Dairy News Australia August 2013

Australia linked to Fonterra contamination page 5

the perfect stormConditions improve but it may be too late for some PAGES 6-7

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News // 3

News ��3-13

opINIoN �� 14-15

agrIbusINess �� 16-17

breeDINg & maNagemeNt ��18-19

maNagemeNt �� 20-25

aNImaL heaLth �� 26-28

hay & sILage ��29-30

machINery & proDucts �� 31-34

Dr Jon Kelly says Teatseal can have a huge impage on mastitis reduction – but only if used correctly. pg.27

Western District contractor Lee Hitchings has purchased a Kuhn FC303GC mower/conditioner. pg.31

Frank Mickan provides advice on correct preparation to achieve the best silage this season. pg.29

the rIse in chopper cow prices over the past month has underpinned early sales of replacement milking cows.

Values for chopper cows have risen since the lows of early winter, when National Livestock Reporting Service figures in May showed light cows averaged just 74c/kg liveweight and medium cows 94c/kg liveweight.

Elders dairy specialist Bernie Teasdale said chopper cows were selling for as much as $1.50/kg liveweight at Shepparton in the first week of August as the season starts to emerge from its winter blues.

“Choppers were 2-6 cents dearer this week,” he said. “We’re also getting more interest for milking cows with the season starting to turn around. If farmers can sell two choppers to get

one good milking cow they’re pretty happy.”Mr Teasdale said sales were traditionally

slow during June and July but picked up in August.

“Things are starting to turn around. Cash flow is still tight but people are willing to spend to reasonable levels,” he said.

“As we move into spring and cash flow improves it should get even stronger.”

Dairy Livestock Services is also experiencing an upturn in purchasing interest.

Manager Scott Lord said the higher milk price had increased cash flow and boosted confidence leading into spring.

“Chopper value has rebounded over three or four months ago and the export heifer market has started to fire again. There have been a lot of export heifer transactions in the past 6-8 weeks which adds to the cash flow,” he said.

A sale at Echuca in early August exceeded expectations, with best quality cows fetching

about $100 more than expectations, he said. “We had 45 buyers registered and a lot of

onlookers which is a good sign,” he said.Mr Lord added that there were also small

numbers of farmers looking to convert land to dairy and other investors interested in entering the industry.

Chief analyst at Profarmer Australia, Nathan Cattle, said it is likely dairy farmers could look forward to cheaper grain prices with the new season’s crops.

“We’ve had a milder winter but with enough rain so that crops are not under stress in most grain areas,” Mr Cattle said.

“Fertiliser suppliers are reporting that urea is selling well which suggests a bit of confidence in the season and should lead to a reasonable crop assuming an average spring.”

Mr Cattle said dairy farmers could expect prices to ease come harvest time unless the Australian dollar falls substantially.

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Greg and Kirsten Rogers, Katunga, with Gemma, Isabella, Marcus and Kade at Echuca. The Rogers have started sharefarming and were adding to their herd.


4 // News

Queensland forced to purchase interstate milkQueeNsLaND has been forced to source milk from other states, according to the Queensland Dairyfarmers Organisation.

QDO president Brian Tessmann told an industry breakfast early this month that 80 farms have stopped dairying since supermarket discounting of milk started 2 1/2 years ago.

Mr Tessmann said the state would need to buy 95 million litres of milk from other states this year.

“There is a great part of the year that we are really short of production to meet the consumer demands in Queensland and that is being made up by bringing milk product

and liquid milk in from southern regions,” he said.

“The real travesty of this is we are bringing

in milk that, by the time it lands in Queensland, is considerably dearer than any milk from Queensland and taking that off the export market, so that the whole nation is then missing out on

export income that could be made servicing those world needs.”

Mr Tessmann said the impacts of the

supermarket milk price war have hit processor profits, forced down milk prices to farmers to where the majority are making losses and has seen more than 80 dairy farming families exit the industry.

“The loss of these dairy farmers equates to a loss of some $40 million of investment in fresh

milk production, a loss of over $240 million in investment in fresh milk production, and at least 240 jobs at a farm level, as well as more staff losing their jobs along the value chain,” he said.

“The current situation is a crisis point for our industry and action is needed from supermarkets, processors and Government to bring about stability and the restore sustainability for the industry.”

Mr Tessmann said it

had been a tough year for the industry, with the huge challenges of low milk prices and market pressure, combined with ex-Cylone Oswald flooding which hit farmers who were still recovering from other recent natural disasters.

“There have already been concerns raised last week about the major supermarkets using their power with fuel discounting in a way that will eventually harm the market and consumers.

“This is the same case with milk. Queensland

is short of milk to supply its own needs across the year – and the long term prospects for Queensland being able to supply its own milk are under threat, as clearly indicated in the release of this (Situation and Outlook) report.”

murray gouLburN has invited NSW dairy farmers to supply it from October 1.

Farmers were asked to express their interest last month as the co-op seeks the extra milk required to fulfil its 10-year contract with Coles, which starts on July 1.

Robert Poole, MG’s general manager shareholder relations, said the co-op had brought forward its plans to secure milk for the Sydney market.

“In April this year we announced our entry into the NSW daily pasteur-

ised market via a unique 10-year agree-ment to supply Coles private label and a relaunch of Devondale-branded daily pasteurised milk,” Mr Poole said last month.

“The entry of MG into this market is extremely important for the NSW industry but it does create a transition period.

“In the lead up to the 2014-2015 season, MG wants to support an orderly transition to the new market struc-ture and wants to support all farmers through this period.

“Accordingly we have brought for-ward our milk collection plan.”

Dairy Connect chief executive Mike Logan said Murray Goulburn’s pitch suggests NSW farmers would be paid 10 cents to 12 cents per litre more than the Victorian manufacturing milk price, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Mr Poole said that NSW Sydney market pricing would be different to pricing in southern Australia.

“Because the NSW-Sydney region of MG will be totally focused on a single

market – daily pasteurised milk, the pricing system is geared for this market.

“This includes flat milk supply, agreed milk supply volumes and differ-ent pricing for milk components.

“We have put forward a competi-tive pricing system that is available to all farmers in the central NSW regions such as the Manning Valley, Hunter Valley, Central Tablelands and South-ern Highlands.

“Farmers are invited to express their intent to supply MG from October 1 and once we meet critical business goals

such as minimum volumes, we aim to enter supply agreements with NSW farmers.”

At this point, MG has not limited total milk volumes it may receive under this offer.

It will require about 100 million litres in its Sydney plant next year.

“However, our vision is to be the primary milk handler and processor in NSW and we are confident that we can utilise or place all milk in the state through our Sydney plant or our com-mercial milk business,” Mr Poole said.

Murray Goulburn wants NSW farmers now

“The current situation is a crisis point for our industry and action is needed from supermarkets, processors and Government to bring about stability and the restore sustainability for the industry.”

Dairy Australia’s Charles McElhone addresses the QDO industry breakfast.


foNterra coNtamINatIoN News // 5

the foNterra contamination scandal has caused a minor ripple in Australia, with stockfeed manufacturer Ridley recalling batches of its calf milk replacer products.

Fonterra revealed on August 3 that three batches of a New Zealand-made whey protein had tested positive for clostridium, a bacteria that can cause botulism. Fonterra said the whey con-centrate, manufactured in May last year, may have been contaminated by a dirty pipe at a processing plant.

Fonterra said the 38 tonnes of con-taminated concentrate had been bought by eight customers for use in a number of products including infant formula, milk powder and sports drinks.

It was then mixed with other ingre-dients to produce 870 tonnes of product sold in a number of markets includ-ing New Zealand, Australia, China and Saudi Arabia.

The company notified the Australian Stock Exchange as soon as it was made aware by Fonterra and instigated a product recall for all potentially affected powdered milk replacer products, the majority of which it said was still warehoused in Ridley-controlled

facilities.Ridley said more than 90% of the

affected product had been returned within three days and the company was still working through some of its ware-houses to find affected stock.

The company estimated only a small amount of product - less than a tonne - had been distributed to end customers.

Recalled products include Palastart Blue (batch no. 11143172), Palastart Green (11143191), Topcalf (07243204), Accelerate 24/20 (24073189) and Palastart Lamb & Kid (11153183). The batch number is printed on the side of the product bags.

Queensland manufacturer Maxum also received a consignment of contam-inated whey protein but Fonterra said Maxum identified and contained the suspect product before it was delivered to feedlots.

Although both Ridley and Maxum acted quickly, the lack of information from Fonterra has frustrated the New Zealand Government and its interna-tional customers.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said politicians are ‘unhappy’ with Fonterra, but stopped short of saying

they have lost confidence in the dairy giant.

He noted there was concern about the time it took for MPI to be told by Fonterra about the scare and again hinted this would be one of the ques-tions for the ‘inquiry’ to determine.

China has banned the import of whey protein from Fonterra. China is a

key market for Fonterra, and consumers are particularly sensitive about infant formula since 2008, when at least six children died and 300,000 became sick from milk containing dangerous levels of melamine, a chemical that mimics the properties of protein, allowing pro-ducers to water down milk without apparently diluting its nutritional value.

The level of Fonterra’s humility and sincerity hold the key to minimising the fall-out from the contamination crisis according to an expert in agribusiness from New Zealand’s Lincoln University.

Senior lecturer, Nic Lees says what happens in the future will be deter-mined by the how Fonterra manage their damage control.

QuestIoNs to BE asked over food safety testing standards after the Fon-terra recall have implications not only for the cooperative itself – but dairy testing standards internationally.

Fonterra chief executive Theo Spier-ings confirmed to Dairy News there’s wider implications in the “interna-tional scene of dairying”. Other indus-try sources have confirmed that while Fonterra “blew the whistle on itself ” it could have also raised the bar on dairy testing in the evolving food safety envi-ronment.

All the whey products involved in the

recall had passed the standard testing under international Codex standards – both by Fonterra and its customers. It was only after further probing when Fonterra saw some elevated readings, that the potentially lethal Clostridium botulinum was found.

Those elevated readings seen in March could have indicated more than 100 different types of bacteria most of which were harmless – it took a deeper level of testing until July 31 to identify the Clostridium botulinum which is extremely uncommon in dairy prod-ucts.

Spierings says that’s when, after consideration, Fonterra decided to go public with a food safety issue. “It was

minute - a one in a million chance. But we cannot take that risk. We only knew about it on July 31. In March we knew we had lab results, but they were within specification and accepted by custom-ers.”

Asked whether the fact that the whey product had passed all standard tests through various stages, including by customers, and it was only picked up by further probing by Fonterra, has implications for future dairy testing international, Spierings said “that’s on our minds”.

“If you have increased levels of sul-phide-producing clostridia which you investigate but it is still within Codex levels and you ship it … we need to talk

to authorities and our customers to really identify a set of corrective actions and what we have to do in the future if we find elevated levels. That is a very good question.”

Clostridium botulinum does not sur-vive in an environment where oxygen is available, says Spierings, who has a food technology background. “All milk prod-ucts contain oxygen – it cannot develop. That’s why the likelihood around this is so low. Codex has certain standards and we acted within the Codex – that’s the question you have to ask. Once you find these elevated levels – what are we going to do in the international scene of dairy?

“If you don’t test for it you don’t find it – that’s why you have to have the right

specifications for the right product. “When exposed to oxygen, Clostrid-

ium botulinum does not survive and, for this reason, it is not commonly tested for in dairy manufacturing. The discov-ery of this particular form of Clostrid-ium will be the subject of discussions with regulatory authorities and our own technologists about requirements for future testing regimes and quality regulations.”

Asked why the elevated levels were not referred personally to him in March, Spierings said this would be looked at in the investigation. “But if all elevated levels which are still within Codex spec-ifications had to come to this table, it would be a full table.”

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6 // News

three years ago Barry and Linda Morgan were on top of the world.

The dairy farmers from near Cobden in south-west Victoria had been named 2010 Sharefarmers of the Year in the Great South West Dairy Awards and had won third prize in a state-wide award for creating wealth.

The irony of the third placing in the Genetics Australia breeding award is not lost on them today as they ponder their future in the industry after enduring the toughest season in their 24 years on a dairy farm.

Like many dairy farmers in south-west Victoria they are battling to overcome a ‘perfect storm’ of conditions – low milk prices, a prowlonged dry spell, poor grass growth and high feed and input costs.

The new farmer finance package might provide some help through renegotiated loans but the Morgans are not sure if it will be enough or worth the effort of battling through the difficult application process.

The Morgans have noticed a slight improvement over the past month with the new milk price, good rain and the lower Aussie dollar.

But they don’t know if it’s enough to see them through.

“We’re going to talk to our accountant about whether we can service the debt, sell the cows or have someone else come in and run the farm,” Barry said.

“We entered the dairy industry by choice and we’d sooner leave now while we still have the choice. It’s got to the

stage that it just wears you down…it’s just depressing,” Linda added.

Last September things were looking pretty good. The Morgans had booked a holiday to Egypt (which they later tried to cancel but couldn’t get a refund so went on borrowed money) and were tipping an okay season, despite the low milk prices.

Then the rain stopped.“They say it wasn’t a

drought but they say it was the driest seven months on record…how does that figure?” Barry asks.

They realised the situation was “going pear-shaped” in January and started buying hay supplies and trying different crops.

The Morgans planted four acres of turnips but lost the lot after one stinking hot day.

Millet, oats and rape crops were tried but with minimal growth.

The hay and silage cut was down at least 20%, costs were escalating and income stagnating.

“Chopper prices were disastrous. We were getting 63 to 75 cents whereas last year was $1.20. It was the same for bullocks and bobby calves,” Linda said.

The lack of and cost of quality feed left the Morgans forking out huge money while struggling to maintain their cows in barely average condition.

They fear the lack of quality feed has compounded the problem by affecting the health and production of their mainly Friesian herd.

At their lowest point earlier in the year they were down 3000 litres a day on their 2012 production levels. By the end of July that had picked

up to a 1000 litre deficit but that still counteracted the increase in milk price.

Last year they milked about 400 cows on their 226ha property but look to reduce that to around 350 or 360 this year.

“There’s no incentive to keep them. We’ve had to cut costs and try to build a better herd by keeping the better producers and weeding out those with health problems and those not producing as much,” Barry said.

“We used to persevere

A perfect storm last season of low milk prices, poor conditions and high input costs created heartache for many farmers. Cobden farmers Barry and Linda Morgan tell their story to Rick Bayne.

Casualties from a perfect storm

and give them a second chance, try to pamper them through, but we can’t do that now.”

In May to July the farm spent $52,000 to purchase 206 tonne of hay. “We’ve never had to do that before in the 20 years we’ve been here. We only fed what we had to but it was still a huge cost,” Linda said.

The poor season has had ramifications across the region.

“Because there’s no money around you go for the cheap A.I. straws, don’t do the work on the tracks…it flows on through the whole community,” Linda added.

The Morgans have share-farmed with Gippsland-based owner Barry McGrath for the past 19 years.

“Nineteen years working for the one bloke – that’s not bad so we must have been doing something right,” Barry said.

“We have a good relationship. There is a lot of trust. He leaves us to run it and we might not see him for six weeks.”

The farm invested in a new 44 Rotary dairy two years ago which led to greatly improved productivity. “That was the best thing we ever did. We probably save two or three hours every day,” Linda said.

However, adding to their woes this year a fuse

blew in the dairy in March, causing a fire which forced them to milk on a neighbouring property for a few days.

