Dairy News 10 May 2016

Fonterra lowers Oz milk price. PAGE 10 CREAM OF THE CROP

CRACKING SYSTEM Maize splitter PAGE 42

Dairy Woman of the year PAGE 4

MAY 10, 2016 ISSUE 356 // www.dairynews.co.nz

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

NEWS // 3

Proposed 11 directors ‘simply too many’ SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

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FONTERRA’S BOARD is facing renewed pressure to further cut the number of directors and make do with fewer independents.

Two former directors – Greg Gent and Colin Armer – have made a new submission to the Fonterra board, saying the co-op’s governance and representation draft proposal falls short of farmer expectations. A copy was obtained by Dairy News.

Gent and Armer say the 11 directors proposed by the board are “simply too many”.

They questioned why the board has not listened to the 54% of farmers who voted at the last annual meeting to reduce the board to nine.

“54% of shareholders voted for a much smaller board than this proposal suggests. Their view is unfortunately being treated with the arrogance becoming too common in Fonterra; [there is] not even an explanation why [the shareholders] are wrong.”

Armer told Dairy News he was waiting to see Fonterra’s final proposal that would be put to farmers for a vote.

“We don’t want to upset the process; we’ve made a submission and let’s wait and see what Fonterra develops.”

A Fonterra spokesman told Dairy News the governance and representation committee has encouraged feedback and submissions on the draft proposal from farmers.

“We welcome all of their ideas and comments, and have undertaken more than 400 farmer meetings across New Zealand to discuss the proposals with them directly.

“All of this farmer feedback is being considered equally by the committee as they develop their final recommendation,’ he says.

The final recommendation will be tabled at a special annual meeting of shareholders.

But Armer and Gent say the review group is dealing with “the result of a cumbersome and unwieldy governance structure that is clearly not delivering to shareholders”.

“We would prefer they focus on the cause of the problem. That will require boldness and an objective assessment that will always be difficult for incumbents to execute.”

The two former directors say there is “much empirical evidence” that groups in single-digit numbers work better and are much more efficient.

The rationale advanced by Fonterra for the size of the board is the directors’ workload; to accept this rationale the shareholders would need to be convinced there is in fact a lot to do. But Gent and Armer, having served on the Fonterra board, reject this premise.

“Rather, we suspect that directors are getting increasingly involved in areas that are the domain of management; board size should always be driven by the most effective group size, not workload.”

If a director’s workload is so large, they ask, how can some of them hold employment and/or other directorships. There is a disconnect in the paper’s logic that requires an explanation in this area, they say.

“We suspect a large part of the workload is brought about by constant fire fighting, constantly dealing with the [Shareholders Council] – in other

How many is too many?...

Fonterra’s board composition is under the microscope.

words doing business with themselves.

“We believe that delivering a performing Fonterra – one its owners trust – will remove much of the current workload. This [would be] a great example as we see it dealing with the problem not the cause, an unfortunate thread that is throughout the document.”

On the proposed election process, Gent and Armer support a third party assessment of candidates by a suitably qualified organisation; they also support the concept of a skills matrix.

However, they reject the suggestion that shareholders give up their direct vote.

“Once again there is no case made for this change. Farmers are in fact electing a diverse board; we would prefer the third-party [with complete independent] assessment of candidates and with the outcome of that the knowledge that farmers are assisted in their voting decision.

COUNCIL MUST BE DIVERSE COLIN ARMER and Greg Gent say the Shareholders Council review is the most disappointing part of the proposal.

“We are told this review has been going on almost four years. We are now expected to wait another 18 months for the council to review it themselves.

“The council costs us all millions per year in direct costs and, we are sure,

a comparable sum in indirect costs, management time and focus etc.”

The role of the council should be firstly and most importantly to monitor the performance of the board, appoint the milk commissioner, and run director elections and other housekeeping constitutional requirements. The council should be able to attract busy capable people; this it does not do.

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

4 // DAIRY WOMENS NETWORK CONFERENCE

Love motivates top award winner PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

“WHAT I do in dairy-

ing I do for love – I don’t need any recognition for it,” says the 2016 Dairy Woman of the Year, Rebecca Keoghan.

But the West Coast farmer and Landcorp business manager says she is very thankful for it.

“Without Dairy Womens Network and Fonterra we wouldn’t have this award programme and I am extremely honoured and humbled to be the recipient this year,” she said at the awards night in Hamilton last Wednesday.

“This is an amazing oppor-

tunity, something I never ever expected would come to me.”

She joked that she didn’t know how she would get the bouquet home on a seven-seat plane.

Keoghan, from Westport, received the award at the Dairy Women’s Network conference at Claudelands Event Centre on May 4 after being selected by a panel that included judges from the Dairy Women’s Network, Fonterra, Global Women and Ballance Agri-Nutrients.

She wins a $30,000 place on the 11-month Global Women Breakthrough Leaders pro-

gramme sponsored by Fonterra.

“My passion and drive for dairying is in all aspects of my life,” said Keoghan, who was nominated by one of her staff, farm manager Jack Raharuhi.

The mother of two is a Landcorp business manager, a Westland Milk Products director, NZ Dairy Industry Awards Dairy Manager of the Year Award team leader, OSPRI northern South Island committee member and Keoghan Farm director with her husband Nathan.

At Landcorp Keoghan has overall strategic leadership and direction of five large dairy farms, a

dairy support farm and a machinery syndicate at Cape Foulwind and the Grey Valley.

“Leading and inspiring 55 staff along with quality production across 5000 dairy cows, 4000ha and 2500 young stock provides an exciting challenge,” she says. “This senior management role with Landcorp provides an excellent platform to combine my leadership and business skills in the industry I am fiercely passionate about.”

Keoghan loves the challenges of leadership and governance at Westland in what she calls “this exciting and challenging time of changing economies, milk prices and industry

movement”.

She is involved in the NZ Dairy Industry Awards because she has a passion for helping her colleagues celebrate their successes and assist in the development of young farmers.

Before moving to the Keoghan Farm in 2006, Keoghan, a medical science graduate, managed medical laboratories in NZ and Australia.

“The move to the Coast kick-started my passion for dairy as my husband Nathan and I purchased our family farm to be proud fifth generation dairy farmers,” Keoghan says.

“The move home also brought about my change

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Dairy Woman of the Year winner Rebecca Keoghan.

in career from medical science to cement and dairying. I was operations manager for Holcim [cement plant] for eight years while studying for an Advanced Business Management diploma and an International Institute for Management Development (IMD) leadership diploma from Switzerland.”

The couple have two children: Amelie (6) and Spencer (5).

The Keoghans have won the Westland Dairy Awards for the most production from pasture three times in the past five years.

“Our system change in this 2016 season to oncea-day milking all season, to combat the challenges associated with milk prices, has proven successful,” Keoghan says.

Keoghan is also a director of Buller Holdings Ltd – set up to give a commercial focus to the governance and management of Buller District Council’s commercial assets – and

she was chair of the West Coast Plunket board.

“Dairying is my life.

My spare time revolves around milking cows, spending time with my family swimming and biking and attending the many interests the children hold in dancing, rugby and music,” Keoghan says.

“I also enjoy pursuing my passion for music. As a member of the Westport Brass Band, I love playing trombone along with my husband and mentoring junior members of the band.

In addition, I play as a professional percussionist with Auckland and Blenheim ‘A’ grade brass bands and in 2014 was fortunate enough to be selected to represent NZ in the NZ National Brass Band and toured China and Korea.”

Dairy Woman of the Year judge Alison Gibb describes Keoghan as an extremely motivated high performer with positive drive and passion.

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

DAIRY WOMENS NETWORK CONFERENCE // 5

‘Appoint a woman, storm the world’ pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

ENTREPRENEUR DIANE Foreman says

one success she is really proud of is in the dairy industry.

“I looked at your industry and thought, ‘where is something where I can take real New Zealand, add brand, add value and take it offshore?’

“So I bought an ice cream company. The problem with the ice cream company I had is that it didn’t have a brand.

It was Chateau ice cream.

“I knew if I really wanted to grow and be global I had to have a brand. I found what I thought was -- and I think still is -- the best brand in the world: New Zealand Natural.

“It was owned by South Africans operating out of Sydney. I went over there and spent a long time – it was like a seduction. I took them out to dinners and lunches, I got the families and started talking to them and eventually I got them to sell me the brand New Zealand Natural.

“So I had my plan, I had a manufacturing business and I had a brand.

Marry them together… and with a lot of hard work....

There were good days and there were those nights you talked about when you

Businesswoman Diane Foreman (left) with DWN chair Justine Kidd at the conference.

woke up at 2 oclock in the morning and thought ‘holy crap, it isn’t working, we failed here….’

“In the end we grew a business that was nothing 10 years ago to a business for which I got tapped on the shoulder by a Chinese who said, ‘I want to buy the business’, and I said ‘it’s not for sale’.

“He said ‘I think it is’.

He is one of the wealthiest men in China.”

He took her out to lunch and by the end of the lunch he had bought her business.

“He didn’t buy the fact that New Zealand Natural made the best ice cream; he bought the NZ brand. That meant so much to him – to take a NZ branded product to China and Asia.”

When she sold it in June last year they had about 1000 outlets, they

had their own franchises and made it for supermarkets. They were in 35 countries.

“He said to me ‘I’m not interested in your 35 countries; I want it in China’.

We had 60 stores in China; his plan was to have 4500 by the end of next year.

“That gives you some idea of the growth and the scope of a brand from NZ. He believes so much in the New Zealand Natural brand. He has maintained my entire management team.”

This made her very proud, because they were assessed and appraised from a Chinese perspective and he hasn’t changed a single person.

“What he does have which I didn’t have is hundreds of millions of dollars to grow New Zealand Natural in China.

“That gives you some

world research that shows that businesses with at least one woman on the board earn more money than businesses that don’t.

There’s research that shows if you have 50/50 gender representation on your board you can storm the world.

“I think there’s probably a lack of good female thinking. Because females think differently from men we are missing many many opportunities.”

She says she is not a feminist although someone recently called her an entrepreneurial feminist and she thought that might fit.

“All I know is that if I want to see New Zealand grow, I think it’s dairying we will grow from,” Foreman says.

OHAKUNE FARMER Lisa Hicks has won the Dairy Womens Network Community Service Award.

She and her partner manage 800 cows on a 400ha farm at Ohakune.

She is a Dairy Womens Network (DWN) convener.

She initiated the Ohakune DairyNZ discussion group and hosts local and international agri student tours.

She is an advocate for people with learning disabilities.

Jon Calder, chief executive of Tompkins Wake Lawyers, says they were happy to sponsor the winner through the community leadership programme at Waikato University. Agribusiness is a strong part of their business and they wanted to support this cause.

He also had high praise for DWN chief executive Zelda de Villiers, saying she brings drive, determination and passion to the position.

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idea of what you can do with a dairy brand.

“You guys are at the coalface of the dairy brand. I think the biggest problem in NZ at the moment is we send globally millions of litres of white gold but we don’t step back and do what we did at New Zealand Natural which was to add brand and magic: our magic was we made good ice cream.

“My challenge to everybody is, when you’re working hard on the farm think about how you can grow a brand, or get together as a group and become a brand.

“You could ask why the established companies aren’t doing that.” For two reasons, Foreman says.

“Do you know there is

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

6 // DAIRY WOMENS NETWORK CONFERENCE

Pull on your overalls with pride PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz

THE ROLE women play in the dairy industry is enormous and women are truly stepping up and demonstrating leadership, says Shane McManaway, Allflex Australasia general manager.

He didn’t see that in other agri sectors, he told the Dairy Womens Network annual conference in Hamilton last week. Allflex was a major

conference sponsor.

McManaway referred to the “cool winds” sweeping across the country in terms of the dairy prices. In the middle of the night when farming couples listen to whether the dairy price has gone up or down, it will usually be the women who say “we’ll be ok. Let’s get up in the morning and get on with the job”. “[You’re] the backbone of the country -- so well done,” McManaway said to the conference attendees.

Agriculture too is the backbone

of this country and has many good stories to tell. However he had seen mostly negative stories in mainstream newspapers over the past 12 months.

“It makes me wild,” he says. “But we’ve got a part to play in changing that.”

In 2014 he launched a campaign in Australia called Proud to be a Farmer.

They went on television and every soapbox they could find throughout Australia to tell urban people how important farming was in the fabric of

UNITED AND SUCCESSFUL IT IS tough out there, it has been a long couple of years and while the light at the end of the tunnel is flickering it still feels a long way off, says Dairy Womens Network chair Justine Kidd.

As much as any time in history, the dairy industry needs to come together and Unite to Succeed, she said, referring to the theme of the DWN conference held at Claudelands in Hamilton last week.

Kidd says in 1923 the dairy accord set the scene for the proud industry it now is. This was the coming together of 400 cooperatives, the first of which started in Otago in 1871.

“Here we are 145 years later at the 2016 Allflex Dairy Womens Network Conference with the theme United to Succeed.”

She says the DWN conference team worked tirelessly and creatively to provide a conference

that reflects today’s reality. They shortened the format and made tough decisions to pull together a conference creating an opportunity to learn, grow and build existing and new friendships and contacts.

She acknowledged the team’s effort in ensuring “the show must go on” in difficult economic times. Making the conference happen had been a huge undertaking.

pride in their belly that country. and get cracking, it’s They then infectious.” launched it in 2015 Farmers should in New Zealand be proud of what and it has been they are doing and a tremendous get on every soapbox success.

“I’m they can. “Let’s try getting to talk to to narrow the gap a lot of people that exists today around NZ on this between urban and pride we have.” the rural.”

He says he has Many children read that when Shane McManaway, Allflex do not know where Richie McCaw got Australasia general manager. milk comes from. his first All Blacks jersey he took it out of the cellophane “That is an absolute disgrace in a and buried his face in it for 45 minutes, country this size. We have a duty to tell absorbing the pride he would have in them. Fonterra has done a fantastic job that journey and what that meant to in starting to tell the country where milk comes from and the good things we’re him.

“As farmers, when we put on our doing: we’re fencing off rivers, we’re overalls in the morning or take them out doing a whole host of things.”

