Dairy News 12 August 2014

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New Navara unveiled pages 56-57

Shanghai Pengxin’s plan for Lochinver Station. page 3

august 12, 2014 issue 318 // www.dairynews.co.nz

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news // 3

news �� 3-22

opinion ��24-27

agribusiness �� 28-35

management �� 36-49

animal health �� 50-54

machinery & products ��56-60

tractors & machinery �� 61-66

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A cow or two more at Lochinvera limited amount of land at Lochinver Sta-tion would be converted initially to dairying says the chief executive of Shanghai Pengxin Interna-tional whose proposed purchase of the property is now being considered by the Overseas Invest-ment Office (OIO).

While additional land will be analysed for its suitability for dairy, Gary Romano told Dairy News the harsh winters at Lochinver, high on the Napier Taupo Road, don’t make it easy for dairy farming. “It is a challenging environment for dairy and there is no way the whole farm is suitable for dairy.”

But one ex-Crafar farm owned by the company backs onto Lochinver and because of that “we can see some parts of it going into dairy,” Romano says. “But at Lochinver there is a short growing season for grass, it gets frosts and there is limited water other than natural rainfall. So when we do convert

any land, we will have to implement well.”Lochinver Station has been in the hands of the

Stevenson family since the 1950s and is seen as an iconic farm. The 13,800ha property is home to 19,000 breeding ewes, 1300 breeding cows, 2000 dairy grazers and it takes up to 14,000 heifers in quarantine before they are shipped to China. Loch-inver is adjacent to Rangitaiki Station, a similar size farm owned by Landcorp at about 850m altitude and running a similar number and mix of stock.

In the short term it would appear little will change in the mix of businesses at Lochinver should Shanghai Pengxin get to buy the property.

Romano says they made it clear in their appli-cation to the OIO that the 20 staff at Lochinver Station will be retained. And they will spend more on environmental enhancement, health and safety and productivity improvements to bring the farm up to its potential.

What has not yet been decided is the management structure. On the Crafar farms Landcorp took over that role, but this an unknown

at Lochinver.More dairying is planned but Romano says

the focus will remain on sheep and beef. “I can’t exclude what might happen in the next 10-15 years but the focus at the moment is on the protein side of the business. Shanghai Pengxin has sheep inter-ests in China for example. We do however want to develop products for the Chinese consumer.”

Shanghai Pengxin has a track record of develop-ing and looking after farms, Romano says. “I think we are developing our credentials as good custo-dians of the land.”

OPPOSITION TO Shanghai Pengxin’s plan to buy Lochinver Station has come from individuals, interest groups and most po-litical parties except National.

Even Federated Farmers, which says it supports “positive investment” into New Zealand, has been cagey about supporting the sale.

President William Rolleston says he’s concerned the sale to Shanghai Pengxin “may not provide sufficient benefit to New Zealand”.

“New Zealand needs foreign investment but it has to be of benefit to the local and national economy. That is why a ‘sub-stantial and identifiable benefit’ test was incorporated into the overseas investment

decision tree, further bolstered in 2012 by a High Court decision adding a “with and without” counterfactual test. This was to ensure any investment, such as the one be-ing proposed, has benefit over and above just making a farm work better. Since Lo-chinver Station is highly regarded in farm-ing circles there must be something special and we are keen to know what that is.”

Rolleston says that given the proximity of these farms to Shanghai Pengxin’s other landholdings, it will increase speculation that vertical integration by way of process-ing could be on the cards.

But Romano says despite all the oppo-sition, he’s surprised that not one econo-mist has spoken out or been interviewed

on whether foreign investment is positive for New Zealand. He says in his view it is.

“Lochinver Station has been in the Ste-venson family’s hands for many years and they recognised they could go and improve it but they had other opportunities more valuable to them. They are going to take the cash from this sale and invest it around Drury, Auckland, for a much greater return than they would have got on the farm. That demonstrates the theory in practice. When you sell an asset to offshore interests, the money earned doesn’t disappear. It goes into productive assets in the country.”

Romano says he understands the proposed sale land is an important issue. However “the economic benefits are real”.

opposition to the sale mounting

peter burKepeterb@ruralnews�co�nz

Shanghai Pengxin International chief executive Gary Romano.

Dai ry News august 12, 2014

4 // news

Produce more milk or less, to cover costs?

DairyNZ economist Matthew Newman.

if you’re making a lower margin per input of feed, but have the same fixed or overhead costs, then you need to produce more to maintain profits, logic would suggest.

Not necessarily so, say two analysts in the wake of Fonterra’s payout forecast cut to $6/kg.

“It’s not just a case of saying the feed costs $4/kg of milksolids pro-duced and the payout’s $6/kgMS so do it,” DairyNZ senior economist Matthew Newman told Dairy News.

“There are a lot of costs associated with supple-ment feeds which people don’t always think of – waste, extra running costs

of tractors in fuel and labour, etc.”

For those with in-shed feeding systems the equa-tion is simpler because waste and marginal feed-ing costs – the fixed cost of the machinery is already committed and can’t easily be removed – are minimal, he acknowledges.

But whatever the means of supplementation – in shed or on a pad or pad-dock – growing and using as much pasture as possi-ble before reaching for the supplement is paramount, he adds.

Lincoln University agri-culture management lec-turer Bruce Greig echoes that.

“The profit maximi-sation point is at a lower level of production when the milk price is lower.”

Greig and New-man’s comments follow DairyNZ’s response to Fonterra’s forecast cut advising close attention to farm costs with $6/kgMS being the break-even point for many.

“While it is unclear where prices could be at the end of the season, vol-atility requires farmers to be prepared to react to changes quickly,” said DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle.

“Now is obviously a good time to look at updat-ing or developing a cash-flow budget based on a $6/kgMS milk price. Look at where the fat can be trimmed and where effi-ciency gains can be made, for instance growing and utilising more homegrown feed and looking at where

supplementary feed can be reduced.”

Contingency plans for a dry summer, perhaps early culling and/or once-a-day milking, rather than sup-plementary feed, should also be made, he said.

And with large tax bills looming from last year’s record season, talk to the accountant to re-calculate tax, he advised.

The reduced payout could cut national income by $1.8 billion this season, DairyNZ predicts – an average per farm loss of about $150,000 based on 2013-14 milk production. As a consequence little capital expenditure or loan principal repayments will be made, it predicts.

However, Newman says he doesn’t believe debt is a big issue for the majority,

but it will be for a few, par-ticularly those with high cost structures as well as high debts.

Typically $30-35/kgMS of debt is where the cur-rent forecast should be starting to ring alarm bells but some deliberately leverage debt to such levels on a farm or farms to make investments elsewhere. “It does get a bit tricky.”

He suggests feed, fertil-iser and repairs and main-tenance will be the main areas where costs will be cut in response to the lower forecast payout.

Provided the current dip is just that, and prices recover, one season at $6/kgMS, or even $5.80/kgMS, as one bank is now fore-casting, shouldn’t cause too much trouble.

“Hopefully farmers

will have put away funds last year to help them get through this year. The way the payout is structured with extra funds from last year still coming in at the start of this year will help too.”

However, if prices stayed at or below $6/kgMS for more than a season about 20% of farms could find it difficult to meet their cash payments of farm working expenses, interest and rent.

“And of course we’ve got tax bills from last year but after a couple of sea-sons at this [$6/kgMS]

level those will quickly dis-appear.”

As for the market outlook, from the economist’s perspective there’s “always a response to prices” so supply should start to fall in response to reduced world market levels, although typically there is a lag between price falls and a production response.

And while Dairy NZ doesn’t look at the demand side of the market, the simple fact prices have dropped so far should start to generate renewed demand, he adds.

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news // 5

Get tougher on board aspirants

outgoing fon-terra director Jim van der Poel is urging farmers to toughen up in scrutinis-ing would-be co-op direc-tors.

The Waikato farmer, who steps down in

November after 12 years, says Fonterra shareholders must better understand what skills they are look-ing for in directors, and aspirants must get gover-nance experience before standing for directorship.

Van der Poel told Dairy News he strongly advo-cates farmer ownership and control of Fonterra as

sudesh Kissunsudeshk@ruralnews�co�nz

being “ultimately in the best interest of farmer shareholders and New Zealand”.

“But for that to work well, farmers, when they vote for their elected directors, need to under-stand what skills the board and the business need. Gone are the days when you voted for some-one because he was a nice person or you knew him or he lived down the road.”

For aspiring directors Fonterra has a governance development programme, and the industry offers other means of people get-ting governance experi-ence “before they come to Fonterra – upskilling themselves through those development programmes before they put their names forward”.

“You can’t just take your milking apron off and walk into the boardroom; those days are gone.”

Van der Poel got his

first taste of dairy gover-nance in 1999 when he was elected to the New Zea-land Dairy Group board from the Te Awamutu ward. Then in 2002 when Fonterra was formed he was elected a director.

Van der Poel says his Fonterra board experience has been demanding and enjoyable.

“The cooperative has evolved significantly since its formation, at a busi-ness and governance level. The quality of the systems, processes and strategy and the skills of our people mean the co-op is in a strong position to make the most of the opportu-nities of growing global demand for dairy prod-ucts.

“The depth and breadth of experience on Fonterra’s board and focus on the highest standards of governance have made for a stimulating director-ship.”

As an elected direc-tor, van der Poel came up for re-election every three years by rotation, “for review and to make sure it was the right thing to con-tinue”.

“Everyone has to retire or move on at some stage; this seemed like a good time for me to do it.”

Van der Poel owns farms in Waikato and Canterbury; in Missouri, US, he owns three farms, milking 2800 cows.

His career in the dairy industry started in 1980; shortly after marrying Sue, they started share-milking in Te Awamutu. With little equity they worked their way through another sharemilking stint before buying their first farm.

“Those farmers gave us a chance and we have adopted a similar phi-losophy in our business – getting good people and supporting them to grow.”

Van der Poel’s two sons are also in dairying.

Since announcing his decision to retire van der

Poel has been fielding calls from farmers, “most call-ing to thank me for my ser-vice.”

JIM VAN der Poel lists TAF as one of the chal-lenges during his 12-year stint on the board.

It was critical to set the co-op on a more stable platform without farmers losing the control and ownership aspect, he says.

“It did become a bigger job than was envis-aged. It was an interesting exercise. Remember when we went out to farmers with the concept and put it to the first vote, there was 90% par-ticipation and 95% support.

“Somewhere in the process of putting the detail to the business we lost a lot of the share-holders because when we gave them another vote we were down to two thirds support. That was disappointing because all we were doing was putting a framework around what we had agreed in principle.”

Despite that, van der Poel says TAF was “absolutely the right decision”. It’s operating as intended and he has no regrets.

Van der Poel reiterates the need to keep ownership and control with farmers. However, “somewhere down the line” the co-op will have to review its capital structure “because at some stage it may no longer be relevant for farmers to own the whole business, but that’s a discussion for down the track, not for today”.

“We have a strong commitment to keep the whole business integrated and as long as the whole business remains integrated then it needs to stay in the hands of farmers.”

taf the right decision

Retiring Fonterra director Jim van der Poel says choosing the best skilled directors is essential.

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6 // news

Roller coaster ride continues

bugger! last week’s GDT result was the news nobody needed with calv-ing getting into full swing.

Whole milk powder plummeted 11.5% lead-ing the overall index to an 8.4% fall on the previ-ous sale a fortnight earlier. Within hours ASB had cut its forecast for the season to $5.80/kgMS and other

banks were making noises that Fonterra’s recent revi-sion to $6/kgMS couldn’t be maintained if things don’t improve.

“If prices stay near their current low levels for an extended period, the risk of a milk price closer to $5/kgMS for 2014-15 season is rising,” said ASB in its August 6 economic update.

“However, we still expect dairy prices to lift from current lows by the

end of 2014. Production gains, owing both to better weather and the impe-tus from previously high prices, will wane, tighten-ing global supply. In addi-tion, [Chinese] dairy stock piles will clear. On this basis we expect the down-ward pressure on prices to subside.”

ASB admitted the con-tinued falls were “a sur-prise” taking the fall since February to 41% across all commodities, and 46%

for WMP, New Zealand’s highest volume product by far.

Having relayed the oft repeated reasons for the fall – a stellar production season in 2013-14 here, and surging supply in the EU and US, coinciding with a crash in demand as Chinese buyers stepped out of the market – ASB suggested prices would rebound by year-end, citing a more normal season here (3% growth

instead of 10%) and a resumption of Chinese demand.

With about 80% of the season’s milk still to sell, it’s early days and a lot can and will probably happen between now and the sea-son’s end, it said.

Federated Farmers Dairy chair Andrew Hog-

gard played down the size of the drop.

“I don’t expect this latest result will affect the payout forecast in the near term. What will be criti-cal is the expected market recovery in the new year.”

A positive from the auction was more buyers and more product sold.

“So things are looking up, if not the price yet…. 48,380t sold is the big-gest quantity in the 2014-15 season to date [and] the biggest volume since December 3, 2013…. When you’ve got volume and bidders that’s a good indi-cation prices may be close to stabilising.”

GDT Date Average Winning Price US$/t US$:NZ* NZ$/t

2 /7/2008 4395 0.76 5783

1/7/2009 1829 0.65 2814

1/3/2011 4826 0.75 6435

15/5/2012 2618 0.78 3356

4/2/2014 5042 0.81 6225

5/8/2014 3025 0.85 3550

*Reserve Bank mid-rate on day of GDT event.


High and low of GDTCommentators are predicting the payout to ease further as global prices continue to fall.

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news // 7

Tasmania’s national recordtasmania is star performer in Australia’s dairy, leading growth in Australia’s milk output with a record 5.85% increase in the past year.

Milk production there reached a record 804.6 million L in 2013-14, up from 788 m L, attributed to an “awe-some autumn” and good prices encourag-ing farmers to reinvest. Even higher production is fore-cast for this year.

Tasmania now produces 8.7% of Australia’s milk. Its growth contrasts with the rest of Australia where produc-tion grew by only 0.4%.

Fonterra processes milk in Tasmania; at the Spreyton and Wynyard sites. It also owns yoghurt maker Tamar Valley Dairy.

DairyTas executive officer Mark Smith says good weather and high milk prices played their part – produc-tion rose 15-19% in autumn and in June, giving farmers incentive and opportunity to increase production.

Payout leaves little room to manoeuvre

AT A $6/kgMS payout and assum-ing average working expenses, even dairy farmers with average debt levels will have little room to manoeuvre, especially since inter-est rates are rising, says Lincoln University agriculture manage-ment lecturer Bruce Greig.

DairyNZ’s economic survey

figures released in May show debt servicing (including rents) averaged $1.34/kgMS in the 2012-13 season, and farm working expenses $4.13/kgMS. Even if those figures were the same for 2014-15, there’s little margin left for draw-ings, capital development, princi-pal repayment or tax at a $6/kgMS payout, Greig points out.

“It’s not leaving you much margin at all.”

But the farms facing the great-

est challenge are those “most extended” at the upper end of the debt range.

“The concern with the lower payout and higher interest rates is ‘how are you going to service that debt?’ ”

While total farm debt continues to rise, hitting a record $52,961m at the end of June, according to latest Reserve Bank sector credit figures, overall the rate of increase, at 3.7%, isn’t alarming, says Greig.

“Table 1 shows that total dairy debt is increasing but at a lower rate than in previous years. There probably has been a fair bit of debt paid down but investment hasn’t stopped either and the aggregate position is that more debt’s been taken on...

“Experienced and innova-tive dairy farmers will respond to these [economic] changes and seek opportunities for continued investment.”

Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Total agricultural debt ($million) 32,413 39,231 45,226 46,397 46,335 47,916 50,559

Total dairy debt ($million) 18,764 24,232 28,896 29.537 28,879 30,845 32,373

Per cent dairy (%) 58% 62% 64% 64% 62% 64% 64%

Dairy annual increase (%) 29% 19% 2% -2% 7% 5%

Source: Reserve Bank

Table 1: Agricultural debt trends


Mark Smith, DairyTas

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Henderson defends the policy of rotating around the regions.

“If you’re on the board and go to these areas and meet these people you’d be astounded at the ben-efit it gives you and them. It’s one of Ravensdown’s strengths and I’d be reluc-tant to do it otherwise.”

Similarly he said he would not be support-ing a motion that share redemption be revised to allow a staged withdrawal from the cooperative over three years. “We’re always open to suggestions but it doesn’t take into account the capital structure of cooperatives. You have

to have a time lag for redemption otherwise the banks won’t support you.”

The annual meet-ing will feature details of Ravensdown’s reinvest-ment in core business which is already under-way. “We’ve started a programme of replac-ing loaders throughout

the stores and investing in more efficient dispatch facilities.”


8 // news

Debt slashed and profit leaps

John Henderson

RIVAL FERT-TO-FEED coop-erative Ballance AgriNutrients released its annual result a week prior to Ravensdown reporting record annual revenue of $921m, up from $878m, and headline profit of $93.5m ($92.6m).

One-off restructuring costs of $4m due to decommissioning its Whangarei plant – Ballance now supplies Northland from Tauranga – put the group trading profit at $89.5m and it paid an average rebate of $60.83/t plus 10c/share dividend, equivalent

to another $4.17/t, taking total distribution to shareholders to a record $78.9m ($65m 2012-13).

“It’s a nice way to leave the company,” chief executive Larry Bilodeau, who retires in Septem-ber, told Dairy News’ sister paper Rural News.

Fertiliser sales volume was up from 1.33m to 1.55m with pent-up demand for capital fertiliser, notably potash, probably a fac-tor as prices eased.

“And of course potash is es-pecially important in dairy,” said

Bilodeau, who estimates that dairy accounts for about 55% of the Tauranga-based coopera-tive’s fertiliser sales. “That’s not changed as much as you might think. It’s probably come up a little bit but it’s almost within the margin of error.”

The forecast dairy payout cuts “will impact a bit” on the coming year’s figures, he predicts, but with farmers well aware of the long-term impor-tance of fertiliser it will not be drastic.

beaten by ballance

withdrawal from Australia, better manage-ment of inventory and debtors, and a buoyant New Zealand fertiliser market saw Ravensdown report much improved year-end figures last week after a dismal perfor-mance in 2012-13.

Having paid no rebate from the 2012-13 year – the first nil return in its 35-year history – share-holders will this year get $37.38/t purchased in the year ending May 31, split $15/t as rebate and $22.38/t as share issue.

“Thanks to the backing of our customers and our team, [the] result places Ravensdown in a strong position with a strength-ening balance sheet and profitability,” according to Ravensdown chairman

John Henderson. Net debt is down from

$200m to $49m, with record net cashflow of $185m and profit before tax and rebate from con-tinuing operations double at $73m, up from $28m last year. However, trad-ing profit before rebate and tax was $46m ($6m in 2013) due to costs associ-ated with its withdrawal from Australia.

Henderson told Dairy News those costs – a com-bination of trade losses, impairments on product and drops in book value of assets – add up to “about $20m, maybe $23m” with the sale of a few remaining minor assets in Australia still to be realised.

Equity ratio is up from 49% to 65%.

Chief executive Greg Campbell says increased farm production and the need to replace soil nutrients lifted fertiliser

demand and confidence.“New Zealand tonnages

rose 7%. Services that help farmers with their nutri-ent stewardship, for exam-ple our award-winning Smart Maps tool and new environmental consul-tancy arm, are also in high demand.”

Henderson declined to reveal a sales figure for the year as it was complicated by the withdrawal from Australia and comparisons would be “unhelpful”. “Like-for-like figures will be in the annual report,” he promised. That’s expected to be available next week.

The annual meeting is scheduled for September 15 in Marton, Manawatu-Wanganui. A motion has been submitted that such events should alter-nate between two central venues, one in each island, to maximise accessibil-ity and minimise cost, but


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news // 9

Oceania plant up and runningchina’s dairy giant Yili, through its subsidiary Oceania Dairy, has col-lected its first milk direct from New Zea-land farms as commissioning continues at its $214m, 10t/hour capacity plant at Glenavy, South Canterbury.

“I’m very pleased,” Oceania chief executive Aidan Johnstone told Dairy News. “To have our first milk delivered August 4 was pretty good.”

Johnstone says as calving begins on Oceania’s 48 supplying farms all milk will be collected by Oceania and processed at Glenavy under the control of construc-tion firms Tetrapak and Babbage until commissioning of the powder plant is complete in mid September.

“It will be our staff working under their directions.”

It’s envisaged all product will be exported to China for further process-ing and retail, except for cream in the early part of the season.

“Our AMF plant won’t be commis-sioned until November so we’re send-ing our cream to Synlait until then.”

Total intake this season is expected to be 170m L; the original target was 130m L from 40 farms. It will also take 50m L from Fonterra, as permitted under

DIRA , putting total intake at about 220m L – 73% of the plant’s nominal 300m L capacity.

“So even if there’s no increase in our production capacity next season we’ll still be able to pick up extra milk from local suppliers.”

This season’s supply is within 50km and Johnstone doesn’t envisage need-ing to go much beyond that to fill the cur-rent plant, given the growing number of dairy farms in the Lower Waitaki areas of South Canterbury and North Otago.

