Dairy News Australia February 2015

Tyran jones: Farmer interests must come first page 13 NEW HOLLAND

Front-end loader a revelation PAGE 33

NEW UDV PRESIDENT Adam Jenkins takes the reigns PAGE 6

february 2015 Issue 55 // www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au

Weathering the storm Australian prices defy global fall, but can they hold on?

PAGES 4-5

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NEWS // 3

Richard Gardner has fine-tuned his perennial pasture mix on his Tasmanian mixed farm, which incorporates dryland and irrigated country. PG.19

A lateral move irrigator was one of the best investments Queensland farmer Peter Smith has made on his Darling Downs farm. PG.22

Lockington farmer Corey Mitchell’s new automated irrigation system can detect the most cost effective option of pumping water. PG.26

NEWS .......................................................3-11 OPINION ...............................................12-13 MANAGEMENT ................................ 14-15 MARKETS ........................................... 16-17 PASTURE IMPROVEMENT ...... 18-25 IRRIGATION......................................26-27 BREEDING MANAGEMENT ........... 28 ANIMAL HEALTH .......................... 29-32 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS ... 33-34

Lachie Joyce, Lancaster, and Jacob Doohan, Finley, NSW, came to grips with the latest equipment at the IDW Machinery and Farm Field Days at Tatura last month.

Parmalat buys Longwarry but cuts farmgate prices LITTLE MORE than a month after purchasing Longwarry Foods, Parmalat has cut the milk price paid to its southern suppliers.

Parmalat cut its price from $6.32c/ kg milk solids to $6.09c/kg MS. However, despite the cut, its announced price of $6.09/kg milk solids is still higher than other major processors in the country.

Parmalat’s Vince Houlihan told ABC Radio the processor thought pricing would reach about $6.32 when it completed its forecasts in June, 2014.

“With half a season gone, it’s now clear it’s not going to reach that level,” he said.

The stated price for most of the major processors in Victoria is around the $5.85 to $6 mark.

“With the Parmalat system we

gave our suppliers an indication of that price, but we also gave them a really strong committement we would guarantee a minumum price, $6.09, which is actually better than opening prices of other processors,” Mr Houlihan said.

“We can move up later in the year if we have to. That’s very unlikley given world prices and the impact that is having on other processors.”

Mr Houlihan said some recovery in global prices is likely in the second quarter of the year, with more improvement in the second half.

“The outlook for dairy is weak in the next three months but it will certainly turn.”

He said it was still too early to say whether prices for next season would be lower than they are currently are.

“The price is softening but we are still talking about one of the better prices of the last five years. 201314 was one of the record years at 51 cents a litre and this year we’re still achieving 47 cents a litre.”

Parmalat purchased Longwarry Foods, which has a single plant in Gippsland, late last year for $67 million.

The company purchased WA dairy and juice exporter Harvey Fresh last April for $120m.

The two purchases means Parmalat has acquired an additional 230 million litres of milk. This sees it almost on a level pegging with Lion in terms of milk supply, but behind Murray Goulburn and Fonterra.

The Longwarry Food Park company, founded and owned by Rakesh Aggarwal and his extended family

until the sale, exports 80% of its specialised production of milk powders, cream cheese and UHT milk.

Longwarry Food Park already exports to around 30 countries.

Its branded milk products, Gippy Milk, are exported to China, Vietnam and the Philippines, and other products to countries in South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

The Gippy Milk brand was sold as part of the sale and will continue to be used by Parmalat. Fresh milk with the Gippy label is sold in Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

There will be no changes to milk suppliers’ contracts, and it is expected the company will look to source more milk locally as part of its expansion.

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4 // NEWS

Failed season more concerning than price RICK BAYNE

STAGNANT MILK

prices aren’t stopping Nullawarre dairy farmer Wayne Oates from looking to the future with confidence.

The south-west Victorian farmer hopes to buy more land and expand on his 240-strong herd and he isn’t being deterred by the lack of step-ups this year and the possibility of lower prices next season.

In fact, he says Australian dairy farmers remain relatively welloff compared to other countries such as New Zealand where prices have fallen at a more rapid rate.

“We’re not struggling.

We’ve been in worse situations,” he said, “This has been pretty stable, which is good. We’re not feeling too bad when you look at other countries.

I think we’ve been lucky and the falling dollar has helped.”

Wayne and his wife Kylie have been told by their processors Warrnambool Cheese and Butter that their price of $5.86 per kilogram milk solids will continue.

When the 201415 opening price was announced they had been looking forward to a positive year buoyed by step-ups.

“You expect it to go up and they had predicted higher, but it stayed around the same,” Mr Oates said. “We normally get around four backpays but this year we’re apparently only going to get two.”

The stability of the past few years has allowed Wayne and Kylie to “catch up” after a disastrous season for the region three years ago.

“The global financial crisis was the biggest dent, since then it’s been catch up with some highs and lows which make it tricky,” he said.

That recent stability and relatively good prices give him confidence to invest in the future.

“I’d like to get more land for agistment and to milk more cows,” he said.

“The only way to get ahead is to have increased herd size.”

They also plan to introduce compost fertiliser to protect the farm from chemicals and to grow more grass.

Production has been down this season a bit due to the dry spring.

“We were flying with the autumn break but the spring failed. We’ve been lucky to get through summer pretty well so far, which helps.

“I can’t remember

seeing weather conditions like this. I’ve never seen it so dry for such a long period.”

The Oates farm bought hay earlier than expected and suspects some farmers will need to buy more in the autumn, “That will have a big impact on a lot of people around here,” Mr Oates said.

Like most farmers, Wayne Oates is too busy with day-to-day operations to speculate too much about the likely opening price for next season.

“There’s no one talking about it yet,” he said. “The milk companies can give you a prediction of what’s going to happen but then it never transpires.”

However, he doesn’t think it will make a sharp dive and he sees some positive signs in the industry.

“I’m still confident.

Wayne Oates on his Nullawarre farm.

You’ve got to be positive in farming otherwise your confidence goes and you start to wonder why

you’re here.

“The industry is going along pretty well, international butter, skim

milk and cheese prices are moving up again, so hopefully we will see the market start to pick up.”

Major processors maintain prices PROCESSORS

FONTERRA,

Murray Goulburn and Warnambool Cheese and Butter are all maintaining their forecast final milk price.

However, Parmalat dropped the price to its Victoria, NSW Riverina and South Australian suppliers last month.

In a January 30 letter to suppliers, Warrnambool Cheese and Butter CEO David Lord said the company would be maintaining the opening average price of $5.86 per kilogram milk solids.

“The world dairy market has deteriorated considerably since the start of the 2014/15 season. Commodity prices declined significantly due to strong

world supply growth, weaker short term demand in China and the uncertainly created by the ban on dairy imports into Russia,” Mr Lord said in the letter.

“The Australian dollar has continued to weaken which has been a positive.”

“More recently commodity prices seem to have bottomed out and market conditions appear to be more stable,” he added.

Despite the difficult market conditions, Mr Lord said there was healthy demand for products and the forward sales position was strong, “however market returns remain considerably lower than envisaged

earlier in the year”.

“We may not see real improvement in commodity prices in the short term; however the continuing weakening of the Australian dollar is likely to have a positive impact.”

Mr Lord predicted the average closing price range this season would be between $5.86 and $6/kgMS. “The key dairy market indicators remain positive in the longer term, however the volatility of external market factors, such as; international milk supply, market demand, world dairy prices and exchange rates can impact on milk prices year to year.”

Fonterra Australia reviewed its price last month and said will maintain its forecast milk price this season.

The company said the current price of $5.80/kgMS would be maintained, as will the forecast closing range of $5.80$6/kgMS. Murray Goulburn maintained its current farmgate price in December - at a weighted-average available milk price of $6/kgMS in its southern milk pool.

This is also the end of season forecast.

MG managing director, Gary Helou, said market conditions remain weak due to growth in supply across major

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exporting countries and softening demand by the leading importers, namely China and Russia.

“MG David Lord continues to optimise its sales and marketing mix and reduce costs throughout the business to protect the opening price and our suppliers’ interests,” he said.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

NEWS // 5

Australian farmers weather the storm RICK BAYNE

AUSTRALIAN DAIRY farmers have

weathered the storm of a global crash in dairy prices but are looking cautiously towards the new season.

Australia has emerged relatively unscathed from the downturn and is looking towards a positive rebound later in the year, with signs that the global market may have already started to turn the corner.

A strong domestic market, lower Australian dollar and broader product mix have helped to shield the Australian dairy industry from the worst of the downturn.

Recent increases in global dairy prices are fuelling more confidence that a rebound will happen later in 2015.

Although prices paid to farms have declined in other markets, most Australian processors have maintained prices without step-ups, although Parmalat has recently reduced its price to join other processors at around or just below $6.

However, the 2015-16 season is expected to open lower and farmers are being cautioned to prepare for a tougher year.

Dairy Australia industry analyst John Droppert said Australia was sitting “middle of the pack” in pricing.

“In New Zealand and parts of Western Europe prices have fallen quite substantially,” Mr Droppert said.

Mr Droppert said Australia’s pricing model with less adjustments, larger domestic market compared to New Zealand and the benefits of the falling Australian dollar, had strengthened the local position.

“A big part of it is the pricing mechanics but there’s also a huge domestic market here compared to New Zealand and on top of that the currency weakening has given processors a bit more scope to defend that opening

price,” he said.

Mr Droppert said Australia’s 2014-15 opening price was lower than the previous season, “We’re holding that price as opposed to step-ups that were expected, so we’ve seen some adjustment but not a dramatic change fully reflecting where the market has gone,” he said.

Mr Droppert said it was too early to predict new season prices but he didn’t expected substantial recovery in prices until later in the year.

“We’d expect to be fairly cautious around opening prices,” he said. “If there is a substantial recovery come through we might see that reflected in a higher closing price, but given what has happened over the past 12 months and where the market has gone, it’s still a very challenging place.”

“I’d be suggesting caution regarding opening prices,” he said. “There’s every likelihood it will be lower than this year but I don’t think it will be substantial and we’re not going to see anything too dramatic.

The biggest influence will still be seasonal conditions.”

GlobalDairyTrade (GDT) prices rising 9% overnight in early February on the back of positive milk powder results show the volatility of the market, he added.

Mr Droppert said production had been fairly strong and it was likely Australia would finish the year slightly ahead. To the end of 2014 national milk production was up 2.6% on the previous year to 5,330,307,000 litres.

“We’ll probably finish this season up but next season if we continue to see strong beef markets and strong prices for cull cows and if opening prices are lower we could see farmers trim their herds and cull some of the cows that might have held on to while prices were better,” he said.

Rabobank International dairy and farm

inputs senior analyst, Michael Harvey, said a number of factors had helped to shield Australian dairy farmers from the worst of the global turbulence.

“The global market has been very weak but Australia has been shielded a little bit from what we’ve seen in New Zealand because we’ve got domestic market exposure and a different product mix,” he said.

Mr Harvey said Australia didn’t have the same reliance on powders as New Zealand.

“The global dairy complex has been quite weak across the board but powder prices have taken the biggest hit. Cheese prices have held up a bit better and that’s where we’ve got a bit more exposure.”

He added that the falling dollar was good for export returns. “It does add some pressure on input costs but that is shielded as well. Costs aren’t too bad and being able to maintain that milk price of around $6 will still be profitable,” he said.

“It’s important that we’re also coming off two years of profitability which has rebuilt equity in the farm sector.”

Mr Harvey said it was too early to predict the 2015-16 opening price but he didn’t expect a major drop.

“There’s a level of caution around where milk prices will open. The market continues to be very weak and we don’t see a meaningful recovery any time soon, at least until the end of the year.

“Opening prices are probably going to be lower than where they were this time last year which presents some problems for producers around cash flow, but it won’t be disastrous.”

Mr Harvey said global production had been quite strong but producers in most key export regions, particularly Europe, United States and New Zealand, were now responding to lower prices and winding back.

Approach next season with caution UNITED DAIRYFARMERS of Victoria president Adam Jenkins said the recent 9% GDT increase was a positive long-term sign for the industry but he remained cautious.

“I would caution dairy farmers to make sure they understand and measure their business,” he said.

Mr Jenkins said prices were not likely to recover until the end of 2015. “There’s still some volatility in the market, particularly in China and Russia, so we need to be cautious and have our businesses in order in case of lower opening prices,” he said.

Although he said it was too early to predict opening prices, Mr Jenkins said there were fears it could drop below $5.

“The longer term picture is looking quite positive but we might need to batten down the hatches today and put strategies in place to cope if the price is lower and be ready when the recovery comes,” he said.

“Let’s be cautious and see how the price comes out.”

– Rick Bayne

Prices jump at recent auction THE GLOBAL Dairy Trade price jump of 9.4% in the first auction of the month was at the top end or bigger than predictions by economists and part of a continued upward swing.

A price lift was expected on the back of Fonterra’s warnings of 3.3% lower production than last season.

The price of whole milk powder (WMP) surged 19.2%. In addition, skim milk power (SMP) rose 6.7%.

Butter prices continued their resurgence, rising 6.1% to be up over 50% since November 2014.

Meanwhile, AMF continues to give back some of its recent gains, falling 5.4% on top of the 5% fall in the last auction.

In addition, there was a fall for cheddar, a rise for casein and BMP was effectively flat.

ANZ senior economist Michael Gordon said the direction was not surprising given that Fonterra has given clear warnings that drought will reduce milk production in the first half of the year. – Pam Tipa

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

6 // NEWS

Fighting for right to farm RICK BAYNE

NEW UNITED Dairyfarmers of Vic-

toria president Adam Jenkins is determined the ensure farmers continue to have “the social licence to farm”.

Mr Jenkins was recently nominated by the UDV Policy Council to replace Tyran Jones who resigned in late January over “conflicting views” with the council.

While still feeling his way in the role, Mr Jenkins said representing the rights of farmers remained a core priority.

“It’s a bit too early for details but the priorities we already had in place from last year are still really relevant and

we’ll be continuing on with that train of thought,” he said.

Mr Jenkins said protecting the viability of farmers was high on the agenda.

“We’ll look at some of the big issues the community are putting on us as farmers that we need to advocate about to make sure we’re having the right debate so the economics and the viability of farmer are at the forefront,” he said.

“I’m passionate about the dairy industry and want to ensure its ongoing success and sustainability.”

His election is the culmination of a strong commitment to the industry.

“That was an endorsement from the

policy council and I’m very honoured,” he said.

“Being involved in these sorts of things makes you lucky enough to meet dairy farmers not only in Australia but all around the world,” he added.

“The more you put in the more you get out of it.

Mr Jenkins milks 250 cross-breed cows with his wife Cath and four children on a 160ha main farm plus a 56ha outpaddock at South Purrumbete in south-west Victoria.

“We’ve slowly grown over the last 10 years from about 180 cows,” Mr Jenkins said.

Both Adam and Cath have formal qualifications in agriculture and wanted

to get into farming despite not coming from dairy backgrounds.

“The dairy industry provided the cash flow incentive to get equity in your cows and then be able to buy land a lot quicker than some of the other enterprises,” he said.

“It has been a family interest for a long time but no-one in my family actually farmed. I always loved it and pursued it. When I was about four I wanted to be a tractor driver and I ended up on a farm.”

