Dairy Farmer November 2021

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4 Contents

CONTENTS NEWS 16 Milk Monitor Slow start to season

NOVEMBER 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 Residence visa New visa gives immigrants new hope

ON FARM STORY 8

Three times a winner Taranaki farmer scores Dairy Industry Awards hat-trick

20 The switch up Southland farmer overcomes burnout

FARMING CHAMPIONS 7

Guest column – Jim van der Poel

28 Dairy champion – Michelle Burgess 32 Women in agribusiness – Kerryn Zander

SPECIAL REPORT 36 Live exports

FEATURES 54 Training & Education 66 Effluent

REGULAR FEATURES

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Another Big Year!

New Zealand’s rural kids are at it again.

With another record year wrapping up, we want to take the time to thank our sponsors, parents, organisers and judges for the amazing job you all do. Our website is now full of stories and memories of our young future farmers and their experiences rearing calves.

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7 Guest Column

GUEST COLUMN

We must continue to evolve

By Jim van der Poel

The DairyNZ chairman ponders whether Kiwi farmers should be doing more despite having the world’s lowest dairy emission.

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anaging our dairy sector’s impacts inevitably attracts a range of views. Should we do more, less or stay the same? We produce the lowest emissions dairy products in the world, so why do more?

When it comes to change and regulation, there’s certainly no perfect fit for all, especially with such diverse farm systems and farmers. Ultimately though, we are all challenged by new rules and what they should or shouldn’t be.

Our dairy product is the most efficiently produced in the world – we have plenty to be proud of. New Zealand’s agricultural emissions have stabilised and always-improving farm practices means we are 25% more emissions efficient at producing dairy than we were in 1990.

But, like all high performers, we must continue to evolve. The bar gets ever higher due to increasing competition and evolving consumer and community demands.

We are the best place in the world to be dairy farming and DairyNZ research has shown it. We want consumers to have the world’s most sustainable milk.

Why the split gas approach matters Industry bodies pushed hard for the split-gas approach (managing methane separately from other gases) under the Zero Carbon Act. This was the culmination of many, many years of advocacy.

That advocacy saw the Government listen. The split-gas approach is a science-based target that recognises biogenic methane has a different warming impact to carbon dioxide – its shorter lifespan means net zero is unnecessary.

Initially, we were faced with a target of net zero for all gases. That was unachievable, not science-based and would have severely impacted farming’s viability.

New Zealand, and our sector, is still

DAIRY FARMER

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under considerable pressure from other countries and sectors to pursue a net zero target for all gases. This is something we strongly reject, especially compared to carbon emitters.

Our advantage is NZ’s unbundling of short and long-lived gases. This helps define their contribution to warming and the tracking of emissions against temperature over time. The objective is to limit global warming. Reducing then stabilising methane emissions contributes to that.

The 2030 target to reduce biogenic methane by 10% will be incredibly challenging, but we are on the journey.

2050 goals continue to be debated The 2050 target to reduce methane 24-47% below 2017 levels is not supported by DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb NZ and Federated Farmers, as in our view they are not science-based targets. This 2050 target will also be reviewed by the Climate Change Commission during five yearly reviews.

Meanwhile, we support farmers to make initial reductions toward the 2030 target and we continue to challenge the Government over the 2050 target.

We are also advocating hard for regular reviews based on any science, economic or other developments. We are pushing for investment into R&D because, while farm practice changes help, we also need new technologies.

For several years, we have also encouraged the Government to consider different metrics.

The internationally accepted metric is Global Warming Potential (GWP100) which measures warming over a 100-year span. However, momentum is growing around GWP* which better reflects the warming impact of methane over a longer timespan.

Different metrics have pros and cons.

Whether we see a new metric or not, New Zealand’s split gas approach does already acknowledge the difference between short and long-lived gases. This

DairyNZ chairman Jim van der Poel says reducing emissions and meeting targets are a challenge with everchanging rules but support for farmers is available.

really is a significant win and absolutely the right approach.

On the farm, He Waka Eke Noa will help us. This partnership between the primary sector, Government and Māori will support farmers and growers to measure, manage and reduce emissions.

Its design will recognise sequestration, recognise methane’s target and get funds back into the sector to support change. In the next six months we will present options to farmers on He Waka Eka Noa and seek your feedback.

He Waka Eke Noa and programmes like DairyNZ’s Step Change are geared at supporting farmers.

Farmers are renowned for their ability to adapt – and we will again. Changes can be made over time, sensibly and with the right tools. Pushing climate progress down the track would leave us unprepared and at risk.

Farming for the future As a sector, we have to accept our emissions, their impact, the need to reduce, and that farm practices can adapt.

Strong international and domestic pressure remains. We also need to maintain our international brand’s credibility and competitive edge.

While we continue to push for regular reviews, we also need the Government to deliver a credible emissions reduction plan for NZ – and solid investment in tools and solutions to back up the targets. All gases must do their part in meeting New Zealand’s commitments.

That is crucial. n

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8 OFS

Three times a winner Farmer makes dairy awards history by winning three major titles.

John and Kristina Wyatt are contract milking on a 121-hectare farm at Auroa, south Taranaki where they milk 315 cows, often with son Caleb in tow.

Photos: Ross Nolly 8

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November 2021

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By Ross Nolly

A Taranaki farmer made history this year when he scooped the Taranaki Share Farmer of the Year title and became the first person to win all three Dairy Industry Award titles.

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hen John Wyatt’s name was announced as the winner of the 2021 Taranaki Share Farmer of the Year in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA) it was a one of a kind achievement.

John had previously won the 2009 Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Trainee of the Year category and the 2015 Manawatū Farm Manager of the Year.

His 2021 Taranaki award made him the first person in the award’s 32-year history to win all three titles. What made the Taranaki win even sweeter was that he won it alongside his wife Kristina.

John and Kristina are contract milkers for Mike Hammond at Auroa, South Taranaki, where they milk 315 crossbred cows on his 121-hectare (106ha effective) farm.

Kristina works four days a week as a large animal vet at Taranaki Vet Centre’s

Stratford clinic and also works with John on-farm. This is their fifth season on the farm.

The NZDIA had a big influence on John’s career. He feels that winning the trainee award was key to him getting his first manager’s job as a 21-year-old.

“I was home-schooled so had no NCEA qualifications or university degree. I won the manager award before coming to Taranaki. I think winning the award was one reason why I was considered for this job,” John says.

When he entered the 2021 Taranaki Share Farmer of the Year he had considered that he might win the third of the three awards. At the time of winning he was so excited that they’d won the award that he never really considered that he’d now won the trifecta.

When he won the trainee and

FARM FACTS • Farm owner: Mike Hammond • Contract milkers: John and Kristina Wyatt • Location: Auroa, South Taranaki • Farm size: 121 hectares (106ha effective) dairy farm • Cows: 315 crossbred cows • Production: 2020-21: 126,000kg MS • Production target: 2021-22: 126,000kg MS

Continued page 10

The 315-crossbred herd produced a record 126,000 kilograms of milksolids last season on a low-input System 2 and aim to produce the same this season.

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John Wyatt made history earlier this year when he and Kristina won the Taranaki Share Farmer of the Year title. John had previously won the Dairy Trainee and Farm Manager titles.

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11 manager awards he did so on his own, but was able to share the special moment of winning the Share Farmer award with Kristina.

Kristina broke her ankle during the lead-up to the awards and couldn’t work.

During that period she was able to use the time to prepare for the NZDIA. She was familiar with the practical side of the farm operation, but was now able to learn the theory aspect, which gave her a far better understanding of the farm as a whole.

“It was a huge learning curve ensuring that we had everything covered. I’d always wanted to enter the share farmer category with John and we got the chance to do it. It was amazing to win together; I couldn’t get the smile off my face,” Kristina says.

Telling others how they operated the farm forced them to re-evaluate what they did, whether they were the best ways to accomplish them and to research other approaches.

“The NZDIA opens up an entire network within the industry. You meet other award winners and interact and bounce ideas off a range of people from different life stages that you wouldn’t have met if you hadn’t entered,” she says.

“That’s especially true when you’re from outside the region. We’ve expanded our community with people with knowledge that will help us become better farmers. We can help others too, which is really cool.”

John has farmed since leaving school.

He grew up on a small Dannevirke sheep and beef farm and also helped the

John grew up on a sheep and beef farm at Dannevirke but went dairying after leaving school and discovered a love for the industry.

neighbours with docking and shearing.

His first job after leaving school was on a Dannevirke dairy farm.

“They wanted a worker until Christmas and I thought it would be a good opportunity to try dairy farming. I’d always wanted to farm, but wasn’t sure about dairy. I ended up staying on that farm for three years,” John says.

He worked as a farm assistant milking 430 cows and in the process, discovered a love of dairy farming and felt that it offered a better progression pathway to advance his farming career. He would have been able to get a shepherd’s job, but could see there were limited pathways to farm ownership.

Kristina always knew she wanted to be a vet and her skills come in handy on the farm when it comes to animal health. She has a particular interest in mastitis and set up the mastitis lab at the Taranaki Vet Centre’s Manaia clinic.

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He then took on a farm manager’s job for three years in Pahiatua where he milked 300 cows for the first year, then milked 280 on their other farm. He then spent four years as a farm manager on a Palmerston North dairy farm milking 460 cows.

He also studied through Primary ITO to gain his New Zealand Diploma in Agribusiness Management.

Kristina always wanted to become a vet. She applied for the School of Veterinary Science at Massey University to undertake a Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc), but wasn’t accepted the first time. She worked on a goat farm and a horse stud and did some relief milking for four months.

“I milked 1300 goats and loved the job.

Even though farming was an option, I still wanted to become a vet. So I had another crack at vet school and was accepted. I met John in my first year and realised that I could be a vet and a farmer,” Kristina says.

Her fifth year of study was mostly practical work experience and she worked in veterinary practices from Northland to Southland. Taranaki Vet Centre’s Manaia clinic was her favourite.

“I applied and got a job at that Taranaki clinic and said ‘John, guess what? We’re going to Taranaki.’ I began work in December and we got married in January 2017,” she says.

“John relief milked on local farms until June when we began contract milking on our current farm. This job wasn’t advertised, but at every farm I visited

Continued page 12

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John, Kristina and Caleb get out amongst their herd before milking.

I said my husband’s looking for a job and we landed this job through those contacts.”

Farming has given Kristina a real-world experience of the practical pressures and stresses on a farm, and it helped her become a better vet.

“At university you’re taught the ‘gold standard’ methods of treating animals and best practice techniques. But it has to be put into a practical context. You must think ‘this is best practice’, but is it achievable on this particular farm at this point?” she says.

“Rather than tell a farmer the gold standard method and have them say ‘I can’t achieve it’ and do nothing, steps can be initiated towards that standard.”

She took a year of maternity leave when Caleb was born and during that period worked on the farm full-time during calving. Up until that point she was mostly relief milking on the farm. She now works as a vet for four days a week. During her maternity

leave she gained a far better practical understanding of the challenges that farmers face.

“I now look at different avenues and methods of attaining the gold standard where we’d like to see farms progress to. I’ve really enjoyed that and feel that my vet work has improved because of it.

When you’re on-farm and tell the farmer that you’re a farmer too, they know you understand their situation,” she says.

They milk 315 crossbred cows and the mostly closed herd has been on the low-input System 2 farm for more than 40 years. Last season they produced a record 126,000 kilograms of milksolids (400kg MS per cow). The grass grew well throughout summer and a turnip crop helped summer production.

Last season’s turnip crop helped mitigate a dry season and safeguard production over the summer. This season’s production is going well.

Production is slightly behind last year but is currently ahead on a daily basis,

though spring growth was slow to begin with.

Over the past four years, production up until Christmas has been very consistent, but summer production is very weatherdependent.

“We’ve boosted early spring production by improving our six week in-calf rate (currently 76%) by a couple of percent each year. We produce more milk in a shorter period compared to what the farm traditionally did. High early production helps us achieve our desired production figures even if the summer dries out,” she says.

When the paddocks get too long for the herd they’re dropped from the round and cut for silage; they make 300-400 bales of silage and last season they put in 4ha of turnips and will do the same this season. About 30 tonnes of PKE is bought as a summer supplement for the calves. The calves stay on the farm until May 1 before going away for grazing.

“Pasture cover and cow body condition score are the two main drivers for when we dry off.”

Kristina Wyatt The farm hasn’t been regrassed in over 40 years, except for where the turnips were grown. The present pasture is performing well, but lower-producing paddocks are being targeted for regrassing.

“Last year we planted Maxsyn NEA4 so we’re keen to see the results. The older pastures are well-established and come back well after winter. You lose out on the new grass high sugar content, but

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13 the older pastures have persistence,” John says.

“Cow body condition score is important to us and we dry off early if we need to. Pasture cover and cow body condition score are the two main drivers for when we dry off,” Kristina says.

“This maintains the condition score and builds us up for the following season.

We ensure that there’s good pasture cover going into winter.”

Her favourite time of the year as a farmer and a vet is calving. The herd has a compact calving pattern and begins on July 31, with 50% of the herd calving

by August 10, with the heifers starting a week earlier.

“I love being outside and spending time with animals. My favourite job on the farm and of being a vet is calving cows. It’s my favourite time of the year, even though it’s our busiest,” she says.

“It’s quite handy having a vet pharmacy parked in the driveway. The neighbours appreciate it too,” John jokes.

Each calf is tube-fed gold colostrum before going into the calf shed where they are fed twice-daily until threeweeks-old. The young calves are fed first, followed by the older ones and then the bobbies, to eliminate any cross contamination to the younger calves.

There is water and meal in the shed from day one.

“The gold colostrum is preserved with potassium sorbate, which keeps the antibody levels high so next morning it’s just as good as when it came out of the cow. We use colostrum until it runs out and then use vat milk to finish off the

Kristina works at the vet clinic four days a week and the rest of the time is busy on-farm. Kristina feeding the calves.

season if needed,” Kristina says.

“We leave the calves inside for as long as possible, but the early calves are usually let out into sheltered paddocks by the time they’re two weeks old.”

A chilled calf-milk vat ensures the milk stays in better condition for longer.

During summer, if the temperature of the vat milk isn’t dropping quickly enough they use the chilled calf-milk vat to chill water to run through the plate cooler.

Mating begins on October 22 and is solely AI using A2 bulls for the first five weeks to produce 70-80 replacement calves. They feel that the biosecurity aspect is the biggest advantage of using AI and now that Caleb has arrived, they feel a lot safer knowing there are no bulls

Calves are fed meal from day one. John and Kristina fill the meel trough before taking it out to the calves.

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on the farm.

This is followed by two weeks of short-gestation Hereford and then three weeks of short-gestation crossbred. The Hereford ensures there is no overlap between the replacements and the short-gestation crossbreds.

Short-gestation bulls bring the later cows forward and the farm gains an extra week to 10 days of milk production from them.

“We use Friesian over any cows showing too much Jersey influence.

Anything less than 50% Friesian will have Friesian used on them. Anything over 50% Friesian will get crossbred for a more consistent line of calves. We use Jersey over the heifers for calving ease,” John says.

Their breeding goal is for a F10-F12 cow. Medium-sized crossbred cows give them fat content and volume in a smaller cow with hybrid vigour and efficient feed conversion.

“We’re aiming for an A2 herd in the hope that there will be a premium paid for A2 milk in the future. We’re about 60% towards that target. It’s not costing anything to move towards that goal. Our BW and PW (131 and 151) are still rising,” he says.

“BW is important to us. Our herd is above the average and we aim to at least maintain that and improve it as much as we can. Traits like udder conformation are important for us. We’re a low input farm so we’re not putting pressure on the cows, which helps herd longevity. Our oldest cow is 13 years old.”

They have considered using beef breeds over the tail of the herd, but the

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John takes Caleb out with him every chance he can. John and Caleb in the cowshed waiting for the herd to come in for afternoon milking.

farm has limited calf shed space. The implement shed also functions as the calf shed.

“We’ve considered using Wagyu bulls, but the calves have to be kept for a time and we don’t have the shed space by the time we’ve put all of our keepers through the shed,” Kristina says.

They achieve a 90% in-calf rate for the 10-week mating period, which Johns credits to the herd’s higher body condition.

The milking shed is fitted out with various technologies, including automatic cup removers, a Protrack Draft system, automatic teat spray, plant and vat wash, YieldSense and CellSense. The cell sensors are in every third bail, ensuring that each cow gets tested every couple of days.

“This herd has historically had a low somatic cell count (80,000 SCC for the season). It’s probably 50:50 whether the machine picks up mastitis before I do.

The sensors alert the milker if a cow has high cell count,” John says.

Kristina is passionate about mastitis and took part in a mastitis research study and set up the mastitis lab at Taranaki Vet Centre’s Manaia clinic.

“We take a sample from any subclinical cows and culture it at the vets to see what grows. It gives you a good picture of what is going on in cows that may not have mastitis, but whose cell count is higher,” she says.

Mastitis is treated early and any problem cows are culled. Cows with a high somatic cell count are milked last so they don’t infect the herd.

Wet weather can be an issue as they receive 1500mm of rainfall, so have

two effluent ponds for storage. A local contractor pumps out the ponds every two months.

“The cost of installing and maintaining an effluent spreading system was comparable to having the contractors spread it. We don’t have to shift irrigators every day and can spread the effluent over a larger area of the farm. The contractors have two kilometres of pipe, so we can cover around 80% of the farm,” John says.

The water supply comes from the Waimate West Rural Water Scheme and a year ago a greenwash system was installed, which has resulted in a 30-40% reduction in water use and a $10,000-

$15,000 cost saving per annum.

Installing the greenwash and reusing water has also given the couple more storage in their ponds. Prior to the installation the ponds had six weeks storage, they now have nine weeks.

Helping them on the farm is a fixedterm full-time worker who is employed during calving. They have recently employed a part-time staff member for two days a week in a job-sharing arrangement with a nearby farm. She is relatively new to the industry and the initiative will provide her with a fulltime job and experience in two farming systems.

“This is the first year we’ve had a permanent staff member. Previously we have only had a full-time worker during spring. Last year it was just the two of us and a relief milker. We didn’t have enough work for a full-time labour unit, so the job-sharing solution was perfect,” Kristina says.

“One of the drivers for employing a part-time worker was to give John more time with Caleb; you can never get the years back when your children are young.”

