Getting the Basics Right 2012

2012

Profitable Dairying

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

FOREWORD // 3

Market volatility means we have to farm smarter DR TIM MACKLE IS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF DAIRYNZ GETTING THE BASICS right is a key part of successful

dairy farming. The basics don’t apply just to cows and grass either, they encompass the whole farm system, from your cows to your shed to your people management to your effluent system and your financial management.

This year’s theme of ‘profitable dairying’ is becoming increasingly relevant. While we’ve had good prices last year, the only thing that’s certain about the future is that it’s going to be a volatile one.

Global demand for our high quality dairy products is strong, and we need to continue to increase our productivity to keep our competitive position on the international market. Our environmental footprint can’t keep growing at the same rate – we need to reduce that, or at the very least maintain it – to ensure we continue to farm with the support of the New Zealand public.

Getting the basics right will ensure we can control our businesses’ resilience to external events, such as price volatility, extreme weather events, and a tougher regulatory environment and DairyNZ has been focussed on ensuring farmers have the knowledge and the skills to build resilience into their systems.

At the heart of every successful dairy farm is good farming practice and good people management, along with great training. For the dairy industry to continue to prosper and grow, we need increase the emphasis we place on training people. There are tremendous career and growth opportunities in the industry, and we need to attract the best and the brightest to dairy farming. We also need to ensure that farmers are making the best of all training and learning opportunities available to them and their staff. Making good use of the information in this publication is a great start.

A recent analysis of owner-operator operating

Good farming practice and good people management is at the heart of every successful dairy farm.

profit done by our DairyBase team showed that the difference between the bottom 25% of farms and the top 25% was $1600/ha. Very little of the variation could be explained by region, farming system or herd size. The variation in profits is driven by factors farmers can control – understanding your farm business better and finding areas you can manage differently will create opportunities to make greater profit.

Across the board there is a lot more to gain from getting the average farm to be like the best farm. To do this, you have to first get the basics right, and build from there.

A lot of the information you need will be contained in this year’s issue of Getting the Basics Right, and I encourage you to read it so you can benefit from the vast amount of knowledge that’s out there to enable you to ensure you’re farming as profitably, competitively and sustainably as possible.

DAIRYNZ DELIVERING VALUE DairyNZ is the industry good organisation representing New Zealand’s dairy farmers. It is funded by a levy on milksolids and through government investment and its purpose is to secure and enhance the profitability, sustainability and competitiveness of New Zealand dairy farming. DairyNZ delivers value to farmers through leadership, influencing, investing, partnering with other organisations and through our own strategic capability. Its work includes research and development to create practical on-farm tools, leading on-farm adoption of best practice farming, promoting careers in dairying and advocating for farmers with central and regional government. For more information, visit www.dairynz.co.nz

31

CONTENTS 06 Pasture

06

Poor grazing adds stress to ryegrass pastures.

14

Silage

Tips on making quality silage

22

Mating Management

BW in the herd means money in the bank

40 Calving

Matching calves born overnight to their correct mothers

42 Mastitis EDITOR Sudesh Kissun sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

29

Autumn is a key time for prevention

46 Soil

PUBLISHER Brian Hight

Healthy and fertile soils fuel pasture growth

48 Effluent

ADVERTISING MANAGER Ted Darley

Maintaining your farm effluent system

58 Maize

PRODUCTION AND DESIGN Dave Ferguson Becky Williams PRINTED BY PMP

More than just a supplementary feed

66 Feed 49

PUBLISHED BY Rural News Group Top Floor, 29 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622

Keeping cows in milk during mid-lactation

72

Fertiliser

The bio-farming debate

82 Technology

PO Box 3855, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140

Complete farm management systems puts you in control

86 Agribusiness

Phone 09.307.0399 Fax 09.307.0122

84

Corporate management of dairy farms

94 Employment

Choosing the right people to work for you

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

6 // PASTURE

Poor grazing adds stress to ryegrass pastures

by Chris Glassey, DairyNZ farm systems specialist, on behalf of the Pasture Renewal Leadership Group

damaged during grazing, allowing the tiller to regrow after grazing.

At any one time each tiller has up to three live leaves and one or more dying leaves.

Persistence of pastures is strongly linked to how tillers respond to the frequency, severity and timing of grazing and the growing conditions (i.e temperature and moisture) at the time.

Perennial ryegrasses mainly reproduce asexually through daughter tillers which become

RYEGRASS PASTURES, ESPECIALLY in the upper

North Island, face multiple stresses such as moisture deficits, high temperatures and insect pests. Appropriate grazing management can reduce the impact of these stresses, while poor grazing management will add to them.

Grazing management impacts on ryegrass persistence by influencing the number and size of tillers in a pasture. The degree of influence it has on persistence varies by season.

A tiller is a part of a ryegrass plant. Each tiller has a growing point from which new leaves grow. The growing point is found at the base of the tiller, close to the soil surface.

This means it is rarely

separated from the parent tiller and result in a new plant. Few new ryegrass plants emerge in established pasture through seed germination under existing management. For pastures to persist, each tiller must leave behind at least one offspring.

The survival, size and number of tillers in a pasture depend on the rate of new tillers appearing and old tillers dying. Plants will respond to stress by stopping tiller production. Ryegrass pastures can change between having many small tillers per m², resulting from frequent intense grazing, to fewer larger tillers per m², resulting from less frequent grazing. The resulting dry matter (DM) production is similar in both pastures.

Grazing management also

impacts on pasture production and quality. Understanding the principles of grazing management for optimal pasture growth and quality is required.

These are briefly summarised as the following general rules: kk Graze between the two and

three leaf stage – at the three leaf stage if short of feed and at the two leaf stage if there is plenty of feed

kk Graze to a consistent, even

post-grazing residual of 3.5-4cm height (1500-1600kg DM/ha, 7-8 clicks using the rising platemeter [RPM] winter formula) to maximise pasture yield and quality, and milk production. Lower residuals will reduce pasture regrowth (except in winter).

Higher residuals reduce pasture quality for subsequent rotations.

A large ungrazed ryegrass plant with four live tillers.

One of these tillers (inset) shows an elevated node. The growing point is now above this node, indicating seed head development. This growing point is normally close to ground level. Grazing or cutting below the node causes this tiller to die. A replacement tiller is required to keep tiller density.

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

PASTURE // 7

PRINCIPLES FOR INCREASING THE PERSISTENCE OF NEW PASTURES: Season

Pasture response relevant to ryegrass persistence

Good management: improved persistence

Bad management: reduced persistence

Recommended rotation length

Recommended grazing residuals (grazing residuals are expressed as height in clicks, as measured by the rising plate number)

Summer: December to January

Increased temperature and lower soil moisture means new ryegrass leaves take longer to emerge after grazing.

Reduce grazing frequency allowing for slower leaf emergence.

Repeated severe grazings, to residuals below target.

Grazing prior to three leaf stage.

25-32 days.

Disadvantages of longer rotations are: • They can allow the summer grasses to dominate • Inability to achieve target grazing residuals if moisture is not limiting.

No fewer than seven clicks (1500kg DM).

The plants respond by producing smaller and thinner leaves for moisture conservation.

Prevent the herd grazing below the consistent grazing residual, determined at previous grazings, by using supplements or crops.

Long rotations that allow paspalum and kikuyu to dominate.

Some plant roots die after grazing. Grazing more often during droughts results in root death and less root replacement.

Autumn: March to May

With the removal of moisture stress, the autumn is often the first period where ryegrass pastures start recovering tiller density.

Feed supplements and keep a Allocating too much 30-40 days long rotation to allow pasture pasture area (fast March-April, 60 recovery after a dry period. rotation) immediately days May after rain.

Rotation length remains similar to or longer than Frequent intense grazing summer. before plants reach the three leaf stage reduces recovery of tiller numbers during autumn.

Spring: September Frequent grazing favours Consistent post-grazing to November ryegrass tiller initiation residuals, with grazing timed by: between the two to three leaf stage.

• Preventing shading.

Light encourages initiation of tillers from buds at the base of the plant • Preventing establishment of weeds • Reducing stem elongation as some tillers become seed heads.

Transition spring to summer: November and December

Development of reproductive tillers and flowering peaks.

Rates of tiller death and replacement peaks.

Soil seedbank: summeractive grass weed seeds germinate and establish in pastures.

N fertiliser applied at 30kg N/ha after each grazing.

This helps development of new tillers and reduces tiller population decline during summer.

Where a summer moisture deficit is likely, reduced grazing frequency is needed to allow for slower leaf development. A gradual reduction in grazing area per day is needed. Achieve this without lowering the grazing residual.

Supplements fed if changing rotation lowers grazing residual below seven clicks.

Alternatively, de-stock.

Moist cool conditions mean tiller death is low.

Ryegrasses are forgiving of stress such as severe grazing except where high soil moisture leads to pugging damage.

Reduce grazing frequency to allow pasture time to develop three leaves.

In the North Island rotation lengths may need to be more than 60 days to meet feed cover targets.

Use spring rotation planners to manage the transition from winter to spring and ensure appropriate covers are reached for spring.

If fewer than seven clicks (1500kg DM) and insufficient supplement, stand cows off pasture once they reach residual target.

No fewer than seven clicks (1500kg DM).

If fewer than seven clicks (1500kg DM), feed supplements to maintain herd intake and protect pasture.

If fewer than seven clicks and insufficient supplement, stand cows off pasture once they reach residual target.

16-26 days.

Graze closer to the Silage and hay crops too three leaf stage long. More than 4000kg (26 days) if higher DM/ha. growth rates required to meet Insufficient (less than cow demand.

26 days) recovery time after cutting silage and hay.

Target is seven clicks (1500kg DM)

Repeated grazing before the two leaf stage.

If more than nine clicks (1750 kg DM), mow to a lower height after grazing.

Pre-grazing levels regularly above 3000kg DM/ha.

Grazing area offered per day on January 1: approximately 80% of the area offered on November 1. Change from a 20 to a 30 day rotation.

Winter: June to August

Lax or under-grazing.

If fewer than seven clicks (1500kg DM), feed supplements to maintain herd intake and protect pasture.

Achieve consistent grazing height at each grazing event.

If fewer than seven clicks (1500kg DM), feed supplement to maintain herd intake.

Grazing residuals more Shift from 20 than the consistent level towards 30 days. previously determined in the spring.

No more than eight clicks (1600kg DM) on the rising plate meter. Target is seven clicks (1500kg DM)

This can elevate growing points, potentially exposing them to grazing at the next grazing.

Achievement of consistent grazing height at each grazing is important.

If fewer than seven clicks (1500kg DM), feed supplements to maintain herd intake.

Reduced height of grazing residual compared with spring indicates underfeeding occurring and a threat to the growing points of existing and developing tillers.

Grazing to a lower residual than the previous grazing.

Pugging.

Grazing at high stock density on wet soils reduces subsequent pasture production by up to 45 % over the following year.

Farm covers too high in August, leading to base shading of plants.

A minimum of 60 days between grazings.

Winter is the time of year where grazing below seven clicks does not appear to damage ryegrass regrowth.

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

8 // PASTURE

Rating system for grasses FROM LATER THIS year, farmers will to be able to rate the different perennial ryegrass cultivars in terms of expected profit, thanks to the DairyNZ Forage Value Index (FVI).

The DairyNZ FVI is a major outcome from a new industryoperated forage evaluation system currently being developed

by DairyNZ and the New Zealand Plant Breeding and Research Association (NZPBRA).

DairyNZ principal scientist and project leader, Dr David Chapman says until now, farmers have had limited information on the expected profit of sowing new perennial ryegrass cultivars.

“Dairy cattle have had a well-developed breeding worth system but pastures have fallen behind in the economic evaluation stakes. This situation is about to change,” he says.

The traits that will be included in the DairyNZ FVI are seasonal

A rating system for different perennial ryegrass will be launched this year.

pasture production (winter, early spring, late spring, summer and autumn), metabolisable energy concentration, and persistence.

Each perennial ryegrass cultivar will have a DairyNZ FVI, and associated trait values and reliabilities.

Economic values, which are the expected change in profit for every unit change in a trait value, are a key component of the evaluation system.

Using farm system models, the Forage Evaluation Team (representatives from DairyNZ, NZPBRA and Lincoln University), found that for the upper North Island, extra feed in autumn had the highest predicted economic values, followed closely by summer and early spring. The value of extra feed during these periods was double the value of extra feed in late spring. In the lower North Island, Canterbury and

Southland, extra feed was most valuable in winter, early spring and autumn.

According to the seed industry National Forage Variety Trial (NFVT) data analysed by the team, since 1991, the trend for genetic gain in perennial ryegrass has been greatest for summer pasture production (+27kg DM/ ha/year), followed by autumn (+20kg DM/ha/year), winter and late spring (both at +5kg DM/ha/ year).

There has been no increase in early spring pasture production over this time. “This result is not surprising as we have been breeding for cultivars that produce less seed head, to improve spring quality.” says Graham Kerr, member of NZPBRA technical committee.

Genetic gains in total production of +50-55kg DM/ ha/year, or +1,000kg DM/ha

since 1990 are being realised.

Assuming efficient harvesting by dairy cows and persistence of DM yield, these changes in seasonal and total production are worth an estimated increase in profit of $20/ha/year.

“When yield data from NFVT trials and other sources are spliced with the economic values, we have a way of calculating economic merit of a cultivar,” says Chapman.

“The DairyNZ FVI brings this all together so that the perennial ryegrass cultivars with the best seasonal and total growth characteristics will rise to the top of rankings within a region.”

He says the DairyNZ FVI will also rate persistence, and the scheme will steadily strengthen over the next three years, as further testing is done to improve reliability of cultivar trait values and in turn their economic merit values.

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

10 // PASTURE

Know the quality of feed your cows are getting OPTIMUM FEEDING IS a balance between the quantity of available feed and the quality of that feed. However, since grazing ruminant animals can survive on a wide range of pasture and forage feeds, the objective becomes optimising the ‘efficiency of conversion’ of feed into animal products (such as milk, meat and wool) by management of the quantity/ quality trade-off.

kk Digestibility kk Energy yield from the digested

feed kk Mineral and trace element

content Dry Matter Another measure to test for is the residual dry weight of pasture, forage or silage after removal of moisture. This is usually expressed as ‘percentage of the fresh weight.’

“Getting a feed test gives you the information you need to make sound decisions and increase productivity.”

That’s why chemical analysis of pasture and forage feeds to determine ‘feed quality’ is increasingly important in the New Zealand farming scene.

Getting a feed test gives you the information you need to make sound decisions and increase productivity. Plus, analytical testing can be used to predict how well a particular feed will meet animal requirements.

Keep in mind the type of livestock and the production objectives will influence the quantity and quality of feed required in the complete diet to achieve top production. And remember the critical time to optimise dairy cow diet for best economic response is the three months between calving and mating.

This article, supplied by Hill Laboratories, outlines the types of tests available to help analyse pasture and forage feeds.

Feed quality For optimum productivity, the following properties of the feed are important to track and should be tested: kk Dry matter intake kk Crude protein content kk Carbohydrate composition

The dry matter intake of a cow, for example, depends on many variables including: live weight, stage of lactation, level of milk production, environmental conditions, body condition and the quality of the feed.

Crude protein The protein content of the pasture or forage is a good test to include in your testing regime. It is directly related to the nitrogen content, which varies with growing conditions, plant species, and maturity of the plant.

Once you know your pasture’s protein content, you can monitor animals’ intake, keeping in mind crude protein requirements are dependent on the class of livestock being fed.

For example, a maintenance requirement for a dairy cow may be as low as 12% protein, whereas a range of 16–20% protein is needed for growth and lactation.

Plant carbohydrates Testing plant carbohydrate levels is another useful test. Plant carbohydrates may be conveniently classified as structural carbohydrates and non-struc-

Feed quality is crucial to milk production.

tural carbohydrates. Levels of structural carbohydrates increase with increasing plant maturity with a corresponding decrease in plant digestibility.

The key non-structural carbohydrates in forages are the soluble sugars such as sucrose, glucose and fructose.

Soluble sugars are important for stimulating microbial activity in ruminant animals. Plant soluble sugars fluctuate diurnally with highest levels generally found in the early to mid-afternoon period – typical levels for temperate grasses can range from 5 – 15 %.

Acid detergent fibre (ADF) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) Knowing your pasture’s levels of ADF and NDF can provide estimates of the less digestible structural carbohydrates in your forage. ADF consists mainly

of cellulose and lignin with small amounts of nitrogen and minerals. The NDF fraction includes the hemicelluloses in addition to the ADF component of plant tissue. Very high fibre levels slow the rate of digestion and limit dry matter intake, but a certain amount of fibre is required to stimulate rumen activity.

Digestibility Feed digestibility is defined as the proportion of forage dry matter able to be digested by the animal. It is largely influenced by the maturity of the plant species and declines as the plant matures. Within pastures, the species type also influences digestibility. For example, clovers retain a higher leaf: stem ratio with increasing maturity

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

12 // PASTURE

and so maintain a higher digestibility relative to grasses.

Digestibility is measured in two quite distinct procedures: kk In vivo digestibility – determined directly by animal feeding trials by way of a mass balance from what is consumed, digested and excreted. kk In vitro digestibility – determined by wet chemistry using rumen fluid taken from research animals, or using purified cellulase enzymes.

In vivo digestibility provides the most meaningful estimate of animal performance, but the cost of setting up animal trials for measuring in vivo digestibility, is prohibitive.

Therefore, most laboratories measure in vitro digestibility by incubating samples with enzyme preparations and use these data to predict in vivo digestibility from in vivo standards.

Metabolisable energy (ME) ME is a useful test to run – an estimate of the energy content of the feed potentially available for maintenance and production in ruminant animals. It is that proportion of feed energy absorbed from the digestive tract and retained for metabolic processes and the value is expressed as a proportion of the dry matter (MJ/kg).

Although ME is a frequently sought measure of feed quality, it is a value derived from other feed factors such as in vivo digestJanice Christiansen, Hill Laboratories’ client services manager agricultural testing.

ibility and cannot be measured directly in the laboratory. Keep in mind that ME overestimates production energy (net energy) when dietary protein is excessive, typical in lush spring grown pasture.