The Glenavy site has plenty of space for expansion but no plans or consent applications for a second dryer have been made.

Seven of this season’s supplying farms are new conversions, a few are former Fonterra suppliers, and “the core” are a block of former Synlait sup-pliers who moved en masse to Synlait for three seasons from New Zealand Dairies (NZDL). Fonterra acquired Rus-sian-owned NZDL and its plant at Stud-holme, about 15km north of Oceania, after it went into receivership in May 2012, locking NZDL’s remaining 34 sup-pliers into supplying Fonterra for seven years in return for picking up NZDL’s

missed milk payments.Johnstone, who was chief executive

at NZDL, notes Oceania’s dryer is “twice as large as the one at Studholme” and unlike NZDL, Oceania’s parent Yili pro-vides an integrated supply chain all the way to retail.

“We’re not competing with Fonterra in the open market. Effectively it’s a closed supply chain.”

As such, the company’s business is “pretty well protected” from falling global dairy prices, though with Ocea-

nia’s farmgate price locked at a 10c/kgMS premium to Fonterra’s milk price, falls in Fonterra’s forecast will be a concern to Oceania’s suppliers, he acknowledges.

“Yili is a large corporate, recently ranked tenth-largest dairy company in the world, so compared with past expe-rience in this region the milk cheque is secure.”

Johnstone, trained as an accountant and in the dairy industry for 30 years, does not believe companies such as Oce-ania will erode milk prices for New Zea-

land farmers in the long run.“Fonterra’s payouts have increased as

a result of the competitive tension and Fonterra remains far and away the domi-nant player so there is room for small and middle-sized competitors.

“It would be a sad day if Fonterra wasn’t the dominant player in the New Zealand industry. A little competitive tension around the edges benefits every-body. We offer an alternative to Fonterra with minimal or no risk.”

– Andrew Swallow

Oceania Dairy chief executive Aidan Johnstone says the first milk was delivered on August 4.

seales winslow20x14


10 // news

Miraka has invested in a new UHT plant as part of its ambitious expansion programme.

Maori dairy baby growing up fast

it’s hard to believe that three years ago (August 1, 2011) the first bag of whole milk powder was produced at Miraka’s $90 million factory north-west of Taupo.

The first year was a proving year: the plant didn’t reach full capacity until the 2012-13 season. Since then the word has got around about how good the operation is and the waiting list of suppli-ers has grown. The plant produces whole milk powder and sells to such markets as Vietnam, China, Middle East and South America.

Its rise is due to the leader-ship of chair-man Kingi Smiler who has overseen the proj-ect from the start. Smiler was not wanted on the Fon-terra board, yet this niche operation is now the talk of the town and seen as a future model for

Maori. In 2013 Federated Farmers name Smiler the Agribusiness Person of the Year and a few weeks ago Miraka won the Emerg-ing Exporter of the Year award in the Bay of Plenty business awards.

Miraka is essentially a joint venture between two Maori Trusts – Tuaropaki and Wairarapa Moana. Tuaropaki owns the geo-thermal power station which powers the plant and the land on which it is built at Mokai. Wairarapa

Moana has 10,000

cows on

farms around Mangakino. Other shareholders include the Maori trustee and Vietnam’s largest dairy company Vinamilk which has a 19% stake in the company. As well as Wairarapa Moana, other Maori trusts and individ-ual farmers supply milk to Miraka.

In just four years Miraka has gained finan-cial strength and has invested $27 million in a new UHT plant linked to supplying branded prod-ucts for Shanghai Pengxin for the Chinese market. It also has gained a $1.75 million Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) grant matched by equivalent industry co-funding to develop ways of extracting high value proteins from milk. Miraka and Wair-arapa Moana (which Kingi Smiler also chairs) are the first Maori agribusiness recipients of a PGP grant.

The success of Miraka is also due to chief

executive, Rich-

The Maori owned dairy company Miraka goes into its fourth season with excellent prospects. Peter Burke reports.

MIRAKA IS this season offering an initial $6.00 payout.

Chief executive Richard Wy-eth says these are early days but he notes the whole milk powder market has softened and there is little relief from the high exchange rate.

Chairman Kingi Smiler and Wyeth are in Asia this week visiting clients and prospecting for new business, viewed within a three-five year time horizon.

“Vietnam has always been an important country for us given our shareholding in Vinamilk, but we have never fo-cused entirely on Vietnam. Last year China was a strong market for us: we sold more product into China than in either of our previous two seasons. However this season we are likely to pull back from China and spread our product further afield.

China was paying well for product last year.”

Miraka’s next milestone will be passed in few weeks when the first of the company’s UHT packs are made and sent to China under the Shang-hai Pengxin deal. Miraka’s two UHT processing lines can pack 60 million L of milk a year into 250ml Tetrapak cartons.

Both lines are expected to be running to capacity by late 2014. And the factory has space for two more lines. Build-ing those looks “an audacious goal,” says Wyeth. But other markets are in view.

Miraka is a seen as a model

for other Maori trusts and incor-porations. Several other Maori entities in the North Island are known to be weighing their op-tions about adding value to the milk they produce.

Wyeth says this is great and will complement their opera-tion. “If we can inspire other Maori entities and whanau based businesses, that is fan-tastic.”

just the beginning

ard Wyeth and his small team and to the dedication of the ‘whanau staff ’.

Wyeth says three years down the track the com-pany is very happy with its growth – financially and in provision shareholders and staff.

“We are just short of $250 million revenue for this financial year and in

three years that is signif-icant growth. We built the UHT plant proba-bly 12 months ahead of the original plan when we were putting the strategy together and we filled the factory 12 months ahead of time. Getting to capac-

ity on the whole milk plant enabled us to generate the revenue and gave us the confidence to step into the value-added side of the business and invest in the UHT plant.”

Having a waiting list of suppliers is nice, Wyeth

says, considering that they started out looking to attract farmers. Many farmers took a ‘leap of faith’ in becoming sup-pliers. Now Miraka has gained credibility with suppliers and is seen as a good alternative.

Kingi Smiler

Miraka chief executive Richard Wyeth.

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news // 11

The Beatty farm at Tangiteroria under water last month.

Flood survivor hanging out for sunshine

third generation Northland dairy farmer Ambie Beatty just needs a bit more warmth and a little less rain.

Two thirds of the pas-tures on his 120ha Tan-giteroria farm were damaged by the recent floods and most need regrassing. Like a number of farmers in the region he last week kept ringing his seed agent hoping to get started.

“Everyone wants to get going but he says ‘no, you are just wasting your money, it is too wet and cold; it will just rot’. You’ve got to hang on,” Beatty told Dairy News.

Meanwhile he is milk-ing once a day to “try to spread things out” and is thankful for a delivery of hay and silage donated by New Plymouth farmers and organised by the Rural Support Trust.

“That is very wel-come; I’m glad that turned up. I’ve lived here all my life and it’s the high-est flood I’ve ever seen. It came right up into my cowshed,” he says. (The flooded cowshed was pic-tured on the front of Dairy News, July 22. The caption read Hikurangi but should have read Tangiteroria).

The property, which he farms with his wife Jan and son Graham, is prone to flooding but it usually clears within a couple of days. Beatty says it was also the ‘dirtiest’ flood since the infamous Cyclone Bola in 1988, leav-ing silt all over the pad-docks. In places it has left 70-80mm of silt, smother-ing the grass.

The flood came up on July 10 and lay there for six days. “We’d just started calving; we had con-densed the calving, plan-ning for a good season and everything was looking right. Then you get a dirty one like this; it’s really unusual.”

With half his 430-cow herd now in milk he is coping by once-a-day milking and using any hill country he has got. For all the dry cows “it’s like musical chairs”. He has some maize, a bit of hay and a truckload coming, so the milkers go to the dairy in the morning, stay on the pad until lunchtime then to a paddock until the next morning.

“We need some warm drying weather to get the ground temps up a bit and some sunlight so we can get this grass seed in. Even when we do plant it will be at least six weeks to two months before we can use it. It’s frustrating

BEATTY BELIEVES about 15 farms in Tang-iteroria alone were affected by the floods, with about 1000ha in that area prone to flooding.

Tangiteroria is between Dargaville and Whangarei. Parts of nearby Mangakahia were deluged as well, as were the Hikurangi plains, north of Whangarei.

Beatty’s grandfather bought the farm when it was in bush. His father had shown him the high water mark of the biggest flood in memory, in 1936. Even this latest flood did not meet that mark but it was only 200mm away. “It was by far the closest I’ve seen in my life,” says Beatty, who is 55.

“The floods do seem to be getting bigger. In winter we used to get one or two small floods at the bottom end of the farm for a couple of days and it would go away again. Now we seem to get a big one or not at all.”

The Northern Wairoa river which runs through his property has a huge catchment area and with clay soils and a tidal nature it is known as “the only river that flows upside-down” – the dirty stuff stays on top and the water never seems to clear.

water invasions getting bigger

not being able to get it in straight away.

“Everything is behind a break fence at the moment. You spend all day shifting fences just to try to spread things out, to make sure all stock get a couple of mouthfuls each.

“So the load that came from New Plymouth was much appreciated, it really was. I still have quite a lot left – another 10 days.”

Beatty also wants a few fine days to tighten things up and not waste so much.

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news // 13

Extra help for Northlanders slogging through the clean-up

dairynZ has extra staff on standby to go to Northland to help dairy farm-ers through the aftermath of the recent floods.

Craig McBeth, head of DairyNZs consulting officers, says the floods were “catastrophic” and help is avail-able if it is needed.

“A lot of Northland lost power and that was devastat-ing; they are working hard to get back on track.

“Rural Support Trust and others are trying hard to get farmers back on their feet and dealing with issues impacting their farming. This means getting feed for cows or in some cases getting cows from badly affected farms to those less badly affected.

“The aim is to allow the impacted farm to get feed growing again and to

re-sow silted pastures.”DairyNZ has sent extra consulting

officers to Northland where they are working with others in the community to support farmers.

“They’ve been putting on evening meals for farmers… to get them off-farm and communicating with their neighbours… and hearing about their options. Our people have been talking

to farmers about feed budgets and gen-erally helping them out.”

Farmers repairing damaged fences and races have had help from Task Force Green workers funded by money

through MPI, McBeth says.“Our message for farmers is ‘make

sure you balance the hard physical work with some planning’, for exam-ple, feed budgeting, getting feed onfarm and perhaps cows off-farm – balancing the equation as well as working on the recovery.

“The messages will go out through our usual channels such as discussion

groups, publications and the website.”

Aside from North-land the weather has been good, McBeth says. Waikato had a wet patch in June, and there were frosts but nothing out of the ordi-nary. The good weather has helped calving and

is a comfort to farmers facing a low payout.

“Cashflow early in the season will remain ok, with payments from last season coming through. It’ll be this

peter burKepeterb@ruralnews�co�nz

“Our message for farmers is ‘make sure you balance the hard physical work with some planning’, for example, feed budgeting, getting feed onfarm and perhaps cows off-farm – balancing the equation as well as working on the recovery.

time next year when the bite comes onand we’re talking to farmers about how best to respond to that. This will include decisions on supplementary feeding, the right time to start drying of cows off and so possibly culling earlier.”

McBeth says farmers need to look at their budgets and see what cost savings they can make.

AN OTAKI dairy farmer Ted Cobb got the surprise of his life when one of his

Friesian heifers recently produced triplets. He says he understands the odds of a cow producing triplets is about one in eight million, but is possibly higher for a heifer. The heifer was mated to a Hereford

bull. Two of the calves are female and the third is male. In the picture Cobb

is seen feeding milk to the calves on his farm.


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14 // news

Irrigation tax policy proposal under firelabour’s pro-posal to introduce a charge on large water takes for irrigation has been slammed by farmers.

While the party says it

will fairly price the rental, Federated Farmers has its doubts. Spokesman Ian Mackenzie does not believe the price will be fair and affordable.

“The concept that farmers are an untapped resource of tax is extraor-dinary. I don’t think any-body within the Labour caucus understands what they’re doing.”

IrrigationNZ chief executive Andrew Curtis says Labour’s policy fails to recognise the complex-ities of freshwater man-agement in New Zealand. It also ignores billions of dollars farmers have spent on improving waterways, he says.

“A ‘fair and affordable’ variable rate water tax will be impossible to imple-ment and will cost a for-tune to establish. In no other country in the world

is irrigated water paid for through a tax.

“Much about Labour’s water policy aims to yield economic and recreational benefits of New Zealand’s water for all; this is good, but punishing irrigators by imposing a water tax is not the way to achieve this.

“The only robust and long term way to restore waterways is case by case, engaging local communi-ties to find solutions.

“It is time the value of irrigation for food produc-tion and creating jobs was recognised in New Zea-land, as elsewhere in the world. There is consid-erable public good to be gained from sustainably managed irrigated agricul-ture.”

However, Labour‘s water spokesman Meka Whaitiri says it will ensure

all New Zealand’s water lakes and rivers are swim-mable, fishable and suit-able for food gathering.

To clean up the nation’s freshwater within one generation, Labour will introduce a national policy statement based on the principles of the Sheppard report which will enforce standards and deadlines.

“Our clean rivers and lakes must not be allowed to get dirty, and our dirty rivers and lakes must be cleaned up,” she says. “As part of our clean-up we will also introduce a fairly priced resource rental on any large water takes for irrigation.

“The use of water for irrigation is a privilege, not an inalienable right. A resource rental is the best tool for making sure fresh water is used effi-ciently.”

The party will support proposals for water storage and irrigation schemes provided they have a broad consensus from their communities.

Labour will use resource rentals to pay for irrigation schemes rather than paying for them out of tax and asset sales.

“Dirty water is not just a rural issue and we will ensure our cities and towns carefully monitor industrial and domestic waste. Labour will also seek to resolve iwi and hapu rights and interest in freshwater through direct dialogue.”

“The concept that farmers are an untapped resource of tax is extraordinary.”

– Federated Farmers

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news // 15

Pick your beet: a leap in fodder beat area could see some cultivators run short.

Fodder beet area set to balloon?the area of fodder beet seems likely to leap again this spring prompt-ing questions about seed supply and sowing con-tractor availability.

Anecdotal evidence is that many of those who tried a limited area of the crop this winter plan to increase acreage and, as word of high yields and knowledge on avoiding agronomic and animal health pitfalls spreads, yet more are looking to grow some for the first time.

Also, the crop’s increas-ingly being used not just for wintering, but as a feed that can be cut and carried to milking platforms to boost shoulder season pro-duction. In the north that includes use as “drought insurance” in case of a dry second-half season.

Meanwhile beef, deer and to a lesser extent sheep producers are diving into it to improve winter liveweight gains and carry more stock.

Recent falls in payout forecasts may cause some to curtail cropping plans but seed suppliers are still urging those planning to

grow to get orders in early to ensure they get their cultivar of choice.

“Being proactive is a big help,” Agricom sales and marketing manager Mark Brown told Dairy News.

He believes this spring will see “solid growth” in fodder beet area sown and it is likely to be more than was expected 18 months ago when seed companies had to tell orthern hemi-sphere colleagues or coun-terparts how much seed they expected to need this spring.

“Where we are now is quite different from where we were then,” he told

Dairy News, reflecting on problems with agronomy and animal health two or three seasons ago which saw some first time grow-ers put off.

“It is an intensive crop to grow. You have to be focussed on what is going on because timings of inputs, particularly herbi-cides, are important.”

While the crop area didn’t decline, the rate of increase eased, only to rebound as knowledge about the crop and capac-ity to sow and grow it has improved.

“We didn’t have the drills, the contractors, or

the rep force then. A lot of time is needed to moni-tor the crop from the rep’s perspective.”

Similarly, careful sam-pling to assess yield and then precise allocation to avoid animal health prob-lems, particularly during the transition phase, is essential.

“Many of them were used to feeding swedes and got the calibration wrong because they were feeding a 20t crop, not a 12t one.”

There were also prob-lems with diets not being balanced correctly for what are effectively “great

big lollies” for cattle, he adds.

However, awareness of those potential pitfalls, and advice on what to do to avoid them, is much better now, hence the resurgent interest.

Farmlands’ grain and seed division manager, Mark Elliotte, says about a 30% increase in fodder beet area is likely, based on the feedback he’s had from wholesalers and Farm-lands’ field staff.

“The $6 payout fore-cast may change some peo-ple’s approach as they may decide to go away from

such a high input crop, though they will get the results from it in the end.”

While so far there’s been no indication of restrictions on seed supply from the wholesalers, he too urges growers to “get orders in early to ensure you get the varieties you want.”

A new approach with the crop is dairy farmers contracting cropping farm-ers to grow a certain area, produce of which is to be lifted and delivered to the dairy platform at a certain price per kilogramme of drymatter, he notes.


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16 // news

Scientists work on methane solution

Mark Aspin beside one of the methane chambers.

new ZeALAnD scien-tists hope to have tech-nologies that can be implemented on farm to help reduce methane gas emissions from farm ani-mals such as cows, cattle, sheep and deer within about five years.

That’s the view of Mark Aspin, manager of the Pas-toral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium ( PGgRc) which along with the New Zealand Agri-cultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre is work-ing to find a solution to the problem.

Much of the science work the two organisa-tions do is based at Palm-erston North and the pair

are working on a joint sci-ence programme to con-tribute to the achievement of two government targets is respect of greenhouse gas emissions – lowering our emissions by five per-cent below the 1990 levels by 2020 and cutting them by 50 percent by 2050.

Aspin says the agricul-tural industry accounts for 46% of New Zealand’s total emissions and with our large ruminant pop-ulation this is a serious challenge. He says farmers have been doing their bit to reduce methane emis-sions by becoming more productive, but he says the increase in livestock numbers – especially cow numbers – the efficiency gains are not keeping pace with the quantum increase product output.

“Efficiency gains made by farmers have decreased greenhouse gas intensity by one percent annually. This is through a combination of better genetics and feed but given that livestock production is increasing by two percent annually, this is not enough. So with the financial support of government and the farming industry through the likes of DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb we are looking to find some technologies that can give us an extra one-and-a-half percent increase in intensity efficiency,” he says.

The funding for the science comes from two sources – MPI funds the work the work being done by the Greenhouse Gas

Research Centre and this involves most of CRI’s plus Massey Univer-sity and DairyNZ. The (PGgRc) gets 50% money from MBIE and the other 50% comes from industry organisations including again DairyNZ, Fonterra, Landcorp and Beef+ Lamb.

Some of the research efforts are directed at finding ways to inhibit a tiny microbes using vac-cines and chemical inhibi-tors found in the rumen of cattle, sheep and deer known as methanogens which produce methane in the gut of the animal and which is then expelled into the atmosphere when the animals belch.

The solutions being investigated include find-ing genetic traits in ani-mals that produce less

methane and seeing if dif-ferent types of forages can also make a difference.

“Firstly we are reliant on the scientists to under-stand the systems and where methane comes from and what drives it. Also whether there are specific forages that may end up using less methane than ryegrass and while clover which is the main-stay of our pasture. We have found that brassica crops do give us some ben-efit in that respect, but

that is just for very lim-ited time of the year. But with this and our genetic programme we know the gains will be small and therefore will have to look at some of the more sci-entifically challenging and higher impact options such as a methane vaccine and methane inhibitors,” he says.

Aspin says even when a solution is found in the case of the methane vac-cine and/or inhibitors, it will take time for clini-

cal trials to be conducted and the product to be fully commercialised. He says while excellent progresses is being made by the sci-ence teams a solution for farmers could still be five years away.

He says right now there is not a lot more that farm-ers can do but to keep driving on farm efficiency and to continue to support their respective industry good organisations fund-ing of the science pro-grammes.

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18 // news

Fonterra chief technology officer Jeremy Hill with the milk shot developed especially for the Asian market. Taste high on co-op’s

innovation agenda

FOnterrA HAs devel-oped a ‘shot of milk’ – a concentrated milk prod-uct – equivalent to four

glasses but packed in a 100ml pack.

A product in Fonterra’s Anlene range, it is made for mid-life/elderly people, especially in Asian mar-kets.

Fonterra chief tech-

peter [email protected]

nology officer Dr Jeremy Hill says the product is for consumers who are not accustomed to drinking milk each day.

“The trick is in the sci-ence… a product concen-trated and still tasting good. Taste is always a big issue; it has to be high on your agenda [with] con-venience and nutritional benefits. If you want to remain in business you must offer superior taste.”

The new product rates as ‘advanced nutrition’ and embodies a lot of sophisticated medical sci-ence.

“We focus on cogni-tion and mobility, look-ing at formulations we can create to enhance cogni-tion benefits, particularly in infant nutrition.

“In mobility we are looking to promote… the health of bones, mus-cles and joints. That tends to be focused more on middle-to-aging people, whereas the cognition product range is focused on younger people.”

A challenge for Fon-terra in high-end con-sumer products for new

and emerging markets is getting the taste right to suit the local palate. Fon-terra has a research facil-ity in Shanghai where new products and recipes are devised.

