Dairy News10, 246 2011

Trading Among Farmers off the agenda this year

MAY 10, 2011 ISSUE 246

PAGE 3

NZFSU FULL TAKEOVER BID

WINTER FEED CHALLENGE

PAGE 21

PAGE 28

Shareholders urged to stay

Forage mix does the job

RAW MILK PRICE STOUSH

Gourmet cheese makers slam DIRA PAGES 4 & 7

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

3

NEWS

TAF launch delayed SUDESH KISSUN

Operating efficiencies of rotary Page 10 milking sheds.

Leafing through pasture to monitor growth.

Page 22

Growing fodder beat as a winter crop.

Page 27

News .......................................................... 3-14 Opinion .................................................... 16-17 Agribusiness ...........................................20-21 Management ..........................................22-24 Animal Health .........................................25-27 Animal Health & Stockfeeds .............. 28-30 Machinery & Products .......................... 31-34

THE LAUNCH by Fonterra of Trading Among Farmers (TAF) is off this year’s agenda, says chairman Henry van der Heyden.

The co-op now hopes legislation will be finalised for a March/ April 2012 launch.

With van der Heyden at his side, Agriculture Minister David Carter last week told a Fonterra Network Conference at Hamilton amendments to the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act (DIRA) are “very unlikely” this year.

Carter says issues raised by stakeholders during public consultation must be addressed before amended legislation is tabled in Parliament.

Farmers are “a little disappointed” with the announcement but remain positive about TAF, says van der Heyden.

“The 2011 October/November launch window is off the agenda,” he told Dairy News.

“We identified March/April 2012 and October/November 2012 as two other possible windows and we’re working towards that.”

Van der Heyden says Carter assures him TAF legislation

would be a National Government priority after the November election. The Christchurch earthquake and the possibility of an inquiry into milk pricing are also factors that delayed TAF legislation in Parliament.

“As the minister has said it is unlikely; we accept TAF will not be finalised this year.”

Van der Heyden says concerns about open entry/exit provisions for shareholders under TAF are ill-founded as it gives farmers “more choice about when and how they buy and sell Fonterra shares”.

Carter is also backing TAF, saying it can benefit the industry and economy. But issues have been raised which must be addressed.

“I had earlier given an assurance to Sir Henry [van der Heyden] that I would do all I could to get the legislation done before the election.

“But given the work still required, and the massive list of bills Parliament has to consider in the next few months, it now looks unlikely legislation will be passed before the election in November.

“We may get the legislation

introduced to Parliament, in which case a re-elected National Government would give it priority.

“A workable TAF remains a priority for a National Government. But it is in all our interests that we get this right.”

Henry van der Heyden

More time to pay TO HELP farmers adjust to the delay in TAF’s launch, Fon-

terra will allow them more time to pay for new shares.

Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden says it is looking at helping out farmers until TAF’s launch.

Normally farmers must pay by July for extra shares for a new season. But for 2011-12 farmers may delay payment until the end of October. Delayed payments will be charged interest at commercial rates.

“It’s all about allowing farmers greater flexibility until TAF starts,” van der Heyden says.

Milk pricing transparent – Fonterra FONTERRA SAYS it is cooperating with the Commerce Commission study of milk pricing.

Chairman Henry van der Heyden says the commission has been in touch and the co-op is making information available.

“Our milk pricing system is transparent,” he told Dairy News.

The commission is trying to

determine whether a milk price inquiry is needed.

Agriculture Minister David Carter says an inquiry into milk pricing would affect the review of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act (DIRA) begun by MAF. He says the milk price is central to DIRA and its raw milk provisions. He agrees there is a need to review DIRA.

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Fonterra farmers are also concerned the co-op must supply raw milk at subsidised prices to competitors.

“I share these concerns,” Carter says. “The regulations need to be reviewed and updated, 10 years on from their inception.

“The review is wide ranging, covering all aspects of the regulations including who is eligible

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to take regulated milk and for how long, what quantity of milk can be taken, and what level of flexibility should be provided in the rules of supply.

“As policy development continues, there will be robust consultation where all stakeholders may express their views.”

The commission will release its findings next month.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

NEWS

Soaring milk price hits cheese making SUDESH KISSUN

Website relaunch DAIRY NEWS now has its own web-

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A redesign and relaunch of all Rural News Group’s websites now puts Dairy News, the bi-monthly national publication, online at www.dairynews.co.nz Here’s all the news and information relevant to dairy farmers, written and edited by the agricultural journalists who produce Rural News, Dairy News and NZ WineGrower.

Site sections include industry news, opinion, management, animal health, machinery and products, and agribusiness. It has the latest digital-media bells and whistles – blogs and social

media feeds for the more technically advanced among us.

New technology and the clean, modern look of the website align with New Zealand’s largest and most progressive industry – dairying.

The site will lead visitors to every issue of Dairy News, and offers competitions for farmers, and extended versions of stories too long for the print issue but valuable to farmers.

Content from the annual technical publication Getting the Basics Right will also appear on the site, increasing its usefulness as a business tool.

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GOURMET CHEESE makers are feeling the pinch as demand for raw milk grows globally. Many struggle to stay afloat as soaring raw milk prices force their production costs to record levels.

New Zealand Specialist Cheese Association president Mike Carey says its members “are finding it quite tough out there”. Publicity about milk and cheese prices is also slowing consumption of gourmet cheese, he says.

“Specialist cheese is a slightly more a luxury than an everyday item,” he told Dairy News. “So any increase in our cost of production challenges our market share.”

With global demand for dairy tipped to remain strong, Carey sees no respite for gourmet cheese makers. He points out while Fonterra continues to thrive in the strong global dairy market it spells more bad news for specialists, most of whom rely on Fonterra for raw milk.

Raw milk price is around the forecast payout price set by Fonterra. But if during the season Fonterra increases its payout, the cheese makers are invoiced for a top-up payment.

But by then the milk will have been turned into cheese and sold, Carey says. “Then it’ll be too late for us to recoup the extra milk price.”

In April last year Fonterra announced a 2010-11 season forecast

Specialist cheese makers are also facing the effects of high milk prices.

milk price of $6.60/kgMS. But as global demand for dairy grew the co-op boosted its forecast milk price to $7.50/kgMS. Raw milk sold by Fonterra incurs a transport cost plus a 10c/kgMS premium set by the Government.

Carey says the mechanism for price increases and timing must

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Fonterra’s success in the global market may be good for dairy farmers and New Zealand economy but not everyone benefits, he says.

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ting more pressure on us.”

Carey says the closure of the Te Mata cheese plant in Hawke’s Bay (story on page 7) reflects the state of the industry. “It shows the challenge posed by the high milk price.”

More on page 7

IN BRIEF Flat milk prices at auction

INTERNATIONAL MILK prices in Fonterra’s fortnightly auction have remained broadly flat.

The globalDairyTrade (gDT) trade weighted index rose 0.1% on May 5. The average winning price rose to $US4293 from $US4280 a fortnight ago. That followed a fall of 2.4% this month and a fall of 8.2% in mid-March.

Despite those declines, prices remained at elevated levels.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

5

NEWS

Uni farm eyes less cows, more profits LINCOLN UNIVERSITY’S demon-

Five-year plan • Increase productivity without increasing footprint.

• Meet definable and acceptable welfare standards.

• Demonstrate practice achievable by leading farmers.

Ron Pellow explains LUDF’s “precision dairying” plan at last week’s focus day.

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ed for the manager.”

She suggested Pellow would in one year be defending the theory of the strategy but blaming on management a poorer performance than is now achieved.

Others questioned whether the theoretical increase in output per cow could be achieved in practice, but Pellow says there are farms doing 450kgMS off grass alone already.

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stration farm looks likely to cut its stocking rate to try to boost its already industry-leading profits.

The plan, dubbed “precision dairying” by South Island Dairy Development Centre’s Ron Pellow, was unveiled last week at a farm Focus Day. The aim is “a 5% decrease in stocking rate, for a 10% increase in production, and 15% more profit,” says Pellow. “Doesn’t sound too bad, does it.”

By reducing herd size 3-6%, with the same feed or more available, the farm would capitalise on the ever-increasing production potential of the cows, with proportionately more feed allocated to production and less to maintenance.

With fewer cows the farm would have a better chance of increasing

productivity without increasing its environmental footprint, argues Pellow.

Putting grain feeders in the shed has been dismissed; it may increase profit but others in the area are doing that successfully and such systems are tried and tested.

“What we’re proposing is less certain.”

Splitting what would be a 620645 cow herd into several mobs to better manage feed supply and cow condition is likely.

Better reproductive performance is anticipated, which would reduce replacement rates and costs and raise overall production as there would be fewer heifers in the herd.

The plan attracted immediate criticism from some at the field day.

“What you’re calling precision farming I would call complicated farming,” South Canterbury-based dairy farmer Leonie Guiney said.

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KPMG surveyed major banks and financiers on dairy farmers’ debt levels. The farmers found to be bothering the banks tend to be on larger farms – corporate or family

– and those who had bought more farms, Kensington says. Many affected had done dairy conversions the previous time the milksolids payout was high.

The problem that’s surfaced now is largely historical, from the days of euphoria over high payouts.

Previously when times got tough so did banks, precipitating mortgagee sales, Kensington says.

Not so this time.

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full and those where a borrower is going to repay in full but is now a little behind.

“Because we’re in difficult economic times, people’s cashflows may have decreased slightly but the banks are careful how they deal with those people.

“If the banks feel people are making a genuine attempt to pay the interest and some of the principal, they are prepared to work with them to find a solution.” But Kensington warns things could get worse for the 20% in trouble.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

7

NEWS

‘Still worth processing’ ANDREW SWALLOW

a half years since the processing plant opened the cheeses are now available nationwide.

“We’re pleased with how it’s going, increasing sales every

FOR INTEGRATED organic dairy farm and cheese maker Ret­ ro Organics, Southland, the hike in milk price has reduced the return over simply selling to Fonterra.

But owner operator Robin Greer says “at the moment it’s still worth us processing it,” without increasing prices of their end product.

“Getting established in the market is more im­ portant at this stage. What we’re selling is not an ev­ eryday product for most people.”

At present about 5% of the 100,000kgMS or so Greer and wife Lois Lois and Robin Greer. produce from their herd of 330 organically certi­ month, so we couldn’t ask for fied cows near Matuara is further better really,” Greer told Dairy processed, the balance going to News.

Fonterra.

He’s “happy” with South Of that 5%, 80% goes into Island availability, notably cheese, about 15% is bottled, and through New World super­ 5% made into yoghurt. Two and markets, and is now building

North Island distribution.

A couple of big supply con­ tracts were secured recently, two years after opening talks with the customers. “We’ve learnt these things don’t happen quickly.”

Negotiations are also underway to ex­ port, though to date nothing has been shipped, largely be­ cause of scale issues.

“People want huge amounts compared with what we’re able to supply. For us the dif­ ficulty [in exporting] is finding someone who wants a smaller amount in line with what we can produce.”

