Dairy Farmer August 2020

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AUGUST 2020

Winning in environmental sustainability Dairy needs Government support to grow A big clue to season’s returns

From footy to farming

A Manawatu farmer has swapped his rugby boots for gumboots to go dairying

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August 2020 Editor

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COVER Former All Black and rugby international George Whitelock retired from rugby to go farming in Manawatu.

Cover photo: Chelsea Millar

AUGUST 2020

Winning in environmental sustainability Dairy needs Government support to grow A big clue to season’s returns

From footy to farming

20

A Manawatu farmer has swapped his rugby boots for gumboots to go dairying

www.farmersweekly.co.nz ISSN 2624-0939 (Print) ISSN 2624-0947 (Online)

4

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

Contents NEWS 16 Milk Monitor A big clue to farmgate milk returns 17 Farm debt New debt mediation scheme to help farmers 40 Winners announced Dairy Business of the Year 2020 winners

ON FARM STORY

8 Hanging up his boots Manawatu farmer George Whitelock retired from a successful rugby career to go dairy farming

20 Being environmentally sustainable Tony Coltman and Dana Carver win Canterbury Ballance Supreme Award

FARMING CHAMPIONS

7 Guest column Andrew Hoggard

32 Dairy champion Nick and Nicky Dawson

SPECIAL REPORT

8

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GUEST COLUMN

Miserly dairy growth Federated Farmers of NZ president Andrew Hoggard, takes a look at the government’s vision for primary industries and growth over the next 10 years.

W

HEN I first read the government’s Fit for a Better World vision for the primary industries and its goal of an additional $44 billion for primary industries’ export revenue by 2030, I took this to mean a near doubling of 2019’s exports of $46bn.

I was way too optimistic.

Subsequently, it was clarified that what was meant is a cumulative $44bn in additional export revenue over the whole 10-year period from the Ministry for Primary Industry’s baseline projection.

Confused? I will try to explain it.

MPI’s baseline projection assumes primary industry export revenue will grow from $46bn in 2019 to $57bn in 2030.

This is a projected 1.9% average annual compound growth rate, barely keeping up with the likely average rate of inflation.

MPI’s baseline assumes the covid-19 global recession will mean zero growth in exports in 2020 and 2021 before growth resumes in 2022, followed by steady but relatively slow annual growth from 2023 to 2030.

Despite the Global Financial Crisis and its aftermath, and despite commodity price fluctuations and a generally strong exchange rate, New Zealand’s primary industries have enjoyed much faster growth rates in recent years.

From 2009 to 2019 average annual export growth was 4.8%, with three of those years exceeding 10% growth. MPI estimates that around half the decade’s growth in export revenue was due to volume growth for dairy, logs and beef, which it considers difficult to sustain in the coming decade.

However, MPI does see potential for smaller but faster growing categories such as horticulture, infant formula and processed foods to keep growing strongly.

The Fit for a Better World ‘roadmap’ assumes that its interventions – which Federated Farmers mostly supports – would increase annual average growth from 1.9% to 3.4% compounded annually.

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard says the Ministry for Primary Industries Fit for a Better World initiatives favour certain sectors but cannot afford slow growth in the two biggest goods export sectors – dairy and meat and wool.

It projects that in 2030, primary industry exports will reach $67bn rather than the baseline $57bn, a $10bn difference for that year.

So, what about the $44bn? This was calculated by taking the differences after subtracting each year’s baseline projected export revenue from each year’s roadmap projected export revenue and then adding them together.

I will let the reader be the judge as to why this curious approach was taken to presenting the numbers.

So, what does all this mean for primary industry categories?

Fit for a Better World envisages only slightly higher than already sluggish baseline growth rates for dairy and meat and wool, and larger increases in growth rates over baseline for seafood, horticulture and forestry. These appear to be the favoured sectors and presumably those that will get the lion’s share of attention and funding from its Fit for a Better World initiatives.

While it is good to see strong growth for these sectors, NZ has lost billions in export revenue from international tourism and education which have dried up since covid-19 shut our borders. Even once our borders reopen it will take years for that lost revenue to recover.

In the meantime, NZ cannot afford to consign its two biggest goods export sectors – dairy and meat and wool – to a future of miserly growth of the nature

projected by MPI and barely improved in Fit for a Better World.

It is certainly hard to reconcile any significant aspirations for export growth with the headwinds of government policy, especially on climate change and freshwater, which are intended to limit, if not reduce production for much of the pastoral farming sector and to increase the costs of that production with no guarantee there will suddenly be a price bonanza to get increased export revenue.

If emissions prices are allowed to increase to $50 per tonne and beyond, as is likely under current climate change policy settings, it will be tough on all pastoral farming and could wipe out a lot of sheep and beef farms.

They will reduce agricultural production and export revenue. Farms will be replaced with plantation forests which might one day sometime in the future result in wood being harvested and forest products exported, but not at best for many years.

And that is before factoring in whether agricultural emissions will be priced at the farmgate, as signalled in the report.

What will that do for thriving rural communities?

If any sustained acceleration in agricultural exports is to be achieved, we need to ensure as many of the winds as possible are tailwinds and that we minimise the headwinds. n

7

ON FARM STORY

George and Kayla Whitelock lease the dairy farm at Linton, near Palmerston North, where they milk 1100 cows. Kayla, George, Addison, 5, and Maxwell, 2, at the cowshed.

Photos: Chelsea Miller 8

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

Tackling farming boots and all A former international rugby player who once played for the All Blacks, decided to end his stellar career and hang up his boots to return to his farming roots. Gerard Hutching reports.

F

OR George Whitelock a decade-long professional rugby career had a myriad benefits: a secure income, world travel, paths to leadership and friendships forged with a cross-section of Kiwi society.

But in terms of dairy farming, the pay-off has related to the way in which performance was measured on and off the sports field, and how that has translated into his new business.

“What drives you when you’re a sportsman is that when you play every

week, with technology you get all the improvements from watching video clips and varying your performance,” George said.

“With farming I get great satisfaction every day knowing what’s going out the gate and I can judge myself and ask ‘what did I do well today or not so well’ – it’s so measurable. That challenge drives me, and it’s why I’m so passionate about dairying.”

Growing up on the family farm at Linton just outside of Palmerston North, George is the eldest of four boys. All have performed in rugby with distinction. They all played junior rugby for Palmerston North High School Old Boys’ Rugby Football Club and later, George, Sam and Luke made it into the All Blacks and became the first trio of siblings to play for the All Blacks. All four brothers played for the Crusaders and Adam also played for the NZ Sevens.

Thinking outside the [tree and fence lined] box The 1100-cow F12 Friesian herd produces an average of 450 kilograms of milksolids per cow.

Dung beetles will deliver upon the promise to

restore and protect our freshwater while increasing production and drought tolerance.

Continued page 10

We need to be smarter than just focusing on planting and fencing. MPI supports planting, fencing and “other initiatives to prevent farm runoff ”.

Without question that is where dung beetles fit in.

Thinking outside the [tree and fence lined] box Thinking the [tree and fence There is absolutelyoutside no better scientifically proven way of reducing overland lined] box

The solution is right under our feet

flow than dung beetles. They deliver an up to 80% reduction in overland Dung beetles offer a remarkable natural flow.

Thiswill results in a upon 97% in sediment, andand equally includes Dung beetles the to protect our freshwater while increasing Dung beetles willdeliver deliver uponreduction thepromise promise to restore sustainable solution to revitalise our soils and reduced e. coli and production drought tolerance. while restore andand protect ourphosphorus. freshwater pastures, and can rehabilitate New Zealand’s Weincreasing need toSeed be smarter than justbeetles focusing on planting fencing.

MPI supports planting, fencing and and “other initiatives prevent farm runoff.” Without question waterways that is where dung beetles fit in. act now. production drought tolerance.

– if we dung toand fixand the broken nutrient cycle boostto production.

There is absolutely no better scientifically proven way of reducing overland flow, fixing the broken nutrient cycle, and boosting production than dung beetles.

We need to be smarter than just focusing on planting and fencing. MPI supports planting, fencing and “other initiatives to prevent farm runoff ”.

Without question that is where dung beetles fit in.

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George, Addison, Kayla and Maxwell check out the newborn calves.

FARM FACTS n Owners: B and C Whitelock n Leasee: George and Kayla Whitelock n Location: Linton, Manawatu n Farm size: 346ha n Cows: 1100 F12 Friesian n Production: 2019-2020: 520,000kg/ MS n Target: 2020-2021: 500,000kg/MS

Whitelock debuted for Otago in 2007 against Southland playing in all but two of their matches that season. The following year he transferred to Canterbury and in his first year was part of the team which won the 2008 NPC. In 2009, he was named captain and led the Canterbury team through one of its most successful periods becoming the only player to captain a side to five NPC titles in a row.

He was also captain when Canterbury lifted the Ranfurly Shield from Wellington in 2009.

So was it something in the Manawatu 10

water that drove the Whitelock boys to succeed on the rugby pitch?

“Mum’s father was an All Black; his name was Nelson Dalzell and he played in 1953 and 1954. You could say I got more rugby pedigree from mum’s side more than from dads,” Whitelock explained.

In fact, his father Braeden Whitelock was talented enough to be selected as a junior All Black so rugby runs through their family blood on both sides.

“But we were also very lucky as we all boarded at the hostel at Feilding Agricultural High School and mixed with other country boys who were very raw farm kids. Other rugby sportsmen have come through the Feilding system and established professional careers including Aaron Smith, Cody Taylor, Semisi Masirewa and Vilmoni Koroi and many more,” he said.

In the professional rugby era it is commonplace for players to play for franchises of their home provinces, but for the Whitelock brothers, there were valid reasons for them moving south to either the Crusaders or Highlanders (Luke).

Not only was their mother Caroline born and bred in North Canterbury, George started at Telford in Otago but

finished with an agricultural diploma from Lincoln. Sam, likewise, went to Lincoln and Luke and Adam, who now works for the ANZ in rural banking in Christchurch, attended Canterbury University.

In 2010 during a trip home for Christmas, George met Black Sticks member and former captain Kayla.

They married in 2013 and now have two children, Addison, 5 and Maxwell, 2.

By 2015 George felt the time was right

George and team-member Venancio Esquila discuss which paddock to put the herd in after afternoon milking.

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

George Whitelock has a team of five staff members. Crisanto Gabato and Cristopher Galbato discuss jobs that need to be done with George. for a change – he had played 86 matches for the Crusaders, followed by a season with the Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan.

In his late 20s, it was time to begin a new chapter. While there was plenty of temptation to continue, his body was still in good shape after the rigours of rugby and he didn’t want to jeopardise that fact.

Despite being young, injury-free and receiving offers from overseas clubs, he hung up his boots and farewelled the game he had been playing since he was a

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

youngster and returned to the family farm his parents Braeden and Caroline had transformed from many 100-acre rehab blocks milking 60 cows when they bought it, to 800 hectares milking 2500 cows.

Like most farm kids, he learnt to drive tractors and milk from an early age.

“I was about five when I learnt to drive with dad but I couldn’t reach the pedals so he did that while I steered,” George recalls.

“We used to drive the tractor around feeding out hay to the cows and Sam, Adam, Luke and I spent many hours playing up in the hay barn building forts, climbing and jumping.”

But while he had always kept up an interest in the family farm, George had never worked a full season to understand the complexities of how it worked.

“So in the first three years, I worked as a labour unit for Dad just to learn. For me to go home and take over a business straight away was an unknown (risk); there was so much to learn and the best thing I ever did was to work as a labour unit,” he said.

“I learnt every job on the farm so had a 100% understanding of the day-to-day running of the farm.

His learning has continued and in 2018

he attended the Pasture Summit held in Hamilton and Ashburton.

“Dad was an excellent teacher but the Summit was very good and helped me develop my pasture management skills even more,” he explained.

“I am always reading and asking questions about various things. I am really interested in fertility and breeding as I believe these are very important pillars in dairy farming and the industry.”

Once he felt ready to make the move and set up by himself, he and parents worked out an agreement.

With support from Kayla, he leased 346 effective hectares, on which he runs 1100 Friesian cows. His father is still active in his own business, running 1400 cows on 450 hectares and employing staff. George himself has five Filipino staff in his farm team.

“Two of my team have been in New Zealand six years and, like everything, you have to challenge and reward your staff as they grow in responsibility,” George said.

“We try to have a team environment and upskill people. They’re very loyal.

I’ve got three guys with family in the Philippines who would usually go back for

Continued page 12 11

I had been keen on sheep and beef when I was younger but I could see more opportunities in dairying and the opportunity to go back to the family farm arose.

Addison enjoys seeing the newborn calves and giving them a pat.

12

five weeks’ annual leave but they couldn’t this year because of covid-19.”

Bordering the Manawatu River, the farm can be a challenging prospect.

It consists of heavy silt loam soils, where the river can flood 25% of the property in bad years, and on the other end it sits on the edge of Opiki swamp land.

Because of its moisture-holding profile, a high percentage of the land has tile drains through it.

The 550-600 kilogram Friesians are run at a stocking rate of three per ha. Last year, they produced an average of 450kg/ MS per cow, and this season that has risen to 470kg/MS but high production is not the end game.

“I’m more driven by making sure I have a profitable and sustainable business,” he said.

“Performance is boosted by about a

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

The farm is run on a System 3 and they buy in about 1000 tonnes of maize each year, as well as about 400tn of palm kernel. Last season they also planted 13ha of turnips and 50ha of chicory.

tonne a cow of supplements – 700kg per cow of maize and 300kg of palm kernel – although the cost of getting that down them is a little out whack so I put Jersey over my cows this season to go back to a black cow and get a bit of hybrid vigour.

“Considering the cost of feed it’s a good move, I think. We’ll lose a bit of beef but I’m in it for the long game.”

The farm is run on a System 3 and they buy about 1000 tonnes of maize each year as well as about 400tn of palm kernel.

Like many regions this summer and autumn, the farm dried out but having learnt from previous dry spells, they had planted 13ha of turnips and 50ha of chicory which resulted in 3kg of feed per cow. It enabled him to grow out the once-a-day heifers and get good in-calf rates.

He soil tests every year, regrassing 50ha of tetraploid ryegrass which lasts anywhere between five and eight years,

depending on management.

The fast growing cultivar produced 18 tonnes per ha, of which the cows consume 15 tonnes or about 70% utilisation.

“I was pretty happy with those numbers. I do measure my grass so I can feed budgets and control surpluses and deficits, but importantly, I’m trying to control the quality. When it’s wet the utilisation is the hardest thing to control,” George explained.

“It is important to get the feeding right, especially the pre and post grazing.

“For the tetraploid grasses, we feed it so that the cover is about 1600 to 1700kgs/ DM post grazing.

“We’ve had a challenging last two years with drought.

“Traditionally, we winter on grass only with 75% early calvers and the later calvers (25%) going off-farm but we haven’t had that option so had to

winter more cows on the platform.

We’ve managed just but it feels a little uncomfortable.”