Their priorities changed when Caleb was born. They feel that it’s not a physically or mentally sustainable lifestyle to be working all hours of the day, 365 days of the year.

“My mum was a nurse and dad was a construction supervisor. We always had annual family holidays and spent weekends together at home. Our family has always been close because of the time we spent together.

ww

Each calf is tube-fed with gold colostrum before going into the calf shed where they are fed twice-daily until they are three weeks old. They stay inside as long as possible but early ones are put outside in a sheltered paddock. Kristina ensures each calf gets her fair share.

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15 “I don’t think there are many industries with so many options for progression. You must be prepared to work hard. If you don’t have the drive and the passion, you won’t get anywhere. When people see that, you can really go places.”

John Wyatt

“I want the same for our kids,” she says.

“Farming is awesome because John comes home for breakfast and lunch, which is something you don’t usually get in other jobs. Caleb spends a lot of time with him, but it’s important for him to spend time off-farm too. We can go to the beach and have fun rather than just be on the farm.”

They encourage other farmers to consider a job-sharing model. It takes off some work pressure, even though the farm may not have enough work to justify a full labour unit.

“Job-sharing could be used more widely. You give someone a full-time job without taking it all on yourself.

Historically we’ve only ever got someone in to milk when we have something on. Now it’s on the roster for us to have weekends off. This calving has been one of the smoothest and we’ve managed to get more done due to having an extra person here,” she says.

John and Caleb spreading lime/magnesium supplements on the paddock. The Suzuki is invaluable as it allows John to safely take Caleb onto the farm with him during the day.

John likes the variety of farming and enjoys being outside, working with animals and seeing the results of the decisions he and Kristina have made together.

“We’ve learnt that attention to detail is very important. John is very strong at that and I’m a bit of a perfectionist,” she says.

“You have to be adaptable. You can’t have a ‘this is the way we do things and the way we always will do them’ mindset.

I think that those two factors have been key to us being successful. Don’t be frightened to make changes.”

Employing a part-time worker does mean they won’t achieve their goals as quickly as they would like, but they feel that the journey is just as important as the destination.

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They would eventually like to own their own farm. For them, a 300-cow herd would be the perfect size.

A 300-cow farm provides a good worklife balance, it’s not too big and they can still know their cows well.

It’s also not so small that it’s uneconomic and not profitable enough to employ staff when you need to take a break.

They believe that the dairy industry has many paths for progression.

“I don’t think there are many industries with so many options for progression.

You must be prepared to work hard. If you don’t have the drive and the passion, you won’t get anywhere. When people see that, you can really go places,” John says. n

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16

MILK MONITOR

Peak milk key after slow start

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.

T

ighter supply and firm demand saw Fonterra lift this season’s forecast so that it’s now equalling its highest ever forecast of $8.40/kg milksolids at a midpoint range.

The new forecast puts it in line with many of the banks. It’s the same as Westpac, yet still below ASB, which is $8.75/kg MS and below ANZ’s $8.20/kg MS. Most of these banks raised their forecasts in the past few weeks due to lower-than-expected milk volumes in August.

Westpac cited the 4% fall in production as the key reason for the 75c upgrade to $8.50. This was reinforced by the October 20 GDT auction, which saw prices lift 2.2%.

Its Dairy Update for that day said it expected ongoing weakness in global dairy production will continue to underpin global dairy prices, citing production weakness having continued through September and into October.

ASB’s Rural Economic Note suggested high feed costs and logistical issues could offset farmers’ abilities to increase production when it lifted its forecast.

ANZ increased its price 50c, pointing to stable supply and demand.

“If markets remain in balance, then prices shouldn’t stray too far from current levels, which bodes well for the milk price,” it said in its October Agri Focus.

Westpac economists expected production to fall 1% compared to last season after the cool, wet end to winter and early spring.

“With the first four months of the year accounting for around 20% of the season’s production, it will be very difficult for production to be made up later, particularly relative to last season’s record level of production,” the bank said.

It anticipated that “weak” production data for September will reinforce these high prices.

It, along with the October production

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The slow start to the season has seen the banks increase their milk price forecasts, but what effect September and October’s production have on those forecasts remains to be seen.

figures, will be make or break for spring.

An unscientific straw poll regarding September production taken on social media showed that milk volumes were both up and down – depending on the farmer’s location and way too varied to make any accurate predictions yet.

September along with October’s production data will be most revealing, with September figures due to be released.

If there is a kind spring, allowing farmers to maximise peak milk as well as make the most of cutting and making grass silage and sowing this year’s maize crops in between rain showers, it will set them up well for the rest of the season.

For Fonterra, its primary drive to lift the milk price was continued demand and below average supply at a global level.

“These supply and demand dynamics are supporting the current pricing levels, and a higher contract rate has given us the ability to narrow the forecast range,” Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell said when the new forecast was revealed.

He emphasised it was still early in the season and the situation can change globally. It also can be affected locally as the country hits peak milk.

These include the impact of staff shortages in the contracting industry on the ability to make supplementary feed and whether high input costs and tighter regulations could put off some from taking full advantage of the high milk price.

Niwa’s September to November outlook points to warmer than average temperatures, particularly in the east of both islands.

Rainfall is likely to be below normal in the east of the North Island, near normal in the west of the South Island, and about equally likely to be near normal or below normal in all remaining regions across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Soil moisture levels are about equally likely to be near normal or below normal in the north and west of the North Island, most likely to be near normal in the east of the South Island, and about equally likely to be near normal or above normal in the west of the South Island.

In other words, a pretty normal spring.

Elsewhere, dairy production is starting to ease in the Northern Hemisphere as it comes into autumn – a point Hurrell also made in the forecast announcement.

These supply issues are also a reason why ASB is feeling so bullish.

“Still, global growth forecasts remain positive and the experience of covid tells us that dairy’s status as a staple food keeps prices supported, even in times of volatility.

“At any rate, farmers can be confident of a farmgate price north of the $7.54 kg MS they received last season,” it said.

On that, it is right and a slowish start to peak milk is not a bad thing when the milk price is that high. n

DAIRY FARMER

November 2021

26/10/21 12:50 PM

17

NEWS

Pathway for migrant farm workers

By Allan Crome

I

mmigration New Zealand (INZ) have announced a new one-off residency visa, which allows thousands of farm workers to apply for residence, a vital step in securing their long-term future in NZ. The new 2021 residency visa helps up to 165,000 migrants currently in NZ, many of whom may not have otherwise qualified for residence.

“This new residence visa is great news, not only for farm workers but also farm owners. Keeping our current skilled staff is vital. Prior to this rule change we had seen highly skilled migrant staff leaving New Zealand to Australia and Canada where visa rules were more welcoming.

Our farm workers can now plan for a future in New Zealand with their families,” Waikato dairy farmer and New Zealand Shores Immigration business development manager Grant Coombes says.

The significance of this visa cannot be understated, this provides a golden opportunity for many migrants to secure their future in NZ. The vast majority of migrant workers on dairy farms can apply, along with many other roles in the primary sector.

The eligibility criteria to be met includes being in NZ on September 29, 2021 and holding (or have applied for and subsequently granted) an eligible work visa.

Applicants must also meet one of the following criteria: have lived in New Zealand for three or more years, or earn at or above $27 per hour, or work in a role on a scarce list (which includes farm worker roles).

Applications for the 2021 Resident Visa will be rolled out in two phases: from December 1, 2021 and from March 1, 2022. Partners and dependent children (including those currently outside NZ) can be included. There are also streamlined criteria for police certificates and medicals. Dairy workers yet to enter NZ may still also be eligible if granted a

DAIRY FARMER

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November 2021

Migrant workers may now qualify for residency under a new residence visa that will allow them to secure a long-term future in New Zealand. New Zealand Shores Immigration business development manager Grant Coombes with migrant workers Leslie Gulayan, Josiah Sosmena and Evan Divinagracia, who all work on a dairy farm at Horotiu just north of Hamilton.

“New Zealand Shores has been working with farmers for over 12 years; this is by far the biggest change in immigration history to date.”

Grant Coombes class exception visa and enter NZ over the coming months.

Applications must be submitted by July 31, 2022, so we suggest migrants start document preparation early, as this can take months and is vital to get right.

It will be a very busy time for INZ receiving applications for the 2021 residence visas, combined with the mandatory requirement for employers to become INZ-accredited, signalled for mid next year.

“New Zealand Shores has been working with farmers for over 12 years; this is by far the biggest change in immigration history to date and we suggest getting your visa application submitted as soon as practically possible to avoid lengthy processing delays,” he says. n

Who am I?

Allan Crome is a licensed immigration adviser and director of New Zealand Shores.

17

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18

NEWS

NZDIA entries now open

By Gerald Piddock

C

hanges have been made to the New Zealand Dairy Awards (NZDIA) categories for 2022 as organisers try to keep the contest relevant to the changing dairy industry.

The Share Farmer, Farm Manager and Trainee categories have been refreshed and revamped after months of consultation, feedback and discussion.

NZDIA general manager Robin Congdon says it was important that the awards programme remains relevant and that issues raised in feedback were addressed.

“The Share Farmer, Dairy Manager and Dairy Trainee categories have been future-proofed to ensure the awards programme provides the best platform for all entrants to learn, connect and grow,” Congdon says.

This can be seen in the changes to judging in the Trainee category, with the skills day providing an opportunity to learn, not just be judged.”

Conditions for entering the dairy manager category have also changed with the minimum time spent on a NZ farm in relation to visa restrictions removed.

Merit awards now reflect the evolving NZ dairy industry with the powerplay dropped and the emerging talent award replacing the encouragement award.

Other merit awards have been replaced or renamed, such as the pasture and feed management award is now the feed management award.

“There’s also an exciting opportunity for regional sponsors to claim naming rights to the Planning and Financial Management award, which hasn’t been available for many years,” he says.

The Share Farmer category has also been under the microscope, with changes including an easier entry process, lessening the workload of judges who are all volunteers and to ensure the category is still fit for purpose.

“Changes are also being made to the appraisal process, which will help eliminate the potential for it to become or be perceived as a box ticking,” he says.

The 2021 New Zealand Share Farmer of the Year winners, brothers Sumit Kamboj and Manoj Kumar, with their awards after winning them in Hamilton earlier this year. Organisers have made minor changes to the awards for 2022.

“Changes are also being made to the appraisal process, which will help eliminate the potential for it to become or be perceived as a box ticking.”

“There’s a real buzz around all the changes and the regional committees are excited to put them into practice.”

Entries have also opened for the competition, which gives NZ dairy farmers the opportunity to challenge

themselves, earn a regional or national title and to share in substantial regional and national prize pools.

“2022 is shaping up to be a big year for the awards and we are thrilled the National Awards Dinner will be returning to Christchurch for the first time since May 2008,” he says.

“The dinner will be held at Te Pae on May 24, 2022, which we believe will provide the perfect backdrop for these prestigious awards.”

“We are excited to bring our programme partners, sponsors, regional finalists and their supporters for a week of experiences and personal development in and around Christchurch.” n

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DAIRY FARMER

November 2021

26/10/21 12:50 PM

ve

19

NEWS

N

Nominations open for prestigious award

ominations are once again open for the Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year award, which sees women dedicated to the future of New Zealand’s dairy industry recognised and celebrated nationwide.

Women are encouraged to nominate their rural role models before March when finalists will be put before a judging panel comprised of Dairy Women’s Network trustee Sophie Stanley, 2020 Dairy Woman of the Year Ash-Leigh Campbell and representatives from Fonterra, Global Women and Ballance Agri-Nutrients.

“The Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year award is a prestigious award recognising the hard mahi and leadership that

women contribute to this very important sector,” Stanley says.

“While the last two years have thrown us uncertainty in many ways, we have seen so many examples of women stepping up and leading themselves, their peers and the industry through these challenging times.

“Leadership has never been more important and we encourage all women in the sector to consider self-nominating or nominating a peer who you think has demonstrated the leadership qualities we need for the future.”

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell says no other award in New Zealand specifically recognises the capability and success of women in the dairy industry and “we are proud to sponsor it”.

“In these challenging times it’s more important than ever to recognise the outstanding women who are passionate about dairying, who are leaders in their communities and who work to be positive role models, bringing good people together to achieve good things and enabling the next generation of farmers to succeed,” Hurrell said.

The 2022 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year will receive 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.

The recipient will be announced at a gala dinner at the Dairy Women’s Network conference in Invercargill in n April.

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ON FARM

The switch up Part-season OAD milking has been a game-changer for a Southland farm.

Sam Hodsell and his partner Jenna Hansen are sharemilkers on a 285-hectare farm at Taramoa in Southland, where they are 50:50 20 sharemilkers on the family farm.

Photos: Natwick Photography

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DAIRY FARMER

November 2021

26/10/21 12:51 PM

21

By Cheyenne Nicholson

After suffering burnout so severe, a Southland farmer considered leaving the industry for good, but through support he took action and is now enjoying a good work-life balance.

W

hen 28-year-old Sam Hodsell woke up on July 2 this year, he wasn’t sure exactly what he had got himself into. But much like his approach to everything, he took the day one step at a time and embraced the challenges that lay ahead.

He and his partner Jenna Hansen are sharemilkers on a 285-hectare farm at Taramoa in Southland, where they are 50:50 sharemilking 600 cows for his parents Craig and Gaewyn Hodsell.

Sam was one of seven grand finalists at this year’s FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest held in Christchurch. It’s the flagship event for the New Zealand Young Farmers and is held in high esteem among the rural community.

Following on from the cancellation of last year’s event, the 2021 contest was set to be hotly contested.

“I don’t think you can ever really know what you’re signing up for. I’d competed at district and regional levels before, but this was my first go at grand finals. It was always a small goal to get to grand finals, but I think I underestimated the work that was involved,” Sam says.

“The experience pushed me out of my comfort zone, in a good way I think. Like many farmers, I get a bit too comfortable being in my overalls on my farm, so going out and competing in front of a large crowd was certainly a challenge.”

It’s a challenge he rose to as well. The three-day format of the competition proved gruelling and he performed well, but while he didn’t nab one of the top spots, he did Otago/Southland region proud.

“I’m so proud of how Sam gave

FARM FACTS • Farm owners: Craig and Gaewyn Hodsell • Sharemilkers: Sam Hodsell and Jenna Hansen • Location: Taramoa, Southland • Farm size: 285ha • Cows: 600 crossbreds • Production: 2020-21 season 305,834kg MS • Production target: 202122: 300,000kg MS

Continued page 22

Sam Hodsell suffered burnout in the early days of farming as he took on too much himself and worked long hours, but he recognised the signs and sought help.

DAIRY FARMER

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November 2021

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26/10/21 12:51 PM

22 About 25% of the 600-cow herd on the farm are milked once-a-day and last season produced 305,834kg MS.

everything a good crack. It was an awesome experience to be part of. It pushed us both out of our comfort zones. It meant I had to take on more responsibility with the management of the farm. There were a lot of positives to take away for both of us,” Jenna says.

Sam credits Young Farmers for providing him with support when he needed it most. While working in his first dairy farming role milking 600 cows near Darfield, he ended up making the mistake of many young farmers and lost sight of the bigger picture.

He was working long hours and had not yet realised the importance of delegation and having a good team around him, he started feeling the typical signs of burnout and was starting to lose the enjoyment he normally got from his work.

Jenna heads off to get the herd in for afternoon milking.

22

20-31 DF Nov.indd 22

“Somewhere along the way I started to burn out. I was working too hard for too many hours, with too few staff,” he says.

“I became a bit overfocused on my end-goal and I think I wasn’t even trying to get a good work-life balance going, something I know now is really important for longevity.”

With support from friends and family, he noticed what was going on and decided to take some action, realising that there has to be a balance between work and the rest of life.

Growing up in a farming family, he was on the tools from the moment he could walk and there was never any doubt in his mind of what he’d end up doing for a career – he was always going to be a farmer. When he finished high school, he headed to Lincoln University to study a Bachelor of Agriculture, which he says

was a decision he debated over for a long time.

“It was a bit of a toss-up between going to university or not, and then which university I wanted to go to. I thought for a while about going straight into farming or contracting, but I wanted to get a good foundation under my belt.

I spoke to a lot of people and ultimately Lincoln, being that bit closer to home, won,” he says.

“Looking back, I’m really glad I went there. I don’t know if I’d still be farming if I had started straight out of school. The people I met, the skills and knowledge I gained, it’s all invaluable when you’re out there doing it,” he says.

Post-university, like many graduates, he skipped the country for a six-week OE before getting started on his progression towards his main goal – farm ownership.

While succession for the family farm had yet to be discussed at the time, he says he was keen to see what he could do on his own and wanted to put in the hard yards for a place of his own.

His first job after university was managing a farm at Darfield where he suffered from burnout. During this time, he had the opportunity to take up the 50:50 sharemilking role on the family farm. The three-year contract was appealing, but he felt he needed some time to recalibrate before he took that next step in his career. He headed over the ditch to drive tractors.

“I realised, as a guy in my early 20s, it was probably my last chance to get out to do something I really wanted to do. Driving tractors had always been on my to-do list; my brother had done it,

DAIRY FARMER

November 2021

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23 the money was appealing and I needed something different,” he says.

In Australia, he worked on a sheep, beef and cropping farm and had stints in agricultural contracting and harvesting.

“The size of the operations over there is something we just don’t have here in New Zealand, so I’m grateful that I took up that opportunity. It’s hard work and you’re in charge of some pretty large, expensive machines, but it’s all experience,” he says.

Feeling refreshed from his time in Australia, he was once again offered the 50:50 sharemilking opportunity on the family farm. He accepted and is now in his fourth season. Three years ago, Jenna, who had been working as a stock manager on a hill country station, joined him.

“It was a great opportunity to support Sam and for us to grow a business together. I’ve enjoyed the challenges that dairy farming brings and working as a team has been really great,” Jenna says.

The 285ha farm has been in the family for 16 years and was originally a drystock farm that his parents converted to dairy in 2005. Starting off milking 360 cows in its first year of conversion, it has grown to a 600 strong herd today, with many on-farm developments being done along the way.

“The farm is unique in that it’s large. It’s a 4.5km walk from the bottom paddocks to the shed and it’s fully self-contained.

We winter crop on the dairy platform itself and we have three run-off blocks that my parents run,” Sam says.

Being a fully self-contained farm, it’s not a typical 50:50 type of job. During his first year of sharemilking on the farm, he ran it solo, while Jenna was working an hour away.