The problem we have now is not of of the cellophane for the first time, [we should] ‘bury’ our faces in our overalls Fonterra’s making, he says. “I’m not here to give Fonterra a plug… this is a and put on pride,” he said.

McManaway has visited four global issue.”

From his visit to China he sees countries, including China and Israel, speaking at two major events this year that we should stick to the game plan, understand where we are going, who we about Proud to be a Farmer.

“The stories I told came from NZ. Do are and how we are going to get there you know, when people start to get that “and we will be ok”.

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

NEWS // 9

Smile, your body condition score is being taken AN AUTOMATED body condition scoring system for New Zealand-bred cows will be launched at National Fieldays next month.

The technology, a world first, combines DeLaval’s BCS camera system with LIC Automation’s technology and knowledge of NZ herd characteristics.

DeLaval Oceania regional president Andrew Pooch says it is pleased to be cooperating with LIC Automation.

“It eliminates commercial barriers and will offer all NZ dairy farmers opportunity for body conditioning scoring to be fully automated, eliminating the guesswork and labour hours associated with a manual system.

“This could not be more timely with the new animal evaluation process in place in NZ since February 2016 making BCS trait mandatory for bull evaluation.”

LIC Automation sells

services and solutions such as dairy genetics and information, says Paul Whiston, chief executive.

“Collaboration in innovative technology... increases productivity and prosperity onfarm.

Automating the body condition scoring process will deliver greater consistency and [finer] data to farmers to assist in their decisionmaking and herd management.”

The DeLaval BCS is based on a 3D camera; when a cow passes under

the camera the system recognises the movement and selects the best still image of the cow in the video sequence. The image is converted into an accurate BCS and can be accessed via DeLaval’s herd management system DelPro or LIC’s herd management system Minda.

The DeLaval BCS condition scoring allows the farmer to plan and optimise feeding according to a cow’s BCS score, ensuring they have

DeLaval Oceania regional president Andrew Pooch (left) and LIC Automation sales and marketing manager Lester Deighton with the 3D camera.

peak body condition in the lactation cycle.

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ensures maximum milk yield, improves pregnancy rate and minimises calving and post calving

problems, the company says. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

Watch the grass grow DAIRY FARM owners are paying a lot more attention to what’s happening on their farms – especially pasture – because of the low payout.

DairyNZ’s general manager for extension, Andrew Reid, says farmers are appraising their pastures much more closely and in many instances are using technology to do this. And they are making sure their workers are following DairyNZ’s ‘pasture first’ principles to maximise profitability.

“People now talk less about using supplements,” Reid says. “Farmers are conscious of how much pasture they are growing and are maximising the use of that pasture rather than buying in costly supplements. Many are using supple-

ments as a supplements and not as a standard farming system,” he told Dairy News.

DairyNZ staff are noticing that farmers are more focused than ever on pasture production. With good pasture growth in most regions, cow condition is good.

“Overall farmers are focused on next season rather than trying to extend the present season. A lot of farms are on once-a-day milking or at varying stages of drying off for the primary reason of going into winter with favourable pasture covers and cow condition. So the focus this May is on next season, not this season.”

According to Reid, overall dairy farms around the country are in good shape.

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

10 // NEWS

Milk price cuts hit Oz suppliers SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

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Bonlac Supply Company (BSC) chairman Tony Marwood says while Fonterra’s price reduction would be tough for suppliers, Fonterra has acted responsibly throughout the season.

“We know Fonterra has done all it can to send the right price signals and keep suppliers informed.

While today’s news will be difficult, it’s good to see Fonterra showing its commitment to its Australian suppliers with the short term support and, importantly, longer term commitment to paying market returns.

“Fonterra will continue to meet the minimum benchmark milk price, as per the BSC agreement.

From next season this will be exclusive of the deductions Murray Goulburn is using to recover repayments from its farmer support package, equating to a minimum of 0.20 – 0.27c/ kgMS for three years.

“This is especially important because it is likely a low milk price environment will continue next season and it gives farmers greater clarity on a market milk price,” said Marwood.

Swales says Fonterra will support farmers despite the challenges the milk price cut will cause.

“We have the right strategy and a clear, sustainable plan. Work is underway to rebuild our Stanhope cheese plant with 50% extra capacity and we are growing our nutritionals business with Bellamy’s and Beingmate.”

“Our priority is ensuring a long-term sustainable business for Fonterra and for our farmers who supply us.”

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Managing director Fonterra Oceania Judith Swales says the price change reflects the reality of the supply and demand imbalance affecting global dairy commodity prices, compounded by the recent strength of the Australian dollar.

“The reduction in the farmgate milk price is the last thing farmers want to hear, however it is unlikely to come as a surprise.”

Australia exports about 40% of its milk, so farmers there are not as badly affected as New Zealand farmers, who export 95% of their milk.

“With around 40% of Australia’s milk exported, our ongoing message has been that Australia is not immune to the global dairy challenges, that the milk price did not reflect current reality and that farmers need to budget conservatively,” says Swales.

“Fonterra is committed to... more transparency on milk price so that farmers have a clear line of sight to budget, plan and respond.”

The Australian dairy industry was rattled this month when its largest co-op Murray Goulburn signalled a big cut in its milk payout. Managing director Gary Helou and chief financial officer Brad Hingle quit, so did two board members.

MG has dropped its 2016 farmgate milk price to between A$4.75 and A$5/kgMS, down from the A$5.60 forecast at the end of February.

The company attributed the change to the higher-than-expected Australian dollar and weak exports of adult milk

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THE LOWER milk price will help Fonterra’s value added business in Australia.

The co-op expects that the revised milk price will reduce the cost of goods sold by Fonterra Australia by around A$48 million, subject to factors including final milk volumes for the year.

This will help cut operating losses in our Australian ingredients business this financial year, it says.

Fonterra’s earnings guidance range of NZ$0.45 – 0.55 per share reflects possible impacts to the end of the financial year including the completion of business sales in Australia.

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

12 // NEWS

Measuring man out t Craig Bowyer spent years working as a sharemilker, as an equity partner in various dairy farms and even owned a sheep and beef farm. But he’s given it all away to drive up and down paddocks measuring grass. Peter Burke reports on Eketahuna’s measuring man.

IT’S A windy and wet

just out of Eketahuna as Craig Bowyer arrives at the dairy farm run

by Rickie Morrison. On Craig’s ute is a C-Dax pasture meter and on the trailer his quad. He’s there to measure the pasture on Morrison’s farm.

After bowing out as a farmer Bowyer

has taken on a task that is seemingly too time consuming for many farmers, despite the benefits it offers.

Between August and December he will measure some 7000ha of pasture for his 22 clients – mostly but not exclusively on dairy farms in Wairarapa and Manawatu. Come January

and until the following July he’ll measure about 4000ha. He’ll measure each farm every fortnight, which he says provides the best cost benefit.

“People know they need to be measuring grass and they get quite excited about doing this in the first couple of years and then it becomes another job and a chore

so that’s when I come in.

They get all the results they need in the form of a computer printout within 15 minutes -- a feed wedge and kgDM/ha.

“Then it’s up to them if they want to discuss further what’s happening on the farm. Some like Rickie use this data in conjunction with a Farmex feed programme

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RICKIE MORRISON has been using Craig Bowyer for three years, aiming to better utilise pasture and get back to an allgrass system and reduce the use of supplements.

He runs 230 cows on 120ha and contract milks another 230 nearby.

“Clearly we can’t measure the grass because we can’t walk the farms because the grass would be growing faster than we could walk the farm.

Time is important. I’m too busy and wouldn’t be doing it every 14 days anyway. As a result of the data I’ve got from Craig the quality of the grass has got a lot better; we’re utilising it better and grazing paddocks lower,” he says.

Morrison says per cow production has gone up in the last two years, due to a combination of the data and a re-grassing policy. The data he receives from Bowyer is easy to

Farmer Rickie Morrison says since hiring Craig Bowyer, he has been utilising grass better.

work through and it helps him make better decisions.

“When I get a report and I can find the top 10% of the paddocks I will ride through them myself and then decide where next to graze the cows.

By measuring the grass your milk solids per cow is always even and you don’t get produc-

tion spikes,” he says.

Morrison says accurate pasture measuring produces many benefits such as determining when to apply fertiliser on what paddocks. He also values the input of someone who knows about farming and is seeing what is happening on the property every couple of weeks.

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

NEWS // 13

t there when you’re not to try to optimise things,” he says.

Bowyer says he can measure about 50ha per hour but this depends on the nature of the farm and in particular the number of gates.

“I charge by the hectare and it varies as to the size of the farm.

Larger farms get charged less and smaller ones more. That’s just a time thing because on smaller

With the lower dairy payout, the need to grow more grass better and manage it better is now a priority for dairy farmers.

Bowyer says by closely monitoring pasture growth, farmers are able to set more appropriate stocking rates and plan ahead better. And there are other benefits.

“I’m in the farmers’ paddocks more often than they are. If the farm

“It’s delicate gear and you can’t just take off and think you’re going to measure 100ha in an hour because you will break it.” farms you’re opening and shutting a lot of gates, whereas on bigger farms you’re able to just go for it.”

The C-Dax pasture meter is not new technology but it’s good and farmers continue to buy it. However, as Bowyer points out, some farmers don’t use it as often as they might.

He also points out the equipment has to be handled properly.

“It’s delicate gear and you can’t just take off and think you’re going to measure 100ha in an hour because you will break it,” he says.

is big and the manager is not physically getting in the cows he may not go into parts of the farm for two or three months.

I often see things on a farm which may need attention. I also spend quite a bit of time talking about various things such as fertiliser application. It’s that good combination of data and observation,” he says.

Bowyer says farmers who measure their farms and back that up with growing good grass will get an increase in production. He says knowing exactly what feed is on hand helps

a farmer more wisely manage stock and he will not get caught with feed gaps. The key is commitment to the process, he says.

“It takes time. The farmer has to be into it and use the information properly. You’re not going to see the benefits in the

first or second visit but over time your pastures improve. Quality drives food intakes and that drives overall production.

If you’re only going to find out what your covers are and you’re happy, that’s cool, but if you want to get the true benefit out if it, you have

to be into it,” he says.

Bowyer says he sees the day coming when stocking rates will be reduced, production won’t drop and supplements will just be used for getting cows through adverse events.

Craig Bowyer measures pasture on a Eketahna farm.

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www.lely.co.nz Craig Bowyer measures each farm of his 22 clients fortnightly.

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

14 // NEWS

Lessons from the kiwifruit crisis FARMERS FACING

the industry’s lowest milk price in years will this month hear lessons learnt by the kiwifruit industry when Psa struck in 2010.

“We’re different industries, but we’re still people.

One looks after animals, one looks after plants – but we’re people, we have passion, we have drive, we

earn our income and live our lifestyles this way,” says Ian Greaves, kiwifruit industry representative.

The kiwifruit vine disease Psa devastated all Gold kiwifruit orchards in Bay of Plenty and it affected Green; many growers are only now getting their first or second crop since the disease

struck.

But like all industries facing adversity, the focus quickly shifted from practical aspects (managing the orchards and plants) to looking out for the people involved.

“We became aware that this disease was taking hold and we needed to look after the people;

because either we’d find solutions to Psa but all the people had left, or the disease would wipe out the industry and leave the people,” says Greaves.

He says the current reduced milk price is an adversity which could have a similar impact on dairy farmers.

Greaves and Zes-

pri’s chief operating officer Simon Limmer are among the speakers who will address dairy farmers at the DairyNZ Farmers’ Forum, May 17-18, at Mystery Creek Events Centre, near Hamilton. About 700 farmers are expected to attend.

But though Psa hit the pockets of 2000 kiwifruit

growers – slashing incomes and knocking about 75% off land values – the sector is bouncing back.

“Now the industry is buoyant, land prices are higher than before and we have a new Gold cultivar which is tolerant of Psa, with management. The world markets have invigorated too: people are queu-

ing up for New Zealand kiwifruit,” says Greaves.

“We’re in a sweet spot right now. But many of the people have been quite battered; it’s still quite close to the surface.”

Which is why Greaves and Limmer are spreading the message that industries facing adversity must look after their people.

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response from 12 children from Ramarama Primary School, South Auckland, chosen to judge the Kids Choice category in the 2016 Ice cream Awards.

They got to taste 16 new innovative flavours at the Food Centre in Mangere last Wednesday. Flavours included combinations of boysenberry and yoghurt with boysenberry ripple and marshmallow pieces, crunchy peanut butter, salted peanuts, hazelnut and chocolate or vanilla, gingerbread and dark chocolate sauce.

The enthusiastic young judges told Dairy News they were sworn to keep secret their preferred ice cream in the samples, but said in general they liked their ice cream creamy – or any way at all.

Some ate it only at treat times when friends came over; others said they were allowed it for dessert several times a week.

They had the task of judging the flavours on a scale from ‘really yummy’ to ‘really yucky’.

Winners of all the ice cream awards will be announced on Thursday, May 26 at the awards dinner in Auckland, part of the annual conference of the New Zealand Ice Cream Manufacturers Association.

There are 11 categories in this year’s awards, including the Kids Choice. In contention are 334 ice cream, gelato, sorbet and low fat entries; in 2015 there were 302 entries. The first competition was in 1997 and had 61 entries.

This year the awards have 37 entrants (33 in 2015), including some in an open creative category for cafes, food technology R&D technicians and individuals.

Included this year is a Best in Caramel category.

The New to Market Award introduced in 2012 will be presented to the entrant with the highest total score for a new product launched in the previous 12 months.

Since 2012 a Supreme Award has been made for large and boutique manufacturers; the latter must produce no more than 500,000L per annum. This year the Supreme Award will be awarded only to ice cream entrants.

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

NEWS // 15

No major dent in global milk supply JOHN DROPPERT

DAIRY AUSTRALIA’S next ‘Situation

and Outlook’ report will be released on June 1, as a challenging season for many farmers approaches its end.

The impacts of a deep and persistent trough in international dairy markets have hit Australian farmers with renewed vigour in recent weeks.

Many farmers in southern export regions have seen 2015-16 farmgate prices cut, and there is a growing sense that the 2016-17 season will be a difficult one for balancing the books.

