The Northern

DairyfarmerFEBRUARY-MARCH 2009

■■ QDO notice ofelection

PAGE 4

■■ Auction signalschange for FNQ

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■■ Support for reeffarms

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■■ Drought rebatesavailable

PAGE 8

■■ Keeping yourcows cool

PAGE 10

■■ Creating calmcows

PAGE 12

■■ Forage feedconversion efficiency

PAGE 15

■■ Cover helpsprevent erosion

PAGE 18

INSIDE

Northern milk pricesunlikely to fall: analyst

THE BIG fall in milk prices insouthern milk markets is unlike-ly to flow through to Queenslandand northern New South Wales,according to industry analyst,Freshlogic director SteveSpencer.

In the past northern priceshad been tied to a large extent

to the Victorian prices becausethe companies had beenexposed to similar markets. Butbecause the northern region wasnow effectively in milk short-age, it had “changed the dynam-ic”, Mr Spencer said.

“My gut feel is that it (thesouthern price fall) shouldn’t

KEY POINTS■■ Northern milk

prices now set onsustainable cost ofproduction

■■ Many farmers havelong-termcontracts

■■ Export market lessinfluence

Continued page 4

The top-priced lotof the InternationalDairy Week SemexSpectacular Salewas PonderosaFradon Jody Imp-ET-R at $33,000.Pictured from leftare Semex's VaughnJohnston and DavidMayo; vendors Lou,Maria and LeonGiglia and buyersMichelle and GregAnderson, Gympie,Qld, with theirdaughters, Reneeand Katlyn.

■■ See story p4

By Carlene Dowie

Northerners dominate IDW sales

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THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

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AS WE resume our focus on the year ahead, 2009 may well be dotted with mixed opportunities. Theend of 2008 saw some dramatic change across many sectors as the world economy spat itself out ofoverdrive and selected a much slower pace that may well slow further. It all started financially andhas cut across nearly all sectors, including agriculture.

Export dairy prices have not been sheltered from this impact, and the southern-based milkprocessors relying on international markets are caught in this reality. As a result, cutbacks in farm-gate prices for February to June supply months have been substantial, with some announcementsmade before Christmas and others having followed shortly after with some processors still surveyingwhat action they need to take.

For some companies and indeed their suppliers, this action may well cut into contracts with pro-ducers, which in some cases were negotiated quite recently. If this was to happen, one would expectthat the minimum price provisions factored into most of these contracts would stand. Volume, qualityand extra incentive payments are areas which we may see come under pressure.

On the domestic front, the flow-on effect of this international circumstance would most likely notbe immediate. Domestic contracts to supply companies in a lot of cases have just been negotiated.Many contracts between processors and retailers have some time to run and the world scene by thenmay well be quite different.

With that said, given the speed at which this market change has occurred it would be safe toassume that southern opening prices for 2009-10 may not be flash. With that circumstance, if itoccurs down the track, domestic-market-aligned processors will eventually come under pressure, andmany companies will either have to choose to absorb or pass on the flow-on effects through pricereductions to producers.

Whichever way is chosen will depend on the level of risk to supply long term that the companiesare prepared to gamble with as against the damage to company and shareholder profits and to theirbusiness overall.

The other consideration that everyone in the industry needs to focus on is the continuing level ofdemand for dairy protein around the world. While it has decreased, it hasn’t crashed and stocks haveincreased because of the lower demand. It must be remembered though that the world stock situationthrough 2006-07 was at the lowest level ever for all protein food sources including grains meat and dairy.

With all that said, during the past few weeks I have spoken to many producers wanting to knowwhat the outlook will be given these changed market conditions. This question will be asked acrossAustralia.

The Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC) met last month and has asked Dairy Australia toanalyse the future market outlook so as to be able to provide some independent information to pro-

ducers as soon as possible. The Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation (QDO)fully supports this initiative and will co-operate and provide information relevant tothe market we service in this exercise. As soon as more information is availablewe will ensure it is made available to producers.

In the meantime any producers wanting more information about their supplyarrangements and contract agreements should contact their respective companyrepresentatives to clarify any concern they mayhave at this time.

WELCOME 3

EditorialEditors: Carlene and Alastair DowiePO Box 59, Carisbrook,Vic, 3464Email: <alastair.dowie@ruralpress.com>Phone/fax: (03) 5464 1542Mobile: 0418 553 282

AdvertisingAdvertising manager: Peter RoachPO Box 2544, Gladstone Park,Vic, 3043Email: <peter.roach@ruralpress.com>Phone: (03) 9344 9906Fax: (03) 9338 1044Mobile: 0417 371 364

Queensland Dairyfarmers’Organisation LtdAdrian Peake, Executive officerPO Box 13061, George Street Post Shop,Brisbane, Qld, 4003Phone: (07) 3236 2955Fax: (07) 3236 2956Email: <reception@dairypage.com.au>

Subtropical DairyJanine TeeseExecutive officer – Subtropical Dairy LtdPhone: (07) 5460 1161Mobile: 0438 715 625Fax: (07) 3319 7268Email: <janine@dairyinfo.biz>

Mailing and distributionThe Northern Dairyfarmer is distributed todairyfarmers throughout Queensland andnorthern NSW. If you are a dairyfarmer andare not receiving a copy, contact:Queensland Dairyfarmers’ OrganisationPO Box 13061, George Street Post Shop,Brisbane, Qld, 4003Phone: (07) 3226 2995Fax: (07) 3236 2956Email: <reception@dairypage.com.au>

CopyrightAll material in The Northern Dairyfarmer iscopyright. Reproduction in whole or part isnot permitted without written permissionof the publisher.

Editorial contributionsEditorial contributions are welcome, but noresponsibility can be taken for their loss.Copy is preferred by email in Word or text-only format with pictures and graphics as300dpi JPGs. Deadline is two months beforepublication.

PrintingHarris Print

Published by:Agricultural Publishers Pty LtdABN 55 000 560 430

ISSN 1833-8887

The Northern Dairyfarmer magazine is ajoint industry owned and operatedpublication targeted at delivering the latestresearch and development information andindustry news to dairyfarmers and industrystakeholders of the northern dairyindustry.The Northern Dairyfarmer ispublished on about the 13th of everysecond month in February,April, June,August, October and December.

The Northern

Dairyfarmer

Wes Judd, PresidentQueensland Dairyfarmers Organisation

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

Resolve to make better yearI HAVE never been good at keeping New Year’s resolutions. The only one I have ever kept is to notmake any more New Year’s resolutions. Not that I have any need of improvement. However, my wifewould be quite happy to provide a comprehensive list of my deficiencies. But that said, I would like toput on record my hopes of what we can achieve for Subtropical Dairy for the coming year.

Firstly, it is my earnest hope that the restructuring of Subtropical Dairy will be adopted and sup-ported. I believe the new structure of a skills-based board will offer the direction and leadership toensure the research and extension will continue to enhance the northern dairy industry.

Secondly, I would hope the Young Farmer network that has been established will continue to oper-ate and expand, offering opportunities for the next generation of leaders to develop their skills toenable them to take their place in developing and leading the northern dairy industry. I commend thework that has been done and look with confidence to the future.

I hope the regional groups will continue to operate as they have done. Their role at the coalfaceof our industry is and will always be the strength of Subtropical Dairy. They have a role in the exten-sion of projects but the most important role is providing a forum that allows farmers to come and say“I have a problem with...”.

It is amazing how often that can lead to the highlighting of an emerging issue that needs to beaddressed.

We look forward to receiving your ideas for small projects and ideas for the future direction of SD.Keep up the good work.

Lastly, it is my hope that Dairy Australia will work closely with Subtropical Dairyand other regional bodies to develop an animal welfare extension project that isurgently needed to safeguard dairyfarmers andtheir ability to manage their farms in the future.

We now need to be proactive and be seen tobe ensuring that we are aware of and are usingbest management practice available while stilldefending our right to farm.

Best wishes for 2009.Laurie Dunne, ChairSubtropical Dairy

The year ahead

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

4 NEWS

have a direct impact up here, andif it does it will be small,” hesaid.

Farmgate prices in the northwere now set more on the long-range sustainable cost of pro-duction than southern bench-marks.

A large number of farmers innorth had locked into long-termcontracts. It varied a bit by com-pany, largely because somefarmers had been holding outhoping that the prices might gohigher, Mr Spencer said. Butmany farmers had contracts asfar as five years out.

In the south, large exportprocessors including MurrayGoulburn, Fonterra andWarrnambool Cheese andButter, have slashed prices forthe second half of the financialyear by up to 40%.

This is in response to a bigfall in demand on world marketsand difficulties buyers havefaced in obtaining credit.

Mr Spencer said the exportmarket would eventually correctitself, and there were many dif-ferent opinions about how longthat would take.

But the northern milk compa-nies were not immune from theimpact of the financial crisis.

Mr Spencer said the globalcrisis had had an impact inAustralian consumer markets.“People have had less money tospend. This has seen some trad-ing down in the retail milk mar-ket with a drift to more privatelabel and less premium prod-uct,” he said.