With such demand, Greer is confident 100% of their milk will be further processed on farm “one day”. When that goal is in sight, their second farm, a 130ha sharemilked unit which neighbours the home farm, will be put through the organic certi­ fication process.

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Gourmet cheese maker forced to trim operations HIGH AND rising milk prices have forced a ‘niche’ cheese maker Kaimai Cheese to substantially curtail its operation.

Te Mata cheese plant, Hawke’s Bay, has been mothballed, laying off six work­ ers, and the Kaimai plant in Bay of Plenty is downsizing.

Wyatt Creech, former National gov­ ernment minister and now executive di­ rector of the two companies, blames the downsizing on the system under which Fonterra sells milk to his company. It has cut by 50% the quantity of milk it buys from Fonterra because of the high prices, he says.

“The milk pricing system is a major issue for us. We buy milk from Fonterra in, say, July and we pay a price for that milk then.

“We sell our product into the super­ markets but if the milk prices continue to rise during the season [Fonterra] comes back and asks for more money afterward, so we don’t know what the milk price is going be months down the track.

“When you’ve had rising prices like we’ve had, this wash­up payment com­ ing in afterwards is impossible. It makes

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it very hard for us to set prices for our products.”

High milk cost pushes up their product prices, curbing sales, he says.

Te Mata was producing more run­of­ the­mill priced camembert with a long shelf life, and not of the same quality as the traditional matured French­style cam­ embert.

Creech says no final decision has been made on the Kaimai plant, but some job losses are inevitable. He is highly critical of Fonterra’s price­setting mechanism.

“The price of milk is set by the inter­ national market and we think the system for setting the milk price is not particu­ larly fair. It’s an issue about how they translate international dairy prices into the New Zealand farm gate milk prices and we have issues with that.

“It makes it impossible for small busi­ nesses. All around the country they’re having the same kind of problem.”

Kaimai Cheese is now focusing on the quality end of the market for good dairy products, Creech says. “People love that cheese, we’ve got a good market for it and it works for us.”

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

9

NEWS

‘Reduce stocking rate if feed is scarce’ ANDREW SWALLOW

IF YOU can’t get your cows back to BCS 5.0 by calving,

and/or you don’t have enough feed on farm at calving, you probably need to reduce your stocking rate, says DairyNZ senior scientist Kevin Macdonald.

Speaking about ‘Should we be milking fewer cows?’ at the Southland Face-to-Face event, Macdonald showed there’s little difference in operating profit/ha between low stocking rates and high.

“It goes from $1612/ha to $1854/ha [at $4.50/kgMS].

The difference is only about $240/ha.”

The highest operating profit at $4.50/kgMS payout is with a stocking rate of 3.1 cows/ha, as at $6.50/kgMS payout. But at the higher payout the penalty of a lower stocking rate is greater – $3401/ha at 2.2 cows/ha compared to $3935/ha at 3.1 cows/ha – and the penalty of higher stocking rates is minimal: 4.3 cows/ha returning $3858/ha.

Macdonald says people striving for maximum milk production/ha won’t necessarily be optimising profit.

Similarly maximum production per cow won’t necessarily be the optimum profit. The key is in tuning management according to stocking rate.

“The decision rules at a low stocking rate are quite different from the decision rules at a high stocking rate,” he stresses.

For example, at a low stocking rate the emphasis is on maximising feed quality and cow intake, whereas at a high stocking rate the key is to concentrate on the quantity of pasture offered to cows. “The quality looks after itself.”

At high stocking rates, lower residuals – typically 1500-1600kgDM/ha – should be left following grazing of pastures ideally at 3000-3100kgDM/ha.

At a lower stocking rate cows can be put onto pasture with lower covers, but shouldn’t be pushed to eat it so low.

“With a low stocking rate the challenge is to anticipate and manage surpluses whereas with a high stock-

ing rate it is about being prepared for feed deficits.”

While high stocking rates do not equate to skinny cows, there is a need to be more proactive about drying off on BCS. Community perceptions and possible regional authority regulations also need to be considered in deciding which approach to take, Macdonald says.

Striving for maximum milk production won’t necessarily optimise profit, says DairyNZ.

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ing women in their physical and emotional health.

The national workshops, ‘FarmHer Wellbeing,’ are run by Dairy Women’s Network and present experts in women’s health, with a focus on strengthening emotional wellbeing.

Presenters include an agricultural recovery facilitator for Rural Support Trust Southland, Claire Welch, presenting in the South Island; and Wayne Morris, Future Edge Ltd presenting in the North Island.

Dairy Women’s Network acting general manager Lynda Clark says women in dairying are vital to the physical and emotional health of everyone on the farm.

So they aim to strengthen her role as she deals with her own and her farming family’s health.

“We also want to help her build a network of support among women in agriculture because she doesn’t need to be alone.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

NEWS

Rotary research unveiled ANDREW SWALLOW

RECTANGULAR HOLDING yards and

high milk-flow settings for ACR activation suit rotary dairies judging by new research findings unveiled last week at a DairyNZ Face-to-Face event in Southland.

The work, in 80 sheds last spring and again this autumn, aims to provide benchmark data to help identify operating efficiencies. All the sheds studied had electronic ID, automatic cup removers, milk meters and computerised recording systems.

The work found a large range in cow throughput, smaller sheds unsurprisingly milking fewer cows per hour than larger platforms.

In spring (post calv-

ing, pre-mating) 40 bail rotaries averaged 149 cows/hour, compared to 447 cows/hour through 80 bail sheds, while in late lactation the smaller sheds managed 213 cows/ hour while the large shed output was unchanged.

Within each size of rotary there was significant variation in throughput, about +/- 70 cows/hour from the mean, suggesting management or other farm factors were having an influence. Measuring efficiency as cows milked per operator, 60bail sheds came out top.

However, Paul Edwards, DairyNZ pointed out, larger sheds tended to have two people milking, hence the drop in efficiency by that measure with increasing scale.

In terms of time to cup on, it was generally

accepted 10 seconds was “comfortable” for a solo operator, though some single-staffed 60 bail units were managing at seven seconds/cow. In 70and 80 bail sheds with two operators, cup time came down to 5.6-8.1 seconds/cow.

“So 7-8 seconds cupping time is the speed at which you need be moving into that two-operator area.”

DairyNZ scientist Jenny Jago noted half the farms had policies of changing the operator cupping on midway through milking to reduce fatigue, though the impact of that on efficiency isn’t clear.

Average time one person would spend cupping in spring was 140 minutes, but the range was 60-345 minutes –

Face-to Face events

Research into rotary sheds found a large range of cow throughput.

nearly six hours. Cupping time in late lactation was reduced to a mean of 91 minutes and range of 31196 minutes.

A trial looking at whether stripping cows coming onto the platform to induce milk let-down, or simply delaying cupping on by one minute, found neither reduced milking time per cow.

“Putting cups on straight away is the way to go based on the results of this experiment,” notes Edwards.

Setting the ACR

trigger point at 800g/ minute – 200g/minute is the norm – was found to reduce milking time by 79 seconds/cow without reducing milk output.

“We were surprised not to see a decline in milk yield,” Edwards says. “However, the results could be different at peak lactation.”

There was no difference in somatic cell counts recorded at the different ACR trigger settings.

Only about 20% of the sheds in the study had

• The Southland Face -to -Face was the third in a series of four regionally tailored events aimed at getting Dairy NZ’s research work ac ross to farmers and making the scien tists involved available for questio ning.

• DairyNZ says abou t 270 attended the first, in Hawera; about 220 last week showed up in Wo odeville and Invercargill. The final event will be at Mystery Creek, on Ma y 26.

• A Canterbury venu e wasn’t arranged because it will have the South Island Dairy Event in June at Lincoln.

rectangular holding yards but they made up 44% of the most efficient group, suggesting better cow-

Dairy campaign targets schools NEW ZEALAND’S primary school children will be the target of DairyNZ’s latest addition to its Go Dairy campaign.

“We’re following up our [Go Dairy] ad campaign by going into schools and starting in primary schools,” general manager extension and development David McCall told the Southland

Face-to-Face event.

The ‘poster girl’ for the push to put dairying into the primary curriculum will be a fun cow character, Rosie, launching in mainstream media at National Fieldays, in June. “She’ll be the public face of what we’re doing.”

McCall says DairyNZ will work with the Teachers Asso-

ciation on curriculum content and a DairyNZ person will visit schools to promote the campaign to principals and teachers.

“That person will have to burn some shoe-leather.”

The campaign is to enhance the sector’s image and reputation, one of five points in the 2009 Strategy for New Zealand

Dairy. Earlier TV campaigns aimed to recruit people into the industry; the latest Go Dairy ads “encourage New Zealanders to be proud of our dairy farms as of the All Blacks, or recently The New Zealand Breakers or Silver Ferns, or the way we used to be proud of our sheep industry,” says McCall.

David McCall

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SOUTH ISLAND cooperative Westland confirms it is looking at expanding beyond the West Coast.

“For many years numbers of Canterbury farmers and some from Tasman area have come knocking on our door asking ‘Will you take our milk?’,” chief executive Rod Quin told Dairy News.

But that isn’t driving the move, Westland’s customers are, he says.

“When you’ve got customers growing at 30-50% a year in China saying they want you to grow with them but you’re a dairy company growing at a single digit rate you’re simply not keeping pace.”

Difficult weather has limited growth to 2% this season, achieved only thanks to a kind autumn, Quin says.

“Many suppliers say this is

one of the hardest seasons they’ve had. It was very wet to start with, then very dry, then wet again.”

The plan to expand was put to shareholders at meetings last month and received “overwhelming support, well into 90% plus”, though Quin acknowledges it was not unanimous.

He also stresses the shareholder mandate at this stage is only to develop a plan for expansion. A final decision on the proposal, which is likely to see a condensing plant built at Rolleston during 2011-12, is still to be made. “Rolleston’s the logical location as we have an office and warehouse there.”

Condensed product would be railed over Arthur’s Pass to Hokitika until Canterbury supply merits its own processing plant, and/or Hokitika reaches capacity.

With a share price of $1.50/ kgMS supplied, Westland would offer a lower buy-in to a cooperative than Fonterra for Canterbury farmers, though Quin is keen to

“When you’ve got customers growing at 30-50% a year in China saying they want you to grow with them but you’re a dairy company growing at a single digit rate you’re simply not keeping pace.” play down the inter-cooperative competition element of Westland’s move, pointing out the ‘NZ Inc’ advantage of keeping the processing profit in New Zealand instead.

“The Government has made it clear it wants to see 20% of milk supply outside Fonterra. At present it’s about 10% and it’s being snapped up by overseas-owned businesses... The fragmentation

Rod Quin

of the industry is not going well.”

He also says Westland doesn’t “need or want a lot” of milk from Canterbury, and it must be sharebacked with acceptance dependent on collection cost/location.

“This is not a bucket offer. This will be targeted.”

