Dairy Farmer June 2021

JUNE 2021 | $8.95

Mama, I made it Immigrant’s journey to an award-winning career PLUS:

Out of this world ➜ Cheesemaker teams up with farmer ➜ Cream of the crop ➜ Keeping up with winter grazing

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CONTENTS NEWS JUNE 2021 | $8.95 GlobalHQ is a farming family owned business that donates 1% of all advertising revenue in Farmers Weekly and Dairy Farmer to farmer health and wellbeing initiatives. Thank you for your prompt payment.

17 Milk Monitor Farmers could well be in the money this coming season.

18 Drought funding Government expands its drought support to include new areas

ON FARM STORY 8

Whatever it takes Canterbury farm manger Maria Alvarez makes it in the industry

20 Over the fence A Waikato farmer and cheesemaker team up

FARMING CHAMPIONS 7

Guest column – Cameron Bagrie

34 Dairy champion – Belinda Price

FEATURES 44 Special report: DairyNZ Farmers Forum 60 Winter grazing

REGULAR FEATURES 42 Industry good – DairyNZ 50 Farmstrong

20

56 Technology 58 Research

Editor SONITA CHANDAR

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Contributors ROSS NOLLY ross_nolly@yahoo.co.nz

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GERALD PIDDOCK 027 486 8346 gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz

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Subscriptions subs@globalhq.co.nz DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

COVER STORY Immigrant’s journey to an award-winning career

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34

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GUEST COLUMN

Turn in the inflationary worm?

By Cameron Bagrie

The world markets are rebounding and economic prospects are looking good after taking a hit last year from covid-19.

T

he world is reflating amid covid-19 challenges. Reflating is a fancy word for government and central bank stimulus getting the global economy moving.

Will inflation turn up too and we end up with ‘slugflation’ – sluggish growth and rising costs? If we step aside from covid-19-related risks, the path for inflation will be critical over the coming years.

The International Monetary Fund is predicting 6% growth in 2021. There is high hope for successful rollout of the covid-19 vaccines. The IMF’s projected growth figure masks disparities across sectors and regions.

China is at one end, already bigger compared to its pre-pandemic size.

Significant fiscal stimulus will boost growth in the US. On the other end are service-based economies such as the UK, France and Spain, or those who export capital goods, like Japan and Germany, and will take time to recover.

Equities continued to push new highs. The Reserve Bank’s May Financial Stability Report noted equities and bonds were pricing in optimistic economic scenarios. Commodity prices, including iron ore, copper, timber, oil and dairy are showing strength. We have resurgent demand amid supply disruptions that are forcing up prices.

Interest rates around the globe remain low but have lifted off lows as economic prospects have improved, and some signs of inflation have appeared. Policy is working.

Financial markets have gone from pricing in a negative Official Cash Rate in New Zealand to a hike in the coming 18 months; more aggressive than expectations for other central banks and one reason the NZ dollar is elevated.

This is welcome, but as the Reserve Bank also notes, “the levels of many global asset prices, and the pace of their recent ascent, have called the sustainability of valuations into question.

“More broadly, asset valuations are

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

vulnerable to a rise in discount rates reflected in long-term yields, which have already crept up but could do so more sharply if inflationary expectations rise further”.

The Reserve Bank and other central banks will not be spooked by inflation if we see some.

Producer prices are up strongly too.

After years of inflation undershooting expectations, they are seeing success.

How temporary will inflation be? We will not know the answer to that for a while.

Some major themes that have contributed to low inflation remain.

Globalisation has delivered cheaper goods. Technology is lowering costs, driving competition and pricing transparency. We have shifting demographics and low inflation expectations. The global economy could slow.

There are also pressures from other areas.

The abundance of central bank driven liquidity (the money printing), recovering demand as vaccines appear and constrained global supply, is manifesting in pricing gauges and rising inflation expectations.

Compensation of employees (labour) as a share of gross domestic product has fallen across most of the OECD over a long period.

Wage growth has been suppressed.

Structural factors including technological innovation, globalisation and diminished worker bargaining power have contributed.

Labour’s share of gross domestic product (the income measure) in NZ was over 50% in the 1970s and early 80s.

Labour’s share of the economic pie is currently 43%.

The policy agenda is strongly focused on redistribution. Fair pay agreements, centralised wage bargaining, minimum wage rises, extra week’s sick leave and extra days holiday. The US is seeing similar pressure with the political

Economist Cameron Bagrie says some countries are already on the road to recovery from covid’s economic hit, while others will take time.

pendulum swinging back towards workers and away from capital. Some rebalancing is overdue to restore the economic and social ledger.

Higher wages are welcome, but we need the growth agenda in tandem. It is currently manifesting in a lot of costs and potential pressure on inflation.

Globalisation is on tenterhooks, with a nationalist narrative replacing it. Global trade peaked as a share of global gross domestic product just prior to the global financial crisis. It has flatlined since.

It looks set to reverse with covid-19 exposing supply chain vulnerabilities.

NZ has had an excessive reliance on migration and border closure has exposed decades of under-investment in skills and people. Pressure on pay rates is mounting.

We are entering an era of bigger government and more borrowing – another inflationary mix. The right investment could deliver strong social and economic payoffs. There is also the risk of poor outcomes, wasteful spending and inflationary decisions.

Evolving secular shifts will not unlock inflation overnight. But the combination could be powerful and sticky over time.

Lower interest rates have turbocharged asset prices over decades, with inflation dormant. Central banks could face some hard decisions down the track, particularly with some governments borrowing positions facing debt sustainability concerns. n

7

Maria Alvarez manages an 180ha, 660-cow farm near Ashburton for corporate farmer Dairy Holdings Ltd. Earlier this year she won the Canterbury North Otago Dairy Manager of the Year.

Photos: Tony Benny

Whatever it takes When doubt comes knocking, Maria Alvarez puts it out to pasture.

8

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

By Tony Benny

An immigrant from Argentina never expected dairy farming would be a mind-blowing yet rewarding career.

Hoof crush

Fieldays® site – I-19

“We always saw NZ as the top of the dairy farming industry, so for me it was always in the back of my mind. My boss from the crop company came to NZ and worked on a dairy farm and when I told him I was coming he said ‘you really need to try dairy farming, it will blow your mind’.”

Her first job was on an apple orchard but after a month of “eight hours a day doing exactly the same thing”, she’d had enough and searched for a dairy farming job.

Fast-forward six years, she loves the industry and has climbed the career ladder so successfully that this year she was named Canterbury North Otago Dairy Manager of the Year.

Maria manages a 180ha, 660-cow farm near Ashburton for corporate farmer Dairy Holdings Ltd (DHL) and in 18 months, made big improvements, including lifting the six-week in-calf rate by 17% and halving milking time.

She says she didn’t expect to like the early starts or working in adverse weather but figured it was only a holiday job, a new experience before carrying on with her travels. She was offered a job

by Scott and Helen Searle in Canterbury and moved down from the North Island, expecting to work for them for a few months.

“Then I went on holiday and they said ‘if you want to come back, you’ll still have

FARM FACTS • Farm owner: Dairy Holdings Ltd • Farm manager: Maria Alvarez • Location: Hinds, Canterbury • Farm size: 180ha • Cows: 660 Kiwicross and Jersey • Production: 2021: 220,000kg MS, 1300kg MS/ha • Production target: 202122: 220,000kg MS

a job’ and I came back and liked it,” she says.

“I went to Argentina and then came back again.”

The few months turned into four-anda-half years with the Searles, though she did briefly explore her options across the Tasman.

“I wanted to go to Australia and try dairy farming there, but it’s too hot and there are too many flies,” she laughs.

Starting as a dairy assistant on a Dairy

Continued page 10

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itting at home in Argentina, Maria Alvarez hit the refresh button on her computer several times before she reached the most important screen of all – payment.

At that moment she knew had made it through the process, and would soon be winging her way across the ocean to New Zealand.

Maria grew up on a beef farm in Argentina and graduated from university with a Bachelor of Agricultural Engineering. She worked for a large crop farming company before coming to NZ on a working holiday, having been lucky to secure one of the 1000 working holiday visas granted to Argentinians each year.

“At 7am NZ time on a certain date, they open the visa application and everybody’s sitting at home in front of their computer. You have to refresh and refresh because the system sort of collapses with so many people trying and then if you make it through to the payment, you make it,” Maria says.

“I was with my mama when I paid and I looked at my mama and I cried and said, ‘I got it, I’m going to NZ, I can’t believe it’, because until then, you don’t know if you are going to make it or not.”

In terms of what job she might do, she wasn’t very interested in dairy farming, although she had thought of it and knew a bit about NZ dairy farming from her studies.

Originally from a beef farm in Argentina, Maria Alvarez came to New Zealand six years ago on a working holiday visa.

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“I was with my mama when I paid and I looked at my mama and I cried and said, ‘I got it, I’m going to New Zealand, I can’t believe it’, because until then, you don’t know if you are going to make it or not.”

Holdings (DHL) farm at Rakaia and then moving with the Searles to their own farm in Mayfield, Maria worked her way up to a 2IC/farm manager role, under Scott’s supervision. By then, he was pushing her to look for a new opportunity.

“I was happy to work for Scott but he told me ‘you at least have to apply for three jobs as manager for you to be able to stay for another season. If you don’t show me you have applied for manager jobs, you can’t stay’,” she recalls.

“Of course it was kind of a joke, but he didn’t want me to stay in my comfort zone and I’m thankful for that.”

Taking on a managing job happened earlier than expected when Scott heard there was a farm manager’s job coming up on a DHL farm.

“It was Christmas and Scott says ‘I’ve just talked with Mick, the supervisor, and

Last season the 660-cow herd produced 220,000kg MS on a grass-based system.

he says if you want, you can start working in two weeks’,” she says.

While Scott was confident Maria was up to the job, she wasn’t really convinced and from the outset she faced innumerable challenges.

“It was really scary and I had a lot of

Maria has an Agricultural Engineering degree from Argentina but despite that, says she would have struggled to progress in farming there and that some farmers wouldn’t take her seriously.

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

problems like things breaking. The first couple of months were challenging. In the first week we were scanning and the platform broke,” she says.

Then there were problems with water that threatened to flood the shed and week after week something else would go wrong.

“I was wondering what was I doing here and why did I leave Mayfield when I was so happy there, but you learn,” she says.

Once she realised the breakdowns weren’t her fault and that they would have happened whether she was in charge or not, she learnt to cope.

“When things go wrong or something breaks, that’s when you learn. I realised you need to look for the positives in the bad things because you can always take something out of it,” she says.

“If something broke we learned how to fix it so next time we won’t have to pay for it. I should know how to do it myself and that makes me feel more secure somehow.

“At the start it was ‘I need help’, whereas now I’m, ‘cool down, let’s see, maybe I could fix it, maybe not – but can phone someone if I need to’. It’s not the end of the world, nobody’s died, as long as the cows are fine and the people are fine, we can fix it.”

Continued page 12

11

Team member and 2IC Carlos Masino follows the herd back to their paddock.

getting encouraging results but soon something else went wrong.

“One week before the heifers started calving my 2IC broke his leg. He was my only guy with experience, he was my right hand. For me it was like a breaking point, I was so stressed. I did find good people but they didn’t have experience,” she says.

That would have been bad enough on a farm with a conventional rotary or herringbone shed, but with an internal rotary it was worse because it’s far harder to teach heifers how to use it.

“You’d be amazed how hard it is to get the heifers used to getting into this shed compared to normal because this is not natural for them, going forward and then reversing and staying there until the next cow comes in because they can get out if they want,” she explains.

“Training them takes a few people because you need to move the platform forward and backwards all the time and to hold them in and you need to stay

there until the cow gets into a smaller space and then you go and get another one.”

The heifers are put through the shed to become used to it whenever they’re moved to fresh pasture during winter.

“It was really scary and I had a lot of problems, like things breaking. The first couple of months were challenging. In the first week we were scanning and the platform broke.”

Maria always looks for positives and says even the internal rotary has a good side. “It does have a lot of benefits. You turn around and you can see everything, all the cows,” she says.

For More Information

The DHL farm she manages is north of the Rangitata River, between SH1 and the coast, an area now mostly devoted to dairy farming, following the boom of conversions over the past couple of decades.

One of the main challenges the farm presented her was the 20-year-old internal rotary shed in which the cows have to turn into the bails, instead of walking forward as in most rotary sheds.

When she arrived, it took close to five hours to milk 600 cows.

“It was really slow, so we started working on cow flow because there was lots to improve. After two months we milked them in two-and-a-half hours. We were really happy with that,” she says.

This year they’re milking 280 cows an hour through the 40-bail shed, double the number being achieved previously.

“That took a lot of pressure off people being in the shed and it’s good for the cows too,” she says.

Six months into the job, Maria was

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DHL runs an all-pasture system on all its 60 farms and does not use supplements to extend lactation. They make silage and will buy additional feed if they need to. The cows are wintered on DHL’s runoffs where they graze fodder beet, topped up with silage.

The focus on grass quality has been valuable to her, learning how to get the most out of pasture.

“Through spring and autumn we didn’t feed silage because we’ve been managing the grass reasonably well,” she says.

“We did make some silage in spring, always looking after the quality. As soon as we go over 3100kg DM/ha, we think the quality will get compromised so that will go for silage.

“I’ve learnt a lot about grass this year and I’m super happy with how we did.”

Next season the herd will be increased to about 740, up from 3.7-4 cows/ha, to use the grass the farm is now producing.

Production target for the 2020-21 season was 235,000kg MS, or 1300kg MS/ha, the figure DHL prefers to focus on. Per cow production is about 355kg.

“These cows don’t produce so much but DHL looks for more profit per hectare than per cow, while always looking at their body condition,” she says.

“Some farmers want to get the most out of the cow without looking after her but we get the most out of the land without any supplement, sort of the cheapest way, but always looking after the cow. They are the ones that give you the milk so you really have to look after them.”

In her first couple of months on the job, things went wrong with equipment breaking but Maria learnt a lot from the experience.

She’s enjoying the slower pace of the end of season and is focusing on making sure the cows stay in good condition. She’s also excited that under her management the farm’s six-week-incalf rate has improved sharply, from 61% to 78%.

“When I got the scanning result I almost cried, I couldn’t believe it. It’s a massive jump. For me it was like everything we worked for. It started in February last year to improve the calving,

Carlos Masino in the shed during afternoon milking.

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

to improve the mating,” she says, adding that the secret was simple – concentrate on cow condition.

“We made sure the early calvers were in the condition we wanted by winter and then after calving we focused on the later ones. We put them on once a day just to take the pressure off them, just to try to get more cows in calf early.

“We did sacrifice a bit of production with those cows on once-a-day, but it was definitely worth it because we had excellent results.”

The herd was put together in 2019 and comprises mostly Kiwicross cows, with 15% pure Jersey.

Maria says they’re quite small cows and she’s confident she can keep the bigger herd in good condition as well as getting a bit more milk.

“Our herd is really cute. I normally go in the afternoon and sit in the middle of the herd and they will come and sniff me and come for a scratch and I love that,” she says.

Maria is now well-settled in NZ, and even shares her house with a dog and cat.

“The first time I went back to Argentina, I realised it wasn’t home anymore. It was just over a year of being here and all the memories of my friends and family, the way I remember everything changed because

Continued page 14

13

Farm assistant Dario Moreira brings the herd in for afternoon milking.

their lives moved on,” she says.

“They have kids and everything’s changed and so it’s like you don’t fit anymore to that memory and you realise that here is where everything is for you, the life you know and I feel so grateful here.”

She’s come to love dairy farming too and her boss in Argentina was right when he said it would blow her mind.

Nearly everything about dairy farming here is different from home, she says.

“I have to be honest, for the amount of work you do (in Argentina), you don’t get really good salaries, the houses are not good, the tracks to get in and out in winter you probably can’t even get out, not even the tanker can come in, you need to get the milk out with a tractor.

The conditions are a lot different and that’s why I never really liked dairy,” she says.

“But NZ is beautiful and so efficient.

I never thought it was going to be this good. You have awesome houses, power, internet, you’re close to town, you’re never going to get stuck on the road here because the roads are amazing, and salaries are great so I really like it.

“There is the possibility to grow, that’s something amazing for me in NZ. At home you can work and work and you might not progress at all. But here if you

14

want to work and progress you can.”

Even with a degree in agriculture, Maria says as a woman she would have struggled to progress in farming in Argentina and that some farmers wouldn’t take her seriously.

“When I got the scanning result I almost cried, I couldn’t believe it. It’s a massive jump. For me it was like everything we worked for.”

“But here, they didn’t care that I am a woman, they gave me the opportunity,” she says.

She keeps in touch with her Latin culture by regularly catching up with fellow South Americans living in the area and when she needs time away from the farm, she’ll take her dog to the beach or go walking.

