dairy news 24 sept 2013

Go with the Flow

comFortable rideNew Holland T5 rangePaGe 47

diy heat detectionOn-farm milk testing PaGe 11

Chinese consumers embrace Anchor UHT milk. PaGe 3

Recurring droughts are putting farmers under more pressure to access and manage water within council rules. PAGE 12

september 24, 2013 issue 299 // www.dairynews.co.nz

DAi ry NEws september 24, 2013

news // 3

news �� 3-22

oPinion �� 24-25

aGribusiness �� 26-28

manaGement ��30-35

animal health ��36-39

milk quality ��41-44

machinery & Products �� 45-50

New feed mill brings better service. PG.26

Disc drill delights contractors. PG.49

Settled into productive OAD routine. PG.35

Happy Chinese consumers trolley co-op directors

Fonterra board members visiting China were “literally run over by supermarket trolleys” as consumers tried to buy the new Anchor UHT products just launched, says Fonterra chairman John Wilson.

It’s a good indication of how well the reputa-tion of Fonterra and its brands are holding up in the marketplace.

“It was great to be in the supermarket and talk-ing to consumers – being run over by supermar-ket trolleys everywhere. There were huge lines of people lining up to taste and purchase our UHT Anchor milk,” Wilson told Dairy News. The Anchor UHT milk had been on the shelves in China for just a week when the board were there.

Wilson was in China for 10 days, as part of a normal directors’ trip scheduled for some time. Following the food safety recall issue the approach was changed.

“We got closer to consumers, customers and officials. We always get close but we got very close this time. We split into three groups as a board and got around a reasonable part of the countryside, and met with officials and some key customers.

“From the ministerial and official level it is clear they are very appreciative of Fonterra and the approach we’ve taken. There was strong knowledge at that level that it was a pre-cautionary recall and the message is very clear that we did the right thing.”

Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings did media interviews to huge audiences and “got very strong feedback along the same lines”.

“When we talked to consumers on the super-market floors there were questions because there are some very sophisticated, very knowledgeable consumers. They have heard about the precaution-

ary recall so they ask questions about assurance and surety. As soon as the questions are answered the product is purchased.”

Talking to these consumers, and as shown by research, there is recog-nition that Fonterra took a precautionary approach and “that food safety comes first for us and we tell it as it is”. “It was very reassuring for us.”

Wilson says they are well through the first phase during which there was anxiety. “Most of

the conversation is about ‘you guys did the right thing’. We have huge investment in our people, we’ve been there a long time, we are ramping up that investment in our people and our brands gen-erally and so we have strong contact and we do a lot of work with consumers in that marketplace regardless.

“That marketplace is sophisticated and our

significant investment and is also known. We are investing significantly through our dairy farming business that we have in China.

“That commitment is acknowledged and accepted. I think it all goes together; you cannot just cherry-pick a part of the story.”

Wilson says these are huge markets and Fon-terra has been operating there for a long time.

“We’ve got our food service business and our specialty powder business there. We have a strong presence through social media, marketing chan-nels and we have a lot of people on the ground. These markets take huge commitment and huge investment over a significant period of time.”

He says they planned a relatively quiet launch of UHT as they are building a plant at Waitoa to service that market and “won’t have milk flowing out of there for some time”.

The launch of a Fonterra infant formula brand into China is still scheduled for later this year, Wilson says.

Pam tiPapamelat@ruralnews�co�nz

“It was great to be in the supermarket and talking to consumers – being run over by supermarket trolleys everywhere.”

@dairy_newsfacebook.com/dairynews

Fonterra chairman John Wilson meets Chinese shoppers during a market visit this month.

Dai ry News september 24, 2013

4 // news

Power on, water next Bill to run into millionsinsurers say the cost of this month’s monster winds will run to tens of millions of dollars.

FMG alone says it expects the total impact to be $13-13.5m and it is only 40-45% of the market, sug-gesting the total cost will be closer to $30m.

“For us, putting the earthquakes aside, this is the largest ever event,” marketing manager Glenn Croasdale told Dairy News.

“The Taranaki storm last year was a little over $7 million and the Manawatu floods were about $10m, so this was a significant event.”

Just over 1700 claims had been received by FMG as of late last week, 200 of which related to irriga-tor damage.

“They will form a large chunk of the financial impact. We estimate there’s about $7m of damage to irrigators.”

Buildings damage and a few vehicle claims make up most of the balance.

Most claims due to the storm are coming from Canterbury, but they stretch from Invercargill to Gisborne, an unusually widespread impact for one weather event.

While he acknowledged the importance of get-ting infrastructure such as irrigators fixed fast, Croasdale stressed the need to get the go ahead from insurers before starting if a claim has, or is to be made.

the worst wind storm for decades left Canterbury dairy farm-ers last week picking up damaged irrigators, fences and shelter belts.

Some are already counting the cost of lost production while others are hoping regular rain will keep the grass growing until the irrigation infrastructure can be repaired.

By the end of the week it was expected all sheds would be back on mains power as lines compa-nies reconnected the last few rural properties. Immediately after the September 10-11 gales they were counting the outages in tens of thousands, including hundreds of dairy sheds.

For those with generators, little if any production was lost as there was minimal disruption to milking but for some without it took up to three days to source a temporary power supply.

“All the cows were milked by the Friday,” Federated Farmers Dairy

chairman Willy Leferink, who farms in the heart of the stormstruck area, told Dairy News.

“If they weren’t, it’s because there were personal issues because there were plenty of generators available.”

For those that missed several milkings there will inevitably be an effect on production and he believes all farms should bite the bullet and buy a generator now.

“With an $8 payout forecast, it is the year to buy it.”

Compared to the multi-million turnover of most farms these days, the $10,000 to $20,000 price tag is a modest investment.

“Quite a few [shed] builders insist on including them these days anyway. All our farms bar two had generators, and one of those which didn’t have one was only because we hadn’t got round to picking it up yet.”

A few milk collections were missed due to roads blocked by trees and/or powerlines but little if any milk had to be spilt, he says.

Some milk couldn’t be chilled

properly, which normally would have incurred penalties, but as far as he was aware processors had been reasonable in making allowance for the exceptional circumstances.

Stock water was also a problem for those without power, with many having to tanker water in.

While all sheds were up and running within days of the storm, it is another story with the irriga-tors, relied on by many dairy farms in Canterbury to keep the grass growing. An estimated 800 pivots, laterals and/or rotor-rainers were blown over by the nor’west blast that touched 143km/h at Christ-

church Airport.“The shortage of [irrigator]

parts is going to be an issue,” says Leferink. “They’ve flown in a lot of teams of people but there are some parts, like lengths of pipe, you can’t fly in.”

Some farms on lighter soils were already irrigating, so infrastruc-ture damage seems already likely to cause production loss for some.

That said, Leferink says he’s heard quite a few of the damaged pivots can be made operational, just without the corner arms which seemed the parts most prone to damage.

andrew swallowandrews@ruralnews�co�nz

The storm left a trail of damage in Canterbury.

@dairy_news facebook.com/dairynews

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news // 5

Irrigators out of action for weeks

GettinG damaGed irrigators back up and run-ning is the big concern on many dairy farms in the wake of the September 10-11 windstorm.

Irrigation New Zealand estimates 800 irrigators, mostly pivots and later-als, went over in the gales and it will be weeks, if not months before they’re all operational again.

“For probably 60% of them it’s just a repair job but for 40% we’re talking major imports of parts from overseas required,” INZ chief exec-utive Andrew Curtis told

Dairy News.Extra staff has been

drafted in from the US and Australia to speed the response and Immigration New Zealand has provided a specific contact to facili-tate the visa process.

Curtis says besides the wind damage, there a number of pivots and/or control panels towards to the top of the plains that have suffered lightening damage.

On some farms such damage will not be imme-diately obvious so running pre-season checks before starting pumping in ear-nest is important this year, he says.

“If you have a prob-lem because of your own

stupidity [not running checks] this year you’ll find you’re at the back of the queue for repairs and that queue’s going to be pretty long.”

Where effluent irriga-tion infrastructure has been damaged, some form of contingency opera-tion must be put in place to avoid environmental issues, he adds. “We’ve put together some guidance with Fonterra, DairyNZ and ECan on this.”

While a few properties on light soils are already irrigating, most soil mois-ture deficits in the region haven’t reached trigger points yet so as of last week there would have been little grass produc-

tion lost, says Curtis.“The challenge will

be if we get a week of nor’westers, unless we get rain with it. For some the reality is it is going to be six or eight weeks until the repairs are done.”

Dairy Holdings’ chief executive Colin Glass is hopeful it won’t be that long.

“The response of the irrigation companies has been very pleasing. The initial comments were that they could be eight weeks out of action but the issues don’t appear to be as severe as was first suggested, and they’re get-ting arrangements in place and gearing up.”

However, he adds that

if there isn’t a good rain in the next week or two across the region then there will be a delayed production impact. Of the group’s 58 farms, the worst hit were those in the Oxford and Te Parita areas.

“At Te Parita seven out of the eight irrigators are damaged and at Oxford 50% are affected, but across the company we are

relieved that the amount of damage elsewhere is pretty minor really.”

Elsewhere a few calf sheds were damaged and shelter-belts flattened. Eucalypts seemed to suffer worst, he notes.

In terms of production, the group’s staff pulled out all the stops to get genera-tors around the properties, one machine servicing six farms in 24 hours, and

nearly all the group’s cows were milked within a day of the outage.

“We lost power to nearly all our farms across Canterbury except in the Waitaki.”

As of late last week, five Dairy Holdings’ sheds were still without power, though all had dedicated generators and had done so from within three days of the event, he says.


‘Significantly larger than other storms’lines comPany Orion, which covers the northern half of the worst wind-hit area, says the storm was the largest weather event it has had to deal with since 1975, and the damage was comparable to the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit the region in September 2010.

“In terms of network damage, it is significantly larger than all other storms we have had since 1975 and only the February 2011 earthquake has had a bigger impact on Orion,” energy projects manager Stephen Godfrey said in a statement to

Dairy News and other media.He was hopeful all customers,

including the last two dairy sheds still without power in the region, would be back online by the end of the weekend. That compares to three weeks after the 1975 wind-storm and Orion has many more rural customers now.

“So our progress at restoring power following this storm is very good given the amount of damage and scale.”

While it isn’t safe to have crews working on lines in the dark, they

had been out every other available hour, with many extra contractors brought in from other regions to speed the response.

Feds Dairy chairman Willy Leferink acknowledges the work Orion and the other main lines companies have put in.

“We need to say a big thank you to all those who worked their butts off to get us back on the grid.”

Godfrey says in such events farms where animal welfare is at risk because of outages, such as cows needing to be milked, are pri-

oritised for reconnection, which indirectly means those that have done the right thing and invested in generators are penalised.

“It’s a tricky one but I would still say those that have generators are the sensible ones because those without are still likely to be with-out power for several days in this sort of event.”

Orion stresses those using gen-erators should get them installed by registered electricians to ensure the safety of linesmen repairing the network.

About 800 irrigators were damaged.

Fallen trees on a Canterbury farm.

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6 // news

in brief

FeDerAteD FArmers is sup-porting proposals to cut ACC levies and will make formal submission to ACC on this before the consultation period ends in mid October.

but it’s concerned the politi-cians, and ultimately the cabi-net, will have the final say and that the proposed cuts may not eventuate.

Feds ACC spokeswoman Katie milne says the proposed levies for 2014/15 could be good news for farmers and should save them

hundreds of dollars each year, es-pecially if they are employers as well. she says the performance of ACC has jumped up a few notches in recent years.

“While we farmers may work in one of the highest risk groups, at last we are seeing an improved safety record over the past five years for dairy, beef and sheep farmers translate into lower pro-posed levies. We will be watching closely to ensure any cut to levies doesn’t shift the goalposts of entitlement.”

Feds back acc levy cuts

oz – china Fta dealNeW ZeALAND’s first-mover advantage from its China free trade agreement (FtA) is at risk of being diluted as Australia’s newly elected Government looks to conclude its own FtA with China, says global accounting firm CpA Australia.

CpA Australia country manager for New Zealand, David Jenkins, says after eight years of inconclu-sive negotiations the new Austra-lian Government will likely seek to finalise a free trade agreement with China within 12 months.

“While recent food safety scares have been a big wake-up

call for New Zealand exporters, now is definitely not the time to be complacent or fall back on the fact we were first with a China FtA.

“there are many barriers that Australia and China still need to overcome before a free trade agreement can be concluded, par-ticularly in financial services, but these barriers are not insurmount-able.”

Jenkins says Australia’s priority areas for a China FtA will be in areas where New Zealand’s tra-ditional advantages lie, including dairy.

Fonterra botching its PR – O’Connorlabour sPokesman on Primary Industries Damien O’Connor says Fon-terra has been caught short in its crisis management during the botulism scare.

He told Dairy News the co-op’s public relations structure and man-agement have been abysmal, based for years on an assumption that they could manage everything from the boardroom right up to the Prime Minister’s office on their own.

He says Fonterra needs to go back to basics and devise systems that enable them to “act appropriately” when mis-takes occur.

O’Connor says he’s concerned about the balance of the Fonterra board – that it contains a growing number of bank-ers. He’s not convinced farmer share-holders are the problems.

“Perhaps it might be the indepen-dents or the mix of the two. It would be unfair to criticise the farmer direc-tors of Fonterra when we have a growing number of directors disconnected from day-to-day farming.

“They’ve now got a responsibility to

NZX and I suggest that the fear of unit price or unit values [falling] and respon-sibilities to the stock market may have led to PR and management decisions that are inappropriate and in hindsight were wrong.”

O’Connor says there is an assump-tion that the responsibility to the stock market makes everything is more clear and transparent.

“I suggest the exact opposite is true. If you look at some of the corporate

failures that have littered the NZX over the last 30 years, that’s certainly the case.”

O’Connor says the true cost of the botulism scare has been grossly underestimated, and that the $2 mil-lion allocated by the Government to help companies affected by the fallout is “chicken feed” relative to the invest-ment needed to re-build the integrity of the New Zealand brand.

Damien O’Connor


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8 // news

Grant CoombesCoombes has been farming in the wider Taupiri area for the last 23 years having lived in the district his whole life. He and his wife Kyly have four school-age children and own a 400-cow farm in Taupiri where he says they enjoy being part of, and par-ticipating in the ward eight community. He is a current participant of the Fonterra governance development programme and a Fonterra networker.

“I am running as the Fonterra shareholders councillor in ward eight because I believe we need to improve the engagement between Fonterra and Fonterra shareholders,” Coombes says. “As shareholders we require a shareholders’ councillor that is ded-icated to communicating with us to gain an understanding of our issues, concerns, feelings, thoughts and mood then represent us clearly to the Fon-terra board.

“I am fully committed to the task of representing ward eight and with the support of my fellow shareholders my key objective will be to identify what farmers in ward eight require from our Shareholders’ Council to ensure we

are best represented.” Agriculture and busi-

ness networks Coombes draws upon include:

■ Fonterra Net-worker.

■ Fonterra Gover-nance Development Pro-gramme participant.

■ Registered Go Dairy educational farm. (DairyNZ)

■ Registered Dairy Connect Mentor. (DairyNZ)

■ Active member of Institute of Directors (IOD).

■ Chairman of FBP limited - a best practice governance education company.

■ Deputy chair of the WINTEC Stu-dents Residents Trust - provider of accommodation for rural students attending WINTEC Courses.“On a personal front

I sit on the committee of our local sports club, enjoy coaching school level cricket and enjoy spending time with family,” he says.

Ross WallisWallis was born and raised on a dairy farm in Raglan. He and his wife Shayney

bought their farm in 2004 and now milk 285 cows on it, alongside a lease support block. They have four teenage children – Laura, Ben, Steph and Josh.