Fonterra at its research centre at Palmerston North employs 400 people part-time as tasters. The co-op selects people for its taste panels then trains them to help discern prod-uct ‘characteristics’ and express these in words meaningful to scientists and food technologists.

“We screen lots of people for their ability to do this…. We have to be able to determine whether their palates are discern-ing enough… then we train them to pick characteris-tics and to score them.”

Hill says the panel members are at Fonterra for only an hour or two at a time. Taste is the critical factor and seeing a prod-uct in a certain ‘good’ light may influence a panellist. To that end a lot of tast-ing takes place in a red-lit room to ensure the panel-ists stay focused on taste.

FOnterrA’s new group direc-tor co-operative affairs Miles Hurrell starts September 1.

Chief executive Theo Spierings says Hurrell’s commercial and rela-tional skills with farmers will help support Fonterra’s milk growth.

“Our New Zealand milk supply is a number one priority for Fonterra. Ensuring its sus-tainable growth and market share are key for our busi-ness strategy, and a positive commercial approach is required in this role.

“Miles’ business knowledge and experience [equip him] for these challenges. As general manager Middle East, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), he has translated our global business strategy… into volume and value growth.” He oversaw a review of some key markets that grew their value in 18 months.

“He has shown agility in working with diverse cul-tures and customers, leading a large team…. He has developed talented leaders… half of whom have been promoted to roles elsewhere in Fonterra.”

He will also deal with central, local and regional gov-ernments and will contribute to global sustainability strategy.

Hurrell joined the dairy industry in 2000 after work-ing for a large shipping line. By 2008 he was Fonterra sales director Europe. He then led the global sourcing division in North America, dealing with key suppliers.

Hurrell joins management team

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wOrLD // 19

Solar option saves farmers moneytAXpAYer-FunDeD sOLAr water heaters will save money for dairy farm-ers in Tasmania.

Nine dairy farms at King Island have been paid A$202,000 to install the evacuated tubes and hot water storage systems, expected to cut dairy shed energy bills by as much as 50%.

The Tasmanian govern-ment’s renewable energy move is coordinated by Dairy Australia.

King Island dairy farmer Troy Smith says he and other farmers pay flat-rate electricity prices and rely on diesel power genera-tion despite wind and solar energy being prevalent on the island.

“If we can be energy efficient and use renewable

energy it saves us money, less diesel comes onto the island and the environ-ment is better off.”

Dairy Australia and the Australian government are helping dairy farmers nationwide to cut energy use. Energy efficiency assessments were done for 900 farmers in a scheme ended June, with most of King Island’s 12 dairy farms taking part. A second round of assessments will go to June 2015.

Dairy Australia spokes-woman Rachel Brown says the Australian dairy indus-try aims to cut energy use by 30% by 2020. “Renew-able energy is not for every shed and each site has to be looked at but there are circumstances, like these solar hot water systems on

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King Island, where it is the obvious solution.”

Reducing energy use for milk cooling, milk har-vesting and hot water had shown the greatest improvement in energy efficiency during the assessment process, Brown says.

The installation man-ager for the King Island project, Darren Cooper, says many aspects of dairy shed hot water must be assessed for solar’s suit-ability.

Farmers must look at their water usage patterns,

the capacity of their main cylinder, and whether the farm would need to boost on-peak power or simply heat water at off-peak times.

“It depends on the tariff you pay for your energy. On King Island there is no off-peak power but rather a 27-28 cent kW-hour flat rate, so water heating is premium all the time and it’s easier to get a payback [using solar].

“If a farm, for exam-ple, had a 1000L/day usage and a 1200-1300L cylin-der they might be better to

exploit their contract and heat all their water off-peak because the payback on a solar system could be 20 years.”

Cooper says the units at King Island suit farms with fewer than 250 cows or using about 500L of hot

water per day.“Data from one of the

units showed that for the first 24 days of use there was a 36% offset of power for hot water. This will fluctuate with the seasons but 50% reduction over 12 months is achievable.”

All manifolds, cylinder connections and fittings are installed in kits in Tas-mania. The control units are also wired and pump units are set up so they can be serviced or changed by a farmer – no electrician or plumber.

Tasmanian farmers are getting state help to reduce farm energy bills.

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20 // wOrLD

VICtOrIA reMAIns Australia’s biggest milk producing state and has made a steady increase over the past 12 months.

Gippsland and northern Victoria were the growth areas with 3.19% and 1.67% respectively, while the western region experienced a slight decline of 0.49% after a disastrous start to the year caused by low prices and a bad 2013 autumn.

State leaders believe the steady growth can be maintained during 2014-15, although their optimism is muted by concerns about weather conditions.

The state’s three regions are each producing about two billion litres per year.

Northern Victoria hasn’t had nega-tive growth period in more than three years.

“We’re building on a solid trend,” Murray Dairy chairman Malcolm Holm says.

“Even though it’s a small percent-age it’s still solid growth, especially given that it was tough last season in regards to milk prices and conditions. We’ve done pretty well.”

Holm says there is capacity on farm and in the milk processing sector to continue that growth.

“It’s still pretty early in the season but it would appear with the current weather conditions that we’re set up for a good spring,” he says.

The region has a confident outlook pushed by strong on-farm investment.

“People are investing fairly heavily into their farms and I think we’ll see that converting into growth,” Holm says.

“We had a good price last season. It has come back a bit but it shouldn’t affect us too much.

“We’re well placed for people to

get into dairy and we’re still the larg-est producing region in Australia with good steady growth.”

South Gippsland dairy farmer Graeme Nicoll says the season has been reasonably good and he expected the region’s steady growth of more than 3% to continue.

“The economics have been good, the optimism has been high and the season has been reasonably good for some and very good for others,” says Nicoll.

“Gippsland is a very stable region that often doesn’t express the volatil-ity of other regions, due to the rela-tively stable climactic conditions and the style of farming with a very strong pasture focus,” he says.

“When the economic dials are right for Gippsland, we’re in a posi-tion where we can capitalise on our strength in growing grass. Home-grown fodder is the economic driver of the industry.”

Flying more flags than any other processoreurOpeAn CO-Op Arla Foods says it is now the world’s most multina-tional farmer-owned dairy company.

Following its merger last week with Belgian EGM Walhorn, Arla Foods now boasts 13,500 share-holders in seven countries in the EU.

Arla chairman Åke Hantoft says it has contin-uously managed to attract

more farmer owners and to work together across borders, “because we stand united for one thing – securing our future as dairy farmers and expand-ing our opportunities to develop”.

“Being an Arla Foods farmer owner means having the guarantee that, no matter the country in which we are based, our milk will be turned into

high quality products sold all over the world. And the more farmers we are, the more milk we pro-duce, and the stronger we become together.”

Arla Foods’ farmer-owned heritage dates back 100 years and through the cooperative model farm-ers have retained the influence over what the company does. For every farmer, owning the com-

pany has meant holding the opportunity to secure the development of their farm, says chief executive Peder Tuborgh.

“Our dairy farmers can and want to set the pace, which has been high for many years; they want to ensure that profit is returned to their farms and into the company, as investments into our global dairy business.

“We do this together as one big multinational team of dairy farmers and employees. This mindset has created the global Arla of today.”

Arla Foods’ cross-bor-

der cooperation between dairy farmers started in 2000, when Swedish dairy cooperative Arla merged with the Danish dairy company MD Foods. In 2011 Arla Foods merged

with Hansa Milch in Ger-many and in 2012 with Milch-Union Hocheifel (MUH) in Germany and

Milk Link in the UK. In 2013, AMCo UK members joined as Arla Foods’ co-owners too.

■ Arla Foods expects the 2014 milk intake from farmer owners to be about 11.4 billion kg, or 92% of the total expected milk intake for this year (12.4b kg)

■ Arla Foods has farmer owners in seven European countries: Swe-den (3356), Denmark (3156), UK (2956), Germany (2763), Belgium (955), Luxembourg (236), Nether-lands (52)

■ EGM Walhorn is a dairy coopera-tive owned by 795 milk producers in Belgium (426), Germany (317) and the Netherlands (52)

■ In 2013, Arla Foods’ worldwide sales of dairy products totalled 9.9 billion Euros

■ Arla Foods’ core markets are the UK, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands.

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Takeover full of twists and turns – SaputoCAnADA’s LArGest milk processor has opened up about the protracted battle to acquire Austra-lian company Warrnam-bool Cheese and Butter, saying it was a battle worth fighting.

In its annual report released month, Saputo says it has made 23 acqui-sitions since becoming a public company in 1997, but Warrnambool was the most public acquisition process so far.

In a question and answer segment in the annual report, Saputo chief executive Lino Saputo Junior says the

acquisition was filled with exciting twists and turns. “It kept everyone on their toes; our team came together and rose to the challenge,” he says.

Saputo paid A$519 mil-lion for 88% of the listed proces-sor, which makes cheese and milk for domestic and export markets.

The battle for WCB was one of the most hard-fought and intriguing the industry has seen in recent times. Spanning five

months, involving three eager bidders, employ-ing dozens of investment bankers, lawyers and other advisers, it also caused the Warrnambool share price to more than double.

While Saputo was seen as frontrun-ner because of its cash reserves and the endorse-ment of the Warrnam-bool board, success looked uncer-

tain late last year as rival bidder and Warrnam-bool shareholder Murray Goulburn referred the

beverage giant to the Take-overs Panel after it altered its bid. Only after Bega Cheese – Warrnambool’s largest shareholder and one-time suitor – reluc-tantly accepted Saputo’s offer did it edge over the 50% mark.

Within a week, Murray Goulburn also folded, scrapping its rival offer.

Saputo Jnr says he enjoyed getting to know the Warrnambool employ-ees, suppliers and share-holders, and letting them get to know Saputo. “A memorable moment occurred at meetings we held with Warrnambool farmer shareholders.”

Saputo has a corpo-rate culture that explic-itly values the employee.

suDesH [email protected]

Saputo Jnr says Saputo started as a family busi-ness in the dairy products industry where quality was the only path to success.

“You soon realise no one person can safeguard qual-ity, and a high level of trust must be placed in your employees. As we grow larger, we find this reality does not change.

“When we acquire a new company, I take part in the integration by per-sonally visiting the facili-ties. I want to make sure management understands and applies our corporate culture from the start.

“Our culture is a key differentiator for us; we know we couldn’t expe-rience the same success without appreciating and

trusting our employees and providing them with the right training, tools, resources and support.”

Saputo Jnr says the company will learn from

its takeovers in Canada, US and Argentina to guide its Warrnambool opera-tion.

“The companies we acquire usually find they can manage more effec-tively because they gain access to our knowhow, international experience, financial resources and support.

“Saputo intends to invest in Warrnambool to accelerate its growth,

and create new opportu-nities for the company, its employees and suppliers.

“We see potential to increase manufacturing capacity, grow milk intake,

drive improve-ments in oper-ating efficiency, and support inno-vation and new product develop-ment.”

He says it has a lot of confidence in the Warrnambool manage-ment team. Former WCB chief executive David Lord is now president of its dairy division in Australia.

It is a great business with a strong heritage—one that Saputo intends to preserve, Saputo Jnr adds. “Moreover, we will retain and grow current brands while we seek to introduce new product lines.”

Lino Saputo Junior

“A memorable moment occured at meetings we held with Warrnambool farmer shareholders.”

Saputo, Canada’s largest dairy processor, says it will invest in Australia’s dairy industry to boost growth.

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24 // OpInIOn

Head Office: Top Floor,29 Northcroft St, Takapuna,Auckland 0622 Phone 09-307 0399. Fax 09-307 0122

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EVERY THREE years politicians and their disciples experience a hormonal rush that sends them rushing for influence and ulti-mately power to govern for three years. Some call this the silly season; this time around – especially given the effects of MMP – it is better called the absurd season.

Egos rule over reality, promises are made that will seldom be honoured, perceptions not facts are the order of the day.

Against this backdrop Shanghai Pengxin is in line to buy Loch-inver Station, owned for decades by the Stevenson family who want to reinvest their money from the sale in a major venture in Auckland.

The opposition to Shanghai Pengxin is predictable and, doubt-less, race based. How often do the opponents of such dealing object audibly to land sales to Israelis, Germans, Americans or Swiss? This kind of hysteria is reserved for Chinese buyers.

Labour says it will prevent the sale if elected. But it had the opportunity years ago to pass such legislation, and didn’t. Why didn’t they take a stand after the Crafar farms sale? It will be their prerogative to tighten up legislation and ban farm sales to all for-eigners – not just Chinese – if elected. But to interfere now in such a deal by passing retrospective legislation seems a bit rich.

Shanghai Pengxin was acting within the law in bidding for Lochinver; to threaten such a law change to win a few votes smacks of political expediency.

The farming sector needs more capital if it’s to play the role it has been handed – to grow the economy. The lack of capital in New Zealand pushes us offshore to borrow.

Alternatively we could go back to a peasant economy, slash-ing the number of politicians and bureaucrats, saving the coun-try big money. But such an outbreak of efficiency would never do.

A victim of the race card?

Got somethiNG oN your miND?

post to: Letter to the editor po Box 331100, takapuna, auckLand 0740 or emaiL: [email protected]

GOT SOMETHING on your mind about the latest issues affecting our dairy industry? Put your pen to paper or your fingers to your

keyboard, and let our readers know what you think. Contact us by either post or email. Don’t forget to put your name

and address. Note: Letters may be edited.

wandering cows WITH THE milk price easing, are some farmers taking less care of their cows?

The Whangarei District Council has been forced to shoot five escaped cows in Northland in recent months; poor fencing in the area is al-lowing cows to wander onto roads.

The council says the five cows are a handful of the hundreds of cows and horses they’ve had to shoot during the last 22 years because of road safety concerns.

But now that this is again on the council’s agenda, it plans a meet-ing with landowners to discuss how it all might be done better.

till the cows come homeA KANSAS farmer, a trom-bone and Kiwi star Lorde’s song Royals has become a much-viewed item on You Tube. The farmer serenad-ing his cattle has had three million hits.

Sitting in a deck chair, Derek Klingenberg piles into the tune, attracting several dozen cows from over a rise. Clearly this devoted audience loves his moosic.

Now he has a whole YouTube page of his agricultural tributes to popular music, for example, a cover of Happy and a Thrift Shop parody called Ranching Awesome.

“It’s weird,” Klingenberg admitted. “Millions of

people all over the world watch

my stuff, but I haven’t left

the farm. I’m just reading about it on my phone.”

Fake milk ‘no threat’THE COMPANY devel-oping a non-dairy form of milk says it is moti-vated by animal welfare and environmental concerns, and is not tar-geting the New Zealand dairy industry.

Muufri, California, has received start-up money to develop the milk from yeast, intended to be indistinguishable from cows’ milk. It will contain the same proteins, fats and vitamins as dairy, but less cholesterol.

Muufri co-founder Ryan Pandya anticipates a presentation to finan-cial backers by Septem-ber. It could then take them two-three years to refine and mass-produce the milk.

It is intended to compete with ‘industrial milk’ produced in North America by factory farmed cows.

selling shortTHE DAYS of crooks sell-ing adulterated milk in India are numbered. The country’s highest court has suggested adulterat-ing milk should be made punishable with life imprisonment.

The Government says it is amending legislation to make adulteration of milk and food items a serious crime attracting harsh penalty. It admits adulterated milk is under-mining human health.


OpInIOn // 25

Labour’s blueprint for the farming sectorDamien O’Connor says Labour has a ‘proud history’ of working with dairy farmers.

LAbOur GOVern-Ments have a proud history of working with dairy industry for success. In the 1930s we guaran-teed prices, in the 1950s we delivered a marketing body through the Dairy Board, we removed subsidies in the 1980s and in 2001 we facilitated the formation of Fonterra. We are com-mitted to continue work-ing with the industry to deliver the changes needed and legislation where nec-essary.

The natural advantages of our temperate climate, reliable rainfall and good soils have delivered the advantages to enable us to be one of the best produc-ers of protein in the world.

The dairy industry has been an outstanding suc-cess by any measure. Even the recent scrutiny of environmental and water impacts are, relative to other countries, moder-ate and manageable. I am confident the dairy indus-try can reduce its impacts on our waterways swiftly with better knowledge and guidance.

The growing world pop-ulation and demand for food is well documented. But so too is the ever-increasing cost of produc-tion for some New Zealand farming systems.

The single biggest chal-lenge for the dairy indus-try is to remain viable in a world of fluctuating commodity prices, with an increasing number of external influences on our economy. The cur-rent monetary policy dis-advantages exporters and

must change to prevent the escalation of inter-est rates and the NZ dollar at the ongoing expense of exporters.

Speculation using for-eign capital that drives up the value of New Zealand farmland further under-mines the opportunity for sustainable and profitable farming.

Banks that have con-tinued to fund high-cost operations knowing that farmers will work every hour of every day to sur-vive, places undue pres-sure on committed hard working farming families.

The recent messages from DairyNZ to manage and where possible reduce cost of production is too little too late for some farmers who have invested heavily in high cost sys-tems of milk production.

The recent payout announcements will be a shock for many of these farmers and it will be those who are focused on their costs who continue to enjoy a fair return on their efforts and investments.

A recent admission by a senior Fonterra director that the dairy industry has no strategic plan is a fright-ening reality for a country so reliant on it for income and prosperity.

Fonterra, our single-biggest and most success-ful dairy company is still a cooperative but now influ-enced by expectations of outside investors and a sharemarket desperate to exploit opportunities in New Zealand’s agribusi-ness sector.

We now have multiple processers and market-ers with an increasing level of investment and expec-

DAMIen O’COnnOrtation from the supply chain. China has emerged as the dominant influence in the international econ-omy, and the free trade agreement between our countries provides a huge advantage to sell into that market. However, ignor-ing the relationships with other high value markets in the US and Europe leaves us exposed to huge risks as experienced recently by the forestry sector with the collapse in log prices.

The New Zealand dairy industry does have an incredibly bright future if

crucial disciplines are fol-lowed. A focus on cost of production, improvement in environmental impacts, adequate research and development and coor-dinated marketing are all needed to deliver consis-tently for our international customers.

New Zealand farm-ers are unique and with-out protection. They rely on a robust processing and marketing system for their raw material to deliver them the returns they need to pay their costs and make a fair profit.

We need to be mind-ful of that unique and frag-ile situation or risk farming ourselves out of existence. It has been said, farming is the only industry where success is measured by increasing the cost of pro-duction. The fact that too many farmers have relied on capital gain from their land value to justify their hard work over many years is a sobering reality.

Labour has a commit-ment to support agricul-ture as the core of our economy and build on new and exciting opportunities.

We will ensure a failsafe biosecurity system, a mon-etary policy that works for exporters, a capital gains tax to discourage land speculation and leadership

in agriculture that will plan for an exciting and sustain-able future for our country.• Damien O’Connor is Labour’s primary industry spokesman.

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26 // OpInIOn

No backdown by Parliament’s notorious Fergie driver

FOr tHe last time in this Parliament I wish to declare an interest in the dairy industry.

I am the son a share-milker. I worked my way through the indus-

try and bought our first farm at the age of 23. To those who have experi-enced my determination and unflinching support for the farming commu-nity, my late parents Olive

and Noel Ardern and their employer, the late Tom Hargraves, are respon-sible for who I am. I am a farmer, came in as a farmer, leave as a farmer. I am – though it does not sit

comfortably with many in this place – proud to be a farmer, and I am prouder still to have represented a rural farming electorate.

I know that being a working farmer has served

Taranaki-King Country MP Shane Ardern retires next month as an MP. He is notable for chairing the primary production select committee and for driving a Fergie tractor up the steps of Parliament House. Following is an edited version of his valedictory speech.

me well as an MP, so it will come as no surprise that I am going to talk about agriculture.

On my arrival as an MP, one of the most impor-tant pieces of legislation was the deregulation of the dairy industry and the debate on what structure should replace the dairy board. This was a conten-tious issue for Parliament, farmers and the wider financial community. The result was the formation of Fonterra. And despite

its many critics, to this day no other industry has per-formed as well for as long. It is currently is the only opportunity for New Zea-land exporters to be truly of international scale.

As the weeks of pro-longed caucus debate went on, with economic commentators claiming the sky would fall if Fon-terra was allowed to be formed, I was concerned that the formation would not happen and we would be left with a fragmented industry. You only have to look at other industries that have not taken this step to see how damaging to the sector and the New Zealand economy this would have been.

As I was driving to the airport at 5.40 am on a cold Taranaki morn-ing, preparing for another caucus debate on the issue, I came across a young mother driving an old Ferguson tractor with a child in a backpack and another child sitting on her knee, with a transport tray loaded with bobby calves, making her way to the farm gate. I realised I

was fighting for her and it steeled my resolve against those bureaucrats, eco-nomic commentators, economists and politi-cians who thought other-wise, because her efforts could realise their maxi-mum opportunity only with the formation of a focused marketing struc-ture that was internation-ally competitive so that we could capture the highest world market prices. I told her story to my caucus colleagues because she epitomised 11,000 dairy farmers.

