Dairy News 28 September 2021

Key changes to capital structure. PAGE 3 JOINING FORCES

BALER WITH MORE GRUNT Tech updates unveiled PAGE 26

Small processors unite PAGE 10

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 ISSUE 480 // www.dairynews.co.nz

South Auckland farmer Brian Gallagher says the Auckland border system allows seamless access for him and staff into the Waikato to look after stock.

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

NEWS // 3

Change or lose milk supply!

SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

Consumers to dictate farming. PG.07

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NEWS ������������������������������������������������������3-16 AGRIBUSINESS �������������������������������������17 OPINION ����������������������������������������������18-19 MANAGEMENT ������������������������������ 20-23 ANIMAL HEALTH �������������������������� 24-25 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS ���������������������������������������26-27

FONTERRA COULD lose up to

one-fifth of its milk supply unless it adopts a new capital structure.

The warning was delivered by chairman Peter McBride last week as he unveiled a revised capital structure proposal to farmer shareholders.

The revised proposal has key changes including a new minimum shareholding requirement for farmer suppliers, allowing sharemilkers, contract milkers and farm lessors to buy co-operative shares and easier exit and entry provisions for suppliers.

McBride and the board will take the new proposal back to shareholders in the coming weeks for further consultations.

He’s confident of farmer support.

McBride says changing the cooperative’s capital structure is a critical decision and not something the board and senior management are taking lightly.

“We are confident that this proposal would support the sustainable supply of New Zealand milk that our long-term strategy relies on.”

McBride notes that Fonterra’s future success relies on its ability to maintain a sustainable milk supply in an increasingly competitive environment.

“We see total New Zealand milk

Fonterra chairman Peter McBride says the co-op’s future success relies on its ability to maintain a sustainable milk supply in an increasingly competitive environment.

supply as likely to decline, and flat at best. Our share of that decline depends on the actions we take with our capital structure, performance, productivity and sustainability.

“If we do nothing, we are likely to see around 12-20% decline by 2030 based on the scenarios we have modelled.”

Key changes are: ■ New minimum shareholding requirement would be set at 33% of milk supply (around 1 share per 3kgMS), compared to the current compulsory requirement of 1 share per 1kgMS. ■ New maximum shareholding requirement would be set at 4x milk supply, compared to the

UNHAPPY INVESTORS INVESTORS HOLDING units in Fonterra Shareholders Fund are unhappy with the co-op’s proposal to cap the listed fund.

In a letter to unit holders, the fund’s chairman John Sherwin says retaining the fund, but removing features that support growth, liquidity, and relevance to investment markets, could put downward pressure on unit pricing.

The price of the units has declined about 25% since early March, when Fonterra published results of a shareholder survey that showed high support for farmer control and little interest in raising external capital.

■

current 2x milk supply.

More types of farmers could buy shares, including sharemilkers, contract milkers and farm les-

■

sors.

Exit provisions would be extended and entry provisions would be eased.

DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

4 // NEWS

It’s all about NZ milk SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

FONTERRA IS pegging its future to New Zealand milk in a new longterm strategy unveiled last week.

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell says NZ’s milk is the most valued in the world and demand is soaring.

But he cautioned that this comes at a time when total milk supply in New Zealand is likely to decline, and flatten at best, therefore a new capital structure was vital to the co-operative’s new strategy.

The co-op is also continuing to withdraw from

overseas milk pools with businesses in Chile and Australia under review.

And as an ageing global population seeks more dairy nutrition, NZ is in a great position to grow the value of its milk, says Hurrell.

“The world wants all we’ve got – high quality nutritious milk,” he told journalists.

Hurrell says NZ can be selective about what it does with its milk and generate maximum value.

But changes are needed.

“On one hand, this requires the right capital structure to help ensure we don’t lose the benefits of what generations of farmers have built –

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Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell says NZ milk is the most valued in the world.

a New Zealand dairy cooperative of scale,” he says.

“But on the other hand, it gives us more options to be selective about what we do with our coop’s milk. In doing so, we can increase the value we generate for farmers and New Zealand over the next decade.”

To make this happen, Fonterra announced three strategic choices: continue to focus on New Zealand milk; be a leader in sustainability; and be a leader in dairy innovation and science. Hurrell says this requires Fonterra to focus its capital and people on enhancing New Zealand milk and for these reasons the co-op has reviewed the ownership of its two other milk pools – in Australia and Chile.

“Soprole is a leading Chilean dairy brand, and Prolesur is a subsidiary of Soprole focused on sourc-

ing milk and manufacturing products in Southern Chile.

“The operations do not require any New Zealandsourced milk or expertise, and in this context, we are starting the process to divest our integrated investment in Chile.”

Fonterra Australia is on strategy for the co-op and remains an important export market for New Zealand milk, especially for Foodservice products and advanced ingredients.

“We are considering the most appropriate ownership structure for this business. One option is an IPO, with the intention that we retain a significant stake.

“We see both these moves as critical to enabling greater focus on our New Zealand milk and, importantly, allowing us to free up capital, much of which is

intended to be returned to shareholders.”

The co-op hopes to return $1 billion to shareholders from these asset sales within three years.

Hurrell also signalled that to strengthen the value proposition of its New Zealand milk, the co-op will increase investment in sustainability and R&D by over 50% to around $160 million per annum by 2030.

Hurrell says New Zealand has the unique position of being the lowest carbon producing dairy nation on the planet.

“And when you combine this with our pasture-based model, animal welfare standards and scale efficiency, we have something that can’t be replicated.

“But we can’t slow down now. Customers want to know where their food comes from and the environmental impact it

FISCAL DISCIPLINE FONTERRA’S 2020-21 results announced last week shows that financial discipline is delivering, say Miles Hurrell.

Total group earnings before tax was up 8% to $952m; group normalised operating expenditure down 3% to $2.2 billion.

Hurrell says a focus on financial discipline has paid off.

Reported profit after tax was $599 million, down $60m on the previous year due to significant gains from divestments that year.

“I want to thank our farmer owners and employees for their hard work and commitment over the last few years that has got us to this position,” says Hurrell.

“Together, we’ve shored up foundations and done this despite the challenges of operating in a Covid-19 world.”

leaves, and a farmer’s livelihood relies on a stable climate and healthy ecosystems.

“This is why we have an aspiration for our co-op to be net zero carbon by 2050. Over the next decade we intend to invest around $1 billion in reducing carbon

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

NEWS // 5

Border crossing ‘seamless’ for South Auckland farmer “All staff carry the MIQ exemptions in their vehicles because they may need to cross the border. For example, if anyone is coming out of Waiuku at 5am and gets stopped, they have a copy of our exemption letter in their vehicle which says exactly where they are allowed to go.”

PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

SEAMLESS IS how South Auckland dairy farmer Brian Gallagher describes the way the system allows him and his staff to cross the Auckland border weekly into the Waikato to look after stock.

Gallagher’s farm is at Patumahoe, about 10 minutes north of Pukekohe where he runs 400 cows on a 125ha milking platform producing about 180,000 kgMS. He has run-off blocks at Glen Murray and Mangatawhiri on which he grazes 300 heifers. Both of these blocks are across the border in the Waikato region. For him the crossing points are at Mangatawhiri and at the golf course at Onewhero near Pukekawa. Normally Gallagher would cross the border once a week to check on the heifers and says the process to be able to do this has been easy.

“My good wife did the technology to get the

Farmer Brian Gallagher says the system in operation at the South Auckland now is seamless.

exemption papers and we got these literally overnight. We have also got the Covid tracer app on farm,” he told Dairy News.

Only Gallagher and his immediate family live on the farm – the rest of the staff live locally and commute daily to the farm.

His system is unusual in that different teams do the morning and afternoon milkings and are contract milkers. He says

he was operating this system before the arrival of Covid, but admits that now it works well in keeping staff safe.

“All staff carry the MIQ exemptions in their vehicles because they may need to cross the border.

For example, if anyone is coming out of Waiuku at 5am and gets stopped, they have a copy of our exemption letter in their vehicle which says exactly

where they are allowed to go.

“We have one staff member who milks at the weekend and she has to go through the border check to come to work.

When the bar code on her exemption letter is scanned, it clearly states that she can only come to our place, but she also has to produce ID,” he says.

Gallagher says the system in operation now

is seamless and easy compared to the one last year, which was based at Bombay. He says he’s encountered no problems at all and at worst there have just been three of four vehicles in front of him at the checkpoints – waiting time has been minimal.

In terms of the lockdown, Gallagher says it’s had little impact on his farming operations. He

says his bulk deliveries come from Mt Maunganui and the people who deliver this are vaccinated, have the necessary exemptions and codes and are tested for Covid as required.

“So we have no problem getting in feed and other supplies. We are pretty lucky one of our supply merchants is based in Patumahoe and he can drop things off at the gate,” he says.

Gallagher says the advent of Covid-19 has changed the way he and other farmers operate.

He says his own family is fully vaccinated as are most of his staff. He says the emphasis now is on keeping family and staff

safe and well.

“We have always been good at it this but going through winter we told our staff, if they had any indication that they were slightly unwell, we didn’t want to see them on farm and we recommend they get a Covid test. We have made it very clear to our staff, if they don’t feel safe coming to work on farm for their own reasons, don’t come,” he says.

Gallagher admits he’s missed not being able to visit the local coffee shop during lockdown, but says on the brighter side, having a job in agriculture is a pretty good spot to be in. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

6 // NEWS

Wide forecast range is ‘sensible’ SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

FONTERRA’S DECISION last week to retain

its wide forecast milk price range is sensible, says Westpac senior agri economist Nathan Penny.

While the outlook for dairy looks great, the end of the season is still nine months away, he notes.

“Retaining the wide range and the $8 midpoint is therefore sensible,” Penny told Dairy News.

“Dairy products sold so far this season have fetched very healthy prices and Fonterra has banked most of it.”

Penny says the outlook looks strong; demand is healthy and foreign exchange is playing ball.

He says this season’s payout is definitely looking to be a step-up from

last season.

Fonterra’s milk price range for this season remains within a range of $7.25 - $8.75/kgMS, with a midpoint of $8 per kgMS. For last season the cooperative has announced a final payout of $7.74/ kgMS – comprising a milk price of $7.54 and a 20c dividend.