With Canterbury cranking out 150M kgMS/season already and 4% annual growth forecast, there will be plenty of milk to go around, even with Fonterra building just up the tracks from Rolleston, at Darfield, Quin believes.

Consents for the new plant have yet to be secured and funding finalised. “That’s a work in progress between the board and shareholders.”

Retentions, as made in the past two seasons, would be the first source of finance, then it’s a question of debt and/or external equity.

“We’ll be putting the options in front of shareholders over the next few months.”

Standouts return to contest THE 12 REGIONAL finalists competing for the 2011 New Zealand Farm Manager of the Year title include six men and six couples.

The Canterbury North Otago representatives, Michael and Susan Woodward, stand out as they contract milk a Rakaia farm milking 2000 cows, nearly twice as large as any of the other finalists.

“The scale of our operation gives us the ability to manage stock, people and grass to our advantage in order to make the business successful,” they say. “Things such as cost sav-

ings through bulk purchases, brand recognition and building relationships are part of what make us a successful farming business.”

The Woodwards, aged 30 and 28, are also the most experienced participants in the competition, having entered the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards three times. Five finalists are first time entrants, four have entered twice and two have entered three times.

National convenor Chris Keeping says previous experience in the competition is an advantage, although first time

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entrants had won in the past.

“We received about 150 entries nationwide in the farm manager contest, and our 12 regional finalists have proven the best at using available resources to gain maximum production from their herd and performance for their farm owners.

“It’s not about how many cows they milk, or how much each cow produces, it’s about identifying the farm manager or contract milker doing a fabulous job for their farm owner, themselves and the industry.”

The winner of the 2011 New Zealand Farm Manager of the

Year contest will be announced at a gala dinner in Queenstown on May. The farm manager finalists include seven contract milkers and five farm managers. A farm manager is paid a salary to manage the farm, whereas a contract milker is paid an agreed amount to manage the farm plus some costs.

Two herds have fewer than 300 cows, six have 400-500 cows and three 625-1040 cows.

Woodwards’ herd is largest at 2000. www.dairyindustryawards. co.nz

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

13

WORLD

Arla’s $128m revamp of yellow cheese plants volume has forced Danish co-operative Arla to revamp its yellow cheese business. The co-op will spend $128 million to upgrade production at two plants and will close three.

Yellow cheese production is to be rationalised to counter international competition and declining milk volumes in Sweden.

Executive vice president Jais Valeur says this will secure Arla’s production of a broad range of yellow cheeses at competitive prices. ”Market conditions are tough and if we don’t act now even more jobs will be lost within a few years.

“It’s sad for many colleagues who may lose their jobs but we hope to maintain other jobs.

And we’ll be able to use Swedish milk more efficiently to benefit of milk producers and consumers.”

Milk volumes have

“The challenge in Sweden is to fill our dairies. To avoid empty plants in a few years we have to react now.” declined in Sweden since 2003 and to avoid empty plants Arla has to react to over-capacity at the Swedish dairies, contributing to increased production costs.

To contain costs and maximise milk prices to the cooperative owners, Falkenberg dairy has to be closed.

Falkenberg’s cheese production will switch to the Danish dairy in Nr. Vium, due for a $25m investment.

“The challenge in Sweden is to fill our dairies,” says Valeur. “To avoid empty plants in a few years we have to react now.

“If we don’t, production costs will be higher and the milk price paid to our owners will fall.

That’s not in our interests.”

Over three years Arla will expand the dairy in Taulov, raising efficient

IN BRIEF Indian milk production

INDIA’S MILK production cannot keep pace with growing domestic demand, says Vice President Hamid Ansari.

He told the annual meeting of the Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) the country’s per capita availability of milk is still lower than the world average.

“Domestic demand is growing at six million tonnes per year whereas annual incremental production for ten years has been 3.5 million tonnes per year.

“Moreover, 80% of milk is still handled in the unorganised sector and only 20% is equally shared by cooperatives and private dairies.”

India ranks first in world milk production, increasing production 600% from 17 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 112.5 million tonnes in 2009-10.

French bid for Parmalat

FRENCH DAIRY company Lactalis is bidding to buy 100% of Parmalat, hiring Goldman Sachs (GS) to advise on the $6.3 billion bid.

Unlisted Lactalis, biggest in Europe, is offering $4.85/share for the 71% of Parmalat it doesn’t already own.

When it made the offer last week, the bid price was 21% higher than Parmalat’s average share price for 12 months, but lower than the $5.22 it paid per share for the 15.3% stake jointly held by three foreign funds in March.

It also had raised tensions between Italy and France until last month when Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he didn’t consider the bid hostile.

production efficiency and competitiveness, so

securing employment in Denmark and Sweden.

“These changes will create a sound future for Arla’s yellow cheese production,” says Valeur.

“About 25% of Arla’s milk is used for cheesemaking.”

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

WORLD

‘Overhaul milk supply chain’ US farmers UK FARMER organisation Na-

ranging from growing demand tional Farmers Union (NFU) is to efficient milk producers and encouraging dairy farmers to a good climate for producing lobby their MPs and milk buy- milk. ers to ensure fair“Yet the induser milk contract try lurches from terms. crisis to crisis and And farmers are has suffered over calling for an end a decade of underto unfair commerinvestment and low profitability.” cial practices in the dairy supply chain.

The biggest NFU dairy problem is the board chairman one-sided milk Mansel Raymond Mansel Raymond contracts farmers says the UK dairy are obliged to sign market is not working and farm- with milk buyers, he says. ers are losing out.

“These contracts offer little “The British dairy industry to no certainty or clarity on the should possess many advantages way milk prices are calculated,

they lock dairy farmers in for notice periods up to 18 months, provide no ability to supply milk to any other buyer, and have no exit clauses to get out of a contract if the price drops to an unsustainable level.”

The European Commission recognises contractual relationships between milk producers and purchasers are fundamental to ensuring fairness in the dairy supply chain, and has come forward with a package of measures, which include improvements to milk contracts.

Raymond says this could affect the way dairy farmers sell their milk and negotiate with milk buyers.

“There are some exciting proposals to strengthen dairy farmers’ position in the food chain and introduce new minimum standards for milk contracts across the EU. “It is vital farmers call on their MPs and dairy companies to act now to eliminate unfair commercial practices and improve milk contracts.

“A ‘do nothing’ approach will see dairy farmers continue to be deprived of their fair share of profits in the food chain. This will lead to underinvestment, lower milk production and will mean dairy farmers continue to leave industry at an alarming rate.

Queensland dairy prospects dismal MARKET FAILURE threatens The recent floods have added to the woes to trigger another exit of farm- facing Queensland farmers. ers from the northern dairy industry, warns the Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation (QDO).

Farmers were disillusioned the milk price was distorted and not reflecting the reality of supply and demand, says QDO president Brian Tessmann.

The farm price was under downward pressure from supermarket discounting at a time milk was in short supply after disastrous flooding and extreme weather.

“Milk cheques for many dairy farmers have already dropped in Queensland due to the milk price war, despite claims to the contrary by Coles.

“A lot of farmers have been holding on, hoping for an improved price signal in the new financial year.

“With the market in fact going the other Queensland and relies on the fresh market.

“Our industry has been reduced to way, a lot of people will be seriously considabout 600 farms, scattered in small pockets ering their future.

“The numbers don’t add up any more and around the state.

“In 2008 we went to the edge of the cliff; farmer morale is low,” Tessman says. The industry has lost its manufacturing base in now we are back there as a result of huge

flood impacts and prices that aren’t sustainable.”

Weather events had disrupted milk production in most dairying regions and it would be next spring before many would begin to get back on their feet.

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eye somatic cell count

US DAIRY farmers are backing a proposal to lower the national somatic cell count standard incrementally, to reach 400,000 cells/ml of milk in 2014.

Such standards would align the US industry with EU SCC standards.

The US National Mastitis Council says the EU wants all farm milk used in US exports to member countries to hold to the same SCC standard as EU producers.

The US council believes lowering its SCC standard will increase access to European markets, encourage producers to remove inferior animals, improve farm management practices and increase the quality of US milk.

“This may enable the U.S. to be more competitive in other foreign markets as well,” the council says.

But it cautions the move should be made carefully and in phases so as not to inhibit US price competiveness or further strain dairy producers and supporting agencies.

The biennial National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments last week was expected to endorse the proposal and sent it to the US Food and Drug Administration for sign-off.

National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) president Jerry Kozak says it has not until now supported efforts to reduce SCC standards. But now is the time to reduce those limits, over three years, to more closely align the US with world standards, he says. He points out national SCC averages are already in the range of 227,000, so the impact of this change would be felt mainly by the 11% of producers who sometimes exceed a 400,000 limit.

“A three-year phase-in would give farms that may be at risk of non-compliance the opportunity to make management changes so they are not vulnerable. And let’s face it, this new threshold is the future, for domestic milk supplies and the international market.

“We have to demonstrate a commitment to make changes for the better, because this way the terms of change are under our control.”

Elevated somatic cell counts (SCC) indicate mastitis or the inflammation of the udder. The US National Mastitis Council says annual losses in net milk income/cow from subclinical mastitis are about $US200/year.

“For every clinical case of mastitis in a herd, there are likely 15-40 cases of subclinical mastitis and these cases may be responsible for up to 70% of production losses.”

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

OPINION RUMINATING

EDITORIAL

Now scientists can get on with it

MILKING IT...

Greens see Red

GREEN PARTY co-leader Russel Norman denies his party was seduced by the US after Wikileaks released cables revealing a discreet diplomatic lunch in Washington.

The cable says a discreet diplomatic lunch, a free trip to Washington for Norman and assurance of “assistance” from the US Embassy in Wellington have been used to blunt the Green’s “radical positions on many issues”.

Whistleblower Wikileaks over the weekend published 1500 cables written by the US Embassy in Wellington.

Norman in a Stuff website article on the Wikileaks cables referred to “disgraceful journalism”.

“The US Embassy invited me to the US to look at renewable energy and climate change policy,” he says.

Gaga cheese

FIRST THERE was ice cream from breast milk, now there is cheese.

New York artist Miriam Simun has created cheese made from human breast milk and is offering people the chance to taste it as part of her new art piece.

The Lady Cheese Shop is a temporary installation by the New York University graduate, aimed at raising questions about the ethics of modern biotechnologies.

Simun found three women willing to volunteer their breast milk and after screening the milk for diseases and learning the basics of cheese making turned it into cheese.

She hopes her cheese would highlight the way the human body works and admitted people were split into two distinctive camps over her installation.

“Cheese is the conversation starter. Some people are loving it, and some people are gagging.”

Related to cows?

EARLY HUMANS, known as paranthropus boisei, behaved more like cows than human beings, anthropologists have found.

Paranthropus’s powerful jaws and large molars suggest it survived on a diet of nuts, seed and hard fruit. But studies of fossilised teeth indicate these may have been used to mow down and swallow huge amounts of grass at a single sitting.

‘We didn’t expect to find the primate equivalent of a cow dangling from a remote twig of our family tree,’ says Professor Matt Sponheimer, University of Colorado Boulder.