The heifers start calving about July 15 and the main herd on July 22. Late calving stragglers draw the process out to early October. They aim to keep around 250 replacements.

“We’ve a reasonably drawn out calving spread but part of the reason is to try to bring a bit of vigour round a crossbred cow. Friesians are reasonably difficult to get in calf when you’ve got big numbers,” he said.

For replacements, 250 yearlings go to the bull. Empty rates have been 13% two years in a row but the biggest challenge is with trying to bring the late calvers forward.

Last spring, there were 40 excess heifer calves which were exported to China.

Continued page 14

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Kayla and Maxwell with a newborn calf.

This is a lifetime commitment, we’re developing a model that we want to run smoothly and efficiently, and as simple as possible because 1100 cows is a big farm, so it’s got to be profitable and easy care.

All of the young stock are grazed offfarm in central Hawke’s Bay to relieve stocking rate pressure. Target weaning weight for the heifers is 90-100kg but this is dependent on the season.

He has also reared Friesian bulls for the last two years which have provided a handy cash flow. They are weaned at 100kg and sold on-farm.

Mating starts on October 20 and finishes January, using artificial insemination from the middle of October till November 20.

“We’ve always been bull of the day, this year we’ve gone to the Jersey bull of the day for hybrid vigour and with having the heifers on once a day, we’re having a far better conception rate early with them; they’re growing out and have been in great order,” George said.

“It’s just about the longevity of the herd and trying to reduce wastage.”

Because pasture is crucial to his operation and it can’t be damaged, he has just invested in a larger loafing pad, 14

which has tripled capacity and has proven invaluable for calving down on wintry nights.

Contrasting to George’s farming roots, Kayla is a “town girl” from Palmerston North who has chalked up more than 250 games for the Black Sticks since 2003 and is still playing at the top level. She has been to four Olympic Games, and was looking forward to her fifth in Tokyo until covid-19 interrupted her plans. With the uncertainty surrounding next year, the toughest factor is to maintain motivation.

Though she does not play an active role in the farming business, Kayla has plenty to keep her occupied, from raising Addison and Maxwell to helping to run an F45 gym franchise which she and George own.

George describes the F45 concept as a highly addictive, motivating workout. The maximum is 28 in a class and the short, intensive sessions suit people’s lifestyles.

Going from a lifestyle of being a professional rugby player to a dairy

farmer working 12 days on, two days off was a “massive and tough change”, but he was fully aware of what he was walking into and recognised he would have strong family support.

“This is a lifetime commitment, we’re developing a model that we want to run smoothly and efficiently, and as simple as possible because 1100 cows is a big farm, so it’s got to be profitable and easy care,” he said.

“We’ve always known that to become independent we have to set the protocols right. The last three years have been hard work with long days with a young family.

It’s a challenge but we’ve got to get the balance right of family time and home life too.”

Having grown up on the farm and playing rugby all over the world, farming is in his blood and he always wanted to return to the land.

“I had been keen on sheep and beef when I was younger but I could see more opportunities in dairying and the opportunity to go back to the family farm arose,” he said.

What he learnt in all those years playing at the top level has helped him on-farm.

“Like rugby, farming can be quite disciplined. There are certain things that you cannot control. In rugby it might be the referee and in farming it might be the weather.

“How you respond to those challenges is the one thing that you can control.

There is no point stressing about it, you just have to deal with (it) and move on.

You have to focus on what is important and what you have to do to get the job done.”

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

George Whitelock retired from an international rugby career to go dairy farming. George brings the calved cows in for milking.

Rugby and farming are also similar in that you are always setting goals he says.

“It is about focusing on the job ahead and setting yourself a target to get X, Y, Z done so you can achieve that target.

“In rugby it might be something like winning the next line out ball and in farming it might be something as small as fixing a fence.

“Little things all help to achieve the bigger picture goal.”

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

Away from the farm and the gym, he and Kayla spend as much time as possible with Addison and Maxwell.

When he can, George will head off for a day of fishing or hunting or supporting Kayla at games or practice.

Rugby is still a big part of his life. He is considering taking up coaching and often found himself being an armchair referee and critic.

“Yes I do sit there and yell at the television. Especially when the referee

makes a decision I do not agree with, urging the boys to run faster and et cetera,” he said.

Looking ahead, he and Kayla eventually want to step up to farm ownership.

“Hopefully we can make that happen for our next step. In the meantime, we are continuing to work towards our goals, raise our family and do the best we can for our cows, team and the farm.” n Video link: bit.ly/OFSwhitelock

15

MILK MONITOR

Big clue on milk prices Each month the milk monitor Stephen Bell delves into the dairy industry and gives us the lowdown on the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between.

W

E’VE now got the biggest clue yet to how the season might pan out for farmgate returns and there’s cause for corners of the mouth to lift a little though it’s still too early for a full-blooded grin.

Prospects of the full season milk price starting with a five are now well and truly receding.

Most commentators are in the mid $6 range, apart from the wildly optimistic NZX calculation of $7.14, and are in line with Fonterra’s thinking.

Fonterra’s thinking has translated into action and its a good news story.

It has narrowed its forecast range by, most importantly, lifting the bottom by 50 cents to give a mid point, on which it bases advance payments, of $6.40. That’s a big clue of where it expects the season to end. Remember, it won’t want to hand out more than it can afford and incur the wrath of farmers.

Another clue in Fonterra’s and farmers’ actions is the $6.85 for the July fixed milk price offer. That was overwhelmed by eager farmers and with only 15 million kilos available the volumes farmers ended up with were scaled back to 22% of their application.

Given there’s an element of speculation in the way the fixed price is set, with milk futures contracts having a big role, farmers clearly regard it as a price to be snapped up, suggesting they and probably Fonterra reckon the price will settle somewhere between $6.40 and $6.85.

Farmers, apparently, will try to compensate for the lower prices by increasing production.

Rabobank analyst Wes Lefroy expects the lower commodity prices won’t cause major cashflow issues or on-farm costcutting but they will encouage farmers to maximise pasture and focus on homegrown feed using more urea to bolster growth. Fertiliser prices are at 10-year lows and pasture growth remains below normal, further encouraging urea use.

So setting farms up for the peak 16

Rabobank analyst Wes Lefroy reckons dairy farmers will use more urea this season trying to boost production.

production and lengthing it will be at the forefront of farmer thinking.

However, it will be prudent for the industry to look beyond this season.

Covid and droughts followed by too much rain are not going to make life easier for the foreseeable future. Farmers will want to set themselves up for reliable, flexible systems that can adapt quickly to whatever conditions climate change brings.

We see how quickly things can change.

No one at New Year parties was talking about covid. A month later we were talking lockdown.

We must also consider what we produce, where we are going to sell it and what story we are going to tell about it.

The last of those is fairly easy. The story we want to tell is mostly written.

The other factors, however, are not so easy.

While we can relax a little about prices other data from the Global Dairy Trade auctions show there is still much volatility and sudden, violent ups and downs are apparent.

The July 7 GDT had a jump in the index

of 8.3% but whole milk powder shot up 14%. Wow. That caused the NZX milk price calculator to climb 40c to $7.10. If only.

On July 21 WMP held its value, demand for infant forumla is holding up and China is buying but butter lost all the ground it had made up.

There are also big geographic fluctuations to contend with. Demand from north Asia, mainly China, was up 14% and accounted for 60% of sales but demand from southeast Asia was down 21% and the Middle East was down 43%.

That’s just some of the suff we know about.

Then there’s the your guess is as good as mine stuff like what will happen as a result of the squabbling between the United States and China. The last thing we need now is to be caught up in that nonsense and, even worse, in a situation where we have to choose sides. It might sound frivolous but the fallout between these two has the power to create global chaos, especially if the US uses its financial clout to stop third countries trading, as it has with Iran. n

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

NEWS

The Government has introduced a new debt mediation scheme to help farmers in financial strife.

Financial help scheme starts

A

DEBT mediation scheme to help financially distressed farmers deal with their lenders has come into effect this month.

It requires creditors to offer mediation to farmers who default on payments before they take any enforcement action.

Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said farmers are vulnerable to business down-turns as a result of conditions that are often outside their control such as weather, market price volatility and diseases like Mycoplasma bovis and covid-19.

“The failure of a farm business can lead to the farmer and their family losing both their business and their home,” O’Connor said.

“For many rural communities the failure of one farm can have a ripple effect through those communities and the regional economy.”

Total farm debt in New Zealand is now $62.8 billion – up 270% from 20 years ago, O’Connor explained.

“Farmers who operate a family business often don’t have the resources

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

to negotiate their own protections when dealing with lenders,” he said.

“That’s where this scheme fits in – it supports the mental, emotional and financial wellbeing of farmers and farming families who find themselves in financial trouble.

The debt mediation scheme is a useful backstop if a farmer’s finances go pear-shaped.

Andrew Hoggard

“The scheme is about early intervention – where either the farmer or the bank have an ability to go and seek mediation, which is a far better option than forced foreclosure.”

Federated Farmers president and commerce spokesman Andrew Hoggard said it is a useful backstop if a farmer’s

finances went pear-shaped.

“We strongly supported this legislation as it was shaped and debated by the select committee and parliamentary processes over the last year or so and we’re glad it’s now in place,” Hoggard said.

The organisation’s banking survey for May showed more than 80% of farms carry a mortgage and overdraft, and while 69% percent of the 1400 farmers who responded were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with their banks, 19% felt ‘under pressure’ from their banks, rising to 28% among arable farmers.

“It’s an uneven playing field in terms of available resources when a farmer and bank are in dispute. This legislation provides a platform for mediated communication,” Hoggard said.

“Although we hope it won’t have to be used very often, it will have done its job if it helps banks and farmers find enduring and sustainable solutions before it is too late.”

Two Approved Mediation Organisations, The Arbitrators and Mediators Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ) and Resolution Institute (RI) have been appointed to deliver the scheme. n 17

NEWS

Farmers stripped of coveted title GERALD PIDDOCK

T

HE New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA) Trust is undertaking an independent review of its procedures, processes and entry criteria after stripping Woodville farmers Nick and Rose Bertram of their title.

The Trust decided to remove the title from the Bertrams on July 10 for offensive social media posts on Twitter that Bertram made in 2016 and 2017 that were brought to light by animal rights group SAFE. Nick said he was under the impression the issue of the tweets was dealt with at the time after he was told to “pull my head in” by the Trust.

“The Trust confirmed their prior knowledge and investigation into the tweets three years ago,” he said.

As a result, he thought he was free to compete in this year’s awards without recrimination.

“When we questioned them why did they allow us to enter? Their response was they didn’t know we were going to win, ” Nick said.

Adding after their national win, a member of NZDIA Trust contacted them to delete the tweets, and he and his wife then spent two hours cleaning up their Twitter feed.

On July 13, the Bertrams released a statement saying: “We are happy to see that NZDIA have reflected on their mishandling of the situation, which has resulted in two Trust members tending their resignations.”

However, a spokeswoman for the NZDIA Trust said this was not correct.

“That’s not true. At this stage no one from the Trust has resigned,” she said.

The review will be undertaken by Susan Hughes QC. Alongside the Bertrams, Bay of Plenty’s Andre Meier became the 2020 New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year and Grace Gibberd from Waikato was announced the 2020 New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year.

18

The NZDIA Trust revoked the New Zealand Share Farmer of the Year title from Nick and Rose Bertram after animal rights group SAFE released a series of offensive tweets from Bertram in 2016 and 2017.

Meier stood out as a quiet yet confident person who is very capable and connects with a wide range of people in the community.

The 30-year-old manages Ao Marama Farms on 250ha near Te Puke, milking 800 cows.

Dairy Manager head judge Mark Shadwick from DairyNZ said amongst a strong group of finalists, Meier stood out as a proactive manager and leader who constantly seeks opportunities to grow and learn and helps others to do the same.

“Andre is an all-rounder who has established himself as a successful dairy manager whose track record speaks for itself,” Shadwick said.

“He is involved in his community as chairman of the Te Puke Young Farmers, through his involvement in the A&P Show Committee, as a Federated Farmers area rep and by hosting Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology students.”

The Dairy Manager runner-up was Paul Mercer from Manawatu and Waikato’s Daisy Higgs, 24 was third.

Judges predict the 2020 New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year, Grace Gibberd will be a great ambassador and role model for the Dairy Industry.

“Grace displayed an exceptional overall understanding of general knowledge and

was clear, confident and articulate with her answers,” says Dairy Trainee head judge Mark Nicholas.

The 21-year-old has a passion for animals, people and her role as Farm Assistant on the DairyNZ 115ha property at Newstead, milking 360 cows.

She has sound knowledge and indepth understanding across all four practical modules of pasture allocation requirements, dry matter conversions, condition scoring and her attention to health and safety was clearly evident and comprehensive.

The judges say all the Dairy Trainee finalists are passionate about higher education and they are very well-rounded young men and women who possess a great understanding of national and global issues.

“It was remarkable to see how much the finalists appreciated their employers, their good working conditions and the amount of knowledge that other people in the industry were willing to share with them,” Nicholas said.

“The New Zealand dairy industry is in great shape with these young people coming through.”

The Dairy Trainee runner-up was Sam Dodd from Taranaki and third placegetter is Tom Quinn, 24 years from Hawke’s Bay/ Wairarapa. n

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ON FARM STORY

Dunsandel farmers Dana Carver and Tony Coltman are the Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Supreme Award winners.

Photos: Tony Benny 20

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

Farmers need a business mindset A Canterbury farming couple made several changes to their farm system to be more environmentally sustainable, earning them the 2020 Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Supreme Award. Tony Benny reports.

T

HE key to improved environmental outcomes is for farmers to be profitable and efficient so they can afford to make necessary changes, say Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Supreme Award winners Tony Coltman and Dana Carver.

“It’s not enough to be a good dairy farmer, meaning good with cows and grass, you have to be able to run a profitable business as well. If we, as farmers, don’t learn to be good business managers we’re going to struggle to survive in the world we’re heading into,” Dana says.

“A big part of being resilient is having the margin needed to respond to change.”

The large-scale farmers are equity partners in a farm near Dunsandel where they also operate as 50:50 sharemilkers.

They are also equity partners in a nearby property that was converted in 2017,

under the same equity arrangement and also sharemilk on a third property. The total area is 841ha, 800ha effective, on which they milk 3300 cows.

Tony and Dana received the Ballance award for their environmental achievements on the Dunsandel property, Canlac Holdings, which they own with Richard and Chrissie Wright. Faced with Environment Canterbury regulations that required them to reduce nitrogen leaching by 30%, they made management changes and as a result cut their nitrogen leaching by 50%.

“When they came out with the 30% reduction requirement, everyone said we’re all going to go out of business, that we’ll have to reduce our stocking rate and so on,” recalls Tony. “But we’ve proved that isn’t true.