“Ashburton Lakes are one of my favourite places. There’s no phone reception there, that’s the key. I say, ‘okay, I’m off. I have no reception, good luck’,” she laughs.

“That’s the good thing, the guys are really responsible and if something happens, they deal with it. They’re really good about that, they like solving problems and fixing things.”

But for now Maria has progressed as far as she can because of delays processing her application for residency, which means she can’t take up the job DHL have offered her as a contract milker.

“You need to be a resident to be able to have a business and I have been waiting for a year-and-a-half. Immigration is so slow,” she says.

She’s spent close to $8000 on fees on an immigration consultant, but for now her career progression is on hold.

“It’s getting harder and harder at the moment, which is fine, because they want good people to stay in NZ. I have really good intentions and I want to progress and I’m stuck.

“But I guess it is what it is. I’m really grateful anyway, so I just have to be patient and hopefully one day I get it.”

In the meantime though, she appreciates every day on the farm.

“I always take a couple of minutes in the morning to see the sunrise,” she says.

“For me, it is the moment I put my feet on the earth and enjoy it because every morning is beautiful. I’m so lucky.” n

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

Maria is now well-settled in NZ and even shares her house with a dog and cat. She is currently in the process of applying for residency.

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MILK MONITOR

Promising season ahead

By Gerald Piddock

Each month the milk monitor delves into the dairy industry and gives us the low-down on the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between.

F

onterra’s new season forecast will be out by now, with all indications pointing towards another strong season for dairy

prices.

That comes off the back of four pretty tepid GDT results during May, which all but solidified prices at their elevated current levels.

Whole milk powder (WMP) prices at US$4123 are now 54% higher than at the same auction a year ago and a third above their five-year average.

There have also been five auctions in a row where WMP prices have stayed above US$4000.

In addition, WMP prices are currently over a third above their five-year average, Westpac senior economist Nathan Penny said in the bank’s fortnightly dairy update.

ASB has the most bullish outlook, lifting its forecast by 70 cents to the second highest price on record at $8.20/ kg MS for the 2021-22 season.

It based this jump on WMP contracts continuing to stay above US$4000.

“The indications suggest that prices will hold their momentum well into next season, particularly during the crucial months when Fonterra does most of its shipping.

The upshot is we reckon WMP prices hold up higher for longer,” it said in its Commodities Weekly publication.

There are also indications that shipping issues will continue, meaning buyers will continue to scramble to secure supply.

Chinese consumer spending will continue to recover and despite downward pressure on prices near the end of the year, it is still confident demand will outstrip supply.

Westpac has put its forecast at $8/kg MS, but Penny rightfully doubts Fonterra will be that bold because of its tendency to reduce the risk of having to lower its forecast later in the season.

“On that basis, we expect the midpoint of Fonterra’s opening forecast to be

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

between $7.00/kg and $7.60/kg,” Penny says.

Likewise, BNZ lifted its forecast from $7-$7.80/kg MS. “The balance of risk is that our estimate is still too low,” it said in its Market Outlooks publication.

Rabobank is expecting it to land at $7.60/kg MS, as world markets continue to support strong dairy prices.

It bases this premise on improving global economic growth, foodservice channels are beginning to reopen and high feed-grain prices are ensuring producers’ margins remain tight, helping to keep milk production growth in check.

“In this price rally, Rabobank anticipates demand to remain in the driving seat, with the strength of new season’s forecasts dependent on Chinese import demand,” RaboResearch senior analyst Emma Higgins says.

“This would provide the third year of a milk price in the $7 range and a fifth year of profitability for most New Zealand dairy farmers.

“We do, however, suggest some level of caution for what lies ahead. We’ve seen recently how quickly dairy markets can turn in either direction, and we expect to see increased dairy commodity pricing volatility moving forward.”

On the supply side, the warmish May weather and abundance of feed – except for the drought conditions in parts of the eastern Central North Island and South Island – has meant many farmers have been able to dry off in early May. This pushed milk volumes up 10% in March and Rabobank expects a 2% higher milk collection for the season.

Globally, growth is more mixed with strong milk production coming out of the United States, but European production is more mixed due to weather and feed availability.

There’s another reason to be cautious.

On-farm expenses shot up last season and it remains to be seen how much this has eroded the EBIT.

Ongoing shipping issues caused by covid means demand will continue to outrank supply for dairy going into the new season.

That lift will vary depending on the farm system, but anecdotally there have been reports that it is as high as 20%.

This is a result of several factors: wage increases and cost increases in repairs and maintenance as firms charge extra for having to import machinery parts because of covid-related shipping delays.

There has also been well-publicised increases in global fertiliser, although Rabobank expects prices to slowly ease as Northern Hemisphere demand eases.

There will also be ongoing labour shortages in the industry because of low unemployment and the Government’s tight rein on who it allows into the country to prevent further covid outbreaks.

This will inevitably reduce productivity as farmers are forced to work longer hours.

So it’s probably not the best idea to buy that new boat and Range Rover at the Fieldays just yet, but maybe get a few days off the farm before calving begins again. n

17

NEWS

More drought support for farmers

By Anne Boswell

F

armers heading into winter with feed shortages will welcome the announcement of a $900,000 funding boost that will ensure feed support services and extra wellbeing assistance continue to be available to farmers affected by drought.

Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor announced in April that the Government will expand its drought support to include new areas Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury and Otago in its large-scale adverse event classification for drought, while continuing to support farmers in areas facing long-term dry conditions.

In March 2020, O’Connor declared the drought affecting the entire North Island, parts of the South Island – Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough, and North Canterbury – and the Chatham Islands a large-scale adverse event, with the Government investing over $19 million in rural communities affected by drought in 2020.

Farmers in these areas continue to face long-term dry conditions, with autumn getting off to an extremely dry start in multiple regions along the east coast of the country.

“Forecast rainfall is not expected to be enough to allow parched soils and pastures time to recover before winter,” O’Connor says.

“This is the second consecutive year of drought for parts of the country and low groundwater levels have not been able to recharge.”

O’Connor said the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has been working with industry organisations, councils and Rural Support Trusts to monitor the impacts of the dry conditions and assess the need for additional support.

“Recovery and resilience coordinators will be employed to help coordinate support between Rural Support Trusts and industry groups, enabling affected communities to bounce back more quickly,” he says.

He encouraged concerned farmers to

18

do a feed budget to get them through winter, or to contact the national feed planning service.

Alternatively, the feed coordination service could help farmers who needed supplementary feed immediately.

Support for the Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Tasman, ManawatūRangitīkei, Tararua and Nelson regions will remain in place until June 30, when it will be reviewed.

New areas Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury and Otago will receive extra support until November 30, and support for Marlborough, North Canterbury and the Chatham Islands has also been extended until the same date.

Taranaki, Ruapehu and Whanganui districts have received good rainfall and soil moisture levels have recovered.

“It’s encouraging to see conditions have been improving in some areas that were hit hard last year,” he says.

DairyNZ farm performance general manager Sharon Morrell says some regions are experiencing dry conditions due to lower overall rainfall.

Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor announced that the Government will expand its drought support to include new areas.

“Most dairy farms affected are managing conditions well, although pasture cover on many farms is lower than usual,” she says.

“Good growing conditions in spring means farmers are going into this period with more supplements on hand, and they are able to source purchased feed more readily than last year.”

Morrell says using supplementary feed as required will benefit next season.

“Farmers are encouraged to focus on next season and not compromise cow condition and pasture cover targets,” she says. n

Where to get help Dairy farmers have access to several support services to address their particular challenge/s: • Feed budgeting: A national free feed planning service is available for farmers who need help doing a feed budget through winter.

Dairy farmers can contact 0800 4 DairyNZ (0800 4 324 7969) for more information.

• Feed requirement: Alternatively, the feed coordination service can help farmers who need supplementary feed immediately. Farmers short of feed are encouraged to register online at mpi.govt.nz/drought • Farmer wellbeing: Farmers who need wellbeing support should call

their Rural Support Trust on 0800 RURAL HELP or 0800 787 254.

Additional information and resources to support farmers to manage through a dry period is available at dairynz. co.nz/feed Farm advisors are available to help with feed budgets and plans, including DairyNZ consulting officers, along with veterinarians, farm consultants or feed representatives: • Federated Farmers: www.fedfarm. org.nz • Ministry for Primary Industries: www. mpi.govt.nz/funding-rural-support/ adverse-events/dealing-withdrought-conditions

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ON FARM

Over the fence Where great dairy becomes great cheese.

Waikato neighbours Sue Arthur and Bram Ebeling have teamed up to make awardwinning cheeses. The Ebeling family supply the milk Sue uses to make cheese for her business Over the Moon Dairy.

Photos: Stephen Barker 20

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

By Gerald Piddock

The grass is definitely greener on the other side of the fence where a Waikato cheesemaker sources top-quality milk for her top-quality cheese.

I

t takes top-shelf milk to make awardwinning cheese, and Over the Moon Dairy founder Sue Arthur knows exactly where to find it – over the fence.

She sources milk for her cheeses from her neighbours, the Ebeling family, who she knows have happy, healthy and wellfed cows.

The South Waikato cheesemaker can judge that for herself when she sometimes sees the Ebelings’ 450-cow herd from her window when they graze the paddock next to her home.

Rather than just take milk from a milk tanker, Sue values having a deeper connection to where the milk is sourced.

“I want to have relationships with farmers who really do a great job on their farms with their soils and their animals, and that’s part of the success story with having a relationship with the Ebeling

family,” Sue says.

Over the years, she has won multiple awards and medals for her cheese, and she credits that success with having such wonderful milk.

“We’ve won well over 150 medals and trophies for our cheeses in the 13 years that we have been in business,” she says.

In 2018, Over the Moon Dairy was named New Zealand’s best cheese for its black truffle brie at an international cheese competition, and at year’s NZ competition in Hamilton, it won eight medals, six of which were silvers.

“They are still making great milk and we’re still making great cheese. It’s a great partnership,” she says Sue has lived on the same road as the Ebeling family for 33 years, initially farming the land with her former

FARM FACTS • Owners: Pieter and Johanna Ebeling • Lessees: Bram and Olivia Ebeling • Location: Lichfield, South Waikato • Farm size: 140ha • Herd size: 440 Friesian cows • Production 2020-21: 215,000kg MS (home farm) • Target 2021-22: 215,000kg MS

Continued page 22

Over the Moon Dairy founder Sue Arthur with a selection of cheeses in her shop in Putaruru.

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

21

“They are still making great milk and we’re still making great cheese. It’s a great partnership.”

Sue Arthur

Sue began making cheese at home in 2000 using a mail-order kit to see if she liked making it. Sue in the Over the Moon factory at Putaruru.

husband by employing sharemilkers over the first four years.

She kept the house and a small lifestyle block when that relationship ended and eventually the rest of the farm was sold to the Ebelings. Later, when she needed a new milk supplier, she knew the Ebelings were interested.

“We made an arrangement and they have been supplying us with cow milk ever since,” she says.

“We do use other milks as well, but mostly use cow milk. We had a delivery this morning and they’re making it into cheese today. It’s a great relationship.”

Prior to that, she sourced her milk from several local farmers.

22

She began making cheese at home in 2000 using a mail-order kit, starting with feta, harder cheese and camembert.

“I started doing that because I’m a failed science student and I wanted to see if I liked making cheese,” she says.

In the early days of making cheese, she collected the milk in a 10-litre bucket from the Ebelings’ vat occasionally on a Saturday and returned to her kitchen to begin the cheesemaking process.

Her first cheese was a feta and once it was ready, took some to Pieter “Pete” Ebeling to try.

“I thought he would be tickled pink to see what I had done with their milk,” she says.

“He scooped it up with his fingers and ate it with a big grin on his face. It was lovely to see that.

“Every time I made cheese, I gave Pete a little bit to show him what could be done and maybe that’s where the idea came from, that they would like to supply us when we started our production.”

Son Bram Ebeling says the relationship with Sue went back 25 years when his parents bought her farm.

“To see someone make a product like that out of your milk is quite satisfying, and it’s awesome cheese – we just love it,” Bram says.

She kept making the cheese out of her home for the next three to four years before setting up a factory in Putaruru, employing three staff and produced their first cheese on January 26, 2008.

Then in March, she opened her first shop in the town. A second store in Cambridge was opened in December 2015.

The growth of the business means more milk, taking 3500l/week from the Ebelings vat in a ute equipped with 500 and 1000l containers two to three days a week.

The business makes 35 different types of cheese at the factory in Putaruru, supplying dozens of stores across NZ. The rest of the farm’s milk goes to Fonterra.

Bram says it also gives him and his parents a thrill to see the product on their local store shelf.

He submits a report to them once a month, outlining what the cows have been fed to maintain that level of transparency.

Sue and her cheesemakers make about 30 tonnes of cheese a year. But it is just a drop in the bucket compared to Fonterra’s output at its cheesemaking plant at nearby Lichfield, which takes about 45-60 minutes to make the same amount.

Their method of cheesemaking has not changed.

They work with the cheese and the curd throughout the whole process using open vats and all cheese is handmade.

Around 85% of their cheese is made

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

Bram feeds moozlee to the youngstock.

from cows’ milk with the rest made using sheep, goats or buffalo milk, depending on demand.

“It’s been a really rewarding thing to be doing, cheesemaking. It’s so different to the jobs I had before at the council and in travel – doing something with your hands and having that lovely feedback from customers is what keeps me going,” Sue says.

Bram says making great milk comes down to providing great feed and ensuring there are no hungry cows.

The family owns two farms near Lichfield and both run similar high-input systems. The home farm is 140ha, while the second nearby farm Paskamp, which is run by a manager, is 160ha and milks 550 cows.

Their close proximity to Tokoroa means he can take advantage of the town’s labour force for staff, as both farms are within commuting distance.

The system choice and use of supplements on the home farm comes out of necessity. Much of the property sits on rolling hills and these paddocks would produce no more than 10t of dry matter per hectare at its peak.

As a result, he buys in maize, grass silage, palm kernel (PKE), canola and tapioca as feed, and 25% of the farm is used to grow fodder beet, turnips and maize.

He is also trialling using bread and sweetcorn food waste as a food source.

Grass still comes first and he utilises as

“He scooped it up with his fingers and ate it with a big grin on his face. It was lovely to see that.”

Sue Arthur

much of the pasture as possible, despite the inputs to feed the herd.

“I try not to waste a blade of grass on the farm, so the stocking rate is relatively high,” Bram says.

“They’re never hungry. If they’re hungry, I’ve done something wrong.”

Continued page 24

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The Ebeling family bought Sue’s farm 25 years ago. Bram Ebeling with his father Pieter who was the initial taste tester for the cheeses Sue made from their milk.

In the 2020-21 season he and wife Olivia leased the farm off his parents Pieter and Johanna after buying the herd off them and prior to that, he managed the farm for 11 years.

It operates a split-calving system, with 80 of the herd calving in autumn. Calving begins on March 10 so he can supply winter milk to Fonterra.

Homegrown feed is critical across the business to keep their costs of production down.

Those expenses fell from $5.56/kg MS in the 2018-19 season to $5.32/kg MS last season, with the goal of reducing that even further to $4.30 in the future.

In the past, these expenses have been high, and Bram says this reflected the fact that the operation supported two generations of the family.

“There will be an instant reduction with the change with Olly (Olivia) and myself owning the cows and leasing the farm,” he says.

Around 90% of their maize is grown over their two farms across 50ha (16ha on the home farm), with the rest brought in.

They also buy 200t of grass silage, which is stored in the 600t silage pit.

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The farm operates a split-calving system with 80 of the herd calving in autumn, which begins on March 10 so they can supply winter milk. Bram with the calves.

“They always get maize, whether it’s 1kg during the spring pasture flush or 5kg in the autumn for the winter milking cows,” he says.

During the spring, he still feeds PKE and tapioca and reduces the maize intake to account for the grass growth.

In summer they use turnips as a feed crop and fodder beet throughout winter when pasture growth is low. The cropping rotation on the home farm starts with fodder beet during summer through to June and July, before oats are planted to soak up the nutrients left by the cows.

About 7-8t/ha is grown and harvested for silage before it is sprayed out in spring and sown back into turnips for the following summer. Following that, it is planted with an annual ryegrass then maize.

He then decides whether to revert to fodder beet or into an annual ryegrass, depending on the location and performance of the paddock.

“It’s quite a vigorous two-year process, but we grow a hell of a lot of feed over a two-year period,” he says.

That feed is fed out in their 500-cow capacity covered feedpad. Its capacity is larger than the herd size, but seeing the cows having the space to eat, without pushing against each other and causing injury, made up for it.

The structure is in its second year of

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

use and replaced a 20-year-old feedpad that was no longer fit for purpose with the growth in cow numbers.

