Dairy News 30 April 2013

Big red still deliversHonda’s TRX500Page 33

down to the last droPDrought hits yield Page 3

Fonterra’s new UHT plant long overdue. Page 5

april 30, 2013 issue 289 // www.dairynews.co.nz

“If each farm had had the ability to apply only 40mm irrigation January to March, then they

would have kept pasture alive.” – Stuart Reid PAGE 7

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news // 3

news ��3-16

oPinion ��18-19

agriBusiness ��20

ManageMent ��21-24

aniMal health �� 25-28

Machinery & Products �� 29-32

farM Bikes & atv’s �� 32-34

A2 infant formula off to China. Pg.09

Bringing cow condition back to normal. Pg.27

More milk at lower cost to environment. Pg.22

Drought ‘helped repair rural/urban divide’

No milk left to sell fonterra is running out of milk to supply global customers following the drought. And Fon-terra chief executive Theo Spierings says this is “not the best situation”,

“Yes the drought is affecting us,” Spierings told Dairy News. “Volumes are coming off very fast so there is simply no milk available to sell at the moment; it’s limited.

“A lot of people are on allocation in the world, so it’s affecting us. If the milk doesn’t come suffi-ciently then our plants are under-utilised and our customers are being allocated. Not the best situa-tion to be in to be honest.”

A drop in milk supply from key exporting coun-tries New Zealand and Australia has spiked global dairy prices. But Spierings points out New Zea-land needs to produce milk to benefit from the high prices. “Of course prices are high but if there’s hardly any milk available then you don’t benefit from high prices.”

Spierings says the answer is rain and “we brought some more cash to farmers to prepare for next season. This season is over.” He was speaking following a blessing ceremony for the UHT plant building site at Waitoa.

Westpac economist Nathan Penny said at a ‘Farming and the Future’ event in Morrinsville that a media report had quoted Westpac as saying there would be no economic effect from the drought. He said this was wrong – this drought had been “mas-sive”.

Agricultural production and the downstream processing will be “hit hard,” says Penny. Total costs

PaM tiPapamelat@ruralnews�co�nz

from lost production are estimated at $2 billion.“There is some help on the way, that has come

in the form of prices. Milk powder prices have risen 66% in the last five Global Dairy Trade auctions.”

Converting those milk powder prices into the farmgate price Westpac sees a ‘6’ in front of the milk price for this season and next season.

“Costs from lost production will be about $2bil-lion; if we can get $6 for the milk price, this will add back in $1 billion. Fonterra has upped its payout already; we see another increase in the payout in the not-too-distant future.”

Looking beyond the drought into the future, New Zealand is in a good position. Chinese con-sumption of milk powder has risen 10% every year for the last five years and “the’ve got it from us”.

“The challenge is to build ongoing relations to cement our place in the Chinese marketplace as the

leader in dairy. And then we can fend off competi-tive response that will come.”

Until 2020 China will account for a third of world growth, but there will be competition from places like Brazil, Penny says.

Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy, speaking at the ‘Farming for the Future’ event organised by Westpac, says it was good to see the grass growing again in Waikato. It had looked like the whole region had been sprayed with Roundup during the drought.

Westpac head of agribusiness David Jones says the bank will be organising more such events around the country to support farmers in heavily drought-hit areas, with speakers tailored to those areas.

@dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

Need more milk: Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings (left) and director policy and advocacy Sarah Paterson at Waitoa last week.

the drought has helped repair the urban/rural divide, says Minister for Primary Industries, Nathan Guy.

It has shown to city people how much rural communities matter to the economy, he said at the ‘Farming for the Future’ event in Morrinsville. The media did a good job in portraying the diffi-cult times rural communities were going through.

“In last few years there’s been a bit of a discon-

nect… over the last few months we had a reality check for urban New Zealand to realise that the powerhouse of this economy is based on primary industries.” A big sector of that is pastoral farmers and they are having a tough time.

But he warns that pressure for environmental improvements doesn’t just come from the urban sector anymore but overseas customers. “The market has moved,” he says.

Previously, overseas market visitors would want to see our process-ing plants and we have the best food safety system in the world. But now they want to know what’s happen-ing behind the farm gate.

Nathan Guy


4 // news

Co-op’s organic move sends ‘wrong signals’

Two-year contracts not good enough – Beagleyfonterra’s ‘last minute’ decision to extend contracts to organic dairy farmers outside Waikato and Bay of Plenty has drawn a mixed reception from at least one farming leader.

Gray Beagley, Federated Farm-ers Dairy president in Tararua, and an organic dairy farmer, says he has mixed views on the decisions. Farm-ers whose contracts were expiring would be over the moon at two more years contract now being offered.

“So they’ve got a lifeline. For people like myself who have two years to run nothing has changed since that announcement. We feel like we are hanging on again, with no long term certainty which makes it hard to plan. Two years is not a long time to plan if you want to a

run a sustainable business inter-generationally. It’s very hard to make business decisions on a two year contract.”

Beagley says he thinks Fonterra’s decisions to extend contracts are based on the fact they are now making a profit. Fonterra wouldn’t say what the profit was, he says. They would only show a series of bar graphs showing that over the last four or five years they had not made a profit but were now.

“They are processing 83% of our milk into organic products versus 45% two years ago, so that’s a huge utilisation increase.

“They have been able to demand a higher price in the marketplace…

30% higher, and the volume is 28% higher.

“Lots of positive signs in the marketplace, but I am scared it’s being driven through a boom-bust cycle based on food safety and food integ-rity scares. Last time we were booming as organic farmers was when melamine came to pass. We are boom-

ing again after a DCD scare.”Beagley says while the two year

contracts will help existing organic dairy farmers, they will do nothing to encourage others to enter the industry. He points out that it takes three years to convert to organics, yet the contracts are only for two years. – Peter Burke

fonterra is being asked to explain its ‘on-again, off-again’ treatment of its organic milk sup-pliers.

The Organic Dairy and Pastoral Group, which includes most of the organic dairy and pasto-ral farmers, says long-term secure contracts are essential to grow the sector.

Chairman Glenn Mead says while its pleasing Fonterra has turned its organic business around and extended many con-tracts, it is disappointed for those farmers who have missed out.

Farmers currently sup-plying organic milk in Manawatu, Taranaki and Wairarapa, who have con-

tracts expiring next year, are offered a two-year extension. Organic farmers in Waikato and Bay of Plenty are offered a three-year renewal. North-land organic suppliers won’t have their contracts renewed.

Mead is concerned at the signals Fonterra’s pre-vious treatment of its organic suppliers have sent to overseas mar-kets, and to other farmers thinking of going organic. “Converting a farm to the required certified organic system and standards takes a minimum of three years,” he says. “Poten-

tial suppli-ers must see secure con-tracts for organic milk in place with companies such as Fon-terra to make the organic

conversion process worth-while. This will be part of on-going discussions between the ODPG and Fonterra.” The managing director of Fonterra Nutrition, Sarah Kennedy, says Northland suppliers were told of the decision 18 months ago. “This is not about one region… but the whole co-op… making the organ-ics business smarter,” she told Dairy News.

Fonterra collects 78 million litres of organic milk every year. The co-op’s organic farmers are paid a premium of $1.05/kgMS over the conven-tional milk payout. The co-op processes organic milk at Hautapu and Waitoa plants.

Kennedy says the co-op reduced transport costs by concentrating organic milk supply in the central and lower North Island.

Revamping the organ-ics business is intended to

make it sustainable. It has returned to profit after the global financial crisis hit sales in its key markets in US and Europe. Now the co-op is targeting China and Asia where organic ingredients attract higher premiums.

Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ) chair-man Brendan Hoare says there is strong demand for organic dairy prod-ucts, especially in Asia and other emerging econo-mies.

“Any hypothetical drop in European demand can easily be made up – or exceeded – there,” he says.

“The organic sector as a whole is worried that Fon-terra is in danger of losing a golden opportunity to be the number one milk com-pany in the world, and the

number one organic dairy company in the world.

“We know it can do better than it is currently doing, and we’re offer-ing whatever support we can provide in helping it achieve goals which are good for New Zealand as well as the company.”

Fonterra’s organic products are popular in China.

Sarah Kennedy

Gray Beagley

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news // 5

New UHT output will be drop in China’s ocean

chinese growth and con-sumer demand is changing so fast that arguably Fonterra’s new $126m UHT milk processing plant at Waitoa should have started 18 months ago, says Fonterra chairman John Wilson.

The shift in consumer taste in China is happening so fast that your business plan can become obsolete in 90 days, Wilson told Dairy News at the formal opening of the site last Tues-day attended by Prime Minister John Key. Foundations are being laid for the plant to be started by April 2014; it will boost Fonterra’s UHT produc-tion by 100%.

Wilson led the business delegation on the trade mission to China with the Prime Minister. He says talking to consumer-involved Chinese on the coast and in big cities, he noted that demand is evolving so rapidly that “if

they have a business plan for a prod-uct for 90 days, they had better be thinking about what the next 90 days looks like because it is just evolving so rapidly. You’ve got to be very fast”.

“With UHT, if you go back two or three years it wasn’t economic to shift UHT into that Chinese market at the sort of scale we need in Fon-terra,” he says. “And today – here it is – and we would probably argue that the UHT plant is 18 months too late. We are completely constrained for UHT processing in New Zealand at the moment and this will be five, six lines and 200-300 million litres at full noise. It will drive not only the UHT drinking market; a significant part is for our food service business and our cream market. So that market is changing dramatically.

“With the move from historically an emerging economy to a devel-oped country, consumer demand goes from standard whole milk powder to advanced nutritional powders and

into UHT and ultimately there will be a fresh milk offering. This is why we have our farms in China produc-ing 150 million litres, on the way to a billion litres.”

Asked if he foresaw Fonterra ever exporting fresh milk from New Zea-land to China, Wilson says on the trip he met a woman exporting fresh milk out of New Zealand into the Chinese market. His understanding was she sold it at about $20 a litre because of the cost of getting it there. “There is a limited market today, but if you look in the future, that why the bil-lion litres in China will give Fonterra those options.”

The Waitoa UHT plant will be sup-plied by farmers north of Taupo. Fon-terra already has enough winter milk in the greater region to supply stage one of the plant because so many farmers north of Taupo milk some cows through the winter, Wilson says. In the future there will be milk con-tracts in these regions.


Demand outstripping supplychina is now much more aware of its limitations in producing its own food so demand for our products is still going strong, says Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings.

“The Chinese government is much more aware of the limitations of China…. Land and environment are two key angles for China to look at,” he said following the trip with the Prime Minister’s delegation.

“The New Zealand export game we are playing will continue and the Chi-nese government understands that as well because demand is growing much

faster than supply. So developing a Chinese milk pool, yes, but can it be fully self-sufficient? I don’t think so. That’s for growth reasons, land rea-sons and environment reasons.

“But on the other hand we can’t commit only to exports, we also need to commit to investments onshore in China. That is why we are build-ing the Chinese milk pool: we pro-tect New Zealand milk to China – it has to be both, a win-win. We can’t just export commodities to China, we have to provide value on the ground in China.”

Meanwhile Fonterra board chair-man John Wilson says Chinese gov-ernment ministers “at the highest level” are aware of Fonterra’s con-tribution to development of animal husbandry and quality milk in their country. They have “a very high understanding” of what Fonterra is doing in producing milk locally on its own farm and also working with its farmer suppliers to gain knowledge and confidence.

The trip to China with the Prime Minister’s trade mission was very suc-cessful, says Wilson.

Prime Minister John Key (right), Fonterra chairman John Wilson and chief executive Theo Spierings attend the site blessing ceremony last week.

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6 // news

all fonterra suppliers must be monitoring water intakes by 2020 regardless of their location, a Fonterra sustainability advisor told a DairyNZ effluent system field day last week.