ASB economist Nat Keall says it’s definitely interesting that Fonterra is maintaining the same range. Keall points out that by this point in the last two seasons they had made two or three revisions, and had a narrower range.

“Having said that, the wide range largely reflects that there is still an awful lot of uncertainty hanging over the season, with moves by Chinese buyers causing some sizable swings and the strength of NZ spring production

FOCUS ON VALUE FONTERRA IS moving through its business reset and into a new phase of growing the value of its business, says chief executive Miles Hurrell.

He says the last three years have been about resetting the business.

“We’ve stuck to our strategy of maximising the value of our New Zealand milk, moved to a customer-led operating model and strengthened our balance sheet.

“The results and total payout we’ve announced show what we can achieve when we focus on quality execution and an aligned co-op.

“Although the higher milk price and tightening margins put pressure on earnings in the final quarter, this is a strong overall business performance, allowing us to deliver $11.6 billion to the New Zealand economy through the total payout to farmers.”

Westpac senior agri economist Nathan Penny.

looming large,” he told Dairy News.

“Our forecast is near the higher end of Fonterra’s range around the $8.20/kgMS, but whatever the case, it’s really

positive for farmers that even the low end of the forecast range would represent a really strong season.”

Hurrell says the strong milk price is likely to con-

tinue.

“A high milk price is good for farmers and good for the New Zealand economy. However, this does have the potential to squeeze our sales margins

and impact earnings.”

However, the Covid pandemic remains at play.

Hurrell says the impact of Covid-19 continues to be felt, particularly across the supply chain.

“We expect competitive tension in the global

shipping market to continue this financial year.

“We have largely been able to mitigate this thanks to the strength of our Kotahi partnership which has allowed us to keep our product moving through the supply chain.”

DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

NEWS // 7

Consumer demand to dictate farming SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

NEWLY-CROWNED ORGANIC New Zealand

Leader of the Year Cathy Tait-Jamieson believes that environmental regulations are here to stay.

She says regulations around water quality and animal welfare will be increasingly dictating onfarm practices.

“Consumer demands will dictate which practices achieve the best economic outcomes for the farms; supply and demand will dictate the prices,” she told Dairy News.

Cathy and her husband Jamie run BioFarm, one of New Zealand’s oldest organic farms. BioFarm has been organic since 1979 and was certified organic in 1986.

Yoghurt is BioFarm’s main product, sold in stores throughout the country. Between 75 and 120 cows are milked on the farm, depending on grass growth and market demands. BioFarm also runs 200 polled Drysdale sheep and several hundred meat goats. All cattle are also polled.

Cathy says winning the top gong at the 2021 Organic NZ Awards this month was “somewhat bemusing”.

“The traditional NZ pastoral farming that has been practiced on this farm for at least 80 years

is now regarded as ‘leading’. Some would describe our methods as backward.”

BioFarm’s decision to go organic 35 years ago was triggered by a persistent weed problem.

“We could see that biological control of the major weed problem, ragwort, was the only viable option,” says Cathy.

Over the years the fertility of the farm has been built up with organic fertiliser from grazing animals and “the usual soil amendments”. The farm doesn’t use herbicides or nitrogen and no stock or feed are imported.

Cathy says going organic has given the farm a point of difference because most other farms moved some way from “the traditional self-contained family farm”.

“Organic certification simply provided the quality assurance that consumers needed to be satisfied that the farming practices they favoured were being audited annually by a third party.

“That point of difference has made it possible to establish our own unique brands.”

BioFarm yoghurt is processed in a purposebuilt factory on the farm.

Cathy says the product is popular with consumers. “They say they like it because it’s tasty, has few ingredients and is reasonably priced.”

BioFarm has exported products in the past but in the current climate, they are focusing on the domestic market.

Cathy believes that organic farming is here

to stay and in future all food producers will have the same sort of quality assurance and risk-management programmes that are used in organic certification.

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

8 // NEWS

NZ welcomes China’s bid to join Asia/Pacific trade deal PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

THERE’S BEEN gen-

erally positive reaction to China’s announcement that it will seek membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The CPTTP is a free trade agreement between Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam which was signed by the 11 countries in March 2018.

The executive director of the NZ International Business Forum, Stephen Jacobi, described the move by China as a welcome expression of its interest in further trade reform. He says trade agreements like CPTPP are about the spread of effective and up-to-date trade rules in the Asia Pacific region as well as globally. He says the CPTPP clearly provides for the accession of new members who can demonstrate they can meet its high standards and is a pathway towards a future Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific.

He says NZ and China

Stephen Jacobi says China’s move signals it’s open for further trade reform.

already have a high quality trade agreement that has recently been upgraded.

He says both countries are cosignatories of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes

other Asian countries such as South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

“When the remaining dairy safeguard tariffs are completely withdrawn from 1 January 2024, NZ

will enjoy very favourable market access into our largest trading partner, China,” he told Dairy News.

“It is therefore well placed to meet NZ’s expectations for the elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers.

For the CPTPP bid to be successful, China will need to demonstrate its ability to meet the high standards of other aspects of the agreement, including in relation to competitive neutrality for state owned enterprises,” he says.

The issue of the dairy safeguard tariffs is one that the Dairy Compa-

nies Association of NZ chairman Malcolm Bailey is interested in. He says this is an issue the dairy industry would want to see addressed quickly if China were to join the CPTTP. When the China/NZ FTA was negotiated in 2008, China insisted in safeguard clauses being inserted into the FTA. This means that once dairy exports to China reach a certain threshold, tariffs kick in.

The problem is these were set at a level which in 2008 looked good for NZ, but is clearly out of date given the volume of dairy exports to China

today. As Jacobi says, under the revised China/ NZ FTA these are due to be phased out in 2024.

Such tariffs cost NZ millions of dollars.

But Bailey says if China wanted to make quick progress to join the CPTTP, he’d like to see the issue of the safeguard clauses become part of that negotiation.

“In principle I am supportive of China’s approach. Every expansion of the global trade agenda is a good thing and there is a strong correlation to opening up trade and welfare of people worldwide,” Bailey says.

FUND TO GENERATE CARBON CREDITS A FUND has been set up to generate carbon credits through growing pine plantations on steep North Island hill country.

The CQuest Forestation and Carbon Fund, managed by MyFarm, is embarking on a fund raising drive, seeking an initial $15 million of investor equity to buy up to 1,500 hectares of land to plant in pine. It has secured contracts for the first two properties for purchase.

MyFarm chief executive Andrew Watters says most sheep and beef farmers will have land that is suited to

planting trees and be able to directly gain exposure to increasing carbon prices. But for dairy farmers, acquiring suitable land is more difficult and not part of their core business.

CQuest offers an income from carbon credits and a hedge against the increasing price of carbon.

“We know that some form of emission charge is coming – either through the work being done by He Waka Eka Noa or the Emissions Trading Scheme.

It makes sense for dairy farmers to plan ahead for this.”

He Waka Eka Noa is the primary

Watters, who is also a The fund envisages sequestering sector umbrella organisation dairy farm owner, says at around 520 tonnes of carbon per hectthat is tasked with buildtoday’s carbon pricing and a are through the planting of pine trees, ing the knowledge on farm 5% exposure to the ETS dairy generating carbon credits at a cost of emissions and formulating farmers could face costs of 3 $20-25$/tonne. and implementing an alterAs the trees grow to maturity, to 4 cents/kgMS – and higher native plan to agriculture CQuest will sell the credits on the at higher prices. entering the Emissions TradHe says via CQuest, price secondary market where carbon credit ing Scheme (ETS). This plan Andrew Watters exposure for 5% of emissions prices have been trading as high as needs to be agreed by gov$59/tonne. can be held at 1 cent/kgMS. ernment by December 2022.

The CQuest Carbon and Foresta“While it’s unclear what the If the He Waka Eka Noa plan is not agreed, agriculture will enter the ETS impost of future carbon schemes tion Fund offer is open to wholesale in 2025, initially having to account for will be, an investment in CQuest investors with a minimum of $50,000 5% of its emissions (increasing 1% p.a. Fund is a simple way to mitigate to invest. The offer closes Friday, the risk of rising carbon prices.” October 8. thereafter).

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

10 // NEWS

Small processors join forces SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

TWO SMALL milk processors are joining forces to develop more niche products for both local and overseas markets.

Taupo-based Miraka and Kawerau-based Waiu Dairy, both majorityowned by Maori, will be sharing production facilities and market insights to boost shareholder returns.

Miraka has also announced a partnership with state farmer Pamu, one of the country’s biggest dairy farmers, producing more Pamu branded products for export.

Pamu also has a cornerstone stake in Melody Dairies’ $50m dryer under construction at Waikato Innovation Park.

The partnerships will increase production efficiencies by utilising spare capacity within each of the three processing plants to produce specialty dairy products.

A Miraka spokeswoman told Dairy News that the primary benefit is that all partners are able to share production facilities.

“This gives much more flexibility around production runs, and allows each partner to access and brand their own individual products/ milk for consumer markets.

“We have complementary capability which provides more opportunities than if we were working independently, like the Waiu and Miraka powder driers are optimised for different product types and production sizes.”

Production is under-

Miraka chief executive Grant Watson says the partnership will boost speciality New Zealand products on the global market. Right: Waiu Dairy, Kawerau plans to boost its product range under a new partnership with Miraka.

way and new products set for export this season.

“We are exploring a number of products that will be new to market, or variations on existing products,” Miraka says.

“Products will be branded under a variety of labels across the three partners. This includes

speciality milks, customised processing and products with strong traceability back to the land and our farmers.”

General manager of Pamu Foods Sarah Risell says the SOE is excited to be entering a new phase in its relationship with Miraka.

“Sharing Pamu’s farm and production synergies with Miraka means we can be more nimble in our approach to our markets, and offer a stronger connection back to the farm – bringing customers closer to the source of their food.

“Finding commercial

opportunities that harness the shared strengths of Miraka and Pamu has huge potential for both companies,” says Risell.