Chemical analysis of pasture and forage feeds determines feed quality.

Minerals & trace elements Livestock require adequate levels of certain elements example magnesium, copper, zinc, cobalt and selenium. For optimum animal health, efficiency of energy utilisation, and productivity, forages need to contain sufficient levels of these and other elements. Therefore, it’s important to test your pasture for these important trace elements.

Deficiency of magnesium and/or calcium in dairy cow diets results in metabolic stress. Subclinical deficiency will reduce feed conversion efficiency, production and conception rates at mating.

Clinical deficiency in cows is a major animal welfare issue and financial cost to farmers.

Summary

Testing for the above measures in your pasture will allow you to make better pasture management and animal nutrition decisions.

And, it’s important to factor in the following as you analyse your test results: Highest levels of protein, digestibility and energy do not always result in the best productivity. Provided a feed contains sufficient protein and fibre

for the appropriate livestock class, higher levels may not be beneficial. For example, excessively high protein levels raise the amount of nitrogen excreted in the urine, so digestion of the excess protein is actually an energy cost to the animal.

Dry matter intake and subsequent production/ liveweight gain increase in the short term with an increased pasture allowance. However, at a constant dry matter intake, increases in production may be achieved when more digestible feed is offered.

Supplements may also be used to complement any deficiencies in quality or quantity in the ration.

Hill Laboratories provides the widest range of feedstuffs testing of any commercial lab in New Zealand, including a range of tests specifically designed to help farmers assess the feed quality of their pasture and forage crops.

Hill Laboratories uses the latest analytical chemistry techniques, including near-infrared spectroscopy (‘NIR’), to deliver reliable and accurate results as quickly as possible.

Tel. 07 858 2000 (North Island) or 03 377 7176 (South Island). www.hill-labs.co.nz

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

14 // SILAGE

Making quality silage KEVIN MACDONALD DAIRYNZ SENIOR SCIENTIST FARM SYSTEMS PHILLIPA HEDLEY DAIRYNZ DEVELOPER; PRODUCTIVITY JOHN ROCHE PRINCIPAL SCIENTIST ANIMAL SCIENCE

PASTURE SILAGE IS a major

source of supplementary feed on New Zealand dairy farms.

Silage facilitates the removal of pasture surplus to the herd’s immediate needs, enabling the provision of higher quality pasture in late spring/early summer. It also provides a good quality feed supplement for summer/autumn milk production and autumn body condition score (BCS) gain.

Making high quality pasture silage should not be difficult, but it must be viewed as an investment in supplementary feed rather than a “necessary evil” to manage pasture.

The objective in making silage is to preserve as many of the original nutrients as possible. In practice, however, kk The silage is often not made at the optimal time. This reduces the pasture quality advantage and the value of the silage as a supplementary feed kk Poor attention is often paid to the silage making process.

This increases fermentation losses and reduces its value as a supplementary feed.

Silage exposed to air loses quality.

What is silage?

When grass is cut and left in a heap, it rots! Silage making is the process of “pickling” pasture to reduce the pH (acidity) to a level that stops microbial activity (stops the feed “rotting”). This is achieved through compacting the pasture and covering with plastic to exclude air, while microorganisms “burn” the sugars in the grass to produce lactic and acetic acid. When enough of these acids are produced, no further breakdown of the pasture occurs. The micro-organisms can be either naturally present in the grass or added in the form of inoculants.

A high pH in silage indicates inefficient fermentation, possibly resulting from: kk low pasture sugar content kk high pasture N content kk excessive soil contamination kk not compacting the stack sufficiently kk not covering the stack quickly and thoroughly kk not using sufficient tyres to hold down the plastic kk not checking for damage to the plastic regularly

kk not controlling vermin, cats,

birds that damage the plastic covering.

If the silage is exposed to air (e.g. torn plastic), a chain reaction occurs that reduces silage quality (Figure 1). Yeasts that cannot grow without air become active once more and break down the acids in the silage (“heating”). This causes the pH to rise, allowing the bacteria that were suppressed at low pH to grow once more.

These bacteria use the energy and protein in the pasture, causing massive spoilage. These silages can also have a high concentration of butyric acid, which reduces palatability and dry matter intake and, if fed in early lactation, increases the risk of ketosis.

Most silage analyses provide you with indicators of how well the pasture was fermented. Key things to take note of include: kk Dry matter (DM%): pasture that has a DM% below 25% is more difficult to ensile well and will lose nutrients through effluent loss. Pasture with a DM% above 35% is more

difficult to compact (especially if not precision chopped) and generally takes longer for the pH to drop. kk pH: this is an indicator of how well the fermentation process has gone. A high pH (>4.5) generally indicates that air was not excluded properly. kk Ammonia-N (NH3-N): this is an indicator of how much protein has been broken down by bacteria. In well preserved silage, NH3-N should be less than 10%. kk Lactic acid (% DM or % total acid): is an indicator of how successful the fermentation was, how successful your choice of inoculant was, and how palatable the silage will be. In pasture silage, total acids can be 2-10% DM. Ideally silages will be 5-7% total acid of which more than 50% is lactic acid. kk Butyric acid (% DM or % total acid): this is an indicator of secondary fermentation and soil contamination. Air has either not been excluded from the stack or the plastic has become ripped. The pasture

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

SILAGE // 17

When grass is cut and left in heaps, it rots.

“Heating” – yeast degrade lactic acid to C02 and water

Number of yeasts increase n in the silage mass

➨

Bales versus stack/pits Pasture silage can be made either in a field stack, a pit/ concrete bunker (on top of the ground) or as bales.

Dormant yeast that degrade lactic acid are revived

➨

Why is silage quality important?

Silage is used to feed both lactating and dry cows during times of pasture deficit or to increase BCS gain while building pasture cover in the autumn.

Therefore, it must be of the highest possible quality. DairyNZ data suggest that increasing silage quality by 2.3 MJ ME/ kg DM increases milksolids production by 13, 17 and 41% in spring, summer and autumn, respectively.

As is recommended for all feeds, the value of silage as a supplement must be based on its quality (i.e. its ME energy content). Quality is all about energy, the wrong acids reduce palatability.

Silage is exposed to air

➨ ➨

ensiled was contaminated with soil (pugged paddock not rolled), providing clostridial bacteria that convert sugars to butyric acid. Butyric acid should be less than 1% DM.

pH of silage increases Figure 1: Sequence of events that occur when air enters the silage stack

Provided the quality of the material going into the silage is the same and proper attention is paid to covering the pasture and ensuring no air enters the stack after covering, pasture silage quality should be the same from either stack/pit or baled silage.

The decision to make bales or stack/pit silage is generally dependent on the farm system, the method of feeding silage and the infrastructure available for silage storage. kk Baled silage allows flexibility – the ability to remove small crops of pasture when desired

and the ability to store and feed it in multiple locations.

This method generally suits situations when there is only small surplus and to reduce the risk of creating a deficit the paddocks are only shut for up to a week longer than the grazing rotation.

As the pasture crop is often lighter, silage quality can be greater and regrowth recovery is generally faster.

If the baled pasture is not chopped further, utilisation of the silage can be greater when fed in the paddock.

A disadvantage is the cost

and need to dispose of large quantities of plastic wrap. kk Stack/pit silage can also be fed in multiple locations on the farm, and is cheaper than baled silage provided the yield of pasture ensiled is greater than 3 t DM/ha or the silage is added to an existing pit. kk Pit/bunker silage does not offer flexibility in storage, but, when properly used, reduces wastage relative to stack silage.

Pit silage is easier to compact and, therefore, expel air. The disadvantage, however, is the need for greater capital investment.

The stack/pit must be filled, compacted and covered quickly to exclude air and allow the ‘pickling’ process to start.

Any delay in this process will compromise the quality of the silage.

If making silage is going to take more than one day, do not leave a stack or pit uncovered at night.

A plastic cover should be pulled over the stack/pit each night and weighed down on the edges with tyres.

This will reduce respiration losses and prevent spoilage.

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

18 // SILAGE

Good silage preservation SILAGE IS PICKLED pasture.

When pasture is ensiled, its sugars are converted into lactic acid by bacteria. It is the lactic acid which pickles the pasture, allowing it to be preserved for a lot longer than it would have been if left in the open air.

For good silage preservation, we need a rapid drop in pH to a level where there will be no butyric fermentation, so the silage is stable until it is needed.

This DairyNZ article describes the preservation process which makes pasture into silage.

Understanding this helps us understand what we must get right to make high quality silage.

bacteria, use the oxygen to turn sugars and proteins into energy.

This produces heat, an

Aerobic respiration The first phase takes place while cut pasture is wilting in the field, and while there is oxygen in the stack. Plant enzymes, and

increase in numbers of bacteria, and a loss of nutrients from the pasture.

Lactic fermentation Once all the oxygen has been used up, anaerobic lactic bacteria (which only function when there is no oxygen around) begin to

Preservation turns silage into pasture.

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Sugars and proteins are lost from the silage when left too long in the field or not covered in the stack. They are not available for cows to eat later on, and the loss of sugars can have a big bearing on how well the silage preserves.

Compaction and quick covering of the silage to remove oxygen is a key to minimising respiration losses. An American trial showed that immediate sealing of a silage stack saw all oxygen used up after 5 hours. A similar stack left unsealed for 48 hours took 90 hours before all oxygen was used. The potential respiration losses are huge.

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20 // SILAGE

multiply in numbers. As they do so, they turn sugars into lactic acid, which results in a drop in silage pH. A low pH preserves the silage, by preventing butyric fermentation.

If butyric fermentation is prevented, the pH will stay low.

The silage will be stable and well preserved.

The pH needed for stable silage changes with DM% (water content) of the pasture.

• Very low DM pasture (<15%) is unlikely to reach a pH low enough to become stable.

• As DM% increases, the pH needed for silage to become stable also increases. For 2535% DM pasture, a stable pH is 4.3 – 4.6, but for 35-45% DM pasture a stable pH will be 4.6 – 5.0.

Butyric fermentation If the pH is not low enough for the silage to become stable, then butyric fermentation will occur.

Butyric fermentation results

in the breakdown of nutrients in the silage, and a drop in the palatability of the silage for cows.

Butyric fermentation is caused by other anaerobic bacteria (Clostridia), which live in higher pH conditions than the lactic acid bacteria.

They turn lactic acid into acetic and butyric acid, to get energy.

They also get energy by breaking down protein into ammonia.

The reduction in lactic acid and increase in ammonia during butyric fermentation causes the pH of the silage to rise again.

This makes the stack more suited to further butyric fermentation.

The only way to prevent butyric fermentation is to avoid soil being harvested with your crop, wilt pasture to about 30% drymatter which is also important to prevent seepage and have a silage pH which is low enough to stop Clostridia functioning.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

22 // MATING MANAGEMENT

BW in the herd equals money in the bank THE SAME PRINCIPLE applies

when it comes to money in the bank or Breeding Worth (BW) in the herd: the more the better!

The banking example requires no explanation – you’re either positive or negative – but when it comes to BW you see the outcome of whether it’s high or low, in the vat and in the sale of any of your cows. BW is the currency of dairying.

LIC’s Alpha product manager (and former dairy farmer) Greg Hamill says, “Just as you influence the size of your bank balance, so too you have control over your herd BW; the breeding choices you make either improve or diminish the individual and herd rankings.

“BW is an investment and an asset. The higher an animal’s BW, the greater its earning potential, not just in dollar terms of what goes into the vat but at the sale yards and future genetic gain and sustainability.”

BW ranks dairy animals, across all herds, ages and breeds for their ability to efficiently convert feed into profit. It is the output of New Zealand’s national breeding objective (NBO) set and controlled by NZ Animal Evaluation Ltd (NZAEL) and DairyNZ. “What makes-up the NBO is determined by DairyNZ and NZAEL who regularly canvass farmers on what attributes they require in their herd replacements.

“These requirements go into the NBO and it’s then up to the AB companies to breed the bulls which will sire cows with those attributes.

“For AB sires, BW is a measure of how that bull’s daughters are performing compared to another bull’s daughters and the profitability they generate.”

In dollar terms Once the economic weighting

has been calculated for an animal it gives an expected profit figure (in dollar terms) of what that animal is expected to generate when used to breed replacements.

“There are economic values attributed to animals to determine their efficiency at converting feed into profit,” explains Hamill. “The dollar term is expressed in comparison to a group of animals born in the year 2000 and demonstrates an increased value in net profitability each year.”

Currently the traits (Breeding Values or BVs) included in Breeding Worth and their associated economic values are: Breeding Worth = (Protein x $8.214) + (Milkfat x $1.765) + (Milk Volume x $-0.090) + (Liveweight x $-1.389) + (Fertility x $2.931) + (Residual Survival x $0.044) + (Somatic cell x $-30.544).

“BW enables New Zealand dairy farmers to compare their cows with the national average and enables them to make breeding decisions to increase the rate of genetic gain in their herd.

“An increase in genetic gain means more productive, fertile dairy cows and more on-farm profit. Farmers are able to reap the increased BW benefits – production and profit – gained from cows with the higher genetic merit.”

Economic weightings “Economic weightings placed on the NBO are the most accurate measure for identifying an animal’s profitability. And the BW index has been proven to reflect the contribution of genetics to farm profitability.

“Under the current daughterproven system we are seeing an average increase of 10 BW-12 BW in genetic gain, annually, across

the national herd. That’s a rate of gain few countries in the world achieve.”

Traits that make up BW “There are seven traits that are given an economic weighting, three of which are production related and are what we get paid for by the dairy company: fat, protein and volume.

Fat and protein have a positive economic weighting.

Volume, on the other hand, has a negative weighting as factories penalise dairy farmers for volume: they don’t want to pay for water. NZAEL and the BW index therefore encourage New Zealand farmers to focus on breeding cows with highconcentration milk, or compoGreg Hamill

nents rather than volume.

Fertility “A seasonal dairy industry demands that cows get in calf quickly each year, so fertility has a positive economic weighting.

Somatic cell count (SCC) “SCC has a negative economic weighting because of the cost of treatment and loss of production through mastitis.

Liveweight “Liveweight has a negative economic weighting because larger animals require more feed to maintain their liveweight before anything is put into production.

“As a rule of thumb, every 50kg

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

24 // MATING MANAGEMENT

of LW require a bale-of-silage equivalent for maintenance. So if the average cow in New Zealand was 50kg heavier, as a country we would need to produce an extra 4.5 million bales of silage or grass equivalent to maintain that LW before anything is put into milk production.

Residual survival “Residual survival measures the ability, or longevity, of the animal to remain in the herd once production, fertility and SCC are removed from the equation (the majority of reasons why an animal is culled). Put simply we want our animals to last in our herd because a cow doesn’t hit peak production until age six years.

“On average the New Zealand cow has five lactations compared to many overseas countries where the average cow has just two lactations.

“We want as many cows as possible to last through to that fifth lactation because it costs [at least] $1200 to get an animal

from calving to first lactation.

She needs to last in the herd to pay for herself, let alone generate a profit.”

Genetic gain By breeding the current national dairy herd with elite sires identified through the LIC Sire Proving Scheme, the profitability of the next generation of the national herd increases: this is known as genetic gain.

“To achieve genetic gain farmers breed from the best cows mated to the best bulls so the next generation of animals are better than the previous.

“This increases genetic gain because if you breed enough animals together there will always be some resulting progeny which get the best genetics from their sire and the best genetics from their dam, and therefore are better than their parents.

“Before artificial breeding became common practice in New Zealand the genetic merit of the national herd was actually dropping, because we had no way

of identifying elite sires.”

Reliability The more information we have on an animal the higher the individual reliability and the less movement you would expect to see on their BW. So a bull with parent average alone has half the genetics of his sire and half the genetics of its dam, and with no other information would have a reliability of 30-35%. This means we know he has half-and-half of each parent’s genetics. But we don’t know which genes he has got – therefore his BW movement is expected to be plus or minus 100 BW units.

Since 1994 LIC has been researching bovine DNA and with the technological advances made in this science, LIC is now able to look at a bull’s genetic make-up through his DNA. This enables us to identify which desirable traits/genes he has received from his dam and his sire and therefore increasing the amount of information we have on a bull and increasing his

reliability to about 60%. This means his BW could still move plus or minus 76 BW units.

Once a bull has progeny milking we then have more information about which genes he has received and is passing on. His reliability will move to 80%-85%, this means his BW can still move by about plus or minus 46 BW units When a bull has about 1000 daughters milking he will then be 99% reliable BW, because we have a vast amount of information fed into the system about what his daughters are producing in the national herd.

Expected movement at this stage is still plus or minus 12 BW. The team concept To maintain a reliable BW LIC believes that it is important to use a team of high genetic merit/ BW AB sires, because individual bull reliability moves. By using a team of bulls farmers will get up to 98-99% reliability and see less movement across a group of animals.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

26 // MATING MANAGEMENT

Lower reliability of individual sires in the team will dictate the number of sires farmers will need to use in their team. This is probably most evident in LIC Premier Sire teams where we have 16 bulls in the Daughter Proven Premier Sires and 25 in the DNA Proven Premier Sires team.

This is to try and ensure that all farmers achieve an average team BW. What this means Fairmont Mint-Edition, a member of LIC’s Daughter Proven Premier Sires Team, has been the number one artificial breeding bull in New Zealand, across all breeds, for a number of years on the RAS list (Ranking of Active Sires list).

Mint Edition has a BW of 250 and reliability of 87%.

He is expected therefore to generate $250 more profit per 4.5 tons dry matter (tDM) per year compared to a bull with a BW of 0.

WHAT IS BREEDING WORTH? Mint Edition was used as a yearling AB bull in LIC Sire Proving Scheme herds in 2006, so his first 87 daughters came into milk in 2008 and with their herd testing results, Mint Edition went straight to the top of the RAS List (Ranking of Active Sires List).

Those first Mint Edition daughters are now in their fourth lactation and continue to dominate that age group of animals.

In 2009 Mint Edition was commercially available for AB, his daughters born in 2010 will be coming into milk in 2012 and this is when his reliability will move from 87% to 99% as he will have thousands of daughters coming

into the national herd.