Mr Jenkins has been on various community committees including Landcare, served on the Bonlac Supply Company Board for seven years, has been on the UDV policy council for

four years, and is a representative on the Markets and Trade PAG. He was the Region 9 United Dairyfarmers of Victoria policy councillor from 2011 to 2015 and is a representative on the South West Regional Extension committee.

He was named young farmer leader of the year at the Great South West Dairy Awards in 2009 and in 2011 was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship which allowed him to travel the globe studying the dairy industry markets and milk processing.

More recently he was a dairy industry representative 2014 on the Victorian Trade Mission to China with the Gardiner Foundation.

Adam Jenkins on his South Purrumbete farm in south-west Victoria.

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NEWS // 7

Jones won’t change views at ADF FORMER UNITED

Dairyfarmers of Victoria (UDV) president Tyran Jones will take the same stance on issues of farmer rights to his new position as a board member of the Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF).

Mr Jones said he was forced to resign from

his position as UDV president after a UDV Policy Council meeting late last month.

Mr Jones, who is not a member of the Policy Council, said he was only aware on the day of the meeting the extent of the differences between his views and those of the Policy Council.

The Council held a closed meeting, after which he was “forced to resign”.

Mr Jones said some of the issues raised by the Council “were fair, some weren’t…but that’s politics.”

He plans to take the same approach of advocacy for farmers’

rights, including the right to use new technology to increase profitability, to the ADF. “If representative bodies don’t do it then nobody will do it for us,” Mr Jones said.

“If farmers invest in representative bodies, and invest in these technologies through

levies for 20-odd years, and we don’t see the results of that on farm, then we have to question what we’re investing in.

“This is what I was pushing as president of the UDV. Advocating for this makes some in the industry uncomfortable.”

Mr Jones said a

conversation needed to be started with the Australian public on these new technologies, including GM ryegrass.

“Australian farmers need access to these new technologies or we will become uncompetitive in the future,” he said.

“We need to get on the front foot. We have

to have that conversation with the community.

“Australian are generally reasonable people. If you give them enough information, they will make a sensible call.

“We don’t give consumers that credit and I suspect don’t give farmers that credit either.”

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Collard resigns from ADF AUSTRALIAN DAIRY Farmers CEO, Natalie Collard, has resigned after six years in the position and will step down on April 10.

Ms Collard said while she valued every moment of her time at ADF, she is now seeking her next career challenge.

ADF president, Noel Campbell, said Natalie’s record “speaks for itself”.

“She is always striving for new ways to improve the profitability and sustainability of dairy and her proactive, innovative and considered approach has improved the quality and effectiveness of our organisation,” Mr Campbell said.

“She has fought hard for farmers on key issues such as $1 per litre milk and implemented imperative dairy policies, such as the Australian Dairy Vision and the Australian Dairy Industry Sustainability Framework.

“Most recently, her strong advocacy efforts on the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement contributed to a positive outcome for dairy - one that will improve the long term sustainability of our industry.”

As CEO since 2009, Ms Collard has led ADF through the modernisation of its governance structure – a move that saw 50% income growth leading to a positive change in the balance sheet after many years.

She also played a major role in establishing direct processor funding to the Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC), a whole-of-value chain policy and advocacy model that is the first of its kind in Australian agriculture.

In 2013 Ms Collard was recognised for her exceptional dedication and success as ADF’s CEO, awarded the Victorian Telstra Business Woman of the Year for service to Community and Government.

Ms Collard said it was an exciting and important time for dairy.

“I would recommend anyone seeking to lead a dedicated team of individuals in an extremely worthwhile cause to take up this opportunity – to drive sustainable profitability of dairy farmers across Australia.”

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

8 // NEWS – INTERNATIONAL DAIRY WEEK

Illawarra named top cow AN ILLAWARRA cow has become the

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Wallumlands Sunstorm 8, owned by friends Daniel Bacon, Tennyson, Glen

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Daniel Bacon, Tennyson, Glen Gordon, Cohuna, and Ben Govett, Dingee, with Wallumlands Sunstorm 8. PHOTO: WAYNE COUSINS (RURAL CO)

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

NEWS – INTERNATIONAL DAIRY WEEK // 9

Ag Machinery wins best exhibit RICHARD VAN Dooran of Ag Machinery, with his daughter Sanne, at the Ag Machinery exhibit at IDW which was again named Best Exhibit at the IDW Dairy and Machinery Field Days.

Ag Machinery Australia is the distributor for the Schuitemaker range of forage harvesters, manure spreaders and feed wagons.

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Ag Machinery Australia was launched as an agency to import Schuitemaker agricultural machinery late last year by northern Victorian dairy farmers Richard and Mariette Van Dooran.

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FEED CENTRAL took its feed

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Feed Central’s Amelia Chintock is pictured testing samples at IDW. Business manager quality services, Jim

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There were more than 80 exhibitors at this year’s Dairy and Machinery Field Days and an increase in crowd numbers.

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10 // WORLD NEWS

Massive fine looms as Ireland sets production record PAT O’KEEFFE

IRISH DAIRY farmers

produced a record 5.6 billion litres of milk last year, 4.2% more than the previous year. Weather, milk price and a larger dairy herd were the main drivers of output growth in the calendar year.

After strong year-onyear gains from April to October, the brakes were applied in November, when supply dropped 14% on the previous year.

The trend continued in December, with milk supply 17% lower than December 2013.

The reason for the sharp fall in recent months is that Irish dairy farmers are forced to curb milk supply in order to minimise their “super levy” bill.

This penalty is imposed for exceeding the national and individual milk quota, which runs from April 1 to March 31.

Spring calving herds were dried off early and supplementary feeding was not widely used.

With the farmgate milk price falling to 31 cents per litre, it does not make sense to exceed milk quota and incur a fine of 28.66 cent on every litre over the

farm’s quota.

However, with the two late lactation months combined accounting for just 6.6% of annual supply, the slowdown in November and December will not have a major impact on reducing the national super levy bill for 2014/2015.

Ireland’s milk intake was static at around 5 billion litres until the relaxation of production limits as part of the Common Agricultural Policy.

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T J Tuffy on his frm at Dunally, Co Sligo. Due to good weather, and price, summer production was exceptionally strong.

increase in production was allowed.

As 2015 approached, Irish dairy farmers prepared for milk quota abolition by expanding their herds, with 3.4% more dairy cows calving in 2014 than the previous year.

A recent summary by the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) calculated that over the past 31 years of milk quotas, Irish farmers have paid a total of €144m worth of super levy. The record bill expected for this, the 31st and last year, will increase that substantially.

Irish farmers have paid super levy, on average, every second year. This is more than most of the other few member states for which super levy is a

recurring issue – and those are in a minority in the EU. Our largest ever super levy fine, at over €18m, was incurred on 1995/96 production.

However, it reflected a much higher per litre rate of 38.65c/l, and less milk than the next highest, incurred in 2011/12.

This was the largest oversupply to date at nearly 58m litres after butterfat adjustment, and with today’s fine of 28.66c/l, it totalled just over €16m.

So, what will happen on March 31, this year?

Some commentators have stated that the total national super levy fine could reach or exceed €100m – over two thirds of what farmers have paid in total since 1984.

While there is no doubt that farmers will be faced with the largest ever bill, they have been pulling back on production. Many will feed milk to calves this spring and co-ops and farmers will undoubtedly manage collections in the last few days of March, so that the liability will be somewhat reduced.

Every 1% of milk produced over quota increases our fine by €16m, and we are ending 2014 a whopping 5.93% over quota.

There is no doubt that 2014/15 will see the largest ever fine – and not just in Ireland. The current estimates suggests a potential super levy bill of over €2 billion across Europe.

For farmers in the

chronically over quota countries, where industries have ambitions to expand to respond to world market demand, it is hard to understand why the massive costs of super levy fines must place a huge burden on milk producers long after the 30-year regime comes to an end.

But in countries where supplies have always been under quota, and where all or most supplies are consumed domestically, the view is that farmers who have over produced have gone against the rules, have contributed to market imbalance, and cannot be spared the consequences.

• Pat O’Keeffe is the deputy editor of the Irish Farmers Journal, based in Dublin.

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WORLD NEWS // 11

Chinese plant opens in NZ RAISE YOUR glasses

and down your milk was the order of the day for dignitaries at the official opening of Oceania’s first factory in New Zealand late last year.

The $236m plant at Glenavy, in the far south of Canterbury, was commissioned this spring and is set to expand dramatically over the next four years. A suite of developments was unveiled to coincide with the opening.

Oceania Dairy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China’s larger dairy producer, Yili.

“We anticipate the first phase of the expansion project will commence in early 2015 and have scheduled the remaining phases through to completion in 2019,” said Oceania chief executive Aidan Johnstone.

Oceania expects to be handling at least 630m L of milk from local farms by the end of the expansion “generating export revenues in excess of $700m”.

This year Oceania will collect about 165m L from 48 suppliers, putting the plant at about 70% capacity in its first year. Johnstone said they expect to have “close to 60” suppliers next year providing a 25% increase in supply.

“We have a list of interested farmers but we will always take more expressions of interest.”

Yili is calling the region, dominated by the Waitaki Valley and largely

irrigated with water from the Waitaki River, “Milk Valley” reflecting its potential in their eyes.

“Me and my colleagues call it the milk valley of the future,” company president Pan Gang said at the opening through an interpreter.

Gang stressed the contribution the Glenavy factory will make to the local economy and New Zealand’s tax take. “Yili Oceania is a great sign and leading symbol of the cooperation between New Zealand and China.”

Todd McLay, New Zealand’s Associate Minister for Trade, and Foreign Affairs, picked up the bilateral Kiwi-Chinese cooperation theme, saying the previous week’s visit

by China’s president Xi Jinping “marked an auspicious time in China and New Zealand’s relations”.

McLay stressed twoway investment is “the key” in the relationship, rattling off examples of Chinese investment in New Zealand which now accounts for over half the total overseas investment coming into New Zealand.

Meanwhile New Zealand Government and business investment in China has increased by “over 10% in the past year,” he said, citing Fonterra’s $615m Beingmate joint venture and continued investment in farms in China.

Zhang Fan of China’s embassy in Wellington said the Yili opening “signals the strong com-

YILI A HOUSEHOLD NAME IN CHINA VISITORS TO Oceania’s opening heard how Yili is a household name in China and the only Asian dairy company in the world’s top 10, with sales in 2013 of US$7.67b.

Founded in 1956, over the past decade it has grown 22.4% a year as it pursues its mission “to be recognised as the world class health foods group”.

“One in six kids drink Yili products in China,” the day’s Chinese speaking compere said through an interpreter.

In 2012 it started extending outside China, planning its factory at Glenavy; in 2013 it signed a strategic partnership with DFL in the US, and with an Italian dairy company. Now its Glenavy factory is commissioned and a $400m expansion plan has been announced.

“So it is the only dairy company in China that reaches three continents,” visitors heard.

mitment of Chinese companies to make significant investments in New Zealand and mirrors the strong enthusiasm of a lot of Chinese companies to make inroads into New Zealand”.

Speaking on behalf of the farmers supplying Yili, Wilma van Leeuwen

Dignitaries toast opening of Chinese-owned plant in NZ with glasses of milk.

said Yili’s development was the result of long, and ultimately very successful, negotiations, and she stressed the need for “both parties to be justly rewarded.” “We see this as a long standing partnership. To be successful both parties want to be looked after.”

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

12 // OPINION RUMINATING

EDITORIAL

Consumer watchdog puts bite on Cole

MILKING IT...

Shaky start

NZ price boom

Farmers generally aren’t surprised when agriculture starts to receive less attention under a Labor Government than it would under the Nationals.

However, more than a few – including us were shocked when the former Department of Primary Industries and Environment became the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning under the new Victorian Labor Government, which was elected last November.

No agriculture in the department title? Not even primary industries?

Not even the word Food?

The Government has assured us agriculture is still very important to Victoria, but when it’s wrestling for attention in such an expanded portfolio, it’s hard to see how.

Rising farm prices in parts of Australia, particularly those close to expanding towns, are a deterrent for farm expansion for many.

That doesn’t seem to be the case in New Zealand, where last year a Morrinsville dairy farm sale broke through the $100,000/ha barrier.

Despite the $4.70 forecast payout, buyers were in boots and all, according to real estate agent Bayleys’ Mark Dawe.

“We are seeing ‘old money’ buying these farms with well-established families looking at growing their Waikato presence,” the land shark was quoted as saying.

We tremble to think of what land prices will do when the dairy payout starts rising again.

Raw milk demand

Chinese copycats

We were surprised when a long-time friend of ours raised his voice in the raw milk debate – surprised because he wants to retain the right to buy it for him young family.

He’s an intelligent man who studied science and his decision shocked us – despite all the scientific evidence out there he still wants the right to buy it.

Arguments from raw milk proponents - that their grandparents used to drink it; or they had milk straight from their uncle’s dairy as a kid - don’t cut it.

That was straight from the vat, not transported and sold days later.

Yet, as long as people still want it, despite the evidence, the dairy industry’s reputation is at risk.

Even more importantly, so are children’s lives.

If anyone was unsure what processors have in for themselves entering China, Norco chairman Greg McNamara gave a further idea at a breakfast at International Dairy Week last month.

Within 36 hours of Norco introducing its fresh milk to China last year, there was a replica product advertised on a website.

There was nothing physical to purchase at that time, but Greg said it wouldn’t be long, as local competitors have the ability to copy products quickly.

Norco has had to combat this by including a unique code on each bottle to minimise product substitution.

It costs an additional cent per litre but is essential for this emerging market. Good luck to all in this new frontier.

Advertising Chris Dingle chris@dairynewsaustralia.com.au

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Publisher Brian Hight Production D ave Ferguson Becky Williams Sub Editor Pamela Tipa

Dairy News Australia is published by RNG Publishing Limited. All editorial copy and

IT’S BEEN called a toothless tiger but the consumer watchdog – the ACCC – put the bite on Coles late last year and deserves credit for doing so.

Early in the year the ACCC launched action against Coles for misleading suppliers and exerting undue pressure to extract payment from them.

The ACCC said the supermarket’s Active Retail Collaboration (ARC) program attempted to force 200 suppliers to pay the rebates in relation to apparent supply chain improvements.

The ACCC alleged that Coles’ target was to obtain $16 million in ARC rebates from smaller suppliers and was ultimately seeking an ongoing ARC rebate in the form of a percentage of the price it paid for the supplier’s grocery products.

However, the regulator and the supermarket giant owned by conglomerate Wesfarmers appeared in the Federal Court in to seek consent orders on a settlement reached between them.

The ACCC said the consent orders would include admissions

by Coles that it engaged in unconscionable conduct with respect to a number of suppliers in 2011, contravening the Australian Consumer Law, and also fines.

Both sides are seeking combined penalties of $10 million to settle the two cases.

When the case was launched, former Coles chief Ian McLeod said there was “no systemic issue” with the way Coles deals with suppliers and they would vigorously defend the charges and they would be “vindicated” in the court.

Coles managing director, John Durkan, said Coles “crossed the line and regrettably treated these suppliers in a manner inconsistent with acceptable business practice”.

He also said: “Coles unconditionally apologises and accepts full responsibility for its actions in these supplier dealings.”

The belated admission by Coles management is of no surprise to dairy farmers who had seen the supermarket giant use market powers with the $1/litre milk campaign which has devastated the industry.

Instead of rectifying this problem, Coles increased funding of its public relations campaign, telling its customers farmers would be no worse off.

