MAY 10, 2011 ISSUE 246

WINTER FEED CHALLENGEForage mix does the jobPAGE 28

NZFSU FULL TAKEOVER BIDShareholders urged to stay PAGE 21

Trading Among Farmers off the agenda this year PAGE 3

RAW MILK PRICE STOUSH

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Trading Among Farmers off the agenda this year PAGE 3

Gourmet cheese makers slam DIRA PAGES 4 & 7

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011 3

NEWS

SUDESH KISSUN

THE LAUNCH by Fonterra of Trading Among Farmers (TAF) is off this year’s agenda, says chairman Henry van der Heyden. The co-op now hopes legislation will be finalised for a March/April 2012 launch.

With van der Heyden at his side, Agriculture Minister David Carter last week told a Fonterra Network Conference at Hamilton amendments to the Dairy Indus-try Restructuring Act (DIRA) are “very unlikely” this year.

Carter says issues raised by stakeholders during public con-sultation must be addressed before amended legislation is tabled in Parliament.

Farmers are “a little disap-pointed” with the announcement but remain positive about TAF, says van der Heyden.

“The 2011 October/Novem-ber launch window is off the agenda,” he told Dairy News. “We identified March/April 2012 and October/November 2012 as two other possible windows and we’re working towards that.”

Van der Heyden says Carter assures him TAF legislation

would be a National Government priority after the November elec-tion. The Christchurch earth-quake and the possibility of an inquiry into milk pricing are also factors that delayed TAF legisla-tion in Parliament.

“As the minister has said it is unlikely; we accept TAF will not be finalised this year.”

Van der Heyden says concerns about open entry/exit provisions for shareholders under TAF are ill-founded as it gives farmers “more choice about when and how they buy and sell Fonterra shares”.

Carter is also backing TAF, saying it can benefit the industry and economy. But issues have been raised which must be ad-dressed.

“I had earlier given an assur-ance to Sir Henry [van der Hey-den] that I would do all I could to get the legislation done before the election.

“But given the work still re-quired, and the massive list of bills Parliament has to consider in the next few months, it now looks unlikely legislation will be passed before the election in November.

“We may get the legislation

introduced to Parliament, in which case a re-elected National Government would give it priority.

“A workable TAF remains a priority for a National Govern-ment. But it is in all our interests that we get this right.”

News .......................................................... 3-14

Opinion .................................................... 16-17

Agribusiness ...........................................20-21

Management ..........................................22-24

Animal Health .........................................25-27

Animal Health & Stockfeeds .............. 28-30

Machinery & Products .......................... 31-34

Operating efficiencies of rotary milking sheds.

Leafing through pasture to monitor growth.

Page 10

Page 22

Growing fodder beat as a winter crop. Page 27

TAF launch delayed

TO HELP farmers adjust to the delay in TAF’s launch, Fon-terra will allow them more time to pay for new shares.

Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden says it is look-ing at helping out farmers until TAF’s launch.

Normally farmers must pay by July for extra shares for a new season. But for 2011-12 farmers may delay payment until the end of October. Delayed payments will be charged interest at commercial rates.

“It’s all about allowing farmers greater flexibility until TAF starts,” van der Heyden says.

More time to pay

Milk pricing transparent – FonterraFONTERRA SAYS it is cooper-ating with the Commerce Com-mission study of milk pricing.

Chairman Henry van der Heyden says the commission has been in touch and the co-op is making information available.

“Our milk pricing system is transparent,” he told Dairy News.

The commission is trying to

determine whether a milk price inquiry is needed.

Agriculture Minister David Carter says an inquiry into milk pricing would affect the review of the Dairy Industry Restructur-ing Act (DIRA) begun by MAF. He says the milk price is central to DIRA and its raw milk provi-sions. He agrees there is a need to review DIRA.

Fonterra farmers are also con-cerned the co-op must supply raw milk at subsidised prices to competitors.

“I share these concerns,” Carter says. “The regulations need to be reviewed and updated, 10 years on from their inception.

“The review is wide ranging, covering all aspects of the regu-lations including who is eligible

to take regulated milk and for how long, what quantity of milk can be taken, and what level of flexibility should be provided in the rules of supply.

“As policy development con-tinues, there will be robust con-sultation where all stakeholders may express their views.”

The commission will release its findings next month.

Henry van der Heyden

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NEWS

DAIRY NEWS now has its own web-site!

A redesign and relaunch of all Rural News Group’s websites now puts Dairy News, the bi-monthly national publica-tion, online at www.dairynews.co.nz

Here’s all the news and information relevant to dairy farmers, written and edited by the agricultural journalists who produce Rural News, Dairy News and NZ WineGrower.

Site sections include industry news, opinion, management, animal health, machinery and products, and agribusi-ness. It has the latest digital-media bells and whistles – blogs and social

media feeds for the more technically advanced among us.

New technology and the clean, modern look of the website align with New Zealand’s largest and most pro-gressive industry – dairying.

The site will lead visitors to every issue of Dairy News, and offers compe-titions for farmers, and extended ver-sions of stories too long for the print issue but valuable to farmers.

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Website relaunch

Soaring milk price hits cheese makingSUDESH KISSUN

GOURMET CHEESE makers are feeling the pinch as demand for raw milk grows globally. Many struggle to stay afloat as soaring raw milk prices force their production costs to record levels.

New Zealand Specialist Cheese Association president Mike Carey says its members “are finding it quite tough out there”. Publicity about milk and cheese prices is also slowing consumption of gourmet cheese, he says.

“Specialist cheese is a slightly more a luxury than an everyday item,” he told Dairy News. “So any increase in our cost of production challenges our market share.”

With global demand for dairy tipped to remain strong, Carey sees no respite for gourmet cheese mak-ers. He points out while Fonterra continues to thrive in the strong global dairy market it spells more bad news for specialists, most of whom rely on Fonterra for raw milk.

Raw milk price is around the forecast payout price set by Fonter-ra. But if during the season Fonter-ra increases its payout, the cheese makers are invoiced for a top-up payment.

But by then the milk will have been turned into cheese and sold, Carey says. “Then it’ll be too late for us to recoup the extra milk price.”

In April last year Fonterra an-nounced a 2010-11 season forecast

milk price of $6.60/kgMS. But as global demand for dairy grew the co-op boosted its forecast milk price to $7.50/kgMS. Raw milk sold by Fonterra incurs a transport cost plus a 10c/kgMS premium set by the Government.

Carey says the mechanism for price increases and timing must

be studied in the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act (DIRA) review. Fonterra’s success in the global market may be good for dairy farmers and New Zealand economy but not everyone benefits, he says. “Fonterra’s global success... is put-

ting more pressure on us.”Carey says the closure of the

Te Mata cheese plant in Hawke’s Bay (story on page 7) reflects the state of the industry. “It shows the challenge posed by the high milk price.”

IN BRIEF

Flat milk prices at auctionINTERNATIONAL MILK prices in Fonterra’s fort-nightly auction have remained broadly flat.

The globalDairyTrade (gDT) trade weighted index rose 0.1% on May 5. The average win-ning price rose to $US4293 from $US4280 a fortnight ago. That followed a fall of 2.4% this month and a fall of 8.2% in mid-March.

Despite those declines, prices remained at elevated levels.

In the latest auction the near term con-tract for skim milk powder rose strongly but was offset by falls for anhydrous milk fat and whole milk powder.

More on page 7

Specialist cheese makers are also facing the effects of high milk prices.

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ANDREW SWALLOW

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY’S demon-stration farm looks likely to cut its stocking rate to try to boost its al-ready industry-leading profits.

The plan, dubbed “precision dairying” by South Island Dairy Development Centre’s Ron Pellow, was unveiled last week at a farm Focus Day.

The aim is “a 5% decrease in stocking rate, for a 10% increase in production, and 15% more profit,” says Pellow. “Doesn’t sound too bad, does it.”

By reducing herd size 3-6%, with the same feed or more avail-able, the farm would capitalise on the ever-increasing production po-tential of the cows, with proportion-ately more feed allocated to pro-duction and less to maintenance.

With fewer cows the farm would have a better chance of increasing

productivity without increasing its environmental footprint, argues Pellow.

Putting grain feeders in the shed has been dismissed; it may increase profit but others in the area are do-ing that successfully and such sys-tems are tried and tested.

“What we’re proposing is less certain.”

Splitting what would be a 620-645 cow herd into several mobs to better manage feed supply and cow condition is likely.

Better reproductive performance is anticipated, which would reduce replacement rates and costs and raise overall production as there would be fewer heifers in the herd.

The plan attracted immediate criticism from some at the field day.

“What you’re calling precision farming I would call complicated farming,” South Canterbury-based dairy farmer Leonie Guiney said. “You’re making it more complicat-

ed for the manager.”She suggested Pellow would in

one year be defending the theory of the strategy but blaming on man-agement a poorer performance than is now achieved.

Others questioned whether the theoretical increase in output per cow could be achieved in practice, but Pellow says there are farms do-ing 450kgMS off grass alone al-ready.

NEWS

Soaring milk price hits cheese making

PETER BURKE

THE VAST majority of dairy farm-ers are doing well, according to a survey by KPMG. But 15-20% have high debt and are carefully man-aged by banks, says the company’s acting head of financial services, John Kensington.

KPMG surveyed major banks and financiers on dairy farmers’ debt levels. The farmers found to be bothering the banks tend to be on larger farms – corporate or family

– and those who had bought more farms, Kensington says. Many af-fected had done dairy conversions the previous time the milksolids payout was high.

The problem that’s surfaced now is largely historical, from the days of euphoria over high payouts. Previously when times got tough so did banks, precipitating mortgagee sales, Kensington says.

Not so this time.“The banks have seen [an in-

crease in the number of] loans that may not necessarily get repaid in

full and those where a borrower is going to repay in full but is now a little behind.

“Because we’re in difficult eco-nomic times, people’s cashflows may have decreased slightly but the banks are careful how they deal with those people.

“If the banks feel people are making a genuine attempt to pay the interest and some of the prin-cipal, they are prepared to work with them to find a solution.” But Kensington warns things could get worse for the 20% in trouble.

‘Most farmers doing well’

Uni farm eyes less cows, more profits

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011 7

ANDREW SWALLOW

FOR INTEGRATED organic dairy farm and cheese maker Ret­ro Organics, Southland, the hike in milk price has reduced the return over simply selling to Fonterra.

But owner operator Robin Greer says “at the moment it’s still worth us processing it,” without increasing prices of their end product.

“Getting established in the market is more im­portant at this stage. What we’re selling is not an ev­eryday product for most people.”

At present about 5% of the 100,000kgMS or so Greer and wife Lois produce from their herd of 330 organically certi­fied cows near Matuara is further processed, the balance going to Fonterra.

Of that 5%, 80% goes into cheese, about 15% is bottled, and 5% made into yoghurt. Two and

a half years since the processing plant opened the cheeses are now available nationwide.

“We’re pleased with how it’s going, increasing sales every

month, so we couldn’t ask for better really,” Greer told Dairy News.

He’s “happy” with South Island availability, notably through New World super­markets, and is now building

North Island distribution. A couple of big supply con­

tracts were secured recently, two years after opening talks with the customers. “We’ve learnt these

things don’t happen quickly.”

Negotiations are also underway to ex­port, though to date nothing has been shipped, largely be­cause of scale issues.

“People want huge amounts compared with what we’re able to supply. For us the dif­ficulty [in exporting] is finding someone who wants a smaller amount in line with what we can produce.”

With such demand, Greer is confident 100% of their milk will be further processed on

farm “one day”. When that goal is in sight, their second farm, a 130ha sharemilked unit which neighbours the home farm, will be put through the organic certi­fication process.

