Plan 365 August 2018

AUGUST 2018

RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

NUTRITION

FORAGE AND ARABLE

HORTICULTURE

ANIMAL MANAGEMENT

DAIRY MANAGEMENT

Plan 365 is a technical guide aimed at helping shareholders learn about best practice and the latest advancements in rural technology.

NUTRITION

Ways to minimise the post-weaning slump When the milk pay-out dropped in the 2015/2016 season, a lot of cow’s milk was fed to calves and farmers reported that they struggled post-weaning off milk.

There are several ways to avoid a post-weaning slump after milk has been removed from the calf diet: • Limit long fibre intakes of young calves when housed. In trials, calves have only consumed straw at 20g/ kg total solid feed intake or hay at 50g/kg total solid feed intake, although they wasted about three times more than they consumed.

If long fibre is easily available, especially if it is appealing like some pea straw and lucerne hay, calves tend to eat too much and have less interest in trough feed.

NRM Ready Rumen contains some lucerne chaff, so is a good option for controlled delivery of long fibre to housed young calves.

• Limit fat concentration in the diet both in the milk and hard feed.

High fat milk tends to be satisfying

for calves and reduces interest in hard feed. Milk from the vat tends to be richer in fat relative to protein compared to milk replacer.

Fortifying cow’s milk with calf milk replacer is one way to shift the fat to protein ration and increase nutrient intake without increasing feeding volumes. High energy calf feeds rich in by-products can be high in fat to reach target energy levels but their fat content may limit rumen development and dry matter intakes.

• Consider a whey based milk replacer like NRM Power Whey to finish off milk feeding after transition milk has been used up – it tends to digest faster than casein based powders, so calves are looking for feed between meals.

• Intakes of loose meals may be good initially but tend to reach a peak, whereas pelleted feed intake seems to keep rising. If you are not satisfied with how meal intakes are tracking, try a well-formed pellet like NRM GrowUp 20%.

• Avoid stale feed building up in feed troughs and feeders – especially when wet, as it will quickly mold and deter intakes.

• E nsure calves always have easy access to clean drinking water.

• O nly wean off milk when hard feed intakes are at least 1kg/ head/day for Jersey calves, up to 1.5kg/day for Friesians.

• W eigh calves and wean small ones later if they are to have any chance of catching up with their bigger herd mates.

• A void stresses at weaning such as disbudding, castration and vaccinations, if possible avoid periods of inclement weather.

• K eep on a 20 percent protein starter feed for a while after weaning and be prepared to not drop to a 16 percent if pasture quality is not excellent.

• D on’t be afraid to ask for help if faced with a new problem – every year poses a different challenge.

• A void worker fatigue – as the season wears on people can get tired and performance levels drop.

To see some great calf rearing tips, perhaps stock up on popcorn one evening and work your way through the 17 Farmlands calf rearing videos – available on the Nutrition section of the Farmlands website. The videos will offer something to both new and experienced calf rearers, following the calf rearing process from picking up newborn calves in the paddock through to weighing weaned calves.

Article supplied by Rob Derrick, Nutritionist.

| Don’t be afraid to ask for help if faced with a new problem – every year poses a different challenge.

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NUTRITION

Practical tips for preventing abomasal bloat in lambs Anyone that has had a go at rearing orphan lambs is quite likely to have had to deal with abomasal bloat. It can often strike your “good doers” well into the rearing process, which can be quite devastating, particularly for the younger lamb rearers out there.

There are however, some simple steps that you can take to help minimise the risk in your lambs – whether you’re rearing a couple for pet day at school or even if you are rearing lambs on a larger scale.

Abomasal bloat is primarily caused by bacteria that feed on lactose. When there is an influx of lactose into the stomach these lactose-consuming bacteria increase in activity, converting the lactose into lactic acid. This in turn changes the environment of the abomasum and causes a build-up of gas, which in severe cases can cause death. Abomasal bloat is such a common issue in lambs that are reared artificially, because lambs naturally prefer their milk feeds “little and often” – much more so than calves do. This means that in an artificial rearing system, when feeds per day are decreased and the volume of milk is increased per feed due to practicality and time constraints, the influx of lactose into the system is higher than naturally would be, which sets off the chain of events causing bloat. When milk is overfed even in one isolated feeding event, abomasal bloat can occur, so it’s worth taking some practical steps to decrease the risk.

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• Use a milk replacer designed specifically for lambs. Calf milk replacers tend to have a higher lactose level than lamb milk replacers and generally higher copper levels, so are not appropriate for lambs.

