DNA April Issue 13

US slaps levy on foreign imports Page 3

Snail’S Pace

Govt drags heels on industry reform Page 4

iSSue 13: april 2011

New Kubota front-end loadersPage 32

Jet Star Holsteins earns top ranking

Page 24

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA // april 2011 3

NEWS

ISSUE 13: april 2011

ThiS iSSue

News��3-15

OpiNiON��16-17

AgribusiNess��18-19

MANAgeMeNt��20-25

ANiMAl HeAltH��26-29

MAcHiNery & prOducts��30-33

MOtOriNg��34

Western Victorian farmer Craig Davis has reduced inputs by producing his own compost from effluent.

23

John Crittenden manages the high-est altitude dairy farm in australia at Walcha, NSW.

22

Completing a diploma in agricul-ture has sharpened Northern Victorian farmer Jon pearce’s management focus.

14

SuDeSh KiSSun

ALL DAIRY exports to the US from August 1 will attract a new levy imposed by US dairy farmers, but opposed by global exporters.

The levy of 7.5c/cwt (45.5kg) on all dairy-based imports into the US will help pay for dairy research and consumption.

US dairy processors and marketers also op-pose the levy, fearing a backlash from their ex-port markets.

Fonterra says the levy will directly impact its cost of exports to the US and sets a precedent when most countries are looking to breakdown trade barriers.

“It is particularly hard to understand when the US itself is a net exporter of dairy prod-ucts and the third-largest dairy exporter in the world. So it has more to gain from removing trade impediments than from imposing them,” a Fonterra spokesman told Dairy News Aus-tralia.

Fonterra says exporters in New Zealand, Australia, South America and the EU oppose the levy on the grounds that it discriminates against imports.

After 10 years lobbying by the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), the final ruling was released last month by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

It levies cheese and butter products, and dry

ingredients such as casein and milk protein con-centrates.

The National Dairy Board will collect the money for nutrition research, consumer education, ‘issues management’ and building de-mand for dairy consumption.

NMPF chairman Jerry Kozak says imports were a smaller portion of domestic consump-tion when it national dairy pro-motion program was set up in 1983.

But times have changed, he claims.“Import shares have grown as a portion of the

entire domestic US dairy market, which has also grown.”

He says US dairy farmers have spent billions over the past 27 years to build a compelling case for the consumption of cow milk in its various forms.

“Importers of foreign cheeses, as well as spe-cialty ingredients, have benefitted from the huge surge in per capita cheese consumption. Yet not a single dollar has been spent by import-ers to help these efforts.”

Kozak says dairy importers are “the classic example of the free-rider phenomenon”.

“Foreign dairy products profit from our mar-ket, but rely on US dairy farmers to promote it. In two successive farm bills, Congress has said it’s time to end this free lunch for foreign dairy interests.”

But US dairy manufacturers and marketers oppose the levy. The International Dairy Foods

Association, repre-senting processors, is concerned how other countries will respond.

“We trade with 150 countries and continually ad-vocate for open

markets and trade policies that comply with international laws,” says IDFA president Connie Tipton. “This international tax does not help ex-pand our US dairy export markets and has been widely opposed by our trading partners.”

US slaps levy on dairy imports

BOTH MURRAY Goulburn and Fonterra have flagged further price rises this season, after raising pro-tein and fat payments last month.

MG raised their prices by 25c/kg protein and 10c/kg butterfat, while Fonterra raised prices for its Victorian and Tasmanian suppli-ers by 40c/kg for protein and 16c/kg for fat.

Both prices are backdated to July 1 last year.

MG managing director Stephen O’Rourke says although world mar-kets have recently softened slight-ly, he expects prices to continue to hold reasonably firm towards year end.

“This step-up takes our prices well into the forecast final price range of $5.30 – $5.50 kg milk sol-ids, predicted at the start of the season,” O’Rourke says.

The current available price is now about $5.42 per kilogram milk solids on a weighted average basis.

“We will continue to monitor market returns during the final

quarter of the season with a view to paying a final step-up after year end.”

Fonterra’s national milk services manager, Heather Stacy, says the increase reflects strong international demand for dairy products.

“As we look to the end of the season and begin setting forecasts

for the year ahead, we are seeing an ongoing trend towards consistent de-mand for milk powders beyond current supply.”

She says this augurs well for a strong end to this season and a firm

start for the 2011-12 season.“Our average annual price is now

in the order of $5.30/kg of milk solids, which we hope provides Fonterra suppliers with confidence as they begin planning their budg-ets for the year ahead.”

While the general global dairy outlook is positive, there are other factors which are placing pressure on farm inputs, such as the volatil-ity in the Middle East and subse-quent impact on oil and fertiliser costs.

“We remain committed to pass-ing on any improvements in mar-ket conditions in our farm gate prices to our suppliers,” Stacy says.

MG, Fonterra flag further rises

International demand augers well for a firm start for the 2011-12 season.

The levy will help pay for US dairy research and consumption.

Jerry KozakPersistence unearthed.

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NEW - Limited availability*For more technical information on AR37 including information on animal health go to www.ar37.com.au visit your pasture seed advisor or call Wrightson Seeds on 1800 619 910.

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DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA // april 20114

Dairy News Australia has launched a brand new

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NEWS

AS FARMER representatives, retailers and even opposition and independent politicians work feverishly to relieve the pressure on farmers caused by Coles’ decision to slash milk prices, there’s one party dragging its heels.

That’s the Federal Government – which has sat on the sidelines, watching proceedings.

Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig has gone missing on the current issue, making only one public statement on the milk price cuts.

“I’ve got assurances that I’ve received from Coles, specifically from the mer-chandising director,” he told the press. “It’s worth just quoting it: `Coles is not re-ducing its prices to its milk processor, so this move will not impact them or the dairy farmers who supply them’.

“Lower millk prices should not be reflected in a lower farm price - and of course I’ve got assurances that I’ve received from Coles.”

Queensland Dairyfarmers Organisation president Brian Tessman described this statement as very disappointing.

“It was as if he was reading from the Coles press release,” Tessman says. “We have made several attempts to talk with Ludwig. He is generally very difficult to contact. We’re certainly disappointed he hasn’t made more contact with us. By his own admission, he has talked to Coles and

Woolworths more than once.”The Government has shown a similar

lack of interest in the findings of last year’s Senate inquiry into competition and pricing in the dairy industry, which were released last May – almost 12 months ago.

It’s fair to say it has moved at a snail’s pace. The Government has not pursued any of the recommendations, and in fact voted down a crucial recommendation tabled by Greens Senator Christine Milne.

The Government was supported by the Coalition in voting down a motion calling on the government to reinstate the anti-price discrimination provisions in the Competition and Consumer Act, as recommended by all members of the previous Senate Inquiry into milk pricing.

A spokesman for MP David Bradbury, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, says the Government will formally respond “in due course”.

“The Government supports competition delivering lower prices for consumers, but it is also important that we have a sustainable industry that can continue to supply the enormous demand for fresh milk and dairy products,” the spokesman says.

“While there are a range of proposals for changes to competition laws being put forward, changes to our competition law framework have economy-wide

THE COMPETITION and consumer watchdog will carefully examine the role of big milk processors as well as the major supermarket chains as part of an inquiry into heavily discounted milk prices.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission watchdog is investigating milk pricing by Coles and

Woolworths to see whether it raises competition concerns under the Com-petition and Consumer Act.

ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel told the Senate inquiry all of the focus to date has been on Coles, which initiated the price war when it slashed its milk prices to $1 per litre in January.

“We’ve actually got to start looking

at others in the supply chain and treat with a healthy scepticism some of these protestations about concerns of the farmer,” Samuels said in a statement. “We want to be sure that the consumer gets the benefits of real aggressive competition, not workable competition.”

ACCC chief executive Brian Cassidy

told the Senate Inquiry into supermar-ket milk pricing that is has been in touch with Coles, but declined to give further details.

He denied that discounting was hurt-ing dairy farmers or that milk was being sold below cost.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, David Bradbury, told

Dairy News Australia the ACCC is in contact with industry participants and welcomes any evidence that those industry participants can provide on this issue.

“Strong discounting is good for con-sumers and is not necessarily anti-com-petitive, but it should not be at the ex-pense of dairy farmers,” Bradbury says.

Competition watchdog examines processors

DAIRY NEWS Australia asked Ag-riculture Minister Joe Ludwig the following questions in a bid to get a straight answer on the Govern-ment’s stance.• Does the Federal Government and

Agriculture Minister oppose the sale of supermarket house brand milk for $1 a litre?

• Does the Agriculture Minister believe Coles when the company says it is funding these discounts itself?

• Does the Government believe that greater sales of house brand milk

at the expense of branded milk reduces the amount of available money in the supply chain, there-by reducing the amount of money for farmers?

• Does the Government believe the action of Coles and Woolworths will have a detrimental long-term affect on the Australian agricul-tural industry?Minister Ludwig’s press secretary

sent the following reply:“The Government supported the

establishment of the Senate inquiry that is looking at the recent changes

to milk prices – it is a timely and appropriate way to expose a broad range of issues relating to this mat-ter.

“Farmers must receive a fair price for their milk. If you don’t pay a fair price for your product, you will have no products to sell.

“Coles has indicated that their price cuts won’t be passed on to farmers and we welcome this com-mitment.”

As a result, we are none the wiser whether the Government has any stand on the issue at all.

ramifications and they are not something to be embarked upon lightly.

“We will continue to consider the recommendations made by the Senate Committee, as well as the current inquiry that is due to report in April, and will formally respond in due course.”

Tessman says the Government’s inaction on the former inquiry does not bode well for positive reform stemming from the current inquiry.

“That is our concern. We want to get good and useful recommendations, but if

the Government wants to ignore it – it can.”

Australian Dairy Farmers vice-president Chris Griffen agrees.

“We have had inquiries before, and recommendations get put forward, but the Government is unwilling or haven’t had the desire to make change.”

Milne says dairy farmers will be increasingly troubled by the emerging pattern of Senate Inquiries making supportive recommendations and then being completely ignored.

Govt drags heels on inquiry

Joe Ludwig

Yes, Minister

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NEWS

AUSTRALIAN DAIRY Farmers and the Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisa-tion have made further submissions to the Senate inquiry into milk pricing in a bid to influence recommendations of the Senate Economics Committee.

The committee is due to hand down its report this month and both organi-sations have been in talks with all polit-ical parties in a bid to get recommenda-tions tabled in Parliament and passed.

The QDO is pursuing a new pricing system that reflects production costs, while the ADF has asked for an ACCC investigation into predatory pricing, the reintroduction of the affects test and the introduction of a fresh milk om-budsman. Both groups appeared before the Senate inquiry last month.

QDO’s Brian Tessman says its second

submission presents several options for establishing a pricing system that takes production costs, the milk flow situation and extenuating circumstances, like natural disasters, into consideration.

“It would not be interfering with the market, but estab-lishing a market-based price,” Tess-man says. “We have a situation where it is not based on the market but on com-petition between re-tailers. If the market can’t establish a fair price, then we need other help in there.”

Tessman says the system would re-flect the influences on milk production, but not lead to the sudden rise and falls

that occurs in the fruit market when seasonal influences affect crops.

“We are concerned at the power of the supermarkets and their dominance of the industry.

“Milk is particularly susceptible be-cause it is a perish-able product and we can’t withdraw supply like the beer companies did last month.

He says QDO is requesting a situa-tion where the mar-

ket has an index showing a clear farmer price.

“It would be a collective bargain-ing price with an arbitration system. If farmers are not happy, there would be

arbitration available.”Tessman says Senators and inde-

pendent Members of Parliament agreed the idea could work, although most had different views on how this could be best achieved.

“We have different recommenda-tions depending on what the Govern-ment can do and are happy to talk fur-ther with the Government.”

ADF vice-president Chris Griffen says its submission seeks greater defi-nition and clarification of the Trade Practices Act – including a definition of unconscionable conduct.

The ADF also wants a reintroduction of the effects test that would enable fur-ther review of decisions down the sup-ply chain. Griffen says Senators were understanding of the current situation

milk farmers are in and conscious of the amount of power supermarkets have.

“There is certainly awareness out there; whether there’s a will – well – we are hopeful something will come out of it.”

Griffen says the ADF has held ongo-ing talks with the Coalition, the Greens and independent MPs and Senators and will attempt to get recommendations from the inquiry tabled in Parliament and approved that way.

“It would be great to get a bipartisan approach, but there is some degree of caution from (Labor’s) side.

“We will try to win support from the Coalition, independents and the Greens, because of the make-up of the Government, there are some opportu-nities.”

QUEENSLAND DAIRY farmers have been hit with the first impacts of the bru-tal supermarket price war.

Suppliers have credited a large drop in their Febru-ary milk cheques to the $1/litre supermarket brand milk marketing campaign, initiated by Coles on Aus-tralia Day.

Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation president and Kingaroy dairy farmer, Brian Tessman, says farmers supplying processor Parmalat had part of their milk cheque linked directly to the sales of processor-branded milk.

“As such, since the January 26, Coles’ cut-throat discounts have increased the sales of Coles’ branded milk to the demise of proprietary-branded milk sales,” he says. “When processor proprietary branded milk sales drop, our milk

income drops. It’s that simple.

Tessman believes this is the first hit at the farm gate from the milk war and if Coles continues with its cut-throat approach there will be more to come.

“Since Coles decided to kick the dairy industry in the guts on Australia Day, we know they have gained market share for their own brands of milk. But they have also devalued milk at retail right across the nation, as other retailers have dropped their prices to try and protect market share.”

He says Coles’ executives continue to deny that there is even a problem.

“They continue to mislead their consumers and the Government by saying this won’t impact on dairy farmers. These milk cheques are proof that they are wrong and the impact is happening right now.”

Tessman says January milk incomes were also hit by a drop in production from the flood, but a full breakdown of the figures still reveals that the retail price war is having a direct impact.

“For a million-litre farm even a reduction of just one cent per litre, adds up to a loss of $10,000 across the year. Coles has dropped some of the milk brands by up to 33% or 49.5 cents a litre.”

Tessman says Coles’ claims that prices for dairy farmers went up last year are ‘outright lies’.

“In Queensland they went down by some 15% and in NSW and Victoria by 10%, for milk which went into Coles’ bottles.

“To devalue milk by hundreds of millions of dollars in the domestic market and claim that there will be no impact, defies logic.”

Farmers push Senate for change

Queensland farmers take first hit in milk war

“If the market can’t establish a fair price, then we need other help in there.”

Southern Queensland dairy farmers Peter Brown, Ross McInnes, and Ivan Teese, say they have already seen their farm incomes drop due to the supermarket retail milk price war.

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For Scott McKillop, a reliablesource of winter feed is essentialto his pasture renovationprogramme.

“I look to annual ryegrassfor quality winter feed, beforegoing into a perennial pasture

“It has a great dense canopy,too. The cows always milk wellon it and they graze it down tothe ground. Being a late-maturing annual, you get greaterquality than the cheaper, shortervarieties. I will continue to sowZoom in the future.”

ZoomTM tetraploid annualryegrass is the latest release fromCropmark Seeds. It is aspecialized winter feed. Sownin the autumn, it is an idealwinter feed crop for farmerswanting bulk feed for 6–10months before ploughing up fora summer crop.

We l l n a m e d , Z o o mestablishes rapidly, and goes onto exhibit exceptional cool-season performance. In trialsconducted by Cropmarkthroughout Victoria, it hasoutperformed tradi t ionalWesterwolds annual ryegrassvarieties in autumn, winter andspring.

It is later-heading than manyof the traditional annualryegrasses, +17 days relative toNui. It stays vegetative forlonger, carrying its qualitylonger into spring than thecheaper annual ryegrasses.

Farmers say they are gettingmultiple grazings off their Zoompaddocks over the autumn,winter, and early spring beforeshutting up for silage or hay.

Scott McKillop – dairy farmer,Dederang

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ZoomTM – theking of annual ryegrasses

ZoomTM is the latesttetraploid annual ryegrass fromCropmark Seed’s plant breeding programme.

ZoomTM is a specialist winter feed. An ideal break cropbetween maize and other crops, it is very quick to establishand shows exceptional autumn/winter growth and rapidre-growth. ZoomTM offers the advantages of excellentpalatability and high metabolisable energy content.

ZoomTM can provide multiple grazings over autumn andwinter before being shut up for high quality silage inthe spring.

I had 8 grazings off it last season.ZoomTM has a great dense canopy.The cows always milk well off it andgraze it down to the ground. Being alate maturing annual you get greaterquality than the cheaper shorter termvarieties.

Scott McKillop – dairy farmer, Dederang,Nth East Victoria

ZOOM IS AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL SEEDMERCHANT OR FARM MERCHANDISE OUTLET

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the following autumn.”Scott milks 335 cows on 500

hectares at Dederang in NorthEast Victoria. When it comes tochoosing suitable pasturevarieties, he has a bit of ‘insiderunn ing’ — he was an

agronomist for well-knownVictorian forage seed company,Smyth Seeds of Benalla.

“ M y s e e d i n d u s t r ybackground makes me veryaware of the importance ofselecting the right variety.

Sowing a high performancevariety over a cheap variety paysfor i tself through extraproduction and quality,” Scottsays.

“When I was at SmythSeeds, we put a lot of effort intoevaluating pasture and foragevarieties to ensure those we sold

were actually adding value tofarming systems. ZoomTM wasan annual ryegrass thatimpressed me wi th i t sperformance and quality.”

“When I came back to thefamily farm, which is drylandwith a 900mm rainfall, I wasconvinced Zoom would fit wellhere. I have sown it for the pastthree years now. Last season Igot eight grazings off it.”

“This year the Zoom hadfantastic autumn growth. I havegrazed it five times and I willgraze it again. It bounces backquickly in the winter monthsand gives valuable feed.”


NEWS

STRONG CHOPPER pric-es, fuelled by good seasonal conditions, are underpin-ning strong auction prices for registered cattle.

Dairy Livestock Serv-ices auctioneer Brian Leslie says all sales this year have met a strong response.

“There is good feed about, but the good prices for choppers and export heifers mean farmers can turn old cows into good money and buy new cows to lift their herd,” Leslie says. “I’ve never seen the chopper job stronger and this is having a much big-ger effect than rising milk prices.”

Strong cull cow prices have been fuelled by better conditions and improved confidence in the industry. Leslie says there has been good demand for cattle at both ends of the price spec-trum.

A top of $19,000 was paid at the recent Bred for Success Sale at Moss Vale, NSW, held by Mur-

ray Sowter of Murribrook Holsteins, Moss Vale, NSW, and Jim Strong and Dr Peter Haertsch of Strong-bark-Lothlorien Holsteins, Albion Park, NSW, for Murribrook Storm Ver-ity (ET) – daughter of IDW Intermediate Champion Strongbark Linjet Victory and due again in November to Jordan.