NEWS

Gourmet cheese maker forced to trim operationsHIGH AND rising milk prices have forced a ‘niche’ cheese maker Kaimai Cheese to substantially curtail its operation.

Te Mata cheese plant, Hawke’s Bay, has been mothballed, laying off six work­ers, and the Kaimai plant in Bay of Plenty is downsizing.

Wyatt Creech, former National gov­ernment minister and now executive di­rector of the two companies, blames the downsizing on the system under which Fonterra sells milk to his company. It has cut by 50% the quantity of milk it buys from Fonterra because of the high prices, he says.

“The milk pricing system is a major issue for us. We buy milk from Fonterra in, say, July and we pay a price for that milk then.

“We sell our product into the super­markets but if the milk prices continue to rise during the season [Fonterra] comes back and asks for more money afterward, so we don’t know what the milk price is going be months down the track.

“When you’ve had rising prices like we’ve had, this wash­up payment com­ing in afterwards is impossible. It makes

it very hard for us to set prices for our products.”

High milk cost pushes up their product prices, curbing sales, he says.

Te Mata was producing more run­of­the­mill priced camembert with a long shelf life, and not of the same quality as the traditional matured French­style cam­embert.

Creech says no final decision has been made on the Kaimai plant, but some job losses are inevitable. He is highly critical of Fonterra’s price­setting mechanism.

“The price of milk is set by the inter­national market and we think the system for setting the milk price is not particu­larly fair. It’s an issue about how they translate international dairy prices into the New Zealand farm gate milk prices and we have issues with that.

“It makes it impossible for small busi­nesses. All around the country they’re having the same kind of problem.”

Kaimai Cheese is now focusing on the quality end of the market for good dairy products, Creech says. “People love that cheese, we’ve got a good market for it and it works for us.”

‘Still worth processing’

Lois and Robin Greer.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011 9

NEWS

ANDREW SWALLOW

IF YOU can’t get your cows back to BCS 5.0 by calving, and/or you don’t have enough feed on farm at calving, you probably need to reduce your stocking rate, says DairyNZ senior scientist Kevin Macdonald.

Speaking about ‘Should we be milking fewer cows?’ at the Southland Face-to-Face event, Macdonald showed there’s little difference in operating profit/ha between low stocking rates and high.

“It goes from $1612/ha to $1854/ha [at $4.50/kgMS]. The difference is only about $240/ha.”

The highest operating profit at $4.50/kgMS payout is with a stocking rate of 3.1 cows/ha, as at $6.50/kgMS payout. But at the higher payout the penalty of a lower stocking rate is greater – $3401/ha at 2.2 cows/ha com-pared to $3935/ha at 3.1 cows/ha – and the penalty of higher stocking rates is minimal: 4.3 cows/ha returning $3858/ha.

Macdonald says people striving for maximum milk production/ha won’t necessarily be optimising profit. Similarly maximum production per cow won’t neces-sarily be the optimum profit. The key is in tuning man-agement according to stocking rate.

“The decision rules at a low stocking rate are quite different from the decision rules at a high stocking rate,” he stresses.

For example, at a low stocking rate the emphasis is on maximising feed quality and cow intake, whereas at a high stocking rate the key is to concentrate on the quantity of pasture offered to cows. “The quality looks after itself.”

At high stocking rates, lower residuals – typically 1500-1600kgDM/ha – should be left following grazing of pastures ideally at 3000-3100kgDM/ha.

At a lower stocking rate cows can be put onto pasture with lower covers, but shouldn’t be pushed to eat it so low.

“With a low stocking rate the challenge is to antici-pate and manage surpluses whereas with a high stock-

‘Reduce stocking rate if feed is scarce’

ing rate it is about being prepared for feed deficits.”While high stocking rates do not equate to skinny

cows, there is a need to be more proactive about drying off on BCS.

Community perceptions and possible regional au-thority regulations also need to be considered in decid-ing which approach to take, Macdonald says.

Striving for maximum milk production won’t necessarily optimise profit, says DairyNZ.

Women health issues on-farmWORKSHOPS BEGIN this week to encourage dairy-ing women in their physical and emotional health.

The national workshops, ‘FarmHer Wellbeing,’ are run by Dairy Women’s Network and present experts in women’s health, with a focus on strengthening emo-tional wellbeing.

Presenters include an agricultural recovery facilita-tor for Rural Support Trust Southland, Claire Welch, presenting in the South Island; and Wayne Morris, Fu-ture Edge Ltd presenting in the North Island.

Dairy Women’s Network acting general manager Lynda Clark says women in dairying are vital to the physical and emotional health of everyone on the farm. So they aim to strengthen her role as she deals with her own and her farming family’s health.

“We also want to help her build a network of sup-port among women in agriculture because she doesn’t need to be alone.

“Along with our presenters, there will be a nurse specialist at each workshop to explain what health checks women should be attending, based on their stage of life.

“Physical and mental wellbeing go hand-in-hand and we want to provide the necessary resources for dairying women to meet their full potential.”

Welch is passionate about the welfare and health of rural people.

“I see some worrying trends in my work for the Ru-ral Support Trust. I relate and empathise with women in dairying, because I have been one myself.”

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 201110

NEWS

Research into rotary sheds found a large range of cow throughput.

Rotary research unveiled

• The Southland Face-to-Face was the third in a series of four regionally tailored events aimed at getting Dairy NZ’s research work across to farmers and making the scientists involved available for questioning. • DairyNZ says about 270 attended the first, in Hawera; about 220 last week showed up in Woodeville and Invercargill. The final event will be at Mystery Creek, on May 26.

• A Canterbury venue wasn’t arranged because it will have the South Island Dairy Event in June at Lincoln.

Face-to Face events

ANDREW SWALLOW

RECTANGULAR HOLDING yards and high milk-flow settings for ACR activation suit rotary dairies judging by new research findings unveiled last week at a DairyNZ Face-to-Face event in Southland.

The work, in 80 sheds last spring and again this autumn, aims to provide benchmark data to help identify operating ef-ficiencies. All the sheds studied had electronic ID, automatic cup removers, milk meters and comput-erised recording systems.

The work found a large range in cow throughput, smaller sheds unsurprisingly milk-ing fewer cows per hour than larger platforms. In spring (post calv-

ing, pre-mating) 40 bail rotaries averaged 149 cows/hour, compared to 447 cows/hour through 80 bail sheds, while in late lactation the smaller sheds managed 213 cows/hour while the large shed output was unchanged.

Within each size of ro-tary there was significant variation in throughput, about +/- 70 cows/hour from the mean, suggest-ing management or other farm factors were having an influence. Measur-ing efficiency as cows milked per operator, 60-bail sheds came out top.

However, Paul Ed-wards, DairyNZ pointed out, larger sheds tended to have two people milk-ing, hence the drop in ef-ficiency by that measure with increasing scale.

In terms of time to cup on, it was generally

accepted 10 seconds was “comfortable” for a solo operator, though some single-staffed 60 bail units were managing at seven seconds/cow. In 70- and 80 bail sheds with two operators, cup time came down to 5.6-8.1 seconds/cow.

“So 7-8 seconds cup-ping time is the speed at which you need be mov-ing into that two-operator area.”

DairyNZ scientist Jenny Jago noted half the farms had policies of changing the opera-tor cupping on midway through milking to reduce fatigue, though the impact of that on ef-ficiency isn’t clear.

Average time one person would spend cup-ping in spring was 140 minutes, but the range was 60-345 minutes –

nearly six hours. Cupping time in late lactation was reduced to a mean of 91 minutes and range of 31-196 minutes.

A trial looking at whether stripping cows coming onto the platform to induce milk let-down, or simply delaying cup-ping on by one minute, found neither reduced milking time per cow.

“Putting cups on straight away is the way to go based on the results of this experiment,” notes Edwards.

Setting the ACR

trigger point at 800g/minute – 200g/minute is the norm – was found to reduce milking time by 79 seconds/cow without reducing milk output.

“We were surprised not to see a decline in milk yield,” Edwards says. “However, the results could be different at peak lactation.”

There was no dif-ference in somatic cell counts recorded at the different ACR trigger settings.

Only about 20% of the sheds in the study had

rectangular holding yards but they made up 44% of the most efficient group, suggesting better cow-

flow onto the platform.“But we’ve not identi-

fied why yet,” cautioned Edwards.

Dairy campaign targets schoolsNEW ZEALAND’S primary school children will be the target of DairyNZ’s latest addition to its Go Dairy campaign.

“We’re following up our [Go Dairy] ad campaign by going into schools and starting in pri-mary schools,” general manager extension and development Da-vid McCall told the Southland

Face-to-Face event.The ‘poster girl’ for the push

to put dairying into the primary curriculum will be a fun cow character, Rosie, launching in mainstream media at National Fieldays, in June. “She’ll be the public face of what we’re doing.”

McCall says DairyNZ will work with the Teachers Asso-

ciation on curriculum content and a DairyNZ person will visit schools to promote the cam-paign to principals and teachers. “That person will have to burn some shoe-leather.”

The campaign is to enhance the sector’s image and reputa-tion, one of five points in the 2009 Strategy for New Zealand

Dairy. Earlier TV campaigns aimed to recruit people into the industry; the latest Go Dairy ads “encourage New Zealanders to be proud of our dairy farms as of the All Blacks, or recently The New Zealand Breakers or Silver Ferns, or the way we used to be proud of our sheep industry,” says McCall.

suggesting better cow- Edwards.

David McCall

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NEWS

Westland unveils expansion planANDREW SWALLOW

SOUTH ISLAND cooperative Westland confirms it is looking at expanding beyond the West Coast.

“For many years numbers of Canterbury farmers and some from Tasman area have come knocking on our door asking ‘Will you take our milk?’,” chief executive Rod Quin told Dairy News.

But that isn’t driving the move, Westland’s customers are, he says.

“When you’ve got custom-ers growing at 30-50% a year in China saying they want you to grow with them but you’re a dairy company growing at a single digit rate you’re simply not keeping pace.”

Difficult weather has lim-ited growth to 2% this season, achieved only thanks to a kind autumn, Quin says.

“Many suppliers say this is

one of the hardest seasons they’ve had. It was very wet to start with, then very dry, then wet again.”

The plan to expand was put to shareholders at meetings last month and received “overwhelm-ing support, well into 90% plus”, though Quin acknowledges it was not unanimous.

He also stresses the share-holder mandate at this stage is only to develop a plan for ex-pansion. A final decision on the proposal, which is likely to see a condensing plant built at Roll-eston during 2011-12, is still to be made. “Rolleston’s the logical location as we have an office and warehouse there.”

Condensed product would be railed over Arthur’s Pass to Hokitika until Canterbury supply merits its own processing plant, and/or Hokitika reaches capacity.

With a share price of $1.50/kgMS supplied, Westland would offer a lower buy-in to a coopera-tive than Fonterra for Canterbury farmers, though Quin is keen to

play down the inter-cooperative competition element of West-land’s move, pointing out the ‘NZ Inc’ advantage of keeping the processing profit in New Zea-land instead.

“The Government has made it clear it wants to see 20% of milk supply outside Fonterra. At pres-ent it’s about 10% and it’s being snapped up by overseas-owned businesses... The fragmentation

of the industry is not going well.”He also says Westland doesn’t

“need or want a lot” of milk from Canterbury, and it must be share-backed with acceptance depen-dent on collection cost/location. “This is not a bucket offer. This will be targeted.”

With Canterbury cranking out 150M kgMS/season already and 4% annual growth forecast, there will be plenty of milk to go around, even with Fonterra building just up the tracks from Rolleston, at Darfield, Quin be-lieves.

Consents for the new plant have yet to be secured and fund-ing finalised. “That’s a work in progress between the board and shareholders.”

Retentions, as made in the past two seasons, would be the first source of finance, then it’s a question of debt and/or external equity.

