Dairy News 20 March 2014

WONDER WOMANO’Shea wins top awardPAGE 4

TRIANGLE CONCEPTTracked drive harvester PAGE 46

Battle to convert high country basin land to dairying. PAGE 10

MARCH 25, 2014 ISSUE 309 // www.dairynews.co.nz

Kiwi dairy farmers and workers sought to bring Tasmanian and Victorian dairy sectors back to life. PAGE 3

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NEWS // 3

NEWS ��3-24

OPINION ��26-27

AGRIBUSINESS ��28-30

MANAGEMENT �� 32-36

ANIMAL HEALTH �� 37-38

MACHINERY &PRODUCTS �� 38-40

TRACTORS & MACHINERY ��41-46

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Oz out to poach Kiwi dairy talentAUSTRALIAN DAIRY, banking and investment interests are out to entice ambitious New Zealand dairy farmers and workers across the Tasman.

They want to rejuvenate the Tasmanian and Victorian dairy industries and inject new impetus into productivity.

They are dangling the carrot of a cheaper path to dairy farm ownership – about one third the cost of New Zealand, claims Andrew Radford, a direc-tor of ATR accountancy and owner of two Tas-manian dairy farms. He and two Rabobank rural managers, from Tasmania and Victoria, Rabobank senior dairy analyst Michael Harvey, and another investment specialist, were delivering the message at four bank-organised seminars around the coun-try last week.

They want Kiwi talent to cross the ditch to help provide “the next wave of farmers to take the industry up another notch,” says Leigh Barker, a Rabobank rural manager in Devonport branch, Tasmania.

They think New Zealand farmers and workers will bring new ideas, new competition and new innovation. “In the late 1990s to 2000s when the first wave of New Zealanders came, they contrib-uted to growing the industry to a new level,” says Barker. “That contribution can come again with the capacity available.”

With big investment in processing plant in Tas-mania in recent years, there’s an annual 335 million litres extra capacity in Tasmania alone, Barker says. “If you go over there and buy a farm, all proces-sors will turn up on that farm and try to grab you. They need to fill that stainless steel,” says Radford.

“There’s a lot of spare capacity that can be gen-erated by new blood.”

As with farming globally, many farmers in Tas-mania and Victoria are ageing and many are at “the end of their business cycle”. Young farmers aiming

for ownership in Australia don’t have to buy Fon-terra shares, says Barker. It is a good way to prog-ress their career.

The dairy industry in Tasmania and Victoria is virtually all export orientated and poised for growth. It does not face the same degree of price pressures from supermarkets as the regions that produce mainly for the domestic market.

“The investment in Tasmania into stainless, which is basically manufacturing, has been huge over the last three or four years. So we’ve got extra capacity which is driving the need for more milk,” Barker says.

“There’s also a new player in the state – Tasma-nian Dairy Products. We’ve now got four proces-sors so the state is poised for growth.

“The main purpose of my trip is to let the New Zealand guys know there’s opportunity. Tasmania does still have a competitive edge in that we still grow grass and plenty of it, we’ve got good rainfall, high quality soils and the important part – avail-able farms.

“We now have water schemes as well; there’s water surety. You’ve got to buy that water surety…

but it is there.”Ron Masin, from Rabobank’s branch at Sale,

Victoria, says on the back of irrigation Victorian dairy is flourishing. Year-on-year production is improving with grass yield going up, the plenti-ful availability of grain and the implementation of technology.

“Probably the two big areas that have improved production are automated irrigation and auto-matic cups-off and that’s helping with labour. Production’s going up and the gains are quite sig-nificant financially,” says Masin.

The Rabobank roadshow around New Zealand last week aiming to show different ways of getting into the farm ownership or investment in Austra-lia. New channels have opened up within Rabo-bank as well, so anyone in New Zealand interested can contact their local branch, who can then make the contacts in Australia.

“Ten to 14 years ago a lot of people from New Zealand who went out and pioneered did it the hard way because they had to find their own way.

“It is fair to say there’s a community of New Zealand farmers in Tasmania now.”

PAM TIPApamelat@ruralnews�co�nz

The grass is cheaper on the other side says Leigh Barker, Rabobank, Tasmania (left), Andrew Radford, accountant and Tasmanian dairy farmer, and Ron Masin, from Rabobank in Victoria.

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4 // DAIRY WOMENS NETWORK CONFERENCE

Wilson to step downMICHELLE WILSON will step down as Dairy Womens Network trust board chair at the next annual meeting. She has held the position for four years.

“As I transition from the role of Dairy Womens Network chair I would like to acknowledge those of you who continue to support the network,” she said at the annual conference in Hamilton.

“It has been a privilege to represent your organisation and to have had the opportunity to travel the journey

from regional convener in 2004 to deputy chair in 2008 and chair of Dairy Womens Network in 2010.

“With the support and inspiration from many amazing women involved in agriculture from grassroots to executives I have been fortunate to be able to walk beside you all, learn and be inspired by you.

“I encourage you all as women of power in the dairy industry to continue to influence and each other and keep your finger on the pulse.”

‘Big week’ for rural leadership mentor

IT WAS a “big week”, in her own words, for North-lander Charmaine O’Shea, a dairy farmer and char-tered accountant specialis-ing in farming accounting.

On Monday she became chairwoman of the Agri-Womens Development Trust and on Wednesday night she was named Dairy Womens Institute’s Dairy Woman of the Year.

Winning Dairy Woman of the Year is “such an opportunity” she told Dairy News. “I can con-tinue developing my lead-ership skills and enhance those skills within a corpo-rate environment.

“It will help me with

my vision of improving the financial, environmental and social sustainability of our sector.

“I think I am in a very practical leadership role at the moment; that is how this has evolved. This is the opportunity to enhance that in a corporate envi-ronment and create net-works useful for myself and the sector.”

The challenge facing the sector is linking those three things together, she says. “It is finding a bal-ance between the financial, environmental and social. It is understanding how those three knit together… it shouldn’t be all about financial. It shouldn’t be all about environmental without considering those other two. That’s what I

think is the biggest chal-lenge.”

The Global Women in Leadership programme which O’Shea will attend as Dairy Woman of the Year will provide a unique opportunity. Justine Kidd, the 2013 winner, speaking at the Dairy Womens Net-work conference in Hamil-ton last week, said it’s like “putting on your opportu-nity overalls”.

Says O’Shea, “I intend to invest in a pair of oppor-tunity overalls and invest in opportunities as they arise.”

O’Shea grew up on a dairy farm in Maunga-karamea and then trained as an accountant in North-land. She set up her own practice at age 28 in Whan-garei and has developed

that practice to specialise in farm accounting.

In the early years she was also 50/50 sharemilk-ing with her former hus-band and in 1993 they were named Northland Share-milker of the Year. After a change of circumstances in 2005 she had the oppor-tunity to invest with her brother Shayne.

Shayne is the majority shareholder and farmer and O’Shea is the accountant and they have a dairy farm in Maungatepere, Northland, which was the supreme winner in the Ballance Northland Environment Awards last year. The farm milks 390 cows on a 93ha milking platform and Charmaine still milks cows at times at the weekends

“to keep it real”.In her spare time

O’Shea contributes to improving the financial and business aspects of dairy farming performance through her involvement in industry-good proj-ects such as DairyBase and presenting at local and national field days.

In 2012 she completed

the Agri-Womens Devel-opment Trust ‘Escalator’ programme. She was so inspired by the organisa-tion she became a trustee in 2013 leading to her elec-tions as chairwoman last week.

She fosters and encour-ages other dairy farming women to further develop their business leadership

and governance skills and provides mentoring for dairy farming women in this area.

O’Shea was nominated for the accolade alongside Fonterra Shareholders Council member and dairy farmer Julie Pirie from Hauraki, and veterinarian and dairy farmer Joyce Voogt, King Country.


Dairy Woman of the Year Charmaine O’Shea flanked by Fonterra director Nicola Shadbolt (left) and DWN president Michelle Wilson.

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DAIRY WOMENS NETWORK CONFERENCE // 5

‘A man is not a financial plan’

FISHER FUNDS founder and execu-tive director Carmel Fisher will never forget the 1987 sharemarket crash.

As a young sharebroker she had to chase clients who had bought on the Friday before the crash. She had to get them to pay full price the following Monday and Tuesday even though the shares had halved in value.

“That was horrific and I watched people’s lives change completely,” she told the Dairy Womens Network con-ference in Hamilton.

One client was a big punter. Fisher knew he was “in dairying” and she assumed he was a dairy farmer. When she chased him up for money it turned out he was in ‘dairying’ – he had a milk round – and he was buying the shares by mortgaging the family home, which his wife had bought with her inheritance. Fisher watched the man’s life crumble: his marriage broke up and his children were pulled out of private school.

“I saw what wealth can do – posi-tively and destructively. In those early

years of my career I saw the highs and the lows and I saw the human face of that. I think that has made me a success-ful businesswoman and a better inves-tor as a result.”

After the sharemarket crash she was made redundant from the large share-broking firm she had joined in 1984 as a 21-year-old graduate. Before the crash she said it was “mad times” – cocktails flowed during drinks on Friday nights and her first year bonus was $20,000.

But after redundancy she joined an insurance company which was the

opposite – “the brown cardie brigade”, very conservative. “But it was a great thing to do after the high risk shenan-igans of the sharemarket – to go and manage money conservatively for an insurance company.”

She started Fisher Funds when preg-nant with her first child and a former employer asked her to manage a “small” portfolio of $17m.

Speaking on the theme ‘Breaking Through the Grass Ceiling’, Fisher said it is not about moving up the hierarchy and getting higher management posi-

tions. “It really is about achieving success to the best of our ability. To me that is not about what my title is or my salary or earnings.

“To me success for women is achieving what we want to and being in the position where we can actually make choices. If we can make choices about how we spend our money and our time then I think we’ve achieved success.”

Fisher urged the dairy-women to start taking con-trol of their own finances. She urged all to start saving and investing and not leave it to their partners or hus-bands. “A man is not a finan-cial plan,” she said.

Women lived on average eight years longer than men and she wanted to be the one “who could afford the blue rinse in the rest home”. You did not need to wait until you had paid off the mortgage, but could start investing at the same time.

Investment in property or shares is needed for good returns.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS ■ Preparedness – she worked longs

hours and weekends� When she went solo she did a thorough business plan

■ Risk-taking – women tend to avoid risk� Fundamental rule of investing: if you want to get higher return you have to take risk� The younger you are the more risk you can take�

■ Differentiation – Fisher played on the fact that people knew who she was because she was a woman funds manager in a male dominated industry�

■ Confidence – sing your own praises; no one else will�

■ Focus – multi-tasking can mean spreading yourself too thinly; focus efforts on the most important matters�

■ Communication – women know how to talk and should harness those skills in business

■ Forgiveness – we are allowed to make mistakes� Fisher says every year she makes investments that don’t pay off; but others do�


Carmel Fisher says success for women is achieving what we want and being in the position where we can actually make choices.

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6 // DAIRY WOMENS NETWORK CONFERENCE

STAFF RETENTION is a big issue in the dairy industry, says the 2013 Dairy Woman of the Year and business man-ager for Bel Group, Justine Kidd.

“It’s the nature of our industry: people move to grow,” Kidd told a Dairy Womens Network workshop. “I have been around the industry for just over 20 years and it’s an ethos in our indus-try… if you are not moving you are not growing.”

Even if we are doing a good job of looking after staff, “if we are not grow-ing and allowing them to move [out-side] our business… our industry culture is they are going to move.

“If we are bad [employers] we’ll have crazy high turnover rates. If we are really good [with staff ], compared with town businesses even our good levels of retention are seen at the lower end, not at best practice compared to town.”

The rule of thumb used by the New Zealand Institute of Human Resources is that when a staff member moves on

it costs about three times their salary. That includes training, loss of produc-tivity and recruitment.

“It is definitely more than 1x the salary and the further up that person is in your business – the higher level of responsibility – the bigger [the cost].

And you are also paying them more, so three times $100,000 is a lot more than $45,000. It’s a really big impact.

“[Given] the time and effort you have to put into them, it’s about chang-ing dynamics; out of all that is lost pro-ductivity.”

Lower stress on an employer is an outcome of better retention. A better team gets you better results; they are easier to manage and you’ve got more

time for other things. Retention also builds a better CV for the people work-ing for you.

Retention is usually measured over the June-June dairy season, Kidd says, but that will one day change and the industry will recruit mid-season. Res-ignations in May-June is a critical mea-sure for dairy farmers – not just those during the year.

Kidd says the Bel Group targets 85% staff retention for the year. If you have 100% you have stability but you can get stagnation, she says. “Turnover creates freshness and potential to bring new ideas into your business; it creates path-ways for people.”

Fifty per cent retention, which can be common in dairying, is too low: depending on the business size, the retention goal should be 70-85%. Ide-ally a senior couple should be stable but expect juniors to change every year or two. Planned turnover is preferable to unplanned.

Kidd has been involved in the family business Bel Group as business man-ager for six years, much of that time dealing with staff. She supervises 10 dairy farms with just under 3000ha of

dairy plus dairy support.The group employs 58 people

onfarm and 65 people business-wide, including dairy operations managers and farm managers.

If staff are not moving, they are not growing

Dairy executive Justine Kidd illustrates a point at her ‘Making Your Team Tick’ workshop.

“Our industry culture is they are going to move.”

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NEWS // 7

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says blunt force trauma is not acceptable for routine killing of unwanted calves.

Calf cull consultation opens

IS BLUNT force trauma acceptable as a routine method of killing calves?

That’s the question the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee has put in a public consultation opened this month following the furore over footage of a New Zealander clubbing calves in Chile.

TVNZ brought the footage to public attention in January prompting many industry representatives here to say blunt force trauma is only used in emergency. While that may be so, the current Animal Welfare (Dairy Cattle) Code of Welfare doesn’t prohibit routine use of a hammer.

NAWAC is seeking to amend that, prompted by Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy. It is proposing section 5.10 of the code, Calf Management, be amended to specify blunt force trauma is not acceptable for routine killing of unwanted calves and that those destroying calves must be competent.

An amendment to the code’s section 6.4, Emergency Humane Destruction, is also proposed to make it clear blunt force trauma may only be used in emergency and to emphasise the need to ensure death. Currently bleeding out to ensure death is recommended best practice, but not a minimum standard.

“We want to hear from farmers on whether or not our proposals are realistic for them,” says NAWAC deputy chairman Karen Phillips.

The risk of incorrect use of blunt force and the fact that there are alternatives – captive bolt or firearm – that can be better for animal welfare mean it is time to consider changing the rules, she adds.

“Industry bodies have been discouraging [blunt force] over a number

of years and it is no longer common practice. However, we agree there are significant animal welfare concerns when this method is not used correctly.”

Phillips was unavailable for interview on the matter but told Dairy News in a written statement that the proposed amendments are not an attempt to close a loophole.

“The Animal Welfare Act 1999 already requires the killing of animals to be done in a way that does not cause unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress….

“However, the boundary between what is acceptable and unacceptable treatment of animals is always evolving, and good practice also changes over time. In view

of recent public concern, the minister asked NAWAC for advice on the use of blunt force trauma to kill unwanted calves.