Farmers in domestic-focused regions are also likely to feel some

impact, and growth in overall Australian milk production will be a difficult ask. The same market trough has failed to significantly dent milk supply in most of the world’s major dairy exporters. Europe and the US continue to power ahead in year-onyear terms, and favourable weather in New Zealand has led to a much smaller decline than many had expected, even after a second season of bruising margins.

With attractive spot prices and weak comparables, dairy demand has grown in most importing regions over the past 12 months, with overall tonnages up nearly 6%. Despite an absence of the breakneck growth of recent years, China

has been responsible for a large proportion of this; total exports to Greater China are up 16% in volume terms, though WMP volumes are still down over the period.

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

Supply continues to outpace demand however, and inventories in many parts of the world – most conspicuously Europe – are building.

A relatively stable domestic market has helped buffer the Australian industry in the face of international headwinds.

Despite some slowing,

overall trends for supermarket sales of major dairy categories remain relatively unchanged from February’s ‘S&O’ report.

Dairy spreads continue to grow strongly, while cheese volumes increased by 1.7% for the 12 months to March 2016.

Ongoing growth in block and ingredient cheese segments offset falls in sliced and smooth cream cheeses , with specialty/entertaining and deli cheeses also performing well (up 17% and 4.3% respectively).

The value of cheese sales grew by 1.8% in yearon-year terms, with strong growth in the value of deli and specialty cheese sales helping offset price falls in the unit cost of block and ingredient cheese

Wholemilk powder exports to China are still down.

categories.

Sales volumes for fresh milk are holding steady, while volumes and values for yoghurt and dairy snacks have eased. Infant formula continues to sell strongly, with growth of over 30% in sales through the supermarket channel, though the balance of Australian consumption and grey market exports is much less clear.

The 2015-16 season has been characterised by challenging seasonal conditions for many farmers.

Rainfall across the country

has been variable but generally below average, and while April was forecast to provide a much needed autumn break, rainfall for the month was lower than predicted. Constrained pasture growth has coincided with a tight market for hay, while lower international grain prices have taken some time to flow through to the Australian market.

For irrigators, low allocations and high demand have driven temporary water prices to post-drought highs.

Fertiliser remains a bright spot, and a more favourable rainfall outlook suggests farmers may be better placed to take advantage of an ongoing global oversupply to grow more feed on farm, where cashflow allows it.

Confidence amongst farmers, as measured by the National Dairy Farmer Survey, showed a modest fall on average (down 1%) from 2015 to 2016, based on the annual survey in March.

• John Droppert is an analyst with Dairy Australia

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

16 // NEWS

Velvetleaf were found in 11 regions around the country.

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RURAL CONTRACTORS have

been reminded to play their part in preventing the spread of velvetleaf as management of the pest weed enters a new phase.

“Contractors need to be conscious of the potential for spreading velvetleaf when moving between properties, or between areas of the same property, and to take responsibility in managing these risks,” says Rural Contractors NZ (RCNZ) president Steve Levet.

The Ministry for Primary Industries says property searches across the country have ended.

Searches were held on 600 properties from March. Velvetleaf was found in 11 regions on 215 properties associated with fodder beet.

The Waikato Regional Council says there were several ways velvetleaf infested properties in Waikato including fodder beet seeds imported from overseas, maize crops and maize silage and machinery movement.

It says landowners and farm contractors need to be vigilant about cleaning machinery when entering and leaving a property, and checking suspect maize silage and crops.

Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director of investigations, diagnostics and response, Veronica

Herrera, says the operation has involved many people including volunteers.

“People have literally been trudging through vast areas of fodder beet and, in some cases, very rugged terrain in a bid to find and destroy velvetleaf plants,” she says.

Herrera says MPI is continuing to investigate how contaminated fodder beet seed could have entered New Zealand; beefed-up interim border inspections to stop contaminated seed entering the country will remain in place.

“MPI has established that some lines of fodder beet seed grown in Italy and pelletised in Denmark were contaminated with velvetleaf. These lines have been banned from entry into NZ. “We continue to inspect seed from other sources to determine whether any other lines are contaminated.

“In addition, the import requirements in the Import Health Standards will be reviewed in light of the learnings from this response, the inspections at the border and a pathway assurance visit by MPI officials to the growing regions coming up in June.”

Herrera says in the meantime the messages on managing velvetleaf remain the same.

“It’s imperative we don’t become complacent; vigilance is the key to managing this. Landowners need to

continue inspecting their properties for late-emerging velvetleaf and farmers should ensure their onfarm biosecurity measures are robust and enduring.”

MPI will continue to manage the velvetleaf 0800 number and provide advice and material on managing velvetleaf.

RCNZ’s Levet is reminding contractors about the importance of biosecurity and machinery hygiene practices on and between farms, in controlling the spread velvetleaf, and he says rural contractors have an important role to play in this.

By implementing simple biosecurity practices rural contractors can help protect the spread of unwanted pest plants such as velvetleaf, Levet says.

“Farmers and other professional operators in the rural sector like contractors need to pull together to help protect our agricultural sector from the spread of velvetleaf and other pests. I want to remind rural contractors to stay vigilant and keep up sound biosecurity practices.”

Levet says RCNZ has worked with national pest agencies to produce guidelines for machinery hygiene to prevent the spread of pests and weeds, which includes a hygiene logbook: www.ecan.govt.nz/publications/general/ keepitclean.pdf @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

LONG-TERM PLAN – MPI VERONICA HERRERA says MPI’s focus has turned to developing a long term plan for managing velvetleaf.

“MPI remains engaged in this process and we’ll be spearheading a national [means]

of containing and potentially reducing geographical spread over time,” she says. This may include local elimination in some regions.

“We are now developing a transition plan... with key

stakeholders, until a long term management plan is in place.

“Workshops will be held over the next few weeks where we will be seeking input on interim measures and long-term management.”

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

WORLD // 17

Familiar Chinese name buys majority stake in Oz dairy A CHINESE company will take a

majority stake in Australian dairy processor Burra Foods, subject to approval by the foreign investment review board.

In a letter to milk suppliers, obtained

by Dairy News, Burra Foods said it will enter into an agreement with Inner Mongolia Fuyan Farming Co Ltd as its majority shareholder. The deal follows a 12 month strategic review, the

company says.

“While we received a number of quality proposals and comprehensive offers, interestingly none from an Australian based business, this agreement will best match our key objective of enhancing market access and raising additional capital to fund the continued growth of our Korumburra processing facility.”

The majority shareholder in Fuyan

VALUE-ADD NICHE PLAYER BURRA FOODS is an Australian dairy ingredient processor that for 20 years has made and marketed value-added dairy products to the global food manufacturing market.

It makes natural cheese, fresh milk concentrates, food

preparations, specialty milk powders and fresh dairy ingredients.

Its factory in the heart of South Gippsland at Korumburra, southeast Victoria; offices are in Melbourne, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

is China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd, a dairy manufacturer and distributor listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Mengniu is also a key shareholder of the Yashili infant formula plant at Pokeno, south of Auckland.

Burra Foods says Fuyuan’s investment follows an extensive due diligence process and meets the objective of investing in the dairy ingredient supply chain while leveraging its deep insight and understanding of the regional food market.

“This capital injection will help us achieve our long-term growth strategy to increase production from the current 60,000MT to 100,000MT per annum by 2020,” it says.

Clearly referring to the downgrading of the Murray Goulburn profit forecast, managing director Grant Crothers said “given recent events in the industry,” he was “delighted to be able to announce the news”.

“The re-capitalisation of Burra gives

Burra Foods managing director Grant Crothers.

us the strongest position possible to continue to grow and deliver positive economic benefits to our supply partners and the broader Burra community.”

Crothers says the new arrangement will not affect the staffing at Burra and

he will continue in his role.

In the wake of the Murray Goulburn announcement, Burra Foods confirmed it will hold its base farmgate milk price, but would likely struggle to pay the Burra Supply Incentive, which can be worth thousands for some suppliers.

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

18 // WORLD

US politicians demand better dairy deal THE CONTROVERSIAL free trade deal

under negotiation between the US and Europe has hit another snag.

A two-party group of 26 US senators is urging US negotiators to look after farming, including key dairy issues, in any free trade agreement with the

European Union.

In a letter to US trade representative Michael Froman the senators said the US share of the European agricultural import market is shrinking due to tariff and non-tariff trade barriers.

“A final [trade] agreement that does not include a strong framework for

agriculture could have a negative impact on congressional support for this deal,” the senators say.

Talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) bogged down after 13 rounds of negotiations over nearly three years; the gulf between the two sides was highlighted by a

massive leak of documents which revealed “irreconcilable” differences on consumer protection and animal welfare standards.

All 28 EU member states and the European parliament will have to ratify TTIP before it comes into force; France says it is against regulated trade.

For US dairy farmers, one key issue is the EU’s efforts to capture the sole use of food names long considered generic in their countries.

Decades after parmesan, feta and asiago became household favorites in the US, Europe now argues these names can only appear on cheeses

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produced in Italy and Greece, blocking US sales of so-named products to the EU and affecting sales to foreign markets.

Also, the EU is seeking a leg-up on US food competitors by insisting the US government shoulder the costs of enforcing protection for hundreds of European names in the US domestic market.

National Milk Producers Federation chief executive Jim Mulhern thanked the senators for highlighting the need to address agriculture concerns, especially dairy issues, in the TTIP negotiations.

“In 2015 we had a record US$12 billion agricultural trade deficit with Europe, due largely to barriers erected specifically to limit exports of dairy foods and other US farm products,” Mulhern says.

“Any successful European free trade agreement must break down those

barriers. The US needs to soundly reject the EU’s desire to impose new barriers to competition worldwide and to create taxpayer-funded advantages for its producers in our market. We should be using TTIP to level the playing field.”

Tom Suber, president of the US Dairy Export Council, says the opportunity to grow dairy exports and re-balance the twoway trade deficit should be a top priority in TTIP negotiations.

“US negotiators should not conclude a trade agreement with the Europeans without addressing the serious European trade barriers facing the US dairy industry, including restrictive certification requirements and restrictions on generic cheese names,” he says.

“Names like feta and parmesan belong to everyone, not just a small group of producers in Europe.”

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EUROPE’S FOOD connoisseurs can’t get enough of British cheese, according to new UK Government figures.

Last year almost $700 million of British cheese exports went into the EU market; export volumes have increased by 8% since 2010.

Visiting Wykes Farm, in Somerset, this month, UK Environment Secretary Liz Truss hailed the success of British cheese exports, three-quarters of which went to Europe last year. France alone bought $125m of British cheese, now growing reputation on the continent for quality and taste.

Wyke Farms is a family run company in the heart of the Somerset cheddar-making region. It is one of the largest independent cheese makers and milk processors in the UK, producing 13,000 tonnes of cheddar per year to the same award winning 150-year-old recipe.

Demand for Wyke’s cheddar is growing in France, with sales up by 30% last year; 60% of all exports went to the EU, the top customers being France, Spain and Czech Republic.

The farm uses milk from its own herd which grazes the Mendip Hills, and from 150 other farms; it employs 250 people, making the business a crucial part of the rural economy.

Meanwhile, UK revenue and customs data recently showed that Britain exports far more cheese to France than to the US, despite the US population being nearly five times larger: in 2015 cheese exports to France were worth £125m vs $95m to the US. Last year, UK exports to Ireland alone — its top EU market — were $157m, more than exports to the US, Canada, UAE, South Africa, Australia and China combined.

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

20 // OPINION RUMINATING

EDITORIAL

Misplaced advocacy

MILKING IT...

Facts vs hot air

IT HAS become politically dangerous to question the word of environmental groups on the issue of climate change, but that hasn’t stopped one US scientist calling ‘bullsh*t’ on claims made about meat producers’ contributions to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. UC Davis animal science professor Frank Mitloehner says anti-animal advocates wrongly portray livestock as being to blame for most of the US’s GHG emissions.

“When divorcing political fiction from scientific facts… from all sectors of society, one finds a different picture.”

Scientists and the EPA say livestock production in the US accounts for just 4.2% of GHG, while transportation contributes 27% and the energy sector 31%.

Battle against flatulence

INDIA IS doing its bit to fight global climate change: government scientists are working hard to reduce carbon emissions by making cows less flatulent.

Consider the numbers: India has some 280 million cows and 200 million more ruminant animals like sheep, goats, yaks and buffalo.

According to an analysis of satellite data from India’s space programme, all those digestive tracts send 13 million tons of methane into the atmosphere every year; and pound for pound, methane traps 25 times more heat than does carbon dioxide.

So reducing animal flatulence might do some good; scientists at the Cow Research Institute in Mathura are tinkering with cattle feed, seeking a formula that will cause cows to belch less gas. That is how most of it is released; much less comes from farting, the scientists say.

Nuts to you too

CASHEWS AND almonds have been on the vegan milk scene for a while; now come pistachios and pecans in refined form.

First, US maker NüMoo uses the entire nut to make its milks, so no part is wasted. Second, these milks are lightly sweetened with dates or maple syrup, and the simple recipes include eight (or fewer) organic, non-GMO ingredients.

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ISSN 1175-463X

When is a cow a dog?

IN THE right environment cows and other farm animals are just as playful and smoochy as the dogs and cats many of us keep at home as companions.

Cows are affectionate, curious and intelligent creatures and they form strong and lasting friendships.

In the US, Beryl the cow, for example, has bonded with her human caretakers Sally and Webster, and with the family’s two dogs Fred and Wilma. In fact, having grown up with them since calfhood, she appears to see herself as a dog -- maybe.

GREENPEACE IS known for pulling stunts that land it on newspaper front pages and prime time news.

And we think that was the prime motive in its action last week: delivering eight tanks of cow effluent to the front door of ACC’s Molesworth St offices in Wellington. Office workers arriving at the building found the main doors blocked and had to use a side door.

Apart from the stench caused by the action, one wonders what else Greenpeace has achieved.

The group was protesting about ACC’s investment in the Ruataniwha irrigation scheme in Hawkes Bay; 196 farms have signed up to the $900 million scheme that guarantees water for farming in the region.

The Ruataniwha dam scheme was not put together overnight; it has gone through a lengthy process and has stringent environmental conditions attached to it.

But Greenpeace does not approve; it feels this is throwing away taxpayer money on an environmentally damaging project. Dairy farm effluent ends up in waterways, so schemes such as Ruataniwha, supporting more dairy farms, add to the pollution, it argues.