The feedpad has also been massive for feed utilisation. They invested in a mixer wagon to reduce wastage when transporting feed from the silage pit to the feedpad.

They use a blade attachment on a tractor to push the feed up to the edges so the cows can eat it.

“It’s hard to quantify, but if we don’t

Continued page 26

The business makes 35 different types of cheese at the factory in Putaruru, supplying dozens of stores across NZ.

Over the Moon Dairy employs three staff in its factory at Putaruru. Team members with some of the cheese.

25

Sue and one of her cheesemakers in the storeroom.

waste it, it’s going down their throats,” he says.

It has also reduced their empty rate.

“We can walk in here and the heifers are having a real good munch.”

It also had great welfare benefits, providing the cows with shade in the summer.

“In the summertime at 12.30pm they come in here. All they do in the paddock in summer is panting and they’re wasting energy trying to get cold, and they can come in here and have a munch,” he says.

The five-degree temperature reduction the cover provides makes a huge difference.

“If they’re not wasting energy trying to keep cool, it’s going on their bum and into the vat,” he says.

The feedpad is flood washed every day using recycled water coming from the 34-aside herringbone dairy shed.

It is separated with the liquid topping up the flood wash and the solids stored in the effluent pond.

The roof stops rainwater mixing with the effluent, resulting in the need for him to pump it out. Eventually, when the budget allows, he plans to collect that rainwater and recycle it into the farm system.

“It’s a really efficient way of doing things,” he says.

That effluent is sprayed out onto the maize paddocks periodically from AprilSeptember after the maize is harvested as a base fertiliser for next season’s crop.

26

The rest of the farm has effluent fertiliser applied over spring to March.

This reduces the amount of chemical fertiliser he needs for crops. In the 2019-20 season, he used 127kg N on the milking platform, not the crops.

Bram says any perception that this system comes at the cost of environmental sustainability are wrong.

“People can say the high inputs and the high amount of cropping isn’t being sustainable and having a low environmental footprint, but most of our planting is direct drilled. Even our maize is strip tilled and there’s no cultivation,” he says.

He says their system works. It preserves the soil carbon and with 70ha of the farm being sprayed out with effluent from the cows as fertiliser, little imported nitrogen is used on the dairy platform, apart from urea in the spring when it is too wet to be spread out.

He also wants to increase that effluent area to 80ha, as his budget allows.

The farm’s purchased N surplus was 144kg/ha last season from 127kg/ha applied.

“To see someone make a product like that out of your milk is quite satisfying, and it’s awesome cheese – we just love it.”

Bram Ebeling

The family has also extensively planted the Ngutuwera Stream riverbank with kahikatea trees over the years.

“I’ve been planting that since I was a boy, and we’re still topping that up now,” he says.

“It’s a great feel-good thing. We were doing that before you had to do it, and now everyone’s doing it and I think that’s a positive thing.

“In regard to the sustainable stuff, it’s something we’ve always wanted to be, regardless of supplying Sue. What we do here, we do it because we want to do it and we want to do it right.”

The herd are mostly Friesian genetics, with a limited amount of Jersey genetics to prevent the cows from growing too large because the cows must be robust enough to be able to walk on the farm’s hilly terrain.

“We need a cow that’s strong enough to climb those hills, not too big and wants to eat and stay up there and not wait at the gate wanting the lollies on the feedpad,” he says.

He 100% AIs the herd using CRV genetics with the spring calvers being mated for nine weeks and the autumn calvers for six weeks.

They use short gestation Belgian Blue semen on some of the herd to get better value for his heifer dairy-beef calves as part of the autumn calving mob.

The autumn-born calves go to the grazier in August, while 70-80% of the spring-born young cattle are sent to a grazier off-farm in December. Smaller

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

cattle are kept on the farm and go to the grazier in May once the rising two-yearold heifers come back to the farm.

He has pushed back his spring calving date from July 7 in previous years to August, to take advantage of winter milking. The spring calving cows are dried off on June 25, while the autumn herd keeps the milk flowing.

He has also invested in Allflex cow collars to monitor heat detection, which he says have been hugely beneficial in front footing health issues among the herd.

Paskamp’s close proximity allows for easy integration between the two farms and he runs them as essentially one unit, but with two cow sheds.

Unlike the home farm where the cows are run as one herd, the cows at Paskamp are run in two herds out of necessity.

A staphylococcus aureus infection on the farm means he split the cows into a ‘clean’ mob and an infected mob, which is milked last to prevent crosscontamination.

Eventually, he plans to run the herd as a spring calving and autumn

The herd munches on maize, which is fed out in the covered feedpad.

calving mob once those staphylococcusinfected cows are culled over the next few years.

They also run beef cattle on a 10ha block connected to the home farm.

He says he is always trying to improve the farm’s performance and lower its

farm working expenses, and thinks there is some way to go before he would consider the farm in the top 10% of the country.

“But we’re masters of our own destiny too. We own the cows and we can crack into this,” he says. n

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27

DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS

Brothers share top award

By Gerald Piddock

Immigrant workers was the theme at this year’s Dairy Industry Awards, where two of the national titles were awarded to migrants.

H

ard work and setting realistic achievable goals have enabled two brothers to reach the pinnacle of achievement at the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA).

Manoj Kumar and Sumit Kamboj from Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa were named the 2021 New Zealand Share Farmers of the Year at this year’s Awards in Hamilton.

Kumar and Kamboj are 50:50 sharemilkers on Andrew and Monika Arbuthnott, Geoff Arends and Ester Romp’s 285ha, 460-cow Eketahuna property.

“To be honest, we worked so hard to make it happen, including the hard work of our team and all of the support from the people we had all around us,” Kamboj said at the awards ceremony.

They were very grateful to their farm owners for giving them the sharemilking opportunity.

“I would really like to thank all of our friends and family for their support and I

Sharemilking brothers from Eketahuna, Sumit Kamboj and Manoj Kumar are this year’s New Zealand Share Farmers of the Year. They say they worked hard to get to where they are.

would also like to thank our family back home,” he says, adding that he’s praying for the “speedy recovery from covid-19

Waikato farm assistant Ruth Connolly was named the Dairy Trainee of the Year and thanked her employers for making her dreams a reality.

28

in India and looked forward to the day when everyone could be reunited with their families”.

The brothers won three merit awards at the awards evening in Hamilton for leadership, farm safety, health and biosecurity and for business performance.

They were particularly proud of winning the business performance award.

“We were holding our breath when that was announced,” Kamboj said.

“We worked hard for that and a special thanks to our bank managers and our accountant.”

The brothers say their financial planning came down to goal setting.

“Know where you want to be – set up reasonable goals and no bad debt. We do lots of sensitivity analyses,” he says.

Kumar says they also set up options for the unexpected.

He says it was not possible to make the same sort of progression in India that they have made in NZ. The winning pair say entering the

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

awards programme created an excellent network within the industry and valuable feedback from judges.

“We overcame the lack of a network by engaging more and more in dairy industry events,” he says.

“The New Zealand dairy farming system is totally different from back home in India and it really appeals to us.

“It’s very rewarding as we can see the improvements we make on-farm and there is a culture unlike any other industry.”

Looking ahead, they hope to step into an equity partnership or farm ownership in the next two to three years.

“It’s not just success for ourselves. We want to nurture the environment and keep it safe for future generations. That’s success to us,” Kumar says.

Waikato’s Christopher Vila described winning the Dairy Manager of the Year title as “the stuff of my dreams”.

“I feel so overwhelmed and overjoyed that my dream has become a reality,” Vila says.

He too says participating in the 2021 NZDIA was the best opportunity he had given himself to progress himself further in the industry.

Farm manager Christopher Vila, who manages a 104ha farm at Ohaupo milking 341 cows, is the 2021 Dairy Manager of the Year. He says his win was a dream come true.

“I would like to dedicate this achievement to each and every person who dared to dream something great and strive hard to take each step no matter how small it may seem,” he says.

Vila manages the 104ha JA BE Turnwald Family Trust farm at Ohaupo, milking 341 cows, where he lives with

wife Jonah and daughter Lily.

He thanked the Turnwalds for their support, saying “we feel especially grateful that you have treated us not just as an employee but as part of your wonderful family”.

Ruth Connolly, also from Waikato, was

Continued page 30

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DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS Continued from page 29 announced the 2021 Dairy Trainee of the Year.

Connolly says when she won the Waikato Dairy Trainee title, she never imagined she would go on to win the national title.

“It feels very difficult to comprehend,” Connolly, who is a farm assistant on Rukuhia Holdings Ltd’s 260ha property at Ohaupo, milking 800 cows, says, thanking her employers for making her dreams into a reality.

She also thanked the other regional trainee winners and said it’s “incredible to realise that in every region I have someone who I can call a friend and someone I can call on when I need help and advice”.

The runners-up in the Share Farmer of the Year were Waikato sharemilkers and equity partners Reuben and Deb Connolly and Central Plateau equity partners Andrea and Blair Muggeridge placed third.

The Dairy Manager runner-up was Hayden Goodall from Bay of Plenty, followed by Diego Raul Gomez Salinas from Taranaki.

Bay of Plenty 2IC Dayna Rowe was Dairy Trainee of the Year runner-up and third placegetter was farm assistant Mattes Groenendijk from Canterbury/North Otago.

A strong message across the first, second and third placegetters in the Share Farmer contest was that there are still progression pathways in the industry.

“The message I often hear is that there aren’t any progression pathways, it’s too hard,” competition judge John Numan says.

“These people are achieving it because they have the right attitude that encourages their employers to promote and back them in their business.”

“There are four things you need to progress, and I call it the four A’s.

Attention to detail, ability to save, ambition and attitude.

“If you’ve got those things, and the respect of the owner, you’ll go far.” n

30

Well-deserved recognition

By Gerald Piddock

A

South Waikato farming couple and a dairy industry stalwart have been recognised for their contributions to the primary sector at this year’s New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA).

Pete Morgan and Ann Bouma are this year’s Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award winners, while Morrinsville farmer Jeff Bolstad was presented with a Lifetime Contribution Award at the awards ceremony in Hamilton.

The Responsible Dairy Award was introduced by the NZDIA 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.

In winning the award, Morgan and Bouma were presented with the John Wilson Memorial Trophy.

Award judge Charlotte Rutherford of Fonterra says there were three outstanding finalists in Pete and Ann, Chris and Desiree Giles and Philip and Donna Cram.

“For an award that is choosing ambassadors for the dairy industry, we couldn’t have been more spoiled for choice,” Rutherford says.

“Each and every one of them had strong links to the local and dairy community. It was encouraging and inspiring to see.

“Judging was quite challenging and we have looked at the industrywide picture, as they could all be ambassadors.”

The judges described Morgan and Bouma as being very well-rounded, with a high-level of current knowledge, especially around climate change, their emissions profile and tracking that over time.

Pete and Ann farm at Pokuru in South Waikato, milking 625 cows across two dairy sheds on 265ha. They came

Dairy industry stalwart Jeff Bolstad was awarded the Lifetime Contribution to NZDIA Award in recognition for his long service and contribution to the dairy industry awards and wider agriculture sector.

to the dairy industry from careers in researching and as a veterinarian, looking for a lifestyle they wanted for themselves and their family.

“We found a home and a great adventure, a sound wealth path and became part of a community devoted to caring for each other, the land and animals to produce quality food to feed the world,” the winning duo says.

The judges noted that Pete and Ann know things will change and want to be prepared to change and that moral concern is shifting.

The pair are also enthusiastic and open to change.

“They look at what they do, analyse it and will do it differently if needed,” Rutherford says.

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell congratulated the couple and also

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

“People want to know that their milk is coming from farmers that care for the environment, animals, people and communities. Pete and Ann, along with the other finalists, are great examples of this in action.”

Miles Hurrell

recognised the other finalists for the award.

“These farmers are driving positive change in our industry and are great role models, producing milk that is backed by the quality and sustainability credentials that customers now expect and need,” Hurrell says.

“People want to know that their milk is coming from farmers that care for the environment, animals, people and communities. Pete and Ann, along with the other finalists, are great examples of this in action.”

Jeff Bolstad’s Lifetime Contribution Award was presented to him by NZDIA Trust chairperson Natasha Tere in recognition for his long service and contribution to the dairy industry awards and wider agriculture sector.

Tere says it was the first time such an award had been presented.

“It’s a prestigious honour that is awarded to an individual that has

South Waikato farmers Pete Morgan and Anne Bouma are this year’s Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award winners.

provided exceptional service to the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards,” Tere says.

“We have chosen Jeff as he has been a bonding strength behind our organisation. He is a quiet achiever who has guided and mentored many entrants over the years.”

Bolstad is a former Federated Farmers Sharemilkers’ section chairperson and NZDIA executive member.

Tere described him as a guiding light,

a father figure and confidante to many while on their awards journey.

“Jeff has no ego, just a pure love and passion for aspiring dairy farmers. He has dedicated so much time and energy to the awards programme over the years, through his involvement on the exec and behind the scenes guiding, encouraging and mentoring,” she says.

Upon receiving the award, Bolstad said “you get out what you put in”, when it came to serving the sector. n

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NEWS

Since getting her driver’s licence through a Mid Canterbury scheme, migrant worker Shonal Sharma has found independence and a job. Shonal with her mentor Mandy Burrows.

Taking the wheel

By Samantha Tennent

F

or many migrants the logistical challenges of rural living are even harder when they do not have a driver’s licence. And often they do not have family or social networks for support to learn how to drive. But a Mid Canterbury Rural Driver Licencing Scheme has been helping migrants gain independence by getting their licence.

The programme developed between the Mid Canterbury Rural Support Trust and Safer Mid Canterbury recently secured funding and received $20,000 from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to continue to support the community.

“My life has changed so much since getting my licence,” Shonal Sharma, a graduate of the programme, explains.

“We moved to New Zealand four years ago and I was relying on my husband to transport me and our children around, which was hard as he was busy with work.”

The family are on a dairy farm in Rakaia. The school bus stop is a short drive, but Sharma struggled to find ways to get around. Since getting her licence she has gained employment with Synlait, including extra shifts when they need cover.

“I’ve been able to attend events at school like assembly and hot food days, and I can take my children to explore

32

surrounding areas. I am so grateful to Mid Canterbury Rural Support Trust and Safer Mid Canterbury for providing the scheme,” she says.

The scheme was suffering funding pressure but the recent cash injection from MPI will ensure the programme can continue to support migrants living in rural Mid Canterbury.

“Not having a driver’s licence in a rural or regional area can make it impossible for a person to find work and earn an income.”

Wendy Hewitt “We were facing the prospect of having to reduce the number of people we help gain licences each year due to reduced funding as a result of covid-19.

MPI’s support will ensure we can keep operating,” programme coordinator Wendy Hewitt says.

“Not having a driver’s licence in a rural or regional area can make it impossible for a person to find work and earn an income.”

Under the programme, up to 24 mainly migrant women who live on

rural properties or in small towns will be enrolled in a road code course to gain a learner’s licence. Once people have passed their learner’s test, they are paired with a volunteer driving mentor to begin working towards their restricted licence.

The scheme has already helped 32 people to obtain a restricted or full licence, of which 25 have since gained employment.

“There are other benefits too, such as forming new friendships, joining clubs, and boosting confidence and selfesteem,” Hewitt says.

The scheme provides transport to class, childcare for participants’ children while they’re learning, and up to four professional driving lessons.

MPI’s funding will enable the scheme to continue providing its skill-building programme in the 2021-22 financial year.

“It can be incredibly difficult living in a rural area without a driver’s licence.

Calling an Uber or a taxi isn’t an option. It can also be more isolating if you’re new to a district. Being unable to travel limits people’s ability to socialise, make friends and integrate into the community,” MPI’s director of rural communities and farming support, Nick Story says.

MPI was allocated $1.1 million over three years to deliver extra wellbeing and support services to complement those provided by Rural Support Trusts. n

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

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DAIRY CHAMPION

A rewarding career

By Ross Nolly

Changing careers can be daunting, but one sharemilker’s 12-year dairying journey has earned her award-winning bragging rights.

W

orking as a travel agent in Auckland, Belinda Price would spend ages following a long line of cars on her daily commute along the motorway while dreaming about farflung places.

At the time, she never imagined that one day she would be swapping her car, high heels and business attire for a motorbike, overalls and gumboots to follow cows instead. Nor did she imagine that one day she would be named as the 2021 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.

After entering the industry 12 years ago through a sharemilking contract, Belinda and her husband Ben now own a dairy farm in Taranaki and have sharemilked 650 cows in Nukumaru for the past seven years, where she is responsible for the day-to-day running, calf-rearing, human resources and administration for their two businesses.