• Stick to the feeding recommendations on the bag for lamb milk replacers in terms of mixing rates, volume fed per feed and number of feeds per day.

• Do not allow lambs to gorge on milk. Some lambs will have stronger suckling reflex than others, particularly if you are keeping a mixture of ages together.

Using compartment feeders or individual bottles can help to control how much each lamb drinks. Pay attention at feeding time and as lambs fill up, take them off the feeder (make sure to keep a close eye on children if they are helping at feeding time).

• Automatic milk feeders are the gold standard for rearing lambs, as they allow lambs to milk feed as and when they want to, which mimics natural suckling behaviour. This is obviously not an option for everyone but is worth considering for larger scale rearing operations. One study looking at the feeding behaviour of lambs on an automatic feeding system found that lambs had an average of 9.5 feeding events per day, which averaged 176ml per feed*, so this just demonstrates how important “little and often” is for lambs.

• C heck the teats on your feeder are in good working order. If the rubber is worn out, milk will be able to flow more readily through the teats and can encourage gorging.

• Consider “yoghurtising” the milk before it is fed. This is a technique that has proven very effective in commercial situations. It involves making up a yoghurt culture with the lamb milk replacer and feeding this rather than just the lamb milk replacer and water alone. This technique is thought to work through adding beneficial bacteria to the milk, as well as shifting the pH of the milk. Beef + Lamb New Zealand has created a fact sheet on this method, “Artificial lamb rearing – managing abomasal bloat”, which can be found on their Knowledge Hub at www.beeflambnz.com • Consider feeding milk replacer cold rather than warm (mix up warm as per instructions on the bag and then allow to cool before feeding).

• Offer a hard feed option to lambs early on. Not only does it help stimulate rumen development and allow earlier weaning off milk but it can also help to keep them satisfied between milk feeds.

NRM’s new Lamb Start Mix with Deccox is a great option and has the added benefit of helping to protect lambs against coccidiosis.

For more information, contact your local Nutrition Specialist. *Feeding behaviour of artificially reared Romane lambs. March 2014. I. David, F. Bouvier, E. Ricard, J. Ruesche and J. L. Weisbecker.

Article supplied by Stacey Cosnett, Nutritionist.

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NUTRITION

Good nutrition supports early growth rates With spring just around the corner, there is naturally a proliferation of young animals on properties across the country.

On dairy farms, the focus will be on early lactation and feeding calves to ensure early rumen development and good growth rates. In the same way, anyone wanting to grow young chicks for either egg production or as meat birds for the freezer, must provide a well-balanced diet for these young birds if growth rates are to be optimised.

Chicks should have access to a good quality feed and clean, fresh water from day old. Sprinkling a little of the feed on tissue paper or newsprint placed in front of or around the feeders for the first 7 days can help to encourage feed intake. This paper can be removed between days 7 and 14. Feeders should be filled to their highest level, making it easy for chicks to access the feed. Once chicks are eating well, be careful not to overfill feeders, as this results in waste. Bright lighting in the first weeks helps to ensure that chicks find feed and water and helps them adjust to the new environment.

Lighting can be reduced after the first week, with the number of hours provided reducing as birds get older.

To ensure good early growth rates and frame development, choose a good quality chick feed, in the form of a crumble, that is high in good quality protein and energy and which is balanced for macro (e.g. calcium and phosphorus) and trace minerals. The NRM range of poultry feeds contains two diets formulated specifically with

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the growth of young birds in mind.

Both NRM Chick Starter and NRM Meat Bird Crumble are formulated to contain a combination of grains as an energy source, quality proteins for lean tissue development and a balanced supply of macro and trace minerals and vitamins – providing the essential nutrients required to support growth and development in young chicks.

Added organic acids and essential oils present in the NRM range of poultry feeds help to support gut health in the young growing bird, improving the digestion of nutrients available in the feed. NRM Chick Starter is ideal for young laying hens and contains a coccidiostat to aid in the control of coccidiosis. The NRM Meat Bird crumble is ideal for rapidly growing meat chickens and is also suitable for turkeys and game bird species.

From about 6 weeks of age, the feed offered to layer chicks can be changed from a chick starter to a pullet grower to

ensure that birds do not get overweight.

Regular monitoring of the weight of your chicks is important to ensure they are consuming enough feed, so that they are growing at the expected rate and that they are meeting their recommended growth targets (available from the poultry breeder).

Just as providing a high quality feed is important to ensure good growth rates, ensuring that birds are kept in a clean, well-ventilated but not drafty environment is vital if birds are to be as healthy as possible.