Wallis’ secondary school educa-tion was at Auckland Grammar School 1983-1987. He attended Lincoln Col-lege briefly before travelling overseas for a decade and spent five of those years as a campaign director for a vol-unteer youth organisation, coordinat-ing regional youth events in Australia, US and India.

On returning home in 2000 to the family farm he took up a management position before going on to a lower order contract in 2002. He completed my Diploma in Agribusiness Manage-ment in 2004 through the Ag ITO.

For four years he was on the board of trustees of the local primary school at Te Uku and convened the local

dairy farmers’ dis-cussion group for a number of years.

“However – most of all - I am passionate about the dairy indus-try and all that it has to offer,” Wallis says. “We have a very bright future ahead of us and much of that can be attributed

to those who have gone before us. There are fantastic opportunities that lie ahead and I am excited about the direction our cooperative is heading.

“I am also aware that we cannot take this for granted. We have a great co-op and it must be guarded wisely. As a small herd owner I am passion-ate that our views be well represented in our cooperative and that we must remain ever focused that our business remains strong for future generations.

“If successful I will strive to make a positive difference and represent our ward diligently.”

Bruce HaultainHaultain is 51 years old, mar-ried to Adrianne, with three adult children. He has been involved in dairy all his life, having been brought up in a family with a long-stand-ing involvement in New Zea-land’s dairy industry. He and Adrianne bought their own farm in the Gordonton area 25 years ago.

Over the years he has been involved in numerous industry related groups and organisa-tions including YFC, Ag ITO, NZDC supplier rep, farm discussion groups, a DairyNZ farmer support group, and animal health research trials.

“In the past I have experienced

the ‘highs’ and the ‘lows’ of the dairy industry, both here in New Zealand and overseas, which has taught me many valuable business and life skills, some of which I would bring with me to this position,” Haultain says.

“I want to see the greatest returns possible for the shareholders, and at the same time ensure that Fonterra continues to grow by increasing effi-ciencies and productivity. I would like to see ongoing development of a sus-tainable dairy industry that ensures continued efficiency, gains and growth for the next generation of farmers.

“I feel strongly that one of the most important aspects of our dairy industry is communication. Without clear, concise two-way communication, both from the bottom up and the top down, our cooperative cannot operate to its true potential.

“I would like to foster this aspect, by taking your views and opinions forward, and pro-viding you with regular feedback from the council.”

Elections are required in two of 14 wards of the Fonterra Shareholders Council- Hamilton and Coastal Taranaki. Three candidates are contesting the Hamilton seat and two in Coastal Taranaki. Here are the candidates’ profiles:

Co-op shareholders council elections in two wardsWard 8, Hamilton

TO pAge 10

Bruce Haultain

grant Coombes

Ross Wallis

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way communication between the share-holders and the board by being a strong voice for shareholders concerns, views and queries. I’d welcome the opportunity to broaden my knowledge of our com-

pany and its operations to get a greater understanding of how ‘value’ is created for our shareholders and returned to them.”

Brophy says his recent relevant expe-rience Includes:

Fonterra Networker for the past seven years.

Past convenor for DairyNZ Discussion Groups for the area.

Board of trustee’s at Warea School, up till its closure, by the Government.

16yrs membership of a motorcycle club with eight years either chairman or secretary.

Brophy’s other interests outside farm-ing are family, fishing, shooting, motorcy-cling (on and off road) and anything with an engine, particularly American muscle cars.

10 // news

VOTING PACKS will be mailed to eligible shareholders on Friday, No-vember 1. Shareholders can vote by internet, fax or post, using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system. The voting period is from Friday, No-vember 1 until 10.30am on Monday, November 25 with the results being announced later that day.

No elections for required for a number of the wards.The councillors-elect are:

■ Ward 3 Northern Wairoa, Penny Smart

■ Ward 6 Hauraki , Julie Pirie

■ Ward 9 Morrinsville, Malcolm Piggott

■ Ward 12 Cambridge, Kevin Monks

■ Ward 15 South Waikato, Ian Brown

■ Ward 18 Otorohanga, Duncan Coull

■ Ward 24 Southern Taranaki , David Werder

■ Ward 27 Southern Manawatu, Richard Syme

■ Ward 30 Northern Central Canter-bury, Ange Ward

■ Ward 32 Southern Canterbury, John Gregan

■ Ward 33 Otago, Ad Bekkers and Ivan Lines

There were no nominations received in ward 31 Mid Canterbury for a second councillor. Charles Whitehead is the incumbent in that ward and continues in his role. The Shareholders’ Council will consider the options for filling this vacancy soon.

All successful candidates take of-fice at the close of the 2013 Fonterra annual meeting of shareholders. The successful candidate in ward 8 (Hamilton) will hold office until 2015 when the vacating councillor was due to retire by rotation unless there is a review of that ward.

The councillors-elect in ward 32 (Southern Canterbury) and ward 33 (Otago) will hold office for one year by which time the ward bound-ary review will have taken place and appropriate amendments to existing wards implemented in time for the 2014 election cycle.

VotinG Packs to be mailed out

Elections loom in two wards

Lloyd MorganAfter completing his education, Morgan returned to Taranaki, and has gone through the sharemilking route to farm ownership in partner-ship with his wife, Jo, and now with two high school age sons. He has been involved in local community groups and schools, and more recently regional sport (hockey primarily).

“Despite spending a number of years as a networker, I never consid-ered standing for council until getting shoulder-tapped,” says Morgan.

“Several local farmers suggested I do so, so after consulting (Nick Bar-rett) the outgoing councillor about the role, and carefully considering whether I could do it justice I agreed to stand.

“I farm a challenging property, inland from Rahotu, since converting a small block 23 years ago. With care-ful planning and persistent effort, I have grown that to a scale that I can employ sharemilkers and I now have the time, and hopefully wisdom, to contribute to the wider industry.

“I hope, if elected, to present a practical and reasoned approach to the issues facing ward 21 sharehold-ers. Despite being a historical dairy powerhouse, some suppliers feel alienated due to the sheer scale of development in other regions.

“The ability of ‘our’ company (Fonterra) to re-engage those with similar sentiments will have implica-tions for future growth of the cooper-ative. Increasing levels of regulation also appears a concern, imposing, as always, cost of compliance which has greater effect on smaller scale oper-

ations, unless offset with greater returns.

“For the industry to succeed these issues must be addressed, along with sustainability and its wider implica-tions. These I believe are the major issues facing Ward 21.

“Personally, I have concerns about fluctuating returns and the behav-iours this appears to drive through-out the wider industry.”

Vaughn BrophyBrophy is 47 years old and farms in partnership with his wife Sharron. They have four children, aged 11-16, and live at Warea where they have been farming for 26 years.

“I am proud our names are amongst the “Initial Supplying Shareholders” on the wall at Fon-terra HQ at Princess St, Auckland,” says Brophy. “It is this belief in our company that has made me put for-ward my name for candidacy of ward 21 for the Fonterra Shareholders’ Council.

“If elected I would like to strengthen and improve the two-

Ward 21, Coastal Taranaki

Lloyd Morgan

FROM pAge 8

Vaughn Brophy

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news // 11

gDT clocks 100th auctionFonterra says its Global Dairy Trade (GDT) online auction has become an essential feature of the global dairy industry.

Commenting after it’s 100th auction last week, GDT direc-tor Paul Grave says the milestone marks a coming of age of the plat-form which is now in its fifth year of trading and in July this year sur-passed US$10 billion in aggregate sales.

“Achieving our 100th trad-

ing event proves the success of the online model. It shows that Global Dairy Trade has matured to become an essential feature of the global dairy industry.

“GDT now provides price transparency and highly efficient purchasing for 850 registered bidders from 90 countries. The support for the platform shows we are meeting a market need to find a robust reference price that reflects true levels of supply and demand in

the market.”The platform is now used by six

global processors: Fonterra, Dairy America, Amul, Arla, Murray Goul-burn and Euroserum.

A typical auction lasting about two hours will sell enough prod-uct to fill a container ship, amount-ing to about 2500 standard 20-foot containers, valued at US$100 to $250 million.

Global Dairy Trade operates at arm’s length from its owner Fon-

terra. Fortnightly auctions are run on behalf of GDT by Boston-based, NASDAQ-listed CRA International.

Last week’s GDT auction saw average prices rise 0.3%. Prices remain 50% higher than at the same time last year.

However, the high NZ dollar is a worry. Westpac economist Nathan Penny says the fly in the ointment is the exchange rate, which has risen from US78 cents to US82 cents over the past fortnight.

DIY heat detection from milk

how Good would it be to know for sure that all the cows you put up for service this spring really are in heat?

That dream scenario could be reality if a South Canter-bury vet clinic’s trial with a novel on-farm milk progester-one test kit proves successful.

Andrew Bates, of Vetlife’s Temuka branch, has imported a batch of P4 Rapid progesterone heat detection test kits from the UK and has about 10 clients lined up to trial them.

Bates told Dairy News progesterone tests of milk have been used outside New Zealand for at least ten years, but until the P4 Rapid was launched last year, none had really been suitable for use in the larger and seasonal calving herds typical here.

The new kit could change that, he believes, because it is robust enough, and fast enough, to be done on-farm by the farmer or staff while the cow is at the shed for milking.

A milk sample is taken at cupping-on, and put into a small test-tube supplied with the kit. Then a test strip is dropped into it, and five minutes later you have a proges-terone reading.

A high result means the cow is definitely not on heat, so even if she’s been identified as bulling by other means, a service would be wasted.

More importantly, because she’s not been mistakenly served when not in heat, she’s less likely to be missed when she really is.

On the flip side, a cow you’re unsure about being in heat from traditional identification methods and which might not have been put up for service can be checked with a test: a high result means the cow is not on heat; a low result means the cow may be on heat and if there are other suspi-cious signs of bulling, the cow should be served as normal.

Catching a heat will result in at least 21 extra days of milk next season compared with the production had that heat been missed, points out Bates. Compared to the $5.50 cost per test, that’s potentially quite a big return.

The kits can also be used to confirm pregnancy, and in the year-round calving herds of the UK, where only a handful of cows would need checking each day, that has proved a popular use.


Andrew Bates

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12 // news

about 2500 dairy farmers in Waikato are yet to apply for water consents for their dairy sheds under Variation 6 of the regional plan. They need to apply by the end of next year.

Most will be granted consent as of right if they were taking water before 2008, but they must still apply. If they don’t they may miss out on their historic right to take that water.

The Environment Court made special provisions under Varia-tion 6 for existing dairy shed water takes, known as ‘grandparent-

ing’ rights, says Waikato Regional Council projection manager, regional plan implementation, Amy King. Those taking water before 2008 essentially can’t be declined consent, provided they meet cer-tain standards, says King.

So far just under 1000 farmers have applied, but the council esti-mates about 3500 need that con-sent. “We expect a majority of those will be grandparented most of their water, if not all. There will be some who are not grand-parented because they came after 2008.

“We expect quite a few people still need to apply. We are looking at ways to get people to engage.”

King says to get some efficiency

in processing, they are going from catchment to catchment process-ing people from a similar area. They started in the Waihou in late 2012, have just finished the Upper Waipa which is the King Country and Cor-omandel, and will be moving to the lower Waipa and the Te Awamutu area by the end of November. Farm-ers will be advised by mail.

In the areas already covered, about half the total applications they expect have been lodged.

“But there’s a number of people who haven’t got involved yet and we are keen to see them make sure they get the water that is essen-tially set aside and available just for them,” says King.

Waikato Regional Council’s

website contains information (www.waikatoregion.govt.nz).

In October, November and December DairyNZ is taking a roadshow on Variation 6 to 11 dif-ferent areas of Waikato (see www.dairynz.co.nz).

King says Variation 6 is an issue completely separate from the pros-ecution being taken by the coun-cil over a farmer allegedly taking water for irrigation without con-sent during this year’s drought. That prosecution is being taken under long-standing provisions of the Resource Management Act.

“But everyone needs to know we are taking water seriously [in respect of ] the different water users and different purposes.”


Farmers urged to apply for consent

More squaring off likely over water more Frequent droughts will put farm-ing communities including dairy under more pres-sure over water, says the Waikato Regional Council’s investigations manager Patrick Lynch.

Lynch has been involved in the council instigating a prosecution against a Waikato drystock farmer who allegedly took water for pasture irrigation in the drought last summer without any right to do so. The case has still to be proven in court. However the fact the council has taken the action “reflects a changing focus on a very valuable resource,” Lynch says.

“The Waikato region is now facing droughts which historically we haven’t had to contend with that often, but now, whether it is cli-

mate change or whatever reasons, there appears to be drought occurring on a more frequent basis. These are putting farming com-munities under a lot more pressure to access and manage water.”

Lynch says the prosecu-tion is being taken under longstanding rules under the Resource Manage-ment Act (RMA). It is not related to the more recent variation 6 in the Waikato Regional Plan which par-ticularly pertains to dairy farmers needing to apply for water rights for their historic use of water for dairy sheds.

Damming, taking and using water are unlawful as of right under the Resource Management Act unless it is expressly allowed, Lynch says. “There has to be a specific permission to take water. In Waikato, for instance, it is accepted for things like domestic use, for watering stock, that

kind of thing. The regional plan allows for that, you don’t need a consent; that is absolutely fine.

“But with small water-courses, if people started tapping into them for industrial uses the water-courses will never run downstream. The down-stream users who are rely-ing on it for watering their animals and that kind of thing will miss out. It is really about water manage-ment.”

Lynch says this particu-lar prosecution is for alleg-edly breaching the act by taking the water without any kind of permission. The water was allegedly taken in the midst of pos-sibly one of the worst droughts the Waikato has seen. “The entire region had to deal with the chal-lenges of the drought. Farming practices had to be amended accordingly.”

There are two-fold effects in taking water

without permission: the direct environmental effect at an ecological level; and the human level, with downstream users rely-ing on it for domestic use, watering their stock or other processes for which they may have gained a legal right.

Federated Farmers Waikato provincial presi-dent James Houghton says farmers want to know that councils will act fairly and take a tough line on those operating outside legal requirements.

During the drought, people who actually had the legal consents to irri-

gate were made to stop because of water restric-tions. They would natu-rally be frustrated if anyone “flouted” restrictions and irrigated without the legal consents.

Regional councils are trying to manage water for all, he says. It can be frus-trating for farmers to have to go through the pro-cesses when the water passes through their land. “But at times we’ve got to look at the whole picture,” he says.

Federated Farmers’ dairy spokesman Willy Leferink says taking water without consent means “you nick it off some-body else”. “It is like taking money out of somebody else’s wallet.”

Farmers in general are complying with the rules and councils are working a lot better alongside farm-ers. “The councils have to tread a fine line because if they become hardened like

some do, then there will be a revolt and with the elec-tions there will be a whole lot of new councillors.

“I don’t condone people taking water without con-sents, but where the coun-cils work very well with the farmers and the public you don’t have any issue. Taranaki is an example. Farmers are pretty aware about water restrictions.”

However both Lynch and Leferink say there is more work to do on the fairness of distribution of water in Waikato. Lynch says “there’s a lot of water going out to sea” because of the way the take is calcu-lated on 20% of the lowest flow of a one in five-year drought. The rest of the time there will be double or triple that amount of water. He is also concerned that Auckland wants to take more water from the Waikato; that

will set trigger levels for the whole catchment and farmers will not be able to take more water.

Also he says in the upper Waikato catchment – where the farmer facing prosecution is – there is a determination that most of the water has to stay for hydro-electricity genera-tion. “We proved in the Environment Court there were a lot more productive gains in using that water for farming than there is for hydro-generation,” he says.

Leferink says, “Mighty River Power thought they had the privilege because they were a commu-nity business. They are not a community busi-ness any more – they are profit driven business; they should now become just another one in the line with a right to water.”

THE WAIKATO Regional Council has filed seven

charges under the Resource Management Act

against a Reporoa drystock farmer, claiming he

unlawfully dammed and took water for irrigation

through the height of the 2013 drought.