“NAWAC considered that the dairy cattle code of welfare could be updated to reflect current industry good practice and is releasing proposed changes for public consultation to gauge whether there has been a significant shift in public views since the code was issued in 2010.

“Feedback from this consultation will be used to inform the advice that NAWAC gives to the Minister for Primary Industries.”

Despite earlier comments by Federated Farmers Dairy chairman Willy Leferink questioning what further legislation would achieve (Rural News, Feb 18) the federation says it welcomes NAWAC’s consultation.

“We need to more clearly articulate what situation is an emergency... There is no way blunt force ought to be standard operating procedure and we welcome the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) considering amendment

ANDREW SWALLOWandrews@ruralnews�co�nz

along these lines,” says Feds Dairy vice chairman Andrew Hoggard.

“Any review must set in stone that blunt force is an emergency measure, when there is no access to one of the approved methods and the time to get hold of one would only add to the animals’ suffering.”

Dairy NZ says it will be making a submission but

at this stage can’t say what that will be.

“We will try to make sure we come up with a sensible way forward,” strategy and investment leader, sustainability Rick Pridmore told Dairy News.

“We support emergency use [of blunt force trauma] but what we’ve not gone through is working out what to do on farm in a

non-emergency.”Like Hoggard, he

says what constitutes an emergency must also be defined.

Dairy News’ enquiries show a new captive bolt gun costs about $500 plus about $1.50/cartridge. Obtaining a firearms licence and rifle typically works out at well over $1000.

“We wan t to hear from farmers on whether or not our proposals are realistic for them.”

– Karen Phillips, NAWAC

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8 // NEWS

Dairy prices dip further

WHAT’S IN it for us? Fonterra shareholders may well be asking following last week’s launch of a China-New Zealand Dairy Exchange Centre in Beijing.

Announcing the initiative with China’s National Dairy Indus-try and Technology System, the co-op said the centre will support sustainable development of the industry in both countries.

“It is a key priority for Fonterra to contribute to the development of the Chinese dairy industry and

we believe there is a lot to be gained by both New Zealand and China through the sharing of knowl-edge, research and dairy expertise,” president of Fonterra Greater China and India, Kelvin Wickham, said.

“Both parties have world-class dairy research and know-how. We are pleased to be playing a key role in bringing this initiative to life.”

Fonterra says the centre will develop policy in the China and New Zealand dairy sectors, arrange academic exchanges, industry promo-tion, dairy technology research and person-

nel training.An annual China-NZ dairy

research forum, and a ‘Golden Key’ training programme to assist China’s local dairy industry devel-

opment will be among early initia-tives.

Wang Yuchan, a scientist with the China Ministry of Agriculture’s National Dairy Industry and Tech-nology System said it hopes to learn more about New Zealand’s technology and expertise, jointly do R&D, and undertake technol-ogy exchanges and training on dairy sector issues through the centre.

“This will help promote the sustainable development of dairy.”

Kevin Wickham

Fonterra and China exchange centre

HAS THE dairy bubble burst? No, but it is deflating, say analysts watching falls accelerate on the fortnightly GlobalDairyTrade auc-tion.

A 1.3% dip on February 18, fol-lowed by a 4% fall on March 4 and a further 5.2% slide last week leaves the GDT price index at 1332, its lowest since June 4 last year.

Of the major commodities sold on the platform, last week anhy-drous milk fat was the biggest loser, diving 10.7% to US$4578/t, while whole milk powder plunged 5.8% to US$4439/t and butter backed 4.4% to US$4534/t. Cheddar went off 4.1% at US$4461/t but skim milk powder slimmed just 1.7% to US$4584/t.

The relative strength of skim milk to whole milk points to the

fall being driven by New Zea-land supply, ASB rural economist Nathan Penny told Dairy News.

“We’re seeing the market respond to better late-season pro-duction from New Zealand. Auc-tion volumes have been increasing when normally they’re going down at this time of year,” he explains.

Buyers have “filled their boots” with the late season surge, and there’s a hint that some have brought forward purchases to take advantage of the easing prices, he adds.

“From now on we expect these price falls to be contained, at least until the end of the New Zealand season. But we do see a more sus-tained fall coming later in the year as global production starts to rise. We’re looking in particular at the US and European Union: not large increases but modest and enough to take the pressure off.”

The impact of recent falls on

this season’s payout will be min-imal, if any, but the emphasis on next season’s predictions is now on the downside, rather than being balanced around ASB’s current forecast of $7.80/kgMS.

“That could go as low as $7 if there’s a material fall of, say, 25%, but if it did do that the currency would depreciate against the US$ softening the impact in New Zea-land dollars.”

Unusually, last week’s drop in the dairy market had no currency impact, with the forex focus on events in Crimea.

Demand for milk prod-ucts continues to be domi-nated by China and that’s expected to continue, says Penny. Signs of recov-ery in the US economy augur well too, as a boost in demand there would reduce US supply onto global markets.

“It may take the heat out of their competition on the export side.”ANDREW SWALLOW

andrews@ruralnews�co�nz

Nathan Penny

www.dairynews.co.nz

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NEWS // 9

Support for co-op’s guilty pleaFONTERRA DID the right thing in accepting the four charges laid by MPI over its false-alarm whey pro-tein scare, says agribusiness expert Jacqueline Rowarth, Waikato University.

Rowarth told Dairy News that Fonterra’s own report showed best management and its own processes had not been followed.

However, she doesn’t expect Fonterra’s reputation to take a beating as a result.

“It could be used nega-tively, but much better to be used by Fonterra and New Zealand to show that the coopera-tive made positive changes immedi-ately the problem came to light and is now working hard to ensure best management practices from ‘grass to glass’,” she says.

MPI filed the charges in the Wel-lington District Court last week. They are:

■ Processing dairy product not in accordance with its risk man-agement programme

■ Exporting dairy product that failed to meet relevant animal product standards

■ Failing to notify its verifier of significant concerns that dairy product had not been pro-cessed in accordance with its risk management programme

■ Failing to notify the director-

general as soon as possible that exported dairy product was not fit for intended purpose.

Fonterra is embroiled in a $500m High Court suit with French dairy giant Danone.

The losses were incurred when Danone had to recall baby-formula product in eight of its markets after Fonterra’s botulism alarm in August last year.

Rowarth doesn’t believe Fonterra pleading guilty to the four MPI charges will have an impact on the Danone case.

“I think it will be a matter of contract interpretation,” she says. “Fonterra has said that ‘it’ wasn’t in the contract – but we haven’t heard what ‘it’ actually is.

“It is the lawyers who will win in this case, and the farmers who will pay, and that means New Zealand will not grow as it might otherwise have done.”

Jacqueline Rowarth

15,000-cow China hub in full swing

FONTERRA’S NEW hub of five dairy farms in China are up and running and already the co-op has started work on a new hub of farms at Ying in Shanxi province.

The co-op’s vice-president international farming, Sarah Kennedy, told Dairy News from Beijing that calving at the final farm at Yutian 3, Herbei province, is almost over and all the 15,000 cows at the hub are milking.

At full production the hub will produce 150 million litres of milk a year but with many of the cows first-time milkers it will take some months to reach that target.

Completion of the hub, especially the last farm, ran close to deadline with 1000 construction workers on site to get it ready for the cows coming.

Kennedy says all the cows at the farms have come from New Zealand or Australia under a scheme they call ‘genes on legs’ – selecting a certain genetic profile in partnership with LIC.

“So our beautiful girls get on the ship and take two weeks coming from New Zealand to China. They are beautiful animals and we treat them like treasured gold. They are hard fed before they [leave New Zealand] to get them used to the hard feed on the trip.

“When they get to China they go into quarantine for six weeks and then onto the farm. When we put them on the farm they are lovely and quiet and adapt to their new home extremely well.”

All calves from the cows that go to China are kept – the heifers for replacements and the bull calves to be sold locally for the beef market. They are said to be popular with the locals.

Fonterra is using a combination sexed semen and is introducing Holstein genetics to increase the volume of milk from each cow: currently this is 34L. The reason is simple: they are paid for volume, not milk solids.

None of the milk produced by the Yutian hub is processed by Fonterra. Instead it’s sold to local processors who turn it into UHT milk, yoghurts and other products. “For them it’s a high quality consistent product produced to all Fonterra’s standards,” says Kennedy.

Lessons learned on the first, pilot, farm at the Yutian hub are applied to the subsequent farms. Cow comfort is one, says Kennedy.

“Sand beds are the gold standard bedding for cows. You can tell when you walk around the barns how well a farm is run. Basically if the barns are quiet and you don’t hear mooing, that is the sign of satisfied cows. We want the cows lying down because then they produce more milk. Of course they are free to roam around the cow houses.”

Raising cows’ body condition score to 5.0 is not difficult, Kennedy says. In fact the staff must ensure the cows don’t get overweight.

Most feed is sourced locally and this helps build relationships with the community, says Kennedy.

“We buy all our maize silage from them and there will be a mixture of cotton seed and brewer’s grain. We have nutritionists who make up the feed; we use some compound feed or pelleted feed to make up a complete diet. We test the food we bring in.”

Fonterra plans to be producing one billion litres of milk in China by 2018.

PETER BURKEpeterb@ruralnews�co�nz

@dairy_newsfacebook.com/dairynews

CONVERTED YOUR FOREST TO FARM LAND?

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• 0800CLIMATE(254628)• [email protected]• www.mpi.govt.nz

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YOUR LEVY, YOUR FUTURE

Research and development is core to what we do and every year we invest

more than $28m of your levy on research to help improve your farm profits in a

sustainable manner. This investment goes into:

• providing better methods of pasture selection

• creating higher performing herds

• being more efficient with less

• better use of nitrogen

DairyNZ commits your levy into new ways of improving and staying ahead of

the game.

In May, all dairy farmers are asked to vote on whether they wish DairyNZ to

continue collecting a levy for industry good activities under the Commodity

Levies Act 1990. Your levy vote is an important one for the industry.

For more information on where your levy goes, visit dairynz.co.nz/vote.


10 // NEWS

JUST HOW hard it is politically and physically to convert high coun-try basin land to dairying was spelt out to a crowd of 140 farmers, industry representatives, council-lors and conservationists at a Federated Farmers High Country field day last week.

But they also saw how productive the heavy gla-cial outwash soils can be with irrigation as the 4x4 tour crossed land already converted, and vast tracts of sparse tussock and hei-racium waiting for water.

“I believe all these flats should be made produc-tive,” Kees Zeestraten, owner of Ohau Downs and Glenary Downs stations told the tour.

Zeestraten was one of three parties whose joint irrigation and land use consent applications were called in by the Govern-ment in 2010, and sub-sequently declined by commissioners.

While others have since given up, Zeestraten has

appealed that decision, bought neighbouring Gle-nary Station, re-written his development plans with many concessions to meet other appellants’ concerns, and invested “about $0.5m” to answer questions raised in four rounds of mediation. The bill for Ohau Downs’ con-sent application alone to date is nearly $3m.

Instead of seven 1000-cow indoor/outdoor herds producing 3.5m kgMS he’s now proposing 4200 cows in three indoor herds pro-ducing 3m kgMS with 1500ha irrigated and the remaining 5800ha dry-land. Covenant-protected area would be increased from 400ha to 1800ha and nitrogen loss cut to 11kg/ha/year – “slightly less” than under the current regime of grazing sheep and dryland cropping – for low intensity wintering of cows.

Agreement appears to have been reached with 80% of appellants but that’s still to be nailed down in writing and signed off. Meanwhile it looks like the Environ-ment Court will have to

rule on remaining objec-tions to his revised plans from Ohau Ski Field and Smithies, both from Ohau Village.

Ohau Downs and Gle-nary are overlooked by the skifield, the zig-zag access road scarring the stations’ mountainous backdrop.

Zeestraten anticipates court costs of another $0.5m over three-four years. “I’m getting the feeling it doesn’t matter what you do, it’s never enough.”

The tour of Zees-traten’s properties fol-lowed an overview of Doug McIntyre’s two irri-gated dairy platforms just south of Twizel, and neighbouring support blocks.

“We started with 4000 cows and two sheds and the production’s been steadily increasing. The land’s getting better and better,” McIntyre com-mented. However, in the early 2000s, had he known how hard it would be to turn the former rabbit- and hieracium-infested flats into the 1600kgMS/ha platforms they are today, he may never have bought

them, he added.His sharemilker and

operations manager Dave Gordon gave an insight into the practicalities. Large rocks and wilding pines are cleared first, fol-lowed by chisel ploughing, grading rocks into wind-rows, clearing the rock windrows, and working a seedbed. It adds up to $3500-4000/ha before irri-gation.

“Reaching the cultiva-tion point and cultivation is the costliest part. The natural fertility’s not too bad: 12-15 P level and pH 5.4, so fertiliser isn’t nec-essarily a big issue. We just use the fertiliser and lime we need to grow the crops.”

Typically that’s 1t/ha of lime and 250kg/ha of something like Crop 20 with its 19N, 10P, 0K and 12.5S analysis. Off dryland

they get 4-7t/ha of triticale, rape and other forages from average rain of 400-450mm/year.

On the flats, with up to 6mm/day of irrigation, they grow 14-15tDM/ha off grass sown 10-11 years ago. Fodder beet does near 20t/ha.

Irrigation is via the Benmore scheme. Effi-ciency of pivots means only half the scheme’s consented take is now needed to irrigate 4000ha on six farms, the maxi-mum area permitted.

Scheme manager Barry Shepherd explained what a difference that’s

made. “In 2005, when the scheme was just getting going, there were six farms in the command area with a gross turnover of $5m supporting seven families. By 2012 there were eight farms grossing $26m sup-porting 23 families. That’s what the water’s done.”

Previously “even the rabbits out here were skinny, and they had their lunchbags with them,” he added.

Shepherd told Dairy News a consent applica-tion to extend the irriga-tion area to 8000ha will be made in the first half of this year.

Monitoring of water-courses leaving properties already irrigated by the scheme has found some impact on water quality, but levels are “within the limits set by the consent… and have settled out now.”

Shepherd avoided giving figures but he’s ada-mant dairying and other irrigated land uses are sus-tainable in the area, partic-ularly with technological advances such as vari-able rate irrigation and automated soil moisture monitoring and irrigation scheduling.

ANDREW SWALLOWandrews@ruralnews�co�nz

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THE SUSTAINABILITY issues addressed during the course of the field day are not just high country conundrums, but are “going on all around the coun-try,” Federated Farmers vice president William Rolleston told the crowd before the 4x4 cavalcade set off.

Federated Farmers’ ap-proach, and that of farmers in general, has shifted from combative to collaborative, he added. Just as farmers were much more likely to heed policy and regulation they’d been in-volved in forming, so the public

would more likely accept policy they’d been consulted on.

“The important thing is to work out how we can get there that takes the rest of the coun-try with us…. 80% of our goals are the same, it’s just the last 20% we’re arguing about and those are more about the method than the outcomes.”

The Land and Water Forum’s work was a case in point and it is disappointing Fish and Game continues to come out with “rhetoric… alienating dairy,” he said.