“That’s one of the reasons I got into the Forages for Reduced Nitrate Leaching project (FRNL). We said let’s put all the technology that’s available to us now in

FARM FACTS n Owners: Datona (Tony Coltman and Dana Carver) and Richard and Chrissy Wright n Location: Dunsandel, Canterbury n Farm size: 841ha, 800ha effective n Cows: 3300 Kiwicross across three farms n Production: 2019-20: 1,597,744kg MS n Target: 2020-21 1,600,000kg MS

place along with real numbers and see what we can achieve, and then we’ll look at our stocking rate.”

Continued page 22

About 3300 cows are milked across all three properties producing about 1,600.000 kilograms of milksolids.

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

21

Tony and Dana are equity farmers in two farms of which they sharemilk on one. They also sharemilk on a third property run by their team.

Getting their N-losses down was achieved with four main changes: replacing roto-rainer irrigators with more efficient centre pivots, reducing nitrogen fertiliser inputs, cutting back on protein-

based supplements (using more maize and less grass silage) and increasing the area on which effluent is spread.

They have reduced application of N-fertiliser by about 30% gradually over

The team gets the herd into the yards to drench.

22

several years while at the same time maintaining milk production.

“That told us we were being inefficient with our nitrogen before and by maintaining our level of production, that also had the effect of reducing our N-loss because of the level of production going out the farm gate,” Tony said.

Reducing the amount of grass silage fed out and replacing that with more boughtin maize silage and fodder beet also contributed because lower protein feeds also contain less nitrogen.”

They have also slowed the grazing round.

“We go into slightly higher covers which allows us to suck up more of the nitrogen,” he said.

Plantain has been added to the pasture mix as well, to take advantage of the plant’s ability to reduce the amount of nitrogen in cows’ urine but getting it to survive beyond two or three years is proving problematic.

“We’re putting it in when we re-grass but it’s not staying. We may try spinning it on with our fertiliser to see if that increases the population of it,” Tony explained.

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

Tony and Dana received the Ballance award for their environmental achievements such as reducing the nitrogen losses on the Dunsandel property.

Dana believes it wasn’t just the unprecedented reduction in N-loss that earned them the prize, it was the holistic way they approach sustainability.

“Often, when people talk of sustainability they are referring to the environment but sustainability is a holistic endeavour,” she said.

“For us it’s about how we can make the farm, therefore the community, and therefore the industry sustainable. And that is not going to happen by just picking

one target and saying we’ll meet that target for our local regulation.

“It’s more about saying how do we set up a farm that allows the animals, the people, the land and the business, which is the finances, to be sustainable?”

Before farming, they both had quite different careers – he came through banking, business and management and she worked in personal development and

I was finally in control of my own destiny. I just wish I’d done it earlier.

Tony Coltman

Continued page 24

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Tony did not come from a rural background. He worked in banking, business and management but always wanted to go farming.

well-being, which they believe has given them a unique mix of skills.

Tony was born in Nelson and didn’t come from a farming background but went to Lincoln University where he did a Diploma in Farm Management and then a BComAg. He then worked in rural banking for six years before switching to a marketing and print management company in Auckland.

Wanting to get involved with farming, he took a job managing development and extension at Dexel, the forerunner of DairyNZ. But his ultimate dream had always been to go farming and five years later he had the opportunity to become a shareholder in a NZ-owned dairy operation in Missouri, US, and spent four-and-half years managing that business.

He came back to NZ regularly to see his three children, and on one of those visits home he was set up on a blind date with Dana, an American living in NZ. At the time, Dana was building her personal development business, mixing psychology with fitness to help people and organisations meet their personal and business goals. She had recently grown the business after the death of her second son.

While studying and working in the US 24

she had met a Kiwi snowboarder who she went on to marry and they had a son together who was born severely disabled.

“The health system over there is shocking and we had to move to NZ to ensure he got the care he needed,” Dana recalls.

At the age of three, their son Trey died and assured by doctors his condition was a one-off, she and her then husband had a second son Theo, but he suffered the same condition and he too died, aged

one. Her marriage did not survive the tragedy.

But she stayed in Cambridge and started life anew.

“It sounds awful. My kids had passed away, my marriage had ended but I had this new freedom,” she said.

“You have to decide how you’re going to look at tragedy and I decided to follow my dream and grow my business. I think that’s what attracted Tony and me to each other, the fact we were both following our

Team member Jose Prieto gets the carry-overs in for afternoon milking.

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

Tony says his background in business and banking and the training he’s received along the way has given him valuable skills to apply to dairy farming. Tony in the yards. dreams after difficult times.

“We were both pretty upfront about our interests and what we were going to do and I said, ‘I’m going to be a dairy farmer,’” Tony added.

“Dana replied, ‘I’m willing to live on a farm but I have to have a job that takes me off farm and a career that utilises my skills and passion. I won’t cook every night, it’s not my thing.’ And, hey, we went on a second date, and here we are.”

They had a long-distance relationship for three years each running their own enterprises in separate countries, until Dana took a part-time HR job with Tony’s company and for two years she would alternately spend six weeks in the US and six weeks in NZ. Then Tony moved back to NZ and together they settled in Canterbury to manage a dairy farm for a year before getting the opportunity to go into an equity partnership.

After a couple of years of juggling life in Canterbury with running her business in Cambridge, Dana was offered a job with DairyNZ and ran their farmer wellness and wellbeing programme until it was wound up in 2018. She is now in charge of Step Change, a sustainable farming project.

Back in NZ Tony was further realising

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

his long-held ambition to be a dairy farmer.

“I was finally in control of my own destiny. I just wish I’d done it earlier,” he said.

For us it’s about how we can make the farm, therefore the community, and therefore the industry sustainable.

Dana Carver

“I’ve realised it’s what I’m good at. I’m really interested in it and because of that, I see stuff that perhaps other people don’t see. I pay attention to the details and get really excited by doing the right thing every day in order to achieve results.

“What I like about dairy farming is the numbers. It’s very measured. You muck it

up and you see the results. You get it right, you see the results.”

The 3300-cow herd produces about 485kgMS per cow for a total of about 1,600,000kgMS. The farm operates a System 4 and last season, 550kg dry matter per cow supplement of mainly maize silage and fodder beet but also some palm kernel and grass silage, at lower levels than previously, was fed.

“It depends on the season but our supplement use ranges between 550kg and 900kg DM per cow,” Tony said.

Calving starts on July 28 for the cows, probably a few days earlier than most farms in the district, he says. The heifers start calving about July 20.

All calving is done on Canlac for the two equity farms and as numbers grow, the mobs are split between the two properties. Between them the two farms carry 2200 cows and effectively run as one unit using two sheds.

Calves are picked up twice a day with a third pick up sometimes added when calving peaks. They keep all replacement calves - around 500 on Canlac and Quantum - because they’re still building numbers.

To reduce the number of bobby calves

Continued page 26

25

Dana Carver also works at DairyNZ where she manages Step Change, a sustainable farming project.

they sell four-day-old beef calves as well as rearing some later beef calves to 100kg.

After weaning, at between 100kg and 120kg, the replacement calves are sent to Tower Peak Station grazing block in the Te Anau basin.

Mating starts on October 19 and AI is done for five weeks using predominantly Jersey and Kiwicross and some Friesian semen, then the bulls go out for five weeks followed by short-gestation bulls for 10 to 14 days. They use short-gestation Hereford with their low BW cows and also follow up with Red Devon or Changus (Angus-Charolais) bulls.

Tony reckons his background in 26

business and banking and the training he’s received along the way has given him valuable skills to apply to dairy farming, even though he wasn’t brought up on a farm.

“I’m no mechanic, I’m no vet, but I can bring all of it together at a relatively high level. And the cows and grass side of it, well I knew the theory of it but now that we’re going into our ninth season, I’ve had plenty of time to master that along with the other stuff and really, I’m just hitting my straps,” he said.

Dana says Tony was well placed to make the changes needed to reduce the farm’s nitrogen leaching.

“Technically, Tony can tell you the four things we did but I think the reason that he could do those things is more of the story. You can go to any farm and tell them here are the four things you do, but the point is that for five years before Tony tried to improve the farm’s environmental footprint, he got the farm’s foundation right,” she explained.

“If you have stable staff, a strong system, and have enough money to put in the technology needed, anyone can do those four things. But to create that kind of foundation takes business skills.”

They recognise the important role their staff have played in their success and put huge emphasis on the people side of their business. Every winter they have a team building day, bringing together their 19 staff who come from eight different countries and speak five different languages.

They talk about the vision of the farm, how the season has gone and remind their team about their values and culture.

They try to make the day fun as well, ending with a dinner at the local pub for all staff and their families.

But while they have a great team, high profits and have exceeded what is required under environmental regulations, they are concerned about upcoming climate change-related rules.

“Reducing nitrogen leaching is only one part of reducing the footprint.

There’s also reducing greenhouse gas emissions which the entire country and the world are trying to figure out how you do. That will be our bigger challenge,” Tony said.

Tony would like to be ahead of the

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

The team consists of 19 staff who come from eight different countries and speak five different languages. Tony Coltman, Mark Farrell, Jose Prieto, Francisco Simao, Darren Palmer (Scooter) and Emil Chandaka.

game on that too but doesn’t believe there’s enough substantiated science to guide farmers and regulators.

“We just need some time to work through it and actually get some good robust science around it whereas, it seems to me, the Government’s just gone bang let’s do this without thinking about the implications,” he added.

Dana says everybody, not just farmers, has a role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“What we’re saying is we’re on board, we want to be leaders in reducing footprint but show us the science, show us how we’re going to do this as a country, in a united fashion before you ask us to risk our wider sustainability.

“The bottom line is it’s not dairy’s fault, everybody is responsible for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and water quality.”

In her role with DairyNZ she sees firsthand how difficult it will be for many to meet new environmental regulations while remaining profitable.

“We’ve got farmers who will just do it, others who are completely resistant, farmers who don’t even know the world is changing around them and then we have some who are ready to learn and question but they don’t want to do anything yet,” Dana explained.

She and her team have developed a tool so that farmers can get a handle on their “numbers” and what they mean so they know what changes to make to futureproof their farm.

“There are quadrants where a farmer can plot their N surplus to profit, their debt to profit and their dry matter intake to profit,” she said.

“And then they’ll see. If you’re in quadrant A you’re probably going to be fine, if you’re in quadrant C or D, you need to make some significant changes, if you’re in B, you still need to be moving a bit to the left. So, it’s a tool to help farmers understand how resilient they are and what the smartest levers are right now to create the most future proof system possible.”

She knows that for some farmers

making the changes needed will be difficult and says more than ever before, farming has to be treated as a business if it’s to thrive under ever tighter environmental regulation.

“I really worry about farmers. Some don’t want to be a business manager, they never signed up for it,” Dana said.

“They love the cows and grass, are great stockmen and have a natural eye for pasture and love for nature and looking after their soils and environment. But unfortunately, I don’t think that’s enough anymore.

“We’re all going to have to have a good profit margin to survive, that’s the bottom line, and that means you have to be a good business manager.”

She reckons they have the right mix of skills to survive in what is likely to be an increasingly challenging environment.

“I give Tony credit for what’s happened on the farm. I think from a business standpoint, our paths have brought us here. He has been mostly driven to perform and my past is really social change and morality and what’s the right thing,” she said.

“You can’t be embarrassed or ashamed of being profitable,” Tony added, something Dana has come to agree with.

“I think I used to think if you’re profitable, it means you’re greedy. But if you’re just by the skin of your arse trying to help everyone, that’s not sustainable either,” she says.

“It sounds cheesy, but I think the two of us have changed each other and now we’re this balance of profitable, technical, passionate and making sure we make a difference.” n

The farm has a stunning backdrop of the Southern Alps.

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

27

NEWS

Synlait’s B Corp status Hamish Reid, director sustainability and brand, shares Synlait’s Certified B Corporation journey and tells us why pledging to use business as a force for good is an essential part of the Canterbury-based company’s DNA.

S

YNLAIT Milk started life as a dairy farming company in 2000. Fast-forward 20 years and it is a 21st century milk nutrition company harnessing New Zealand’s natural capital and combining expert farming with state-of-the-art processing to produce a range of nutritional milk products.

Doing Milk Differently for a Healthier World is the reason Synlait exists. It shapes who we are, what we stand for and what we do.

We realised early on that consumers were craving a change.

We all have rapidly evolving expectations on how companies should care for people and the planet, and as a central player in NZ’s food and fibre sector, we wanted Synlait to be a catalyst for this change.

This ambition, and subsequent commitment, was recognised in June when Synlait’s strategic decision to elevate people and the planet to the same level as profit was acknowledged when we became a Certified B Corporation™.

Achieving B Corp certification was a goal we set in early 2018. It played a central part in our vision to launch bold social and environmental performance targets later that same year, followed by a new purpose and brand identity.

We knew that our disruptive, innovative spirit, combined with resolute determination to do the right thing for the planet and people would set us apart from the competition – and now it has.

For us being B Corp certified starts in the paddocks of our nearly 300 milk suppliers in the Canterbury and Waikato regions.

Our Lead with Pride programme is a huge milk sourcing and retention advantage to Synlait. By recognising and rewarding best practice, it helps us source milk from the best farms that have similar values to us.

Our milk suppliers also see it as a positive challenge to farm better. The Lead with Pride programme was a 28

Synlait is on a journey of improvement.

key driver in Synlait becoming B Corp certified.

Our customers see the difference too.

We are a key supply partner for Danone’s Early Life Nutrition in NZ and Asia Pacific. Danone, a leading world food company, is a passionate member of the B Corp™ movement, and they have acknowledged that together we have a great opportunity to keep shaping our industry for the better, while making sustainable business mainstream.

During the B Corp assessment process we identified commercial opportunities and operational improvements which would improve the performance of Synlait.

We are actively pursuing these opportunities, which extend across our value chain, and we look forward to seeing them realised with the support of our key customers.

Becoming B Corp certified is a stringent process. A team of over 30 of our people were engaged to complete the comprehensive B Impact Assessment™ which measures a company’s ongoing impact across its workers, community

Synlait’s sustainability and brand director Hamish Reid says the Lead with Pride programme is a key driver in the Certified B Corporation status.

and suppliers, customers, governance and the environment.

Using business as a force for good is most powerful when your team is mobilised and passionate about making a difference.

Now that we are certified, the process does not stop.

This is a journey of continuous improvement for Synlait and I am inspired by our team of over 1000 who have accepted this challenge.

Doing Milk Differently for a Healthier World truly is taking Synlait to a new level. n

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

KINGST_1084_DF_B

Enhance calf immunity. Double survival rates*

/MULTIMINPerformanceReady *Bates et al. (2019) Veterinary Record. Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, No.A9374 © Virbac 2020

WELL INSULATED.

GOOD CALL. At FMG, we know that over a quarter of all our milk claims are due to chiller failure. It’s this kind of specialised rural knowledge that allows us to pass on valuable advice to farmers. Advice like recommending dairy farmers insulate their milk vats to protect them from heat gain and reduce stress on the chiller system during early summer. We also advise things like checking milk is entering the vat at the required temperature, or that you alter milking times where you can. At the end of the day, if we can help you avoid loss through chiller failure it reduces stress, lost production and downtime. So why not get in touch with FMG to see how we can help you make some good calls on your farm. Call us on 0800 366 466, or go to fmg.co.nz

We’re here for the good of the country.