He learnt early on that to avoid burning out quickly, he’d have to set things up

Sam runs a low-input System 2 and has been experimenting with various crops and pastures and is aiming to grow more clover across the board.

“It’s a 4.5km walk from the bottom paddocks to the shed and it’s fully self-contained.

We winter crop on the dairy platform itself and we have three run-off blocks that my parents run.”

Sam Hodsell

and rely on a team, rather than just himself.

“At the start I think I got a bit burnt out, being self-contained there’s a lot of work and I think I tried to do everything myself. I realised that wasn’t going to fly for the long-term so I sat down with Mum and Dad and tried to define

everything out to share the load. My dad, Craig, acts as a grazier, I pay market rates and he takes care of the young stock,” he says.

“I was concerned at the start about having a life outside the farm as well, but so far we’re making it work. Because it’s all a family operation it sort of motivates you to work harder because it’s benefiting the whole family, not just yourself.”

Much has changed on the farm in 15 years. Development of peat and sand dunes, fencing waterways and experimenting with cropping and pasture, to name a few. But one of the most notable changes has been a move into once-a-day (OAD) milking.

They’ve been doing part-season OAD of just 100-200 cows for three years; this was a largely practical decision due to

Continued page 24

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Sam describes his farm team as being A-plus and they stepped up while he was busy preparing for the Young Farmer grand final. The farm team consists of Sarah Goulding, Alex Rundle, Sam Hodsell and Jenna Hansen.

the size of the property and the walking distances.

“Before we started doing the partseason OAD, we effectively couldn’t use 30ha of the farm for a big chunk of the

year because it was just too far away from the shed to be walking the cows twice-a-day (TAD),” he says.

“We would get tight on feed and had a higher incidence of lame cows (and) you

quickly realise it doesn’t have to be that way. Then we started OAD for 100 young cows around Christmas time and it’s worked really well.”

The milking herd, predominantly

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25 crossbreds, responded really well to the part-season shift and he says he’s found a portion of the herd have really benefitted from it.

“We were finding that the same cows were getting skinny every year, it didn’t matter how fat you got them. We used to dry these girls off early, feed them up through winter but they always lost weight. I realised they were probably genetically predisposed to losing weight; we’ve found that those cows do better on OAD,” he says.

They’re starting to maintain their weight, which has been a huge benefit.”

Heartened by the success of partseason OAD, they made the decision this year to try a portion of the herd, around 25%, on full-season OAD. A tough spring meant less grass growth this year than other years, so it’s proven to be a sensible decision. Feed situation aside, one of the main drivers to full-season OAD is wanting to see some animal health and reproductive benefits.

“We aim to run a system that looks after both our staff and our cows. I think that moving to the OAD system has provided us with the flexibility to do both.

It’s been rewarding to see the younger cows hold condition and cycle earlier this season without intervention,” Jenna says.

There were a few barriers that stopped them from making the switch to OAD earlier, their main one being because of the difficulties it would cause over mating. This year, they are tackling that by mating TAD and leaving cows handy to the shed during that period of time.

“It’s easy to let barriers stop you trying things, but there’s generally a way of working around them. We have 25% of

Farm assistant Alex Rundle and Sam chat about where the herd is going after milking.

the herd on OAD right now and so far we are down 1% for September production and 9% for the season, which is better than we were expecting. By doing this we’ve unlocked that extra 30ha of the farm to use, which gives us more options,” Sam says.

Last season the 600-cow herd produced 305,834 kilograms of milksolids and the target for this year is 300,000kg MS on System 2.

While the diverse range of soils on the farm gives them some levers to pull in winter when it gets wet, it means that a blanket approach to their pasture management isn’t an option. Half the farm is peat and sand dunes, the other half is “good-quality soils”.

As a result, he has been able to do

The farm is large and it is a 4.5km walk from the bottom paddocks to the shed.

Hoof trimming helps keep the cows’ feet in good condition.

DAIRY FARMER

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November 2021

“Like many farmers, I get a bit too comfortable being in my overalls on my farm, so going out and competing in front of a large crowd was certainly a challenge.”

Sam Hodsell

some experimenting in this space.

“In theory, diverse soils are great. If it’s wet you can put them in the dunes and reduce pugging, but it takes planning and the plan tends to change quite quickly, but in general it provides us flexibility,” he says.

About 10% of the farm is regrassed each year and they have been trialling different grass cultivars and herb mixes to see which combination makes the farm really hum. So far they’ve had success with cocksfoot in the sand paddocks and are currently trialling plantain on those marginal parts of the farm prone to drying out.

On the good-quality soils they have been pushing into a higher proportion of tetraploids. Tetraploids tend to be more palatable for livestock, resulting in a higher percentage of pasture eaten and pasture utilised. Prior to making the switch to tetraploids, they were having issues getting acceptable growth rates on the shoulders of the season.

Continued page 26

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26

Sam is a member of Young Farmers and credits them for providing him with support when he needed it most. Sam rolls out a break fence ahead of milking.

Jenna Hansen was working as a stock manager on a hill country station before going dairy farming with Sam. Jenna feeds the replacement calves.

“We are trying to grow more clover across the board; it’s been a downfall of ours so that’s my hobby at the moment, figuring out how to grow more. This starts right back when you regrass a paddock; you have to look after it, boost clover sowing rates and not graze it too short,” he says.

“I have paddocks that don’t get a lot of nitrogen and I just let the clover do its thing. I have noticed that those paddocks grow less than the ryegrass paddocks in the spring, so I’m looking at putting in some other cultivars in some of the harder sand country to make that system work a bit more.”

Thirty-five hectares of the dairy platform is put into swedes each year for winter feed, with 15ha on the runoff blocks going into fodder beet for the young stock, with baleage grown on-farm available to fill the gap when needed.

Hoof crush

They also use a small amount of PKE when needed.

“We used to do summer turnips but again, because of the size of the farm, we had to have those turnip paddocks close to the shed, which is where I’d like to be growing grass so we phased that out. We may look at them again in future when or if we do full herd full-season OAD,” he says.

Calving kicks off August 5 and Jenna does all the calf rearing, with help from Sam’s parents. Calves are fed TAD for a month, then fed OAD with calf meal and straw fed throughout the weaning process. Calves are then weaned onto support land.

“We’ve been keeping all heifer replacements; normally about 33% (220) with the surplus sold off and bring about 23% (120) into the herd, so roughly 60 are sold each year,” he says.

They also rear 120 bull calves each year,

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which his parents finish on the support land at 18 months of age.

Mating begins on October 20 with the heifers, followed by the mixed-age cows on the 31. The start of mating date has been brought forward by a few days over the past few years to allow the heifers a chance to recover and cycle again postcalving.

They AI the entire herd for 12 weeks, with the last cycle predominantly being short-gestation semen to try to compact their calving and achieve more days in milk.

Sam does all the AB so they can create a more flexible approach to mating; it’s a tactic that has paid off last season with the switch to OAD for part of the herd.

“Dad does his own AB too, so having him working with me has really helped with my confidence. Doing your own herd is quite a lot of pressure really; you know their value and their worth so you really don’t want to stuff it up,” he says.

“The herd has always been quite a high index herd, so when it comes to our genetic decisions it’s about maintaining the BW and PW and trying to improve on the fertility front, as well as lameness, longevity and overall conformation of our herd.”

Helping them on the farm is an A-plus team of staff but being a hands-on person, he struggled a lot with taking the necessary step back from the farm to focus on his preparations for the Young Farmer of the Year grand finale.

While relinquishing control didn’t come naturally, it had some benefits for Jenna and their team.

“It forced me to step back and let the team do what they are capable of. By allowing them the opportunity to take on more responsibility I think it really empowered the team,” he says.

It’s a far cry from when he first arrived on the farm. He admits he was a bad one for constantly wanting to jump in when he saw a staff member doing something incorrectly or going in and fixing their mistake for them. Over the past few years, he’s had a crash course in the need for delegation.

“Now, I always try to make sure I’m empowering my staff, giving them opportunities to make mistakes and helping to guide them through fixing it and what to do next time. Being a boss isn’t just about dishing out tasks, it’s about teaching,” he says.

In 2020 they signed up for the Farming to Freedom course. The high-performance course for farmers by farmers, helps to build knowledge

DAIRY FARMER

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November 2021

When suffering burnout, Sam says he focused too much on the end-goal but now realises a good work-life balance is important for longevity. Sam with one of his friendly herd.

“We aim to run a system that looks after both our staff and our cows. I think that moving to the OAD system has provided us with the flexibility to do both.”

Jenna Hansen

and practical skills to analyse their own business relationships and build solid foundations, which mitigates risk and enables lasting growth strategies.

“It was a really neat course. One of the main take-homes for us was that you don’t employ people on skills, you hire them on their values and their capability.

This was definitely an area of weakness for us. Getting systems, policies and procedures in place for training people, it takes a huge amount of time to get motivated to write those policies and get everything in place,” he says.

It’s been a lesson in learning to create and sustain a team culture that naturally lends itself to open honest conversation.

As a result of the Farming to Freedom course and Sam’s enforced hiatus offfarm, he has seen some “neat” changes in his team.

“A few weeks back we’d all spoken about needing some policies in place for the plant, then last weekend one of our staff, Sarah, had gone off and written something up during her time off. Sarah

and the rest of the team are just as invested in this place as we are and want to see it thrive, which is neat that we are all on the same page,” he says.

“It’s a complicated farm, no one day is ever the same, which can be challenging as by and large people like routine.”

One of the challenges for the couple has been how they should look after their staff in a system like they have. This is where OAD has huge benefits, as does their decision to pay on an hourly basis.

“It allows us greater flexibility. I think with staff management it’s about getting a good crew of people and doing what you can to ensure they have plenty of learning opportunities and are able to get some form of work-life balance,” he says.

After experiencing the burnout early in his farming career, he is passionate about work-life balance. He’s also an advocate for asking for help when you need it.

Being an active member of Young Farmers, he says that one of the best parts of the organisation is the sense of community. He admits there have been a number of times in his life where he’s needed to lean on friends he’s made through the club.

“It’s important to remember that farming is a long-term game. You can’t get hung up on the short-term things,” he says.

“As a young person, you’re often motivated and don’t tend to look too far ahead. As you get older, you realise you have to. You also realise you have to take breaks and relax. Life’s not all about n work.”

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DAIRY CHAMPION

Keeping traditions alive

By Anne Boswell

A dairy farming tradition for children was in danger of being lost until a Waikato farmer came up with a digital solution.

W

hen Michelle Burgess started high school, there was a bittersweet aspect to the milestone.

It was the start of new adventures, but also marked the end of a pastime she had enjoyed since she was eight years old – Calf Club.

“It was kind of the end of an era and I didn’t want it to stop,” Michelle says.

This experience impacted her decision to stipulate that high school-aged children should be included in the format of Calf Club NZ, the competition she co-founded in 2018.

“Calf Club becomes more competitive at a high school level and some even want to go on to train as judges,” she says.

Now in its fourth year, Calf Club NZ has gone from strength to strength, running in conjunction with traditional school Calf Club, it was founded when Mycoplasma bovis biosecurity restrictions meant kids were missing out on their favourite event.

“I thought it would be fun to start a Calf Club-style competition whereby members of a Facebook group I founded, NZ Dairy Genetics Network, would judge kids and their calves informally,” she explains.

“However, Calf Club NZ co-founder Josh Herbes saw the idea and suggested that we take the competition to a national level. From there, it just took off.”

Michelle drew on her Calf Club experience to create the Calf Club NZ format, which is predominantly online and allows children to register their calf and submit a photo and an explanation of how they cared for it. Regional onfarm judging is then held in the October school holidays.

“With my knowledge of how Calf Club worked, and advice from some incredible mentors, I was able to set some guidelines and a general system,” she says.

“We developed a national scorecard to work from, which makes it easier for

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When Mycoplasma bovis meant Calf Club days could not be held, Waikato dairy farmer Michelle Burgess co-founded Calf Club NZ, an online competition open to children from around the country, to keep the tradition alive.

“It is so much more enjoyable to calve in autumn; there are warmer, longer days, which is good for our mentality during calving. There are fewer animal health issues for cows and calves.”

junior judges and ensures all entrants are scored consistently across New Zealand.”

She says judges are always in short supply, so having assistant or trainee judges is a great way to train future judges.

“Just by ‘tagging along’ with experienced judges, they can take the opportunity to discuss and process each

child and calf between farms without time pressure,” she says.

Every year, she processes all judging applications, designating them to judging regions based on where they live and how far they are happy to travel.

“We’ve managed to improve this process every year, so travel distances are kept down,” she says.

“As more judges and kids have got involved, it has been worthwhile creating geographically smaller regions, especially in larger areas such as the Waikato, while ensuring there are still enough kids to make it competitive for each judge.”

Once judges, trainee judges and assistant judges are designated to regions, she sends out emails with all the information they need, including judging guidelines, the judging region they are assigned to and contact details of any other judges they will be working with, so they can organise a judging day in the school holidays that will suit them all.

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29 Once Calf Club NZ submissions are closed, which was September 15 this year, Josh sends her the “huge” submission file and she designates all the kids to a judging region.

“Kids on farms that are just too isolated to include in the judging region – we have some lovely kids in Kaitaia, Coromandel, Otago and Hawke’s Bay – go into a video judging category,” she says.

“Kids that are unable to participate on the day chosen by their regional judge can go into the video judging category as well.”

She says Josh has brought invaluable skills to the table.

“Josh is so talented. He’s made a great website and he has been instrumental in finding opportunities with sponsors that create win-win situations,” she says.

She says Calf Club was an important part of her childhood and something she would like her children, along with others, to continue taking part in.

“I grew up with Calf Club and it’s something special we want our own kids to do – I don’t want to see that part of our farming culture lost,” she says.

Michelle gave up Calf Club when she started high school but her own two children are now involved and competing in the online event for the first time. Sophie, eight, Michelle and Alex, five, with this year’s calves.

With generations of dairy farming in her blood, Michelle who was born and raised at Roto-o-Rangi, always knew she wanted to be involved in dairy farming.

“I’ve been keen on genetics since I was a preschooler and always had that

Continued page 30

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30 to graze their young stock.

They are all autumn calving, starting March 10, other than a few calves in July from her embryo transfer (ET) work.

“Lifestyle was a huge factor in moving to autumn calving,” she says.

“It is so much more enjoyable to calve in autumn; there are warmer, longer days, which is good for our mentality during calving. There are fewer animal health issues for cows and calves.

“In spring you spend more hours moving stock with the bad weather and worrying about pugging.”

In addition to Calf Club, she actively pursues her passion in genetics – both in her own herd, and in the national herd.

“I love the gambling aspect of genetics,” she laughs.

“It’s never 1+2=3; it could equal -1, or 6.

It’s the laws of nature at play. You strive for perfection, but it’s always just out of reach.

“And the goalpost is always moving too; our farm system is evolving each year as we strive to refine our management and the cow we desire.”

Michelle keeps busy juggling various roles on the farm, Calf Club and the family, as well as serving on the farmer advisory panel for New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited and the Holstein Friesian NZ External Affairs Committee.

interest in the cows in my parents’ herd,” she says.

“Mum and dad let me be involved in the breeding decisions and contract mating in their herd and it just grew from there.”

She studied a Bachelor of Applied Science, majoring in Agriculture at Massey University. It was there in 2004 that she met husband Bill, from North East US, who was studying veterinary medicine.

In 2005, the pair moved to the US and got in touch with a group of Kiwis setting up NZ-style farms in Missouri.

Together they worked on one farm for six months before moving to manage the conversion of a large confinement farm to grazing for 18 months.

“It was hard work but the tools we picked up working there were invaluable,” she says.

They married and returned to NZ to start the journey toward owning their own farm. They have two children – Sophie, eight, and Alex, five, who are now enjoying their first year of Calf Club.

They contract milked 400 cows in Te Awamutu for one year before winning

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the tender on a lease for the 200ha Ruakura dairy farm, located opposite Waikato University.

They had previously purchased 250 empty cows to carryover; their first investment in a herd.

“I grew up with Calf Club and it’s something special we want our own kids to do – I don’t want to see that part of our farming culture lost.”

They farmed at Ruakura for seven years before plans for the Waikato Expressway and Ruakura Inland Port saw the farm disestablished.

“The timing was good to move on.

By then, we were ready to buy our own farm,” she says.

They bought their Te Poi farm on June 1, 2016, and now milk 330 Holstein Friesian and Friesian cross cows on 100ha, with a 40ha lease block next door

She is particularly interested in embryo transfer, an advanced reproductive technology which sees an exponential improvement in genetic gain.

“I consider it my hobby, but as Bill says, if your hobby pays for itself or even makes a little money, then it’s a pretty good hobby,” she says.

The first cow they had flushed, Burgess My Dandy S3J, resulted in her son graduating to the LIC Premier Sires team; Burgess Trickshot ET now has close to 20,000 daughters in the national herd and earned them over $100,000 from his royalties.

Michelle has also served on the farmer advisory panel for NZ Animal Evaluation Limited (NZAEL) since 2016, which manages national breeding objectives.

“It’s been really neat,” she says.

“You learn a heck of a lot and get a deeper understanding of genetics.

I enjoy helping develop BW to an optimum index for New Zealand farmers and sharing my knowledge with farmers along the way to give them a better understanding of genetics and breeding.”

She’s also on the Holstein Friesian NZ External Affairs Committee and she and Bill were finalists in the 2019 Dairy Business of the Year, a competition they would like to enter again.

She is a dairy farmer, through and through, and can’t imagine working in any other industry.

“I love the positivity and support of

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31

The Burgess farm at Te Poi farm was bought in 2016 and now milks 330 Holstein Friesian and Friesian cross cows on 100ha.

the farming community, who are always willing to share, or lend a hand,” she says.

“I almost take that for granted, having experienced that all my life, but other industries don’t share info the same way.

And my experience with Calf Club NZ has demonstrated just how great the wider agricultural industry is to work with; they are always happy to help, and sponsor, and are so approachable.”

She says the success of Calf Club NZ has surpassed her expectations.

“We were unsure whether it would continue past the M bovis period, but there has been a huge demand and it is growing every year, and even more so the last two years because of covid-19,” she says.

“Although we are navigating the uncertainty of Auckland and Waikato lockdowns, we can potentially look at extending the judging period so kids in those areas could be judged in the first weeks back at school, or via video submission and phone call.”