Barry had come from a beef farm in Gippsland and both maintain interests outside of dairy that are helping to keep the farm afloat. Barry invested in a beef herd a few years ago and Linda works part-time as a school laboratory assistant.

“We’ve had to sell beef this year to prop up the dairy farm but we shouldn’t have to do that,” Barry added.

Now they ponder a future that might not involve dairying, the industry they committed to all those years ago for its lifestyle and appeal as a source of regular income.

They still like the idea of share farming but none of their three children are committed to the industry.

“If you’re building an asset during a tough season that’s all right but if the milk price goes up everything else goes up and so we’re no better off,” Barry said.

“At the same time it’s hard for young people to get into the industry.”

Although uncertain about their futures, the Morgans say the dairy industry has been good to them until recent times.

“The thing we have to look at is what else do we do?” Linda ponders.

Barry and Linda Morgan

The Morgans’ herd.


News // 7

Gloom lifts with better conditionsthe gLoom which has enveloped some parts of the dairy industry appears to be lifting and is being replaced by a cautiously optimistic outlook as milk prices rise and seasonal conditions become more favourable.

Farmers are saying they believe the worst of the tough season is behind them and that a higher opening price and a mild but relatively wet winter should set the springboard for a better season.

Some winter pasture growth has eased fodder shortages and contributed to the more buoyant outlook.

Cow prices are also moving up and are being pushed by more enquiries from interested buyers.

While there are mixed outcomes and some farms are still struggling with equity, debt and feed issues, others are starting to build herds in anticipation of improved conditions in spring.

There is also a move back to dairy in some regions as farmers and investors see opportunities to capitalise on lower land prices.

United Dairyfarmers of Victoria President Kerry Callow said most dairy-farmers were starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel and were looking forward to a brighter season.

Ms Callow recently toured farms along the Princes Highway in south-west Victoria and found that while farmers were still concerned about economic pressures and apprehensive about spring weather, there was gener-ally a more optimistic outlook than a few months ago.

“By far the most serious concerns expressed to us came from the south-

west because of the long hot summer, economic conditions and feed short-ages,” she said.

“In the north it’s still economically tight but most have been learning over the past 10 years to better manage risk and are coping okay.

“The economic conditions are also tight in Gippsland and because of the feed situation production has been quite a bit lower but it is picking up and farmers are generally feeling more comfortable with the milder winter.”

Ms Callow said there were still pockets of farmers across the state having difficulty managing the condi-tions.

“The overarching problem is still the economic hit they’ve been through which dents the confidence of the industry. However, quite a few farmers are sick of the negativity.”

Ms Callow said that production levels have been lower than last year due to the feed shortage and economic conditions which had negated the effect of the milk price rise, “but the general feeling is that with the early price rise and the weather, as long as we get good rain in August and autumn, things are looking up.”

Ms Callow added that the industry would learn from the tough season and develop better risk management prac-tices. “Volatility is always going to be with us and we have to learn to better manager those risks,” she said.

Rural financial counsellor for the Kerang area in northern Victoria, Dom-inic Baxter, agreed that farmer senti-ment was picking up.

“The new milk price is a welcome lift and the season is encouraging,” Mr Baxter said.

“It has probably been the best winter

rainfall for a few years. Fodder is grow-ing a bit which has eased the feed short-ages.”

Mr Baxter said some farmers were considering applying for the Fed-eral Government’s concessional loan scheme and were still hurting from last year’s low milk prices and tough season. “But it’s a mixed bag…there is also a good deal of optimism and some talk of re-starting some former dairies,” he said.

Mr Baxter’s counterpart in south-west Victoria, Vince Thorne, said farm-ers seemed to be “past the worst of it”.

“Farmers are sensing that the season is going their way which they look at as a positive,” Mr Thorne said.

“Milk production is still lower than last year but it is picking up and they see the rain and look forward to a good spring.”

Mr Thorne said more hay had been released in the area; farmers had taken advantage of alternate feed options and were growing more pastures due to the mild conditions.

“A lot of farmers still have problems with trade debts and lower equity, but they are in a better situation looking forward than they were a few months ago,” he said.

Mr Thorne added that not many dairy farmers were taking up the Fed-eral Government’s concessional loan scheme as it didn’t address their trade and working capital debt issues and because they wanted to keep a close relationship with their primary bank.

Gippsland-based consultant John Mulvany from OnFarm Consulting said the general feeling was of relief that there are some positive signs with the milk price finally getting into a

range where there could be a reason-able return on assets and effort for dairy business operators.

However, he added that in southern Victoria there would be “a lot of catch up” for many dairy farmers.

Mr Mulvany said any descriptor of a ‘typical’ dairy farm in 2012-13 was non-sense. “Some farms have returned very substantial losses while others have tax-able profits despite harsh seasonal con-ditions,” he said.

“The same issues of cost control, debt management and season mean that some will barely survive while others will thrive.”

Mr Mulvany said that for any growth to occur in the industry there needed to be two or three years of milk price in excess of $5.80/kgMS “which is unlikely given historic volatility”.

South Australian Dairyfarmers’ Association president David Basham said farmers had more confidence than a few months ago but many were still carrying a lot of debt.

“There have been some mild feed shortages in certain areas but it was pleasing that hay exporters made hay available at reasonable prices to fill the gap,” Mr Basham said.

rIck bayNe

Garth and Kelvin Wifen, Wyuna, bought three Holstein cows at Echuca this month for an average $1400. The pair sold cull cows for $800 and bought replacements ready to milk so they could capitalise on improved milk prices.

“Any descriptor of a ‘typical’ dairy farm in 2012-13 is nonsense. Some farms have returned very substantial losses while others have taxable profits despite harsh seasonal conditions.” – John Mulvany

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8 // News: fmD

“our couNtry is very poor but we are rich in diseases.”

This memorable quote was made by the Nepalese Agriculture Minister to Shepparton vet Rob Bonanno during recent training in Nepal.

Mr Bonanno and other vets were taking part in training commissioned by the Australian Department of Agri-culture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) and delivered by the Food and Agricul-ture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

Nepal is rife with Foot and Mouth Disease, so the Australian Government has purchased 80 places in the training program over a 12 month period. Aus-tralian trainees (some with an epide-miological focus and others focusing on clinical aspects) were kept busy over the five days with theoretical training, field activity and reporting exercises.

Participants were all either veter-inarians (including private practitio-ners) or those who actively work in the field (at farms, feedlots, livestock mar-kets and abattoirs) and see large num-bers of FMD susceptible animals as part of their everyday work.

Mr Bonanno, who is a partner in the Shepparton Veterinary Clinic and a past president of the Australian Cattle Vet-

erinarians Association, said the train-ees on his tour treated the exercise as if they were handling an FMD outbreak in Australia.

Two vets and an interpreter would visit a farm with FMD, inspect the ani-mals and move to all neighbouring farms, asking questions.

“Being able to go and work hands-on in the field is important for us to build up skills and get processes right,” Mr Bonanno said. “We treated this like we would if an outbreak occurred in Austra-lia, wearing suits and following all bios-ecurity measures.”

As well as seeing the disease in all its stages first-hand, they were able to help local farmers, most of whom would not be able to afford a vet.

“A vaccination for FMD is about 90 rupees (equivalent to AUS$1) but they couldn’t afford to vaccinate. In that con-text, they can’t afford $1 but lose a year’s production from that cow.”

Although there are commercial dairy farms in Nepal, the biggest farm in the visited district had four milking animals – two cows and two buffaloes.

A cow in Nepal would cost the equiv-alent of A$2500, or 25,000 to 40,000 rupees. A farmer could earn 300 rupees a day.

Most cows produce seven litres of milk. The farmer would retain two litres to feed his family, and can sell the rest, earning 60 rupees a day, which is equiva-lent to the average wage in Nepal. Milk is sold locally to neighbours or taken to vil-lages and put into a communal billy. This milk is processed and sold in sachets.

Farms in Nepal are the equivalent of a house and small backyard in Australia. The family lives in the second story of a basic house, with the cow housed under-neath, effectively in a garage.

Each morning, the cow is tethered outside and the farmer’s wife sources grass and fills a huge basket – twice a day for the cow. The cow is hand-milked in the shed.

All manure is collected and thrown on the north side of the house to dry, so it can be used for cooking (inside) and heating. With farms so close to each other, FMD infected manure is easily spread.

Mr Bonanno said vaccinating the entire Nepalese herd would be pro-hibitive as each cow would have to be vaccinated seven times for each strain of FMD. There is no fencing and no concept of biosecurity, so the disease remains rife.

FMD response honed in Nepal

they key to controlling an out-break of FMD in any country is to stop it spreading. This involves working quickly to ascertain who had been on the affected property.

“It’s a good exercise for farmers to sit and write down who has been in contact with their farm in the past seven days. You would be amazed,” Mr Bonanno said.

“For example, if there is an out-break, I would ask the farmer who had been on his farm. If it was 50 people, the response team would have to visit those dangerous con-tacts and see whether there is evi-dence of infection, and who had been on those farms.

“You build this enormous web of contacts and then you prioritise them. Was it someone that came in and handled the cattle, or a sales-man that only made it halfway down the driveway before he was told to bugger off?

“This would be the biggest chal-lenge of an outbreak in Australia,

building that web of contacts, prior-itising them, and dealing with them in a timely manner.”

They key to controlling any out-break in Australia would be mini-mising the risk in the first week. You might have to get onto 300 farms with dangerous contacts. If you have five vets, that won’t happen. If you have 50, you have a realistic chance. That is really important.”

Mr Bonanno said performing this exercise in the field provided more lessons than completing a desktop exercise.

“The group after us, they went into the field and had monsoonal rain. What’s to say that’s not going to happen here? The weather won’t be perfect.

“We had 40°C and 90% humidity – I drank six litres of water one day and didn’t need a pee.

“Logistically now, we know if you’re going to send people out to Australia and it’s hot, you need to prepare for that.”

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Manure in the neighbouring farm is infected with FMD, which spread to this cow; the cow is housed here at night; grass from common areas fed to cow.

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News: fmD // 9

On-farm biosecurity crucial in Australiathe austraLIaN Government estimates a small outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease – one or two sites quickly con-tained and slaughtered – would cost the Australian livestock industry around $7 billion in the first 12 months.

A bigger outbreak would cost about $15 bil-lion. One case would see all Australian export mar-kets slammed shut, caus-ing the milk price to crash and closing all beef export markets, including those for cull cows.

Mr Bonanno said bios-ecurity remains an enor-mous issue in Australia and on-farm biosecurity is crucial and needs to remain top of mind.

FMD is an air-borne virus that can survive out-side a host animal for 30 days. Cows are infected by inhalation. Pigs act as amplifiers of the disease – Mr Bonanno said one pig could theoretically pro-duce enough of the virus to infect 300,000 cows.

“Biosecurity on-farm is critical and is something we’ve overlooked for a long time,” he said.

“Proper on-farm bios-ecurity will keep endemic diseases out of a property. If all farmers in Austra-lia worked hard to control movements in livestock on and off property, that would be one way to potentially prevent a small

outbreak becoming big outbreak – of anything.”

Mr Bonanno said quarantine surrounding imported livestock and genetics was excellent, but Australia’s border security needed to be improved.

“The way FMD is likely to get into Australia is illegally imported food-stuffs, brought in as a gift. The next most likely way is from someone going to a country with FMD, like Nepal or Egypt, return-ing with the virus in their clothes or on their foot-wear, and visiting a piggery or farm.

“The virus can last up to 30 days. If people trek in Nepal, cattle wander through the streets so it could easily be brought in on someone’s boots if biosecurity protocols weren’t followed.

“Undeclared food products could also cause an outbreak. Infected ani-mals produce, infected cheese and meat. If this is brought in and fed as scraps to pigs, it would be disastrous.

“I reckon the virus has probably been here many times, that’s my theory, but we haven’t had the virus and susceptible ani-mals in the same room together, thank God.”

Shepparton – with a large migrant population and large farm sector – is considered a higher risk area. Anywhere with an

urban/rural fringe is con-sidered high risk.

“Farmers that have backpackers and itin-erant workers should remain conscious they are a potential risk. Some-one that works on three or

four farms is also a risk, as endemic diseases can be transported via clothing.”

Mr Bonanno said some people would get rich out of eradicating FMD but many would go broke. Everything on property

not made out of wood or metal would be destroyed, including silage, hay, embryos, stored semen and animals.

“It would be just dev-astating, there’s no other way to describe it.” Examples of FMD in a cow in Nepal.

Shopparton vet Rob Bonnano in Nepal.

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10 // News

New dairy farm helps Tasmanian expansion

the fIrst stage of a $30 million, three-stage dairy conversion project has been launched in Tasmania’s North East and is expected to start milking this month.

The conversion is one of the first in the traditional coastal dryland beef and sheep grazing district.

Irrigation engineer, Nic van den Bosch, is one of the drivers of the project with local farmer, Roger Bignell, and the New Zealand company, Agrilac.

The first stage of the project is called Oxberry Dairy, which will be part of a 655ha dairy farm running 2700 cows.

Agrilac director Nic van den Bosch said the project is based on a high-per-formance sustainable dairy production model and would be managed by Bryan and Bethan Moore, farmers who reset-tled from New Zealand.

Mr van den Bosch told media the group has secured 12,000 megalitres for what they hope will be a much larger milk and money-making venture.

“We’re putting together a develop-ment of three dairy farms,” he told ABC Radio.

“The first one, Oxberry is going to prove the system’s performance.

“It’s a conversion design that was originally developed in Tasmania and has been in operation by our company in

New Zealand for many years and has had a pretty big impact on their industry.

“All of the grass is irrigated.“It’s basically designed for minimum

cow movement.“So central dairies, very often with a

single centre pivot [irrigator] that has all of the infrastructure in that centre circle and direct access to paddocks.

“They’ve typically got 24 or 25 pad-docks that surround the dairy and it’s only 10 to 15m from the dairy into a paddock.”

Mr van den Bosch said high milk yields are possible because the central dairy and frequent watering points allow cows to conserve more energy for lactation.

He said the paddock design allows grazing to be managed for optimum grass growth and utilisation.

DairyTas is running a project called Into Dairy – Sustainable Dairy Develop-ment (formerly Filling the Factories), which hopes to increase milk production by 40% - or $350 million litres - over the next five years.

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the NatIoNaL Farmers’ Fed-eration (NFF) and Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) have called for politi-cians to provide clarity on their pol-icies.

NFF president Duncan Fraser said the NFF would look for agri-culture to be elevated in the policy debate between major parties. “Now that we have certainty in terms of the election date, we’re looking for equal certainty in policy issues, so farmers can get on with their job,” Mr Fraser said.

“Through the National Food Plan, The Asian Century White Paper and as recently as this morning through media comments from the Prime Minister, the government have sig-nalled that food, fibre and agricul-ture are a priority,” Mr Fraser said early this month.

“Similarly the Coalition have indi-cated their commitment to the sector with agriculture as one of their key policy pillars. What farmers and the broader rural sector now need to see is the detail behind the rhetoric, so that they can make up their own minds about what the major parties and independents have to offer.”

Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF)

president Noel Campbell is calling on all parties to place dairy firmly on the national agenda.

“The dairy industry is highly valu-able to Australia, contributing over $13 billion to Australia’s economy and employing over 140,000 people on farms, processing plants, and wider industry support services,” Mr Campbell said.