Miraka chief executive Grant Watson says the partnership is an incredible opportunity to work together with like-minded organisations to build the presence of specialty New Zealand dairy products in the international market.

“These partnerships will enable us to share

production capacity while giving access to new customers. It also gives us flexibility to produce a broader range of niche products,” says Watson.

Waiu Dairy chief executive Sam Mikaere says the partnership is a pivotal moment for the Maori dairy industry.

“We’re looking forward to seeing where this will lead in the future,” says Mikaere.

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

NEWS // 11

ALWAYS MIX SAFE UK’s new Secretary of State for International Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan will now lead the free trade agreement negotiations with New Zealand.

‘Mystery’ woman awaits O’Connor PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

WHEN TRADE and Export Growth

Minister Damien O’Connor arrives in the UK next month to try and finalise a free trade agreement (FTA) with Britain he’ll be dealing with a politician that no one in this country seems to know, including top government officials.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan was the other week promoted to the position of Secretary of State for International Trade – meaning the UK’s top political trade negotiator who has replaced the better known Liz Truss whom Boris Johnson has promoted to Foreign Secretary.

The promotion of Trevelyan comes at a crucial time for New Zealand as there has been a political imperative on the part of both the UK and NZ to at least get an agree-

ment in principle on an FTA. When O’Connor was last in the UK in July, he and Truss made something of a pledge that an agreement in principle would be agreed by the end of August. This deadline has come and gone and little has been said as to what’s happening, other than word from O’Connor that negotiations are still taking place.

Former NZ High Commissioner to London and politician Sir Lockwood Smith has expressed concern the delay could be due to NZ not being prepared to give the UK access to invest here and also to what he describes as our highly protected legal services. Conversely the difficulties around access for our agricultural exports to the UK may be part of the stumbling block.

Smith says the good thing is that with Trevelyan at the helm of UK’s trade negotiations, the overall strategic direction of the talks is unlikely

to change. This is because they have the complete support of Johnson who has stated that he wants to see a ‘global Britain’.

“What’s more, Liz Truss is still involved in the international arena as Foreign Secretary. I would be surprised if there was a change in approach,” he says.

It is understood that Britain recently announced a significant funding package to support the international marketing of agrifoods products as part of their overall foreign policy strategy.

Given all these factors, it seems O’Connor’s visit to the UK and later to the EU has been well timed. For Europe the summer holidays are over and politicians are returning from their favourite playgrounds in Crete, Spain and the south of France to Brussels and London. It will be the ideal time try and kick start the talks in Brussels and London.

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CLIMATE CHANGE SCEPTIC FIFTY TWO year-old Anne-Marie Trevelyan is the MP for the constituency of Berwick-uponTweed which is situated in the county of Northumberland. It is the northern most constituency in England and on the Scottish border. Trevelyan won the seat in 2015 from a Liberal Democratic candidate, but Labour has never ever held this seat.

An accountant by profession, Trevelyan is well known for her pro-Brexit stance and resigned from Theresa May’s cabinet in 2018 over the latter’s Brexit proposal. Prior to this latest promotion in the Johnson government, she was Secretary of State for Energy Clean Growth and Climate Change.

In respect of this she has been

criticised as being a climate change sceptic. Her response to this was, “This government is united in achieving our ambitious climate target goals. I am proud of what we have already done to tackle climate change and embrace a greener and cleaner future, including being the first major economy to legislate for a net zero target by 2050 and launching a bold plan for the UK’s world-leading hydrogen economy”.

Trevelyan’s constituency is largely rural and sparsely populated, so she presumably she will have an understanding of agricultural issues. This may be good or bad for NZ; will she favour UK farmers or will she stick to Johnson dogma of

free trade? A week or so ago she was reported as saying, “as international trade secretary, climate change and protecting the environment will remain a priority as I negotiate ambitious trade deals around the world”.

As an aside, Treveylan is also a singer and is a member of ‘Singing for Syrians’ – a charity which raises money for Syrian refugees. The hope is that while she and Damien O’Connor may never make the international stage together as a singing duo, they may at least sing the same song when it comes to free trade and elimination of tariffs and together concoct a quality UK/NZ FTA. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

d e t a g m n o i t x i u A M y a r p S t a Te Contact your Ecolab area manager for more information

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

12 // NEWS

Sexed semen demand rises THE NUMBER of New Zealand dairy cows mated to sexed semen is set to double this year as farmers look to capitalise on the technology which

delivers a 90% chance of producing a female calf.

LIC, the largest supplier of artificial breeding services in New Zealand, is preparing to inseminate

around 200,000 cows with fresh sexed semen this spring, up from 110,000 the previous year.

Malcolm Ellis, LIC general manager NZ Mar-

kets, says the increased demand is driven by a deeper understanding and realisation among farmers that if they aren’t going to be milking more cows in

LIC is preparing to inseminate around 200,000 cows with fresh sexed semen this Spring, up from 110,000 the previous year.

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the future, they will need to be milking better cows.

“Using sexed semen helps farmers accelerate the rate of genetic gain by effectively guaranteeing female offspring, their next generation of replacements, from their highest genetic merit cows.”

Ellis says it’s pleasing to see farmers applying additional focus on the offspring of their superior cows and avoid retaining female replacements from the tail-end cows – a critical aspect of the herd improvement equation.

“Farmers don’t need to leave the gender of their calves to chance.

By knowing sufficient replacements will be generated from their best cows, farmers are able to consider alternative beef AB options for their poorer performing animals, enabling them to significantly reduce the number of bobby calves leaving the farm.”

Otorohanga farmer Marian Numan used sexed semen for the first

time last season to help reduce the number of bobby calves their herd produced.

“It was always disappointing to see some of our lovely crossbred bulls going on the bobby truck. Using sexed semen across our top-tier cows has allowed us to produce roughly 30 heifer calves that would have otherwise been bobbies. It’s a winwin – we can retain more of our good genetics with less waste overall.”

LIC has been supplying sexed semen to farmers for over a decade, but interest in the product has grown significantly in the past two years.

“With farmers proactively looking at ways to mitigate consumer, environmental and animal welfare concerns, sexed semen is a useful tool for them to have in their toolbox,” Ellis said.

To meet demand, LIC has repurposed an area within their Hamilton headquarters to accommodate a new laboratory facility, says Ellis.

FRESH IS BEST

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LIC IS the only provider of fresh sexed semen in New Zealand, which delivers a noticeably better chance of getting a cow pregnant than the frozen alternative.

Ellis says combining LIC’s long last liquid semen processing technology with Sexing Technologies’ expertise produces a sexed semen product with a near normal conception rate to that of conventional semen.

“Getting cows in-calf is one of the most important parts of any dairy farmer’s seasonal focus, so it’s critical we deliver a sexed semen product that doesn’t notably compromise that goal.”

Having Sexing Technologies onsite also means LIC’s fresh sexed semen is available to more farmers.

“As we no longer need to transport semen offsite to be sex-sorted, we have significantly reduced the downtime between collection and the sorting process, enabling longer use in the field which ultimately gives more farmers the opportunity to tap into its value,” says Ellis.

Sexing Technologies chief executive, Juan Moreno, says the company is pleased to strengthen their decade-long relationship with LIC.

DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

NEWS // 13

Sustainability scorecard shows good progress FONTERRA’S LATEST

sustainability scorecard shows the co-operative making good progress towards its targets.

One of the co-op’s biggest achievements is the 11% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from coal in a single year, primarily through the conversion to renewable wood pellets at its Te Awamutu site.

Chief operating officer Fraser Whineray says this is a great step towards delivering its 2030 target and the goal of getting out of coal by 2037.

“Having committed to get out of coal by 2037 from the nine remaining sites, Te Awamutu provided material GHG reductions and further confidence to undertake our next project at our Stirling cheese site in the South Island.

“Stirling will become our first 100% renewable thermal energy site.

“We are already one of the most carbon efficient producers of dairy nutrition in the world, and there is more to be done.”

He says its important Fonterra continues to make progress in its operations to complement the significant innovation and change by farmer owners.

One of the ways we’re supporting their on-farm activity is through The Co-operative Difference, he adds. This season The Co-operative Difference payment for milk comes into effect. In addition to valuing milk quality, it

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Fonterra has delivered a good sustainability scorecard.

rewards farmers for onfarm demonstration of care for the environment, animals, people and community.

For the 20-21 season, there was a 25% increase in farms achieving the top and the midpoint targets, with around a third of farmer owners recognised in the overall programme.

53% of farmers in New Zealand also have tailored Farm Environment Plans, up from 34% last year.

“We are on track to meet our target of 100% by 2025 and these are provided free of charge to all Fonterra farmers,” says Whineray.

“Considering our people goals, whilst there has been improvement towards our diversity targets there is room for improvement when it comes to women and ethnic minorities

Fonterra is getting out of coal by 2037.

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in senior leadership positions.”

Fonterra’s gender pay gap has narrowed across all job categories. In New Zealand the co-op is now down to 3.8% on a median basis, compared to the

national average of 9.5%.

I has also recently extended its parental leave in New Zealand so employees will now have their government parental leave cover topped up to 100% of base salary or

wages for 26 weeks.

On its sustainability scorecard, Whineray says transparently reporting across a range of sustainability metrics is very important for the cooperative.

PROGRESS RESULTS ENVIRONMENT ■ Finalists in this year’s Sustainable Network Awards, for a project at Maungaturoto where, for the first time, Fonterra is using a natural wetland process to help recycle water for reuse at the site.

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Awarded the Low Carbon Future Award at the New Zealand Energy Excellence Awards for the Te Awamutu conversion.

New Zealand on-farm GHG footprint increased slightly partly due to the increased proportion of PKE in supplementary feed.

94% of packaging on products sold in Australia are now made from recycleready materials

■

MixMaker makes fresh, ready-touse teat spray minutes before it is applied to every cow teat.

Continued to invest in R&D to find on-farm methane mitigation solutions, including a seaweed trial, the Kowbucha project and our partnership with DSM which look to limit methane production from cows.

Since the Living Water partnership with the Department of Conservation began, Fonterra has carried out 36 trials for tools and solutions, with nine of these being further developed for wider use.

as part of its commitment to recruit an extra 44 apprentices by the end of 2022.