Despite adverse con-ditions and personal demands, what I saw was one gutsy young New Zea-lander out there making it happen. For her sake, I have no regrets at main-taining a non-negotia-ble position on the type of industry structure that will give the high-est returns possible to the farmgate and to ‘New Zea-land Inc’. It has not always been career enhancing, but if I had my time again I would not change my stance.

My biggest regret is not being able to see the same structural change in the meat and wool indus-try. The question is, was I wrong? If Fonterra had not been formed, could mem-bers of this Parliament guarantee our economy would be growing as well as it is today? The answer is no, they could not.

So stop criticising the primary industries and instead of looking for alternatives that do not exist, celebrate that we are world leaders in agri-culture. Why is it that we unite to support our inter-national sporting teams, but when it comes to pri-mary industries, we think that any small provincial structure will succeed? Support the industries that support you.

Some in this house today will remember ‘Myrtle the Fergie’ coming

Fonterra is currently the only opportunity for New Zealand exporters to be truly of international scale, says Shane Ardern.

Shane Ardern

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OpInIOn // 27

No backdown by Parliament’s notorious Fergie driverto Parliament: I was happy to become known as the ‘tractor man’ when I took the old Fergie up the steps of Parliament in protest at the pro-posal to introduce a methane tax, commonly known as the ‘fart tax’.

Some consid-ered this wrong, but nobody and nothing was put at risk, as was subsequently proven in court. The tax did not happen, it has not hap-pened, and it should not happen. If anyone thinks I was dangerous then, be warned I will be a lot worse when I am not con-strained by parliamentary considerations — and the old Fergie is still around.

The only time I doubted I may have gone too far was when I was once chairing a select committee and I was

greeted by a leading trade unionist as “comrade”. The other good thing that came out of that, of

course, was that it brassed off Hone (Harawira MP). He still has not got over it.

I want to say to this Parliament that Fonterra earns the money that sus-tains our first-class social welfare system. It allows us the luxury of enor-mous investment in envi-ronmental sustainability and conservation. Inter-nationally, our farmers are known as one of the lowest carbon produc-ers with the highest food safety standards and the

most sustainable farming practices.

If members are hon-estly concerned about

the environ-ment, then work with the farmers and approach this with an open mind. If you really care about the

future of New Zealand, I beg you to spend time on farms speaking with farmers and observing what they do. Look at the money Fonterra spends on research and invest-ment in environmental issues, despite Fonterra remaining by interna-tional standards a small farmer cooperative. For example, in the last five years 23,000km of riparian margin planting and fenc-ing of waterways has been completed. That is further

than from New Zealand to London. It is a long fence.

Members have an opportunity to play an important role in keeping

New Zealand’s economy growing, with the triple bottom line of social, environmental and eco-nomic benefits. To tax,

restrict and punish farm-ers while turning your heads away from the pol-lution of the cities is hypo-critical and does nothing

for the future of New Zea-land. Abraham Lincoln once said that you cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

Shane Ardern arrives at Parliament with his ‘Fergie’ in 2003.

I want to say to this Parliament that Fonterra earns the money that sustains our first-class social welfare system.

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28 // AGrIbusIness

Mount Eliza Cheese uses 1000L of full cream pasteurised milk every week to make products.

Chris and Jill Whalley.

Sun shines on boutique cheese maker after battle for approvals

CHeese MADe from raw milk will be the latest venture by Katikati bou-tique cheese company Mount Eliza Cheese, win-ners of the Farmers Mar-kets top dairy award.

This follows a long battle to get the right approvals. Mount Eliza was named creamiest food producer from the Dairy in the 2014 Farmers Markets awards announced this month. The judges said the company’s cheeses were “great examples of local cheese making pro-cesses with great flavours and textures. Simply put, “the best’ – we want more.”

Mount Eliza uses

1000L a week of full cream pasteurised Farmhouse New Zealand milk sourced from Goodman Fielder but raw milk will be used soon. “We get a lot of people asking for raw milk

cheese; it is one of the rea-sons we went down this route,” Chris Whalley told Dairy News.

“It has been a long pro-cess getting the approv-als from MPI – about three years – but we got it at the beginning of the year. We are the only cheese maker in the country with that [approval] for dairy.

“I’ve been waiting for the spring to start taking

raw milk; I have a farmer in Katikati who will supply me.”

The farmer has a mix-ture of Friesian and Jersey and Whalley is keen to try the Jersey milk. “I’ve never

made cheese with Jersey milk and that’s what get-ting it directly from the farmer will allow us to do – a bit more experimenta-tion.”

Whalley, from the UK, and Jill, a Kiwi, trained in cheesemaking while living in Yorkshire. Initially an industrial chemist, he spent a year retraining, working at various cheese-makers such as Wensley-

dale and Northumberland Cheese Company. They came to New Zealand in 2006 and began making cheese in the hills near Katikati in 2007.

All cheeses are hand-made – mostly hard cheeses including a double and a farmhouse Cheddar, Red Leicester, Cheshire and two blue cheeses.

Many of the cheeses are made the traditional way, bandaged in cloth, but the company also does some coated cheese, as some customers prefer the cleaner rind.

All the blues are ban-daged. Red Leicester is matured for about six months, the blues for three to four months and the cheddars for at least a year. Whalley says it’s a juggling act to predict

pAM [email protected]

their sales a year ahead. They sell at farmers’ mar-kets at Tauranga, Tama-here and Katikati and sell online and to restaurants and delicatessens.

They work constantly to improve their product.

Whalley says he was lucky to have the train-ing in England before he started.

“We’ve revised the Cheshire recipe about 15

times. The maturation is particularly difficult with cloth ripened cheeses. It is very different from vacuum packing: with maturing cheese in plas-tic you only have to worry about keeping it at a con-stant temperature. With cloth binding you have to worry about humidity and it is a far more compli-cated process overall.

“Things happen very

slowly when maturing cheese but it’s like a super-tanker: very difficult to change direction. The cheesemaking is only half the job.”

It can either be very satisfying or at times “infuriating”.

The Farmers Market win is not their only award: they won a gold and two silvers from Cui-sine magazine in 2010.

“We are the only cheese maker in the country with that approval for dairy.”

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30 // agribusiness

Oz exposure to price drop less than Kiwis’john droppert

dairY CoMModitY prices have been track-ing downwards since mid-February, when the GDT auction weighted average

price peaked at US$5042/t. As at mid-July, the aver-

age was US$3309/t, an average fall of 34% across all products. Such conspic-uous numbers, coupled with Fonterra’s reduction in its forecast farmgate

milk price, have worried Australians.

While GDT is an important market indica-tor, and farmgate returns in Australia are ultimately a product of movements on world markets, some caution must be applied in interpreting these events in an Australian context.

The differences between Australian and New Zealand exposure to world markets are worth revisiting to illustrate this. The most obvious differ-ence is the share of milk exported. New Zealand exports about 95% of its milk in various forms; for Australia the figure is about 40%.

An open market, coupled with pricing agreements linked to international benchmarks, means up to 75% of Aus-tralia’s milk is directly influenced by global markets, be it actually exported or simply com-peting with imports.

In years like 2013 when commodity prices are high, the domestic market is regarded by some as a ‘handbrake’ on pass-through of returns, but with typically longer term agreements and relatively ‘sticky’ pricing it provides a useful hedge when prices are falling.

Along with greater bal-ance between domes-tic and export markets, Australia’s dairy indus-try also produces a differ-ent ‘basket’ of products for export.

About 45% of New Zea-land’s dairy exports by volume are in the form of whole milk powder (WMP), and a further 16% are skim milk powder (SMP), tying nearly 60% of New Zealand’s export returns to milk powder markets.

Australia’s largest dairy export by volume – cheese – accounts for only 22% of our total shipments, and SMP is the second-larg-est at 16%. While cheese pricing tends to track that of powders, it tends more stable from month to month.

Australia’s mix of des-tination markets is also more evenly distributed. As a result of concurrent NZ supply and Chinese demand growth, coupled

with the NZ-China Free Trade Agreement signed in 2009, almost one third of New Zealand dairy exports by volume are now destined for China.

China is also Australia’s largest dairy market by volume, but only accounts for 15% of our exports, narrowly ahead of Japan at 14%.

These ‘market-level’ differences mean that though both the Austra-lian and New Zealand dairy industries are depen-dent on and exposed to export markets, the expe-rience varies.

While New Zealand’s industry has captured a greater share of the ben-efits when international growth markets – particu-larly China – are booming, Australia’s larger domestic market and more even dis-tribution of international destinations and products helps cushion the down-side.

The differences in exposure are notewor-thy in the current market situation, where Chinese demand is low because of large WMP inventories.

Indications suggest China’s milk production remains strong, slow-ing stock drawdown and in some cases leading to import shipments being diverted to third coun-tries.

In other words, demand for New Zealand’s dominant product from its largest buyer has fallen back.

This has set a bearish tone across global markets in general, and will affect Australian export returns.

Booming global milk supplies and a steady ramp-up of forecast GDT volumes mean further price falls are not unlikely before the market even-tually recovers. This reinforces the need to approach the current season with caution.

However, the 15% reduction in Fonterra’s farmgate milk price will not necessarily trans-late directly across the Tasman. • John Droppert is an indus-try analyst with Dairy Aus-tralia. His column was written before last week’s GDT auction when prices dropped a further 8.4%.

About 45% of New Zealand dairy exports are in the form of whole milk powder and 16% skim milk powder.


agribusiness // 31

Wairarapa dairY farm con-sultant Chris Lewis has won the dairy consultant of the year award.

Lewis graduated in ag sci-ence from Massey University then worked for MAF/Agriculture New Zealand as a consulting officer in Northland, Rotorua and Waipu-kurau.

Since 1994, he has been a partner and dairy farm consultant at Baker & Associates, Masterton.

He received the award last week at the Farmax consultant of the year awards in Hamilton.

Farmax general manager Gavin McEwen says Lewis has a unique range of skills and experience. “He is a strong proponent of monitor-ing and measuring and has spent money on building tools to sup-port this.”

Soil nutritionist Hannah Best from Hawke’s Bay was honoured as the emerging rural professional of the year.

This year marked the second

Farmax consultant of the year awards, held during the New Zea-land Institute of Primary Industries Management (NZIPIM) annual conference at the Hamilton Airport Hotel.

“The Farmax awards were devel-oped to recognise the expertise and value agricultural consultants and rural professionals provide to the New Zealand pastoral farming industry, which often goes unnoticed,” says McEwen.

“Without the expertise of the consultants driving our New Zea-land-developed software and interpreting the results, it is only software. That’s why working alongside rural professionals is key to the success of our business. Farmax initiated these awards as a

way to give consultants the kudos they deserve.”

McEwen says the Farmax team were impressed by the quality and

calibre of nomina-tions this year.

He thanked those who had nominated consultants and colleagues.

“The agricultural industry has got behind the awards this year, and we are excited to have had such a high calibre of sponsors.”

Sponsored by DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb NZ, MPI and NZIPIM the awards are open to all agricultural consultants.

Lewis impressed the judges with a proposal to research and report on quality tools, identify-ing the need and potential benefit of having a revised suite of perfor-mance indices.

Chris Lewis

Dedication brings reward

Beef trader ramps up dairy options this springstrong gLobaL demand for premium Wagyu beef has created an opportunity for dairy farmers to share in the returns this spring.

Firstlight Wagyu managing direc-tor Gerard Hickey recently returned from markets in US and Europe, buoyed by the positive feedback and strong sales figures his company’s grass-fed Wagyu is enjoying there. This has prompted Firstlight Wagyu to ramp up its supply of bulls and semen for artificial breeding (AB) this spring.

The company has 70 beef farm-ers who grow and finish the cattle, renowned for their marbled, high quality beef.

“We want to get more calves on the ground next spring to meet this growth in the market. The dairy sector is an obvious and well suited means to do that quickly,” supply chain man-ager Peter Keeling says.

Wagyu calves typically have a

lighter birth weight and are easier calving than traditional beef breeds, bringing advantages for farmers seek-ing a low stress, non replacement breed to put over their cows or heif-ers.

Keeling says that appeal trans-lates to the back pocket, given First-light Wagyu’s guaranteed premium and contract to buy Kiwi and Friesian-Wagyu cross calves at four days old.

Last year’s premium price aver-aged $100 a mixed sex calf from AB mating. Indications are this year will be similar.

The premium on the calves opened up options for farmers who may want to be selective about what cows they mate to dairy AB this spring.

“You get the chance to have your cake and eat it with the Wagyu calves, focussing on your dairy genetics, and still having a non-replacement calf of value for the cows you may not want replacements from. This is some-

thing a Kiwi cow dairy farmer may not have had available before.”

Synlait Farms has adopted the breed into its mating policy. This spring it has a herd of 800 lower milk producing cows combined into one herd mated to Firstlight Wagyu AB genetics.

Using Wagyu bulls or AB genetics over first mated heifers this spring was another option popular with farmers wanting an alternative to low value ‘bobbied’ calves, and the easy calving attributes added to the bulls’ appeal.

“Our experience has shown dairy breeds including the Kiwi cow cross can produce high quality marbled beef, so mating them with Wagyu sires provides an excellent source of high-marbling beef.

“It also gives dairy farmers an opportunity to be part of the Wagyu supply chain, and address calf wast-age in the sector.”

Firstlight Wagyu supply chain manager Peter Keeling with two week old Wagyu cross calves.

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32 // agribusiness

Simon Saunders

Contest won’t ping farmers over drought problemsentries For the 2015 Ballance Farm Environ-ment Awards are open.

A major event on the farming calendar, the annual contest promotes sustainable land management and is facilitated by the New

Zealand Farm Environment (NZFE) Trust.

NZFE acting chairman Simon Saunders says this year’s awards drew an excel-lent standard of entries; he is expecting strong interest in the 2015 competition.

He encourages farm-

ers and horticulturists to put themselves forward for the awards or to nominate others that might benefit from being involved.

The competition is now operating in ten regions throughout the coun-try and past-entrants have

described their participa-tion as a worthwhile experi-ence, he says.

“Most people enter because they want feedback on how their farming or horticultural operation stacks up in environmental sustainability. Entrants also seek ideas from competition judges and other participants on how to improve the sustainability of their businesses.”

Saunders says the awards prove that sound environmental practises and good business management go hand in hand. Farmers in the competition are also encouraged to share ideas and innovations with the wider farming community.

“You don’t have to have the best looking farm in the district to enter. Regional competitions offer a host of category awards, and you only have to be per-forming well in one area to

have a chance of picking up an award.”

Entry is available online at www.bfea.org.nz. The judging is relaxed and friendly, and the judges take climatic factors into account.

“In the past we’ve found that farmers can be reluctant to enter if their farm has been affected by drought. But the judges know that severe climatic events are all part of farm-ing and they will look beyond this at the wider picture.”

The ten regional supreme-award win-ners will be honoured at a national sustainabil-ity showcase next year. A national winner will be announced at this event and they will receive the Gordon Stephenson Trophy, named after the founder of the awards. This year’s winners were Mark and Devon Slee of Canterbury.

www.bfea.org.nz

■ An investment rebate for young farmers, farm-ing families and new entrants seeking to grow their business, manage succession or enter the dairy industry

■ Access to employment and immigration re-sources to address labour market shortages

■ Leasing partnerships to offer suppliers or new entrants an alternative to bank debt for busi-ness opportunities or industry entry

What’s on oFFer

WouLd-be entrants to the Australian dairy indus-try can lease cows via a project by Devondale Murray Goul-burn (DMG).

The co-op and a finance company called CowBank are partners in a A$5 m scheme called Next Generation Herd Start that allows farmers to lease-to-buy a herd.

Exclusive to MG suppliers, it seeks young dairy farm-ers with skill and drive – but perhaps not the money – to build a dairy farming operation.

DMG spokesman Robert Poole says the co-op “is pas-sionate about supporting Australian farmers to grow their milk production.”

“Growth in milk production supports the Australian dairy industry and helps our cooperative to… increase farmgate prices.

“We believe in Australian dairy farmers and that’s why we’re looking to support standout performers with this industry pathway.”

CowBank managing director Rod Banks says the ini-tiative will benefit young farmers who may not have the capacity to get herd finance due to lack of equity.

“CowBank is proud to be partnering with Devondale Murray Goulburn in this Australian first which creates an achievable route to dairy business ownership.”

Devondale Murray Goulburn will support 12-15 Herd Start farmers during the next year.

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34 // agribusiness

LIC chairman Murray King (right) says Wayne McNee’s appointment as chief executive signals a change in step for the co-op.

Technology demand lifts LIC earningsinCreasing deMand for farming technology has helped LIC’s financial result says chairman Murray King.

The co-op’s reve-nue for 2013-14 was $211 million, 6% ahead of the $199m achieved the previ-ous year. However, its net profit of $18m was down $5.6m on 2012-13.

King says the result reflects a great season for dairying, with high demand for LIC’s herd testing and artificial breeding services and more farmers investing in technology for efficiency.

“Today’s farmers manage more animals and land than ever before, and they are high users of tech-nology that helps their efficiency. [Our solutions help farmers] address the challenges they face, make their daily working lives easier and improve their overall productivity and prosperity.”

King says the fall in net profit reflects a large spend on core technology and infrastructure to keep the co-op’s technology up-to-date, supported and stable to deliver new prod-ucts. It also includes the

annual revaluation to fair value of the biological elite bull team which, this year, was a decrease net of tax of $0.57 million compared to an increase of $2.7 mil-lion last year.

King says the fluc-tuations of fair value of the elite bull team are excluded for the purposes of dividend for LIC and are not considered a key indicator of trading per-formance.

The growing use of automation onfarm is helping LIC. Its three smartphone apps have been downloaded 11,000 times, showing farmers’ demand for technology.

The use of automa-tion also keeps grow-ing, explaining LIC’s purchase in February of Dairy Automation Ltd, Hamilton, which makes sensor technology for real-time analysis of milk on-farm.

The co-op is also spending $40 million on its information systems to improve service and speed delivery of new products, hence the lower year-on-year profit resulting from increased depreciation costs and accelerated new

product development. Work to upgrade LIC’s back-end database technology during 2013-14 improved synchronisation times for farmers updating their records and uploading information to the LIC database.

LIC is working with DairyNZ to transfer the core database later this year.

This four-phase project involves transferring the animal evaluation unit operations to DairyNZ about mid-2015.

LIC’S R&D costs are reflected in the year-end result: $14.9 million of direct R&D spending and, combined with new product develop-ment of $22 million, representing at least 10% of revenue.

“Our work in DNA sequencing continues and over the last year it has been responsible for the discovery of two genetic variations in dairy cows, one which causes loss of pregnancy and another which impacts milk composition and the amount of fat a cow produces,” says chairman Murray King.

“These findings are now being used in our genomics programme, to improve the ac-curacy of sire selection and allow for further isolation of negative genes and traits from the national herd.”

Two new genetics solutions were launched to farmers this year, after many years of R&D. These are fresh sexed semen with near-normal conception rates and new AB bulls, known as SGL, that will shorten the period of dairy cow gestation by an average 10 days onfarm.

“These two new genetics solutions… will have a huge impact on the industry over the coming years,” says King.

King says the appointment in July 2013 of LIC’s new chief executive, Wayne McNee, signals a change in step for the co-op.

“Wayne brought a wealth of experience to LIC, and [analysed]… the co-operative, de-veloping a new strategy to grow the business and improve service and solutions.”

r&d spend

At first we were pretty naïve about BVD. We knew nothing about it other than having some friends whose herd had been infected. We decided to

test after seeing what they were going through with fertility losses and that sort of thing. And because our young stock were grazing with other animals, we knew there was a chance they might be compromised.

After the tests, we found out that some of our stock were positive and we were looking for a PI or persistently infected animal. It was really disappointing, but the good thing about farming in New Zealand is that everybody talks to everybody else and soon we knew we weren’t alone. There were a lot of people we could draw on to help us work it through.

We put a management plan in place with our vet and made a decision to look at that year’s lowest producing heifers. That was a lucky guess backed

up with some science, because we found our PI straight away and were able to remove her. Following on from that, we made a decision to vaccinate calves with Bovilis every year to build up the herd’s immunity.

Vaccinating has given us huge peace of mind. We knew we wouldn’t completely remove BVD, but stopping young calves becoming PIs was a big step in increasing our herd’s reproductive efficiency – and also making sure the calves grew up and put weight on properly.

If you find you’ve got BVD in your herd, my advice is don’t be on your own with it. Go to your vet, put a plan in place and monitor that plan until you’ve completely finished with it. As long as you don’t give up halfway though, you can definitely get on top of it.

Ciarán Tully Dairy Farmer, Thames

Hear how other farmers tackled BVD at bvd.co.nz

“ The thought that we may have BVD in our herd really bothered us. The potential profit loss would threaten our family’s financial security.”

Ciarán Tully

“ Stopping young calves becoming PIs was a big step”

“My advice is don’t be on your own with it. Go to your vet, put a plan in place and monitor that plan until you’ve completely finished with it.”

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agribusiness // 35

Going pink for a good causeagpaC is promot-ing a pink bale wrap and pink/black netwrap to raise awareness of breast cancer.