But, hang on, isn’t Greenpeace barking up the wrong tree over Ruataniwha?

Federated Farmers says those using the stored water will be doing so within strict resource consent conditions that have been through rigorous process. And of the 196 farms signed up so far, only one is a new dairy conversion.

Farmers are very clear: they will either remain as they are and use the irrigation as a form of resilience against dry periods, or start new higher value cropping or vegetable growing operations.

The project’s dam will hold about 100 million cubic metres of water and allow growers to irrigate some 26,000ha, potentially boosting Hawkes Bay’s GDP by $380 million.

The entire region will benefit from improved access to drinking and stock water and recreational facilities. The Tukituki Plan Change six was developed independently of Hawkes Bay Regional Council by a board of Inquiry and put through various tests in the High Court.

Farmers would rather see Greenpeace give support by advocating to Government the opportunities to the TukiTuki region that will accrue from reliable water supply countering the effects of climate change and patchy rainfall.

They know Greenpeace is displaying its anti-irrigation views -its opposition to a scheme that will give farmers climate resilience.

Stored water gives communities opportunity for good economic and environmental outcomes.

Farmers see the Greenpeace action as a misguided publicity stunt. We agree.

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

OPINION // 21

Slump in MG’s fortunes rumbles most producers STEVE SPENCER

PLENTY HAS been

written about the dramatic slump in the earnings and milk price outlook for Australia’s largest farmerowned dairy company.

I don’t wish to add to discussion on what, why or how that happened at Murray Goulburn. It is now fact, it can’t be undone, and there is little merit or therapy gained in maintaining the rage and spending time on recriminations.

More useful is to consider the effect of this sudden downturn in available milk prices from MG on the Australian dairy sector as a whole, and on individual producers, considering the market and industry outlook. The outcome has implications for almost every dairy farmer, who can expect milk prices in the coming years to be lower than if MG had managed to deliver on this year’s forecasts.

This event has a number of impacts – on leverage, confidence and reputation, in that order.

Leverage ‘Leverage’ here refers to the ability of a large farmer-owned milk buyer to positively influence milk prices paid by its competitors. In recent years, MG has focused on improving performance in milk prices, forcing its competitors to match or better it.

When the major farmer-owned buyer of milk has been weakened, effective leverage at farmgate can’t be sustained.

Almost every dairy farmer on the eastern seaboard is adversely affected, in respect of available milk prices, by a weakening of the major co-operative.

In the short term it seems Murray Goulburn’s competitors will continue to honour milk price estimates for the 2015-16 season which were made prior to 27 April. They will do this with some difficulty given the realities of the dairy commodity markets.

The coming seasons are what matter. Despite what will be claimed, with

a 20-30c/kgMS finance charge against their largest competitor’s milk pool, Bega, Warrnambool, Fonterra and others will be under much less pressure to optimise farmgate prices, other than the need to ensure they can reliably collect enough milk for their business needs.

That was the situation in the industry prior to 2013 and it will go on for the next two seasons at least, as the effects of this event are unwound.

Confidence Years of research into what mostly affects the confidence of dairy farmers have shown that a positive belief in the industry’s future depends on the outlook for milk prices. While MG’s balance sheet will be used to sustain most of the current season’s promised milk price, the prospects for the next few seasons matter most for producer confidence.

Dairy commodity prices drive the value of milk in the industry; despite lower industry exports than previously we are still inextricably part of a global market.

Dairy companies have different business models, product and market mixes – and different abilities to flex. Over time, some will do much better than others in outperforming the price extracted from a commodity manufacturing base – ‘adding value’ as it is unfortunately called.

By our reckoning, the commodity value of milk is close to $4.50/kgMS in 2015-16. At present, with spot and forward prices in the market, we have trouble getting our estimate of commodity returns for the 2016-17 season to land above $5/kgMS. Dairy product prices, on average, will have to rise at least 15% (as a season average) to get there, but by 25% before we can be confident milk is again worth more than $5.50. If the A$ falls – as currency punters are suggesting – that farmgate price result will be easier to achieve. Companies can and will add to this commodity return via their various activities. But it all comes back to what the biggest player can achieve,

and how much of the strategy can deliver in additional income.

What are the chances of either of those market outcomes? On our present outlook, a recovery in dairy prices is gradually under-

way, but won’t really make any headway until early next year when slower growth in Europe and NZ ensures global export supply slips behind import demand. Right now, those supply and demand totals

Oz co-op, Murray Goulburn has dropped its milk price, lowered profit guidance and lost its top two executives.

are running neck-and-neck currently, but stockpiles of powder and cheese are still building.

• Steve Spencer is a director of Fresh Agenda, an Australian food industry market analyst.

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

22 // AGRIBUSINESS

Awards finalists face the judges JUDGING IS underway

in the 2016 New Zealand Share Farmer of the Year competition, each of the 11 finalists getting two hours to impress the judges.

The winner will be announced at the 2016 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards dinner in Wellington on May 14. They and the winners in the New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year and New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year competitions will share $170,000 in prizes.

The New Zealand Share

Farmer of the Year judges began 11 days of touring in Northland this month, assessing regional finalists Glen and Trish Rankin.

Judges Abby Scott (DairyNZ), Mark Horgan (Westpac) and Thames dairy farmer Neil Gray will drive 2000km and fly to visit finalists on their farms at Otautau, Leeston and Springs Junction in the South Island, and Foxton, Whakatane, Pepepe and Dannevirke in the North Island.

“Judging is a huge deal

for these finalists as the national results can create huge opportunities for them and their career in the dairy industry,” general manager Chris Keeping says.

“Just preparing for judging is hugely valuable as the finalists gain a better understanding of their farm business and

career aspirations, plus steps to take to achieve their goals. However they place at nationals, they will have gained a lot from the experience.”

The finalists are sharemilkers, contract milkers and equity farm managers – all self-employed.

For three finalists it is their first entry; another three

finalists are in for a fourth time.

“Many have had careers outside the dairy industry and bring experience in a variety of fields – teaching, journalism, sales, finance and forestry.”

Most are aged in their 30s; one finalist is over 40.

Three of the finalists own or contract-milk herds of

300 or fewer; four have herds larger than 600 cows.

The judging ends this week with Manawatu regional finalist Stephen Shailer.

The finalists meet in Wellington that night and embark on activities leading to the awards dinner. Their last hurdle is an interview in Wellington

with the judges, plus New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Trust chairman Alister Body.

The awards are sponsored by Westpac, DairyNZ, DeLaval, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Honda Motorcycles, LIC, Meridian Energy, New Zealand Farm Source, Ravensdown and Primary ITO.

Top Maori farms compete for gong THREE OF the best Maori dairy

farms are vying to win the Bledisloe Cup as winner of the Ahuwhenua Trophy competition.

About 800 people are expected at the awards dinner in Hamilton on May 20. Guests will include the Minister for Maori Development Te Ururoa Flavell, the Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Kingi Smiler Guy, the Maori King Tuheitia, politicians and leading agribusiness people, many from the dairy sector.

The competition was set up 83 years ago by the Maori leader and politician Sir Apirana Ngata and GovernorGeneral Lord Bledisloe.

For the first time, two of the three finalists – Ngai Tahu Farming Ltd and the Rakaia Incorporation– are from the South Island. The third finalist – Tewi Trust – is from South Waikato.

Ngai Tahu Farming Ltd’s farms are located near Oxford, Canterbury. Their farms Te Ahu Patiki and Maukatere are at Te Whenua Hou, originally a New Zealand Forest Service radiata pine plantation commonly known as Eyrewell Forest. Both farms are irrigated from the Waimakariri River.

Tewi Trust is located near Okoroire, near Tirau, South Waikato. The area is famous for hot springs and a beautiful hotel. The farm has a 138ha effective milking platform running 430 Friesians.

Rakaia Incorporation’s Tahu a Tao farm has a long and proud history dating from 1886. The present 216ha farm near Ashburton runs about 830 Kiwi cross cows. Tahu a Tao is the Maori name for Kyle, where the farm is located.

The winner will receive prizes valued at $40,000, and they and the other finalists will share prizes valued at $20,000.

The chairman of the Ahuwhenua Trophy management committee, King Smiler, says all three farms are worthy finalists making a big, brave call to showcase their operations in challenging times. In such times it is important that leaders emerge and show the way for others, he says.

“This is not a time to retreat until better times return.

Such downturns in a cycle provide an opportunity for all farming businesses to take stock of their operations and to honestly analyse what they are doing well and what they could do better. Such work will pay great dividends when times improve.

“We are intergenerational farmers with time on our side and a history of managing adversity and coming back stronger and better. Everything we do today must be done for a positive outcome for future generations.”

Smiler says overall Maori agribusiness is in very good shape. The Ahuwhenua Trophy has been a major factor in lifting the profile and perception of Maori agribusiness.

– Peter Burke

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

AGRIBUSINESS // 23

Breathing space for Murray Darling River farmers

The Murray Darling River in Australia is a lifeline to farmers in several states.

A MOVE to improve the socio-economic and environmental outcomes of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan has been welcomed by Australian

economic impacts.

“It shows the socioeconomic analysis needs to be done, which we’ve been saying for a long time. We need to look at the effect of the plan on communities and farmers in the basin and we appear to be getting some traction there.”

Hoey says it is pleasing that authorities are listening and “keeping the politics out of it”.

“They’re trying to find measures and different rules on water and regulations to achieve the goals; a while ago the states would have been parochial, saying there’s no need to change and it’s everybody else’s fault.”

Hoey says the price of water, lack of rain and low catchment levels are a worry, “but these things need to happen so we can

“They’re trying to find measures and different rules on water and regulations to achieve the goals; a while ago the states would have been parochial, saying there’s no need to change and it’s everybody else’s fault.”

– Daryl Hoey, ADIC

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The Murray–Darling Basin Ministerial Council has agreed on key areas to provide for a second sustainable diversion limit (SDL) adjustment step by June next year, and to consider a range of projects to improve outcomes.

It is expected the agreement will markedly reduce the water recovery needed to achieve basin plan outcomes. And there are moves for a wider range of complementary projects, such as carp control.

Projects are likely to be finished during the next eight years, boosting regional economies and the health of the basin’s rivers and meeting stakeholders’ expectations of the SDL adjustment.

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Ministers on the council agreed on the principles that would guide the implementation of the SDL adjustment package.

The changes are good news for many dairy farmers in the basin battling terrible seasonal conditions that are leaving them high and dry.

“The changes they’ve announced are in line with what industries have been asking for,” the chair of the Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC) basin taskforce, Daryl Hoey, says. “It will give us more breathing space to allow adjustment packages to be better measured and laws to be considered over the 12 months.”

Hoey says the best thing about the announced changes was the emphasis on socio-

get better outcomes in the future”.

“It means water can be secured by means other than the government going into the market to purchase it.

“If we can get the same environmental outcome with less water by running the river differently, putting in different regulations or technologies, or changing the rules about how water is used between states and accounted for, then that’s positive because less water will be taken out of the consumption pool and farmers will have more water to compete for and use.”

So far 15 of the 37 nominated supply measures have been modelled, which have an estimated SDL offset of 370 gigalitres. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

24 // AGRIBUSINESS

Kiwi in top-seven robotics group A KIWI dairy farmer is among DeLaval’s most productive users of its voluntary milking systems (VMS).

Seven of the company’s most productive VMS farms were recognised recently, including Alvin Reid, Canterbury and Marcus Crowden, Tasmania.

They attended the VMS PRO user club conference in Las Vegas for harvesting, on average, up to 3000kgMS/ day/robot – a new industry benchmark.

“The success of these recordsetting VMS producers shows their ability to achieve the right balance of precise herd and milking management, efficient farm layout, onfarm practices,

including animal welfare as a priority, performance goals, and integrated business tools,” says Francisco Rodriguez, marketing manager for automatic milking and feeding at DeLaval North America.

Their operations Alvin Reid range from one to eight VMS robots; some have sophisticated freestall facilities and some are robotic grazing dairies.

Alvin and Judith Reid run Riverholme Pastures, a 480-cow block near Pleasant Point; they also own shares in

five other farms.

Marcus Crowden and his wife Zed farm with his parents Denis and Sheryl, running two properties at Caveside near Launceston, Tasmania.

Rodriguez says the robotics conference in Las Vegas raised participation by the farmers, showing global expertise and a comprehensive robotic agenda.

“VMS farmers worldwide are [pushing the limits of ] robotic technology.

DeLaval is leading the discussion about integrated dairy robotics and using the

robotic milking, robotic VMS PRO user club to help the feeding and herd industry improve.” management tools.

The VMS PRO user club, The event – ‘Robotic founded in North America milking and feedin 2011, now numbers ing from calf to cow’ 2000 farmers, advisors and – brought together scientists. It started as local researchers and scimeetings. The next conference entists with the VMS will be in 2018. DeLaval North farmers.

America will continue to Marcus Crowden Presentations host regular local VMS PRO included barn design, cow comfort, meetings and monthly webinars.

The seven top VMS operators were feed access and consumption, calf joined by 130 participants from eight feeding, key performance indicators countries at the Mandalay Bay Resort in and benchmarking. Attendees had Las Vegas, to discuss their experiences opportunity to share their own with precision dairy technologies like experiences.

Robotics not yet mainstream in Oz MADELEINE BRENNAN

WITH ONLY 39 automatic milkers (AMS) working in Australia, the dairy industry is a long way from ‘mainstreaming’ the technology.

But according to Sydney University’s FutureDairy programme, the numbers in favour of using robotics are starting to stack up – and the university is building the business case.

Data comparing one Australian AMS farm in comparison to the average farm in the Victoria region indicated that despite higher shed costs (due to running costs as well as repairs and maintenance) the AMS farm had lower production costs due to lower herd, overhead and cash costs, resulting in a favourable bottom line.

“Obviously care

should be taken with these results as they only pertain to one AMS farm and one financial year,” FutureDairy associate professor Kendra Kerrisk says.

“Eight farmers using AMS have agreed to share their information this financial year so we hope to have more results soon.”

Kerrisk says robotics are not widespread in Australia because most farmers are not now spending on new harvesting technology – not because robotics technology is expensive.