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In the past year, our New Zealand employees increased their on-the-job training and reskilling hours by 28.1%, well on the way to doubling by 2025 in support of the Aotearoa New Zealand Skill Pledge.

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Served more than 180,000 breakfasts a week through The KickStart Breakfast programme, a partnership with Sanitarium and the Government to provide milk and Weet-Bix, which is now in 1,300 schools.

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84% of everyday and advanced nutrition products now meet independently endorsed nutrition guidelines.

Delivered 48% of the 128 partnership actions in the first three years of its sustainable catchments programme.

PEOPLE ■ 13 new apprentices joined in January

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

14 // NEWS

Catchment projects need to be farmer-led JESSICA MARHSALL jessica@ruralnews.co.nz

CATCHMENT PROJECTS need to be farmer-

led, according to Louise Totman, who coordinates the Rangitikei Rivers Catchment Collective.

Totman says the decision to join the collective needs to be a farmer-led initiative on behalf of the sub-catchment group.

The Rangitikei collective is an umbrella for 17 sub-catchment groups, covering 700,000ha across the Rangitikei, Turakina, and Whangaehu river catchments. Recently it received $910,000 in Government funding.

“We don’t do a big

push to get these groups up and running,” she told Dairy News.

“Obviously, we’ve had a few that have been going for two to three years. So, we’ve only started off with a small number and it’s probably only through word of mouth that other groups have jumped on board.

“We support and we encourage them but we don’t run their group.

So, it needs to have that enthusiasm of a leader or two leaders that are going to get that ball rolling and keep it rolling,” she says.

“You can’t get everybody,” she says. “You can’t make them but hopefully they’ll catch wind of the opportuni-

The Rangitikei River Catchment Collective is an umbrella for 17 sub-catchment groups, says coordinator Louise Totman (inset).

ties that the members are having within that group and they might realise that they’re missing out on something.”

Totman says the collective work on several projects but the biggest

one is monthly water testing.

So far, she says the collective has spent approximately $60,000 on the water testing alone.

“We’re undertaking that every month and

every month we’re doing about 64 different sites across that area.”

Totman says the funding will go towards creating workshops at field days and getting experts in to talk to catchment

group members.

“We’re sort of building up towards the next two and a half years of spending that money that we’ve been allocated.

“So, up until now, it’s all just been sub-catch-

ment projects but probably not on a catchment scale,” she says.

Totman says that all of the farmers within the sub-catchment groups have a goal of ensuring that no cattle find their way into waterways.

“Up here we’re really lucky that we do have the SLUI [Sustainable Land Use Initiative] plans, they are all funded by Horizons if you’re on the right country for it.

“It’s that most at risk erodible hill country, but we’re really lucky that most of the farmers in these sub-catchment groups… have already got these plans.” @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

WORLD NEWS // 15

Oz farmers set $100b target AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE is edging

closer to the farmer-led goal of A$100-billionby-2030.

National Farmers Federation (NFF) says phenomenal growth is set to see the farm sector tally A$73 billion in 2021-2022, up from A$66 billion last financial year.

The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Agriculture, Resource Economics & Sciences (ABARES) paints a glorious picture underpinned by almost perfect seasonal conditions across many parts of the nation.

“Today’s data puts a

spring in farmers’ step and is confirmation that the sector is stronger and more prosperous than ever,” NFF president Fiona Simson said.

A bumper winter grain crop is the pillar of the forecast with this year’s harvest set to contribute A$30 billion alone to total farm gate returns.

Red meat prices go from strength to strength with low national herd numbers and strong global demand for protein. Markets for wool and cotton remain strong.

Australian fruit and vegetables will also contribute more than their

National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson.

fair share, adding A$12 billion to ABARES’ forecast A$73 billion total.

Simson said the good result was about more

than good luck and rainfall.

“Australian farmers are the most innovative in the world, committed to con-

tinuous improvement and to finding new ways to grow smarter, more efficiently and more sustainably.

“The NFF’s 2030 Roadmap outlines the plans needed to lift agriculture to a A$100 billion industry. Progress on key areas within the plan has already been achieved.

“Last month, the Government answered NFF’s call for a dedicated Agriculture Visa as part of the solution to farmers’ workforce woes.”

Simson says the NFF is working closely with the Government to establish a framework that rewards farmers for their role in managing more than 51% of Australia’s landscape.

“Earlier this year, the farm sector welcomed

A$400 million in Federal Government funding for an expanded and modernised biosecurity system to maintain and grow international market access and to protect our industry from introduced pests and diseases,” Simson said.

In addition to a lack of access to farm workers, the ABARES report identifies trade challenges, increased international freight costs and the ongoing mouse plague as speed humps, but ones that were unlikely to take the shine off what should be an unprecedented positive result for farmers.

HOUSING PLAN TO BOOST FARM WORKFORCE SOME AUSTRALIAN farmers can now invest in worker accommodation on their farms without the need for a planning permit.

This follows a new streamlined planning approval process adopted by the Victorian Government.

The state’s Minister for Agriculture, Mary-Anne Thomas, last week announced an amendment to the Victoria Planning Provisions that exempts farm businesses from requiring a planning permit for on-farm accommodation for up to 10 people.

This will help farm businesses provide suitable on-farm accommodation for their vital seasonal workforces, removing one of the common barriers to the attraction and retention of workers for this industry.

“On-farm accommodation will

Victorian Agriculture Minister Mary Anne-Thomas.

provide more options for farm workers and make it easier for growers to recruit the workers they need for the upcoming harvest,” says Thomas.

“These planning changes are about supporting our agriculture sector to

thrive.”

Minister for Planning Richard Wynne says streamlining the ability for Victorian farmers to provide suitable accommodation for rural workers is common-sense planning that will

help secure a critical rural workforce.

On-farm accommodation eliminates the need for seasonal workers to find a place to stay in nearby towns.

It removes the often long-distance travel to and from farms, cuts travel expenses and reduces the impact on rural and regional roads.

The planning permit exemption is available exclusively for accommodation for workers engaged in agriculture and must be on at least 40 hectares of land on a property within the Farming Zone. It must meet requirements relating to connections to electricity, water and wastewater treatment.

The Victorian Government says the new planning process will deliver yet another boost for the industry ahead of the peak harvest season and aligns with the Government’s comprehen-

sive A$84 million package to support the Victorian agriculture industry as it continues to meet seasonal workforce challenges.

This support includes the A$6 million Seasonal Workforce Accommodation Program, which has backed 13 projects to boost accommodation options, pastoral care and transport services for 2,000 workers in key horticulture areas.

It also includes A$5.2 million in grants through the Agriculture Workforce Plan for new and upgraded accommodation to support 80 businesses.

Increased on-farm accommodation may also contribute to improving broader housing supply issues in regional areas by reducing seasonal demand on housing in rural towns.

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

16 // WORLD NEWS

Aussie farmers faring well despite Covid headwinds AUSTRALIA’S DAIRY

industry is on track for a slight increase in milk production this season.

According to Dairy Australia’s latest Situation and Outlook Report, conditions on farm remain relatively favourable.

Australia’s current production forecast suggests rise of up to 2%, which would equate to a national milk pool of 8.8 to 9 billion litres.

Dairy Australia senior industry analyst Sofia Omstedt says strong farmgate milk prices and subdued input costs have allowed most farmers to focus their attention on calving and the spring flush.

A wet start to the season slowed milk flows

in July, however, drier weather has since helped to improve milk production conditions heading into spring.

After a spike in sales last year, sparked by panic buying as lockdowns took place across the country, shoppers have reverted to pre-Covid purchasing trends, with sales of fresh and long-life milk tracking well in line with 2019.

“The vast majority of Australian households regularly purchase milk at 98% and only 2% of buyers exclusively turn to dairy alternatives, so dairy demand continues to be strong,” says Omstedt.

“Plant-based beverages remain complementary to, rather than a substitute for milk.”

Australian milk production could rise at least 2% this year, according to the latest forecast.

Meanwhile, global dairy demand has been put to the test as the Covid-19 delta variant spreads across the world.

While a mid-year market lull is common, this year’s was exacerbated by new lock-

downs implemented in key regions, for example in parts of southeast Asia and some provinces in China.

Omstedt says this saw commodity values for most dairy products trend downwards, however, this

price slide now seems to be stabilising.

As dairy demand moves back into a growth phase, freight challenges are becoming increasingly prominent as shipping congestion worsens. With new lockdowns and tem-

porary terminal closures, this is projected to remain a challenge for anyone exporting (or importing) products for the foreseeable future.

Omstedt notes that with global supply expected to continue its

current growth trajectory, solid ongoing demand will be of paramount importance.

“To date, underlying global demand has proved sufficiently strong and adaptable.

“Nevertheless, rising Covid-19 cases demonstrate that even agile supply chains and strong fundamentals cannot completely offset the impact from consumers facing a new period of prolonged restrictions.

“While Australia’s dairy farmers look set to benefit from a wet spring and ongoing profitability this season, the industry more broadly will be keeping an eye out for more curveballs as the pandemic continues to unfold.”

DUTCH CO-OP TURNS 150 ONE OF the world’s largest dairy cooperatives celebrated its 150th birthday this month.

FrieslandCampina is owned by 17,000 dairy farmers from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

Its history dates back to 1871, when a group of farmers established the founding company in the Netherlands.

The following year, 20 farmers in the Dutch village of Wieringerwaard,

in North Holland, decided to collaborate. Together, they bought a building, two cheese tubs and a weighing scale.

Soon after they appointed a cheesemaker, and this marked the first official cooperation of farmers.

In Friesland, a northern province, something similar happened in the village of Warga; a group of farmers united in a cooperative.

After many mergers, these coopera-

tives finally resulted in the creation of FrieslandCampina. Today, dairy is one of Netherlands’ most important sectors.

FreislandCampina chairman Erwin Wunnekink their ancestors already knew that together they are strong.

“That was true in those days, and it still is. It is the core of our identity.

“We conquered new markets by working together. We initially did this

close to home in the cities, then just across the borders and, eventually, all over the world.

“Almost all the people in the world know our cheese and our infant nutrition.”

Chief executive Hein Schumacher says the business is based on 150 years of cooperative knowledge and experience.