“Talking to each other and understanding each other’s views takes you a long way for-ward. You’ll never make much progress unless you under-stand your opposition’s point of view….

“The fact Forest and Bird were invited today and no-one’s bothered to turn up to see the efforts of farmers like you to make this a sustainable place for farms and better for the environment too is disappointing. There should be a whole heap of people from Forest and Bird here.”

EVERYONE TALKING SUSTAINABILITY


extraordinary contribu-tion of Tony Ryall.

“The Bay of Plenty offers so much, our rich natural resources, together with the talents of the people backed by the National Government’s investment in local infrastructure makes us a successful

regional growth story. “But like all growth

regions, the Bay of Plenty needs a strong and assured voice at the decision making table to meet its ongoing economic and social needs.”

Muller has a long history in the Bay of Plenty having completed

his schooling there, held senior executive roles at Zespri and as chief executive of Apata. In the last three years he has worked at Fonterra, most recently as group director, cooperative affairs, reporting to the chief executive.

Muller has been active

in the National Party for at least 25 years and has held positions at branch, regional and national level as well as working for Prime Minister Jim Bolger during the National Gov-ernment of the 1990s.

Muller is 45, married to Michelle and they have three children.


NEWS // 11

Muller vies for National ticket

Fonterra executive Todd Muller

TODD MULLER says he has signalled early he intends to run for the National Party candidacy for Bay of Plenty because of the position he holds with Fonterra.

Muller is Fonterra’s group director, coopera-tive affairs.

“I have had some quiet conversations in Bay of Plenty and the feedback was positive that I put my name forward,” Muller told Dairy News. “Because

of the role I have at Fon-terra I thought it best to be clear and signal that up front and early.”

The Bay of Plenty seat is being vacated by the National Party MP and Health Minister Tony Ryall, who has announced his retirement from Parlia-ment after the next elec-tions.

Muller says the selec-tion process will be in the next couple of months but the National Party has not

confirmed dates. He does not know if others are contesting the National candidacy. “I have heard comments that a couple of other locals are consider-ing but it is still very early days.”

Closer to selection time he will take leave from Fonterra and spend time in Bay of Plenty. If he is selected as the National Party candidate he will “pass that bridge when he comes to it” in terms of further leave from his position at Fonterra.

“Apart from the three years I have been in Fon-

terra, most of the rest of my life has been in the Bay of Plenty and I am obviously a strongly local person,” Muller says.

“I am keen to return home to the bay where I grew up, worked, married, had our family and my par-ents have lived for more than forty years. With the support of local party members I know we can make a difference for all those living in the Bay of Plenty and continue the

PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews�co�nz

DairyNZ holds levy forumsDAIRYNZ WILL discuss new research and regional projects at local levy forums next month.

The 40 events, nationwide, are to help dairy farm-ers make informed decisions when they vote in May on whether or not to keep a levy on milksolids.

It also wants farmers to help identify priorities and on DairyNZ’s work in the regions, which includes helping farmers prepare for regional policy changes.

Chairman John Luxton, and other directors, will speak at some forums. He urges farmers in every region to have their say.

“It is vital that dairy farmers vote on the milksolids levy in May. The opportunity comes only once every six years and voting is easy – a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The more dairy farmers who vote, and who vote ‘yes’, the stronger the industry voice for DairyNZ’s work.”

Farmers get a lot of value for their levy, Luxton says.

“The dairy industry is co-investing with the gov-ernment and others in science and innovation…. We need the levy to support and retain that co-invest-ment.

“Now more than ever, with all the compliance and competitiveness challenges ahead, we need a strong dairy industry body that can work with others, includ-ing Federated Farmers and across all dairy companies and regions.”

“Apart from the three years I have been in Fonterra, most of the rest of my life has been in the Bay of Plenty and I am obviously a strongly local person.”

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12 // NEWS

Dry worse than 2013 for some

IN SOME regions, espe-cially Northland and Waikato, the drought this year is worse than last.

That’s the view of DairyNZ’s Craig McBeth, who says the west coast of Northland is in a dire

state. But even when rain falls these places will take time for grass to recover and bounce back.

“The only difference is this year the ability of the farms to respond is sig-nificantly better because there is plenty of supple-ments such as grass silage, and potentially farmers have more money to exer-

cise options they didn’t have last year.

“It’s still tough for them but their ability to respond is better so hope-fully a little less stressful for them.”

McBeth says the rain from cyclone Lusi was highly variable.

“We got 8mm at New-stead, just out of Hamil-

ton, and I heard a report that Paeroa got 130mm, so the level of rainfall was variable. This drought is very localised and specific to each district and each farm. Farmers have to respond according to what rain they did or didn’t get.”

Farmers who got rain need to implement their plan to continue to feed

supplements as the dry matter on their paddocks disappears, McBeth says. But once there is moisture the fresh grass will grow back and produce feed; staying on long rounds will allow that to happen.

Meanwhile feeding supplements to make up the gap in the cow’s diet is important.

“Those who didn’t get much rain will have to wait for some to fall before that moisture def-icit is overcome and the grass starts to grow fast enough…. Again they need to make sure they have supplements on hand to bridge that gap to keep the cows on a long rotation to allow

the grass to recover.”McBeth is advising

farmers feeling the pres-sure of the drought to talk to somebody and not bear all the stress alone. Many individuals and groups can offer help. Getting off farm and attending a farm discussion group is

one way to share the burden.

PETER BURKEpeterb@ruralnews�co�nz

Katrina Knowles, DairyNZ

Feed situation getting tightDAIRYNZ’S TEAM leader in Taranaki, Katrina Knowles, says the north of the region is now very dry with moisture deficits similar to the drought last year.

Supplementary feeding is keeping cows in condi-tion and some herds are on once-a-day milking. “North Taranaki is browning off and it’s starting to get difficult for them up there.”

South Taranaki has had rain, but this will change if there isn’t more rain by the end of this round. The feed situation is starting to get tight; it could be described as a ‘green drought’.

Knowles notes autumn arrived on March 1 with over-night temperatures cool. Soil temperatures had been rea-sonably high, but are now dropping back.

“Cow condition varies considerably. People have come into this season with reasonable cow condition, but now condition will be starting to strip from the cows so supple-mentary feeding is in full swing to get them in good con-dition for calving.”

A few farms are using herb species such as chicory, mainly because of lessons learned from last season’s drought. But not a lot of chicory is grown compared with Waikato. Many farmers are using PKE because they see it as a supplement that can be quickly turned on and off.

“This year people have good reserves of supplements. They made lots in the spring because we had great growth, so supplement reserves are better this year than previ-ously.”

Production is said to be 4-10% higher than last year to date. This is now dropping off and the final result may be similar to last year when there was good production in the region.

Unusually for Taranaki empty rates are high, Knowles says. “Vets in the region are reporting these are higher… and no one knows why. This is disappointing for some people who feel they have done everything right but can’t pinpoint why it’s happened.”

Check out the latest news and information atwww.dairynews.co.nz

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14 // DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS 2014

Off the bench, into the pitA FORMER professional rugby player has proved equally competitive in dairy farming by winning the premier contest at the 2014 Canterbury North Otago Dairy Industry Awards.

Kevin and Sara O’Neill won the 2014 Canterbury North Otago Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year

title, taking $19,000 in prizes.

O’Neill is a former Crusaders, Chiefs and Rebels rugby player. He gained an All Blacks cap when he came off the bench in an All Blacks loss to the Springboks in Dunedin in 2008. The couple switched to dairy

farming in 2011. The other major

winners at the 2014 Canterbury North Otago Dairy Industry Awards were Phillip Colombus, who won the Canterbury North Otago Farm Manager of the Year title, and Isaac Vujcich, the region’s 2014 Dairy Trainee

of the Year.The O’Neills have

worked two years in the industry, beginning with a six month stint as farm managers before entering a partnership as equity farm managers on Mrs O’Neill’s family farm at Waiau, North Canterbury.

They oversee an 1190-

cow herd on the 340ha farm and have Duncan and Olivia Rutherford and James and Belinda McCone as equity partners.

The O’Neills both have agricultural degrees from Lincoln University and both grew up on farms.

“A real strength of our business is we’ve got strong

governance in place, with a board of six containing two independent directors. We’ve also got opportu-nities for scale and devel-opment and both of these aspects allow for clear plan-ning and growth.”

The couple (both 31) have two young children. They say their future lies in multiple farm ownership.

History is repeating itself for newly crowned Canterbury North Otago Farm Manager of the Year Phillip Colombus, a farm manager for Ngai Tahu Farming at Oxford.

It is the second time Colombus (30) has entered the awards and the second time he has come out on top. In 2006 he won the Upper South Island Dairy Trainee of the Year title. He enters the awards to further his career. He won $10,100 in prizes.

From Christchurch city, he has worked his way up the industry and enjoys the opportunities provided by Ngai Tahu Farming on the 1300-cow property he is managing.

“Ngai Tahu Farming is committed to sustainability and to the continuous improvement of the environmental, social, cultural and economic outcomes on its farms.

The high standard of dairy farm conversion [has] all the latest technology and infrastructure.”

Colombus and his wife Melissa plan to progress to sharemilking and ulti-mately farm ownership.

Second in the farm manager contest was Rakaia farm manager Steve Veix, who won $3650. Also farm managing at Rakaia, Jonathon and Stacey Hoets, were third, winning $4250.

A decision to quit city work motivated the 2014 Canterbury North Otago Dairy Trainee of the Year, Isaac Vujcich (28).

He worked four years in information technology then completed a degree in business studies, major-ing in management and marketing, before decid-ing farming was for him. “I didn’t want to work in the city.”

The O’Neills will host a field day on April 1.

ENTERING THE New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards has helped the winners of the 2014 Southland Otago con-test to get ahead in the industry.

Winton 50% sharemilkers Steve Henderson and Tracy Heale earlier this month won the 2014 Southland Otago Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year title, Riversdale farm manager Jared Crawford won the Farm Manager of the Year title and Winton second-in-charge Josh Lav-ender won the Dairy Trainee of the Year title. It was the second time for all.

“The benefits of entering… helped us secure the 50/50 sharemilking job we are currently on,” Steve Henderson and Tracy Heale said.

The same goes for Crawford, who gained third in the 2011 Waikato Dairy Trainee of the Year competition. “The benefits were endless – new opportunities through net-working and this was how I got my first manager job. I also learnt a huge amount about myself and the direction I needed to take to achieve my goals, through the new skills and knowledge gained.”

Henderson (27) Heale (28) are now 50% sharemilking 320 cows for Adrian and Bev Simmonds at Winton, aiming to produce 125,000kgMS. They won $11,000 in prizes.

The couple met while studying at Lincoln University; they started in dairying in 2007. “We aim to have a ter-rific reputation with all the people involved in our career and are able to work together well to achieve our goals and grow our business.”

They belong to the Winton Volunteer Fire Brigade, Waitane Young Farmers and are on the Southern Field Days committee.

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EXPERIENCE COUNTS and two of the major winners in the 2014 Taranaki Dairy Indus-try Awards have that in spades.

Both the 2014 Taranaki Sharemilker/Equity Farm-ers of the Year, Charlie and Johanna McCaig, and the 2014 Taranaki Farm Man-ager of the Year, Michael Shearer, have previously

won regional dairy indus-try awards.

In 2011 the McCaigs gained second in the New Zealand Farm Manager of the Year contest, after winning the Taranaki regional title.

And in 2012 Shearer gained third in the New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year contest after win-ning the West Coast Top

of the South regional title.

The awards scheme began in 2006 to enable people to enter at dif-ferent levels as they progressed in dairying.

“It’s excit-ing to have two finalists who have won regional titles

in the past,” says regional convenor Rebecca van den Brand says.

“[Progressing quickly] to competing on the national stage at a higher level is impressive,”

“The winners say they enter the awards first and foremost to learn, grow and develop their farm businesses.”

The other major winner at the 2014 Taranaki Dairy Industry Awards was Ben Frost, the region’s 2014 Dairy Trainee of the Year. The awards were announced at a dinner at The Hub, Hawera.

The McCaigs are 21% sharemilking 500 cows for the Taranaki Community Rugby Trust at Manaia. They won $20,500 in prizes.

The couple, aged early and mid-30s, are in their

fifth season. They believe their experience out-side farming is a strength. “We changed careers to become dairy farmers. We brought knowledge acquired through employ-ment in other sectors, and came to farming without preconceptions.”

Their relationship and common goals also help. “We came to farming together and we continue to work together towards our goals – to grow our equity over the next 20 years so we can retire from operational activities in our early 50s and engage in industry leadership and governance.”

Michael Shearer (21) aims to own a farm in 10 years.

In the short term he is keen to gain equity in a dairy farm. He won $8800

in prizes.“The benefits of enter-

ing the awards include having my name out there in the dairy com-munity and networking with people who have also entered the competition.”

He manages a 360-cow Hawera farm for Steven and Ann Nicholas. The property has good topog-raphy and infrastructure, he says.

“The farm is all flat which makes for easier management of the pas-tures and the farm layout means short walks to the

dairy shed. Having a good size dairy shed allows for quick milkings and more time for other work,” Shearer says.

The 2014 Taranaki Dairy Trainee of the Year, Ben Frost (21), is progress-ing to a farm manager’s position in June, on the same 450-cow split-calv-ing Hawera farm owned by James Murphy where he is currently second in charge.

Frost won $6400 in prizes and thinks the awards is a great way to promote himself. “The

awards also provide opportunities to net-work with other farm-ers, practice for future job interviews and are a great personal challenge. Success in the competi-tion is a good confidence booster.”

The Taranaki Share-milker/Equity Farmers of the Year, Charlie and Johanna McCaig, will host a field day on April 10. Shearer, will host a field day on the Kaponga farm he manages on April 3.


DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS 2014 // 15

Back again to take more prizes

Taranaki sharemilkers Charlie and Johanna McCaig.


Taranaki Dairy Trainee of the Year Ben Frost.

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16 // DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS 2014

Reducing debt, increasing equityTHE WINNERS of the 2014 West Coast Top of the South Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year com-petition, Chris and Carla Staples, are focused on reducing debt and increas-ing equity.

The couple, who won $11,300 in prizes, are posi-tioning themselves to take the next step to farm own-ership.

The other major win-ners at the 2014 West Coast Top of the South

Dairy Industry Awards were Jason Macbeth, the region’s Farm Man-ager of the Year, and Amy White, winner of the Dairy Trainee of the Year title.

Chris and Carla Sta-ples were the runners-up in last year’s sharemilker/equity farmer contest and have used the judges’ feed-back to their advantage by improving their business and farming systems.

“We found entering the awards provided a great opportunity to take an in-depth look into our business, as well as being able to benchmark our-selves against others in our region.”

The Staples are 50% sharemilking 365 cows at Whataroa for farm owners Keith and Angela Kelly.

They say their profit-ability and great work-ing relationships are keys to their success. “We are aware of our financial posi-tion at all times and we are constantly reviewing our budgets against our actuals to produce consistent farm working expenses.

“Our short term goal is to increase production while maintaining good profitability on our current farm.” The couple’s long term goal is farm owner-ship.