“If you’re not investing in a new dairy at the moment, then it becomes a big capital outlay just to change to robots.

“But more and more farmers looking at ways of expanding their operation or bringing in another block of land are asking ‘how am I going to milk

these cows over the next 10 – 15 years, and what’s the best answer?’ They are crunching the numbers.”

Kerrisk says other benefits of AMS are less tangible but highly valued.

“AMS may help to attract and retain staff, increase flexibility and reduce stress for farmers and cows.”

But misconceptions persist in the farming community about robotics.

“If you don’t know anything about AMS, you [may imagine] farmers just want to make so much money they decide a robot can milk the cow instead of people, or a farmer who’s not going to notice a cow stuck in a ditch because he hasn’t been to the farm for three days.

“But robotic milking is far from any of these scenarios and in fact, if you visit a well operated

Australia’s dairy industry is embracing robotic technology slowly.

robotic milking farm, the cows are calm, relaxed, laid back. It’s a nice way to milk cows when it’s done well.”

She says robotics allows cows to move at their own pace and have some control over their day.

Research also showed robotic milking systems

can also reduce the incidence of lameness and help pick up mastitis earlier.

“Animal health costs can reduce dramatically with robotic milking,” she says. “The majority of farmers using AMS are seeing a reduction.”

FutureDairy has developed a series of slide

shows to introduce the key concepts of automatic milking for large herds.

“They are a fun, easy way to start thinking about how automatic milking might work on your farm,” Kerrisk says.

“The slide shows don‘t go into a lot of detail, but each one is supported by a more detailed information

sheet which can be downloaded or printed out.”

The guidelines are suited to operations with single box units, multi-box units or the robotic rotary.

“It’s a great place to start doing the necessary homework even before you decide which brand of AMS you prefer.”

Be part of New Zealand’s biggest dairy event Adapting to the changing global environment The Forum has a thought-provoking line-up topics, workshops and speakers including:

This event promises to provide great insights into trends and issues outside the farm gate, plus hands-on information from the workshops that farmers can put into action.

• Bill English, Deputy Prime Minister • Theo Spierings, Fonterra CEO • Tim Hunt, Rabobank International • Mike Petersen, NZ Special Agricultural Trade Envoy • Simon Limmer, Zespri • Melissa Clark-Reynolds, Entrepreneur.

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

AGRIBUSINESS // 25

NZ example inspires young Aussie into dairy can scare some young people, but good models such as share farming and lease farming can offer pathways.

“You can start as a relief milker and eventually buy your own cows and build equity. I want to create awareness of these different pathways,” he says.

The YDN job was advertised while Nicholson was in NZ and he flew home for an interview.

“It’s a great personal development opportunity and a learning curve for me,” he says.

Nicholson grew up on the 300ha leased family farm and loved the freedom and connection to the land and cows.

“As a dairy farmer you have a sense of being part of a community. You get attached to the land around you and you build a relationship with the cows and nurture them from an early age.

“When I was at school I’d help dad after school and on the holidays, something I kept up when I went to boarding school and when I studied agricultural business management at Charles Sturt University in Orange.

“The study helped me to understand more of the science behind the farming system and then put what I learned in the classroom into practice.”

Nicholson says there’s a confident vibe about dairy in NSW, though farmers still have to cope with environmental challenges and price volatility.

“Overall it’s quite positive. The free trade agreements with key export markets, the westernisation of diets and the rising household incomes in many Asian countries will create many opportunities and there are many resources to help farmers improve their business and their profitability.”

On the home front, things look good for the farm which milks a mixed herd of 220 cows.

“We’ve had a good spring, and more rain

around Christmas has set up a good season. It should progress to an ideal season,” Nicholson says.

His dream is to own a farm, following in his parents’ footsteps but expanding with new ideas

B&DEL0026D

SAM NICHOLSON is on a mission to inspire more young people to join the dairy industry.

The recently appointed DairyNSW Young Dairy Network (YDN) coordinator wants to attract a new generation of farmers to an industry with a bright future.

“There are many opportunities for a variety of jobs in this industry; you don’t just have to be a milker putting cups on,” he says.

Nicholson hopes Australia can follow the lead of New Zealand where he spent the past year studying agriculture at Massey University, after winning a Dairy Australia Farm Business Management scholarship.

“I was inspired by the amount of involvement young people have in the industry in NZ,” Nicholson says. “Young people are our future farmers and the ones with new ideas. We need to do everything we can to get them involved.”

Nicholson (23) is one of two YDN coordinators in NSW, covering the mid-coast and Hunter regions. This part-time job connects him with the broader farming community and he is still heavily involved in his family’s lease farm with parents Geoff and Megan at Lansdowne near Taree.

In his YDN role, Nicholson promotes the industry’s ‘Legendairy’ communications initiative via social media networks and organises social and educational events that develop and build the capacity of young dairy farmers by improving their knowledge, skills, confidence and leadership abilities.

“The main objective is to attract and retain young people in the dairy industry,” he says.

“A lot of people just think a dairy farmer gets up at a ridiculous time and milks cows, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Programmes like Legendairy and the Young Dairy Network show how attractive the industry is.”

Nicholson says the capital costs of getting

and technologies.

“I want to always be open to opportunities,” he says. (Source: Dairy Australia) @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

delaval.co.nz

Sam Nicholson, Australian dairy farmer.

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

26 // MANAGEMENT

Plate to paddock career change LOUISE HANLON

FONTERRA DIRECTOR Ashley Waugh tends

to make quick decisions: for example, his decision in 2011 to buy a farm with his wife Catherine Steffert, at Pokuru near Te Awamutu.

“We bought this farm almost by accident,” says Waugh. “We were on our way to look at a farm in Taranaki and we called in because we told an agent we would. We had only driven halfway down the hill by the farm and I said to Catherine, ‘we’re going to buy this farm’. It had a good feel straight away.”

For Waugh it was a watershed moment. “I was 55, I’d had 35 years of corporate life in senior exec-

utive roles on boards of big companies. I loved my business career but I looked around one day and thought, let’s go do something else.”

Waugh first worked for Ford Motor Company, then at the New Zealand Dairy Board, finishing as chief executive for the Australia/Pacific/ South Africa region. He then went to Australia’s National Foods to build their cheese business, finishing as chief executive.

In that role he brokered a deal resulting in the Japanese beverage company Kirin buying National Foods.

“When I left my corporate career,” says Waugh, “I thought I would go on a few boards of interest, where my skills related,

where I could [contribute] and I would enjoy it. But having always been associated with dairy farming I thought we could also buy a farm. We always thought we would come back to NZ; we had family here and our parents were getting older so we wanted to be closer to support them.

“We wanted a farm big enough to have a sharemilker (a two person farm) with a minimum of 200 but ideally 250-300 cows.

We were fortunate to find this farm and Catherine and I are lucky having Eddie Krielen here.”

Krielen had been on the farm three years when Waugh and Steffert bought it and is now employed as their lower order sharemilker. The couple value the working relationship

with Krielen.

“When we started I said to Eddie, ‘for us… cow condition and animal welfare are number one priorities’. We have zero tolerance of animal welfare issues on the farm and he has the same philosophy.

When you get people who can work together because their values and farming objectives are similar it works. I spend no time worrying about the farm or our cows because it is in good hands. Eddie has taught me much: dayto-day rotation planning, animal health issues in winter and spring, practical aspects and why we’re doing things.”

Waugh and Steffert’s farm is 87ha effective, milking 290-300 cows, and they are content with

a mainly grass based operation.

“With this farm we are not pushing anywhere near… what we could, even within the environmental restrictions we’re likely to see. We have 3.1 cows/ha, are basically grass based with a PKE top-up and our maize crops; we keep it simple and do simple things well…. If we wanted to we could scale this farm up easily now, but would we make more money?”

Waugh believes smaller farms have a positive and essential role in dairying.

“Long term the prediction is for an increase in global dairy consumption and long term NZ is a key player so fundamentally we’re in the right sector.

The outlook is not as positive as it used to be but it’s

Fonterra director Ashley Waugh and wife Catherine Steffert on their Te Awamutu farm.

not going to be negative in the long term.

“Smaller herd farms are where we grow our future farmers. The corporates are good at what they do but they tend not to grow good farmers. If you work for a corporate farm as the herd manager you don’t get the same total farm immersion and learn the same capability. It’s a different sort of culture. So we never want to lose the family farm; it is the place for growing young farmers who can then go on to make their contribution.”

Waugh is also a fan of

SMASH (Smaller Milk and Supply Herds).

“Someone said to me, ‘it’s easy for small farms to feel lost in this big corporate industry’. Having a vehicle for smaller herd owners is good. At the events I have been to there are people with the same values and issues so it’s a good place for them to get moral support and understand there are other people like them, especially now it’s tough.”

• Louise Hanlon is a committee member of Smaller Milk and Supply Herds (SMASH).

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

MANAGEMENT // 27

‘Out of this world’ effluent system can work on farms A ZERO-WASTE system developed for spacecraft could be cost-effective on dairy farms, says inventor William Mook.

The Zeecol system converts cow effluent into fuel, fertiliser, electricity and high protein feed, he says.

Mook is the founder of the New Zealand company and a Canadian subsidiary; he is based in Christchurch.

A Mid Canterbury dairy farm is said to be committing to a Zeecol system.

effectively contain cow waste and increase productivity. There is no odour, no impact on the environment; everything that goes in comes out in a useful form.”

Pannetts Dairies in Mid Canterbury is committed to a Zeecol system, Mook says.

“Using barns enables Pannetts to achieve a profitable, humane and sustainable farming environment that is not possible on a grass fed system. Cows are more

“We have the technology to cost-effectively contain cow waste and increase productivity. There is no odour, no impact on the environment; everything that goes in comes out in a useful form.”

Though various system components are in use discretely in other countries, NZ is the first country where a complete system has been run onfarm.

Elements of the system were developed for use in a space station where waste must be contained at all times – no leaks or build-up of harmful substances.

The technology can displace conventional farm treatment and disposal systems, Mook says.

“We have the technology to cost-

comfortable in a properly built barn, but won’t produce well if they are caged.”

He forsees the ‘top’ 5% of herds as being likely users of the system – chiefly farms with barns or feedlots where a high proportion of effluent can be captured. In barns about 90% of effluent can be contained.

The system is also likely to appeal to farmers struggling to comply in waste management, Mook says.

In a full Zeecol barn

system, a farm is supplied with $9000 of equipment per cow – owned, managed and maintained

by Zeecol. The farmer is charged for the facility’s output at a rate of 80% of the comparative fuel/ electricity/fertiliser/feed costs being replaced.

Zeecol says Stanton farms in the US has converted to the gas processing part of the Zeecol system, enabling a capacity increase from 700 cows to 2000 and the feeding of electricity back into the local town grid. www.zeecol.com.

GEA HAS A NATIONWIDE NETWORK OF 29 SERVICE PARTNERS WHO PROVIDE HASSLE FREE, TRUSTED SERVICE. Our GEA Service Partners provide a full service for maintenance and breakdowns, a range of spares including, liners, rubberware and milk filters, to assist you through the dairy season.

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Farms with barns and feedlots are likely to use the revolutionary zerowaste system.

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

28 // MANAGEMENT

Lessons from history worth re-telling ROD DYSON

THE LAST significant

in-season drop in the price of milk to suppliers was in 2008, and that doesn’t take a long memory to recall: it is hardly ancient history.

The price drop in 2008 triggered a range of responses, some teaching significant lessons which should not be forgotten.

In respect of milk quality and mastitis control there are three lessons that should be recalled now to avoid history repeating itself.

■■ Dry-off Many farms that made radical changes to their dry-off routine (mainly in product and cow selection) suffered a significant blow-out in cell counts and cases of mastitis in the following lactation, resulting in costs much higher than the saving made at dryoff. Many of these farms also suffered longer term effects on their milk quality and mastitis control.

This does not mean it is not possible to cut some costs at dry-off, but the lesson from 2008 is that understanding what effect each compromise has on the risk of mastitis will allow an informed decision, and give opportunity to potentially

alter other management areas to reduce that risk.

Also consider that while every compromise has an effect, some changes carry a lesser risk than others, and some changes may have ‘work-arounds’ that will help to manage the change in risk.

If you think you need to make compromises at dry-off, make sure you discuss with your advisers how to minimise the risks, and how to best manage the changes in risk that are likely to result.

Items to talk about will include product selection (cure rates of existing infections and prevention of new infections), and cow selection (which cows should be treated and how to choose them).

As an example, if you were considering removing teat sealant from your dry-off treatment, the main effect will be to increase the risk of new infections, especially at calving.

After discussion, you may decide the increased risk is too great, or you may choose to limit the risk to a certain group of animals (eg the heifers) or you may choose to consider a ‘work-around’ -- altering your calving management for either the whole herd or that partic-

ular group of animals in a way that reduces that risk at calving.

Also, if you are considering selective treatment of cows, don’t be surprised if your adviser suggests a different cell count threshold for treatment than you might have expected.

■■ Culling Already many herd managers are talking of reduced numbers for next season.

Selection of cows to cull is always based on many factors, but cell counts and mastitis are always in the mix to be considered.

Countdown has given us good guidelines to use when considering cows

for culling. Cows that have had three or more clinical cases of mastitis in a lactation should appear on most preferential culling lists. However, the use of cell counts for culling requires a bit more thought, as just culling the cows with the highest cell counts at the most recent herd test may not give the best outcome.

A number of factors including a cow’s age, production, udder conformation and history of dry cow therapy and clinical cases should also be considered.

As an example, an older cow with a history of high cell counts after having

being treated with dry cow therapy should generally be higher on the preferential cull list than a young cow that has never had dry cow therapy, even though the younger cow’s cell count may be considerably higher. This is because the cow that has never had dry cow therapy is likely to have a greater chance of cure with that therapy than a cow that has already failed to cure before.

It is likely that taking a little time to work through your cull list will give you a better outcome.

■■ Replacements Another lesson from 2008 is that some farms that chose to reduce costs

Managing mastitis in a low payout year is more important.

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and gain extra cash by selling replacement heifers subsequently found it to be a long hard road to rebuild the herd at a later date.

Not only that, but their ability to cull cows for any reason was also severely compromised for some years afterwards.