“Given that all sides of politics seem to be looking for the next big thing that will lead to economic cer-tainty and boost prosperity it seems only logical that dairy takes-up this baton.

“Australian dairy is one of the few agricultural sectors that fully inte-grate from the farmgate to manufac-turing to produce to a wide range of high quality, value-added products which we sell in the Australian market and throughout the world.

Mr Campbell said key policy prior-ities for the next federal government should be:

■ Markets and trade: Establish a mandatory Supermarket Code of Conduct and appoint an Ombudsman with teeth to ensure compliance; modify the ACCC Collective Bargaining to provide

balance in market power to dairy farmers; sign Free Trade Agree-ments with key markets China, Japan and South Korea.

■ People and workforce: Help farm-ers staff their properties and extend the duration of 417 and 462 visas from six to 12 months as well include dairy on the list of eligible industries for the Sea-sonal Worker Scheme and on Schedule 1 of the Skilled Occupa-tion List. Encourage people into careers in agriculture by includ-ing related courses under the National Priority Band for com-pulsory HECS-HELP repay-ments.

■ Sustainability: Commit funding for grants to assist dairy farmers in undertaking energy efficiency assessments, and to transition to renewable energy technology and energy efficient equipment on farms under an Energy Efficiency Package; level the international playing field and accord dairy processors Emissions-Intensive, Trade-Exposed (EITE) status until all major dairy competitors are subject to similar emissions schemes.

Election date certain, policies remain unclear


News // 11

Backs: Francis Bourke (R) Jeff Fehring (G/St.K) Stephen Theodore (St.K)Half-backs: John Devine (G) Peter Knights (H) Gary Farrant (NM)Centre: Brendan Edwards (H) Paul Couch (G) Neville Bruns (G)Half-forwards: Doug Farrant (NM) Scott Lucas (E) Gary Rohan (Syd)Full forwards: Adrian Gleeson (Car) Josh Fraser (Coll) Ronny Wearmouth (Coll)Followers: Darren Flanigan (G) Anthony Stevens (NM) Garry Wilson (Fitz)Interchange: Josh Newton (M), Ben McEvoy (St.K), Craig Cleave (G), Smirky Dwyer (St.K)

DaIry farmers are well known for kicking a few goals at milking time, shrugging off opposi-tion from the weather and tackling the tough jobs around the farm.

So it’s little wonder many of them have become famous for play-ing football at the high-est level.

Now the big question is – who are the best dairy farmers to play in the VFL/AFL over the past century?

All will be revealed when the final AFL/VFF Blokes Who Grew Up On Dairy Farms Team Of The Century is named at the south-west Victorian Young Dairy Development Program’s annual Milk It 4 More expo at Glenormis-ton on August 23.

Nominations are now being sought for the final team which has been going through an arduous selec-tion process over the past five months.

Melbourne-based writer and broadcaster John Harms, who has a strong interest in grass roots football and with Paul Daffey has recently released Footy Town, a book of yarns about local footy, came up with the concept when he attended a United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president’s dinner at the MCG in March.

“I was thinking of ways to keep the group of dairy farmers amused and given that the dinner was going to be at the MCG and that Scott Lucas, a terrific player at Essen-don for over a decade, was going to be the guest of honour, I thought I should go in search of those VFL and AFL players who had grown up on dairy farms, just as Scott had,” Mr Harms said.

He called for nomina-tions at the sports writing site www.footyalmanac.com.au, and soon had more than 30 names up for selection, including stars like Francis Bourke, Peter Knights, Paul Couch, Ronnie Wearmouth, Ste-phen Theodore and John

Devine.Mr Harms presented

a provisional team to the UDV dinner but quickly learned many other poten-tial inductees had been overlooked.

“It started out as a bit of a laugh but soon grew from there. It struck a chord with the audience and there were a lot of dif-ferent names being ban-died around,” he said.

“Now it’s like a real feather in your cap if you get in the team.”

The eligibility criteria isn’t too strict – basically if you grew up on a dairy farm you’re in the mix – which means the selec-tors need help in tracking down possible team mem-bers.

Nominations can be lodged at www.footyalma-nac.com.au.

Milk It 4 More is a one day event designed to equip young dairy farm-ers and service providers with information, contacts and skills to progress their careers.

South West YDDP co-ordinator Liza Fahey said unveiling the dairy foot-ball team would be an added bonus for the expo.

“It’s a real talking point,” Ms Fahey said. “I’m sure there will be a lot of debate about who should or shouldn’t be in the team,” she added.

The event this year is attracting young farm-ers from across Australia thanks to a sponsorship program from the Young Dairy Network Australia.

The expo will feature a series of workshops and forums on technologies, best practice in farming systems, management and employment, understand-ing industry committees, career paths, develop-ment opportunities and

Players vie for the Dairy Footy Team of the CenturyrIck bayNe

promoting young farmer opportunities.

More than 200 young farmers and service pro-viders are expected to attend.• People interested in attending can contact Ms Fahey on [email protected] The provisional team of the century – names are being sought for the official team.

John Harms

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12 // worLD News

New Zealand raw milk sales grow

growINg saLes of raw milk are consumer driven, not producer driven, says Ray Ridings, a spokesman for a new association of producers.

A code of practice will be developed for sale of raw milk by the Raw Milk Producers Association of New Zealand which held its first annual meeting in Wellington last week.

About 35 producers turned up from both islands.

Mr Ridings told Dairy News produc-ers are getting constant phone calls for consumers looking for raw milk. “The

demand is coming from the consumer, it is not coming from the producer.

“I think it is part of the change in society with people wanting fresh food, that’s reflected in farmers’ markets, people growing their own gardens, and an awareness of getting access to fresh food. Raw milk is just part of that change in our society.”

Mr Ridings said the association has a challenge ahead of it “to work toward how we can get a workable code of prac-tice for small producers, as well as our large producers… and for sheep, goats and cows.”

Many raw milk producers in the association are supplying dairy compa-

nies for processing as well, some with herds up to 700-800 cows.

“But there is also a range of raw milk-only farms already in existence and starting up. Some of those range from one or two cows to 20 or 30, and one is 100 cows producing raw milk only,” he said.

There are also goats, and Ridings said although he is not personally aware of sales of raw sheep milk, a sheep milk-ing farmer attended last week’s meeting

“There was good positive feedback, everybody agreed that we move forward and create some form of code of prac-tice and become an incorporated soci-ety.”

Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) representatives attended to give a briefing on MPI’s position “and we all agreed we’ve got to create a good positive working relationship and help manage the raw milk industry in a safe way,” said Mr Ridings.

Because of the upsurge in demand MPI plans new rules “and they are want-ing assistance with that,” said Mr Rid-ings. “We will be meeting with them again and supplying them with what-ever information they need.”

MPI says current rules allow dairy farmers to sell limited quantities of raw (unpasteurised) drinking milk from their dairy premises direct to consum-

POTENTIAL CHANGES to rules on the sale of raw milk would balance demand with protecting public health, says MPI deputy director-general Carol Barnao.

Requirements were reviewed by MPI in October 2011, with nearly 1700 submissions received, most from raw milk consumers and farmers who sold raw milk. Most supported continued sales.

In December 2012 the then

Food Safety Minister (Kate Wilkin-son) reiterated her support for continued farmgate sales of raw milk and agreed to investigate increasing the amount that can be bought. “That minister asked MPI to undertake further scientific and policy work to investigate potential changes to the current rules that would balance allowing people who seek out raw milk to purchase it while protecting pub-

lic health,” Said Ms Barnao. “This work includes identify-

ing proposed options for: animal health and hygiene requirements; limits on the quantity that can be purchased and sold; whether the milk can be sold off the farm; and how consumers can be better informed of the risks associated with raw drinking milk at the point of sale.”

That work will go to the current

Minister for Food Safety Nikki Kaye. Further consultation will be held before any law changes.

For information on food safety regarding raw milk visit www.foodsmart.govt.nz/food-safety/high-risk-foods

“This includes information on why raw milk is high risk, and why MPI advises vulnerable people, such as young children, not to drink raw milk,” MPI says.

goverNmeNt acts to protect pubLIc heaLth

ers – commonly referred to as farm gate sales.

Currently people can buy up to 5L at a time for their own or family use. The rules also require dairy farmers selling raw milk to consumers to operate under a risk management plan that is specifi-cally for raw drinking milk.

“The current rules are difficult to interpret, apply and enforce,” said MPI deputy director general Carol Barnao.

The rules are now under review.

Consumer demand is driving raw milk sales, say farmers.

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worLD News // 13

tarIffs Now set at 5-20% on New Zealand dairy products bound for Taiwan will now reduce to zero with the signing of an eco-nomic cooperation agreement, says the Dairy Companies Asso-ciation of New Zealand (DCANZ) chairman Malcolm Bailey.

Milk powder is New Zealand’s main export to Taiwan, Bailey told Dairy News, but the FTA could see a wider range of prod-ucts exported in the long run. “It’s good news; Taiwan is a significant and growing market.”

The agreement, formally signed in Wellington last month, will end tariffs on 98% of trade within four years, says DCANZ. Virtually all tariffs on dairy prod-ucts will go immediately. The exception for dairy – liquid milk –

will be subject to a 12 year transi-tion to full tariff elimination. UHT is likely to come within this cate-gory, but in general liquid milk is not a big part of our exports.

Mr Bailey said the agreement was a great outcome of the nego-tiation and would benefit both countries’ economies.

“Taiwanese consumers will benefit as New Zealand dairy exporters and Taiwanese compa-nies work in complementary ways to meet the growing demand of the Taiwanese population for the high quality nutrition dairy pro-vides.”

New Zealand is a longstand-ing supplier to Taiwan, exporting dairy products for about 30 years. Taiwanese dairy consumption is continuing to expand in line with

rising incomes and imported products play a role in meet-ing consumer demand that cannot be met by domes-tic production alone. Most Taiwanese milk is for drinking.

In 2012, Taiwan was New Zealand’s fif-teenth-largest dairy export market, with trade valued at NZ$310 million.

“As a trading nation all New Zealanders benefit from trade liberalisation. In an increasingly hungry world, trade also improves food secu-rity for consumers. ”

The agreement with Taiwan will complement New Zealand’s

existing trade agreements with China and Hong Kong.

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China fines Fonterra for price risefoNterra has been fined about AUS$790,000 fol-lowing the conclusion of a review by Chinese authorities into the pricing of dairy products in China.

The review was undertaken by China’s National Devel-opment and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Fonterra said it had operated “fully and openly” with the NDRC throughout the process.

“We accept the NDRC’s findings and we believe the investigation leaves us with a much clearer understand-ing of expectations around implementing pricing policies which is useful as we progress our future business plans,” said Kelvin Wickham, President of Fonterra Greater China and India.

“We understand that a number of companies in the dairy industry were fined, with Fonterra’s fine being in the lowest range.”

As a consequence of the investigation Fonterra will pro-vide additional training to its sales teams and will review distributor contracts to ensure clarity around how pricing policies are implemented through the distribution chain.

Fonterra had already slashed by 9% the price for its Anmum maternal health products sold in China follow-ing the probe by Chinese authorities into infant formula pricing.

Major international dairy companies have cut infant formula prices in China by up to 20% after the NDRC launched a probe into price fixing. It has said infant for-mula prices have jumped 30% since 2008.

Fonterra does not supply infant formula to China; its Anmum products are targeted at pregnant and breast-feeding mothers, although it has a product for children over one year of age. The 9% price reduction will apply to Anmum Materna and be effective from August 1.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the NDRC’s probe extended to Fonterra and that indicated the Chi-nese authorities were looking at the dairy industry beyond just infant formula.

A Fonterra spokeswoman told the journal the Chinese government is “reviewing a wide range of consumer busi-nesses in the Chinese dairy industry” and that Fonterra wasn’t being singled out.

Meanwhile all international companies in the Chi-nese infant formula investigation have announced they are cooperating fully and have cut their prices, some up to 20%.

They include Abbott Laboratories, Nestle, Danone, Royal FrieslandCampina and Mead Johnson Nutrition.

Netherlands’s FrieslandCampina has dropped the prices on its range of all Friso products by 5%.

It says the company will reinforce compliance with pricing and antitrust regulations, adjust contractual terms to emphasise adherence to China’s Anti-Monopoly Law, enhance its Code of Conduct and provide comprehensive anti-trust training based on Chinese laws.

Dai ry News aUsTraLia august 2013

milking it...

Ruminating

14 // opINIoN

eDItorIaL


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On the first day of the (official) election campaign, Prime Minis-ter Kevin Rudd pledged $200 million to the car industry.

A car industry reliant on Government largesse (from both sides of politics) to survive put its hand out and received more cash for its foreign owners.

Despite a wealth of information showing other industries, including agriculture, create more wealth and employ more people, they were passed over – again.

And Mr Abbott, you’d like to be Prime Minister - you once told independent Tony Windsor the only thing you wouldn’t do to hold the highest office was “sell my arse, but I’d have to give seri-ous thought to it” – what vision do you have for the country?

“Stop the boats.”We’re sorry, what plans do you have to strengthen the econ-

omy?“Stop the boats. Scrap the carbon tax.”Slogans; nothing but slogans.Australians are in a very hard place at the moment. There is

a general consensus that the winner of the election will be the lesser of two evils.

There is the current Prime Minister, who was evicted from office by colleagues because of policy on the run (and it would seem little has changed); and there is the wannabe, who won’t (or can’t) outline his vision for the future because he has been told to repeat lines crafted by his chief of staff, Peta Credlin.

How can Australians vote for a Coalition Government when it won’t commit to anything? It wants to be voted in, but for what purpose?

Australian Dairy Farmers has called on both parties to invest in the dairy industry. It currently contributes $13 billion to the national economy and employs over 140,000 people on farms, processing plants and wider support services.

President Noel Campbell has called on both parties to announce policies that will help the industry grow and proposer. It has called on both parties to then deliver on those policies.

The ADF has listed priorities. It has a plan. Surely it’s not too much to ask our political parties to have some considered poli-cies as well.

The Prime Minister will announce whatever is needed to get re-elected. He’s not the first Prime Minister to do so – John Howard had one of the largest pork barrels of all. Australians deserve better.

Mr Abbott will continue to say “stop the boats” and “scrap the carbon tax”. He will continue to promise everything to everyone and cut taxes.

It’s a difficult choice on September 7. It would be made easier if we had some sound policies to consider.

Give us something. Anything!

you must be kiddingWe hate jargon� It is derived by committee consensus and has no meaning� It is popular with governments and highly-paid consultants�

We discovered a classic example recently in Tasmania, where the state government is helping fund a strategy to increase the number of dairy farms and farmers�

The program was ini-tially known as Filling the Factories – this summed up their goal beautifully�

Now, after State Gov-ernment intervention, the program is known as “Into Dairy Sustainable Dairy Development” program� What does this mean? Not only is it grammati-cally incorrect, it doesn’t convey the message�

The Premier, Lara Gid-dings, said the strategy was re-branded for “mar-keting to farmers and in-vestors”� The highly-paid consultants that came up with it should be made to explain themselves�

Premier Giddings, please explain�

where’s the milk?Journalists rushed to Fonterra’s Auck-land headquarters on Saturday morning as the co-op held its first media conference on the contaminated whey protein fiasco�

As the cameramen set up their equipment, a group of scribes headed to the table where coffee and milk facilities are located�

But there was some-thing missing- milk!