Greymouth equity farm managers Kelvin and Heather McKay were run-ners-up in the competi-tion, winning $3700 in prizes.

The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are supported by West-pac, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Fed-erated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda Motorcycles NZ, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown, RD1, Triple-jump and Primary ITO.

Macbeth (23) wants to prove that West Coast farms can perform well against other regions’ top farms. He is contract milk-ing 280 cows for Bruce and Jocelyn Palmer at Mur-chison.

“We are low cost farm-ing with minimal inputs, which I believe you must be in today’s times. We are focused on quantity and quality when it comes to feeding our cows and it pays off in production.”

Macbeth is moving to a 25% sharemilking position

in June and aims to be 50% sharemilking 300 cows in 2017 with his partner Beth Phillips.

Second place in the farm manager contest went to Landcorp farm manager Hayden George (30), who won $3900, and third went to Takaka farm manager Alice Reilly (26), who won $2850. Reilly’s partner Stewart Watson was a finalist in the trainee contest and won the lead-ership merit award.

Murchison farm assis-tant Amy White (20) is the 2014 West Coast Top of the South Dairy Trainee of the Year.

White, who won $5000, entered the awards for the first time to “give it a go” and “it might lead to some-thing”.

It is her second season in the industry and she is currently helping on Ste-phen Todd’s 353-cow Mur-chison farm.

Her ultimate farming goal is to own a farm milk-ing 400 pedigree Holstein and Ayrshire cattle. “Until then my aim is to learn as much as I can about animal health and management so I can become a herd man-ager within five years, then go contract or lower order sharemilking to start my own herd and work my way from 50:50 to farm owner-ship.”

Second in the West Coast Top of the South Dairy Trainee of the Year contest was Dobson assis-tant dairy production man-ager Joseph McNaull (24), who won $3000. Third was Rai Valley, Marlborough, second-in-charge Bridgette Payton, who won $2000.

The West Coast Top of the South Sharemilker/Equity Farmers of the Year, Chris and Carla Sta-ples, will host a field day on April 3, while Farm Man-ager of the Year, Jason Macbeth, will host a field day on the Murchison farm he manages on March 27.

Amy White

West Coast/Top of the South winners Chris and Carla Staples.

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A VISION to achieve rapid equity growth in livestock agribusiness is on track for the major win-ners in the 2014 Central Plateau Dairy Industry Awards.

Donald and Kirsten Watson were last week named the region’s Share-milker/Equity Farmers of the Year at an awards dinner at the Energy Events Centre in Rotorua, taking home prizes worth $17,000.

The couple laid plans in 2009 to achieve financial independence and per-sonal fulfilment. “We will continue to grow equity to enable us to buy an 800-cow farm in 2020. Per-sonal fulfilment means enjoying what we do, remembering life is a jour-ney and not a destination.”

The other big awards winners were Robert Hart-ley, Farm Manager of the

Year, and Ruth Hone, Dairy Trainee of the Year.

The Watsons are in

their first season 50% sharemilking 990 cows for Glenn and Karen Speed at Taupo. They are both vet-erinarians and worked as mixed animal vets for 10 years before entering the dairy industry in 2009.

“We have found the dairy industry to be full of supportive people with immense knowledge they are willing to share. Resources are made easily available and there is no

shortage of opportunities to learn and grow.”

The Watsons, both aged 38, have three young children. They share vision, values and goals, and willingness to use resources to learn and to grow skills and knowledge.

“We aren’t afraid to innovate, to try new things and to step outside the square. We have learnt to budget, record, monitor, analyse, benchmark and review. We ask for help and support if required and surround ourselves with fantastic people.”

The 2014 Central Pla-teau Farm Manager of the Year, Robert Hart-ley, believes integrity and structure are the two major strengths of the Rerewhakaaitu farm busi-ness he manages.

“Integrity’s important as the farm I manage is a multi-million dollar oper-

ation. A lot of trust goes both ways. I need to know my employer has my best interest at heart and like-wise he needs to know I am always acting in the best interest of the com-pany.

“Having a robust struc-ture and policies is also important as the structure gives a lot of direction and reassurance on farm.”

Hartley (36) runs the 865-cow farm for Trevor and Harriet Hamilton. He entered the awards for the first time for a challenge, winning $11,300 in prizes. He began dairy farming in 2003, after working in information technology.

He has worked for the Hamiltons since 2008 and is interested in moving into an equity position on a farm. “I would one day like to take the knowledge I have and implement it on a farm of my own.”

The 2014 Central Pla-teau Dairy Trainee of the Year, Ruth Hone, entered the awards for a second time to gain the discipline to learn the theory behind practical farming. “The judges also provide helpful feedback.”

Hone (24) won $8050 in prizes. She is in her third season, working on a 250-cow farm for Michelle and Ross Davison near Taupo.

Central Plateau Share-milker/Equity Farm-ers of the Year Donald

and Kirsten Watson will host a field day on April 9. Farm Manager of the Year Robert Hartley will host a field day on the Rere-whakaaitu farm he man-ages on April 2.


DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS 2014 // 17

Vision propels vets to victory


Robert Hartley

Central Plateau Sharemilker/Equity Farmers of the Year winners Donald and Kirsten Watson.

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NEWS // 19

Soil scientist rates N fert prospectsLAB TRIAL results on a slow release fertiliser have a prominent soil scientist saying it may help farmers to limit nitrogen losses from pasture.

Dr Doug Edmeades, of AgKnowledge, has been working with Auckland firm Eko360, providing scientific and technical advice on establishing the effectiveness of the company’s slow release nitrogen (N) fertiliser Smartfert. The work is helped by Agmardt funding.

The results of laboratory work during the past year are encouraging, the company says.

“Laboratory leaching experiments have confirmed the rate of N release from Smartfert is slower than that of urea, and by adjusting

the manufacturing process, release rates can be adjusted,” says Edmeades. The results were a step closer to the “holy grail” of fertiliser research – to develop a truly slow release N fertiliser.

Glasshouse trials have followed the lab work. They used ryegrass, finding it was possible to measure the rate of N uptake by the grass as the test plant, acting as a measure of Smartfert’s N release.

The results proved similar to those gained from the initial laboratory trials. “We now have proof of concept established that the product works in the soil in a predictable manner,” says Edmeades.

An early “look see”

trial that measured cumulative dry matter production on a commercial dairy farm from October to February has also proven positive.

It revealed greater cumulative drymatter production over that period off the pasture treated with 25kgN/ha and 50kgN/ha as Smartfert, compared to the equivalent rates applied as conventional

urea. This indicates the nitrogen uptake efficiency of Smartfert was higher than from urea.

While this field trial work was only preliminary, Edmeades says it was essential early research. He was comfortable recommending the Smartfert directors invest further to examine the agronomic and possible economic benefits of field trials over different soils and climate types.

“The implications for this research are huge,” he says.

Pastoral farming is under pressure to manage nutrient losses through soil profiles, with catchment plans in many regions poised to dictate how great those losses can be. Controlling

nitrogen losses from fertiliser application is a first step in helping reduce those losses.

Smartfert is now stocked and distributed by Fertco, Tauranga. Chief executive Warwick

Voyce says having New Zealand science behind Smartfert gives confidence to farmers to try the product and see how it best benefits their situation.

Eko360 director and

founder Bruce Smith says he was looking forward to further field trials. He is encouraged by the amount of industry and government funding available to agriculture in New Zealand.

Bruce Smith, founder of fertiliser company Eko360 with conventional urea fully dissolved (left hand) and Smartfert slow release prills (right hand).

Doug Edmeades

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20 // NEWS

HUGE OPPORTUNITY exists for Maori whanau to collaborate more and combine their interests to create large and more economically sustainable farm businesses, says a prominent Maori businessman.

Kingi Smiler, chairman of the organisation that runs the Ahuwhenua Trophy for leading Maori farms, told Dairy News that exploiting this opportunity could add $8 billion to the New Zealand economy.

Smiler says the three finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Maori dairy farm have one big thing in common – their farms consist of small blocks owned by whanau trusts collaborating in creating larger and more profitable entities.

He says the finalists offer a good example of what can be done in a relatively short time.

“The good news is that others are going to be following suit because these ones here were started five or six years ago. This will continue to gather momentum and will be a major encouragement to the overarching strategy for Maori economic growth.

“Government and Maori are keen to see these strategies developed regionally and get much greater momentum. I can only see that accelerating over time.”

He also notes that it was the colonisation process that created the small Maori blocks that exist today.

Smiler says all three finalists have themselves built business models not unlike those created on a smaller scale by the late Sir Apirana Ngata when he was Minister of Native Affairs. Ngata helped Maori owners in various regions to consolidate their blocks into more economic farms. What is happening now is a continuation and extension of that philosophy with the leadership coming from within the whanau.

The Ahuwhenua Awards have helped publicise the contribution Maori agribusiness makes to the overall economy.

“Certainly the government sector and the general industry are recognising that, and you are seeing now all the major agribusiness companies in New Zealand actively trying to network with Maori to be part of those opportunities that will inevitably come.”

Maori are getting involved higher up the value chain, examples being their ownership of the dairy company Miraka and the dairy technology company Waikato Milking Systems.

More from Awuwhenua finalist field day – pages 34-36.

PETER [email protected]

Awuwhenua helps lift the bar

Kingi Smiler

Milk for schools hits high seasFONTERRA MILK for Schools has now reached the Chatham, Stewart, and Great Barrier islands, with 17 schools and about 160 children.

Operations manager in-school pro-grammes, Louise Aitken, says the coop wants to offer milk to children from year one to year six.

“It is a big logistical undertaking, made easier with huge community sup-port,” Aitken says. “Chatham Islands Shipping Ltd and Freightlink Cartage are providing free shipping of the milk

packs to the Chatham and Great Barrier islands.”

Chatham Islands Shipping Ltd chief executive Dennis Nisbet and Freightlink cartage divisional manager David Hyland are said to be applauding the scheme.

“It’s great to be working with Fonterra doing our part to support a community-focused project,” says Nisbet.

“And delivering the milk packs to the island is just one part of the programme. Chatham Islands Shipping will also help Fonterra by bringing the milk packs back

from the island to Auckland for recy-cling.”

Mulberry Grove School principal Ally Gibbs and her students on Great Barrier Island have had their first delivery of milk.

“Often Great Barrier is put in the too hard basket, so it is great that Fonterra Milk for Schools can make its way here to us. The milk will provide a great nutri-tional start to our children’s day.”

Fonterra Milk for Schools offers a free serving of Anchor Lite UHT milk every school day to children in year one to six.

Kaitoke School children on Great Barrier Island celebrate with chilled milk.

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NEWS // 21

Clover pest little match for Irish waspTHE RELEASE of para-sitised clover root weevils on Southland farms this autumn is being beefed up to try to combat extra large infestation aris-ing from last year’s mild winter.

The scheme is run by AgResearch, Beef + Lamb New Zealand, DairyNZ and Environment South-land,

“If we can make releases of clover root weevil infected with the Irish wasp parasite on up to 1000 Southland farms before winter, then we will have done as much as we can this year,” says AgResearch scientist Colin Ferguson.

“To do this we aim to collect up to one million parasitised clover root weevil over the next few months.”

Last year’s mild winter has meant that clover root weevil has taken its small foot-hold on the farms of Southland to a wide-spread infestation.

“Unfortunately there is little farm-ers can do by chang-ing their management practices to minimise the impact of clover root weevil and there are no current effective pesticides,” says Ferguson.

“If the farm budget allows, farmers can use N fertiliser to boost pasture production and cover for the lack of clover, how-ever there are no quick fixes and they shouldn’t adopt any unproven mira-cle cures.”

Based at AgResearch’s Invermay campus, Fergu-son has seen the damage wrought by the weevil on

Southland farms first-hand.

“The clover root weevil has been present in South-land since 2010, but large numbers were present in only a few locations. That was until last year; what we didn’t need was the very mild winter.

“The mild conditions allowed a greater number of clover root weevil eggs to hatch and more of the larvae survived right through the winter. As a result the population of the weevil exploded.

“Tremendous pressure is now being placed on pasture from the increased numbers of larvae that fed on the clover roots and their nodules last winter. That damage was followed by the large population of adult clover root weevil emerging in early summer

and feeding on the clover leaf. Normal spring and summer grazing of clover has added to the stress on already struggling plants.

“Affected farmers are either seeing clover that disappears quickly once grazed or a complete absence of clover plants in their pasture. With-out clover farmers can’t fatten lambs and those that are looking to over-winter dairy grazers can’t

do that.”The tiny parasitic wasp

from Ireland is crucial in this bettle. The wasp kills clover root weevil. AgResearch scientists have seen reductions of greater than 90% of the clover root weevil population in monitored North Island farms where the wasp has been released.

AgResearch scientist Dr Scott Hardwick leads the Lincoln-based clover root weevil collection team.

“We are literally vac-uuming up weevils from Canterbury farmland where the bio-control wasp is already hard at work.

“While most of these collected weevils are already parasitised, we boost the parasitism levels by adding a few Irish wasps to the packs

of 100 we make up for farm release. These packs are then deliv-ered to Southland for release. The result will accelerate spread of the bio-control and the process of clover recovery will begin.

“Southland farm-ers can expect clover content to return to normal levels two to four years after the

wasps’ arrival on their farms.”

Hardwick advises farm-ers not to worry if their farm is not one of the selected release sites.

“In Canterbury and North Otago we have seen the Irish wasp spread-ing up to 30km per year from release sites, so even if your farm is not one of selected release sites, the Irish wasp released on your neighbour’s farm

will quickly arrive on your farm.”

Ferguson advises farm-ers not to panic.

“While this is caus-ing a lot of pain at the moment it will pass over time. Although things are going to be tough for the next few years farmers will get through this with the help of the bio-control. North Island farmers have already gone through this process and clover root weevil is not much of an issue now for any of them.

“If we had let things run their natural course the Irish wasp would have continued to spread down the South Island, follow-ing the clover root weevil, and eventually arrived everywhere in Southland.”

Parasited clover root weevil packed for dispatch to Southland farms.

“Unfortunately, there is little farmers can do by changing their management practices to minimise the impact of clover root weevil.”

Scott Hardwick collecting clover root weevil using a blower-vac.

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rd132x2

Another Oz processor changes handsAUSTRALIA’S LARGEST pri-vately owned milk processing com-pany has been sold to a Hong Kong businessman who plans to use it as a springboard into the lucrative milk powder market in China.

William Hui last month paid $A70 million for United Dairy Power (UDP). He told The Aus-tralian newspaper that he planned to spend $A20m more to lift pro-duction and expand into the milk powder business.

He says the company could con-sider buying farming properties as part of its expansion plan for UDP, designed to cash in on the booming demand for powdered milk prod-ucts in China.

A UDP statement says Hui will provide new opportunities to grow the business in Australia and other markets.

It says company founder Tony Esposito will be stepping back from the business over the next few months, but will remain involved with UDP and committed to ensur-

ing the business continues to flour-ish. Mark Smith will become chief executive.

UDP says that despite the change of ownership it will be busi-ness as usual.

“We will continue to operate our facilities in Victoria and South Australia, and our name and corpo-rate brand will all remain the same. We’ll continue to maintain our high ratio of field representatives and pay competitive milk prices.”