In summary, hard decisions are likely to be needed. Also, there is no single answer to any of these situations or questions, and every farm

is different.

However, it is almost certain that an informed decision with forward planning to cover changes in the farm’s milk quality and mastitis risk profile is likely to give a far better outcome.

History has given us lessons to learn from, and now is the time to heed those lessons.

• Rod Dyson is a vet with Dairy Focus in Victoria, Australia

Energy cost risk in Oz dairies BIGGER MAY not be better for equipment in robotic dairies, according to the findings of FutureDairy energy audits on Australian farms.

Gabriel Hakim, AgVet Projects, assessed energy use on 10 farms with automatic milking systems (AMS). He found that most AMS dairies had equipment unnecessarily large for the needs of automatic milking, wasting electricity.

“When building an AMS it can be tempting to reuse equipment from the existing dairy, but automatic milking can place quite different demands on equipment,” he says.

For example, the milking equipment on AMS farms where cows move voluntarily runs at low capacity for up to 20 hours a day, versus conventional milking twice daily in intensive sessions.

“Operating equipment that is not sized correctly risks losing energy efficiency and using excess energy.”

Many of the AMS dairies in the study had an oversize compressor and oversize vacuum pumps, and most had hot water systems suitable for a conventional dairy -- bigger than needed for an AMS. “Operating oversize or over-capacity equipment wastes a lot of energy,” Hakim says. “For example, if you are running a grossly oversize vacuum pump much of the energy can be used just driving the pump.

“The same is likely for compressors. Studies in other industries using compressed air have shown 30-50% of energy was used to service leaks and supply artificial demand and system inefficiencies. This warrants further investigation for AMS dairies.”

When planning an AMS, Hakim recommends weighing the savings possible in capital outlay – by retaining existing equipment – against the longer term operating costs.

The FutureDairy project leader, associate professor Kendra Kerrisk, says although energy consumption was higher in AMS than conventional milking systems, it was a relatively small part of the overall economics of robotic milking.

“Higher energy cost doesn’t mean AMS is uneconomic,” she says. “In fact, although shed running costs are commonly reported to be higher, animal health and labour costs are much lower on many AMS farms.”

The AMS energy study was funded through Dairy Australia’s project Smarter Energy Use on Australian Dairy Farms, funded by the Department of Industry and Science as part of the Energy Efficiency Information Grants Programme

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

MANAGEMENT // 29

Oz farmer shows confidence to invest MADELEINE BRENNAN

AUSTRALIAN DAIRY

farmer Darren Merritt doesn’t do things by halves.

The third generation farmer, who opened his farm, Elgin Dairies at Boyanup, Western Australia to visitors as part of Dairy Innovation Day last month, will soon start milking his split herd of 740 Holsteins in the farm’s new $1.7 million dairy.

And with almost no sickness or mortality, he’s already reaping the rewards of his newly built calf shed, which comfortably houses up to 120 calves and is easy to clean. The operation puts the comfort of animals and staff top of mind.

Merritt, who runs the business with

700 cows too often; I’d be running the rest of the business.”

He says the parallel herringbone allows for two staff in the dairy at once in a clean and comfortable environment.

“The staff get a real relationship going amongst themselves and so the work is not so tedious and boring.”

Attracting good staff, and inspiring his own children to continue to work in dairying, was a key reason for the investment.

“It’s easy to get negative,” he says.

“Some older farmers think ‘I’ll just run this old shed out and get out, retire’.

“And while they have that mentality the son is going to look at their father and think ‘well I’m

he wanted to take the business.

“I left school very early, I didn’t complete year 10, but it’s all I’ve ever done and I’ve spent a lot of hours doing it and

if you do something that long you become good at it I suppose. Plus I just like milking cows and growing grass.” @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

ler l o r n wor eplacing r neeDs

inateDip m a l e D ar str e w l e ste

“It’s easy to get negative.”

– Oz farmer Darren Merritt. wife Sharon and their children Natalie (25), Chad (23) and Jesse (17), says with a five year contract secured two year ago with Harvey Fresh, it was time to lift the bar.

“I like to do things well or not at all,” he says. “And as the saying goes, if you keep doing as you’ve always done you’re going to get what you’ve always got. So it was time for change, to do things a lot better and get more professional.”

After a couple of trips to the US seeking ideas, Merrit chose a 24-a-side rapid exit herringbone from DeLeval.

He designed the 36 x 22m dairy, which includes a 10m lean-to on both sides (one for the milk room and plant and the other for cattle treatment), with a 10 x 32m staff area on the front which includes a kitchen and office.

“I realised I’ve got to build a dairy not for myself but for my staff because it wasn’t me who was going to be milking

not going to put up with that old tractor; I’m not going to milk in that old dairy’.

“If you’re not making the investment then the next generation are going to think, ‘well I’m not going to step into your boots’.

“But if you make the investment and make the workplace a whole lot more enjoyable and exciting it gives them a different outlook on farming.”

Merritt says being in WA and knowing there would always be strong demand for local milk also helped inspire the decision to invest.

“There’s not going to be oversupply here.”

With recent rain, Merritt says they’ve had a good season, with production up this year from 6.3 million to 6.5m L, averaging about 8000L/cow.

Since buying his brother’s farm in 2008, and then leasing more land from neighbouring cattle properties, it’s clear Merritt has had a firm idea of where

Darren Merritt in his calf shed.

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

30 // MANAGEMENT

Oz breeders at top of their game GORDON COLLIE

IN A unique feat of

genetic excellence, two leading Australian dairy studs have each produced the top ranked pair of bulls in the latest Australian Breeding Values (ABVs) for Holsteins and Jerseys.

The latest release of ABVs were published by the Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme last month.

Underlining their depth of quality, both Rengaw Holsteins and Cairnbrae Jerseys have also placed the 8th ranked sire in their respective breeds.

For Rengaw principle George Wagner from Winnaleah in north-east Tasmania, dominance in the latest ABVs is the latest accolade in a career spanning 50 years. The production-focused producer is now ranked as having the number-one Holstein herd in Australia and has the Holstein title of Master Breeder.

Wagner has quit active dairying and his breeding herd has gone to the property of his daughter and son-in-law Courtney and Jared Ireland near Lockington in northern Victoria.

“I’ve got the last of my young bulls here on agist-

Cairbrae Jerseys have two top sires in the top 8.

PICTURE: ELLAWRIGHT.COM

George Wagner pictured with Wrangler (also inset), who ranked number two behind his brother Geemcee.

PICTURE: GENETICS AUSTRALIA.

ment, but I still take an active interest in breeding -- flushing about 10 cows a year,” Wagner says.

“We’ve always used the best bulls available with production our main aim and it has reflected in our herd performance over many years. Our sires are proven all-rounders with good fertility, components and low cell counts.”

The top ABV Holstein bulls are full brothers; Geemcee (Rengaw Manoman Hummer) is ranked number 1 and Wrangler (Rengaw Manoman Wrangler) number 2.

Wagner says the second-placed bull Wrangler was highly ranked on type and was expected to strongly appeal to Holstein producers.

Both bulls are embryo transfer, sired by a deceased Manoman bull in the US out of a top ranking member from the Janea cow family.

“We lost the dam a couple of years ago, but we’ve still got the bloodlines, flushing a full sister to the top ranked bulls,” Wagner says.

The Janea cow family has had a profound influ-

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ence and is still strongly represented in the Rengaw stud herd.

The stud was registered in 1968, with real genetic advances, including ABV success from the 1990s.

“We’ve been pleased with the acknowledgement of our breeding success and recognition as the top influencing Holstein herd in Australia,” Wagner says.

Cairbrae leads the way THE top ABV Jersey bull Elton (Cairnbrae Jaces Elton) has had a huge influence on the breed.

Cairnbrae stud master Alan Carson from Irrewillipe East in southwest Victoria says the bull had been in AI since 2009 and had steadily climbed to reach the number 1 ranking as a 12-year-old.

“It’s very unusual to have a bull so highly rated for so long. They usually tend to come and go quite quickly,” Carson says.

The latest ABV scores were aggregated from 4437 daughters in 464 herds, more than 10 times other top ranked sires.

Cscedison (Cairnbrae Tbone Edison) was ranked the second Jersey bull and Cairnbrae Tbone Ensign at number 8.

Ensign is the highest rated udder bull and expected to be extremely popular with Jersey breeders.

All three bulls are closely related sires from the same cow, Cambrae Alfs Estelle, making the deceased dam one of the most influential Jerseys in Australia.

“She was one of our most successful cows,” Carson says. “In addition to all the top ABV bulls, she produced 10 daughters all classified excellent.

“Her influence will continue through her daughters and we also have a full sister to our two Tbone ranked bulls Edison and Ensign.”

Cairnbrae Stud, founded in 1946, has enjoyed success with Estelle bloodlines over many years and at least 100 members of the cow family are now in their herd.

Carson and his wife Janine have continued the long family tradition of breeding excellence since they took over in 1976. Top New Zealand bloodlines were an early mainstay and from the 1990s US genetics have been introduced with great success.

Carson has travelled all over Australia for 30 years inspecting the best Jerseys as a breed classifier.

“We’ve used our knowledge to breed functional dairy cows that suit our environment. We’ve never tried to breed a show cow, but when a good cow comes along we give her the opportunity to compete in the show ring.

We’ve bred royal show winners in most states.”

VFoske (V Foske) and Arbobama (Beaulands Obama) were in the number 1 and number 2 spots for the Red Breeds.

VFoske’s BPI was A$287, well ahead of Arbobama at A$202. @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

MANAGEMENT // 31

Oz young farmers look to the future JEANETTE SEVERS

YOUNG DAIRY farmers

will need to be more business and technology savvy than their predecessors, and be willing to move around to pursue the best opportunities and partnerships.

That was the message from speakers at the inaugural young farmers’ conference at Lardner Park’s Farm World in Gippsland last month.

The diverse agenda included succession planning, virtual fencing, support networks for career success, the importance of agricultural production to Victoria’s economy and mental health.

Farmer and University of New England researcher Zac Economou spoke about the possibilities and limitations of virtual fencing, using collars on livestock to remotely graze animals.

While the possibilities were virtually endless, the research had been limited, and global animal welfare activism could limit its adoption.

“Sheep and cattle are fast learners: a couple of hours into the trial they’ll stop pushing against the boundary with a 100% success rate. As for production benefits, it is the holy grail of rotational or strip grazing.

“But the research has been on small numbers of livestock grazing on small land areas or in barn systems in Europe,” Economou said. “There needs to be a lot of adaptation for Australian livestock farming systems.

“Overseas, there are significant concerns about the electric charge zapping the animals and in Australia legislation varies between states. While there’s a perception of risk, people will think it is a very risky system.”

In Australia, technology to support this and other systems was also an issue.

“There’s an over-promotion of wireless products; it needs to be robust, needs to have compatibility with handheld devices and how long the battery

in your phone or tablet works for,” Mr Economou said.

“So solar powered charging devices using remote GPS could work; you don’t want to be taking all collars off your cows and hanging them up to charge.

“And, the bottom line, it needs wireless connection to work, which we know is not possible in a lot of rural Australia.”

The future of dairying was larger farms, employing more people in a range of modalities – share farming, joint venture ownership, equity investment and direct employment – said Shane Hellwege, Dairy Australia.

“By 2025, our growth in milk production will be 11.5 billion litres,” Hellwege said.

“But the number of dairy farms will be reduced; and the average herd size for farms will be mid-high 400s.

“Whereas in 2015, 35% of farms were owner-operator with 49% employees (including owner-operators); that will grow to 60% employees by 2025.

Or, in real numbers, growth from 24,000 now, including owner-operators, to 25,000 employees by 2025, with fewer owneroperators.”

He said learning needs and skills development would change, with more standardised practices across farms. This would also make for a more mobile workforce.

“There will also be a growing need for high level technical and business management skills,” Hellwege said.

Dairy consultant John Mulvaney said the historic concept of normal farming should be “buried and dead” – especially that of owning land in order to build a capital asset.

“Land is so expensive. Australians need to become open to variable equity ownership schemes that already work overseas, in Britain and New Zealand. It’s possible to own a herd and mobile plant in four-five years without owning land,” Mulvaney said.

A panel of young farm-

ers offered frank advice on building succession planning into daily operating and business management systems.

Allowing the younger operatives to make mistakes was a common topic.

B&DEL0026E

s

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

Senior partners’ experience often made the 1% difference.

“Dad has let me make mistakes and then helped me fix them,” said Dumbalk dairyfarmer Damian Murphy.

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Aussie farmers, Damian Murphy, Stuart Jennings, Robert Bayley and Tim Paulet speaking at the conference in Victoria, Australia.

PHOTO: JEANETTE SEVERS

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

32 // MANAGEMENT

Nylon rollers makes huge difference under rotary NYLON ROLLERS sup-

Nylon rollers under the milk platform prevents wear stripping.

porting the concrete deck on GEA Milfos iFlow rotary platforms make for trouble-free milking and easy maintenance, says the maker, GEA Technology.

The company cites

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the example of farmers Trevor and Harriet Hamilton who own and manage T H Enterprises Ltd, with five dairy farms in Canterbury and four in the North Island. Their farm conversions total 3000ha and

9000 cows on nine farms, and they have a 570ha drystock unit.

Hamilton’s first experience with GEA Milfos was 11 years ago, when he had a 60-point rotary installed at Dunsandel, Canterbury.

“At that time, we had Stockers (the GEA Milfos service partner in Canterbury) servicing our other rotary dairies and I was happy with their service so went with their recommendation. But this platform had steel rollers with a steel wear strip.

“Two years ago, we chose the iFlow for a 60-point in Darfield and have since added an 80-point on our farm in Hawke’s Bay milking 1550 cows.

“I went with iFlow because it was designed with low maintenance running components. I liked how quietly it ran and also was impressed by the reduced point loading offered by the multiple nylon rollers in the double beam carriage system.” iFlow consists of a reinforced concrete deck on a raised plinth. The milking machine is mounted under the platform, physically protected and easily accessible for maintenance, GEA Milfoss says.

Under the platform is a double beam carriage roller system. Heavy duty nylon rollers sit between

the upper and lower beams of the concrete platform, with tensioners maintaining correct roller alignment. One roller every 600mm ensures even distribution of the platform weight.