Paranthropus was part of a line of close human relatives known as australopithecines that included the famous 3 million-year-old Ethiopian fossil called Lucy, seen by some as the matriarch of modern humans.

Time’s up for wandering willy?

A SOUTH American beetle with exclusive tastes has been released to combat the pest weed ‘wandering jew’ or ‘wandering willy’ (Tradescantia fluminensis).

With help from Te Pahu Landcare Group, Waikato Regional Council has released 305 tradescantia leaf beetles at the Karamu Reserve, southwest of Hamilton. It hopes the beetle – a

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native of Argentina and Brazil which feeds only on Tradescantia fluminensis – will tackle the weed.

Tradescantia fluminensis, widespread in New Zealand gardens, is established in frost-free parts of the North and South Island. Research suggests it threatens native forests and it can cause itchiness in dogs

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THE THREAT, if ever there was one, of CRIs being merged has been scotched by Minister of Science and Innovation Wayne Mapp. He’s made it clear mergers are off the agenda, ending speculation CRI’s such as Landcare and Scion could be amalgamated.

Rumours had for some time been circulating that the CRIs could be in for trimming as part of National’s plans to reduce government spending.

Now, scientists understandably concerned about their futures can breathe a sigh of relief. Hopefully they can now focus on developing great innovations to help New Zealand retain its delicate competitive advantage in world markets.

It has been widely quoted that New Zealand has lived on the sheep’s back. Today you could argue this has changed to the cow, but in reality we must thank scientists for where we are today and where we will be.

That’s not to say everything is perfect, and Mapp has made structural changes he says will improve the situation. A new Ministry of Science and Innovation offers hope, providing it overhauls the system for bidding for funding. The existing bureaucratic nightmare in which scientists wasted untold hours writing begging letters to Wellington often did not produce great outcomes.

Then there’s technology transfer in which the science sector has been insular and overall a poor performer. Too many good ideas remain stranded in laboratories and in the heads of scientists, and CRIs in particular have shown reluctance to get their good work into the public domain where it can be applied.

The new Statements of Core Purpose are designed to formalise better cooperation between CRIs, improve stakeholder engagement and to improve tech transfer.

Can they make a difference? The Minister is optimistic, saying he’s had some positive feedback. The cynics don’t believe it will happen any time soon. Only time will tell.

WINNING a new pair of Skellerup Red Band boots has just become easy.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

17

OPINION

Why Maori Party won’t support DIRA The Maori Party is opposing the Dairy Industry Restructuring (New Sunset Provisions) Amendment Bill. Its MP for Te Tai Tonga Rahui Katene recently told Parliament why.

A FORTNIGHT ago, at Rotorua, during the New Zealand Dairy Business Conference, Waikato Tainui’s Te Arataura chairman Tuku Morgan told delegates that farmers and iwi share an inter-generational interest in the land and what it produces.

He went further, challenging the industry: work with us, with iwi across the country in a genuine partnership.

The Dairy Industry Restructuring (New Sunset Provisions) Amendment Bill, threatens to disrupt this relationship by introducing uncertainty over Subpart 5 of Part 2 of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001.

This subpart promotes efficient operation of dairy markets by regulating Fonterra to ensure our markets for dairy goods and services are contestable.

The Bill states it will provide for a new process for the expiry of the pro-competitive measures when new specified market thresholds are reached. This would effectively empower the Minister of Agriculture to enact the expiry of this Subpart in the event the threshold was met.

Why is this such a concern?

A review of the Maori Commercial Asset Base for Te Puni Kokiri in November 2003 showed there were 436 Maori authorities with substantial businesses.

In farming 720,000ha worth about $7.5 billion, Maori are New Zealand’s largest natural grouping of pastoral farmers, arguablythe most sustainable farmers.

Morgan challenged the dairy sector to take the relationship between iwi and farming to a new level, recognising Maori concepts associated with the land – tikanga (heritage), kaupapa (conceptualisation of Maori knowledge) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) – to work together in an environmentally, culturally and socially sustainable dairy industry.

Enter Miraka Ltd, new to dairy processing, building a plant at Mokai,

in the heart of Waiariki, 30km northwest of Taupo. It will open in August.

Miraka is backed by Māori trusts and incorporations with combined assets of at least $1 billion. Miraka is here for the long-term. Its owners share a vision of sustainable business practices, with long term returns from land that will never be sold.

Yet if this legislation proceeds unchallenged the unique partnership Miraka can bring to the dairy sector may be compromised, even sacrificed, under the possibility of a restricted public market.

Currently, consistencies exist between the Subpart 5 of the DIRA 2001 and the kaupapa of rangatiratanga, as the current subpart provides for effective regulation and transparency of Fonterra’s activities within the dairy industry. This ensures that, despite its dominant market position, Fonterra operates in an environment that is contestable, ensuring it faces competitive pressure.

But this legislation proposes to provide for the expiry of Subpart 5 of the DIRA, to be timed to enable any government to review and/or amend the pro-competition provisions of the Act to meet policy objectives at the time. Dairy operators tell us it is unwise to leave the door open in a way that may expose the dairy industry, and independent processors such as Miraka, to an unacceptable level of risk.

The Maori Party is acutely aware of the heightened levels of public concern about the level of competition in the domestic market, as well as claims of anticompetitive behaviour by Fonterra, and the effect these have on the price of milk. We acknowledge the Commerce Commission’s preliminary work to determine whether a formal investigation into the price of milk is warranted.

The Maori Party had called for a Commission investigation into milk

prices because of the claims that Fonterra had an effective monopoly in collecting over 90% of the milk produced in

New Zealand. Consumers and dairy producers had told us of their concerns over the proposed share trading proposal, in that it would sacrifice a fundamental principle which guarantees farmers easy entry to, and exit from Fonterra, the world’s biggest dairy exporter.

An open entry and exit mechanism is essential

for a competitive dairy market. An investigation needs to be completed by the Commerce Commission before we can be in a position to support this Bill.

Rahui Katene

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

AGRIBUSINESS Can grass alone still cut it?

ANDREW SWALLOW

IF YOU’RE saddled

with high costs, increasing output can be more profitable than cutting costs, says a consultant specialising in optimising returns from dairying.

James Hague, of Daisy’s Agriculture, says many dairy farms achieve insufficient returns on capital, and too

little profit to reduce debt or expand the business.

Holding back many such farms is their insufficient output for the scale of their fixed costs, Hague says. By cutting variable costs such as feed and fertiliser, many farms hobble their ability to generate output to cover these costs and leave a healthy profit.

How to address this?

Start by establishing the

output the farm needs to generate the desired return, Hague says.

Example: a 400-cow farm with $7m capital employed and $500,000 fixed costs (wages, repairs/maintenance , electricity, vehicles, office/ professional staff, rent and rates, bank charges and interest).

These fixed costs should not absorb more than 50% of income

at a base milk payout of $5.60. So the business must produce $1m of milk. At $5.60 this equates to 178,000kgMS (446kgMS/cow). If 35% of the income ($350,000) goes on variable costs (feed, forage, vets and animal health, breeding, replacement stock and shed costs) this leaves $150,000 (15% margin) – 5% return on capital.

If the milk payout is

Ruminant nutritionists unite JAMES HAGUE is one of 15

founder members of a new association aiming to improve the understanding of ruminant nutrition on New Zealand farms.

While he stresses his views on dairy business optimisation (see above) are his own, and not that of the sssociation, a lack of balance he discerns in some advice

has prompted him to get involved.

The association says in its launch statement that it aims to cut through conflicting and confusing rhetoric and put forward a consensus view, “a single voice to promote good ruminant nutrition understanding and practice.”

It aims to be a reference point for government, industry bod-

ies and companies, to provide a balanced view to address public concerns. The organisation’s aims include promoting and understanding of the basics of ruminant nutrition.

To promote putting good ruminant nutrition principles into practice, and to define good practice. www.nzarn.org

$8.00 then the farm profit would be $574,000 – 8.2% return on capital.

If the farm were achieving only 340kgMS/ cow (136,000kgMS) with $280,000 variable costs, the farm would be losing $18,400 at $5.60 and making $308,000 at $8.00. This would be, respectively, -0.03% and 4.4% return on capital.

With bank interest rates usually higher than 6.0% this is poor use of money if capital gain is insufficient to cover the difference.

Next questions: can the cows achieve this output? And can the farm grow enough feed?

Hague’s analysis typically shows too many low yielders in an average herd, inefficiently using the DM the farm produces.

Calculating DM yield/ ha from farms’ outputs often shows up a farm not utilising enough of the grass to support the output needed by the business.

Often only about 65% of grass is utilised. This demands culling cows, and reviewing how the grass is managed and how much grass should

Pasture-based farming holds back herd output, says consultant James Hague.

be in the system.

But, for many businesses, not even 100% utilisation will achieve enough feed; crops like maize often produce far more utilised DM/ha than grass – as much as 300% more.

Hague says cows must be given the feed they need to do their job, even if this requires reducing the grazing area and making more conserved feed. Doggedly sticking to grazed grass as the whole solution holds back

the output of many herds.

Challenged about grass being the cheapest feed, Hague points out that land bought for $35,000 borrowed at 7.0% ($2450/year interest), with utilised DM yield of 8.0t/ha, imposes interest costs of 30.6c/ kgDM. Therefore a farmer must accurately calculate how much utilised DM he achieves – the real cost of forage on his farm – to fairly compare this with other feed options.

What’s your view?

Comment on this article by emailing us at: dairynews@ruralnews.co.nz

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

21

AGRIBUSINESS

‘Don’t sell your shares’ SHAREHOLDERS

IN

New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay (NZFSU) have been urged not to sell before an independent adviser reports on the latest takeover bid by the company’s majority owner.

The company has appointed Grant Samuel & Associates to report on the 70c/share offer

by Olam International, Singapore. It says its offer gives shareholders another opportunity to exit at the price offered in the previous takeover bid despite an increase in capital requirements and changes to the business outlook.

NZFSU shares, trading before Easter at about 56 cents, rose to 70 cents after Olam’s offer last month.

Olam says its offer represents a 25% premium over the 3-month average trading price of 56c. It also points out shareholders can sell their NZFSU shares in volume.

“Trading in NZFSU is illiquid, with no trading occurring on more than half the trading days in 2011 and an average of less than $4500 of shares traded daily over the same period.

“The offer also provides opportunity to sell shares before they are called upon to participate in any planned rights issue or face the prospects of being diluted.”

NZFSU independent director Graeme Wong says shareholders should not decide on the offer before reading the target company statement and

the independent adviser’s report.

NZFSU, running Uruguayan dairy farms using New Zealand techniques, has struggled in recent years.

For the six months to December 2010 the company reported a loss of $US1.2m.

This prompted Olam’s

New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay is facing a takeover by the majority shareholder.

TAKING CARE OF THE NEXT GENERATION

Fonterra is spending $27 million to upgrade its fleet.