Spokesman Sam South-

combe says an Israeli company, Tama, is sup-plying rolls of pink and black striped netwrap, and a Swedish company, Tri-oplast, is supplying pink

bale wrap.“Women have integral

roles in the contracting and farming businesses we work with but they seldom get the attention and rec-ognition they deserve,” Southcombe says.

“We also know rural women do not have the same access to health-care and information that women in towns and cities have.

“We wanted to do something to change this, and the pink bale wrap and netwrap are our way of supporting breast cancer awareness. Agpac sales

representatives will each have an allocation of pink bale wrap and pink/black netwrap this season so you can expect to see pink bales dotting the rural landscape.”

Agpac will donate a percentage from the sales to the Louise Perkins Foundation, a charitable trust that operates under the name Sweet Louise to improve the lives of New Zealanders living with secondary breast cancer. Sweet Louise provides support, therapy and prac-tical support.Tel. 03 338 2400

Fonterra rejigs Nestlé JVthe First step in ‘realigning’ Fonterra and Nestlé’s Latin American alliance has been made, with the co-op taking a controlling stake in the Bra-zilian venture.

The two have revised their 10-year-old Dairy Partners Americas (DPA) venture to better reflect each partner’s strategies.

Fonterra now controls 51% of DPA Brazil, with Nestlé holding the bal-ance. And with a local part-ner, Fonterra has taken over Nestlé’s share of DPA Ven-ezuela.

Fonterra’s managing director of Latin America, Alex Turnbull, says this is an exciting next step for Fonterra and the people in these businesses as they are formally welcomed to the cooperative.

“We are looking forward to continuing our strong relationship with Nestlé, while giving us the opportunity to further drive our volume and value growth strategy focusing on everyday nutri-tion offerings.”

Fonterra’s Latin American business produces 900,000t of product per year and $3.5 billion in revenue from its consumer dairy, foodservice and dairy ingredients.

The other changes to the DPA alliance including Nestlé taking control of DPA Ecuador and the DPA milk powder manufacturing businesses.

Alex Turnbull

Check out our websiteswww.ruralnews.co.nzwww.dairynews.co.nz

At first we were pretty naïve about BVD. We knew nothing about it other than having some friends whose herd had been infected. We decided to

test after seeing what they were going through with fertility losses and that sort of thing. And because our young stock were grazing with other animals, we knew there was a chance they might be compromised.

After the tests, we found out that some of our stock were positive and we were looking for a PI or persistently infected animal. It was really disappointing, but the good thing about farming in New Zealand is that everybody talks to everybody else and soon we knew we weren’t alone. There were a lot of people we could draw on to help us work it through.

We put a management plan in place with our vet and made a decision to look at that year’s lowest producing heifers. That was a lucky guess backed

up with some science, because we found our PI straight away and were able to remove her. Following on from that, we made a decision to vaccinate calves with Bovilis every year to build up the herd’s immunity.

Vaccinating has given us huge peace of mind. We knew we wouldn’t completely remove BVD, but stopping young calves becoming PIs was a big step in increasing our herd’s reproductive efficiency – and also making sure the calves grew up and put weight on properly.

If you find you’ve got BVD in your herd, my advice is don’t be on your own with it. Go to your vet, put a plan in place and monitor that plan until you’ve completely finished with it. As long as you don’t give up halfway though, you can definitely get on top of it.

Ciarán Tully Dairy Farmer, Thames

Hear how other farmers tackled BVD at bvd.co.nz

“ The thought that we may have BVD in our herd really bothered us. The potential profit loss would threaten our family’s financial security.”

Ciarán Tully

“ Stopping young calves becoming PIs was a big step”

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36 // ManageMent

Tiger worms in view as effluent processors

on the outskirts of Cromwell there’s a farm with a difference. Stock numbers are in the millions yet it’s barely a hectare in size and the feed is free.

What are we talking about? Worms: tiger worms to be precise. Robbie Dick’s been using the wriggly workers to convert waste from local orchards and meatworks into valuable vermicast for 14 years. Now he believes they could offer a solution for dairy effluent.

“The dairy trial is the one we’re excited about,” he told Dairy News. “We’ve tried two different products: one from a wintering shed and one from off the yard of a milking shed.”

The wintering shed waste, 30t of it, was delivered last August, made into a 60m windrow, limed and allowed to stand for a month before worms were added. It was then covered, watered and sampled monthly.

“The NPK analysis is very good.”

The volume has dropped dramatically and while worm numbers started to fall in the windrow a couple of weeks after introduction, adding a little fruit waste and other materials kept them ticking along.

While that was a promising start, a trial with dairy effluent solids extracted by a screw-

separator has been even better.

“We had the first load four or five months ago. The dry form is excellent for the worms. We haven’t had to add anything. As far as the worms are concerned it’s the right

texture and water content and we’ve not had to cool it.”

Cooling is necessary when heaps start to compost, which, if you’re breeding worms, isn’t a good thing because it kills them.

The resulting material from worm digestion, besides more worms, is the friable soil-like product vermicast.

Commercially, Dick

is thinking worms could process dairy effluent solids extracted from weeping walls or by screw separators to produce verimicast that could then be applied like a fertiliser by bulk spreader.

Waste from wintering barns is the other potential raw material but judging by the results with the first load he received, which was mixed with wood chips and hadn’t been separated,

andreW [email protected]

“The dairy trial is the one we’re excited about.”

Worms at work: Robbie

Dick with a part processed

dairy effluent and veg mix

(right). A bag of castings

ready for retail (top).

“ I made myself busyon the farm 22 hours a day because I didn’t want to be around people.”HamishFarmer, Te Awamutu

“ I made myself busyon the farm 22 hours a day because I didn’t want to be around people.”HamishFarmer, Te Awamutu

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ManageMent // 37

New delivery: dairy effluent solids from Southland ready for processing.Tiger worms in view as effluent processors

WORMWORX HAS had a couple of visits from Environment Southland’s dairy liaison officer Russell Winter to assess the potential of worms as a tool for farmers.

“Perhaps it could be viable for half a dozen or more farmers to set up something as a communal resource but it’s early days,” he told Rural News.

Marcel van Rooijen, who runs 850 cows at Dunearn in west Southland, is one farmer who has supplied Wormworx, sending two truckloads of effluent solids from a free-stall wintering barn to trial earlier this year, and a third one last month. “I’m looking at it as a way to add value to the solids, instead of putting them straight on the pasture,” he says.

Most of the available nutrient is removed in the liquid so the solids the worms work on is virtually pure organic matter, he points out.

How much value the worms can add to that he’s not sure, and is keen to see the results of samples of resulting vermicast sent away for analysis. “Everything I’ve read says it’s ten times better than compost and apparently the worms love it. Robbie says it’s like caviar to them.”

Van Rooijen’s feeling is Wormworx is well placed in Cromwell where it has fruit as its feedstock in summer and autumn, which could then be supplemented with dairy sol-ids trucked in during winter and spring.

Dick says he believes a mix of two thirds effluent solids, one third fruit or veg waste is probably the way to go.

Lab tests on the end product by Otago Polytechnic are “looking good” he says, but because they’ve been done at the polytech’s expence he didn’t disclose the figures.

CoMMunaL resourCe For FarMers?

Covering up: keeping the moisture in is important to keep the worms working.

processing that with worms appears more challenging.

Even with the dried effluent solids he says someone will need to be focussed on managing the worms, as you would any other livestock, if the operation is to succeed.

“The way we see it working is someone with a passion for this sort of thing would service maybe 10-20 dairy farms in an area. It’s essential you don’t have covers blowing off or people forgetting to water the heaps.”

The dairy farmer would

have the option of buying back the processed solids at a discounted rate. Otherwise the vermicast would be marketed elsewhere.

“But as all farmers know it’s a valuable fertiliser source so I can’t imagine they’d want to be losing those nutrients, especially as the worms leave them in a stable, non-leachable state.”

Besides waste fruit and veg from Central Otago supermarkets, WormWorx’ business is based on clearing unsaleable fruit for local

orchards and processing it all into worms and castings which are sold nationwide.

“We send worms to Auckland, and they’ve got them on Stewart Island too,” Dick says.


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38 // ManageMent

Calves are born with no immunity and need colostrum which is rich in antibodies.

First-milking colostrum vital for new-born calves

earLier this month I attended the World Buiatrics Congress at Cairns, where 1000 cattle vets and animal scientists were updated on things

related to cattle. Notable were lectures

on colostrum and passive immunity transfer in calves and, with spring calving at hand, farmers need to be aware of the importance of colostrum and passive transfer of

rob bonannoimmunity.

Calves are born with no immunity due to the type of placenta they have which doesn’t allow the movement of antibodies into the bloodstream from the cow’s bloodstream prior to birth.

The cow produces colostrum in the final 3-4 weeks of her dry period which is rich in antibodies against diseases she has been exposed to or vacci-nated against.

The absorption of the undigested antibod-ies directly into the calf ’s bloodstream, provid-ing passive immunity, is a time-limited thing with a window of opportunity of 24 hours or less.

As soon as the cow calves, she begins produc-ing milk which dilutes the antibodies in the colos-trum, and as soon as the calf is born, and especially after it has fed, the pro-duction of stomach acid begins to digest the anti-bodies rather than allow them to be absorbed whole and unchanged.

The first milking colos-trum is at least 300% more concentrated in antibod-ies than subsequent milk-ings so it is important that only first milking is used when feeding or supple-menting calves with the aim of improving the pas-sive transfer of immunity. There are easy methods of measuring the quality of colostrum which should become an important part of your calf induction pro-tocols.

There was strong emphasis in the lectures on the importance of the quality of the colostrum. This is broadly discussed in two ways: the level of antibodies and the level of bacterial contamina-tion. Antibody levels can be enhanced by optimum transition nutrition and immune system prepa-ration of the cow using specific vaccinations for things like salmonella, rotavirus, E.coli, etc.

Milking the cow as soon as possible after she calves and especially within 12 hours of birth is a critical factor to ensure the highest concentra-tion of antibodies pos-sible in the colostrum. Feeding volume is depen-

dent on antibody concen-tration and estimation of antibody concentration should be performed using either a colostrometer or a Brix scaled refractome-ter – are a relatively cheap and robust tool to ensure the best quality colostrum can be fed.

The other important quality issue is related to the bacterial contami-nation of the colostrum. Many colostrum sam-ples are heavily contam-inated with bacteria due to a combination of poor pre-milking preparation of the cow, poor cleanliness of the collection buckets and poor storage of the collected colostrum after milking and prior to feed-ing.

It is also important that colostrum with blood contamination or signs of clinical mastitis (clots, flecks etc) is not fed to calves unless there is no alternative.

The use of pasteuri-sation of colostrum to reduce bacterial contami-nation was discussed, but there is a strong emphasis that pasteurisation cannot make up for poor milking or other hygiene practices. The importance of rapidly chilling and keeping stored colostrum refrigerated at 4C for short term storage (up to 1 week) or frozen at -18C (up to 6 months) looks valuable tool to ensure colostrum quality. Dairy farmers should con-sider installing a coolroom or some other method of adequately storing chilled colostrum in sufficient quantities.

So after the high qual-ity colostrum has been collected and stored and fed quickly in adequate amounts, the only thing left to consider is the mon-itoring of the success (or otherwise) of your colos-trum protocol.

Monitoring of the blood protein concen-tration between 2-7 days after birth can give an esti-mate of the antibody levels present in the blood.• Rob Bonanno is a former president of Australian Cattle Veterinarians Asso-ciation and is a director of Shepparton Veterinary Clinic, Victoria.



40 // ManageMent

Cut-and-carry system complements robots

thirteen Months after becoming Western Australia’s first robotic-milking dairy farmer, Rob Giura is now getting the results he was hoping for.

The DeLaval installa-tion had teething prob-lems, and health problems hit some of his cows. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s been a bit of a hard road,” Giura says. “We’ve had some issues but we’re getting on top of them now.”

“It’s just now starting to make things a bit easier. On the weekends I can get into it on my own, though I wouldn’t want to do that

for a long time. It’s good to know that when need be I can manage on my own with this system.”

Giura has been on the farm at Keysbrook, an hour south of Perth, for 24 years and is in for the long haul. At 47 he decided it was the right time to buy the robotics to get full value over the next 10-20 years. He hopes for a pay-back period of 10 years depending on seasonal conditions.

The system was chiefly to address labour issues. “I was trying to free-up some of my time. It’s hard to get quality labour and hard to get people to do the job the way you want it done.”

And he wanted better hygiene. “Teat prepara-

tion is much better than what we would normally have under our original system.”

The four-robot system was fitted into an existing dairy shed, which Giura says had worked fairly well. But hopes that pro-duction would drop off only temporarily before an upswing to higher-than-earlier levels failed to

materialise.Production remains

down, though not all related to robots.

“That’s been one of the main disappointing aspects,” Giura says. “We were a 9000L herd before we started but we haven’t been able to get back up to those levels as we expected. I expected pro-duction to drop for two or three months, but not this long.”

Production is now about 6500L and Giura says the fall had been “quite painful”. “There are other external factors relating to herd health that we’re trying to resolve. We’re trying a few things, playing around with feed and taking blood tests

and other tests to try to pin down the herd health issues.”

The 325ha farm has pure-bred Holsteins, chosen for overall produc-tion and the wide avail-ability of genetics.

The cows are mostly fed on a feedpad with cut-and-carry pasture. “The

riCk baYne

cut and carry system was something we decided to do after we got the robots. We thought it would make the herd traffic better and make better use of pas-ture,” Giura says.

“With a voluntary milk-ing system we can’t turn cows out too far. We’ve got to keep them fairly close by otherwise they’re just not going to come back.

“By using the cut-and-carry system we can get better use of pasture and take pasture from any-where off the property and bring it to the cows.”

The system is proving successful.

“You’ve got to have more bulk than if you were grazing. You need a bit of height in the grass to cut it, which means you’ve got to wait longer this time of year when it’s wet and there’s slow pasture growth.

“But it works pretty well. When there’s a sur-plus of pasture you can make good use of it.

“We still don’t have ideal voluntary cow move-ment. At this time of year when it’s wet and muddy, it’s hard to get cows to move voluntarily, but we do get some.”

The farm has mainly ryegrass pastures. “We’ve been through some of the slow growth time of the

year with short days and cold and wet but it’s start-ing to kick along now,” Giura says.

The farm used to have a combination of rye-grass and clover but is now favouring ryegrass for its higher production values.

Giura had considered expanding the herd up to 280-300 cows to build production back to pre-vious levels or higher. However, he fears more numbers could have nega-tive impacts.

“Our target is to have an average milking fre-quency of 2.5 times per day. Obviously cow num-bers have to be managed to achieve that.”

Another robotic system is about to be commis-sioned 500km from Giu-ra’s farm and he expects the process to be much smoother. “They shouldn’t have as much trouble as we did because the local technicians have learnt a lot here,” he says.

Giura remains com-mitted to dairying and improving his farm despite the hiccups.

“We still need more money for our milk. It’s all about a return of profit. It’s the same story every-where – we’re not getting as much for our milk as we should be for the input costs.”

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ManageMent // 41

Warm milk aids calf growthgood CaLF rearers aim to have their calves gain about 0.6kg/day chiefly by feeding them warm milk says equipment maker Shoof International.

As calves are often fed twice-daily and are located in a different sheds around the farm, the easi-est way to warm the milk prior to each feed is with a portable milk warming machine.

But most milk warmers suffer from a build-up of milk solids on the heating element that prevents the milk from being heated efficiently and can cause the element to break, the company says.

Whether using whole milk or milk prepared from calf milk replacers (CMR), calves grow better when fed milk at about 37°C. Calves don’t thrive as well when fed cold milk as this requires more body energy to digest – energy better used for growing.

“Most milk warm-ers will heat 100L of milk from cold (17°C) to the required 37°C in about an hour,” says John Stubbs, group sales manager.

“The problem is that while farmers are now commonly heating milk, many are still not cleaning the elements thoroughly which means they’re not getting the efficiency or life span out of their milk warmer.”

So Shoof ’s stainless

steel heat exchanger acts like a pot in which the milk warmer sits. This is then filled with 25L of cold or warm water and placed in the drum of milk.

“Common sense tells us warm milk will be more appealing for a calf to drink than cold milk. Now, with the heat exchanger, farmers can warm their milk without the hassle of extensive cleaning afterwards.”

The milk must be stirred occasionally during the heating process.

“Although the heat exchanger does heat more slowly than the direct immersion of the milk

warmer, it eliminates the need for cleaning after-wards and prevents the risk of element failure. You effectively get more life and maintain the

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42 // ManageMent

Dairying women get tips on automation in milking shedsthe dairY Women’s Network (DWN) and its partner Tru-Test con-tinue running their onfarm workshops to educate dairy women on automation and its decisionmaking spin-offs.

Tru-Test earlier this year ran three education days for DWN. Attendees learned about Tru-Test’s MilkHub dairy automation and the information avail-able through the MiHub online herd management tool.

“It was informative and I was impressed by what Tru-Test had to offer on automation and information,” says Sue Duffy, CRV Ambreed.

DWN Invercargill convenor Katrina Thomas helped to organise the educa-tion days and was impressed by Tru-Test presenter Gillian Fullerton-Smith’s knowledge on the product, which “cre-ated good discussion about automation in dairy sheds”.

Local farmer Scott Hindrup, who uses MilkHub daily, also spoke about how MilkHub dairy automation works for him.

“It was great to hear Scott’s point of view and how this system adds value to their dairy business,” says Thomas.

Tru-Test New Zealand market-ing manager Shaun Owen says dairy women juggle many demands, often managing all the farm information.

“It’s important we share with DWN members how we can better support them as the key decisionmaker. These workshops transfer knowledge, offer options, stimulate new conversations and help make life easier.”

The workshops demonstrate the MilkHub modules including MiHub online which captures individual cow information, herd and shed activity to track performance, reduce the risk of error, and increase efficiency and pro-ductivity. Fast, accurate information is essential for recognising and manag-ing issues that affect the performance of the dairy herd,” says Owen.

“Mastitis monitoring, feed con-trol, heats, treatment management, staff performance, shed maintenance,

cull lists and drafting requirements are [needed], and MilkHub provides an easy way to support these.”

DWN chief executive Zelda de Vil-liers says the workshops show attendees the value that herd and farm perfor-

mance data can add to profits.Tel. 0800 396 748www.dwn.co.nz

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ManageMent // 43

it is important that all calves are treated well, not just the calves that you are planning to keep as replacements, says DairyNZ.

Bobby calves need equal care even though their lives are short and their value often small.

“It is important that all animals are well cared for so that our industry maintains its reputation for work-ing at the highest standards of animal husbandry and welfare,” it says.

Farmers must exercise care when selecting bobby calves for transport.

Bobby calves going to slaughter must be at least four days old and healthy; there shouldn’t be any vis-ible disease (eg scours), deformity, injury, blindness or disability.

The calves must be strong, able to rise from a lying position unassisted, move freely around the pen and bear weight on all four limbs; they must also have firm hooves on which the soles show wear (indicating that they have been mobile).

To make things easy for the truck driver, calves should be individually assessed for fitness to trans-port; unfit animals must be withheld until fit or humanely destroyed.

A raised pen (70-100cm off the ground) should be used to hold calves before transport; where possible assist the truck driver with loading the animals. Calves should be fed as close to transport as possible and no more than two hours before pick-up.

Treat bobby calves well

Downer cow assessment cruciala Leading cattle expert discussed the importance of diagnos-ing both primary causes and secondary damage to determine the best treat-ment for downer cows at the recent World Buiatric Congress in Cairns.

According to Phillip Poulton, when downer cows are first seen by farmers, it’s important that the cause is deter-mined so that they are managed properly.

“Most farmers are able to recognise conditions that cause a cow to be down but should seek vet-erinary assistance when they are unsure and when the cow suffers further injuries.

“Farmers need to be aware that the urgency of their initial response to the down cow depends on whether the cow is alert or not. Non-alert cows, described as dull, depressed and non-responsive are an emer-gency.”

Poulton says that appropriate treatment will depend on the condition so an accurate diagnosis is crucial.

“Vets must look care-fully for any secondary

damage regardless of how long the cow has been down. If these additional complications are not diagnosed the treatment plan can be wrong and lead to a poor outcome.”

According to Poulton, the following secondary damage should be consid-ered:

■ Pressure damage in the hamstring group of muscles by measur-ing Creatinine Phos-phoinase levels. If the levels are above a criti-cal threshold there is less than a 5% chance of survival and euthanasia should be considered for the welfare of the animal.

■ Neuropathies, espe-cially to the sciatic nerve and forelimbs

■ Femoral nerve damage ■ Dislocated hips ■ Cows lying in lateral

recumbency which can cause pneumonia or death

■ Cows nursed in pad-docks in cold climates

■ Bed sores and lifting damage.“Secondary complica-

tions can occur within a very short time so a down cow should be lifted and moved to a proper nursing

area quickly to improve the chances of recovery.