The use of nylon rollers means no wear strip is required and lubrication is automatic.

Hamilton says he understands the iFlow platform has the least loading per roller by far.

“This, with the nobearing nylon roller system guarantees many years use with little wear. I recommend it based on [it needing] a lot less maintenance, no steel-on-steel wear, no oily mess and no bearings. And we like the reduced point-loading roller design.

“We’ve had no issues with the iFlow to date. We have the basic system with no automation. Yet, it runs quietly and is pretty much trouble-free compared to our other steel-on-steel platforms which suffer heavy wear and tear even when well oiled.” @dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

Calving events DAIRYNZ IS launching two training events to give

dairy farmers a road map for a successful, risk-free calving season.

Free to levy-paying farmers and their staff, Bobby Calf Focus and CalvingSmart are part of a caring-forcalves scheme to raise farmers’ skills, knowledge and resources for giving calves a good start in life.

Vets will run 57 Bobby Calf Focus events nationwide in May and June. The interactive 1.5 hour workshop developed by DairyNZ will raise farm owners’ and managers’ understanding of their responsibilities and help them instruct calf rearers.

Topics will include fit-for-transport rules, loading facilities, good staff management and information about proposed changes to the animal welfare minimum standards.

DairyNZ says everyone in the farm team can boost their skills and knowledge at one of 17 CalvingSmart events in June and July. The one day event is split into sessions for different experience levels.

Those new on farm, or in their first couple of seasons, can learn how to identify the signs of calving, stages of labour and normal and abnormal calf presentation.

Participants will learn how to handle newborn calves safely, why it is important to feed colostrum and why and how to record births. Wellbeing tips will help farmers stay healthy through the season.

For onfarm decisionmakers there are sessions on new colostrum research, simple low cost management strategies, managing staff and details of proposed changes to the animal welfare minimum standards.

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

ANIMAL HEALTH // 33

For hoof health and increased immunity…

New animal welfare rules will also focus on treatment of bobby calves.

Rules to focus on bobby calves PROPOSED NEW animal welfare reg-

ulations are a great step forward, says the New Zealand Veterinary Association dairy cattle branch president, Dr Jenny Weston.

The Massey University lecturer says in particular the regulations on bobby calf welfare are a great improvement and will facilitate enforcement and education of farmers.

The Ministry for Primary Industries is holding public meetings nationwide to inform farmers and other animal owners.

Submissions on the proposed regulations close on May 19.

Weston says revelations last year of the terrible treatment of bobby calves, and the resulting public outcry, will have jolted farmers into realising they must take animal welfare seriously and comply with the rules.

“I am confident there is now widespread acceptance that the animal welfare regulations are for a reason,” Weston says. “Most farmers understand that if you look after animals you have a more profitable business because happy healthy cows yield far more production. But we know that either through ignorance or not caring a few animal owners don’t hold up their end of the bargain.”

Weston says complying farmers should also keep an eye on their neighbours to make sure they are doing the same. There is no reason for farmers to be afraid of the public.

Farmers at a public consultation meeting in Palmerston North got something of a surprise as MPI staff outlined the new regulations, including key issues for farmers, notably pain relief before dehorning cattle, sheep or goats, and stipulating who can do this – a veterinarian. The rules also cover stock transport issues and stipulate that dogs must be secured for travelling on the back of vehicles so they don’t fall off.

For dairy farmers a major focus is on the handling of bobby calves, an issue raised at the Palmerston North meeting, though there was no outpouring of anger against farmers. Calls were made for farmers to be required to send bobby calves to the ‘near-

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est facility’. And there was a call for stock trucks to have wire mesh covers to prevent stock from climbing out or putting their heads over the top.

James Stewart, Federated Farmers Manawatu/Rangitikei provincial president, and a dairy farmer, says the Palmerston North meeting discussed dogs more than cows. He had expected some flak because of the publicity on bobby calves last year, but this didn’t happen at the meeting.

“But we can’t get complacent about how we treat animals, especially bobby calves.

The whole social media thing means we’re being watched more closely and there will be more pressure on us. [The new rules set] minimum standards so we should be getting over that line anyway. Farmers doing their job properly shouldn’t have much to worry about, but there are some regulations, such as tail twisting, that I need to get clarification on.”

Stewart says farmers should be ahead of the game and realise that consumers are watching them; if consumers see something bad happening there is a risk of more and tighter regulations. Farmers need to work with MPI to make sure the regulations are fair and practical to implement.

His view is echoed by Julie Collins, director of biosecurity and animal welfare policy for MPI, who facilitated the meeting in Palmerston North.

She says it’s important that people study the regulations and submit their concerns or suggestions to improve what’s been proposed.

“We need to get the regulations and the balance right, to make sure they work on the ground for the people responsible for animals. I encourage people to look at the regulations and give us feedback so we can strengthen our rules on animal welfare.”

Collins says after the bobby calves incident, MPI and industry representatives together looked at the issues, including time between feeds and transport.

“We have a bobby calf group that was set up after the incident, including MPI, the NZ Veterinary Council, the transport industry, DairyNZ and the Meat Industry Association. They are looking at a whole lot of other issues, to improve welfare for bobby calves and to cooperate and get it out to farmers.”

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

34 // ANIMAL HEALTH

Antibiotic resistance an emerging global problem – Oz vet GEMMA CHUCK

ONE OF the great medi-

cal breakthroughs of our age was the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928.

New antibiotics were rapidly discovered which revolutionised the means by which infectious diseases were treated. Suddenly, common human infections became easily curable and outbreaks of infectious disease were readily controlled.

However, just a few years after the golden age of antibiotics, warning signs of developing resistance were observed. Just as Fleming had predicted, previously susceptible bacteria were developing drug resistance at an alarming speed.

Although the magnitude of this problem is still unclear, it is proposed that abuse and misuse of antibiotics is largely responsible for the development of resistance. In an effort to slow this phenomenon, in 1955 penicillin was no longer freely available to the public, in loz-

enges and creams, and instead became ‘prescription only’.

In less than 100 years after antibiotic discovery, we now face a grim scenario in which most antimicrobials might no longer be effective. Human and veterinary medicine may once again enter an era where common bacterial infections could once again prove lethal.

What is antibiotic resistance?

Antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria to survive and multiply in the presence of an antibiotic agent that would normally inhibit or kill this species of bacteria.

Bacterial populations can quickly modify themselves to resist antibiotics and then pass these resistance traits to the next generation of bacteria.

Sharing of resistance genes with other types of bacteria has also been seen.

Antibiotic resistance is just one mechanism by which bacteria have adapted to survive and is nearly as old as the discovery of antibiotics

Gemma Chuck

themselves.

A worrying fact in the modern world is the rate at which antibiotic resistance often develops and how quickly it spreads across the globe and amongst different species of bacteria.

Worryingly, more bacteria have also developed multiple drug resistance which severely limits therapeutic options for infections in animals and people.

Antibiotics in food-animals The use of antibiotics in animals closely parallels their discovery and usage in humans. In the 1940s, the first antibiotic was introduced into food animal medicine. Subsequently newer antibiotics were discovered and made available for food

animal species and their use became widespread to treat a multitude of infectious diseases.

Antibiotic usage in food animals improves more than just animal wellbeing; it also has economic benefits for food animal producers along with a safer public health sector.

However, unnecessary or wasteful use of antibiotics should be avoided when non-antibiotic solutions are readily available or when the use of antibiotics for a particular disease condition are clearly not effective.

Antibiotics may be used therapeutically in animals for treating specific bacterial diseases. They may also be used for non-therapeutic purposes such as prophylaxis and metaphylaxis.

Veterinarians often prescribe antibiotics to animals not currently ill with a particular disease, but at high risk of acquiring an infection. For example, an animal may be treated with antibiotics after having undergone surgery (prophylaxis) or herds may be given antibiotics if

Are you prepared to take a hit?

Only use antibiotics in cows for the specific reason for which they have been prescribed.

they are at risk of suffering an outbreak of infectious disease due to high risk of exposure to disease agents (metaphylaxis).

In the dairy industry, mass administration of antibiotics is often practiced during dry-cow therapy to help prevent mastitis or prior to transportation of livestock over large distances to help prevent respiratory disease.

Prophylactic or metaphylactic use of antibiotics can help control and prevent numerous animal diseases. However, this use of antibiotics should never be intended to replace the need for good management practices, given that the use of antibiotics will eventually lead to resistance.

How can we slow down antibiotic resistance?

Prudent or judicious use of antibiotics is “the optimal selection of drug, dose and duration of antibiotic treatment”. Also, inappropriate and excessive treatments should be

reduced to help slow the emergence of antimicrobial resistance.

In the dairy industry this means that veterinarians and dairy farmers have dual roles in protecting animals from pain and suffering, while safeguarding the interest of public health.

Guidelines for antibiotic usage onfarm should be developed with a veterinarian. Each farm will be different and it is important to review these guidelines frequently.

Good records are essential to help determine the pattern of antibiotic usage from season to season and from year to year. Record keeping also prevents antibiotictreated animals from contributing to the human food-chain.

Improvement of farm hygiene practices and animal husbandry will help reduce the usage of antibiotics onfarm and it is important to report periods of increased antibiotic

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treatments to a veterinarian.

Only use antibiotics in dairy animals for the specific reason for which they have been prescribed, at the specific dose rate and for the specific duration of treatment.

If the effectiveness of an antibiotic has decreased over time, report this to your veterinarian immediately.

A holistic approach to disease prevention is required to support a sustainable farming system that does not rely solely on mass-medication with antibiotics. This is critical to the future of dairy farming, veterinary and human health.

The author acknowledges the ‘Get Smart on the Farm’ programme by Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA. • Gemma Chuck is a vet with The Vet Group, Victoria, Australia.

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

ANIMAL HEALTH // 35

DairyNZ standing in farmers’ boot on welfare rules PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

DAIRYNZ SAYS its

submission on proposed new animal welfare regulations will be made from a farmer’s perspective.

Dr Nita Harding, DairyNZ’s technical veterinarian advisor, says they are consulting widely within the dairy industry, with MPI and other stakeholders to get a good perspective on what impact the proposed regulations will have on the dairy sector.

change for farmers who are meeting the minimum standards at the moment.”

But Harding says some proposed changes need to be looked at. Some may require changes onfarm while others are more for mitigation. Some proposed changes would affect surgical practices and the use of pain relief for dehorning or de-budding cattle; clarity is needed as to whether only a veterinarian may do this.

The way bobby calves must be treated is also new and DairyNZ is keen to ensure regulation

Harding says by and large the regulations will improve animal welfare onfarm. DairyNZ is committed to making sure

wording covers all the issues.

Tail twisting is another issue on which a new regulation would bring an infringement penalty.

“It is quite common to lift the tail of a beast to encourage it to move forward, but if you do that excessively or twist the tail you can damage it and we have had a couple of prosecutions over the years where large numbers of animals have had their tails broken. The proposed regulation is there and we’re just thinking about how to interpret that on farm.”

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“The proposed regulation is there and we’re just thinking about how to interpret that on farm.”

Their talks with Federated Farmers and the Dairy Companies Association will ensure these groups know DairyNZ’s views and that DairyNZ is aware of their position, she says.

“We are looking at what the impact will be on on levy paying dairy farmers and making sure we’ve assessed that, and that the regulations won’t have significant negative impacts on farmers. In saying that, many of the proposed regulations are actually current minimum standards so a lot of them will not [enforce] any

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

36 // ANIMAL HEALTH

Visual appraisal of cattle ‘a waste of time’ – Oz geneticist Mike Goddard

MICHAEL PORTEUS

AN AUSTRALIAN

geneticist who has won a top American science award for his groundbreaking work on genomics says visual appraisal

of dairy cows is largely a waste of time.

Melbourne University professor Mike Goddard picked up his US National Academy of Sciences medal in April amid indications that his work on genomic selection in dairy

cattle might also lead to benefits for human health.

Goddard also has advice for dairy farmers who may still be relying on visual appraisal only of dairy cattle: it is largely a waste of time, promoting skinny cows with poor

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fertility.

He wants all breeders to work with the Australian Dairy Herd Information Service (ADHIS) and urges them to upgrade the way they upload their data to ADHIS to help progress on fertility.

Goddard also says the hybrid vigour produced by cross-breeding is the closest thing farmers will ever get to a free lunch.

The hybrid off-spring can then be crossed back with either parent breed, and “you are always ahead”.

Goddard apologised before he answered a question about the visual appraisals used in classification and show rings.

“Sorry to be impolite,” he said. “But it’s largely a waste of time“We’ve got ourselves into a few misleading situations. For example, a long time ago, before we knew how much milk each cow gave, a cow that was not too fat – in fact positively skinny – was probably giving more milk than a cow that was fat. A preference for skinny cows developed.

“But when you know how much milk the cow gives, there’s absolutely no benefit in selecting for skinny cows. But people have continued to select for skinny cows – calling it dairy character or angularity – as well as selecting for milk yield.

“What that has done is decreased fertility, and decreased hardiness.

Because one reason a cow is skinny is that there is something wrong with her. And the cows that are really skinny don’t cycle and don’t get pregnant.

“This traditional philosophy of selecting for dairy character should have been abandoned years ago as soon as we started measuring milk yield.”

Goddard grew up in Melbourne where he studied to be a vet. He worked on the genetics of guide dogs and tropical beef cattle before specialising in dairy genetics.

He said genomic selection uses DNA markers all over all the chromosomes to identify a trait. Previous practice had looked for a couple of markers you hoped would work.

In 2000, Goddard began work with Norwegian visiting scientist Theo Meuwissen on simulations of an entire dairy cow genome. He remembers Meuwissen coming to him with results showing their simulations were achieving high accuracies.

They published a paper in Genetics in 2001 with another Melbourne scientist Ben Hayes, who now heads the dairy cattle genetics program at the Dairy Futures CRC. This paper is now seen as the foundation of genomics.

The 2005 roll out of the SNP chips which can efficiently assay the single nucleotide polymorphisms in DNA then enabled practical application of the work.

The US National Academy of Science’s biannual John J. Carty Award recognises distinguished accomplishments in science. In 2016, its medals and $25,000 prize are for agricultural science.