BETTLE7066E_DN

Fonterra eyes fleet upgrade A $27 MILLION milk-tanker purchase by Fonterra will make the fleet safer and greener, says national transport and logistics manager Barry McColl.

The co-op board has approved the upgrade of the 480-vehicle fleet, the largest in New Zealand.

“The biggest change will be the purchase of 76 new Volvo trucks starting to arrive this month,” says McColl. “These trucks replace some coming to the end of their lives.”

The Volvo trucks have lower running costs, making milk collection more efficient environmentally and economically, he says.

“They’ve also got sophisticated stability and braking systems, making them safer,” says McColl.

Safety is a key point of the upgrade. “With the arrival of the new trucks, 86% of our fleet will have electronic braking and electronic stability control, a safety advantage.

“It balances the braking between the truck and the trailer, giving the tanker more stable braking, making it easier to handle.”

The Volvo trucks also put out 35% lower emissions than the vehicles they are replacing. “The Volvos use 30% less diesel… reducing our fuel consumption by about 2 million L next season.

The fleet upgrade will also include refurbishing 13 tankers, “trucks that have travelled big distances – some 1 million km – but are reliable and working well.”

“Refurbishing extends the life of the vehicles by 2.5 years, allowing us to get the most out of our fleet.”

takeover bid last year.

Since gaining control of the board Olam has appointed a new managing director.

Under Olam’s new business plan NZFSU hopes to become profitable in 2012-13.

In 2009-10 year, NZFSU farms produced 68 million litres of milk.

22

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

MANAGEMENT

Leafing through the pasture to monitor growth PETER BURKE

RICHARD BARBER has

a clear objective: growing as much quality pasture as possible.

This Massey University applied science graduate ten years ago took over the family farm near Foxton, Manawatu. It now produces 200,000kgMS/year and he sees growing more and better pasture as the best way of increasing the production and profitability of his 550 cows.

But his way of ensuring top quality pasture is turning heads among his peers.

Walking the paddocks

He literally crawls on his hands and knees taking leaf samples from his ryegrass paddocks. of his farm during a recent DairyNZ discussion group meeting, Dairy News was impressed with Barber’s achievment.

Careful management, especially measuring the pasture, is the key. But he uses no high tech tools.

He literally crawls on his hands and knees taking

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leaf samples from his ryegrass paddocks.

“It’s about counting the leaves. I pull the whole tiller out, finding the parent tiller, because around a parent tiller there are daughter tillers.

Assuming your pasture has been grazed well the last time, you can literally count the leaves. It’s based on leaves emerging so you need to have reasonable records of when you last grazed the paddock.”

The process is time consuming: he takes samples every few steps across the paddocks and then works out the amount of dry matter available. He does these

Hands on approach: Richard Barber gets on his knees to measure pasture on his farm.

pasture walks every month, gathering information that enables him to use the pasture in the best way to get the most from the grass and to determine rotation.

“It’s based on the first leaf developing 20% of the dry matter, the

second leaf developing 30% and the third leaf developing 50%.

“So 50% of the dry matter is based on that final leaf.

“The theory is to maximise pasture production, based on letting that last leaf grow to its

full potential. It’s important the pasture is grazed just before the fourth leaf emerges because the first leaf will die, therefore lower the quality of the grass.

“You can’t let it grow too long otherwise you get canopy closure, then you have shading and the bottom leave will go yellow.”

His method is not new; other farmers have used it for years, he says.

And research into the method has allowed scientists to gather evidence to support this simple, practical management method.

A vital point of measuring by the leaf system is to know when to graze a paddock; the temptation

might be to graze it too soon, he says.

“If you graze it when it starts re-growing, you’ll graze its energy reserve which is in the stem. It needs this energy to start growing the leaf.”

But when ready, the pasture must be grazed hard, he says.

He discovered this idea some years ago during a seminar in Hamilton where he met Darren Donaghy, who explained the theory of leaf measurement. He has since heard the theory at a DairyNZ field day and says they have scientists working on it now.

“My gut feeling is scientists will start putting constraints around this idea.”

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

23

MANAGEMENT

Pugging damage can impacts pasture growth.

Pugging damage to impact milk yield spells. The more the pad is used, the greater area per cow is required and the softer the surface material. Ensure clean drinking water.

THE ABILITY of pastures to re-grow Cows like to lie down for at least after winter is critical to next season’s eight hours per day. If less, they prefer to pasture and milksolids production. lie down rather than graze when given When wet weather strikes, it is im- access to pasture. The space allowance portant to minimise pasture damage per cow is 1m2 /100kg liveweight.

When wet periods are less frequent whilst grazing, best achieved by planand shorter, alternative stand offs are ning before it hits.

The most obvious challenge is pug- the waste area, a paddock to be cropped ging (treading damage) caused when or re-grassed and, for short spells, farm the soil is so soft the weight of grazing races (if capable of standing up to the pressure, but animals cannot be supported by the surnot a long term face of the soil. solution).

Depending on soil er ath Wet we Any area, type, the effects of facts and figures especially pugging damage ing concrete, must on pasture and soil • Cows trained to restricted graz be kept free can last months, the at ture pas e graz will time of stones, as due to the impact rate of 2kgDM/cow/hour. cows’ feet are of compaction, a for n dow • Cows need to lie susceptible reduced pasture day. per rs hou t eigh of minimum 2 t to damage. growth and the ineigh livew kg 100 per 1m t • At leas Walking the vasion of weeds. is required on a suitable surface herd regularly In one study, for them to lie down comfortably. through a soil treading and ller sma t draf ed, limit • If space is footbath with compaction damR3s and s cow nate ordi sub and zinc or copage after a single into separate management per sulphate pugging event degroups. will harden pressed pasture hooves. Start production by 52%.

Other studies have shown a 29% this early (while cows are still milking) drop in pasture production for the sea- and keep the footbath clean.

Grazing and stock movement son.

Pasture damage caused by frequent A wet weather plan will help management. It must include feed and finan- stock movement is a risk for any pasture cial budgeting, supplement availability wintering, especially on/off grazing. To and price (is it on-hand for wet weather help reduce this, fence paddocks so cows or bought as required?), a set of deci- walk over the ungrazed pasture (start at sion rules for implementing wet weather the back of the paddock) as this reduces strategies, and farm infrastructure (is damage to pastures already grazed and the farm set up to stand cows off or feed the re-growth.

Stock movement can be reduced by supplement and will the farm infrastrucblock grazing instead of strip grazing. ture cope?).

Squarer shaped breaks lessen walkOn/off grazing This is the most effective grazing ing as the cows are more likely to see a strategy. Cows can spend as little as two fence. With strip grazing, the tendency hours grazing pasture each day, if neces- is to wander, looking for a way out.

A back fence prevents over-grazing sary, to avoid treading damage.

Cows require training for when their and greater damage. Ensure a clean suproutine is changed and should be gradu- ply of water.

Move stock at the same time each ally introduced to restricted grazing times 3-5 days before being limited to, day, ideally just before daybreak. Get for example, 4-hour grazing sessions. them into a routine. Set up tomorrow’s In early lactation, cows need to be of- break today.

Avoid taking motorbikes and vefered two 4-hour grazing periods every 24 hours to achieve adequate pasture hicles into paddocks or near cows to prevent stock being unsettled. Vehicles intake.

The best way to stand-off cows is also damage pasture re-growth in wet on a stand-off pad with a supplement- conditions. feeding area. Both facilities need an ef- www.dairynz.co.nz fluent system, with facilities depending • Phillipa Hedley and Chris Glassey on the frequency and duration of wet are DairyNZ farm systems personnel.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

MANAGEMENT

‘Strong autumn country rewards hard work’ TONY HOPKINSON

PUTTING MORE in to

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their fourth generationfamily farm at Otaua, 22km west of Pukekohe.

Not far distant (9km) the Tasman Sea rolls in, and to the south lies the Waikato River mouth.

“This is strong autumn

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country,” Shuker says, noting the area is known for heavier soils that need careful nurturing and care. By doing this Shukers have achieved above average production from their farm and stock.

Campbell is the fourth generation of his family to live on what began as a 32ha farm, now 137ha along with five leased blocks, the latter 5-12km from the milking platform. It requires Campbell to use a truck.

Their herd of 500 is cross-bred, 75% Friesian, served by cross bred or smaller Friesian bulls.

Milking is through a 44-bail rotary shed now eight years old. This season the farm will produce 240,000kgMS (480kgMS/cow).

Most stock is wintered off; only some younger cows and yearlings graze the home farm during winter. They are set stocked and Shuker says they all put on weight.

Remaining stock are calved off the home property to minimise pasture damage; most are set stocked on run-off blocks.

The summer harvest yields 250 bales of baleage and 2000 conventional bales. 20ha of maize is grown between home and lease blocks and ensiled in a stack adjacent to the shed.

“Conventional bales are much easier to feed out on the rolling/steeper country on the blocks; it’s just a case of a few bales

on a trailer behind the ATV and the job’s done easily.”

The farm is raced to every paddock and most are contoured to drain water to all sides. The races are surfaced with slag from the nearby Glenbrook steel mill with the foundations from coarser material topped off and shaped from finer slag.

“Because it is easier I run one herd and I feed a meal mix in the shed throughout the season.”

Last October to help protect pasture during wet weather and to feed the stock better they built a roofed feed pad which holds 600 head. This reduces feed wastage and gives shade and shelter, reducing heat stress and lifting production.

“We feed maize from the nearby stack with some PKE added from a side delivery wagon and will feed it until the end of the season.”

Using the feed pads Shuker hopes to milk some of the later calvers into July, and with the pads available for the whole season he is expecting another substantial increase in production.

“We are putting more in but are getting a lot more out, I am passionate about what I do and I get a lot of satisfaction from the results we are achieving.”

More stock means more effluent so Shukers have built a large pond.

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The qualification recognises his skills in planning and designing fixed, movable and micro-irrigation systems conforming to the IrrigationNZ design code of practice key performance indicators.

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

25

ANIMAL HEALTH

Culling cows with high cell count PETER BURKE

RICHARD BARBER has declared war on mastitis in his herd of 550 cows, and it’s a war of attrition.

At a recent DairyNZ discussion group meeting at his property near Foxton, Manawatu, he explained what he was doing and why. A lot of research has gone into the cost of mastitis to dairy farms, he says.

“It’s costing me money every day of the year. I know what my cell count was five or six years ago, I know what it is now and I am not happy with it.

I’ve identified a problem: my cell count.” Barber is culling cows for pretty much this reason.

“This identifies cows with mastitis. I’m not looking at their production or their calving dates but simply saying ‘She has a cell count problem’, and I’ll cull for that reason and that reason alone. I don’t want to know anything else.”

Asked why he wasn’t targeting low

production cows, he replied, “Generally speaking a high cell count cow will be a low producing cow anyway so by default I may well be culling low producing cows.

“But I’ve identified an issue and I’m concentrating solely on that.”

Barber says there’s a lot of talk about the cost of “killing high cell count cows” and he admits killing a cow, especially in calf, is expensive.