Why is there a difference between BW and PW? “Farmers should breed on BW and cull on PW (production worth),” says Greg Hamill.

“BW measures/ranks animals on their expected ability to breed profitable and efficient replacements.

“PW takes into account her lifetime production and liveweight.”

BW/PW Comparison kk Two cows, both producing

400kg MS each. kk Cow one has a high PW

kk Cow two has a low PW. kk The differences in PW could be

due to age, liveweight or milking components. kk Cow one is a three-year-old

KiwiCross doing 250kg protein and 150kg fat. kk Cow two is a six-year-old

Holstein Friesian doing 200kg Protein and 200kg fat. kk “Cow one is the more profitable

animal because she requires less feed for maintenance, she has not hit her peak production yet and she produces more protein and that has higher value at the diary factory.”

NZAEL figures October 29, 2011

BVs

Economic Value

Protein (kg)

41.48

x

Fat (kg)

+

-

$8.214

$340.72 $69.98

39.65

x

$1.765

Milk Volume (litres)

1086

x

-$0.090

-$97.74

Liveweight (kg)

46.9

x

-$1.389

-$65.14

Fertility (%)

3.1

x

$2.931

$9.09

Somatic Cell (score)

-0.17

x

-$30.544

$5.19

Res. Survival (days)

-265

x

$0.044

-$11.66 $424.98

-$174.54

BW$250

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

MATING MANAGEMENT // 27

How do your cows score?

NITA HARDING DAIRYNZ

BODY CONDITION SCORING

is a standardised method of assessing the condition of a cow. It is not always possible to regularly weigh cattle to monitor their condition; however scales are not necessary for body condition scoring as this can be done in a race, in the shed or in the paddock Why body condition score?

We know from research and experience there are some critical times during the year for assessing cow condition. At these times there are recommended body condition scores for cows.

When cows are at the recommended body condition score, they will be able to cope with any seasonal changes as well as be healthy, productive and reproductively efficient.

Though the method of body condition scoring is subjective, (not done by measuring), someone who has been trained and regularly calibrates themselves, can be a very accurate assessor of body condition in cattle.

How is body condition scoring done?

In New Zealand a body condition score (BCS) scale of 1-10 is used.

A change of one BCS unit is equal to a 6.58% change in the liveweight of the cow.

Body condition scoring is a simple process; however it is important to calibrate the eye by first condition scoring some cows ‘hands on’ at the dairy. Line up 15 cows with a range of body condition scores. Put your hands on the important body parts and feel the amount of fat cover over the various body points. Note the differences between the cows.

Average the different areas for each cow to come up with the BCS for that cow.

The important body parts are: [refer image] kk Backbone – is it flat or is there a ridge, how easy is it to see or feel the notches? kk Long ribs – can you see or easily feel the ribs? If visible how many can you see? kk Short ribs – can you see the short ribs? Are the ends sharp or rounded? kk Hip bones – are the hip bones rounded or angular? kk Rump – is the area between the pins and hip bones flat, sunken or hollow? kk Pin bones – are they pointed, ‘tap-like’ or rounded? kk Tailhead – is there a hollow between the tailhead and pin

bones, and what shape is it? kk Thigh – is the area indented,

flat or rounded? Is the muscle structure defined?

Body condition scoring is the same for all breeds, but there are some differences in body shape between breeds. Smaller framed jersey cows tend to have a narrow body with prominent hip bones. Medium framed cows, both crossbreds and New Zealand Holstein-Friesians have a more even distribution of fat over the body, and larger framed Holstein-Freisians have an angular body shape so they appear thinner.

Once you have calibrated your

eye by ‘hands-on’ condition scoring you are ready to condition score in the paddock.

It is recommended at least 70 cows are condition scored to arrive at an average condition score for the herd. Stand amongst a group of cows in the paddock and score each one, recording the score on the sheet.

Make sure each cow is viewed from the rear and from the right side. Viewing from the left side may give a false score if the cow has a distended rumen. Once finished, move to another group of cows and score these. It is important to do a number of groups of cows to ensure a representative sample of the herd is scored.

Body condition score targets The two critical times of the year for body condition score targets are at calving and mating. However, as it is hard to put condition on cows in the last month of pregnancy, planning to reach calving condition score targets needs to start in the autumn, for a spring calving herd.

The recommended body condition scores at calving are BCS 5.0 for mature cows, and

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

28 // MATING MANAGEMENT

BCS 5.5 for heifers and rising three-year-olds.

It is important to consider both individual cow condition scores, as well as the spread of scores with the herd. At least 90% of the mixed age cows in the herd should be between 4.5 and 5.5 at calving.

The average decrease in BCS for the herd between calving and mating should be no more than BCS 1.0.

Cows will always lose some condition between calving and mating; limiting this loss will

mean cows will cycle earlier and conception rates will be better.

There are four important times of the year for measuring body condition score: kk Late lactation so there is

time to implement options to achieve calving BCS. kk Two weeks prior to calving to ensure calving BCS targets have been met. kk Two weeks prior to mating to ensure post-calving BCS loss has been minimised. kk At the end of mating so summer feeding can be

managed.

The MAF Animal Welfare Code for Dairy Cattle states ‘when the body condition score of any animal falls below 3.0 (on a scale of one-10), urgent remedial action must be taken to improve condition’.

Options for remedial action include drying cows off, putting cows on once-a-day milking, and increasing the level of feeding. In some cases culling or selling cows to reduce the pressure on feed supplies will be an appropriate course of action.

Conclusions Body condition scoring is a useful tool for monitoring cow condition and assisting with management decisions on farm.

A large amount of research supports the recommended body condition score targets, and DairyNZ has publications containing this information.

The newly revamped Body Condition Scoring Made Easy: The official field guide is designed to be used on farm, and various reference publications are available.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

MATING MANAGEMENT // 29

Hard landing for bulling cows causes lameness FRED HOEKSTRA MANAGING DIRECTOR OF VEEHOF DAIRY SERVICES

HOW IS YOUR mating going?

I am doing an AI run again this year so I thought it be a good idea to talk a bit about lameness that is more specific to this time of the year, i.e. lameness in front feet and lameness in bulls.

It is normal to get more lameness in front feet at this time of the year than at other times.

Cows are bulling and when they come off the ridden cow they land on their front feet. This produces more trauma than normal walking. There is no ‘suspension’ in the front feet, in common with the feet of humans.

But whereas a human can create ‘suspension’ by bending the knees, a cow can’t do that, so enormous pressure comes on the locomotion apparatus when they do land on their front feet.

Did you know that you would break your legs if you jumped off the back of a truck with your legs straight? The amount of pressure the average person would put on their feet by such a jump is about 1000kg. No wonder major damage would occur if you kept your legs straight. Similarly a lot of force goes on the front feet of a cow when they ride another

It’s normal for cows to get more lameness in front feet at this time of year.

cow. A lot of the lameness in the front feet is ligament damage but we do get more hoof problems as well.

This does not mean this sort of lameness is caused only by physical force. Again, the cow must have weakened claws from laminitis and then physical force will make the problem worse resulting in lameness. If it was caused only by physical force we would see a lot more problems because, whereas most cows come on heat, not many go lame in their front feet. We can’t stop

cows riding each other. We actually don’t want to stop it so we have to look at the stress levels on the cows and make sure tracks and holding yards are stone free.

Lameness in bulls is slightly different. A few things are happening with bulls when they arrive on the farm and when they go with the cows. For one, the environment is totally different – different food, routines and lifestyle. I don’t think the testosterone levels have an effect on laminitis but all the other

changes currently do. We have some physical problems as well.

The wear pattern in animals that walk only on pasture is different from animals that walk on hard surfaces.

When bulls suddenly walk on hard surfaces their hooves wear faster, and it will take about six weeks for a bull to adjust the growth rate to the wearing rate, so many bulls end up with thin soles. The solution to this is to have enough bulls to be able to rotate them and make sure you use them in short bursts.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

MATING MANAGEMENT // 31

Precise, easy-to-use tools JAIR MANDRIAZAMUNOZ LIC ANALYST, REPRODUCTIVE SOLUTIONS

ACCURATE BODY CONDITION

scoring (BCS) has immense value especially when it comes to mating. Comparative stocking rates can markedly affect the achievement of BCS targets and this directly relates to farm profit.

Farmers frequently wonder why the mating season is not going well, and finding the cause can be like finding a needle in a haystack. An obvious place to start is to investigate the simple things: Body Condition Score (BCS) can lead directly to the root cause of a farm’s reproductive problems.

To achieve good mating performance cows must calve early and at an appropriate body condition score (BCS); this compensates the negative energy balance that inevitably happens in early lactation. Body condition scoring has been

Days from calving

BCS can lead directly to the root cause of a farm’s reproductive problem.

available to farmers for years, but is seemingly under-utilised.

There is perhaps a perception that the technique is inaccurate,

Condition Score Cows

Rising 3-year old

120

3.0

3.5

90

3.5

4

60

4.0

5

and therefore uptake has been limited.

There are also some myths: ‘It doesn’t matter if you are not accurate providing the same person is doing it all the time’ is one that does an injustice to the potential BSC offers as a legitimate, and highly effective, management tool.

Arguably the cheapest nutritional management ‘thermometer’, when used correctly BCS is an accurate,

easy-to-use tool. It is valuable for management decisions, especially during early lactation and in preparation for the calving season.

The DairyNZ dry-off rules have been widely known for decades but are often ignored as farmers elect to extend milking periods (motivated by the promise of short-term cash-flow and/or a lack of understanding of the down-stream impacts of a declining BCS across the herd).

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

32 // MATING MANAGEMENT

The rule-of-thumb is that cows should calve at BCS 5 and heifers and rising 3 year olds at BCS 5.5 (1 to 10 BCS scale) with no more than 15% of the herd above 5.5 or below 5. (This percentage applies throughout lactation but with different targets depending on the time of the year).

There is considerable debate about how to use BCS information and how many animals should be scored. DairyNZ guidelines say 70 cows should be condition scored to gather a representative average of the herd BCS. But it is important not to purely use the herd average BCS as a measure, since it could disguise a BCS distribution problem. If multiple mobs are being run on farm, 70 cows from each mob should be scored to identify how management practices are affecting different herds.

For example, say we have two groups of 10 cows, each condition scored as below: kk Group 1: 6 cows at BCS 5, 2 at BCS 4.5 and 2 at BCS 5.5. kk Group 2: 1 cow at BCS 3, 1 cow at BCS 4, 2 cows at BCS 4.5, 2 cows at BCS 5 and 4 cows at BCS 6 The average for

both groups of animals is 5 but the range is a lot smaller (within one score compared to three scores), and the distribution of BCS in Group 1 is closer to the desired target individually.

The BCS distribution is as important as the average because the animals below target are identified, allowing management decisions to be made (such as preferentially feeding and oncea-day milking or early dry-off).

At mating, the target should be no more than 15% of the herd below BCS 4 and a positive nutritional balance (gaining weight). Cows should also not lose more than 1 BCS between calving and mating, because differences above 1 BCS will also compromise reproductive performance.

The value of regular condition scoring lies in the ability to proactively manage the members of the herd at risk of failing to meet their targets. Some farmers adopt monthly regimes to increase the monitoring of BCS profile. The InCalf book recommends body condition scoring the herd at least four times a year: kk Just before planned start of calving (PSC).

kk 2 weeks before planned start of

mating. kk After the end of mating and, kk In late lactation (3- 4 months before PSC).

Milk production, reproduction and animal health are optimised when cows calve at target BCS levels.

Increasing BCS from 4 to 5 increases milk production by 12.5kgMS/cow/season.

Conversely, production decreases as BCS at calving decreases.

The lower the BCS cows are at calving, the longer the animals will take to cycle. Cows with a BCS above 5.5 are more prone to excessive BCS loss, metabolic diseases and calving problems (ie. compromising reproduction and subsequent production).

The table below shows the recommended drying off period from calving, based on BCS. Once dry, it is important cows are fed at the same level as the milking cows (ie. to achieve BCS targets).

Cows do not increase BCS in the final month of pregnancy so consider this when planning to achieve targets.

In some circumstances these recommended dry off dates can be delayed with appropriate feed budgeting, and provided supplementary feed is available above the normal autumn pasture allowance.

Comparative stocking rate & BCS

Farm profitability is an important factor, especially given the

volatile nature of milk prices.

In the 1980s – when cows were more uniform in production and size and imported feed wasn’t common – stocking rate (SR) was widely used in the dairy industry as a measure of feed demand on farm. Since then changes in management, size, and production of cows have turned SR a far less reliable measure.

To account for the changes, comparative stocking rate (CSR) was introduced. This measure takes into account kilograms of liveweight (accounting for differences between, and within, breeds on adult liveweight) per tonne of dry matter available (accounting for variation in pasture production, bought in supplements, grazing away young stock/dry cows and nitrogen use, for example).

CSR helps farmers develop more accurate feed budgets, and to better plan stock numbers.

The CSR value of 77 kg Lwt/T DM is accepted to be the point at which maximum profit can be achieved. However, research suggests that high profit can be achieved at CSR between 70 kg and 89 kg Lwt/T DM. Higher than optimal CSR’s: kk Increase the chance of underfeeding/overgrazing, therefore compromising the ability to reach BCS targets (impacting production and reproduction). kk Increases the need for contingency plans in case of adverse events (droughts/storms). kk Lower pasture production, due to overgrazing.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

34 // MATING MANAGEMENT

Shed safety cuts losses SHED SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS to artificial breeding

(AB) facilities on farm have a direct effect on farm productivity and profitability. By reducing injuries productivity is up, idle time reduced, the cost of replacement labour eliminated, and medical treatment and rehabilitation expenses avoided.

Though difficult to measure, injuries also have a social and emotional impact on farm families, but are as real as the financial effects.

the LIC team, as often improvements can be made quite cheaply.

“For example by constructing a platform that hinges from the pit wall or hangs from the breach rail, herringbone sheds can be improved.

“Chains are not suitable across the bridge in a rotary shed and should be replaced with a pipe or preferably portable platform, as cows will fight against a chain but don’t fight against a pipe.

“To ensure a suitable footing for farm staff and AB techni-

“If the AB technician is safe they can focus on the job rather than concentrating on avoiding slipping, falling, being crushed, squashed or kicked.”

Another benefit to improving safety facilities for AB is that the whole artificial breeding process is more efficient – less time is spent in the shed, potentially more cows get in calf and the improvements can help farmers with tasks like tail painting, putting on Kamars, pregnancy testing, and used for veterinarians.

It is also, says LIC Taranaki regional artificial breeding manager Rob Henry, essential that facilities ensure AB technicians are safe to perform inseminations successfully.

“If the AB technician is safe they can focus on the job rather than concentrating on avoiding slipping, falling, being crushed, squashed or kicked.”

And improving the safety of AB facilities doesn’t have to be costly, says Henry. “Every shed is different, but with most sheds there are usually at least two or three options. By far the best is a purpose built herringbone type bail separate from the milking area and these can be included in any new building or major renovation.

“To avoid spending a lot of money making alterations it is a good idea for farmers to discuss their options with a member of

cians, steel platforms should be made from a suitable tread plate material.”

Henry says in his experience farmers who have made improvements to their AB facilities said it made such a difference they wish they had carried them out years ago.

“Preventable accidents have been reducing among farm staff and AB technicians in the shed over recent years as more and

more farmers have implemented safety improvements in the shed.

“Most farmers see the improvements as an investment, generally not needing to cost a lot of money, and if done properly only need doing once.”

Under the New Zealand Health and Safety and Employment Act (1992) employers are required to eliminate major hazards to employees if practicable and where there is a hazard to employees at work the employer shall take all practicable steps to eliminate it.

“The most common injuries sustained by AB technicians are a result of being crushed, kicked or slips due to substandard facilities.”

Henry says to meet LIC requirements for AB, no artificial breeding technician should be required to stand directly behind the cow without a protective barrier.

“Technicians need to be able to stand behind the cow, with a pipe railing between them and the animal, on a non-slip surface at least 500 mm wide at the same level as the cow.

“It is important cows are

properly restrained for artificial insemination.

“AB technicians are skilled people, and they must place the semen through the cervix no more than one millimetre inside the uterus – any more can cause damage – so if cows are able to move around too much they risk injury.”

He says 3.3 million cows were artificially inseminated in the 2010-11 season with each of the 1000 or so LIC AB technicians countrywide performing 2000-5000 inseminations each.

There are some farmers, says Henry, who are reluctant to make changes, based on the fact they may not have had an accident.

“But if it is unsafe there will be an accident at some stage.”

LIC statistics show by far the biggest injury risk/hazard for AB Technicians is the animal (cow) and the way the shed is set up for handling the animal.

The most commonly reported injuries are caused by crushing and kicking, followed by slips and falls.

For the period of June 2011 to mid October 2011, LIC AB Technicians reported 113 accidents/incidents.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

36 // MATING MANAGEMENT

Detect cows on heat pre-mating ANGELA ENTWISLE PRODUCT MANAGER, CRV AMBREED

IT IS VITAL to educate yourself

and your staff to use the best tools and methods to identify and record cows in oestrous before and during the mating period.

It’s simple: if your heat detection isn’t up to scratch, you won’t get as many cows in calf.

Pre-mating heat detection can improve mating season success and provides a great chance for everyone to brush up on their heat detection skills.

At least three weeks prior to the planned start of mating, you and your staff should monitor and record cows coming into heat to identify any an oestrous or non-cycling cows early.

Apply tailpaint or heat detection aids such as Estrotect heat detectors to all cows at least three weeks prior to the planned start of mating and record when each cow comes on heat, then replace the aid or touch up the tailpaint with a different

colour. By the end of the three week period, those cows with unchanged aids or untouched tailpaint should be looked at more closely or perhaps seen by a vet.