“We’ll be putting the options in front of shareholders over the next few months.”

of the industry is not going well.”He also says Westland doesn’t “When you’ve got

customers growing at 30-50% a year in China saying they want you to grow with them but you’re a dairy company growing at a single digit rate you’re simply not keeping pace.”

Standouts return to contestTHE 12 REGIONAL finalists competing for the 2011 New Zealand Farm Manager of the Year title include six men and six couples.

The Canterbury North Otago representatives, Mi-chael and Susan Woodward, stand out as they contract milk a Rakaia farm milking 2000 cows, nearly twice as large as any of the other finalists.

“The scale of our operation gives us the ability to manage stock, people and grass to our advantage in order to make the business successful,” they say. “Things such as cost sav-

ings through bulk purchases, brand recognition and building relationships are part of what make us a successful farming business.”

The Woodwards, aged 30 and 28, are also the most ex-perienced participants in the competition, having entered the New Zealand Dairy Indus-try Awards three times. Five finalists are first time entrants, four have entered twice and two have entered three times.

National convenor Chris Keeping says previous experi-ence in the competition is an advantage, although first time

entrants had won in the past.“We received about 150 en-

tries nationwide in the farm manager contest, and our 12 re-gional finalists have proven the best at using available resourc-es to gain maximum production from their herd and perfor-mance for their farm owners.

“It’s not about how many cows they milk, or how much each cow produces, it’s about identifying the farm manager or contract milker doing a fab-ulous job for their farm owner, themselves and the industry.”

The winner of the 2011 New Zealand Farm Manager of the

Year contest will be announced at a gala dinner in Queenstown on May.

The farm manager finalists include seven contract milk-ers and five farm managers. A farm manager is paid a salary to manage the farm, whereas a contract milker is paid an agreed amount to manage the farm plus some costs.

Two herds have fewer than 300 cows, six have 400-500 cows and three 625-1040 cows. Woodwards’ herd is largest at 2000.www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz

Rod Quin

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011 13

WORLD

IN BRIEF

Arla’s $128m revamp of yellow cheese plantsGROWING COMPETI-TION and declining milk volume has forced Dan-ish co-operative Arla to revamp its yellow cheese business. The co-op will spend $128 million to upgrade production at two plants and will close three.

Yellow cheese produc-tion is to be rationalised to counter international competition and declin-ing milk volumes in Sweden.

Executive vice president Jais Valeur says this will secure Arla’s production of a broad range of yellow cheeses at competitive prices.

”Market conditions are tough and if we don’t act now even more jobs will be lost within a few years.

“It’s sad for many colleagues who may lose their jobs but we hope to maintain other jobs. And we’ll be able to use Swedish milk more effi-ciently to benefit of milk producers and consum-ers.”

Milk volumes have

declined in Sweden since 2003 and to avoid empty plants Arla has to react to over-capacity at the Swedish dairies, contributing to increased production costs.

To contain costs and maximise milk prices to the cooperative owners, Falkenberg dairy has to be closed.

Falkenberg’s cheese production will switch to the Danish dairy in Nr. Vium, due for a $25m investment.

“The challenge in Sweden is to fill our dairies,” says Valeur. “To avoid empty plants in a few years we have to react now.

“If we don’t, produc-tion costs will be higher and the milk price paid to our owners will fall. That’s not in our inter-ests.”

Over three years Arla will expand the dairy in Taulov, raising efficient

production efficiency and competitiveness, so

securing employment in Denmark and Sweden.

“These changes will create a sound future for Arla’s yellow cheese production,” says Valeur. “About 25% of Arla’s milk is used for cheese-making.”

Indian milk productionINDIA’S MILK production cannot keep pace with growing domestic demand, says Vice President Hamid Ansari.

He told the annual meeting of the Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) the country’s per capita availability of milk is still lower than the world average.

“Domestic demand is growing at six million tonnes per year whereas annual incremental production for ten years has been 3.5 million tonnes per year.

“Moreover, 80% of milk is still handled in the unorganised sector and only 20% is equally shared by cooperatives and private dairies.”

India ranks first in world milk production, increasing production 600% from 17 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 112.5 million tonnes in 2009-10.

French bid for ParmalatFRENCH DAIRY company Lactalis is bidding to buy 100% of Parmalat, hiring Goldman Sachs (GS) to advise on the $6.3 billion bid.

Unlisted Lactalis, biggest in Europe, is of-fering $4.85/share for the 71% of Parmalat it doesn’t already own.

When it made the offer last week, the bid price was 21% higher than Parmalat’s average share price for 12 months, but lower than the $5.22 it paid per share for the 15.3% stake jointly held by three foreign funds in March.

It also had raised tensions between Italy and France until last month when Italian Prime Min-ister Silvio Berlusconi said he didn’t consider the bid hostile.

“The challenge in Sweden is to fill our dairies. To avoid empty plants in a few years we have to react now.”

Arla is creating a sound future for its yellow cheese business.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 201114

WORLD

US farmers eye somatic cell countUS DAIRY farmers are backing a proposal to lower the national somatic cell count standard incremen-tally, to reach 400,000 cells/ml of milk in 2014.

Such standards would align the US industry with EU SCC standards.

The US National Mastitis Council says the EU wants all farm milk used in US exports to member countries to hold to the same SCC standard as EU producers.

The US council believes lowering its SCC stan-dard will increase access to European markets, encourage producers to remove inferior animals, improve farm management practices and increase the quality of US milk.

“This may enable the U.S. to be more competi-tive in other foreign markets as well,” the council says.

But it cautions the move should be made care-fully and in phases so as not to inhibit US price competiveness or further strain dairy producers and supporting agencies.

The biennial National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments last week was expected to endorse the proposal and sent it to the US Food and Drug Administration for sign-off.

National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) president Jerry Kozak says it has not until now sup-ported efforts to reduce SCC standards. But now is the time to reduce those limits, over three years, to more closely align the US with world standards, he says. He points out national SCC averages are al-ready in the range of 227,000, so the impact of this change would be felt mainly by the 11% of produc-ers who sometimes exceed a 400,000 limit.

“A three-year phase-in would give farms that may be at risk of non-compliance the opportunity to make management changes so they are not vul-nerable. And let’s face it, this new threshold is the future, for domestic milk supplies and the interna-tional market.

“We have to demonstrate a commitment to make changes for the better, because this way the terms of change are under our control.”

Elevated somatic cell counts (SCC) indicate mastitis or the inflammation of the udder. The US National Mastitis Council says annual losses in net milk income/cow from subclinical mastitis are about $US200/year.

“For every clinical case of mastitis in a herd, there are likely 15-40 cases of subclinical mastitis and these cases may be responsible for up to 70% of production losses.”

‘Overhaul milk supply chain’UK FARMER organisation Na-tional Farmers Union (NFU) is encouraging dairy farmers to lobby their MPs and milk buy-ers to ensure fair-er milk contract terms.

And farmers are calling for an end to unfair commer-cial practices in the dairy supply chain.

NFU dairy board chairman Mansel Raymond says the UK dairy market is not working and farm-ers are losing out.

“The British dairy industry should possess many advantages

ranging from growing demand to efficient milk producers and a good climate for producing milk.

“Yet the indus-try lurches from crisis to crisis and has suffered over a decade of under-investment and low profitability.”

The biggest problem is the one-sided milk contracts farmers are obliged to sign

with milk buyers, he says.“These contracts offer little

to no certainty or clarity on the way milk prices are calculated,

they lock dairy farmers in for notice periods up to 18 months, provide no ability to supply milk to any other buyer, and have no exit clauses to get out of a con-tract if the price drops to an un-sustainable level.”

The European Commission recognises contractual relation-ships between milk producers and purchasers are fundamen-tal to ensuring fairness in the dairy supply chain, and has come forward with a package of measures, which include im-provements to milk contracts. Raymond says this could affect the way dairy farmers sell their milk and negotiate with milk buyers.

“There are some exciting pro-posals to strengthen dairy farm-ers’ position in the food chain and introduce new minimum standards for milk contracts across the EU.

“It is vital farmers call on their MPs and dairy companies to act now to eliminate unfair commercial practices and im-prove milk contracts.

“A ‘do nothing’ approach will see dairy farmers continue to be deprived of their fair share of profits in the food chain. This will lead to underinvestment, lower milk production and will mean dairy farmers continue to leave industry at an alarming rate.

Mansel Raymond

Queensland dairy prospects dismalMARKET FAILURE threatens to trigger another exit of farm-ers from the northern dairy in-dustry, warns the Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation (QDO).

Farmers were disillusioned the milk price was distorted and not reflecting the reality of supply and demand, says QDO president Brian Tessmann.

The farm price was under downward pressure from su-permarket discounting at a time milk was in short supply after disastrous flooding and extreme weather.

“Milk cheques for many dairy farmers have already dropped in Queensland due to the milk price war, despite claims to the contrary by Coles.

“A lot of farmers have been holding on, hoping for an im-proved price signal in the new financial year.

“With the market in fact going the other way, a lot of people will be seriously consid-ering their future.

“The numbers don’t add up any more and farmer morale is low,” Tessman says. The industry has lost its manufacturing base in

Queensland and relies on the fresh market. “Our industry has been reduced to

about 600 farms, scattered in small pockets around the state.

“In 2008 we went to the edge of the cliff; now we are back there as a result of huge

flood impacts and prices that aren’t sustain-able.”

Weather events had disrupted milk pro-duction in most dairying regions and it would be next spring before many would begin to get back on their feet.

The recent floods have added to the woes facing Queensland farmers.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 201116

OPINION

MILKING IT...

RUMINATING

EDITORIAL

A SOUTH American beetle with exclusive tastes has been re-leased to combat the pest weed ‘wandering jew’ or ‘wandering willy’ (Tradescantia fluminen-sis).

With help from Te Pahu Landcare Group, Waikato Re-gional Council has released 305 tradescantia leaf beetles at the Karamu Reserve, southwest of Hamilton. It hopes the beetle – a

native of Argentina and Brazil which feeds only on Tradescan-tia fluminensis – will tackle the weed.

 Tradescantia fluminensis, widespread in New Zealand gardens, is established in frost-free parts of the North and South Island. Research suggests it threatens native forests and it can cause itchiness in dogs

Greens see RedGREEN PARTY co-leader Russel Norman denies his party was seduced by the US after Wikileaks released cables revealing a discreet diplomatic lunch in Washington.

The cable says a discreet diplo-matic lunch, a free trip to Washing-ton for Norman and assurance of “assistance” from the US Embassy in Wellington have been used to blunt the Green’s “radical positions on many issues”.

Whistleblower Wikileaks over the weekend published 1500 cables written by the US Embassy in Wellington.

Norman in a Stuff website arti-cle on the Wikileaks cables referred to “disgraceful journalism”.

“The US Embassy invited me to the US to look at renewable energy and climate change policy,” he says.

Gaga cheeseFIRST THERE was ice cream from breast milk, now there is cheese.

New York artist Miriam Simun has created cheese made from human breast milk and is offering people the chance to taste it as part of her new art piece.

The Lady Cheese Shop is a temporary installation by the New York University graduate, aimed at raising questions about the ethics of modern biotechnologies. 

Simun found three women will-ing to volunteer their breast milk and after screening the milk for diseases and learning the basics of cheese making turned it into cheese.

She hopes her cheese would highlight the way the human body works and admitted people were split into two distinctive camps over her installation. 

“Cheese is the conversation starter. Some people are loving it, and some people are gagging.” 

Related to cows?EARLY HUMANS, known as paranthropus boisei, behaved more like cows than human beings, anthropologists have found.

Paranthropus’s powerful jaws and large molars suggest it sur-vived on a diet of nuts, seed and hard fruit. But studies of fos-silised teeth indicate these may have been used to mow down and swallow huge amounts of grass at a single sitting. 