“I was first nominated for the award by my mother-in-law and I told Ben ‘that’s ridiculous, nobody will take me seriously.’

I then received a nomination from Katrina Knowles. I thought ‘I’ve now got two nominations and it would be rude if I didn’t enter’. It was acknowledging that that they must have seen some real good in me,” Price says.

“I put my name forward just to see what would eventuate, never dreaming that I’d become a finalist. It was pretty mind-blowing to receive the call that I was one of the final three.”

When her name was announced as the 2021 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year her first thought was “holy heck”.

She says she typically doesn’t prepare speeches and she “never expected to win”.

“In this case I decided that I‘d better be prepared, just in case. I thanked those that nominated me, Fonterra, the Dairy Women’s Network and acknowledged the incredibly impressive finalists,” she says.

“I also had to thank Ben. Because

34

Taranaki dairy farmer Belinda Price is the 2021 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.

Photo: Supplied

“Winning the title has given me the opportunity to sit down and reflect on what I do, how I’ve grown and what I’ve achieved.” along with his own battles, he encourages me and never lets me give up. I could never have achieved what I have without his encouragement.”

As the 2021 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year, she receives a scholarship of up to $20,000 to undertake a development programme, professional and business coaching, a learning experience or a

combination of all three.

“I’ve been over analysing the scholarship. I’m the tenth woman to win this award and it’s amazing to look back at the calibre of women who’ve received it. I want to take my time and think about it so I can do it justice. It will definitely involve people and helping people in some capacity,” she says.

She is a firm believer that farmers shouldn’t just stay in their farm “bubble”, they should “put themselves out there”, which in turn builds business networks and just as importantly, social networks.

“I’m a Rural Support Trust facilitator and have grown up around mental illness. Farmers need to build connections and talk to people.

Continued page 36

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

Belinda Price worked as a travel agent in Auckland before meeting and marrying her dairy farming husband Ben.

Photo: Ross Nolly

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35

Belinda Price and sons Tobi and Hayden, who enjoy getting out and helping on the farm.

Photo: Ross Nolly

Everybody is going through issues or will go through them – it’s a journey of life.

“Life has ups and downs and roundabouts. Sometimes you feel like tearing your hair out, and at other times you cry in the shower for two-days on end. That’s our life, so don’t shut yourself off. Everyone is going to have a bad time at some stage,” she says.

She also says problems arise, it’s the nature of farming and life and firmly believes that there’s a solution for every problem.

“There may be multiple solutions, but you must select the one that’s right for the particular business or person, and coach them to find the solution using their own initiative,” she says.

Price comes from a rural background.

Her father was a Northland fencing and shearing contractor and her parents also dairy farmed for a time.

Her parents later leased the farm and purchased a fish and chip shop and she helped in the shop for the princely sum of $2 a day. By the time she was 15 years old she decided to go next door to the Four Square and earn $5 an hour, which enabled her to pay her way through university.

She then completed a Certificate in Travel Studies and worked in a travel agency role in Takapuna for four years.

In 2000, she met Ben after attending her nana’s funeral in Taranaki.

36

“My mother was from Taranaki and our mothers used to work in the sewing factory together before they each got married,” she recalls.

“Ben and I had a long distance relationship for two years while he farmed in Taranaki and I worked in Takapuna at the travel agency.”

“Life has ups and downs and roundabouts.

Sometimes you feel like tearing your hair out, and at other times you cry in the shower for two-days on end. That’s our life, so don’t shut yourself off. Everyone is going to have a bad time at some stage.”

As a travel agent, she booked holidays for clients in some of the most exotic places in the world, including the Galapagos Islands, weddings in the Pacific and South America.

“One of the most interesting places I booked would be Bethlehem, so a client

could do the pilgrimage and see the sacred sights. I also had clients who did missionary/charity work in Africa. Those were really awesome trips to do for people,” she says.

“It was so nice being able to send people away for all sorts of reasons and I still see many of my clients now as a lot of them were retired farmers or in the agriculture sector.”

During that time she and Ben were married, and he took a farming job in Manurewa that required her to make the daily commute to Takapuna.

When Ben began a farm managing job in central Taranaki she transferred to New Plymouth and continued booking exotic holidays for clients until they started their family.

“I knew Ben’s ultimate goal was farm ownership. I undertook an agribusiness diploma to learn how to be a farmer, and for the next few years I undertook most of the administration work. During that period we went to a progression group that was held on the farm we now own,” she says.

“My course tutor owned that farm and also judged us for the Dairy Industry Awards. When the farm became available, she called us and asked if we’d like to talk to them about purchasing the farm.”

The couple first entered the Dairy Industry Awards in 2013 where they placed third in the Share Farmer of the Year category.

In 2016 they entered again and won.

At the time, they were also named as the Supreme winners of the 2016 Horizons Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

“Our road was the Horizon region boundary, so we won two awards in two regions. Everything just kind of grew from there really. Entering awards gives you the confidence to sell yourself, and to analyse and hone your farming skills,” she says.

She has since completed the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, is a member of Environment Leaders Taranaki and the Step Change Pilot Programme. She also demonstrates a passion for people with her roles in coaching and mentorship, including PrimaryITO, DairyNZ’s Dairy Connect Programme and Rural Support.

“I’m undertaking the Agri-Women’s Development programme alongside 15 amazing women. I love being inspired.

I get inspired by building networks and contacts. If I need help in a particular area, I know who to go to. Or I’ll ask the

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

person who will find out for me,” she says.

Not one to blow her own trumpet, she simply says “I just do what I do”.

“I was shoulder-tapped for most of the roles I’ve taken on. I do it because I love it. It gives me a buzz and it’s what drives me. It’s never about money, it’s about helping people achieve their goals.

If I can do that, then I know I’ve done something good,” she says.

She enjoys challenges and is an active relaxer. She is a “connector” whose mind is constantly full of ideas, connecting.

“Everyone’s got a journey, but not everyone is ready to begin their journey.

I try to pick people and give them opportunities that they’re ready for,” she says.

“It’s about knowing the person you’re dealing with. I’m intrigued by the psychology around why people choose a particular direction.”

The input from women in the farming industry is now widely recognised, especially so in the dairy sector. As a judge at this year’s Taranaki NZDIA preliminary share farmer round, she noticed how the individual members of each couple had their own farm tasks, guided by their goals and journey.

She has observed the growing number of women coming through the dairy system. They come from all walks of life and even though many had never cupped a cow, they’re now working their way through the industry.

“I simply ask people to tell me what they want to achieve and I’ll help them.

Anyone wanting to enter the industry only has to ask a farmer. Most farmers would welcome you and show you their farm and cows, and probably give you some training,” she says.

“Go door knocking because there are many jobs in the dairy industry. You can progress through the industry and then the world’s your oyster.”

Price always strives to do beneficial work and would like to continue that journey through coaching and mentoring. She is fascinated by the mental health aspect of farming and it’s a space where she knows that her input will be beneficial.

Winning the 2021 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year is proof that the work she has been doing has proved helpful to others.

“Winning the title has given me the opportunity to sit down and reflect on what I do, how I’ve grown, and what I’ve achieved. It’s pretty eye-opening when you stop and look back. I’m definitely not the woman I was when I first came into farming,” she says.

“You must remember where you’ve come from and appreciate that you’ve been given opportunities. I always want to know that I’m doing something worthwhile and to go forth and have a voice.

“Oh, and I definitely prefer to travel behind cows instead of cars on the motorway. I do my best thinking when I’m getting the cows in and you don’t have to worry about all the crazy drivers.” n

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Belinda and her husband own a farm in Taranaki and sharemilk 650 cows on a Nukumaru farm. She is responsible for the day-to-day running, calf-rearing, human resources and administration for their two businesses.

Photo: Ross Nolly

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

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WOMEN IN AGRIBUSINESS

Canterbury farmer and DairyNZ solutions and development specialist Vanessa Bates is starting a coaching business to help rural women with self-development.

An empowering venture

By Samantha Tennent

Gaining confidence in herself has led to a Canterbury farmer to set up a programme to help and empower other rural women to realise the value they bring to the table.

A

fter coming through her own discovery journey, Vanessa Bates has a burning desire to inspire and empower other rural women. She has taken the punt and drawn on savings to invest in herself to develop her coaching skills.

“About 18 months ago, I was in an extremely low spot,” Bates says.

“I was feeling overwhelmed trying to balance work, the farm and life in general. And felt I was failing miserably at all three.”

She knew there had to be a better way to balance life, doing something she loved, looking after herself and having the time and energy to be involved in the farm.

“I jumped on a coaching call and

38

through that I allowed myself to realise I wanted to support others, I wanted to coach and empower them,” she says.

But she was battling her own mindset of societal expectations.

“It’s drummed into us to have a worthy job and work a 40-hour week to set yourself up,” she says.

“I also had a lot of self-doubt and fear that I wasn’t good enough. Who was I to follow my passion and try to do my own thing and who would want to be coached by me?

“Then some changes happened at work and I realised you never know when life is going to throw a curveball at you, so if not now, when?”

She has taken the plunge, stepping into a new venture she calls Vanessa

Robinson Coaching, while she is getting the concept off the ground. She wants to share her skills and inspire and empower other rural women through personal coaching.

As a young female, originally from Auckland and straight out of university, she felt the challenge of earning her stripes in the agricultural sector firsthand when she started her career. Her first role was as a farm solutions manager with LIC. “I was concerned how farmers would respond to a young female from the city coming in and trying to help them run their business,” she explains.

But it did not take her long to build a rapport and gain confidence in herself and earn the trust of clients. She also

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

“I like having something that is my own, but I also want to be fully available when the farm needs me. I am keen to have my own venture that I can scale up or down depending on what else is going on.”

earned more credibility from getting involved in farming herself with her husband Martin.

“Once I built relationships and people realised I could add value, things were going good. And then when I got my skin in the game with Martin and his family farm, I felt like it totally changed,” she recalls.

After a few years when self-doubt crept back in, she found support through a training opportunity.

“I attended a professional development day through Young Farmers. It was with Corene Walker from a business called Inzide Edge. The teachings really resonated with me, so I took part in another course through Corene,” she says.

“It was all about personal development and self-love and self-care, which was what I needed at that time. And the

group coaching call from that course was where I realised this was what I wanted to do.”

Over the past 18 months, she has been working with Corene and her team and has been involved in facilitating one of their courses in Canterbury targeting farmers, called InsideOUT Learning.

“It’s helped me get a foot in the door to get some exposure in that world and I’m enjoying it a lot. It’s helped me refine what I want to do, which is working with rural women,” she says.

“Women are a big part of the farming business and I want to help them see the value they can bring. I also want to help them identify any values or passions that they have outside of the farm that they want to pursue and help them to understand that they can do that as well.”

Speaking from her own experiences, she describes how women can attach themselves to their roles, such as wife or mother, but in reality can offer a lot more.

“It surrounds mindset and identifying actions they can take to value themselves more and realise their true potential,” she says.

She has been completing a programme through Briony McKenzie at Untapped called Coach the Coach. It is like a business accelerator that will help her develop the coaching concept.

She has been busy designing an initial

Continued page 40

Vanessa and husband Martin are contract milkers on a 100ha farm at Burnhan, milking 400 cows. They are buying the herd to sharemilk on the farm next season.

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Vanessa wore cowboy boots on her wedding day, to show she had left her big city life behind her.

Photo: Sarah Clements Photography.

six-week programme to be delivered online to rural women. It will be a mix of group calls with module work to do between the calls and focus on building attendees’ self-value.

As a long-term goal, she wants to grow the concept, give it a business name, and future-proof herself alongside the farming business she has with Martin.

“I like having something that is my own, but I also want to be fully available when the farm needs me. I am keen to have my own venture that I can scale up or down depending on what else is going on,” she says.

The Bates contract milk 400 Jerseycross cows in Burnham, Canterbury.

They are buying the herd to sharemilk on the farm next season. The farm is 100 hectares, with irrigation and a 40ha support block three kilometers down the road. They operate a System 2-3 and are solely spring calving.

She met Martin through Young Farmers not long after she had moved to Canterbury for the job with LIC after university.

“I had no attachment to anywhere so was flexible where I could go and moving to Canterbury turned out to be the best decision of my life,” she says.

She grew up in Auckland but had family who were farming and remembers spending school holidays playing with calves. When she was trying to pick her year 13 subjects she completed the

40

careers quiz online after advice from a careers advisor at school. Based on her answers, the quiz promoted agriculture as a serious option and memories from her childhood came flooding back.

“I thought of all those memories from when I was younger and it all made sense,” she says.

“Women are a big part of the farming business and I want to help them see the value they can bring.

I also want to help them identify any values or passions that they have outside of the farm that they want to pursue and help them to understand that they can do that as well.”

“I like animals, I like being outside, I knew I didn’t want to be in a role where I’d be stuck inside at a computer from nine till five, so I felt like agriculture would allow me to blend it all.”

She completed a Bachelor in Agricultural Science at Massey University, followed by a Masters in Science,

majoring in AgriScience. Her project surrounded the effects of cold stress on the reproductive performance of dairy cattle.

While studying, she won a scholarship from CRV, which included a trip to Holland to explore their facilities and learn about farming in the Netherlands.

She also completed the final semester of her undergraduate study in Canada through an exchange programme.

“I learnt a lot in my travels, especially in Holland. We have good technology in New Zealand, like embryo transfer work, but it’s not as visible as it was over there.

I really enjoyed seeing it all in action,” she says.

Her role with LIC involved supporting farmers to achieve their herd improvement goals, surrounding breeding and reproduction. During that time she completed the Coast to Coast, which required an extensive commitment to training, keeping her busy round the clock.

It was also while she was working for LIC that she moved from Rolleston onto the farm with Martin as they took up contract milking. But after a few years, she felt ready to do something different.

She found an exciting opportunity with DairyNZ, where she is a solutions and development specialist.

A big part of her role is translating science and research into things farmers can apply on-farm.

“My role at DairyNZ allows me to bridge the gap between science and extension by developing tools, resources and content for farmers when new research becomes available,” she says.

“There is a lot of variety in my role.

I work on a range of projects and it allows for a balance between office and fieldwork, which is great.”

She is still keen on her extracurricular activities, completing the Queenstown marathon in 2018. And she has been heavily involved in Young Farmers for several years where has held various roles, including chairperson of the Tasman region.

When covid hit and restrictions imposed, she and a committed team paused their preparations to host the FMG Young Farmer of the Year in Christchurch. With restrictions now lifted, the 2021 event will take place next month.

“It has been a long time coming, but it’s finally on the doorstep and the flurry of hard work will all fall into place. We are really looking forward to it,” she says.

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

Among everything else she has on her plate, Vanessa and Martin got married in April. She wore cowboy boots under her dress, proving she has come a long way from the Auckland city life she grew up in.

Although life has been busy and she has been juggling several things at once, she credits the great support she has received from DairyNZ and they are supportive of her new venture.

“They have been allowing me to reduce my hours over calving to do the calf-rearing at home. I’m really lucky they see the value I can bring, and are willing to work with me as I develop my coaching concept,” she says.

She anticipates numerous challenges while she is getting established, primarily her own mindset, as she knows that can be the biggest challenge for many people. And she expects the initial hard work to build the foundations and navigate the unknown landscape.

“I need to remember to celebrate the little things and look back at how far I’ve come as I progress,” she says.

“You’ve got to go after the things you want in life, and helping other people is exactly what I want to do.” n

Despite juggling several jobs at once, Vanessa still finds the time to do what she enjoys and is an active member of Tasman Young Farmers, and completed the Queenstown marathon in 2018.

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INDUSTRY GOOD

Winter care essentials Dawn Dalley DairyNZ senior scientist

L

ooking after our cows is at the heart of dairy farming. During winter, monitoring and assessing our animals’ behaviour is even more crucial.

I work with a lot of farmers who are reassessing and fine-tuning their winter grazing practices this year to improve the outcomes for their cows, staff and the environment.

There are a few things to consider to ensure you are implementing good management practice to support your animals’ health and comfort this winter.

Monitoring Daily monitoring of the animals, weather and paddock conditions is an essential part of winter care.

There are specific things you can look out for to understand your cows’ behaviour.

• Look for ‘lying bowls’, the marks cows leave in the soft crumbly soil, as this indicates that animals have been lying there.

• Observing the amount of mud on your cows also indicates current farm conditions. If their flank area is covered in mud, this may suggest they’ve been lying on an unsuitable surface and alternatives are needed.

Lying time It is recommended that cows lie for at least eight hours per day to maintain their health and wellbeing. We have observed these needs are often met, but some animals do not achieve this throughout winter.

Research has shown that during and on the day after rainfall events, some animals might not sit down for up to 24 hours due to sodden soil conditions with significant water pooling. Once the weather improved, they spent more time lying down, to compensate.