The academy says that the principles of genomic selection come from the landmark paper by Goddard, Meuwissen and Hayes.

“The trio showed that it should be possible to identify individuals with high genetic value by using thousands of molecular genetic markers covering the entire genome,” the academy notes.

“Genomic selection first became widely adopted in the dairy cattle industry where breeders found that they could identify bulls with high genetic value early in life, rather than waiting years to see if they produced offspring with required traits, saving much time and money.

“Genomic selection has now been applied to other animal species, such as pigs and poultry, and to plants such as cotton, rice and wheat.

“And the concepts behind genomic selection have even proved useful in the field of human genetics and the search for predictors of disease.”

Goddard says a third of dairy inseminations in Australian still use straws from genomically-tested bulls.

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

ANIMAL HEALTH & STOCKFEEDS // 37

PKE still a useful supplement A PASTURE-FIRST

approach to New Zealand dairy farming can be complemented by wise use of supplements such as PKE, says DairyNZ. PKE can be useful in a season when cow welfare and milk production must be ensured, it says.

Fonterra recommends a PKE maximum of 3kg/ day/per cow as a voluntary guideline for its suppliers.

“PKE is a dry, gritty meal with a soapy smell and has low palatability until cows get a taste for it. However, PKE has reasonable levels of energy (ME) and protein, and is relatively easy to introduce to cows over a range of farm systems.

“The profitability of PKE depends on its price relative to milk price and the utilisation of PKE and pasture.”

Palm kernel extract (PKE) is a by-product of the palm oil industry in South East Asia.

It is derived from the nut of the palm fruit after the oil is either mechanically extracted (as is most PKE imported to NZ) or solvent extracted (lower nutritive value).

Is palm kernel a low digestibility feed and should it matter?

DairyNZ says there is no single, ideal measure of feed quality. However, in NZ metabolisable energy (ME) is the factor limiting milk production in most situations. Therefore, ME content (MJ/kg DM) is the best measure of feed quality for most farmers.

It does not matter whether a supplement

contains fibre, starch or sugar. The cost of each MJ ME should dictate how a farmer decides which supplement to buy.

Palm kernel extract contains about 11.0 - 11.5 MJ ME (mechanically extracted) and is therefore a reasonable quality feed for dairy cows when pasture is short.

DairyNZ quashes suggestions that PKE should be avoided as a feed for dairy cows because it has a low digestibility (about 50%) and, as a result, will not promote the growth of rumen microbes.

It says cows survive and produce on: a. The waste products of rumen fermentation (volatile fatty acids) b. The microorganisms that have grown during rumen fermentation c. Feed that was not fermented (ie bypasses the rumen).

As a result, there are multiple measures of feed quality, including: ■■ How much is digested (digestibility) ■■ How much energy is available for production (metabolisable energy or net energy) ■■ How much protein is in the feed (crude protein, true protein, soluble protein) ■■ How much fat is in the feed ■■ Minerals and vitamins.

All these are important in varying degrees, depending on what is lacking from the diet.

Digestibility The digestibility of the

feed refers to how much of the feed is digested in the rumen (rumen digestibility or rumen degradability) or along the entire digestive tract (dry mater digestibility).

The rumen digestibility of a feed is important for determining the growth of rumen micro-organisms.

These supply protein and some energy to the cow.

However, there is a long digestive system after the rumen, in which proteins, fats and some sugars are digested and absorbed. Therefore, dry matter digestibility is a better measure of feed quality as it takes into account the whole digestive system and not just the rumen.

Metabolisable energy is estimated from some measure of dry matter digestibility.

Protein Protein is important because it provides the rumen micro-organisms with nitrogen to grow, the protein that bypasses the rumen is used directly by the cow, and because it also provides some energy.

Fat Fats and oils cannot be used by the rumen microorganisms and therefore do not promote microbial

growth. They are instead used directly by the cow as an energy source.

What about PKE? DairyNZ says PKE is not very digestible in the rumen. Estimates of rumen digestibility range from 50 to 60%.

However, this does not accurately portray the feed value of PKE for dairy cows.

The feed value in PKE comes from the ruminal digestion of fibre, some ruminal digestion of protein (55 to 60%), the protein digested in the small intestine (40 to 45%), and the fat – although the minerals are also important.

In most situations, grazing dairy cows are

PKE can be useful in a season where cow welfare and milk production must be ensured.

short of ME. They are only rarely short of metabolisable protein (protein that reaches

the small intestine).

Therefore, changing supplement to increase the growth of rumen

micro-organisms to further increase metabolisable protein will not be beneficial.

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METABOLISABLE ENERGY is the most important measure of feed quality for NZ farmers.

Laboratory analyses indicate that PKE has an ME of around 11.5MJ/kg DM because of its relatively high fat content, its reasonably digestible fibre and its protein content.

However, as PKE is a by-product, this figure will vary and farmers are encouraged to have their feeds tested by a reputable laboratory.

The practicalities of what supplement can be fed should be considered (eg liquid vs dry feed, in-shed feeding vs feeding in paddock).

Supplements should only be offered to cows that do not have sufficient pasture (ie residuals are less than 7 to 8 clicks on the plate meter) and every effort must be made to minimise waste.

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

38 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Workhorse’s $350m uplift retains all the best points MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

THE 80-100HP tractor

continues to be the workhorse in New Zealand, especially on dairy farms, and the picture is the same in the world’s markets.

Hence designers at Massey Ferguson starting with a clean sheet and $350 million to design the Global Series with all the best points of utility tractors updated for the 21st century. Having seen the results of this project in the 4700 series in 2014, the imminent arrival of new 5700 models is sure to get

making speed changes, all without using the the clutch pedal.

Levers either side of the seat control speeds and hi-lo ranges, acting directly on the gearbox selector rails for simple, easy and reliable operation.

4WD front axles have 55 degrees of steering angle for tight turns, and a 100% locking differential means positive traction is ensured in the toughest conditions. Rubber takes the form of ‘meaty’ radial tyres of 540-65R34 at the rear and 440-65 R24 at the front.

At the business end,

the red and silver tractor fans excited.

The new 5709 and 5710 offer 92 and 102hp from the 4-cylinder, turbocharged AGCO Power engines displacing 4.4L, and offering up to 410Nm torque at 1500rpm. These are mated to a 12 x12 transmission with six speeds, two ranges and a wet clutch / power shuttle operated by a lever under the left side of the steering wheel. As on the larger series this lever controls forward / reverse direction changes, and includes controls for aggressiveness of drive take-up, and a de-clutching action for

Levers on either side of seat controls speeds.

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The 5700 models are sure to get fans excited.

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

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 39

More features, more grunt for Amarok V6 VW’s Amarok.

MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

THE VW Amarok has

more athletic looking, and an all-new dashboard and new ergonomic seats give the vehicle a more sophisticated feel.

At launching, and for a limited time, the Amarok Adventura will have 20 inch alloy wheels, rear view camera and bi-xenon headlights. This is further enhanced by LED daytime

always had a following of ute buyers wanting something different from the norm, but was resisted by some who saw the 4-cylinder twin turbo engine, with 132 Kw and 420 Nm torque, as not man enough for serious work.

Now the doubters look set to be silenced by a new V6 TDI engine rated at 165kW and 550Nm and The Amarok now comes with a V6 offering 1.0L more engine. capacity with its 3.0L running lights, LED block. illuminated licence plates The new Amarok and running boards along will suit those looking each flank. to do serious work such Pricing and final a towing, by delivering specification for NZ will high torque at low engine speeds: the 550Nm torque be announced in the coming months, and first is reached at 1500rpm -examples are expected in a full 130Nm more than dealer showrooms at the the current 4-cylinder end of the year. offering.

VW NZ says numbers Other new features will be limited and in the V6 include a anticipation is already Sensortronic steering high. With this in mind system combined with 17 inch rear and 16 inch front existing customers will brake discs to offer precise be preferred for the first arrivals by way of steering and assured stopping in all conditions. a thank-you from the manufacturer.

Outwardly a revised front end is described as www.volkswagen.co.nz

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

40 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

SAM continues to make its mark backbone of the production with a range that extends from 4 tonne single axle units and a fertiliser-only 400mm wide floor belt, to 9 tonne tandem axle units with a 800mm wide belt dubbed ‘Combo’ and is able to spread the normal fertilisers as well as lime, cakes and chicken manures.

Construction and assembly is done at Hamilton, then the machines go offsite for a two pack paint finish applied over a Thermon zinc galvanising process, which sets them up for a long service life.

Other than the differing floor belt widths between the standard and Combi units, the common layout is twin, hydraulically driven spinner discs, extensive use of stainless steel, and galvanised steel belt bars and high tensile steel chains throughout the floor conveyor.

The hopper is 8mm

MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

WE ALL know the brand because of its

colour scheme. You know the green and yellow one? World famous in Waikato and the rest of New Zealand? Yup you’ve got it – SAM of course.

Coombridge and Alexander, the Hamilton manufacturer of fertiliser spreaders, feedout wagons and tipping trailers recently hit a milestone by notching up 70 years of production and showing no signs of slowing down.

The early history can be traced back to Wilf Coombridge who started out making concrete posts for Waikato farmers, eventually buying a welder and premises, and enduring the 1948 Frankton tornado and a huge fire before settling at the current Norton Road premises.

In the mid 1960s Wilf and business partner Johnny Alexander were asked to build a fertiliser spreader; they branded it Coombridge and Alexander and laid the roots for the product of today.

The first SAM branded machine was a red, automated bale stacker that

SAM fertiliser spreaders are celebrating 70 years of production.

ran alongside a truck or trailer; it soon became the name and look for all the company’s products.

Rumour is that the SAM name came from rearranging the initials of Arnold and Mervin Stokes from whom the bale stacker production was licensed. And so

it was, even after a buy-out in the 1970s, when John Coombridge bought out his father and the Alexander family.

By the late 1980s the company had expanded into feedout wagons and took this cue to completely change the colour scheme to that of today,

Molded polyethylene mudgards are popular.

From left: Marcus Grennell, Keith Voogt and Dave Meade.

though keeping the SAM moniker.

Today’s business is still built on those early principles centred on reliability from sound design, solid construction and easy operation and maintenance, and industry leading parts and service back-up.

In the case of fertiliser spreaders, accuracy is paramount and the company has tested the application of a wide range of products with AgCal for at least 15 years and delivers a machine with a CV (co-efficient of variation) of 8-9%. Said to be simple to set, the machines can spread up to 20m width in the case of superphosphates, and offer spread rates 40-2500kg/ha.

Fertiliser spreaders still form the

thick, UV stabilised polyethylene for a long service life, and the machines can be customised with a wide range of options such as weigh systems and displays, roll top hopper covers and oversize tyres for soft ground.

Lately the introduction of moulded polyethylene mudguards has proved popular with users, and typifies the R&D process in the company.

Marcus Grennell, for the company, comments “customer feedback is probably responsible for 60% of our development direction, then 40% comes about through continuous analysis of components or manufacturing techniques”.

Roll on another 70 years.

DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 41

Don’t get hooked up on paint MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

ANYONE WHO has broken in a new plough will know the frustration of waiting until all the paint has come off, the mouldboards have ‘shined up’ and the soil has begun to run freely.

Until this happens the resultant blockages can be extremely frustrating, so much so that many old-timers will strip off the paint before they go to the paddock, although the thought of attacking a new machine in this way will have others throwing a fit.

So a new protective coating from the Kongskilde Group will

find favour with many would-be ploughmen.

The Easy Clean treatment applied to the mouldboards is said to wear off 100 times faster than conventional paint, and tests show there is no less protection offered during transport or storage than with conventional paint.

Originally developed to meet the high standards of the automotive industry, the two-layer coating is said to have less environmental impact and meets the EU ‘Reach’ Directive aimed at improving human health and the environment.

The treatment is applied to all Kongskilde and Overum ploughs man-

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DAIRY NEWS MAY 10, 2016

42 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Making the most of maize MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

HARVEST SPECIALIST Claas developed the

first effective corn cracker system for its Jaguar forage harvester in the 1980s, paving the way for forage maize where the effective splitting (‘cracking’) of the grain kernels led to better digestibility and utilisation, resulting in increased yields or weight gains.

The latest incarnation is a new design of crop processor called MCC Shredlage, which uses two LorenCut rollers, with 110 and 145 teeth respectively, running at a

speed differential of 50%.

Unusually, the rollers have a counter-rotating spiral groove, so as crop passes through the rollers it is subjected to a sideways movement, which has the

MCC Shredlage crop processor.

effect of splitting the material lengthways and removing the outer sheath

of the stalk.

The Shredlage system is licensed through a US company of the same name, which adopted the work of two dairy nutritionists, Roger Olsen and Ross Dale, who recognised the need to develop a better ensiling process for high ratio forage diets.

The harvesting process sees the crop being cut at 32-34% dry matter, and with kernels showing a milk line at around the halfway point. A key difference is that the chop length is pushed out to a theoretical length of cut of 26-30mm rather than the

more traditional 16-20mm range.

The resultant material is said to be broken into ‘planks’ and ‘strips’ which increase the effective fibre and increase the exposure of the inner plant cells to more microbial activity, resulting in better breakdown and utilisation.

In practice the increased surface area stimulates rumen activity and reduces the need to added ‘stuffer’ products such as hay or straw to the overall ration. And the aggressive action of the processor breaks the kernels into quarter or eighth pieces, releasing more starch and increasing the energy value of the sample.

Studies at the University of Wisconsin found Shredlage increases the structural suitability of maize silage for a rumi-

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Maize is broken into planks and strips.

producers, and we suspect the process will be adopted widely, as in the US. None of our competitors can produce this kind of chopped material, confirming Claas’ position as the leader in self-propelled forage harvesters.”

problems with ensiling and compaction, although there was a need to tighten processor clearances as crops became drier.

Greenline product manager for ClaasHarvest Centres, Luke Wheeler, said “Shredlage will allow contractors to offer even better silage for livestock

nant and helps release the full starch potential of the whole plant. This resulted in an increase of milk production by around 2L/day, a general improvement in herd health, slightly higher daily intakes and a flatter lactation curve. The university also reported there were no apparent

www.claasharvestcentre.co.nz

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