The ACCC is to be commended for its win against a company that would have had it outgunned in terms of resources and finances.

The Federal Government needs to provide the ACCC with more power and the resources it needs to deal with these issues effectively.

Published by RNG Publishing Ltd Printed by Shepperton News

permission of the publisher. Opinions or comments expressed within this publication are not necessarily those of the staff, management or directors of RNG Publishing Limited.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

OPINION // 13

Don’t walk away from profit OPINION TYRAN JONES lished strong customer relationships they should be able to manage any technological production challenges within the market.

If we are going to be denied access to new tools, where will our milk production growth come from?

There are several production technologies on the horizon.

It is in our interests to look at the science, to look at the evidence and to take a new look at how these innovations might be applied to Australian dairy production systems to service this increased demand for dairy.

We must be wary of the stereotyped responses and scaremongering, whether it is about animal welfare or market acceptance of production techniques.

Production technologies can be adapted in positive and innovative ways with comprehensive support to generate the best possible outcome for individual farmers and for the industry.

All we need is the will to succeed.

Without this, there will be no new milk and others will dictate what we can and cannot do.

We must have a dialogue with our customers and communities to ensure we have access to these technologies.

We said in 2014, through the process of writing three Free Trade Agreements, that the Australian dairy industry is “open for business”.

We saw overwhelming interest in the Australian Dairy Farm Investment Forum hosted by Dairy Australia.

We cannot truly, hand on heart, say we are open for business if we are shutting down access to science and innovation, new tools and technologies in our dairy production systems.

We cannot say “we want your money” while on the other hand saying “we won’t allow production science, technology and innovation”.

If we shut down access to farm side innovation, in a very short time, global

companies will ignore us and Australia will become known as the country where it is too hard to do business - we will have no access to new technologies, regardless of whether they become common place in the rest of the world’s dairy regions.

Those in industry lead-

ership positions must take up the cause of long term competitive, profitable milk production.

They must advocate on behalf of farmers, engage in a meaningful way with customers and the community; to develop relationships and trust that the rigour behind our pro-

duction, regulatory and food safety systems are impeccable.

Every single dairy farmer must also take up this challenge. Without this, the alternative will be a continuation of the stagnation we have seen over the last decade and a gradual erosion of Australian

dairy’s global competitiveness.

Taking the easy path now and closing the door to innovation will create a much harder path for our industry in the future.

We must address the bigger, long term picture.

Decisions about our future production systems must

be evidence-based.

FTAs provide tangible prospects but the onus is on the industry to truly ‘open the door’ to ensure we embrace the full opportunity.

• Tyran Jones is a director of Australian Dairy Farmers and the Australian Dairy Industry Council.

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THE CHINA Australia Free Trade Agreement was delivered in 2014. What does 2015 hold for the Australian dairy industry?

The China FTA is not the pot of gold, but the opportunity for our exporters to continue apace their innovation path, developing new higher value, sought after dairy products.

The Chinese still do not fully trust their local supply and they want Australian product.

The scale of their market however is beyond our imagination.

The great hope is that product innovation, being a reliable supplier and fairer access to markets will reduce (not eliminate) our exposure to market volatility.

So, how do we work together to ensure our industry has the ability to capture the benefits of product, market and farm innovation to produce more milk for this and other rapidly developing dairy markets?

I could be provocative and suggest that processors embraced farmer representation when it came to lobbying for a meaningful China FTA for dairy, because they could see something tangible that would make them more profitable with little additional effort.

However, the shoe seems to be on the other foot when we start talking about production technologies – including high energy GM ryegrass, and animal health technologies - which might make milk production more efficient and profitable.

They, and some industry organisations, are stepping away from such technologies rather than working with us to design a strategy to build social capital among our consumers and communities to ensure we have access to new tools.

Access to new tools and technologies requires effort on behalf of processors, farmers and our organisations.

It is times like these we need to remind people in leadership roles where ‘their’ money is coming from.

If they are good at marketing and have estab-

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

14 // MANAGEMENT

Dealing with ‘tail end’ calves PETER BURKE

A TRIAL at New Zealand’s Massey University under the guidance of Dr Jean Margerison is looking at possible benefits of differing milk diets and machine feeding compared with hand feeding on calf growth rates and subsequent performance of dairy cattle.

It will be running for the next few years and is a long term study being completed for Bell Booth Ltd, Palmerston North, to assess the effect of early life nutrition on subsequent milk yield and cow survival.

Margerison says 183 of the calves in the trial have now been weaned and are out on pasture where they are still getting a standard

2kg of meal/day to keep them on track to achieve a growth rate of 650-750g/ day for all calves.

She says the challenge now is dealing with the ‘tail end’ calves. “They are a problem everybody has to face. They are born a bit later, some have had birth or sucking problems and the temptation is to finish feeding milk and wean the last ones underweight, rather than keep persisting with them.

“The logistics of dealing with these calves is difficult because you have to feed milk for fewer calves and want to finish feeding milk and using vat milk or buying milk powder.

“The fact is that weaning calves under weaning weight is the last thing you should do. As a matter

of practicality the ‘tail enders’ need to be weaned at about 10kg higher live weight and they then grow well directly after weaning from milk, which is great for you and especially for them. If you wean under weaning weight, at pasture their weight and pasture intake is lower so they struggle to grow and can’t catch up with the calves born sooner. And calving date is a ‘set’ time frame for all of them, so mating is sooner for the last calves born.

“What we are doing is keeping them on milk.

You can give them a bit more, say, 10-20% more milk than the early born to make them gain more weight early and if need be keep them on milk a little longer and wean them at

about 10% more weight which would be 100 for a black and white or heavy boned cross bred.

“The great thing is that early growth during the milk feeding period has been shown to result in optimal milk production due to better early mammary development. In the end worst case you have an asset to sell, rather than a problem you can’t.”

Margerison says it’s much harder for the calves to make up any weight loss on pasture post weaning and you have missed the opportunity to gain early growth and mammary development, which has been so clearly linked to higher milk production and fertility, so long as it is combined with achieving important maturity targets of 65% at mating and 85-90% at calving. As a consequence, an integral part of heifer rearing is feeding and weighting them.

This research has been monitoring calf growth rates weekly prior to weaning, with animals being weighed manually or their weight collected automatically to measure the progress of each calf.

As part of the trial, the calves have been fed differing amounts of milk and milk diet along with the Queen of Calves programme, plus ad-libitum access to 20% CP protein meal, pasture hay and fresh clean water up until weaning and 16% CP meal post-weaning. Calves that get less milk tend to eat more meal and calves

The target weaning weights of calves vary according to breed.

offered more milk eat less meal, potentially reducing rumen development.

“In the early growth phase we want to make sure they are growing quickly because that means you get more and better mammary development. Healthier calves grow more easily pre and post milk weaning, and consequently at pasture yield more milk and have the opportunity for greater live weight and greater survivability as young adults during first and second lactation. If they are managed and then fed appropriately they will get to target weaning weight earlier and they have better chance of having good forage intake growth rates during the first and subsequent grazing seasons,” says Margerison.

Following weaning from milk, one of the greatest economic opportunities in successful replacement rearing is making sure they

get a supply of good quality grass, gained by giving calves an adequate supply of young grass or forages low in fibre and high in protein. The amount of time and weight of meal and CP content required depends directly on forage quality and supply level, as calves have a limited ability to ingest fibre and thus nutrients from forages.

It is important to be realistic and react to ongoing conditions, making sure milk supply to young calves in the first month of age is adequate for environmental temperature, and later that palatable meal and fibre is supplied to allow calves feed option that suit calf development into a ruminant and thus make them grow.

“So you need to feed them an amount of milk that effects conditions, which during the first month of age is more during cold conditions to achieve adequate growth rates from birth to milk weaning of 650g/day for

Jersey, 750g/day for black and whites and somewhere in-between for cross breeds depending greatly on bone structure indicating the weight of the ‘dairy type’ and appropriate weaning weight better than birth weight.

This is an average, so as low as 150-200g at the start and up to 1000g/day at weaning.

“When the weather is colder young calves will need more milk or else they will grow slower and take longer to wean from milk. This is because, when it’s cold they use more energy from milk to survive, by keeping themselves warm enough to live, and as such there is less remaining available for calf growth, so in cold years don’t underestimate that need for feeding more milk to young calves. They are not old enough to take meal because they are too young to eat enough of that to add to feed intake to grow until they are more than a month old.”

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MANAGEMENT // 15

Amount of milk produced by supplements can be predicted A NEW tool is under development

that will help farmers accurately predict the amount of milk each kilogram of supplementary feed will produce.

The tool, funded by Dairy Australia and Victoria’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), is being developed

by DELWP research scientist Janna Heard.

“During the 2012-13 season, Australian dairy farmers fed an average of

1.6 tonnes of grain and concentrates to every cow on their farms,” Ms Heard said.

“It is well-known feeding cows cereal supplements can increase milk production. However, it can be difficult to work out the profit maximising amount of supplement to feed.

“Day-to-day decisions on how much supplement to feed should largely depend on the cost of the supplement and the value of the milk it produces.

“The idea is to feed lactating dairy cows to the point where the cost of the additional supplement is equal to the value of the additional milk produced so that the supplement generates more profit than it costs.”

Ms Heard said her recent analysis of national and international feeding experiments had revealed that the amount of milk produced by supplement feed could be accurately predicted by easily observable farm

characteristics.

“The key to maximising profits is in the ability to accurately predict the amount of milk each kilogram of supplement will produce,” Ms Heard said.

“Factors including the number of days cows have been lactating, how much pasture and supplement the cows are fed, their body condition score and the time of year are all valid indicators we can use to help predict the amount of milk each kilogram of

supplement will produce.

“The next step in the project is to build an easy to use tool farmers can use to reference these characteristics so they can easily identify the profit maximising amount of supplement required.

“At the end of this project farmers should be able to calculate how many kilograms of cereal supplement should be fed, so that the last kilogram adds to profit.”

Give shy heifers a fair go THERE IS a major difference between how much hay or silage that bossy cows eat in the paddock, compared with the shy heifers or tail-enders according to Terry Allan of Waste-Not Stockfeeders, and the inventor of the original arch style feeders.

“If you put out a line of hay or silage across your pasture, the whole herd certainly lines up and eats the first half of the line,” says Mr Allan.

“Ignoring, for the moment, the pasture damage, wastage, leaf loss and mud that this action often produces, let’s assume there is no visible waste at the end of the day.

Instead let’s look at who gets the feed – especially the second half of it. Some farmers will say ‘the shy cows’ or ‘the tail-enders’.”

Mr Allan suggests it is the bossy cows that take the lion’s share of

L A I C E SP T R O P RE Hay or silage on paddocks ruins pasture but also prevents shy heifers from feeding.

the remaining hay, with the heifers and shy cows leaving the line while the bosses arrange themselves around a remaining, good size patch and keep other cows away.

It is only when the bossy cows are full or have eaten as much as they want and wander off, that the shy cows come back to the line. Then they may spend the rest of the day walking up and down the line where the hay was, but

is now gone.

“Even worse,” he says, “if there is some left over at the end, the chances are that farmers interpret that as waste and so reduce the amount fed the next day, creating a bigger tail in the mob.”

The result is that some cows suffer with low production, poor condition, low conception rates or metabolic problems.

One solution, pioneered by a growing

number of farmers in Victoria, is a Waste-Not Fair Go Dairy Feed Pad where every cow has a ‘fair go’ – often for the first time in her life, as they are fed in batches as they leave the milking shed.

Mr Allan said farmers can even control the intake of each cow quite accurately, as well as controlling “who gets what?” in every cow, twice a day after milking, with the Fair Go system.

NEXT ISSUE: MARCH FARM WORLD SHOW PREVIEW In the March issue of Dairy News we’ll be previewing Farm World. One of the largest field day events in Australia, Farm World attracts visitors from throughout Victoria, southeast of South Australia and Tasmania.

It has grown to be Victoria’s largest regional agricultural event, attracting more the 650 exhibitors and 50,000 people through to Lardner Park Events in Drouin between 26th-29th March.

Farm World allows exhibitors to launch new products, generate sales and leads, highlight industry changes and provide an opportunity to develop and maintain contacts. Make sure farmers know where to find you at Farm World by advertising in our preview.

BOOKING DEADLINE: February 25 AD MATERIAL DEADLINE: March 3 PUBLISHED: March 10

CONTACT: CHRIS DINGLE | T: 0417 735 001 E: chris@dairynewsaustralia.com.au

ALL THE SMALL THINGS ADD UP WITH THE FAIR GO DAIRY FEED PAD Our customers have found:

WN074_90x260_SF.indd 1

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

16 // MARKETS

Story behind the UK crisis I HAVE just been for a quick visit to the UK, which has a dairy industry about 35% bigger than the Australian industry and is one of the key players in the EU’s sector.

But the striking thing about the industry is that once again it has quickly talked itself into a state of crisis largely of its own doing.

The headlines in the UK at present include such gems as “Dairy farming: No milk of human kindness left”; “Crisis in cashflow; farmers planning protest

action”; “No whey forward – future of Britain’s dairy industry hangs in the balance”.

Prince Charles has weighed in on the issue, and even the PM is suggesting action needs to be taken to “protect dairy farmers”.

The major supermarket chains are bearing the brunt of the criticism for the plight of UK dairy farmers.

While this might seem intuitive given the industry’s exposure to the domestic milk market, the reality is that farmers directly

supplying retailers are paid the highest, with prices linked to cost of production, not commodity markets.

Despite largely servicing consumers in its own local market, the structure of the industry and the way it does business ensures milk prices are highly sensitive to world prices and currency rate movements.

Around 52% of all milk was processed into fresh milk cartons in 2013/14, and a further 27% into cheese, the most stable of commodities.

L A I C E SP T R O P E R

FRESH AGENDA STEVE SPENCER Leading retailer Tesco today retails milk for £1 for 4 pints (about 2.3 litres) which equates to about 86c in our money at present. Our weaker dollar has lifted the Australian dollar equivalent of that price.

On farm, average fresh milk contracts to retailers sit in the range of 27-30 pents per litre (ppl), or 52-58 cents per litre (cpl), and most move with the cost of production rather than commodity markets.

Retailers claim they are wearing the loss-lead margins in the interests of proving their worth to shoppers as the cheapest place to shop.

In our terms, milk

prices to consumers are a little cheaper, farmgate prices a little higher.

Processors are compelled to run their businesses with larger plants and tighter margins, allowing for limited further investment in new product development.

Milk producers control a tiny portion of the processing capacity beyond farmgate.

First Milk is the only major farmer-owned processor, but still thatcompany on-sells about 60% of its milk, processing the rest into cheese and ingredients through small plants.

It was under fire last month for delaying payments to farmers by a fortnight, on top of recent losses and its announcements of price cuts.

With a dominant domestic focus, there is little effective leverage created by the value of milk sold into a hungry offshore market.

Milk contracts certainly exist – the UK

NEXT ISSUE: MARCH PASTURE SEEDS Dairy News Australia will focus on new pasture varieties in our March issue to capitalise on rising farmer interest.

This special report will update farmers on new varieties of pasture seeds, recent trial results, and sowing and fertiliser hints.

It will also include case studies featuring farmers who have had success with newer varieties.