Kim Windlebourne addressed farm-ers on a property near Whangarei as part of a DairyNZ farm tour looking at the handling and disposal of effluent.

He advised farmers that by 2020 they would need to record all water used on their property regardless of where they were or whether they drew water from a stream, bore or urban supply.

The Fonterra programme is aligned to the dairy industry’s Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord objectives which aim to improve the quality and quantity of the country’s fresh water resources. The cooperative is consid-

ering steps to put suppliers at the front of the queue for any benefits monitor-ing offers, says Windlebourne. “It’s not about charging farmers, it’s all about finding excessive use on rele-vant farms.”

He says the need for water monitor-ing has been especially apparent during the drought this year. “You go onto one guy’s farm and the only water he’s got is an alkathene pipe running into a creek. Then you go upstream a bit and his neighbor has heaps of water. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to work out what happened.

“It’s not about stopping accessing water, it’s about making sure every-one has access to it, and finding ways to put more dollars into farmers’ pock-ets. How can you maintain that produc-tion and increase profits by altering your inputs.”

While most farmers are unlikely to be monitoring water use, those in

Waikato and Canterbury are monitor-ing water levels.

Windlebourne says these farm-ers are now able to use this informa-tion to prevent water loss before it becomes a big problem. “This will be a useful weapon in the farmer’s pocket. If there’s a water leak half the size of a nail you’re loosing half a million litres of water a month – 14,000 litres of water a day, that’s enough for 140 cows a day.”

Windlebourne says those losses become even more significant on smaller operations where the smallest input cost change or production change can have big impacts. “On smaller 140 cow dairy farms the smallest efficiency can have a big impact on the bottom line so I think water meters will have a huge impact for them.”

Windlebourne says he experienced this first hand in Ngatea when working as a contract milker on a farm using a town water supply.

“They didn’t worry about how much water we were using; what they were concerned with was leaks. When you

checked the readings in the morning and you saw the water use readings way up you knew what had happened.”

gareth gillatt

Co-op issues heads up on monitoring water intakes

Kim Windlebourne, Fonterra sustainability advisor.


news // 7

Time to consider water storage

If North Island farms had the ability to irrigate some paddocks during the drought, pasture would have been kept alive, says Stuart Reid.

DAIRY FARMERS with water storage facilities have come out greener this drought, says Stuart Reid.

One of his clients in Te Kuiti built a big effluent pond – 14 000m3 for 550 cows. He collected water from tracks, yards, silage and stand-off pads.

The outcome this year was graphic. Neighbouring farm pad-

docks were brown, but his irrigated paddocks stood out as green from other pasture.

“They didn’t produce much because rainfall was still in short supply, but his pasture is away again now after even light rainfall this month. He has avoided resow-ing costs and two years to get back to full production.”

eMerging green froM dry

dairy farMers in drought-prone areas are being urged by a water and effluent engineer to start thinking about water stor-age.

Stuart Reid, Revolution Technologies, says water storage during the drought would have allowed farm-ers to irrigate and keep pastures alive.

“If each farm had had the ability to only apply 40mm irrigation (say, in

two 20mm events) Janu-ary to March, they would have kept pasture alive even though not produc-tive,” he told Dairy News.

“If grass dies, there is the cost of resowing it and a production loss caused by the fact that the grass does not deliver full pro-duction for perhaps two more seasons.

“Furthermore, those two subsequent seasons could be dry as well. But

pasture kept alive each season can usually be brought back to life quite quickly by the first decent autumn rain. It does not entail resowing costs and losses while the farmer waits for new grass to get up to speed.”

But building dams requires regional coun-cil consent, and appraisal of farm topography and costs.

DairyNZ says it has

not been approached by farmers on the potential of water storage schemes and referred enquiries to Irrigation New Zealand, whose chief executive, Andrew Curtis, says there is a lot of interest from the North Island, especially after the drought. He says his organisation is provid-ing information to farm-ers and referring them to consultants where neces-sary. Finance is an issue and farmers are urged to look at “a community approach”. Water alloca-tion issues are also critical.

Reid agrees it’s the industry’s duty to pre-pare the way for “this topi-cal theme”. Construction of ponds will have envi-ronmental and ecologi-cal effects so the industry should be asking councils and communities to get busy on these policies.

“As the momentum for ponds builds, there are

standards and guidelines in place that deal with this specific issue and their catchments,” he says. “The process farmers must go through to obtain a con-sent must be clear and as cheap as possible. The actual construction costs and justification for irriga-tion will be an economic decision.”

Reid says it’s also important to consider the economics of dead pas-ture which occurs in one year, and then further dry weather in subsequent years which knocks out pasture sown in the previ-ous year.

The effect on farm income could become exponential, he points out. “Hence risk management and prudence suggest this whole matter must be con-sidered more carefully than previously. One day some guy will build a pond that his neighbours think

is far too large, but I’ll bet that in the end he will be the last person to regret it, and the neighbours will be

so much wiser after that first dry season.”

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news // 9

A2 infant formula sales in China tipped to hit $60m

A2 managing director Geoffrey Babidge (left) and China State Farm Holdings chairman Xu Jun at the prouct launch in Auckland.infant forMula

made from A2 milk should be on Chinese shelves by September in the start of what A2 Corporation believes will be, conserva-tively, a $60 million busi-ness by 2016.

New Milk, Auckland, began the first packag-ing run of Platinum infant formula on Saturday April 20 in a ceremony attended by National Party presi-dent Peter Goodfellow and representatives of A2’s Chinese distribu-tor, Chinese State Farms. They included Chairman Xu Jun and senior execu-tives of CSF.

Meanwhile A2 Cor-poration will be looking for more A2 farmers in Canterbury to supply the processors, Synlait Milk Ltd. A2 managing direc-tor Geoffrey Babidge told Dairy News they are look-ing for about 20 suppli-ers – currently they have three or four.

A2 pays a premium

averaging 10% on the stan-dard milk price, another company representative said. About 30% of New Zealand cows produce the A2 form of the beta-casein protein and some A2 farmers milk both A1 and A2, but they are milked separately.

The first shipments of A2 infant formula leave for China next month, but as a new product it must go into quarantine. The planned roll-out in China will start in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing, then progress to other big cities plus Hong Kong and Macau.

The A2 formula will also be marketed in New Zealand and Australia in the second half of this calendar year, Babidge says.

The company has three major strategies: continu-ing to build the business in Australia and New Zea-land in fresh milk; devel-oping its UK joint venture business – the product was launched in Octo-ber last year in UK; and advancing the China

infant formula initiative, Babidge says. The latest announcement is the cul-mination of 18 months work.

The first A2 formula is being marketed in China for obvious rea-sons: strong demand and growth in China, and the high regard in which New Zealand-sourced infant formula is held. During the two years spent developing the A2 infant formula strate-gies “there have been a number of health issues…

or problems with prod-ucts sourced or identi-fied in China; that further underlies the opportu-nity not just for A2 but for all infant formula sourced from this part of the world.”

A2 announced in Octo-ber last year the appoint-

ment of the China State Farm Group, a state-owned enterprise in Shanghai, to organise a distribution network for A2 formula in China.

“We’ve been doing further work with State Farm in developing the strategy, completed the work on packaging and branding and have been working with our key manufacturer here in New Zealand, Synlait. That cul-minated in the first can-ning of A2 formula – the first A2 infant formula


produced in the world.“We had in Auckland

our China representatives of State Farm, including the chairman, to attend the ceremony at the can-ning facility near Auck-land Airport. The first batch of product will be sold to China State Farm in May.

“Between now, the first shipment going on the water, and release, China State Farm will continue to develop the network of distributors that will distribute in China. Ini-tially we will be looking to access the baby and maternity store network as a first market entry and China State Farm will follow a wider distribu-tion from there.

“We are branding it as A2 Platinum which is part of positioning the prod-uct as a premium product from New Zealand.”

On the need for more

“We are branding it as A2 Platinum which is part of positioning the product as a premium product from New Zealand.”

– Geoffrey Babidge

suppliers he says: “There’s sufficient for the infant formula that we’ve needed at the moment but we are going to ramp it up pretty quickly.”

Babidge says a2 brand products are based on intellectual property the company holds, in a world interested in digestive health, allergies and intol-erances.

“Infants in Austral-asia and China will be the first to enjoy a2 Platinum infant formula which con-tains only the A2 form of the beta-casein protein,

which is more compara-ble to the protein moth-ers naturally produce than to other beta-casein types linked to a range of poten-tially adverse health con-ditions..


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10 // news

recent rainfall has been welcomed by farmers but the problems of the dry summer will persist, says Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy.

The dry conditions may have ended in many parts of the country but there are still major chal-lenges ahead. It will take time to build up enough grass cover to provide feed for winter, he says.

“There’s no doubt the rain over the last week has been a real boost, especially for those in areas that have missed out before like the central North Island.

“However it’s important that farmers plan ahead for how they will manage their feed supply through the rest of the year. A large amount of supplementary feed has already been used over summer and will be in short supply later this year.

“The impact of the drought makes the work of Rural Support Trusts important in providing sup-port and advice.

“For these reasons, it is unlikely I will be for-mally lifting the official drought status before it expires at the end of September. The rain may be falling but the effects on rural communities will be felt for some time,” says Guy.

Gain in rain but pain still plain

Elite breeders celebrate successhigh PerforMing dairy cow and bull breeders gathered recently at LIC to celebrate 2012’s successes.

This select band use science, breeding nous, experience and luck to produce some of the best pasture-based dairy progeny in the world. The progeny go on to pro-duce bulls that are ‘cherry picked’ by LIC.

Breeders’ Day, hosted last week at the co-op’s Newstead head-quarters in Hamilton, attracted about 100 elite breeders scattered between Hikurangi, Far North, and Invercargill. All have contributed dairy bull calves to LIC, selected by the cooperative based on the animal’s ancestry records or their DNA profiles. Intergenerational progress (genetic gain) is the point.

Independent research (Bill Montgomerie, New Zealand Animal Evaluation) shows genetic

gain in the national dairy herd, over a 10-year period, is responsible for about 60% of the production gains made on New Zealand dairy farms.

Estimates put the economic contribution of LIC’s bulls to the dairy industry at $16 billion over the past 46 years, says Mike Wilson, LIC Premier Sires product man-ager. “That’s why top breeders of dairy bull calves are so important to LIC, and that’s why we acknowl-edge the work they do and cele-brate the animals they’re producing for the industry.”

Semen from Premier Sires bulls is used to AI at least 3.5 mil-lion dairy cows each year. About 75% of cows milked are sired by an LIC bull.

Says Wilson, “To get a bull in a Premier Sires team is often the pin-nacle of these people’s careers. So Breeders’ Day is about the achieve-ments of each team and the individ-

ual bulls in those teams, as well as the people behind them.”

Breeding an elite bull was a long process, a process that only hap-pened with the help and support of the invited breeders, not to men-tion LIC’s sire selection and farm teams, Wilson says.

“Nearly all farmers are con-stantly trying to improve the qual-ity of their animals through better breeding, and LIC has literally mil-lions of bull calves to choose from

each year for eventual inclusion in one of its Premier Sires teams. Only about 120 bulls will make it each year.”

On Breeders’ Day the farmers were lunched and watched a parade of bulls at the Newstead Bull Farm. Breeders also received a certificate and framed photograph of their bull, and were briefed about some of the latest developments in the artificial breeding industry.

Breeders gather for the LIC bull parade.



news // 11

in brief

indonesian farmers visita GrOUp of indonesian farmers has completed a 10-week training course in New Zealand as part of a Fonterra scholarship programme.

The training course, run in conjunction with Taratahi agricultural Training Centre, has seen the farmers study animal handling, milking and nutrition during their time here, spending nine weeks in Masterton and one week at Massey University.

Fonterra Vice president of international Farming Ventures peter Moore says the initiative was designed to educate the farmers so that they can improve farming practices at home and to allow Fonterra to build greater relationships across indonesia.