When a television journalist pointed this out, Fonterra staffers were quick to get in sev-eral jugs of the co-op’s signature product�

which gets your vote?We love the new milk ads gracing our TV screens at the moment – both the Legendairy campaign and the new Devondale commercials�

Farmers have called on Dairy Australia for years to promote generic milk, much as the USA’s National Dairy Coun-cil has successfully achieved with its “Got Milk?” campaign�

DA is now doing that under the Legendairy banner, reinforcing the importance of milk (with the right amount of humour)�

Murray Goulburn has produced the message some farmers called for after its disastrous Dad and Dave commercials, with a high quality mini-epic starring farmers at work�

However, it’s the Devondale soft spread commercial featuring a down-trodden Steve that makes us laugh every time� We don’t think we’ll be alone�

back in businessA grand champion dairy cow has been crowned at the Cairns Show arena for the first time in several years�

Quota cuts and de-pressed milk prices has seen Far North Queensland dairy farmers abandon the show circuit in recent years�

However, the show committee offered gener-ous incentives to lure dairy cows back�

And it was an Austra-lian Illawarra saluted� The grand champion ribbon was awarded to Eachvale Chance 22, which claimed a triple crown for owners Greg and Bronwyn English after recent success at the Malanda and Atherton show�

There were 38 head on display� Hats off for making the effort in such a tough environment�


opINIoN // 15

houstoN, we have a problem. We don’t know what we are eating.

More specifically, one major super-market chain, Coles has a serial problem with truth in advertising.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has just fined Coles $61,200 for selling imported navel oranges and kiwifruit in supermarkets in Queensland, NSW, Western Australia and the ACT while advertising them as Australian-grown. They were on sale beneath signs read-ing Helping Australia Grow and dis-playing the triangular Australian Grown symbol.

The ACCC also found the sig-nage was being used in other stores that showed imported asparagus and almonds as being Australian-grown. You will recall Coles also being inves-tigated for allegedly misleading con-duct over its European produced Baked Today, Sold Today bread, the veritable epitome of a half-baked claim.

Coles’ explanation for the violation over navel oranges and kiwifruit was that the signs were mistakenly left in place when old stock was moved out and the new stock put in its place. Yeah,

right. This happened in five supermar-kets. Don’t they have quality assurance systems in place? If these systems don’t work, then how can we trust anything they say?

Coles paid up but professed its inno-cence “as a matter of practical expedi-ency to avoid a lengthy and costly legal action in defending our position”. That strikes me as an interesting way to pro-tect your reputation.

The crime here is that consumers have been duped into believing they have been buying Australian-grown produce. From our point of view, that means those consumers have been trying to do the right thing by their country and their farmers - but they have been conned.

Truth in advertising has to be non-negotiable. People have to have faith in the retail system and truthful label-ling is key to that. Instead they not only get duped at the supermarket, as in these instances, but they have to try to interpret the weasel words “made in”, “grown in”, “product of ”. Really, what do they mean?

Consumers are not interested in where the majority of the processing may have taken place. They want to know the provenance of the bits they actually eat – where it was grown and

what happened to it after being har-vested.

Australians say they will buy Aus-tralian produce first, provided it meets the tests of price and quality. This latest example of duping, even though it might be inadvertent, destroys faith in the entire labelling system. It also brings into question the systems that the supermarkets employ to guaran-

tee that what we think we are buying is legitimate.

Australian farmers are increasingly up against low-cost imports. They have to cut their costs to remain in business, because they can’t increase their prices. It is not fair to tilt that much-touted (and imaginary) ‘level playing field’ even further by flouting the rules and allowing foreign foodstuffs to be sold

as Australian.Self-regulation in our supermar-

kets clearly doesn’t work. It is time for a mandated code of conduct, as is cur-rently being pursued by NFF. There is no bigger business in Australia. It has to be transparent, and they have to do better.• Jan Davis is the CEO of the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association.

Sign of the times need change JaN DavIs

Coles has duped consumers into believing they have been buying Australian-made produce. It is a time for a mandated code of conduct.

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16 // agrIbusINess

gLobaL DaIry Trade (GDT), the online trading platform for international dairy commodities, passed the milestone of US$10 bil-lion in cumulative sales at its most recent auction.

GDT Paul Grave says the milestone reflects con-sistent steep growth in vol-umes traded through the platform, which earlier this month also marked its 5th year of trading.

“With dairy products from five continents now offered to over 800 reg-istered bidders from 90 countries, Global Dairy Trade is certainly living up to the global aspect of its mission,” Mr Grave said.

A typical auction event lasting around two hours will sell enough product to completely fill a con-tainer ship holding around 2475 standard 20 foot con-tainers, valued at between US$100 and $200 million.

Global Dairy Trade is

open to all qualified buyers and sellers in the market. It operates at arm’s length from its owner Fonterra with fortnightly auctions conducted on behalf of GDT by Boston-based, NASDAQ listed CRA International, Inc. in accor-dance with market rules overseen by an indepen-dent advi-sory board of sellers and buyers.

Fonterra chief exec-utive Theo Spierings, said Global-DairyTrade was one of the most important innova-tions he has seen during his more than 25 years in the dairy industry.

“GDT provides a reli-able platform for price dis-covery, setting a baseline

for globally traded dairy commodities that enables us to focus our efforts on value add,” Mr Spierings said.

R.S. Sodhi, managing director of Amul (Gujarat

Cooperative Milk Mar-keting Fed-eration Ltd), said join-ing GDT as a seller has been a great decision for the company. “Joining GDT has enabled us to market our prod-ucts glob-

ally to hundreds of buyers all around the world, in an efficient and transpar-ent way. We can see Amul’s credibility has already improved in the global market through our associ-ation with GDT,” Mr Sodhi said.

Other producers selling product on GDT include Dairy America, Arla Foods, Murray Goulburn and Eurosérum.

“By helping discover a reference price for interna-tional dairy commodities every fortnight, GDT has brought a lot of transpar-ency to international prices which were previously opaque. Previously many deals were done in a way that made it hard to find a reference price which reflected true levels of supply and demand in the market,” Mr Grave said.

“We are delighted that Global Dairy Trade has tapped into a genuine market need for the dairy industry. As technology evolves we aim to contin-uously improve the ser-vice we offer, so that Global Dairy Trade stays an essen-tial part of the global dairy industry landscape for many years to come.”

Global Dairy Trade passes $10b in sales

A typical auction event will sell enough products to completely fill a container ship, valued at US$100 to $200 million.

DaNIsh cooperatIve Arla Foods will soon be packing milk powder inside shipping containers and insists the pro-cess is safe.

It has developed a mobile milk powder packaging plant housed in three 40-foot containers. This makes it easier to test new markets for milk powder in Africa.

The plant has been sent to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where Arla, with a local partner, will sell milk powder in small consumer-ready packages. Seven local employees are running it; start-up is scheduled for October.

“When we are to test new markets it’s important to be close to the market, to be able to adjust the production according to the demand,” said Bent Strandfelt,

responsible for the new plants. “With the new mobile packaging facility we don’t have to build a permanent facility straight away.”

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agrIbusINess // 17

as the Australian 2013/14 season begins to gather pace, global dairy markets continue to ride high on the back of prod-uct shortages tracing back almost a year ago.

Supply constraints again came to the fore in July, with market indica-tors showing a substan-tial tightening in prices amongst key commodities.

Facing depleted stocks after months of under-supply, those who can afford to or who must secure product are in the market, whilst those who can’t, or won’t, are forced to consider alternatives or await supply side relief in the form of increased milk production from one or more of the world’s major exporters. Despite a gradual improvement in production conditions, dramatic growth in global milk output appears some way off.

Data to June shows Australian intakes down nearly 7% for the month and 3% for the full 2012/13 season, as a year of tight margins, tricky weather and – in the closing months – fodder short-ages came to a close. The new season has com-menced with substantially higher milk prices on offer (thanks to high commod-ity prices and a depreciat-ing dollar), and a strong likelihood of improve-ments to the grain and fodder situation. The abil-ity of individual farm-ers to profitably ramp up production and harvest favourable margins will vary widely, depending on herd, pasture and over-draft condition. Initial esti-mates suggest national growth of around 2% is achievable; however sev-eral months of recovery will be required.

Over ‘the ditch’, more than two years of contin-uous monthly (year on year) expansion in New Zealand was sharply halted by a drought that devas-tated pasture growth and saw fodder stocks rapidly exhausted. NZ finished its June-May 2012/13 season 1% down on 2011/12 – and 28% down for May itself. The last three months of the season saw a 25% decline in production rela-tive to a year before.

Steady forward sell-ing and healthy stocks car-ried over from the bumper 2011/12 season meant that exports for the first half of 2013 reached 174,000 tonnes, representing 4% growth on the same period in 2012. The pace has dropped off since the drought took hold, with 24% less shipped in June as product availability came under increasing pressure.

With the resump-tion of healthy rainfall in April, farmers have had the opportunity to renovate pastures and the prom-ise of a sharply higher farmgate price provided incentive to preserve cow condition. Fodder and debt challenges remain however, and the Minis-try of Primary Industries (MPI) expects relatively modest (by NZ standards) production growth of 4-5% for 2013/14.

Official data to May shows European milk pro-duction remaining 0.6% behind that of May 2012, and 1.5% lower for the year to date. Local reports sug-gest intakes have recov-ered ground as weather has been more favourable through the summer, and despite the recent flood-ing in central Europe, most EU-27 member states are now tracking above last year in monthly compari-sons. The slow start to the year shows in the export data – the EU-27 shipped 9% less product than 2012 for the year to May, includ-ing 32% less SMP and 17% less WMP.

With a lower peak recorded but a higher trough tipped in coming months, the European Commission does not expect significant growth this year, forecasting pro-duction to finish 2013 very close to the 2012 level of 157 billion litres. Growth is instead expected to gather pace during 2014, as mar-gins become more favour-able, fodder availability increases, and removal of quotas becomes immi-nent.

US milk produc-tion continues to show growth in data to June, with output up 1.5% for the month to 7.7 billion litres. Year to date, production has increased 0.5% relative to the first six months of 2012. Much of the growth has been in Midwestern states such as Wisconsin

US export growth continueswhile in the West, Califor-nian production has only recently ended a cycle of contraction. Milk prices are high in most regions, but high feed prices and lower fodder quality due to weather issues are con-straining the ability of farmers to boost output further. Anecdotal reports suggest an early July heat-

wave through California cut 5-10% off daily milk intakes.

Against a backdrop of sluggish domestic dairy consumption, the real growth story in the US of late has been exports: the month of May 2013 saw a record 16.9% of US milk production exported – with the total volume

of product shipped up by 17%. This continues a strong growth trajec-tory for the US over 2013 to date, with the 846,000 tonnes of dairy products exported representing 10% growth over the first five months of 2012. This result is a combination of shortages in marketable volumes from Australia

and New Zealand and an aggressive export growth agenda that has seen US product increasingly com-peting head to head with Oceanic exports, particu-larly in key Asian markets.

While domestic con-sumption is expected to recover with the broader economy through the second half of 2013 and

beyond, ongoing produc-tion growth and ever more entrenched market rela-tionships mean the US is likely to occupy a promi-nent place amongst dairy exporters for the foresee-able future. For now, there is plenty of room at the table.• John Droppert is industry analyst with Dairy Australia.

JohN Droppert

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18 // breeDINg maNagemeNt

sophIe hester was pleasantly surprised when she saw the first Genetic Progress Report for her herd.

Sophie and her brother, Alistair Harris, help run the Larpent property of their parents, Phillip and Kate Harris, milking 550-600 cows depending on the season.

The herd, which she describes as “commercial Holsteins, with a pinch of cross-breds”, averages about 9000 litres a year from a predominantly pas-ture feedbase.

A self-confessed ‘cow-person’ Sophie manages the herd and the breeding program.

Each season Sophie uses up to 25% progeny test sires as well as six or seven proven bulls.

“In the long term we are aiming to improve overall type but particu-larly rumps, udders, lon-

gevity, feet and legs. Our cows do a lot of walking – the furthest paddock is 1 1/2 km each way – so they need good feet and legs. I visited America recently and noticed how little walking their cows do, so it is definitely something to look for in the bulls we choose,” she said.

Sophie was pleasantly surprised by the results in the herd’s Genetic Prog-ress Report. It showed steady improvement for all traits over the past 10 years, with the herd tracking on or above the national average for all seven traits. Strong gains in genetic merit for profit (APR) have been seen in recent years.

This is hardly surpris-ing: her Genetic Progress Report shows that 87% of cows born in 2010 were from bulls listed in the Good Bulls Guide or prog-eny test. So, even with a

focus on type, all bulls used ranked well for Aus-tralian Profit Ranking.

The Good Bulls Guide ranks bulls on profit (APR) and then re-ranks bulls on key breeding objectives. This means bulls can be selected for a particular breeding objective, with-out compromising profit-ability.

“Our Genetic Prog-ress Report was a bit of an eye opener; to see just

how much progress we’ve made. It confirmed that our approach in selecting for type, has also achieved steady progress for other traits, especially profit and longevity.”

She was particularly pleased with the herd’s genetic progress for fertil-ity. Since 2004, the herd’s genetic progress for fertil-ity has steadily improved and is now sitting above the national average (see graph).

Michelle Axford from the Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme said “This is no easy feat and it shows Sophie’s long term commitment to fertility.”

Sophie said she had looked at daughter fertil-ity when selecting bulls for the past couple of years.

“It’s in our top four or five priorities. And it’s pleasing to see that has made a difference,” she said.

The herd’s graph for mas-titis also shows strong improve-ment in the past few years.

“The mas-titis improve-ment was a surprise because we haven’t paid a lot of attention to mastitis when selecting bulls. Now that I’ve seen the graph, I will probably pay a bit more attention to that in the future.”

Sophie was interested to see the year to year fluctuations in the herd’s graphs for fat and protein production. She puts the variation in fat and pro-tein down to using certain bulls that rated very highly for type but were negative for components.

“Now that I can see the impact on the herd, I’ll be a more wary of those

sorts of ‘risky’ bulls in the future. And once I short-list bulls for type, I’ll take a closer look at their ABVs for components.”

Sophie is looking forward to receiving a Genetic Progress Report for the herd each year.

“It is the first time we’ve had a tool to track genetic progress at the herd level. Herd recording gives us lots of informa-tion at the cow level, but when you have a big herd it’s good to be able to see the bigger picture.”

“I will be really inter-

ested to monitor the impact of our selection decisions from year to year,” she said.

Ms Axford said that a Genetic Progress Report was derived from herd test data.

“Any farmer who herd-records can obtain a Genetic Progress Report from their herd test centre,” she said.

“There’s no need to supply extra information. Just request a Genetic Progress Report from your herd test centre.”

Bench marking fertility

who: Hester family whErE: Larpent whAT: Genetic Progress Report

a New tool enables dairy farm-ers to track the impact of breed-ing decisions and changes in their herd’s genetic merit over time.

Developed by the Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme

(ADHIS), the Genetic Progress Report also allows dairy farmers to compare their herd’s genetic merit with the average and top 10% of their breed in the country.

The report includes a summary

of 10-year trends, including traits that have improved, remained stable and reduced in the herd. It also includes indicators of the herd’s genetic merit for profitabil-ity and its rank out of all Australian herd recorded herds for the breed.

Seven graphs track changes in the herd’s genetic changes since 2001 for profit, type, longevity, mastitis resistance, fertility, pro-tein and fat.