BOOKING DEADLINE: February 25 MATERIAL DEADLINE: March 3 PUBLISHED: March 10 CONTACT: CHRIS DINGLE T: 0417 735 001 E: chris@dairynewsaustralia.com.au

Everyone has an opinion on the ailing UK milk industry, including Prince Charles.

times are those with invented sophisticated what are effectively agreement structures “uncovered positions” in the 1990s – but they contain short-term price - supplying a pool of milk to processors and setting mechanisms. manufacturers rather There are a multitude of than to a stable market milk buyers, buying on a offtake. range of different terms.

When milk prices The gap between highest and lowest payers were strongest late last year, producers grew is a staggering 14 pence milk supply in an “every per litre, reflecting the different market risks. It man for himself ” frenzy, was telling to see leading with little call for caution as world prices for the processor Dairy Crest commodities were announce recently that already on the way down. they would commit to By the peak of the long-term price signals, season in offering “The industry the spring of a price 2014, milk commitment has never supply was four months had the up 15% over into the capital, the prior future!

So why is culture or the year – in an industry the industry leadership that is not again in to work structured to strife? While handle such it has a small together.” surges. volume What has come since of overseas trade, the to make it worse has been UK is a net importer the glut of milk across of ingredients from the EU, US and New efficient neighbouring Zealand, slowing Chinese producers, and prices demand and a Russian of cheese and butterfat import ban. are sensitive to currency Those uncontrollable movements. externals combine to When commodity directly impact UK milk cheese and powder returns, as the industry markets weaken, the has never had the capital, price signal sent by culture or the leadership buyers exposed to these to work together to products is a blunt one. improve the supply chain It isn’t like this and market access. hasn’t happened before Until that changes, – the industry has seen which seem unlikely, much volatility in milk crises will recur. We prices over time, yet should watch and learn. progressively seen • Steve Spencer is a farmers sell off their director of Freshagenda, ownership in processing a Melbourne-based in preference for milk consulting and analysis contracts with a large firm that provides food number of buyers. value chain insights and The milk producers solutions to a wide range of that have suffered clients from farm to retail. the most in volatile

1300 767 596

info@onfarmsolutions.com www.onfarmsolutions.com

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

MARKETS // 17

EU quota impact still unknown Dairy NewS aUSTraLia june, 2012

agribusiness // 17

Export demand remains strong

IN JUST under two

months’ time, the world’s largest milk producer will see one of its biggest regulatory changes in three decades.

As an aggregate, the European Union produces around 150 billion litres of milk per year, and commands almost a third of global dairy exports (in liquid milk equivalent terms).

Since 1984, milk production has been contained by a quota system that was designed to rein in the ballooning cost of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

From the end of March this year, quotas will disappear, with much speculation around the impact on European milk production, and consequently global dairy markets.

In the decades following its formation, the then-European Economic Community (EEC – now European Union – EU) had an entrenched price support framework based around intervention buying, combined with export subsidies as a means of disposing of the surplus product.

The problem was that in managing the internal market so well, the EEC fostered rapid growth in milk deliveries, which by the late 1970s and early 1980s grew beyond what the framework (and budget) was designed to handle.

Like most market support mechanisms, the quota system is a complex beast.

However, broadly speaking, member states of the EU are each assigned a ‘reference volume’ based on milk fat content, which is then broken down to quota volumes for individual producers.

The quota year runs from April to March of the following year.

If milk deliveries in a member state exceed national quota, those farmers who have overrun are liable for a punitive levy (the superlevy).

In addition to milk deliveries to processors, a much smaller scale set of quota is allocated for milk sales direct from farms.

After an initial four year period, the quota system

was renewed, with referMuch work attempting political support amongst of European politics. cents/litre in March (AUD 41c/L) to 28 With season 2011/12 only a few incremental change in milk production (year-on-year) ence volumesweeks reduced by attention is now Dairy Australia’s FebruParliament to quantify the net impact the EuroEuropean cents/litre (AUD 36c/L) in April. from ending, Profitsections margins are under pressure in the focused on 2012/13 2% in 1988 and 1% in 1989.milk prices as farmary Situation and Outlook of the farmon market balance associ- and US, and in NZ Fonterra has announced ers consider strategies for the coming The system saw report will take a broader ing community. ated with the removal of the final payout for the 2011/12 season year.

In few some domestically-focused has been cut from NZ$6.75-$6.85/kg MS renegotiated contracts incorchanges in theregions, 1990s What does appear guar- look at the current market quotas has been done, but gLobaL impacT to NZ$6.45-$6.55/kg MS (AUD$4.96porating lower prices and reduced ‘tier JohN DropperT (mainly formalisasituation and prospects in essence, nobody knows anteed $5.04). is that the tension one’ access are undermining farmer Effectively, global dairy markets are confidence and supply stability. For GLOBAL IMPACT tion quota transfers for 2015: available Februbetween those advocating for certain. rebalancing. Lower prices will both private label DROPPERT contracts and promany farmers in export-oriented Shifts inJOHN production growth and stimulate regions, a lower price outlook relative to cessor rationalisation have seen milk between producers within ary 11. aslow protectionist approach There remains an demand, and as this occurs we will ultithe current season not only adds to the companies adjust their intake requirea member state) and • John Droppert is Indusand those seeking ongoing push to ‘manage’ mately see a price recovery.to Keygive factors challenges of doing business, but seems ments and pricing to meet the changto watch onforces the globalmore scene will be the ing demands of a highly retail to contradict the positive medium term– with modest increases to quota try Analyst with Dairy Ausmarket influthe market in the absence growth patterns ofpressured weighted towards milk rate at which milk production overseas outlook of Asia-driven dairy demand marketplace. Lower contract prices and volumes weregrowth. granted in tralia. ence will remain a feature of quotas – with plenty of plant investment to date powders. slows in response to lower prices, the a lack of alternative supply opportunithe early 2000s.Dairy Australia’s indicative outlook ties present challenges in a market with flows. 2012 milk production in the US those in south-east Asia and the Middle impact of the current financial worries for southern farm gate milk prices – limited manufacturing capacity. Despite is up around 4% on 2011 for the year to East maintain consistently higher eco- on consumer confidence, the path of By 2006, political published insupthe recent Dairy 2012: Sit- these challenges, the underlying domes- April (leap year adjusted), whilst early nomic growth rates that support China’s economic growth, and the value uation and Outlook report, is for an tic market is stable, with steady per-cap- data suggests EU-27 milk production increased dairy consumption. How- of the Australian dollar. port had waned as the CAP Demand for exported dairy prodopening price range of $4.05-$4.40/kg ita dairy consumption and a growing finished the March 2012 quota year up ever, the surge in supply has outpaced more broadlyMS was ucts remains a positive and will conand adjusted a full year average price range population providing a degree of cer- 2.3% on the previous year. New Zealand demand growth in the market.

This situation has seen the scales tinue to grow with the middle class in between $4.50 and $4.90/kg MS. The tainty beyond the current adjustments. production is widely expected to finish towards better market In the seasons following the 2008 this season up 10% on last year - a huge tip in favour of buyers in dairy mar- large emerging markets such as China, report considers the wider market pickets, with commodity prices retreat- with changes in diet and with increasing market influence given 95% of NZ milk ture and summarises the many factors financial crisis and subsequent comorientation, and plans at play; the key theme of the current sit- modity price recovery, farmers in is exported. Argentina is also enjoy- ing steadily over recent months. Butter urbanisation - and also in conjunction were being developed toof re-balancing in the export-oriented regions have seen solid ing solid production growth, but a sig- prices are down some 30% from their with global population growth. Locally, uation being that global supply growth (see chart) - with nificant supply gap in Brazil prevents 2011 peaks, whilst powder prices have the domestic market is supported by a dairy supply chain. remove the quota system.

In regions of Australia focused on higher-cost competitors in the North- much of this additional milk from leav- lost more than 20%. Farm gate prices growing population and stable perThe CAP ‘Health have subsequently been reduced in capita consumption. Whilst the dairy producing drinking milk, many farmers ern Hemisphere amongst those expand- ing South America.

Despite wider economic uncer- most exporting regions. The average market is currently a challenging place faceconfirmed a re-balancing market in the form ing output as their margins increased.

Check’ in 2009 of renegotiation of supply contracts This season, favourable weather con- tainty, demand has remained resilient basic farm gate price for milk in France to be a seller, all signs indicate that balthe end of quotas in 2015, and reduced access to ‘tier one’ supply. ditions have further enhanced milk as importing countries like China and for example, dropped 12% from 32 Euro ance will ultimately return. laying out an annual increase in volumes of 2% in 2008/09, followed by 1% annually between 2009/10 and 2013/14 toaustraLian provide a DairY, ASEAN-Australia-New ‘soft landing’.rice and wine exporters to Zealand FTA (AANZFTA).

“Protectionist sentiMalaysia are the biggest The final year (2014/15) ment over agricultural winners in a free trade goods is rife and grow(FTA) signed holds quotas agreement at the 2013/14 ing across the globe, so to provide portion pack between the two counaustraLian FooD level. in this context it is pleas(200-330ml) configuratries last month. company Freedom Foods ing Australia has managed tion for beverage prodThe deal, signed after Group Ltd is to build a The European Comto forge an agreement seven years of negotianew milk processing plant ucts. with Malaysia that has The NSW location will tions, allows a liberalised to cash in on growing mission maintains that the dealt with some sensiprovide access to the most licensing arrangement demand in Asia. considerable for expansion tive agricultural issues Australian liquid milk The plant, to be built in sustainable and economic not effectively covered by exporters and allows southeast Australia, will be source of milk. Pactum has of recent years suggests AANZFTA,” says Fraser. strong links to the Austraaccess for higher value the first Australian greenthere will be no Sealing the deal: Malaysian trade minister Mustapha Mohamed “While under the retail‘exploproducts. fields expansion in UHT in lian dairy industry and will with Australian counterpart Craig Emerson after signing the deal.

AANZFTA agreement expand its arrangements It guarantees 10 years. sion’ in production afterAusmost of Australian agriwith dairy farmers for tralian wine exporters Freedom’s wholly March 31. the best tariff treatment culture’s key interests but also through technical Despite the compleers through streamlining supply of milk. The new owned subsidiary Pactum or so called ‘behind the tion of this agreement, of rules-of-origin dechad tariffs bound at zero, plant will increase scope Malaysia gives any counAustralia will run the This is supported by much remains to be done border’ restrictions.” dairy and rice are two sec- laration processes and try. It also allows open plant. Some of its products for Australian milk supply the deterioration of farm- from tors where incremental improved marketing The FTA was signed on for Australia’s farmers to – value-added, sustainable access arrangements will be sold in Australia.

May 22 in Kuala Lumpur tap into the full potential arrangements for certain market access improveand export focused. for Australian rice The company says gate margins 2023 over the past by Australia’s Trade and of the Asian region and commodities. ments have been negotiInitially the plant will with all tariffs eliminated given Asian consumCompetiveness Minisbeyond.

The Malaysian market ated under the Malaysian produce 250ml and 1L by 2026. ers’ rising incomes and few months (the result ter Craig Emerson and his He says the NFF will is worth about A$1 bilUHT packs from a process The National Farmers’ FTA. improving diets, demand of a period ofFederation global dairy Malaysian counterpart now throw its attention lion in Australia agricul“This trade deal was line capable of 100 milsays the trade there will grow for qualtowards ensuring agricul- Mustapa Mohamed. tural exports – including also particularly imporlion L. The processing and deal will improve interity dairy products from oversupply, exacerbated Emerson says Australia ture remains front and being its fourth-largest tant for sectors such national market access low-cost production bases packaging plant will emit by the Russian centre in completed FTAs will be as well-positioned sugar export market and less carbon, use less water, forimport Australian agricultural as dairy that have been such as Australia, whose in the Malaysian market fifth-largest wheat export with South Korea, Japan, facing a competitive disand be more energy-effigoods. milk is well regarded. ban) which will make as Malaysia’s closest tradChina and Indonesia as market. advantage in Malaysia cient than equivalent “After seven years of The new plant will immediate expansion less ing partners in ASEAN, With an annual economic immediate priorities. compared with New ZeaUHT facilities in Austranegotiation, the NFF is allow Pactum to meet “These are all markets and in some cases better. growth at about 5%, land which already has lia and SE Asia. Pactum under no illusion of how growing demand for appealing, and more diffiThe FTA will guarantee Malaysia forms an impor- with enormous growth expects site preparation to challenging it has been to a completed FTA with UHT dairy milk, and add tariff-free entry for 97.6% opportunities and where tant part of the ‘Asian Malaysia in place.” begin in October 2012 and complete this FTA with to capacity for valuecult to finance. of current goods exports significant barriers to Century’ story and the The FTA also sigstart-up by mid-2013.

Malaysia,” NFF vice presiadded beverages at Strong milk producfrom Australia once it opportunity this presents trade in agriculture still nals some administrative Pactum makes UHT dent Duncan Fraser says. its Sydney factory. Pactum enters into force. This will for Australian agricultural exist, not only through benefits for Austraproducts for private label Thethe FTA last will fill a is expanding its capabilition growth over rise to 99% by 2017. tariffs that restrict trade producers, says Fraser. and proprietary customers. number of gaps within the lian agricultural exportties at the Sydney plant 12 months suggests many farmers will also be dealing with a particularly 016-017.indd 17 6/06/12 1:41 PM heavy superlevy burden this season.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

18 // PASTURE IMPROVEMENT

Dry summers hinder ryegrass survival MICHELE RYAN

AS WE are prone to long,

dry summers, ryegrass survival is a major issue on many dairy farms.

While prolonged periods of low soil moisture are beyond our control, there are some things we can control which will assist pastures to make it through the summer.

Summer rainfall distribution is probably more important for perennial ryegrass survival than the absolute amount of rainfall.

When rainfall is sufficient to ensure plants have access to water most of the summer, the plants survive.

When there is so little rainfall that the plants go into dormancy and don’t break dormancy until conditions are cooler and moist, plant survival is high.

However, if summer rainfall is followed by a dry period, tiller buds break dormancy, grow and die in the hot, dry conditions.

Sporadic summer rainfall is a common occurrence in south-eastern Australia and if summer rain is followed by dry periods of more than about 30 days, some plants are likely to die.

Here are some pasture management tactics to use that will help perennial ryegrass to survive summer.

Don’t overgraze perennial ryegrass in summer Even though perennial ryegrass is dormant over summer, it is still very susceptible to overgrazing.

Overgrazing can

damage the growing point, which is located at ground level; and this just kills the plant.

Maintaining a 5cm grazing residual and some herbage cover over summer protects green tillers by reducing the temperature at ground level.

Consider using sacrifice paddocks to minimise overgrazing across the farm.

Strategic grazing of new tillers after summer rainfall New tillers that grow after summer rainfall become stressed by the return of hot, dry conditions and heavy grazing compounds this stress.

If the plants are severely grazed in summer when they also face the pressure of unfavourable climatic conditions, their survival is likely to be jeopardised.

A long rotation over summer ensures that the perennial ryegrass is not frequently grazed.

Tillers emerge within days of summer rainfall.

Therefore using a rotation that ensures perennial ryegrass in most paddocks is not grazed soon after summer rainfall should assist perennial ryegrass survival in those paddocks.

Sow persistent perennial ryegrass cultivars for your area There can be big differences in persistence of different perennial ryegrass cultivars. Check with local agronomists and neighbours as to which perennial ryegrass cultivars are persisting well under your local conditions.