Council investigations manager Patrick Lynch

says it is the first time the council has taken a

prosecution for nearly 20 years for taking water

when allegedly there was no entitlement to do

so.The council will claim in court the farmer took

large volumes of water from a stream running

through his property for irrigation of pastures

when he had no lawful entitlement to that water

and he acted without regard for the effect on the

environment or downstream users.

The council claims the farmer had been un-

lawfully taking water over the last four summers

but it only found out during the course of this

investigation.

The case will be called in the Rotorua District

Court on October 17.

water charGes Filed


James Houghton


news // 13

TB cases prompt testing rethink

the GrowinG number of dairy stock move-ments is making TB Free New Zealand think test-ing requirements and/or other controls could need tweaking in areas classi-fied as free of the disease.

While the disease-free tag relates to vector status in those areas, investi-gation of recent cases in Northland, Waikato, Taranaki and South Can-terbury has revealed a maze of stock movements which may have intro-duced infection.

“The traceback is prov-ing quite fraught in its complexity and the num-bers of animals involved,” TB Free national disease manager Kevin Crews told Dairy News. “It’s just the way the modern dairy industry operates with new conversions and herd expansions.”

Herd expansion is a common factor in many of the current cases, with cows bought from mul-tiple sources. For exam-ple, four of the six herds affected in Taranaki are in that category. To make matters more compli-cated, some of the animals have come through many intermediaries, agents and saleyards.

“The complexity is mind-blowing,” admits Crews. “At any of the steps along that pathway they could have been intro-duced to TB.”

In some cases dry or

what would otherwise have been cull cows from many farms have been consolidated into mobs for resale.

All herd owners involved in the recent cases have met their obli-gations, and it’s just bad luck they’ve been hit, as they haven’t been doing anything out of the ordi-nary in the industry, says Crews.

All ASD forms that should have been available have been, but those forms only have to be retained for a year, and some move-ments going back sev-eral years need tracing. As such, they pre-date NAIT, a system which as time passes should make the traceback process of out-breaks more manageable, he adds.

Herds in vector-free areas are currently tested every third year, a regime Crews says has served the industry well for a long time. But as the industry has changed, testing policy may have to change with it, he suggests. “We may potentially have to move to a more custom-made testing regime in these areas.”

And that’s just for TB. The complexity of stock movements TB Free has found will be of interest to other agencies respon-sible for biosecurity mea-sures aimed at controlling other pests and diseases, he believes. “It’s the sheer complexity of move-ments.”

As for the six Taranaki and two South Canter-


bury herds hit by TB this year, Crews says he does not believe the original infected animal or ani-mals have yet been identi-fied, and consequently he “can’t really say” anything about the origin of the outbreaks.

“There’s a hint from DNA typing that the Ingle-wood cluster is similar to

the disease in the northern part of the South Island, but we’ve not been able to establish a movement pat-tern at this stage.”

That’s despite investi-gating movements from “both ends”, ie purchases in the affected area, and sales in the northern South Island.

Similarly for the pri-

mary case in South Can-terbury – the second was a herd movement from the first – there’s a hint that the disease came from the central West Coast, but TB Free is “still trying to join the dots.”

Without downplaying the hardship outbreaks cause the herd owners, Crews stresses.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK in Northern Ireland using the complete genome sequence of TB to trace outbreaks, as reported to the Society of Microbiology conference in the UK recently, could prove beneficial here, TB Free’s manager of eradication and research, Paul Livingstone, says.

However, New Zealand’s current genomic typing of strains is a step ahead of what has been the standard test in the UK which cat-egorises the disease strains into six to eight types, he adds.

“We have the ability to differentiate about 13 chunks of DNA which means we can iden-tify over a 100 strains.”

Whether and when complete genome analysis is adopted here will come down to cost, and how much benefit over current typ-ing systems it might offer.

“The price [of complete genome sequenc-ing] is coming down. My guess is that in five years it will be ‘run of the mill’.”

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14 // news

the Fonterra bot-ulism false alarm had a significant impact on

French-based Danone’s baby nutrition division sales in Asia, the company says.

Danone is still review-ing its options for recourse and compensation.

Fonterra chairman John Wilson says the com-pensation will work itself through in the normal dis-cussions that businesses have.

“In the fullness of time,

Pam tiPapamela@ruralnews�co�nz

if there is anything, that will happen,” Wilson told Dairy News.

The Danone group made a precautionary recall of selected infant formula product from eight markets after Fon-terra on August 2 warned batches of ingredients supplied to four Danone plants in Asia-Pacific might be contaminated with Clostridium botuli-num bacteria.

The recalls have had a significant impact on the Baby Nutrition division’s sales in Asia, the company says. Pierre-André Téri-sse, chief financial offi-cer, says: “The division’s third-quarter sales will be down, but despite this, our group is on track to deliver organic growth of around 5% this quarter. We are deploying action plans to restore sales in affected markets. Their success will enable Danone to meet its

growth and margin targets for 2013.”

The group has also incurred non-current costs to cover recall proce-dures and efforts to boost sales, it says.

Danone is the parent company of Nutricia, which recalled 67,000 cans of two infant formula products in New Zealand. Infant formula product was also withdrawn in Sin-gapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand

The warning was lifted on August 28 when MPI concluded after several weeks of tests that there was no Clostridium botu-linum in any of the batches concerned.

None of the many tests by Danone group, before and after the critical period, showed any con-tamination of its products with Clostridium botuli-num, it says.

Botulism scare compo options under review

Fonterra inquiry underwheythe ministerial inquiry into the whey protein contamination scare is now officially underway.

The Inquiries Act establishing the inquiry has been passed into law and notified in the New Zealand Gazette.

The nature of this inquiry is unique and differs from others in the past. It has been labeled a ‘fast track’ version of a high level Royal Commission. It has the power to subpoena individuals and organisa-tions. The Government’s aim appears to be discov-ering the truth as quickly as possible and not letting anyone escape providing evidence

The whey inquiry is headed by Miriam Dean QC, a past-president of the Bar Association, a former part-ner at Russell McVeagh and appointee to various boards. Also sitting are Tony Nowell, a director of Food Standards Australia New Zealand and a former chief executive of Zespri, and Dr Anne Austin who set up the dairy food safety authority in Victoria. Profes-sor Alan Reilly, the chief executive of the Irish Food Safety Authority, will peer review any reports.

Still unclear is how the inquiry will be run. There are hints that there may be no formal, set-piece inquiry, and that individuals and organisations will instead meet with the panel and/or provide written submissions.

The secretariat for the Inquiry is based in the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), which pro-vides a neutral base.

MPI will give evidence and may facing question-ing about its actions in the scare.

The inquiry must produce an interim report within three months, but the final report will not be completed until MPI has finished its own ‘compli-ance’ investigation into the scare.

Danone says sales of its Karicare infant

formula has dropped since the false

botulism scare.

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news // 17

Fran Wilde

Wilde about irrigating

dairyinG will be big in Wairarapa, but the region will not be turned into a huge dairy farm by the Greater Welling-ton Regional Council’s (GWRC) plan to develop a large irrigation scheme there.

So says the council chair, Fran Wilde, who told Dairy News she’d be staggered if there wasn’t a mix of dairying and other land uses if and when the scheme is completed.

About 12,000ha is irri-gated in Wairarapa, but the scheme proposed by GWRC could at least treble this to 42,000ha.

Started in 2007, by June 2011 the scheme envisaged 243 possible sites for stor-

age dams. By last year that was down to 30, then came more studies and GWRC says it has refined this down to five priority sites and three in ‘reserve’. The project is funded jointly by the GWRC and the Government’s Irrigation Acceleration Fund.

Wilde emphasizes that only four years have passed in this ten year project; much more inves-tigation is to follow.

“We’ve identified the priority sites and mea-sured them against all the criteria – financial, envi-ronmental, social and cul-tural. We have also given them a weighting and ranked each site to see how they came out. You can change the weightings and… we did that and also weighted them in differ-ent ways.

“We weighted 70% on financial and 30% on envi-ronmental, social and cul-tural, then we reversed the weighting and… the results were pretty much the same. They changed in order, but there were always good sites and always poor sites, so it didn’t make much differ-ence which weighting cri-teria were applied.”

Wilde says the coun-cil will spend up to 18 months investigating the five priority sites and three reserve sites, then will decide which sites to single out for full feasi-bility studies. This will be done in 2015.

“Remember this is a long term view, looking at the whole [Wairarapa] valley and importantly we are doing all our investi-gations up front. We are

front end-loading this project, [doing] the inves-tigation work, community engagement and environ-mental work in a staged way.”

An advisory group called a ‘whaitua committee’ is being set up to ensure community understanding and input into the process. “Ongoing conversations with all parts of the community through the catchment committee, the projects advisory group and wider activities are vital in developing a viable and environmentally sustainable project,” says Wilde.

‘Drop-in’ days will be held in the five priority site areas in October to allow the public to talk to staff, ask questions and give feedback.

Peter burkepeterb@ruralnews�co�nz

AS PART of the investigation, GWRC has looked at other regions developing similar proj-ects.

Neighbouring Hawkes Bay Regional Council is embroiled in a battle over a similar scheme called ‘Ruataniwha’, which envi-ronmentalists say will damage

the Tukituki River. GWRC has looked at a similar

project at Waimea near Nelson and says it likes the community consultation process adopted there. GWRC people have also visited Canterbury, and Fran Wilde says interesting conclusions can be drawn from

that project. The Canterbury project “hasn’t resulted in wall-to-wall dairy,” Wilde says. “One visit there was to an organic farmer doing a mix of berries and seeds. They are producing massive quantities of seeds there and we can do exactly the same thing here.

similar Projects in other reGions

IF THE Wairarapa scheme goes ahead it will precipitate a change in land use in which dairying is one option, Fran Wilde says.

And it will result in changes in land ownership.

“Some people who have been farming there for a long time may decide it’s a good time to

exit as the land becomes more valuable. The land will change hands and the new people may want to do something complete-ly different.”

How much land in Wairarapa would be converted to dairying is a moot point.

Dairy farmers spoken to by

Dairy News enthuse about the idea in principle, but there many more hoops to jump through yet – consents and land acquisition among them. Economics will be a major driver: how much might farmers or horticulturalists be prepared to pay for the water.

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18 // news

Herd data transfer deal sealedsixteen months since an agreement was signed between LIC and DairyNZ to transfer the national herd database to DairyNZ, the terms to do that have been agreed.

The chief executives, Wayne McNee and Tim Mackle, respectively, earlier this month signed the detail recommended by the 2009 Anderson review of herd improvement.

Now, core database and animal evaluation functions will “progressively” be transferred to DairyNZ, says McNee, though legislative changes allowing that to happen still have to be made.

“We are unlikely to see any real developments until mid 2014 at the earliest given other legislative priorities,” he told Dairy News.

McNee defends the apparently slow progress of the transfer of the core database because while it sounds a simple matter, it is in fact a complex process requiring much consultation between DairyNZ, LIC and the wider industry, he says. “It’s been a huge collaborative effort between both organisations.”

Typical of that is agreement on

provision of some non-core data from LIC’s database to DairyNZ to enable operation of the animal evaluation system, and for industry good research, McNee says.

Transfer of the core database should be complete by the end of March and, through New Zealand Animal Evaluation Ltd (NZAEL), DairyNZ is expected to be operating animal evaluation from early 2015. Under the agreement DairyNZ is licensed, for free, to use LIC intellectual property (IP) to run the animal evaluation system.

Mackle says the agreement is “an important step” towards the industry’s target of increased genetic gain and industry-wide data use. “Having DairyNZ continue to lead the setting of the national breeding objective and breeding worth, and the provision of animal evaluation to the whole industry, as well as providing access to core data, reinforces the independence of these critical parts of the industry.”

Partnership between farmers, breed societies, commercial organisations and DairyNZ is needed and the agreement is “a strong base for building further co-operation between DairyNZ and LIC,” he adds.

Mackle says development of a dairy industry-good animal database (DIGAD) has wide buy-in, and is

jointly funded by the Government through the Primary Growth Partnership.

Besides legislation to enable the agreement to be

implemented, legislation is also needed to remove LIC’s obligation to herd test and maintain the national herd database.

LIC shareholders approved the necessary changes to the cooperative’s constitution at its annual meeting in November last year.

LIC will continue to run its proprietary database containing the cooperative’s IP and the agreement will not limit LIC’s ability to innovate and

create new products and services.NZAEL will operate and develop

animal evaluation to reflect the national breeding objective (NBO) which is currently to identify animals whose progeny will be the most efficient converters of feed into farmer profit. It remains responsible for determining NBO and breeding worth index (BW), the economic expression of the NBO, in consultation with industry users of the animal evaluation system.

NZAEL will also continue to be

responsible for sire BW and sire proofs, while LIC retains exclusive rights to provide, for fees if it so wishes, cow BW data to Minda clients and other parties.

LIC has agreed to provide DairyNZ with other non-core datasets for industry good research purposes. The provision of this data is subject to certain conditions on use and publication.

LIC chief executive Wayne McNee (left) and DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle have welcomed the deal.

“It’s been a huge collaborative effort between both organisations.”

– Wayne McNee

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world // 19

Warrnambool Cheese and Butter company is facing a new takeover bid.

Listed Oz processors in takeover play

two oF Australia’s listed dairy manufacturers could soon merge to form one of the largest publicly listed food companies in the country.

Bega Cheese Ltd, in NSW, this month bid to buy Warrnambool Cheese & Butter factory. Bega, already holding 18% of its target, is offering 1.2 Bega shares plus A$2 cash for each WCB share it doesn’t already hold.

Investors welcomed the tilt, sending WCB’s shares up A$1.26 to a record $5.77. However, WCB has strongly resisted past takeover bids, including one in 2010 by rival proces-sor Murray Goulburn, which owns 17% stake in the Victoria processor.

Both WCB and Bega retain a large number of farmer shareholders after their listings on the ASX. Farmers are keen to see consolidation in the industry. WCB, whose profits fell 50% last year, has been the subject of constant takeover speculation, largely due to the presence of Bega and Murray Goulburn on its share register.

United Dairy Farmers of Victoria president Kerry Callow says farmers had welcomed Bega’s bid for WBC, arguing the deal would give the target scale without lessening competition. Callow says Bega executive chairman Barry Irvin is a trusted figure.

“Barry Irvin is well known and respected in the industry and [Bega and Warrnambool] are similar and

compatible companies,” Callow says. “[The bid] appears to have been taken reasonably pos-itively, and from an industry point of view it’s consolidation that doesn’t actually mean less competition.”

Australian media are speculating that Murray Goulburn could launch a counter bid. How-ever, its balance sheet is stretched supplying its A$2 billion milk con-tract with retailer Coles. As Australia’s largest dairy processor, Murray Goulburn would likely face resistance from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission if it were to mount a rival takeover bid.

WCB’s board responded to the takeover bid with a brief statement advising shareholders to take no action until directors have issued a formal recommendation.

In a letter to WCB shareholders Irvin says a merger between the two companies is “the next logical pro-gression” to create a strong listed dairy processor.

He says both companies still have large number of shareholders who are dairy farmers or have roots in dairy

farming communities.“While both companies value their

heritage, each has also looked to the future in terms of corporate structure and invited investment from other shareholders who recognise the opportunity that exists to create value and respond to the growing global demand for quality dairy products.”

Irvin says a combined Bega and WCB would create a business oper-ating on seven sites, processing 1.6b L of milk, produce 3.53 m tonnes of dairy products and generating reve-nues of A$1.5 billion.

Warrnambool Butter and Cheese

■ Total revenue was A$496.5m

■ Collected 890m L of milk from suppliers

■ Production sites in Allans-ford, Mount Gambier and Port Melbourne.