Identifying and treating non-cyclers early will keep your

If your heat detection isn’t up to scratch, you won’t get as many cows in calf.

mates, produce well and get in calf early for next year. When you combine this with the increased number of days in milk

SOME CLEAR SIGNS TO DETECT WHETHER A COW IS ON HEAT kk Standing to be ridden, which will rub skin and hair off the top of

the tail as well as triggering heat detection devices; the coating of the Estrotect will be rubbed off, revealing the vivid and easily seen alert colour beneath. kk Riding other cows and restless and/or bellowing. kk Gathering in small groups of continually milling animals; this you will notice best in the paddock. Quietly move among the cows a couple of hours after milking and take note of these animals as they may not be evident in the yard or moving around the farm. kk Some other signs include having mucus around the vulva, scuff or mud marks or saliva down the flanks caused by mounting animals, or they come into the shed in a different order than usual, often at the front or back of the herd.

herd fertility and calving pattern on track. Early treatment will get these cows cycling in time to calve in line with their herd

and the costs and challenges of inductions, pre-mating heat detection and early treatment of non-cyclers makes perfect sense.

A non-pregnant cow should come on heat/into oestrus every 18-24 days with the average cycle being 21 days. To cycle regularly and have the best possible chance of maintaining a pregnancy, she needs to be healthy and well-grown, consistently fed and managed to be at a minimum body condition score of 4.0 at the planned start of mating and have had sufficient time between calving and mating to return to her normal reproductive state.

It’s important one person is responsible for accurately detecting and recording cows on heat; however, everyone should be familiar with the signs. Many sets of eyes can be better than just one.

Your heat detection, genetics, AB practices and whole-herd fertility, if carried out successfully, will offer great returns.

So make improvements in these areas this season and reap the rewards.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

38 // MATING MANAGEMENT

Turning to technology JENNY JAGO DAIRYNZ SENIOR SCIENTIST CHRIS BURKE DAIRYNZ SENIOR SCIENTIST

IT IS ESTIMATED that around 80 New Zealand dairy farms are using automated systems for oestrus detection. The majority of these are activity-monitoring systems or a camera that inspects tail-head mount detection aids. This article investigates the reasons why farmers are turning to technology for help in detecting cows in oestrus, explores a number of approaches that have been tested and commercialised, describes the performance of these systems in the field where known, and provides a technology checklist for those considering investing in automated oestrus detection systems.

Why are farmers interested in automating oestrus detection?

Economic benefit: Oestrus detection efficiency (ODE) has a direct impact on farm productivity and profitability. This is because the efficiency with which cows are detected when in oestrus is a key influencer of in-calf rates, which

Figure 1.

BRIAN DELA RUE RESEARCH ENGINEER CLAUDIA KAMPHUIS DAIRYNZ SCIENTIST

in turn determines empty rates and calving patterns, a critical determinant of a farm’s economic performance. The relationships between ODE, 6-week in-calf rate and empty rate following a 12 week mating period are shown in Figure 1.

The benefit of good ODE has been assessed using the InCalf Economic Benefit model. The model predicts that for a herd of 400 cows there is potentially $19,680 to be gained by improving ODE from 75% to 90%. This equates to improving 6-week in-calf rate from 64% to 72% and empty rate after 12 weeks of mating from 9.9% to 8.1% and is a $1,312 benefit for every 1% increase in ODE. These outcomes are calculated for one year only. The full benefits of improved reproductive performance will be realised over several years.

Labour: The most common method of detecting cows in oestrus is by visual observation assisted by tail paint or heat patches.

Relationships between oestrus detection efficiency (ODE) and; (a) 6-week in-calf rate and;

80

Empty rate after 12 weeks (%)

75

6-week in-calf rate (&)

70 65 60 55 50 50

60

70

80

90

ODE during first 6 weeks mating (%)

100

Farmers report that the major problems with these methods are their labour intensiveness and a requirement for a high level of skill. Large farms are often most affected, where managers rely on less experienced staff for oestrus detection.

Smaller farms managed by a single, experienced operator can also be affected in that the operator is unable to delegate this task. For these reasons some farmers are turning to technology to automate the detection of cows in oestrus.

would improve the reproductive performance of the herd and increase discretionary time for farm staff to focus on other important farm issues or leisure.

What are the technology options?

Numerous physiological and behavioural changes are associated with oestrus and various approaches to utilise these changes to automate oestrus detection have been explored.

These include: activity monitoring systems (pedometers or accelerometer technologies); What are farmer mount detectors in which expectations of an pressure-sensors are placed on automatic oestrus the cow’s tail head and that are detection system? stimulated each time the cow is Farmer expectations were mounted; changes in temperexplored in a workshop. They ature; vaginal mucus resistance want a system that will identify and changes in hormones such and draft out cows in oestrus as milk progesterone, lying accurately, quickly and reliably behaviour and rumination time. without disturbing the flow of Finally, combinations of these the milking operation. Impormeasures in the formulation of tantly it should remove the oestrus detection algorithms ‘human’ element from this farm have been used to increase task. The perceived benefits detection rates and reduce the are that a successful technology number of false positive alerts.

In New Zealand, the two main (b) empty rate after 12 weeks of mating. approaches 14 that are commercially 12 available are the activity 10 monitoring 8 systems (pedometer or 6 accelerometer technologies 4 that are either 2 leg or collar mounted) 0 50 60 70 80 90 100 and a camerabased system ODE during first 6 weeks mating (%) that automates the inspection

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

MATING MANAGEMENT // 39

Sensitivity (% of all oestrous events alerted) Success rate (% of all alerts that were correct)

Sensitivity (%)

Figure 2. Performance in the field and target performance levels

sensitivity (the % true oestrus events detected) and success rate (the % of alerts that are correct), shown in Figure 2 The graph presents a 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Low

The camera system eliminates the need for manual inspection of heat patches and enables automatic drafting of ‘alerted’ cows. It uses image analysis to classify a heat patch as being non-activated, partially activated, fully activated or missing, at each milking for every cow. The performance of this system is governed firstly by the performance of the heat patch technology and secondly by the accuracy of the image analysis.

The first use of leg-mounted pedometers to measure activity associated with oestrus behaviour was in 1977, but their commercial sale is a relatively recent development in New Zealand. Early models were based on simple technology, such as a mercury-switch to count movement events indicative of a step, with the number of steps taken between milkings recorded.

Newer technologies use accelerometers that measure changes in acceleration of the activity device due to animal movements. These measures allow a motion index value or activity deviation to be calculated which can be used to assess changes in the cow’s activity level. A reference period is used to establish baseline information for each cow from which a meaningful deviation in motion is derived. For example, a system may calculate a seven-day rolling mean for activity (the reference period) against which the current activity value can be compared. The cow is ‘alerted’ as in oestrus when the ratio or deviation exceeds a preset threshold.

Setting the threshold value involves a trade-off between

Activity deviation threshold

February 22 2011

We survived

Success Rate (%)

of heat patches. All automated monitoring systems include electronic identification so cows can be automatically drafted using alert data.

High

theoretical situation of a high performing system operating at 90% sensitivity with an 80% success rate, for a given threshold. A lower threshold will increase the sensitivity but will also generate more false alerts. These can become unmanageable at high sensitivity.

The shaded area in Figure 2 covers the range in the activity deviation threshold for minimum performance criteria of >80% for both sensitivity and success rate.

This means that at least 80% of all progesterone-based oestruses are to be detected and that at least 80% of all automatically alerted cows are truly in oestrus.

Unfortunately, it is not straight forward to compare the reported performance of different detection systems.

This is because data used to calculate performance measures differ between studies and there are very few studies on system performance in large commercial grazing herds. One source of variation is the method of determining a gold standard to establish the timing of oestrus against which system alerts are compared.

Milk progesterone concentrations are the most common reference measure for validating these technologies, however, even this method cannot accurately determine the exact timing because of sampling frequency. For this reason different time windows (hours or days) are often used to determine if an alert is valid.

DairyNZ has proposed the development of standardised methods to report outcomes.

For the full article refer to DairyNZ Technical Series, issue 7 at www.dairynz.co.nz.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

40 // CALVING

Waikato sharemilker Gordon Thomson takes DNA samples from his calves while they are anaesthetised.

Too costly to get wrong CALVING IS ONE of busiest times of the year on farm, and one of the most crucial to get right as it sets the scene for the following season and any replacements kept have a huge impact on productivity and profitability.

A successful calving is tight, with the majority of the herd calved within four weeks, but that brings a challenge each morning to match calves born overnight to their correct mother – who may or may not be with their calf.

It can be a costly mistake if done wrong, says Geoff Corbett, LIC’s diagnostics manager.

Corbett manages the dairy farmer cooperative’s GeneMark division, which provides farmers with the most accurate way of confirming and recording an animal’s ancestry through DNA analysis.

In New Zealand, the rate of mis-mothering calves can be 12-30%, and sometimes more, a large cost to the farmer over time, Corbett says.

“GeneMark reduces the hassle

and stress during calving, saving the farmer time and money, and allowing them to focus on all the other jobs that need doing at this busy time. With DNA parentage, it’s as simple as taking a small tissue sample (with a samplepunch provided) from an ear of each calf, and GeneMark will do the rest.

“With this sample we can accurately identify the calf’s dam and sire, and the farmer can have confidence in that result for their records and ensuring they only keep the highest BW animals,” Corbett says.

The DNA samples are collected at the end of calving, which some farmers choose to do while the calves are anaesthetised for de-horning.

During his time at GeneMark, Corbett has seen results from farmers who had originally thought their parent matching systems worked well, but were proved wrong by the DNA analysis.

“If more farmers knew the figures on mis-mothering calves in New Zealand they’d realise

they can’t afford to be making and this allows us to provide this mistake. It is the basic of exceptional matching power farming. But as farms and herds in some of the largest NZ dairy grow so do costs and the need herds,” Corbett says. “I would to ensure maximum profit from welcome any farmer keen to every cow and every hectare. learn more about the science to “GeneMark makes it much tour the GeneMark laboratory in easier, allowing the farmer to Hamilton.” reduce reliance on extra labour Find out more about and providing accurate herd GeneMark and DNA parentage records to enable the right verification, and hear from other decisions every time to maximise farmers who use this service. www.lic.co.nz. their herd’s future genetic gain and profitability.

“It ensures farmers get their rk payback from the money eneMa hout G it they have spent on AB, w g day and Calvin checks d r e and they consistently tell h iple kk Mult us how much they love it h ing of ig n t. t ar tagg e e because it makes everyt ia u’ve go d e ping yo kk Imm o h , s e thing so much easier.” alv heifer c DNA parentage verifit. h it rig e sure? cation of calves was really b u o y n kk Ca ark launched by LIC in 2003, GeneM g with l and moved to new G3 Calvin r anima ecks fo h c d technology in 2009. G3 r e kk H only. uses much more advanced rom welfare ample f . tissue s calving technology and provides more f o d kk Take the en k. r t a a s M r e e n precise results. heif st to Ge e the re “G3 only has about a kk Leav 1:330,000 chance of providing an incorrect dam or sire match

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

42 // MASTITIS

Autumn: a key time for mastitis prevention JANE LACY-HULBERT DAIRYNZ SENIOR SCIENTIST

ONE OF THE most important times of year for reducing mastitis is the dry off period.

Decisions made at this time can affect mastitis for the next 6-12 months.

A dry cow management plan will ensure everyone on farm knows what needs to happen at this important time of year and how dry cow treatments will be administered.

Dry cow therapy (DCT) is an essential part of mastitis management, and when done properly, can add tremendous benefits to long-term milk quality. Deciding which cows to treat with what dry cow option is a key part of working with your vet towards improving your bottom line.

About dry cow therapy Dry cow therapy treatments contain long-acting antibiotics to treat cows with existing cases of mastitis and prevent new infections from developing during the dry period. They should only be used immediately after the last milking of a cow’s lactation and should not be used to treat quarters or cows dried off previously.

Internal teat sealants are another option for use at dry-off.

These don’t contain antibiotics, so more care must be taken when introducing them into the cow’s teat. Teat sealants can

be used in combination with antibiotic dry cow treatments to extend mastitis prevention during the dry period and before calving. The product should only be administered after the last milking of lactation and immediately after dry cow treatments, if being used in combination.

In some situations internal teat sealants may be used without dry cow treatments, but only after careful evaluation with a vet.

Quick tips for using DCT and teat sealants Administering DCT and teat sealants presents some hazards, for cows and people. kk Bacteria can be easily introduced into the teat if the teat end is not disinfected properly or tubes become infected.

Infection by these environmental bacteria can cause severe mastitis. In some cases, sickness or death of the cow can occur. kk People can be injured by cows during administration of DCT, so take your time and have help. kk Antibiotic residues in milk and meat (including calves) need to be avoided by observing the correct number of tubes used, minimum dry periods and correct withholding period after calving.

To minimise hazards and costly mistakes: 1. Plan the day and people required

Administering DCT or internal teat sealants is difficult and

Proper mastitis treatment can add great benefits to long-term milk quality.

requires time and effort. Make sure all operators have been adequately trained and are supervised well. A step-by-step reminder of the correct disin-

fecting and insertion technique is illustrated (below).

In large herds, dry off cows in batches over a few days, so the task is more manageable e.g. last

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

MASTITIS // 43

two to three rows over three or four days. Ensure treated cows are well marked and kept separate from the milking herd.

Work on the basis that one person can handle about 20 cows per hour and that extra people may be required to restrain cows, especially if cows are not used to having their teats handled.

2. Ensure strict hygiene is used

To avoid introducing bacteria into the teat, each teat end must be thoroughly cleaned with a cotton wool ball soaked in 70% meths or teat wipes prior to insertion of the treatment tube.

When treating all four teats, clean teats furthest from you first, before nearer teats. To avoid accidentally contaminating previously disinfected teats, treat nearest teats before far teats.

Make sure that tubes stay clean and dry before use. Some people find it helpful to warm tubes (especially teat sealants) before use.

If so, place them in the hot

water cupboard overnight or place the bucket of tubes inside a second container of hot water.

Make sure the tubes stay dry and NEVER come into contact with water or dirt before use.

3. Avoid over-treating cows

Due to the repetitive nature of treating cows with dry cow products, mistakes can easily occur. To avoid over-treating individual cows, only take four tubes to each cow and use the same order to treat the quarters e.g. left back, right back, left front, right front.

If different treatments are being applied to different batches of cows, draft out and group the cows the day before, according to treatment approach. This way, all cows in a particular group can be treated in the same way.

4. Apply MRS T

The steps in MRS T (mark, record, separate and treat) can also be applied to DCT, after the cow’s last milking.

kk a MARK cows that are dried off

early and have received DCT

The risk of inhibitory grades increases markedly for herds where cows are treated with DCT prior to the rest of the herd being dried off.

Mark these cows with a different colour from the mastitis treatment system, spray them copiously (tails, legs and rump!) and load them into the electronic system, if available, to ensure they don’t get milked by mistake.

Re-mark cows every two weeks as the marks fade. kkRECORD a details of all cows

being treated with DCT

Make sure that paper and electronic records are updated promptly. If still milking other cows, a list of early DCT-treated cows on the farm dairy whiteboard will help reduce the chance of cups being put on a DCT-treated cow. kkSEPARATE a out cows to be

treated with DCT

Automatic dipping & flushing…in Reduce Mastitis

When drying off batches of cows, don’t treat cows with DCT whilst still milking other cows. Wait until milking is finished, the pipe is out of the bulk tank and the milking cows have been shut away, before bringing the cows back into the dairy for treating with DCT. These DCT-treated cows should be well-marked and grazed in a different part of the farm for the next few weeks to avoid costly mistakes. kkTREAT a only after thorough

disinfecting of the teat end

– see the easy-to-followguide below from DairyNZ’s SmartSAMM Healthy Udder illustrates the correct technique for giving intramammary treatments to cows.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

44 // MASTITIS

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SCRUB the teat end until it is clean with teat-wipes or a cotton wool ball soaked in 70% meths. Remove the cap from the treatment tube.

5. Squeeze SQUEEZE the contents of the tube gently into the teat canal. Hold teat firmly but avoid blocking the teat canal. Empty whole tube into the teat, then remove.

INSERT the tip of the treatment tube gently into the teat canal. Partial insertion (3-4mm) is ideal. Do not touch anything else before inserting.

To help see the opening, strip a small amount of milk out of the teat.

6. Spray SPRAY teats with normal teat spray. Make sure the cow has been marked appropriately. Release the cow into the treatment herd.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

46 // SOIL

Healthy and fertile soils key to pasture growth more frequent and persistent surface ponding and increased sediment, and nutrient and effluent losses through surface run-off. They also mean it takes longer for pasture to recover after grazing, and weed invasion often occurs in the bare sites pugging and compaction creates.

BALA TIKKISETTY SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE COORDINATOR WAIKATO REGIONAL COUNCIL

HEALTHY SOIL AND smart nutrient management are keys to profitable farming; they ensuring long-term economic and environmental sustainability.

In thinking about this, a starting point is that if farm soils are physically healthy and fertile, pasture production will be high.

The physical structure of soil controls the movement of air and water through the soil and the ability of roots to penetrate, as wells as providing habitat for beneficial organisms including earthworms. Soil with good structure has a significant number of pores that provide aerobic conditions, good drainage and high water-holding capacity.

However, pugging and compaction can damage soil structure. Pugging is caused by animals’ hooves sinking into the soil surface (sometimes as deep as 15cm) when they tread in very wet soils. This leaves a puddle and can create a compacted layer of soil.

The physical structure of soil controls movement of air and water.

Compaction is when the soil is compressed or squeezed by animal treading. Vehicles or farm machinery also contribute to this problem.

Such compaction on dairy and drystock farms is a particular concern. It reduces the number and size of pores available for water and gas movement in soil.

It also reduces aeration, nutrient uptake, root growth and distribution, and potentially decreases infiltration and increases runoff.

The most sensitive indicator of

compaction is macroporosity.

Research reveals macroporosity below 10% will inhibit pasture growth.

Soil scientists have found compacted soil can reduce the amount of dry matter in pasture by 200kg/ha/month. Aerating the compacted soil at the correct depth and time can increase the amount of dry matter by about 30% within six months and about 50% after eight months.

Other problems caused by pugging and compaction include:

Problems like these can be minimised by: kkReducing stock density, especially on sensitive, e.g. wet, paddocks. kkNot feeding out on sensitive paddocks. kkConstantly monitoring pugging and compaction during at-risk periods and moving stock off before damage occurs. kk Having multiple exits from paddocks. kk Grazing the back of the paddock first.