The cow was purchased by John and Cherie Gar-diner, Avonlea, Five Ways, Vic, who also paid the sale’s second top price of $16,000 for Murribrook FC Marcey, a Final Cut heifer.

Also last month, a sale top of $12,000 was paid by Arabella Farming, Brook-stead, Qld, for Glenalbas Goldwyn Olivia (ET) at

Alan and Amanda Garrat-ty’s Gems of Glenalbas sale in Nowra, NSW.

A top of $10,500 was paid at the complete dispersal of Heartland Holsteins, owned by Trevor and Robin Rennie, for Braeford Shottle Marietta, bought by Elm Banks Holsteins, Koroit.

The Warrawee Park Jer-sey and Illawarra dispersal sale at Mooroopna, Vic, also attracted strong lo-cal demand. A top price of $6800 was paid by Tony Hayes, Stanhope, and Ian Mueller, SA, for a seven-year-old Illawarra, War-rawee Park Gracie 2.

“We are looking to do a bit of embryo work with her and Ian will take some of them over to South Aus-tralia,” Hayes says.

He says the cow repre-sented the best Gracie line in the country.

“This line goes back a long way. She is a strong cow who has been bred very well from a long and consistent cow family.”

Leitchville dairy farmer Tim Hore was looking to buy some younger cows and bought the hammer down eight times. He was impressed by the quality of cows on offer, particularly the Illawarra’s.

“My herd consists of mostly Jerseys with a few Friesians and some cross-breeds. I am looking to ex-periment across a few dif-ferent breeds.”

Hore has just purchased a new adjacent property and is looking to build herd numbers up to around 230.

The crowd at the recent Warrawee Park dispersal sale.

Chopper prices fuel sales“I’ve never seen the chopper job stronger and this is having a much bigger effect than rising millk prices.”

Tony Hayes delivers the top bid for Warrawee Park Gracie at the recent dispersal sale at Mooroopna, Vic.

- Advertisement -

For Scott McKillop, a reliablesource of winter feed is essentialto his pasture renovationprogramme.

“I look to annual ryegrassfor quality winter feed, beforegoing into a perennial pasture

“It has a great dense canopy,too. The cows always milk wellon it and they graze it down tothe ground. Being a late-maturing annual, you get greaterquality than the cheaper, shortervarieties. I will continue to sowZoom in the future.”

ZoomTM tetraploid annualryegrass is the latest release fromCropmark Seeds. It is aspecialized winter feed. Sownin the autumn, it is an idealwinter feed crop for farmerswanting bulk feed for 6–10months before ploughing up fora summer crop.

We l l n a m e d , Z o o mestablishes rapidly, and goes onto exhibit exceptional cool-season performance. In trialsconducted by Cropmarkthroughout Victoria, it hasoutperformed tradi t ionalWesterwolds annual ryegrassvarieties in autumn, winter andspring.

It is later-heading than manyof the traditional annualryegrasses, +17 days relative toNui. It stays vegetative forlonger, carrying its qualitylonger into spring than thecheaper annual ryegrasses.

Farmers say they are gettingmultiple grazings off their Zoompaddocks over the autumn,winter, and early spring beforeshutting up for silage or hay.

Scott McKillop – dairy farmer,Dederang


ZoomTM – theking of annual ryegrasses

ZoomTM is the latesttetraploid annual ryegrass fromCropmark Seed’s plant breeding programme.

ZoomTM is a specialist winter feed. An ideal break cropbetween maize and other crops, it is very quick to establishand shows exceptional autumn/winter growth and rapidre-growth. ZoomTM offers the advantages of excellentpalatability and high metabolisable energy content.

ZoomTM can provide multiple grazings over autumn andwinter before being shut up for high quality silage inthe spring.

I had 8 grazings off it last season.ZoomTM has a great dense canopy.The cows always milk well off it andgraze it down to the ground. Being alate maturing annual you get greaterquality than the cheaper shorter termvarieties.

Scott McKillop – dairy farmer, Dederang,Nth East Victoria

ZOOM IS AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL SEEDMERCHANT OR FARM MERCHANDISE OUTLET

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

TrialData

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

the following autumn.”Scott milks 335 cows on 500

hectares at Dederang in NorthEast Victoria. When it comes tochoosing suitable pasturevarieties, he has a bit of ‘insiderunn ing’ — he was an

agronomist for well-knownVictorian forage seed company,Smyth Seeds of Benalla.

“ M y s e e d i n d u s t r ybackground makes me veryaware of the importance ofselecting the right variety.

Sowing a high performancevariety over a cheap variety paysfor i tself through extraproduction and quality,” Scottsays.

“When I was at SmythSeeds, we put a lot of effort intoevaluating pasture and foragevarieties to ensure those we sold

were actually adding value tofarming systems. ZoomTM wasan annual ryegrass thatimpressed me wi th i t sperformance and quality.”

“When I came back to thefamily farm, which is drylandwith a 900mm rainfall, I wasconvinced Zoom would fit wellhere. I have sown it for the pastthree years now. Last season Igot eight grazings off it.”

“This year the Zoom hadfantastic autumn growth. I havegrazed it five times and I willgraze it again. It bounces backquickly in the winter monthsand gives valuable feed.”

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PRICE TALKS between the Dairy Farmers Milk Co-operative (DMFC) and Na-tional Foods have hit a wall.

DMFC chairman Ian Zandstra has told suppli-ers it is in dispute over con-tract terms because Na-tional Foods is unwilling to honour the commitments they made in the Milk Sup-ply Agreement that was struck when it bought the Dairy Farmers business. Zandstra says the DMFC board is holding National Foods to the agreement in relation to key issues such as a commercially trans-parent and accurate Antici-pated Full Demand figure, fair and equitable treat-ment between National Foods direct suppliers and DFMC members, and the 10% variance in tier-one milk.

“Increasingly it is appar-ent National Foods of today is not the company we were promised when DFMC members agreed to sell the Dairy Farmers business to them,” Zandstra says.

“We agreed to the sale on the understanding Na-tional Foods and Kirin were committed to a growth strategy in relation to ma-jor dairy categories, includ-ing cheese.”

He says DMFC is trou-bled by National Foods’ de-cision to close four cheese manufacturing sites (Simp-son and Campbellfield in Victoria and Kings Meadow and Heidi Farm in Tasma-nia) and try to sell two oth-er sites (Murray Bridge and Jervois in South Australia). Cheese making will be fo-cused at refurbished sites at King Island and Burnie in Tasmania.

This comes after an-nouncements of other factory closures by Na-tional Foods last year and disruption caused by shifts in supermarket contracts in Queensland.

Zandstra says the deci-sion to close the cheese factories involves signifi-cant job losses and will ul-timately result in reduced demand for raw milk by National Foods.

“DFMC had no part in National Foods’ review and we are very disappointed with the outcome,” he says. “The loss of this dairy processing capacity and ca-pability creates unwelcome uncertainty for the farm-ing businesses of DFMC members in western Vic-toria and South Australia.”

There are around 100 DFMC member dairy farms

in Victoria and South Aus-tralia, producing more than 230 million litres of milk each year, who supply the Simpson, Jervois and Murray Bridge sites.

“National Foods have not adequately explained why they are closing facto-ries and abandoning Aus-tralia’s traditional dairying areas at a time of high dairy commodity prices.

“Nor have they told us who the potential buyers for the SA sites are, how much milk they will need and how they might inter-act with DFMC.”

Zandstra says all south-ern supplier contracts with the co-operative will be honoured and DMFC will seek a commitment from National Foods to extend

all current farmer con-tracts in western Victoria and South Australia at current volumes – until at least the end of the 2011/12 season.

“We expect this require-ment will be met, but at the same time we will enter into discussions with other processors in the region about potential alterna-tive supply arrangements,” Zandstra says.

National Foods’ man-aging director Andrew Reeves says the decision to close the cheese factories is driven by the need to devel-op a long-term sustainable, business model. He says a review concluded it was not sustainable for National Foods to operate multiple manufacturing sites.

A NEW draft of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan will give communities and catchment authorities more power to decide how environmental water tar-gets should be met.

It will also outline whether infra-structure funding or environmental works were preferable to voluntary buybacks.

Murray Darling Basin Authority chairman Craig Knowles revealed the information on his road tour of Mur-ray Darling Basin communities ear-lier this month.

Knowles also says the proposed water allocated cutbacks in the draft basin plan – set to be released in June or July – will be open to negotiation.

Knowles says his basin plan will be significantly different from the Guide to the Basin Plan released last Octo-ber, which recommended cutting irri-gation allocations by between 3000-7600 gigalitres across the basin.

Knowles told local residents he

wanted the past water saving efforts of people reflected in the new plan. He also says the deadlines for states to comply with the requirements of the final basin plan would be aligned to 2019. This aims to give farmers ample time to use the processes of infrastructure funding, buyback, en-vironmental water management to continuously move toward achieving the plan.

“In some river valleys the plan will be achieved early in the period, other places will take longer,” Knowles says. “It also means that there will be time to interrogate the draft plan on a catchment by catchment basis. I en-visage that the numbers will be chal-lenged.”

He says the numbers produced in the next couple of months should be the start of a process of implementa-tion rather than the end of a conver-sation.

“Logically that implies that, if it can

be demonstrated that the environ-mental objectives for a given catch-ment can be achieved with a different regime of water management, then we should be willing to accept the evi-dence.”

His comments continue the MDBA and Federal Government’s decision to distance themselves from last year’s controversial Guide to the Basin Plan. Knowles has already said that Guide is “dead in the water”.

“It is no secret that I have a poor opinion of the Guide that was re-leased last year, but it’s time to move on,” Knowles told the Sustaining Ru-ral Communities Conference at Nar-rabri, NSW.

“I have said that I do not have a high degree of ownership of the Guide and that both symbolically and practical-ly my appointment as the new Chair is a chance for a fresh start.

“Over the last couple of months I’ve begun the process of re-engagement.”

Govt changes tactics on Murray-Darling Basin

Nat Foods price talks hit wall

National Foods has closed most of its cheese processing plants.

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NEWS

DAIRY AUSTRALIA is ramping up communica-tion about milk’s role in sport performance and has gone straight to the top se-curing a partnership with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

The AIS delivers a world-class sports nutrition service to its athletes and sports teams. Dairy Australia will be working with the team to promote the benefits of milk and other dairy products in the diets of athletes and regular exercisers.

The partnership is the cornerstone of a program of work by Dairy Australia to increase the awareness of milk’s beneficial role in sport performance. DA dietician Glenys Zucco

says milk is shaping up as nature’s sports drink as it contains an ideal balance of fluid, carbohydrate and electrolytes.

“Milk’s unique combi-nation of whey and casein protein, which play an important role in muscle growth as well as recovery from exercise, is another plus for athletes,” Zucco says.

She says there is strong evidence that milk is as ef-fective or more effective as a sports recovery drink than water or commercial-ly available sports drinks.

“Partnering with a peak sports nutrition body such as the AIS, will strengthen Dairy Australia’s ability to deliver this message to con-sumers.”

Milk fuels top Australian athletes

FEDERAL PARLIAMENT has asked the Productivity Commission to review a recent surge in foreign investment in farming, focusing on its effects on the economy and food security.

The commission will investigate whether there is a need to lower the $231 million threshold for mandatory scrutiny from the foreign investment watchdog.

The Government backed the Coali-tion motion calling for the review and

extra data collection, to fill a perceived information vacuum on foreign owner-ship of farm land. The Australian Bu-reau of Statistics and ABARE will now collect extra information relating to the levels of foreign ownership in Australia. The Productivity Commission will re-view the information and recommend safeguards for national food security – taking into account not only individual investments but the cumulative impact of foreign ownership.

Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, John Cobb, says the bipartisan decision gives Parlia-ment further information necessary to determine whether Australia requires further safeguards.

“While foreign investment has been vital for the development of agriculture in Australia, in the last three years we have seen a tenfold increase,” Cobb says. “There has been a marked change in the activity by foreign companies

from investment in agriculture to own-ership and control of supply lines.” He says the buy-out of Australian agribusiness will increase as the world’s population is estimated to grow to over 9 billion by 2050.

“Other countries are already prepar-ing for tighter food supplies by strategi-cally buying into world-wide agricul-tural supply chains. The current rules for foreign investment are outdated and do not address food security.”

Cobb believes an example of the threat to our farming industries is the buy-out of dairy cooperatives.

“This has shown that the short-term financial gain to individual members is outweighed by long-term impacts, such as reduced farm gate prices though loss of market power.”

Foreign Investment Review Board is currently required to investigate agricultural investments above the $231 million trigger.

Govt to review foreign ownership

FARMERS AND communities devastated by Cyclone Yasi will be able to boost recovery efforts with the recent an-nouncement that the Queensland Farmers’ Federation and its industry member groups will employ Industry Recovery Officers (IROs) on the ground.

QFF and the Queensland government have signed off on a $1.7 million nine-month project to facilitate employing 12 IROs to get recovery moving faster.

The IROs will work directly with farmers to help them access the various forms of government assistance on of-fer and also provide a vital conduit of information between the on-ground clean up and recovery effort and key busi-ness and farm management advisors.

QFF CEO Dan Galligan says a similar program was used immediately following Cyclone Larry in 2006 and it has proven itself as one of the most effective ways for getting farmers and communities on the path to recovery.

“Cyclone Yasi has caused more than $700 million of damage to agricultural production in Far North Queens-land,” Galligan says. “The clean-up and recovery will be long, difficult, and costly.”

He says the IROs will work with farmers as they get their businesses back on track.

“The Federal and State governments have offered vari-ous forms of assistance to farmers during this summer of natural disaster. It’s understandable that sorting through the paperwork and complexity of these is a tough job for farmers, when their first priority is dealing with the dam-age to their farms and communities.

“The IROs will help farmers decide what assistances are most needed for them, and to get the right applications into the right places.”

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NEWS

DAIRY FARMERS can now have their bulls and cows genomically tested via services released by Holstein Australia and the Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme (ADHIS) last month.

Farmers using genomics can fast track genetic gain by allowing selection decisions to be made on young animals with no daughters in production. In the past, an ABV based on parent average has been used as an indicator of a young bull’s genetic

potential. However, the ABV(g) is a more reliable measure. ABV(g) stands for Australian Breeding Value, with the (g) indicating the estimate contains both genotype data in addition to traditional pedigree information. This month has seen the first public release of ABV(g)s by ADHIS.

The new technology uses DNA data, or gene markers, to assist in the calculation of breeding values for animals. Genomic testing can be done when an animal is any

age by taking a hair sample. The new testing service is provided through Holstein Australia, while the ABV(g) will be calculated by ADHIS.

The testing process is very simple. A farmer simply takes a hair sample from an animal and posts it to Holstein Australia in the sample kit, also supplied by Holstein Australia. It is expected to take up to six weeks to receive results – although Holstein Australia and ADHIS are working to shorten this. The tests

cost between $90 and $275, depending on the depth of results requested. Holstein Australia CEO Matthew Shaffer expects the service to be taken up mostly by breeders at first.

“At this time, the cost of tests means it is not likely that many farmers will test whole herds to select replacement heifers. However, it will be a useful and economic tool for breeders selling females and males,” Shaffer says. Genomic testing could be

used to identify cows to be flushed for embryo transfer. Cow ABV(g)s would also allow farmers to compare animals between herds with more confidence.

Breeders and their advisers can find out more about using genomics in breeding programs at a Genomics for Producers Day to be held in Melbourne on May 5.

Genomics storm hits dairy industry, page 17

Rapid gains through genomics, page 24

Genomic testing available to all

Holstein Australia CEO Matthew Shaffer

NFF applauds Carbon Farming InitiativeTHE NATIONAL Farm-ers’ Federation (NFF) has given its seal of approval to the Federal Government’s Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) legislation.

The CFI aims to give farmers, forest growers and land holders access to domestic and international carbon markets – providing an investment incentive for environmental conserva-tion and greenhouse gas emission reduction. The CFI will work alongside the carbon pricing mechanism to monitor land-based abatement projects.

By undertaking emis-sion abatement activities that reduce or store carbon pollution, landowners can generate carbon credits, known as Australian Car-bon Credit Units (ACCUs). These can then be sold do-mestically or internation-ally – either voluntarily or to meet regulatory require-ments. The CFI is capped at $45.6 million over four years.

NFF president Jock Lau-rie says the Government made significant move-ments on what it saw as flaws in the draft legisla-tion.

“This includes the criti-cal area of financial ad-ditionality, where the ab-surd proposal to exclude projects leading to mate-rial benefits or productivity gains has thankfully been rejected,” Laurie says.

“The legislation has also addressed NFF concerns around potential perverse outcomes in relation to food production, water, local communities, employment and biodiversity – as well as reducing some of the uncertainty and administration costs

surrounding crediting periods, reporting timeframes and offsets compliance.”

Laurie says the Govern-ment deserves credit for listening to the farm sector and modifying its proposal to ensure genuine abate-ment opportunities under the CFI are not unnecessar-ily overlooked.

“While many in farm-ing communities remain disappointed over the lack of appropriate recognition for past farmer contribu-tions to carbon mitigation, under the CFI farmers can look forward to being rec-ognised for at least some of their future contributions to the carbon abatement challenge.”

How much exactly re-mains to be seen.

Laurie says despite the uncertainties that abound in the area of carbon miti-gation, the progress of the CFI demonstrates the posi-tive role agriculture can play in mitigating against carbon emissions through on-farm management.

“However the clear pas-sage of this legislation can-not be misinterpreted as being the end of the road for this process and a sig-nificant education task will exist for farmers looking to engage.”

He says while some pru-dent flexibility has been shown by the Government in making the CFI more accessible for landholders, the reality is that CFI off-set credits will still require participants to adhere to stringent obligations.

“For bio-sequestration projects, such as those in-volving soil carbon and for-estry, these obligations will remain for many years.”

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Rather than crossing differentvarieties to capture their respectivebeneficial traits, Canterbury’sCropmark Seeds is crossingdifferent species. Specifically, theyare crossing perennial ryegrass withmeadow fescue.

First across the Tasman fromthis programme, in 2004, wasMatrix.

It quickly found a strong fit on

MATRIX IS AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL SEEDMERCHANT OR FARM MERCHANDISE OUTLETFor further information on Matrix, contact

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

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

higher performing dairy, sheep andbeef farms in higher rainfall regionsor under irrigation, throughoutVictoria, lower NSW and Tasmania,and it has been very widely sownover the last few years.

Cropmark’s senior plant breederNick Cameron says the inter-speciescross gives the fast establishment,high dry matter yields andpersistence of the perennial ryegrass

with the high pasture quality andpalatability of meadow fescue,“...a species very different to thetall fescue that farmers may be morefamiliar with.”