“Its foundations consist of family

businesses that have been members of the current cooperative and its legal predecessors for many generations.

“We have enterprising farmers, who by working together daily provide millions of consumers throughout the world with the goodness of milk, from grass to glass, every day. I am really proud of this,” he said. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

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AGRIBUSINESS // 17

Adam Heath takes over as FMG’s new chief executive in December.

FMG appoints new CEO An artist’s impression of Happy Valley Nutrition’s proposed $280m plant.

Happy Valley announces another supply deal HAPPY VALLEY Nutrition (HVN), the company behind a new $280 million milk plant in South Waikato, says it has secured another supply agreement.

The prospective buyer is “a respected European multi-national distributor of dairy products”, says HVN. It says as a result, 34% of the spray drying plant’s total production capacity and 50% of anhydrous milk fat (AMF) production capacity has now been committed.

Once operational, the new milk plant will have capacity to produce 35,000 metric tonnes of nutritional

powders and 6,000 MT of AMF. In June, HVN had announced that it had secured two conditional supply agreements for up to 9,800 MT of nutritional milk powders for export markets.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, HVN says it continues positive discussions with a range of potential financers, including strategic equity investors, industry participants and debt providers.

Additional supply agreements are also being actively pursued with new and existing parties.

HVN chief executive officer

Greg Wood says there are four key pillars that form the basis for delivery of this state-of-the-art facility – customer certainty, milk supply, financing, and product quality.

He says the latest supply agreement clearly reflects progress of this strategy.

“Our main priority at this time is securing the necessary finance to commence plant construction.

The announcement assists us in this regard.”

The project has been in the pipeline for several years as HVN sought resource consents and

funding. Covid-19 has also delayed the project by a few years.

In February, Happy Valley announced that it had taken out a $13m loan and secured $7.4m through secured private placement of convertible notes. The money was used to buy strategic farmland to irrigate wastewater from the plant.

HVN plans to develop a single dryer facility with the site masterplanned to allow for the addition of an extra drier as well as a blending and canning plant. @dairy_news

RURAL INSURER FMG has appointed Adam Heath as its new chief executive officer.

Heath is currently the executive general manager, insurance solutions with Suncorp New Zealand.

He will start in the role on December 20th, replacing Chris Black.

FMG board chair Tony Cleland says the board is thrilled to have secured someone of Heath’s calibre.

Cleland says Heath comes with a strong background in general and life insurance, banking and telecommunications.

“Added to this, Heath is a leader who empowers those around him, shares FMG’s values and has empathy for the mutual model and the rural sector. We know Heath will be a great fit for FMG and ably lead the organisation through its next chapter,” says Cleland.

In accepting the role Heath says he’s long admired FMG from the outside as an iconic New Zealand and rural brand.

“I’m really looking forward to joining FMG and being part of the mutual’s long and proud history of supporting rural communities. It has an ambitious growth strategy and wants to improve further to support clients and members in an increasingly digitalised world.”

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

18 // OPINION RUMINATING

EDITORIAL

Who will we back, US or China?

MILKING IT...

Bridge too far

Potty training

THE HOWL of Protest was generally a success, well received by the public and, surprisingly, given evenhanded coverage by most media.

Milking It was on board with Groundswell’s efforts then to send a strong message, but having a second crack at it feels like a mistake. One look at the comments underneath Groundswell’s recent Facebook post about a second protest make it clear, the risk of farmers’ genuine concerns being high-jacked by fringe nutters is through the roof.

The goodwill from Howl ‘part one’ is very likely to be undone during ‘part two’ – cameras trained not on hard-working farmers with valid concerns, but on banners pushing everything from anti-vax theories, to ‘global reset’ conspiracy nonsense.

As a mate of Milking It quipped, “the best advice we can offer is, ‘quit while you’re ahead’”.

COWS CAN be toilet trained. It’s no joke.

University of Aucklandaffiliated researchers Lindsay Matthews and Douglas Elliffe believe their research with German colleagues could help reduce water contamination and greenhouse gas emissions.

If cows could be trained to urinate in a ‘toilet’, at least some of the time, nitrogen could be captured and dealt with before it reaches waterways or turns into nitrous oxide gas. Matthews and Elliffe’s research detailing how has been published in the prestigious journal Current Biology and is profiled in Science.

Hats off to Mark

Turning the corner

IT’S HARD to tell if any MPs are genuinely representing farming and the rural sector these days.

The revolving door of opposition ag spokespeople at National, and Labour’s continuous barrage of anti-farming legislation, leaves Milking It convinced that the ag sector is being given second-class treatment in Wellington.

It was refreshing then to see ACT’s sole rural MP, Ruawai dairy farmer Mark Cameron, putting the boot into the Government last week.

He is upset with the Government’s moves to block his proposal to take management of environmental regulations out of Wellington and given to regional councils.

“As the only person in Parliament who is still actively farming, I understand more than anyone the pressure and stress that is being put on rural New Zealand by this Government.”

A lonely voice, but at least there’s still one!

FONTERRA SEEMS to be turning a corner in Australia when it comes to stability of its milk supply base.

After its infamous 2015-16 ‘clawback’, when it slashed farm-gate prices, the processor seems to be rebuilding bridges with Aussie suppliers.

In July this year, Fonterra announced it had collected 5.4 million kgMS in Australia, a 6.6% jump on the same time last year.

Tasmanian dairy farmer and Fonterra Australia Suppliers’ Council Board chair Alan Davenport said the company had rebuilt trust since 2016.

However, Davenport said, while farmers had generally moved on, most hadn’t forgotten about 2016.

Hopefully, the co-op’s Aussie team haven’t either.

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WHEN IT comes to hedging between the world’s two superpowers, the US and China, no one does it better than the New Zealand Government.

To the US, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has committed to upholding democratic values and human rights; to China she is committing to mutually beneficial trade ties.

And all along, Ardern has faced a tricky balancing act maintaining New Zealand’s trade relationship with China, while not seeming to support a government accused of human rights violations. China continues to receive the largest share of New Zealand exports: in June 2021, China received 44% of New Zealand’s dairy, according to Stats NZ. Milk powder, butter, and cheese made up bulk of exports.

But things are evolving on the global stage and Wellington’s policy of appeasing both Washington and Beijing, without stepping on the toes of either, is irking some players.

This month, the US, Australia and the UK (without NZ) announced a major security deal that will see the US and UK assist Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, which will allow Australia’s navy to help counter Chinese nuclear-powered vessels in the region.

China has unsurprisingly denounced the deal and its rocky relationship with Australia has almost hit rock bottom.

China is Australia’s largest two-way trading partner, but things aren’t cosy since Beijing slapped tariffs on more than $20 billion worth of exports including Australian barley, wine, cotton, coal, and beef.

China is also New Zealand’s largest export market, buying almost $17 billion of goods annually.

The NZ/China free trade agreement, updated earlier this year, means all safeguard tariffs in dairy are set to be eliminated within one year for most products, and three years for milk powder. This means that by 1 January 2024, all New Zealand dairy exports to China will be tariff free.

In the coming months, the spat between Australia and China will grow bigger and NZ will come under increasing pressure from both sides not to be seen supporting the other.

So how will NZ react? Perhaps it’s a good time to relook at what Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said in an interview earlier this year: “I can’t speak for Australia and the way it runs its diplomatic relationships, but clearly if they were to follow us, show respect, and speak with a little more diplomacy from time-to-time and be conscious with wording, than they too could be in a similar situation.”

It seems NZ’s trade ties with China will prevail, which should be good news for the dairy sector.

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

OPINION – LETTERS // 19

What’s the message?

MINISTER O’CONNER [Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor] seems to lack clarity and consistency in his mutterings about his views on the future direction of agriculture.

When referring to the dairy sector, he calls for it to move away from commodity products into higher spec products.

Whether or not the minister likes it, the dairy commodity market has been the foundation that has successfully provided a reliable base income for New Zealand.

To produce high spec products, which are often subject to fads and certainly economic changes, you need a strong support

base to work off. One needs to be sure that higher manufacturing costs to produce a high-risk product for a niche market will provide a viable ongoing return Instead of politicking, the minister should be concentrating on the critical issues for the ag sector at present. They are

the supply of sufficient reliable overseas staff.

In addition, as minister and a former farmer, he should be lobbying against the ill-conceived and illogical regulations that will impose unworkable management practices into government dictated individual farm plans. This more than anything will

Jim Cotman

drive efficiency out of agriculture.

Of all people, this minister should know that instilling a one rule fits all defies the very foundation on which farming is based. That is well resourced and skilled farmers able to meet all the differing challenges that nature throws at their industry. Perhaps it’s time he studied history

where he will learn that autocratic governments who have stifled individual initiatives have destroyed productive agriculture and ensured it has failed to deliver, to the detriment of the economy and population.

Time to show some leadership minister!

Jim Cotman Waerenga

Overseer – looking at the positives I WRITE as someone who has had a 30 year association with Overseer as a scientist involved in the early development, as a user helping farmers and as a teacher with fertiliser sales representatives.

Most of the debate is around Overseer as a predictor of nitrogen (N) leaching losses although it has many other functions such as estimating phosphorous (P) loss and greenhouse gas emissions.

It was developed as a decision support programme so that it assists land users in making changes in management so to reduce N leaching losses. As such it is a world-class programme that has not

been duplicated in any other country.

Like any model or results from an experiment there is variability around any single estimate of N leaching loss which is normal in a biological system such as farming.

Critics say that it was not designed nor is useful for regulation.

I agree with the first point but would argue that it can be useful if the N leaching losses are interpreted as relative values as part of a trend rather than absolute values.

So if the regional council has a N leaching loss target for a particular farming system on a specific soil type, and the N loss values are trending downwards towards this target in response

Jeff Morton

to changes in management on-farm then Overseer has a role to play. ‘If you cannot measure, you cannot manage’, they rightly say and for many other practices such as grazing management or improving genetic merit farmers correctly measure pasture cover or DNA markers.

Determining N leaching losses from on-farm measure-

ments are too costly and no more accurate than Overseer anyway as shown by the Otago Regional Council exercise several years ago.