“Our brands have been in indonesia for over 30 years and it is an important export market for Fonterra,” he says.

Processors laud Japan’s TPP entry

new Zealand dairy companies are welcom-ing Japan as a new partici-pant in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) nego-tiations.

The Government has confirmed New Zealand has completed its bilateral consultations with Japan.

Dairy Companies of New Zealand chairman Malcolm Bailey says Japan is an important market for New Zealand dairy exports. In 2012 Japan was New Zealand’s fourth larg-est dairy export market, with trade valued at US$536 million.

“This significant level of trade has been achieved despite the high barriers imposed by Japan on dairy exports,” Bailey says. “The TPP negotiations are an

opportunity to deal with these obstacles to trade.

“TPP has high stan-dards for its negotiations. In particular, the TPP lead-ers in Honolulu in 2011 agreed to the comprehen-sive elimination of trade barriers including tariffs and quotas. We expect Japan to meet these com-mitments.”

Japan joins Austra-lia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Malay-sia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam as a member of the TPP.

Trade Minister Tim Groser, who met his Jap-anese counterpart Akira Amari recently, says New Zealand welcomes Japan’s interest in joining TPP negotiations. “As one of the region’s largest eco-nomic players and one of New Zealand’s most sig-

david Mcdonaldnificant trading partners, Japan’s participation in TPP would add substan-tial economic weight to the group.

“More significantly, it would reinforce the strate-gic vision we have for TPP, including the agreement’s potential to serve as a plat-form for wider trade and economic integration

across the Asia-Pacific.” Federated Farmers

President Bruce Wills praised the Japanese Government for showing “showing genu-ine courage and vision”.

“We know its government

wishes to improve Japa-nese agriculture because

the country is the world’s largest net importer. In Japan and at the WTO we did our best to assure Japanese faming leaders that free trade

will be beneficial to them. Clearly, the next few years will be critical to ensure the reality of the TPP lives up to its promise.”

Wills says Federated Farmers is committed to doing its best to see trade barriers fall.

“New Zealand needs to win the hearts and minds of farmers and farmer

bodies, some of whom possess stupendous finan-cial resources. That is why we believe the engagement of our farming bodies with those of the TPP nations, like Japan, will benefit all concerned. As the New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement shows, the benefits of free trade flow in both directions.”Malcolm Bailey

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DRIVERS ON the West Coast road out of Darfield, earlier this month, might have wondered why two Tranz Scenic carriages were sandwiched in the middle of a massive train of 40-foot Maersk containers.The occasion was the official opening of the rail link into Fonterra’s newest factory, a couple of kilometres west of the town.“It’s the shortest rail journey I’ve ever taken, but it’s certainly a very auspicious one,” Environment Minister Amy Adams (pictured above with Fonterra director John Monaghan and other guests) told guests after disembarking from one of the carriages onto the 22,000 sq m concrete apron adjoining the 620m long sidings at the factory.Adams applauded Fonterra’s commitment to rail which, when the second dryer on the site comes on stream. It will save 16,000 road truck movements a year, with: “real bottom-line impacts for Fonterra shareholders and the environment”.Fonterra general manager logistics network development and design Andy Sanderson said the opening was “a fantastic milestone for the Darfield site” which this year would produce 85,000t of milk powder. When the second dryer is completed later this year, production will rise to 200,000t.

Saved by irrigationone of the country’s large scale dairy farmers says his operation has survived the drought because about half his farms are Canterbury irri-gated farms.

Trevor Hamilton owns or has interests in four dairy farms in Canterbury and another four around Lake Rerewhakaaitu near Rotorua. He says despite the drought, his overall opera-tion will be up on budget and will produce 2.3 million kgMS for the season. But he admits it’s been a challenge with the North Island farms.

“Instead of an average rainfall of 287mm from January 1 to the end of March we only had 63 so the con-trast has been quite major in how

the farms were managed,” he says. They priced their margins on feed all the way, and were fortunate that at Rerewhakaaitu they have sup-port and run-off blocks from which to take silage.

He says one of his farms at Rerewhakaaitu is about to dry off but notes that the other two farms are only marginally below budget. Revenue-wise the drought won’t

affect Hamil-ton’s operation much, but he says they will take a hit of $300,000-$400,000 in additional feed costs for the North Island.

Hamilton is sticking to his strategy of milk-ing on. “The phi-

losophy has been to calculate what the cows are eating per day, what it’s costing to feed them and work out a margin. So we are calculating that at the middle of March they were earning $7.20 a day when

the milk price was $5.50. At Rere-whakaaitu it was costing us about $3 a day to feed them but if we priced our home grown silage in it was probably about $3.80. So we were looking at margin between $7.20 and $3.80 and on that basis we’ll milk on. We are one of the few sheds in our area that are still milking on and we will do so until the end of May.”

Normally Hamilton runs on system one or two, but this year it’ll be more like a system three or four operation. He says the big advan-

tage for his company is that 60% of the farms are on irrigated land in Canterbury. And some of the land at Rerewhakaaitu is very good and this helps production.

“What Canterbury irrigated gives you is absolute protection of the revenue line. In the situation we’ve had – a one in seventy-year drought – it builds protection into the business. We are running ahead of budget as a group in all aspects of our operation but if we were totally exposed to the North Island as a group we would have taken a hit.”

Peter Burkepeterb@ruralnews�co�nz

Trevor Hamilton“The philosophy has been to calculate what the cows are eating per day, what it’s costing to feed them and work out a margin.”

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14 // news

In contention for top honours

Dairy awards drive progress

new Zealand Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year: Northland – Ian & Tim Douglas (brothers); Auckland/Hauraki – James Court-man; Waikato – Andrew & Michelle McPherson; Bay of Plenty – Russell & Nadine Meade; Central Plateau – Garth & Nicola Thomson; Taranaki – Kenneth & Rachel Short; Hawkes Bay/Wairarapa –Shaun & Kate Mitchell; Manawatu/Rangitikei/Horowhenua – Richard McIntyre; West Coast/Top of the South – Peter & Helen McLaren; Can-terbury/North Otago – Morgan & Hayley Easton; Southland – Don & Jess Moore.

New Zealand Farm Manager of the Year: Northland – Niall & Delwyn McKenzie; Auck-land/Hauraki – Michael & Kylie Cox; Waikato – Gary McFarlane; Bay of Plenty – Chris Mexted; Central Plateau –Blair & Andrea Muggeridge;

Taranaki – Michael Kavanagh & Rowena Duncum; Hawkes Bay/Wairarapa – Bart & Tineke Gysbertsen; Manawatu/Rangitikei/Horowhenua – Michael & Raewyn Hills; West Coast/Top of the South – Blue Benseman; Canterbury/North Otago – Richard Pearse; Southland – Daniel & Emma Todd.

New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year: Northland – Jake Thomson; Auckland/Hauraki – Mathew Whittaker; Waikato – Thomas Her-bert; Bay of Plenty – Thomas Chatfield; Cen-tral Plateau – Todd Adamson; Taranaki – Daniel Regtien; Hawkes Bay/Wairarapa – Ken Aradsen; Manawatu/Rangitikei/Horowhenua – Nicholas Verhoek; West Coast/Top of the South – Sam Riley; Canterbury/North Otago – Adam Caldwell; Otago – Ben Sanders; Southland – James Warren.

the 34 FINALISTS in the 2013 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are now known.

Three of the 11 finalists in the 2013 New Zealand Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year competition are past entrants and regional winners in the New Zealand Farm Manager of the Year contest.

Awards national convenor Chris Keeping says it is succeeding in its goal of recognising excellence among farm-ers as they progress in the dairy indus-try. “We always envisaged the awards would be used as a mechanism for people to advance their dairy farming career by participating in each stage of the awards programme – from trainee to farm manager and then sharemilker/equity farmer,” Keeping says.

“We thought entering the awards would help them gain in recognition and reputation to take the next step in their dairying career and make them sought after by employers and busi-ness partners.”

West Coast/Top of the South final-ists Peter and Helen McLaren won the region’s farm manager title in 2008. In 2010 Bay of Plenty finalists Russell and Nadine Meade won the region’s farm manager title and competed against

Southland’s Don Moore for national honours.

“While none of them were success-ful at the national level, the experience will be valuable as they prepare for this year’s finals,” says Keeping.

The 11 finalists in the sharemilker/equity farmer contest also include eight couples, two brothers farming in part-nership and two men. It is the second time four of the finalists have com-peted in the awards, the third time for two finalists and it is the seventh time entering for one. Four finalists are first time entrants.

Keeping says they’re also a young group; just one finalist is over 40 and six are 30 or less. Five are traditional 50% sharemilkers, three hold lower order sharemilking positions, and three are equity managers or equity partners. The herd sizes range from 220 to 1350 cows.

“Add to the mix a range of tertiary and trade qualifications and industry experience, and it’s going to be an inter-esting challenge for the judges to pick the winner,” she says.

Keeping says other traits noted among finalists are greater emphasis on managing people within their business – the human resource aspect of farm-ing – and having good communication

between all stakeholders. “Having a sustainable farm and

farming environmentally friendly has become the new norm among the final-ists, just like having sound financial per-

formance systems in place.”The finals will be in Wellington on

May 24. National judging starts in two weeks.

The New Zealand Dairy Indus-

try Awards are supported by national sponsors Westpac, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda Motorcycles NZ, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown, RD1 and AgITO.

Southland Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year Don and Jess Moore. Don won the Farm Manager of the Year title in 2010.

in brief

THE GraND FiNal of the 2013 aNZ Young Farmer Contest is just around the corner: May 16-18 at Kumeu Showgrounds and SkyCity. Something entertaining for all ages and interests.

The formal opening, in aotea Square on May 16 at 4pm, will present the first head-to-head challenge and an introduction to the seven grand finalists: ian Douglas, Northern; Tim Van de Molen, Waikato/Bay of plenty; Cam Brown, Taranaki/Manawa-tu; aaron passey, East Coast; reuben Carter,Tasman; Matthew Bell, aorangi; and Dean rabbidge, Otago/Southland.

The gates open 7am at Kumeu Show-

grounds for the practical day on May 17. Entry is by gold coin donation. Here it’s all things agricultural – hands on tests, theory and commercial elements of farming in which the finalists must prove their busi-ness and management acumen in a human resource challenge and panel interview.

The agri-sport challenge, beginning at 2.30pm, is the feature event of the day. Contestants will compete side-by-side in farming challenges to test speed, skill and stamina. They will race each other and the clock, but most points will be allocated for quality of workmanship; first to finish does not assure victory.

countdown to contest

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news // 15

a wairaraPa agribusiness con-sulting company, Baker and Asso-ciates, is setting up a special unit to meet growing demand from farmers for help in dealing with new environ-mental regulations.

The unit’s head, Stefan Bryant, says the move is partly, but not exclusively, in response to Horizons Regional Council’s One Plan which sets new, high targets for nitrogen leaching into soils. This and other plans affect dairy farmers more than sheep and beef farmers.

Bryant says they model what a farm is doing now, then put that into the Overseer programme and from there work out what the N leach-ing status of the farm is. “If there are any issues we can suggest mitiga-tion strategies we think are the most appropriate, and put that information back through Overseer so we can test the model. We also use Farmax to look at the effect on profit of those mitiga-

tion strategies. Later we put the stock data through Overseer and get a clear picture of the nutrient losses.”

Bryant says the latest version of Overseer takes more account of dif-ferent soil types and the drainage issues with those soil types. On some farms it will be farmers who have dropped their leaching rate, while on others it will have increased. He notes that with Overseer 6 the combination of freer draining soils and high rainfall can introduce more risk than under the earlier version of Overseer.

Bryant says they and other consul-tants are setting out to provide advice and tools for farmers having to meet new environmental standards set by regional councils nationwide. Part of the challenge is that each regional council has its own interpretation of the RMA and the new water regula-tions.