‘We didn’t expect to find the primate equivalent of a cow dangling from a remote twig of our family tree,’ says Professor Matt Sponheimer, University of Colorado Boulder. 

Paranthropus was part of a line of close human relatives known as australopithecines that included the famous 3 million-year-old Ethiopian fossil called Lucy, seen by some as the matriarch of modern humans. 

Time’s up for wandering willy?

Now scientists can get on with it

THE THREAT, if ever there was one, of CRIs being merged has been scotched by Minister of Science and Innovation Wayne Mapp. He’s made it clear mergers are off the agenda, ending speculation CRI’s such as Landcare and Scion could be amalgamated.

Rumours had for some time been circulating that the CRIs could be in for trimming as part of National’s plans to reduce government spending.

Now, scientists understandably concerned about their fu-tures can breathe a sigh of relief. Hopefully they can now focus on developing great innovations to help New Zealand retain its delicate competitive advantage in world markets.

It has been widely quoted that New Zealand has lived on the sheep’s back. Today you could argue this has changed to the cow, but in reality we must thank scientists for where we are today and where we will be.

That’s not to say everything is perfect, and Mapp has made structural changes he says will improve the situation. A new Ministry of Science and Innovation offers hope, providing it overhauls the system for bidding for funding. The existing bu-reaucratic nightmare in which scientists wasted untold hours writing begging letters to Wellington often did not produce great outcomes.

Then there’s technology transfer in which the science sec-tor has been insular and overall a poor performer. Too many good ideas remain stranded in laboratories and in the heads of scientists, and CRIs in particular have shown reluctance to get their good work into the public domain where it can be applied.

The new Statements of Core Purpose are designed to for-malise better cooperation between CRIs, improve stakeholder engagement and to improve tech transfer.

Can they make a difference? The Minister is optimistic, say-ing he’s had some positive feedback. The cynics don’t believe it will happen any time soon. Only time will tell.

WINNING a new pair of Skellerup Red Band boots has just become easy.The best Letter to the Editor published in Dairy News each issue will receive a pair of boots. So, put your pen to paper and

let your views and comments be known through the most widely read farming publication. And you may end up bagging the Skellerup Red Band boots.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011 17

Rahui Katene

OPINION

Why Maori Party won’t support DIRAThe Maori Party is opposing the Dairy Industry Restructuring (New Sunset Provisions) Amendment Bill. Its MP for Te Tai Tonga Rahui Katene recently told Parliament why.

A FORTNIGHT ago, at Rotorua, during the New Zealand Dairy Business Conference, Waikato Tainui’s Te Arataura chairman Tuku Mor-gan told delegates that farmers and iwi share an inter-generational interest in the land and what it produces.

He went further, challenging the indus-try: work with us, with iwi across the country in a genuine partnership. The Dairy Industry Re-structuring (New Sunset Provisions) Amendment Bill, threatens to dis-rupt this relationship by introducing uncertainty over Subpart 5 of Part 2 of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001. This subpart promotes ef-ficient operation of dairy markets by regulating Fonterra to ensure our markets for dairy goods and services are contest-able.

The Bill states it will provide for a new process for the expiry of the pro-competitive mea-sures when new speci-fied market thresholds are reached. This would effectively empower the Minister of Agriculture to enact the expiry of this Subpart in the event the threshold was met.

Why is this such a concern?

A review of the Maori Commercial Asset Base for Te Puni Kokiri in November 2003 showed there were 436 Maori authorities with substantial businesses. In farming 720,000ha worth about $7.5 billion, Maori are New Zealand’s largest natural grouping of pastoral farmers, argu-ablythe most sustainable farmers.

Morgan challenged the dairy sector to take the relationship between iwi and farming to a new level, recognising Maori concepts associated with the land – tikanga (heri-tage), kaupapa (conceptu-alisation of Maori knowl-edge) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) – to work together in an environ-mentally, culturally and socially sustainable dairy industry.

Enter Miraka Ltd, new to dairy processing, building a plant at Mokai,

in the heart of Waiariki, 30km northwest of Taupo. It will open in August.

Miraka is backed by Māori trusts and incor-porations with combined assets of at least $1 bil-lion. Miraka is here for the long-term. Its owners share a vision of sustain-able business practices, with long term returns from land that will never be sold.

Yet if this legislation proceeds unchallenged the unique partnership Miraka can bring to the dairy sector may be compromised, even sacri-ficed, under the possibil-ity of a restricted public market.

Currently, consisten-cies exist between the Subpart 5 of the DIRA 2001 and the kaupapa of rangatiratanga, as the current subpart provides for effective regulation and transparency of Fon-terra’s activities within the dairy industry. This ensures that, despite its dominant market posi-tion, Fonterra operates in an environment that is contestable, ensuring it faces competitive pres-sure.

But this legislation proposes to provide for the expiry of Subpart 5 of the DIRA, to be timed to enable any government to review and/or amend the pro-competition provi-sions of the Act to meet policy objectives at the time. Dairy operators tell us it is unwise to leave the door open in a way that may expose the dairy industry, and independent processors such as Mi-raka, to an unacceptable level of risk.

The Maori Party is acutely aware of the heightened levels of public concern about the level of competition in the domestic market, as well as claims of anti-competitive behaviour by Fonterra, and the effect these have on the price of milk. We acknowledge the Commerce Commis-sion’s preliminary work to determine whether a formal investigation into the price of milk is war-ranted.

The Maori Party had called for a Commission investigation into milk

prices because of the claims that Fonterra had an effective monopoly in collecting over 90% of the milk produced in

New Zealand. Consumers and dairy producers had told us of their concerns over the proposed share trading proposal, in that it would sacrifice a fun-damental principle which guarantees farmers easy entry to, and exit from Fonterra, the world’s big-gest dairy exporter.

An open entry and exit mechanism is essential

for a competitive dairy market. An investigation needs to be completed by the Commerce Commis-sion before we can be in a position to support this Bill.

D N A P R O V E N

T H E B E S T B U L L T E A M S

I N H I S T O R Y

D N A P R O V E N

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 201120

AGRIBUSINESS

Can grass alone still cut it?

JAMES HAGUE is one of 15 founder members of a new asso-ciation aiming to improve the un-derstanding of ruminant nutrition on New Zealand farms.

While he stresses his views on dairy business optimisation (see above) are his own, and not that of the sssociation, a lack of bal-ance he discerns in some advice

has prompted him to get involved.The association says in its

launch statement that it aims to cut through conflicting and con-fusing rhetoric and put forward a consensus view, “a single voice to promote good ruminant nutrition understanding and practice.”

It aims to be a reference point for government, industry bod-

ies and companies, to provide a balanced view to address public concerns. The organisation’s aims include promoting and under-standing of the basics of ruminant nutrition.

To promote putting good rumi-nant nutrition principles into prac-tice, and to define good practice.www.nzarn.org

Ruminant nutritionists unite

Comment on this article by emailing us at:dairynews@ruralnews.co.nz

What’s your view?

ANDREW SWALLOW

IF YOU’RE saddled with high costs, increas-ing output can be more profitable than cutting costs, says a consultant specialising in optimising returns from dairying.

James Hague, of Daisy’s Agriculture, says many dairy farms achieve insufficient re-turns on capital, and too

little profit to reduce debt or expand the business.

Holding back many such farms is their insuf-ficient output for the scale of their fixed costs, Hague says. By cutting variable costs such as feed and fertiliser, many farms hobble their abil-ity to generate output to cover these costs and leave a healthy profit.

How to address this? Start by establishing the

output the farm needs to generate the desired return, Hague says.

Example: a 400-cow farm with $7m capital employed and $500,000 fixed costs (wages, re-pairs/maintenance , elec-tricity, vehicles, office/professional staff, rent and rates, bank charges and interest).

These fixed costs should not absorb more than 50% of income

at a base milk payout of $5.60. So the busi-ness must produce $1m of milk. At $5.60 this equates to 178,000kgMS (446kgMS/cow). If 35% of the income ($350,000) goes on variable costs (feed, forage, vets and animal health, breeding, replacement stock and shed costs) this leaves $150,000 (15% margin) – 5% return on capital. If the milk payout is

$8.00 then the farm profit would be $574,000 – 8.2% return on capital.

If the farm were achieving only 340kgMS/cow (136,000kgMS) with $280,000 variable costs, the farm would be losing $18,400 at $5.60 and making $308,000 at $8.00. This would be, respectively, -0.03% and 4.4% return on capital. With bank interest rates usually higher than 6.0% this is poor use of money if capital gain is insufficient to cover the difference.

Next questions: can the cows achieve this output? And can the farm grow enough feed?

Hague’s analysis typically shows too many low yielders in an aver-age herd, inefficiently using the DM the farm produces.

Calculating DM yield/ha from farms’ outputs often shows up a farm not utilising enough of the grass to support the output needed by the business.

Often only about 65% of grass is utilised. This demands culling cows, and reviewing how the grass is managed and how much grass should

be in the system. But, for many busi-

nesses, not even 100% utilisation will achieve enough feed; crops like maize often produce far more utilised DM/ha than grass – as much as 300% more.

Hague says cows must be given the feed they need to do their job, even if this requires reduc-ing the grazing area and making more conserved feed. Doggedly sticking to grazed grass as the whole solution holds back

the output of many herds.Challenged about

grass being the cheap-est feed, Hague points out that land bought for $35,000 borrowed at 7.0% ($2450/year inter-est), with utilised DM yield of 8.0t/ha, imposes interest costs of 30.6c/kgDM. Therefore a farmer must accurately calculate how much utilised DM he achieves – the real cost of forage on his farm – to fairly compare this with other feed options.

Pasture-based farming holds back herd output, says consultant James Hague.

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Rural NewsRural News

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011 21

AGRIBUSINESSAGRIBUSINESS

‘Don’t sell your shares’SHAREHOLDERS IN New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay (NZF-SU) have been urged not to sell before an indepen-dent adviser reports on the latest takeover bid by the company’s majority owner.

The company has ap-pointed Grant Samuel & Associates to report on the 70c/share offer by Olam International, Singapore. It says its of-fer gives shareholders another opportunity to exit at the price offered in the previous takeover bid despite an increase in capital requirements and changes to the business outlook.

NZFSU shares, trad-ing before Easter at about 56 cents, rose to 70 cents after Olam’s offer last month.

Olam says its offer rep-resents a 25% premium over the 3-month average trading price of 56c. It also points out sharehold-ers can sell their NZFSU shares in volume.

“Trading in NZFSU is illiquid, with no trading occurring on more than half the trading days in 2011 and an average of less than $4500 of shares traded daily over the same period.

“The offer also pro-vides opportunity to sell shares before they are called upon to participate in any planned rights is-sue or face the prospects of being diluted.”

NZFSU independent director Graeme Wong says shareholders should not decide on the offer before reading the target company statement and

the independent adviser’s report.

NZFSU, running Uru-guayan dairy farms using New Zealand techniques, has struggled in recent years.

For the six months to December 2010 the com-pany reported a loss of $US1.2m.

This prompted Olam’s

takeover bid last year. Since gaining control of the board Olam has ap-pointed a new managing director.

Under Olam’s new business plan NZFSU hopes to become profit-able in 2012-13.

In 2009-10 year, NZF-SU farms produced 68 million litres of milk.

New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay is facing a takeover by the majority shareholder.

Fonterra eyes fleet upgradeA $27 MILLION milk-tanker purchase by Fonterra will make the fleet safer and greener, says national transport and logistics manager Barry McColl.

The co-op board has approved the upgrade of the 480-vehicle fleet, the largest in New Zealand.

“The biggest change will be the purchase of 76 new Volvo trucks starting to arrive this month,” says Mc-Coll. “These trucks replace some coming to the end of their lives.”