“Trials around New Zealand, aswell as in Victoria and southernNew South Wales, have shownMatrix to be very high-producingacross seasons, years and regions,with strong winter and early-spring

growth, providing feed when it isneeded most — around calving andlambing.

“The trials have also shownMatrix is high in metabolisableenergy, highly digestible, and verypalatable.”

Ann and Mark Gardiner, dairyfarmers at Bamawm in theGoulburn Valley, have notedMatrix’s strong persistence. And

especially its fast re-growth whenit rains after drought.

“Matrix has given us theflexibility to adapt to the droughtconditions. It is very forgivingcompared to other permanentryegrasses we have grown. Youdon’t need to treat it with kid gloves.It is so responsive to summer rainthat we are able to graze it veryquickly after rain without the needto re-sow,” Mark says.

Kevin and Helen Jones ofFoster, South Gippsland, won the2010 Dairy Australia CowEfficiency Award & GippslandAward. Matrix is all they grow.They run five cows to the hectareand produce 22,000 litres perhectare.

“We’ve been using it for sixyears, now. Because it’s reliable inour high-rainfall area we achieveconsistent growth rates, high yields,with easy management and lowrisk. The cows graze it down hardand it responds well.”

The Jones say they usually getthe first graze 4–6 weeks aftersowing.

Simon Gleeson, of Brucknell inWestern Victoria, has also beenimpressed with Matrix. He managesBilyana Grazing, which offersweight-gain contract grazing forreplacement heifers. In 2007 hesowed another paddock downbecause of earlier good results.

“You would have to say that thepaddock is a hungry paddock, butthe Matrix bolted out of the groundwhen we sowed it. It was like anannual. Other perennial grasseshave died out in this paddock aftertwo years, but the Matrix is thickernow than when it was sown threeyears ago.

“I like it because you get a longseason out of it. I just need to keepon top of it to keep it at its best.You can see that it’s just so thickthat it’s choked out the broadleafweeds, especially Capeweed, thisyear. I put yearling heifers on it,and they easily do one kilogramliveweight per day on it.”

Ted & Deborah Bingham, ofLardner in Gippsland, have beenusing Matrix for a number of yearsand it’s now the base grass for theirfarm: “Matrix is a solid performer,consistently yielding 11–12 tonnesof feed as well as silage. We usuallyget our first grazing off it after 60days. It always performs well — and the cows love it.”

Stuart Beverly of Poowong,South Gippsland has sown Matrixfor seven years now.

“The cows perform very wellon it. Palatability is excellent. Thecows graze it to the ground and itresponds so well — it’s alwaysthicker than other pastures so there’salways more to eat, more kilos perhectare and, because of its density,less trouble with weeds. I can getloads more silage with it and ahigher stocking rate as well.”

“And after five years it stilllooks brand new. The persistenceis unreal.”

“All I grow is Matrix. I’ve beenusing Matrix now for 6 years anddue to its reliability in a highrainfall area, I achieve consistentgrowth rates, high yields, witheasy management and low risk.The cows graze it down hard,and it responds well.”– Kevin and Helen Jones - dairyfarmers, Foster, South GippslandWinners of the 2010 Dairy Australia CowEfficiency Award and Gippsland Award

The benchmarkfor production and performance

Matrix Enhanced® perennial ryegrasstruly is the benchmark for production and performanceon Victorian dairy farms. It is thoroughly proven, reliable, persistentand high performing.

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

They find it very palatable and eat it readily.

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

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

A novel Kiwi approach to breeding new pasture varieties is finding favour among intensive farmers here.

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NEWS

DAIRY FARMERS buying wheat for their cows are being urged to buy SFW1 quality wheat rather than paying a lower price for lesser quality feed grain.

Dr Steve Little, Dairy Australia‘s Grains2Milk program leader, says the big money to be lost or gained when buying feed is in quality – rather than haggling over a $10/tonne difference in the asking price.

“Never has this been truer than when buying grain than this year, and there are good deals on offer,” he says.

The national harvest of both wheat and barley were high, but wet weather means that much of it was downgraded from milling and malting quality to general purpose and feed grade, which is available to dairy farmers at a significant discount.

“Just as oils ain’t oils, feed grain is not feed grain. There are many specific grades of feed wheat and feed barley and these can differ in their nutritional value for dairy cows,” Little says.

The different grades are defined by Grain Trade Australia (GTA) and outlined in the table below.

When buying feed-grade wheat, stockfeed companies and the pig and poultry industries prefer to buy SWF1 grade wheat, which Little recommends as a good option for dairy farmers.

This is currently selling at a discount of up to $60-75/tonne compared to ASW1 grade wheat, yet its test weight and screenings standards were not much different (see table).

GrainTrade Australia wheat and barley standards for 2010/11 season*

Wheat Barley

Grade aSW1 aGp1 SFW1 FED1 FED2 FEED 1 FEED 2 FEED 3

Max. Moisture (%) 12.5 12.5 12.5 12.5 12.5 12.5 12.5 12.5

Min. protein (%) - - - - - - - -

Min. Test Weight (kg/hl) 74 68 70 62 55 62.5 60 55

Max. Screenings (% by wt) 5 10 10 15 15 15 25 60

Min. Falling No. (secs) 300 200 - - - - - -

Sprouted (% by count) Nil Nil - - - - 5 5

Stained (% by count) 5 15 15 50 - - - -

Field Fungi (count per ½ litre) 10 20 10 40 - - - -

(*extracted from GTa Grain Standards, 2010/11 Season on GTa website: www.graintrade.org.au)

DAIRY FARMERS should test protein levels of their pit and baled silage to avoid disappointment later in the season.

Australian Crop Fore-casters managing director Ron Storey says many dairy farmers are opening up their silage pits and bales to find poorer quality than expected and historically low protein levels.

“With this in mind, it may be worthwhile feed testing pit and baled silage to avoid any unnecessary surprises,” he says. “Plan-ning and, if need be, buy-ing now may well pay divi-dends compared to being exposed to higher prices for high protein hay later on in the autumn when the scramble is on.”

Storey says poor silage results have encouraged odd sales of lucerne hay to be mixed with on-farm si-lage. Rain is the prime dic-tator of hay quantity, but he says rain, or the lack of it, is dictating quality.

“Feed test results will be so important like never be-fore,” Storey warns. “Given the exceptional seasonal conditions in the eastern states, cereal crop yields per hectare will be high.”

It’s anticipated that as a result of high yielding crops, energy and protein

levels will be lower than in previous years where crops have been drought stressed and sugar levels higher.

“In contrast, the dry sea-son in Western Australia has led to cereal crops of exceptional quality.”

Storey adds that prepa-ration in eastern states is now in earnest for the au-tumn sowing period and many farmers are having to burn stubbles with ex-tremely high levels of re-sidual straw and summer weeds. The fear is that the window for sowing could be quickly narrowed if heavy rain occurs.

“The ground is already saturated in many places and it would take little wet weather to bog machinery.”

Storey says the wet sum-mer has inhibited the level of hay being consumed and traded, particularly

in south eastern Australia where green feed is avail-able in southern regions and water is economic in northern regions.

“Many farmers are al-ready sowing annual rye-grasses and within six week will have more graz-ing options.”

Canola hay is available in Western Australia, but some aspects need to be considered by farmers when feeding it to cows.

Nitrate/Nitrite levels in canola hay can be toxic to livestock if too high. This can be tested from a core sample in conjunction with a regular fodder test.

Little says canola hay can be valuable as part of a ration, but advice from a nutritionist experienced in feeding canola hay should be sought before making purchasing decisions.

Test silage protein, farmers warned

Farmers urged to buy SFW1 wheat “You may be able to save an additional $10-30/tonne

by buying FED1 or FED2 grade wheat instead of SWF1. But these grades don‘t necessarily offer better feed

value for money because they have much lower test weights and higher screenings standards.”

Similarly for barley – Little recommends sticking with F1 barley, rather than risking the inferior quality standards

that apply to the F2 and F3 grades. However, he says there’s very little difference

between the price of feed wheat and feed barley this year – making wheat better value because it has a higher energy content.

“Of course you will only get SWF1 wheat or F1 barley if you specify it when you enter a feed purchase agreement.”

He says if farmers just order `feed wheat’ or `feed barley’ they leave themselves wide open.

“You could be delivered any of the GTA feed grades – possibly the lowest – and be obliged to accept it.”

Little also reminds farmers to confirm verbal agreements with feed suppliers by mail, fax or email. An easy way to do this is to use the GTA Contract Confirmation form, available on Dairy Australia’s website.

This form can be used when buying any type of feed – not just grain – to specify quality, price, supply terms and any additional terms negotiated with the seller.

There’s little difference between the price of feed barley, but wheat has a higher energy content.

The wet summer has inhibited the amount of hay being consumed and traded.

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NEWS

IT’S NOT as if northern Victorian dairy farmer Jon Pearce has a lot of spare time. However, he will find time to embark on an Advanced Diploma of Agriculture (specialising in dairy pro-duction) this year. The Tallygaroopna farmer completed a Diploma of Agri-culture – through the National Centre for Dairy Education Australia (NC-DEA) – last year and reckons it is well worth finding the time to complete further study.

Pearce is assistant manager on the Akers family farm, Loxleigh, at Tallyga-roopna, milking 550 cows. He is also an active member of the Tallygaroopna Football Club committee and the Goul-burn Murray Jersey Breeders Club, as well as a coordinator of the dairy sec-tion of the Shepparton Show.

His involvements in the Jersey com-munity have also seen him assist at the National All Dairy Breeds Youth Camp each year and he has been a judge at the Jersey on-farm challenge. Pearce and his partner Shareena are also raising a young daughter, Lexie.

However, the weekly classes (held 10am-3pm one-day-a-week) and the ad-ditional research for assignments that need to be completed at home have im-proved his management and business

skills, while the “piece of paper” will help open doors in the future.

“The Diploma of Agriculture was challenging but has been very reward-ing,” Pearce says.

He says the skills gained from it have given him more of a management focus and greater confidence in his ability to manage a farm.

“Undertaking this course has really reinforced my love for the industry and encouraged me to take a wider view of future opportunities.”

Pearce says 50% of the lessons un-dertaken covered new ground – includ-ing lessons in financial management, managing staff and succession plan-ning.

“When the course was raised as an option, Shareena said I’d be mad not to do it, as it’s an easy and practical way to gain more qualifications.”

He believes it will also prove benefi-cial if he wants to move into other roles in the industry.

“If the farm option doesn’t come off, it will help secure other roles.”

Both Jon and Shareena are focussed on purchasing their own farm and be-lieve share farming is the next step.

Pearce has been employed by the Akers family as an assistant manager

for the past five years full-time and has bought stud animals in that time to build up a source of equity. Operating with others under the banner of Tran-sit Park Jerseys, he recently received a second and a fifth place in two in-milk classes this year at International Dairy

Week at Tatura.Pearce was named NCDEA’s out-

standing student for the year in the northern region last year and will study six units as part of the Advanced Di-ploma. He was also the winner of the annual Greenham Dairy Scholarship

– valued at $10,000 – last month. This will help with study expenses.

“The scholarship is important to me as it allows me to continue studying and gaining the knowledge and experience to be able to fulfil my dreams of farm ownership,” he says.

Education boosts future prospects

Tallygaroopna farmer Jon Pearce will undertake an Advanced Diploma of Agriculture (specialising in dairy production) through the NCDEA this year.

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New Zealand’s Cropmark Seedshas released an impressive newpasture variety, Helix, that isalready impressing Australianfarmers who have tried it.

Bred for high overall yields andimproved pasture quality, Helix isa mid-heading Enhanced®

perennial ryegrass that flowers sixdays later than Nui.

Helix – feedwhen it is needed most!

HELIX IS AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL SEEDMERCHANT OR FARM MERCHANDISE OUTLET

“Helix has performed reallywell for me. I have never seenanything as good – it is just sodense. The Helix paddocks onthe farm are certainly thebest paddocks on the farm.I have a pasture trial here froma different seed company andHelix stands out in the trial. Itis always an inch or two tallerthan the other perennialryegrasses. It is the mostproductive and aggressive ofthem all. The plant populationon the Helix is better thananything else too.”– Gavin O’Brien - dairy farmer,Yeo, near Colac, Western Districts

Helix Enhanced® perennial ryegrass is an exciting new releasefrom the Cropmark breeding programme.A mid heading variety at +6 days (cf Nui), Helix is showingexceptional yield across seasons, years and regions, butparticularly over late winter and early spring – providing morefeed when it is needed most around calving and lambing.Helix is high in metabolisable energy and digestibility, and isextremely palatable.Stock love it and eat it readily. Helix is suited to high performancedairy, beef or sheep farms in regions which receive 600+mmrainfall; particularly areas which do not receive reliable latespring rain; or where grass staggers is an issue.Helix is suitable for all pasture renovation,including over-sowing.

Helix – helpingmatch feed supply and demand

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

Trial DataTo view the performance of Helix in trials, visit ourweb site: www.cropmark.com.au/Trial-Data.aspx

It is the latest graduate ofCropmark’s innovative programmethat cross-breeds perennialryegrasses with meadow fescue(that’s what the ‘Enhanced’signifies). The latter is an entirelydifferent species from tall fescueand is noted for its high pasturequality and palatability.

In Helix, Cropmark has targeted

that most awkward of periods forgrass farmers — late winter andearly spring when feed is mostneeded to see stock throughlambing and calving — historicallya time of feed pinches.

Before release, Helix underwentintensive on-farm trialling on farmsthroughout Victoria and in SouthAustralia. Its high yield potential

was borne out. It consistentlyshowed improved yields acrossseasons, years and regions.

J a s o n H i l l , C r o p m a r kagronomist in Victoria’s WesternDistricts says Helix is exciting forhim: “I’m running six trials in theWestern Districts and SouthAustralia, at Terang, Hawkesdale,Brucknell, Koroit, Gazette and Mt

Gambier. They’re all on farmsrather than research stations, sothat we can compare our varietieswith others under real farmingconditions, and under differentfarming systems.”

“In every one of these trials theperformance of Helix has beenexceptional.”

“From a plant breeding point ofview, we expect newly-bredvarieties to show improvements inparameters such as seasonal yieldand quality, over older varieties,but that doesn’t always pan out.”

“With Helix, though, we haveseen a consistency in performancethrough yield increases across trialsites and across seasons. We havealso noted strong persistence todate.”

“Another factor to come throughfor Helix is palatability. The cowsconsistently graze it preferentially.We put this down to the meadowfescue in its breeding background.”

“Helix will find a strong fit inhigher performing dairy, sheep andbeef farms in higher rainfallregions or under irrigation.However, because it is mid-heading, it is also highly suitablefor areas that don’t receive suchreliable spring rains, and perhapsinto slightly more marginal areaswhere some of the other perennialryegrasses don’t perform.”

Kongwak, South Gippsland,dairy farmers Roger and HelenPerrett, were very happy with theirstrike of Helix — under wetter thanusual conditions — and it boostedthe i r au tumn and win te rproduction: “Helix has an excellentresponse to fertilizer and itsturnaround time is as good as anygrass I’ve seen. We were as low asa 16-day rotation and the cowsstruggled to keep up with thegrowth. Its persistence showedunder a wet winter of heavygrazing,” says Roger.

“The cows grazed it evenly, andfound it very palatable. You cantell a good grass when they eat itshort and even.”

Dairy farmer Mike Shipton ofNar Nar Goon in West Gippslandgot his first grazing off Helix afterabout six weeks:“The germination rate was greatand the Helix jumped out of theground. I’m rapt in the plantdensity — it really surprised me.It is quick to respond to grazing,too. I have had nine grazings offit since sowing last autumn, plusone load of silage and we’ll get asecond cut. I’m currently on a 18-21 day rotation to keep up with itsgrowth.”

Mike has also noted its highpalatability: “The cows love it andeat it right to the ground. I’venoticed they milk really well on it.

“I will use Helix again for sure.”

- Advertisement -


New Zealand’s Cropmark Seedshas released an impressive newpasture variety, Helix, that isalready impressing Australianfarmers who have tried it.

Bred for high overall yields andimproved pasture quality, Helix isa mid-heading Enhanced®

perennial ryegrass that flowers sixdays later than Nui.

Helix – feedwhen it is needed most!

HELIX IS AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL SEEDMERCHANT OR FARM MERCHANDISE OUTLET

“Helix has performed reallywell for me. I have never seenanything as good – it is just sodense. The Helix paddocks onthe farm are certainly thebest paddocks on the farm.I have a pasture trial here froma different seed company andHelix stands out in the trial. Itis always an inch or two tallerthan the other perennialryegrasses. It is the mostproductive and aggressive ofthem all. The plant populationon the Helix is better thananything else too.”– Gavin O’Brien - dairy farmer,Yeo, near Colac, Western Districts

Helix Enhanced® perennial ryegrass is an exciting new releasefrom the Cropmark breeding programme.A mid heading variety at +6 days (cf Nui), Helix is showingexceptional yield across seasons, years and regions, butparticularly over late winter and early spring – providing morefeed when it is needed most around calving and lambing.Helix is high in metabolisable energy and digestibility, and isextremely palatable.Stock love it and eat it readily. Helix is suited to high performancedairy, beef or sheep farms in regions which receive 600+mmrainfall; particularly areas which do not receive reliable latespring rain; or where grass staggers is an issue.Helix is suitable for all pasture renovation,including over-sowing.

Helix – helpingmatch feed supply and demand

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

Trial DataTo view the performance of Helix in trials, visit ourweb site: www.cropmark.com.au/Trial-Data.aspx

It is the latest graduate ofCropmark’s innovative programmethat cross-breeds perennialryegrasses with meadow fescue(that’s what the ‘Enhanced’signifies). The latter is an entirelydifferent species from tall fescueand is noted for its high pasturequality and palatability.

In Helix, Cropmark has targeted

that most awkward of periods forgrass farmers — late winter andearly spring when feed is mostneeded to see stock throughlambing and calving — historicallya time of feed pinches.

Before release, Helix underwentintensive on-farm trialling on farmsthroughout Victoria and in SouthAustralia. Its high yield potential

was borne out. It consistentlyshowed improved yields acrossseasons, years and regions.

J a s o n H i l l , C r o p m a r kagronomist in Victoria’s WesternDistricts says Helix is exciting forhim: “I’m running six trials in theWestern Districts and SouthAustralia, at Terang, Hawkesdale,Brucknell, Koroit, Gazette and Mt

Gambier. They’re all on farmsrather than research stations, sothat we can compare our varietieswith others under real farmingconditions, and under differentfarming systems.”

“In every one of these trials theperformance of Helix has beenexceptional.”