An issue facing dairy farmers in the Horizons region is meeting their N targets. It’s been suggested that in the Tararua area, up to 90% of dairy farmers will require a discretionary resource consent to continue farm-

ing if the One Plan is not changed.Says Bryant, “If farmers get down

to their imposed limits this could mean a significant reduction in stocking rates because that is one of the main drivers of the nitrate leach-ing. Our tool will be able to show the implications of that reduction in stocking rate. It could potentially show that it’s not possible to run the farm as an effective business and prove to the council that the N levels are too restrictive.”

While the new rules are providing a new business opportunity for consul-tants, Bryant says his goal is to make New Zealand agriculture more sus-tainable. “Twenty years ago we were just starting to talk about effluent and discharges into waterways. Now the focus has shifted and people are a bit more understanding of the science. There’s a lot more public awareness of it too. I would hate to see farmers go out of business and I hope people like myself can give them sound advice on environmental sustainability and help them to remain profitable.”

fonterra has appointed Simon Israel a director, from May 1, replacing Ralph Waters, who has retired.

Israel, a Singapor-ean living there, has gov-ernance, consumer and wider Asian business expe-rience.

Fonterra chairman John Wilson says Israel has significant business credentials in Asia and in consumer and investment businesses. “He will bring

to the board invaluable knowledge and insights as Fon-terra pursues its business strat-egy, particularly with its empha-sis on emerging markets.”

Israel is chairman of Singapore Telecommunications and a director of Capitaland, one of Asia’s largest real estate companies with

core markets in Singapore and China. He was an execu-tive director at Temasek Hold-ings for six years, and from 2010-2011 was executive direc-tor and presi-

dent.He also served as head

of French dairy company Danone’s Asian business.

Wilson also praised

Waters, who served on Fonterra board for over six years.

“Ralph had agreed to remain on the Fonterra board through the implementation of TAF to ensure stability, despite his other significant commitments, and we owe him a debt of gratitude for that. His vast experience as a chief executive and director meant he brought valuable experience and knowledge to our board.”

Fonterra appoints new director

Simon Israel

Peter Burkepetrb@ruralnews�co�nz


Farmers seek help to deal with new regulations

Consultant Stefan Bryant says farmers need help to deal with new environmental standards set by reginal councils.

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Dai ry News April 30, 2013

supply the supermar-ket giant’s stores.

MG has already notified its 2480 farmer supplier-shareholders that the Coles contract locks in a premium that will deliver additional profits from July 2014.

United Dairyfarm-ers of Victoria pres-ident Kerry Callow says it’s heartening to see that Coles had lis-tened to the UDV and Aus-tralian dairy farmers, who have campaigned for two years to try to get farmers a better deal in the fresh milk market.

“We’ve heard lots of arguments from proces-sors and Coles claiming they’re not paying farm-ers any less. Dealing direct means our nation’s largest dairy farmer cooperative finally gets a clear view of

what Coles is paying – true transparency.”

Marwood says the deal augurs well for the industry. “It has been very difficult for any commodity to have a good relationship with the supermarkets. The deal develops a relationship between Coles and the dairy industry.”

16 // news

Tony Marwood

‘Take our milk – but at the right price’

australlian farMers supplying milk to Fonterra are reaf-firming their commitment to the co-op – provided the price remains right.

Competition for farm-gate milk is heating up in Australia as the country’s biggest processor Murray Goulburn this month announced a 10-year direct supply deal with

supermarket chain Coles. Bonlac Supply Com-

pany, whose 1200 farmers supply Fonterra factories in Victoria and Tasma-nia, is confident suppli-ers would not switch to Murray Goulburn. BSC‘s deal with Fonterra has a clause stipulating the co-op must pay its sup-pliers “equal to or greater than” the largest Austra-lian dairy company.

BSC chairman Tony Marwood told Dairy News the Coles deal has caused

a rebirth of MG. The co-op will aggressively call for new suppliers.

Marwood says it’s widely accepted that MG is the milk price setter in Australia. “So, our agree-ment with Fonterra is itself protection of the milk supply base. As long as we get equal or greater than Murray Goulburn, the supply base is intact.”

But he admits compe-tition for Australian milk at the farmgate will get tougher. “The milk supply

base is not growing. Every-body wants more milk and it will be increasing your supply at the expense of the processors.”

Marwood says every year BCS “lose and gain some suppliers”. But he’s confident there won’t be a drop in milk supply to Fonterra.

Marwood says it’s too early to know if MG’s deal with Coles will trans-late into a big lift in milk payout.

Australian farmers are

enduring a tough season. The average milk price is A$4.90/kgMS. Cost of production ranges from A$5.10 to $5.30/kgMS. Marwood says most farm-ers are struggling to break even.

Under MG’s 10-year deal with Coles, it will pro-cess and supply the retail-er’s house-branded milk from July 1, next year. As part of the deal MG will spend A$120 million on two factories in Mel-bourne and Sydney to

sudesh kissunsudeshk@ruralnews�co�nz

in brief

farmers link up with retailersTHE MUrraY Goulburn-Coles deal includes the NSW-based cooperative Norco.

Under a five-year deal Norco’s 161 suppliers will supply milk from northern NSW and south-ern Queensland.

The two cooperatives replace current house-brand suppliers parmalat and lion in these states.

Norco chief executive Brett Kelly says the contract not only benefits its dairy farmers but also means consumers can now have greater confidence that there is a direct link from the farm to the supermarket shelf.

Coles merchandise director John Durkan says the supermarket had been talking with MG and Norco for up to 18 months.

He says the deal offers sustainability and security for dairy farmers.


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18 // oPinion

ruMinating

editorial

Milking it...

18 // oPinion

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

Publisher: Brian Hight ...................... Ph 09-307 0399

Editor: Sudesh Kissun ................ Ph 09-913 9627

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Dairy News is published by Rural News Group Limited. All editorial copy and photographs are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions or comments expressed within this publication are not necessarily those of the staff, management or directors of Rural News Group Limited.

ABC audited circulation 27,478 as at 31.12.2012 ISSN 1175-463X

Postal Address: PO Box 3855, Shortland St, Auckland 1140 Published by: Rural News Group Printed by: PMP Print Contacts: Editorial: [email protected] Advertising material: [email protected] Rural News on-line: www.ruralnews.co.nz Subscriptions: [email protected]

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SOUTH ISLAND:Kaye Sutherland ..............Ph 03-337 3828, 021-221 [email protected]

Good old days in Oz overFONTERRA IS facing a new reality in Australia.

The co-op describes Australia as a ‘home market’ but major Australian supermarkets view Fonterra as foreign-owned. Fon-terra’s profits don’t end up with Australian farmers, they trickle back over the ditch to 10,500 New Zealand farmers.

Supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles have consumers on side by selling fresh milk at $1/L. To appease farmers. crying foul over dipping farmgate prices. the supermarkets are look-ing at direct deals with processors.

But they are picking Australian-owned co-ops. Murray Goul-burn recently signed a 10-year fresh milk supply deal with Coles, replacing Japanese-owned Lion as the supplier. Woolworths is trialling a scheme of direct price negotiations with a group of farmers in the Manning Valley, on the New South Wales mid-north coast, who will sell milk directly to the supermarket giant under the ‘Farmers’ Own’ label.

Where does this leave Fonterra? While the co-op is not a fresh milk trader in Australia, it rules the consumer dairy brands mar-kets. But it’s facing intense competition here. The supermarkets are pushing their private labels, putting a squeeze on Fonter-ra’s brands.

Fonterra is facing a double whammy: competition at the farmgate for milk with Australian co-ops, and taking on the supermarkets in the retail sector.

It’s clear that international might hasn’t helped Fonterra and Kirin take on Australia’s supermarkets. It’s time for a change in strategy.

Last week Fonterra announced a new managing director for Australia - Judith Swales. Credited with leading successful turnarounds and generating extremely strong business results, Swales will be asked to further her impressive track record in retail, sales, marketing and manufacturing by turning Fonterra around.

She has a tough task. Lifting returns and reducing brands – and possibly shutting down factories – are on the agenda. She accepts the Australian food manufacturing sector is facing some tough challenges. And it’s also time for Fonterra to make tough decisions.

The co-op has 14% of its total group assets in Australia, and its cheeses, butter and dairy desserts may be favoured by con-sumers, but being a foreign-owned dairy processor in Austra-lia is working against it. And the bad news is the competition is likely to get even stronger as the supermarkets tighten their stranglehold on the food sector.

Mis-use of powerIS THE Labour/Greens pro-posal to renationalise the power supply just cynical politics or are they really dim enough to believe New Zealand was better off under the oppression of Muldoonism?

Take Telecom, for ex-ample� How much compe-tition, innovation and price discounting would mobile customers be enjoying if Telecom was still the sole, state-controlled provider? And how much invest-ment in the power grid will we see if power prices are forced down by govern-ment?

Milking It suggests the proposal is for political gain, a ploy designed to torpedo the asset sell-off and grab power at the next election, regardless of how much private and public wealth they destroy�

unfortunate wordingTHE ENGLISH language has many foibles, some best avoided, for example, ‘lead’� The first definition in the Oxford Dictionary is “heavy easily fusible soft malleable base metal of dull pale bluish-grey colour…” Needless to say, it also mentions poisoning� Then there’s the second definition: “cause to go with one… conduct, guide, especially by going in front…”� No doubt Synlait intends the latter meaning in its new milk accredita-tion scheme Lead With Pride, but given China’s re-cent history with contami-nated milk, and the risk of mistranslation, the choice of word is unfortunate to say the least�

sidelined in the boomGOT MILK? Too much, say French dairy farmers caught in a pricing squab-ble with supermarkets while missing out on the Chinese thirst for imported powdered milk�

France is famous worldwide for its cheeses, but many dairy farmers complain they are getting squeezed and are threat-ening to hang up their wellies in a sector already expected to shed 1000 jobs in the coming months�

For weeks French dairy farmers have been locked in negotiations with the country’s supermarkets over getting a hike of up to 4c per litre� But a lack of facilities has left them on the sidelines of a boom in the price of powdered milk�

take a chill pill, broTHE MAN who found a pill in his bottle of milk has admitted it was a tablet he had been taking which he didn’t recognise because it had swollen to four times its size�

Greg Mitchell, of Whitianga, complained to Fonterra recently after finding a tablet in his 2L bottle of light blue milk�

“They sent me an email saying, ‘Has anyone been taking pills? And I thought, ‘s***, I was’� I had one pill left and I stuck it in some milk and, hello, that’s what it turned out to be� It had swollen up to four times its size and had changed colour,” Mitchell told the NZ Herald.

“I’ve called them up and apologised and have thrown myself on my own stupidity�”


oPinion // 19

Power grab to drive up debt servicing coststhe laBour Party and the Green Party recently announced plans to establish a new agency, New Zea-land Power, to act as a single buyer of wholesale electricity.

The plan according to Labour and Green Party analysis would cut the nation’s power bills by up to $700 mil-lion a year, lowering household power bills by up to $330 a year, and giving the economy a $450 million annual boost. This analysis is naïve and does not take into account the full direct and indirect costs.

New Zealand currently has $253bn of external debt and each 0.01% movement in the cost of debt adds $25m in interest payments.

The uncertainty caused by the Labour/Greens ‘nationalisation by stealth’ policy is likely to add up to 1% to the cost of debt to New Zealand, due to lenders requiring an increased return for lending to a nation with political and economic instability. The cost of capital for all New Zea-land companies will rise due to the same factors.

A 1% increase in debt servicing costs for New Zealand’s overseas borrowing would in time add up to NZ $2.5bn a year.

In addition to higher financing costs for the economy as a whole, the Government would take about $450m a year less in dividends from the state owned power companies. These would need to write down asset bases by about 30% on an asset base of $15bn. This equates to $4.5bn of capi-tal destroyed.