On cropping land, aggregate (lumps of soil) breakdown and soil compaction from excessive cultivation are the most common threats to soil health. The result is increased soil losses through water run-off and reduced soil organic matter. Organic matter is important because it binds the soil particles together to form aggregates, minimises the risk of

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

SOIL // 47

erosion and serves as a reservoir of nutrients and water in the soil.

With so many cultivation techniques now available, it’s worth taking some time to think carefully about the options. For example, two-pass cultivation is often all that is needed to prepare a seedbed. This avoids the need to make repeated passes to get a good tilth, and shortens the risk period for erosion between initial vegetation clearance and ground cover by the growing crop. No-tillage approach can also be considered.

It is also important to cultivate soil at the right time – when the moisture content isn’t too high or too low. To assess soil’s moisture content, take a piece of soil (half the volume of an index finger), press it firmly and roll it into a ‘worm’ on the palm of the hand until it’s about 50mm long and 4mm thick. It’s the right time to cultivate if the soil cracks before the worm is made. If the worm can be made the soil is too wet. Clods that are too dry won’t break down when cultivated and

won’t provide a good seedbed.

An easy way to keep up to date with soil condition is to carry out a visual soil assessment (VSA) at least once a year. For more info on VSA, consult your local regional council..

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s pastoral farming systems are very efficient at generating produce.

But excessive nutrients and fertiliser use can also contribute to nitrogen leaching and phosphorus run off, degrading surface and groundwater quality.

So wise use of fertiliser in these systems can increase agricultural yields, maintain soil health, nutrient balance and protect the environment.

Farmers can reduce the amount of nutrients leaching or running off pasture by ensuring they prepare a nutrient budget using the Overseer nutrient model and practice measures that minimise discharges. It is recommended farmers: Follow the NZ Fertiliser Manufacturers’ Research Association Code of Practice for

Nutrient Management including Spreadmark and Fertmark codes of practice.

Apply fertiliser when the grass is in an active growing phase.

Make sure fertiliser isn’t applied near waterways.

Leave a grassed buffer strip between paddocks and waterways – the strip filters the nutrients before the run-off reaches the water.

Control run-off from tracks, races, feed and stand-off pads.

Farmers, particularly dairy farmers, face a new environmental issue with recent research showing some dairy soils are losing more carbon and nitrogen than dry stock and hill country areas. Dairy farms on certain soils (non-allophanic) have lost an average of one tonne of soil carbon/ha/year in some parts of the country.

Another important issue for soil health management is how the animals are wintered.

Several studies indicated that degradation of soil and most of the nitrogen losses to water

from grazed winter forage crops occur in a nitrate (N) form and are transported via leaching rather than overland flow. Losses appear to be exacerbated by the high density of urine patches that are deposited at times of the year when plant growth rates are low and drainage is high. Consequently, on a per hectare basis N leaching losses from grazed winter forage crops are high relative to losses measured under pasture.

The effectiveness of the nitrification inhibitor Dicyandiamide (DCD) in reducing nitrogen leaching from urine patches deposited during grazing was evaluated in several trials in the last few years. Results from these studies show the treatment of the soil with DCD, at recommended doses, was effective in reducing nitrate leaching from the urine patches in a grazed pasture soil.

Treating soil with DCD also provids good agronomic benefits.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

48 // EFFLUENT

Effluent systems require regular service.

Well-maintained effluent systems run efficiently TREVOR FOLEY DAIRYNZ EFFLUENT SPECIALIST

EVERYONE KNOWS THE

benefits of a regular vehicle service; the same goes for your effluent system. A well maintained system will last longer and run more efficiently, creating less work and saving you money in the long run.

Here are some simple tips for getting the most out of your system.

Sand trap Start at the sand trap and give it a thorough clean. Get right in there with the digger and clear out all the sediment trapped in corners. When a trap is clean it does its job better and slows effluent down to about 2km/hour letting the sediment and objects that can block your applicator settle in the trap and stay out of your system.

If you’re in the situation where you and your staff have to get in there with a shovel, then consider investing in a redesign so you can get the front end

loader bucket in.

Store those solids in a concrete bunker or other sealed area where the liquid can drain back into your effluent system.

The pump Move on to your pump. Most are the vertical type, so lift it out and check it for wear and tear especially on the impeller.

You’re looking for wear on the metal blades, which should be easy to see if your cows have been on coarse supplement feeds like PKE. Keep a check on it so you don’t let it get to the

point where you’re dealing with severe impeller wear. If you’re in that situation there’s a major reduction in performance which will affect both the pressure your pump supplies to your applicator and the volume the pump can get through. If it’s badly worn fit a new one.

The pump motor couplings need to be checked. This is a steel base and top which look like fingers that lock together and drive the pump. In between these is a rubber star coupling that takes the vibration and shock out of the pump as it

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

EFFLUENT // 49

is working. Check there’s no cracking or too much wear on the rubber. It’ll cost you about $40 for the part and labour to get a new one fitted. If it’s cracked it can do severe damage to your pump.

Other things to look for on the pump are the condition of the motor covers and the cooling fans. If your fan can’t cool your motor it’ll overheat and burn out so they need to be in good nick.

Inspect the delivery pipework on the pump. It’s usually alkathene pipe. If it’s crimped and damaged it won’t deliver enough pressure and volume of effluent to your irrigator and it will reduce your application performance.

The irrigator As you walk out to your irrigator check your hoses and drag-lines.

A season or two of dragging them over races and around fence posts with the bike can be hard on them.

Hose clamps and the Camlock levers on the fittings can get damaged and wear can make them come loose. Some farmers line up all their hoses after irrigating, strap them together and tie old sacks over the ends of them to protect the fittings.

Doing something like this and replacing worn fittings is a cheap fix.

For the sake of a couple of hundred dollars you may want to buy a few spare fittings to put in an emergency irrigator repair kit.

Bring your traveller or your stationary irrigators back to the shed and give them a good

Keep a close eye on your travelling irrigator’s hoses and drag lines.

hose-down so you can see what condition they’re in.

Check the feed wire on your traveller to make sure it’s not frayed.

Get your grease gun and get to work on the traveller’s nipples, and the drive cam and other moving parts. Greasing regularly, ideally every time after moving the irrigator to a new paddock, prevents wear, keeps the maintenance bills down and importantly keeps it travelling freely and at

the right rate so the application is effective.

Nozzles are important. Make sure they’re not missing, cracked or cut. A quick-lock fitting can save hassles when you need to remove any blockages on a busy day.

The same principle goes for pods and other static irrigators: each nozzle needs to be clean, and moving parts should move freely.

Walk around the effluent

block and check your anchor points. Rotten posts will lead to doughnut action if you’re operating a traveller.

On this note, it may pay to fit a high/low pressure switch at the pump. A device like this will shut off the irrigator at the pump if there’s a build-up of high or low pressure indicating your traveller’s in trouble. They’re generally about $500 plus labour to get them fitted. www.dairynz.co.nz/effluent.

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

50 // EFFLUENT

Moving on from brickbats “Keep it in the root zone. Yes, the aim of your dairy effluent system should be to deliver liquid manure to the root zone and keep it there.”

BY DOING THIS, it stays on your

property and grows grass. If it doesn’t remain on your farm, then you are losing the water growing effect (and nutrient) and you could be in trouble.

You cannot argue against this intention, it is utterly reasonable, and your industry standard and code of practice have been prepared with this goal in mind.

But as this has happened, an odd thing has come about.

The industry has created its own regulations so that other bodies don’t have to create them for

STUART REID SPITFIRE IRRIGATORS MANAGING DIRECTOR

you.

If you now seek a resource consent to apply liquid manure, the regional council can ask for evidence that your system design meets your own industry’s standard. If it does, then you’re in the clear and you will probably get a resource consent.

If the design is below standard, the council can probably decline your application because you don’t meet your own industry’s standard. This is clever – they don’t have to regulate as long as they can measure your performance against a good

yardstick, and in this case the high standard you have to attain was designed and endorsed by your own best brains, in your long term interest. So the ‘regulations versus voluntary compliance’ battle has just dissolved.

Now there are some fundamental steps that make up the new protocols. First, you won’t want to irrigate on to wet soil that cannot absorb and retain the liquid.

We want to keep it in the root zone, remember, where it can grow grass? This will mean you

have to store the liquid manure until soil moisture and temperature conditions are favourable for irrigation, and when you irrigate you’ll want to apply appropriate amounts. Too much and you’ll get waste or run-off to a water course; too little and you’ll be forever shifting sprinklers. Small storage ponds will often fill (and need emptying) before you’ve reached a good time of the year to irrigate, and they may have to be managed actively. This can be stressful and if you reach that ‘impossible moment’ when the pond is

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about to overflow and the soil is still too wet to lower the level by irrigation, then you have a problem.

Larger ponds can help by deferring the need to irrigate until a more suitable time in the late spring/early summer when soil moisture levels are down, but then, when a good interval arrives, you will have to irrigate determinedly to ensure the stuff can go on quickly, for the greatest benefit to the pasture, and to ensure the pond level stays down.

If you look at a typical NIWA chart of soil moisture for your farm, it is most likely irrigation shouldn’t begin until about the middle of November, and the pond should be empty by the end of April.

Usually this all points to the need for ‘big’ ponds. To help determine pond size, Massey University and Horizons Regional Council have produced a software calculator likely to become the standard means of assessing pond size by various

A software calculator produced by Massey University and Horizons Regional Council helps farmers determine effluent pond sizes.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

52 // EFFLUENT

also enter data into this ‘device’ that produces a wide spread of results.

Be realistic when you enter the data; don’t try to cheat by promising you will truly divert all rainwater from yards (you know you can’t) and that you can definitely irrigate 2 zillion litres/ day when the reality is otherwise.

Understand how the pond size is changed by entering different scenarios.

There are two extremes: one is the use of a small pond, with frequent irrigation of small amounts at every weather opportunity from early in the season.

(You might think of this as more of a “disposal method” since it might not be in the best interests of growing grass.); the other extreme is a large pond, where irrigation happens later and liquid applications can be heavier because the soil can retain the liquid better, but you might have to be prepared to apply the stuff quickly over larger areas because you’ve waited until later in the season before you started to irrigate.

This system is probably better for pasture health and grass production.

In between these extremes, there are many intermediate pathways. Understand this before you take the ‘calculator’s’ output as the ultimate truth.

A further consideration must be tackled when you are designing the application system.

How do you handle the solids in the wash down water? (Solids are everything left in the saucepan after you’ve evaporated the effluent liquid.)

Choose an irrigation system that suits your soil.

Sludge is solids; penicillin tubes and bark chips are solids; so is grass fibre, and baling twine, chewed cud and green slime.

Don’t just think of solids as little stones and hoof trimmings.

Solids and sludge are almost synonymous in this regard.

Dried sludge is solids. Wet sludge is still solids. But solids usually settle in the bottom of

You still have to irrigate the liquid when it is appropriate to do so, but you can use quite small nozzles now because the solids particles are no longer in the mix. You may have to use small nozzles anyway for low rate application if you are on sensitive soils or irrigating at times of ‘highish’ soil moisture levels.

If you wish to leave the solids

“Be realistic when you enter the data; don’t try to cheat by promising you will truly divert all rainwater from yards (you know you can’t) and that you can definitely irrigate 2 zillion litres/ day when the reality is otherwise. “ a pond, unless methane and air bubbles bring them to the surface where they dry out to form an annoying crust. You have the choice of removing these solids materials from the liquid manure or leaving them together with the liquid.

Separators are used to screen out and accumulate the solids (by way of weeping walls, screens or presses) and they are stored and spread when the separating device has produced enough of them. You can gather them up and spread them from tankers or flail spreaders so they can go on to a crop such as maize or turnips, or even on to pasture.

(In the past, spreading has not been scientific but things are changing so be careful that you don’t overdose the paddock with nutrient in violation of regional guidelines or apply the solids immediately before heavy rain.)

and liquid together, you will find the solids settle to the bottom of the pond. When you irrigate the pond contents you may initially pump liquid from the surface because the top layer of the pond is just ‘liquid’ after all. As the pond level falls, the mixture will get ‘blacker’ as the pump starts to suck an increasing quantity of solids at the same time as the liquid.

How do you prevent this?

Well, effective agitation is the only way – agitation that blends solids and liquids all together.

But large ponds – which are the trend as you will have noticed – need your careful attention.

Localised mixers (floating or submerged type) produce plenty of activity in one spot but they leave quiet zones in the pond. If this happens the solids just drift over to the quiet zone and go back to sleep on the bottom of

the pond. You have to be careful these zones don’t build up and glue together, or they will need to be removed with a digger, generating an unpleasant task as well as causing holes in the liner.

Bear in mind good agitation will allow you to irrigate all the liquid and solids out of the pond at the same time and leave no islands of solids in the pond.

The agitation should also ensure the irrigation pump receives a consistent brew, and not thin liquid one minute and thick liquid the next.

A liner? Yes, ponds will probably have to be lined.

Without a liner, your agitator fluid velocities will slowly erode the pond base and undercut embankments. With a liner you can be sure the nutrients are not seeping down into well water.

After all, you don’t really want to drink effluent that has got through to ground water or even pass it on to your neighbour’s water supply either.

In some respects we’ve started this piece at the wrong end. The real starting point in effluent irrigation design is the manner in which you will irrigate.

First, you should choose an irrigation means to suit your soil, the weather, your terrain and your farm’s working ‘style’. This is what drives the whole design.

Just don’t listen to the man who starts the design by deciding on the pump size first. We must size everything around the irrigation devices that can apply appropriate amounts with a uniform spread pattern, and all other decisions are subservient to this selection. These days we can

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

EFFLUENT // 53

choose pumps that have a low power demand but deliver the same amount to each hydrant, even high up on the farm flats, so that irrigator performance is the same whichever paddock it’s in. The older style of (less efficient) pump coped well with dog chains and horn buds, but you must keep this stuff out of the effluent nowadays because if it doesn’t pass through the irrigator nozzle then you’ve got a problem.

Finally a note on an important industry trend. Under the auspices of DairyNZ especially, with support from the dairy companies and regional councils, large efforts are being made to up-skill the people who design, supply and install the ponds, liners, pumps, pipes and irrigators.

They are now expected to attend courses to become competent, and as a consequence you should ask them to prove their qualifications at the time you engage them. Not all of us have yet achieved the qualifying standard, but somewhere

out there is an operator who can be relied on more than most. She might even guide you carefully through the process ensuring you understand what you are buying. If you are going to spend $200,000 doing the job properly, then don’t just trust the first willing salesman who crosses your threshold.

We don’t want short cuts and half-baked systems any more.

You and your industry want to reap benefits from this move to do effluent properly; you don’t need any more brickbats from lost nutrients, so don’t allow it to happen. Discuss, plan, and think.

The aim of your effluent system should be to deliver liquid manure to the root zone.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

54 // EFFLUENT

Regional checklists for self-audit of systems ALL NEW ZEALAND DAIRY

farmers now have access to regionally tailored checklists developed by DairyNZ to help them meet the condition of their resource consents.

Farmers in the Greater Wellington, Tasman and Marlborough regions are the latest to have checklists developed for their regions, which allow them to perform a self-audit of their effluent systems.

Farmers can now check conditions of their resource consent via a checklist.

The lists are short and sharp and have been developed in consultation with regional councils, dairy companies and Federated Farmers before being reviewed by farmers.

DairyNZ project manager - effluent services, Theresa Wilson, says the checklists have been popular since they first went out to Canterbury farmers in October 2009.

“Farmers found the lists useful as they provide greater clarity around the rules of each regional council,” says Wilson.

“Much of the non-compliance reported nationwide is for minor issues that can be avoided. The checklists are designed to help farmers as they go through their systems to ensure all the regulations are met and the administrative conditions of their consent have been fulfilled.”

The lists are short and sharp and have been developed in

consultation with regional councils, dairy companies and Federated Farmers before being reviewed by farmers, says Wilson.

“It was important to unravel the legal jargon in the regional plans and rules, and put it into plain English so that everyone interprets the rules the same way. We’re determined to lift compliance levels and these checklists are proving to be a useful tool for farmers to do that.”

The checklists have also proved to be a good staff training tool.

“The checklist can act as

a catalyst for discussions with the farm team to ensure everyone involved with effluent management understands the requirements. It’s helpful to review the checklist at least twice a season, firstly during winter when system repairs and maintenance is underway and new staff are being trained, then mid-season to review the seasonto-date.”

“Having staff know about the importance of effluent management, knowing the ins and outs of your effluent management plan and being trained so they can operate the

system and know what to do when something goes wrong, is a consent condition in some regions.”

Compliance Checklists are available for farmers in the following regions: Canterbury, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Greater Wellington, Hawke’s Bay, Horizons, Northland, Otago, Marlborough, Tasman, Southland, Taranaki, Waikato and West Coast.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

56 // EFFLUENT

Effluent management systems should suit the farm, says Kate Ody, Waikato Regional Council.

Tailor effluent system to suit your farm KATE ODY AGRICULTURE ADVISOR, WAIKATO REGIONAL COUNCIL

NEW ZEALAND DAIRY farming has changed somewhat from the traditional pastoral based systems. So it’s important for farmers to understand how this can influence effluent management so they can maximise the benefits from effluent.

The nutrient value of effluent varies considerably between farm systems. Where effluent is only collected from the dairy shed this can be quite dilute, and at low applications can be irrigated more frequently if soil conditions suit. This is because the nutrient is less likely to be leached past the rootzone, as the application rate matches the plant requirement at times of reduced growth in, for example, late autumn and early winter.

However, if farmers bring more intensive management

practices on to their farm, such as feedpads and the feeding of concentrates such as palm kernel, then effluent will become more concentrated.

The principles of application timing of this type of effluent – or the sludge from the bottom of storage ponds – should be similar to the use of fertilisers and timed to match plant growth.

Having storage facilities as part of the effluent system gives the farm the opportunity to defer application of high nutrient content effluent to closely match spring growth. If this doesn’t happen there is more chance of nitrogen leaching through to groundwater and the value of this on farm being lost.