This was not a major drift but

it was a trend, and it would beputting some margin pressureon northern dairy processors.The northern processors couldsource some cheaper ingredientsfrom southern export proces-sors, but the impact of thiswould be fairly small, MrSpencer said.

Mr Spencer said the other rel-evant factor was for the inputside of the business — wheresome costs were falling. Graincosts were way down with a sur-plus of feed grain available.

Fertiliser prices were alsocoming down.

A Global Focus report byRabobank, Farm inputs — thekey to productivity, said that theinternational market has seenUS dollar prices for major inputssuch as fertilisers fall by 60% to75% since their record highs inmid-2008.

However, according to reportauthor and Rabobank analystAdam Tomlinson, the Australiandollar has depreciated by morethan 30% in the same period,effectively offsetting a large por-tion of the declining internation-al prices.

“International prices for fer-tilisers are expected to remainlow for the next few years inview of increased fertiliser pro-duction capacity at lower pricelevels flowing through to thesupply chain,” Mr Tomlinsonsaid.

Agrochemical prices are alsopredicted to drop from recordhighs in line with wider com-modity prices, although demandin 2009 remains unclear due tothe uncertainty in the globaleconomy.

A SMALL contingent ofQueensland and northernNSW dairyfarmers attendedInternational Dairy Week atTatura, Vic, in January. TheQueenslanders led the way atthe sales, taking home the top-priced lots at the SemexSpectacular Sale and in theJersey section of the ProteinBreeds sale.

Gympie, Qld, dairyfarmersGreg and Michelle Andersonpaid the top price and third-topprice at the Semex SpectacularSale. They bought PonderosaFradon Jody Imp-ET-R, a March2008-born Red and WhiteHolstein, sired by Semex sireTalent and out of Canadianmatriarch Fradon R Mark Jodie-Red-R, for $33,000. The heiferwas offered by West Australianmaster breeders Lou and MariaGiglia. Their other buy, Windy

Vale Advent Redrose, cost them$17,000.

Ray De Vere, River RidgeJersey Stud, Kureelpa, Qld, paidthe top price of $7100 in theJersey sale for Fleurieu BlairSelly, while Metcalfe andMaples, Bona Vista, Qld, boughtthe second-top-priced lot,Wallacedale Country Belle, for$5500.

The Clark Partnership SunnyValley, Lismore, NSW, sold thetop-priced Guernsey offering,

Sunny Valley Spider Violet, for$3750, to M. and P. Gray and M.and H. Smith, Hinton, NSW. Theheifer had finished third in itsclass in the Guernsey Show.

In the Brown Swiss sale,Peter Rough, Kenilworth, Qld,paid $7500 for a package of fiveembryos.

Cameron Yarnold, Killawarravia Wingham, NSW, took thejunior champion heifer award inthe Holstein section withArrallik Policy Meg.

From page 1QDO notice ofelection

NOMINATIONS are beingcalled for the positions on theQueensland Dairyfarmers’Organisation (QDO) districtand state council, which fall dueevery three years.

To be eligible to nominatefor either district or statecouncil positions, a personmust be a financial “producer”member of the organisation ora nominated representative of afinancial “producer” member ofthe organisation.

Nominations will open onFebruary 16 and will close at5pm on Friday, March 13.

Details of the call for nomi-nations can be found on thePublic Notice that is enclosedin this magazine or by callingthe QDO office, phone (07)3236 2955.

Fertiliser prices will bechallengedFERTILISER prices in Australiain 2008 were well beyond whatthey should have been, prompt-ing farmers to raise objections.These were clearly voiced inthe recent Senate hearing intofertiliser prices.

However, while the debategoes on, competition in themarketplace is really needed todrive change.

The Canegrowers organisa-tion is investigating a number

of proposals to introducemeaningful competition intothe Queensland fertiliser mar-ket. Other QueenslandFarmers Federation memberorganisations, includingGrowcom and the QueenslandDairyfarmers Organisation,Agforce and a number of otherfertiliser users from through-out Queensland and NewSouth Wales, have given theirsupport to Canegrowers’endeavours.

Meetings have been heldwith Ravensdown FertiliserCooperative of New Zealandand other parties, includingQDO, interested in assistingCanegrowers develop a strate-gy to deliver price transparencyand real competition in the fer-tiliser market for Queenslandagiculture.

Qld milksales andproduction up

QUEENSLAND milk produc-tion for November last yearwas 2.5% higher thanNovember 2007.

Year-to-date production tothe end of November was up2.5% on the same period in2007.

Milk sales also increased.The growth in milk sales forQueensland continues to leadthe eastern seaboard with year-to-date to November figuresup 2.7% compared with anational average increase of2.2%.

Northerners dominate IDW salesFrom page 1

NEWS 5

THE KAIRI Research Stationdairy herd was put to auction inFar North Queensland on January16. There was strong interestfrom local farmers for the 372lots put up for sale, which includ-ed milkers, springers, dry cows,heifers, weaners, heifer calvesand bulls. The bidding was sostrong the auction set newrecords for the region and saw thesale gross $722,140.

Two farmers setting up newoperations were keen to securecows and kept the bidding spirit-ed. The 184 milkers averaged$2310 a head, 23 springers$2645 a head, 40 dry cows $2446a head, heifers joined to the bull$2220 a head, 64 weaner heifers$728 a head and heifer calves$264 a head. The bulls averaged$1275 and an Adonis bull wentfor $800.

In alignment with theMinister for Primary Industriesand Fisheries Tim Mulherrin’scommitment to offer the cattlefor sale locally, the auction wasrestricted by invitation to localdairyfarmers to participate. This

commitment was targeted atkeeping the cattle within theregion and helping assure milksupply locally.

Mr Mulherin said he waspleased with the outcome. “I’mpleased that among the bidderswere a number of newcomerswho are just starting out in theTablelands dairy industry,” MrMulherin said.

“This shows confidence in thefuture of dairying in NorthQueensland. The sale has givenpriority to local farmers byensuring only suppliers to theMalanda factory could be regis-tered bidders.

“I made a commitment lastyear to offer the cattle for salelocally and we consulted closelywith local dairyfarmers on howbest to do this. We wanted tokeep these cattle on theTablelands to ensure the localmilk supply was not affected.”

Mr Mulherin said the sale ofthe Kairi herd was first flagged lastOctober. “At the time I announcedan $8 million plan to enhanceresearch, training and services on

the tablelands,” he said.“There will be significant

benefits for the dairy industry. Ihave announced two additionaldairy extension staff, and mydepartment is working with theindustry to prepare an AthertonTableland Dairy DevelopmentPlan to meet the needs of thedairy industry and provide for asmooth transition out of the Kairidairy.

“This is part of the freshapproach to growing primaryindustries on the tablelands, andwe are funding this plan bydivesting some assets, includingthe sale of the Kairi dairy herd.”

Queensland Dairyfarmers’Organisation (QDO) northerndistrict council chairman JamesGeraghty said it was an end ofera and disappointing that theKairi dairy research facilitycould not be retained, but thegovernment had made the deci-sion and was now working withindustry on the development ofnew services that would meet theneeds of the region’s dairy indus-try. Farmers needed to ensure the

new services met the needs of theindustry now and into the future,he said.

“We are pleased that the gov-ernment has given commitmentsto employ new service deliverystaff for our industry, to workwith industry to construct adevelopment plan for theregion’s dairy industry, and tomaintain the maize and pasturebreeding programs,” MrGeraghty said.

“Industry will continue towork with the Department ofPrimary Industries and Fisheries(DPI&F) on implementing thenext steps of putting together thedevelopment plan, the reinvest-ment into the new research cen-tre for the region, new servicepositions and other initiatives forthe region’s dairy industry.”

Representatives from industrymet with senior officials from theDPI&F at Malanda, Qld, onJanuary 19-20 to continue dis-cussions on new initiatives to beimplemented in the region and toform a joint steering committeeto oversee and drive the process.

Auction signals change for FNQ

AUSTRALIAN dairyfarmerswill face a major impost becauseof the increased direct costs onfarm and impacts on trade-exposed manufacturers under anational emissions tradingscheme.

Australian Dairy IndustryCouncil (ADIC) chairman AllanBurgess responded to the detailsannounced by Prime Minister,Kevin Rudd, on theGovernments Carbon PollutionReduction Scheme (CPRS).“The Australian dairy industryneeds to reinforce the messagethat a nationally based emis-sions-trading scheme, in the

absence of a global agreement,has real risks for the industryparticularly if trade-exposeddairy manufacturing firms facegreater obligations than theirmajor international competitors,”Mr Burgess said.

“Dairy manufacturers are stilllikely to be caught up at the com-mencement of the scheme in July2010, and they have little optionbut to pass these substantial addi-tional costs through to thefarmer, even though the agricul-ture sector won’t be included atthe start.”