To prevent this, it is essential to ensure

42

Farmers are encouraged to have a contingency plan in place now, to be prepared for adverse weather conditions throughout winter.

“Knowing that we need to provide cows with a comfortable lying surface is one thing, but how do you know what that looks like?” animals always have a suitable lying surface.

Providing a comfortable lying surface To support our animals to get their required lying time, here are a few suggestions: • Move the break fence regularly to provide fresh ground.

• Strategically graze the paddock, avoiding wet areas.

• Protect the area closest to the feeding face by grazing animals into the prevailing weather conditions.

• Save drier areas, especially any with shelter, for contingency planning around adverse events. During wet conditions allow cows access to ground behind the back fence if that ground is suitable for lying.

• Keep supplement feed and troughs near the feeding face, not in any swales or hollows, which may create excess mud.

Identifying suitable lying areas Knowing that we need to provide cows

with DairyNZ with a comfortable lying surface is one thing, but how do you know what that looks like?

Cows prefer ground which is ‘crumbly’.

This means if you picked up a handful of soil, you could clump it together, but your hands would still be relatively clean from mud.

To assess this on-farm, an easy way is the gumboot score. If you put your gumboot into the ground, observe the pooling of water in the print.

If it quickly fills up with water or the soil oozes into the footprint, then the ground is too wet for a cow to find comfortable. What you want to see is a boot imprint with no liquid pooling.

Wet mud and surface pooling of water will have a negative impact on lying time, so a suitable lying area must be provided, especially if weather conditions do not improve within 24 hours. This could include implementing your contingency plan, such as using breaks near hedges or using a laneway for short periods.

Farmers are encouraged to have a contingency plan in place now, to be prepared for adverse weather conditions throughout winter. n

MORE:

dairynz.co.nz/wintering

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

TAKE TIME BEFORE YOU SIGN

PLANNING YOUR NEXT DAIRY PARTNERSHIP. As you progress, it pays to have good people on your side to help with due diligence.

DairyNZ, Federated Farmers and the team at FMG are here to help so that your sharemilking and contract milking relationships can be the successful business partnership that you intend it to be. Check out DairyNZ’s ‘Progressing Farmer Checklist’ at and have a chat with your FMG Adviser to help you understand your insurance options and provide you with risk advice to help you establish a successful partnership.

You can download the DairyNZ checklist here at dairynz.co.nz/progressing-farmers Pictured: Sophia & Bert Vanden Bogaard (Sharemikers), Ben & Fieke Meyer (Farm owners) and FMG Senior Rural Manager Candice Batty.

We’re here for the good of the country.

SPECIAL REPORT

Race without an end

By Gerald Piddock

Kiwi dairy producers are the world’s most efficient when it comes to greenhouse gas emission, but Climate Change Ambassadors say we can do better.

N

ew Zealand dairy farmers cannot afford to rest on their laurels when it comes to improving emissions efficiencies.

Instead, they had to keep going and keep improving, Climate Change Ambassadors George Moss and Phil Everest said at the DairyNZ Farmers’ Forum.

The two farmers took the stage in Hamilton to discuss the industry’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction journey.

Everest says while it is great that NZ dairy producers are the world’s most efficient from a GHG perspective, farmers can always do better.

“We’re at the top of the heap but the only way we’re going to maintain our competitive advantage is to stay there and we have to work hard to do that,” Everest says.

Moss agreed, saying “this is a race without an end”.

George and wife Sharon have two small dairy farms, each milking 175 cows along with a 40ha support block. He says it is run close to a System 2, with the aim of dropping it to a System 1.

While Everest farms in Mid Canterbury, milking 750 cows, producing around 15 tonnes of greenhouse gas a hectare and 9kg of GHG per milksolid produced. The farm is an A2 milk supplier.

Moss says the marketplace would be more powerful than any government legislation around environmental mitigation.

Climate change could potentially become a non-tariff trade barrier with countries NZ does not have trade agreements with.

“The other part is that as an industry, we’re targeting top-end consumers

and they want to be able to eat our products guilt free, so we have to be seen both at the consumer level and at the international level as doing the right thing,” he says.

It was a view endorsed by Everest.

He believes small steps to reaching climate targets are the key, as it shows the country was making progress and kept trade options open.

Everest says long-term research into climate mitigation was critical to help farmers reduce their emissions and hit targets outlined in the Climate Change Commission’s report.

This would help the industry develop the tools it needed to meet those targets.

He also saw potential opportunities to hit those targets if there was a change in rules around allowing GE grasses.

Moss supported the work of the

Tokoroa dairy farmer George Moss supports the work of the Climate Change Commission and says there are a lot more business constraints on farmers than there were in the past.

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DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

Mid Canterbury farmer Phil Everest says farmers still need to work hard to maintain New Zealand’s competitive edge in greenhouse gas emissions.

“As soon as you have got a plan, you feel like you have got a future, you feel like you want to get out of bed and that you’re doing something.”

Phil Everest commission and says there are a lot more business constraints on farmers than there were in the past.

The commission made the assumption that the industry can maintain dairy production while reducing emissions.

Achieving a reduction is not hard,

but the difficulty will be in maintaining NZ’s low GHG density per product, while maintaining the amount of dairy products being exported.

“To New Zealand Inc – not dairy farmers – it’s the amount of product going offshore that drives the wealth of this nation,” he says.

For Moss, the challenge was not the GHG reduction, but the downstream impacts it would have on the staff they employ and the reduction of milk being processed and exported.

“That’s where I see the real risk factors, rather than the absolute reduction that could come possibly later,” he says.

Everest acknowledged that the rapidly changing landscape was also taking an emotional toll.

“From my point of view, it’s how many times can you get hit with a sledgehammer and still want to get up.

That’s pretty much how I feel and how we feel at home at the moment,” Phil says.

That said, it was critical to have a plan in times of adversity.

“If you have no plan, you’re in a deep hole. As soon as you have got a plan, you feel like you have got a future, you feel like you want to get out of bed and that you’re doing something,” he says.

George agreed because the human condition did not handle uncertainty well, saying “the more certainty you can put into your life, the easier it will be to handle”. n

SPECIAL REPORT

A work in progress

By Gerald Piddock

A National MP who had it all, including a top job in politics, shares his story about how success came at a huge price.

T

odd Muller had everything he had ever wanted.

The Bay of Plenty National Party MP had a loving family and in May last year had become Leader of the Opposition, the second most powerful position in New Zealand politics after the Prime Minister.

Yet in private and away from the political spotlight, Muller says he felt desperately alone as he struggled through a mental health crisis.

He candidly shared what happened to him during his 53 days as Opposition Leader at the DairyNZ Farmers’ Forum in Hamilton, in the hope that it will encourage others to have those hard conversations around mental health.

For an often-criticised sector that played a pivotal role in the country’s economic recovery following the covid lockdown, there needed to be a greater commitment to support people having mental health issues.

Muller says this is why he wanted to talk about mental health to farmers.

“If there is anything that I can do in terms of sharing my journey that can assist in a small way for this sector to feel comfortable having these hard conversations with each other and next door neighbours, then it’s worth doing,” he said at the forum.

For Muller, it started with a panic attack in his first week as Opposition Leader that hit him like a wave of anxiety.

When he got home, he cried and hugged his wife Michelle. Then it happened again a few days later, accompanied by reflective thoughts that had transformed into amplified voices.

These voices were critical, shrill, sharp and angry and were constantly in his head, he says.

“There was a group of them saying, ‘grip yourself up, mate – you have spent your whole life for this moment and you are losing it’, and the other part was a great fear of failure and it was just a cacophony of noise,” he recalls.

This all triggered within him a deep, dry-retching anxiety.

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“The only person I showed that vulnerability to was my wife,” he says.

Muller says Michelle deserved huge acknowledgement for the support she provided.

“The people who are your partners when you’re going through something like this do not get enough of the national conversation when we reflect on mental health because our dream was a shared dream and she could see me slipping, and she didn’t know what to do to stop it,” he says.

“She spent 53 days putting emotional scaffolding up around me every day, desperately trying to stop me sliding down the hill.

“Looking back on it, the stress that I put on her and what she experienced as a person not suffering from mental health but trying to make sense of it and work out how best to support the person she loved, was a big stress on her and our family.”

“Looking back on it, the stress that I put on her and what she experienced as a person not suffering from mental health but trying to make sense of it and work out how best to support the person she loved, was a big stress on her and our family.”

Muller says there needed to be more recognition of the effect that a mental breakdown has on a person’s partner.

“My message in that context is the importance of having somebody outside your wife, partner or husband to have that conversation with. They are a critical part of that conversation,” he says.

Former National Party leader Todd Muller found himself in crises after landing the top job and is opening up about his experience to help others.

More also needed to be done particularly around the language and tools needed when engaging with people struggling with their mental health.

He believed a better approach was focusing on the resources required to give people the tools to manage where they found themselves.

Asking “how are you?” might seem trite, but he believes saying it with empathy was a way he believed could reach people struggling with their mental health.

“Let this lead the engagement and people will open up,” he says.

He says the media’s “possum in the headlights” description of him as Opposition Leader was fair.

“I was completely paralysed and internally, in the office when the doors were closed, I would be having these constant attacks,” he recalls.

By the end, he says he had nothing left. Looking back, he is eternally grateful that his wife rang a close friend who was a clinical psychologist who stepped in to help him.

That friend, along with Michelle, gave him permission to walk away.

Until that point Muller believed that if he walked away, everything would be lost – his reputation and his ability to be an MP. “It was everything that I had worked for and it was an admission that it was too much and I needed to step away,” he says.

Continued next page

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

SPECIAL REPORT

Keys to dairy innovation

By Gerald Piddock

While the world has been in the grip of covid, there are some positives to come out of the pandemic, which may benefit the dairy industry.

C

ovid-19 might have turned the world’s economy on its head, but nanotechnologist Michelle Dickinson believes the job displacement it caused could have one positive effect for the dairy industry.

It will expose farmers to strangers from diverse backgrounds, leading to better insights and potential breakthroughs in new ideas, Dickinson said at the DairyNZ Farmers Forum in Hamilton.

New, innovative ideas often came from chance meetings with strangers. Covid had given dairy farmers an opportunity to surround itself with and get insights from strangers who could be really useful for the industry.

Dickinson says a great example of this was Engender Technologies, which has developed a technology to sort out different sexes in bull semen.

The company’s lead inventor Dr Cather Simpson had a chance meeting with a member of the dairy industry, who was telling her about the challenge the industry had around mating cows to produce heifer calves.

“The whole company came out of that. These chance meetings are where innovation comes from,” she says.

Innovation also came from curiosity and one of the challenges society faced was that curiosity was forced out of people as they grew older.

“If we’re not asking questions, then

Going public with his mental health struggles was a shared decision with his wife, done in part to end the speculation after he resigned as National Leader.

While the pain stopped after walking away, he knew the absence of pain was not the same as being healthy. After a few weeks of rest, he slowly returned to work and found those internal voices had changed and now wanted to look back at what went wrong.

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

Nanotechnologist Michelle Dickinson says covid has given dairy farmers an opportunity to surround itself with and get insights from strangers who could be really useful for the industry.

we’re not pushing boundaries,” she says.

There are people who are now looking at the dairy industry and asking themselves if it can be done differently.

“Whether or not we believe that labgrown dairy is going to be the next thing, we definitely know that technology is getting much better,” she says.

One company, California-based food technology start-up Perfect Day just raised $193 million.

“And they still can’t make anything.

There’s a whole bunch of money going into this industry,” she says.

“If you have an idea, there are people

“To an extent, I still live that today,” he says.

He took advice from Sir John Kirwan who told him to find a handful of things each day that reminded him of the pleasure of being alive and took up yoga and walking.

He says it forced him to be more honest with himself than he had ever been and acknowledge that it took time to recover.

“Wellness for me is still a work in progress,” he says. n

who have money who will invest it in you to try some stuff.

Dickinson says technology was also moving incredibly fast.

“We know that tech is moving fast and we can put our head in the sand with how fast it’s moving.

“My question is how fast is the dairy industry moving compared to technology?” she asked.

NZ was also lagging when it came to licencing its ideas and IP. “I don’t think we’re very good at taking what we already know and selling it to the rest of the world, so they can bring their carbon down.” n

MORE:

Suffering from depression or stress, or know someone who is? Where to get help: RURAL SUPPORT TRUST: 0800 RURAL HELP DEPRESSION HELPLINE: 0800 111 757 LIFELINE: 0800 543 354 NEED TO TALK? Call or text 1737 SAMARITANS: 0800 726 666 YOUTHLINE: 0800 376 633 or text 234

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SPECIAL REPORT

Dairy has public support

By Gerald Piddock

The dairy industry is mostly looked upon favourably and the small number of those opposed to it, know very little about the industry.

N

ew DairyNZ research shows the industry’s biggest detractors only make up a small percentage of the New Zealand public, despite their high profile.

Only 12% of the 1002 people in the survey were categorised as environmental and animal rights ‘prioritisers’.

“Yes, they’re noisy, but they’re only 12%,” DairyNZ general manager of communications Amanda Woodbridge said when presenting the data in a workshop at the DairyNZ Farmers’ Forum in Hamilton.

The survey had representation among age, gender and region, to ensure the sample was a representation of the national population.

“The most interesting bit about this group is that they are extremely familiar with dairy, just not in the way we would like them to be,” Woodbridge says.

The challenge with this group is their noise and the industry had to make sure it did not influence others.

Those others included the 45% of ‘unfamiliar trustfuls’. These people are 1834, are likely to have young children and a high proportion have little knowledge of the dairy industry.

“The good news is in terms of what their attitudes are. They do think our sector is environmentally responsible and they do believe that dairy farmers are committed to improving our waterways,” she says.

This group, however, did have concerns about animal welfare issues in the industry.

The survey also included 21% of ‘social responsibles’. This group had positive opinions of the dairy sector, are employed and a high proportion are migrants.

While the group valued dairy, it did have questions over its greenhouse gases. Woodbridge says it was these two groups the industry had to try to win over.

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A new survey from DairyNZ has revealed the dairy industry’s biggest critics make up about 12% of New Zealand’s population.

The remaining 22% had a highly positive attitude towards the dairy industry.

It showed that contrary to popular perceptions, the majority of NZ do not have negative perceptions of the dairy industry.

“The public, overall, quite like us.”

Woodbridge says DairyNZ had made public perception a key factor in the organisation’s new strategy.

“Social licence – the right to continue farming is absolutely essential. You can’t farm if the public doesn’t support us,” she says.

Reducing the industry’s environmental footprint was required not just for social licence purposes, but also if it is to grow its market share among its overseas customers.

Speaking in the same workshop, Fonterra senior manager – sustainability and solutions Lara Phillips says sustainable dairying represented a huge opportunity for the industry.

Sustainability was now an expectation for many of Fonterra’s customers, with 50% of its top 10 ingredients and foodservice customers saying it is critical for them.

Phillips says if Fonterra can demonstrate to its customers that it can help meet its sustainability commitment, then it can grow its market share.

Recent research showed that

consumers connected claims around sustainability with beliefs that the product is healthier and safer for them and is of a higher quality.

“When you talk about sustainability it helps the customer believe that it’s a better product,” Phillips says.

This was starting to be seen among Chinese consumers, where there was very strong interest in NZ’s grass-fed milk.

“If you think about infant formula, if the consumer can see that the cow is well-cared for, they believe that the product is healthier for them and their children.”

Nestle has committed to net zero emissions by 2050 and that commitment includes its supply chain, which the NZ dairy industry is a part of. Recently it spent $60 million exploring carbon neutral milk opportunities in China.

Phillips says the majority of Nestle’s carbon footprint was in its ingredients and it was very interested in what the NZ dairy industry was doing around climate change.

“We’re sitting in a great position and they absolutely acknowledge that we have one of the lowest footprints in the world,” she says.

However, there was an expectation that NZ will continue to reduce that footprint in support of Nestle’s commitment. n

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

Accuracy. No Less.

More Moments That Matter

We Increased Our 6 Week in Calf Rate by 15% up to 78% “We put the increase in our 6 week in calf rate to mating cows on time and also picking up those silent heats that would have otherwise been missed.

It saves time, it means you are able to spend time with your family without having that stress or worry of missing cows or the costly implications of having down cows.”

Mike Marshall

Scan Here for more Farmer Stories senztag.co.nz 0800 220 232

FARMSTRONG

Leaving detailed farm maps and lists of preferred suppliers who know the farm well and already have accounts set up for the farm will help the new people coming onto the farm after you.

Managing moving day New herd, new home, new community. Moving day can be a stressful time for contract milkers. Here are a few tips on how to manage the transition.