Further, the obvious nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium content of effluent from more intensive farming systems

contains more trace elements and organic matter which can add additional value to soil health.

Returning organic matter to the soil can help improve soil structure, which helps optimise infiltration of effluent.

Understanding the type of effluent and the soil types on farm and planning this into nutrient budgets will help determine the size of the effluent block required, as well as nitrogen losses.

There can be some concerns with elevated soil potassium levels if an appropriate rotation of paddocks isn’t incorporated into the effluent management plan.

To help ensure an effluent system is performing (and rule compliant), it is important to keep records of when, where

and how much effluent was applied. This information can also be used to assess whether the optimum storage volume is available on farm.

Utilising rural professionals to help run this information through the Massey University effluent storage calculator programme, to look at varying management scenarios, will help determine what size storage system each farm system needs.

There has previously been talk of needing 60-90 days storage on farm but storage is farmspecific and should be based on assessing the individual farm environmental risks and the management of its effluent system. One size definitely does not fit all.

Establishing what water and effluent is entering the system can help with management and

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

EFFLUENT // 57

system design. Reducing the volume of clean water going in can reduce the volume of effluent needing to be stored, so it’s important to consider diverting roof water and reducing wash water.

Opportunities for stormwater diversion depend on how clean that stormwater is. Waikato has had drought in recent years, and with continued pressure on water resources, there may be opportunities on farm to utilise low grade effluent and stormwater more for irrigation.

Remember that while an effluent management system may be efficient and compliant at the moment, the system may cease to deliver if overall farm management changes. This is a key factor to consider when looking at upgrading storage facilities – a big financial investment. It is critical to think about where the farm business is heading during the lifespan of those facilities, which should be at least 15-20 years.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

58 // MAIZE

Growing maize is great for the environment says Ian Williams, Pioneer brand seeds.

Maize silage â&#x20AC;&#x201C; more than just a supplementary feed IAN WILLIAMS PIONEER FORAGE SPECIALIST

IN THE PAST 20 years New Zealand dairy farm systems have intensified with more cows per hectare producing more milk per cow. Pasture yield potential has not kept pace with the growing demand for feed and as a consequence farmers have become increasingly reliant on supplementary feed.

Choosing the right supplement is a complex decision. As well as balancing feed price and nutrient composition with cow nutritional requirements and likely financial benefits, farmers must also consider how the supplement fits

into their dairy farm system.

While maize silage provides an excellent nutritional profile and can be grown or purchased at a cost-effective price, it is more than just a supplementary feed. That is because growing and feeding maize silage delivers a number of unequalled farm systems and environmental benefits.

Growing and feeding maize can help improve pasture persistence.

Maize is an ideal break crop in a pasture renewal process.

The cultivation process allows

farmers to apply fertiliser, incorporate lime and address drainage issues that may have been negatively impacting pasture persistence. Cropping removes the normal feed source for pasture pests such as black beetle, Argentine stem weevil and pasture nematodes. This interrupts their breeding cycle and reduces insect pressure on seedling plants during the pasture renewal process.

While most forage crops must be fed when mature, a key benefit of maize silage is that it can be stored long-term and

fed whenever pasture supply does not meet animal demand.

This reduces overgrazing which in turn helps improve ryegrass persistence. The combination of maize silage and a well-designed stand-off pad with feeding facilities allows farmers to keep cows off wet pastures decreasing pugging without compromising production or animal welfare. It also allows farmers to capture and use valuable effluent.

Growing maize on effluent paddocks delivers environmental benefits as well as low cost feed.

Growing maize on effluent

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

60 // MAIZE

Feeding maize silage can reduce cow urinary nitrogen levels.

Table 1: Typical cost of maize silage DM1

MAIZE SILAGE YIELD (†DM/HA IN THE STACK) Cost with full fertiliser input (c/kgDM) Cost in effluent paddock (c/kgDM)2

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

24.1

21.4

19.3

17.5

16.1

14.8

13.8

–

–

15.7

14.2

12.9

11.8

10.9

10.1

9.4

Table 2: Comparison between the amount of drymatter harvested from a traditional run-off and one partially cropped with maize3

TRADITIONAL RUN-OFF 30HA

PARTIALLY CROPPED RUN-OFF 30HA

Heifer grazing 75 calves, 75 yearlings

Heifer grazing 87 yearlings

Winger grazing 100 cows for 4 weeks

Winter grazing 120 cows for 4 weeks

Standing grass for hay 20 †DM

Maize silage 10ha or 235 †DM Winter tritcale crop 10ha or 235 †DM

Total Feed Harvested 300 †DM or 10 †dM/ha

Total Feed Harvested 558 †DM or 18.6 †DM/ha

86% more drymatter from the partially cropped run-off

paddocks reduces the cost of maize silage by delivering high maize silage yields with reduced crop input costs (Table 1). In fact a two year on-farm study funded by the Foundation of Arable Research (FAR), DairyNZ, Environment Waikato and Genetic Technologies Limited showed that maize silage crops grown on effluent paddocks with no additional fertiliser (no base, starter or sidedress) yielded an average of 26.1 tDM/ha.

Maize is a deep-rooted crop that can extract water and nutrients from depths 2-3 times greater than typical pasture species including ryegrass and clover. This allows the maize crop to remove excess nutrients (especially nitrogen and potassium) from effluent blocks.

Feeding maize silage reduces cow urinary nitrogen levels.

Pasture frequently contains excess crude protein (nitrogen) relative to animal requirements.

A high proportion (typically 60-70%) of the excess nitrogen intake is excreted in the urine.

Urinary nitrates can be relatively quickly leached beyond the reach of shallow-rooted pasture roots plants. Feeding maize silage (a low protein feedstuff) in conjunction with high protein

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

MAIZE // 61

pasture dilutes dietary protein content and reduces nitrogen excretion by the cow.

Maize silage allows farmers to increase run-off efficiency.

Many dairy farm run-offs are not farmed to their full potential.

In a paper presented at Dairy3, Scott Ridsdale (DairyNZ) provided an example which showed a partially cropped run-off could harvest 86% more drymatter than a traditional run-off. The partially cropped run-off provided an 83% higher return on assets for the farmer who owned it.

For more information on how maize silage can fit into your farm system call 0800 PIONEER (0800 746 633) to arrange a free, no obligation Farm System Check from your local Pioneer Forage Specialist.

Pioneer Maize Silage 2011-2012 page 15. Does not take into account the lost pasture as this varies significantly between paddocks and farms.

2 Assumes no base, starter or sidedress fertiliser is required.

3 Ridsdale, S. 2007. Are you getting the best out of your run-off? Dairy3 Conference.

1

Happy meal: cows munching maize silage.

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

62 // MAIZE

In-shed feeders allow control, curbs wastage Processed maize grain is an excellent choice. Maize has a higher energy content than other

IAN WILLIAMS PIONEER FORAGE SPECIALIST

grains and many other commonly available concentrates. It can be used to increase cow energy

Figure 1: Typical Concentrate Energy Content1,2

there has been a rise in the number of in-shed feeders being used on NZ dairy farms. This method of feeding cows has a number of advantages in terms of convenience, low wastage and the ability to control per cow intake of concentrates. Feeding the right supplement through your in-shed feeding system will ensure that you maximise milk returns and supplementary feeding profitability.

Metabolisable Energy Content MJME/kgDM)

DURING THE LAST few years

14.0 13.5 13.0 12.5 12.0 11.5 11.0 10.5 10.0

Maize grain

Barley

Wheat

Typical dairy meal

Oats

Molasses

Palm Kernel

intakes, delivering more milk or faster condition score gains.

Recent information published

by DairyNZ shows that milk production is determined by the amount of energy a cow eats but the composition of the milksolids she produces is affected by the type of supplement fed3.

When cows are fed a starch or sugar-based supplement, they produce more milk protein.

When cows are fed a fibre based supplement, they produce more milk fat.

Since milk protein is worth two to three times more than milk fat, starch and sugar based supplements will deliver more milk revenue than fibre-based supplements.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

64 // MAIZE

Table 1: Estimated milk revenue from feeding 1tDM of different supplements fed through an in-shed feeding system3

As well as containing more energy than other concentrates (e.g. dairy meal, other grains), maize grain has advantages for rumen health.

It has a high starch content but virtually no soluble sugar.

Maize starch is less rapidly broken down in the rumen than other starch types.

This means there is a lower risk of acidosis (grain overload) when feeding maize grain compared to other grains (e.g. wheat) or high sugar feeds (e.g. molasses).

Maize grain feeding rates will

Feed

% of extra milksolids is:

Estimated milk revenue at $6.50/kgMS

Estimated milk revenue at $7.50/kgMS

Fat

Protein

PKE

75

25

$440

$510

Barley

25

75

$675

$780

Maize grain

20

80

$800

$920

When cows are fed a starch or sugar-based supplement, they produce more milk protein.

When cows are fed a fibre based supplement, they produce more milk fat. vary depending on the age and production level of livestock and the amount and type of other feeds in the diet. General recommendations for cows are:

Feed a maximum of 30% of the total drymatter intake as maize grain.

Start at lower rates (e.g 1kg maize grain per cow per day and

increase feeding rates gradually over 7-10 days).

Feed a maximum of 2.5kgDM maize grain in a single feed.

Feeding rates will be lower in diets that contain other sources of carbohydrate (e.g other grains or meals, molasses or high sugar or starch byproducts).

Maize grain is an ideal supplement for pasture-fed calves and youngstock promoting rapid rumen development and excellent liveweight gains.

Cows eating processed maize grain.

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

MAIZE // 65

Processed maize grain.

David Gock 027 452 8294 davidgock@xtra.co.nz Processed maize grain can be purchased as required, from most local grain companies. kk

For more information on feeding maize grain talk to your local Pioneer Forage Specialist on 0800 PIONEER (0800 746 633). kk

kk

Feed values taken from Holmes et al. 2003. Milk Production from Pasture, Massey University, NZ. 2 Palm kernel extract feed value taken from Kolver E. 2006.

1

PKE â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Economically priced supplement. Dexcelink Autumn 2006.

3 Adapted from Roche and Hedley, 2011. Supplements â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the facts to help improve your bottom line. DairyNZ Technical Series July, 2011 p 6-10.

Assumes grazing residuals of 1,500-1,600 kgDM (7-8 clicks on RPM). Responses decline when residuals are higher than 1,600 kgDM (i.e. cows are better fed).

For a full list of assumptions see http://www.dairynz.co.nz/file/ fileid/37671.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

66 // FEED

Plan to keep cows in milk during mid-lactation ANDREW OAKLEY TECHNICAL MANAGER, AGRI-FEEDS LTD.

DAIRY FARMERS ARE in the business of converting feed into milk, not grazing dry cows for extended periods of time.

Keeping cows in milk in mid-late lactation is an efficient way to make money.

New Zealand herds have cows perfectly capable of milking for 305 days per lactation, unfortunately, more than 280 days is rare. By March each year, if feed is tight, farmers of springcalved herds consider once-a-day milking and/or drying off some of the herd.

Drying off a herd early could be for many reasons, but relying on pasture as the only source of feed is high risk if prone to droughts and dry cows do not provide income.

The strategic feeding of molasses and minerals during the drier months of summer when feed is tight will promote more milksolids (MS) either as a short term milk response or through improved cow condition.

Molasses contains no fibre, so the effects of substitution are minimal, plus molasses will help balance high fibre feeds, such as PKE thereby maintaining dry matter intake.

A 500kg dry cow, due to calve in July has the following daily energy requirements in March:

at 11.0MJME/kgDM (8.5kgDM offered at 80% utilisation), for a $7.80 return. To break even, you could afford to spend up to 80c/ kgDM to keep your cow in milk at a $6.50 payout. If the extra dry matter was costing 45 cents, you can make a good margin of $4/ cow/day.

It’s never too late to change things For better cow condition and reproductive performance this season and next season, start planning today.

Review stocking rate

Overstocking and underfeeding is the number one reason for poor cow condition.

Light conditioned cows gain weight on high carbohydrate and sugar based feeds (maize or cereal silage, cereal grains plus molasses).

Farmers can afford to spend almost 80c/kgDM to keep a moderately conditioned in-calf cow doing 1.2kgMS through March at a $6.50 payout.

Feed molasses to: kk Rebalance typically high fibre

summer diets by diluting the Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF) levels in your pasture kk Balance high NDF feeds e.g. palm kernel kk Maintain cow appetite and reduce weight loss kk Maintain milk production by

Dry Cow (MJME / cow / day)

Lactating (MJME / cow / day)

Maintenance

58

63

0.3kg liveweight gain

17

10

Milksolids 1.2kg / cow

0

77

Total energy demand

75

150

The difference between running a dry cow or a milker is 75MJME/cow/day, or 6.8kgDM eaten per cow per day

It’s all about converting feed into milk.

extending Days In Milk kk Provides a consistent, reliable instant energy source to rumen microbes, improving

rumen function.

An extended negative energy imbalance post mating is likely to affect conception rates and the timing of calving and farm performance the following year.

Feeding molasses throughout summer months may reduce the risk of ‘Phantom’ cows by maintaining energy levels.

How much molasses is economic?

kk Pasture fibre levels usually rise

by 5-20% in the Nov to Feb period.

Feeding 1.0 to 2.0 kg molasses per cow / day will keep the milk decline to a minimum and create a good economic return by: maintaining appetite; offsetting the weight loss of 1.0 kg/day that would be required to maintain cows on the lactation curve; and extending days in milk.

kk Every 1.0 kg of molasses

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

68 // FEED

Which liquid feeds lift both cows and profits? many companies, here are some questions we need to ask:

CHARLOTTE WESTWOOD IS A VETERINARIAN AND ANIMAL NUTRITIONIST WHO CONSULTS TO AGRI-FEEDS LTD

Practicalities

EVERY WEEK YET another liquid by product feed for dairy cows seems to appear on the market. Not only is it hard to keep up with what’s new, now we also have to figure out just what’s best for the cows and the bank balance.

Wading through the glossy brochures – just where do we start?

With so many claims by so

What feed is most likely going to work within your existing feed system?

In shed feeding system

If your system drops liquid feeds onto grain or other dry feeds, or into bins / lickballs in front of cows, you’re well set up for most liquid feed types.

Do take care with: kk Liquid feeds that aren’t partic-

ularly tasty. A key benefit of liquid on top of dry feeds is

to encourage intake of dry feeds. If you’re considering a new liquid feed that your cows haven’t seen before, check from other people already using the new feed, or simply stick with a liquid feed you’ve used before that you know your cows like. kk Changing to novel / new feed types at important times of the year, particularly through calving and mating, no point backing cows off feed at critical times of the year. kk Liquid feeds that are low pH and / or may be potentially corrosive on fittings.

Open trough feeding in exit laneways

Cheap and cheerful, this is a good way to get extra feed into cows as they arrive at or leave the shed. Care is needed with: kk Avoiding overconsumption of liquid feeds by dominant cows. Feeds containing high concentrations of water soluble carbohydrate contents (WSC) and / or those with low pH can create rumen health issues if cows over-consume.

You may need to innovate on ways to restrict access to open troughs. Keeping liquid feed troughs well away from stock water troughs can help limit

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

FEED // 69

overconsumption too. kk Liquid feeds that contain

additives such as Rumensin are not designed for open trough feeding.

Adding liquid feeds to partial or total mixed rations with silages, hay and other feeds

Almost any liquid feeds can be mixed in with silages – provided the price is right.

Price

Whilst it’s not ideal to compare liquid feeds simply on price (we ignore the nutritional and practical issues of getting the feed into cows), it’s a handy start point for comparing feeds.

We can compare the value of liquid feeds in several different ways: Dry matter (DM) basis

Not all liquid feeds are created equal. Some can be very watery and contain only a low content of DM. Others are surprisingly high in DM and therefore

represent better value. This is the single most important start point when comparing the value of liquid feeds for your business – don’t accept a quote for a liquid feed unless it’s accompanied by documentation that states the DM% for that feed.

Prices for liquid feeds are not commonly quoted on a DM basis, with the exception of some delactosed whey by-products.

It’s up to us to receive a quote for a liquid feed then back-calculate to price on a DM basis. Here’s how: If a high DM liquid feed such as molasses lands at $400 per wet tonne and it’s 74.5% DM, divide $400 by 0.745 = $537 per tonne of DM, or 53.7 cents per kgDM. If another type of liquid feed lands on farm at e.g. $280 per wet tonne and it’s 40% dry matter, divide $280 by 0.4 = $700 per tonne of dry matter, or 70 cents per kgDM. “Just because one liquid feed lands on farm cheaper on a wet

weight basis doesn’t mean it is the best value”.

Nutritional value basis

There’s a wide range of liquid feed types now available in the New Zealand marketplace – each characterised by, in many cases, quite different nutritional profiles. Selection of a product will depend on what your cows need, as influenced by stage of lactation, current production levels and what else is in the diet. For most pasture and pasture plus silage fed diets, we’re typically after extra energy, usually as extra WSC. Occasionally we may be looking for extra protein.

Metabolisable Energy (MJME basis)

Once we’ve calculated the price of different liquid feeds on a DM basis, we can in theory convert our comparison to a “cents per MJME” basis. This is difficult for two key reasons: There are no standard recom-

mendations on how to calculate MJME for liquid feeds. With no current industry guidelines to encourage companies to calculate the MJME value for their liquid feeds in the exact same way, values for different feeds from different companies are likely to have been calculated using a range of different methods. As such, we should not directly compare the MJME rating of one liquid feed with another company’s product.

MJME is a difficult value to calculate for liquid feeds that are often characterised by a wide range of nutritional values. e.g. If a liquid feed contains fat and protein but only low levels of WSC, the MJME value can calculate out reasonably well (sometimes as high as 16 MJME/ kgDM). The same MJME equation applied to low protein, low fat, high WSC liquid feeds can generate a lower MJME, despite a high WSC feed having a considerably higher fermentable MJME (FME) value, capable of

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

70 // FEED

delivering a much better source of energy to rumen microbes.