Maintain a longer rotation over summer. Local research has shown that by maintaining a long graz-

ing rotation (45 days or longer) in summer, that a pasture is one grazing rotation ahead of pasture that has been grazed more frequently (30 days or less). The reason is that frequently grazed pastures have reduced vigour and growth potential com-

pared to the pastures that have a longer grazing rotation.

By ensuring that pasture rotations are maintained at an appropriate length and a 5cm grazing residual is maintained you are making sure that your perennial ryegrass

pastures persist and then flourish in the following autumn.

• Michele Ryan is dairy extension officer with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Warrnambool.

She can be contacted on (03) 5561 9914.

Ryegrass survival is a major issue on dairy farms over summer.

2015 short term ryegrass EBV Guide For a proven performer, choose a Seed Force variety not a brand.

Annual ryegrass Forage EBVs based on replicated trials 2006-2014

Culitivar

Ploidy

Variety or brand

Mean Winter yield

Spring yield

Total yield

Flowering Days from Tetila NSW

WA

ME MJ/kg DM

CP %

NDF %

Extra meat value $/ha

Extra milk value $/ha

No. of trials

LATE FLOWERING (>+8 days) SF Adrenalin

tetraploid

variety

109

126

116

+9

+16

11.08

23.95

45.88

+$404

+$1020

34

SF Speedyl

tetraploid

variety

109

131

118

+12

+18

11.08

26.31

46.27

+$421

+$998

35

SF Pinnacle

tetraploid

variety

110

142

122

+10

+18

10.87

26.78

48.05

+$349

+$812

11

SF Sultan

diploid

variety

107

132

117

+10

+11

10.94

25.17

47.91

+$328

+$746

41

Zoom

tetraploid

variety

95

126

107

+14

10.84

23.57

46.64

+$208

+$575

8

Winter Star II

tetraploid

variety

103

124

112

+8

10.74

23.14

48.47

+$186

+$483

41

Arnie

diploid

variety

108

119

114

+7

10.68

23.10

48.45

+$212

+$464

7

Jivet

tetraploid

variety

96

120

106

+16

4

MID FLOWERING (+5 days to +8 days) SF Catalyst

tetraploid

variety

103

107

107

+5

+7

10.66

21.47

45.24

+$221

+$580

12

SF CatapulT

tetraploid

variety

106

113

110

+6

+7

10.70

22.79

46.91

+$215

+$525

29

10.83

23.82

48.13

+$201

+$506

Tama

tetraploid

variety

104

117

110

+7

Abundant

tetraploid

variety

108

109

108

+6

+11

4 12

Mach 1

tetraploid

variety

99

122

108

7

Aristocrat 2

tetraploid

variety

104

103

106

4

T Rex

tetraploid

brand

103

110

105

Burst

tetraploid

variety

102

84

98

+8

12 2

Progrow

diploid

variety

93

102

94

2

EARLY FLOWERING (-2 days to +4 days) Winter Hawk

diploid

variety

114

112

114

SF Flyer

diploid

variety

108

109

108

+1

SF Sprinter

tetraploid

variety

109

112

111

+4 0

OreTet

tetraploid

brand

104

104

104

Sungrazer T

tetraploid

brand

103

105

103

Maximus

tetraploid

variety

102

107

105

Atomic

tetraploid

brand

105

101

102

0 0

0

Surrey 2

diploid

variety

102

105

103

diploid

brand

104

109

102

-1

+9

Tetila

tetraploid

brand

100

100

100

0

0

Rocket

tetraploid

brand

101

106

99

Tetrone

tetraploid

brand

107

102

97

tetraploid

brand

118

97

96

Double Crop (Dargo)

tetraploid

variety

104

95

92

23.16

47.45

+$299

+$681

3

23.57

46.64

+$225

+$586

38

10.66

23.66

48.32

+$171

+$417

40

10.73

22.32

47.85

+$164

+$390

2

10.64

25.17

49.46

+$38

+$134

17

10.45

22.86

49.70

+$12

+$53

20

+2

Grassmax

R2

10.86 10.84

5 8 6 10.40

22.40

49.23

$0

$0

35 4 3

0

0

2 2

Relative rankings have been undertaken by comparing all yields as a percentage of Tetila.

Feed quality data undertaken prior to all grazings from trials at Gundagai and Lismore (NSW) with hundedised means reported.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST NEWS AND INFORMATION AT www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au

Variety or brand?

The Australian Seed Federation has spent considerable effort over the past few years helping producers better understand the origins of varieties or brands that they are considering planting.

Products in blue font are for brands which have not met the ASF criteria - source ASF Seeds database January 2015.

To be confirmed as a variety on the ASF site, companies must have either Plant Breeders Rights or seed certification under OECD or ASA schemes.

A brand is largely a name that may or may not be trademarked. The seed may be fit for purpose but there is no scheme to let buyers know much about it.

It may or may not be the same product at any time.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

PASTURE IMPROVEMENT // 19

Fine-tuning a dryland-irrigated pasture mix

Richard Gardner has selected pastures species for their adaptability to the climate, landscape and ability to provide productivity and persistence in their diverse range of enterprises.

FOR RICHARD and

Emily Gardner, a carefully chosen mix of perennial pasture species offers a resilient, flexible and productive feed source that complements both the livestock and cropping components of their diverse enterprise mix in

Tasmania.

The Gardners’ 2600ha property Annandale in Tasmania’s Midlands includes a complex mix of irrigated and dryland enterprises, including a newly-established 750 cow dairy enterprise.

The Gardners run 750

dairy cows and sheep (prime lamb and wool) on irrigated (230ha) and dryland pastures. They also have an irrigated cropping system, growing poppies and grazing winter cereals.

“The reasons Tasmanian farms can sustain diverse farming systems

Italian ryegrass Forage EBVs based on replicated trials 2006-2014

Cultivar

Ploidy

Variety Winter Spring Summer or yield yield yield brand

Total yield

Flowering Days from Tetila

ME MJ/kg DM

CP %

NDF %

Extra meat value $/ha

Extra milk value $/ha

no. of trials

11.35

21.87

43.45

+$163

+$446

41

11.39

22.82

43.70

+$158

+$424

24

11.32

24.67

45.34

+$132

+$362

7

+18

11.33

22.50

44.00

+$101

+$308

38

11.20

22.51

44.44

+$67

+$224

37

+21

11.07

21.65

45.39

+$90

+$215

42

NSW

WA +21

LATE MATURITY (>+11days) SF Indulgence

diploid

variety

98

106

103

102

+14

Momentum

diploid

Asset AR37

diploid

variety

96

104

107

101

+14

variety

106

107

102

106

SF Emmerson

tetraploid variety

97

104

98

100

Feast II

tetraploid

variety

101

103

104

102

+12

SF Accelerate

diploid

variety

104

107

113

105

+12

Tonuss

diploid

variety

99

104

109

101

+15

11.22

23.85

45.77

+$50

+$130

24

Maverick GII

diploid

variety

95

103

106

100

+14

11.14

22.05

44.95

+$35

+$114

27

Nourish

tetraploid

variety

95

99

105

97

+14

11.23

20.55

44.23

+$7

+$110

24

Concord 2

diploid

variety

113

108

88

110

10.91

20.11

46.91

+$47

+$75

4

Jeanne

tetraploid

variety

90

97

81

94

11.26

20.65

44.12

-$15

+$52

15

+13

+14

Hulk

diploid

variety

99

98

100

99

+12

Crusader

diploid

variety

100

100

100

100

+12

11.09

21.49

45.15

+$11

+$44

36

11.10

22.29

46.08

$0

$0

42

Icon

diploid

variety

82

105

93

97

Warrior

diploid

variety

92

101

98

98

+11

11.02

21.31

45.44

-$12

-$15

2

+12

11.08

21.39

45.58

-$20

-$31

Aston

tetraploid

variety

99

93

6

11.22

22.74

45.14

+$1

-$32

Knight

diploid

variety

106

104

7

10.83

20.94

47.64

-$52

-$152

7

Emmerson/ Indulgence

4n/2n

blend

103

112

Thumpa

tetraploid

variety

99

111

Turbo

diploid

variety

97

94

Awesome

diploid

brand

99

Denver

tetraploid brand

96 98

+18

105 107

+18

+13

5

103 104

2

95

3

88

93

2

88

81

84

2

MID MATURITY (< +11 days) Sonik

diploid

variety

101

100

90

100

+10

11.03

23.45

45.98

-$21

-$42

20

Diplex

diploid

brand

107

98

85

101

+7

10.85

24.65

46.50

-$22

-$99

11

Charger

diploid

brand

106

96

70

97

+7

10.78

21.00

47.28

-$188

-$449

8

Notes for Annual and Italian ryegrass: Yield data is hundredised means from a minimum of 2 and up to 42 trials per variety/brand.

Feed quality analysis undertaken by NSW DPI Feed Quality Service at Wagga Wagga.

Meat and milk values estimated using Seed Force’s. Animal Performance Calculator™ based on the following assumptions: • Meat at 65% feed utilisation, based on 300kg steer with 44MJ for maintenance and 45MJ/kg lwg at $1.70/kg • Milk at 75% feed utilisation, based on 600kg cow with 100MJ for maintenance/exercise/pregnancy and 5.5MJ/litre at $0.45 per litre No summer data means that those varieties have only been trialed by Seed Force in areas that finish in early December in annual growing regions.

Where cells have no data it means that tests have not been undertaken on those varieties or brands.

Extra meat and milk values are estimated differences per ha compared to control cultivars with numbers in red being negative to control.

RRA/SDF15354

Relative rankings have been undertaken by comparing all yields as a percentage of Crusader.

Feed quality data undertaken prior to all grazings from trials at Shepparton (VIC), Gundagai and Lismore (NSW) with hundedised means reported.

the power to grow www.seedforce.com

104 - 106 Drummond Rd, Shepparton, VIC 3630 T: 03 5832 3800 F: 03 5821 8999

is that our properties are diverse by nature,” Mr Gardner said.

“On Annandale we have native run country, with shallow ironstone soils that we largely manage for conservation values, through to fertile country ideal for livestock, dryland and irrigated cropping, including poppy production.

“The establishment of a sizeable irrigation scheme in the Midlands means we have recently incorporated a 750 cow dairy into the mix.”

Perennial ryegrass and white clover form the grazing platform of the Gardners’ dairy operation.

“We have 230ha under an off-the-shelf high-productivity combination, which incorporates a mix of diploid and tetraploid perennial ryegrass varieties and white clover,” Mr Gardner said.

“Establishing the white clover component of the mix is the real challenge.

“To date our best success has come from a twopass sowing approach — in the first pass we sowed 75% of the ryegrass seed and we went back with the second pass, at an angle to the first, with the remaining 25% of the ryegrass and 100% of the clover.

“We also changed the sowing depth for the second pass — making it a bit shallower for the clover. It worked well.”

Mr Gardner said one of the keys for success is establishing pasture under pivots — he can manage risk by managing the moisture on the surface.

“This allows us to be less precise with the seedbed preparation,” he said.

Three hundred yearling heifers are currently being used to manage the excess growth in the new pastures — to get on top

WHO:

Richard and Emily Gardner WHERE:

Tunbridge WHAT:

Pasture mix

of the excess feed.

Later they will be used to manage spring growth on the dryland sheep pastures, which are predominantly phalaris, with some ryegrass.

Sheep still form an important component of the operation.

“Even with irrigation, we still have a significant area of dryland pasture that can’t be reliably used for cows during the winter,” Mr Gardner said.

“We don’t even incorporate that country when we do our feed budgets because the seasons are so unreliable.”

Further from the dairy, Mr Gardner has established irrigated lucerne pastures, which he uses for hay and silage production (to supplement grazing for the dairy cows during winter) and fattening lambs.

“The lucerne also plays a key role in our irrigated cropping program — a four-to-five-year lucerne phase followed by two years of poppies,” he said.

“We’ve recently shifted to a more winter-active lucerne variety (10 score compared with 7 score) and the growth has been phenomenal this winter.

“The winter-active lucerne is ideal as it establishes quickly and we are looking for year-round production.

“Not all of our irrigated cropping country is suitable for lucerne, so we also grow a few grazing cereal crops (oats, TO PAGE 21

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

20 // PASTURE IMPROVEMENT

Don’t be scared of fescue HAVING ONCE grazed

300 cows through a year of drought on just 23ha of tall fescue – the only green feed which could survive the heat and dry conditions – Luke Nicholls

understands the value of fescue pastures.

So when he had an opportunity to trial a new, soft leaf tall fescue on his share farm near Sale, he took the chance.

the new Hummer tall fescue down the back of the farm, because one of the front paddocks still had some old fescue in it and the cows wouldn’t even look at it,” he said.

Mr Nicholls farms at Pearsondale, milking 170 mostly Friesian cows on 40ha with Joe and Julie Scarfo.

“It took me some time to convince Joe to plant

WHO:

Luke Nicholls WHERE:

Pearsondale via Sale WHAT:

Fescue pastures Pearsondale farmer Luke Nicholls with Simon Hunt, Stephen Pasture Seeds.

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“Actually it’s a lot softer than the older fescues and the cows will eat it no worries, once they’ve seen it two or three times,” he said.

“The milk production is the same as from a ryegrass, or if anything the milk might be slightly up by the time they have finished grazing the fescue.”

He said Hummer grows well from mid spring to autumn, covering a summer feed gap on the farm.

“Usually once we get into January, the ryegrass starts to slow right down and we get more from the fescue,” he said.

Hummer was selected for its fine, soft leaves, which allows grazing beyond optimal height and gives more flexibility in management.

Mr Nicholls said the grazing rotation was a bit quicker than with ryegrass, to stop the leaves from becoming too tough and prevent the seed setting.

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On those paddocks, we can grow either fescue or weeds - those are the only options.”

He said the Hummer tall fescue tolerates waterlogging well.

“We had one paddock under water for three weeks, and I mean 90cm under, and as soon as the water disappeared the Hummer started growing again,” said Mr Nicholls.

The pasture is ideal for hot summer environments with irrigation and will grow at temperatures up to 38oC. “The Hummer fescue gives us more feed through summer than any ryegrass,” he said. It also uses a lot less water.

Mr Nicholls is growing the fescue under a travelling irrigator which is “less than reliable” and as a result, it doesn’t get watered as often as it should.

“We don’t have a problem with keeping it green and growing, it doesn’t need the same level of care and attention as some other pastures,” he said.

AB

CEL

“Most dairy farmers won’t grow fescue because they tried old varieties and they were so tough you couldn’t cut them with a mower, let alone graze them.

“Those old varieties scared everyone away from fescues, but the newer varieties have a lot of advantages, especially when you choose a fine, softer leaf variety.”

They planted one paddock in Hummer tall fescue in autumn 2012 and another two paddocks in autumn 2013, bringing the total area to 9ha.

“The first paddock established well and although the next two were a bit slower, once established they have been able to take whatever comes along,” he said.

This has included floods, heat and a bit of neglect.

“The farm is fairly flat and it backs on to the La Trobe River, so some parts get a bit wet,” Mr Nicholls said.

“Anytime there’s a decent rain, some of the back paddocks go under.

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Dairy NewS AUSTRALIA february 2015

pasture improvement // 21

Homegrown maximises financial returns EXPANSION OF homegrown fodder through strategic pasture planning and renovations has helped Robert and Jan Mortlock expand their herd on their South Gippsland farm.

The Mortlock family has increased cow numbers in the last two years by 140 to a peak of 650 off a 320ha dryland farm in Yanakie backing onto the pristine setting of Wilsons Promontory National Park.