ADHIS extension manager, Michelle Axford, said farmers were using the report to identify breed-ing areas that have performed well and those they wish to improve.

Once they have identified the traits they want to improve

through breeding, The Good Bulls Guide can be used to identify suit-able sires.

“This is the first time Australian dairy farmers have had an indepen-dent, science-based assessment of genetic progress, drawing upon the herd’s own data.”

If you’d like to learn more about what your herd’s Genetic Progress Report means, ADHIS is running workshops and attending many field days in dairying areas.

For details on the next event near you, visit www.adhis.com.au or, to request an event for your group, contact Michelle Axford on (03) 8621-4240 or email [email protected]

Track your herd’s genetic progress

Sophie Hester on her family’s Larpent property.

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breeDINg & maNagemeNt // 19

most DaIry farms plan their calving season…the Leppington Pastoral Company plans its calv-ing year.

The farm has an exten-sive reproduction sched-ule which isn’t dictated by the season. Instead, about 85 heifers are reared each month across the year for a grand average annual total of 1020 heifers.

It’s a big undertaking but they are reaping the rewards of a successful reproduction program.

The farm doesn’t follow the traditional pat-terns of most Austra-lian dairy operations – it also milks three times a day – but the USA-style and ‘think big’ formula is working.

Director of the fam-ily-owned company at Bringelly, near Lepping-ton, Michael Perich, says the emphasis on high levels of production works for the 600ha property which has 28 staff and milks 2000 Holstein cows.

“Our system may not suit smaller seasonal farms, but we have fixed costs and need the higher production,” Mr Perich said.

The milking herd is averaging about 12,000 litres per lactation with total annual milk produc-tion of about 24 million litres.

Leppington Pastoral produces A2 milk and aims to keep all A2 producing heifers.

The reproduction system is based around artificial insemination.

“We want better genet-ics and see A.I. as the best way to achieve this,” Mr Perich said.

Leppington Pastoral is using more fixed-time arti-ficial insemination (FTAI), particularly on heifers.

As part of a Prosynch FTAI program, the Bayer Cue-Mate helps cows struggling to cycle.

“We have good suc-cess with that,” Mr Perich added. Pregnancy rates – again based largely on USA systems and calculated on heat and conception rates – are used to identify suc-cess. The farm currently

achieves a 24% pregnancy rate, well above the USA average of 17%.

The farm has an aver-age conception rate of about 35% and an aver-age calving interval of 13½ months “which we are very comfortable with”, Mr Perich said.

Newly-born calves are tagged for monitoring and fed two litres of colostrum within the first four hours and a further two litres within 12 hours to increase immunity to disease.

The calves are fed 6 1/2 litres of milk per day in split feedings.

Baycox Cattle is also used to stop the coccid-ian parasite which causes coccidiosis. “We’ve been using that for a number of years and it works well. You only have to give it to them once and it prevents the disease,” Mr Perich said.

After being weaned off milk the calves have access to grazing land and are also fed a supplemen-tary ration developed by a nutritionist. At about 12 months they are trans-ported to the company’s 1200ha property, 7km south of the main dairy farm and then bred via FTAI.

The extensive dairy platform, a 36-a-side her-ringbone, was built 13 years ago and works around the clock with three shifts of seven hours milking and one hour of cleaning.

Mr Perich says the deci-sion to milk three times a day was based on USA and Middle East systems and while not common in Aus-tralia it is working well for the Leppington Pastoral farm.

“We do it to get increased productiv-

Hectic schedule of 85 calves a month

who: Leppington Pastoral Co whErE: Bringelly, west of Sydney whAT: Fixed time AI

rIck bayNeity but it also results in better cow health. Milk-ing them more reduces pressure on the udder and lessens mastitis and cell count, currently averaging 130,000.”

The intensive milk-ing operation incurs increased costs in feed-ing and particularly labour but Mr Perich says the higher production is

worth it.“We’re getting about 38

litres out of them at the moment. That will go up to 41-42 litres later in the spring.”

Director Michael Perich says milking

three times a day was based on USA

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He attended soils and nutrient management workshops to help his enterprise efficiency and maximise the return for outlays.

Support was received under the Federal Reef Rescue program for two projects, the purchase of a direct drill planting rig and the rebuilding of a creek crossing. The elimi-nation of cultivation and better control of water run-off have significantly improved nutrient and sediment retention.

With measurable envi-ronmental benefits using the Dairy SAT self-assess-ment tool, Mr Downie was recognised as the Queensland dairy farmer winner in the 2013 Reef Rescue Awards.

“Five years ago there was a forecast that dairy-ing would become extinct. There are certainly a lot less farmers in our area, but we have kept going using our low cost- low impact model,” Mr Downie said.

The family did diver-sify, investing in a motel in Monto, but Mr Downie said his parents were keen to stick with their dairy cattle.

He has been pleased with the results of a switch to no-till farming and the performance of the 6.85m trailing planter which allows fast pasture renewal without the risk of expos-ing top soil.

Three Moon Creek which was dry for the best part of 20 years has seen a series of regular flood events with significant ero-

sion and damage to their creek crossing in 2001-11.

The new infrastructure has stood up well to three floods this year, including the biggest flood in living memory.

Top soil losses have been minimal, and Mr Downie said he had been pleased with his herd health status in such a

wet year. However flood-ing had been extremely destructive across the property and recovery was proving a long, slow pro-cess.

“Our river flats were inundated and a lot of higher country also went under. There was not much left sticking out apart from the hills,”

he said.While he was lucky to

have the dairy herd on high ground, 33 beef cattle were swept away with 10 later recovered downstream.

“We lost about 5km of fencing, all our electri-als and pumps and a tank. Tractors and travelling irri-gators went under water.”


20 // maNagemeNt

No-till farming improves Monto pasture qualitya strategy to min-imise nutrient and soil losses has had both signif-icant economic and envi-ronmental benefits for

progressive Queensland dairy farmer Geoff Downie.

Mr Downie and his par-ents Allan and Muriel farm on Three Moon Creek at Monto where significant flood risk has been a reality

for the past few years.Faced with low milk

prices, Mr Downie has focused on reducing input costs for his pasture-based dairy, milking about 100 cows, with a few beef cattle, on 190ha.

Geoff Downie with his planting rig.

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who: Geoff Downie whErE: Monto whAT: Minimising nutrient losses

Feed supply was com-pletely disrupted with the loss of 40ha of lucerne proving a major headache.

“Our milk produc-tion has taken a major hit. We like to produce 16 to 18 litres, but we’ve been down to 12 to 15 litres for months now.”

Mr Downie said it was ironic that while the prop-erty is struggling with flood recovery, their motel in Monto has been busy with an influx of workers repairing the region’s dam-aged infrastructure.

The family has adopted a low cost pasture-based farming system with mini-mum inputs to survive on low milk prices offered.

Cows are fed sorghum in the bails which they have grown themselves until the weather disrup-tion this year forced them to buy in supplies.

Lucerne has been a feed mainstay with ryegrass, bluegrass and rain grown oats.

They planted more oats this year to compensate for the loss of the lucerne, but the paddocks were too wet to get urea fertiliser on.

“We only got about half our intended rye-grass planting done too, so it’s been a very disrupted year.” Mr Downie said.

Legumes have been introduced into the crop rotation cycle to build soil nitrogen levels with crops of mung beans and chick-peas grown.

Mr Downie said he was pleased with the performance of his new direct drill planting rig which achieves in a single pass what used to take three or four paddock workings.

He has been trialling different planting regimes including low rate herbi-cide to just check the grass and no spraying at all, relying instead on winter frosts.

“The ryegrass may not get quite as good a start, but later in the season it should be on par,” he said. “The reality is you have to be looking at ways to reduce costs to make dairying viable.”

Geoff and Allan Downie.

Geoff Downie planting into pasture at Monto.

FROM PAGE 20

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22 // maNagemeNt

the use of sexed semen has been growing over the past decade, with many farmers seeing it as an opportunity to increase their heifer yield.

This allows you to improve your income via the export market and/or to obtain more replace-ments for the herd. But with the recent drop in

export market prices, is it still worth using sexed over conventional semen?

Key facts to consider: ■ The chance of produc-

ing a heifer instead of a bull per conception is 90%, not 100%. This is much better than the usual 50% chance – but is still not perfect, with each conception having

a 10% chance of produc-ing a bull. There is a risk that you may be unlucky and obtain more bulls than expected – espe-cially when straws are used in low numbers.

■ There is a reduced over-all conception rate (CR) from using sexed semen. In a best case scenario (with excel-

lent management and careful straw handling) this can be as much as 75% of the norm, but in cases of poor man-agement, this can drop to 55% or lower. On a well-managed farm where 50% CR is usually achieved, this would drop to 37.5% when sexed semen is used.

This could fall to only 27.5% CR (or less), how-ever, in suboptimal cir-cumstances.

■ It is recommended to only use sexed semen on heifers, as they pres-ent the best chance of becoming pregnant in the face of reduced con-ception rates.

■ The range of sires

available is restricted compared with conven-tional semen. This may limit genetic progress towards your herd’s breeding objectives.

■ A basic economic anal-ysis of sexed semen can help you decide whether this is the right choice for you. In most cases, there are three main factors to con-sider:

■ Heifer price. When heifer prices are very high, it makes sense to invest money into pro-ducing them. When there is little or no price difference between heifer and bull calves, the incentive is reduced. Some (inter-national) studies sug-gest that the minimum difference be around $400 between heifer and bull calves for sexed semen to become viable.

■ Sexed semen price. The difference in cost between a straw of sexed and an equivalent straw of conventional semen can vary wildly according to supplier. The aforementioned study recommends a less than $25 difference between straws to make sexed semen worth it. As the gap widens, the increased cost eats away at financial gains from using this man-agement technique.

■ Relative decrease in conception rate. This can be minimised by ensuring that heif-ers have reached their optimal weight and are cycling before mating start date. Semen straws must be han-dled with the utmost of care and highly skilled AI technicians used. It makes sense to place what can be an expen-sive investment into trusted and highly capa-ble hands.There are many other

lesser factors to consider when choosing sexed semen, however, many of which are difficult to quantify in figures, dol-

lars and cents. It may even be worth discussing your choice with an adviser.

A few considerations include disadvantages – such as heifers with an overall greater age at first calving and a more spread out calving pattern– and advantages, such as fewer calving problems, and greater culling flexibility with more replacements. Another thing to consider would be potential future changes in market values, as prices may fluctuate dramatically over the 33 months required to con-ceive and raise a heifer. There are also alternative

strategies like buying calves in when heif-ers are cheap and sexed semen is expensive, or limit-ing your use of sexed semen to a pool of 40% of your best heifers.

Another major prac-tical con-sideration is the time

and labour that must be invested, especially if you do not already use an AI program for your heifers. Setting up an AI and/or synchronisation program will require input from vet-erinarians and AI com-panies, which may incur further costs and require several treatments (with associated yarding).

To sum it up – in a year when heifer prices are very low, costs of sexed semen are high, and your existing heifers are underweight, it does not make economic sense to invest in sexed semen.

When heifer prices are sky high, sexed semen costs are marginal, and you have well-grown heif-ers ready to go, it then becomes a strong financial decision. You then need to take into account the advantages, disadvantages, risks and alternatives before deciding whether sexed semen is worth it for your herd this year.• For further information contact Ee Cheng Ooi at DEPI Warrnambool. Email [email protected] or call (03) 5561 9912.

Is sexed semen right for you?

In a year when heifer prices are very low, costs of sexed semen are high, and your existing heifers are underweight, it does not make economic sense to invest in sexed semen.

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Dai ry NewS aUSTraLia august 2013

ARE DAIRY farmers who mow in front of cows busy fools driving up cost, or are they taking the next step in efficient milk production off pasture?

A workshop paper says research to date has, gen-erally, been inconclusive but recent refinement of the technique suggests it might be worth a revisit.

“It works in the right place and is highly effec-tive and profitable,” said Graham Kerr, technical development manager of Agriseeds and a member of the Lincoln University Dairy Farm (LUDF) man-agement team. “But use it

in the wrong place and it’s a cost, just like anything else.”

Mr Kerr and fellow speaker Brent Boyce, a farm consultant with Farmwise in New Zealand’s Nelson region, explained how pre-grazing mowing appears to have boosted cow intake, and in turn, milk production on LUDF in the past two seasons.

Working back from milk production off the 160ha platform they calculate the herd, which has been pared back to 630 cows from a peak of nearly 700, was eating an extra 20-30MJ/cow/day of metabolisable energy.

“The extra milksol-ids have come from a

much slower decline from peak. Basically the cows are eating more,” Mr Kerr commented.

Part of that is because more grass was grown –21.8tDM/ha compared to 19.3tDM/ha on aver-age, driven by an increase in nitrogen fertiliser from 200kgN/ha to 350kgN/ha. With the cut in herd size it’s raised pasture/cow availability from 4.6tDM to 5.6tDM.

Pre-graze mowing helped the cows eat the extra grass and ensured post-grazing residuals were low enough that pas-ture quality in the next grazing round wasn’t com-promised.

Mr Kerr stresses

mowing to the target post-graze height is critical. “Cows won’t graze below the mower.”

In practice, despite LUDF’s best efforts to mow low, post-grazing residuals have crept up from 1500kgDM/ha to 1650kgDM/ha under the regime. “You might need to modify your mower and you might need to roll your paddocks to get low enough.”

Without the need to make the cows chew covers down to a low resid-ual – the mower’s already done it for them – the herd cleaned up paddocks faster, and moved on in 17-18 hours where histori-cally they’d have been left

24 hours “to fix the post grazing residual”.

As a consequence, the herd rotated around the farm faster: at one point they were down to a 16-day round.

“If you want to pre-graze mow you need to have a surplus [by con-ventional calculations] because what happens is the grass disappears much faster in front of you.”

How much is wasted isn’t known, but Kerr spec-ulates it’s probably about 200kgDM/ha/grazing, and may not be any more than under conventional graz-ing.

Not every paddock was mown every time, and of the 243 mower ‘interven-tions’, about a tenth were post-grazing to achieve residuals where cows

would have made too much mess if pushed to clean up.

Besides increased milk output, Mr Boyce pointed to a higher fat-to-protein ratio in the milk as evi-dence the easier eating benefitted the cows, though introducing a two-herd policy probably also contributed because of reduced cow stress.

At a normalised payout of $6/kgMS he calculated the combination of fewer cows and more milk added nearly $100,000 to the farm’s profit (see table). “You shake the money-tree and $92 grand has fallen out of it.”

While LUDF stopped mowing in February this season, he believes they should have kept cutting later into autumn.

A key benefit he believes is managing ‘the C word’ in dairy farming – clumps, caused by urine patches.

Mowing spreads the clump so it is eaten, and ensures a uniform resid-ual. To get a paddock to average seven clicks on the platemeter by grazing means pushing the herd to chew 90% of it even lower than that to compensate for the clumps, he points out.