For all of the limitations of comparing liquid feeds on a cents per MJME basis, this is a common method of comparing feeds, so we still need to be able to apply the MJME comparison to liquid feeds as necessary: For each liquid feed, divide the cents per kgDM by the MJME value for that feed. E.g. if a feed costs 53.7c/kgDM and is 12 MJME/kgDM, the feed costs 4.48c/MJME. Cows taking molasses from a lick wheel system.

Valuing the nutritional attributes of liquid feeds in other ways Cents per kg of Water Soluble Carbohydrates (WSC)

53.7 cents by 0.65 to give us the price of this feed on a cents per WSC basis, in this case it is 82.6c/kgWSC.

Most commonly we’re needing liquid feeds for their energy value, especially from WSC to complement the diet of pasture or silage-fed cows.

If you’re after WSC for cows, revalue your feeds on a $/tonne of WSC basis.

E.g. if a feed is 53.7c/kgDM and it contains 65% WSC, divided

Cents per kg of crude protein

We’re not typically too interested in liquid feeds as a protein source because much of the protein present is non-protein nitrogen (NPN) and in most cases we have an abundance of NPN present in good quality pasture, also in grass and lucerne silages.

If you’re after protein you’re

often better to invest in a good quality protein meal. You can however calculate cents per kg of crude protein by dividing price cents per kgDM by the crude protein content of the liquid feed in the same way as the WSC method above.

When pondering which liquid feed will work best for your system, consider all aspects of a feed – practicalities, tastiness and price of the feed on a cents per DM, MJME and WSC basis – before committing to a new feed.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

72 // FERTILISER

The bio farming debate DR BRUCE THORROLD DAIRYNZ STRATEGY AND INVESTMENT LEADER - PRODUCTIVITY

I SPENT A day at the first National Biological Farming Conference recently. You might have seen me reported as saying that DairyNZ welcomed the debate about different ways of farming and nutrient management.

Well we do welcome the debate – in part because fertiliser management has fallen off the radar lately as more pressing issues such as effluent and pasture persistency have taken centre stage.

By opening this topic up to discussion we can take another look at the key principles of ferti-

liser management, keep updated on any new developments in science and evaluate whether we need to make any changes on-farm because of changes to the system.

What I have yet to see reported were some of the other comments I made about biological farming and fertiliser management.

All dairy farming in New Zealand is based on biology. The vast majority of New Zealand farmers, scientists and agribusiness people acknowledge and support the importance of soil biology and physical

structure in efficient and sustainable farming.

The term ‘biological farming’ has been adopted as a generic brand by companies marketing products and services to farmers.

It seems to be defined as a system that aims to build soil biology with an expectation this will lead to good results – which poses the question, will the products and practises advocated and sold achieve these results?

To me, there seems to be three main ideas or product groups in biological farming.

The first is an idea to reduce inputs of soluble fertilisers. For

many high feed input farmers, a nutrient budget would show that reducing the use of fertiliser is the right response to balance out the amount of nutrient coming in the gate in feed. We have seen farms that need no additional phosphate or potash inputs.

This includes reducing urea use. Biological farmers comment they have reduced urea use and seen clover content increase and pastures improve. These observations don’t require a new principle of soil science to explain – high N inputs will suppress clover (and some of these farmers have been

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every winter, wildlife Category humpback whales of miles to the leave their summer tropics for mating recover from and calving. the feeding grounds in polar illegal waters and migrate population of as “Least Concern”, whaling that continued humpbacks in despite the oceania regionthousands continue to keep the status of this population the 1986 moratorium, has yet and while the humpbacks in is species is listed to in Niue stays the South pacific unknown. Climate change, close to its calf now pollution under pressure. during its first every calf matters. and ship collisions days of life, lifting this humpback it to the surface mother to breathe.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

74 // FERTILISER

DairyNZ is welcoming the debate on different ways of farming.

using over 200kg N/ha along with bought in feed), and this will be made worse if pasture management is lax with high residuals.

So taking some N fertiliser out of the system and better managing pasture will produce results – possibly even more milk production with less N input, as pasture quality improves through management. And lower N inputs will lead to lower N leaching but simply on the basis of the reduced N inputs.

So in my view, all farmers should be examining their use of solid fertiliser, but on the basis of nutrient budgets and nutrient use efficiency benchmarks, not on the basis of an argument that soluble fertiliser damages soil ecology.

The second idea is that fertiliser recommendations based on balancing base saturation will give better results than recommendations based on ensuring no nutrient is limiting.

This is a long-running debate among international soil and fertiliser experts. From what I have read, it is my opinion that

the ‘law of the minimum’ effect is a more certain and cost-effective way of optimising fertiliser inputs and pasture growth.

Farmers have made the observation that changing their fertiliser programme has led to improved soil structure and water infiltration. While this may also be due to a focus on preventing pugging, it is an area where some further work may be warranted.

The third idea is that by using products claimed to enhance the soil’s biological activity, farmers can produce more product with lower inputs, and have healthier animals and a better soil.

Many of the products promoted utilise comparatively small amounts of materials including rock minerals, seawater, fish by-products and humates.

Low rates of standard fertilisers are sometimes used.

There is no evidence that this will happen. This is an old argument being recycled in a new brand. Many hundreds of experiments have been done in New Zealand to measure the

links between the ‘active ingredients’ in fertilisers and pasture growth and animal performance.

Studies have been conducted under grazing and pasture mowing, and include long-term studies running for over 30 years.

Many different types of products have been tested alongside widely used products such as superphosphate, potash and urea.

This research has helped calibrate soil and herbage tests for New Zealand conditions.

This work shows that the response to any input or ‘active ingredient’ is proportional to the amount applied.

Research has shown that nutrients (P, K, S, N, Mg etc) lime and gibberelic acid are active ingredients.

The effectiveness of products such as DAP slurries, fine lime, seaweed extracts, di-calcic phosphate, serpentine and compost teas can be predicted from the amount of nutrients and lime contained by these products. There is no evidence that finegrinding, foliar application, slurries or biological

material in these products improves their effectiveness over and above the active ingredients applied.

I’m very aware of the interest in biological farming and the reports from farmers who believe they are getting good results.

We are attempting to work with farmer advocates of biological farming to test their observations that they are getting responses much greater than can be explained by DairyNZ’s current view of soil and fertiliser science.

These results will be reported to farmers as they emerge – but right now, my view is that when we see farmers using biological principles and getting good results – what we see is good farmers getting good results.

But it is a consequence of good nutrient management, good pasture and feed management and a focus on protecting soils from pugging. I believe that farmers will get the best value for money from their expenditure by following current advice based on soil, herbage and animal testing.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

76 // FERTILISER

Which fertiliser works best for your farm?

DR BRUCE THORROLD DAIRYNZ STRATEGY AND INVESTMENT LEADER - PRODUCTIVITY

THE EXTENSION TEAM at

DairyNZ is frequently asked about fertiliser requirements, options and application. Below is a summary of key questions and advice.

Question: Is the response from liquid fertiliser or finely ground fertiliser better than conventional solid fertiliser, when the same amount of nutrient is applied per hectare?

Answer: No. Many trials over Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solid or liquid fertiliser, it is the amount of nutrient applied that matters, says DairyNZ.

the years have shown it is the amount of nutrient applied that matters. The total response to the nutrient, whether it be nitrogen, phosphate or lime, is the same over time regardless of whether the nutrient is applied as a liquid, finely ground or in a more coarse form.

The response time from the nutrient may differ, with a quicker response to liquid and finely ground products.

However, the total response is the same when measured over time. Some products claim better responses where the response is measured over a shorter time period and the total long-term response from the more coarsely

ground product is not measured.

Q: Is urea destroying organic matter in soils?

A: No. Pastoral grazing systems build up high levels of organic matter. Anything that stimulates plant growth (e.g. fertilisers P, K, S, N) increase the amount of litter going back into the soils, as well as what the grazing animal adds. These activities stimulate microbial activity. Therefore urea (nitrogen) does not destroy organic matter and may even assist in building organic matter when applied to grazed pastures.

If high annual N rates are used, lime maybe required to maintain soil pH (need about 1kg lime/ kg

of urea or 3kg of lime/kg sulphate of ammonia).

However, recent research indicates that soil carbon has declined by about 10% over 20 years with intensive dairying. The reasons for this are uncertain but could include decreased root growth relative to shoot growth, and increased level of pasture utilisation with less return of plant residues to soil. It is unknown whether increased N fertiliser use might contribute to this.

Nevertheless, levels of carbon in New Zealand pastoral soils are much greater than those in cropping soils and in many overseas pastoral soils.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

78 // FERTILISER Q: Should we be applying more calcium (Ca)?

A: Most New Zealand soils have an abundant supply of calcium as the soils are derived from parent material that is rich in calcium. Ca deficiency in New Zealand soils is unheard of.

The confusion comes with the belief that Ca increases soil pH. It is not the Ca that increases pH but the alkali content of the product, the cheapest forms being carbonate applied as either limestone (calcium carbonate) or as dolomite (calcium magnesium carbonate).

Lime increases pasture production because it increases soil pH not because it increases Ca. In addition, superphosphate Lime increases soil nitrogen in the same way nitrogen does, according to DairyNZ.

contains 20% Ca and this represents a significant input to soils.

Calcium is required by the cow, however applying it to soil does not improve the calcium supply to the cow. If applied before calving it prevents the cow from mobilising calcium and can induce milk fever.

Q: How does lime benefit soils and pasture production?

A: Liming benefits the soils in several ways, through increasing pH. One of the most important benefits is that it stimulates soil biological activity and increases the availability of soil N, particularly in the pH range 5.5-6.0.

This is why limed soils appear greener, as the lime increases

soil nitrogen, in the same way N fertiliser does.

Liming also reduces the availability of soluble aluminium and manganese which are toxic to plants at low soil pH (e.g. less than about 5.5). If the pH is lifted above 6.5 on coarse, textured soils it can result in a zinc or manganese deficiency by reducing their availability.

Liming can also increase the availability of molybdenum and the wettability of a soil.

Q: Do humates improve soil organic matter (OM)?

A: Soils contain between 60t (soils in the McKenzie basin) to 350t (volcanic ash soils in Taranaki and peat soils

in Waikato) of organic matter, with most dairy farms around 200-300t OM/ha.

If say 60kg/ha of humate was applied, this would add only 0.2- 0.3% organic matter to the soil and therefore is unlikely to have any effect. The claim that they stimulate soil microbes is very unlikely, given how little is applied.

Q: Overseer takes into account all major nutrients used on the farm, including those bought on in supplements and recycled in dairy effluent. How evenly are these nutrients spread over the farm and does Overseer underestimate the nutrients required on parts of the farm?

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80 // FERTILISER

A: Nutrients are spread around in urine and dung patches which can cover around 25% of the area in a year. Therefore, it takes a number of years for even coverage. Overseer accounts for the longer-term effect of the nutrient recycling from this supplementary feed use by assuming even coverage eventually occurs. But it does account for the component that goes off the farm in the extra milk and the transfer to lanes and the effluent system.

Q: Why is it the results of soil tests from laboratories outside New Zealand (e.g. United States) are disregarded by some fertiliser consultants?

A: Regardless of where the laboratory is, what matters is that the tests are calibrated for New Zealand pastoral For the plant to uptake sulphur, it must be oxidised.

soils. Calibration means that a relationship needs to be established between the test and some other factor, generally pasture production.

This relationship will allow you to identify levels of soil test when soil properties are limiting (or excessive) for pasture or animal performance. For this reason, any soil or herbage tests not calibrated by field trials for New Zealand soils and pastures, should not be used. This caution applies to most tests from overseas labs and some tests from New Zealand labs.

Q: In early spring, there are occasions when sulphur is limiting. Can the application of finely ground elemental sulphur (S) be as effective in meeting this deficit as applying sulphur in the sulphate form?

A: For the plant to uptake sulphur it must be oxidised to plant available sulphate S i.e. the plant cannot take up elemental S. The oxidation process is performed by microbes (bugs) in the soil and the rate of conversion is driven by temperature, moisture and the particle size of the elemental S. Therefore, if sulphate S is deficient in early spring because the conversion from elemental S residues or soil organic matter is too slow due to temperature, finely ground elemental S will not be as effective as sulphate S. Applying elementals in the previous autumn can be effective for limiting the risk of S in early spring.

Q: What is the highest response possible from applying nitrogen and what is the maximum daily

uptake of N/day?

A: In general, the highest N responses have been measured when grass is fastest growing in late-spring and can be about 20kg DM/kg N applied. At this time, when grass is growing rapidly, its roots can absorb up to 4kg N/ha/day.

Q: Is the Brix test useful for determining nutrient requirements or feed quality for animals?

A: The Brix test measures the amount of soluble sugars in a plant. This is very useful to fruit and vegetable growers.

However, it has no value for pasture as the cows can utilise various forms of plant carbohydrate and the Brix test only measures a small amount of the structural and nonstructural carbohydrate.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

82 // TECHNOLOGY

Complete farm management system puts you in control MINDA IS THE herd recording choice of the majority of Kiwi dairy farmers for one simple reason: it puts them in control of their herd’s productivity. And LIC, is taking that a step further.

With the same simplicity of use, Minda is being extended to include most of the management aspects of a farming operation including cattle, pasture, staff, milking, animal health, feed, culling and breeding. The end result will be full control of farm productivity and profitability.

LIC’s general manager farm systems, Rob Ford, says the whole-farm approach has been developed in response to farmer demand for one system that provides a total picture of their farming operation.

“The pace and demands of modern dairying means you need to be able to make

informed decisions on the spot.

You can’t rely on memory, and don’t have time to check multiple devices so you need everything in one place.

“More farmers are turning to technology to help them with the important decisions, and the new additions to Minda will ensure all the basics of farming are covered, pulling all farm information together with easy to use reports, indicators and alerts to give farmers the control they need,” Ford says.

All the basics are covered in Minda

records in the office, shed and paddock.

Correctly recording events on–farm is key to making important decisions, and this will only become more and more important, Ford says.

“In its most well-known form, Minda assists with herd recording, and provides farmers with a range of reporting features that allow them to make the most of their complete herd records,

but what it comes down to is simple – good data in means good information out. The correct information at the correct time Rob Ford ensures the correct decision is made.”

According to LIC, 87% of New Zealand dairy farmers use Minda, and a growing number of them use Minda Mobile, the electronic

Maintaining good

Minda mobile puts the farmer in complete control of his farm.

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

84 // TECHNOLOGY

yellow notebook equivalent.

As high-speed broadband is rolled out to more rural areas Minda will move to be internetbased, allowing for faster synching, upgrades and multiple user access from any device with an internet connection.

“Dairy farming is constantly evolving... so we’re making sure we move with the times too.

More people are using devices like smartphones and iPads on farms, so we too will be utilising this technology to expand on real-time practicalities.

“Automation is also becoming a more accepted management tool on-farm and Protrack is the most intelligent drafting system on the market; but it is Protrack’s integration with Minda that is most powerful.

“It means they can make the most of their full herd records to automate common milking tasks and maintain their records as events occur. They record once and it’s done, all at the touch of a button.”

Automation is becoming a more accepted management tool on farms.

Making the most of your herd test results

to culling,” says Ford.

Herd testing provides farmers with information about the productivity of each of their cows and is the only way to find out which cows are making them the most money.

Milk samples are collected from each milking animal in the herd, at times nominated by the farmer, and tested for volume, protein and somatic cells. Results go into the national database to update PW, BW and LW indices.

The information is made available for the customer in Minda Milk, but with all the analysis done too, including pre-built graphs, previous season’s results and the ability to sort and view the information in multiple ways.

“Minda Milk makes herd testing an indispensable tool for all farmers,” Ford says. “It brings Herd Test results to life, with electronic results that are easy to understand and utilise for making more informed decisions on farm, particularly in relation

MINDA Milk herd testing results include: kk Best cows, worst cows and poor health cows. kk Herd summaries and individual animal detail. kk Multiple herds view. kk Specific age group information. kk Accumulated lactation. kk Trends. kk Key averages.

Farmers who herd test with LIC receive free access to Minda Milk from Minda Home or at www.minda.co.nz.

Understanding the land and feed situation

A farmer’s land is their greatest asset and having a good understanding of pasture supply and demand is critical to ensuring cows are being fed to requirements and remain in top condition, whatever the season.

This means regular farm walks and a system that allows this data to be recorded and utilised for important decisions such as

which paddocks to graze next and whether extra supplement is required.

“Using this information to generate a feed wedge provides a clear picture of pasture availability, including the length of grass in every paddock correlated to the amount of dry matter available.

“It shows the variation between paddocks, ranked from longest to shortest, and allows the farmer to see if they have met their pre-grazing and post-grazing residual targets and ultimately ensure the cows are being fed to requirements.”

A feed wedge can help make more informed decisions on: kk Which paddocks to graze next. kk Harvesting silage. kk Re-grassing. kk Applying nitrogen. kk Purchasing/feeding supplements. kk Culling cows or increasing numbers.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

86 // TECHNOLOGY

Minda Land & Feed provides a simple platform for generating a feed wedge, and is available on Minda Home from early 2012.

“Following the success of pasture management technology and LIC’s mapping software FarmKeeper, we’ve been working on new developments and will progressively launch Minda Land & Feed this year, starting with a basic version for free. This will serve as a free trial of the product particularly for those who are unfamiliar with pasture management technology.

“I encourage all farmers to give it a go, and see the benefit a feed wedge can provide their farm. It is free after all,” Ford says.

A premium version, due for release later this year, will provide enhanced tools for forecasting and planning; Minda Map will also be added later in 2012.

Tagging and traceability

With NAIT legislation fast

Minda Land and Feed provides a simple platform for generating a feed wedge.

approaching, correct tagging of animals is important.

And with LIC, it’s as simple as adding the electronic identification tags to your annual order, Ford says.

“Tags purchased through LIC integrate seamlessly with

Minda, meaning they can be automatically uploaded into the customer’s records, ready for them to allocate to their animals.

“We want to make this transition easy for our customers and we are working with NAIT. “I encourage all farmers to

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do what they can to prepare, by tagging animals with electronic tags and making sure their MINDA records are up to date.”