Assisted by dairy manager Kyle Hulse, involved at Yanakie for four years with past experience in Australia and New Zealand, the Mortlock farm produces 5.5million litres of milk annually.

The success of the Mortlock farm comes down to excellent farm management, which includes quality home grown pasture.

The home farm has been sowing Vatbuster perennial rye and clover blend for more than 15 years.

Mr Hulse said Vatbuster had “proven itself as a versatile mix of long rotation diploid/tetraploid enhanced late seeding perennial ryegrass and persistent white clover that provides high levels of metabolisable energy and good palatability”.

Working alongside Adam Fisher of Notman Pasture Seeds, Mr Hulse said they had targeted heavier soils with perennial pastures for great persistence, whilst lighter soils were planted with MegaBite Italian ryegrass.

“It’s a versatile long season diploid and tetraploid blend – enhanced with late seeding material, it’s improved both pal-

fect example of securing bulk fodder for around $170 per tonne DM. The Mortlocks’ pasture renovation strategy includes brassica crops through summer to give them an opportunity to

control various summer grasses that invade ryegrass pastures and maintain good milk production.

Mr Fisher of Notman Pasture Seeds works closely to identify paddocks that need improv-

ing, which will ultimately lead to healthier cows and financial returns.

Mr Hulse use a 21-day to 40-day seasonal rotation strategy and split herd calving 60% in autumn and 40% in spring.

Robert Mortlock

Who:

Robert and Jan Mortlock Where:

Yanakie What:

Vatbuster

atability and energy produced per hectare.

“Cows have responded well with the MegaBite.

It has tremendous quality, persistence and rapid establishment”.

With the biggest challenges being rainfall and the dry winds throughout summer, Mr Hulse said they relied on Italian ryegrass such as MegaBite for high quality silage.

“We generally chase two to three cuts of silage, so it’s important we invest in late heading varieties which give us a longer opportunity to harvest,” he said.

“It’s crucial that we can back ourselves to grow home-grown fodder.”

The Mortlock’s 172ha outblock at Foster, only 15 minutes away from the home farm, is used to run young stock and cut hay and silage.

Mr Mortlock relies on himself and staff to cover machinery work, with contractors only used to harvest 30ha of dryland Maize in the autumn.

“The cropping gives us an opportunity to maximise their financial returns by securing home grown fodder and planting ryegrasses for greater productivity,” Mr Hulse said.

Mr Fisher said their 80ha outblock was a per-

Fine-tuning

The benchmark for production and performance

Trial Data

To view the performance of Matrix in trials, visit our web site: www.cropmark.com.au/Trial-Data.aspx

Proven, reliable, persistent and high performing.

Matrix Enhanced® perennial ryegrass truly is the benchmark for production and performance on Victorian dairy farms. It is thoroughly proven, reliable, persistent and high performing.

Many farmers would argue that there is simply no better perennial ryegrass. And the cows won’t argue with that either.

They find it very palatable and eat it readily.

Farmers tell us the milk production lifts when the cows are grazing Matrix.

MATRIX IS AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL SEED MERCHANT OR FARM MERCHANDISE OUTLET

Matrix is suitable for all pasture renovation, including over-sowing.

from page 19

wheat, triticale) following poppies.

“Unlike the lucerne, the cows can graze these paddocks during winter or we can use them for hay and silage production.

“Dryland lucerne is also an important part of the livestock part of the operation because of its seasonal versatility.

“Lucerne is so responsive to small amounts of summer rainfall compared with the grasses.”

For further information on Matrix, contact our regional agronomists: Western Districts, SA, Tasmania: Jason Hill – 0427 607 375 North & East Victoria, NSW: Adam Sheedy – 0428 132 096

Cropmark Seeds Australia Pty Ltd Freephone: 1800 889 039 Freefax: 1800 889 037

www.cropmark.com.au

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

22 // PASTURE IMPROVEMENT

Darling Downs farmer a GORDON COLLIE

INSTALLING A lateral move irrigator was one of the best investments Darling Downs farmer Peter Smith has ever made.

The 285m precision watering system is at the heart of the least-cost dairy enterprise Peter and his wife Debbie operate in the Nobby district.

The low pressure low maintenance irrigator and

Peter Smith’s milking herd has a strong influsion of Brown Swiss bloodlines.

a travelling gun allow them to make full use of a reliable water supply from two 13m bores and grow virtually all their own feed.

“We are lucky with our water supply, something which is essential on our good self-mulching black soils. You just couldn’t dairy here without it,” Mr Smith said.

“Plenty of water and urea equals plenty of feed.”

The couple have been dairying for 18 years, having

moved to the Downs from a coastal property on the Albert River near Beenleigh.

“When we came up here there was plenty of dairying in this area but a lot of farms are now growing vegetables,” Mr Smith said.

Access to good irrigation has allowed them to grow summer and winter feed with the only boughtin feed about a kilo of grain pellets fed in the bails at

"Our vatbuster perennial ryegrass is a proven versitile mix of long rotation diploid/ tetreploid enhanced late seeding ryegrass designed to boost your returns"

WHO:

Peter and Debbie Smith WHERE:

Nobby WHAT:

Irrigation

each milking.

“Six tonnes of pellets lasts us about a month,” he said.

“We’ve reduced our inputs as much as we can, but with dry weather, our electricity bills for irrigation have been a killer, averaging $5000 to $8000 a quarter on the cheapest night tariff.”

In response to bleak dairy prospects, the couple have reduced their cow numbers to allow a diversification into commercial lucerne production

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Access to good irrigation has allowed Peter Smith to grow summer and winter feed.

Their 66ha property is under intensive cropping year round to feed about 70 milkers and supply a ready local horse market with lucerne hay.

Their milking herd has a strong infusion of Brown Swiss bloodlines.

“They have a brilliant temperament and longevity. We’ve got one cow still going at 18 years with the herd averaging about 10 lactations.

“They are also hardy cattle which tolerate both hot and cold conditions well.

“They have low cell counts and good milk composition which provides us with the bonus payments we really need to stay in business,” Mr Smith said.

Some of his best performers are around a quarter Jersey, a quarter Friesian and half Brown Swiss.

An Angus bull is used to provide calves with a

Dairy NewS AUSTRALIA february 2015

pasture improvement // 23

r a lateral thinker higher commercial value.

Peter grows rye and clover and oats for winter forage. He has been getting good results with Outback forage oats, a Seed Distributors variety. The oats gives quick early season feed with the annual rye variety Jivet, also from Seed Distributors, broadcast over the newly sown oats and harrowed in to provide grazing through until about the end of November.

The winter months are their best production period and Mr Smith said their year-round calving was skewed to take advantage of the good body of feed at that time of year.

The herd averages about 22 litres a day through the winter months with about 4.5% butterfat and 3.5% protein.

During the summer months, the feed mainstay is forage sorghum, with a fresh strip fed after

each milking. During the summer months, the feed mainstay is forage sorghum, with a fresh strip fed after each milking. He has been using the Pacific Seeds variety Rocket for early season and has been impressed with Triple S, a Pioneer selection.

“It is a small seed variety which needs to go in a bit later when the ground is warmer,” Peter said.

The sorghum provides fast growing feed and is ready for grazing when 600 to 700 mm high.

With careful grazing management and regular water and urea the crop can recover in six weeks for feeding up to five times during the season.

The cattle are moved off when they have finished feeding to a couple of kikuyu camping paddocks.

“If the sorghum gets ahead of us, we can mow it for hay for winter roughage. Grazing and hay is

definitely our lowest cost option. We don’t feed any silage,” Mr Smith said.

Production is lower during the hot summer months with the cows averaging about 18 litres at about 4% fat and 3.1% protein.

The couple have stuck with processor Lion and

are hopeful that the continually shrinking northern milk pool will see prices improve.

With the benefit of bonus payments, they will continue at their current production level in the short term with the ability to move with market signals.

During the summer months, the feed mainstay is forage sorghum, which provides fast growing feed and is ready for grazing when 600-700mm high.

Zoom – the king of annual ryegrasses TM

Trial Data

To view the performance of Zoom in trials, visit our web site: www.cropmark.com.au/Trial-Data.aspx TM

ZoomTM is the latest tetraploid annual ryegrass from Cropmark Seed’s plant breeding programme.

ZoomTM is a specialist winter feed. An ideal break crop between maize and other crops, it is very quick to establish and shows exceptional autumn/winter growth and rapid re-growth. ZoomTM offers the advantages of excellent palatability and high metabolisable energy content.

TM

ZOOM IS AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL SEED MERCHANT OR FARM MERCHANDISE OUTLET

ZoomTM can provide multiple grazings over autumn and winter before being shut up for high quality silage in the spring.

For further information on Zoom , contact our regional agronomists: Western Districts, SA, Tasmania: Jason Hill – 0427 607 375 North & East Victoria, NSW: Adam Sheedy – 0428 132 096 TM

Cropmark Seeds Australia Pty Ltd Freephone: 1800 889 039 Freefax: 1800 889 037

www.cropmark.com.au

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

24 // PASTURE IMPROVEMENT

Species blend helps herd health A BLEND of differ-

ent pasture species has help produce healthy dairy cows on the property of Shane Paulger, at Kenilworth, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland of Queensland.

Mr Paulger said he was keen on a “shotgun mix” of species for both the paddock health and herd health.

“I don’t believe in a monoculture. It’s not good for the stock.”

Last season much of the pasture consisted of a blend of Icon ryegrass, Haifa white clover, Balance chicory, Ranger plantain, Renegade red clover.

“The cows are doing the best they have ever

done and some of the credit must go to the grass,” Mr Paulger said.

“We’ve never had cows so healthy.”

Pasture on the property was direct-drilled into summer grass areas

Sonik – the winter feed champion

Trial Data

Shane Paulger, of Kenilworth, Qld uses a shotgun mix of species to achieve high quality pasture.

To view the performance of Sonik in trials, visit our web site: www.cropmark.com.au/Trial-Data.aspx

in mid-April and the cows strip-grazed the blend throughout the season.

Each section was generally grazed off once every three weeks although this depended largely on the weather conditions.

Mr Paulger said Icon was quite impressive with the amount of bulk it produced throughout the season.

“It was quite amazing.

It was so dense and did so well.”

The operation is quite intense with the pastures driven quite hard throughout the season, although the grasses are inspected regularly and any grazing or forage decisions made on the amount available and needs at the time.

During spring rolls of silage was harvested from some of the pasture and the cows continued to graze it through until summer.

Ryegrass options in the area generally stop producing as the hotter weather arrives in spring, and Mr Paulger said he was impressed that

WHO:

Shane Paulger WHERE:

Kenilworth WHAT:

Shotgun mix

the Icon-based pasture continued on.

There were still cattle grazing the area in late November in spite of some very hot conditions earlier in the month where temperatures peaked at more than 40°C. “It was still getting water and fertiliser and the ryegrass is quite surprising and the clovers are still there.”

With summer grasses making a return in the summer months, the plan in autumn is to sow the same type of mix to feed the dairy cows through winter and spring.

“That is the way to go forward,” Mr Paulger said.

The shotgun mix of species in pasture on the property of Shane Paulger, at Kenilworth, Qld.

Sonik – rapid establishment and strong winter activity Take the worry out of winter feeding.

Sonik is the winter feed champion, with rapid establishment and strong growth rates over autumn, winter and spring providing the feed platform you need for great livestock performance.

SONIK IS AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL SEED MERCHANT OR FARM MERCHANDISE OUTLET

Sonik is ideal for over-sowing into run-out or damaged pastures, rejuvenating paddocks or for full cultivation as short term (1-2 year) specialist pastures.

Sonik has excellent tiller density for higher yield, persistence and better ground cover.

For further information on Sonik, contact our regional agronomists: Western Districts, SA, Tasmania: Jason Hill – 0427 607 375 North & East Victoria, NSW: Adam Sheedy – 0428 132 096

Cropmark Seeds Australia Pty Ltd Freephone: 1800 889 039 Freefax: 1800 889 037

www.cropmark.com.au

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

PASTURE IMPROVEMENT // 25

Research to test ryegrass cultivars INDEPENDENT RESEARCH is currently

underway to determine which perennial ryegrass cultivars perform best in different environments in Victoria.

The $5.4 million threeyear research project has been funded by Victoria’s Department of Primary Industries and Dairy Australia.

The research will include new field experiments that will evaluate the various ryegrass cultivars for their total and seasonal dry matter production, nutritive characteristics and persistence.

DEPI principal dairy scientist Dr Joe Jacobs said the work would help farmers improve home grown feedbase and feeding practices on dairy farms.

“Managing the components of a dairy farm’s feedbase is a key driver of profit in the dairy farm business, yet many producers lack the resources and knowledge required to select the best ryegrass cultivars to maximise the growth and profit of their feed supplies,” Dr Jacobs said.

“The economic pros and cons of integrating purchased feeds with farm grown feed will also be explored to help farmers identify the cost benefits and risks to their on farm

feed supplies.

“The research also seeks to investigate the impact that variable water supplies have on the persistence of different perennial ryegrass cultivars, which is important for areas like northern Victoria where water availability and use are key issues.”

Results from this research will then be used in conjunction with data from leading seed companies and other parallel research projects in New Zealand and Ireland to identify which cultivars best suit particular environments and dairy systems.

The research is part of a $40 million research partnership between the Victorian Government and Dairy Australia designed to accelerate productivity growth in the state’s dairy sector.

Dr Jacobs said the projects would support dairy farmers to make more informed decisions about home grown feedbase selections.

“Home grown feedbase is still the cheapest source of feed for the dairy industry. However, there are currently well over 40 different perennial ryegrass cultivars to choose from which makes it hard for farmers to choose the right cultivar,” Dr Jacobs said.

“Information gathered

from this research will enable dairy farmers to make more informed decisions about perennial ryegrass selections which, as

farmers know, are a key component of profitability as feed costs are 50% or more of the total cost of running a dairy farm.”

“MegaBite Italian Ryegrass surpasses all expectations, gives you longer lasting grass, greater persistence: growing more - faster.”

READ IT ALL WITH US ONLINE BREAKING NEWS MANAGEMENT STORIES MACHINERY REVIEWS AND MUCH MORE...

WWW.NOTMANPASTURE.COM.AU

NOTMAN Pasture Seeds

CONTACT NOTMAN PASTURE SEEDS FOR THE LATEST CULTIVARS AND HIGHEST QUALITY PASTURE SEED.

peter, elaine, gavin notman, adam fisher & andrew allsop

Real Farm Value and Know How contact us today: (03) 5659 2314 including comprehensive trial data, talk to Notman Pasture Seeds EMAIL: orders@notmanpasture.com.au AVAILABLE FROM:

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

26 // IRRIGATION

Finding the power-water sweet spot A NEW automated irriga-

tion system on Corey and Elizabeth Mitchell’s Lockington farm helps them find the ‘sweet spot’ of where it’s most cost-effective per kW of energy and per ML of water to pump water everywhere on the farm.

Soil moisture monitoring and scheduled irrigations have seen production per hectare and per megalitre rise, while a pump variable speed drive (VSD) protects pipes and will allow the most cost-effective water delivery to every part of the farm.

The Mitchells farm 810ha in northern Victoria.

“We’ve got 290ha under pipe and risers, with 60% fully automated. The split up is a 168ha dairy farm that’s 70% fully automated, and our 122ha home block, where we run our young stock, do our corn and some of our cropping program,” Mr Mitchell said.