Pre-graze mowing is also useful to make cows harvest covers that have gone slightly beyond the normal pre-graze target of 3000kgDM/ha, with-out resorting to shutting paddocks up for ensiling. “There’s nothing more annoying than making two week baleage!”

maNagemeNt // 23

2004-10 Average Past Two Seasons

Cows 670 630

Total milk solids 273,358 300,800

Income from milk at $6/kgMS $1,640,148 $1,804,800

Livestock sales* $467,480 $44,100

Total income $1,686,628 $1,848,900

KgMS/cow 410 480

KgMS/ha 1710 1880

Variable costs/cow @$300/cow $199,200 $189,000

N costs at $800/t $55,652 $97,391

DCD (2x20kg v 3x10kg) $32,000 $48,000

Mowing costs @$46/ha $0 $22,080

Total of changed costs $286,852 $356,471

Net of changes $1,399,776 $1,492,429

*Based on 10% culls @ $400/head and 60% of calves sold at $50/head.

Mowing to drive pasture intakeBusy machine: the mower made 243 “interventions” at Lincoln University Dairy Farm last season.

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24 // maNagemeNt

Mackays reap rewards from tree plantingDaIry farmers often talk about quality - quality pasture, quality cows and quality milk are the bedrock of any dairy operation.

But ask Peter and Wilma Mackay why they have planted thousands of trees and shrubs on their 189ha Poowong East prop-erty and they will tell you it’s about quality of life for them and their animals.

Trees mean shade and shelter for their Holstein herd, which means hap-pier cows and improved production. They also create a better place to live and work.

The rolling hills of Poowong East would have been picture postcard country when the Mackays bought “Arnum” in 1974.

On closer inspection, however, the farm was bad for business and bad for the environment.

Eroded gullies were infested with noxious weeds.

Combine that with poor to non-existent fenc-ing and a laneway system that could have been part of the Paris to Dakar rally, and the young couple had their work cut out.

Once the ragwort, this-tles and blackberries were under control, the first of countless plants were dug

into the fertile Strzelecki Ranges soil.

“We started planting trees in 1975 and we’ve tried to do a bit every year since,” Mr Mackay said.

“Every year we have planted trees where we reckon they would do the most good.”

Those early plantings were done with plenty of enthusiasm, but little sci-ence. But that’s the prob-lem with being a step ahead of everyone else – you can’t follow in any-one’s footsteps.

“It was a shotgun approach, there were bits of everything, so some of the early plantations are just eucalyptus, there is no understory, but the later ones have been done with the proper indigenous spe-cies and they look a lot better for it too.”

While today’s dairy farmers can make use of

DairySat technology - an interactive online service that helps farmers assess the environmental needs of their land while main-taining a productive work-ing farm - Peter and Wilma used a kitchen table, printed map and pencil to plan their strategy.

Later they did a whole farm planning course as part of a Farmcare proj-ect, which gave them more direction with their strate-gic thinking.

“DairySat would have been a great tool to use, but we managed the old fashioned way,” Mr Mackay said.

As pioneers of on-farm regeneration in the area, the Mackays soon had the ‘experts’ using their farm as a case study of how to protect and repair hilly land.

Landcare first used the property as a demon-stration farm and then returned to help the Mack-ays make further inroads into their long-term proj-ect, which was the overall development of the farm.

With Landcare, Mel-bourne Water and Australian Trust for Con-servation Volunteers pitching in with plants, expertise and manpower,

those early days of hard slog soon became a better organised and far more social slog.

“You get a big enough group and they can really plant some trees in a day. You get the right day and it can be a very rewarding experience,” Mrs Mackay said.

All this tree planting and fencing takes time and money, but that doesn’t mean it has been at the expense of the farm

business.In 1997, they were

awarded the Port Phillip Hanslow Award for sus-tainable land use and man-agement.

The Mackay’s herd is second to none in pro-duction and quality, while their pastures are always among the best in the dis-trict.

A key to their business strategy was the construc-tion of a roofed feed-pad or loafing barn that sees

cows taken out of the pad-docks before they cause pasture damage in the winter months.

It was a risky strategy when they built the 61m x 24m barn back in 1994, but it has paid for itself many times over in subsequent years.

It’s the same common sense approach that saw them install an effluent system which releases valuable nutrients back onto the farm.

who: Peter and Wilma Mackay whErE: Poowong East whAT: Tree planting

Peter and Wilma Mackay on their Poowong East property.

BOOKING DEADLINE: August 28 MATERIAL DEADLINE: September 3PUBLISHED: September 10CONTACT: CHRIS DINGLE T: 0417 735 001 E: [email protected]

ABVsGenomic-based breeding values have dramatically increased the speed with which farmers can improve their herd. In a special report next month, we examine the August ABV release for the genetics that can help improve your production and productivity.This will run in the September issue of Dairy News, distributed free to all dairy farmers.

NEXT ISSUE: SEPTEMBER 2013

SPECIAL REPORT

took a long-term outlook and decided on a dairy that was efficient, was very price competitive and had all the features we need. You’ve got to be efficient in everything these days,” Mr Rea said.

He is already appreciat-ing the modern facility.

“The biggest difference is that in the old dairy you were physically knocked up after each milking and needed to sit down with a cup of tea for half an hour. Now the milking is fin-ished early and you feel like going out and doing other jobs.”

The time savings are supplemented in the washing process with an automatic system saving another half an hour.

The farm will peak at about 420 cows this year, up from 380 last year, and operates off a 250ha milk-ing area.

The Terang Co-op dairy services team also did the earthworks, built the

round yard and the shed, and organised all sub-con-tractors for the project.

Mr Rea said he opted for the round yard, an unusual system in Austra-lia, for its simplicity and fit with the land.

“It is easier for draft-ing cows and we have a rotating automatic gate that follows the cows in and washes after them,” he said.

It is part of a four-pronged water re-use system that includes cool-

ing the milk, cleaning the dairy, washing the yard and then spreading to the pad-docks via a centre pivot. The water system extracts, separated and filters solids for re-use in composting next summer.

“We try to make the most of what we’ve got,” Mr Rea said. “We hope to have 150-200 cubic metres of home-made compost by next summer that we can use to fertilise up to half the farm.”

Apart from being very price competitive, Mr Rea said the dairy was effec-tively a “one-man shed” and had all the high-tech features needed in a modern dairy.These include:

■ automated ration feeding,

■ Variable speed drives on the milk pump and blower vacuum pumps


maNagemeNt // 25

paNmure farmer Simon Rea is showing con-fidence in the long-term future of the dairy industry with the installation of a new 50-bale rotary dairy.

The 50-unit Milfos iDURO Rotary Platform and Milfos iCONVEYER Milking Machine has cut 75 minutes from each milk-ing, adding to the farm’s efficiencies.

It is also leading to better milk production outcomes as the cows settle nicely into the new system.

It is the first complete dairy including yards and drafting race in south-west Victoria to be built entirely on site by the Terang Co-op dairy services team.

The new dairy replaces a 31-year-old rotary system that was on its last legs.

“We want to farm for years to come and needed to replace the old dairy. We

Dairy relieves milking stressrIck bayNe

who: Simon Rea whErE: Panmure whAT: New rotary dairy

to achieve substantial running cost savings

■ A control system that drafts out any cows with contaminated milk

■ A retainer bar to ensure cows not milked prop-erly are kept on the rotary

■ Feet spray as the enter the dairy

■ Automatic safety block if a cow is stuck

■ Soft flooring for the dairy operator

■ Plastic leg spreaders on platform

■ Retainers that drop down behind the cows for second lap of milk-ing if needed

■ A platform for artificial insemination and preg-nancy testing

■ Automatic cup remov-ers.Because the interior of

the dairy is sunken, main-tenance will be much

easier than on a traditional design.

Although it is diffi-cult to be sure at this early stage if the new dairy will prompt higher production, Mr Rea is confident that things are looking up.

“It’s hard to tell because of the year we’ve had but we expect it will give more. It’s high on cow comfort and worker comfort,” he said.

“The rain has been favourable so far this winter and with the higher opening prices and hope-fully a good spring we’re looking to a brighter season.”

Mr Rea’s father Tony built the old dairy in 1982. Although he sold the farm three years ago to Simon and his wife Pep and their three children, Tony keeps an active interest in the property and placed the

last cups on the old dairy and the first cups on the new system.

“It’s unbelievable the technology that is around these days,” Tony Rea said.

“It’s great to see young farmers in the district showing confidence in the industry and putting these new technologies into practice.

“I just wished we had dairies like this when I started out.”

Milfos International, based in Hamilton, New Zealand, was formed in 1987. The company spe-cialises in building custom solutions to meet the needs of each dairy farm. Farmers interested in learning more can contact the Terang Co-op dairy services team on 55 921555. The co-op is the sole dis-tributor of Milfos dairies in western Victoria.

Simon Rea and his father, Tony.


26 // aNImaL heaLth

Keep on right trackeXtra care in building and maintaining races on dairy farms can markedly reduce lameness problems, says DairyNZ.

Animal husbandry and wel-fare team leader Nita Harding says cows prefer walking on level tracks – they don’t like slopes. Too much camber on tracks can lead to lameness.

“Farmers need to get advice from people who have built farm tracks, talk to neighbours and look at our information on the ‘healthy hoof programme’ for guidance on how tracks need to be built.

“They will need to put a bit of slope on the track for drain-

age otherwise you’ll get pool-ing of water and of course that’s not good for animals. But you need to be careful that the slope is quite small because cows don’t like to walk on a sloping surface; they prefer to walk on the flat. If you’ve got too much slope you’ll concentrate the cow movements in the middle of the race.”

Ms Harding, a veterinarian, said the sloping surface will put pressure on the hooves which leads to problems predisposing the animals to lameness. “It puts pressure on the wrong places in the hoof. The cow’s hoof is designed to be used in a partic-ular way by the cow. If you put

pressure at odd angles then it will damage the hoof. You know what it’s like yourself if you walk on a sloping surface: it puts a strain on your legs and joints.”

According to Harding, the effects of lameness are felt on a farm’s bottom line. Lame cows produce less and have poorer reproductive performance; large numbers of lame cows in a herd will affect the productivity of the herd.

And numbers of lame cows can cause frustration for staff and lead to lower morale. “Lame cows are slower and more diffi-cult to move. There’s time spent finding and treating cows and it’s

a welfare concern as well.”The materials used on

races can also affect lameness. MsHarding said if the surface is too rough it will damage and bruise the hoof of an animal, and small stones caught between the claws can be an issue.

“We see a number of infec-tions in cows’ feet, and physi-cal damage which causes pain that can lead to abscesses…. You know if you have sore feet it’s very uncomfortable;.it’s the same with cows.”

Cows walking long distances do not necessarily get lame, Ms Harding said. But cows walking on poor tracks will.

weLL maNageD woodchip is the best stand-off for cow care judging by the findings of a DairyNZ research project.

Agresearch scientist Karen Schulz presented the results of the three month trial at a recent field day at Fonterra’s Jordan Valley farm, Northland.

During the trial 80 pregnant non-lactating cows were split into groups and allocated to one of four different stand-off surfaces for 18 hours/day, and pasture for the remainder of the day.

After four days of this on-off regime, they had a week on pasture with researchers continuing to record lying times as well as signs of leg health, walking gait and dirtyness.

Cows were twice as likely to lie down on the woodchip stand-off pads as they were on concrete, and towards the end of the four-day stand-off period on concrete they were only lying on the pad for just over an hour at a time.

“Cows were choosing to lie down in the paddocks instead and in extreme cases will actually graze while they are lying down,” notes Ms Schulz.

Cows on 12mm and 24mm rubber matting stand-offs lay down for roughly half the time of those on the wood-chip surface. They also tended to get dirtier than those on concrete or woodchip surfaces.

Ms Schulz says the total lying time for the cows on the 12mm rubber mat did not reach recommended lying times and should therefore not be used for prolonged stand-off purposes.

“Well managed wood is the best surface for stand-off pads as cows on woodchips rest more and have a reduced risk of lameness. Concrete areas should never be used for stand-off.”

DairyNZ Farm systems specialist Chris Glassey said while woodchip stand-off pads are the best of the uncov-ered options it’s with the caveat of good design and main-tenance, including replacement of the woodchip. Effective drainage is key to their longevity and a revisit of farms that were involved in a trial with such stand-offs eight years ago found only one third were still using them.

“The guys who were said the most important determi-nant of the success of the structure was the investment of drainage underneath,” notes Mr Glassey.

Stand-offs on Fonterra’s Jordon Valley Farm are heav-ily used, 600 cows going on them for 18 hours/day for 10 weeks during winter, when the area gets 300mm of rain.

Mr Glassey says this was by far the heaviest use of all farms researched yet stock were still willing to lie down on pads at the end of the winter.

“Cows at the end of that period were lying down and were comfortable: that’s excellent management.”

Staff had replaced shavings three times and ripped pads once to assist drainage.

“On our own farm we ran tests on how long we could go without replacing surfaces and it worked out to be 50 days…. You really need to replace material at least once a year and you will probably need to keep material on hand if you intend to use pads intensively.”

Farmers involved in the trial suggest digging a hole in pads at the end of winter to work out how much material needed replacing and what the state of the pad is, adds Mr Glassey.

Woodchip wins stand-off studygareth gILLatt

Concrete: not suitable for a stand-off, DairyNZ research found.

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teatseaL has made a huge impact on reduc-ing mastitis in south-west Victorian dairy herds but poor insertion methods are diluting its effectiveness.

The Warrnambool Vet-erinary Clinic is attempt-ing to reverse that trend with a series of train-ing sessions to encourage farmers to adopt best prac-tice methods when insert-ing the product.

These practices include wearing gloves and clean-ing teat ends with sterile swabs for strict hygiene, making sure the Teatseal is inserted only in the teat canal and not too deeply in the udder, and ensur-ing it mimics the teat plug by stripping the Teatseal down to the teat end.

Dr Jon Kelly told recent Warrnambool Veterinary Clinic FarmChat forums in Koroit and Mepunga that Teatseal has a proven track record in reducing mas-titis at calving but incor-rect insertion methods are weakening its effective-ness.

“Teatseal is a game changer but it has to be inserted properly,” he said.

“There is a phenomenal improvement in mastitis when Teatseal is applied. There is a good uptake of Teatseal in the region and it has been used with great success, but we have seen mastitis creeping back up which is probably due to how Teatseal is being inserted.

“There is a constant need for education on how to apply it, particu-

larly when there are staff changeovers and new people have to learn the proper methods.

“The key is putting it in properly. It has to stay in the teat canal, not go as far as the udder, and to treat all quarters in order. It should not be massaged into the udder.”

At the first milking Teatseal must be removed in fresh cows by stripping teats 10-12 times.

Dr Kelly said reducing exposure to environmen-tal mastitis bacteria during calving was the major reason for Teatseal’s suc-cess.

Teatseal also works by stopping milk leakage when a cow is dried off, enabling dry cow antibiotic therapy to work and stopping introduction of the environmental bacteria.

More than two-thirds of mastitis is caused by environmental conditions – mud and faeces or dust – with Strep Uberis the most prevalent mastitis bug.

Methods to reduce exposure to the bacte-ria include calving on dry clean pasture or a dry clean calving pad, bringing cows into the shed as soon as possible after calving to milk out and check, and taking care with pre-milk-ing preparations of udders.

“Most mastitis happens in the first month after calving. Calving is the high-est risk factor and it has everything to do with the

conditions she is calving in,” Dr Kelly said.

“Controlling mastitis at calving will set up your whole season.”

Dr Kelly said farmers needed to rotate springer paddocks as much as possi-ble, and always milk freshly calved cows twice a day.