The flow-on effects to New Zea-land’s listed power companies is just

as detrimental. Analysis suggests share prices for Contact Energy, TrustPower and Infratil could on average fall by 20%. This is about $1bn loss of wealth for New Zealanders when adjusted for over-seas ownership of these companies.

On top of this there will be a cut in dividends payable by listed com-panies of, say, 20%, fur-ther reducing returns to New Zealand sharehold-ers. This will adversely affect many KiwiSaver schemes that have direct exposure to these companies. It seems inevitable, should the Labour/Greens proposal be enacted, that the listed power com-panies would take legal action, based on property rights. This is likely to be lengthy and costly, the Government footing much of the bill.

In conclusion, to save $700m per annum on our total electricity bill the direct and indirect costs of such a scheme would be about as follows: $2.5bn in additional debt servicing

costs, $450m reduction in dividends, $4.5bn asset write-downs by state owned enterprises, $1bn of capital destruction among the listed power companies and a reduction of $100m

of dividends per annum to New Zealand sharehold-ers.

In addition, there will be highly skilled jobs lost as power companies reduce capital expenditure and development. In the short term this would not be an issue while demand catches up with supply, but

by the time supply and demand are in balance it will be too late to add addi-tional capacity in a timely manner.

Rolling blackouts anyone?• Mark Warminger is portfolio man-ager at Milford Asset Management Ltd, a company managing $1.6bn on behalf of individuals, families and institutions. The views expressed are not necessarily those of Milford Asset Management Ltd. Milford Funds Ltd on behalf of clients owns shares in Contact Energy, Trust-Power and Infratil.

Mark warMinger

Opposition parties are proposing a new agency to act as a single buyer of wholesale electricity.

Mark Warminger

in briefPolitics behind power ploy

FEDEraTED FarMErS is concerned politics may be behind the labour/Green policy on electricity and that its implications have not been fully considered.

“Whatever the motivation, there is suspicion this policy may be a tactical response to the Government’s asset sales programme,” says anders Crofoot, Federated Farmers Energy spokesper-son. “Cynics may say that at the last election it was milk but at the next it will be the power bill.”

He says Federated Farmers feels uneasy about this because electricity is a major farm expense. Mpi estimates the annual cost of electricity to each arable and dairy farmer is about $25,000.

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20 // agriBusiness

Synlait launches ISO 65 milk supply standards

suPPliers to Syn-lait Milk can earn 6c/kgMS more for their milk next season, and possibly 12c/kgMS after that, if they achieve new, internation-ally accredited assurance standards.

The Dunsandel, Can-terbury, processor launched its Lead With Pride dairy farm assurance system to its 150 suppliers

April 18.“We are working with

some of New Zealand’s best dairy farmers and we believe their desire for excellence should be rewarded,” says Synlait Milk chief executive John Penno. “Lead With Pride gives them that opportu-nity.”

Oxford dairy farmers Lance and Wendy Main are the first to be accred-ited with the ISO 65 stan-dard.

“I believe it will help

us maintain our stan-dards and I think some extra profit should come out of it too because it will help us lift our standards,” Main told Dairy News. “We should have less waste water, electricity, fertiliser and the likes.”

The Mains are coming to the end of their third season as owner-opera-tors milking and winter-ing 500 cows, and rearing young stock, on 255ha, having worked their way up through sharemilking

in Southland and Canter-bury.

As one of two guinea pig farms for the scheme he and, in particular Wendy, have done a lot of work with Synlait over the past year developing the programme to be farmer friendly.

Lance says they found they were doing most of what was required for accreditation already but there were a few gaps and tweaks needed in their “standard operating pro-

Synlait Milk’s first ISO 65 certified supplier Lance Main (left) and chief executive John Penno.

SYNLAIT MILK says Lead With Pride is the only system of its kind in Australasia and recognises and financially rewards certified milk suppliers for achieving dairy farming excellence.

“It is about demonstrating industry leadership in food safety and sustainability, and guarantees the integrity, safety and quality of pure natural milk produced on certified dairy farms,” says chief executive John Penno.

Lincoln University’s agribusiness and economics research unit modelled the financial impact of Lead With Pride for farmers.

“The analysis has shown that certification is likely to lead to significant improvements in farm profitability for the majority of suppliers,” says vice-chancellor Andy West. “We expect these farms will also be able to attract the best young farming talent.”

Lead With Pride certified suppliers will be independently audited by AsureQuality. Suppliers must meet, and in some cases exceed, industry best practice in four vital aspects of dairy farming: environment, milk quality, social responsibility and animal health and welfare. The aims are improving nutrient management through efficient water and fertiliser usage, improving

biodiversity, increasing milk quality standards, improving employment practices for dairy farm workers and demonstrating New Zealand’s animal health and welfare standards are being exceeded.

For Synlait’s customers, it will provide a tool to differentiate products, says Penno.

Synlait expects 30 of its 150 suppliers to achieve accreditations within a year.

leadershiP in food safety, sustainaBility

andrew swallowandrews@ruralnews�co�nz

cedure” documentation of farm tasks.

“And there was a little capital expendi-ture needed: things we haven’t been able to do yet because of our position [as relatively new owners].”

For example, Aquaf-

lex moisture meters were installed so irrigator use could be justified and fine-tuned, and an effluent irri-gator fitted with a safety system so it shuts-off in case of breakdowns or over-runs. “They should probably be mandatory anyway,” notes Main.

The final step was an independent audit by AsureQuality.

“Two AsureQuality people went throught the whole process from top to bottom. It took them six hours. They split us up and each of us went through different parts of the pro-cess. Essentially they were checking we are doing what we say we are doing.”

Initial accredita-tion is for Synlait’s Gold Plus standard, earn-ing a 6c/kgMS premium. After a year of maintain-ing those standards sup-

pliers may apply for Gold Elite accreditation which earns a 12c/kgMS premium but demands even higher standards in environment, milk quality, social respon-sibility and, animal health and welfare.

The other farm to pilot Lead With Pride was one of Synlait Farms’ 13 milk-ing platforms. Synlait Farms chief executive, Juliet Maclean, says she “very much welcomes” the initiative.

“I’d like to think that over the next three years we’ll achieve Gold Elite status on all our farms. There’s quite a lot of work involved and it will require some capital expendi-ture in some cases... but most of our systems and processes with livestock and people are right up there and in line with the requirements now.”

IF ALL FARMS WERE EXACTLY ALIKE, ANY OLD FERTILISER WOULD DO.

Our soil types vary throughout the farm, so our fertilisers need to change to suit our conditions. Marty Syron

We have a velvet unit, a bull beef unit and a dairy unit. Each of their soil types are different and need a different management approach.Ted Stevens

My farm is different because I have a stud farm and Altum provides attention to detail with quality products to support me.Grant Campbell

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Dai ry News april 30, 2013

ManageMent // 21

Preparing new stafffarMers always have opportunity to do better at staff manage-ment, says DairyNZ.

Reminding farmers to prepare for new employ-ees for the new season, DairyNZ people team leader Jane Muir notes that people management practices have improved greatly on-farm in recent years.

But there are always opportunities to do things better, she adds.

“The recent Feder-

ated Farmers/Rabobank farm employee remuner-ation survey showed 91% of dairy farmers provided permanent employees with written contracts – a sharp increase on previous years,” says Muir. “This is great news because one area where big wins can be achieved is in staff recruit-ment and orientation; the contract is just one part of that.

“Developing a detailed job description, discussing and matching employer

and employee expecta-tions and the creation of a thorough orientation plan are other critical aspects of this process. Doing them right will make life easier for everyone in the long run.”

A good orientation plan means taking the time to properly introduce new employees to the busi-ness and will ensure they become a productive part of the team, sooner rather than later. In the first three months it’s a good idea to meet with the new employee monthly to set training requirements,

review and give formal feedback on progress. This will help identify train-ing needs and ensure the new person has the oppor-tunity to learn new skills they might need.

Canterbury farmer Shirlene Cochrane says by focussing on their people, they have increased their productivity by about 25%.

“Happy staff pro-vide many rewards. It’s achieved efficiency, effec-tiveness, peace of mind, a happy lifestyle and the best return we feel we can get with the resources we have available,” says

Cochrane.DairyNZ recently

released the Quickstart recruitment kit which provides step-by-step processes for the first 90 days of the employment period, to ensure expecta-tions are clear and the employment relationship gets off to its best possible start. www.peo-plesmart.co.nz

DairyNZ has released the Quickstart recruitment kit as a guide for farmers.

in brief

DairYNZ SaYS community consultation by Environment Canterbury on the proposed Hur-unui and Wairau river regional plan has led to better understanding of the complexity of water quality issues in the catchment.

Community representatives in a ‘zone com-mittee’ of farmers, iwi and other stakeholders spent many months developing a plan.

Decisions on the recently released regional plan require all farmers to sign up to a collective audited self-management scheme, and prepare a farm environment plan from 2017, which also aligns with the committee’s recommendations for best practice farming.

“This was the first regional water plan to be developed alongside a new kind of com-munity process,” says DairyNZ’s regional policy manager, James ryan. “it was a way of running rMa decision making alongside local commit-tees set up to focus on finding consensus within communities.

community collaboration

IF ALL FARMS WERE EXACTLY ALIKE, ANY OLD FERTILISER WOULD DO.

Our soil types vary throughout the farm, so our fertilisers need to change to suit our conditions. Marty Syron

We have a velvet unit, a bull beef unit and a dairy unit. Each of their soil types are different and need a different management approach.Ted Stevens

My farm is different because I have a stud farm and Altum provides attention to detail with quality products to support me.Grant Campbell

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22 // ManageMent

‘High yield should not burden environment’

high farM production and heavy stocking rates need not burden the envi-ronment, say brother and sister Shayne and Char-maine O’Shea, this year’s supreme winners of the Ballance Northland Farm Environmental Awards.

O’Sheas farm a total of 233ha, milking 380 cows at Kokopu, 18km south west of Whangarei. These produce an average of 1565kgMS/ha/year. The farm produced a record-breaking 1698kgMS/ha in

the 2011-12 season. The property is broken

into a 93ha owned dairy platform with 44ha owned runoff area, and the bal-ance of 96ha is leased. No supplements are made on the dairy platform; all sup-plements come from the runoffs and leased land.

The decision to have a smaller dairy platform with extensive support areas stems from the logis-tics of location and con-tour of the runoff area and lease blocks. The farm is essentially L-shaped with the dairy platform and milking shed at one

end of the property and the remainder stretching along and across a busy road.

The 93ha dairy plat-form requires cows to walk only 1.5km to the shed at most. The dairy platform supports 4.1 cows/ha, which Charmaine says wouldn’t be possible without the extensive sup-port blocks.

A total of 308 tonnes of maize and 210 tonnes of grass silage was imported from the support blocks; palm kernel was also fed during the 2011-12 season

Supplement made up

36% of the herd’s diet last season; pasture made up 12.6 tons/ha DM eaten of a total of 19.6 tonnes DM/ha eaten. The result is the herd was able to produce a total of 410kgMS/cow last season, a production in excess of their own live-weight.

In fact, the O’Sheas’ farm is still one of the few spring calvers in North-land that are yet to dry off. The farm is likely to finish 9% from where it was last year, Shayne says. “The feed is there so it’s worth-while milking. Currently they’re getting 12kgDM/

gareth gillatt

cow a day in supplement because there’s bugger all in the paddock.”

The contest judges made special mention of the farm’s efficient efflu-ent system.

The property uses a three-pond system that services the feed pad and the cowshed. Effluent from the shed is washed into a 1673m3 pond which pushes cleaner water into a second 1653m3 pond. This is pumped into a flood wash tank used to clean excess effluent off the feed pad. Water used to clean the feedpad gets flushed through a third pond which captures the sediment and allows mate-rial with a higher volume of water to be washed back into the first pond.