She says they will continue to refine the Calf Club NZ competition each year to simplify the process in terms of workload.

“We want to set it up so if anyone ever took over either of our roles it would be easy enough to pass on all the information,” she says.

“At this stage there is a lot of potential to grow and go to the next level, but at the same time we want to keep it simple so it can remain an event that is run by volunteers. Josh’s time, my time and the judges’ time is all volunteered and we want to keep it that way.”

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32

WOMEN IN AGRIBUSINESS

A very dairy series of events

By Cheyenne Nicholson

A Waikato farmer has written and published a book for Kiwi children based around dairying and plans are in the pipeline for more to come.

A

re you ever in the shed and out of nowhere an idea hits you?

You scrabble to find a bit of paper not covered in mud, dig around for a pen that’s still got some life left in it and scribble it down on paper.

And, often, that bit of paper gets lost or forgotten about.

But imagine what could happen if you didn’t lose or forget about that bit of paper and actioned your idea?

Waikato farmer Kerryn Zander often has little stories pop into her head, jots them on paper and they are promptly forgotten about. Until recently, her sole audience were her husband Liam, their son Riley, three, and her stepchildren Wills, eight, and Lilly, 10. One day she decided to act on her idea and now one of her stories has turned into a physical book for everyone to enjoy.

In October, she launched her first children’s book A Very Dairy Christmas and what started as an idea to publish just one book, has turned into plans for a larger series.

“I’ll be honest and say it probably took me about 15 minutes to write A Very Dairy Christmas,” Kerryn says.

“Poetry and writing come easily to me and I’ve always loved to write so combining that with my love of farming felt like a smart idea. Any time I have a story idea, I tell my husband and kids and if I get laughs, I know I’m onto a good one.”

The Zanders are contract

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T S Waikato farmer Kerryn Zander often has ideas pop into her head and sometimes jots them down but often forgets about them. She has now turned one of those ideas into a children’s book, which she hopes to turn into a series.

milking a 300-cow System 4 farm at Tahuna near Morrinsville. They are autumn calving, which is a great fit for their family and allows them the flexibility to make the most of summertime and forgo (mostly) the wet weather gear during calving.

“We have a really nice, healthy crossbred herd here.

It’s just the two of us working the farm. Liam does most of the farm work and I do most

of everything else, as well as some milkings and the calves,” she says.

Although she grew up on a dairy farm, she bounced around a few different industries before returning to dairy. A vet nurse by trade, she’s also worked as a personal trainer and in several corporate jobs. When she met her husband she made the move from Auckland to the Waikato and back to farming.

“I was working at a vet clinic part-time when I first moved here. We got married, then had our son and now we are contract milking. It’s been a big learning curve for me because I was out of the industry for quite a while,” she says.

“Liam has been working in it for 15 years so has a lot of experience under his belt.

I’ve been doing Primary ITO courses on the side to pick up

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33 “I loved the way Henry was able to put my words into pictures. I started by just getting him to illustrate a few pages and I quickly knew I wanted to work with him.” extra knowledge as well.

“We love the farm we’re on and the autumn calving is perfect when you’ve got a small child. Unfortunately, the farm is for sale so we are looking for our next opportunity,” she says. experience Looking back at the past year and her journey to get

her story on paper, she says it’s been a bit of a ride but she’s proud of her first book and is already starting work on the next books in the Very Dairy series. *After having the initial idea to create a book out of one of the many stories floating around in her head, she set to work to figure out the how. Having no experience in writing, publishing or marketing, she decided her first step was to connect with others who could help.

“I joined a Facebook group for authors and that was a place (where) I got a lot of information and resources. I knew I wanted to publish the book to fit within my budget.

One of my first tasks was finding an illustrator,” she says.

Scrolling through the group one day, she came across 19-year old newbie illustrator Henry Cooper. She instantly

Illustrator Henry Cooper came on board to illustrate a Very Dairy Christmas and added little touches like a bird for kids to find on each page.

liked his style and liked the idea of two newbies teaming together to create a book that she hopes will entertain and help others understand the dairy industry a bit more.

“I loved the way Henry was able to put my words

into pictures. I started by just getting him to illustrate a few pages and I quickly knew I wanted to work with him,” she says.

“He put little touches in like

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Kerryn often bounces her story ideas off her family and if she gets some laughs, she knows she is on to a winning idea.

Kerryn, Liam, Lily, Willis and Riley (front), out on the farm.

a bird for kids to find on each page and was so easily able to visually get across what I was writing about.”

With words and illustrations sorted, figuring out how to get it published was the next step. While self-

publishing books is becoming increasingly popular, the price tag and risk can be daunting and there are many things to consider and get right. She got in touch with another rural mother who’s been down the publishing route

Kerryn is hands-on on-farm. She and her husband are contract milking 300 cows on the farm at Tahuna in Waikato.

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before to get some advice.

“She helped me out a lot and I utilised the author’s Facebook group to get recommendations. I searched through a lot until I found one that fit my budget and what I wanted. I really wanted to work with someone local.

That was important to me,” she says.

After going through the publisher’s different packages, the deal was struck and she was a step closer to becoming an official author.

A quick Google search put her in touch with an editor to ensure her story flowed and had good grammar and spelling.

“My publisher has been great through the whole process. They’ve helped guide me on fonts, sizing all those sorts of things. There’s a lot more to the whole process than you could ever think, and I’ve learnt a lot,” she says.

When it came to marketing and distribution, she wanted to do it all herself to help keep the whole experience authentic to her and retain ownership over the process.

She is utilising social media to help market her book, having already had immense interest from her Instagram page.

Despite it making her want to throw her laptop out the window on many occasions, she has also set up a website with the help of a friend who was integral to getting it off the ground. Her first run of books is around 300 books and, pending the uptake, will plan more in future.

No venture is without its challenges and like many other rural women running businesses, the balancing act between the farm, children and business has been one of the toughest. During autumn calving this year, she says she played a bit of tag team with her husband for childcare to do meetings, meet deadlines and juggle the rest of her responsibilities on-farm.

“Our youngest son got sick this calving, which made things trickier but somehow we figured it out and came out the other side. Don’t ask me how, though. When you’re passionate about something, be it farming or writing, you just make it work,” she says.

When things got really busy, and even now, something she relies on a lot is meditation. It helps her to sort out all of the open tabs in her brain and make some order.

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35

“My biggest piece of advice for anyone juggling life is to tackle one thing at a time.

Do that one thing well and then move on to the next.”

“My biggest piece of advice for anyone juggling life is to tackle one thing at a time. Do that one thing well and then move on to the next. It can be so easy to jump in and out of tasks, but for me at least, I wasn’t producing my best work doing that. Also make lists. All the lists,” she says.

“I won’t lie. A few loads of washing had to go through a few times because they were forgotten about in the machine, many ‘quick’ dinners and other things, which is totally okay.”

She says that it’s essential to connect with other people in your field. During her publishing journey she utilised her mum as a sounding board, got chatting to the author of the Tractor

DAIRY FARMER

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November 2021

Dave books Rachel Numan for advice and did as much research as she could to help guide her decisions.

Out of everything, shipping proved to be the biggest thing to tackle. Knowing her target audience is rural and wanting them to be able to buy books without spending half the book price on rural delivery, she spent a lot of time looking at options for shipping but thinks she’s found the best option.

“Like my return to farming, it’s been one big, steep learning curve. I have some things I’d do differently next time to make the process smoother, but I think just knowing what to expect next time will make a huge difference,” she says.

As for what’s next, she is working on the next book in her series and she and Liam are on the hunt for their next farming opportunity, which they hope will bring them closer to their goals of 50:50 sharemilking.

For now, she’s relishing in her accomplishments and is excited for her book to be out in the world and to be read by our future farmers. She’s also quite glad she didn’t forget n about that bit of paper.

Kerryn grew up on a dairy farm but trained as a vet nurse, worked as a personal trainer and in several corporate jobs before moving to Waikato to go back farming.

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36

SPECIAL REPORT

Tip of the iceberg

By Samantha Tennent

Earlier this year the Government announced a ban on live cattle exports and allowed for a two-year phase-out period, but those involved in the industry believe the ban is the wrong move.

A

decision made by the Government to ban livestock exporting by sea from New Zealand could have destructive implications for the wider dairy sector. Exporters have concerns about the long-term impacts of the ban, knowing they will extend across farmers and throughout the supply chain and have potential trade ramifications, but the full impacts are not fully understood yet.

The Government claims the controversial practice has been banned due to allegations surrounding animal welfare.

“It’s about animal welfare, we’ve made some changes but it still hasn’t enabled us to guarantee good animal welfare standards on the boats,” Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said when he announced the ban.

“And the voyage times to our northern hemisphere markets will always pose animal welfare challenges.”

The sector was given a phase-out period of two years before the ban takes place in 2023. But the export sector is up in arms about the decision.

Especially after two reviews into the trade have been carried out in recent years recommending the practice should continue with some modifications.

The first was instigated by MPI following concerns of deaths connected to new farming ventures in Sri Lanka in 2019 and the second was an independent review carried out by Michael Heron QC and Rear Admiral Tony Parr after the sinking of the Gulf Livestock 1 cattle export ship in 2020.

“I acknowledge the economic benefit some farmers get from the trade, but I also note that support of it is not universal within the sector,” he says.

“There is split opinion about its long-

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Veterinarian Charlotte Harris wanted to see if live exports were as bad as media reported so went along on a voyage and was convinced there is nothing wrong with the practice.

term value and how it fits with the story we want to tell internationally to consumers.”

O’Connor says the review submission from the independent National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) who advises ministers on animal welfare issues, recommended that the practice should stop. And he said officials had spoken to key trading partners about the decision.

“I recognise the importance of our trade relationships with our international partners and we’re committed to working with them as we transition away from the shipment of livestock,” he says.

Mark Willis is the chair of the Animal Genetic Trade Association (AGTA) who represent the interests of the livestock export and germplasm industries and

he struggles to understand the rationale behind the ban.

“Yes, we have our international reputation to uphold, but this decision from the Government will do more harm than good to our reputation,” Willis says.

He highlights the growing Chinese agricultural community is closely linked to livestock imports, with some of the biggest agricultural companies in China forming their relationships through livestock exports from NZ. “We’ve watched the sales of New Zealand whole milk powder grow exponentially since the start of livestock exports to China and we are concerned if those customers start forming relationships with other countries to obtain cattle for their domestic farming operations,” he says.

“Because if they start developing other

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In 2020 NZ exported 113,000 cattle to China, which was three times as many as 2019.

Export ship Gloucester Express carried a shipment of just over 4000 cattle to China earlier this year.

“Yes, we have our international reputation to uphold, but this decision from the Government will do more harm than good to our reputation.”

Mark Willis

relationships and buy products from those countries instead of New Zealand, where are we going to sell our milk powder?”

In 2020 NZ exported 113,000 cattle to China, which was three times as many as 2019. It was worth $261 million and has accounted for 0.2% of our total primary exports revenue since 2015. Demand has continued to grow.

The ban will have significant impacts on the entire supply chain across NZ. “Genuine economic value and commercial activity in the rural sector is generated from the industry,” managing director of livestock export company Genetic Development New Zealand David Hayman says.

“We know all the participants in the supply chain are heavily focused on quality outcomes with good welfare for the animals. Even the treasury advised the minister it would be a big opportunity loss if a ban was imposed.

“We think it’s the wrong decision for the wrong reasons. Farmers will have to make a lot of tough decisions about premature culling of surplus breeding stock at nil or low values.”

Hayman says the various stakeholders connected to the practice, in particular, there will be a significant loss for the transport operators who bring the

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animals into the pre-export isolation facilities and transport them from the facilities to the port to load onto the ships.

“We’re talking about shipments of around 5000 animals, and they can range from 3000 to 12,000 or 15,000.

Taking that business away will directly impact all of those people,” he says.

“There are a lot of players in the whole process and it’s a long supply chain that is all fairly tightly coordinated and carries high costs if there are any mistakes and the animals aren’t ready for the ship at the right time.

“Exporting provides a premium to our farmers and it would be devastating to them not to have that option. It’s fulfilling a valuable role for our farmers and a valuable role for China.”

Young veterinarian Charlotte Harris was keen to find out if it was as bad as she had seen in the media. She went on a shipment with just over 4000 cattle earlier this year and came back convinced there is nothing wrong with it.

“I took lots of photos and had no concerns if anyone wanted to see,” Harris says.

“And having a vet look at cattle twicea-day is more than most New Zealand farms. The cattle had adequate feed, shelter, water, they were very happy and comfortable and didn’t seem fazed at all.”

There are many people feeling the frustrations of the decision to ban livestock exporting by sea and despite the staunch stance from the Government, many are hopeful they will reconsider.

“Animal welfare has to be at the forefront of this industry, and the values and standards that it aspires to,” Willis says.

“And there’s not one participant within the industry that shirks at that n responsibility.”

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38

SPECIAL REPORT

A vet’s take on exports

By Samantha Tennent

Diligence and care of cattle are paramount onboard ships transporting animals thousands of kilometres to another country.

E

veryone involved in exporting livestock from New Zealand’s shore values their welfare from the moment they enter the supply chain, right through their productive life.

Ensuring they arrive in the best possible condition and lead a happy life is highly important. And to guarantee they are thoroughly looked after on their journey a vet accompanies the cattle, as well as capable stockmen, at a ratio of 1400 to 1.

During a typical day on the ship, the first riser gets up at 4.30am to check all the cattle before meeting the crew for breakfast at 7am. After breakfast, the team head to their designated areas and spend nearly three hours inspecting every single animal. They are looking for any signs of injury or disease and dislodging any limb or head that may have gotten in an awkward spot.

“While we’re doing our rounds, we are writing down anything worth noting and head back to swap notes at morning tea,” Dave Barton, a Rangitikei veterinarian that has been on four export voyages, says.

“We confirm our plan of attack, which animals should be moved to the hospital pens on each deck for observation or treatment and what the treatment plans look like.”

There is at least one veterinarian onboard each shipment who oversees the care of the livestock, and several stockmen based on the number of stock. They are well-prepared with medication and materials for various treatments.

“The main problems are leg swellings from bumps when loading onto the ship, so we administer pain relief and antibiotics if they’re needed,” he explains.

“Some ships have a bit of pink eye but our stock have been vaccinated against it so we don’t have any problems, and

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The cattle are destined for big operations and regardless of the time of day and night they arrive, they always have a welcoming party waiting at the dock. Chinese vets inspect the cattle before they disembark.

“It would be a different story if they were destined for a backyard like you see some cows over there, but these are expensive animals and we can be sure about the facilities they’re destined for.”

Dave Barton occasionally there can be the odd animal affected by heat or the odd foot abscess, but they’re generally pretty healthy.”

After the morning treatments, they meet as a team again for lunch before heading out to repeat the checks and administer further treatments in the

afternoon. The cycle finishes around 4pm and days feel quick since they are consistently busy.

The animals get used to the interaction and quickly become quiet, with the dairy heifers stretching out for a cheeky lick whenever they are within reach.

“Even the Angus weaners settle well; it’s a great experience to work so closely with the stock,” he says.

“And we really enjoy the camaraderie among the team, it’s quite collegial.

“My first trip was in 2016 aboard the Ocean Drover with a Fonterra shipment.

I went for the experience and really enjoyed it so have been on a few more shipments with Austrex and generally it’s a similar team each time.”

They live and work closely together every day for the entire voyage, which can take between two and three weeks depending on which part of China they are heading for, including a couple

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A team of experienced stockmen and at least one veterinarian accompany the cattle, which are inspected twice-a-day, on their journey. Stockman Dave Kermode, veterinarian Dave Barton and stockman Guy Haynes on board.

of days either end for loading and unloading.

“It’s a great sight when we arrive, even if it’s the middle of the night, they’re all out on the docks waiting excitedly.

The animals are really valuable to the Chinese,” he said.

He has been on shipments ranging from 3500 cattle to 8000 but the management remains the same. And with his first-hand experience, and knowing the animals are destined for the big operations when they arrive, Barton supports the practice.

“It would be a different story if they were destined for a backyard like you

see some cows over there, but these are expensive animals and we can be sure about the facilities they’re destined for,” he says.

He struggles to see the downside to livestock exporting.

“Mortality rates are low on shipments, but disasters can happen anywhere, I don’t see an increased risk in that setting. The crew is very diligent with the planning and care of the animals,” he says.

“And for us back here in New Zealand, we’re going to have a lot of animals to find a new purpose for since this avenue is closing down.” n

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SPECIAL REPORT

Finding value in the unwanted

By Samantha Tennent

A Te Awamutu calf rearer who has been exporting live cattle to China says the ban announced by the Government will mean Kiwi farmers will have to deal with an excess of bobby calves.

A

fter spending time on feedlots and visiting rural villages in China, Ian Farrelly knows how much the Chinese people value the livestock they import. And he is extremely disappointed at the Government’s decision to ban livestock exports from New Zealand.

“As individual farmers, we will adapt and China can get their animals from anywhere,” Farrelly says.

“But we were their preferred source and now it’s the animal welfare that is going to suffer, as well as the economic impacts and the damage to the relationship.”

He has a calf rearing business south of Te Awamutu, where he rears between 10,000 and 12,000 calves every year, with around

20% destined for the export market.

NZ had the potential to increase export livestock to 500,000 animals over the next 10 years.

“I could’ve easily been exporting more calves but I am wary about spreading risk, and I already had some good relationships within New Zealand,” he says.

“But I’m really worried about the fate of all the excess animals we will have now.”

When Farrelly started calf rearing he was recognising a solution for unwanted calves.

He had aspirations of getting into dairying but could not afford to at the time, so he began buying unwanted four-day-old calves and rearing them to sell.

With nearly 30 years in calf rearing, including 15 years

Ian Farrelly rears between 10,000 and 12,000 calves annually, of which 20% are destined for the export market.

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Te Awamutu calf rearer Ian Farrelly has been rearing calves for the export market for 15 years and believes the New Zealand government has made the wrong decision in banning live exports.

targeting the export market, Farrelly has already started adapting his business model

for a future without the export avenue.

“I struggle to understand

Calves reared for the export market are bred and raised with the utmost care.

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“I struggle to understand why the practice is being banned for animal welfare reasons, yet the result will mean we are left with at least half a million more bobby calves every year.”

Ian Farrelly

“How can the same people who are banning livestock exports also be putting the pressure on to eliminate bobbies? It’s just counterintuitive.”