UDP, based in south Melbourne, has plants at Poowong, Victoria and Murray Bridge and Jervois, South Australia. Established in 1999, it buys milk from the Kirin-owned Lion-National Foods Group and provides transport and logistics services and manufacturing facil-ities.

The company makes dairy prod-ucts including cheddar, the Cabool-ture brand of mozzarella, and butter and whey powder.

The UDP sale follows a fierce bidding war for the listed Warrnam-

bool Cheese & Butter, a battle even-tually won by Saputo after the Canadian giant beat off local rivals Murray Goulburn and Bega Cheese.

Hui’s plants to expand produc-tion will add fuel to a fierce battle for milk supply in Australia. Fon-terra is also seeking an extra 100m litres of milk in Australia.

Hui plans a big expansion of production to diversify into milk powder for export to China.

“We now still mainly rely on the local market,” he says. “If we get more milk supply then we will divert to the China market.

“Our factories have the poten-tial to produce more but supply is at the maximum already. We need to look for the milk supply, increase our production and then we can go to China. Right now we have about 150 farmer suppliers, and we are talking to them about supplying more.

“We are also talking to our bank-ers to see if they can allow us to provide finance to farmers, assis-

tance to them, to help them grow as well.”

Hui says the company will main-tain capacity in the local market and will advance its expansion plans only if it can source more milk.

He says other investors in China are willing to follow his lead in buying or investing in Australian dairy assets.

“We know there are lots of investors in China.” In the coming five years there will be a lot of Chi-nese coming to this market. In the past five years it has been in mining, but in the coming five years it will be in dairy.

“Whether it is a big company or a medium-sized company in China, they will be interested because the dairy product from Australia is very good.

“The environment here is good for cows and milk. China has already been importing a lot of cows from Australia.”

FTA prospect firms, farmers happyAUSTRALIAN FARMERS are happy with moves by Chi-nese authorities to accelerate a free-trade deal with Australia.

NFF president Brent Finlay says China could become Aus-tralia’s biggest trading partner.

“This deal is a potential boon for agriculture. It looks as though agriculture and food sec-tors will be major winners from this agreement, with mining and manufacturing sectors also ben-efiting.

“The projected changes in exports of agricultural prod-ucts are estimated at around an additional $A600m per year. However, results will obviously depend on what the final details of the agreement might be.”

In his opening speech to the recent National People’s Con-gress, China Premier Li Keqiang

said it will “accelerate” negotia-tions for a free trade agreement with Australia, a process that started in April 2005.

Finlay says there are major opportunities for farmers in finalising this deal.

But he points out the China deal is only one of several now being negotiated. “We’re still focusing on bilateral agreements with Japan and India, as well as regional agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“We strongly support a free-trade agreement with China, but the agreement must take a holis-tic view of Australian agriculture and consider trade access across all markets.

“We will not support a deal signed at any cost. A second-rate agreement in any area is simply not good enough.”

NFF president Brent Finlay.

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24 // WORLD

Fighting sceptics inside the farmgate

TEN YEARS ago one of the largest dairy operators in the US saw the writing on the wall: animal welfare

lobbyists were increas-ing their focus on farming and consumers were keen to know more about their food.

Although environment groups were targeting the pig and poultry sectors

SUDESH [email protected]

back then, Gary Corbett, chief executive of Fair Oaks Farms, Indiana knew “dairy’s time was gonna come”.

In 1994, Fair Oaks decided to go on the offensive; it opened the 13,000ha dairy farm to the public, for them to see how cows are looked after and milked. A birth-ing barn auditorium also allows visitors to see calves being born. Milk, cheese, ice cream and yoghurt are processed and sold at the farm. Today, Fair Oaks hosts 575,000 visitors annually and is the number one destination for visitors to the town. Fair Oaks’ suc-cess has attracted inter-est from other sectors; last year Fair Oaks Farms opened a pig adventure operation with 3000 sows.

Last month Corbett shared Fair Oaks’ success story with 350 farmers at the Australian Dairy Con-ference in Geelong. Speak-ing on ‘People, Planet and Profit- ensuring dairy farming has a future’, he urged Australian farm-ers to take their story to the consumers to coun-ter negative publicity from animal rights groups.

According to Cor-bett, the activists are well funded and passionate in their campaigns.

“Consumers were also becoming well informed; they wanted to know about traceability, the food supply chain and animal welfare,” he says.

According to Corbett, the dairy industry has always believed someone else will take care of the negative publicity gener-ated by activists. There-fore, dairy has never been ahead of the game.

He says people vis-iting Fair Oaks are very interested to interact with farmers.

“In our experience 99% of the visitors have no agenda and come to understand agriculture better. Consumers haven’t let us down.”

After touring the farm, consumers buy locally produced cheese and ice cream from the Fair Oaks store. Corbett believes there is an emotional attachment after visitors

see how it houses cows, feeds and milks them and takes care of them. Cheese produced at Fair Oaks is sold across the US however ice cream and yoghurt are only available at the store.

Corbett has no regrets about opening the farm to the public. “The ques-tion is not whether we can

afford to tell the story but can we afford not to?… We can’t.”

Fair Oaks practices sus-tainability on all fronts and Corbett says this will ensure the business will prosper for many years.

Fair Oaks has 37,000 cows; the average herd size in the US is under 200. The property has 11 milking platforms and a permit to build another one. The free-stall barn operation milks 800 cows every 6.5 minutes for 24 hours a day serving the fluid milk market; it pro-duces almost a million litres of milk daily.

The 1.6 million gallons of liquid manure produced at the dairy operation is fed through a digester with the end product used in many ways. For example, liquid manure is turned into gas to power the business’s 45 trucks and to yield fertiliser, with the water used to grow a source of protein which is added to the herd’s total mixed ration. About 120 calves are born every day.

Fair Oaks Farms also produces at least 60% of its own feed.

Corbett says he doesn’t want to lose any sleep over what to feed the cows the next day.

“We have two years of feed on hand. We try to have big healthy cows, ensuring we have feed in front of them 24 hours a day.”

Fair Oaks Farms employs 450 people.

Visitors take a bus ride through the cow shed.

Gary Corbett

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26 // OPINION

EDITORIAL


“Right now he’s wishing he hadn’t locked the farm gate to hunters!”

ONE HAS to wonder what Fish and Game (FAG) was thinking with this latest survey, designed it would seem to discredit the dairy industry.

As a strategic public relations campaign it’s an abject failure, pushing FAG further out towards the loony fringe. It lacks credi-bility in its attempt to revive the cracked-record hit of a few years ago – ‘dirty dairying’. The public have moved on from there and can see that the vast majority dairy farmers are working to keep the rivers and lakes clean. In fact farmers have moved faster than some local authorities who are way behind in improving their environmental footprint.

If FAG leaders thought this latest ‘revelation’ would win friends and assist in some of its dubious challenges to council plans, they are wrong. We don’t see Maori, for example, jumping on the FAG waka. They are too smart to be conned by a pressure group and have their own environmental agenda which is culture and sci-ence based. Maori are big dairy farmers and FAG is like a dog with fleas; Maori will want to stay well clear of them.

As for the Government, the extreme stance of FAG will not win it any political favours; it’s election year and politicians are look-ing for smart, reasoning supporters, not people who create a fuss and seek to derail such a key economic driver as the dairy industry.

A few years ago Federated Farmers, like FAG now, was on a headline gathering rampage but its own members eventually decided enough was enough and made a major leadership change.

FAG leaders are now on soggy ground. Most fishers are moder-ate, reasonable, in some cases well-connected people who don’t like unseemly scraps and agro. Many dairy farmers are members.

FAG once had itself comfortably installed in the LAWF tent, but this survey will put it on the outer. If FAG persists in this extreme voice it will likely be ignored altogether, even if it has a reasoned point to make.

Flogging a dead fish (and game)

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Putting it bluntlyHANDY AS a hammer is for culling a calf, in this day and age, where percep-tion is reality, such practice has to be prohibited. It should have been when, in 2010, the National Animal Welfare Advisory Com-mittee revised the Animal Welfare (Dairy Cattle) Code of Welfare, especially as concerns had already been raised about routine euthanasia on economic grounds by such methods on New Zealand farms in 2009 when Fonterra’s opening forecast was just $4.55/kgMS and bobby calf prices were poor. It was fortunate this year’s furore was sparked in Chile. It could have been Hauraki.

Sign of the timesIF TWENTY years ago you’d suggested to a high country farmer that dairying would one day be a feature in a Federated Farmers High Country field day, the answer would probably have included the words ‘pig’ and ‘fly’. But that day came last week with a field day touring dairy developments in the lower Mackenzie Basin – or rather Upper Waitaki as some call it these days to try to distance it from the ‘iconic landscape’ arguments associated with the Mackenzie. The developments are a credit to the pioneers behind them, and a sign of dairying’s adaptability to a range of climates and environments.

Feathers ruffled FAST-GROWING milk brand a2 is becoming a nuisance to conventional milk players in Australia.

A2 Corporation, which claims its a2 milk has better digestive health benefits, has being ac-cused of running a scare campaign in Australia that denigrates normal milk and damages the dairy industry.

Parmalat Australia chief executive Craig Garvin says its farmers are of the view that all dairy is good and the vast majority of production is A1. Farmers are not interested in a divisive conversation, he adds.

We say to Parmalat, get a life.

Residents see red over buttermilkTHE SOUTH Taranaki District Council’s deci-sion to allow Fonterra to dump three million litres of buttermilk into the Eltham wastewater treatment plant has backfired.

Locals say they’re being made sick by the odour and chemicals coming from the plant.

Last year during the spring flush Fonterra dumped the by-product buttermilk, and milk contaminated with oil waste, on the say so of the council, which mistakenly thought its plant could handle the waste.

Council chief executive Craig Stevenson says a mistake by an employee had snowballed into a much bigger problem. He is gutted by its effect on residents, and the council is now looking at how to deal with it.


OPINION // 27

Spin vs realityWilly LeferinkWHAT WOULD happen

if Federated Farmers pub-lished a survey which asked, ‘do you feel intro-duced fish species should enjoy more legal protec-tion than native fish?’ Or what about, ‘should the trout license fee ($121 for an adult) be abolished, and trout and salmon rules aligned with those for salt-water recreational fish-ing?’

Something tells me one group would explode in a rage. So I am not going down that line. Instead, let’s talk about that Mk 1 eyeball each of us is born with.

Every year, from Octo-ber to April and again from May to September, anglers take to our rivers in the hope of landing a whopper trout. They are inspired after reading the South-land Times where Fish and Game’s local manager says, “The rivers are all in good order and flowing a bit low for this time of year, which makes it good for fishing.”

A couple of years ago Fish and Game’s Welling-ton manager Phil Teal warned employers to be on sickie patrol from the start of the season.

He said, at the time, “monitoring has also shown good numbers of trout in the rivers, so prospects are looking good…. Wellington, Wair-arapa, Kapiti Coast and Manawatu have world-class trout fishing oppor-tunities right on the doorstep.”

So how do you square these exaltations with the national body’s curmud-geonly obsession that farming is somehow the mortal enemy of trout?

You cannot have rivers that run brilliantly when you want to sell a license but become toxic when you are pushing policy barrows.

Waikato University professor Jacqueline Row-arth recently wrote in the National Business Review, “Perceptions and beliefs are not the same as facts and data and Lincoln University’s ‘The Public Perception of the Environ-ment’ has evolved into a document that tries to set perceptions into some sort

of context and shows most New Zealanders know we have a remarkably good environment.

In contrast, the ‘Farm-ing and the Environ-ment’ report, which Fish and Game commis-sioned Horizon Research to undertake, suggests dairy companies should be taking a formal role in the environmental perfor-mance of their suppliers. But maybe Fish and Game chief executive Bryce Johnson was misquoted or is unaware that Fon-terra already has employ-ees working with farmers on nutrition budgets and effluent management, as does DairyNZ.

Fish and Game sug-gests voters in the general election choose between the environment and the economy, but the Horizon Research report indicates New Zealanders are wiser than that.

Take the Ruataniwha water storage scheme that has seen more spins than your average wash-ing machine. Contrary to what Fish and Game says, the Tukituki River does have a nitrogen loss cap but here’s the kicker: nitrogen isn’t the big issue with the Tukituki River, phosphorus is. In summer phosphorus mostly comes from the towns, so cue a collective yuck. It’s also on the road to being fixed, but that takes money and the way to get that money is to grow the Central Hawke’s Bay economy. The simple answer is ‘just add water’.

The National Policy Statement (Freshwater) and the National Objec-tives Framework could, as Federated Farmers’ Chris Allen told The Press, rep-resent a seismic change in farming similar to 1980s Rogernomics. Back then, nearly a third of Mid-Can-terbury farmers left the land. News media do themselves a disservice by not being aware of its implications, or in the case of many, its existence.

So instead of locking people out [as suggested by Rural News, March 18], invite anglers in and talk to them about what they see and suggest it would be grand if they shared their experience with the newspapers, talkback radio and on-line. The

WILLY LEFERINKbest way to defeat spin is truthful first-hand experi-ence. Let us make it a pos-itive experience and we’ve got allies in the likes of the Walking Access Commis-sion to get people onfarm.

This is a time to talk about and to show off what we do each and every day. Let’s build allies by

engaging with those who spend a small fortune in the hope of a fish.

Yet I feel the anti-farm-ing stance of Fish and Games’ national office is a huge own-goal. Telling the public our rivers are stuffed towards the end of the season also sends this message; ‘why bother

buying a license?’ Instead of continu-

ally throwing rocks from the sidelines, note that the Shag River, Otago, and Lake Rotorua show that together we can solve problems. But only if we work together.• Willy Leferink is Federated Farmers Dairy chairperson

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28 // AGRIBUSINESS

Oz feed firm picks local teamAUSTRALIAN FEED supplier BEC Feed Solu-tions has appointed Trina Parker as country manager of BEC NZ, responsible for new and existing business with feed manufacturers.

Jennifer McCarty will provide technical product support and field sales ser-vices in her role as techni-

cal services officer. The pair have 20 years

aggregated experience in animal nutrition and health, ingredient pro-curement and regulatory controls. They will work from Auckland, focused especially on the dairy industry.

BEC managing direc-

tor Brett Antonio says Ms Parker and Ms McCarty are “highly regarded in the NZ animal feed sector and we are fortunate to have them on board”.

“Their combined knowledge, understand-ing and experience in New Zealand feed and livestock will be integral to our suc-cess [there].”

Parker has worked in the feed, poultry and regu-latory sectors. She has pre-

viously worked with Tegel Foods, and several New Zealand agricultural busi-nesses and trade associa-tions, including the feed manufacturers, egg pro-ducers and poultry indus-try federations.

McCarty, BSc in Animal Science, will support and facilitate the transfer of information to custom-ers. She previously worked in feed formulations for NRM Feeds.

FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS

BEC FEED Solutions Pty Ltd is said to be Austra-lia’s largest independent animal pre-mix manu-facturer. The family-owned, Brisbane company now operates in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.