M

aegan Legg and her partner Terry are sharemilkers in Manawatū. They currently 50:50 sharemilk 320 cows on a 128ha Shannon property owned

by Spall Farms Ltd. They’ve been in the industry four years and really enjoy the lifestyle farming offers.

“We love the life we live, working with animals and the fact we get to live and work together as a couple. We want to continue to grow great kids, great cows and great grass,” Maegan says.

They’re obviously doing all three well, because in 2020 the couple won Manawatū Share Farmers of the Year at the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards.

But Maegan admits moving day can be challenging for any farming family.

Farmstrong asked her for some tips on mitigating the stress of moving to a new operation and community.

ready to go with everything we’ll need on the first night – phone chargers, kids’ pyjamas, and a meal for that night. We even include a packet of paper plates because no one wants to do dishes that first night.”

Be prepared “Probably the biggest stress of moving day is getting everything done in time.

You’re moving out, someone else is moving in. Same at the other property.

So the biggest stress is the timeframe. I’d say, start early, start packing those boxes months in advance. Share the tasks – decide who is going to pack up the home, who is going to do the shed.

“We also make sure we have a bag

Pass on what you know “Employers and sharemilkers can really help people moving in by leaving behind detailed farm maps and lists of preferred suppliers who know the farm well and already have accounts set up for the farm.”

“Nothing beats a good water map when you first move in. At a previous farm, we had no contact with the previous contract milker, so we moved

50

“Probably the biggest stress of moving day is getting everything done in time. You’re moving out, someone else is moving in.

Same at the other property. So the biggest stress is the timeframe.”

Maegan Legg

in blind and spent many hours walking water lines to find out where they went and where you could turn them off. If someone can provide that information in advance, that saves you a lot of time and stress.”

Getting up to speed “The first thing we do is get the kids’ bedrooms set up, so they are sorted. It’s a big step for kids and a new house must feel like home as soon as possible. Then you can get to know the farm, get a feel for the place using any information that’s been left behind for you. That means checking that what’s on farm maps corresponds to reality.

“Taking a fence tester around and checking where the power is – there always seems to be a spot on the farm where there is no power and that’s where the cow gets out.

“Once you know you’ve got good water and power, you can make things happen.”

Look after the basics “Getting decent sleep and eating well are essential during any big change. I’m the first person to admit that I’m tragic without enough sleep, I get pretty ratty.

“That’s why it’s important to make sure people are still heading home at a reasonable hour each day, so they are in

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

good shape to make decisions and learn new things.”

Prioritise tasks “Farming is not about tackling a long list of challenges all at the same time. It’s about picking the important ones you can get to first, getting those out of the way and then moving on to the next task.

“We find the best way to manage pressure is just to focus on one job at a time. I like to make a list and just cross tasks off one at a time. Once you can see progress it all feels a lot more manageable.

“Obviously, on a new farm there’ll be a few unexpected tasks. But once you’ve dealt with them, go back to your list.”

Schedule downtime “No matter how busy work gets, we always make sure we get time off. We could possibly milk our cows on our own, but it’s not sustainable for anyone to be working 24/7. That’s why we have a fulltime staff member. It allows everybody to get a bit of downtime. We do that because we know we wouldn’t enjoy farming as much if we didn’t do it.

“It means we can spend time with our kids and do other things as a couple.

That’s why we went farming in the first place.

“So even though my husband and I are busy, we’ve just had eight days off attending dairy industry events. And our kids play rugby, so we make time for their practices and Saturday morning games.

That’s our chance to catch up with other parents and relax, talk about things other than farming.”

Staying connected “People are social creatures, we’re meant to be in herds, just like our cows.

So, if you’re moving to a community where you don’t know anyone at all, my advice would be to join what’s on offer, find local networks. For example, we have young children, so it’s about getting involved with the local playcentre and schools. All the other farmers’ kids are there too.

“The dairy industry also has amazing local networks.

“DairyNZ discussion groups are great.

They’re fun, they’re social and there’s no opinion that’s not valued. Everyone is welcomed.

“You don’t need to be a talker or extrovert, you can just turn up and catch up with other people facing the same things as you. It’s as social as it is farming.

“I’d also encourage people to explore what else is on offer in their local community. Check out your local fish and chip shop, RSA or sports club.”

Support your team “As sharemilkers I think we have a responsibility to make sure our employees are supported when they move into new communities.

“Our last employee came from five hours away, so it was a big change for

them. We introduced them to other people, took them along to discussion groups and helped them integrate into the community.

“We’ve found people soon find their own friendships and networks once you give them a hand.”

Live well, farm well “There are always challenges in farming and more are coming. You’ve just got to be adaptable, sustainable and move with the times.

“Agriculture has really shown its value to New Zealand over the past year with challenges like covid. That’s why it’s so important that we look after the people we’ve got and keep them in our industry.” n

MORE:

For more farmer-to-farmer stories check out farmstrong.co.nz

Manawatū sharemilker Maegan Legg and her partner Terry say the biggest stress of moving is getting everything done in time for the big shift.

Under the pump?

For tips and ideas, visit farmstrong.co.nz

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

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FIELDAYS®

Back with a bang

By Samantha Tennent

After being cancelled last year due to covid, Fieldays are back to showcase the latest and greatest in agriculture.

A

round 10,000 contractors and exhibitors have been immersed in building the small city that is Fieldays from the ground up. The excitement around ticket sales launched in May suggests the public are just as excited as the Fieldays crew to see the gates open on June 16.

“Our exhibitors and contractors always go to impressive efforts to get Fieldays up and running and this year is no exception,” New Zealand National Fieldays Society chief executive Peter Nation says.

“We’ve had many challenges to navigate over the past two years, but as a testament to the strength of the event, and to the primary industries of New Zealand, we are thrilled to see the build kick-off and the excitement around tickets going on sale.”

After the physical event was cancelled in 2020 the Fieldays team made a quick switch to an online platform, with Fieldays Online seeing 90,000 people tune in across the globe. This year they are hosting a hybrid event to cover the best of both worlds, the physical event at Mystery Creek and Fieldays Online, where they will be virtually hosting exhibitor sites and livestreaming an engaging mix of content via Fieldays TV. “We will have a glass studio on the Village Green, in the heart of the event, similar to the America’s Cup. It will be highly visible to visitors passing by and in a convenient location for live crosses to exhibitor sites,” he says.

“Content will be streamed throughout the day, and visitors can tune in to watch content on-demand at the end of the day, allowing for a seamless Fieldays experience.”

Travel restrictions have prohibited many international exhibitors and visitors from attending the physical event, but a few have support based in NZ so will have some representation.

And permitting it continues safely, the trans-Tasman bubble has allowed

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Fieldays 2021 kicks off on June 16 and contractors and exhibitors have been busy setting up.

the opportunity to reinvite Australian exhibitors.

“Usually, we have around 2500 to 3000 international visitors to Fieldays, and at least 11 exhibitors. Last year over 75 countries connected with our online event,” he says.

New Zealand National Fieldays Society chief executive Peter Nation says excitement is building in the lead-up to the 2021 Fieldays.

“Internationally we’re talking a common language in the covid world, despite the different cultures and language barriers, we are all facing the same challenges and learning from each other”.

The team anticipate the Health and Wellbeing Hub to be a hive of activity, with a greater focus under the current climate. And the Innovations Hub also has some exciting exhibitors who have been working on solutions for issues facing the primary sector, such as labour shortages and other covid implications.

“Growing NZ is hosting the Careers and Education Hub, which will have the primary sector opportunities on display.

It’ll be great for those thinking of a career change or considering study options,” he says.

The NZ National Fieldays Society has found it challenging to stabilise their business after the events industry came to a grinding halt. They have less staff on the ground and many exhibitors were impacted by covid-19 as well. Now, with 50% of local accommodation unavailable due to MIQ and emergency housing, they have had to be innovative to

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

support exhibitors and visitors to access the event.

“Accommodation has been under pressure for a number of years and it’s amplified this year. To address this, we are putting together the Fieldays Campervan Village at Claudelands Event Centre for our exhibitors,” he says.

“I think the exhibitors are looking forward to coming together and sharing the experience.”

They have worked hard to maintain their sustainability focus too.

Fieldays is ISO 20121 accredited, which is an international standard in Event Sustainability Management that is used for the Olympic Games and other worldclass events.

“We’re always trying to improve our sustainability practice and we don’t want to drop the ball,” he says.

“To support our ISO accreditation we work with Instep, who helps us incorporate environmental management and carbon footprint calculations into everything we do.”

Despite the challenges, exhibitor numbers are almost on par with 2019, and the excitement across social

Fieldays wins bronze Fieldays has been announced as a Bronze Award winner in the Virtual Expo category for the 11th Global Eventex Awards for Fieldays Online.

“It’s huge to be recognised, receiving a Bronze Award for the Eventex Awards is an impressive feat in what has been a challenging year,” New Zealand National Fieldays Society chief executive Peter Nation says.

“With innovation being one of our key strategic pillars, we took a challenging set of circumstances and invented a world-first event of its kind, keeping rural communities connected in a time of adversity.

“Fieldays Online has now become an important part of the Fieldays brand.”

The Eventex Awards recognise excellence in every aspect of the event industry, including events

media suggests they can expect large numbers of visitors this year. Around 130,000 people attended in 2019 and

and experiences, as well as event technology, suppliers, venues and destinations.

There were a staggering 561 entries from 37 countries around the world.

It took 108 days to pull together Fieldays Online in 2020 when the physical event was cancelled due to covid-19 restrictions. Fieldays partnered with Satellite Media, an Aucklandbased digital innovation agency, to bring the virtual event to life, and Trade Me supported the event, connecting various Fieldays exhibitors with ecommerce capabilities.

Held over a two-week timeframe in July 2020, Fieldays Online allowed visitors to scope out Fieldays deals and access live content from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

the successful online event in 2020 demonstrates the value people place on Fieldays as a platform to reconnect. n

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FIELDAYS®

The latest innovations in agriculture, backyard inventions and commercial improvements are always an integral part of Fieldays, with thousands of visitors eager to view the latest rural advancements.

Invigorating innovations

By Samantha Tennent

Kiwi ingenuity will be once again showcased in the Innovation Centre at the New Zealand National Fieldays, where backyard inventions for the agricultural industry will be showcased.

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abour shortages have inspired innovators, with a number of entrants in the 2021 Fieldays Innovations Awards aimed at solving the challenge. The Innovations Hub is brimming with entrants largely aimed at making farmers lives easier.

“We have a number of entries utilising robotics, including Zespri and two from Waikato University,” Fieldays innovations event manager Gail Hendricks says.

“People are seeing the need for robotics due to labour shortages, as well as other innovations focused around helping farmers and growers streamline processes.

“The changing landscape has seen a shift away from apps this round, with strong support for Internet of Things (IoT) and connectivity related innovations.”

Hendricks and the team have been working hard to encourage all industries to be represented in the Fieldays Innovation Awards, which has proved fruitful.

“We identify great innovations through our partnerships and networks. Not many first-time entrants enter without some encouragement; people need to feel their innovation is worthy and be comfortable to give it a go, she says.

“Sometimes it’s a resource issue or not having enough time to be ready. Or sometimes they don’t have the ability to manage two sites, but we try to help wherever we can.

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“We want to ensure innovations coming out of Fieldays are of high value and a possibility of moving forward, New Zealand innovations have great opportunities on the global stage.”

They have regular repeat entrants, including 2019 exhibitors RiverWatch who are moving into the next stage with their concept, which is described as a health monitor for waterways.

Halter is also on board with their solarpowered smart collars, which have gone commercial, and Donaghys have entered their world-first sheep spot-on product.

“It’s exciting to see what comes through the hub; both St Paul’s and St Peter’s schools have some entries this year too,” she says.

The hub itself has had a revamp this year, building the story of the innovation journey. Starting from a prototype and moving into the early commercialisation stage and onto the growth and scale stage. Entrants will be grouped in their categories from the backyard invention to manufacturing and onto the global scale.

Judging for the $50,000 prize pool takes place on the Wednesday of Fieldays, and the awards ceremony is being held on Thursday evening for the first time.

Be sure to head along to the innovations hub to view the entrants and catch a glimpse of the future of the primary sector. n

Many regular repeat entrants will be attending Fieldays, including 2019 exhibitors RiverWatch who are moving into the next stage with their health monitor for waterways invention.

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

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TECHNOLOGY Halter-equipped cows grazing on Pete and Anne Morgan’s Pokuru farm, near Te Awamutu. Cows are no longer confined with physical fences, with the technology holding them within “virtual” paddocks, defined on a digital farm map.

Dairying reimagined

By Richard Rennie

Dairy farmers using the Halter technology are finding they generally have more time, giving them the freedom of choice.

A

sk a dairy farmer what brought them to the industry, and they will often say it is a love of working outdoors, being their own boss, enjoying working with animals or working to achieve measurable goals every day, every season.

For many, it is likely a combination of all those and more.

But ask what they would like more of, and it is likely one answer will be more hours in the day. That may be to work more ‘on’ their business rather than ‘in’ it, to spend more time with family and friends or to pursue other interests offfarm.

It may also often be simply to rediscover what it was that made them passionate about dairying in the first place.

Waikato-based agritech company Halter is delivering on its promise to unlatch dairy farmers from the daily grind of sitting behind herds heading to milking, setting up breaks or shutting gates at the end of a long day.

The solar-powered GPS-enabled collars mean a herd can be managed from a

56

smartphone, and now early adopting farmers are starting to recognise the opportunities the technology is delivering them on a personal and professional level.

“Early feedback from farm clients indicates they are saving 20 hours a week by simply eliminating the amount of time spent on the farm bike behind cows and setting up breaks in between milkings.”

Herd owners with Halter technology are reporting a new lease of life in their dairying careers, with the tech unlocking time that can be spent with family, off the farm pursuing another interest, or more constructively at home improving on-farm performance.

Halter means trained cows are no

longer confined with physical fences, with the technology holding them within “virtual” paddocks, defined on a digital farm map. Scheduling stock movements like milking times and break shifts has eliminated the chore of having to be onfarm at set times to make those routines a reality.

Early feedback from farm clients indicates they are saving 20 hours a week by simply eliminating the amount of time spent on the farm bike behind cows and setting up breaks in between milkings.

For Te Awamutu dairy farmer Pete Morgan, with two 300-cow herds all fitted with Halter collars, the tech shift has given him a new lease of life later in his successful dairying career.

He and his wife Ann farm on a challenging property, with multiple dips and gullies lined with sensitive wetland areas. Equipping the herd with Halter means grazing blocks can be defined to skirt around those sensitive areas needing a wider boundary.

Grazing can be optimised by setting up virtual breaks with far more precise square metre per cow allocation. On a two-herd farm constrained by gullies,

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

sidlings and a long 4km profile, achieving optimum pasture use has always been challenging.

“You may have a paddock and know it’s actually 10% bigger than what you need, but more often than not you will just go with it, given location, labour and time to allocate the exact amount is too difficult,” Pete says.

Optimal grazing is now helping the Morgans extract the most out of their System 2 property, meeting the challenge of improved profitability while further protecting the environment they farm within.

For Pete, Halter has also meant after 30-plus years of getting up early to head to the back of the farm to get the cows, he can now have a half-hour lie in. This is while knowing Halter has got the cows out of the paddock to the dairy shed using a sophisticated guidance system, to have them waiting for him to show up and milk them.

Halter’s technology overcame three key obstacles in its development: developing algorithms for individual cow guidance; having a robust solar-powered collar; and having the ability for collars to communicate near constant data flows regardless of terrain.

The collars, via real-time GPS location tracking, keep cows within their ‘break’, with scheduled shifts also signalled via sounds to guide them in the desired direction.

While appearing uncanny in their effect, the sounds are simply an advance on typical animal responses to learned sounds, just as cows respond with learned behaviour to other sounds like

Pete Morgan is an early adopter of the Halter technology, which removes the need for physical fences. The solar-powered GPS-enabled collars mean a herd can be managed from a smartphone.

a reel being wound up, or a silage laden wagon and tractor approaching.

Farmers investing in Halter tech also have the reassurance they will not be left with redundant technology as the system advances. The Halter collars can be updated remotely as software is updated, and collars are subscribed to, rather than purchased by the farmer.

Farmers like Pete are now reimagining their farm layout as a blank slate, pulling out physical fences and grazing cows in a way better matching the farm’s physical layout.

In the meantime, it is also giving them time to also reimagine their farm business. They have more time to focus on helping develop staff, sharing grazing

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plans via Halter’s app and providing a transparent platform for those staff to know what the plan is, and to have input into it.

Farmers using Halter report a calmer feel about their farming operation, often the farm bike is virtually made redundant, while cows are more relaxed without the pressure of the bike or the dog behind them. n

MORE:

Farmers wanting to view Halter tech in action can book via the company website www.halter.co.nz for an approved visit to the company’s Morrinsville test farm.