And what are the alternatives to the current use of Overseer. Input controls are clumsy and often ineffective as seen with our first attempt with the recent limit on fertiliser N use. There is nothing to stop dairy farmers substituting for the extra feed from N by applying it on runoffs right up to the limit and importing extra feed into the milking platform or just buying in more supplement.

Also input controls are very expensive to administer.

Despite recent statements, the science behind the N

leaching losses in Overseer is very sound and based on peerreviewed publications of calibration trials in most environments.

Sure high rainfall areas like on the West Coast lack validation but you are only talking about a very small proportion of dairy farms.

It is true that Overseer has been mainly calibrated for farms on flat land. So in the short term until more research has been carried out, why not just use it for this environment, as is the case right now. Anyway, flat land is where most of the intensive farming with cattle that causes N leaching is carried out. In hill country, P loss on sediment is much more of a problem and there are oth-

er programmes such as LUCI or MITIGATOR that can be used for modelling them. Arable farming where each paddock has a different management history is much more difficult to model for N leaching loss and there has been less research carried out. It makes sense to only use Overseer with caution in these farming systems. But I still cannot see that trends over time do not have some relevance.

It has also been stated by reviewers that we need a model that predicts real-time N leaching losses rather than long-term average losses as in Overseer but to what advantage in terms of practical farm management?

Say we have a high rainfall event in early spring causing excess drainage and a spike in the N leaching rate.

The N lost from the root zone is a result of the deposition of urine from previous grazings so it is all retrospective and little can be done to reduce it in the short term during or after the event.

So rather than focus on the negatives with Overseer, which can be a human failing, why not recognise the positives and improve them. Two common sayings come to mind when I think of the future use of Overseer.

Be careful what you wish for and don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

Jeff Morton Christchurch

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

20 // MANAGEMENT

South Waikato wetland project GRAY AND Marilyn Baldwin own 713ha south of Lichfield, near Putāruru.

They have a 200ha dairy farm with 900 cows and 160ha planted in maize. The rest of the property is in forestry or retired land.

In the mid 1950s, Gray’s grandfather drained what was a swampy area and turned it into a 1.1ha grazing paddock.

According to Landcare Research, more than 90% of New Zealand’s wetlands were lost in the past 150 years. As of 2019, the North Island had only 4.9% of its original wetlands left.

“Our farm is located in the Upper Karapiro catchment, which is one of the more sensitive ones in the Waikato region, mainly because it drains directly into Lake Karapiro,” says Gray.

“We saw a long time ago that environmental stewardship of the land and society’s interest in what dairy farmers are doing was going to get a lot more, not a lot less.

We thought a wetland was a good thing to do, and if we got in early, there might be some assistance to do it.”

In 2014, with funding from the Waikato River Authority, the Baldwin Family Trust teamed up with DairyNZ to restore the once thriving wetland back to its original state.

The basin area is surrounded by hills – between the farm’s main raceway on one side, and Ngutuwera Stream on the other. Ngutuwera Stream is in the headwaters of Pokaiwhenua Stream, a major tributary of the Waikato River.

Excavation of the site was completed in 2015.

Gray says that consultation and engineering was vital in getting the foundations of the wetland system correct and a component of the development where the Waikato River Authority funding proved integral.

“When water comes in from off the farm, rather than coming in through a narrow channel we wanted it to spread out amongst all the rushes and the sedges which do

Gray Baldwin in his farm wetland.

the good work of denitrifying the water and cleaning it up. Getting that GPS perfectly level was a big part of the cost.”

The wetland now captures runoff from 45ha of surrounding farmland and the race. Altogether including some of the smaller natural seepage wetlands on the sides of the hill, it services an 81ha catchment.

The nutrients then flow through a series of shallow basins which filter them out before the water enters the Ngutuwera Stream.

At the end of the wetland is a 15-metre culvert that connects to the Ngutuwera Stream. This culvert is also five metres lower than the front of the wetland, allowing the water to flow from the wetland into the culvert.

A total of 12,320 plants are planted throughout the wetland representing nine different wetland species. Wetland vegetation comprised native species including: ■ Carex virgata (pukio / swamp sedge) ■ Juncus pallidus (giant rush) ■ Juncus sarophorus (broom rush) ■ Cyperus ustulatus (Giant umbrella sedge) and ■ Machaerina articulata ( jointed twig rush).

Ngutuwera Stream is in the headwaters of Pokaiwhenua Stream, a major tributary of the Waikato River.

Surrounding the wetland are tī kōuka (cabbage trees), tōtara, mānuka and other native species planted by the Baldwins. These help intercept some of the groundwater coming in from the sides.

As part of ongoing monitoring for the project, NIWA implemented a telemetered system to monitor flows and water quality entering and exiting the wetland. DairyNZ and NIWA scientists found that the reconstructed wetland is proving its worth.

Over 12 months, the wetland removed 45% of

the nitrogen, 77% of the phosphorus, 80% of sediment and 88% of E. coli, four of the main contaminants that are of concern throughout the Waikato and Waipā catchments.

The project has also seen an increase in the biodiversity to the area of the farm where the wetland is located.

Native birds have taken up residence because it offers food and shelter, which would not have occurred without those plantings, NIWA aquatic scientist James Sukias says.

“Particularly as the

ABOUT WAIKATO RIVER AUTHORITY ■

Set the primary direction through the vision and strategy to achieve the restoration and protection of the health and wellbeing of the Waikato River for future generations

■

Promote an integrated, holistic, and co-ordinated approach to the implementation of the vision and strategy and the management of the Waikato River

■

Fund rehabilitation initiatives for the Waikato River in its role as trustee for the Waikato River Clean-up Trust

■

Report at least every 5 years to the Crown, Waikato-Tainui, and the other appointers on the results of its monitoring

■

Periodically review the vision and strategy and, at the authority’s discretion, recommend amendments to it to the Crown, Waikato-Tainui, and the other appointers.

trees start to mature, they’ll be adding more.

It makes it look like it’s meant to be here.”

The Baldwins are partnered in an environmental showcase study led by industry body DairyNZ

to restore the area to its natural state as part of a large scale wetland development.

DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

MANAGEMENT // 21

paying dividends ALWAYS MIX CORRECTLY It’s a fact that 30% of the teat spray used daily on NZ dairy farms may not be mixed correctly.

The wetland now captures runoff from 45ha of surrounding farmland and the race.

The aim of the study is to provide Waikato farmers with advice and knowledge on wetland design and performance through a practical case study to reduce agricultural nutrient loads on the farm.

“We want to raise awareness with farmers of the significance of wetlands as a potential tool for reducing nutrient leaching,” says DairyNZ water quality specialist Dr David Burger.

“Our ultimate goal is for this project to increase the uptake of on-farm wetland management throughout the Waikato Region and nationally.”

Gray says he is delighted with what’s been achieved and for the project to be a showcase

for others. He says that as well as interest from media and industry organisations, the wetland has seen significant community engagement as well.

“We’ve had church

groups through for planting days, and we’ve had walking groups who just want to come and enjoy the nice peaceful environment. You are conscious that when you’re a land-

owner, it’s your personal possession, maybe, but a part of society as well.

The wetland is a taonga within the land that we have.”

The project was car-

ried out in partnership with the Waikato River Authority, DairyNZ, Baldwin Family Trust, Opus International Consultants, Hill Laboratories and Waikato Regional Council.

Confused by understanding what mixing 1:6 versus 1:9 means, users mostly make up ‘over strength’ mixtures that cause teat damage and add to unnecessary cost.

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Construction of the wetland began in 2014.

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

22 // MANAGEMENT

Harvest silage quickly or wait?

BY THE middle of Sep-

tember, the grass silage making season will be well underway.

It will start on permanent cropping land with farmers harvesting annual ryegrass crops before the area is replanted in maize, and will continue on dairy farms as they move past balance date and begin to develop a pasture surplus. Well-made, high-quality grass silage is one of the most valuable feeds available to farmers. It will be high in energy and protein, and as a stored feed it can be one of the most flexible feeds in the farmer’s toolbox to fill summer feed deficits. I am not going to go into the mechanics of making great silage as this is well covered elsewhere ( see https://www.pioneer. co.nz/inoculants/productinformation/how-to-makequality-pasture-cerealand-lucerne-silage-guide/ making-quality-silage/; https://www.dairynz.co.nz/ feed/supplements/grass-

silage/) While we all understand the mechanics of making high quality silage, it is hard to put them into practice. We know good planning and good communication with the silage contractor increases the chance of making high quality grass silage. However, it is hard to plan for the biggest risk factor to making great silage – the weather.

Good planning and communication increase the chance that the contractor will be available when the grass is at optimal quality. However, it all comes to nothing if the weather doesn’t play ball, when the question

Figure 2. Pasture quantity vs quality (from McGrath et al, 1998)

Figure 1. Leachate losses from pasture silage vs pasture drymatter (from Bastiman & Altmann,1985)

is often asked, “Do I take my silage early (i.e. cut followed by little or no wilting) or do I leave it a bit later when the weather might be more stable?”

Too dry or too wet?

Theoretically, the ideal harvest drymatter for pasture silage is somewhere above 28%, as this is where the risk of losses through leachate are significantly reduced (see Figure 1).

Leachate from grass silage is particularly prob-

lematic. Not only is it full of soluble sugar (and therefore energy) that can be used by the cow to produce milk, it is also very dangerous to aquatic life due to its high biological oxygen demand (BOD). Depending on the concentration of leachate, a small amount of leachate (1 litre) in a large amount of water (10,000 litres) can threaten fish survival. Because of this, every regional council requires farmers to pre-

vent silage leachate from entering waterways. It is important to see what the rules are for your region and make sure that you comply.

Practically speaking, the ideal harvest drymatter window is somewhere between 25% - 40% DM. Below 25%, the leachate losses increase substantially, while harvesting too dry can also be problematic. Over-wilted grass (above 40%) is difficult to compact into a bunker or

stack, therefore increasing the aerobic losses.

Harvest time and quality The next question then is, “If it is not too smart to cut the grass and harvest it too wet, is it better to leave it growing until a safer weather window comes along? And if I do this, how much quality do I lose?” A former DairyNZ scientist, Dr Justine McGrath, published some data which shows the loss of grass quality over time (see Figure 2).