The Volvo trucks have lower running costs, mak-ing milk collection more efficient environmentally and economically, he says.

“They’ve also got sophisticated stability and brak-ing systems, making them safer,” says McColl.

Safety is a key point of the upgrade. “With the ar-rival of the new trucks, 86% of our fleet will have elec-tronic braking and electronic stability control, a safety advantage.

“It balances the braking between the truck and the trailer, giving the tanker more stable braking, making it easier to handle.”

The Volvo trucks also put out 35% lower emissions than the vehicles they are replacing. “The Volvos use 30% less diesel… reducing our fuel consumption by about 2 million L next season.

The fleet upgrade will also include refurbishing 13 tankers, “trucks that have travelled big distances – some 1 million km – but are reliable and working well.”

“Refurbishing extends the life of the vehicles by 2.5 years, allowing us to get the most out of our fleet.”

Fonterra is spending $27 million to upgrade its fleet.

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TAKING CARE OF THE NEXT GENERATION

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 201122

MANAGEMENT

PETER BURKE

RICHARD BARBER has a clear objective: growing as much quality pasture as possible.

This Massey Uni-versity applied science graduate ten years ago took over the family farm near Foxton, Manawa-tu. It now produces 200,000kgMS/year and he sees growing more and better pasture as the best way of increasing the production and profit-ability of his 550 cows.

But his way of ensur-ing top quality pasture is turning heads among his peers.

Walking the paddocks

of his farm during a re-cent DairyNZ discussion group meeting, Dairy News was impressed with Barber’s achievment.

Careful management, especially measuring the pasture, is the key. But he uses no high tech tools. He literally crawls on his hands and knees taking

leaf samples from his ryegrass paddocks.

“It’s about counting the leaves. I pull the whole tiller out, finding the parent tiller, because around a parent tiller there are daughter tillers. Assuming your pasture has been grazed well the last time, you can liter-ally count the leaves. It’s based on leaves emerg-ing so you need to have reasonable records of when you last grazed the paddock.”

The process is time consuming: he takes samples every few steps across the paddocks and then works out the amount of dry matter available. He does these

Leafing through the pasture to monitor growth

pasture walks every month, gathering infor-mation that enables him to use the pasture in the best way to get the most from the grass and to determine rotation.

“It’s based on the first leaf developing 20% of the dry matter, the

second leaf developing 30% and the third leaf developing 50%.

“So 50% of the dry matter is based on that final leaf.

“The theory is to maximise pasture pro-duction, based on letting that last leaf grow to its

full potential. It’s impor-tant the pasture is grazed just before the fourth leaf emerges because the first leaf will die, therefore lower the quality of the grass.

“You can’t let it grow too long otherwise you get canopy closure, then you have shading and the bottom leave will go yellow.”

His method is not new; other farmers have used it for years, he says. And research into the method has allowed sci-entists to gather evidence to support this simple, practical management method.

A vital point of mea-suring by the leaf system is to know when to graze a paddock; the temptation

might be to graze it too soon, he says.

“If you graze it when it starts re-growing, you’ll graze its energy reserve which is in the stem. It needs this energy to start growing the leaf.” But when ready, the pas-ture must be grazed hard, he says.

He discovered this idea some years ago during a seminar in Hamilton where he met Darren Donaghy, who explained the theory of leaf measurement. He has since heard the theory at a DairyNZ field day and says they have scientists working on it now.

“My gut feeling is scientists will start put-ting constraints around this idea.”

He literally crawls on his hands and knees taking leaf samples from his ryegrass paddocks.

Hands on approach: Richard Barber gets on his knees to measure pasture on his farm.

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PHILLIPA HEDLEY AND CHRIS GLASSEY

THE ABILITY of pastures to re-grow after winter is critical to next season’s pasture and milksolids production.

When wet weather strikes, it is im-portant to minimise pasture damage whilst grazing, best achieved by plan-ning before it hits.

The most obvious challenge is pug-ging (treading damage) caused when the soil is so soft the weight of grazing animals cannot be supported by the sur-face of the soil. Depending on soil type, the effects of pugging damage on pasture and soil can last months, due to the impact of compaction, reduced pasture growth and the in-vasion of weeds.

In one study, soil treading and compaction dam-age after a single pugging event de-pressed pasture production by 52%. Other studies have shown a 29% drop in pasture production for the sea-son.

A wet weather plan will help man-agement. It must include feed and finan-cial budgeting, supplement availability and price (is it on-hand for wet weather or bought as required?), a set of deci-sion rules for implementing wet weather strategies, and farm infrastructure (is the farm set up to stand cows off or feed supplement and will the farm infrastruc-ture cope?).On/off grazing

This is the most effective grazing strategy. Cows can spend as little as two hours grazing pasture each day, if neces-sary, to avoid treading damage.

Cows require training for when their routine is changed and should be gradu-ally introduced to restricted grazing times 3-5 days before being limited to, for example, 4-hour grazing sessions. In early lactation, cows need to be of-fered two 4-hour grazing periods every 24 hours to achieve adequate pasture intake.

The best way to stand-off cows is on a stand-off pad with a supplement-feeding area. Both facilities need an ef-fluent system, with facilities depending on the frequency and duration of wet

spells. The more the pad is used, the greater area per cow is required and the softer the surface material. Ensure clean drinking water.

Cows like to lie down for at least eight hours per day. If less, they prefer to lie down rather than graze when given access to pasture. The space allowance per cow is 1m2 /100kg liveweight.

When wet periods are less frequent and shorter, alternative stand offs are the waste area, a paddock to be cropped or re-grassed and, for short spells, farm races (if capable of standing up to the

pressure, but not a long term solution).

Any area, e s p e c i a l l y concrete, must be kept free of stones, as cows’ feet are s u s c e p t i b l e to damage. Walking the herd regularly through a footbath with zinc or cop-per sulphate will harden hooves. Start

this early (while cows are still milking) and keep the footbath clean.Grazing and stock movement

Pasture damage caused by frequent stock movement is a risk for any pasture wintering, especially on/off grazing. To help reduce this, fence paddocks so cows walk over the ungrazed pasture (start at the back of the paddock) as this reduces damage to pastures already grazed and the re-growth.

Stock movement can be reduced by block grazing instead of strip grazing. Squarer shaped breaks lessen walk-ing as the cows are more likely to see a fence. With strip grazing, the tendency is to wander, looking for a way out.

A back fence prevents over-grazing and greater damage. Ensure a clean sup-ply of water.

Move stock at the same time each day, ideally just before daybreak. Get them into a routine. Set up tomorrow’s break today.

Avoid taking motorbikes and ve-hicles into paddocks or near cows to prevent stock being unsettled. Vehicles also damage pasture re-growth in wet conditions.www.dairynz.co.nz• Phillipa Hedley and Chris Glassey are DairyNZ farm systems personnel.

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011 23

MANAGEMENT

Pugging damage to impact milk yield

• Cows trained to restricted grazing

time will graze pasture at the

rate of 2kgDM/cow/hour.

• Cows need to lie down for a

minimum of eight hours per day.

• At least 1m2 per 100kg liveweight

is required on a suitable surface

for them to lie down comfortably.

• If space is limited, draft smaller

and subordinate cows and R3s

into separate management

groups.

Wet weather facts and figures

Pugging damage can impacts pasture growth.

3599 Metabolizer halfpg vert.ind1 1 9/11/08 9:20:42 AM

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 201124

MANAGEMENT

Passionate farmer Campbell Shuker.

‘Strong autumn country rewards hard work’TONY HOPKINSON

PUTTING MORE in to get more out reflects the passion and satisfaction Campbell and Rebecca Shuker gain working

their fourth generation-family farm at Otaua, 22km west of Pukekohe.

Not far distant (9km) the Tasman Sea rolls in, and to the south lies the Waikato River mouth.

“This is strong autumn

country,” Shuker says, noting the area is known for heavier soils that need careful nurturing and care. By doing this Shuk-ers have achieved above average production from their farm and stock.

Campbell is the fourth generation of his family to live on what began as a 32ha farm, now 137ha along with five leased blocks, the latter 5-12km from the milking plat-form. It requires Camp-bell to use a truck.

Their herd of 500 is cross-bred, 75% Friesian, served by cross bred or smaller Friesian bulls.

Milking is through a 44-bail rotary shed now eight years old. This season the farm will produce 240,000kgMS (480kgMS/cow).

Most stock is wintered off; only some younger cows and yearlings graze the home farm during winter. They are set stocked and Shuker says they all put on weight. Remaining stock are calved off the home property to minimise pasture damage; most are set stocked on run-off blocks.

The summer harvest yields 250 bales of bale-age and 2000 convention-al bales. 20ha of maize is grown between home and lease blocks and ensiled in a stack adjacent to the shed.

“Conventional bales are much easier to feed out on the rolling/steeper country on the blocks; it’s just a case of a few bales

on a trailer behind the ATV and the job’s done easily.”

The farm is raced to every paddock and most are contoured to drain water to all sides. The races are surfaced with slag from the nearby Glenbrook steel mill with the foundations from coarser material topped off and shaped from finer slag.

“Because it is easier I run one herd and I feed a meal mix in the shed throughout the season.”

Last October to help protect pasture during wet weather and to feed the stock better they built a roofed feed pad which holds 600 head. This reduces feed wastage and gives shade and shelter, reducing heat stress and lifting production.

“We feed maize from the nearby stack with some PKE added from a side delivery wagon and will feed it until the end of the season.”

Using the feed pads Shuker hopes to milk some of the later calvers into July, and with the pads available for the whole season he is expecting another substantial increase in production.

“We are putting more in but are getting a lot more out, I am passion-ate about what I do and I get a lot of satisfaction from the results we are achieving.”

More stock means more effluent so Shukers have built a large pond.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011 25

ANIMAL HEALTH

Culling cows with high cell countPETER BURKE

RICHARD BARBER has declared war on mastitis in his herd of 550 cows, and it’s a war of attrition.

At a recent DairyNZ discussion group meeting at his property near Foxton, Manawatu, he explained what he was doing and why. A lot of research has gone into the cost of mastitis to dairy farms, he says.

“It’s costing me money every day of the year. I know what my cell count was five or six years ago, I know what it is now and I am not happy with it. I’ve identified a problem: my cell count.” Barber is culling cows for pretty much this reason.

“This identifies cows with masti-tis. I’m not looking at their produc-tion or their calving dates but simply saying ‘She has a cell count problem’, and I’ll cull for that reason and that reason alone. I don’t want to know anything else.”

Asked why he wasn’t targeting low

production cows, he replied, “Gener-ally speaking a high cell count cow will be a low producing cow anyway so by default I may well be culling low producing cows.

“But I’ve identified an issue and I’m concentrating solely on that.”

Barber says there’s a lot of talk about the cost of “killing high cell count cows” and he admits killing a cow, especially in calf, is expensive. But the ongoing costs of keeping cows with high cell counts outweighs this.

Cows with high cell counts lose production fighting mastitis, he says.

“There are ongoing costs of dry therapy, drug treatments and milk loss. And the research shows high cell count cows have more trouble getting back into calf, hence ongoing high empty rates.”

He also points out if you keep a high producing cow with a high cell count there is a risk she’ll cross con-taminate.

“And she’ll take out your third and

fourth best cow in the herd. So by not culling the one cow it could cost you the three next best cows in the herd.”

Barber says once he’s sorted out the mastitis problem he’ll move on to dealing with the next most important problem, which could be lameness or calving spread.

Cows with high cell counts are culled by Manawatu farmer Richard Barber.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 201126

ANIMAL HEALTHANIMAL HEALTH

Natural mastitis remedy coming

Quantec managing director Rod Claycomb and co-founder Judy Bragger.

A HAMILTON company seeking to develop a non-antibiotic, natural treatment for mastitis has gained a $500,000 capital investment.