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20 // world

Barnaby Joyce

Anti-foreign investment crusader becomes Oz ag ministerAUSTrAlIAN FArM-ErS are welcoming the appointment of Barnaby Joyce as the new Federal Agriculture Minister.

The colourful former Queensland Senator enters the cabinet as an outspoken critic of foreign investment.

Joyce has publicly opposed foreign investments in the agribusiness sector, particularly the proposed GrainCorp takeover by US food company Archer Daniels Midland and Indonesia’s plans to buy a million hectares of grazing

land in the Top End.National Farmers Fed-

eration president Duncan Fraser is looking forward to working with Joyce. “The NFF has had a strong and constructive relation-ship with the coalition in opposition, and we will continue that with the

coalition as they form the Government,” Fraser says.

Joyce’s appointment was something of a sur-prise. The Coalition’s agri-culture spokesman during its time in Opposition was NSW MP John Cobb, who has missed out on a minis-terial appointment.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says that wasn’t because Cobb had done a poor job, but because of changes within the National Party, which saw Joyce elected as the Nationals’ deputy leader.

Assisting Joyce as the parliamentary secretary for agriculture is Tas-manian Liberal Sena-tor Richard Colbeck, who takes over that role from another north-west coast Tasmanian, Labor’s Sid Sidebottom, who lost his seat on September 7. The agriculture portfolio will include responsibility for fishing and forestry.

Says Fraser, “Repri-oritising Australian agri-culture on the national agenda will be the focus for the NFF, and this will continue to underpin all our work with the new

Government, be it on poli-cies affecting farmer pro-ductivity, profitability and access to markets, or the agricultural workforce and the natural resources on which our farmers rely.

“Agriculture’s impor-tance to Australia’s society, economy and environment is evidenced by the fact that it crosses so many ministerial port-folios.”

Fraser says its immediate priorities are ensuring the Government’s promised commitments to agriculture – including the pledge to cut red and green tape, invest A$100 million in agricultural research, development and extension, and reinstate native title funding – are enacted quickly, so that farmers can reap the benefits.

“On the many other issues and policy decisions affecting Australian farm-ers, we will continue our role as farmer advocate and watchdog: ensuring that the Government and the Opposition are held to account.”

AUSTrAlIAN FArM businesses are struggling under a growing and unnecessary regulatory burden, the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) says.

A NFF paper, ‘Red Tape in Australian Agriculture’, out-lines the impact of excessive, overlapping and inconsis-tent regulation, unwieldy approval, licensing and reporting requirements and heavy handed regulators on the Austra-lian farm sector.

The paper comes as the World Economic Forum releases its global competitiveness report for 2013-14, which shows Australia has slumped to 128th position, out of 148 countries, for the burden of government regulation – down from 96th last year, and 68th the year before.

“Every day, farm businesses battle through a myriad of hard-to-understand, complex or duplicative regulations, making it difficult for farmers to get on with the job of pro-ducing food and fibre while also remaining profitable and competitive,” NFF president Duncan Fraser says.

“The World Economic Forum figures are alarming – in just two years, Australia has slipped 60 places and is now ranked in the bottom 20 countries, drowning under ever-increasing red tape.

“Of course, red and green tape are not new issues. As our paper shows, unnecessary regulation is a huge cost burden for farmers. In 2007, it was over A$22,500, or 14% of average net farm profit. We can only assume, given the extraordinary rise in the amount of regulation passed by the former Government, particularly in their last term, that this figure has increased significantly.

“One of the most concerning examples of onerous regulation is environmental law – particularly getting approval to change land use and farming practices.”

Red tape irks farmers

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22 // world

US$100m packing plant shows world howA US$100 million milk packaging plant opened in Vietnam can pack 400 million L of milk annually.

Built by milk packag-ing company Tetra Pak for Vietnam’s leading dairy manufacturer, Vina-milk, the plant is extraor-dinarily automated.

It uses laser guided vehicles, computer soft-ware and the Tetra Plant-Master system, to give Vinamilk entire control of the plant from incom-ing raw materials to the processed, packaged and palletised products.

“The Vietnam milk factory is by far the most advanced plant in auto-mation and integration that Tetra Pak has ever built,” says managing

director of Tetra Pak Vietnam, Bert Jan Post.

“All of the individual machines

are working together ‘as one’ to deliver optimal performance, with factory-wide integration ensuring high levels of efficiency and uncom-

promising food safety.”Vinamilk chairwoman Mai Kiu

Liên says its mission is to provide world-class quality milk products at an affordable price.

“This new plant has laid solid foundation for Vinamilk to achieve our goals to become one of the world’s top 50 dairies with over $3 billion reve-nues by 2017.”

State-owned Vinamilk is the largest dairy manu-facturer in Vietnam with 48.7% market share.

During 37 years in busi-ness, Vinamilk has launched a wide variety of value added milk prod-ucts. Vinamilk is a shareholder in the Miraka milk plant at Taupo.

Vinamilk’s new liquid milk plant.

European co-op eyes Asia from new baseEUroPEAN dAIrY processor FrieslandCampina says its new development centre in Singapore will make dairy-based beverages and infant and toddler nutri-tion products tailored specifically for Asian con-sumers.

The development centre, in the Singapore Science Park, houses FrieslandCampina’s nutri-

tional and product devel-opment expertise for its Consumer Products Inter-national (CPI) business group in Asia.

Royal FrieslandCampina chief executive officer Cees ‘t Hart says the centre is part of its drive to “con-tinuously develop and innovate to meet the needs of consumers in Asia.” The centre will operate as an extension of FrieslandCampina’s Innovation Centre being launched next month in the Netherlands by Queen Maxima.

FrieslandCampina set up a regional office in Sin-gapore in 2011 for its CPI business group. The loca-tion puts it close to oper-ations in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) representative Thien Kwee Eng congrat-ulated FrieslandCampina on the opening of the centre.

“FrieslandCampina will be able to tap into Sin-gapore’s capabilities span-ning market research, branding and market-ing, and food and nutri-tion research expertise, to develop products that cater to the nutritional needs of Asia’s diverse consumers.

“EDB is committed to enhancing Singapore’s leading position as a home in Asia for consumer com-panies for business, inno-vation and talent and FrieslandCampina’s deci-sion to open the develop-ment centre in Singapore is a strong testament to that vision.”

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Ruminating

milking it...

24 // oPINIoN

EdITorIAl

CRIES FOR help from Canterbury dairy farmers hit by storm and resultant power blackouts is puzzling.

They had to rush to hire and buy generators to run milking machines, and in some cases to pump water for stock.

Storms of this nature are not uncommon in an island like New Zealand. Taranaki was hit last year by high winds that blew down trees, cut power and damaged farm infrastructure, dis-rupting power to some farms for a week and more.

Eighteen months ago there was massive publicity, including in this newspaper, about farmers getting caught without power generators. To their credit, many in Taranaki have now bought generators or done deals to share them with neighbours.

Yes, it’s costly, but so what? How about when people buy boats but fail to buy the necessary safety gear?

Most businesses have, or should have, a ‘business continu-ity plan’, so that in the event of a disaster they have a practical plan and back-up hardware that allows them to keep operat-ing until normal service is resumed.

Dairy farmers have huge money invested in stock, plant and infrastructure, yet many risk it all by doing without a generator. Common sense suggests they need to change their thinking.

Remember the saying ‘God helps those who help them-selves’? That could well apply to these farmers.

The cost of risking not being able to milk cows, water them and/or spread their effluent is high. To expect others to help is a bit rich. It’s no different from owning an uninsured house then expecting the state to provide when things go pear-shaped.

Common sense dying even on farms

Got somethinG on your mind?

post to: Letter to the editor po Box 3855, AuckLAnd 1140. or emAiL: [email protected]

GOT SOMETHING on your mind about the latest issues affecting our dairy industry? Put your pen to paper or your fingers to your

keyboard, and let our readers know what you think. Contact us by either post or email. Don’t forget to put your name

and address. Note: Letters may be edited.

It’s not all badWHILE SOME suggest the New Zealand dairy in-dustry will be held in even higher regard long-term as a result of the inves-tigations into Fonterra’s WPC80 contamination scare, Milking It suggests the short-term winners are Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific. Many recent attempts to contact dairy industry figures have brought the response “He’s in China”. Add all the political and bureaucratic bums on business class seats jet-ting north over the Pacific and it’s fair to say the airlines will have made tasty hay out of the crisis.

Super spring jinxIN AGRICULTURAL news gathering, it seems whenever a weather story goes to press the forecast changes to the opposite: drought stories bring on floods; heat-waves spark snowstorms. True to form a fortnight ago, when this paper ran the cover line ‘Super spring’, folk in Canterbury and the lower North Island found themselves fighting hurricane force winds. Pivots pitched over, trees toppled and sheds ground to a halt as power went out. Thou-sands of cows were left bellowing to be milked and desperate for a drink. Not a lot super about that, especially when munted irrigators mean grass will also likely run short within weeks.

Cows connect to internetA FARM in Essex, England has started connecting its cows to the internet to monitor changes in be-havior that could signal disease.

The team behind the Cow Tracking Project attach a GPS device to each cow, and place sen-sors around their shed to monitor their movements and sleeping habits. That information is then sent to the farmer’s computer. Disruptions in a cow’s regular pattern (e.g. sleeping more or moving around less than usual) could signal illness, so daily updates can help the farmer quickly catch these changes.

What’s more, the project can save farmers from having to put in ex-tra labour and spending money on antibiot-ics after infections have fully developed.

No joy for foreign investorsAUSTRALIA’S INCOMING Agriculture Minister Barna-by Joyce has called on citi-zens “to make a big noise” to help him convince the new Abbott government to reject a plan by the Indonesian Government to buy 1m ha of Australian farmland to breed beef for the Indonesian market, where such product is in short supply.

We wonder what Joyce thinks of media reports of Fonterra and a Chinese company teaming up to buy Van Diemens Ltd dairy farms in Tasmania.

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oPINIoN // 25

Why are glasses half-full?

Willy Leferink

ISN’T IT amazing how some people love to talk about catastrophy. Last month’s dairy recalls saw some truly jump off the deep end, and just as we were getting through that, others latched onto a New York dairy strategist’s warning that the New Zealand dairy industry could be squashed by a resurgent US one.

I am only responding to news reports, but ‘Arise the Hunter: the Re-orientation of the US Dairy Industry and Impli-cations for New Zealand,’ by Tim Hunt certainly impressed journalists.

The US dairy industry produces five times the volume of milk we do and its star used to be California. I say ‘used to be’ because our new-found love of red tape has me worried our dairy industry may be undergoing ‘cali-fornication.’

There is a raunchy TV series by that title, in which a novelist solves his ‘writer’s block’ by having affairs. Is our affair with regulation going to tie our industry up in knots, just like it did California’s?

I learned from Nicola Waugh how much California has become horridly regulated. As a Nuffield New Zea-land Farming Scholarship recipient, she travelled over-seas in 2011.

As a farm consultant for AgFirst Waikato, she also understands what regulation is. In her New Zealand Nuff-ield Farming Scholarship report, Nicola found at least seven different California state organisations setting rules and regulations under which Californian dairy farmers try to farm. Two dealt with water, two with air pollution/quality, and one each with occupational safety and health, employ-ment and pesticides. Any one of these organisations can turn up and audit a farmer and Nicola found they all had different reporting requirements. Red tape heaven.

You may say that sounds similar to here, but Califor-nia’s Department of Water Resources makes Horizons One Plan or the proposed Canterbury Land & Water Regional Plan seem child’s play. In California, Nicola found that farmers must have a nutrient management plan, a manure management plan, a wastewater develop-ment plan, a pesticide disposal plan and a pollution con-tingency plan – all for one agency.

While the plans may contain similar base information, a number of California’s agencies don’t seem to talk to one other: cue repetition and confusion.

Is it no wonder in March, the Los Angeles Times reported, “other states have long poached California manufacturers and jobs. Now they’re coming for the cows”.

Seizing on the plight of the state’s dairy industry, which is beset by high feed costs and low milk prices, nearly a dozen states are courting Golden State dairy farmers.

The pitch: cheaper farm land, lower taxes, fewer envi-ronmental regulations and higher prices for their milk.

That to me is the problem when unrealistic bureau-

wIllY lEFErINK cracy starts tripping up those who try to get ahead. Cali-fornia and that report presented to Rabobank rams home that New Zealand has high farming cost structures too.

We may be looking forward to a forecast $7.80/kgMS, but for many out there, they will need $6 just to break even.

Having seen what NZ$4 million could buy you in Wis-consin, the biggest risk to New Zealand is a ‘regulatory cal-ifornication’ here.

We might count our lucky stars that few Kiwi farmers speak Spanish or Portuguese. • Willy Leferink is Federated Farmers Dairy chairman.

in brief

Field day on profitsWAYS OF boosting farm profits and environ-mental protection will be the subject of a farmer field day at Whatawhata on October 24.

Running the day are Waikato Regional Coun-cil, NIWA, AgResearch, Beef & Lamb NZ, NZ Farm Forestry Association and the NZ Associa-tion of Resource Management.

“This one-off event is a great opportunity to learn about practices that can increase farm profits while ensuring the environmental impacts of farming are minimised,” says the council’s sustainable agriculture co-ordinator Bala Tikkisetty.

“I encourage drystock farmers, dairy graz-ers, farm foresters, farm consultants and rural professionals in particular to take advantage of this field day.”

Tel. 0800 800 401


26 // AgrIbUSINESS

SealesWinslow’s upgraded Wanganui stock feed mill.

New feed mill churns out 12-15 tonnes per hour

SEAlESwINSlow HAS upgraded its Wanganui stock feed mill and says it will provide better service in the lower North Island.

The company recently sold 1350 tonnes of feed for dairy cows being shipped to China, says chief executive Graeme Smith.

It has dairy, sheep and beef farmer customers in Taranaki, and is growing its business in Wanganui, Manawatu, East Coast and Wairarapa. “This is a great growth region for red meat and dairy,” Smith says. “And with our key ingredients mainly sourced from local suppliers, we’re supporting a stronger arable sector.”

He says the ‘source in New Zea-land’ policy has seen local grain con-tracts secured, and SealesWinslow is geared up to buy thousands of tonnes more grain from farmers in the area as it grows.

“For our local customers, there’s the added benefit of knowing that the bulk of their feed is locally produced.”

SealesWinslow earlier this year was bought by Ballance Agri-Nutrients.

Ballance chief executive Larry

Bilodeau says its 100% ownership will supports its growth, the Wan-ganui expansion being a good exam-ple. “Many of our farmer shareholders are now providing grain to our animal nutrient division, which is good for them and for the economy.”

With the mill now in production, nine staff are in work and there’s the potential to double the workforce during seasonal demand peaks.

Smith says the company’s technical sales staff do on-farm analysis and tai-loring of feed solutions for profitable production. “In animal feed terms, it’s the equivalent of a person getting sound, science backed diet advice from a qualified nutritionist, rather than relying on the health claims made on food packaging.”

SealesWinslow operations man-ager Chris Brown says the company can formulate and custom blend to a farm’s nutritional requirements. The plant can produce blends, pellets and kibbled maize.

Output is 12 to 15 tonnes per hour. The Wanganui mill is the biggest and fastest of the SealesWinslow plants.

Robotic milker uptake nearing tipping point

lAboUr SHorTAgES and the need to boost productivity and sus-tainability may be tipping points for demand for robotic milking systems in the southern hemisphere, says DeLaval’s Oceania market develop-ment manager, Mark Smith.

DeLaval recently sold its 10,000th Voluntary Milking System (VMS) to Glenirvine Farms of Fergus, Ontario, and will install it next year. The owners, two couples, have milked their 50-cow herd with a double-4 DeLaval herringbone parlour for 40 years.

DeLaval says automated milking is becoming the norm as dairy pro-ducers worldwide seek greater flex-ibility, reliable controls and better milking performance to make their operations more sustainable.