Brett Antonio says producing optimum qual-ity ingredients is at the core of BEC’s business philosophy.

“Our business is guided by a healthy respect for our relationship to the human food chain and as such we are committed to manufactur-ing and supplying safe, quality feed products. This is now more crucial than ever considering New Zealand’s increasing consumer demand, stringent regulations, increasing exports, ani-mal welfare, and the need to maintain competi-tive quality advantage.”

IN BRIEF

UHT plant impressiveFONTERRA CHAIRMAN John Wilson is im-pressed with the co-op’s new $126 million UHT milk processing site at Waitoa on the weekend. The site is in its final stages of testing before commissioning Anchor UHT milk and cream products at the end of this month.

Wilson says he’s impressed with how quickly it had taken the site to get to this stage with construction completed in 12 months.

“It was great to get the chance to visit and meet the team who have brought our Waitoa site to life. There is a real sense of pride from the team on the ground.

Jennifer McCarty (left) and Trina Parker.

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30 // AGRIBUSINESS

Amazed by maize cropTHE MAIZE harvest is now getting into full swing and anecdotal evidence suggests the amount of land in maize is higher than normal.

AgFirst Rotorua con-sultant Peter Livingston says he’s noticed a lot of maize is now grown south of Rotorua – mainly newer varieties that are shorter maturing and can grow at a higher altitude or in a shorter summer period.

He says maize is

widely used by farmers in Bay of Plenty and South Waikato for supplementa-tion, mainly in autumn as cows are dried off. Maize lengthens rotation and puts condition back on the herd.

“You’ll find a quarter to a third of farmers use maize. It’s one of those things you can turn on or off. Maize has been getting more expensive in recent years. We used to be able to grow maize at less than 17-18 cents/kgDM and you still can if you get high yields. But once you get above that and add cart-age, storage and wastage… maize starts to cost 30-40 cents/kgDM if you are not careful.”

He also notes that adding in the cost of leased land for grow-ing maize at low to mod-erate yields can make maize an expensive feed source. The true cost is also affected by costs of storage and utilisation rate at the time of feed-ing, matters that farmers sometimes pay minimal attention to, he says.

Livingston says if maize is grown in the

same place year after year for a long time it can damage the structure of the soil and strip out the organic matter. Farm-ers must counter this by introducing compost or chicken manure or green crops such as oats to restore the organic matter. Maize is deep rooted and quite nitro-gen and potash hungry.

The maize harvest is well underway near Whakatane.

A well-oiled office will boost profitsRUNNING A sharp business can contrib-ute as much profit to a dairy farm as can milking cows, says Dairy Women’s Net-work (DWN).

DairyNZ modelling shows the indus-try’s profitability could be improved $1 billion per year (about $1000/ha) by improving management capabilities and financial literacy.

DWN will in April run workshops on the ‘Well-Oiled Office’ to teach dairy farmers effective business administration.

“Dairy farming women who ‘do the books’ are often per-ceived as the household accounts manager, when in reality they are busi-ness administrators,” says DWN chief execu-tive Zelda de Villiers.

“We know from DairyNZ research that there is huge variation in profitability between New Zealand’s best and worst performing dairy farms.” Raising administration skills can close that gap, she says.

Running the workshops will be Anna-bel Craw in the North Island and Frances Coles in the south. Both are farmers with 10 years aggregated experience between them, teaching financial literacy and busi-ness administration.

Based near Temuka, Frances and hus-band Aaron own Coles Farms and have investments in three other dairying busi-nesses, including a farm equity partner-ship, contract milking arrangements and shared ownership of a herd on a 50/50 sharemilking partnership. Coles says 13 years ago she was working full-time off the farm and ‘fitting in’ the accounts around everything else.

“I had to reassess our approach to busi-ness admin, including whether the home office was still the right place to be doing

that work because there is no boundary between home and work when you live at your office,” says Coles.

Hiring one part-time admin assistant seven years ago was the start of taking their business administration seriously, and today Coles Farms employs two part-time administrators and has a purpose-built office.

Craw, a business developer, says the workshop will help farmers better under-stand the administration role and the value

it adds. “If you look at other industries or busi-

nesses, administration functions are per-formed at a high, professional level because they are at the core of a well-run business,” says Craw.

“In a farming business, administration often falls to women who may be juggling other roles on the farm.” When you really understand business administration you can decided how you really want to run the role, depending on your goals.

A Q&A session will dwell on practical experiences in dealing with dairy farmer compliance. “In particular DWN mem-bers often ask for more practical training in ACC, tax and Kiwisaver, because the information they get at a technical level isn’t easy to translate in a practical way.”

The workshops start on April 1 in Kerik-eri and Nelson and finish on April 15 in Winton.

Annabel CrawFrances Coles@dairy_newsfacebook.com/dairynews

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32 // MANAGEMENT

New payment system for dairy support farmersA NEW payment system for dairy support cattle was unveiled by New Zealand Grazing Company’s (NZGC) managing director, Ian Wickham, at a company field day at Takapau, Hawke’s Bay, on March 18.

The new concept, modeled dry matter (MDM), is one NZGC has been developing for five years.

MDM rewards farmers for feeding dairy support cattle on a fair and equitable basis, where circumstances are variable. “We already help people grow great heifers. Now we have a modern approach to reward growers for doing an excellent job,” he says.

The model has been validated by DairyNZ and is approved and used by Fonterra for the export cattle in NZGC’s care.

MDM starts with the production (animal weight, weight increase, etc), calculates the amount of feed used to support that production and then pays the pre-determined amount per kilograms of dry matter – with a price that has been

agreed for the value of that feed.

The model takes into account seasonal variations, so juvenile pasture is worth more money, winter-feed is worth even more and feed in a drought is worth a lot more.

“This system automatically corrects the price for the time that feed is in short supply; so if a drought is declared, the contract provides for an agreed price increase from then until the drought is over,” says Wickham.

A bonus is paid for every animal that reaches an agreed target weight and, conversely, a penalty on any animal that fails to reach an agreed minimum weight.

MDM also takes into consideration animal health and other husbandry expenses.

The system relies on an undertaking by growers to weigh animals monthly. “If you’re doing a good job, weighing the animals, and they’re above target, then you’ll get paid a lot more,” Wickham says.

The new fee system grew out of acknowledgement by NZGC of heifer owner dissatisfaction with

variable weight gain performance using the flat weekly rate, with fixed payment.

Heifer growers were also dissatisfied with the highly variable income under the old system, particularly the risk of low gain at times when feed was expensive.

“When agreed fair targets are met for an agreed fair price, then all parties win a profitable result.”

At the core of MDM is a new cloud database whereby NZGC records and manages the information on each animal in a way not previously possible.

Wickham says they’ve had strong acceptance from existing clients to MDM.

The field day, attended by at least 100 farmers, included a tour of Brookwood Station, Takapau, to see firsthand how a successful heifer grazing system works.

Owners Justin King and Meg Campion have been grazing dairy heifers for NZGC for several years and currently grow 1500 heifers.

King says he chose NZGC as the link between himself and the dairy

farmer and believes it is a win-win for both parties.

“Under the new contract I get paid more when cattle are juveniles and more in the winter; it works out about 21c/kg dry matter for the 16-18 months they are on. The thing I like about the heifers is you are not speculating on when you are going to buy and sell, or the price. All I have to concentrate on is what’s happening within the farmgate rather than beyond it. It’s a safety net.”www.nzgrazing.co.nz

VIVIENNE HALDANE

Ian Wickham at last week’s field day.

Effluent disposal depot opensA NEW stock truck effluent disposal facility opened last week at Te Kuiti will help reduce spills of stock effluent on King Country roads, says Waikato Regional Council.

Designed and built by Waitomo District Council, with funding from the Waikato Regional Council and NZ Transport Agency, the new facility offers 24/7 truck access. It is located in Cotter Street, just off Waitete Road (SH 30), immediately adjacent to the Te Kuiti sale yards.

Waitomo District Council will manage operation and maintenance.

District mayor Brian Hanna says the facility in Te Kuiti is well placed to cater for trucks attending sale days.

“Because it’s so accessible to truck operators, it should help to reduce spills of stock effluent onto our roads from heavily loaded stock trucks.”

Regional transport committee chairman and Waikato regional councillor Hugh Vercoe says the facility will

fulfil a need in the region and it’s great to see continuing progress being made to address the problem of spills.

“We set a clear vision in the 2010-2016 stock truck effluent strategy for zero discharge of stock effluent from trucks onto Waikato roads by 2020. Construc-tion of this new facility is a step towards meeting this objective.”

There is one in-transit effluent dumping site in Waikato, on SH5 at Tapapa, and there are now five at or near sale yards in Te Kuiti, Morrinsville, Taupo, Mata-mata and Tuakau.

Other sites are under investigation: near Putaruru, on SH27 near the Tahuna Road roundabout, and at Taupo, Ngaruawahia and Te Kuiti.

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34 // MANAGEMENT

Success in the shadow

THE FARM is just outside Normanby, on a clear day enjoying fabulous views of Mt Taranaki. It’s also adjacent to the farms of another big Maori dairy farmer, Parininihi Waitotara (PKW), a previous winner of the Ahuwhenua Trophy. In fact many of the people in TROTM have links to PKW.

The 189ha (170 eff ) farm, like all the finalists in this year’s competition, is a collaboration (whanaungatanga) of a number of different entities: three whanau trusts, a private trust and a block banked with the Office of Treaty Settlements. This block is subject to a negotiation with Nga Ruahine which

already owns one of the Te Rua o Te Moko blocks.

While this might sound complicated, in fact the collaboration between the trusts is seen as a breakthrough in unlocking small, largely uneconomic parcels of Maori land and creating a viable economic entity for the beneficial owners. In the case of Te Rua oTe Moko there are 1100 individual landowners.

The farm is managed under a 50/50 share milking arrangement due to expire at the end of the 2014-15 season, at which time TROTM will take over the running. The 500 Jersey-cross cows are expected to produce at least 200,000kgMS this season. TROTM is already

building up its herd for the transition and most of these stock are on other farms in the district. The farm is not without its challenges, especially the 28-bail rotary shed which makes milking slow.

The farm hosts a course run by Land Based Training, in which eight young people are doing

dairy farming theory and practice. (see page XX)

The chairman of Te Rua o Te Moko is Dion Maaka who is also the chief financial officer of PKW. He says there were many challenges bringing TROTM into being in 2009. At first there was “push back” to the idea but “character resilience and leadership” among key owners saw the collaborative concept accepted.

Governance has been critical to the success of TROTM, Maaka says. He is full of praise for fellow board members Philip Luscombe, Doug Brooks and Hinerangi Raumati (a chartered accountant long involved with PKW) for achieving much in a short

time. Close collaboration with PKW has been a big help, he says.

“From a governance perspective, our goal is to continue to build our herd and work on the acquisition strategy to become a fully managed farm on June 1, 2015. We need to continue our engagement with the owners in ‘keeping them on the waka’ – so keeping them informed and making them part of the journey. There will be challenges going to a managed herd, however… the benefits easily outweigh the risks and with the management team we have in place we believe we can mitigate those concerns.”

TROTM is committed

ABOUT 120 people attended a field day showcasing one of the three finalists in the Ahuwhenua Trophy contest for the top Maori dairy farm. Reporter Peter Burke headed to Taranaki to see how Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd (TROTM) made it to the finals.

Dion Maaka

Cows eating chicory at the Te Rua o Te Moko farm in Taranaki.


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MANAGEMENT // 35

of the mountain

MICHAEL AND Ruth Prankerd are two young people on a mission to suc-ceed – and quickly. Nearing the end of their second season on the farm, they have one more to go before TROTM takes full ownership and management.

Ruth (28) and Michael (30) are Massey ag gradu-ates who since leav-ing university have achieved demanding goals. They worked on dairy farms in England and Ireland to gain experience, then before com-ing to TROTM were 50/50 share milkers milking 230 cows at Egmont Village, Taranaki. They have since entered the dairy awards, succeeding at the regional level.

Michael came from a dairy farm and always wanted

to go into the indus-try. “When we came back from the UK we were keen and pas-sionate about it and we saw how far we could go if we put our heads down and went for it.”

Though involved in the business, Ruth works full time off the farm as a fertil-iser field consultant for Ballance AgriNu-trients and before that was a Rabo-bank rural banker. “It rounds our knowl-edge I guess and that’s why I decided to have a predomi-nantly off-farm career.”

The pair saw the move to TROTM as a career move, an opportunity to buy more cows and move further up the ladder, possibly towards farm own-ership.

“We are goal orientated, open to

SMART SHAREMILKERS ON A MISSION TO SUCCEED QUICKLY

challenges and like to work with people who have a passion and know where they are going and are working towards something. So our goals are in line Te Rua o Te Mokoa’s well.

“At TROTM there is a corporate back-ground that takes care of things an individual farmer doesn’t concern himself too much with. Sometimes that adds extra workload and sometimes it takes away.

“Of course Ta-ranaki is the proud home of PKW so there is a lot of clout in agricultural society around the Maori land so that’s something we con-sider as well,” says Michael.

For the Prankerds the infrastructure of the farm, in particular the small 28-bail rotary, poses challenges. At busy times it can take

five hours to milk the cows. They employ two staff and get some help from the Land Based trainees.

They concede much on the farm could and would be different if it was owned by one party. But they knew what they were getting into when they signed up for TROTM.

“It’s a matter of re-specting what we have and the people we have with us to make it all work,” says Ruth.

to kaitiakitanga (care of the land) and since 2010, 2500 plants have been planted along the waterways on the property, completion aimed for by June 2015. Pa site restoration is about to begin.

Along with emphasis on environmental and cultural values, Maaka

says they aim also to provide a better return to shareholders.

“The four blocks were previously leased on terms that gave economic return of maybe $1200-1400/ha, whereas the… board [aims to] at least triple [this] to a $4500/ha farm surplus.”

Maaka says for 20 years Maori have educated

themselves and gained the skills to manage such entities as TROTM. The present focus is on growing the dairy farm but they will in time look at other investment opportunities if the “timing was right”.

He notes the impact of entering the Ahuwhenua Trophy, which has “put us

in a position… to reflect on what we have achieved to date. This includes the owners’ aspirations of gaining control of the land and improving economic returns as well as in essence getting our people back on the land. These key aspirations have already been realised in a short time.”

Michael and Ruth Prankerd

Awuwhenua Awards chairman Kingi Smiler (right) and Michelle Hippolite TPK chief executive.

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36 // MANAGEMENT

Finalists help open career windowYOUNG PEOPLE seek-ing dairying careers are training for these in a one-year course on the farm of an Ahuwhenua Trophy finalist.

Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd

(TROTM), near Hawera, is the site of a training scheme run by Land Based Training, a business set up in the 1990s by farm consultant Rob Gollan. It offers training in farming and other skills at several North Island locations.

The TROTM scheme,

now two years on, has grad-uated students who now work on local farms. Much credit for this is due to the dedicated, passionate and caring supervisor Cris Mor-rison, who has worked for much of his life with young people. While the course is based at Te Rua o Te Moko,

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anyone – not just whanau – can gain admission.