Quantec Ltd has secured $250,000 from Waikato private equity fund Central Capital In-vestments, and a similar sum from the Govern-

ment’s New Zealand Venture Investment Fund.

Quantec specialises in discovering and commer-cialising bioactives from natural products, for in-gredients for human and animal health products.

Co-founder and managing director Rod Claycomb, says the company’s first product, known as IDP, is a milk-derived fraction proven to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimi-crobial properties.

“We’ll use this invest-ment to grow global sales of IDP in the human health market... and for testing our formulation as a mastitis treatment in cows.”

Quantec co-founder and scientist Judy Brag-ger says a big win for Quantec will come if the company can crack the animal health market. Using its IDP ingredient Quantec has worked for

five years on a non-anti-biotic, natural treatment for mastitis.

“Our aim is to develop an effective natural treatment that doesn’t require milk withholding by farmers,” says Bragger.

“Our milk-derived fraction comes from the same system as cow milk to naturally fight mastitis in the mammary gland. Our research has proven we can kill mastitis or-ganisms on the lab bench. Now the plan is to test our formulation inside the animal.”

Quantec is talking to animal health companies about the mastitis work.

It plans a mid-2011 launch of human health products with IDP in the US and China. First products will be breath mints and gums that kill germs in the mouth, and creams that sooth inflamed skin.

Online tips on calvingA NEW website offers to help women in dairying share insights and experience on rearing healthy calves. It also offers veterinary advice on best practice in calf management.

www.healthycalves.co.nz is launched by Intervet Schering Plough Animal Health in partnership with Dairy Wom-en’s Network (DWN).

DWN dis-cussion fo-rums showed that women are the calf rearers on dairy farms. They use DWN work-shops and the internet to educate themselves and to connect with other farmers.

Intervet Schering Plough dairy brand manager Sheena Hopper says “The idea is to create a network-ing platform where dairy women can learn from each other about useful and successful practices for healthy calves.”

“It’s basically a place where women raising the calves can discuss concerns, share tips and informa-tion, and connect with each other.”

The site has a question-and-answer forum and vid-eos of dairying women around New Zealand. And it will regularly feature farm vets in forum discussions to offer best best advice.

Video clips from the recent Dairy Women’s Net-work national conference in Invercargill can be viewed, as can information on the benefits of vaccination, how to protect calves from disease, farmer checklists and a calf health guide.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011 27

ANIMAL HEALTH

Fodder beet requires attention to get best results and maintain cow health.

Fodder beet grows as a winter cropSTEVE LEE AND JIM GIBBS

FODDER BEET has for five years has expanded rapidly as a winter feed crop. The incentive for this is its large yield potential of this high energy feed; grown well it can yield at least 20tDM/ha.

But the NewZealand way of grazing is unusual internationally, so little re-search has been available to guide farm-ers in best-practice use of the crop.

In 2010 DairyNZ commissioned Jim Gibbs, Lincoln University, to research the use of fodder beet as a winter feed crop, and cow health and productivity issues associated with it. Feeed value – metabolisable energy (ME)

Fodder beet’s high energy value comes mostly from sugar. The ME value of the crop fed in New Zealand (graz-ing leaf and bulb) has never been estab-lished. But a large series of digestibility trials this year confirmed ME value is at least 12MJME/kgDM. Further work to refine the ME differences (cultivars, supplements etc) continues. Protein

Fodder beet is low in protein. There is much variation between cultivars, the bulbs contain less protein than the leaf, and the proportion of leaf is highly vari-able (5-40% DM). This demands cau-tion when designing the diet, especially for young stock, as the supplement is a more important protein source.

For example, a crop with low leaf proportion in early June may have a to-tal protein content of 10-12%, so feeding straw (8% CP) as a supplement will pull that down further. 12-13% is a sensible lower limit for total ration protein con-tent.

Optimal rumen function can also be compromised with low protein diets, limiting the utilisation of the high en-ergy content.Cow factors

Fodder beet is a ‘careful’ winter feed: it requires attention to get best results and maintain cow health. Rumen acido-sis from excess fodder beet intake is the primary risk.

This year’s research showed fodder beet fed at industry standard rates and times had a strong but manageable im-pact on rumen pH, but when supplement was reduced to 25% of the diet, clinical acidosis began to occur.

This and the protein level demon-strate both the amount and type of sup-plement fed with fodder beet is impor-tant for best results.

The combined results suggest a sup-plement level of about 40% is required for best practice.

The research also suggested most cow health problems with fodder beet are in two windows: 7-10 days on the crop, and again in early lactation. • Steve Lee is DairyNZ developer, pro-ductivity; Jim Gibbs is animal science senior lecturer, Lincoln University.

Common farmer concernsWill the whole herd eat it?

Possibly not, so monitor cows regularly. Some may only eat silage and others will take a long time to get a taste for fodder beet.

Cows which winter only on silage reduce the overall silage available, so it will cost much more to feed the rest of the herd.

Be prepared to remove cows not eating the crop and provide an al-ternative.How do you minimise cow adapta-tion problems and deaths?

Careful and gradual introduction will ensure the cows do not gorge on bulbs and that their diet is no more than 6% fodder beet by the end of transition.

Start with 2kgDM/cow/day and

gradually increase over seven-10 days, making up the balance with higher quality feeds. Monitor cows at least twice a day during transi-tion.Is it a hard crop to grow?

It is more challenging than kale or swedes and requires very care-ful attention to detail, especially in paddock selection (a good pad-dock rather than worst paddock), cultivation and planting.

A high level of attention to detail is vital in the first eight weeks of establishment.

Consider using professional help, such as a crop agronomist. The potential yields are high, you may spend more per hectare, but less per kgDM.

Anyone who has lived through a calf scours outbreak knows the devastating toll it takes on your stress levels, family time and fi nances. Even when the outbreak is fi nally over, the negative effects on your business can be felt for years.

Scours is a real risk, not to be taken lightly. It can even happen to farmers who are using best practice methods.

And because rotavirus is prevalent across New Zealand, it can strike farms with no previous history.

With Rotavec® Corona, only one shot to pregnant dams is required to help provide the protection needed to prevent infectious

scours caused by rotavirus, coronavirus and E. coli common on New Zealand farms.

Maximise herd coverage by vaccinating the whole herd at 3 weeks prior to planned start of calving. Or individual cows can be vaccinated any time between 12 and 3 weeks before they calve.

Rotavec Corona: the fl exible, one-shot way to help you avoid the hell of calf scours – and reach your full dairy potential.

Available only under Veterinary Authorisation. ACVM Registration No: A8132. ®Registered trademark. Schering-Plough Animal Health Limited, 33 Whakatiki Street, Upper Hutt. www.healthycalves.co.nz Phone: 0800 800 543. ROT-174-2011.

Rotavec Corona. One shot. The protection you need against calf scours.

ROTAVEC IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU CARE FOR YOUR PARTNER, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR ANIMALS AND THE SUCCESS OF YOUR BUSINESS.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 201128

ANIMAL HEALTH & STOCKFEEDS

IN THE southern South Island, where winter pas-ture growth is negligible, winter management has a critical impact on farm profitability. Wintering costs are 20-25% of farm

working expenses in the region and to manage the pasture growth deficit, feed must be accumu-lated and stored.

“Winter feed is provided from a range of

traditional pasture/silage systems and forage crops that cows can graze in situ, through to systems where cows are fed sup-plements while held in a range of off-pasture and

ANIMAL HEALTH & STOCKFEEDS

The choice of wintering systems is key, says DairyNZ senior scientist Dawn Dalley.

housing systems,” says Dawn Dalley, DairyNZ scientist.

“Sixty percent of cows in the region are win-tered predominantly on forage crops. The choice of wintering system affects feed availability, water quality and soil health, animal welfare, people management and, ultimately, profitability.”

A new DairyNZ Southern Wintering Sys-tems Initiative aims to identify what works well in the range of winter-ing systems being used. “This will help farmers

fine-tune current systems to improve perfor-mance,” Dalley says.

Where farmers are considering major chang-es to winter management, the initiative will offer them access to compre-hensive, independent in-formation on the options available. “This means they can be confident the system they choose will meet their needs.”

The project is not about defining the ‘best system’, if indeed there is one. It is about identify-ing good practices, from the whole farm system perspective, across the range of existing and evolving wintering systems. This means whichever practices are adopted, they will work well financially and environmentally, and for people, feed supply and animals.

Good practices need to solve issues without creating new ones.System diversity

Diverse systems have developed as innovative farmers have adapted things to suit their farms. A survey of the winter management practices of 300 southern farming businesses, during winter 2010, has confirmed this. The survey also found one-third of farmers use hybrid systems, with multiple options for stock management.

“The most common hybrid system was to use forage crops on both the milking platform and a support block,” says Dal-ley. “Other combinations include milking platform and grazier; support

block and grazier; milk-ing platform, support block and grazier; and housed systems with support block/milking platform.”

Farmers see hybrid systems as a way to maximise control of the wintering process, to ensure cows achieve their pre-calving body condition targets and the farm feed supplies are adequate for next season.Chosen system requires re-think

Glenn and Cherie Taylor’s approach to wintering is an example

of a more diverse hybrid system. When the farm was converted, they built a freestall barn, intend-ing to use it to extend lactation and run a small winter milking herd.

Despite initial high expectations, they had difficulty getting older cows to adjust to the indoor environment. For 2010, they reassessed their plans and imple-mented three wintering options.

Heifers and young cows were wintered in the freestall barn and fed crushed barley, molasses, grass sileage, hay and baleage. The remain-ing cows were wintered either on a fodder beet crop on the milking platform or moata/tur-nip crop on the support block.

This year the Taylors will return to swedes on the milking platform, but continue the moata/turnip combination on the support block and housing younger animals in the freestall barn.

They have refined their system by trial and error to suit their needs and provide flexibility.

“Comments of this nature were often made during face-to-face sur-veys. This is not surpris-ing – people adapt things and make them work,” says Dalley.

“Of concern is that adaptation, through trial and error, can be costly financially and environ-mentally, and it is also taxing on people and animals.”New wintering initiative

Winter feeding crucial to farm profitability

Good practices need to solve issues without creating new ones.

To page 29

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011 29

ANIMAL HEALTH & STOCKFEEDS

“We want to help farmers mini-mise the trade-offs that sometimes occur when new systems are imple-mented,” says Dalley.

“For example, effluent manage-ment may improve if animals are wintered on feed pads or in housed systems. However, the problem may then become ensuring access to a consistent supply of high quality feed at a competitive price, or ani-mal health issues may arise.”

The Taylors’ experiences are an

example of this. They saw the op-portunity of the freestall barn to increase milk revenue from their owner-operated farm, but did not anticipate the problems of adapting cows to the indoor system.

However, they now have more options for feeding cows: some wintered in the barn, on crop and others on the support block.

“Through their involvement in the project, Taylors now get ad-ditional information on cow body condition score, which will be used

with information on crop yields and supplements on-hand to determine where cows are wintered.”

The winter 2010 data shows cows wintered in the freestall barn calved in better condition than those wintered on crops.

Like many other farmers, Tay-lors are constantly fine tuning their wintering process. The project team are looking to speed up that process and steer farmers clear of dead ends and unnecessary ex-pense.

Glenn and Cherie Taylor’s farm, Drummond, is a diverse hybrid system operation.

From page 28

Winter feeding is key

Add salt to taste... and payLACK OF sodium in the diet of cows is a production issue, as shown by New Zealand research, says Do-minion Salt.

Significant economic benefits accrue when lactating dairy cows, known to be deficient in Na, are given salt supplement, the company says.

In 1999-2000 a trial at Waikite Val-ley, Rotorua, involved giving lactating cows 35g salt/ head/day.