However the take-up of robotic systems is slow in New Zealand and Australia.

In New Zealand DeLaval has two farms with six VMS and a six-unit installation being built. Two farms are in the North Island and one in the South Island. In Australia it has 27 VMS on six farms and another planned for early 2014. Automatic milking rotary (AMR) technology was also recently introduced.

Smith says while the uptake of voluntary milking systems has been slower in Australasia than in Europe and the US, the level of enquiry is increasing.

“Farmers down under are now looking more closely at individual cow feeding and managing their input costs. Automatic milking provides a level of individual cow performance monitoring that has not been avail-able in the past.”

DeLaval says it will keep push-ing into Australia and New Zealand, seeing automatic milking as profit-

able for pasture-based farming and for intensive cow housing. “The three-way grazing model has been specifically adapted to suit grassland farming conditions and we will con-tinue to develop sustainable business models.

“We have recently introduced the automatic milking rotary (AMR) into Australia and we see the VMS and AMR able to help farmers increase production within grazing systems.”

A turning point for New Zealand and Australia could come with labour shortage pressur-ing farmers. “On-farm produc-tion will increase as our dairy exports rise. The key now is to do that in a sustainable way where the environment, cow welfare and farm profitability are all considered.”

Robotic milking systems can boost productivity per cow and per labour unit, DeLa-val says. “As the global demand for milk expands, New Zealand and Australian dairy farm-ers play an important role in the development of the global capacity. [Their] profitability in a sustainable business envi-ronment will [promote] more automation in milking auto-

mation and animal housing.”DeLaval first patented volun-

tary milking in 1982, and installed on-farm milking robots in Holland in the early 1990s. The first genera-tion DeLaval VMS units were sold in 1998. VMS’ design allows for round-the-clock milking with record-setting milk yields and top milk quality, the company says. Other features include accurate quarter milking, an easy-to-use touch screen, and full system inte-gration and upgradeability.

PAM [email protected]

A Waikato farm using DeLaval’s robotic milking machines.

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Search on for new DWN headA SEArCH has begun for a new chief executive for the Dairy Women’s Network.

Applications opened on Sep-tember 13 and will close on the 29th. Several people have regis-tered interest, says DWN board chair Michelle Wilson.

“The chief executive is the face of the Dairy Women’s Network and will represent the organisa-tion and members at the high-

est,” she says. The role demands

business and financial acumen, understand-ing of adult learning, a focus on achieving results and relationship building ability, Wilson says. “[She] will have a strong people focus and an affin-ity for women in the business of dairying. An innate understand-

ing of the New Zealand agricultural industry will be a distinct advan-tage.”

The role, which Wilson has temporar-ily filled for the past five months, is based in DWN’s Hamilton office

where most of its six full and part-time staff members also work.

With charitable trust status,

the network gets project fund-ing from DairyNZ, and has influ-ential agribusiness and industry sponsors.

The network has grown rap-idly since launching in 1998, Wilson says. “We lead some sig-nificant industry projects, includ-ing developing Project Pathfinder, the first leadership programme for women working in the dairy-ing industry.”

Michelle Wilson

KiwiCross award good for youngsterslIC IS extending its annual Calf Club sponsorship to include a KiwiCross champion cup for group day events.

General manager of genetics, Peter Gatley, says most calves born on New Zealand farms these days are cross-bred.

“Crossbreeding with straight-bred bulls has been prac-ticed for decades, but only since 2005 have farmers been able to buy semen from an elite commercial crossbred bull team, KiwiCross. We’re mindful many herds these days are entirely crossbred, so it makes sense to have a crossbred category in calf judging….

“Hybrid vigour is one of the things that make crossbred cows well suited to commercial dairying, and it also helps with calf rearing.”

Previously, children would have entered their calves in the Friesian or Jersey category depending on coat colour, but Gatley says they were sometimes marked down because of breed-specific judging criteria.

“We know children work hard to select, rear and train a calf for their school’s Calf Club events, and many go on to compete at their local group day. We don’t want any chil-dren to be disadvantaged for choosing a crossbred calf,” he says.

All group day events registered on the co-op’s website will receive a champion cup for them to award the event’s top crossbred calf each year from then on.

in brief

get your business voice heardPRIVATELY OWNED businesses are now spell-ing out the problems they’re grappling with – and somebody is listening.

ANZ Bank this month launched its annual Privately Owned Business Barometer, which provides critical insights into this key private sector of the economy. Now in its seventh year, the two-week online survey targets businesses all sizes, sectors and regions.

“Privately owned businesses are a vital part of New Zealand communities, and the economy,” says Graham Turley, ANZ’s managing director commercial and agri. “The [barometer] provides insights and information on the issues affecting businesses, how they are performing and their views on the challenges ahead.

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30 // MANAgEMENT

Early test puts sharemilkersA CHAllENgINg time in his first season as a sharemilker has served to set Clarence Stolte (26) on the pathway to success.

It happened in the 2008-09 season during a bad drought in Wair-arapa plus repeated drops in forecast payout. Stolte and his wife Elise, facing potential losses, quickly decided to cut costs; that philosophy has been a key driver to being successful dairy farmers – including winning the Hawkes Bay/Wairarapa Sharemilker of the Year award in 2010.

“That near-crisis taught us quickly in a our first year as share milkers how to cut our costs and we’ve never looked back. We managed to make money in that environment and

we knew if we could do it then, when it was very challenging, we could cer-tainly make money in better times. That became our driver and so the whole farm’s cost of pro-

duction dropped right back to sit around $3 [per kgMS] whereas in previ-ous years we tended to be sitting over $4.”

The Stoltes are 50/50 share milkers on his father’s property about 5km south of Masterton. It’s close to the Waingawa River so the soil is fine river silt and free draining and doesn’t hold the mois-ture easily. The stones in the paddocks make put-

ting in even a simple strainer quite an exercise. A crow bar is an essen-tial tool on this farm. In summer the stones heat up during the day and Stolte describes it like

farming on ‘a big hangi’.The so-called ‘big

hangi’ is made up of 165ha, of which 85ha is irrigated. They run 500 Friesian cows and this year are tar-geting 225,000kgMS – a significant lift from the 168,000kgMS coming off the farm when he took over in 2007.

The son of a Dutch immigrant, Stolte did a Diploma in Agriculture at Massey University when

he left school and worked as a farm assistant and then a herd manager. “Then the equity manager left here and it was wide open. I never expected to come back on this farm to be honest. I thought I’d probably go down to Canterbury. But I have never looked back and the position we have put ourselves in here is pretty good.”

In 2007 they were lower order then moved up to 50/50 in the 2010-11 season. Besides doing well himself as a share milker, Clarence is con-scious of the need to ensure the owner, in this case his father, is also well rewarded – another of his drivers.

For him, irrigation has made a big differ-ence. Part of the farm has always been irri-gated but over time the

area has been increased from 65ha to 85ha and a new centre pivot system installed. Interestingly, while the area on the farm now being irrigated has increased, their con-sented water take is the same as always. “But we have been able to stretch that water further through the centre pivot system

and have used that water more efficiently to enable us to cover a bigger area,” he says.

Currently the Greater Wellington Regional Council is investigating the possibility of devel-oping a major irrigation scheme in the Wairarapa. Stolte says such a scheme has the potential to bring

more land into dairy-ing, but the scheme is still years away even if it gets the go-ahead.

The lessons learned early in Stolte’s dairy farming career still hold firm and have shaped his whole farm management philosophy.

Essentially it comes down to having control

PETEr [email protected]

“The idea is to be as self contained as possible. Having full control gives greater flexibility.”

Clarence Stolte


STrIvINg For bEST rETUrNS

MANAgEMENT // 31

on the right track

CLARENCE STOLTE is passionate about getting the best return out of his farm and looking at in-novative ways to do this. Top quality pasture is number one and everything is geared to that.

The irrigation system and the re-grassing poli-cies are part of that and that leads on to other things.

“Once you start thinking as the top 5% of dairy farmers do, you start attracting the right people and we’ve had amazing staff the whole way through. Good farms get good staff and when you start doing exciting things your staff get blown away by it. Whereas if you are doing the same as your neighbour they’ll just get excited about who’s got the nicest shed.”

While he is a 50/50 share milker, Stolte has another string to his bow – off farm. He works part time for a local agricultural consulting company, operating mainly as a farm supervisor. He enjoys the two roles and says it give him a good work bal-ance.

“I have got the opportunity to be at the coal-face, but I also get the opportunity to look at other people’s businesses. This keeps me honest because when you are giving advice you’ve got to think pretty hard about what you are doing.”

In respect of his own farm, he does the morning milking and some work on the run-off, but leaves the daily decision making to the manager he’s employed.

Stolte is conscious of the environmental foot-print of his farm. All the waterways are fenced and he has just installed a new effluent storage pond so that he can spray effluent at times when it will be most beneficial to the farm and less harmful to the environment.

He uses nitrogen strategically. “Little and often. Where we can get a response we’ll use it, but in very small amounts. We also apply it ourselves so we have control over how and when it goes on.”

For Stolte, Elise and their three children the aim is to be profitable farmers and they have clear goals and are focused on achieving these. But they are also conscious of their responsibilities as dairy farmers.

“We are closer to the environment than most so we are aware of the effects of what goes on. When something happens in a stream we see it and re-member our kids have to swim in our streams. I am confident that the waterways that go though our farm will be better for the next generation because of the work that we have done.”

over the farm and not having to rely on outside influences which could change the cost structure of the property.

“We would be a system two or three and just feed supplements in the shoulders of the season. We have our own run-offs and take some grass silage off them but we

don’t normally use PKE. The idea is to be as self contained as possible. Having full control gives greater flexibility.

“We can control the quality of the grass and the quality of the feed we make. We can control the costs so that we know that every year we are willing to put in so much for, say,

labour and anything we can quantify and we can set a budget around that. Whereas if we are send-ing stock away we don’t have control over the qual-ity of what happens; and if you buy feed in you don’t have control over the qual-ity or the price. The whole system is geared towards profitability.”

Irrigation has made a big difference on the farm.


SPrINg IS usually the time for cultivating pad-docks to their best for fresh pasture or crops, cultivating with tillage equipment ranging from mouldboard plough to direct drill.

These implements have a common purpose: to remove the competition of previous plant cover from the seeded or planted area and to prepare soil tilth for germination.

There are some issues to look out for.

Continuous cultivation of soil by full tillage even-tually leads to a decline in soil fertility, mainly because continuous culti-vation accelerates organic matter decomposition.

Any ploughing can lead to sediment and associ-ated nutrients getting into

waterways, affecting water quality.

Also, soil erosion gen-erally can be a contributor to sediment and nutrients getting into water. A good way to prevent erosion is to maintain as much veg-etative cover as possi-ble to protect bare soil. This should be taken into account when cultivating.

Winter-feed paddocks can be especially prone to erosion once they have dried out, due to a loss of soil structure.

Conservation cultiva-tion practices are those aimed at maintaining max-imum vegetative cover on the soil surface and encouraging moisture retention in soils. The aim is to produce an uneven soil surface in as ‘rough’ a condition as practical and keep the cultivation period to a minimum.

A chisel plough or grub-

bers will give a fine, deep seedbed while still retain-ing a cloddy surface. By contrast, top-working implements, discing and rolling can create a fine seedbed prone to erosion even in well-sheltered sit-uations.

Cultivating and sowing at right angles to the slope is another good method for minimising soil loss. And cultivating at an appropriate depth and when soil is suitably moist also helps get good results.

If good precautions are observed, two-pass cul-tivation – which reduces erosion risks – is often all that is needed to prepare a seedbed.

Other techniques include the practices known as minimum till-age or no-tillage. If soil has been continuously cul-tivated for many years, the structure is likely to

be poor because cultiva-tion reduces soil organic matter levels. No-tillage will not repair the damage overnight but will even-tually.

Runoff of sediment and other contaminants, such as microbes and nutrients, to water can be exacer-bated when water infiltra-tion into the soil is slower than amount of rain or irrigation. Frequent till-age can add to the amount running off because the infiltration rate can be low due to frequent tillage or other management related constraints like compac-tion

A riparian margin between land and water can act as a crucial buffer that helps stop contaminants getting into water.

So healthy riparian veg-etation improves bank stability, increases water

quality, reduces stock losses, filters surface run-off and provides habitat for wild life.

For example, studies show up to 90% of sedi-ment can be caught in an effectively constructed filter strip, while faecal bacteria trapped in long grass filter strips die off in

sunlight.Riparian vegetation

also provides shade to waterways, thereby reduc-ing water temperatures and growth of nuisance plants and algae.

Grasses in filter strips should generally be kept to a height of at least 10-15 centimetres with a

high density of stems and leaves at ground level. Also, in Waikato region, farmers must not cultivate paddocks within 2m of a river, stream or lake bed.• Bala Tikkisetty is a sus-tainable agriculture co-ordi-nator at Waikato Regional Council. [email protected]

32 // MANAgEMENT

Winter’s end time to cultivatebAlA TIKKISETTY

Spring is the time for cultivating paddocks for fresh pasture, says Waikato Regional Council.

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34 // MANAgEMENT

Mating heifers to boost cow numbersMATINg HEIFErS is seen this season as a good way to replace cows culled in the drought, and more farmers are doing it, says Focus Genetics.

The company reports strong demand from farm-

ers for calving ease year-ling bulls, which can effectively mate yearling heifers.

Animal breeding spe-cialist Daniel Absolom says the most cost effec-tive way to rebuild is from

within the herd, so many farmers look at mating yearling heifers or mating more heifers than they would normally.

“On the back of drought there is limited supply of cows and the quality can be variable. So the best way for farmers to replace capital stock is for them to breed. By expos-ing more cows to the bull, farmers can achieve this.”

“This season we are seeing strong demand for calving ease yearling bulls which can go over yearling heifers. Farmers are keen to mate more of their heif-ers because they see it as the best option to rebuild their numbers.”

Beef + Lamb NZ eco-nomic service’s annual stock survey found 20,000 fewer breeding cows in the Lower North Island; Taranaki-Manawatu and the East Coast regions reg-istered the biggest drop.

Focus Genetics quotes King Country farmer John Petersen as saying he was forced to cull at least 25 cows during the peak of the drought. “Feed got tight during the drought so we decided to drop our older cows and offloaded

our 12-year-olds earlier than we usually would have. We now have more heifers in calf so we hope to replenish these cow numbers.”

Petersen has been farming Focus Genetics Stabilizer cattle for at least 10 years. He usually calves 90 heifers but this season he has over 100 in calf.

“The biggest challenge is getting two-year-old heifers back in calf. The Stabilizer works well. They get in calf easily, they’re good yielding and they have good growth weights. We generally calve about 90% vetted in calf, which is good on our steeper country.

“We have always bought the low birth weight yearling bulls with superior growth weight for our heifers and cows. These bulls will go over our heifers, but they also have good grunt to move into the older cows, so we can get the best of both worlds out of one bull.”

Petersen says by buying younger bulls he gets ear-lier genetic gain which is an attractive option, and they settle into the sire herd well without fighting.

oNlINE SAlE gIvES bUYErS MorE CHoICE

FOCUS GENETICS last year auctioned its bulls online for the first time.

Chief executive Gavin Foulsham says sell-ing bulls online shows a broad range of bulls from across the country in one place.

“Using this technology gives farmers more choice from a larger range of bulls. They can see bulls from a variety of properties all around the country. For example farmers from Wanganui can now buy bulls in Te Anau without physically being there, so there are no geographical challenges.

“Often farmers want the same bull, and online not only gives them a greater choice, but also allows them to compete for the bull that best meets their needs. They can set their price and are in control of their auction.”

The company’s online bull sale on Oc-tober 9 and 10 will list all its breeds which include Angus, Red Angus, Stabilizer and Simmental.

John Petersen with daughter Lucy on his farm near Taumarunui, standing in front of his one year old weaners.