Liquid from the first

pond is spread over 24% of the property through hydrants and Hi-tech sprinkler pods with the sediment trap being emp-tied out twice a year and spread over another 2% of the property with a muck spreader.

Shayne says while it means less water is used, filters are necessary on the pond end of the irriga-tion system. “It’s a simple system but it works. It won’t take long to pay for itself because it is build-ing up organic matter on a part of the farm with lower fertility.”

Besides this the farm is fertilised three times during the year: spring, summer and early autumn. On the dairy area in the 2011-12 season the O’Sheas applied 37kg/

ha phosphorous, 46kg/ha potassium, 23kg/ha sul-phur, 18kg/ha magnesium and 97kg/ha calcium.

They also applied 183kg/ha nitrogen in the 2011-12 season, Shayne saying nitrogen gets put on as either Sustain, Rapid S, or Phased N depending on the time of year to pre-vent volatilisation (evap-oration). “It allows us to apply it in all conditions.”

The farm employs two full time staff and a relief milker, allowing workers time off when they need it, says Shayne. “All staff are encouraged and supported to complete Ag ITO train-ing courses.”

Shayne handles staff management and day to day running, Charmaine focuses on financial plan-ning and management.

Sibling power: Brother and sister Shayne and Charmaine O’Shea won the Ballance Northland Farm Environmental Awards.

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Harsh winters and springs need a sustainable fertiliser that supports our high stocking rates.David Bielski

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WHAT DOES YOUR FARM NEED?


ManageMent // 23

a large crowd turned out this month to a field day to see how a young couple won the Manawatu/Horowhenua/ Rangitikei Farm Manager of the Year Award.

Michael (28) and Raewyn (26) Hills manage a 300ha (250ha effec-tive) property owned by Michael’s father, uncle Peter and Brian Hills and their wives at Colyton near Feilding. The couple are in their fifth season on this farm, have been married

for four years and have two young children.

The dairy farm oper-ates on system four, with 690 cows milked at two separate sheds – a 20-aside and a 36-aside. Several other properties are asso-ciated with ‘Burnside’ farms but these are not the responsibility of Peter and Raewyn, whose focus is solely on the dairy oper-ation.

Winning the regional final has been a challenge. In 2003 Michael was in a serious car crash, spend-ing 78 days in hospital and two years rehabilitating.

It also left him paralysed on his whole left side. This year, just days before the judges arrived at their farm, the couple had their second child, but as judge Gray Beagley commented, they were well organised and showed great maturity and knowledge.

Hills have a clear vision and goals. They aim to build a viable operation to allow a good lifestyle and provide for retirement.

This requires improving land utilisation, improving the herd base, maximising the existing infrastructure and being environmentally sound, Raewyn says.

“One of our aims is to feed the cows better through better pasture management and supple-ment use to put on cow condition and therefore improve the in calf rate On that one we’ve made gains every year we’ve

been here. The more cows you get in calf, the better the options on which cows we keep and which cows we cull.”

The Hills’ teamwork impressed the judges. Michael does most tractor and pasture work, Raewyn takes care of the numbers side of the business.

“A focus for us has been improving environ-mentally for compliance and good practice,” says


FARM ADVISOR and local vet Lindsay Rowe says a key element in the success of Michael and Raewyn Hills is how open they are to talk about issues and to get help where needed to explore different opportunities to do things.

They work well as a couple and as a team and have a good relationship with their staff and owners, Rowe says.

“It requires an excellent team effort because it is quite a complex operation. It’s a big farm, the milking platform is difficult with the valleys and steep sides, but on top of that they’ve got the added complexity of the busi-ness structure.”

He notes that in the last few weeks pastures on the farm have bounced back from about 1600. Rowe says this is because Michael and Raewyn have not grazed the pastures hard and have allowed the grass to recover properly.

a great teaM

Winners overcome adversityRaewyn. “Every year we tick something off. We also brought technology to the farm in the form of an automatic drafter, in shed teat spraying and larger water troughs. We are a generation of big spend-ers.”

The farm is long and narrow, some roll-ing country with its own challenges. So far 9km of waterways have been fenced and by this time next year this will be up to 14km. Trees are preventing erosion and there is ongo-ing re-grassing. Average

farm leaching losses are 18kgN/ha/yr. Their effluent ponds allow two months storage.

This year the drought affected production, down from 245,000kgMS to 225,000kgMS. But the Hills have decided clearly to protect next season. They dried off their first cows in February and have tried to keep costs down. Being on system four they import about 28% of the feed consumed.

Also impressing the judges was Hills’ consider-ation for other people.

Michael and Raewyn Hills address participants at the field day.

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WHAT DOES YOUR FARM NEED?

dairy farM use of chicory is increasing considerably because the plant’s tap root makes it particularly suitable for dry conditions. But using the ryegrass standard formula for plate meter readings will not give an accu-rate estimate of chicory mass, the recent DairyNZ Farmers Forum heard.

DairyNZ has been working on get-ting a more accurate measurement for chicory, collecting data over two sum-mers. It reported some early recom-mendations and findings to the forum.

During the drought some of the only green paddocks on farms were chicory, DairyNZ scientist Jamie Haultain said.

This is because ryegrass struggles in these conditions with it shallow root system whereas chicory’s tap root can access soil moisture at a deep level more consistently during dry periods.

Chicory, with its tap root, is able to produce high yields in summer, he said. From October to May you can generally expect about 8-13t of dry matter (DM) per hectare and if the crop goes through to the following May, an 18-month period, you can expect 18-22t of DM per hectare.

“It is a strong feed source for many farmers now but, as there’s no real way for farmers to measure this, DairyNZ has tried to find a way for farmers to walk around their paddocks and esti-mate it,” he said. Data has been col-lected on the project over two summers,

with the last summer’s results yet to be fully analysed.

Using the rising plate meter, the standard formula for estimating rye grass is 140 times the clicks plus 500. So 20 clicks is 2300kg of DM from ryegrass, Haultain said. But their studies showed with chicory 20 clicks on the plate meter represented only about 1700kg of DM. So if you use the standard equation for chicory you are grossly overestimating what is in the paddock for cows.

So for chicory, farms could use an interim equation of 90 times clicks plus 80, but further analysis was under-way. Meanwhile a simpler method is to halve what your standard rising plate meter equation for ryegrass is telling you, Haultain said.

Haultain outlined some of the vari-

ables which necessitated further anal-ysis. Chicory plant density was one. In December, with the young plants, there were about 200 plants/m2 , and by early February it was down to 100 plants/m2. It probably averages out at about 150 plants/m2, he said. Plant shape can also cause measurement problems: some grow upright and others flat. Mature crops have stems which can grow very high and they are eaten so they are a feed source. Avoid-ing measuring them will cause underes-timation, however including them could cause a gross overestimation of what is in the paddock.

Haultain said the take home mes-sages were that demand for estimating chicory yield is increasing but the stan-dard rising plate meter equation over-estimates chicory.

“However you can use your standard plate meter formula and halve it. That will give you a ball park mark,” he said.

“DairyNZ is developing a new chic-ory equation however it is only suitable for young crops.

“Look out for the DairyNZ manage-ment practice guide for chicory which is coming out later this year.

“It will include a rising plate meter equation.”


24 // ManageMent

Chicory works well if you read it right – scientist

Jamie Haultain says a simple method to measure chicory mass is to use the standard rising plate meter equation and halve it.


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aniMal health / nutrition // 25

Stage LactationCow crude

protein requirement

Maximum percentage maize silage in the

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Mineral Requirements(per cow per day)

Early lactation (450kg cow, 2kgMS/day)** 16% 35%

60-100g limeflour30-50g dicalcium phosphate

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40-60g limeflour0-20g dicalcium phosphate

40g magnesium oxide10-20g salt

Dry period – more than two months pre-calving 12% 67% 40g magnesium oxide

Dry period – less than two months pre-calving 14% 50% 40g magnesium oxide

* Assumes cows are fed autumn pasture (20% crude protein) and maize silage only.** Higher producing herds may require up to 18% crude protein in early lactation.

Feeding high maize silage ratesthe drought has caused on-going pasture deficits on many farms, and in the past few weeks many farmers have asked me how much maize silage they can feed.

This article provides some general guidelines based on typical autumn-winter pasture protein

and mineral levels. Con-tact your local veterinarian or animal nutritionist for farm-specific results.How much maize silage can you feed?

Maize silage is the ideal feed buffer because it can be fed in large amounts during extreme feed def-icits. It is a high quality,

palatable forage which provides excellent levels of carbohydrate (as maize grain starch) as well as digestible fibre (from the green portion of the

plant). Cows will readily eat high amounts of maize silage, and the fibre makes it safer to feed when com-pared with concentrates such as grain or molasses which contain high car-bohydrate but low fibre levels.

The low crude protein content of maize silage (about 8%) places a ceiling limit on the amount that can be fed before cows become protein deficient. Maize silage is also low in some macro minerals (e.g. calcium, magnesium, sodium and phosphorus).

The stage of lacta-tion, the amount of maize silage fed and the amount and type of other feeds in the diet will determine whether mineral supple-mentation is required.

The following recom-mendations are meant as a guideline only.

Farmers facing severe pasture shortages can

further increase the amount of maize silage in the diet by feeding an alternative high protein supplement, e.g. soybean with 50% crude protein or canola meal with 37% crude protein.

In a crisis situation, it may be viable to accept a lower dietary protein level for a short time. Feeding too little protein may limit milk production or the rate of condition score gain. However, as long as energy intake meets target levels, cows should hold weight. Diets can be adjusted once pasture cover levels have increased to more normal levels.Feeding management

Whether you are feed-ing moderate or high rates of maize silage, always

follow the best practice guidelines for feeding management:

■ Where possible intro-duce maize silage slowly, starting at 1 - 2kgDM per cow and increasing 1 - 2kg DM every two to three days.

■ Make sure all animals have access to feed at the same time to reduce the risk of individual animals eating large amounts.

■ Discard mouldy or decomposed material from any feed.In summary, maize

silage is an excellent choice for feeding when pasture supply is short. High feeding rates are pos-sible but watch crude pro-tein and mineral levels, and ensure best-practice feeding guidelines are fol-lowed.• Ian Williams is a Pioneer forage specialist. [email protected]

In a crisis situation, it may be viable to accept a lower dietary protein level for a short time.

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26 // aniMal health

farMers are invited to learn how they could make more money from every cow in their herd at events from this week in Southland, Otago, Canter-bury and the West Coast.

LIC is visiting eight towns with Cognosco, the research group from Anexa Animal Health, to present key findings of a national herd fer-tility study (funded by DairyNZ) and talk with farmers about the oppor-tunity which exists for many from improved reproductive perfor-mance.

Greg McNeil, LIC’s reproduction solutions manager, says the research suggests that by focus-ing on eight simple steps farmers could achieve more profit. “This is an open invitation to… join the discussion, learn what drives successful repro-duction and what to do to improve a herd’s perfor-mance and overall profit-ability.”

Tom Brownlie, Cognosco scientist, says they will show farmers, vets and consultants the latest research into the reproductive performance

in brief

VETS arE concerned about animal welfare issues on farms struggling to meet winter feed requirements.

NZVa’s veterinary resources manager, Wayne ricketts, says some farmers will not have coped as well as others for various reasons, and are not seeking the help they need to mitigate their situation.

“There is a range of rural support networks, including Federated Farm-ers, industry groups such as DairyNZ and Beef + lamb New Zealand, and

the rural support trusts.“Everyone wants to help and it is

finding ways to ensure farmers know about these groups and how to con-tact them. provided they know about the farmers in need, they can (and want to) play a role in helping them.

“local veterinarians and other rural workers need to keep an eye out for all farmers, and particularly those who may be struggling because of the drought. Their health and the health of their animals are important.”

animal welfare concerns

Better cow fertility means more money

of New Zealand dairy herds, including local statistics.