He said Teat-seal, which is formulated to prevent bacteria entering the teat, reduced incidence of mastitis during the dry period and early lactation and also prevented clinical mastitis in heifers at calv-ing. “Some farmers might think it is worthwhile for heifers but worry how to do it. The reality is, with some training and prepara-tion, 99% will stand there and handle it surprisingly well,” he added.

Research by Zoetis shows that heifers pro-duce a similar rate of Strep Uberis infection to cows, so management of a clean environment to calve and teat sealant could be very beneficial in reducing the rates of infection, he said.

Dr Kelly cited examples of south-west Victorian farms that had saved nearly $30,000 in mastitis treat-ment costs after introduc-ing Teatseal.

One farm had reduced its mastitis rate in heif-ers from 20% to 4% and in cows from 17% to 4% after applying Teatseal, while another had dipped from 33% to less than 10%. At the same time their BMCC improved.

“Prevention is always better than treatment,”


aNImaL heaLth // 27

Teatseal effective when done wellrIck bayNe

Dr Kelly added. Count-down Downunder research shows the best ways to reduce mastitis at calv-ing are to reduce exposure to environmental masti-tis bacteria, take good care with heifers and freshly calved cows, check that milk is suitable to go in the vat and promptly find-ing, treating and record-ing clinical cases in freshly calved cows.

“Drying off will give

your cow the best chance for the next lactation,” he said.

It is a farmer’s only chance to “re-set” the cow with regards to milk qual-ity for the next lactation.

Warrnambool Veter-inary Clinic FarmChat forums take special-ist information directly to farmers. Sessions are planned every six weeks and deliver new informa-tion, training and indus-

try research on local farms. They are open to all farm-ers in South West Victoria, irrespective of which milk company, vet-erinary clinic or other supplier they work with.

The next Farm-Chat will be held in late August. People interested in attend-ing or hosting a FarmChat workshop or to suggest a topic

can contact the Warrnam-bool Veterinary Clinic on (03) 5561 2255.

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“Teatseal is a game changer but it has to be inserted properly.”

Dr Jon Kelly showing the best way to apply Teatseal.

caLvINg DIffIcuLty (dystocia) is a common cause of economic losses on a farm. It can be pre-vented by strategies like ensuring that heifers are well grown prior to and after joining, making cer-tain that cows and heifers calve in good condition, neither too fat or too thin,

managing the calves’ birth weights by using calving ease or sexed semen is a valuable tool, and ensur-ing supervision of calving cows is important.

Knowing what is “normal” and when to assist a calving cow is extremely important. Both front feet, followed by the

head is a normal presen-tation.

The quicker that you are able to identify that the delivery is not progressing, or that the calf is malpre-sented or oversized, the better the chance of a suc-cessful delivery.

Vets have a few things in our bag of tricks that are

useful for the really dif-ficult deliveries, but the large majority of calves that require assistance can be delivered without any special equipment.

Calving jacks, pulleys or a variety of contraptions are great as a calving aid, though it must be remem-bered to use force judi-


28 // aNImaL heaLth

ANimAL hEALThrob boNANNo

Remember the 20 minute rule this calving season

ciously. Just because you can pull that hard, doesn’t always mean that you should.

A question that I am frequently asked is: “How do you know if a calf can be pulled?”

Generally speaking, if a calf can be pulled up into the birth canal, and I can slide my arm down beside the head and shoulder, I would consider that I have a good chance of deliver-ing that calf.

I prefer calving ropes or lo-trauma calving straps to chains, but chains are more hygienic and are easier to keep clean. I fre-quently find that by simply using a soft head snare to keep the head up and the neck extended, I can easily deliver otherwise ‘unpulla-ble’ calves.

Another frequent error that I see farmers make is not using lubricant.

Once the calf is dry, or if the cow’s birth canal is tight, trying to pull the calf without enough lubrica-tion will cause tearing and bruising. Obstetrical lubri-cant is inexpensive and makes the process better for the cow and the oper-ator.

Cleanliness is another real deficiency I observe in many cases of calving assistance.

Using clean water, with a non-irritating disinfectant agent to clean around the back end, tying the tail to the side, (or having an assistant hold it for you), and wearing disposable AI gloves whenever possible will dramatically reduce the amount of contamination of the birth canal with dirt and faeces and greatly reduce the risk of Metritis.

Calving paralysis is a serious complication of either overly vigorous assistance or a hiplock occurring in an unobserved calving. Hiplock can often be prevented or relieved

by rotating the calf by 90 degrees to present the narrowest profile of the calf ’s hips to the cow’s pelvis as the calf is delivered.

Whenever a lot of manipulation of the calf is required, it is usually best to call the vet sooner rather than later.

Once the calf is dead and the reproductive tract is contaminated or damaged and is swollen and dry, the job is much harder, and the outcome poorer.

The best advice that I can give regarding a calving cow is this: Remember the ‘20 minute rule’.

If you have been work-ing on a calving cow for 20 minutes, and have made no progress, stop, reassess, call for assistance or try a new approach.

Ensure that the cow is safely and adequately restrained. Never pull on only one leg, never pull harder than is necessary; patience and lubrication will prevent injuries.

Promptly treat any maternal tears or injuries and providing excellent nursing care in addition to anti-inflammatories when cows have maternal paralysis will give the best welfare and economic out-comes.

Calving assistance is as much art as science.Experience is the greatest teacher, but sticking to the ‘20 minute rule’ will mean that even an inexperi-enced operator will slowly improve their skill level without too many disas-ters along the way.

Veterinarians have access to uterine relaxants and epidural anaesthe-sia that makes the process safer for the cow and the operator. • Rob Bonanno is a partner in the Shepparton Veterinary Clinic and a past president of the Australian Cattle Veteri-narians Association.

®

Teatseal®. Real stories, real savings.

Ben McKenzie – Cobden, VICTORIA “Since using this product I have almost totally eliminated mastitis at calving and effectively removed mastitis issues from my herd… I have more than saved the cost of the Teatseal, antibiotic dry cow therapy and associated application labour by the massive reduction in lost milk, medical costs, time and culls.”

Mark Williams – Toolamba West, VICTORIA “The use of Teatseal is now an integral part of my herd

management. The initial cost is far outweighed by the time and money saved treating clinical mastitis. Less stress on

cows, staff and in particular management.”

Peter & Jeanette Clark – Korrine, VICTORIA “250 cows treated with Teatseal costs approximately $4,000. Milk from each cow saved - 7,000L at 35cents/L equals $2,450. So in our case, two cows saved [from being culled] more than pays for the Teatseal.”

Zoetis Technical Information: 1800 814 883 www.teatseal.com.au

Times are tough. Don’t make things tougher by dropping Teatseal from your drying off program. Get real results by treating every cow, every dry off.

© 2013 Zoetis Inc. All rights reserved. Zoetis Australia Pty Ltd ABN 94 156 476 425. 38-42 Wharf Road, West Ryde, NSW, 2114. AM960 03/13 PAL0846/DN.

PAL0846_DN_260x187_v02.indd 1 3/05/13 9:51 AM

Whenever a lot of manipulation of the calf is required, it is usually best to call the vet sooner rather than later.

mitting. Discuss the logis-tics such as area likely to be cut and when it may be ready. Fix any access problems such as rough, narrow laneways and gate-ways. Discuss the “What ifs” when the unforseen happens. Also have a strong agreement on pay-ment details. An early payer will usually get the contractors attention and keep your harvest needs near the top of his list. If payment is an issue, be up front and stick to what is negotiated. The contractor has large bills also.

Equipment: It is sur-prising how much equip-ment may need some sort of service, maintenance or repair before the start of harvest. Some parts may need to be ordered in and this may take weeks not days. Be proactive and replace suspect items now, to avoid being let down in the middle of harvest.

Silage additives: Most silage additives (mainly inoculants but there are other types) from reputable companies have a place in today’s silage making. They are particularly useful for mown material that is still slightly too wet after two to three days wilting and where rain may be threatening. Harvest as soon as possible after applying an additive. By day three quality is being lost and if rained on this will drastically increase quality and dry matter losses. Note that the application rate is based on fresh weight of forage and slightly too wet forage

is very heavy. Although additives are not necessary in ideal harvesting conditions they are usually financially beneficial because they encourage a faster, more efficient fermentation resulting in higher quality silage.

Storage: Have stack bases cleaned, and if not cemented, grade their surface to give a fall. Have plastic sheets and stretch wrap plastic on hand ensuring the latter is stored in a cool place till used. Avoid rolls roll-ing around in ute/truck trays as the films are easily punctured. Even a small hole can lead to large silage and milk income losses.

Seal the stacks air-tight. Achieve this by laying gravel/sand filled socks around the stack perimeter. Tyres placed around the base are not airtight and the silage wasted would have easily paid for the socks. Patch holes using silage specific

tape. Before applying the tape, ensure the area to be patched is clean, cool, dry and apply like colour tape to similar colour film.

Consider the new oxygen barrier (OB) type films which are available in one step or two step systems. The OB film is at least 20 times more imper-vious to oxygen moving through the film than the traditional white/black films.

Safety: Be very care-ful of machinery operat-ing nearby and watch out for operators who may be distracted. Loaded carts and balers on hillsides are very heavy and may not need much of a hole to flip them over, nor to loose traction when head-ing down slopes. When on a main road, assume the person in the car behind has not seen your turn-ing indicators or flashing light on top of the tractor. I have heard of too many near misses and accidents from this oversight. When

working at night, be very mindful of blinding lights from approaching vehi-cles in the paddock or the stack. Many accidents happen at night due to tiredness and dangerous situations not seen, such as dropping a wheel over the stack edge, etc. Keep kids well away from oper-ating machinery.

Consider your neigh-bours: Try to place the storage site well away from their house if possi-ble. Following good silage making principles will result in a sweet-smell-ing silage and less cause for grief. Trying to keep the storage site cleared of smelly mud/silage mixes and spoiled (rotting) silage waste will also help out here. • Frank Mickan is a fodder and pasture specialist with the Victorian DEPI, based at Ellinbank. He can be con-tacted on (03) 5624 2259.This article has been re-printed from How Now Gippy Cow with permission.


hay & sILage // 29

most farmers have exhausted their stocks of silage and hay this year, forcing many to buy in hay at high prices and some-times dubious quality to fill feed gaps.

Farmers will need to grow, graze and/or con-serve as much high qual-ity pasture as possible this spring to restock. Hope-fully we are now head-ing into a silage-friendly spring, good pasture growth and weather to favour early silage har-vesting.

Sticking to a suitable rotation length through winter would see you with a good pasture wedge. If not, spring will start later for you and silage yields may be lower, requir-ing longer shut up to get reasonable bulk which will most likely result in poorer regrowth. Below are a few things to con-sider.

Fertilisers: Address

the fertility of your pad-docks destined for silage or hay so that pastures are not restricted by a nutri-ent deficiency but also to avoid applying nutri-ents needlessly. Soil test in early spring and apply phosphorous, potassium and sulphur as needed in a mix with or without nitrogen (N).

This year, seri-ously con-sider applying N to boost pasture growth for grazing and silage/hay cuts. Applying N will actually encourage vegetative (leafy) growth more so than reproductive and stem growth. Apply about 100 to 150kg of urea which equate to about 46 to 70kg of N. Allow three to five weeks (depending on growing conditions) after N application before cutting silage.

If no N is applied shut ups may need to be longer to achieve similar yields to the N applied pad-docks. No N application will result in substantially more dead leaves and til-lers in the base of the sward and much slower, lower yielding regrowth.

This is drasti-cally com-pounded if shut up is even longer due to farm-ers chas-ing pasture bulk versus pasture quality.

Silage cuts at or just past grazing height will produce the best qual-ity silage and get fast, high quality regrowth while maintaining pasture den-sity.

Contractors: Start talking to your contrac-tor now so that he can for-ward plan who to get to and when, weather per-

Be ready for silage seasonfraNk mIckaN

Consider the new oxygen barrier type films which are available in one step or two step systems.

- Frank Mickan

Frank Mickan

This year, seriously consider applying N to boost pasture growth for grazing and silage/hay cuts.

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30 // hay & sILage

Reduce silage variables and increase qualitymaNy varIabLes can influence the ulti-mate quality of preserved forage, from decisions in the field to the manage-ment of the stack at ensil-ing and at feedout, says Vitec Nutrition.

The animal nutrition company says one of the most important factors in achieving efficient ensiling is minimising the amount of oxygen trapped in, or given access to the stack.

Chop length and effec-tive compaction play an important role in reduc-ing the amount of oxygen trapped in the stack itself. Effective sealing of the silo is also crucial for success, the company says.

“Not an easy task when so many stacks are of the drive over kind, with large surface areas exposed to air. Oxygen penetration

into this top layer allows aerobic microorganisms to multiply, resulting in aero-bic deterioration. Losses in highly digestible dry matter are a consequence, with a risk of mycotoxin production which can lead to metabolic problems in dairy cows.”

It was this sce-nario which stimu-lated farm-ers pro-ducing cheese in Italy to request help from a lead-ing plastic film manufac-turers and the country’s ag research institute. They wanted to improve their silage quality and mini-

mise the risk of moulds in their silage entering the food chain.

In collaboration, the groups saw an improved oxygen barrier film, Silos-top, developed as an alter-native to standard black/white polyethylene film.

This film works in two ways: it clings to the sur-face of the silage, min-

imising air movement, and it is impermeable to oxygen.

According to Vitec, trials carried out at Kansas State University have

shown that average losses in the top 1m layer of a silage stack are about 20% DM when a standard poly-ethylene silage cover is used.

In contrast, when Silo-stop oxygen barrier film is used, losses can be greatly reduced with losses of about 10% found to be typ-ical using such a system.

It says implications for feed cost savings are con-siderable if you take into account the value of forage dry matter under each square metre of plastic.

For example, a typi-cal fresh weight wilted grass silage with a den-sity of 600kg/mm3 (30% dry matter, according to DairyNZ) would yield about 180kg DM per m3 of top layer. Reducing losses in this layer from 20% to 10% using an oxygen bar-

rier film, would equate to 18kg DM. At a value of about 23 cents/kg DM, this would be worth $4.14/m2 of the surface layer.

The recovery of dry matter and nutrients in the final silage can also be influenced by the type of bacteria that control the initial fermentation.

The inoculant Sil-All contains four scientifically selected strains of unique bacteria that cover the entire pH range encoun-tered through the ensil-ing process, dominating the initial fermentation by overpowering any wild bacteria in both effective-ness and numbers while

controlling fermentation outcome.

A combination of good stack management, the use of appropriate inocu-lants designed to enhance fermentation and the use of oxygen barrier film can all help to reduce wastage and increase the value of conserved forage.

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a coNtractor from Irrewarra, just out of Colac in Victoria’s Western District, has had such efficient per-formance from a suc-cession of Kuhn mower/conditioners that he is, at the moment, considering his third such purchase.

Lee Hitchings, has been running Hitchings Contracting for about 14 years since he branched away from the family dairy farm to start with a tractor and round baler and has accu-mulated a fleet of machinery since then. The business, which includes his wife, Emma, concentrates on cultivation and hay and silage, and his customer base comprises about 50% dairy, 25% sheep/cropping and 25% beef producers. They are all within a 50km radius of home and most within about 30km.

Mr Hitchings started out with a dairy apprenticeship on the farm of his par-

ents, Garry and Marg, not far away at Irre-warra, who these days run a dairy which pro-duces bio-dynamic ice cream through milking 150 Jerseys.