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MANAgEMENT // 35

Sean Ross has settled into a productive routine.

OAD routine productive for 50:50 sharemilker

SEvEN YEArS into once-a-day milking of a split herd, life for 50:50 sharemilker Sean Ross has settled to a productive routine.

Ross runs the Tutira farm of John and Jocelyn Crystal who live in Tarad-ale. Tutira is a small area of nine dairy farms off SH2, 45km from Napier on the road to Wairoa.

Says Ross, “Members of my family have been sharemilking on this prop-erty for 30 years since it re-converted to dairying; firstly an uncle and then a cousin before my arrival 12 years ago.” He has been sharemilking for 12 years.

The farm is 96ha (eff ) of 70% flat, the balance rolling, land. Annual rainfall is 1000mm with the area prone to spring dries and in one out of three seasons a dump of snow. It has a 185m difference in altitude from top to bottom.

This season the herringbone dairy has been extended to a 28-aside and he milks 390 crossbred cows mated to crossbred bulls. Some cows are mated to a Taurindicus bull and their calves are reared under contract to PGG Wrightson.

It is a one man operation with a sea-sonal worker to rear calves.

He rears 100 replacements annu-

ally and because of his low empty rate, last season only 2.1%, he was able to sell 51 yearlings. “They were all DNA profiled, 100% recorded and with pro-duction figures and they sold for $1000 each.”

Ross has been once-a-day milking since he started sharemilking. “I do it differently: after the start of the season they are divided into two herds and I milk the heifers and Jersey cross herd in the morning and the older stock in the afternoon.”

The heifers are run with the older cows at the start as Ross finds it helps them get used to being milked before they are transferred to the other herd. “All stock have EID tags so they are easy to draft with my Protract draft-ing gate.”

The proof of the pudding is that production averages 85,000kgMS; his best season was 90,000kgMS, and last season 76,000kgMS because of the drought.

Milk is collected on a skip-a-day routine all season; milk is sent to Pahia-tua or via Oringi by train to Whareroa.

Thirty per cent of the farm is cropped annually as Ross says the extra feed helps to even out produc-tion during the season. Turnips are grown for the summer, sorghum for the autumn and kale and ryecorn for the winter. As well, 12ha of wholec-

rop or a pea/barley mix is grown for pit silage and the balance of the farm is fescue, undersown with an annual ryegrass.

Each summer he feeds 300 tonnes of wet corn waste from McCains. Hay is only made if there is adequate sur-plus.

Effluent goes through a two-pond system which gives storage in wet weather and is spray irrigated to 35ha. Ross tries to use some of that land for cropping to utilise the extra nutrients available.

He says the farm has a good cell count figure and chances of masti-tis are monitored with a DAL unit installed in every fifth bale. “Over the space of a week I believe I will have checked all cows.”

Ross enjoys an excellent working relationship with the farm owners as they allow him to manage the farm as if it was his own.

“If I have a weakness it is a liking for good machinery and I enjoy the crop-ping work.”

Dairy News: “Where do you want to be in five years?”

Ross: “I am doing very well here, and happy with the farm’s situation, the owners and where I am, so why shift?”

He is considering employing full time staff next season.

ToNY HoPKINSoN

BILL WARD (75) lives in retirement at Putorino, 10km north of Tutira and convenes the dairy farm discussion group that includes Sean Ross’s farm.

He and his family have been intertwined “seemingly forever” with the Putorino community and district, at various times owning, running and leasing the local hotel.

His parents came here in 1942, managing the hotel and running a 35ha dairy farm that surrounded the hotel on three sides.

“There were up to 24 dairy

farms in the area, mainly ex-servicemen settled after WWII, all milking about 100 cows, running pigs and their cream going as far as Danniverke,” Ward says.

“The major changes I have seen that really changed farming were the change to herringbone dairies and supplying whole milk collected by tankers.”

At various times he has managed the hotel. He returned to milking cows from 1999 until 2009 – aged 71. “I decided to stop milking in 2009

when I told my wife my body and legs had had enough.”

He has convened the dairy farm discussion group for 10 years.

“Nobody else would do it so I have continued as I like doing it and it keeps me in touch with the locals and what is happening in the dairy farming scene.”

CAN’T gET ENoUgH dAIrY FArMINg

Bill Ward


36 // ANIMAl HEAlTH

‘Dye affected conception’

STrAwS oF LIC’s Long Last Liquid (LLL) semen this spring will all be one colour: yellow.

After decades of colour-coding straws by dyeing the diluent according to breed – red for Holstein Friesian, green for Jersey, and yellow for Kiwicross – the breed-ing company has discov-ered red and green dyes cut conception.

“Last year we did a trial looking at what happened if we took out the breed stain,” explains LIC’s gen-eral manager research and development, Richard Spelman.

“Across tens of thou-sands of animals we saw

close to a 1% improve-ment in conception rate from straws that didn’t have breed stain in them. That’s pretty significant. A 1% increase in concep-tion rate is reckoned to be worth $4-$5/cow. Across four million animals, that’s $16-20 million more for the farmer,” he told Dairy News.

Dyes have been used to help technicians select the right straws in the field for as long as Spelman can remember – over 20 years – but the research team is always looking for ways to increase conception rate, testing whether different chemicals or diluents are more or less toxic to sperm, he says.

Using coloured plas-tics for the straws, instead

of dyeing the content, was considered but the plas-tic used for straws has been selected as one with mini-mal affect on sperm viabil-ity, and a whole new set of tests would be required if coloured plastic were to be used.

“Every year we go through tests to check the plastic isn’t toxic to sperm. If we asked them to colour it we would have to go through all the test-ing again. Even if we just coloured the outside, it might still dissipate through to the contents.”

Instead, after last year’s findings, systems were put in place for technicians to go by labelling on straws alone, and they have been accordingly briefed for the coming mating season,

ANdrEw [email protected]

Spelman told Dairy News.This year’s LLL straws

will still look yellow, even though they are undyed, as egg yolk is used in the mix.

CRV Ambreed says it has never dyed its semen but has looked at using dif-ferent colour straws. “We feel it would be a bit risky to put colour in it,” marketing manager Peter Berney told Dairy News.

Given all the variables affecting conception, he suggests the 120,000 inseminations LIC made to test the dye effect would be the absolute minimum to be confident a difference as small as just under 1% was statistically significant.

“[LIC] have the abil-ity to run all sorts of trials and look at all sorts of data and compare it across the

entire national database. That’s a massive, massive advantage when it comes to this sort of thing, but that’s the way the industry is set up, and they are not doing anything wrong by doing that.”

However, Dave Hayman of Liberty Genetics, a CRV Ambreed subsidiary that’s run independently of its parent, says if LIC’s trial was prompted by an inter-rogation of the national

DILUTING SEMEN means far more cows can be served by the top bulls, but how low should you go?

Liberty Genetics maintains the concentration it uses in its straws, about twice that of LIC’s, gives an extra 1-2% conception compared to if it diluted to LIC’s rates.

But LIC says that’s not the case. “We do a lot of work around dose rate and how far we can dilute down,” says R&D manager Richard Spelman.

Below a certain dilution – that varies bull to bull – conception rate starts to tail off, but LIC’s dilutions do not take it close to that “edge”. Above that tail-off

point, conception rate is more or less flat, he adds. “We’ve tried double and triple dose rates and there’s no benefit to the farm. You’d be buying something that doesn’t give any extra benefit.”

Liberty Genetics’ manager of genetic development and export sales, Dave Hayman, agrees on the variation bull to bull, but disputes that there’s no benefit from higher concentrations.

At circa 2.2m sperm/fresh straw, and 20m/frozen straw, Liberty’s concentrations are about twice those of LIC’s. The difference is 1-2% better concep-tion rates, a difference worth having, he believes.

As for why sperm is diluted in the first place, while it does slash the cost per service, the main reason is for genetic gain, says Spelman. The top bulls can be used on far more cows, making the rate of genetic improvement in the national herd that much greater.

“If we didn’t use diluents one ejaculate might produce about 20 straws. By diluting we can generate 5000-8000 straws of Long Lasting Liquid semen per ejaculate.”

Higher concentrations are used for frozen stock, as used in LIC’s Alpha (ie named) bull team, with 5000-6000 straws produced per ejaculate.

dIlUTIoN dEbATE rAgES

database, then it should share its findings with all breeding companies. “I would expect them to come out to the industry and make it clear what the back-ground to this is,” he told Dairy News.

Liberty’s straws are pre-pared by Animal Breed-ing Services. ABS’ bull centre manager Chris Par-minter says no dye is used but the straws themselves are colour coded: green for

Jersey, yellow for Kiwicross and grey for Friesian.

“LIC uses a short fat straw that’s unique to them and only available in clear plastic. They’ve got around that (up to this year) with dye.”

Spelman says the trial was prompted by LIC sci-entists looking at all com-ponents of the diluents for sperm toxicity, rather than any interrogation of the national database.

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EA PRODUCTS ARE SOLD VIA VETS NATIONWIDEThe above products are registered to Ethical Agents Ltd pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997. Ad-jec Reg No A6057, Acetol Reg No. A3921, Antimine Reg No. A2677, B-Calm Reg No. A3013, Calol Reg No. A7044, Calsafe Reg No. A8110, Cholormide Spray Reg No. A6342, Coppernate Reg No. A6622, Diaproof-K Reg No. A6530, Debrisol Reg No. A5422, Fiprovet Reg No. A9804, Iodine Tincture Reg No. A4002, Kopertox Reg No. A1475, Kynoselen A4234, Oxytocin Reg No. A4888, Tolfedine CS Reg No. A7321, Trolyte Reg No. A3230, , Vijec Plain Reg No A6357, Vijec with Selenium Reg No. A7255, Vetsel-5 and Wound Powder are exempt from registration. Calstart, Calf Booster are exempt from registration being an oral nutritional compound compliant with Schedule 4 of the ACVM regulations 2001. All products are available, without consultation, from veterinary clinics nationwide.


38 // ANIMAl HEAlTH

NEIl MACPHErSoN, president of the Dairy Cattle Vets section of the New Zealand Veterinary Association, says until the recent spate of Theileria cases, it hadn’t been seen in Waikato.

“It may just be due to the increase in the tick popula-tion following the hot summer and mild winter.”

Most of the 124 cases now confirmed have been in the past couple of months, he told Dairy News, and it’s quite possible there are more unreported, particularly where cows are found dead, rather than observed with symp-toms. “If the cow dies you might assume it was milk fever or bloat.”

Of the farms with confirmed cases, most have only lost one or two animals, and some none, though a couple have had higher losses, he says.

Where cows are only mildly to moderately affected recovery typically takes 1-3 weeks. “If they’re given a blood transfusion they perk up quite rapidly.”

Besides caring for the affected animal (see main story), treating the herd for ticks with a pour-on, and again after 3-4 weeks, will help reduce challenge later in the season.

Fresh blood can perk them up

MPI reiterates anaemia warningA fully fed cattle tick, which grows up to 2.5mm.

THE MINISTrY for Pri-mary Industries has reiter-ated Dairy NZ’s advice to check cattle for symptoms of anaemia as a new strain of tick-borne disease Thei-leria sweeps south.

While most cases are in the northern half of the

North Island, some are reported further south, including one at Rangiora, Canterbury.

Since the ikeda strain was first identified in Northland just over a year ago, 124 farms have con-firmed outbreaks with the autumn drought, mild winter, and now growthy spring causing a spike in cases, thought to be due

to greater tick survival and spread.

MPI acting director general Scott Gallacher says it is important farm-ers are aware of the situa-tion to minimise impacts on herds and livelihoods.

Signs of anaemia include lethargy, pale skin around genitals and udders, and increased respiratory and heart

ANdrEw [email protected]

rates. Stress and move-ment of affected animals should be minimised, as reduced capacity to trans-port oxygen around the body can lead to collapse and death.

Some infected animals may show no signs of ill-ness as they are immune, following previous expo-sure, but the ikeda strain is thought to be overcoming immunity as it is different from the strain which has been in New Zealand for at least 30 years. Symptoms are also more likely where animals are stressed, such as at calving or by other infections.

“Anyone noticing this kind of general illness in their cattle should contact their veterinarian in the first instance,” says Gal-lacher. “Veterinarians can provide advice on how to manage ticks and help pre-vent further cases. Vets and pathologists with test results identifying Theile-ria should report cases to MPI on 0800 80 99 66.”

MPI says it is working with the animal industry bodies and the New Zea-land Veterinary Associa-tion (NZVA) to determine the scale of the situa-tion, build knowledge, inform farmers and carry out research into effec-tive management of the disease.

Most cases to date have been in Northland, Waikato, King Coun-try and Bay of Plenty but some in Whanganui, Taranaki, Reporoa and Rangiora (South Island) have also been confirmed.

DairyNZ put out a

warning about the disease earlier this month.

“It’s been such a dev-astating spring in terms of tick numbers,” the levy-body’s chief scientist Eric Hillerton told Dairy News’ sister paper, Rural News.

Colleague John Bluett, an animal husbandry spe-cialist with DairyNZ and a Waikato dairy farmer, said cases were happen-ing “exponentially” in Waikato. “The weather and long grass have been ideal for the tick that car-ries it.”

Bluett’s advice was if you think your cattle might have it, get the vet in straight away and get a test done.

“These cows have to be nursed very gently. Give them plenty of high energy feed because they’ve not got the energy to go and get their own, and it will take them a while to recover.

“Some farms that have had quite a few cases have put them on once-a-day milking.”

Hillerton says keeping an eye-out for ticks around the tail-head, base of udder and inside the legs – “basically wherever the tick can get close to the skin” – is a good idea, but warns they’re hard to spot as the immature forms are only the size of a pinhead, and even the adult is only 2.5mm across initially. “It grows to about the size of a pea before they drop off.”

Cattle movements, and possibly other animals including birds, spread the ticks.

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FEEd/ANIMAl HEAlTH // 39

Keeping control of pasture qualityA MIld and relatively dry winter, above-average pas-ture growth rates and little pugging has resulted in high average pasture cover levels on many farms. The challenge over the next few months is keeping control of pasture quality.

Pasture quality is deter-mined by what propor-tion of the sward is made up of young leaves (always high in quality) compared to older stalky plants, seed head and dead material (lower in quality).

Grazing pressure is critical since pasture not eaten in the current graz-ing round decreases the quality of feed offered in the next grazing round. This is particularly the case in the late spring as ryegrass enters its repro-ductive phase.

The key to good pas-ture quality is grazing to 7 - 8 clicks or 1500 - 1600 kgDM/ha by offering the right pre-grazing cover. If you have already lost control of pastures and have high grazing residu-als there are three options to consider: closing pad-docks for silage, topping or spraying out poorer performing paddocks and

planting a crop.Making silage

To maximise pasture silage quality, harvest no later than 35 - 40 days after the last grazing or when a maximum of 10% of the ryegrass seed heads have emerged. Follow best-

practice silage making guidelines including wilt-ing to 30 - 35% drymatter and using a proven silage inoculant (e.g. Pioneer® brand 1127). Compact the silage well to remove any air, seal the edges with sand or lime, cover with a high quality cover and place tyres on top so they touch each other.

Topping Topping is another tool

for managing pasture qual-ity. A trial at the DairyNZ No2 Dairy in 1997 - 19981

showed mowing pasture – either before or after grazing – reduced pas-ture production by 20%, and reduced milksolids production by 11% during October but increased milksolids production by 12% during summer. Top-ping after the cows had grazed the paddock gave a higher spring milksolids production than topping before grazing.Planting a crop to transfer feed

Removing an area from the grazing round and planting a crop increases grazing pressure on the rest of the farm. The crop transfers feed from the spring to other times of the year when it is needed. Crops such as maize and forage sorghum which can be ensiled and fed when required offer more

flexibility than crops which must be grazed when they are mature (e.g. brassicas). This is regardless of whether or not you need the feed.