“Proper nursing condi-tions include shelter from adverse weather condi-tions, suitable soft bed-ding, barriers to restrict crawling and minimise further injury, suitable feed and water and con-stant monitoring.

Appropriate drug ther-

apy should also be pro-vided,” he said.

A recent Dairy Austra-lia survey showed that on 89% of dairy farms in Aus-tralia there had been on average more than two downer cows in the previ-ous 12 months with a sur-vival of only 33%.

At the Buiatric Con-gress, Poulton released the

initial results of research he has undertaken looking at the correlation between nursing conditions and treatment outcomes of downer cows.

Phillip Poulton with one of his patients on a Gippsland property.



44 // ManageMent

Winter feed management after drought

WeLCoMe to the start of a new season – with hopefully more ‘normal’ rainfall than the last.

There’s quite a range in farm situations at the moment, with cow con-dition, supplements on-hand and variation in pasture covers and den-sity. But all farmers can help ensure the effects of the drought do not follow us into this new season.

I am seeing a big dif-ference in pasture covers between farms. In many cases this is directly aligned to what soil type the farm is. Heavier soils

such as silt and clay loams bounced back well once the rains arrived. Ash soils have opened up a lot more and have been slower to recover, especially any farms with rolling to steeper topography.

A lot of under-sown ryegrass is still getting established but will be performing well by Sep-tember. If your farm still has weak paddocks with low ryegrass density, then under-sowing now will still germinate, but will be slow to establish. Right now, open paddocks are better considered for under-sowing in Septem-ber onwards when grass seed will germinate faster

and poa annua will be just starting to decline allow-ing the new ryegrass to replace the poa. A fast establishing grass that is more forgiving of quicker grazing rotations is best. A hybrid like Shogun will work well in this situa-tion which will buy you 1-3 years to decide on what the best permanent solu-tion is for that paddock.

If your average pasture cover (APC) is lower than target right now, then the slower the round length the lower the pasture consumed each day. This can only be achieved through either grazing cows off or feeding a higher level of supplements to reduce the pasture demand per hectare per day. Obviously an overall feed budget will predict what these decisions will have on your APC at the key dates of PSC, September

1 and your farm’s balance date.

A feed budget is the best tool to show you where your APC is likely to track with all the vari-ables of growth rates, stocking rate, calving rate, feeding rates and avail-able supplements. If your APC is lower than normal now and at planned start of calving (PSC), then a feed budget can show you how big that feed deficit is likely to be. This gives guidance to allow plans and contracts can be set

darren sutton

There is a big difference in pasture covers between farms.

in place now to ensure the feed deficit can be filled at the right time and for the right price.

When pasture covers are lower than ideal, then the management and allo-cation of pasture through a spring rotation planner (SRP) becomes impor-tant. Creating and mon-itoring a SRP through calving will provide guid-ance if you start going faster than you should. If cows start to graze too low, then decisions can be made early about supple-ment feeding options or OAD milking options.

After two droughts in a row, pastures have opened up a lot, allowing a lot more weeds to fill those gaps. I am seeing a lot more chickweed and hedge mustard (often mistakenly thought to be ‘wire weed’) on silt and ash soils. On the wetter soils I am seeing a lot more pennyroyal waiting for the warmer weather.

You can spray now with a winter spray with 2,4-D ester sprays such as Pasture-Kleen, but this will slow your pasture growth rates for a time after spraying when you may not be in a position to allow that. The other option is to wait until September and October and spray with a softer 2,4-D amine spray (e.g. Baton). This will not slow your pasture as much and you will get a better kill rate over more weeds still germinating between July

and September.Ground tempera-

tures are still quite warm, currently 10-12C. If you are still tight for pasture cover, then keep follow-ing behind the cows with light rates of urea at 60kg/ha (27kg N/ha). If applied slowly behind cows, you reduce the risk of hit-ting the whole farm once and potentially losing it in heavy rain.

I am seeing a lot of heifer lines that have endured two droughts and are below target live-weight and condition (BCS). Most of these have been made a priority now they are back on the farm and are rapidly improving, but not all will be at target by the PSC.

The risk is these animals will be slow to cycle and get back in calf this coming mating time. Empty rates will also be higher in this age group. To reduce the risk of this, consider milking the R2s on OAD either from the start of calving, or certainly by doing early pre-mating heat detection, and if the numbers support the decision, then four weeks out from mating put these in a separate herd and milk OAD through AB mating or longer.

So in summary, be sure to update your feed budget now and ensure you have a sound plan in place to set the new season up well.• Darren Sutton is a LIC FarmWise consultant.

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ManageMent // 45

dairYnZ is urging farmers to sharpen up their heat detection skills and gain the rewards of improved reproduction performance.

With one missed heat costing about $200, it pays to freshen up your heat detection skills, it says.

To that end heat detec-tion workshops will run nationwide in September and October, focusing on skills and processes neces-sary for successful mating.

Three topic areas are in view.

■ Skills refresher: recog-nising the signs of heat, using heat detection aids, systems and pro-

cedures for recording and observing heats.

■ Lifting team perfor-mance: training team members, plans and procedures that work for your team.

■ Evaluating heat detec-tion performance: achieving submission rate targets, know-ing when assistance is needed.“Whether you’re

an experienced farmer looking to refresh your heat detection skills or equip your staff with the required skills, come along to a workshop near you,” DNZ says.www.dairynz.co.nz

Waikato regionaL Council reports “very solid results” after a recent possum kill on 18,000ha south of Te Kuiti.

The $230,000 operation, on accessible private and public land, used the poison brodifacoum in bait sta-tions, cyanide and trapping.

Possum numbers recorded after the kill showed contractors met their targets, says council biosecurity officer Paul Quinn.

“It’s a satisfactory result, and this operation will fur-ther help protect native bush and the productivity of farmland by keeping on top of possum numbers. It will also help prevent the spread by possums of bovine Tb.”

The work was done in the Aria and Pio Pio East areas that form part of a 76,000ha central King Coun-try possum killing region. Both areas include dairying and dairy support.

Pio Pio East area is about 12,800ha of rolling to steep country with patches of bush. It has about 175 landown-ers.

Aria area is about 5500ha of similar country, has one Department of Conservation reserve, and is home to about 66 landowners.

The council seeks to get possum densities to or below five caught for every 100 traps laid. Average scores were 3.07 in Aria and 1.44 in Pio Pio East.

Quinn thanked landowners for their help. “We always aim to work with landowners… and we’ve had great co-operation with this recent work.”

The central King Country possum project will con-tinue.

Possum kill project achieves good scores

Upskill in heat detection

One missed heat costs a farmer $200, says DairyNZ.

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46 // management

Managing worms in replacement heifers

managIng WORmS in dairy replacements may seem like a relatively straight forward task… drench, drench, drench!

However, in reality it is far from simple. A current research project looking at drench efficacy in the Macalister Irrigation Dis-trict (MID) has found that four out of five farms now have drench resistance.

What is scary is that once it has developed on your farm it is irreversible.

The five main actions by a dairy farmer that can inadvertently cause drench resistance are:

■ Confusing rotation of drench classes with drench products

■ Moving heifers to a new “clean” paddock after drenching

■ Using pour-on drenches

■ Inappropriate or lack of quarantine drenching

■ Dosing incorrectly to the average, not the heaviest in the mob

■ Rotation of drench classesRotation of drenches

has been advocated as a way in which to avoid drench resistance for decades.

However, product labels are misleading and many farmers are in fact rotating between products and not classes (i.e. mech-anisms of action).

The three classes of drenches include:

■ White drenches (e.g. Panacur, Flukazole, Parafend) – always oral

■ Clear drenches (e.g. Nilverm, Nilzan) – always oral

■ ‘Mectins’ (e.g. Cydec-tin, Dectomax, Ivomec, Virbamec) – injection or pour-onIn order to effectively

StephanIe Bullen rotate you must rotate between classes. For example, if you usually use Cydectin (mectin) and for the next drench use Nilverm (clear drench) you are effectively rotat-ing.

If you use Cydectin then rotate to Dectomax, you are not effectively rotating.

If unsure, go armed to your local supplier with a sticky note with ‘white drench, clear drench, mectin’ on it.

Ask the retailer or vet what you used last time and they will find you a product in a different class.

There are not yet any combination (i.e. combin-ing two or more classes) of worm drenches for dairy cattle on the market that use of multiple classes together (e.g. both Pan-acur and Nilverm).

Using multiple classes together at label dose rates is even better than rota-tion for preventing resis-tance. It is anticipated that a combination prod-uct will be available later this year.Moving to a ‘clean’ pad-dock after drenching

Historically farmers

were told to move heif-ers to a clean pasture after drenching to stretch out the interval between treat-ments and many still do this today.

However, what is actu-ally happening is the resis-tant worms that survive treatment continue pro-ducing eggs and create a population of worms that is entirely resistant in the new paddock.

So, instead, put your heifers onto a new pasture for a couple of days to two weeks before drenching (depending on the size of your paddock).

Allow them to poop out some drench-sus-ceptible worms onto the ground which can go on to breed with those that sur-vive treatment and then drench.

It is a new concept and one which is argu-ably going to be the hard-est to penetrate the dairy industry.

However, the reality is, sheep farmers stopped moving their lambs to clean paddocks 20 years ago and we are just lagging behind.

In fact, in the 1990’s drench resistance appeared after only one

treatment in sheep that were put onto a new pas-ture under very hot, dry conditions in Western Australia.

Pour-on drenchesInjectable products are

more cost-effective than pour-on drenches.

What many farmers don’t realise is that pour-ons are actually absorbed by the animals licking the product off themselves and their herd mates.

Therefore, the perfor-mance of pour-ons can be highly variable and if only treating a few animals it is likely that their untreated herd mates will lick off a proportion of the product.

So the moral of the story is – use injectable products instead of pour-ons both to save money and to ensure your ani-mals are getting the right amount of drench.

Lack of or ineffective quarantine drenching

Even after ensuring you adopt all the right practices on your farm it is easy to buy in drench resistance with introduced stock.

Therefore, to safe-guard your herd, all intro-duced animals (including bulls) should be drenched with two different classes on arrival. I recommend administering a ‘mectin’ injection with an oral clear drench (e.g. Nilverm).

You will find the clear drenches (e.g. Nilverm and Nilzan) are cheap so having a drum on hand for such occasions will not break the bank. Once new animals have been drenched leave them in a yard for 48 hours to expel any resistant worms then you are safe to put them out onto your paddocks.

Drench to the heaviest in the mob

Every drench drum, bottle or pack you read clearly states ‘drench to the heaviest in the mob’ however upon visiting farms I discovered that many farmers drench to the average. This means that the heavier calves in the group are getting under-dosed and there-fore may build resistance in 5-10 years.

So, this serves as a friendly reminder to read the label and always drench to the heaviest in the mob.• Stephanie Bullen is a vet working at the Maffra Veterinary Centre, Victoria, Australia. This article was first published in the July 2014 edition of How Now Gippy Cow. For further information contact your local vet.

A research project found four out of five farms in Australia now have drench resistance.

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Notice of Election2014 Board of Director Extraordinary Vacancy

Invitation for Candidate Nominations

Barbara Kuriger has recently resigned from the Board of DairyNZ Incorporated, effective from the 2014 AGM. The Board therefore invites registered members to nominate candidates to fill this extraordinary vacancy. All members of DairyNZ (farmers paying a levy on milksolids to DairyNZ) are eligible to stand for election. An information pack outlining Director attributes and nomination requirements can be obtained from the Returning Officer. Nominations must be received by the Returning Officer by 12 noon on Friday 29 August 2014.

Elections

If more than one nomination is received an election will be carried out by postal, fax and internet voting using the STV (Single Transferable Vote) voting method. Votes will be weighted by annual milksolids production. Voter packs will be posted on 16 September 2014 to all registered levy payers, with voting closing at 12 noon on Wednesday 15 October 2014.

The DairyNZ Annual Meeting will be held in Timaru on Thursday 16 October 2014. Election results will be announced at the meeting.

For further details contact the Returning Officer as below.

Anthony Morton

Returning Officer – DairyNZ Inc

0508 666 337

[email protected]

Amy

C49232

Farmers Weekly mon 4 aug public notices $815.10

Dairy Exporter mon 11 aug $1201.20

Rural News tue 5 aug $809.60

Dairy News tues 12 aug $563.20

Notice of Election2014 Board of Director Extraordinary Vacancy

Invitation for Candidate Nominations

Barbara Kuriger has recently resigned from the Board of DairyNZ Incorporated, effective from the 2014 AGM. The Board therefore invites registered members to nominate candidates to fill this extraordinary vacancy. All members of DairyNZ (farmers paying a levy on milksolids to DairyNZ) are eligible to stand for election. An information pack outlining Director attributes and nomination requirements can be obtained from the Returning Officer. Nominations must be received by the Returning Officer by 12 noon on Friday 29 August 2014.

Elections

If more than one nomination is received an election will be carried out by postal, fax and internet voting using the STV (Single Transferable Vote) voting method. Votes will be weighted by annual milksolids production. Voter packs will be posted on 16 September 2014 to all registered levy payers, with voting closing at 12 noon on Wednesday 15 October 2014.

The DairyNZ Annual Meeting will be held in Timaru on Thursday 16 October 2014. Election results will be announced at the meeting.

For further details contact the Returning Officer as below.

Anthony MortonReturning Officer – DairyNZ Inc0508 666 [email protected]

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management // 47

a pROJeCt to reduce the amount of nitrogen getting into Lake Taupo will meet its target of 170.3 tonnes this year.

A report to Waikato Regional Council says the Lake Taupo Protection Project has reduced nitrogen quantities by at least 150 tonnes a year in various ways, including paying people to cease or change land uses.

The council has also agreed to adopt and sign a deed for the long-term monitoring of the project.

Nitrogen from sur-rounding land can leach into the water and stim-

ulate the growth of algae which affects lake health; efforts to reduce nitro-gen in the lake have been supported by $80 million from central Government, Taupo District Council (TDC) and WRC.

After the 170.3 tonnes target is met land use will be monitored to maintain the reductions, as agreed this month by the regional council, TDC and the Lake Taupo Protection Trust.

A report to the council said monitoring of a nitrogen ‘cap’ and adherence to the individual nitrogen discharge allowances

almOSt 22km of new fencing is preventing ero-sion and stock damage in Coromandel says Waikato Regional Council.

Staff helped erect 13km of stream fencing and, with landowners, planted 20,000 native plants.

Hauraki-Coromandel manager Julie Beaufill says the work has helped fence off erosion-prone areas and protect wetlands, native bush and coastal areas from stock grazing.

“The council has also advised and assisted with the restoring of natural areas through planting natives or through planting exotic trees designed to help pre-vent erosion.”

$160,000 for the work came from the Peninsula Project budget for catchment new works. Under the project, the council will pay up to 35% of the costs of qualifying environmental protection work by land-owners.

Beaufill says landowners see the funding as a good motivator for people to get work done.

Lake Taupo.

Lake nitrogen cuts on target

(NDAs) of landowners consented under the cap is a critical elementof the project.

WRC is responsible for monitoring the per-

formance of the consents authorising individual NDAs and land use activi-ties permitted under the regional policies to protect the lake, the report says.

22km fencing keep stock in bounds

Whitianga catchment management officer Elaine Iddon (centre) with locals at a fence erected near Colville to keep stock out of coastal native bush.

DJ2891_SW_dairy_news_280x187_v2_ol.indd 1 2/07/14 9:05 AM


48 // management

Bruce McLennan has reduced his silage wastage. Reducing silage

waste to near zeroa SIlage block cutter is helping Bruce McLennan reduce his silage waste to almost zero.

“I despair at times about the amount of silage, maize and grass wasted when farmers use front-loaders to remove silage from stacks to load feed-out wagons.”

He comments that the face is left open, often not covered, and air is let in and the crop immedi-ately deteriorates. Farmers must then console them-selves saying, “it won’t

tOnY hOpkInSOnbe much and I’ll be back tomorrow”.

“With a big stack the total loss during a full feed out season would be huge.”

McLennan and his wife Robin, t/a Fernaig Farms Ltd have two farms at Lichfield, between Puta-ruru and Tokoroa adja-cent to the Fonterra factory complex. One of 270ha milks 900 cows, the second farm 3km away is 220ha.

They have just bought 60ha adjacent to the first farm and are building a farm dairy to make the combined farms of 270ha and 60ha more even in size.

The larger farm is cen-trally raced and the 900 cows are milked through a 30-aside herringbone. The cows are split into four herds to improve manage-ment.

On a run-off they grow 80ha of maize for silage, transported to the main farm for storage in two large bunkers. They also harvest 50ha of grass silage, stored in a bunker. McLennan built the bun-kers to reduce his wastage hopefully to nil.

“Maize and grass silage are vital food supple-ments for the herds; they cost plenty to grow, har-vest and store so watching my bottom line I’m deter-mined to do everything

possible to reduce wast-age.”

The two bunkers used to store maize silage were built on site. Both are 5m high x 11m across; one is 50m long and the second is 60m.

“We laid the floors and then built the side panels and after the concrete had cured we used a crane to lift them to a near vertical position. They both have end walls.”

To further reduce any chance of wastage they have a BvL Top Star silage block cutter from importer Webbline.

Unlike some silage grabs that dig in and drag feed off, the TopStar start-

ing from the top of the stack drives the forks in and has double blade scis-sor action on the front and two sides. These are started and cut down to the forks and a clean cut block is removed. Depend-ing on the material the cutter can remove over 1000kg each time.

“The secret is the face of the stack is airtight and the next day it is still cold, indicating no air has entered and no break-down of the silage is taking place.”

McLennan reports the results on grass silage are even better with the wast-age again almost nil.Tel. 0800 932 254www.webbline.co.nz

“With a big stack the total loss during a full feed out season would be huge.”

Clear cut: One tonne block being removed from stack face.

See your local veterinary practice or contact us:

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management // 49

Effluent manager a winner for ‘mumtrepreneur’

DeVelOpIng a busi-ness which helps farmers manage effluent irriga-tion has won Wellington businesswoman Bridget Hawkins the Fly Buys Mumtrepreneur of the Year award.

Her company Regen Ltd has developed soft-ware that turns soil mois-ture, temperature and rainfall data into a simple daily recommendation sent to the farmer by text message.

The effluent product, launched in 2010, is called Regen Effluent. Another product for N manage-ment, Regen Nitrogen, is being launched and the company is working on a water irrigation product.

“We developed Regen Effluent with Massey Uni-versity based on the work they did in deferred efflu-ent irrigation methods, where farmers are encour-aged to store their effluent until soil conditions are right rather than irrigate it out every day,” Hawkins told Dairy News.

Regen Effluent mea-sures the farm’s soil mois-ture, temperature and rainfall automatically through telemetry sys-tems, says Hawkins. “We also bring in weather information and we know what the soil type of the farm is – whether it is a high- or low-risk for efflu-ent irrigation, and what type of irrigation system they’ve got – pods or trav-elling irrigator.

“Using best practice for effluent irrigation guide-lines we calculate, based on what the soil condi-tions are and what the farms capability with irri-gation is, whether they should irrigate at all on that day and how much they should put on.

“So the farm can put that amount on and know it will stay in the roots and not leach. We text the farmer every morning at about 8.15am with a simple text which says ‘today you can irrigate and you can put on 5mm’ or ‘it’s too wet to irrigate’.

“Each morning they

can get that simple mes-sage; they know irrigation should happen that day or after milking the effluent needs to go into the pond. We can include in the text the rainfall in the past 24 hours and what the cur-rent soil temperature is.

“That is useful infor-mation to have: it comes directly to the farmer and that’s another key to our services. Farmers don’t spend a lot of time in their office but they’ve become converts to smartphones so we provide as much information as we can in an instant.

“If they’ve got staff doing irrigation they can forward that text on; it’s a clear yes or no.”

Regen has 80-100 cus-tomers mostly in South-land because the council is more prescriptive there, but with the push for Waikato and Manawatu farmers to get more stor-age Regen expects good business growth over the next year.

Hawkins says there are plenty of best prac-tice guidelines and sci-ence available but there was a gap between those and how the farmer puts that into practice day-to-day on the farm. In 2010 most farmers had a simple Nokia phone so text infor-mation was constrained – there were no apps. Technology and its adap-tion have changed quickly.

Regen’s new ser-vice, Regen Nitrogen, has started with a smartphone app because it’s now the most efficient way to get information to farmers.

“Nitrogen use is coming more under the spotlight with nitrogen leaching caps in Over-seer: farmers need to be sure that the N they put on grows as much grass as possible and leaches as little as possible.

“We have built a model based on soil temperature, moisture and application rates; it would calculate the likely response rate to an application of N. You might get a response rate of, say, 7:1 and, given soil conditions, this will cost 45c/kgDM.”

The farmer through the smartphone app selects

the fertiliser and the rate of application he is con-sidering. So two inputs are required from the farmer. “Based on all the science about the relationship between response rates of nitrogen to soil tem-peratures, moisture and application rate, we are able to give the calculated response rates – so many kgDM and cost of urea.

“Farmers can see if they are happy with the cost of the dry matter or whether there’s another way to get the growth response.”