“From a plant breeding point ofview, we expect newly-bredvarieties to show improvements inparameters such as seasonal yieldand quality, over older varieties,but that doesn’t always pan out.”

“With Helix, though, we haveseen a consistency in performancethrough yield increases across trialsites and across seasons. We havealso noted strong persistence todate.”

“Another factor to come throughfor Helix is palatability. The cowsconsistently graze it preferentially.We put this down to the meadowfescue in its breeding background.”

“Helix will find a strong fit inhigher performing dairy, sheep andbeef farms in higher rainfallregions or under irrigation.However, because it is mid-heading, it is also highly suitablefor areas that don’t receive suchreliable spring rains, and perhapsinto slightly more marginal areaswhere some of the other perennialryegrasses don’t perform.”

Kongwak, South Gippsland,dairy farmers Roger and HelenPerrett, were very happy with theirstrike of Helix — under wetter thanusual conditions — and it boostedthe i r au tumn and win te rproduction: “Helix has an excellentresponse to fertilizer and itsturnaround time is as good as anygrass I’ve seen. We were as low asa 16-day rotation and the cowsstruggled to keep up with thegrowth. Its persistence showedunder a wet winter of heavygrazing,” says Roger.

“The cows grazed it evenly, andfound it very palatable. You cantell a good grass when they eat itshort and even.”

Dairy farmer Mike Shipton ofNar Nar Goon in West Gippslandgot his first grazing off Helix afterabout six weeks:“The germination rate was greatand the Helix jumped out of theground. I’m rapt in the plantdensity — it really surprised me.It is quick to respond to grazing,too. I have had nine grazings offit since sowing last autumn, plusone load of silage and we’ll get asecond cut. I’m currently on a 18-21 day rotation to keep up with itsgrowth.”

Mike has also noted its highpalatability: “The cows love it andeat it right to the ground. I’venoticed they milk really well on it.

“I will use Helix again for sure.”


opiNioNRUMINATING

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We want your cattle!PETER GREENHAM Snr, of HW Greenham and Sons, Tongala, Vic, was in good spirits at the announcement of the $10,000 Greenham Dairy Scholarship in Melbourne last month.

That was until somebody asked him about the season in northern Victoria and how it was affecting the number of cull cows – as dairy cows are an important part of the company’s meatworks.

“Farmers are running all the cattle they can, they’re running grasshoppers too,” he said, in mock exasperation. “Everyone, tell them to send cows our way, even one!”

Who wants a wife?POPULAR TV show The Farmer Wants a Wife is returning for its seventh season next year on Channel 9. And they are currently looking for a new batch of eligible male and female farmers.

We ask all single farmers (men and women, despite the show’s title, the show attempts to match women with potential husbands too) to enter their details for the good of the dairy industry. It’s a popular show in the city and an articulate dairy farmer showing a potential suitor around a top-notch farm would be a great advertisement for the sector.

We are officially calling on people to put in the details of someone they think is suitable to make sure the dairy industry is represented. Dob in a mate at [email protected] or go to ninemsn.com.au/farmer

What were they thinking?WINNING THE awards for both inappropriate content and bad timing is the Spanish dairy news site PuraLech – with its report on Fonterra’s globalDairyTrade auction last month.

The auction fell 11.4% - not a big deal in the scheme of things – but PuraLech reported the news under the heading: Tsunami in the dairy market. This was literally days after the tsunami struck Japan last month on the back of that country’s earthquake, killing tens of thousands of people.

Milking It reckons PuraLech’s media department must have half a brain between them.

Cross-species milk anyone?SCIENTISTS IN China have created genetically modified cows that produce “human” milk. Apparently the Chinese boffins have introduced human genes into dairy cows to produce milk similar to human breast milk.

Researchers believe that milk from the herd of 300 cows can provide an alternative to human breast milk and formula milk for babies, which is often criticised as being an inferior substitute. Professor Ning Li says the milk would be as safe as milk from ordinary dairy cows, while tasting stronger than ordinary milk.

Anyone have a problem with their baby suckling on the teat of a GM cow?

MILKING IT... Got milk? Get goldWE’VE BEEN saying for the past 12 months that Dairy Australia should link milk pro-motion to Australian athletes – especially in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics. And now they have!

DA has formed a two-year partnership with the Australian Institute of Sport and will use the institute’s highly-regarded di-etician team to promote the benefits of milk during exercise at conferences and correct misinformation about milk. The partner-ship will also involve research projects and give DA access to some of the country’s best athletes (including race walker Jessica Roth-well, pictured) in the run-up to London.

We won’t see the word “milk” emblazoned across the chest of athletes striving for the finish, but DA’s communications team will ensure people know through the press that milk is fuelling our elite sports people.

Nobody wins when Govt in two mindsTHE FEDERAL Government seems to have two gears – flat out and stationary.

When it comes to finalising the Murray-Darling Basin Plan it is moving at breakneck pace to get legislation written and tabled this year – despite community pleas to slow down to ensure everyone’s views are considered.

When it comes to action on last year’s Senate Inquiry into competition and pricing in the Australian dairy industry, the gear stick is still in park.

A spokesman for MP David Bradbury – parliamentary sec-retary to the Treasurer – told Dairy News the Government will continue to consider the recommendations made by the Senate Committee, as well as the current inquiry that is due to report in April, and formally respond in “due course”.

That’s 12 months worth of consideration since last year’s rec-ommendations were tabled in parliament! Yet something tells us we shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for the Government to make a move.

And if it has taken that long for a Government response on the initial inquiry, it doesn’t bode well for a speedy response to the current inquiry.

Northern dairy farmers are losing money as a direct result of Coles cutting prices and the Government continues to sit on its hands.

In stark contrast, Prime Minister Gillard has shown no signs of deviating from the original Murray Darling Basin Plan dead-line this year. The draft plan is expected to be published this year and the Prime Minister has said Water Minister Tony Burke will sign off a plan later in the year.

The Victorian and NSW Governments, and key irrigation groups, have asked for the current guide to Basin Plan – which calls for a diversion of 3000-7600 gigalitres of irrigation water – to be re-drafted. They claim the drought-breaking rain across the country over summer has provided enough water for the Murray-Darling Basin for a couple of years. This provides the time to enable all parties to work on a consensual plan, they claim.

So what’s the rush?Burke and new MDBA chairman Craig Knowles have publicly

questioned the Water Act, which they say gives the environment precedence over all. Meanwhile, the CSIRO has attacked the credibility of the “science” behind the required diversion figures outlined in the plan.

Pushing a new plan through without proper consultation will damage any chances of securing the health of both the river sys-tem and rural communities. It’s a balancing act that will require time and careful consideration.

Unfortunately, neither appear likely from the Government.

EDITORIAL


opiNioN

GENOMICS HAS hit the dairy breeding industry by storm.

During the past couple of years, we have gone from almost no application of genomic/genetic marker results in breeding programs to widespread use of genomics.

Genomics provides an opportunity to increase the accuracy of genetic estimates, especially at a young age. This means the ability of breeding programs to make more rapid genetic progress by reducing the generation interval.

However, interpretation of genetic results is not always straightforward in these early days of genomics. Some of the results are difficult to explain.

Despite the large upsides which are well documented – many from simula-tion studies – some real-world genomic results, identifies areas that still need improvement and where breeders may want to exercise caution in how they apply these results to their breeding programs.

The genetic merit of most of the very high genomic young bulls tends to drift downwards as they add milking daugh-ters. We don’t have a clear understand-ing of why this happens. This drift may be caused by bias from bull-dams. There may also be statistical challenges of combining data from animals that have genomic information with ani-

mals that do not have ge-nomic information.

The good news is that after milking daughters are added, the traditional Total Performance Index (TPI) and the genome-enhanced TPI are relatively close. Despite this downward trend, the rank of the young sires does not appear to change greatly and the genetic merit – even after the downwards drift is still quite high – which is also good news.

Results to date suggest that produc-ers should slightly lower their expecta-tions of high genetic merit from young sires. To avoid disappointment from any one young sire, using a portfolio of several young sires will help minimize risk of any large changes in genetic merit. Do we need to progeny test now that we have genomics?

Young sires have always been a good genetic option to use in breeding pro-grams – even before genomics. We have been monitoring the performance of young bulls, both with and without ge-nomics, before and after they have had daughters added to their proofs.

One of our interests at ABS is to help determine how extensively we should use young sires as sires of sons (elite

breeding bulls). We looked at 276 young

sires tested at ABS over a 15 month period – late 2005 through 2006. As a group, the high genomic young sires were a slightly better predictor of future performance than tradi-tional parent average.

This suggests that both traditional parent average and genomic parent average have merit when select-ing young sires, but genomic estimates are a slightly better predictor. Daughter information is still very helpful in find-ing the outlier bulls.

ABS is using high genomic, young bulls as sires of sons, but we are also using the very highest-proven bulls as sires of sons to help spread risk and to increase diversity. Genotyping females

When genotyping was first made available in 2008, the only option was with the 50k SNP chip from Illumina.

The cost to genotype using the 50k chip back in 2008 was around $US250. The cost to genotype an animal with the 50k chip is now closer to $US150. Additionally, there are now multiple genotyping options.

Illumina now has both a higher den-sity option (800k SNPs) and a lower density option (3k SNPs). Approximate

cost in US for genotyping with 800k SNPs is $350/sample and for genotyp-ing with 3k SNPs is $40/sample.

A recent USDA study found that the correlations of breeding values using a 3k subset of the 50k SNPs and the ac-tual 50k SNPs were quite high – ranging from 0.95 to 0.97 (VanRaden, Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding, April 2010). So the 50k chip provides around 96% of the reliability gain compared to using 500k SNPs.

The bottom line is that the cost of genotyping still adds up to a lot of mon-ey if a lot of animals in the herd are go-ing to be genotyped. Therefore produc-ers should consider lower cost options first (such as traditional genetic merit

estimates) when trying to decide about what animals to genotype.

Genomics is not the only tool avail-able. However, using this tool opti-mally requires an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of it as well as the costs. Additional fine-tuning will likely improve the accuracy of the genomic estimates, and further reduc-tions in costs will allow for greater use of genomics for both elite breeding pro-grams, as well as more commercial op-erations in the future.

Denny Funk is Group Chief Scientist at Genus. This is an extract from his presentation at the recent Herd ’11 con-ference. He was brought to Australia by ABS Australia.

Genomics storm hits dairy industry

dENNy fuNk

The generic merit for most of the very high genomic young bulls tends to drift downwards as they add milking daughters.

CRV Australia www.crv4all.com.au2/22 Garden Drive, Tullamarine, VIC 3043Ph: 03 9335 3499 F: 09 9335 4199 E: [email protected]

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agribuSiNESS

THE UNIVERSAL appeal of ice cream is revitalising Paul and Trish Miller’s long-term enthusiasm in the WA dairy industry.

Since the Miller family opened the doors to the first ice creamery in the Cowaramup district, near Margaret River in the south west of the state – soon after Christmas last year – the accolades haven’t stopped. Locals and visitors alike are embracing the fam-ily-friendly tourist attraction, which sits comfortably alongside the family’s commercial dairy farming operation.

The new venture is the realisation of a dream for the Millers who have long held a desire to value-add to the milk their herd produces.

“The ice creamery is about moving forward in an industry that has had a lot of ups and downs in the last 10 years,” Trish says.

Paul Miller is a third generation dairy farmer. He and Trish are determined to stay in the industry and give their two young children the opportunity to grow up in a country environment. However, Miller admits his enjoyment of the busi-ness and lifestyle has been deeply test-ed in recent years.

“For many years the WA dairy indus-try has developed on the theory that the more milk you produce the more money you make,” he says. “So over the years our family has been expanding our business with the purchase of more land and increasing herd size. But in recent years, the reality of that expan-sion has had no correlation to increased income. We have not been rewarded for all our efforts.”

About two years ago the Millers bought a former group settlement cot-tage with the aim of turning it into ac-commodation for workers on their ex-panding business. However, milk prices dropped and their focus changed.

“Not long after we had finished refur-bishing the cottage we were sitting on the deck enjoying a coffee and for the first time really appreciated what we saw before us – a tranquil rural scene

in the heart of Margaret River’s tourist precinct,” he explains.

“The venue is an attraction in itself. It dawned on us that the way to go for-ward was to share what we had with the public.”

The Millers considered short-term farm stay accommodation, but factors such as occupancy rates and the fact they would probably need more accommodation steered them away from this. They both did cheese making courses with the idea that it could be the way to go, but there were already two similar businesses close by. In addition to this, Paul admits that he is not passionate about cheese.

“I believe that if you are not passion-ate about doing something you will not do it well.”

The idea just grew and eventually morphed into ice cream as it appealed as a product that they could do and do well.

“We figured that if we didn’t do ice

cream in the area, someone else soon would and we’d lose our market op-portunity,” Miller says. “The nearest ice creamery is at Dunsborough (35km away) so our venture fits in well with tourism in this area. We have filled a void.”

In May last year, the Millers lodged their plans with the shire. Meanwhile,

they set about creating a car parking area and started landscaping before winter set in – highly confident that their plans would gain approval.

“We spent a lot of money employing consultants to help us deal with gov-ernment regulations, departments and issues like quality assurance. But it was money well spent. We covered all bases

to make sure what we were doing com-plied with all regulations, we had to get it right from the start.”

Once the Millers chose to make ice cream they set about sourcing recipes, equipment and, most importantly, the right tuition.

“We had booked flights to Melbourne where we had located what we would

need, but then found a fantastic one-stop shop in Perth which of-fered us everything,” Paul says. “But we went to Melbourne any-way, we needed the break!

Their ice cream making equipment is from Italy and comes highly recommended.

“We are in the process now of sourc-ing local products to use as flavourings and hope to eventually source every-thing we need from our local area.”

Millers Ice Cream offers 12 flavours at any one time and the menu is evolving – Paul believes the number of flavour combinations is only limited by imagi-nation.

“We offer anything made from milk at the cottage shop and it’s all manu-factured on-site,” he says. “Currently there’s iced coffee, coffee, milkshakes, chocolates and we are looking at ex-panding the menu. We also offer sor-bets and a dairy-free product that I defy anyone to say doesn’t taste like dairy.”

The ice creams are offered in cones or old-fashioned buckets and there’s a one-litre takeaway option.

The family’s Holstein herd currently produces 3000 litres daily and their re-quirement for ice cream manufacture is a very small percentage of that.

They’ve adopted a steady as you go attitude to their business after a busy 12 months, but the future is looking very bright and they continue to explore new opportunities. A few local restau-rants have shown keen interest in their products, but they want to ensure eve-rything is going well before they take on more.

Visitors to the venue have a range of activities to enjoy. Trish Miller says the whole concept is very child-focussed.

“This is about the kids,” she says. “As parents of young children we have noticed that a lot of tourist venues are more adult-oriented. We wanted this to be very family friendly.”

She says they spent a lot of time sourcing the right kind of playground equipment and settled on a solid, treat-ed-wood model that is proving very popular.

“Visitors have plenty of picnic tables to choose from and parents are able to watch their children safely play from a number of vantage points. There is a small bush walk as well, and we have two wooden cows available for people to try their skill at hand milking.”

Reprinted with permission from The Landmark Livestock Informer.

Ice creamery breathes new life into WA dairy business

The family’s Holstein herd produces 3000 litres daily, with only a small percentage used for ice cream.

Trish Miller at work in the ice creamery.

The ice creamery is based in this refurbished group settlement cottage. Surroundings were designed to be family-friendly.

Control and utilise dairy effluent today | Design, mixing, pumping and separation equipmentAll provided by RP Rural Engineering | Specialist in effluent management

Contact Philip Thompson 02 4473 7276 [email protected] www.rpruralengineering.com.au


buSiNESS

SuDeSh KiSSun

FONTERRA’S MOVE to open its online auction to global players has been met positively by major proces-sors.

It signals a change of heart among major processors who two years ago blamed globalDairyTrade (gDT) for pulling down dairy prices.

Murray Goulburn is considering its participation in future auctions and says gDT: “has evolved into a significant global benchmark for pricing and market sentiment for the dairy products that are traded on the platform.

“Accordingly, as one of the key players in the international dairy market, MG was pleased to have participated in the review and the development of rules to establish a multi-seller platform,” a spokes-man told Dairy News Australia.

At this stage, MG has not made any commitment to participate in the platform but continues to consider its position on future participation.

One of Europe’s largest dairy co-ops, Arla Foods has also been in talks with Fonterra. It was invited by Fonterra to comment and give advice on making gDT rules a multi-seller platform.

“We have found the discussions interesting and we are currently investigating our options and pos-sibilities,” Arla spokesman Thomas Carstensen told Dairy News.

He says Arla Foods is a large pro-ducer of products which could be offered both for the world market, but also of interest for the European markets which is not active on the gDT platform.

“We find that Fonterra has react-ed positively to our comments and made some significant changes to ensure that the gDT can work as an open market place,” he says.

Carstensen says gDT is just one part of the global dairy industry. He believes it cannot stand alone to en-

sure the interactions between pro-ducers and markets.

Fonterra has released for consul-tation draft market rules allowing other dairy companies to sell their products on gDT.

Apart from MG and Arla, Danish co-op FrieslandCampina and US-based California Dairies and Dair-yAmerica have all helped Fonterra develop the draft rules.

However, no processor has con-firmed participation in gDT. The platform trades around 600,000 metric tonnes of Fonterra products a year and has 300 registered bidders from 58 countries. Sales, to date, to-tal $US3.2 billion.

The draft rules allow open access to all participants and ensure all sell-ers are subject to the same terms. These are based on the existing gDT rules, but are extended to meet the needs of multiple sellers.

It also proposes an advisory board,

made up of bidders and one repre-sentative from each of the first five sellers, to advice on gDT governance.

Fonterra managing director trade and operations, Gary Romano, says when gDT was launched in July 2008 it was envisaged that other sellers of dairy products would eventually join the platform. He says the draft rules allow industry participants and stakeholders an opportunity to offer suggestions and feedback.

“All parties are keen to be open and transparent so that globalDairy-Trade moves to the next phase of its development with continued wide support from the global industry.”

Romano believes having other sellers on gDT will add more volume and will lead to even more reliable prices. At the same time, it has the potential to attract more buyers, giv-en the platform will offer products from different geographies, enabling better risk management, he says.

NOW THAT a couple of months have passed, what impact has $1 per litre pri-vate label milk had on mar-ket shares?

February is the first full month for which data is available and some very preliminary trends have emerged.

Here are answers to some of the questions that many people have asked us at Dairy Australia.

Have supermarkets taken sales share from the non-grocery channel – such as route trade stores, petrol and convenience outlets and food service outlets – and the distribu-tor networks that supply these stores?