As with any youngstock, investing some time and energy in making sure that young chicks are fed well, kept warm and that any disease risks are minimised will help to ensure good early growth rates and a productive lifetime for these animals.

For further information, contact your local Nutrition Specialist.

Article supplied by Natalie Chrystal, Nutritionist.

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NUTRITION

Lamb rearing made viable Feeding a whey-based milk replacer in an ad-lib feeding system has been a break-through for rearing orphan lambs, according to sheep farmer Peter Black, who up until 3 years ago was frustrated at lamb mortality from abomasal bloat.

Peter and his wife Marion farm in the Riverton district of western Southland.

Their farm, Blackdale, is home to 4,000 ewes and lambing hoggets. The high fertility flock has ewes scanning around 200 percent. To reduce lamb losses, 150-180 lambs are reared off mum, with the ewe flocks rearing over 170 percent.

“Losses from abomasal bloat, which can take some of the best lambs after a lot has been invested in them, was a discouraging aspect of rearing orphan lambs,” Peter explains.

“In 2015, we heard about a whey milk replacer for lambs from a rearer who said she no longer had any issues with bloat. Once we learned more about the digestive properties of whey, we figured it was worth trying.”

At the same time, they introduced ad-lib feeding with an automatic milk feeder.

Peter says they haven’t looked back – successfully raising the majority of their orphan lambs each year since.

The whey milk replacer the Blacks use is AgriVantage’s Sprayfo Primo

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Lamb. Peter highly recommends both the product and ad-lib feeding, for three main reasons.

to get off to a good start – with

“The primary reason we’re advocates of Sprayfo, is that abomasal bloat is no longer a concern for us,” Peter says.

feeding and grow quickly.

Sprayfo Primo Lamb is specifically formulated for lambs. It contains hydrolysed wheat protein, an ingredient proven to have better digestive properties than other commonly used protein sources (such as soy), offering a safer option for young lambs.

16 to 25kg, averaging 7 weeks

Of course, being whey-based, it’s also more easily digested in the gut than standard casein (whole milk) powders. Where casein forms a curd within the abomasum and takes several hours to digest, whey does not curd and is quickly digested, reducing the risk of abomasal bloat.

we approached the shed, now

Secondly, the lambs gain weight much faster. Peter confirms that they are weaning the lambs a lot quicker than previously.

received from AgriVantage is invaluable.

This is because the rapid digestion of whey encourages animals to seek out concentrates earlier, which aids rumen development and increases growth rates. Blackdale lambs have ad-lib access to lucerne and pellets from day one.

few seasons. And he’s given us

Peter adds that the lambs fortunate

Article supplied by AgriVantage.

adequate colostrum and no major check – do best with ad-lib “Last year (in late October), the first batch of lambs weaned at old. They grew at an average of 320g per day. This is competitive with our ewe reared triplets.”

He notes that the lambs are more content too. “We used to have the lambs bellowing for feed as they are surprised to see us!”

Thirdly, Peter says Sprayfo is easy to mix with water. “It’s not sticky and it makes cleaning the automatic feeder very easy. We’re still using the same tubes after 3 years.”

Peter adds that the support he has “Warren [from AgriVantage] looks after us, he ensured we had product when supply was short in the past some good rearing tips,” he says.

“Having found a satisfactory and much easier way of rearing orphans, it’s now a viable option,” Peter concludes.

For more information, contact your local Nutrition Specialist.

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FORAGE AND ARABLE

Get set for spring Good nutrient management advice can save time (and money) when it counts most.

Spring is unsurprisingly one of the peak stress times on-farm. Whereas in autumn, causes of stress are often financial or environmental (e.g. trying to recover after a dry summer), in spring the key stress factor is usually time – or lack of it. Faced with too much to do and not enough time to do it, many farmers push themselves to the limit during this busy season.

Fatigue and stress can impact on team and family relationships, on productivity and work quality, on the number of accidents and on your general physical and mental wellbeing.

There are many practical tips to help you through the busy period, from planning rosters, to ordering key supplies in advance but one thing that can make a significant and lasting

difference is making use of experts.

Often when time is short we go into “default” mode and just do what we have always done. This may be the easiest option in the shortterm but can short change your farm business in the long-term.

Timesaving technology New Zealand farmers have been quick to take to their keyboards and touchscreens to order and manage their nutrients online, joining MyBallance at a rate of 100 a week since it launched in March 2018. Farmers told the MyBallance development team that what they wanted most was time. MyBallance carves time out of busy days to invest in other things – more time with family, or more time to deal with the demands of spring. See more at www.myballance.co.nz

For example, with fertiliser application sure to be on your spring “to do” list, maximise the opportunity by getting the right advice. A good adviser can tailor a nutrient management plan to your farm’s needs that will use nutrient inputs to best effect (and possibly with less work) with benefits for your financial and environmental bottom lines.

