too, which helps – little things

get refined to make the reports better and information more relevant.”

Jessica Bedford, LIC Minda product experience manager, said development work had been

critical to ensure farmers were well-placed as the impending 2021 calving and mating periods approached.

For the upcoming calving period, there

were several reports and groups that would be handy to create, Jessica said. “When it comes to groups, some of the key pieces of data farmers could use are the expected calving attributes; these will help identify animals that are expected to calve either early or late, or, for example, animals that are expected to calve to the short gestation matings.

“These groups will share with your Minda app to ensure you have the right information on hand to make drafting a breeze.

“For those that prefer paper-in-hand, the Expected Calving by Date or Expected Calving by Cow reports will show the animals’ expected calving information,’ says Jessica.

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DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 31

Causing a stir…….Pondstir is a heavy-duty, shore-based stirrer designed to mix and mix the liquid and solid factions of effluent ponds or storage towers.

Pondstir living up to its name MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

THE PONDSTIR from

Dannevirke-based Metalform, as its name suggests, is a heavy-duty, shore-based stirrer designed to agitate and incorporate the liquid and solid factions of effluent ponds or storage towers.

The result is a homog-

enous mix that can be moved efficiently by effluent pumps or vacuum tankers.

Built extensively from high-grade galvanised steel, the design features a triangular pedestal that is bolted to a concrete pad at the edge of the pond.

Cleverly, the unit is supplied with pre-formed ground anchor boxing forms of 2 cubic metre

capacity, needing a flat level site and the obligatory load of around 5 tonnes concrete.

A deep, square-section support tube, of 10 metre or 12.5 metre length, carries a large propeller, surrounded by a heavy-duty shroud, not unlike an empty oil drum with sloping sides. The interaction between the propeller and the shroud is designed

to increase the velocity of the liquid, while

TEAT CARE MADE EASY MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

THE NEWLY launched Waikato

Milking Systems Walkover Sprayer is designed for use in herringbone and parallel dairies to apply teat spray accurately during entry or exit.

For large dairies or those with limited exit yard space, two Walkover systems can be installed – one for each row of the exit area.

Waikato Milking notes that by installing the system close to the exit point, cows are sprayed immediately after milking, with little or no disruption to cow flow, alongside a reduction in contamination from splashing in the holding yard.

Manufactured with extensive use of stainless steel – said to deliver reliability, longevity and performance – the system uses optical sensors to automatically deploy two or four spray nozzles, based on the speed of the animal passing overhead. An automated

wash cycle keeps the sensors and spray nozzles clean, while an optional ‘purge’ system using clean water reduces problems with teat spray build-up and dirt build-up.

Animals tread on tough rubber matting to encourage forward movement, receiving a programmable dose of 30 to 50ml of teat spray.

The manufacturer says the system also offers the benefit of removing the risk of chemical

exposure to staff who might have allergies, particularly those chemicals that might contain iodine.

Compatible with most commonly available teat sprays, the system requires a 110 or 240V power supply that in turn is “stepped” down to 24 Volt DC at the unit. A compressed air feed, delivered by an 8mm line, is required at 90 psi, with consumption of around 2.5 litres/minute. www.waikatomilking.com

at the same time creating a vortex that keeps solids in suspension, and helps reduce the build-up of silted areas within the pond.

Depth control and operating angle is achieved using an integral foot at the business-end of the machine, alongside a chain/racket system at

the pedestal. As part of the design, the impellor is driven by a 4 or 7.5kW motor housed in a fully sealed unit at the working end, removing the need for a complicated driveline associated with shore-mounted power plants.

The manufacturer suggests that the ease

STANDARD FEEDER (C6 Pinned) • 1 x 6 foot bale • 2m diameter • 15 feed positions • 15 - 30 animals

of installation, combined with superior performance and minimal servicing requirements, makes effluent agitation a cost-effective solution on most farms given the $15,000 - $20,000 price tag, depending on specification. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

OVAL FEEDER (S2 Pinned) • 3 x 4 foot bales • 2 x 6 foot bales • 24 feed positions • 24 - 48 animals • 4m long

DAIRY NEWS JULY 6, 2021

32 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Vendro bagged tedders MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

MASTERTON BASED

Tulloch Farm Machines has introduced a new series of Krone tedders badged Vendro, to replace the existing KW range.