Halter staff will be onsite at this year’s Fieldays at site E82 in the Dairy Precinct.

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RESEARCH

Dairy crucial for children’s health

By Samantha Tennent

A World Health Organisation study shows the importance dairy products play in the growth and development of children.

I

n 2019, the global burden of severe acute malnutrition of children was estimated to affect 14.3 million children between six months and five years of age, and estimates a million children die with severe acute malnutrition each year. But these deaths can be prevented through the administration of ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF).

With trial work exploring alternative protein sources to reduce costs of RUTF, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a joint statement confirming at least 50% of the proteins in RUTF should come from dairy products.

Experts continually stress that the essential amino acid (EAA) content of animal-based proteins, like dairy, contribute to their superior quality compared with plant-based proteins.

“We welcome the WHO’s decision to prioritise dairy-based recipes as an effective way to treat and reduce acute malnutrition in children,” deputy chairperson of the Standing Committee Nutrition and Health, International Dairy Federation and senior nutrition scientist at Dairy UK Erica Hocking says.

“This reflects the strong and robust data which supports the benefits of milk proteins for the growth and development of children.”

The statement came from the WHO jointly with the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSSCN) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

They confirmed the available evidence was not enough to justify a change in the current recommendation that RUTF should have at least 50% of protein coming from dairy.

Their report states the efficacy outcomes favour the standard RUTF, while there is no robust data from producers to demonstrate that reducing

58

the dairy content will reduce the costs and resource requirements of RUTF. Therefore the group did not recommend the use of the reduced/ no dairy formulations, but noted the potential of these alternative formulations if more evidence of efficacy and cost-effectiveness is generated.

First developed in 1996, RUTF are soft or crushable foods that can be consumed easily by children from the age of six months without adding water. Before their development, the only treatment options available required preparation and administration by qualified health workers and was only used in hospitals.

But with RUTF, most children aged six months or older with severe acute malnutrition can be safely treated in their communities, without requiring admission to a health facility or a therapeutic feeding centre. Successful treatment involves timely detection of severe acute malnutrition in the community, quick assessment of appetite and treating those without medical complications with RUTF, combined with basic orally-administered medication to treat infections.

Milk is considered the most expensive ingredient in standard RUTF. The suggestion is to replace dairy with alternative sources of protein to significantly reduce the costs while maintaining the nutritional composition of RUTF recommended. If produced locally at a lower cost, the alternative formulations may improve the scalability of treatment.

Although reducing the cost of RUTF would increase access to treatment for children with severe acute malnutrition, more evidence is needed to support alternatives.

The link between dairy consumption and child health is well known.

Dairy is a nutrient-rich package that contains not only high-quality

Deputy chairperson of the Standing Committee Nutrition and Health, International Dairy Federation Erica Hocking says they welcome the World Health Organisation’s decision to use dairy products to combat malnutrition.

protein, but also the essential nutrients calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iodine and vitamins B2 and B12, which are all important nutrients for child development.

The proteins found in dairy are in many ways superior to plant proteins, providing a complete source of high-quality protein and better digestibility.

WHO’s determination is another example of the numerous scientists, nutritionists and expert bodies that continue to recognise the essential role that dairy provides in nourishing the world, particularly children and vulnerable populations.

Dairy is an irreplaceable component of the food system, and WHO again determined that it must continue to be the protein of choice in lifesaving malnutrition interventions. n

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

RESEARCH

Whey to go

G

lobal dairy industry research innovator and leader Dr Kevin Marshall was awarded Massey University’s most prestigious honorary award, the Massey Medal.

The award is in recognition of his outstanding and ongoing contribution to Massey University and the New Zealand food sector in multiple leadership, advisory and governance roles.

In his citation at the College of Sciences’ graduation ceremony, Professor Jeremy Hill said Marshall has had a profound impact and has “made a real difference to not only Massey University and the national food sector, but to NZ and the global food sector”.

“Amongst wide-ranging achievements, his work laid the foundation for waste and environmental performance of dairy factories and the development of NZ milk protein products, an industry now worth billions of dollars,” Hill said.

“Much of this is chronicled in Whey to go: Whey Protein Concentrate: A New Zealand Success Story, a story Dr Marshall contributed to as both a co-author and major contributor to innovations covered within it.”

Marshall says he began studying science because he was good at maths and chemistry at school. He completed a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering at the University of Canterbury in 1963 and joined the staff of the NZ Dairy Research

Dr Kevin Marshall was awarded the Massey Medal for his outstanding and ongoing contribution to Massey University and the New Zealand food sector. Kevin Marshall with his wife Julie (third from left), and daughters (from left) Nikki Taylor, Alana Wilson, Kerry Marshall and Debbi Hurley.

Institute, which was undergoing a major expansion.

He attended the University of Birmingham where in 1964 he gained a Masters in Biological Engineering for a thesis on the production of yeast grown on whey using continuous culture,” he said.

Marshall’s work on the standardisation of milk powders and international science-based advocacy in the International Dairy Federation (IDF) and Codex is worth hundreds of millions of dollars in annual export receipts. He also undertook a PhD at Massey to research the continuous fermentation of whey to produce lactic acid as a means of waste disposal, which in turn could be used to acidify milk to produce casein.

Over many decades, he maintained a strong and wide-ranging commitment to Massey.

As corporate technical and R&D

manager for the NZ Dairy Board and chief executive of the NZ Dairy Research Institute (NZDRI), he was ultimately responsible for the hugely successful NZ Dairy Industry Graduate Training Programme (DIGTP) partnership between Massey and the dairy industry.

Marshall says his work on whey protein concentrate in the mid-60s and early 70s is among many career highlights.

Encouraging cleaner dairy factory waste disposal has also been a strong feature of his work.

“During the 50s, it was common practice to dispose of whey into streams “because it gave you big eels. But that had to stop,” Marshall recalls.

“There’s still work to be done on the environmental [improvements] and there’s still work to be done on developing new products.

“I tried to do the best I could with what I had in front of me.” n

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DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

59

WINTER GRAZING

Aerial footage was taken during cultivation flights over Southland in April and May.

Proof is in the footage

By Anne Boswell

A birds-eye view of Southland farms shows farmers have been proactive around winter grazing decisions and have taken steps to mitigate any risks.

C

ultivation flights over Southland in mid-April have shown that most farmers have made good decisions, planned well and are prepared for winter.

Environment Southland, with support from DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand, flew over a large part of Southland checking cultivated forage crop paddocks to identify any areas that may pose water quality risks this winter.

The team looked at paddocks to ensure critical source areas were left uncultivated, buffer zones were in place by waterways and feed crops were being used to keep vegetation between waterways and animals.

They were also checking to see whether crop paddocks look like they could pose an increased risk of overland flow during adverse weather.

Environment Southland chief executive Rob Phillips says he was pleased at what the flights found.

“Those on the flight reported that

60

on the whole there is good buffer and critical source area management in place,” Phillips says.

“We have six paddocks that are being followed up by our land sustainability team, and there are a further three compliance issues being followed up directly by the compliance team.

“It appears that none of the issues relate to winter grazing.”

He says there was a continued spotlight on Southland farmers’ wintering practices, and he was keen to ensure that farmers were supported to be well-prepared for grazing this season.

“We appreciate the attention that landowners have given to improving their wintering practices over the last few years,” he says.

“This is a very good start to the season, but farmers need to remain vigilant and manage the risks.

“Ministers Parker and O’Connor have set clear expectations about what they expect to see over the next 12 months when it comes to winter grazing,

which includes seeing measurable improvement.”

The flight route included most of the eastern half of the Mataura catchment, northern Southland, including the Mossburn area, and the Oreti catchment, including the rolling country of the Hokonui Hills (Otapiri).

A second flight was conducted over another area of Southland in May, with similarly positive results found there.

Environment Southland’s land sustainability team is available to talk through winter grazing plans with farmers, or they can give their industry reps a call.

Environment Southland is also working alongside industry groups, including DairyNZ, who are able to provide farmers with further advice, tools and resources over winter.

DairyNZ farm performance general manager Sharon Morrell says a proactive approach to winter grazing is essential to reduce risk and deliver good outcomes.

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

“This is a very good start to the season, but farmers need to remain vigilant and manage the risks.”

Rob Phillips

“Many farmers are working hard to prepare for this winter and what is required to deliver good winter grazing practices, but there is still opportunity for improvement,” Morrell says.

“We all want to see winter go well, supporting healthy water quality and excellent animal care.

“We’ll be working with farmers in the coming weeks to look at what they can do now to make sure their teams are prepared, so the expected improvements in good management practice occur this winter.”

Environment Southland will also be working with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) over the winter to support their work with animal welfare concerns. n

Environment Southland chief executive Rob Phillips says the flights showed farmers in Southland had made good decisions around winter grazing practices.

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WINTER GRAZING

Guiding farmers

By Anne Boswell

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has released an Intensive Winter Grazing (IWG) Module to help farmers achieve improved winter grazing practices, benefitting freshwater quality and animal welfare.

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xtra monitoring and a range of practical support form the basis of the online tool, which was developed by MPI in conjunction with the Ministry for the Environment (MfE), councils and industry representatives.

“The 2021-22 Intensive Winter Grazing Module highlights practical solutions farmers can take to mitigate the effects of grazing livestock on fodder crops during the winter months,” Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says.

“They include leaving a buffer of at least five metres next to waterways, grazing crops top down where they grow on a slope, and using portable water troughs to limit livestock movements.

“The module contains a template that farmers can use to develop a plan to manage their intensive winter grazing activities, if they don’t already have one.

“Farmers with existing plans need to update them to

reflect the expectations set in this module.”

Low pasture growth during winter and large areas of winter-heavy soils means Southland farmers spend most of the year preparing for the winter by growing 68,000ha of crops such as swedes, kale and fodder beet throughout summer and autumn.

While these crops provide much more feed per hectare than grass, ensuring stock can be fully fed for the winter on a smaller area of the farm, winter grazing is considered to pose some risks to freshwater health if managed poorly.

Proactive daily management and a good winter plan is required to reduce the risks associated with condensing a large number of animals into relatively small areas which can result in nitrate accumulation beyond the soil’s ability to retain it.

Sediment and other nutrients can also be carried off the

“Farmers with existing plans need to update them to reflect the expectations set in this module.”

Damien O’Connor

paddocks into waterways due to the bare soil left by the grazing of crops.

With the deferral of the introduction of IWG practice regulations for a year until May 2022, the introduction of the Module will inform IWG components of existing and new farm plans and enable them to be tested and incorporated into wider certified freshwater farm plans when they are rolled out next year.

Increased monitoring and reporting by councils will help drive measurable improvements in IWG. “We expect regional councils and industry bodies to work together with farmers to implement and deliver positive change on the ground through this module,” Environment Minister David Parker says.

“It is important farmers ensure they are complying with their regional council’s current rules on intensive winter grazing.”

DairyNZ chairperson Jim van der Poel says the Government’s decision to deliver change via a winter grazing module as part of certified farm plans, rather than rules, is good news for

DairyNZ chairperson Jim van der Poel says farmers know what good management practices are and, by working together, we are seeing improvements year on year.

farmers.

“Farmers now have time to continue implementing good management practices that will drive positive progress,” Van der Poel says.

“We want to acknowledge the Government’s approach with the Southland Advisory Group, which has been inclusive and collaborative.

We are pleased the recommendations have been heard by the Government on this very important issue.

“Farmers know what good

Southland dairy farmer and Dairy Environment Leader chairperson Ewen Mathieson says farmers need to ensure they are implementing good management practice this coming winter.

management practices are and, by working together, we are seeing improvements year on year.”

Southland dairy farmer and Dairy Environment Leaders chairperson Ewen Mathieson says it has been positive to see the Government engaging with the Southland Advisory Group, which has represented farmers.

“This is a window of opportunity for farmers to take ownership of our pathway forward,” Mathieson says.

“We need to ensure we are all implementing good management practice this coming winter – it’s important we understand our actions will define our pathway forward.”

In Southland, staff from MPI and Environment Southland will be visiting farms that may pose animal welfare or water quality risks to ensure they have effective plans in place

to manage IWG, especially during periods of heavy rain.

A hotline (0800 FARMING) is being provided as an opportunity for the community to give feedback.

People with concerns about animal welfare are encouraged to call MPI’s animal welfare hotline on 0800 00 83 33.

The Intensive Winter Grazing Module can be found at: https://www.mpi.govt. nz/dmsdocument/4486620212022-Intensive-WinterGrazing-Module In addition to the MPI resource, DairyNZ has developed a quick checklist to help spot any improvements farmers can make before winter arrives, and a new Winter Grazing Plan that includes a paddock plan and farmer tips. These can be found at www.dairynz.co.nz/ wintering n

WINTER GRAZING

Consider the cows

Short-term expected outcomes for animal welfare was created following the Ministerial Winter Grazing Taskforce Report and will help farmers manage their winter grazing.

By Anne Boswell

Farmers now have a checklist of short-term outcomes for winter grazing, which they can achieve regardless of how they run their farm system.

W

hen it comes to winter grazing, best practice goes beyond waterway issues and incorporates a strong animal welfare aspect.

In general, New Zealand’s codes of animal welfare require that livestock have access to areas that are free of surface water and mud, have protection from adverse weather, and are able to lie down and rest comfortably for sufficient periods.

The Winter Grazing Action Group, established in 2020 and made up of 15 representatives from industry organisations, government, vets, farmers and other rural professionals, has published a list of seven outcomes which farmers should aim to achieve in the short-term, no matter their wintering system.

Short-term expected outcomes for animal welfare, created as a result of a 2019 Ministerial Winter Grazing Taskforce Report, will help farmers understand what they’re doing well, highlight where improvements can be made, offer advice around planning during the year and offer

64

important winter grazing management practices.

Ensure animals give birth in the right environment It is recommended that farmers draft animals into herds based on estimated calving date; move animals to a suitable birthing area at least 10 days before the estimated calving date; and where animals give birth unexpectedly in unsuitable areas, move dam and calf to a suitable area as soon as possible.

Prepare for all weather conditions Create a plan detailing the actions you/your staff can take to protect stock during bad weather events possible in your area/region. Consider actions for normal short-duration weather events, and more sustained/intense events – for example, weather-bombs – and how you can provide your animals access to a suitable lying area if bad weather persists for more than 48 hours.

Easy access acceptable drinking water Ensure stock drinking water is readily available within the grazing area, and

Provide the appropriate amount and type of supplement, ensuring all animals have an opportunity to access it. that the drinking water is acceptable.

Where appropriate, have a portable trough as close to the grazing face as possible.

Plan for successful winter feeding Where possible, seek professional advice when creating your winter plans.

Understand the nutritional requirements of your stock and ensure your feeding plan can meet these requirements.

Provide the appropriate amount and type of supplement, ensuring all animals have an opportunity to access it. When feeding crops, follow an industryrecommended feed transition plan. Have a farm team meeting to discuss the winter feeding plan, your expectations

Continued page 66

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

WINTER GRAZING Continued from 64 and get their input. Where ill-health or several unexpected deaths occur, seek immediate help from your veterinarian. Have a plan for any animals which don’t adapt to the winter diet.

Animals can lie down comfortably Assess whether your farm climate, soils and contours are suitable for the type of wintering you plan to do.

Plan your wintering paddocks well in advance – only use paddocks which are suitable for the stock class and forage type.

Look for signs of adequate resting, which include lying down, smooth, round areas where animals have been lying, and no animals showing signs of fatigue.

Ensure the break area includes enough space for each animal to lie down comfortably; 10m2 per animal for cattle (0.1 ha per 100 cattle).

Ensure the space available for lying is suitable, and the paddock surface is crumbly or clumpy, not sloppy.

Provide animals access to a suitable lying area if they don’t have an opportunity to lie down comfortably within a 48-hour period.

Work together to provide care to animals during winter Have a written plan on how you will ensure good animal welfare over winter. Check animals at least daily during winter, have regular farm team meetings, and if you have concerns about the welfare of any animal, contact a veterinarian or other appropriate person.

Find opportunities to improve Take note of what is going well – and not well – during winter and why. Keep good records of your observations and any measurements, and reflect at the end of each season and note any areas which could be improved for next season. Include learnings from previous seasons when planning the upcoming season. n

MORE:

To read the complete document, visit www.mpi.govt.nz/ dmsdocument/41683-Short-termexpected-outcomes-for-animal-welfare

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Guide for winter grazing

By Anne Boswell

A tool to help farmers assess whether they are prepared for winter and highlight any potential gaps is now available through DairyNZ.

W

ith winter right on their doorstep, farmers preparing to graze livestock on fodder crops this winter are encouraged to take advantage of DairyNZ’s Wintering Checklist to help spot any improvements they can make before winter arrives.