The course takes eight or nine students a year who live off-farm, getting a ride daily with Morrison from home or other pick-up points. He recruits and selects students carefully via community networks. They undergo an interview process as for a job.

This year’s intake has only two men but six women – showing the girls are willing to do anything, including the hard yards, he says.

Students, typically from the region between Waver-ley and Opunake, come from different cultures and backgrounds. They want careers in farming to upgrade their skills.

“Most are looking for job opportunities, even outside the industry, and they all understand hard work. They have come from families where their folks have lived on the dole or worked at the freezing works and these guys are saying, ‘we don’t want to work at the freezing works this time and we don’t want to live on the dole’. They want to make a good income and live on a farm.”

Morrison is on call 24/7, getting them to the farm by 8.30am to get into their routine of supervised farm work. This includes clean-ing the cow shed, moving stock and fences and feed-

ing out. They do this for three of the five days each week.

On Thursday their theory tutor, Peter Hen-derson, takes the students through a range of topics designed to give them the all-round skills of a good farm worker. Numer-acy and literacy skills are catered for if required. The other day is spent develop-ing other farm skills.

“They are learning all about how to operate a farm effectively. Today they were learning about farm budgeting and being careful how they spend money and use different equipment, especially in a dry season. They learn a number of things to help them achieve that end.”

But Morrison’s day doesn’t end when he drops the students home at night. Often he gets calls from them as they work on assignments. Some of the students work part-time to help fund their $3000 course fees.

Morrison has a farm-ing background, but was a tradesman before he took on this role, working much of the time for Land Based Training owner Rob Gollan.

“This job gives me great satisfaction. I have worked with youth all my life, helped them out, given them work to do to earn a bit of extra cash.”

ONE OF Cris Morrison’s success stories is Monique Christison (21).

She is a student in this year’s intake, so impressing a local dairy farmer with her skills and commitment that he is employing her full-time from the start of the coming season.

She had a variety of jobs, including work-ing in a library, before deciding to do the course at TROTM and making her career choice. She remarked on her passion for car-ing for animals.

“The course was amazing. Not having too many students means we get the chance to build on our skills and learn new things as well. I have learned how to drive a tractor, managed my fear of two wheelers and defi-nitely excelled more with the animals.”

Like other successful students Monique is delighted at the prospect of full-time work and a career in which she can see a future.

“I’m pretty excited and trying to see my-self move up in the dairy industry. Someday I might even be able to own my own farm.”

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NUTRITION / ANIMAL HEALTH // 37

Reducing N leaching while making money

The more surplus protein a cow eats the more urinary nitrogen she excretes.

DURING THE past decade there has been an increasing focus on improving the quality of the water in our lakes, rivers and streams. Cur-rently regional councils nationwide are either working on, or rolling out plans which set nitrogen leaching tar-gets for each catchment area. Like it or not, this legislation is set to have a big impact on the way dairy farmers can operate in the future.

Overseer is the management tool being used to predict on-farm nitro-gen (N) leaching.

This computer model calculates and estimates the nutrient flows in a productive farming system. It iden-tifies risk for environmental impacts through nutrient loss including run-off and leaching.

DairyNZ suggests that if Overseer predicts you are within 6kgN/ha of the target, you just need to make your system more efficient, but if you are more than 6kgN/ha above the target you need to look at your whole farm system.

While many factors contribute to on-farm nitrogen leaching, cow urine is the main cause of 69% of the nitro-gen loss from a typical dairy farm1.

Assuming there is a best-manage-ment fertiliser policy in place, farm-ers who are well above the N-leaching target can decrease N-leaching by either decreasing the number of cows (and therefore the amount of urine excreted) per hectare, or by moving to a more intensive system which uses a number of strategies to decrease the impact of urinary nitrogen.

These strategies include:

• Decreasing the amount of nitrogen in cow urine. When dietary N exceeds animal requirements, a high proportion (typically 60-70%) of the excess N intake is excreted in the urine. The more surplus protein a cow eats the more urinary nitro-gen she excretes. In early lactation a high producing cow requires about 18% crude protein but ryegrass-clo-ver pasture can contain at least 30% crude protein. Diluting the excessive dietary protein in pasture by feed-ing a low crude protein supplement (e.g. maize silage or maize grain) will decrease the amount of nitrogen in cow urine.

• Growing crops which utilise soil nitrogen. Maize has an effective rooting zone of 150-180cm depth. This allows it to capture nutrients from depths two-three times greater than most pasture species.

New Zealand research has shown maize crops can be grown in high fer-tility dairy paddocks (including efflu-ent paddocks) without the need for any artificial fertiliser.

The maize plant effectively ‘mines’ the soil nutrients (including nitro-gen) which have fallen below ryegrass roots. The net result is a reduction in nitrogen leaching and the provision of low cost maize silage.

• Collecting and distributing cow urine over a large area. Dairy cows are estimated to urinate 10-12

times per day. Each time they deposit about 2L of urine on an area that is just 0.2 m2 in size. The volume of nitrogen in a urine patch (1000 kgN/ha) is greater than the annual plant uptake (300-700 kgN/ha/year) and this results in the build-up of soil

nitrogen2. Leaching losses from urine patches are high, especially in the winter when rainfall is high. Keep-ing cows off pasture during wetter months, collecting effluent and apply-ing it evenly over a large area at an appropriate rate and time will greatly reduce N-leaching on many farms.

The challenge for many will be how to reduce N leaching while at the same time maintaining or improving profitability.

The good news is it can be done and there are farmers already doing it. While mitigation strategies such as feed pads and wintering barns are a significant capital cost, they deliver a number of benefits in addition to reducing nitrogen leaching. I’ll dis-cuss this in more detail in my next article.• Ian Williams is a Pioneer forage specialist. Contact him at [email protected]

1Agresearch data for a dairy farm producing 850kgMS/ha using 100kg fertiliser N, effluent applied to land.

2Moir et al. 2011. The spatial coverage of dairy cattle urine patches in an inten-sively grazed pasture system. Journal of

Agricultural Science 149: 473-485

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

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Sources of nitrogen loss on a typical dairy farm1


38 // ANIMAL HEALTH

DNA parentage service passes milestoneLIC’S GENEMARK screening DNZ technol-ogy has passed the one million milestone. That’s how many animals have been screened since it was introduced in 2001.

At least 1000 herds are using the GeneMark par-

entage service which elim-inates the need for farmers to match calves to dams in the paddock and accu-rately confirms parentage.

One of those herds is owned by Tirau farm-ers Bill and Lynne Ger-ring, and one of their 2013

calves was the millionth to be profiled by Gene-Mark.

“We’ve been farm-ing for 13 years, but two years ago our son Daniel was starting his dairy farming career with us and I thought Gene-Mark would help him identify the replace-ment heifers cor-rectly,” Bill says.

“It’s good to know for sure that our young stock, especially those with high breeding values, are out of who they’re supposed to be.”

With DNA parentage testing, the Gerrings don’t need to match calves to dams, they simply collect calves from the paddock and, with a tool provided, take a small tissue sample from an ear of each calf for GeneMark to analyse.

“The tissue sample system is easy to use, and GeneMark has given us more confidence when selecting semen for a par-ticular dam. It’s reward-ing to know the breeding worth of the potential off-spring is accurate.

“I also believe that the more farmers who use

DNA par-

entage, the more accurate sire proving will become.”

Gerrings were pre-sented with a certificate and bottle of wine from LIC in celebration.

LIC’s diagnostics man-ager Geoff Corbett says the service has been well received, but jumped ahead in 2009 when new technology improved the ability to match calf to both sire and dam, even in the largest dairy herds.

“As farms have gotten larger it has, understand-ably, become increas-ingly difficult to accurately record and confirm the pedigree of calves, and that’s important informa-tion as they are to be the new crop of cows in the herd.

“Farmers wanted an easier solution; they wanted assurance on

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that any genetic gain is not lost to mis-identification of parentage.”

History of LIC’s GeneMark whole herd DNA parentage testing ● 2001 – launched by LIC ● 2009 –new technology improves resolution rates of calf to sire and dam.

● 2013 – 1 million calves profiled, 1000 herds utilising service.

The Gerrings (from left) Daniel, Rebecca, Bill and Lynne Gerring were presented with a certificate and bottle of wine from LIC in celebration.

The one-millionth calf profiled by GeneMark’s DNA service.

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MACHINERY & PRODUCTS // 39

Fert co-op offers award-winning online technologySHAREHOLDERS OF fertiliser co-op Ballance are being offered free access to the award-win-ning Ag Hub farm technol-ogy system.

Ballance Agri-Nutrients took over Ag Hub last year and chief executive Larry Bilodeau says that with farmers under increasing pressure to track nutrient use and manage nutrient budgets, putting the tech-nology in shareholders’ hands has been a priority.

All Ballance share-holders are being offered free access to the Ag Hub system for their nutrient information.

“Farmers want prac-tical, accurate systems to support on-farm deci-sions and Ag Hub pro-vides the level of real-time information to help them make the right calls, both for their business and for the environment,” says Bilodeau.

“Our goal is to help our shareholders farm more profitably and sustain-ably through the delivery of complete nutrient man-agement products and advice. Free access to farm information technology is another step in this direc-tion.

“Longer term we envis-age even more technol-ogy with the integration of new information-based products and modelling

systems into Ag Hub as we bring to market some of the outcomes of our research and development programmes.”

Ag Hub has evolved from a farm mapping system into a solution-based package avail-able through our website. Included in the free offer to shareholders is GIS interactive farm map-ping, access to farm nutri-ent budgets, soil tests and fertiliser plan histories, as well as online ordering of Ballance products. Share-holders may also add other modules specific to their farming operations.

Ballance general man-ager of ag-information Graeme Martin says the technology is effectively a one-stop shop for farm-specific data.

“If a farmer wants to look at any information on the farm to help make a decision, then Ag Hub will immediately show a complete view of the prop-erty over four aspects – production, environ-ment, fertiliser and nutri-tion (feed). The system can measure and control water, irrigation and efflu-ent, and monitor things like soil moisture and weather conditions.”

The system can text users if it detects some-thing out of the ordinary with an effluent irrigator,

such as a drop in pressure, or if the spreader is near-ing a waterway or fence or stops moving, which could otherwise result in consent breaches. It can also shut off effluent spreading. Nutrient map-ping capability records the nutrient value of the effluent and where it has been placed, allowing fer-tiliser plans to be adapted accordingly.

Corporate farming organisations and farmers with multiple properties can use Ag Hub to view and compare informa-tion across each farm from anywhere in the world with internet access.

Ag Hub won the Tele-communications Users Association of New Zea-land (TUANZ) ‘best of the best’ prize at its 2011 Inno-vations Awards. Ballance bought a 51% shareholding in in 2011 and the remain-der last year.

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40 // MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Artists encouraged to get wiredENTRIES FOR the Fieldays No. 8 Wire National Art Awards are now open, with a cash first prize double that of last year.

Held annually during Fieldays, the award challenges artists to create artworks using mostly wire.

The judge this year will

be sculptor Greer Twiss, who has exhibited for 50 years and was one of the first New Zealand artists to work in cast bronze.

Once called New Zealand’s ‘godfather’ of contemporary sculpture, in 2002 he was made an Officer of the Order of Merit (ONZM) for

sculpture.Twiss says, “No.8

wire is an iconic concept material. The romantic implications of its use go way beyond the reality of the farm fence. The influence of materials that carry associations far from art interests me greatly; this is one of those materials. I am a maker

and this material is all about making and making do.”

The New Zealand National Fieldays Society is to partner with the Waikato Museum and ArtsPost galleries and shop to organise the award. Waikato Museum director Cherie Meecham is pleased.

“Waikato Museum and Fieldays have redeveloped the Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award to ensure its ongoing success. We look forward to working with them and judge Greer Twiss.”

An impressive prize pool is offered.

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NORTHLAND FIELD Days organisers are prom-ising even more improvements to the venue for the 2015 event.

Committee member Julie Geange says there will be a permanent toilet block “and that won’t be the only improvement”.

They constantly try to do better from year to year, she says. A windbreak behind marketplace stalls and shade in food areas was appreciated at the recent show.

At least 600 exhibitors and 27000 visitors turned out between February 27 and March 1 this year. The exhibitors were delighted, the organisers say. About 50 new exhibitors attended.

Steel building manufacturer Totalspan Whanga-rei branch manager Paul Clarke says its reps got 60% more sales leads than any other year.”People were a bit more positive this year,” says Clarke.

He says the company will rebook their space in the next couple of weeks. “It pays to do it early if you want to get the site you want.”

Avoca general manager Keith Squires says the event went well for the Northland fertiliser company, 67 years in business.

Reconnecting with customers after a long time away from the field days was the main goal, and they got hundreds of leads. “We weren’t there specifically to make sales but to get back in touch with old cus-tomers and let people know we’re still there as a fer-tiliser business in the north.”

The company set up a 1917 truck at the front of the site and a photo display of the company’s history.

Twincoast Helicopters 2007 Ltd chief executive Scotty Booth gave the event 8/10, saying it boosted his exposure a great deal. “It allowed us to get cov-erage, to get our name out there. It was really good.”

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*TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Available only at participating dealers. Offer valid till 31st of July. Subject to stock availability. Subject to normal lending criteria. Optional extras shown not included. Based on 25% deposit plus the GST amount, and 35 monthly payments.


TRACTORS & MACHINERY // 41

Wider header lifts productivityCOMBINE HARVESTER maker New Holland is offering a new 12.5m wide Varifeed grain header for its CR model, up from 10.7m wide. Higher productivity is the goal.

The choice of 12.50m header width is because today many large farms use 36m tram lines in their fields.

With more farms adopting the use of controlled traffic, this combination opti-mises machine’s capacity while respecting the required tolerance that controlled traf-fic dictates, the maker says.

The grain header is based on a welded frame design. The adjustment range for the blade in longitudinal direction is 575mm and adjustment is done electro-hydrauli-cally from the cab. As an option, the header can easily be adapted to use with separating knives for rapeseed threshing, the maker says.

Four wide Autofloat sensing pads

enable header height and inclination to adjust automatically.

But, says New Holland, a working width of 12.5m is “a genuine challenge, and not just for the chassis and the overall design. This working width also constitutes a chal-lenge for knives, auger, reels and their drive units.”

The header is powered by two drive-shafts. A wobble box on each end of the head provides power to the dual sick-les. Two robust knife drives with torsion dampers, one on the left and one on the right, both driven by belts with an auto-matic tensioning fixture, move the har-vester knives, which have a slight overlap at midpoint. The two-piece auger is sup-ported in the center with a bearing.

New Holland is imported in New Zea-land by C B Norwood Distributors. Tel. 06 356 4920 www.newholland.co.nz

New 12.5m wide Verifeed grain feeder.

Two robust knives are driven by belts.

The new 12.5m header results in higher productivity.

Landini is a worldwide brand of the ARGO Group of Companies

Contact us for further information and your nearest dealer.295-297 Jellicoe Street, Te Puke 3119 p: +64 7 573 8132 www.agtek.co.nz

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42 // TRACTORS & MACHINERY

Quality fleet keeps contractor on top of the gameHEAVY EMPHASIS on quality gear is keep a Wairarapa rural contractor on top of its game, reports supplier Norwood Farm Machinery Centre, Masterton.