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INDUSTRY GOOD

To treat or not to treat Samantha Tennent

DairyNZ developer and In-Calf programme manager

N

ON-CYCLING or anoestrous cows are a challenge.

Cows are in a race against time to recover from calving and begin cycling again in time for mating – when we want cows cycling as early as possible to improve their chances of getting in calf early in the mating period.

Doing premating heat detection provides early warning of non-cyclers and time to do something, if required.

Short-term measures to treat noncycling cows include treating them with hormones.

There are no right or wrong and no one-size-fits-all approach. Each farm needs to assess its non-cycler situation individually and formulate a plan.

Farmers might question whether treatment is cost effective and whether to treat before or after mating starts.

If they wait till after mating begins some cows might have started cycling and fewer might require treatment but, for some cows, a delay in treatment might affect conception. Both queries have been addressed in New Zealand research.

The financial benefits of hormone treatment were explored in 2010 research.

The results were conclusive. Treating cows is more cost-effective than doing nothing and that is valid over a wide range of milk payments and responses to treatment.

That confirms investing in the treatment of non-cycling cows provides worthwhile returns to farmers.

A clinical trial in the late 1990s assessed whether hormone treatment before the start of mating or leaving treatment till 16

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

Treating non-cyclers early is the most effective way to immediately alleviate a noncycling problem.

The results were conclusive.

Treating cows is more cost-effective than doing nothing. days after mating began would achieve better results.

The outcomes show treatment eight days before the planned start of mating increases the number of cows that conceive in the first three weeks. It also reduces the time from the start of mating to conception by 7.5 days.

Positively, the conception rate of cows mated following treatment is the same

with DairyNZ as cows mated at their first spontaneous cycle after calving. The trial found identifying and treating non-cycling cows before mating significantly improves their reproductive performance in seasonally calving dairy herds.

Both studies build the case that treating non-cycling cows is more cost-effective than not treating. They also confirm when spending money on treatment, starting early will reap the full treatment benefits and return on investment.

There are many reasons why cows don’t cycle. If a herd is experiencing large numbers of non-cycling cows each season there is likely an underlying issue that needs to be addressed with a vet and adviser. n 31

DAIRY CHAMPION

The Dawsons milk 430 cows on 180 effective hectares at Patoka, inland from Napier.

Leading by example Being responsible to their land, animals, people and their community has earned a Hawke’s Bay couple the Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award. Gerald Piddock reports.

B Hawke’s Bay farmers Nick and Nicky Dawson were named winners of the 2020 Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award winners during the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards.

32

EING a responsible dairy farmer means more than just being industry role models to Nick and Nicky Dawson.

It involves working beyond the farm bubble in the wider community and nurturing the health of people, the environment and their animals.

“It’s all interconnected,” Nicky says.

“It’s like a three-legged stool. You can’t have one without the other.”

Nick hopes that by leading by example, reflecting good practices and being a mentor will encourage others to follow their example and do what’s right for the animals and for the land.

“We’re being looked at from every angle these days and I think we have to be on guard and front foot it,” he said.

Nick chairs the local Bovine Tb committee run by Ospri and has a role in local government.

They also periodically have school

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

The Dawsons have planted 30ha in riparian planting and a 6ha block at the end of the farm.

groups out on the farm for education and career days.

Their efforts have been recognised when they were named as this year’s Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award winners during the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards and received the John Wilson Memorial Trophy.

The award was introduced by the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards and Fonterra to recognise dairy farmers who demonstrate leadership in their approach to sustainability and who are respected by their fellow farmers and their community for their attitude and role in sustainable dairying.

The Dawsons farm is in Patoka, inland from Napier and just south of the main highway connecting Taupo to Hawke’s Bay. They progressed through the dairy industry ranks to 50:50 sharemilkers before shifting to an equity partnership.

Last year they bought their farm outright.

They run a 220 hectare farm that has 180 effective hectares, having taken out 30ha for riparian planting and a 6ha block at the end of the farm.

That block is the last sediment trap water has before it leaves their farm and goes to neighboring farms.

It contains a creek, wetlands and native

trees which they had planted themselves.

“It’s nearly 15 years old and it’s really starting to reap the benefits,” Nick says.

It was carried out not just for aesthetics but also to clean out the creek and filter out any runoff before the water travelled to the neighbours.

“We’re quite confident that water leaves our farm cleaner than when it came in. It’s a sediment trap, it’s a nutrient trap, it’s the last stop of the farm before the water goes to someone else to cover it,” he explained.

Nick believes the industry should get more credit for its work around riparian

Continued page 34

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DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

33

The wetland area contains a creek, wetlands and native trees which Nick and Nicky Dawson had planted themselves.

planting and fencing of waterways.

“I don’t think you see a cow in a creek anymore. I think we’ve still got a bit of work to do with our crops on the side of the road, which isn’t a good look for people,” he said.

They have a 430-cow herd producing 430kg milksolids a cow. They run their heifers on a 25ha block on the farm, milking them once a day. The main herd is milked twice-a-day until Christmas where they are switched to once-a-day milking too.

They calve in spring and sometimes carry over any empty cows, if they have the grass to spare.

They classify the farm as a System 3, feeding out maize grain in the milking shed and feeding out kale and grass silage grown on a 500ha neighbouring lease block run by their son.

That block is also used as a dairy grazing platform where they winter their cows.

The Dawsons have reduced their stocking rate to 2.5 cows/ha, direct drill all of their crops rather than tillage to protect the soil and are trying to eliminate bobby calves from their system.

Instead they grow them out on the lease block and sell the animals as beef cattle.

They work hard to trap all predators on the farm.

Reflecting on their own progression, he says it remains hard making that step from equity partner to full farm owner.

34

Maintaining that progression pathway to farm ownership is a serious issue if the industry wants to retain the value of farming, he says.

“How are we going to train these people to get enough equity to buy farms and progress to ownership which, you know, safeguards the price of the land?”

We need to make the produce cheaper for New Zealanders, get NZ behind us and export because we are an exporting nation.

Placing greater value on the stepping stones the industry has on the way to farm ownership was key, Nicky says.

She is also concerned about the pool of people entering sharemilking positions doing lots of work for little return.

“Those sharemilking contracts need to be fair for both parties because I know some sharemilkers who do so much but get very little back.”

It is not just sharemilkers but experienced farm staff that need protection from either burnout or falling out with the farm owners, Nick explained.

“It’s such a waste because so many people get into the industry and then after 10 years feel despondent, they’ve done all these hours, and then they leave the industry,” he said.

These people had to be made to feel like they had a stake in the farm if they are to be retained.

“They have to feel ownership of your property. You have to be able to give some of your property and some of yourself,” he says.

On their own farm, the Dawsons rely on their three staff to keep it running smoothly.

Nicky says they regard staff as part of their family and without them, they would not be able to run their business.

“It’s just a matter of respect,” Nick adds.

“You have to trust them. They’re going to make mistakes but that’s how they learn.”

That education extends to school children who they frequently invite onto the farm to give them a taste of agriculture.

They also host a group of Year 10 students on the farm for a career day to highlight the different kinds of jobs the industry has to offer. This continues on in Hawke’s Bay every year.

Logistically, they are one of the closest dairy farms to Napier and gives the

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

students a chance to visit a farm.

For many of the students, it is the first time they have been on a working dairy farm.

“These children don’t even know what a cow is. They love it,” he said.

They also get positive reactions from parents too.

“A lot of them say, wow, you aren’t dirty dairy farmers after all,” he said.

Nick says that moment when the parents or the students get that understanding of how the industry operates is the most fulfilling.

“It’s the moment that gives me the most pleasure, dismantling those myths that have been thrown down their throats for so long by these almost scaremongers and seeing these myths being dispelled,” Nick said.

“Kids these days don’t have a connection to farms so it’s really important that we make that connection for them, they really enjoy it. The eyes light up ... They can’t believe that’s where their milk comes from,” he enthuses.

Nicky says the covid-19 lockdown revealed that farmers were essential workers and saw a lot of the negativity

The Dawsons have reduced their stocking rate to 2.5 cows/ha, direct drill all of their crops rather than tillage to protect the soil.

seen within the sector reduced.

“There was a realisation that they’re actually doing some good in the community and are vital as a food source.”

Looking ahead, Nick says he would like to see less competition among food manufactures in NZ and instead focus

on exporting the best valued product overseas.

“Why do we need this competition in NZ? We’re manufacturing one product.

We need to make the produce cheaper for New Zealanders, get NZ behind us and export because we are an exporting nation.” n

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WOMEN IN AGRIBUSINESS

Taranaki farmer Gemma Adams who has dyslexia found visual learning best suited her so established VizLink to create communication tools for others.

The business of communication Passion is at the heart of every successful business. It is a passion for communication, planning and graphic design that led a dairy farmer to start her own business.

Cheyenne Nicholson reports.

T

ARANAKI sharemilker Gemma Adams is proof that being dyslexic is no barrier to creating and running a business.

She established VizLink, which creates personalised whiteboards, farm maps and signs that can be used as visual communication tools.

She is no stranger to the world of business, she’s been around it her whole life.

Her parents own and operate a successful manufacturing company started by her grandfather after World War II. “I’ve learned a lot from my parents over the years and watching them definitely 36

helped me decide what my strategies were going to be for this business,” Adams says.

“From the start I wanted to be able to fit the business into four hours a day to fit around our family and the farm though I’m more of a floater on-farm now.”

The original idea of VizLink came out of necessity when she started dairy farming.

Having grown up in town and worked in town as a graphic designer she lacked the knowledge her husband Terry had when they started sharemilking 13 years ago.

“I found our communication styles really different. I have dyslexia and have always worked best off visuals. Being raised on a farm Terry just got everything and that reflected in his communication

style.”

Off her own back she made herself a farm map, which meant she could work more autonomously on the farm and it helped build good communication between her and Terry. As they progressed in their farming careers and had staff start to work for them it became more apparent they couldn’t rely on verbal communication alone.

“Having information on a whiteboard ensures everyone on-farm knows what’s going on at any one time.”

It wasn’t till four years ago after the couple bought a dairy farm at Pahiatua during a low payout year that she looked into the viability of turning it into a business.

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

Gemma Adams and her husband are sharemilkers in Taranaki and own a farm at Pahiatua. Maddie, 7, Gemma, Brock, 5, and Terry Adams out on the farm.

“We bought the farm in Pahiatua as an investment. We still 50:50 sharemilk here in Taranaki and have sharemilkers on our other farm.

“Ultimately, we want to own a farm here but land prices are expensive. This way we can earn some money off our Pahiatua farm along with our income from this farm.

“We decided that we needed some other form of income to keep on top of everything so we started doing some market research on whether farmers would be interested in having their own farm maps and whiteboards created. I just knew there was something there. I had a gut feeling about it.”

With two young children and working full time on the farm it was a hard road setting up a business from scratch.

Having lots of contacts and relationships already in the printing world and no shortage of ideas for products that part came fairly easily it was the financial side that proved challenging. Determined not to add to their large debt she opted against a bank loan, meaning cashflow was an immediate and ongoing issue and made for a slow start to the business.

Once a job came in the money was put

DAIRY FARMER

Continued page 38 August 2020

Gemma Adams is also developing a grazing plan and has other several other ideas in the pipeline.

37

Gemma and some of her team check out one of the visual communication tools she developed for the cowshed.

aside or put into development so they didn’t get any financial benefit for the first few years. Backing herself with her idea she was forced to think of lean ways of operating and forging mutually beneficial relationships with other companies to get the products off the ground.

“I worked out quickly that we needed to get alongside GPS services for the farm maps to make sure we had accurate data.

I teamed up with a local company that I subcontract to. They didn’t want to do the end product of the farm map, just collect the data, so it’s the perfect match.

We do also work with other contractors at clients’ choosing.”

Each job has taken her down a different path or idea leading to a now diverse product offering. What started as farm maps has grown into farm planners and a wide variety of farm management whiteboards with more ideas popping up every day in both the rural and commercial realms.

“I didn’t realise the scope it has.

“We are working on a lot of grazing plans right now and working on a whiteboard for sharemilkers that has a magnetic sheet for the farm map so they can reuse the board at their next farm.

38

We are also looking into products for the home as well that are both useful but also have a nice look to them.”

The VizLink team is made up of Adams, accounts manager Pauline Corbett and assistant Tessa Tate as well as a crew of graphic designers from around the country who free her up to create new ideas and make sure the business is running smoothly.

“The printing company we use is local and I’ve known them for a long time and it’s a really great partnership. Jobs come through, they go to print and the printing company organises dispatch meaning we can focus on graphics and working with customers. It also means we don’t have to store products, which is another bonus.”

The business has grown through word of mouth but has found great success in using social media as a marketing tool.

As someone who isn’t a fan of social media it was a tough pill to swallow but she says she knew it was going to be the cheapest way to market herself and show customers the woman behind the business.

“There’s a real psychological factor behind social media. You get to put your

People who can’t communicate well but say their staff aren’t any good really get to me.

Gemma Adams

face to the product and it helps people to see you as a genuine person and farmer, not just some faceless company that doesn’t understand farming. It’s been the best thing we’ve done.”

This year she’s noticed return customers and hot leads coming in.

There has been increasing interest from Australian clients, which has sparked expansion plans to find subcontractors there as well.

With the business getting busier, finding a balance between work, family and the farms can be tricky. Taking it one day at a time she has found that sticking to her four hours a day rule and not being

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

Because of her dyslexia, Gemma Adams finds verbal communication difficult and relies on visual aids.

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too hard on herself has gone a long way to finding that balance.

“I’m quite organised so at night time Terry and I line up our diaries and colourcode and number jobs with a priority. I have five jobs to do each day. What I do above that is a bonus.

“I have a morning routine and try to be mindful of looking after myself so I can be in a good frame of mind. During work I’m at work but when the kids are home I try not to answer the phone. It’s important they see me working hard but there are also times you need to disengage and just be a mum.”

Part of what drives her is the passion she has for what she does. Going beyond a simple love of designing and organising, it’s about helping other people communicate more effectively and cultivating positive workplace culture as a result.

“People who can’t communicate well but say their staff aren’t any good really get to me. I know it’s just a whiteboard but it’s a really effective tool that helps with communication, which will filter through to staff, family and the industry, which will make for happier and more confident teams and families.” n

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Power Farming NZ

39

DBOY Richard and Nadine McCullough from McCullough Farm Partnership in Waikato are the 2020 Dairy Business of the Year Supreme Award winners.

Consistency wins top dairy award SONITA CHANDAR

A

WAIKATO farm that has previously been a joint Supreme Award runnerup in the Dairy Business of the Year contest has gone one better to take the top spot this year.

McCullough Farm Partnership owned

by Richard and Nadine McCullough is the Supreme Award winner for 2020.

Northland farm Imeson Country run by Greg and Janelle Imeson is runner-up.