At this time, the data suggests fairly small share gains for grocery of maybe 1-2% share of the total drinking milk market. This would take grocery to around 53-54% channel share – from 52% share in 2010. This equates to something like 25 to 50 million litres over a year.

While supermarket milk sales grew by over 6% in February, overall sales as reported by DA actu-ally grew for the month by nearly 3.5% -- so channel change was limited. It will be interesting to see if this was a ‘once-off’ sales in-crease or if drinking milk consumption is more re-sponsive to price than pre-viously believed and has lifted due to the lower retail prices.

Will soy drinks or UHT milk lose any share to milk?

No. Neither soy drinks nor UHT milk have lost any share to fresh milk despite all the media attention and the change in price relativi-ties.

The most significant price cuts occurred in the modified milk categories –

low and reduced fat milks that were previously priced well above regular milk in both private label and branded segments.

Now that these prod-ucts are also $1 per litre – just like regular milk – has their share increased?

No. Despite the sig-nificant change in relative prices, there has been no real shift from fresh regu-lar milk to fresh modified milk at this stage.

How much share will move from dairy com-pany branded to retailer

private label products across the total milk cat-egory and across the vari-ous segments within the category?

Overall, branded milk has lost around 5% share points to private label – from a split of around 50/50 to 45/55. In the seg-ments; fresh white regu-lar brands have lost 3-4% share points. While fresh modified brands have lost significantly more – around 9-10% share points – albeit in a much smaller segment.

The current pricing trends suggest a reduction in retailer margins of some-thing in approaching $65 million over a full year for the two major chains if the current pricing strategy is maintained. At this stage,

the data doesn’t show any signifi-cant discounting in dairy company branded prices – which would rep-resent a greater impact on industry profitability.

How will this impact my farm-

gate price?Much will depend on the

length of time this strategy is in place and whether or not processors need to dis-count to maintain market share. At this stage, it is still too early to tell. Comments at the Senate inquiry by Coles’ CEO that milk prices are “staying down” did not mean that the cuts were permanent and that they could last about six months were also very interesting.

Peter Wilson is Dairy Australia’s Industry Ana-lyst.

Online auction wins processor approval

global impactpEtEr WilSoN

Milk price cut impact revealed

Overall, branded milk has lost around 5% share to private label since Coles discounted its milk.

Murray Goulburn says it was pleased to have participated in the development of rules to establish a multi-seller platform for Fonterra’s globalDairyTrade auction.

$5000 cash giveaway

Terms and Conditions: 1. This competition is being run by Vicseeds Production Pty Ltd (ABN 48 102 920 552), 1/3 Dowsett St, South Geelong. 2. This competition commences on the 1st February 2011 and closes at the close of business on the 17th June 2011. 3. The draw will take place in the Vicseeds office on the 20th June 2011 at 3.00 p.m. 4. Prize: There will be one prize draw with the first drawn tag being the winner of $5,000 CASH. 5. For full terms and conditions please visit the Vicseeds website www.vicseeds.com.au. NSW Permit No. LTPS/11/00338.

How to enter: Just purchase one or more 25 kg bags of Avalon or Avalon AR1 certified perennial ryegrass, remove the complete certified tags and mail together with your name, address and contact details to “Vicseeds Cash Giveaway” PO Box 1544 Geelong 3220.

Avalon perennial ryegrass is Australian bred for persistence, excellent winter and spring production, Avalon is available with wild type endophyte or the safe AR1 endophyte, Avalon suits all grazing enterprises


Tiller density is key to pastureperformance. The more tillers aplant produces, the higher thepotential yield and persistence– and the denser the pasturecanopy, the less potential weedinvasion.

Cropmark Seeds has anItalian ryegrass that trials andfarmer experience show is

excelling in this department.Sonik has been scientifically

evaluated in 23 on-farm trialsthroughout Victoria and lowerNSW. Cropmark agronomist forGippsland and NorthernVictoria, Adam Sheedy, says thevariety really vindicates hiscompany’s breeding focus ontiller density.

“Right from the first trials, itwas very obvious that Sonik hadsignificantly higher tiller densitythan other Italian and annualryegrasses we compared it with.”

“We undertook a tiller countanalysis in six trials and Sonikhad 20% higher tiller densitythan the next highest variety, butup to 50% more tillers than other

varieties tested.”This might not be immediate

obvious from a casual glance,he says.

“Plant growth habit can bedeceiving. Some grasses,through their very uprightgrowth habit, may look flashyand impressive, but unless theyhave high tiller density, the yield

simply won’t be there.”“We are seeing this on farms

throughout the region. Sonik isshowing consistently higherproduction across autumn,winter and spring – and, whererainfall allows it, it will persistfor a good 18 to 24 months ormore. Its high metabolisableenergy content is also showingup in excellent livestockperformance, be it liveweightgain in lambs or milk in the vat.”

Farmer feedback is bearingthis out.

Merv Koch, a dairy farmer atTongala in the Goulburn Valley,was impressed with Sonik’splant density: “I see it as a bigimprovement on past varietiesI’ve sown. Even though it wasa very wet winter, the Sonikhandled the wet well. It alsogrew after each drop of rain wehad. The grazings have beenshort rounds of 20-25 days onaverage and the Sonik recoversquickly after a hard grazing.”

“I was very happy with theway the stock performed on it,too. I will definitely be sowingSonik again.”

Lionel Woods, dairy farmerat Colac in the Western Districts,is a strong advocate of Sonikunder his farming system.

“Sonik is an amazing grass.It just blows me away how wellit performs. I have grown lotsof other Italian ryegrasses butthis is definitely the best. I havehad more grazings off it than Ican believe.”

In spring, Lionel shut up theSonik for silage. “In one 2hectare paddock, we bailed 45rolls of silage weighing about500kg each. At 60% dry matterper roll, that’s 6.8 tonnes of drymatter per hectare in silagealone! We have had two grazingsoff it since cutting it for silagethis spring. The Sonik also hangson for so long at the end of theseason. I am just so impressedwith it.”

Tyson Sinclair was veryimpressed with the pasturequality and palatability of Sonikon his dairy farm dairy farmerat Cooriemungle in the WesternDistricts.

“My cows graze Sonik likeno other Italian ryegrass. Theyleave nothing after grazing it. Iam topping other Italianryegrasses, but because the cowslike the Sonik so much I haven’thad to top any of the Sonikpaddocks. We have tried otherryegrasses but just keep comingback to Sonik - it’s just so lush.”

Sonik – thewinter feed champion

Sonik – rapid establishmentand strong winter activityTake the worry out of winter feeding.Sonik is the winter feed champion, with rapid establishment andstrong growth rates over autumn, winter and spring providing afeed platform you need for great livestock performance.

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

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

Cows graze Sonik like no otherItalian ryegrass. They leavenothing after grazing it. I amtopping other Italian ryegrassesbut because the cows like theSonik so much I haven’t hadto top any of the Sonikpaddocks. We have tried otherryegrasses but just keep comingback to Sonik - it’s just so lush.Tyson Sinclair – dairy farmer,Cooriemungle, Western Districts

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

SONIK IS AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL SEEDMERCHANT OR FARM MERCHANDISE OUTLET

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

- Advertisement -


maNagEmENt

STePhen cooKe

WITH LAND prices of $19,000/hectare through-out Western Victoria, dairy farmers Mark and Kim Bayne were forced to think outside the square to get their own farm.

The couple had been share farming in the dis-trict – winning the local Graham Hall Farm Man-agement competition in 2007 – and wanted to transfer their efforts onto their own property. They were also very keen to avoid taking on so much debt.

They investigated farms for sale, but would invari-ably find either the dairy or the house was too run down. Overlooked during this time was a house and dairy on 14ha at Beeac, which they duly investi-gated.

“Because it was only 35 acres (14ha) we hadn’t thought about this prop-erty. We assumed because it was so small that it would be no good,” Mark said.

However, the dairy shed, yards and house were all in very good condition. The shed had to be replaced and Mark installed a second-hand 10-aside Double up dairy.

The couple now milk 55 cows, mainly Friesians with a few Jerseys, which are run on the 14ha prop-erty. They strip graze the pastures before cattle are lot fed home grown hay in feed rings. Urea is applied to the pastures and cattle return when pastures have grown sufficiently.

They are currently re-sowing the house block with straight ryegrass, eliminating the clover as Mark believes ryegrass re-covers better than clover after grazing.

Hay and silage are grown on the 20ha family farm at Coragulac – established by Mark’s great-grandparents in 1913. Mark and Kim also own this property.

Annual ryegrass is plant-ed to produce silage and hay at costs of $23 and $10-$12 respectively. Last year, Mark cut 16ha and pro-duced 351 rolls of silage. The year before he cut 20ha and produced 400 rolls of hay.

The only feed bought is coprice pellets, fed at the

rate of 1.2t/cow a year.The Baynes also own

an 82ha property at Dree-ite, where they run dry cows, young heifers and beef cows. Mark says this is good calving country – warmer than the home block and with better qual-ity feed starting earlier in the season.

Mark and Kim share-farmed a 240ha Beeac property, where they won the Graham Hall Farm Management competition, judged on production, farm layout, improvement, pas-ture and general manage-ment.

“It was nice to be recog-nised. There aren’t a lot of accolades in dairy.”

It was here they also de-veloped a herd of heifers. They have built their herd to the current number of 55 milkers. AI is used which enables them to select the best genetics and improve production from their smaller herd. They cur-rently average 17 litres per cow/day.

Mark admits the dis-tance between farms – a 40km round trip from Beeac to Coragulac – is not ideal but it was a neces-sity if they were going to get their foot in the door.

A contractor is employed to bale the hay and silage, but Mark cuts and carts it back to the house block, stacking up the kilometres.

He’s no stranger to hard work working a share farm – milking 240 cows - and his own farm up un-til 12 months ago. He sees the current situation as a step back, allowing him to spend more time with Kim and his three boys.

They are certainly mak-ing the best of it and plan to invest in a feed pad on the house block as part of their long-term plan.

Rewarded for thinking outside the square

Who: Mark & Kim Bayne WhErE: Beeac What: Buying first farm

Mark and Kim Bayne with their children.


Tiller density is key to pastureperformance. The more tillers aplant produces, the higher thepotential yield and persistence– and the denser the pasturecanopy, the less potential weedinvasion.

Cropmark Seeds has anItalian ryegrass that trials andfarmer experience show is

excelling in this department.Sonik has been scientifically

evaluated in 23 on-farm trialsthroughout Victoria and lowerNSW. Cropmark agronomist forGippsland and NorthernVictoria, Adam Sheedy, says thevariety really vindicates hiscompany’s breeding focus ontiller density.

“Right from the first trials, itwas very obvious that Sonik hadsignificantly higher tiller densitythan other Italian and annualryegrasses we compared it with.”

“We undertook a tiller countanalysis in six trials and Sonikhad 20% higher tiller densitythan the next highest variety, butup to 50% more tillers than other

varieties tested.”This might not be immediate

obvious from a casual glance,he says.

“Plant growth habit can bedeceiving. Some grasses,through their very uprightgrowth habit, may look flashyand impressive, but unless theyhave high tiller density, the yield

simply won’t be there.”“We are seeing this on farms

throughout the region. Sonik isshowing consistently higherproduction across autumn,winter and spring – and, whererainfall allows it, it will persistfor a good 18 to 24 months ormore. Its high metabolisableenergy content is also showingup in excellent livestockperformance, be it liveweightgain in lambs or milk in the vat.”

Farmer feedback is bearingthis out.

Merv Koch, a dairy farmer atTongala in the Goulburn Valley,was impressed with Sonik’splant density: “I see it as a bigimprovement on past varietiesI’ve sown. Even though it wasa very wet winter, the Sonikhandled the wet well. It alsogrew after each drop of rain wehad. The grazings have beenshort rounds of 20-25 days onaverage and the Sonik recoversquickly after a hard grazing.”

“I was very happy with theway the stock performed on it,too. I will definitely be sowingSonik again.”

Lionel Woods, dairy farmerat Colac in the Western Districts,is a strong advocate of Sonikunder his farming system.

“Sonik is an amazing grass.It just blows me away how wellit performs. I have grown lotsof other Italian ryegrasses butthis is definitely the best. I havehad more grazings off it than Ican believe.”

In spring, Lionel shut up theSonik for silage. “In one 2hectare paddock, we bailed 45rolls of silage weighing about500kg each. At 60% dry matterper roll, that’s 6.8 tonnes of drymatter per hectare in silagealone! We have had two grazingsoff it since cutting it for silagethis spring. The Sonik also hangson for so long at the end of theseason. I am just so impressedwith it.”

Tyson Sinclair was veryimpressed with the pasturequality and palatability of Sonikon his dairy farm dairy farmerat Cooriemungle in the WesternDistricts.

“My cows graze Sonik likeno other Italian ryegrass. Theyleave nothing after grazing it. Iam topping other Italianryegrasses, but because the cowslike the Sonik so much I haven’thad to top any of the Sonikpaddocks. We have tried otherryegrasses but just keep comingback to Sonik - it’s just so lush.”

Sonik – thewinter feed champion

Sonik – rapid establishmentand strong winter activityTake the worry out of winter feeding.Sonik is the winter feed champion, with rapid establishment andstrong growth rates over autumn, winter and spring providing afeed platform you need for great livestock performance.

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

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

Cows graze Sonik like no otherItalian ryegrass. They leavenothing after grazing it. I amtopping other Italian ryegrassesbut because the cows like theSonik so much I haven’t hadto top any of the Sonikpaddocks. We have tried otherryegrasses but just keep comingback to Sonik - it’s just so lush.Tyson Sinclair – dairy farmer,Cooriemungle, Western Districts

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

SONIK IS AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL SEEDMERCHANT OR FARM MERCHANDISE OUTLET

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

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Protect your Herd and your Profits with...

For more information about MycosorbTel: (03) 9767-2800 • E-mail: [email protected]

• www.knowmycotoxins.com

MY.V300.04.11.DN

Impact of mycotoxins in cattle: • reduced milk output • reduced daily gains • lower immunity


maNagEmENt

gorDon collie

THE HIGHEST altitude dairy farm in Australia is proving its credentials as an efficient, low cost milk producer, three years af-ter being built from the ground up.

Walcha Dairy – perched almost 1200m above sea level in the New England district of NSW –was con-verted from a sheep and beef enterprise, which is traditional in this part of the world. The site was se-lected by Victorian owners Peter and Elaine Notman for its safe 1000 mm an-nual rainfall and strategic

location between major ur-ban markets in Sydney and Brisbane.

The Notmans have di-versified rural interests including an agricultural service and seed business, as well as a dairy farm at Poowong.

They recruited an expe-rienced dairy farm man-ager from the NSW south coast, John Crittenden –who moved on site within three months of the prop-erty being purchased in April 2008.

“It was an exciting chal-lenge being involved in set-ting things up from scratch and we get a lot of visitors who come to see how we

went about it,” Crittenden says.

The property was gutted internally. A GPS system used to design a new fenc-ing and laneway system built around the central, el-evated milking site so cows don’t have to walk more than 1 kilometre. Paddocks, which each have a water-ing point and average about 8ha in size, are angled to-wards the dairy for ease of stock movement.

“We can get 800 cows to the dairy in under an hour,” Crittenden says.

An early priority was to completely re-pasture the property. Contractors were engaged to spray out 440 hectares and direct drill ryegrass and clovers.

The first 100 ha of pas-ture renovation had been completed after three years with half sown to a crop of brassicas and chicory and the balance drilled straight to perennial pasture and a trial block of 12 ha of an-nual ryegrass which has proved to be a success.

“Because there are no established dairies in the area, there has been an ele-ment of pioneering. There were a lot of cream farms in the New England in the 1960s, but the industry contracted on to the coast over the years,” Crittenden says.

“The rainfall here is fairly regular and safe for dryland farming and year round milk production. Although we do get snow and winter temperatures down to minus 15 degrees Celsius.”

Surplus pasture is made into hay and silage with

about 1500 round bales of silage harvested this sea-son. Some lucerne hay is also bought in.

Hay and silage is normal-ly paddock fed through dry months from November to January, with ryegrass kicking back in once the season breaks around the end of January. The only ir-rigation is an underground system installed to dis-perse ponded dairy effluent onto pastures.

Lime is used with new pasture establishment and all pastures receive a nitrogen-based fertilizer application every 35 to 40 days. Paddocks also re-ceive a dressing of chicken litter trucked from the Tamworth district. This is applied at a rate of about three cubic metres a hec-tare about every 35 days following the grazing rota-tion.

The main dairy property is run in conjunction with a heifer and dry cow block of 150ha closer to Walcha, which was also completely renovated with new per-manent pasture.

The farm was originally

stocked with up to 1000 cows with numbers culled back to a rolling average of about 750 milkers. Block calving four times a year provides continuous fresh milk production, which is supplied to National Foods. Milk is mostly trucked straight to Sydney and sometimes Brisbane.

Crittenden says produc-tion has been averaging about 18,000 litres a day, with cows milking up to 32 litres a day in spring and 20-26 litres during the win-ter months.

Cows are fed a mixed ra-tion of grains and protein pellets in the bails year round, averaging about 7.2 kg each a day. The ration is automatically varied through three levels, ac-cording to each cow’s daily milk production record.

The 80 stand rotary with two operators can milk 400 cows an hour. The dairy is fully computerised with continuous milk flow re-cording and quality moni-toring.

Cows with any health is-sues and those just calved are segregated at milking and their milk fed to calves. This level of control means full quality bonuses are re-ceived for all market milk.

Crittenden says the farm is now well established as an efficient, lost cost, milk producing enterprise.

With no other dairy farms in the district, Wal-cha Dairy has generated a lot of local interest and visi-tors. It has also become an agricultural research site for students studying at the University of New England at Armidale.

High country dairy proves its mettle

Who: peter and Elaine Notman WhErE: Walcha What: New dairy

Farm manager John Crittendon with the herd.Above the 80 stand rotary dairy can milk 400 cows an hour.

Greenhouse gauge for your farm

This is one of the many examples of the dairy service levy at work. Farmers receive a benefit of $3 for each $1 invested by Dairy Australia on their behalf. For more information

on this and other levy investments visit www.dairyaustralia.com.au

The Dairy Greenhouse Gas Abatement Strategies or DGAS calculator was developed to estimate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for Australian dairy farms.

The results are a guide to GHG emissions your farm produces and assume that best management practices are in place eg: nitrogen fertiliser usage.

What does DGAS estimate?

• Methane from stock as part of the digestive process (enteric fermentation) and manure management.

• Nitrous oxide from animal waste and from nitrogen fertilisers. These nitrous oxide emissions are further broken down into direct (occurring on your farm) and indirect (loss to the environment through leaching/runoff and volatilisation).