Mr Burgess said the industrywas disappointed the govern-

ment did not accept its proposalthat the whole dairy supply chainshould be included as agricul-ture. “The separation of farmfrom factory for CPRS purposesdoes not reflect commercial real-ity. They are two halves of oneintegrated supply chain,” he said.

“There is a lot of investmentundertaken to turn raw milk intoproducts like cheese or milkproducts that local consumersdemand. The dairy industry hasdedicated a lot of resourcestowards this issue because werecognise how important thispolicy response will be to oursand other food-processing indus-

tries’ ability to compete and con-tinue supplying safe quality foodto communities here and over-seas.”

Mr Burgess said there wasstill a long way to go. The pas-sage through Parliament, the dis-cussion with government aboutthe inclusion of the farm sector,engagement in the debate oninternational rules, and invest-ment in research and develop-ment all play a part in the strate-gic response. “The dairy industrywill continue to play an activerole in consideration of emis-sions trading into the future,” MrBurgess said.

Proposed CPRS will impact agriculture

MILK Co-operative (DFMC)jointly announced that a condi-tion of the National Foods pro-posal – securing certain mini-mum volumes of milk by regionacross Queensland, New SouthWales, Victoria and South

Australia – had been met.DFMCwas required to enter intorevised supply contracts withnew or existing suppliers until atleast June 30, 2010, for minimumspecified milk volumes byregion.

DFMC chairman IanZandstra said he was heartenedby both the large number ofexisting suppliers who had cho-sen to enter into revised milksupply contracts available aspart of the National Foods pro-

posal and new suppliers whohad expressed an interest insigning on. DFMC secured high-er milk volumes than those pre-scribed in the National Foodsproposal in every region, MrZandstra said.

National Foods milk supply condition secured

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

DAIRY farms in the reef catch-ment regions will be able to accessinformation, support and fundingto aid improvements to a host offarm management practices underthe new Reef Rescue packageannounced by the FederalGovernment late last year. Alongwith other agricultural industriesadjacent to the reef catchment, thedairy industry has an opportunityto accelerate adoption ofimproved management practicesin these regions, aimed at reduc-ing nutrient, sediment and pesti-cide run-off from farms and toimprove resource use efficiencyand long-term farm sustainability.

Initially, funding will be tar-geted to the Far NorthQueensland (Wet Tropics) andUpper Burnett regions (BaffleCreek area), as these areas weredeemed by the AustralianGovernment to be the highest pri-ority areas for the dairy industryfor the first year of the program.Farms in these areas will beencouraged to participate in theDairying Better ‘n Better pro-gram, which assists small groupsof farmers in sub-catchmentareas to identify and prioritise on-farm practices that could poten-tially affect regional landscapes,such as the Great Barrier Reef.

Farms that participate in thisprogram are provided access, inthe form of workshops and farmwalks, to technical specialists onhigh-priority topics identified bythe group. Groups are also

offered one-on-one support froma local facilitator to help identifypriorities and develop a plan toimprove management practices.

Two Dairying Better ‘n Bettergroups have already been formedin the far north, at Millaa Millaaand Ravenshoe, and another twogroups will be formed in thisregion before June. A further groupwill be established in the northernBurnett region, also by June.

Farms in these regions willalso be offered assistance todevelop a soil and nutrient man-agement plan for their farm, pro-viding farmers with a betterunderstanding of their soil healthand nutrients, potentially savingon fertiliser costs, while improv-ing soil health at the same time.These management plans willinclude a property map of soilnutrient levels based on paddocksoil tests, to be used as a plan-ning tool for future crop and pas-ture requirements. Results willprovide vital information on bal-ancing nutrients required versusnutrients removed by plants.

A financial incentive fundingpackage has been negotiated forfarms in the priority regions toassist with changes to farm prac-tices that help to improve thequality of water leaving dairyfarms. Examples include machin-ery conversions to allow mini-mum or zero tillage, recycling ofeffluent water, purchase of amanure spreader, stream/water-way crossing structures, improve-

ments to laneway drainage, andfencing and rehabilitation ofriparian areas, to name just a few.There are many other examples ofprojects that would be eligibleunder this scheme.

The Queensland Dairyfarmers’Organisation (QDO) is negotiat-ing to provide other farms in thereef catchments areas the opportu-nity to become involved in theactivities described above. It ishoped that farms in CentralQueensland and the wider BurnettMary region will be able to accessthis program after July, but thiswill be subject to outcomes of aGovernment prioritisationprocess, which will compare thedairy industry’s comparative riskto water quality with other agri-cultural industries.

With the new program theQDO, on behalf of the QueenslandDairy Natural ResourceManagement (NRM) programpartnership, has announced theappointment of Lyn O’Connor asthe Dairying Better ‘n Better forthe Reef project officer. MrsO’Connor will be the key personworking on the delivery and co-ordination of the Dairying Better‘n Better for the Reef program andwill be based at Malanda on theAtherton Tablelands. She has along involvement with the north-ern dairy industry post farm gateand has just completed a yearworking in the northern beefindustry. Her experience in deliv-ery, project management andstakeholder relations will allowthe dairy industry to hit the groundrunning under the tight time-frames of this first year of the ReefRescue program.

A steering committee hasbeen formed for the DairyingBetter ‘n Better for the Reef pro-gram, which met for the firsttime in January, to oversee theinitiation and role out of the pro-gram and the development of theapplication to have the programextended for another four years.

In December last year aninformation flyer and expressionof interest form was posted todairyfarmers in the two targetedareas and interested producersare reminded to complete andreturn the expression of interestform to assist in prioritisingactivities for the next six months.Farmers interested in beinginvolved are encouraged to com-plete and return their expressionof interest form to QDO.

The Queensland Dairy NRMprogram is a joint partnershipbetween QDO, Subtropical Dairyand Dairy Australia. TheDairying Better & Better for theReef program is a partnershipbetween the Queensland DairyNRM program, Terrain NRM,Burnett Mary Regional Group,supported by the QueenslandDepartment of Natural Resourcesand Water and funded by theAustralian Government throughthe Caring for Our Country pro-gram.

Reef steering committee: (standing) Wes Judd,Adrian Peake,Howard Smith, Lyn O'Connor, Neil Sing, James Geraghty,(sitting) Ruth McInnes, Rick Kowitz, Janeene Wallwork.

6 REEF RESCUE/NEWS

Support for reef catchment farms

MORE INFOLyn O'Connor Phone: (07) 4096 7213Mobile: 0407 736 746Email: <lyn@dairypage.com.au>QDO Phone: (07) 3236 2955

FARMING cannot be blamedfor recent declines in GreatBarrier Reef coral health,according to a new report. Astudy by the Australian Instituteof Marine Science (AIMS) foundthat a combination of globalwarming, ocean acidity levelsand decreasing carbonate con-tents in sea water had causeddramatic declines in coralgrowth rates across the reef inthe past 18 years.

Despite clear findings thatfarming could not be blamed forthis decline, Queensland’sMinister for Natural Resources

Craig Wallace paradoxicallyseized upon the report to justi-fy the Government’s movetowards the introduction ofincreased regulations on farm-ing. The Minister told ABCRadio that the study justifiedthe Queensland Government’splans to regulate farming prac-tices adjacent to the reef.

While farmers are often thefirst held responsible fordeclines in reef health, AIMSprincipal research scientist DrKatharina Fabrucius told pro-ducers that farm run-off couldnot be blamed for the decline.

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

Politics cloud science

CEO changeoverQUEENSLAND Farmers’Federation (QFF) bid farewellto its chief executive officerJohn Cherry at the end of lastyear, after three and a half yearsin the role. Mr Cherry thankedQFF members for their supportduring the past three years andurged the rural sector to con-tinue to speak with a strongunited voice.

“It has been a pleasure andan honour to work at QFF andwith QFF members.Queensland farmers have agreat story to tell and need totell it so that government poli-cies take proper account of thegreat potential of the farm sec-tor,” he said.

Mr Cherry has started anew role as executive directorof the Council of Mayors SouthEast Queensland. He expects tocontinue working on somerural issues, particularly thedevelopment of the RuralFutures Strategy for SEQ.

QFF has announced thatcurrent Cotton AustraliaQueensland policy managerDan Galligan will take up theposition as CEO of the organi-sation. QFF president GarySansom said Mr Galligan wouldbring a wealth of policy andadvocacy experience to the fed-eration, with a good under-standing of the economic andenvironmental challenges facingQueensland farmers.

Mr Galligan, originally from afamily farm near Pittsworth onthe Darling Downs, has beenwith Cotton Australia for nearly10 years. Mr Galligan started theposition at the end of January.

Disaster reliefactivated

NATURAL Disaster Relief andRecovery Arrangements wereactivated for Townsville, Cairns,Cassowary Coast, Croydon, theTablelands and Hinchinbrook aftermonsoonal conditions causedflash flooding in North and FarNorth Queensland last month.