The machine that we visited the property to check out is a Kuhn FC303GC mower/con-

ditioner that Hitchings has been oper-ating for two years.

He operates four tractors; A Deutz and three New Holland machines ranging from 125 to 185 horsepower. Other equipment includes two Welger balers and one new Holland baler and a McHale HS-2000 wrapper, that Mr Hitchings says “does a lot of bales per hour”. A Schinckel rake, Kuhn tedder, and Pottinger mower/conditioner are also among the gear for hay and silage, along with a Kuhn single rotary rake that Mr Hitchings says is just for turn-

ing high quality crops, the day before baling it.

Duncan and Vaderstad seed drills are used for the cultivation work. The Vaderstad is particularly useful in heavy trash.

Mt Hitchings is very enthusias-tic about the Kuhn FC303GC; “This machine is excellent, it gives by far the

best job for my type of work. It is the strongest out of any machine I’ve ever used, particularly with the heavy steel deck. It is miles in front of any other linkage or trailed mower/conditioner.”

He likes the simple adjustability of the con-ditioning which controls the effect of the hammer flail, with steel fingers to make it gentler on the quality crops, particularly lucerne. Kuhn claims that the round

profile of the conditioning fingers give thorough conditioning with less leaf loss and shredding than other impeller conditioning systems. The base of the crop enters the conditioning system first, allowing the fingers to make initial contact with the portion of the crop that is most difficult to condition.

The gearbox on the mower/condi-tioner itself can be changed from 600 to 1000 rpm depending on the crop and, for Mr Hitchings, that is very important for contracting.

“We grow 100 acres of lucerne and other crops so we need that ability to change. About 70% of our fodder crop customers are dairy farmers.”

The Kuhn has a central drawbar utilising their ‘Gyro-dine’ swivel hitch to enable mowing back and forth on the same side of the field. Kuhn claims that it provides exceptional manoeu-vrability.

Very long springs mounted horizon-tally on the chassis act through pivot-ing bell cranks and link rods to provide constant suspension for high qual-ity cutting and high working speed.

Kuhn says that the arrangement main-tains near constant machine weight throughout a travel range of about 40 cm (16”).

The cutter bar includes gear train protection in case of hitting an obstacle in the crop, which means reduced maintenance costs and fast replace-

ment with reduced down time – an important issue for contractors.

With six discs, the working width on the FC303GC is 3m and it requires an 80 PTO horsepower tractor to operate it.

The other Kuhn mower/condition-ers that Mr Hitchings has owned, as well as the Duncan, Pottinger and Vaderstad gear, have been purchased through the Swayn and McCabe dealership in Colac and he says that they give good service. Sales manager, Justin Parrott is his main contact there.

And he also has a good word to say about the distribu-tor; “Kuhn mobile support is very good …. they’ll come out if there is a problem. We’ve had a lot of Kuhn gear over the years.”

The weekend before we visited in mid-July the district had received about 40mm. “That was a saviour,” said Mr Hitchings. “It’s gone a long way to setting us up for the spring rains.”

At the moment he is still pondering

the possibility of a new Kuhn model, which will be very similar to his cur-rent one, with a flail-type conditioner for wider spreading in silage.


machINery & proDucts // 31

workiNG cLoThESchriS DiNGLE

who: Lee Hitchings whErE: Irrewarra via Colac whAT: Kuhn FC303GC mower/conditioner

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Lee Hitchings

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Mr Hitchings likes the simple adjustability of the conditioning which controls the effect of the hammer flail, with steel fingers to make it gentler on the quality crops, particularly lucerne.

Former dairy farmer Lee Hitchings with his Kuhn FC 303 GC.


32 // machINery & proDucts

Productive season forMcHale balerthe heeNaN family in Mossburn, New Zealand have several dairy farms that total 1600ha and support 1800 cows. Denis Heenan does the baling for the operation.

The farms use a lot of pit silage but also need 7000 bales each season. That’s where the McHale Fusion II baler/wrap-per comes in. “It’s a good, reliable bit of gear. My wife calls it ‘the mistress’ as I’m always with it and never home on a sunny day.”

Baleage gives the family the flexibil-ity to ensile the grass or crop when it’s at the highest quality. They also grow specialised crops such as lucerne, a red clover mix and whole crop barley, which all go through the McHale. Barley straw is also baled later in the season.

The baler comes out of the shed in mid-October for the dairy platform. Last season it didn’t go back in again until mid-May. “We wouldn’t normally

do that but we had to last year as feed was short. It was wet stuff and the baler did well to bale it.”

Heenan says the Fusion II is easy to operate. “It’s set up pretty simple and it’s a job I enjoy doing. I would definitely get another McHale.”

Heenan pulls the McHale with a 165hp or 185hp tractor. “It’s a lot of weight and you need that power, espe-cially on the hills. The low centre of gravity keeps it stable and it follows the contours well.”

The baler has its own console in the cab, and Heenan has set up cameras so he can see what’s happening with the wrapper.

The Fusion II has a 2.0m pick-up and the driver can choose whether or not to engage the knives. Heenan only uses knives for bales for the dairy platform.

If anything clogs there is a drop floor, operated from the cab. “I always

get a few blockages but it is an operator problem, not the machine. The problem is usually the guy on the V-rake, creat-ing lumps and throwing one row into another.

“The odd rock has got into the baler. It has a slip clutch so if you hit a rock, it starts slipping and you stop it and drop the floor.”

The Fusion II has a fixed chamber that produces bales 1.25m2. The pressure is variable but Heenan always uses high

pressure to produce dense bales. “We try to make them as heavy as we can. They’re at least 250kg of dry matter.”

Heenan also likes the Fusion II’s netwrap system. “They’ve put a lot of thought into it and it’s very simple to use and to change rolls. There’s a self-greasing cartridge that takes care of most maintenance and the rest is easy to get at.”

He can’t see any disadvantage in a combined baler/wrapper. “We

consistently do 50 bales an hour. Some peoples say that’s the downfall of a combi wrapper but to do more than 50, you’d have to be flat out and what’s the life of the machine if you do that? Our priority is the quality of the grass and we don’t see the speed of wrapping as an issue.

“A distinct advantage is having one less labour unit and one less tractor on the job. In addition, once you’ve finished the paddock you don’t have to go back.”

Mike (left) and Denis Heenan like everything about their Fusion II baler, from its stability on slopes to its drop floor and slick netwrap system.

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chrIs DINgLe, who is now handling the advertising representation for Dairy News Australia, has over 30 years’ rural marketing experience.

Based in central Victoria, he has worked in a variety of sales and marketing positions in the rural media, agricultural machinery and animal health, plus broad advertising agency experience.

Mr Dingle has extensive dairy industry knowledge through aftermarket product management and milk quality roles with two of the leading milking machine companies.

He will be familiar to readers of Dairy News through his ‘Working Clothes’ articles in each issue over the past couple of years

and is not afraid to pull on the gumboots and go on-farm.

His comprehensive understanding of advertising and marketing means that Mr Dingle is ideally placed to assist you in reaching your advertising goals to dairy farmers throughout Australia.

For the petrol-heads among the readers of Dairy News, Mr Dingle has participated in various forms of motor sport over the last 40-odd years and in his time away from work still competes in club events in a purpose-built sports/racing car. So he is always ready for a chat about that side of sport.

• Contact Chris on 0417 735 001 or at [email protected]


machINery & proDucts // 33

Chris Dingle

what turNs a loader wagon into a silage trans-port wagon? Lely has answered this question by designing the Lely Tigo XR series and setting a new standard for combi wagons.

The Lely Tigo XR series is a completely new in-house development, and can be used as a loader wagon as well as a silage transport wagon. The new Tigos combine reliability and capacity with a nimble footprint to effortlessly negotiate demanding con-ditions.

The new wagons’ innovative superstructure has an integrated, hydraulically-adjustable, multi-func-tion bulkhead. Making optimum use of the space above the extra wide pick-up provides an additional 6m3 of loading capacity. It also improves the load on the drawbar to ensure absolute stability even when transporting huge amounts of crop.

Lely has designed its new Tigos with an inner frame width of 2.36m so they can accommodate a greater load volume in a shorter vehicle. This makes the new Tigo XR the most compact combi wagon on the market and about 1m shorter than comparable combi wagons with the same load capacity.

Tigo XR series wagons offer outstanding crop pick-up with seven extra-wide tine bars. The new camless pick-up is 200cm wide and fitted with seven rows of tines mounted closely together (only 54mm apart). This ensures clean and efficient crop pick-up.

The optional pick up tracer roller delivers an even cleaner job and keeps the pick-up out of harm’s way when working in demanding field conditions. The rotational speeds of the rotor and pick-up are per-fectly coordinated to ensure excellent crop flow and an enormous pick-up capacity.

The entire load unit has been designed to meet the most demanding situations. The high performance pick-up plus the large, 800mm-diameter chopping rotor and 1.75m-wide feed channel combine to ensure an enormous throughput.

The seven rows of case-hardened rotor fingers are mounted in a flow smoothening spiral design. The fingers are 25mm wide and provide a more effec-tive and fuel efficient crop transport. Up to 45 knives allow a clean cut with a minimum cutting length of 37mm.

The result is high quality, pre-compacted rumi-nant forage and a wagon perfectly loaded to maxi-mum capacity.

Safety is Lely’s primary concern and to accom-modate greater loads and higher driving speeds, Tigo XR loader wagons come with chasses that can safely stand up to extreme demands. Options include bogie and tandem or tridem chassis with hydro-pneumatic suspension with or without weighing system and rear or forced steering.

Chris takes reins

Lely introduces new big boy of combi wagons

www.lely.com innovators in agriculture

The rhythm of life

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10 Year Structured Finance packageS available*With the Lely Astronaut milking robot every cow has its own rhythm. They can decide whether they would like to eat, rest, or be milked. That gives you the flexibility to manage your own time without fixed routines.For more information, visit www.lely.com

Lely Australia Pty Ltd: Call (03) 5484 4000 or email [email protected]

* 10

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34 // machINery & proDucts

gea farm Technologies Australia is currently re-structuring its dealer network but managing director, Peter Maguire, says both Milfos and WestfaliaSurge brands will continue to be present and promoted in Australia.

GEA bought the Milfos International Group, with its headquarters in Hamilton, New Zealand, last November. It now offers a com-prehensive range of dairy industry prod-uct brands: milk-ing machine, cooling, heat recovery and farm management equip-ment from Milfos and WestfaliaSurge; efflu-ent handling equip-ment from Houle; and barn equipment supplies from Norbco.

Mr Maguire said both Milfos and WestfaliaSurge brands will continue to be present and promoted in the Australian milking machine equipment market, each with their own distinctive features and advan-tages. Milfos equipment will continue to be manufac-tured in Hamilton, New Zealand.

He said the company was going through the pro-cess of re-structuring the dealer network in the most efficient way.

“We’ve brought together our sales, customer ser-vice and operations teams under one umbrella. This move will mean that we have a stronger dealer net-work, with a wider range of products,” he said.

“We are able to offer the whole range from state of the art conventional milking equipment, robotic milk-ing systems and the latest cooling and heat recovery technologies to durable and reliable effluent treat-ment and cow comfort needs.

“Particularly when a dairy farmer looks for a com-plete turnkey project or the latest innovative milking components we are able to offer the best service on farm.

“We have a firm strategy for keeping and growing these brands in the market – a strategy that centres around providing Australian dairy farmers, total solu-tions on their farms, both now and into the future.”

The company currently has four area managers, a technical manager and a field service technician, an effluent manager and an additional technician look-ing after effluent equipment gear and a herd manage-ment support person.

A dealer network of 21 dealerships Australia wide, with 11 dealerships in Victoria, provides farmgate ser-vice.

GEA to promote Milfos brand

Peter Maguire

Maximising fodder productionLImIteD feeD and fodder sup-plies this winter are prompting dairy farmers and hay producers to make every effort to maximise pasture growth in the paddock.

The right fertiliser selection can make all the difference, says Lee Menhenett, technical agronomist with Incitec Pivot Fertilisers.

“With the right fertiliser for the job, farmers can increase dry matter production and have more feed avail-able at the next grazing.”

Mr Menhenett said it was impor-tant for farmers to remember that winter conditions slowed down the activity of the bacteria responsible

for mineralising nitrogen in the soil, so levels of plant available nitrogen in the soil could be lower in winter.

“In winter, there’s good potential for quicker uptake and better pasture responses when the nitrogen is sup-plied in the plant-available nitrate form,” he said.

Mr Menhenett recommended a fertiliser from the Cal-Gran range.

“Cal-Gran fertilisers contain 7.4% fast acting nitrate nitrogen for imme-diate use by the pasture,” he said.

It also contains 16.5% ammo-nium nitrogen, 10.8% sulphur and 4.4% calcium.

He recommended applying rates

of between 25 kg/ha and 60 kg/ha of nitrogen, equating to 105 kg/ha to 250 kg/ha of Cal-Gran.

“Although it is best to apply Cal-Gran prior to rainfall or irrigation to move the nitrogen into the soil, when nitrogen in these forms is applied to acid soils it tends not to volatilise, so it is potentially a safer option than urea,” he said.

Mr Menhenett said winter dry matter responses to nitrogen fertil-isers varied depending on a number of factors including soil fertility, pas-ture composition and the initial state of the soil, but responses in the order of 5 to 15kg of dry matter per kilo-

gram of nitrogen could be expected. He said the short lived annual

ryegrasses tended to be more nitro-gen responsive than perennial rye-grass varieties.

“To put it another way, depend-ing on the initial state of the soil and the usual environmental variables, the pasture could produce from 125 to 900kg per hectare of extra dry matter,” he said.

Cal-Gran fertiliser blends are also available to supply multi-nutri-ent combinations to suit a range of nutrient needs in pasture, depending on soil test information and whether the pasture is being grazed or cut

for hay. Mr Men-henett suggested farmers consider fertilisers such as Cal-Gran 50/50 which contains nitro-gen, potassium and sulphur and Cal-Gran Speed, which contains nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur.

Lee Menhenett

Display Centre Now Open(Monday to Friday, Saturday by appointment)30 Moloney Drive, Wodonga, Victoria, 3689Freecall 1800 880 802 or phone Derek on 0410 604 804

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From $128,800incl GST installed*Jeantil EVR 21-15 Twin Horizontal Beaters

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From $73,350 incl GST installed*Jeantil EVR 14-12 Twin Vertical Beater

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From $6,400incl GSTReck Typoon Pond Mixer

6.3m Reck Typoon Jumbo 45mm slurry pond mixer, high efficiency galvanised prop. Full 1 year manufacturer’s warranty.

From $76,725 incl GST installed*Jeantil GT 12500 Slurry Tanker

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tyres. Available on 3% finance^ with full one year manufacturer’s warranty.

From $147,950incl GST installed*Penta 8020HD Vertical Mixer

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From $26,950incl GST installed*Viking 4000 Belt Spreader

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stainless steel body and chain link floor mat, fertiliser, lime, compost & chicken manure. Available on 3%

finance^ with full one year manufacturer’s warranty.

From $2,850incl GSTIris Pendulum Fertilizer Spreader

400ltr capacity, uv toughened poly hopper, 3pl & PTO shaft included. Accurate placement.Full 1 year manufacturer’s warranty.

From $760 incl GSTIris Super & Seed Spreader

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From $2,750 incl GSTIris Super Spreaders Complete Range

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Dairy News Australia August 2013