• Carbon dioxide from consumption of electricity and fuels.

• Carbon dioxide associated with the production of key farm inputs such as grains/concentrates, hay and silage and fertilisers.

Methane and nitrous oxide have greater potential to warm the environment when compared to carbon dioxide. Therefore, to make it easier to calculate total GHG emissions, all gasses are converted into carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e).

DGAS estimates the CO2e emissions as a total figure in tonnes of CO2e. It also estimates emissions per tonne of milk solids by dividing total emissions by annual milk production.

What data is needed in DGAS?

DGAS estimates GHG emissions for a 12-month period and therefore 12 months of data is required. For example, how many cows calve and produce milk in the 12-month period can be different than your peak milking herd size, especially if you milk year-round.

DGAS requires the most accurate figures available, and results might vary from year to year because of changes in stock numbers, annual milk production, nitrogen fertiliser usage, changes to diet quality and the consumption of electricity and fuels.

Where can you find DGAS?

Go to www.dairyingfortomorrow.com.au/index.php?id=47 and you will find two versions of DGAS.

The advisor version has been developed for facilitators who help farmers utilise the DGAS program.

The farmer version is a slightly amended version in the areas of milking herd data entry, liveweight of the replacements, the number of bulls required ad the diet quality for the replacements and the bulls.

Contact your local Dairying for Tomorrow co-ordinator or Karen Christie at [email protected] for help.

DGAS was developed by the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research with funding from Dairy Australia and the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry through the Climate Change Adaptation in the Southern Australian Livestock Industries program.


maNagEmENt

ricK Bayne

THREE YEARS ago Western Victo-rian farmer Craig “Reggie” Davis de-cided he’d had enough of increasing fertiliser costs, unwanted pests and low root depth on his crops.

He then embarked on an ambitious five-year farm conversion plan, which is already paying dividends.

Home-made compost replacing traditional fertilisers, an upgraded dairy effluent system, an extensive soil testing program and extension of a centre pivot irrigation system are helping Davis achieve his goals.

Ultimately he hopes to use 100% of the effluent generated on his farm, near Cobden, to protect his soils and maintain good pasture growth.

Looking across a paddock, which hasn’t had any outside additives since last October but is now lush with clo-ver and has a root depth nearly four times better than a few years ago, Davis is clearly well on his way to achieving that success.

“The results have been amazing re-ally, and we think they’ll only get bet-ter,” he says.

Davis, and wife Tan-ya, milk about 630 cows on the family farm. The milking area is 263 hectares, which is sup-plemented by out pad-docks for calves and dry stock.

He recently hosted a Future Ready Dairy Sys-tems field day to show-case his better use of effluent and fertilizers. Davis explained how he had grown sick of be-ing forced to regularly spray “bad bugs” and coping with de-clining soil quality.

“We were putting on more nitro-gen for worse results. In the autumn we had to spray three times for red-legged earth mites. Something had to change,” he says.

Something did change after Davis, a fourth-generation farmer, visited New Zealand and Queensland to

look at alternatives to continued use of conventional fertilisers. The main change was developing a home-made compost system, primarily using first pond effluent sludge mixed with ingredients such as straw and wood-chips to ensure it is properly aerated. It is topped up as needed by bits of chook manure, mud and other minor additions.

More than 80% of the ingredients are from the Davis farm.

“It’s an effective mix,” he says. “We put it in rows and then turn it, and add a few bugs from the Camperdown Compost Company to make sure

we’ve got everything covered.

“If we get it right we’ll have the bugs attack-ing the weeds, not the plants.”

This transformation is paying its way.

“It has meant a big saving for us on ferti-lisers. We’re probably spraying urea at about a third of the rate we used to do. There was an outlay first up, but now I’d conservatively say we’re saving about a

quarter on our fertiliser costs.Davis reckons he’ll do even better

once the farm is fully going.Last year, he produced about 2000

tonnes of compost and expects to make 3000 tonnes this year to con-tinue the expansion. The compost is applied at between six and seven tonnes per hectare. Liquids from the second pond are spread over the farm

through his pivot irrigation system at a rate of about 5%.

“We use a low rate so we can graze all the time,” Davis says. “There are a lot more nutrients in these ponds than most people think. We need to be like farmers in Europe where they have 100% utilisation of their effluent and don’t have to put fertilisers on to their properties.” Nearly 70 hectares of the farm is using the centre pivot irrigation.

The decision to make the compost on his farm rather than import pur-chased compost has also led to a sig-nificant cost saving. Apart from low-ering input costs, Davis says the new system is producing better soil and pasture results.

“The paddocks had no clover and looked pretty bad. Now they’re full of clover. We’re using less nitrogen, which promotes more clover growth. Clover and ryegrass is a great blend and we don’t have to put too much on

Who: Craig and Tanya Davis WhErE: Cobden What: Home-made compost

Compost slashes fertiliser billit, just a bit of grass stimulant every now and then.

“The roots are much deeper. When we started they were going down about three inches, now it’s a foot, which means there are more nutrients available for the plant and less feeding required.”

Soil tests conducted on a regular basis

are showing good results. “Keeping our soil healthy is the best way

to deal with a variable climate,” Davis says. He thinks that the lower input costs and

better pasture results will prompt others to follow his lead and implement their own extensive compost system.

“It’s not rocket science.”

Compost is applied at 6-7t/ha

Craig Davis in paddocks that have not had any outside additives since October.


maNagEmENt

STePhen cooKe

STEVE MILLS is confident commercial farmers will be the biggest beneficiaries of the introduction of genom-ic-based breeding values.

Mills and wife Jackie milk 140 cows at Lockington in northern Victoria – half of them registered under the Jet Star Holsteins name. The couple has already made breeding decisions based on Australian Breeding Val-ues (genomics) – or ABV(g)s. They say 95% of all genet-ics chosen for their regis-tered herd will be based on

ABV(g)s in a few years.The first ABV(g)s for

Holstein bulls, based on the Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme data base, were calculated last year. However, the first offi-cial public release was only issued this month.

Genomics is a new tech-nology that uses DNA data, or gene markers, to assist in the calculation of breeding values for animals. In the case of dairy cattle, it is ex-pressed as an ABV(g).

Genomic testing can be done when an animal is any age – from a hair sample. In-formation is most valuable

for young bulls that have no daughters in production. It enables breeders to choose young bulls for their breed-ing program years earlier – as they will have much more available data, including health traits, at their finger-tips to help make breeding decisions.

The Mills’ selected young

bulls based on ABV(g)s to fast track their breeding program, saying it has put them three years ahead. Al-though the bulls, including their own Jetfinn, did not have ABV(g)s released, the Mills’ conducted a lot of re-search and sought consider-able advice before choosing the three Genetics Australia sires used in the company’s test team.

“To get into the test team, we know they had to have been alright. The whole team has been genomically tested and Genetics Aus-tralia pointed us to bulls they would be using down the track as potential sires.”

He says without any data to correctively mate they chased the bulls that came from strong cow families and had the runs on the board.

“We are really excited about the public release of genomics. The bigger the release – the less guessing there will be.”

Jetfinn was named number one bull in this month’s release of ABV(g)s.

Steve and Jackie Mills have always enjoyed cattle breeding.

“We do a lot of breed-ing, and spend hours on research, but we also milk morning and night.”

The commercial dairy farmers decided to turn their hobby into an arm of their business by registering their cows.

“Instead of one of us working off-farm, we went full-on into genetics to im-prove our business.”

Half their commercial herd of 180 is now registered and a heavy embryo trans-fer program, where cows are flushed every 6-8 weeks, means the entire herd will be registered in two years. They calve all year round.

“We breed for our herd, not the AI industry, and ge-nomics will be part of that breeding toolbox from now on,” Mills adds. “Some peo-ple are sceptical about the reliability of genomics, but if you use a group of bulls then the reliability improves. Some figures will go up over time, some will go down – so it averages out.”

The Mills have operated their Lockington farm since 2001 and registered the Jet Star prefix the year before. They bought their first reg-

istered animals in 2005, but realised quickly that if they wanted to run it as a busi-ness they needed to use elite genetics.

In a bid to improve their herd rapidly, they pur-chased a six-month-old Roumare-sired heifer, Hill Valley Anastasia, which was out of the full sister to the number one bull at the time, Donante, at Interna-tional Dairy Week in Janu-ary, 2008.

They went on to buy an-other Roumare heifer, Eb-ony Park Roumare Toni, out of a high-indexing Lancelot, the following year to form the base of their high genet-ic merit herd.

Informer was put over Anastasia to produce Jet-finn – whose genetics have already been used in the Mills’ ET program. The calves of Jetfinn and two other bulls in Cargold and Goldran – all available as ge-nomic sires – will be on the ground in August.

Steve Mills says Informer is a similar style to Anasta-sia and has excellent pro-duction figures.

The couple believe the decision to utilise elite ge-netics suited their business and farming goals of breed-ing cows of a good type that return milk protein and re-ward inputs. Their herd of registered and unregistered cows run together and milk quality and quantity has im-proved markedly in the last few years through their use of new US genetics backed by genomic testing.

“The genomics will help fast track those gains as you don’t have to wait two years to get heifers in to get the proof.”

Mills says using these bulls advances better genet-ics and gains in the herd, with the knowledge there are genomics behind the decisions.

“Farmers will get gains so much quicker – so genom-ics will have a huge impact on the dairy industry as a whole, not just the stud in-dustry.”

Mills is excited at the impact Jetfinn could have within the industry.

“The excitement comes from breeding the complete bull and the satisfaction of having a genetic influence on dairy breeding.

“We’re small farmers here at Lockington and to think we could have a na-tional impact on breeding across the country – based on our own decisions made for our farm – is exciting.

“It gives us confidence in our breeding decisions here.”

Rapid gains through genomics Who: Steve & Jackie Mills WhErE: lockington What: Genomics

Jackie Mills with Hill Valley Anastasia, the dam of Jetfinn, who was ranked number one bull in this month’s ABV(g) release.

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A GIPPSLAND farm has installed a milking machine cleaning system that can slash power consumption by almost 75%.

Jindivick’s Steve Ronalds is one of the first dairy farmers in the world to have the commercial Green Cleaning system installed. It operates at low temperatures, re-uses wash solutions and utilises energy efficient principles to deliver substantial operating cost savings for farmers.

The innovative technology can reduce water use by up to 63% and even uses waste heat from the fresh milk to help warm the rinse water.

Ronalds says he is pleased with the environmental outcomes, but ultimately the system works because it helps his business.

“I’m a fourth generation farmer and I have a young son, so there’s no doubt we need a sustainable future. But we are business people and we have to make a dollar,” he says.

“With power costs the way they are going and water being so precious on this farm, the numbers with this system seem to stack up.”

A prototype was developed and tested by AgVet Projects in 2009, who then worked with the various industry partners to turn the prototype into commercially viable system.

The project is being managed by AgVet Projects on behalf of GippsDairy, and is supported by two principal funders, the Victorian Government Sustainability Fund and the Gardiner Foundation.

It also involves the six largest dairy equipment and chemical companies in Australia.

The system on the Ronald’s farm was developed by GEA Farm Technologies (Westfalia), with the chemicals supplied by Cleantec – a division of Ecolab. Other companies will be introducing their systems to the market progressively throughout 2011.

AgVet Project’s Gabriel Hakim says the co-operative nature of the project was the key to its success – involving dairy farmers, milk companies, regulators and the dairy equipment and chemical sector.

“Traditionally we have been tied by dairy chemicals because they need to be used at high temperatures, so part of the project was to encourage the chemical companies to develop chemicals that worked at much lower temperatures.”

Despite the impressive performance to date, Hakim thinks even greater savings are possible.

“My ideal is to have a system operating at 35 degrees Celsius; we are at 50 degrees now, so we are getting there.”

Dairy energy breakthrough

1. Do you have a picture of what your life will look like at least 5 years ahead?

2. Have you identified what you will need to meet your retirement needs?

3. Do you have a plan to develop your skills for the future e.g. people skills, technical skills, financial skills, leisure activities, off-farm investment options?

4. Do you have a written business plan or list of goals you are working towards?

5. Do you meet regularly with key people to plan your future direction and review your past performance? (E.g. with business partner /investors, consultant, banker, accountant, men-tor...)

6. Do you achieve your desired balance

between time spent with family, friends, personal development, leisure and work?

7. Do you operate with an annual cashflow budget and do you update your budget regularly and adjust targets and inputs accordingly?

8. Do you know what operating surplus your business needs to generate to meet your drawings, interest and principal payments, tax and investment needs?

9. Do you analyze your business returns an-nually and benchmark them against top business performers?

10. Do you monitor 5 or 6 key drivers for achieving production e.g. kgMS/cow, calving date and rate, heifer liveweight,

cow condition score, pasture cover? 11. Do you read a lot and meet with positive

motivated people regularly? 12. Do you really enjoy what you are doing?

How did you score?Count the number of ticks: /12A score of 10 or above shows you are in charge of your business. If you scored below 10, you would see significant advantages in lifting your score. To begin improving, identify one or two areas, and write down an action plan to address them. Review your score again in another 6 months!

*Based on Dexcel Plan4Success question-naire. www.dexcel.co.nz.

Are you in charge of your direction?

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AS WE move into a strong au-tumn, where many will have some time to take things just a little bit easier, it is worth reflect-ing on how you and your busi-ness are performing. We know that we are constantly faced with new challenges in life and busi-ness. How well are you prepared for what is thrown at you? Take a few minutes to complete the following questions and iden-tify whether you are in charge of your direction.

Go through this questionnaire and only tick those that you can answer 100% Yes.

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aNimal hEalth

EXTENDED LACTATION is a viable option to culling cows that do not get in calf as planned, according to new research.

This shows extended lactation can be commercially viable for pasture-based dairying systems. The project – conducted by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries – combined trials conducted at the Ellinbank Dairy Research Institute in Victoria with dairy farmer experience through case studies.

Dairy Australia’s InCalf program leader, Dr Barry Zimmermann, says extended lactation can work well in herds with year round, split or batch calving systems.

He says the interval between calvings can be successfully extended with most Holstein cows beyond the traditional 12 months – to about 18 months. In year

round, split or batch calving herds, this gives the flexibility to join an empty cow to calve with the next group, he says.

“During the extended lactation phase, you can expect their daily milk production to be less than their herd-mates on a tradi-tional lactation, but this is compensated for by extra days in milk and higher con-centration of protein.”

Zimmerman says most will continue to produce milk through to the planned dry off date.

“It is a bit trickier in a strictly seasonal calving herd, because the interval between calvings will stretch to two years. In that situation milk production tends to drop off in the last few months.

He adds that annual milk production of extended lactation cows will drop by about

2% in the top 50% of cows, but by up to 14% in the bottom half.

“Many cows won’t make the distance, drying themselves off before their planned dry off date.”

Zimmermann says it is rare to find a whole herd on an extended lactation, but it is common to find a small number of cows within a herd with an extended lactation.

He says extended lactation is a manage-ment tool used in certain situations and often on specific cows.

“For example, you can shorten the join-ing period and bump not-in-calf cows into

the next mating group and milk them for an extended lactation. Some farmers do this to avoid using bulls, al-lowing all cows to be joined by AI.”

Zimmermann says with record high prices for export heifers there’s even more incentive to get more AI calves on the ground.

Farmers considering extended lactation should: • Think about the impact it will have on

the herd’s milk production pattern and

if there are implications for the contract with their milk processor.

• Have the herd pregnancy tested so you know which cows are not in calf. You can then decide which ones you want to keep on an extended lactation and whether some will be culled.

• Make sure cows are given the best op-portunity to get in calf when they are joined. Follow the InCalf recommenda-tions for heat detection and AI practices. Only allow a cow two mating periods to get in calf. Cull repeat non-breeders. Zimmermann says farmers will need to

monitor body condition and adjust nutri-tion if needed when cows are in the ex-tended lactation phase.

“Special nutrition strategies are not re-quired for cows on an extended lactation but cows on an extended lactation are very responsive to supplementary feeding and you need to beware of over-conditioning towards the end of lactation,” he adds.

“Over-conditioned cows may need to be fed as a separate group during the dry period to ensure they do not calve in body condition score of more than 5.5 (on an 8-point scale).”

Don’t cull cows, extend lactation

Annual milk production of extended lactation cows will drop by 2% in the top 50% of cows.

Dr Barry Zimmerman says the interval between calvings can be extended with most Holstein cows beyond 12 months.

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aNimal hEalth

IN MY role as President of the Australian Cattle Veterinarians, I hear about issues that are concerning cattle vets from all over Australia.

One issue that is consistently at the top of the list is the challenge to veterinary practices posed by unqualified non-veterinarians performing various services which were traditionally the domain of vets. These lay operators are eroding the profitability – and in some cases the viability – of practices providing a service to dairy farms in some parts of the country

I have listened and watched with great interest and empathy to all the arguments about the “supermarket milk war” and how unsustainable price cutting is affecting the future viability of Australian dairy farms. I agree that if an unfair, unsustainable price war forces dairy farmers to the wall – then all Australians will be the poorer for it. Food security is something that is impossible to really put a value on.

However, I find it ironic that many of the same farmers who feel that they are suffering as a result of the “unfair” price cutting and competition by supermarkets are the same farmers who – without giving it a second thought – use an unqualified and unregistered person to pregnancy test their cows, employ the services of a semen salesperson (whose job is to sell more semen) to work out their reproductive program or get their local “old mate” from the produce store to tell them which vaccine and drench they should use.

For a long time, various rural stores and co-operatives have used their buying power and market share to cut the margins on vaccines and drenches to levels that many veterinary practices have found difficult to compete with. Semen companies have used reproduction programs as “loss leaders” to increase semen sales. While lay pregnancy testers – with little more than a new ultrasound unit and a few days training – have hit the roads pregnancy testing cows.

Does any of this sound familiar?

So how is the way that the supermarkets are screwing dairy farmers over milk pricing any

different to how many in the dairy industry have treated professional dairy veterinarians who have dedicated their lives to the animals we care for?

Dairy veterinarians who have undergone a peer-reviewed testing and auditing program to become accredited as a NCPD pregnancy tester are the “gold standard” of pregnancy testing. While a lay pregnancy testing service could be seen as an alternative, it’s by no means an equivalent service. Especially when you compare the difference in knowledge base and the potential for herd level advice that your qualified NCPD accredited veterinarian can offer. Surely that is worth a few extra dollars?

When a dairy veterinarian advises on a reproduction program, they use their knowledge of reproductive physiology to develop the best program. They are not guided by which program might result in the most units of semen used. Here, we could actually save farmers money!

I have had plenty of farmers tell me that veterinarians must get with the game and become more proactive in selling our services – a bit more “slick” with marketing our services.