There are a number of countries that are not self-sufficient in terms of agriculture and food production and Farrelly sees the opportunity for NZ to provide livestock to help fill that need, as well

as developing relationships with those countries for the products we export.

“We’ve seen with covid the anxiety from countries who are unable to feed their people themselves.

For example, China relies on imported stock to provide food for their people,” he says.

“They won’t ever be able to exclusively support their 1.4 billion people, they don’t have the space or water security to farm enough animals.”

He rears his calves on a 485-hectare block and has shares in a dairying business that owns farms across NZ. The calves he rears for export are destined to be dairy milking cows or beef breeding stock in China. But he squashes the concerns that China is taking our good genetics.

“They were buying our unwanted animals and paying up to $3000 for them.

They need so many that they will never be in a position where they don’t need to import livestock,” he says.

“And people who pay that kind of money for an animal are not going to mistreat them, these animals are so well looked after on the feedlots and in the communities – I’ve seen it firsthand.

“But now they’re going to be sold for $10 and slaughtered at four days old

One-year-old Friesian heifers reared on the Farrelly farm get ready to leave for their journey to China.

instead here in New Zealand.

It’s a real shame.”

Chinese people value relationships and Farrelly is frustrated about the process the NZ Government has neglected in making their decision.

“They didn’t consult with

the industry here and they didn’t include the Chinese in their decision-making process,” he says.

“And with the issues around travel at the moment, we can’t even go and see them to say that we are sorry about what has happened.” n

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why the practice is being banned for animal welfare reasons, yet the result will mean we are left with at least half a million more bobby calves every year,” he says.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Ban impacts business

By Samantha Tennent

A company set up especially to deal in live exports of cattle to China is facing uncertainty with the incoming export ban and is having to diversify to stay afloat.

W

hen given a choice, China prefers to import New Zealand cattle as our animal welfare standards and recorded ancestry are superior to other countries and our stock has a reputation of being tough and long-lasting.

But with the ban on livestock exports approaching, the NZ export sector will feel the loss more acutely than China.

“If they can’t get stock from New Zealand, they will get it from elsewhere with lower animal welfare standards,” Alex Feng of BeefGen says.

“They only purchase 100,000 cattle from New Zealand each year, compared with hundreds of thousands from other countries.”

BeefGen is a NZ business that was established to target the Chinese markets for livestock, genetics and beef.

Feng and his business partner Patrick Lane identified the opportunities to trade with China through long-established relationships and aligned values. They have a purpose-built facility in Gisborne where they have a team of bulls they are collecting semen from to eventually export to China once they have obtained the appropriate permits.

They also rear Angus cattle to send under their brand to the Chinese markets. The livestock export part of the business has been well established with several shipments of NZ heifers going every year.

“We have spent a lot of time building our relationships with China,” he says.

“It can be hard to get established as there is a lot of money involved with importing large shipments of cattle, but there is a lot of demand for sound, quality cattle to breed and establish their herds.”

They work hard to source livestock from NZ farms that meet the

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The BeefGen facility in Gisborne rears Angus cattle for live exports and is also a bull semen collection centre, which the team hope to export to China.

requirements for the Chinese buyers.

They manage the entire process, including stock management and logistics such as sourcing the ships and people to complete the voyage.

The BeefGen team are deeply concerned about the livestock export ban and hope the Government will consider changing their position.

“Exporting livestock is our main income stream, we are working hard to get the other parts of our business up and running but when we set out we had all three in our sights,” he says.

“Without livestock exporting it will be a disaster for us, but we would really like to see them look at science and facts, rather than making emotional-based decisions,” BeefGen livestock manager Brain Pearson says.

Feng and the team believe the practice could continue with extra provisions to mitigate risks and concerns.

Through their relationships, they have been able to keep a close eye on their exported animals throughout their entire life in China, and both Lane and Feng have visited the stock in China and have always been impressed with their condition.

“I can see in small villages, with smaller family farms, they might have lower animal welfare standards, but these

places aren’t importing cattle,” Feng says.

“The places doing the importing have professional teams, with veterinarians on site 24 hours and good machinery, so I don’t see any animal welfare issues or a reason to ban the sector entirely.

As it is only sea travel that is being banned, there are opportunities to explore air travel. But planes can only take 400 cattle maximum compared with the boats that are able to take up to 16,000. And when there are fewer animals to dilute the costs it becomes an expensive exercise.

“It will only be the higher-end animals being transported by plane since only small numbers can go; the costs certainly outweigh the benefits for the average situation,” he says.

The BeefGen team are hopeful the ban on livestock exports will be overturned but in the meantime, they are working on their contingency plan.

“It is worrying to think of the bigger picture, what will happen with all the extra animals here in New Zealand, as livestock exporting was indirectly helping reduce unwanted livestock and bobby calves here,” he says.

“Exporting is a true value-add on product for farmers that want to be involved with and we are sad that the door might be closing forever.” n

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SPECIAL REPORT

Time to get creative

By Samantha Tennent

The Government’s incoming ban on live exports of cattle will mean farmers and all those involved in the export business will need to come up with creative solutions for the oversupply of stock.

T

here are three types of farmers when it comes to exporting livestock from New Zealand.

There are the ones who farm towards it, the ones who will consider it if the timing suits and the ones who do not want a bar of it.

Livestock regional manager Ollie Carruthers from New Zealand Farmers Livestock deals with them all.

He saw the boom in the late 1990s when China was hungry for livestock.

Then it fizzled out for a bit, but their appetite has taken off recently creating a seller’s market.

“Sometimes farmers are getting almost double for their stock than they would on the domestic market,” Carruthers says.

“There are so many companies operating and they have started staggering shipments too, which gives farmers plenty of options. With one going almost any month of the year, they can make the timing work for their system, even if it’s not with their preferred exporter.”

Carruthers loves dealing with farmers and is frustrated to see the export industry shut down.

“My role is finding solutions for farmers when they’ve got stock to sell and in the

past four or five years the livestock export market has really ramped up,” he says.

“But we haven’t got the room in New Zealand for all the extra animals we’re going to have without export as an option.

He worries about the potential impacts on the value of the stock in the domestic market because there will be an oversupply outstripping demand. As well as a lot more bobby calves that the sector will need to find an alternative for.

Carruthers has been involved in the livestock trading industry since 1993.

Finding solutions for his clients is what he loves the most about his role, but he struggles to see what options could replace livestock exporting.

“We are all going to have to think a little differently to try to come up with solutions for the farmers who have traditionally been targeting export,” he says.

“I’m advising farmers to look at their dairy-beef options and target what the domestic market is after.

“And I think some of the land-use changes coming may help with reducing stock numbers, but the reality is we will always have more than we need unless there are some creative innovations developed.” n

New Zealand Farmers Livestock regional manager Ollie Curruthers says farmers will need to come up with solutions for stock if they have traditionally targeted the export market.

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RESEARCH

Lincoln University PhD student Cameron Marshall has been researching how cow diet affects the environment for his thesis.

A different perspective

By Samantha Tennent

A Lincoln University PhD student has found proof that dairy cows could be part of the solution when it comes to mitigating the environmental impact of farming.

D

airy cows are typically seen as the problem when it comes to environmental impact, but a PhD student at Lincoln University has uncovered how the cow can be used as a solution.

As part of his doctoral thesis, Cameron Marshall has identified two promising tools that dairy farmers can use to reduce nitrogen (N) losses and relieve the negative impact on the environment.

“Animals tend to be seen as a problem that needs changing and there’s often no consideration that perhaps the system is wrong for the animal,” Marshall, who was studying with the Lincoln University Pastoral Livestock Production Lab, says.

“We try to change the system and strategies to try to fix the animal but now we can look at the animal as a solution.

“And if we use it in conjunction with other solutions, such as dietary and system management options, we could reduce the overall environmental impact from the dairy sector.”

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His work has explored the milk urea nitrogen breeding value (MUNBV) and how it relates to nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emissions from cows.

“We found with cows that are phenotypically lower for milk urea nitrogen, what they eat and how they eat is important to reducing their environmental impact,” he says.

“And that helps us understand how to get the maximum benefit from cows predisposed to urinating lower concentrations of N, resulting in less leaching to waterways.”

Milk urea (MU) is a byproduct of the breakdown of dietary protein. It is formed from the normal daily metabolism of N and protein and although most urea is excreted in the urine, some passes into the milk. Dairy cows with differing MUNBVs have been shown to have differences in milk composition, rumen function and urination behaviour.

Marshall used MUNBV information for the herd on the Lincoln University Dairy

Farm, which was identified through herd testing from CRV. He noted when they were fed a diet of plantain rather than ryegrass, cows with low MUN phenotypes excreted significantly less N each time they urinated, which reduces the potential N leaching into waterways.

He also found cows with differing MUNBV displayed different grazing and ruminating behaviour. They chew their pasture differently, which determines their rumen function and efficiency of N digestion and use in the rumen, and this leads to altering the N excretion patterns to the environment.

In previous research, he had demonstrated that cows selected for low MUNBV had a 28% reduction in the urinary urea N loading rate per urine patch than cows with higher MUNBV. The ‘better cows’ also produced a higher milk protein percentage.

“With the milk urea nitrogen breeding value we have identified a trait we can breed for that will reduce the

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45 “We try to change the system and strategies to try to fix the animal but now we can look at the animal as a solution.”

Cameron Marshall environmental impact of dairy cows,” he says.

“There is natural variation among cows and if farmers categorise their cows for the milk urea nitrogen they could build it into their breeding programme. For example, mating a low MUNBV cow with a LowN sire will likely produce progeny with less environmental impact.

“And then if we feed them plantain in their diet the impact is likely reduced further.”

His research indicates that both the use of cows with low MUNBVs and the use of a plantain diet are tools that temperate pastoral dairy production systems can use to reduce nitrogen losses. This is good news for the dairy sector, having further tools in the toolbox

A Lincoln University study has found proof that dairy cows could be part of the solution when it comes to mitigating the environmental impact of farming.

to support sustainability and reduce the impact on the environment.

Marshall grew up on a lifestyle block near Lincoln and spent four years completing a Bachelor in Agricultural Science with First Class Honors before moving into his PhD. He has just finished the work towards his PhD, including publishing scientific articles explaining his findings.

He is now on the hunt for a role that will allow him to continue contributing to developing solutions for the problems New Zealand agriculture faces.

“I like this space, especially in New Zealand, there’s a lot of demand and potential to support our rural communities and I love being able to contribute,” he says. n

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‘With all the eff luent from the feedpad, the pond was just too thick and the stirrer was struggling. I’d been thinking solid separation might be the answer, but I didn’t want to deal with 2 products if I didn’t have to.’

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‘I didn’t want to go to the efforts of getting a new one [stirrer] installed in a new spot, only to

‘Well she’s still in there! The advice was spot on. I was a bit surprised how much of a difference a good stirrer in the right location can make. It’s definitely worth consulting with specialists with a proven record.’ find it didn’t work out either and I should have just gone for the solid separator.’

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November 2021

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RESEARCH

AgResearch scientist Caroline Thum has discovered an ingredient found in a natural oil that could make infant formulas more digestible for babies and improve their brain development.

A winning formula?

By Tony Benny

An exciting new discovery by an AgResearch scientist will change the composition of infant formulas and has the potential to be a financial boom.

A

secret ingredient identified

by AgResearch scientist Caroline Thum could improve both the digestibility of infant formula and its contribution to babies’ brain development, a discovery that could be worth billions of dollars to New Zealand’s dairy industry.

Though she can’t disclose exactly what the ingredient is, it’s found in a nutritional oil soon to be available in NZ. Thum discovered it when researching ways to improve infant formula.

“It was funny because it was not in an

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area I would be looking at. I was reading papers when I found it and we have some companies in New Zealand that could produce that for us and I think in New Zealand we can build an industry around that,” Thum says.

At present, during manufacture of formula, milk fat, which babies are unable to digest properly, is removed and replaced with a blend of vegetable oil which more closely matches the profile of fatty acids in human milk. But that can cause constipation in babies.

“The poo gets really hard and causes

discomfort in the baby and they lose energy and calcium,” she says.

Formula makers add prebiotics to help with constipation but the scientist isn’t convinced that’s the best solution.

“Instead of solving the problem they add something else to solve the problem, so it was like, ‘Okay, can we have a different blend or a different source of fat to add to the formula to solve that?’,” she says.

“I started doing some research and I found an oil that is surprisingly similar to the fat in breast milk – it’s from a

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47 “We aim to show improved fat and calcium absorption, in addition to the positive effect of the phospholipids for brain development.”

Caroline Thum

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November 2021

Researchers are aiming to enhance the humanness of infant formulas produced from New Zealand ingredients and the discovery of a new ingredient will help with this.

“ I struggle to think about going back to wintering cows on pasture now for a variety of reasons. The cows are warm and happy, we can feed them much more economically and we’ve got beautiful compost to put on our pastures and boost the nutrients.

“

natural source that I can’t disclose – that potentially solves this problem.”

With funding over three years recently announced from the Government’s 2021 Endeavour Fund, Thum and fellow AgResearch scientist Simon Loveday, along with collaborators from Massey and Monash universities, are aiming to enhance the “humanness” of infant formula produced from NZ ingredients.

Thum also wants to add an element found in milk fat back into the formula.

Phospholipids are removed along with other fats during manufacture, but they have an important role in the development of babies’ brains as well as immunity.

“What we want to do is use this special oil and encapsulate that with the phospholipids that the dairy industry produces to create a formula much closer to what we find in human milk, with the right fat profile for the baby, as well as a source of phospholipids to better develop the brain,” she says.

Over the next three years the nextgeneration formula ingredient will be tested in the laboratory using equipment that simulates the conditions inside a baby’s digestive system.

“This will tell us how well the new combination is digested, compared to conventional infant formula. We aim to show improved fat and calcium absorption, in addition to the positive effect of the phospholipids for brain development,” she says.

With the global markets for infant formula and baby foods expected to continue their strong growth, new products that provide a health advantage are in high demand.

Further down the track she can see the oil being used to develop product for the elderly as their digestive systems slow down and produce fewer enzymes to aid digestion.

“It’s very similar to what we find in babies so we could tailor this special oil to give the right lipid profile for the elderly too,” she says. n

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FARMSTRONG

Managing on-farm pressure Farmstrong ambassador Sam Whitelock passes on his insights about how to manage when you’re feeling under the pump.

R

ecognise the signs It’s important to recognise when you are under the pump, so you can do something about it. We all have only so much coping space and when we have multiple things coming at us, it shows in different ways for different people. Some people become irritable. Others go silent and withdraw. What are your tell-tale signs?

The Farmstrong Under the Pump checklist is a good place to find out.

I recharge. That’s because I’ve learnt no one can just go ‘hammer-down the whole time’, you need to step away.

I head home into a different world after rugby so I make sure I’m not just focusing on one thing. If you’re only thinking about rugby or farming all day, every day, of course it will start to get on top of you. So it’s important to do something else whether it’s with your family or a hobby or catching up with mates outside the industry. Do something different.

Prioritise workload There’s always a to-do list as long as your arm on a farm. That’s why it’s important to prioritise your work, especially during busy times. What are the top two or three tasks you need to work on today? Once you’re feeling back in charge of your schedule your stress levels will go down.

Look after the basics When we’re really busy, the things that go out the window are often the things that keep us well and help us cope. So make sure you eat well, get enough quality sleep, keep active and do the hobbies or activities you enjoy. Anything that boosts your mood and energy levels will help you manage busier periods.

Schedule recovery time I embrace pressure as part of my job, but when I get the opportunity, I also step away from it and make sure

“There’s always a todo list as long as your arm on a farm. That’s why it’s important to prioritise your work, especially during busy times.”

If your current workload won’t allow that, build mini breaks into your day.

Even a 15-minute break to ‘reset’ mentally and physically can make a big difference to how you feel.

Keep perspective Many people only know me as a rugby player and rugby is a big part of my life, but the reality is I also have other things going on in my life so when a setback happens on the field, I don’t let that

define who I am as a person.

Yes, losing a rugby game still hurts but I tell myself, I’m still a father, a husband and a son, with a great family. That’s the most important thing. Sometimes you’ve just got to accept your setbacks and move on. Remember, a setback also offers an opportunity to learn and do better next time.

Have a natter I know through the work I do for Farmstrong how important it is to keep talking and check on those who might have dropped off the radar and stopped communicating during challenging times. Just listening can be a huge help to someone who is feeling under the pump. So if you see someone struggling, start that conversation, ask them how they’re doing and make time for a proper catch-up, whether it’s over a coffee or at the pub. Visit the Farmstrong website to brush up on your listening skills beforehand.

Make your wellbeing a priority Treat yourself and your team as your farm’s biggest asset. Make wellbeing a business priority and invest in the simple habits that make people more resilient – connecting with mates, learning new things, keeping active, enjoying simple pleasures and helping friends and community. Visit the Farmstrong website to see what other farmers are doing and lock in whatever works for you. n

Under the pump?

For tips and ideas, visit farmstrong.co.nz

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Under the pump?

Here are some questions that can help you get through. enough Am I getting sleep? o someone t g in lk a t I Am ’s on my about what mind? well and Am I eating sically y h p g in p e e k active? downAm I having arge? time to rech

st of what li a e v a h I o D o achieve is realistic t each day? estions to u q e s e h t g Usin n changes ca ll a m s in k c lo ifference. make a big d

FOR TIPS AND IDEAS, VISIT

FARMSTRONG.CO.NZ

DAIRY FARMER

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November 2021

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TECHNOLOGY

Future farms AgResearch scientists will soon begin a study with cows fitted with a range of sensors that will monitor rumen temperature, measure activity using pedometers, and use video and GPS tracking to detect interaction between cows and microphones to monitor mooing.

By Tony Benny

Digital technology is becoming more prevalent on farms and is only set to increase as farmers strive to improve the wellbeing of their stock.

A

team of scientists working in an AgResearch-led science programme called New Zealand Bioeconomy in the Digital Age is exploring what a dairy farm of the future will look like, how some of the technology now available can improve animal wellbeing and how that technology can be used to show consumers their food is being produced ethically.

Led by agricultural data scientist Jeremy Bryant, researchers from AgResearch, DairyNZ and Fonterra are taking an animal-centric approach to better understand what are the key animal welfare indicators, how that can be objectively measured and how farmers can use technology to look after their cows better.