But the ongoing costs of keeping cows with high cell counts outweighs this.

Cows with high cell counts lose production fighting mastitis, he says.

“There are ongoing costs of dry therapy, drug treatments and milk loss. And the research shows high cell count cows have more trouble getting back into calf, hence ongoing high empty rates.”

He also points out if you keep a high producing cow with a high cell count there is a risk she’ll cross contaminate.

“And she’ll take out your third and

fourth best cow in the herd. So by not culling the one cow it could cost you the three next best cows in the herd.”

Barber says once he’s sorted out the mastitis problem he’ll move on to dealing with the next most important problem, which could be lameness or calving spread.

Cows with high cell counts are culled by Manawatu farmer Richard Barber.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

ANIMAL HEALTH

Quantec managing director Rod Claycomb and co-founder Judy Bragger.

Natural mastitis remedy coming A HAMILTON company seeking to develop a non-antibiotic, natural treatment for mastitis has gained a $500,000 capital investment.

Quantec Ltd has secured $250,000 from Waikato private equity fund Central Capital Investments, and a similar sum from the Govern-

®

ment’s New Zealand Venture Investment Fund.

Quantec specialises in discovering and commercialising bioactives from natural products, for ingredients for human and animal health products.

Co-founder and managing director Rod Claycomb, says the company’s first product, known as IDP, is a milkderived fraction proven to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

“We’ll use this investment to grow global sales of IDP in the human health market... and for testing our formulation as a mastitis treatment in cows.”

Quantec co-founder and scientist Judy Bragger says a big win for Quantec will come if the company can crack the animal health market.

Using its IDP ingredient Quantec has worked for

five years on a non-antibiotic, natural treatment for mastitis.

“Our aim is to develop an effective natural treatment that doesn’t require milk withholding by farmers,” says Bragger.

“Our milk-derived fraction comes from the same system as cow milk to naturally fight mastitis in the mammary gland.

Our research has proven we can kill mastitis organisms on the lab bench.

Now the plan is to test our formulation inside the animal.”

Quantec is talking to animal health companies about the mastitis work.

It plans a mid-2011 launch of human health products with IDP in the US and China. First products will be breath mints and gums that kill germs in the mouth, and creams that sooth inflamed skin.

Online tips on calving IT’S EASy To SEE ThAT EVEN LoW SCC CoWS BENEFIT FRoM LoNG ACTING DRy CoW ThERAPy New published studies1 undertaken here in New Zealand confirm that even cows with a somatic cell count (SCC) of less than 150,000 cells/ mL were at least 3 times more likely to get a new intramammary infection (IMI) during dry off if left untreated, compared to cows treated with a long acting cephalonium such as CEFAMASTER. Treated cows had significantly reduced somatic cell counts at first herd test compared to untreated. Talk to your vet today about the use of long acting cephalonium dry cow products as part of your mastitis management strategy. Be sure to ask them about CEFAMASTER dry cow treatment, an alternative cephalonium dry cow.

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DWN discussion forums showed that women are the calf rearers on dairy farms.

They use DWN workshops and the internet to educate themselves and to connect with other farmers.

Intervet Schering Plough dairy brand manager Sheena Hopper says “The idea is to create a networking platform where dairy women can learn from each other about useful and successful practices for healthy calves.”

“It’s basically a place where women raising the calves can discuss concerns, share tips and information, and connect with each other.”

The site has a question-and-answer forum and videos of dairying women around New Zealand. And it will regularly feature farm vets in forum discussions to offer best best advice.

Video clips from the recent Dairy Women’s Network national conference in Invercargill can be viewed, as can information on the benefits of vaccination, how to protect calves from disease, farmer checklists and a calf health guide.

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

27

ANIMAL HEALTH

ROTAVEC IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU CARE FOR YOUR PARTNER, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR ANIMALS AND THE SUCCESS OF YOUR BUSINESS.

Fodder beet requires attention to get best results and maintain cow health.

STEVE LEE AND JIM GIBBS

FODDER BEET has for five years has

expanded rapidly as a winter feed crop.

The incentive for this is its large yield potential of this high energy feed; grown well it can yield at least 20tDM/ha.

But the NewZealand way of grazing is unusual internationally, so little research has been available to guide farmers in best-practice use of the crop.

In 2010 DairyNZ commissioned Jim Gibbs, Lincoln University, to research the use of fodder beet as a winter feed crop, and cow health and productivity issues associated with it.

Feeed value – metabolisable energy (ME) Fodder beet’s high energy value comes mostly from sugar. The ME value of the crop fed in New Zealand (grazing leaf and bulb) has never been established. But a large series of digestibility trials this year confirmed ME value is at least 12MJME/kgDM. Further work to refine the ME differences (cultivars, supplements etc) continues.

Protein Fodder beet is low in protein. There is much variation between cultivars, the bulbs contain less protein than the leaf, and the proportion of leaf is highly variable (5-40% DM). This demands caution when designing the diet, especially for young stock, as the supplement is a more important protein source.

For example, a crop with low leaf proportion in early June may have a total protein content of 10-12%, so feeding straw (8% CP) as a supplement will pull that down further. 12-13% is a sensible lower limit for total ration protein content.

Optimal rumen function can also be compromised with low protein diets, limiting the utilisation of the high energy content.

Cow factors Fodder beet is a ‘careful’ winter feed: it requires attention to get best results and maintain cow health. Rumen acidosis from excess fodder beet intake is the primary risk.

This year’s research showed fodder beet fed at industry standard rates and times had a strong but manageable impact on rumen pH, but when supplement was reduced to 25% of the diet, clinical acidosis began to occur.

This and the protein level demonstrate both the amount and type of supplement fed with fodder beet is important for best results.

The combined results suggest a supplement level of about 40% is required for best practice.

The research also suggested most cow health problems with fodder beet are in two windows: 7-10 days on the crop, and again in early lactation.

• Steve Lee is DairyNZ developer, productivity; Jim Gibbs is animal science senior lecturer, Lincoln University.

Common farmer concerns Will the whole herd eat it?

Possibly not, so monitor cows regularly. Some may only eat silage and others will take a long time to get a taste for fodder beet.

Cows which winter only on silage reduce the overall silage available, so it will cost much more to feed the rest of the herd.

Be prepared to remove cows not eating the crop and provide an alternative.

How do you minimise cow adaptation problems and deaths?

Careful and gradual introduction will ensure the cows do not gorge on bulbs and that their diet is no more than 6% fodder beet by the end of transition.

Start with 2kgDM/cow/day and

gradually increase over seven-10 days, making up the balance with higher quality feeds. Monitor cows at least twice a day during transition.

Is it a hard crop to grow?

It is more challenging than kale or swedes and requires very careful attention to detail, especially in paddock selection (a good paddock rather than worst paddock), cultivation and planting.

A high level of attention to detail is vital in the first eight weeks of establishment.

Consider using professional help, such as a crop agronomist.

The potential yields are high, you may spend more per hectare, but less per kgDM.

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Fodder beet grows as a winter crop

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28

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

ANIMAL HEALTH & STOCKFEEDS

Winter feeding crucial to farm profitability The choice of wintering systems is key, says DairyNZ senior scientist Dawn Dalley.

IN THE southern South Island, where winter pasture growth is negligible, winter management has a critical impact on farm profitability. Wintering costs are 20-25% of farm

working expenses in the region and to manage the pasture growth deficit, feed must be accumulated and stored.

“Winter feed is provided from a range of

traditional pasture/silage systems and forage crops that cows can graze in situ, through to systems where cows are fed supplements while held in a range of off-pasture and

housing systems,” says Dawn Dalley, DairyNZ scientist.

“Sixty percent of cows in the region are wintered predominantly on forage crops. The choice of wintering system affects feed availability, water quality and soil health, animal welfare, people management and, ultimately, profitability.”

A new DairyNZ Southern Wintering Systems Initiative aims to identify what works well in the range of wintering systems being used.

“This will help farmers

block and grazier; milking platform, support block and grazier; and housed systems with support block/milking platform.”

Farmers see hybrid systems as a way to maximise control of the wintering process, to ensure cows achieve their pre-calving body condition targets and the farm feed supplies are adequate for next season.

Chosen system requires re-think Glenn and Cherie Taylor’s approach to wintering is an example

Good practices need to solve issues without creating new ones. fine-tune current systems to improve performance,” Dalley says.

Where farmers are considering major changes to winter management, the initiative will offer them access to comprehensive, independent information on the options available. “This means they can be confident the system they choose will meet their needs.”

The project is not about defining the ‘best system’, if indeed there is one. It is about identifying good practices, from the whole farm system perspective, across the range of existing and evolving wintering systems. This means whichever practices are adopted, they will work well financially and environmentally, and for people, feed supply and animals.

Good practices need to solve issues without creating new ones.

System diversity Diverse systems have developed as innovative farmers have adapted things to suit their farms.

A survey of the winter management practices of 300 southern farming businesses, during winter 2010, has confirmed this.

The survey also found one-third of farmers use hybrid systems, with multiple options for stock management.

“The most common hybrid system was to use forage crops on both the milking platform and a support block,” says Dalley. “Other combinations include milking platform and grazier; support

of a more diverse hybrid system. When the farm was converted, they built a freestall barn, intending to use it to extend lactation and run a small winter milking herd.

Despite initial high expectations, they had difficulty getting older cows to adjust to the indoor environment. For 2010, they reassessed their plans and implemented three wintering options.

Heifers and young cows were wintered in the freestall barn and fed crushed barley, molasses, grass sileage, hay and baleage. The remaining cows were wintered either on a fodder beet crop on the milking platform or moata/turnip crop on the support block.

This year the Taylors will return to swedes on the milking platform, but continue the moata/ turnip combination on the support block and housing younger animals in the freestall barn.

They have refined their system by trial and error to suit their needs and provide flexibility.

“Comments of this nature were often made during face-to-face surveys. This is not surprising – people adapt things and make them work,” says Dalley.

“Of concern is that adaptation, through trial and error, can be costly financially and environmentally, and it is also taxing on people and animals.”

New wintering initiative

To page 29

29

ANIMAL HEALTH & STOCKFEEDS

Glenn and Cherie Taylor’s farm, Drummond, is a diverse hybrid system operation.

Winter feeding is key From page 28

“We want to help farmers minimise the trade-offs that sometimes occur when new systems are implemented,” says Dalley.

“For example, effluent management may improve if animals are wintered on feed pads or in housed systems. However, the problem may then become ensuring access to a consistent supply of high quality feed at a competitive price, or animal health issues may arise.”

The Taylors’ experiences are an

example of this. They saw the opportunity of the freestall barn to increase milk revenue from their owner-operated farm, but did not anticipate the problems of adapting cows to the indoor system.

However, they now have more options for feeding cows: some wintered in the barn, on crop and others on the support block.

“Through their involvement in the project, Taylors now get additional information on cow body condition score, which will be used

with information on crop yields and supplements on-hand to determine where cows are wintered.”