Heavy rains, including falls ofup to 600 millimetres through-out the area, saw emergencycrews swung into action. Theassistance available includespersonal hardship grants of$165 per person and up to$765 per family which may beavailable for directly affectedresidents who have beenunable to recover via their ownmeans.

Contact: Queensland RuralAdjustment Authority, freecall1800 623 946, phone (07) 30320100 or website <www.qraa.qld.gov.au>.

$47m for vetscienceTHE UNIVERSITY of Queens-land received $47.2 million fornew UQ veterinary sciencefacilities from the AustralianGovernment. Vice Chancellor,Professor Paul Greenfield, saidthe funds were a tremendousinvestment in the education ofveterinarians and in the futureof animal health and welfare.

The university is relocatingits School of Veterinary Sciencefrom St Lucia in Brisbane to UQGatton, in the Lockyer Valley, ata cost of more than $100 mil-lion.

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

REEF RESCUE/NEWS 7

THE GREAT Barrier Reef isone of the best-managed andhealthiest coral reefs in theworld, according to a recentreport by the Global CoralReef Monitoring Network. Thereport entitled ‘Status of CoralReefs of the World 2008’ foundthat although 19% of theworld’s coral reefs have beenlost in the past few decades,Australian reefs have continuedto be relatively stable since2004.

The dairy industry hasendorsed the findings of reportauthor Clive Wilkinson and thesupportive remarks of GreatBarrier Reef Marine ParkAuthority chairman Dr RussellReichelt in finding thatAustralia’s coral reef manage-ment, research and monitoringis exemplary. Good farm man-agement practices and partner-ships have contributed to thecontinued health of the GreatBarrier Reef.

Reef management world class: report

THE QUEENSLAND Ministerfor Sustainability, AndrewMacNamara, convened the firstmeeting of the stakeholder advi-sory panel in December to advisethe government on regulatoryoptions to regulate farm practicesto reduce the risk of run-off dam-aging the Great Barrier Reef.

The panel includedQueensland Farmers Federation(QFF), Canegrowers, Grow-com, regional Natural ResourceManagement (NRM) groups,conservation groups, the LocalGovernment Association ofQueensland (LGAQ) and thetourism industry. QFF and farmbodies, including theQueensland Dairyfarmers’Organisation (QDO), expressedtheir opposition to the govern-ment push, arguing that it wouldincrease the costs for all farm-ers even though it was targetedat a small minority engaged inoutdated practices.

They said it would under-mine the goodwill needed to

accelerate the uptake of bestpractice.

QFF urged the government toadopt best practice regulationprinciples that aimed to minimisecompliance costs and built onexisting industry programs andarrangements. Mr McNamaraindicated he was open to ideasfrom industry, and the groupwould reconvene in earlyFebruary.

The Canegrowers organisa-tion is leading the charge of agri-cultural organisations with StateGovernment in an attempt toclarify the nature and the pro-posed form of mooted environ-mental regulation. The group isstanding alongside a formidablewall of allies, including theFederal Government, many with-in the scientific community andregional catchment groups, infighting for the continued sup-port for a robust voluntaryapproach, which delivers bene-fits to reef, community and farmalike.

Minister meets farmers

NDF1105881

QUEENSLAND faming groupshave called on the ProductivityCommission to thoroughly investi-gate issues relating to the ‘irriga-tion’ drought. At the latest publichearings for the Inquiry intoGovernment Drought Support, theformer Queensland Farmers’Federation (QFF) chief excutiveofficer John Cherry andQueensland Dairyfarmers’Organisation (QDO) CEO AdrianPeake said the commission had notthoroughly investigated or respond-ed in its draft report to the policyissues relating to irrigation drought.

The commission needed alsoto look closely at regionalimpacts and the need to help pro-tect industry infrastructure insevere events, they said.

The CEOs also told theProductivity Commission moredetail was needed on its propos-als. The commission has recom-mended that more programs beadded to the NationalAgriculture Strategy in lieu ofthe withdrawal of more than $1.5billion in drought assistancethrough the ExceptionalCircumstances business support.

Details were needed if thepublic was to have confidencethat governments were capableof dealing with increased risks ofextreme climate events, theCEOs said. It was unacceptablepublic policy to suggest with-drawal of more than $1.5 billionin public assistance and offeronly an unspecified upgrade of

Farm Ready programs, they said.The CEOs also presented

information on how farm andcommunity preparedness pro-grams needed to be developed inan integrated fashion covering allimportant pressure points such asclimate change, water manage-ment and community services.

The commission requestedfurther information from bothQFF and QDO on industry-ledprograms. QFF has identified arange of Farm ManagementSystems (FMS) programs andassociated skills that need to befurther developed and expandedso that farmers and others haveappropriate climate risk pre-paredness and risk managementcapabilities.

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

8 DROUGHT ASSISTANCE

THE FEDERAL Government isoffering to buy the water entitle-ments of small-block irrigatorsin the Murray-Darling Basinwho agree to sell all their waterentitlement to the Common-wealth. The government willoffer up to $150,000 as a specialexit payment, along with othertransitional assistance to eligibleirrigators on 15 hectares or less.

The short-term scheme willbe available this financial year.Access to the program will be

conditional on irrigators sellingtheir water entitlement to theCommonwealth to be returnedto the basin’s rivers and wet-lands.

The program is expected toyield up to 48 gigalitres of waterfor the environment. This assis-tance will allow eligible small-scale irrigators with permanentwater entitlements of at least 10megalitres who choose to leaveirrigated farming to stay on thefarm.

The government has allocat-ed up to $57.1 million for thisassistance to bring relief tosmall-scale irrigators in theMurray-Darling Basin impactedby drought and climate changewho wish to exit irrigated farm-ing but are unable to sell theirfarms.

The program is designed toprovide struggling small irriga-tors – many of whom have been

carrying on farming enterprisesthat were established by theirfamilies several generations ago– with an opportunity to exit thesector while remaining in theirfamily homes.

The objective is to help thesesmall-block irrigators remain intheir communities while gettingout of the business of irrigation,at the same time providinggreater environmental flows tothe Murray-Darling system. Inaddition to the exit grant of up to$150,000, two complementarygrants will be included in thepackage:• up to $10,000 for advice andtraining, including skills devel-opment, direction setting plans,succession planning and busi-ness advice; and• up to $10,000 for removal ofpermanent plantings and otherproduction-related infrastruc-ture.

New exit package to assist irrigatorsKEY POINTS■■ Exit grants for

irrigators on 15haor less

■■ Water to bereturned toenvironment

■■ Complementarygrants alsoavailable

Call for work on ‘irrigation’ drought

SIGNIFICANT changes weremade to the ExceptionalCircumstances (EC) interestsubsidy support for producersand small businesses duringNovember. The decision wasmade by the AustralianGovernment to remove the def-inition of a buffer zone from the

Exceptional Circumstanceguidelines, widening the eligibili-ty criteria for support.

Primary producers and smallbusinesses who may have previ-ously been informed that abuffer zone did not exist for anEC-declared area are encour-aged to contact the Queensland

Rural Adjustment Authority(QRAA) again to discuss theircircumstances. An extensionwas announced to the availabili-ty of the $750,000 off-farmasset cap to June 30.

Contact: Freecall 1800 623946, phone (07) 3032 0100,website <www.qraa.qld.gov.au>

EC eligibility criteria changed

Need assistance?CONTACT the QueenslandFarmers Federation drought offi-cer, Peter Perkins, phone (07)3837 4747, email <peter@qff.org.au or>, the dairy industryregional drought response co-ordinator, Belinda Haddow,phone (07) 3102 7263, or theQueensland DairyfarmersOrganisation, phone (07) 32362955. A wide range of droughtinformation is also available atthe Dairy Info.Biz website<www.dairyinfo.biz. including thelatest version of feed supply con-tacts and the Drought AssistanceProgram Advice Bulletin.

Drought rebates

QUEENSLAND irrigators inschemes where the announcedallocation was at 20% or loweron July 1 last year will beallowed a rebate on their Part Awater bills for 2008-09. TheQueensland Minister forNatural Resources and Water,Craig Wallace, recentlyannounced that schemes affect-ed included Three Moon Creek,Central Lockyer (Mortonvale)and Lower Lockyer, UpperCondamine, Upper Burnett(Claude Wharton Section) andBarker Barambah.

Irrigators will have to applyto the Queensland RuralAdjustment Authority (QRAA)for the rebate on paid SunWateror Queensland Bulk WaterSupply Authority water billsexcept in circumstances wherethey can demonstrate financialhardship.There is a $10,000 capper irrigator and the rebateceases if the announced alloca-tion exceeds 50%.

Contact:QRAA, freecall 1800623 946, phone (07) 3032 0100,website <www.qraa.qld.gov.au>.

Latest feed info

THE LATEST Dairy Australiafeed monitoring service reporton grain and hay is available atwebsite <www.dairyaustralia.com.au> along with a raft ofother drought briefs.