McCullough Farm Partnership is a 245-hectare farm milking 630 cows at Karapiro in partnership with Richard’s parents Bruce and Wyn McCullough.

It also won the Best Waikato Farm Performance and Lowest Environmental Impact awards for the second year running.

40

The McCulloughs showed excellent return on assets at 6.2%, continuing a strong run in the most important single measure of business performance. They also achieved an excellent operating profit margin of 44%. For every dollar of income generated they retained a high proportion as profit. That enhances business resilience because it provides a buffer for changes in performance.

They had good cost control as demonstrated by their low cost of production of $4.46/kg MS. That is important because their income/ha is below average but tight control of costs gives a very good profit/ha.

Their high proportion of homegrown feed of 12.3 tonnes of drymatter a hectare lets them control the amount and price of their supplements and adds to overall farm resilience.

In the Lowest Environmental Impact

category the McCulloughs had the highest environmental score of 10 out of 15 for low nitrogen leaching (26kgN/ha/year), spreading effluent over 54% of the farm and significant effluent storage, feedpad use and having 100% of waterways fenced and half of riparian areas planted.

The McCulloughs attribute their success to their genuine love of the land, forward-thinking farming practices and willingness to learn and develop.

Judges Michael Lawrence from Naylor Lawrence and Associates and Massey University dairy production systems expert Professor Danny Donaghy said “McCullough Farm Partnership managed to buffer the drop in payout by maintaining a return on capital that is more than 6%. A big strength was their consistency.

“They performed consistently well against all metrics and had the second

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

highest return on capital overall, second highest total profit score, highest environmental score and were in the top 10% for human resources.

“This year’s Environmental award was again a tightly contested race. Many farms demonstrated improved environmental performance from previous years and others clearly have made sustainable land use their passion.

“The overall winner and runnerup were primarily determined by the environmental score received as a result of the DBOY analysis, however, wider environmental initiatives are considered during the judging process.

Imeson Country is a 74ha farm in Northland milking 192 cows. It also won the Best Northland Farm Performance and High Input with Best Financials awards.

It has an exceptional return on assets of 7.1%. It is based on very low operating expenses/ha helped by a relatively low asset value.

The Imesons achieved a low cost of production of $4.14/kg MS with variable costs/kg MS particularly well controlled.

That is a key feature of a resilient business because it provides a buffer for changes in market prices or climatic conditions.

The operating profit margin was a relatively high 39% achieved through a combination of relatively high milk price and low operating costs creating a high margin.

The judges said “The Imesons have produced two consecutive seasons of very consistent results, a tribute to their management skills.

“They had the highest return on capital, highest total profit score, are in the 5% for

environment, which they demonstrated is a real passion. Their operation was quite different with 192 cows and owneroperated. They are a highly driven couple focused on maximising their results.”

The Business Resilience Award – lowest cost of production per kg MS was won by Brent and Rebecca Miller and Andrew and Rachele Morris from River Terrace Dairy at Carew in Mid-Canterbury.

They also won Best Canterbury Farm Performance, Business Resilience Lowest CoP, Medium Input with Best Financials and the Best People Leadership awards.

The Millers are lower-order sharemilkers on the 273ha farm owned by the Morrises milking 1120 cows.

“They had the lowest cost of production at $3.93/kg MS, a small increase on the previous year when they were $3.84 and also won this award. With pasture at 81% of feed input they achieved an impressive

502kg MS/cow. A business with strong and consistent performance,” the judges said.

All 2020 winners will hold Regional Optimisation Days on their farms later this year to highlight how they run resilient and profitable systems.

The Hopkins Farming Group, Waihora, Shawn Southee, won Best Lower North Island Farm Performance and was runner-up for Lowest Environmental Impact. Craigellachie Dairy Farms, Andy and Alan Grant, won Low Input with Best Financials.

Other finalists were Greenacres (Kereone), Brad and Graham Pickett, Waikato, GE and KM Coxon, Gavin and Karla Coxon, Waikato, Campbell Farms, George Campbell, Waikato, Ruapuna Farms, Grant and Jan Early, Canterbury, and Hopkins Farming Group, Tokomaru, Javier Pardo, Lower North Island. n

Greg and Janelle Imeson from Northland are runners up in the Supreme Award and also won Best Northland Farm Performance and High Input with Best Financials awards.

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TECHNOLOGY Agritech workshops were held in Auckland, Hamilton and Lincoln during July, where agritech companies, rural professionals and government representatives worked together on ideas to focus world attention on agricultural technology developed in NZ.

Govt officially launches agritech plan TONY BENNY

T

HE government officially launched the Agritech Industry Transformation Plan in July, three months later than originally planned, thanks to the covid-19 lockdown.

With $11.4 million committed in Budget 2020 to transform and grow the agritech sector, work has continued behind the scenes but Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor made it official at a function in Tauranga, where they also released a major research report called Aotearoa Agritech Unleashed.

“We want to grow a cluster of large agritech firms that can take on the world, and build on New Zealand’s agricultural strength,” Twyford said.

“Our government believes we can grow the agritech sector into a stronger economic contributor, increase agritech exports, and advance sustainable primary production in NZ.” The plan has been developed over the past year by Agritech NZ, working with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and 42

Employment, NZ Trade and Enterprise, Callaghan Innovation, the Ministry for Primary Industries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the NZ Venture Investment Fund.

The plan identifies three “high impact projects”, a horticulture robotics initiative, an agritech venture capital fund and the Farm 2050 Global Nutrients Project, under which global giants including Syngenta, Corteva and Bayer Crop Science will run field trials in NZ of plants with improved yields that will also be environmentally sustainable.

Meanwhile, a series of workshops were held in Auckland, Hamilton and Lincoln during July where agritech companies, rural professionals and government representatives worked together on ideas to focus world attention on agricultural technology developed in NZ and the contribution it could make to food production in foreign lands.

The Lincoln workshop was run by facilitator and futurist Dave Wild who spent two hours drawing out ideas from the 30 attendees on how best to sell NZ agritech to the world.

“The problem with a lot of strategic thinking is people try to do it in one day

and the only thing you can agree on as a group of people at the end of the day is the really predictable things because they’re the only things we have in common,” Wild said.

One theme that emerged was leveraging off NZ’s success in becoming a covid-19 free nation in a pandemicstricken world, where agritech companies are open for business.

Our achievement in keeping the virus at bay has attracted world attention already but just how to turn that into opportunities for agritech is challenging.

Wild said agritech businesses are impacted by the same four forces affecting all industries at present: social impacts, connectivity, unpredictable volatility and, the fourth, industrial revolution.

“Social expectations have always been incredibly important but now more than ever because we’re now more connected than ever,” he said.

“We used to get our news through broadcast news which meant it was far more controlled, but if something happens right here, right now, someone could be tweeting about it right now, so it’s socially connected. It has greater impact, and impacts on agritech.”

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

Connectivity means news travels fast and accelerates the pace of change, and exactly what happens next is unpredictable.

“The borders are changed. Are they going to reopen, are they going to change, and what sort of world will we be exporting into? You cannot predict with accuracy because there is too much complexity going on,” he said.

The fourth industrial revolution, starting about now and following the ages of mechanisation, electrification and digitisation, will see the collision of the digital, physical and biological environments, Wild said.

“That’s what I like about agritech; it is your world, you deal with the physical environment, how people work with it, how you feed the world with it and how data can help around that.”

Turning the thinking into real world opportunities is the next challenge and the ideas developed in these workshops will inform the next stage of planning.

“NZ agritech companies are creating innovative technologies and solutions that support our farmers, growers, beekeepers and fishers to create more

The Lincoln workshop was run by facilitator and futurist Dave Wild who said NZ’s success in becoming a covid-19 free nation has attracted world attention but the challenge was to turn that into opportunities for agritech.

value, and achieve greater sustainability,” O’Connor added.

“Innovation and investment in agritech

will play an important part in delivering the government’s covid-19 primary sector recovery roadmap Fit for a Better World. n

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RESEARCH

PhD student Michaela Gibson and a team at Massey University are exploring what could be causing the fractures, which can affect up to 25% in some herds.

Focus on science behind heifer humeral fractures SAMANTHA TENNENT

F Massey University PhD student Michaela Gibson is studying the growth and development of heifers.

ive thousand first-time calving heifers are estimated to be affected by spontaneous humeral fractures each season but a recent study is suggesting that may be severely underestimated.

PhD student Michaela Gibson and a team at Massey University are exploring what could be causing the fractures, which can affect up to 25% in some herds.

“It’s something that isn’t well recorded and I think with the scrutiny dairy farmers are under, they are probably reluctant to admit they had a heifer break a leg,” Gibson says.

Gibson is two years into her PhD and her work is focused on the growth and development of dairy heifers.

“I’m looking at how heifers grow and trying to pinpoint where they are most susceptible to growth checks,” she said.

“One of the things we’re seeing in heifers with fractures are growth arrest lines which tells us there are periods of inadequate nutrition causing a growth check but we don’t know where. “I’m trying to understand how heifers grow and what affects it.”

The research incorporates several projects and data is collected from various sources, including other trials from Massey.

They have relied on word-of-mouth

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production is not jeopardised.

“We need food so other sectors need to do better.

“This is a breath of someone to finally fresh air for say Rankin says while that.” reports have been previous scathing of farming, this one is less so.

“I felt like this report has helped us turn a corner, that affected by climate farmers are change but we The Intergovernme also really need them.” on Climate Change ntal Panel The report found (IPCC) report global food is being welcomed systems account

by New for a quarter of Zealand farming greenhouse gas leaders as an emissions and endorsement of agricultural emissions of nitrous our low impact systems and the oxide and methane importance of are increasing. maintaining food But land also has production. a role as a The IPCC says carbon sink, absorbing land on which 30% of the we rely for food, planet’s greenhouse water, gas emissions health and wellbeing energy, between 2008 and 2017. is already under pressure Crop production and climate is being change will exacerbate affected by higher temperatures, through desertification that changing rain patterns degradation potentially and land frequency of extreme and greater affecting events. food security.

The report warns consumption The report’s advocacy patterns, land management and balanced diet including of a population growth will determine animal protein sourced the planet’s future from resilient, in a changing sustainable, low climate. greenhouse systems is an endorsement gas “Pathways with higher demand for NZ, for food, Beef + Lamb chief feed, and water, insight officer more ON-FARM training Jeremy Baker says. resource-inten courses have an sive consumption important role to “This is the NZ She said there should and production play red and more limited always future, Feilding High in agriculture’s be an opportunity production system. meat technological improvements Reesby said the to role that form Meaghan Reesby School student training because do practical of training plays “It is definitely in agriculture yields, says. trained in increasing the not saying that The year 13 pupil result in a better understanding staff have skills of people in we all need to higher risks from of how their agriculture should become vegetarian agri-commerce at plans study water scarcity workplaces, such not be overlooked Massey University or vegan.” in drylands, land as farms, function, and any future next year but said degradation and which is good for changes in how not everyone employers and It is an opportunity food insecurity.” training course are interested in agriculture employees. delivered needs to ramp wants to go up promotion to remember that.

Report contributor to university. of the Taste Pure Feilding High School The daughter of Associate Himatangi dairy Nature brand, Professor Anita Some people prefer can build their practicalpupils farmers, Meaghan’s to tell Wreford, of farming global meat eaters 40 million on approach, whether a more handsLincoln University’s experience while on the family farm, brother works about NZ’s lowthat is through at school by Agribusiness complementing a cadetship or beginning carbon footprint, and Economic taking courses offered what he learns at he says.

Research Unit, work with building their knowledge a job and Gateway, a programme through DairyNZ climate says it shows the practical courses, through change importance of for young while her sister courses offered people in their last ambassador Trish also is also full time not implementing by workplace year of school Rankin is on contradictory the farm, training that allows them providers such as fitting her Massey heartened the policies. to Primary report says some course work ITO. training made up complete around that. sectors need to “The report is of theory and reduce their highly practical unit standards. emissions faster for NZ as we grapple relevant to ensure food MORE: trade-offs involved with the greenhouse gas P3 emissions, with reducing adapting to the change, managing impacts of climate the areas we value and maintaining supporting our communities and and societies in this process.

Neal Wallace

neal.wallace@glo balhq.co.nz

HE red meat industry hopes to ramp up its Taste Pure Nature brand campaign on the back of international climate the latest change report.

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to raise awareness that they want bones from heifers who have suffered fractures to scan and analyse. In their first year they had 13 cases and last year they received 120.

“We didn’t really have any expectations and wanted anything we could get and thought we had done well in that first year. Last year was even better,” Gibson recalls.

“We had a group of vets in the South Island that were helpful and more awareness will bring more to the surface.

“There isn’t really an option to indicate how a cow died in recording programmes.

We can’t tell if it was lameness or an accident so the database doesn’t have the info we need.”

They are looking at fractures that are truly spontaneous,” she explained.

“For example, the heifer could be walking across a flat paddock or turning in a milking shed when it happens. The odd fracture looks different and they suspect those are due to trauma, but these happen only occasionally.

The window of risk starts just before calving and it can happen up to four months after calving.

Heifers have weak bones as they are not at peak bone mass and their bodies are under extreme stress with their first calving and lactation.

“It seems like that’s the tipping point when the calcium draw from lactation is high, but it’s hard to determine the cause when there’s so many things involved,” Gibson said.

“Some farmers might only have one or two, while other farmers are strongly affected and that’s one thing we are trying to work out: why some heifers are more susceptible than others.”

The window of risk starts just before calving and it can happen up to four months after calving as heifers develop bone mass over time.

Gibson grew up on a lifestyle block in Levin. She loved the outdoors, rode horses, and has always had a passion for science. She originally wanted to be a vet till she did some work experience in a vet clinic and decided she would rather get into agricultural science.

A school friend went to university a year ahead of her and passed on some great advice which helped her plan her studies. She then went on to complete a Bachelor in Science with a double major in animal science and genetics Massey.

She also completed a Masters looking at the effects of Theileria Ikeda on bull fertility and libido. But after four and a half years studying, she needed a break.

She took a role on a local egg farm while

The cause of humeral fractures is unknown although known to happen spontaneously.

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

she was job hunting and to catch her breath.

While working on the egg farm she applied for a research technician role, which helped her realise she wanted to do her own research one day. She landed a temporary role with MPI tracing Mycoplasma bovis for four months, and during this time she was talking to lecturers at Massey about potential projects for her to gain a PhD. “There were a lot that were data or sheep-based, but I really wanted to be involved in something about dairy cows,” Gibson recalls.

“When this one came up about heifer fractures, the molecular side really appealed to me.”

Working out of the Massey campus she keeps on track with her work by treating it like a job and giving herself mini deadlines.

“It’s not like undergrad study where there’s regular deadlines and lecturers keeping track of you. It’s all self-directed and you have to create your own accountability.”

She is enjoying what they are doing and hopes their work will help identify ways to minimise the risk of the incidence of fractures for heifers in the future.

“Farmers shouldn’t take their replacements for granted. They can seem like a money pit before they are milking but it’s important what they do to get them to that two year mark,” Gibson said.