Regulatory limits on phosphorus and nitrogen limits are coming into play in many parts of the country. Getting to grips with the requirements in your region and the strategies to reduce nutrient loss can be another source of stress.

Every farm is different and it takes time to weigh up all the options and work out which one, or which combination, will deliver the results you are after.

Some solutions are expensive, so you need to be sure it is the right choice. Again, this is an area where a knowledgeable consultant can make all the difference. Recognising this, Ballance Agri-Nutrients has established its Farm Sustainability Services team to help farmers understand the regulatory framework, track farm nutrient flows, establish nutrient benchmarks and budgets and develop farm environment plans.

When times get busy, don’t forget there’s a network of knowledgeable people that can help you out.

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Article supplied by Ballance Agri-Nutrients.

| Spring is one of the peak stress times on-farm – and good nutrient management advice can save time when it counts most.

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FORAGE AND ARABLE

Preparation makes perfect for introducing beet In the past, one of the biggest challenges for Oxford dairy farmer Harry Meijer was having to manage cow condition with “winter too short and transition too long for us to put weight on cows”.

Fodder beet very quickly became a valued tool in his operation after he was encouraged to incorporate it on-farm for late lactation feed by his Farmlands Technical Field Officer, Malcolm Wyllie.

Four years on, Harry has been growing exceptional crops of Jamon fodder beet on the platform for autumn feeding in a bid to improve cow condition and optimise the winter benefit. “It’s an expensive crop to grow if you get it wrong, so you have to get it right and Malcolm is an important part of the whole process,” Harry says.

Harry milks 800 cows on 240ha and 5.5ha of beet is grown on the platform to put weight on cows through autumn and to aid transitioning onto winter beet paddocks. He has been able to budget on and achieve 25t DM/ha yields each year – and credits this to good soil preparation and solid agronomic advice.

“Choice of cultivar is also an important part of the equation when it comes to high yields. I was recommended to grow Jamon by my Farmlands Technical Field Officer, did some ‘Googling’ and saw that it’s a consistent performer in New Zealand trials, which helped us decide to grow Jamon for the last 4 years,” Harry says. It didn’t take long for Harry to see the value in this cultivar choice. “Plant population and consistency of bulb size has a far

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| Harry Meijer and local Farmlands Techncial Field Officer, Malcolm Wyllie in Harry’s paddock of Jamon fodder beet.

greater influence on yield for me, rather than big individual bulbs with gaps.”

The herd is wintered on kale and beet,

The cows are transitioned onto fodder beet in early April and allocated a calculated break for a limited period of time. Time on the crop is increased by 5 minutes per day until the maximum allocation for milkers of 5kg/cow/ day is reached. Prior to using beet, a lot of maize silage was fed out in the autumn. “Now the cows eat the supplement in situ, put better weight on, get more days in-milk and are able to maintain 1kgMS right up until the week before dry-off,” Harry says.

the rotation really well at his run-off

During the last week of milking, the allocation of beet is gradually lifted to 8kg/cow/day, straw is fed out and protein intake is reduced. “This does a good job of shutting them down to dry-off and cuts down transition days at the winter block,” Harry explains.

as he has found both feeds fit into block. Before beet, everything was allocated – 11kg of kale, 4kg of silage and 2kg of straw – and was achieving ½ BCS gain. “And we needed to,” Harry says. Harry has found fodder beet does such a good job at increasing liveweight, they now have to be careful they don’t exceed BCS 5. “We have had a go at seeing what beet cows could eat and got up to 12kg/day but we pulled back from that,” Harry says.

They limit beet to 9kg with 5kg of good quality silage and straw in feeders.

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Article supplied by Agricom.

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FORAGE AND ARABLE

Productivity and sustainability key drivers on-farm Here in New Zealand, productive farming and economic prosperity are intrinsically linked. We lead the world when it comes to grass-fed milking systems and recent years have seen a stronger commitment to the preservation of our environment from our farmers.

worked on a property in Otorohanga,

Farmers are caretakers of the land and one such farmer based in the Bay of Plenty is taking great steps to make sure he’s doing his part for the environment with the use of an environmental plantain.

season. When Farmlands Technical

Phil James is a contract milker on a 150ha property in Waimana. Running 200 cows at peak milk, Phil’s farming ethos is all about growing high quality dry matter in a way that limits his footprint and keeps as much nitrogen in the ground as possible.

mixes and broadcasting programme.