The winter 2010 data shows cows wintered in the freestall barn calved in better condition than those wintered on crops.

Like many other farmers, Taylors are constantly fine tuning their wintering process. The project team are looking to speed up that process and steer farmers clear of dead ends and unnecessary expense.

Add salt to taste... and pay LACK OF sodium in the diet of cows

is a production issue, as shown by New Zealand research, says Dominion Salt.

Significant economic benefits accrue when lactating dairy cows, known to be deficient in Na, are given salt supplement, the company says.

In 1999-2000 a trial at Waikite Valley, Rotorua, involved giving lactating cows 35g salt/ head/day.

Milk production increased 12.8%. At 2011 prices, for every $1 spent on salt the return is $55 in extra milk receipts, says Dominion Salt.

Minimum Na requirements for different classes of stock are not known with any degree of accuracy and are based on restricted experimental data. For grazing animals, pasture containing 0.12% Na is sufficient for lactating dairy cows.

Where there is risk of deficiency salt supplements can be used.

For lactating dairy cows the minimum input is 35g salt/head/ day (10kg/head for 280 lactation days). The use of supplementary feeds will increase the Na requirement. Trials from overseas, referenced in NRC, indicated that milk

production is optimised at 3-4 times the minimum Na level.

Plants fall into 2 broad groups: Natrophobes have low sodium content in their herbage. While their roots may take in sodium from the soil this is not transported in to the leaves. Natrophobes in-

clude: lucerne, red clover, brown top, kikuyu grass, maize, triticale, timothy and caucasian clover.

Animals feeding on these plants usually require salt supplementation to optimise digestion. Fertilising soil with sodium is of limited benefit to these plants Natrophiles accumulate Na in their herbage and can provide sufficient sodium in the diet. Natrophiles include: white clover, cocksfoot, perennial ryegrass, chicory,

sub clover and plantain.

Where soil sodium is low (<5 Na quick test) natrophiles will struggle to provide sufficient sodium. Including salt in the fertiliser programme (100kg/ha) or supplementing with salt blocks are options Fertiliser Effects Potassium and lime can depress the Na status of pastures.

This is simply due to K or Ca increasing and Na needing to reduce to maintain ionic balance in the plant Potassium applied at 100kg/ha or more can depress Na status by 30-40%.

This will have inplications if the Na status is already in the marginal range.

There is the potential for lime to do the same although in practice Mg seems to be the element most likely to be depressed by Na and k Applications.

The advice is to always be aware of the interactions which can occur when different fertilisers and lime are applied to pastoral land. Any effects will be most pronounced in the 6 weeks following their application. Salt blocks provide an easy method of supplementation following fertiliser application.

RR_22620_DN

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

We’re helping dairy women support each other.

Our partnership with the Dairy Women’s Network has put us in touch with close to three thousand dairy women all over the country.

They’ve told us they put their heart and soul into rearing strong and healthy calves.

They’ve also told how heartbreaking it is when things go wrong – and that one of the worst experiences is when their calves are hit by infectious scours.

That’s why we’re helping them share their stories online – to support other women in dairying in successfully rearing healthy calves.

See real-life dairy stories and find out more about the Dairy Women’s Network at www.healthycalves.co.nz

Proud to be in partnership with the Dairy Women’s Network Schering-Plough Animal Health Limited, 33 Whakatiki Street, Upper Hutt. www.healthycalves.co.nz Phone: 0800 800 543. ROT-173-2011.

30

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

ANIMAL HEALTH & STOCKFEEDS

Downer cows get upper hand PRODUCTION MUST

increase for New Zealand to cash in on rapidly increasing global demand for food. And a key component of this is animal health.

Wanganui familyowned VitaPower says it has a range of scientifically-proven products to improve animal health, particularly for the dairy industry.

One recently launched product, Palamountains Revive, achieved “amazing results” during trials last year by AgResearch, says VitaPower.

AgResearch was engaged to research the production mode of action during the use of Revive, says managing director John Palamountain.

“AgResearch trials revealed a 20% improvement in gut integrity within the first 12 hours alone after Revive was administered.”

“Statistics show downer cows (with ill-health and poor appetites) can reduce production $100 average per cow before and after calving.

“AgResearch trials revealed a 20% improvement in gut integrity within the first 12 hours alone after Revive was administered.”

Using the Metabolic Bio economic model as the source, the real size of the downer cow problem in the national herd is often under-reported, VitaPower says.

Let’s face it... hoof trimming is part of good herd management.

However, there are safe ways and unsafe ways to do it! Recently we heard of a situation where a farmer had a cow tied up to a gate for trimming. The cow kicked out and well... the rest is history as you can see above....

Cow’s absorption rate of Revive is crucial to its success, the company says. Essentially, the nutrients, vitamins, minerals and trace elements are suspended in a patented oil solution, allowing an animal’s system to absorb and use the ingredients to maximum effect: it makes the animals want to eat. The formulation has up to 99.5% absorption rate.

The product is best administered during the transition period MaySeptember when cows

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John Palamountain

are in-calf and dried off, Palamountain says.

“It sets them up to get into milk production immediately before and after calving. Cows are under a lot less stress during this period and reach optimum production sooner.”

The AgResearch trials revealed Revive improved gut integrity, he says. “It provided better barriers to pathogens and better utilisation of feed, avoiding wastage, which all improved profit.”

After using Revive, the AgResearch trial showed 20% improvement in the transepithelial resistance of cultured cells.

Downer cows can be drenched orally with

Revive or it can be added to supplements for whole herd treatment. Recom-

mended application is a 28-day boost then 21 days maintenance.

Tel. 0800 848 276 www.palamountains.info

Effect of Revive on transepithelial electrical resistance of cultured cells (AgResearch - May 2010).

BCS 5.5 ‘non-negotiable’ COWS MUST achieve a body condition score (BCS) of 5.0 at calving, and heifers and second calvers BCS 5.5.

“This is non-negotiable,” says DairyNZ scientist John Roche.

Although cows require the equivalent of 20% of their liveweight as metabolisable energy intake every day pre-calving to maintain BCS, there is increasing evidence cows are healthier at calving if slightly under-fed in

the month pre-calving, he says.

“Grazing cows do not eat less DM in the month pre-calving as reported for cows fed total mixed rations.

“Energy type is not important pre-calving.

Straw is only needed if the remainder of the diet is high in sugar (swedes) or low in effective fibre (palm kernel). Straw is not necessary to “stretch” the rumen.”

There are dramatic changes in nutrient demands from precalving to post-calving, and these make the transition period a metabolic challenge for the dairy cow, he says.

For example, the metabolic rate of the foetus during late pregnancy is twice that of the cow and the energy requirements for pregnancy alone are equal to cow maintenance. www.dairynz.co.nz

Back leg strap with quick release clip featuring geared safety winch.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

31

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Lined pond helps nurture heavy soils and gives shade and shelter, reducing heat stress and lifting production.

Building stock numbers to 500 on the 137ha home farm plus leased blocks has necessitated building a large effluent pond, the work contracted to Williams Engineering, Mangatarata.

Says Shuker, “With our heavier, wetter soils and pasture we can’t spray irrigate all the time so the pond gives enough capacity to hold effluent for long periods during inclement weather.”

Working in conjunction with the contractor’s Andrew Williams, Shuker built a pond 42m x 46m x 3m, with a 1.5mm thick HDPE

TONY HOPKINSON

A NEW effluent system on Campbell and Rebecca Shuker’s Otaua, Waikato, farm is helping them realise their vision for greater productivity on soils that need careful nurturing and care.

Their stewardship is being rewarded by above-average production. This season the farm will produce 240,000kgMS (480kgMS/ cow).

Last October, to help protect pasture during wet weather and to better feed the stock they built a roofed feed pad which holds 600 head. This reduces feed wastage

plastic liner, capacity 4500m3.

Yard washings and effluent are pumped up to the pond from a central sump and all sweepings from the pads are pushed to a separate sump and pumped up to the pond.

Pumps 5hp (modified for thicker material) do the work.

A 15hp pump and 10hp stirrer in the pond are mounted on a newly designed Williams seven drum pontoon at the end of a gantry which keeps the pump in the middle of the pond. This has automatic greasing enough for 12 months without replenishing.

The pump takes the effluent through 90mm buried delivery lines to hydrants serving 80ha of

the farm. This area will be increased.

Using a new Williams Engineering Greenback Spider irrigator, the rate of application can be varied from 5-25mm per pass.

A stop is placed on the towing wire and the pump automatically turns off at the end of a run. For further security the pump and the stirrer are on time switches.

Shuker is at present trialling an organic product called Impact, distributed by Biomagic, which is slowly released into the pond. It is approved by ERMA and MAF. The seller claims it reduces odour and crusting and keeps the material in suspension.

So far Shuker is giving it a qualified tick of approval to Impact.

Tel. 07 867 3176 www.williamsirrigation.co.nz

Campbell Shuker: “We can’t spray irrigate all the time so the pond gives enough capacity to hold effluent for long periods during inclement weather.”

D E E F K C I QU NS

GO A W T U FEEDO

Easier to shift spray pods TONY BENNY

FOR DAIRY farmers needing help shifting pod irrigators, GPS guidance pioneer Tracmap now has a product to track the daily shifts required of irrigation lines.

“It eases staff rostering,” says Tracmap manager Lance Nutall.

“You can have multiple people moving K-Lines because we preset the placement of those lines into the GPS head unit.

“All that’s needed is to move up to the line and drop the K-Line row on that line.”

Tracmap can also monitor travelling irrigators and track where effluent is being spread. If an irrigator fails, the unit can shut down the pump to limit ponding.

Tracmap GPS units are robust, water- and dust-proof and easy to use. They mount in trucks or on ATVs. Tel. 0800 87 22 62 www.tracmap.co.nz

Tow and Fert Multi 800 The Multi Role Applicator

Schouten feedout wagons for mixing and feeding out at the same time.

With the large augers and purposely designed knives the Quickfeed can handle a wide range of feed types.

All mixed and fed out in one go, especially when the products are loaded in layers.

The exeptionally robust construction will ensure a long trouble free working life for the Quickfeed.

An important reason in controlling your feedout costs.

• No heating • Homogenous mixing stribution of • Cutting,mixing and di d minerals. an raw silage/bales/st nt method of cie effi nd ic a om • An econ feeding out. www.quickfeed.co.nz Schouten Machines Ltd ph: 03 2088059 P.O.Box 309 cell: 027 7117270 GORE 9740 info@schoutenmachines.co.nz

Mix and Apply, When you Want - Animal Health Products (eg. Zinc Oxide, Lime Flour)

- Dissolved Fertiliser (eg. Urea)

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- Soil Conditioners (eg. Humates)

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32

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Plug-in expels rats, mice, cockroaches – no poison RATS, MICE and cockroaches are expelled electromagnetically by a device now operating in at least 5000 New Zealand homes, offices and factories.

Patented Plug In Pest Free technology (not ultrasound) is developed and made in Australia and was launched commercially in 1995.