Regen is now devel-oping a water irrigation service. It will give infor-mation on optimal water irrigation based on rainfall measured at farm level, water irrigation capability and upcoming forecasts.

“This is particularly important in the shoul-der periods – a pointer to not starting too soon and keeping the soil cold; but neither starting too late when the soil moisture drops and you get into catch-up.

“The way weather pat-terns are changing there is no such thing as an aver-age season. With the tools we’re developing it means farmers can make the best use of water resources, so they potentially irrigate less with savings in power. Overwatering causes lots of leaching; managing that resource will reduce nitro-gen leaching as well.”

Hawkins graduated MAgSc, Massey Univer-sity, and worked in several roles in the primary sector including AgResearch before start Regen. She is the mother of two chil-dren and won both the Fly Buys Mumtrepre-neur of the Year award and the Agri-Business Award. The awards recog-nise the growing number of women who handle the dual challenges of running a business while raising a family at home.

pam [email protected]

Bridget Hawkins, Fly Buys Mumtrepreneur of the Year.

3599 Metabolizer halfpg vert.ind1 1 9/11/08 9:20:42 AM


50 // anImal health

New mastitis treatment study flags higher conception ratespRelImInaRY ReSultS of a new European mastitis treatment study have implications for higher cow conception rates says the Waikato veterinary researcher who did the work, Dr Scott McDougall, Cognosco.

McDougall and his Belgian co-author Elke Abbeloos, from Boehringer Ingelheim, in late July presented their initial findings at the World Buiatrics Congress in Cairns, attended by 900 cattle veterinarians and scientists.

Their preliminary analysis found that cows treated for post-calving mastitis with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug in

addition to standard antibiotic intramammary treatment tended to be ready for their first service one week earlier, and were 1.4 times more likely to conceive (i.e. a first service conception

rate of 35% vs 25% for the treated compared with control cows) from that first service than cows given antibiotics only.

Known as the Fertile

trial, the multi-centre, blinded, randomised controlled study monitored 509 cows diagnosed with mastitis within 120 days of calving on 60 European farms serviced by 10 different

vet clinics. All animals were

treated with the same antibiotic intramammary, followed by either the NSAID drug meloxicam or a placebo. Cows were then bred and pregnancy tested normally.

McDougall says the preliminary findings are based on conception rate to first service for the 346 cows for which a service date and pregnancy test data were available.

The Fertile trial was prompted by 2009 New Zealand farm research

which showed a single dose of the NSAID Metacam20 used with an antibiotic for mild and moderate clinical mastitis significantly reduced culling.

In that case, McDougall and fellow veterinary researchers Drs Mark Bryan and Richard Tiddy found that mastitis cows treated with an antibiotic alone had a cull rate of 28.2%. The addition of a single dose of Metacam20 – known as ‘tandem treatment’ – reduced the cull rate to 16.4%.

Additionally, Metacam treated cows had a lower somatic cell count in

the weeks following treatment, indicating a faster return to quality milk production.

Return on investment for tandem treatment in the 2009 study was four to one, based solely on reduced cull costs, says Boehringer Ingelheim Kiwi brand manager Jonathan Leslie.

He says though cull data from the 2009 project was “intriguing and robust,” the study wasn’t designed to explain the underlying mechanisms. Boehringer Ingelheim then commissioned the Fertile trial specifically to learn more about how tandem

treatment protects mastitis cows.

“Mastitis is an extremely expensive disease, [because of ] lower milk yields, higher cell counts, reduced reproductive performance and higher risk of culling.

“If we can find a way to reduce the impact of the disease on New Zealand herds, especially the economic losses and genetic wastage associated with culling, the industry can only benefit.”

Publication of the Fertile trial with the full data set is expected in 2015.

Dr Scott McDougall (right) and his Belgian co-author Elke Abbeloos.

“Mastitis is an extremely expensive disease.”

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anImal health // 51

Test gives go-ahead for matingWORlDWIDe ReleaSe of an accurate test for oestrus (bulling) in dairy cows is a step forward for dairy farmers breeding programmes says distributor Farmtest Ltd.

The new P4 Rapid test has several uses the company says. P4 Rapid can be used before and during the mating period; it can also be used as an early 21-day pregnancy test.

The company says the test will “provide information on the number of cows that are/are not cycling”.

“Cows that have started to cycle but not shown a strong heat can be identified. This means decisions can be made on what cows to treat (non-cyclers) at the start of mating rather than three weeks in.

“For the five weeks prior to planned start of mating, treat this period as you would for the actual mating period to identify that cows are cycling. This is a good opportunity to use this period as a refresher for heat detection and to train new staff.”

It says farmers can use visual observations and tail paint to monitor level of activity. Note the date you change tail paint colour: if you are uncertain, use the P4 dipstick to determine if the cow is on heat, the

company recommends. “This will enable you

to pick up more cows on heat which will confirm that you and your staff are correctly identifying cows.”

A recent Massey University study showed that use of the P4 dipsticks with visual observations and tail paint enabled a further 7% of cows that were cycling, but not showing heat behaviour, to be identified. It allowed easy identification of late calving cows that did not need to be treated and non-cycling cows that needed to vet checked.

“If you record pre-mating heats and enter these in Minda/Maestro, this information can be used to check potential mating spread as it will identify the number of cows coming on each day,” Farmtest says.

“If this is done by the PSM it means you have time to decide what to do if low numbers are on heat each day.”

P4 Rapid can also be used during mating to optimise submission rate.

Farmtest says the aim over this period is to inseminate as many cows as possible without compromising conception rate.

The dipstick can be used to test cows you are unsure of directly before putting them up for AI. If cows are on heat (with

P4 RAPID is a simple milk-based test that indicates in five minutes whether a cow is cycling.

The test measures the presence or absence of the hormone progesterone. The absence of progesterone indicates that the cow is in oestrus and can be mated.

Insemination by AB when a cow is not in oestrus wastes the insemination, can cause infection or in the case of a pregnant animal, abortion.

The test entails taking a small sample of milk in a palm of a clean gloved hand; and using the small pipette supplied with the test, to transfer a defined quantity of milk to a small test tube. The dipstick, after being identified with the cow number and date, is inserted into the tube.

After five minutes, the dipstick indicates with one line that the test is working.

If a second line is present and of the same intensity as the test line, no progesterone is present and the cow is in oestrus and can be mated.

Used dipsticks can be kept as a record.

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Low P4) they should be inseminated. Whereas if the dipstick shows P4 is high, these cows are not on heat or if they have been previously mated, they may be already pregnant, so they should not be inseminated. This saves the wastage of a straw or prevents

abortion.Records are important

to show when individual cows were previously inseminated or were on heat.

“Records of previous matings (available from Minda/Maestro if using CRV semen) or dates of previous P4 dipstick low

results can be used to sort cows mated 18-24 days previously. Use this to test and determine the non-return rate of the cows mated.”

P4 Rapid are sold by veterinary practices.

The P4 Rapid test has several uses, says its distributor.

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52 // anImal health

CowScout identifies heats remotelythe aBIlItY to accu-rately identify what cows are on heat through remote technology also comes with the added capacity to better under-stand a herd’s health status, with Westfalia-

Surge’s newly released CowScout Responder, the company says.

The CowScout has been launched in New Zealand in time for this year’s mating season, and the remote monitoring

system does not require WestfaliaSurge milking platforms or herd software to be adopted by farmers in order to operate.

At the heart of the CowScout is a ‘G Sensor’ that monitors and inter-prets the cow’s movement while positioned on a collar around its neck.

GEA Farm Technolo-gies herd management solutions manager Jan Winke says the system offers a greater degree of interpretation and accu-racy than conventional ‘pedometer’ type heat detectors usually fixed to a cow’s leg.

“This sort of sensor is better for the New Zealand dairy situation where cows will typically be walking further than in Europe, meaning straight foot movement will not always be as accurate an indicator for heat activity here.”

The sensors also detect eating, indicating an ani-mal’s health status. By recording and compar-ing individual cow eating activity they can detect any departure from the norm, and may be set to alert operators to draft out cows of concern.

By transmitting to a central receiver-process-ing unit the activity of individual cows is logged for access via PC or tablet through an internet link.

The CowScout is capa-ble of providing 24 hour direct alerts on cows pre-senting heat activity. It is suited to NZ’s batch approach to mating, usu-ally after the morning milking.

“Typically the cows on heat in the last 24 hours would be displayed through the PC or tablet before milking starts, and their numbers can be entered into the system for identification and

drafting for AB.”This standalone capac-

ity of the CowScout means it is not reliant on a dairy being exclusively West-faliaSurge for software and equipment.

However, Westfalia-Surge developers are working on an integrated version that would com-municate with the com-pany’s DairyPlan software, enabling cows to be iden-tified and drafted seam-lessly.

At present the first pas-ture based farm to have the CowScout installed is in Australia. That farm has also had cow health alerts through the moni-tor, alerting about a cow in poor health and help-ing the farmer identify she had a difficult-to-diagnose post-calving condition.

Winke says following the launch of CowScout at the Waikato field days the company has had strong interest from farmers in New Zealand.

“One of the biggest challenges for NZ farmers is getting heat identifica-tion right for those criti-cal first three weeks of mating.

“The CowScout is 90-95% accurate and it provides some options for the timing of AB.”

Farmers who do their own AB may appreciate having a real time update on cows’ heat activity before every milking, and adjust their AB timing accordingly.

Winke says the CowScout could also help high value pedigree cattle breeders seeking better timing for insemination. “Because CowScout is not reliant upon the cows coming into the dairy, the potential is there for the likes of beef operators to monitor their animals.”Tel. 0800 GEA FARM

The sensor offers greater accuracy, says WestfaliaSurge.

A sensor on a cow’s collar monitors and interprets movement.

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anImal health // 53

Mastitis control app builds on evidence

DaIRY auStRalIa says the main types of mastitis are cow-associated (contagious) mastitis and environ-mental mastitis.

Bacteria which cause cow-associ-ated mastitis mostly live inside udders or on teat skin. They are spread from infected cows.

The main bacteria causing conta-gious mastitis are Staph aureus and Strep agalactiae.

Transmission of these bacteria between cows and quarters usually happens at milking time by contact with infected milk. This spread can occur from splashes or ‘aerosols’ of milk during stripping, by milk on milkers’ hands or teatcup liners, and by cross flow of milk between teat-cups.

Staph aureus can invade udder tissue and live inside cells. They often form pockets of infection (microab-scesses) that are protected from anti-biotics by scar tissue.

The Strep agalactiae bacteria tend to locate in duct areas of the udder where antibiotics are effective. Strep agalactiae is very sensitive to penicil-lin, so there are relatively high cure rates.

Bacteria which cause environmen-tal mastitis are widespread in a cow’s surroundings – soil, manure, bed-ding, calving pads and water, or on body areas of the cow other than the mammary gland.

Housed cows are generally at greater risk than grazing cows.

The main bacteria are Strep uberis

and E. coli.A number of bacteria like E. coli

are often grouped together and called coliforms. These bacteria are not par-ticularly well suited to life in the lac-tating udder and often the infections do not persist.

Most environmental mastitis cases are seen in the period immediately before, to a few weeks after, calving when cows are susceptible to infec-tion because their natural defence mechanisms are low.

High numbers of environmental mastitis bacteria may contaminate teats, especially if udders are wet and exposed to mud and manure.

This often happens when cows and heifers are on the ground during calv-ing, Dairy Australia says.

Two routes to mastitis

the auStRalIan dairy industry has updated its guidelines for masti-tis control to include a newly released app for smartphones.

Dairy Australia says the Count-down 2020 Farm Guidelines for Mas-titis Control have been updated to include new evidence-based science and to support both the ‘Cups On, Cups Off ’ farmer training course and the app.

The new guidelines point to the DairyNZ SmartSAMM program and the Animal Health Ireland Cell Check program; both programs used the Countdown resources towards their own development in recent years.

Australia’s guidelines were first published in 1998. They embodied all the evidence-based best practice for mastitis control available at the time and have been widely used by farm-ers and advisors. About 11,000 copies of the original publica-tion have been circulated.

Dairy Australia’s animal health and fertility program manager Kathryn Davis says the guidelines have helped farmers improve profits by reducing new mastitis infec-tions and lowering bulk milk cell counts in their herds. This has helped cow wel-fare.

“The updated guide-lines work with the Count-down mastitis toolkit app that was released last year,” Davis says.

Countdown 2020 is the national udder health program for the Austra-lian dairy industry. It has a defined

national goal based

on an indi-vidual farm’s

annual aver-age bulk milk

cell count: by 2017 at least

70% of Australian dairy farms supplying milk with an annual average bulk milk cell count (BMCC) of less than 250,000 cells/mL.

Australian dairy farmers can make

big gains through improved udder health, Dairy Australia says.

Quality payment incentives exist in all states for milk with lower cell counts.

“Further, healthier cows produce more milk. They are less likely to be lost through culling or to incur treat-ment costs.

“Fewer clinical cases of mastitis mean less frustration for farmers and a reduced risk of antibiotic contami-nation of milk products.”

Kathryn Davis, Dairy Australia, says the guidelines have helped farmers improve profits. Inset: The guidelines were first published in 1990 and updated regularly.

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Rumensin Select is the product of choice for power drenching systems. Using with agitated in-line water medication systems is straightforward. Simply pair Rumensin Select with Elanco’s recommended submersible pump and you’ll have cost effective, reliable and accurate dosing.

Talk to your veterinarian or animal health stockist about a Rumensin programme to suit your system.

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• F E E D E F F I C I E N C Y2

heRe aRe some essen-tials for making sure a newborn calf has the best possible start to life.

First thing that usu-ally happens is a check on whether it’s a bull or a heifer. Then the follow-ing apply:

■ Calves showing signs of a prolonged or stressful delivery (such as swol-len heads or tongues, or meconium staining) will need extra care.

■ Clear mucous from the calf ’s nostrils and mouth.

■ Place the calf on its chest, with the back feet pointing towards their ears. This position gives both lungs the best chance to expand. In contrast, holding calves upside down puts pressure on the

diaphragm and lungs and interferes with breathing.

■ Have lots of old towels on hand at the dairy. Use them to dry the calf and rub them for stim-ulation: brush upwards from tail to neck.

■ Pinching the nose can also help stimulate a calf to breathe.

■ Monitor the calf over the next few hours, and encourage it to drink 2L of good qual-ity first-milking colos-trum from a teat feeder (good quality colos-

trum is 22% or more measured with a Brix refractometer). If the calf is unable to do this, use an oesophageal feeder to tube feed the colostrum.

■ Spray or dip the calf ’s navel with 5-7% iodine solution to dry it out and minimise the risk of infection. Teat spray from the dairy is only 0.5% iodine – not nearly

strong enough, so don’t use it. Spray the navel while the calf is in the calving area and again when they arrive in the calf shed.

■ Ensure the calf ’s bed-

ding is clean and dry and draft free. A calf coat can also help new-borns stay warm.

■ Make sure everyone involved in calf rear-ing knows which calves

have had a difficult delivery and monitors them closely for signs of disease.

• Zoe Vogels is a veterinar-ian with The Vet Group in Australia


54 // anImal health

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56 // maChIneRY & pRODuCtS

Navara brings Euro-5 engine technology and smooth ridea COIl sprung rear axle and an efficient two-stage turbo engine are features of the new Nissan Navara, dubbed the NP-300.

Recently revealed to the Australian and New Zealand media in Thailand where it is manufactured, the Navara’s new efficient engine technology and the replacement of leaf springs with coils on the rear axle were points of interest for our market.

Some Aussie journalists at the launch got hung up on the fact that the power and torque output of the new YS23 engine remain the same as the current model. Get over it. The fact is 140kW of power and 450Nm of torque, while no longer class leading, are more than adequate for a ute. The real story is how the new engine delivers its power and torque.

The engine bound for the New Zealand market is a 2.3L turbodiesel developed as part of the Renault-Nissan alliance. It features a two-stage turbo that widens the maximum torque range so the full 450Nm is avail-able from a low 1500rpm through to 2500rpm. The two turbos are in-

line, the first active from about 1000rpm, hand-ing over to the second at about 2000rpm, produc-ing seamless torque and power delivery.

The current single-turbo engine is no slug, but peak torque comes in late and rough com-pared to the YS23, which delivers a strong progres-sive surge from just above 1000rpm. The new engine is also noticeably quieter.

A lower output single-turbo version of the YS23 producing 118kW and 403Nm will also be avail-able here.

The new engine is 10kg lighter, 19% more fuel-effi-cient and is built to Euro 5 emissions standards so CO

2 emissions are down

too. The chief engineer on the NP-300 project, Takashi Fukui, told Dairy News the engine will also meet Euro 6 emissions standards when they are imposed.

Weight has been cut in other areas, a total reduc-tion of 70kg for the vehi-cle, which contributes to the efficiency gains. A more slippery body shape with lower roof line that produces 11% less drag also contributes.

Nissan NZ manag-ing director John Manly says more Kiwis buy auto-

matic Navaras than manu-als. They will get a 7-speed auto in the NP-300, the same gearbox found in the current V6-diesel powered STX-550 (the V6 engine has been dropped from the new model range). A six speed manual is also available.

The current chas-sis carries over to the new truck, but is still the biggest in its segment, according to Takashi Fukui. For the first time though, Kiwi buyers will get a 5-link coil sprung rear beam axle instead of the more common leaf

springs. Fukui says the carrying capac-ity and durabil-ity of the new rear suspension set-up is equal to the cur-rent leaf spring set-up. Tow rating is 3.5 tonnes.

The benefits of

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Tough guy... Navara NP-300 in Thailand. Inset: Comfort levels take a leap forward in the new Navara NP-300.

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maChIneRY & pRODuCtS // 57

Navara brings Euro-5 engine technology and smooth ridecoil springs are in ride and handling. Ride particularly is improved over the cur-rent leaf-spring arrange-ment, removing much of the bounce and jitter when unladen. We’ll have to wait for a longer drive to test how it works with a heavy load, but can confirm it took in its stride the worst tracks Thailand could throw at it.

On the tarmac it is still a large vehicle in the cor-ners but quicker rack-and-pinion steering makes life at the helm much less demanding.

Noise and vibra-tion levels are also much better, as are interior com-fort and convenience. The comfy front seats are worthy of mention, and rear passengers get plenty of legroom and more recline in the seatback. The bench is set lower and the floor in the rear seems higher relative to seat height, a product of the lower roofline, but head-room remains the same as in the current model.

A purpose-built off-road course demon-strated the electronic traction aids, the excellent

approach (31 degrees) and departure (25.6 degrees) angles and the wheel articulation. The course was concrete under foot. Again, a real-world test in New Zealand conditions will reveal how well the traction aids work when it is slippery.

It has ‘brake LSD’ (limited slip differen-tial) which shifts the driv-ing force from left to right according to which side has the most traction by gently applying the brake to the side with least trac-tion, reducing wheel slip.

It also has a hill descent function that maintains low speed downhill with no input required from the driver (other than steering), and hill start assist that will

hold the vehicle stationary on a slope for three sec-onds, allowing you time to get your foot safely from the brake back onto the accelerator.

Globally the ute seg-ment is vital to car manu-facturers, as it is in New Zealand, so Nissan has put the NP-300 through the wringer during devel-opment. It is the product of 40,000 tests and 1 mil-lion km of road testing in various climatic extremes worldwide, including alpine testing in the South Island of New Zealand.

The design team has produced a suitably tough looking exterior and the car-like interior, with spec-ification levels to match, that is now expected in the ute category. Nissan NZ

is yet to confirm the full range for our market – the double cab will be the big seller as it is with the cur-rent D40 model – and pric-

ing won’t be confirmed until closer to the local release date.

The current D40 Navara has been a hit

down-under but has been in the market for seven years, and Ford’s Ranger and the VW Amarok have shifted the goalposts. The

new Navara is an impor-tant product for Nissan NZ. Expect it here in the first half, if not first quar-ter, of 2015.

The styling includes a ‘spoiler’ integrated into the tailgate. Inset: The YS23 engine features a two-stage turbo.

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58 // machinery & products

Bike, quad maker promises compact, easily handled SXSQuad maKer Honda says its latest side-by-side (SXS), the Pioneer 500, will be compact and easy to handle.

The New Zealand distributor, Blue Wing Honda, says it is continu-ing to bring new products to market. General man-ager Alan Petrie says the Pioneer 500 will join the larger 700 series.

“The Pioneer 500 is a compact and affordable addition to the market,” says Petrie. “It can carry two people onfarm or on off-road adventures and at just 1.27m wide it fits on narrow trails and is easy to transport.”

Petrie made the announcement earlier this month, at the open-ing of the company’s new head office in Auck-land. The facility at Air-port Oaks consolidates the company’s operations and houses Honda Marine and Honda Power Equipment. It was formally opened by Susumu Mitsuishi, the general manager of the

motorcycle sales division at Honda Motor Company Ltd, Tokyo.

Petrie says New Zea-land is dependent on pri-mary industry, with half of the land used for farming.

Having the right means to navigate varying terrain can be a challenging task, he says.