Spraying out a paddock and establishing a short maturity maize hybrid in early October will ensure maize silage is available to feed to the herd to extend lactation in the autumn. It’s a simple system since ground conditions are normally dry and maize can be fed in the paddock with minimal wastage. It’s also very economic and a great way to ensure you make the most of the high, forecast milksolids payout.

Planting maize in paddocks which would benefit from pasture renewal increases the chance of successfully establishing new higher yielding and improved quality pasture.

1Kolver et al. 1999. Mowing pastures to improve milk production. Pro-ceedings of the New Zea-land Grassland Association 61:139-145• Ian Willams is a Pioneer forage specialist. Contact him at [email protected]

“The challenge over the next few months is keeping control of pasture quality.”

Crops like maize can be ensiled and fed when required.

MAKE SURE YOU PLAY IT RIGHT AT DRENCHING

Weighing a sample of calves each month will give you a good idea of how they’re doing, and it will allow you to give your calves an accurate

dose at drenching.

Heifer calves need to grow at around 0.5-0.7kg/

day between weaning and mating.

References

1. Cowan, R.T. et al (1974) Relationship of age and liveweight at fi rst calving to subsequent lactation yields of Friesian heifers grazing tropical pastures. Queensland Journal Agriculture and Animal Science 31, 367.

2. Hayes, MacDiarmid, Wickham, Burton (1999) Some effects of liveweight, breed, and management on the reproductive performance of replacement dairy heifers. The Proceeding of the Society of the Dairy Cattle Veterinarians of the New Zealand Veterinary Society. 16, 93-103

3. DairyNZ FarmFact 3-22: Recommended liveweights for young stock. August 2006.

Q: How do I achieve target calf weights?A: You need to get calf rearing, weaning, feeding and animal health right.

A regular drenching programme is also one of the tools that will help you achieve this. That means drenching monthly with an effective, short-acting oral combination drench. For cattle up to about 15 months of age, we recommend using a combination drench containing levamisole and abamectin.

Heifer liveweight targets (kg)3

Age 3 months 6 months30%

mature liveweight

9 months 12 months 15 months60%

mature liveweight (mating)

22 months90%

mature liveweight

Jersey (mature weight 400kg)

70kg 120kg 160kg 200kg 240kg 360kg

Jersey X Fresian (mature weight 450kg)

80kg 135kg 180kg 225kg 270kg 405kg

Fresian (mature weight 500kg)

90kg 150kg 200kg 250kg 300kg 450kg

Dose to the heaviest animal in the mob. But remember: if there’s a wide variation in weights within the mob, separate them into two groups of similar weights and dose to the heaviest animal in each group.

®Registered trademarks. Phone: 0800 800 543. CALF-257-2013.CAUTION: Do not use ALLIANCE or CONVERGE in calves less than 100kg liveweight. Do not drench with milk or milk-feeders, or while calves are suckling.

Q: What should my dairy heifers weigh?A: The target weights for your growing heifers should be relative to the weight they’ll be when mature.

The key liveweight targets are:

• 30% of mature liveweight at 6 months

• 60% of mature liveweight at 15 months (mating)

• 90% of mature liveweight at 22 months

and mating.

Q: Why are worms such an issue?A: Put simply, worms are a drain on the health and growth rates of your calves.

In extreme cases, worms can cause severe illness and even death. Much more commonly, worms decrease your calves’ feed intake and utilisation effi ciency – meaning they eat less, and grow less with what they do eat. Over time, this can have a negative impact on the number of calves that reach their target weights.

Heifers that are underweight at mating are less likely to cycle and get in calf. If they do get in calf, they’re more likely to be late calvers, and will probably produce less milk.1,2

The other ‘hidden’ cost of worms in your calves is the amount of eggs they put out onto pasture. Young infected animals leave your paddocks loaded with worm eggs ready to infect the next group of animals to graze. This is especially problematic where calves are grazing the same paddocks year after year.

2

2

WEIGH CALVES FIRST

Deal to worms in your dairy calves. Drench right. Choose COOPERS.

For advice on best-practice drenching, visit www.coopersonline.co.nz or scan the code to take you straight there.

Deal to worms in your dairy calves. Deal to worms in your dairy calves. Deal to worms in your dairy calves.

Q: Why are worms such

Deal to worms in your dairy calves. Deal to worms in your dairy calves.

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milk quality // 41

Prevention through good managementPREVENtiON iS always better than cure.

Many animal health problems are associated with poor manage-ment and can therefore be pre-vented by improved management practices, says DairyNZ.

For example, in the case of mastitis this would include pro-

tocols around teat disinfection as part of the milking routine, milk-ing hygiene to prevent cow to cow transfer, milking machine mainte-nance, drying off management and monitoring of SCC.

To prevent the transfer of other infections between stock, proto-cols dealing with the segregation

of infected animals and the quar-antining of new stock are impor-tant.

Accurate recording of all animal health events is important for timely identification of disease outbreaks, identification of recurrently affected cows for culling, effective management of

sick cows, information for your vet and design of preventative programs.

Recording systems must include the milking animal number, condition/disease and veterinarian (if consulted), the type of treatment (including dose) and the date of each treatment

Effective teat spraying is crucial. Photo:

Jan MarEE FinE art PhotograPhy

Teat spraying technology helps milk qualityCONCERN aBOut milk quality has become a topical subject and every facet of milk harvesting is under scru-tiny, says teat sprayer innovator and developer David Carey, of WeTit

Notably, says Carey, suppliers whose rotary milk-ing platforms have teat spray systems that spray while cows are on the platform must guard against a cow being sprayed during milking, by means of an automated system. This is necessary to comply with Fonterra’s risk manage-ment plan (RMP).

Fonterra food safety technical advisor Paul Dixon says “Fonterra’s position is based upon its interpretation of current regulatory and RMP criteria and any obligations for the harvesting of milk for all intended markets.”

Carey identifies two high risk areas:Firstly, cows that do not finish milking in the first rev-

olution of the platform are sprayed with the teat cups on. Although the cups would have a short period for the spray to dry, there is still a possibility that the residue may brush onto the teats of the following cow as it is cupped.

Secondly, cows that have kicked off their cups before being milked out and are retained on the platform are re-cupped after having been teat sprayed on the first revolu-tion. Fonterra requires these sprayed cups to be washed in compliant water and sprayed teats washed and dried before being re-cupped.

Freeriding cows can be accidentally recupped after being sprayed by machine or hand. This will especially pose a greater risk if the freeriders are freshly calved colos-trum cows and the milk harvester is inexperienced. Every-body knows these cows have swollen udders which look as if they have not been milked out.

Staff at this time of the year are often exhausted from dealing with on-the-farm calving demands which can also contribute to the problem.

Any farmer spraying cows on the platform, whether by machine or hand, is at risk. Machines spray every cow regardless and the capacity for human error is high in a repetitive job like this. The only foolproof solution is to spray cows after they have left the milking platform.

Carey says, “For farmers who already have their sheds set up for platform teat spraying and don’t want to make a change, we have developed a device that interrupts the signal to the teat sprayer, causing it not to spray if the cow is being retained on the platform for any reason. This can be retro-fitted to most existing automatic systems that have a cow retention apparatus.”

This device has been developed in response to Fonter-ra’s concerns regarding keeping farmers compliant with Animal Products Regulations 2005, while retaining a high standard of milk quality acceptable the world over. All sys-tems need to fit within these regulations, with no compro-mise in reliability and performance.www.wetit.com

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42 // milk quality

Milk chilling in summer heatCENtRal tO the function of a dairy farm is the collection and stor-age of milk, points out GEA Farm Technologies (GEA), which markets iConverter milk cooling and heat recovery tech-nology.

Milk quality can only be guaranteed when the milk cooling process is efficient and reliable, the company says. Milk starts to deteriorate the moment it is harvested from the cow. Natu-rally occurring bacteria in the milk start multiply-ing straight away and only temperature can slow the process to preserve milk quality.

High quality milk has a longer shelf life and can be processed into more high value products than raw milk that has higher levels of bacteria.

Also facing dairy

farmers is impending restrictions on pick-up temperatures, the com-pany says. For New Zea-land dairy processors to remain competitive in international markets farmers will soon need to meet strict quality guide-lines on temperature control. The inevita-ble flow on effect to the dairy farmer will be lower

milk pick-up temperature requirements.

The iConverter tech-nology offers two hygienic milk storage solutions, both with energy effi-ciency and cooling charac-teristics to meet the needs of any installation. This thermal storage/direct on-line hybrid said to be able to reduce total energy costs by as much as 37%.

The heat-recovery technology uses a high pressure refrigerant called R410a which enables the system to generate hot water at up to 80°C, giving ample hot water for maxi-mum plant hygiene.

This distributed cool-ing system pumps chilled glycol to points that require coolant. This allows numbers of bulk milk transfer stations (BMTs) to be installed and cooled. Adding an extra BMT at a later stage incurs only a small plumb-ing change rather than installing a new compres-sor. With glycol running through the base of the BMT it will never freeze milk to the dimple pad so cooling is applied right at the start of milking.

It uses phase change technology which allows it to store the energy during off-peak power peri-

COWS’ tEatS must be clean and should be dry before applying the clus-ters, says DairyNZ.

Teat washing prevents milk quality and animal health problems; particu-larly it reduces risk of teat damage and mastitis resulting from teat damage or excessive dirt on teats.

If a teat is visibly dirty, then it needs to be washed, DairyNZ insists. It advises: wash the teats only, not the whole udder; use a low pressure, clean water supply; and rub hard to remove the dirt with hand or a paper towel.

Staff should wear gloves to pre-vent chapped hands and cracks, and to reduce the risk of spreading bacteria. Milkers’ gloves should be rinsed fre-quently in running water, at least after each row of cows.

Teats can be dried using paper towels, kitchen roll or torn up squares of old newspaper. Laundered cotton face flannels can also be used (one per cow) but need to be washed and dried between milkings.

If the teats are not dried, dirty water will move down to the teat end and into the milk and the teat orifice.

This can lead to mastitis and result in

milk quality problems due to high bac-terial counts or sediment in the milk.

DairyNZ advises against using udder soap, which can lead to udder cracking and spreading of bacteria.

Udder cloths to wash teats as the cloth will transfer bacteria onto the next cow’s teats unless the cloths are washed after every milking and only one cloth is used per cow.

Preventing teats getting dirty to start with will decrease the time spent wash-ing and drying teats in the dairy.

Typical causes are muddy tracks and races, and mud at water troughs, stock camping areas and shady spots. Keep them well maintained, is the advice given. Feed pads, also, need regular cleaning.

Teat skin should be protected with an emollient in the teat disinfectant; this is an easy way to improve teat skin condition, DairyNZ says. Dirt finds it harder to stick to healthy skin.

Removing any excess hair from around the udder, through shaving, clip-ping or flaming, reduces the need for washing teats. Trimming tail switches regularly will also reduce soiling of teats and udder.

Cleanliness guards against disease

ods. This stored energy is then used to instanta-neously snap chill milk as it passes through the plate heat exchanger. In simple terms, small balls of water are frozen solid using chilled glycol. This

is where the energy is stored and only released as and when it is required to snap chill.

The iConverter range consists of three base models: the aquaDirect, and the aquaTess, which

use thermal storage of off-peak power for maximum chilling efficiency, and the new aquaChill, a direct on-line chiller that only operates during milking periods.Tel. 0800 432 327

To find out more go to www.nait.co.nz or call NAIT on 0800 624 843

Newborn calves at your place?

Tag your animals

All newborn cattle must be tagged with a NAIT approved RFID ear tag before they are six months old, or before they move off farm – whichever is soonest. Bobby calves going direct to slaughter are exempt.

Register your animals

Once tagged, you must register all your calves in the NAIT system within one week, or before they move off farm – whichever is soonest. Registration links individual animals to tags in the NAIT system so they can be traced.


milk quality // 43

time to put myth to bedtHERE iS a long-held belief that leaving milk in the udder will lead to mas-titis.

Indeed, housewives in England in the early 1600s were exhorted to not ‘leave a [house] cow half milked’. But research as early as the 1950s indicates that, for cows normally machine milked, residual milk does not cause mas-titis.

The topic has received recent attention with the promotion of strat-egies such as maximum milking time (MaxT) or increased automatic clus-ter remover (ACR) thresh-old, to reduce cow milking times and increase milking efficiency. See milksmart.co.nz.

In five recent trials in New Zealand, the effects of MaxT and increased ACR thresholds were examined.

These showed no increase in mastitis, or decrease in production despite, in some cases, leaving strip yields of more than 0.7 litres. These studies used cows, milked twice-daily, with relatively low somatic cell count (SCC).

Previous Austra-lian work concluded that incomplete milking, in their case leaving behind 0.5L, did not cause a detectable increase in SCC for cows with mild sub-clinical mastitis. There-fore, a higher SCC should

not be an issue for farm-ers wishing to shorten cow milking duration.

The effects of gross under-milking have not been well researched, and the long-term con-sequences of leaving more than 1L litre of milk behind at each milking are unknown.

Once-daily milking, whereby 100% of the eve-ning milk is not harvested, could be considered an extreme version of under-milking, although it does not involve opening the teat canal.

Once-daily milking typ-ically causes an increase in SCC and leads to a 10 - 30% loss in production per cow, depending on timing and duration, but gener-ally does not increase the risk of mastitis.

Therefore, it is unsur-prising that no increase in mastitis or production loss has been reported with the relatively small increases in strip yield when using MaxT or increased ACR thresholds.

Of greater concern is the risk of over-milk-ing, which occurs when attempting to extract every last drop of milk from the udder. This can lead to teat-end damage. Over-milking may also increase the likelihood of transfer of infection between quarters during the period of little or no milk flow. Consequently, overmilking should be avoided.

So, after nearly 400 years, it may be time to put this myth to bed. A mod-

erate level of incomplete milking (e.g. strip yields of up to 1L of milk per udder) does not increase the risk of mastitis.• Jane Lacy-Hulbert is

DairyNZ senior scientist and Paul Edwards is a post-graduate student. This article first appeared in Inside Dairy September 2013.

JaNE laCy-HulBERt aNd Paul EdWaRdS

incomplete milking does not increase the risk of mastitis, says DairynZ.

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44 // milk quality

installation of larger units won’t necessarily reduce work routine time and may even result in over-milking.

Efficiency gains from better work routinetHE taSkS a milker must complete for each cow at milking (from entering to exiting the dairy) make up the work routine time, says DairyNZ.

“Measured in seconds per cow these tasks determine how many cows a person can milk in an hour,” DNZ says. “Reducing the work routine time can lead to gains in effi-ciency,”

The difference between milking in a rotary dairy and

in a herringbone is a good example of how reducing the work routine can lead to increased efficiency. In a rotary dairy the milker does not have to spend time rowing-up cows or moving up and down the shed to cup them, thus decreasing the work routine time.

In large herds, reducing the work routine time can lead to big reductions in milking time due to the large number of cows being milked. For example, taking three seconds off the work routine time in a 1000 cow herd saves 50 min-utes per milking.

There will be few gains in efficiency resulting from upsizing to a larger dairy with more milking units unless it results in a reduction in the work routine time, says DairyNZ.

The installation of larger units can often cause inef-ficiencies to appear in the work routine, such as increas-ing the time required to row-up or requiring an additional milker who is not fully utilised. They can also result in bad practices such as over-milking.

Gains in efficiency may be obtained by examining the milking routine for tasks that can be reduced or elimi-nated. Substituting labour with automation, such as ACR or an automatic teat sprayer, may also increase efficiency, although the trade-off between capital input and labour costs must be managed.

The backing gate should be used effectively, so that milkers are not required to go into the yard to bring cows into the dairy; little and often is best. If milkers are regularly entering the yard, review use of the backing gate and check to see there are no issues in the milking area which may be causing cows discomfort.

Don’t let slow milking cows slow down the milking routine. Have a plan for managing these cows.