“The comprehensive study was carried out over many farms and many years and included herds across the country, and has provided fascinat-ing insights into how suc-cessful reproduction is achieved on farms of all sizes.

“We’ll be presenting

these findings in a practi-cal way that will provide farmers with information to take away and apply on their own farms, to ulti-mately improve their herd’s reproductive per-formance.”

Refreshments will be provided; RSVP to [email protected]

North Island and Nelson/Marlborough to be visited later.

Winton - Salvation army Hall, 7 Dejoux rd, april 29, 11am-1pm. Gore - Heartland Hotel Croydon, Main Queenstown Highway, april 29, 7-9pm. Balclutha - rosebank lodge, 265 Clyde St, april 30, 11am-1pm. Oamaru - Glenavy Hall, State Highway 1, april 30, 7-9pm. ashburton - Trust Event Centre, 211 Wills St, May 1, 11am-1pm. rangiora - Southbrook Saracens Football Club, 117 South Belt road, May 1, 7-9pm. Greymouth - Shantytown Heritage park, 310 rutherglen rd, paroa, May 2, 1-3pm. Culverden - rFC Clubrooms, School rd, May 3, 11am-1pm.

invitation to join discussion

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

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Treating late autumn/early winter is the best time to ensure young stock are well covered during their development and the fertility of cows is not compromised in the coming breeding season.

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Cover your feedpad—reduce effluent and create a more animal friendly warmer drier surface New stronger industrial roof design—widths of up to 16m in a single span Reduction in effluent volume of greater than 50% due to exclusion of rain and wash down water Simple system with no moving parts or machinery to break down Drier, lighter, warmer environment than a solid roof promoting better animal health Less risk of N leaching with effluent

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aniMal health // 27

a farM consultant in Manawatu/Rangitikei questions a belief that because pasture has ‘gone green’, farmers are out of trouble. This is not so, says Lindsay Rowe, who is a vet.

Four-six weeks are needed to build pasture cover, assuming good growth conditions continue, he says.

“Just because it’s gone green doesn’t mean we’ve got enough food in the bunkers. A lot of maize silage and grass silage has been eaten throughout the autumn period. I think it’s going to be very much an individual farm thing. Farms that have planned and prepared well and who’ve made good decisions early on – they will be fine. But farms that have done it on a wing and a prayer… have not carefully planned, could have some surprises yet.”

Rowe says cow condition has been lost over the last six weeks and most are not in as good a place as farmers would like them to be at this time of the year. “So we have a lot of ground to make up and that’s going to require

more feed and time to get them back to normal before calving.”

From what Rowe has seen, not all farmers are protecting next season’s production: it is mixed. “Those plan-ning well and looking at next year and the potential for a good payout are aware that if you don’t set up really accurately, you lose a whole lot more than you’ll ever gain in another few weeks of milking now. However those

struggling and wanting every dollar out of this year are going to penal-ise next year’s production and good animal health.”

Rowe’s key message to farmers is focus on measuring and planning and

making sure cows are in adequate body condition score for calving time. This may involve drying

off cows early to reach the BCS targets. “If you’re not measuring and looking and getting independent assessment you might not know what place you are at. That would be a key strategy.”

Rowe says farmers need to pro-duce good feed budgets and make sure they have adequate pasture covers and supplements to feed their cows right through winter.


“Just because it’s gone green doesn’t mean we’ve got enough food in the bunkers.”

Work needed to bring cow condition back to normal

Vet Lindsay Rowe says cow condition has been lost over the last six weeks.

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28 // aniMal health/feed

Mixed-pasture trials show promise

a three-year experiment with mixed pastures could have big implications for future management of

environmental impacts.Results showed cows

in the trials fed on mixed pasture excrete half the amount of nitrogen (N) in their urine compared to cows on standard pasture, the recent DairyNZ Farm-ers Forum in Whangarei

DairyNZ senior scientist Sharon Woodward says urine N loss was halved with mixed pasture versus standard pasture.


heard from senior scien-tist Sharon Woodward.

Milksolids production was also boosted 15-20% in late summer and autumn when cows grazed mixed pastures.

“The big thing for the future is that feeding mixed pastures has had a major impact on reducing urinary N losses from the cows,” Woodward said. “This has implications for greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leaching.”

In the experiment both the standard and mixed pastures were sown with perennial ryegrass and white clover. The mixed pastures were also sown with prairie grass, lucerne, chicory and plantain.

All pastures were set up three years ago on the Scott Research Farm in Hamilton and all received the same treatment for maintenance fertiliser, urea application, grazing and cutting for silage.

Woodward says over the three years the total cumulative dry matter yields were the same for both pasture types. In the summer/autumn there were advantages in feed availability from the mixed pastures, but these were lost in winter.

Indoor and outdoor trials were used to assess milk production and nitro-gen partitioning. “When you feed cows indoors in metabolism stalls you can measure the intake of each cow and also collect all the urine and faeces,” Wood-ward says.

“The cows were fed either mixed or standard pasture. The cows on the mixed pasture ate less but they did produce more milk, and of course that meant more milk solids, not only because of the increase in volume but because we didn’t get a change in the milk fat con-centration, but we got an increase in the milk pro-tein concentration.

“But the key reason for using the metabolism stalls was to look at nitro-gen partitioning within the cow. This was impor-tant from an environmen-tal perspective because we get a feeling of what’s hap-pening in terms of green-house gas – that’s your nitrous oxide and ammo-

nia emissions and what’s going to happen in terms of nitrate leaching.”

Cows on the mixed pasture partitioned about 23% of their daily nitrogen intake into the milk, about 39% went into the faeces and 29% went into the urine. Cows on standard diets put a lot less nitro-gen (15%) into the milk and much more (43%) into their urine. “And it’s that urine that’s a big problem from an environmental perspective.

“The key point here was the cows fed the mixed diet were excret-ing only half the amount of nitrogen in the urine than the cows on the standard diet.”

In her summing up Woodward said the biggest finding of the study was that feeding mixed pas-tures had a major impact on reducing urinary N losses. This was achieved with no loss of milk pro-duction and a 15-20% boost in late summer/autumn. She asked farm-ers to consider what put-ting a portion of their farm into mixed pasture might mean for their profitability and their ability to reduce nitrogen losses on-farm.

The work was funded by DairyNZ and the Minis-try of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Woodward later told Dairy News an application had been made for fund-ing for a much bigger pro-gramme of work over the next six years investigat-ing use of various forage species to reduce nitrate leaching. If successful, one aspect will be more indoor work controlling the com-position of mixed diet to try to pinpoint which spe-cies might have the major effects on production and reducing N loss.

They would also look at the on-farm situation – in the trials so far cows were fed a 100% mixed diet but it was unlikely on-farm that all paddocks would be sown in mixed pasture, which also takes a few years to get established.

So mixed pastures were not the “silver bullet” to reduce nitrogen leaching, but increasing pasture spe-cies diversity could cer-tainly provide part of the solution, she believes.

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Machinery & Products // 29

Larger silage wagon launchedeXtra large: key words for Rob-ertson Manufacturing Ltd’s latest Mega Comby silage wagon XL (extra large). It was launched at the South Island Field Days.

Said company principal Don Robert-son, “This machine will feed out every-thing normally fed by larger farmers to stock in feed lots and in paddocks.” It holds 24m3 – 12 large square bales and up to 12t of grass or maize silage.

“Our new feed pad dispensing ele-vator is our biggest and best design change we have made,” Robertson says.

Previously when dispensing to feed lot bins two delivery conveyors were used with the cross conveyor loading on to the elevator taking feed to the bins.

Feed was lost when the cross floor conveyor slats lodged material under the wagon as it returned, dropping it on the ground. In the paddock this was still eaten by the stock but in a feed lot it was wasted.

“We are talking perfection here as the amount dropped in the feed pads was miniscule,” Robertson says.

With the new feed pad kit (see dia-gram) the elevator to the bins extends well under the cross floor conveyor so collects all the material lodged in the

slats as the conveyor rotates. The ele-vator can be raised hydraulically from horizontal to vertical for travelling and anywhere in between to deliver to bins. A safety feature is that the machine will

not operate until the elevator is in the working position.

Says Robertson, “I believe this is a major advance for our machines and reduces wast-age to almost nothing.”The company prides itself

on the body strength of their machines. Those with weigh cells have always been of double chassis design; now all models are of a mono structure design where chassis and body are all

one, giving a truss like structure.“The one piece structure is a lot

stronger from draw bar to axle giving extra strength as opposed to our previ-ous two piece system.”

There are now four weigh cell pods off the axle and the machine has a two cell drawbar system which can weigh the load when it is attached to the trac-tor or standing on a jack. The weigh cells are optional.

The Mega Comby XL has a fully

tracked double floor triplex chain with increased power from the drive box and tub sides to ensure total emptying of material. The rear door has an auto release in case the floor is accidently reversed. It has a swivel towing eye and 120hp plus is recommended.

It comes standard on tyres 405R 22.5; or flotation 550/45 22.5 are an option. Other extras are weigh cells and wire-less connection to the tractor cab.Tel. 03 303 7228

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30 // Machinery & Products

after shifting a lot of round bales with his front loader, Paul Anderson decided there had to be a quicker way.

The result was Two Hands, a double bale grab that can pick up one or two round bales with the front loader, and up to four round bales with the rear linkage.

“They can also carry square bales on their side,” said Anderson.

He and his wife Michelle farm at Wyndham, Southland and after shifting a lot of round bales for themselves and neighbours came up with the idea of Two Hands.

It is attached to the loader with a Euro hitch and the Two Hands has a centre partition with an inde-pendently operated clamping arm on either side. Each arm clamps each bale to the centre partition independently for carrying and stacking.

To operate It needs a third and fourth service. The arms open 1.56m and the overall width is 2.41m.

The model on the rear linkage works the same way and with a backstop fitted can carry four bales stacked two high in the paddock.

“With a double clamp on the front and a double on the back I can shift up to 160 bales an hour.” www.2hands.co.nzTel. 03 246 9556

More hands make work lighter

“With a double clamp on the front and a double on the back I can shift up to 160 bales an hour.”

Scours vaccine at lower costa new rotavirus scours vaccine costing much less than usual will allow greater numbers of animals to be protected, says the supplier, Phoenix Pharm.

The company’s veterinarian Bob Sadler says vaccination of pregnant cows and heifers to stimulate rota-virus antibody production in the colostrum has become a common way to help protect calves from rotavirus scours.

Two vaccine options have been available in recent years, but this

year a third option is on sale: Rota-gal is a vaccine containing the G6 strain of rotavirus antigen (the strain causing most rotavirus out-breaks in New Zealand), plus corona virus and E coli K99 antigens.

Sadler says one of the con-straints on farmers has been the cost on vaccinating. “A lot like to use vaccines to prevent scours out-breaks but there’s been a consider-able cost attached to vaccinating the cost.

“The main point of difference

with Rotagal is it is significantly cheaper. Some farmers have not been vaccinating because of the cost and some, for instance, only do half the herd to avoid costs. The cost has been up to $5 per cow and that can be quite a lot out of the animal health budget.”

Rotagal, a registered veterinary medicine, comes from Europe, from a small, very focused vaccine manu-facturer, says Sadler.www.phoenixpharm.co.nz09 476 7391

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Paul Anderson

Contact your local rural supplies merchant or phone 0800 266 258

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Machinery & Products // 31

Irrigate effluent further at lower costwhen irrigating effluent, consistent pres-sure and volume over greater distances are cru-cial – a case for progress-ing cavity (PC) pumps, says noted pump maker NOV Mono.

PC pumps allow farm-

ers to spread effluent further without the nui-sance of costly upgrades to power supply, says Shazad Ibnul, general manager of Mono Pumps New Zea-land.