“Spending a bit of extra money is a lot better than possibly losing 25% of your replacements.” n

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FARMSTRONG

Get the farm team together for a break and enjoy some social activities such as cricket.

Keeping well in busy times Many farmers are moving into one of the busiest times of year on-farm with calving. Here’s what farmers have shared with Farmstrong about what helps them get through, along with a few insights from Farmstrong ambassador Sam Whitelock on how he copes during busy periods.

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CCORDING to sleep researchers, getting enough sleep is like a performance wonder drug helping you make better decisions and be more psychologically and physically resilient. Nearly everyone needs between 7–9 hours sleep a night and very few of us can get away with less over the longterm. Better sleeping means better farming.

Taranaki dairy farmer Trish Rankin said “It’s important to maximise sleep. Even things like buying a really comfortable pillow or mattress are important. Don’t underestimate the power of a good pillow and mattress to get better sleep.”

Farmstrong ambassador Sam Whitelock says taking mini-breaks during the day also boosts performance when things are physically and mentally demanding.

“Taking breaks when you’re busy sounds odd, but I’ve learnt that taking your breaks makes you a lot more efficient and productive in the long run,” he said.

“It makes your decision-making simpler. You’re not tired and over thinking things. You achieve better outcomes.

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“One of things I do when under the pump is to plan short breaks into my day and stick to them.”

Being realistic about workload is important at busy times says Bay of Plenty dairy farmer Paul Walker.

“In farming you could just keep going 24/7 if you wanted to. There’s always something else you can do. But no one can go ‘hammer and tongs’ the whole

time. So, even when you are full-on busy, you’ve got to look after yourself or you’re not going to last,” he said.

“When you’re self-employed it’s easy to do 60 to 70 hours a week or a few months in a row without a full day off. But it takes a toll. The stress adds up over time without you realising. It’s no good for your business either. You’re not efficient. When you’re tired, the simplest of decisions and

Taranaki farmer Trish Rankin says having plenty of groceries and food on hand to make nutritious, simple meals makes a big difference during busy times.

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August 2020

Farmstrong ambassador Sam Whitelock says taking mini-breaks during the day boosts performance when things are physically and mentally demanding during calving.

Bay of Plenty farmer Paul Walker says taking breaks helps with efficiency and decision-making simpler.

tasks can become very difficult.”

Research on workplace fatigue also shows there is a direct relationship between on farm accidents and wellbeing.

“You just have to work out what you can and can’t do in a day and be okay with that,” Rankin said.

“It sounds easy, but it doesn’t happen on its own. I think as farmers we often struggle with that, because a farmer can always see another job they haven’t done yet,” she said.

“It’s our fourth season here so we’ve benefited from setting up really good systems. One is called A.C.T – Accuracy.

Consistency. Timing. This means you know exactly what’s happening in your day and stick to a routine.

“We do things at the same time every day. I go to the shed about 5.30am and

feed my calves, while my husband and our worker are milking, and then I go and help them out.

“So, we are all out of the shed by 7.30am. Then I get the kids off to school, our worker goes home for breakfast and my husband can go and do a few jobs.

“This approach means if something goes wrong you’re not chasing your tail with a whole bunch of things you might have done at a different time.”

Whitelock agrees. “There’s always a list as long as anyone’s arm of things that need to be done on a farm. That’s why it’s important to be realistic about how much you can achieve in a day,” he said.

“What I do is write down a list of things to do and tick them off in order of priority.

When I get to the stage when I’m feeling really fatigued, it’s best to say, ‘that’s

enough for today’. I find it means that you come back tomorrow feeling much fresher and ready to get the best out of your farm.”

Having the right ‘fuel in the tank’ is essential when you are doing physically demanding jobs like farming or playing rugby.

Whitelock says “Eating well gives you the energy to perform at your best through the day. The importance of staying hydrated and keeping a water bottle handy is something else I’ve learnt during my time as a rugby player.

“As rugby players, we know the first thing to become compromised by being dehydrated is your brain and its decisionmaking.”

Rankin says, “In terms of nutrition, we generally have a good balanced diet. We kill a beast and put it in the freezer, so you at least have meat in the freezer. That way you can have a steak chopped up in a salad in 10 minutes. When you’re busy, having plenty of groceries and food so you can make a really nutritious, simple meal makes a big difference to us.”

And finally, remember that sharing the ups and downs of farming with colleagues and mates is an important part of staying on top of your game and enjoying the job. If it’s too difficult to organise regular communication with the team, consider having informal chats every few days. It could be a quick meeting at breakfast or after morning milking.

Ask how people are getting on, if they need anything, share a joke or reflect on positives and challenges from the last few days. A few minutes makes a big difference. If it’s just you, pick up the phone or arrange to catch up with your mates at the local. n

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SPECIAL REPORT Sectors such as agriculture and forestry serve as a sinkhole and suck out a great deal of the gases from the atmosphere.

Agriculture is not the villain An American scientist has taken the negative narrative about the role agriculture plays in climate change and emissions, saying other sectors play a far bigger role. Samantha Tennent listened in during the Alltech One Virtual Experience.

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Professor and air quality specialist at the University of California, Dr Frank Mitloehner says although agriculture does contribute to global warming, fossil fuels are the main culprit.

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ESEARCH overseen by Dr Frank Mitloehner, professor and air quality specialist in the Cooperative Extension in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, and Dr Myles Allen from Oxford University has shown that livestock-related greenhouse gases are distinctively different from greenhouse gases associated with other sectors of society.

Mitloehner explained the differences at the 2020 Alltech One digital experience and gave the example of Los Angeles and its population of 13 million painted an image of a concrete jungle, where Ireland portrays picturesque green countryside. But surprisingly Ireland has a greater carbon footprint than Los Angeles.

The unit used to describe greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide equivalents.

Los Angeles has emissions equivalent to 50 million metric tons, where the country of Ireland emits 60 million metric tons. But it does not seem to make sense when you consider the fossil fuel usage in both places he said.

“You have to think about gases, such as methane, are not just emitted, they are also reduced.

“They are sequestered. And a place like Ireland, with all the grass, with all the hedges, and trees, and so on, with the soils in agriculture and forestry, it sucks out a lot of greenhouse gases,” Mitloehner explained.

“So, while the world is always thinking of how much greenhouse gases are emitted by different sources, they often don’t consider that there are certain sectors of society such as forestry and

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

agriculture that also serve as a sink for greenhouse gases.”

Comparing three greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, is often in relation to a Global Warming Potential, or GWP 100.

“For example, if there were 100 pounds of methane emissions, it gets multiplied by 28 which gives the carbon dioxide equivalence or 100 pounds of nitrous oxide emissions gets multiplied by 265 for the carbon dioxide equivalence.

“Carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide are referred to as long-lived climate pollutants, and methane on the other hand is a short-lived climate pollutant. When methane is put into the atmosphere a reaction occurs and some of the methane is converted to carbon dioxide again.

Another major difference between the three gases is the lifespan, carbon dioxide has a lifespan of 1000 years, nitrous oxide is not quite as long but still hundreds of years and methane has a half-life of 10 years. Meaning the methane that our cows and other livestock put out will be gone after 10 years.

“But we cannot disregard the impact from methane. While that methane is in the atmosphere, it is heat-trapping, it is a potent greenhouse gas,” he said.

“The question really is: do our livestock herds add to additional methane, meaning additional carbon in the atmosphere, leading to additional warming? The answer to that question is no.

“If we have constant herds or even decreasing herds, we are not adding additional methane hence not additional warming.”

If herd sizes were to rise there would be increasing amounts of methane but data regarding livestock in the United States demonstrates drastic reductions in numbers. In the 1970s they had 50 million more beef cattle than they do today and in the 1950s, they had 25 million dairy cattle, where they only have nine million today. This also leads to a decrease in the amount of carbon being put into the atmosphere.

Fossil carbon originates from fossil fuel, which comes from ancient forests and animals that were fossilised hundreds of millions of years ago and stored in the ground.

The human population extracts it and uses it as fuel, which takes carbon out of the atmosphere where it was trapped, burns it, and puts it back into the atmosphere.

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August 2020

Methane that cows and other livestock produce will be gone after 10 years but other gases such as carbon dioxide, has a lifespan of 1000 years.

“This is not a cycle but a one-way street because the amount of carbon dioxide that we put into the atmosphere by far overpowers the potential sinks that could take up carbon dioxide such as oceans, soils, or plants. And this is the main culprit of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere and the resulting warming,” Mitloehner said.

“I have yet to see a climate scientist who would say that it’s the cows that are a primary culprit of warming. Most of them will agree that the primary culprit is the use of fossil fuels.”

Comparing the lifespan of the gases, carbon dioxide builds like interest, where methane, being short-lived, is a flow gas.

It is taken out of the atmosphere even when more is being put in.

“But if we can decrease methane, we can actively take carbon out of the atmosphere. And that has a net cooling effect.

“If we find ways to reduce methane, then we counteract other sectors of societies that do contribute, and significantly so, to global warming, such as flying, driving, running air conditioners, and so on.

“So, if we were to reduce methane, we could induce global cooling.

“And I think that our livestock sector has the potential to do it. And we are already seeing examples where that happens.”

Mitloehner and the team measure greenhouse gas emissions and the impacts of different mitigations through bovine bubbles.

They take devices out into commercial farms and measure emissions before and after the implementation of technologies to quantify the impact of different mitigation technologies to further reduce methane.

“So, can we get to that point where we reduce methane? That’s the question. And the answer is yes. We need to find true mitigation techniques and technologies that help us to make the livestock sector more efficient,” he said.

“Like the automobile sector learned to make their costs more efficient, more fuel efficient for example, to get us from A to B using half the amount of gas as our parents’ cars, or two thirds less than our grandparents’ cars. Because that reduced use of fuel directly translates into lesser emissions.

“And the same is true for livestock. If we produce more efficient livestock, that means we reduce the environmental footprint. And we do this in incredible ways.

In my opinion, that really needs to be quantified and needs to be publicised. It needs to be made very clear as to which role all farmers are already playing now, making very significant reductions to their environmental footprint.” n

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SPECIAL REPORT

What’s on tap for the milk market?

US dairy researcher Dr Torsten Hemme took a close look at the global dairy market and shared his findings at the Alltech ONE Virtual Experience. Samantha Tennent reports.

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OMPLEXITY and speed of change are the two rising challenges facing the dairy sector, says Dr Torsten Hemme, founder and CEO of the IFCN (International Farm Comparison Network) Dairy Research Network in the United States.

Complexity can be navigated if it is understood and speed of change is not an issue unless things get complex. But if these things come together, it is a challenge for everyone in dairying, he said.

“What’s the solution to the challenging market? Well, for us, it’s market intelligence. It is key for everyone – farmers, processors, retailers and farm input companies – to navigate. Market intelligence is needed especially in this crisis,” he explained.

Hemme established the IFCN Dairy Network 20 years ago, and their mission is to help people in dairying to make better decisions.

The network has three pillars, with researchers from more than 100 countries participating in annual data collection and knowledge creation activities. They have more than 140 companies in the dairy world participating and they have a centre in Kiel, Germany, with around 20 employees coordinating the work.

“We have been monitoring a number of crises over the years. Our quote from 2009 was, “we will probably have two to three global crises every 10 years”. So most of the time, we are in a certain type of crisis,” Hemme said.

“We’ve developed an indicator to measure crises, using the world market price of milk based on the commodity prices traded on the world market put into units of US dollar per 100 kilograms of milk, 4% fat and 3.3% protein.”

Using the indicator, they have determined the impacts of the changing milk price across the sector.

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Research shows that dairy farmers are the hardest hit during a global crisis.

“In low-price times we have different actors in the dairy chain and they are hit by the crisis in the following order: the group hardest hit are dairy farmers; number two are all farm inputs suppliers, because their customers are in crisis; and number three are processors, because sometimes, their margins shrink. The same happens to retailers, Hemme explained.

“So that gives you a little bit of an anticipation that a crisis time in the dairy industry is more normal than abnormal, unfortunately. Dairy farmers so far carry most of the load.”

He said the national farm gate price in the US is heavily driven by the world market price and other countries are similar but have slightly different patterns.

For example, Brazil who only imports 3% of its milk and produces the rest itself.

But the local farm gate price is heavily driven by the world market.

They were one of the first to

be impacted by coronavirus with rapidly falling milk prices which were substantially below the world market.

“When we look at the drivers, oil price is a key driver for everything, and the feed prices have followed the oil prices with a certain delay,” he explained.

“To understand the dairy market, there are connections between markets and there are delay factors. Oil price drives feed price and feed price and oil price drive milk prices. It’s just a matter of a delay.

“Another perspective on drivers of the world market milk price is regional supply and demand as well as GDP. “The growth of the economy drives demand so looking at the current numbers, this crisis has probably doubled the impact of the 2009 crisis.”

During the current crises, the initial drivers include the panic buying of products followed by a drop in food service demand and an increase of retail sales, which drives prices up or down.

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

It usually drives prices down in most countries.

“In the US it’s really serious because dairy has a huge share of food in the food service industry. We have highly specialised food service processors who could not easily swap from food service products to retail products. That is the root cause analysis which probably has the strongest impact in the US,” Hemme said.

Supply chain disruptions and stocks built up in processing plants and food companies also contribute. Some companies have bought products upfront to ensure delivery, which usually brings stabilised prices or increases them.

“It hasn’t fully hit the market yet. But the biggest driver is we will go into a major recession,” Hemme predicted.

“We will go with lower oil prices which means lower income and lower milk demand growth. That is the biggest impact from the crisis.

“There are also the policies from governments to reduce supply, build up stocks and to stimulate demand.

Whatever they do for the short term, it would stabilise the prices.

“The biggest driver to get out of the

which are underestimated,” he said. crisis is probably that milk supply drops “There are three phases to crisis and due to lower milk prices. Then the crisis management. There is the way into downward cycle is done and broken. the crisis, a way out of the crisis, and there Then you build up drivers because the is the time after the crisis. Maybe by midmore we are under-shooting the normal 2021 or 22, we will have time to prepare average price, the stronger we will be later for the next.” on to overshoot the price and have a price n ready.”

Their predictions looking ahead estimate a V shaped recovery, or possibly a U, with a price roller coaster for the next three years. They expect the national milk prices to be impacted from the world market with a delay of one to four months.

In terms of crisis management strategies and tools, there are two basic ways to address it.

The first strategy is to wait and see and apply the existing tools and policies and allow market forces to balance out supply and demand. The second is to start with a new programme.

“At the end of the day, we have two or three Dr. Torsten Hemme, the chief executive of IFCN Dairy dairy crises every 10 years Research Network. Hemme said that research shows and there is tremendous that there are two to three global crises every 10 years connectivity between global so a crisis time in the dairy industry is more normal than and national milk prices abnormal.

Better Bulls, Better Calves Book now for our September 2020 feature Assist farmers to make the right purchasing decisions for their herd.