“You can’t have your eyes on the cow 24/7, so digital technologies provide you with that option to track how things are performing – are they improving or going off track – so that’s where there are real benefits of technology,” Bryant says.

“For consumers, it’s not enough for farmers to say, ‘They’re well cared for’.

They want increasing evidence of that and digital can provide that evidence.”

There’s a large range of technology

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available, 90 different types in the animal wellbeing space alone, most providing data on whether an animal is sick or in heat, but very few provide broader data on how an animal is experiencing its life.

The scientists want to identify existing technology that will give them a holistic picture of animal wellbeing and have funding for three years to do the work, ending in 2023.

“By then we want to say what the key welfare indicators are across the welfare domains (nutrition, environment, health and being able to express natural behaviours and mental state), what are measurable already and what might need technology measures to be developed to understand the state,” he says.

A study will start soon with cows fitted with a range of sensors that will monitor rumen temperature, measure activity using pedometers, video and GPS tracking to detect interaction between cows and microphones to monitor mooing.

“I think these animals will probably have the most devices on them ever seen really, so we can get insights as to whether these animals are well-fed or not and whether farmers could use some

of those technologies, or proxies, to say this animal needs feeding now or not,” he says.

“There’s going to be microphones in the paddock to capture the moos and how many moos and the duration of them to say they’re hungry now, they need to be moved on or put on a new break.

“We’ll combine this with data from the devices that tell us about their movements within the paddock and between animals and how long they have been actively eating or ruminating.

“At the moment, understanding of hunger or fullness is very much reliant on post-grazing residuals really, which you might get when you go into the paddock, but by that stage they might have had three of four hours when they might have liked some more food.”

The scientists will also study heat stress and whether an alert system could be developed to advise farmers when they need to consider mitigation measures.

“We’re wanting to understand what’s the risk of animals experiencing heat stress, for how many days, what might the impact be on milk production and developing alerts for those farmers to say, ‘Tuesday next week, it’s going to be

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November 2021

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51 “It’s really dairy farmers harnessing those digital technologies, making their life easier on multiple levels.”

Jeremy Bryant

highly stressful conditions, you need to do some sort of mitigation on that day’ and if you do that mitigation, it’s going to improve animal welfare and milk production,” he says.

Workshops have been held in both islands where farmers were asked to help visualise and describe what a dairy farm will look like in 2070.

“The timeline was far enough in the future that all the current barriers they are experiencing were rendered moot. It helped them think about what the world will look like and what technology and farming systems changes they might need,” he says.

“It’s really dairy farmers harnessing those digital technologies, making their

Agricultural data scientist Jeremy Bryant says digital technologies on farms will not only help farmers monitor animal health, but will give consumers assurance their food is ethically produced.

life easier on multiple levels. Technology’s assisted greatly already with things like pasture measurement and with health,

but it could also assist with things like the environment and the welfare of their animals.” n

“Right now, the whole world wants a balanced cow.”

Dean Malcolm, New Zealand Livestock Specialist

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52

TECHNOLOGY

Covid boosts IoT uptake

About 60% of respondents working in agriculture say pandemic-related challenges demonstrated the importance of IoT and automation to the success of their businesses.

By Tony Benny

The Internet of Things is booming as a result of covid-19 as people and businesses turn to technology to help them make it through.

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Inmarsat market development manager Steven Tompkins says the adoption of technology by New Zealand farmers and others has risen due to the covid pandemic.

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he impact of the covid pandemic on production, travel and supply chains has increased the uptake of Internet of Things (IoT) technology worldwide in diverse industries, including agriculture, according to recently released research by multi-national satellite business Inmarsat.

Early this year, Inmarsat commissioned interviews with 450 respondents around the world, all of whom worked for organisations with at least 250 employees and all of whom were responsible for delivering IoT initiatives.

The pandemic has challenged agricultural producers and miners, transport and logistics companies, among others, and many have turned to technology to help them make it through.

“Those organisations that have come through this period best are those that have embraced digitalisation, accelerated their adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and adapted their business models to give themselves the best chance of weathering the next twist of fate,” the Inmarsat report says.

In the 2018 edition of the report, 26% of respondents said they had employed an IoT device. In 2021 that has jumped to 80% and although the report doesn’t break down its findings regionally, Inmarsat market development manager Steven Tompkins is confident New Zealand is part of this transformation.

“The US has been a big heartland for agtech and agtech adoption but that’s quickly spiralling out to everywhere, including Latin America and the Pacific.

I think New Zealand is obviously pretty

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A I

53 “...we’re working with lots of manufacturers of that tech and building our connectivity so it’s just easy to use and everything’s in there and the farmer doesn’t have to worry about being a tech expert.”

Steven Tompkins

innovative when it comes to agriculture technology and we’ve seen lots of new exciting things there as well so I would say you guys are pretty well up there in terms of adoption of the technology,” Tompkins says.

IoT’s been quietly spreading through NZ agriculture for years, one of the earliest adoptions being auto-steer tractors and now there are thousands of weather stations, soil moisture probes, animal tracking and robotic systems and the like beaming data into the sky.

Tompkins says one of the things aiding the adoption of this technology has been the simplification of operating systems.

“It was previously the preserve of people who understood the tech and could deploy it,” he says.

“It’s becoming almost like a level of consumer tech really, and we’re working with lots of manufacturers of that tech and building our connectivity so it’s just easy to use and everything’s in there and the farmer doesn’t have to worry about being a tech expert.”

Inmarsat was established in 1979 as an inter-governmental organisation to provide a safety network over the

world’s oceans but it has since been privatised. Its network of 14 satellites in geostationary orbit covers the globe, apart from the polar extremities, and provides reliable internet and voice coverage.

Tompkins says while the adoption of IoT technology has been accelerating worldwide anyway, the pandemic has given that an enormous boost.

“I think the pandemic was a challenge particularly in terms of restrictions on labour and restrictions on movement.

The supply chain impacts from grounded aircraft and closed borders have really highlighted a lot of the challenges and the need to move to more automated systems,” he says.

“It’s challenged peoples’ thinking and it fits very well with what this tech

The 2021 Inmarsat report surveyed 450 respondents and shows 80% of respondents employed an Internet of Things device, which is a huge increase from 26% in 2018.

can provide, being able to monitor and automate those systems in the field and not have to travel thousands of miles every week to monitor a water tank or whatever you might be doing.”

But the report also highlights limitations to the usefulness of the technology, the greatest challenge being the interoperability of different systems.

“You’ve got loads of tech everywhere and the data doesn’t necessarily all go on the same platform and actually the hardware’s not interoperable either, which means you can’t walk into your ag merchant and just pick what you want off the shelf, stick it in the field and it all goes to the same place,” he says.

Tompkins believes in time that issue will be resolved and he’s encouraged by the huge amount of work happening in terms of platforms and technologies that help get all that data into one place from different providers.

Despite the limitations, 60% of respondents working in agriculture say pandemic-related challenges demonstrated the importance of IoT and automation to the success of their businesses. As a result of their experience in the pandemic, 86% of respondents have either sped up deployment of IoT projects, or plan to do so in the next few years.

From being a somewhat nebulous concept, IoT has quickly become an established part of our lives, part of the enormous technological change that has happened in living memory.

We’ve seen businesses that failed to move their shop window online in the form of a website fall by the wayside and in the same way, businesses not digitising their operations as part of the new connected supply chain model, will face significant challenges as these ways of working become ubiquitous. n

AGRICULTURE IS OUR CULTURE It’s the Pu lse of the nation Join our growing community of #agripreneurs. Follow Pulse on instagram.com/pulseagri Instagram

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The official newsletter of the agripreneur.community

26/10/21 1:00 PM

54 Primary Pathways

TRAINING & EDUCATION

Spotlight on mental health

By Tony Benny

Ag courses at Lincoln University are not just about learning the ins and outs of farming, but have expanded to include mental health and coping mechanisms.

T

eaching students about mental health is just as important as teaching them science, management and animal husbandry, Lincoln University lecturer Dan Smith says.

“Mental health challenges are more common in agriculture than they are in the general public and they’re more common in young people,” Smith says.

“As a university we’re dealing with a group of people who are having tough times and we’re preparing them to enter an industry where they’re going to have potentially tougher times, which is why we here at Lincoln University are doing something about it.”

Once a Lincoln student himself and now a lecturer in farm management, Smith recently spoke to a B.linc Innovation workshop at the university about mental health and wellbeing.

In his uni days, mental health was seldom mentioned but when he was a Ravensdown fertiliser rep he became aware of how big an issue it is.

“I saw all of this stress and all of this depression and heard stories of suicide and I was like, ‘What is all of this?’. I thought I knew everything there was to know about agriculture but this was happening,” he says.

Mental health is a well-known issue in New Zealand and an estimated 25% of us identify as having personal mental health challenges. Those challenges have an effect on 80% of the population. Those most likely to be affected are in the 15-24 years old age group.

Farmers deal daily with stresses that include weather, water, hard work, regulation, family, staff, breakdowns, pests and commodity prices and for some, it’s too much.

“It causes farming to be reported as (one of) the top 10 most stressful jobs in the world and mostly caused by isolation,” he says.

Smith realised what a lonely occupation farming could be when he

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Lincoln University lecturer Dan Smith says mental health challenges are more common in the agriculture sector and in particular, affect people in the 15-24 age group.

returned to NZ from his OE. He worked in the UK as a soil sampler but was never far away from people, driving to jobs on a multi-lane highway, seeing planes overhead, trains going by and people walking as he worked in the paddock. He says doing a similar job back home was quite different.

“I found myself a month later out the back of Waimate with no human in sight so isolation, particularly in New Zealand, given the way we farm, given the farm types, out the back of Cheviot, in the middle of Arthurs Pass, in Murchison, it’s a very isolated place,” he says.

“One of the biggest causes of rural mental health issues in the community is

isolation, time on your own, time to think, loneliness, when you’ve got all these other stresses going on.”

Students are known internationally, across sexes and age groups, to be a high-risk group for mental distress too, so when he returned to Lincoln as a lecturer, Smith wanted mental health to be included in what he was teaching.

“As much as we’re telling you how to increase your calving rate, how to grow more grass, how to get better crops, how to deal with your mental health is just as important – to me, anyway,” he says.

He tells the story of a group of nine young men he watched passing his office, all of them at least 100kg, in the prime of their lives, with a background of farming, four-wheel-driving, hunting, playing rugby and drinking beer.

“I was thinking, what if one of them was struggling with mental issues? How hard would it be for him to come out and say to those other eight, ‘I’m depressed.

You know I broke up with my girlfriend last month and I’m actually really sad about that’,” he says.

“It would generally be very hard for them to come out, so we want to try to make that not so hard by just breaking down those barriers, by just normalising people talking about these kinds of topics.”

With other staff, and in consultation with others working in the mental health field, including Farmstrong, Smith has incorporated a mental health component into the three-year BCom Ag degree course.

It starts during the first two weeks new students are on campus. They’re told basics like what consent means, how to make sure your drink doesn’t get spiked, what looking after your mates means, along with pointers on personal wellbeing. A programme called Well Mates has been put in place, a peer-topeer activity where the students split into groups to talk about signs, symptoms and tools for dealing with mental health.

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55 “It causes farming to be reported as (one of) the top 10 most stressful jobs in the world and mostly caused by isolation.”

Dan Smith Late in their second year, a week-long mental health event is staged where guest speakers and mental health champions talk to students.

“By the time they get to the second half of second year, they’ve still got some university to go and they’re starting to think about when they get out into the industry, so some of the focus is still on them in the now, but we’re starting to open their eyes up to beyond university, challenges with staff, how to deal with people, human resources challenges and your own mental health challenges,” he says.

The support continues in the third year too.

“This is more about leaving the university. This may happen to you, to someone you know, it might happen in a week or it might happen in three years but when it does we want you to be familiar with some websites, there are some strategies, some ways to talk to people, particularly the ability to spot it and we really want to make them familiar with Farmstrong,” he says.

He believes addressing mental health is part of what the university should be doing.

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Dan Smith presented at a B.Iinc Innovations workshop at Lincoln University where he spoke from experience on how isolation on farms can affect mental wellbeing.

“We have a responsibility to discuss this topic, to remove the stigma around it. We want to create a culture of acceptance and we want to normalise this topic, which are just some of the keys to breaking it down.”

Smith compares talking about mental health today to talking about smoking in the 1980s.

Telling your mates they shouldn’t smoke might have seemed weird then but now it’s normal. He hopes the same will happen with talking about mental health.

“We’re just trying to chip away, we’re trying to talk about it because we want

it to be a normal thing people can talk about,” he says He believes that the tide may be starting to turn and thinks a recent encounter with a former student shows that. The young graduate was offered a dream job managing a farm straight out of university, not an opportunity many get.

“He called in after about three weeks and I said, ‘How’s your new job?’ and he said, ‘It’s a bit lonely’ after just three weeks. So luckily he knew and if we hadn’t talked about it, he might have thought ‘There’s no way I’m saying that’. We just need to break down those barriers and talk about it,” he says. n

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TRAINING & EDUCATION

CEO’s vision shaped by diversity

By Richard Rennie

One of this year’s St Peter’s Distinguished Alumni award winners says the school played a pivotal role in shaping his future success.

C

raig Piggott, founder of Halter, the revolutionary smart collar that automates cow movement admits despite not being the perfect student during his time at St Peter’s, he still took a lot away with him that helps him today.

Piggott is a recipient of this year’s St Peter’s Distinguished Alumni award, to be presented in November.

The award seeks to recognise those whose achievements epitomise excellence as their goal in society. Three alumni are chosen annually, based on various criteria set out by the school in conjunction with the St Peter’s Alumni Committee.

He heads up the groundbreaking agri-tech company that is redefining how farmers manage their dairy cows, their farms and themselves, providing a completely new approach to farming systems.

The solar-panelled, GPS-enabled collars teach cows to move and respond to signals, enabling farmers to remotely shift their cows, or keep them within defined grazing areas, all from their smartphone.

The rapidly growing business is not completely removed from his past. He grew up on his parents’ dairy farm near Morrinsville and attended St Peter’s as a boarder.

“I think it was the boarding experience as much as school itself that taught me a lot that I did not fully appreciate until later in life. I loved boarding and I learnt a lot about being more tolerant and cooperative and probably more accepting of people for who they are,” Piggott says.

He believes that plays well into today’s role as chief executive of Halter, more inclined to seek out people based on their values and empathy, rather than getting too hung up on what their qualification may or may not include.

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St Peter’s agricultural and horticultural department head Rebecca McGuire says the school has 300 students participating in ag and hort studies, which represent a significant portion of the school’s roll. McGuire during the Christmas tree planting.

He believes St Peter’s diverse range of students, drawn from all walks of life have played into who he is today.

“We had students from Auckland, international students too from all over the place. They were people who I would never have met otherwise, very diverse,

intelligent and interesting,” he says.

Rather than having a particular focus on agriculture at St Peter’s, he was more focused on STEM – science, tech, engineering and maths – enjoying the project-focused nature of the work and sometimes the opportunity to expand on it using his parents’ farm as a trial base.

“I had always been really curious about automation and building things that in my mind created leverage – that is you only design them once and they keep on delivering on the same task, over and over,” he says.

Piggott says he appreciated St Peter’s open approach to learning and the sense that one could follow any pathway they chose through the school curriculum.

“As a kid you tend to get quite closedminded about how you will achieve your career pathway,” he says.

He urges pupils to take advantage of that open environment, keeping an open mind on their future pathway.

“You often do think it will be one thing one way, but people change all the time and there are many different ways to get to the same place,” he says.

It was that self-belief and his early experience at Rocket Lab working for Peter Beck that provided the catalyst to bring his Halter concept to life.

“New Zealand did not have a space industry until then and my motivation became that if Peter could do that with rockets from scratch, I should be able to do something with Halter in what is our biggest industry. I just ended up coming to it with more of an engineering perspective than a farming perspective,” he says.

Rather than any one mentor or influencer during his time at St Peter’s, he attributes the school’s co-ed nature, its positive boarding environment and diverse pupils as all playing a part in helping him shape the company and the

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57

This year students from St Peter’s entered the Fieldays Innovation awards with three groundbreaking entries, including the Mark-It drench marker, and Tappit, a concept design for an in-trough tap.

bubbly wine, harvested off the school’s block.

“We had students from across the board engaged, with Year 9 and 10s pruning the vines through the year, chemistry students estimating pH and acid levels for harvest and science classes determining the sugar levels,” McGuire says.

The wine was bottled at Volcanic Hills winery at Rotorua.

Also on campus, a Christmas tree business has been established, working on a three-year period before the first

crop is harvested next Christmas.

McGuire says the 300 students at St Peter’s participating in ag and hort studies represent a significant portion of the school’s roll and interest is growing every year from students keen to explore the opportunities New Zealand’s thriving primary sector offers them.

“We try to expose them to as wide a base of jobs and sectors as possible. We are also looking forward to being able to offer students longer stay experiences in different jobs to get a real sense of what those jobs entail,” she says. n

stpeters.school.nz

people he works with today.

St Peter’s agricultural and horticultural department head Rebecca McGuire says Piggott’s achievements highlight the immense variety of career options and opportunities that students can find in the agri-sector today.

She oversees the syllabus covering Year 9 to Year 13, capturing a wide variety of students whose interests in the industry extend from being hands-on farmers to advancing through science and commerce, to work in the sector’s many science, research and industry sectors.

McGuire and her colleagues have worked hard to provide students with many varied opportunities to engage with all aspects of the sector.

This year, that included entering the Fieldays Innovation awards with three groundbreaking entries, including the Mark-It drench marker and Tappit, a concept design for an in-trough tap.

The St Peter’s campus also provides some innovative opportunities for students to see their work progress from growing it, to final processing and sale.

This includes winemaking, with this year’s vintage including a Rosé and a

Limited boarding spaces available for boys and girls for 2022.

Day and boarding spaces available from 2023.

Use the QR code to take a virtual tour.

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58

TRAINING & EDUCATION

Short course, long-lasting skills

By Samantha Tennent

With ever-changing rules and regulations, it has become vital that rural professionals can upskill to keep farmers informed.

S

pecific expertise is needed to help farmers understand and meet their environmental requirements, but the sector has been lacking people with the necessary qualifications. Massey University set about filling the gap and now they have had more than 4300 people enroll in their range of Ag professional development courses.