Nov Mono, a promi-nent global manufacturer

of PC pumps, has supplied water and effluent pumps to New Zealand farmers for almost 40 years. Its current range of PC efflu-ent pumps has been on the local market for five years.

Ibnul says Mono is the only PC pump manufacturer directly serv-ing New Zealand farmers. It has a network of deal-ers providing ser-vice and support nationwide.

Mono’s dairy effluent pumps offer substan-tial cost savings, the company says. With a 13L/s capacity and dis-

charge pressure up to 120m from their stan-dard range, Mono elimi-nates the need for a series of pumps when irrigat-ing paddocks further away from the pond.

“With Mono, farmers can get the effluent spread further and at a consistent rate, so there’s generally no need to spend on upgrading the power supply,” Ibnul told Dairy News. “So, based

on comparisons with centrifugal effluent pumps that deliver a similar performance, a Mono PC option will cost less to operate.”

Priced from $11,000, Mono PC pumps come with cast iron body, hard chrome-plated rotor and nitrile rubber stator.

Ibnul says no one in New Zealand has more experience in PC pump technology than Mono.

“This is what Mono is known for. We’re one of the first PC pump manu-facturers in the world.”

He says the Mono brand is synonymous in New Zealand with water pumps powered by diesel, electricity and solar. “New Zealand has trusted Mono to pump, screen and grind its wastewater for nearly 40 years.”

Ibnul says Mono dairy effluent pumps use up to

75% less power than a cen-trifugal pump. With low running speeds, there is reduced wear and there-fore longer pump life.

The pumps are surface mounted, easier to clean and less hazardous to maintain. They may be dis-mantled on site, so there’s need to send them away for repair, saving farm downtime.0800659012www.mono-pumps.com

Progressing cavity pumps from NOV Mono allow effluent to be spread further.

Costly upgrades to power supply are not needed for NOV Mono pumps.

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32 // Machinery & Products / farM Bikes & atv’s

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Rats driven from shed

Speed rakes need low poweron disPlay at the recent South Island Field Days was the latest Kuhn SR310 and SR312 rakes out of the company’s North American stable. Both are from the Speed Rake 300 series of high capacity

carted wheel units.The SR310 has five

wheels aside and can cover 5.3-6.3m; the SR312 with six wheels can cover 6.3-7.4m. Both models can be closed hydraulically to transport at 2.7m and the

wheel lift is also hydrau-lically operated. Both machines need two double acting hydraulic outlets.

Tractor power needed is as low as 20hp with each floating rake wheel being spring suspended on

Sarah Govier promotes Kuhn rakes at the South Island Field Days.

another dairy farm troubled by rats has installed Pest Free electromag-netic expellers to drive the critters out.

When rats were detected near the farm’s large rotary milking platform the manager decided to expel them to avoid chewing damage to wiring. (Rats must chew to limit the growth of their teeth.)

The farm chose Pest Free Pro models, the medium-size unit in the Australian manufacturer’s range. It is effective in buildings up to 400m2. The farm also bought Pest Free domes-tic units (effective to 200m2) for its houses.

Farm and rural uses of these devices now also include piggeries and livestock feed mills, tractor sheds, and seed and grain piles. Where electrical cabling is sparse in outbuildings, some farmers run an extension cord criss-cross over machines and grain piles, then plug the Pest Free into the end of the cord.

About 7000 expellers now operate in New Zealand – domestic, Pro and commercial models. The commercial

model services buildings to 1000m2.The Pest Free plugs into a 230V

power point and runs 24/7, overlay-ing a 50Hz pulse onto the electromag-netic field that occurs naturally around live electrical wiring. It switches on/off every three minutes, so rodents do not develop immunity.

The pulsing stresses rodents, caus-ing them to lose body moisture, drink more and eat less, so upsetting their nutrition and reproductive patterns. They ‘learn’ that they must exit the building or dangerously dehydrate.

The Pest Free technology was proven during 2-year trials (1996-97) at the University of New England, Armi-dale, NSW. Australian Federal Gov-ernment funding helped to research, develop and export the products. They are sold in many countries.

The Pro costs $399, the domestic $160, the commercial $1800. A 60-day moneyback guarantee and a two-year warranty apply to all.Tel. 09 833 1931 or 021 230 1863

curved rake-wheel arms, to follow the ground con- tour with less ground pres-

sure, disturbing less soil and producing cleaner hay.

The windrow width can be altered from 0.914m to 1.83m. The rake is easily converted from a base ten

raking wheel model to 12 raking wheels to suit cus-tomer needs.

The product was sup-ported on site by Kuhn’s area sales manager Sarah Govier. She is from Eng-

land and has been with the company 11 years mostly at company headquarters in France and the last 18 months in Melbourne. Tel. 0800 585 007www.kuhn.co.nz

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New! ADR 500 Effluent Screening Plant

Take your Effluent Pond from crusty to aerobic

At last: A Traveling Effluent Irrigator…

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Call us now to find a distributor and installer in your area [email protected] Main South Road, Rakaia 7710 Mid Canterbury

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Pluck’s can adapt our ADR 500 and twin pond

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r All plant and pumps very low kW r Self cleaning screen r Self cleaning ponds

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r Screens out everything bigger than 1 mm

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from this … to this … using one of these:


farM Bikes & atv’s // 33

honda’s Big TRX500 had dropped off our radar recently, with a wave of large capacity imports taking more of the quad limelight.

Blue Wing Honda loaned us a TRX500FPA so we could get reac-quainted with the ‘big red’. It remains a great ride and all you need in a large quad for the farm.

The TRX500FPA has a 499cc OHV liquid-cooled single with 92 x 75mm bore and stroke – a strong engine which coped well lugging through slow, tight forest sections of the track we tested it on, and it was equally happy being opened up for a blast home along Muriwai Beach at 60km/h.

You can still order the

500 with a manual gear-box, but we’d opt for the automatic fitted to our test bike, which has a manual mode available should the rider want to hold a gear for steep con-ditions or while towing. The manual selection is quick and helped with some steep descents, although even left in auto-matic, the engine break-ing on its own would have stopped the big Honda running away on us. Low ratio was only needed once on a very steep sec-tion.

The other feature on the FPA model is power steering – an option on the lesser variants of the 500 and one we do not hesi-tate to recommend. The price difference is about $850 and we’d spend it. It takes the shock out of the handlebars over rough

ground and makes it safer and easier to manoeu-vre regardless of the con-ditions as the bars won’t wrench in your hands like unassisted steering can. Weighing 294kg the TRX500 is not a fatty, but is still a big unit and the power steering certainly makes it more nimble.

Time didn’t allow for a tow test, but we know from previous tests that the TRX500 is fit for the task, especially with the rigid rear axle that maintains ground clearance regardless of load.

Bikes with inde-pendent rear suspen-sion generally soak up the bumps better than the solid axle with dual-dampener swing arm on the Honda, but it is still a comfortable ride and

farmers will want to con-sider the towing and main-tenance advantages of the simpler set up.

Overall comfort and usability on the 500 is excellent. The 861mm seat height will accommodate most riders well. The inde-pendent double wishbone front end is compliant, and the single-gate gear selector is, like most of the major controls, intuitive to use.

The TRX500FPA costs

$15,845+GST; the cheaper manual version, without power steer, costs $13,905. You can buy cheaper

quads, but even at that money, it remains a con-vincing package.www.honda.co.nz

adaM fricker

Big red still delivers

The Honda TRX500 remains a great ride.

0800 440 290 www.polaris.co.nz

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34 // farM Bikes & atv’s

it started in a garage in Ashburton some 30 years ago.

Smith Attachments began making carriers, handle-bar protectors and towbars for Honda 125cc motorcy-cles. Then came trailers for towing by motorcycle – still popular.

Ian Smith’s company kept growing, with side carts, towbars, carriers, then ATV bullbars.

In 1980 Ray McCormick joined Smith, combin-ing production development expertise with business acumen. In the same year the workshop trebled in size and they bought their first tubebender, improving speed and quality of production.

Ray and Pam McCormick bought Smith’s share of the company after he retired in 1999.

Today, says Smith Attachments, the com-pany has a major share of the New Zealand and Australian ATV bullbar and mudflap market.

By the late 1980s, quads made their entrance into New Zealand, demand grew for the company’s galvanised bullbars. These remain a part of the product range.

Smith Attachments says its superior designs and workmanship can now be seen in new products such as farm utility bullbars and mud-flap kits. “The aim of the company is presentation; durability and long lasting products credibly priced.”

The company says it’s excited about the new UTV/MUV releases which complement its already large range of existing bullbars and mud flap kits. They are available in Honda, Polaris and Yamaha models. A bull-bar and mud flap kit for the Can Am Commander will be available in the near future.

Dealers nationwide sell the products.Tel. 0508 805 801 www.smithattachments.co.nz

Proven gear for quads, utilities

SMITH ATTACHMENTS will next month launch its Fence Mate fence reel carrier, selling through CRT Farmlands and motorcycle dealers.

Features include: carries one or two fence reels; extra carrying capacity; hot dip galvanised; easy to use.

fence Mate

The bull bars and mudflap kits fit Honda, Polaris and Yamaha machines (above and left).

The new “Fence Mate’ also fits most of the quad bikes as pictured below.

We have a range of bike carriers ideal for the lambing and calving season. The 4WC and 2WC have the added advantage of a place for your dog to ride on and also tie downs to attach bungy cords to hold objects too big for the box. They all have rubber rope tensioners that close the lid and will not fly open, plus come with adjustable cable ties for fitting to the bike. AVAILABLE THROUGH ALL LEADING FARM MERCHANTS PHONE 06 357 8562

WILSONwww.wilsonplastics.co.nz

CARRY BOX 2

CB2

CARRY BOX 1

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2 WHEEL BIKE CARRIER

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Height ... 250mm

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LAMBING & CALVING

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Length...470mm

Height ... 175mm

Width...340mm

Length...720mm

Height ... 225mm

Width...340mm

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Zoetis New Zealand Limited. Level 3, 14 Normanby Road, Mt Eden, Auckland 1024, New Zealand. Tel: 0800 650 277, Fax: 0800 628 629. CYDECTIN is a registered trademark of Zoetis Inc. or its subsidiaries. Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997 No A06203. DeWalt® is a trademark of Stanley Black and Decker Inc. *Cydectin Pour-On DeWalt Drill Promotional packs and bonus packs are only available while stocks last. +Market research data on file.

**The Re-Stock your Workshop competition runs from 1st February 2013 to 30th April 2013. For full terms and conditions, visit www.cydectin.co.nz.ZOE

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*Terms and Conditions apply: RD1’s standard credit criteria apply in relation to any products you charge to your RD1 Account. Participation in the promotion is deemed to be acceptance of these terms and conditions. The $500 spend must be accumulated in one transaction at a RD1 store within the promotional period. To claim the $50 RD1 Gift Card the purchaser must return to Kaiwaka, no later than 12 July 2013, one receipt evidencing the $500 spend on Kaiwaka product only and their completed details on the promotional neck tag attached to Kaiwaka clothing (to RD1’s reasonable satisfaction). The $50 RD1 Gift Card will then be sent to the named purchaser on the completed neck tag to the address supplied. The $50 RD1 Gift Card is not transferable and cannot be redeemed for cash. Employees (and their immediate families) of RD1 Limited are eligible to participate, all items must be purchased at full price and when the $50 RD1 Gift Card is redeemed these items must also be purchased at full retail price. RD1 Limited has the right to extend or shorten the period for qualifying purchases. If the purchaser does not provide the receipt, evidencing the $500 spend on Kaiwaka product by the required date, the $50 RD1 Gift Card offer is no longer valid.

Spend $500 on any Kaiwaka clothing and receive a $50 RD1 Gift Card*

Dairy News 30 April 2013

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Transcript of Dairy News 30 April 2013