To find out more, contact Hannah Gudsell on 06 323 0761, 027 602 4925 or email livestock@globalhq.co.nz

farmersweekly.co.nz

SPECIAL REPORT Farmers could get paid through a block chain-based solution being developed by Nori to not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also remove carbon from the atmosphere.

US company rewards carbon offset A US company is on a mission to reverse climate change with the goal to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and pay farmers for doing just that. Samantha Tennent reports.

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INCE the Industrial Revolution, humankind has burned fossil fuels to produce energy which release greenhouse gases.

Despite our understanding of the link between excess greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, oceans and global climate change, humans have continued emitting.

If every nation sticks to their Paris Accord commitments by 2030, the world will still be discharging 15 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This is more than what we can afford to be discharging if we want to cap global warming at two degrees by 2100.

Carbon dioxide has a half-life of 100 to 150 years in the atmosphere. Because of this, the greenhouse gases we discharge between now and 2030 will still be around in 2100.

During the Alltech ONE virtual experience, director of carbon economics at Nori, Aldyen Donnelly, spoke on how financial incentives can accelerate carbon sequestration in the search for sustainable solutions.

“While reducing and replacing carbon emissions are key components to slowing down the flow of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, the only way to stop the most severe effects of climate change is by balancing the total stock of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” Donnelly said.

“We are putting too many greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and not taking enough out. Carbon removal helps create

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the necessary balance to roll back the effects of climate change.”

Nori is a carbon dioxide removal marketplace that helps companies pay farmers to restore their soil health and store carbon, offsetting their own emissions. Carbon removal is any ecological or industrial approach that can take carbon dioxide out of atmospheric or oceanic circulation beyond what happens naturally.

Reversing climate change requires both decreasing current emission rates as well as removing the 1.5 trillion tonnes of excess carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere.

Many companies and initiatives focus on reducing present and future emissions, but Nori is the only market that deals exclusively in removing past emissions.

Carbon offsets are hard to understand and even harder to trust but Nori provides the opportunity for a measurable solution to offset emissions while maximising farm profitability.

Approaches vary in relation to scaling potential, costs, technological readiness, measurement techniques, permanence, energy consumption, production and additional impacts, but are all similar in that they comprise a way to capture and store carbon dioxide.

“Scientists generally believe the adoption of regenerative and conservation practices can remove soil organic carbon stocks worldwide to the level of 300 years ago before we introduced intensive management practices,” Donnelly said.

“The good news is this isn’t about converting cropland back to grasslands and forests. We know how to produce food and fibre while implementing practices that are rebuilding those soil organic carbon stocks.

“It’s a big if, but if the companies and the countries came up with a plan to bring them in line with their Paris Accord commitments, they’d still miss the 2030 target by about 15 billion tonnes a year.

“If we gave ourselves, as a global community, 100 years to recover our soil organic carbon stocks to the level they were 300 years ago, which we know how to do without even any new technology, we could be drawing down 10 to 25 billion, so somewhere around the gap we’re trying to cover.”

She explained it is important because the practices adopted by food and fibre producers draw heat-trapping gases out of the atmosphere and build up soil organic carbon stocks. These increase soil water retention rates and give healthier and more productive soils over time.

“There is no other potential strategy that gives you two benefits at the same time. One makes the soil more resilient and potentially enables our food and fibre producers to maintain productivity levels in the event of warming and, two, reduce the risk of warming.

“We shouldn’t spend any money on mitigation strategies that don’t give us those co-benefits before we’ve exploited opportunities to invest in food and fibre producers’ potential to deliver both benefits.” n

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

NAIT ready for calving?

Help build lifetime animal traceability Make sure you can tick off the following: Selling calves: All my calves are NAIT tagged correctly I have registered the calves in my NAIT account – after tagging them first I have recorded a movement in NAIT for the calves I sold – within 48 hours of them leaving. Note: This is not required when selling to a saleyard.

I’ve filled out an ASD form and have a Declaration to Livestock Transporter (DLT) form ready – if required

Buying calves: I’ve checked the calves I bought are tagged and NAIT registered I received an Animal Status Declaration (ASD) form from the seller I have recorded a movement in NAIT for the calves I bought – within 48 hours of them arriving I’ve updated the calves’ production type to beef – if brought in from a dairy farm.

Bobby calves moved direct to slaughter are exempt from all NAIT requirements. Check with your meat processor about their requirements for accepting bobby calves.

Failure to comply with NAIT obligations may result in fines or prosecution issued by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Need help? Call OSPRI on 0800 482 463 NAIT is an OSPRI programme

info@ospri.co.nz | ospri.co.nz

CALVING From about a week old calves should be given access to roughage and concentrate and though they will eat only a small amount, it starts stimulating rumen development.

Correct calf feeding essential Ensuring correct feeding and diet is essential for rumen development in calves. Cheyenne Nicholson takes a close look at what happens inside the calf during feeding.

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s r a e 5y

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UMINANT animals have a four-part stomach consisting of the reticulum, rumen, omasum and abomasum.

The first two compartments function together with the reticulum sorting food based on particle size while the rumen is effectively a large fermentation vat. The third compartment is a small dense organ that primarily absorbs water from digesta leaving the rumen and the fourth is the gastric or acidic stomach that functions like the stomach of monogastric.

All four compartments are present at birth but only the abomasum is fully developed, leading calves to be considered functionally monogastric at birth.

It takes several weeks of growth, development and access to appropriate foods before the reticulum, rumen and omasum mature enough to become fully functional. Until then, highly digestible milk full of fat, protein and simple sugars is the primary source of nutrients for a calf before it can move onto high-fibre diets like pasture.

“The calf’s digestive system has a mechanism that allows milk to bypass the rumen so that it goes straight into the abomasum, which is the best environment for the digestion of milk,” Massey University senior lecturer Dr Sarah Pain said.

“Suckling and the presence of milk proteins trigger closure of the muscular folds of the oesophageal groove allowing milk to go through the abomasum, bypassing the rumen altogether.”

This mechanism allows milk to be digested more efficiently

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August 2020

and optimise the utilisation of the energy that the milk provides.

The initial drink of first milking colostrum is key to optimising calf health and immune function. Ideally, they should drink around two litres of colostrum within the first six hours of life when the wall of the gastrointestinal tract is most permeable to immunoglobulins.

When milk enters the abomasum the milk protein and fat form a solid clot while the liquid whey, lactose and other milk components move into the small intestine where they are digested. Enzymes in the stomach then slowly break down the milk clot and gradually release the nutrients into the small intestine where they will either be further digested or absorbed.

Optimising milk feeding in calves involves maximising the efficiency of the groove closure and clot formation.

If the groove fails to close, either partially or entirely, milk will leak into the rumen where it is rapidly fermented, which can lead to ruminal acidosis and bloat, impair rumen development and function and result in poor calf growth and health. If the milk doesn’t clot properly, whole milk can enter the small intestine where it will provide substrates for bacterial growth leading to nutritional scours.

When too much milk is fed or when calves drink too fast the large quantities rapidly entering the abomasum don’t clot efficiently and can result in abomasal bloat. To facilitate groove closure and milk clot formation feed milk through a teat at a position below the level of the calf’s eyes. If bucket feeding, raise the bucket about 30cm above the floor the calf is standing on.

“Consistency in feeding is the key.

“What we want is for the nutrients in milk to be used for growth rather than being use by gastro-intestinal bacteria, leading to digestive upsets and scours.”

To encourage proper rumen development to support the transition from a diet of milk to that of solid, fibrous feeds several things need to happen. Firstly, the rumen needs to increase in size and volume. At birth, a calf’s stomachs account for 20% of the total gastrointestinal tract volume. An adult ruminant’s stomach accounts for about 50%.

An increase in musculature to allow the rumen to contract, the development of an efficient absorptive surface (papillae) and an accumulation of a microbial population in a water-based environment are also needed.

“A diet of milk alone won’t stimulate the development of the rumen.

“The calf needs a combination of both concentrated meal or grain and roughage (hay or pasture). It’s a beautifully coordinated system in terms of its physiology with multiple aspects working together.

“The rumen needs to be adequately developed before weaning so that when milk is removed as a source of nutrients the calf is able to eat, digest and absorb adequate amounts of nutrients from a pasture-based diet.”

Diagram showing a calf rumen compared with an adult cow.

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

The calf’s digestive system has a mechanism that allows milk to bypass the rumen so it goes straight into the abomasum where it is digested.

Concentrates and roughage stimulate different aspects of rumen development so offering both is important.

It is the fermentation of concentrates, with higher levels of readily digestible carbohydrates, in the rumen that is largely responsible for stimulating the growth of papillae on the inside surface of the rumen.

Papillae are the finger-like projections inside the rumen that create more surface area for absorption of digestion endproducts. The longer and denser the papillae the more efficient the nutrient absorption of the calf when transitioned onto a diet of grass and concentrates come weaning time.

The consumption of roughage provides an abrasive material in the rumen, which helps improve papillae integrity and stops them from clumping together, which would decrease their efficiency. Roughage is also key to increasing rumen volume and musculature.

Concentrates and roughage won’t start contributing significantly to a calf’s dietary nutrient requirements until about three to four weeks after birth.

“You should allow calves access to roughage and concentrate from about one week of age. The small amounts consumed as they experiment with the feeds will start stimulating rumen development but they won’t be able to consume enough solid feed to meet their dietary requirements until about six weeks of age.”

Fresh, high-quality, clean and dry feed should be offered in conjunction with free access to clean water to help establish a fluid environment in the rumen.

The degree of rumen development of individual calves fed milk, meal and hay or pasture will vary calf to calf.

Pain says it’s important to spend some time with calves when they are fed to keep an eye on how much each calf is eating or not eating to give an indication as to when its best to start reducing milk.

Timing is everything when it comes to weaning calves out onto pasture to avoid any setbacks in meeting growth milestones.

Calves that have milk removed from their diet before their rumen is adequately developed will lag in growth while rumen development catches up.

Weaning calves from milk when they are eating a minimum of 1-1.5kg of high-quality concentrates for a minimum of three consecutive days is a rough guideline to use alongside weight. n

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CALVING

How to care for calves

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O set a dairy cow up for a long, productive life you must give her the best possible start. Extra effort now will pay dividends throughout her milking

life.

Heifers that reach target weights make successful milking cows and growing them well starts from the day they are born.

CALF REARING GOOD PRACTICE • All calves, including bobbies, must receive adequate fresh colostrum within the first 24 hours of life and should be fed colostrum, or a colostrum substitute, for at least the first four days of life.

• Always handle calves gently and with care.

• Do not allow anyone to throw, hit or drag a calf at any time. Electric prodders must not be used on calves (MS17).

• Calves that are not with their mothers must be provided with shelter so that they can stay warm and dry.

• Calf pens must be fit for purpose and well maintained. Bedding areas must be comfortable, clean and dry, with adequate ventilation but draft free at the calf level. Exposed concrete, bare earth and mud are not acceptable.

• Calves should be fed at the same times each day to minimise stress.

• Always ensure your calves have access to plenty of fresh water.

• Feed calves adequate quantities of good quality feed to rapidly achieve weaning weight with a well-developed rumen.

COLOSTRUM • Calves should drink about 4-6 litres of fresh colostrum during the first 12 hours of life to get protective antibodies. To achieve this, pick up calves twice a day and give them gold colostrum as soon as possible.

• You can test the level of antibodies in a batch of colostrum using a Brix refractometer, available from your vet, farm supply store or a home brew 56

Calves should be fed good quality colostrum at the same time each day to minimise stress.

shop. Brix higher than 22% are best for newborns.

• Gold colostrum is best fed fresh but may be frozen for up to six months.

Thaw or heat in warm water but do not microwave.

• Store colostrum in a lidded drum or vat and stir regularly.

• Colostrum should be refrigerated (at 4°C) or preserved using a chemical preservative such as potassium sorbate.

ENSURE GOOD ROUTINE HYGIENE AND HEALTH PRACTICES • Scrub all feeding equipment well with hot water and detergent • Remove sick calves promptly to a designated sick pen • Frequently clean and disinfect pens where sick calves are treated • Disinfect hard surfaces • Ensure bedding is regularly refreshed • Control the spread of disease by minimising movement between pens.

Calves of the same age should stay in the same pen. However, small or

unthrifty calves may be better off with a healthy younger group.

• Vaccinate, treat for parasites and provide access to shelter • Make regular health checks. Calves must be checked twice daily for signs of ill-health and treatment given when needed.

CHECK THAT • Noses are clear of discharge and are moist and cool • Calves are alert and have responsive ears with no infection around the ear tag • Navels are clear of infection • Mouths are clear of ulcers • Calves can stand and walk normally i.e. no joint ill • All calves are feeding • Calves have shiny, supple coats • If you lightly pinch a calf’s skin and it is slow to return to normal it may be dehydrated and need electrolytes immediately. n

MORE:

www.dairynz.co.nz/animal/calves/calf-care DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

CALVING

Calving biosecurity a top priority

T

HE Mycoplasma bovis Programme partners are encouraging dairy farmers and calf rearers to make biosecurity a top priority during calving this spring.

Programme director Stuart Anderson said the effort to eradicate M bovis is making excellent progress but poor biosecurity practices at calving could result in a long tail of infections, drawing out the eradication process.

“There is very little M bovis infection left in the national herd.

“There are just six active confirmed properties and only two of those have infected cattle still on the farm.

“However, if there are one or two farms that we haven’t found yet they can inadvertently spread the infection around the entire country.

“One untagged or unregistered calf could spread infection to an entire herd so it’s critical all farmers correctly tag calves, register them in Nait and record all movements this spring.

“Achieving lifetime traceability for our national herd starts at calving. Accurate Nait records allow us to quickly track down any calves which have left an infected herd and to identify all of their close contacts and get them tested to make sure the infection hasn’t spread.”

Raw waste milk also creates a high biosecurity risk – and DairyNZ’s advice is that farmers should not feed waste

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

milk to calves. Waste milk can be a source of many diseases and other issues in calves as their systems develop.

Farmers supplying raw milk to calf rearing operations should pasteurise or treat it with citric acid before the milk leaves the farm.

They should also keep accurate and up-to-date records about what farms they provide milk to.

Following the measures will help protect against many diseases including M bovis.

General biosecurity measures at calving: • Tag every calf (and put the tag in well) born on the farm (bobby calves going direct to slaughter are exempt from Nait but require a specific tag); • Register calves into the Nait system against the Nait number before they are moved off-farm; • Record that movement offfarm in the system within 48 hours; • Keep groups of calves separate for 48 hours before mixing them while observing them for disease; • Keep calf rearing facilities and equipment clean and limit how many people access calf-rearing areas; • Get people accessing calf-rearing areas to clean their boots and personal protection and any other equipment and clean them again when they leave; • Remove sick calves to a dedicated sick pen; • Buy only Nait-tagged calves with accurate and up-todate records and record their arrival on-farm; • Keep a record of who milk is

General biosecurity measures at calving will help in the fight to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis from New Zealand herds. sold or given to and; • Keep accurate records of all financial transactions

including calf sales in case of an insurance or biosecurity compensation claim. n

Notice of Election - DairyNZ Board of Directors - DairyNZ Directors Remuneration Committee Invitation for 2020 candidate nominations – three positions available In October, two elections will take place for DairyNZ Incorporated – one election for two farmer-elected directors for the Board of DairyNZ Incorporated and a second election for one member of the Directors Remuneration Committee.