This clearly shows that while there is quality loss as the pasture matures, the loss of quality isn’t

that great over a 2-week period and some of the loss in quality is compensated for by a gain in quantity.

So, if the weather doesn’t allow you to harvest the silage at the perfect time, it isn’t a disaster. To reduce the risk of leachate loss, it is better to wait a couple of weeks and harvest when the weather allows for the grass to be sufficiently wilted, to ensure reduced risk of leachate loss.

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

DON’T GET HERD NUTRITION WRONG WITH MATING season around the

corner, there’s no time for guesswork or getting herd nutrition wrong, according to GrainCorp Feeds’ technical support manager Ken Winter.

With changing pasture quality, he says making sure cows are getting adequate metabolisable energy (ME) is perhaps this season’s most pressing issue.

“At this time of the year, the energy demands on a cow are at an all-time high. The physical exertions of pregnancy, calving and now milk produc-

tion have taken a toll on her energy reserves.

“It is critical to bring her energy levels up, not only for milk production, but for reproduction. If a cow’s energy intake is lower than her output, her body will find the missing calories from within her own system.

Body fat and protein will be mobilised to make milk, but the cost of doing so will be high. Body condition will be lost and so will her ability to conceive. I’ve seen it happen many times.

“The most common mistake I see at this time of year is animals being fed too little. Some farmers underestimate the genetic potential of their herd, which leads them to underestimate feed requirements. Unfortunately, many cows will head into mating undernourished, which can adversely affect conception rates.”

There are solutions, but farmers need to know how much to feed their cows to meet their genetic and fertility requirements.

Reaching a target Body Condition

Score (BCS) of 5 to 5.5 before calving is ideal. Ensuring a cow’s rumen is fit and healthy prior to calving and stimulating a good appetite post-calving are two key factors. Ken has seen good results when a series of practical measures are taken.

“Underfed animals need an energy break. One of the best things a farmer can do is to milk once-a-day over the colostrum period, for 4-5 days after calving and even longer if necessary.

Not only will this take less out of the cow, it helps protect the integrity of

Watching over your pastures so you don’t have to.

the liver which in turn means better feed conversion efficiency. More energy from every bite can lead to improved immune function, performance and appetite.

“The other crucial part is bringing in additional feed to fill the energy gaps. I always start on-farm to see what resources are already available.

Farmers often come unstuck because they haven’t built up enough feed cover and there isn’t any extra to turn to. With a bit of planning, we can fix that for next season.

DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

MANAGEMENT // 23

Being smart with nutrients BALA TIKKISETTY

SPRING HAS sprung and with it comes an increased risk of nutrients leaving farms due to high rainfall, low pasture growth, lots of stock urine being deposited, soil compaction and pugging.

That has the potential to impact farm production and damage the health of waterways and groundwater.

Handling those risks smartly, thereby boosting production while protecting fresh water, is what good nutrient management is all about.

Good nutrient management will keep nutrients cycling within the farm system and reduce losses to the environment to the bare minimum.

Some nutrients are more prone to loss than others, depending on the nature of the nutrient, soil type and climatic conditions.

Leaching through the soil – one of the biggest nutrient loss risks – can see the loss of the likes of nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulphur.

It occurs when water washes soluble nutrients through the root zone into deeper layers of the soil and they become inaccessible to plant roots. The leaching risk depends on various factors such as soil type, total rainfall, extreme weather events and the actual quantity of soluble nutrients present in the soil.

Don’t oversupply the

Boosting production while protecting fresh water, is what good nutrient management is all about.

soil with such types of soluble nutrients, especially not during winter and early spring, as there is a very high risk of these getting washed out through the soil and lost from farm systems.

A good understanding of the processes and terminology involved with nutrient cycles is important for budgeting and management.

For nitrogen, one of the key nutrients that both grows grass and can harm waterways, there are two important processes – immobilisation and its opposite, mineralisation.

Immobilisation is the conversion of plant available nitrogen into organic forms.

Mineralisation is the conversion of soil organic nitrogen into plant avail-

able forms such as nitrate and ammonium.

These processes are controlled by microbes, and the degree of their activity, in the soil.

Another point about nitrogen is that, generally, there will be an increase in nitrate leaching with increasing rates of nitrogenous fertiliser.

Phosphorus loss, on the other hand, mainly

occurs from erosion and runoff. Research has revealed that phosphorus losses will be high in soils with high Olsen-P levels, and also on steep to rolling country. Managing these optimum levels and controlling soil erosion are keys to helping prevent this.

Overall, the ongoing challenge is to ensure our farming systems efficiently cycle nutrients.

Smart nutrient management practices for all land uses and activities has the potential to bring about substantial improvements in the quality of our water resources and profits.

From now, no more than 190 kilograms per hectare per year (kg/ha/ yr) of synthetic nitrogen may be spread on land that is grazed, including

pasture and any grazed crops.

Farmers need to plan the annual use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser to stay within the cap.

Regional council permission is required to exceed the cap.

Waikato Regional Council is working with stakeholders to help farmers adopt good practices and supports the use of industry-developed codes of practice, particularly the Code of Practice for Nutrient Management, Fertmark and Spreadmark.

• Bala Tikkisetty is a sustainable agriculture advisor technical at Waikato Regional Council. He can be contacted by calling 0800 800 401 or emailing bala. tikkisetty@waikatoregion. govt.nz.

FIVE-YEAR JOURNEY FROM FARM TO RIVER THE DECISIONS farmers make

today to reduce excess nutrients will be reflected in water quality improvements in our rivers within five years, on average, finds new research from Our Land and Water.

The research looked at the “lag time” between farm management decisions to reduce nitrogen loss, and the resulting improvement in river health.

The average time for nitrate loads in rivers to reflect on-farm changes was 4.5 years, calculated using data for 77 catchments from 1990 to 2018. Lag times varied from one year to over 12 years, with water in larger rivers and more steeply sloped catchments taking longer to reflect upstream land management changes.

Our Land and Water is one of 11 National Science Challenges that focus on defined issues of national importance identified by the New Zealand public.

Our Land and Water looks at the complex relationship primary production has with land and water.

Farmers can be confident their responsible actions on land will eventually be reflected in our rivers, says Professor Richard McDowell, lead author of the paper and chief scientist at Our Land and Water, but we should expect nitrate loads in some catchments to reflect past farm inputs for some years.

“New Zealand’s ‘team of five million’ has become familiar with lag times due to the Covid-19 pandemic,”

says McDowell.

“Just as we’ve seen Covid-19 case numbers rise in the first weeks of our level 4 lockdowns, before dropping, we may also see water quality in some of our rivers continue to decline for a while longer, despite strong and effective action being taken on farms.

“If people who farm work as a team, hold their nerve, and continue to take strong action to improve our rivers, water quality will reflect these efforts within five years in many catchments.

“People in industry bodies, catchment groups, and farmer co-operatives can help by ensuring that people who are working to improve water quality have realistic expectations for the time frame in which we’ll see

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improvements, so they don’t get discouraged by lag times.”

The research suggests that because small catchments and subcatchments have shorter lag times, action by people in regional councils to expand and improve monitoring networks could enable earlier detection of improvement.

Improved monitoring by regional councils would provide people working to restore water quality with more immediate feedback about the effectiveness of their actions. This feedback can become part of a cycle where successes and failures are understood, increasingly effective plans are then developed, and this greater confidence leads to increased action on land.

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The research used data from the National River Water Quality Network, which covers about half of New Zealand. Lag times could be determined for 34 catchments, while the remaining catchments showed little change in nitrate load over the period.

While this research focussed on nitrate, which may see a larger proportion of its load transported through slow groundwater pathways, McDowell points out that other contaminants that travel by surface pathways may reach rivers faster, meaning they may have a shorter lag time.

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

24 // ANIMAL HEALTH

BVD – the gains and what lies ahead?

AMANDA KIRBY

BOVINE VIRAL Diarrhoea (BVD) is one of the dairy industry’s most significant infectious diseases, causing preg-

nancy loss, birth defects, reduced milk production and immune suppression.

BVD costs New Zealand at least $150 million annually. For individual dairy farms, average cost estimates range from

approximately $22 – $45 per mixed age cow per year.

BVD is spread by persistently infected (PI) animals. PIs are cattle that were infected with BVD virus when they

were fetuses, before their immune system had fully developed. A PI’s body can’t differentiate between itself and the virus, so PIs produce and spread virus in their mucus, faeces and

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saliva for their entire lives. Because PIs are the source of BVD, breaking the BVD transmission cycle means preventing PIs from forming, or at least preventing PIs from having contact with naïve cattle. This can be done by finding and culling PIs, vaccinating to prevent fetal infection, and improving biosecurity.

In the last several years, New Zealand’s dairy industry has made significant gains in controlling BVD. Most dairy herds now conduct annual bulk milk screening, and the percentage of farms with PIs in the milking herd has come down significantly, from 14.6% in 2010 to 5.6% in 2017. This progress has come from farmers working with their vets and other stakeholders, such as LIC, to design and carry out individual farm BVD control plans. While this should be acknowledged and celebrated, it is also worth considering what lies ahead.

While many dairy and beef farmers report running closed herds, it’s likely that only 2% of farms in New Zealand are truly closed systems. If you lend or borrow cattle yards, send animals away grazing, buy in any cattle (including bulls), or share fence lines with other stock, you’re not running a truly ‘closed herd,’ and you have some BVD risk. Furthermore, while the dairy industry has made excellent advances in BVD control in the last decade, the beef industry has not. Approximately 60% of beef mobs that are screened show that they’ve had recent PI exposure. Our beef and dairy industries share fence lines and infrastructure, and they also trade stock, so BVD will continue to move between the two.

The other future bump

in the road is that voluntary BVD control schemes can only take us so far.

They rely on farmers calculating that paying to control BVD will be a good investment. Economic modeling shows that strategic BVD control plans are likely to pay for themselves now, but as BVD becomes less and less common in dairy herds, the average benefit: cost ratio for BVD control will go down. Eventually, voluntary BVD control will make less sense.