“We are sending people back to farms with training that will improve the sustainability of agriculture,” Dr Lucy Burkitt, senior research officer within the School of Agriculture and Environment, says “It’s exciting that Massey is having a real impact on the sustainability of New Zealand farming and the popularity of these courses speaks volumes.”

The courses are run through the Farmed Landscapes Research Centre (FLRC) at Massey and they have been tailored to the needs of science, industry, policy and regulatory bodies concerned with primary production.

The initial development of the courses was the vision of Emeritus Professor Mike Hedley, who drove collaboration across the sector.

“What is taught in the courses has become an essential skill base for New Zealand farmers,” Hedley says.

“They need nutrient management and farm environmental planning skills to meet the agreed future greenhouse gas emissions and freshwater regulatory requirements that industry bodies and government have recently agreed on.”

Kate Proctor is a senior regulatory advisor at Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and has completed four of the FLRC courses over the past eight years.

“I found these courses the most relevant to real life and the work I do at the council,” Proctor says.

“The practical, applied knowledge and

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Dr Mike Bretherton talks about soil during the course with Ravensdown senior agri manager James Livingston and other participants.

“It’s exciting that Massey is having a real impact on the sustainability of New Zealand farming and the popularity of these courses speaks volumes.”

Dr Lucy Burkitt skills we developed through the courses have really helped my conversations on farms.”

She comes from a sheep and beef background and studied natural resource management at Massey University. She could see the opportunities to extend her knowledge with the FLRC courses.

“The things I learnt have helped me secure jobs by having the knowledge

and experience in the different areas from effluent and nutrient management to greenhouse gases,” she says.

“And the connections I’ve made through the courses have been valuable to help me to support farmers.”

Another course graduate Adam Duker also praises the networking opportunities.

“Having connections with other industry professionals really helps collaboration across the sector,” Duker says.

He works at DairyNZ as a solutions and development lead advisor and values the ability to get up-to-date knowledge to build his integrity for advising and supporting farmers.

“Doing the short courses adds a qualification to wrap around my practical knowledge and I appreciate being able to pass the updated industry knowledge onto farmers,” he says.

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59 “There is a demand for knowledgeable people to support the sector, I definitely recommend the FLRC courses to anyone who wants to extend their knowledge in the environmental space.”

The first courses were in sustainable nutrient management and soil science, but other courses have been added along the way, such as Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Management and Farm Dairy Effluent: System Design and Management.

When it was mandated in 2020 that most NZ farms have a freshwater management plan, Massey was approached by the industry to deliver new courses on this topic, which led to the development of three courses, including Analysis of NZ Agricultural Systems, Intermediate Farm Environmental Planning and Advanced Farm Environmental Planning.

There are now six FLRC professional development short courses available, as well as two affiliated courses.

And the shorter format of the courses appeals to students as many are working full-time.

The courses are designed to offer

relevant learning that can complement their current employment.

“They are a sizable commitment and did need a bit of managing to fit around my normal workload, but the learning related to my practical knowledge so it wasn’t like learning a foreign language at least,” Duker says.

Farmers need to feel confident in receiving advice and the sector needs talented people to continue progress.

Ravensdown general manager of innovation and strategy Mike Manning has been championing the upskilling of rural professionals in nutrient management and environmental protection for some time.

“It’s becoming more and more important and a huge reason for the success of these courses lies in bringing the connection to the industry,” Manning says.

“Outcomes in areas such as seed, agchem, nutrients and farm systems reflect the latest thinking and are grounded in reality.

“There’s every reason to think these kinds of courses will continue to go from strength to strength.” n

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council senior regulatory advisor Kate Proctor has completed four short courses through the Farmed Landscapes Research Centre at Massey University and says that they have helped her to do her job better.

MORE:

Details on Massey’s professional development courses, including enrolments, can be found at massey. ac.nz/~flrc/courses.html

LIVELY DEBATE AFTER LIVELY ELY L LY DEBATE Field work after field work. Learning after learning. Earn your agricultural degree from the university ranked number 1 in NZ. Our ag-related programmes include BAgSci, BAgribusiness, BAnSci, BSc (Environmental Science) and MSc (Agricultural Science). Study your passion full-time, part-time, on campus or via distance. Apply today at massey.ac.nz

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60

TRAINING & EDUCATION

Dairying in the classroom

By Gerald Piddock

A new teaching resource is helping school children discover the wonders of science and dairying.

industry-based resource within House of Science’s library.

DairyNZ approached Duggan and asked her if

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schools nationwide to help teachers.

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House of Science founder and chief executive Chris Duggan says their new Moo to You teaching kit has been hugely popular with teachers.

the trust was interested in creating a resource for teachers with a dairy focus and the kit was created in time for the school term that has just started.

“It’s all about empowering the teachers so they can really deliver meaningful science that’s hands-on and engaging for their students,” Duggan says.

“Already, there’s 46 bookings of the kits for the next few weeks so it’s been extremely popular.”

“It’s huge and we’ve not seen that kind of uptake before.”

Moo to You also includes a support website with resources for teachers to show the science behind the activities and experiments in the kit.

The kit was also designed in part so children have a better understanding of where their

pr

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ew Zealand schoolchildren will be able to learn the science behind dairying following the creation of a new teaching resource by House of Science and DairyNZ. Called Moo to You, the teaching kit for primary and intermediate school children is designed to give an overview of how the dairy industry uses science.

Activities within the kit include a classification activity, the chemistry of milk, dairying’s environmental impact and a grass-growing experiment that explains the importance of a varied diet for cows to ensure a healthy calf and milk.

The organisation is a charitable trust that for the past eight years has been providing a science resource library to around 500 primary

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DAIRY FARMER

November 2021

26/10/21 1:01 PM

61 milk comes from, she says.

“That’s a big part of the learning.”

DairyNZ are supporting the initiative for the next three years at a cost of $92,000.

“It’s our biggest sponsorship partnership and we’re really excited about it,” she says.

“It’s all about empowering the teachers so they can really deliver meaningful science that’s hands-on and engaging for their students.”

Chris Duggan The resource kit complements the online learning resources and the farm visits that DairyNZ strategy and investment leader for responsible dairy David Burger says its been providing for schools for many years.

“We see it as a very exciting

kit for schoolchildren and it’s all about getting kids to interact with dairy in a fun and interactive way and we really wanted to help kids understand the science behind where their milk comes from – it doesn’t come from the supermarket, it comes from cows in the countryside,” Burger says.

Moo to You looked at the living world, nutrients and milk production. Children today knew much less about where their food came from and he says this resource helped teach that knowledge.

He says science was also the solution to many of the challenges the dairy sector faced and Moo to You provided a spark to children to hopefully get them interested in the industry.

Moo to You is one component of DairyNZ’s education programme alongside Rosie the Cow and initiatives to get children on to dairy farms to see what they have learned in the classroom out in the real world.

Prior to the covid lockdown, DairyNZ was subsidising

around 5000 children and their parents to travel to these farms.

“The reason we partnered with the House of Science is they have got a real focus on

building children’s scientific understanding of key issues,” he says.

“That’s really important to us at DairyNZ as a sciencebased organisation.” n

Moo to You is the first dairy industry-based resource for school children and 46 Moo to You kits were sent out to schools within the first week of its launch.

WE DELIVER SYSTEMS THAT WORK. And then we partner with you to make them work better.

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Our people through their knowledge and expertise, ensure you optimise those tools. That sets us apart.

Primary school children can learn about dairy and science through a variety of fun activities and experiments.

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November 2021

Contact 0800 183 358 or visit agricom.co.nz

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TRAINING & EDUCATION

A daily dose of Pulse

By Sonita Chandar

A daily newsletter is proving to be a valuable teaching resource for our future agripreneurs, as well as providing readers with insights and up-to-date information on the issues affecting the agricultural sector.

U St Paul’s agribusiness curriculum director Kerry Allen says Pulse is extremely handy for keeping up-to-date with current events, reports and what’s driving conversations in the primary sector.

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p and down the country, students are reading it, teachers are reading it, politicians are reading it, and so are farmers and hundreds of others.

Pulse, the daily newsletter from GlobalHQ, is keeping subscribers informed and up-to-date with current events and raising awareness of what is happening in the primary sector.

“Pulse is our daily email newsletter that aims to inform, educate and connect the primary sector with the

most up-to-date relevant news, weather, thought-provoking commentary and expert insight in an easy to read modern format,” Pulse business development manager Sarah Gilbertson says.

“It is a great tool and resource for our agripreneurs of the future. It will help them gain an insight into the range of opportunities on offer and how a career in the industry can be a stable and rewarding one.

“In a world where people are time-poor and swamped by information from so

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63 many sources of extreme opinions, Pulse will help make our agripreneurs feel part of a community that is forward-thinking and positive.”

Schools, including St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton, get Pulse delivered direct to their inboxes and are finding it a valuable teaching resource for their ag students.

St Paul’s is an independent day (55%) and boarding (45%) school for boys from Year 9-13 (81%) and girls from Year 11-13 (19%). The rural community has always been a cornerstone of the school, mainly through its association with the boarding community, as rural families make up the majority of students in boarding.

Because of its rural connections, two primary sector courses – Agricultural and Horticultural Science and Agribusiness – are offered at NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3.

“The agriculture and horticulture sectors are the heartbeat of the New Zealand economy,” St Paul’s agribusiness curriculum director Kerry Allen says.

“This course covers in-depth studies of plant and animal production in New Zealand, together with understanding of the environmental issues that face the New Zealand agricultural and horticultural sectors today.

“Being such an important and relevant part of the New Zealand economy, the course also offers insight into how market forces affect supply and demand of our primary products.”

With the growing demand for skilled workers in the primary industries, the school has teamed up with DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb NZ and 11 primary sector organisations to create NZ’s first agribusiness curriculum for secondary school students.

The curriculum covers a range of topics, including plant science; soil science; food science; microbiology; agri-management and finance; economics; digital technologies; agri-innovations; agrimarketing; primary production processes; and future-proofing, growing value and international trade. Students are exposed to the wide range of skills required and the opportunities available in the primary sector up to and beyond the farm gate. It is offered at NCEA Levels 2 and 3 and has been designed for students who excel in science and commerce.

“Pulse is a great resource to use in my classroom. The daily newsletter is extremely handy for keeping up-to-date with current events, reports and what is on top in the primary sector, without having to search or look for it,” Allen says.

“The subjects of Agricultural and

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November 2021

St Paul’s Collegiate School students use Pulse for their agricultural studies and are finding it to be a valuable source of news and information.

“As an Agribusiness student, Pulse’s network of information has been a turning point for me, as I am regularly informed on the insight that may help me with my investigations and reports for my studies.”

Sophie Marsh Horticultural Science and Agribusiness contexts are usually based on topical matters, so it is good to be exposed to the latest and current information. Often this type of information is missed, so it is good to have it highlighted that it is out or has been published.

“All of my students can access it, so there is no excuse for them not to be ‘au fait’ with statistics, latest research or technology, or exposed to thoughts and opinions from primary sector leaders.”

Understanding the weather and what is coming up for the week has proven invaluable to Allen, as it allows her to better plan her classroom activities.

“Knowing what the weather is likely to be means we can attend to our orchard and garden plots, enabling us to make the most of the best weather for the week.”

Year 12 Agricultural and Horticultural

Science and Agribusiness student Benjamin James says he enjoys the variety of Pulse.

“Every time Pulse arrives, it always has something new and interesting to read about. Another thing that I like about Pulse is the little activities that they have.

Even though they are short, they are still good to do,” James says.

“All the newspapers and news websites are all focused around covid-19 at the moment, so it is really nice to read about things that can impact the whole agricultural industry. It is always important to keep in touch with the weather when on a farm, so having the weather update every day is very helpful.

Thanks Pulse.”

For Year 13 Agribusiness student Sophie Marsh, Pulse has been a beneficial source to turn to for the latest developments and issues in the industry.

“As an Agribusiness student, Pulse’s network of information has been a turning point for me, as I am regularly informed on the insight that may help me with my investigations and reports for my studies. Overall, I have found Pulse to be a great help and look forward to my newsletter.”

Many others have expressed similar sentiments and a recent subscriber survey showed positive results all round.

Pulse was launched earlier this year and is a subscription-only digital newsletter, crafted daily by the trusted independent source of the Farmers Weekly, WeatherWatch and AgriHQ newsrooms, five days a week, 50 weeks of the year. n

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64

TRAINING & EDUCATION

Modern approach to learning

By Samantha Tennent

New Zealand is well-known for its high animal welfare standard but now there is formal qualification available.

A

nimal wellbeing is a critical element for accessing international markets and NZ has a reputation globally for maintaining high standards. But consumers around the world are wanting to know more about where their food comes from and how it is being made and are demanding more evidence.

Farmers are nervous about how they can demonstrate they are meeting regulations through good animal care practices on farms. Fortunately, a new training programme for dairy farmers surrounding animal wellbeing is being developed by QCONZ to give farmers confidence they are achieving high standards of animal wellbeing.

“We’ve had ambitions for a long time to better support farmers around animal welfare and wellbeing,” QCONZ general manager of business and people development Chris Leach says.

“Because we recognised a potential gap in the current training delivery and with the introduction of assurance programmes by the various dairy processors, particularly Fonterra through the Co-operative Difference framework, the timing is right to build the support.”

The training has been developed in collaboration with Fonterra and DairyNZ and will be offered through the Universal College of Learning (UCOL), which is a subsidiary of the newly formed Te Pukenga. It is NZQA-approved and funded by the Tertiary Education Commission so there are no fees for attendees.

“Looking after animals is something our farmers generally do well and are particularly proud of, so by wrapping some training around it we are helping farmers tell that story,” he says.

“And having a formal qualification that recognises capability on-farm is an excellent way to demonstrate to the

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public and our international markets that we care for our cows and we do it in a good way.”

Throughout the training they will help farmers understand how they fit into the bigger picture, what happens with international markets and the competitive advantage we have in NZ. And there is also a focus on reviewing current practices to highlight what they are already doing.

“We often find farmers are aware of the codes of welfare but are unsure if they are meeting the standards or not,” he says.

“The aim of the programme is to reassure farmers they are compliant and meeting the standards, but then it’s about taking them further as well, looking at the benefits of implementing better practice on farm and going beyond the minimum.

“Moving from good to great and reaping the rewards of applying best practice.”

They are aiming to start the first programme in autumn next year and targeting on-farm decision-makers, including herd managers, farm managers, owners, sharemilkers and aspiring managers. Building the skills and knowledge associated with the management of wellbeing and care of dairy cattle is the intended outcome of the programme.

It will be delivered using a blend of online self-directed learning, as well as face-to-face workshops and workplacebased skills practice. A key outcome will be to support farmers when having the discussion with their veterinarian to develop a comprehensive wellbeing plan that is specific to the individual farm.

Although it aligns with the animal focus of The Fonterra Co-operative Difference framework, the programme will benefit all dairy farmers and it can

QCONZ general manager of business and people development Chris Leach says new animal welfare training that has been developed will give farmers the confidence they are achieving high standards.

be tailored to meet specific assurance requirements for other processors where required.

This programme is an example of many smaller training formats that are being developed across the sector that earn trainees micro-credentials.

“We are moving away from long training programmes that take place over 12-18 months and recognising the needs of learners and how to extend their capabilities,” he says.

“This approach of delivering some short, focused learning and microcredentials provides opportunities to address multiple issues.

“And as the offerings develop, we are hopeful that learners will be able to stack micro-credentials to obtain an overall qualification. It’s a modern approach to learning that allows us to adapt and meet the developing needs of our sector.” n

DAIRY FARMER

November 2021

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65

TRAINING & EDUCATION

A first for Otago University

By Tony Benny

New agricultural courses are being introduced at Otago University for those students who may eventually work in the wider sector in a bid to raise awareness of the issues faced by the industry.

T

he University of Otago has named Dr Craig Bunt as inaugural professor of agricultural innovation, leading a programme launched in 2019 to add a farming component to the studies of science or commerce students.

Previously an associate professor in animal science at Lincoln University, Bunt’s scientific contributions span veterinary pharmaceutics, food science and environmental management tools.

“As agriculture is such a huge industry for New Zealand, students from any discipline can learn from and about the industry and apply their area of expertise and interest for the benefit of agriculture.”

Dr Craig Bunt

He says the new course is not intended to compete with the agriculture degrees diploma provided by Lincoln, but is for graduates less immersed in farming.

“If you’re going to have 90% of your time on-farm or you’re

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visiting farms every day in a totally-focused rural support role as a consultant or a rep, then a BAgSci or BComAg from Lincoln is for you,” Bunt says.

“But if you’re a science or commerce student who knows you need to be aware of the ag issues that we’re facing and know or suspect there aren’t simple answers and an Otago degree is what’s drawing your attention then our courses, that you can do as a major or a minor, are there.

“As agriculture is such a huge industry for New Zealand, students from any discipline can learn from and about the industry and apply their area of expertise and interest for the benefit of agriculture.”

Otago University isn’t generally known for offering agricultural courses but Bunt says a focus on agricultural research was part of its original charter.

An Otago graduate himself, he worked in farming-related industries even though he studied pharmacy at university.

“I was an ag student but didn’t know it and I took my PhD in pharmaceutics and went and worked for a veterinary pharmaceutical company and later for AgResearch and Lincoln University, so that’s how someone with a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree is now a professor of agriculture,” he says.

Future graduates, who’ve

added ag papers to their science or commerce degrees, will be ready for a similar career path, helping confront the complex issues facing New Zealand farming.

“My opinion is that there’s a perception that ag is an easy fix in terms of what it’s not doing right and what it could do better but if there was an easy fix, it would be done tomorrow.” n

Dr Craig Bunt is the University of Otago’s inaugural professor of agricultural innovation.

Secure your future in agriculture.

Develop innovative and sustainable strategies to help feed an increasingly demanding global population.

Study a BAppSc in Agricultural Innovation.

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November 2021

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66 EFFLUENT

EFFLUENT

Dealing with effluent solids

By Logan Bowler

S

olids management for some farms is a bit hit-and-miss. I see farms that have extremely poor systems resulting in troublesome FDE irrigation, and I also see some farms that have solids management overkill.

So, what’s the right system for your farm? That comes down to what volume of solids are generated on your farm – does the farm have a feedpad or not, and how is the liquid FDE system set up on-farm?