Milk production increased 12.8%. At 2011 prices, for every $1 spent on salt the return is $55 in extra milk receipts, says Dominion Salt.

Minimum Na re-quirements for differ-ent classes of stock are not known with any degree of accuracy and are based on restricted experi-mental data. For grazing animals, pasture containing 0.12% Na is sufficient for lactating dairy cows. Where there is risk of deficiency salt supplements can be used.

For lactating dairy cows the minimum input is 35g salt/head/day (10kg/head for 280 lactation days). The use of supplementary feeds will increase the Na require-ment. Trials from overseas, refer-enced in NRC, indicated that milk

production is optimised at 3-4 times the minimum Na level.

Plants fall into 2 broad groups:Natrophobes have low sodium

content in their herbage. While their roots may take in sodium from the soil this is not transported in to the leaves. Natrophobes in-

clude: lucerne, red clover, brown top, kikuyu grass, maize, triticale, timothy and caucasian clover.

Animals feeding on these plants usually require salt supplementa-tion to optimise digestion. Fertilis-ing soil with sodium is of limited benefit to these plants

Natrophiles accumulate Na in their herbage and can provide suf-ficient sodium in the diet. Natro-philes include: white clover, cocks-foot, perennial ryegrass, chicory,

sub clover and plantain.Where soil sodium is low (<5 Na

quick test) natrophiles will struggle to provide sufficient sodium. In-cluding salt in the fertiliser pro-gramme (100kg/ha) or supplement-ing with salt blocks are options

Fertiliser EffectsPotassium and

lime can depress the Na status of pastures. This is simply due to K or Ca increasing and Na needing to reduce to maintain ionic balance in the plant

Potassium ap-plied at 100kg/ha or more can depress Na status by 30-40%. This will have in-plications if the Na status is already in the marginal range. There is the potential

for lime to do the same although in practice Mg seems to be the ele-ment most likely to be depressed by Na and k Applications.

The advice is to always be aware of the interactions which can occur when different fertilisers and lime are applied to pastoral land. Any effects will be most pronounced in the 6 weeks following their appli-cation. Salt blocks provide an easy method of supplementation follow-ing fertiliser application.

We’re helping dairy women support each

other.

See real-life dairy stories and fi nd out more about the

Dairy Women’s Network at www.healthycalves.co.nz

Our partnership with the Dairy Women’s Network has put us in touch with close to three thousand dairy women all over the country.

They’ve told us they put their heart and soul into rearing strong and healthy calves.

They’ve also told how heartbreaking it is when things go wrong – and that one of the worst experiences is when their calves are hit by infectious scours.

That’s why we’re helping them share their stories online – to support other women in dairying in successfully rearing healthy calves.

Proud to be in partnership with the Dairy Women’s Network

Schering-Plough Animal Health Limited, 33 Whakatiki Street, Upper Hutt. www.healthycalves.co.nz Phone: 0800 800 543. ROT-173-2011.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 201130

ANIMAL HEALTH & STOCKFEEDS

Downer cows get upper handPRODUCTION MUST increase for New Zealand to cash in on rapidly increasing global demand for food. And a key com-ponent of this is animal health.

Wanganui family-owned VitaPower says it has a range of scientifi-cally-proven products to improve animal health, particularly for the dairy industry.

One recently launched product, Palamountains Revive, achieved “amaz-ing results” during trials last year by AgResearch, says VitaPower.

AgResearch was engaged to research the production mode of action during the use of Revive, says managing director John Palamoun-tain.

“Statistics show down-er cows (with ill-health and poor appetites) can reduce production $100 average per cow before and after calving.

“AgResearch trials revealed a 20% improve-ment in gut integrity within the first 12 hours alone after Revive was administered.”

Using the Metabolic Bio economic model as the source, the real size of the downer cow prob-lem in the national herd is often under-reported, VitaPower says.

Cow’s absorption rate of Revive is crucial to its success, the company says. Essentially, the nu-trients, vitamins, miner-als and trace elements are suspended in a patented oil solution, allowing an animal’s system to absorb and use the ingredients to maximum effect: it makes the animals want to eat. The formulation has up to 99.5% absorp-tion rate.

The product is best administered during the transition period May-September when cows

John Palamountain

are in-calf and dried off, Palamountain says.

“It sets them up to get into milk production immediately before and after calving. Cows are under a lot less stress during this period and reach optimum produc-tion sooner.”

The AgResearch trials revealed Revive improved gut integrity, he says. “It provided better barriers to pathogens and better utilisation of feed, avoiding wastage, which all improved profit.”

After using Revive, the AgResearch trial showed 20% improve-ment in the transepithe-lial resistance of cultured cells.

Downer cows can be drenched orally with

Effect of Revive on transepithelial electrical resistance of cultured cells (AgResearch - May 2010).

“AgResearch trials revealed a 20% improvement in gut integrity within the first 12 hours alone after Revive was administered.”

Revive or it can be added to supplements for whole herd treatment. Recom-

mended application is a 28-day boost then 21 days maintenance.

Tel. 0800 848 276www.palamoun-tains.info

BCS 5.5 ‘non-negotiable’COWS MUST achieve a body con-dition score (BCS) of 5.0 at calv-ing, and heifers and second cal-vers BCS 5.5.

“This is non-negotiable,” says DairyNZ scientist John Roche.

Although cows require the equivalent of 20% of their live-weight as metabolisable energy intake every day pre-calving to maintain BCS, there is increas-ing evidence cows are healthier at calving if slightly under-fed in

the month pre-calving, he says.“Grazing cows do not eat less

DM in the month pre-calving as reported for cows fed total mixed rations.

“Energy type is not important pre-calving.

Straw is only needed if the remainder of the diet is high in sugar (swedes) or low in effective fibre (palm kernel). Straw is not necessary to “stretch” the ru-men.”

There are dramatic changes in nutrient demands from pre-calving to post-calving, and these make the transition period a metabolic challenge for the dairy cow, he says.

For example, the metabolic rate of the foetus during late pregnancy is twice that of the cow and the energy requirements for pregnancy alone are equal to cow maintenance.www.dairynz.co.nz

Farmers invest in your farm with a PPP feed system; •Improvedproduction•Improvedanimalhealth•Lessonfarmfeedlabourrequired•Peaceofmind–youcanfeedyour cowsinwetspringsandwintersanddrysummers

Automated Dairy Feed Systems 2012 will be

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Farmer suffers NASTY cut to the handREASONS WHY A GROWING NUMBER OF FARMERS CHOOSE TO TRIM HOOVES THE SAFEST WAY USING THE SPECIALISED WOPA CRUSH

CALL 0800 833 463to book your

FREE trial now!* HOOF TRIMMING SERVICES,EQUIPMENT & TRAINING

www.veehof.co.nz*Conditions apply

“I feel a lot better about staff being able to tie up legs and treat cows properly with less risk of injury to both cow & person” Neville McDonald – Southland

Front foot support blocks with safety winch and leg ties.

No extra bars – allowing safe and easy to access animal.

Rear adjustable chain for extra security.

Let’s face it... hooftrimming is part of good herd management.However, there are safe ways and unsafe ways to do it! Recently we heard of a situation where a farmer had a cow tied up to a gate for trimming. The cowkicked out and well...the rest is history asyou can see above....

Secure front opening head bail that locks in place and foot activated quick release.

Winchable front brisket strap with quick release clip featuring geared safety winch.

Back leg strap with quick release clip featuring geared safety winch.

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011 31

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Lined pond helps nurture heavy soilsTONY HOPKINSON

A NEW effluent system on Camp-bell and Rebecca Shuker’s Otaua, Waikato, farm is helping them re-alise their vision for greater pro-ductivity on soils that need careful nurturing and care.

Their stewardship is being re-warded by above-average produc-tion. This season the farm will produce 240,000kgMS (480kgMS/cow).

Last October, to help protect pasture during wet weather and to better feed the stock they built a roofed feed pad which holds 600 head. This reduces feed wastage

and gives shade and shelter, reduc-ing heat stress and lifting produc-tion.

Building stock numbers to 500 on the 137ha home farm plus leased blocks has necessitated building a large effluent pond, the work con-tracted to Williams Engineering, Mangatarata.

Says Shuker, “With our heavier, wetter soils and pasture we can’t spray irrigate all the time so the pond gives enough capacity to hold effluent for long periods during in-clement weather.”

Working in conjunction with the contractor’s Andrew Williams, Shuker built a pond 42m x 46m x 3m, with a 1.5mm thick HDPE

plastic liner, capacity 4500m3.Yard washings and effluent are

pumped up to the pond from a cen-tral sump and all sweepings from the pads are pushed to a separate sump and pumped up to the pond. Pumps 5hp (modified for thicker material) do the work.

A 15hp pump and 10hp stirrer in the pond are mounted on a newly designed Williams seven drum pontoon at the end of a gantry which keeps the pump in the mid-dle of the pond. This has automatic greasing enough for 12 months without replenishing.

The pump takes the effluent through 90mm buried delivery lines to hydrants serving 80ha of

TONY BENNY

FOR DAIRY farmers needing help shifting pod irrigators, GPS guid-ance pioneer Tracmap now has a product to track the daily shifts required of irrigation lines.

“It eases staff rostering,” says Tracmap manager Lance Nutall.

“You can have multiple people moving K-Lines because we pre-set the placement of those lines into the GPS head unit.

“All that’s needed is to move up to the line and drop the K-Line row on that line.”

Tracmap can also monitor travelling irrigators and track where effluent is being spread. If an irrigator fails, the unit can shut down the pump to limit ponding.

Tracmap GPS units are robust, water- and dust-proof and easy to use. They mount in trucks or on ATVs. Tel. 0800 87 22 62www.tracmap.co.nz

Easier to shift spray pods

the farm. This area will be increased.Using a new Williams Engineering

Greenback Spider irrigator, the rate of appli-cation can be varied from 5-25mm per pass. A stop is placed on the towing wire and the pump automatically turns off at the end of a run. For further security the pump and the stirrer are on time switches.

Shuker is at present trialling an organic product called Im-pact, distributed by Biomagic, which is slowly released into the pond. It is approved by ERMA and MAF. The seller claims it reduces odour and crusting and keeps the ma-terial in suspension.

So far Shuker is giving it a qualified tick of ap-proval to Impact. Tel. 07 867 3176www.williamsirriga-tion.co.nz

Campbell Shuker: “We can’t spray irrigate all the time so the pond gives enough capacity to hold effluent for long periods during inclement weather.”

•Noheating•Homogenousmixing

•Cutting,mixinganddistributionof

silage/bales/strawandminerals.

•Aneconomicandefficientmethodof

feedingout.

QUICKFEED

FEEDOUT WAGONS

Schouten Machines LtdP.O.Box 309GORE 9740

ph: 03 2088059cell: 027 7117270info@schoutenmachines.co.nz

www.quickfeed.co.nz

Schouten feedout wagons for mixing and feeding out at the same time.With the large augers and purposely designed knives the Quickfeed can handle a wide range of feed types.All mixed and fed out in one go, especially when the products are loaded in layers.The exeptionally robust construction will ensure a long trouble free working life for the Quickfeed.An important reason in controlling your feedout costs.

Tow and FertMulti 800

The Multi Role Applicator

- Animal Health Products (eg. Zinc Oxide, Lime Flour)

- Fine Particle Fertiliser (eg. Lime, RPR)

- Dissolved Fertiliser (eg. Urea)

- Soil Conditioners (eg. Humates)

Mix and Apply, When you Want

Proudly Manufactured by: Metalform (Dannevirke) LtdFree Phone: 0508 747 040 | Call George: 021 310 921www.towandfert.com

The Tow and Fert means that you are no longer dependant on contractors with ground spread trucks and aerial applications, who may not want to do a small job of

up to 8 hectares. This enables the optimisation of your fertiliser programme with timely, cost effective and regular applications!