Maybe we should get the executives of the big supermarkets to give us a few hints!

Or maybe we should use the same argument that the dairy farmers themselves have used. Dairy farmers must realise that your veterinarian is the professional who sets the standard by which the others must be measured.

When determining what is actually value for money it is critical the dairy industry applies the same logic it has used to argue against the supermarket “milk war”.

If dairy farmers choose to use alternative, but non-equivalent service providers, then veterinarians will continue to drift to the cities and into small animal practices. Experienced veterinary services may be lost to large areas of the dairy industry and we will all be the worse for it.

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

aNimal hEalthrob boNaNNo

Price war could reduce vet numbers

Dairy vets use their knowledge of reproductive physiology to develop the best reproduction program for farmers.

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WE BUILD HEALTHY COWS

Real farmers. Real results.WOODSIDE PARK BERRY, NEW SOUTH WALES

A TESTIMONIAL BY ROBERT AND SUSAN MCINTOSH

What Performance products are you using and how are you using these products in your system?

Healthy Herd – Dairy ration Healthy Calf Plus – Calf ration Fireup – Springer ration Microbial Paste – Initial calf treatment/strategic sickness and stress conditions/rumen disorders/show cattle stress and feed changes.

Why did you choose Performance in the 1st place?

Our first experience was with show cattle then further information via dairy magazines.

What are the things you like most about Performance now that you have been using our product/s for a little while? What does it help you achieve?

We have been using Performance Probiotics for over 10 years now in a range of circumstances, feed variations and animal health issues. We could not afford to be without it now we know what the various Performance Probiotics products can do for us with feed conversion and consistent herd health across the ages.

What would you say to a friend who was thinking of investing in Performance - but wasn’t sure?

It’s natural. It is logical that it works the way it does. Our experience tells me to keep on using the comprehensive range of products to suit all our feed and herd health requirements.

Has it saved you time/money/effort? How?

Most definitely! The principle I like the most with Performance Products is that it is preventative strategy rather than reactive. The range of products give us choice to suit our budgets and all products are readily available through local suppliers and Vets.

How easy is Performance to use in your system?

Pellets, powdered products or paste make for safe and user-friendly handling. The packaging of the products in their various forms is a real strong point for convenience and accuracy.

What is the ‘major benefit’ you see in using Performance?

1. Improved feed conversion in all seasons and feed variations. 2. Transition from pre-calving to full production. 3. Stress management in environment and feed extremes.

THANKS TO ROBERT AND SUSAN MCINTOSH OF WOODSIDE PARK FOR THEIR ONGOING SUPPORT OF PERFORMANCE PROBIOTICS.

OPERATIONAL AND PRODUCTION FACTS MCINTOSH FARMING PARTNERSHIP Milking herd of 150 cows (Registered Holsteins)

PASTURE BASED GRAZING Ryegrass and clover in winter. Kikuyu and clover in summer with some Lucerne.

THREE GRAIN MIXES TO SUPPLEMENT THE PASTURES Dairy ration , Springer ration and Calf ration.

All rations based on grain , dried distillers grain, macro-minerals and Performance Probiotics products for micro-minerals.

Performance Probiotics products used by Woodside Park.

‘We could not afford to be without it now we know what the various Performance Probiotics products can do for us with feed conversion and consistent herd health across the ages’.

Edwards, of ACE Livestock Consulting.

“Exercising the calcium mobilisation pathways by feeding cereal hay and straw, which are low in calcium, helps the cow uti-lise existing calcium more effectively at calving,” he says.

Part of this process also involves the increased sali-vation as a result of chew-ing the cud of the coarse roughage.

“This saliva helps leave the system acidic, which, in turn, encourages the bones to release calcium,” Ed-wards explains. “Providing anionic salts and supple-mentary calcium is the sec-ond step. An anionic (acid) diet enhances calcium uti-lisation.

“By reducing sodium and potassium relative to chlo-ride and sulphate, limiting phosphorus intake and in-cluding sources of calcium and magnesium in the diet, we can ensure that the risk of milk fever and all the other conditions related to low blood calcium are re-duced.”

Feeding supplementary grain is also important as it helps prepare the cow’s rumen for the high level of grain contained in the cow’s feed post calving.

The final piece of the puzzle is bypass protein to help with the increased protein demand during this phase.

Little says recent Aus-tralian research confirms that the optimal time for

each cow to spend on the transition diet pre-calving is about 21 days. To achieve this, very accurate due calving dates obtained from early pregnancy test-ing is essential.

“Calving is of course a very busy time of year and while we are asking people to do a little bit extra during this busy time, the benefits from a good transition management program pre-calving make it well worthwhile,” he adds. “But it does need to be well planned and implemented. As well as getting the transition diet right, other things that need to be worked out are how the transition cows themselves are managed, how the farm’s feeding infrastructure is used to feed them and how the work routines of people on the farm are adjusted.”

Little’s advice for farm-ers choosing to use a com-mercial lead-feed product in their transition feeding program is to ensure it is soundly formulated. It also needs to be combined at the recommended feeding rate with forages such as hay and silage, which is low in sodium and potassium.

Rivalea’s Optimilk Pre-Calving Pellets contain anionic salts, bypass pro-tein, grain, ionophores (for better feed conversion effi-ciency) and organic miner-als for dietary balance.

“At the same time, re-strict your cow’s access to lush pasture, which can be high risk for milk fever, to less than two kilograms of pasture dry matter per day,” Little says. “Controlling each cow’s daily pasture intake to such a low level is often difficult, which is why animal nutritionists often recommend offering no pasture at all. A clean and dry ‘springer’ paddock close to the dairy is ideal.”

He says farmers also need to ensure there is ade-quate trough space for each cow to get their fair share of the transition feed. He rec-ommends at least 75 centi-metres of trough space per cow to ensure the domi-nant cows aren’t taking the lion’s share of the feed.

“And make sure your cows are drinking from a clean, neutral water supply. You’re trying to acidify the diet so it’s important the cows aren’t drinking water with a high pH.”

FARMERS CAN make an extra $200 per cow a year through a successful lead feeding program, accord-ing to Dairy Australia’s Grains2Milk program lead-er, Steve Little.

“A net benefit of up to about $200 per cow per year, accounting for the extra feed and labour costs involved, can be gained,” Little says. “This comes from increased milk pro-duction and fertility, as well as reduced costs asso-ciated with milk fever and other cow health problems.

Little says transition feeding used to be consid-ered mainly as a way to re-duce the incidence of milk fever, a debilitating and potentially deadly condi-tion that occurs immedi-ately after calving when the cow’s requirement for calcium suddenly and dra-matically increases.

However, he says there are a number of other conditions that are more likely when the cow’s me-tabolism and hormonal system struggle to adapt to the transition between pregnancy and lactation.

These include: grass tetany (low blood magnesium), ketosis and fatty liver, ud-der oedema, abomasal dis-placement, mastitis, more difficult calvings, retained foetal membranes, uterine infection, reduced fertility and milk production.

“Calving and subsequent lactation require an or-chestrated series of adap-tations by the cow’s system and it’s a time of increased stress for dairy cows,” Little explains. “Giving pregnant cows a transition diet in the last three weeks before calving can dramatically reduce the chances of the cow developing these con-ditions.”

Left unchecked, these conditions all translate to one big problem – reduced productivity. Dairy Aus-tralia’s Grains2Milk and InCalf programs are work-ing to support an industry-wide increase in the num-bers of farmers effectively using transition cow man-agement programs.

“As part of this, we’re working with stock feed manufacturers like Rivalea Australia to help make it

easier for farmers to com-bine commercial pre-calv-ing feeds with forage.”

There are four key com-ponents to an effective transition or lead feed-ing strategy, according to animal nutritionist, Tony

Lead feeding can boost profits by $200 a head

Giving pregnant cows a transition diet in the three weeks before calving can reduce the chance of disease.

IN UDDER WORDS...

New Respiratory Vaccine Now AvailableDairy farmers now have a new weapon to increase their herd’s protection against pneumonia with a new vaccine designed to prevent both the bacterial and viral causes of the disease.Respiratory disease continues to be a problem in dairy cows, heifers and calves. At its worst, it can kill animals within days, but even cattle that survive may carry residual lung problems that affect their performance for life.Coopers® Animal Health Technical Services Veterinarian Damian O’Brien said that with increasing herd sizes leading to a growing reliance on feed pads, total mixed rations and increased numbers of calves in close confinement in sheds, the risk of disease has increased.“Respiratory disease can be a complex condition, with a mix of viral and bacterial pathogens contributing to its incidence. Disease often starts with a viral infection that compromises the respiratory tract, creating an opportunistic bacterial infection. A coughing animal can quickly progress to a very dull, depressed, inappetent one and the disease can spread rapidly through a herd. Feed intake in these animals is decreased and in the milking herd, this often results in a large drop in milk production,” he said.Dr O’Brien said a new tool was available to prevent respiratory disease.“With the launch of Bovilis® MH+IBR, dairy producers have the opportunity to vaccinate against major viral and bacterial causes of pneumonia,” he said.“Bovilis MH+IBR builds on the strength of Bovilis MH, which has already earned a reputation for reducing the incidence of respiratory disease,” he said. “The new vaccine is expected to cause a large reduction in respiratory disease rates in dairy cattle, cattle in feedlots, and export cattle, based on the trial work that has been conducted,” he said.President of the Australian Cattle Veterinarians Association Dr Rob Bonanno said that there was a particular place for vaccinating against respiratory disease in situations where cows were close together.“It’s particularly important to include preventing respiratory disease in your plan in more intensive feeding systems or anywhere where cows are often side by side or nose to nose,” Dr Bonanno said.“Using a vaccine can also be an important risk management strategy to prevent respiratory disease for those farming in less intensive situations, particularly if there is a risk of animals sharing nasal secretions,” he said.The vaccine is an inactivated vaccine developed in Australia using local viral and bacterial strains. It provides protection with just two shots four weeks apart and is available from your local reseller or veterinarian.

For further information on the new Bovilis MH+IBR vaccine, call Coopers Animal Health on 1800 885 576

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Pestivirus can be a haunting experience. This devastating disease can impact on in-calf rate, days in lactation and rob you of replacement heifers. The costs are ongoing, reducing profi ts and can affect every dairy producer in Australia.

You may not think you’re at risk, but your herd could already be infected. And if your herd has never been infected before, the introduction of a new pestivirus infection could have a signifi cant impact on the future of your operation.

So if you don’t want to risk the costs of pestivirus, act now and insure your dairy herd with Pestigard®.

For more information contact your local vet or Pfi zer Animal Health representative on 1800 335 374.

Stop pestivirus from haunting the success of your dairy herd.

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www.pfizeranimalhealth.com.au

PAL0363_DN_260x187.indd 1 1/03/11 11:23 AM

aNimal hEalth

MiKe Socha

DEPTH OF mud can have a significant impact on the daily weight gain of growing cattle – as well as milk production of milking cows.

Hock-deep levels of mud can reduce daily weight gain by up to 28% in growing cattle as more energy is required to move about in mud. These requirements for maintenance reduce energy available for milk production and replenishing body condition, and decrease feed efficiency.

So it is not surprising that average daily gains in growing cattle decrease when exposed to mud and the reduction in average daily gains is directly proportional to mud depth (see table). The ability to meet energy needs of high production dairy cattle is further compromised due to dry matter intake being reduced 5% or more when cattle are in mud.

Mud also increases the risk of disease and lameness, as udders are dirtier due to cows lying and walking in mud. This makes milking more dif-ficult and increases the risk of mastitis. Having cows walking in deep mud also increases the risk of stones and debris cutting or scraping the skin of their lower leg. This, coupled with wet conditions, compromises skin integrity of the lower leg, increasing risk of foot rot and digital dermatitis.

Cows also tend to stand more in wet conditions, resulting in mud soften-ing the claw horn making it more prone to wear on abrasive or rough concrete and more likely to develop puncture wounds and white line lesions.

Although it may be too late to do much about the races and paddocks to minimise the amount of mud cows walk through, farmers can do things to reduce the effect of mud on cow performance and health.

First, run all cows through a well designed footbath either before or after milking. Foot-baths should be at least 250cm long to insure all feet receive two dunks

per foot in the footbath solution and the solution should be at least 10 cm deep throughout the bath to allow contact with the interdigital skin.

Footbath capacity should be calculated so the proper amount of footbath chemical is added to the bath. Footbaths should be changed every 200 cow passes, and more often if cows are really dirty.

Farmers should also talk to their nutritionist to ensure that their cows are receiving adequate amounts of trace minerals. In particular: zinc, man-ganese, copper, selenium and iodine – all of which play an important role in immune function and in maintaining healthy feet on cattle.

Furthermore, farm-ers should also consider increasing the amount of zinc fed to cattle and feed-ing highly available zinc sources such as Availa-Zn if their cows are experi-encing high incidence of lameness.

Dr Mike Socha is the team leader of the Dairy Research Department at Zinpro Performance Miner-als, Minnesota, USA.

More mud means less milk

Hock deep mud can reduce daily weight gain by up to 28% in growing cattle.

Effect of mud depth on average daily gain of growing cattle*

Mud Depth reduction in average daily gain

No mud 0%

Dewclaw deep 7%

Shin deep 14 %

Below hock 21%

Hock deep 28%

Belly deep 35%

* Beef Feeder, University of Nebraska, august 1991


machiNEry & productS

WHEN LOOKING for another trac-tor last year, the van Steeg family thought budget pa-rameters would re-strict them to a sec-ond-hand machine.

The Katandra dairy farmers – Hank and Wouda, their son Emirl, and his wife, Naomi – milk 220 Hol-stein cows across an aggregate of 166 hectares. Towards the end of last year they decided that they needed another tractor on the place to supplement their 2WD Massey Ferguson 4270 and an old 60hp MF industrial tractor/loader.

“We looked around for a second-hand tractor that would do the job, and then we remembered that we had looked at Merlin tractors a few years ago at a field day.

“We figured that we could pay roughly the same money and get a new machine.”

At the end of November they took delivery of a 105hp Merlin TDX 105 in its bright yellow liv-ery and they haven’t looked back since.

The Merlin range is designed as a basic workhorse with high quality componentry, but no electronics to go awry.

“Everything is straight-forward,” Emirl says. “I like the fact that you can check the oil and water and start it!

“I didn’t know much about these tractors except that they had Per-kins motors and that meant they were well-proven.”

Hank says the same engine in another tractor means you’d pay twice the money.

“We both have 100% trust in the quality. It’s a basic tractor – not extremely modern – and that’s what we wanted,” he adds. “Hav-

ing no computer in our opinion is a benefit. You get too many problems with them and you need special mechanics to service them.”

Many dairy farm-ers would be una-ware that a large part of the Merlin tractor is fabricated,

built and assembled in Australia.The owner of the business, Pe-

ter Guichelaar, says he starts off with the chassis/frame, the Per-kins engine and the wheels and tyres, and re-equips the tractor to suit Australian conditions and to meet Australian farmers’ needs.

“We have the fibreglass bonnet, guards and roof fabricated here, the entire cab interior fit-out, the air-conditioning, the radio, the operator’s seat, hydraulics and the lighting.

“It is 55% Australian-content, so we reckon that this is the most Australian tractor in this category that you will find.”

In fact, the fibreglass com-ponents are fabricated to Guichelaar’s designs in Melbourne by Bolwell Corporation, who may

be well-known to readers for their iconic Bolwell sports cars from the early 1970’s until very recently.

The fibreglass is gel-coated in the bright Merlin yellow, not painted.

Merlin tractors are available as 85, 95, 105 and 115 horsepower with the Perkins four cylinder, turbo diesel engine; and in 125, 140, 160 and 180 horsepower mod-els with the Perkins six cylinder

version.The smaller horsepower range

has category 2 linkage, and a 60 li-tres/minute independent hydraulic pump for the two sets of remotes. The two larger tractors come with category 3 linkage, and 80 litres/minute for three sets of remotes.

Guichelaar says 95% of the Mer-lin tractors that have been sold so far have been fitted with a very solid loader, manufactured spe-

cially for Merlin by Kerfab in Kerang, Victoria.

However, Hank van Steeg ordered his without one.

“I believe that trac-tors are built for tractor

use and loaders for loader use,” he says. “We have our old MF in-dustrial loader, and just before we took delivery of the Merlin we bought another second-hand rear-engined industrial loader.

“We got the two machines for less than you’d pay for a similar horsepower tractor for some other brands.”

Having said that, both Hank and Emirl point out the huge front

sub-frame members built to han-dle loader work when one is fitted.

“They are certainly strong enough to do the job,” Emirl points out.

Meanwhile, the tractor on the van Steeg farm has so far been allocated the slashing, spraying, spreading, seeding, trailer work and scarifying tasks and Emirl says he was surprised by how well it went with the big 27-tyne scari-fier.

“It’s been a bit of an adjustment from the old 60 horsepower open Massey to 110hp good performer with a cab. We’ve done 90 hours so far, with no problems.

“The lights are brilliant. When we first got it home we unloaded it off the truck and went into the paddock with the hay rake at night. I couldn’t believe how good they were.”

Working clothes will focus on the performance of a new machine in the paddock each month. Send suggestions to Chris Dingle on 0417 735 001 or email [email protected]

Farmers add some magic to workload

AUSSIE PUMPS has released a new diesel blaster as part of its Aussie Scud range of pressure cleaners.

Product manager Trent McVey says the new diesel-drive versions offer users greater fuel economy with lower through life costs than petrol-drive equivalent high pressure cleaners.

Designed for tough, continuous cleaning applications, the Aussie Scud series represents a heavy duty range of professional pressure cleaners designed for contracting, plant wash down, public utility cleaning, and for other similar heavy duty applications.

At the heart of the high pressure cleaner is a Bertolini triplex piston pump powered by Yanmar and Kubota industrial electric start diesel engines.

The machine’s standard equipment includes an Aussie “soft start” unloader that releases pressure in the hose when the trigger gun is closed. That makes the hose lighter to move

reducing operator fatigue. Hose abrasion, a major maintenance issue for this type of equipment, is also minimised.

The Scud series features an ergonomic, galvanised steel frame that incorporates features that provide protection for the pump and engine while allowing easy access for routine maintenance. The registered frame design is finely balanced enabling operators to move the machine easily on site.

Available as an option is an ‘easy fit’ high pressure hose reel mounting bar that has been engineered to double as a lifting bar.

A hose reel kit simply bolts on to the bar and can store of up to 50 metres of high pressure hose. The kit includes a whip hose that connects directly to the high pressure pump.

The units come with a high quality 10 metre high pressure double wire braid hose, double stainless steel lance and 5000 psi rated soft trigger gun.

They also include flat surface cleaners and top quality turbo lances.