A further 318ha can be irrigated.

“We’ve got the system set up so data from the soil moisture probes gets texted through to our phone to say that paddock will need water in two days.

“So we order water when it’s required, and

WHO:

Corey and Elizabeth Mitchell WHERE:

Lockington WHAT:

Automated irrigation

aren’t losing production in plant growth.”

Data from the probes comes via Observant Global, which is accessible anywhere there’s internet

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The Mitchells have installed fixed AWMA riser heads and also use roving heads, which they move around during the day to where they want, then program them to run a schedule at night.

Another major area the Mitchells are seeing benefits is via a variable speed drive (VSD) from SwitchGear on their pump.

This has many advantages, the first being at pump start-up and shutdown.

“With the VSD, the pump gradually starts up and shuts down, it’s not a big influx of power straight up or at the end,” Mr Mitchell said.

“The biggest problem with a pipe-and-riser system is water hammering, but that doesn’t happen when the power on and off is gradual, so it protects the pipeline.

Corey Mitchell has installed automated irrigation on his Lockington farm.

“On top of that, the VSD gives us a lot of information — including kilowatt and megalitre usage, and also informs of any faults; for example, power failure and loss of pressure.”

It is the VSD that allows the Mitchells to find a ‘sweet spot’ of where it’s most cost-effective per kW and per ML of water to pump water everywhere on the farm.

“On average, it costs us $4.20 per ML, which consists of as low as $1.66 offpeak and $5.70 on-peak.

breds.

“We were at 500 milkers then went to 550 and now we have 600,” Mr Mitchell said.

“As well as automated irrigation, we have probes monitoring soil moisture, and because of that we’re more efficient with pasture use.

“I don’t expect to see our production per cow go up, but we have seen production per hectare and per megalitre go up, and we’re seeing savings in buying in less feed and water.”

Set and forget system provides peace of mind A NEW automated system that will ensure dairy farmers’ stock troughs never run dry has been developed to give peace of mind about on-farm watering systems.

Mait Industries, based in Melbourne, have released a CR-X Cable Replacement Series Bi-directional switch.

This remote tank fill method allows the CR-X unit to be connected to the pump source with a level switch at the water tank, with another CR-X unit and gravity feed to the stock troughs. Farmers can simply connect and set a float switch, then sit

DAIRY NEWS ON THE GO CHECK OUT THE LATEST NEWS AND INFORMATION AT

www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au Available every month

“We’re just starting to use the VSD to all its advantages now.

“For example, for the furtherest base, we might program in 20 ML but the VSD tells us we’re using 30 kW of power, so we might drop it back to 15 ML and only use 20 kW of power.”

The Observant Global system also allows them to start-up and shutdown via the phone or laptop if necessary.

The Mitchells run 600 milkers, predominantly Holstein Friesians, with 20% Jerseys and cross-

just look for the arrow!

back and relax knowing the tank and troughs will never run dry.

The wireless bi-directional switch, powered from a nominal 12 volt DC power source, will operate up to 6km range in line-of-site. If a particular application needs additional range, it is a straightforward process to add repeaters.

The Mait Industries CR-X units are ideal for remote control of pumps and valves where laying of cable is expensive, not feasible or simply not desired. They are also useful for remote monitoring of switch states, such as for pressure and flow

switches. The system can be used for numerous applications, such as pump or machine start.

A standard in-built, 3AH, rechargeable Lithium battery pack can be used as the power source, kept charged via a 15 volt DC 1A regulated plug pack. If mains power is not available a 12 volt solar panel (5 or 10W) may be used.

The system can be powered directly from a 12VDC plug pack if mains power is reliable and battery backup is not required. Optional cards are available to allow two latching solenoids to be controlled from the one CR-X unit.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

IRRIGATION // 27

Higher fodder yields through drip irrigation IN 2006, northern Vic-

torian dairy farmer Brett Dixon was faced with reduced irrigation allocations for the permanent water right he owned and high costs for the temporary water he had to purchase to irrigate his 650ha farm.

He had also noticed the tomato farms around him were no longer irrigating by flooding water down the furrows, but using buried drip irrigation systems.

One of these tomato growers had rotated tomato crops out of one of his drip irrigation paddocks and sowed lucerne.

“We were very impressed with the results he achieved using drip irrigation to grow lucerne,” Mr Dixon said.

These factors were all catalysts for Mr Dixon deciding to install 20ha of sub-surface drip irrigation on his farm in late 2007.

He added another 20ha of drip irrigation in 2012.

He now runs this 40ha as a fodder production system for his business.

He grew lucerne for the first six years on the original 20ha, and maize silage after that. The second 20ha block was sown with maize for the first year and is now growing lucerne.

As well as a significant improvement in yield and water use efficiency, there are other benefits.

“The whole system is automatically controlled,” Mr Dixon said.

“I set a program on the irrigation controller and the pump starts, and changes blocks over after

Israel in the 1960s. Since then, the company has seen a global revolution in the use of drip irrigation systems for many different crops.

For Mr Dixon, there are

three main positives.

“The sub-surface drip system has allowed me to achieve higher yields and reduce my water use.

“It also requires less labour to operate. On a

busy dairy farm with a significant feed requirement, and with the cost of water increasing, these factors have made the decision to install drip irrigation pay off.”

Brett Dixon

WHO:

Brett Dixon WHERE:

Merrigum WHAT:

Sub-surface drip irrigation

the allocated time.

“The controller also automatically injects fertiliser into the water during the irrigation – so these nutrients go directly to the root zone.”

The drip irrigation pipes, or ‘drip lines’, used on the Dixon farm are the same as those used in many other crops.

Polyethylene pipe, 22 mm in diameter in the case of the Dixon farm, are inserted under the ground at a depth of 25cm. Inside the pipe, every 50cm, there is an emitter which regulates the outward flow of water, in this case to 1 litre per hour.

The system is carefully designed so that the peak water requirement – the amount of water the crop will consume per day at peak growing and evaporation periods - can be delivered. For the Dixon system, there is a capacity to apply 12mm of irrigation water per day.

Mr Dixon made the decision to install a Netafim sub-surface drip irrigation system. Netafim pioneered the development of drip irrigation in

“We now have faster flow, with all the convenience of automation.

What used to take four and a half days now takes 22 hours.”

Stephen and Lisa Cox, Yalca, VIC

Stephen and Lisa Cox milk 700 cows, and they installed the software, I had a one when they pulled out their gravity-fed hour lesson and I was ready to go.” arrangement to install a comprehensive pipe and riser system, they needed to Mait Industries provides innovative efficiently control the watering to each monitoring and irrigation of their flood bays at the right time. control solutions for dairying.

Their radio-controlled ‘iNTELLiTROL’ With extensive agronomic and electronics and software system engineering expertise, we can from Mait Industries controls the assist farmers to improve water two pumps and 91 risers. The risers management practices. are fully automated, individually To find out how ‘iNTELLiTROL’ programmed and supply to individual irrigation solutions can save you flood bays, with a sotlar panel to time and money, and increase provide power for every three risers. water use efficiency, contact Lisa programs the times for each pump Mait Industries on 1300 739 920 or to start, and which risers to operate, call Dean Taylor on 0428 994 716 either individually or as part of a designated group. “We looked at three systems. There was nothing that the others offered that Mait didn’t, for about half the price. It was so simple to follow,

www.mait.com.au

These maize crops were watered with sub-surface drip irrigation.

MI11411_280x 187_DN.indd 1

3/02/14 7:41 PM

Dairy News AUSTRALIA february 2015

28 // breeding management

Health index will save time TIM HUMPHRIS’S prioritises health and fertility traits over production so is understandably keen to see the new Health Weighted Index (HWI) in

the April release of Australian Breeding Values (ABVs).

Tim and his wife Lyndal run a three-way cross breeding program

with Aussie Reds, Jersey and Holsteins for their 330-cow herd, located near Tongala.

“We have about 30 registered Aussie Reds and

I’ve always held a strong interest in breeding, especially selecting bulls,” Mr Humphris said.

When making breeding decisions, he gives

Tim Humphries with his herd.

higher priority to health and fertility traits over production. A vet for 15 years before turning to dairy farming, he was well aware of the declining fertility in Australian dairy herds.

“Improving health and fertility in our herd was the main reason we opted for the three-way cross program. In the past I’ve selected primarily on fertility and longevity, giving next priority to production,” he said.

Mr Humprhis said the new Health Weighted Index embodies what he’s been trying to breed for.

He is expecting the HWI to take away the hard slog of the research dairy farmers have had to do in the past.

“As soon as the Good Bulls Guide comes out I’ll go straight to the bull list sorted by Health Weighted Index for each breed. I’ll be able to quickly make a short list of bulls that are potentially suited to our herd. Then I will evaluate bulls on my short list a lot more closely.”

Who:

Tim Humphris Where:

Tongala What:

Health ABVs

Although he has his animals classified, Mr Humphris doesn’t take much notice of type when selecting bulls.

“Our breeding program is very focussed on improving health and fertility. All bulls in the Good Bulls Guide will deliver gains in production, so that’s a given. We believe that improving health and fertility as well as longevity are the next most important contributions breeding can make to improve our dairy business.”

The HWI is one of three new breeding indexes to be released in April. The others are the Balanced Performance Index, which replaces the current Australian Profit Ranking (APR); and the Type Weighted Index (TWI).

Genomic testing for global bulls ABS AUSTRALIA will now genomically test all

global bulls destined for the domestic market.

ABS Australia and New Zealand general manager James Smallwood says the company was partnering with ADHIS to complete the genomic testing over the past year at bull production facilities in Europe, North America and Australia.

“From that we will get an understanding of how those bulls are likely to perform in Australia,’’ Mr Smallwood said.

“We have a global sourcing ability but we only bring into the market what we know will actually work in the Australian environment.

“Not all bulls are created equal and some will perform better under certain environments or management conditions.’’

Mr Smallwood said bulls would be genomically rated to give them an estimated production performance under Australian conditions.

He said feedback from Australian farmers had resulted in a renewed focus on the three key areas of fertility, type and production.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

ANIMAL HEALTH // 29

Pre-calving checklist Planning and preparation for the upcoming calving season will help ensure that everything runs smoothly during this busy time. The following checklist from The Vet Group’s Gemma Chuck will help prepare and plan prior to calving and help ensure that nothing gets forgotten or missed.

HOUSING ■ All bedding and manure removed and each pen thoroughly cleaned out. It is best to do this as soon as the last calf leaves the shed to prolong drying time and UV exposure.

■ All partitions, walls and gates scrubbed (pressure washed if possible) to remove stubborn bedding/dried manure.

■ Allow all surfaces to dry. Lime will help this drying process.

■ Partitions, walls and floors disinfected e.g. Virkon S. ■ New bedding ordered and suitably stored.

■ Check for problem ventilation areas in the shed (cobwebs are a simple sign that airflow is suboptimal). Make necessary changes (installation of whirlybirds, vented and offset back walls).

■ Repair any partitions and gates.

■ Isolation/sick calf pen(s). Is there room for improvement?

■ Calf trailer: replace and/or fix anything necessary. Should be pressure washed at the end of calving and disinfected. Treat the same as one of the calf pens.

RECORDS ■ Replace any recording equipment as necessary (eg. new whiteboard, marker pens, files, notebooks).

■ Backup any previous records.

DRY OFF AND VACCINATION ■ Review mastitis records from the last calving. If more than 5% of cows &/or heifers had clinical mastitis in the first two weeks after calving, talk with your vet about your farm’s drying off protocols and dry cow management to see if any changes can be made to reduce the risk of mastitis (eg. the use of a teat sealant or training sessions for staff).

■ A teat sealant can also be very useful in preventing the leaking of milk prior to calving: it is important to ensure you and your staff are appropriately trained in the use of these products.

■

■

■

■ ■

■

Plan appropriate vaccination schedule in conjunction with your vet.

Order appropriate vaccines for all groups of animals to guarantee availability.

Vaccinate cows at appropriate times, according to each products instructions.

Compile accurate list of cow and heifer due-to-calve dates.

Establish transition feeding plan to ensure optimal body condition score at calving and minimal loss in body condition score post-calving.

Review the expected calving pattern and plan ahead where cows will be calving. For calving pads, ensure the pad has been thoroughly cleaned and new bedding has been ordered prior to the expected calving. If calving cows in paddocks, are additional paddocks available in the event of wet weather? Will heifers be calving in a separate area to cows? For both, where will cows have their lead feed (in the dairy vs springer paddock) Do any troughs or feeders need replacing?

ASSISTED CALVINGS ■ Repair any damaged parts to the crush. Service all moving parts/gates to ensure easy operation and use.

■ Minimum of 2 x short chains/ ropes, 1 x head snare.

■ Pulley/calving jack in working order.

■ Obstetrical lubricant and gloves.

■ Calf resuscitator/towels for drying and stimulating calves.

COLOSTRUM MANAGEMENT & NEWBORN CARE ■ Order NLIS tags and Farm ID tags for the entire calving period.

■ Ensure the tagger is working.

Replace if necessary.

■ 7% iodine spray or dip for navels.

■ Order new colostrum storage equipment (eg. Perfect Udder, juice/milk bottles).

■ Order new colostrum feeding equipment if necessary (eg.

Perfect udder bags/tube

■

■

■

■

■ ■

feeders).

Brix refractometer for assessing colostrum quality. Does it need replacing/re-calibrating?

Order potassium sorbate for preserving colostrum, if required.

Check the seals of the fridge and freezer. Replace as necessary.

Check both fridge and freezer are working properly to the desired temperatures. Defrost the freezer prior to calving if necessary.

Clean jugs for pouring colostrum into feeders.

Source cleaning equipment: detergent (household liquid soap), household bleach, scrubbing brushes, rubber gloves.

TREATMENT OF SICK CALVES ■ Review of treatment protocols with staff and vet.

■ Box of gloves in suitable sizes, designated boots & apron/overalls in calf shed for treating sick calves.

■ Electrolytes bought and stored appropriately.

■ Sick-calf only feeders (for milk & electrolytes).

■ Repair or replace calf blankets as required.

■ 5 ml syringes and 18 gauge 1 inch needles FEEDING ■ Replace old and scratched feeders.

■ Replace all weathered teats.

Clean and disinfect new ones.

■ Order calf milk replacer (if necessary) and store appropriately (away from dogs/wildlife).

■ If feeding calf milk replacer: scales and jugs for accurate measuring.

■ Order calf concentrate (pellets or meal) – ensure it contains 18–20% crude protein (%DM) and a coccidiostat such as Bovatec or Rumensin. Check with your vet if you need advice.

■ Clean water troughs and supply pipes if possible. If using tank water, ensure filter is clean and in the correct place. Repair/ replace any leaking parts.

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30 // ANIMAL HEALTH

Putting AI technicians under scrutiny Farmwest AI specialist Paul Kersten was approached by Dairy Australia to conduct on-farm AI refresher courses in Western Australia. The aim was to provide information to help with AI training and training of trainers nationally. The courses were also to assist technicians in semen handling and AI technique in an effort to help get more cows in calf. Mr Kersten provided his thoughts after completing 20 refresher courses.

INSEMINATORS IN

WA, young and old have been trained in various places including Western Australia, Victoria, New Zealand, Canada and UK by an array of trainers.

Rod Brasher and Jackie Hall were common names mentioned but also trainers from 20, 30, even 40

years ago, from the Ag dept. One person had no training at all and was selftaught.