The Tow and Fert’s guaranteed even spread over an 18 metre swath gives you confidence that every plant is evenly covered and each cow is receiving the required

mineral dose to keep metabolic issues under control.call now for your free DVD today!

0508 747 040

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 201132

countries. Hundreds of 1000s operate in homes.

Home and c o m m e r c i a l models simply plug into a power point, from where they send a pulse through the electro-magnetic field that naturally occurs around live electri-cal wiring.

The pulse switch-es on/off about every 3 minutes, prevent-ing pests developing immunity.

The pulse stresses rats, mice and cock-roaches via their feelers, causing them to lose body moisture. They must exit or dangerously dehydrate.

One domestic Plug In Pest Free suits a home about 100m2 (two are best in two-storey homes). One commercial unit suits premises 1000m2.

The maker stresses nothing can prevent pests from entering a build-ing, but electromagnetic pulsing discourages them from establishing.

Cockroach control requires a continuing watch; eggs have long life

so occasional spraying may be needed to kill the newly hatched.

Plug In Pest Free comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee, a 2-year warranty, and 10-year life expectancy.

Prices: domestic $159.95 incl. GST and postage; commercial $1800 incl. GST, plus small courier cost.Tel. 09 833 1931n.keating@clear.net.nz

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

AUSTRALIA’S MINISTER of defence stood at a 1980s National Fieldays opening ceremony watching top-dressing pilot Bernie Haskell fly a spectacular routine.

Turning to Hamilton mayor Russ Rimmington he said “His skills re-mind me of the RAF pi-lots of the Battle of Brit-ain in World War II.”

That victory changed the course of the war and later had a paral-lel in the “guts and determination of New Zealand’s top-dressing pilots who changed the viability of marginal hill country farms,” Rimmington says.

His comments come in his blurb to Bernie Haskell’s new book about his flying exploits, with “startling insights into the macabre hu-mour and excitement of the ag industry.”

Nowadays Haskell lives on a lifestyle block near Hamilton airport with his wife Liz. His two sons fly as airline pilots.Flying on the Edge is published by Bernie Haskell, Tamihere, Hamilton. Price $35. Order from bernard.haskell@xtra.co.nz.Tel 0800 362 529

Flying on the edge

Plug-in expels rats, mice, cockroaches – no poison

countries. Hundreds of 1000s operate in homes.

Plug-in expels rats, mice, cockroaches – no poison

Home and c o m m e r c i a l models simply plug into a power point, from where they send a pulse through the electro-magnetic field that naturally occurs around live electri-

The pulse switch-es on/off about every 3 minutes, prevent-ing pests developing

The pulse stresses rats, mice and cock-rats, mice and cock-rats, mice and cockroaches via their feelers, causing them to lose body moisture. They must exit or dangerously dehydrate.

of 1000s operate RATS, MICE and cock-roaches are expelled elec-tromagnetically by a de-vice now operating in at least 5000 New Zealand homes, offices and facto-ries.

Patented Plug In Pest Free technology (not ul-trasound) is developed and made in Australia and was launched com-mercially in 1995.

It was proven during

2-year scientific trials (1996-97) at The Uni-versity of New England, Armidale, NSW. Aus-tralian Federal Govern-ment funding helped to research, develop and ex-

port the products. They are endorsed

(2007) as a “food safe and effective rodent deterrent process” by the HACCP Australia Pty Ltd under its Food Safety Accredi-

tation System.Commercial models

run in restaurants, retail shops and supermarkets, hospitals, nursing homes, clubs, factories and gov-ernment offices in ten

MS1231

DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 2011 33

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

In-shed feeding ‘needs guiding hand’TONY BENNY

INSTALLING MILK meters in dairysheds can increase production by allowing supplementary feed to be targeted to the cows that most need it, says Dairy Automation Ltd (DAL) general manager Simon Thompson.

“Farmers are installing in-shed feeding systems that actually just blanket feed the herd instead of tar-geting feed to the cows producing the most milk,” Thompson says.

The Hamilton company’s meters measure yield, fat, protein, lactose and conductivity in one sensor and can be linked to feed systems to deliver the right amount of supple-ment to each cow.

The company also supplies cow ID systems for herd management and automatic drafting.

Says Thompson, “You can only get so much production off grass and once you get to that level, to then go up another level you’ve got to look at supplement feeding. Once you do that, feed’s expensive, so you want to be giving it to those animals producing the most milk.”

Rakaia (Mid Canterbury) farm-er Brendon Dolan is installing milk meters in his new shed, having al-

ready had success with DAL cell sensors.

Dolan has 1000 cows once all milked through one shed. Now he’s building a second shed to spread the load.

He’s already sold on shed auto-

mation, having seen what a differ-ence the cell sensors made, he says.

“The staff couldn’t believe it. For drafting out cows, instead of stand-ing up on a stool and looking at the cows and saying ‘I’ll draft her’, we just go to the computer, look at the numbers and hit the draft but-ton. You get about 98-99%, though there’s sometimes one that sneaks through on you.

“Most people I know who’ve gone with one of these sort of sys-

tems all say ‘We wish we had this years ago’.”

In the new shed Dolan will take automation a step further by install-ing the DAL milk meters. These will future-proof the shed, he says. It will have extra ducting in case more wiring needs to be installed to take advantage of more technol-ogy.

DAL’s Simon Thompson sees automation as an important part of the future of dairy farming.

“For so long we’ve had this idea that pasture-based is the way to go, and that New Zealand is the cheapest place to produce milk. But that’s not the case anymore.

“We’ve been far surpassed by the likes of China and South America because of their cheaper labour. So our guys now have to

look at ways of producing more milk.

“The banks tossed everyone into trouble by saying ‘Buy more land and milk more cows.’ Since the fi-nancial crisis you can’t do that, so you’ve got to look at getting more production out of

what you’ve got.”DAL was last year one of two

sponsors of the National Fieldays Premier Feature ‘Innovation for fu-ture profit’.

“We’ve had this idea that pasture-based is the way to go, and that New Zealand is the cheapest place to produce milk. But that’s not the case anymore.”

Korean suits dairyMODELS TO suit dairy farm-ers are included in the Kioti range of Korean-made compact utility tractors sold by Power Farming.

The brand was formerly called Daedong, familiar to Power Farming customers for 10 years.

“Kioti is the same tractor made in the same South Korean factory,” says Kioti and Iseki product manager Brett Maber.

“Ten years ago we started with two models: 35hp and 45hp, both with manual trans-missions. There are now 20 dif-

ferent models available from 22-100hp with options includ-ing hydrostatic transmissions, wet clutch and power shuttle.

“They can also be supplied with factory made and fitted front loaders.”

When brothers Craig and Brett Maber began importing the tractors under the Power Farming Group umbrella the machines were branded Dae-dong for the Korean domestic market and Kioti for exports. They’ve always been Kioti in North America and Europe.

“With the company’s bless-

ing we chose to go with Dae-dong for New Zealand and Aus-tralia,” Brett says. But now all exports are Kioti.

The Daedong Company set up in 1947 in South Korea. It makes a range of tractors, rice planters, cultivators and har-vesters, and walk-behind til-lers.

The company is Korea’s largest maker of diesel engines, with 45% of the market. It makes its own heavier castings and transmissions for the trac-tors.www.powerfarming.co.nz

Simon Thompson, Dairy Automation Ltd, at National Fieldays.

Soil Matters

Peter Burton

“The marked reduction in calcium/magnesium related metabolic disorders in animals during spring as well as a steady improvement in overall animal health, as a result of a single application of dolomite, are the major reasons for the steady increase in demand for dolomite.” To read more visit www.dolomite.co.nz or call 0800 436 566

Bank manager. Farm Advisor. Builder?

Don Burling-ClaridgeM 021 2304 233 P 06 344 5725E bcbuilding@xtra.co.nz

Successful farming requires some key partnerships.

Yep. Builder. Without the right one, you could end up with infrastructure that doesn’t meet your requirements, takes forever to be completed, or costs more than it should have. If you are planning a construction project on your farm, then using the right builder will save you frustration, time and money.

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DAIRY NEWS // MAY 10, 201134

MACHINERY/MOTORING

Fewer stones pierce hoovesTRIALLING A Tuchel Eco 1.8 tractor-mounted sweeper six weeks ago con-vinced dairy farmer Dave Hobday, New Plymouth, he should consider buying one.

His 110ha property has old concrete races that tend to accumulate small stones, hard on cow hooves.

Spreading lime on the gateway en-trances to paddocks is expected to miti-

gate the problem, but it recurs when the fertiliser trucks arrive, Hobday says.

“Apart from laying mnew races there isn’t much we could do,” he says. T”The sweeper has now arrived and we expect it to help offset the problem.”

Agriquip, New Plymouth, supplied the European-made sweeper.Tel. 06 759 8402www.agriquip.co.nz

Euro brand pitching a ‘freshen-up’FRENCH CAR maker Re-nault, said to be number-one in France, wants a bigger slice of the New Zealand market.

Its new Fluence sedan, Megane hatch, Megane coupe-cabriolet and Ko-leos SUV are “ingenious, appealing, affordable and carbon-efficient,” a spokesman says.

The company’s new

promo line is ‘Drive the change’, about its culture – “enthusiastic, innova-tive and human,” says general manager Stephen Kenchington.

The new cars “will be notable for high-level standard equipment and unique-to-class, user-friendly features.

“This will reset expec-tations of what European

cars can offer in the light and small car segments, by equipping them with standard safety and con-venience features previ-ously only available op-tionally, or in larger, more expensive vehicles.

“Never before has so much been offered for so little by a European man-ufacturer, [including] the latest passive and active

safety gear.”This will pitch Renault

to customers wanting to refresh their motoring style, Kenchington says.

“European style and design, features, safety systems and comfort, ride and driving experience has Renault ticking all the boxes.

“Renault is the world leader in production-

ready electric vehicles, and on racetracks our Formula 1 engines have won the world champion-ship. Now the new cars redefine standards for their segments.”

The Megane hatch sells in three models from $31,990 with a choice of six manual or CVT au-tomatic transmissions. A Fluence sedan model with

CVT sells for $34,990 and the coupe cabriolet CVT for $54,990.

All three cars have a 103kW 2L motor with 195Nm torque spread over a broad range. Overall fuel economy is 7.9L/100km.

Standard safety fea-tures include six air bags, ESP, ABS brakes with EBD and BA. There are also automatic headlights and wipers and cruise control with a separate speed limiting function.

Convenience items include height and reach

adjustable steering wheel, smart keyless central locking, blue tooth, multi media connection, cli-mate control air condi-tioning and four speaker sound system with steer-ing wheel controls.

Other standard gear: alloy wheels and front fog lights.

The Koleos SUV comes in a 2WD 2.5L petrol engine CVT model at $37,990. The same car with 4WD costs $42,990. The 2-litre diesel 4WD with 6-speed automatic costs $49,990.

Renault Megane 2L hatch and (left) Fluence 2L coupe-cabriolet.

FONTERRA’S NEW Darfield milkpowder plant will be built by German company GEA Process Engineering. The $75 million plant will start up in August 2012.

Darfield is the largest project by GEA Process Engineering NZ but of similar capacity to three previous plants GEA has built for the co-op.

The contract includes milk reception, standard-isation, evaporation, drying, powder transport and packing. GEA will also erect the building. This is the sixth greenfield plant by GEA in New Zealand over four years.

Fonterra encouraged tenderers to draw on its experience, says GEA Process Engineering New Zealand managing director David Bower.

“This allows synergies from both parties to combine in state-of-the-art technology supplied by GEA.”

The new plant’s products will go to Asia, where demand for milk powder products is rising.

Fonterra’s new $75m plant

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