The checklist, alongside a new Winter Grazing Plan that includes a paddock plan and farmer tips, are designed to help farmers make practical, written plans for winter. With the farming sector more focused than ever on improving winter grazing, and eliminating practices that impact negatively on the environment and animal welfare, there is little room for error.

“Planning for winter and wet weather now is important to deliver good outcomes when adverse weather arrives,” DairyNZ farm performance general manager Sharon Morrell said.

“Farmers have been moving stock onto crops for the past few weeks, so now is the critical time to ensure all plans are in place for the months ahead.”

To complement the wintering checklist, DairyNZ’s new winter grazing plan provides step-by-step strategies for paddock set-up and grazing management for immediate focus this winter. This includes protecting critical source areas and waterways, bale placement, back fencing and having a wet weather contingency plan.

These resources are supported by other new initiatives such as webinars, workshops and regular information from industry bodies collaborating on advice to farmers to ensure it is coordinated and consistent.

The advice is in line with new guidelines released by the Ministry for

DairyNZ farm performance general manager Sharon Morrell says making a plan for winter grazing will help achieve better outcomes when adverse weather hits.

Primary Industries (MPI) recently, with farmers able to utilise an industry or MPI comprehensive winter grazing plan.

MPI’s 2021-22 Intensive Winter Grazing Module highlights practical solutions farmers can take to mitigate the effects of grazing livestock on fodder crops during the winter months.

The Winter Grazing Action Group has also published guidance for animal welfare during winter in its “short-term expected outcomes for animal welfare” document.

The sector has also recently launched a wintering hotline for any concerns or complaints.

If anyone sees something that doesn’t look right, they can call the wintering hotline on 0800 FARMING. The hotline is supported by Federated Farmers, Beef + Lamb New Zealand and DairyNZ and calls are confidential.

“We are all committed to lifting winter grazing performance and using a wintering checklist and practical plan helps farmers and graziers to do that,” Morrell said. n

MORE:

Dairy farmers looking for more information on winter grazing can visit: DairyNZ: www.dairynz.co.nz/wintering MPI: www.mpi.govt.nz

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

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ANIMAL HEALTH

Benefits of a wellbeing plan

By Samantha Tennent

M

odern farming can feel like a lot of bookwork, with no reprieve in sight.

Milk processors are asking for more evidence and compliance is coming from all angles, but sometimes we have opportunities to harness the benefits for our own gains. If we have to do something, why not make sure we maximise it?

With Fonterra changing their requirements around the animal focus of the Co-operative Difference, many are left wondering what an ‘Animal Wellbeing Plan’ really means and how can we create better outcomes from having one. And why the vets are tasked with some of these discussion topics.

Vets have typically been responders.

The people we call when we have a problem with our herds, and they are incredibly good at helping us solve them.

But now they are being asked to talk about topics beyond traditional animal health, bringing welfare and wellbeing discussions into the relationship.

Some may question why, but if it isn’t the vets’ responsibility to support farmers and animals to foster good animal wellbeing, whose is it?

Our local vets are full of knowledge and experience. They’re one of the most trusted professionals in a farmer’s support network and given the current climate, with processors asking for more information and the consumer’s heightened interest in how our food is being produced, they are an asset to help guide and support us.

The focus for animal welfare internationally has shifted from simply aiming to reduce negative experiences, to recognising the importance of increasing positive experiences. Cows need to live what is considered a good life. And of course, there is a close relationship between well-cared for cows and good milk production.

Wellbeing plans must cover topics under nutrition, health, environment, behaviour and mental state. The current

68

format isn’t telling you what to do. For example, they aren’t insisting that you body-condition score your herd, but asking farmers to have a discussion with their vet about body condition as a management tool.

When paired with predicted calving dates, body-condition scoring can plan a staggered dry-off, which can support feed budgeting and contribute to reproductive performance next season.

This could mean more milk, more culling options from having more cows in-calf, and the list goes on.

If you have the discussion and decide you don’t want to have any scoring done on your herd, at least you know what you could be missing out on.

For many of the topics, the benefits far outweigh the costs of having the discussion, or performing the task, but the choice is with you, the farmer. What are your priorities and goals, and have you considered looking at these options?

Those are the discussions Fonterra are encouraging.

Preventing one cow death or a few lameness cases from regular monitoring and being proactive could save you money. Coupled with better mastitis management, implementing heat stress mitigation options and adding the new payment structure under the Co-operative Difference, there are a few extra dollars in the bank.

It’s a great opportunity to explore your herd management and maximise their potential.

Having an understanding can help inform your future decision-making.

Knowing the market’s perception of our choices may help us make different choices, or encourage us to ask questions of the other sector bodies we work alongside.

Like genetics, for example – why should your milk processor care what genetics you are using? Because their market is showing interest.

Practices such as disbudding calves isn’t popular with consumers. We

WelFarm general manager Samantha Tennent says wellbeing plans must cover topics under nutrition, health, environment, behaviour and mental state

understand the necessity, but what if we could have good polled options?

It’s important that the practices we use on farms are aligned with the expectations of our customers, consumers and communities. Reviewing plans annually provides opportunities to reflect and determine if our efforts are paying off. It gives us accountability – did you actually do what you said you would?

For many farms a lot of the discussion points will already be standard practice, but do we see the benefits if we’re not recording and collecting data?

We know we are good farmers here in New Zealand. We know we are efficient, striving to be sustainable and we have pride in how we care for our herds. What’s wrong with having that assurance to prove that to the skeptics?

You can’t argue with evidence. n

Who am I?

Samantha Tennent is the general manager of WelFarm Ltd

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

ANIMAL HEALTH

New animal rules kick in

By Samantha Tennent

C

riminal convictions and fines could be on the cards for anyone who breaches the new rules for surgical procedures on animals, which came into effect May 9.

Delayed a year due to covid-19, the new regulations cover a variety of procedures carried out on a range of animals by veterinarians and others.

“These rules are to ensure surgical procedures on animals are carried out by the right people with the right skills and care, to safeguard the animals’ wellbeing,’’ veterinarian and Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director of animal health and welfare Dr Chris Rodwell says.

“The new regulations make it very clear who can carry out certain procedures, when, and how they should be done. They cover a vast list of procedures, from specialist procedures to routine ones, such as lamb tail docking and goat disbudding.”

Public consultation was widely sought before the new regulations were developed and largely allows “competent” people to continue performing routine procedures on animals.

Competent means they have experience with or training in the correct use of the method for the procedure, and have the appropriate skills and equipment to carry it out.

Other procedures can only be performed by a veterinarian and some are banned altogether. For some procedures, the regulations require the use of pain relief authorised by a veterinarian for that particular procedure.

Some of the procedures

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

affected that directly relate to dairying include removing teats, where extra teats can be removed by someone competent and must be in conjunction with pain relief after 10 weeks old, but any main teat removal must be carried out by a veterinarian.

Another procedure impacted includes occlusion or blocking of teats. Teat sealing can only be carried out by a competent person and they must only use a teat sealant registered under the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act 1997.

And, only a veterinarian can use a teat plug or a teat drain, for therapeutic purposes only. But no other methods of occlusion, such as rubber rings or glue, are allowed.

Freeze branding and ringing and wiring noses of cattle have also been given updated rules, requiring competent people and only being done for animal management purposes.

Wire cannot be used for noses, but the regulation doesn’t apply to the use of cattle clips, which do not pierce the skin.

Transcervical insemination can also still be carried out by competent people who are not veterinarians, with the right equipment.

Fines up to $5000 for an individual or $25,000 for a body corporate are on the cards for anyone who breaches the rules. The penalties target minor to moderate offending so if an animal’s welfare is seriously compromised, higher penalties under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 apply.

The new regulations will be included in relevant codes of welfare. The codes contain

Veterinarian and Ministry for Primary Industries director of animal health and welfare Dr Chris Rodwell says the new rules for surgical procedures are to ensure they are only carried out by the right people.

minimum standards and recommended best practices when caring for animals. More information on the Animal

Welfare Act 1999 and the rule updates can be found on MPI’s website under animal welfare. n

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2480RE86X210

CALF CLUB

Care to compete

By Anne Boswell

T

he competition that empowers rural children to care for and compete with their pet calves is now open and ready for an epic

2021.

With the alternative format now into its fourth year, Calf Club New Zealand marketing manager Josh Herbes says the continued growth and development of NZ’s young farmers is event organisers’ fundamental goal.

“As an industry we have developed something truly unique and empowered our young farmers from across the country to come together, care for their animals and learn all sorts of new skills that will encourage and help them grow into a successful young farmer,” Herbes says.

“We have been humbled to see some amazing growth in both our contestants and our volunteers.”

The digital format, whereby children submit entries online and are judged on-farm, was created in response to the cancellation of school calf club events in 2018 and 2019 due to Mycoplasma bovis.

Although school events were reinstated in 2020, Calf Club NZ has continued to run as a separate competition.

Herbes says each year they see hundreds of stories and friendships develop between Kiwi kids and their animals.

“It is amazing to see the variety and quality of submissions made each year,” he says.

Pongakawa School students Lexie Gordon with Autumn, and Conrad Gordon with Galaxie.

“We love to see people from their first-ever Calf Club experience right through to those competitive hardcore contestants. We are always amazed at what the community brings to the table.”

Calf Club NZ consists of two main categories: Formal (on-farm judging) and Social (online judging only).

Each category is split into three age groups: pre-school, primary/intermediate and high school, which is then divided further into dairy and beef groups.

Entrants compete in regions for formal judging, with judges completing a scoring metric which is assessed at a

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nationwide level to determine overall champions.

Submissions open on September 1 and close September 15, and judging takes place during the October school holidays.

Herbes encourages children to register for the competition as soon as possible.

“Registering for the event gives us an indication of how many and where our contestants are based, so we can make sure we have enough judges in the right locations to visit the contestants,” he says.

Last year the number of registrations reached 220 and organisers hope numbers will continue to increase this year, although extra help will be required.

“With increased numbers last year, it now becomes important that we find additional sponsors to support this amazing event,” he says.

“We try to work closely with our sponsors to ensure they are connected with our community.”

With increased entrant numbers also comes the requirement for more judges.

“Our beloved judges are the backbone of Calf Club NZ and we cannot put on this amazing event without their support,” he says.

“We would love to hear from people interested in becoming a Calf Club NZ judge in 2021.” n

MORE:

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One last word …

T

he grass was definitely looking greener across the gangway for a cow that ended up in the drink instead. So instead of munching away on fresh pasture, she found herself taking a bath in Rotterdam’s Merwehaven Harbour in the Netherlands.

The Floating Farm, yes, you read that right, is a structure built to float in the harbour and houses 40 cows. And it is not the first time a cow has gone swimming.

Peter van Wingerden, founder and chief executive of Beladon, a firm that specialises in waterborne architecture, told DutchNews.nl the cows were “doing great” and that animal welfare was high on their agenda.

“Last Tuesday a cow fell in the water because a young volunteer left the fence open. The same happened last year with a little calf when some visitor left another fence open,’ he said.

“Cows can, like all animals with four legs, swim perfectly. When it happened on Tuesday morning, another volunteer who did not have a clue about that immediately called 112.”

He said emergency services arrived within four minutes, followed by five cars from the fire brigade, along with two diving teams, the port boats and lots of journalists.

Firemen, working with the dive team, managed to put straps around the cow and winch her to safety.

“The fireman told me that this rescue technique is good for them to learn because this is the new way of sustainable farming in times of climate

74

change. Until now, they have only rescued cats from trees in the city,” he joked.

Although it was a happy outcome for all involved, a Dutch political party is not happy with the farm and wants to see it closed, even going as far petitioning the Rotterdam Council to have the farm’s permit revoked. They were unsuccessful due to lack of support.

“The fireman told me that this rescue technique is good for them to learn because this is the new way of sustainable farming in times of climate change.”

“On Tuesday there was another accident with a cow falling into the water – an animal weighing between 600800kg – the emergency services were called and it took them more than an hour to get it out of the water,” Ruud van der Velden, a councillor and head of the local Partij voor de Dieren (Party for the Animals), told DutchNews.nl.

“It is dangerous when cows leave the pontoon for the gangway to go to the waterside, and this is the second time that a cow has ended up in the water, the last was in December.”

Van der Velden has described the Floating Farm as “madness”.

The farm was founded by Peter and Minke van Wingerden. It opened in 2019

with 32 cows and was designed to reduce food miles or more simply, eliminate transport costs.

It is designed to use residual products, such as grass from public parks and food waste, produced by the city of Rotterdam to feed the animals and give fresh milk back to the city, thereby cutting food transportation costs and pollution by keeping production and use of food closely together.

The farm includes a pasture area on land – which the cows reach by walking over the gangway at any time – a resting area, feeding station, milk and manure processing facilities, which is provided as fertiliser to the city, as well as a store for visitors.

It is powered by solar energy panels and rainwater is collected on the roof. The herd is milked by a robotic milking plant; the raw milk is processed onsite into fresh milk and yoghurt and distributed throughout the city.

“We are one of the most animalfriendly farms in the Netherlands, maybe even Europe,” Van Wingerden said.

He also pointed out that cows fall into the water and have to be rescued by farmers on regular farmland too.

I’m not sure whether the Floating Farm is indeed madness or genius but it’s worth noting, cows may, or may not, get seasick – the jury is still out.

Sonita Like us: farmersweekly.co.nz Follow us: @DairyFarmer15 Read us anywhere: farmersweekly.co.nz

DAIRY FARMER

June 2021

Proudly brought to you by WelFarm

Dairy Diary

June 2021

June 2 – DairyNZ Wednesday Night Live Zoom meeting: First six weeks on-farm.

This session is about inducting new team members onto your farm. Join us to find out what good looks like, and get some top tips from other farmers on how they make it nice and easy.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz June 8 – Dairy Women’s Network Your farm business future, Whangarei. Charmaine O’Shea Chartered Accountants, NZ CA Limited and ASB Bank are proud to deliver this workshop focused on succession planning and preparing the next generation into farming and farm ownership. This three-hour workshop is suited to any person who would like to know where to start the succession process.

Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events June 8 – SMASH Gearing up for spring at Matamata field day. Have you been calf rearing for years and think you know everything, or you are just starting out and want to know the tricks of the trade?

We bet you will learn something from this trip to see how Rob and Sharon Klaus do it.

Info at www.smallerherds.co.nz June 8 – DairyNZ Join us for our first migrants discussion group in Northland.

This event is targeted for people from multiple nationalities and backgrounds, especially those who find cultural differences in New Zealand and want to better understand, adapt and help others build a future in NZ. Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz June 9 – Dairy Women’s Network Enjoy a social morning with like-minded people at our Pink Ribbon Breakfast in North Canterbury, in support of the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation. Hear from Lee-Anne Murray who was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer at 31 weeks pregnant.

2020 was a big year as she navigated becoming a new mum, alongside aggressive cancer treatment and covid-19.

Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events June 9 – DairyNZ Hitting the environment and profit targets. Join us onfarm at Hopkins’ Torunui Farm in Opiki. We are partnering with Hopkins’ Torunui farm as they find a pathway through environmental regulation, while maintaining profitability.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.n

June 10 – DairyNZ This Northland Dairy Development Trust field day will sum up the NARF supplement trial, which finishes at the end of May. The new trial starting on June 1 will also be discussed.

Guest speakers include Dr Jane Kay and Northland farmers discussing how they use alternative pasture species.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz June 22-23 – SIDE The South Island Dairy Event is back for 2021. Join us for excellent keynote speakers, hot topic workshops, get in on the discussions and ask the burning questions, network with likeminded farmers.

Info at www.side.org.nz/ June 24 – SMASH SMASH conference 2021 is Back Around the Table in Cambridge, joined by Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell. We’ll discuss: what is the situation looking like going forward, will it remain positive; what is the ongoing effect of covid; and what does Fonterra foresee and how is it positioning itself to adapt to future conditions? Other topics include pastures of the future, what really influences reproductive performance and eyes on the prize.

Info at www.smallerherds.co.nz MINDA MINDA Roadshow, Various dates and locations. LIC will be hitting the road until July, holding free MINDA LIVE and MINDA app training sessions, as well as a Protrack session to show you how to get more out of your Protrack system’s software from MINDA LIVE. Info at www.events.humanitix.com/tours/minda-roadshow-2021 DairyNZ CalvingSmart, various dates and locations. If you’re new to dairying or need a refresh, come along to our practical, inperson workshops so you can approach the calving season with confidence. The sessions are designed for new entrants with 0-3 years’ experience and are interactive.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz Dairy Women’s Network Successful Calf Rearing, various dates and locations. Be confident this calving season with all you need to know about raising healthy calves. This workshop will leave attendees with not only knowledge but tools and resources that they can use.

Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events

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