As a result there was a huge cross-section of techniques and procedures.

Some participants had great ideas I had not seen before. Ruth McGregor sewing three button holes

in the front of Ian’s overalls so he could slide inseminating pistolettes into them for insulation between the loading and inseminating was one of them. Patrick from Brenan’s putting the loaded pistolettes into a sterile glove and putting the glove down the front of his

Luke Ieraci ensuring only a tiny speck of semen is visible when pruning straws.

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2 Runciman DJ, Malmo J, Deighton, M. The use of an internal teat sealant in combination with cloxacillin dry cow therapy for the prevention of clinical and subclinical mastitis in seasonal calving dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 2010; 93: 4582–91. 3 Dairy Australia. Countdown Mastitis Toolkit (Version 1.02), 21 Oct 2013. Retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/countdown-mastitis-toolkit/id710948379?mt=8&ls=1 Accessed 3/1/14.

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shirt for the same reason and Bob Biddulph, using yellow pages for paper towels.

Matt Fairbrass gets the tip of the day award from his trainer Jackie Hall. If you’re new to AI and the boss is hovering, you say “My trainer said if there’s someone watching and waiting tell them to bugger off.”

On the flipside, some handling of semen made me cringe and hope to never see that again. No names will be forthcoming.

From the 40-odd technicians that were checked for placement in the cow, generally the placement was very good, excellent in fact. Almost everyone got a clean entry by parting the lips of the vulva. It would be good to see a few more technicians using paper towels for both drying straws and wiping the vulva.

Outlined below are the highlights for improvement: Those who have automatic thawers should still use a thermometer. One auto thawer we checked was reading too high 38°C. They can be adjusted via thermostat under the bottom plate.

A colleague had a thawer, which was reading 41°C when checked, which meant the semen was getting half cooked. Keeping a temperature gauge with your auto thawer is like a double check.

Semen is still suffering

from over exposure. Best to keep straws below the frost line, use of tweezers will help.

There are 4-5 drops of semen in a traditional dose. When priming straws (bubbling as it seems to be called) ensure there is only a tiny dot exposed. If there is half a drop that could be 15% of semen, they are out of the race before they start.

The trophy for cleanest AI kit was not awarded as there were too few participants. Some boiling water and scrubbing brush would not go amiss as well as disassembly of AI pistolettes - and pour hot water down the barrels, wipe the plungers with paper towels, you’ll be surprised at what you see.

Some AI schools teach technicians to manoeuvre the gun and push the gun through the cervix. This is poor technique. The bulk of the work is done with the left hand, manipulating the cervix. Placing the cervix onto the pistolette is correct.

It appears 90% of semen tanks are not checked for nitrogen levels, dependent solely on their monthly top up.

This is fine to a degree but a can that loses vacuum is costly. Checking nitrogen levels once a week is easy and you will notice if levels are rapidly dropping. If you don’t have a dipper use a piece of dowel or broom handle. Don’t use anything hollow as liquid TO PAGE 31

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

ANIMAL HEALTH // 31

Costs rack up with incorrect pregnancy diagnosis CATTLE PREGNANCY testing

can boost a producer’s bottom line but it must be accurate, says Australian Cattle Veterinarians (ACV), a special interest group of the Australian Veterinary Association.

To meet industry demand for quality assurance in pregnancy diagnosis, the ACV developed the only accredited and audited cattle pregnancy testing scheme in Australia, the National Cattle Pregnancy Diagnosis (NCPD) scheme.

In order to become accredited as an NCPD veterinarian, the ACV

member must demonstrate accuracy both in pregnancy diagnosis and in the ability to estimate the expected calving dates of animals confirmed as pregnant.

President of ACV, Dr Enoch Bergman, said the NCPD scheme is one of the most stringent pregnancy diagnosis schemes globally.

“Many farms underestimate the return on investment of accurate pregnancy testing,” Dr Bergman said.

“Pregnancy diagnosis isn’t just about measuring the success of

Putting AI technicians under scrutiny FROM PAGE 30

nitrogen can spit out the hollow centre.

A word of warning: If you own a GT 21 tank, watch it like a hawk or change it as all the cans of this type that we know of lost vacuum this year.

As you’re about to push the plunger, be aware of where your fingers are to ensure you don’t block off the left horn. Especially be aware of this if you put your right arm into the cow.

Don’t flick straws to get rid of the excess nitrogen as to avoid blown straws, as previously taught internationally. New evidence suggests the head of the sperm in its frozen crystalline state may be subject to fracture. It is best to dab the plug end of the straw a couple of times in the thaw water before immersing it fully.

A couple of topics came up through a survey we conducted and general discussions: Sexed Semen Personally, I believe sexed semen hit the market too soon. Because of the hype it became a race between semen companies and the product released to the market was average at best. Hence some early users may be a bit shy of using it again.

I believe the sexed semen we use today is markedly improved. More recent scanned results and actual calving results have been encouraging, espe-

cially with maiden heifers and especially on natural heats or doing two rounds to synchronizing (Cue Mates plus PG and AI to detected heats over two days.) i.e. cue mates go back in 13 days after first AI. This means two rounds of AI are completed within 22 days of planned start of mating. With several herds this has meant 75% of heifers having heifer calves in first three weeks of calving. Huge benefits.

Tail Paint If you’re thinking of using heat detection aids to identify non-cycling cows before mating starts and after, consider tail paint. Two inches wide eight inches long from the crown of the tail toward the head. The hair should be brushed or sprayed so it stands up, not flat and matted. The key to tail paint is it has to be touched up regularly.

In conclusion, I believe the best thing we can do on dairy farms to help with AI technique is to check each other. The senior technician on the farm should be checking the junior and vice versa for semen handling, thawing and placement in the cow. Checking is not about egos, it’s about working together striving to get more cows in calf.

• Paul Kersten is an AI specialist with Farmwest. This is an edited version of an article first printed in Farmwest News and reprinted with permission.

the bulls, predicting the next calf crop, or injecting cash flow into a producer’s enterprise.

“Pregnancy testing is about ensuring that every cow on a property is working as hard as the producers that own them.”

Dr Bergman said inaccuracy costs money. “Accuracy is critical to get a good return on your investment. For example, if you incorrectly diagnose a cow and put it back in the field believing it’s pregnant when it’s not, that’s an extra year’s worth of feed.

“For example, every cow believed to be pregnant may cost upwards of $400 a year in feed and other care. Errors as low as 1% over the entire heard in diagnosing a non-pregnant cow as pregnant can result in significant wasted feed costs. And every pregnant cow incorrectly diagnosed as not pregnant and then culled means the producer misses out on the sale of that calf.”

Under the NCPD scheme, only accredited vets are able to apply tags.

Dr Enoch Bergman

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

32 // ANIMAL HEALTH

What’s causing your herd’s mastitis?

THE NEW Year has come

and with it another lot of challenges for our dairy farms.

For spring calved herds it is not that unusual to see the somatic cell count (SCC) creeping up as the herd is now past peak per-

ANIMAL HEALTH ROB BONANNO

formance.

Milk production tends to fall at up to 10% of the peak lactation level per month (which is why ensuring your herd peaks as high as possible is important to ensure lactational persistence).

As there is less milk flow, sub clinically infected cows will tend to have more somatic cells per litre.

As a rough general rule, every 100,000 SCC represents about 10% of quarters in your herd are

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infected, so if your SCC is around 250,000 then it is fair to assume that on average 1 in 4 quarters in your herd will be carrying an infection.

Often herds will have been staying below the targets for clinical mastitis of two new cases of clinical disease per 100 cows per month but will still see their SCC increasing due to new sub clinical infections.

I have written before of the importance of milk cultures in cases of clinical mastitis to assist in treatment decisions but with high SCC cows there are challenges in even identifying which cows are responsible for the blowout.

Herd recording to identify the high cell count cows is a key strategy for any farmer who finds themselves in a situation where their SCC is increasing without seeing new clinical cases.

Culturing the highest SCC cows to determine what bacteria is responsible will give you not only vital information of what might be the best therapeutic option(s), but will also give you information as to the likely prognosis (outcome) of any treatment program, where the bacteria may have come from (environment or contagious from another cow) and what the risk factors are that will have caused the infections.

Trying to investigate or manage a mastitis problem without the minimum required information is pretty much a hopeless scenario in my eyes.

At least once a year, I would recommend that you get a bulk milk PCR test performed to check for the presence of evidence of Mycoplasma Sp. In addition, you should discuss with your veterinarian any time you see a spike in mastitis that is

poorly responsive to treatment or if there is any signs of mastitis associated with joint swellings.

Cows that are identified with high SCC can be managed several different ways.

Culling persistently high count cows should never be overlooked as an option, but culling the high SCC cows without identifying and addressing the issues that are causing the subclinical infection is a sure fire recipe for disaster.

Identifying cows who are pregnant and maybe drying them off early is another option that can be discussed with your veterinarian, as is identifying the sub clinically infected quarter and making the cow a “3 titter” by drying off the infected quarter only.

I would recommend highly that you discuss that strategy with your vet and never put antibiotic dry cow therapy into any cow that is not moving out of the milking herd immediately.

In a number of cases, an antibiotic course using registered lactating cow products, sometimes in an extended therapy program, can result in an improvement or elimination of the infection but advice again is recommended.

Occasionally, I have worked with herds that decide to milk infected cows as a separate herd or at the end of milking to prevent spread of contagious mastitis infections.

More often farms will identify their high SCC cows and back flush and disinfect the cups after milking those cows as a strategy to prevent new infections from occurring.

• Rob Bonanno is a director of the Shepparton Veterinary Practice and a former president of the Australian Cattle Veterinarians Association.

DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 2015

MACHINERY & PRODUCT // 33

Front end loader a revelation ROGER AND Amanda

Heath knew they would need to invest in new machinery when they recently bought the family dairy farm from Roger’s parents, Peter and Janice.

The couple, with their six children, milk 300 JerWORKING CLOTHES seys and some IllawarCHRIS DINGLE ras on the 260ha property, with a 22ha run-off leased raking and baling,” said block for the heifers, at Mr Heath.

Bookaar near CamperIn April last year they down in Victoria’s Westbought a New Holland ern District.

T5.105 with an MX frontIt is a fourth generaend loader through the tion dairy, started by Mr Heath’s great, great-grand- Swayn & McCabe dealership at Colac. mother on 40ha and he “The 112 horsepower has been there for 21 years, is the ideal size for us. We leaving school at 15 to come home to do the milk- chose this New Holland model because it is a basic ing and undergo his farm tractor and because of the apprenticeship on the reliability that we got from place. the old tractor.

“We previously had a “It had to be easy to New Holland TS100 tracuse, we have one full-time tor which is still going operator, Tyson Osborne, strong on the farm after and he is the main opera10,000 hours. It was the tor of the machine. main tractor and will now “It runs well with great be kept for feeding out,

WHO:

Roger and Amanda Heath WHERE:

Bookar via Camperdown WHAT:

New Holland tractor

visibility, it’s really hard to fault. The hydraulics are very, very quick.”

The recently-released T5.105 has a 3.4 litre 4-cylinder diesel engine which is Tier 4A emission compliant and utilises New Holland’s Cooled Exhaust Gas Recirculation (CEGR) system and a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF).

The ‘common rail’ system for diesel engines was first introduced to the agricultural industry by New Holland in 2003, and

Roger Heath with a New Holland T5.105 with an NX frontend loader.

they claim the benefits in comparison with conventional engines include reduced engine noise, better combustion, higher engine power density and lower emissions.

The tractor runs a 12x12 transmission with electrohydraulic power shuttle which makes jobs like operating a front-end loader much easier.

The hydraulics have

an open-centre system with tandem gear pumps providing a combined total flow of 99 litres per minute in standard configuration. Remote levers are within easy reach on the ergonomic CommandArc console.

“This is the first tractor that we have had with a FEL, and we should have had one 20 years ago”, said Mr Heath. “It’s amazing

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and put on the bucket.

“It’s more than halved the time in changing over to the bucket. Mechanically it is a very simple quick fix.”

Mr Heath is passionate about his cows, with a big interest in the stud side through their Wanstead Jersey stud, started by his great grandparents. “I just love the cows – always TO PAGE 34

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34 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Haybob stands test of time IT GOES without saying that most of my machinery is aged somewhere between ‘old junk’ and ‘classic’ (on a good day).

These machines are mostly older designs, forged to a standard that we now recall with a wistful ‘they don’t make them like that anymore’.

Happily, in some cases they still do. A case in point is the ‘haybob’, that you-beaut little piece of small scale hay making

wizardry known to almost all farmers, which I recently discovered.

As reported in a previous edition of this column, I was on the lookout for a tedder that could do more than simply create a slightly wider, fluffier windrow than the same machine in raking mode.

I had distanced myself from the combo concept and was prepared to fork out for a proper

GRUNT

JOHN DROPPERT tedder to get the job done.

Unfortunately, the local dealers either had no tedders, or no discernable

interest in actually selling theirs, so the search was broadened.

On the suggestion of someone older and wiser than myself, I had a look at the haybob – a machine designed over half a century ago, and virtually unchanged since.

For those that don’t know, the haybob is a two rotor tedder/rake combo.

Unlike most rotary rakes and tedders, the rotors are framed as a basket, with

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The haybob is a two rotor tedder/rake combo.

the tynes oriented horizontally, rather than vertically on arms.

To switch from tedding to raking, you change the angle on the tynes, reorient the machine, and lower one or more swath curtains or baffles to catch the thrown material and direct it into a windrow.

Despite over 50 years of testing it still seems ingenious, mostly because it’s complex enough to work, but that’s it. Good at tedding, good at raking, and great for reminding any doubters that not quite all the technology that’s worth having was invented yesterday.

Despite being a relatively diminutive and ugly machine, the haybob design is so good (and

presumably so far out of patent) that a number of major manufacturers still build them.

The design has changed so little that I’m told that the part numbers in the manual are the same numbers as for the original machines built by Dutch company PZ. They are near impossible to get second hand, so lashing out on a new one was the only option anyway.

Usually around 3-3.6m working width, depending on the model, the haybob is a small machine – making it fairly slow going in the paddock, even if you can achieve a decent working speed.

The biggest users these days are hobby and small

to medium commercial farms, though being adept at breaking up rained-on windrows, I’d be surprised if a good number of contractors don’t have one floating around as well.

The haybob proves that old is not necessarily outdated, that they do ‘still make them like that’, and that you can have a tedder/ rake combo that does a decent job of both.

Pretty hard to pick a stand-out from those, really.

• John Droppert has no mechanical qualifications whatsoever, but has been passionate about tractors since before he could talk and has operated many different makes and models in a variety of roles for both profit and fun.

New Holland front end loader a revelation FROM PAGE 33

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have!” He has been a classifier with the Jersey Association for 11 years, and through that he gets to see lots of the country.

He said it had been a very ordinary season for hay; “We made all our own silage of 600 bales, we usually do 1000, and have been buying in hay.

We normally work on 1000 bales of silage and 1000 of hay. The rain shut off in early August, we always usually get a spring.”

He said they need to milk 300 cows for debt replacement. They run a self-replacing herd and they will bring on 100 new cows into the shed

this year. For the future they would like to sit at 300 cows comfortably but will need to increase numbers in the next few years, probably up to 340.

As part of their upgrading, program automatic cluster removers and stall gates are on the list, as will be a new feed system.

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