Train your staff properly. It is essential to maximise the effectiveness of your work force.

Talk to your workers. Many dairy farm workers have worked on other farms and can bring skills and fresh ideas to your business.

Take the time to calculate the work rou-tine time in your dairy and consider options for reducing it. For large herds a small time saving per cow can be a large time saving over the whole herd.

milkiNg HaBitS – aCtiONS tO takE

“Reducing the work routine time can lead to gains in efficiency.”

For large herds a small time saving per cow can lead to be a large time saving over the whole herd.


maCHiNERy & PROduCtS // 45

More power, torque after makeoveriN tHE first makeover of its 7R series tractors since their launch in 2011, John Deere is rolling out five new 7R models from 154-213kW power for 2014.

The new 7R tractors boast up to 14kW more power and more torque than previous models. In line with the compa-ny’s dual-power strategy for the Australian and New Zealand marketplace, new 7210R and 7230R models will be available with a US EPA Tier 2 John Deere PowerTech engine, while new 7250R, 7270R and 7290R models will be avail-able with a US EPA Final Tier 4 John Deere Pow-erTech PSS engine.

The PowerTech PSS engine uses John Deere’s efficient selective cata-lytic reduction system and utilises a high-pressure common rail fuel system and series turbochargers to improve total fluid effi-ciency while effectively reducing emissions. The 7R series tractors’ fuel capacities range from 475-589 L, depending on model and transmission option. Tractors equipped with a PowerTech PSS engine have a diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) storage capacity of 25.7L.

Transmission options on the new 7R tractors include CommandQuad Eco, available on the 7210R and 7230R models, and the new e23 power shift trans-mission with ‘efficiency manager’, standard on all five 7R models.

The e23 PST has 23 equally spaced forward gears and 11 reverse gears that enable the efficiency advantages of a steplessly variable-speed transmis-sion with the smoothness and simplicity of a power shift. The ‘efficiency man-ager’ feature optimises

ALL 7R SERIES tractors have the roomy CommandView III cab that is quieter due to a laminated front windshield that damp-ens outside noise. The cab features an op-erator’s seat that swivels 40 degrees right for easier viewing of rear implements.

Other options include an in-cab refrig-erator and a LED lighting package 40% brighter than conventional lights. “These new 7R tractors are designed to handle a wide variety of chores on the farm because of their power range and customer-demanded features,” says Jarrod McGinnis.

“These tractors push productivity and comfort to a higher level to provide greater value to our customers.” Tel. 0800 303 100

ROOmy aNd quiEtER CaBfluid economy during field operations and transport. The John Deere steplessly variable transmission is also available for all 7R models.

Jarrod McGinnis, divi-sion marketing manager for John Deere, says the new engine and the trans-mission options help the 7R Series tractors offer greater productiv-ity and value to custom-ers. “These new machines are more fluid efficient and offer increased power for exceptional engine, hydraulic and PTO per-formance that many cus-tomers want in a row-crop

tractor.” In addition, the

new 7R tractors have many features in common with their larger new 8R cous-ins, including the rede-signed CommandArm, with improved ergonomics and more intuitive control of major tractor functions such as throttle, AutoTrac resume button, transmis-sion speed and direction, SCVs, PTO and hitch.

Depending on the model, the CommandArm comes with a 17.7 cm 4100 CommandCenter display or a 25.4 cm 4600 Com-mandCenter display. Both are AutoTrac capable and

feature an easier-to-use operator interface. The CommandCenter puts machine operation infor-mation and control at the fingertips of the operator.

“With factory-installed John Deere FarmSight components and other integrated technologies, the 7R tractors deliver a premium operator experi-ence along with superior performance in the field,” says McGinnis.

“The remote machine information systems pro-vide off-site dealer diag-nostic capabilities and help reduce downtime and operational costs.”

“These new machines are more fluid efficient and offer increased power.”

John Deere has revamped its 7r series tractors.

Don’t become a statistic. TAKE ACTION TO PREVENT ACCIDENTS ON YOUR FARM.

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Go to: www.business.govt.nz/healthandsafetygroup/quad-bikes


46 // maCHiNERy & PROduCtS

PGW buys water technology firms

Mark Dewdney

Pgg WRigHtSON (PGW) has bought water businesses Water Dynam-ics and Aquaspec.

PGW, majority owned by Chinese company Agria

Corp, has paid an undis-closed sum for the two companies, bought from Swiss multinational Pen-tair.

PGW chief executive

Mark Dewdney says the acquisitions will comple-ment the irrigation busi-ness his company has built for 30 years. “Our existing irrigation business unit is

set to continue to achieve strong growth.”

The purchase of Water Dynamics and Aquaspec, with combined revenues of $14 million, will add

much to the services PGW can provide to farmers and growers, Dewdney says.

“Water Dynamics gives us an expanded footprint in parts of the country

where we [are not] in irri-gation, including Hawke’s Bay, while the Auckland branch gives us direct access into Waikato.

“Aquaspec’s wholesale import and distribution business will add greater vertical integration, and give our customers access to [many extra] brands.”

Many large-scale com-munity water schemes are at the consenting and fea-sibility stage, PGW points out. Schemes in Wair-arapa, Central Hawkes Bay and north, central and south Canterbury, in plan-ning for years, are making progress.

And in July the Govern-ment established Crown Irrigation Investments Ltd, an $80 million com-pany to help advance irri-gation projects that may otherwise struggle.

Irrigation New Zea-land and MPI estimate

that in 2010, 620,000ha was under irrigation. This could be increased to at least 1 million ha given the available water resources, topography and demand, PGW says.

Last summer showed the need for water man-agement to “mitigate the impact of drought on the rural sector,” Dewdney says. “Clearly those farm-ing districts with reliable irrigation during last year’s widespread drought man-aged far better than those without.”

Water Dynamics and Aquaspec have 45 staff in branches at Auckland, Hastings, Christchurch and Cromwell.

They will join PGW’s irrigation business, with 70 staff, and revenue of $45.1 million in the June 2013 financial year, up from $29.8 million the pre-vious year.

Demand up for crop protection productsNEW ZEalaNd farmers are set to benefit from a major investment program announced earlier this month by Bayer CropScience.

Against a background of strong demand for its prod-ucts, the company is adding $1.6 billion to its investment program, bringing total capital expenditures for the period 2013 to 2016 to $3.9b.

Bayer New Zealand managing director Holger Detje, who also heads the local CropScience sub group, says this is good news for kiwi farmers.

“As a result of the accelerated investment program, the production volume of key active ingredients for crop protection products is expected to increase significantly.

“Many industries today are facing overproduction. At Bayer CropScience, we are in a completely different sit-uation. A growing global population, changing diets and increasing weather volatility are affecting food supply and need to be addressed today.”

Detje adds that demand from farmers globally for Bayer products was increasing so strongly that the company is significantly stepping up its supply chain capacity to serve farmers around the world with much needed innovative agricultural solutions.

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transmission widens tractor’s appealtRaCtOR COmPaNy New Holland has added its Electro Command semi-powershift trans-mission to the T5 tractor range, saying it expects this feature to increase the machines’ appeal to live-stock and mixed farmers, and contractors.

Three models are offered, with power rat-ings of 99-114hp. The range’s “class-leading” common rail technology gives it Tier 4A compli-ance. And the machines have the maker’s deluxe VisionView cab.

“The T5 Electro Com-mand will become the tractor of choice for inten-sive transport, hay and forage and mixed opera-tions, courtesy of its effi-cient transmission,” says Kyle Baxter, New Holland operations manager for C B Norwood Distribu-tors Ltd.

He also expects the T5 Electro Command to suit

councils and road main-tenance crews because of “an ideal range of working speeds and outstanding all-round visibility”.

The Electro Command semi-powershift transmis-sion is a better version of the transmission currently fitted to the NH T6 range. This transmission has 16 forward/reverse, and enables operators to select up to eight gears via up- or downshift buttons on the transmission lever with-out physically moving it.

Range changing is made even easier by three buttons on the right hand Command Arc. The gear selected is displayed on the instrument cluster.

For slow-speed opera-tors such as growers, an additional clutch pack and reduction gearing pro-vides an additional 16 gears below the standard gearing – 32x32 gears for speeds as low as 280m/hour. The creeper function

THE T5 Electro Command range benefits from New Holland’s Terralock traction man-agement system, CB Norwood says.

Once engaged, the system automatically controls 4WD and differential lock engage-ment via linkage between speed sensors, the brake pedal and the rear linkage. The system will automatically disengage during tight turns at, e.g. headlands.

The system prevents ‘scrubbing’ of tyres during turns because the wheels are free to turn and are not locked together; soil scarring is also reduced. This system auto-matically disengages when speed reaches 15km/h.

All T5 Electro Commands have heavy duty braking.

NO tyRE ‘SCRuBBiNg’ at HEadlaNdS

is engaged by a switch on the Command Arc.

Choose the VisionView cab and optional Comfort Ride cab suspension, and the T5 offers an “unsur-passed operating environ-ment,” says CB Norwood. Familiar to users of the T6, T7 and T8 ranges, this cab suspension counteracts harsh bumps, reducing driver fatigue.

new holland t5 tractor range now boasts a semi-powershift transmission and optional comfort ride cab suspension.

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‘B-segment’ concept reflects growing demand – KiatHE kia Niro, a concept car unveiled at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show, has ‘butterfly’ doors and an “almost counter-4x4 image”, the company says.

Designed in Frankfurt by Kia, the car is intended as a ‘styling study’ to gauge public response for a poten-tial production model.

It is built on an all-new platform seen as the basis of “B-segment” products from Kia, and is deliberately tilt-ing at the crossover market, but in a different way, the company says.

“Ten years ago people wanted understated style in the SUV market, but increasingly as more people migrate to the B-segment they are looking for strong character and individuality.”

The dihedral butter-fly doors open into the roof panel and swing up high, with low-set flush handles.

The 4x4 powertrain uses Kia’s turbocharged 1.6L

Gamma engine, developing 160hp through a 7-speed, dual-clutch transmission.

While the engine drives the front wheels, an elec-tric-hybrid system powered from regenerative braking delivers up to 45hp to the rear wheels when road con-ditions require extra grip.

“It’s an exciting vehi-

cle…. I’d love to see it go into production,” says Todd McDonald, general manager of Kia Motors New Zealand.

The parent company says the Niro could be close

to on-road reality if the public wants it.

“We have to look at what the future could hold, not just what is probable… It is clear the B-segment is growing as motorists seek to downsize, but it is equally clear they refuse to give up individuality and distinc-tiveness.”

the Kia niro concept vehicles shows off its space-age butterfly doors.

CREATED WITH European tastes and expectations in mind, the Kia Niro blends a mix of contrasting materials including stainless steel.

“Muscular” fenders rise up from the trademark ‘tiger nose’ grille, in green aluminium and flanked by triangular LED headlamps. Below the grille are two large, square LED driving lamps and a carbon fiber chin with lime accents.

The the 225/40R20 tyres are mounted on milled alu-minium 20-inch five-spoke wheels.

The Niro’s high beltline is contrasted by a stainless steel roof and then bisected by the butterfly doors that facilitate easier entry and exit.

a BlENd Of CONtRaStS

The dihedral butterfly doors open into the roof panel and swing up high, with low-set flush handles.

the Kia niro has been created with European tastes and expectation in mind.



Disc drill causes a stir among contractorsa 4-mEtRE disc air-seeder launched at Fiel-days by Reese Agri is “a hit” with contractors, the company says. The machine is a disc variant of the Aitchison Airpro air-seeder.

The new machine gained Reese Agri a final-ist placing in the Fieldays innovation awards con-test.

Sales manager John Norfolk says it has proved as much a hit with con-tractors testing it as with the Fieldays competition judges.

The prototype of the air seeder was tested by con-tractors in Hawkes Bay, Waikato and Taranaki. “The last contractor who did the trial work for us in Taranaki decided he didn’t want it to go back to the factory so he put a sticker with his company logo on it.”

Norfolk says the imple-ment is popular because of its narrow transport width, multi-functionality (up to three boxes) and its ability to hug the ground contours “like no other”.

Though the air seeder has a 4m sowing width it folds up to 2.75m and can be towed at up to 40km/h. “It’s easy enough to trans-port through gates and over farm bridges but at the same time it’s got all the bits there to cover a lot

of acreage fast.”Norfolk says a frame

consisting of three sepa-rate parts gives the seeder excellent contour-follow-ing ability, also improved by individually sprung discs that add another 120mm of individual travel.

The drill is offered with bins of 1500L or 1000L capacity; an optional 80L bin has individual hydrau-lically driven fans. Tel. 06 357 9323 www.reesegroup.co.nz

gaREtH gillatt

the air seeder folds up and can be towed at up to 40km/hr.

the new disc airseeder is a hit with contractors, says reese agri.

“The last contractor who did the trial work for us in Taranaki decided he didn’t want it to go back to the factory so he put a sticker with his company logo on it.”

Rethinking the Everyday

With farming at our core, and a love for machines our passion – the rethinking of our already successful sprayer range was pure instinct. Katipo from Hustler embodies a raft of new features never seen in agricultural sprayers before – all designed to make your life easier. To learn more, visit hustlerequipment.co.nz

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NEVada’S WEll proven effluent stirrer will be put through its paces this month in a study involving very large and heavily crusted ponds, says Midwest Machinery.

The company says it has identified “some of the country’s most crusted up effluent ponds” to test its new TurboStir 7000 PTO

pond stirrer.It says there will be

some big challenges for the machine. The pond dimensions range up to 60 metres square some with crust.

No sweat, it says. The 7.4 metre stirrer will do it thanks to the high perfor-mance Typhoon propel-ler design. “It has the most efficient power-to-out-put ratio of any unit on the market.”

“This stirrer is an ulti-mate contractors machine and suits tractors from 70hp and upwards.”

One of the ponds likely to be used is about 2500m2 on a dairy farm with approximately 500 cows.

The pond hasn’t been pumped or stirred for quite some time. “This farm has a high input feed system so there’s a lot of dry matter entering the pond – thousands of dol-lars’ worth of nutrients…..

“But by efficiently

tHE ‘COBRa’ travelling irrigator, new from Hi-Tech Enviro Solutions, Morrinsville, stems from “customers’ requests for a raingun that could move itself,” says gen-eral manager, Brian Nicholson.

It’s a game-changer, he says. “After a lot of R&D including sourcing parts from

overseas, and then extensive trialling and getting feedback and suggestions from farmers, we knew the Cobra was special.”

The design is a world first, the company says, and enables farmers to put on dairy effluent at extremely low depths and rates. And it incurs none of the problems inher-ent in long boom arms on normal travelling irrigators.

It has a wide range of travel speeds, can do full or part circles, and can vary its performance to suit different parts of the farm.Tel. 07 889 7755www.hitechenviro.co.nz

irrigator ‘changes the game’

gaREtH gillatt

Stirrer to get major crust test

“When you’re only pumping and not stirring, you won’t get a consistent and even spread of nutrients on to the irrigated area.” nevada stirrer

agitating the pond, the farmer can utilise this valuable organic fertiliser by spreading it evenly over the pasture in addition to tidying up the pond.

“When you’re only pumping and not stirring,

you won’t get a consistent and even spread of nutri-ents on to the irrigated area.”

The company will con-sider even more serious challenges. “If you think you’ve got a pond with a

thicker crust we’d love to hear from you.”

A report on the experi-ments will be available in late October.Telephone. 0800 464 393www.nevadanz.co.nz

REESE ENGINEERING LTD, Palmerston North, New Zealand | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.reeseagri.co.nz

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FREESTALLS SHELTERS FEEDPADS “Our cows can be inside sometimes for 24hours a day when the weather is bad. They are quite and happy. There is no waste of feed, and they need less food, because they are not using energy to keep warm and the pasture is protected.” Dairy Farmer Quote

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