Featuring nine models, the range is comprised of the 4-rotor Vendro 470 and 560, the 6-rotor Vendro 620, 680 and 790, the 8-rotor tedders Vendro 820 and 900 and the largest 10-rotor machines dubbed Vendro 1020 and 1120. The complete range offers working widths of 4.70m to 11.20m.

Said to be coupled closer to the tractor, more weight is transfered to the front axle, while also reducing transport length and lift requirement compared with the predecessors. In addition, they

A new series of Krone tedders badged Vendro, to replace the existing KW range, have been introduced.

offer better manoeuvrability in the working position.

The driveline features a sealed, maintenancefree main gearbox with integral overrun clutch to maximise service life and reliability. Krone OctoLink clutches are fitted between each section of the machines, but unlike universal joints, these eight-finger and maintenance-free clutches require no daily lubrication and establish frictional connections at any

operating angle. Rotor gearboxes are mounted under the main structural beams, so are not submitted to any stresses, while also being maintenancefree with the incorporation of liquid grease.

The Krone OptiTurn rotors are fitted with patented Krone OptiTurn tines that pick up grass cleanly. and the curved shaft results in a loss-free and uniform spread of the material along the shafts, which have different lengths within the pair. A

NEW-LOOK ‘STEP-THRU’

standard border spreading curtain makes for clean work along boundaries, with actuation from the cab either manually or hydraulically. Operator convenience comes from a definable headland position, hydraulic damper struts and special stands for storage.

All 10-rotor machines feature a defined headland position that is set using a hydraulic spool valvet. www.tulloch.nz @dairy_news

REMARKABLY THERE are still

many of the venerable Honda stepthroughs operating on rural properties throughout New Zealand.

Favoured for their ease of access and light weight, the commonly known ‘postie bike’ has been replaced with a reborn version of the CT 125, allowing fans to upgrade to something similar but a lot more modern.

The single cylinder 125cc features electronic fuel injection for rapid starting and smooth power delivery, a fourspeed transmission, electric start, ABS, LED lights and an electronic display. An upswept muffler keeps it clear of dirt and mud, disc brakes front and rear

bring things to a stop and reduce maintenance and the bike has a substantial rear carrier and front rack.

Detailed changes see an increased wheelbase and seat height and upswept handlebars for better rider comfort.

Featuring suspension used on much larger road machines, travel is 110mm, making for a more comfortable ride on rougher ground, while ground clearance is 165mm.

Weighing in at 120kg, the machine is carried on stainless steel wheels, supported with similar spokes and shod with 80/90-17 block pattern tyres for improved traction. www.hondamotorbkes.co.nz

facebook.com/dairynews

‘Built To Last Longer’

North Island - Gerry Clare 021 245 4471 www.webbline.co.nz

South Island - Jethro Boakes 021 513 368

BACK UP.

GOOD CALL. At FMG, we know that more than 10% of our milk claims are as a result of power loss.

It’s this kind of specialised rural knowledge that allows us to pass on valuable advice to farmers to help manage risks. Like making sure you always have a back-up generator on a dairy farm. At the end of the day, if we can help you avoid loss, it reduces stress, lost production and downtime. So why not get in touch with FMG to see how we can help you make some good calls on your farm. Call us on 0800 366 466, or go to fmg.co.nz

We’re here for the good of the country.

FMG0915DNFP_B

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tural ® is the most na t a e T ch a e The P mulates market. It si e th n o t a te feeding n be ctly that it ca e rf e p so t a the cow’s te by hand. g machine or in ilk m a n o milked

THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A CALF FEEDER QUITE LIKE THIS Fitted with every calf’s favourite, Peach Teats®, the STALLION 5-CALF OPEN TROUGH FEEDER was designed with the health and wellbeing of the calves at the heart of its features: • open trough, to discourage calves bunting each other off the teat looking for more milk • extra-wide teat spacings to allow easy, comfortable feeding • super-strong construction, but light enough to be handled by one person • multiple feeders can fit closely side-by-side for larger group feeding requirements • easy to keep clean

Available from your local farm supply stockist