If the farms FDE system gravity feeds all FDE from the shed to the pond and then liquid FDE is pumped from the pond, there will be considerably more solids put into the pond than a farm that has a sump before the pond and irrigates fresh FDE to pasture on most days the soil conditions allow. On these days the solids are all suspended in the liquid and are put back on the paddocks.

If half the days per season were irrigation days (soil conditions are good for FDE irrigation) then the farm storage is only capturing half the annual solids generated. If the farm is on low-risk soils, then as many as 80% of the days could be irrigation days. If you paid for a solids separator or a stirrer to manage solids in the pond, then it doesn’t have a lot of work to do.

On small farms the capital cost of FDE systems can be extremely large when compared to large farms, and the costs are compared on a per cow basis. We need to be thinking smarter than just throwing more money at the system.

On our 250-cow farm at home, we have a feedpad that is predominantly used over winter. All solids are scrapped into a weeping bunker, where most of the solids are held back, and a large portion of the liquid migrates through the slats to be pumped into storage.

The dairy shed effluent gravity feeds to a sump and then from there is either pumped up into the pond or irrigated fresh. When we want to remove effluent from the pond a valve is opened and effluent gravity feeds from a pipe 200mm above the floor of the pond into the sump then pumped to the irrigator.

We have no solids separation for the

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If the farm generates lots of solids then often the most cost effective way is to separate solids before they are added to the storage pond.

dairy shed FDE. We are on high-risk soils so store much more effluent than a similar farm on low-risk soils. We have no stirrer on our pond and our pond is now five years old.

We have not seen a build-up of solids in the pond to the point where it is impacting storage volumes and we have no crusting. When solids build up to a point that they are impacting on storage volumes, we will get a contractor in to stir the pond and pump it out. In my mind, this system costs significantly less, has less repairs and maintenance, has lower running costs and is simple.

Unstirred ponds should have slightly lower greenhouse gas losses and any phosphorus held in the sludge will not diminish over time, so while there might be a delay in getting the phosphorus onto the paddocks, there are no losses from storage.

Basically all the potassium stays in solution in the liquid, so there is no delay or losses there and for nitrogen (N), a significant proportion has stayed in the liquid so that portion of N is still going back onto pasture regularly with irrigated FDE. Regardless of whether the pond is stirred or not, in my opinion a stirrer in the sump is a must. It helps to prevent troublesome solids building up in the

sump, which can then create irrigator blockages. Small (less than 1kw) submersible stirrers do a fantastic job in an average 20m3 sump and are cheap to run.

If your farm generates lots of solids, then often the most cost effective way is to separate solids before they are added to the storage pond.

If you’re not generating lots of solids, then think seriously about whether you need the additional cost of your own stirrer. It could well be that periodic stirring from a hired PTO stirrer might manage solids in the pond, or it could be done much less frequently by a contractor.

Just because a salesperson wants to sell you a solids separator or a stirrer does not necessarily mean you need one on your farm. Make an informed decision and use your hard-earned capital where it’s needed most. n

MORE:

Logan Bowler is the owner of Agblution Solutions Ltd offering common sense, independent advice on effluent systems.

Not being affiliated to any company or any product allows him to offer completely independent advice. He and his wife own and operate a dairy farm at Marton so understand and experience effluent management on a daily basis at home.

DAIRY FARMER

November 2021

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67

EFFLUENT

Keep nutrients cycling

By Bala Tikkisetty

S

pring has sprung and with it comes an increased risk of nutrients leaving farms due to high rainfall, low pasture growth, lots of stock urine being deposited, soil compaction and pugging.

That has the potential to impact farm production and damage the health of waterways and groundwater.

Handling those risks smartly, thereby boosting production while protecting fresh water, is what good nutrient management is all about.

Good nutrient management will keep nutrients cycling within the farm system and reduce losses to the environment to the bare minimum.

Some nutrients are more prone to loss than others, depending on the nature of the nutrient, soil type and climatic conditions.

Leaching through the soil – one of the biggest nutrient loss risks – can see the loss of the likes of nitrogen (N), potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulphur.

It occurs when water washes soluble nutrients

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November 2021

through the root zone into deeper layers of the soil and they become inaccessible to plant roots. The leaching risk depends on various factors such as soil type, total rainfall, extreme weather events and the actual quantity of soluble nutrients present in the soil.

Don’t oversupply the soil with such types of soluble nutrients, especially not during winter and early spring, as there is a very high risk of these getting washed out through the soil and lost from farm systems.

A good understanding of the processes and terminology involved with nutrient cycles is important for budgeting and management.

For N, one of the key nutrients that both grows grass and can harm waterways, there are two important processes: immobilisation and its opposite, mineralisation.

Immobilisation is the conversion of plant available N into organic forms. Mineralisation is the conversion of soil organic N into plant available forms such as nitrate and

Waikato dairy farmer Rod McKinnon discusses dairy effluent and soil health with Waikato Regional Council sustainable agriculture advisor – technical Bala Tikkisetty.

ammonium. These processes are controlled by microbes and the degree of their activity in the soil.

Another point about N is that generally there will be an increase in nitrate leaching with increasing rates of nitrogenous fertiliser.

Phosphorus loss on the other hand, mainly occurs from erosion and runoff.

Research has revealed that phosphorus losses will be high in soils with high Olsen-P levels, and also on steep to rolling country.

Managing these optimum

levels and controlling soil erosion are keys to helping prevent this.

The ongoing challenge is to ensure our farming systems efficiently cycle nutrients.

Smart nutrient management practices for all land uses and activities has the potential to bring about substantial improvements in the quality of our water resources and profits. n

MORE:

Bala Tikkisetty is a sustainable agriculture advisor at Waikato Regional Council.

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69

EFFLUENT

I

Plan for effluent storage

nvesting in effluent storage is a significant decision on-farm, so it’s worth taking the time to carefully plan what is needed to ensure the right design for your farm.

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Current and future considerations The first thing to consider when planning effluent storage is to think about how you currently farm and whether anything will change in future.

For example, if you’re currently an owner-operator but are planning to step back and get a manager, will that affect your plans? Or if you’re planning to expand your farm or herd – will the effluent storage pond be future-proofed to cope with those changes?

An effluent system can be tailored to suit a farm’s requirements. Let your system designer and installer know your needs during the initial design discussion and keep your effluent system as simple as possible – this makes it easy for staff to understand and manage.

DairyNZ has a farm dairy effluent systems planning guide with a table of options to share with your designer, see dairynz.co.nz/environment/on-farmactions/effluent/ Choose an accredited designer Designing and installing farm dairy effluent systems is a technical job requiring specialist knowledge.

As with a number of trades, an accreditation system is in place for effluent design.

Accredited providers are trained effluent system specialists who understand and follow the Farm Dairy Effluent (FDE) Code of Practice and design standards when designing and installing systems.

DairyNZ established the accreditation programme. Look for the green tick logo when selecting a dairy effluent system company. A full list of accredited FDE companies is available online at effluentaccreditation.co.nz Gather your core information When planning effluent storage, work with your designer to create one that’s suited to your needs and property. Some things to discuss and provide information on include:

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November 2021

There are a number of things to consider when designing an effluent storage pond so should be planned carefully.

• consent requirements • soil type (soils can be either high or low risk for effluent application) • daily water use in the farm dairy • your budget • your farm management and how you want to apply effluent • the pond site – including distance from the cow shed and line of sight to houses • your preferences for the storage type • effluent solids management • safety management • siting the electricity connection.

To ensure that everyone is clear, check that the quote includes key requirements above such as the site, pond type, storage capacity and electricity.

Calculate how much storage is needed Your designer can calculate how much effluent storage is needed, based on factors including location, soil type, effluent application, shed type and water use.

A report can show you how this figure was calculated – regional councils usually prefer to see the calculation to ensure the storage meets regional rules or resource consent conditions. Some

councils will only accept system design and storage calculations from an FDEaccredited company.

It’s a good idea to have a little more storage than your calculations show. The Dairy Effluent Storage Calculator will give the best results on-farm by allowing for deferred irrigation and ensuring you don’t run out of space.

If you want an independent storage calculation, an FDE-accredited company that is not a product supplier or a Dairy Effluent Warrant of Fitness assessor can provide this service – see effluentaccreditation.co.nz and www. effluentwof.co.nz Training your team to use your new system Ask your designer or installer for an operations and maintenance manual for your new system. They may also offer your team training on using the system.

It’s important to check the guide. n

MORE:

DairyNZ has summarised the key things to think about when planning or upgrading an effluent system, visit dairynz.co.nz/ effluent

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70

EFFLUENT

Achieving your stirring goals

A shore-mounted pond stirrer will get the entire effluent pond swirling by creating a horizontal thrust, which is more effective in keeping solids in suspension.

By Lloyd Thomas

T

rying to decide between a floating vertical shaft pond stirrer and shore-mounted pond stirrer? We’d 100% recommend shore mounted every time – and we’ve got the science to show you why.

When investing in a stirrer you want something that’s going to get the job done as efficiently and effectively as possible, otherwise what’s the point? So the first thing to keep in mind is what you want to achieve from stirring: The aim of stirring your effluent is to keep solids in suspension ready for pumping out.

Why? Because there are several unwanted issues that occur if you allow solids to settle: • Accumulation of solids can lead to blockages in your pump and/or irrigators.

• Nutrients lose value when solids are left to settle in the pond.

• Effluent storage capacity is reduced, which can impact on council compliance.

• You end up creating an additional job in cleaning out the pond with a slurry tanker or getting a contractor in to dig it out.

This leads to why we recommend shore-mounted or PTO pond stirrers over floating vertical shaft stirrers, because they are far more effective in keeping

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those solids in suspension for the entire effluent pond.

To create a stirring action that will get the entire pond swirling, you need to create a strong horizontal flow of water with sufficient velocity to carry the suspended solids. A consistent speed of approximately 0.8 metres per second will stop solid particles from dropping out of suspension, and the only way to do this is by creating a strong horizontal thrust.

This is where a shore-mounted electric stirrer is recommended as they are able to provide the right combination of angle, power and speed to churn up the entire pond.

In the past, floating vertical stirrers were promoted for having low power requirements, however, these are not recommended for the following reasons: • Having a vertical shaft, the solids are merely pushed away from the propeller and will then slow down and drop out of suspension in the water, so they never end up being effectively mixed.

• Moving the stirrer around the pond will only shift the solids from one area to another, so nutrients are not getting mixed in and therefore don’t end up leaving the pond.

• While some floating effluent stirrers may have low power requirements, a lot of the time these need to be run

“In terms of safety, it is always better to keep electricity out of water and not have the need for anyone to venture out onto an effluent pond should the stirrer require maintenance.” constantly to achieve any results.

• In terms of safety, it is always better to keep electricity out of water and not have the need for anyone to venture out onto an effluent pond should the stirrer require maintenance.

Another option which has been suggested in the past is using a pump type stirrer. In theory these stirrers should work, however, in reality you would need a massive pump, or even several pumps to even come close to what a shore-mounted stirrer can achieve. In fact, independent studies have proven Nevada electric stirrers to be 10x more efficient than a pump type ■ stirrer.

MORE:

Lloyd Thomas is a Nevada effluent management specialist

DAIRY FARMER

November 2021

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71

INDUSTRY GOOD

Good clover cover over summer is one factor which could allow farmers to reduce N applications.

Can you save on N applications?

Virginia Serra title ?????

F

ertiliser is one of the biggest operating expenses on-farm and the response to nitrogen (N) fertiliser in summer can be low and unprofitable on some farms.

With the new cap on synthetic N fertiliser in place this season, reducing N applications over summer is a strategy many farmers are considering.

In summer, soil mineralisation rates are high and clover is growing. If soils already have enough N, applying more may not result in additional growth or be economic.

As part of DairyNZ’s work with partner farms in Selwyn and Hinds, some farmers have significantly reduced N applications over January and February, with little impact on pasture consumption. This has required careful planning but resulted in farmers saving money on fertiliser while maintaining production levels.

Not every farm is in a position to make these changes, but it’s worthwhile considering if it’s right for your farm.

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November 2021

Clover cover is one factor that will affect whether you can reduce N applications – clover fixes N in the soil, providing an alternative N source to fertiliser. Established pastures with good clover cover could receive less N, whereas new pastures or areas with less clover cover will benefit more from continuing N applications.

In addition, check if your soils have good pH levels and adequate levels of potassium, phosphorus and other key minerals. A deficiency in any key mineral can limit pasture growth. A clover health profile is also recommended to check if clover will flourish over summer.

“Spreading effluent on paddocks is an alternative source of N to fertiliser and can allow you to reduce applications.”

Spreading effluent on paddocks is an alternative source of N to fertiliser and can allow you to reduce applications.

You’ll also need to consider if you want to apply N to boost pasture growth for feed in future months.

with DairyNZ With some good forward planning, a number of partner farms in Canterbury have reduced N applications to 15-20kg a month in January and February. Many have applied other nutrients through fertilisers, so that they can apply N at low levels.

Some farmers skip N applications in January and February on areas which don’t benefit from it – like areas with high clover content or which receive effluent.

Deciding on reduced N applications is something best discussed with a trusted adviser. Some partner farms found the changes didn’t work for them, as it affected milk production, so plan your approach and talk through the issues with an adviser, to consider if it suits your farm. They can also help consider local issues, such as rainfall and weather conditions, which affect N response.

If changes this summer can’t be made, you may want to focus on improving your clover cover for next summer to give you n the option to make future changes.

MORE:

For advice on managing N fertiliser go to www.dairynz.co.nz/N-use

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74 Last Word

One last word …

W

ith calving more or less done for most, farmers are now turning their attention to the busy mating season followed by supplementary feed harvesting.

So with everything that is going on down on-farm, it is little wonder that many are getting fed up and feeling frustrated at the ever-changing rules and regulations and proposals in front of them in recent months.

Several industry leaders have expressed their concerns over the number and speed of many of these.

Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard in his guest column in Dairy Farmer recently called it the winter of discontent.

Not surprising when you look at all the submissions the Feds have worked on in recent months or are working on at present. At present, they are involved in eight at a national level and these range from supporting reform to efficient distribution pricing, the Electricity Land

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Transport (clean vehicles) Amendment Bill and digital strategies through to managing our wetlands and another on glyphosate.

Since May this year, and not including the current processes, they have submitted 29 times at a national level on a variety of topics. A spokesperson says the many submissions Feds makes to regional and district council processes – Long-Term Plans, District Plan Reviews and Plan Changes and the like – are not included and these would at least match, if not exceed, the national workload.

If the Feds and other industry bodies are working at pace to deal with so many pieces of legislation, how does the Government expect our farmers to keep up with all the changes and make written submissions?

And when some of these are slipped in during busy times such as calving and mating, it is clear to me, the Government, while following the process by calling for submissions, is not

actually interested in hearing them.

It is no wonder farmers are feeling as if they are under siege and are fed up.

An old time farmer reckons “the Labour government will not stop with their ridiculous agenda to get rid of many of farmers and stock until we just give up”.

But this old farmer reckons while he has industry bodies such as the Feds, DairyNZ and others fighting in their corner, he will carry on.

Thanks to Otorohanga contract milker Vili Lomano for this month’s photo, which sums up farmer sentiment perfectly. Lomano and his wife saw this on their travels and thought it was too good not to share.

Sonita Like us: farmersweekly.co.nz Follow us: @DairyFarmer15 Read us anywhere: farmersweekly.co.nz

DAIRY FARMER

November 2021

26/10/21 1:04 PM

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75 Dairy Diary Proudly brought to you by WelFarm

Dairy Diary November 2021 November 2 – SMASH Simplifying your system field day, Horsham Downs.

Our host, Jamie Haultain, is sharemilking 240 cows on a 75ha System 2 farm. He enjoys crunching numbers and uses DairyBase. We will look into how his business stacks up against others in the region, the key numbers to focus on and the factors that have influenced his results.

Info at www.smallerherds.co.nz November 4 – DairyNZ DairyNZ progression groups, Tararua.

Dairy career/business progression group in Pahiatua could be for you. It’s open to anyone looking to: plan to succeed, discover the steps to creating wealth and build the skills you need to get ahead.

This group will have several sessions spread out over a 12-month period.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz November 10 – Owl Farm Owl Farm Focus Day, Cambridge.

Join us at Owl Farm using data to discuss management of the season-to-date from the team at Owl Farm. Relevant topics led by our team of technical experts.

Info at www.owlfarm.nz/ November 10 – DairyNZ Autumn calving discussion group.

Join us on Michael and John’s property to discuss topics including growing maize on farm vs purchasing, proportion of autumn and spring calving cows, along with exploring some of the Fonterra Insights reports. This group will be slightly shorter to allow farmers to get back home in time for lunch to meet current Alert Level 2 requirements.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz November 16 & 23 – Dairy Women’s Network The Challenge of Change, Canterbury and Far North.

Resilience can have a huge impact on your personal and professional lives. Join Cynthia Johnson, a Psychology Master Trainer, to learn four proven steps for building resilience and managing yourself in stressful situations.

Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events

Benchmarking

November 16 – Dairy Women’s Network Industry Experts and Insights Breakfast Panel, Central Plateau.

Join us for Breakfast to hear from Dairy Industry Leaders.

We want to ensure that all rural professionals understand the challenges that farmers are currently going through, the importance of people to the industry.

Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events November 16 – DairyNZ E350 public field day, McDermott’s & Gillespie’s.

If you’re a farmer or rural professional, this is your chance to find out about Northland’s Extension 350 Project at one of 10 public field days being held across the region.

The project is a long-term farmer-to-farmer extension programme designed to help Northland farmers succeed.

Info at www.dairyevents.co.nz November 23 and 24 – SMASH Streamline your Business with Lean, Waikato East and Waikato West.

Learn how Lean can help you to make continuous improvements in your business, regardless of whether you are a one-man band or have a team. It will free up your time, save you money, eliminate waste, reduce your workload and help you to build an excellent team culture.

Info at www.smallerherds.co.nz December 1 – SMASH Let’s Celebrate Dairy Pohangina Details to be confirmed.

Info at www.smallerherds.co.nz Dairy Women’s Network Make time for your people, various dates and locations.

People are at the epicentre of our farm businesses and ensuring employers and employees have strong relationships and a good work-life balance is key to the future of the industry. Moving the dial on the importance of attracting and retaining great people in the dairy industry is the focus of this workshop and webinar series. This is a free event funded by MPI. Info at www.dwn.co.nz/events

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November 2021

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