It was proven during

2-year scientific trials (1996-97) at The University of New England, Armidale, NSW. Australian Federal Government funding helped to research, develop and ex-

port the products.

They are endorsed (2007) as a “food safe and effective rodent deterrent process” by the HACCP Australia Pty Ltd under its Food Safety Accredi-

tation System.

Commercial models run in restaurants, retail shops and supermarkets, hospitals, nursing homes, clubs, factories and government offices in ten

countries. Hundreds of 1000s operate in homes.

Home and commercial models simply plug into a power point, from where they send a pulse through the electromagnetic field that naturally occurs around live electrical wiring.

The pulse switches on/off about every 3 minutes, preventing pests developing immunity.

The pulse stresses rats, mice and cock cockroaches via their feelers, causing them to lose body moisture. They must exit or dangerously dehydrate.

One domestic Plug In Pest Free suits a home about 100m2 (two are best in two-storey homes).

One commercial unit suits premises 1000m2.

The maker stresses nothing can prevent pests from entering a building, but electromagnetic pulsing discourages them from establishing.

Cockroach control requires a continuing watch; eggs have long life

so occasional spraying may be needed to kill the newly hatched.

Plug In Pest Free comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee, a 2-year warranty, and 10year life expectancy.

Prices: domestic $159.95 incl. GST and postage; commercial $1800 incl. GST, plus small courier cost.

Tel. 09 833 1931

n.keating@clear.net.nz

Flying on the edge

MS1231

AUSTRALIA’S MINISTER of defence stood at a 1980s National Fieldays opening ceremony watching topdressing pilot Bernie Haskell fly a spectacular routine.

Turning to Hamilton mayor Russ Rimmington he said “His skills remind me of the RAF pilots of the Battle of Britain in World War II.” That victory changed the course of the war and later had a parallel in the “guts and determination of New Zealand’s top-dressing pilots who changed the viability of marginal hill country farms,” Rimmington says.

His comments come in his blurb to Bernie Haskell’s new book about his flying exploits, with “startling insights into the macabre humour and excitement of the ag industry.”

Nowadays Haskell lives on a lifestyle block near Hamilton airport with his wife Liz. His two sons fly as airline pilots.

Flying on the Edge is published by Bernie Haskell, Tamihere, Hamilton. Price $35.

Order from bernard.haskell@xtra.co.nz.

Tel 0800 362 529

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

33

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

In-shed feeding ‘needs guiding hand’ TONY BENNY

INSTALLING MILK meters

in dairysheds can increase production by allowing supplementary feed to be targeted to the cows that most need it, says Dairy Automation Ltd (DAL) general manager Simon Thompson.

“Farmers are installing in-shed feeding systems that actually just blanket feed the herd instead of targeting feed to the cows producing the most milk,” Thompson says.

The Hamilton company’s meters measure yield, fat, protein, lactose and conductivity in one sensor and can be linked to feed systems to deliver the right amount of supplement to each cow.

The company also supplies cow ID systems for herd management and automatic drafting.

Says Thompson, “You can only get so much production off grass and once you get to that level, to then go up another level you’ve got to look at supplement feeding.

Once you do that, feed’s expensive, so you want to be giving it to those animals producing the most milk.”

Rakaia (Mid Canterbury) farmer Brendon Dolan is installing milk meters in his new shed, having al-

ready had success with DAL cell sensors.

Dolan has 1000 cows once all milked through one shed. Now he’s building a second shed to spread the load.

He’s already sold on shed auto-

“We’ve had this idea that pasture-based is the way to go, and that New Zealand is the cheapest place to produce milk. But that’s not the case anymore.” mation, having seen what a difference the cell sensors made, he says.

“The staff couldn’t believe it. For drafting out cows, instead of standing up on a stool and looking at the cows and saying ‘I’ll draft her’, we just go to the computer, look at the numbers and hit the draft button. You get about 98-99%, though there’s sometimes one that sneaks through on you.

“Most people I know who’ve gone with one of these sort of sys-

tems all say ‘We wish we had this years ago’.”

In the new shed Dolan will take automation a step further by installing the DAL milk meters. These will future-proof the shed, he says.

It will have extra ducting in case more wiring needs to be installed to take advantage of more technology.

DAL’s Simon Thompson sees automation as an important part of the future of dairy farming.

“For so long we’ve had this idea that pasture-based is the way to go, and that New Zealand is the cheapest place to produce milk.

But that’s not the case anymore.

“We’ve been far surpassed by the likes of China and South America because of their cheaper labour. So our guys now have to look at ways of producing more milk.

“The banks tossed everyone into trouble by saying ‘Buy more land and milk more cows.’ Since the financial crisis you can’t do that, so you’ve got to look at getting more production out of what you’ve got.”

DAL was last year one of two sponsors of the National Fieldays Premier Feature ‘Innovation for future profit’.

Korean suits dairy MODELS TO suit dairy farm-

ers are included in the Kioti range of Korean-made compact utility tractors sold by Power Farming.

The brand was formerly called Daedong, familiar to Power Farming customers for 10 years.

“Kioti is the same tractor made in the same South Korean factory,” says Kioti and Iseki product manager Brett Maber.

“Ten years ago we started with two models: 35hp and 45hp, both with manual transmissions. There are now 20 dif-

ferent models available from 22-100hp with options including hydrostatic transmissions, wet clutch and power shuttle.

“They can also be supplied with factory made and fitted front loaders.”

When brothers Craig and Brett Maber began importing the tractors under the Power Farming Group umbrella the machines were branded Daedong for the Korean domestic market and Kioti for exports.

They’ve always been Kioti in North America and Europe.

“With the company’s bless-

Simon Thompson, Dairy Automation Ltd, at National Fieldays.

ing we chose to go with Daedong for New Zealand and Australia,” Brett says. But now all exports are Kioti.

The Daedong Company set up in 1947 in South Korea. It makes a range of tractors, rice planters, cultivators and harvesters, and walk-behind tillers.

The company is Korea’s largest maker of diesel engines, with 45% of the market. It makes its own heavier castings and transmissions for the tractors.

www.powerfarming.co.nz

Successful farming requires some key partnerships.

Bank manager. Farm Advisor. Builder?

Yep. Builder. Without the right one, you could end up with infrastructure that doesn’t meet your requirements, takes forever to be completed, or costs more than it should have. If you are planning a construction project on your farm, then using the right builder will save you frustration, time and money.

For herringbone and rotary milking parlours, feed pads and feed storage, implement sheds and concreting, and other farm building work then call me.

BC Building & Construction. Your rural building specialist.

Don Burling-Claridge

M 021 2304 233 P 06 344 5725 E bcbuilding@xtra.co.nz

BC Bu B il ilding & C nstru Co r cti tion Rural Building Specialist

Soil Mattuertorns Peter B

“The marked reduction in calcium/magnesium related metabolic disorders in animals during spring as well as a steady improvement in overall animal health, as a result of a single application of dolomite, are the major reasons for the steady increase in demand for dolomite.”

To read more visit www.dolomite.co.nz or call 0800 436 566

34

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011

MACHINERY/MOTORING

Fewer stones pierce hooves TRIALLING A Tuchel Eco 1.8 tractormounted sweeper six weeks ago convinced dairy farmer Dave Hobday, New Plymouth, he should consider buying one.

His 110ha property has old concrete races that tend to accumulate small stones, hard on cow hooves.

Spreading lime on the gateway entrances to paddocks is expected to miti-

gate the problem, but it recurs when the fertiliser trucks arrive, Hobday says.

“Apart from laying mnew races there isn’t much we could do,” he says. T”The sweeper has now arrived and we expect it to help offset the problem.”

Agriquip, New Plymouth, supplied the European-made sweeper.

Tel. 06 759 8402 www.agriquip.co.nz

Renault Megane 2L hatch and (left) Fluence 2L coupe-cabriolet.

Euro brand pitching a ‘freshen-up’ FRENCH CAR maker Renault, said to be numberone in France, wants a bigger slice of the New Zealand market.

Its new Fluence sedan, Megane hatch, Megane coupe-cabriolet and Koleos SUV are “ingenious, appealing, affordable and carbon-efficient,” a spokesman says.

The company’s new

promo line is ‘Drive the change’, about its culture – “enthusiastic, innovative and human,” says general manager Stephen Kenchington.

The new cars “will be notable for high-level standard equipment and unique-to-class, userfriendly features.

“This will reset expectations of what European

cars can offer in the light and small car segments, by equipping them with standard safety and convenience features previously only available optionally, or in larger, more expensive vehicles.

“Never before has so much been offered for so little by a European manufacturer, [including] the latest passive and active

safety gear.”

This will pitch Renault to customers wanting to refresh their motoring style, Kenchington says.

“European style and design, features, safety systems and comfort, ride and driving experience has Renault ticking all the boxes.

“Renault is the world leader in production-

ready electric vehicles, and on racetracks our Formula 1 engines have won the world championship. Now the new cars redefine standards for their segments.”

The Megane hatch sells in three models from $31,990 with a choice of six manual or CVT automatic transmissions. A Fluence sedan model with

CVT sells for $34,990 and the coupe cabriolet CVT for $54,990.

All three cars have a 103kW 2L motor with 195Nm torque spread over a broad range.

Overall fuel economy is 7.9L/100km.

Standard safety features include six air bags, ESP, ABS brakes with EBD and BA. There are also automatic headlights and wipers and cruise control with a separate speed limiting function.

Convenience items include height and reach

adjustable steering wheel, smart keyless central locking, blue tooth, multi media connection, climate control air conditioning and four speaker sound system with steering wheel controls.

Other standard gear: alloy wheels and front fog lights.

The Koleos SUV comes in a 2WD 2.5L petrol engine CVT model at $37,990. The same car with 4WD costs $42,990.

The 2-litre diesel 4WD with 6-speed automatic costs $49,990.

Fonterra’s new $75m plant FONTERRA’S NEW Darfield milkpowder plant will be built by German company GEA Process Engineering. The $75 million plant will start up in August 2012.

Darfield is the largest project by GEA Process Engineering NZ but of similar capacity to three previous plants GEA has built for the co-op.

The contract includes milk reception, standardisation, evaporation, drying, powder transport and packing. GEA will also erect the building. This is the sixth greenfield plant by GEA in New Zealand over four years.

Fonterra encouraged tenderers to draw on its experience, says GEA Process Engineering New Zealand managing director David Bower.

“This allows synergies from both parties to combine in state-of-the-art technology supplied by GEA.” The new plant’s products will go to Asia, where demand for milk powder products is rising.

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Speedrite™ AN90 Energizer with Solar Panel

www.pggwrightson.co.nz

*Promotion valid 7 April 2011 to 30 June 2011. Receive one entry for every $100 (incl GST) spent on participating products in a single transaction at PGG Wrightson. Prize includes two nights onboard accommodation and return flights from major airports for one adult. For participating products and full terms and conditions see www.pggwrightson.co.nz

WITH EVERY 2 PREWOUND REELS PURCHASED*