Before sharemilking in Waimana, Phil

along with being highly productive

where the owner would broadcast Tonic plantain when spreading his fertiliser. Phil has transferred that way of thinking onto his Waimana property and progressed it further by diversifying his pastures and consistently broadcasting every Field Officer, Mark Beer talked about environmental plantain Ecotain® with Phil, he was excited about the prospect of reducing his nitrogen leaching, so has moved to sowing it in his pasture Recently recognised for its contribution to the future of farming with the Launch Innovation New Zealand award at the National Fieldays, Ecotain is fast gaining a reputation for its ability to mitigate nitrogen leaching and great for animal performance.

Amongst other work, a 2017 Lincoln university lysimeter study showed a reduction in nitrogen leaching from the urine patch of 89 percent.

Backed by substantial research findings from Lincoln and Massey universities and Plant and Food Research, Agricom launched Ecotain in September 2017.

Ecotain functions in pasture systems to reduce nitrogen leaching in four independent ways. It increases the volume of cows’ urine, which dilutes the concentration of nitrogen and it

Understanding the need to maintain the integrity of the environment without compromising quality, Phil has the goal to get Ecotain across his whole property. Every season Phil will broadcast Ecotain and chicory into the gaps in pastures that would otherwise fill with weeds. The paddocks he renovated this past autumn include a hybrid ryegrass along with Ecotain and chicory – and he’s had great success with this mix.

“The diverse pasture mixes are working really well for me. The cows love it and in droughts, Ecotain and chicory just keep growing,” Phil explains. “It’s visual through summer and the cows respond with more milk in the vat.”

The inclusion of Ecotain and chicory into the mix is also a benefit from an animal health perspective. Both contain a high mineral content with high forage quality and good protein levels, along with proven ability to increase milk production during summer when ryegrass struggles.

“We [dairy farmers] face a lot of scrutiny and get a hard time in the media. I’m hoping more farmers get on-board with Ecotain, it’s easy to get on-farm and it’s good for the environment,” Phil says.

Environmental sustainability and viable profitable farming go hand in hand and Ecotain is proving to be a great tool for farmers that are interested in lowering their impact.

nitrate in the urine patch and it restricts

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

the accumulation of nitrate in soil.

Article supplied by Agricom.

reduces the total amount of dietary nitrogen in animals’ urine. It also delays the process of turning ammonium into

| Farmlands Technical Field Officer, Mark Beer and contract milker, Phil James.

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ANIMAL MANAGEMENT

Know your withholding times Withholding periods are applied to veterinary medicines to keep people safe and our trade secure, so it’s important they are followed properly.

You might think similar products have similar withholding times, however this is not necessarily the case – they can be very different and the consequences of using them incorrectly may be serious. Choosing products with zero (nil) withholding periods, where available, will aid in reducing this risk.

One example is the use of products for internal parasite and/or lice control.

Most oral and injectable drenches have set milk and meat withholding periods, which include bobby calves.

Some pour-on drenches have a nil milk withhold but may have meat and bobby calf withholding periods.

However, a few pour-on drenches, such as Cydectin® Pour-On, have zero milk, meat and bobby calf withholding periods. This means that they can be used at any stage of pregnancy

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or lactation and the milk and bobby calves do not have to be withheld from the vat or slaughter following treatment of the cow. This provides peace of mind when treating animals prior to calving or during early lactation.

Relying on these types of products reduces the risk of accidental treatment with the wrong product and incorrect application of withholding periods, which might result in withheld milk from the vat or prevent the sale of bobby calves for an extended period.

milk production, weight gain and/or

Ideally, adult cows shouldn’t need to be treated for worms but in some situations it is necessary. Parasites affect a cow’s production in two ways – firstly, the direct effects they have on the gut lining, impairing digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Secondly, the way the animal’s immune system responds to these invaders by diverting proteins (immunoglobulins) and inflammatory cells to combat parasites. With no parasites present, these proteins would go towards

days control of Ostertagia ostertagi and

reproduction. Stock are generally more susceptible to the adverse effects of parasites around calving and early lactation. Treatment of cows at this time, particularly those in less than ideal body condition or which may be under stress from disease, lameness or high parasite burden, can be very beneficial. Cydectin Pour-On provides some of the best parasite control available against key productionlimiting parasites of adult cattle, with 35 28 days control of Trichostrongylus axei and with its zero withholding periods for milk, meat and bobby calves, you can rely on Cydectin Pour-On at any time for those cows that need it.

For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Cydectin is a registered trademark of Zoetis. ACVM No A6203.

Article supplied by Zoetis.

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