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

TECHNOLOGY // 87

This is no ordinary tag WHO WOULD HAVE thought a

piece of plastic in an animal’s ear could be the difference between just-plain trouble and excellent management?

Tags are potentially so much more than simply lifetime identification, allowing for traceability of product from farm gate to marketplace.

Tagging provides the means of animal performance monitoring, individually and at herd level; the more complete and accurate a farm’s herd records, the better.

After all, animal performance is critical to the success of a

farm’s decision making effectiveness and bottom line.

Accurate recording at calving, mating and herd testing is the catalyst for improving genetic gain, managing milk quality, identifying culling candidates and proper assessment of reproductive performance.

Unfortunately many farmers

It’s not just a tag... it’s the tag to unlocking your farm’s potential.

struggle to make full use of the performance measurements available (in software programmes such as MindaPro).

But aged pregnancy testing data entered into MINDA, for example, will allow farmers to identify opportunities

for gains in the reproductive performance of the herd. And animal health event recording allows accurate assessment of the success or otherwise of interventions, or the impact disease, e.g. lameness, has on herd performance.

The above examples merely scratch the surface, but they’re relevant, and they’re a start.

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Information is power – LIC HIGH SPEED BROADBAND

in more rural areas will increase productivity on farms, and profits, according to LIC. The Government’s Rural Broadband Initiative is rolling out $285million of infrastructure for more and faster broadband to rural areas over the next six years.

Much attention has been paid about how this will impact schools and hospitals, but what about the farmers? Their businesses are, after all, the backbone of our economy, but what’s the connection between farming, the internet, productivity and profit?

LIC’s general manager of farm

systems Rob Ford says it’s simple - information is power.

“Real-time information is critical to the on-farm decision making process and high-speed broadband in more rural areas is key to that,” he says.

The co-op is taking a leading role in the Government’s plans, with Ford a member on their advisory board that provides advice and insight for how the plans can best meet the needs of the rural people it will affect most.

For LIC, it’s farmers – their shareholders.

“Farmers are collecting more and more data about their animals and their land everyday,

and the vast majority record this electronically.

“They see their animals every day, they know their land and their pasture, but it’s how they use this information that is most important because that’s how all the important decisions are made.

“Access to their farm information, at the right time and the right place is imperative for making the right decisions, and rural broadband is absolutely critical to that,” Ford says.

LIC probably has the highest internet contact rate with farmers in New Zealand, says Ford.

“During the busy times of the

year farmers will access their electronic MINDA records and sync with LIC via the internet at least once a day to send and receive updates, but with slow speeds it can be quite a timeconsuming and trying process.”

And for many farmers, use of these products to their full capacity has been compromised by their remote location and inadequate broadband access.

Ford believes the availability of high-speed and wireless broadband to more rural areas will change this and allow more farmers to utilise this technology on their farms on a device of their choice, whether it be a computer, a smartphone or a tablet.

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

88 // AGRIBUSINESS

Elmer Maglaqui, originally from the Philippines, milking in the new 54-bail rotary cowshed at Orauea Pastoral Ltd. Maglaqui has worked for John and Val Ellis for the past five seasons and is now the herd manager responsible for the 600 cows milked through this shed.

Dairy management can be easier with a ‘corporate’ IN MANY WAYS life is simpler for Val Ellis now she is working with a ‘corporate’ dairy farm management company.

Val and her husband John manage Orauea Pastoral Ltd a 368ha dairy farm milking 1150 cows in eastern Southland.

This is Ellis’ sixth season on the farm but second working with MyFarm and alongside their new fellow investors, which include three other New Zealand parties and an absentee German investor.

Having worked as sharemilkers and in private equity partnerships before joining MyFarm, Val says they

have come to appreciate various aspects of working with a ‘corporate’. For example she says paperwork was not always the couple’s strongpoint.

“Getting milk out of cows wasn’t a problem but we needed to be more aware of the financial side of it.”

MyFarm requires monthly reports from its dairy farm managers, which Val says sounded much scarier at first than the reality. In fact she says the MyFarm report template which includes stock reconciliation; cow condition; animal health treatments; pasture covers; supplementary feed

levels is “stupid proof”.

“You just drop your information in there and it’s done.

The key is having systems in place so you record everything.

But when you get to our size you need to do that anyway so you know exactly where you are.”

With the construction of a new 54-bail rotary cowshed, Orauea has been changed this season from a large scale farm milking 1000 cows through one cowshed, to a two shed operation milking 1100 cows.

Ellis’s are employed by the Orauea partnership through MyFarm as contract milkers.

Their investment in the

partnership is separate from their milking contract.

“When you are negotiating your contract, your investment is irrelevant to the milking agreement, you have to think of them as two separate things,” says Val. The Ellis’s themselves employ three fulltime staff including two herd managers from the Philippines, who have worked with them for five years. Because they don’t want to lose such good people, they are investigating opportunities within the cluster of dairy farms managed

by MyFarm in Southland to help their staff to progress.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

90 // AGRIBUSINESS

Knowing MyFarm y manages behalf of on ms 44 dairy far 14,000ha g rin ve co s investor cows in and milking 32,000 stralia.

New Zealand and Au far en m kk MyFarm has sev sed in supervisors, four ba sing the 34 rvi pe Invercargill, su ges in the na ma farms MyFarm Southland region. two kk MyFarm favours tures for its uc str t en ym emplo syndicates; employment kk Contract milking es based model with incentiv t; on farm profi nt with kk Equity manageme rnings above ea of are agreed sh target

kk MyFarm currentl

Cows make their way to milking at Orauea Pastoral Ltd, Eastern Southland.

As part of its management contract with the owners of Orauea, MyFarm provides a supervision and administration service to Ellis’.

Their MyFarm administrator receives all the farm accounts, processes them on CashManager, arranges payment and manages all of the company’s documentation. Their MyFarm supervisor Wayne Taylor meets them monthly to review farm production, expenditure, the budget and any variances and to plan ahead. He acts as the conduit between the Ellis’s and their fellow investors providing monthly reports, arranging quarterly conference calls, annual general meetings and farm visits.

“It works because MyFarm is an impartial party. Wayne has no vested interest in the business,” says Val. John says while Val does most of the paperwork and he manages the stock and people, he likes having the tools to analyse how the farm is performing against targets and budgets.

He also tries to prepare the groundwork for capital expenditure well ahead of time. Having fellow investors means every

MyFarm supervisor Wayne Taylor briefs MyFarm management administrator Rebecca Ruddenklau during a Southland farm visit.

large purchase needs to be well explored and justifiable.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

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Farm manual manages risk IN THE FOUR years since

reduces the involvement of their Andrea Ludemann developed the manager. A farm manual creates Banarach Farm Manuals much a go-to point for people to refer has happened to observe and to. It can back up training and reflect upon. Boom induction by to recession, now reinforcing lessons. an upward swing It provides a major – a roller coaster cornerstone of any ride for the small health and safety Oamaru company. programme.

“Yet the basic Clients are ‘whys’ – the realising how requirement for a effective the farm manual – have Banarach manuals not changed at all” are for managing says Ludemann, risk. Ludemann Andrea Ludemann who farms with sees more clients her husband Richard. buying a manual as part of the For most clients the reason start-up of a farm conversion or for a farm manual is staff an equity arrangement. management: creating standards For businesses with multiple, of practice and having them and often different, aspects, an documented. This in turns operations manual provides empowers staff to problem a strong communication and solve independently and so reference tool. Parties with

non-farming backgrounds get a resource that helps them understand aspects of farming that may be unfamiliar. So a common go-to point is created by the documentation.

Another angle on managing risk is the operations manual’s provision of procedural back up if someone is unable to work due to trauma, illness or disability. A manual is a sound starting point for information in the absence of a key person.

“A pleasing aspect of this is when I read about profiled farms in rural media I notice many mention their farm operations manual,” says Ludemann.

Common themes she notes include managing staff, managing risk, communications with business partners or succession planning – either involving a family member or facilitating

their exit from day-to-day farm operations. These farmers say it is challenging to complete a farm manual – but worthwhile.

Ludemann says their farming business would not be without one. Farming in partnership with Richard’s parents Marion and Allan Plunket, they operate a 117ha (eff) dairy unit on the Waitaki Plains and a 354ha support unit also running beef and sheep. The farm manuals are another aspect of the business.

Banarach Farm Manuals are sold as a kit (as a disc in word doc format) allowing an agribusiness the freedom to design what it requires then customise this to their operations. There are five sections: administration and planning, animal, human resources, machinery and operations. www.banarachfarm.co.nz

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

94 // EMPLOYMENT

How to recruit the right people onto your farm JANE MUIR DAIRYNZ

EMPLOYING NEW STAFF

can seem like a time intensive process but it is worth doing it right. Hiring good employees is one of the most valuable things you can do to make your farm successful. If you take the time to recruit properly you are much more likely to find a great employee – someone who really fits into your business and can deliver the results you need.

When recruiting new employees you can either decide to get a professional specialist in to help you or go it alone. The option you choose will depend on many things including your confidence, your budget, your time and your interest. Both options can deliver you great results – you just have to be committed to a proper process.

And if you decide to recruit yourself then DairyNZ has a range of tools designed to help you and make the process as streamlined as possible.

Where should you start?Be clear about what you want

– think about the skills and experience you require. Check this fits with your plans for the farm and the rest of the team. If someone is leaving the role you want to fill, think about what worked and what didn’t in that relationship.

Once you have decided on the big picture then review or write a job description. This will provide clarity to applicants about your expectations of the role.

Think about what terms and conditions you could provide.

Remember this is about more than just money and time off -

consider different roster systems, accommodation, perks, training and development.

Make sure it fits within your budget and that your total package will attract good quality applicants; you have to be competitive.

Decide whether you want to accept telephone or written applications and whether you want all candidates to fill in the same form so you have equivalent information to compare.

Prepare all the documentation you will require for the next stage – application form, draft interview questions.

Employing new staff is time consuming but is worth doing it right.

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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

96 // EMPLOYMENT

Now it is time to advertise.

Research shows that being specific in your advertising will help attract better quality applicants so refer to your job description and detail the skills and experience you require and any opportunities you can provide. Try to make your advert stands out; sell the positive aspects of your role whilst being realistic about the rest.

Decide which applicants to interview, somewhere between three and five is recommended.

Remain objective when reading applications and compare each person’s skills, experience and attitude to the selection criteria you said you wanted. Once you have your short list then contact these applicants and arrange a time to meet.

Communication is always important and based on your recruitment process the job applicants are already getting a sense of you and how you run your farm/business. And Picking the right person for the job is important.

they are already thinking about whether this is a job they really want. Remember the best applicants will often have job options; if you think they are great there is a good chance others will too.

conduct the interviews, i.e. you and your partner/another team member or even one of your peers, as each person will take something different from the same information, giving you

“Good managers are consistently shown in studies to be one of the single biggest factors in employee happiness and productivity.”

The interview phase is a great opportunity to showcase your skills and attitude as a manager.

Good managers are consistently shown in studies to be one of the single biggest factors in employee happiness and productivity. So being organised with good communication during recruitment will be helping to make your job look attractive and keep applicants interested.

What are the next steps?

It is time for interviews. Where possible have two people

a more balanced perspective.

Make sure you are prepared with a list of interview questions and that you allow time to show applicants the farm and accommodation as this will often be crucial in their decision making.

Above all, let the candidate do most of the talking.

Consider whether a practical assessment is appropriate to the role. This is a great way of showing an applicant’s skill level and you will get an insight into their attitude when attempting tasks. In some cases a second

interview round of just your top two applicants following the original interview is appropriate or required.

Once you have decided on your preferred applicants you need to check their references. Don’t skip this bit – past performance is the best predictor of future performance. Remember you can only contact referees the person has nominated and it is best to have a list of questions prepared.

Time for arguably the most important step – picking the right person. The right person is the one who most closely matches what you said you needed in experience, skills and attitude. Hopefully you have the right person – full stop.

Or maybe you have the right person but they don’t have the right experience. If so, decide whether you can make it work through training or adjusting the job requirements. And if you really don’t have the right person

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

EMPLOYMENT // 97

and you can’t compromise on the role then you should re-advertise.

Now contact your preferred applicant and offer them the job. Usually this is done verbally and once they reconfirm their interest you should supply them with a copy of the employment agreement for them to look at and seek advice about.

Now, meet again and negotiate any terms and conditions specified in the employment agreement. This document is a legal requirement so make sure the person has time to seek advice but that it does get signed.

Once the agreement is signed, notify unsuccessful applicants.

This is the right and professional thing to do.

Prepare your orientation plan

This should cover the period from when your new employee signs the contract through to at least 90 days after they start work. A comprehensive orientation plan might sound like hard work but it really isn’t and it will be a big help in getting your employee up to speed quickly, making your life a lot easier and helping you achieve those targets.

How can DairyNZ help?

DairyNZ has three tools to save you time and stress during the recruitment process. These resources have been specifically developed for you as farmers and can give you confidence you are following a good process.

QuickStart: launched in

early 2012, QuickStart is a user friendly employment kit which contains the key documents you need to maintain as an employer.

Quickstart kits exist for each of the following dairy farm roles: kk Farm assistant kk Herd manager kk 2 IC kk Farm manager Each kit contains key recruitment templates and interview guides, a detailed job description, employment checklists, property inspection checklist and orientation plan for the first 90 days. QuickStart can help get your employment relationship off to a professional start.

HR ToolKit: A comprehensive guide to employment relationships – this resource covers recruitment, management, motivation and retention of staff, legal responsibilities and how to end an employment relationship.

It includes templates and examples of documents you will need throughout your employment relationship.

Compliance Toolkit: An online resource which helps you meet your legal obligations as an employer. The tool helps you create the checklists and documents you will require.

These DairyNZ resources are available free to levy payers.

For more information go to dairynz.co.nz or phone 0800 4 DairyNZ (0800 4 324 7969).

Why getting recruitment right matters

One of the best things about

DairyNZ’s human resources toolkit is available free to all levy payers.

getting recruitment right is that it gets your employment relationship off to a great start. Good recruitment means planning and communicating – two essential aspects of a good quality work environment.

By demonstrating a high performance standard in your

initial dealings with your new employee you are already letting them know that you have quality standards and expectations of both yourself and your team.

And that gives you a good base to create a great work environment where your employees and your farm can thrive.

Through research and practical experience, we have developed a unique and comprehensive Farm Manual System for managing your individual farming operations. Every aspect, from staff ff management right through to regular maintenance is covered off.

Andrea Ludemann Banarach Farm Manuals NOW AVAILABLE FOR Phone: 03 437 1544 DAIRY AND SHEEP & BEEF Email: farmmanual@banarachfarm.co.nz

www.banarachfarm.co.nz

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THE A TO Z OF FARM OPERATIONS MADE EASY FOR YOUR PROPERTY

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT 2012

98 // EMPLOYMENT

Banker lends his expertise in the classroom STEPHANIE ROBERTSON AGITO COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER

AGRIBUSINESS MANAGE­MENT TRAINEES in

South Canterbury are gaining valuable skills from their tutor Brent Love. A Rabobank manager by day and national diploma in agribusiness management (Level 5) tutor by night, Love enjoys the opportunity to share his industry knowledge.

The diploma is made up of two National Certificates at Level 5 specialising in agribusiness resource management, and business planning and financial management, and a property report on the performance and opportunities of an agribusiness.

Love tutors all three parts of the diploma and is able to draw on his own farming experience when explaining concepts.

Love joined the banking industry in 1995 and started tutoring AgITO’s diploma classes four years ago, contracting through agribusiness training.

“They were short a tutor, so I said I’d do it for 12 months to get them out of a tight spot and I’m still here,” Love says. “I enjoy meeting the people in the class. They are all keen and want to grow, which is exciting. It’s rewarding to be able to translate my industry knowledge between sectors from banking to give back to farmers.

“I spend time talking about what’s going on in the local economy and industry – whether that’s sheep and beef or the dairy industry. I talk to the participants about where they are trying to grow their business and what to do with surplus cash.

“The diploma gives people an opportunity to gain the

Southland farm manager, Tangaroa Walker is one of many who attended AgITO courses last year. Walker attended a ‘Farming to Succeed’ course and says it’s the best thing he’s done for his career.

knowledge and understanding of cash flows and basic financial account structures that bankers or accountants may be talking to them about.”

Love says this knowledge is especially important when approaching the bank for a loan.

“Getting a loan comes down to how well their deal is put together – this course helps them with the skills they need.”

Love says the benefits for the individual completing the diploma vary depending on what they hope to achieve from the training.

“There is a wide range of trainees,” he says. “Some are focused on gaining the qualification, some on gaining the knowledge so they have an understanding of what their accountant and banker are talking about, some want to know how to do the business planning around that.

“There’s also a huge variation from herd managers looking at contract milking to those that are farming land as an owner. There

are also those on family farms looking at succession planning or those who own a lifestyle block and just want to up skill.

“I’ve got enough experience to be able to satisfy those levels.

And luckily the course is flexible enough to allow that to happen.”

Love believes it’s important for the agriculture industry as a whole that people continue to up skill.

“The industry is continuing to grow and if we don’t have well trained participants in the industry it will stagnate,” he says.

“Knowledge is power at the end of the day and any training undertaken is to the benefit of the industry as well as the individual.”

AgITO training adviser, Jock McKeown, whose trainees are tutored by Love, says, “Brent has industry knowledge and industry experience that is not just theoretical.

“He can really comment on the real world financial parts of the diploma. He can put meaning

into it and say things like ‘If I was your bank manager this is what I’d be looking for from you and why’.

“He’s a good teacher. Brent is just one example of the calibre of the tutors we have.”

Love says the benefits don’t just flow one way and that he benefits personally from tutoring the diploma.

“It’s great because most of the trainees are farming full time so I get to know what’s happening around the district, like how wet it is and if they’ve started calving, lambing percentages, and what the cattle are getting at sale.

“It has helped me in my every day work when I have to present,” he says.

“Standing up in front of the class every Tuesday means I now don’t think twice about doing it for work.

“I’ve made some good mates and had some brilliant classes. I do it because I actually enjoy it.

It’s a good experience.” www.agito.ac.nz.

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