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

NEWS/MASTITIS CONTROL 9

IN ITS recently published strate-gic plan for 2009-13, DairyAustralia has said the dairyindustry faces contradictory sig-nals as it enters 2009. Stronginternational milk prices up untilthe last quarter of 2008 have

brought higher returns and much-needed confidence to farmers, ashas greater clarity on possiblepathways to improved resilience.

Against this, there is concernover rising costs, how specificlonger-term challenges will workout and how governmentresponses to issues will affectfuture farm and manufacturingviability. The sense of uncertain-ty has been heightened by a viewthat the rate of change is increas-ing and the timelines for keydecisions are being compressed.

The key challenges facing thedairy industry are:

• limits on production growth andforage base as a result of drought;• increased competition for natu-ral resources;• regional variations in seasonalconditions and farmer attitudes;• heightened risk/return trade-offfor farmers from increased milkprice and production costs;• increased competition forlabour across the supply chain;• heightened uncertainty amongfarmers about long-term sustain-ability and policy responses toclimate;• rising domestic food inflation;• limit on further price rises and

exports from an expansion inoverseas output;• pressure on processing marginsand increased competition formilk;• ability to promote nutritionalbenefits of dairy potentiallyunder threat; and• community expectations ofintegrity in both production sys-tems and product.

Dairy industry faces key challengesKEY POINTS■■ Drought, natural

resources keychallenge

■■ Increased risk■■ Promoting

nutritional benefitsof milk threatened

MORE INFODairy Australia Website: <www.dairyaustralia. com.au>

COUNTDOWN Downunderhas recommended culling cowsas the only option for those suf-fering from chronic mastitisbecause some do not respondto treatment.

Removing cows with chronicinfections reduces the bacterial

challenge to other clean cowsand helps to protect healthy,young cows that are the futureof the herd. That is why cullingcows, particularly older oneswith persistent infections, is akey strategy for mastitis con-trol.

Countdown Downunderstrongly recommends thatdairyfarmers cull:

• any cow that has had morethan three clinical cases in a lac-tation, and• cows with high cell counts(>250,000) in two consecutivelactations despite being givenantibiotic dry cow treatment inbetween.

A small number of high cellcount cows can have a signifi-cant effect on Bulk Milk Cell

Count (BMCC) level and milkquality payments. A decision tocull these cows should also bebased on economics.

Consider the loss of net milkyield versus gain in milk qualitypayment (BMCC premium) andthe risk that these infectedcows present to the rest of theherd. For more info go to<www.countdown.org.au>.

Why cull cowsfor mastitis

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THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

10 COOL COWS

DAIRYFARMERS can nowreceive a free e-mail alert servicewarning them of when their cowsare at risk of heat stress. A firstfor the dairy industry, the emailalert and a district weather fore-casting tool are accessiblethrough the Cool Cows website,a Dairy Australia initiative tohelp dairyfarmers deal with heatstress in their herds.

Farmers who subscribe to thealert service will automaticallyreceive an email when the fore-casted weather conditions fortheir area put their herds at riskof high to severe heat stress.

Dairy Australia’s Grains2-Milk program leader Dr SteveLittle said the two major factorsthat contributed to a cow’s ‘heatload’ were temperature andhumidity. The TemperatureHumidity Index (THI) is a sim-ple indicator of the risk of heatstress.

The email alert will promptdairyfarmers to take action in theweek ahead to keep their cowscool and reduce the effects of

heat stress, which include a dropin milk production, reduced herdfertility and lower milk proteinand fat tests. Heat stress can alsotrigger liveweight losses and ani-mal health problems.

“Farmers can also use thenew Weather Forecaster tool onthe Cool Cows website to seeTHI, temperature and humiditylevels forecast for the comingweek and recorded over the pastweek,” Dr Little said.

“The heat load information isspecific to sites in all dairyregions in Australia. It helpsfarmers prepare for any potential‘melt down’ events.”

The email alert and weatherforecasting tool are two exam-ples of the wealth of informationand interactive resources avail-able on the Cool Cows website.

Many people are surprised tohear it doesn’t take really hightemperatures to trigger heatstress in dairy cows. They start tofeel uncomfortable once temper-atures hit 25 degrees Celsius,which means heat stress is anissue in all Australian dairyingregions, according to Dr Little.

“Heat stress is not just aboutdaily maximum temperature.The length or severity of hot con-ditions and humidity also con-tribute to the effect,” he said.

The good news is that heat

stress can be effectively managedon farm and the benefits areclearly visible.

“Providing ways for cows tostay cool will result in substan-tial benefits in terms of improvedproduction, better farm prof-itability and more contentedcows.”

Cool Cows is full of sugges-tions to help cows cope in hotweather: ideas to provide shadeand evaporative cooling, hot sea-son strategies and ways to moni-tor how a herd is coping with theheat.

Some heat stress strategiesare simple, quick and cheap toput in place, while others arelonger term, involving more costand effort.

The website’s ‘ActionsGenerator’ helps farmers devel-

op a list of options in terms ofimproving shade, evaporativecooling or changing farm man-agement to further combat heatstress.

Cool Cows resources havebeen developed with fundingfrom Dairy Australia and theAustralian GovernmentDepartment of Agriculture,Fisheries and Forestry.

The Cool Cows booklet hasbeen sent to all Dairyfarmers.Those who have not received acopy or would like an additionalcopy should contact SubtropicalDairy, phone (07) 5460 1161.

Free email warning whencows risk heat stress

BEFORE looking at the farm set-up and what strategies to use tokeep cows cool in the hot sea-son, farmers should considerhow inherently susceptible theirherd is to heat stress.

Where the farm is locatedwithin Australia is obviously amajor factor. Regions and specif-ic locations within regions varysignificantly in terms of:• day and night time air tempera-ture • relative humidity levels;• amount of solar radiation; and • prevailing winds.These all determine the level ofenvironmental heat that a cow

gains or losses during time.Three major animal factors

influence a herd’s inherent sus-ceptibility to heat stress. Theseanimal factors affect the amountof metabolic heat the cow pro-duces,and/or the ease with whichheat is transferred to and fromthe cow’s external environment.

Tropical cattle breeds such asthe Brahman tend to be able tocope better than Europeanbreeds.They have better heat reg-ulatory capacities than Europeanbreeds, due to differences inmetabolic rate, food and waterconsumption, sweating rate, andcoat characteristics and colour.

As European breeds have ahigher heat loading at the skin,they must evaporate substantial-ly more sweat than tropicalbreeds to maintain normal bodytemperatures.

Of the European breeds, theBrown Swiss and Jersey are leastvulnerable to heat stress, thenthe Ayrshire and the Guernseys.The Holstein-Friesian is themost vulnerable.

Younger animals are moreheat tolerant due to a greatersurface area to weight ratio thanlarger, older animals.This allowsmore heat per kilogram ofliveweight to be unloaded

through sweating.When feed is consumed and

digested, metabolic heat is pro-duced and excess amounts mustbe unloaded to maintain normalbody temperature.

High producers eat morefeed and generate more meta-bolic heat yet must still dissipatetheir heat load from a similarbody surface area as lower pro-ducing cows.

This makes high-producingherds (and higher producingcows within herds) more sus-ceptible to high environmentalheat loads.

There are several other fac-

How susceptible is my herd?

Dairyfarmerscan registeron the CoolCowswebsite toreceive emailalerts whentheir area'sweatherforecast putsthe herd atrisk of heatstress.

KEY POINTS■■ Warning about

heat stressconditions

■■ Tools to helpcombat heat stress

MORE INFOWebsite:<www.coolcows.com.au>

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

COOL COWS 11

NOTHING beats shade for keep-ing cows cool in hot weather. It’scheap and a cow’s first choice forcoping with rising temperaturesand humidity. Options to providepermanent and portable shadeare set out in ‘Cool Cows’.

Shade should be the first pri-ority in managing heat stress,according to Dairy Australia’sGrains2Milk program leader DrSteve Little.

“Shade protects cows fromdirect sunlight, reducing the radi-ant heat load by 50% or more, soit is no wonder that cattle active-ly seek out shade during hotweather,” he said.

Cows eat more and producemore milk when they haveaccess to shade. “Providingshade is a good investment. Afterthe initial up-front cost of instal-lation, there’s no running costs.Shade from trees, portable struc-tures or buildings don’t requireelectricity or water to run,” hesaid.

Other measuresIn addition to shade and evapo-rate cooling, there are a numberof other strategies farmers canuse during the hot season to helpkeep cows cool. These include:• changes to milking time; • access to cool drinking water atall times;• changes to paddock rotation; • developing a summer nutritionprogram, and

• altering mating management. A total systems re-think will

give the best chance of gettingthrough the hot season with min-imal impact on the bottom lineand the cows’ health and fertili-ty.

Walking cows to the dairyduring the hottest part of the day(about 3pm) adds to their heatloads. Delaying afternoon milk-ing until 5pm may increase milkyield by up to 1.5 litres per day,regardless of whether the cowsare sprinkled with water while inthe dairy.