B&B Contracting, run by Richard Blundell and Sandy Bidwill, works in southern Wairarapa, doing ploughing, cultivation, mowing, baleage, drilling and harvesting.

Operations manager Tim Linton says the Bidwills have invested heavily in top-quality gear in recent years.

The business has been running a 5.0 m Vaderstad Carrier seed drill for seven

years, doing about 6000ha with it. The business also runs a Vaderstad BioDrill bought at the same time.

“The Vaderstad Carrier is still going strong. We like the build quality of the levelling boards and the small discs,” says Linton. The accuracy is second

to none and it’s a good machine. We use it for drilling mainly grass and brassica crops.”

B&B Contracting bought a new seven-furrow Lemken Vari Diamant 10 plough last year, the first semi-mounted plough they have

owned. “We used to have a

fully mounted plough, but we chose this because we could operate a larger plough more efficiently without having to run a bigger tractor,” Linton says.

“We wanted to go to a Lemken plough. We like them because of their strength and the job they do. Fitted with the new Lemken W52 bodies, this Vari Diamant leaves a much wider furrow bottom which means we can run much wider tyres. Tractor tyres have been getting bigger, and that’s been quite a problem.”

A New Holland T7070 tractor pulls the Lemken Vari Diamant and Linton says it is a good match.

“The T7070 copes with the plough well and does a good job. It has a much longer mouldboard, so it gives good inversion with a level consolidated finish. It’s also good on hills.”

B&B Contracting also bought a 6.0m Lemken Rubin 9 intensive disc cultivator just over a year ago. It was chosen for the

size of its large scalloped discs and the angle they work. “That was a big factor for our autumn work. The rubber roller on the back is [unusual] and the strength of the discs makes it go well in hard stony ground.”

The business also runs a Vaderstad RX620 roller with a StocksAG seeding unit – a “good, strong, reliable” implement with an accurate seeding unit.

“It’s simple to use,

which is a key point for… the variety of operators who use this gear. It’s all user-friendly and easy to learn.”

B&B Contracting also operates a Horsch Pronto DC6 drill – their second Pronto.

Horsch, Lemken, StocksAG and Vaderstad are imported in New Zealand by C B Norwood Distributors Ltd. Tel. 06 356 4920www.equipnz.co.nz

“The T7070 copes with the plough well and does a good job. It has a much longer mouldboard, so it gives good inversion with a level consolidated finish. It’s also good on hills.”

B&B Contracting’s Matt Purdy (left); Aaron George, Norwood Farm Machinery Centre, Masterton; and Tim Linton and Richard Blundell, B & B Contracting.

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Alloy deck ideal for heavy loadsAUTO ACCESSORY firm Best Bars makes alloy decks that suit most 1-tonne ute models and vari-ants sold by leading vehicle suppliers, from single cab models, to crew cabs and double cabs.

The alloy decks have an anodised finish, so won’t corrode, and will keep their looks for longer, the com-pany says.

The main advantage is their ability to haul extra loads. They are made from high-strength extruded alloy, a lighter material than steel. It means the vehicle can carry up to 20% more load per trip. And the lower weight causes less wear on driveline components and tyres, and keeps down fuel usage, Best Bars says.

The decks can be installed as a rigid deck on a cab/chassis or may be supplied with a tipping mechanism. A marine grade plywood overlay can be specified to pro-tect the tray surface and to add grip to the tray.

The decks have hinged drop sides and exterior lash-down rails. A 63mm alloy headboard tube is standard, as are tail light guards, alloy mudguards, mudflaps and rack pegs.

Simplicity, grunt suit bale feeding tasksWHEN NORM Styles came to replace his bale feeder the Hustler Chainless 4000 was his first & final stop, says the company.

He wanted something with relatively few moving parts. And another farmer is reported to have told him “I wouldn’t buy anything other than a Hustler.”

Styles runs a 400ha operation at Pleasant Point, South Canterbury. He feeds out mostly round bales with a mix-ture of baleage, straw and hay. The bales are tube wrapped and weigh 700-800kg.

He says the Hustler’s rear loading system has “all the grunt in the world”. Having “total control” of the bale from the ground to the platform allows the operator to safely remove net wrap – no chance of getting caught under the bale.

The Hustler uses only one hydraulic cylinder and a mechanical action for extra safety – no relief valves with the potential to fail.

Styles shifted from a three-point-linkage feeder to a trailed feeder to save time in his busy operation. His con-tour ranges from easy rolling to steep terrain.

The CH4000 has been ‘bullet-proof ’, he says. “I got the optional tractor grip tyres which were a good thing for me and the string box is a great feature to keep debris from the tractor cab.”

“Gordon Handy Machinery looked after me with the deal and I largely tow it behind a JD 6920.” Tel. 0800 487 853 www.hustlerequipment.co.nz

Norm Styles likes his bale feeder.

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Fert accuracy maximises yield

FERT SPREADING accuracy was to the fore in the Central Districts Field Days display of Kuhn’s Axis spreaders, all with H-EMC (hydrau-lic drive, electronic mass flow con-trol).

“Accuracy helps crop yield as the plant gets the correct nutrients to maximise yield and by that means farmers can monitor expenses,” said national sales manager, Kuhn New Zealand, Brian Robertson.

The (Remove “range of ”) models give spreading widths from 12m to 50m with capacities from 1000L to 4000L. These can be combined with manual/electronic application rate adjustment proportional to ground speed.

The working width is changed by altering the drop point of the fertil-iser/seeds onto the disc – manually on some models and electronically from the cab on others.

With the larger capacity models (Remove “a range of ”) electronically controlled metering outlets can be integrated with GPS to prevent the

wastage otherwise caused by over-lapping at headlands. Kuhn’s Opti-Point automatically determines the ideal point to open and close the metering outlets with GPS support.

Models with weighcells work-ing with Quantron E-2 or HEMC Isobus allow the farmer to alter the application rate during spreading. These systems check, several times

per second, whether the flow corre-sponds to the programmed rate and adjusts it to the correct amount.

The EMC measures and con-tinuously adjusts application on each disc on all hydraulically driven models. This gives high flexibility and accuracy.Tel. 0800 585 007www.kuhn.co.nz

TONY HOPKINSON

Excavator choice didn’t take longA NEW excavator added to the fleet run by Glenbrook Hire, near Pukekohe, was chosen on the basis that the distributor, Norwood Farm Machinery Centre, knows what it is about.

After 30 years of dealing with Norwoods at Pukekohe, and the Kubota engines the firm sells and services, Glenbrook Hire manager Shane Pinker says the choice was not difficult.

Since 1976 the family-run Glenbrook Machinery has serviced greater Auckland region with AVANT loaders and AUSA rough terrain forklifts.

When Glenbrook were looking to add excavators to their hire fleet they decided to stick with what they knew, Norwood says.

Kubota engines powering their loader and forklift range stood the brand in a league of its own, the hire firm says, so the Kubota excavator range topped its list for

fleet expansion.Says Shane Pinker, “[Norwood’s] Steve

Hale has been more than accommodating and nothing is ever a problem.”

Auckland and Northland sales rep Steve Hale says, “The Glenbrook team are great to deal with, always making you feel wel-come.

“If there is a specific Kubota product a customer wants for a long term hire then we will do everything we can to make that product available” Pinker says

With a dozen Kubota excavators now available, including the recently released KX016-4, Pinker says expanding the geographical reach of their hire division and the range available is the goal for 2014.

Kubota is imported in New Zealand by C B Norwood Distributors Ltd. Tel. 0800 KUBOTAwww.kubota.co.nz

Glenbrook Hire’s extended excavator fleet.

Grant Reith • Ashburton • Tel: 03-308 7910email: [email protected]

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Good machinery helps steep climb in yieldBURNHAM DAIRY farmers Mark and Kelsey Williams have turned a 100ha sheep block into a high performing 600-cow dairy farm in a little over two years, says machinery supplier Landpower.

They expect to produce 300,000kgMS this season.

After running a small business, Williams bought the property in 2011, rede-veloping it over 12 months with an 80ha centre pivot, 20ha of fixed irrigation and a 40-bail herringbone dairy and adjoining con-crete feed pad. The dairy has automatic livestock identification and drafting, cup removers, teat sprays and back-up gate.

The farm employs three staff.

“Having good infra-structure and machin-ery and keeping them that way makes work easy and keeps everyone happy,” Williams says.

Charlotte Westwood, a veterinary nutrition-ist with PGG Wrightson, supervises a feeding pro-gram that provides about one third of the herd’s feed intake. Cows get about 8kg of maize and lucerne silage, plus vege-table waste or barley, each day.

“Our goal is to main-tain production and body condition throughout the lactation,” Williams says. “After calving, we want to get the weight back in our cows so we give them a high-carb diet that con-tains more energy than protein.

“By mating time, we cut the maize back and increase the lucerne con-tent to increase the pro-tein levels.

“We also [feed] trace minerals, vitamins, salt, lime, cider vinegar and canola oil.”

About 1500 tonnes of silage is grown on a neigh-bouring block, which sup-ports 60ha of permanent lucerne stands, annual maize and kale.

A Dutch-made Trioliet Solomix 2000ZX-T mixer

wagon and a JCB 536-60 Loadall telehandler are used to feed out twice a day after milking.

The wagon con-tains two PTO driven augers that mix the feed which is discharged out a side-mounted hydrau-lic conveyor. The mixer has electronic weighing system, allowing accurate formulation and batching.

Williams says both machines have more than paid for themselves in just one season.

“Those two machines are loading and mixing out 1400 tonnes of ration a year in remarkably little time. I like the wagon; it’s simple and solid.

“We feed out one load per milking and it easily mixes about six tonnes per load. By the time we finish loading and drive to the feed pad it’s ready to feed out.”

The telehandler has an assortment of attach-ments, including forks, a bale grab, a bucket and a scraper.

“The JCB is… so versa-tile. We use it for every-thing from loading the wagon to scraping the feed pad, picking up silage and bales, carting gravel and installing gateways.

“There’s no way we would ever go back to using a front loader. It’s easily 50% faster than a front loader and it’s [highly] manoeuvrable. Being able to stretch the boom [enables it to] get in or over areas we can’t reach with a tractor.”

Other equipment includes a Claas Arion 630C tractor and a Claas Disco 3100RC mower conditioner bought from Claas Harvest Centre, at Templeton.

With a stocking rate 50% higher than the Can-terbury average and almost double the national average, Mark accepts his operation is not without detractors.

“Our overriding objec-tive is to run a profitable but sustainable dairying

operation. We have free-draining soils, so [can] run high stocking rates… with-out impact on herd health or the environment. We only have one or two cows with mastitis at any one time.

“In our opinion,

putting on high volumes of acid fertilisers or nitrogen is not sustainable. We are recycling all our liquid and solid waste, supplemented with guano (rock phosphate), kieserite (magnesium sulphate) and lime.”

“Having good infrastructure and machinery and keeping them that way make work easy.”

Mark Williams says good machinery makes work easy.

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Track options for everyday combinesTRACKED DRIVE is now offered as an option on New Holland conven-tional ‘flagship’ combine harvesters, the CX7000 and the CX8000, reports C B Norwood Distributors.

For years the New Hol-land ‘triangle concept’ tracked drive train has been used on CR combine harvesters; now its use widens.

At the same time, for even more challenging tasks the maker’s new ‘SmartTrax with Ter-raglide’ system is being developed for the range.

This tracked drive system was unveiled at Agritechnica 2013. The new design incorporates the following:

■ Load-bearing capacity

increased to 43 tonnes ■ Maximum transport

width of 3.5 m with the largest possible ‘foot-print’ to spread the vehicle weight

■ Better adapta-tion to ground conditions

■ Enhanced ride comfort with better suspension

■ Improved durability ■ Reduced weight.

Based on a triangle concept with hydropneu-matically sprung rollers, a drive roller and two raised tensioning rollers, the system ensures optimum ride comfort, the maker says.

Long drive belts and less sharply pronounced

belt redirection guarantee improve durability.

Less ground pressure and better ground adap-tation are achieved with patented double-joint mountings on the hydro-

pneumatically sus-pended idler rollers.

For the CR8000 models, a SmartTrax unit with Terraglide tracked chassis measuring 725mm wide, makes for machine

transport width of 3.49m.To reduce weight, the

idler rollers are made of aluminium and the covers from polyurethane (PU).Tel. 06 356 4920www.newholland.co.nz

The ‘triangle concept’ tracked drive system boosts load bearing capacity.

Combined harvester.

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Cepravin – NZ’s No. 1 Dry Cow Therapy for over 30 years.

Success breeds success. When we ask farmers why they choose Cepravin® year after year they tell us that getting dry off right is crucial to setting them up for the next season. Cepravin is the only dry cow therapy that is proven to cure existing infections, prevent new infections through the dry period, protect against mastitis around calving and reduce somatic cell counts and mastitis into the subsequent lactation.

But it’s more than that – Cepravin is number one because it provides peace of mind. Success breeds success.

Ask your vet for Cepravin – New Zealand’s No. 1 Dry Cow Therapy. For the facts and farmer success stories see www.cepravin.co.nz

Contact: DENIS MADIGANHi Spec New ZealandPh 03-693 7377 • 027-497 [email protected] • www.hispec.net

BALE STRIP & SOFT HANDSplits bales and removes net wrap and plastic. Call for seasons specials!.

SLURRY TANKER4000-24,000 litre. Wide range of options including galvanising, auto fill, dribble bar and trailing shoe. From $25,000 + GST.

MIX MAX TMR DIET FEEDER10-24 cubic metre. Unique feed flo mixing. From $45,000 + GST.

VERTICAL AUGER DIET FEEDER10-30 cubic metre. Single and twin auger. From $42,000 + GST.

XCEL 1250 MUCK SPREADER12-15 tonne. Spreading up to 22m. Spreads both liquid and solids. Unique chopping system has the ability to handle foreign objects.

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UNBEATABLE AT DRY OFF.

Cepravin – NZ’s No. 1 Dry Cow Therapy for over 30 years.

Success breeds success. When we ask farmers why they choose Cepravin® year after year they tell us that getting dry off right is crucial to setting them up for the next season. Cepravin is the only dry cow therapy that is proven to cure existing infections, prevent new infections through the dry period, protect against mastitis around calving and reduce somatic cell counts and mastitis into the subsequent lactation.

But it’s more than that – Cepravin is number one because it provides peace of mind. Success breeds success.

Ask your vet for Cepravin – New Zealand’s No. 1 Dry Cow Therapy. For the facts and farmer success stories see www.cepravin.co.nz

Helping grow the countrywww.pggwrightson.co.nz

Providing the most comprehensive Dairy Livestock network in New Zealand.

Talk to us today about your Dairy Livestock requirements:

JON LEENorth Island Dairy ManagerPh 027 839 7073

PAUL EDWARDSSouth Island Dairy ManagerPh 027 442 5028

So many ways to buy and sell dairy livestock with AgonlineFreephone 0800 2466 5463 www.agonline.co.nz

Dairy News 20 March 2014

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Transcript of Dairy News 20 March 2014