On our current trajectory, BVD incidence in dairy herds will likely stabilize wherever the ‘average’ disease cost over many years balances out the cost of paying for control measures every year. The risk with stopping there is that BVD will be less common, so more cows/herds will be naïve. This means that when BVD strikes, outbreaks will be more costly, on average, than they are now, as naïve herds experience the biggest impacts on production and fertility when exposed to BVD. In this scenario, the few farms that get outbreaks each year will pay the industry’s entire disease cost.

These challenges highlight the need for a coordinated national eradication scheme. All countries that have successfully eradicated BVD have done so through a compulsory scheme, so if we are serious about BVD eradication, this will be the way forward. BVD Free NZ estimates eradicating BVD in a coordinated way would take between 5 and 10 years and would have a benefit : cost ratio of 1.8.

So, for now, keep doing what makes sense; working with your vet to implement farm specific BVD control plans.

• Amanda Kilby is a technical veterinarian with MSD Animal Health.

DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

ANIMAL HEALTH // 25

More sexed semen sourced as farmer orders triple CRV SAYS it has sourced additional frozen sexed semen straws to cater for demand, as orders from farmers triple those from last season.

The company believes the rise in demand is a result of dairy farmers looking to accelerate their herd’s genetic gain and reduce bobby calf numbers.

CRV product development manager Peter van Elzakker says more farmers are considering sexed semen as a tool for lifting herd performance by ensuring they get replacement heifers from their best cows.

“We’ve seen demand for sexed straws continue to grow year-on-year. For herds with good fertility management, using sexed semen from the very best proven bulls is the most effective way to get ahead.”

Many farmers are also using sexed semen to strategically improve herd replacements, and then mate the remainder of their herd with dairy-beef genetics.

Mount Maunganuibased farm owner Ian Hopping invested in sexed semen for the first time last season. He chose it as an easy calving option for his heifers that would help ensure replacements from his genetically best animals. After a high conception rate, he is thrilled with his return on investment.

Ian owns two converted dairy farms in Canterbury and lower order sharemilkers manage 1,000 cows on each property, milking twice a day. The predominantly

The Belgian Blue mated cows had proven to be easy calving and the calf rearers loved them.

Friesian herds average 550kgMS/cow.

“We wanted high quality Friesian calves from our Friesian yearling heifers which have some of our best genetics,” says Ian. “In the past, if we had calving difficulty with a heifer, 90% of the time she would have a bull calf.

So, we took bull calves out of the equation by going to sexed semen.

“Calving of our heifers this spring has gone really well, with approximately 400 heifer calves born in July and 10% bulls, which we expected. Until we get DNA results back, I can’t confirm how many heifer calves resulted from the sexed semen, but looking in the calf sheds, we are more than happy with the result.”

Ian says using sexed semen also allowed him to get enough replacements early and mate a larger percentage of his milking herd with short gestation Belgian Blue, to help condense his calving.

The milking herds are mated to CRV conven-

tional Friesian straws for four weeks and the Belgian Blue for five weeks.

Ian says the Belgian Blue had proven to be easy calving and the calf rearers loved them.

While there is a slight reduction in cow conception rates when compared to conventional semen products, Peter van Elzakker says sexed semen is a great option for heifer mating.

“Each pregnancy from sexed semen gives farmers a 90% chance of a heifer calf. This means getting replacements from elite cows, building herd numbers, or creating value through excess heifer sales is a real option to drive herd improvement progress and profitability.

“Conception rates with sexed semen can be around 10% lower than non-sexed semen, but the genetic gains you get when you’re mating them with your top heifers make it a worthwhile investment.”

Using sexed semen in combination with dairy

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Mount Maunganui-based farm owner Ian Hopping invested in sexed semen for the first time last season.

MARKETS & TRENDS

beef can also reduce the number of bobby calves, an increasingly important factor for farmers as they consider animal welfare.

Sexed semen is avail-

able from a selection of CRV’s best New Zealand and imported bulls, including the company’s stars, such as Carrick, Cagney and Splash.

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benefits of frozen sexed semen is that farmers get exactly the sire they order and can manage their mating allocation on the day, says van Elzakker.

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

26 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Revamped baler lifts performance, quality MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

GRASSLAND SPECIALISTS Kuhn has

announced a raft of technological updates to its forage and straw baling equipment, designed to improve control of product quality and/or operational efficiency.

VB balers and VBP BalePack baler-wrapper combinations are equipped with KUHN’s progressive density baling chambers and are suitable for handling a range of wet and dry crops – from

hay and straw (5-20% moisture), to haylage (1835% moisture) and silage (35-80% moisture).

VB and VBP BalePack are now available with the option of a humidity sensor that can measure forage composition up to a level of 40% moisture, providing a useful way to monitor a crop’s suitability to hit a target dry matter. The sensor is available on all VB and VBP ranges from 2021, with a retrofit option on 2021 machines and beyond.

The VBP BalePack is also available with

The VBP BalePack is also available with Kuhn’s film binding system as an alternative to net binding.

KUHN’s film binding system as an alternative to net binding, proven

over several years on the FBP BalePack and the compact i-BIO baler-

wrapper combination.

A bale weighing system is being launched as an

option FBP BalePack (fixed chamber) and VBP BalePack (variable chamber) baler-wrapper combinations, from 2021 onwards.

Mounted on the wrapping table, each bale is weighed to provide a rolling average of the previous three bales, allowing an estimation of total bale weight on a paddock by paddock basis.

Looking at the SB large square baler range, developments include detailed changes to the pick-up to improve intake and an increase

in bale chamber length to 375cm and using nine hydraulic compression cylinders to increase the consistency of bale density, particularly in very dry crops.

At the front of the machine, the new power feed roller actively follows the height of the swath, while the overall tine-totine width of the pickup has been increased, both changes said to improve the consistency of crop flow to the rotor, removing peaks in power demand and reducing the risk of blockages. www.kuhn.co.nz

NEW HOLLAND TURNS 60 NEW HOLLAND Agriculture is cel-

ebrating the 60th Anniversary of the introduction of its first self-propelled forage harvester, brought about by transforming its SP818 trailed harvester into a self-propelled machine.

The company is marking the milestone with a 60th Anniversary Special Edition of its FR Forage Cruiser for all units produced for the next season, with machines bearing distinctive, Anniversary livery featuring a 60th Anniversary decal, silver swash and silver leaf to symbolise the machine’s technologies and performance.

Over the six decades, NH self-propelled foragers have seen numerous technical advances, including: Power Cruise, which ensures maximum capacity in paddocks of varying crop

density; HydroLoc, which ensures constant chop length regardless of crop type and variations in load, and

has a robust cutterhead with multiple configurations to suit crops from conventional silage to biomass.

ActiveLOC technology, automatically calibrates chop length to ensure optimal silage depending

on the moisture content of individual swaths, while the NutriSense NIR sensor provides crop nutrient data, which can be visualised on the MyPLM Connect portal, to help farmers make informed decisions to market their crops most profitably, and tailor inputs for enhanced future yields.

Henrik Aaskov Hansen, global product manager for New Holland Self Propelled Forage Harvesters said, “For the last 60 years, New Holland forage harvesters have constantly pushed the boundaries of performance.

More recently, FR Forage Cruisers have also proven invaluable assets in biomass production, which is developing fast in response to the growing demand for sustainable fuels”.

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DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 27

Mowers spring into action MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

WITH SPRING upon us, thoughts turn towards shutting up paddocks for conservation and maybe the purchase of new machinery to get the job done. The latest 28 Series disc mowers from Kverneland offer several features that the manufacturer says make a real difference to cutting performance and the cost of ownership.

At the heart of the machine, KV’s own cutter-bar takes the form of two C-shaped steel profiles that are brought together with a single welded seam. This creates a torsional-rigid cutterbar with massive strength, no leaks, a high oil capacity, no maintenance and an extended service life.

The unique round cutting discs also ensure there are no “pinch” points for stones or matted crop, while quick change blades make it easy to ensure cutting quality.

Available in 3.2m (8-disc), 3.6m (9-disc) and 4.0m (10-disc) set ups, the 2832, 2836 and 2840 models feature a heavy-duty headstock and frame, using a centre pivot layout to support the mowing element.

Ground adaption and suspension is taken care of

by HD coil spring system that responds quickly to changing conditions and is easy to adjust Offering a shaft-drive layout, overload protection is taken care of by a slip clutch and a breakaway device is incorporated into the lower link position, meaning that if an obstacle is encoun-

New features to the mower make a real difference to cutting performance and the cost of ownership, says the manufacturer.

tered, the mower unit can break back, then reset after the obstruction is cleared.

Requiring only one single-acting hydraulic connection, the mower folds vertically up to 125 degrees from horizon-

tal, pulling the cutter-bar inside the line of the tractor’s offside rear fender for transport, while also increasing stability at road transport speeds.

Product manager for distributor Power Farming Group, Shane

Cox, says “the 28 Series machines are very heavyduty machines, so are ideally suited to larger scale farms or in contracting operations”.

Likewise, for those wishing to push moisture out of mown crops, the

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Kverneland Proline 8500 Series tedders take on many of the same attributes.

Available in 5.5 or 7.6 metre working widths, the 8555 and 8576 models are 4 or 6-rotor machines, featuring a heavy-duty box section main beam, to which permanent oil-bath gearboxes are bolted, thereby eliminating and stress loadings passed through the machine. Internally, the rotor gearboxes feature pinion shafts that are supported by twin bearing assemblies, said to eliminate distortion extreme loadings, while ensuring that gear engagement remains constant, so extending the service life of the machine.

Each rotor assembly is equipped with seven flat steel tine arms, which in

turn carry Super-C tines, with equal-length arms to promote even spread over the full working width.

Each tine, manufactured from 10mm diameter, shot-peened spring steel, is fitted with twin 80mm diameter coil springs, so are suited to heavy crop conditions.

Tine angle can be adjusted to offer aggressive angles depending on crop, while a border spreading function reduces spreading width to keep material under control on headlands or alongside drains.

During folding to a 2.95m transport width, maintenance free rollers ensure correct alignment of the wing sections, while double universal joints help reduce shocks or torsional loading being transmitted through the driveline.