On hot days, be sure to milkand feed cows before 9am. Try tooffer feed to cows as soon as theyexit the dairy and have the pad-dock or feed-out area ready andensure that every cow gets a fairgo.

Farmers who have conducteda whole farm review will have asense of how paddocks rate interms of shade and distance fromthe dairy.

If a hot weather event islooming, consider the following:use a sacrifice paddock or feedpad close to the dairy with accessto shade and sprinklers, feedthem a high-quality forage orpartial mixed ration (PMR), andallocate best paddocks for graz-ing overnight.

Good nutrition is alwaysimportant, but it is particularlyimportant during hot weather.Remember, hot weather reduces

cows’ appetites and less feedmeans less production. Hotweather also alters the way nutri-ents are processed and used bythe cow.

Feeding management strate-gies during the hot season aregenerally aimed at helping thecow do one or more of the fol-lowing: • maintain daily intakes ofmetabolisable energy and othernutrients; • maintain digestibility of feed inthe gut; • free up more energy for milkproduction by maintaining nor-mal heat balance; and • provide energy in the form thatbest suits the cows in their chal-lenged state.

Consult nutritionist to devel-op a summer nutrition programto ensure the cows get what theyneed to stay healthy and produc-tive despite the challenges pre-sented by hot weather.

Some points to keep in mindwhen looking at a summer nutri-tion program are:• Cows will eat less overall, soincrease the energy density oftheir diet where possible. Morestarch or added fat can be usefultools. • The risk of acidosis is increasedduring hot weather by severalfactors: cows prefer to eat in“blocks” in the cooler times ofthe morning and evening eachday in hot weather; cows tend toselect against low quality for-age/fibre; and the natural buffer-ing system the cow relies on tocombat acidosis does not work aswell in hot weather. • Feeding of a high quality fibresource in the diet. This helpsmaintain a stable rumen and con-

tributes to energy requirements,which is essential in hot weather.

For high-producing herdsalready being fed plenty of starchvia grain/concentrates, this isparticularly crucial.

Recent research work inArizona suggests that heat-stressed cows switch metabolismand have an increased need forglucose within their bodies.

Feedstuffs and feeding strate-gies that either provide the cowwith more glucose or spare theamount it uses in its normal bodyprocesses may therefore be use-ful in hot weather.

Drinking waterAllow for 200 to 250 litres percow per day of drinking water inhot weather – double what cowsusually need each day. Makesure cows have access to plentyof cool drinking water whereverthey are during the day.

A large, clean water trough onthe exit side of the dairy is amust.

Water troughs in every pad-dock will keep cows grazinglonger in hot weather. If theyhave to leave the paddock to geta drink, they may not go back.

Large volume concretetroughs help keep drinking watercool.

Provide a minimum of 0.75metre water trough space percow at the feed-out facility.

Water pipes should be 75 mil-limetres in diameter, with suffi-cient pressure to provide 20 litresper cow per hour, so that troughscope with periods of peakdemand.

Avoid running black polypipe along the ground, as waterwill become very hot.

Hot season strategies

tors that affect the amount ofmetabolic heat a cow producesand how effectively it transfersheat to and from the externalenvironment.

Black-coated cows absorbmore solar radiation than cowswith lighter coloured coats dur-ing the day.At night, black cowswill re-radiate heat more effec-tively.

Cows with sleek, flat coatslike Brahmans resist heat trans-fer to the skin better than cowswith hairy coats (Europeanbreeds).

Some feeds produce moremetabolic heat than others.

Other dietary factors that affectthe amount of metabolic heatproduced include the amount offibre versus grain/concentratesin the diet.

The access to and availabilityof fresh, cool drinking water willreduce the herd’s susceptibilityto heat stress.

It should also be noted thatanimals need time to acclimatiseto hot weather, taking at leastthree weeks.

The more the cow walks themore metabolic heat it will gen-erate. Consider limiting distanceto feed and water during hotweather.

Shade is king when it comes to keeping cows cool.

GOOD stock-handling in whichcows are managed in a quiet,positive manner leads toincreased milk yields, accordingto the national programCowTime. CowTime workshopsabout cow behaviour and itsimportance were held inQueensland last year.

A stock-handler’s behaviourcan be categorised as either posi-tive or negative, according to TheCowtime Guidelines.

Positive behaviours includeinteractions such as stroking, rub-bing, resting a hand on a cow’sback or flank, slow and deliberatemovement and talking.

Negative behaviours include

hits, slaps, tail twists, quick orsudden movements and shouting.

Studies have shown that cowsof farmers who used lots of nega-tive behaviours were more fearful.But even when less obvious nega-tive behaviours, such as moderateslaps and pushes, were used, cowsshowed high levels of fear.

When cows are fearful, theymay suffer from stress, be moreprone to accidents and produceless milk, the Guidelines said.

Cows have good short-termand long-term memories and willreadily learn a variety of tasks.This is why they respond well toconsistent handling routines.

Strong physical or emotionalstates (good food, fear, pain) arelikely to result in strong memo-ries. Cattle are also quick to learnto associate people or locationswith rewarding or negative expe-riences.

While an unfamiliar feature inthe dairy may initially provokemoderate fear, heifers or new

cows learn to become familiarwith the feature over time.

But if things are constantlychanging, a cow in unable tolearn to become familiar withmoderately fearful features. Thisheightens the cow’s sensitivity tofearful experiences.

Adopting strategies to behave

positively towards cows is the keyto reducing their fear of humans.This can be achieved by develop-ing good handling practices androutines. Some examples include:• keep the milking routine calmand consistent;• allow time for the cow to learna change in routine or milkingenvironment;• use positive interactions suchas a stroke, rub or gentle contactwith the hand resting on the ani-mal’s back or flank;• scratch the cow or give feed asa reward after a bad experience;• use slow and deliberate move-ment and talking;• reduce excessive noise, such asbanging gates and shouting;• avoid staring at a cow directlyfor long periods;• move cows by working at theedge of their flight zone;• avoid painful procedures in thedairy where possible;• move cattle as a group, ratherthan individually;

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

12 COW BEHAVIOUR

RUSHING the cows into thedairy just doesn’t pay, accordingto national program CowTime.Cows have a defined socialstructure.

So what does this mean forthe daily routine on the farm?Trying to rush into the dairythe cows and using polypipe toencourage their movementmixes up the cows’ social struc-ture of the pecking order.

Once the crowding con-straint has been removed, cowswill attempt to re-establish

their pecking order beforeentering the dairy. So it actuallyslows down the whole process.Cows also become fearful ofhits and pushes, which makesthem difficult to handle.

Farmers should throw awaythe polypipe and use cows’ nat-ural instincts to allow them toenter the dairy in a calm andordered manner ready for milklet-down.

They should stay in the pitrather than going out into theyard to chase cows into the

dairy. Allowing cows to enterthe dairy at their own pace isactually faster and less stressfulfor cows and humans alike.

Don’t confuse the first cowsto the dairy as being the mostdominant.They may be the lead-ers but they are not at the topof the pecking order.When theherd moves from the paddockto the dairy, the most dominantanimals tend to be locatedabout in the middle of the group— with the less dominant cowstowards the end.

There’s no gold in cow rush

Darold Klindworth explains about cow behaviour and yardstructure and design. Photo courtesy Peter and BevHughes, The Gympie Times.

Good handling results in more milkKEY POINTS■■ Cows yield more

milk when handledcalmly

■■ Cut out negativebehaviours

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• use rewards to mask or min-imise unpleasant experiences,such as restraint or vaccination;• rewards could include scratch-ing on the head and neck (placeswhere cattle often groom them-selves or each other), providingbrushes to allow them to rubagainst or palatable feed.

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

COW BEHAVIOUR 13

A COWTIME workshop held atGympie, Queensland, last yearhas helped dairyfarmers Markand Michelle Bunter and theirstaff create a calmer environ-ment for their cows.

The Bunters milk 220 cowson a 200-hectare (162ha effectivemilking area) farm they leasefrom Mark’s parents Des andJoyce Bunter.They also run about150 young stock on the farm.

Three staff are employed —one full-time permanent andtwo part-time casuals, who helpwith milking and other work onthe farm.The dairy is a 16-a-sideherringbone.

Mrs Bunter said they choseto take their two casual staff tothe workshop run by CowTimemanager Darold Klindworth sothat they could gain a betterunderstanding of the need to be

calm with the cows.“We have a lot of quartz

streams that run through ourlaneways so it was more for us toemphasise to our staff that this iswhy we ask them to walk thecows slowly or to ride behindthem slowly,” she said. “I thinkthey learnt a lot from that.”

The workshop was also arefresher for Mrs Bunter whohad attended another work-shop run by Mr Klindworthsome years ago. “It helped mewith ideas for better ways thatwe can manage and deal withour cows,” she said.

Mrs Bunter said they hadeven thought about getting ridof the motorbikes. They nowensured if there were sick cowsor slow cows, the person herd-ing the cows got off the bikeand walked with them instead.