“Blue Wing Honda met that challenge in 1972 when it entered the market as New Zealand’s importer and distributor

of Honda motorcycles and [quads]. That wealth of experience has helped put the company at number one in the New Zealand market.”

Petrie says he sees suc-cess as a byproduct of great products and satis-fied customers.

“We believe this new building will allow us to deliver even more of both: our central operation enables us to distribute to our 52 dealer network.”

tWo neW milk replacer products from NZAgbiz will cut the time and cost of raising calves and kids, the company says.

Denkavit Supastart calf milk replacer (CMR) is a new version of the original Denkavit whey product and Denkavit Ankid goat milk replacer (GMR) is a new product. Both are whey-based, an

Milk replacers suit calves, kids“easy-to-digest protein source for young stock”.

“Dutch company Denkavit products were a natural choice,” NZAgbiz says. “Denkavit is a global specialist in young animal nutrition and a leader in the compound feed industry in Europe. They also do R&D… in innovative feed specialties to deliver high grade animal nutrition for the first stages of life.”

Denkavit raises 500,000 calves and produces 300,000t of animal nutrition product annually. “Its expertise and ability to customise solutions will suit our local New

Zealand market and rearing conditions.”

Denkavit Supastart contains whey, wheat and soy “which provide a balanced, cost-effective alternative to the dairy ingredients currently used in most other CMR products,” the company says.

“Whey does not have to curd before being digested, so young calves can assimilate their feed faster. Young calves (and kids) can be fussy eaters: if their feed does not smell right, or is not the correct consistency, they will avoid it.”

NZAgbiz says Supastart gets past this problem straight away because it’s highly palatable, has a pleasant smell attractive to the calf, is easy to mix and suits all automatic feeders and, because it’s slightly acidic, it counteracts gut-pathogens.

“Most importantly, it encourages early rumen development which will set up young calves for a healthy and

productive future.”Denkavit Ankid

suits rearing kids and fattening stock “and because it’s highly soluble it can be used in all automatic feeders”.

“Young kids and goats are selective feeders so a product needs to tick all the boxes before they will eat it. Ankid is highly palatable and easily digested, plus it contains natural oregano oil which delivers a protective antimicrobial effect in the gut to further reduce the risk of digestive disorders.”

Susumu Mitsuishi GM, Motorcycle Sales Division, Honda Motor Company, (left) and Alan Petrie GM Blue Wing Honda with the Pioneer 500 soon to launch in New Zealand.


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60 // machinery & products

Supplement trial brings benefitsmarK neWton and Sarah Manders own two adjacent farms at Matarawa Road opposite the Kinleith mill near Tokoroa and when asked by Ballance Agri-Nutrients to trial its feed supplement Crystalyx Dry Cow they

foresaw an ideal set-up.“We could do the trial

on one property and on the other have a control and do our normal feeding and get a comparison and an indication of the bene-fits,” said Mark.

The first property is 60ha, run by the couple, and the second is 85ha managed by a contract

milker. They also have a 18ha run-off which provides supplements and winter grazing for both properties. All are flat-to-rolling contour with average rainfall of 1500-1600mm and winter frosts: “we are 400m above sea level”.

On the first farm they do split-herd calving.

“We supply Miraka who pay us a good winter milk premium plus as the sea-sons are changing we get better utilisation of the stock.”

Crystalyx Dry Cow is one of four Crystalyx products Ballance imports from UK.

They consist of a base of dehydrated molasses

that is hard and weather-proof and have nutrients for ad-lib feeding to cows at different seasons. They are said to suit dairy, beef and deer.

The product comes in 22.5kg tubs and 40kg con-tainers.

In use the product is shifted with each change of break or to a new

tony hopKinson

paddock. During the trial no

magnesium supplement or water added minerals were supplied to stock on the 60ha farm; they were given the Crystalyx Dry Cow. The other herd was given grass dusting and mineral supplement.

Each herd, as cows calve, are supplementary fed with minerals supplied via in-shed PPP Industries feeding systems.

Newton and Man-ders say Crystalyx has

helped reduce the inci-dence of milk fever by optimising blood magne-sium levels, has increased rumen performance and appetite post calving, and improved transition into lactation. “Once they calve the cows are fired up and ready to go.”

The trial ran for two years and the results have encouraged them to use the product for the last two years on both farms.Tel. 07 572 6208www.crystalyx.co.nz

MARK NEWTON and Sarah Manders balance work and recreation, otherwise “you can become very insular,” she says.

Sarah “likes her sport” – multi-sport tri-athlons – and has competed in the South Island Coast-to-Coast, once in a two-person team and once on her own. Both events took two days of cycling, mountain running and kayaking.

She has run seven half-marathons during the past year, four in the past four months. She plays squash and rides mountain bikes. She and four others will soon contest a 12-hour biking event in the forests near Tokoroa.

Newton, with motorcycling “in his blood”, recently returned from a third go at the Red Bull Romaniacs enduro rally in the Carpath-ian Mountains in Transylvania, Romania.

He and a Tokoroa friend came second in the silver class; 13 other New Zealanders competed. The race has been held since 2003; this year 350 riders competed from many countries.

sports balance WorK, leisure

Sarah Manders competes in the South Island Coast-to-Coast.

Mark Newton (left) and Sarah Manders say Crystalyx Dry Cow has helped their herds.

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tractors & machinery // 61

Big dairy goat farm hauls lots of feedtWo landini trac-tors are good value in their roles of feed loading and hauling at a high-produc-tivity dairy goat farm near Cambridge, reports the distributor, AgTek.

A Powermondial DT120 (120hp) tows a combina-tion harvesting and feed out wagon for the animals’ loafing barn, and a Power-farm DT95 (95hp) does all loader work.

Hugh Phillips-Turner, general manager, says the farm was converted from a horse stud during an expansion of the dairy goat industry.

He reckons the dairy goat industry is one of the few in agriculture that looked at market demand before figuring out what to supply and in what quan-tities.

There was a clear demand for goats’ milk so a co-operative was set up. It then became appar-ent they could not meet the demand, hence a deci-sion to expand the co-op. That’s when Phillips-Turner and his team came on board.

“That’s the reverse of how farming is tradition-ally done. Usually farm-ers provide stuff and then scratch their heads over who’s going to buy it. The group who established the co-op did it the other way around.”

Now NZ has 50 co-op dairy goat farms and demand is still increas-ing. Most of the milk is exported to SE Asia.

On the Cambridge farm 1000 goats live inside for economy and because it keeps them worm-free. The farm is free of cap-

rine arthritic encephalitis (CAE), a virus said to be like AIDS in goats.

The flock was estab-lished by ‘snatching’ the kids. The kids were taken off their mothers 24 hours after birth to ensure they don’t catch this disease.

The goats are primar-ily Saanens but Phillips-Turner wants to build up a mixed breed flock. “A herd with a mix of breeds has better animal health but the main reason is for better production and fer-tility.”

A tanker takes the milk away and it is made into powder for infant formula.

“There is a demand for fresh milk and that will be met as time and supply permits.”

The 41ha that supports the goats has been spe-cially planted in herbal ley. Phillips-Turner says the farm managers David and Amanda Drake are among the pioneers in biological farming in New Zealand.

They soil test regularly

and fertilise with natural products such as guano and aim for a balanced soil. Used bedding is made into compost and spread back onto the farm.

“We keep as green as possible. It’s pure common sense. Making our own compost reduces the cost of fertilisers, which is a major expense. Being green and sustain-able and being financially viable are not in opposi-tion.

“We got the Landini tractors as they were the best value for money with respect to horsepower dol-

lars,” says Phillips-Turner.The Landini Power-

mondial DT120 arrived in September 2012.

“It’s the second Lan-dini we’ve bought and we’re happy with the work it’s doing. Essentially it came down to price as there’s little difference between most of the Euro-pean tractors.”

The Mondial has a dual power system that boosts up to 120hp. That gives it the power it needs for the wagon when it’s harvest-ing but on the trip in and out to the barn it doesn’t draw that much power. It

then operates on a lower system of 112hp. This saves fuel and is more efficient.

The boost to 120hp occurs during road trans-port (up to 40km/h), or when the driver uses the PTO at over 1000rpm.

Another feature is the engine revs drop at road speed, giving a quieter, more fuel-efficient ride.

The Powermondial puts 90L/min through the hydraulics, plenty for the harvest wagon. The trans-mission has 36 forward gears and 12 reverse.Tel. 07 573 8132 www.agtek.co.nz

A Powermondial DT120 (120hp) tows a combination harvesting and feed out wagon for the animals’ loafing barn.

A Powermondial has a quieter, more fuel-efficient ride.

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62 // tractors & machinery

Kuhn’s newest performer.

Cultivator leaves mark on the landKuhn says its new versatile deep-tine disc cultivator, called Performer, is a “landmark development”.

The company says the cultivator can tackle a range of conditions

working in a single pass, and can go disc-only or tine-only as suits the operator.

Available in 4m and 5m working widths for tractors up to 500hp, the Performer has twin disc

gangs (10cm working depth), four rows of tines (35cm working depth), levelling discs and the maker’s new 700mm diameter HD-Liner roller.

The disc gangs, which function independently of each other, comprise 510mm diameter serrated discs, with 30 in total on the 4m model and 38 on the 5m. Discs are mounted to give 560mm underbeam clearance, allowing free flow of crop residues.

Tines are arranged in four rows with 280mm inter-tine spacing and 850mm under-beam clearance. Tines are curved for optimum mixing and operate with non-stop hydraulic safety at 800–1200kg pressure. A choice of shares is available for different work.

Levelling discs are mounted on curved

arms, have elastomer protection and height adjustable border discs. The HD-Liner roller is notched for better rotation and provides 225kg/m downward pressure. The roller can be lifted out of the ground when not needed, for example during non-consolidation work.

Robust in construction, the Performer is designed for low maintenance in tough conditions.

All discs are mounted on maintenance-free hubs and the tines are drop-forged for added strength. The machine is hydraulically adjustable and folds to a transport width of 3m.

Kuhn is imported in New Zealand by C B Norwood Distributors Ltd.Tel. 0800 585 007www.kuhn.co.nz

The cultivator can tackle a range of conditions working in a single pass, and can go disc-only or tine-only as suits the operator.

The Kuhn Performer has twin disc gangs and four rows of tines.

There from the start.

In the mid 1800’s Cyrus McCormick was the first ever manufacurer to offer a written warranty, as well as product training and education. To this day we proudly continue the tradition of cutting edge machinery and industry leading service.

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Mixer wagon ‘crucial’northland dairy farmer Richard Westlake sees his Abbey mixer wagon as a “crucial” to his production system reports the supplier Farmgard.

He bought the single axle Abbey 18m3 vertical feeder 1850 with two optional side elevators 18 months ago for his family’s Mayflower Farms, a 600-cow town-supply farm at Maungaturoto.

“We calve three times a year and supply local fresh milk year-round, so the wagon is in use 365 days a year. It evenly mixes whatever we put in and feeds consistently over the whole bin.

“We know the first cow on the feed pad will get exactly the same amount of each material in the feed ration as the heifer at the other end.”

Westlake says feeding from the mixer wagon has also raised production. “The small cows produce the same amount as the larger cows. We’ve seen a 60kgMS/cow/year increase in production”.

It was after deciding to feed minerals and molasses to his cows that Westlake started looking at mixer wagons, through machinery firm Te Hana Tractors.

“I went for the Abbey because I’d used a lot of the brand’s gear when I was working as a contractor in the UK and had friends over there who recommended it.”

He opted for electronic hydraulic controls and side dis-charge elevators on both sides to get more feeding options.

“Variable speed belts allow us to feed out at differ-ent speeds on each side of the wagon for different stock, whether they’re on the feed pad or calving pad. Having two elevators also gives security: if we happen to whack one of them off on a fence post we’ve always got the other one.”

About 5t of feed is mixed and fed each day – usually a large round hay bale, 3t maize silage, 1.2t palm kernel, 350kg molasses and minerals.

“The Digi-Star weighing system on the Abbey is easy to use and works in tandem with the loader scales so we know exactly what is going into the feed ration.”

He tows the wagon either with a 115hp tractor or a 95hp one, the latter adequately handling the loaded wagon. “I prefer to tow it with the tractor with the two speed gear-box, just in case I need to drop it into the low gearbox if it stalls with a full load.”

In 18 months, the machine has required little servicing, apart from “a bit of oil and grease”.Tel. 09 275 5555 or 03 437 9000www.farmgard.co.nz

Richard Westlake says the Abbey mixer is ‘crucial’ to his farm.

Variable speed belt allows feeding at different speeds.

Check out the latest news and information atwww.dairynews.co.nz

A new approachto productivity

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australian Farmer Matt Haitsma is back on the family farm

after a couple of years at Latrobe University, milk-ing about 130 cows out of their total herd of 210.

He works with his father, Jan and mother



Basic tractor does the jobchris dingle Jean, on their 80ha prop-

erty near Rochester, cen-tral Victoria, where for 10 years they have milked on a 22-bail herringbone.

Last October they bought a 31ha run-off at Bamawm to grow hay and silage and keep young stock.

“This property needed knocking into shape in improving the pastures,” says Haitsma.

“We have two Kubota 4WDs to handle the work at the Rochester farm – one with a cab and one with ROPS. So we looked around for a tractor to look after the jobs at the new place.”

In February they took delivery of a Mahindra 9200 4WD with ROPS and a roof, and fitted with a Mahindra ML480 front loader, through Echuca TM&V dealership.

Haitsma says they first saw the Mahindra trac-tors at the Elmore Field Days. “We didn’t go on any farms to look at them working, but we knew Echuca TM&V handled them.

“It does the job we require. There are no fancy electronics, but it has all the bits you need. And the price is compet-itive.

“We looked at other brands and ‘horsepower to price’ was the decision-maker with the Mahin-dra.”

The Mahindra 9200 is powered by a 3.53L, 4-stroke, direct injec-tion, turbocharged, water-cooled diesel. Haitsma says that it is a basic trac-tor – solid and functional, at a good price.

A dedicated left-hand synchronised reverser

gives good control

during intensive front loader work.

Terry Scurrah looks after tractor sales at Echuca TM&V and enthuses about the Mahindra brand. He researched them when the dealership was looking to sell them. “They were sell-ing like hotcakes in the US because they represented value for money and are robust.”

Mahindra has been making tractors and 4WD vehicles in India for 62 years.

“The 9200 is an honest tractor with a heavy chas-sis weight and 12 forward, 12R reverse synchro shut-tle transmission. A Dana limited slip differential on the front drive is a major feature in difficult condi-tions.

It comes with tandem hydraulic pumps, deliver-ing 60L/m which means good front loader perfor-mance.

“Plus the engine has Bosch injection and the electrics are Lucas.”

The Mahindra is kept permanently at the Bamawm property. It is used daily for feeding out to the heifers, and for spraying and cultivation. Haitsma’s brother Chris looks after some of the daily work and Matt and Jan do the bulk of the trac-tor operating.

The tractor is comfort-able to operate and easy to get on and off with the flat floor, particularly as the operator is in and out of it to open and shut gates and to take wrapping off bales. It works well in all condi-tions.

“We’ll cut oat and lucerne hay off this block

this season. It’s been a good year so far,” he says.

The Mahindra 9200 is powered by a 3.5L diesel engine.

Matt Haitsma, Victoria, with his Mahindra 9200.

MS1502

C B Norwood Distributors Ltd



The new McCormick X7 series will be launched this spring.Fuel efficient

machinea neW McCormick X7 series tractors to be launched this springis notable for its fuel effi-ciency, says distributor AgTek.

The maker, Argo Tractors, Italy, last year launched its McCormick X7 Pro Drive range to replace the McCormick X70 and the earlier XTX, TTX and MTX machines in the 140-220hp category.

The all-new X7 range includes three 4-cyl and three 6-cyl models labelled X7.4 and X7.6 respectively.

Agtek general manager Gayne Carroll says the power for the X7s comes from new fuel-efficient FPT industrial Betapower engines. The 4-cyl models have a 4.5L Tier 4i-com-pliant unit producing 143-175hp. The 6-cyl models have FPT 6.7L engines producing 165-212hp.

Says Carroll, “The stan-dard gearbox for the trac-tors is the new Pro Drive by ZF… a 6-range, 4-speed unit with a robotised elec-tro-hydraulic control system that allows the operator to shift through all 24 gears without de-clutching.

“X7 models can be specified with a 40km/h or 50km/h box and a synchro-nised creeper gear is also available.”

The transmission has 10cm more ground

clearance than previous McCormicks in this range, useful for tasks such as baling straw.

The larger X7.670 and X7.680 models have a transmission based on the same concept but with specialised differen-tial and axle components to suit the power of the larger engines.

“The Pro Drive trans-mission is extremely ver-satile. You can use the shift push buttons to oper-ate as a full manual pow-ershift gearbox [plus] skip-shift through Individ-ual gears or entire ranges. Or by pushing a button on the armrest you can shift to fully automatic mode that allows you to con-trol shift points for maxi-mum power or efficiency, depending on the job.”

Carroll says an inter-esting feature in the new McCormicks is a lube flow reduction valve that restricts oil flow through the tractor’s multi-disc brakes when exceeding 30km/h. This reduces oil drag and releases 12hp in transport applications.

“All X7 tractors have a PTO system with four speeds and economy set-tings for 540rpm and 1000rpm speeds. You can select this using levers on the right hand fender con-sole. A switch in the cab console engages the PTO

electronically.”Hydraulic power is

from a 3-pump system with individual pumps for steering and lubrica-tion. They provide a com-bined maximum output of 167L/m and rear power lift of 9300 kg capacity and 3500 kg front lift.

New working lights, twin cab beacons and LED tail lights complement

the tractors design. A new one-piece engine hood lifts high, and a redesigned radiator and fold-out oil cooler pack ease mainte-nance. Styling and paint are new, as is the mak-er’s Premiere cab. This is 180mm wider than the previous cab and has a new interior layout.Tel. 07 573 [email protected]

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Marcus Grennel with the SAM spreader at the fieldays. GPS boost for spreaders

sam Fertiliser Spreaders and Combo Spreaders fitted with a computer controlled spreading system can now be integrated with in-cab TracMap guidance and mapping systems, says Marcus Grennell, opera-tions manager at Coom-

bridge & Alexander. He says the addition of guid-ance and mapping systems to control the spreaders computer control system is a big boost for the spreaders.

Customers can now achieve improved nutri-ent effectiveness and effi-ciency gains, generated from variable spreader rate control used in con-

gareth gillattjunction with the in-cab TracMap farm map.

The twin 600mm spin-ner discs are driven by electronically controlled hydraulic motors, provid-ing the spreaders operator with extremely accurate application control and proof of placement, says Grennell.

The way organic product is applied has also been improved. Combo Spreaders now have an option for a material agitator – a bar fitted with vertical mixing rods – installed at the rear of the floor-belt. The agitator breaks up solid material such as screw-dried effluent before hitting the spinner discs, preventing large chunks from getting through and resulting in more consistent nutrient placement.

Combo Spreaders also have a two-speed floor to ensure effective applica-tion of both chemical and organic fertilisers. As a result, the Combo and Fer-tiliser Spreaders can apply nutrients at rates between 40kg and 2500kg/ha over 15-20m spreading centres.

All chassis’s on SAM Spreaders have recently seen an improved painting procedure, firstly being sand-blasted, thermal-arc spray galvanised, followed by a final two-pot epoxy top-coat. This improved paintwork, together with the use of more stainless steel and ‘hot dip’ galvanised plates, helps to provide customers with an extremely corrosion resistant machine.Tel. 07 847 8492www.sammachinery.co.nz

Carting milk made easytransport arms added to Stallion Calf Care’s milk tanker-mixers ease the task of carting feeders and milk between milking shed and calf shed, the company says.

Mounted on each side of the tanker, the arms can carry two five-teat feeders, enabling users to carry enough feeders to accommodate 20 calves.

The unit also features the same 4-stroke, 5hp Honda engine as is used to power the pumping and mixing system in the company’s mixer-tanker-feeder range released at the Waikato field days. Stallion chief exec-utive Grant Allen says the engine enables mixing a full tank of solution in three minutes, and to complete its auto-wash cycle in the same time.

Development of the mixer-tanker and mixer-tanker-feeder units is a move to lift sales to farmers who want to feed calves in pens as well as paddocks. “It’s multi-use and not just a mobile for feeding,” Allen says.

“It can mix milk powder or [supplements] for a farmer who wants to send every drop of milk to the fac-tory. It can also transport milk/colostrum to calf sheds or to storage tanks for use later.”

Allen says the arms allow operators to care for more replacements safely while helping limit staff numbers to those required only during the limited calving season.

A calibrated floating level indicator and dispensing gun help measure correct milk quantities into feeders without the need for buckets. A fast-fill Camlock, 25mm drain valve and click-and-clean tank fitting allow fast loading and cleaning.

Models come with either a 450L or 800L tanks mounted on strong galvanised steel frames. – Gareth GillattTel. 06 356 8816www.stallion.co.nz

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Documents

Dairy News 12 August 2014