Tel. 02 8865 3500

Diesel Scud launched

“I didn’t know much about these tractors except thay had Perkins motors and that meant they were well-proven.”

Albert Mahoney of Aussie Pumps with the latest addition to the Aussie Scud system, the new Yanmar-powered high pressure blaster.

WorkiNg clothESchriS diNglE

Hank and Emirl van Steeg with the 105hp Merlin TDX 105 they purchased last year. The Merlin range is designed as a basic workhorse with high quality componentry, but no electronics to go awry.

Semeato SHMDouble disc parallelogram planter. Easy seed depthadjustment with 2 rubber depth controls next to thesowing disc these also act as closing wheels to giveperfect germination. Double disc can handle wet anddry soils and penetrate any stubble residue. Can docereals and pastures and can also convert easy todo precision planting for corn, peas and sorghum.Row units are also available separate to modify

existing machines. New release in Australia it has allthe goods and will impress in every way.

Semeato TDNG 300ENarrow spacing & narrow transport. Perfect seedplacement with independent cast closing wheel.Double openers, outstanding seed-to-soil contactand moisture preserved. 17 row, 6 1/2“ spacing,

1350L fertilizer box capacity, pasture boxstandard. Ability to handle rocks. Every ownerwill testify how fantastic this machine performs.

Ph: (02) 6964 4777 [email protected]



THE FIRST quarter of the year has been pretty slow for machinery sales in the dairy sector, according to industry analyst Alan Kirsten from Agriview.

“60 to 100hp tractor sales are down 15% on the same pe-riod last year with balers and hay tools similarly affected,” he says. “The wet difficult conditions, plus the price of milk, have meant a slowdown in demand and the situation is quite subdued.”

However, Kirsten says that distributors are expecting demand to pick up substantially in the second half of the year; with potential purchasers needing to plan ahead to make sure they can access the machinery they want.

“Demand has turned around this year in the US and Eu-rope and some factories are really struggling with capacity restraints.”

The message is, as the sector grows in confidence during the year, dairy farmers should make their purchasing plans early, rather than take a ‘wait and see’ position.

On another note, following the disastrous earthquake in Japan, Mark Taylor of Kubota says that there are no real issues at this stage with continuity of supply, but their thoughts and commiserations go out to their colleagues in Japan. Optimism growing

On the dairy equipment side, word is that there is opti-mism in the market but it still has a long way to go. Chris Nisbet, of Global Dairy Solutions in Wodonga, says that the “terrible situation” with the supermarkets and the Aussie dollar affecting exports means that farmers are still cau-tious about committing to major upgrades.

However, he is really chuffed about a recent project where they extended a 36 unit rotary to 50 units for a cus-tomer in the Kiewa Valley, in four weeks, so that he can handle his expanding herd.

“We’re now working on new installations in Hobart and Mt Gambier. There’s movement in the market, but it’s not in leaps and bounds.”Get the drift

We caught up with Graham Wilkinson from Hardi Spraying Equipment at the recent tillage demo day, at El-more. He was showing a boom sprayer fitted with the new MiniDrift Duo air inclusion nozzles, which Wilkinson says are ideal for pasture spraying. The nozzles can be used for spraying in sub-optimal conditions and for drift control.

It’s a compact unit that offers a droplet spectrum from medium to very coarse. He says it provides drift control without reducing coverage and deposition on leaves and is worth checking out in those situations where we all need to be mindful about drift implications.Grassland sprayer

Wilkinson also had a new Grassland Ranger 2200 trailer sprayer on display, but not demo’ing. He says they are get-ting good enquiry for this unit which suits larger pasture spraying tasks, where a three-point linkage unit would struggle. It comes with a 2200 litre main tank and a fully hydraulic folding FALCON boom in a choice of 12, 15 or 16 metre widths. These booms have trapeze inertia control and coil spring boom suspension.

It comes standard with their SprayBox 2 remote control for operation of pressure regulation and boom section valves from the tractor seat, with manual over-ride control in the case of an electrical failure. Improve your soil

Better soils equal healthier plants and healthier stock.There is a view that continual input of fertilisers, insecti-cides, fungicides, herbicides and fumigants have contrib-uted to the decline of soil fertility and natural balances of the soil. Heavy machinery and animals cause considerable compaction, erosion and structural damage reducing the capacity of the soil to hold air or water.

A first step to improve soil fertility is aeration to allow aerobic organisms to flourish. The answer for this, accord-ing to Fix Engineering, is their Rehabilitator PloughR.

Its long, forward-facing parabellum tusk tines pen-etrate, lift and crack the soil. Two tusk rollers till the sur-face layer of the soil without damaging the soil structure or sealing off the surface. Crop residue, weeds and trash are partially incorporated in to the surface layers of the soil. One pass can achieve a seedbed cultivated to a depth of up to 500mm.

Overall, they say the machine reduces the need for farmers to use chemicals and herbicides, improves soil health, soil management and promote good farming practices with conventional growing. Have a look at

www.fixengineering.com.au

New sprinkler overcomes poor water qualityPoor quality water is a major consideration for dairy

farmers right across Australia and a new sprinkler product is expected to be a winner with centre pivot and linear move irrigators. Nelson Irrigation Australia’s Orbitor offers high durability in poor water quality conditions. Featuring strutless technology, the Nelson Orbitor is resistant to debris collection on the sprinkler head – common with poor quality water and provides uniformity and optimal droplets at low pressures (10-20 psi). They claim the result is longer lasting sprinkler

and superior performance, plus reduced wind drift and evaporative loss.

Nelson Australia’s marketing director, Tony Shepley, says the new Nelson Orbitor is expected to be very popular with irrigators as it offers a superior performance and durability in situations of poor water quality and low water pressure.

The Orbitor features modular design components which are easily interchangeable enabling the irrigator to regularly change configuration.

Contact Chris on 0417735001 or email: chris @springbankfarm.com.au

NEW productSchriS diNglE

Demand rises after slow start



KUBOTAS HAS released a new range of manufactured front-end loaders specif-ically designed to suit its tractor range.

These new loaders are manufactured by Kubota Industrial Equipment in their own manufacturing plant in the USA and fully comply with all Australian front end loader requirements. There are five new models of mechanical self-levelling front-end loaders, all featuring quick detach loader assemblies.

The convenient system saves time by letting the operator attach and detach

the loader from the tractor. The mount-ing pins and hose couplings can be re-moved from the operator’s seat, without the need for any tools. Boom stays are mounted to the loader frame and easily engaged to ensure stability of the loader when detached from the tractor.

The new LA714 and LA854 loaders are ideally suited to Kubota’s Grand L series of tractors (35 – 52 horsepower).While the new LA514-B fits the 34 horsepower L3400 tractor, the LA714-B fits the 44 horsepower L4400 tractor

and the LA854-B is designed for the 52 horsepower MX 5100 tractor.

All of these loaders, when fitted to the relevant model, allow operators an excellent field of vision.

Kubota says the construction grade hydraulic cylinders are made to last and the high quality plating of the cylinder rods mean superior rust protection and enhance sealing performance. For op-erator safety, boom stops are stored on the loader frame for use when servicing the tractor. All of these loaders come

standard with a front radiator guard.To make the loaders as versatile as

possible a skid steer type quick hitch is standard. This hitch system allows operators to quickly attach or detach buckets or implements from the tractor. Loaders come fitted with standard type buckets.

An electric-operated third function kit is available and when fitted is ideal to operate the optional a 4:1 bucket available for all of these loaders. Other options available include pallet fork

frames and bale spears.All of these options are also manu-

factured by Kubota to ensure correct fitting and efficient operation of the tractor Loader combination. A coun-terweight is offered as an option for all these loaders and is recommended to ensure safe operation.

Kubota says the release of these new loaders means operators can take ad-vantage of using a loader that perfectly matches the capability of their tractor.

Tel. 1800 334 653

A NEW advocacy program designed to help farmers recycle their waste plastics has been launched in country Victoria.

Financial support for the six-month research and ad-vocacy project has been made possible through a special grant via the Sustainability Covenant partnership between the Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association (PACIA) and EPA Victoria.

The new program – in conjunction with the Plasback system – coordinates with suppliers, retailers, councils and industry groups to provide farmers with a sustainable disposal solution for farm plastic waste, instead of the cur-rent disposal methods of burning or burying the plastic.

Nationally it is estimated over 100,000 tonnes of plastic is disposed of on-farm every year. Less than 5% is thought to be recycled and given a new life.

Three Plasback Advocates will be recruited to promote the new system to farmers, industry groups, local govern-ment and NGOs – such as Landcare groups.

These advocates will also collect sample data on the scale and current methods of disposal of farm plastic waste in Victoria.

Plasback was launched in Victoria last year as a product stewardship program, initiated by Tapex – Australia’s lead-ing supplier of crop protection plastics to the agricultural sector.

Farmers bag unwanted plastics into Plasback liners and then drop them at council transfer stations. Each Plasback liner is coloured for a specific type of plastic. Currently polyethylene films such as silage wrap and silage pit covers are collected.

Ed George, Tapex’s environmental manager, says poly-propylene plastics collection, such as baling twines, will be the next collection stream to be added in 2011.

“We can help farmers change existing unsustainable disposal practises by giving them a cost effective, viable al-ternative in recycling their plastic for a second useful life,” George says.

“Plasback is working with 27 regional councils in Victo-ria. We hope the new advocacy project will encourage more farmers to clean up their rural environment.”

George says the Plasback system is low cost, easy and designed to be scalable, so other plastics streams can be added and the system expanded across all Victorian re-gional council areas.

Farmers and contractors can find out how to dispose of waste farm plastics at www.plasback.com.au

Advocates promote plastic recycling

Kubota releases its own front-end loaders

Over 100,000 tonnes of plastic is disposed of on-farm each year.



SINCE BROTHERS Rod and Wayne Newton built their 60 bale rotary milking shed six years ago they’ve looked for a way to make teat spraying more labour effective.

Rod believes they’ve now achieved this with the installation of the ADF (Automatic Dipping and Flushing) system.

Milking 540 cows on their Whorouly farm in Ovens Valley, Victoria, the Newtons commissioned the new system in September last year after a visit from ADF’s James Duke to his property.

“When I built the rotary there wasn’t anything out there that was going to do what we wanted,” Rod says. “Mastitis was not originally a problem for us, but we had a very humid January about five years ago and our cell count went through the roof resulting in a fair bit

of mastitis.Every year since, from

January to May, they have had an issue with it.

“After meeting the guys from ADF, I looked at the system as the way of the future and could see the cows would get sprayed properly.

“So I did a few sums, phoned a couple of people in England and found they were very happy with it and I thought it was a logical progression. Our quality bonuses will make up for the extra outlay”

Rod is also impressed with the system’s performance since its installation.

“Now we’ve got the pressures right, we are not having any problems with it at all, it’s working well.

He is unsure if it will be a quick fix for the cell counts or not, but thinks farmers will always have some cows that are susceptible to mastitis.

“It’s a matter of getting them out of the herd. However, once we get on top of it, I can see this

being a system that will maintain cell counts in conjunction with other procedures.

Rod says the cows are getting teat sprayed better with this system compared with how they used to and they are using a lot less spray.

“It’s a system I would definitely recommend for other people consider”.

Adrian Hayward of Advanced Dairy Systems, Cobram, installed the system for the Newtons and was impressed with the quality of the product and its easy installation.

“We completed the entire installation in four days with all the work done between milkings. This meant there were no interruptions or delays for the farmer,” he says.

“Whether a farmer has a Rotary or Herringbone shed they can have the ADF system installed, as it’s designed to fit either.”

Tel: 1800 233 283

THE FLEXIFEEDER is a portable trough feed system, designed to minimise loss of feed in a ‘safe zone’ between two electric wires.

Because the Flexifeeder is portable it gives all animals unrestricted access to feed while protecting the feed. The posi-tion of the wires prevents the stock from trampling the feed.

The system also helps eliminate shy feeders, because its low price per metre al-lows the trough length to be oversized for the mob being fed. This provides plenty of room for young or less dominant animals.

Quick and easy to set up, easy to clean and portable, the Flexifeeder is a strong, durable and cost effective way to feed your stock.

It is sold as a 20 metre kitset, or multi-ples of this which are easily joined. This includes all the components except for the posts, high tensile wire and permanent wire strainers.

It can be built using wooden posts and is suitable for exposed sites. It can be placed in one location or moved, by dismantling the components and lifting the plastic liner off the posts, ready for a new site.

A second option is the new Quick Kit, which uses star posts (Waratahs) and an end assembly that is screwed to the ground. This makes it even quicker to put up and easier to move.

Made from durable plastic and quality

components used in conjunction with The Outrigger, designed by the same company, the Flexifeeder also promises to withstand all weather conditions and pressure from stock.

The Outrigger is a replacement, with a 15 year warranty, for conventional pig tail style outriggers and post insulators. It con-sists of a low density polyethylene hanger, which acts as the insulator and a choice of three different lengths of galvanised spring steel arms.

It is quick and easy to install. The poly-ethylene hanger simply hooks onto the fence while the steel arms project horizon-tally on either side to hold an electric wire, protecting both sides of the fence.

It will move when a force is applied to it and then return back to its original posi-tion when the force is removed.

Tel. 1800 4 242 487

Labour-effective teat spraying Feed losses minimised

Applying Automatic Dipping and Flushing cups at milking.

The Flexifeeder is inexpensive and easy to install.

Introducing our new Gator™ XUV SeriesThey’re the fastest, most powerful Gator’s™ yet. The headline act: the 50-hp* 825i, with the most advanced engine in its class, with 3-cylinders and Dual Overhead Cams. Followed by the 855D, the fastest diesel Gator™ XUV ever made. And the 625i,

with exclusive power management. Every vehicle features an advanced independent four-wheel suspension, best in class stability, on-demand true 4WD system, biggest in class cargo capacity and a front and rear hitch so you can carry, haul or tow more.

Why not test drive one today?

1800 800 981 | www.JohnDeere.com.au/getserious* Engine hp is provided by the engine manufacturer for comparison purposes only. Actual operating hp may be less.

When it comes to work,let’s get serious


motoriNg

VOLVO HAS launched its all-new V60 sports wagon, saying it bridges the gap be-tween the sporty S60 sedan and practical but functional V70.

Based on the S60 sedan that was launched last December, the new V60 is available in three models - T5, D5 AWD and T6 AWD - with the two petrol-engined T5 and T6 AWD available in both standard and sporty RDesign variants.

Powering the V60 T5 is the new compact and efficient 177kW/320Nm two-litre, four cylinder GTDi petrol engine. This drives the front wheels through a smooth, dual-clutch Powershift automatic transmission.

The T6, which is standard with Volvo’s permanent all-wheel drive system, uses the upgraded 224kW/440Nm three-litre, turbocharged, six-cylinder petrol engine – which was recently lauded as one of Ward’s ten Best Engines for 2011.

This powerful and refined engine drives all four wheels through the standard six-speed Geartronic automatic transmission with Sports mode.

The diesel D5 version is powered by a torquey, highly efficient 151kW/420Nm 2.4- litre, five-cylinder, twin turbo engine that drives all four wheels through the standard Geartronic automatic transmis-sion with Sports mode.

Both T5 and T6 AWD models are also available in the sporty R-Design specifi-cation, which offers a sharper look with exterior and interior enhancements and a 15mm lower modified chassis to improve driving dynamics.

The new V60 boasts a host of standard safety features and driver assistance aids with standard fitment of Volvo’s innova-tive City Safety system, Emergency Brake Light (EBL) system, anti-lock brakes (ABS), driver and front passenger front and side airbags and Inflatable curtain side airbags, Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), Dynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC), Advanced Stability Control (ASC) and Rollover Protection System (ROPS).

The Manufacturer’s List Price (MLP) starts at $54,950.

FORD AUSTRALIA, in partnership with TopGear Australia magazine, has unveiled two spectacular new Mad Max Interceptors.

The 21st century concepts have been created by Ford’s designers for TopGear Magazine Australia to help celebrate the revival of the Mad Max action movie genre.

It is more than 30 years since the original Mad Max movie - starring Mel Gibson and a jet black Ford XB coupe-based Interceptor - hit movie screens around the world.

Ford Australia says it jumped at the chance to design a new Intercep-tor and threw the full weight of Re-search Centre behind the project.

Led by chief designer passenger cars Asia, Pacific and Africa, Todd Willing, the team created several way-out concepts that pay homage

to styling cues from the original XB Coupe Interceptor.

Out of the concepts two have been chosen by the magazine to feature in the April issue of TopGear Australia magazine.

The maga-zine readers will be invited to vote on which design Ford should take to the next level. The winning car will be turned into a clay model, and then a scale version, which is expected to be revealed later this year.

Among the weaponry is an indus-trial-strength “taser” mounted to the bonnet to zap bad guys on bikes straight off the road.

Other futuristic movie features in-clude a titanium-lined body shell to

interrupt police scanners and wheels with extendable spikes to shred en-emy vehicles.

Designer Nima Nourian says his model pays tribute to the 1970s In-

terceptor but also drags the car into the future.

Designer Si-mon Brook’s conception takes cues from the

current FG Falcon, but advances it further into Armageddon-land, while adding touches of the retro In-terceptor as well.

“I wanted to keep it clean and aerodynamic in its essence, but still brutal and tough.”

Filming has begun for a new Mad Max instalment, tentatively called Mad Max 4: Fury Road.

Ford channels Mad Max

Volvo launches wagon

“I wanted to keep it clean and aerodynamic in its essence, but still brutal and tough.”

www.poettinger.com.au

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FEET.Food for

Incitec Pivot Fertilisers is Australia’s reliable leader in soil and plant nutrition, investing locally in agronomic solutions to help Australian farmers remain globally competitive. www.incitecpivot.com.auIncitec Pivot Fertilisers is Australia’s reliable leader in soil and plant nutrition, investing locally in agronomic solutions to help Australian farmers remain globally competitive. www.incitecpivot.com.auIncitec Pivot Fertilisers is Australia’s reliable leader in soil and plant nutrition, investing locally in agronomic

www.incitecpivot.com.au

Incitec Pivot Fertilisers is a business of Incitec Pivot Limited ABN 42 004 080 264. SuPerfect® is a registered trademark of Incitec Pivot Limited.

SuPerfect® fertiliser was developed to combine the proven agronomic advantage of single-superphosphate with a high quality granule that’s better to handle, blend and spread. With a higher ratio of sulphur to phosphorous than most high-analysis fertilisers, SuPerfect provides an ideal composition of nutrients to feed your clover-based pastures, helping to produce more, high-quality feed for your livestock.

Don’t leave your pastures to chance this season, choose SuPerfect®.

Contact your local Incitec Pivot Fertilisers distributor.

It’s not luck… it’s the Sulphur.

Documents

DNA April Issue 13