Registered levy-paying dairy farmers are invited to nominate candidates to fill these three positions.

All farmers paying a levy on milk solids to DairyNZ are eligible to stand for either election. An information pack outlining desired criteria and nomination requirements for the positions can be obtained from the Returning Officer.

Nominations must be received by the Returning Officer by 12 noon on Thursday, 3 September 2020.

Elections If more candidates than the required nominations are received, elections will be carried out by postal, and internet voting using the STV (single transferable vote) voting method. Votes will be weighted by annual milk solids production. Voter packs will be posted on 21 September 2020 to all registered DairyNZ levy payers, with voting closing at 12 noon on Tuesday, 20 October 2020.

The DairyNZ Annual General Meeting will be held in Ashburton on Wednesday, 21 October 2020. Election results will be announced at the meeting.

For further details contact the Returning Officer as below.

Anthony Morton Returning Officer – DairyNZ Incorporated 0800 666 946 iro@electionz.com

57

CALVING

Calf Club thriving under new format ANNE BOSWELL

M

YCOPLASMA bovis dealt New Zealand farming a devastating blow, but every cloud has a silver lining, and one Kiwi institution is enjoying a resurgence in popularity with its new and improved digital format.

Registrations for Calf Club NZ 2020 had already reached 120 by mid-July, and with kids having until September to submit their entries, competition numbers look likely to surpass last year’s 180 entries.

Traditional school calf club events were cancelled in 2018 and 2019 due to the biosecurity risk posed by M. bovis, so Calf Club NZ was formed to offer a digital format whereby children submitted entries online and judging was done onfarm.

Although school calf club events have been reinstated this year, Calf Club NZ will continue to run as a separate competition – pleasing Kiwi kids.

“The feedback we’ve had is that kids are really enjoying the new format, and that’s been demonstrated in a jump in registration numbers,” Calf Club NZ marketing manager Josh Herbes said.

“The platform has a strong digital component, and something kids have absolutely loved has been receiving the memory book at the end of the season that features every entry nationwide.

“This year, kids are able to submit up to four ‘memories’ – non-competition images of them caring for or training their calf.”

Children register online and in September submit an image of their calf with or without themselves in the photo; a 100-word story about their experience with their calf; and the calf’s details, including date of birth, breed, whether it’s a dairy or beef type animal, and whether it was early or late.

Calf Club NZ judging co-ordinator Michelle Burgess says judging will take place on-farm in the next school holidays, 58

Calf Club caters for all age groups of children including the older more serious competitors.

where the child and their calf will be assessed in three events: leading, rearing and conformation.

“The Leading category assesses the ability of the child to lead the calf around the edge of a ring, how well the child handles the calf, and how well they work together and communicate with each other,” Burgess said.

“The Rearing category assesses the appearance and health of the calf, including grooming, cleanliness and general health.

“And the Conformation category looks at animal traits, dependent on whether they are a dairy type or a beef type; it is a more traditional class.”

Burgess said Calf Club caters for younger, more inexperienced children as well as older, more serious competitors.

“The entry-level kids can just enter a ‘friend’, whereas older children may be more discerning in the animal they choose, selecting a better-looking animal.”

The competition uses a points system that places children at regional and national levels.

“Kids can compete against a much larger group of kids than the traditional school competition,” Burgess explained.

Calf Club NZ 2020 competition results will be published in Dairy Farmer magazine, and all participants will receive a ribbon posted to them after judging concludes, along with the possibility of spot prizes from competition sponsors DeLaval, Samen and CRV Ambreed.

Herbes says it will be exciting to see the final number of registrations, as they are expecting an influx later in the season.

“There is currently a 50:50 split of experienced children and new entries, which is very encouraging,” he said.

“Children typically spend more time on devices these days, so we encourage them to get out and spend time with their animals and document those memories.

“The idea behind Calf Club is for children to engage with their animals and care for them. “There are less people going into the farming industry, so we hope Calf Club might encourage some of these kids to get involved in farming when they’re older.”

Burgess said the Calf Club NZ team can’t believe how much the new format has taken off and demand for the online competition to continue has grown.

“It’s more than just one day,” she said.

“Kids can share their progress and stories about their journey.” n

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

ANIMAL HEALTH

Better to prevent milk fever than cure WARWICK DOWSE

I

T WILL come as not much of a surprise that milk fever – sometimes called a ‘production disease’ – can tend to be more of a problem in high producing herds.

A lot is going on inside the cow and it’s very complicated particularly at that critical time just after calving. We need to be prepared if we expect our cows to perform efficiently and profitably.

Why deal with it after the event? We should never get ourselves in this position after so much investment is made to get the cows ready for calving only to spend countless early mornings or late nights out there jabbing cows that are in trouble.

There are two clear lines of thought in regards to what is done and what should be done. Some farmers are onto it with good transition programs.

In other words, springer-mob management is right up there and your herd is ready to calve and to get as much milk out as quickly as possible for the longest period of time.

The other line of thought is to deal with the problem after it has happened and hope for the best as calving progresses.

The challenge here is to try and change this approach and do something different that suits your production system and herd.

Here is our dilemma: every ‘down cow’

Cows that go down with milk fever will not only cost farmers money, but will not perform throughout the season, be difficult to get in-calf again and probably suffer a range of other metabolic conditions. will cost you money up front and she will never really perform over the season and probably suffer from a range of other metabolic conditions, be difficult to get in-calf quickly and will never pull her weight in the milk solids department.

To make things worse, some of her mates will definitely have subclinical milk fever which is very difficult to observe and they will cost you some serious money.

Depending on the price of milk, DairyNZ says milk fever could be costing farmers about $8,000 per 100 cows.

Empty boxes of CBG litter in the dairy shed and that dusted mag oxide remains uneaten and wasted.

I would like to propose we look at things in a different light.

What I am proposing is that you take a look at how much money you are leaving on the table (in this case, what the milk fever thief is nicking) compared to what it

will cost to stop that from happening.

Feeding an anionic supplement such as Animate, which has a very low dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) which acidifies the diet even when cows have pasture as their main source of DM, will help.

By getting this supplement into the cows before they calve will effectively set them up and make that calcium available immediately. Their metabolisms demand for calcium can be as much as 400% at calving so we are expecting a lot from these cows.

When milk fever is under control there is a good chance that other metabolic and reproductive issues are also dealt with. n

MORE:

Warwick Dowse is the general manager of animal nutrition company Phibro.

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ANIMAL HEALTH

Using a calcium supplement in the herds during the dry and transition periods will help reduce the incidences of milk fever.

Managing DCAD levels CHRIS BALEMI

I

RECENTLY wrote an article on the unseen impact of milk fever and how widely spread it can be without correct mineral support.

The challenge of calcium deficiency is a fairly large topic and it’s important to now cover the other key information farmers should consider in managing the pasture-dominant diets of our dairy herds at this critical time.

Pasture still makes up a significant portion of the diet for many springer cows.

Our lush pasture and high growth levels lead to higher-than-optimal levels of potassium. Levels in the plant can often supply potassium in excess of 300% of a cow’s daily nutritional requirement.

High potassium not only restricts the animal’s ability to take up other essential minerals, it also changes the acid-alkali balance of the body, which can seriously affect the body’s ability to release

60

hormones critical to calcium use during calving and early lactation.

The DCAD system of feeding involves adding acid-forming salts to the diet of springer cows in a bid to further drive the metabolic acid-alkali balance slightly more towards the acid range, facilitating the release of the hormones needed to release calcium. Provided the feeding system is correctly implemented it is very cost-effective when compared to other options.

The calibration used in the correct formulation of these diets is expressed in total milliequivalents (mEq). An unmodified pasture-based springer cow diet can typically have a DCAD anywhere from +350 to +550 mEqs or even higher, dependent on the level of pasture being fed.

The aim is to get the mEq level of the diet down as low as possible. In New Zealand conditions that normally means somewhere between -15 to +120 mEqs.It is done by manipulating the feed sources in the diet then adding a specific blend of

acid-forming salts. With the correct blend palatability is maintained while reducing the total feed DCAD levels substantially.

There has always been strong debate around the use of calcium in the dry and springer period and for good reason.

It has usually focused on the element itself rather than form.

Adding lime, the most common form of calcium, has been clearly shown to negatively affect the natural processes involved in pulling calcium from the bone. Leading up to and during early lactation cows need lots of calcium – levels much higher than can be supplied through the digestive process.

Because of the extremely high levels of calcium required for colostrum production the body must be able to efficiently draw on reserves in bone and anything that compromises that ability can lead to a downer cow or a cow that goes through the season sub-clinically calcium deficient. That can lead to lower immunity, poorer reproductive outcomes and other issues.

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

In considering adding calcium every situation needs to be looked at differently.

Farmers must consider the likely calcium status of the pasture. Herbage and feed tests should be a regular part of on-farm testing regimes.

They need to identify crop feeds because many crops are naturally low in calcium and consider what other feeds such as palm kernel, grains or fodder beet make up a significant part of the diet.

Some herds will be at higher risk of calcium deficiency because of age and breed but calculations based on dietary requirements shouldn’t have too many issues.

If feeds such as maize silage and fodder beet make up a significant portion of the seasonal diet the calcium question is easy to answer.

Feeding either of these common winter supplements in any reasonable quantity means supplementing at least some calcium.

The next question is, what form? This decision depends on the time of season when the supplement is given.

It is known from laboratory testing the various forms of calcium vary markedly

in their ability to deliver rumen and intestinally available calcium.

We have tested micronised gypsum in prill form, micronised lime prills, industry standard lime flour and calcium chloride under laboratory tests designed to closely replicate ruminant digestion.

There has always been strong debate around the use of calcium in the dry and springer period and for good reason.

Our tests show the 48-hour calcium release of the two micronised lime products are both very low, 8% and 11% respectively.

Interestingly, calcium release from both

gypsum and calcium chloride are very similar. In these tests calcium chloride and gypsum showed a much higher more rapid release of calcium, levels of 28% and 30% respectively. Our testing indicates the issue with calcium release and uptake is, therefore, far more related to form than it is to dose volume.

We have always advocated the supplementation of at least some calcium to all springer cows in our transition diets. Our approach, however, is to supplement the required calcium in the form of calcium chloride and gypsum, providing calcium in a very available form but at the same time maintaining a low DCAD through the use of a range of acidforming salts.

To achieve successful outcomes these mixes are specifically formulated to suit NZ conditions. Through careful blending and the use of palatants they are purposely built to maintain maximum palatability. The blends efficiently address the influence of potassium at the same time combating calcium deficiency. n Chris Balemi is the managing director of Agvance Nutrition.

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One last word …

T

HE new season is in full swing with many farmers already well into calving.

And just to keep everyone on their toes Mother Nature is throwing plenty rain, wind and snow at us.

There are always early calves, often one or two, but several farmers report having a number of early cows in. One farmer says this is a good thing because it means more milk in the vat and more money, even if they did calve in the middle of stormy weather.

Most reports suggest calving is going well and I have seen several reports of twins, which isn’t unusual, but one farmer reckons he had a few and all heifers too.

Twins in dairy cattle aren’t rare but there have not been any reports of triplets. Triplets, of course, are even rarer with the chances of a cow carrying triplets about one in 500,000. And the chance of a cow giving birth to three live calves is about one in two million but no doubt, as there is most seasons, one farmer will experience the joy of triplets – a bit like winning Lotto really.

Calving is the busiest time on-farm and can be stressful. It is too easy to get caught up in work and put in long hours but take some time out, even for an hour two, if you can.

Here are a few tips to get through and relieve stress: • During calving, keep talking and make sure everyone is up to speed, knows what needs to happen and what they are responsible for.

• Time is precious during calving but try to have a power nap through the day if you need it. It is too easy to work long hours and end up exhausted.

• Regular time off goes out the window during calving. Keeping timesheets will alert you when the number of hours worked is creeping up. Perhaps work it so someone gets to have a sleep-in or a milking off each day.

• Stay social. Go and grab a coffee with a friend or invite the neighbours over for a pot-luck dinner but kick them out before 9pm. Take turns hosting.

• Provide tea and coffee facilities and nutritious energy-boosting snacks such as fruit, muesli bars and protein drinks. Keeping food on hand in the

66

dairy helps keep everyone going on those days when things just don’t go to plan. No one functions well on fumes.

Provide snacks and hot drinks in the shed.

• Invite the mother-in-law over to make some soup and keep the fire going. It makes a big difference coming home to a warm house and dinner cooking on the stove.

I know one woman who fills her freezers with casseroles, quiches, homemade pies, cakes and biscuits that are ready to zap.

“Come calving time when we are up to our eyeballs in mud and have cold hungry calves that demand attention, these meals are a lifesaver.

“It is really important to me that the family and staff are well-fed instead of eating takeaways or spaghetti on toast every night.”

Thanks to Ryan Songhurst (pictured) from Moa Flat for sharing this photo of the first calf born on his West Otago farm.

He tells me the first calves born are the spoilt ones that get all the attention and midnight feeds – lucky girls. n

Sonita Like us: farmersweekly.co.nz Follow us: @DairyFarmer15 Read us anywhere: farmersweekly.co.nz DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

Dairy Diary August 2020 August 3 – Institute of Directors NZ If you had the opportunity to have independent oversight and astute advice from informed and effective people in your industry – meeting every month or so, to focus on your farm and provide strategic direction and hands-off advice – wouldn’t you leap at that chance? You can have that with a farm board.

This one day course will help you understand how to fully harness the power of your board and to improve the culture, decision making and robust processes of your farming entity. Phone 0800 846 369 for info.

August 5 – DairyNZ South Westland Benchmarking Group Come along to find out how the latest analysis of farm financial data relates to you. There’s something here for everyone from farm manager and contract milker through to farm owner.

Join us in our first year reporting back on DairyBase financial data on the Coast.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz August 11 – DairyNZ Kiwitahi mid-calving catch-up, Waikato. Get off-farm for a bit of lunch and a catch-up with the locals mid-calving. No formalities, just a quick whip around to see how everyone is going, and to see if there are any common issues across farms.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz

DAIRY FARMER

August 2020

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August 11 – DairyNZ Mangorei mid-calving lunch, Taranaki. Come along to Ate Forty One for a quick catch-up with farmers in your area.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz August 27 – DairyNZ This month Taupiri Orini Ladies Group will be looking at Break Even Milk Price. We welcome anyone who is keen to join us, even those not in the immediate Taupiri Orini area.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz August 27 – DairyNZ Lower North Island Rural Professional regional update highlighting some interesting initiatives happening in the industry, and a networking opportunity at the golf course.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz Dairy NZ DairyNZ and Industry Partners are running a series of freecooked breakfasts and brunches for dairy farmers in August and September. Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz

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