The casual staff — two youngmen in their 20s — also gainedan understanding that peopleand their behaviour in the dairyaffects cows, Mrs Bunter said.“Ithelped them understand thatyes you might lose your temperwith the animals but it’s best justto walk away, have a breatherand then come back and dealwith it, instead of losing the plot,resulting in possible injury toboth,” she said.

Mrs Bunter said both theyoung men were now a lot qui-eter when milking.

“We’d been trying to makethem aware that all the talkingand the ‘yahooing’ wasn’t makingfor a calm situation for the ani-mals. I think they realised fromthe workshop that making allthis noise and carrying on doesaffect (the cows),” she said.

The information about howto herd and manoeuvre cowsthrough the dairy had alsohelped. Understanding how acow moved through a dairy andhow it reacted to light and shad-ow, for example, was explained.

The emphasis was on howto create a dairy that encour-aged cows to move through it.

The workshop also helpedreveal that the Bunters andtheir staff had trained theircows to expect that someonewas always going to come outof the pit and get them to comeinto the dairy. The Bunters areaiming for a system where theyopen the end gate and the cowswalk through themselves.

Mrs Bunter said it wasworthwhile taking staff toevents such as the workshop.

– CARLENE DOWIE

Creating a calm environment for cows

THE DISTANCE at which ananimal shows avoidance tohumans is called the flightzone.• Entering the flight zone frombehind causes that animal tomove forward.• Entering from the front caus-es the cow to back away.• An animal’s flight distance will

vary depending on its calm-ness. Commonly, the flight dis-tance of cows in commercialdairy herds ranges from threemetres to 5 metres.• States of arousal, caused bynovelty, speed of approach orprolonged eye contact by thehandler, can increase the flightdistance.

Understanding flight zones

MORE INFOWeb: <www.cowtime.com.au>

Flight zone boundary

Flight zoneFlightdistance

(distancevaries)

Entering zone causes cowto move away

Standing outside of the zone – cow stands still

Blind spot

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IN 2008, the Forage Plusresearch team investigated milkproduction responses to a rangeof forages – at three different lev-els of grain intake (zero, threeand six kilograms/cow/day).Individual forages were assessedfor their feed conversion effi-ciency (FCE – litres of milk/kg of dry matter intake) –including grazed ryegrass,grazed oats, ryegrass roundbale

silage, oats roundbale silage,lucerne hay and barley silage.

Mutdapilly Department ofPrimary Industries and Fisheries(DPI&F) senior dairy researcherDr David Barber said that the ini-tial findings challenged some ofthe FCE values used by the dairyindustry to predict milk yield

response from different feedingsystems.

Figure 1 shows milk yieldincreasing with an increase ingrain intake with all foragesexcept oats silage and lucernehay. Figure 2 shows milk proteinpercentage increasing with anincrease in grain intake with allforages except lucerne hay andryegrass silage.

“We are currently analysingthe feed conversion efficiency of

the different forage species,” DrBarber said.

“Two additional animalexperiments in early 2009 willassess the feed conversion effi-ciency of more forage species –including two varieties of foragesorghum, corn silage and soy-beans.”

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

FEED MANAGEMENT 15

Lucerne greenchop beingfed out on the Mutdapillyresearch station feedpad, aspart of Forage Plusexperiments to determinefeed conversion efficiencyof different forages.

Irrigation scheduling affects yields

A FORAGE Plus experiment atMutdapilly Research Station in2008 looked at the potentialdry matter production of annu-al ryegrass and forage oatsunder different levels of waterapplication and different defolia-tion practices.

Department of Primary Ind-ustries and Fisheries (DPI&F)research officer, Emily Litzow,said that annual ryegrass wasselected for its potential to pro-duce large amounts of highquality feed when water andnutrients were non-limiting.

Forage oats was selected forits persistence under extendedperiods of moisture stress, andits ability to resume productionwith a subsequent application ofwater.

Potential evapotranspiration(PET) values from the SILO sec-tion of the Bureau ofMeteorology website were usedto calculate cumulative PET forthe Mutdapilly site.

Irrigation was scheduledwhen daily PET totalled 25 mil-limetres or when daily PETtotalled 75mm. The volume ofwater applied was 25mm ateach irrigation – irrespective ofthe PET value used for schedul-ing.

The response of dry matteryield and forage quality to graz-ing at recommended defoliationintervals was also comparedwith harvesting with a mower –at intervals equivalent to everysecond grazing.

Emily Litzow said prelimi-

nary analysis of results showed:• ryegrass produced higher drymatter yields than oats under alltreatments;• plots irrigated at daily PET 25yielded higher than those irri-gated at PET 75;• grazed plots yielded signifi-

cantly more than plots thatwere cut. “A similar experimentis now being conducted on twodifferent sorghum varieties,” MsLitzow said.

Contact: Emily Litzow. phone(07) 5464 8738, email: <emily.litzow@dpi.qld.gov.au>

Feed conversion efficiency of forages

MORE INFODr David BarberPhone: (07) 5464 8742 Email:<David.Barber@dpi.qld.gov.au>Amy AnstisPhone: (07) 5464 8747Email: <Amy.Anstis@dpi.qld.gov.au>

KEY POINTS■■ Feed conversion

efficiency valueschallenged

■■ Research into valuesof different forages

Table 1: Ryegrass and oats performance with differentirrigation schedules and grazing vs mowing.

Species Irrigation Defoliation Average DM Average total(t/ha) for DM (t/ha) foreach seasondefoliation

Oats PET 25 Graze 2.14 8.57Oats PET 25 Cut 2.90 5.80Oats PET 75 Graze 1.76 7.90Oats PET 75 Cut 2.45 4.89Ryegrass PET 25 Graze 2.85 11.40Ryegrass PET 25 Cut 3.49 6.98Ryegrass PET 75 Graze 2.83 11.32Ryegrass PET 75 Cut 3.54 7.08

16 YOUNG DAIRY NETWORK TOUR

YOUNG DAIRY NETWORK TOUR PROUDLY SPONSORED BY:

MANY people say that creatingmemories is one of the mostimportant things in life, and par-ticipants in the Young DairyNetwork’s 2008 Tour to theUpper Hunter in the last week ofNovember certainly achievedthat. Whether it was gettingdrenched with rain, battling flies,meeting new and remarkablepeople, putting their lives on theline whitewater rafting or visit-ing the varied and interestingfarms, tour participants cameaway with rich memories andexperiences.

The tour participants saw awide range of farming systemsincluding a green-field farm atWalcha, a low-capitalised leasedsystem, a high-genetic-meritlarge herd, a diversified farmingsystem, leading technology high-ly efficient irrigation systemsand an inspirational young cou-ple really making a go of it.

This inspirational couplewere Jamie Drury and his wife,Michelle, focused young farmerswho believe they can achievetheir goals by ensuring they man-age their 300-cow herd to thebest of their ability. The couple’sattention to detail, especially inregard to the nutrition, was thestand-out factor in their business.

The Drurys bought a sheepand irrigation property with noimproved pasture and minimalfertiliser input in 2005 and sincethen have transformed it into ahigh input-high output dairyoperation where home-grownforages drive profitability andproduction output.

They showed the tour partici-pants that it is possible to createa successful farm managementsystem if all the information andadvice available is used. TheDrurys also demonstrated that byhaving the correct fertiliser,grazing and irrigation regimes,40 tonnes of dry matter perhectare is achievable.

As well, they showed that lotsof high-quality grown fodderforms the basis of a well-bal-anced ration that is responsiblefor the current 10,500 litres perlactation average with 3.4% pro-tein and 4.2% fat.

Of course, the tour wasn’t allwork and there was some timefound for a bit of fun. Probablythe most talked-about and remi-nisced part of the tour was thewhitewater rafting down theNymbodia River. The raftingstarted fairly sedately with smallrapids that were easily navigat-ed, lulling the young farmersinto a false sense of security.However, as the trip progresseddeeper into the canyon theadrenaline soon started to pumpas boats plunged down five-metre drops, with everyonehanging on for grim life.Happily, there were no causali-ties, and weary, wet and some-

what bruised, but with big grinson faces, participants draggedthemselves out of the water atthe end of the day, thankful forthe experience and a lot closer totheir tour mates.

The memories and experi-

ences created during the tourcould not have been possiblewithout the support of industryand agribusiness, and the tourparticipants thank each one sin-cerely for making this opportuni-ty available.

Tour an experience to remember

Checking out the irrigated maize crop are (back JohnWard, Glenn Davies, Christopher Scheuerle, Mark Perry,(front) Robert Gear, Geoffrey Chalk and Craig Teese.

KEY POINTS■■ Tour inspirational■■ Young farmers

provide lesson inattention to detail

■■ White waterrafting a highlight

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

Participants in the Young Dairy Network tour of northernNSW.

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

YOUNG DAIRY NETWORK TOUR 17

Tour participants inspect pastures on Jamie and MichelleDrury's farm in northern NSW.

Water efficiency demonstratedWATER played a significant role,in one form or another, in the2008 Young Dairy Network’sTour to the Upper Hunter inthe last week of November. Ifthe water wasn’t pouring fromthe sky or rushing over rocksunderneath their rafts, the tourparticipants were learning howto maximise water use efficien-cies using computer-controlledcentre-pivot-based irrigationsystems, with well-managed irri-gation scheduling and soil mois-ture monitoring.

Four of the five farms visitedduring the tour were irrigated,predominately using leading-edge centre-pivot irrigation sys-tems.Across the four farms thescheduling techniques were sim-ilar using a large initial irrigationapplication just post-planting of25 to 30 millimetres with a fol-low-up of 8-9 millimetres perday at establishment and then10-12mm per day during thegrowing season. If rain was not

sufficient to create a plantingmoisture profile, a large applica-tion pre-plant was also adminis-tered.

All four farms demonstratedto the tour participants theeffectiveness of centre-pivot andlateral-move systems when itcomes to irrigation schedulingand dry matter production.Thefarms visited were producing upto 35 tonnes of dry matter perhectare, which was mainly dueto their ability to continuouslyprovide moisture to the plant.This regime of small amounts ofwater often allows the rootzone to remain damp but pre-vents waterlogging and wastage.The ability to schedule with apivot means that during thegrowing season the pockets ofair in the soil are never replacedby water, allowing the plant tobe constantly growing.

Although the availability of asecure source of irrigationwater is higher in the Hunter

than in most Queensland areas,tour participants still came awaywith a greater understanding ofthe amount of dry matter yieldsthat were possible under a well-managed pivot-based irrigationsystem and the significant wateruse efficiency opportunities thatcould be achieved. After seeingthe pivots in action there weremany keen young farmers itch-ing to get back and put one in oftheir own.

The Dairy and Fodder Waterfor Profit program was a specialsponsor of the tour.

Queensland DairyfarmersOrganisation (QDO) chiefexecutive officer, Adrian Peake,said: “Helping producers tomaximise forage productionfrom limited water resources isthe key focus of the Dairy andFodder Water for Profit pro-gram, and young farmers are thefuture of the industry so sup-porting this tour is an invest-ment in the future for the young

farmers themselves and theindustry.

“Under the Dairy andFodder Water for Profit pro-gram, assistance in the form ofon-farm technical advice, work-shops, field days and a financialassistance scheme is still avail-able for dairy and fodder pro-ducers in Queensland to assistthem make improvements toirrigation or effluent systems.”

Dairy and fodder producerswho would like assistanceimproving their irrigation oreffluent management and reusesystems should contact theQDO office on (07) 3236 2956and ask for a program informa-tion pack.

The Queensland Dairyfarm-ers’ Organisation Dairy andFodder Water for Profit pro-gram is funded by theDepartment of NaturalResources and Water and sup-ported by Department ofPrimary Industry and Fisheries.

Discussing the mechanics of running a pivot are PeterMengel, Craig Sellars, Grant Summerville and Hunter Valleydairyfarmer Neil Raphael.

Dairy & Fodder

Water for

Profit

Dairy & Fodder

Water for

Profit

Water Use Efficiency Effluent Management

Financial AssistanceOn Farm Advice

Technical Information

Queensland Dairyfarmers’ OrganisationPO Box 13061, George St Post Office Q 4003

07 3236 2955www.dairypage.com.au

Don’t be a drip,Don’t let this opportunity slip!

ND

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WHETHER you are a low-inputfarmer, a high-input farmer, abiological farmer, a typicalfarmer or a ‘u-beaut’ farmer, ifyou don’t cover your soil in sum-mer you are not a sustainablefarmer.

Soil erosion from high-inten-sity storms is one of the biggestthreats to sustainable farming innorthern Australia. It irreversiblyreduces the capacity of land togrow crops and pastures.

“Of all the strategies we canadopt to protect soil from ero-sion, cover is the most critical.And if cover is in the form of liv-ing plants that reduce the build-up of excess water in our soils,then all the better,” MutdapillyDepartment of PrimaryIndustries and Fisheries(DPI&F) senior research officerDr Rob Chataway said.

“Heavy rains in south-eastQueensland during spring/earlysummer have reminded the agri-cultural community of the devas-tating effects storms can have onunprotected land used for crop-ping.”

He said soil erosion was mostevident around the district wheresloping land had been cultivated,then left with little or no stubblecover and without a growingcrop.

“Giving country a rest in thisway is the worst thing you can dofor it. Even a sprayed fallowwould be better where the soil atleast can retain some of itsstrength,” he said.

“The best thing you can dofor country is to have it under awell-managed pasture. Pastureprovides excellent cover,improves soil surface properties(and, in turn, water infiltrationrates) and generally maintains asoil moisture deficit – creating

the opportunity for water to bestored in the soil, rather than run-ning off.

“Of our two irrigation devel-opmental activities being con-ducted as part of the Forage Plusproject, nothing can beat tropicalpasture oversown with annualryegrass (no tillage) in providingexcellent protection from erosionall year round.

“However, if you are on landthat is considered suitable forcropping, then a continuouscropping program (where irriga-tion is available) can do a reason-able job in protecting soil fromerosion.

“If you need to have some‘down time’, make sure it is inwinter when the risk of erosiverains is much less.”

Dr Chataway said traditional

bare fallows “justdon’t have much goingfor them”.

“They expose the soil to ero-sion, they stay wetter – whichspeeds up the breakdown oforganic matter – and they are notparticularly efficient at storingwater (typically only 10% to20% of rain that falls).

“I realise that on drylandfarms, fallows are often aninevitable part of the system –but in these situations theyshould be kept as short as possi-ble and stubble should be main-tained from the last crop.

“If this can’t be done, then theland should go to pasture.

“In our triple-cropping studyat Mutdapilly, we have reason-able surface cover from past andliving crops. With only shortbreaks between crops we have inplace plants that are continuallyusing water.

“However, you don’t have togo to this extreme of three cropsto maintain reasonable cover andwater use throughout the year.Two well-grown crops – usingminimal or zero tillage to main-tain stubble cover and soilstrength between crops – shoulddo the job in most situations.”

The Forage Plus study isinvestigating the potential of agrazed pasture based system toyield 20 tonnes dry matter ahectare of useable forage, and acropping program for silage thatwill yield 50 tonnes DM/ha (150tonnes of direct chop silage) peryear.

ABOVE: Unprotected by pasture, crop or stubble,this land (not on a dairy farm) remained exposedto soil erosion this spring/summer.

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

18 SOIL MANAGEMENT

Cover critical for erosion control

LEFT: Maize sown into barley stubble in earlyspring 2008 at Mutdapilly research station – thefourth crop in the ground since September 2007– has reinforced the benefit of retaining groundcover year-round, and growing as many crops aspossible to reduce potential runoff and preventirreversible soil erosion.

KEY POINTS■■ Leaving ground

bare in summererosion risk

■■ Heavy rains, stormscan be devastating

■■ Use pasture ordouble or triplecrop

MORE INFORob Chataway Phone: (07) 5464 8745 Email:<robert.chataway@dpi.qld.gov.au>

THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

NORTHERN DAIRY DIARY 19

February Technology in Dairy Information Day 17: Upper Pinbarren Creek Road,

Pomona, Qld.Contact: Jackie KytePhone: (07) 5482 4368Email <jackie@jkconnections.com.au>

February Grand Dairy Awards18: Melbourne,Vic

Contact: Dairy AustraliaWebsite: <www.dairyaustralia.com.au>

February Dairy Innovators’ Forum19-21: Creswick,Vic

Contact: Esther PricePhone: 1800 177 636Email: <esther@estherprice.com.au>

February The 2009 IDF/DIAA Dairy Science World24-25: Series conference

Melbourne,VicContact: Dairy Industry Association of AustraliaWebsite: <www.diaa.asn.au>

April Sydney Royal Easter Show9-22: Homebush, NSW

Contact: Phone: (02) 9704 1111 Fax: (02) 9704 1122Email: <enquiries@rasnsw.com.au>Website: <www.eastershow.com.au>

May Tocal Field Days, Paterson, NSW.1-3: Contact: Marie Williams

Phone: 1800 025 520Fax: (02) 4939 8807Email: <fieldays@tocal.com>Website: <www.tocalfielddays.com>

June Primex, Casino, NSW.11-13: Contact: Exhibition Marketing

Phone: (07) 5531 4600Fax: (07) 5531 3072Email: <info@primex.net.au>Website: <www.primex.net.au>

August Ekka, RNA Showgrounds,6-15: Gregory Terrace,

Bowen Hills, Brisbane.Contact: Phone: (07) 3852 1831Fax: (07) 3257 1428Email: <enquiries@ekka.com.au>Website: <www.ekka.com.au>

October Irrigation Australia 2009 Conference,18-20: Swan Hill,Vic.

Contact: Irrigation AustraliaPhone: (02) 9476 0142.

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THE NORTHERN DAIRYFARMER February/March 2009

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